Where am I?
I remember defeating the Grimm... then... then what? My head feels fuzzy.
I'm the captain, hans günsche. I'm... how old am I again? 155...
I pushed myself up off the ground... the snow crunched under my hands.
Wait... snow? I got up as fast as I could.
I looked around in a panic.
This forest... its where... where... lina died.
"it's been a long time..." I turned to the familiar voice in horror.
There stood a white-haired man, he stood only at 6ft 5 but still... why him!?
"shy are you, my son." There stood my father, otto günsche. His arms were spread out, as if he was waiting for a hug.
"father..." that was all I could say... after what I... I... did...
Before I could react, he pulled me into a hug. I was about to push him away but...
"shhhh. It is alright my son, I don't blame you." I froze, how could he not blame me?! I... I... murdered him. I watched as he struggled for air, as the life left his eyes.
"Welcome to the afterlife. I'm afraid though, you cannot stay." I looked at my legs and saw that they were fading. "Also, before you go, I'm not mad about the coat." He had a kind smile as I faded.
"take care of yourself, my son."
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All that was left was Hans's head and that was gone in a second.
"the Kings' heart still beats within you, my son. I've always hated the way you lived. You never went off on your own, carved your own path. You just followed someone else. Me... lina... the major. You were never independent. I'm thankful to those girls. But... a horrible enemy awaits you, my son."
The snow began to fall once more and Erika appeared.
"you spoke with him, didn't you?" Otto nodded. "I'm... I'm at least glad that he's got people who care for him. But..." otto cut her off, aware of her concerns.
"yes, it sadly seems as though he no longer cares for his own life." Erika folded her arms, accentuating her breasts.
"I... I just hope he can save her..." otto nodded in agreement.
The duo noticed that they were fading.
"seems that our allotted time is up. Isn't that right, wizard?" Otto turned behind him and made eye contact with the old man.
"hey, I'm not old! I'm fairly young for a dead apostle!" The man had a grin on his face. "But yes, I'll have to send you back now." The old man's face turned serious. "I hope you survive, young man."
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I shot up in a panic. I grabbed the man in front of me by the throat and steadied my breathing.
"Roman... torchwick..." The man struggling on my arm was none other than roman torchwick.
I looked around and I seemed to be in a bullhead.
"it's... Nice to... see you up... and about!" Someone came running from the cockpit.
"Neo..." Upon seeing what I was doing, she formed her arms into an X.
I hesitantly let go of him but the ship tilted downwards.
"Neo! Shit, everyone brace yourselves!" As he said this, a loud crash rang through my ears.
'damn, my ears are bleeding a bit.' My ears were ringing, I looked around the flaming wreckage. Climbing to my feet, I grabbed the unconscious Roman and neo.
I kicked the door off and threw the two out to safety.
I leapt out myself but I was noticeably weaker. I felt both sides of my chest.
'I see... my original heart has stopped.' As I was about to do something drastic, a yell could be heard.
"stick em up! Hands where we can see them!" It was only now that I realised, that my lugers were missing.
I raised my hands as I had no other choice.
"seems we got a good catch! Roman torchwick, this giant and some pretty lady. Oh, the things I'll do. Raven'll be happy!" The man dared.
I closed the distance in the blink of an eye, shattering his jaw. He fell to the ground in a moment, in that instant, I smelt a heavy amount of shampoo.
Like yang.
"shattering a man's jaw in a single punch. Impressive. Tell me, how would you like to join the tribe?" A feminine voice called out.
The woman had long black hair, red eyes and wore some sort of Japanese armor.
"I'm raven Branwen, leader of the branwen tribe. So, what's your answer?" I didn't respond, just glared at the woman while getting into a fighting stance.
"a pity. You seem quite strong." For some reason, my shadow soldiers wouldn't respond.
Her sword flew forward, like it was a bullet released from its chamber. Raven similarly leapt forward.
Grabbing her sword, she swung at my left arm and due to my original heart having stopped, I was much slower.
It's simple biology. Less blood flow, weaker muscles.
Anyway, it cut deep... but it stopped at my bones.
I swung towards her stomach and she tried to block with her arm guard.
But I used my aura.
Her left arm was completely broken from that one strike and she'd been launched back.
Upon landing, she glared at me with gritted teeth.
'black ice. It blends in with any surfaces it's on.' Raven noticed that her legs weren't responding.
"they're frozen... they'll shatter if... you move..." I now had time to make my risky move.
I thrust my own left hand into my chest and took hold of my heart.
With a few careful squeezes, my heart began to pump once more. Although, I noticed that the wound on my left arm wasn't healing.
'was that a dust-infused blade?' I used my semblance to try and create some... ice thread. This shouldn't work but...
Surprisingly, I was successful.
'that wasn't very difficult. Could my semblance have strengthened due to a near-death experience? I... honestly don't know.' I used the thread to sew my wound together.
'this cold... it's searing. I think only the outside of my body is immune to cold.' My arm was in pain but I beared with it and grabbed Neo and roman.
One on each shoulder.
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Where is hans? It's late in the afternoon and he's still not back.
I've been feeling this instinct, to kill something. The bloodlust is hard to resist.
I was headed up to ozpins office and upon arriving I had one question.
"where is hans?" He turned to me with a blank look on his face.
"he went to fight a humanoid Grimm in a forest on the edge of mistral. All that's been recovered is the halberd I gave him, one of his two pistols and a large axe belonging to a deceased member of desperado. Alongside that, there was a high amount of blood. The only upside is that we didn't find a body, so he could be alive."
"so there is still the possibility that he's alive and could help me? Send me there. My sense of smell has increased, maybe I can track him down." He sighed but nodded his head.
"very well, there's still one bullhead outside. Maybe you can catch it."
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My apostle. Your soul has become strong, your resolve... tempered.
It will be necessary for the coming battles. Mere speed and brute force will not be enough to win your battles.
You must use everything. Wit, environment, your allies. All will be necessary.
Defeating Salem is necessary within my grand scheme, I hope you can do it.
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What... was that? All I saw, was pure darkness.
Apostle? Some higher being maybe?
Salem... that was the woman ozpin spoke about.
But mere speed and brute force won't work? I already learned that.
Damn it. There's so much going on that I don't know.
Neo woke up and looked around in a panic. I then signed to her.
"explain yourself, use sign language if necessary." Neo began to sign to me.
"I was born into a rich family. They were strict and disliked that my eyes were different colours. I hated it. Then roman came along. He showed me the thrill and joy of being me. Freedom. He'd been more of a father to me than my real one. We planned for me to run away and we used an explosion as a distraction but..." Her hands started to shake and tears brimmed.
I pulled the small woman into a hug.
"I know... what it's like... the grief... the pain... you feel. It's awful... isn't it?" Neo couldn't hold it any longer and started to make strange noises that I could only assume was sobbing.
I felt something running down my abs, I could only guess they were her tears.
I crouched down to make it less awkward for neo.
'if only I could speak more.' I felt monsoon raise from my shadow before running off. 'What?' I wouldn't let go of neo despite monsoons actions.
I felt her arms wrap around my neck before a soft feeling was on my lips.
She kissed me.
I didn't know how to react. I'd never been shown such affection by anyone other than my mother. Her love was motherly, but I'm well aware that neo... I think that she may have a romantic attraction to me.
Before I could say anything, she had fallen asleep once again.
'neo... I don't know what to do. On one hand... I don't deserve any of the kindness I've been shown. On the other... Well, is it alright to be selfish?'
"so she confessed. Well... not exactly confessed but you get the idea. That conflicted look on your face... you better not reject her. Actually, why don't you tell me about it?" The criminal was now awake and sat up.
'I... feel compelled to tell him.' As if in a trance, I began to quickly write down on my notepad some of what I had done.
"I don't deserve any kindness. I've murdered so many. I can't even count them all. I can't remember them all. Even my own parents. I ripped my mother's heart out. Strangled my father. Watched as a Bullet flew through my little sister's head." Roman held a hand up and my forced writing stopped.
"my oum you're a guilt-ridden bastard. To think a tough guy like you would be in a vulnerable enough state of mind for my semblance to work. Now, one last question..." I dreaded whatever he was about to ask.
"did you do all this willingly?" The one question that may absolve me of guilt.
"no..." but it didn't change how I felt. Even if it wasn't willingly, I still strangled my father... tore my mother's heart out.
It didn't change the fact they died by my hands.
"then why are you so guilty? If you didn't willingly murder your parents, then you must have been under someone's control. So, how are you responsible?" I went to reply.
But I couldn't.
I couldn't argue with his logic. If I'm not in control of my actions, how am I the one to blame? Would it not be the puppeteer who's to blame?
'how could I be so stupid? Am I that idiotic?'
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Roman smiled, happy that he managed to get through to the moron.
All thanks to his semblance.
Romans semblance, influencer, allows for him to compel people within vulnerable states of mind to do things for him.
He was happy to have cleared the man's inner turmoil but also confused at what he saw earlier.
Monsoon... an old friend of his. He could swear that he saw him rise from the man's shadow.
And he was right, monsoon came back while dragging a very large white bear with him.
Hans turned to the bears' corpse, monsoon seemed to be presenting it and hans noticed many puncture wounds along with a slit throat.
"entstehen"
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