Eventually, the music from the carillon ended, and with it the small break that he allowed himself. He heaved a sigh, mentally lamenting how he was unable to feel tired anymore because of the infection. He hadn't properly slept in a very long time, which likely reflected on his aura level. His general reserves were becoming more and more small, because of how much he was overworking the damn thing. It was a vicious cycle, now that he thought about it: overuse his aura by staying awake for long periods of time while at the same time being unable to properly fall asleep because he physically couldn't get tired. What a drag…
Maybe consuming another aura would help?
He closed his eyes, willing the stray thought away from his head. He had to conserve those auras. Using them all for petty reasons wouldn't help in the slightest. He was still majorly kicking himself for using professor Port's and Vernal's, especially the last one, since it happened while his own mind was out of his control.
All right then, he wasted more than enough time. The middle child of the Schnee family was waiting for him, likely still trying and utterly failing at singing. Poor, poor Weiss…
He didn't mean to sound mocking there…
Okay, maybe just a little bit. No, he did not still hold a bit of a grudge for how harshly she shot him down back in Beacon, why would you think that?!
He stalked the long hallways back to the main lobby. Everything was quiet. No Grimm inside or even outside, judging by the lack of combat noises. Winter was done fighting the entire horde, perhaps? He doubted it. A lot. She had probably moved on to the other side of the mansion. The extremely huge mansion.
He tried to imagine what it would have been like, had he been born in his friend's shoes. Walking along these deserted halls, maybe occasionally meeting a servant or two, no friends, no extended family, an absentee mother, an absolute asshole of a father, a sister that more or less abandoned her and a younger brother who was even more emotionally distant than her. There was only Klein… and even he couldn't be everywhere at all times.
The loneliest of all indeed. Given all that, he begrudgingly couldn't blame her for being a frigid bitch, back in the days. But not even she could resist the impact with the Ruby Rose dorkiness train. Nobody could have been prepared for that. He would know…
He had been the first victim. He missed that red headed blur of energy.
A couple of entire minutes later (while he was jogging, on top of that. This place was just too bloody huge…), he was once more face to face with the first set of doors that he had tried to open earlier, but revealed themselves locked. Except that, now, he had the key.
Used: Key of the Loneliness
Behind them was… another closed door. Shocking. And a staircase that led up, likely towards a set of balconies or something along those lines. Deciding to err on the side of caution, he took the stairs, to survey the battlefield instead of bursting right through like a dummy.
Just as he thought, balconies. Was he good, or was he good?! But, just as he was about to peer down and see what he was dealing with, his instincts screamed at him to duck and take cover. He instantly heeded his own advice, narrowly avoiding being seen by…
The suit of armor that was the Ice Queen's main summon. It stood in its more gigantic form, surveying the area above the ballroom, looking for… something. Or more likely…
Protecting Weiss. His suspicions were confirmed when a Turned stumbled out in the open, only to be instantly grabbed and squeezed to death by the massive knight.
All right then, don't be discovered. Duly noted.
Amazing, how was he supposed to deal with this thing now?! He peered up the railing when the monster was looking elsewhere, desperately looking for anything that he could use… when he noticed a little hole on the roof, on the opposite side of the ballroom.
Not big enough for a Grimm to fit through… but more than plenty for a shot of the flare gun! Jaune quickly analyzed the information in his head and decided the plan of action. Sneak his way towards the hole, shoot the gun to call Winter, have her deal with the summon and then he'll be free to fight against Weiss! Hopefully.
His strategy was set. The knight shifted, stomping its massive feet and causing a small earthquake. He now just had to… not get seen, he supposed. He doubted that a pebble was gonna do the trick this time…
Things could never be easy, couldn't they?
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ARMA GIGAS
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In a moment, Mors Celeri flew in his hands, while he started crouchwalking alongside the… railings, he supposed? Only that they were made in whatever material the mansion was built and it wasn't see through.
Amazing on one end… but on the other, keeping an eye on the massive sentinel was gonna be a challenge in itself. He didn't fancy being squeezed to death like a stuffed toy, thank you very much.
And so, he kept himself on the down low, doing his best to keep in check the Arma's position while he switched railings everytime the damn thing had a hole (which was way too many times for his tastes), until he finally rounded one corner. He was a third of the way in…
And found himself face to face with a Turned maid, who snarled at him. In a small fit of panic, he shouted and buried his dagger in the monster's throat. One problem down. For the other one…
Another small earthquake. The Arma GIGAS had definitely heard him. Without thinking about it too much, he rolled forward, trying to put some distance between himself and the now deceased maid. He made it just in time, when a massive armored hand outright punched that section of the balcony flat. His only way back was gone, just like that… and he almost went along with it.
Yeah, there's no way he would have survived THAT. A small chill ran down his spine at the realization that one mistake would have spelled the end for him. No more Clover or friendly souls to bail him out of becoming a Jaune pancake.
He gulped, a teeny bit of fear trickling in… followed immediately by a certain… excitement. A true test of his stealth abilities, finally. Not even mentioning the absolute thrill that he was sure to feel once the summon would be defeated. He honestly wasn't even sure if that was the infection talking, to be honest.
Casting his thoughts of future glory away, he kept on moving, trying to ignore the way his thighs were screaming at him to stand the fuck up already. Or at least sit down for a moment, that would have been nice.
Except that Winter was likely fighting for her life outside, so he kind of had to hurry up already. Yeah, that sounded like the better decision. No sense in delaying.
He made some decent progress, arriving at the halfway point of his journey, when he encountered a road block. This section of the balcony was missing a huge chunk of railing, until the next corner, give or take. There was absolutely no way that he could have cleared that big of a gap without getting spotted. He had to find a way to either distract the big monster or give himself a boost to be fast enough.
An Aura could give exactly that…
Nope. No, absolutely not. He needed a plan B, pronto. His eyes surveyed the surrounding area, trying to find something that he could use to attract the Arma's attention. Finally, after a minute of frantic searching, he saw the solution. The chandelier. The last one still up, nonetheless. Big enough to cause a ruckus if it were to fall down, sure to give him enough time to clear the gap. How to make it fall…?
He followed the chain holding the furniture suspended, eventually realizing that it was anchored… ahead of him. Where there were no railings.
You've gotta be shitting me, he thought. Now what?
He couldn't shoot the damn thing, that was a one way ticket to being flattened. He couldn't run to it, because then he wouldn't be able to go back without being seen. And he doubted that throwing the carillon was gonna do anything. He blinked. He could use the little machine, it wouldn't be a terrible idea… but something told him that it still wasn't the time for the thing to be used. Plus, it didn't sit well with him, the thought of risking the carillon's destruction. He nervously played with the handle of his dagger, chewing on his lips, until a possible solution came to mind.
Mors Celeri was a sharp weapon. Gunmetal had done an incredible job on it, turning it from a regular dagger into a weapon fit for a huntsman. It was sure to be enough to cut through that thin chain, if he used enough strength. But he would get just one shot at it. If he fucked up… then that would be a very big problem.
So, he just had to not miss. Easy as pie, no pressure or anything. Nothing new, honestly, but he really needed to stop overthinking. Which is very ironic, since he recently promised himself that he would stop acting on his guts alone. He really needed to get a grip and decided what he had to do once and for all, godsdamnit.
Focus Jaune! Most important knife (dagger) throw of your life here! Do the thing now, have another meltdown later. He flipped Mors Celeri in his hand a couple of times, getting a proper feel for its weight, while he waited for the Arma Gigas to turn its head.
He raised his arm slightly, as to not have it peek over the railing… and threw, aiming for the proper target. Once again, his aim was true.
The extremely sharp dagger cut right through the chain like butter, embedding itself on the wall. A second later, the chandelier fell to its doom, creating a cacophony of shattered glass and metal. Jaune didn't even waste time.
The second the summon turned around to check the noise, he got out of cover and sprinted as fast as possible to the other side, making a pit stop to retrieve his weapon. He'll be damned if he left it here, not after how useful it proved itself to be.
He made it just in time. He ducked once more… or more like, dived behind the railings in the nick of time. He heard the Arma Gigas growl in frustration. It definitely knew that someone was around, now. It started to patrol more frantically than before, trying to find the intruder that threatened its mistress.
Jaune breathed in and out for a bit, calming his erratic heartbeat. Come on now… he was on the home stretch! The railings on this side had no holes, so it was just a matter of walking. He could make it!
Until disaster struck, like it usually does. Or more like… fell. Right underneath his feet, even. The balcony started to groan and crack when he stepped on it, alerting him of the inevitable.
… He really hated this fucking place. Throwing all caution to the wind, he stood up and started sprinting towards his goal, deciding that risking death by Arma Gigas was the better way to go rather than break his legs by falling and then dying anyway by the stupid summon.
He ran as fast as he possibly could, trying to not turn around and see the massive armored knight looming behind him and trying to catch him. With one last dive, he fell onto his back and shot the gun towards the hole on the roof, nailing it by the skin of his teeth.
Used: Flare Gun
Now, he had one good news and one bad news. The good one was that the balcony wasn't falling anymore, so death by gravity wasn't gonna be an issue. Bad news was that the Arma Gigas knew where he was… and he had nowhere to run or hide anymore.
… Well, it was a good run, while it lasted. The summon stretched its fist towards him, while Jaune deployed his shield and braced himself. Maybe he could survive that…?
He closed his eyes and waited. And waited. Then waited some more. Finally, realizing that he wasn't about to get turned into a splat on the wall, he opened his eyes to see what was going on.
Right in front of him, a couple of millimeters from his shield, his predator's hand stood there. Frozen solid.
He looked up, finding the almost amused expression on Winter Schnee's face. Almost amused, because having and expressing emotions is for nerds, he supposed.
"Now it's your only chance, Arc. Make it count and do what you must. My sister is counting on you".
With those brief words, the Maiden turned around and went right back to fighting. Well…
His eyes swept over the Arma Gigas, enclosed in a solid prison of ice and frost. That works well enough, he supposed.
Not wasting anymore time, he climbed over the summon's hands and carefully made his way towards its body. Last couple of meters, he grinned and picked up the pace. He always wanted to try this one.
Crocea Mors became a greatsword, right before he jumped and slammed it against the ice sculpture, sliding down alongside it and cutting through while he went. He didn't cut the thing in half, obviously, but by the time he was in range, he jumped off while the monster vanished, defeated…
With all the satisfaction of a man who just accomplished one hell of a task, he landed in the ballroom proper…
Then his feet slid backwards and he landed in the ground, face first. It took him a second to realize what just happened. The floor was frozen. Completely.
Winter used way too much magic, it seemed. Great, he still wasn't done with ice physics?! Somebody killed him now…
Almost as if his thoughts had been heard, a gurgling sound reached his ears. Somehow, through sheer power of will and using his sword as a crutch, he managed to stand back up and face the origin of the unsettling noise.
One beat
The expensive and vain, but still functional somehow, gown, white and blue in color.
Two beats
The revolver on the multi action rapier called Myrtenaster, as elegant as its mistress, stopped rolling, eventually settling on the favored element, ice.
Three beats
Hair as candid as the snow gathered in that complicated ponytail that she enjoyed so much, contrasted by the dark veins and the blood red eyes, typical of those like her.
She gurgled again, trying to reach her voice in order to sing once again, but failing miserably for likely the hundredth time. Not being one to tolerate failure, like usual, she screamed until her throat was raw, little droplets of blood falling along the edge of her lips. Her vocal cords must have been shattered by now…
Her crimson orbs settled on the one thing that she could use to express and release all of that unyielding rage. Him.
What else is new?
The former heiress of the Schnee Dust Company took one step, like a doll held by a string, while she pointed the business end of her rapier towards him, completely unbothered by the ice under her heels.
That… did not bode well. At all.
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WEISS SCHNEE, HEIRESS OF NOTHING
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You know, normally he wouldn't have been too concerned about this fight. Sure, her Semblance was outrageously overpowered and she was the second fastest member of her team (behind Ruby and just a sliver ahead of Blake), but he was taller, stronger and better equipped.
Their training while in Mistral revealed that last statement pretty cleanly. He was no Weiss expert, but he was almost sure that she was about to abandon all pretenses of being nice and proper and just cuss him out of their shared house. She had been forced to play keep away with him to deal some damage, since her stab would either be deflected by his armor or his shield.
He just had to hope that she was low on Dust and he'll be golden. Easiest fight of his life. Weiss moved, skating along the ice without a care in the world. He slipped and fell on his butt. Gracefully of course. If by "graceful" you intended "like a Goliath". And there laid the problem…
He was stuck. He pretty much couldn't move. Again, bad news, but also good news, since it meant that her summons were gonna be useless as well. Unless she summoned that fucking Queen Lancer again.
Luckily for him, Weiss was completely infected, meaning that strategy wasn't gonna be her greatest asset. But then again…
The heiress stopped, out of his reach, and pointed her weapon towards him. She was still Weiss Schnee… the expert in psychological warfare. Meaning that there must be something left of her old self…
He raised his shield, blocking the ice shards that started to rain towards him. Not low on Dust then, cool. She figured out that he was stuck in place, and now planned to chip away at his aura, bit by bit…
Nice. Great start, Jaune. Really great start. There was only one way he could answer that situation. He kept his shield on one hand while he swapped to his gun with the other hand. He started shooting back, while heroically hiding behind the piece of metal in front of him. A couple of bullets hit, the rest were blocked by one of her glyphs. She remained in place for a couple of seconds, her expression pained, before letting them fall to the ground.
He silently cursed, counting how many he had left in the chamber. Only around ten. Damn him and his short temper!
Another glyph formed under her feet, flickering and barely there, but powerful enough to allow her to catapult herself towards him. Or… directly on his shield. The high velocity impact plus the ice made him stumble and fall, leaving him vulnerable to a lighting dust attack that shocked him pretty badly.
Yup… there's the strategy! Somehow, he managed to roll away from the whole thing, using the momentum to get back on his feet… and almost slip again, but he stayed upright that time.
He took two Boosters, making use of the downtime he had. Okay then… new plan.
He noticed the way that Weiss seemed to struggle with controlling her Semblance… which made sense, considering how much concentration it required. She was barely even there at all, so her control was minimal. He could use that…
Once more he pulled out Mors Renata, pointing and shooting without thinking about it too much, until the chamber clicked emptily. Weiss barely managed to block them all. But she was the one stuck in place this time around. Now, for the finishing touch…
Mors Celeri took the gun's place in his hand, being immediately thrown like before. It was too much. The glyph broke in front of her, leaving the heiress stunned for a moment. He didn't let the chance slip. He slided and barreled towards her with all his height and weight. He lost his dagger and his sword was too long at such close range. Shield it is.
He landed above her (not in the way he might have wanted, while in Beacon) and started raining strikes with his defensive tools, trying to bludgeon her like he was starting to get used to doing. That couldn't be good for his mental health… at all.
He dished out some significant damage, until he heard Myrtenaster's revolver switch. He barely had the time to think "oh shit", when a torrent of fire enveloped them both, melting the ice around them and burning his clothes to a crisp. It wasn't too powerful of course, since she obviously didn't want to kill herself… but it still did quite a lot of damage.
When it ended, he was on his back, his aura barely hanging on by a thread. That one hurt… a lot…
What a reckless decision… desperation will do that to a person, he supposed. He took a couple more Boosters, counting how many he had left. Around twenty, give or take. He really needed more… no, he wasn't addicted, shut up.
He pulled himself back on his feet, noticing that his shield was also gone. He only had his sword now… fuck.
And Weiss noticed of course. She snarled and screamed again, coughing blood, before bounding up to him lighting fast, trying to kill him via a million stabs. Now he was in for it…
His armor was charred, barely able to block anything. His clothes were torn, meaning that his flesh was exposed. And his sword could barely keep up with that much speed. For a moment, Jaune thought that he was done for. What an ironic way to go, defeated by that one member of the team that never won a single duel in her huntress career.
Until the carillon that he was bringing with him fell, clattering to the ground and opening up. Music filled the atmosphere… and Weiss stopped. She gasped, staring at the machine, before bringing her hands to her head and screaming once again in pain.
Was she… trying to snap out of it? Jaune took another Booster, just to be safe, and started to walk towards her, wary of any surprise. Weiss started to quiet down… and when he was close enough, he heard her.
"Mir…ror… tell… me… some…thing…"
Her signature song. Was the carillon what she was missing, to remember herself? Maybe…
Maybe he wouldn't have to end her?!
Pity…
Stop! He would take the break from murdering, if he could!
Tears started to fall from her eyes, which fluctuated from red to their usual icy blue. They settled onto him.
"Ja…une…"
She even recognized him! But… it was obvious that she was losing control once more. Knowing that, Weiss spoke one last time… to make her request.
"Pl… ease… kill… meeeee…!"
No… no! You can fight it! You can win! You are Weiss fricking Schnee! Jaune pleaded her with all his strength… but it was all for naught.
Eventually, red took over once more and Myrtenaster was back upon him… but this time, he was ready.
With one flick of the wrist, the rapier was taken from her hand. And with another one…
He inflicted the final blow.
Weiss Schnee fell to her knees, the infection finally leaving her body for good.
Jaune fell right in front of her, panting in pain and despair. She was close… so close! Why… why did she had to lose like that?!
But… she smiled, cupping one of cheeks with one hand.
"Thank… you…"
With one last breath… she disappeared, like the others, leaving a vague feeling of emptiness in his soul.
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LEGENDARY HUNTRESS FALLEN
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Obtained: Princess of Snow's Aura
Obtained: Hard-Light Dust
Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.
Welcome back, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of Auraborne, the show where we just can't have nice things.
And so, the Heiress of Nothing expires, leaving behind the void. Ironic, isn't it?
I know, I know. I'm late. Very fucking late in fact, this chapter should have came out last week. But my Final Fantasy 7 Remake platinum journey is taking me a lot longer that I thought it would (hard mode is hard, goddamnit) and general distractions kept me from sitting down and properly writing. But I wanted to get this done before Christmas, because then I SURELY won't have the time to do much. So, to compensate, today's chapter is basically a two bosses in one deal. Hope you enjoy! Also hey, we got the Ice Queen done during the festivities. This was not planned, I swear hahahaha.
Review Responses
Uday Sra: Awesome indeed, my friend. Glad that you like it!
merendinoemiliano: I tried to make the whole thing feel more… "horror", I suppose. Guess that I managed then, thank you!
Essiter1987: Yeah, I'm not sure it does. That thing with Ilia couldn't even be called "a fight". More like, one touch and away.
… So, easiest fight, you said? Wanna think about it some more? I know what you mean, there's a reason why I usually shy away from weapons like rapiers and such (even if they're disgustingly strong in almost all souls game). I usually stick with greatswords, but for my Elder Ring playthrough I gave in to the voices in my head and went full Reaper with a scythe and all. I'm a scythe simp, what can I say. Maybe that's why I still like Ruby, even after everything.
I still don't like what they've done with Bumblebee (the pacing was all over the place, honestly), but I don't really mind at the end of it all. Shipping is not that important over all, the story should make up for it, from what I've heard about Volume 9.
People like to hate what's popular, on top of the fact that RWBY is catching some of the heat caused by RT's controversies and such (like when they changed Qrow's VA like… three years ago? Four? I don't remember).
I'll tell you how I feel about 9 when I'll watch it, but for once, I'm not going in expecting a disaster, like with 6, 7 and 8.
See ya my man, always happy to hear from you!
Infinity Unit 13: That, with a little bit of Dragon God from Demon's Souls, just because I thought it would be a cool twist on the formula.
behaartzas: It's a matter of communication. I've established pretty early on that Jaune knows these things because he's been told by them. Obviously, friends talk to each other about what they've been going through, second hand information, if you would. Also, take in consideration, how the infection is making Jaune more and more aggressive, as such his thoughts reflect that.
The Jacques thing was explained here (honestly, I've gotta thank you for this one. I would have left it how it is lol). Jacques being racist was established in the show itself basically right away, with Blake commentating about it in Volume 1. Also, the White Fang specifically targeting the SDC multiple times is a dead give away imo.
The Volume 2 feat wasn't a Jaune thing. It was mostly Pyrrha that allowed him to kill that Ursa the way that he did. Without her, he would have been slapped away like a bug, because he was inexperienced and didn't know where to put his shield. Also, at the start of the story, Jaune himself remarked that he was rusty, from all the time that he spent "dead". So yeah, the progression makes sense, in my eyes.
The upgrade not being there is a question that has already been asked and will be answered in time, do not fret.
Neo is sadly a very inconsistent character when it comes to power scaling. In Volume 2, she throws Yang around like a ragdoll, then she keeps us with Cinder during Volume… 5, I think it was? Don't remember, but you which scene I'm referring to. Then, in Volume 8… she gets punched in the face by Oscar. Just like that. She didn't even try to dodge, she just took it like a complete amateur. And mind you, Ozpin wasn't "active" at that point in time. I see what you're trying to say, but the comparison just doesn't holds up.
Guns of small caliber like Ren's never really did much, yeah. Weird, now that you mention it…
Ren degraded like hell during Volume 7, but redeemed himself in 8. Also Renora, so yeah, I'm willing to forgive that slide. Am I biased. Yes. Yes I am.
And you're right, I should have done something more with Ren's bossfight. One of my many regrets regarding this story. You really like aura techniques, don't you?
Jaune is not weak anymore… but he's not at the same level as everyone else. Clover was still a professional hunter with years upon years of experience. He could go toe to toe with Qrow, after all. Jaune stood no chance in canon, I'm afraid. Sometimes, experience is much more impactful than raw strength. And yes, he died stupidly, I think everyone can agree with that.
Weiss was different, for sure… and still annoying. What's new, amirite?
Kazama Yokaze: … oof, I knew I should have done some revision. I don't know if you'll ready this (and if you don't, peace I suppose) but I guess I owe you an explanation. The Maine thing is not a Remnant (get it? Like the planet? I'll stop…) of a change of perspective or anything like that. Auraborne has always been a "what if Jaune was a Soulsborne protagonist" kind of deal. I never delivered anything more than that particular fantasy, it's always been third person from its inception, no OCs (kind of…) and no self inserts. Maine is simply a typo caused by the program that I use to write autocorrecting Jaune's name, for whatever reason. But back then I had little to no "quality control" policy (not that it's much better now…) and I was way too lazy to go back and correct it. The me part is also a typo, if I remember correctly. But it does happen sometimes that I briefly switch the perspective to Jaune's inner voice, for like a sentence or two at maximum.
So… yeah, I doubt that you'll read this, but if you do, there. Otherwise… I suppose that's that. Sucks.
Merry Christmas everyone (if you celebrate it. Otherwise… nice December/Summer if you're in Australia) and ta-ta for now!