The bullhead set down at the edge of Sanctus. Raven and Taiyang exited, with Peaco following close behind after locking up. While the day was nowhere close its end, the sky was a dark swirl with thunder cracking occasionally.
"This place is swarming with Evil Energies, Sire" Gnarl informed her telepathically. "The darkness, however, is likely work of a powerful magical artifact. Seize it, Master, and let it serve your cause!"
A Tower Gate opened nearby them. Taiyang looked at it with curiosity, and though he looked relaxed, Raven knew him well enough to recognize when he was on guard.
"An Overlord mustn't be without her guard, Master!" Gnarl admonished her in a friendly manner. "Besides, who will carry that artifact? Your Dark Maleficence? No, no, that will not do at all."
Raven smiled, amused greatly. Well, she hardly can refuse if they wished to labor instead of her. Fourteen Minions jumped out of the gate, one after another in rapid succession, five of them carrying her Gauntlet which they put on her right hand.
"There's more of them? I thought Peaco was the only one." Taiyang remarked.
"They call themselves 'Minions'." Raven explained simply. "They pledged themselves to serve me."
She snapped her fingers, and the gate sunk into the ground, disappearing as if it was never there. She started walking into the village, her ex and her forces following closely.
"So, these Minions, what are they?" he insisted.
"Tribalized group of Evil worshipers." she said with an unconcerned shrug. "They chose me to be their version of Salem. This specific tribe, there's four total but I have only them, came with this Gauntlet-" she waves her Gauntlet-clad hand in his face, "-an Evil lair -a bit of a fixer-upper, but they're working on it-, and Magic powers."
"Mhmm" Taiyang hummed affirmatively. "I didn't think that teleporting circle was part of your Semblance."
"It even came with a Magic teacher, so my powers will only keep rising up and up." she said, and with some concentration, she used Telekinesis to move a nearby stick to her Gauntlet-clad hand. "See? Though, I've started recently, so there's plenty to learn."
"And is it gender-based like the Maiden powers?" Taiyang asked with obvious curiosity.
"Join me, Taiyang!" she suddenly said with an overly-serious tone, and a dramatic sweeping gesture. "Look what powers over reality my Evil might could bestow upon you!"
"Yes, this could be very useful when I feel too lazy to get up and get the TV remote." he replied in a voice as faux-serious as her own tone. "So where do I sign to trade my soul away?"
Raven waved her hand dismissively. "Tai, if you feel too lazy to get the remote, then is it really right to burden yourself at that moment with Magic? I have better solution for you! Have you heard of this hot new thing called slavery?"
"You seem to be a bit late to the trend, Raven. It has been banned since the Great War."
"So has murder! That's no reason to not engage in a bit of recreational homicide, now is it?"
He laughed good naturedly at her dark humor, and even she smiled. He swept his hand over the Minions. "So, what, are they all your slaves? I'm not sure how comfortable I'm with that."
"It depends on your perspective, I guess." she said and then after a few moments clarified. "Take for example…" she looked around and then pointed at Peaco, "Peaco! Do you like serving me?"
"Peaco likes serving the Dark Lady!" he replied with happy enthusiasm. Raven nodded with satisfaction and swept her hand over the rest of her Minions. "And the rest of you?"
"We live for the Overlord!" was their equally enthusiastic response.
She turned her head to regard Taiyang. "See? They are my slaves willingly. They think their purpose in life is to live and die by the Overlord's command; that'd be me in this case. And from that perspective, is it really slavery if they consent?"
"That's pretty morbid." he commented gloomily, but did not let the matter drop. "So what's your perspective on this?"
She rolled her eyes. "I hardly think the distinction matters. They are obviously my slaves; that they had chosen me, or that they are willing, seems to hardly matter to me. But I was hardly ever one to entertain the philosophy of morality. I prefer the cold truth; the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."
"Yes, you were always good at leaving that for those of us with a moral compass." his gloomy expression soon turned into a small smile. "Though I can think of a few times where you helped out others without any obligation."
"The fact that I am strong, or Evil for that matter, doesn't mean I can't help those that I favor with my attention. I'm not heartless, my semblance is proof of that." she waited for a few moments. "What do you think, then?"
"About your Minions?" he asked, and when she nodded, he clarified his position. "Well, I'm not exactly happy about that, but if that's what they want…" he paused for a few moments and something dawned on him. "You said you're the Overlord right now. There were others then? Are they a hidden secret like Salem?"
"I'm not the first Overlord, and I probably won't be the last." Raven confirmed to him. "Like I said, they worship Evil, and consider an Overlord to be something akin to a champion of Evil. When one dies, they find another worthy, and serve him instead. Or her, in this case. As for your other question…" she paused as she pondered the best way to answer him, "let's say this is my secret to hold for now. Maybe I'll share it with you one day."
"Trying to be mysterious, are you?" he said with a hint of amusement.
"I've gotta keep some secrets, don't I? Besides, it is a long story."
Taiyang nodded in acceptance, and they continued their march into the depths of Sanctus in silence. Soon enough, the houses came into view. They gave out a depressing aura, as if the presence of the Apathy Grimm somehow managed to seep itself into the homes, except where Apathy made you not care, this instead made you feel like the world was collapsing around you the longer you stayed in their presence.
"It must be a pretty powerful Evil artifact to be able to corrupt the aura of Apathy like that…" Raven murmured to herself. Gnarl was right; this could prove very useful to her indeed. Though, it seemed that her murmur wasn't nearly quiet enough.
"What's this about an Evil artifact?" Taiyang asked. He seemed to be handling the depressive aura admirably enough, clearly a skill borne out of experience. Raven frowned slightly. She didn't like being reminded of his hardships. She extended her Gauntlet-clad hand, and with a delighted cheer, her Minions set off to scout, smash, and loot.
"My advisor suspects that there's a powerful Magical artifact here. Given the effect it's having, its nature is pretty clear." Raven explained as she focused on keeping a tight hold over her Minions. A death would signify the location of at least some of the Apathy Grimm.
"I'm going to guess that it's also a Minion?"
"My advisor? Yeah, he's a Minion. He also advised my predecessors, apparently. You'd be surprised at how smart he is."
"For a Minion? Or in general?" Taiyang asked seeking clarification. "Because, no offense, they don't seem a particularly smart lot."
Raven laughed. "I know right? I'm pretty sure they're only ever concerned with three things; The Overlord, smashing, and looting. But, no, Gnarl's actually smart. Very knowledgeable too. I'm convinced that as they get older, if they manage to survive long enough, they begin undergoing Grimm-like evolution."
"Brothers forbid, they're already violent enough." he said with a small shudder. "I hope you meant the growing intelligence instead."
Raven nodded. That is indeed what she had meant. One of the Minions returned to her. "Master! Come fast!" The Minion ran off back where he came from, and Raven, Taiyang, and Peaco followed him. They walked six feet and went into one of the houses, and even Raven let out a gasp of shock, something completely uncharacteristic to her. There were body of a dead family; wife, husband, and three children. If it were just that, it wouldn't have bothered Raven, though the sight would certainly not pleased her, but the corpses looked less like human bodies, and more like a finished juice box, completely squeezed out. She looked around. The Minions did not appear to be disturbed, but were on edge. They clearly realized the danger they were all in. Peaco moved to cover her back, a needless gesture, but she was thankful all the same. There was no humor left on Taiyang's face, nor did he look ready to vomit. She found only rage on his face, and placed a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention to her.
"I'm glad I decided to take on this mission." Raven admitted. "I'd rather not have been caught by whatever did this unaware."
Taiyang slowly nodded. "Yeah…" he paused for a bit then continued. "This will sound harsh, but I'm glad this happened here, not in Vale."
Raven nodded in understanding. She didn't wish this horrible fate on her daughter either. She turned to look at one of the Minions. "Was this in all of the houses?" While no individual Minion had an answer to her question, each could confirm that this was indeed the case for the houses they saw.
"This is not the work of Apathy." Taiyang stated the obvious to make sure they were both on the same page. "Brothers! If Beacon knew it was this bad they would have wasted no resources in eliminating these monsters!"
"Last I checked there are still Evolved Grimm at Glenn." Raven murmured absentmindedly, more out of habit of speaking out against Beacon than anything else. Taiyang seemed to recognize that and they didn't erupt into an argument. She knew, of course, that for all his faults, Ozpin would have done best to resolve this immediate problem. Or, perhaps, it was best to say that she hoped. No one really knew anything when it came to Ozpin.
"I don't suppose one of your secrets is knowing exactly what did this?" Taiyang asked her with hope in his voice. Raven forwarded that question to Gnarl.
"I'm sorry, Dark Lady, but I am as baffled as you are." Gnarl admitted. "The closest fitting creature would be a vampire, but…no, that can't be. Nobody really liked them, and both Good and Evil have done their best to hunt them to extinction. Even if this was one…the bodies left after are never this…squeezed out. This looks like even the bones and organs were affected."
"No, I have no idea. And neither does Gnarl." at his look she elaborated. "Telepathy. Perks of one of the items back in my Dark Tower. I'll explain later if you want."
He nodded absentmindedly, accepting her words, and adopted a thinking expression. "We can't just wonder around aimlessly…" he began thinking aloud, "they'd surround us and we'd be done for easily…and all this ambient depression is dulling the sensing of Grimms' malice, so that's not an option either… " he thought for a few more minutes, before his face lit up in realization. "We find a house with multiple floors and lure the Grimm there!"
"Why?" she could certainly understand the advantage of luring in an enemy into a location that's advantageous to you, but what advantage multiple floors could offer she didn't understand.
"Well, aside from the booby traps we could place in any other place, there would be more than one celling we could collapse of our enemies to either create artificial chokepoints, or just block them off if we need to retreat. We could also go up the second floor and break the stairs gaining a height advantage." Taiyang excitedly explained.
"Hmm…." Raven murmured deep in thought. "…This could work. I think I saw a few large houses, so we have plenty to choose from. You've got Dust?" Her Omen had dust permanently infused into it. That allowed her to use dust based attacks, but prevented her from being able to separate that dust out and use it to make traps.
"I always have dust." he responded with a bit of a boast. "The real question here is if the High and Mighty Dark Lord Raven will lower herself to us mere humans and help out with the traps."
She bristled indignantly, though she knew the jab was nothing more than playful. Her competitive side lit up, and her face settled into a confident smirk.
"Lead on, Tai. You'll have to work twice as hard to catch up to my trap making abilities, Mr. City Slicker."
"Oh, you're on, Raven!"
The friendly banter helped wash away the horrors left behind by the Grimm. They explored every home, Minions taking the opportunity to loot them all bare, until they found one that worked for them. It was a two story home, and the south-eastern window was pointed at another window across the street, to another two story home. Worst come to worst, they could always jump through that window into the other home. Unless they wished to give up, of course, in that case Raven's Tower Gates, or her Semblance, could take them away. But neither of them considered that an option.
"Lightning Dust or Ice?" Taiyang asked as he was weighing his options for the traps. "Fire is out for obvious reasons, and Wind and Water both work better as the Ice combination."
Raven thought over it for a moment. "Go for Ice." she said finally. "That works on everything."
She extended her hand, and he tossed her a few Ice Dust crystals to her. There were a few ways to make dust-based traps, she recalled. One was the usage of Dust Weaving, though that only worked for organic matter, and best with clothing. She noted the wooden floor. Perhaps a challenge to a novice, but not to her. She kneeled down on her knees and began to work on trapping the doorway. Another way, she recalled as she briefly glanced at Taiyang working on his own traps –activated by damage-, was to reduce the dust to the powdered form and either scatter it around or put it in an object making a lesser, and crude, Dust Grenade. He opted for a bit of both, and when Ice Dust ran out, he made more with the Lightning Dust, the debate appearing to have been for naught. Once this doorway was trapped, they similarly secured other two.
"Will you do the honors?" he suddenly asked when he saw her finish. He didn't need to clarify his thoughts, they both knew each other well enough to understand with little words. Raven rephrased her thoughts remembering the recent emotional moment in her tent; they knew each other well enough to read each other's thoughts in combat situations, at the very least. She nodded at him, and left the building, pulling out her Omen with the yellow blade as she did. She pointed it at the sky, and activated the Dust Infusion. Lightning shot out of the blade, and a loud thunder was heard all throughout Sanctus.
Raven laughed, a hint of madness in the sound, as her heart raced. There was no going back now. This will be bigger than even the fight at the Containment Zone, if not in the amount then in the strength of the enemies.
She rushed back inside. There was no need for words; he heard the boom as well as the Grimm that would be lured here. Their plan was brilliant in its sheer simplicity. They let some of the Grimm in, Raven activates the Ice dust to block the entrance, they deal with the Grimm, rinse and repeat. If they break through the ice wall, they retreat and repeat the same at the next entry way. Let the Grimm in, Taiyang throws his Ice Grenade, deal with the Grimm. Eventually they would retreat upstairs and break the stairs. Like the previous measure, temporary. The Grimm would find a way. And if they ever do need to jump through the window? Well, some Fire Dust would leave the Grimm a nice parting gift.
After waiting for a few minutes, uncertainty seized Raven. Grimm were in large part, loud and violent. Yet…there was no sound, no sign that there was anything that had heard her call. She felt a hand on her shoulder, a comforting gesture, and looked at Taiyang to her side.
"They will come. It doesn't matter whether or not they are Grimm, they won't be able to resist."
Raven nodded slightly. That made sense. In the coming minutes the wave of depression began hitting them harder and harder. Raven readied herself.
"Steel yourself, Dark Master, the enemy draws near." words of Gnarl whispered in her ears. She felt a mental connection establish between herself and her Minions; clearly Gnarl wanted to impart one final message to them before the battle.
"Stand tall, you putrid lumps of flesh! Make your Master proud! Let none defy our Dark Lady!"
The Minions roared loudly and proudly, with cheers 'For the Overlord!' and readied themselves for battle. Taiyang looked at them with some amusement, before drawing his attention back to the entrance.
"Lively bunch, aren't they?"
Before Raven could answer, she saw a speck of darkness in the corner of her eye, and sent a pulse of aura at her dust-weave. The ground illuminated light blue, and with a shattering sound, the ice encased the entire doorway, with the specter barely not trapped in it. Raven smiled. So far, everything's according to plan. Her smile soon turned to a frown of concern. The Grimm, Apathy as suspected, looked unlike any that she had ever seen. The skeletal structure was still there, sure, but all the white seemed to be exchanged for black that was darker than their bodies, with an eerie unnatural glow. The red glow of 'life' you could once see in their eyes and mouth was black as well, with stripes of brownish-yellow running through it.
Her sword pierced the thing's mouth as it opened in an attempt to unleash its signature will-draining screech, and her Minions made sure it was really dead. Unnecessary, but not unwelcome. All Grimm had a weak spot somewhere. The weakness was often fatal. For those who dared enough to strike at the Apathy as it was about to scream, and those agile enough to succeed, they would be rewarded by a swift victory.
The Grimm dissolved, and Raven absorbed its Life Force. This, too, will serve to bolster her army, the same as her excursion to the Containment Zone. In time, her army would be without end. Who could even truly resist her then; with her army so great?
She fell to her knees, screaming in agony –as did her Minions, she could feel- as the shriek of the other Apathy destroyed her ice barricade. That…
"That's not Apathy!" Taiyang finished her thoughts, voice sounding weaker, same as she felt. She felt as if the scream had stolen parts of her energy, and with approaching horror she slowly realized the reason their victims looked as they did.
"They're draining our Life Force!" she exclaimed, voice overwrought with horror. The Apathy began pouring in by the dozen from the now-destroyed entrance while they came to terms with their new enemy.
She felt many hands drag her away, and then Boom! Parts of second floor collapsed on the approaching horde, and, for now, sealed up the entrance once again. The wreckage was flaming, and with a quick glance upwards, Raven noticed that so was the area around the hole in the second floor.
"Up, Master! You not let the bad Grimmies kill you, okay?"
Peaco, it seemed, had taken the initiative while they were in shock, and with a quick look at Taiyang's arsenal, and stole one of Taiyang's newly made Lightning-grenades, and used it to artfully collapse parts of second floor on the Grimm. She stood up, and helped her ex-husband up too. They would survive. Now that they knew what to prepare for, they would handle the next attack better. The combined screech of these corrupted-Apathy had stolen a good amount of their strength, but they had plenty left to raise hell.
"You did good, Peaco." Raven honestly complimented him "The rest of you did well too to drag me away from Peaco's attack."
While the Minions cheered on happily, if extremely weakly, Raven sheathed her current blade and attached a green one. Its infused plant dust worked its job as Raven used it to procure a thick plant from the ground. She quickly cut it into roughly earhole sized pieces and gave one to Taiyang and Peaco, as well as keeping one for herself. The rest of her Minions were replaceable.
"Good call. We really should have brought some ear protection against the screams. But…you think this will work for the new one?"
"Worth a shot." was her thoughts on the matter, and she relayed them as such. "If they even weaken the impact, then it's good enough for me."
Raven send her Minions to the next defense point behind the next passageway, as she replaced her green blade with light blue, and used it to freeze the burning hole above. She didn't need the entire upper floor collapsing upon them; they had problems enough as it is. As she too, withdrew, and she noticed Taiyang had went with her Minions, she heard another round of screeches. They tore through the rumble collapsed upon their comrades, and advanced upon Raven's group. The distance and the earplugs did wonders to lessen the blow of Apathy's loud attack.
A grenade landed at the feet of the Grimm group, and the resulting explosion encased them in ice. Without a second thought, Raven rushed to capitalize on it before more Grimm could flow from outside and free their brothers. In a handful of seconds, she had skillfully destroyed her enemies, and jumped back to make as much distance as possible. When she got to Taiyang, she gave him a grateful pat on the shoulder.
"Great thinking. Looks like the teaching gig didn't make you a loser after all." Her words lacked any real malice, and was just a compliment hidden in teasing. He smirked in response, and they got ready for another wave.
The Apathy, however, have seemed to learn somewhat from the mistakes of their brethren, and stopped some ways before crossing the boundary. They were close enough to scream, and opened their mouths to do so. Taiyang, however, was a prepared Huntsmen, and used this opportunity to lob another one of his grenades at the Grimm's open mouth. Boom! the Lightning grenade exploded, and boom! went that batch of Grimm.
After several similarly failed attempts but with differing causes of death; sometimes it was grenades, sometimes the Minions would throw other Minions in the mouths of the Grimm and tear them from inside; sometimes Raven would use her green blade to sprout a plant from the inside of the Apathy's mouth, and use its branching parts to pierce other Grimm, and then set it aflame with her red blade, the Grimm learned that the only way was to overflow the warriors' defenses and attack them then, when, at least one of them, would land a successful attack against the enemies. That, in itself, posed its own share of problems.
However, luckily for the Grimm, there were far more of them, then there were of their enemies, and there are few traps that cannot be overcome by more bodies than triggers.
The Minions needed no encouragement, and when the traps were no more, they rushed to meet the Apathy Grimm while Raven, Taiyang, and Peaco retreated to yet another doorway, last one before they would have to go up. The Minions fought well, Raven could sense; they fought, killed, and died in her name. She spared them but a moment of thought, before summoning a Minion Gate near her and bringing forth their replacements.
More Apathy came in a lunatic plan to overwhelm them. Raven's traps froze them for easy murderization; Taiyang's exploded creating spikes at its location, and often showering the area in mini-ice-spikes. Quick swordwork made sure this was not ever a problem that would harm them. Like before, eventually the traps had ended, and with an adept shockwave of aura, Taiyang collapsed the top of the doorway on the Grimm. Apathy had already proved that this would not stop them for long. However, where Grimm struggled to plan, this came easy for this duo.
"I need to do something." Raven suddenly announced. "Toss the Minions up to the second floor through the hole, would you? I have a plan."
Taiyang obeyed, and his trust would be rewarded in suffering of their enemies. Raven attached her white blade, and pointed it at the rubble. As soon as the Minions were all upstairs, she unleashed the blade's infused wind dust, and had the wind blast push the rubble into the approaching wave of Apathy.
"Now that there is nothing blocking their path, nothing they can't go around, they will see no need to unleash their scream." she said, and waved him to follow her. "Come on, let's retreat to the top of the stairs."
"But what about the Minions? Why did you..Ah!" his face suddenly lit up in realization. "Ambush. They will jump down and attack them as they pass by."
"Exactly." Raven confirmed with a nod. "Even Grimm can be caught off guard. They will jump down on their skulls, smash the Apathy to the ground, and through the weakpoint in their eyes, kill the Grimm. With any luck, they will manage to retreat before the next wave reaches close enough to roar at them."
Out of fourteen Minions that were sent for this ambush -Peaco was not sent as Raven wanted to cultivate his potential, not sent him to a suicide mission- ten returned back and regrouped with Raven, Taiyang, and Peaco; the other four had chosen instead to attack the Apathy head on and stall to give others time to retreat.
As Apathy began to approach the stairs, Raven was thankful that while Apathy could learn, somewhat, thinking outside the box was still a foreign concept to them. If they had been smart, they'd have surrounded the house, and tore it all down; removing their capability to hide. Quickly she set fire to the stairs with her red blade, and Taiyang used a shockwave of aura to collapse part of the roof on the top of the burning stairs, and the area before it.
"I think we should jump to the next house", Taiyang suggested. "We burn this one to the ground and hopefully kill of the Grimm with it."
Raven nodded. "Then we quickly retreat to avoid being boxed in. We might have some trouble out in the open, though."
Taiyang gave a cocky smile. "Since when has big trouble ever stopped Team Stark?"
Raven gave her a cocky smile in return, and sprint-jumped her way through this house's window to the house on the other side. Taiyang, and her Minions soon followed. A bit of Fire Dust courtesy of her ex-husband, and their previous location became a roaring fire. They quickly made their way outside, and were met with a horrid realization. They've killed about forty Apathy, but as they looked around, they saw forty more.
"This place…" Raven murmured to herself voice surprised but resigned. "Regular groups of Apathy are bad enough, but so many of these corrupted ones?"
The Grimm locked on to her group, and Raven risked a look to Taiyang.
"Still up for being brave?"
He laughed somewhat weakly, and nodded.
"Still up to do something stupid?" he asked instead.
Raven smirked at him, summoning her confidence and courage.
"Can't let you take all the glory, now can I? And I don't exactly feel like coming empty handed, after all, who knows what someone as vicious as me would do to cover her wounded pride…"
It was more jest than fact. If she needed to retreat, she would, pride be damned. And she certainly wasn't planning on starting some other mess that'd bring her more trouble than its worth. But the jest helped to relieve the tension, so it was alright by her.
One of the Apathy opened its mouth to scream, the attempt silenced by Peaco who threw his makeshift spear at its mouth. Raven extended her gauntleted hand, and her Minions rushed at their northern enemies with a delighted cheer in her honor. Raven and Taiyang split up, Taiyang going east; Raven going west. They would fight for their lives, and would retreat only if all hope seemed lost. The damned Grimm would rue the day they thought to challenge her.
The Grimm fell one after another to her blade, even as their relentless screams battered at her life. It was a battle of attrition she was losing. She shot her staff at a nearby group of Apathy, it tore through them as well; this was a good place to use it, and used the brief reprieve to look over their situation. The Minions she sent were all gone bar Peaco who himself was barely staying up. His skin was lifeless, and looked only very barely better than a corpse. To the east, her ex-husband was doing better, but visibly lacking much of life from his features, his breath labored. With a proud smirk she noted that this didn't stop him from tearing through the Grimm.
The smirk turned into a frown. She realized, of course, that this could not go on much longer. Maiden powers were a possibility she had considered, but unless they have a viable endgame solution, their life-leeching screams would kill her like any other being.
"You should seek out the artifact, Master." Gnarl suggested to her in a helpful tone. "It may be that without its corruption, the Apathy's powers would weaken. After all, Sire, Evil does tend to beget more Evil."
Raven nodded to herself as she returned to dealing with other Apathy. Even if the loss of this artifact did not weaken the Grimm, its powers could increase her own. Perhaps it will be a solution in-itself, or perhaps it will simply boost her powers enough to destroy them all in one Maiden-fuelled attack. Either way, she figured, this was the best plan they had so far. She summoned more Minions to reinforce Peaco and Taiyang.
"Tell me you can sense where this Evil artifact is."
"The place is swarming with Evil Energies, Dark Master," Gnarl apologetically replied in a negative, "the artifact is obscured to my senses."
"Great, so you're no use at all then." Raven shot back with annoyance.
She heard an amused laughter in her mind before Gnarl verbalized his response. "You are the Champion of Evil, Dark Lady. Merely demand it to reveal itself to you. We are surely close enough, and when surrounded by so much Evil, it will certainly hear your call, and make its location evident to you."
That sounded absurd to her. "What, am I just supposed to yell out my name and demand for it to reveal itself?"
"You are the Overlord, Master," Gnarl responded simply, "it is only you who would know. There are many inherent powers of an Overlord. You must believe in Evil, Master, and Evil will provide."
"I can't believe I am doing this…" she murmured to herself, before loudly proclaiming. "Evil artifact! In the name of the Overlord, Champion of Evil, reveal yourself to me!"
This was embarrassing, she thought, doing her best to present the face that displayed none of that impression. She saw Taiyang give her a weird look before resuming battle, and the brief respite she had given herself before this proclamation ran out; painfully reminded of that by a corrupt-Apathy's screech.
Suddenly she felt something in the distance, some point of interest her mind had latched on to. Shamefully, she had to admit it took her a few moments to realize that the artifact had heeded her call; it had revealed itself to its Master.
She blasted the nearby Grimm away with her staff, and sprinted to Taiyang, delaying only for a moment to pick up Peaco –even with the reinforcements, she was shocked that he managed to survive- and tugged on his arm.
"Follow me! We're going to burst through the Grimm to the North East."
She didn't wait for his response and rushed off in the direction she mentioned. With renewed determination, she summoned her strength, and cut her way through the Grimm horde. She didn't need to win; she only needed to break through, lethality was a secondary priority.
The speedy breakthrough brought them to the center of the village. In the middle of it rested a stone pedestal from which sprouted a neck connecting to the horizontal skeletal head. It's eyes glowed a mystical pink color, and the same color was also present on its forehead which held an expensive looking gemstone.
"Congratulations Sire!" Gnarl announced sounding incredibly pleased with the situation. "You have found a new Domination spell. Quickly! Summon a Tower Gate so the Minions can safely retrieve it!"
Raven had a distinct suspicion that he liked ordering her to do Overlord-ish things, because she knew for a fact that he could summon the gate himself. Still, she did as she was asked, and with a dramatic raise of her gauntlet-clad hand, she summoned the Tower Gate, and some Minions to carry the artifact to it.
"You're sure it's smart to bring whatever that thing is to wherever it is you're bringing it?" Taiyang inquired at her side.
"Just so I don't have to repeat your words to Taiyang, you think you could connect to him as well?"
"The Tower Heart's connection to you is what makes the telepathy with you so easy, Master." from the sudden jolt Taiyang did, Raven could guess he heard that too. "But still, you don't get to be as old a Minion as me without learning a few tricks…Hello! Hello! Blond Human, do you hear me!?"
"You don't have to be so loud…" Taiyang said while subconsciously rubbing his ears. "But, yeah, I hear you. I take it you're the advisor Raven mentioned?"
Thankfully for them both, now that Gnarl knew he was being heard, he did indeed quiet down to his normal tone.
"I am Gnarl, the Minion Master, and the advisor to the Overlord." Gnarl easily confirmed. "And in my role as your advisor, Sire," he said switching to address Raven instead, "I can guarantee that this is entirely safe. The Tower Heart's power is formidable enough to control any Evil artifact."
"Speaking of which, what is it?" Raven inquired, curious about the new powers that she could now wield at her leisure.
"It's the Confusion Spell, which was lost at the death of your predecessor. I suspect these Grimm were not his only victims in this missing time."
"You speak like the thing is alive…" Taiyang pointed out with a bit of wariness.
"Powerful spells, especially Evil ones, develop personalities over time." Gnarl explained. "They are not alive enough for such complexities as betraying their Master, but as we have seen here, they can be very vicious when they want to."
"We can discuss the philosophical implications later!" Raven cut off Taiyang who wanted to respond. "What does it do? And quick! The Apathy could catch up any minute now."
"The Confusion Spell adds a little randomness into battle. It won't necessarily stop enemies from attacking you, but they may start attacking each other, or running for the hills. It does s-"
"How did it give the Grimm new powers?" Taiyang interrupted him. "You can't confuse an enemy into gaining magical abilities." Raven nodded. "That's a good question."
"I was getting to that. Perhaps if you wish to get some advice, you'd consider not interrupting me, Human?" Gnarl said with an annoyed sneer, before continuing in his lecturing tone. "The spell uses the Evil Energies inside it to corrupt and twist the mind of its targets. Unlike the stronger versions in the Domination line, the spell isn't necessarily concerned with one particular result or another. The corruption ends up twisting the mind; concepts like ally or enemy melts into a singular 'attack!', or sometimes it all gives way to fear. Simple, but delightfully Evil." sensing Raven's growing annoyance, he hurried to connect it all to the Apathy situation. "Evil, Master, as you know, corrupts. While the spell is designed to target the mind specifically, as I have explained previously to you, the corruption itself can target more than just the mind. The original ability of these Apathy, as I understand it, is to cause…well, Apathy, to then easily devour the enemy. What, sire, would be the opposite of that, while keeping true to end goal of death?"
"Opposite of apathetical death…?" she murmured as she thought over the question. The answer hit her hard, and she chastised herself for needing to even mull over the question. "Dying painfully as your life gets eaten away."
"And there you have it" Gnarl said with a cheery finality. "The Grimm should be weaker without their source of power, but their corruption will linger still. Gather your strength, Master, and of your male servant, and destroy your enemies!"
"Hey!" Taiyang protested. "I don't even serve her."
"All who aid our Dark Master either turn to serve the Overlord, or turn to die." Gnarl said dismissively.
Raven turned her attention away from the inane conversation. Her newfound powers won't have use here; their screams will still be dangerous to her, and if they affected one another, the Apathy would be all dead now. Maiden powers were still out of the question, unless she got a better strategy, one which was sustainable as to their own health. There weren't many Apathy remaining, maybe twenty at most.
She suddenly relaxed. There was no longer any problem. She had enough Minions now to win this no matter what. She picked up Peaco who was lying on the ground. He did better than was expected, but while alive; he could not even walk on his own two feet anymore. This, however, gave her an idea. Browns, like Peaco, were created from Life Force. If they could make use of it in birth, why not outside it? She summoned up an orb of brown Life Force, and injected it into him. He shook, and then in a moment, he had regained all his lost life. She tossed him to the ground, and he skillfully landed on his feet.
"Maaaster!" Gnarl addressed her with a whine. "We Minions are replaceable! You should not waste good Life Force on a no longer good Minion!"
"Thank you, Dark Lady!" Peaco said cheerfully instead. "Peaco do his bestest to serve you double good now!"
"Not to sound like a broken clock, but what just happened? I didn't see anything."
Taiyang's voice was lasted with confusion, which wasn't particularly surprising. While she and her Minions could see the physical manifestation of the Life Force, he could not. She'll have to remember to make Gnarl resolve this problem just in case.
"Do you trust me?" she asked instead, as she summoned another orb of Life Force. She wasn't positive on what it'd do to a Human, but she doubted it was anything bad. Humans left Life Force after their death too, after all.
His face grew serious, and with barely a moment of thought he nodded. "With my life, which is what I suspect all this Life Force talk is about. You care about me. I am sure of that."
He was a fool, Raven decided, but it was true. She did mean him no harm. She shot the orb at him, and it inserted itself into him. He gasped in shock, and a smile grew on her face, as life returned to his features. She heard him release a satisfied sigh.
"I haven't felt this good in ages! I feel chock-full of energy!"
"It is not surprising." Gnarl commented as Raven injected herself with Life Force too. Taiyang was right, this was good. "You were injected with a full Life Energy of a being. That is a lot of energy. Any long term damage these new Grimm might have caused will no doubt be reversed by this."
Raven saw the Grimm approaching, and smiled. She was about to charge at the Grimm, but Taiyang's next words gave her pause. "Shame your new powers are worthless here. I was hoping to see something cool."
This was pointless. Why was she even entertaining the idea of betraying her secret with little benefit to herself? If anyone was to find out about Maiden powers in her possession, they were to think that it was her Vernal that was the Maiden. That was the plan. She was not going to-
The sky thundered, and a hefty bolt of lightning struck done three Apathy Grimm. Raven blinked and looked at her left hand that was pointed in the direction of those Grimm. When had she-?
An impressed whistle interrupted her thoughts. "Didn't know you were a Maiden. Well…I did know you weren't a maiden, but I didn't know you were a Maiden."
Raven groaned. This was so not the time for his puns. "I would appreciate if this didn't reach Ozpin or his clique." Now that the cat was out of the bag, she might as well have some fun with her powers. With a wave of her hand, stream of fire lashed out at the approaching Grimm.
"Oh~? I didn't hear anything about Salem." he said teasingly. "No hard feelings if I snitch if I ever decide to join the winning side?"
Raven rolled her eyes, not that he could see it. "I would hope that if you decided to be Evil, you'd throw in your lot with me. I, at least, have no aspirations for extinction of all life."
He joined the fight alongside her, using his aura-enhanced punches, and aura-shockwaves to defeat the Apathy Grimm. They screeched, but without their source of power, and with Raven and Taiyang being as full of life as they were, the attacks hurt more than they injured them.
"Well, sell me on it. What are the benefits? Life as your slave isn't exactly my fetish, you know."
Raven spared him a glance, and she couldn't figure out whether or not he was serious. She shook her head, and used the power of wind to launch Peaco at one of the Grimm, his weapon killing it instantly, and he joined the fight. He probably wasn't serious, but she could play along.
"Aside from working for a beautiful warrior with endless armies and powers to twist the minds of her enemies?"
"Well, the eye candy is nice," he conceded, "but what's your policy on payments? What about gifts of Magical Powers?"
Another bolt of lightning struck down her enemies. "What is Salem's? Being alone in a lifeless world?" Raven countered instead. There was no reason to go over specifics. If he ever truly joined her, he'd be rewarded for his worth. "I guarantee mine is better."
He laughed as he slayed yet another Grimm. Not many more were remaining. "That's not exactly a high bar, Raven."
"All the more reason to choose me instead of her. Besides, Minions are clearly the superior company compared to Grimm."
Peaco tackled an Apathy to the ground, and pierced through its eyehole. "Serve the Dark Lady, Human!" he suggested cheerfully. "The Dark Lady is fun Evil Master!"
She slayed another Grimm, and waved her arm at Peaco. "See, Tai? Glowing recommendations!"
"From a slave." Taiyang said with an eye roll. "I'm pretty sure they are obligated to, at least, pretend to like you."
"I'm not sure they are smart enough to do pretending. Gnarl could, maybe, but, hey, you saw yourself. They all like me! I mean, really, would you die for a person you didn't really like?"
His silence was a victory in-itself for her, and she considered herself having won this little play-pretend argument.
Soon, the Grimm were all vanquished, and riding on the high of success of their stressful, but exciting victory, she seized him, and gave him a deep and passionate kiss. One hell of a way to finish a mission in her opinion.