The Knights of Grimm - Act 4 - Whispers of Arkhonex

Chapter 52 - Nikos Legacy

Pyrrha

The birds tweeted joyously in the trees that surrounded them, the bright sun shone down upon the Group as they approached the Nikos Hold. The name of this great Fortress was simply known as Olympus, it stood tall even now. The massive walls that were damaged from Grimm bombardment still stood alongside the watch towers. The Gates were broken open, yet the rust still did not rot them to the point of collapse.

Pyrrha stepped forward, her bronze plated boot pressed into the soil and crushed the grass beneath her, the wind blew against her cheek and her long tail of red hair danced with it. Her eyes were wide and bright, as she stared at the home of her Ancestors...the place her bloodline began. It gave her chills, and despite how much life had grown over it all, she could still see the scars of war. There were old spears that stuck up from the ground like bones from a great beast, and the wind whistled through the cracks and crevices in the fortress ahead of them. None of them could find words, Jaune approached Pyrrha and his hand found hers. She felt his warmth grasp her and she held him tight as she stared at the ancient ruins.

Ozpin walked forward with his cane at his side, and he exhaled through his nose, and finally spoke when he looked at Pyrrha. "Are you okay, Pyrrha Nikos?" He asked her, and she looked at him.

How could she answer this question?

She was staring at the birthplace of her bloodline and where it was almost wiped out, every body that was left behind...she could have been related to any one of them. And she never knew their names, nobody knew their names. She walked forward and she crouched down with Jaune next to her, she pressed her hand against the soil and she just took it all in. She could feel it, feel the energy that came off this place, in the ground itself. She blew out a breath and lifted her head up. She looked at the Professor who stood behind her. "Yes...Professor. I'm just, taking all of this in. This was where my family began...and I never even knew they were here." She said to him.

Ozpin nodded his head, and he chuckled. "Well I know it may not look like it, but this was not where Ares Nikos and his House actually fell." He revealed, they all looked at him with disbelief.

"Seriously? I mean...just look at the place. Looks like it was a massacre to me." Cinder said as she held out her hand with confusion. Ruby felt the same way, none of this place looked like there was a resounding victory.

"When I and the rest of the Knights of Grimm were corrupted, and we lead the first attack against Arkhonex, the Spartans of Nikos held the Fortress against them. With their Phalanx Strategy, the Grimm could not break through. Their Ballistas managed to take down airborne Grimm before they could even get close. They held the entire Fortress for three weeks, constantly. Most of them passed away afterwards...merely from malnutrition." Ozpin explained as he walked with Pyrrha across the field of dead.

They passed by some bodies that were left behind, and indeed...not one of them were Spartans. They all had different symbols, some of which they did not even recognise. "Then, who were these soldiers?" Nora asked as she walked past one of the skeletons clad in old armour.

"Wraiths, that possessed the bodies of those who were killed in the attack. Many of which were soldiers. But even they could not get through the Spartans' Blockade." Ozpin said, he sounded truly impressed by the skill and determination of these Spartans. They all could see where Pyrrha's skill came from, she would have fought just as hard as all of these men as well.

"Tough bastards." Qrow chuckled as he looked around at the location. It was incredible, and it would never stop amazing them, at how despite the terror and the destruction that happened here in Arkhonex...on the surface at least...life just goes on. The grass, the insects, the rabbits, the deer, just all forms of life surviving together in the bones of such an Advanced Civilisation. A civilisation now forgotten, and returned to the dirt of which it sprouted from, like the stem of a flower.