Wraith
Chapter Thirty Five
Beta: Smithrooks
Greeds Want
Grimmlands, many years ago…
One year after the Fall of Amity.
Salem swept into the room like a Wraith.
The two of her servants that were present rose to their feet and bowed their heads, as they should - she as their Queen, the Mother of Grimm, the Everlasting.
"Sit," she commanded with a wave of her pale hand.
They obeyed.
Such good little slaves, she does so enjoy it when people know their place in the world. The two were arranged on either side of the table; Watts sat calmly with his hands folded in his lap, and the disgraced Cinder had her eyes downcast.
"Watts," Salem breathed as she sat upon her throne, "report."
"Yes, my Queen," the mustached man obeyed, "the repairs throughout Vale are nearing completion, and all information regarding the actual events are either being covered up or blamed on the White Fang and Adam Taurus. The wreckage of the Colosseum has been left as is and the forest of Forever Fall is now greatly reduced in scope-"
He was stalling. He was covering useless and old information to make himself look better when he got to the point of it all - that he'd failed. "Enough," The immortal commanded, "tell me the truth - have you found him?"
Watts blanched, quailing under her red-eyed gaze. "N-no, my lady. I have been unable to locate the boy. I used all my contacts within the Kingdoms, and even they do not know where he is. It is as though Jaune Arc has vanished from the face of Remnant."
Salem hummed. That was unfortunate. Her minions were best when they actually achieved what she had ordered them to do, and after a year of solid failure Salem was growing… impatient.
People tended to die horrible and painful deaths when Salem grew impatient.
"He is one boy, Watts," Salem said softly, allowing dread to ooze into the air, "how has one barely trained hunter slipped beyond the grasp of the kingdoms? If Cinder's reports are to be believed, without the use of his semblance the boy would be barely above average in terms of ability."
That was of course, if Cinder was to believed. The girl had a tendency to embellish certain details in order to make herself look better, and that was sorely needed after her colossal failure during the Vytal tournament, something which had set back their plans by months…
Well, that and Salem's own desire to… acquire… the Arc boy.
Such an interesting thing; the power of the soul was never to be underestimated. When one truly began to understand the soul, so too did they begin to grasp at understanding the world around them. Salem herself had learnt this… a very long time ago. In a time where the sun and the moon were united and the Gods looked upon the world and all they had made, the time when man roamed a world without the Grimm.
Salem had been there with them - until their solution, until she gazed into the abyss of the soul, and the abyss gazed back into her. So she killed them.
All of them.
She killed all of them for what they did to her, for all the tortures that they heaped upon her.
All with her single, small little soul.
But the Arc boy… he had potential. All life had but one soul, one thing to keep it bound into the reality of mortality. But that didn't exactly apply to Jaune, did it? What was the number? Over a thousand? The power that the boy could access if he merely knew how… he could set the world on fire. No, more than that… one such as he could set all worlds on fire.
Someone like that only had two possibilities as far as Salem was concerned. They joined her, ruling beside her as an equal in all things.
Or they died.
It was simple, really.
The boy was a priority. Though the chances were extremely slim of him deciphering the true nature of the soul, Salem wasn't interested in finding out what would happen if the boy was influenced by Ozpin into… his side of things.
"I… I do not know, my lady," Watts answered, drawing Salem's attention back into the conversation. "But perhaps Cinder should be held accountable for letting him slip through her grasp back during the attack on Vale."
"That was hardly my fault!" The shamed girl spoke up for the first time in the meeting, "How was I meant to predict events going the way they did? Arc was irritating but otherwise irrelevant, no one could have anticipated what happened!"
On that at least, Salem could agree. The emergence of such a powerful semblance was… unexpected. Of course, it would have utterly no effect on her, but the same could not be said of her minions. Cinder was… wise… to stay away from the boy.
It was not wise, however, to fail in killing Ozpin and taking the relic. That much was beyond foolish of the stupid little girl.
"Enough," Salem commanded when Watts opened his mouth to retort, "I grow weary of this. Watts, you will redouble your efforts to locate the boy. Cinder, you will continue your training until little Jaune has been located."
Watts bowed his head in acceptance while Cinder glowered. Good. Anger was useful.
Perhaps training was the wrong word for Cinder's current task. But if she was to be able to ensnare the Arc boy she would need to have her aura strong enough to take the brunt of his semblance, and what better way to do that than to have her constantly face hordes of ravenous monsters? Again, the handy uses of Grimm.
It was pitiful, the way Cinder seemed so 'tortured' - as though the girl knew anything of real pain, of what true suffering was like. Pathetic.
Her two minions left the table, Salem's dark eyes following them as they stepped away. As useful as they were at times, there was still the irritating factor of their limited understanding of things. It was like they failed to see the most basic of truths that stood plainly before them. None of her servants could feel the ebb and flow of aura, they didn't understand as she did.
They didn't feel the titanic weight of the largest soul-mass in millenia washing over Sanus. It was like it was screaming to Salem, and yet her foolish little minions were deaf to it. Unfortunately Sanus was a large place, and tracking the boy down may take some time…
But, well… what was a little time to an immortal?
Mineshaft, many years ago…
One year after the Fall of Amity.
"I mean, how could he say that to me?!"
Jaune nodded absently, "That's really something."
"It's outrageous is what it is!" Violet ranted, "I remember when this town was a nice place! When people wouldn't spit at me in the streets and random guys wouldn't ask for a lay because they thought I must be desperate!"
"Yup," Jaune agreed, "I hear you…"
He wasn't listening.
He was too busy looking.
"It's harassment!" she continued, "Plain and simple!"
Yeah… Jaune would never, ever admit it to Violet, but conversations like this one had an uncanny ability to make him feel depressed. It was unfair to her, Jaune knew this, but that didn't stop him from feeling it. It was the mundanity that he craved, the normality that he found lacking in his everyday life. The way that she, and at times his father, would speak about little things - boring, dull things that made up everyday life.
Things that he didn't, couldn't, have anymore.
"I'm sure he doesn't matter," Jaune whispered into the dark, "If it's really serious just tell Dad, he'll sort it out."
Probably by breaking some poor bastard's face. But eh, details.
"Yeah," Violet agreed, "but I- you're doing it again, Jaune."
"Hmm? Doing what again?" Jaune asked vaguely, gaze locked onto his sister's soul.
"You're being all distant again," Violet shifted closer to him, nudging his shoulder gently. "Am I boring you?"
"No!" Jaune denied quickly. She never bored him, not ever. Without her and his father to keep him company he'd probably go insane from the loneliness. "I'm just… thinking, you know?"
Violet shifted again, "Tell me what about, then," She said softly, "tell me what you're thinking."
That was what Jaune loved about Violet; she was… kind. Perhaps not in the most obvious way, but there was a deep compassion in her that Jaune could never quite explain. Whenever she thought Jaune needed help she came running, and she was always there for him.
"Do you remember what I told you when I first said I wanted to be a hunter?" Jaune whispered lowly.
Violet chuckled lowly, her aura stirring in a low and melancholy way. "Yes, I remember… you were so little back then. You said you were going to be a hero and that you were going to make a world where no one cried."
Yeah… look how that one turned out. When Jaune peered into Vale he could almost feel the sorrow and suffering of all of those that he wronged, the misery so profound that it practically seeped into the air. Some because of all the usual reasons: Grimm, social issues and the like… but mostly thanks to him and the horror he wrought at Amity.
But it had been a year now, if Violet and John were to be believed, and Jaune had spent longer in this miserable hovel than he had ever spent at Beacon. And he'd spent most of that time hating himself, and trying to think of ways to either fix or undo the nightmare that he'd made.
"I also seem to remember you saying you were going to marry me."
Jaune scoffed, of course she would mention that. She just just loved to bring that up. "Focus Violet," he chuckled, "don't interrupt me when I'm being deep and philosophical."
Jaune couldn't see, but he got the distinct impression she was rolling her eyes.
"What I'm trying to say is, what if I could?" Jaune asked, "What if I could make people happy?"
"You've always wanted the best for everyone Jaune," Violet hugged him lightly, "What's changed?"
It was something perhaps born from his semblance, or maybe it was because he was acutely aware of how the soul worked, but this was something that Jaune had been thinking about for a while now. If he could reach out and take the soul of another, what's to stop him from doing something else to the soul? He knew what a soul and aura looked like when it was happy, when it was sad and everything in between. So… what was to stop him from just… fudging a few details and making someone happy?
"Ability, perhaps…" Jaune murmured, his soul reaching out towards the deep-seated melancholy within his sister.
"What are you- woah!" Violet cried out, but it wasn't pained. It was… happy?
It wasn't a major manipulation, just a few little things smoothed over and other things shifted into the pattern that Jaune recognized to be happiness. "How do you feel?" Jaune asked, hoping for the best.
Violet's hand smacked across his face in a ringing slap.
"Ow," she muttered as she rubbed her hand.
Jaune tilted his head to the side, the pain practically non-existent thanks to his aura. "That looked like it hurt."
Sarcastic perhaps, but that was what she deserved after slapping him in the face.
"Bastard," Violet groused, her voice tinged with a joy that both of them knew wasn't entirely natural. "What did you do? Why do I feel so happy all of a sudden?"
Jaune smiled, ugly and grimy skin on his face twisting unpleasantly. "I think I just found a way to be a hunter…"
He may not be able to fight, or leave his personal slice of hell in the mine, but he could bring joy.
And really, joy was the world's greatest weapon against the Grimm.
Beacon, present day…
Ozpin considered the book before him.
It was the mangled thing that he'd found within the room the alternate RWBY had used. It just repeated the same message over and over again, though how exactly the book did this was beyond the aged man. It spoke the words of Jaune, nay, it spoke the words of Nihilus.
And yet it also spoke of him being afraid, of having looked into the heart of the world, Remnant being on the precipice of change.
Ozpin shuddered, his eyes roving over the cursed tome. Surely Nihilus wasn't aware…? No, the words basically confirmed this. Nihilus had done it, he'd done the same thing as she had all those years ago. It went without saying, but the circumstances between Nihilus and Salem would have been vastly different, but for them both to have unlocked…?
No, how could Nihilus have done in a decade what Ozpin himself had failed to do for so many lifetimes? There had to be something else, something missing…
Ozpin leaned back and rubbed his eyes; wishing once more for the billionth time he could go back and change history, that he could undo the mistake he and others had made all those years ago that lead to this damnation.
If Nihilus, Jaune, had found the same truth as Salem had all those years ago, then the man must have been immeasurably kind to have acted as he did; with that kind of power it would have been just as easy to wipe Vale off the map as it was to kill an ant. And yet for all that power, the man instead had chosen to pursue a single target with mundane means… incredible.
Ozpin shivered, a cold feeling crawling up his spine as the room seemed to darken.
If Nihilus had truly done what Ozpin was beginning to suspect… Then he'd need to speak to Jaune. Either work to firmly entrench the boy onto their side, or at the very least guide him away from anything that might set him off.
This was bigger than the Maidens, much bigger. Their power was still of the natural world, something tangible and, comparatively at least, very young compared to the power that Nihilus had apparently tapped into. Nihilus must have been very kind indeed to have only acted as he did…
Ozpin sighed. It was times like this that made him feel so old… like his failures were dragging him down.
"But I cannot shirk my duty," the elder hunter whispered into the empty room, his resolve strengthening once more.
Perhaps it would be best to bring young Mister Arc into the fold, and perhaps explain the truth of matters. Ironwood would likely have a fit if Ozpin brought the boy in, but James lacked Ozpin's experience with such matters. Glynda may attempt to flay him for putting more pressure on the boy, but she would relent to him. Qrow would probably just offer young Jaune a drink.
Yes… when Jaune was fully recovered from his ordeal with his other self, Ozpin would tell him the truth. Give the boy a history lesson and explain why the world is the way it is, and tell the boy of the power his other half seemingly unlocked… and what he could have done with that power.
He'd get Jaune on their side, and maybe… maybe it would finally be enough to put Salem to rest. After so many years of her torment, she deserved her sleep…
Vale, present day…
It felt like he was drowning.
Jaune sipped his drink, grimacing at the foul and fiery taste.
It felt like his teammates were trying to drown him; they meant well, but the effect didn't mirror the intent. All the warmth and kindness they were offering him… it was too much. So he'd thought maybe it would be best if he were to escape, if only for a little while.
"Never escape, never leave. This is our shared grave."
Well, if Jaune was being completely honest, there was only one thing keeping him at Beacon now.
After all that Nihilus had done to him, and had made him do, Jaune had little desire to waste his time trying to fulfil the now-shattered dream of being a hunter. Why bother learning how to save others when Jaune had already failed so spectacularly at it?
"Salvation and damnation are the same thing."
No, Beacon was pointless to him. But as ever, the corruption of Nihilus ate at his soul, and apparently at at the soul of Weiss now.
That was why he would return. For Nihilus to curse Jaune was one thing, but Weiss…? He didn't see the point, but he wouldn't stand for it - just as he wouldn't stand for such a thing happening to any of his friends. Even if she did apparently hate him.
"Her hatred is shallow."
Jaune gagged as he took another sip of his drink, utterly ignoring the way the words slithered in his soul.
This place… to call it a bar would be flattering, despite what the sign above the establishment said. The Crow Bar… just some pissy little joint on the water side. Jaune hadn't ever really drunk any alcohol before, but given the way his life had been going, Jaune felt that he couldn't be blamed. Health issues or not.
"Why her?" Jaune pondered quietly into the night, fingers cradling the glass in his hand like a lifeline. "Why Weiss?"
A dark shadow gleamed in the shiny woodwork of the bar top, a monstrous face staring into Jaune. The cold of the night air seemed to cling to him, chilling the teen to his core.
He didn't even flinch.
"She does this to herself, Betrayer."
As delightfully forthcoming as ever.
Jaune glared at the reflection of Nihilus, "I hate you."
"I hate you too."
Nihilus wasn't dead. Jaune had been a fool for ever hoping that he had been. He'd known from the moment the beast kept speaking to him, insulting him, taunting him… of course, it didn't help the the cancerous ghost seemed to hover around him like a plague.
Everyone else was blind to him. Jaune had known that from the moment Ozpin, Glynda and Ironwood had utterly failed to react as the dark lord casually sat in on their interrogation of him.
Jaune, and perhaps even everyone, had been idiots to think that Nihilus would just die. Nihilus was more than that, more than just a body of flesh and blood. He was a desire, a force of will that existed merely because he decided it to be so. All Jaune had ever achieved was convincing the man to let go of his stolen body.
For all the good it did him.
"You're saying this isn't your doing?" Jaune ignored the strange look the bartender was giving him.
"Team RWBY spent their entire adult lives trying to *fight*me. Only recently was I kind enough to finally kill them. If I truly wanted the little Schnee dead, I would have killed them all at Beacon."
What a lovely way to answer the question without actually giving any useful information. Nihilus was useful like that - he always had something to say, but Jaune never thought it was helpful.
Someone plopped down into the stool next to Jaune. He ignored it.
"You know what's happening though," Jaune accused.
"Weiss is attacking Weiss. I believed the damage to her soul irreparable, but it looks like even in death the fragments cling to life."
Weiss is attacking Weiss? What drivel was that? More rhetorical nonsense. Damn him, damn Nihilus to whatever rotten hell the man was currently hiding from.
Something poked Jaune's side.
Jaune growled, not bothering to look, "Go away, can't you see I'm busy?"
He just wanted to drown himself alone, not to hear the insane giggles of Nihilus, not to put up with the prattling of his teammates, not to hear the noise of RWBY, and not to hear what some god-damned stranger had to say.
They poked his side again, harder this time.
Jaune's eyes blazed as he finally looked away from his drink, gaze snapping towards the irritant. "What?! What do you want?!"
He wanted to burn her. His fingers twitched in anticipation and rage that was not his own thrummed beneath the surface. But he controlled it, barely.
Mismatched eyes stared at him, one pink and the other brown. Hair matched the heterochromatic eyes, except in reverse - she looked like a damn idiot. A very short idiot too, not even reaching five feet by the look of it.
The tiny girl smiled at him, either unaware or uncaring to his anger. She held one hand out and gestured towards him and then rubbed her thumb and fingers together in the universal gesture for money.
Jaune's eyes narrowed, his mind suddenly taking note of the panicked and short gasps from the bartender.
The girl looked at him expectantly, her hand gesturing for him to give something to her.
Given the way the bartender shakily pushed a wad of cash in her direction, Jaune was pretty sure he knew what she wanted.
She was mugging him. And mugging the bartender too.
"Hey kid," the older man behind him whispered shakily, "just give her your money. She and her friend have had a protection racket on this place for years…"
Jaune glanced at the girl again.
She smiled at him.
"Look," Jaune sighed, "I really don't care if you mug this guy, but I'm not giving you my money."
Had this happened less than a fortnight ago Jaune would have either shit his pants or tried to stop her, but now? Now he didn't care. It didn't matter, nothing mattered. Not some little crook like her and not whatever crap she thought she deserved.
The girl's smile deepened, her raised hand lowering to a… parasol? Whatever, it wasn't like-
Jaune barely had time to jerk his head backwards as the dainty pink umbrella passed through where his face had been a moment before.
A second later a heeled boot slammed into his chest.
Jaune sailed out of the open bar, crashing into the pavement painfully as he skidded towards the waterside.
She definitely has hunter training. The thought stabbed at him the moment he stopped moving, the jarring shock of the attack a painful awakener. She was strong.
But so was he.
Jaune rolled to his feet with a groan, blue eyes locking onto the still smiling face of the girl. Using Dust was possible, but not preferred - it wouldn't look good if he burnt down half of Vale in a fury, and regardless of that he was low on Dust, running out of the crystals that Nihilus had given him.
So… that left what? Guilty Thorn? That weapon was poisonous, something that wanted to see everything die. Jaune… didn't think he could bring himself to use the wretched thing. So the chains then. They were powerful, but not massively destructive. He could fight with them if he was… careful.
"Last chance," Jaune pleaded as he rose to his feet, he really didn't want to fight her… "Leave me alone."
The girl just tilted her head and winked at him, slowly twirling her parasol in her right hand.
"Whatever then…" Jaune sighed, it was her loss.
Two small pools of golden light sprung to life on either side of Jaune's face, both only as large as about Jaune's head. A moment later massive chains shot out of them, the metal rocketing towards the small girl at tremendous speeds.
Jaune barely caught sight of her eyes widening before she disappeared.
The chains slammed into the ground, concrete cracking and wood splintering.
Jaune sighed, hopefully he wouldn't have to pay for that…
"I know you're still here," Jaune spoke into the seemingly empty air before him. He wasn't sure how he knew… but it was just nudging him and telling him that the girl was still here somewhere. "Can we not do this? I just want to get a drink before my friends come looking for me."
Something fluttered down before him.
Jaune snatched the small slip of paper from the air, the chains on either side of him fading away as his attention closed onto what was written before him.
Next time you go out drinking, go to The Club in downtown Vale. Ask for Junior to set you up with Roman if you ever want a job.
Jaune scoffed and shoved the paper in his pocket. Why the hell would he do that? The girl must be crazy.
Whatever. Jaune shrugged; it wasn't like it would matter in the grand scheme of things.
1237
A/N
This chapter is crazy. Nihilus is still around (I wouldn't call him alive…) and tormenting Jaune, Ozpin is scheming, and Salem is ruling. All very hint-y and spoiler-y if one reads into things…
Reviews:
Guest:
Thanks for reviewing.
Heh, that's what I was going for. Thanks.
Nerd315:
Thanks for reviewing.
Everyone's motives are based on personal desires, even if it's a desire to fulfil a family tradition or a desire to become a 'hero'. To Jaune (as well as most of the main cast) the ideal of being a 'hero' is still something they cling to, if distantly. It is true that Jaune wasn't directly wanting to be a hero - but he did want to be a hunter, and for him I imagine that there is little distinction between the two. For Jaune it isn't self sacrificial, it's self serving - but whoever says being self serving is bad is a fool.
Pyrrha is just as selfish as Jaune - and is that a bad thing? No, that's how people work. She believes she 'needs' to be a champion, to be powerful and to help people, and yet she also wants to be seen as a person and not a idol. She gains satisfaction from obeying the standard she has set out for herself, and as luck would have it most people would see that standard as being self sacrificing - so win/win for her.
The same can be said of Ruby - she believes she does the 'right' thing because it's 'right'. But that isn't true - that's not how people work. She does the 'right' thing because afterwards she feels satisfied and happy with herself. There is nothing wrong with this, that's just nature. As for why I chose to use Jaune instead of Ruby... several reasons. Firstly, being male myself I find it easier to work with male characters (generally). Secondly, her semblance is already established, so I couldn't really screw around with it too much. And most importantly... Whenever I write anything I tend to be a massive arse to my main character (shocking, I know), and this site seems to be full of people who have enough time to send lengthy PM's insulting me - so I didn't bother testing how I would go against the literal poster child for the entire series.
I don't particularly like any of the main characters either - the only one I don't outright hate from the main cast is Weiss (and that's a narrow thing...). I have seen some of the thing from Celtic Phoenix (not all) and I find myself largely agreeing with most of what he is saying.
And yes, inspired by Fate/Zero (second favourite anime). I love the fact that you took the time to politely point out your concerns, so thanks!
TalonIbnLaAhad:
Thanks for reviewing.
In regards to the name, eh, you'll see soon enough.
Nihilus did indeed damage all those around him, particularly Jaune, Pyrrha and Weiss. With reference to Weiss what is happening to Weiss though - I won't say directly, but perhaps the Weiss that Nihilus killed in Atlas wasn't quite as dead as everyone thought. Your second theory on the matter is interesting though, the theory that it could be Nihilus attempting to reform himself. Incorrect, but still interesting. Nihilus is an old beast, and one that was dead anyway. So Technically all that changed was Jaune convincing him to finally let his host body go. Jaune was being quite literal when he said that the rage of Nihilus will never die. Jaune has access to more power than he knows, but whether that power is actually his is debatable - the soul of Nihilus is a frightful thing after all.
Shipping wars abound, I suspect many people will be disappointed by the final result. Though I can always approve of tickling the beast.
I think you have grasped my main theme for this story quite soundly - perspective. Everyone is the hero of their own story, everyone believes that they know best... and yet, all all limited and narrow in their own ways. Nihilus has the most diverse understanding and perspective of all the characters so far, and where did that get him? Madness and suffering. Jaune has a much broader perspective than RWBY and NPR and yet he is stuck in a wretched existence that he barely tolerates. So whether having a broad perspective is a good thing is... debatable.
Thanks for the long review! Take care.
- The name is coming soon…
Thank you all for reading and don't forget to leave a review!
