Wraith

Chapter Twenty Nine

Beta: Smithrooks

Thus I Cruelly Scatter

Amity Colosseum, many years ago…

Why? Why? Why?!

HUNGRY.

Jaune's gut twisted, and his aura cried out in agony.

Cardin grabbed Jaune's shoulder, a consolidating grip that was firm, but also kind.

Jaune felt like vomiting. It had been nearly a week since they'd destroyed team BRNZ in the first round of the competition, and in that time all the other full team fights had been concluded - thus moving the tournament onto the doubles rounds.

Doubles that Jaune and Cardin were now expected to participate in.

Right now.

Jaune felt like he could hardly stand up.

It wasn't a stage fright thing. But Jaune really felt sick - he had all week, barely leaving his dorm room to hang around with the now much more lively Pyrrha. Other than that he had just slept and rolled around in bed wallowing in misery.

And he was just so hungry.

It was pounding away at him, gnawing at him like a parasite. But it was wrong. Jaune was hungry, but he couldn't eat. Sky had been nice enough to bring Jaune food early in the week - and Jaune had initially attacked the meaty sandwich with all the gusto of a Beowolf. But he just couldn't eat it! It had tasted like ash in his mouth, his body rejecting the food within seconds.

Oh, and Sky had been rather offended when Jaune gagged and vomited after the first bite.

The school's doctor had visited and failed to work out what was wrong, suggesting that Jaune just 'sleep it off'. Because that was brilliant medical advice.

And even now Jaune felt like he was dying, but he did his best not to show it.

Cardin had decided that he and Jaune were to be the ones competing in the doubles round; with Jaune being a crowd favorite and Cardin being a better fighter than both Sky and Dove.

But Jaune just felt so HUNGRY. It was killing him.

"And from Beacon, we have Cardin Winchester and Jaune Arc!" Doctor Oobleck practically shouted from the commentary box, "After their explosive showing in the team matches I'm sure we're in for something exciting!"

The crowd roared their approval.

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

Jaune felt dizzy.

"Facing them we have Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil from Atlas!" Port shouted, his voice overly loud thanks to the massive speakers, "Vale versus Atlas, who will win?!"

Jaune shuddered as his opponents walked onto the grey-tiled centre of the arena; the second girl had a rigid and well-defined soul, very blue and controlled. But Penny was the girl from the docks incident. Penny looked wrong. She had aura - a lot of aura actually - but she had no soul. There was just nothing inside her, it was like a festering absence of anything. Just a gap in Jaune's sight, an empty black spot.

"Salutations, fellow hunters!" the soulless thing said cheerfully.

Jaune grimaced but nodded his head in greeting anyway.

"Hey there," Cardin's grin was painfully evident in his voice.

"Don't start flirting," Jaune muttered, "you really don't want to."

"Well-"

Whatever comment Cardin was about to make was cut off as the arena roulettes spun to a stop, the irritating clicking noise dying in favour of something Jaune couldn't see.

"City and Volcano," Cardin whispered to Jaune, all playfulness leaving his voice as he prepared for battle.

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

Jaune gagged.

City again? That was odd. But it was a shame that they didn't get forest a second time, since their previous strategy seemed like something that would work on pretty much anyone. Although… the volcano side of the arena held promise in that regard. Jaune wasn't too sure about setting it on fire, especially given that it already was, but Jaune did enjoy making fire bigger.

"BEGIN!"

Wait, what? When did-

It felt like a truck plowed into his face, the force of the blow strong enough that Jaune was reasonably sure that without aura his skull would probably have caved in. Instead, Jaune was just treated to a nice migraine.

Oh, and he was plowed backwards into the ruined city half of the arena, the concrete shattering and breaking as his body did an enviable impression of a cannonball.

Jaune rolled onto his back as he came to a stop, his body feeling distinctly bruised from his sudden flight and just as sudden landing.

"Evidence indicates that you are the strongest member of your team!" Oh look, it was the soulless thing, Penny or something. "So I will fight you until my teammate defeats your partner, and then we will fight you together!"

Why was she telling him her strategy? That didn't seem like a very wise tactical decision. But maybe the key to common sense was to have a soul, and considering that she was lacking one…

"Lovely," Jaune groused as he sat up, dully noting that Penny had followed him into the fake ruins. "I have a counter suggestion though."

Her aura was cold and empty, but apparently it could simulate some level of emotion. Some dull approximation of curiosity wormed through the green aura. "I would love to hear it, fellow hunter!"

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

Jaune's world shook for a moment, an intense feeling of sickness creeping up on him. But he slapped it back down. He didn't have time for that. He raised his right hand, fingers poised to click, fire Dust thrumming in his pockets.

"How about no." Jaune snapped his fingers.

The explosion was a satisfying one, very hot and firey right at Penny's feet. And, being completely honest, Jaune may have put slightly more power into that than strictly necessary - but that was for punting his across the entire arena.

But… something was wrong.

Penny hadn't dodged. No, it was simpler than that. She blocked.

About half a dozen swords connected to her by… wires? Jaune couldn't quite tell, had shielded her from the blast.

"Ah, I see!" Penny exclaimed cheerfully, "This is the in-fight banter friend-Ruby has told me about!"

She was mocking him. She had to be mocking him. No one could be this oblivious and powerful at the same time. It just didn't work.

"And now for my witty rebuttal," the soulless, but oddly cheerful thing edged closer, "your face!"

Or maybe she was just an idiot? "Ooh, scathing," Jaune muttered sarcastically, his attention shifting to his earth Dust.

"Thank you!"

Okay, she was definitely a little simple. Jaune pushed himself to his feet, the earth Dust in his pocket thrumming as he began to tap into its power-

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

Jaune both physically and metaphysically staggered, his aura wailing as he fell to his knees. He felt like he was dying, like the entire world was pressing down on him…

"Are you okay?"

Jaune lashed out.

It was an angry and poorly executed attack, but an attack nonetheless. One of the nearby ruinous buildings just shattered in its place, the masonry breaking apart as Jaune's frustration took ahold of it. The falling stone was gripped roughly by Jaune's control and hurled towards Penny, the blind boy's pain serving to empower the attack.

But it was rough, something Jaune would have done before training with Ozpin. And it showed, since Penny batted the flying stones away with relative ease.

"May I enquire why you cover your eyes?"

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

The oozing auras of the thousands of people in the stadium shifted and swirled deliriously in Jaune's sight, moving in a way more connected to his current haze rather than their actual movement. They all looked so bright, so intoxicatingly bright and colourful to his vision, like he could reach out and touch them…

No. Focus.

"I-" argh, his head felt like it was trapped in a vice, "I'm blind."

"Really? And you are still able to fight? Fascinating!"

Oops, hadn't Cardin said something about keeping that a secret? Too late now.

Well, she did have a point though. This was a fight, and they were just talking. What to do, what to do…

How about fire and gravity? That was always a nice combination.

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

For just a moment the world swam.

Jaune's focus sharpened, pushing away the troubling sickness that was gnawing away at him. One of his gravity Dust crystals ebbed and flowed outwards, and suddenly the world seemed to grow infinitely lighter.

Jaune clicked the fingers of his right hand again, this time impossibly faster than he had the first time. Of course Penny raised her gauntlet of swords to block again, but that was the plan. Jaune, aided by the fact that he now weighed about four kilograms, leapt forwards and around the blast - less than a second after charging, he practically appeared in the air behind Penny, his fist raised for a punch.

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

Everything was shaking, wobbling and his head was pounding. It hurt.

But that didn't stop him.

With just a moment's concentration the gravity Dust inverted its effect, and Jaune suddenly weighed just over a tonne. Jaune dropped from the air like a stone, his fist smashing into the top of Penny's head with all the force of a speeding semi truck.

And good God did it hurt.

The ground beneath them became a crater in the blink of an eye, Penny thrown down like she was a rag doll.

Jaune released the Dust as he landed. "Fuck!" He shook his hand. It felt like he'd broken every bloody bone in there! "What the hell are you made of?! Titanium?!"

Her aura seemed to spark, the dull impression of shock and… horror? showing through as she got to her feet, far too quickly. Anyone else taking a blow like that would be out of the fight either permanently or for a few minutes at least, so how the hell was she getting back up?!

She hiccuped, "M-me? No! I am just a normal girl!"

Yeah, and Jaune was actually a flamingo wearing the skin of a defeated human.

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

The migraine seemed to get worse, the constant pounding in his head. Like something was pressing down on his skull, the force intolerable.

Jaune staggered, his left hand reaching up to clasp his head in a weak effort to dull the tremendous pain.

"You don't look very well…" Penny lifted herself to her feet somewhat robotically, her voice empty of anything but concern. "Are you sick?"

Jaune opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a wail of distress as he dropped to his knees.

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

It hurt. Everything hurt. This was infinitely worse than the pain of burning himself to death, this was a soul-deep agony that crashed through his spirit with reckless abandon. It was killing him, body and soul, it was killing him.

"We need medical assistance!"

Jaune vaguely heard the sound of the soulless thing, but his own torment was too much. Everything felt like it was crashing down onto him, but at the same time he felt ready to explode. The sickening mix of colour from the thousands of people within the stadium was driving him mad. It was so tantalising, so desperately tempting to reach out…

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

Jaune was screaming. It was so painful, like he was just missing something. Like a part of his soul was just empty and void where there should be life and fullness.

"Hey kid!" Someone was shaking his shoulders as they shouted at him, "Kid, what's wrong!?" Their aura was so red. It was so tempting, like it was calling out to him!

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY.

"I don't see any injuries!" It was someone else, a very yellow aura. It was screaming for him! Begging him!

HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. HUNGRY. "HUNGRY!"

"Hungry?" the red aura drew closer to him, so tantalising, so close… "Come on kid, help us out here!"

The dam broke all at once.

"HUNGRY!"

The world around Jaune seemed to still, his hands grabbing onto the closest things he could reach - the red and yellow auras of the two men standing over him.

"HUNGRY! HUNGRY! HUNGRY! HUNGRY! HUNGRY!"

It was like a sudden clarity had come over him; the intoxicating feeling of having pure energy flow inwards was like nothing he'd ever felt. The terrible pain from mere moments before faded to nothing, so utterly overshadowed by the ecstasy of whatever was happening.

Someone was screaming above him. But the narcotic pleasure Jaune was feeling tore away any worries, any concerns, all things were just right.

But then it stopped, the flow of power just… ending.

The ashen corpses of two men dropped to the ground on either side of him.

Jaune screamed.

He wanted more.


Beacon, present day…

He was coming.

He was coming…

Jaune was coming to Beacon. Or rather, Nihilus was coming to Beacon.

"We need to meet him head on!"

How Ruby hated that man.

Ironwood had only recently arrived, and already he was calling for war. Not that it would do any good. The Lord of Hunger was a force of nature, meeting him head on would only end with them dying sooner rather than later.

What was the point anymore? With Weiss dead they had no hope of defeating what was left of Jaune. They could throw an army at him, and all they'd achieve was a mountain of corpses.

"What do you suggest, Miss Rose? You have the most experience with him, you would know better than James or I."

Ozpin was kind about it, as well as being terribly optimistic about it. Both he and Ironwood believed they had a chance of winning. Ruby knew the answer though. They did not. She had seen her Ozpin fight Nihilus - and the Ozpin of her world prior to his death had been far, far more powerful than the Ozpin of this world.

"He will be here within the hour?" Ruby asked eventually, both Ironwood and Ozpin nodding to her question. "Facing him head on and on his terms would end poorly. You two and the students should evacuate, let me face him alone."

She would die. That much was beyond doubt. But Ruby was alone now; Yang, Blake, Weiss… they were gone. Yang consumed by her hatred, Blake overcome by her sorrow, and Weiss ruined beyond what Ruby could fully grasp. It was just her. Team Ruby, not team RWBY.

"You would stand no chance!" Ironwood slammed his hand down on Ozpin's desk, "You saw the security footage from Atlas, he can't be beaten alone!"

No. He couldn't be beaten at all.

"I knew him the best," Ruby glared at the foul form of Ironwood, her hatred for the man plain to see. "Before his fall, Jaune and I were friends. Not close, but still friends. I know how he thinks, far better than my teammates."

Ruby would die. She could fight for as long and as hard as she wanted, but she would die. There was no escaping that.

"I can beat him."

No she couldn't.

"I can win."

She wouldn't.

"Are you sure, Miss Rose? James and I could stay and provide aid in the battle." Ozpin looked at her with brown eyes filled with sorrow.

"I still don't like this plan," Ironwood muttered.

Ruby faked her best smile, but it did nothing for the anguish she felt inside. "I'm sure, Professor. Take the students and get out of here, I'll handle the rest."

"Very well, Miss Rose." Ozpin typed something into his computer, the speakers around the school crackling to life as he began his announcement. "Attention all students and staff, this is an emergency announcement."

Ruby smiled grimly.

"Evacuate the school and gather in Vale. I repeat, evacuate the school as quickly as possible, we do not have much time. The Lord of Hunger is coming."

It was up to her now. Ruby knew she stood no chance, and after her death Nihilus would probably continue on and kill more… but she would be at peace. She could see her friends and family again, she could finally just sleep.


Beacon, present day…

"The Lord of Hunger is coming."

Weiss wasn't truly afraid of many things, but this… Lord of Hunger was one of them.

Back when he'd defeated them in Forever Fall just over a week ago it had been beyond effortless, like he barely had to acknowledge their presence for him to crush them. Add to that the terrors that Pyrrha told them about, the murderous rampages, the destruction of an entire village...

So with the order to flee, Weiss wasn't particularly distraught. No doubt Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood had a plan to deal with the threat, and after the rogue hunter was defeated they could return to the school.

"We have to stay!"

Sometimes, most of the time, Weiss hated Ruby Rose. The child that had been placed as leader of her team was a brilliant fighter - even Weiss could no longer deny that - but she had no foresight.

"But Ozpin said we need to evacuate," Blake replied calmly as she got off her bed, the calm girl a voice of reason.

"You heard what Pyrrha said!" Ruby shot back, "Nihilus still has Jaune! We need to save him!"

Weiss had heard enough. She had agreed to give Ruby a chance, not commit suicide via murderous lunatic. "But first we should save ourselves Ruby," such a child, "Saving anyone else can come after that."

Yang forced her way into the conversation. "Is that the right thing to do though? We're meant to be huntresses after all."

"Exactly!" Ruby practically shouted, "We need to help Jaune! I'm sure JNPR will stick around too!"

"What?" Weiss scoffed, "So we can all die together? Remember what happened in Forever Fall Ruby, we'd only get in the way of whatever Ozpin has planned."

"But we can't just leave him!" Ruby protested, "Pyrrha said that Nihilus has already done terrible things to Jaune, we can't leave Jaune with him!"

Ruby wasn't listening, that much was clear to Weiss now. Ruby only cared about doing what she believed to be right - not what was logical.

"Well," Yang chimed in, "if you're staying, then I am too!"

"I suppose I will too then…"

Weiss turned to Blake, surprised. "Really, Blake? I thought you and I were the voices of reason on the team!"

Blake smiled grimly, "I won't run away, not when my team stays behind."

"It's okay Weiss," Ruby smiled a touch sadly, "if you want to leave, we won't stop you."

They were all children. But… Weiss didn't like the idea of leaving without them. "All or nothing, I suppose." The heiress straightened her already excellent posture, "I will stay, if only to ensure you don't all get yourselves killed."

Ruby cheered.

Weiss couldn't help but think this was all going to go horribly wrong.


Beacon, present day…

Nihilus set down on the cobbled path, a deep breath of air drawing into his stolen lungs. Gently, ever so gently, he set down the form of his sleeping daughter, her new body resting against a nearby fountain.

Dear sweet Jaune took hold of Violet and guided her away, took her to a safe distance.

Beacon was empty - EMPTY - of all except the one that now stood before him. And… seven other souls. The younger RWBY, a pink soul and a blue soul he vaguely remembered eating at one point, and the faker.

"Hello, Jaune."

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby… her soul was so very broken now, so seeped in despair and anguish that she was practically a walking corpse at this point. What had driven her to this, hmm? The death of her team? WEAK EXCUSE! Nihilus remembered his own team, Nihilus remembered the good times he had with them… Nihilus also remembered the day he killed them - the day he became the Lord of Hunger.

He still kept their souls, as deeply buried as they were at this point.

"Hello, Ruby." Ironwood was in Vale - they were all in Vale! That was irritating, but not unexpected - they had to have known he was coming. So why didn't Ruby and her younger team flee with the other Lords? "You sent them away!"

It had to be her, her idea, her plan!

"I did."

Hate, hate, hate… the hatred was never ending, never faltering. Hatred was all Nihilus was anymore. Hate for Ruby, hate for the world, hate for Atlas, hate for IRONWOOD.

But something was wrong, wrong! Why was Ruby here? And why was RWBY here? They thought they were hidden! They thought they could go unseen by Nihilus' gaze, how arrogant. The barest glance at their young souls told him they were… waiting? Wanting to protect something, someone…? Ah… they were here for Jaune. How dull.

But Ruby… her soul was just a bundle of shards. Her weakness had finally caught up with her apparently. She wanted to die. She would never do it herself, but she longed for it, for the hellish eternity that Nihilus himself was lost to.

"You will fight me?" Nihilus asked in place of his thoughts, "You want to seek your justice?"

Ruby nodded, the metallic sound of her armour clear as day to Nihilus' ears.

"One last battle," she whispered, the harsh synthesized wheeze of her armour making her sound completely alien to the Ruby he once knew. "I killed them, Jaune. I killed Pyrrha and your daughter."

Anger frothed and bubbled in Nihilus' broken spirit, but it wasn't directed at her. "You were a puppet, the Lord of Pain is responsible for their deaths!"

"Violet…" Ruby whispered, "I killed a four-year-old girl and her mother just to get to you…"

IRONWOOD. Ironwood was responsible! He orchestrated it, he was behind it all. But Violet… Violet…

"I want you to fight me," Ruby continued in his silence. "Fight me the way you killed Ozpin. No Semblances, no Dust, no Maiden powers… just your weapon and my weapon."

Hatred and disgust welled up within Nihilus, but once again it wasn't directed at Ruby. The weapon, the weapon. His greatest treasure, his greatest failure… the thorn that cut into his blackened and rotted heart during every waking moment. The sign of his absolute guilt and failure to protect those that mattered the most to him.

Nihilus pulled inwards, his poisonous semblance withdrawing back into his soul. He felt the eyes that were not his own shift and change until they were back to the cursed colour of the original owner, the caged power within baying at him to be released again.

But he would not, for Nihilus had mastered his semblance years ago.

"Very well, Ruby." Nihilus extended his hand outwards, his will reaching into the folds of reality where he kept his chains and his weapon. "You and I will do battle, just as the Lord of Sorrow did before you."

Nihilus felt the cursed handle of the weapon slide into his hand, "Come to me… Guilty Thorn."

He drew the blade free with a flourish of red and gold unseen to his eyes. The weapon of Pyrrha Nikos, his Pyrrha Nikos.


Beacon, present day…

"Come to me… Guilty Thorn."

Ruby stared at the sword as her old friend drew it. The blade looked just as she remembered it, a golden edge with rich red paint adorning the inner metal. This was the blade that had once been Miló, but now it was… something else. Jaune, Nihilus, had twisted it to suit his image of the world.

Miló had been something that shone with glory, a beacon of hope for any who saw it, a symbol of a huntress.

Guilty Thorn was dark and the blade seemed to absorb light, a wretched thing of hatred, the tool of a murderer.

But Guilty Thorn was worse than that, far worse. Ruby had seen first hand what the blade had done to Ozpin. That sword was everything a hunter stood against. Jaune had done something to it, maybe something cruel, or maybe something justified. That sword sheared through aura as though it wasn't there, and the wounds it left festered and blackened from the sheer hatred Nihilus had shifted it into.

So all it took was the slightest cut, a little knick, and an immortal wound was made. Something that would never heal.

"Thank you, Jaune." He was Jaune. He may not remember, he may not acknowledge it. But he was Jaune.

With a hiss of pressurised air, Ruby removed her helmet, her pale face being granted the sunlight once again. Was this what he had felt? Jaune had spent years locked away, never seeing the sun, never feeling the wind on his skin… was this how he felt when he had stepped outside for the first time? Ah… no, it was worse than that. Jaune's first taste of freedom in years, and he had walked into a blizzard.

Maybe he hadn't ever walked out…

The pale and twisted man she saw before her was Jaune Arc, but he was so much less than he had been.

"Are you ready to die, Ruby?" his grin was feral, unhinged, "Ready to join the others and face oblivion?"

Ruby drew Crescent Rose and held it out in scythe form before her, "When I was young, I believed heroes never died."

"How arrogant."

Nihilus charged her with unbelievable speed, so fast that Ruby used her semblance just so she could react.

Guilty Thorn screamed across the metal of Crescent Rose, Nihilus' charge taking him a few steps past and behind her.

Ruby didn't have time to react further though, as not a moment later he struck again, the defiled sword lashing out for the back of Ruby's neck.

Conserving aura in a fight like this was pointless, so Ruby made full use of her semblance. The blow was battered upwards fast enough that the force bled away-

Nihilus' free hand slammed into Ruby's face, the unbelievable force punting Ruby to the ground.

The shock was jarring for Ruby, the power behind the blow immense. But she knew better than to just sit there. Ruby was moving the moment she hit the ground, a brief flash of pain marring her left eyebrow before she managed get to her feet and face her opponent again.

Blood dripped down her face.

Nihilus smirked and flicked the blood off Guilty Thorn, the sting on Ruby's brow intense.

A wound that would never heal.

"You know what this sword does?"

Ruby did. Immortal injuries… it wouldn't scar - no, it would just keep bleeding. No scab, no healing, and no aura would ever change that. The wound went beyond physical - the blade cut the soul. The body was just a convenient route for the sword to take.

"Where did you learn to use a sword?" Ruby asked instead. That was something that had bugged her since he murdered Ozpin. Jaune hadn't used a sword at Beacon. Though Pyrrha may have taught him...

Nihilus swung the blade in lazy arcs, "I never did, but Cinder and Amber knew how. Their knowledge is my knowledge."

Amber was the fall Maiden, so that almost made sense. But Cinder? Who was that meant to be? Someone else he had absorbed? Or… or maybe Cinder was the one that had originally attacked Amber? That was one mystery that had never been solved. And that would mean that Cinder was the one that broke him out of prison.

They'd never been able to identify those ashes.

But now she knew. For all the good it did her…

Ruby didn't wait any longer, she had to end this fight. With Semblance-enhanced speed she leapt in for a horizontal slash, aiming to split her old friend in two.

Nihilus raised his sword and blocked.

Ruby's attack stopped dead, her strength utterly eclipsed by what Jaune had become.

But there was little time to react further; Nihilus' arm lashed out and punched her solidly in the gut, Ruby only barely managing to let the blow take her backwards without knocking her over.

Staggered and off balance, Ruby struggled to block the following two strikes, the initial upwards slash almost taking her off her feet before the following downwards slash very nearly caught the top of her head - and it would have were it not for her hasty deflection.

Nihilus lashed out again with his tainted sword, but this time Ruby caught it on the join between the shaft and blade of her scythe. "Damn it, Jaune," she hissed as she struggled against his strength, "remember that promise we made? We were going to be heroes together!"

"You are an optimistic fool," Nihilus hissed, incredible strength pressing down on her. "You have no idea how wrong you are!"

"Explain it to me, then!"

Before now, Ruby had never cared for why Jaune fell, but now she wanted to know - now she needed to know.

Nihilus frowned viciously.

The pressure on Crescent Rose vanished abruptly and Ruby found herself being thrown backwards.

But something was wrong. The world around her shifted and changed, the image of Beacon vanishing as pure white snow materialised. She suddenly found herself on a icy hill, the light snowfall doing nothing to diminish the horror of what Ruby was seeing.

Mountains of bodies. Some bloodied, others ashen, but all dead. The snow did nothing to take away from the horror she was witness to.

The image snapped, and suddenly Ruby was at Beacon once again, Nihilus standing opposite her.

"Feeling ill?" Nihilus demanded, "I'd guess you're about to vomit."

Ruby shook. What the hell had she just seen?

"You saw it, didn't you?" Nihilus glowed slightly, a deeply green aura beginning to surround him. "That's what being a hero means. That is the hell I live in. The semblance of some girl allows me to show you the world I ended up in - see it again for yourself!"

The world shifted again, the horrifying image of the mountains of corpses blurring back into view, this time the image of Nihilus following suit. It was just an illusion, Ruby knew that, but it didn't change the deeply unsettling feeling.

It even felt cold. The icy sensation of the snow prickling against her face as Ruby stood opposite her opponent. The sheer despair that this hell radiated was unbelievable, so incomprehensible in nature that Ruby could only stand rooted to the spot, lest it wash her away.

"A fool who knows his dreams are unattainable, but comes anyway. A fraud without a will of her own, who has wasted her life on a ridiculous ideal." Nihilus sneered at her, "That is who we truly were, Ruby. Who you still are."

Ruby raised Crescent Rose.

"Saving people just because you want to is selfish." Guilty Thorn glistened from the snow, "You and I are defects of humanity, we never should have existed in the first place! There is no point in a life like yours!"

Ruby couldn't help but feel tears prickling at her eyes.

"You should know now that I am your ideal, just as you should know that your dream of saving everyone will never come true."

The shout Ruby gave was equally one of despair as it was of anger, Crescent Rose jerking as a round was fired.

Nihilus battered the bullet away with ease.

"Now tell me," Nihilus leaned in closer, utterly uncaring as he moved into range for Ruby to slash his face, "knowing what you know, and having lived through what you have, do you still want to be a hero?"

Ruby flicked her head to the side, a small smattering of blood flicking off from her wound. "Now? No. But when I was young, I had to become one no matter the consequences."

Nihilus scoffed, "I remember being the SAME! It was the only thing I'd ever been passionate about, even though I knew that I didn't have the heart to do what I needed to do as a hero."

Nihilus lashed out with the tainted sword, the downwards blow barely blocked in time by Crescent Rose. They held the lock, Nihilus' strength against Ruby's. "But you?" he sneered, towering over her, "You are worse than that. I see it in your soul. Being a hero and helping people was never your dream. It was the dream of another, someone you adored."

Ruby grunted and tried to push against him.

"You saw how happy they were. You began to think you could have that happiness yourself. It is not your dream to help people, you're just as selfish as I am!"

"No!" Summer Rose… it couldn't be true. Ruby wasn't just copying her mother…

"Your ideals are second hand! Ideals that this… person failed to live up to! You're doing this because you're selfish, because you like to believe you're right!"

Ruby felt the tears escape her, the water leaving freezing trails of moisture on her face. "You're wrong…"

Nihilus leaned in further, "Hero? Don't make me laugh. Just because the idea consumes you, it doesn't mean being a hero was what you truly wanted. It's nothing but a borrowed dream!"

Ruby's strength faltered, and all in the space of a second Nihilus grabbed the shaft of Crescent Rose with his free hand and slashed deeply into her leg with his tainted sword.

Ruby screamed as she tumbled backwards to the ground, Nihilus releasing his hold on her weapon. The pain was immense, deep and unyielding. The blade had sliced through the folds of her armour, narrowly missing the metal plating.

Ruby screamed again as she tried to drag herself backwards, Nihilus casually keeping pace with her, cursed sword swinging idly with blood dripping from the blade.

"You're nothing but a faker!" he shouted with a downwards swing of Guilty Thorn.

Ruby battered the blow away gracelessly as she roughly forced herself to her feet despite the pain.

Nihilus slashed again, "You're driven by a ridiculous obsession of sacrificing yourself for the sake of others!"

Ruby held her weapon out to block, but her strength failed. Guilty Thorn slammed into Crescent Rose and kept moving forwards, dragging the scythe with it as the tainted sword bit deeply into Ruby's right side.

Ruby opened her mouth to scream in agony, but only blood escaped, the gorgeous red smearing out of her side and pooling into her lung.

Nihilus twisted the blade in her, "And look!" he sneered, "This is the result!"

Ruby gagged and spat blood, Crescent Rose clattering to the seemingly snowy ground as the last vestiges of strength left her. Guilty Thorn was the only thing holding her up now, the wretched blade cutting deeper as her weight settled on it.

Nihilus leaned in closely, "You could never be a saviour, you never had anything to save!"

"A-are you talking about me, or y-you?" Ruby asked wetly, lifeblood ebbing away.

Nihilus stilled, his face shifting to a hateful expression. "I became the embodiment of justice," the sword jerked as Nihilus kicked her off and to the ground, "and justice can be cruel!"

Ruby lay there, the illusion around them fading until it looked like they were in Beacon once again. The sun was shining… good, she didn't want to die on a rainy day…

Nihilus leaned over her, "Has it dawned on you yet? That a world where everyone is happy is just a fairy tale."

Ruby smiled a bloody smile. The immense pain she was feeling was brutal, but transient. It was all fading away...

Nihilus slammed Guilty Thorn downwards, the rotting metal piercing through Ruby's heart and chest. "And if you can't live without that dream, then let it drag you down and drown you!"

Ruby smiled as blackness shrouded her vision… maybe… maybe she could see Pyrrha on the other side, and apologise…

Yeah… that would be nice…

Everything stilled, and Ruby Rose died.


3


A/N

Big chapter is big. Yay.

I've had a really shit week, what with having found out a good friend of mine only has about two years to live. So I feel I can be forgiven for not doing a long authors note.

Reviews:

DeWatermelonGod:

Thanks for reviewing.

Thank you, I try.

Shaded Azure:

Thanks for reviewing.

See the joke I put in for you? Someone did get him a samwhich.

Tobi14:

Thanks for reviewing.

Nihilus has done some pretty messed up things, this was perhaps one of the crueler ones. Jaune saved thousands of lives by delaying Nihilus, but it was just that - delaying. The Lord of Hunger will get his due, one way or another. The relationship between Ozpin and Nihilus is an odd one, it has gone through many changes and shifts, but it will end in a way that may surprise you.

What inspires me to write isn't a 'dark' Jaune, quite the opposite actually. What is good? What is evil? Both are concepts relative to the individual - people don't do 'evil' things because they want to further the cause of 'evil'. If you considered 'evil' to be positive, would that not make it 'good'? Thus meaning that you can only further 'good'. The point I'm trying to make is that everyone is the hero of their own story, Nihilus feels his actions are perfectly justified retribution for the crap he went through - in his situation I would have done the same.

Good and evil are just words, life is about the individual. Preconceptions of what is right and wrong are only relevant so long as you wish to conform to what is expected of you.

Oh yeah, and Cinder is totally like a Sith - gold eyes and all.


Thank you all for reading, and remember to leave a review!