HETHOR POV :
Hethor watched as jaune left in worry. Her child wasn't hungry? That couldn't be right. They were quite poor right now so any food they could put on the table was a blessing. Perhaps his encounter with the Minotaur had shaken him more than she thought? Maybe that was it? If so, then she could give her child space and when it was time for sleep, sneak into his bed and cuddle up next to him.
When jaune made it up the stairs, night had fallen as through the holes in the roof of the building, he could see the stars. Going outside, the Chosen Undead was greeted by the night sky and the cool air brushing against his face. He breathes in the cool air through his nose before letting it out through his mouth before he sets his sights on the tower that acts as the lid over the new Dungeon, and the tree. With the castle lit up and the lights of the buildings surrounding it, it made for quite the sight to see.
JAUNE ARC POV :
"I'm really back in land of the live hmm," jaune said to Aurora as he took in everything.
"It is pretty hard to believe. After everything we've been through..."
jaune agreed with her still in his head. He was quite tempted to pick up a rock and bash his head just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. But then again, Undead don't dream for they don't need sleep. The only form of 'sleep' an Undead got was the brief period of death whenever an Undead was killed before being revived at a Bonfire. Even then, no dreams ever came during those periods. Or maybe they did, but jaune had just stopped dreaming after becoming numb to the experience.
"So...what now?"
What now...yes, that is the big question. Here he is, back home and away from Lordran. No more would he have to traverse the ruined kingdom that was plagued with demons and death, fighting for his very life at every second just to be his firends and family but now He was free, free to do whatever he wanted. But that's the thing, just what did he want to do? Should he follow Jason example and get a job? Or perhaps he should take up the sword and shield again and traverse the Dungeon as an Adventurer, the very thing he had come to do when he was in beacon or remnant. He certainly wasn't going to go out and try to find damsels in distress. And going to the Dungeons didn't quite appeal to him as it did when he was a naive boy back at beacon. He was free, thus he could choose to not have to fight anymore.
'But the fact remains is...' jaune thought to himself as he looked back at the abandoned church building. He want to go back home, but there had been no change. Time was still the same as when he was first came here. Both he and Firends are Still missing.
Now personally, jaune had no problems with his living arrangement. After living in Lordran for who knows how long, something like this was normal for him. But the same could not be said for Hethor. She was a goddess that had come down from Tenkai, the Upper World, to start a Familia and become famous. She would find humans who wanted to join her, grant her Grace to them, and bond with them as they went adventuring through the Dungeon. But with the way things are right now, with how poor they are, such a thing will never happen.So the goal he needed to accomplish was to help raise money so they could afford to live a better lifestyle. By getting a job, he would certainly earn money and if everything went well, they could be rid of this church in a good couple of years. But...
jaune turns and stares at the tree of ever After in the distance. Raising his right hand, jaune called forth a flame the size of a small jaune and stared at it a bit.
Adventuring. By going into the Dungeon and coming back with a large number of magic stones, the amount of money he could gain would be more profitable than getting a job. And with his strength and skill sets, jaune was quite confident he could make it big. But therein lies the problem.
Fame and fortune. other people had come to the Labyrinth City or here for those very things, but the jaune right now had no need for such things. His passions and ambitions, his hopes and dreams, they had all been washed away during his time in Lordran. That place had done a good job in smashing such things from him. It wouldn't be a lie to say that the him right now was a completely different person from the jaune that wanted to be an adventurer, inspired by the stories his grandparents and there ancestors, whose face and name he could no longer remember, had told him during his childhood. Making it big in the city, becoming famous and making a name for himself, such things did not interest him in the slightest now. If he was asked what he wanted, then, to be frank, he just wanted to be left alone now.
Being left to his lonesome and enjoying the peace around him now. Compared to his experience in Lordran and in remnant, such a thing was bliss to him, but no matter how he looked at it, by being an adventurer, he'd be able to make more money faster and thus be able to help Hethor move away from this poor life and into a better one. The sooner that that happens, the sooner jaune can leave her and finally find where is his friends and make his way back home with them stop Salem and her army and hang up the sword and enjoy peace for however long he can and get married.
"Looks like there's no other way," jaune says to himself before sighing. Just when he thought he could finally stop fighting...
"I'll just have to be careful." Careful, like he'd always been in Lordran. Except this time, instead of being careful not to die to whatever wanted him dead, he had to be careful of showing people his abilities. No matter what, he must make sure to not let others see just what he was truly capable of for that would only attract attention to himself.
"Well, guess I better head back inside," jaune said, dismissing the flame in his hand as he headed back into the church to turn in for the night. As an Undead, he didn't need to sleep, but that didn't mean he shouldn't watch over Hethor in case of an attack. As unlikely as that was to happen, jaune would still watch over her. Expect the unexpected, calculating the highly unlikely variable, imagining scenarios that could happen no matter how unlikely or unbelievable; it was this way of thinking that's kept him from Hollowing and dying not as often compared to other Undeads. Had he not been taught to think like this, he was confident the number of times he met death would have happened more times than not.
Of course, this way of thinking was hammered into him rather than properly taught...Keep thinking and keep planning. For years those words have kept him from giving up when there were so many times he could have. The man he was back then couldn't even compare to the way he is now, but no matter how much stronger he was now, he didn't let it go to his head. By following those words, jaune had overcome any challenge thrown at him.
A sad smile forms on jaune face as he thinks back to the man as well as those that have helped him during his time in Lordran and remnant. The fact remains, without the teachings of those people around him, jaune couldn't have gained the strength and power he has right now. For that, he will forever be grateful.
But right now, he had a goddess to look after. And tomorrow, jaune Arc, the Chosen Undead, would go back to adventuring
"hey you don't forget about me now we are partners now we stick together and we will make sure This familiar will be the best one out there " said a cheerful Aurora.
"Yes partner " jaune arc smiled at her and patted her sword head.
The thought alone made him want to smile and laugh...but that urge was dashed when he came upon a wooden crate sitting in front of the altar.
"Uh, was that always there?" asked Aurora
'No.' jaune narrows his eyes as he approaches the crate that hadn't been there before cautiously. His hands went to his side to grab a sword and, being reminded once again at his lack of proper equipment he needs to buy. He'll have to buy a sword later. Though with his current budget, the best he could afford was probably a knife. Well, better than nothing. He felt naked as it is.
Approaching the crate, he instantly saw a card on top of the crate. Picking it up, he saw the card depicting some sort of clown or Girmm. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, jaune turns the card over to see a small message.
Thought you should have this back. ~C.F.
"C.F.?" jaune mutters in confusion, staring at the message on the card for a good minute before he looks back down at the crate before him. Throwing away the card, jaune grabs the lid, using his strength to tear it off. He paused, making sure the noise hadn't attracted Hethor's attention before jaune calmed down a bit and moved the lid aside before looking to see what was inside.
jaune's body froze as his eyes widen in surprise. Unfreezing himself, jaune reaches in the wooden box and pulls out a metal helmet, an Elite Knight Helmet.
"This is..." jaune ran his thumb over the helmet's surface, feeling the metal as the moonlight above shined over him and the helmet. From the way it gleamed, the helmet was clean, cleaner than jaune has ever seen a helmet be. Not a lot of equipment jaune found had been clean, having been found on the ground discarded or on the body of a corpse. The way the helmet shined under the moonlight almost captivated him and he thought the helmet was just made, having come right out of a blacksmith.But no, the helmet was not new. Despite its clean and new look, jaune could spot multiple tiny scratches all over the helmet, some bigger than most. They were barely noticeable, showing the care that had been put in to repair it. And that's when jaune knew.
"This is mine." The helmet in jaune's hands, it was his own Elite Knight Helmet, the same one he found along with the rest of the Elite Knight set all those years ago. All the scratches on it, he recognized all of them.
Looking inside the box, jaune found the rest of the set; the gauntlets, the leggings, greaves, the chain mail shirt, the leather armor he would wear over the chainmail shirt, even the surcoat was there as well as his belt of pouches. Sitting on top of it all were two bags with one that seemed stuffed full of something.
'But no sword or shield.' jaune noticed as the only thing in the crate was his Elite Knight armor and the bag. Picking it up one of the bags, the jingling sound of coins was heard from within. Untying the knot, jaune looked inside and found a good amount of Valis inside.
Placing the flask back in the bag, he looked at the card he had thrown away which had landed on the side to allow the Grimm pic to be displayed.
A Grimm...and the initials C.F...suddenly, it clicked. Eyes widening again only this time filled with more caution, Bell looks around frantically before rushing outside. He looksaround but sees no sign of who may have dropped jaune's armor.
C.F., there was only one man jaune knew that had those initials. Granted, the M part was more a self-claimed title, but that's all jaune knew him by.
"Fall..." jaune muttered the name of the women who may have been here.
Cinder fall, a shady woman he had met when he had been dragged through time the very person who is the responsible of his entire life of pain the one who killed the person he loved and made him force another friend's death on upon him that monster she was there. she was somewhere in city of Orario and just like him And she was out there somewhere, doing who knows what Maybe trying to cause another kingdom to fall as she does enjoy making kingdoms fall for some twisted reason.
Looking down at the helmet in his hand, jaune looks over to The ever After tree. He just found another reason to go adventuring In this world.
ELVES CITY GATES,
ONE MONTH LATER
jaune was stopped at the gates of city as the guards recognized him, blocking his path and glaring daggers at him.
"Why should we let in a human like you?" Jaune ignored them before strengthening his resolve. This is no time to succumb to the ridicule.
"My Firend is in danger right now Do you want to be You know move aside a little for her?" he practically screamed as they laughed
"Oh, and how would you know that? Weren't you too busy having fun with your spirit ?" Jaune raised his eyebrows in confusion what the hell are these bastards even talking about then he remembers if are they talking about that- face started going red like a tomato in fury and gained the urge to lash out before-
*BOOM*
The ground shook for a second, throwing the guards off balance and onto the ground. Bell peeked up towards the noise of the explosion, only to see a large mass of smoke rising.
Rising from his home's direction
jaune panicked, running forward with all of his might towards her home, ignoring all the people that glared daggers at him, or even blaming him for the event.
Once he reached her home, he froze. The Church that he had come to love and adore as his own home... it was lit up in flames, the left half where all of their belongings had been blown to smithers.
"HATHO !" he howled in worry as he jumped over the gate, rushing towards the building. He was mentally scolding his magic for not being a water type right now before rushing inside the building.
"HATHOR-SAMA! WHERE ARE YOU!?" He screamed, hoping to hear her voice somewhere, even if it was just a groan.
jaune ran forward, through the building that was on fire, looking everywhere. In the kitchen, he found some freshly made jagamarukun, making his eyes wet slightly before ignoring it and looking somewhere else, Eventually, when he entered the meeting room. He found her, bleeding from the top of her head, and tied to a chair.
He ran forward trying to free her, before he was hit on top of his head from behind and injected with something.
He looked to his arm before behind him, only to see a familiar face of someone he had fought long time age, and believed dead.
"cinder..." Was jaune's last words before he passed out, the last sight being the woman grinning like a mad woman.= Church Street, Unknown building=
"Ughhh... Kami-sama" A groan escaped out of jaune mouth. His head felt like someone had thrown the damn goliath on it.
"ja...Wak..." A faint voice entered his ears. He tried to move but quickly realised that his body wouldn't respond. The most he could get was a tiny nearly unnoticeable twitch.
"jaun...Wak...up!" The voice became clearer. He could recognize the sound of it but couldn't exactly place who it was. Everything was so groggy, he was so tired.
"jaune-kun, Wake up! Please!" His senses started to finally return to full, his body reacting more prominently than a few seconds ago. He raised his head slowly from the slumped up position, peering around himself to take in where he was.
He couldn't recognize anything around himself, the room was dull and disgusting. Leftover food was thrown in the corner, stains littered the walls and the smell of shit was too prominent in the air. Where the hell was he? How did he get here?
"jaune-kun! Look at me! Are you alright?" jaune looked up at the voice to see his goddess, tied up, dress ruined, blood dripping from her head and a slap mark on her cheek.
"Kami-sama... What happened to you?" jaune asked groggily, looking at her with sleepy but concerned eyes.
"Don't worry about that, we need to get out of here. These men really want us dead!" At that, everything hit jaune like a truck. The pizza, the ridicule, the request... and cinder!
"cinder... That... That fiery b****! she was alive" jaune arc exclaimed with a gasp.
"Wow, you really dislike that person don't you?" Hathor commented, eyes widened slightly at the curse. jaune nodded as he looked around before turning his gaze upwards to where his hands were tied in some kind of cuff he has never seen before. They were glowing red, almost as if it was a magic item there .jaune ignored it and aimed his hands towards the wall with some surprising dexterity before
"I will kill you" He said... but nothing.
"Huh? who the hell are you where the f*** is cinder f****** fall " jaune said to the end Invaders "What did you just say sir jaune Arc " "ok let's talk again I will kill all of you and bury you all here That is a promise If you don't tell me where the f*** is cinder fall !" then they said Still nothing.
He was about to try to break his bonds before the door opened, revealing the man himself, Dix.
"You can stop trying that. That gem is a magic item that locks any and all magic, no matter the type" Dix pulled a chair from the corner, positioning it to the side of jaune and Hethor before taking a seat. He looked down before looking up at jaune with a grim expression
"I gotta say Mr Knightley, I'm astonished with your accomplishments here. You have single handedly screwed over my entire operation that was years in the making within a couple of days" He said as fury took over his face.
jaune Just raise his eye brows in confusion 'what the f*** is this man even talking about I know the f*** are you What the f*** is cinder f*** this situation.' That's what he thought.
"An operation that has taken nearly half my life to get to the point that it was at! And you FUCKING RUINED IT ALL!" He screamed as he rose and kicked jaune in the face, it didn't do a damn thing on him dix starters cursing himself that he basically punched a brick wall So When dix try to come back hurt Jaune use his head as a headbutt dix into the wall of the opposite side of the room, tried ripping the chain that was attached to his cuff out of the chair.
When Jaune try to undo the bounds He was electrocuted and he was put down by some unknown gravity It's confused him a bit then he thought could it be dust but that's impossible and he couldn't even do anything.
"JAUNE-KUN!"
"Damn, gotta keep my cool. Don't want you to die too quickly right, now do we? That would ruin all the fun"
jaune peeked up at Dix, his jaw slightly dislocated before he used his cuffed hands to pull it into place.
"One thing makes no sense why are you even after me I didn't do anything towards you or my friend here "
"actually that's the thing you actually did it my associate told me about your little history Yes I know cinder fall She told us everything about you about your world about your semblance and what type of abilities you have She told about you very highly " said dix
"I am honored" said jaune
"She even told me that she will help us achieve our goals even faster than what we have right now first we need to do her a little favor kill you and your little friend here The deal is sealed You getting my vibe b****" said dix excitedly.
"f*** f*** she strikes again always with her f****** tongue She has gas lighter than a manipulated them in this point that they can't even see where she's going to play them out" jaune thought
"You're insane Dix. You do realise that you not only kidnapped a goddess and her familias captain murder, but you also blew up her church ! The entire city will be looking for you, turning it upside down" Dix has he smiled.
"Don't worry, I plan to live much longer, after all, When the guild is finally on my ass " he pointed towards his arm "And this" He lifted his shirt to reveal his chest caved in from the colossal If he had a few days ago "have made sure I'm going to die again" He walked up to Hathor and grabbed her chin before making her look at him.
"And I intend to repay you, and your goddess firend for that" He threw her face roughly to the side, rewarded by a yelp from her.
"Why do you have to drag her into this?" jaune asked angrily" Oh, just torturing you and killing you wouldn't be fun. I got to make sure you suffer in every way possible, physically, and psychologically. BOYS!" The door to the room opened, revealing another 6 men that jaune didn't recognize.
"Beat the shit out of the this guy for interfering. As for the goddess... do as you please with her" he finished before walking to the side of the room with a smirk as he looked at jaune frightened eyes.
jaune forced himself up and stood in front of his firend, intending to guard her honor. One man sent a punch towards jaune, who dodged and kicked him in the face killing him before another grabbed his hands and forced them up above his head. A third man grabbed his legs and held them in place jaune tried to break them off by tossing them aside but some reasons he could not move they, locking him on the wall, open for any and all attacks.
"Now this will be fun...hehe" one man said as he grabbed a spear from the ground before smashing it into jaune gut, making him lose his breath, unable to scream in pain.
The man didn't let up as he continuously, and brutally hit him over and over, not stopping for a single second
"It's fun, ain't it Little sir knight. It sure is for me!" Dix exclaimed before laughing
"Oy, why aren't any of you boys doing anything to goddess Hathor ? She's up for the taking!" The 3 free men chuckled at that before making cooing noises, before closing in on Hathor, who tried to squirm away, screaming for them to stay back.
jaune saw this and tried his best to get free. His strength as a level 3 made sure he got free of the man's grip, grabbing the pipe before it hit him and yanking it out of the man's grip. Using it as a weapon, he managed to create an opening by smashing it into one of the guys head, before rushing towards his goddess.
He jumped and kicked one of the 3 men surrounding her before hitting the other 2 on the head hard enough to kill them.
Before he could continue, his face hit the floor with a loud crack as he peeked up in his peripheral view, seeing Dix smiling down at him.
"Now, now, be a good boy and watch them use her" jaune eyes widened as Hathor screams started again.
"NOO! STOP!" She screamed as one man started groping her breasts and fondling them hard.
Another forced her legs to spread open wide as he started working to get rid of her undergarments.
jaune struggled as hard as he could, he couldn't fathom what was happening before his eyes, he couldn't let this happen. It was his job to protect his friend.
As they continued the last man grabbed her face, licking her face as she screamed again, which the man shut up by forcefully kissing her. jaune broke, a loud ringing started emanating all around them, loud enough for the room to shake.
Dix looked around before looking down, noticing that jaune had glowing particles around him.
"Oy, how the hell are you using magic? That item blocks all and any magic!" He exclaimed, reaching to knock him out.
"GET THE HELL OFF ME!" jaune screamed at the top of his lungs as he sprung up hard, sending dix through the roof and a shockwave around him knocking everyone into the wall, including Hestia.
The cuffs broke with the force exerted, allowing jaune to move. His vision had gone completely red, the only thing that mattered in front of him, protecting his firend, no matter what.
One man pulled a sword and went to slash at jaune, whom simply dodged around him and grabbed the side of his head and with as much force as he could muster, he snapped it so hard, his head was flipped around, looking backwards as the man's eyes went up into his skull before collapsing.
"He.. HE FUCKING KILLED DRAKE!" Another man screamed as jaune took up the sword. The door smashed open, revealing a multitude of other remaining Ikelos familia members within the building.
The thugs rushed towards jaune, trying to hit him with anything they've got, but jaune's speed was just too much. He kept dodging, cutting and slicing them to pieces. One fell after another as blood was painted on the ground, walls and over jaune entire body.
Hathor who had gotten out of the broken chair looked in horror at what her friend jaune was doing.
"JAUNE, STOP!" she screamed, but it fell on deaf ears. He just continued to hit them as his hand started glowing again. To jaune, there was no holding back, if he did, then this goddess would be sent back to heaven, or suffer a worse fate worse than death."THIS Guy IS A GODDAMN MONSTER!" One of them screamed
He pushed through them, nearly relishing the feeling of their flesh being cut by his blade, the blood splattered on his face.
Once his charge had reached a minute and a half, he aimed his arm forward and screamed
"F*** you!" The flames swallowed everyone as screams could be heard before a large explosion was heard, the building completely caved in on them.
After the rumbling of falling debris stopped, jaune arc pushed debris off of him before looking around, before looking at his hands.
He started shaking as he realised what he had done. He slowly looked around, seeing arms, legs, bodies, even a couple of heads laying around. The scene was that of a nightmares.
"Jaune..." He heard the small voice of Hestia. Jaune turned around only to see Dix, bleeding all over and looking like a corpse walking, holding a blade to her throat.
"Heh, well done... but I win" Was all he said before his arm started moving.
The world stopped for jaune, his legs sprung forwards as his arm stretched out towards goddess.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" He screamed as Blood was spewed all over the debris to the side, goddess falling limp to the floor as Dix laughed before jaune, who grabbed the knife in Dix's hand and forced it into his heart, making him cough up blood before addressing jaune.
"Have fun with the curse... Little knight" He said with a wink ,before closing his eyes, falling backwards, lifeless.
Jaune eyes widened before he turned around to the goddess, slowly moving towards her limp body before it became surrounded by light as he felt the blessing on his back disappear.
The light of a god returning to heaven was released, the rules of Gekai had been broken, goddess arcanum had been used to try to heal her, but something was off. The light towards the heavens was... flickering, twitching from side to side before it stopped.
Jaune looked horrible, his entire body was drenched in blood, shaking in disbelief of what had just occurred. His status completely left him as he felt heavier than he had ever remembered feeling. Like a mountain had been put on his shoulder. He stared up into the sky, tears in his eyes before a voice came from behind him
" Mr jaune Arc ?" He heard as he froze, the only person who called him that was...
"Jaune...?" Jaune's heart stopped. Trying to force her to disappear, the newly arrivals walked past jaune, giving him a clear view of who they were
Aine Tulle and Laffey Viridis
He felt hands grip his arms before putting them on his back before something metallic was put on his wrist.
"I'm sorry , but with your recent action when monsters attacked the surface in city and now this, you are under arrest for serial-murder and endangering the populus... alongside potential rape of a goddess" he heard Laffery broken sad voice.
"WHAT!? I DIDN'T KILL HER FAMILIES OR RAPID HER !" jaune screamed. For the third time this night, he was hit hard on the head, knocking him out. The last thing he saw... was a disappointed, and sad look on Aine' face
TWO DAY LATER
KERATOSIS FAMILIA CELLARS
"Are you one hundred percent sure? If we are just a little off here, we will be sentencing an innocent boy to lifetime in the worst jail known to man!" A young elf guild advisor asked the kratos familia captain.
"Indeed, we arrived on the scene and found surrounded by corpses and dismembered body parts covered in blood and holding a knife which the circumference matches that of the cut on her throat" Aina sighed
"I just don't see his motive. Why would he rape this goddess within a building that's owned by a foreign familia? It just doesn't add up" Alex nodded at the statement as that much was true
"Indeed, but as you should know better than me, the public is in outrage. They want him gone, forever and if we don't do something soon, they will soon start screaming for his head. They would already be doing that if we hadn't managed to hide the fact that goddess was raped there and her entire familia has perished and came up with a cover story" Aina flinched at that, she didn't want to see jaune die and what 'Archer' said was very true. This entire morning the guild office had been jam packed with civilians and adventurers alike demanding to know when The Mr Knightley would be sentenced.
Alex walked to the side and opened a side drawer, pulling out a paper, neatly packed and put into a classification.
"Is this..." Alex nodded at her unfinished question
"Indeed. It is the finished paper on Jaune Arc sentence. Lifetime in Kauhea Forbande, and forced labor while inside the prison. Don't worry, this is a very light punishment for the accused crimes. Normally a person would be sentenced to death but because of the cover story, we managed to lighten it up a lot" Aina sighed heavily
"Fine, this jaune arc will serve life in Kauhea Forbande and do forced labor there. It's only a little better than execution" She gave up reluctantly before finally leaving, heading towards the guild office to give the announcement of Jaune Arc sentence to jail for life.=Far outside there city =
"Ugh... Why do I keep waking up like this?" jaune asked no one in particular as he tried to move only to realise he was cuffed again.
"Seriously? What the hell happened now?" his question was answered by someone, making him jump in surprise
"Sentenced to life, Mr Knightley " jaune looked up to see 4 men, armed to the teeth with armor that looked like it was made of adamantium.
"What do you mean?" He had been sentenced to life without his knowing?
"Don't act like you don't know. You killed an entire familia and try to rape there goddess, Loki's children even caught you in the act" jaune was flabbergasted, he was only protecting himself, although quite violently, but still self-defence.
"Hey, they attacked me and my friend there ," jaune said, having the entire ordeal was quite hazy.
"You mean little firend that mysteriously perished? Yeah, don't believe ya"
'Perished? What...No... did I... Fail again to save somebody?' jaune thought as his face fell, looking down on the ground as his world shattered. Memories of the some unknown familia being there and there' look of disappointment lingering on his mind as they made themselves known For some reason.
The only thing he had perceived before sulking was that he was in a thickly armored carriage, most likely for high priority criminals. They were taking him somewhere, which meant he was going to prison.
jaune pondered about it for a second before the carriage stopped, two of the guards pulled him roughly and threw him out of the carriage. jaune dusted himself off, noticing that he was bleeding from just that, sending a reality check right through him.
'She really is gone...'
The guard pulled him up and pushed him forward before motioning for him to continue forward.
They were in a small canyon with a gate that was opened. Once they were through, an enormous building was revealed making as Jaune just gasp at its size and wondering what will come next. As it's pretty damn small compared to the places that he has been Damn they need construction.
It's almost as big as city itself!
"Where is this?" jaune asked out loud, having never heard of a prison like this
"Welcome to the Dreadful Curse for the rest of your life, Kauhea Forbande, worst prison in all of Gekai.
KAHUNA FORBADE, SEVEN DAYS LATER
The days had passed in a monotone pattern, jaune's mental health deteriorating as time became unreadable. There was no way of knowing if it was night or day up on the surface, the only source of light being the lanterns and magic lamps around the prison.
jaune's day always consisted of waking up, eating breakfast before being left alone until hours later before being taken to the mine. He spent 6 hours there every day as it was the only thing he got to do that distracted him and After that was said and done, he got back to his isolation cell, waiting for dinner, eating it then going to sleep.
It had felt like he had been here for years, but in reality it had only been a measly week.
Today was different though, jaune was still very quiet and had a sullen look in his eyes, but on the inside, he was kind of excited.
Today he was going to be able to see her again. For the person he had chosen to invite to visit him, he had chosen Aine. He knew he was reaching for straws, but he hoped he could at least try to make her not see him as a criminal, plus, he needed closure from the last time he saw her. That disappointed look had haunted him no matter where he went.
Currently he was mining the ores, the last task for the day before they would settle him in his new cell which was newly built meaning he would be the first inmate to be assigned that specific one.
As jaune brought down the pickaxe on the Adamantium vein for the thousandth time, it finally broke off. With a blank look, he reached down and took the ore before deciding to stop for the day. It should have been six hours by now.
He walked to the guard who handled the logistics, Hayden, and dumped the ore in the adamantium bin.
"Another day of hard work, well done inmate 8658-12" The number at the end of his sentence was his inmate number.
"I have a name," jaune said with a tiny, unnoticeable glint of annoyance in his eyes. Bruce, The Guard had grown closer to jaune over the week ho so after seeing him working so hard, smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry jaune, just old habits" He apologized "Anyway, I think it's your time to get a visitor?" he smiled as jaune's eyes gained a shine of emotion for the first time in a couple of days.
jaune nodded hesitantly before taking his leave. Over the week, jaune had been given a map of the prison, only including the most necessary paths of course, and jaune had memorized it. He headed towards the room that had been labeled 'visiting room'. Once he arrived at the door, the two guards that stood there checked a list that they had before he guided him into the room and sat him down.
jaune waited anxiously for the door on the other side to open, thinking about what he should say, how he could convince her of his innocence, but after a while he started to worry.
10 minutes of his time had passed and the doors hadn't even as much as twitched. As seconds became minutes, his remaining heart started to speed up a bit, hoping for this to just mean she was late.
After 20 minutes passed, he started counting down in his head, and the closer he got to 0, the more his heart fell.
Once he hit the last minute, he gave up and rose from the chair and left the room, a dark look in his eyes.
She hadn't come... meaning she didn't want to see him. She didn't give him a chances no one will.
jaune was getting used to being able to see inside his cell. The bars were more traditional, but were clearly made out of a strong metal such as Adamantium or Orichalcum.
This time he even had a bed. It was hard without a pillow, but at least it was something. He also had a functioning toilet instead of a bucket that just sat there and stank all the time.
In general, this cell was a major improvement from his living standards before switching. The one difference alarm appreciated the most was the noise. One could always hear idle chatter between inmates or guards here, since the entire A block was full of inmates. It was a great way to stop himself from thinking about... everything, when he listened in to their conversations
Most of the time, what he overheard were rumors that were circulating in the prison. The most popular one was that there was a hidden section of the prison that held a priority prisoner.
Of course jaune just thought of it as ridiculous. Having a hidden section just for one prisoner? It was ludicrous but It's possible one even might had an atlas prison for special prisoners but here it's a possibility.
Another improvement here was that there was less time for oneself since there were designated times for everyone's dinner in the cafeteria, workout and freetime.
During Freetime, one can basically do anything they want to within the area limit, as long as it doesn't involve anything violent or otherwise against prison rules.
Right now, jaune had been through all of these different things and was trying to sleep. It had been hours but his body just won't succumb to it. His thoughts drifted towards a much unwanted place as jaune flinched once again, almost as if he heard the mean words again, though the flinching has been very minimal since his body has put up natural defenses against the mental pain All of a sudden.
"Hey, have you heard of the rumors the prisoners are throwing around?" He heard a person say as footsteps sounded outside the cell.
"Yeah, something about a secret area in the prison. Heh, bunch of delusional criminals" the other pair of footsteps answered
"Speaking of criminals, you see this fresh cell? Cell 300?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"The person in there is inmate number 8658-12. You know who he is?" jaune realized, knowing they were talking about him,
"No, I don't know how you remember these things, but to the rest of us, we try to remember names"
"Really huh, anyway. The person in there is the infamous 'Mr Knight'" A tiny gasp could be heard from the other guard.
"That's Mr knight ? Man, the kid saved my daughter once. She visited the city during the a trip and a damn monsters had her cornered in a large dead end. The guy beat the monster, allowing her to come out of hiding. Sad to see how far people can fall" jaune's clenched hand's, knowing full well that it was within the realm of possibility. A lot of people had been hiding there.
"Anyway, back to that rumor. It may actually hold some merit to it. The warden had asked me to deliver coffee to his office. Once I arrived, he seemed to be on the toilet and I saw these plans spread across the table. I took a glance, and there was this section of the prison that I had never seen before on any plans"
"Really, where exactly is this?"
"Oh, It was located down the useless old south halfway from the Cafeteria"
"Shhh, not so loud. The prisoners might overhear!" The voices faded into the distance as jaune's mind thought of what they had said
'That meant that there might be a way out there. But how would he get there was the bigger question.'
The distraction from his usual thoughts were clearly what he needed. His thoughts became significantly quieter as he began becoming groggy. After a while, he completely succumbed to sleep
The next day went by normally for jaune. So far most other inmates didn't seem to care about the new addition as jaune was left alone with his thoughts constantly, the only semblance of him still being alive is the aching muscles as he worked or the interactions he had with some of the guards.
That was one thing jaune found was relatively positive about the quote on quote 'worst prison in gekai'. Not all the guards were bad, some of them were pretty nice as long as you did what you were supposed to do and didn't cause trouble. That had naturally got jaune on their good side simply because of him not being that kind of person.
As the day started to pass and dinner time came around, the 'normal' day for jaune took a slight turn in the form of an announcement coming from some kind of large device hanging from the wall that had a magic stone in the center.
"Inmate 8658-12, please make your way to the Warden's office. Guards will guide your way" jaune looked up from the disgusting sludge they call food before standing up. jaune had quickly memorized his inmate number and quickly responded by heading to the doors that were lit by magic lamps.
Two guards were waiting outside for him, heavily armed compared to the usual guards in the prison. As they led jaune down the hallway from the cafeteria, a Hallway that was blocked off caught his attention.
'Is that the hallway the guards were talking about last night?' jaune thought before the hallway disappeared from view faster than he would have liked.
As they continued down the hallway, they eventually stopped as one of the guards pressed a button, making the ground move as they headed further up. It was like the old elevator in mantle and vale.
Once they reached the top, jaune only saw a double door in front of him. Nothing else
The guards walked up to the double door and motioned for him to enter as they opened it.
jaune entered to be greeted by Adrian, sitting down at a table with three comfortable looking sofas surrounding.
" , please sit down sir" He greeted with a bright and friendly smile. jaune obliged the request as he walked over to the seat opposite of Adrian and sat down.
jaune looked around the room to see for anything that is a miss but that it was quite expensively decorated. Everything a person needed to live was here. There was a lavish kitchen behind Adrian alongside a door on its right side. On the right side of the door a lavish kitchen table with expensive decorations and porcelain on top, ready for dinner at any time.
Behind jaune, there was the main part of the room that resembled an office instead of a home 'Just liking in remnant'.
A large wooden desk with a telegraph, pens, stacks of paper and a lamp on it. The chair seemed very comfortable and the walls were decorated with paintings from all over Gekai. He recognized some places from peoples descriptions like the elven forest from Aine describing it to him once.
He also recognized the Far Eastern structures, looking just like how ren described them. There were also a multitude of paintings from places he didn't recognize, but there was one that stood out from the rest.
It was a painting of a forest with darkness Shadow type monsters coming out of the ground and from the deep forest, growling menacingly with the red evil eyes towards the viewer of the painting. 'the Girmm But how' It sent jaune down memory lane as he remembered how he and firends had fought to protect their home this painting described a place that matched what he was seeing is his home.
'The Emerald forest ' He thought with a tiny gasp before he could hear someone clearing his voice. jaune turned around towards Adrian and apologized.
"It's no worry. Tea?" jaune nodded frantically as he hadn't had anything that tasted remotely nice for quite some time now with this halfway developed taste buds.
"So, I bet you're wondering why I have called you up here today, am I right?" Adrian asked as he poured jaune a cup of tea and handed it to him. jaune took it gladly, taking a sip, humming at the taste before putting it down on the table.
"Yes" jaune simply answered as Adrian nodded. Before anything else was said, he grabbed a folder that had been next to him and put it on the table, flipping it to face jaune as he motioned him to read it.
jaune grabbed the folder and picked it up before reading the title of it.
Inmate file, jaune arc
Bell opened the folder to see what was inside as soon as he saw the front cover name.
Name: jaune arc
Age: 25
Height: 7'3
Weight: 66 kg
Occupation: Adventurer, Level ?, employed for 1 months
Origin : unknown
Birth of place : unknown
Crime: Endangering of Civilians and murdering 30 adventurers 1 rape of a goddess.
Sentence: Undefined
jaune frowned. Wasn't this just too short? Usually from what he hears, files on people are always longer than this, aren't they?
He looked up towards Adrian, intending to ask a question before Adrian brought his hand into the air and signaling for jaune to be quiet.
"Today, the reason for you to be here is because a certain friend of ours wanted to meet you" jaune arc tilted his head then raising his eyebrows in the questionable look, 'who could be' before he realised could be. Before he could ask if his suspicion was correct. The door next to the kitchen opened, a figure wearing a large black robe entered the room.
"Greetings, Jaune arc" jaune's eyes had widened as he looked into the eyes of the skeleton that had given him some notice 'so death came for me ...That's new.'
"And no I am not death If you were a little concerned there. " said the shadowy figure.
"This is the first time we ever met my name is Fels I work under the guild from Ourario I was send here by my master Ouranos The leader of the guild has have some conversation with you" now skeleton as identified as fel spoke.
"Fels... " jaune whispered as Fels sat down on the third sofa.
"hello my name is jaune arc then Nice to meet you ?" jaune arc no weirded out of it He has seen creepier things.
"We have something to discuss jaune arc. It is about your goddess" jaune flinched
"Yeah, if you wanted to inform me she's dead. Then I already know... I watched it happen" jaune said with his head hung low.
"I don't know if this is a good thing to tell you, but Ouranos said it was for the better that you knew" jaune peeked up, waiting for the information
"Before I tell you of our suspicion, I would like to ask a quick question. Was there anything odd happening as she returned to heaven?" jaune started to shake his head before he stopped and a certain part of the event popped into his head
"Actually, yes. The pillar of light started to... fade, if that is the right word. It twitched before it just disappeared" Fels leaned back as he looked up, making his hood fall off his head.
"Ouranous, our worst fears have come true..." jaune looked at Fels with a worried face now
"Fels... what has come true what happened ot my goddess ,?" At first, Fels didn't answer. He just sat there, looking up as if he was contemplating his very existence, before he leaned forward and intertwined his fingers.
She is dead for good
TO BE CONTINUED.