Chapter 3
The wind howled outside. So much so that both Ren and Jaune could not fall asleep. They listened as nature unleashed hell against their tent with mighty winds and rain. "Ren, I don't think the tent is going to last much longer," said Jaune as he started to hear the sound of tearing fabric.
"I think you might be right Jaune, lets pack our things while we still can," said Ren as he rushed to roll and secure his sleeping bag. Jaune quickly followed and the duo also decided to put their combat gear on instead of their pajamas. They figured it would do a better job of keeping them warm than their thin pajamas would. After they were able to pack all their gear Ren turned to Jaune, "Do you think we should get the girls?"
Before Jaune could answer they watched as the tent finally gave out and was torn to pieces by the fierce wind and rain leaving the two young hunters in the middle of the storm. The duo looked to see the shreds of their tent fly into the girls tent. It was the final thing needed for the girls tent to be torn apart. Soon the two girls were also exposed to the elements. Unfortunately they did not have the foresight to pack their bags, or even get changed for that matter as they were suddenly awoken by the pouring rain.
"AH! What the hell!" cried Nora in shock as she quickly sat up to see the carnage around her. She looked over to see Ruby scrambling to grab her things and prevent them from getting blown away. She managed to grab the bag filled with her combat gear, but failed to grab the bag with her food rations as it was ripped away in the storm. She quickly turned around and saw her sleeping bag also get ripped away.
"NO!" cried Ruby as she started to shiver in the cold. Nora quickly followed her lead but was lucky and grabbed all her gear before it got blown away. "N-N-Nor-r-a! A-a-ar-re y-y-you th-there" shivered Ruby.
"Y-yeah, w-where a-a-are th-th-the bo-oys?" she asked also shivering.
"Right here!" yelled Jaune as he and Ren approached the girls.
"Oh jeez, Ruby here!" said Jaune as he quickly pulled off his hoodie and gave it to Ruby. Ruby put the hoodie on as fast as she could and thanked Jaune. Ren took off his green jacked and gave it to Nora.
"We have to find some cover!" yelled Jaune as he searched for somewhere they could retreat to.
"Wait Jaune look! Is that a light?" yelled Ruby as she noticed a faint glow in the tree line.
"We'll have to go see, everyone! Head towards that light!" yelled Jaune as he started to run towards it. The others quickly followed, all while trying to shield their faces from natures onslaught.
"Look out!" yelled Ren as he saw a tree falling besides them. The teens all quickly dived out of the way to avoid being flattened by the tree. Ruby and Nora dove backwards while Jaune and Ren dove forwards, and landed in a pool of mud.
"This is just lovely! You girls okay?!" called Jaune.
"Yeah were fine! Hurry, we're almost there!" cried Ruby as she and Nora jumped over the fallen tree. Team RNJR started to approached the source of the light. It was a large, two story cabin. The teens quickly ran onto the porch and were surprised when someone opened the door, "Quickly get inside!" cried a female voice. The four didn't question her and rushed in to get away from the storm. As soon as all four were inside, the mystery girl slammed the door shut behind them and locked it tight. They looked around and saw a beautiful wooden interior to the cabin. The were in what appeared to be the living room. It was a large and open room with four couches aligned in a half circle facing a large T.V. with a bear skin rug at the feet of the couches. It had multiple lamps all around the room giving a nice bright appearance. They looked over to see a staircase leading up with a balcony looking down on the living room. Hanging from the ceiling was a beautiful iron chandelier hanging over illuminating the room. They saw another door across from them leading to what appeared to be a dining room.
"Oh my goodness, are you okay? What on earth were your four doing in that storm?" exclaimed the girl. Ruby was the first to turn around and see their savior. She was a young girl, about 5'7 with short blonde hair that went down to about her chin. It was curly just like Yang's hair. She had brown eyes, and was wearing what appeared to be a green sleeping gown.
Ruby quickly shot up and shook the girls hand, "Oh thank you so much! Sorry about barging in like this, we were camping over in the clearing when the storm destroyed our tent," said a dripping Ruby.
"Oh you guys must be exhausted!" said the blonde girl.
"We are, if it isn't any trouble do you think we can stay here for the night," asked Ren as he got up and shook the girls hand as well.
"Yeah, no problem! Oh you must also be famished, lucky for you I just restocked the kitchen," said the girl.
"Can we make pancakes?!" asked a very excited Nora as she shot up at the prospect of eating her favorite food again for the first time in months.
"Yeah, I think I've got pancake mix, the kitchen is right through-," started the girl before she looked at Jaune who had now got up and faced the group. She felt a blush spread across her face. Jaune arched an eyebrow and looked behind him to see what she was looking at. After a quick glance behind him he couldn't see anything I wonder what the heck shes looking at then? Jaune quickly brushed the idea out of his head and decided to try and engage in conversation, "Again, thanks Miss?" asked Jaune as he extended his hand out. The girl quickly snapped out of her thoughts and grabbed Jaune's hand, "Lilly! My name is Lilly!" she squeaked.
"Well Lilly its nice to meet you, I'm Jaune, that is Nora, Ren, and Ruby," said Jaune as he shook Lilly's hand as she just stared into his eyes.
"Um Lilly?" chimed Nora. Lilly shook out of her thoughts and looked at the ginger, "The kitchen is where exactly?" asked Nora.
"Oh its just through that door and to the left, I'm sure you'll find it," replied Lilly.
"Thanks!" said Nora as she took Ren's jacket off and gave it back to him and ran to the kitchen to make some pancakes. Ruby gave Jaune back his hoodie and quickly joined her. Jaune and Ren looked at eachother and then to Lily, "Do you have a bathroom or something we can go get cleaned up in?" asked Jaune as he and Ren were not only sopping wet as they did not have their jackets to help deflect the rain, but were covered in mud after they landed in that puddle.
"Uh, y-yeah just f-follow me," stuttered Lilly as she quickly rushed towards the stairs. The boys just shrugged and followed. The stairs led to a hallway with smooth wooden floors and three doors on the left, and two in the right. Lilly went to the last door on the right. She opened it to reveal a large white tiled bathroom with a counter with two mirrors and sinks with light both above the mirrors and in the clear glass sinks. There was also a large white bathtub with jets in it, which made Jaune think that it could actually be a Jacuzzi. Next to that was a shower with a large black tube that could open and close which acted as a shower curtain.
"You two can clean up in here and then meet me and the others downstairs when your finished." said Lilly.
"Thanks Lilly," said Jaune as he approached the mirror and removed his muddy shirt. Lilly almost got a nosebleed when she saw Jaune's muscular back. She quickly shut the door and rushed to her room. Her room was a medium sized room with a queen sized bed placed in the middle of the far wall with two dressers on either side of it. One was a large, two door dresser. The other was a small two drawer dresser with a mirror on top.
She quickly rushed to the mirror and stared at her reflection and said, "Damn it, why didn't Mistress tell me that one of them was going to be so, so, so hot!" Her blush continued to get deeper and deeper shades of red. "No matter, you still have a job to do, you can just have a little fun while doing it," said Lilly as a devilish smile spread across her face.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" screamed a furious Pyrrha as she just finished watching Jaune and Lilly's interaction.
"Pyrrha, please calm down," said Ozpin as he tried to ease the young warrior. His request fell upon deaf ears.
"I know that look! That kind of talk! Thats the way I was around him! Who the hell does she think she is!" screamed furious Pyrrha that someone else had taken a liking to her crush. As she did this a sulfur yellow began to glow off of her.
"Huh, that must be the color of jealousy, I always though it would be more of an orange color," said Ozpin as he watched the yellow flame emit from Pyrrha.
Jaune and Ren quickly washed themselves up as best they could and threw on a couple of white bath robes while they waited for their cloths to dry. Jaune noticed that on each of the robes was an angled lily flower with a single red drop falling out of it. Huh, might be her family seal or something, Jaune thought. After the two though they looked presentable enough they departed from the bathroom and made their way down the stairs. They proceeded into the kitchen. The kitchen was a nice, large room with a stainless steel refrigerator, oven, and microwave. It also had cabinets lining the walls in the same light brown as her other woodwork in the living room. There were nice granite counters, with an island in the middle with four stainless steel stools to sit on. Across from the island was the stove with six burners on top, and with six pans of pancakes cooking on each.
"Jeez Nora, you really got down to business," said Jaune as he looked at the mess Nora had made. There was a large mixing bowl lying on the island with dry pancake powder lying all around it, with multiple eggshells scattered across the island as well. There was also three empty bags which presumably once held pancake mix scattered across the granite. And next to the oven outlets was a small mountain of pancakes.
"Jaune you of all people should know that when it comes to pancakes, I am Queen!" Nora exclaimed as she stirred more pancake batter. Ruby was sitting on one of the four stools eating some of Nora's pancakes.
"Wo ruys sud ty soom," mumbled Ruby with her mouth full of pancakes.
"Ruby it is rude to talk with your mouth full," said Ren.
"Srry," -gulp-, "Sorry, I said you guys should try some! They are delicious!" squealed Ruby.
"Nora you're going to clean this mess up right? We wouldn't want to be rude house guests to Lilly," said Jaune as he looked over the powdery mess.
"Aye Aye fearless leader!" said Nora with a salute.
"You're the leader to?" exclaimed a voice. Team RNJR looked to the kitchen to see Lilly standing there, stunned at what Nora just said to Jaune.
"Oh hey there Lilly. Yeah I'm Nora's team leader. By the way, you don't mind if me and Ren use these robes do you? We just needed something to wear until our cloths dried off," said Jaune as he tugged on his bathrobe. As much a Lilly wanted to say no so that Jaune would have to walk around her house shirtless, she decided against it as she still needed to gain their trust.
"Yeah you can wear it. And Nora, I have no problem with you cooking in my kitchen, but I do ask that you clean it up," said Lilly as she looked over Jaune and Ren to see the mess that was in her kitchen.
"Don't worry about it Lilly! If there is one thing I know how to do other than make pancakes, its clean up those pancakes!" said Nora as she flipped the six pancakes off the pans and poured more batter. Lilly just chuckled and walked over to a cabinet filled with herbs and spices.
"Would any of you like some tea?" she asked.
"Sure I'll take some," said Jaune.
"Me to," said Ren. Lilly just nodded and pulled out three bags of tea. She walked over to another cabinet and took out three mugs. After that she went to a water cooler she had and placed hot water into the cups. What the group didn't notice is that she also pulled a small veil out of her sleeve and sprinkled a black powder into one of the mugs.
"Alright, here you go!" said Lilly as she handed a mug to Jaune and Ren. "Thanks," the duo said in unison. They quickly sat next to Ruby and grabbed some of Nora's pancakes and started to eat.
"Wow Nora, these are really good," said Jaune as he poured more syrup onto his pancake. He and the others started to dig in while Nora just made more pancakes. After a few more minutes Lilly gave a yawn and said, "Well I'm going to turn in for the night, we can catch up tomorrow on just why you guys were out in the middle of a storm. There are two guest bedrooms upstairs. They're the last one on the right and the first on the left. The others can sleep on the couches in the living room. I'll let you guys sort out the sleeping arrangements. See you tomorrow." With that, she took her leave and went upstairs to her room.
"Rock paper scissors for who gets bed and couch?" asked Ruby.
"Sure," said Jaune as he turned and faced Ruby. The two put their fists on their palms threw down, "Rock paper scissors." Ruby threw rock while Jaune threw paper.
"Best two out of three?" asked Ruby with puppy dog eyes. Jaune just laughed and ruffled her hair, "Goodnight ya big dork." Ruby just pouted as Jaune got up and walked to bed. Ruby turned to face Ren and Nora, "So how are you guys gonna decided who gets bed and who gets couch?"
"Simple, I will take couch and Nora can have the bed," said Ren as he took another sip of his tea.
"Really? Thank you thank you thank you!" cried Nora as she pulled Ren into a hug. Ruby just laughed as she also gave a yawn and retreated onto the couch. She found a blanket placed at the end of it along side a pillow and quickly fell asleep in the couch's soft embrace.
Ruby's eyes slowly opened. She sat up and looked out the window to see the storm was still raging on outside and didn't seem to have any signs of letting up. Well, looks like we won't be going anywhere today thought Ruby as she got up and headed towards the kitchen to eat some breakfast. When she entered the kitchen she saw Nora and Ren both sitting at the counter with Ren eating a few pancakes while Nora had a mountain of the fluffy treat. She saw Lilly leaning back on the counter across from them drinking either tea or coffee. She had gotten out of her night gown and was now wearing black jeans with a yellow shirt with the same symbol the bathrobes had painted in red across the middle of the shirt. She turned her head and saw the young reaper.
"Good morning Ruby, did you sleep well?" she asked. Ren and Nora turned to face their young co-leader.
"Yeah I slept fine, thanks for asking. Is Jaune not up yet?" Ruby asked.
"No, I am," said a very stuffy voice. The four turned to see a very pale Jaune with bags under his eyes slowly stagger into the kitchen.
"Oh my Oum Jaune! You look terrible! Are you feeling okay?" asked Ruby as Jaune slowly staggered to one of the stools and sat down and immediately buried his head into his hands with his elbows resting on the counter
"I'd be lying to you if I said I've been better. Truth of the matter is I feel like absolute shit," said Jaune. Ruby quickly put her hand over Jaune's forehead.
"Jaune! You're burning up! Oh no, you must have caught a cold last night after you gave me your jacket," exclaimed Ruby. "I'm sorry"
"Its fine Ruby, you don't need to apologize, had I not given you my jacket you would probably be the one in this situation," said a weary Jaune. "I think I'll eat some breakfast and go back to bed." He looked up to see that Lilly was preparing another cup of tea. And he again did not notice her pour an extra ingredient into it.
"Here have this, the herbs in it should help clear your sinuses," said Lilly as she handed the knight the cup.
"Thanks," said Jaune as he took a sip of the drink. Ren got up and took a few pancakes off of Nora's pile and handed them to Jaune.
"Hey!" the hammer wielder protested. Ren gave her a stern look and simply said, "Nora." She quickly just went back to consuming her mountain of pancakes.
"Thanks," said Jaune as Ren slid him a plate.
"No problem," said the green ninja as Jaune slowly ate. After about five minutes Jaune finished his tea and slowly staggered back up into the guest bedroom. After he left the remaining four made their way into the living room with Ren and Nora sitting on a couch and Ruby and Lilly sitting in the two armchairs.
"So, would you guys mind telling me just what exactly you four were doing out in the middle of this storm last night?" asked Lilly. Ruby Ren and Nora went on to explain the events of the past four months and how they had been traveling across the kingdoms to get to Haven to try and bring Cinder to justice.
"Then after we fought off that pack of Grimm we decided to camp for the night in the clearing with the storm quickly approaching. But in the middle of the night it tore our tents to shred and forced us to seek cover. Then we saw a light in the woods and followed it, which lead us to here!" recapped Ruby.
"I see," said Lilly as she finished listening to Ruby's tale of their travels. She looked over and noticed that about three hours had pasted. "Well I think I'm going to go make some more tea for your friend and check up on him. If you guys want to watch some T.V or something the remote is right over there," said Lilly as she pointed towards the night stand resting next to Ren. She walked into the kitchen and made Jaune another cup of tea. She pulled the vile out of her jean pocket and pored more of the black flakes into his drink and stirred them in. Once she was convinced that she had sufficiently stirred it in she made her way upstairs while Ruby Ren and Nora all watched the news. Lilly approached the door and knocked, "Jaune, are you awake?"
"Yeah, come on in," replied Jaune. Lilly opened the door to see Jaune lying down in bed with the covers up to his chest with his arms on top of the blanket.
"You feeling any better?" asked Lilly as she pulled up a chair next to him.
"At the moment not a whole lot better, but hopefully that will change," said an optimistic Jaune. Lilly just flashed a smile and handed him the cup of tea.
"Here, this should help." Jaune sat up and took the cup from her. He drank it slowly as Lilly just looked at him as she bit her lip as she looked over his features. After he finished, he turned to her and asked, "Hey Lilly, I was wondering, whats a girl like you doing all alone in the middle of the woods?" Lilly was a little taken back by the question, but after a few moments answered him.
"Well, I'm not a hunter like you and your friends down there. No my Dad was a woodsman and built this cabin out here. He sold his lumber to the next village over and made a huge profit. He and my mom were able to build and furnish this place with that money. They had me seventeen years ago and we lived out here with my Dad occasionally selling lumber to help pay for food. But a couple of years ago during a Grimm attack my Mom and Dad were killed leaving me all alone. I guess I just continued to live here since I had no where else to go. My Dad installed solar panels before he died so that covers my electricity. And my Mom was best friends with the owner of the supermarket, and she just gives me food when I need it."
"Does it ever get lonely?" asked Jaune. Lilly looked at him with an expression that Jaune couldn't quite make out, sadness, loathing, desire? he thought as he tried to understand what the young women was saying with her eyes.
"All the time," she simply replied.
"Well, at least you got us to keep you company for the next few days," said the blonde knight with a warm smile. Lilly's heart fluttered as she quickly felt a blush creep up her face.
"You should get some more sleep Jaune, I'll check on you later tonight," she said as she quickly got up and made her way to the door.
"Alright, see you then," said Jaune as he started to lay back down and go to sleep. Lilly quickly closed the door behind her and rushed to her room, trying to cool herself down. Get it together Lilly! Remember you can't keep him, no matter how much you want to! But then again that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun she though as her mind went to much much dirtier places. Gah focus Lilly! After he dies from the Grimm flakes Mistress gave you, and the rest of his team is weakened from the flakes they'll be easy pickings. Just a few more doses should do it she thought as she pulled the flakes out of her pocket. "Just a few more doses," she said to her self.
A few hours later RNR and Lilly were sitting around the table downstairs eating some dinner that Lilly had prepared them. Little did they know that she had laced all their drinks with small amounts of the flakes. It wouldn't be enough to make them sick like Jaune, but it would be enough to weaken them to a point she could easily take them. "Wow Lilly, this is delicious, where did you learn to cook like this?" asked Ruby as she ate another portion of the turkey Lilly prepared.
"I just picked it up over the years.," she replied as she took another bite of her food. As they were eating they heard someone start to make their way down the stairs. The four looked to see Jaune slowly approach them, looking worst than ever. He was now an almost ghostly shade of pale with only a little color left in him. His bags were much heavier now, and his eyes were now almost red as oppose to the bright blue they normally were.
"My Oum Jaune! Have you not been sleeping?" cried out Ruby in shock seeing the condition her friend was in.
"N-no I've be-en sleeping. B-ut it hasn't h-helped me out," stuttered a very sick Jaune. Lilly quickly got up and said, "You should head back to bed, I'll bring you up some food and tea in a few minutes," as she started to redirect him to the stairs.
"O-okay," he said weakly as he made his way back up the stairs. Lilly looked at RNR and said, "Go ahead and finish with out me, my Mom taught me a few ways to help out with a fever." The others just nodded as she quickly rushed into the kitchen and poured him another glass of Grimm tea and made a small plate of food for the poor knight. She quickly brought it to his room and placed it on a night stand. "Jaune you should take off your shirt, its drenched in sweat," said Lilly as she felt the soaking wet shirt. Jaune obliged and took of his plain white T-Shirt. Lilly instantly went red and brought the shirt to the bathroom and grabbed a loofah, a bowl filled with cold water, a rag, and a towel and brought it back to the room. She soaked rag in the cold water and put it against his head. Then she soaked the loofah and began to run it across his body. Jaune slightly shuttered at the sudden cold but quickly got used to it. Jaune wanted her to stop, and tried to put up a struggle, but couldn't. He was too weak to really put up any sort of fight. Lilly just continued to stroke up and down his body with some drool coming out of her mouth while she did so. After about ten minutes of the strange cleaning, Lilly finally pulled her hands off of Jaune and fed him the food and tea. This again made Jaune very uncomfortable, and his face showed it, which Lilly noticed, and so did a certain red head as well. But Lilly just ignored it and continued to feed him. After she finished she got up and said, "I'll see you tomorrow Jauney," with a wink and left the room. Jaune simply put a fake smile on and looked up after she left and said, "What the hell just happened to me?!"
Ozpin was slightly scared. He knew he was in the equivalent of purgatory and therefore could not die, but that still didn't stop him from being scared of the event infront of him. "Pyrrha please, just calm down and think for a min," started Ozpin before Pyrrha's blind screams of fury cut him off.
"JAUNEY! JAUNEY! WHO THE FUCK DOES THIS LITTLE TRAMP THINK SHE IS CALLING MY JAUNE JAUNEY! ON TOP OF THE FACT THAT SHE KEEPS ACTING LIKE SHE IS HIS WIFE OR SOMETHING! AND FORCING HERSELF UPON HIM WHEN HE IS CLEARLY STRUGGLING AGAINST IT! AHHHHHHH!" Ozpin had to cover his ears because of just how loud she was screaming. Pyrrha was burning a bright orange flame now. Anger is orange? I always though it would be red thought Ozpin as Pyrrha continued to scream.
"IF ANYONE IS GOING TO BATHE HIM, IT WILL BE ME! I'M NOT TOTALLY DEAD YET! MARK MY WORDS OZPIN, I WILL GET BACK TO JAUNE, AND IF ANYONE IS GOING TO ACT OR BE HIS WIFE, THAT GIRL WILL BE ME!" the spartan vowed as she continued to glow a brilliant orange flame of anger.
Jaune slowly woke up and felt worse than before. He slowly staggered up and stumbled to a mirror to look at his reflection. He was ghost white now with his eyes being almost completely red, this doesn't make any sense, why do I keep getting worse? Jaune thought as he looked at the ghoul in the mirror. Think, what could be causing me to get worse, the only thing I have been doing is sleeping, eating, and drinking- suddenly Jaune came to the realization. The tea? Is that whats causing all this? As he though about it more, he never made any of the tea himself and could have been being drugged this whole time without him knowing theres only one way to find out, stop drinking that tea! Jaune slowly and painfully made his way back down the stairs and into the kitchen with his friends, where they looked horrified at his condition.
"Jaune!" Nora gasped as she put her hand over her mouth. Jaune gave a weak smile and said, "I've been worse." He looked up and saw that Lilly was already preparing him some more tea. She walked over and handed it to him.
"Thanks, but do you mind if I take this upstairs with me?" asked Jaune as he brought the drink to his lips but did not allow any into his mouth and fake swallowed.
"Not at all Jaune! Now please, go back to sleep," said Lilly. Jaune simply nodded and made his way back up the stairs. When he got to his room he shut the door and used all the remaining strength he had to open the window and dump the tea into the still raging storm. He knew Lilly wouldn't notice the tea among all the rain. After he shut the door he crawled back into bed and hoped he was right about the tea being the cause of his aliment.
Downstairs Ruby Ren and Nora sat in the living room and were talking about Jaune, "Guys I'm really worried about Jaune, hes getting worse and worse!" said Ruby. "I don't think its just a cold anymore, I think Jaune might have contracted a disease or something!"
"I think you might be right Ruby," said Ren as he pondered Jaune's condition. Ren was no expert in medicine, but he did know a few things that might help his friend recover. Before he could voice these thoughts the three teens suddenly heard a breaking news bulletin come across the T.V.
"Breaking News, it would appear that this storm that has been raging over the last two days is going to come to an end here very soon. Meteorologists say that the storm is set to end by tomorrow, but now before it gives one final destructive push. Citizens are advised to stay indoors tomorrow and not go outside for any reasons at all. In other news the search for two young boys has been postponed due to the weather. The boys Jon and Tom Martinez went missing five days ago from the village of Guardian Rock and have not been seen since. If any of you see these two boys, please call the local authorities. This picture was taken of them the day they disappeared." A picture of two small boys appeared on the screen. They were twins and had identical appearances, the only way to tell them apart was with their cloths. Tom was wearing a red t-shirt with a yellow star in the middle and had grey jeans on. While Jon was wearing a very unique hoodie with white and green graffiti designs painted all across its black background. He was also wearing neon green shorts.
"Poor kids," said Ren as he turned the T.V off. "Now about Jaune, I think I may have some herbs in my bag that can help him, but I will need time to blend them together."
"How long do you need?" asked Ruby.
"About five hours," guessed Ren as he started to ruffle through his bag.
"Hey, where did Lilly go?" asked Nora.
"She said she had to go check the basement and be sure it didn't flood," said Ruby.
Meanwhile down in the basement, Lilly sat before a cross with three horizontal lines, on her knees praying. Soon a blurry image of Salem appeared. "Lilly, what progress do you have to report?" asked the Mistress of the Grimm.
"My Mistress, I am happy to report that the one known as Jaune Arc is near death after the doses I gave him of the flakes, and should be dead within the next forty eight hours. After that I will pick off his friends with small doses I have given them which will make them too weak to fight." said Lilly.
"Excellent my child, not only have you crippled this team RNJR, but you have also managed to elicit anger from one of my prisoners for me to feed on. See to it that you complete this job, and you shall receive your reward." said Salem with a visible grin.
"Mom and Dad, do not worry my master, I will not fail you," said Lilly. Salem quickly faded out and Lilly put the tarp back over the cross. After she completed that she rejoined the others upstairs.
As Jaune woke up, he knew that he felt better. He got up and looked into the mirror to see that he had regained some color to his face and his eyes were once again beginning to look their natural shade of blue. Guess I was right thought Jaune as he joined his friends for dinner. He saw the four sitting at the island eating what appeared to be meatloaf. Ruby was the first to notice the knight and greeted him, "Jaune! You look better, you feeling any better?"
"Yeah actually, I think Lilly's tea is finally working. Guess my system just needed to get use to it," said Jaune as he joined the others. Lilly got up and proceeded to make Jaune and herself cups of tea. This time however, Jaune watched her carefully as she made the tea and noticed her pull something out of her pocket and dump all the contents into the cup. Caught Red handed, but lets not reveal her just yet. How about I give her a taste of her own medicine, thought Jaune. Lilly approached him and set her tea down on the island.
"Well Jaune, I'm glad to see you're feeling better. Here, this should help you beat that cold," said Lilly as she handed Jaune the glass. Jaune smiled and took the glass from her.
"Thanks Lilly. Hey, what are you guys eating?" asked Jaune as he quickly rushed over to the large meatloaf in the center of the island. He leaned over the counter at an angle so Lilly couldn't see him switch the cups of tea.
"Oh, we're having meatloaf, you want some?" she asked.
"Sure, I woul- opps!" exclaimed Jaune as he "tripped" and spilled his tea onto Lilly's pants. "Oh my Oum! I'm so sorry Lilly! Here let me help you clean up!" said Jaune as he quickly rushed to grab some paper towels. Lilly looked down at her tea soaked pants. "You start that, I'm going to go change real quick," said Lilly as she dashed upstairs. The others got up and helped Jaune clean up. It did not take too long as it was not a very big cup of tea. After they finished, Ren put his hand on Jaune's shoulder and said, "Here Jaune, I made this earlier today, its a bunch of herbs that should help you finally beat this cold." Jaune took the packet from his friend and leaned into Ren ear. "Thanks bud, but don't tell Lilly you gave this to me, I'll explain why later." Before Ren could question his friend any further, Lilly returned with a new set a pants.
"Here Jaune, I'll make you some more tea," said Lilly as she took the empty glass from Jaune and refilled it with her Grimm tea. Jaune took the glass and said, "Thanks, I think I'm going to head back to bed now, try and finally beat this cold," said Jaune as he put the glass to his lips again and faked five swallows of the tea. He left the group and got back into his room. With his new found strength he once again opened the window and dumped the tea out. After that he rushed to the bathroom and cleaned out the cup and filled it with semi warm water from the sink. He put Ren's packet in and allowed it to mix in with the water. Once he was convinced that it was mixed enough, he downed the concoction. It was very bitter and cold, but Jaune knew that if Ren had made it, it would give him that final push he needed to beat the poison that Lilly had given him. Once that was complete he went back to his bed and fell asleep, knowing that tomorrow he would finally feel better.
Back downstairs Lilly picked up her glass and drank her tea, trying to relax in the knowing that it would all be over soon. When she had run back upstairs she grabbed two veils of the Grimm flakes and poured them into Jaune's drink, a lethal amount. She knew that just one full veil would have been enough to kill him like she placed i his first drink, but after he spilled it all over her, she wanted to be sure it would kill him. It was fun while it lasted, she thought as she knew she had sent the young knight to his death. Once she finished "her" tea, she washed the glass out and decided to head to bed. Ruby and the others followed soon after her, all not knowing just what exactly Jaune had done.
Jaune's eyes shot open when he woke up. For the first time in days he felt alive and full of energy, wow Ren, you really know how to help a guy fell better thought Jaune as he looked in the mirror. He had completely gained back the color to his face and no longer had heavy bags under his eyes. And speaking of his eyes, they shinned a bright blue yet again. Jaune looked at the clock and saw tat it read six o'clock. I'm willing to bet that I'm the first one up thought Jaune as he noticed the storm outside. It was the final day and just like the weather men had predicted the storm was giving it everything it had. Jaune looked outside to see the rain falling sideways due to the high winds. He could barley make out the trees in the distance because of all the water falling from the sky. He decided to sneak downstairs and await Lilly to confront her on what she did. He grabbed his combat gear and waited in the kitchen, sitting in the dark for her to appear. After roughly half an hour, Lilly staggered down the stairs, but instead of heading into the kitchen, made a b-line for the basement. Jaune followed curiously. As he entered the living room he noticed that Lilly had woken Ruby, Nora and Ren up who had been sleeping on the couches.
"Jaune? Whats going on?" asked a drowsy Ruby.
"I'm not quite sure, but I intend on getting some answers. Grab your weapons and follow me," said Jaune as the others all quickly grabbed their weapons. Lilly didn't even close the door behind her and RNJR slowly made their way down the steps. At the bottom they hid in the shadows and watched as she took a tarp off of what he could only describe a a cross with three lines. He watched her get on her knees and begin to pray, "Master, please, I beg of you, appear." What the group saw next horrified him, a snow white women with burning red eyes and black veins appeared before her in a cloud of mist.
"Lilly, what is it that you want?" asked the mystery women.
"Master Salem, s-something has gone wrong, I do not know how but I have been infected by the Grimm flakes I was using on the Arc boy. Please, how do I cure it?" begged a very weak Lilly. Salem simply looked down at the girl and said, "You don't cure it Lilly. You die."
"What?! Th-there has to be some way to cure it! The Arc boy showed signs of improvement! What did he do to bring that upon?" asked Lilly. Salem flashed a small grin and replied, "There is a big difference between you and the Arc boy, he has unlocked his aura, you have not. It is what allowed him to survive your small doses of my disease. If you had not played with your food and given him a whole veil like I instructed then he would have died the first day. But rather you decided to try and keep him as a pet of sorts, and it shall cost you your life Lilly." Salem showed no sign of remorse or sorrow in her words.
"Mistress please! You can't do this! You need me," pleaded Lilly.
"That my dear is where you are wrong, you are nothing but a pawn unlike you white knight, you are more than a simple pawn in the game," said Salem as she looked directly at Jaune. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he looked this Salem directly in her cold dead eyes. Lilly looked over her shoulder and saw RNJR standing in the shadows. "Please! You have to help me!" cried Lilly as she tried to crawl towards the team. She no longer had the color she once did. Now instead she was as white as a ghost, with eyes as red as Salem. She had heavy bags under her eyes that aged her immensely. She tried to crawl towards the group of hunters but couldn't. Jaune stepped out of the shadows and faced the mist body of Salem.
"What are you?" he asked, trying his best to hide the fear in his voice. Salem gave a small chuckle.
"I suppose you have earned that answer knight. I am Salem, Mistress of the Grimm." she said as she looked at the scared boy before her.
"Mistress of the Grimm?" he asked. The rest of RNJR also stepped out of the shadows and stood by Jaune's side.
"Yes child, I am the one that can control the Grimm. I am the one that creates them. I am the Grimm" said Salem in a cold dead tone.
"Y-your responsible for the Grimm, and all the death a destruction they have caused?" stuttered Jaune in pure shock that he had discovered not only where Grimm come from, but who.
"Yes my boy, I am the one responsible for the Grimm. I am their fabled leader. I am the one who has killed countless of your kind, including many of your ancestors Arc. Men have been searching for me for thousands of years. And you knight have, managed to find me. So I congratulate you on this victory. I suspect it will not be your last either. But mark these word white knight, you and your friends there will fall one by one. Eventually my pieces will kill each and every one of you. This is your warning, facing me is facing death itself." said Salem. Ruby looked over to Jaune to see some tears falling down his face and his fists clenched. "Jaune?" she asked as she lightly shook his arm. She saw the look on his face go from shock, to sheer determination.
"No, you listen here you bitch! Us four will defeat you! After I avenge the love of my life, we will come and find you and make you pay for all the death, misery, and destruction you've brought upon this world. This is your warning, we're coming for you, and when we find you, there is no amount of Grimm that can save you from us." stated Jaune. Everyone including Salem was taken back by this sudden burst of courage from the blonde. Again, a small grin appeared across Salem's face. "I like you knight, you have many attributes I look for in a minion. This shall not be the last time we meet, but believe me when I say this boy, you will not come to me, I shall come to you. Goodbye," said Salem as she faded away. Jaune just stood there, shocked at not only what he said, but at what Salem had said to him I shall come to you, those five words rang in his head. He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts by Lilly's cries of pain. He and the others approached her.
"Please, y-you have to help me," she cried out in pain as she reached her hand forward.
"Lilly, I'm sorry. I am so sorry, but there is nothing we can do for you. You drank a full veil of those flake things. None of us have a healing semblance, and unlocking your aura wouldn't save you. I'm sorry Lilly, but this is the end," said Jaune as he knelled down next to her. She took her hand and grabbed Jaune's, "I wasn't lying when I told you it was lonely.S-she promised me th-that she could give me my parents back. I-I'm so sorry for what I did to you Jaune. P-please forgive me," she said with tears rolling down her face. Jaune cupped the side of her face and looked her dead in the eye, "Lilly, I forgive you for what you did. You were only trying to get back the ones you lost. I understand that. Again Lilly, I forgive you for what you've done."
"Th-thank y-you Jaune," she said as she released her final breath. Jaune felt her hand go limp as she slumped over. Jaune crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. He got up and turned to his friends, "come on guys, lets go." He and the others made their way up the stairs and noticed the sun was shinning.
"Huh, I guess the storms over," said Ruby.
"Yep, come on, lets take what supplies we can and get a move on. We now have one more person we have to bring to justice. After we defeat Cinder Fall, we will have to face possibly our greatest opponent yet, the Mistress of the Grimm." said Jaune as he started to pack up things from Lilly's house they could use as supplies. The others quickly followed his lead and grabbed what they could. After about half an hour, they grabbed all they needed and headed of for the next village, Guardian Rock, with not only a new enemy, but new determination.
Pyrrha had tears flowing down her cheeks after she just witnessed the event infront of her. This is just one more reason why I am in love with him. Even after she tried to kill him, he forgave her. He refuses to hold a grudge, and stayed with her to allow her to not die alone. Ozpin looked over and saw Pyrrha was now glowing a bright pink. He smiled, as he knew exactly what that color meant, love.
Salem was in her throne room looking over her chess board. She moved the white horse as it took out a black pawn. "Well knight, lets see just what it is you are capable of doing," said Salem as she looked over the remaining chess pieces, curious to see just how much Jaune Arc would accomplish with his new found attitude.
Not quite sure how I went from barley scrapping 3,000 words to hitting 8,000. Though I can say you can expect long chapters like this in the future. I've hit the part in the story were there will be OC's a plenty. Again, not a whole lot for this authors note, next chapter should hopefully be out soon. One final thing though, I just want to say thanks to fnlrpa. You were right about me needing to try and improve my paragraph spacing, so I've gone back and changed not only this chapter, but the last two as well to a format I use to use and for some reason just abandoned. It helps make these things look less blocky and are easier to follow. So again, I guess just thank you, you helped me make this story better.