Imperium - t.r.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Monsters are Made

(T/W: This chapter contains heavy amounts of gore)

It had been seven days since Anastasia's disappearance, according to the scouts, there was no trace of her and so her status remained unknown. While the suspense and dread ate at everyone, it had hit Jasper the hardest. Every morning, he would sneak out of the compound and search their old, ashen camp, trying to find a clue or a reason for hope. Only Angelo knew of his escapades, letting him go, hoping that Jasper would find something. Jasper would hardly eat or sleep, constantly training in the forest. As the hours passed, the darkness in his crimson eyes grew and no one, not even his brother could snap him out of it.

In the late afternoon, Newt received a report from one of his scout compounds. Grindelwald had started to move a large platoon of Acolytes towards the camp and that they would arrive just before nightfall. He gathered the Aurors and prepared a counterattack.

"Brother," Theseus said to him as everyone prepared the defenses. "What should we do about Jasper?"

"Don't let him fight," Newt responded. "He's hurt and–quite frankly–not in the best frame of mind."

"If you say so," Theseus sighed.

In the tent, Jasper sat on his cot, staring at the ground, wand in hand. The flapping of fabric broke him from his trance.

"Hello Jasper," Theseus smiled at him, albeit awkwardly. The shiftiness and resentment in Jasper's intense gaze made his blood go cold. Even so, Theseus sat next to Jasper. "Listen... I'm sure that you've already heard, but–"

"I know," Jasper said, cutting him off. "and I'm going to fight. I'm going to get Anastasia back. I have to. I need to!"

Theseus flinched at Jasper's exclamation and tentatively replied, "Well, Newt and I think you should sit this one out."

"What?" Jasper bellowed, standing up from the cot, wand clenched in his hand. "Like hell I'm missing this."

"Jasper..." Theseus said, slowly getting up from the cot, hands empty and open in front of him. "I know you're hurting. We all are, but you aren't fit to fight."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jasper demanded. "I've been training day and night! I've never been more ready!"

"We don't mean your physical state," Theseus replied quietly. "It's how you've been doing mentally. You're becoming rash and reckless. You won't find Anastasia like that."

"Shut up!" Jasper yelled, pointing his wand at Theseus. "I'm going to fight and you can't stop me!"

Backing out of the tent, he broke into a run towards the front lines, the light of the setting sun on his back. Angelo caught him and pushed him into a cragg in the mountainside.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Jasper?" Angelo demanded, holding him by the collar of his uniform.

"I'm getting revenge," Jasper replied simply.

"That's not our objective here!" Angelo urged. "Look, I know that you miss Ana! I do too! But you can't do stuff like this!"

"I do what I want," Jasper spat, gazing up at his brother with the same dark glare. Angelo faltered, the grip on Jasper's collar loosening just a bit. Jasper shoved Angelo's hand off of him and onto the snow. "and don't you try to stop me."

Angelo laid there, frozen as he watched his brother march off in the mountain pathway. By the time he snapped himself out of his trance, Angelo scrambled to his feet, running after his brother who he no longer had in his sights. At least twenty Aurors waited on the cliffs and Angelo could not find his brother amidst the crowd. By the time he had found Jasper, who was waiting in the bushes below the mountain, the sixty Acolytes had arrived, standing before the mighty cliffs.