Episode 3: Chapter 10: Fragmentation

Chapter 10 of Episode 3 of War of Seasons

            The Grimm continued to push forward, wave after wave.  The defensive circle continued to hold, but it was clear it wouldn’t last for too much longer.  Christy finished healing up another wounded student, and looked over who all was left who needed healing.

            “I don’t have enough aura to heal everybody” she said wiping her brow.  “I’m running on fumes as it is.”

            “And I’m out of water” Bovia said as she emptied the last of her water packs.  “I’m not replenishing any aura anytime soon.”

            “How about you darling?” Pyrrha asked turning to Jaune.  “Your reserves are near boundless.”

            “Looks like we’ve finally found my limit” Jaune said with a weak smile.  “Just took the end of the world for us to reach it.”

            “We’re not done yet!” Aurora yelled as she slashed a few more Red Grimm.  “I still want to at least get to graduation!”

            “Glad to see you’ve got your priorities straight kiddo” Miles said with a roll of his eyes as he fired a few rounds into the horde of enemies surrounding them.

            “Anybody got any ideas on how we’re going to reach Nathan all the way up there?” Ty asked cracking his knuckles.

            “We aren’t going to be doing anything anytime soon,” Brooklyn said reloading her rifle, “unless we figure out a way to stop these Grimm first!”

            “Do we have any airships that are still operational?” Natalie asked firing several rounds into the horde.  “Maybe we can ride straight up to where he is and take the fight to him!”

            “Even if we did,” Jacob said clutching his chest in pain, “whatever that veil is hanging out in the sky is not going to let us through to face him.  At least, not without doing something horrible to us I’d imagine.”  Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the sky, and landed right in the center of the camp.  For a split second, it was just a simple ball of light, but then it dissipated and revealed Ember standing in the center, ready for battle.

            “Sis!” Gray yelled as he rushed over and gave her a big hug.  “I thought we’d lost you!”

            “You aren’t getting rid of me that easily bro” Ember said jokingly punching her brother in the shoulder.  “But we can talk about that later.  We need to stop my father.”

            “So what’s his big plan then?” Ruby asked joining the group in the center.  “He keeps talking about replacing everything on this planet, but that’s an exaggeration, right?”

            “Afraid not.  His plan is to kill everything that lives and replace it all with souls he deems worthy to live beside him.  Only problem is, that veil is going to destroy everything before he even gets a chance to play matchmaker with bodies and souls.  It’ll be similar to what’s happening with Jacob, but without the proper magic, it will happen much quicker.  And result in the entire world crumbling to dust.”

            “I don’t wish this fate on anyone,” Jacob said with a sigh.  “Not even the Order.”

            “So how do we stop him?” Arri asked preparing her weapon.
            “We beat him up” she said with a smile.  Everybody looked at her in confusion.

            “That’s it?” Terra said tilting her head.  “He has all this power, and all we have to do is beat him up?”

            “Even so, how are we going to reach him?” Evan asked looking up at the sky.  “If that veil is truly meant to kill us all, can we even survive touching that thing?”

            “We’ll likely die in an instant if we touch it” Ember said pulling out her father’s old clubs.  “Luckily for us, we have some help.”  With that, a light flashed from the clubs and Traci and Em appeared in full form before them.

            “Mom?”  Natalie said in shock. 

            “Hey Natls” Traci said with a smile.  “Missed you.”  Natalie tried to fight back tears as she ran over to her, but passed through her like she wasn’t even there.

            “What….”

            “Sorry kiddo.  No hugs for the time being.  And if we’re successful, not anytime soon.  Regardless, we’re here to help.”

            “Happy to have you” Blake said walking towards the spirits, “but if you can’t touch anything, how do you plan on helping us?”

            “It isn’t going to be just us” Em said with a smirk.  She lifted her right hand, and several orbs of light floated around her, glowing brighter and brighter.

            “These spirits aren’t bonded to anything, so they can’t take up a visible form like me and Traci, but they are ready and willing to help.  That veil will kill anything it touches that is alive, but we aren’t alive.  We’ll open a path to Nathan, and then all you have to do is take him down.”

            “That’s it?” Sora said tilting his head.  “Sounds a bit too easy.”

            “It required a lot of different pieces in order to stop Mortem when he had the power of the wizard” Yang said scratching her head.  “How come this is so simple?”

            “Mortem had control of the whole picture of the old Wizard” Em said creating a small holographic visual in her hands of what hung high above their heads.  “Nathan only has one small piece of another small piece of the full picture.  Plus, he has no experience with that power.  He’s quite literally flying blind.  So if we manage to deplete his aura, the power will deplete as well, and once it’s gone, Nathan won’t regenerate that power.  He doesn’t know how to regenerate this power like he does his own Aura, so once he’s defeated, he’s mortal again.  Alongside that, who knows what that kind of power is doing to his body?  That kind of power creates the Grimm.  Salem was born with a body to deal with that kind of power.  Who knows what might happen to a human body if that power is used foolishly?”

            “We saw something similar to that” Miles said thinking back.  “When we went to the Dark Realm, we saw the remains of Mortem’s body.  His body has been nothing but a vessel for the power of Salem for all these years.  It was a withered husk that was barely recognizable.”

            “Is it possible that’s what could happen to Nathan?” Natalie asked with worry in her voice.

            “Only if the power doesn’t leave him” Traci said as she walked towards the visual that Em had created.  “That’s why it’s imperative that we not just knock him out, but deplete his aura completely.  If we knock him out before we can cause the power to leave his body, I’m not sure what will happen to him.”

            “Wouldn’t the Relic of Life be a good option to keep him from becoming what Mortem did?” Ember said pointing out the rosary amidst the collection of Relics.  “It seems like this could heal him up real quick.”

            “It can, but at the same time, these are unprecedented times” Em said looking up at the sky.  “Nobody has ever been able to abuse the power like this in the past.  Plus, everything we’ve talked about are simply related to the physical issues.  Who’s to say what might happen to his mental state?  Especially with the state his mind is in right now?”

            “Okay,” Ty said preparing his weapon.  “We fight Nathan, beat the power out of him, and hope he doesn’t go crazier than he already is.  I think we should act now, because that thing is getting closer.”  Ty was correct, the veil was growing ever closer to the earth.  Several flocks of birds were flying close to it, and the instant they touched it, they died and shriveled up into dust.

            “I did not need to see that today” Yang said wincing a bit.

            “Leave it to us” Em said with a stern look.  With a wave of her hand, she pointed to the veil and several orbs of light flew straight at the barrier and collided with it, causing it to stop in its tracks.  “We can poke a hole through the veil, but only for a split second.  After that, don’t think Nathan is going to let us pull off a stunt like that again.  We’re only going to get one shot at this.”

            “Let’s get started then” Aurora said drawing her swords. 

            “So what do we do about the fact that we’re still surrounded?” Bovia asked as it was clear that the Huntsmen and students defending the perimeter were starting to lose ground.

            “Everybody form up in the middle!” Traci yelled.  As soon as she yelled this, she made a slashing motion with her hand and caused a giant circular gash to form in the ground around the center perimeter.  As soon as the gash was created, several orbs of light flew into the cracks, and then the ground began to shake.  Moments later, the land itself began to rise up, carrying everyone away from the hordes of Grimm and up towards the veil where Nathan was, looking confused and angrier than before.

            “Time to finish this” Ember said twirling the clubs around.

 

 

 

            Nathan continued to try and push the veil forward, but the orbs of light prevented him from progressing.  He flew closer to try and figure out what was going on, but noticed that his enemies were rising up on a floating slab of the ground.

            “WHY?!” he yelled pulling on his hair.  “I am trying to bring back those who matter most to this world!  Why am I being usurped by the spirits of those I am trying to save?!”

            “Lord Tenebris!” a new voice cut in.  Nathan looked over to see Anima rising up towards the veil in an airship.  She stood by the bay doors while the autopilot carried her as close as possible to the veil without touching it.

            “You….” Nathan said with a growl.  He raised his right hand, and dark energy began to swirl around him.

            “You misunderstand me Lord Tenebris!” Anima said raising her hands.  “I have seen the error of my ways!  I have come to realize that you are the true destiny of the Order!  You are the savior of this world!”  Nathan did not lower his hand at this new information, but the energy surrounding his hand did begin to diminish.

            “Why should I believe you, who has also lied and manipulated me in the past?”

            “Because unlike those fools who grow ever closer to you, I can see the reality!  You are the true superior!  You are the one who will bring this world to true glory!”  The energy surrounding Nathan’s hand finally diminished and vanished, and he smiled.

            “Interesting” he said with a cackle.  “Well, it would seem my soldiers are unable to follow those who oppose me, so I will use a general to take down these weaklings.  However, one general is good.  But what about countless generals?”  With that, Nathan opened a hole in the veil, and shot out a bit of dark power to the surface below.  Seconds later, appearing from the chaos was Lord Sangui, unconscious and barely holding on to his life.

            “Yes,” Nathan said as he gathered power around the limp body of Lord Sangui, “I can use this vessel for my needs.”  Moments later, Nathan was pouring the power he had gathered into Sangui’s body.  For a second, it seemed as if nothing was happening.  Then, as if in an instant, his eyes shot open, and his pupils were blood red.

 

 

 

            As they continued to ascend, it was clear to everyone that the Red Grimm were not really able to pose much of a threat since most of the Grimm were land-based Grimm.  The few flying Grimm were easily dispatched by anyone with a ranged weapon.  Everybody was focused completely on the veil as it grew closer and closer.

            “So how are we going to break through the veil exactly?” Ember asked brushing her hair aside.

            “Nathan’s entire focus right now is trying to bring the veil down on the world” Em replied.  “And with the spirits trying to keep him from lowering the veil, he’s focused on trying to push forward.  Once we reach him, since he’s so focused on pushing, he won’t notice when we tear a hole through the gap and join him above the barrier.  But once we do so, he’ll realize his mistake and we won’t be able to pull it off a second time.  So that’s why we have to get through before he realizes what’s happening.”         

            “Sounds simple enough.  Here’s hoping for the best.”  Just as Ember said this, there was a loud thud in the middle of the slab.  That thud was followed by even more thuds.  Suddenly, there were several objects falling from the sky like rain.  Everybody drew their weapons, and it became clear that these were bodies covered in dark ooze.  As the bodies started getting back up, they started attacking anybody and anything near them that wasn’t another shadow clone.  Everybody frantically tried to defend themselves, but many were grabbed by these creatures and were thrown off the side of the slab back down to the Grimm below.  Ember fended off two attacks from these creatures and prepared to help her friends.  Suddenly, she saw Anima descending down from the veil, wielding her staff and her armor, waving it around as to guide the creatures that were still falling from the sky.

            “What have you done?” Ember asked pointing her clubs at Imperia.

            “When the tide changes child,” Imperia said as she touched down on the slab itself, “you either adapt or you drown.  I for one, have no plans of dying anytime soon.  So I have taken the steps necessary to preserve…..” before she could finish, a shot rang out and clipped Imperia on the shoulder.  Ember turned to see Miles with one of his swords in pistol form, rushing straight towards Imperia.  He morphed his weapon back to sword form, and started attacking Imperia.

            “No more talking!” he yelled as he pressed his attack.  “I’m sick of talking!”  Imperia tried to regain her balance, while Ember tried to see what was happening with everybody else.  A lot of the dark bodies were still throwing people over the side, and they weren’t slowing down.  She started making her way towards the edge when Traci popped up in front of her.

            “We have our own mission!” she said holding out her arms to try and stop Ember.  “It won’t matter who we save now if we don’t stop Nathan from killing everybody.”

            “But we can’t just leave them!” Ember yelled.

            “We won’t” Ruby interrupted as she rushed past them.  “We’ll help who we can.  Go stop Nathan!”  With that, Ruby, Jaune, Evan, Jacob, Christy, Ty, Brooklyn, Bovia, Arri, Terra, Sora, Hera, and almost all the other students and soldiers leapt off the slab and down into the growing insanity that awaited below to help their comrades.  This left a handful of warriors still in the air to deal with the remaining bodies as well as Imperia.  Miles was pressing the attack well against the shadows, until Imperia pulled out a Lightning Dust Crystal, and smashed it on the ground, creating an electric field shocking both Miles and Imperia.  Miles took the worst of it and struggled to get back up.  Imperia, expecting the pain, flinched a bit, but retreated to regain her bearings before facing down her opponents once again.  Yang marched towards Imperia, cracked her knuckles, and got into her fighting stance.

            “You’ll pay for what you did to my husband” she said with a growl.

            “You cannot change what is the truth dear” Imperia said as she prepared her weapon for battle again.  Everybody else on the slab prepared for battle as well, but what at first seemed like a clear advantage against Imperia, quickly turned against them as several more dark bodies fell from the sky and began attacking those left on the slab.

 

 

 

            As Ty fell from the sky, he activated his Semblance and aimed straight for a giant pack of enemies that were forming in the crater that the slab of ground came from.  He landed with a powerful force, and knocked back several dark bodies as well as a few Red Grimm.  From there he took his blade and started fighting whoever he could find in range of his attacks.  Everybody else followed suit.  Christy cleared a landing zone for herself and others by blasting several enemies in the head with excellent accuracy.  Once she landed, she fired a few rounds into the horde, then morphed her weapons back to axe form and started in close quarters combat, destroying several Grimm and dark bodies.  Jacob, still feeling the effects of his condition, relied on his base skills and intuition to remain vigilant and face the enemy.  His sword made easy work of the dark bodies, and his dust infused knives were extremely effective in clearing out small packs of Red Grimm.  Evan managed to land perfectly on top of one of the dark bodies, and recovered quickly enough to start using his spear to push back against the growing numbers.  Brooklyn and Jaune landed in roughly the same spot close to where Evan was clearing out the hordes of enemies.  Jaune dealt with the more immediate threat in close quarters, while Brooklyn used her rifle mode to take out a few flying Red Grimm surrounding them.  Once the skies were cleared, she morphed her weapon back to scimitar form and continued the attack.  Ruby and Arri both used their rifle modes to slow their decent, and then used their scythes to cut a gap in the enemy beneath the slab so that Bovia, Terra and Hera could land safely.  Hera took a meditative pose in the middle with Bovia and Terra guarding her.

            “What’s the situation sis?” Arri asked as she sliced another dark body in two.

            “The Grimm that haven’t been infected are fighting back,” Hera said as sweat started to pour down her face, “but with each one that falls, the infection spreads further and further.  We are at the point where this entire valley might be more Red Grimm than normal Grimm!”

            “And you still can’t take over the Red Grimm?” Bovia asked as she sent out a stream of water to knock back a small Beowolf.

            “Nope.  Whatever our uncle did, it’s cut me and Salem off from controlling their minds.”

            “I’m open to any and all good ideas!” Terra yelled as she bashed the head of another dark body in with a rock.

            “I might be able to help with that” a voice cut in over the communications link.  Suddenly, in place of the red glow of the veil, spotlights started shining down from above, as Atlesian airships poured out of the sky and towards the battlefield.  Huntsmen and Huntresses jumped out of the dropships to join the fight, soldiers and pilots fired several bullets and rockets into the growing numbers of the enemy, and piloted mechs were dropped down and started clearing out groups of enemies at a time.  Weiss stood by one of the doors of the airships, and saluted as she leapt out and joined the rest of her friends.

            “Hope I’m not too late” she said flipping her hair.

            “I swear Weiss,” Ruby said rolling her eyes, “you are such a princess sometimes.

            “I’ve gotten better!” Weiss snapped back, with Ruby chuckling in response.  The reinforcements helped tremendously, as the numbers of Red Grimm grew thinner and thinner.  But despite their best efforts, the number of black bodies continued to pile up further and further.

            “Where are these stupid things even coming from?!” Ty yelled in frustration as he sliced another one in half.  Brooklyn started scanning the battlefield for where the bodies were coming from, then turned her gaze skyward and saw a singular body floating just below the veil of death, with small splotches of darkness falling from its body like sweat from the brow of a forehead.  Those splotches quickly took up form and became the dark bodies, and fell to the earth below.  Some landed on the slab above, creating even more problems for the team fighting Imperia, others landed on the surface, creating similar issues for everyone else.  One managed to land on top of one of the large mechs, and started tearing into it like an animal.  The pilot tried to grab it and tear it off with its mech arm, but a group of the dark bodies formed up and took the mech down.

            “Think if we take that guy up there down, we’ll have one less problem to worry about” Brooklyn said as she morphed her weapon into sniper form.  But before she could get a shot off, several dark bodies started to swarm her.  She morphed her weapon back to scimitar form and tried to fight them off, even activating her Semblance in order to try and make quicker work of her opponents.  But even then, their numbers just kept increasing.  Just when it seemed that they were going to overrun her, several of their heads exploded as Christy emptied several rounds into them.  Jacob sliced through several more and sent out a fire kunai that burned any remaining stragglers.  Ty stepped up behind her and held out his sword flat.

            “You think you can make a quick shot?” he said with a smirk.  Brooklyn smirked back, and stepped onto the blade.

            “Just don’t send me flying too far away like last time.”  They all chuckled at this, and then with a mighty heave, Ty sent Brooklyn flying into the sky.  From there, she adjusted herself, found her target, took aim, and fired.  Her shot landed perfectly on the head of the main dark body.  The body itself fell from the sky, and all the power that was emanating from it began to disappear, leaving the limp body of Lord Sangui to fall to the earth below and crash on the ground with a splat.  As soon as the body landed, all of the other dark bodies began to wither and fade from existence.  With that, the Atlesian reinforcements began to finish mopping up the remaining Red Grimm and establish a perimeter to help the wounded.  Brooklyn landed a short distance away from where she got launched by Ty with relative ease.  They all regrouped and gave each other a hug.

            “That was crazy” Evan said with a chuckle walking over to the group.

            “Nothing we can’t handle” Christy said with a smile.

            “So how do we go about getting back up there?” Jacob said looking back up at the slab.  “We need to….” But before he could finish, he collapsed.  Everybody ran over to his side when he fell, and tried to help him up.  But when they touched him, his body was burning up with fever.  They pulled back his cloak and shirt, and saw that his infection was growing worse with each passing second.

            “I think Ozpin’s magic is wearing off” Brooklyn said with a worried look.  Not even hesitating, Christy started pouring whatever aura she had left into Jacob.  Bovia tried to give some of her aura as well, but it was clear she was on her last gasp.

            “Somebody get Jaune!” Christy yelled.  “I don’t know how long I can hold this!”  Terra nodded her head and ran off to try and find Jaune.  Everybody else remained close as they tried desperately to keep Jacob alive.

            “You….have to….help…” Jacob tried to speak up but struggled as his body continued to worsen.

            “We’re just going to have to trust our friends now” Ty said as he grabbed Jacob’s hand.  “We aren’t leaving you.”  Jacob tried to protest, but remained silent as Christy tried to do everything in her power to keep him alive.  She looked up at the sky and saw the sparks of battle still flying from the slab.

            “Good luck my friends.”

Author's Note

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