Ruby felt her heart beating very quickly as she saw Jet flexing his Grimm arm. She had watched the transformation with her own eyes. Fur had sprouted, muscles growing, skin darkening. His whole left arm had been affected, or at least the part that Ruby could see. The part Jet hadn't found out about yet had been his teeth. Short fangs had replaced his canines.
This thing was transforming him into a Grimm! This power, the Angel of Darkness' end point was becoming a Grimm?!
"How many of you saw this?" Jet asked quickly, a very serious look in his bloody eyes.
"Just us." Ruby replied quickly. "The others are getting dressed."
"Do any of you have a spare glove?" Jet asked.
"Yeah." Yang replied, reaching into Ruby's pack on her back and pulling it out, ignoring her protests. Jet slipped it on, and curled down his long sleeve to cover up the fur.
"Not a word of this to the others." Jet hissed. "The last thing we need is this news causing panic. Understood?"
"Jet. I dunno-" Yang replied beside her, but she stopped when Jet bared his new fangs threateningly. Seems he did know about them.
"Fine." Ruby replied quickly. There would be no confrontation between her family, if Ruby had anything to say about it. "Yang, can you get the others?"
"Sure." her sister replied, and patted her shoulder before heading off. Ruby knelt down in front of her love, who gave her a sad smile.
"Seems like my time's running out, isn't it?" Jet asked her.
"Why didn't you tell us about the transformation?" Ruby asked, half angry, half worriedly. "You knew everything about this, so why didn't you tell me this was going to turn you into a Grimm?"
"I wasn't told about this part." Jet said, his eyes glimmering. "But I suppose it makes sense. First mind, then body. All is sacrificed to Deus in the end."
"You've got to fight it!" Ruby insisted. "You're not a Grimm yet, and you're still my love, so dammit just pull through!"
"I don't know if I can." Jet replied earnestly. "I don't even know if we'll reach the Festung der Schatten at all. Maybe we were destined to fall from the beginning, it would explain why I'm falling now. I should go, leave while I still can."
Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing. Jet was seriously losing hope at a time like this? She drew her hand back swiftly, and slapped him across the cheek as hard as she could. The CRACK echoed in the snowy plains.
"And then what?" Ruby asked him sternly. "You'll come back and kill everyone, if Flux doesn't do it first! We need you, not just to kill Flux, but to keep us together! You're the one keeping us going, inspiring us, heck you're even a god on our side! If you die, or go mad, we'll die too. Is that how you want us to end?"
There was silence. Jet's eyes narrowed dangerously, anger plainly visible in them. Ruby felt her heart beat. Did she go too far? Would Jet attack? He got to his feet and Ruby did too. With a roar, he ignited his flames, which glowed a pure red, his hands curling into fists.
"No. No, I don't." Jet growled. "You're right. Flux must die, no matter what. And if I go, who will slay her?"
He picked up his own backpack and hoisted it onto his shoulders.
"Thank you." Jet said, and hugged her. "I needed you to yell at me. Really, thanks."
"No problem." Ruby replied, and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll give you a better kiss when we get through the rest of the day."
"Promise?" Jet asked, and Ruby suppressed a laugh as his eyes lit up like a child offered some chocolate.
"Yes. Let's go." Ruby whispered, then grasped her lover's right hand and walked with him to the other side of the hot spring, Jet disabling the Warm field.
Jet kept walking resolutely. Nothing but walking. Even though they had been at it for about two hours since the hot spring, and the sun was only starting to set.
He flexed his Grimm arm concealed by his glove and sleeve. Perfectly capable. Stronger. Easier to kill with.
That last point left a bitter taste in his mouth. What was he becoming? Jet reached a hand to his forehead. Even though it was bitterly cold after the spring, he was sweating, as if sick with a fever. He could feel himself burning up, like his own powers were beginning to consume him. And yet, his mind was on a hair trigger, ready to react, to fight, to slay on complete instinct.
Jet bumped into Ruby, who had been walking ahead of him. He tripped and fell, hitting the snow with a crunch. Cold hit his face, and Jet struggled to his feet. His legs wobbled, nearly buckling, as if his strength was deserting him. Frustrated, he ignited his powers, and commanded them to provide support to his legs. As soon as he did, his legs were light as a feather, and completely under his control.
"Is everything okay?" Ruby asked, not looking behind her.
"Just slipped." Jet muttered back. This was not good. If he was being forced to use his powers to stay active, it would only mean he was relying on them. Either that, or he was becoming addicted to his own power, or at least his muscles were. It felt good.
"We should stop." Ruby said, turning around, and upon seeing Jet, her eyes widened with fear. "Izzet!" she called. "I need you here now!"
The telepath was by Jet's side in a heartbeat. Jet's heart skipped a beat. What was it?
"Everyone form a perimeter around Jet and Izzet!" Ruby called.
"What's wrong with him now?" Weiss asked from behind as Izzet turned to Jet, a serious look in her eyes too.
'Ruby thinks you're getting sick.' Izzet thought. 'And you're both sweating in a cold climate and I can see your legs struggling to hold you up. Call me paranoid but I must make sure its tiredness and not the start of a fever.'
'What is all this?' Jet asked her telepathically. 'I'm fine. Let's keep going.' He felt fine. He WAS fine. What part of that didn't they get?
'Stay still.' Izzet replied as he tried to move forward.
'Why?' Jet asked, his temper immediately surging to the surface. 'I'm not stopping, and if you try to stop me, I'll blast you all out of the WAY!'
Izzet clutched her head as his mental voice rose in volume.
'Don't you know who you sound like?' she asked him, an imploring look in her eyes. 'Stand STILL!'
Jet tried to move forward, but found he couldn't. He looked down to see a black field around his legs. A time stop? Did she really think that was going to stop him? Jet ignited his crimson flames, and they surged around him, including his frozen parts. He commanded them to undo this lock on his legs, to blast it away. It didn't work. The black fields around his legs were irresolute.
'That won't work.' Izzet said, before putting a cold finger on his chin and lifting his head up, before putting her other hand on his forehead. She turned to Ruby and shook her head. Jet's flames vanished, and had the time stop not been around his legs, he felt sure that they would have buckled again. How had they become so weak?
'You're burning up.' Izzet reported, worriedly. 'Everyone set up camp here! Our leader's not able to carry on!'
With that, she released him, and Jet fell to the ground. His forehead was burning, and now that he thought about it, the unnatural heat from the flames was still present. Was he seriously becoming sick? The only part of him that didn't feel like a deadweight were his wings and…
His Grimm arm.
Ruby thrust the last peg of their tent into the ground. She then pulled it up, and took Jet inside. His movements seemed laboured. Ruby could sense his frustration, and she could understand. He held god-like power, yet he was bound by the limits of his own body.
She could feel a small portion of his tiredness as well, though not nearly as much as he felt it. It brought tears to her eyes. Her lover was fading.
She tucked him into their sleeping bag, and then meandered outside, still absorbed in her own thoughts.
"Take cover!" Lilac screamed from somewhere behind their tent. Ruby barely had any time to react before the ground shook, causing her topple over. Rising to her feet, Ruby heard a keening laughter from wherever the blast had come from, and ran around the side of the tent. There, she saw the one they'd come all this way to slay.
Flux was hovering in place above a crater that used to be a tent, flapping her bat wings, leering at her from above with her red eyes, the exact eyes that Jet had.