Hello everyone, I have been working on this for a while and that is why I have not been able to work on other stuff. I am really looking for feedback and hope that you enjoy this.

Humanity: The most intelligent species that inhabits the planet Earth. Yet somehow, despite their intelligence, humanity is nothing more than a cruel and unforgiving species. They have fought for centuries based on the religions they worship, the people they elect, the color of their skin, the food they eat, who they can love, and many other idiotic reasons. In all honesty, humanity is fearful. And the one thing they fear the most is change.

Prologue

November 27th, 2040

4:32 PM

The winter air swept through the busy streets of New York City. Snow was falling, self-driving cars were transporting their passengers to their destinations, people were walking alongside the newest androids that came out only a few weeks prior. It was a normal day in the City that Never Sleeps.

Within the Queens district, two police cruisers tore through a red light with sirens blaring. Unlike normal police cars, these were carbon black. The usual red and blue lights were replaced with yellowish orange lights, and where the N.Y.P.D logo would be were four new letters.

G.D.T.F

The G.D.T.F stood for the Grimm Detainment Task Force, a government funded police unit designed to handle any individuals capable of magic. Their orders were to find and incapacitate any enhanced individuals and take them to government funded prisons, known as have been many reports regarding these Institutions that send chills down any Grimm's spine. They say that Grimm who are placed there are experimented on in the hopes of finding a possible cure.

You might be asking yourself how the public would allow such a horrifying idea to become reality. I asked myself the same thing, and the answer is that people were scared. They were scared of what Grimm could do with these powers. They were scared because Grimm can do something that humans cannot. They were so scared that the second Grimm popped up, they were immediately marked as domestic terrorists by the government. Not that they are completely wrong, If you saw someone on the news launching fire out of their hands or causing lights to explode, how would you react?But now is not the time to discuss the past.

The interior of those cruisers were far more advanced than most vehicles. The console had numerous holographic images. The front windshield displayed the weather readings, temperature, and highlighted the path to the destination. The seats were made of synthetic leather that had instant heat and cooling.

Between the seats were two modified P90s with hand scanners to ensure that only registered G.D.T.F officers and other authorities would be able to use them, and other such modifications including single/burst fire rate, laser sight, and an iron sight scope.

In each patrol vehicle were two G.D.T.F officers, their carbon black armor reflecting the lights that flew by outside.

In the leading car sat Lieutenant Taiyang Xiao Long. His black rimmed glasses outlined his caramel colored eyes. His mustache was messy and was in need of a trim, as well as the stubble around his neck.

In 2021, Taiyang joined the Queens police district. During his time on the force, Taiyang was only a Sergeant when the G.D.T.F was founded in 2031. After joining the G.D.T.F, Taiyang was promoted to Lieutenant and Head of the G.D.T.F in Queens.

Reaching over to the center console, Gordon pulled the radio out and activated all G.D.T.F secure channels. "Attention G.D.T.F patrol units one and two, respond."

"Sergeant Qrow Rose, ready to add on to the tab tonight," the man beside Qrow chuckled.

Qrow Rose is a fellow G.D.T.F officer and a Sergeant of the Queens NYPD. Qrow was the guy in the department who always knows how to make someone feel better, whether it be a buddy to drink with or a shoulder to cry on.

Taiyang and Qrow started out as partners in the NYPD that soon became a friendship. That friendship solidified when Taiyang married Qrow's late sister, Summer Rose.

'Officer Derek, checking in, sir.'

'Officer Phillip, checking in.'

"Communications, check in."

'This is Communications Director Raven, all of the lights are green. Based on your speed and distance, you will arrive in about five minutes.'

"That's right on schedule. How is the victim doing?"

'She is currently hiding in the attic.'

"Tell her that we are almost there."

'Affirmative. Stay safe, Taiyang.'

Raven Branwen was a fellow cop with Qrow and Taiyang who joined the G.D.T.F in its early days. The three become close friends and were considered the "Grimm Hunters" as a joke by their fellow officers.

"Okay everybody, listen up! What we have here is a 10-62. The owner of the home, a thirty-five year old female by the name of Blake Belladonna, was in the kitchen when she heard a loud explosion come from her living room. She panicked and ran into the attic and has been waiting for us. The C.D sent us a layout of the house. There are only two entrances, so we will be performing the pincer tactic to cut off both exits. The Elf is confirmed to still be in the house and considered to be extremely hostile."

"We have a visual on the destination. Pulling up to a safe distance now."

As the cruisers pulled up to the destination, the officers heard screaming coming from the household.

"Blake! Get out here!" The Faunus screamed from inside of the house.

"We have confirmation that the Faunus is still inside the house. Stick to the plan of incapacitation, but know that neutralization is allowed."

Taiyang and Qrow set their weapons to single fire before approaching the house. While the in laws approached via the side of the house, officers Derek and Phillips slowly began their approach towards the front of the house before heading through the side gate. Taiyang nodded silently to Qrow, signaling for them to move around the back, slowly making their way through the side yard. Hearing a door being kicked open from inside of the house, both Qrow and Taiyang shifted closer to the wall to avoid detection.

"I saw you! I saw you and Sun last night!"

They listened as the Faunus walk out of the room before Taiyang turned on his radio.

"Grimm is highly agitated. Possibility of cooperative detainment is to be considered unlikely."

'Is incapacitation still the priority, sir?'

"Just stay sharp and be ready for a fight, kid," Qrow said.

Taiyang and Qrow rounded the corner into the backyard, only to find a burnt corpse next to a recently lit fireplace.

"We have a body here," Qrow said into his radio, approaching cautiously and kneeling next to it. "The body looks to be male, around 20's, average height and weight. Suspect mentioned a man named Sun. Victim is lying next to a fireplace. The heat from it is still warm, indicating that he was recently killed."

Taiyang tapped Qrow shoulder before pointing at the large hole that was in the glass door overlooking the yard.

"We have visual confirmation that the glass door has a giant hole in it. Based on the blast, it came from outside. It looks to me like the Grimm came in through the side yard while victim, allegedly Sun, was in the backyard. He used a flame spell and set Sun on fire, killing him instantly, before blasting through the glass door."

"Great. We have an Grimm that is dealing with a breakup," Vincent said dryly.

"Sergeant Rose and I are in position."

'Officer Phillip and I are in position. Guns are set for single fire, sir.'

"Okay. You know what to do."

A loud knock was heard from within the house.

"G.D.T.F! OPEN UP!"

"Oh fuck! IGNIS!"

Hearing the spell, Qrow and Taiyang ran inside the house through the hole in the door. Where a mahogany door once stood was a large hole leading out into the front yard, the wood now outlined by a burning black ring. Officer Phillips was on the ground unconscious while officer Derek had his gun trained on the Grimm who stood in the center of all three officers.

The Grimm that stood before them had a black jacket, red shirt, and black jeans. His hair was dyed red, but it was his eyes that gave away who he was. Those black void filled eyes with only the glowing blood red pupils to contrast it.

"I am Lieutenant Taiyang Xiao Long of Queens' Grimm Detainment Task Force. Adam Taurus, you have demonstrated sings of being a Grimm and will be taken to the nearest Institution where you will be treated for your disease."

"Disease?! I am a fucking God!"

"Alright then, your holiness, how about you show us your hands?" Qrow asked.

"Oh, I'll show you my hands," Adam said as he raised his hands into the air.

Taiyang looked up to see the lights that were above them and quickly pieced together what he was going to say.

"Elect—"

"FIRE!"

All three officers fired their weapons at the same time, all three hitting various parts of the Grimm's body. Falling to his knees, the Grimm looked down and placed his hand on his chest, feeling the dark red liquid pouring over his hand.

Slowly looking up at both Qrow and Taiyang, Adam could only chuckle, "Ego... sum libero…"

With those final words, the Grimm's blood red eyes dilated as his hands fell limp at his sides before his is body collapsed and he fell flat onto the floor.

"Grimm has been neutralized. Send paramedics for the two bodies and for Officer Phillips."

5:47 PM

After giving her statement on what happened before she ran to the attic, the victim was allowed to leave the precinct. Inside the G.D.T.F department, the lights were out and almost all of the G.D.T.F day shift had gone home; the only person who was currently working in the G.D.T.F was Taiyang, who was typing his report into the computer.

Hearing a knock on his door, Taiyang looked up to see his co-worker and girlfriend, Raven, standing at the door.

"Hey Tai, what are you doing?"

"Just finishing the report on that Faunus that broke into the house."

"How long will that take? Qrow is offering us drinks tonight which means we won't be seeing him till noon tomorrow."

"Sorry, I can't. I promised Ruby that I'd watch a movie with her tonight."

"Oh, was that tonight?"

"Yeah, and she's been really busy with school so I feel like I owe it to her."

Raven walked up and placed a hand on Taiyang's shoulder. "I know that the day is coming up."

Taiyang looked over to a dated photo of his younger self and another woman sitting at home with their three year old daughter.

"If you ever need to talk to someone—"

"Thanks, Raven. I should be fine here. I'll see you tomorrow."

Raven paused for a moment, but simply decided that it would be best if she bid him goodnight.

6:32 PM

Taiyang pulled his car into the driveway of his house. Proceeding up the three brick steps to his home, Taiyang opened the door to see his daughter sitting in the family room, eating some instant popcorn, watching TV.

'Ah! Good evening, sir!'

Taiyang looked to the right and saw their Household Artificial Intelligence Servant, or Penny as Ruby liked to call her as a child, walking toward him from the hallway. It was a collective birthday present from the N.Y.P.D for serving so many years on the force.

'Shall I take your coat sir?'

"No, Penny, I'm fine. Why don't you go charge?"

'Right away, sir.' Penny walked over to the wall and plugged its standard issue android charger into its hip before powering down.

"Hey dad, how was work?" Ruby asked.

Taiyang put his coat on the coat hanger before sitting down beside his daughter.

"The same," he said as he grabbed the remote. "How was school?"

"The same… So! What relic from your childhood are you going to force me to watch?"

"Keep talking like that, and I will pull out what was considered a bad movie back then."

"I mean, what amazing piece of cinema are we going to watch?"

"That is what I thought," Taiyang chuckled, "How about… The Matrix?"

"Those graphics are so bad though…"

"Or we can watch Birdemic 2."

"Okay! Okay! We can watch The Matrix."

8:32 PM

Once the movie was done, Ruby proceeded into her room.

"Hey Dad! I'm going to read for a bit before I head to bed."

"Okay, don't stay up too late."

Ruby closed the door very carefully and locked it without her father hearing before she walked up to her bed. After making sure that she was in the clear, Ruby got onto her knees to reach underneath her bed. Feeling what she was looking for, Ruby pulled out a book with the cover saying, 'Diary'. But when Ruby opened the "diary", the true title of the book was revealed.

'English to Latin Translator'.

In the year 2031, when Elves were starting to pop up more and more around the world, it was discovered that all spells were derived from their Latin roots, so the language was declared illegal across the US and other countries as well. Soon after, all forms of literature pertaining to the Latin language were confiscated and destroyed. Almost all of it.

Ruby turned on her bedside lamp and clambered on top of her comforter. Opening to a bookmarked page, Ruby began to stare intently at a single phrase to try and say it.

"P…Parva locks. No… Parva Lucks… shit come on. Parva Lux."

Ruby looked at her bedside table as her lamp seemed to grow brighter than it was before. Extending her hand towards the lamp, Ruby said the spell again.

"Parva Lux."

As the lamp began to grow brighter, Ruby watched as a luminescent blur began to move towards her hand and clump together to form a small ball of light that began to grow too bright for Ruby to handle.

"Shit."

Ruby turned away from the light as it began to get too bright and quickly flipped through the pages of the translation book, finding the right translation to dim the light.

"Here we go… cali… gave— no, gav i runt. Caligaverunt."

The overwhelming light began to subside until the glow was just bright enough to give off the same amount of light as a night light. Ruby stared at the ball of light with wonder in her eyes as she saw multiple bright colors waving around in a perfect translucent sphere.

Smiling, Ruby looked towards the mirror and saw her glowing reflection. She was almost human… but her eyes are what made her the monster on the news, her eyes are what made her the freak that she was.

Not wanting to get caught, Ruby raised her hand upward, as if she were gently letting a bird fly from her hand. The orb of light flew into the air before crumbling away like sand in an hourglass. Placing both her hands on her eyes and whispered "Abscondam". She felt her eyes slowly changing back to their original form. Once the spell was done, she removed her hands and looked at her reflection in the mirror once more.

As she stared at her eyes, Ruby was happy to see that they were white and silver again. Placing the book in its original hiding spot, Ruby hopped into bed and went to sleep, ready to head to school the next morning.

You think that this story is going to be some badass cop taking down the big bad terrorist group? No, that is not what is going to happen. Instead, you are going to read the story of my journey. The journey that I made to make it out before I could be killed because of what I am. This is the tale of my escape.