Beta: Coeur Al'Aran

Auburn

Truth


"Finally starting to wake up?" Jaune's eyes weren't even open yet, but that didn't stop Charlotte from somehow knowing that he was regaining consciousness.

He had been under the impression she would only materialise if he called for her but apparently their connection was strong enough now for her to maintain form even when he was about to die of blood loss.

That is...was he still dying from blood loss? How long had he even been out that she would use the word "finally"?

"I actually don't know how much time has passed either." There she went reading his mind again, or his memories, or however it was she did that. "I only came around a second ago myself. It would appear I am tied rather closely to your mental condition. That's rather troublesome. Although maybe I shouldn't complain. I've died once already after all. I never imagined I would ever wake up to see this world after that."

"You're awfully talkative." His voice was sore and it strained his throat just to utter those words. Still, it needed to be said. He supposed he couldn't blame her for being so mouthy though. She didn't exactly have anyone else to talk to.

"Excuse me?" Uh oh.

That hadn't been Charlotte's voice that responded that time. Rather...it sounded like an irritated Weiss. His eyes shot open to see the Heiress seated on a chair just next to him. Predictably, he was on an infirmary bed. Charlotte was standing just in front of him at the foot of the bed, glancing around in wonder at all the technology she had never seen before.

"...Sorry." Jaune offered Weiss a quiet apology as he attempted to set himself upright. His muscles were sore and several bones made audible cracks from the movement. "I wasn't talking to you."

Weiss quirked an eyebrow as her scowl deepened. "Then who were you talking to?" She gestured around to what appeared to her to be an otherwise empty room. After all, she couldn't perceive Charlotte unless he linked to her.

Jaune gave a small smirk, unable to resist the urge to poke fun at her. "Aren't you supposed to be happy to see me finally awake?"

Weiss flicked her ponytail. "Hmph, as if. You've caused a lot of trouble for me this past week. I hope you know that."

"...Week?" Had he really been out for a full week?

"It's been eight days since you dragged the rest of us into that war zone." She clarified with a pointed stare. Man...she was really upset, had the fight been that close? He hoped there hadn't been any casualties because of his mess up. "Eight days I've had to wait to find out what is going on with our team because Ruby won't tell me anything! 'Just wait for Jaune to wake up' she keeps repeating. Meanwhile, Blake won't even so much as talk to me." Ah. Now he got it.

Things hadn't improved for the team since he went under. That made sense, he was the cause of all this discord after all. He was probably the only one able to fix it too. Ruby might have been able to but had she kept her word and waited for him to wake up to see what he would do. He was truly grateful for that...he owed Ruby so much right now he wasn't sure he would ever be able to repay her.

Still, some things came first. Such as assessing the full situation. "What happened after I passed out?" Weiss' face contorted in frustration for just a second before giving way to defeated exasperation.

"No one died if that's what you're asking." That was a relief. "After the five of you killed...whatever kind of Grimm that was, you fell off the Cerberus. Ruby caught you and was defending you with Sun and Neptune when we arrived. Penny then brought that giant winged beast down and things more or less wrapped up pretty quickly from there. The Grimm that had once been organised and relentless began to fall apart. Professor Yen gave you a blood transfusion on the field. Fortunately for you, Sun has the same blood type. Since then, Penny, Ruby, and myself have been rotating shifts to keep watch on you."

Jaune gripped his elbow. Sun had lost blood too during that whole fight...yet he still shared some with him. One more person he had to thank, along with Neptune and Penny. But there was one person Weiss hadn't mentioned yet. "...Blake?"

Weiss made a complicated expression. "She never even came out to fight." Her face then twisted in anger, as if just thinking about it made her mad. "I don't know what happened between the two of you, but frankly speaking her behaviour has been inexcusable! She won't talk to us, hasn't come to see you once, and-"

"Please don't be so mad at her-" Jaune cut her off. She snapped her mouth shut but he could still see the rage burning in her eyes. "-You have every right to be, Weiss. At all of us. The truth is though, I'm the one that has been leaving you guys out of the loop and that's what's caused this whole chain of events."

"That may be so, but running away from the rest of us like she's doing isn't fixing this." She was right of course. It was entirely possible Blake didn't even want to try and fix this anymore. He had isolated her the same way Adam had once done and Blake was handling that the only way she truly knew how. "Now I've told you what is going on, it's your turn."

He glanced at Charlotte out of the corner of his eye to see her nod. Of course this was coming eventually, he just wished it hadn't been right after he woke up. Blake was going to be upset to know she was the last to find out too. "There is one more thing I need you to do for me before that." Weiss narrowed her eyes but gave a silent nod for him to continue "Blake won't come see me on her own. So I need you to pass on a message to Penny for me. She'll know what to do from there." At least he hoped so.

"Fine, fine." Weiss threw her hands in the air. "Now can you tell me what has been going on?"

"I can't tell you anything, Weiss."

Her mouth twisted in a snarl but it almost immediately vanished as he held out his hand. Gingerly, she reached forward and took it. A golden glow connected them for a second as he activated Arc Link.

'However, I can show you.'


Blake drummed her fingers idly against the bleachers as she waited for combat practice to finally be over.

She just wanted to read her books in peace, was that too much to ask? Apparently so, because Professor Yen didn't tolerate it one bit and demanded that she pay attention to the fights instead. It wasn't like it mattered. Blake was never going to have to seriously fight one of these students so why did she have to learn how they fought?

Regardless, she didn't want her books confiscated, it cost valuable GKP to get them and her budget was becoming more tight since she started hunting Grimm by herself. Without having a team she wasn't able to wander very far from the tower and instead usually lured Grimm into the laser system to farm points that way. It wasn't very efficient but it kept her alive and fed.

Sun shuffled nervously next to her but wisely kept from saying anything. He had been adamant about convincing her to see Jaune for the first few days but had finally relented and instead just settled to giving awkward glances as he tried and failed to come up with some way to convince her.

Finally, the spar in the arena came to an end just as the murmuring of the crowd around her spiked to an unusual high. Blake's bow twitched as she tried to understand their sudden excitement. Even if she had barely been paying attention to the fight she had been aware enough to know nothing unusual had taken place.

She considered turning to Sun for a brief second to inquire about what had happened but her unasked question was almost immediately answered as someone stopped just in front of her. She looked up to see Penny standing over her, an uncharacteristically serious look in her eyes and hands placed on hips.

Penny being here shouldn't have been unusual. However, lately she skipped this class in order to watch Jaune in place of Ruby and Weiss as per some agreement Blake didn't bother to understand. So the fact that was she here now meant something changed.

"What?" Blake returned the gaze with a neutral one of her own. Didn't this girl have something better to do, like keeping an eye on Jaune for example?

"Jaune is awake." Penny stated matter-of-factly.

"What!?" Sun sprung to his feet and the crowd's volume went up an extra notch.

Blake shared none of their enthusiasm. "So?"

"He wants to talk to you." That was funny. He sure hadn't wanted to talk the last time she had seen him.

"He should have thought of that before he tried to kill himself again."

"You will not go see him no matter what?"

"I won't."

"..." Penny stared at her for another several moments but Blake didn't shirk in the slightest. Finally, the other girl broke eye contact and instead looked towards their Professor. "Aunty Yen! I wish to spar with Blake today."

Blake narrowed her eyes. What was this girl thinking? Did she think if they punched it out they could work out all their differences or something ridiculous like that? This wasn't some children's fantasy novel.

"Very well then." To Blake's chagrin, Yen's amplified voice agreed just like that. "Penny of Atlas and Blake Belladonna of Vale will report to the stage for unrestricted combat practice." She didn't have to put up with this. If she didn't want to fight Penny she could just leave...and get docked a percentage of her GKP. She didn't make enough to take that kind of hit. So with great reluctance she got to her feet.

"Fine." The word came out almost as a sigh of resignation. "If you want to fight me so badly then I'll go along with it. If you think it'll somehow convince me to talk to Jaune then you're sorely mistaken."

"I propose a wager." As usual, Penny had no sense of the flow of conversation. "If I beat you without losing any Aura, then you go see Jaune."

Blake snorted. "You may underestimate the rest of us because the only one you ever have to spar against is him, but I won't be ejected from the ring in one shot that easily."

"So then you accept?" This frickin girl…

"That's not what I said."

"If you win, I will grant any favour you want." As if this girl knew anything about what she wanted. "I can even fly you away from Lambent. I have my own personal bullhead after all."

"..." Blake stopped hard and finally whirled on Penny. What exactly was she offering? A way to get out of here just like that? Return her to civilization scot free? "Why...would you think I want that?"

"It is obvious that you do not wish to be here anymore." Penny stated bluntly. "If you want out so badly I would be happy to personally see that happen. Jaune has no need for a partner that does not care for him nor has any interest in continuing on the path she started. If you do not wish to be a Huntress than I will help you quit."

"I never said anything about quitting my career as a Huntress." She practically hissed.

"Really?" Penny tilted her head in what seemed like genuine surprise. "Your actions say differently. Huntresses help others. This past week you have only helped yourself and during that Code Red you hid in your room and waited for it to end."

Blake had heard enough. On enraged instinct alone she grabbed the handle of Gambol Shroud. This girl kept talking like she knew exactly what was going through her head when she didn't have even the slightest clue.

"Easy there, ladies." Yen placed herself in between the two of them, the mechanical arms from her backpack hoisting her to their eye level. "Might I ask that we continue this inside the ring?"

"That is fine with me." Penny shrugged uncaringly and hopped into the ring. Blake's hands were clenched so tightly together her knuckles were turning white.

Why? Why was it that everything this girl said made her so angry? She was always in check of her emotions...almost always. It had been easier since she quit talking to Jaune, since she quit talking to any of them. She never said anything unnecessary and nothing any of them said in an effort to get her to chat got under her skin. At least not until now. In just one conversation Penny had made her so angry she was seeing red.

"Are you going to stand there and glare at her all day, or are you going to try and prove Penny wrong, Miss Belladonna?" Yen was giving her one of those annoying knowing smirks.

"...I have nothing to prove." Blake retorted coldly as she walked past the short fox Faunus. She just had to calm down. Take deep breaths and think rationally. The fact that she was angry wasn't from something as ridiculous as Penny being right. Because she wasn't. And Blake didn't need to beat her in a fight to show that.

"Don't you?" She ignored Yen's taunting call and stepped into the ring before taking her place opposite of Penny.

"Let's just get this over with." She pulled Gambol Shroud out and readied it in front of herself. Yen had said unrestricted combat which meant none of the usual handicaps placed on them applied. She was free to go all out, however that meant Penny was too.

"Since this is a special match, I guess it's an appropriate time for me to use this." Yen stayed outside of the ring instead of in it as usual as she tapped at her Scroll. The edges of the arena hissed open as a clear, glasslike plate began to rise up from it. The glass bent inwards to entrap the two of them in a dome.

"You cannot run away in here." Penny's backpack opened and ten folded swords flew out and formed a ring behind her. Blake merely bristled, unable to believe she could've gotten even angrier than what she already was.

She would end this fast and then go back to her book.

"Let the match between Penny of Atlas and Blake Belladonna of Vale...begin."

Blake didn't so much as hesitate. The moment the last syllable had left Yen's mouth she already had the katana of Gambol Shroud unsheathed. That katana shifted into a gun and she unleashed a spray of bullets that Penny couldn't possibly dodge.

The problem with that was, Penny didn't even try to dodge. In fact, her body barely moved at all. The only part of her that so much as twitched were her fingers as the swords sprung to life, each of them swinging with perfect precision to block the Dust bullets. She made the whole thing seem effortless, like it wasn't some impossible feat despite the fact that no one else their age could have possibly pulled off the exact same stunt.

"I take it this means you have accepted my bet?" And in the middle of it she even found time to talk.

Gambol Shroud mecha-shifted once more back into a katana. "I never agreed to anything." She vanished in a blur, leaving behind a clone.

"Is that so?" Blake appeared right behind Penny, swinging the cleaver-sheath part of her weapon. Predictably, Penny had seen through the feint and one of her swords was there to intercept. They met with a loud clang. "If that is the case than you are trying unnecessarily hard to drop my Aura for someone that has no interest in even fighting."

"Just shut up!" Blake barely dodged two more of Penny's swords as they fired at her like rockets. She vanished again and appeared above Penny's head. The katana down but yet another sword was in her path. As the others twirled and aimed at her, she left another clone behind.

Blake skid to a stop just left of Penny. This wasn't getting her anywhere. If melee attacks wouldn't work and neither were bullets she was just going to have to try something else. With a small heave, Blake whipped her katana right at Penny's head, the ribbon attaching her weapons unwinding as it whirled through the air.

For the first time since the fight started, Penny tilted her whole body. It was only the smallest of degrees but she bent out of the way to dodge the katana and allowed it to fly by. Two more of her swords turned systematically towards Blake and zeroed in on where she was standing. This time the Faunus-girl didn't attempt to dodge and deflected both swords to the side with her cleaver.

As Blake did that she pulled the remote trigger on her end of Gambol Shroud and the katana mecha-shifted back into its pistol form. It fired and flew at Penny from behind. There should have been no way she could see it coming. Yet as if she had eyes in the back of her head, more swords protected her and intercepted the flying pistol. It ricocheted off with a spark and Blake pulled the trigger again.

She twirled the elongated ribbon and with the momentum created by the pistols discharge. Gambol Shroud turned into a tornado of carnage. Normally when she used this move she sliced anything that got too close to ribbons.

As she was coming to learn though, Penny's defence was nearly impenetrable as the swords around her continued to deflecting the swirling blade. Meanwhile, Blake was barely maintaining ground as two of the swords batted at her as if being wielded by an invisible warrior.

This was an exchange she would inevitably lose. Penny knew this and she knew this. Even so...Blake didn't want to lose. Why? Why did it even matter? These fights didn't effect anything like GKP or your status. They were simply about self-betterment. A way to hone your skills without the risk of a violent death by Grimm.

The fact that Blake didn't want to lose...meant what Penny said really had struck a chord. Of course it had. She knew what she was doing was nothing more than running away. That was the only thing she ever did, it was why she had this Semblance of hers.

She wanted to talk to Jaune too. She wanted this rift between them to be fixed more than anything. But what good would talking to him again do? So what if they made up and settled their differences? In the end they would just have another fight. And then she would be left feeling this all over again. Instead of setting herself up for failure, it was just better to cut her losses while she was ahead. If she didn't talk to Jaune he couldn't hurt her.

Even she knew how weak and pathetic that sounded in her own head. But even knowing that, she had her dignity. And that dignity wouldn't allow her to show that weakness to others. Especially if it meant losing to Penny in a match after being called out in front of everyone.

Penny's swords swung at her again. This time she lunged forward, swapping out her location with a clone that took the hit for her and abandoning the sheath for Gambol Shroud. It was fine though, she wouldn't need it for what she was about to do.

Penny's eyes widened the smallest of fractions at her unusual tactic but it was too late to react. The pistol end of Gambol Shroud was still swinging in an arc. As it passed between the two of them, Blake grabbed it and switched it once more into a katana without breaking stride.

Penny's swords had been poised to block the strike while it was continuing its previous arc. But even they weren't quick enough to adjust in time as Blake swung the katana. Penny raised her arms and the blade struck her beneath the elbow. A loud chink followed by a spray of sparks burst from the contact.

It was only when Blake finished running past and skid to a stop did that fact really process in her brain. Was Penny's arm...artificial? Slowly, Blake turned back around and towards the other girl. Penny was standing lackadaisically, examining the wound Blake had inflicted with interest. Her clothes at the elbow was torn and beneath it was without a doubt some kind of metallic alloy. The pigment around the gash was a perfect replica of skin, but where Blake had hit was a silver streak.

"I take your surprise as proof that Jaune did not tell you." Penny lowered the arm and turned her green eyes towards Blake. Normally the faunus girl had no trouble placing the emotions flowing through another's face, but Penny's was impossible to read at the moment.

"...Jaune certainly has developed a knack for keeping secrets. If you hadn't wished to tell anyone about your arm, it makes sense that he wouldn't say anything." After all, it wasn't like that was the biggest secret he kept.

"It is not just my arm. I am in fact one hundred percent artificial." She said this in such a matter-of-fact tone, Blake thought she had misheard it for a second. It was more like she had just stated the condition of the weather, then what she had just actually said.

"You're...what?" Blake was so floundered by this blunt confession she quite literally had no words.

"I am an artificial human being with a fabricated Aura. Nothing about myself is real." Penny reiterated but Blake's mind still wasn't properly comprehending. Suddenly, Penny's earlier statement held far more meaning.

"Jaune...knew about this?"

Penny gave a short nod. "He did. Aunty Yen and Shirou Schnee are the only others at the facility that know this truth. I asked Jaune to keep this secret for me and he did so without hesitation, even going as far to claim that he would do it for no other reason than I am his friend."

That certainly sounded like him.

"This is why-" Penny continued much more seriously. "-I will take you to see Jaune. It hurts me to admit, but to him you are his absolute best friend. Even so, I am also his friend and will help him in any way that I can."

Blake grit her teeth and averted her eyes towards the space between their feet. "You're...naive." She muttered this under her breath.

"Naive? This is true. I am naive of many things. Social norms and sarcasm for instance continue to escape me."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Blake stomped her foot. "You claim that friendship is the only reason you're helping Jaune. But is that really the case? Isn't it just because you owe him for keeping your secret? And in the end, isn't that all Jaune was really doing? Keeping your secret because he knew you would be obligated to help him later."

"..."

"...I wonder if you truly believe something so cynical? Or are you only saying that because Jaune hurt you?"

Blake scowled. "I've heard enough! I won your bet and inflicted damage on your Aura. The only thing I want is for you to leave me alone."

Penny placed a finger on her chin and glanced upwards. "I do not recall you ever agreeing to the bet."

Blake had to fight the urge to hiss. Instead she turned around and walked right up to the dome. "Professor. Let me out of here."

Yen merely stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "I don't believe you've fulfilled any of the conditions for a win, Miss Belladonna. Both of you are still capable of combat and neither of your Aura has fallen anywhere near the red."

Great, just great. She was stuck in here until one of them couldn't fight anymore? It would've been better for her to just take the hit on GKP. So what if she would've had to fight a few more Grimm? That was preferable to this unusual torment.

She spun around to accept her fate only to realise her mistake too late. She had been too preoccupied with Yen to notice that Penny had closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Blake didn't even have a chance to activate her Semblance as Penny's fist drilled into her ribcage and smashed her back into the dome.

There was an audible crack as something undoubtedly broke, and Blake collapsed to the floor in a heap. She gave ragged cough, spitting blood and clutching her stomach. Just applying even a small amount of pressure to her ribcage caused it to ignite in pain.

Just what the Hell was that all about? Penny certainly sucked at holding back but that sure seemed awfully intentional to her.

"Aunty Yen!" Penny raised her hands as if to be called on in class.

"What is it, Penny?" As if she didn't already know.

"I appear to have accidentally-" Hiccup. "-broken Blake's ribs. She should be taken to the infirmary immediately." This bitch...

"Hmm, it would appear you are quite right, Penny. Since you are the one that broke her ribs, it is only appropriate that you are the one to carry her there." Apparently Yen was in on the whole thing too.

"I-I don't need to go there." Blake placed her knees on the ground and attempted to get up. The moment her ribs shifted though, her whole body lit up in agonizing pain and she collapsed back to the floor. "I won't go…" Despite this, she still managed to hiss out those words. If she went to the infirmary she would have to see Jaune.

And this would absolutely not be the way she saw him again.


Well, she certainly didn't look happy to see him again.

Blake was positively glowering at him as Penny carried her princess-style into the room and rather unceremoniously dropped her onto the bed. She let out a loud hiss of pain and clutched her ribs rather tightly.

"I will stand guard at the door, Jaune." Penny gave a rigid salute and he nodded to her appreciatively. It didn't exactly look like Blake was going anywhere in her condition but then again… she might even try to crawl out of here if she was desperate enough. Which she certainly looked so. Hopefully knowing Penny was at the door was enough to deter her from even trying.

As Penny walked away, he caught glimpse of Charlotte inspecting the android girl curiously. "Fascinating. She really does look like a real person. Yet you're telling me she was artificially created?"

'Now that I think about it, what do you think would happen if I tried to link with her?' He hadn't given it much thought, he was so worried about his Semblance he hadn't exactly thought about things he could do with it.

Charlotte placed her fingers together in front of herself and her eyes went wide with wonder. "We should try it!"

'That might not be such a hot idea. At least not until we can figure this out.'

"Boo!" She pouted and he gave a small snort of amusement.

"I'm so glad you find my pain amusing…" Ah shit. He had already almost forgot about Blake. That probably wasn't good since she was still pretty angry and everything at him too.

"Sorry." He rubbed the back of his head and tried to give her the most apologetic grin he could muster.

"No you're not." She continued to glare at him defiantly. At least she wasn't trying to get away. Not that it looked like she would get far even if she did. Finally, the intensity of her stare diminished just a little. "...Did you tell Penny to do this?"

He scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Well, specifically... I used the idiom 'break a leg.' Thankfully it would appear Penny's learned that particular phrase is just a manner of speech. Although I'm guessing she did wind up breaking something."

"What was your first clue?" It looked like it even hurt for her to talk right now.

"Hmm...the first clue would be you clutching your stomach like an alien is about to burst out of it. The second-"

"I didn't want an answer!" Oops. Maybe Penny was rubbing off on him a little too much?

"Haha, sorry, sorry. I forgot how easy it was to rile you up." Still, it felt nice to get a reaction out of her, even if it was just her yelling at him. "...Seriously though, Blake. I am sorry. For a lot of things right now."

"...Prove it."

"You heard her, Jaune. Prove it." Shut up, Charlotte. She seriously wasn't helping.

'How exactly am I supposed to do that? There's no way she'll let me link with her like this.' He had reservations about talking to Blake openly. But at this rate he didn't exactly have much choice.

"Weiss said it herself. Shirou already has to know what you're doing. It doesn't matter if you tell her in your head or out loud, he's onto you." Well that was comforting. But alright, then he supposed he was going to try this without the link first.

Hopefully get her to understand.

"Well… where do I even start?" He spun a hand in the air as he tried to think where exactly it all went wrong.

"How about at the beginning?" She seriously didn't have to say that with such bite. Although he probably had that one coming.

"Right… well I guess the beginning would be right after Initiation."

"What do you mean right after Initiation?" Blake practically hissed as she started to get up. She only got about halfway before wincing in pain and collapsing back down onto the bed. Her Aura looked to be healing the wound but it was doing it rather slowly. "You've been keeping secrets from me for that long? I thought we came clear to one another that first night?"

"We did!" Jaune leaned forward on his bed, trying to bridge some of the distance. "I really did. I told you everything that night. It's just… more happened. A lot more happened."

"You say that like it's some kind of excuse for keeping me out of the loop. I trusted you with everything about me and I thought I could expect you to do the same. I even gave you so much time but you just kept pushing me away. Do you have any idea how that made me feel?"

"Of course I knew! How could you think I didn't? I linked with you time and time again. And every time we linked together I saw your suspicions grow and your patience wear increasingly thin. But I couldn't tell you. I was trying to keep your secret safe."

Blake's eyes narrowed dangerously. "...What did you say?"

Jaune's breath hitched. This wasn't how he was supposed to tell her. He already let it slip that someone outside of him knew though. "Ozpin… he knows you're a Faunus. I don't know how he knows. He just does."

"And he told you this? Why?" Before she even finished speaking those words her eyes widened in shock. "You've been sneaking around Lambent… because he threatened to reveal my secret?"

"Well, that and because of my transcripts." That part was kind of important too. "It's not like it was all your fault."

"All my fault!?" He probably could have picked his wording better on that one.

"T-that's not what I meant! " Damage control time. "What I'm trying to say is maybe I wouldn't have felt so pressured if I wasn't guarding both my secret and yours...you know?" Okay yeah, maybe he wasn't exactly very hot at damage control judging by the increasingly red complexion on Blake's face.

"You have the audacity to keep secrets from me and then say that it's my fault that you can't spill them! You could have told me. What was Ozpin going to do? Expose you for telling me my own secret? Did you use your head at all?"

"Alright. I think maybe we should back up a couple steps here." As seemed to be per usual, this argument was quickly derailing in a direction he had no control over. "I'm not trying to apply fault here. I messed up. Okay? Happy? It was all me." Blake's bow twitched and the expression on her face certainly wasn't even remotely close to what he would call happy but at least she wasn't trying to bite his head off with words at the moment so he would call that progress.

"Anyways…" He proceeded once more, cautiously, ready for her to interrupt at any moment. She didn't. "...so like you figured out already, Ozpin had me spying on this place. He doesn't trust this place and wants to know why we're really out here."

"Why you?" He asked himself that question almost every day.

"He didn't think Shirou would expect me."

"You said 'didn't' that time…"

"Yeah… I kinda got caught. Turns out I'm not actually the best choice for all that espionage stuff. Maybe I didn't watch enough Bond movies or something?" Movies were pretty much the only experience he had with being a secret agent at all. Honestly, what did Ozpin even expect?

"God damnit, Jaune…" Blake was rubbing her temple like she had a sudden headache. "Did it honestly never once occur to you that I could have helped?"

His brow furrowed at her exasperated tone. "Of course it occurred to me. So many times I thought about asking you for help and getting you involved."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because I didn't know what I was going to find. I didn't know what would happen if we got caught. If it was just me than I was the only one that would get punished. If it was you and me though, then we would both go down." Couldn't she see this was all for her?

"That's the reasoning I can't accept the most." Her words hit him like a cold slap. "What am I to you, Jaune? Some damsel in distress that needs to be protected? Some princess atop a tower? I'm not some weak girl. I have actual training unlike you. What did you think was going to happen if you got caught? You don't have the skills or the stealth to fight your way out."

For the first time since this argument started, Jaune felt his stomach churn. His eye twitched and his hands gripped together so tightly he thought his nails would pierce the flesh. She was exactly right of course… he was a fake, a cheater. He thought if anyone could see past that though, wouldn't it be her? "...You're not perfect either."

He didn't even realize those words came out of his own mouth until her eyes widened in surprise. There was no stopping now though. "I know you're not some weak girl that needs to be looked after. But damnit Blake, you're my partner! And I care about you. Every choice I made since we got here was with that in mind. You can't say the same."

Her widened eyes once again narrowed and he was pretty sure her pupils slit, accenting her feline nature. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"As if you don't already know. How about this whole past week that you've been selfishly fighting all by yourself? You won't talk to anyone on our team. Do you have any idea what that must have been doing to Ruby? She didn't do anything to deserve your spite and yet you took all your anger and frustration and let it shut you away from her. That's not what teammates do!"

"That is exactly what you did to me. Forgive me if my leader set a bad example." Her tone was sharp and the jab at him clear, however she was no longer shouting. It was almost like the longer this went on the less she cared.

"This whole thing hasn't been easy for me. I've struggled and struggled to try and make the right choices. But it seems no matter what I do I just can't. Right now though, I'm trying to fix all that. I want to make it up to you… but I'm starting to get the feeling you don't even want to try." If that was true, then maybe he shouldn't try either.

He would just find another way to save himself from Arc Link.

Blake's mouth opened to retort and a barely audible breath left her mouth before whatever words she had prepared died on her tongue. Slowly, she clamped her mouth back shut and averted her eyes to the sheets on the bed. Then she began to mumble something not comprehensible.

"What?" He leaned forward and cupped a hand over his ear.

"I don't like being angry either… and I know I haven't been fair to Ruby… or Weiss." She included her as more of an afterthought. "I just don't know how I can bring myself to trust you again. You've seen everything about me and you used that to hurt me." He visibly flinched. "...If you wanted to make it up to me, then the only way would be by showing me everything about you too."

He shot a quick glance at Charlotte who nodded quickly.

"...Then you'll link with me again?" This was what he had been waiting for. If she wouldn't agree to link he couldn't possibly hope to accomplish this.

She quirked an eyebrow suspiciously. "Unless you suddenly learned a way to send the memories the other way, I'm not interested."

He gave a relieved grin. "I may have picked up a trick or two on my last little escapade." Her expression didn't change so he gave a small cough before correcting himself. "Yes, I figured out how to reverse the memory transfer."

For another few moments she didn't say anything and he started to sweat, wondering if she would continue to reject him anyways.

"...Fine." He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as she finally relented. Well, here went nothing. He gripped his hand together and pooled Aura into it. Once it built out he let the Aura pulse in a sphere that enveloped the area around him, washing over Blake in the process.

And connected their two Aura together for the first time since their fight.


AN: Well, that took me long enough. Sorry about the delay folks.

I got caught in a really bad string of writer's block for this chapter. I actually initially wrote it out and was really unsatisfied with what I got. Problem was, I didn't know what the exact issue I had with it was. Coeur helped me a ton in figuring that out and once I knew where the issues were, I just had to fix them. Of course, this led to me making a lot of big changes that also effect the story going down so I had to redraft a lot of my plans going ahead too. Not fun stuff.

So that really kind of put a damper on my spirits with writing this and in turn I focused on my other story, Spectrum, for awhile in favor of this one until I could really get it figured out. Here's to hoping I got this from here on out, going ahead. Seriously though, massive shout out to Coeur who helped me a ton in getting this all figured out and making this story as good as it could be.

He even wrote me an Omake, so I hope y'all will check that out and hopefully get a good laugh out of it.

So many things have gone down in between updates for this story too. For starters, this story is officially more than one year old. I can't even believe it. I've been writing fanfiction longer than a year now. That's pretty crazy for me, who usually has the attention-span of a goldfish. So I must really be having fun. Also, this story has now broken 1k Follows and Favorites. That's incredible. Thanks so much for all your support, and it makes me feel even worse that I've gone so long without giving you guys an update, haha.

And of course, Volume 3 has started. When I began writing this, Volume 2 was already over, I think. It's kinda fuzzy now. Don't matter. Point is, the show is back. And I'm prepared for them to drop things that'll make my story non-canon, more than it already is. Bring it on! Having said that, most things they reveal won't affect the plot I have for this going ahead greatly. I may incorporate some things in to fit though if I can. For instance, I do plan to bring Winter Schnee into this story. I may also use more of the teams by name now that we've got more groups. Probably not for anything super plot relevant, just to have more nameable background characters is all.

Also, also. There is officially a canon Team Auburn now. Albeit their acronym is ABRN whereas this team is AWBR. Might have to write something silly where they fight it out, to determine the true Auburn once and for all! (Hint: it's ABRN. I'm just a lowly, plebeian fanfic writer, after all)


Omake

Written by Coeur Al'Aran

Blake shuffled nervously, yellow eyes glancing left and right as she snuck down the abandoned hallways of Lambent, her heels clicking lightly on the metal floor. Each step made her wince, as she expected someone to come barrelling out of the nearby doors at a moment's notice – demanding to know what she was doing out after curfew.

But this was worth the risk… it always was, and no doubt she wasn't the only student making the perilous journey.

A quick swipe of her scroll against a door made it open with a hiss. The students all had access to the training rooms, an oversight perhaps – that the Lambent faculty had not thought to revoke that access after dark.

Like the resourceful teenagers they all were, the students had soon realised, and quickly commandeered the room for their own purposes.

She pulled her thick black hood over her hair and features, shrouding her face in darkness as she walked into the room.

Muffled conversation washed over her, dim lights shone from various corners – as shrouded figures sat huddled on small rugs and seats, random items arranged before them. Others crowded around these collections, congregating in small groups as eyes flashed, hands darting forwards to touch and inspect. Numbers and negotiations flew through the air.

It was incredible… something that only could appear in somewhere like Lambent.

The Black Market.

Blake walked slowly past one stall, glancing briefly at the assorted goods – mostly food and sweet treats arranged before the vendor. Chocolate, jelly – bags of sugared goods. Her mouth went dry as she thought of them, and yet with a disciplined swallow she continued on.

In Lambent, GKP was king. Without it you could not eat, could not access resources you needed to continue studying at the facility. But even then, what you could purchase was dreadfully limited. Hence the Black Market itself.

Earn a little extra GKP, slay some powerful Grimm – and if you managed to make a small profit, then you could acquire the items you truly desired.

For a price, of course.

Anything was tradable, everything had a price. You wanted your homework done? You could buy that – wanted to earn some GKP, well someone would pay for tutoring… Sweets, contraband, alcohol, weapons… condoms. Prices fluctuated wildly, all determined by supply and demand – and in such a dangerous place as Lambent, supply was at an all-time low.

But she was not here for such transient entertainment. She was beyond such foolish temptation, let others waste their valuable GKP on a moment's pleasure.

She had larger goals. Something infinitely more valuable.

"You're just in time," the figure at the entrance to a secluded area said, pulling back a curtain with one hand to let her pass, "the auction is about to begin."

She ducked through the entrance, nodding her brief thanks as it closed behind her. Inside was a slightly raised platform, and before that; six figures – each disguised, each slouched or lounging on cushions and padded seats.

"Our first lot," a female voice spoke, as a robed woman walked out onto the stage, "and perhaps our most desired lot of the night… the freshly released, and brand new issue of Ninjas of Love – Professor-sensei-BDSM-love-love-extravaganza." She paused, as the audience went dead silent. "Hardcore edition."

Blake's entire body shivered, but she controlled herself, trying to scan those who would dare to compete with her for this Godly prize. Like seasoned bidders they hid their intention, showing no weakness she could latch onto. One was flipping a card between his fingers – nervous habit, or distraction?

Another cracked their neck. Again she tried to read into it – had they been sat here a long time, were they that desperate?

That was a silly question, for Ninjas of Love fans – there could only be desperation.

"Do I have 1,000 GKP?" The woman said, and Blake could hear her cruel smile, even as she gasped. A thousand GKP – that was enough to eat for a week, and yet she found her hand rising regardless.

"Eleven hundred." A male voice to her left said, immediately earning her ire.

"Twelve." Another interrupted, female this time – the one with the cards no less.

"Fourteen." Blake declared, eyes closing as she imagined the pangs she would feel in the coming days. She could probably get by with just an apple for breakfast each day.

"Sixteen."

The hall went silent, all eyes turned to the figure at the back who had spoken. A new entrant? Damn it, and he had money to burn by the sounds of it. Sixteen hundred for a book – you could buy enough alcohol to get smashed for that amount. She should know, she'd had Yang complain to her about it, while being violently ill in her room!

"Going once." The auctioneer began, before Blake stood up.

"Eighteen."

"Two thousand." The figure said, so fast that there had not even been time for anyone to gasp.

"Two-two." Blake gritted out, already planning her next excursion into the Grimm Wasteland.

"Two-five." The bastard added, drawing it even further in efforts to frighten her. As though she would fall for something so transparent, there was no sacrifice too far when it came to art!

"Three thousand."

Sun was into her right? He might be willing to lend her some GKP – and she could maybe do some of Jaune's homework… and Penny was tough, maybe she could convince her to go hunting together?

"Three and a half thousand." The consummate asshole raised his hand.

"Four." Okay… she had like seven friends right, if she just pinched a little bit from their plates every day, maybe a slice of onion there, a bit of tuna there…

"Four-two." That was only an increase of two hundred! He was weakening!

"Four-five." He turned to her, and she could feel his enmity. But she would not be denied, this was what she needed. More than food, more than somewhere to sleep. Hell, she could crash with Ruby… and she'd need to be out almost every day hunting Grimm – but it would be worth it.

Damn it!

Damn it! He thought angrily as he stared at the hooded girl competing with him.

"Six thousand!" He shouted out, and he could see her reel back as though in pain at the sum, even as he winced himself.

It would be worth it though… Blake was really into this series, it would make a great present for her.

Being in love was expensive, Jaune Arc had quickly realised.


Beta: Coeur Al'Aran

Auburn

Forgiveness


Blake's mind whirled as memories flooded her in such an overflowing capacity she wasn't possibly able to comprehend it all. So many small moments and times from Jaune's past hit her like a tidal wave and she felt as if she was going to drown in them.

In the back of her mind, she supposed she had always wanted this. Well, wanted it at least since she figured out Jaune had taken all her memories. It had always seemed so unfair to her. That he would have all those memories tucked inside of him, that he would know everything about her, and yet she only knew so little about him.

Part of her knew that wasn't his fault, at least until now she believed that. But he had been able to reverse it all along? Or had he only just found out how? She supposed one way or the other she was going to find out, thanks to the memory transfer. It was ironic. Even as she finally started to see his memories, she was already beginning to wish she hadn't.

Not just because of the great pain it was causing her mind either. But also because of all the little things he had growing up, things she never did. She… never knew either of her parents, having been raised by the White Fang.

Jaune not only had both parents, but many siblings. As a child he had everything he ever wanted. Warm food, familial love, a roof constantly over his head. All luxuries she rarely had the chance to enjoy while growing up. And yet, he threw all of that away to become a Huntsmen, despite never be qualified for it, despite what he saw it do to his own father.

Blake thought that by receiving Jaune's memories she would finally be able to understand him like he did her. Only to now discover that Jaune and her were possibly far too different to ever truly understand one another.

The memories began to enter familiar territory as she saw the green canopy of the Emerald Forest. She then watched as he ran out to help her fight the King Taijitu. That… felt like forever ago.

She remembered thinking he was worthless during that exchange, and had almost abandoned him before making eye contact. It wasn't wrong to say the only reason she had stayed behind was pity. But now she saw it from his eyes, and how terrified he had been. That had been his first real encounter against a Grimm ever.

And despite the fact that he had been terrified, he ran out to save her. He overcame his own fear, just to do what he thought was right. This was something she always knew about Jaune though. Ever since that trip into the cave. It just seemed to only hammer in more now than ever, especially since she had forgotten about it with how angry she had been.

The whole initiation flew past her eyes in what felt like a second. Then the night of the infirmary when Jaune woke up, followed by their team assignment the next day. After that she bore witness to the conversation with Ozpin that started the whole mess Jaune found himself in to begin with.

The next week and they were off to Lambent. Shirou Schnee called them up to the office and Razor Canyon began. For the first time, she saw the beginning of that night play out as Jaune and the others fought for their lives. Penny nearly died during their bout with Shirou Schnee. And her true nature was revealed.

Static

Blake visibly flinched as a loud screeching ring filled her ears and the memories seized, filling her mindscape with nothing but black and white. A moment later and it ended, with him healing her after the Hydra attack.

That must have been… the Cackler attack. That moment was gone forever from his mind, and he would never be able to recover it. She could have sworn though that he had met his ancestor immediately after that, yet that was conspicuously absent.

The next month went by in the blink of an eye and the night he descended beneath the tower finally arrived. Another spike of pain burst through her brain and she thought it was another moment he had erased.

Only to realize this was worse.

Much, much, worse.

The Omega. That was what Jaune had found. That was what Ozpin had been looking for at this facility this whole time. She gripped the side of her head and mouth opened wide in a voice scream as the very image of that thing just from Jaune's memories practically tore her sanity apart.

What was this thing? How was it possible they were living overtop something so impure? Evil was the only way to describe this thing. Pure, unbiased, evil. Shirou knew about this thing. He told Jaune everything he wanted to know about it.

She didn't care anymore. She just wanted him to leave that room. At least skip this section of memories. Just his being near this thing was causing her head to spin and throat to fill with bile. She thought she might actually throw up from these memories alone.

Finally, he left the basement, but the next set of memories weren't any better as she got to relive their fight all over again, just from his side this time. As if this moment wasn't bad enough just from her side, she now saw how badly it affected him too.

Static

Then as if a whole section had been wiped, it skipped from her walking away to him sprinting away from giant wasp-like Grimm. She didn't have time to be surprised as the events of the Valley of the Ancients played out. He went from fighting wasps to Earth Dragons and some strange monkey-like Grimm. Then he was pinned down by the Earth Dragons.

Static

It seemed to be happening more frequently now, as Jaune continued to erase memories to heal himself. The next thing she knew, he and Ruby were fighting some giant Earth Dragon and he suddenly had this new ability called Aurora. How or why he discovered it though, those memories had somehow been lost.

Finally, as he defeated the Prime Evil, the memories came to a grinding halt and she collapsed backwards, not even realizing she had been sitting up. The pain in her ribs was long gone, Jaune's combined Aura having healed them during the memory transfer. Instead she now had a pounding migraine and she wasn't actually sure which was worse.

'...You okay?' Jaune's voice resonated inside her mind.

'I'm not sure what part of me could possibly feel okay after seeing all of that.' Too bad she had pretty much demanded to see it too, so it wasn't like she could exactly yell at him for showing her. That didn't make her any less frustrated though. This whole time and he had been hiding something this large from her?

'If it's any consolation, I know how you feel.' It really wasn't any. Whatever, she had more important things to worry about now.

'Why… did you decide to show us at all? What changed?' His eyes clearly showed his confusion at her question and she watched as his nose wrinkled, almost as if he was trying to solve some kind of puzzle.

She really didn't understand what prompted his sudden change of heart though. He ran into the Valley, somehow awakened Aurora, and then just decided to start sharing memories with them.

"I think I should be able to answer that." Blake had to fight the urge to give a loud shriek as a unknown voice spoke from directly behind her. She whirled around to see a beautiful blonde girl, one eerily similar to the one Jaune described the night he discovered his Semblance. She gave a small curtsey and a shining smile. "It's wonderful to meet you, Blake Belladonna. My name is Charlotte."

'I don't understand…' Jaune stole the words right from Blake's mouth. She hadn't seen any sign that he connected with her again in his memories.

"It would appear that for some reason, Blake is unable to see me in your memories. I don't really understand why myself. I assume it has something to do with the fact that she is your Aura awakener." Charlotte gave a small shrug and grinned innocently, but Blake couldn't help but narrow her eyes in suspicion.

'You're… his ancestor, right?'

"I am his Semblance Predecessor. I am not an Arc nor was I related to any Arcs." Okay, then why call it Arc Link? "I did not have such a handy feature when I was alive with this Semblance, so there are still some things we have to learn about the relationship between Jaune's link and my own. I'm hoping you will help us with this, Blake?"

The Faunus shot a quick glance back at Jaune but he only nodded enthusiastically with a big smile spread across his face. For whatever reason, he seemed to just be taking this girl's words at face value. She didn't like it though. Wasn't it just a little too convenient that she happened to not see anything about her at all? 'So then… what did you tell Jaune that made him decide to share his memories.'

Jaune and Charlotte shared an awkward look that only lasted about half a second, but it wasn't something she missed. 'Well, the thing is, Arc Link-'

"The true purpose of Arc Link is to connect him to Aurora." Charlotte cut him off. Jaune looked startled by her sudden interruption, and if she didn't know any better, she would say he was trying to figure out where exactly she was going with her explanation. "In order to get a proper handle over that power though, he needs to completely open up with Arc Link, and share his memories with everyone he has linked to. That's the best way to open himself up to that power."

So he hadn't done it because of any desire to actually come clean to them? Only so he could get stronger? She supposed either way she should be happy that he finally opened up at all. However, now that she did know, she also understood just what kind of position she had been put in. 'You know that by keeping these secrets for so long, you've put all our lives in danger?'

"You still haven't forgiven Jaune yet? He already showed you everything. So let's just let bygones be bygones already and move on." Charlotte waved the whole matter away so dismissively, Blake had a hard time believing this girl once shared Jaune's Semblance.

'Whether or not I've forgiven Jaune isn't the issue right now.' She once more turned on him and he shrunk back from her intense gaze. 'Because you didn't include me in all this from the beginning, you've put yourself in this fine mess and now you've dragged all of us into as well by showing us your memories with the Omega-'

"First you want him to show you his memories, now that you have them you want him to take them back? Make up your mind." Blake's eye twitched but instead of responding to Charlotte she decided to continue what she was saying.

'We need to tell Ozpin. That's without a doubt our best plan of action.' She stared Jaune directly in the eyes, imploring him to see her reasoning. They were all in danger now that Jaune had told them. Shirou may spare Weiss, but the rest of them wouldn't have any such luck. That crazy bastard would kill them without a doubt. Only once they didn't have to worry about that anymore, than she could start trying to forgive Jaune for everything.

The quickest route to that was telling Ozpin. And it wasn't like Jaune was going to disagree with her now of all times, especially while he was still trying to earn back her trust.

"...No."


It took Jaune's brain several seconds to realize those words had come from himself. And another few more to process the absolutely furious scowl that formed on Blake's face.

'...What do you mean, no?' Well, that truce had lasted a whole whopping thirty seconds. This wasn't the purpose he had shared his memories with Blake for. It was supposed to be so she would forgive him. Not so they could argue about what to do next.

'Shirou isn't the problem here.' Even so, this wasn't something he could back down from.

'I'm sorry. What!?' Blake's fury gave way to a look of pure shock and he could tell she was trying to figure out just where this was coming from. It honestly surprised him a little. They had shared all their memories with one another. You would think than that they would be capable of understanding one another then? Yet that wasn't the case at all.

'Shirou doesn't want to kill us. I know he doesn't. He's only doing what he feels he has to do. If we go to Ozpin though, we'll officially tie his hands. He'll have no choice but to kill us and the only one that can defend us until Ozpin gets someone here is Professor Port. We would all die if Shirou really came at us with the intent to kill.'

'That man is a psychopath! What makes you think you have any understanding about what's going on inside his head?'

'He and I are… friends.' He almost couldn't believe those words came out at all, especially over the mental link, where it was almost impossible to lie. Maybe it wasn't so crazy though? Shirou understood him, probably in ways he didn't even understand himself.

'You are going to seriously call that guy your friend? After everything he's put you through? Even though he might kill you?'

'Listen, I know this sounds crazy. But like I said, Shirou doesn't want to kill us. You saw it in my memories, right? He's only doing this because his brother, Weiss' father, wants it done. I don't think he particularly cares whether the whole world finds out about the Omega one way or the other. But because his brother doesn't want anyone else knowing, he's going to go along with that.'

'So what? I don't care about Shirou or his motivations. He's just as guilty for hiding this thing as everyone else. Let him go down with them.' At her words, his teeth clenched so hard he could hear them grind together. His arms began shaking so bad he knew she must have been able to see it.

'You're really going to condemn people… for hiding something? You of all people are going to tell me that is wrong!?' Blake recoiled as if he had slapped her. 'You keep going on and on about how Shirou is the problem here for hiding something and how I'm at fault for keeping all this from you. But you're not much better than either of us.'

'My secret isn't potentially jeopardizing the entire human race!' She recovered quickly enough, and almost immediately had a quick retort.

"The two of you are arguing semantics." Charlotte randomly appeared between the two of them, blocking their view of one another. "Big secrets, little secrets, right, wrong; you two are throwing these things in one another's faces like it actually has any relevance to the matter at hand."

She was right of course. Jaune knew that. He had a feeling Blake knew that too. It was just hard for them sometimes… especially with a topic as sensitive to Blake in regards to her secret. He knew better than to bring that up, because it would only steer their argument off track. He just couldn't stand though that she kept belittling him for having his own secrets.

'...I suppose that's fair enough.' Blake relented too, although he still couldn't see her because Charlotte refused to move out of the way. 'We need to tell Ozpin though. Jaune, we're not equipped to handle this.'

He gave a sigh and ran a hand through his blonde hair. 'It's not like I don't plan to never tell Ozpin. There's something we have to do before that though.'

'The longer we delay, the longer we give that bastard to kill us.' Charlotte finally stepped out of the way, allowing their eyes to once more connect. She naturally wasn't relenting, but that didn't mean he couldn't give up either.

'Not if we convince Shirou that telling Ozpin is the right thing to do.' He had to believe there was some way to do that.

'You said it yourself. He doesn't care about whether telling Ozpin is right or wrong. He only cares about what his brother wants.'

'Then we just need to become more important to him than his brother.' He wasn't even sure if that was possible. Shirou believed he owed his brother his life. He didn't see any other option though.

'...Please tell me you're joking.' He probably should've expected that response.

"Shirou is already unnaturally fond of Jaune. Besides, he seems to care greatly for his niece as well. I image your group is closer to him already than you think." Thankfully Charlotte seemed to side with him on this. He supposed it was only natural that she would. Even if they were different people, having the same Semblance meant they shared similar ideals.

'You know what you're asking of me, right?' Of course, what he was proposing they do was no small thing for Blake. The Schnee were practically a symbol of racism to the White Fang. Few were as belligerent towards her kind as they were.

'You've learned to get along with Weiss. And besides, Shirou is only half-Schnee.' God, he was starting to use Shirou's lines now too. He loved Blake, but that didn't mean he was going to just let her betray his other friend. If possible, he wanted them to get along. Even if that meant using his corny lines to try and prove a point.

'Weiss and I haven't exactly been getting along lately.' Well, she wasn't wrong about that. She averted her eyes as she thought those words and he could tell she regretted that.

'It's not too late to fix that. If you apologize to her, I'm sure she'll forgive you.'

'The same way I've forgiven you?' Ouch, well that certainly stung. He knew there was a possibility that even with all his memories, she still wouldn't forgive him, but he had held out hope. A small part of him, in the back of his mind, was actually annoyed that she still couldn't understand that he had tried to do this all for her.

Right now though, he was just going to have to give her time and hope that she would come around. It wasn't like it was completely impossible. He had to believe that if he wanted to have any hope of pulling this team back together.

'I'm not forcing you to do this Blake. I would like it if you would support me in this decision though. In fact… I want to put this to a team vote later.' She quirked an eyebrow curiously at his suggestion. 'If the three of you would rather tell Ozpin, than that is what we'll do. I don't like it, but then again, I've dug myself into this hole because I've been trying to make all the decisions on my own. So this time… we can all make the decision together.'

If she really had no intention of being a part of this team anymore, than she didn't have to participate in this at all. If she did though, then she could talk to Weiss and Ruby. Even if she wanted to convince them against his plan. He would accept it if he really was alone in wanting to convince Shirou.

'...Fine. That sounds fair to me.' He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He didn't want to admit it, but for just a second he thought it was possible that he had lost Blake for good.

They hadn't repaired their relationship by any means. However, at least she was willing to give him a chance to try and repair all the damage he had caused. Maybe once they weren't busy trying to figure out how to survive?

'I guess that's it than, until we can meet up with Weiss and Ruby.' He gave a small start at her words. They had finally come to a small resolution and a natural silence had settled between them. Although he wasn't quite done yet. Charlotte had told him to share with her everything. For some reason though, any memories of Charlotte hadn't transferred. That meant she had no idea what Arc Link was doing to him.

'Actually-' Just as he resolved himself to tell that too though, he felt the connection between them sever. "What the heck?" He looked down at himself, as if somehow that would help him figure out what went wrong with the link.

"Oops, my bad." He turned to Charlotte just in time to see her lightly bonk herself on the head while giving it a small tilt. "I'm still learning what I can and can't do with Arc Link. Apparently I have control over the active Link status between you and others."

He quirked an eyebrow at her and then gave a small snort of amusement. She really was just like him in some regards. "What happened?" Blake didn't get to hear any of her explanation though, having already been cut off from the Link, she couldn't perceive Charlotte anymore.

"Charlotte just goofed up is all. Anyways, like I was saying-"

"Maybe-" Charlotte once again cut him off, although this time with her words. "We shouldn't tell her about the side effects of Arc Link afterall."

"...What?" He didn't understand. He thought Blake was the most important person to tell. It was imperative that she knew more than anyone else. That was what Charlotte said before.

"What's going on?" Blake looked even more confused than he did, not able to hear his and Charlotte's conversation.

"It is true that I thought you should tell Blake at first. After watching your conversation play out just now though, I'm starting to think that isn't a good idea." He tried not to, but his eyes inadvertently darted to Blake for half-a-second, something both of them undoubtedly noticed.

'What do mean? Say it in words I can understand.' He just wished that for once people wouldn't always be so cryptic.

"Blake needs to forgive you for what you've done. But that is something you have to earn. If you tell her you think you're dying, what do you think the end result is going to be?" He had to think about that for a minute. No matter how mad Blake was at him, she surely didn't want him to die. That meant… if it was to help him save his own life, she might really try and forgive him, never mind arguing about what to do with Shirou.

'I'm not sure I see the problem here.' Blake forgiving him, regardless of the reason, had to be a good thing. In fact, they might not have had this argument at all if she heard everything he had learned about Arc Link.

"You're being naive, Jaune. That isn't true forgiveness. That is only circumstantial." So she was saying… that her forgiving him like that was somehow weak? More of a stopgap than an actual solution? He supposed he understood. There was another problem though.

'I already showed that to Ruby and Weiss. They know what Arc Link is doing to me. Blake will find out one way or the other.' He just didn't see an outcome where she didn't find out in the end.

"I'm not saying hide it from her forever. Just until after you two manage to truly reconcile your differences." Yeah, then she would just get mad at him again. That was all he needed. "Listen, this is for the best. I promise you that, Jaune. Do you trust me?"

'Of course I trust you. I wouldn't even be here right now if not for you. I'm just a little confused because this is so different than what I thought the plan was supposed to be.' It seemed like every time he finally had it figured out, something changed.

"Jaune." Blake interrupted their conversation and he turned back to her. She was glaring at him, her eyes occasionally dancing around the room as if trying to locate Charlotte.

"Just not right now… later." Charlotte whispered these words in his ear.

He gave the smallest nod. He had only made it this far by listening to her. No reason to think she was leading him astray now. "So like I was saying, let's get Penny back in here. That way you can leave if you want to." He nodded towards the door and she glanced over his shoulder at it.

He thought for sure she would spring up and run for it, eager to get away from him. After all, she definitely hadn't forgiven him yet. Instead she gave a tired sigh and flopped back onto the bed. "I don't really feel like it. I think I'll just take a nap. I don't get docked for GKP if I'm in here for an injury."

Jaune gave a small smile as he also laid back on his bed. "Sounds good." Even if they didn't have anything to say to one another, he would take Blake agreeing to stay in the same room as him as a big leap forward. This would also give him time to figure out how to finish making it up to her. He should probably start with Tuna...


Something wasn't adding up.

Blake wasn't sure what it was, but she would be damned if that Charlotte girl wasn't hiding something from her. Of course, she couldn't prove anything. And it wasn't like it was much more than just a hunch. But there was without a doubt something about this whole thing that she just didn't like.

Jaune out of the blue decided to start telling them everything. At first, she had believed it was just so he could use Aurora. But the more she thought about it, the more that didn't make sense. Jaune would never compromise himself just for power. It had to be… to help someone. That was just who he was. Who exactly was he benefitting by sharing all this though?

She didn't know. She didn't have nearly enough of the pieces to the puzzle, and she had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't by accident.

Charlotte.

She seemed to have a reason for everything, always quick with an answer, but that in and of itself was already odd. Jaune was always floundering to supply an ample reasoning. Except for when he was spinning a tale. And she had a feeling that Charlotte wasn't any different. She just had to wait for a chance to prove it. Cautiously, she glanced at Jaune out of the corner of her eye.

He wasn't saying anything, but she could tell he was looking right at where that girl was probably hanging around, filling his head with who knew what. Did she vanish anymore? Blake didn't understand how his Semblance worked. First he couldn't get in contact with her at all, now she wouldn't leave his side. Either way, it would be impossible to bring her suspicions up to him while she hung over his shoulder, whispering into his ear at any given moment.

Until she could prove anything, she had plenty of other things to worry about anyways. Such as convincing Ruby and Weiss that telling Ozpin was the right thing to do. Of course, in order to do that, she had to ask them for their forgiveness. That was ironic. Here she was, still hesitant to offer forgiveness herself, yet she was going to ask for it.

Yet even if she hadn't forgiven him completely, she could appreciate that he was trying. Besides, she didn't want to see him get deceived, especially by some dead girl that he already seemed to put his absolute blind faith into.


AN: Blake and Jaune finally almost make up...just to have another fight. I'm such a horrible person...

Shorter chapter this time around, but this is actually around the length I would like to keep the chapters at from here on out. If I think about it, this was always what I wanted the average length to be, but that just kind of kept getting away from me. Maybe I'll be able to keep it back down to this length? Maybe not? We'll find out, I'm sure.

Next time, some insight on Weiss and what she thinks of all this.


Beta: Coeur Al'Aran

Auburn

Misery


Weiss tapped her foot as she waited for the elevator to take her to the top floor of the tower The floor that consisted only of the headmaster's office. The room her uncle was almost surely located in at that very moment.

Talking to him… was definitely a bad decision. Her uncle had no proof of what Jaune was doing. He had no real way of knowing that she now knew about the Omega. That is, if her blood-curdling scream hadn't been enough of an indication when she absorbed Jaune's memories.

He had been so shocked by her yell that he cut the memory transfer and that was as far as they got. That was as far as she needed to see though. Her mind hadn't been capable of taking any more. Knowing that thing was living beneath them at this very moment. It was terrifying.

Knowing that it was her father's company that had unearthed it… that was even worse. Even though he knew about this thing the whole time, he still allowed her to attend. Why did he do that? What reason would he possibly have to let his youngest daughter come to a place that housed such an abomination?

Just thinking about it made her stomach churn. She needed to know. She absolutely had to know. She wouldn't dare speak to him about it though. That left only one person she could really talk to about all of this. Yet by talking to him at all she was possibly putting the rest of her team in danger.

She knew that… and if it came to it, she would be the one to protect them. She wouldn't let anything more happen to her team. They were already close enough to breaking as it was. Hopefully Jaune was going to be able to fix that, because they were going to need to stand together now more than ever.

Finally the elevator rolled to a stop and the door slid open. Weiss strolled purposely forward into the office, head held high and not even the slightest of hitch in her step. She couldn't let her uncle see any weakness, or he would surely pounce on it, like the bastard he was.

"Well if it isn't my favourite niece." Shirou grinned coyly, leaning back away from the computer as he gave her his attention. As always, the sinister on his face was creepy and made it impossible to have any kind of indication of what he might actually be thinking. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your most unusual visit? You've never come to see me before. Yet isn't it curious? The moment your precious leader wakes up, you come running."

Weiss' eye twitched. "Quit with the rhetorical questions, Uncle. It only proves that you know why I'm here. So let's just get to it already."

"Why yes." Shirou nodded sagely as he leaned forward, the cocky grin on his face only getting wider and his eyes cracked the smallest amounts open, allowing her to see into them. The deep-rooted hatred at the entire world that they always seemed to hold frightened her and she almost instinctively stepped back. "Perhaps I should stop with the rhetorical questions? But will you humour me for just a couple more? I personally think they're great."

He waited for her response and despite herself, she gave the most minute of nods.

"Great! Because here they are. Now if I know why you're here, that pretty much proves that a certain blond has told a certain favorite little niece of mine something he really shouldn't have, doesn't it?"

"And if that certain blond went so far as to break his promise to me, I would have to go slice his throat in his sleep, now wouldn't I?"

"Because I may or may not have promised him to do that much, if you catch my drift?" She couldn't help but notice him casually drum his fingers against the hilt of his katana, which sat across his desk as he said all this, in a tone that could've been either jocular, or deadly serious.

"Now that I'm done with my rhetorical questions, let's get to the real reason for your visit. So go ahead, Weiss. Say what you've come to say." Her mouth opened wide but no words came out. Instead, she gave the smallest of "eeps" before her throat clenched tight, making it suddenly very hard to breathe. It was getting unbearably hot in his office all of the sudden and her hands began to clam up. She was also pretty sure the room was beginning to spin.

She was going to get Jaune killed. This had been a bad idea. Yet that hadn't been enough to stop her and now here she was, unable to say anything, even deny her uncle's words. Why couldn't she have just left well enough alone and dealt with this problem with the rest of her team? It was too late for regrets now. She had to get out of here. She had to go get Jaune, and get him away from here.

Where would they go? Penny, she had that Bullhead of hers. She could fly them out of here. They could escape that way, and if it was to protect Jaune that unusual girl wouldn't even blink. It was a half-assed plan at best but right now it was the best she had.

"Oh! Don't make that face." Shirou suddenly gave a loud snort and doubled over as he smacked the wooden desk, reverberating a loud clap across the office that startled her so much she jumped practically a full foot into the air. "I'm screwing with you. Oh man! It's been so long since I got someone that bad." He pulled out his scroll and held it up. "Wait, wait. Keep that face a second longer. I gotta send this to your sister."

"Uncle!" Weiss shrieked so loudly her voice echoed throughout the office. "That's not funny! You're joking about my leader's life. Have you no shame?" She was positive that her face was beet red and it was taking every fibre of willpower in her entire being not to leap across the room and attempt to strangle him.

"Shame? What's that?" He asked innocently, tapping away at his Scroll. No doubt she hadn't recovered quickly enough and he was already sending that picture out.

She wanted to berate him further. However, the problem with him was she still actually didn't know how much of that had been serious or how little of it was a joke. If she misstepped, he might actually make good on his threat. Why did the men in her family have to be so difficult to deal with?

"Jaune is an incredibly lucky guy, did you know that? Or I guess incredibly unlucky, depending on your perspective." He finally set the Scroll down and once more returned his attention back to her.

"...How do you figure?" At this point she was honestly too scared to agree or disagree with anything he said.

"I mean, where do I even start?" Shirou threw his hands in the air and swivelled the chair in a full circle. "He cheats his way into Beacon, and ends up here." With everything going on, she had actually forgotten about that. Ordinarily that would have infuriated her, but at this point Jaune had more than proven himself as her leader, so she would just let it slide now. "Discovers one of Remnant's most coveted secrets but the one to catch him is such an understanding guy. Breaks his promise anyways the second chance he gets, but just so happens to make another discovery so big that I can't possibly kill him now without having a little fun first."

Wait… what?

"You didn't hear?" Shirou looked at her excitedly. "You really have no idea what Jaune found in that valley?" Well, she knew he had found his Semblance predecessor. But only because she had chat with her briefly. The memories after that had been cut because of the Omega. "He found something humanity didn't even know existed."

"You mean that Grimm?"

"Not just any Grimm. That was one of the Grimm." She had never seen her uncle so positively excited about something. "That Grimm, that Prime Evil, it recycles all other Grimm. Spits them out like a damn factory. This is incredible! Do you know what this means?"

"That… everything we've been doing since the beginning of time has been a complete waste?" If this thing really "recycled" other Grimm, then didn't that mean all their actions, their wars up until now, had been fruitless endeavours?

"Precisely!" Of course he agreed way too enthusiastically. "Isn't that the ultimate joke? We as humans have been killing the same exact, replicated spawn over and over again since we first crawled out of the dirt, making not even the smallest centimetre of progress this whole time, yet never even realising it."

"...Is this a good thing?" His words said no, but his tone said yes.

"Oh no! It's horrible." She hated him.

"You know how many veteran Hunters would probably commit suicide if they found out? Why, humanity would probably just lay down and give up altogether if they heard about this." Then why the Hell did he look so happy? "But now one of them is dead! Your leader, not only found one, he killed it."

"So we can kill them?" That certainly sounded hopeful. "How many more of them are there?"

"No idea!" Weiss almost fell over. She felt like an idiot for getting her hopes up. "But we might be able to locate them now."

"...We?" Had he actually told other people about this revelation already?

"Professor Yen and myself. She's going to attempt to design some kind of device that can detect molecules of the smoke Grimm leave behind. If we can detect that smoke… we can follow it. And if we can follow it, then it will lead us right to the next Prime Evil."

"You're not… going to tell anyone else?" He was going to hide this too? Just like he was hiding the Omega.

"I plan to... eventually." He added the last word as more of an afterthought. "First, I want to see if we can actually track them. And more importantly, if we can, is Jaune going to be able to continue killing them?" At these words, Weiss felt her stomach drop.

"You can't seriously mean…"

"Oh but I do."

"That's suicide! You don't know how strong these things are! What if he only got lucky against this one?" They didn't have nearly enough information to just start trying to fight these things. This wasn't something they could just throw someone at and hope it all worked out.

"Oh, I'm rather counting on the others to be stronger. After all, this one was stuck in that valley for how many hundreds of years? If it had been capable of collecting Grimm smoke, it would have surely done so to escape long before now. For reasons we don't understand though, it was stuck down there and had to trick Jaune into killing other Grimm for it."

"I thought you said you weren't going to kill Jaune?" She grit her teeth and glared at him with as much animosity as she could muster.

"I'm not going to be the one to kill him. One of those Prime Evil might though." Shirou leaned forward and interlaced his fingers together. "Or maybe he'll keep up that lucky streak of his and continue to defy an untimely demise?"

"You...you're going to turn this into another one of your twisted games?" It shouldn't have been surprising. Her uncle loved making a game out of life. Yet every time he did, it never failed to appal her all over again.

"Of course." He had no qualms with affirming it in that matter-of-fact tone of his. "It's not like I'm stacking the deck completely against him. Yen is almost certainly going to want to send Penny. And as your leader has almost certainly involved your other two teammates in this little secret, they'll be expected to participate too." Great, so he was going to try and kill them all in one swoop. "I frankly don't see what you're so upset about. Jaune is the one that broke his promise. He's lucky I really don't slit his throat in his sleep."

"What makes you think I don't believe you won't?" Weiss instinctively rested a hand on the hilt of Myrtenaster. "For all I know you're only playing mind games with me. You could be worried Jaune might still tell Ozpin and kill him just because that's what Father wants."

At this Shirou gave an amused snort. "Please. Jaune won't tell Ozpin." He said that confidently despite the fact Jaune had now told three others. "Him telling the three of you was well within my calculations. The moment it was him that stepped out of the elevator that night, I already knew how this was going to play out."

She scoffed at his claim. "Even you can't see that far ahead."

"I didn't need my Semblance for this one. I can say this because Jaune and I understand one another. We're friends, after all. And it's because he believes that too that he will play my game. I won't even have to twist his arm, or threaten to kill Miss Belladonna to convince him."

"You sick-"

"He'll also be excited to learn that I have a surprise waiting for him if he can somehow overcome these insurmountable odds and continue to kill the Prime Evil."

"A… surprise?" Despite her better judgement, she asked anyways.

"Well I can't tell you what it is, now can I?" Of course not. That would have been too easy. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. There is likely to be some time before Yen completes her device. So until then, y'all have some time to breathe. Enjoy your freedom while you can."

Like they could actually do that.

"I trust you'll pass all this onto him? Then again, not like you'll have a choice when the two of you link anyways." No wonder he was so open with her. In the end he was only telling her all this because he knew it would come back to Jaune in the end anyways.

"I just… I need to know one thing." She gripped her hands together tightly. This whole conversation had gone exactly to his tune. She honestly should've known it was going to play out this way. It always did whenever they talked. If she was going to be played right into his game though, she wanted to come out with at least something.

"And what would that be?" He asked in that voice, absolutely dripping with sarcasm. He already knew what she was going to ask. But he was going to make her say it out loud anyways.

"Does Winter… does my sister know about what's going on here?" The moment those words left her mouth, and Shirou's face unexpectedly softened. If anything, it looked like he was giving her pity now.

"If she did, do you honestly believe she would have let you come anywhere near this place?"

That was all the confirmation she needed, and she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. His pity now also made sense. In fact, she knew now that it wasn't pity at all, but empathy. Her father, his brother… he had deemed the two of them as expendable. They had no way of knowing if the Omega would just one day randomly wake up. Any day out here could be their last, and it seemed like he didn't care at all.

That was possibly the part of this she hated the most.


Ruby zipped around the cafeteria, adjusting banners and assuring sure balloons were properly inflated. Everything had to be absolutely perfect. Nothing could ruin this for her.

"Slow down for a minute there, Zippy." Sun called with a loud laugh as he and Neptune strolled over to the little section of the cafeteria she had spent the better part of an hour decorating. "Why don't you let us give you a hand? Take a breath."

"...Do you… do you think Jaune is going to like it?" Ruby fiddled nervously with the hem of her cloak as she looked at the result of all her hard work. Bright table cloths were haphazardly thrown over half a dozen tables, all sorts of sweets and pops lined atop them. Streamers were scattered everywhere and the whole thing was fenced off by banners she had designed herself.

"Yeah, the yellow is a nice touch." Sun tapped one of the table clothes she had placed out. "How much GKP did all this cost you?"

"That's not important." Ruby waved it off, but flinched on the inside. It was no secret that she had been running kind of low lately. Jaune was injured and Blake wouldn't head out with them. Fortunately, Yang and her team had been more than accommodating in allowing them to hunt with them. That meant the points were split an extra two ways than normal though, which was also affecting how much they earned.

"...You might want to do something about this sign." Neptune pointed at one of the banners she had stretched between a couple of the tables.

"Dude, she's freaking out. Don't make it worse." Sun shoved his partner roughly in the shoulder, as Ruby agonizingly glanced over the banner, trying to find out just what was wrong with it.

"I'm just saying, this is supposed to be a party celebrating Jaune's recovery, right? So why does the banner say 'Get well soon' if he's technically already well?" Ah crap. Ruby knew it. She had messed up. Who the heck puts 'Get well soon' on a recovery-party banner?

"I'm a horrible person!" She suddenly shouted. "We gotta fix this! I'll get some more paint. I'll cross it off… no, I'll turn it around and write on the other side."

"He'll still see it either way, you know?"

"Dude!" Sun continued to glare at his partner as he placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Don't listen to this idiot… he's lame. I think it looks great. Jaune'll probably like it even more. It just screams… you." He gestured at it lamely.

"I just want it to be perfect." Ruby mumbled as she racked her brain for another solution. She didn't know how much time she had, but probably not enough to make a whole new banner.

"We all make mistakes. Knowing Jaune, he'll wind up back in the infirmary next week anyways and we can have another party when he gets better from that one. Even if not… we got nearly another two years here." That was just it though… Jaune didn't have that long anymore. Sun didn't know that. No one other than she did.

She had to make this count while she could.

"This...looks...stupendous!" Ruby gave a small yelp as Penny wrapped her in a strong hug and lifted her into the air. "I am sure Jaune will appreciate this most definitely."

"Finally, someone with something positive to say." Sun threw his hands in the air.

"Is someone saying negative stuff about all my sister's hard work?" Yang was strolling up with her team, cracking her knuckles and looking every person directly in the eye.

"Nope! It's perfect. Not a piece outta place." Neptune stood ramrod straight and began inching slowly around the other side of a table.

"Oh! Ren, there's punch." Nora dashed around as she checked out all the sweets and pops Ruby had set out. Her partner only followed silently behind her, probably already mentally preparing for a sugar-crazed Nora.

"Where's the rest of your team?" Pyrrha stopped just next to Ruby as Penny finally set her back down.

That was actually a good question. She hadn't seen Blake yet, but Weiss had been here not long ago before saying she had something to do. She was really hoping they would both show up soon. This was also supposed to try and be a reconciliation party for all of them. That would be kind of pointless without them all here.

Before she could answer Pyrrha's question, a hand gently ruffled the top of her head and she whirled around in surprise to see Jaune standing right there. "Good job, Ruby. Knew I could count on you while I was out."

He smiled brightly at her for just a second before she lunged into him so hard he gave a gasp as the wind was knocked out of him. "Welcome back, Jaune!" She squeezed as tightly as possible and snuggled her face into his chest.

"Geez, you act like I nearly just died or something… oh wait." She couldn't help but give a small smile and lightly punched him in the chest as she pulled back. It was only as she did that she noticed the other person just behind him.

"Blake…" So the two of them actually made up? They must have. There was no other way they would be standing so close to one another right now if they hadn't. In fact, this was the closest she had seen Blake get to anyone this past week. And the look on her face certainly seemed… remorseful, or maybe ashamed?

"Ruby. We should talk." The older girl awkwardly rubbed her arm as she took a hesitant step forward.

Ruby quickly shook her head, cutting off anything further Blake could say. "Let's talk later. This is a party!" She wrapped an arm around Jaune and began to pull him forward.

"H-hey!" Jaune stumbled as she dragged him closer to the others. He leaned near her ear before hurriedly whispering. "You should at least hear out what she has to say."

"Later." Ruby repeated. It wasn't that she was holding a grudge against Blake. She knew the main point she likely wanted was just to apologize. But with that apology came so much more than that. There were so many things they had to talk about. And she didn't want to worry about any of that right now.

The only thing she wanted right now was to make sure Jaune had fun.


Blake shuffled awkwardly on her seat as she silently watched everyone Ruby had invited to her party intermingle with one another. There was a surprising number of people present. Some of them whose names she didn't even know.

Yang's team made sense as they were the only other team from Beacon. And it went without saying that Sun and his whole team would drop by. Outside of just them though, there was even a couple teams from Shade who she had never personally conversed with. Along with a couple others from Haven.

"Jaune's gotten pretty popular, huh?" Sun put her exact thoughts into words as he plopped down in the seat next to her, placing a cup of punch on the table.

"You can say that again." She brushed some of the random confetti out of the way before picking up the cup a taking a sip. The whole little area Ruby had roped off was covered in the stuff, like she just ran around tossing it in the air to spread it out as much as possible, which knowing her was entirely possible.

"Oh, so you actually are talking to people again." To her chagrin, he gave a playful wink as he hefted his own cup to his lips using his tail.

As much as she hated to admit it though, he wasn't wrong in saying that. It was much more than just her team that she had been ignoring over the past week. She had cut herself away from everyone. "...I'm sorry about the way I treated you. And everyone else."

"Well, it's not like your treatment of me exactly changed. You've been pretty dead-set on ignoring my very existence since the beginning." And yet he still kept trying to talk to her. She didn't know if his persistence was admirable or just plain retarded.

"So what is with all the people?" Blake gestured vaguely to the crowd in front of them. She did have Jaune's memories bouncing around inside of her now. Even so, she really understood now how little that actually meant. There had been so much information absorbed at once, most of it was mashed together and insensible, and what wasn't seemed faded, probably just slowly wilting away with the passage of time.

She could vaguely recall instances where he talked to some of these people, but most of the time the interactions had seemed meaningless. Certainly not enough for them to come to this get-together, unless of course they were just trying to get in on the free food. That made sense to her.

"I wasn't joking around. Jaune's a popular guy. Didn't you know?" Blake quirked an eyebrow curiously. She supposed there was the fact that for some reason everyone still hadn't found out Jaune wasn't actually as skilled as they thought he was. It was nothing short of a miracle he had been able to keep up that facade. Not that he was doing it on purpose. "Hell, I'm pretty sure if everyone didn't think he was dating Penny he would be getting asked out by several ladies." Sun chose the exact moment she was taking another drink to say this. She gave a small choked cough as the liquid went down the wrong tube and spit it all over the table.

"Whoa, you okay there?" Sun jumped up in surprise before fumbling for some napkins to wipe down the yellow table cloth.

"I'm fine." Blake cleared her throat and gave her chest a small pat to make sure she'd gotten it all out. "It's nothing."

Sun rolled his eyes as he slid back into his chair. "I know you don't think as highly of him as the rest of us do-" That wasn't true. Blake did think highly of Jaune. She wouldn't have gotten so frustrated with him if she didn't. "-But both times I've fought by his side, it was incredible. It's like he has no fear. He just charges right in and somehow, everything just seems to work out for him."

Blake had to give a small snort. Jaune? Having no fear? He was constantly horrified. He was also just too much of an idiot to know when it was better to run away from the danger and not right towards it.

"All I'm saying is, it's good to see the two of you talking again." Sun turned to look at Jaune and Blake followed his gaze. Ruby had hopped up on his shoulders and the two were making some ridiculous pose while Yang took a picture of them. Many of the others were gather around laughing. "Ruby's a good kid, and it was tearing her up inside that you two weren't."

"Why do you care so much?" Blake asked with an exhausted sigh. If she was being honest, before just now she thought the only reason Sun talked to her at all was because he was interested when really he had no basis to be.

"Because I'm their friend. And we did kind of almost die together." Those words were unexpected, especially because she could understand them so well. "We fought the scariest Grimm I have ever laid eyes on, while riding on the back of another Grimm. And I had to trust them enough in that battle to have my back. If you don't care for someone after an experience like that… I don't even know what kind of person you are."

It was weird that Blake could picture the exact scene he was talking about, despite having not been there personally. That was one of Jaune's much more vivid memories for sure. Along with their experiences together during Beacon's Initiation.

"Be nice if we could fight together like that one day." Sun turned back to her and gave a toothy smile.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead gave him a small smile back. "One day." It was bad to say, but outside of the two teams at Beacon, she had never even tried to form a bond with the others, despite having been here nearly a month and a half. That was partially what led to her cutting herself off from everyone in the first place.

Without her team, she really didn't have anyone else to confide in. At least that was what she told herself. There had always been others willing to listen to her though, it was too bad she was only just now realising that.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" The cold tone of Weiss came from directly behind them and Blake winced internally.

"Actually, a little. I think she's finally opening up to me." Sun appeared completely oblivious though as Weiss fixed him with an even stare. "Although, I'm not actually sure either. She's still not saying a lot. Her words seem kind of more positive? Maybe? Am I right?"

"Let's talk more later, Sun." Or else Weiss might really slap him.

He positively beamed as she said that though. "You got it!" He bounced to his feet with perhaps a little more cheer than she was comfortable with and ran over to where his team was. She really hoped she hadn't just given him the wrong idea, although it was his own fault if he took her words to mean more than they had.

"Jaune showed you too?" Weiss took the spot Sun had just left and pointed the stare she had once been giving him in her direction.

"He did." Blake affirmed quietly, glancing around to make sure no one else was taking unneeded interest in their conversation.

"And?" Weiss asked that question like it was supposed to have some kind of simple answer. There was just too many different things to talk about, Blake didn't even know which one of them she was supposed to start with. An apology was probably as good as anything though.

"I'm sor-"

"No, no no. Hold it right there." Weiss held a hand up as she cut Blake off. "You don't get to say anything like that to me right now."

"Excuse me?" Blake narrowed her eyes angrily. This was getting to be too much. First Ruby wouldn't so much as hear her out, but now Weiss was going to do the same? This whole time and everyone had been waiting for an apology, but now that she was trying to give one, they didn't even want it?

"I'm not interested in any kind of apology from you, at the present. We've got much more pressing issues on our hands right now." As if she didn't already know that.

"It's not like we can talk about them right now." Blake nodded with her chin towards all the other students around them, albeit most of them were too busy to be paying any attention to the two of them.

"...I suppose you're right about that." Weiss placed an elbow on the table and rested her chin on an open palm. "Leave it to Ruby to throw a party now of all times."

"She has had a week longer to sit on this than us." At least she wasn't the only one that found this whole thing to be ridiculous. Why did Ruby even want to do something like this? They weren't anywhere near out of the woods, nor were they any closer to figuring their way out of this whole dilemma.

"I suddenly envy everyone else and their ignorance." Weiss was staring intently at Sun and Neptune as they laughed loudly together.

"We could just tell them all. Not like your uncle could kill every single one of us." Sad thing is, she was only half-joking when she said that. It would be so much easier to just tell everyone else about the Omega. Hiding it just felt cruel, but perhaps it would be even more so to let them know about how hopeless this whole situation really was.

Weiss give a breathless laugh. "Now there's an idea. Almost be worth it just to see their reactions." Well she certainly sounded bitter about this whole thing.

Now that Blake thought about it… "Where were you before now?"

Weiss glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "I went to see my uncle." She what!? "He's… come up with another game for those of us that do know." Just great. Blake almost didn't want to hear what he had in store for them this time. "I'll tell you about it later."

Blake nodded dully. "I can't wait."

The two of them lapsed into a natural silence as they just watched everyone else laugh and talk amongst one another, eating and drinking to their hearts content using Ruby's hard-earned points. Weiss was right, she really envied their ignorance right now.

She was at least glad though that she didn't have to know the truth all by herself. Even if there was still a long ways to go before they all came together again, she would take this silent acknowledgment that they were in the same position. Kind of funny that it was Weiss Schnee of all people caught out here on the side lines with her. And it didn't bother her at all that the one she shared this with was someone she once used to resent.

She just supposed it went to show, misery loved company.


AN: Talking, talking, and more talking. Yet I feel like I got almost nowhere story wise. A little bit of exposition by Shirou, but otherwise I don't really feel like the conversations took the others anywhere. I guess maybe that was kind of the point? The wound between them all is still kind of fresh, and there's a lot they need to figure out. But I don't know, this chapter just felt really pointless to me.


Beta: Coeur Al'Aran

Auburn

Sleepless


"I really think you should call it a night." Jaune ignored Charlotte's worried tone as he pushed himself off the ground, nearly collapsing forward from a movement so simple.

Sweat streamed down his face and dampened his shirt. Crocea Mors remained sheathed on his back, the artefact hanging off a simple string he had strapped over his shoulder. Looming behind him was the metallic tower of Lambent, the floodlights attached to its exterior hull being the only true illumination he had, considering how little the stars gave.

Extending beyond that light was the writhing darkness and horrible creatures of Grimm it masked. He couldn't see how many of them were out there, but the myriad sounds told him it was beyond count. Systematically, he strolled towards that darkness, only a slight hitch in his step, caused by a now healing Beowulf bite to the calf.

"Hey! You listening to me?" Charlotte appeared right in his face, bright blue eyes glaring angrily now.

"I can keep going." It was only… midnight. He affirmed this with a quick glance at his scroll. "I slept plenty this past week." After all, he had been unconscious for almost all of it. And it wasn't like he had a bed to return to. After his temper tantrum in his room, he didn't have much of anything left that was usable. Turns out too, mattresses cost a lot of GKP. Who knew?

"Listen, I'm thrilled that you want to learn how to use Aurora. I really am. But this… it's going overboard." She gestured vaguely behind him, although he didn't have to turn to see what she was referring to. At least two dozen, probably more, decomposing Grimm corpses were scattered all over the illuminated ground.

He could smell the thick blood that had pooled over the area, his Aurora cruelly, efficiently tearing the Grimm limb from limb and tossing the pieces everywhere. It was terrifying in a way, and uncomfortable to watch.

"I don't have time to take it easy. You saw what Shirou wants from me, right? He expects me to go out there and kill those… things." The Prime Evil. His whole team was going to get dragged into that mess, and he was still embarrassingly behind them in terms of strength.

At least, he had been. Now he had this power. A power he barely knew anything about; let alone how to use. Right now it just did as it wanted, acting vaguely on his will but otherwise completely dictated by its own desires. And its desires usually left a trail of organs.

"Aurora doesn't work the way you think it does, Jaune. It's not something you just become friends with or train like a pet. It's… a parasite. It lives inside you, and its only aim is to stay alive. This means it'll do whatever it takes to keep you, the host, alive." That was funny. If this thing didn't want to die, then why was it slowly killing him?

"You said, Aurora… eats my memories." Or it was something like that. All he knew was that because of it, he was losing them. "Why does it do that? And can't I just feed it someone else's memories? After all, I've got three other lifetimes worth inside my head."

Charlotte made a complicated expression and twirled her blonde hair, a tick he started to notice she would do whenever considering what to say. "Saying that it eats your memories… is a fairly accurate way to put it. I'm not sure why it does that. I always assumed that it was because it somehow lived off them." That explained why she referred to it as a parasite.

"And my idea?" If there was a way to feed it other memories, didn't that solve this whole crisis?

"If the answer was something so obvious, do you think I would've ended up where I did?" Well, she had a point there.

"Somehow getting the Aurora to leave isn't an option either?" Not that he could afford to part with the power now of all times. Maybe once he could find a way out of the Badlands that would be something worth looking into.

"Like it or not Jaune, this is your Semblance." According to her, this was the true manifestation of his Semblance too. Linking to others, the memory transfer, those were just side effects gained in order for him to link to Aurora.

He looked down at his forearm, where on either side there were two long scars from when Crocea Mors had stabbed him right through. Ordinarily these should have healed, and no trace should've been left of there ever being a wound. Instead, they were now the opening from which he could release Aurora.

Both scars began to wiggle and convulse before a thin line of blood dribbled out and ran down his arm. From the open cuts, a multi-colored light leaked out, illuminating the area around him. Green, red, and purple flowed out from the wound, shimmering and dancing in place, almost like ribbons in the wind as he stared at the power.

A low guttural growl echoed just outside of his field of view. Inside the darkness, he could see a multitude of red eyes glaring back at him. The Aurora bent and twisted around his arm, forming a crisscrossing pattern that ended at his hand before forming two long claws.

He gave a short practice swing with the claws. They didn't bend or teeter, having somehow become rigid and straight despite only a moment ago lacking any sort of defined shape. He stepped towards the darkness, the glowing weapon illuminating the snout of a Beowulf.

"Jaune!" Charlotte's scolding call came too late. The Beowulf leapt at him, lashing with its gangly arms and grotesque claws. He held the Aurora claw up almost lazily, and as the two met, his weapon gouged through the dark flesh like it was butter.

The Beowulf let out a terrible scream as it attempted to pull back its mangled arm, only succeeding in lopping it off altogether in its haste. The torn appendage hit the ground with a wet slop and blood splattered across Jaune's shoes and ankles. As the Grimm staggered and whimpered he stepped towards it, giving a simple thrust aimed at its head.

With a squelch that once would've made him sick to hear he ended the Beowulf's life. "Jaune!" He continued to ignore her yells as three more Beowolves leapt into sight. He crouched low in a duck and all three of them flew over his head, having leapt at him with claws extended. With a small twirl and flick of the arm, six pairs of legs were sent scattering in several directions.

As the Beowolves slammed into the ground and rolled, he stood straight, prepared to finish the downed Grimm. The shift from crouching to standing caused his vision to flash black and he felt a wave of lightheadedness batter his senses and stagger him. "I've been trying to tell you! You're using too much Aurora again. Do you want to bleed out? It's like you never learn."

"I'm fine." He gave his head a small shake, blonde bangs flicking overtop his vision.

"Good. Cause there's a King Taijitu behind you." Ah damn.

He spun around, flailing wildly in hopes of striking the snake Grimm before it got to him. Before the white snakehead got even close, a glowing white glyph formed vertically between him and it. The Grimm smacked into the spinning glyph with a dull thud, ice sprouting from the contact and encasing its head.

The first half of the King Taijitu collapsed, unable to bear the heavy weight of the ice that was now its prison. The second half exploded after a bolt of lightning whizzed over Jaune's shoulder, causing him to yelp and hair to stand on end as his whole body tingled with static shock.

"By the way, Weiss is here." Thank you, Charlotte. He hadn't noticed.

Stifling a grimace he turned around to face his teammate. His poor attempt at a fake smile became even more so as he watched her quite literally begin burning the legless Beowolves alive with three heated glyphs. All while she was in her pyjamas, slippers, and hair pulled down.

The screaming yelps of pain from the Beowolves was the only sound between them for several agonizing seconds as tired blue eyes met angry ones. If it was even possible, as the screams of the Grimm died down, the silence between them only became more awkward.

"So… nice night?" As if to contradict him, some Grimm howled in the distance. Weiss continued to glare, lips locked tight as she cast her silent judgement upon him. "...I'm sorry?" He had no idea what she wanted him to say in this situation. What was she even doing out here?

"You're sorry?" Weiss placed a hand on her hip, eyes widening incredulously. "You sure don't look sorry; grinning at me like a madman while covered in blood." He looked down at himself, red liquid splattered all over his shirt and shorts, most of it gradually turning into smoke. The only bit that was his own blood was still running down his arm.

The Aurora claw shrunk, the crisscrossing pattern on his arm receding back into the two open wounds that then glowed bright white for a second before sealing. Once done, he flexed his hand open and closed, watching the scars contort as the muscles beneath shifted with the motion.

An audible sigh from Weiss got his attention as all the tension in her body drained out, being replaced by what just looked like exhaustion. "Is this your solution to our problems? Just come out here and get yourself killed?"

"I'm just training… and getting GKP. I also kind of don't have a bed anymore." Which was still entirely his fault.

Weiss looked to be fighting internally with herself for several seconds before nodding back towards the tower. "You… can stay with me, tonight."

"..."

"...What?" He was pretty sure he heard that wrong.

"Just shut up and come on!" Weiss stamped her foot on the ground, an effect that kind of lost its edge while in her slippers. "And you better shower and change clothes before you even think about setting foot in my room." Instead of waiting for a response, she spun on her heel and began to march back towards Lambent.

This felt kind of like a trap to him. Weiss had been furious to find out he stayed overnight in Blake's room that one night. Still, if he refused to follow after she would be just as mad.

Damned if he did, damned if he didn't.

With a reluctant sigh, he started after her, deciding it would be less dangerous to deal with her angry in the safety of Lambent's walls, and not get pincered by her and the Grimm.

Besides, he could really use that shower.


The feeling of said shower felt better than he could've imagined.

It felt like it had been forever since he felt the nice warm stream of a shower as it washed away everything. Not just dirt and grime, but fatigue as well. The heat dulled his senses and addled his mind, yet in the far back he couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something important.

Or maybe it was someone?

"Oh… so this is the male anatomy."

"Why!?" He gave a feminine yell, full of indignity, jumping nearly a foot in the air from the unexpected voice coming that came from directly beneath him. "Charlotte!" He covered his modest parts, glaring at the still-armored girl who had been crouched in front of him, eyes at waist-level.

"That was a bit of an overreaction, don't you think?" Despite being crouched right in the stream of water, she didn't get the least bit wet as it phased right through her and rained on the tiled floor.

"No. No, I do not." He continued to hold both hands over his crotch, face no longer red from just the heat of the water. Seriously, this was ridiculous. Couldn't he even shower in peace anymore?

"You're the one who wanted to see me again so badly you ran into near-guaranteed death. Not having second thoughts now, are you?" She grinned coyly, blue eyes tilting up to meet his. He wasn't sure what expression they held, but whatever it was, it made him uncomfortable.

"I just didn't think meeting you again would make your presence this… permanent." He inched forward, stepping his legs back into the water. To his growing discomfort, she made no move to put further space between them.

"You expected me to just be there at your beck and call whenever you wanted? But to disappear whenever you didn't?" Well sure it sounded bad when she put it that way. It wasn't like he had an exact image in his head of how this was supposed to play out. He had just been desperate for answers. Not that the answers he got exactly made him feel any better.

"You know that's not what I meant. I would appreciate some… personal space." At the very least would it kill her to stand up?

"Why? Most guys would be kind of envious of this situation, you know?" It was hard to deny that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met, and she didn't exactly look very dead, or even undead for that matter. Just a normal girl together in the shower with him.

She said before that they were nearly the same person, just born in different times and with a different gender. Didn't that mean being attracted to her was like being attracted to himself? Did it even work that way? Or maybe it was more like they were siblings. Siblings born over a thousand years apart. Of course, he used to take baths with his sisters all the time when they were younger. Maybe this was the same concept? Only he wasn't little anymore, and she wasn't really his sister.

Charlotte gave a small giggle as she finally stood up and stepped away from him. "I'm just giving you a hard time. Possibly figuratively and literally." The more this girl talked lately, and the more she shattered the image of some wise prophet he originally had of her in his mind. Although the more he thought about it, maybe that was how he should always have seen her. Just a normal girl…

"Did you love anyone when you were alive?" This was probably an awkward time to pick asking such a random question. He couldn't help but be curious.

A small flurry of emotions crossed Charlotte's face, before landing on trepidation. "...I suppose you could say so. At the very least, I thought I was in love, once."

"Thought you were in love?" He always kind of thought love was just something you knew you were in or not. Then again, it wasn't like he exactly had much experience. Before he knew it, he was in love with Blake.

"You… and me too, before I died; we throw around the word 'love' like the concept of it is simple. But it's not. It's a messy, complicated feeling that really doesn't have a nice, concrete definition." She finally stood up to her full height, which was still only up to about his chest, and began to pace slowly around him. Once again he was struck by the lack of noise her metal boots made as they met with the tiled floor. "Can you even really say what you feel towards Blake is love?"

"I can," He answered without hesitation, not even for a second willing to doubt the feelings of his own heart. If he couldn't trust even that, there wasn't exactly much left for him anymore.

"As Arc Link whittles away at your memories… those of Blake will be the last to go. She is the one that unlocked your Aura, after all. So you could actually say, the further along your Semblance progresses, the more Blake becomes the only person you really know anymore." Charlotte stopped behind him, just outside of his field of vision, yet he dared not turn around to look at her.

"Even after you've forgotten your mother, father, sisters, friends, even your lover. Blake will still be there. So you tell me, Jaune: Is that really what you call love? Or is that just your brain confusing love and dependence?" The bitterness in her voice unnerved him, actually caused him to doubt. He had been so sure that his feelings for Blake were genuine.

But when was it that he came to that realisation? When did he decide that he loved Blake? It had been during that dream, hadn't it? Right, when he first began to lose things, when Blake had become the most stable concept he had to hold onto. "That's not…" The words he wanted to say wouldn't come out.

"Food for thought, Jaune." Her voice was right behind him now, just over his left shoulder. "It's something I had to come to terms with too, once."

"When you say 'come to terms,' what exactly are you trying to say you figured out?" His treacherous mouth asked the question he wasn't even sure he wanted an answer to.

"The most important thing I realised, is that the last person you should trust… is yourself. Now finish your shower already." He turned his head and Charlotte was gone. Where exactly did she go when not within his line of sight? She was linked to his consciousness so it was impossible for her to go far. He supposed he could always just ask later, and for now just be grateful that he could shower without her staring. Not that he was able to even enjoy it anymore after those cryptic words.

He wasn't sure how much longer he stood in the shower before finally hitting the dial. The whole time trying to keep his mind blank, refusing to let the creeping doubt worm its way to the front. Instead, he focused completely on the menial tasks of drying himself off and getting dressed for bed, before heading to the exit.

"How long does it take you to get ready?" The very first thing to greet his sight as he stepped out of the male bathroom was a still irritated Weiss, complete with crossed arms and tapping foot.

"You… waited out here for me the whole time?" This was starting to weird him out. Had Weiss always been this… what did he even call this?

"Forgive me if I'm not the readiest to accept you're not going to try and sneak out there again. I swear you're like a child, always needing someone to babysit you to make sure you don't do something crazy." Well, it wasn't like she was entirely wrong. Ever since he got here it had become an unfortunate habit for him to sneak out at night and walk around. He blamed Ozpin for that.

"And you're serious? About me staying in your room?" He was still pretty sure this was some kind of trap. There was just no way Weiss, the prim and proper Heiress was okay with letting a guy sleep in her room. Even more so since there wouldn't be anyone else.

"I wouldn't have said so if I felt otherwise." She could at least try not to look absolutely disgusted as she said that. "It's not like I'm happy about it either, but you've proven too incompetent to be left to your own devices." He internally winced but didn't have any words to offer in defense.

"...Alright then." He relented with a tired sigh and started towards the hallway.

Weiss looked surprised for just a moment before starting next to him. "So long as you understand. And if you even think of trying anything-"

"I won't." He defended, perhaps a little too quickly. Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, but she didn't add anything further as they walked down the hallway. With a small wave of her scroll, the door slid open and they walked inside. Despite being the first time he ever set foot in the room, it was immediately familiar to him.

"I'll… just take the floor then." He sat down on the narrow walking space between the bed and the desk. Weiss only gave a small nod as she tossed him down a spare pillow and a thin sheet to use. It wasn't much, but it was better than the torn up stuff in his room so he couldn't complain. As he wrapped himself in the sheet and lay down against the pillow, she gave a small flick of the scroll and the lights went off, casting the two of them into darkness.

He could hear the blankets on the bed shuffle as she slid under it and her head plopped against the pillow. Several uncomfortable minutes of silence followed as he wrestled with whether or not he should say anything, or if it would be wiser to just stay quiet. He couldn't help but feel that Weiss had come and found him because she wanted to talk. He would just be damned if he knew how to broach any kind of topic.

"Are you really going to go along with Uncle's plan to hunt the Prime Evil?" The silence must have been uncomfortable for her too, as she broke it.

He nodded before remembering that she couldn't see in the dark, unlike Blake. "It's the best option for us. Which is why I need to get stronger."

"Is it really, though?" The frustration was evident in her voice. "Why should we have to listen to my Uncle? Or my father for that matter? I think… Blake may be right. We should just tell Ozpin. Uncle won't kill me. So long as you all stick with me, I can protect you." She was right. It would be so much easier to just tell Ozpin. This whole thing could be put behind him if he would just bow out now, pass the torch onto those of more capable hands. It would be like three fewer things to worry about if he did that.

Yet that wasn't the way he wanted to handle this. "I can convince Shirou that telling Ozpin is the right thing. We don't need to make anyone our enemy." If it was possible, he wanted them all to cooperate together. "You know what will happen to your family's reputation, right? If the public finds out that your dad unearthed this thing?"

"I don't care anymore." She practically spit. "He hid this from me… didn't even blink when I told him I had been selected to attend Lambent. He… congratulated me with a smile. I had been so happy, thinking he had actually been proud. I was such an idiot. I should've known something was wrong… I-" Her voice cut off and he could hear the occasional erratic breath. He could almost feel the wretched disgust welling up inside her.

"You weren't an idiot, Weiss." Those words were barely a whisper. "You… respected your dad. And because of that, you just didn't feel like he could betray you... I know what that feels like." At one point, he had nothing but respect for his father too. That was why it hurt so much when he had changed.

"I don't need your empathy." He heard the bed shift as Weiss sat up and leaned over the edge. His eyes had adjusted enough now that he could barely make out her blue eyes as they glared down at him. "You… why are you going to such lengths to defend my uncle? He's done nothing to warrant the respect or courtesy you're giving him."

He was really starting to get tired of being asked that question. It seemed like no matter how many times he said it, people just couldn't believe that he had actually come to see Shirou as a friend. Someone that was pitted in the exact same situation they were, in over his head, yet refusing to back down and run away from it. All because he wanted to be of value to someone dear to him. "I thought you of all people would understand why I want Shirou on our side."

Weiss' face contorted, but it was impossible to tell what kind of expression she was making with so little light. "It's not like… I want to turn Uncle against me. For all of his faults, he isn't an evil person. I know that. But right now this whole thing is just so frustrating. Why is this happening to us? Why was it my family that had to get involved in this?"

Jaune gave a breathless laugh. "I wish I knew the answer to that." This whole thing seemed like some kind of karmic justice out to get them. He didn't dare say that aloud, knowing Weiss wouldn't appreciate the humor in such words.

The heiress gave a loud sigh, and he could've sworn the look she was giving him softened. "You really, truly want to do this Uncle's way? There's no guarantee that even if we do survive and kill another Prime Evil, he'll relent and betray Father. It's just a gamble."

"We can cross that bridge when we get to it." He didn't want to think about all the what-ifs right now. There was enough to worry about in the present without having to consider the future. For now, they still had to have that team vote to even decide whether they would actually do this. He had been sure Weiss would want to side with Shirou as they were family, but now he was less sure.

He didn't even know what Ruby would say anymore. Ordinarily, he would assume she would be willing to support him no matter what it was he wanted to do, but she also knew about his ticking clock, and that might be enough to sway her away from putting him in a situation where he's going to need to use Aurora.

Blake… well, it was no mystery where she stood in all this. It said a lot that she hadn't already sent Ozpin a message. It meant to him, that at the very least she was trying to forgive him and understand the situation he had landed them all in.

"If Shirou's idea works… we might be able to have a way to put the end to the Grimm forever." He started up slowly, still trying to form the words to convince her. "If there are no Grimm then the Omega won't ever wake up. No one would even care that your dad dug it up."

"Uncle's idea doesn't need to involve us going after them either. It could be anyone. He's making us go after them because he knows you'll listen." She snapped, leaning a little closer, strands of white hair spilling over her shoulders and hanging so low they nearly tickled his nose.

"I don't think that's true." If Shirou truly believed there wasn't a chance they could survive this, he wouldn't make them do it. To him, this was all a game, and games were only fun if they were fair. At least, that was the assumption he assumed Shirou was operating under. "I think he wants it to be us because he trusts us. Who else can he send out to do this?" It wasn't like Shirou exactly had a close network of friends. At least not that he knew of.

"That's flimsy reasoning at best, and I think you know it." She wasn't the least bit swayed, not that it was much of a surprise. He was really starting to think that nothing he could say would be able to change her mind. It wasn't like his reasoning was for the greater good. It was just for his own selfish beliefs. How could he honestly expect them to want to follow him for those?

"I know this how sounds crazy. Honestly, this whole situation scares the crap out of me. I mean, we really might die if this doesn't work." He gave a shaky breath, brief images of so many times he almost died already floating to the surface.

"...If you're so afraid of dying, why are you even doing this?" Even though she had seen his memories, he supposed it still wouldn't make much sense to anyone but himself. The answer had always been really simple, though.

"Because there's something I fear more than death." He just didn't want to end up the same way his father had. Broken and full of regrets, and he had a feeling that if he gave up here, then that type of life wouldn't be far behind.

Weiss gave a dramatic sigh as she finally laid back down on her own pillow. "You're messed up in the head, you know that?" Well, he certainly couldn't deny it. "But… okay. I suppose that's fine. If this is really what you want to do, then I guess that's the way I'll cast my vote."

"I'm… not sure I understand." It felt like he said those words a lot since he started training to become a Hunter.

"I agreed back then, didn't I? Back in Ozpin's office. I agreed to be your second-in-command." He racked his brain but failed to recall such a conversation occurring. He remembered Ozpin roping him into espionage, but not much else. "It would look really bad if I stood against you now." Weiss took his silence as an opportunity to continue, not understanding his confusion. "Although as things stand, Blake may actually agree to let me be the leader now." She gave a small laugh.

"I won't do that, though. Because… right now I want to trust that you know what you're doing." He heard a tired yawn escape her lips and voice starting to drift off. "You've surprised us all before, after all."

"...Yeah." He waited several minutes, but she didn't say anything else and instead the gentle sound of her breathing in sleep took the place of the silence. He only wished sleep would come so easily for him.


AN: Another mostly just talking chapter.

I really wanted to have a chapter where Jaune and Weiss get to talk since I kind of shafted her by skipping the memory link scene. Threw in some fun with Charlotte along the way, but otherwise, the focus was supposed to be them. I had also wanted to talk at some point about Shirou's Semblance since they've now dropped that hereditary Semblance deal, but that'll have to be at a later time as there wasn't an opportunity I felt it was appropriate to bring up.


Beta: Coeur Al'Aran

Auburn

Imaginary


"Why am I here again?" Jaune didn't like being in this room. Even less so because the cryptic Professor Yen refused to explain anything when she called him here.

The short woman had left abruptly upon showing him into the room to go gather "supplies." Supplies for what, he was afraid to ask, not that he wouldn't find out in a few short minutes anyways.

"Beats me. I can't see her at all in the hallway. I wonder where she went?" Charlotte's head phased through the door once again, checking outside the room for him.

"You know that might be a pretty handy trick we can use the next time I'm in a pinch." Having her see things for him and relay what was coming around a corner would be incredibly helpful, and he was looking to take any kind of advantage he could get.

"I kind of expected the one who keeps up on Penny's maintenance to have more cool gizmos and gadgets in her office." And Charlotte ignored his words completely, instead poking her nose around the rather empty office space he was stuck in. Honestly, this room reminded him more of a family physician's office rather than that of a crazy robot doctor. "This is all rather boring."

"I'm actually kind of relieved it isn't like that." Having all kinds of unidentifiable objects with questionable purposes would've only made him more stressed about being in this room than he already was.

"Who exactly-" Jaune gave a small start as the door clicked open, the short faunus stepping inside the room. "-are you talking to?" She was looking at him strangely, like he had grown a second head.

"Just mumbling to myself." He quickly lied, not even sure why he bothered. He sent Charlotte a sharp glare, almost as if to ask how Yen had been close enough to hear him yet she hadn't been capable of seeing her.

"My bad? I forgot how short she is." Charlotte shrugged unapologetically at his unasked questions. He was seriously starting to wonder whether she was naturally airheaded, or if this was on purpose.

"Mumbling to yourself, huh?" Yen's tone conveyed every drop of doubt she had in his statement. She pulled up a tall stool in front of Jaune before hopping up into it. Watching her was almost comical, little legs dangling over the ledge of the stool as she straightened herself out, still failing to sit eye-level with him. "Penny's told me all about this imaginary girl you think you can see." Damnit, Penny.

"I'm not crazy." Was that what this was? Did they think he needed to see a shrink?

"I'm not interested in discerning your mental health, Jaune." Yet another teacher who seemed fond of being on a first-name basis. "That's hardly my field of expertise. Rather, I'm much more interested in if this girl actually is from the past. Do you have any kind of idea the wealth of knowledge she may possess? Knowledge of things we have long forgotten?"

"You mean like the Prime Evil?" Now that he thought about it, they still would have had no idea what that thing was if not for Charlotte.

"Exactly like that." Yen appeared pleased that he was catching on so quickly. It wasn't very often he was quick on the uptake, after all. Especially lately it seemed. "So what do you say?"

"Denied." Before he could even open his mouth, Charlotte appeared in front of his face, arms crossed to form a big X and wearing a serious pout.

"I-I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked: So-"

"I wasn't talking to you, sorry." He cut Yen off, having to lean around Charlotte just to look at the faunus. She blinked several times, looking slightly perturbed before shrugging it off.

"I don't want this so called doctor trying to cross-examine my mind." Charlotte's arms shifted, placing both hands on her hips and taking a firm stance. "And to talk to me, you would have to link to her, remember? Just because you're self-destructive, doesn't mean any of your teammates would approve of that."

Well, she made a pretty good point about that. "Alright already, sheesh." It wasn't like she had to get so defensive about it either. If she didn't like doctors she just had to say so. It wasn't like he was fond of them himself.

Charlotte stepped to the side, revealing Yen who was pointing at herself questioningly. "Was that directed at me or the imaginary girl?"

"She's not imaginary!" He retorted without missing a beat. If this kept up the whole school was going to think he was a nutjob. Then again, they already thought he was several things he wasn't. Such as a competent student and Penny's boyfriend. "Anyways, I'm afraid there's no way for you and Charlotte to talk directly. I still don't have a firm grasp on linking to others and what all that does to me."

"Hmm… that's too bad." Yen didn't look nearly as disappointed as he thought she would. Then again, as a robot doctor she was probably less interested in things of the past and more interested in the future. It wouldn't surprise him at all if this had been on the whim of someone else. "Perhaps there is another way you can still help me."

The glint in her eye made him uncomfortable. Whatever she was about to ask next, must have been what she wanted from the beginning. "...No promises." He shrugged noncommittally, hoping that whatever she next said wasn't anything too crazy.

"I want a sample of your Aurora." She held up a series of vials, huge grin plastered across her face. "For scientific purposes, naturally."

"Uhh…" Unconsciously he glanced down at the crooked scars on either side of his arm before looking to Charlotte as if asking for permission from a parent. The ghostly girl seemed to actually contemplate her own answer for several moments before giving a shrug that more or less said she didn't see the problem. "...That's fine, I guess. I don't exactly know if your vial will even be able to hold it. The Aurora dissolves if it disconnects from me."

"You leave all that stuff to me!" Yen's grin became even bigger, and also slightly more creepy as she scooted the stool closer to him, holding up the case of vials impatiently. "Come on now! Show me what you got."

"That's what she said." Seriously, Charlotte, shut up. It was no small miracle he didn't say those words aloud.

Instead he focused on the scars embedded in his arm, watching the marred flesh wiggle and contort as the Aurora beneath the surface bubbled. The wounds tore open, red blood flowing freely from them and dripping onto the floor. A second later and the red, green, and purple light filtered out, swaying to a non-existent breeze like it was some sort of ribbon.

"Fascinating." Yen started to reach a hand for the light, but stopped just short of coming into contact with the glowing energy. "Is it okay if I touch it?"

'Don't even think about saying it again, Charlotte.' He sent her a sharp glare, not at all surprised to find mouth halfway open in preparation to do just that. Under his scrutiny, face rearranged into a pout and she folded both arms in front of her chest to make sure he could clearly see the displeasure.

"It's probably not a good idea." He answered Yen's question as he turned back on the professor. "The Aurora tends to have a mind of its own and I don't know how it'll react."

Yen's fox ear flattened in disappointment, but otherwise the excitement on her face failed to diminish. "This is why it is imperative that I study it. Who knows what I may be able to find out? Are you able to control it well enough to fill all these vials?" She once more displayed the small case full of about a dozen of the cylindrical tubes.

"Shouldn't be too hard." Since really he wasn't going to be the one in control. All he had to do was ask it and… there it went! The waving ribbon began to tear, breaking into a dozen multi-colored strands that began to snake out as they elongated and reached for the vials. One by one they dipped into the tubes, slowing filling them with their light.

Once all dozen were full, Yen placed a lid overtop of them, that lid creating a low hissing noise as some mechanism inside it sealed shut and separated the Aurora strands from his body. He looked into the transparent container to see if the light would vanish. It did not, the once free-flowing material settling into the vials like some viscous liquid and maintaining their translucent light.

"No way…" Charlotte ducked down to look at it with him, eyes wide in awe. "No one from my time was capable of doing this. The future is incredible."

"It really is." He was impressed and this was his own time. He glanced at the fox faunus who was grinning triumphantly. "You'll let me know if you discover anything… right?"

"That all depends now, doesn't it?" Yen placed the container on the high desk next to her, giving a look that frankly made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"...On what?" He was really starting to get sick of feeling like he was dancing in the palms of all these adults.

"I consider Penny like a daughter to me, you know that, I assume?" He gave a small nod. Penny was incredibly fond of Yen, often speaking highly of her, and Yen seemed often to dote on the artificial girl, building her all kinds of new toys and gadgets. "As such, I'm rather iffy about sending her out on this suicide mission Shirou seems Hellbent on shipping you off on."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm not exactly looking forward to it, either." Of course, he wasn't even positive it would come to them going on this mission. They planned on having the team meeting to determine that after classes today.

"Your words do little to alleviate my concern." Yen adjusted her glasses, fixing him with a blunt glare. "I am going to look into this Aurora for you. Both in order to allow you to use it more efficiently and to possibly prolong your life-"

"Wait, what?" How the Hell did she know about that?

"Your little red teammate consulted with Penny about what your Semblance is doing to not just your memories, but your life." Damnit, Ruby. "Naturally, when going over Penny's databank I came across this information. Penny and that girl got rather close while you were taking that week-long nap. So much so that Penny even revealed her own secret to her." So Penny trusted Ruby with her secret and in turn Ruby told Penny her concerns? Or was it the other way around? No, more worrisome was if Ruby had told Blake or Weiss yet.

Charlotte wanted him to keep that information to as few people as possible. He hadn't really had a chance to explain any of that to Ruby yet, however. It could be disastrous if she mentioned it offhandedly to Blake. Their whole fight would blow up in his face all over again. Did the secrets never end?

"Moving on, I have a vested interest in keeping you alive. Penny is fond of you, and would take measures more extreme than I am comfortable with to ensure your survival. In the same vein, I am hoping you reciprocate that fondness."

"Meaning… what, exactly?"

"Nothing more than I want you to keep Penny safe. If you are in danger, she will come flying to your rescue, and has beyond doubt already proven so by quite literally doing as much. I expect you to do the exact same for her." That was it? If he agreed to keep Penny safe she would help him figure out how to get stronger and maybe even survive?

"You've got it." He nodded enthusiastically, blond hair bobbing in front of his eyes.

"I like your enthusiasm, kid." Yen stuck both hands in her lab coat pockets. "We'll see how you really feel when you have to go up against another one of those Primal Grimm, however. I hope you won't lose your backbone then." He'd already taken a Cackler claw to the gut for Penny, not that he could remember that. Nevertheless, he was pretty sure if he had once been willing to do that for her, there wasn't much of anything he wouldn't do.

"Anything else?" He started to stand up, noticing Charlotte already meandering towards the door.

"Just try not to forget this conversation before class starts." He gave pause at her words, glancing to see if Charlotte had caught them.

The other blonde merely shrugged. "Far as I could tell there was never much of a rhyme or rhythm to the way in which Aurora consumed memories. You might forget this, you might not." Reassuring, thanks.

"See you in class, then." He gave a short wave as he turned to walk away.

"You certainly will. Look forward to it!" The way in which she said those words sent a shiver up his spine.

Maybe he should skip today after all?


Deep breaths.

Take deep breaths.

Blake stood outside the door to the combat training class. Never before had she felt so nervous entering into a classroom. Of course, that was because she had never gone all out in a battle in front of all her peers not even two days ago before now either.

The way she had attacked Penny had been more aggressive than she ever normally fought. It was a side to her that the others had never seen before, specifically because she normally tried to hide it. And this just happened right after she had been coolly blowing the entire student body off for the better part of a week.

Damnit. Part of her wanted to be mad at Jaune, but she knew there wasn't anyone to blame but herself. Better to just get it over with. Just as she worked up the nerve to enter someone rather roughly pat her on the back. "Sup!"

It came as absolutely no surprise that the owner of said hand was the ever persistent monkey faunus. Every muscle in her face tried to grimace, yet somehow she managed to rearrange that into a soft smile instead. Part of trying to re-establish connections with everyone meant playing nice, after all. "Hello, Sun."

Her response earned a big grin from the enthusiastic faunus. "So we going in or did you want to just skip class for the day?" She had to admit, skipping had a certain appeal to it. Skipping with Sun, however, held certain implications she wasn't willing to entertain. Knowing him, he probably had a whole list of ideas to do, but it was the fact that rumors would undoubtedly spread that kept her from agreeing.

Just look at how quickly and uncontrollably the ones about Jaune went around. As his partner she had no doubt they would spread for her just as quickly. She had no desire to become another cog in the rumor windmill if she could help it. Again, not that anything she did the other day exactly worked in her favor.

"Come on." She nodded towards the door and the two of them walked in together. As they headed towards the bleachers on the other side of the room, she caught sight of Jaune. For the time being he sat by himself.

Other students usually took the chance to approach him. It would seem like they would be especially keen on seeking him out today, given this was his first appearance in class since the clash with the Prime Evil. Yet the rest of the class gave him a wide berth, several of them whispering amongst themselves as they gestured vaguely in his direction.

It didn't take more than a moment's observation to figure out why. Jaune wasn't actually saying anything, but it was obvious he was communicating with Charlotte judging by the exaggerated gestures and numerous facial expressions he was making.

"...He talking to that imaginary girl again?" Sun apparently knew something about her, which maybe made Jaune look at least a little less crazy in his eyes.

"She's a real person-" Sun gave her a dubious expression that she couldn't blame him for. "I think." She amended despite having chatted with Charlotte before. For all she knew, that girl had never been an actual person and was just some Semblance personification. Or maybe the other half of Jaune's soul? Or... she was thinking about this too hard and had been reading too much fantasy lately.

"The point is, he really believes he is talking to someone, right?" Sun sounded at least genuinely concerned for the sanctity of Jaune's mind.

"Jaune's not crazy… at least not in the way it looks like he is." She almost felt like she was the insane one just for defending him. It took an effort not to sigh as she walked up to him. "Jaune."

"Blake!" He stopped, in what looked like could've been mid-sentence, his whole face lighting up as blue eyes settled on her. "H-how are you doing?" Despite his efforts, he was clearly nervous as he fidget and wrestled to remain firmly still while they stared at one another.

"I'm fine." She pushed back a lock of black hair as she slid down into the spot next to him. "You… don't have to talk to me like I'm a stranger, you know? We were only not talking for about a week, not several years."

"No, I know. I just- umm… man, it's good talking to you in class, like normal. You know?" Was he taking speech lessons from Ruby? She was seriously starting to wonder if maybe there was a little something scrambled in that brain of his, after all.

"Normal… is what we're trying to get back to. Not that I'm sure I know what that is anymore." It would be nice to just for once not have so many things on her plate all at once. "I do know speaking with you like this helps me feel like things might one day be able to get back to that."

"Ah, I kind of get what you mean." Jaune nodded to himself, giving a small smile at her words.

"I have no idea what any of that was supposed to mean." Sun plopped down next to Jaune, big grin on his face but eyes clearly showing that he felt like he'd just been left out of some inside joke.

"Me either!" Jaune and Blake both jumped as Nora's head stuck in between them. When the heck did she even get here? "You guys are so silly. Talking about being normal, when that's just so boring… geez, you two sound like Ren." Blake would take boring if it meant not having to possibly deal with Shirou Schnee and his crazy secret agenda.

"Normal is overrated!" And as if she appeared out of thin air, Penny was now directly in front of them. Was it too much to ask she just get a moment of peace with her partner who she was also still trying to find the courage to be able to forgive? Who was she kidding… in this class it was asking way too much.

"That might be the most normal thing I've ever heard leave your mouth." Sun's tail flicked playfully as he, Jaune, and Nora laughed. Penny joined in a second later, but it was painfully obvious she had no idea why they had begun to laugh in the first place.

Once their laughter died down, Penny turned to Jaune. "Aunty Yen wishes the first round to be between you and myself. We are to report to the stage when we are ready."

"Man… back to the good ol' routine." Jaune gave an exhausted sigh, ruffling his blond hair before rising to a stand. "Might as well get it over with."

"Jaune." As he started to walk away, Blake couldn't stop herself from calling out to him. He turned around curiously, waiting for several moments as she tried to figure out what to say. "...We still need to figure out what to do later, don't forget that." That didn't come out the way she wanted at all.

If those words miffed her partner and leader, he didn't show it. Instead giving an affirmative thumbs up. "You got it."


"I'm telling you, I think there was something else she wanted to say just then." Jaune had to fight the urge to give an exasperated sigh as he glanced at Charlotte out of the corner of his eye.

'That's all well and fine, but what do you want me to do about it?' He kind of let the opportunity pass by already. And if Blake had decided against saying something there must have been a reason for it. Either she didn't want to say it with others around or maybe still hadn't forgiven him enough to say it in the end. If it was the former, he would find out later today; if it was the latter, well… he might find out eventually.

"I don't know." Charlotte shrugged, face setting into a disconcerted pout. "I just feel like it might have been really important for some reason." Was that supposed to be woman's intuition? Did that even apply to dead people?

'No sense worrying about it now.' He had a fight to think about, which he was reminded of when the mechanical spider-like legs from Yen's backpack carried her over to him with audible metallic clicks.

"Talking to your imaginary friend again?"

"She's real dammit!" Yen smirked mirthfully at his shout, which only made him feel like sulking harder. He wasn't a lunatic…

"Question: How do you plan to handle your Semblance from here on in the future now that you're capable of utilising this Aurora?" Yen's rapid shift in both topic and demeanor threw Jaune for a loop and it took a second to gather himself.

"Well…" This was actually something he had been giving thought to. Charlotte said it wasn't the act of linking to others specifically that was causing his memories to disappear. Yet it was also true that when he linked to the others he built up more memories not his own, which couldn't be helping much either. "Now that I have Aurora, I have a way to fight for myself."

He didn't need to rely on his teammates or to borrow their Semblances anymore. Using that had proven to be rather limited already to begin with, as he had to be near them and they had to maintain concentration to feed it through the link. If there was one thing he had learned after that fight with the Prime Evil, he couldn't use Aurora and someone else's Semblance at the same time anyways.

If anything, refusing to link would hinder them more than it would him at this point, as they would lose their instant mental communication and would no longer have access to his larger pools of Aura. He had to talk to them yet, but he already knew the three of them were leaning away from him using the link anymore to begin with.

It was only under his constant insistence in the past they had agreed for so long as it was. "I may still link to them on an individual level, but only if it's an absolute emergency. A last resort." He would verify with them later but he had a feeling this decision would make the three of them happy.

As he glanced at Charlotte for support, she gave an approving nod. "It's probably for the best. Now that you've established a powerful connection, which you needed to link with someone and share the memories both ways to accomplish, you could say your Semblance has evolved to phase two: Linking properly to your predecessor and your weapon." Phase three would be getting that weapon known as Aurora to stop killing him then.

"I figured you would say as much. That is the most logical decision, after all." Yen too gave an approving nod. "That means we need to get you up to snuff using Aurora. So while I study it, we'll have you practice it as often as possible within this controlled environment."

"Thanks again. I really-"

"Save your breath. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this because you roped Penny into something way over all our heads." Well, so much for thinking this professor was actually starting to warm up to him.

The mechanical legs clicked loudly against the metal tiles as they carried Yen away from him, the fox faunus now typing furiously at her scroll. "This match will be Jaune Arc of Beacon vs Penny Polendina of Atlas. Jaune will be restricted to combat only through the use of his Semblance. Penny has no restrictions."

"Wait, what?" He seemed to be saying that a lot lately.

He got that she was trying to get him to learn quickly, but Penny had only been allowed to use one sword without her strings before now. This was like switching the mode from easy to very hard when he still hadn't even gotten proficient at easy.

"I apologise, Jaune. Aunty Yen tells me this is for both your sake and my own." Penny did not look sorry at all as she said those words with a huge grin on her face. The backpack behind her unzipped, ten swords flying out and unfolding.

Unconsciously, he reached for Crocea Mors on his back only to find the weight strangely gone and hand grasping nothing but air. "Like I said, Jaune. Semblance only." Eye twitched as he looked at Yen, who tauntingly waved Crocea Mors like it was some kind of dog treat. When the Hell did she even do that?

"...You're not going to go easy on me either, are you?" He had a sinking feeling of dread that was only even more confirmed when Penny shook her head, orange hair bobbing back and forth with the motion.

"Not at all. I hope you are combat ready, Jaune." She flexed one arm, as if to flaunt some kind of muscle. She did know doing that really didn't accomplish anything since she was synthetic, right?

"Well then, without further ado:"

"Time out."

"Let the fight between-"

"Time out."

"Jaune Arc and Penny Polendina-"

"Hold it! Hold it! Do you have any idea what the heck the words 'time out' even means!?"

"Oh for the love of all things- what!?" Yen held out her wrist and tapped impatiently at the timer on her scroll. "We're on a schedule here. I may give Penny some shows of favoritism but even I can't spend the whole class period on just this one match."

"Aunty Yen, at least let him say whatever it is that is on his mind before our match." Thank you, Penny!

"Fine, but make it quick." That was some serious favoritism if he ever saw it. 'Some shows' his ass, she built her a freaking bullhead for personal use. Whatever, now wasn't the time. If he didn't hurry up and start talking Yen might very well change her mind.

"Penny… look-" He held out the arm that both scars were on, mostly just to emphasise where the Aurora was going to come from. "When I use Aurora… I don't actually have any control over it. I just link to it and it tries to protect me. If I'm lucky it does what I ask it to and lets me manipulate it a little."

"That is why we are having this practice, Jaune." Penny stated matter-of-factly. "I am trying to help you learn to control your new power. This way you no longer have to worry about it hurting you, or anyone else."

"And I appreciate that, I really do. Just… don't get too carried away. If the attack looks dangerous please back off. I seriously don't want to risk harming you because I don't know what I'm doing."

"That's quite the gall you have." Yen shook her head as if she was disappointed. "Do your worst. If you think just because you have a special new ability that you are capable of even landing a hit on Penny, you're in for a seriously rude awakening."

"That wasn't my intent-"

"If you got nothing else to say, I'm starting the match already." He must have really struck a nerve, judging by the seriously challenging glare she was giving him now. Whatever, he would just be sure not to let his own power get out of hand. That was all there was to it.

"Begin!" Yen shouted without warning, starting from where she left off previously. Penny's swords launched at him not even a second later, as if she was prepared for the sudden start.

"You know… you haven't even pulled out your Aurora yet, right?" At Charlotte's words, he looked down at the exposed scars that had yet to even open and then back at the incoming blades. With a girlish shriek that probably echoed throughout the whole building, he took off running.

"Time out! Time out!"


AN: Well, I tried making a chapter that was a bit more light-hearted. Rereading my past few, everything in this story seems so dark and dreary lately. I can't erase everything that is going on with Jaune and at Lambent, but by trying to poke some fun at it, I hope to make it not seem quite so edgy.

I also feel the need to say this again, but I did not come up with the idea of Aurora. It is almost exactly the same ability that the main character in Rewrite (A Japanese Visual Novel) uses. I really liked the ability myself, so I changed it enough to make it work within Remnant and gave it to Jaune. The reason I felt like reiterating this is because Rewrite is actually getting an anime later this year (YES!). So once it has an anime it'll be much more available to a wider audience, as the process to download fan-translated Visual Novels can be painful and as such tends to turn people away from doing so. Obviously, this is fanfiction so borrowing or outright taking from other sources isn't unheard of, but it is worth crediting said source.


And welp, that's everything. Kind of fitting last words by Jaune. I took a major "time out" on the fic after this and it never did continue the same. Like I said in the beginning, if I ever do come back to Auburn, it will be to resume it from where the new version left off. If it helps give you a little bit of closure, however, I am now going to give you a brief summary of where the story would have gone from here. Keep in mind all this was planned before Volume 3 ever aired and it just as well could have changed as I went.

Anyways, the next thing was Jaune and his team going on a mission and fighting a new Prime Evil. I think I would have just done one mission where everything went more/less to plan and they killed it. Jaune's condition naturally deteriorating.

On the next mission to kill one, I had in mind that they would run into Pyrrha's team as well who was tracking an unusual signal at Shirou's request. They team up with them and find out it's a White Fang training camp and what's more, Adam is there. Blake's past naturally ends up getting drudged up here and they get captured by the White Fang. The White Fang steal Jaune's Prime Evil tracker thing and think it's going to lead them to a valuable resource. They end up releasing the Prime Evil and in the chaos, the teams get free but in order to defeat the Prime Evil, Jaune adds all of Pyrrha's team to his link as well.

They supposedly kill the Prime Evil and Adam also "dies" during the encounter. Jaune's condition worsens and it's at this point Blake gets caught up on the details of what's happening to him and his time limit. She gets mad at him, but Jaune has so little recollection of himself at this point that it ends up not even being worth it. She comes up with a plan to help him. Shirou grants them a favor to let them take a vacation and they go to Jaune's hometown.

Jaune's team is introduced to his family (This is actually where Jaune's sisters from my other story Spectrum would be cross-introduced into this story), but his family quickly grows concerned as Jaune is showing clear signs of not being himself. Blake convinces Jaune to link with all of his family, thinking that if he stocks up on memories of people who have a lot of memories with him, it will help him reclaim himself. Charlotte tries to dissuade him, but in the end he goes along with Blake and it seems to work.

The relationship between Jaune and Charlotte deteriorates as Blake becomes increasingly convinced that she's trying to sabotage Jaune. Pushing Charlotte away and bonding more deeply with Blake who becomes increasingly the only person Jaune can recognise, he lets slip that he's in love with her. Blake at first rejects the notion, but while at a festival in his home village, agrees to pursue a relationship.

At this point it's revealed to the reader but not the characters that the last Prime Evil they fought didn't die. It's actually a possession-type Grimm and takes over Adam's corpse.

AWBR goes back to Lambent. Jaune and Blake are happy in their relationship and his memories seem to be mostly fine since linking with his family still. Only Shirou realizes the truth and calls out Jaune on it that he's faking it. Jaune reveals that he is and while at first it was better, his memory is deteriorating faster than before now. While having this conversation, The Prime Evil-possessed Adam gets into Lambent, getting past the laser system thanks to being inside a human/faunus body.

Jaune and Shirou move to stop him but it gets to the Omega and merges with it. The Omega wakes up and opens a wormhole to one of the kingdoms, destroying Lambent in the process and bringing everyone in the tower along with it. Now I never decided which Kingdom because it didn't really matter. I was leaning towards Atlas in particular because of their military strength, but again it wasn't much important. The Omega is more or less unstoppable.

So Jaune uses his Semblance and Arc Links with every single person in the Kingdom. This gives him enough power to greatly weaken the Omega but it puts everyone else out of commission and destroys his mind completely. He still manages to limp to the Omega which is now a husk about the size of a car, but he's not acting as a conscious decision but on pure instinct at this point. The Prime Evil Adam steps out from the husk of what's left to buy time for more Grimm to arrive and make the Omega strong again.

Not!Adam and Not!Jaune essentially duke it out in a straight up fist fight that ends with Jaune about to lose but the Prime Evil running out of steam and disappearing. Jaune doesn't have enough strength to destroy the Omega and Grimm arrive. Just before he dies, Penny shows up (having not been affected by Arc Link since she stores her memory on data drives) and destroys the Omega husk by self-destructing. Jaune doesn't actually recognize Penny but somewhere deep inside of himself realizes this is someone he cared for and breaks down.

Charlotte appears before him again and asks him if he would like to remember who he is. He nods and Charlotte dissolves herself down into a basis of memories, all of them containing information about who Jaune is at the expense of her own being. She fades out of existence and Jaune gets his memories back.

He goes and finds his team, but none of them recognize him. Jaune realizes that the moment he lost his memories, everyone he ever Arc Linked with also consequently lost memories of him because Jaune Arc ceased to exist, which is what Charlotte had meant when she told him he would die and it was why no one ever remembered her. This means even his family no longer recognizes him anymore.

Shirou at this point finds him and Jaune discovers that Shirou had actually rejected the Arc Link and so still remembers him. With Lambent gone and its purpose no longer needed, all the students who attended go back to their respective schools to finish out their education. Since Blake and the others don't remember Jaune, Ozpin has him withdrawn from the records. Instead, Jaune becomes an apprentice under Shirou who temporarily assumes command too of his father's company after Jacques is imprisoned for being the main conspirator behind hiding the Omega.

Several years later, Weiss graduates Beacon and assumes command of the company. Ruby and Blake become her personal guards and Jaune is reunited with them at this time. They still don't recognize him, but at a party he and Blake hit it off. Jaune decides then that if he could make Blake fall in love with him once, he could do it again and final scene was just supposed to be him happily intermingling with Ruby, Weiss, and Blake.

The End. That's more or less just the major story beats I had constructed out. Who knows how much might have changed or not as I went along and there's probably a lot of little things I would have added along the way too. It wasn't exactly meant to be a happy ending, but there was supposed to be hope for the future. Take that as you will.