[Nevermore] 3 – Confusion

[YOU DIED]

With a start, I woke up with my heart racing in my chest. The Grimm had long since dissipated into the air, and the morning sun arose in the sky. With a deep breath of fresh air, I sat up, looking down at my body. The pain and injuries I had suffered last night were gone entirely; the only thing that remained was the long, jagged claw marks that the Grimm had torn into my chest plate.

But as I climbed to my feet, my mind kept wandering back to that nightmarish dream I had after I passed out, though that quickly turned into questioning why I wasn't hurt in the slightest after the fight. I should be bruised, battered, exhausted even, yet nothing. Strangely enough, I felt the best I had in a long time. Energetic even, which wasn't normal. I admit that I've had trouble sleeping and getting proper rest for years, helping my mom take care of my sisters, keeping the house clean, doing many chores, cooking, and working at a cafe. I haven't felt this good in years.

None of this was right. 

Little did I know, my once dark-blue eyes had completely changed color, now a bright gold.

...

With no answers to my questions, I grabbed my bag and continued my journey towards Beacon, my mind flashing over and over the nightmare I had the night before that continued to persist, refusing to be forgotten. I remembered every single detail of the dream, down to the feeling of the wind on my cheek, the gut-wrenching smell of the rotting corpse in the Church, to the horrible pain of my death in the dream that was so quick yet so...infinitely long. It all felt so real, but I pushed it behind me, instead focusing on my journey to Beacon.

Hours passed as I made my way to Beacon, and while I was thankful for not having run into any more Grimm, it appears my luck didn't last very long, as before it even got dark, I had yet another encounter with the Grimm.

Yet another Beowulf blocked my path, this one larger than the one I had faced before. Yet, while I felt I could beat it, I was starting to get worried. Beowolves almost always traveled in packs, and just as I had that thought, something crashed into my back, sending me flying forward to the other Beowolf, who lunged forward.

As soon as hit the ground, I tried to roll over, the Beolwolf's claws catching my bag and stopping me mid-roll. 

Slipping my arms out of the backpack, I slid away in time for one of the second Beowolfs to reveal itself. At that exact moment, I unsheathed Crocea Mors and unfolded the shield before jumping to my feet and charging forward to strike. However, one of the Grimm rammed me with full force, slamming me into a tree and knocking the wind out of me because I didn't manage to raise my shield fast enough.

Gritting my teeth, I swung the Crocea Mors down, its blade sinking deep into the shoulder of the Beolwolf that slammed me into the tree. The blade easily sliced down deep through the shoulder of the Grimm, almost like a knife through hot butter. With my other hand, I slammed the shield into the Grimm's face and ripped the blade out of its flesh in tandem, knocking it back and taking its arm off with it.

With its crippling injury, it whined, and while I would normally rush forward to press my attack, I knew it was a trap. The Grimm do not feel pain or emotions, but they can be cunning. The older the Grimm, the more dangerous they become, not only in physical ability but also in intelligence. 

So, instead, I jumped back, raising my shield in defense as the other Grimm made its move to attack while I was distracted, slamming its full weight onto my shield. I buckled but kept my footing before sliding to the side to take the pressure off of me and swinging the blade of Crocea Mors horizontally, the blade easily slicing through the head of the Beolwolf, killing it.

I raised my shield just in time to block the strike of the Beowolf I had dismembered, and slashed at its side with my sword, leaving behind a gash as it managed to retreat back and lunge again, its claws scrapping against and away from my shield due to the angle, and in that same omment, I thrusted my sword into its head. As both Beowolves now lay before me dead, I collapsed to the ground, heaving as I found myself exhausted from the brief battle.

I let go of Crocea Mors and collapsed the shield into a sheath. If I had made a single mistake like I did the previous day before and got pinned to the ground, the two Grimm would have definitely torn me to shreds.

Strangely enough, fighting the two Grimm was noticeably easier than what I experienced yesterday. I mean, they might have less intelligence than an animal, but they were still grimm. Even the weakest Grimm should prove deadly to most people who were not trained huntsmen or soldiers of one of the Kingdoms. 

The only thing I could think of was Crocea Mors itself. It was an amazing weapon, its blade easily able to cut through Grimm, while the shield could suffer a significant amount of damage without a scratch or dent. One story from my dad was that my great-great grandfather took on a diving Nevermore at full force without any hint of damage to the shield, and the Nevermore he fought was said to be as large as a house!

Nevermores were Grimm that took the shape of giant ravens or crows with metallic quills they could use as weapons, and they were notably more present in mountainous and cold regions. When they appeared, it took a highly skilled huntsman or a full squad of trained huntsmen to take a single Nevermore down.

As I looked at the Grimm, I noticed something strange. Two small streams of light emanated from its carcass and, with lightning-fast speed, zipped straight into my chest.

Panicking, I reached for my chest, only to find nothing. 

What was that?! What went into me?!

Examining my entire body, I found nothing. What was that? Did I hallucinate? By the time I looked back, both of the Grimm were nearly halfway to being completely dissolved. Once my heart calmed down and my breath grew steady, I figured what I saw earlier must have been a trick of the eyes. Imagination. Not real.

Little did I know how wrong I was.