When she woke up, she felt a splitting pain in her head. But slowly, she fought through the pain and opened her eyes, finding a white ceiling. She blinked, cringing, then tried to move her arms. They were bound to her bed, her legs as well. She blinked, then she closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, tears forming in her eyes.
'Oh, gods. Please, tell me Adam won. Please, tell me he escaped. Please...'
"... You're awake?" A voice asked, and her eyes opened and widened as they met a crimson ribbon. She was astonished at first, but then she gave a relieved smile.
"Adam... You're alive..." She felt the restraints on her arms and legs be released, and she blinked in surprise as she sat up. It was the middle of the night, and they were in some sort of hospital room. Sam and Dora were sleeping in a corner, and Adam had stood up... From a chair by her bedside. "A-are you okay?"
"What the Hell are you asking me that for?" Adam demanded, placing a hand on the side of her face and sitting down in his chair again. "What were you thinking, taking that dart?" Jenna blinked, then she bowed her head, frowning slightly as she grabbed his wrist and lowered his hand.
"Adam-"
"I mean, if you had completely turned-"
"Adam!" Her eyes narrowed as her grip on his wrist tightened, her hair bristling slightly. "I wasn't going to let you end up like me, damnit! I've learned to cope with losing myself, but if you had gone Feral, I-!" She stopped herself, then looked down, her ears flicking back as her hair calmed. "... I wasn't willing to see what that would do to you."
Adam blinked, then frowned as he pulled his hand away. Jenna closed her eyes, sighing quietly, and he hung his head. They remained in silence for a long moment, then Adam took a deep breath and looked up at her.
"... Thank you."
"It's what partners do." Jenna replied quietly. "They look out for each other." She looked up at him. "... Adam, I'm so sorry. All of this was my fault. I... I should have never sided with-"
"Your father was really messed-up." Adam interrupted her, and she cringed. "But... I think that there's a difference between going crazy out of desperation when you aren't getting any results and being truly evil." Jenna looked up at Adam, surprised, and she saw something in his expression: understanding. "Your father... He was trying to do the right thing in the wrong way. I of all know what that's like." Slowly, Adam reached over and took her hand. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Jenna blinked, and it was then that she remembered a brief moment of consciousness. A long enough moment to where she saw something - an explosion. That could only mean...
"I..." She bowed her head, her eyes tearing up. "I hated him, and I feared him... But at the same time, I love him and I know that I'll never stop missing him. Does that make sense?"
"I think it does." Adam decided, and she looked up at him. "Before he did it... He killed the Grimm and cured the Feral Faunus." At that, Jenna's eyes widened in disbelief. "The Faunus are all in hospitals scattered throughout the Kingdoms, but they all seem to be recovering quickly. It'll be hard, but they will be able to lead normal lives... And nobody really got hurt in the fight at the lab. I mean, Yang got a scratch on her stomach, but she pretty much walked it off... It's over."
"... Ani?" Jenna asked quietly, frowning. Adam blinked, then cringed lightly.
"He's here... And he tried to eat Velvet when she came to visit you." He confessed, and Jenna blinked, her eyes wide. Then, she bowed her head, frowning.
"I guess Dad never did get around to finishing the cure."
"... They're keeping him in the room next door, sedated and restrained. Ozpin's going to want to talk to you, in the morning."
"Alright." Jenna agreed, then she slowly laid down again and turned her back to Adam, her ears flicking back. "Let's get some sleep... I don't want to be sleep-deprived when I say my goodbyes as I'm arrested."
"You're not-"
"Adam, I'm an enemy of the Kingdoms." She closed her eyes, frowning. "I'm probably going to be arrested, and Ani's probably going to a loony bin... It really is over."
"... You're not the only 'enemy of the Kingdoms' here." Adam reminded her quietly. "We'll figure something out. You aren't going anywhere, ever again."
"Sure. Whatever you say."
/\/\/\/\
Morning came slowly. When it did, everyone was cleared out of Jenna's room before anyone could even get so much as a word in, and Professor Ozpin came in and sat down shortly after. Jenna was dressed in the clothes she had been brought from her father's island wearing, as they had been cleaned for her, and she looked up at Ozpin with a frown as she sat on her bed.
"... I'm sorry, sir." She said quietly. "Though I doubt that means much." Ozpin remained silent as he gazed at her. "... My brother?"
"... He is being cared for." Ozpin told her. "But there is only so much we can do. Mr. Wukong seems to be the only one he trusts, and even that only goes so far... What happens to him next depends on you."
"Please, don't stick him in a cage." Jenna pleaded, and Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "He's only like that because of me. This is all my fault, and I... I want him taken care of, if I can even ask that much."
"Fortunately, Miss Merlot - you can." Ozpin gave a small smile, then he held something out - a syringe filled with a blue liquid. "Mr. Taurus was able to retrieve this from the island... A single dose of the cure for the strain of Feral that infects you and your brother."
"... Only one of us can be cured?" Jenna asked softly, her eyes wide as she gazed at the syringe, then she looked up at Ozpin. "It has to go to Ani! I mean, he can't go on like that!"
"Agreed." Ozpin nodded, frowning. "But you see, your brother is quite adamant. He wants you restored to normal."
"Screw what he wants! What he needs is to be cured!"
"... Miss Merlot, may I remind you of the situation?" Ozpin asked, and Jenna blinked. "The permanent Feral serum... It prevents you from fulfilling your duty to this world. As long as it goes unneutralized, you won't be able to access the offensive powers of the Winter Maiden. By refusing the cure, you'll be practically solidifying General Ironwood's belief that you should be killed so that your power may go to one who can use it."
"Sir, I still have access to the defensive power, and... If I die, I die - and I know to send the power to Special Operative Winter Schnee when I do." Jenna looked up at Ozpin, frowning. "But Ani... He's my brother. If this cure can bring him back to me and give him the normal life he deserves... I have to refuse it."
"Miss Merlot-"
"Professor." Jenna's eyes narrowed. "What would you do, in my situation? I can live with my amount of Feral, he can't. And he's family... You have to have understood family once, sir." Ozpin blinked, then slowly frowned and nodded.
"Very well, Miss Merlot... I simply hope that you are prepared to deal with the consequences of your choice."
"I am, sir... And I just want my brother back."
/\
Ozpin, Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Sun, Neptune, and Team A(J)CS stood an watched as Jenna entered her brother's isolated room in the infirmary, frowning as they watched Anino snapping and struggling to lash out at the doctor and nurses. The medical-staff noticed her and looked back, alarmed, but Ozpin gestured for them to step aside. They obeyed, and Anino growled before looking up at the new arrival.
...
When I grow up, I'm gonna be happy and do what I like to do -
Like making noise and making faces and making friends like you...
...
"Hey, Ani." Jenna gave a small smile, and he froze, his eyes widening. She dragged a chair behind her as she walked over at sat down, gazing at her brother forlornly. "... You're a biologist, Ani, and medically trained. You know these people are trying to help you."
"Grr..." Ani growled lowly. "N... Needles." Jenna blinked, surprised. "Won't let... Won't trust..."
"Doctor Pink." Ozpin turned and glared at the doctor. "I gave you specific instructions to keep all sharp objects away from this man, it's traumatic for him." Ozpin looked at Anino, frowning with an expression of sympathy. "My apologies, Mr. Merlot. I did not wish to cause you any stress."
"Yeah, Ani." Sun assured, and Ani's eyes went to him. "We're friends, remember? We're all friends, here." Ani blinked, then he frowned slightly before looking at Jenna again. She grinned, shrugging, and he relaxed a little.
...
And when we grow up, do you think we'll see
That I'm still like you and you're still like me?
...
Jenna went closer to his cot, and she drew something from within her coat. Everyone's bodies tensed up, then they all blinked as she revealed an old book and opened it.
"You remember Mom's old note, don't you?" Jenna asked quietly, and Anino's eyes narrowed. "Don't let a speck get in your eye... There's a new one now, right underneath it. It's from Dad." At that, Anino blinked. "It says... Don't let a fragment get in your heart." The man's eyes widened, and Jenna slowly sat down next to him. "He's right, you know. We can't let that happen... I won't let it happen." Anino didn't react. "Ani, Dad... Dad did some bad things. But he did what he thought was best for us, after Mom died. We can't fault him for that." Anino didn't reply. "I'm... I'm Dad's daughter, Ani. You know it and I know it. And... I'm going to do what's best for us too, especially with this whole cure thing. Okay?" Anino slowly nodded. "I know what you want to be done with it... And I respect your opinion."
"Thank the gods." Dora smiled, crossing her arms. "This whole thing's over." Jenna gazed at her brother for a moment, then she gestured to the book in her hands.
"Now... Before these doctors cure you-" All eyes widened as Jenna smiled softly. "I'm going to read you this story, for old time's sake."
...
I might be pretty, you might grow tall -
But we don't have to change at all.
...
"NAPA!" Anino growled, fighting against his bonds. He was growling and hissing like a rabid animal, but Jenna didn't respond as she opened her book, so he looked over at Ozpin and the doctors. "Don't... Dare..!"
"... You must attend to the commencement of this story, for when we get to the end we shall know more than we do now about a very wicked hobgoblin; he was one of the very worst, for he was a real demon." Jenna read softly, and Anino's attention swiftly snapped to her. "One day, when he was in a merry mood, he made a looking-glass which had the power of making everything good or beautiful that was reflected in it almost shrink to nothing, while everything that was worthless and bad looked increased in size and worse than ever."
"... It's The Snow Queen." Blake noted, and Adam looked at her. "That must be her original copy."
"The most lovely landscapes appeared like boiled spinach, and the people became hideous, and looked as if they stood on their heads and had no bodies. Their countenances were so distorted that no one could recognize them, and even one freckle on the face appeared to spread over the whole of the nose and mouth." Jenna hummed in amusement, and Anino blinked. "The demon said this was very amusing. When a good or pious thought passed through the mind of any one it was misrepresented in the glass; and then how the demon laughed at his cunning invention."
"Isn't a story called The Snow Queen supposed to be about - I don't know - a Snow Queen?" Yang asked, irked. Weiss shushed her, and Yang lightly rolled her eyes. "Of course you want to hear it."
"Quiet, you brute!"
"All who went to the demon's school - for he kept a school - talked everywhere of the wonders they had seen, and declared that people could now, for the first time, see what the world and mankind were really like." Jenna continued, and everyone blinked in surprise. "They carried the glass about everywhere, 'til at last there was not a land nor a people who had not been looked at through this distorted mirror. They wanted even to fly with it up to heaven to see the angels, but the higher they flew the more slippery the glass became, and they could scarcely hold it, 'til at last it slipped from their hands, fell to the earth, and was broken into millions of pieces."
"Thank the gods?" Pyrrha smiled nervously. Jenna simply continued reading.
"But now the looking-glass caused more unhappiness than ever, for some of the fragments were not so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about the world into every kingdom." She read quietly. Anino was starting to calm down, now. "When one of these tiny atoms flew into a person's eye, it stuck there unknown to him, and from that moment he saw everything through a distorted medium, or could see only the worst side of what he looked at, for even the smallest fragment retained the same power which had belonged to the whole mirror. Some few persons even got a fragment of the looking-glass in their hearts, and this was very terrible, for their hearts became cold like a lump of ice."
"That explains what happened to Ice Queen." Yang noted, and Weiss scowled at her. Anino was starting to relax.
"A few of the pieces were so large that they could be used as window-panes - it would have been a sad thing to look at our friends through them. Other pieces were made into spectacles - this was dreadful for those who wore them, for they could see nothing either rightly or justly." Jenna was holding the book with one hand now, her other hand falling to her side. "At all this, the wicked demon laughed 'til his sides shook - it tickled him so to see the mischief he had done." Adam saw a gleam of silver and blinked, surprised. "There were still a number of these little fragments of glass floating about in the air, and now you shall hear-" Before anyone could react, Jenna drew the syringe containing the Feral cure and drove it into Anino's arm, all eyes widening as she pushed the plunger. But Jenna? She was smiling. "What happened with one of them."
The first thing he felt when he opened his eyes wasn't really an emotion. It was more like... Clarity. An unbelievable clarity of the mind and soul. He felt light, like a cloud, and when he opened his eyes, his mind moved faster than it had in six years.
He was sitting upright in a cot in some sort of infirmary, his arms and legs bound. By the marks on his limbs, it was evident that he had struggled. But, to his surprise, he saw that he was completely clean and then he remembered how wildly he had reacted when forced to bathe. They were too afraid to do anything more than comb his hair for fear that the twenty-five year-old would kill himself by accident by making the barber's scissors cut his throat while he thrashed. Gods, that was humiliating...
He suddenly blinked, and his eyes widened in disbelief. He wasn't thinking in the same way as he was before. He sensed no animalistic instincts that he needed to combat or succumb to. He wasn't feeling nearly as angry or scared as he had for so many, many long years. That explained the clarity and the lightness, but what explained it all?
Slowly, he turned his head and saw something silver in his arm. A syringe? He immediately wanted to shy away, then his eyes fell on the hand wrapped around his already bound wrist and the hand that held the syringe. They belonged to the same person, and they were female. His eyes traveled up, and they immediately locked onto a pair of wine-colored ones. He gazed into those eyes for a moment before his vison zoomed-out and found the rest of her.
Long, wild brown hair held in a ponytail. Her freckles hadn't faded even in her adulthood, and she was as tiny as ever. The book on his bedside table, he used to read it to her when she was a child. The Snow Queen, because she was his little Snow Queen...
"Napa?" He asked quietly, staring at her in disbelief. She smiled, her eyes tearing up.
"Hey, Ani." She greeted softly. Anino Merlot didn't look at the doctors as they removed his restraints, he remained perfectly still.
"Did... Did they cure you?" He asked, his eyes widening as he fought more of the haze back. She had to have used some of it on herself, first... His sister didn't respond to him, but the looks of the teens who stood behind her in silence were enough for him to know. "Napa, why-?!"
"Ani." Her eyes narrowed, her ears flicking back. "If you thought I'd take that cure to deal with a few little problems I have with myself and deny my brother a normal life, you're even more of an idiot when it comes to basic human psychology than I remember you being. It always was your worst subject... I would never do that to you, not in a million years."
"... Damn our genetics." Anino spoke quietly, and she blinked, her ears perking up. "You sound just like Mom, whenever she got angry." Her smile slowly returned, then she put the syringe on the table next to the book, stood, and hugged him. Anino blinked, then smiled softly and hugged back. "It's good to see you, Snow Queen."
"Likewise, Nerdy Boy." She whispered, and his eyes teared up as he held her close. Slowly, they began laughing even though they were both crying, and everyone around them slowly began to smile.
...
I don't want to change, see, 'cause I still want to be your friend,
Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever...
...
Well... Yeah.
That seemed like a good way to wrap the whole 'Merlot Arc' of this story up. Doctor Merlot is dead, and Jenna made a choice and cured her brother instead of herself. We also got more of an insight into the special circumstances that have thus-far kept Jenna alive, and how little she cares for them.
I feel like, this time around, I have really managed to develop my OCs - Jenna, Sam, Dora, Ani - in a much stronger and profound way that will probably create a more-lasting impact. The scientist's daughter with a string of terrible secrets/choices and an intense fear of becoming an animal, the young socialite who wants a world of freedom and color, the flirty ex-vigilante with severe ADHD, and the man who became a wolf for the sake of his loved one are far stronger characters than their original selves.
In the original story, if you never read it...
Sam and Dora were barely developed.
Jenna was far more peppy and hyperactive (not to mention angsty, at times) and she was only meant to serve as a romantic foil or conscience for Adam due to her more-innocent and forgiving nature.
Ani was always in his right mind and the poster-boy of a super-cool, badass brother.
Jenna and Ani also weren't the children of Doctor Merlot - they were the children of a Faunus couple who rejected the kingdoms and the White Fang, choosing to live in the woods and eventually coming to physically abuse their children.
The "Feral" concept wasn't a factor at all, and the Winter Maiden factor was huge.
In the original story, when Adam confronted Jenna about her secrets, he learned about the Maiden powers. Here, he is still in the dark. Hell, anyone outside of my original readers was probably in the dark. XD
So... Yeah.
I only own my OCs. Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks! :)