4: Unravel

Roman looked up from his crumpled bag as a flash lit the sky. "They're sending off another transport," he observed. "Like rats jumping off a sinking ship." He popped a chip into his mouth and chewed; a little soggy and crumbled, but the scavenged snack had still weathered its three-year abandonment better than the city itself. "Sure you don't want one?" he asked, holding the bag out.

Neo rolled her eyes and continued swinging her leg back and forth against the windowsill. Her smirk was gone; it vanished several days ago, only to be replaced by an undercurrent of poorly-concealed impatience.

At him, no doubt. Two weeks in this godforsaken city and nothing to show for it. Roman didn't know what she was expecting of him; he was a man who thrived on the exchange - or theft - of information. In the ruins of Vale, there wasn't anything left to steal. Infiltrating the fortress that passed for a city was simple enough with Neo's assistance - though the town wasn't much better on the inside, in Roman's personal opinion. The residents of what remained of Vale were about as helpful as the Grimm that roamed the streets beyond their encampment.

Glynda Goodwitch was running a tight operation. More civic-minded individuals might call her a despot; the sad reality was that the poor sobs who chose to remain in Vale got exactly the style of government they both wanted and needed. It wasn't that trio of spineless saps calling themselves a Council that kept Vale afloat with supplies and dust, and it sure as hell wasn't the Council approving Goodwitch's mass induction of newly-awakened and untrained Huntsmen. Even the dregs of Xiong's network had been decimated - taken apart and absorbed into Goodwitch's new army. Some were lured away by their new leader's promise to unlock their auras; others driven by a sudden and newfound sense of Grimm-inspired patriotism.

Roman was almost impressed. He let out a low whistle as an explosion sounded; the transport was out of danger, but the fight on the ground was still raging. From the looks of things, Goodwitch herself was getting her hands dirty this time; unusual.

"Hey," he said, tilting his head towards the light show. "Penny for your thoughts."

Neo didn't even bother to look up from her nails, which were shifting color under her inspection. The contempt she hung in the air between them was almost tangible. She didn't care what the citizens of Vale were up to; instead Neo was focused wholly on their one goal: retrieve the package from Beacon.

Roman suppressed the tic of annoyance he felt. Well, I'm not the one who thinks waiting here for nothing to happen is a grand idea. No small part of his own frustration was being left in the dark; Neo wouldn't even tell him what they were after, simply that it was his job to figure out how to bring down that magic barrier surrounding the tower. She seemed all-too-willing to gloss over the fact that Goodwitch spent the last three years doing exactly that - with Roman's contacts on her side. Hell, if Fall herself couldn't do it despite all that power she commanded, why'd she think he could?

Not only that, there was the uncomfortable matter of the drop-off. Of all the information Neo was willing to share, it was the one thing Roman wished he didn't know. Fall's contacts weren't in Vale. They weren't in Mistral, Vacuo or Atlas either; they weren't even in the Menagerie. No, their drop-off was all the way over in Exsul. Otherwise known as the fucking Grimm Continent. If there was one surefire sign he'd bitten off a bite larger than he could chew, this was it.

Not that he was going to let Neo know that, of course. She hadn't even batted an eye when she revealed that little tidbit; another test, Roman's instincts told him, so he'd kept his outward reaction studiedly casual. He'd learned to trust his gut feelings; they kept him one step ahead of the White Fang for three years.

Roman turned his attention back to the battle; those same instincts were telling him now that opportunity was knocking; the Huntsmen were going all out this time. There was always some measure of dumb enthusiasm among the newbies, but this was strange even for Goodwitch's makeshift army of accidents waiting to happen. He tossed aside his snack, reaching for his cane instead. "Something's different this time."

Neo looked up from her manicure; seeing him prepare to leave their safe house, she leapt down from the windowsill and picked up her parasol. Then she faced him and leaned on it, her expression unamused.

"That's right, we're stepping out," Roman told her. "Goodwitch must be up to something. My money's on the tower - I bet they're gonna to try to break it open again. They've got an ace up their sleeve this time." He flipped his hat onto his head and gave it a tap. "What do you say we crash the party?"

Neo's smirk finally made a return; she twirled her parasol around in answer.

"Carefully, of course. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

They moved out onto the streets with purpose, heading for the academy. Neo took point, as she always did; it gave Roman the chance to study his tiny companion. She was still as deceptively cute as ever; to anyone who didn't know her, she had the appearance of a sweet child. It was hard to believe she was only a year younger than him. Still, not even her wide eyes or rounded cheeks could hide the increasingly vicious streak lurking below the sugary-sweet surface. Something changed in the last three years; Neo's temper was shorter, her cynical amusement at the world now included him, and most unsettlingly, she wasn't fazed at all by the Grimm surrounding them.

They darted around one of the beasts even as he thought about how strange it was - a griffon, of course, charging its way over towards the ongoing Huntsman battle in the distance. As usual, Neo showed absolutely no fear, completely ignoring any and all Grimm unless they actively obstructed her path.

Well, let's be fair, Roman thought as he ran, they never got to me either until I became an appetizer. Still, the level of unflappable calm she exuded in the face of danger was just plain weird. Even as he thought it, she whipped the rapier out her parasol and stabbed through a Beowulf that didn't remove itself quickly enough. No; besides their uncanny ability for sharing non-verbal communication, there was little left that he could recognize of his former his teammate and partner-in-crime.

They finally stopped on the roof of the building closest to the tower's ruins to inspect the entrance; thanks to the efforts of the Huntsmen on the other side of the city, there were less Grimm than usual milling around the base. Neo shifted as though to continue onwards, but Roman held her back.

"Ah ah ah, we're not in that much of a hurry." He met Neo's raised eyebrow with a smirk of his own. "Let's wait and see what Vale's illustrious leader is plotting first." He settled back into a relaxed stance, and Neo's look of barely-contained annoyance returned. Huffing, she turned away from him and crossed her arms.

Roman took the opportunity to shamelessly observe her. She was hiding something from him; what, though, he had yet to unearth. Underneath his curiosity was a niggling worry; those same instincts that had kept him alive all these years were warning him not to dig deeper. But this time Roman ignored them; it was Neo. Hell, before the whole collapse of civilization as humanity knew it started, he'd been pretty sure he and Neo were destined to be partners for life. No, he couldn't leave well enough alone; he owed it to his friend - and how often did Roman get to call anyone that? - to push. He grinned; I always did love a challenge.

"It's funny, don't you think?"

Neo tilted her head in acknowledgement of his words, but didn't turn.

"Three years you've been working with Fall, but you've only taken down Beacon so far."

She twisted around to face him at that, eyebrows lifted. Roman smirked in response. "I thought you'd be going through one a year. I mean, you know we could do it. You've got the most prestigious of the four academies under your belt already."

Though she said nothing, Neo's eyes glinted; they'd both shifted to a deep brown, a combination only used when she was contemplating an enticing challenge. Her hatred of Atlas Academy was still alive and well, at least.

"See, this is why you should've sought me out first," he told her with a shrug. "With yours truly in charge, Team REND could have made good on our name. Payback for whoever thought up of that moronic acronym system."

Neo closed one eye in a sarcastic wink; a bit hard to get the old crew back together when we killed Ecru and Dandelion ourselves, she reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, so we'd have to hire some new help. Look on the bright side, we're not in school so we could have more than two minions. What do you think about Team RAGNAROK? A little short on the help if you ask me, but hey, if you're going for cool names -"

Neo tossed her head, shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Roman felt a smile pulling at his own lips; in that moment, she was back - the Neopolitan he remembered, the girl who was more than just his partner in crime. The smile died out as he spotted movement from the corner of his eye; reading his face, Neo sobered and crouched by his side at the edge of the rooftop.

"Well well well," Roman mused as a blur of motion burst into the courtyard. Puffs of smoke exploded as the dark figure leapt from one Grimm to the next, decimating the creatures with clinical efficiency. The battle lasted only moments before the area was cleared; the blur slowed to a stop and came into focus, scythe whirling into place behind the small girl wielding it.

A familiar looking red cloak, a bit more tatty than he remembered, fluttered in the wind. She may have changed her outfit and she'd definitely grown older, for sure, but Roman would recognize that gothic Lolita anywhere. Not to mention the weapon that was still nearly twice her size.

"If it isn't the kid. I didn't think Little Red survived the Battle of Beacon."

A thrum of silent fury caught his attention; Neo's teeth ground together, and her eyes were a matching shade of pink. That was the expression you never wanted to be on the receiving end of; it usually preceded a boot to the face. Unsurprisingly, she remembered their last fight with the girl all too well.

"Calm down," Roman ordered her, all traces of easy banter wiped from his expression. "She must be the surprise Goodwitch's banking on. Let her do her thing and we might just find the answer we've been looking for."

Neo quivered, then exhaled with effort and gave Roman a slow nod. She was still filled with anger, but her grip on the parasol loosened and her posture relaxed. Her cold smile of acquiescence did little to reassure him that she'd actually listen to his order if things came to a fight.

"Oww! Hey, wait up!" A muscular blonde boy stumbled into the courtyard, harassed into a retreat by a raging Beringel. He took a few hits on his shield, and then, in an almost clumsy imitation of his partner's precision, hacked off an arm of the murderous gorilla. Taking advantage of the Grimm's stagger, the boy leapt onto its chest and lopped the creature's head off.

"What an amateur. So sloppy," Roman chided under his breath, Neo nodding in agreement. He raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl drop her battle pose and assume a more innocuous stance.

"Sorry, Jaune! I just wanted to scout a little before you got here," the girl chirped at him. "Didn't mean to leave you with the worst of them!"

Roman clucked his tongue. "So she's turned into a little liar, has she? Interesting…"

To his credit, the boy gave Red a skeptical look, but shrugged it off quickly. Instead, he stared up at the ruins of the tower, a pained look on his face. "How are we even supposed to get up there? The elevator's smashed and you just know with our luck that the stairs are going to be blocked, too."

"Weiss helped me scale the outside with her runes the last time," Red told her friend, which didn't seem to impress him very much. "Let's just go up as far as we can. We can think of a way around obstacles if we meet any."

"When," the boy replied with an air of resignation.

"Don't jinx it!" his partner scolded.

"Like this place needs any more jinxing," the boy muttered as the two disappeared into the tower.

"That's our cue," Roman told Neo; she nodded with a feral grin, then stood and leapt off of the edge of the building.

"Whoa! The ladder is that-a-way, thank you very much," he muttered, choosing to descend at a more sedate pace. Neo had an impatient glint in her eye when he finally caught up; he frowned at her. "I told you to calm down. We have to let them do whatever Goodwitch sent them here for. It's not like you to lose your head over someone like this."

Neo flapped her parasol open and closed with an expectant look.

"Well, yes, I suppose we were just speaking of revenge, but timing is everything. Now, let's see what those kids are up to." He motioned for Neo to enter the tower first, and only let his grimace surface behind her back.

Why'd it have to be her? Neo was out for blood; one way or the other, this was going to get messy. He paused and looked up the lengthy stairwell they were climbing; Red was having an easy time of it. The boy had more difficulty; what he lacked in acrobatics, though, he made up through the use of what looked to be his Semblance to both aid in his climbing efforts as well as prevent himself from tumbling to his death when he slipped.

That boy must be Goodwitch's big secret, Roman thought as he observed another flash of light burst over their heads. Maybe it was his ability to create barriers that was the key to collapsing the mysterious one surrounding the top of the tower. If that was the case, then they really didn't need Red in the picture.

The uncomfortable tight feeling rose in his stomach again; Roman growled to himself. Really? A little late for a conscience, isn't it? Just because she saved your life once doesn't mean you owe her the same favor. Still, he decided to keep his observation to himself for the time being - if Neo arrived at that same conclusion, there was a good chance Red would meet an unfortunate accident prematurely.

"I think this is it," he heard Red say as they neared the top of the tower. "It feels a little funny up here. Is it the same for you too?"

Roman motioned Neo to a stop and held her back, watching the scene unfold before them. He frowned; neither he nor Neo could sense whatever it was the girl was talking about.

"Nope," the boy told her. "I can't feel a thin- uh!"

Roman smirked as the boy made the exact same mistake he had the first time he'd visited the tower: walking face-first into the invisible barrier.

"Alright, I felt that," the boy mumbled, stepping back and holding his nose.

"So did I," Red said, and Roman's eyebrows rose. He watched, baffled, as she approached the edge of the invisible barrier.

"You should watch out, it kind of hurts if you hit it too hard -" Her companion trailed off as Red walked past the barrier unhindered. "Ruby! What are you doing?"

"We think of the key," the girl said, turning to face her companion. "Each in his prison." Her voice was a strange monotone, and her eyes - Roman twitched - they were glowing.

I've seen that glow before, Roman realized with a shudder. It was the same light that had vaporized the Grimm surrounding him in Vale three years earlier. He'd got it wrong; the boy was the bodyguard, and Goodwitch's ace was Red herself.

"Ruby, answer me!" The boy sounded genuinely worried.

The girl tilted her head at her companion. "Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison."

"That's great, but can you come out of there now?" The boy reached out, his hand stopped by the barrier. He leaned against it, striking the invisible wall with his fists. "Ruby, come on. Snap out of it, you're scaring me!"

"Then be afraid," she said, and reached out towards the boy. A wave of pressure rushed out from where their hands met, and then, in a flail of limbs, the two fell into a graceless heap against each other on the steps.

Neo was standing; almost without thinking, Roman grabbed her and pulled her back down with a silent hiss.

"Not yet," he murmured, ignoring the look of fury Neo directed his way. He allowed her to shake him off, keeping his attention on the two kids before them.

"What the heck happened?" The boy pulled himself together first; he'd apparently overbalanced when the barrier he'd leaned against suddenly vanished. Red took longer to sit up, rubbing her head. Her eyes, when they opened, were free of the strange glow.

"I was about to ask you that," Red told him. "I felt you run into the barrier… and then it was like I blacked out for a moment there."

"You started blabbering about keys and prisons, and then you just sort of…" The boy made a whooshing sound as he waved his arms. "Poof! And the barrier disappeared. I think." He helped Red to her feet. "But you go first. If there's another ninja barrier hiding in here, your nose can be the one to find it this time."

They climbed the stairs and disappeared from sight, and Roman finally stood. "Remember, we're here for the package. Since you won't tell me what exactly that looks like, it's up to you to deliver." He ignored Neo's mutinous look and infused a note of authority into his voice. "We'll fight them if we have to, but this is supposed to be an in-and-out operation. We're not here for revenge."

Roman strode forward, taking the steps two at a time. Exiting the stairwell, he banked his urge to blow Neo's illusory cover by whistling. It was pretty impressive, though - the observatory was completely destroyed, nothing but huge piles of clockwork rubble around a small clearing with a prominent black scorch mark in the center. The Grimm dragon was twisted around the ruins, even more imposing up close than it was from a distance.

"Nothing's changed. Nothing at all." Red's voice was barely a whisper. "Everything's still stopped here, just like I remember it."

That wasn't exactly true, Roman noted as the wind whipped around him. With the destruction of the barrier, the surrounding Grimm were taking more notice of the tower than usual. He had no idea what was happening on the ground below them, but the skies above were slowly filling with circling Grimm. It wasn't a comfortable feeling, considering past experience. Returning his attention to the pair before him, Roman saw the boy walk towards the smudge of black smeared across the floor. Red seemed to be frozen in place; obviously, something had happened to her up here.

Her friend kneeled and picked a small object off of the ground, his face twisted in pain. It was a brass circlet of some sort, and Roman felt a twinge of concern; maybe that's the package I'm supposed to deliver? Then the boy looked up, his gaze burning, and focused on something on the far end of the rubble.

"Is that her?" he asked Red.

Roman followed his gaze and froze in shock. No! What - ?

Fall was trapped against the rubble, arms outspread. Her face was frozen in a rictus of surprise and her bow was still in her hand - and she looked exactly the same as she had three years ago, right down to her clothing. Her body was still and lifeless, just as frozen as the Grimm dragon.

"Fuck me," Roman breathed as Neo moved to his side and spotted their goal.

Fall isn't the one pulling the strings, was the only thing Roman could think, followed swiftly by Three years! How could I miss this? Neo's eyes glinted; so this was what she'd meant when she deflected all of his questions about the package with that mysterious smile.

"Yeah… that's her. It's really Cinder. She looked like that right after she - right after Pyrrha -"

The boy was already up and moving, his sword out.

"Jaune!"

Neo leapt into motion, her face pulled into a dangerous scowl. With the sound of breaking glass, her illusion hiding them both shattered, and Roman cursed under his breath. Neo reached the boy before he could get to Fall, her rapier out and stabbing. She scored him directly in the back, below his armor; on an ordinary person, it would have been a crippling blow.

Instead, the boy fell to the ground with a surprised grunt, knocked off balance. Neo sprung back with a wince, her arm swinging wide as her sword was deflected by his aura. Though he was still alive, she'd managed to stop him from reaching Fall. Her eyes flickered and then she leapt out of the way as a scythe slammed into the ground, cracking it.

"Stay away from him!" Red yelled, her face fierce. She twirled her weapon around, pointing the business end of the rifle towards Neo, and Roman cursed again. Red had already been a pain in his ass when she was just a kid; it was obvious from her stance that she hadn't spent the down time slacking off. Neo needed an assist, and he was the right man for the job.

"Little Red! Long time no see! Not so little anymore, are you?"

"Torchwick," she answered, her voice thick with dismay. "I can't believe you're still alive." Despite her acknowledgement, her eyes remained fixed on his partner.

Damn. "The feeling is mutual," he assured her. I have to distract her. "You seem a little tense. I get it, saving the world's a big job, hero. Why don't you make things easier on yourself and just forget we were here?"

Red snorted but didn't move; her companion was groaning and rising to his feet.

Not good. "Listen, you want a trip down memory lane. I get it. All we want is Fall." He shrugged and twirled his staff around, letting it rest behind his shoulders in a loose threat. "Let's let bygones be bygones."

"That woman killed another human being in cold blood!" The boy behind Red was visibly angry now; he'd clasped the circlet he'd scavenged from the ruins around his neck. No backing down then; those two kids were out for blood too.

"Just one?" Roman replied. "Have you been paying attention at all, kid?" He grinned as the boy spluttered and kept an eye on Neo. She was weaving another illusion to sneak around their two opponents; he knew his role well - keep talking and keep them busy.

"Jaune, don't fall for it." Red's voice cut through his banter with the same sharpness as her scythe. "Torchwick's a smooth talker, but his partner's the real threat. She uses illusions."

The boy straightened and raised his shield, tightening his defense; he came into focus with a sudden ferocity that had Roman rethinking his initial evaluation of the kid as clumsy.

"Like Emerald?" Wonder Boy said, and there wasn't any uncertainty left in his tone; just like that, Roman found himself dismissed from the arena as a threat.

Great. They're a team, he realized, his mood turning foul. Although being kicked aside like that - it was insulting, yes, but not necessarily a disadvantage. He meant what he'd said to Neo - his job here wasn't to pick a fight. Whistling, he casually edged his way around the platform towards Fall's body.

Watching him, the image of Neo sheathed her rapier into the parasol. Then she delicately twirled it up to her shoulder with a smirk.

"No, I don't think she gets in your head," Red told her friend. "Don't fight with your eyes, though." Whatever she said had some effect on the boy, because his own eyes lit blue.

The illusion shattered when a barrier formed right over the place where Neo looked to be standing. The real Neo surged forward, flipping her parasol open at the last minute as she rammed into the kids. Dust exploded from the channel on her weapon, creating a barrier of her own that sent the hapless boy careening over the edge of the tower. Red was faster than her, though, leaping out of the way before she could be hit by the trap.

The scythe that whirled down over Neo's head managed to split a few strands of pink hair. Dancing away from the close call, Neo scowled and felt her head, her expression turning ugly. Red seemed completely uninterested in the fate of her partner, which surprised Roman.

Huh, I thought she was soft. Then he leapt backwards, barely avoiding a sword thrust under his nose as it became apparent why. The boy leapt back onto the observatory's platform, using his own barriers as makeshift stepping-stones to charge directly towards Roman.

"Stop Torchwick!" he heard Red yell.

Roman swore and continued to block the onslaught from the blonde with Melodic Cudgel. He wasn't even sure how he was going to get Fall down the tower when she was a goddamn statue. A more-than-small part of him was considering simply picking her frozen body up and tossing it over the side of the tower - mission accomplished. The larger part of him that wanted to live comfortably through the upcoming apocalypse, however, instructed him to rethink that plan. He dodged another sword thrust and grit his teeth; having a buffoon tailing his every move wasn't going to make the getaway any easier.

There was a sound of metal clashing, and Roman's attention was caught by the sight of Neo flying past. She caught herself before she could connect with any of the rubble, flipping gracefully into a guard. The moment of distraction nearly cost him; he leaned backwards to avoid a swing of the boy's shield. "You know, they say violence is never the answer," he teased, skipping out of the way of another attack. The kid was good, Roman would give him that, but he was better. He risked another glance in Neo's direction, and frowned in dismay.

Red was fighting with her eyes closed, and Neo was having a hard time keeping up. His partner's illusions could fool eyes, but not ears. Another one of Red's attacks sent rubble flying towards him; Roman ducked out of the way - only to barely catch himself from running face-first into a blue barrier that sprung into existence before him.

"Whoa! Now that's not very sporting of you, is it?" Stepping backwards, he flipped his hat off and held it up in one hand like a shield. "Let's do this fair and square, like real men." He brandished his cane in an imitation of the boy's own style. "Come at me!"

"Don't make fun of me!" Growling, the kid charged towards him and Roman sidestepped, flipping his hat up and punching the boy directly in the face through the bowler, knocking him to the ground. "Did you actually think I was going to use a hat as a shield?" He shook his head in disbelief and aimed Melodic Cudgel at the boy's face, firing. To his disappointment, another blue shield rose in time to block the shot.

The boy's eyes widened at something over Roman's head. "Holy crap!"

Cursing, Roman flinched and ducked - directly into a shield punch. He went flying backwards and rolled to a stop, cursing muzzily. That kid's got the arm of an Ursa on him.

"Did you actually think another Grimm was going to eat you?" He smirked as Roman looked up. "Ruby's told us all about you, Torchwick. You're an ungrateful bastard! She gave you a second chance, and look what you're doing with it! Helping murderers!"

Laughing dryly, Roman scissored his legs, sweeping the kid's feet out from under him - really, who told him a fight was the place to get chatty? He leapt onto the boy before he could stand, punctuating each word with a whack across the face from his cane. "All this idealism is making my head hurt." Another solid hit, but still no blood - what the hell is he made out of? "Why don't you just shut up and get out of my way?" Standing up, Roman resorted to smashing his boot against the boy's face; his arms were getting tired. There was a network of cracks forming underneath Wonder Boy's head, but still no sign of a weakening aura. He and Red both - they're breeding monsters in those academies!

A hand reached up and grabbed ahold of Roman's ankle, twisting it - the strong grip sent Roman back to the ground, giving him a prime view of the sky overhead.

This time, when Roman froze, it wasn't from any trickery. The boy might have made a feint, but he wasn't lying - Grimm were circling everywhere in the sky overhead. Many of them had already landed on the body of the frozen dragon, turning the surface of its skin into a writhing mass of black and white, littered with dozens of glowing eyes.

Three years - three fucking years, he'd been trying to avoid reliving this moment. And now, here they all were, prying the lid off his carefully sealed jar. Not many people realized the Grimm could talk. And talk they did, constantly. They whispered to each other, to anyone who would listen to them.

Grimm didn't need to eat to survive; when the griffon swallowed Roman, it hadn't been looking for a meal - it had been trying to absorb him, to make Roman a part of its own body. He'd heard it, then - the slithering, chittering language they spoke. He could hear it now.

At last, at last, at last. We have her, we found her, come, come come!

He scrabbled backwards, panic flooding his body. I need an out! Now! "Neo!"

Wonder Boy also stopped pressing the attack, dumbfounded by the sight of the dragon. His scroll was out, he was calling someone - and Roman caught a glimpse of Goodwitch's profile splayed across the screen.

" - dropped the barrier, but Cinder and the dragon are still here - and so is Torchwick!" The kid cut off as he dodged the shot Roman fired at him. "They're trying to take Cinder!"

Shit. Ignoring the madness clawing at him, he rushed the kid, smashing the scroll out of his hands. "Neo!" he called again, this time with more urgency. If Goodwitch was on the way over with her mad army, it was high time to cut their losses and run, Fall be damned. He spotted his partner; she was still battling it out with Red, and it looked like she was losing.

The scythe rammed Neo clean across the floor - and landed her next to Fall's body. Neo came to her feet slowly with a smile, wiping at her mouth.

The whispers in Roman's head grew louder; he fell to one knee.

Now, now, now, NOW!

Neo wrapped her arm around Fall's waist, holding her opened parasol above their heads like a white flag of surrender. Her eyes flicked over towards Roman, one brown, one pink, both completely unreadable.

Roman's stomach dropped. "Wait," he croaked, but her impassive expression was already an answer.

You've served your use.

"We're partners!" His shout echoed over the tower, louder than the whispers in his mind.

Her expression didn't change as the largest nevermore he'd ever seen swooped over the tower towards them. Its massive claws wrapped around both of the girls.

"Neo!" He hated himself for the desperation in his voice, even as the whispers in his head turned to titters of laughter.

She winked at him as the Grimm lifted its prize away; when her eyes opened, they were a sea of black, with twin red irises peering back at him.

His vision was blocked by a blur of motion; Red leapt into the air, scythe ready to cut the nevermore down. That was the moment that Roman knew it was over - the moment when the other Grimm rose in a flurry of motion, diving and throwing themselves blindly between Red and her target to block the attack. Grimm didn't work together for anything.

They also didn't talk.

The voices grew silent as Red cut them out of the sky, nothing more than a flash of color as she mowed them down. It didn't matter; by the time she was done, it was already too late - the nevermore was gone, and Neo and Fall were nothing more than distant specks in the darkened sky.

"Ruby! We need to go!"

Roman barely heard the words of the boy over the roaring in his ears. She left me. She used me as a distraction and left me here to die.

He was almost grateful when the boy's shield connected with his head, bringing the world into merciful darkness.

Notes

Exsul is Latin for "exile" or "outcast." I tried to stick with the naming theme of the other continents, which all have equivalents in Latin.

Ruby's words to Jaune when she's in a trance come from T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land."