The Knights of Grimm - Act 2 - Captured

Prologue

"You sure Ilia was right?" Rajah asks him.

"She wouldn't lie to us." Vetra says to him.

"Not saying she's lie...just that she could have gotten the information wrong. I've heard the Nuckelavee is out here but I don't think it is this near to Mistral. Last I heard it was around Kuroyuri." Rajah explains to them both. Vetra sighs, throwing some of her hair to the back of her head so it is no longer obscuring her vision. Draven sighs, sheathing his machete.

"Well...we'll search for clues?" He asks. Kassius nods to Draven and they all begin to spread out to find any signs of the Nuckelavee, hoof prints, claw marks. Anything that could be a lead. But during the time that they search, Kassius feels his Scroll vibrating in his back pocket and he pulls it out, opening the scroll to see the message from Ilia. He has no idea that she has been forced to do this by Fear, she did not choose to do it. The message says one thing:

Come find me at the Red Tree, I need to talk to you. Alone.

Kassius looks at the message, feeling nervous, and conflicted. He trusted Ilia then, and he looks at his team as they search for things. He sighs, closing his eyes and then he opens them. "Hey guys! I'm gonna search over here. I'll be back in a minute." Kassius calls over.

"I'll come with you." Vetra volunteers, walking over to him.

"No, no. Stay with them, I doubt I'll find anything. If I do I'll call you." Kassius says to them, walking over to the tree of which where Ilia said to meet him. The tree has beautiful red leaves coating the branches like a cloud. He approaches, hearing the coo of an owl.

But no Ilia.

He looks around with a confused expression. This is where she asked to meet him. He then checks his scroll again to make sure he read it correctly. That's when a second message appears from Ilia and it only says one thing to him.

I'm sorry.

His eyes widen and he hears a distant scream, the scream of Rajah. He runs as fast as he can through the bushes to get to where he left them, and he sees Rajah groaning in pain as a razor sharp sword has been plunged straight through his stomach, lifting him off the floor. The blade pushes through organs and his spine, scraping across the bone. Blood pours from the wound and the Onyx Phantom throws him off. "Rajah!" Kassius screams in rage, sprinting straight at the Onyx Phantom. Her orange eyes fix onto his eyes and she says nothing as she always does. She grabs a grenade on her belt, pulling the pin and throwing it straight at him. Kassius' eyes widen and he drops down to floor, sliding underneath it, but it was too late. The explosion detonates right in his face, the shrapnel slicing across the side of his face which gives him his scars. The old armour plating he wore is completely obliterated from the explosion, and his arm is eviscerated from the blast. The shrapnel from the grenade and the armour shattering completely ripped his arm apart. Red blood jettisons into the sky like an aura of light in the sky of one of the poles. He is thrown through the air and he crashes onto the ground with force, tumbling and rolling, blood leaking from many injuries the explosion set upon him. Barely conscious, he watches as Vetra tries to get to him. Draven sprints at the Onyx Phantom with his Machete. He slashes the blade at the Phantom, but she is lightning fast, blocking his blade with her sword. The blade impact and then she reaches to her other sword sheathed on her pelvis, drawing it and smashing it into his machete. The impact snaps the blade, creating a long metallic twang. Draven's eyes widen in horror from what he witnesses, and the Onyx Phantom pushes both swords into his rib-cage. Blood splutters from his lips from his pain, killing him instantly. Her attacks were so fast that she managed to cripple their auras before he could even get there.

She was waiting for Kassius to investigate the smokescreen that Ilia laid.

The Onyx Phantom pushes her metal boot against his chest, pushing him from the two blades, his blood coating them. She sheathes one sword and then grabs a Silver Revolver that is holstered and she points it at Vetra as she runs to Kassius to help him. She aims straight at her back, pulling the trigger. There is a loud bang, the bullet travels across the forest floor, puncturing through her back and blood bursts from her belly, causing her to fall onto the floor. She rolls nearer to him, bleeding out beside him. The Onyx Phantom slowly approaches, scraping her blade through the soil behind her, her orange eyes focused on Vetra as she crawls towards her love. Kassius can barely see from the damage he suffered but he tries to reach out to Vetra, but the Onyx Phantom kicks her onto her back, pressing her boot down on her wound, then she takes the blade and pushes it straight into Vetra's heart. Vetra cries out in agony as the Onyx Phantom pushes the sword downwards, further and further until the hit has pressed against her skin. She gasps, still looking at Kassius from the amount of pain that she is suffering from. Blood leaking from her mouth and soaking into the floor. Kassius cannot even scream, but the anger and grief that channels through him is indescribable.

The Onyx Phantom rips the sword from Vetra's stomach, her orange eyes look at Kassius on the floor. She then turns and walks away, still has not said a word. But when she leaves, a black swirling portal of darkness opens as she disappears into the woods. The Knight of Death emerges with Ferrum Arctus gripped in his armoured hand. His glowing red eyes fixed on the dying boy. The grass and trees die as he passes them, the corpses of his team decay quickly, their skin shrivelling, flesh rotting away and leaving only their husks behind as he passes them. A horrible sight for anyone to see as they die. Death crouches down beside Kassius and the helmet shifts, plates of metal sliding back and hovering in the smoke that surrounds his head. The burning skull stares straight at him, the jaw opening with fire leaking from it, his hand approaching his face to claim him. "Your aura belongs to me..." Death growls deeply.

But then, something stops him.

"Not yet." Fear speaks. Death looks up at Fear to see the second Knight stood tall, his Scythe in hand, golden eyes glowing ferociously.

It wasn't Mistraalian Knights that stopped Death from claiming him...they came after...it was Fear. "Why?" Death questions. Fear approaches him slowly.

"His semblance...we can use it as a weapon. He cannot control it...but we can." Fear says, clenching his hand into a fist. The plates of metal close over the burning skull inside as he looks at Fear.

"Why him? There are many with powerful Semblances that we can control. Cinder may have killed one of them but we can find others...what is so special about this one?" Death inquires. Fear smiles menacingly as he looks down at Kassius.

"This boy was once the lover of Draco Parum Serenum, the sister of Argentum Natus...the silvered eyed one." Fear states as he stands there. He knows that Kassius and Yang loved each other...he knew about his attachment to their family. "We can use him as a weapon." Fear explains.

"Divide and Conquer." Death recites from memory. Fear looks over his shoulder when a group of Mistraalian Knights arrive after hearing the explosion. They both stop when seeing the two Knights stood above the dying boy on the floor. Death looks at them, standing tall and then he looks back at Kassius. "It is decided." Death says. The two Knights turn and they both disappear. Fear transforms into a cloud of flies and Death becomes a cloud of smoke, vanishing from their vision. The soldiers gasp in horror from what they just saw before them.

Kassius lies there, still dying.

But his semblance...it is something very dangerous.

To everyone.