There has been a slight name change. Antonis has been renamed to Lucien, I split this chapter in half, as it would've been too long otherwise (8-9k chapter).
Chapter 3: Artos
The gentle, rhythmic whirling of the bullhead, accompanied by the clear, sunlit sky, lulled Artos into a serene state of contemplation. Settling back into the caramel-colored leather seat, he closed his eyes, focusing on an elusive stillness, determined to silence the chatter around him. In this moment of quietude, made possible by willing the surrounding chatter into a simple nonexistence, memories of the quiet past two weeks leading up to this journey flashed vividly through his mind.
Mr. Firebrace had gotten into contact with his father, and while Artos wasn't privy to the goings-on of the conversation, it had been about how both he and Aero showed great potential, and although positions couldn't be reserved for the Centurion program, they would be strong candidates.
Besides that, nothing much had occurred. His visions, or so he'd begun to call them, hadn't returned since that day. That was at least until he would close his eyes and drift into the depths of sleep. Every night since that event, he saw that woman. Her eerie smile and decaying features pierced directly into his soul. The scenes that accompanied her were always slightly different, yet just as nonsensical and impossible to understand.
Suddenly, a deep, festering cold assailed him, causing shivers to rake through his body, accompanied by the sudden vacuum of silence. No longer could Artos hear any form of noise, just silence.
Cautiously, Artos opened his eyes. The insides of the bullhead were now covered in a deep frost, and a thick grey fog was present. Scanning his eyes around the bullhead, he noticed the lack of presence. He was alone now. Looking out to where only moments ago was a clear sunny sky, was now consumed by an infinite expanse of fog. The cold was bone-chilling, and if not for his natural affinity towards fire, he would surely be at risk of hypothermia.
"Hello, anyone else here?" Artos called out, the sound meek and hollow, being consumed by the endless fog.
Moving to stand, a strong sense of vertigo assaulted him, and a subtle ringing could be heard, reverberating within his mind, slowly growing in tempo and volume.
Suddenly, an oily black tendril harshly rapped around Artos's leg. Reacting quickly, a flame sprung to life within his hand, only for more tendrils to wrap around his hands, waist, torso, and legs. They pulled him harshly back into his seat, chaining him. The scent of ash was prevalent now, the sharpness of his headache growing in intensity.
Ahead of him, a single sickly yellow eye could be seen swirling within a vortex of shadowy vapor.
Cursing internally, Artos struggled to free himself. This isn't real. I'll burn everything, to hell with the consequences. Focusing, he brought his semblance to bear, not limiting it to his hand, but willing it to pool out of every orifice within his body. The brilliant hue of the flame rose all around him, casting a vibrant glow amidst the frozen setting.
The rising bonfire forced the oily, tar-like tendrils to thrash violently before disintegrating one by one. In front of him, his eyes met the fully formed, ancient, decrepit being that had plagued his mind for weeks. She had emerged from the swirling vortex of infinite darkness and was walking towards him.
Looking around wildly, Artos noted that the tendrils weren't disintegrating fast enough; she would reach him before he could free himself. The feeling of dread pooled up within him, a feeling that only intensified with each audible step the rotting woman's flesh took towards him.
Typically, he couldn't risk the overuse of his semblance, as while his aura meant he was immune to lethal damage, and his semblance ensured he was mostly immune to the dangers of fire, aura would drain from sustaining damage. This included self-imposed damage, like turning his body into a bonfire. Once his aura dropped, his semblance would fall with it, not only leaving him completely vulnerable but also exposed to his own heat. Yet when he looked ahead at the encroaching monstrosity, the presence exuding from her carcass, threatening to crush him, he knew the benefits far outweighed the consequences.
Pushing his semblance to its limit, the bonfire encompassing his being turned into a small sun, a beacon against the ever-oppressive forces assailing him. The smell of ozone became overpowering, and a pain could be felt building beneath his flesh.
As the last tendril writhed and disintegrated into a dark vapor, Artos burst from the chair and outstretched his left arm; the flames lapped at the surrounding air hungrily, intent on consuming all that was in its way. Yet suddenly, a cold, rotting appendage grabbed at his face, and silence consumed him.
Immediately, his fires were quenched, and motion stilled. A loud and heavy silence filled what used to be a bullhead. Everything frozen in place.
The feeling of frost began to flow through his veins, causing them to pulse rapidly, straining against his flesh. Her visage was just as disturbing as before, frozen in place. Artos had no place else to look besides her malignant, sickly yellow iris. The ever-stretching grin ever-present on her face began to pour with an oily, tar-like substance.
"Will you watch as they die?" A wet, grinding voice gently crawled out of her mouth, the sound reverberating through the room, consuming him.
Suddenly Artos found himself free, standing in front of a rotting, rundown, two-story building. The moon high up in the sky shone with a mystical brilliance. Although the color of his surroundings seemed almost muted, more gray than normal.
Before he could process what was happening, he found himself drawn to the broken-down door of the building. Upon entrance, reality warped around him, and he had to grasp at a rotting railing to prevent himself from falling down a staircase.
The sound of gunfire knocked Artos out of his state of contemplation. Quickly making his way down the rest of the staircase and peeking to the right of the outcropping that led to a larger room, he spotted a darkly armored man suspended in mid-air.
In the center of the room appeared to be a deeply wounded girl, yet not much was visible to him. The room was mostly covered in an unnatural fog, almost as if whatever he was watching only wanted him to focus on one aspect of the scene unveiling itself before him.
Stepping forward, Artos quickly noticed the cloaked figure standing on the far end of the room, his hand upturned, clearly holding the straining man in mid-air. Artos found his eyes scanning the cloaked figure with scrutiny, something intense drawing him to the figure. The symbol on his chest—a simple, golden, five-pointed star with runic inscriptions at each point and a central triangle—held his eye. The symbol seared its way into his mind, causing a mind-breaking migraine to take hold of him. Yet, no matter what, he couldn't avert his eyes.
Suddenly, the world collapsed, and Artos heard screaming. The pain throbbed within his mind, and images flooded him. He saw what looked like Ravens Claw, yet it was war-torn and burning. The sound of screaming combined with the crackling of a blazing inferno.
Next, a horde of Grimm could be seen running through deep, infested foliage. As far as the eye could see, Grimm were present, all rushing toward a distant city.
Then he saw that forsaken symbol, the triangle searing its way into his being and tearing away at all that was present.
The shaking of his arm worked to separate Artos away from the disjointed nightmare, operating as a bridge between reality and disillusionment. Clinging to the feeling encompassing his twitching arm, he was brought back to reality. Immediately, color filled his vision. Frantically scanning, Artos saw that his surroundings had returned back to normalcy.
Taking a sharp intake of air to settle his jumbled nerves and frayed mind, Artos met the concerned violet eyes of Lisa.
"Another nightmare?" It wasn't a question, more a statement that demanded an answer.
"It's nothing serious." He never enjoyed lying to her; the statement felt wrong on his tongue.
A sigh met his ears. "Artos, I know something is up with you. I can see it in your eyes. You look almost haunted," she paused for a moment, her shoulders sagging slightly. "You look as if you haven't slept in weeks, not to mention the fact that I've barely seen you recently." Her eyes adopted a solemn look.
Artos hadn't thought of that. He had been rather selfish in that regard; it was foolish to think his family would fail to notice something was wrong with him. Yet what would they think if they found out what was plaguing his mind? That he was crazy? Would they treat him any differently?
"Lisa, look, I—"
"I just want you to know that whatever it is that you're going through, you can always talk to me about it, okay?"
His hand instinctively curled around the armrest of his chair, the leather visibly distorting. It's only fair, I suppose. And it would be good to finally talk about it with someone.
"Tonight… I promise I'll tell you tonight." The widening of her pupils was the first sign of a reaction. "But let's not talk about this anymore for now."
The rest of the journey passed in amicable silence. As the bullhead neared Ravens Claw, the air became noticeably more frigid, snowy aspen trees started to dominate the surroundings, creating a vivid display of natural beauty.
As the bullhead neared the designated landing zone within the city hall, situated amongst towering intricately carved spires, Artos spotted the Rothslor banner hanging in place of the Mistrali one. A group of finely garbed individuals were waiting for their arrival, no doubt his parents' entourage.
"You make for quite the popular stud, eh, old man?" he overheard Lucien remark to their father, only to be met with a snort in return.
"Alright, listen up." His father's voice boomed, driving all eyes to him. "Your mother and I have important business to handle with Lionel Ostori. When we land, you all should go find Raye. Knowing your brother, he should be in a tavern somewhere."
Upon landing, Artos felt a multitude of vibrations from the scroll in his pocket, signifying that they had re-entered CCT range. Pulling his scroll from his pocket, he saw that Raye had messaged him. "Come find me here. I have something to show you." Along with a live location and a poorly taken photo of a tree next to the southern exit of the city.
Relaying the information to his siblings, apparently, they had received the same sort of messages.
Exiting the bullhead, guards had come to escort his parents to the main hall of the city, where no doubt some sort of congregation was to be held. Instead, Aero led them into a narrow path that would lead into the greater city.
Ravens Claw was not as grand as Aponnos, yet that did little to take away from the mystical beauty of the quaint canalled port city, especially at this time of year. Starting from the port was a large canal that broke off at the city center, dividing the city into rustic quadrants. The constant falling snow added to the backdrop to create a breathtaking visage throughout the breadth of the city.
Approaching the southern exit of the city, a head of snow-white hair caught his attention—or rather, who it was attached to. A tall and fair-skinned young woman, dressed in a white long-sleeved Atlesian military coat. Her ethereal beauty felt almost otherworldly, a stark contrast to the surrounding populace. What's a Schnee doing here? She was at the head of a group of Atlesian soldiers, heading towards the main hall.
Although she was at a distance, and her back was turned, the resemblance to the Schnee family was uncanny.
"That's a Schnee, isn't it?" Artos whispered.
Lucien, also spotting the woman, became visibly agitated and opened his mouth to respond. "Looks like it, doesn't it? What's one of those lot doing over here?"
"Those lot? You know who we are, don't you?" Aero sarcastically responded, yet he too stopped and turned his head to observe the retreating Schnee.
"But we have a reason to be here. What reason could a Schnee from Atlas have in Ravens Claw?" Artos distantly heard Lucien mumble.
Ignoring the surrounding argument, in favor of observing her. If he remembered correctly, her name was Winter Schnee, prior heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, yet disinherited when she joined Atlas Academy.
"Winter Schnee," he suddenly stated, ceasing the arguments happening around him. "She was disinherited, remember?" Looking around at the plethora of blank faces, it was obvious that no, no they didn't. "If I remember correctly, she was disinherited for going to Atlas Academy and joining the Atlesian military. Strange then, if she is not here on SDC business, then why is the Atlesian military here?"
Instead of answers, he was met with smirks on the faces of his siblings. "You did your homework now, didn't you, Artos?" Maximus interjected. "Yes, please go on, what else do you know of the girl?" Lucien added, the humor dripping from his tone.
Sighing, Artos chose to ignore the teasing. As he moved to turn around the next corner that would lead to the southern gate, lost in his thoughts, he walked straight into what felt like a wall. However this wall had made a noise when he walked into it.
Looking up, he spotted one of the largest men he had ever seen. He was easily at least two heads taller than Artos, which said a lot considering Artos stood at six-foot-three. He was as broad as he was tall, a light stubble ghosting his face. Comically, he had a completely average-looking face, unmemorable.
To his right was a strangely beautiful woman with ashen-black hair and amber eyes. She wore a vibrant red dress and black high heels that clanked against the coarse ground.
Tearing his eyes away as to not be rude, he stared back up at the giant. "Sorry about that, didn't see you." The absurdity of the comment caused a smirk to rise on the man's face. "Just watch where you're going next time," the man said back, moving to walk past Artos. Yet, as he did so, Artos spotted a tattoo on the man's forearm. A simple, golden, five-pointed star with runic inscriptions at each point and a central triangle.
Within that instant, a sharp pain crept into the back of Artos' mind. A tremble snaked down his spine, and a deep festering cold seeped deep within him, spreading that all too familiar sense of dread. Without thinking, Artos instinctively reached out and grabbed the man's forearm, squeezing hard enough to elicit a grunt from the man. Staring intently into the tattoo, he felt a pull to it, as if it wanted to communicate with him.
"Artos, calm down." Aero's voice seemed to snap him back to reality.
Releasing the man's arm, Artos took a cautionary step back, maintaining eye contact with the clearly angry man. Before anything could happen, the woman in red spoke.
"William, enough. You can't blame our friends here for being curious, now, can you?" The now-named giant, 'William,' instantly settled, his tense shoulders sagging, and tightly furled hands uncurling themselves. The enigmatic charcoal-haired woman stalked around Artos, smiling cruelly. Her cinder eyes danced like molten liquid—enticing, yet equally bloodthirsty. The tension rose to a fever pitch when he heard Aero move for his weapon. Then suddenly, like a switch had been struck, she backed away and called William to her as she stalked past the group.
"What happened, Artos?" It was Lisa who voiced the question as she made her way up to his face.
Why had he done that? Some strong impulse took over him, caused by the damned symbol.
Maintaining eye contact, he spoke shakily, "His tattoo, I've seen it before." Seeing the question in her eyes, he continued, "I don't know why I did that, it just happened… I know that sounds weird." A palpable silence followed the exchange.
It wasn't long until they had left the southern gate of the city and spotted Raye leaning against the tree he had sent a photo of.
When Luna spotted Raye, she ran up to him and crawled up his tall body, akin to how a monkey might climb a branch, with the ultimate goal to sit on his neck. "Getting heavy now, are we?" he said to her, only for Luna to muffle a giggle into his neck piece.
What Raye had ultimately wanted to show them was a nearby creek. Most of the water residing within the creek was frozen over, except for a strip of flowing water that cascaded down from a mountainous outcropping higher up. The flowing water from the waterfall fell near the center patch of the frozen creek, where it wasn't frozen. This caused the center to swirl with an unnatural tranquility. The banks of the creek were covered in mostly untouched patches of freshly fallen soft snow, and the way the rays of the sun shone down on the scenery below caused a kaleidoscope of brilliant flashes to cascade around the surrounding area.
There was a large fallen mossy Aspen trunk residing on the bank of the creek. Artos was unsure of how long they all rested there. When he checked his scroll, the time said it was 18:30, meaning it had been about 2 and a half hours, and sure enough, the sun had started its descent into oblivion. Soon the shattered moon of Remnant would rise in its place.
"Come on, Luna, it's time to go back now." Turning his head in the direction of the noise, he saw Lisa attempting to take Luna away from her position attached to Raye's neck. After much of a struggle, she finally managed it.
Moving to stand, Artos approached the squabbling pair. "I'll come with you. It's getting late."
"How noble of you, Artos." The sarcasm was thick in her tone. "But we will manage just fine."
Opening his mouth to argue, he was surprised when Max stepped in to offer his support. "I'll also head back. I'm getting quite hungry anyway." He finished with a wink.
That left just the four of them. A tense silence filled the air once they had left hearing range. A silence broken by Raye as he gruffly spoke, "I wanted to tell you three about what me and Reed saw the other week. Mainly because I know you all, or at least you two," he gestured towards Artos and Aero, "want to become Centurions. But also because some weird shit is happening, and our parents know about it."
Glancing around to make sure he held their attention, he continued, "Last week, me and Reed got assigned the task of finding a missing girl from none other than Lionel Ostori. Now, the pay was good, so we didn't ask too many questions, but they refused to give us a name to go off of. After pushing for one and threatening to go to Father for an answer, they finally gave us the name Elise, no surname. Anyways, we found a possible location and went in to find her, and this place was horrid. I'm talking ritualistic human sacrifices, corpses, human waste." Seeing the downturn of Lucien's lips, Raye points at it. "Yeah, you get the idea. I get to the basement, and I kid you not, walk right into an active ritual, and the target of said ritual is tied within the center."
A knot of dread began to twist within Artos's chest, his heartbeat quickening into a panicked rhythm. It was real? That's impossible. The world around him seemed to blur as he grappled with the idea that these horrors he had glimpsed were not mere fevered visions but a chilling reality.
"Guess who it is? Elise. When I found her, she was barely lucid, real messed up. From what i know, our parents are meeting with her right now!"
Elise's name was like a jagged shard that pierced through Artos' thoughts. Panic, like tendrils of frost, crept up from the depths of his being, tightening its grip on his heart. It was as if the very air had thickened, constricting around him.
"Maybe that's why Atlas is here as well?" Aero's voice cut through the encroaching haze of dread, but to Artos' ears, it sounded distant, as if he were submerged beneath an icy ocean.
"Atlas is here?" The question reached Artos' ears, but his focus had already shifted elsewhere, his gaze locked onto a distant point, a thousand-yard stare.
"Well, that's not all. When I was freeing her, I encountered a cultist that was able to hold me in thin air. It felt like I was going to get crushed. I remember he had a strange symbol around his chest area, stitched into his robes—a—"
"A runic golden, five-pointed star and a central triangle." Artos' voice trembled, the words slipping from his lips as if he were whispering forbidden incantations. His eyes were fixed on Raye, as if seeking confirmation in his sibling's face.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Raye's raised eyebrow was a stark contrast to the churning storm within Artos' mind. His own experiences, the visions that had tormented him, were converging with Raye's account, melding reality and nightmare in an unholy union.
A sensation of unraveling reality tugged at Artos, as if the fabric of the world were fraying at the edges. What was real? What was imagined? The boundary between the two seemed to blur, and Artos' grip on his sanity wavered like a candle in a gusty wind.
Suddenly it felt as if Remnant herself had split apart, the very land itself shook with such ferocity that it splintered the log they were sitting on and shattered the surrounding frozen creek. The noise was too intense; it left Artos' ears ringing and vision disoriented.
A plume of smoke had already arisen to the sky, distorting the previous picturesque tranquility of the scene. It looked and sounded as if it has originated from Ravens Claw.
Quickly running out from the creeks seclusion, into the open frozen plain, leading to Ravens Claw is when they saw the destruction.
The southern section of the city, where they had all just come from. And where no doubt Lisa, Max and Luna would have just walked through, was all smoke and rubble. The sound of screaming could be heard even from such a distance, and what looked like a raging inferno had taken hold amongst the frozen backdrop.
"Grimm!" he heard Aero yell, looking in his direction he also saw it. In the distance, closing in on the city was nothing but darkness, an unnatural cloud moving in unison, long plums of smoke rose up into the sky, and flying Nevermore could be seen amongst the clouds. If he squinted he could see their eyes, hundreds if not a thousand of them coming this way. The very ground thundered from there steps.
The witch's words from earlier reverberated within Artos mind "Will you watch as they die?" the wet grinding noise stuck in his mind.
Time seemed to slow down as Artos saw that each of his brothers had their own ideas and thoughts running through there minds. We need unity right now, coercion. "We need to find Lisa, Luna and Max. Follow me and stick together. Lucien try and call Max, Aero call Mom." He distantly heard mumbles of agreement. He could hear them following him as he started to sprint towards the destruction of Ravens Claw.