Beta: ShadowMeister234

An: I apologize that this chapter took so long but both ShadowMeister234 and I were caught in our colleges' finals week so things were delayed, but on top of that, I've also been working on a little side project, so stay tuned till the end of the chapter for a surprise.

When the gondola finally pulled next to the cathedral, it was no longer the beauty that Jaune was fixated on. It was the number of steps he was going to have to climb to make it to the front door. By his quick count, there were probably a hundred. He looked towards his guide with a despairing look, but of course, he didn't receive any sympathy from the empty cloak.

He turned back to face the stairs as his battered body whined at the thought, but this place could allegedly cure Emerald's and Yang's illness so whether it be a hundred steps or a thousand he had to make the climb.

He stepped off the boat and was immediately hit with a sense of vertigo that almost sent him tumbling back into the gondola, or worse, into the water. He just barely managed to stabilize himself and avoid ending his journey right then in there. It didn't stop his legs from wobbling like jello though, and he didn't think he had ever wanted to just lay down so badly in his entire life. Still, he took that first step onto the stone stairway and then another and then another.

It was painfully slow going in more ways than one, and twice Jaune thought he might pass out. But by some miracle, his feet carried him to the top. The doors in front of him rose to twice his height and seemed to glitter a bluish-white. There were no handles or knobs to grasp onto so Jaune's only option was to push which he did more by leaning on the door than by using his arm strength.

Thankfully, it didn't matter. The door swung open easily, happy to let him in. A gust of freezing wind slapped him in the face as he entered, but once he was fully inside, the door swinging shut behind him, he saw something he never thought he'd see in this city.

Carpet, real soft, fuzzy carpet. It was blue in color with gold interlocking circles acting as its pattern. He bent down to touch it just to make sure it was real and wasn't disappointed when his fingers caught some woolen fibers. It wasn't just the flooring either. The walls had trimming and a chandelier hung from the ceiling that could have been modern if it wasn't using cavern light crystal in replacement of bulbs.

It was nothing like anything else he had seen in Cryphilictal. This place felt vivid and lived in. There was even a table, an actual table that wasn't something just growing out of the wall or floor, off to his left, and it had a pad of paper and an ink quill on it. When he walked up to it he saw the paper was segmented with lines remanding Jaune heavily of a check-in sheet.

That was probably exactly what it was and it only reinforced his idea that this room was a front lobby. There were no names on the paper and Jaune might have been tempted to add his own but didn't have the option because despite there being an ink quill, there was no ink in sight.

Taking a step back, Jaune regarded the lobby in its entirety. It was much wider than it was long and besides the table, there wasn't any other furniture. There were three doors on the wall opposite the entrance all spaced pretty far apart from each other. They weren't made from stone, like the entrance door or every other door in Cryphilictal, but were made from the same light-colored wood that the gondola seemed to be made from. They also each had a handle that definitely looked like brass.

This room really could have fit in at any slightly antique building in Vale. The familiarly was a pleasant change from the stone world outside, but it also brought its own set of worries because this room wasn't in Vale. It was in an ancient city that was who knew how many centuries old. This design was far too current for something that should have been built so long ago. He couldn't even pin this update on the moving stones because this place had a lot more than just stones, carpet for one. It was something to keep an eye on, but out of all the things this city could do, a slightly modern aesthetic wasn't at the top of the list.

What was currently topping the list of priorities was deciding which one of the doors he should go through. A wrong choice could easily mean his death, but it wasn't like there were any distinguishing features to help aid in his decision. The doors were identical in every way besides there position. Thinking too hard about it wouldn't get him anywhere and waste time he didn't have, so he just went through the door closest to him.

The middle door swung open without a sound and Jaune felt pretty stupid when he immediately realized that all the doors open into the same place just at different ends. He stood in a sanctuary which wasn't surprising considering he had designated the building as a cathedral from its outward appearance.

What was surprising was just how massive the room was. This one-room must have taken up the majority of the building and looked big enough to fit Whitley's penthouse ten times over. The entire population of one of Vale's districts could probably fit in the twelve columns of wooden pews that each consisted of who knew how many rows. The side and back walls were filled with massive stained glass windows that couldn't have actually open up to the outside or Jaune would have seen them.

At the far end from him, there was a circular rise and on top of it, where an alter would have been in any other place of worship, was a statue not made from stone but from ice. It was hard to make out exactly what it was from the very back, but as Jaune moved closer, into the actual area of congregation, it became almost unnaturally clear.

The ice sculptor was of a man, a very old man with a beard that touched the floor, wearing a cloak that was very similar to what the ferryman wore, or more accurately, what the ferryman was. The ice-man had both arms stretched upwards and outwards like he was praising the heavens, and in each hand, he held something. In his left, was what kind of looked like a lamp with a handle on top, but Jaune wouldn't have placed in bets on that. The item in the sculptor's right hand was a lot easier to place. It was a flame, and even though it was made from ice it still looked vibrant and hot.

At the base of the sculpture was a plaque, but just like everything else in this city, it was written in a language Jaune didn't understand. Unfortunate because if there was one thing Jaune felt he really needed to understand it was that plaque. His guide had promised him a place where he could cure his friends, but he didn't see anything here. There weren't any more doors to try and it wasn't like there were a couple of syringes laying around with a "Cure-All" label.

Was he supposed to pray for their health and safety?
It wasn't an awful idea considering where he was, but he wasn't ready to prostrate in front of that sculpture until he didn't have any other option left. Plus, with the way his body was aching, if he got down onto his knees, he might not be able to get back up.

Maybe the ferryman could translate that plaque for him? Jaune cringed at the thought of going all the way back down those stairs, but if he found out what this said, it would be a start. Assuming his guide would be willing to translate.

He stepped up onto the circular platform in front of the sculpture. If he was going to have the ferryman translate for him then he would obviously need to show him the plaque. Not the actual plaque no, no, no, even he could feel that trying to cut the plaque free would be a death sentence, but a sketch of the plaque.

Jaune pulled out his journal and turned to an empty page. He was going to get a second one soon, or maybe just a notepad, since this one was almost completed filled. He bent down to make sure he was going to be drawing every symbol correctly; then, something cold gripped his shoulder. Needless to say, it startled him and he fell forward kneeling before the statue after all.

He already had a sinking suspension as to what had grabbed him, but he looked up anyways. Sure enough, the ice statue had changed positions. Now the old man was leaned forward. In his left hand, he still held the lamp, but the flame that should have been held in right was completely missing. Instead, it was grasping the air in front of him where Jaune's shoulder had just been.

"Guess your shy," Jaune nervously joked as he worked his way back to his feet which was much more of an ordeal than it should have been. He kept his eyes in the sculptor while his legs and knees creaked upward and noticed that the sculptor wasn't entirely made of ice. In replacement of the old man's eyes, there were two milky white gems, and even though there were no pupils it still felt like they were staring right at him.

Once Jaune's legs completed their task, he backed away from the sculptor's potential strike range. "I was told that I could find a cure for my friends in this place," Jaune spoke. "Can you help them?"

Once again, the statue's eyes did not have pupils but it sure seemed that he did a bit more than just imagine them rolling.

"Please, I don't think they'll last much longer and I don't know what to do."

The sculptor remained expressionless.
"Is there something you need from me? I'll do…" Jaune choked on his words knowing what they might actually mean in a place like this, but he said them anyway. "I'll do anything."

Nothing.

Jaune clasped his hands, bowed his and closed his eyes. "I'm begging you. I need to save them: Emerald, Yang, and Ruby too."

Still nothing.

Jaune sighed. Maybe he was just making a fool of himself. Just because the sculptor moved didn't mean it would or even could listen to him. He would probably have better luck going back to the ferryman and praying to him for answers.

Yet, when Jaune lowered his hands and opened his eyes, it turned out something had happened. The sculptor was back in its original position, but now there was a staircase in front of it leading down. It was hard to tell if the staircase had just appeared there or if the sculptor had moved back to reveal it.

Jaune supposed it didn't matter. The important thing was he had a path forward and he couldn't risk it closing by hesitating. He swiftly descended the stairs without looking back, and it was because of that he never noticed the figure watching him from one of the back pews.

It was maze down here. Doors identical to the ones upstairs lined every wall. Jaune tried to open one but for the first time since entering this city, it didn't budge. He got the same results when he tried a second one.

He didn't try to force his way through. If there was anything in those rooms that he needed then he had a feeling they would have been open. But, which door did he need and how would he know when he found it?

They were signs sketched into the wall, assumedly giving directions, but the symbols were still things Jaune couldn't read, so he was left to pick and choose his path at random. He probably should have notated his path in the same way he had when following the street signs, but his hand itched from the burns, his dislocated pinky throbbed, and honestly, he just couldn't be bothered.

He had been wandering around down here long enough that he knew he must have gone beyond the island's perimeter and was somewhere under the lake. If he took the time to mark down every twist and turn he would be here forever.

As hallways bled into one another and Jaune was beginning to that he was just a hamster on a wheel, he found himself in a corridor with no door on either side. There was just one double door at the end. It wasn't like the other doors. It appeared to be made out of the same metal that made up the street signs above. When he walked up to touch it, he found it surprisingly warm.

This was the door he needed. If it wouldn't open on its own then this was the one he'd force his way through. No need though because just as he believed it, the door he needed opened without a hitch.

Entering the room, he realized that he had jumped aesthetics again. Gone was the wood and stone. Instead metal took the place of every material in this space from the floor to the ceiling. Bronze colored pipes sprouted from the walls zigzagged along at forty-five-degree angles before retracting into some other portion of the wall or floor. The rumbling of what sounded like a fan reverberated around the whole room and a hiss of steam shot off from somewhere in the back.

Jaune thought this might be what the boiler room of a large airship, or just regular ship, might look like. It was certainly hot enough for it. He was already sweating as he stood on a metal mesh balcony above it all. It wasn't a large balcony and it had stairs leading down to ground level, but there was a console with dials, knobs, and levers up there with him.

He inspected it for about a second before concluding that he didn't have any hope of figuring out what it did. Messing around with it also seemed like a terrible idea. Jaune left it alone and headed down into the bowels.

He really didn't know what to think of this room. It was a lot more mechanical and a lot less magical than he had been expecting. It felt more like a room you only went into when there was maintenance to be done. Hardly a place to find a cure for Emerald and Yang. He didn't really know what he should be looking for.

That's why he was so surprised when he found it so easily and obviously.

It wasn't quite in the center of the room, but it was close enough to signify its significance. He hadn't noticed it before because of the wall of pipes between it and the balcony, but if he went back now he was sure he could spot it.

It was a grey dome just a bit taller than him but wider than a bullhead. It was perforated with holes about the size of his fist all around. There was some kind of light or spark within each of the holes that caused the dome to glow a bit, but it was the things coming out of the dome that drew his attention. Emerging from four of the holes were arrows of light. Two were pointing out from the top so close together that they were nearly touching. Those glowed a pale red. A third also pointed outwards from the top but in a different direction to the other two. That one was a sickly yellow. The last one was a calm blue and was nearly parallel to the floor since it was pointed directly at Jaune.

It made him a bit uncomfortable so he stepped to the side only for the arrow to follow him. The hole it was emerging from changed to accommodate its movements, and Jaune supposed it was actually a different arrow that had been turned on while the other had been turned off, but it had happened so fast that it may have well been seamlessly. Like a pixel on your scroll having to change its color whenever you scrolled up or down.

Jaune actually thought he knew what this thing was, but just to make sure, he walked around the dome completely and the arrow followed him every step of the way. He manifested his journal while he did and flipped through it. He found the page he wanted and read it over.

He was almost positive this was a binder compass. Basically, a tool to track people, animals, or other things. Apparently, if you set it right you could use it to find your allies no matter where they were, or if you really knew what you were doing, your enemies. But, while the description he had written in his journal was similar to the object in front of him, there were some key differences, the size for one.

From what he had written, binder compasses were supposed to be things that you could wear on your wrist. Obviously, the one in front of him was a fair bit bigger. The fact the arrows could be different colors also wasn't mentioned, but Jaune could guess what they meant.

The two red arrows that were close to each other were almost certainly pointing to Emerald and Yang. The red color either just indicating their current condition, or and Jaune thought this much more likely, a signal to cause their current condition. Maybe that's what all the pipes in this room were for. They might be carrying spells into some sort of canon that was constantly firing with the binder compass acting as its targeting computer. Hell, maybe the compass was both the tracker and the delivery method. Jaune could easily imagine an invisible line connecting the girls to this thing and making them sick because of it.

What determined that Emerald's and Yang's arrows should be red while his was blue, he didn't know. Then there was that yellow arrow to consider. If all the other arrows were reserved for him and his friend, then it was a safe guess that the fourth arrow was tracking something similar to them. Another person, an outsider, or more specifically, an intruder. Could it be the person whose campsite they had stumbled upon on the way here?

The yellow arrow had moved a bit since Jaune had first seen it, so whoever it was they were still somewhat on the move. Did they have an illness that was milder than the one the girls were given, or did the yellow mean a different ailment altogether?

That question and many others didn't have an answer he could find here, and really the what and the why of this process weren't that important. It was the how, and the how was sitting right in front of him. Whether the binder compass was the cause or just the tracking device destroying it should end the disease that was ravaging Emerald and Yang, if not immediately then at least over time.

The ferryman had promised a cure and this was how Jaune was going to administer it.

He took a few steps back from the binder compass. The console back on the balcony probably controlled it, but Jaune didn't dare touch it for fear of making things worse. Better to destroy it completely. It definitely wasn't something he could beat down with his sword, but it wasn't like it was a fortress. A big enough etch would be enough to tear it apart.

He pulled out a red piece of chalk, cringing at seeing his bent pinky, and squatted down. Luckily, he had plenty of room to work with since all the pipes veered away from the binder compass-like they were afraid of it. It was possible, and maybe even probable, that they connected to the compass somewhere under the floor, but didn't matter to Jaune. The only thing he was focused on was how much floor space he had and how easily the chalk glided across it.

Jaune didn't do too many of these large-scale etches, mostly since they were impractical, so it took him a while to get the outline to form a seamless circle, but once that was done, it went a lot smoother.

However, a nagging discomfort began to grow as he worked, and the culprit was the blue arrow that measured his every step. It was silent as it followed him, but turning his back to it didn't help relieve the stress. If anything, not being able to see it only made it worse. He slipped in a few spots he really shouldn't have and had to waste precious time and energy wiping the mistake away with the remaining sleeve of his shirt.

It wasn't until he only had about a fourth left to go did he noticed the change. His arrow was growing darker. He had been questioning it for a while, but every time he just dismissed it as his worry making him see things. Now, it was undeniable. What had once been the color of a bright sky blue was now closer in shade to his eyes and it was only getting darker.

Jaune picked up the pace. Somehow the compass knew, or suspected, what he was doing, and it wasn't happy about it. He still felt fine, but who knew how much longer that would last. His hand moved as fast as he would let the as he kept taking glances at the arrow. He wished he hadn't made the etch so big. He knew he probably could have gotten away with a much smaller one, but he had wanted to play it safe. Now he was cursing himself for it.

The arrow was getting darker quicker now. The compass was growing more confident in what it believed Jaune was doing.

He was close to being finished just a few more arcs and symbols. He was hardly even looking at the etch anymore, trusting his hand to do the work as his eyes focused on the arrow that could only barely be called blue.

His arm itched, his hand ached and sweat ran down his forehead. There was just a little bit left.

The arrow was almost completely black and it was starting to pulsate. Jaune was adding the final line. If he had made one mistake or one unluckily drop of sweat had softened a chalk line then it was over.

He could hear his heart through his ear as he made the final stroke.

The black arrow also gave one final beat, and it was at that moment that Jaune realized they weren't really arrows at all. They were spears.

The pitch-black spear shot out faster than even a veteran huntsman could hope to dodge. It carved through his recovering aura like it was nothing, and pierced his left side. Blood and flesh sprayed everywhere as quite a bit of Jaune's abdomen was blown apart. Behind him, the floor shattered as the spear impacted it.

The pain was immeasurable and Jaune collapsed to the floor, but as he was falling an explosion gripped the top of the binder compass.

Just as the spear had torn through him, the etch's magic tore through the compass. Shards of hot metal sprayed all over the room. Some pierced the floor or the surrounding pipes earning a loud pop of gas.

Some may have even struck Jaune himself, but he wouldn't know. The pain had already devolved into numbness across his whole and he understood what that meant if the growing pool of crimson, he could see out of the corner of his eye, wasn't enough of an indication.

This was the end of the line.

Served him right after cheating death back at the tower. No thoughts of unfulfilled promises were going to get him out of this one. He shouldn't have pushed his luck, but if destroying the compass freed Emerald and Yang then he thought it might be alright.

He watched the last pieces of the binder compass burn themselves out. It was little more than a mound of metal now. No glowing spears, no nothing.

Hopefully, this did work, and hopefully Emerald would understand. She'd be pissed, he knew that but…well, he wouldn't be there for her to yell at. Maybe he should have been fighting to get back up—fighting to stay alive, but he felt so tired and his eyelids begged to be lowered.

Just a nap. A little sleep never hurt anybody. All he needed to do was shut his eyes…

…and so, he did.

Just as one pair of eyes closed another pair opened.

Emerald woke without any signs of the illness she had been experiencing not even a second earlier. She felt good, better than good, she felt great. She wasn't even groggy which was nothing short of a miracle since she could very vividly remember the feeling of her head wanting to explode and her intestines about ready to shoot out her stomach.

She took in her surrounds and quickly noticed that she was in a makeshift bed with her arms wrapped around, and her body pressed against, a long-haired blonde. Said blonde looked back at here with the biggest, dumbest grin she had ever seen.

"Why hello there, beautiful," Yang whispered. "I thought passing out and waking up with someone else in your bed was Uncle Qrow's thing; though, can't say I'm complaining. Hope we didn't do anything either one of us might regret."

Emerald did not blush but she did quickly remove her arms from Yang's stomach and scooted back. Yang laughed, "Aww, come on. Girls are allowed touchy-feely. It's only guys that have to worry about 'oh-no people are going to think I'm gay moments,' so come on back to mama Yang. I'll keep you warm."

"If you can joke like that then I assume you're feeling fine too?"

"Who said I was joking?" she winked.

Emerald groaned, pushed off the blankets she was under, and stood up. She kind of regretted that a second later as the cold of the place hit her skin. Yang got to her feet too but kept a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Emerald had to fight back a shiver lest Yang notice and start making jokes again.

Thankfully, she was starting to look a little more serious. "Where are we?" she asked as her eyes wander around the strange stone room.

"I think Jaune brought us here?" Emerald mused. She could remember exploring Cryphilictal and getting into the room with the riddle door and trying to open it, but everything past that was very fuzzy. She was pretty sure they had figured out a way to open it and then went through, but how far they had gone or where they ended up was lost to her.

"Let's look around. Maybe we can find something to help explain things," Yang said.

It took her a total of one step to knock over a water bottle that was sitting next to them. It didn't spill but it did fall on top of a piece of paper with some writing on it. "What do you know, I'm an amazing detective!" she exclaimed although Emerald could still pick out the hints that she was trying to cover her embarrassment.

Yang picked up the paper and Emerald stood close by so she could read it over her shoulder.

I left this note here in case you woke up while I was away. I'm almost positive that whatever is happening to the two of you isn't some ordinary sickness, so I'm going down into Cryphilictal to try and find something to help you. I'm not planning on being gone long but if I don't find anything I'm going to try again and its possible one of you could wake during one of those. I'll leave a mark in the top right-hand corner so you know how many expeditions I've been on. (There weren't any marks in the corner. Not a single one.) I know it's not the best idea to go down there alone, but I don't have many other options. I can't just sit here and watch you fade away. If you're reading this then wait for me to come back, but if I don't come back in more than six hours then something happened to me down there and you two should leave this place.

Yang, I know that will be hard for you since we came all this way to help your sister, but this place is dangerous. I can feel it. Emerald was right, this was a mistake. You might think she's going through unbearable pain right now, but I bet she'll go through worse if she finds out her sister died trying to help her. So, if I don't make it back, get out of here and find some other way to cure your sister.

Jaune

Emerald didn't like this note. She didn't like it at all.

"What do you think he means by going down to Cryphilictal?" Yang asked. "Weren't we already in Cryphilictal?"

"I don't know. Let's just go with your suggestion and look around. Jaune might still be around here." And if he was, she was going to have a few words for him.

He was not. It didn't take long at all for the girls to sweep the house. They found their backpacks piled in front of what they assumed was the front door but basically nothing else. After they removed the makeshift barrier and put on their shoes, they headed out just to see where they were.

It was quite the shock when they left and saw the massive underground cavern and the city it contained. They gazed locked-jawed at the spiraling city taking in all the details that Jaune had witness before them.

"This can't be real." Yang gasped. "I mean someone would have said something. Is this what you and Jaune do? Are there places like this all-over Remnant!"

"I doubt it," Emerald said equally astounded despite having much more experience with the unknown world than Yang did. "This place is special. Most times magic is a subtle thing. Little oddities in everyday life that if you catch on and follow them down then you find the big stuff, but this place is overflowing with magic."

"You can sense magic?"

"No, it's not like that, but you can't tell me you don't feel it."

"I can definitely feel something that I don't like very much. Is that really magic? I thought it would feel more…well magical."

"Sorry to burst your bubble. This isn't a fairy tale. Magic, at least the stuff that comes out on its own and is left to itself, is dangerous and disruptive. If it wasn't, caretakers wouldn't need to exist. Though if it makes you feel better, I haven't experienced anything on this level before either."

"Yeah, this place really does seem like something to avoid. I can see why Jaune told us to leave in his note."

Emerald spun around with eyes redder than any grimm. "We're not leaving!"

Yang took a step back and held up her hands. "Woah, I wasn't saying we should. I don't care what Jaune says, I didn't come all this way for my sister just to quit before I've even tried.

"Good," Emerald huffed. Yang was right, though. This city was very dangerous and Jaune was somewhere inside. Her finger dug into her forearms at the thought.

"We should head back to the building and wait for him to come back," Yang suggested.

Emerald didn't move.

Yang grabbed her shoulder and forced Emerald to face her. "Come on, the fact that we're up and walking right now means he must have done something. He probably walking back right now. Trust me, I want to go down there too. Every second I don't spend looking for a way to help my sister is another second she's in pain, but it's better to wait for him. I'm sure he can give us insight as to what's down there."

If the situation was different and it was Ruby that was down there, Emerald knew that there would be no stopping Yang for heading down immediately, but Emerald begrudgingly agreed to go back. There was no proof that Jaune was in trouble and his note had explained to them this exact scenario. Rushing in would only be dumb and reckless regardless of how she felt, for now, they would just have to wait for his return.

Jaune did not return.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed since the light in a cavern never changed, but by Emerald's estimate, it was approaching three hours. Normally, she was a very patient person, even if Jaune might very much disagree. There were times when she had spent days scooping out the perfect mark back when she needed to do such a thing, but now she was already getting anxious.

Every minute that Jaune didn't walk through that door frustrated her in a way she had never felt before. It didn't help that there was nothing in this house to distract her. She and Yang had a meal when they realized how hungry they were, but after that, Emerald could only sit in this stone chair that was only barely preferable to the ground with Jaune's note in front of her.

She had read it over so many times that she didn't even need the paper anymore. She could recite it all with her mind. She really shouldn't have since all it did was make her mad, but like she said, there wasn't anything else for her to do.

She wasn't angry over his decision. As he said in his letter, it was do nothing or try and do something. If the positions were reversed, she would have done the same. What irritated her was that he also tried to make her decision for her. 'It would be hard for Yang to leave;' what about her!

Did that idiot really think that if something happened to him, she would just walk off without a care in the world? Did he really believe that there was any way that she would be leaving without him? If he did, then the second he walked through that door she was going to kick him in the balls. Maybe that would remind him that the whole reason she came on this stupid journey was to bring sorry ass back home.

The note curled in her hand as her fist clenched around. It was used to it as Emerald had already gone through this a few times before. It was honestly surprising that it hadn't been torn yet.

"You're not looking so hot right now," Yang said entering the room. Actually, that wasn't right. This building didn't have rooms, just an upper and a lower level. Yang had been here the whole time. She had only politely kept her distance. No more it seemed.

"What gave it away?" Emerald asked mostly just so she could say something.

"The wrinkles on your forehead for one, but mainly the way you've challenged the front door to a staring contest that you seem determined to win."

Emerald sighed and attempted to relax. She was surprised by how tense she felt. Had she really been like that for the last three hours?

"Feel better?" Yang asked.

"Do you have something important to tell me or did you just open your mouth for no reason."

"Concern over team wellness is an important enough reason, but I have a feeling you don't care about that right now, so I'll get to the point. I think we need to head down to Cryphilictal."

"You want to go look for him?"

"Him and the cure for my sister, of course. I'm honestly surprised you weren't the one to say it. Why didn't you?"

Because she wanted to believe in him. Admitting that he wasn't coming back was admitting he was in trouble. Trouble that they may already be too late to save him from. Admitting she'd been left behind. "You were the one to suggest we wait. Why the change in heart?"

"I only said that because we shouldn't start off assuming the worst," Yang didn't see Emerald eyes widen and her fingers clenched even tighter, "but it's been too long and Yang Xiao Long wasn't made for sitting around. It might not have been six hours yet, but that's far too much of a leeway. He should have been back by now."

That was all Emerald needed to hear. If even Yang believed that Jaune had been gone too long then Emerald wasn't wasting another second. Truthfully, Yang had basically been right. If she hadn't said something, Emerald wouldn't have lasted another twenty minutes before busting through that door and down into Cryphilictal.

"Then we should go," Emerald said hopping off her chair and checking her weapons.

Yang gave a satisfied smile. "I knew you'd say that, so I already packed." She threw a backpack to Emerald who noticed how light it was. "I'm leaving all the nonessentials here," she explained. "Food, water, and some equipment. From what I saw when looking over our stock it looked like Jaune did the same. Probably thought it was best to travel light and I happen to agree with him."

"You're a lot more dependable than you look," Emerald said as a genuine compliment, but not without the air of a teasing insult.

"Please, Dad and Ruby would have fallen apart if I hadn't been there," Yang paused as she seemed to remissness about something before shaking whatever it was away. "Let's get going."

"Just a moment," Emerald said scribbling a quick message on the back of Jaune's original note just in case he did come back. She placed the note on top of the supplies they were leaving behind where it would be easy for him not find. "I'm ready."

Yang held the door open as the two of them began their own expedition into the city.

Memories of the past, the ice cream girl (part 2 of 2)

Neo's life after her mother's murder was both better and worse. Since their mother was dead, there was no more money coming in so her half-brother had to get a job although it was a job in the loosest sense of the word. He started a gang. Made everyone call him Sir. Neo wasn't sure exactly what they did but it kept him busy, and that meant he wasn't home as much which meant Neo didn't have to endure his beating as often.

What she was subjected too was having to wait on him and his friends when they were over. Mostly that just meant bringing them drinks and cleaning up after them, but she could see the way his friends looked at her. Lust in their eyes and tightness in their pants. They hadn't done anything to her yet, but she knew that Oasis had noticed his friends' desires and she also knew that he was only waiting for one of them to do something worthy of getting her as a reward.

She was desperate to get out, and now that her mom could no longer protect her half-brother going to the authority seem like the optimal solution. The only problem was that she couldn't go through with it. Years of abuse had ingrained in a fear that made going to the police impossible. After all, the law was slow and by the time anything could be done Neo would have already suffered the same fate as her mom.

So, she looked for other ways, but in the end, she didn't have to do any looking at all. It came to her in a plain white envelope. It was dropped their mailbox and was addressed to her which was strange since nothing had ever been sent to her before. Inside the envelope was a single page of paper with what she could only describe as a ritual written on it. It claimed that if she performed it she would certainly escape for her half-brother.

She really should have thrown it away right then and there, but the fact it was addressed to her and the sender somehow knew about her situation intrigued her enough to try. The exact steps she did are lost to her now but she knew that everything she needed had been cheap enough to buy with the little money she did have.

The ritual was done in her room while her half-brother was out. When she completed the ritual, something was summoned. It didn't have a shape or a substance but it certainly had a presence. At first, she thought it might be something that would protect her from her brother.

How stupid she had been.

The something wasted no time attacking although it was really more like a possession. Even to this day, she can still feel it clawing down her throat. First, it took her voice then it took her morals and played with her mind.

She suddenly found herself with these incredibility violent urges. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen, one she could remember being used on her own skin from time to time, and waited.

Oasis and one of his friends came back later that day. The moment his friend stepped through the front door she pounced on him and brought the knife to his stomach again and again and again. She was like a wild animal devouring her meal. Blood flew everywhere and she continued long after her prey was dead, and the worst part was, she enjoyed every second of it.

Once her arms were too sore to even lift the knife, she looked up to her half-brother hoping to see the same fear in dread he had made her experience for so long. Instead, he just stood there smiling, and for the first and only time, the something that possessed her had felt fear.

Oasis didn't say anything as he stepped away from the door and motioned for her to leave. It was an invitation she quickly accepted and she fled into the night.

After that, she had a brief stint as a serial killer known as "The Beast" because of the way she also mutilated her victims' bodies. Then she tried to become a huntress thinking she could use her violent tendencies for some good, but the something that lived inside here wasn't stratified were tearing up simple grimm. Then there was a time when she tried to get a normal job, but that quickly ended when there was a bloody accident with a particularly rude co-worker.

There were many other little segments of her life after that but they were all marked with her being mute, homeless and alone. She hated the something inside her. It never outright controlled her, perhaps it couldn't, but Neo couldn't help but think that just manipulating her feelings and emotions was worse because with that it was still her that was doing all these awful things.

Eventually, she decided it would be best to end it all, and it was right before she was about to go through with it that she met Roman, her savior. He gave her two options. One, kill herself and let that something free to find another child to settle inside, or two, keep living and come work for him. He couldn't get rid of the something inside her, it could never leave her, but he could help her to control it. Make her life her own in a way it had never been before.

Neo accepted his offer and the rest is history. The only loose end was her half-brother. He's still alive somewhere out there and she still hates him for everything he put her through. Realistically, she knows that now she's so much stronger than him that it's absurd. It wouldn't be hard to take her revenge, but every time she thinks about going after him a pit opens in her stomach. A pit filled with so much terror that it hurts. She feels like a little girl again, locked in a tool shed naked and afraid.

No matter how strong she gets, she knows she'll never be able to confront her half-brother because he was a monster. Not an artificial one created from a mistake like she was, but a true monster. A natural monster that had it in his blood since the beginning.

An: When I originally planned this story, I promised myself that I wouldn't take on a separate project, but it's been nearly two years since this story started and a new idea has planted itself inside my head that I can't resist anymore.

So, I'm happy to announce that the next chapter you will be seeing from me will not be for this story but for a brand new RWBY story. I wish I could say that this decision won't affect this story at all, but working on two stories at once obviously means I have to split my time between them. That said, with college out for winter break I expect to have much more time to write so hopefully this story will update sooner than usual and I think having a variety of projects to work on will keep me motivated for when school does come back. I plan to alternate chapters between the stories with the first chapter of the new story nearly done already. Hopefully, all of you will give it a look. After all, it's time the other dork/villain pair got some love.

A Series of (un)fortunate Meetings

Summary: After Beacon falls, Team RWBY is broken and Team RNJR never forms. Alone Ruby sets off into the Sanus frontier to be the hero she always wanted to be, but it's out there where she bumps into the frustrating assassin that messed everything up in the first place—then keeps bumping into him! And (un)fortunately, you can only spend so much time with someone before they grow on you.