Opening File: Legend of the Beast
There have been many legends and myths that have risen since the Time of Awakening:
The Minions of Set.
The Three Hundred, plus One.
The Four Seasons of Death.
The Well of King Ozric.
The Fairy and the Gargoyle.
The Boy with an Angel's heart.
The Blue Bird that appears to help lost children.
The Mad-Priest of Paris.
The Demon-Bear of Scotland.
The Monster-Whale of the sea.
The Rock-Golem that sleeps in the mountains.
And there is also the story of the Beast of Eternal Darkness.
This story speaks of a monster who takes the souls of people lost in a dark forest, seeking for hopelessness children to turn them into Edelwood trees, a type of tree that is formed when the Beast captures the souls of children led astray so later they can be reduced to oil to keep lit his lantern that is called the Dark Lantern. It is unknown where story of it came from or when it began, only that stories say the Beast is a creature of pure malevolence and despair.
End File
Xxx
"You know of the Boogeyman, right? We all got our own Boogeyman and ever culture has its stories of demons and monsters. The little monsters that hide out in the night, under the bed, in the closet, out in the woods or even emerging from that flying saucer you saw land in your backyard when you were a little kid. Well, not every monster story has been something your parents made up to make sure you go to bed." TOM brought up images of famous monsters such as Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf-man, and vampires. "Some might exist and scared the elders enough that they use them as a warning to the young. Some might actually exist, except not in the manner we are told. And some might not be the evil kind of monster at all."
Xxx
When Connor and Danielle went to sleep they remembered falling asleep in the middle of a desert with nothing to see for miles. But when they woke up all they could see was darkness, which was odd considering it should have been morning by now.
And the many trees surrounding them were something they definitely did not remember seeing when they went to sleep.
When Dani opened her eyes she sat up and looked around, seeing only darkness. "Wha…What the…Connor? Artemis?"
She couldn't see them and if they had been near her she was sure she would have heard them.
"Now what's going on? Haven't I had enough of a rough week?" Dani shifted into her ghost form and gathered a small orb of ectoplasma to provide her with a source of a light as she started hovering off the ground, moving through the woods. "First I'm in a new dimension, barely escape a lab where someone likely wanted to dissect me, get chased by weirdoes and now this. I cannot seem to catch a break."
What was going on this time?
Was she in another dimension?
Was she even awake?
Maybe she was just dreaming and she was going to wake up soon.
"Danny, what I wouldn't give to have you here with me right now." Dani whispered.
Xxx
"Dani!"
Artemis wasn't sure how long she had been knocked out but she was sure it was probably for a whole day. She must have been drugged somehow but she instinctively knew she wasn't in danger considering she could hear Superboy's voice nearby.
She opened her eyes and sat up, seeing she was in a very dark forest. "Connor?"
"Artemis?" Superboy was close and was at her side. "You okay?"
"I'm all right." Artemis looked around. "What happened?"
"I don't know. We drove off whoever attacked us but when we camped for the night I woke up here with only you and the girl. Dani's missing." Conner said, his voice carrying a hint of frustration. "I can't seem to find her."
Artemis looked to the knocked out girl. "What about her?"
"Her breathing is stable. I'd say she just needs some more rest." Connor answered. "I didn't want to leave both of you behind to search for Dani."
"Thanks, Conner. We shouldn't be separated." Artemis nodded as she picked up the unconscious girl. "Let's find Dani."
Xxx
Deep in the forest a pair of glowing eyes spied the unfortunate souls wandering its forest. "Search all you want…There is only my way. There is only the forest. And there is only surrender."
Moloch, the Beast of Eternal Darkness was on the hunt.
Xxx
"Connor? Artemis?" Dani called out, levitating herself through the woods as she looked for her missing companions. "This is like something out of a horror movie."
All that was missing was a camera recording her last moments before she suddenly vanished.
"Okay, stop thinking that way, Danielle. You're going to make it out just fine. You've been through worse than getting lost in a forest…Admittedly a forest that grew out of nowhere. But still, you went up against Vlad and won. A forest is nothing-AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
She stopped, falling onto the ground in front of a tree.
A tree with a face.
She stood back up, looking at the tree and saw the face looking…
Hopeless?
"Okay, a tree with a face. Still, that's nothing new." Dani took a deep breath. "I mean, it's probably just carved into the bark by some loser."
Still, the sight of the face unnerved her.
She felt like there was something seriously wrong with that tree and felt she needed to leave, immediately.
Xxx
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Both Artemis and Superboy spun around, hearing Dani's scream.
"This way!" Superboy said, leading Artemis and using his super hearing to follow the direction of Dani's voice.
But even though they ran quite a distance they couldn't find Danielle.
"Danielle?"
"Dani?"
Superboy gritted his teeth. "It feels like this forest just goes on forever. Where did it even come from?"
"I don't know. I think this is some sort of magic forest. Like something Klarion would create." Artemis replied, shifting Raven on her back.
"Great. The last thing we need." Superboy couldn't help but complain.
He had good reason for being annoyed since magic was one of the few things besides Kryptonite that could seriously hurt him.
"Yeah, too bad Zatanna's not here to help us." Artemis said as they continued walking.
Xxx
He had no idea what had happened.
They had been asleep when a dark forest literally sprouted from the ground around them as they slept but he knew something was terribly wrong.
There was something in this forest.
Something evil.
Xxx
"Oh my head…I thought I swore never touch any form of liquid alcohol again." Seph rubbed his head as he sat up on his bed.
The Gem on his chest flashed.
"I know it's a side effect of using so much of your power. I was just trying a little a little humor to help cope." Seph shook his head as the Gem flashed again. "After all this time you still don't understand humor? Come on, you have been with me for a very, very, very long time now. I think you just say these things to tease me."
This time the Gem flashed twice, making a humming sound that sounded…agitated.
"Calm down, I meant no disrespect and you know it." Seph stood up from the bed. "But I need an aspirin rather badly. Why can't you just heal me?" The Gem flashed another answer. "You keep my body young, you morph to give me your wings, you heal the serious injuries but you can't get rid of a small splitting headache? It's official, you torture me."
The Gem made another sound that could have been interrupted as a giggle.
"Sure laugh it up." Seph scowled. "You love to drive me crazy."
The Gem flashed again and this time he thought he heard laughter.
"Here we go again." Seph sighed and looked to the window. "So do you think they'll want to meet us before we leave?"
There was no answer but Seph didn't need one.
He knew the Crystal Gems would come to him for answers.
It was only matter of time now but would they accept him for who and what he was or was there another fight waiting to happen?
Xxx
"So what's your story Greg? How did you and Rose meet him?" Amethyst asked, turning to Steven's father who rubbed his head nervously.
"Well you know about him now so I guess I can talk about it. It's a long story though. It happened a year before Steven was born." Greg answered.
"Yay! Another story for Steven!" Steven cheered.
"It started on a nice day, much like this one. Rose and I were going up to the top of the hill where you could see all of Beach City. It was one of her favorite spots..."
Xxx
"It is so beautiful." Rose smiled in content as the wind blew through her curly strawberry hair while looking down at Beach City and the ocean.
Next to her sat a younger Greg Universe who was simply happy to up here with her. "Yeah. It's really good, especially at this hour."
It was morning and the sun was slowly rising up, causing the ocean to sparkle which looked almost, dare Greg say it, magical.
"Oh Greg, to see something like this over a thousand years, it would make anyone feel at peace with almost anything." Rose sighed as she sat down, not caring at the dirt from the ground getting onto her dress.
"It really is something." Greg chuckled, sitting next to Rose. "Guy could wake up to this every morning."
"And so could I." Rose said, placing her hand on Greg's which caused the man to blush.
It was so nice.
So quiet.
So peaceful.
It could last forever.
But that moment ended when Rose opened her eyes. "Greg?"
"Yeah Rose?" Greg asked, still relaxed.
"Something's here." Rose stood up, still calm but was now focused. "Someone's watching us."
"Hm? Who?" Greg stood up and looked around. "Hello? Anyone here?"
"Come out and show yourself. You are good at concealing your presence but I know you are there." Rose said, sounding stern but not angry or threatening.
At first Greg thought Rose was imagining things but then he heard a voice. "Hm, not bad. And here I thought I was imagining things."
Greg's eyes widened as a young man with dark green shoulder length hair appeared a few feet from him and Rose, staring at Rose with narrow eyes. "Whoa! He just appeared!"
"Who are you? This energy I feel…You are a Gem." Rose stated, staring at the young man with cool calculating look.
"I could say the same for you." The young man smiled. "If you want a name you can just call me Seraph. And here I thought all the Gems were dead. I thought that little stupid war kicked your kind off this planet for good. I guess I was wrong."
The Gem on Seraph's chest flashed under his shirt.
"Yeah, I noticed. So tell me, what brings you back to my planet? Couldn't handle rejection once you have to try and destroy it again?" Seraph asked taking a step forward.
"I am not one of those Gems. I have nothing against the Earth." Rose stated.
"Nothing against the Earth huh? You came here, you brought an army, and you tried to turn Earth into a lifeless shell. Not to mention your kind tried to kill me." Seraph raised his hand. "Never again."
Rose brought her arm up and blocked the invisible blast of power Seraph released by summoning her shield. "Greg, stay back."
"Right!" Greg stepped back, gulping slightly.
Seraph narrowed his eyes as he put his hand on the ground and sent a pulse of power through the ground underneath Rose, attempting to attack from below where her shield did not cover. Rose jumped up, softly gliding up into the air as the ground beneath her exploded.
"Whoa!" Greg shouted in shock.
He knew the Gems had powerful magic stuff, but he hadn't seen a whole lot of it. He mostly avoided the magic because it scared him, even though he was dating a Gem.
"Who are you?" Rose said as she landed on the ground. "How can you have a Gem?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Seraph scoffed as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Rose, preparing to deliver a punch but Rose blocked.
Seraph grunted as Rose released his fist and jumped back. "You are good."
"That power…I have sensed it before…" Rose whispered as she looked at the Gem on Seraph's chest as it flashed.
That color…
Rose's eyes widened. "Seraphinite."
Seraph stopped and narrowed his eyes. "So you remember her."
"How is this possible? Seraphinite perished centuries ago." Rose said, her mind racing to figure out how this was possible.
"Wishful thinking huh? You should have tried a little harder." Seraph stepped forward. "I imagine Yellow Diamond will be a little annoyed that I'm still alive."
"I do not work for Yellow Diamond. In fact I was the one who instigated the rebellion against her and the Diamond Authority." Rose replied.
"Please. The Gem who instigated the rebellion was Rose Quartz and she's dead." Seraph retorted.
"I have lived a long time and I would certainly remember if I was dead." Rose said, a small smile appearing on her face.
Seraph raised an eyebrow. "You are Rose Quartz? The one who formed the Crystal Gems and battled the Diamond Authority, defeating them and forcing them off this planet?"
"Pleasure to meet you, Seraph. But I thought Seraphinite was dead as well. She vanished before the final battle." Rose said, bowing her head slightly.
Seraph frowned. "After all this time, Rose Quartz, if that is who you really are, is still alive after all these years and just happens to be in a small town like this? That's a little hard to believe since I heard that the Crystal and Homeworld Gems fought to their mutual defeat on the final battle."
"It was indeed mutual. We lost a great many Gems that day on both sides." Rose said, becoming sad at the memories of the war. "I only saved a handful of my closest comrades that day while the surviving Diamond Gem retreated."
"And you've lived on this planet the whole time." Seraph said, seemingly lowering his guard. "That sounds a little too good to be true. But the Diamonds were never too creative or thoughtful to make up a story like that and they wouldn't send a Gem disguised as the most hated rebel on the history of their planet back here, even if to check if some Gems still survived."
"And what about you, Seraphnite? How are you still alive and yet you are in a human body?" Rose said, gesturing to the Gem on Seraph's chest.
"I…am not Seraphinite." Seraph answered slowly. "I'm a human with a Gem embedded in me and the power of a Gem that's kept me alive for centuries."
"A Gem embedded in a human?" Rose's eyes widened. "That's…astounding."
"Well, it's better than being labelled as an abomination like those Diamond jerks." Seraph commented. "It really drove the few I met up the wall."
"A human given the power of a Gem is not an abomination. It's something…astounding and never believed to be possible. It's a…miracle." Rose said, awestruck by what she had learned. "I never thought Seraphinite truly perished in the war. She was always too cunning..."
"Cunning is one word." Seraph admitted as the Gem on his chest flashed. "Seraphinite says it's good to see you after all these years, Rose."
"It's good to see you as well, somewhat, Seraphinite." Rose said with a smile. "I sense we have much to talk about."
"It's a long story…"
Xxx
"Shortly after that Seraph explained that he was a human, around the time of the Gem War and he became involved when he found…Seraphinite's Gem. Rose said she must have retreated into her Gem after being injured or something like that. She recovered and got to know the human for a while, sounded like she was actually happy to get away from the war and the fighting before his village was attacked and she tried to defend it but something went wrong and her Gem ended up in that human's body. He wouldn't say how or why he had the Gem, only that Seraphinite had found what Rose did." Greg said, finishing the story. "After that we exchanged a few more conversations and Seraph left the city, saying he'd drop by and say hello from time to time but this is the first time I've seen him in over twelve years."
"Wow…" Steven said in awe.
"So he fought Rose. Wow. That guy's got to be insane." Amethyst said, falling down onto the floor and spread her arms and legs out.
"He didn't know it was Rose. He thought it was some kind of…spy sent by those evil Gems. He thought Rose was dead with the other Crystal Gems." Greg continued. "And you guys thought the same thing with the Gem, Seraphinite."
"But Seraphinite wouldn't have simply abandoned us in the middle of that war. She hated Homeworld. She considered them a blight on Gem kind and believed that they had to be replaced by a better ruler." Pearl stated. "She once tried to convince Rose that she could take over but Rose refused to leave Earth. She fought alongside Rose because she wanted to push back to the home world and with their army depleted she could try and take down the ruling cast and replace it."
"Why would she do that?" Steven asked.
"Seraphinite was a Gem that saw things along the lines of good or evil and she believed Homeworld was evil. She was the first of the Gems to join Rose aside from Pearl and myself. In fact she voluntarily led the Crystal Gem armies against Homeworld. She was kind but fiercely driven. The Crystal Gems suffered a great blow to their morality when we thought that Seraphinite was lost." Garnet answered.
"And now she's back, well kind of." Amethyst sat up. "So what do we do?"
"Why do we have to do anything? Let's just go talk to him." Steven stated. "He hasn't done anything bad."
The Gems all shared a look.
"He may not be trustworthy…But Steven has a point. All right, we'll try it Steven's way." Garnet said with a small smile.
Xxx
"We had one heck of day; I can tell you that much, Miss Briggs." T-Bone said, conversing with Callie Briggs over the custom Tablet in the hotel room him and Razor rented for the night. "Whatever that thing was it wasn't a Grimm but it attracted a lot of them here. What's really strange is that it disappeared just as it was finally cornered. Something must have pulled it under."
"Any idea what did it?"
"Razor picked up something very hot under the surface where it disappeared. The readings were similar to the attack in GrimmFall a few weeks ago." T-Bone answered.
"…Drago? You think it was Drago?"
"Seems pretty consistent with his MO. What would he be doing out here?"
"He must have been sent to take the creature back to Sammael. If that is the case Sammael will have a new weapon."
"Yeah, that sounds like it." T-Bone said, him and Razor both sharing serious glances. "What's Sebben got to say?"
"Only to refuel as quick as you can and if you can, help the people of Beach City recover from what has happened. I'll inform Sebben of what's happened."
"Got it, Miss Briggs." T-Bone said before hanging up and sighing. "Man, what a weekend."
Xxx
Seph yawned as he walked through Beach City as the people worked on rebuilding the town and repairing the damage. "I hate it when I wake up feeling like road kill. Honestly that stupid sun couldn't wait another five hours."
His Gem flashed causing him to stop and scowl down at it.
"My fault? How is it my fault?" He asked before the Gem flashed again. "I didn't play around with that fusion. And don't get me start on the Crystal Gems-"
"SEPH!"
Seph winced at the loud noise and looked in the direction where the voice came from. "Now what?"
He raised an eyebrow when he saw Steven running towards him with the Crystal Gems walking behind him at a slower pace.
"Steven! Hold on a second!" Pearl called out, not wanting Steven to get so close to Seph without someone to protect him.
"Well this is interesting." Seph remarked as Steven stopped in front of him. "It's a little early, young man. Didn't you get any sleep?"
"I got a little sleep." Steven answered, panting slightly. "Seph can you tell us about yourself?"
"About myself? And what do you want to know?" Seph asked with a smirk, pretending to be ignorant.
"About how you became a Crystal Gem!" Steven answered excitingly.
"Ah….No." Seph said as he turned around to walk away.
"Huh? Why not?" Steven asked, a little surprised and hurt at how casually dismissed he was.
"Honestly, I don't feel like talking about it. I'm looking for a place that makes a decent breakfast along with some coffee which won't be easy since the fighting probably wrecked most of the town. I woke up a lot sooner than I should have after last night's fight and ended up like feeling road kill the second that stupid sun made me open eyes." Seph said, yawning again. "I'm really not in the mood for storytelling, Steven. Especially since I'll be leaving right after breakfast."
"Why? Why do you need to leave? You just got here." Steven pointed out.
"I never stay in one place, Steven." Seph said as he slightly turned back to face the young human/Gem. "My job here is done for now. I don't know what happened to that fusion but whatever happened to it at least it can't hurt the people of this town."
"But what about Lapis?" Steven asked, worrying for his friend.
"Be patient, Steven. The fusion wasn't destroyed so that means your friend is still alive." Seph patted Steven on the shoulder. "That means you'll have another chance to save her. Focus on learning about your powers and you'll have a better chance when you find her."
"Wait! You can help!" Steven quickly argued, finding a reason to make Seph stay. "You are a human and you got Gem powers too!"
"I'm hardly a person who can teach you anything, Steven. Everything I know about my Gem powers I learned instantly when Seraphinite's Gem was implanted in me. I know a lot of Gem history and I could care a less about it since it's not as fun to remember as human history." Seph answered. "You have to learn about your powers and it can only be done by people who personally knew Rose Quartz."
"Could you please tell me how you became a Gem? Please?" Steven begged.
"You don't stop until you get your way don't you?" Seph raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Very well, at the very least it would be interesting to see everyone's reaction."
"So you will tell us?" Steven asked eagerly.
"Might as well." Seph shrugged. "Let's get some donuts first though."
Xxx
"Aw man, why do I got to do this?" Johnny complained as he picked up several pieces of wood.
"Because we missed the action, Johnny and these people need help! So stop complaining and keep moving!" Pops barked as he hammered a nail into the wall to keep it from falling over. "Put some work into it, flex those muscles, and act like a man!"
Johnny could only wine as he put the wood into a pile of broken wood, helping Carl clean up the debris left behind by the ice explosion.
"You call that lifting?!"
Johnny jumped, letting out a rather girlish squeak as he slipped and fell onto the ground. Behind him was Scotty Blake, carrying four arcade consoles that had been frozen and wrecked by the ice explosion since the arcade had been opened during the attack, with two in each arm.
"I've seen wee bunnies lift carrots heavier than those sticks you be wining about!" Scotty barked as he walked past Johnny.
"Been trying to toughen him up for a while now." Pops sighed, climbing down the latter after he finished with helping repair the wall of the pizza restaurant. "He's got strength but not exactly the brains to use it."
"Bah! He's a momma's boy! You can see him by the way he walks!" Scotty scoffed.
"Hey!" Johnny said, jumping to his feet. "Mister, you can talk smack to me but no man in a skirt gets to talk trash about my mama!"
"It's a kilt, ya blond peacock!" Scotty said, dropping the arcade consoles.
"Oh! You did not just insult the hair!" Johnny raised his hands in a karate stance. "Nobody insults my hair!"
"Well I just did!" Scotty leaned in with a smirk. "What are you going to do?"
Johnny launched a punch at Scotty's face…
And stepped by back as he held his hand, crying out from a nearly broken hand hurt. "Owie! Owie! Owie! Owie!"
"Ha!" Scotty laughed. "Well, I give you credit, little tattie. You got some real pip actually trying to hurt me. This might not be such a boring day after all."
He then spotted some chubby kid along with a weird guy with green hair…
"Him?! Here?!" Scotty's eyes widened. "I don't believe it!"