Chapter Three

In which a monster wanders the streets of Vale, hungry and bloodthirsty, chasing shadows. Meanwhile, Ruby picks up the broken glass, cuts herself deeply, several times, the blood flows like a stream. And it begins to seem like there is no hope of putting everything back in its place.

I

Ruby was walking without destination in mind, without thinking, without feeling. The rain fell over everything, making the signs of honest business and others not so honest gleam.

She felt strange, lost, unstable. Although what surrounded her was undoubtedly Vale and she had walked these streets many times, it seemed to her that she was in another city, another time. Maybe even another world. People were spectres behind water curtains.

No one noticed her, she did not notice or call anyone. She was alone. And a substantial part of her was aware that, to some degree, she would feel this way for the rest of her life, because she had lost something she didn't even know she had.

Maybe this was all a dream. Or a glimpse of someone else's life.

Maybe.

From the corner of her eye, she saw something that caught her attention. It should have been a mirror, but the girl who appeared on the surface was a stranger. She looked very much like her, no doubt, to the point that even Yang would have mistaken that girl for her younger sister. But Ruby knew the truth. All the details were subtly different. The smile, the curve of her lips, the glow of her eyes, her expression...

Who are you? She placed a hand on the crystal, the stranger mirrored her movement. Who do you think you are?

She was invaded by the impulse to smash the shop window, but luckily she managed to contain herself, take her eyes off it and run away.

She was a mess, both inside and out. She couldn't think. The inside of her head was like a poorly tuned radio. An atrocious noise that drowned out even the beginnings of clarity filled her head.

Ruby staggered to a bench. She dropped herself on it, threw her head back, and took a deep breath. Curiously, she had not started crying as soon as she separated from Jaune. And even now she did not feel like it. Unfortunately. That would alleviate, if only a little, the sadness that filled her chest and made it hard to breathe.

"Ruby, I'm so glad! You're all right, aren't you? Tell me he didn't hurt you."

"It's all over, Yang," she admitted easily, although she had tried hard to lie to herself about that not so long ago.

"What do you mean? Did you kill that monster?"

"Don't call him that!" she shouted with all her might. "Don't you dare."

Yang seemed stunned. How could her sister of all people not understand what she was going through, what she was feeling? Had they really distanced themselves so much or was the problem elsewhere?

"Ruby," she said slowly. "I know you liked him. That you thought he was a nice guy with a few quirks. But... well, you saw what he is, what he is like. And you know what he did. Those two," she lowered his voice, "are dead, Ruby. Do you understand?"

"He did what he did to protect me."

"No doubt, but everything has a limit."

"That's very true. But do you think you can give lessons on self-control and limits to anybody?"

Yang grimaced and cowered before her, but didn't get angry. She was the only person Yang could never get angry with.

"He kidnapped you. He was willing to hurt you to save his neck. He is not as noble as you think.

"He did it," Ruby said slowly and after a while, "because I asked him to do it and for no other reason."

Once again, surprise, silence. The rain didn't seem to want to stop.

"Why are you going this far for him?"

"I've already explained it to you. He's the last thing I have left of my mother. Not long ago, I found out that she died to save him. Do you understand? That's where it all comes from. His obsession for me, the promise he made. He's not a monster. He's just a kid my age. Lost. Alone. Scared. But they will hunt him as if he were a monster, those who call themselves protectors of humanity. They will not stop until he is dead. And I will die with him, if necessary."

Before Yang could say anything, she dropped the scroll and stepped on it repeatedly, until it broke, with one of her boots.

Now the crowd did notice her, some of them looked at her as if she had lost her mind. They were wrong. She hadn't felt so sane in a long time. Now everything was clear to her, she saw the shape of the road that stretched out before her.

She would die with him if necessary, yes.

But she wouldn't give up yet.

Her mother would have been proud of her.

One of Beacon's airships landed on the runway, stopped shortly thereafter and shortly thereafter her older sister and the girls on her team emerged from it, followed by headmaster Ozpin himself. She was surprised that so few people had been sent in search of her, especially considering the impulsive and heated conversation she had had with Yang.

They didn't take long to become aware of her presence. Happiness flourished in Yang's face in a way that made her stomach drop. She knew what her sister wanted to hear and see. She also knew that she couldn't give her any of those things.

When have we grown so far apart, she thought bitterly. Perhaps it happened on the night when she had her first time with Jaune. Perhaps since then it had been inevitable that things would end like this. Growing pains.

Ruby stayed on the spot instead of running to meet her. She had to make things clear, draw certain lines, because Yang didn't really understand how she felt or what she was going through. But she certainly thought so. Her older sister, the person she thought she could always count on, was no longer her ally. She accepted it, she filed it away in a corner of her mind. But she could not avoid feeling hurt.

Yang tried to hug her. She stepped away.

"Have you told him?" she whispered in a cold voice.

"No. To nobody."

Ruby nodded.

"All right."

She gazed at the members of her team carefully, one by one, with the feeling that she was looking for something in them. Not knowing what it was all about. Not even if it would be worth finding. She breathed deeply.

"I'm glad you're alright, Miss Rose. I understand that you must be... upset, but you must answer a few questions."

"This is neither the time nor the place. And I care little about what I should or should not do, especially when the man who intends to impose such a duty on me nearly killed a seventeen-year-old boy a few hours ago, without hesitation. But I'll talk. I'll tell you everything you want to know on the way back.

Ozpin frowned.

"I am not your enemy."

"You're wrong, headmaster. And how."

Ruby walked quietly between the seats, the stranger followed her from window to window. She chose one at the back, the others respected and followed her decision without saying a word. There weren't enough seats, so Weiss and Pyrrha had to settle for those to the left. Neither those two nor Blake had much to do with this, but she supposed they had the right to know the truth. Even if she didn't like it.

The airship was on the move.

Not long ago, she had embarked on another journey like this. On that occasion she had been surrounded by people only a little older than her, in the middle of a continuous explosion of noise, surrounded by a sea of color. Of, in short, the future. Then fear had invaded her, shattering her previous enthusiasm, spitting it out like rotten food. She had everything a hunter needed and more, but she let herself be dragged under the water by her personal failings.

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Once again, she was capable of and knew what she had to do. And once again, she did not know if she would be up to the task.

"Miss Rose..." Ozpin started, who was apparently tired and not at all accustomed to being kept waiting.

"I promised I'd make things clear, so I won't beat about the bush: first of all, stop calling me like that. I've never liked it, but even less now. It makes me sick.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, scandalized.

"Don't worry, I don't care. This is much better than her refusing to speak."

"Don't talk as if I've lost my mind," Ruby got angry, "as if I didn't even know what I'm saying or why. I'm very aware of my actions. And very sure of the conclusions I have drawn about yours. In short, you cannot call anyone a monster, judge and condemn them. That you don't even hesitate to do so is more than enough proof. After all, how can someone's heart be judged by someone who doesn't have a heart?

"What happened to Jaune, Ruby? And what do you know about him?"

"I know what you know, deep down," she said slowly and after a while, "even before you tried to kill him. Listen to me, Jaune is not a threat. And you don't have to trust my words alone. Facts prove it."

"If you want to talk about facts, I should mention the boys who left Beacon to go straight to the morgue. "Ozpin sighed deeply. "Look, I didn't like it either. But I did what I had to do to accomplish my job and my duty, which is to take care of my students. That's all."

"You took care, as you so eloquently expressed it, of two boys who would then go straight to the morgue and two others who were out of Jaune's reach. If he had wanted to hurt someone else, he would have. But he didn't. That proves that, despite his appearance, he is not a Grimm."

They shared glances. Silences charged with meaning. Ozpin didn't even flinch, his expression didn't change at all. As for the girls... for her, their faces may as well have been mortuary masks. She had never been good at interpreting expressions, any kind of non-verbal communication, and all the more so now.

"That doesn't mean he's not a threat."

"They... were bullying me, okay? He loved me... he loves me, and he lost control. I'm not saying he's a saint or a hermit, he has done wrong like everybody else. And he will continue to do so. Let him pay for his crimes with a prison sentence, not with the guillotine or any other type of speedy execution, perhaps carried out by your own hands. That's all I'm saying."

"Unfortunately, Jaune's fate is not in my hands alone. Despite your anger, you should understand that."

"With all due respect, headmaster, don't give me that shit. This is a issue I hold too close to my heart to stand that. You are not on the council, but I have no doubt that you possess enough power and influence to close your mouth and silence the voices of the students, to turn the especially inconvenient details into a kind of collective hallucination. The idea of a humanoid Grimm is not something that anyone wants to accept, the public would settle for any alternative, however implausible."

Ozpin looked at her for a long time.

"Silver eyes... Yes, you remind me of your mother in more ways than one. How easily you have become her ghost. It's like I'm hearing her through your mouth.

"Don't try to change the subject."

"I am not trying to do so. Not now, not later. It's an unavoidable conversation, which is unfortunate for both of us. -He leaned forward. Did he reveal to you what he was? Did he explain the when and why?"

"My mother died protecting his family, and in the end she was only able to save Jaune. He promised to protect me in her place. And that's all I know about his past. Considering the circumstances, the truth is that it could even be his semblance, why not? I don't know and I don't care.

"What about Summer's ghost? The real one."

"That's another question I don't have an answer for."

Ruby gritted her teeth, turned her head and looked out the window. With each second she was getting more angry. She felt like she was about to explode. She wouldn't know until it happened if it would be in the form of screams or tears, or maybe both.

"I'm not your enemy," Ozpin repeated.

"You're wrong. I am Jaune's sole ally, so everyone is my enemy."

Ruby closed the door behind her. She was surrounded by Blake and Pyrrha, and her sister had stayed instead of returning to her team. It didn't surprise her. After all, they hadn't had a chance to talk on the airship. She would have many questions and as many demands.

She could imagine the course of events. Hard words, incisive, of doubtful necessity. There was no way for such a conversation to end well. But it would take place.

"Fuck, I can't believe it." Those words were the first to come out of Yang's lips. For some reason it didn't surprise her either. "You became a completely different person. I hardly recognized you. Ozpin was right. You looked a lot like her. At least when she got angry."

"What's so strange about that? After all, I've always been a clumsy work in progress. I've been taking things from my mother for years. Her cape, her scythe. Her mission. Lately I've even been chasing after the blonde guy in my team. All that's left is for Jaune to have a brief and tumultuous relationship with Blake, as well as a child, that ends with her running away, giving me the opportunity to get him, to complete the circle."

She spoke so quickly that she ran out of breath, and soon squandered the little she had gathered after being quiet by laughing. In fact, she laughed so loudly, so uncontrollably, that not only did her whole body shake, but she also fell head first on the bed. And yet she did not stop laughing.

"How can you joke about this?"

That, however, did the trick. Cut her hysteria.

"I don't know." She got up leaning on her hands, looked at her sister with the bangs covering her eyes. "I don't know, tell me why!"

"Ruby, calm down, okay?"

"No, no. You calm down." She slithered to the edge of the bed. "Because I'm already very calm."

"You both have to calm down," said Pyrrha. "You won't get anything out of fighting among yourselves. Least of all at a time like this."

"I'm not one to give up," Ruby slowly said.

"You're as stubborn as your mother, our father, and I," Yang said. "And there's nothing wrong with that. I admire your willpower. But now you have to stop fighting, little sister. Even if it costs you, even if it kills you to make that decision, you have to give up on Jaune. It's what's best for you. If he is the person you say he is, he would want the same thing."

Ruby grimaced.

"Yes, that's what he told me. But don't make that face, just because you're both correct doesn't mean that's the right thing to do. And I'm surprised and hurt that you keep insisting on that in spite of everything you know. Mom died for him. Jaune is the life she paid for with her sacrifice. Do you really think I can look the other way? If I do, then why did we suffer? You are right, I have no choice. Helping Jaune is not a decision. It's a matter of destiny."

"Fate," Yang muttered. "What a strange idea, Rubes. Is it yours or Jaune's?"

"I'm not sure, dear sister," she replied with a crooked, ugly, sharp smile. "Lately we have united in more ways than one."

Yang backed away as if she had punched her with the same strength as one of her own would have.

"You did it with him. And you both knew that?"

"She spends most nights with Jaune," Blake said, "so I became suspicious. But I never thought she'd go so far, so fast."

"That makes two of us." Yang sighed deeply. "All right, Ruby. You win."

Ruby looked away so that she wouldn't notice the gleam of tears in her eyes. She felt very tired, hurt, and the fight with her sister was not helping. She tried to pretend that it wasn't Yang she was facing, but she wasn't that good at deceiving herself. And pain and an unwarranted sense of guilt devoured her on the inside like worms.

Mom, she thought, give me strength.

"Do you expect me to believe that you are going to surrender so easily?"

"You say Jaune loves you? Well, my love does not fall short. You are the person I care most about in this world. I would do anything for you. If I can't get you to change your mind, my only option is to protect you from your own mistake. You know, that's what being the big sister is all about." She opened the door. The light of the corridor extended her shadow across the floor. "Sweet dreams, Ruby."

She kept silent. Yang closed the door slightly, without making much noise, even though his hands shook. Pyrrha looked at her with an indescribable expression. Again, she dropped onto the bed and turned around, placing her arms under her head like an improvised pillow.

"Ruby... Are you all right?"

Ruby closed her eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks, hot as the steel of a forge.

"Do you think this is a good idea?"

"Dove, don't you think it's a little late to complain, to have doubts? If you don't like it, get out of here, run back to Beacon. But don't waste my time."

"I don't have any other ideas. It's just that suddenly I'm not sure if this is really a better alternative than not doing anything."

"Please. That monster is still out there, wandering the alleys of Vale, probably hiding in the sewers at night like a rat. You know that. Don't kid yourself. You know he'd never go far from Ruby, seeing him once is all anyone needs to know that he's really obsessed with her. That she is his reason to live... and his reason to kill. With this I'm throwing years of effort out the window. But at least I will be able to feel the warmth of the sun on my face when the next morning comes, which is more that enough for me."

"Yes, yes. You're right. I'm sorry, okay? I'm just scared."

Dove suddenly flew towards the road. Surprise blossomed on his face, but he probably didn't really realize what had just happened, not even when the wheels of a car that was passing by crushed his head like a ripe melon.

Sky turned around, in the same movement he took out his halberd. He only saw the crowd around him. No one was paying attention to him, everyone was staring with horror at the scene of the accident. They screamed, they cried. He heard what must have been the ringtone of a scroll. The ambulance and, perhaps, the police would soon be here, but that would not save him. He had already arrived. He was here to finish the job.

Jaune no longer looked and looked like a monster. He would have stood out too much. He tried to remember his face, but the only images that came to his head were Cardin being pierced by the legs of that monstrous spider and Russell when he was thrown aside like a sack of garbage.

He took a few steps back, waving the tip of the halberd in the air. Suddenly he changed direction, threw himself to one side, made a complete turn.

Nothing. Nothing.

Only the smell of blood and guts, the thunderous noise of the horns mixed with screams that didn't seem human to his ears. Chaos. A tide. He lacked air, his vision was clouding.

I am so scared.

He squeezed the weapon harder, for fear that it would slip through his sweaty fingers. For it to disappear into the crowd, which was swelling rapidly, leaving him truly helpless. Like a child.

He did not drop his weapon, but it would have made no difference.

A hand grabbed him by the neck, lifted him effortlessly and in the same way threw him towards the road.

Sky tried to get up, fell again when his knees failed him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jaune approaching him calmly, with no hurry. He wore his combat uniform without armor. The shirt was torn to shreds, stained with his own blood... and the blood of Cardin and Russell, no doubt. He had counted on him not daring to attack in broad daylight. He had clearly made a grave mistake. After all, Jaune was completely insane. What sense was there in making plans assuming he was going to make the logical decision?

"Leave me alone," Sky begged. "I'm going to leave Beacon. I can't hurt Ruby even if I wanted to. And I don't want to, I've never wanted to. But Cardin... I had to obey orders, do you understand? It's not my fault! It's all yours. Do you really think that publicly humiliating the school bully would not lead to retaliation?"

"I don't care where you want to go, or what you felt deep down. What counts is what you did. And you'll pay for it. You're the last one left."

A chill ran down his back. He looked human, but his voice was not. So cold. So empty. It could tear him to shreds with its own hands and feel nothing. In its eyes, he wasn't even a human being. Is that how Cardin's victims had felt? No... Their victims?

Calm down. He's not even armed. You can do this. If you don't give him time to transform...

Sky jumped at him. Jaune dodged the first blow, passed under his second and kicked him in the chest, since he wasn't quick enough to block. He flew and landed on top of a car. The windows exploded, the alarm activated.

Some people ran, others froze in place, looking at everything in a distant way, like through a television screen, although this was a matter of life or death. Did they even understand what they were seeing, what they were going to allow to happen?

Sky jumped down. Its previous courage, weak and illusory, had easily evaporated. The best thing was to flee. Run until he couldn't take it anymore.

And that's what he did. He fled from death, but did not turn his back to it. He had not lost his mind.

Jaune landed in front of him with enough force to crack the road. So close, he saw that his pupils were white as milk. His back was swelling, moving in an unnatural way. And in the end it exploded, giving birth to a pair of bat wings, long as telephone poles, thick as the edge of his halberd.

Sky laughed hysterically. He couldn't defeat that monster and he couldn't run away from it. Why? Were his sins really so deep that he deserved an end like this?

He brandished the halberd. Jaune did not turn away, he allowed it to pierce his chest from side to side.

That monster's blood was as red as his.

He tugged to pull the weapon from the wound. That's where it stayed.

Jaune extended his arms, which suddenly ended in claws and not hands, toward his face. Blood slipped between his fingers, dripping on the edge of the halberd. Another effort, greater and with an identical result.

But the sharp claws did not touch his skin.

He felt the heat of the flames, then felt nothing. His thoughts dissolved like a sand castle on the shore. The sound of screams made the morning air tremble.

Jaune stared at his hands as that boy, whose name he had completely forgotten, burned like a pig. Had he done that? And if so, how long had he had that ability?

It made no sense. He knew very well what his semblance was, and that was not it. Besides, no known Grimm manipulated the elements. Neither fire or air. None of them.

A woman stepped out of the crowd, approaching to help that boy, presumably. She thought twice about it when he looked at her. He wanted to tell her: don't worry, I won't hurt you. But she wouldn't believe him, of course. No one would. Not after what he had just done. Not with his hands dripping with blood, though it was his own.

Jaune ran away without looking back.

There was no hope for the one who had come to kill.

He stopped running. He couldn't take it anymore. His legs burned, every breath he took was a small torture. But not because he was hurt or because running several kilometers without stopping or slowing down was a great effort. It was the result of the struggle against himself, a struggle to prevent his body from disintegrating again, to continue the process of transformation.

Each time he transformed, it was more difficult for him to return to normality. But he had done it many times and today he would do it again. This wouldn't be the end of his human half. Not because of bat wings and some claws.

He collapsed against a wall. He wriggled like a worm on a stick and clawed his arms as if he wanted to punish himself.

He held back a scream. He had taken refuge in an abandoned warehouse, and few people passed through the area when anyone did, so he was relatively safe. But it was better not to risk it.

"You made a mistake," a woman's voice came from everywhere.

"Summer? Where are you? Get out, I beg you. I don't want to be alone."

The shadows danced around him, shook, ballooned like a heart. And out of that darkness came a woman wrapped in a cape as white as the snow upon which she had exhaled her last breath. Tufts of hair were sticking out of the hood, her face was bathed in darkness.

"You made a mistake," she repeated. "You mistook the sky for the stars reflected at night on the surface of a pond."

"I don't know what you mean. Please explain it."

"You're a vulgar animal," she said lightly, as if she was pronouncing very different words. "If you had been able to control yourself, you would still be by my daughter's side. You could still protect her. But there's no turning back, and no possibility of fixing it. You made a mess. A decade of effort and sacrifice thrown away in a matter of seconds."

"I know, but I'm too weak. I'm ashamed but I am, and nobody can change that. Its influence grows stronger with each moment. Soon I will lose the battle."

"Soon," Summer repeated, and disappeared like the morning mist. Seconds later he felt hands on his shoulders, arms around his waist. "Don't turn around."

Jaune heeded the voice of reason. Something had changed. He could sense it.

"You made a mistake. But you can still redeem yourself. "

"How?"

Summer caressed his cheek affectionately, traced his right cheekbone with two fingers.

"Kill them all," she whispered near his ear, making his skin bristle with her warm breath. "This city is rotten inside, and above all that rottenness there is a face, a name. You've seen it on television screens, on the wanted posters hanging in every alley. Tell me his name."

"Roman. Roman Torchwick."

"Go, my knight," she said, licked his cheek and right eye, "cut off the head of the snake and bring it to me. Only then I will forgive you."

Author's Note

I couldn't resist making that reference. Sorry.