Okay, so, just so everyone is aware I have started writing ANOTHER Gamer story. It is connected to this one, but in a way that you all won't be privy to until far later in the story. It is called "A Gamer in a World of Slayers". I hope you all will check it out.
Also, a lot of you are going to hate me for what happens in this chapter. Not gonna say why, but ya'll should've learnt by now that you can't trust me.
Now, with that being said, let's jump straight into my response to some reviews/comments!
[Response to Reviews/Comments]
(Qoutev) Sunky Addict: Oh! Love the new Penny Parker PFP. Also, I am going in a very, very dark direction with it. You'll see what I mean later on.
(Qoutev) TACO SENSEI: Oh, you'll see those interactions fairly soon. Also, I am working on my own original project. It's just stuck in the planning stage. I'll probably talk more about it when it's out of the planning stage.
(Ao3) TyMaddux: Yeah, Ruby's situation sucks, big time. But at least Lilith is trying to be considerate. Charlie's arrival is gonna be really fun, especially considering how it's gonna happen. As for Yang… well, I already have her character arc planned out, as well as her fate. Most of the main cast of RWBY's fates have been preplanned. I can't wait to see people's reactions to them.
AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: Damn dude, uh… your poor heart, maybe you should cut back on the caffeine? Just a thought….
(Guest) Guest: Well, Lilith's reaction is going to be interesting. But that interaction won't be for a while, but when it does happen it will be glorious. And yes, I did do that bit on purpose, I've been wanting to make that joke for a while now. Yang is having a really, really bad week and it is only going to get worse. Kokichi is Kokichi, and he's going to make it everyone's problem—no shocker there—and that's going to be infinitely worse when Jolyne shows up.
I'll let you believe what you want to believe when it comes to who it was who did… that. All you have to know is that it's inconsequential to the plot… for now.
(Guest) Reader 451: Yes. Cease being a lurker and become a true user! That was cringe and I hate myself for it. All of that aside, keep the eye bleach handy my friend. It is going to become useful very soon.
Dragon Slayer of Death 88: As much as I want to confirm or deny that possibility, you will have to wait. Thank you for the reviews, though! They were very nice! Also, Ruby and Jolyne's dynamic will be less of a "lovers" relationship and more of a "friends with benefits." By the end of this chapter, you'll know why that's the case.
Kolt999: The main reason why I hate… him… is because of how most of his fics, in some way shape and form, have the character fuck a child. It's like a must-have for his works and it boils my blood something fierce. I get his gimmick is to have his MCs be a special type of vile, but that doesn't mean he has to write it out in detail. And considering I am a brother to two younger siblings, it gets me really fucking mad. Henceforth why the mention of his username gets me riled up in a special kind of "rip someone's head off" kind of way.
Also, while I can't speak for Berserk because I've barely read anything from it, 13 Reasons Why (The Novel) is lowkey some of the best literature I've read, second only to The Way Of Kings. Hits you in the gut with some of the depressing shit that happens.
Anyways, Kokichi is gonna throw massive wrenches in Cinder's schemes. The Trolling has only just begun, and believe me it shall be glorious. Mercury is gonna be an interesting case, and as time goes on, when he gets to meet some of the cast, Mercury willnot be forgotten. A-hem, CRWBY. He's been written out of the story for the most part in canon RWBY, and that boils my blood. I like Mercury, how dare they massacre my boy. Seriously, aside from Roman, he was the only good thing about early RWBY; ya know, aside from the fights.
Ruby's life going forward, period, at least for the time being, is going to be a special kind of hell. Especially considering she is so against her new nature. But it's going to get better, just like everything does… eventually. Have a great day Kolt!
Now, onto the chapter!
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[Jolyne Brooks]
Her sole emerald green eye narrowed toward the entrance of the Southern White Fang War Camp, hatred burning deep in her soul as she approached. The cracked moon shone bright overhead, with stars flickering in and out of existence. It would have been beautiful to behold, had Jolyne cared about the night sky at that moment.
Unfortunately for those waiting beyond the entrance, the Dragon Faunus was not in the mood to care about the goings-on of the night sky. She was more focused on what was in front of her, that being the White Fang's southern base. She was going to make sure that The White Fang, and by extension, its leader, understood just how badly it had fucked up.
There was a lot that Jolyne could tolerate, especially considering some of the things that she had done in her recent past. One of those things was murder. She had killed a lot of people to get to where she was now, and frankly, every death—with the exception of a handful of individuals—she wouldn't even blink an eye at.
And seeing as the White Fang was a terrorist organization, it wasn't uncommon to hear that they murdered people both innocent and not-so-innocent. She'd be a hypocrite for calling them vile and evil for killing innocent civilians. A whole world of people's blood on her hands told her that she couldn't do that. So she wasn't too pressed about that kind of thing.
What she was pressed about, was the kidnapping and enslaving of innocent lives, up to and including her people. There were very few things that she got extremely furious at. Lowlife scum like Bandits actively preying on the weak, and slavers were some of those very few things. She couldn't stand slavers, much like how she couldn't stand bandits.
Worthless sacks of flesh was what she viewed them as. They turned great men and women into nothing but empty husks of people, worked them to the bone, and killed them once they were not fit to work. It was the kind of practice that she could never see herself doing. Not in a million years. Torture was one thing, murder was another, but slavery was crossing a line.
Evil she might be, and she would fully admit to being that, but even evil had standards. Enslaving someone was crossing a line, though she could understand why someone would have one slave, and only if that person had wronged the slaver in the past, and it was used as a way to teach them a lesson.
But, enslaving multiple people? Not only that but innocent people? People who were ripped from their homes and were now forced into cages, being made to work in gruelling conditions with a knife to their backs and a gun to their heads, all the while they were treated lesser than sapient? Now that was leaping over the line and then some.
She didn't care what their goals were, or if those goals were even seen as righteous by the majority. The moment you enslaved another person to do your bidding, fully knowing that it's antithetical to one's cause, is the moment that any and all sympathy flew out the window.
And those of the White Fang shouldhave known better.
But because they didn't…. She was going to make their fleeting moments of life an eternal hell.
With her Marine Fleet-Admiral Jacket flowing behind her in the wind, the Kanji for JUSTICE scrawled across its back for all to see, and her feet melting the ground she walked beneath due to her Devil Fruit activating passively, Jolyne walked toward the entrance of the camp with a narrowed hate-filled eye. Two guards stood just in front of the entrance of the camp, both of whom had been slouching, tired from standing around all day.
That, of course, didn't last long, as when they saw her, their posture became more rigid. They both carried rifles of some kind—futuristic in design, not that Jolyne cared all too much about what they looked like. The guards were drawn to alert, their hold on their weapons grips increasing as she drew ever closer.
With a sleight of hand, Jolyne summoned her Sycthe to her side, the blade digging into the ground as it appeared, splitting the dirt about a foot deep as she walked along. Anything that the blade came in contact with, such as roots, rocks, and even small animals running away from the furious woman was split in half without even a hint of effort. Almost immediately, the two guards whipped their weapons forward, red dots aiming at her head and chest.
"Halt! State your name and business here! This is White Fang-operated territory! You are officially trespassing!" The guard on the left hollered, conviction in his voice despite his shaking hands. Jolyne didn't care one bit about what the guard was saying. She simply kept walking, as the red dots that were trained on her head and her chest began to shake. "I said halt, or I'll shoot!"
The guard's words flowed in and out from one ear to the other as the dual-haired Dragon Faunus sneered, barring her teeth as a low growl echoed from her to around the forest. It was a beast-like growl, not a human imitating the growl of an animal, but the actual thing.
Any animals that were in the bushes stayed clear from Jolyne. Hell, she could even see some Grimm that had been attracted by her negativity back away slowly out of what seemed to be fear, or perhaps respect. Not that Jolyne cared, but it was something worth nothing later.
Much to the guard's credit, he kept his word, as he shouted a command of "fire". The moment he said that they both shot at her.
But, as they were soon to find out, that was a big mistake, and it was what ultimately caused their demise.
Bullet Time activated, and the moment it did, time slowed to a crawl as Jolyne leapt forward in a sprint, cracking the ground as she jumped. Bringing her scythe back in an arching fashion, Jolyne swung her blade diagonally, cutting through both guards as if they were nothing but warm butter. One got lucky and had their upper right shoulder to left their pelvis cut through, which killed them instantly; while the other bastard was cut from the left pelvis to the right knee.
As was evident, the guards didn't have Aura. This made Jolyne curious. Was Aura not a universal thing? She assumed that everyone had it to some extent or another. Perhaps it was something some people were born with while others weren't. That sort of made sense.
The Branwen Tribe had been similar, with a majority of its ranks not having Aura. She had assumed that The White Fang would have been chock-full of Aura Users. Perhaps she misjudged their strength. For a terrorist unit so widely feared, for them to not be all Aura Users made Jolyne question whether or not everyone in this world was working with a full deck of cards. Why hadn't anyone captured or slaughtered them all yet? What was stopping them from doing so earlier?
"Whatever, this isn't the time to question that sort of thing, now is it?" Jolyne thought, as Bullet Time deactivated, the two bullets from the guards hitting the ground where she had once been, leaving small holes in their wake.
Blood sprayed from both of the guards, one dying in an instant while the other was left screaming in pain. Using their blood, Jolyne activated Blood Control and created a Bear Claw over her right hand, which had been the one she had been holding her scythe in. Her reasoning for deploying it was so that she could gain some EXP for it while she killed people with her scythe.
All she had to do was kill people with it active, right? At least, she thought so anyway. Whatever the case was, she'd find out after she was done with these terroristic monsters.
"S-Semblance… user!" The still-alive guard grunted, looking over to his friend with dread in his eyes. "P-Please! D-Don't kill m—" his plea wasn't answered as Jolyne summoned Whitesnake. Upon doing so, the man's eyes widened. She had displayed three "semblances" all at once to this man, so perhaps he was beginning to question something.
Whitesnake swung its right arm out as far as it could go, then, knelt to the man, and swiped its hand across the guard's forehead. Whatever the guard had been thinking at that moment, Jolyne didn't care, as yet another DISC was added to her collection, causing the man to go limp, after which Jolyne crushed the man's head with her boot, killing him.
DISCS collected: [047/100]
.
White Fang members Killed: [002/200]
Jolyne huffed, snapping her fingers as Whitesnake entered the camp first. She had activated pilot mode, meaning that it was free to do what it wanted without being detected for at least 2 minutes; and by that, she meant stealing people's discs before killing them. She needed to complete that "Evolution Quest" whatever that meant.
She had a feeling she wouldn't need Whitesnake for this task anyway. Everyone was so unbelievably weak that she could probably do this with her bare hands. Though, the last time she had underestimated an opponent was when she lost her right eye in the first place. But that was back when she was level 27, and was fighting a boss that almost quadruple her level.
Now though? She was bordering on level 300, and most of the enemies here were like level 100. She was nearly triple their level, so whatever they could do to her wasn't going to be enough. And considering that they couldn't even hurt her should they have tried thanks to her new armour… yeah, no, this was going to be a cakewalk.
The dual-haired witch entered the camp, and the moment she did so, a hail of gunfire was focused and trained on her. Bullet Time kicked in, and it was a massacre. The hail of gunfire was thanks to a group of 20 or so White Fang members, all of whom were more than willing to gun her down. Even if those bullets weren't going to do anything damage-wise. All they would do was litter her body with holes that amounted to poking a rain puddle with a stick and do nothing more than that.
They all wore the same outfit, with the same ugly white and red mask, and the same ugly grey and black uniform, with the same ugly monstrous wolf patch with three diagonal lines going across the wolf. That was most likely their symbol. To Jolyne, it looked stupid.
Lunging forward, Jolyne decided that she wasn't even going to grace these people with her scythe, putting it away, and bringing out a second Bear Claw over her left hand. Using her right Bear Claw, she disembowelled the first White Fang member that came across her path, his guts falling out of his body in a heap as he vomited up blood. Before he fell to the ground, Jolyne sliced his head off of his shoulders with her crimson-red claws.
"Pathetic," Jolyne thought absently as she grabbed another White Fang member—an beaver faunus—by the head and crushed her skull with her free hand. Skull fragments, grey matter, and blood spraying in every which way in a violent display of physical strength. Flexing Blood Control, she created a Blood Spear and stabbed it into the person to the right of her.
It was only now that some of the White Fang members that had been firing at her were starting to react in the slowed-down time. Not that they would be fast enough to change any of their fates. They were going to die here, and that was the end of that.
Grabbing another White Fang member by the neck, Jolyne went to impale the person with her Bear Claw, only for It to meet the apparent Bat Faunus's Aura. It didn't break through the shield, but it did turn it yellow. The Dragon frowned, as the Bat Faunus began to choke. In the distance, she could see around 30 or so more White Fang soldiers run up behind the Bat Faunus she was choking out. This gave her an idea.
A small pinprick of purple energy began to build up on her right fingertip, as she put her finger in the white fang member's mouth. The soldier, for their part, blinked slowly in confusion, as Bullet Time had yet to deactivate, namely because bullets were still spraying at her. She winked at the man and shot a blast of her Finger Laser.
Upon firing it, a hole shot through the back of the White Fang member's throat, but not before his Aura completely shattered. Once the hole was made, he began to choke as she had severed his airway. The group of 30 behind him could barely register what had happened, as they were quickly enveloped in a giant ball of raw Mana.
An explosion 10 feet in diameter rippled out throughout the camp, blowing everyone, except Jolyne, off of their feet, leaving nothing but a crater in its wake. There was nothing left. Not even a corpse. They were completely decimated, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Jolyne dropped the Bat Faunus to the ground, before crushing their hand with her boot, much like she did to the guard outside. The rest of the soldiers panicked, as Bullet Time ended. To them, several of their friends had died faster than they could comprehend, and it had terrified them. Jolyne didn't care, though, as she was on a roll now.
White Fang Members killed [035/200]
It was at that point that they all began to flee. Jolyne snarled as dark energy began to leak from her body. It looked like a coat of pure malice, and upon it leaking off of her, Despair Aura cascaded from her person. It expanded out in a radius of 20 feet. Anyone who was caught in its grasp was instantly brought to their knees.
The despair was so intense that they all brought out what appeared to be army knives, all of which must have come with their uniforms. And, with complete dread in their eyes, they craved a smile through their throats, killing them near instantly, and that was those who she could see. There were most likely those who weren't even in her sight that killed themselves. And that was reflected in the number of White Fang she had killed.
White Fang Members killed [070/200]
Jolyne smirked. That number brought her pride. She also realized that it had been a long, long time since she had activated Despair Aura. It was such a useful spell, but at the same time, she didn't want to hurt any of the slaves she could possibly come across. "Keep it in check, Jolyne… that can't be too hard, now can it?"
As the thought faded away, a dagger stabbed through her neck, though it did nothing to her in the way of damage. As a result of the failed attack, the blade melted in an instant thanks to her magmatic body. She looked over her shoulder to see who had been stupid enough to do that, and what she saw was just as pathetic as she had assumed them to be.
Her would-be attacker was a man with dark skin, and what appeared to be a pair of fox ears sticking out of a red hooded cloak. His eyes were a light brown, almost caramel, and his face was drawn into a mortified expression. Underneath his hooded cloak was a white and black uniform with white baggy pants, and a black sleeveless vest, with two detached sleeves that matched his shirt and pants.
Behind him was an army of White Fang soldiers. All of them were terrified out of their minds, and as she did a quick count, there were 115 soldiers. All of them had their weapons pointed at her, not that they would do anything. Jolyne, quite frankly, was amused at what she saw. They were all trying to gang up on her.
It wouldn't work.
"W-Who are you?!" The fox faunus shouted, panic in his voice as Jolyne smirked.
"A very, very pissed-off Dragon," The dual-haired faunus replied. There was a devilish gleam in her eye, as the fox faunus took a step back. His mortification turned to terror and horror as Jolyne grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. "Now. I will only ask this once. So you better give me a damn good answer, okay? Tell me. Where. Are. The. Slaves."
The fox faunus blinked in surprise, though his expression never changed. "What w-would the mighty Dragon want with a bunch of human filth?" The Fox Faunus asked as Jolyne's grip on his shirt tightened. For the sake of intimidation, she slashed one of the clawed fingers across the side of the man's neck, which made him squeal out the answer she had wanted to her question, and what she got was something that she had dreaded hearing. "D-Dead! W-We killed them all before you showed up! It was to make the travel to Sanus less of a burden!"
Jolyne felt her heart crack. "No… no that's… that's not…." Jolyne shook her head. No… that couldn't be right. That wasn't possible. They couldn't be…."What about new slaves… have you had any of those come by in the last two days."
"W-What—"
"ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION!" Jolyne yelled, making the fox faunus cry in fear. Jolyne's rage-filled expression must've been more than terrifying, as all of the soldiers dropped their weapons. The dual-haired faunus looked up to see them, for some reason, kneeling. Was it because she was the Dragon? She wasn't going to spare them… Not unless she got the right answer from this person she was holding in her hands.
She pulled his face in close to meet hers, as the fox faunus recoiled. When she spoke, she only did so in a loud enough voice so that he could hear her. "You listen to me, fuckface," Jolyne began, her sneer still present as she spoke. "You will answer my question, or I will end you and everyone else behind you. Did you receive any new slaves in the last two days? Yes, or no?"
"Y-Yes…" the fox faunus replied, his voice trembling.
"Okay. Now, was one of those slaves a kid with blue hair, pale skin, and looked to be about thirteen years old?" Jolyne demanded as the fox faunus swallowed back the building fear in his throat.
"N-No… that one… we split those four new ones up between us! He's at the weapons camp to the west! T-The one here was a blue-haired girl, 17 years old. B-before we came t-to confront you, w-we shot h-her in the back of the head like a-all the other slaves! I—"
At that moment, any words that could have been registered ceased, as Jolyne slammed the fox faunus into the ground. His Aura shattered immediately, and his body was turned into a fine paste upon impact. With a bellowing roar, dark clouds began to form overhead. She looked at the crowd in front of her, she stared them all down.
Her mind was so filled with rage, that any thought that she could have had was reduced to almost nothing. No other emotion other than anger and grief filled her mind. She was so angry, to the point where she couldn't even shed tears.
At that moment, all Jolyne Brooks had become was a vessel for anger. She bellowed with unbridled rage, her screams of fury were loud, filled with grief and anger, and unrelenting to those who listened. The mere thought of Sayaka being dead had brought her to this place. Knowing that she was dead… it only made her more furious.
For a split second, she was moments away from unleashing Bellowing Thunder until she calmed down, if only briefly. Jolyne let out a shaky breath, her eye stinging as she gritted her teeth. The roller coaster of emotions she had just been on had completely ruined her. Her hands were shaking, as she stared at the ground.
"No… no… Sayaka… she can't be…."
Jolyne checked her Guild roster, and much to her horror, Sayaka's name was no longer listed. It was gone, which only confirmed the ugly truth behind the matter. She wasn't even there to stop it. She couldn't have known that would have happened. And yet, because of her actions. Because she had rushed in without thinking… her girlfriend, the person she had given her virginity to… the person who she shared her first real romantic time with in this life… she was gone.
In the blink of an eye… Sayaka Maizono was killed.
She wanted to kill them all. To eviscerate their bodies and turn their corpses into ash. But, as she looked up at the White Fang Soldiers and noticed how they were all kneeling toward her, it gave her an idea. She recalled Whitesnake, having it so it stopped doing what it was doing. She had gained around 15 more discs, bringing her total to somewhere at 60 discs.
She didn't care about that. She was too focused on the fact that Sayaka was dead.
She didn't make it in time. Sayaka was killed before she could rescue her, and it hurt. It hurt her a lot. She lost the first person she ever loved romantically in this new life, all thanks to these… terrorists. The fox faunus confirmed it. Mono confirmed it. There was no denying it.
She was going to make sure that she was able to save everyone else. She wasn't going to let Sayaka's life end in vain. She had failed Sayaka. Jolyne wondered what her last thought was before she perished. What was she thinking at that moment? That Jolyne would save her? That she was going to make it out of this alive?
Jolyne would never know, and that was what stung the most.
Overlooking the soldiers, Jolyne grimaced. If they were loyal to her thanks to her being The Dragon Faunus, she could use this to her advantage. As much as she didn't want to spare any of them, logistically speaking, it would have been better for her to spare as many of them as she could. She thought about Styx, and how they could benefit them. While it would take some convincing, she was going to make the best of this already horrible situation.
However, the one that killed Sayaka… they were going to die. And she was going to make an example of them.
"Which one of you killed that slave? The one who was 17, with blue hair. Come forward now." As she spat out those words, two of the White Fang soldiers in the front row grabbed the person between them, and threw him over to her. He skidded across the ground, his aura flaring as he cursed them out. Jolyne didn't say anything, she simply picked him up, drew out her scythe, and nicked him with the blade.
As soon as she did, a bar appeared above his head. It was the Plague status effect. She grabbed him by the back of the head and forced his face to look at his comrades. "I want all of you to know this right here, and right now. This man will be absolving your sins. Your crimes. The hatred you have spread, the death you have caused. The innocent lives you have stolen away from those who were undeserving."
When Jolyne said that, those who were kneeling looked up at her with confused expressions. This made her continue. "The blade that I have scratched him with is coated in a special kind of poison that will rapidly decay his body while he is alive. All of you will watch what happens. You will witness his slow, painful death, and you will do so without adverting your eyes. Anyone who does will be killed. Am I understood?"
As soon as she said that, the man began to squirm in her grasp, not that it mattered. He cursed at her, called her unsightly things, but she didn't care about that. No, all she cared about was making sure that this one man—the man who had been the one to pull the trigger to Sayaka's head—was made an example of. Everyone stared at the man, who had been some sort of Rat Faunus, their expressions a mix of seriousness and horror at what they were going to witness, and it only took the first 30 seconds to see what Plague did.
30 seconds in, and his skin turned sickly pale along with him puking up blood.
A minute in, boils began to appear on his skin. When they appeared, the skin around them began to rot, and they popped, spewing out puss, blood, and some other kind of liquid. All of this was coupled alongside more frequent blood vomiting. A few people struggled to watch, but Jolyne didn't care.
1 minute and 30 seconds in, their skin began to fall off in patches, revealing muscle and tainted black blood. More boils began to appear, as blood began to drip from the man's nose. His hair began to fall out, and his arms began to twitch and convulse. One soldier looked away, and when they did, Whitesnake appeared in front of them, stole their DISC, and punched a hole through their chest.
Everyone now knew the risk of looking away. Those that were going to look away now locked their sights on the slowly dying man, who was starting to cry in pain and scream. Jolyne did not care. He deserved worse as far as she was concerned, but this was the best she was going to get.
2 minutes into the torture and his fingers began to fall off, along with more of his skin, which most of it had been covered in popped and growing boils. His body was cold now, but he was still alive, as was evident by the mumbling. He was bleeding from his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes now. He looked more like a corpse than he did a person. His Faunus traits, that being his tail and whiskers, had gone. His tail was now a slag of flesh at Jolyne's feet, and the whiskers had fallen out with the rest of his hair.
Finally, after 2 minutes and 30 seconds, Plague went away as the man died. Jolyne dropped the corpse to the ground, before turning her hand into Magma and dropping a giant glob of the liquid rock on the corpse, melting away whatever was left of the man. Upon looking up at the rest of the soldiers, they looked as if death had warmed over.
Picking up her scythe, Jolyne returned it to her inventory, then spoke. "Congratulations. Only two of you were killed. The plague-riddled corpse, and the man with the hole through his chest. Of course, your other co-workers were killed in my initial attack. But that is now behind us, because if it isn't I will see to it that you all join them. Am I clear?"
"YES MA'AM!"
There was a certain pleasure she got when she heard the cacophony of voices answer her as if she was a general. But that very brief moment of pleasure vanished. She fought back the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. All she wanted now was to see Sayaka's body. That was it, that was all she wanted. To see with her own eyes the truth. Just so she had a physical form of confirmation, and not just a stat screen and the words of a dead man. "Can one of you… please. Bring me the body of that blue-haired slave you captured."
There were no words, one of them simply did as they were told. A few minutes later, they returned with the body in their arms. Her fears had come true. It wasn't a misidentity, it wasn't a mistake on Mono's part. In the arms of that White Fang soldier, was Sayaka.
She was deathly pale, her eyes wide in pain and horror. Blood trailed down her forehead and stained the back of her blue hair a scarlet red. Carefully, the White Fang Soldier laid the corpse in front of The Dragon Faunus, who had knelt down to it. She vaguely heard the soldier mutter something to the effect of "We will atone for this, we promise" before walking away.
They treated her like a God. But that wasn't what she needed right now. She needed to be left alone with the body. That was it. That was all she needed.
Gently, Jolyne lifted a hand under Sayaka's back and propped her up on her knee. Her neck went limp as her head bent backward, her long blue hair draping across the ground. She was wearing fresh rags consisting of brown leather clothing with wear and tear.
Jolyne's hands shook, as she lowered her head into the girl's chest. She desperately wanted to hear a heartbeat, but nothing came. She wanted this to be a dream—or more appropriately a nightmare—but as was evident, by the multiple sources of information given to her… Sayaka was dead. It wasn't anyone else in her Guild. Just Sayaka.
"First Kotoko… then Junko and Mukuro… now Sayaka…." Jolyne thought, tears streaming down her face as she cried. She bit back a sob, but it didn't change anything. She felt nothing but grief and sorrow.
She was looking forward to seeing Sayaka again. But now… now she couldn't. Now she was dead. Her voice, her touch, all of it was gone. She had only known her for a few weeks at best, but those had been the best weeks of her life.
Her smile… Sayaka's smile was so full of life. The idol was the only thing from the previous world that stopped her from going full psycho. But she was gone now. Taken way far too soon.
Sometimes, she forgot that everyone she was surrounded by were just as mortal as the people she mowed down to get experience points to level up and complete quests. They weren't like her. They could never be like her. And that was one of the reasons she was holding Sayaka's corpse and not her still-breathing body.
Without warning, a hand was placed on her shoulder. She had no idea who it was that had touched her, but she wasn't in the mood for caring. Just how long had she been crying for? For all she knew, she could've been crying for hours, and that was probably the case. She didn't care if she looked weak, she didn't care if she looked like a mess… she didn't care at all.
Jolyne looked over her shoulder to see who it had been who grabbed her shoulder, and it was there when she saw Rantaro. He most likely had chased after her when he realized that she had gone off to kill the White Fang. For whatever reason he had, Jolyne wasn't exactly in the mood to ask. He had a pained expression on his face, as was evident by the look of concern in his eyes. "Jolyne… what happened?"
"I failed…" The Dragon Faunus choked out, her voice strained. "I-I… I attacked the camp… and in response they killed her…." As Jolyne said that, she looked over to the other White Fang Soldiers. They were all staring at her, terrified of her yet waiting on her orders. She looked over to her left and saw Tyrone, curled up on the floor with his nose rustling under her hand. He was whimpering. He could sense her sadness.
He truly was just a big dumb dog.
"Rantaro… I want you to load the body up on Tyrone, and I want to give it a proper burial. We'll be having a funeral tonight. I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do this anymore…. I can't just rush in like this. It cost me Sayaka… I didn't even know she was here…. If I had known I would've… I-I would've…." She could feel the tears starting to build up again.
Rantaro helped her to her feet and hugged her. Jolyne didn't fight it. She didn't question him or anything. She simply hugged back, crying her heart out on his shoulder. He gently rubbed her back, and it was comforting, if only slightly. He let her go, wiping away at her sole remaining eye to clear the tears away. "Alright. And I take it you're coming with me?"
Jolyne nodded, as she gestured to the other White Fang soldiers, all of whom were a few feet behind her. "As are they. They will be joining the army we're building for Styx," Jolyne said. She was trying to change the subject. She didn't want to think about this anymore. "Speaking of… how is Styx?"
"Better," Rantaro replied, walking over to Sayaka's body and picking it up. As he did, Tyrone began to stand up. He towered over every living being in the area, though that was to be expected. Tyrone was a Beowulf, a Grimm. They were designed to be terrifying. If one didn't tower over something, then what was the point?
"Recently, though, a fight broke out between myself and a traitor from Ronin's group of hunters. One of them was a White Fang Spy and decided that right then was going to be his time to announce himself. I got to try out my new Snake powers, but it left me in a sort of fugue state. It was only thanks to Monica and Jataro that I snapped out of it," Rantaro explained as Jolyne nodded numbly.
Right. Monica and Jataro. What were they going to think when they saw Sayaka's corpse? Well, they weren't going to be rattled by guilt. How could they? They had only known her for a few days at most. All they knew was that Sayaka had been Jolyne's girlfriend.
She couldn't take her eyes off Sayaka's corpse. It shouldn't have been that. She should've been alive.
This was her fault. If she had just planned something. For once in her life, instead of rushing forward, she should've planned something. She should've come up with a strategy. Something, anything! Maybe it wouldn't have changed anything, maybe it would have. She didn't know, and quite frankly it was driving her crazy.
Jolyne walked up to the body and grasped its right hand. When she did, she felt something land in her hand. Taking her hand away from the body, Jolyne saw that there was a coin in her hand. With a raised eyebrow, she was about to ask what it was about before Mono pinged her a notification.
[This is a Memory Coin. When someone with 100 Reputation and 100 Affection dies, their corpse will drop a coin that contains a list of their memories up until their death. You can view them by breaking the coin, and when it is broken and used up, it will simply reform allowing you to review their memories again and again. This is the most I can do for you, Jolyne. I am sorry. Perhaps you will come across her again on your journey]
Jolyne sighed. The Dragon Faunus forgot about that. There was a chance that she could run into Sayaka again. Either she was in heaven, or, she had chosen to reincarnate. Either way, it didn't matter. What mattered now was going back to Styx and having a funeral. Then… she would plan. She was going to make sure everyone else was rescued.
Sayaka was dead because of her recklessness.
She would never be that reckless ever again. Especially if it would result in the death of someone that close to her. Looking over her shoulder, she gestured for everyone to follow her. The White Fang Soldiers, terrified of her, did as they were commanded. Rantaro and Jolyne got atop Tyrone, as Rantaro secured Sayaka's body.
The trek was going to take a few days. She thought about using Huginn to instantly transport herself from the desecrated base of The White Fang back to Styx but thought against it. She wanted to mourn in peace, without anyone asking her questions. And besides, this trek could serve as extra punishment for the White Fang. Rantaro was probably going to get hungry, but he was a survival expert.
If anyone decided to run away, Jolyne would kill them. It would take the edge off for her. Besides, it was the least she could do. These people, even if they were now loyal to her, were still monsters. They still enslaved people and did so without batting an eye.
These people were White Fang. They were monsters. They were slavers. But now, they sided with her. She would figure out what to do with them when she got back. She still had a little runt to question in Zain, and now she had a funeral to attend.
In that time during the funeral, the other White Fang Bases were most likely going to be gone, but at least she would know where they would be. "Sanus… I'll need a map. Once I find Sanus, I'll make it my mission to hunt down The White Fang, and I will destroy what remains of it. I'll take those who are willing to join me, but everyone else will die, and the slaves will be returned to their families…"
She hadn't even been in this world longer than three days, and it had kicked her while she was down, spat on her, and mocked her. Unlike the last world, though, she didn't get angry. She deserved this. For what she did to the last world she was in, this was more than enough punishment for her.
No matter how much the world kicked her down, spat on her, and mocked her, there was only one thing she had left to do. And that was to continue forward. She chose this life, she chose this burden. She chose to be entertainment for Daimen, Disciple Of Loki. If this was what was to happen, then so be it.
"I hope you're happy, Daimen… I hope you find this entertaining…. Because I don't. I hate this… and I hate you…. Damn you. Damn you to hell…!"
Daimen didn't reply to her taunts. Even if he did, it probably would've been a quip of some sort. Whatever the case was, Daimen didn't care for what she had to say. The Dragon Faunus lowered her head, and grit her teeth.
The cracked moon's light shone down on her, and as it did, rain fell along with the moon's light.
-To Be Continued-