"Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it" - Haruki Murakami
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Update 8:
This isn't really about the story itself, but about future stories, I have planned out Which I have planned out and I want you all to vote on which one will be published first:
The Soldier & The Knight Pt.1:
An Atlas Soldier and a Knight from Vale walk into a coffee shop, the Knight asks, "How do you take your coffee?" and the specialist said, "Cold and ruthless, like my father,". Winter meets Jaune Arc and her life as well as his changes forever.
In it Together:
After an attack on a Vale town, and the two being separated from their respective groups, Ilia Amitola must put her trust in Jaune Arc if they want to survive the wilds of Vale, but could she really trust a Human?
JKRZ:
Team JKRZ is said to be "The Joke of Beacon" and while they have a habit of screwing up in classes, causing mayhem, and destroying Beacon Property, they are still one of Beacon's strongest teams... how is that possible!?
These 3 suggestions will be in a Pole on my FF profile so you can vote there if you wish, But since this is Wattpad, you can also vote in the comments on which one will be written first.
Anyway, thank you all and I hope you all have a wonderful day/night and enjoy this chapter!
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On the porch, Oscar and Vernal saw Melissa bleeding badly from her gunshot wound, and Oscar looked down in shock, but Verna snapped him out of it.
"-AR! OSCAR!"
Hearing Vernal scream his name took him out of his daze and Oscar looked at Vernal, still with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
Vernal's expression was worried but yet calm, "We need to take her inside and stop the bleeding," He told her, "We need to get her patched up, can you help me lift her into the house?"
Oscar looked at her for a second but then looked back at Melissa and saw the blood leaking from her mouth, and his expression turned fearful and tears began to form in his eyes. Vernal saw him breaking down and set her hand on his shoulder and when she did, he looked back at her.
"We need to do this," She told him, "Or she won't make it,"
Hearing that, Oscar quickly regain as much composure as he could and they quickly lifted her up and moved her inside the house, and she looked at Jaune, seeing him become unhinged...
Jaune kept pounding his fist into the boy's face, and his gloves began to become stained with blood, and then eventually, Jaune stopped and looked down at the young gangbanger, still with an angry expression.
The gangbanger gurgled up blood and looked at Jaune, "P-P-Please... S-Stop..." he said as he coughed out blood onto Jaune's face.
'KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!' The Beowulf cried
"Stop?" Jaune asked with a furious tone, "You didn't stop trying to kill us! You didn't stop pulling that trigger!" Jaune cried as he slammed his fist down in the Gangbangers face.
'KEEPING GOING! DON'T STOP! KILL HIM! DON'T LET HIM GO!'
Tears began to stream down the gangbanger's face, "Please... I have a family," he sobbed out, "my... my f-father is sick..."
But at the moment, Jaune didn't care, he felt no remorse at that moment, he felt nothing for him, and he continued pounding the young man's face until he began hearing cracks.
Back inside the house, Vernal, with the help of Oscar, managed to stop Melissa's bleeding with some bandages and they set her on her bed, after they set her on the bed, Melissa was still a little conscious but looked pale and weak, and seeing his aunt in such a state was too much for the young farm boy, and he quickly backed away and ran away. Vernal wanted to call him back but Melissa weakly grabbed Vernal's and that stopped her from saying anything, and Vernal turned back to look at the older woman and kneeled next to her.
Melissa looked at her with half-open eyes, "Wh-Where's... Jaune?" she asked.
Vernal looked at her and stayed silent for a bit, knowing what Jaune was doing, and she grabbed Melissa's hand and then gave her a soft smile, "Just take it easy Melissa," She told him.
Melissa breathed heavily and looked at her and a sad expression befell the woman's face, "V-Vernal... I-I... won't make i-it through the night," she told the younger girl.
Vernal shook her head, "Don't say thing's like that," Vernal said with a stern voice.
"It's true," Melissa told her, taking ragged breaths, "I-I... I can feel myself slipping a-away... V-Vernal listen to me, I need y-you to promise me... th-that you'll keep him safe, y-you'll protect him,"
Vernal shook her head as a sad expression began to form on her face, "Stop talking like that, you're gonna make it through this! Oscar needs you!" Vernal told her.
"I'm not gonna make it Vernal, y-you need to-" Melissa didn't finish as she coughed up blood and Vernal quickly grabbed a rag and wiped her mouth.
Vernal set the rag to the side and looked back at Melissa. "Stop taking," Vernal told her, "You need to save your strength,"
Melissa looked at her, "Not until you promise me Vernal..." Melissa said sternly.
Vernal looked at the older woman and she saw the seriousness in her eyes, but also saw the fear in them, the fear she knew all too well, the fear of knowing that the end was near, she had seen it many times before, and she was sure to see it many times in the future. It pained her so much to see Melissa, someone who she had begun to see as another person she could trust, someone who she admired much differently than she did Raven.
"I... I promise," She told Melissa, "I'll make sure he's safe, Jaune will too, we'll both do our best to keep him safe," She finished sadly.
Melissa smiled weakly and gave Vernal a slow nod, "Thank... you," She said.
Vernal gave her a nod back, "I'm gonna go get Jaune... will you be ok?" She asked Melissa.
Melissa gave her another slow nod, and with that, Vernal left the room and walked down the stairs and saw the front door was still open, but before she went outside, she looked around in the living room for Oscar, but she didn't find him, which worried her a bit, but she was sure he was safe, and so she walked outside only to see Jaune sitting on the patio steps and in his now bloody gloves, he held a group of photos.
"Jaune?" She called to him
He didn't turn to look at her, he just stared at the photos.
She walked over to him and touched him on his shoulder, "Jaune?" She called out to him again.
Jaune once again didn't turn to her or respond, he still looked at the pictures, and Vernal's worry for him grew, and she quickly stood in front of him before kneeling in front of him and grabbed the sides of his face and forced him to look at her and when he looked at her, he had no expression on his face, he just stared blankly back at her. He then looked back down at the pictures and Vernal followed his gaze, and he slowly revealed the photos, and when he did, Vernal took them out of his hands and got a closer look at them, and when she did, she saw that the first photo was that of a family, the young gangbanger's.
Vernal turned back to look at the body of the young gangbanger, and her eyes widened. His entire head was caved in, there were no distinguishing features anymore, just a bloody mess of flesh and bone. This wasn't something a normal person could do, but for a Huntsmen, it was possible.
"He had a family,"
Vernal turned back to Jaune who still had a blank expression on his face.
"He was telling the truth, his father was sick," Jaune told her.
Vernal looked back at the photos and looked through them and eventually saw a picture of the gangbanger with his father, who sat in a hospital bed and looked sick and was hooked up to some sort of machine, but both were smiling at the camera.
"He begged me to stop," Jaune said, his voice slowly breaking, and his expression began to morph into sadness, "He begged me to stop but I didn't, I didn't care if he had a family or how he begged, all I could think about was that he shot Melissa, how he managed to hide from me and he fucking shot her!" Jaune cried out in anger as tears fell from his eyes.
Vernal watched as Jaune broke down, tears fell from his face and he began to sob uncontrollably, and he grabbed the sides of his head.
"WHY!? WHY DID HE HAVE TO SHOOT!? HE-HE COULD HAVE JUST STAYED HIDDEN AND LEFT! WHY DID HE SHOOT!? WHY!? WHY DIDN'T I STOP!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME!?" Jaune sobbed, "WHAT... What have I become...? Am I... Am I a monster?" Jaune asked.
Vernal looked at him and grabbed him by the face again and slowly forced him to look at her, "Jaune, you are not a Monster," Vernal told him.
'Hehehe, Don't listen to her,'
Jaune felt the paws of the Beowulf rest on his shoulders and felt the beast speaking directly into his ear.
'She knows what you are, she just afraid to tell you,' The Beowulf told him before cackling.
"You got angry, and you had every right to be at him, he shot Melissa, and he nearly killed Oscar, I'm sure he wasn't the only one here with a family, but that doesn't change the fact that they attacked us, they made their choice, they signed up for this life, they knew what would happen," Vernal told him, "He made his bed, he lies in it, that's how this all works, that's how life works, we make choices and we deal with the consequences, no matter what they are,"
'Right! Choices! Like how you made a choice to bash in that punk's face! HAHAHA!' The Beowulf cried with laughter and amusement.
Jaune ignored the Beowulf, and he looked at Vernal who seemed to have a pleading look in her eyes, and Jaune terrible seeing her like this, as he knew that the pleading looks in her eyes was telling him to believe her, and he did, just a little but he still doubted her words, but he still nodded in agreement. "You're right," he told her weakly.
When she heard his response, Vernal knew that he was trying to convince himself, and while that pained her that he didn't believe, she knew this was the only way he might accept what happened in his current state. Vernal then remembered why she came out to get Jaune. and she looked at him, and her expression became gloomy.
"Jaune... Melissa isn't going to make it," she told him, "She's patched up, but she's going to die sometime tonight,"
Jaune looked at her with a shocked look bit quickly shook his head, "No! No, she's going to be fine, she just needs to-"
"Jaune," Vernal cut him off, as she looked at him with a sad face, "She's going to die," Vernal said, her voice almost breaking.
Jaune began to cry again and seeing him do it, she too, began to break down, but still tried to remain strong.
"Hey, listen to me," she said through a sniffle, "She wants us to take care of Oscar, ok, that's her last wish, got it?" Vernal asked, her tone now broken and sad.
Jaune couldn't reply with words as he wiped away his tears and only gave a nod in response. After he regained as much composite as he could, he stood up and made his way upstairs toward Melissa's room.
However, as he did, he heard the Beowulf laughing as if it had heard something so funny it was running out of air to keep laughing.
'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! W-WHAT WAS IT THAT YOU PROMISED OSCAR!?' The Beast asked him, 'OH YES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Y-YOU PROMISED HIM THAT N-NO ONE WAS GOING TO DIE TONIGHT! HAHAHAHAHAHA! I-I TOLD YOU NOT TO MAKE A PROMISE YOU COULDN'T KEEP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' The Beowulf cried out as it laughed and tormented him.
Jaune felt the Words of the Beowulf hit him hard and it struck his heart like an arrow. He did make Oscar that promise... And he failed to uphold it.
An Arc had broken his word...
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Melissa watched as Vernal left to fetch Jaune, and when she did, Melissa turned and looked up to the ceiling, and there, she began to see swirls in the wood, dots as well, but then, something felt different. She felt a little at ease as if something was taking her mind off of her inevitable fate.
'I always wondered what I might experience while I die,' She said to herself, 'You hear so many different stories about what people saw when they die and come back to life, it's always darkness, a tunnel of white light, some hear voices, other see the abyss, I-I wonder what I'll see,'
She still looked at the ceiling, still asking questions as she was on her deathbed.
'I wonder what afterlife is real, or what gods are, hell maybe none of them exist,' Melissa asked herself once again.
"Hey there," Came a voice.
That voice was a very familiar voice she hadn't heard in 13 years. She slowly turned her head to the left and who she saw before her nearly sent her into shock, it was her brother, David, kneeling next to her and looking at her with a soft kind smile.
"D-David?" She asked in surprise.
He nodded, "It's me," David told her.
Melissa smiled weakly at him and held out her hand weakly for him and Daid took it into his own hand and placed his other atop hers. "I... I kept him safe," She told David, "O-Oscar he... he's safe... just like I p-promised," She told him.
David kept smiling at her, "I know, Melissa, I know," He told her, "Thank you for doing so much for him, I and Eliza, we can't thank you enough," David told her.
Melissa kept smiling at him but the longer she looked at David, the more she felt like something was off, she still felt at ease but there was something about her brother that didn't feel right, the person before her looked like her brother, but they... they didn't feel like him.
"Y-You're... You're not David, are you?" Melissa asked
David, or whoever or whatever it was that was pretending to be him looked a little surprised by her figuring it out that he wasn't who he said he was, but it still smiled softly at her, "You're Correct, I am not, your brother David," It told her, "I simply thought this form would just put you at ease,"
Melissa then raised a brow at the thing before her, "Then... W-Who... Who are you?" She asked.
The thing that took David's form still gave her a soft smile, "Let's just say that I am... I am someone who's been watching your choices," It told her, "I came to you because I wanted you to be at ease, Melissa Pine, I want you to know that the choice you made tonight was the right one, it'll lead to making everything right, that you can be at peace when you die," it told her.
Melissa was now confused, "H-How will it... How will it make everything right?" She asked it.
It looked at Melissa and still smiled, "I can't tell you, because I don't even know if it'll come true," It said with a slight chuckle, "Causality is something unpredictable, there are so many paths but I'm only allowed to see one path, not even I can predict events despite it being my job to see the future, I don't have the answers you seek, I'm not my sister after all, but that's enough about my job, I simply came to you so that you know that your nephew will play an important role in the future, at least the future I see... you have nothing to worry about," It told her.
Melissa didn't know why, but she felt better hearing that, It telling her that Oscar played an important role in the future made her feel that Oscar was going to be ok in the hands of Jaune and Vernal.
She smiled at it and gave it a slow nod. "Thank you..." She told it.
It nodded back with a smile.
"Melissa?"
Melissa turned away from whatever it was that took her brother's form to look at the doorway and saw Jaune standing there looking at her with a confused look.
"Who were you talking to?" Jaune asked.
Melissa turned away from him and turned back to look at the thing, but it was gone, she then turned back to Jaune and smiled, "Nobody," she told him. "Come in, come in,"
Jaune walked into the room and stood next to Melissa, as she turned to him and looked up at the young knight.
Jaune looked at her with a sad expression, "Melissa, Vernal told me about what you asked us to promise, and I wanted to tell you that I'll... I'll do my best to take care of him," He told her.
Melissa nodded, "Thank you," She told him.
Jaune gave her a quick nod, "I... I really should be thanking you," Jaune told her, "You gave me and Vernal shelter, food, and work," He told her.
"Well, I needed the help, and you and Vernal offered," Melissa chuckled before it became a coughing fit and some blood spat out of her mouth.
Jaune quickly grabbed a napkin and held it over her mouth to catch the blood, and when Melissa stopped, he removed the napkin from her mouth and saw just how much blood she coughed out, and then he threw away the napkin. He looked back at Melissa and he saw she looked more ragged and her eyes began to roll around in her head, but she snapped out of it and looked to Jaune with an expression that spoke volumes, and the young knight figured out the look in her eyes, and he knew what it told him.
"I... Don't have m-much time left," She said.
Hearing this, Jaune quickly knew what he needed to say, "Melissa, I could unlock your Aura and I could heal-"
Melissa shook her head, "N-No..." she cut him off weakly. Tears began to form in her eyes, "P-Please... just let me go... I-I just want to go..." She told him.
Jaune's lip quivered, but he quickly stopped himself from crying, and he closed his eyes and composed himself by taking a deep breath, before opening them up and looking back at Melissa. "Do you want me to get Oscar?" Jaune asked her.
Melissa shook her head no in response, "I... I don't want him to see me like this," She told Jaune, "I know it's unfair for him not to see me in my final moments, but I... it would hurt him more if he saw me die before his eyes, he shouldn't see this, seeing me get shot was already too much for him, I don't need to scar him anymore," Melissa said.
Jaune still looked at her sadly, "If he comes with us, you know he'll be living the same life as me and Vernal, he'll be set on the same path... He might become like us... is that what you really want?" Jaune asked.
Melissa shook her head, "Of course not, I would like him to live a more normal life, but what other choice do I have? Leave him alone in an orphanage abandoned by the people he's come to love and trust?" Melissa asked him. "No, he might just end up hating the world, and become much worse than us," Melissa told Jaune.
Jaune wanted to deny her notion, that Oscar could still lead a normal life, but he couldn't say that for sure either. Melissa could be wrong, Oscar could lead a normal life in the future without them, but she also could be right, that he could end up becoming a person who'd hate the world and take that anger out on people.
The young huntsmen sighed and gave her a quick nod, "I understand," He replied to her.
Melissa looked closer at the young man and she could tell that something was bothering the young man, so, she decided to ask. "What's bothering you?" She asked Jaune.
Jaune looked at her and his expression became much more miserable, "Am I a monster?" Jaune asked her.
Melissa looked at him with a raised brow, "Wh-Why would you ask that?" She asked.
"The young man who shot you, I beat him to death, he begged me to stop, told me about his father who was sick, and yet... I didn't care, all I could think about was killing him, making him pay for what he did, and I killed him, like a Grimm, so I'm asking you... does that make me a monster?"
Melissa looked at him with a serious look, "No... it doesn't," Melissa said, "You did what anyone would do, he made his choices, and he faced the consequences like we all have to do at some point in our lives... we all live in a world of cause and effect, and we are the cause, and we must face the effects we make, you are no monster, Jaune, who did what was natural in this world, you... followed the law of nature, do you get it?" She asked
Jaune understood what she was getting at and nodded back, "He was his own cause, I was... just the effect," Jaune said.
Melissa nodded, and she turned back to look at the ceiling she began to take deep ragged breaths, and Jaune kneeled down next to her and held her hand, Melissa then turned to him and saw the sad expression on his face, but she just smiled and took a few more ragged breaths and Jaune stayed by her side she kept taking what bother knew were her final breaths. Outside the room, Oscar was crying softly into Vernal's shoulder, as she tried to comfort him, as the last family member he had, passed away...
The next morning was not sunny and bright, but simply cloudy and dreary, the sky looks like ing was going to rain soon. Jaune, Vernal, and Oscar stood in front of the house, all three of them had what they could pack up and wore black cloaks, and inside the house, Melissa lay dead in her bed, with a peaceful countenance on her face as she was tucked into her bed.
Jaune looked at Oscar, "Oscar... would you like to say a few words?" He asked.
Oscar looked at the house but said nothing, he just looked at the house with a depressed look, and Jaune looked at him sadly, but he took out a fire dust crystal and walked over to the front door and placed it at the doorstep, and stepped back, and rejoined Oscar and Vernal, and the ex-bandit took out her dagger and shifted it into a pistol and took aim at the crystal and shot it. The crystal ignited and exploded, fire quickly spread around the front porch, and then slowly began spreading around the house, engulfing it and burning everything.
Seeing it burn, Oscar finally broke down, he fell to his knees and began to weep, and quickly the two older teens kneeled down next to him and hugged him tightly.
"I... I wanted to say goodbye, but I was too scared! I didn't even tell her I love her!" Oscar sobbed out, "I-I couldn't do anything but cry and be afraid!"
Vernal rubbed his back, "It's ok, it's ok," She told him with a calming voice, yet, there was sadness in it as well. "I know you were scared, but that's ok, you didn't have to say goodbye, she knew you loved her, so don't blame yourself," Vernal told him.
Jaune looked at him, "She did, Oscar, she loved you, no matter what" Jaune told him, "Don't blame yourself for anything, It's not your fault, don't blame yourself, Oscar, the only people to blame for this, is Spider.
Hearing their words, Oscar felt a little better, but then anger began to grow inside of him as he stood up and looked at the burning house with a furious look. "Spider... they're to blame... for everything!" Oscar cried out.
Jaune and Vernal looked at him with worried looks, as the boy grew enraged.
"They're gonna pay for this! I'm gonna kill them all!" Oscar seethed out.
Jaune looked at him and he understood where Oscar was coming from, and he stood up and rested his hand on the younger teen's shoulder looked at him, and Oscar looked back, as he still had a wrathful expression, but tears also rolled down his face. "Oscar... if that is what you want, I'll do it for you," Jaune told the young man.
Vernal stood up and also nodded at Oscar, "I'll do the same," She told him, she then looked to Jaune, "For Melissa," She said.
Jaune nodded back, "For Melissa," He replied.
And so, the three walked away from the burning farmhouse and toward Matsunoki, where they could hopefully hitch a ride toward Mistral, to take the path of revenge...
PART 1 - PINE ACT END
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The Pine Act is now finished and we move on to the Spider Act, where a certain character will appear and where Jaune's battle with himself continues.
Will the three avenge Melissa? Will Oscar blacken his soul seeking to avenge his Aunt? Will Jaune find peace of mind? Will Vernal find a way to help Jaune with his inner turmoil?
All will be answered in the Next Act...