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I typed away at my keyboard. I was working on grading the third years. We were getting into the middle of the second term and it getting on time for me to set up midterms. I played fast and loose with grades. If a student worked hard and showed progress they'd get a good grade and that was pretty much that. I merely allowed the students to believe that they'd be ranked based off of how many matches they took off of one another.

A polite but firm knock came at my door.

"Come in," I bid them enter.

"Cloud," the Headmistress greeted. "Councilor Agustine is here to see you. Did you have an appointment?"

"No, we didn't. But we can chat," I returned to Glynda. "Thank you."

"I'll leave you two gentlemen," the Headmistress left and the Councilor entered. He walked slowly in and examined me. He had white hair from age rather than complexion and dark brown eyes. He closed the door behind me slowly. I think he was trying to let me stew in it. I just glanced back at my monitor and started typing away.

He perused his way into the room a little further. He examined the weapons under glass for a moment. He had last time he was in here as well. He paused at the sniper rifle-longsword at the far end.

"This one's new. A recent addition?" He asked me.

"Cerise Genfield. Gravity manipulator. High ratings. You might have seen the shoot out with her on the news. Killed fifteen people, I think? All faunus? She was trying to target White Fang members. Vigilante with a vendetta. Relatively low body count compared to the others at any rate. Too big of a fish for me to let the police handle," I murmured.

He was wearing a suit and tie with a green shirt and nice shoes as he wandered the display cases.

"You keep a watch out for spree killers?"

"Naturally. It's a good policy to have. Why? You have a target for me?"

"Can't I just visit?"

"Probably. Are you just visiting? I'm afraid you'll get bored staring at my collection."

"Why so few?"

"Pardon?" I pressed.

"Why so few trophies? You've killed more people than this," he didn't make it sound very much like a question. He pointed down at Cinder's glass bow-sword.

"Not every fish is worth keeping. I toss the little ones back. Do you fish? Councilor?"

"In my time I may have once or twice."

"Did you keep every single one? Take a photo with every single one? Let the little ones go. They aren't worth it."

"But these five were?"

"If you want my body count you should just ask me. Do it. Ask me. These five all had a special place in my heart or were a big enough threat that they were keepers."

"What's your body count? Professor?"

"I don't know. More than a thousand. Less than two thousand. I lost count after five. When I was nineteen."

"You've had a busy three years."

"The busiest. I hope whatever big game you brought me today can wait."

"Why's that?" He asked.

"My weapon is in the shop. I got engaged."

"Congratulations. But your weapon?"

"It's tradition for hunters to modify one another's weapons as an engagement present. I'm afraid I'll be out of commission for some time. So it had better be able to wait or you better not need me as a last resort. Because I've got to decline. It isn't like the Hydra again, is it?"

"Why? Was the Hydra a problem?"

"Let me be frank. Not really. The biggest game I ever hunted for sure. But it still wasn't enough to push me to my Limits."

"I see. Well I'm sorry for wasting both of our time. It's a herd of Goliaths. They've been walking around the edge of the city."

"And? Big old herd Grimm do that sort of thing. It's not a problem today is it?"

"Well, not yet. But why should I be concerned about such game when you're willing to work with me."

"Careful. You'll need more than money to keep me hooked."

"I don't think I will," he insisted.

"No?" I asked.

"No. You have a sense of personal duty. You won't let the city be held hostage just to scrape the bottom of my pockets. You keep a lookout for serial killers. You went after the Hydra."

"Those things cost me nothing."

"But not doing those things cost you something. Doesn't it?"

"If you're implying I don't want the state to collapse around me then I will confess it. But you better offer me more than money if you want me hunting Grimm other hunters can kill. Like your Goliaths. You can handle that without me. I don't need to get involved. And at the moment, with my weapon out, I don't have a choice. You don't have a choice. So don't yank me around. And when you come callin' on me it better be for things other hunters can't handle. The Hydra was a good example. A big Leviathan or Kraken are more still. You better come at me with something I literally can't say 'no' to if you can't offer me more than money. Or I'll say 'no.'"

"What do you want other than money?"

"Not much. These grades need finishing. I'd like my students to have a quality education."

"I could get you an assistant. A cute assistant."

"I'm still engaged."

"So what do you want?"

"A quiet life with my wives."

"Aren't you a lucky man."

"So I've been told…"

"Play ball with me, Strife."

"My family will kill me."

"Hyperbole?"

"No. My sisters and Mother are the most dangerous people on the planet. You should keep an eye out for my sisters because they could topple governments with playful ease. You shouldn't bother keeping an eye out for my Mother because it would be too late and you couldn't do anything about it anyway. So do that. Keep a watch for my sisters. The Arc sisters. But I'm still doing you a favor by even letting you know this and that I will take care of them for you. You don't have anything I want. Keep the money coming. Let me know if you spot them. We'll call it square and I'll do what I can for you. But today I really do have to say 'no.' My weapon is indispensable. Without my magic wand I'm afraid I can't perform."

"That's all you want?"

"Pretty much. I want a quiet life with my wives. That's not the fate in store for me. I have to confront my family. I have to die."

"You're sure?"

"Pretty sure. Maybe I walk away from my Mother? Probably not. The world will spin on without me. Handle what you think you can and when you need me call on me. I won't let people die in the street if I can help it."

"What about hunters? In the wilds?"

"They knew what they wrought. I'm not your nanny. I'm not going to come swooping in and bail you out of every big bad. Just the biggest of bads. Do we totally and completely understand one another?"

"Crystal. Like glass." He tapped my displays with a fingernail. "Good luck with your engagements. I hope I don't see you soon."

"I hope I don't see you soon either," I agreed. "Get out."

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There was a nine foot long box in the garage when I pulled my bike in. It was on a work table just sitting there. Black and sleek and with square edges. I stopped my bike and stared at it. My bike backfired as it died.

"Oh shit!" I heard Weiss shout from inside. "Ruby!"

I dismounted and Weiss came rushing out. She looked between me and the box. I think she thought of stepping in front of it and trying to hide it. But I'm pretty sure she just thought better of it. She knew how tiny she was. The box was more than three feet taller than her.

"Is that…" I trailed off as I walked slowly forward.

She let out a suffering groan. "Wait, please. Just wait. Ruby!" She looked up at me with pleading eyes before turning and calling over her shoulder.

I stopped. I absently adjusted Pyrrha's sash where it was tied to my bicep. I flattened my cape behind me.

"So…" I shrugged. "What's in the box, Weiss?"

She rubbed her forehead hard. "Um… listen…"

"Yeah?"

"Ruby was supposed to move it inside for later…"

"Okay. So what's in it?"

"Your timing is just so bad. Ruby!"

"What?!" Ruby peeked out into the spacious three car garage. "Oh… just a minute," she held out a finger and disappeared in a burst of petals.

"No petals in the house!" Weiss shouted.

"It's an emergency!" Ruby hollered back. "Stall him!"

"So… How… how was work?" Weiss asked me in what slowly became her sweetest tone. She gave me this dazzling smile that I know was fake just because I'd seen the real thing. What she was currently wearing wasn't that dazzling compared to the real deal.

"Oh you know. Same day different shit," I folded my arms. "Councilor Agustine visited me today."

"Oh? A new mission?"

"I turned him down. I need my weapon."

"So… no new missions?" She pressed.

I shook my head. "Nobody has needed me badly enough to give me a call that I couldn't say 'no' to. Plus I need my weapon." I took a step forward. Weiss matched me in taking a step and stayed between me and the box.

"Don't," she pleaded.

"Why not?" I wondered playfully. "It's mine, isn't it?"

"So… do me a favor and just drive around the lot once or twice. Please? For me?"

"I don't know," I whispered. I took another step forward. Weiss took a step back closer to the box. "Should I?"

"You should. Really. Just a fast loop."

"Maybe I should take a quick look."

"Don't. Please? Please don't," she held her hands out when I took another step closer. She pushed on my chest but she may as well been trying to shove a skyscraper. "No…" she let out a delicious whine. It tasted so good going down and I could feel her nervous supplicating aura at this range. Cool custard and cream. Crisp crushed ice with cold coffee.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm asking you to?" She wondered up at me. I reached down and wrapped my arms around her waist. I pulled her close so that our pelvises met but she was still leaning away from me. I slowly picked her up by the hips like we were dancing. "No…" she whined. I turned in a half circle and moved her around me so that I was closer to the box. I took a step back towards my bike. I set her on the ground. She wrapped her arms around my neck. "No… please?"

"Okay, ready?" Ruby reappeared in doorway. She had a small box in her hands. Weiss dropped to one knee and Ruby did too.

"Cloud will you-" Ruby started.

"Yes," I interrupted.

"You have to let us finish!" Weiss smacked me. "Will you marry us? You brute. You could have at least pretended like you didn't know.."

"Yes," I repeated. I could have. I chose not to.

"You left the box out, Ruby," Weiss growled.

"I didn't think he'd be home so soon. I'm so sorry," Ruby squealed. She got back to her feet and walked up to me. She handed me the little velvet box from her fingers. Weiss got back up and put one hand on her hip.

I opened the little box first. There were two earrings inside with a wolf stud on each. The wolf had a loop in it's mighty jaws that dangled downwards.

"Do you remember that gun you gave me?" Ruby asked. "From that bandit, Viriscent? I had it melted down into these and three rings for our wedding bands. The Titania was good."

I picked up one of the little wolf studs. It was intricately detailed and the silvery hue of pure Titania. Light. Durable. Simple. Brutish.

Like me.

"Thank you," I murmured softly to them both. I could count the number of gifts I'd ever received on one hand. Two. Counting both earrings separately. I wasn't quite sure how to express myself past that. I struggled. "Both of you…" I popped off my diamond studs and replaced them with the fierce little wolves. They were more intricately detailed versions of the wolf hood ornament on my bike.

They were still waiting for me.

"I… I've never gotten a present before," I pressed on as I clipped the left stud into place. They seemed to be waiting for me. But I wasn't sure how to share what I was feeling. I wasn't really sure what I was feeling. But it was small and quiet and powerful.

"Not ever?" Weiss asked. "Really?"

"Not ever," I affirmed. "When would I have gotten anything? Fake memories aside."

"That's so sad… what about your birthday?" Ruby asked. "I mean, we never celebrated it. I never thought about that and it just slipped past me. Every year. I always meant to ask but kept forgetting. I'm so sorry."

"I didn't have a birth. I don't have a birthday. It's not your fault."

"Will you pick a date? For us to celebrate?" Weiss asked me.

I nodded slowly. "Sure. I can do that."

"You've really never ever gotten anything?" Ruby seemed horror struck.

"My sword and armor, I suppose. Miló and Akoúo̱ and Pyrrha's armor. My aura and semblance."

"Those don't count! Those weren't gifts!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Then… nothing. Ever. Except for today. Just now. With you both," I let out a shaking breath. I looked down at the ground and rolled my ankle in the boot against the blue-grey concrete floor. I rolled my eyes up at the ceiling then down at the floor. Get it together, Cloud. Say something. Say anything. Weiss came up behind me and set her hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, I just… I just don't know how to handle myself at the moment. I don't know how I'm supposed to react. I'm just sort of… I don't know. I don't know how to express myself."

"How do you feel?" Ruby walked closer and asked.

"I don't know. Confused. Grateful. Happy. I'm… a little lost, too. I'm in uncharted waters at the moment. What am I supposed to be feeling when I'm getting a present?"

"Well… do you like them?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. I'll wear them all the time and always remember this moment. I… I think that's it for me. You know what I mean?"

"No…" Ruby hummed.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"Well… I don't think it gets any better than that. For me. Like, I don't know what more a gift can do. Like… some people are asexual. Right? It doesn't get any better than friendship for them. And it's sort of like that for these. I mean… I don't want to say that they're just earrings to me. Because that's not true. But I don't think it gets better than this for just earrings. How good are they supposed to make me feel? I don't think it gets better than this. For me. What I'm feeling."

"You like them, then? You always make things so complicated," Ruby tried to cut through.

"Yeah. I'll treasure them always. They're priceless to me," I decided.

"You would say that even if it were crummy," Ruby protested.

"I mean… probably. They're my first real present. And it came from you two. My darling and my sweetheart. Of course I would… but that doesn't make them worthless or a waste."

"Do you really think that?" Ruby wondered.

"Yeah. You two mean everything to me. You're all I've really got," I murmured.

"Open the big one, Cloud," Weiss encouraged with a pat to my back.

"I thought I wasn't allowed to," I fired.

"Not without Ruby!" Weiss shouted exasperatedly.

I stepped forward towards the big box. I pulled the top off the box and a thin piece of tissue paper aside. It was my sword. Only it was longer and wider. The handle was even longer and the distance between the guard and tip was almost seven feet. I listed it with one hand. It lifted me. I could see more inner workings to it. I pulled the longsword free of the shield. The shield was taller and wider and the longsword was now probably better classified as a broad sword. It was triangular and tappering until about half way where it abruptly cut in before resuming the tapering point.

In the shield to either side were two knives with the handle folded around. I say knives but the blades were two feet long. And the handles weren't short. I slid the longsword back in and clicked the whole weapon apart. With the straight edge the shield formed there was a sword about six feet long. And there was a final straight single edged blade near the back of the single edged instrument. There was a lot of sword with the sword. It was all white and grey. The bronze highlights were gone.

"We melted Stormflower down into those knives to either side. And Magnihild went all over. The hilt, tip, and other two blades and shield," Ruby explained.

I choked. "Nora and Ren?"

Ruby nodded up at me.

"Sure the weight is all over to it. But that didn't bother you before," Weiss went on. "But now you have some serious swords to your sword."

"It's even more swordy than before," Ruby agreed. She glowed up at me and I looked away.

"I… I took Pyrrha's weapons with the promise of slaying her murderer. Ren and Nora…" I trailed off. "Their killer…"

"Salem," Weiss insisted before I could finish.

"Me," I disagreed. "I killed them."

"It wasn't you…" Weiss murmured. "It was her. And you can take this weapon and wield it proudly in their name against the one who killed them."

"Me…" I gasped. I clutched the massive weapon like it was a doll.

I fell to my knees. In my mind over and over it replayed.

"Kill her. And the boy."

"Kill her. And the boy."

"Kill her. And the boy."

My head echoed and Ruby spoke distantly but I couldn't hear her. I did try. I did try to hear her. But it was so far away. I felt Weiss touch my shoulder and rub me back where I knelt. Her aura brought me back and I struggled to breath.

"Ren and Nora," I managed.

"They'd want this for you," Ruby sighed. She knelt down and ran her fingers through my hair. I just let them both touch me and let us share in each other's aura.

I couldn't get a good breath in. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I choked on nothing.

"They'd have wanted to live," I said through my strangulation. "They'd have wanted to explore one another. That's what they would have wanted. Not this."

"No," Ruby hummed. "You deserve peace and rest. That's what Ren especially would have wanted for you. And Nora would have agreed."

All I could remember at that moment was killing them. Nora's tiny body impaled on my sword and Ren's crushed form from the Cross slash. They deserved more than this. They deserved a living legacy. So did Pyrrha. I could… I could live my best life ten times and not manage it. And I only got the one good chance. But this… could I really be this for them? The living embodiment of the place they would have been? Could I make my footsteps take possession of those places they should have walked? Could sins ever really be forgiven?

It was too much.

It was more than I could bear. So I didn't. I let my head fall forward and it connected with the instrument with a metallic noise. Only when my cheeks felt wet against the metal did I realize I was crying. Magnihild and Stormflower… Miló and Akoúo̱… I was the only one left and I wasn't even Jaune Arc anymore.

"It's okay…" Weiss whispered as she knelt beside me.

"You can't hold onto this," Ruby agreed. "Let it go."

I was JNPR's living legacy.

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-WG