Jet soared over Vale, taking his time. The fact that they had an entire month off of Beacon's heavy-handed education system felt glorious. He twisted his body and flew right, crossing over a series of shops.
Looking down, he spotted the silver flowing hair of Izzet and the blond locks of Lilac. Folding his wings, he dived, aiming for a pile of snow next to them.
He extended his wings about ten metres from the ground, flapping his wings powerfully to slow his decent, causing a spray of snow underneath him as he landed in a crouch, facing his two teammates, who were now covered from head to toe in small, icy flakes. Izzet simply smiled and folded her arms, while Lilac irritably shook the intruding fragments of ice from her hair.
"Don't mind me, just came in to see how you were doing." Jet greeted as he walked beside the two girls.
"Emergency Christmas shopping, if you can believe it." Lilac replied.
"Really?" Jet asked, astounded. He'd thought his team was comprised of very organised people, or so two years of experience had shown him. He'd already done his own, and had even scheduled his trip to Theyl Nocturne to end in time for Christmas.
But those details were unimportant, as he returned himself to reality.
"What did you get me?" he asked teasingly.
'If you only knew.' Izzet replied, just as teasingly.
"Guess I'll find out." Jet asserted, before he flapped his wings and jumped, flipping himself backwards and extending his wings, expecting them to catch the wind, as he'd done while doing this move several times.
Except they didn't.
Stomach plummeting twice as fast, Jet fell back onto the ground, flat on his back at the feet of his teammates, who giggled before bursting out in laughter, Izzet's high pitched squeaks the closest to laughter the silent girl could manage. Jet felt blood rush to his cheeks as Lilac helped him up.
"Okay." he said after a pause, still trying to contain his embarrassment. "That didn't go as planned."
Without waiting for their reply, he ran across the road, extending his wings and taking off the normal way. He shook his head as he returned to the skies. Really, he should have nailed that take off. Something was up with the wind. Yes. Let's go with that.
Jet's travels next took him to a café with a roof area, where he observed Blake and Sun chatting from above. Neptune was there too, and Jet wondered if he should drop in for this one.
Ultimately deciding against it, he soared further southwards, away from Beacon and towards the main city. He had some Christmas shopping of his own to do.
Ruby sat on her familiar, floating bed. Its touch reminded her of her loved one. Normally, a Ruby in this position would be a happy Ruby, especially with it being Christmas Eve.
But this one wasn't.
Ruby continued to brood silently. Although she knew about Flux and how Jet considered her a threat, she hadn't seen any hint of her. But Jet continued to do things for no apparent reason, and still hadn't given her any reason as to where this was all heading. She knew he was trying to make himself stronger, but that didn't tell her anything. For all her trust, Jet's true mission still remained a mystery, even to her.
She sighed, lying on her stomach, leaning her chin on her two cupped hands, kicking her feet randomly in the air. She stayed like that until she felt the bed sway a little, and a warm hand was placed on her pyjama clad back.
"Ruby, I know something's up." Blake said from behind her. Ruby turned to face her, sitting up as she sat cross-legged on the other side of the bed. "It's Jet, isn't it?"
"Blake, what do you think Jet's trying to do?" Ruby asked.
"Trying to do? What d'you mean?" Blake asked back, a concerned expression on her face.
"C'mon, Blake." Ruby said, exasperatedly. "Going to that castle, disappearing randomly, going to that place for a semblance. He's up to something, and he won't tell me. You've had a goal like that before."
"If you ask me." Blake said, drawing Ruby closer, "I think he knows something about what's going to happen. No, listen!" she raised her voice at Ruby's attempt to interrupt her. "If he's doing things for his mission that are random, they must matter in some way. The pattern's the same in some of my books. A character does some things that are seemingly random, and it turns out that they know about the future. So, that's my theory."
"Listen, Blake, I know he's powerful and all," Ruby said, disbelievingly, "but I don't think he's got anything to do with the future."
Even as she said it, her mind was already racing with the possibilities. There was only really one piece of evidence to support that theory. Jet had come to her rescue from Cardin, without any prior warning, from his dorm, which had been quite far from where she was at the time.
But that was the only piece of evidence.
Ruby broke out of her reverie in time to see Blake walking out.
"Watch him." she said, before she closed the door behind her, leaving her to her thoughts, though not for very long, as she heard a tap on the window, which meant Jet wanted to come in. She jumped off her bed and opened the window, but she let out an 'eek' of surprise when Jet barrelled into her. His touch was freezing cold, and as Ruby moved around him and closed the window, he stretched and looked around.
They were alone.
"Mind if I use your shower?" Jet asked, and as he did, Ruby caught the whiff of body odour coming from him. She nodded, and he walked inside. She listened as he unzipped his winter cloak and turned on the shower.
"Jet?" she called out.
"Yeah?" came his response. Ruby threaded her hands together as she heard the sounds that indicated he was now in the shower.
"How are… um…" she petered out. How was she going to say this without someone as perceptive as Jet finding out what she really wanted?
"Hm?" Jet asked. "What's bothering you, sweetheart?"
"How many powers do you have? Like, secrets and everything?" Ruby asked, though she knew that she was dodging the real question she wanted to ask.
Jet was silent for a moment, before he responded.
"A lot. Almost all of my abilities and weapons aren't my own though." he replied, and Ruby heard the 'splurt' of the shampoo bottle. She realised with a small jolt that he was using hers.
"What're your limits, though?" Ruby asked. "If we fight together, I need to know what you're fully capable of."
"This is about the journey we're making on New Year's, isn't it?" Jet queried.
"Yes!" Ruby said, a little too quickly. "Yes, it is." She hoped that hadn't given the game away.
"Well, I suppose I could show you." Jet responded. "Give me a second."
"Already over." Ruby said, cheekily. She felt a smile cross her face and knew somehow that the same was happening to Jet.
"Funny." he retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. There were sounds of zips and the click of the lock on the door, then Jet emerged, his black hair still a little slick from the shower, but it was now flatter, neater. He walked to the window and turned to Ruby with a smile. The scent of roses was on the air, and Ruby recognised it.
"Why'd you use mine?" Ruby asked, referring to the soap and shampoo. Jet's grin widened as he stretched.
"Remember that conversation we had with Yang, about my second name?" Jet said. Ruby thought, then remembered. It had been at the pub where she'd met Junior for the first time.
Jet didn't have a second name, and so Ruby and Yang had been having an argument about their sibling's (well, in Yang's case) surname. Obviously, Yang had wanted him to be 'Jet Xiao Xiao Long', but Ruby had had other ideas. Jet had agreed with her, but in respect to Yang, incorporated 'Xiao' into his name, making it 'Jet Xiao Rose'. They had seen Ozpin about it and had it changed under his permission, as Jet turned out to have no legal guardian.
Ruby had liked it. Jet himself could unite different abilities and attributes with his copying ability, and could even combine them for greater effect. His symbol (on Midnight Rose, his copy of Crescent Rose) was a black rose, which also suited the name, along with the black rose petals that often accompanied his usage of semblances.
"Well, now I smell the part too." Jet explained, beckoning Ruby with his arms outstretched. While Ruby had been immersed in her thoughts, he'd jumped up onto their bed. She jumped up too and hugged him, laying her chin on his shoulder. His rose scent intermingled with her own, creating a relaxing concoction of scents that dulled her senses.
"Do you have to copy everything about me? Let me be alone as myself?" Ruby asked disparagingly. Could he let her be unique, just a little?
"Nope." Jet replied with a cheeky grin, popping his 'p' deliberately, and Ruby knew Jet knew it would annoy her. "You should be flattered that someone as powerful as me idolises you." Ruby jabbed him in the back between his wings with a finger, and felt his wings flap backwards reflexively.
"Figures, what with your ability to copy things." Ruby said, poking him again. This time, Jet spun around, knocking her down on the bed, and he pinned her arms and legs, though he was gentle.
"That hurts, you know." Jet said with a frown, before he reached under Ruby's armpits and begun tickling her. Ruby convulsed involuntarily and giggled as Jet pressed his attack, his fingers causing Ruby to laugh senselessly as she tried to escape, but the hold on her was too powerful. Jet increased his grip as she broke free with one of her legs and desperately tried to kick out at him.
"Jet, stahp! Ple- gah!" Ruby pleaded in between fits of laughter. Jet released her, and she gasped, breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath. Jet merely watched as she put a hand on his shoulder, an almost questioning look in his eyes. "What is it?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, nothing." Jet said quickly, but the blush that rose to his face brought his lie to light.
"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, a frown appearing on her face, sensing that she might have a chance to pry for information.
"I'm just wondering whether what I got you for Christmas was right for you." he replied, glancing downwards, avoiding eye contact. The bed swayed a little.
"Pfbht. That's a fat load of shit and you know it, Jet." a voice came from behind her. She whirled around in surprise to see Lilac sitting behind her.
"How long have you been there?!" Jet asked, stern and serious. "And how did you get there?"
"Long enough, and look behind you." Lilac replied with a smug smile. Both turned to see Izzet behind Jet, a blush heavy on her face as she waved tentatively in greeting. "Go on, tell her the truth." Lilac continued, drawing their attention back to her. Ruby mentally punched the air in triumph. There was more to the story.
"I don't wish to." Jet replied seamlessly. Ruby noticed his change of tone. His defences were coming up. "What I was really thinking about may not bide well."
"It'll 'bide' even less well if you don't spill it at some point. It's better for her to be with you on this. Even with the risk." Lilac replied, and Izzet nodded vehemently on their other side. Risks?
"What's happening?" she asked her lover softly, desperate to know now. Was this about Flux? Something in the future? Something that was scaring him?
Jet sighed, and took a deep breath, before he looked Ruby straight in the eye.
"I know how strong Flux is now." he confessed. "She came and met me when I was speaking to Ozpin one day."
As Jet begun to recount their encounter, Ruby listened, her heartbeat growing in speed and intensity.
"And the next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital." Jet finished. Ruby's mind was buzzing. So Flux had come to Beacon right under their noses and neither Jet nor Ozpin had told anyone? Not only that, but their opponent was invulnerable? Ruby had a hard time believing that, but she knew Jet wouldn't lie about something this serious.
"How do we beat her?" Lilac pressed, and Ruby looked into Jet's eyes. She had a feeling that she knew that Jet knew. At once, Jet responded, closing his eyes.
"Flux is a child of Asmodeus who has embraced the darkness. Right now, no-one that is human can defeat her. Any of you, any of the students here, or the teachers." he said gravely, and Ruby's heart sank. But a grin appeared on his face as he continued. "But there's someone here who doesn't fit into that category."
"You." Ruby answered. "You're half Grimm, right?"
"Precisely." Jet replied, patting Ruby on the head. She smiled at him, deciding to bite back at the pride that was preparing a snappy retribution to the gesture. "I am also a child of Amsodeus."
"So you can beat him?" Lilac asked.
"Not in present form, and it's her. But like Flux, I can also embrace a greater power and become stronger." Jet explained. "I can gather the Four Semblances of Asmo and offer them to the light goddess, becoming one with my human side, and gaining great power over dust and light."
"That sounds promising." Lilac commented, but Ruby knew there was more.
"Or, I can follow Flux's footsteps and perform the Darkening Ritual of Deus before the dark god, embracing my Grimm side, and empower myself with darkness and strength." Jet concluded.
A silence followed his words.