DISCLAIR: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishnt. Anyway on with the show...errr read.
Opening Shot
In monts, my eyelids dissolved and I saw once more. For a startling mont, I couldn't breathe, but sothing shifted in my chest again and inhaled deeply. I held the breath for a mont and felt my lungs shift and pulse oddly, but stranger than that was the fact that I didn't feel any need to take another. I felt sothing shift in the confines of my chest and justlost interest in my forr pattern of breathing.
I rose to my feet and nearly stumbled, my bones seeming to vanishor perhaps soften, it was hard to define. I caught myself quickly, muscles hardening to provide structure as bones twisted and turned, elongating inside . Now that I was fully covered by the armor of the Grimm, the disease seed to go to work on my insides, changing down to the literal bone. I felt a feeling like butterflies in my stomach as it shifted, felt my heart growing larger and beating so fast that my pulse seed to blend into itself in my ears, and even my brain began to turn again.
But even here and now, I felt like myself. If there were changes, I didn't see themthough perhaps that in itself was sothing to worry aboutand as bizarre as my body was becoming, it still felt like my own. I twitched my fingers and clenched them into fists and looked around .
The first thing I noticed was how different my perspective was. I was definitely over two ters tall now and quite a bit so; I couldn't imagine I was much smaller than my father's warped form, down below. Levant floated into the air, bearing my scroll and both it and she looked tiny from up her. I gently placed a finger beneath the scroll and tilted it upwards to et the eyes of my face, not that I much needed too with a pair facing every direction. Still, I imagined he'd be more comfortable looking at the face on my face instead of one of the other ones.
Then again, maybe not. The look he gave as our eyes t made wonder what I looked like now.
"Ozpin," I said calmly, my voice seeming to change between my lips and the air.
"Jaune," He replied. "Are you okay? You collapsed suddenly."
I didn't rember that, which was also worrying, but there were many other reasons for why I'd be on the ground. I nodded to him once.
"Well enough," I confird. "Body's still changing, but I seem to be okay."
I lifted my gaze to the renewed might, my mother warping ground and air against my father, who progressed through the frigid conflagration as if it was a gentle rain. The durability of the Grimm combined with the power of a Hunter was not sothing to be underestimated, it seed. Even fighting with all her might, Mom was barely slowing him down and it was only a matter of ti until she worked herself to death.
"Ti is running out, though," I continued, swallowing any uncertainty I felt. "I've got a rough outline of a plan; I'll just have to wing the rest. Mind staying onboard?"
"Of course not, Jaune." He replied. "You've decided on your first move, then?"
"More or less," I grunted, glancing at the assembled screens with five sets of eyes. I focused on the important stuff first, getting my thoughts in order as I skimd the profiles of my most important skills.
Acceleration (Active) LV1 EXP: 12.64%
The ability to increase the rate one moves through ti through the use of great power, the degree of alteration depends upon the amount of power supplied. Sothing normally only possible for those with a great affinity for the elents, this skill is also possible with the use of a rare variant of Gravity Dust.
Additional 1000 MP spent per second per degree of increase.
Monstrosity (Passive) LV1 EXP: 7.92%
An ability inherent to those who have lost their humanity and drawn upon the murderous powers of the Grimm. Increases physical traits by a percentage equal to one's corruption and causes additional changes as a result of slaughtering of human beings.
Corruption: 83.6%
Humans killed: 0
tamorphosis (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
An ability given to those who have cast aside the last traces of their humanity and adopted the lethal forms of the Grimm. Allows for the mutation of body parts into forms designed to make one a better killer, at the cost of increasing one's corruption. More advanced mutations at available at higher levels. Imposes the status effect 'On A White Horse He Rides' if the user does not already possess that status effect.
Corruption: 83.6%
The White Rider (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
A resemblance to one of the Knights of Grimm, obtained through infection and extensive mutation. One has adopted a form similar to the Knight of Conquest and may now draw upon traces of his power; this ability activates automatically once the status effect 'On A White Horse He Rides' reaches MAX. Allows for the use of abilities coinciding with one's altered form, but replaces the user's active title with 'The White Rider.' This ability may not be deactivated while 'On A White Horse He Rides' remains at MAX.
I took a deep breath and looked down at myself. As I suspected, I was still changing even now, progressing towardssothing. It was already over eighty-three percent complete, so it wouldn't take much longer at this rate. I suppose I may as well hasten the process, given the bonuses from Monstrosity; I was a bit wary of replacing Grimm Slayer with an unknown title, butat least so far, I'd been able to trust in my power. Whatever had happened or would happen, I felt certain that I could continue to rely on it. Even against the spread of Conquest's infection and the horrific changes to my body, it had kept alive and safe, soI placed my trust in it again and felt my body shift and shake.
As I felt things begin to grow from my back and arm, I turned each of my many gaze to a different window, looking over the abilities I'd gained for increasing my Wisdom.
Empathy (Passive) LV1 EXP: 4.03%
A skill granted to those born with a natural understanding of the people around them, this ability allows one to perceive the emotions of others. The range and depth of this ability increase alongside one's Wisdom.
Range: 1 kiloter.
Projection (Active) LV1 EXP: 1.38%
A skill to those who, though great understanding of themselves, have learnt to release the light of their souls into the world at large. Through ditation and training, the user can shed their mortal form and move through the world as a purely spiritual body.
Balance (Passive) LV1 EXP: 9.21%
An ability given to the few that have honed their natural talents to achieve nearly unmatched insight into the truth of the world, thereby obtaining a trendous affinity for the elents of nature. Mimicking the nature of Dust, the Elents may be combined into more complex forms through careful mixtures.
Allows for the use of Advanced Elents, rging up to three Basic elents or two Interdiate elents. Also allows for up to two basic Elentals to be combined into the form of an Interdiate Elental. Elental Affinities are equal to the average of all component Affinities.
Grants resistance to Elental Attacks. Resistance to a specific Elent is equal to the average resistance to all component Elents.
20% less MP used for all Elental abilities.
Body of the Enlightened (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.71%
A skill granted to those who have achieved a state of physical transcendence. All benefits of Wisdom are doubled and Magic Resistance now applies to all forms of attack, including the imposition of unwanted status effects. The user never receives negative repercussions from lack of food, water, or sleep.
Understanding of the Enlightened (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.22%
A skill granted to those who have achieved an awakened ntal state, reaching a greater understanding of all things. Experience gains for both levels and skills are increased by a percentage equal to the user's Wisdom.
I gestured and the windows vanished, my status screen rising in their place. I knew what I had at my fingertips now, which made the choice of where to put my new points an easy one. With a touch, I placed all fifteen spare points into my Wisdom, raising it to a hundred and sixty-six before looking down at myself. I felt tall spikes rising from my back, protecting my head even as the mask on my back allowed easy sight. From the top of my left arm stretched the flexible limbs of a bow, a black-tipped boney spike growing from the back of my wrist. There was sothing like a string that seed to stretch through my armored skin, but it was made of dark, twisted sinew and black tissue. With a twitch of almost foreign muscle, the bow and arrow retracted easily into my arm, sliding into place so neatly they seed to vanish before expanding back out just as easily. And then I stood, perhaps even taller now, body growing more and more monstrous as I allowed my new powers to work freely, but it would be only monts until the process was done.
So I supposed I was about as ready as I'd ever be.
"Sir, I'm going now," I said, calm and focused as I looked forward.
"Good luck, Jaune," Ozpin answered quietly, expression set. "I will pray for your success."
"So will I," I snorted and finally exhaled. "Shall I say hello to him for you?"
"Not for ," He shook his head. "For Keppel and Carmine and Tenne and Jack. Make sure he hears it."
"I'll make sure he gets the ssage," I mused, lifting my arm as I gathered my power and took aim. The boney spike seed to glow before losing shape completely as the seconds past, becoming a writing bolt of light and energy. As heat and electricity flowed out of my skin, I focused on my target and fired causing what looked like nothing more than a giant spark to leap from my arm, covering hundreds of ters in a flash of light to reach Conquest's sideand then the was a rumble of thunder as the sky seed to split.
My father's body went flying as it was struck by lightning and the White Tiger rose from my form as I stepped forward, standing a head above even my increased size. I felt my perspective shift as another set of eyes grew from my conscious and felt strangely relieved by the comforting familiarity. As if understanding what was about to happen, I felt my body shudder one last ti and go still.
You have received the Status Effect 'On A White Horse He Rides [MAX].'
Title 'Grimm Slayer' unequipped.
Title 'The White Rider' equipped. This title may not be unequipped while the status effect 'On A White Horse He Rides [MAX]' remains.
I flexed my fingers, cracking once more hardened bone. If I was the White Rider, then it was only fitting I play the part.
The Tiger dropped to all fours and I threw a leg over his back, sliding into place astride him once more, Levant floating into place behind at a quick thought. The Tiger took a running start across the rooftops between us and the battlefield and then Lunged through the air, arcing high as he closed the distance in a quick breath and ca down in the midst of the battlefield. Instantly, I focused six of my eyes upon my father's altered form, a pair on my mother, and kept a look out with my shoulders.
"Hello again, Conquest," I spoke lowly. "I've returned to continue our discussion."
Conquest looked at my from where I'd tossed him into a building and laughed.
"Now that's a nostalgic face," He said, brushing splitters from his armor as he rose. "Welco back, son."
"Jaune," I heard my mother whisper, but I didn't turn visibly, didn't dare tobut her emotions danced in her eyes as she looked at and were sharp against my thoughts besides. Cold fear, rising hope, plumting despair, dizzying confusion; I could feel her heart boiling over, even though she could barely stand.
"Isabelle," I heard Ozpin say as Levant rose from my back, carrying my scroll. I restricted the sound to our ears only, but didn't move. I was the one Conquest was after and his focus was solely on but the mont I moved, I knew he'd react. Even so, there was a chance in this, if I could exploit it properly, sothing trendous in my reach if I could just figure out how to grasp it.
"I'm sorry I'm late," I whispered to my mother alone, Levant's lips forming the words in my steed. "Can you wait just a minute longer? Just focus on staying alive for a little longer."
I saw her eyes et those of my back, blinking onceand then her expression was calm and remote, the shift from before nothing more than a montary cracking of the faade.
At least, on the surface. Beneath that, I could feel the pain and exhaustion setting in, the feeling almost like resignationbut I knew she'd want this even more than I did, so I stayed focused. I kept my distance, locking down the air around just in case. I couldn't be certain how the communication between Conquest's cells would react to my altered form, but I wasn't taking any chances.
And then I lied my ass off.
"I know how you do it," I bluffed.
"Oh?" He asked. "How I do what?"
"Everything," I snorted. "I've seen your cells at work, tested myself against your infected, even allowed this to happen to my own body, all for the sake of learning how you tick."
"Oh, this ought to be good," He muttered to himself before raising his voice. "Do you, now? Please, enlighten ."
"You infect the body and use that to touch the Aura," I answered. "Turn it against the host to cause people to mutate themselves even as you infect the mind. You cause extensive biological changes to everything in the body down to the nervous system, all with the intention of giving you more control and making better warriors for you to use."
"No shit," Conquest said and if his eyes hadn't been solid red orbs, he'd likely have rolled them. "Did you get a 'Stating the Obvious' skill out of that statent?"
"But all that's just the basics," I continued as if he'd said nothing. "All that happens early on, though it gets worse over ti. Once the infection has spread entirely throughout the body and Aura, armor begins to grow in and your hosts start getting bigger, heavier. To most people, it would look like you're creating matter out of nothing."
"Oh?" Conquest asked, sothing slightly different in his tone. I crossed my fingers and hoped I was on the right track.
"I'm not most people. My eyes see everythingincluding your little trick," I said calmly, hoping the level tone would conceal the falsehoods within. "You aren't creating matter; you're just drawing it in from elsewhere, just like Aura does. There's a connection there and if soone were to interfere with itwell, you can imagine."
If I still needed to breathe, I'd have held my breath. Conquest knew a lotfar more than but he didn't know everything. He didn't know how much I knew or didn't know, so there was a chance
"Why imagine when I could just have you show ?" He said, spreading his arms wide. "Co on, then; take a shot."
At that, I had to pause and he seed to notice because he laughed.
"So you know a little bit about Malkuth Theory," He said after a mont, calling my bluff. "Good for you, son. So what? You've got nothing; a vague hope with no understanding of what any of it ans, that's all you brought back. And what did it take you to get that, son? How many of your mother's teammates did you kill? Why don't you look her in the eye and tell her all about itit's not like you don't have a few to spare. I knew you'd kill them if I gave you a little push; what are they to you, really? So faceless nobodies that ca around every now and then, a conversational topic between your parents or sisters; they were nothing to you. They were NPCs in your little ga and not even important ones, so you killed them and moved on like it was nothing."
He lowered his head to stare at face to face and I knew that if he had lips beneath his mask, they must have been curled into a smile.
"Keppel and Carmine were my friends," He said in a mocking voiceand in my father's voice, pitch perfect and in pain. "I went to school with them, worked with them for years, and we saved each other's lives a hundred tis each at least. I was even the best man at their wedding; they nad the godfather of their childrentheir orphaned children, now, left parentless by your hand. But hey, it's not like you didn't kill off your own godfather, is it? And you barely knew Tenne, huh? But your mother did, didn't you Isabelleall the firsts he took from you, back in school, until you left him for . Your mother loved him once, Jaune, but I guess you never thought about what it was like for your crusty old parents growing up, huh? Ah, the not-really-all-that-good ol' days, when we were stupid and hormonal. Does it surprise you to think about it? That Mommy and Daddy had lives prior to the clown car that resulted from our sex lives and that other people did too? That they'd built sothing up over more years than you've been alive, made sothing aningful out of sweat and tears over decades? How difficult was it for you, to wipe all that away?"
I said nothing as he prattled on, watching him silently. But man did he love to hear himself talk.
"I'm guessing not very," He continued. "And boy, do you seem to be reaping the rewards now, huh? You know, you look just like your old man, back in the daynever thought I'd see that face again, but it looks good on you son. You're a chip off the old block. I'm proud of you."
I tilted my head slightly, having gotten what I'd wanted, if only vaguely. 'Malkuth Theory'it was all but a confirmation that I was on the right track, aningless as the words were to . He was right in that it was nothing but a glimr of hope, a single fact with nothing built upon itbut it was more than I'd had before.
"What, are you done?" I asked when he didn't say anything else.
"Are you?" He snorted. "I thought we were going to waste ti talking about stuff that doesn't matter until Mommy over there finally keels over and diesso sort of new male bonding ritual; bros before hoes and all that shit. I anticipate that it shall be humorous."
"Actually," I answered. "As it just so happens, I do have one more thing I wouldn't mind talking about, if you're up for keeping this going."
"By all ans," He gestured magnanimously.
"That's very kind of you," I answer politely and then took a shot in the dark. I had one more idea, one more opportunityand, quite possible, one enormous risk. I had no idea how he'd respond or what he'd say, but it could be dangerous if a mind like Conquest could get away with the information and try to use it against us.
But it might be worth it. We had nothing and no other way of learning more; risks or not, Conquest was our best chance by virtue of being our only chance. So I pressed on, despite my concerns and turned my head to look at my mother
"Hey, Ozpin," I raising my voice slightly, though I didn't need to. "Did you tell my dad about the thing? The ruins, I an."
Ozpin seed to pause but his eyes t mine and sothing like understanding passed between us.
"A little," He answered. "We were going to discuss the specifics later, after the mission. I only had ti to tell him the basicsand it's vaguely possible that I have a hard ti repeating the story, I suppose. He doesn't know how I survived, if that's what you're asking."
"Oh, well that's just perfect," I nearly purred. "See, I couldn't help but notice that you didn't bring it up, Conquest. A pity because it's a really interesting storyyou see, a long, long ti ago, Ozpin found himself inside a barrier of sorts, kind of like my Naraka. And you know how before you were boasting about how you and your brothers destroyed a civilization? Well it seems you missed a spot, because there was a full Babel city inside."
Behind , I heard my mother gasp, but I barely heard it because my full attention was focused on my father's figure. As I said the words, Conquest went still. No, more than thatfor quite possibly the first ti in his godforsaken blasphemy of a life, Conquest shut the fuck up. It was glorious. He looked at and didn't say a word.
Unfortunately, I actually needed him talking. Alas.
"So I was thinking, if you can break Naraka, does that an you can break other barriers?" I wondered aloud, voice cheerful. "And if so, why not break that barrier. Makes really wonder what's inside. You see anything interesting while you were in there, Ozpin?"
"Sadly, there was very little of note," He shook his head ruefully on the screen of my scroll. Then, he paused, eyebrows furrowing as he pursed his lips and looked up at the ceiling. "AlthoughI did stumble across a computer of sorts."
"A computer," I repeated. "From Babel? My, that's quite a find. I wonder what might be on it? Conquest, any ideas?"
It takes a mont, but the creature in my father's skin speaks, that sa, smug arrogance back in his tone.
"That old thing?" He scoffed. "I suppose you illiterate savages can't even read it, huh? As it happens, I'm in a good mood, so how about thiswhy don't I read you a bedti story before I put you to sleep? A bunch of stupid old n moan about the past and try to fight the big bad Grimm. They fail and all of them die horrible, before or after everyone they've ever loved does the sa, and I take great pleasure murdering the man behind it all in the body of his wife, after eating his daughter in front of his very eyes. The End. The entire thing was pretty hilarious, honestly."
"I've seen worse things on the best-seller's list," I answered back. "I have to check it out."
Conquest takes a step towards on my spectral steed, the edges of a growling laugh to his tone.
"You know what's even funnier?" He asked. "How you fools continue to cling to the past, as if it'll save you. As if a civilization that couldn't even save itself can offer you hope against us. But there's nothing and there has never been anything that could save you from ."
I looked down at him from atop the Tiger for a silent mont and would have smiled had I still been able.
"You'll forgive if I don't take your word for it," I murmured and sat up as straight as I could before clapping my hands brightly and forcing hints of cheer into my tone. "Now then, I'll be taking my father back."
Conquest raised his eyes to mine, hamr rising in his hands.
"I'd like to see you try." He said, sneer to his tone.
"Good," I said, voice barely above a whisper. Even so, it carried, rising on Levant's winds to reach his ears, as if I were standing right behind him. "Because I want you to watch, you son of a bitch."
Reviews
All reviews (0)