Chapter 10-[Crushing Embrace]

Nobody moved.

The only sounds in the shattered office were the whisper of the wind and the pounding of his heart, which seemed even louder than the screams and yells coming from outside as the battle neared its end.

Jaune had told everyone that Ozpin always died in battle, whether it was at the hands of Cinder or the dragon. They had prepared themselves for it, or so they had thought, but it was clear that they hadn't taken it well. It was written on their faces, in the shaking of their shoulders and legs, in their eyes.

In truth, it was to be expected. To them, the Headmaster was more than a man, more than a hunter. Knowing that the enemy had killed him so easily, they couldn't help but feel that they had already lost the battle. There was nothing he could have done to protect them from that feeling.

That was why Cinder was waiting, rather than attacking. She was a monster. She knew all too well how to destroy people with more than just physical strength, to highlight their weaknesses and exploit them in devastating ways.

The longer they remained in a stalemate, the more time their minds would have to turn against themselves. The more the team's morale would fall.

So he sprang into action. He lunged at Cinder, and she fired a concentrated blast of fire at him, grabbing his wrist with her other hand.

Jaune stopped, digging his feet into the ground, placing the shield between himself and the flames.

The blast split in two and passed around him like slithering snakes. He felt the heat close to him, the ghostly sensation of being on fire.

He clenched his teeth and gripped the handle of his shield.

He held on until Cinder dispelled the fire, and saw Team RWBY spring into action.

Five against one. In theory, it should be simple. In theory.

But the power of the Maidens was special precisely because it defied logic and theory to enter the realm of fantasy. And not because they did not need Dust to use their abilities.

Weiss deployed one of her glyphs beneath Cinder. One that served to prevent movement, or so she assumed, because she didn't even try to move, not giving her a chance to check.

Yang's eyes were blood red, gleaming. Her long blond hair was on fire. For the first time in her life, or rather in this life, every bit of strength in her body was directed towards killing a human being.

Blake created four of her clones, each imbued with a different type of Dust, and also approached, ready to coordinate their attacks with hers and the rest of the team.

Ruby simply moved. She transformed into a whirlwind of rose petals of death. In the midst of it all, she caught the glint of her scythe.

Jaune was going to attack her from behind.

Cinder Fall then lifted her foot, shattering the glyph with astonishing ease, set it back down on the ground, and spun around like a ballerina, spreading fire wherever she touched. As she completed her spin, she lifted her foot and slammed it into the ground.

There was an explosion.

The roar of the flames, their heat. A trembling, completely white world.

When he came to, he was lying on the ground, struggling to breathe. He had somehow managed to hold on to his sword and shield. He wanted to get up and fight, but he had a feeling that his legs wouldn't be able to support his own weight. At least not yet.

Jaune gritted his teeth as he felt his Semblance kick in, healing his wounds.

The explosion had wiped out Blake's clones, and she didn't look too good right now either.

Cinder was still standing there. Of course, she didn't have a scratch on her, and her arrogant smile had only grown wider. She knew she had the situation under control. That the moment of her final victory was drawing near.

"You're just kids playing at being heroes," she said, walking towards Ruby slowly, unhurriedly. "You don't have to die for me to get what I want. Give me the silver"eyed girl, and the rest of you can leave as if nothing happened here."

"Fuck you!" Yang yelled, already standing up.

The rest of them did not even deign to respond to her 'generous offer.'

Even if they had been the kind of monsters willing to sacrifice a comrade in exchange for their lives, no one would have done it. Because it was abundantly clear that Cinder was a monster, and she wasn't going to keep her end of the deal.

But he didn't think she'd expected a different outcome. This was just another psychological attack. A way of rubbing their faces in how powerless they were compared to her.

Jaune stood up, leaning on the sword he stuck into the ground, without taking his eyes off that bitch.

He took a step forward and fell to his knees. If it weren't for his shield and sword, he would have fallen straight to the ground.

Shit.

He tried again.

In plain English, his Aura's defensive capabilities were shit, perhaps because his Semblance was essentially the same thing, only faster than all the hunters he knew. And more painful.

Pain is nothing, he told himself. And he went back to the charge.

Without looking back, Cinder launched a fireball over her shoulder. He didn't block it with his shield, but instead swung his sword to make it dissipate.

Yang punched her… or rather, tried to. She raised a hand, and somehow stopped the blow in its path, preventing it from moving even an inch further. It didn't take long for her to realize the secret, a wall of air.

Cinder was a monster. Unlike Pyrrha, she had had years to train with her half of the power. She was simply…

Ruby landed near her, swung her scythe, but this time she also stopped the blow. Not with her magic, but by directly grabbing the blade with her hand. If it weren't for her Aura, that would have made her lose her hand. But with every second it remained in contact with her skin, it would hurt her. Not much, but it added up.

Cinder didn't remove her hand.

She brought her face closer to Ruby's. And smiled.

"The little rose. It is true in the end, that like mother, like daughter."

Something died in Ruby's eyes.

"Did you know my mother?"

"Don't be ridiculous. When she died, I was about your age, and I would have been devastated if I tried to confront her. Just like you are now. But I know about her, and about her death. After all, I saw her die. And I enjoyed every second of it."

A heart"rending roar.

Jaune stared at the hole in the wall, worried that she had called upon the dragon to dispatch them quickly. But he soon realized that he was wrong. That horrible sound had come from the throat of Ruby, his love, such a sweet girl. A sound that was filled with rage and pain.

He held his breath. Her eyes didn't activate, but something worse might have. Her killer instinct.

She pulled the scythe free from Cinder's grip and when she struck, she did so even faster than usual, or perhaps it was a trick of his mind because this time she didn't leave any rose petals behind. For the first time since the battle began, Cinder moved, backing away. Something like fear appeared in her eyes. But only for a moment.

The second blow was just as fast, just as accurate, but this time she couldn't stop a few rose petals from appearing. It was only natural. The Semblance was the expression of a person's soul, and Summer's death colored everything that she was.

She wanted to run away from it, but no matter how hard she ran, no matter how crazy the speeds she reached, she couldn't. The petals of the last rose of summer followed her, tormenting her, red as her mother's blood.

The past and future were finally colliding, and Ruby was breaking under the weight.

Without making the slightest noise and with astonishing ease, she was pushing back one of the Maidens of the Seasons. Cinder was obviously more powerful than her, but that mattered little if none of her attacks reached their target, if she couldn't defend herself well.

Which was great, but how long would she be able to maintain that pace without causing irreparable damage to her body? Not only was she pushing beyond her normal limits, she was using her Semblance almost continuously.

To their surprise, Cinder was the first to give in. She backed away, flying upwards, shattering the roof with hurricane-force winds and a fiery explosion. The rain of debris fell upon them.

In the air, framed by the fragmented moonlight, she gathered energy for a stronger attack. One that would annihilate them all in one blow.

A ball of fire floated above her hands. It swelled and the fire roared and crackled, becoming so intense that it challenged the roars of the dragon, which was terrifyingly close to the tower.

Could they dodge the attack? Even if they jumped out of the tower, the shockwave and collapse…

"Weiss, Blake! " Ruby shouted, her voice cracking from screaming. "Just like initiation! Now!"

He didn't understand what she meant. For him, initiation had happened an eternity ago.

Luckily, unlike him, they remembered and did what they had to do. A glyph behind Ruby and Blake's weapon acting as a slingshot to launch her into the cloudy night sky.

Ruby flew like a comet, but in reverse. A red comet. Faster than she had ever been or would ever be, probably.

Cinder fired the fireball, and Ruby cut it in two with her scythe. She passed through the sea of ​​flames and came out on the other side, her Aura having extinguished the flames that had touched her clothes and cape.

Cinder tried to escape. Although Ruby couldn't fly, she was very mobile even in the air, thanks to her Semblance and her scythe. So RWBY didn't let her.

He couldn't see it clearly from where he was standing... but it had stuck in her chest. He was sure of it. It hadn't been a simple scratch.

Together, they fell from the sky.

As they crashed, they raised a cloud of dust. When it cleared, he saw Cinder lying there, her eyes half closed, Crescent Rose stuck in her chest, bleeding from the wound and from her mouth. The puddle was growing.

Ruby had fallen a few feet away from her and was on all fours, breathing heavily. It could be that this crazy use of her Semblance had finally taken its toll on her. Or possibly it was for another reason.

No one took their eyes off her as she approached her dying enemy. Her eyes could not be seen clearly through her hood, but her face was twisted in a grimace of rage.

Cinder was seriously injured, but she still wasn't giving up, she tried to get up. Ruby ripped the scythe from her chest, causing her to scream despite herself. She glared at her, but that was all she could do, because then the girl put the blade against her neck. Without Aura, the blow would decapitate her. And although she would begin to regenerate in time, it wouldn't be enough to stop her from being killed.

"Make the dragon go away or…"

"Or what? You can put on airs, but when push comes to shove, you can't finish what you started," Cinder said. It felt like she was the one in the position of power, even though she was badly injured and had a blade to her neck. "Look at you, you're shaking, and it's not all out of rage, despite what you'd like to think. You're afraid of taking a human life. Of what would happen to you afterward. And I don't blame you. You're just a child, after all. Not like Summer, no. She was a real monster. I'm glad she's dead."

"Shut up," Ruby said through gritted teeth. The scythe traced a thin, rippling line down the other woman's neck. "Don't speak my mother's name from your filthy mouth. And don't test me, don't be so reckless. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Cinder smirked, but kept quiet.

"And even if you are right in the end" Jaune intervened ", rest assured that I will do it in her place. And I would even enjoy it."

"I don't doubt it. You enjoyed killing Emerald, didn't you? You felt powerful, satisfied, on top of the world. Don't bother answering, I can see the truth in your eyes. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's a very… human thing to do."

"Shut up and do it," Ruby said. "You have no choice."

"You're right, I don't. Do you think I'm the one controlling that dragon? I can communicate with it, point it in the right direction, but I can't give it orders. That's Salem's job. And she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to completely annihilate Beacon Academy just to save my life."

"Of course," Jaune replied. "You're quite self-righteous, but at the end of the day, you're just another pawn among the many the queen has at her disposal."

"I was working to gain her trust so I could sabotage her at a crucial moment," she admitted, "and become more than just a pawn. But that doesn't matter. Not anymore. So do what you have to do, whatever you please. You may have defeated me, but that dragon isn't going to fall. You've already lost."

"As a consolation, it is rather poor, but I will take the doubts I see in your eyes to the grave. And if this ends up like the other times, if we have to put on the same show… next time it won't be so easy for you. Because I will be prepared to defeat you, little rose."

"Stop calling me that."

"Ah, you're crying. Poor thing."

She took a moment and realized that she was right. Tears were running down Ruby's red cheeks.

"Salem, did she kill my mother?"

"Don't ask. You already know the answer."

"Yes, you're right. It's okay" she said, and she dismembered her with a single blow.

[T/N: ...I am so F*CKING IN LOVE WITH RWYB RIGHT NOW! Too bad it's not legal or moral.]

Blood spewed like a fountain, splashing at them. It blended with the color of Ruby's cloak.

Little by little, she tried to regain control of her breathing.

Jaune wanted to say something, magic words that could heal her wounds and bring her peace, but for this kind of thing, there were no easy solutions. The wound that was bleeding now dated back over a decade.

She had dedicated herself to carrying on her mother's legacy, and all this time she had believed she was fighting the enemy that had taken her from her. Now that she knew the truth, it was only natural that she was suffering. And there was nothing he could do to fix it, no matter how much it frustrated and hurt him.

Ruby was the love of his life, but to her, he was nothing more than a good friend she had met only a few months ago. There was no power in his words. At least not when it came to Summer.

Cinder's corpse disintegrated like that of a Grimm as the Autumn Maiden's power escaped from her body to reunite with the other half.

Yang approached her, a little scared, as if she couldn't or didn't want to believe that the person in front of her was her little sister. Her eyes had returned to their original color, the fire in her hair had dissipated. Now, there was only a strange vulnerability in her.

Ruby raised her head to look at her. They had a silent conversation.

"Yang," she said at last. Her voice broke.

Yang stepped forward and wrapped her arm around her. Ruby trembled from head to toe, taking refuge in her chest. Jaune joined them, and soon after, so did Blake and Weiss.

"We'll make her pay, okay? " Yang whispered in her ear while caressing her back " She won't get away with this. I promise. I'll support you and follow you to the ends of the earth if necessary."

"We all will," Jaune added.

"She didn't die fighting the Grimm, protecting people, and trying to make things better. And why? For what reason? " She separated from them and looked at him with eyes clouded by tears. "You know many things. Tell me. Please."

"I just found out now… but the reason isn't hard to guess, and you should know it too" he touches her face, wiping the tears from one side with his finger. He didn't care about the blood that had splashed on her face. Or rather, he hadn't even realized it was there. He felt like he was somewhere else. In another body and another mind "Her eyes. The eyes that you also possess. Summer was a threat, and she was removed by Salem. It's that simple."

Ruby raised the hand that wasn't holding the scythe, placed it on top of his, and squeezed with all her might.

"She has to die."

"Yeah."

"Ruby" Weiss said doubtfully " You know I like you, and that you two are more like family than real family. I'm willing to do a lot of things for you, but… think about it carefully."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen to the voice of reason. Cinder already nearly killed us all. Okay, that was on her turf, when her plan had been 100% successful. Still, Salem is far more powerful. She admitted it herself. And you want us to fight someone like that? Kill her?"

"But, but…"

"Before we think about the future," Jaune said "let's focus on the present. On that dragon. Because otherwise we'll be left without a future."

"You're right," Blake said. "We should talk about this, but later. This isn't the time or the place."

Jaune extended a hand towards Ruby. She looked at him blankly.

"Give me a hand. I'm not very good at 'landing strategies'. "

She nodded with a fragile smile and took his hand. They climbed down the tower hand in hand, Ruby running along the wall and him being dragged along by her. When they touched the ground, they finally stopped.

He felt dizzy, and if he hadn't eaten a thing all day, he would have vomited. It was a memory of the old days, but not at all pleasant.

He shook his head and followed them into battle. Pyrrha was there, doing her best to dispatch the dragon and stop it from spawning more Grimm. At some point she had lost her weapons, she was fighting solely with her power as the Autumn Maiden, which was now complete thanks to Cinder's death.

She noticed them approaching. She looked at them.

"I'm sorry…"

"You don't have to explain yourself," Jaune said. And she didn't have to. He and anyone else would know why with just one look.

Port was nowhere to be found, which could only mean, given the circumstances, that he had been killed in combat. There were so few of them, especially considering how numerous the horde of Grimm was, that a broken link in the defensive chain could result in the chain itself suffering the same fate. So she had stayed there to take the place the professor had vacated.

It wasn't long before he spotted Ren and Nora. They were wounded, panting, but still strong, ready to fight until the last moment. Just like everyone else.

Maybe it was a patronizing piece of shit, but he felt his chest swell with pride. Most of them might be kids, but they were also heroes, every single one of them, and this was the first time he felt like he was one of them. That he belonged at Beacon.

The fear was almost as strong. Maybe even more so.

He knew that if they failed now, there would never be a victory, he would have to accept that this terrible tragedy was fate. Because it was the first time that Cinder had been killed, the first time that Pyrrha had the full power of a maiden, and all the factors were in their favor. The androids of Atlas were neutralized, Adam was eliminated.

[T/N: ...didn't he say, nevermind]

He had promised Ruby that he would continue until he achieved it, no matter how long it took, but he was human, and all humans had limits.

he recognized that, deep down, like Cinder had said, it would all end tonight. For better or worse.

'So do your duty,' he told himself.

They joined the battle.

it was bigger and stronger than them, and it was surrounded by creatures that could not be ignored either, as they could kill them as easily as the dragon if they attacked at the right time.

Still, it was overcome with a heady feeling of happiness and confidence in its own victory. That monster was facing the combined might of the hunters of Beacon, the best combat school in all the kingdoms, of heroes who cursed the darkness and fought back. Did it really think it had the slightest chance of winning?

As he slashed behind one of its legs, Jaune laughed like a madman, losing control of his emotions again. Even though wasting oxygen could mean his downfall.

They would succeed. They would bring light into the darkness. He was more certain of that than he had been of anything in his entire life.

The dragon howled in pain, the greatest reaction it had shown since the beginning of the battle, the greatest even he had ever seen. And it collapsed, falling on its hind legs. Disoriented and momentarily helpless.

Or so it seemed. The monster threw its head back.

Jaune tensed and ran, because he was sure that this was the prelude to it spitting darkness and that it was going to do so in his direction.

His legs failed him. Not completely, he just stumbled, but that was enough to condemn him. The darkness almost buried him. It was suffocating, he felt like he was sinking, going down to the bottom of the sea. The calm, deep bottom of the ocean.

Ruby walked over to him. Of course. And grabbed the hand that was sticking out of the darkness.

"Get up! We can take it together!"

Other Rubys, other times and places, mixed with what he was seeing as he clenched his hand. Jaune let out a cry of anguish, of monstrous pain, but it soon transformed into one of rage, boiling like an erupting volcano, running through his veins, threatening to destroy him from within.

He could feel it. The flames.

'Do it for her,' he told himself.

As his Semblance healed his wounds, the darkness that held him prisoner melted away around him. And he stood up. He responded to Ruby's plea, to her command. It felt like the pain was someone else's, not his, so it didn't impede his movement.

Ruby had gone to help him, but he was alive because the others had distracted the dragon, preventing it from getting closer.

Jaune removed the armor piece from his chest, tossed it aside, and dropped his shield. Holding his sword in both hands, he charged again.

He felt out of his depth, but in a different way than before. Powerful. As if he had surpassed the limits of what was possible. His blows were strong, he had become so fast that the dragon could not reach him.

Of course, that was just an illusion, a trick of his mind. The effect of the adrenaline he had injected into his system from feeling like he was about to die. But he felt stronger, and in desperate situations like this, there wasn't much of a difference.

It wasn't enough. He struck the dragon again, and this time his sword… Crocea Mors, a familiar relic, snapped like a dry branch.

He stared in shock as one half of the blade separated from the other and fell to the ground, leaving him defenseless within reach of the enemy.

The shock lasted only a moment.

He threw the broken sword to the ground without any hesitation. With his bare hands, he lunged at the dragon. He sank them into its body, pulled and tore off pieces… and plunged into that sea of ​​darkness.

There he lost all five senses. He even lost the sensation of his own body, but not the sensation of a great weight crushing him from the sides, the sensation of something entering his mouth and eyes, and the pain. Above all, the pain.

He felt like he was burning, like he was melting.

But he couldn't give up. He couldn't look back, because he had to achieve something more important than his own life, something for which he had sacrificed everything again and again. Without even knowing why he was fighting, he stood firm against the darkness that crushed him, scratched him, choked him, and pierced him. The pain exceeded the limits of what was possible, and that was not an illusion at all.

The world shook, he felt like he was falling even though he was in a void without light. When the darkness took his consciousness too, he was grateful for the rest, even though it could be eternal.

[T/N: WHY! Thats such a Tease! Oh well next chapter, as well as the final chapter, will be coming soon. Let's hope for a happy ending! 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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