Chapter 9-[A Remnant in Time]

[T/N: Remnant in time would have been such a good name!]

 Are these the voices of our dead friends or just the gramophone?

 -George Seferis

Jaune reached for the hilt of his sword, but didn't draw it. He didn't want to add fuel to the fire. Although it was too late to worry about that, a strange fear paralyzed him, dulling his mind. A person's scream of terror broke him out of that paralysis, and he practically jumped out of his seat, arming himself.

A Grimm, or a Nevermore, to be exact, had landed on the stands. Many of the spectators were hunters from Beacon and other schools, people with auras, meaning they weren't in danger. But there were just as many normal people. Maybe even more, and to them, a single Grimm was an unbeatable killing machine.

He couldn't hear it from here, not over the screams and footsteps and howls of the Grimm flying over the arena and the ones getting closer. But if he had been close, he was sure he would have heard their bones crack. It was very painful, but at least they would die instantly. Although, in truth, that was no consolation.

"You know the plan," Jaune said. "Don't hesitate. We're among the few who are truly prepared for this, the hope of Beacon."

"Of course," Ruby said, standing beside him, unfolding Crescent Rose. Her voice shook a little, almost imperceptibly. But there was an unbreakable will burning there, too. She knew from the start, that there was nothing and no one who could stop her. "That's what we're here for. Together?"

"Of course. Together."

They ran off, while the others split up to carry out their roles in the plan.

Ruby beat him to it. She used her Semblance, leaving behind only dozens of rose petals, in more ways than one. She was so fast that he couldn't even see her movements.

He was not that fast, and the panicked crowd was hampering his progress. He had to go around them or push and kick his way through, one more in the midst of chaos in which more than one civilian would probably die, trampled by those around him.

Ruby was going head to head with the Nevermore, parrying the blows instead of dodging them so that those huge wings wouldn't hit the people nearby.

As far as weapons went, a Nevermore's wings weren't the best. The beast risked losing its balance with every strike if it wasn't careful. But Ruby was on the defensive, so she was losing ground. If she didn't do something...

He approached and, running, slashed its leg as he passed. The beast turned to face him.

Jaune raised his shield, blocking the blow, but it wasn't enough. The impact lifted his feet off the ground and sent him flying backwards. Hitting a wall was the only thing that stopped him.

From the ground, slightly disoriented, he saw flashes cross the air. Swords. They stuck into the Nevermore's body, behind its head, in its chest, in its back.

It took him a moment to realize who that weapon belonged to. Penny, the android of Atlas.

He couldn't see her from here, but she must have retracted her swords, because the Nevermore's massive body began to move forward, propelled by the force of the mechanism. Jaune rolled out of the way, before being crushed.

So close to him, the partial destruction of a wall of the stands sounded like a high explosive being detonated.

He stood up in time to see Ruby leap on top of the struggling Nevermore and run up its back, scythe in hand.

When she reached its head, she bent her knees, gathering strength in her legs.

She jumped, flipped in the air, grabbed the scythe with both hands. As she fell, she used her Semblance to give herself a little extra push, sank the weapon into the grimm's neck, and landed with the grace of a cat, avoiding the fountain of blood so it wouldn't stain her combat clothing. Not a single drop fell on her.

Jaune stared at her as if hypnotized.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen her decapitate a Nevermore, and he hoped it wouldn't be the last, but he couldn't help but feel fascinated every time he saw her in action. Her scythe raised high above her head, shining like a shard of the moon. Her firm stance, those small shoulders that seemed to be able to bear the weight of the entire world.

She was beautiful. Too beautiful for this rotten, infected world.

His will weakened. Even if he only managed to save her life, wasn't that enough? Hadn't he earned his rest then? But it was foolish, he knew he would never be happy again with all of his friends dead, and he wouldn't just sit back while they waged war with Salem.

So it wasn't an option. At all.

Besides, even though the years he'd been trapped in the time loop hadn't been kind to him, it wasn't that he didn't have a heart. He didn't want to see them suffer or die. Even if it might buy Ruby's survival.

'Pull yourself together. Just a little longer and you can rest,' he thought, gripping his shield and sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Let this be the last time.

Jaune jumped down, approaching them. The corpse of the Nevermore was disintegrating.

"Penny," Jaune said, "do you think you can locate where Cinder sent her message from?"

"I'm on it."

Good. One less thing to worry about, but his work had only just begun.

He looked up at the sky. Nevermores and Griffins circling overhead, and a variety of Grimm climbing up to enter the arena.

The skies were burning.

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Roman looked at the devastation around him, feeling like he was in a dream. It seemed like just yesterday that he had been coerced into working with Cinder, carrying out a series of robberies for her master plan or whatever, and now he was standing on the prow of a ship, watching as hundreds of innocents died.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't feel sorry for them or guilt because he was partly responsible for what happened. To him, it was just something that happened. Some would say that made him a bad person, a monster.

He did not believe in the existence of either good or bad people.

He leaned his elbows on the railing.

"Neo…"

She turned her head to look at him. She was still impassive and had her usual playful smile, but he had known her for years and so he knew that, right now, that was nothing more than a facade.

A well-kept facade, so much so that no one but he would be able to penetrate it, but a facade, nonetheless.

"I want to tell you that I'm sorry," he continued. He was nervous about admitting his weakness, that he had failed her, but he had to do it. "If I had been a little stronger, a little smarter, things might not have gotten to this point. They would have continued as always, you and me against the world."

"But we've come too far to turn back now. There's no second chance for us, and this is too big for us. You know that, right?"

Neo nodded.

"Yes, of course, you do," he replied absentmindedly, as if he were talking to himself. "I wish we had spent more time together. These last three years… they have been awfully short."

Neo poked his shoulder with her finger.

Oh, right. He had something to decide. He looked at her.

'There's no need to say goodbye,' she said with gestures.

"I hope so," he said, unable to look her in the eye. Aside from Cinder, Neo was the only person who could make him feel… small and vulnerable. "But what if I'm wrong? I'm not being paranoid, it's entirely possible that I'll die, or that you'll die. And if that happens, I'll regret not having said the right thing. Although, honestly, I'm not sure what that is."

'What do I mean to you?' Neo asked. Her expression was strangely vulnerable.

Yes, today was not a normal night for either of them.

"That's a strange question. I admit, I do feel affection for you, but it's not like I consider you the daughter I never had, and I don't think that can be called love either. No, you are something more, Neo. Something more."

She jumped down from the railing.

"Come here," he said, and they hugged each other, her head resting on his chest.

He didn't want to be separated from her. It might very well be the last time they would see each other, at least alive. If he survived and she fell in combat, he would remember her. He wouldn't allow himself to forget her. Though it would be better for him to let go of that pain.

Neo stepped away from him, still holding her hands behind her back.

"Let's get out of here," said the madman. "Let's reroute this ship and flee to… whatever, anywhere. And we can hide, stay unnoticed until this is all over. Whatever the outcome. What do you think?"

'It would be signing our death warrant,' she replied.

"Even if that is so, I prefer to die as a free man. This… all of this, has been a mistake."

'Okay. I'll follow you.'

"But do you want to do it? Are you really okay with it?"

'First of all, I'm here because you caved under pressure. Not out of fear for my own life. I've long since lost any attachment to you. I'm just afraid of losing you, so of course I'm going to follow you. You won't get rid of me that easily,' Nero said, punctuating that last sentence with a pat on the chest.

Roman smiled.

In that smile, there was a little more of his usual self, of his confidence, of his pride, than the fear that had gripped him until then.

"Very well. So be it. Just as it should be, you and me against the world."

'And what about the virus?'

"The virus. Yeah, we're gonna make things a little easier for those little fuckers. Because yes. I can be generous when I want to be."

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Jaune ran out of the arena, accompanied by Ruby and Penny.

Even though he had been in this same situation hundreds of times, the scene before his eyes frightened him, because it meant that death was near. And he was not strong enough to change things.

At least, not alone. But he wasn't alone.

The Atlas androids, who had turned against the hunters, turned around and began to fulfill their original purpose, killing the Grimm beasts.

So fear got the better of Roman this time, he thought. It was nothing new, nothing that could turn the tide of the battle. But it would help, no doubt. Weiss, Blake, and Yang had gone to claim the ship, so now they could join the battle on the ground.

He didn't want Roman to die, or worse, to have to kill him himself. They had become friends, though that had been a long time ago. Neopolitan could be unbearable at times, but he had to admit that she wasn't all that bad, deep down.

He hadn't forgotten that they were and would remain criminals, but compared to the massacre of hundreds of people, hunters and civilians alike, it did not seem like a big deal.

He wanted to end this before the dragon appeared. Cinder might die, but he wasn't sure the same could be said for this beast. That was the real obstacle, the ultimate enemy. Not Cinder and her half of the Autumn Maiden's power.

To help with the evacuation, they joined the fray, attacking the Grimm savagely. There were hundreds of them and it seemed that with everyone killed, four more appeared. An endless black tide. An unfathomable darkness.

"I'm sick of you," he hissed and plunged his sword into the Ursa's stomach. The blade went back and forth, soaking in black blood, and the beast disintegrated as he pulled his weapon from its body.

It was never going to end, no matter how hard he fought. No one really knew where the Grimm came from, but if the assumptions were true, if they were truly not just drawn to negative feelings but born from them, then it was a hopeless battle.

'Just like this,' he thought.

He shook his head to rid himself of those unnecessary thoughts. He was a soldier, and he would fight for what he believed in. Whether there was hope or not. And if there wasn't... he would create it. Because that was his duty as a hunter.

He stepped back, pulled his Scroll out of his pocket, and put it back in, because he saw the other three girls from Team RWBY approaching. They regrouped in the center of the area, surrounded by other hunters and the corpses of ancient Grimm, which were taking longer to disappear than usual.

"Blake, are you ready?"Jaune asked.

They were going to find Adam Taurus, one of the main pieces of the attack, and kill him, not capture him. Because Adam was too dangerous an opponent to fight against at a disadvantage.

Thanks to his Semblance, he could make his attacks strong enough to break anyone's Aura in one hit.

"…No, it's too soon. But I can't let you face him alone" She took a breath and let it out. "Besides, I guess it's time to stop running away and face my past. Whether I want it or not."

"Okay. If you're sure."

They ran off, leaving Penny behind to help with the evacuation. She would have been useful in the fight against Adam, but for some reason he always killed her. No matter what she did. At first, she refused despite being told this, but she eventually accepted their orders.

They didn't find Adam. He found them.

What happened was more luck than skill. He heard something and pushed Ruby away as he threw himself to the ground without thinking about what he was doing. That's why Adam's katana ripped out a few strands of hair instead of slicing open his neck or sinking into Ruby's.

Jaune stepped back, shield raised to defend against the next attack. But there was none.

Standing in the middle of them, he looked at them as if he were watching bugs crawling along the roadside. Somehow he managed to convey that feeling, even though the mask covered most of his face.

"So this is your team," Adam said. "These are the people you've chosen over us, the White Fang. I must admit, I'm disappointed. In more ways than one."

"Why are you doing this?" Blake asked. "Why? What do you think you're going to gain from all this madness?"

"I didn't expect you, of all people, to ask me that question. Because humans believe that because we share some traits with their pets and the animals they slaughter, they have the right to do the same to us. Because we will always be different, a mistake of nature in their eyes. You understand this already. You don't need me to repeat it."

"There must be something else. You… you're not like that."

Adam laughs dryly.

"What are you waiting for? A story to make you cry? I must admit that I have not had good experiences with humans, that deep down I am moved by a tragedy that should never have happened in a rational, fair, and good world. But my pain is just a drop in the ocean. I am not a special case, so it is not worth talking about."

He took two steps forward.

Everyone tensed, ready for him to attack. Except Blake. She was staring at him like she was desperately trying to see something that wasn't there.

"That night you said you loved me, Blake. Over and over again. Was that true?"

"Yes. Or at least I thought so. I thought I knew you, but this, everything you've done…" she shook her head softly " I never thought you'd go this far."

"I understand that you want peace and equality with the human race. So do I. If that were possible, I would still fight for it. But it isn't. It isn't, darling," he said, his tone soft, speaking to her as if she were a lonely and frightened child. That was exactly how he saw her, she realized. "There is too much hatred for that to ever happen… and I'm not just talking about humans, but our species as well. Sooner or later, we would end up killing each other. We have a common enemy, though, the Grimm, and we can't afford that nonsense."

"It's in our nature. So, in the end, our only option is to take the world from their bloody hands. We can change things for the better. They've had their turn, and the situation is getting worse every day."

"You've gone mad."

There was no anger in Blake's voice. Only pain and a heavy melancholy.

"The blind always call those who proclaim a truth they won't or can't understand crazy. But it doesn't matter. Deep in my heart, I hoped I could change your mind. That you would come back to me… to us. But you will have to die here, as a traitor to your kind. I'm sorry, Blake. I didn't want it to end like this."

"Me neither."

"Take off your mask," Jaune said. "If you want to prove the strength of your convictions, show us your face, instead of hiding behind a mask."

He didn't expect him to listen to him. But he did.

Beneath the red and white mask was a mass of burnt skin. His eyes, pale as a frozen lake, were fixed on Blake, staring at her with a piercing gaze.

He dropped the mask to the floor and stepped on it, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"Enough talk," Adam said, and charged after them.

As expected of a bull Faunus, Adam was faster than all of them except for Ruby using her Semblance, and his blows contained the force of a blizzard. Despite being greatly outnumbered, he was easily overpowering them.

Even in the heat of battle, Jaune noticed something interesting. Adam didn't attack Blake unless he had to, and when he was forced to, he was a little slower, his attacks a little less powerful.

He felt betrayed and hated her for it, but he didn't want to hurt her. Deep down, he still loved her.

He could take advantage of that.

Jaune swung his sword at Blake.

Instinctively, he used his katana to block the blow. It was difficult to read his expression due to the state of his face, but there he thought he saw… shame.

Blake didn't take advantage of the opportunity, but luckily Ruby didn't hesitate for a moment. Holding her scythe like the sniper rifle it was in part, she opened fire on Adam.

He stepped back, cut one of the bullets in half, and jumped back, landing on his knees, one hand on the ground.

One of the bullets had hit him in the shoulder, and he was bleeding a little.

"Is this the kind of person you surround yourself with now?" Adam asked, his tone hard and tempered like steel. "Someone who would attack you to trick your opponent? If you truly think we're monsters, it seems your friend isn't so different."

"He wouldn't have really hurt me," she replied. He was hurt that she didn't seem entirely convinced.

Adam laughed again. That dry, irritating laugh.

Ruby charged Adam with her scythe in front of her, using her Semblance to make the impact a little stronger, but he stopped the blow without even taking his gaze off Blake. As if she wasn't worth paying attention to.

"I'll be merciful, Blake," he said, as he struggled with Ruby. "I'll kill you first so you don't have to watch your friends die."

Yang attacked him from another side. He kicked Ruby away and stopped Yang's blow, absorbing the energy with his Semblance.

Adam backed away and she kept trying to catch up to him, but he was too fast for her.

"You love the sound of your own voice, huh? I'll punch you in the face!"

"Yang, be careful! " Jaune said.

The way she was acting now, fighting in the same style as always, she would be lucky if she only lost one arm. He didn't want her to die. And he especially didn't want Ruby to have to watch her sister die again.

But she didn't listen. He had told her some of the things that had happened to him in other iterations and she had listened, but now she acted as if it had nothing to do with her. He liked Yang, but he had to admit that she was that kind of person. It seemed like she wouldn't learn to be cautious until she lost an arm or a leg.

He heard a small explosion behind him. Apparently, Weiss had had enough of clashing swords with Adam and had decided to try her hand at her family's specialty, summoning.

A huge arm with a sword of the same size passed close to him. Ruby, thinking quickly, threw herself at Adam's legs in an attempt to immobilize him. Two of Blake's clones rushed at him, one of them putting the weapon to his neck.

The arm swung the sword, striking the opponent several times. With a snap of the fingers, Weiss exploded the sword. Blake's clones disappeared, Adam flew backwards, Ruby was thrown to the side, rolling on the ground, and the scythe slipped from her hands.

Adam stabbed the ground with his katana to support himself as he stood up. The explosion had seriously injured him.

"I'm sick of this," he muttered.

Jaune's heart stopped suddenly. Rose petals floated in the air. He moved towards Ruby as she, on all fours, moved to retrieve her weapon. He wanted to shout a warning, but because of fear, only a scream came out, not words.

Someone landed in their midst. Pyrrha, dressed in her armor, except… that wasn't her. Not anymore.

The power she emitted was like waves in a stormy sea, something wild, impossible to control. One had no choice but to let oneself go or one would end up drowning. His legs trembled, he felt insignificant.

Even Adam had stopped with his sword in the air, and was looking at Pyrrha with something approaching fear.

If Jaune recovered a few seconds before the others, it was because he had already been exposed to the power of a Maiden before. Many times.

He moved towards Ruby to get her away before Adam could finish what he had started.

Blake attacked Adam, this time directly, not through the clones. There was no trace of the grace and calm she seemed to embody in her movements.

Taking advantage of this, Adam knocked the weapon out of her hands with a blow from his katana.

Blake jumped back, catching herself by doing a flip in the air, and landed on her feet, like a cat.

At the same time, Pyrrha intervened in the fight. She raised winds beneath Adam, lifting him a few meters above the ground and leaving him vulnerable. Only for a moment, but Blake knew how to take advantage of the opportunity. She attacked, piercing his chest after transforming her weapon into a katana. Pyrrha dispelled the wind, causing them both to fall, with her on top, still holding the weapon. The impact caused her to go deeper.

Blake pulled back her sword. She stepped away and knelt beside him.

Adam took a breath and ended up coughing up blood.

Jaune didn't allow himself to relax. The others might have thought the fight was over, but he wasn't sure. It wouldn't be the first time that the man's endurance had surprised him.

Adam raised his hands to the wound, gasped, pulled them back, and stared at the blood as if he were mesmerized. He realized that his hands were shaking slightly.

"I can't die yet," he said, almost as if he were talking to himself. "There are so many people who are counting on me. I… I can't let them down. Blake. Blake, look at me."

But she couldn't. Her gaze was fixed on her own katana, dripping with the blood of the man she had loved. From where she stood, she couldn't see if he was crying or what kind of expression he had. Anger? Sadness?

Adam reached out a trembling hand towards her. He might have intended to touch her face, but he didn't have the strength and fell on his stomach. Blood was visibly splashing across his white skin. It was almost grotesque.

What was going through their minds? He couldn't imagine. Blake didn't know the person Adam had become, but he knew her better than anyone, maybe even better than his own family. She had been a very big and important part of his life. For better or worse.

"You can't let me die here. It's not too late… to reconsider. Help me. I can't fail our brothers and sisters. I'm begging you, Blake. Bla…ke…"

She finally looked at him, but it was too late. He was dead. All that was left of him was his body and the smell of his blood hanging in the air.

Ruby, who had already picked up and put away her scythe, walked over to her and extended an arm toward her shoulder.

"Blake…"

She stood up. She took a deep breath.

"He had to die."

"Yes," Ruby's voice trembled a little.

"It is the best for everyone."

She turned around. Her eyes were watery, but she was holding on strong, not a single tear had been shed.

The world shook.

Jaune turned around in time to see the dragon towering over everything and everyone, spreading its wings across the night sky. Above its head, the shattered moon.

"Wow," Ruby said, letting out a nervous laugh. "It's a little bigger than I imagined."

"Let's let the teachers handle him and focus on Cinder," Jaune said. "If Pyrrha gains the full power of a Maiden, she might be able to stop that monster."

Fortunately, she didn't correct him.

She knew she'd had little more than two days to train with her powers, that she'd barely scratched the surface of her potential, what little she had was difficult to control, and an injection of power wasn't going to fix that. But they needed to hold on to hope. If they despaired, they would only complicate a situation that was already too much for them.

He wondered where that woman was, and quickly came to a conclusion.

The tower, looking for Ozpin. He was the biggest obstacle to their plans.

Would she be able to kill him with only half of the Autumn Maiden's power? Of course. Cinder didn't win her battles solely by possessing overwhelming power, though she was certainly not weak, but by her intelligence and skill.

With that single half, she was even with Ozpin.

"Pyrrha, go ahead," Jaune said. "Rescue the headmaster. We'll catch up to you."

She nodded, didn't protest, and set off.

The tower shook with an explosion. It tore a large hole in the building, sending debris raining down. Looking up, he saw, as expected, that it had originated in Ozpin's office.

It was possible that it was all over already, and if Pyrrha was forced to face Cinder alone, it wouldn't end well.

They entered the tower and climbed the stairs. The elevator was still working, but Cinder would hear it approaching, so it was too risky to go in there. They would be easy targets once the doors opened.

They arrived at the office in time to see the end.

Ozpin was lying on the ground in a pool of blood. An arrow had pierced his chest. He wasn't sure if he was already dead or just dying, but either way, he was close to leaving this world. There was nothing they could do for him.

And Pyrrha was nowhere to be found.

With her face stained with blood, Cinder Fall looked at them. And she smiled sincerely and happily. It was not a smile that fit the face of an assassin.

The wind blew through the room, passing through the hole in the wall. That added to the cold hand that had gripped his heart.

"You all suddenly appear, but the most important person is missing," Cinder said, placing her hands on her hips. "Still, I'm glad to see you, Jaune Arc."

"Why?"

But it was clear. He had been the one to kill Emerald, and he had somehow learned what she knew, which was reason enough for him to have an interest in her.

"Because I don't know how many times we've repeated this farce, but I'll make sure this is the last."

What had she said?

"He knew it."

Cinder remembered, at least, the last iteration. And with that, she had taken away their greatest advantage. It also explained why Adam had tried to stealthily kill Ruby in one hit."

She enveloped one hand in flames, under the light of which her face looked monstrous.

What she had told them earlier suggested that Pyrrha was alive somewhere. Trusting her was a bad idea, of course. But she didn't need that kind of trickery to beat them, so she had no reason to lie about it.

Still, that didn't change the fact that he and Team RWBY were going to have to face one of the Maidens of the Seasons, even if she wasn't at her full power, and see if they were up to the task.

"This is going to be fun," Cinder said, drunk with power.

[T/N: DAM! No wonder we are closing in on the end of the book, this is becoming a shit show! Anyway, why don't you leave a comment, write a review for this new book, and drop some stones. If you don't know I've got a few good books I'm busy with right now so why not check them out, just go to my profile, or search for the books, Invisible-A Harry Potter FanFic, and A Gamer in Game of Thrones. Or if you want to read some advanced chapters then check out the P@treon, or the Ko-fi.]

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