Episode Sage: Chapter 2: Forbidden

Chapter 2 of Sage's adventure

            Sage went over his provisions one last time, then slung the pack over his shoulders and walked outside to be greeted by the stranger that woke him up last night.  The stranger was shaking, glancing over his shoulders every other second.  Sage shielded his eyes from the bright sun before putting on a pair of sunglasses and began walking northwards towards the location of the Great Graveyard.  The stranger followed suit, remaining silent.  This continued for a few miles until the town was nothing more than a speck on the horizon.

            “Okay,” the stranger said exhaling and relaxing for the first time since Sage had met the guy, “I suppose you’d like me to give you some information about what exactly you’re walking into.”

            “I can venture a guess” Sage said not even looking over at the stranger.  “The Final Battle of The Great War transpires far to the North of Vacuo, warriors and blades are left for dead in the ground, negativity essentially lives in that place, the Grimm make a permanent residence, you and your idiot friends hear some rumor about ultimate power or magic weapons or a gateway to another world or the fountain of youth hidden in the deepest darkness, and decide you are going to take a stab at finding whatever rumor some senile old drunk rambled about at the bar, bit off more than you could chew, then somehow survived and decided to find a single Huntsman as to avoid getting arrested since it is forbidden for anybody other than sanctioned Huntsman to enter that area.  That about cover it?”

            “For the most part yes” the stranger said scratching his head in embarrassment.  “But we were not researching the area for the sake of a legend.  We were hoping to possibly find out something that could tell us more about the origins of the Creatures of Grimm.  The World Council has banned this place for eons.  Yes the negativity plays a large factor, but there are no reported Grimm pools in the area.  Nothing that designates it as a breeding ground of any kind, only that Ozpin decreed it was too dangerous and forbade the world from going there during one of his past identities in his long life in this world.  Have you been there yourself?”

            “Well given the fact that it is illegal, I have not.”

            “Then you are in for a very strange surprise.”

“I’m honestly more curious about what your name is.  You’ve just been talking at me this whole time.”

“Ah.  Where are my manners.  My name is Chosa.  And I am eager to feed my mind as much as I possibly can.”

“Even to the point where you might find yourself in a jail cell after this is all over?”

“Knowledge has no price my friend.”  After that, Chosa didn’t say much else as the two of them continued on their journey.  After another day of silent travel, they approached a tall sand dune.  As soon as Chosa saw this dune, he ran up to the top in an instant and motioned at Sage to join him.  Sage climbed up the side of the dune, and was surprised at what he saw.  Had heard stories about the Great Graveyard, but none of those compared to what was in front of him at this moment.  A city that looked like it had been destroyed by a bomb.  Buildings as tall as skyscrapers were all curved and bent and crumbling away.  The sands of Vacuo dissipated into a smooth surface.  It wasn’t glass, but almost as if the sand that was there turned into solid rock.  And far deep into the center of the city was a cavalcade of weapons strewn about.  Many of them stuck out of buildings and from the ground, some of them were broken, but the majority of them were all strangely located near the center of the city.  Four paths lead away from the center of the blast, and surrounding each of the paths were blades sticking out of the ground.  It was a strange marvel.

            “What….” Sage said taking it all in.

            “From what we’ve recovered,” Chosa said looking out into the ruins, “this place was called Perdita.  No records seem to exist of this once powerful city.  But thankfully, the libraries and museums of this place hold impressive amounts of knowledge despite the carnage.  It rivaled even the Kingdom of Atlas of today at one point in terms of its prosperity.  Curiously however, the logs of time in this city do not match anything in accordance with universal calendar from the first settlers of Vale.  The few relics we managed to date go back even further than the logged battles of the Great War.  Not just loose items, but the weapons as well.  The ones in the middle are millennia old, compared to the Great War being only a hundred years old.  And as such…”

            “Get down!” Sage whispered pulling Chosa down behind the dune.  Peeking back over the edge, Sage saw a large herd of Stalker Grimm make their way through the ruins.  But it soon became clear it wasn’t just them.  A flock of Nevermores circled the sky above some of the fallen buildings, and near the center was a giant Nuckelavee.  A horrifying Grimm that sported a humanoid with antlers fused to the back of a horse Grimm that was almost as tall as a three story building.

            “How on Remnant did you and your group last as long as you did with all these monsters roaming about?” Sage asked in disbelief.

            “Well that’s the thing that’s truly intriguing.  The Grimm that congregates here do not act like normal Grimm.”

            “How do you mean?”

            “The Vacuo Uprising was not more than a day’s journey from here, correct?  And the sheer amount of negativity during those battles brought Grimm to the battlefield in hordes not recorded since The Great War.  But one interesting piece of data, of all the Grimm hordes to attack the warring factions of the Uprising, not a one of them came from this region.  In fact, no Grimm attacks were reported to come from the north of Vacuo whatsoever.  Something is drawing the Grimm here, making them docile.  As such my group was able to move about the entirety of these ruins for a period of time.  But then our luck ran out, and that Nuckelavee charged us.  It took one swing of its massive arms, and knocked us all down.  Somehow I regained consciousness, but my colleagues were out cold.  I immediately ran assuming my colleagues would suffer the normal fate that most do when faced with a Grimm horde this large.  But then for some reason, the creatures grabbed my colleagues and proceeded to drag them somewhere within the ruins.  And despite my negative emotions running at an all-time high, none of the other creatures seemed to notice me whatsoever.  It would stand to reason that perhaps there is a different kind of magic at work here.  And given the recent revelations about magic and the maidens….”

            “Look if I wanted a history lesson, I’d go back to Vale and listen to Oobleck talk for five minutes.  You said you saw your friends get dragged off somewhere.  Did you see specifically where?”

            “Well, yes and no.  No, I don’t know exactly where they were taken, but I did see them get dragged into the northwest skyscraper ruins across the way.”

            “You have any combat experience?”

            “If I did I wouldn’t have hired you.”

            “Of course.  Stay here, I’ll get this taken care of.”  With that, Sage went over the side of the sand dune and into the ruins of the city.  He kept his hands on his sword hilts, but as he slowly approached the herd of Stalkers, not a one of them even made an effort to attack him.  They just continued about their business as if there wasn’t a human standing right next to them.  Sage even managed to kick one and it didn’t even so much as give him a dirty look.  Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Sage ran towards the building Chosa said his companions were being held captive, and managed to reach it without any incidents.  He looked inside and saw nothing but darkness and strange black horrors ebbing from the walls.

            “This is what I get for not taking that job to head back east to Vale….”  with that, Sage pulled out a flashlight from his pouch and descended into the darkness.

Author's Note

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