Shards Of Reminisce

'Welcome to the final days of…'

'Did you now? One last do…'

'...the unchecked energies…'

'How very, very heroic…'

'Just a little further and you…'

'...Always the same arrogance, the same insistence… worthy of preservation!'

'You think it is unfair to be subject of suffering?'

'The land buckled…'

'From this day forth, I… strive to bring honor to…'

'That… is no longer hope's creation.'

'You are a mistake.'

'Sweet, sweet agony…'

'We are the martyr. The bestower of new beginnings.'

'All shall return to nothingness. As was your will, Emperor… Oh, my glorious emperor…'

'Let the curtains rise for the main attraction!'

'My people, my brothers… my friends. The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it.'

'To sacrifice oneself for the star is a noble act, and I would hold those who gave themselves…'

'To us you are not even alive.'

'ARISE, ZODIARK!'

...

...

I'm hammering a dagger on an anvil.

Raise, strike, raise, strike.

The iron rings against the metal with each blow, a sound that should be sharp and clear but comes to me muffled. Yet I can see the sparks scattering everywhere.

The surrounding forge is unclear. Foggy at the edges, but I know where is where and what is what. The walls are there, but cannot make out their color when I try to look at them directly; they slide away from my focus, refusing to become solid. But the anvil is real under my hands. The hammer is real. And the work is important.

I have to finish my work.

'We did everything right!'

Raise and strike.

'This was not my intention…'

Raise and strike.

'If you hear the voice of God, move your feet.'

Raise and strike.

The iron is still red-hot, glowing at the edges where the hammer hasn't found it yet. Droplets fall from somewhere above… Is that my sweat from the effort or the heat? Maybe, or maybe not; and where they land on the blade, they hiss into steam with a sharp, violent sound that cuts through.

'After all these years… Is this the answer I was hoping for?'

Raise and strike.

'Is this your prey? So why does it still live?'

Raise and strike.

'To find joy, even when darkness descends.'

Raise and strike.

'You can't give up yet.'

I finish the dagger and lift it above my head, turning it slowly in the light that comes from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. The blade looks clean and sharp. I turn it once more and find it good quality overrall.

But good is not enough. Good has never been enough.

I toss the dagger aside without watching it fall and reach for more iron, because there is more work to do.

There is always more work to do.

"Ma'iq?"

The hammer stops mid-raise.

I look up.

There is a girl standing across the forge. Long blonde hair tied back in a single braid, dressed in armor I don't recognize from anywhere I've been… Yet why do I recognize it?

Her blue eyes find mine across the haze and hold there. They are beautiful….

"Ma'iq, can you hear me?"

My ears flicker. I nod because yes, I can hear her. The voice is familiar in the same bone-deep way that everything in this place is familiar, present and real in a way nothing else has been.

But there is work to do. So I lower my gaze back to the iron, because if she doesn't need anything then the work comes first. The work is always first. Whatever the work is. It's important; I know with absolute certainty that it's important…. even if I can't remember why.

"Ma'iq!"

Hands grab my shoulders and shake me hard.

I stop and frown, looking up again. Why is she disturbing me?

I let the hammer hang in my grip and I look at her. Really look at her this time.

And I realize my mistake.

The ponytail braid is gone. Her hair is paler now; almost white-gold, and her skin is pale to match, and her blue eyes are clearer and deeper color. Her armor has changed, not that strangely unfamiliar set but something much better and fitting for a knight. On her chest, she wears the golden symbol of purity.

A Holy Knight.

"Holy Knight Jeanne?" The words leave my mouth before I know I'm going to say them. My voice sounds different. Older, maybe. "My lady of Orléans?"

She stares at me. "W-what? What are you even-"

She stops mid-sentence.

Her eyes go wide and drop downward, looking at herself. Her hands slowly come up, turning in front of her face.

Why is she confused?

She has always looked exactly like this. This is simply what she looks like; this is what she has always looked like, what she will always look like. I don't understand why it would be surprising to her now.

Did I feed her too much?

"Let's go," I say. I reach for a helmet and settle it into place. My armor is in perfect condition, properly maintained, ready for whatever waits on the other side of the fog. My weapons are at my side and accounted for.

Jeanne d'Arc is still staring at her own hands.

It doesn't matter. She will come when she's ready. She always comes when she's ready. She is the strongest holy knight of the Empire, and I have never had cause to doubt her, not once in all the time I've known her, however long that has been.

I simply turn around and start walking.

The massive gates of a castle rise ahead of me, iron-banded wood older than anything I can name, and they are lowering slowly with the grinding of chains. Beyond them, visible in flashes as the gates descend, something powerful awaits us.

Something that has been waiting for a very long time.

Something that needs an ending, because the person on the throne has spread this plague too far and too long, and it falls to us to stop it here. It has always fallen to us.

I don't remember when I understood this. Only that I do.

"We will put an end to this madness." I declare with absolute confidence. "Together."

This will be the end of this twisted tale.

I take the first step forward…

And there is nothing under my foot where the floor should be.

And then there is nothing under any of me, and I fall.

Just falling. The darkness is absolute in every direction.

No sound. Just falling, arms at my sides, looking downward at nothing, calm in a way that should feel wrong and somehow doesn't. It's just natural to be this empty.

I don't scream.

It doesn't occur to me to scream.

And then I stop.

Not gradually. Just instantly stop, suspended in the dark in front of something that slowly gain light and shape.

A crystal.

And it's the only source of light in this abyss.

HEAR.

I can hear. The sound of my own breathing. The sound of my heartbeat.

FEEL.

I can feel so many things.

THINK.

Yes, I can think, because this is real, because I am real, because whatever else I have forgotten…

I am here.

The crystal glows brighter.

And the light soon engulfs my entire body, and it's… warm.

…

…

My eyes snap open with a gasp.

I look around quickly, blinking against the dim light filtering through the canvas of...

A tent. I'm in a tent.

I press my hand flat against my chest, rubbing slow circles to ease the pain and let out a low groan as I stare up at the ceiling.

'What was all of that?'

The voices, the forge, the castle and glowing crystal.

And Jeanne.

How was she there? And her reactions were too real to be just a fragment of my fucked up imagination. Was that part of her semblance?

I stay on my back for another moment.

Eventually, I roll onto my knees and push myself upright.

I push through the tent flap into the bioluminescent half-dark of the ruined city.

The campfire is the first thing I notice. Someone found tree branches, or maybe they brought some, I'm not sure. The second thing is Doctor Oobleck, seated on a flat piece of collapsed column, notebook open across his knees, writing with one hand at an impossible pace while holding a separate book open with the other.

He snaps his head up the instant I emerge, and I can see the relief in his expression.

"Oh, you're awake!" He's already standing, already moving toward me. "How are you feeling? Any dizziness? Nausea? Disorientation? How is your vision? Can you track my finger?" He holds one up. "Can you tell me today's date? Your full name? The name of the current-"

"Doctor," I managed to interrupt him in time, holding up a hand. "I'm fine. Or close enough to fine."

He gives me a nod. "Good. Good. I'll want to ask you some detailed questions when you're fully recovered, but those can wait. More importantly; sit down before you fall down. Collapsing twice in one expedition is two times more than I would like."

"Hey," Yang's voice comes from the other side of the fire. She turns her head, lilac eyes finding mine, and a grin breaks across her face. "Knew you'd be okay. You're way too stubborn to stay down for long."

The blondie being this friendly despite what happened is still strange. But I guess she doesn't hold a grudge, or maybe she realized her mistakes after I punched her in the stomach.

She cups her hands around her mouth and turns her head. "Oi, Jeanne! Your guy's up!"

Soon enough, I catch the sound of footsteps approaching.

Pyrrha appears first, stepping around a crumbled wall, and waves a hand with a polite smile.

Jeanne is half a step behind her.

She doesn't finish whatever she was saying to Pyrrha. She breaks into a run the moment she throws herself at me; her arms going around me and locking tight, her face pressing into my shoulder.

"Ma'iq."

I return the hug without hesitation, arms going around her and pulling her in closer, my face dropping into her hair.

This alone makes me happy, even if it's difficult to explain it. But I KNOW this is real and will always be real.

Then I pull back slightly and ask the important question. "How long was I out?"

"Two hours, fourteen minutes," Oobleck answers immediately, pen already moving again. "You gave us quite a scare, Mr. Rak'han. Quite a significant scare indeed. In my experience; which is admittedly extensive, people do not typically collapse without warning in the presence of ancient inscriptions, and I would very much like to-"

"Yeah, don't do that again," Yang cuts in, pointing at me with one finger. "Jeanne absolutely lost it."

"I did not lose it," Jeanne says immediately, pulling back from me to give Yang a glare. "I was concerned. That's completely different."

"You were basically sitting on him the whole time~"

"I was monitoring him! Someone had to!"

"Sure. Monitoring. Is that what we're calling it?"

"Yang." Pyrrha's voice carries a tone of authority. "He just woke up."

Yang opens her mouth, closes it, then gives a magnanimous shrug. "Fine."

*I look between them, then back to the professor. "So. What exactly happened? The word Jeanne read." I pause, trying to make the word feel smaller than it does in my chest. "And then I just..."

I gesture vaguely at myself.

I passed out.

The man's pen stops moving. He looks at me over his glasses with an expression that looks deadly serious. "That is something I would very much like to discuss with you at considerable length when you've fully recovered and back at Beacon. The intersection of your physiological response and Miss d'Arc's apparent ability to read a language that by every measure of historical record should be completely inaccessible to anyone currently living presents implications that I am only beginning to comprehend."

He pauses for a moment. "But that can wait. You have my word."

"Appreciate it."

I feel Jeanne shift beside me and lean towards my ear.

"Ma'iq. What was that? In your dreams."

I freeze, my ears drooping flat.

She was there. Not my imagination.

I hold her gaze for a moment.

"Later." I whisper back. "I'll explain it to you. I promise."

She gives a small nod and steps back.

I look around at the rest of the camp. For a moment I don't know what to say.

"Thanks," I say finally. "For not leaving me."

They could have easily left me there and continued moving.

The brawler immediately bursts out in laughter. "Leave you?!" She waves both hands. "Where is that coming from? Give us some credit!"

"Indeed." The academy professor snaps his notebook shut. "We are a functioning expedition team, Mr. Rak'han. One does not abandon a colleague; not under any circumstances, and certainly not in an undocumented ancient city of potentially civilization-redefining historical significance." He adjusts his pith helmet with a tap. "That would not only be morally bankrupt but also extreme negligence."

Pyrrha smiles slightly. "We were worried about you, Ma'iq. We're glad you're alright."

Even Blake, from her distance, gives a small, stiff nod.

I almost smile at that.

"Right…" I say, lowering myself carefully onto a flat piece of stone near the fire. "So. What's the plan from here?"

The man launches immediately into a long explanation of his plans.

However, I let the words wash over me and stop trying to follow the details and simply start looking around for anything interesting.

Eventually, I reach into my inventory and summon two big sandwiches and hand one to Jeanne without comment.

She takes it with a quiet "thank you" and bites into it.

I do the same.

Zodiark.

Later, I'll figure it out later.

"Can you… give me one too?" Yang asks from across the fire.

Pyrrha then raises her hand with a gentle smile. "I would like one as well."

I merely roll my eyes, I have a lot of food in my inventory so I don't really mind, and I want some praise.

So why not be a little generous with everyone?

Vale.

Downtown Vale, to be more specific.

Except the difference is that these structures; even as destroyed as they are, would have dwarfed anything we could find in the city.

And the streets are absurdly wide. Wide enough that I believe you could fit three cargo trucks side by side with room left over.

However, I keep walking without commenting on any of it because I don't see that detail being important enough. But one thing that everyone has noticed is that there are no Grimm.

For a dungeon that threw multiple species at us simultaneously not that long ago, the silence makes me paranoid of something coming out from the ground. My ears keep swiveling toward nothing, finding nothing, which should be reassuring and somehow isn't.

Empty isn't the same as safe.

Eventually, we stop.

A massive entrance in the shape of an arc stands intact before us, way taller than the hyperactive man. And I can see it has those same symbols from earlier at the top of it.

Jeanne steps forward, drawn to the inscription the same way she was drawn to the wall above.

"Bureau of the Secretariat."

So, it's the name of the building?

"Extraordinary! A governmental name; the word 'secretariat' alone implies a complex bureaucratic infrastructure which in turn implies not merely a civilization but a sophisticated civilization and-" He's already writing and moving toward Jeanne with his notebook raised like a weapon. "Can you read the secondary inscription below the main text? What about the smaller notation to the left of the frame? Is there anything resembling a date? A regional identifier? A reference to the governing body these secretariats reported? Any designation of specific function or jurisdiction?"

Jeanne turns to face him, a flush rising in her cheeks from the sudden attention. "I... yes, I can try, but I'm not… I don't actually know the language, it just sort of... comes through when I look at it. Like it's already translated before I realize I'm reading it. And I can't always-"

My ear twitches. Hard.

I stop listening to their fast conversation and turn my head sharply to the left.

'There.'

At the far end of a side street, standing in the gap between two collapsed buildings I find that thing. Perfectly still and watching us.

Black robes and a white mask.

Then it steps sideways around the corner.

"Is something wrong?"

I snap my head around and I find Pyrrha standing close, her eyes already following my gaze.

"I think I saw something," I answered, looking at the corner where the figure was. "Down that street."

"Do you want to check it out?"

I blink at first, but quickly give a nod.

She smiles faintly and turns around to face the group. "We are going to investigate something fast! We won't go far."

The professor looks up from his notebook immediately. "Understood. Exercise caution, and do not—I repeat, do not—go so far that you lose sight of your path. This place is still unknown, and we do not know the dangers that might be lurking."

We both nod and move.

The wide streets make our footsteps echo strangely, but don't pay much attention and quicken our pace to reach the corner quickly.

And there is nothing, damnit.

I try to look everywhere. Up, down, left and right.

And there is still nothing there, not even a trace or a clue.

"Gone." I stand there for a moment and let out a sigh.

"Better safe than sorry," Pyrrha offers quietly.

"Yeah," I mutter. "That's not particularly comforting."

We head back.

"Hey guys! Over here!"

Or that was the plan, because Yang seems to have found something. Everyone quickly moves to her position.

We find her standing at the edge of a hole, hands on her hips, looking down.

Another hole, and it is bigger than the others.

And it isn't empty.

Because it's filled with pitch-black liquid, so dark that even with direct light pointed at the surface, nothing comes back. No reflection or depth.

And then we see it bubble very slowly. Thick, viscous bubbles rising from below the surface and breaking at the top without sound.

"What's that?"

"No idea."

I look around, find a loose chunk of stone about the size of my fist, and throw it in.

The stone hits the surface and disappears. No splash or ripple. No sound of impact on anything below. No sound at all.

Just gone.

Right… Don't ever touch that black thingy. Message loud and clear.

The man produces a long stick from somewhere in his backpack and crouches carefully at the edge of the hole, extending the stick toward the black surface.

Poke the new thing.

The stick touches the dark surface and the end dissolves instantly.

There was no reaction or any effect, it simply dissolved.

He pulls back what remains and examines the freshly dissolved end with his glasses practically touching the wood, turning it slowly in his hands. "Fascinating… There was no heat transfer or chemical reaction, no gas, * no exothermic or endothermic response whatsoever. This is unlike anything I have encountered in either field or laboratory conditions, and I have encountered quite a few..."

"Acid pit?" Yang offers, still eyeing the hole from a now-increased distance.

"I don't believe so. Acid of sufficient concentration to dissolve wood that quickly would cause a lot of gas emissions. And for this case, there's nothing." He straightens up, tucking the remains of the stick into his backpack. "Regardless, this is very dangerous. Extremely dangerous. We must be careful with our footing as there may be additional holes throughout the district that are less visible than this one."

"Yeah…" Yang agrees, taking another pointed step back from the edge. "Hard pass on becoming sludge. That's where I draw the line personally."

"Eloquently put, Miss Xiao Long." He reaches into his pack and produces a small glass vial, extending it carefully toward the surface on the end of another stick.

The vial dissolves on contact. Instantly. And the new stick follows it half a second later.

The man stares at what's left of his stick.

"...That's unfortunate." He discards the stick with a shrug. "Anyway! Plenty more to explore! Let's keep moving, shall we?"

We spread out in pairs after that, and I ended up paired with Jeanne.

We walk without particular destination, moving between the buildings of the upper district at a slow pace.

She looks at things, and I look at other things. Pretty simply thing to do, although she occasionally tries to look for inscriptions, but there are none.

Just ruins and dirt.

Eventually, I stop in front of a pile of rubble.

"Ma'iq."

I turn around. Jeanne is a few feet away, watching me with a concerned look.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I let my gaze drop along with my ears, and my hand moves on its own to rub the back of my neck. "Jeanne, I really want to…" I admit, because I don't want to lie to her about this but neither want to reveal way too much. "I just... I don't understand it. Any of it. And I don't know how to explain something I don't understand." I pause to find other words. "And there are parts I can't get into."

I won't ever tell anyone about the gamer system, the same goes for Neo. They won't know about these. things

She nods, accepting that without pushing it. "The last dream. What you saw…" She hesitates. "You were almost a completely different person in there."

"Yeah." I look up at her, and something clicks that I'd almost let slip past me. "How did you enter my dreams? You were there, Jeanne. Like, really there."

A faint pink creeps into her cheeks. "That's... part of my Semblance. Remember? Back at the Academy, it can trigger at weird times. And I was… next to you for a bit and that's when it activated."

"Yeah, I remember." I felt really bad after that.

"I'm sorry. I really couldn't control it." She looks down at her hands. "I'm still learning what it does or how it does that."

"Hey." I step forward and take her hand, lifting it, pressing my lips briefly to her knuckles. "Don't beat yourself up about it."

The pink on her cheeks deepens as she looks sideways, gathering her wits again. "Still. I'm sorry."

"Forgiven. Moving on." I lower her hand but don't let go of it. "These dreams are not a new thing. I don't know why I have them or when. I don't know why this place makes me feel the way it does. I don't know why that name or word…" I won't say that name. "Hit me the way it did. Everything is always confusing and frustratingly mysterious and I have no explanation for any of it. Sometimes I see a light telling me how much it hates me, other I see a madman screaming delusions, or then see myself eating chicken or just sleeping in a flower field. There is no sense to all of that."

Jeanne is quiet for a moment, looking out at the surrounding ruins. "Do you think they could be memories?"

I almost burst in laughter. "How? I'm eighteen, Jeanne. Whatever's happening in those dreams, that's not my life. My life is dragging my ass around in Vacuo and fighting other orphans for scraps." I gesture at our surroundings. "Not this."

"What about a past life?"

I stare at her.

She winces, one hand going up to twist the tip of her hair. "Sorry. That was a stupid thing to say. Forget I said anything."

"No, it's..." I stop.

A past life.

The phrase sits in my mind and doesn't want to leave.

A past life might explain the familiarity of things and concepts that should be completely foreign. Would explain why some of those dreams felt like memory rather than imagination… But what would explain why Jeanne's appearance changed?

But would it explain this place and what it does to me when I look at it?

No.

It's a ridiculous idea because past lives aren't real. Whatever is happening to me must have some sort of good explanation that I simply haven't found yet, and filling the gap with mystical religious bullshit isn't going to help me in the slightest.

Besides, I'm eighteen years old faunus, I have a gamer system, a nice place to call my home and three amazing women who care about me. And tied up with a crazy bitch who works with some weird masked people which one of their members tried to fucking murder me in my sleep…

My life is already strange enough.

I shake my head slowly. "I don't think that's it."

Jeanne exhales, looking very relieved. "Okay. Good. Because I really had no idea what I was saying."

"Noted."

She gives me a warm smile, and I almost return that smile.

Then my ear twitches hard to the left, and my whole body goes still before my mind catches up with it.

Same black robes, same white mask.

And it's just standing there and watching.

I don't say anything.

I run.

Full sprint, no warning, crossing the street with an arm already extending as the gap closes between us.

Yet my hand passes through empty air.

I stumble to a stop in the middle of the gap, spinning a full circle, scanning every direction once more.

But just like the last time, it yields nothing.

I know it was there, I know it. So why is it gone? Why does it always dissapear whenver I get close?

"Ma'iq!"

Jeanne jogs up behind me. "What's wrong? What happened?"

I stare at the empty space for another second. Then I let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm probably going mad," I say. "Or I'm exhausted. Or both." I turn back to face her. "I've been seeing something. Three times now. A tall figure in black robes and white mask. Every time I get close or try to focus, it's gone. Like it was never there."

Better tell her this.

Jeanne accepts it with a nod.

"This whole thing is mysterious…" She starts. "Of course it's going to show us strange things. Whatever it is…" she looks around. "It doesn't sound stupid. We just need to be careful."

"Yeah, probably…" I mutter. "Still annoying."

She opens her mouth to respond.

And I see it.

Not the robed figure.

Something else.

Behind Jeanne. Low to the ground, partially concealed in a dark, broken doorway.

It's pale. White or very light gray, hard to tell in the bioluminescent light that renders everything in the same cold tones. But I can see that it is big, way bigger than initially expected as it raises its head.

That's when its eyes catch the light.

Large eyes, not abnormal eyes with no pupils. And its body erupts what might be fur, or quills, or something between the two, splaying outward in every direction, a big mess of whatever those pointy things are.

Then my eyes find its face properly as it gets a better position.

And I gulp.

Because that face is wrong in a grotesque way. Wrong because it is uncanny, disturbingly uncanny. Something that has never seen a human face but still tried to recreate a face.

And that thing is watching us, causing my tail to go completely still and my ears droop low..

Jeanne catches my expression and slowly turns around.

She takes one sharp step back, closing the distance between herself and me instinctively, her hand going to her sword hilt.

The creature doesn't react to either of us moving. Just stays exactly where it is, those lightless eyes holding us both.

Neither of us speaks for a moment.

"...That's real." Jeanne whisper.

"Yeah…" I confirm.

"And that's not a Grimm."

"No, it isn't."

We stare at the creature. The creature stares back at us with those enormous, lightless eyes, perfectly and eerily still except for the slow, subtle movement of its quills, or whatever they are.

Then its mouth moves.

Slowly.

The corners of that mouth pull back to reveal row after row of teeth, sharp and densely packed teeth that will shred anything it gets.

A grin. It is grinning at us.

And then with that ugly expression it tilts its head.

Just what the fuck is that thing?!

"Jeanne," I say, very quietly, not moving my eyes from the creature.

"Yes?" she whispers back.

"Back up slowly toward the rest. No sudden movements."

"Okay."

"And keep your hand on that sword."

"Already there."

The creature holds its grin while those unsettling eyes don't blink even once.

We back up slowly.

It doesn't follow.

The creature's mouth stays fixed in that grin.

Then it starts panting.

Its whole chest and head bob with each breath, a rapid shallow rhythm that makes uncanny look far more obvious than before because even breathing looks wrong on that thing.

But then I see the drool falling from that mouth.

Thick strings of it, dropping from the edges of those rows of teeth and hitting the floor.

That's when it hit me, this thing wasn't curious, it was hungry.

I shoot my hand to grab Jeanne's shoulder and push her to the side as I step forward, my sword and shield materializing in my grip.

Not a second later the creature lunges at us with its mouth wide open, so wide that its face makes no sense as if it didn't have a face or even a head but it was nothing but a mouth. And that disgusting thing is aiming for my head.

I don't even think to get the shield up.

The impact is loud but my boots stay planted. I don't move an inch, but I feel it travels all the way from my wrist up through my elbow and into my shoulder. However, not even the abomination grimm caused this back on the surface.

I take a breath and shove back with everything I have.

The hideous thing stumbles back, its strange feet scrambling for purchase on the ground, and it quickly lunges back to try to bite my face off which I block as well. For a moment we're locked against each other, my shield pressed against it which keeps trying to push me back.

That's when Jeanne comes from my left, sword already mid-swing.

Her blade connects with the creature's flank, except it bounces off.

'What?'

Jeanne tries again but the same results, and the second time is enough for get the attention from the monster.

However, the creature does something I wasn't ready for.

Its upper body rotates independently from its lower half, twisting around with an abruptness that should be impossible because it would imply it had no bones, the whole top portion of it simply turning sideways while its feet stay planted, swinging its attention toward Jeanne in a single motion shockingly fast.

But Jeanne's reaction was on point with her shield coming up before I can warn her, effectively blocking the attack. Yet the strength of the impact staggers her sideways, but thankfully her stance holds and she counters immediately with a quick thrust.

The tough hide deflects it again which solidified my decision.

"The face!" I shout, swinging hard and aiming for the only part that looks soft.

But the ugly monster twists its head away, chattering its teeth that for some reason I understand as mockery. Then it jumps backward, putting distance between us as its body rearranges back.

I stare at it for a moment.

'It can think.'

It can actually think, because it predicted my attack and even retreated for a better position. Whatever this thing is, it isn't a mindless beast.

That's a problem.

Jeanne quickly moves to my side and we both return to a proper stance with our shields up.

"I'll get its attention." I say without looking at her.

"Okay."

I take a quick breath and charge.

There will be no clever trick I meet the thing directly, using my momentum and making myself the loudest and glaring problem it has. The beast charges to meet me and we clash in the middle, its body mass and my momentum colliding, and neither of us gives ground immediately.

Soon enough, I start gaining ground against it with every step I take but that's when its body shifts once more.

If the body-twist from before was unsettling then what comes next is disgusting as it moves and stretches in bizarre ways to try to move around my shield, coiling and angling and finding new angles to get a bite out of me. But it doesn't matter how it tries or what it plans, I stop those attempts every single time and try to stab it in the face but missing every time.

Then it dedicates one attack to my left flank.

And Jeanne comes from the right.

Crocea Mors drives into the creature's cheek. And as expected the blade digs in, deep and clean.

The creature shrieks in pain. A really loud shriek that echoes everywhere. It thrashes sideways away from the blade, tearing itself free, falling onto its side and scrambling back upright before trying to run away.

I try to pursue, but it slams into a wall and the wall comes down, disappearing as it gets buried.

There is an eerie silence that follows.

But I don't lower my shield.

Jeanne takes the hint and doesn't sheath her sword.

The seconds stretch out and each one of them is worse than the last, the quiet pressing in around us, the dust settling slowly, but we do not let go and keep our attention on that pile.

And we are rewarded by our patience because the pile of debris erupts.

The creature comes out of the rubble with a roar that echoes, shaking the loose pieces off its body with violent, rolling shudders. It straightens up, turns, and those lifeless eyes find us.

And it opens its mouth wide but rather than lunge at us like last time, its quills tremble, and my ears twitch when I pick up a rattling sound.

Only one possibility comes to mind.

"SHIELDS!"

And the monster explodes like the cactus thing, dozens of them or maybe hundreds of quills. All of them hitting my shield in rapid succession and clattering to the floor around my feet. I glance at the knightess, but she holds strong as quills fall to her feet as well.

When there is no more coming, I look up over the rim of my shield.

And the hungry maw is already closing on me.

'Shit!'

The bastard used the quills as cover to try to get a cheap shot at us but I reacted fast enough to intercept its sneak attack but the impact drove me to one knee.

The pressure travels through the shield into both arms and down through my shoulders and my spine all at once, a force I haven't felt from anything I've fought before. I can only grit my teeth against it and endure.

Jeanne is trying to fight back but her position is bad and she is only hitting the hide.

Just how strong is this thing?

I can't push back from here and the thing knows it has gotten me pinned down.

But that's when I notice a massive blunder, it has left the right eye exposed while trying to overpower me,

I don't need to think twice as I twist my arm to force it sideways and create a slight opening which I exploit and plunge my sword straight into its right eye causing it to recoil.

"Take this!" Jeanne also takes the new exploit and stabs Crocea Mors into the left eye and twists.

The creature bellows and violently shakes its head before falling on its back. It scrambles away from us, but that's when I notice red blood running down its face and dripping onto the ground.

Red blood.

Not even the black ooze the grimm bleed, but blood.

It spins in blind circles, shrieking, those short forelimbs scrabbling at its own face before dropping again and writing on the ground.

Jeanne and I back up without discussing it, giving it room to trash and struggle so it doesn't get us by accident..

I don't know how much has passed but it finally stops moving. Instead, it stands there panting and we can actually hear every time it takes a pained breath.

I was getting ready to deliver the killing blow until it suddenly twisted its body and lunged.

But in the complete opposite direction, heading straight to a building.

The building doesn't survive it. Ancient stone collapses, the facade coming down in a thundering cascade that sends dust billowing out in a wave. The creature completely disappears under the rubble and dust once more.

But just like the last time Jeanne and I get our shields up and keep them there, preparing to act the second it gets back up.

Soon enough the dust settles around us and gives us a view of the aftermath.

We both hold our breath and wait, watching the pile. The seconds tick by and nothing moves so I start counting the seconds in my head and get to fifteen before I notice something pooling underneath.

Blood, lots of blood.

That's enough proof.

I let my breath out slowly. Beside me, I hear Jeanne do the same.

I let my shoulders drop and roll them a little before groaning.

"What was that?" Jeanne asks.

"I have no idea,"

That wasn't a Grimm and that wasn't any wild animal I could think of. "But it's dead."

"That's good to hear." She looks at the spreading red stain. "Yeah. That's good news."

"Yeah."

"GUYS! GUYS, ARE YOU OKAY?!"

We hear Yang's voice followed by Pyrrha's, and soon enough we hear footsteps rapidly approaching from different directions.

They probably were a little far but still heard the commotion and came to help.

But there is a lot to explain and a lot of questions that probably won't be answered, ever.