Author's Note:
Just so you guys are aware, I'm going to be drawing a lot from the supplemental material for both series. For Jack, Jack the Ripper Case Files, and for the character this chapter is primarily in the POV of, RWBY: Roman Holiday. The information given in this chapter is all canon, and this next arc is going to be a longer one than the childhood segment.
----
Trivia Vanille couldn't help but be irritated. She'd had to spend the entirety of her sewing class at Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy for Girls and the hours following the class fixing her school uniform, which had been destroyed by those bitches Melanie and Militia Malachite.
She'd been shipped off here by her parents once she turned 18 after she and her parents had fought due to her semblance. In the end, she'd been happy to be out of the house, right up until she'd actually spent time here and realized she was miserable. All the girls here were proper ladies, being taught to take their place in high society. Even her mother, Carmel, had attended this school in her youth.
Since she'd been here, she'd found herself the target of the popular girls, Melanie and Militia. Maybe it was her eyes, one brown and one pink, or maybe it was her attitude, but the duo disliked her from the start. They'd stolen her uniform and destroyed it, but she'd simply replaced it with her semblance, only to be reprimanded for using her semblance and told she had to fix her uniform herself.
Looking at the finished result, she couldn't help but be proud. She hadn't stitched it back into the drab, boring uniform of the academy. Instead, she'd used the fabric to make an outfit that fit her. She quickly put it on and found herself dressed in a white, tailed jacket with pink lining within. It had large pink cuffs on either wrist and she wore tight brown leather pants and a brown corset under her jacket.
Trivia thought for a moment before she activated her semblance, causing her normally brown hair to shift, becoming half-pink. Her hair now matching her eyes and outfit, she gave herself a once over in the mirror and couldn't help but be happy with the result.
Finally done with her task, she made her way out of the classroom and into the hall. It was already late, so most of the girls in the academy were already in their rooms by this time. While she walked, she glanced out the window and caught sight of Melanie and Militia making their way out of the front gates and into the city of Vale. It was well after curfew to leave the academy, and she couldn't help but grow excited at the thought of catching the two breaking the rules after what they'd done to her.
She quickly changed her appearance with her semblance into a generic woman with black hair wearing a skirt. The illusion covered her and made her unrecognizable to the two girls as she followed the two out of the academy and into the city of Vale. She had to rush to catch up to them since they had a headstart, but she eventually got them in her sight as they weren't moving too fast.
There'd been a slew of killings over the last few years in Vale, all of which had been attributed to the Artist of Death. Whoever they were, they'd changed their stomping grounds from Atlas to Vale, and the city had been put on high alert. The streets were mostly empty at night, and it made it easy for her to keep sight of Melanie and Militia.
The two made their way through the streets of Vale confidently, while Trivia trailed behind them. She made herself look unassuming, but she still didn't want to look weak and attract someone's attention, so she walked confidently in the same direction as the twins. They seemed to have a destination in mind, and they quickly arrived at a place named the Harmony Club.
Trivia tucked herself away into a nearby alleyway where she could watch the entrance and keep an eye on things. She could record when the two came out with her Scroll and submit it to get the two in trouble. Her ears could faintly hear a sound from farther into the alleyway, but she ignored it for the moment and focused on watching the door.
During her brief waiting, the sound continued in the alleyway and she was beginning to grow curious about what it was. As she watched the door, she was surprised when a man went flying through the front window. He had long, orange hair that covered his right eye and was wearing a white coat, and a cane also landing next to him.
Trivia looked on in interest as Militia and Melanie came out of the club to confront the man, a swarm of men with guns and weapons right behind them as the orange-haired man found himself completely surrounded. Idly, Trivia considered helping him hide with her semblance. It'd be entertaining to get one over on those two, but while she was considering it, her attention was once again drawn to the sound in the alley.
'What is that?'
Her curiosity got the better of her, and she took a brief respite from watching the situation at the club to find out what was going on. She was cautious, but confident her semblance would let her get out of any trouble she might run into in the alley. Just to be safe, she put an illusion over herself that matched the walls of the alley. It would let her blend in and make it highly unlikely whoever was in the alley would see her.
As she walked deeper, she turned the corner and came upon the source of the noise. Her eyes widened in shock, the sight before her being well beyond her expectations.
There were two figures in the alleyway, but one of them was completely still. The other figure, a tall man, although his age was hard to guess because his hair was gray, stood before the motionless figure. He was wearing a blood-red coat and pants, with a grey shirt underneath, and had a monocle over one of his eyes.
He was picking up two random sticks from the ground before he turned back to the motionless body of the other man. His aura glew red in the dim lighting, and he positioned the body with its arms crossed over its chest before he stabbed the stick straight through the brick wall of the alleyway.
Trivia held her breath and made sure she was still camouflaged as she watched the man suspend the body up against the wall. He made it look like he was simply sleeping, his arms crossed over his chest, but the limp way his neck rolled around gave away that he'd been killed.
As she watched, she couldn't help but grow intrigued by the actions of the man. He seemed to show a certain finesse with the way he positioned the body, as she knew was common in cases involving the Artist of Death. Each body was always displayed in a certain way, like an art piece to be appreciated.
The man took a step back and looked at his work for a moment before he turned around, only for his one visible eye to immediately lock directly onto Trivia's body.
'He can't see me, there's no way.'
"Why hello young lady, what are you doing out this late at night?" The man asked, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she had been exposed. She didn't know how, but the man seemed to be able to see her clearly despite her semblance.
Trivia dropped it and stood before the man unsurely. She still had the illusion over her appearance up, so that if she managed to escape he wouldn't know who she was. Unfortunately, she was mute and couldn't respond to his question. Instead, she gestured to her pocket, trying to convey that she needed something.
"Oh go right ahead, I'll wait," the man said, gesturing with his hand toward her. It dawned on her that she wasn't all that scared of him at the moment. She was cautious maybe, but even after having seen him kill someone and knowing his reputation, she wasn't all that worried. If anything, she was intrigued by the man's odd behavior.
Trivia slowly pulled out her scroll and turned it towards him so he could see what she was doing and then typed a message.
[Heard sounds, came to see]
The man considered her for a moment. "So you're mute then. You made a rather inquisitive choice, albeit poorly thought out. Were you somehow unaware of what had been going on in this city, I've got quite a reputation after all."
[Not scared]
"That's brave of you, but now what do we do about our little conundrum? You've seen something you obviously shouldn't have, and yet something tells me you aren't all that afraid I'll kill you to keep it secret."
Why wasn't she scared? She took a moment to ask herself that question and realized that it was just something about this whole situation. Compared to that miserable academy, and before that, her life with her parents, this was just so much more interesting. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, but not out of fear, instead it was out of excitement.
[Won't tell]
The man looked at her deeply for a moment before he seemed to come to some conclusion. "Hmm, no you won't will you? And yet, I could make this all simple by killing you."
Trivia considered her options for a moment before a thought came to her and she couldn't help but grin.
[Well, in that case, you can kill me then. My only condition is you kill the twin girls in the club outside this alley. Do that, and I'll let you kill me. That's a promise]
The man stared at her, and Trivia couldn't help but grow excited at his response. Would he deny her, and simply take her life here and now? Would the man allow her this one request?
She watched as for a brief moment a fond look came over his face before he began to laugh out loud.
"You remind me so much of another girl I once knew. Such marvelous colors, just like that girl." The man paused, chuckling lightly to himself before he continued. "Very well. It would be my pleasure."
Trivia grinned, a new feeling coming over her as she found herself growing more and more interested in the character of the man in front of her.
"Now then, what is your name my dear?"
Trivia moved to type the words in, and yet before her fingers could move, another name came over her. Once she felt she identified more with, one that she'd grown up with. The first use of her semblance, which had taken the form of a young, trouble-making girl. Trivia had since absorbed that side of herself back into her, and yet that name felt much more fitting.
[Neo. Neopolitan.]
----
It'd been three years since Jack had left Atlas and came to the Vale. He'd quickly found an apartment in the slums that asked few questions, allowing someone his age to rent as long as he paid upfront in cash.
Since then, he'd fallen back into his old habits. He continued his rash of killings, targeting those who would give him the brightest and most interesting fear. His most recent target was a man who ran a Faunus child prostitution ring. If there was one thing Jack despised, the only true moral line he still had, it came to children. Those who would assault children were people he would kill with joy, and it just so happened they always gave such a good display of fear.
He'd tracked the man down leaving a club and lured him into the alley. He killed him slowly, suffocating him as he watched the life ebb from his body and the true fear that blossomed as he met his end.
That was when everything took a rather interesting turn. A girl came upon the scene of the crime and found him in the midst of the act. She'd hidden with her semblance he assumed, but his Soul Eye could see aura and was able to see through her illusion. He could tell she was a couple of years older than him in this new life, despite her petite height. And to add to it, the girl was mute, requiring her Scroll to communicate with him.
From there the conversation flowed, and Jack couldn't help himself from growing intrigued as he looked at her emotions. There was no fear in her, instead, she was intrigued, borderline excited as the conversation progressed. He kept talking to her, curious how she saw this situation going, and that was when she said it.
[Well, in that case, you can kill me then. My only condition is you kill the twin girls in the club outside this alley. Do that, and I'll let you kill me. That's a promise]
Those words reminded him so much of another young lady who'd asked him to do something in exchange for killing her. In the end, he'd worked to dismantle a criminal organization all in exchange for her life.
So he accepted her offer, much like he accepted that girl's in the past. Those emotions, so bright, so unafraid of him. They were just too appealing to pass up. He wouldn't kill her now, he wanted to see these emotions and understand them better than he had back then.
He was curious, what would allowing Neo to live bring him. What emotions would he get to experience, and what emotions would he see from her in turn when the time finally came? Jack couldn't help but grin brightly at the thought.
'Such an intriguing turn of events.'
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Neo. I'm Jack."