There was a pause as Ruby and Jaune walked to the dorm together. Jaune had just finished speaking, and Ruby was tapping her chin, a look of contemplation on her face. She stopped and turned to face Jaune, her silver eyes searching his face.
"So... you're telling me that by going into a magic door that only YOU can see and talking to some weird people you can give creepy doll versions of me, Weiss, and Pyrrha magic cards that give us more Personas to fight with?"
"Uhhh... that's about right, yeah..." Jaune was just starting to realize how absolutely insane it sounded. He stared at the grass between his shoes. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"Nope." Ruby nodded to herself and started to walk again.
"What do you mean, 'nope'?" Jaune jogged slightly to catch up.
"I meant... Nope." She shrugged. "Just the other day, I fought a giant demon bird in a dark street during a special hour that turns people into coffins and I did it by calling on a one-armed sword-wielding warrior that I can only summon by shooting myself in the head with a special pistol." She took a big gasping breath in. "And that's just the craziest thing to happen recently!" She took another deep breath in and as she breathed out she semi-gasped, "At this point, Jaune, I'll believe just about anything."
Jaune stared at her with his mouth agape for a moment... and started chuckling. "That's... yeah, actually, that's really fair. So do you want to try it? To try exploring Muspell?" His voice nearly went an entire octave higher with excitement.
"Yeah!" Ruby held her hands high. "Let's see if we can get Weiss and Pyrrha to go with us! We'll be team... uhh..." she started pointing at her fingers as she whispered "P... W... R..." then she held her hands high again. "Team PoWeR!" Ruby had a huge smile on her face and a bounce in her step. Jaune noticed at moments like this just how childlike she could be.
"Did... you just make a team name by throwing everyone's initials into a random word?"
"Yup!" Ruby beamed with pride.
"But..." Jaune started spelling under his breath while keeping track on his fingers. "Power doesn't have a J in it! Don't I get to be a team member by giving you guys awesome new powers to use?"
Ruby crossed her arms and got a thoughtful look on your face. "I guess that's fair, even if you can't help us on the frontlines. Your support will be acknowledged!" She planted her feet and pointed a finger at Jaune. "Henceforth, we shall be... J-PoWeR!"
A breeze blew a few leaves by the two as Ruby stood pointing at Jaune. Jaune's chin fell to his chest, glad that no one seemed to be around to see Ruby's exclamation. "That... doesn't seem much better."
Ruby's hand slowly extended until she was pointing at the sky. "THE J STANDS FOR JUSTICE!" She pulled her fist down and thrust it into the air excitedly. "Those Shadows won't even know what hit them!" She resumed heading toward the dorms, now practically skipping with each step. Jaune chortled to himself and bounced slightly alongside her.
"You know, it's hard to believe Pyrrha and Weiss are the same age as us. I could never imagine them being goofy like this." He kept chuckling, but Ruby stopped in her tracks as Jaune walked by. He went a few steps before realizing she wasn't keeping up, then turned to look at her. "Uhh... everything ok?"
"Wait... You thought I was the same age as you guys?" Jaune noticed Ruby was blushing slightly as she said this. "You mean, nobody told you?!" She raised her voice slightly, looking slackjawed at Jaune.
Jaune just stared at her. "Uh... told me what?"
Ruby held her hands together in front of her, playing with her fingertips shyly as she walked in a small circle. "Well..." she fidgeted a bit, "I was moved ahead to Beacon." She stopped walking and fidgeting. "By... almost two whole years."
There was a deafening silence that followed, and it was Jaune's turn to be slack-jawed. Ruby looked at Jaune. Jane looked at Ruby. A cricket started singing the song of its people somewhere in the distance.
Wow, Jaune, he thought to himself, you couldn't even get in here on your own merits... and here she is getting in two years early. Still, no reason to be sour about it.
"That's..." he looked down at her. "That's SO cool! You must be pretty freaking awesome to have made it here so soon!" He held out his hands for a high five. Ruby enthusiastically gave one, but may have had to hop to do so. Slightly.
Thou art I...
At the clapping sound of Ruby and Jaune high-fiving, a familiar voice returned to Jaune's head.
And I am thou...
Thou hast established a new bond...
It gives a new verse to thy story...
Thou shalt be blessed with Personas of the Magician Arcana...
Ruby and Jaune continued the rest of the way to the dorm.
"I'm glad you don't think I'm weird, Jaune." Ruby chimed idly. "It's been a hard adjustment, even with the cool Persona stuff occupying my time." Ruby swung the door wide and the two walked inside, with Jaune smiling to himself.
"Y-yeah! Just glad to have met you, Ruby." He smiled at her awkwardly, and she beamed back.
Once they were in the dorm, they parted ways to finish up what schoolwork they had, but Ruby agreed she would talk to Weiss and Pyrrha about exploring Muspell as soon as possible. As Jaune cracked open his books and began to study up for his History class, he wondered if he would be considered a useful member to the team after all...
"Absolutely not."
Weiss was standing, staring down Ruby on the bottom floor of the dorms. Pyrrha was seated on the couch nearby, with Jaune on the chair beside it. Pyrrha had been studying before the question was popped, while Jaune just hoped that being nearby would increase his chances of joining the squad.
"But-" Ruby began to say.
"I don't care." Weiss exclaimed, before Ruby could even finish her sentence. "When Qrow and Yang left, they put me in charge. Not you." She pointed accusingly at Ruby. "And I, for one, don't quite believe this tall tale about mystic classrooms and multiple Personas." She glanced sidelong at Jaune, who felt a chill run down his spine at her icy cold stare.
"I know it's hard to believe, but-"
"And furthermore," Weiss continued, ignoring that Ruby had even spoken, "even if he can give us an additional Persona, how is he going to defend himself? As long as I have to use my Persona to support, it's just you and Pyrrha on the front lines." She sighed, looking at Pyrrha. "Could I get some support here?"
Pyrrha looked at Jaune, then Ruby, then finally Weiss. She slowly closed her book and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. She crossed her hands in her lap, gesticulating lightly as she spoke. "I think it's a grand idea."
Everyone stared at her. Hard.
"Well, consider it from both sides." Pyrrha said, calmly. "If Jaune has in fact given me an additional Persona, then I would like to find out how to utilize this ability post-haste." She turned to Jaune with a smile before returning to Weiss. "Also, should this just be hallucinations from his time in the Grimm Hour, then the worst-case scenario is a walk to Muspell for minor exploration, which we were tasked with by the Supervisor before he left anyway."
"Woohoo! Pyrrha's down for team Power!" Jaune thrust his fists into the air. Weiss, Pyrrha, and even Ruby stared at him with judgment in their faces. Jaune felt rather betrayed by Ruby in that moment as he put his hands back down. "Uh.. sorry."
Pyrrha cleared her throat. "Furthermore, I think it would be best for Jaune to see what it is that we do. Perhaps it will help him awaken his own Persona." She looked up at Weiss, who was staring at her incredulously. Weiss slowly regained her composure and took a deep breath.
"I seem to be the only one here who hasn't lost my mind." Weiss said calmly. "However, as the one in charge here, I get to decide whether we go or not. And my final answer is no." Weiss flipped her hair and turned on her heel, stepping up the stairs. The three of them watched her disappear onto the second story and heard her door open and shut - not quite with a slam, but definitely with more force than was strictly necessary.
Ruby looked defeated, Jaune looked hopeless, and Pyrrha simply reached infront of herself and grabbed her book. She cracked it open and returned to jotting notes. Ruby looked down at Jaune, giving him a shrug and a half-smile.
"Well, we tried. Sorry Jaune."
"It's fine, Ruby. I'm just glad you stood up for me. You too, Pyrrha." Jaune gave them both a smile, and Pyrrha continued to write, not looking up from her textbook. "You uh... ok there, Pyrrha?" She seemingly ignored the two of them, writing very quickly. A few moments passed, then she closed her book with a thud and placed it back on the coffee table, placing her notes on top.
"My apologies, that was one of the things I needed to finish that before we could go to Muspell." She said calmly, standing up and checking herself for her belongings. "We should rest and grab our things, meeting back here in a couple of hours. If we leave quietly, Weiss will be none the wiser."
Jaune and Ruby both gaped at her.
"W-wait. Is it ok for us to do this without Weiss?" Ruby was looking around nervously as she said it, as though Weiss could pop out around any corner and terrify her at a moment's notice.
"Certainly." Pyrrha said, calmly. "What Weiss doesn't know won't hurt her."
Jaune and Ruby both nodded. The three of them dispersed, finishing what needed to be finished. They quietly grabbed what things they could, and were back at the bottom of the stairs in a moment's notice. Pyrrha held up a single finger in front of her mouth. Ruby and Jaune did the same, then, one by one, proceeded to make their way out the door. As Jaune quietly closed the door behind him, he felt the excitement bubble in his chest as the Grimm Hour approached.