The time Jaune spent in the library with Pyrrha that morning would prove to be the only highlight of the day for him. Goodwitch's class, in particular, was an unmitigated disaster. After arriving at the sparring arena, Goodwitch had announced that today they were focusing on Aura sustainment exercises in lieu of straight combat. They quickly shuffled into the arena in their full combat load outs as Goodwitch directed them to maintain an aura shield for as long as they possibly could.
"Students, you will find this next exercise one of your most demanding types of aura manipulation to perform. In the field you must be prepared to form these kinds of protective shields when facing against Grimm of larger than normal size or if you are under sustained assault by projectile dust weaponry. An inability to quickly conjure and effectively sustain such a shield would be a clear indication of your unsuitability for combat. You will need to focus as hard as you possibly can as this will be graded during our full-contact sparring test at the end of the month!" Her voice ringed crisply across the large combat arena as she paced before them.
Jaune groaned inwardly. Great, another chance to embarrass myself in front of the whole class. Looking around he saw Cardin snickering loudly and leering in Jaune's direction. The other man knew from sparring that Jaune always had trouble with his aura.
Professor Goodwitch continued. "I have been teaching you the theory of aura manipulation for several weeks now. Today it is time to put it to a test. Draw your weapons and assume your combat stance. Focus on a shield that envelopes your whole body and mind. This, if done correctly, should withstand most attacks for a short while and is critical to discovering and controlling your semblance. Hold it as long as you are able but understand I do not expect you to sustain it for more than a minute or so as this technique is extremely demanding and taxing on your stamina. However I will be expecting at least a visual presence of your aura from which to to gauge your progress."
She drew up fast, turning to face them. "Any questions?" There were none from the class.
"Very well! Make sure to spread out to provide enough space for each of you so your auras do not interfere with each other. On my mark! Set! Begin!"
Jaune closed his eyes and tried to calm his agitated mind. Focus...focus...think of a shield...think of protection. Reflexively he flexed his arm, felt the weight of his shield deploying and tried to visualize it covering his whole body. He kept trying to empty his mind but other thoughts kept intruding and breaking his concentration.
That essay for Port was a disaster...
I hope Pyrrha didn't actually read what I wrote...
Focus on your shield you idiot!
Fuck, a sparring test on Friday? I hope she doesn't pair me with Cardin again...
Oh god what if I screw up again? Goodwitch nearly tore my head off the last time...
I can't screw up now, what if I'm facing Grimm for real, then what about my team?
What about Pyrrha?
Focus, come on, think of a shield, think of a shield think-
"MISTER ARC!"
Goodwitch's voice cut through the air like the crack of her signature riding crop. Jaune was so severely jolted out of his mental turmoil he dropped Crocea Mors with a mortifyingly loud clatter. Scrambling to pick it back up, he stood and found himself face to face with the irate professor.
"Mister Arc..." she spoke, drawing each syllable out with barely concealed irritation "...have you been paying attention at all during my classes?"
Jaune could hear the distinctive cackle of Cardin behind her with several other students snickering along with him. Goodwitch's head snapped around, silencing the class with a single venomous look.
"Uh, yes...Ms. Goodwitch-I mean professor!" Jaune blurted out. He was slightly dizzy from the previous exertion and reddening with embarrassment.
"Then perhaps you can clarify for me why your aura could be dis-favorably compared to a guttering candle in a light breeze!? I have gone over aura manipulation techniques no less than six times in this class and I would hope that by this point in the semester you would have at least been able to demonstrate some progress..." she readjusted her glasses and continued to stare daggers at his face "...or is that too much to expect?
Jaunes face reddened even further. Several students now were visibly suppressing giggles and Cardin looked almost as red as Jaune from holding back laughter. At least his team and Team RWBY seemed to be showing some semblance of pity, though in some ways that was even worse...
"No professor you're not mistaken. I do apologize for that performance. I'm...not feeling my best today" he stammered through gritted teeth. "May I make another attempt?"
Goodwitch sighed. "Mr. Arc, as an aspiring hunter this far into his first year, a "bad day" is not a valid excuse for this level of performance. But very well! Please demonstrate for the class a sustained shield with your aura. I will settle for at least a forward facing shield that is visible to myself and the class. Begin when ready."
The rest of the class took the cue from Goodwitch and made space for Jaune, forming a wide semi-circle around him. Jaune gulped. He had to demonstrate this in front of the whole class...with everyone watching?
Great! No pressure! I'll just look like an even bigger idiot and everyone will have a front-row seat!. He took a few steadying breaths and once again tried to empty his mind. As he closed his eyes he found Pyrrha in the line of students. Their eyes met, and in that brief moment, he wanted to say something to her, something rash and passionate, something to help him focus on keeping his mounting terror from overwhelming him in front of his whole class. He just wished there weren't all these goddam people here to hear him say it.
Pray for me Pyrrha. He mentally called to her. Whether the message got to her or not, she seemed to understand his silent plea. She nodded slightly and clasped her hands together.
Taking another deep breath and closing his eyes Jaune assumed the Full-Guard position. He crouched low making sure his shield covered as much of his body as possible, his blade drawn back, ready to lance outwards at an approaching enemy. Bending his head down he gritted his teeth and began to focus only on his shield. He began to repeat a short mantra he had taught himself when doing shield practice to help him focus.
The Shield Protects
The Shield Holds the Line
The Shield Deflects
Those Blows that were Mine
He continued to repeat the sequence in his head, focusing on conjuring his aura. Despite his efforts, he immediately knew something was off, an assessment confirmed as he began to hear low mutters rumbling from his fellow classmates as his heart started to beat erratically in his chest.
He was standing still but his body felt like it was running all out through a pool of tar. Sweat started to trickle down his face and his legs began to tremble with the exertion. He shifted his feet slightly and continued to repeat the mantra in his mind trying to desperately hold on to it as the solitary rock in a roaring sea.
As Jaune strained Pyrrha and the rest of teams JNPR and RWBY looked on with varying degrees of worry. It was plain to see that Jaune was on the verge of passing out. His face was practically purple from concentration, his blonde hair drenched with sweat. Worse, his aura looked...
"His aura looks fucked up!" Yang whispered bluntly. "Seriously, I've seen enough of our dad practicing his aura techniques and they look nothing like...that" She waved over at Jaune. "Something's wrong with Vomit-Boy there, and I'm talking more so than usual."
"It definitely appears quite irregular" Ren stated simply. "His fatigue and lack of nourishment must be interfering somehow. But that would usually lead to a diminished aura state or difficulty producing a visible radiance...this looks more like it's been corrupted." He leaned forward, staring intently at his team captain, scientific interest, for the moment, outweighing concern.
"Ewwww he looks like he's covered in a green blob!" Nora declared with her usual lack of tact.
Despite the crude assessment, Pyrrha had to agree. Instead of the uniform glow that should have been surrounding Jaune's body, there appeared irregular pulses of green-tinged aura fragments flashing in some rapid rhythm. The longer Jaune crouched the more pronounced the anomalies appeared. After a few moments, it was even more as Nora described it, the green tendrils lasting longer and longer such that he appeared to be surrounded by some vile, pulsating tumor instead of the expected smooth round shield.
Even professor Goodwitch seemed confused by what she was seeing. Her head was cocked slightly to the side and her gaze narrowed at Jaune who was by now beginning to shake with his continued efforts at maintaining his aura. After about a minute though she had seen enough and walked over to him.
"Mr. Arc that will be sufficient. You may release your aura now." She spoke with her usual crisp commanding voice, but it appeared that Jaune had not heard her.
"Mr. Arc! I said that's enough!" She spoke louder this time and reached for his shoulder when Jaune exhaled explosively, collapsing to his hands and knees, Crocea Mors clattered loudly against the stone floor for a second time. His aura hung in the air for a split second behind him, as if it was unsure it was supposed to stop as well, then it's unstable structure collapsed inward like a popping soap bubble. Its collapse set off a pulse of air that blew by Goodwitch and the rest of the class with palpable force, the small explosion causing Goodwitch herself to actually take a step back in surprise.
Jaune was bent over sucking in great lungfuls of air. Ohhhhh good ol' oxygen how I missed you buddy! We'll never be apart again! He was about to laugh at the absurdity of his thoughts but decided against it, he would probably pass out if he tried to do anything other than breathe.
Taking in another delicious gulp of air, he eventually called out to Goodwitch. "How was that professor? Did my shield pass muster?" With great struggle he pushed himself back up to a kneeling position and looked around for the first time since beginning the exercise. All around him the rest of the class and Goodwitch stared back in shocked silence.
"Wh-what? I-is something wrong?" he spoke between breaths. The rest of the class continued to stare, some with fascination, others with alarm. Jaune looked over to his friends for some kind of explanation but they only returned worried looks that Jaune couldn't make sense of.
Professor Goodwitch recovered first and began to rapidly type something into her large scroll. A chime emitted from the pad and her eyes snapped up to meet his own.
"Thank you, Mr. Arc. You are dismissed from the rest of this class. I am setting up an appointment with the school infirmary. You are to head there immediately."
Jaune was dumbstruck. He struggled to his feet and pleaded with Goodwitch "What? Why? Didn't I make a shield? I really felt I had it there!" He was panicking, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. He had never been kicked out of a class like this before and this was happening so suddenly, in front of the whole damn class to boot.
Goodwitch fixed him with a look. It might have been...pity? He couldn't really tell. "Mr Arc, I don't know what that was, but that certainly did not resemble any shield of which I know. I quite frankly don't have any idea what you were trying to accomplish with your aura but it is obvious you are not in a fit state to continue class today. I recommend you head to the infirmary at once and submit to the full physical I have scheduled for you."
"But-" Jaune started to protest.
"That is final, Mr. Arc. Now please collect your things and get moving. And note, unless I hear otherwise from a nurse, you will not be allowed to participate in any further sparring matches. If you are unable to complete your assigned final exam at the end of this month we will have to look into...other arrangements to make up for the exercise. Good day, Mr. Arc."
With that, Goodwitch turned to face the rest of the class.
"Alright class, we are to continue aura the aura sustainment exercise as we originally planned. Please spread out and continue to practice as we discussed earlier."
It was all Jaune could do not to break down right there. Setting his face in as impassive a mask as he could make it, he grabbed his bag and hurried out of combat arena as quickly as his tired legs allowed. He thought he spotted Pyrrha attempting to get his attention out of the corner of his eye but he didn't dare to look back at her, he couldn't bear it. He knew he would break down right then and there if he stopped. Just as he made it to the door Cardin yelled after him.
"HEY JAUNEY-BOY! HOPE YOU DIDN'T SHIT YOUR PANTS! LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE TRYING TO PASS AN URSA OUT OF YOUR-!"
Goodwitch's icy voice cut across Cardin's before he could continue. " Thank you for that enlightening commentary Mr. Winchester, since you seem to be so full of energy and wisdom perhaps you can explain to the class the proper methods of Aura manipulation-"
Jaune slammed the door behind him before he heard any more. Now alone he set about trying to put as much distance as he could between him and the sparring arena. He didn't care where he went at the moment but it wasn't going to be the hospital, his dorm, nor the library. A crazy thought flashed in his head. I could just leave Beacon, couldn't I? Just leave this grimmdamned place behind and go home and just leave it all behind me and no one would notice or care...
For a crazy second, the thought seemed quite appealing. He was practically hysterical with a whole powder keg of emotions and didn't know who to turn to for help. There he stood in the center of Beacon, tears leaking out of his eyes, his body shaking with fatigue and his clothes soaked with sweat, he looked like a hot mess and felt worse. He was attracting looks from other students walking around campus. It was still the middle of the school day and there were still tons of them milling about.
Think...think...think... you have to do something you idiot! You can't just melt down right here in the middle of school!
He couldn't seem to come up with a solution so he just started running as fast and as hard as he could. He didn't have any direction in mind but he had to get away. He had to find somewhere quiet where he could calm down and be alone with his thoughts.
He had only sprinted for a few minutes before his body reminded him of his earlier exertions and he staggered to a stop. Breathing heavily he looked around to find that he had run across to the large memorial gardens that sat on the eastern edge of campus. With few other students in view he figured this was as good a place as any to be alone and he made for the small grove of red-leaf trees that had been imported from Forever Fall, slumping against the trunk of one furthest back from the main path. He was well obscured here and was unlikely to be disturbed.
When he looked around and was confident he was truly alone he finally let his pent up anguish wash over him. His body went limp from the combined stresses that had been accumulating all day. He cried freely now, his silent sobs trying to exorcise all of the emotional bile his body had been holding on to. His mind was simply blank. He had been tired and depressed for so long he didn't know what else to think. He noted with bitter irony after his obvious failure in the aura exercise that this was perhaps the first time he could recall that he truly had cleared his mind.
Only took embarrassing myself in front of the whole class and having an emotional meltdown in the school gardens...yay for me, bet that goes straight into the curriculum...
Eventually he got the worst of the crying out of his system and he sat in a daze, eyes glazed over and staring at nothing in particular. It felt good not to think. This was the most relaxed he had been in weeks, it was bliss. As he sat there he started to feel the combined effects of the dust crash from his energy drinks, his overall lack of sleep and the exertions in Goodwitch's class. His eyes started to droop as he became more and more drowsy. Before he knew it, he had slumped sideways off the trunk of the tree, falling into another fitful slumber
It was not much longer before he demons came for him.
The familiar inky void surrounded him again. Nothingness filled the void save for himself and his weapons. What was this? Did he need to fight something? He moved forward cautiously. Crocea Mors held at the ready and his shield in front of him. Nothing.
Shapes began to congeal from out of the void. He was...was he back in the combat arena? He turned back and forth trying to prepare himself for something just out of his vision. He took a few steps forward when a loud slam shattered the silence, bringing with it bright cones of light blazing down from the ceiling.
What was going on? I'm not here, this isn't supposed to be...I'm not supposed to be here...he tightened his grip on his sword and shield shifted nervously, trying to get his bearings. The exit, where was the exit?
"BOY!" the voice thundered through the arena. Jaune staggered and whipped around. The dark giant from his previous nightmare stood before him, its burning red eyes blazing through the darkness. He still couldn't make out the being's face or features...but he somehow felt, deep in his bones, that he knew what this thing was.
The cloud of darkness receded to reveal that the shadowy figure was not alone this time. Stepping forward to stand aside the ruby-eyed giant a second figure appeared. Tall and slender it took the semblance of a svelte female form carrying a clipboard and an impossibly large writing tool. Peering over the clipboard it leered down at Jaune with narrowed emerald eyes.
"Again you embarrass me." The voice boomed. "Again you stain our name and our legacy! An Arc incapable of producing a proper Aura! You don't even know what your semblance is yet, do you?" the giant roared with primal fury and jabbed a shadowy claw at Jaune. "Why are you still standing here!? Shouldn't you have died in the forest on your initiation day? That would have been a more proper result then what stands before me!"
The shorter shadow narrowed her poisonous eyes and spoke in a snake-like hiss. "Yesssss, sssubstandard performance, ssssubstandard grades. Cannot control his weaponssss or his aura. Ssshould be dead by now according to the data..." With each word she ticked off her observations on her shadowy clipboard.
It was too much for him. Anger exploded out from him in a fiery torrent. "NO! I am NOT a failure! I will not die here!" He pointed his sword at the two shadows before him "Who are you to judge me anyway!? I get that enough from everyone else! YOU DON'T EXIST! YOU'RE NOT REAL!"
The red eyed giant seemed to loom even larger as it answered Jaune's anger with its own. "Impudent boy! We are part of you, we have always been a part of you. We are the legacy of the Arc's, the pure bloodline that you despoil and dilute with your failures! Your failure to fight! Your failure to complete your duties! Your failure to properly exist!"
Jaune's chest and throat tightened as before. This time it came not as a shock and he steeled his resolve.. He would not let this happen again. He would fight. If it meant suffocating where he stood, he would at least try to resist until he ran out of air. "No..." he gasped "I...will not let...I will fight you!" His throat continued to tighten, cutting off his flow of air he so desperately needed to live.
"With what!?" the giant mocked. "You dare wield my weapon against me! The slayer of countless Grimm and Men untold! You assume too much, Jaune Arc, but my legacy is not among them!"
Jaune looked down. Crocea Mors was gone...and his shield with it. Looking up he saw the red eyed giant had them in his shadowy claws, the familiar arms swelled to match its titanic frame. Raising the sword he pointed it back at Jaune.
"You are no Arc. You are unfit to hold that name..." The giant glowered into Jaune's face. As they locked eyes Jaune made the connection, what he had known in his bones, in his blood, making it, finally, to his mind. The burning shadow's features coalesced. It was Charlemagne Arc, the grand Patriarch of his family. Jaune continued to struggle against the invisible hands that were crushing his ribs and throat, defiantly staring back into those merciless burning pits that belonged to the crude spectre of his family's progenitor.
"Ahh...well at least you managed to show some bravery in death. Perhaps a Spartan can accomplish what a Knight failed to achieve!" A flick of the family blade caused Jaune to flinch but it was from behind that the blow actually came. Jaune felt a hard thump in the center of his back. Looking down he saw a large red and gold lance jutting out from his chest. A flicker of comprehension crossed his face as he stared at the blood spattered spear, his still-beating heart skewered on it its tip.
He staggered and turned, his lifeblood gushing out of the gaping wound surrounding the blade. "P-Pyrrha?" he gurgled. Behind him stood his teammate, only she wasn't. It looked like her, except...it was her eyes. Instead of her usual warm pools of jade there were hollow white orbs that shone with an unnatural glare. An impossibly wide crooked-toothed grin spread across her face, like a twisted jack-o-lantern he might have carved as a child. The grin grew wider still, threatening to crack her face in half. He tried to back away but his legs would not respond. No...not like this...this...this wasn't real..."Pyrrha what are you? You can't...please...
It spoke, the voice a twisted mockery of the real thing. "The hands of fate are arrayed against you Jaune...accept oblivion". With a quick wrench, the creature pulled the spear from Jaune's chest and he toppled forward into nothingness.
Jaune awoke screaming. Immediately his hands shot towards his breast plate searching for a hole that he could have sworn was there but his probing fingers found only the familiar nicked and scratched armor plating that sat over his sweat soaked hoody.
Again with the nightmares...I'm going insane, aren't I?
He sat for several minutes more to once again try to settle down from what should have been a restful sleep. Leaning against the tree he pushed himself back up, glancing about to see if anyone hadcome to investigate his scream. Thankfully the gardens were still deserted.
The sun above told him that he had not slept for long And checking his scroll confirmed that the nightmare had consumed a mere 45 minutes. Goodwitch's class would be getting out soon but he really didn't feel like being around anyone yet. He needed to talk with someone, just...not from here. He grabbed his bag and jogged in the direction of the main communications tower. As harrowing as the dream had been it had left him with the feeling that that some family advice was what he needed.
