Wraith
Chapter Fourteen
Beta: Smithrooks
In Envy's Shadow
Beacon, many years ago…
"Relax, Pyrrha."
"I am relaxing!" the champion grit out, the utter lie painfully obvious.
Jaune could only sigh. He was trying to teach Pyrrha aura sight - trying being the operative word there. But after about 3 hours of him trying to teach her the same way Ozpin had taught him, the girl still couldn't get it.
They were on the roof above his dorm and Jaune himself was laying flat on his back in a fairly relaxed position, but Pyrrha had her legs crossed and her arms folded in agitation as she tried to puzzle out the way to see aura. It was partially his fault as a shitty teacher of course, but… well, Jaune had sort of expected Pyrrha to be talented or something.
"It won't work if you're tense, you know," Jaune murmured.
She didn't answer.
Pyrrha had nailed the first step pretty quickly, of course; not that it was much of an accomplishment to feel your own aura, mind you. The second step… well, she was trying.
Aura sight basically just amounted to a heightened awareness of the world in general; the name was actually something of a lie since the skill didn't 'see' things, it just made you aware of things. It was omni-directional, and the concept of walls was actually fairly laughable for Jaune at this point because he 'saw' a wall and everything on the other side of the wall at the same time. Although it was pretty awkward at first, as the ability to see through walls had practically forced Jaune to… bear witness to some… ah, private moments.
But Pyrrha just couldn't seem to grasp that particular concept. Using the wall analogy again, Pyrrha was hung up on trying to see the wall first, and then whatever was behind it. Jaune had no idea how to put it into words, but Pyrrha had to accept that aura was a constant. Even things that aren't alive are stained by the aura from other things, like a tree breathing just the faintest wisps of aura into the surrounding soil so that its roots would grow stronger.
It also didn't help that she was tense enough to have an aneurysm.
Maybe it was because she was super-talented at pretty much everything else? Pyrrha was humble for someone of her skill level, but she also had absolute confidence in her abilities.
"Pyrrha," Jaune intoned gently, "perhaps it's time we gave it a rest for tonight." It wouldn't look good for him if her brain started leaking out her nose.
"No!" the black and gold light he knew to be Pyrrha grit out, "I nearly have it! I know I do!"
Well that was a lie if he ever heard one; her aura was practically shaking in agitation at this point. But hey, he was just happy to have an excuse to be out of his dorm. Cardin, Sky and Dove were great and all, but after growing up with seven sisters Jaune found his ability to socialise with other males to be rather… stunted.
That, and sharing a room with three sweaty guys was irritating. The smell in their bathroom… urk.
But this could also be a pretty good chance for Jaune to practice his new soul sight skill on Pyrrha. It was probably rather unethical, since it basically gave him the ability to see everything that made her Pyrrha Nikos, but… it was a skill that he felt he had to practice, and it would give him invaluable insight into making her happy. And if it made Pyrrha happy in the long run, then it had to be good, right?
And besides, it was like his father always said; sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
With that in mind, Jaune stopped using his aura sight and activated his soul sight instead.
The transition was always a rather jarring one; as Jaune's skill with aura sight was deep enough that he could 'see' in every direction for about 200 metres when he wasn't focussing, and about 2 kilometres when he put all his concentration in it. But his skill with soul sight wasn't nearly as advanced, nor was it quite as omnipresent.
One of the major differences between the two skills laid in the fact that aura sight allowed him to see everything, bar the Grimm; even things like a stone had trace amounts of aura from the bleeding effect all living things had. But soul sight wasn't like that. A stone was never, and could never be alive and therefore has no soul for Jaune to look at - so there was only inky blackness in its place. But people… looking at a person was like staring into the heart of a sun. There were basic colours on the surface, but beneath that there were always things the Jaune could never describe. Colours that he had no names for, shapes that he knew were impossible, truths that made Jaune realise who exactly a person was.
The world of bright and impossible colours died around him until only one thing remained, all the light in the world fading as Jaune focussed on his friend.
She was… different.
Where Cardin had been a majestic eagle that seemed to soar with power and pride despite hardships unknown to Jaune, Pyrrha was totally different. She looked like a lion clinging to the ground, staring up at the sky while absolutely shining with power, but at the same time she was so cold… just looking at her, Jaune felt the painful stabs of loneliness and sadness that she had held so close for most of her life.
She had been… isolated? So alone, yet so full of kindness. Her life was defined by the adoration that others gave her, and yet at the same time she hated it - hated the love, hated the unreachable pillar that she had been placed upon, hated that people saw her for her skills and not for who she was.
But at the same time there was happiness, joy and love within her. Deep, unrelenting love for her family, love for the thrill of competition and winning despite the sorrow it brought. Happiness that she had found people that she could call friends, joy in knowing that while life may separate them, the bonds forged here in Beacon would never truly fade from her life.
Jaune felt like he understood Pyrrha now, who she was and what drove her to do the things she did. It wasn't like the soul sight had given him the ability to read her mind or anything; no, the skill was far more limited than that. When he peered at the soul of another person, he saw everything that made them, well… them. Everything that made a person who they were, the defining aspects of their personalities were laid bare for Jaune to stare at and puzzle over. Pyrrha was defined by her loneliness, by her hate and love for competition. That's who Pyrrha Nikos was, that's everything she was.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune murmured as he switched back to aura sight, the world exploding into colour once again as the true form of her soul faded from his vision. "What made you want to be partners with me?"
He had avoided the question before, especially given that she had literally pinned him to a tree in her efforts to avoid anyone else - and failed quite spectacularly in doing so. But even now the grief she held over that was practically palpable, despite the fact that Jaune had forgiven her ages ago. But now… knowing what he knew, Jaune had to wonder, why him? Why pick him of all people? Back during initiation he had been worthless as a fighter, even now he was the weakest student at the school since all of his big attacks required a few seconds for him to muster the aura required to do them. Plus they tended to maul his hands. Even now, his hands were bandaged from the burns he had given himself through practicing his skills with fire Dust.
For practically the first time since Jaune had started trying to teach her, Pyrrha relaxed and stopped trying too hard. "I…" she hesitated, black and gold aura shifting about with mild agitation. "Promise you won't laugh at me?"
Laugh at her? Why would he do that? Sure, Jaune knew that he could be an arse at times, but when it came to things like this he didn't muck around. "I promise," he said firmly, "I won't laugh at you no matter what you say."
"It was because…" her aura finally settled down, "you didn't know me."
Because he didn't know her…? What on Remnant does that mea-
Oh…
That put things into context. All the anger and loneliness she held in her soul was because everyone thought she was above them, and therefore they wouldn't bother trying to become friends with her…
"When I first met you," she continued, "you just thought I was another student. You didn't hold me above anyone, you didn't see me as unapproachable… I was just another stranger to you."
Jaune hummed, "So you… wanted me as your partner so because you wanted someone to form their own opinion on you, without prior knowledge on your achievements?"
It was fair enough really, preconceptions could get rather irritating at times. The other students whispered things about Jaune when they thought he couldn't hear them, things like 'oh, I feel so sorry for him!' or 'that poor guy, I wonder why Ozpin let him stay in the school?'. He didn't want their pity; he didn't want their sadness. He wanted people to see him for what he was now, a strong young man that would one day become the best hunter alive.
Heh, maybe he and Pyrrha were similar in that regard.
"Yes!" Pyrrha exclaimed, excited that Jaune was following her thought process. "That's exactly it, I wanted someone to see me for me, not for the invincible girl."
But her excitement died quickly however, "But… I hurt you, I screwed up so badly…"
"Nope."
"What? I hurt you, I'm the reason you're blind…"
Jaune watched with mild amusement as her aura shifted around in surprise. "Nope." A thin grin stretched across his ugly face. "I was an idiot, and truthfully I probably got off pretty lucky in initiation."
Jaune was pretty pleased just to be alive actually; being impaled, mauled and then blinded sucked beyond belief yeah, but it was also better than dying. Death was final; it happened once and then that was it, no second chances and no take-backs. But life? That was just full of possibilities. Sure, he fucked up pretty epically, but he got to try again - something not afforded to the dead.
"No, Jaune," Pyrrha murmured, "I've seen you fight, if not for me hurting you then you would have gotten through initiation without a problem."
Yeah, if he could see Grimm he could do that now. But then? Not a bloody chance. Though Pyrrha didn't know that particular gem of information, and if Jaune had his way then she never would. In this case, the lie that Cardin had prepared for Jaune would be best. "Actually, I accidentally left all my Dust behind. So I was practically defenceless."
The purpose of the lie was basically to feed Cardin's vanity. Jaune's fearless leader always wanted team WASB to appear strong and unshakable on the outside, showing no signs of weakness to the other teams. Obviously the events of initiation had rather dented their reputation thanks to Jaune's ineptitude, but Cardin was adamant that Jaune use that particular lie to help defend their image.
He still had Crocea Mors of course, hidden under his bed and gathering dust. He intended to return the stolen family sword to his father in person after he'd become a full-fledged huntsman, bringing pride to the Arc family by showing them how powerful he had become.
"Actually…" Pyrrha paused, obviously wondering how to say something. "I seem to remember you having a sword, but I haven't really seen you with it since then. Did you lose it in the forest?"
"Nah," Jaune hummed, "That is the Arc family blade and I still have it, but I'm totally useless with it. I prefer using Dust."
"I could… teach you how to use it, if you want?"
Teach Jaune how to use Crocea Mors? That was certainly a kind offer, but a rather pointless one nonetheless. Jaune was, and would forever be a ranged fighter now. The finer details of any weapon were lost in his blind eyes; aura sight could only give him so much detail after all. But if she was offering training… well, between Cardin who just kept attacking until Jaune started dodging, and the chance to train with a world-class fighter? Yeah, Pyrrha it was.
"That's nice of you to offer, but I'll never be able to use a sword properly." Pyrrha's aura seemed to deflate a little at that, "But… I certainly wouldn't say no to training with you using my Dust."
Heh, just one more step on the path to power.
High above Vale, present day…
Jaune was really starting to hate Nihilus.
It was late evening when the false lord had decided that he was done with Lavender Town, the pale man telling the two young hunters that they must head to Beacon post-haste. Jaune and Pyrrha were understandably rather cautious of Nihilus after his freak out earlier today, though Pyrrha was still more trusting than Jaune was.
That had been… what? An hour or two ago? Jaune could hardly tell anymore. Nihilus apparently now had the strength to fly once again, though where he got the power from was a mystery to Jaune. And with all this, Nihilus had held Jaune by the scruff of his hoodie while the younger Arc was forced to awkwardly carry Pyrrha in his arms as tightly as he could so she didn't fall to her death hundreds of metres below.
Nihilus slowed down considerably as they drew closer to Vale, the fluttering of his light-absorbing black robes weakening as they approached walking pace instead of the rocketing speed Jaune had grown used to.
"Why are we slowing down?" Jaune demanded, not bothering to pay any particular attention to the city below.
Nihilus kept his yellow-eyed gaze locked onto something unseen in the distance. "Airspace control over the city became extremely tight after the destruction of Amity Colosseum my shell, do you not see it?"
Jaune and Pyrrha could only gape, what the hell was Nihilus talking about? Amity Colosseum, destroyed?! That… that just wasn't possible, nothing could bring down that floating monstrosity. Amity Colosseum was easily the most advanced piece of technology on the planet, and it was constantly under heavy guard from whichever kingdom it was stationed at.
But to Jaune and Pyrrha's collective horror, just at the edge of the city they were beginning to see that Nihilus was right. Where they knew to be a sea of red trees that they thought was Forever Fall, there was nothing but a deep smoky crater that went on as far as they could see. A few burnt-out husks of trees remained, but they were little more than charcoal sticking out of the ashes. And in the centre of it all… were the remains of Amity Colosseum. Neither Jaune nor Pyrrha could tell whether it was half-buried or half-disintegrated; the half that remained jutted out of the ground like a terrible scar on the land. Shattered stone and pulverised machinery decorated what was left, the visible decay almost sickening to the two young hunters.
Amity Colosseum was meant to be a symbol of peace, of friendship and cooperation… but now it was little more than a wreck.
"What… what happened?" Pyrrha whispered as they flew onwards, the shattered sign of peace becoming steadily clearer.
Nihilus cackled, the slight wind pushing his long, tangled hair out of his face. "We destroyed it, the empty ones were there. Always there, the empty ones burnt through the city with the tormented."
Jaune could only sigh. As always, Nihilus' skill at answering questions was so bad that he just raised more questions. But as much as Jaune hated to admit it even to himself, he was getting better at picking through what the crazy lord said. "What do you mean 'we destroyed it'?" he asked. "Why did you do it? And who helped you?" All three were relevant questions; if Nihilus told them, then Jaune could pass along the information to the right people to help stop it from happening in their world.
Nihilus cackled again, his sickly yellow eyes wide with delight as he increased his pace slightly. "We? Three of us were there, one in the stadium, another at Beacon and the last in the city. I stopped myself, she was very angry and the other rested in her coffin of glass and steel."
...What?
Neither of the two young hunters bothered responding to that. What was the point? They knew well enough that Nihilus wouldn't give a proper answer to any of their questions; the false lord was either crafty enough to answer without actually referring to the question, or he was crazy enough that he just perpetually spoke in riddles.
Instead they focussed their attention on the city below, so vibrant and filled with life that even the Vale they had come to know in their own world paled in comparison. Buildings were taller than they remembered, things looked cleaner and generally more efficient. It was actually quite the shock; from what they had seen in the decimated ruins of both Dorme and Lavender Town, both Jaune and Pyrrha had half expected and feared that Vale would be in a similar state.
But looking at it now… it actually looked better than the Vale they knew.
Though the illusion of a peaceful city was shattered somewhat by the broken remains of Amity Colosseum just outside the main walls. Just what had happened in the years between the two worlds? Jaune could hardly fathom what could cause such a change in what, 5, 10 years? That itself brought up another question: how old was Nihilus?
If the 'memory' that Jaune and Pyrrha saw had been telling the truth about the alternate world stuff, then obviously Nihilus was a good deal ahead of where Jaune was. Picking the age of a hunter was actually pretty difficult; this was mostly because if a hunter survived into their old age, they would still have a youthful appearance, bar perhaps grey hair.
Although that didn't exactly apply to Nihilus, as his hair and skin were unnaturally white. Just looking at Nihilus was something of a chore at times; the black robes that he constantly wore seemed to wreath around his body in an inhuman way while absorbing all light. In steep contrast, his shockingly white skin and hair seemed to scream out brightness.
But Jaune couldn't help but wonder how many years would have to have passed for Nihilus to look the way he did now. Nihilus looked more like a Grimm than he did a human. What could do that to a person? Not spending time in the sun could make someone pale for sure, but Nihilus' skin and hair were literally white.
Add to that the dream Jaune had back in Lavender Town… the little girl had called him 'daddy'. Jaune couldn't help but shudder at the implications of that; that meant that Nihilus, that he, had children, or child as the case may be. The girl looked about 4 or 5 years old, and that alone would make Nihilus 21 minimum. But that only worked if the kid was conceived when Nihilus was 17 - Jaune's age now.
"My shell," Nihilus purred as his grip on Jaune's armpits tightened slightly, "look at it… look at my work, do you think she would be pleased?"
Jaune snapped out of his thoughts as the false lord spoke, what was he saying now? Look at what? He had already seen the wreckage of Amity, as much as it disturbed him. What could he be talking… about…. now…
Oh god.
Beacon was…
Even before Beacon was a school for hunters, it had existed as something else. An indomitable fortress that had remained utterly untouched by anyone outside of Vale for nearly a thousand years, but during the Faunus War the fortress had finally been laid low.
Most of it, that was.
The central tower had survived however, the brilliant 'beacon' of emerald light that shone across all of Vale survived all the destructive power that mankind could throw at it.
But looking at Beacon now… it was like a god had ripped the ancient tower from the ground and utterly, utterly, destroyed it.
The surrounding buildings looked perfectly intact, but the tower was absolutely gone.
"What… how could this have happened?" Jaune heard Pyrrha whisper, utter shock and horror in her voice.
It was unthinkable, and Jaune hardly realised something like this was possible. How could Beacon tower just be gone? It should not be possible; who would do something like… this….
"Nihilus…" Jaune breathed, "why… why did you do this?"
Nihilus grinned a wide, toothy smile as his sickly yellow eyes greedily gulped in the sight of the school below, "Why, my dear shell?" They began to descend, slowly lowering towards the gaping hole where the majestic Beacon Tower had once stood. "I did this… because I wanted to."
Beacon, present day...
Ozpin was a fool.
Ruby had tried for nearly two days now to convince the man that both the Jaune Arcs needed to die, but the elderly headmaster had been adamant in his refusal of the execution of the younger Arc.
It was obvious to Ruby now that Ozpin would not relent in his choice; the headmaster would not allow the younger Arc to be killed. But that was okay; Ruby had never been asking permission, she was only informing the headmaster of her decision.
Jaune Arc would die.
Currently, Ruby was in the room that Ozpin had provided for her stay within the school; it was blank and empty of any kind of human touch. But that didn't matter to her in the slightest. They had come here to eliminate Jaune - their Jaune - not to get comfortable and stick around longer than necessary.
Her Scroll tablet was held firmly in her hands as Ruby awaited her remaining teammates to report in from their missions. As long as she kept her mind away from the painful truth of Yang…
The tablet buzzed lightly in her unarmoured hands, and within a second Ruby accepted the call; Weiss' face appeared on the screen, her features as sharp and unrelenting as ever.
"Ruby," the elder girl greeted, "has Blake not joined us yet?"
Ruby shook her head, "No, sh-"
The Scroll buzzed again as another call came in, this time the face of Blake appearing on the left half of the screen while Weiss still dominated the right half.
"Sorry for the delay," The Faunus girl intoned, "I needed to find a secluded place."
Ruby nodded, that was understandable given where exactly Blake was.
"Both of you," Ruby ordered, "report."
It was Weiss that answered first, her cultured voice coming across clear and sharp. "I spoke with the Jacques Schnee of this world; he seemed… hesitant at first."
Ruby knew she had asked a lot of Weiss when she ordered the elder girl to speak to the alternate version of her father, especially given the rather… rough history to two of them shared. But Weiss was nothing if not reliable, and true to form the pale girl had toughed out the unpleasantness of her given task. "Understandable," Ruby conceded, "but did you manage to convince him?"
"Yes, although it was quite difficult to convince him that it was in his best interests."
"But you did manage to convince him, right?" Blake interjected, "Without the resources of the SDC, we won't get very far against Jaune."
Weiss scoffed, her rightfully deserved pride showing through for just a moment. "Of course I did, have some faith in me Blake." The pale girl smirked, "As of today, construction of the first legion of Schnee Aura Knights has begun, and with them we will be one step closer to finally being able to beat that dunce."
Aura Knights. They were actually a relatively recent invention back in their world, but utterly invaluable in their ability to combat Nihilus - despite the fact that they were something of a moral grey area. The first machine to ever have an aura of its own was the P.E.N.N.Y unit that Atlas constructed years ago in their world, and that feat of technology had taken over a decade to be replicated.
The end result? An Aura Knight.
Perfect machines to use against both the Grimm and Jaune, they were practically the end of hunters everywhere for two simple reasons; they had aura, and they could be mass-produced.
And better yet, Nihilus couldn't absorb them.
They weren't as good as a hunter in terms of fighting ability, but they were far more practical to have on their side when fighting Jaune - having a legion of hunters would actually be rather detrimental, as they basically amounted to a group of walking happy meals for the Lord of Hunger.
The reason Ruby had ordered Weiss to try and get her father to create them and not, say, General Ironwood, was because the Schnee patriarch was the lesser of two evils. Ruby would never, never forgive Ironwood for what he had tricked her into doing. And while the design for the Aura Knights would no doubt eventually make their way into Ironwood's mismatched hands, Ruby refused to vindicate the man by agreeing to work with him - even if it was an alternate version who hadn't actually done anything yet.
"Good," Ruby finally said, her mind snapping back into the conversation. "Is there anything else?"
Weiss harrumphed, "Aside from my younger brother still being an arse, no, there is nothing else of any particular note."
Well, good to know Weiss was in her usual good mood today.
"Your turn, Blake," Ruby intoned to the Faunus girl. "How are things in Menagerie?"
Blake sighed, her uncovered cat ears drooping a little. "About as expected, the White Fang has already entered into their partnership with Torchwick and the unknown woman."
Ruby rubbed her forehead in frustration; of course they were too late to stop that. That would have meant that something would have gone their way for once, and obviously the universe couldn't allow that. "So I take it you were also unable to convince the leadership to ditch them and join us?"
"Yeah," Blake muttered, "I didn't get a chance to speak to Adam, but the other members of the leadership were quite clear that as the Lord of Hunger was human, he is also a human problem."
Ruby closed her deep silver eyes and breathed deeply, she knew that Blake knew what she was going to ask next. "Blake…" god, how to say this and not sound like a complete and utter bitch? "Speak to Adam; see if you can get him on our side. But if he doesn't join us… put an end to hostilities. Permanently."
Blake's yellow eyes stared into Ruby's own silver gaze, both girls silent for just a few moments as they pondered the ramifications of what exactly Ruby was asking.
"You know I can't beat him in a fair fight Ruby," Blake murmured with a defeated look in her amber eyes, "I don't have enough aura left, none of us do."
"Then…" Ruby breathed quietly, "then make sure it's not a fair fight."
Blake actually looked like she might cry for a moment, but the tears never fell. "I… understand."
"Is there anything else, Ruby?" Weiss asked, only the slightest frown on her face to show her empathy to Blake for the position she was in.
"Yes," Ruby whispered as she held her head in her hands. She knew this would condemn an innocent man to death… but it was necessary. "Should either of you encounter the Jaune Arc from this world… kill him."
Both Weiss and Blake nodded silently, fully aware of the implications of the order they were just given.
It was dark, it was evil, but it was the right thing to do. And besides, he would only be the second Arc that Ruby had put to death.
A/N
A lot of shit went down this chapter, many things were - subtly - revealed. Like that last sentence with Ruby, whatever could that mean?
God I'm getting much less sneaky about these things…
Crushing realisation of my own personal failures aside, let's look at the reviews:
warylocust99:
Thanks for reviewing.
Why thank you, I'll be sure to.
Shaded Azure:
Thanks for reviewing.
Noir is an okay name, but it doesn't lend itself well to the concept of no good or evil.
thelastcenturion2015:
Thanks for reviewing.
Thanks, I try.
Jaune Black Smudge:
Thanks for reviewing.
There isn't much I can say here that hasn't been said in our (frankly) awesome PM conversation so far, but for anyone else who reads this - that wasn't Ren and Nora, they are long dead.
I got four reviews last time (and I love them for it), so come on guys! More reviews!
