Chương 35: Parasite

The cold metal of the Caligula sliced a thin line along Raishun's neck. The wound burned as if he'd been lit on fire, and he could feel hot blood begin to slip down his neck. In what he assumed to be his final moments, he felt no fear, only a twisted sense of calm. He let the Caligula slip from his grasp, and he fell to the ground not a second after it hit the ground. His eyes drifted closed, and he waited for death to take him.

The seconds ticked by agonizingly slow, yet a full minute passed without anything happening.

Confused, Raishun cracked open an eye and felt at his neck. While he was bleeding, the skin on his neck was also rough and veiny to the touch. The feeling of the skin was similar to what he had felt when the Elder touched his Imperial Arm. Even stranger, his wound was already beginning to sew itself closed.

[What in the world...] He wondered in awe.

"Surprised?" The woman who had ordered his execution said in a booming voice. "That's the survival instinct of an Imperial Arm in action. When their Dyad's on the verge of death, the spirits will do anything to stop them from dying. Even if it means taking tolls without permission."

True to the woman's words, any emotions of fear and anxiety had left him. There was no doubt in his mind that Serah had consumed them as a toll to save him.

"That's not even the best part of it!" The woman continued; her voice was rich with demented glee. "Not only can you not kill yourself, but you also can't die of old age! By the time you look thirty, all your friends will be long dead and buried. The only way to escape your miserable existence is to die on the battlefield like a damn Grimm."

She was pacing circles around Raishun and Laura now. The blue spear in her hands twirling through the air in dangerous arcs. Neither Huntsmen-in-training dared move a muscle lest they end up impaled through it's business end.

"Don't even get me started on those Uldrens! The creators of Imperial Arms and the saviors of humanity! Those "heroes" stole my family and stuck them inside a damned weapon! They're forcing my father, a hero who saved Vale countless times during the Great War, to endlessly fight on the battlefield. He's fought in one war already. He shouldn't have to suffer through a second!"

She strode into the light with oddly refined grace. Her cold eyes stared into Raishun's as she raised her spear high above her head. Laura's hand threateningly twitched with a purple aura as she approached, and the woman noticed. The needles around Gil surged forward, stopping less than a centimeter from his closed eyes. The action made Laura fall to her knees, chest heaving with panic. Satisfied, the woman turned back to Raishun.

"I'll save Legions and spirits from having to suffer as tools of war. All I have to do is destroy your Imperial Arm, and you'll be set free." Her features softened from one of hate to one filled with pity. "Raishun, you will be the first to have your shackles broken. Don't weep for your spirit; I'll send them to a better place."

The spear shot downwards, the tip clashing against the Caligula's amber gem. There was a loud feminine scream in Raishun's head, followed by the worst pain he had ever felt in his life. His eyes burned so badly he couldn't open them. Every inch of his skin felt like it was being ripped away with a jagged claws. He couldn't hold back the screams of pain as he convulsed with pain.

"How strange." The woman murmured. Her attack had only chipped the gem instead of shattering it as she had intended. "You're tougher than you look. I suppose that's why you have the title of Vanguard. No matter, I'll finish it with this strike-"

A green blast of energy slammed into the woman's chest and sent her flying backwards into the darkness. Similarly colored aura flared to life around her body, protecting her from the brunt of the strike. However, from the hiss of pain that left her lips and the smoke rising from her body, the attack had hurt quite a bit.

"Looks like we made it just in time!" A peppy voice said from behind Raishun.

The navy-haired Legion turned and saw Team RWBY standing in the circle of light. Their leader, Ruby, looked at him with a relieved grin.

"Y-yeah. You sure did, Ruby." Raishun sniffled through the pain in his head and leg. "Please save us. Save my friends." He pleaded.

"Aw, come on, you don't have to beg." Though Yang's hand ruffled his hair, her eyes stared murderously at the mysterious woman. "Take five; let us have a turn."

"Agreed, friends!"

An auburn-haired girl Raishun had never met before joined the group. She was dressed plainly in a black dress, with an odd bow on the back of her long puffy hair.

"Her semblance seems to let her utilize shadows. Thus, my abilities are a good match for hers!" The girl said in a peppy voice. With a flick of her hand, sharpened swords unfolded from seemingly thin air, spinning in a circle behind the girl.

"Rrrgh! You damn brats!" The woman screamed with rage from her place in the shadows. "You're lucky you're little friend is here to save you, Legion! Next time, I'll make sure to tear that Imperial Arm from your hands! Even if it means killing you to do it!"

There was an abrupt sound, similar to that of a computer screen being smashed, and the woman disappeared. The group of students awaited an attack with bated breaths, but it never came. Yang was the first to lower her guard. With a frustrated huff, she strode into the dark with her arms stretched out to her sides.

"I can't believe she took one little hit from Penny and threw in the towel! For someone who beat the snot of you, she doesn't seem too tough." The blonde said, casting a sidelong glance at the teary-eyed Legion.

"Even with Serah's help, I was powerless against her," Raishun replied with a shake of his head. "As long as she was in the dark, we couldn't so much as scratch her."

"It's a good thing we had Penny to save the day! Three cheers for Penny!!... Uh, Penny?"

Ruby began to look around the pier for her auburn-haired friend. The mysterious girl had disappeared, not unlike their opponent.

"Penny! Where did you go!?"

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The cleanup that came after the incident had resolved was nothing short of painful. The authorities arrived shortly after Ruby called. While the students had expected praise for apprehending several members of the White Fang, they were only yelled at for letting the bolo hat-wearing man, Roman, escape. The fact that both Gil and Carmila had to be rushed back to Beacon due to their injuries only served to add fuel to the fire.

Laura finished giving her report to the commanding officer and winced when he dismissively waved her off. Regardless, she bowed politely and excused herself to check on her remaining teammate: Raishun.

The boy in question was currently sat wincing in the back of an ambulance. At the same time, a paramedic finished dressing his leg in a heavy compress bandage. She saw them exchange a few words before the medic left to report to the police chief.

"Hello. How is your leg?" Laura tentatively asked. "It looked rather painful."

"I got treated like a pincushion; of course, I'm not okay." He said harshly, though there wasn't a hint of anger in his voice. "If my aura wasn't so weak, I would've been fine. But it's because it's so weak that my wounds are already starting to heal. I guess... I just don't know how to feel about that."

"I think it's good. You would be good in small skirmishes."

"Yeah. I guess so.:

There was an awkward pause where neither of them knew what to say. Their defeat hung in the air like a weight being forced down their throats. For a moment, Laura faltered as she prepared to speak once more.

"Raishun... When that woman was preparing to kill you... I had planned on using your death as cover to rescue Gil." She admitted, her violet eyes staring directly into his amber ones. "I won't make any apologies, and if we're ever in the same position, I would sacrifice you if it meant saving him. But I will admit that my handling of the battle as our leader was-"

"You don't gotta explain yourself to me." Raishun cut her off, "Gil's your cousin, right? It makes sense you'd save him over the guy you've known for two months."

"But even so, aren't you the slightest bit-"

"Mad at you? Nah."

He let out a slow breath as he hopped from the ambulance and onto his feet. His features immediately contorted with pain, and his lousy leg buckled underneath his weight. Laura rushed forward and offered her shoulder for him to lean on.

"I've got you. But I suppose you're right." She murmured as the two began to hobble back towards town. "However, we have plenty of time to become well acquainted with each other. We chose our chess piece together, did we not?"

She inquired with a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk.

"Yeah, I guess we did," Raishun said with a chuckle. "Though we haven't done much partner stuff these days."

"Then so long as you promise not to run away once more, I promise to set aside some time for the two of us to, shall we say... bond."

"Hah! Just promise not to talk about killing people in such an ominous bad guy voice after we fight."

"I do not have an ominous bad guy voice!" Laura protested, her cheeks aflame with embarrassment. She aimed a quick jab at the boy's ribs and earned a pained grunt in response. "Don't say such embarrassing things where people can hear you, Raishun!"

"You totally have one, though." He laughed weakly. "You lower your voice and press your thumb to your teeth. It's a total bad guy routine."

Laura huffed and continued walking. Gradually the weight on her shoulder let up until Raishun was freely walking on his own. Yet even though his gait was gone, he looked terrible. His tanned skin was pale and sweaty, and his usually vibrant eyes were half-lidded and hollow. Before she could ask what was wrong, he raised his right hand in the air with a sad frown.

"Aw, man. That woman got my armlet."

Sure enough, the red armlet was severely damaged. A large portion of the metal had been torn away, leaving behind jagged edges where there should've been smooth ridges.

"That's a shame. I'm sure we can have it repaired in the city-"

Raishun suddenly doubled over, coughing violently. A globule of blood escaped his lips, followed by a second and then a third. Laura could only watch on in horror as the small trickles of blood quickly turned into a stream that dyed his lips a sickening red color.

"Th-that's... Gugh.... not good." He whispered as his eyes rolled into his head, and he collapsed onto the ground with a sickening thud.