A New War, A New Guardian

Outside the walls of Canterlot City

Joseph had gotten the Changeling Queen to place the Elements as well as Celestia within the walls of the Palace. He and Atreus, however, he got them placed outside the walls… more precisely, behind the Diamond Dog army. Indeed, this gave him motivation to get into the city… by going through the army… one way or another.

His deep golden crimson irises glowed as if ablaze as he took slow, steady breaths. "Time to get truly blooded… because those idiot nobles will realize that one way or another, everyone has an animal leashed inside.

"Hmmm. You seem to have a connection to another long-lived mortal as well as an odd one… a Daywalker and a 'feral one' whom I don't recognize," he heard Kratos grumble in his mind before he let out a low huffing breath as he bared his teeth, his canines and incisors lengthening subtly as he felt intense burning surge through his body. He hissed softly as the skin between his knuckles split, blood trickling down, as ten inch long blades of slightly golden silvery metal gleamed in the morning sunlight as his eyes widened fractionally. He had never met his father nor his maternal godfather.

However, he did notice that word: Daywalker. He only knew of one that used that particular term. "He was known by other names… the Nightstalker," he muttered as he saw black tribal tattoos unfurl over his skin at that word. "But he was known by another name best: Blade… Eric Brooks," he finished. "Seems you, Hades, and Aphrodite gave me a few enhancements, eh? Heh…. let's let the beast out," he muttered in a low, hoarse growl, unaware his irises had gained slitted pupils before he pushed off with inhuman speed and strength, vaulting high off the raised plinth of stone as he saw the city of Canterlot to the southwest.

'So we're on the cliffside, likely not far from the train stations,' he noted as he landed on top of one Diamond Dog before he took the Diamond Dog's head with a slash of his new claws before he heard the gurgling growl moments before he kicked the head towards another, catching him in the side of the head hard enough to take him off his feet, senseless.

The removed mandible, he noticed,caught a different male Diamond Dog in the side and back of the neck.

He saw several turn before he pushed off the toppling corpse, catching them with vicious European Uppercuts, elbows and forearm strikes. It staggered them before he caught one by an ankle and started using him as a flail, creating more chaos before he tossed the unfortunate Diamond Dog like a discus, knocking more of the army on their collective asses.

He saw several electrically charged arrows hit the ground, paralyzing a good dozen threats each before he pushed off, tackling two before he used them as flails, toppling the rest before tossing them away.

It was moments later that he heard glass shatter.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IC9LEi7hhF8

His eyes narrowed as a low, growling laugh escaped him. He rolled his shoulders. "Where's the wolf bitch?" he roared.

He heard a deep snarl before he half turned, spotting the large, almost eight foot tall Warg. "Damn… you are one ugly motherfucker," he deadpanned dryly as his claws retracted, the wounds between his knuckles closing.

Joseph noticed the darkened leather armor as well as the jagged shoulder blades and large ruby the size of his clasped hands as well as the bandages coiled over the large Warg's fur. He sniffed slightly to take in a breath before he barely restrained an urge to vomit at the foul, rancid copper stench. "He didn't… though with how his energy feels, not only corrupt, but sadistic and perverted. I doubt anyone would want to be near them," he mused, unknowingly employing a Gift Aphrodite had given him combined with his keener senses… the awareness of one's nature through their Aura. He hoped that armor really wasn't what his nose all but hinted at… namely skin.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed the Warg circling, glaring at him. He unconsciously mimicked the Warg in an unspoken challenge. "You threaten innocents much like Goliath and the Philistines. That will not be allowed to stand. You have two simple choices: walk away and take your army with you, letting them return to their homes… or don't. In which case, I take your head, then send them back to their homes and families," he warned.

Joseph's eyes narrowed as he pushed off with inhuman speed to the point time, to him, slowed to a crawl. He saw the Warg inhale before exhaling a jet of dark red flames. His eyes narrowed as he shifted his weight, the golden ram shoulder pauldron glowing hot as it absorbed the force from the attack as he pushed through before he slid low before pushing off into a powerful Flash Kick before he tagged the wolf with a second Flash Kick that hit with twice the force before he tagged him with a third that hit with four times the force, augmented by the Golden Fleece. He landed with a grunt as he heard surprised sounds from the canine onlookers before he heard Atreus chuckle. His hand rose to his shoulder, where a hilt rested.

He drew it, hearing the soft rasping snarl of the keen blade. The sound it made through the air resembled the snarl of a hellhound, hence its name of Kolasménos. The blade ignited with red, violet, dull orange, bright golden orange, and icy blue flames as he twisted it in an arc, the sound like the low snarling growl of a hellhound on the hunt.

He shifted his weight as he held it over his right shoulder in an inverted Ko Gasumi stance before he shifted his weight with inhuman speed and power, seemingly vanishing before reappearing behind the Warg. Gouts of blood and gore sprayed from both the lower chest as well as throat before the Warg fell in three peices. He took a slow breath as he tilted his head. Almost the moment he did, a jet of solar flame incinerated two dozen before carving a broad swath through the army uncaring of guilt or innocence, leaving screaming and burning injured behind with missing limbs and horrific burns.

(2295) Batman Arkham City- One by One Predator Music Extended - YouTube

“Whoever was this bastard’s Beta, tell those who are innocent to retreat to their homes and families!! NOW!!” he roared as he half turned, seeing Celestia glaring at them all. His eyes narrowed before he pushed off, tackling her out of the air before he twisted, shoulder tossing her onto the ground as he rolled with the landing. “Obviously, it didn’t occur to you to bother checking to see if these canines were here willingly or under duress, did it? Clearly, most of the stories about you being a sweet and kind, even impartial, motherly sort were false… and to think that those stories were the ones that kept me alive long enough to find Christ… as well as my shield-brothers,” he growled. His eyes narrowed as they glowed faintly with golden red fire. He shifted his weight, sheathing his katana after slashing the blood away from its keen edge. It was a blade he himself had forged, with titanium and steel, as well as silver and iron within the blade, so it was lethal to numerous supernatural groups. He ignored the wails of the injured and the thunder of footfalls as the army retreated, save for a few hundred who looked hateful and bloodthirsty. “Clearly, those who did not retreat are not those who have families who would want them back. Thus… they are o perpatóntas nekrós and oi adysópitoi nekroí though I just call them éna mátso aneléitoi anóitoi,” he sighed. He shook his head slightly. His gaze shifted to the glaring Celestia.

“How do I know you didn’t lead them here?” she snapped warily. “You are just like that Warg who kidnapped my sister,” she snapped.

“There is no way I led them here, as I was sent here to keep them from getting into your precious city… the one who led them… well… let’s just say he’s brokenhearted and head down in his failure over there,” he deadpanned. “And from what I saw, your sister… Luna, aye? Was not kidnapped… but living rather happily. And trust me… I’d know Stockholm’s Syndrome when I see it… being I once dealt with it,” Joseph growled. “Though if your personality has constantly been like this… bitchy… I could understand why she’d want to get away and live a life of her own. Ugh… why the hell is it the simplest lessons are the hardest to grasp in life? You could just leave those desires… that anger and hatred… that bloodlust and fury… at the foot of His Cross… yet you cling to them so hard,” he sighed, shaking his head.

He saw Celestia pause at that. “Stockholm’s Syndrome? What is that?” she said warily.

“It is a mental condition where the kidnapped begins to sympathize with their kidnapper. However, and I will say again, your sister does not have symptoms of it. I know those symptoms as I have seen them… in the mirror. You see, when I was eight, my babysitter drugged my food under the mistaken assumption I was being abused…. then proceeded to kidnap me and raised me for close to nine years until I was found by my birth aunt and uncle on my mother’s side. The reason they didn’t know where I was, and presumed me deceased, was because my babysitter had rigged the home with a natural gas leak which a spark ignited… detonating the home into a fireball with not only my parents inside, but two of my neices,” Joseph’s tone was flat and icy cold, to the point icy mist was escaping his mouth with every word. His golden reddish orange eyes were staring into Celestia’s magenta-amethyst irises.

His ears twitched as he heard Atreus jog to pause near him. He tilted his head, exhaling softly as he glanced at Atreus.

“You’re a Cryomancer?” Atreus commented with surprise.

“My mother’s name was Abigail Frost,” was all Joseph commented dryly. He tilted his head as he half turned, frigid mist condensing into his hand before he launched it, encasing one of the Diamond Dog who was charging, foam frothing at his mouth, in ice before he shifted his weight before he shoulder blocked the canine before he twisted, planting a spinning side kick into its abdomen that knocked it back before he caught its arm as it staggered back and pulled it into a vicious lariat, hot embers surging from the impact as the chain coiled around his forearm heated before he planted a hopping side kick famously known as a ‘Superkick’ into its face that staggered it back again.

He noticed two more Diamond Dogs charging before he pushed off, not noticing how he shot forward on a layer of ice before he drove his shoulder into the chest and abdomen of one Diamond Dog, sending him tumbling backwards before he turned, not noticing the minor frostbitten wounds from the impact as he unhooked the Leviathan Axe and slapped it into the other Diamond Dog's head, stunning it before he swatted him across the head with the haft, dropping the canine senseless as he rehooked it behind him.

"Damn, brother, you're definitely channeling the elder," Mimir quipped.

Joseph smirked a bit. "I don't like bullies… and these bastards smell of disease… dunno if there's something like a magical form of rabies that makes them hyperaggressive," he commented wryly as he pushed off, his form shattering into ice as he concentrated a shell of cryokinetic energy over his body, producing a frozen 'ice clone' that shattered and encased a leaping Diamond Dog in ice before he caught the frozen form before slamming it into the dazed Diamond Dog in a aerial shoulder throw, rendering both senseless.

Celestia's POV - second person

Celestia hummed, watching the human. She noted that though he was quite heavily armed, he seemed to try to keep fatal casualties to a minimum. 'Why let a threat survive to return?' she considered. She only saw three deceased that she didn't cause. "You could fight," she started calculatingly.

"If you mean Havaak and his ilk, no. I have no reason to fight an ahk babashiah," was the human's flat reply.

"What is that phrase? 'Ack baby-she-ah'?" Celestia said coolly.

"Ahk babashiah is Hebrew… 'brother in Christ', it translates as," Joseph said dryly.

"We did not need your assistance," Celestia's comment was flat.

"Good. I wasn't there to protect your city directly. I was aiming to protect as many lives as possible… especially those recruited through blackmail and threats by that Warg fucker whom, unless I'm mistaken, made his armor from the skin of those he killed. Which frankly, I find highly disturbing," Joseph said flatly.

Celestia's eyebrows shot up at that before she snorted. "You Christians would…" she commented with a sneer before she was startled by Joseph's head turning, glaring at her.

"If you dare to imply that any believer in Christ would do that shit, I don't give a shit if you're royalty or not, I will slap you so hard, you won't be able to taste anything for two weeks," his threat was flat and colder that Sombra's black abyss of a heart.

Celestia blinked at his comment. Her eyebrows rose as he shifted, revealing close to a hundred slashing scars that distinctly looked caused by whips covering his back and shoulders as well as a good part of his sides. He shouldered his jacket, though they were outside the warming enchantment of the city.

“I will say it’s a hell of a view from here. I could distinctly see someone having a hang gliding or wingsuit business here,” he commented as he turned, looking down over the land from the mountainside. “And if you’re curious, those are things that can give those without wings like yourself as well as those patrols I’ve noticed flying around the feeling of flight, yet without the dangers of a little detail called ‘going splat on the rocks’, at least if one is careful. I know, I’ve done it myself,” he commented. “So using Icarus’ Wings isn’t too different from a wingsuit,” he commented wryly.

"Between you and me, I do hope that your bitchy side is just an act, girl. Because if there's one big thing that turns guys off, it's exactly that sort of attitude," he sighed as he turned away towards the train tracks.

"Why do you care?" Celestia snarled.

"I don't. Think of it as friendly advice. I'm guessing you forgot the phrase 'you draw more bees with honey than salt'," he drawled.

Celestia's eyes narrowed, shifting to a ruby red. "And how do I know you aren't a spy for the Wargs to attack?" she deadpanned.

"Hmmm…. perhaps because they sent me upon hearing you were about to be under siege? Regardless, Luna still sees you as a sister. A wayward sister whom has lost her way and faith, yes, but a sister nonetheless." The human's reply was a sigh. "Besides, if I were a spy, I'd have a way to contact them… yet what you see me with is all I have in this world. At present, beyond praying for you to find solace in the Father as one of his many names is El Simchath Gili… it translates as 'God, My Exceeding Joy'," he commented. "Other names of the Father are Elohim Ozer Li and Elohim Machase Lanu… 'God, My Helper' and 'God, My Refuge' respectively," he commented.

"Why do you care so much?" Celestia said warily. She blinked at his shrug.

"Do I need a reason to care? True, Old Man Kratos and Freya both trained me in combat and healing arts, and Hades taught me to fight… or die. They tried to teach me to harden my heart, yet at the same time, it's far too easy to harden your heart… because if you live too long in such a manner, you forget how to open up to others," was the human's dry reply.

He took a deep breath before he spoke, his voice low and soft, yet it carried clearly.

"King of Glory, Prince of Peace:

seated at the right hand

of His Father's throne.

Wondrous and awesome,

Crowned in majesty:

He is Lord alone.

Terrible and beautiful,

Deity in lowly flesh

made this His humble home.

Truth, Way, and Life

lived in our midst

to seek and save His own.

Rescuer, Redeemer –

I rejected, hated Him,

the One Who had made me.

Zealous love, amazing grace

called me on wings of wind,

delivered me, set me free.

Justice and Mercy entwined

forgave my rebellion, my past,

and told me, "You are Mine."

Tender Strength overwhelming,

I saw Him for Who He is

And fail with words to define:

Mighty and firm, a Rock,

a Refuge to hide myself in,

a Monarch ever-adored.

Valiant and noble,

for Him, I laid self down

and crowned Him my Lord.

Power indisputable,

Defender most fierce,

He claimed me as His own.

He answered my foe

and showed me compassion

such as I had never known.

So walk up the hill

did this Great One to die,

my Captain, my Head.

Son of splendour, true and only

gave His life, breathed His last,

and died in my stead.

Shorn of glory, crowned with shame,

He bore my guilt and penalty.

What a cost! What a price!

Scorned and mocked, dead He lay

in my place to save my soul:

for me He laid down His life.

Sacrifice and Substitute,

Death could not hold Him,

Darkness could not keep Him.

Triumphant brilliance,

rose crowned with the rays of dawn

to splendour undimmed.

Magnificent Sovereign,

Undefeated Champion,

broke the curse over me.

Grace unmeasured,

the Lord of creation

reigns eternally.

Wonderful, merciful Saviour

drew me from my wayward path

and the death-sentence thereof.

Now I'm a child of the King,

dressed in righteous robes,

crowned forever by His love."

A soft crackling whump distracted Joseph, noticing the rocks were slightly cracked and scorched as if burnt.