Chapter 6 – Punishment
Glynda
Sat inside of the detention room are Sun, Weiss, Jaune and Cardin, for they are the main perpetrators of the fight that occurred earlier at lunch. The small attack from that Beowulf Pack has really shown a bright light over how dangerous this situation really is, for a tiny brawl was enough to draw those Beowulves into the school and attack. It could have been so much worse, so...so...much worse. Sun has his head held low, because he knows that he is really in trouble for starting a fight with Jaymes in the first place, whereas Jaymes is in another detention office.
Glynda bursts in, the door swinging right open and they have never seen her this angry before, the angriest they have seen her before now is when Ruby and Nora pranked her with an ice bucket over her door. That was when they almost lost her and she threatened to send them to another dimension as a punishment for that. Glynda's face is steaming red as she approaches them like a pissed off bull in a china shop, ready to unleash her anger. "What the hell were you thinking, Mr Wukong?" Glynda thunderously exclaims, slapping her notebook down onto the metal desk at his fingers.
He retracts his fingers swiftly as a reaction, his eyes wide and heart pounding, just as the others are as well. Cardin looks up at her with his hands held together and his mind dancing over the many possibilities of how this conversation might pan out.
We could get expelled...
Or she could let us off the leash?
Community Service?
Or gods help us...what if the police come after us for this little incident? We nearly triggered Battle of Beacon 2.
Sun sighs with shaky breath, and he looks up at the Standing Headmistress of the Academy of Beacon. "I'm sorry, I really am! But he was talking shit about Pyrrha! Our friend, how could I stand by and let him do that to her?" Sun questions, still standing by his selfless case, but she shakes her head.
"Sorry isn't gonna cut it this time Sun." Glynda gravely informs him with stern green eyes staring through her crooked sunglasses. "Have any of you even checked your scrolls today?" She asks them all, so Weiss immediately pulls her one out and she opens it, met with an unexpected update.
Cross Continental Transmit Service is operational
"The C.C.T Tower is back online?" Weiss asks her.
"Yes, and it was online when this fight happened, the cameras recorded all of it. And the Black Gallows saw it." She reveals and the name sends a shiver down their spines of real fear that crackles across their bodies. They all know of the Black Gallows, every Huntsman and Huntress, damn near every person has heard of the Outfit and the mysterious Black Ops Operations that they run.
"W-What?" Weiss fearfully asks with widened blue eyes.
"They have informed me that they have sent the Storm Guard and the Atlesian Special Forces division to Beacon at this very moment. They are on their way to examine the situation...and decide what your fates will be." Glynda tells them, sounding very hurt when she actually says it too. She clearly does not want any of them to be taken away by the Black Gallows and the Storm Guard that runs it...but this is beyond her control.
Weiss sits there and when she hears that the Special Forces are also on their way...a slither of hope hits her and she gasps. "Winter..." Weiss whispers to herself, perhaps she could help them or at least soften their punishment for what happened here.
But if she knows Winter...then she will be quite angry with what transpired here.
"Can't you help us? You know why we did it!" Jaune begs desperately, hoping that they will not be taken away.
"I'm afraid the real danger surrounds Sun Wukong and Jaymes Ickford, for they are the ones that were fighting. However the three of you are all still viable targets to them – I cannot protect you from them. This is beyond my jurisdiction." Glynda explains to them all as she stands before every single one of them, and Sun falls forward and buries his head in his hands.
What have I done? I haven't even gotten the chance to tell Blake how I feel...I can't be taken away by the Black Gallows...
"What do you mean this is beyond your jurisdiction? You are standing as the Headmistress! Tell them to leave us alone and forget about this." Cardin defends, desperately trying to help his friends around him.
"Do you really think that Ozpin had his hands on all the buttons? The Black Gallows have more power than you realise, they have eyes everywhere and have been able to take down entire governments in the past. What makes you think I can keep them from coming here? I'm afraid the only thing you and Jaymes can hope for is that they will be merciful." Glynda explains and the situation just seems to get worse and worse for them.
The Black Gallows is so mysterious that nobody really knows where they are based, they have hundreds of facilities across Remnant so then they can get there as quickly as possible...meaning they could get here today. But their headquarters is unknown, even to some of the most powerful people in the world – even kings have people with more power than they do. The ones that whisper into their ears to control the way things go and prevent any further destruction and wars beginning.
Yet many believe that they have even started a few wars in the past to get their way.
Either way, they have taken hundreds of thousands of people away from the eye. Some people are criminals and deserve to be taken away, others have found things out that they shouldn't have and are locked away or killed. The world told a story of what happened to them, fairy tales to keep them from staying awake at night. And there are countless others that vanish for unexplained reasons, or are Huntsmen that go rogue.
Only to either turn up dead from mysterious causes or vanish from the map altogether.
But it all points towards them – the Black Gallows.
"We...we can't just let the Black Gallows take Sun away!" Jaune argues as he stands up, but then a pulse of purple energy forces him back down into his chair, nearly knocking him over. Glynda glares at him with gritted teeth.
"And what of Jaymes Ickford? Do you not care?" She scoffs with disgust. "I thought you were better than that."
"The asshole has been feeding into Pyrrha's depression – I could care less about what happens to that prick." Jaune snarls, but Glynda just shakes her head with disappointment on her face as she stands at the end of the table.
"You know – of all people – I would have expected you would at least understand that things are not as black and white as people like to believe." Glynda states with a sigh, for she knows that there is more to this student, reasons behind his actions that they do not understand. Because he looks very unstable, but before she leaves, she stops and looks back at them. "Did you even know that his cousin was killed in front of him by the Grimm?"
They all stare at her silently.
"Yeah...that's what I thought."
She slams the door shut behind them and walks away, leaving them to ponder on that statement that she said. Jaune sits there with guilt starting to form in his eyes, he was so focused on Pyrrha that he never even took the time to wonder why Jaymes does all of this. Glynda leaves the students behind with Port and Oobleck watching them, for they still have fifteen minutes left of detention time before they are even allowed out.
As she walks out, she finds the others sat outside, talking with each other and she sighs, walking towards the door that Jaymes is currently sat inside of. Peony, the only one here that is not a friend to Jaune, Weiss, Cardin or Sun stands up and she stops Glynda, looking at her desperately. "Please...please do not send him home, Professor." She frantically begs her with wide eyes as she clasps her hands together in the pleading position.
"I cannot promise that Peony – the Black Gallows are on their way to decide." Glynda states, but Peony pushes her hand against the door, getting the attention of the others from the slam. Ruby stares at Peony as she whispers to Glynda.
"He cannot go home...he just can't." Peony repeats with serious looking eyes, no longer pleading her to help. Glynda immediately catches onto the way that she says that, and now her curiosity has been piqued.
"Peony, what are you getting at?" Glynda asks her as she stares straight at the young woman, worried about whatever she is trying to say. Peony stammers, trying to answer but something holds her back, until suddenly Russel stands up with angered eyes and clenched fists. Glynda and Peony both glare at Russel as he stands there.
"Are you serious? You're seriously defending that little prick?" Russel yells with disgust in his voice like he has just eaten something so foul.
"Russel – sit down." Glynda sternly demands with a cold voice and her eyes staring straight into his.
"He has been bullying Pyrrha! Is this really how you treat bullies?" Russel scoffs, getting a stern response from Peony.
"You're one to talk." Peony reminds as she stares straight into his eyes.
"Oh yeah? You wanna talk? Why don't you just protect your asshole boyfriend some more?" Russel challenges as he walks towards Peony, but Glynda presses her hand to his chest and pushes him away from her.
"I said – stop." Glynda slowly speaks again, her anger at their attitude building and building.
"I get it, we were bullies once. But I regret those weeks we made Jaune's life hell! Made Velvet life hell! Because we were punished! Why isn't he?" Russel yells, and then Nora stands up too, joining in the argument towards Glynda. Pyrrha sits there with concerned eyes, hating how so much of this surrounds her.
"Yeah! She's our friend and you're taking the side of the bully?" Nora shouts alongside them, more of them all begin to join in. Glynda grits her teeth and she lets out a monstrous yell of fury, so powerful it is like she cannot even control her own emotions.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" She explodes, blasting a powerful pulse of purple aura across them excluding Peony which knocks them all onto the floor. In the distance some of the Grimm turn their heads as they sense the negative emotions from that building, growling and licking their lips as they taste it like blood. But it is not enough for them to attack yet, they are waiting for the right moment.
Glynda cools off, her eyes glaring at them and her teeth gritted together with so much anger towards them. "I will not have this behaviour in my school – I understand your anger towards Jaymes but things are not as they seem. You all have been gunning for him after that one outburst of his – but I can tell there is more to it than him being a trouble maker." Glynda explains to them all, sounding so ashamed of every single one of them.
Ruby looks at Glynda with afraid silver eyes. "Get out – all of you. I am going to contact any family members you have to sort this situation out. But I want all of you to stay away from Jaymes – have I made myself clear?" Glynda questions with her narrowed eyes glaring at all of them. Russel scoffs as he shakes his head, turning and walking away from Glynda, shoving the doors open, his team following him out the door.
Slowly they all leave, one by one, and this time they realise that they have been the ones acting out of line. Yes Jaymes' views on Pyrrha are not great but they are understandable – he lost his cousin because of the attack that followed what she did to Penny. From his eyes...that looks like it is all her fault.
Glynda sighs when Ruby leaves the lobby and walks outside, and the Headmistress turns to Peony, now that they can actually talk about what she was hinting at. "Now...Peony...what do you mean about him not going home?" Glynda asks her, Peony looks through the glass in the door slit to see Jaymes sitting there, tapping away and looking worse and worse, even though he has taken his Clozapine.
Peony looks right to Glynda. "I think maybe...you should ask him." Peony states, even though she was going to say for him.
"I don't think he will." Glynda states, remembering how short their last conversation was.
"He will – he heard what you just did for him. He knows he can trust you." Peony assures with a small smile, turning and walking away from Glynda.
She may not be his girlfriend, but she might as well be – she has always looked out for him.
Glynda sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.
This situation is not getting any better.
Jaymes
He taps his fingers against the cold metal table, finding himself trapped back inside the same room again. It feels like he was here literally a few minutes ago, when it was only a day. He keeps tapping that little tune away to himself, until the door opens up and Glynda enters the room. She holds her clipboard in her hands as she looks at the young man, and he looks at her with nervous violet eyes.
His face drops down, staring at his own reflection again, feeling the whispers in his own head, because he did hear the confrontation outside.
I'm in danger...
They're gonna hurt me...
Try to kill me.
Glynda is much calmer towards Jaymes this time, for the first time she was more on the side of Pyrrha and Jaune. However this time their behaviour was out of order, for they did start this fight on him – they may have had their reasons but it was stupid and actually quite selfish. She sits down at the end of the table where he has his elbow propped on and his hand holding his head as he sits there, tapping his other hand against the steel table. "I was hoping we could talk – about what happened." Glynda requests, and Jaymes looks at her with confused eyes, because Peony is right.
He did hear Glynda defending him outside.
But he is still quite a cagey person when it comes down to his personal feelings, he does not tend to show much emotion at all. Apart from either aggression or misery – but rarely any signs of happiness or joy, just negativity. "About what? My arrest?" He grumbles with a sigh, for he heard that as well.
"How much did you hear outside?" She asks him, and she notices him start to scratch his forearm pretty viciously after taking his elbow off the table and lifting his head up. The grating scratches are louder than normal, like it is some kind of pain inducing method for him. A pretty worrisome sign of some kind of depression perhaps?
"The Storm Guard are coming to take me away?" He asks her with a fearful voice, but Glynda shakes her head.
"That has not been decided yet – emotions are running high at the moment, and it seems that you have formed a bit of a rivalry with Pyrrha's friends. A rivalry I hope gets solved soon, I had hoped they would be better than that." She sighs as she stares at the door where they were stood, now only Peony is sat down waiting for Glynda to come out with Jaymes.
"I deserve it I guess – I just...can't..." He struggles to even speak, pressing his palms either side to his temples as he sits there, trying to speak but it is like there is an intense pain in his head.
"Jaymes? What is wrong – I have seen plenty of conditions in my life, I can help you." Glynda promises but he shakes his head vigorously.
"Nobody can help me – not even myself." He whispers to himself.
"You'd be surprised how having friends that back your corner can help you." Glynda assures with a smile, her thoughts actually going to the ones she was angriest at. "Take Pyrrha and her friends for example, or Blake Belladonna. They both had been struggling with socialising, whether it be by identity or by lack of trust. Yet when they let people understand them, they helped them improve." Glynda explains, thinking of Sun and Blake, along with Pyrrha and Jaune. At the end of the day those two boys did help the girls that they love get over their problems without really realising it.
Jaymes looks through his own eyes at Glynda, the tears of confusion smudging his view until he rubs them away. "Jaymes – have you been having troubles at home?" Glynda asks him as she clasps her hands together and she leans forward, looking right at his violet eyes. He stammers, lifting his head up to look at the Professor.
"Huh?" He asks her, worried eyes widening as he stares at her, for she acts so much calmer to him than she just was with the others. But that is simply because she knows something is wrong with Jaymes, something is acting as a catalyst for the way that he behaves, and Peony's comment is enough to give her that idea.
"Before I entered Peony asked me not to send you home, and before that you mentioned that your father and uncle are not...kind people." Glynda explains, remembering everything that he had told her in detail. He stammers, his mind beginning to frighten him more and more. He even looks over his shoulder, as if he expects to see his father and uncle stood behind him to deliver punishment.
"I...I asked her not to..." He stammers.
"Please don't be mad at her, she is afraid for your safety...and I think she may have good reason. But I can only know for certain if you tell me, Jaymes." She requests with a softly spoken and kind voice, her hands resting against the table as she looks over to him. Jaymes stops tapping his fingers, his lip quivering fearfully.
"Will...you won't tell anybody, will you?" He nervously asks her.
"Do you not want anybody to know?" Glynda inquires.
"No...They won't understand." He stammers.
"Okay – this conversation will be strictly confidential." Glynda promises, taking her glasses off as well as she gives him her undivided attention. Jaymes lets out an extremely shaky breath before beginning.
"I...there's a reason for the way I act...my coping mechanism you asked about? Well there is more to it than that, I take Clozapine for..." He stammers as he finds the words, hearing voices growing in his head constantly, even seeing the metal on the table shimmer like water for a second then. For some reason, a hand rises from the water and reaches out at him, and he gasps with fear, pulling his hands away but when he blinks it is gone. Glynda stares at the table but there is absolutely nothing there to frighten him, not even a small spider.
That's when she figures it out as he says it. "I suffer with Paranoid Schizophrenia." He reveals with a trembling and fragile voice, nearly breaking down when he just said the words. Glynda sits there with a surprised yet understanding look in her green eyes. Then she searches through her documents with confusion, straight onto his file and the area that would show where any medical conditions would be detailed.
Name: Jaymes Emeric Ickford
Age: 18
Born in: Vacuo
Moved to: Mistral and Haven Academy
Medical Notes: N/A
Nothing, nothing at all mentions the fact he suffers with Paranoid Schizophrenia. Confusion sets in immediately on Glynda after she takes her glasses and holds them over her eyes to read better, yet that is exactly what it says. She sets her glasses back down on the table and looks at him with confusion. "But...your file...we would have included this, Jaymes we have top of the line medications for this kind of thing." Glynda assures with a trusting voice.
"I know...there are a lot of factors at play – the first being I heard that all Huntsmen and Huntresses had to be sound of mind, using weapons and protecting people and all." He explains nervously to her, but Glynda shakes her head.
"That was before – when the Academies were not as well funded. However now things have changed, we now accept anybody as long as their scores in their Combat Academies were high enough. Jaymes we could have helped you instead of you having to worry about purchasing your own Clozapine." Glynda explains to him, starting to feel ashamed of herself for not even realising that one of their students was suffering and nobody even realised.
"Well...that wasn't the only reason..." He states, and Glynda leans forward across the table.
"What else is there, then?" She asks him.
He sighs, his hand shaking and he grabs his wrist to stop it, breathing out slowly to calm himself down. "It's...my father." He tells her with fearful eyes, just saying that makes him so scared that he thinks that his father is standing right behind him. He turns but there is nobody there.
"It's okay, Jaymes – it is just you and me." She promises with a smile.
He exhales, calming his palpitating heart down slowly. "What has your father got to do with all this?" She asks him softly and he looks at her.
"My father was not always a bad person – he used to be a Police Officer in Vacuo...I know weird right? A division was formed but not long after it all fell apart, so we moved to Mistral soon after and I joined Sanctum. My mother was with us but she was starting to pass away from Cancer around this time." He reveals, and Glynda's eyes sink with sadness.
"I'm very sorry." She apologises, but he shakes his head.
"Happened a long time ago – ancient history now." Jaymes assures, doesn't detract the truth that it has clearly affected both him and his father. "One day though – my father was with the Mistraalian Police Force and they were busting a Drug Ring. Apparently it all went fine, until the manufacturer of Mist detonated his dust supplies." He explains with teary eyes and Glynda looks at him with worried eyes. "My father survived but nearly every other officer was killed in the explosion, and he lost his legs in the process. We couldn't afford cybernetics for his legs with mom dying from Cancer – so he was discharged from the Force and was having to live with plastic legs that are a pain to move around in." He explains.
Glynda can already tell what he was about to say. "He became so angry that he could not find a way to take it out – and when mom died...he used me as the source after the walls were not enough." Jaymes reveals and Glynda closes her eyes sadly. "Some days he would come home furious...storm into my room and beat me bloody just so then he could take out his rage. And my Uncle? He didn't help – he always hated me, not sure why...but I think he and dad had always had some bad blood between each other. My Uncle feeds my father's worse side because he likes seeing him fall – and now that my cousin Forest is dead..."
He pauses, unable to go on with his tormented soul being stretched thin, but Glynda is smart enough to fill in the blanks. "You're scared to go home, because you're afraid your Uncle will kill you. Aren't you?" She asks him, and the scared young man sighs, nodding his head.
"Yeah..." He sniffles, rubbing his tears from his eyes as he sits there, explaining the truth to her, at a cost of his own soul being tormented by his terrible memories. "My father – he never believed I was suffering with Paranoid Schizophrenia, but I think it was more that he never wanted to believe it. I think deep down he still loves me...but my Uncle...Gods I want to kill him for what he has done to my father." Jaymes snarls with fury, clenching his hand into a fist. Purplish red lightning crackles across his hand, showing his semblance that he has.
"So your father faked the documents?" Glynda asks him.
"No – I did..." He states.
"But...why?" She asks him, and he sighs.
"When you have been living around a lie for so long, demanded to tell the same thing to others – it becomes easier to live in the lie." Jaymes explains with a sigh, his hand shaking. Glynda looks out the small slit in the door where the thick bullet proof glass protects their voices to see Peony sat there waiting.
"How did Peony learn about this? What about Forest and Rouge? Have you ever told either of them?" Glynda inquires.
"Rouge knows – she has always been quite close to me, and Peony is clever she figured it out on her own. Forest and I have been friends since we were kids, he hated his father so much...but now..." He stammers as he pictures the face of his cousin.
"It's okay – you don't need to say anymore...I understand now." She promises with a smile. "Your Clozapine, is it working?" She asks him.
He looks at her and he stammers. "I think so...it just...I think it's the stress, it may be forcing it back." He states.
Glynda does not pry further because it is clear that even he does not know – but that is not how it works when medication is taken. "Thank you, Jaymes...I think you are allowed to go now." She assures with a smile as she takes her glasses and puts them back on.
"You...you won't tell anyone will you?" Jaymes nervously asks her, and Glynda taps her nose with a smile, assuring him.
"I promise." She assures with a smile. Jaymes walks to the door and he approaches Peony who smiles as she puts her arm round him and walks away. Glynda stands there, until one last question is on her mind, an important one too. "Jaymes?" She calls and Jaymes turns to her. "Did you sign that petition?" She asks him.
And the answer is very important.
He shakes his head. "No – I only heard of that petition when he challenged me." Jaymes answers, and Glynda nods her head as she thinks.
"Thank you." She says to them. The two of them walk away/
Glynda closes the door softly and she sighs...
She knows when a student is lying and he most certainly was not – at least not about the petition. He told the truth about almost everything.
The Clozapine...something must be wrong with it, because his symptoms are clearly getting worse.
Jaune
Jaune sits at the table still with Weiss, Cardin and Sun as they wait to be released by Goodwitch. Cardin has his arms behind his head and his legs stretched out onto the table, whistling away as he waits. Whilst Sun looks afraid of the Black Gallows coming here after the fight he started with Jaymes, and Weiss taps away on her scroll.
Whereas Jaune cannot get the last thing Glynda said to him out his head.
He lost his cousin? I didn't even know that...
But...he signed that petition...
Jaune shakes his head, finding so much confusion rattling around in his head. "Guys – you saw that he signed that petition, right?" He asks them and he gets mixed reactions, Cardin seems to take his side whereas Sun and Weiss do not. Weiss glares at him with an annoyed expression whereas Sun just glances at him.
"Yeah, saw his name pop up." Cardin agrees, but Weiss immediately interjects with her side.
"Seriously? Why don't we just listen to Goodwitch and take her advice?" Weiss questions, and Jaune stares back.
"He has been causing Pyrrha so much grief, how the hell can I respect him for that?" Jaune questions then Sun scoffs.
"Oh I dunno, we nearly started a second attack?" Sun wonders but Jaune stubbornly shakes his head.
"Oh come on, that was all coincidence." Jaune dejects, trying to deny the fact that they are the ones causing the problems right now, unintentionally feeding into his Paranoid Schizophrenia.
"You know that is not true, Jaune. The fight we started caused a slither of panic, and that slither drew the Grimm in. Maybe we should just keep our distance from Ickford and his friends." Weiss explains with a sigh.
"Or maybe the asshole should be punished for abusing Pyrrha." Jaune argues.
Even Cardin is against him now, after hearing Weiss' statement. "Jaune...they might be right, I was on your side at first...but..." He sighs before pressing his hand to his head. The Arc Huntsman sighs, standing up from his chair and pacing around, until the door opens and Glynda enters the room.
"Nobody is to challenge Jaymes Ickford any further – do you understand me?" She questions with her green eyes staring to all four of them. Jaune stares at her but she sternly repeats herself. "Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"
"Yes." They all agree in unison.
"Yes what?"
"Yes Professor."
"Good, now go on. I need to prepare for the arrival of the Black Gallows – and hope I can soften the punishment." She sighs as she lets them all walk past her. Jaune keeps moving ahead but Glynda stops him with her voice. "And Jaune."
He stops and turns to her. "Do not let your affection for Miss Nikos cloud your judgement – nobody is simply good or bad in this world." Glynda reminds and Jaune sighs, nodding and walking away from her, following the others to the door that leads the way outside.
A few hours later...
With an eventful lunchtime and detention dealt with, Jaune finally returns back to his dorm room, along with Weiss, Cardin and Sun returning to their respective rooms. Or at least Sun and Weiss go to the same one where Ruby and Blake are waiting for them both to return with Neptune, Sage and Scarlet. Jaune opens the door to his dorm room and closes it behind him with an exhale of relief that it is over. She turns to see Pyrrha stepping up beside Jaune with a smile.
He tilts his head with a gentle grin. "What's up?" He chuckles lightly.
"Dooooo you like my wolf tail?" She flicks her long bushy red ponytail back and forth merely with the swing of her head. Jaune's eyes widen, acting as the puppeteer, pulling the strings of his rising grin.
"Yeah! Looks great, Pyr. Nice to see you getting back to your old self again, gods know we missed it." Jaune smiles softly, admiring her natural beauty only multiplied by the gorgeous makeup she has put on her face.
"Mmm, believe me, recovery is a long road. I'm making my way down it though...you?" She asks him lightly, and Jaune sighs.
"Yeah...same." He forces a smile, until they hear a knock on the door, getting their attention. Jaune looks at the door.
And it is a voice he has heard quite a lot today.
"Miss Nikos?" The voice of Glynda speaks, and Jaune looks at Pyrrha nervously. They have not really had the best day today, but Glynda no longer sounds as stern. Sounds more like she has calmed down. "I am not angry with any of you anymore – I would like to speak with you." Glynda states, Pyrrha looks up at Jaune and he nods.
She reaches her hand out and grabs onto the doorknob and opens it to see Glynda standing there with her hands behind her back. She looks at Jaune and she nods to him, and he nods back. "I apologise for the day you two have had, wish things could have turned out differently. But with the Black Gallows on their way things have made me...a bit stressed out." She apologises with a sigh.
"I understand, Professor." Pyrrha sweetly assures with a professional smile, and Jaune nods to her.
"Well – I did not only come here to apologise, I have actually come here to discuss something with you." Glynda states as she stands there. Pyrrha steps aside so then the Professor can enter their Dorm room, and with Nora and Ren currently helping with the reconstruction of the school, they have all the time in the world.
"Okay then...what would you like to discuss? I do hope it has nothing to do with Jaymes Ickford...I have heard enough about him for one day." She sighs as she rubs the back of her head awkwardly.
"No, no – do not worry it is not to do with that. I have already spoken with him, so if you all just keep your distance from him I hope that the Black Gallows will see this as a simple misunderstanding." Glynda assures with the nod of her head, that is if they do not decide to just take them away for their own mysterious purposes.
"Oh-O-Okay...so what is this about?" Pyrrha inquires.
"Well..." Glynda begins as she walks over to one of the chairs at the two tables that they have at either side of the door and she sits down. Pyrrha and Jaune both sit down next to each other on the foot of her bed. "It has been brought to my attention that after the Battle of Beacon – you no longer have a weapon." Glynda says to her.
Pyrrha jolts just at the mention of her weapons, and how she does miss them – even if she cannot even look at her armour properly. "Oh. Y-Yes Ma'am. I lost Milo and Akuou in the tower." Pyrrha glumly says with a sad look on her gentle face. "It's a shame, I adored those weapons...they..." A warm smile fills her being. "They used to be my mothers." She says, filled with so many happy memories of her mother – someone she has not seen in quite a while now.
She must be so worried, and so must her father – the question is for what reasons?
"Oh! Combat classes are starting up soon aren't they? I...I don't have anything to fight with." She stammers nervously.
"Well I'm sure you could challenge anything Port has to offer." Jaune chuckles, getting a playful slap on the knee from Pyrrha.
"Quiet you." She giggles, creating a warm smile on Glynda's face.
"Well..." Glynda takes the suitcase she has had in her hand the whole time – and they never even paid mind to it – and she rests it down on the floor at her legs. She unhooks the latches and opens it up, revealing the round golden shield inside surrounded by foam, along with the broken shards of Milo. She gasps, seeing what remains of her weapons. "The construction teams who have been slaving away day and night to get the C.C.T Tower restored recovered them from the battle." Glynda assures.
"Akuou! I...you...how?" She gasps with excitement, picking up the round Spartan Shield in her delicate smooth hands, a pair of hands Jaune stares at – admiring their perfectness. She runs her finger across the scrapes and bumps across its battered surface after her clash against Cinder inside of the tower. She rests the shield against her lap, looking at Jaune with an adorable smile.
"We managed to gather the shards of Milo as well – I'm afraid it did not fair very well." Glynda informs sadly, and Pyrrha stares at the remains of Milo tucked away inside of the foam insides of the suitcase she brought the herein.
"Hello Milo – you've looked better." She huffs.
"I'm fairly certain Adhara's Blacksmiths in Vale can fix your spear up. The school will cover the costs." Glynda says as she leans back in the chair she sits in.
"I...I cannot thank you enough professor, even after everything that has happened..."
"Pyrrha – please stop blaming yourself. I know I was angry today, but that does not change the fact that you are all my students – so you may as well be my children." Glynda kindly says to them all and Jaune smiles.
"Thank you, Professor." Jaune says, even after the argument that they had with each other – luckily it has all been forgiven already. "And sorry for getting mad at you."
"Please – I like a good argument." Glynda assures with a smile, it may not have seemed it at the time but it seems she still admires them.
"How can I repay you, Professor?" Pyrrha desperately asks with a smile as she looks at her. Goodwitch smiles softly and stands, walking around the table to sit on the lip of mahogany, hands in her lap as she almost maternally eyes Pyrrha. "You can smile like that, more often."
Pyrrha blushes and lowers the fragments in her hand back into the box, neatly putting them exactly where she found them. Mostly because it looks comfy in there. Jaune looks at both of them and he can easily tell that Glynda wishes to speak to Pyrrha on her own – and luckily he has a few ideas of what to pass the time doing. He picks up Crocea Mors and he smiles. "I'll leave you two alone." He assures with a smile and Pyrrha looks at him, returning the same smile.
"How have you been? I mean I can tell your friends are definitely looking out for you – but how are you coping? It has been a few days since it all ended." Glynda says to her, curious to see as she crosses her arms and raises a brow over the rim of her glasses. Pyrrha sucks her lip thoughtfully.
"I think I'm getting better. Jaune and all my friends have helped me tremendously. Thank you for the concern, I'm just tired Professor. Constantly..." She deflates, eying the shield still sat atop her lap.
"Mmm, I'm sure your tired of hearing people tell you it'll be okay. And that you shouldn't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders." Glynda says to her, and Pyrrha bobs her eyebrows in agreement, fiddling with her fingers and her wrists resting across her knees. "But it will make it worse...and you must let others take over for the time being. Give yourself a break, girl." Glynda suggests with a small laugh, for she still admires her courage to carry all of that on her shoulders.
Pyrrha looks up softly to the previously stern and angered well kept teacher and she sighs, letting a woebegone expression cloud her usually vivid green eyes. The teacher bends down to one knee and places a comforting hand on Pyrrha's, giving the pale fleshed teen a gentle squeeze, green fields meeting.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Nikos." She softly apologises, and getting a confused look from Pyrrha.
"Huh?" Pyrrha raises an eyebrow to the teacher. Glynda lets her lips unturn in a wry humourless smile.
"Whether Ironwood, Qrow or even Ozpin say otherwise, I know that we forced a horrible burden onto your shoulders. You should never have had to deal with all that." Glynda frowns to herself, and Pyrrha's eyes widen. Pyrrha bites her lip and her mind begins to race.
"I-It's okay."
"No it isn't, my dear. Being a Maiden is not a burden a young girl should ever have to bare. And...To throw all of that at you at such a stressful time in your life was not professional in the slightest. I am truly sorry for what happened."
Pyrrha however beams and sniffles, before wrapping her arms around the teacher and Glynda stiffens and her eyes widen behind her glasses from the loving hug. Pyrrha's warmth radiates through her, and she gives in, gingerly patting the teen's back, a small smile on her lips.
"I forgive you Professor." Pyrrha smiles, reeling out of the hug. Glynda smiles back and she stands, brushing off the creases in her skirt and clearing her throat.
"V-Very well. That's all I wanted to talk to you about, Miss Nikos. Remember to take your shield and your...umm..." She looks at the shrapnel in the case. "Spear?"
"Of course." Pyrrha giggles with a smile, still with her beloved shield on her lap and the remnants of her spear are picked up with her hands. She sets them inside the underside of the shield, using it like a bowl. She shivers at the weight on her hands and a flash of memories hits her like a truck, the arrow impacting the edge and fragmenting into embers, rolling around and to form anew on the other side, but she dodged that one before the end of their fight. The real nightmare is the one that Cinder manually stabbed into her leg.
One that she still has a bit of a limp from.
Pyrrha blinks and takes the shield and places it down beside her on the bed as she sits there.
"And Miss Nikos?"
"Yes Professor?"
"If you ever need to talk, talk in a way you cannot with your team, or with Jaune...my door is always open." Glynda promises kindly as she gives a small shrug. "I might not be a trained psychiatrist, but I've been a professor long enough to know how children tick."
"I..." Pyrrha huffs. "Thank you, I appreciate the support."
"Of course, now off you go. Have dinner and get to bed early." The stern teacher became systematic all too quickly but Pyrrha smiles to hear her go back to how they are used to. Pyrrha straightens and nods, picking up her bag of fragments she has collected and she heads out to the door.
Pyrrha
Several hours have passed in that time.
Pyrrha stores the bag of broken spear and her shield in her locker, dinner has been eaten and stored in her belly. People have shared gentle conversation until bedtime rose from the darkness, R.W.B declare "goodnight" and shut the door to Team S.S.S.N's room, whilst C.F.V.Y and C.R.D.N continue the search for any bodies for tonight. As Pyrrha decides to grab her weapons from her locker and store them in her room, she wants them to close the door first, and when they do she checks all the pieces of Milo are still in the bag.
At least that is what she tells herself.
The truth?
The truth is that she misses the feel of her shield and spear, their combined weight either on her back or grasped in her hands. Even the bad memories that they produce from the battle against Cinder Fall inside of Beacon Tower, she at least wants to try and at least face them head on.
What better way than with a Shield and Spear?
Nora lies on her stomach, humming a tune as she kicks her legs back and forth behind her, flicking through a magazine she found. With her chin propped in her palm, she flicks her eyes up to the Dorm's door opening. Red hair filed in, Nora beaming like sunshine.
"Hi Pyrrha!"
"Ah" Pyrrha startles with shock, stumbling into the room, her shield leaving her fingers to cartwheel across the room and bonk against the side of her bed. She looks over at Jaune with resting eyes and a neutral face. "Nora. Pleeeaase stop doing that." Pyrrha breathes heavily, hand over her heart.
"Oopsie. Oooh, hey what's in the bag?" Nora shuts her magazine with a clap and throws herself off her bed and onto her feet in blinding swiftness.
"Oh. Well...it's my Spear." She shakes the bag and they just hear the rattling. "Was my spear."
"Ah. Wait did Glynda give you that?" Nora points a sceptical finger at the bag then the face down shield. "For realsies?"
"The cleanup crews find them on the tower, that was nice of them." She smiles, setting the shield down against her nightstand, bag O' Spear plopping down on the bed by her armour.
"I'll say. Bet ya glad to have 'em back, huh?" Nora skips across the room, resting her chin on Pyrrha's cardigan shoulder, smiling and Pyrrha chuckles. Always able to lighten the mood no matter where she is.
"Actually, I am. I've missed training with them. Sure, I have to get Milo rebuilt, but Professor Goodwitch has already said that the school will cover the costs. I can afford it, but...still it's nice she cares." Pyrrha says to her.
"Of course she cares!" Nora gasps, playfully slapping her arm. "Mmm-hmm, Ren's making pancakes! Want some?" Nora jumps into the small space between Pyrrha and her bed, the Invincible Girl reels back from the sudden blurry mass of cyan and orange that filled her vision. "C'mon, you know ya do!"
"Pancakes sound lovely." Pyrrha hums, looking at her strewn armour. She worries her lip and her brows pinch, Nora catches onto the action.
"You okay?" The Valkyrie tenderly asks her. It was not very often that the softer, calmer and less hyperactive hamster side of Nora would appear. Jekyll breaking free from the mental Hyde that lives in her most of the time, but it is always there inside of her tiny frame. If anything, it is refreshing to have such a chipper and sometimes crazy element to the group, smiles and laughs seem to be massively contagious around her.
"Have you seen Jaune at all?"
Nora bites her lip, shrugging. "Yeah."
"Well, where is he?" Pyrrha takes the note one her pillow, smiling at his handwriting and giggling at the funny little P.S he out at the bottom.
Filthy animal?
She giggles at the funny little comment and sets it down. Nora's eyes flit out the window to the rooftop above C.R.D.L's room, where they are currently out of to collect the bodies. Pyrrha puts the note in her drawer and lets her brow curl in confusion. "Nora?"
"Training?"
A few minutes later...
"Alright Jaune, just like we practiced."
Pyrrha stops herself from stepping any further, her hand pressing to the cool and lacquered texture of the double doors. She pauses and listens to the voice...her voice. A perplexed crease overcomes her features, before pressing her ear to the cold oak.
"Follow these instructions."
Pyrrha presses her ear deeper into the wood, muffling all but what she was trying to focus on, her pulse drumming a rhythm in the foreground of her mind. The cherry haired girl hears a long drawn out scraping of metal, followed by a swish as a sharp blade swings gently, cutting through the air. She knows the sounds that blades make, she'd spent her whole life around them, studying them because he father demanded she did. She swallows thickly, hands pressing deeper into the now hot and clammy oak.
"Shield up..."
Pyrrha's eyes widen, pupils constricting as a swallowed gasp squeezes out of her throat, like a clenching fist around a house. That is definitely her voice...
Keep your grip tight..."
Jaune watches the training video she made for him...before it all came crashing down. Before the Fall Maiden, before Penny and Mercury and Yang...before the Battle of Beacon...
...Before Cinder.
"Don't forget to keep your front foot forward."
Pyrrha lightly chuckles under her breath, still trying to deeply concentrate on the sounds he was making. From shuffling boots on shelling concrete to creaking leather gloves. She knows he always forgets that one, curiosity gets the better of her, a shiver running down her spine as she gingerly creaks the door open enough to peer round it. Cold air licking an icy path down her exposed cheek.
She could see him, stood in his armour sword in one hand, shield raised in the other and his stance finally perfect. Balanced on the coping stone with the backdrop of the new rebuilt C.C.T Tower, glowing green again and still with scaffolding covering most of the school and areas of the city. And leant there, is his scroll, the screen emitting a gentle blue hue, matching the sapphire in his reflecting eyes.
"Ready? Go."
With a battle cry of cracking vocal cords, Jaune lunges forward in a surely death inducing stabbing motion. A gust of wind irradiates from the steel top of Crocea Mors' shimmering blade, the lunar light glimmers across its contours.
"Again!"
Jaune reels the sword back in, throwing the almost four foot long blade over his shoulder to pool momentum in his shoulder and elbow. His voice hounds in, before erupting in a yell on the outward swing, slashing with all his might, staggering slightly as the blade's weight tugs his succumbing body.
Bless him, he must have been out here for a whole by now.
"And again."
Jaune pants but yells yet again as he turns around to swing downward in a slash that would without a doubt cleave flesh and shatter bone. He heavily pants, lactic acid pumping course through his body. Pyrrha's eyes sting at how hard he'd been training, even when she must have been unconscious, and maybe even after that. Because he promised a long time ago to never give up, to keep trying even when she was not there. He has taken everything she has told him truly to heart, to better himself and all to help those around him. He is the best leader she could ever ask for, her eyes welling with compassion and adoration for the young man. She pulls her hand back behind the door, eying her feet and chewing her lip.
"Okay...now assuming you aren't cheating..." Pyrrha's very own training video laughs, but she does not. "...We can take a break."
Pyrrha behind the door was not laughing, by the gods she has missed this so much, missed him and everything that they had together. She could not look at her armour without feeling horrible flashes of violence, of impending death and annihilation upon the school. Staring at Cinder Fall and accepting her impending death, a death that never arrived thanks to Ruby unleashing her Silver Eyes on the Fall Maiden. So much guilt across Pyrrha continues to flow, about Penny and how she shoved Jaune away, only to live and suffer the consequences.
But what nobody else ever seems to realise is that the pain she feels moreover is the idea of staring into the abyss of the end itself, embracing it and accepting that her tale ends there. Only for the arrow from that darkness to miss her and give her a second chance, a chance she felt she never deserved after what she had done.
Pyrrha flits her eyes back up and peers round the door once more as Jaune stands up tall with pain in his azure eyes, watching would could have been the last thing he had left of her if she never returned.
"I know this can be frustrating...and it can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount...but...I want you to know that I am proud of you..."
Pyrrha bites her lip and closes her eyes, steeling herself to just open them enough to see him. See the way he stares at her in the recording, the way it pains him so much. Knowing that this video was surely made after she had decided to become the fall Maiden, and definitely at least twenty four hours after her battle against Cinder.
He stands there, so much pain in him, just like her, and yet here he stands, still training. Wearing his heavy metal armour, swinging his heavy sword, fighting through the negative emotions that torment him, to fulfil that promise he made.
"I've never met someone so determined to better themselves. You've grown so much since we started training..."
Pyrrha stands up with a new found determination and walks away, back to her dorm with a fire burning her green eyes. Back on the Balcony though, Jaune stares at the video screen of Pyrrha speaking directly to him in a way he hadn't since before it all fell. Before their relationship fractured and scattered like ashes in the wind. He knows those pieces are still in reach somewhere, he just needs to man up and find them, piece the complicated puzzle of their love back together. His sapphire pearls flit back to the screen, sword in one hand, and shield heavy in the other.
"And I know this is just the beginning."
He stands exactly where she filmed this recording for him, and it looks almost the same as it did then, only with scaffolding covering the damaged buildings.
"Jaune..."
She says and his eyes close, biting his lip at the soft regal tones saying his name, taking what he always thought was dull listless and making sound like forbidden fruits. Oh how he feels their relationship become exactly that – Forbidden.
"I...I..."
Very little does Pyrrha ever stutter, very rarely did something overcome the regal and self sure young woman. But that is exactly that, she has never been self assured, she is insecure to her deepest core. Pyrrha Nikos – the Invincible Girl – was self assured because there was an image pandered to an audience held grater. But Pyrrha herself? His gentle innocent Pyrrha who sleeps with her socks on at night because she has bad blood circulation to them, his Pyrrha who slept with the light on till she was eight because she was scared of the moon.
His Pyrrha whom fumbled her words when in his presence because he was too blind till too late to see that she loves him.
His Pyrrha is just a girl – a girl who desperately needs his help.
"I want you to know, that I'm just happy to be a part of your life."
On the screen, her gloved hands come up to cup over her heart, an adoring smile on her face as ever. He heavily sighs, resting his sword wielding knuckles on his brow, as he realises that this was what she assumed may well be her last chance to convey her feelings towards him. She never thought she'd have the courage to kiss him in what she assumed were her final moments.
"I'll always be here for you Jaune." She smiles before the video ends, before he rewinds his back to the start again with the small control in his gauntlet he wears. It pauses at the start, and he steps forward and bends down, clinking the blade as it lies low on concrete, freeing his hand to play it again.
The glow it emitted vanishes and leaves his face dark and eyes cloudy, staring at his reflection in the glass.
"So umm...partner?"
Jaune's eyes widen to hear her voice and he turns around, bulging further and his sorrow curved lips upended into beaming smiles. Before him stands Pyrrha, clad in her armoured attire once more, red sash billowing in the gentle night breeze. Circlet proudly donned atop her head and she smiles. Akuou in one hand and a training sword in the other.
"Doooo you want a training video, or the real thing?" She playfully smirks, lifting up her shield and raising the grey training blade.
Jaune grins eagerly to see the woman he has grown to love back again.
Now?
Now the healing has begun.
Glynda
Now that Ozpin's Office has been rebuilt with a new desk and everything just as he left it, she stands at the observatory, pacing back and forth as she has her scroll to her ear. "Yes? Thank you Winter – they will need as much support as they can against the Black Gallows." Glynda says with relief in her voice.
Winter hangs up and Glynda lowers her arm with a heavy sigh. She searches through her scroll for others. "Neptune Vasillias...what family members do you have?" Glynda mutters.
She comes across the names of his parents:
Roland Vasillias and Lavinia Vasillias
She calls their number, but waits for ages, either because they are not present...or do not wish to pick up their scroll.
So she keeps searching...
Until a familiar name comes to mind.
"Eryka Vasillias...I hope you're still out there, you're little brother needs you." Glynda whispers, dialling her number into the scroll and waiting for her to respond.
The other end picks up.
"Hey, what's up?" The female voice speaks. "Who's this, not trying to sell me anything are ya?"
"Eryka?" Glynda speaks. "This is Professor Goodwitch from Beacon Academy."
"Goodwitch? I recognise that name, you a teacher? Homework isn't due is it?" Eryka playfully and sarcastically wonders and it makes Glynda chuckle.
"Afraid not – we have a situation here...have you heard of what happened at Beacon?" Glynda inquires.
Eryka's persona suddenly shifts from playful banter to a serious tone of voice.
"What happened? The Mountains have no signal, what happened?" She fearfully asks, and Glynda sighs.
"There was an attack – don't worry we've secured the situation for now but they are near. I have been calling relatives to come by if they can...your brother needs you...can you come by?" Glynda inquires, and then Eryka responds swiftly.
"On my way." Eryka assures, before hanging up immediately.
Glynda sighs.
"Just like her brother."
Author Note - Sorry for the wait, last week was a pain for writing. But hey I'm back! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, wanted to do some big development on Jaymes, I want people to understand his side so hopefully you do now. And of course - Eryka's had some big changes in her character since the original concept (David's idea not mine, don't kill me). He's had new ideas since leaving the original and now we can finally see it.
Next chapter will be cool, I promise you that.
(Bullshit Marketing Crap here) If you don't know my original story Ebonfall is actually up on Wattpad now, so if you like my style of writing then please check it out! Any feedback is greatly appreciated, if not then I won't be mad. :)
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Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Falconess
- Matt