Update took longer than expected, due to life getting in the way. Originally this chapter was supposed to include Rayes POV at the bottom, but I felt if I added that the chapter would be much too long. So I've split it up into its own chapter, coming soon.

Chapter 4: Artos

The harsh frosty breeze blew through his bones, making them feel brittle. Up ahead, large pools of dust swirled and constricted within the drafts of wind, contrasting heavily against the latent purple and blue hues of the night sky, distorting the previous quaint city from before into an amalgamation of frost and smoke. The overhead rising moon shone brilliantly against the rising chaos from below.

As his armored boots pounded into the thick snow, time seemed to slow. Closing the distance between himself and the blast radius, the telltale glow of fire was visible from within the thick viscous swirling smoke up ahead. An orange hue shrouded the frozen surroundings.

Reaching where only hours before sat a mighty gate, now was a molten slag heap. The sound of sustained rapid gunfire could be heard from inside the smoke. It must have looked like a war zone in there. The smell of sulfur combined with the pounding of blood reverberated throughout his mind, drowning out the outside noise. Straining to listen, he heard Aero yell, "Damn it! I can't reach anybody, the connection seems to be fried." Turning to the rest of the group, he heard Lucien's inquiry.

"You think it's the White Fang?"

"If the CCT is down, then this isn't the work of the White Fang; this is a proper coordinated attack," Raye answered for him.

Sliding up close to the shredded section of wall, thousands of thoughts poured through Artos' mind at once, akin to a tsunami making impact into a keyhole-sized opening. The pressure threatened to overwhelm him, and not for the first time he felt as if his reality was crumbling around him. Yet, amongst the constant stream of internal noise, one thought was prevalent: We need a plan.

"They said they were heading home. Lucien and Raye, you check the way we came from; it's possible they might have backtracked their steps." Pausing to see the nods of their heads, Artos continued, "Me and Aero will travel up the canal, where we saw the Schnee going earlier. Those are the only direct paths to the city hall, so they must have gone either of those routes."

"Wait," Raye's voice stopped their movement. "Here, take these. Communications may be down, but these earpieces don't need the CCT as long as we stay in range of each other." In his open palm rested three small black earpieces.

Nodding in thanks, they took their respective pieces of equipment. Holding the black earpiece up to his eyes, he found himself admiring the smooth reflective carbon surface. Gentle vibrations could be seen shimmering through the opaque material, or so he thought. But then why was his hand also vibrating in tune with the earpiece? Following the vibrations down his arm, looking out behind them, Artos found his answer. The black swarm of Grimm was much closer now. He could feel the sense of dread pouring out from the demonic creatures, their glowing crimson eyes bathing the night in crystalline color. Judging by the vibrations of the ground and how fast Grimm could sprint, they would be upon them momentarily.

"Let's move fast; the Grimm will be here in no more than five minutes," Artos called out to the group.

Moving into the thick smoke was akin to entering a new world. Gone were the latent purple hues and blue streams of moonlight, and in its place was a growing twisting inferno, entwining together with the ash and dust of ruined buildings. Taking point, Artos led the group through the destruction. The howls of lost souls could be heard, trapped inside the blazing buildings.

How many lives were just destroyed? The thought pierced its way into Artos' mind. The idea that families would be sitting down at home, eating dinner one moment, and in the next had their lives consumed by molten slag, smoke, and ash.

In catastrophes such as this, the survivors were the victims, not the deceased. After all, it was them that had to live with the nightmares, the suffering, the agony of loss.

The raspy coughs of unseen residents plagued his mind, and from the looks of things, that of his brothers as well.

Coming up to the soot-covered divot in the road, it marked where they would be going their separate ways. Standing directly behind the pivot stood a cracked and disheveled building. Upon closer inspection through a blown-out window, fire could be seen consuming all within its path.

Raye slapped Artos behind the neck as he and Lucien went to move down the left passage. Raye turned and yelled over the sound of the raging inferno behind them.

"Don't forget to update me on your situations, and good luck," he finished while pointing up to the earpiece lodged into his ear canal.

Although Artos nodded his head in thanks, resting his eyes on the departing pair, he soon wouldn't forget the look of fear plastered upon Lucien's face. The downturned lips, tight crevices adorning his forehead, and the cold, sad eyes of despair.

"Come on, let's go."

Artos turned to follow Aero down the right path towards the canal up ahead. The previously meticulous tile, crunching beneath his weight, the soot left it unseen, yet it did little to hide the clear devastation wrought upon it.

The density of ash in the vicinity was noticeably less, and streaks of the moonlit aurora crept through the foggy overhang. Buildings could be seen turned to rubble even this far from the central crater. And the sound of pleading, begging even, filled the air with a palpable sense of dread.

An unnatural scratching noise could be heard just ahead, causing him to stiffen. Although the viscosity of the ash had decreased, the sound still emanated from out of clear view. Whatever it was, Aero would encounter it first.

He heard Aero swear under his breath, with a certain amount of acidity. Swinging Requiem, his assault rifle, from his back, Artos too came to see the macabre visage.

Attempting to crawl upon the cracked soot-covered tile was half a man. Where a midsection should have been, instead was a crudely blown gap, the man's bowels and intestines spilled over the ground, stretching behind the man, to where two legs sat trapped underneath a fallen pillar. Blood pooled out accompanied by sinew, painting a grotesque, almost surreal image. His torn and bleeding nails scraped weakly against the tile, and a low gurgle could be heard emanating from his mouth.

What a terrible way to go.

No time, the voice slithered through the back of his mind, causing his breath to hitch.

Over top of the dying carcass of a man, she stood. Her rotting singular eye glaring at him, yet her head was tilted, and mouth drawn back in anticipation.

Suddenly, a dancing plume of red danced amongst Aero's hands as he took a step toward the dying man, no doubt in a vain effort to try to save him. As his hand twirled, and the man's intestines began to move slightly, a mad, grinding cackle escaped from her rotten lips.

His heart pounded heavily, and veins pulsated angrily amongst his body, yet when he stared deeply into her eyes, he was met with a wide toothless smile. Will you watch as they die? Vapor poured out from her orifices as she intoned her messages, until she was no more.

Leaving his main hand attached to the handle of Requiem, Artos instantly stepped toward Aero and roughly grabbed at his hand. Aero's wide questing eyes met his immediately, "Artos?".

He might've managed to help this carcass of a man, but Artos couldn't let him. The time and energy wasted here wouldn't help them find their family. Although it might've been selfish, that didn't stop him from doing what needed to be done.

"Don't bother, I'll handle him," his cold monotone voice clearly bothered Aero, but that wasn't his problem right now.

Not waiting for a response, he quickly pulled his pistol from his hip and stalked toward the gurgling mess sprawled on the floor. Each step taken felt like he was walking through viscous fluid. Aligning the barrel with that of the man's head, he felt a deep pressure emanating from behind his head.

"Artos, what the fuck are you doing?"

Do it.

There isn't any time.

Do it.

DO IT.

Wrapping his index finger around the trigger, he took a deep breath.

"Putting him out of his misery," he let the reassuring bark of the pistol punctuate his sentence. As the bullet passed through his cranium, his torso slumped into silence, an almost peaceful lull.

A deep calm nestled its way into his body, his shoulders sagging into a calm demeanor.

Looking back at his open-mouthed, wide-eyed brother, he saw the shock mixed with disgust upon his visage, something he would no doubt have to deal with later.

Suddenly, a terrible screech emanated deeply from behind them. Looking back, it was the building from before; its support beam had given way and the foundation of the building was starting to tilt toward them and crumble.

"Run!" Aero barked at him.

He didn't need to be told twice.

The noise of the ground breaking apart threatened to consume his senses, nearing the central canal, thick plumes of smoke bit at his pounding heels, attempting to devour him. Looking out ahead through the dwindling ash, he ascertained that the canal was maybe 500 meters away.

Soon, the cascading plumes of smoke had managed to submerge their bodies within its grey body, completely obscuring his eyesight to that of a hand's breath. Its tendrils worked their way through his nostrils and into his lungs, tickling his urge to gag and causing his eyes to water.

Within a moment, they broke through the viscous plumes and the large central bridge, overhanging the previously pristine canal, became visible.

Gasping for breath, they launched themselves onto the bridge, breath erratic. Landing unevenly, he rammed his shoulder into the coarse ground below, breaking his fall, causing him to thump loudly onto his back, where Artos attempted to cough the dust out of his throat. Raising his soot-covered hands to his neck, he rubbed erratically, as if to work the smoke from his lungs manually.

Next to him, he could hear Raye going through a similar process to himself.

Managing to clear his windpipe, his throat felt raw, and he felt a momentary exhaustion pummel him. Looking up, he was met with an aurora of purple and blue hues, contrasting violently against the rising fresh plumes of smoke. Lying in the center of the amalgamation of spectral hues lay the moon, in all its shattered glory, the rays of which beamed directly down into his eyes, almost taunting in its simplistic beauty.

A fresh wave of anger pushed Artos to grasp at the soot-covered railings of the bridge and pull himself up to assess their surroundings.

Looking around, he saw the clear water below, fill rapidly with the plumes of smoke that had chased them, the kaleidoscope of grays assaulting the aurora-lit sky. Looking down into the misty canal water, what stared back at him was a ghost.

Amongst the swirling vapors of ash, was a deeply disheveled and soot-covered man. Where once was meticulously crafted armor and colors was now a singular stained ashy gray bulwark. His face was caked in layers of soot and ash; the only light visible came from his dimly lit eyes, eyes that were not his own. Instead of a light amber, there was a pair of sickly yellow irises pooling with malice. The eyes sucked him in, a rhythmic but all familiar ringing reverberating within his skull. Will you watch as they die, the thought echoed relentlessly amongst his thoughts. Now isn't the time to lose my mind.

The static of his earpiece helped bring him back to lucidity.

"Raye!, do you hear me?" Aero, who had apparently finished coughing out his lung, gave Artos the anchor he needed to focus back on his surroundings.

"...w...w..Ae..r.o...w...ere..ok." The voice came out barely intelligible, consumed by static. "We think we might be on their trail, will update you later," the voice continued, this time somewhat understandable.

Looking over to Aero, he was seated, with his back braced against the stone wall of the bridge. His breathing was ragged, shoulders rising rapidly. Walking over to him, Artos gently reached for his soot-covered draped long coat and squeezed his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Besides my brother being a heartless bastard and the possible rust lung, yeah, yeah I'm good," his tone was dry, lacking his normally jovial tone.

He would have ample time in the future to explain his reasoning, but now wasn't that time.

"Raye, you know-"

A volley of gunfire exploded violently nearby.

Ducking behind the thick stone railing, it became quickly apparent that the gunfire wasn't aimed at them.

"Artos, look, over there." Following Aero's outstretched hand, Artos saw the shaky antique tavern, wobbling on the other side of the bridge. Through the windows, bursts of light illuminated the rooms inside, in tandem with the noise of gunfire. The short quick bursts resonated with that of an SMG.

The event sapped away the tension that had begun to arise between the pair, simmering for a later date. Artos exchanged a nod with his brother, bringing Requiem up to his shoulder, they made quick but methodical progress toward the blown open door of the tavern.

There movement was halted when a blood-curdling scream tore through the surrounding area. It made his body freeze and blood go cold.

It was the scream of a young girl. It sounded like Lisa and it emanated from deep inside the tavern.

Before the scream could finish echoing throughout the surrounding area, both he and Aero had exploded toward the building, all forms of discretion abandoned.

Barreling his way into the entranceway of the antique tavern, he allowed the setting to wash over him. Tables flipped and broken, broken glass littered the floor, gentle cobweb-esque cracks could be seen forming amongst the floorboards, seeping into the walls. Scattered amongst the sodden floorboards were four bodies, no doubt patrons who only moments ago were busy enjoying the night.

To the far left were two unknown armed individuals, both with their backs turned to Artos, peering into an open doorway that led into an adjacent room. Cloaked in dark military-grade armor; no amount of flesh was exposed. Yet plaster upon there backs was the golden star emblem – a symbol that sealed their fate in Artos' mind.

Without a moment's pause, his index finger tightened around Requiem's trigger, unleashing a torrent into their backs. Bullets met auras, creating cascades of sparks.

The rightmost assailant responded first, turning quickly, yet before he could fully react, a kaleidoscope of red spectral hues assailed his body and flung him into the wall directly behind him.

Aiming down his sight he unloaded the rest of his mag into the faceplate of the subdued enemy.

Artos watched as the faceplate broke apart, at the fourth round, revealing wide confused eyes, then his cranium exploded outwards with a soft squash, painting the backboard red with brain matter as the tenth or so round flew from Requiem's barrel.

"Artos!"

Ducking and moving back to narrowly avoid the blade inching its way towards his face, he kicked out at his opponent's knee, knocking him marginally toward Aero's descending hammer. The blow knocked his head back and caused his body to slump in Artos's direction. Drawing his pistol, Artos quickly stepped into range of the recovering man, and wrapped his free hand around the back of his helmet, and ignited his semblance. At the same time, he brought the barrel of his pistol up into the underside of his chin, and kept pulling the trigger until, all forms of resistance left his body.

Dropping the dead weight, he motioned with his head for Aero to check the empty doorway in front of them.

Quickly changing mags and reloading his pistol, he stood to catch up to Aero.

Moving just behind Aero, they made their way into the seemingly misty adjoining room was dark, except for a faint blue light occupying the other side. Making their way towards it, the sight caused his blood to boil.

Strewn across the floorboards was the pale form of Lisa; faint, weak breaths escaped her lips as a blue light was sucked out of her being into the waiting hand of William.

His eyes were resting on theirs, arrogantly, a comical grin spread across his face. That smile lit a fire within Artos's body; the very thought that the man he had seen earlier, no, talked to and even grabbed, had done this - the rage was insurmountable.

Bullets flew, the duo vying to empty their mags into the bag of flesh standing before them.

Yet the now faint blue light emanating from Lisa exploded out of William's palm, covering him in a shell of pale blue energy, seemingly absorbing the impact of the rounds fired at him. Instantaneously, William clenched his previously closed palm and pushed his fist towards them, sending a shockwave of blue energy toward them.

Pivoting to launch himself out of the way, he smoothly rolled off his shoulder to get back to his feet. Behind him, he heard the sonic boom from the rending blast hitting the back wall. That would've been us. The floor space between himself and Aero was splintered, and the back wall was caved in, the previous room collapsing in on itself, causing ripples of cracks to spread into the roof and walls of their room.

He heard the telltale twang of Aero knocking an arrow, and chose that moment to explode towards William. Ducking underneath his swinging meaty arm, Artos came up by his left side, twisting and pushing his right hand out towards the side of William; he ignited his semblance, a hungry flame bursting from his hand into the side of William, attempting to devour him whole. Simultaneously, a blood-soaked arrow landed central to William's chest; its impact was synonymous with that of a solid crack. The force generated sent William reeling backwards, revealing Lisa's unmoving body into view.

The sight caused time to slow; her visage was disgruntled and her body was deathly still. Where before there was a slow faint breathing, now there was none. She looked gone. Soulless.

Turning back to William, his sneer met Artos's gaze. Beside him, he saw Aero working intensely to try and hold William in place, with the work of his semblance; a battle he would soon lose.

The pounding in his head was heavy; it drowned out all thoughts and feelings. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a pure red dust crystal, consequences be damned. Lobbing it at William, he aimed his pistol at it, the grip reassuring in his hand, and pulled the trigger.

First came the light, a blinding fiery sun combusted in front of them, compressing with such force that it blew them reeling off their feet and skidding across the croaking, twisting floorboards. Next came the noise, the sound of wood meshing with steel in a violent battle; it sounded akin to two chainsaws locked together. Lastly came silence.

Pushing with his hands to bring himself to his knees, Artos observed the destruction wrought. Where William had previously stood was now a slag heap of burning debris and tapestry. The previously enclosed room was now laid bare to the outside world, the far side walls having completely fallen away. What remained of the floorboard was a torn, cracked mess, and at the far side of it all, rested Lisa.

"Aero, get up!"

A groan met his call.

Rushing to stand, he felt the floorboards creak and groan with his movement. Taking a solitary step forwards, he felt the floor cave in slightly.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Artos rushed to where Lisa lay, the floor convulsing against his movements in disagreement. Reaching to where she lay, Artos reached for her neck, checking desperately for a pulse. His finger made contact with her freezing skin, pushing into her windpipe in search of her pulse; he found nothing.

"No, no, no, no, no. Please," the plea came out desperate, shaky even.

A set of strong hands pushed him aside; looking over, he saw Aero, face set like stone. He put one hand around her windpipe and another over top of where her heart would've been. Red runes spread from his hands into Lisa.

A moment passed, then two, five, ten, twenty and nothing. Not a sound. Artos could feel his mind reeling, images cascading internally. Yet above all else, a self-loathing rage pulsed violently.

You could've saved her; yet here she lies, desolate, nothing more than a corpse. The grinding voice snaked its way through his mind, causing his breath to hitch.

In front of him, she stood, her singular sickly eye, staring benevolently at him.

What will you do now? Many have tried to tame their fate before, and many have failed. Death will happen all around you; you are plagued by it. How will you manage, I wonder?

"Artos, I can't—no, I don't know what to do. There isn't a heartbeat. I can't do—do anything." Aero's scratchy voice got Artos' attention, yet he couldn't think. Couldn't feel. Artos felt nothing.

A screeching noise permeated from up above; a loose piece of the hanging ceiling had given way and had begun its descent, down towards them.

Jumping into the kneeling form of Aero, Artos knocked them both out of the way of the falling debris. Pivoting to watch, he watched it fall into Lisa, breaking the weak floorboard beneath her and bringing her into the depth of an abyss. Cracks quickly spread amongst the floorboard.

"RUN!" he intoned towards Aero, as if the message wasn't obvious.

Ignoring the screeching emanating as the floorboards collapsed into the unknown behind them, they reached the blown-down wall, leading to the outside world. They jumped from the desolate collapsing tavern onto the cold, soot-laden cobblestone outside and landed harshly upon their backs.

Breath shaky, Artos watched as the once-proud antiquarian tavern collapsed upon itself into the abyss below. The very world shook as the debris and burning wood became a tomb for all those lost within.

He couldn't help but think, this was his doing.

All was silent except for the crackle of the fire slowly consuming the fallen tavern. Artos shared a look with Aero; it seemed they both were lost for words.

"Aero," Artos said gently.

"Yeah."

"You tried; that's better than most. Don't blame yourself."

He didn't get a response. Up above, bullheads could be seen coming into view, and a small sense of optimism began to permeate within Artos.

Suddenly, a loud screech boomed into their area. Staring up into the sky, nevermores could be seen flying up above. The gigantic monstrosities were the size of bullheads; their tar-like skin oozed into the night sky. Explosions rocked the night sky.

"Artos, Aero, do you read me?"

Aero scrambled to his feet and reached for his forgotten earpiece.

"Raye? Talk to me, we read you."

"We found Luna and Max, but we need help. No—" an explosion was heard through the earpiece.

"We're by the... central well." Static filled their ears after that, the connection seemingly blown.

"Raye? Do you read me?" Aero's voice was cold, a rising anger seen palpable in his eyes. "Fuck!" Aero's eyes met his own. "Let's go now."

"The well should be about a kilometre that way," Artos declared, pointing to the far north, where a seemingly untouched segment of Raven's Claw led.

As they ran in that direction, explosions boomed overhead, and the palpable noise of screeching could be heard from behind them, where the Grimm had no doubt begun to pour into the city akin to a tidal wave. If they hoped to make it out of this mess, swiftness was paramount.

Thank you for reading, if you like my work let me know, would be massively appreciated.