Hello there, readers! Long time no see!

This right here is a "simulrelease" for the beginning of Giant-Slayer's Volume 2, Giant Slayer: New World. You can think of this last chapter of the original Giant-Slayer as the "Stinger" you're able to catch at the end of a Marvel movie, and don't worry, it isn't a let-down like the Spider-Man: Homecoming post-credit scene with Captain America talking about "patience". And nothing else.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

Most people say that the shortest distance between any two points is "a straight line". However, when you're taking an airship through the skies above the Grimm-infested Frontier, it isn't that cut-and-dry.

You can rig an airship up with as many Turrets or hire as many Hunters as you want, but if you're swarmed and overwhelmed, all your preparations in the end will amount to nothing. That's why typically, airships tend to stick to the major shipping lanes between heavily-populated areas, with border patrol updating Grimm concentrations on a bi-weekly basis to create wiggle-room for flight paths; especially with the rising prices of Dust these days.

That's why Sebastian and his charge, Whitley, weren't able to return to the Schnee Estate for a day and a half despite the high-performance luxury airship they were taking. Whitley's ego had been sufficiently bruised by his loss to the quote/unquote "Faunus trash" that had "dared stand against him", or rather, the Schnee family name, but it wasn't like he was going to raise a stink about it. Not when he'd be the one to come out of it the worst by the mere merit of losing to aforementioned "Faunus trash".

After all, if one of the Schnee family heirs couldn't even beat a Faunus off the streets, what hope did Jacques Schnee, the patriarch of the Schnee dynasty, have against the White Fang?

After ensuring the emotionally-bruised young man had been safely put to bed and that he wasn't going to take his loss out on any of the staff, Sebastian made his way to the Study to give his post-trip report, now that he'd returned from Vale and Beacon proper.

When she had still been alive, Myra Schnee loved books. Back when her father had been a black-collar Dust miner, working and more-often-than-not fighting alongside the brave men and women who followed him into the Frontier in pursuit of new and untapped veins of Dust, books had been her gateway to the outside world her father tread every single day. Even when the Schnee family name had become synonymous with the Dust industry, this love failed to diminish. Myra, born from humble origins, was not so-easily taken in by the niceties the heiress lifestyle afforded many others. When Nicholas renovated an old Dark Ages castle and made it into something bright and lovely, instead of dark and imposing, the room that Myra loved above all else was the study, a quiet, out-of-the-way piece of the home where she could read in comfort and privacy.

However, after her death when Jacques took over the household, the study became a cold, lifeless place. No more laughter as a mother and her children read books together, no more leafing through pages, just the angry scratching of a pen on paper, the angry pounding of keys, and a plethora of swearing whenever something, White Fang-related or otherwise, hurt the SDC's bottom line for that quarter.

Jacques' involvement with the SDC had made it more-profitable than ever before… and all it cost the Schnee Dust Company was its soul.

Hence, why Sebastian loathed entering the study as it was now, and the man who inhabited it, his very presence perverting what it had once represented.

The only solace the aging butler was able to find, was that Jacques' new trophy wife preferred getting sauced in the garden, or the wine cellar, or just her own bedroom.

If she'd dared to desecrate the room that so many of Myra's loving family memories had been made, Sebastian didn't know if he'd be able to control himself.

*Knock*Knock*Knock*

"Sir, I've returned," Sebastian said as he rapped his knuckles on the door.

"Ah, good, good. Come in, come in," Jacques said unenthusiastically as he waved the family's stalwart butler in. "So, were you able to convince my daughter to return home?" the man asked getting straight to the point, not a friendly greeting or "how was your trip" in sight.

"No, sir. She seemed quite adamant about remaining at Beacon," the butler replied coolly, cleverly omitting the fact he completely neglected to bring up said topic at all; if only because he was confident he knew of her response beforehand. "Perhaps you would have better luck after the Vytal Festival," he then went on to suggest, confident that Weiss' answer, had he asked it on her father's behalf in the first place, would stalwartly remain the same.

"Hm. I see," the man hummed as he worked.

'Oh no, please sir, don't break down into tears all at once,' Sebastian thought, rolling his eyes at the man's utter dismissal of an issue he had been pushing for so much. Weiss Schnee "going AWOL" and attending Beacon instead of Atlas Academy, for whatever reason, had somewhat bruised Jacques' standing with his peers; especially since he was now unable to quote/unquote "suggest" she quote/unquote "befriend" noteworthy suitors.

Of course, it came as no surprise to Sebastian that, when something refused to go Jacques way, the man either threw money at the problem until it did, or he just ignored it entirely if that'd do minimal-enough damage to his reputation and/or cashflow.

"So tell me…" Jacques spoke up, breaking Sebastian away from his thoughts. "Did you see anything interesting while you were at Beacon?"

"Zero-to-pissed in an instant. My god you've got talent."

"Oh, by all means, your ego is far more-inflated than my own."

"HAVE AT THEE, YE KRAUT SHIT!"

"Fifty-Percent Full Cowl! Serious SMASH!"

"No, sir," Sebastian returned, his expression neutral even as his words echoed in his mind.

"Very well, then. You're dismissed," Jacques said with a wave of his hand, immediately returning to the work he valued more than his own wife and children.

"By your leave," Sebastian returned with a bow, turning on his heel and leaving the room, the scowl on his face completely hidden from his now-current employer as he left the study, even more of his words echoing in his mind as he walked down the hall.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask, have we met before? There's something… familiar about you, I just can't put my finger on it."

'You really are a coward? Aren't you, Sebastian?' the man asked himself as he palmed his face, the man leaning a shoulder against a nearby pillar as his mind drifted down memory lane.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

Five Years Ago…

Cue RWBY Volume 5 OST - This Life is Mine (Male Cover by Caleb Hyles)

The Killing Bites had ended only moments ago, and like the three years prior, the… servant that Jacques Schnee had purchased once more came out on top. Be it against Humans, or Faunus, older or younger than himself, the "bloody animal" had fought tooth and nail to stay alive, and just like the years prior, by the end of the tournament at least half the blood on his body had been spilled onto the floor, but even then, he had refused to yield.

However, before Jacques could collect on his winnings, both from the Killing Bite's reward and that of the betting pools, there was a loud explosion from above that shook everything. Red emergency lights began to flare, loud klaxons blaring in all their ears.

At first, everyone thought it was a joke, but then, dozens of Faunus wearing white and black clothing began to flood into the underground fighting arena through the maintenance tunnels and above-ground entrances. Some freed prisoners from their cells, others fought guards, and some attacked the rich and affluent outright. As the rich and wealthy scrambled to the emergency exits, some of them fell as the vengeful ripped them to shreds, others managing to escape as bodyguards and indentured servants alike gave their lives, either willingly or otherwise.

Due to his long-standing support of the Killing Bites, Jacques Schnee's private booth had its own emergency tunnel with which they could take their leave, as well as bulkheads and ballistic glass to keep out the riff-raff.

"Dammit! How'd those animals find out about this place?!" Jacques demanded as he slammed a fist against the wall. "Who the hell are they!?"

"I'm not sure…" Sebastian said with quivering voice as stray rounds struck the ballistic glass separating their booth from the outside. Squinting his eyes, he saw the face of a snarling beast on their backs, three claw marks raked across it. Also, instead of blue, the symbol was now a baleful red. "I think… I think they might be the White Fang."

"So… the White Fangs finally stain themselves with blood…" Jacques huffed. "Typical of mindless animals like that, lashing out at their betters," he sneered as he walked over to the nearby desk.

Grabbing an ornate-looking detonator, he idly flicked the guard back and forth as he made his way over to the ballistic glass, a top-secret proprietary material rated to withstand several ballistic anti-tank missiles before so much as cracking. Looking down at the whipping boy he'd purchased years ago to vent his anger at the Faunus scourge plaguing his world, a child barely thirteen years of age face-down in a puddle of his own blood, he spat derisively before throwing the detonator towards his family's longest-lived butler.

"Sebastian. Detonate the collar so we can leave. I'm done with him," he said flatly, clapping his hands of imaginary dust as though it absolved him of the matter.

" . . . "

Sebastian quivered as he looked down at the detonator in his hand, the ornate piece of hardware impossibly heavy as he quite literally held the life of a child in his very hands. His heart beating against his ears, the scars on his face began to burn, his teeth gnashing as his finger twitched.

"What are you waiting for?! DO IT!" Jacques demanded in the wake of Sebastian's pause.

" . . . I will not," the butler muttered after a few seconds.

"I'm sorry… What?!" Jacques demanded angrily after a pause.

"I said… I… will… NOT!" he raged as he pushed the detonator into the man's chest. "I've abided by many travesties these past four years… and like every Sebastian before me I've remained silent through all of it… But killing a child like this… IS WHERE I DRAW THE LINE!"

The man's irises narrowing into his pupils as an invisible wave of energy rippled through the room, the air was briefly dyed blue as a high-pitched *BW-O-O-O-OM* pierced through the air. Jacques staggered backward from the pressure bearing down on him, sweat trickling down his brow as he continued to lose ground against the Schnee family's eldest domestic servant.

"I swore to serve you until my life ended at Myra's behest. That has not changed. But if you want to murder that child so badly, then have the stomach to do so WITH YOUR OWN HAND!" Sebastian roared as he pointed his finger at the man he reviled now more than ever.

"Gr… GRRRRRRR…!" the patriarch raged as he gripped the detonator. "Fine… I'll do it myself!" he raged as he depressed the trigger with a *Click*.

At that moment, all of the sound around Sebastian seemed to die out, the ominous *Ting*Tok*Ting*Tok*Ting*Tok*Ting*Tok*Ting*Tok* of the Slave Collar ringing in his ears, the Schnee patriarch derisively allowing the spent detonator to fall to the floor as he turned on his heel, straightened the lapels of his suit, and stormed out right as the flame of a Dust Torch began to burn through the bulkhead.

Sebastian ran to the window, hands against the glass and eyes wide as he witnessed members of the White Fang scrambling to the child's side, desperately attempting to free the collar from his neck without killing him outright. The bell-like ticking ringing in his ears, seconds later, the child and those who tried to help him were consumed by a massive fireball, the center of the Killing Bites arena shaking with a deafening *KROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Gritting his teeth angrily, he stormed out of the room after his master, shutting the emergency passage bulkhead behind him right as the doorway finally caved in, White Fang flooding into the room.

The aged butler was so, so tempted to end Jacques' life right then and there. Jab the solid-gold pen he'd been given as an anniversary gift between the vertebrae of his neck and leave him where he lied.

But even though the man became a monster after the death of his brother in the last war, he was still the father of Winter, Weiss, and Whitley, and no matter how much he despised the man, he would not force Myra's children to become orphans because of his own weakness.

So many times he could've saved that Faunus child, turn on his master. But his own weakness paralyzed him with fear.

Fear of what would happen to him. What would happen to the child. What would happen when the world found out what had transpired.

But above all else, he feared what the man would do to his own children if what he subjected them to now was any indicator.

He didn't know if the child had survived or not, though the odds were not in his favor. And while most butlers in his position would've left as soon as physically possible, at that very moment as the hand that once held the detonator trembled, he made a solemn oath. An oath that he would never allow any of the man's progeny to become monsters like their father.

So even if it meant serving under Jacques and swallowing his pride, betraying his convictions, as he walked through the darkness after his master, he committed himself to remain, a single tear sliding down his cheek at the life lost.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

Present…

'For five long years, that Faunus child's ultimate fate had weighed on my mind, as though I had become the Greek titan Atlas himself…' the man thought to himself as his free hand went up to the scars upon his face. 'And now… after all this time… all those nights I spent wondering if I truly did the right thing… whether not doing anything was the right thing… My greatest failure as a human being presents itself before me, and I couldn't even tell him…' . . . "I'm sorry…" he muttered aloud. "I'm so… so sorry…" he muttered into the near-lifeless halls of the Schnee family manor.

Mind you, the airship ride back to Atlas from Vale had given him plenty of time to think on past decisions, but it wasn't until he confronted the devil in priest's clothing once again, did he truly realize just how greatly he had failed. Not only how much he had failed that child, but how much he had failed the expectations that Nicholas held for him when he'd first been tasked with protecting and guiding Myra in his stead as he fought tooth-and-nail to revitalize Atlas following the expenditure of their natural resources.

Old "Saint" Nicholas had protected both Human and Faunus without-discrimination on that fateful expedition so many years ago, and originally, the Schnee Dust Company didn't discriminate either. Were he to face Nicholas now, even in his state of judiciary and self-imposed exile, Sebastian knew, deep-down, that Nicholas would be disappointed at what he'd allowed to transpire.

What he'd allowed to transpire because he valued a tainted family legacy over doing the right thing.

'Jack Braxton…' Sebastian idly spoke as he shuffled towards his own quarters, the weight of so many years' guilt not-yet departed from his shoulders as the tired expression on his face showed. 'Not only did you survive that Slave Collar detonating around your neck… you've also become tremendously powerful over the years,' he thought thinking back to the videos he'd caught on the interweb showing the Faunus' combat prowess.

And not only his combat prowess, but videos that showed his deep and frequently-exercised resentment for Humankind. A fact that deeply worried him because his mistress' own flesh-and-blood was living in such close proximity to him.

"And yet… there is… hope," the man realized as he turned the knob of his door, and entered the darkness of his chambers. "Hope… for a better future," he thought as he envisioned Jack and Weiss standing across from one another.

Standing across from one another not as hateful enemies with sword and gun in their hand, but with hands clasped together as lifelong friends.

"Myra… If only you could see her now… If only you could see… how much Weiss… has… grown…" the aged butler sighed as he drifted off to sleep mere moments after his head met the pillow.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

BAM! Bet you didn't see that coming?

Originally this was going to be at the end of the previous chapter, but I felt like it took away from THAT narrative, so I decided to isolate this one and slap a "LOST CHAPTER" tab onto it.

Anyway, this "Lost Chapter" commemorates the beginning of Giant-Slayer: New World, published on the anniversary of the prequel's conclusion; February 24th, 2018. The "big mystery" that hung over reader's heads for 55 chapters has finally been revealed, and damn does it feel good giving it some context.

What this will mean for the FANON however… You'll just have to wait and see.

Suffice it to say, by its very nature, Giant-Slayer deviates from the Canon a great deal. And will continue to do so as I expand upon the foundation of the house that Monty Oum built.

P.S.
For some reason, "This Life is Mine" seemed eerily appropriate for the section about Jack in the Killing Bites under Jacques' thumb. If anyone cares to say anything, let me know what you think of this creative choice.