DISCLAIR: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishnt. Anyway on with the show...errr read.
Clarification
I watched the world turn, barren rock breaking down to sand and the growth of life covering it in a sea of green. The shapes and nature of what I was watching changed over what must have been an unspeakable amount of ti, the species that covered the world shifting and changing over eons. Lifetis could have fit into monts, but in ti I saw what could only be the markings of mankind. Civilization grew in dizzying shapes, mining wonders from the earth in a thousand places as it grew from caves to gleaming towers that scratched the sky
But then, like all things, it ca to an end. I didn't see how, didn't even see anything like people, but I saw this place of wonders co to an end. I realized after a mont that I was sitting comfortably in the palm of a stone giant, a creature who towered over all the mountains of the world and made cities shake with his footsteps. He walked without care for what was around him or beneath his feet, crushing steel towers like they were ants and moving on without a care, but even more than that, I saw the world around us crumbling. For a mont, I looked upon a place long lost to history, staring at their works, but then there was nothing but lonely, level sands, stretching into the distance.
Yet the giant continued to walk and I sat patiently in the palm of its colossal hand, watching as we continued on towards sothing in the distance, nations rising and falling around us like grass in the sumr.
And then I woke up, seated upon a throne of blackened stone that had been positioned atop a raised pedestal. I did not recognize it, yet I knew at once that it was Ereb's design and felt him through the stone behind and the earth beneath my feet. As they had been the last ti I'd done this, my Elentals were waiting for , this ti positioned around on podiums of their own, though they lacked thrones. Suryasta stood in a bonfire, broken tree limbs gathered at his feet, and Xihai was subrged in a still pool of water. Levant's place was barren, open to the wind, while Vulturnus and Crocea Mors stood together, the latter standing at the center of a complex tal circuit the forr was racing through. Ereb, the creator of this all, was beneath , mirroring underground on a throne of his own.
None of them moved as I awoke, but we were one and I knew they were as aware of as I was of them. Why they'd bothered with this, I didn't know and didn't bother asking, but
I took a breath and then exhaled, leaning back in my throne. I couldn't deny it made feel pretty cool. I was naked and a bit dirty, but I corrected that quickly enough by using the nearby water to wash myself off and then accessing my inventory. As I reclined, however, I allowed my senses to expand and reached out to my house. I could feel Adam in the living room, watching TV again as he waited for to return, but I shifted my attention passed him to the nearest clock. It was shortly after eight which ant it was ti to get to workI had a busy day ahead of , after all. I needed to speak to Adam about that train car full of Dust, collect the shipnt Ozpin had promised , swing by Juniors to keep my promise and make arrangents, head back to the Hospital to see my mother and continue healing the others, speak to Ozpin, arrange my house, probably look into Ruby's situationI had a lot to do, so I best get to it.
Rising, I looked around a bit and then down at myself. Taking a mont to activate all the skills that had turned off while I'd been sleeping, felt my Elentals fade to a less visible state, following just a step behind as I headed back to my house so as to not keep my friend waiting.
"Hey," Adam said from the couch as I entered the house a few seconds later. He had a bowl of cereal nearby that he was eating pretty lazily, feet up on the table in front of him.
"Hey," I greeted brightly, not bothering to pretend I needed to eat anything. "Sleep well?"
He grunted sullenly, probably feeling the effects of the night before. I felt just fine, of course, and I made sure he was aware of that as I moved to sit on the other end of the couch.
"Anything about Junior's club?" I asked, glancing over the news.
"No."
"I'm gonna head back there in a bit," I said, happy to make conversation with my hung-over friend. "Still need to heal his n and help clean up the place. Think I need to worry about anything?"
"Maybe."
I nodded in acceptance. I knew that, of course, which is why I'd be wary. With what I'd done to chase of Yang, she might have told her father or uncle sothing. If anything she'd said had made them suspicious, well, soone might be keeping an eye on the club. Thankfully, that wasn't an issue for , since I could just jog past the club as Jaune Arc, scope the area out thoroughly, and then return as Jian Bing if everything was safeor even just step inside using Naraka. I needed to go into town anyway, so it wouldn't be any trouble either way.
"I'll just have to be careful then," I said cheerfully, putting my own feet up. "Hey, you want to co, too? You can watch my back and maybe we can get a few drinks out of the deal. I an, we barely got to drink anything last night."
He turned to stare at for a mont and then gave a disgusted looking sneer and turning back to the TV.
"Son of a bitch," He said, but he couldn't put much vehence into it. "You're not even hung-over, are you?"
"Nope," I drew out, smiling widely. "I feel fine. You?"
"Go fuck yourself, Jaune." He replied.
I laughed and punched his shoulder, holding back enough to just jostle him slightly. As I did, I healed him once, which seed to take the edge off of the discomfort and he exhaled slowly.
"When do you have to leave?" I asked when his expression began to express a little less hatred for all life.
"Whenever, really," He answered. "I can waste a few days if I want to, though, since I just finished a mission."
'If I need anything' went without saying.
"Thanks," I said. "For everything. ButI really do think I'll be okay."
He nodded, excepting the words and then tossing a piece of paper.
"That's the address for the Dust," He answered as he stood. "They're expecting Jian Bing, so just swing by in your other suit. If you need anything, Tukson or Raven can reach ."
"Got it," I said, morizing the address and password. "I'll be in town today, so I'll pick it up. If sothing cos of this whole moving business, I'll tell you how to reach , butwell, you have my number."
"I do," He said, putting the mostly empty cereal bowl on the floor for Gou to lap up and then walking away. As he was about to open the door, he looked over his shoulder and t my eyes. "Good luck, Jaune."
"You, too," I nodded. "See you around, Adam."
I watched the door close behind him and then I turned off the news, waiting for Gou to finish his snack before taking it to the sink. Making a note to do the dishes later, I turned around and leaned against the counter with a sigh, alone in the house. Glancing at the clock, I pulled up my Map and plotted out which route to take as I put together my schedule. Travel tis weren't an issue, but I had to make allowances for the amount of ti that talking to people was going to take out of my daystill, it wasn't a problem. Tapping the places I'd need to go, I put down markers and caused colored lines to appear as a result.
Multitasking, I opened my status screen and began browsing a bit with my other hand, pondering over what appeared. In the aftermath of both the Conquest fight and first waking up, there had been a fair number of things that had fallen down my list of priorities, but I had a few minutes to waste now. Scanning over the icons indicating my new skills, I decided to start with the ones I'd gotten from defeating Conquest.
Trespasser (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
The ability to forcibly enter or exit a standing barrier. By carefully applying one's Aura, the user can slide through barriers that would normally keep him out or, at higher levels, destroy the barrier completely. MP cost is dependent on the power of the barrier in question.
Currently, only low level barriers can be bypassed this way.
Pausing, I pondered that for a mont and frowned to myself. Though situational, I couldn't deny that it was a skill that would be useful to so much so that it was suspicious. The ability to enter or exit a barrierwas this what Ozpin had used in those ruins or sothing else? Either way, it was rather convenient, wasn't it? Eventually, he and I would return to those ruins in the hope of entering that barrier againand this seed to be exactly what we needed to do it.
It would have been foolish to believe it was a coincidence. I an, it made sense that I'd get this rewardit was similar to an ability that Conquest himself had used, after all. Just like when I'd gotten Naraka from a Monster capable of making Grimm, it made sense. But was that the point? Both the Goliath and Conquest had been sent at , after allit only made sense to be suspicious. Their father had claid to know and had been keeping tabs on for a while, so could he be responsible for this? Could he be controlling what my own Semblance granted ?
Or was I thinking about this the wrong way. There was more to this story than him, after allI played a role, even if I wasn't entirely sure what it was. The interest he'd taken in , the way he'd seed to know , the fact that he'd called 'old friend'sohow we were related.
But how? It went without saying that as far as I knew, I'd never t him before in my life, which left with only a few possibilities. One, that he was a lying liar who was telling lies, which was probably true at least in part. I an, he was definitely a murderer and a monster, so trusting everything he said seed like it would be unwisebut could I afford to just dismiss him, either? No; he obviously knew a lot more about this than I did, whatever ca out of his mouth, and he obviously wanted to do sothing. Even if he was lying to , there was a point to his actions and a purpose behind them I needed to uncover. So I put that possibility aside and moved onto the second; that I'd sohow t him and forgotten it. That seedunlikely, however; he didn't seem like the type of person one forgot.
Then I was left with the third possibility, which was at once the most obvious explanation and rather concerning if true. He, whoever he was, was obviously old. If he was truly the father of the Grimm and had been involved with Babel's destruction, then he was millennia old, at the very least. And if I assud that he was telling, at least in part, the truth, then if we were 'old friends'then, well, what qualified as an old friend for soone of that age? I'd have had to have t him a long ti ago. A long, long ti ago. As in, probably before I was even alive.
Which ant I had to consider the possibility of reincarnation being involved.
It wasn't that hard to believe, in fairness. The simple fact of the matter was that we knew souls existed, but no one knew how they truly worked or what happened to them after death. The most popular theories had always been that there was either so kind of afterlife or that souls reincarnated after death, with a sowhat less popular theory being that there was nothing after death and we simply ceased to exist. Given those options, the idea that I might be the reincarnation of soone else wasn't completely ridiculousthe very aria for awakening Auras ntioned being unbound by death, after all. Soyeah, I could acknowledge it as an option. Really, it was intriguing, if anything; that I might be evidence of the cycle of death and rebirth raised thousands of questions that were just begging for answers.
And yet, that was the problem as well. There were countless questions, but there weren't any answers for to find. Who had I been? How had I died? How was it related to that man and the Grimm? There was no way of knowing and it just raised more questions. If that man and I were 'old friends,' which from his tone I took to an enemies, and then what did that an for ? I didn't rember any past life I might have had, which wasn't surprising either, since a common feature of 'reincarnation' was losing all of that stuff. But if I was different physically and kept nothing ntally, that basically ant I was a completely different person in every way. Did it matter that I was a reincarnation if nothing remained?
Or did sothing remain? My mind and body might have been different, but reincarnation referred to the soulI'd dismissed it long ago, but my Semblance had awakened before I'd even activated my Aura. I'd told my dad about it and he'd seed surprisedand why wouldn't he be? After all, a Semblance was supposed to be a personal expression of one's Aura. It was sothing gained through training and effort, but I'd gotten it before I'd done anything else. It was one of the many things I'd just accepted about this power of mine, but I'd effectively started running before even learning to walk.
It was a minor impossibility compared to everything else my power had proven to do, but it was important because it was the first impossibility. Could this be an answer? I'd wondered so many tis about the countless oddities of my powerwas this why? Then, could this be the answer to other things, too? These things that seed to be leading sowhere, to Babel and those ruinswhat if it wasn't that asshole doing it? What if it was ? Or whatever remained of who I'd been, at least. But if so, how? Why? What made different from everyone else?
And then, the biggestand oddestquestion: Could I trust myself? After all, it seed I barely knew .
I smiled for a mont but then sighed, for no answers seed forthcoming from my empty kitchen.
Perhaps it was just as well that that was when soone decided to call my scroll.
I reached into my Inventory, plucking my scroll out of the air with a slight frown, snapping it open quickly to see who was calling. There was a pretty short list of people who had my number and, wellmaybe it was because I myself seed nearly incapable of calling people to give them good news, but I was imdiately on guard. Seeing my grandmother's face staring back from the ID screen at once relieved those worries and increased them greatly. Still, she was probably calling, at least in part, to check up on , so I answered.
"Hello, Grandmother," I said as her face filled the screen. On the off chance she was near anyone that might be watching, I made sure to wait until the third ring instead of answering instantlyit was one of those little things that people probably wouldn't notice unless attention was specifically drawn to it, but still, no point in being careless.
"Jaune," She answered, eyes flicking over quickly. I could practically hear her thought processesI'd answered the phone and appeared fine. Between that and what she knew of my ability, I'd probably suffered no aningful injuries, for a rather broad definition of 'aningful.' I don't recall the last ti she'd been too my house, but I wouldn't have been surprised if she saw the cabinets behind and realized I was at ho, as well. When she slowly blinked after a mont, I could practically hear filing cabinets rustling in her mind as she nodded slightly and sorted the information away. After that mont's pause, she nodded slightly and tilted her head to look at . "I heard what happened from Ozpin."
The way she said the words made it abundantly clear that she didn't believe for a second that she'd gotten the truth, or at least not the whole truth, but I nodded without giving comnt.
"You'll be here soon, then?" I asked.
"Yes," She answered, watching closely. "I will arrive in a matter of days. I've already spoken to your sisters, in fact, and did my best to coordinate things on that end; I've tried calling your mother, as well, but it appears that she is still resting."
"Ah," I said, rubbing my neck slightly. "Yes, I couldn't speak to her yesterday, either. Still, there's no need to worry; I'll have the house prepared by the ti you arrive."
She nodded slowly, frowning slightly, and then surprised a little.
"Your father was a good man," She said. "Though we had our disagreents, I've always thought thator else I would never have let your mother marry him. Whatever his faults, he was a strong man and, even more impressively, he was a good man."
After a mont the surprise faded. My grandmother, true to her nature, had cut straight to the point and spoken of my father without dancing around the issue. It was veryher, enough so that it made smile.
"Yes," I answered.
"You were with him, in the end?" She continued unflinchingly where others probably would have faltered, eting my gaze calmly.
I thought of the battle in his soul and the words we'd exchanged. I had to close my eyes for a mont before nodding, it was so
It was hard to describe. Despite everything that had happened, it wasn't a wholly horrible mory. Or rather, it was a horrible mory that I was thankful for? It was sothing I felt but which didn't fit well into words.
"I was," I said. "Not for the very last part, butwe got to say our goodbyes. I got to hear his last words, to say what I wanted to say knowing what would happen."
"He must have been happy," She mused. "Knowing he wasn't alone. Knowing he was loved to the very endand that his children would live on. I think he would have been pleased with that. I take it he died well, then?"
I exhaled slowly looking up at the ceiling. I rembered my father's body on its knees, form twitched into a monstrous puppet. I rembered my blade coming down, his head rolling away, my father's body dying.
But I also rember what had happened before that. Of our last eting in his soul, of fighting and defeating Conquest, a monster who had destroyed countless lives and then of facing his master. I hadn't seen the fighting, but I rembered that my father had fought, against odds we both knew would be hopeless.
"Yes," I said, quietly after a minute, looking back down at her with a slight nod. "Yeah, he did."
She nodded once in acceptance, an air of finality to the gesture as if that matter had been settled for all ti and there was no room for argunt.
"And those responsible?" She asked. She didn't specify and she didn't need to.
"I settled things with one of them," I said. "The other is a work in progress, but I'll catch up to him eventually."
"We always do," She said. She smiled at and oddly, I found myself smiling back. "And you, Jaune?"
I humd once to myself, considering.
"Doing better," I mused. "Maybe even doing well. I spoke with so people, kept busy, that type of thing. And nowI'll be okay in ti."
She nodded again and there was that sa air of acceptance to it, as if it must be true if I had said it. She didn't question or doubt my words, though she probably would have listened had I needed her to.
"I spoke to the dics already, but I trust your opinion more," She moved on, appearing to consider that settled for now. "When is your mother expected to recover?"
That is, 'when would I be able to heal her?'
"Soon, hopefully," I answered. "I'll be focusing on my healing abilities for the ti being. If no results are apparent, I may have to look into alternatives, but I'll get the job done one way or another. General Ironwood has a robotic arm if I'm not mistake, so it's certainly possible. If I have to, I'll speak to Ozpin about it and see what I can do about making arrangents. Whatever happens, I'll find a wayfor the an ti, though, I'll be hard at work in the hospitals, I think. As for what'll happen once she's back on her feet, I think you'd know better than I would, but I suppose it depends on the therapists."
"Yes," She said. "I will speak with her about that upon my arrival. There are no other problems?"
"Shouldn't be," I shook my head. "I gave her so preliminary healing yesterday and made other arrangents for her. I'll set have to go back and renew them later to make sure everything's still going okay, but she should be doing pretty well, considering."
"That is very fortunate," She smiled. "I'll leave that to you, then. You will be fine alone for a few days?"
"I've got plenty of money," I shrugged, giving her a smile I knew she'd understand. "And it's not as though I need much to get by, either."
"Marvelous," I heard her tap sothing with a finger off screen and tilted my head to the side. "Now then, that's just about everything. The rest of our business can wait until my arrival, I think"
That gave pause. I made sure not to react in any way, but I focused closely on her face, scanning it as well as the hologram would allow. Without seeing her in person, I couldn't be sure, but she seed to be my grandmotherwhich ant
"Will that all then, Grandmother?" I asked politely, tilting my head to the side.
She t my eyes and though her smile didn't change in any way, it seed abruptly toothy, like a wolf baring its fangs.
Just for a mont, but it wasn't sothing I'd miss and it confird what I suspected.
"Nothing worth the ntioning," She said. "I'll see you soon, Jaune?"
"Yes, Grandmother," I answered, remaining still until she hung up and then sighing quietly. "Raven, huh"
We'd avoided the topics of Raven, Jian Bing, and Babel, completely, of course; we'd long since agreed not to discuss any important matters over our scrolls. Unlike , my grandmother had no way of truly knowing if Raven was watching her at any given ti, which made anything but face to face communications dangerously unsecure. I had to protect my identity as Jian Bing, after all, which wouldn't last very long if Raven saw my Grandmother talking to about things I wasn't supposed to know about. I'm sure my grandmother wanted to ask about the mission that had crippled her daughter and killed her son-in-law, but she wouldn't ask about it over our scrolls.
So that we didn't talk about that wasn't so odd. That she ntioned the obvious by saying we'd talk about it later, however, wasas were her parting words.
I wondered if Raven was actually upset with over Yang. It was possible, I suppose, but I really had been extrely gentle with her, all things considered. Given who I wasor, at least, who my reputation said I wasRaven would undoubtedly realize I'd held back for her sake, so I really couldn't see her as being too mad. She couldn't really expect to do nothing if her daughter got involved, right?
Perhaps I was thinking about it the wrong way, then? Perhaps she wasn't angry, but rely wanted to set up ground rules or request I handle things in a specific fashion should it co up again. That would be ideal, really. Or maybe she was looking for for completely different reasons that would undoubtedly draw into trouble in the near futureor hell, maybe she just wanted to know what I needed a train car of Dust for. Thankful as I was for Adam's gift, I'd probably want an answer or two on that front, were I in her shoes.
Whatever the case, it all boiled down to the sa thing. I added 'speak to Raven' to my already busy schedule, glanced at the clock, and stood up to face the day with only a slight sigh.
There was no rest for the wicked, after allso I suppose this is what I get for having the gall to sleep twice in as many days.
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