DISCLAIR: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishnt. Anyway on with the show...errr read.
Privacy
The world around darkened even further as I felt my power flow and it took a mont to realize the reason why. It should go without saying that holding an arm up against Bianca's light did little to stop the majority of it from slipping past the limb and scorching both my skin and the ground around but as I unleashed my new attack, all of that changed. The destructive light swirled around , seeming to bend away from the ground and spiral up my legs, chest, and arms. Even beyond that, light seed to flow into , dulling and changing colors as it went until the pressure of the attack seed to almost vanish. I stretched out my hand, feeling sothing scorching and burning as it coursed through my body, and
And then there was light. A trendous amount of pure, focused light, brighter than anything I'd ever seen beforeand while I wasn't sure how anything managed to look bright against the background of Bianca's assault, it did. For a mont, I thought that the attack was sohow pushing Bianca's beam away from , but it only took a second to realize how ridiculous the re idea of that was and see the truth; it wasn't pushing anything away, but rather still drawing light in. As Bianca's light t mine, it dimpled and narrowed and swirled around it, drawn into the thin cylinder that flooded from my hands, starting with the part closest to but growing quickly to encompass the rest.
In monts, the entirety of Bianca's attack seed to writhe in the air as if trying to fight against the pull, but it couldn't escape as it was twisted again and again into the almost smooth shape of my attack. Even as it did, the sky seed to darken further, day turning to night in the midst of the attack as my power called to the light around us and swallowed it whole. As the source, it felt more like I was holding onto it than anything else, butI could feel it. I could feel Bianca's attack flow into mine and the light of the Sun follow suit, driving the attack to greater heights as pieces beca part of a wholebut underneath all of that, I felt the power that ca from . The additions made the attack's power swell, but even that seed relatively minor in comparison to what I was barely holding in check.
Because beneath everything else, beneath all that power, it was . It was my light that was drawing in everything else, swallowing everything less than itself, and that light ca from in a way that I could only loosely grasp. It was more than just physical illumination, the sa as Bianca's was, but as different from her attacks as I was from herbecause this was and that was her. The light of our souls in an exceptionally literal sense, given form and power and purpose. It tore through everything, making my illusions unravel and the light of my Aureola spring forth, and then that too flowed into the attack that gave shape to everything I was, because it was everything I was. Just as white was the result of rging all the colors of Dust, light was the result of rging the Elentsand of combining everything I was.
This was why the skill was called Unity, I thought again as the world seed to freeze for a mont.
And then the mont passed. My lightmy Lux Aeternasplit the sa darkness it had plunged the world into. For the briefest instant, we were the only things visible in the night I'd made of everything near us; a blindingly bright line that connected my sister and I, flowing from my hand into the luminous portal she'd made of her body
But then everything was back to normal as the attack ended and more light stread down from the sky. At once, I was back to standing in the middle of a lted crater and Bianca was high in the sky, features completely hidden within the light of her altered form, no longer attacking. Slowly, she lifted a hand and rested it just below her ribcage, holding it there for a long mont.
"Ow," She said at last, the tone of her voice a touch surprised. "I actually felt that."
Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground, and though her face was gone, I felt sure her eyes were on . Abruptly, I realized I was sweating and that I felt tired, two things I hadn't felt in quite a while, so as Bianca landed, I gestured at myself and allowed Xihai to pull the sweat from my skin before healing myself and brushed away the touch of exhaustion. A lot of my MP was gone, but that would sort itself out soon enough, so I turned my attention back to my sister.
As her feet touched the ground, Bianca's form changed, seemingly random patches of cloth and flesh bubbling up to the light's surface, returning her to her normal state. She was smiling at even as she lifted a hand to touch the sa spot as before, seeming uninjured despite her words.
"What was that?" She said, quirking an eyebrow.
"A new skill of mine," I answered. "Called Lux Aeterna, apparently. I just made it now. I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"
She humd once, tilting her head to look up into the sky as if to see it again, and I took the chance to Observe her carefully. She's taken so damage, but it was relatively minor and her Aura was already working on it. I'd heal her in a mont, but there didn't seem to be anything physically wrong with her.
"I'm not sure," She admitted. "It felt pretty weirdand familiar. Not quite like my stuff, but"
"I know," I nodded. "I felt it, too."
"When it hit , I felt like it was trying to twist up and draw in, like it did with the rest of the light," She continued. "It felt pretty odd, I'm not gonna lie. Still, it sure looked cool, didn't it?"
I smiled brightly at that and nodded.
"Maybe I should get you a suit like mine," She mused, taking a step back and looking at with one eye closed. "For your birthday, I an; you're getting to about the age where you'll need one and after that show, wellyou deserve it. The oldest and the youngest, making our lightshows."
"I'll think about it," I hedged, shrugging a shoulder. "We're done, then?"
"Seems like as good a place to stop as any," She smiled, coming over to put a hand on my head and ruffle my hair. "You took a decent shot from without flinching and threw back one of your own, so why don't we call that your win? I was just going to test you for a bit, but I'd say you've exceeded all expectations, so there's not much point in going further right now, is there? It's plain to see that you can take care of yourself."
I snorted quietly and smiled a bit wider at the praise.
"Thanks," I said, making myself sound causal. In response, she just ruffled my hair a bit harder.
"I an it, Jaune," She whispered, eting my eyes. "You've done really well. Dad would be proud, knowing that you're strong enough to keep going, no matter what happens. That you'll be fine, even though he's gone."
I was silent for a mont at that, before nodding slowly, returning the seriousness of her expression.
"We all will, right?" I returned.
"Of course," She answered. "Everyone knows we're all amazing. It's why everyone loves us so much."
Chuckling, I looked around at what was left of Vale. I wouldn't say there wasn't a brick left atop another, butwell, they were pretty rare, all things considered.
"Maybe," I acknowledged. "But do you ever get the feeling we're like those kids in school who make a lot of noise, party too hard, and ruin things for everyone who's trying to study or whatever? Because, uh, this place is kind of trashed."
"Nope," Bianca replied promptly. "Everyone at Beacon agreed I was perfect, beautiful, and a general joy to be around. It was in the yearbook and everything; I can show you."
"Did you make them say that?" I asked, smirking.
"No, no, of course not," She said, shaking her headbut her lips twitched as she did. "Well, maybe."
"Wow. We're already down to maybe?"
"Possibly." She shrugged. "What matters is that everyone loved and will fondly rember always."
"Well," I tilted my head. "As long as there's that."
This ti, it was her turn to chuckle.
"I guess we should find the others," She said. "Shouldn't be too hard, what with everything in the way gone and all."
"Really, when you think of it like that, it's flat out convenient," I agreed. "I already know where the others are, though, and Violet and Olivia are right there."
I jabbed a thumb towards the slowly approaching pair, watching as Olivia's territory adjusted to bring them closer.
"Oi, you two!" Violet shouted as soon as they were close enough. "What the hell was that!?"
Bianca and I looked at one another and promptly decided not to tell her.
"I'll go get everyone else," I said, rising into the air again.
"We can talk about whatever you wanted to once we get everyone back ho," Bianca promised.
I nodded again, smile widening as I rose high above the ss we'd made, the city we'd destroyed in our father's honor. Looking over it all and seeing my sisters smiling belowit made sothing within relax for the first ti in a week.
Yeah, Bianca was right. No matter what happened, we'd all be okay. And II'd make it through all of this and find a way to figure things out. I'd save mom and then I'd save everyone else, no matter how hard it was or how long it took.
Sogoodbye, Dad.
I'll handle things from here.
A few hours later, after a round of showers, another al, and a traditional toast that wasn't quite celebrating and wasn't quite mourning, I found myself at the foot of the stairs, waiting silently. No one said a word about it, but my sisters made themselves scarce, going off to the living room or their bedrooms to give us privacy.
I felt her approach long before she arrived, but didn't say anything about it until I heard the stairs creak behind .
"Are you free to talk now, Bianca?" I asked, the words coming more easily than I expected as I looked steadily forward into the street. I thought this would be hard or at least painful, butit wasn't. Whether because of the sendoff we'd had earlier or just because of the Gar's Mind, it wasn't.
"Yeah," She said, taking several more steps before taking a seat beside . "The others will leave us be, but we can take about this in that barrier of yours, if you'd rather."
"Don't worry about it," I shrugged. "I already turned on my privacy settings."
She turned to face , brow furrowing lightly as she glanced over. If she was looking for sothing on my face, she didn't find itbut then, that face was nothing but an illusion projected by my mind.
"Really?" She voiced after a mont, sounding uncertain.
"No," I replied, smiling slightly. "Not really. I just used my powers to shut off the area around us and keep anyone from overhearing."
She shook her head, expression a touch bemused.
"You're power's weird enough that I've have believed you either way," She said, leaning back to rest her elbows on the stairs behind us as she stared up into space for a montand I could literally feel her considering sothing before she spoke. "Jaunewhat's wrong? I thought sothing was, but you've gotten a lot harder to read. I wasn't sure if it was sothing big or sothing you wanted to keep to yourself, butthat's what you want to talk about, right?"
"Yeah," I mused, considering her words with a slow nod. "I suppose it is."
"Then what?" She asked. "Is it about Dad?"
"It's about Dad," I confird, turning to et her eyes. "And the mission in general, really. It'sso of it's supposed to be secret stuff and there are parts I still can't tell you, but this part is pretty open. With the amount of survivors, it can't really be a secret, though they can keep it quiet, andyou get the idea."
She nodded without a word and let talk, an action that made wonder if I was stalling. Maybe, I thought and took a needless breath.
"It was a Pandora Shell," I said at last and saw emotions flicker across her faceand felt them far more closely through her Aura. My sister was many things, but she wasn't stupid, and I could all but feel her working her way towards the truth. I'd told myself before that it would be easy enough to do so and after the display I'd put on earlier, that was more true than ever. And though I couldn't truly read her mind, I felt the exact mont when she realized what I'd done, written in shock and sorrow and pain across the face of her Aura.
"Oh, Jaune," She whispered, leaning her shoulder against mine. She didn't say anything elsethough, really, even I wasn't sure what there was to say. That I'd done what I had to? Probably. That I'd done my duty as a Hunter, even if I wasn't officially one? Quite possibly. That I'd done what my father would have wanted? Definitely. But none of that really changed things. She didn't say that I shouldn't have had to face such a thing, because she knew my power and respected both it and , just as she knew about the lives I had been able to save. So in the end, she just leaned against silently, the gesture simply one of support and a reminder of her presence.
Even though it was pointless to tell her what she already knew, maybe that was why I kept talking.
"When the Shell opened," I shook my head. "Well, you can imagine. It was chaos and no one else was in any condition to do anything about it. Half of the Hunters there were caught in the blastDad, Keppel, Carmine, and Tenne. A guy nad Onyx, who was part of Dad's team, tore off a leg to escape the disease, while Tyrian and Castanea slipped into so kind of ti-stop barrier thing and only ca back a day after everything was over. Mom nearly died shielding us from it, though I managed to heal that damage at least. Once I'd done that, though, it waswell, we were in a bad spot. Mom tried to fight Dad and hold him off, but that left three other Hunters infected and they got to a local, too. Soone had to stop them andwell, I was the only soone in town."
She put her hand over mine and squeezed it gently, but didn't interrupt.
"I tried to save them," I continued. "Reach them, heal them, cure thembut I couldn't. I couldn't figure out any way to do it and truthfully, I was in a bit of a rush. I'd like to say I gave everyone there a fair chance, but with so much at stake and with Dad infectedI didn't. I stopped them, but they kept fighting and I couldn't risk it when I couldn't help them, so I killed them and moved on, so I could get back to Dad. I helped everyone I could along the way, made shelters for the civilians to keep them safe from the disease, but I won't lieI was trying to save Dad. More than anything else, I wanted to save him and I tried, I tried everything, and I still couldn't. So in the end, we fought and I won and he died."
"Jaune," She whispered. "Ithe was"
"I know," I saidbecause I did know, better than anyone else in the world. "I know I'm not really the one responsible and I know who to bla, but I stillI failed, Bianca. I did everything I could and it wasn't enough, so in the end, I watched him die. I helped him die."
"Shh," She murmured, putting her arms around gently. And for a mont, we justsat like that.
"Can I ask you to do sothing for ?" I asked her. "Sothing big?"
"Na it," She said at once.
"I" I considered my words carefully for a mont. "There's a reason I didn't want to do this in Naraka. It's empty, except for whover I draw into it and I didn't want to give the wrong impression. After the Pandora Shell opened, though, I called Ozpin to supervise and help . In a situation like that, paranoia is survival trait, but when nobody can trust anyone else, it can be hard towell, to trust anyone else. I needed an outside observer to help coordinate and explain and to verify, so I knew who I could trust and people knew who could trust . He was with every step of the way and can tell you everything he saw and you know he still trusts . So just rember that when I tell you this next bit, okay?"
She nodded, pulling away just far enough to look at in concern.
"Okay," She agreed. "What happened?"
I took a slow and pointless breath and faced her fully.
"I was infected, Bianca," I said. "By the Pandora Shell."
To my slight surprise, she didn't recoil in shock or terror, though it may have been because her first reactions were incomprehension and then confusion. When that passed, she stiffened, as if to react, but seed to force herself not to pull away, likely fighting against every instinct she had as a professional Huntress in the processand all for my sake.
"You don't have to hold on to , if you don't want," I told her. "But I'm not currently infected, if that make things any better. My powerpart of it's called the Gar's Mind and it makes immune to stuff that alters my thoughtseven the virus couldn't get through. I remained myself and fought Dad, even when my body mutated, and afterwards I slept it off. That's part of another of my powers, the Gar's Body; I can cure any status effect by going to sleep for a while. Even when my body was twisted beyond recognition, it was simply a matter of going to bed and waking up in a hospital later. You don't have to believe , but I can show what I look like under a microscope or call Ozpin or"
"I believe you," She said, slowly forcing herself to relax despite being told that the person she was holding onto was a, supposedly forr, victim of the worst plague known to Remnant. "It's justI was surprised. But whatwhat does this"
She still seed at a loss for words, but I understood regardless.
"You told that you could see my soul, or sothing like it," I replied. "While the disease ran its course, I gained several skills, including one that allowed tosort of re-infect myself. Though the transformation itself is sowhat awkward, it carries a great deal of power with it, but I'm worried"
"I understand," She nodded slowly.
"I've tested it carefully and my transford state can't spread the infection, so it's safe to see, at least," I continued. "I can make a few barriers and lock myself down, too. ButI want to know."
"Okay," She said after a minute, taking a deep breath. Slowly, she stood, letting go of and striding carefully away even as she watched carefully. "Whatever happened, whatever happens, I trust you Jaune. Do whatever you think is necessary and I'll help you."
"Thank you," I replied, barriers already forming around and then I started to mutate.
Drawing up the power of tamorphosis, I rose slowly to the fullness of my height and then most of a ter above it, towering high above my sister as plates of armor grew from my skin, followed by masklike faces and unblinking eyes. She watched silently as long spikes rose from my back and my hands twisted into lethal claws, not saying a word as the transformation finished. It only look several seconds this ti, thanks to the healing I did, and then there I stood, looking the sa way I had when I faced Conquest.
"How do I look?" I asked, knowing she'd understand what I ant.
Looked up and down, craning her head to do so, and then sighed slowly.
"On the inside, you're still the sa," She said. "Stuff like this can't change who you are."
I'd have smiled if the masks allowed for expression, though I wasn't quite certain how to feel. She'd never seen before I'd awakened my powerbut I honestly hadn't had Conquest's status effect a few minutes ago, so it was the closest thing to a true test we'd get without actually infecting soone. It didn't necessarily an anything, but it might have and it was worth rembering. If I asked, I could get her to look at Ruby, perhaps, and see if anything stood out, though I couldn't imagine what would really stand out in Bianca's eyes, nor did I know what I was looking for. But
It was sothing.
Maybe.
"That's good news," I said, hiding my doubts. If nothing else, I really did feel better after talking to her about things. "I suppose I should go sleep this off, then, though I might train a bit beforehand. Thank you, Bianca."
"Any ti," She said, still looking upand up and up and upat . As I began to turn away, however, she stopped . "Jaunewhatever happens, just rember you're still my little brother. Don't worry about stuff like this too much, okay?"
"It's hard not to," I mused. "But I'll try"
I paused, lifting a finger her way as a notification appeared before . Absently reaching into my Inventory, I drew my ringing scroll and flipped it open, quickly scanning the contents.
"What is it?" Bianca asked, tilting her head upwards at the scroll I held high above her head.
"Just a ssage from a friend," I answered back, considering the ssage. "We've been aning to catch up so I tried to arrange a eting. Seems things finally worked out."
"Just rember to wear your other suit if you go visiting."
"As a matter of fact," I chuckled, snapping the scroll closed. "I will, in fact, be wearing my other suit."
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