Wraith
Chapter Thirty One
Beta: Smithrooks
Ashes of Eden
Beacon, present day…
Jaune wasn't sure how long he sat there. It was just him; alone in a courtyard smeared with the ashes of an alternate version of himself, and the bloody corpse of an alternate Ruby Rose.
Was this what victory felt like? It tasted hollow and bitter, there was no glory to be found in this. Was this what Nihilus had felt like? For all his power, for all his might, he was just a broken shell of a man who had failed to live up to whatever his ideals were.
Just like Jaune…
He'd killed Violet, the actual Violet. Whatever fragmented shards of her soul Nihilus had kept within him were dead and gone, the sensation of brief fire and the clicking of his fingers… she was never coming back. Not ever.
"Lord of Betrayal…"
The words were just a phantom of memory past, an echo in the wind. Lord of Hunger, Lord of Pain, Lord of Sorrow… and now Lord of Betrayal - Jaune. Nihilus had only ever mentioned the three, the wraith feeling some twisted and sick pride in his own lordship, the Lord of Sorrow being something he loathed and revered, and the Lord of Pain being something he hated beyond belief.
What did that make Jaune then? The Lord of Betrayal?
Jaune killed them…
Killed them… the actual family. Violet was freed, burned away. Nihilus was defeated; maybe not gone, but his physical hold on the world was released and his spirit broken beyond measure.
That scarred and horrid figure Jaune had killed right at the very end, that wretched aberration of what Jaune himself looked like… that had been what Nihilus really was. That was what Nihilus had been before he fully discarded the mantle of being an Arc - his face shredded to ribbons and his body sickly and wasting away. That was the real Nihilus, Nihilus in his truest form - not the indomitable monster he liked to play at being.
Just a broken shell of a man…
And Jaune had ruined him further.
Jaune shivered, a weight unseen settling on his soul.
It hurt… it hurt…
Jaune didn't feel like moving, he didn't feel like doing anything. There was nothing there, but it felt like he had chains wrapped around his soul and a sword in his heart.
Chains around his soul and a sword in his heart…
It couldn't be…?
What were the words Nihilus used? What had he said? "Come to me," Jaune whispered, praying that it wouldn't work, "Guilty Thorn…"
The cursed sword shimmered into existence with a brief flash of gold light and clattered to the ground next to him.
Jaune wanted to cry. The feeling in his heart faded, but he knew it wouldn't last - the sword was too dangerous to keep, and it was too dangerous to try and palm it off to someone else. And Jaune had a horrid feeling that it would find its way back to him one way or another. As wretched and hateful as the dark blade may be, it almost felt like it had chosen Jaune, that its unyielding hatred for the world was matched by some twisted devotion.
Jaune sobbed and the sword faded away, the wretched feeling of its presence lingering in his soul. Nihilus' final 'gift' to Jaune, then. The sword, and… "Unravel," Jaune cried as he gave the command.
Unbreakable chains coiled at his feet, golden pools of light hovering above and granting Jaune absolute control.
Why would Nihilus do this? A curse? Something to punish Jaune for his actions? The chains and the sword were Nihilus' two greatest possessions, even if he absolutely loathed their existence. And to give them to Jaune…
"The Lord of Hunger curses you!" The real Nihilus had screamed that at him, as Jaune was killing him… "SUFFER UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE!"
It came down on Jaune like a tonne of bricks - Nihilus had granted his last cruelty. Jaune was stuck like this.
Forever.
Amity Colosseum, many years ago…
Jaune pounded his fists against the tiled ground beneath him, the colosseum shuddering from the force.
Something was happening. Jaune shouldn't be that strong. He was a wet noodle compared to his friends, but now strength like he'd never known flooded his body like a narcotic and Jaune felt like he could shatter the world if he hit it hard enough. His muscles were bulging with barely restrained power, might enough to crush whatever he touched.
He felt pleasure, but it was faint compared to what he felt a moment ago. This was transient and shallow in nature, where before it had been deep and Jaune had wanted it to never end.
But something was wrong. People were screaming, and… dying? Why were so many lights winking out of existence throughout the stadium? He… he had to help them. But Jaune didn't see what was attacking, he only saw the lights of hundreds of people just ebbing out of existence. More disturbing was that their souls were vanishing too, something eating away at them the moment their bodies faltered. Had some kind of new Grimm broken onto the stadium? That was the only explanation as to why Jaune couldn't see any attackers.
Jaune shuddered as a tremor passed through his body, an overwhelming feeling beyond description flooding through his veins.
Pain spiked in Jaune's head and he lashed out, his fist pounding against the ground below him.
It shouldn't have happened, but it did. The arena sheared in two under the impossible strength Jaune held, stone and metal tearing away like they were mere tissue paper.
Jaune screamed, abhorrent agony spearing through his senses as the last of the people on board Amity either died or fled. He was alone, but suddenly everything hurt. Every noise was like a siren wailing in his ear, every touch to his skin felt like knives being driven into his nerves. It hurt, it hurt so badly…
HUNGRY.
Wait, no. There was still one person, someone green… green. Monstrous and fake, but still something, someone Jaune was infinitely pleased to see. Penny.
"Penny?" Jaune tried to shout, but it came out more like a harsh whisper instead. She wasn't moving, there was something on top of her. "Penny?"
Her green light was jerking on the spot, pinned to the ground by something Jaune couldn't quite make out in his haze. Part of the arena perhaps? It didn't matter now, she was the only one left. He had to help her, help her and find out what was happening.
The split in the arena widened and the stadium shuddered. Amity was breaking. But he had to get to Penny, he had to save her. That was what heroes did, they saved people.
HUNGRY!
Jaune staggered to his feet, each jerky step causing another tremor to tear through the already pulverised arena. Why was that happening? Jaune stepped towards the downed girl, she was saying something that he couldn't make out…
Jaune limped closer, not injured as such, but still under immense torment. He hurt, everything hurt.
"Penny?" he dropped to his knees beside the downed girl, Amity lurching violently again.
"Jaune!" her voice sounded like nails on glass to his tortured mind, "You must deactivate your semblance immediately."
Semblance? What was she talking about? No, no, no he had to focus. He had to get her out of the… whatever was pinning her.
"Jaune, your duties as a hunter obligate you to Vale so as to defend it from the Grimm and ensure capture of the rogue element."
HUNGRY!
Rogue element? What was she talking about? Jaune was having trouble hearing, trouble understanding too. His mind was so hazy, like everything was coming across a great distance. "Don't worry," Jaune gasped as his hands fumbled around to grab her under the shoulders. He just had to pull her out… "I'll get you out, I'll save you-"
Her delicious-looking fake aura flickered in very real alarm. "No! Don't-!"
Jaune pulled.
Amity shuddered.
Jaune fell backwards, his grip on the girl not faltering as something gave way.
"Ah."
Penny seemed at a loss of what to say, though she didn't sound particularly pained - quite the impressive feat considering what Jaune had just done to her.
From the waist up, Jaune had freed Penny from whatever was pinning her… but her legs hadn't come along. He'd ripped her in half.
"T-this is awkward," Penny stuttered from Jaune's arms, "it would be best if you just left me and went to Vale!"
Penny wasn't dead.
HUNGRY!
Jaune 'stared' at her for a long moment. He'd ripped her in half, and yet Penny wasn't dead. Blindly, Jaune reached down to the gaping wound and pawed the area, his mind disjointed and jumbled as his thoughts tried to catch up to what was happening.
Metal. Cold and hard metal. That actually explained things - rather than Penny being some freak born without a soul, she was just a robot that had aura. That was nice, Jaune was hungry…
Amity violently jerked to the side, the entire stadium tilting roughly. "I'm not leaving you," Jaune slurred, words blurring together through his haze, "I won't leave anyone…"
Jaune staggered to his feet, hefting the top half of Penny with him as he went. She wasn't heavy. Actually maybe she was, but Jaune couldn't feel the weight at all through the impossible strength that made his muscles bulge and swell impossibly. Hopefully all the important bits of her were in the half he had, Jaune wasn't sure what exactly was happening but he knew Amity was breaking apart - and he did not want to be on board when that happened.
"Jaune, what are you doing?" The false human in his arms demanded softly as Jaune staggered towards the nearest exit.
"I'm-" HUNGRY! "I'm getting us out of here."
Something was pulling, he felt the presence of the lights that he so desperately craved down below, the hundreds of thousands of souls in Vale. They looked divine, so delicious in a way that food just wasn't. He wanted them. He wanted them so badly.
"Jaune," The android in his arms was speaking, why was he carrying her again? No, no, no, he was saving her. That's right. Saving her. "Your eyes are yellow."
Eyes? Yellow? That didn't matter, escaping mattered. The ground shook, stone cracking and breaking with each shuddering step that Jaune took. He couldn't control his strength, every time he lugged his legs forwards he was stomping hard enough to break the ground beneath him. Jaune kicked through piles of ashes as he moved, why was there so much ash? It was everywhere, sticking in the air like a poison as Jaune moved. Piles of the stuff clung to the walls and floor; there was so much, but for the life of him Jaune couldn't think of where it could have come from.
Burnt air assaulted Jaune's lungs as he stepped into the outer edges of Amity, was something on fire? The colosseum was breaking apart, the Dust reactors that kept it in the air must be damaged in some way - maybe from the damage Jaune was causing.
Jaune's blind eyes searched desperately for some kind of vehicle for him to get off the station with, there had to be something - anything. There was normally a fleet of waiting air-buses to ferry people to and from the colosseum, but no matter how desperately Jaune searched there was nothing.
No way off.
Amity shuddered, the sound of a distant explosion tearing through Jaune's haze for a moment. But this time something was wrong, Jaune felt it in the way the ground quaked. They were losing altitude.
Right over the heart of Vale.
And if Amity crashed into the city, then Vale would be destroyed…
"Jaune," the broken machinery in his arms struggled mightily, but whatever strength she had was worthless compared to Jaune's might. "The station is falling. I predict a one hundred percent likelihood of it crashing into Vale if something is not done!"
Jaune staggered close to the rail overlooking the city, blind eyes wide as he stared at the delicious looking lights below. They were all people, every single one of them.
And the overwhelming majority would die the moment Amity slammed into the ground.
With impossible strength Jaune nudged the rail, the metal twisting and warping as it bent. This was the only way, the only path of the sinking station. From there… Jaune wasn't sure.
Another explosion rocked the colosseum, and Jaune stepped off the ledge.
He just hoped that his landing strategy was better than his last two.
Beacon, many years ago…
Cinder Fall was not a woman who liked surprises.
In fact, one may even say that she hated them.
This surprise though… this was one she could work with.
Vale was burning, Amity was falling, and Beacon was besieged. It was as beautiful as she had dreamed it would be.
Cinder, for all her clairvoyance, hadn't foreseen the Arc boy going insane during his match today. Nor had she foreseen him killing the overwhelming majority of people in the stadium, including the irritant Qrow that had prevented her from stealing the Maiden powers in their entirety the first time. But watching as that foul man rotted and withered had been delicious.
Emerald had been on Amity at the time, and she too was dead. But that didn't infringe on the plan; she had only been necessary in helping generate enough negativity to summon a Grimm attack and awaken the Dragon. But little Jaune had done that job for her, and with far better results too.
But that was expected, given that he'd just slaughtered hundreds of people on international television.
It had been a simple matter to organise the White Fang to attack early, the stupid animals all too eager to jump into the slaughter.
Even now as Cinder stepped into the lower levels of Beacon, she couldn't help but smirk. Everything was going far better than she had ever planned; how exactly the Arc boy managed his carnage was lost to her, but that didn't stop her from appreciating the effects.
"M-Ma'am?"
Ah, dear Mercury. The boy was uneasy at the sheer number of Grimm present. Cinder couldn't particularly blame him, he did not have the same protection as she. Though it wouldn't matter much - at this point Mercury was a convenience, but not a necessity.
"A-are we sure the Maiden is here?"
"Be quiet," she commanded, the boy falling silent instantly. Good. "She is here." All she had to do now was to get the Maiden, and that was mere steps away.
Cinder stepped into the darkened sublevel, her minion dutifully following.
Aside from the dull roar of battle overhead, there was nothing. The screams of the dying were quiet and distant, and at best they would have only been a mild annoyance. All was still, silent… waiting.
Cinder rounded the corner, eyes widening slightly as she took in the scene before her.
"I must remember to thank Glynda for her ever-sharp intuition."
Ozpin stared at her, brown eyes piercing behind his small glasses. Behind him was the steel and glass coffin containing the Maiden.
This was bad. Very bad. Ozpin wasn't an opponent to be taken lightly, especially given the lack of a surprise attack or, infinitely better yet, the full powers of the Fall Maiden.
Beside her, Mercury gulped.
This wasn't a fight she could win without the full power of the Maiden behind her. Survive perhaps, but not win.
"Headmaster Ozpin," Cinder purred, false warmth in her voice, "what a pleasant surprise to see you here. I rather expected that you would be seeing to your wayward student, now cowering in the shadows."
Ozpin tapped his cane against the ground, the green lights on the walls flickering slightly as he did. What was he doing?
"Mr. Arc can be recovered in time," the older hunter tapped his cane again, lights flickering, "and when he is I must remember to thank him for giving me the practice I had been lacking in using aura sight."
Aura sight? What was he-
The cane tapped the ground thrice, the lights dying and absolute darkness consuming them.
Something slammed into her with the force of a truck, the narrow point of the object making her aura buckle briefly as Cinder was thrown backwards.
"I do believe, Miss Fall," Ozpin's voice echoed in the darkness, "that this is checkmate."
This… was not going as planned.
…
Vale, many years ago…
John Arc was a brave man. He had fought hordes of Grimm alone, he had been forced to watch as his team died in pain, he watched as his wife was torn from him.
But John Arc was afraid.
Vale was on fire, Grimm poured through the city, the White Fang were running rampant, and Atlas had lost control of their machines - machines that were even now slaughtering innocents.
But that wasn't what made John fear.
His son was in danger. John had been afraid from the moment that Jaune had run away to join Beacon; John knew that the path of a hunter was one that ended only in death, but Jaune was old enough to make his own choices. His own decisions.
John had left his daughters in the capable care of his eldest child, Violet, so he could come to Vale and ensure Jaune's safety through the harshest training he could possibly muster.
But then the Breach happened… and it was clear to John that there was no real training that he could offer Jaune. Only the money and resources to continue his own learning. Tricky thing that; John hit things with his sword until they died - not terribly complicated. Jaune had become a Dust mage, something John would never be able to help him with.
John had stayed in Vale, if only to watch the Vytal festival and to see how Jaune acquitted himself. He hadn't been in the arena itself, too many people, and seating cost a pretty penny that John didn't care to spend.
So he had watched as the nightmare unfolded, the television in his hotel room showing him his worst nightmares.
Jaune was killing people. He was screaming. He was in pain. It had to be a semblance - it just had to be. What exactly it was John didn't dare to guess, but he had to help Jaune. He had to get him out of there. He had to save him.
Worn boots pounded across the cracked pavement as John neared the landing platforms for the airbuses to the now desolate-looking Amity. The floating stadium was shuddering and shaking, machinery and masonry breaking apart and shattering from something within the behemoth itself.
He had to save Jaune. He had to get Jaune out of there.
All around him, civilians screamed for help as Grimm or Atlas drones mowed them down. But John didn't stop. They were secondary to helping Jaune. Everything was secondary to helping Jaune.
John battered men and women away to get to the airships. Aura-enhanced strength may have hurt them, but that didn't matter. Only getting to Jaune mattered. Everyone else was irrelevant.
A rattling explosion tore through the air above him, more debris being torn loose from the floating colosseum as it began to lose altitude.
Wait, lose altitude?
John's green eyes widened as the realisation hit him. Amity was falling, Amity was falling. Right over the heart of Vale. That… that would kill them all! What was left of the city would be consumed by the Grimm and all the outlying villages would wither without the Kingdom's protection.
No, no. John wouldn't let this be the end. He would get Jaune, get back to Dorme, and get the hell out of there. If Vale was to be destroyed then he would take the Arcs elsewhere. If the Atlas tech running around killing people was any indication, then war was brewing - but in that case John would just take his family to Vacuo. Nobody gave a shit about Vacuo, it was just all fucking sand.
People were screaming, but John ignored it. His frantic effort to get into one of the air buses ceased as John's dull green eyes locked onto one of the shapes falling from Amity, the human shape.
"Jaune," John whispered. He could feel it deep in his gut, the knowledge that the speeding blur heading to the ground was his son.
He needed to save him.
Jaune wouldn't land too far from where John was now, but unless John did something then Jaune would land sooner than he could reach him - and then he would just be chow for the Grimm or the Atlesian droids.
John wouldn't let that happen.
John felt his aura shift and uncoil as his semblance oozed into the world. His fear became the fear of those around him, terror spearing through their souls until even other hunters cowered at the sight of John.
But that was what John's semblance was, he made people afraid.
People pulled away from him as quickly as their terror-wracked bodies could when John ran past. It would attract the Grimm to them, but that was necessary if John wanted to get to Jaune unimpeded.
John dashed through the cowering masses, but he kept his eyes on the falling form of Jaune who looked to be only seconds away from landing. God he hoped that Jaune had a landing strategy, a fall from that height would be enough to maim even a hunter if they botched the landing bad enough.
The sound of shattering stone and a pained shout attacked John's overused senses, the landing of his son shearing through one of the nearby buildings.
Stone and masonry showered John as he pushed onwards, but he didn't hesitate. Not even for a moment. "Jaune!" he cried, eyes wildly searching for his boy, "Jaune! Speak to me!"
John charged into the now shattered structure his son had made his landing in. Broken stone crunched underfoot and the growl of a Grimm pushed John into a furious rage. Grimm would not claim another member of his family. He wouldn't allow it!
A Beowolf came into view, the dark mass looming over the fallen form of Jaune.
John roared, his righteous anger at the foul creature before him plain for all to see. Quick as a flash, his sword was drawn. Crocea Mors more than enough to slaughter the beast that hovered near Jaune.
The Beowolf barely had a second to turn to face its new opponent, red eyes briefly widening in surprise before its life was snuffed out.
The head barely had time to bounce on the broken stone before it faded away, the terrible anger of John Arc washing away just as quickly as it had come. Jaune. He had to get Jaune.
"Dad?" the voice was weak as it reached John's ears, and for one single, terrible moment John thought it was because of an injury.
But it wasn't. As John collapsed to his knees beside his son his eyes frantically covered the younger man's form, searching for anything amiss, any possible wound. The terrible scars were there of course, the disfiguring marks that made the boy almost unrecognisable from his original self. His eyes were closed right now, the dull bandanna he usually used to cover them missing. John wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not.
Jaune had landed on his back, that much was clear from the way he was shielding the… thing on his chest. Half a girl, half a robot girl.
"Salutations!"
...Whatever. There were more important things to deal with. Like getting the hell out of Vale before Amity met Remnant one final time.
Jaune's eyes opened, sickly yellow irises staring blindly into the world.
John hesitated for a moment. Yellow eyes. It had to be a semblance then, and whatever it was had killed all those people back when this started going down… no. John could not hesitate. He had to get Jaune out of here!
"Come on Jaune," John hefted Jaune's arm over his shoulder, mildly surprised that Jaune was able to keep hold of the machine girl in his hands. She looked to be Atlas tech, so John didn't exactly have high hopes on what exactly her purpose was. If Jaune could carry her then great, but if she slowed them down… she would have to go. "We need to go, Jaune."
John's aura tingled, but he ignored it. He had to get Jaune out, he could worry about other things later.
"Dad," Jaune slurred in his ear, "the colosseum is falling…"
Was his semblance doing this to him? He sounded like he was as high as a kite, but that couldn't be right. John knew a thing or two about aura and semblances, and unless there was a particularly impressive amount of self-hatred then a semblance couldn't have negative effects on the user. Unless… what had Jaune done to those people? Killed them, obviously. But how? Forced something on them or taken something away?
No, no, no. John had to focus on the now. Jaune wasn't killing anyone now, so everything else could come later. "I know, Jaune," John rushed, pulling the two and a half of them out of the broken building and onto the street, "that's why we need to get out of here."
Jaune murmured something, but John didn't quite listen. They had to get out of the city, now.
"Warning!" the half-girl in Jaune's arms shouted suddenly, "My sensors indicate that there is less than two minutes until Amity Colosseum makes impact with Vale!"
Two minutes!? Shit, shit, shit! John quickened his pace as much as possible, Jaune's feet dragging across the ground as the Arc patriarch dragged him. Two minutes wasn't enough. If John dropped Jaune and sprinted then maybe he could survive. But that wasn't an option.
He wouldn't leave Jaune behind. He would never leave another family member behind again. Never.
"Jaune," John hissed desperately, "I can't carry you all the way! I need you to walk!"
Jaune's head rolled back, the vacant expression receding as the sickly yellow eyes stared blankly in the direction of Amity. "I- stop!"
Jaune jerked violently, John's grip faltering as his son slipped to the ground.
"No!" John shouted as he turned to grab Jaune, "Come ON!"
Jaune's free right hand reached out and battered his father's arms away from him.
SNAP!
John bit down on his tongue to restrain the howl of agony, his left forearm bent violently through the middle. Jaune had just broken his arm!
But apparently his blind son didn't notice the damage he'd done to his father, because he just kept staring blindly towards the falling monstrosity in the sky. "W-we need to stop it…" he slurred.
John cradled his wounded arm, his aura already working to soothe the damage. Just what the hell had happened? Why was Jaune so strong?! "Listen to me Jaune," John begged desperately, "we need to go! There is nothing we can do but make sure we survive!"
Before John's eyes, Jaune slipped out of his haze, focus covering the broken face.
It was the same look his mother used to have…
"I can stop it," Jaune whispered, his fingers tightening as he sat up.
"No you can't!" John cried, uninjured arm grabbing his son by the shoulder. "Nothing can stop that! We need to go!"
Jaune pushed John away.
John knew that it was probably unintentional, but it still hurt.
The world tumbled end over end as John flew back, his ribs cracking violently as Jaune punted him backwards. John's back slammed into the stone wall of a nearby building, the masonry cracking and splintering as the huntsman smashed into it.
For a moment John blacked out, but an iron will snapped reality back into place for the hunter. The smoke of the burning city and the howls of the dying and the Grimm served to anchor him. Dull green eyes locked onto his son, the boy that had become so powerful so quickly.
Jaune's hands were reaching towards the sky.
John staggered out of the broken wall he'd found himself in. He had to get to Jaune, he had to get them out of the city…
Something creaked overhead.
John's eyes snapped upwards, dull green orbs widening in horror at seeing how close Amity was to the city. They had mere seconds.
"Jaune," the elder man fell to his knees beside his son. He'd failed. They would die. Jaune would die. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He'd failed.
The grinding of tortured metal rang through the city.
John's eyes snapped open, his gaze settling onto the broken symbol of peace that hung in the air.
It wasn't moving.
Or more precisely, it wasn't falling.
John glanced at Jaune.
The blind boy's hands were shaking violently as a rainbow of aura sparked and hissed off his frame, his face twisted grotesquely in intense concentration and strain.
There was no way. No possible way that Jaune was holding Amity up…?
John stared. The massive crystalline formation of Dust that protruded from the bottom of Amity was glowing.
It was glowing white.
That wasn't the glow of Dust reactors powering the propulsion systems, that was the glow of aura.
Jaune screamed in agony from beside him as Amity was jerked to the side, the monstrously large construct moving.
John could only gape as his son saved Vale.
1237
A/N
So… yeah. Nasty stuff. Things are changing more obviously now, events shifting thanks to the altered circumstances and whatnot. Can anyone predict how this is going to go down? Seriously, I would be very surprised if they could.
Reviews:
Shaded Azure:
Thanks for reviewing.
Serious things. Shit is going down.
A fan:
Thanks for reviewing.
Indeed this story is continuing (we're maybe… halfway through? Give or take...). There is much left to be explored - this includes both the events leading up to Nihilus becoming the monster first introduced in chapter one, as well as events continuing in the present.
And thanks for the kind words.
COOLER:
Thanks for reviewing - I always love hearing from you.
Jaune's character has shifted greatly from canon, and his solution to the boat dilemma shows that.
The alternate RWBY were something of a mixed bag. Blake, and to a slightly lesser extent, Ruby weren't afraid of dying - in the end they embraced it. I wouldn't say Yang found peace in death, but she did find something she wasn't looking for (hint for the veryend of the story there). Weiss got the most shit deal out of all of them; but as you'll see next chapter, perhaps there is more going on there than one might think…
Arkos happened because Jaune is bleeding heart softie, beyond that I won't say for fear of spoilers. Oh and no, Yang and Ruby were decidedly not okay with Jaune. If they knew where to find him, Yang would kill him on the spot and Ruby would go off the handle in her own unique way. Luckily for Jaune, they did not know where to find him. Less luckily for Jaune, they knew where to find Pyrrha and her mysterious husband.
Alas, I thought you might have known me. My nickname is Jesus (long hair + beard = savior apparently) and many people call me this so I figured… well, it doesn't matter now. But feel free to ask questions whenever you want!
FractiousDay:
Thanks for reviewing.
You are entitled to your opinion, however much I may disagree with it.
The Powder Keg:
Thanks for reviewing.
Thank you! This was a hard chapter to write, but I feel it turned out well.
Jaune killed Violet for the final time. Jaune killed what Nihilus wanted to believe was Pyrrha. Jaune, perhaps unknowingly, made Nihilus feel hope for the first time in years - then he crushed that hope. I will keep writing for quite some time, and don't worry; Wraith is about only half done.
Thanks! After I finished Wraith I was planning on moving to novel writing
EWR115:
Thanks for reviewing.
Dun dun dun indeed.
TalonIbnLaAhad:
Thanks for reviewing.
I wanted the fight to show the pain and regret of their former friendship, Ruby finally letting go of her ideals and Nihilus verbally pouring out years worth of hatred. I'm glad you liked it. As for why he didn't do something crueller when he killed her - pity, and perhaps some small shred of empathy. Nihilus knows that Ruby killed his daughter, but he also knows that she a victim of being lied to and being blinded by hatred - Nihilus never actually hated Ruby. He was extremely angry, but it never escalated to hatred.
The issue of actually stopping Nihilus is a tricky one - something RWBY (the ones he killed anyway) likely wouldn't have ever succeeded in - Nihilus is functionally immortal, and they kept trying to kill him. At most, they may have destroyed his body eventually, but that would just piss him off enough to go nuclear. That being said, Nihilus is more fragile than one might think - but I won't spoil anything.
In regards to Salem: Yes! she is indeed a character. I can't quite remember if you (or someone else) asked this earlier, but Salem has a role to play. Bear in mind, however, that Wraith is the story of Jaune Arc and until she takes an active role she won't be included (don't worry, that comes later). And for reference - Nihilus can actually 'see' Grimm, just not in a convenient way (again, later), and he is fully capable of just going Scorched Earth if things actually get serious.
I loved your review, thank you for taking the time to post it!
Blaiseingfire:
Thanks for reviewing.
Thank you, that's what I was going for.
SoraReach:
Thanks for reviewing.
Fate Zero indeed. But I don't feel that takes away from it.
Tondori:
Thanks for reviewing.
Not precisely, but close enough.
Thank you all for reading and reviewing, I had a blast with all the reviews from last chapter! You know what would make it better though? More reviews! So don't forget to leave one!
