826Okay! So! I've realised now (at like 6pm my time) that I messed the whole day and my timetable up by thinking the new story was today when it was meant to be a chapter of "Xia" today.
But now I haven't written any of Xia.
Oops.
So, I'm releasing this today, out of order, because I got my timetable and dates wrong. You have my apologies. I'll just shunt things back so this fic is every two weeks starting from here, and Xia slots in next week and carries on from there.
.
On this story, I don't normally like to mention pairings as I've found in the past it leads to a lot of upset and anger, but I do feel I have to confirm (or non-confirm) one pairing because every anime or fic ever that has a brother and sister who are not blood-related seems to immediately tread the line of the "wincest".
This is not that. Jaune and Cinder will NOT be a thing, no matter how many "flags" or "signs" or such you read. Even if Jaune thinks out loud that Cinder is beautiful, he means it in the admiration for a sister sense. Same from Cinder.
Please restrain your horny.
Chapter 1
Jaune loved his sister.
Adopted sister to be technical, but the two of them had sworn to look after one another no matter what so they were as good as related. The family you chose was sometimes worth more than the family you were given.
Not that Jaune knew, never having met them, but he'd been picked at the orphanage solely to work hard at the Glass Unicorn, and because his adoptive mother and cruel sisters had thought he might "grow up cute and become an attraction to the customers".
He hadn't known what that meant at the time.
Cinder had already been working there – a foreshadowing of what his life was intended to be, and the two of them had quickly realised they were alone in a household that cared nothing for them. Two peas in a pod.
Cinder hadn't seen it that way at first. He was an outsider, someone who couldn't be trusted and who might hurt her just as everyone else had. It hadn't been until Jaune made the mistake of spilling some juice on the matron's new dress that things changed. He'd been given a ruthless beating below the neck where it wouldn't show and had run to the one person who didn't pick on him to cry about it.
Having a snotty little brother cry all over you was not an experience Cinder had liked or understood, but she hadn't pushed him away because his sobbing was kept the matron and her trueborn daughters away. They saw it as ugly and thus left Cinder to deal with it, adding the job of looking after Jaune to Cinder's already mammoth list of chores.
For a while she resented him for it, until she realised the unique opportunity she'd been handed. By making the job seem harder than it was, she could sneak time off under the guise of "looking after Jaune". Soon, he became a human shield from the harsher chores, and from there some small and selfish affection slowly rose within her, especially as she trained him to act like he needed more care to buy her more free time.
He was not loved by her, but he was useful in sneaking time away from the matron and her daughters. He served a purpose. He was a tool, perhaps even her first tool, and in that way, he became something special. Something to be jealously guarded and kept safe from others.
True affection didn't come until Jaune imprinted on her fully, realising in his childlike mind that she was the only one who cared – even if, at the time, she didn't care at all. Her apathy was still better than the active cruelty of everyone else, so he childishly assumed she loved him.
Jaune had instantly decided he loved her back, and followed her around, did what she asked, and worked to impress her. Whatever Cinder wanted, he would do, and he worked harder than ever so she wouldn't get rid of him.
In so doing he became even more useful to her, even less burdensome, and Cinder slowly and subconsciously eased up around him. He was helpful, he was obedient, he looked out for her and he'd even share things with her. More than that, he listened to and admired her. Worshipped her, even. For a young girl who had nothing and who longed for everything, that was something rare and special.
So, Cinder, without understanding exactly what she was doing, decided that Jaune belonged to her. He was hers, and she told him that one day when she laid out the terms of their sibling arrangement. He would belong to her, be her brother (only hers, not anyone else's), and do everything she said – and in return she would look after him. Cinder demanded his absolute obedience with all the surety of a child demanding their parents buy them what they wanted.
And Jaune had flung himself into her arms and told her he loved her.
He'd been more a tool than a brother.
But, as the years passed on by, he started to become an even better tool, and then a valuable tool, and then a useful minion, and then an invaluable asset. Until, when Cinder started Sanctum, he became an apprentice. Someone she taught after school, passing on lessons from her teachers and Rhodes.
Because, in her words, "If you're going to be useful to me, you need to be able to fight. Don't disappoint me!"
Three simple words. Don't disappoint Cinder.
They'd frightened him more than he understood. What else could he do but work his young and exhausted body to the bone? He fought her like a boy possessed in spars and worked himself raw in training, fighting for every scrap of a compliment and every positive remark from the sister he adored. Cinder was everything to him and, slowly and reluctantly, he became something to her as well.
Useful to valuable, valuable to invaluable, convenient to comfortable. He transitioned from someone she saw as a tool into someone she confided in, someone she trusted first to have her back when she skipped chores, and later to be told just about everything she wanted. Someone to bounce ideas off, someone who would approve, someone who would hang on her every word, someone who would believe in her ability to achieve her desires.
And those desires were pretty dark.
"Power is everything," she told him, and Jaune – thirteen to her fifteen at the time – bobbed his head up and down without question. "We're without power, Jaune, and that means we can't decide our destinies!"
"Like how rich people get away with things or the big boys bully the little ones?"
"Exactly."
Cinder was pleased whenever he understood. And he did, because he was at the bottom of the ladder along with her. They were constantly bulled by the true daughters of their adoptive mother. It was hard not to relate, though Jaune cared less for power than he did keeping hold of his beloved big sis.
"That's why I need to be powerful. And that's why you need to help me – because I'll use that power to make sure no one hurts us ever again!"
Ambitious, passionate, determined.
Jaune could do nothing but be in awe of his sister's drive.
"What do I need to do?" he asked.
"I need to know if you're with me, little brother. I need to know if you'll follow me no matter what!"
"Of course I will. I love you."
"Love can change—"
Jaune shook his head. "Mine won't. Never. You're my big sis. I'm staying with you forever."
"Mmm." Cinder purred contentedly. Possessively. "And you're my brother. Mine! You belong to me. Always remember that!"
Jaune wasn't so dumb that he didn't recognise the things she was saying were bad signs. They were red flags for sure. It was probably a red flag that his heart swelled when she said it, too. No one had ever wanted him though. Cinder did. Cinder needed to have him and got angry whenever someone talked to him.
For an unwanted child, that possessiveness was the closest one could get to love.
"I'm yours," he promised. "I'll always be your little brother."
"Then here's what I need you to do…"
In hindsight, he probably should have done something to stop her.
Why, he wasn't sure. Jaune hated the matron as much as she did, and he didn't shed any tears for her daughters – his adoptive sisters – who died in the fire as well. And they definitely died in the fire. Definitely. That was a story he'd take to his grave, and a story he delivered to the police and huntsmen as he cried into his sister's chest.
The tears were real even if the reasons for them weren't what the authorities believed.
He cried not for his dead second-family but for the fact Cinder had to do something so evil to save them. It was at that point, not when Cinder killed but when she showed so little reaction to it, that Jaune understood his sister was a bad person.
Cinder Fall was a horrible, sociopathic, possessive, violent, cruel and perhaps downright evil person.
But it didn't matter because she was his sister.
And he loved her.
/-/
Jaune smiled at the closing of the door and the familiar, "I'm home!" from Cinder.
"Welcome back," he replied, knowing that she'd get upset if he didn't.
Cinder huffed, acting like the whole thing was for his benefit when he knew she wanted to know he was here. The one time he hadn't replied and had been out buying groceries, she'd pinned him up against the wall and demanded to know where he'd been when he got back. There had been a crazed look in her eyes.
The various fruits and vegetables spilling to the floor had answered it, and embarrassed her a little, but she'd still told him he should leave a note or text her before going anywhere. Lest she think him up to no good.
His big sis was a bit of a control freak like that.
Well… saying "a bit" was an understatement. Cinder was the control freak and hated when things happened that she didn't plan. It was one of many character flaws she had, but just another Jaune put up with.
"I'm making your favourite," he said, letting her see the pan. There was a spicy curry bubbling away. "Extra hot."
"Mmm." Cinder's chin came to rest on his shoulder as she peered over. "I can't wait."
"Can you set the table?"
Cinder rolled her eyes but went and did it. They'd cashed in an inheritance very, very reluctantly penned in their names. They hadn't even been in the wills, so much were they hated. The matron had left them with nothing.
Luckily, the judge had ruled this an extreme case and said they needed the support, so some of the deceased's wishes were overruled. The excuse given was that the matron probably had just forgotten to update her will to include them. After all, she'd adopted them so she obviously loved them and definitely would have included them in her will if she had the chance to.
Obviously.
Being in the older years as teenagers, they'd been allowed to buy their own place with the insurance money from the loss of the unicorn and were quite comfy for their finances. Jaune had taken to cooking, cleaning, washing their clothes, buying groceries and looking after the house and Cinder took care of…
Well, Cinder was busy working on the whole "amass power" thing, and she looked after and protected him and was growing stronger – plus she was teaching him everything she learned at Sanctum. That balanced the scales.
Besides, he liked looking after her. Cinder had protected and comforted him so many times that it felt great being able to see her face light up when he cooked for her. It made him happy to see her lounge around and relax, since that was so rare for her. She was always up to something.
Not all of it legal or morally correct.
Very little of it, in fact.
But all of it meant to better their lives in some way, of that there was never any doubt. Every skill she learned, she taught him, and every advantage she gained was immediately shared.
"—so you can better serve me," she would always say.
And yet sometimes she taught him things solely so he could protect himself. Though, if he asked, she'd surely say something about how he'd be useless to her dead, and how she was just protecting her investment.
"I've found someone who will grant us incredible power," she told him, as they ate dinner. "She's quite possibly the most powerful person I've ever met."
"How did you meet her?"
"It turns out Haven's Headmaster is secretly one of her agents."
"The Leonardo guy? You always did say he looked too meek for his job."
"I did." Cinder perked up, pleased he'd remembered and even more pleased he'd reminded her that she'd been right yet again. "Hmhmhm. I don't want to say I told you so but, well, I told you so."
Jaune smiled. Cinder absolutely wanted to say, "I told you so" and took every chance she could get to do so.
"You're amazing as always, sis."
"Hmm. I am. No, wait, don't distract me. Anyway, it turns out he found out about our little accident with the Glass Unicorn and passed it onto this woman, and she wants to recruit us. Me," she added, "but I've made it clear we're a package deal, and they've agreed to take you on as well."
Without asking him, of course.
Cinder meant well but could be forgetful when it benefited her. And it often did benefit her to "forget" to ask his opinion on things before signing them up. On the other hand, the fact she demanded this person include him at all showed she cared. It was just that she assumed she knew what was best for him.
"And what does this person want us to do?"
"Oh, you know. Nothing too crazy." Cinder looked away as she ate. "This curry is amazing by the way. Did you try some new spices?"
"No."
"New recipe?"
"No."
"New haircut?"
Jaune's eye twitched. "Cinder…"
"Well, it tastes wonderful."
Jaune let out a sigh. He knew where this was going. "I'm not going to like what you're about to say. Am I?"
"Depends," she hedged.
"On?"
"How much you like Vale."
"Vale? I've never been so… I guess I'm neutral. Why?"
"No reason. No reason. Actually, yes reason. But Vale is an awful place from what I'm told. Really boring. I don't think anyone would miss it."
"Why will anyone have to miss it?"
"Oh, you know, because it might possibly be our mission to… put people in a position to miss Vale."
Jaune tried to piece that together. "What?"
"We're destroying Vale."
"Cinder!"
"Don't overreact—"
"I'm not overreacting!" he cried and pointed at himself. "This is a very reasonable reaction to that thing you just said! A restrained reaction, even! What do you mean destroy? Is this a crash the economy destroy? Or a ruin their reputation destroy?"
"More of the overrun by Grimm and everyone dies type of destroy."
Jaune threw his arms into the air.
"But you're being dramatic," she said, doing her best to pretend she was the one being reasonable. "The Grimm always end up overrunning some small village or town. It's practically the way of things, like evolution. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. Don't you remember learning about Mountain Glenn?"
"Mountain Glenn wasn't destroyed by a seventeen-year-old girl and her fifteen-year-old brother!"
Cinder pointed her fork at him. "That we know of…"
"No. No, we can make a very safe assumption that's not how it fell!"
"But we can't be certain."
Jaune hated when she played dumb, which she very rarely did but for when she knew deep inside her idea was crazy. It was a rare occurrence but she could be unbearably childish when she wanted to be.
"Who even wants this in the first place? Who benefits at all from Vale being wiped off the map?"
"Oh, you know, people…"
"Cinder…"
"Dangerous people who can make us powerful beyond our wildest dreams."
"CINDER!"
His big sister stared at him. "Promise me you won't freak out."
"The fact you say that now after already admitting we're destroying a whole country makes me very worried!"
"Worried for what? Have I ever led you wrong?"
That was a question with many answers. One would say she'd led him wrong when she convinced him to aid in killing their adoptive family, or when they stole the matron's will to benefit themselves. Those things were definitely wrong, and yet they hadn't led them into trouble.
"Yet," he grumbled.
"Yet is what counts," she replied, smirking. "But fine, here's a picture of her." Cinder slid her scroll across the table. He took it. "Try not to freak out."
Jaune freaked out.
"WHAT IS THIS!?"
"That's Salem."
"That's a monster!" he argued, looking at Cinder over the top of the device. "She's sat on a throne next to a Beowolf!"
"Yep."
"She's got red eyes like the Grimm!"
"Yeeep."
"Cinder…"
"Hmmm?"
"Are we going to fight on the side of the Grimm…?"
Cinder laughed. "No, silly."
"Oh, thank goodness—"
"We're fighting on our own side," she said, winking at him. "And we're going to milk Salem for all we can get before backstabbing her and taking the remnants of her power for ourselves."
Jaune's head fell into his hands.
"You're overreacting," she said. "Also, you promised not to freak out."
"I didn't!"
"I could have sworn you did," she lied.
"Cinder, this is insanity! Grimm are evil—"
"We're evil."
"We're morally dubious!"
Cinder laughed. "I'm fairly sure we have to do at least one good thing to count as that." Her smile fell. "But does it matter? You know as well as I that following the rules and playing by the law won't help us. The laws are meant to preserve the current order. If we want to rise above our station, we have to see ourselves above those rules."
Her fingers touched under his chin and tilted his face up. Though she joked and played around with him at times like this, there was always steel beneath. Steel and fire. Cinder's eyes burned with the latter.
"It's just the two of us," she promised. "We only have one another. No one is going to care about a pair of orphans like us, Jaune. We need to take power and grasp it tight! Never let go! We have to claw it from the cold, dead hands of those who would horde it for themselves. Then no one will be able to push us down again. No one will be able to hurt us!"
Cinder needed power like other children needed a security blanket. It was times like this he wished he could be better for her, do better for her, because the reason he didn't need something like this was because she'd provided him comfort and care. He'd had the security of his big sister to rely on, while she'd had nothing.
What else could she do but scrape and fight for every edge?
And what else could he do but stand by her?
"We're going to need to be really strong to pull this off," he mumbled.
Cinder's eyes glinted with pride. Pride and love.
"Yes. Yes, we will have to be," she said. "Leonardo has promised to forge your transcripts to get you into Haven with me two years early. Your age will be faked as sixteen. We'll have a year there to prepare before heading to Beacon for the Vytal Festival. We're also going to recruit our teammates in advance."
Jaune scowled. "Why? We don't need anyone else."
"Don't be possessive," she teased, which was fairly hypocritical coming from her, especially when she looked pleased he'd said that. "But you needn't worry. You're my little brother. They will be nothing to us. Tools to use and dispose of. You'll be above them in every way that matters."
"I better be. I cook and clean and wash your underwear!"
Cinder laughed.
"Does this also mean I'll be getting my aura unlocked?"
"It does."
Ever since she started training him, he'd been asking for it, and she always gave some excuse about how he'd grow stronger for not having it or how she had another time for it in mind. The excuses changed from day to day and Jaune had always known the real reason she withheld it.
Cinder didn't want him strong enough to strike out alone and leave her. Loathe as she was to admit it, she had refused to give him aura because it would make him strong enough to be independent of her. Because holding it over his head gave her some leverage to keep him loyal.
It was selfish and controlling behaviour…
But to Jaune it was further proof that his big sister loved him – because she wouldn't feel the need to do all that if she didn't fear deep inside losing him. Every time she refused, he felt annoyed but also a little happy to know she was trying to force him to stay at her side, even if by such unfair methods.
But now, knowing he'd be stuck with her at Haven (even if Jaune secretly loved the idea and had been dreading her moving out to live with a team anyway), Cinder felt secure enough to let go of that carrot and feed it to him by hand.
"For it is through conquest that we achieve immortality. Through this, we shall secure all that is owed to us and rise above all, unbound by those who would seek to control us! I unleash your power and, by my hand, bind us!"
The dining room of their small home shone with white light.
Jaune sucked in a gasp at the sheer force of it.
"You have a lot of aura," Cinder said, a little surprised herself. It soon changed to a far more worryingly wholesome expression. "As expected of my little brother. Always surprising me. Soon, we'll surprise the world."
It was comments like that which washed away his every concern.
Even if they really shouldn't.
"I'll see to getting you into Haven with me," she said. "You focus on practicing with your aura. Come to me if you need help, I'll always be there for you. We'll go collect our new teammates a week from now. Time enough to make sure they know their places beneath us."
"And then Haven?"
"And then Haven," she agreed. "Where we'll bide our time and grow stronger so that we can destroy Beacon and Vale once and for all!"
"Y—Yay…"
Cinder missed his lack of enthusiasm, too lost in the promise of power than to think about the cost for acquiring it – or the consequences. That was just how she was, always so focused on the goal that she lost sight of everything else. Maybe that was to be his job, to keep an eye on and protect her from the threats she didn't see coming.
That sounded right…
It sounded good.
And it wasn't like they were actually going to destroy Vale or anything. That was surely some over-the-top plan that'd never happen, some grandiose best-case scenario they'd never reach, settling for less.
… right…?
…
Well, if it wasn't, it sounded like there'd be time to talk her out of it. He loved Cinder, evil and all, but that didn't mean he couldn't changer her mind, show her that she didn't need to pursue power with such self-destructive zeal.
He'd show her, and she'd make friends in Haven with him at her side, and they'd shelve this silly crusade before it got anywhere.
I mean, seriously, it's not like a single team of teenagers could actually be expected to take down a whole country anyway. I'm sure Cinder will realise this is a crazy plan and convince this Salem person to go for an easier one.
"Mwahahahahaha—" A ding came from the kitchen, interrupting Cinder's evil laugher. "What's that?"
"Chocolate lava cake with ice-cream," he replied, smiling.
Cinder's eyes lit up. "Have I told you you're the best little brother in the whole wide world lately?"
"No."
"Mmm. Well, you are."
"Enough to take me to see the next Pyrrha Nikos fight?"
Cinder's smile died. "No."
"Why not?"
"Because she's stupid and weak and not even attractive."
Jaune sighed. "Is this because I called her cute?"
"No," Cinder said, sticking out her jaw and scowling at him. "I just don't want you mooning over some useless attention-seeking girl. Besides, she hasn't done anything worthy of your admiration."
Unlike her, Cinder's tone seemed to say.
"Cinder, she's won, like, a whole host of tournaments. You keep telling me strength is everything, and she seems plenty strong."
"I could have won those if I wanted to." Cinder crossed her arms. "I just didn't want to."
"You know I love you more than some random celebrity, right?"
"Of course I do! But it's still a no. You should focus on what's important. Me— The mission," she amended. "The mission. Destroying Vale. Getting stronger. Mastering your aura."
"Watching Pyrrha fight could teach me a lot about getting stronger."
Cinder hissed. "I'll train you myself!"
"Are you jealous?"
"No!" she growled. "You're just too good to be wasting your time on some stupid child like her. Channel those hormones into growing stronger instead."
Jaune pouted. Wilted. Slumped. He put every ounce of himself into looking dejected and miserable, and held the pose as Cinder did her best not to squirm across from him. Her fingers twitched as she glared away, but her eyes kept on sliding back.
"H—How about we go to the park instead?" she offered, just a little desperately. "Just the two of us."
Jaune perked up. "Will you push me on the swings?"
"Tch. Of course I will. I always do. Then we'll go play with your new aura and I'll show you why you shouldn't care about that stupid Nikos girl. Invincible Girl, puh-lease. You have true power right here in front of you."
Jaune laughed. "You're the best, Cinder!"
"Hmph. Of course I am. Don't you forget it."
He really did love Cinder, even if she was a little too evil for him at times. Still, he needed her and, deep inside, he felt like she needed him as well. Needed his company, needed his care (if only so she didn't get fat off takeout) and maybe, just maybe, she needed him to set her on the straight and narrow.
Cinder had saved him.
It was only right he save her as well.
Okay, dates got a little messed up. My bad. So, the next chapter of Xia will come out 5th November, the next chapter of this will come out 12th November. I apologise for the mix-up. I can only blame my own stupidity.
Next Chapter: 12th November
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