Wraith

Chapter Twelve

Beta: Smithrooks

Ghost of Tomorrow

Vale, many years ago…

Jaune sighed lightly as he sat on the bench waiting for his flight into Beacon. Words just couldn't describe how much he hated flying; the nausea that it gave him was easily the worst thing in the world.

And he disliked how everyone else seemed so impeccably cheerful, despite the fact that practically everyone at the airport was going to board one of those cold steel death traps. Why did Beacon have to be built on a hill surrounded by both a Grimm-infested forest and an equally Grimm-infested lake? Why couldn't there just be a nice, Grimm-free road he could walk? That would really make things nicer. Maybe he would do that one day, build a bridge or something.

But his dreams of the future hardly mattered right now. His flight was still about half an hour away, and he was so bored. He had spent the last two weeks of his holiday as any self-respecting teenager would: ignoring homework - not that he could do much anyway - and drinking himself stupid with his friends.

It had been glorious.

But that time had passed, Beacon was only a day away from starting up again, and he was both excited and rather down about it. Excited, because he could see the rest of his friends again - Pyrrha and Ruby mostly, their teams were mostly friends by extension - and down, because he would probably burn his hands to a crisp again as soon as he started training. He had only recently been able to remove the bandages over his hands with the help of the kind woman that ran the hotel he had been staying at, and he wasn't keen on burning them all over again.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to start seriously training with some of the other types of Dust? For the most part, he had only used fire and had trained very little with lightning, water and gravity Dust. Maybe now would be a good time to start working on air, earth and ice. Perhaps he could even start mixing them to see what results he could get? Combinations like fire and water or lightning and water probably wouldn't work out too well, but all the others were fair game really.

Who knows, maybe he could even ask Weiss about Dust. She was supposed to be the heir of some big international corporation, wasn't she? And she used Dust as a supplement to her fighting style with that rapier, so logically she would know about this kind of thing.

Or maybe he could avoid that particular landmine altogether; the girl seemed to harbour quite the disdain for him ever since he tried his luck flirting with her before initiation. He hadn't made any attempts at flirting with her since then, too busy trying to adapt to his new disability, but her attitude was… frosty, at best. Even after the incident at the docks Weiss had been less than pleased to speak with him, in complete disregard of the fact that he and Pyrrha had just saved Blake. Maybe Weiss just thought he was ugly? Several other people were like that; even Sky and Dove from his own team didn't really bother to hide their opinions on his looks.

But truthfully speaking… Jaune found himself not really caring what people thought of him anymore. In Beacon, other students muttered things about him when they thought he couldn't hear, they pointed and laughed when they thought he couldn't see. But he couldn't really do anything about it, his appearance was rather beyond him at this point - he didn't even know what he looked like anymore. What use was a mirror to a blind man? He knew his scars made him ugly - his team was kind enough to tell him that much - but beyond that… nothing.

It was actually rather sad, already he felt himself forgetting what other people looked like. His team, RWBY, NRVR, Ozpin… all of them were indistinct blurs when he tried to recall what they physically looked like. He could spot their auras a mile away, each so very different from the others in colour and feel.

But now he had more work to do with his vision, and it was all so incredibly exciting that Jaune could hardly contain himself. His 'aura sight' was what he normally used to perceive the world around him and see all the colours, both faded and vibrant. But during the past two-ish weeks, he had been practicing his new 'soul sight' as much as he possibly could. He was still dreadful with it compared to aura sight, but as far as he was aware he was also the only person in the entire world that had ever done it, so some slow progress could be excused.

Soul sight was almost magical in the way it made him see someone. It was like opening a book and seeing what made someone who they were; all their emotions suddenly became impossibly clear, and he got to see what their true soul form was. Granted, he could only 'observe' one person at a time, and when he did it required practically all of his focus to the point that he was literally blind to everything else in the world.

But the results were more than enough, even if he sometimes felt slightly guilty for the things he found out when he used it.

At first he had observed people who still had their aura bound; they were slightly harder to read, but hunters were practically open books. Later he had used it on Cardin, Sky and Dove… the things he knew now…

Cardin's soul was shaped like a majestic bird that soared with pride and power within the large boy. The bird was filled with such confidence, but deeper within the confines of the steely soul was sadness and melancholy. Stories of a father that had never cared, of a mother that loved but was taken away too soon. All deeply personal information, things that Cardin would likely bludgeon Jaune to death for if he found out that he knew.

Cardin was power; his pride gave him strength and his anger gave him the resolve to push through any challenge set before him. That much was clear to Jaune now, the larger boy had his own reasons for everything he did.

Sky and Dove were much the same, though different in their own ways. After seeing Cardin's true form and soul Jaune had been hesitant to use his new ability on anyone else; it was an invasion of privacy after all. But it was almost intoxicating when he saw a person for who they truly were, the insight it gave him was almost staggering - and in a way, it had helped him make his team become closer. It wasn't exactly manipulation, but now he knew how to deal with each of his teammates in such a way that they would each be satisfied and feel comfortable.

It was perhaps on the dubious side of morality, and not something a proper hero would do… but ever since he gained the skill of soul sight, Jaune found himself believing in heroes less and less. In a way he had always known, he had just never really accepted it. Everyone did what they thought was right or necessary, and no villain did something because they were 'evil' - they always did it for a reason.

This revelation came when he saw Cardin's soul, the majestic eagle of pure silver that made up everything Cardin Winchester ever was, is, or will be. Cardin was extremely racist towards faunus - a trait that Jaune would have considered 'evil' or 'wrong' had he been asked about it prior to seeing Cardin's soul. But why was Cardin racist? Because of his mother, or what was done to his mother at any rate. Jaune wasn't clear on the details, but from what he could garner using his soul sight he could tell that she had been killed by a Faunus.

Was it wrong to condemn Cardin, knowing what he now knew? Before, he had been willing to overlook it because of the debt he owed Cardin, but now? Now he understood.

There was no good or evil, only a different point of view.

"Jaune?"

Jaune snapped out of his rather serious thoughts with a start; he had completely zoned out, and had stopped paying attention to his surroundings.

"Jaune? Are you listening?"

Jaune grinned weakly as the subject of his thoughts spoke to him. Good old Cardin… "Sorry Cardin, just thinking about stuff."

"Right, whatever," the larger boy muttered, "our ride to Beacon is here now, so get moving."

Oh joy, he'd have to be trapped on one of these abominable steel machines that were the scourge of his stomach. "Yay…" he muttered.

But obviously Jaune's less than enthused look must have shown on his face. "Look Jaune, if you even think about vomiting on me like you did on Sky the other night, then you are in for a world of hurt in our next training session."

Heh, Sky still hadn't forgiven Jaune for that. But as Jaune continually pointed out, it was Sky's fault. It was that idiot's idea to have a less than sober Jaune ride a round or two on a local merry-go-round - because why the hell not? Let it be known that motion sickness plus beer plus merry-go-round equals only misery and stained clothing.

"Sure Cardin," Jaune grinned, "wouldn't even dream of it."


Lavender Town, present day…

Jaune and Pyrrha hit the hard ground with a harsh thump, the dirt hard and unyielding under the night sky above.

Nihilus stood over them, his unseeing yellow eyes glaring at the two teenagers dumped at his feet. "Stay close, my dear shell," the lord purred darkly towards Jaune and Pyrrha as they staggered to their feet, "we enter the town of forgotten spirits. If you stray too far, then they will consume you."

Jaune spat dirt out of his mouth as he glared at his counterpart. The trip to the desolate area they were in now had not been a pleasant one; Nihilus didn't have the strength to fly anymore, and so he had been forced to make giant leaps that covered a dozen kilometres each jump - all while Jaune was forced to both carry Pyrrha and somehow keep hold of Nihilus without the two of them touching.

Hours had passed with Nihilus seeming not to notice the biting cold as it grew dark, but Jaune and Pyrrha weren't quite so lucky. The warm weather of the late summer that the two young hunters had been used to just as they were starting school was gone, and it was obviously either autumn or winter in this world since everything was covered in a thin layer of ice and snow.

But as usual, Nihilus either didn't care or didn't notice.

"'Town of forgotten spirits'?" Jaune demanded through chattering teeth, "What the hell does that mean? I thought you said we were heading somewhere called Lavender Town!"

"Jaune…" Pyrrha muttered from beside him, her eyes looking over their surroundings vividly. "Look…"

Jaune tore his eyes away from Nihilus for the first time since landing, and finally looked at his surroundings. They stood on the edge of a decimated village, the darkness of night giving off an eerily creepy vibe as both he and Pyrrha peered at the ruined buildings. There was absolutely no life to be seen; all the trees nearby were dead, and even grass didn't grow. All the buildings were hollowed out skeletons, the walls hardly strong enough to hold up the roof. What was once vibrant paint covering houses was now little more than a dead grey that seemed to absorb any light.

It looked like this place had been abandoned for a century at least.

"This is Lavender Town, my dear children," Nihilus purred as he hastily strode into the village proper, his yellow eyes alert. "I made this place, I destroyed this place." A deep, burning rage erupted from the lord as he walked, "After I killed the false king, after I took my righteous justice!" But the anger faded just as quickly as it came, a deep melancholy spearing through his next words. "I took too much, I became too great and she would have hated me for it… they both would have hated me for it… but I can't just let go… I can't…"

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a look, what was Nihilus rambling about now? Who was the 'false king'? And who is 'she'?

"Nihilus," Pyrrha intoned gently, "what are you talking about? You took too much of what?"

They walked deeper into the town, and Jaune couldn't help but feel like a dozen different eyes were watching them. But no matter how much Jaune looked around him, he couldn't see anyone other than Pyrrha and Nihilus. Just what the hell was wrong with this place? It made his skin crawl in ways he could hardly even describe.

"The power is rightfully mine," Nihilus hissed as they entered a bleak circular courtyard, "it belongs to me. I earned it as retribution for what he did, for what they all did!"

"Guys…" Jaune muttered, not really caring much for Nihilus' ramblings, "do you feel like we're being watched?"

Nihilus stopped walking and spun around to face the two young hunters, "Of course we're being watched!" his voice cracked like a whip, utterly stopping Jaune and Pyrrha where they stood. "You must be careful children, they know I am beyond them so they will try to take you instead."

Well that made absolutely no sense at all, but both Pyrrha and Jaune weren't willing to push the matter. If Nihilus said something was dangerous, then they should be extremely careful.

"So what are we doing here if it's so dangerous then?" Jaune demanded, "You said you needed to gather power, you do that by draining aura - but there's nothing here."

Nihilus stepped into the centre of the dead courtyard, his black robes dragging on the ground behind him. "My dear shell," his voice seemed all too loud in the impossibly quiet ruin, "can you not see? This place is full: full of life, full of energy, full of souls."

Jaune stared at his counterpart, blue eyes boring into the pale face of the dark lord. "Right…" he muttered eventually, not really sure what Nihilus meant. The guy was obviously crazy, so why take anything he said seriously?

"Nihilus?" Pyrrha questioned suddenly, her voice breaking the silence. "Would you prefer it if we called you Jaune?"

Jaune almost felt his heart stop as Pyrrha spoke. What was she thinking? That… thing wasn't him! They weren't the same person, despite what that… fragment… had said. Nihilus was cold and dark, a murderer and a villain. They just couldn't be same person. It wasn't possible.

Apparently the Lord of Hunger had similar thoughts.

"No…" he whimpered, his yellow eyes filled with tears. "No… not Jaune, they came and they took him away. Jaune died…" his sadness was so deep that Nihilus seemed to wilt, "Me, Myself and I are what came later. Nothing matters anymore, the world turns and the hollows will never end. All the pain and death, all the struggle, all the suffering… it doesn't matter. Nothing matters."

Pyrrha and Jaune stared at the false lord, green and blue eyes focussed intently on Nihilus as he cried. What did he mean, 'nothing matters'? And what were the 'hollows'? So many questions, so little answers.

"Enough," Nihilus suddenly snapped, his face turning resolute. "We have wasted enough time, I need more power. Do not touch anything, children," a nasty smirk twisted his features, "or you will die."

Nihilus didn't say anything else. For the first time since Jaune had met the insane lord just over a day earlier, the man didn't demand their attention with his mere presence. Instead he almost seemed to fade into the ambient darkness around them, becoming intensely difficult to focus on in the process. Even the stark white of his skin and hair suddenly became difficult to keep sight of; it was almost as if he was a wisp in the utter darkness of the night around them.

"He must be gathering power somehow," Pyrrha guessed from beside Jaune, "We shouldn't interrupt him."

Jaune sighed and slumped to the ground. He was so tired… but he knew he had to stay alert. This place… this Lavender Town, was wrong. It felt like hatred and misery was etched into the stone it was built upon, like this place was cursed and left to rot by something foul in nature.

"What do you suppose happened here?" Jaune eventually questioned when he felt himself falling asleep. He hadn't slept since Nihilus had kidnapped him in Forever Fall, and that was almost two days ago now…

"I don't know," Pyrrha admitted, "but I have heard of Lavender Town before."

Jaune's eyebrows nearly went above his hairline. Pyrrha had heard of this place before? Why didn't she say so earlier? "What?" Jaune practically demanded, "Why didn't you say so before? I've been racking my mind to try and work out how this place was destroyed, because this really doesn't look like the type of thing the Grimm would do."

It was true; this place was obviously not the work of Grimm. Grimm usually leave some pretty obvious signs of their involvement: half-eaten bodies, signs of struggle with the inhabitants… but this place was just dead. Like everything living had just died at the drop of a hat, and then the entire town was condemned to the ravages of time.

Pyrrha sat down next to Jaune, her form shivering slightly in the cold night air. "That's just it though!" she exclaimed, "Lavender Town is one of the most prominent trading towns between Vale and Atlas, right on the northernmost part of Sanus. Even if the town was invaded by Grimm, neither of the two kingdoms would allow their best trade route to fall."

Jaune was silent for a moment, his weary mind tumbling through all the different possible explanations for the decimated ruin that now surrounded them.

"Let's say for a minute that I actually believe that alternate world stuff," Jaune thought aloud, "we already know that this universe is ahead of ours by a few years. So that must mean that whatever happened here hasn't happened yet in our world."

Pyrrha yawned and leaned backwards, the heavy bags under her eyes seeming all the more prominent as she tried to stay awake. "Yes," she agreed quietly, "but this wasn't the work of Grimm, and it wasn't the work of people either."

"I don't know," Jaune admitted as he tried to focus on the stationary form of Nihilus on the other side of the courtyard, "But doesn't it feel strange? Like everything here is dead, but we're being watched at the same time?"

The champion beside him hummed her agreement, "Yes, but I can't shake the feeling that this place is also sad…"

Jaune closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah… like something terrible happened here…" he kept his eyes closed for a few moments more. How easy it would be to just doze off here…

But with what seemed herculean effort, Jaune forced his eyes open.

But he regretted it in an instant.

Nihilus hovered an inch away from Jaune's face, his startling yellow eyes looking deeply into Jaune with an intensity that rattled the younger Arc.

Jaune reared his head backwards jerkily with a small shout of surprise as his counterpart stared at him like he was a small child, "Wha-! Don't do that!" Jaune exclaimed, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

But Nihilus didn't say anything.

"Nihilus?" Pyrrha questioned tiredly from her spot next to Jaune, "What's wrong?"

The false dark lord merely tilted his head to the side, as if he were looking at something strange. "You are tired," he announced finally, an odd nostalgic note to his voice. "When was the last time you slept, children?"

Jaune and Pyrrha were tired, but why did Nihilus suddenly care?

Nihilus cackled softly as he waved his right arm around, a small fire pit appearing before the two young hunters. With a simple click of his emaciated fingers, a warm orange fire sprung to life despite the lack of any fuel source, the flame almost instantly breathing warmth into the chilled teenagers.

"Rest now my dear mortal shell and illusion, I will not fail again."

Jaune's mind told him not to sleep, but he was so tired… could he really trust Nihilus not to kill Pyrrha while he slept?

"Thank you Nihilus…" Pyrrha murmured as she let the call of sloth take her.

Jaune felt his eyelids closing gently… he could trust, just this one time…

And finally, Jaune rested.


Unknown, present day…

Jaune felt himself float through the dream around him in pleasant serenity. He was in a massive grassy field, the gentle rolling hills offset by the vibrant green of the grass and the shine of the sun high above. He didn't know what he was doing, or what was going on, but he felt happy. Like he was just… content with the world around him. Nothing was wrong or out of place, but nothing was so great or amazing that he had to take notice.

But… there was one thing.

One single thing that was out of place.

Just dancing at the edge of his perception, there was… someone. Jaune couldn't quite see who, they kept dancing just out of his sight…

"Hello?" Jaune called out, "Is someone there?"

He didn't see anyone anymore… had they left? That was a shame, it was such a nice day and he would have enjoyed the company…

A gentle giggle broke Jaune from his pleasant thoughts, his mind drifting back to the moment at hand. With a gentle turn of his head, Jaune looked to the source of the quiet feminine giggle; it was a young girl, she looked like she was only about 5 or 6 years old. Her vibrant red hair was tied back loosely, and her deeply violet eyes stared into Jaune's blue eyes with deep affection.

"Hello there," Jaune said serenely, "would you like to join me?"

The girl giggled again as she moved and sat down on the grass in front of Jaune, utterly unconcerned about staining her white dress. "You're dreaming, you know," she said through her gentle laughs.

"Am I?" Jaune wondered, "Maybe you're the one who's dreaming."

The girl smiled, her affectionate violet eyes looking at Jaune with nothing but adoration. "Maybe we both are, but this is a dream that I will never awaken from."

Clarity speared through the dream haze that covered Jaune's mind, sharp awareness over his thoughts that he had never before experienced in a dream. What… what was happening? Suddenly he was acutely aware that he was dreaming, that everything around him was nothing but an illusion. What had caused this sudden change?

"You're beginning to see the dream around you now, aren't you?" The comment from the little girl snapped Jaune back to attention, his blue-eyed gaze locking onto her instantly.

"What…" he breathed, "What did you do?"

The girl tilted her head, her long, vibrant red hair swaying gently in the breeze. "Me?" she asked, "You're the one who is seeing it all now."

She was right… where before, there had been nothing but an ocean of deep green grass in every direction, now Jaune saw it. Blood. So much blood everywhere… staining the grass, seeping into his clothes, covering the girl…

"Who are you?" Jaune asked, knowing that any attempt to remove the red liquid was futile at this point. "Where are we?"

The girl smiled warmly at Jaune; her exquisite violet eyes looked sad however, like she was trying to mask what she was feeling. "Whenever I had a nightmare, you used to read me stories… you'd say that it was my dream, that I controlled it." The unnamed girl rose to her feet, and suddenly her white dress vanished and was replaced by a thick purple coat and mittens. "Let me show you the dream… the place you dream of…"

The girl extended her hand, and Jaune felt the overwhelming urge to take it. To follow this child to wherever she wanted to take him.

But the instant Jaune closed his hand around the gloved fingers of the little girl, the world around them changed. Gone were the bloodstained fields of grass, the coppery scent and the red covering the green.

Jaune held the girl's small hand as they stood in the middle of a snow-buried city. To their right, a bridge ran over an icy-looking stream. Waves of drifting snowflakes fell gently, and the little girl held Jaune's hand tighter…

On their side of the bridge, kneeling in the middle of the street, was a man; his sobs of utter despair rang out loudly as he clutched something to his chest tightly. Behind the man stood six people, all wearing identical-looking black armour from head to toe; armour that Jaune recognized as being identical to the armour the huntress wore back in Dorme before Nihilus killed her.

The crying man was kneeling over a body as he clutched something to his chest; his sobs of sadness were almost smothering as he wailed out his sorrow. The body was… Pyrrha? No… she looked older. The Pyrrha look-alike wore a thick winter coat that was stained a deep crimson from an obvious bullet hole over her heart. Her emerald-green eyes stared lifelessly into the glassy sky above, her blood seeping into the snow.

"What is this?" Jaune asked softly as he watched it all, his hand still gently holding the little girl's.

"This is my past, and what could be your future," the girl said as she dragged Jaune forwards, her gloved hand tightly clutching his.

Jaune allowed the girl to drag him closer to the scene; the six armoured beings were speaking, but Jaune couldn't make out what they were saying - all the words were muffled and indistinct, but they were obviously arguing over something judging from their body language.

Closer and closer, the little girl dragged Jaune to the crying man and the body of the Pyrrha look-alike; the sobbing was interspersed with pleading, begging that Jaune could hardly understand through the wails of sorrow.

Finally the girl stopped dragging Jaune, and finally Jaune saw what the crying man had cradled to his chest… it was the little girl.

The exact same girl that had led Jaune here, she wore the exact same purple winter coat and mittens as the replica Jaune was currently holding hands with… but she was dead. Her clothes were stained with blood from a hole where her heart should be, her strikingly beautiful violet eyes dull and lifeless in death.

Jaune turned and stared at the girl that had brought him here. "Why are you showing me this?" he questioned, "This… illusion?"

The girl let go of Jaune's hand and turned to face him, and with a start Jaune noticed that she was bleeding from a hole in her chest - just like the girl that man now cradled to his chest and cried over.

"Look at him," the ghost said, "he cannot see me… not anymore…"

Jaune turned and stared at the crying man. His blonde hair was matted with blood and soot… Jaune knelt down so he could get a better look… and promptly jerked backwards and fell flat into the snow in shock.

It was… himself? Three jagged, diagonal scars ran down his face and his eyes were pale… he looked distinctly like an older version of Jaune Arc, except… he was blind. Fat tears of agony dripped into the snow as he sobbed over the small body clutched in his arms, his sorrow so painfully clear that even the six armoured hunters behind him didn't intervene.

"What…?" Jaune breathed in shock as he scrambled away from the older Jaune Arc, "Why are you showing me this?!"

The little girl that led him here waved her hand, and the snowy city vanished. Her bloodstained coat was once again replaced by her original white dress. "He's still so sad…" the girl whispered as the land around them changed into just an empty grass field, "But he can't see me. He thinks that mummy and I hate him, but we don't! He needs to know that he is loved!"

"What?" Jaune demanded, his patience finally starting to wear thin. "What are you talking about?"

The girl stomped her foot. "He can't see me!" she yelled, almost pleading with Jaune to understand. "I shout and scream for him, but he's so sad… he can't hear me…"

"Who are you talking about?" Jaune asked, "Make sense!"

The image of the grassy field around them faded away once more, the little girl standing resolute as the world around them shifted back to where Jaune had been before he fell asleep - Lavender Town.

Except… he could see himself. Jaune stared at his body as it rested peacefully on the ground beside Pyrrha, the fire that Nihilus provided casting a warm glow of orange light on the two young hunters as they slept. Strangely, Nihilus stood over the two sleeping teens, his towering dark form casting flickering shadows as he stared blankly at both Jaune and Pyrrha.

Jaune stared at his body, aghast, "What have you done to me?" he demanded to the little girl, "Put me back in my body!"

The girl hardly spared Jaune a glance with her gorgeous violet eyes, "When you wake you will return, but for now you need to see! You need to help me! Help him!"

Small tears trailed down the girl's small face as she stepped closer to Nihilus, her expression one of utter empathetic sadness as she reached her hand out to touch the Lord of Hunger.

But her dainty little fingers just passed through him, like she was nothing more than a shadow trying to touch the light. "Please…" she begged quietly to Jaune as he stared, transfixed, "He can't see me… and mummy can't come… please help him…"

Jaune was at a loss, who was this girl? Why did she want him to help Nihilus? "Please, I don't understand," Jaune whispered, "Who are you? Why are you showing me these things?"

The girl turned to face him, her deep crimson hair swaying around behind her as she turned, "I can't-" whatever else she was going to say was cut off when she gave a terrible wail of pain, her deep violet eyes flashing in agony as she fell to her knees.

Jaune immediately rushed to her to see if he could help in some way. As confused as he was, he wouldn't allow a child to hurt while he did nothing and watched. He was a hunter, so he helped people.

As soon as Jaune reached out to touch the girl his hands just passed right through her, like she was nothing more than smoke. "What's happening?" Jaune breathed.

"Please…" she cried through the pain, "Help him… you must… help him…"

She was in so much pain… her small body shaking under the torment of agony unknown to him. "Okay," Jaune whispered, "I'll help him." She suddenly looked so frail…

For a single moment, gorgeous violet eyes met sapphire blue. "Thank you…" she cried, "Daddy…"

And in that single second, the dream ended.

A/N

So… Nihilus is a father, or was a father anyway.

As I mentioned last chapter, for those of you in the know about Pokemon you have no doubt realised that the little girl is something of a ghost. Though there is good reason for this; as long as Nihilus exists then she will too, in some form or another.

The 'dream' that the girl showed Jaune was (obviously) a memory of sorts, the memory of Pyrrha's and the as of yet unnamed daughter's death. The girl didn't show Jaune to be cruel, she just wanted him to understand. While she is very intelligent for her age, she is still only 5 - not quite able to grasp the concept that while Jaune is the 'same' person as her father, he isn't actually her father.

And looking at the beginning part of the chapter; what do you guys think of the new 'soul sight' that Jaune (Nihilus) has? It is an important skill that helped define his personality later in life.

That aside, let's look at the reviews!

thelastcenturion2015:

Thanks for reviewing.
While you're not wrong; I was referring more to the contradictory nature what exactly Nihilus said in the two chapters.

hirshja:

Thanks for reviewing.
Actually, he's about 30. And in that time... well, shit got real.

The conversation between Ozpin and Ruby was an important one, mostly to show Ozpin's perspective on the matter of killing Jaune. It is brought up again quite a bit in later chapters, and you'll get to see just how little Ruby cared about Ozpin's desire for Jaune to be spared.

Nihilus, crazy and seemingly unpredictable though he may be, is an absolute master in terms of aura. This mostly stems from his years spent in solitude prior to arriving in the other world in chapter one. Half of it boils down to what the 'fragment' said in chapter 10, curiosity and boredom. An interesting thing to note, if Nihilus actually wanted to kill anyone in particular then nothing could be done to stop him. In terms of skill with aura, he is utterly unopposed at being the best in the world. In terms of Dust... well, only someone around Cinder's level is near him. Though he operates as more of a brute force Dust user, opposed to Cinder and Weiss' more finesse-heavy styles.

Toddem Mach:

Thanks for reviewing.
I'd be disappointed if someone didn't, I wasn't exactly subtle with it.

Saying young Nihilus doesn't like Penny is like saying water is wet. Though as for how long she survives... on pure technicality your statement isn't wrong. But Nihilus has been insane for less than a year, and considering that he's about 30... let's just say that Penny survives longer than you'd expect.

And of course his relationship with Pyrrha is weird, it began with him being stabbed. I don't think that's how most friendships start, at least the healthy ones anyway.


Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review!