JPDE: Ivory Tower

By ARC Alpha 12

Edited by Jami Sapphire Somersley

Based on RWBY Visual Novel JPDE by Meinos Kaen

Cover Art by Jason Chn'g

Chapter 1: The Boy in Black

The innkeeper was right. Jack smiled to herself as she watched from the perch at the youthful looking man in black walking up the road. Long black coat, straight black hair, and the most beautiful blue eyes she'd ever seen. It was like staring into the ocean, solid blue, something that seemed too inhuman to be possible.

He also carried a pair of swords with him. One was attached to his back, the other to his hip. Her intel had said that Marcus Black kicked people to death...she thought for a moment, this could be the wrong guy, but his shoes had rather intricate pieces to them-far too many for them not to be mechanical and weaponized in nature. The swords might have been trophies, maybe? Or perhaps he carried more than one method of killing someone, to vary his MO and make him harder to trace.

He seemed completely oblivious to the world, appearing to have a bored expression as he walked, like he was in a daze or a trance. Jack curled her fists.

So, the intel had been spot on, for once. Ozpin directing her to that inn had been bountiful. The innkeeper said that she would find the man on the road, and sure enough, here he was, alone.

The fact he was wandering Grimm territory without anyone watching his back told her that either he was foolish or simply not that concerned. The latter was definitely a trait an assassin would have.

This had to be him.

She aimed her gauntlet at him, and it transformed into a small machine gun that enveloped her fist. He shouldn't have the Aura active right now, since there is no present danger, but she still let him pass her, to be safe.

Her grip tightened as he walked past silently. And that was when he dropped.

Or...at least he should have.

As soon as the gun fired, the man spun around, right palm extended. He blocked several of the bullets flying his way, catching the final one-an explosive round-between her index finger and forefinger, preventing it from exploding due to lack of impact.

How?

He was now looking in her general direction, brows furrowed slightly. He tossed the bullet away and reached for his sword.

Jack cursed and fell to the ground.

Did she say something to him, in that moment...? She honestly couldn't remember. The man had unsheathed the sword on his back, now. A spectacular black blade with a silver edge and black bird wings for a hand guard made up the bulk of the sword. His eyes locked with hers.

She remembers him asking what she wanted. She replied that he was going to pay for his crimes, and she had tried to assault him. Surprisingly enough, he kept pace with her, flipping his blade flat against his forearm and using it more as a shield than a weapon.

The strangest thing, though, was that she felt slow. Heavy. Like she was tired. She knew she wasn't but every punch or kick she made felt sluggish, like the air turned to molasses around her as she moved, or something was pushing against her. This feeling persisted and allowed the man to dodge every blow.

He took a step back and switched his sword to his left hand, before ducking yet another punch. His right fist hit her in the solar plexus, and she noticed it was hard-was he wearing some kind of gauntlet she didn't notice? His fist felt like steel. But while the first blow caught her by surprise, it was the second one that winded her. She felt a blast shoot through her body, and she coughed as she fell to her knees at his feet, stunned. What was that? It wasn't a physical attack-his fist was still in contact with her when the second hit was delivered.

She gritted her teeth. Damn...did she really have to resort to her Semblance? She couldn't touch him, so maybe she could stop him.

She inhaled and felt the energy around her pour into her. The man felt it too, and jumped away as the bottom of his coat began to ice up. He stared at her, confused. That was a reaction she was used to getting.

The boy watched around her as the air seemed to stop. Ice was beginning to form on the ground meters from her. He watched, curious and concerned. But he realized whatever she was doing, it had a range on it, and he was outside of that range.

"This ends," he said, raising his blade towards her. The blade split open, revealing arcing electrical currents. The center of the blade had a large barrel, which began to rapidly spin. A loud, sickening clanking sound was heard, followed immediately by something that sounded explosive but in a mechanical way, and Jack was taken by surprise when she felt something strike her, hard, right in the collarbone. Her aura field held up, but the blow came so fast, it took a moment to register. What an impact! Even her Semblance didn't slow it down.

Then she realized why. His sword was a railgun-it moved too fast for her to fully affect.

His brow furrowed and he fired again. This one did indeed pierce her Aura, and she felt the full impact on her skin. She could feel blood oozing from the wound, but the impact had a second effect. And she utilized it.

In a flash, she charged him. But before she even finished throwing a punch, she felt the weight on her again, nearly three times as heavy, this time. She ran right into it, swimming through the air gingerly, her fist still fast but not going nearly as fast as it should have been. And her feet...she lost her footing on the small crater that formed around her, which allowed the man to duck to the side of the blow and aim his sword directly at her.

In a flash, she batted the blade away, delivering a kick to his side as the railgun fired. He cringed, but delivered a palm strike to her chest with his left hand, which pushed her backwards several meters. She felt a concussive blast blow through her, impacting her ribs and sternum as she skidded backwards. She clutched her chest. How in the hell-

"Why are you attacking me?" the boy said, his sword flipped in a reverse hold and his right arm raised up defensively.

Getting a better look at him, she blinked….he was young. Her age. This couldn't be Marcus Black.

She stood up straight. "The innkeeper at the last town told me that a man named Marcus Black was supposed to be traveling this road. I thought you were him."

His eyes searched her face, and he lowered his head, glaring at her. "Why are you looking for Marcus Black?"

"That's personal."

"So is attacking a random stranger." The boy lowered his guard a little. He noticed she was no longer looking for a fight. her entire demeanor had changed; her hands were at her side, her eyes were filled with a certain sadness. Remorse?

"You're right. I'm sorry." She looked him dead in the eyes. No flinching a the words. No attacking. No hostile intention.

He lowered his own guard, flipping the sword back to a normal grasp and sliding it back on the shield on his hilt. "I don't know where Marcus Black is. But if the innkeeper is who I think he is, he might have misunderstood my query. I'm looking for him, as well."

The girl looked at the boy in surprise. "You? Why?"

"You first, since you were the aggressor."

She sighed. That was fair, she supposed. "He killed my father, George Ivory. The name's Jack."

"Hathaway. Hathaway Novah."

"So? Why are you looking for him?" Jack asked. It seemed so weird that another person would be on the same trail as she was. Yet, he was claiming to be doing exactly that.

"He and another, who I can only guess was his son, killed my father," Hathaway explained. "He died about four months ago."

"Oh…" Jack gave him a sorrowful look. "I'm sorry."

"I don't want pity. I want answers." His hands tightened into a fist. "I want to see him brought down."

"I can understand that feeling," Jack replied. "If you'd like...perhaps we could work together. We are both looking for answers, right?"

Hathaway considered her for a moment. He weighed the pros and cons of allowing her to tag along. In truth, the was skilled. Very much so. Much like him, she was well trained. His left hand drifted to his side. She was also very powerful. And, although he didn't know what her Semblance was, he knew it somehow increased her power. And, if he were being honest with himself, he might actually need some help.

"Alright," he said after a moment. "Why don't I set up camp and we can start talking?"

The two sat down to a rabbit dinner not long after Hathaway and Jack had both set out their bed rolls. Jack noticed one thing about Hathaway-he was honest. Despite not revealing much, he was always honest with whatever he said he would do or had done. She genuinely appreciated that, though he was somewhat quiet and reserved.

Sadly, neither knew much more than the other, though Jack had the advantage over Hathaway in that she'd been tracking him longer than he had.

Ultimately, Hathaway agreed that the two of them, together, would be best-Marcus Black was a trained assassin, and in hindsight, he might need help taking him down.

Sadly, there wasn't much to be gained as the sun began to set. The two appeared to be ready for sleep to take them, the thoughts of the stressful day, combined with full, warm bellies, began to lull them both into a light, calm sleep.

Hathaway appeared to be very distrusting, but still answered all of her inquiries honestly. When they finally fell asleep, both felt more at ease. Perhaps this meeting was a blessing in disguise...