AN: Hey guys, sorry it's taken forever. Over the last month I had two exams, two projects due as well as I joined a band as a bass player, which is where I've put the majority of my creative energy. Also, you know that you take forever to write a chapter when the new TOOL Album gets a confirmed release date (for you non-Tool fans, their last album was released in 2006). I've decided to break this chapter into two parts, although not sure when the other will be posted, hopefully I'll get around to it soon. More A/N at the bottom, hope you enjoy!
Jeanne watched her dumbass of a twin spar with her teammate in the arena below. JNP, along with Orion, were currently sitting in the bleachers of the combat classroom, watching Ren and Jaune practice hand to hand combat. The previous day went uneventful, unlike its predecessors, and the group of students were hoping that it stayed that way.
Jaune had approached Ren early that Sunday morning, and asked him if the two of them could practice close quarters combat. When asked, Jaune stated that Orion and Pyrrha would outperform him, whereas he didn't know his sisters own level and didn't want to risk injury against Nora.
She watched as Jaune shot his Grimmoire arm forward, only for Ren to lean to his right and dodge. Ren grabbed Jaune's Grimmoire and threw the Set onto the ground, before kneeling down to him and putting a knife-hand by his neck. The two boys remained there for a minute, before Jaune conceded to Ren. The ninja helped the grim reaper back up as they both walked off to the edge of the arena to grab a drink of water.
"Hey Ren, mind if I use the Grimmoire in this next set?" Jaune asked. "I want to try practicing with the Ruby Flame."
"I have no problems." Ren answered. "Just make sure to know your limits. And please… don't end my life quite yet. I still have some ambitions."
"Like what? Rob a bank?" Jaune joked as he channeled his aura into his Grimmoire.
"Something like that." Ren responded, getting into his fighting stance. He saw Jaune turn to Orion and raise his Grimmoire.
"How do I activate only the Ruby Flame?" He called out as he pointed to the restrictor on his arm.
"Call it like the Azure, but say 'Ruby Flame Ignite' instead of 'Azure Flame Activate'." Orion answered.
"Alright." Jaune said to no one in particular. "Restriction 666 released, Dimensional Interference Field Deployed, Ruby Flame… IGNITE!" He called out as the restrictor opened and a red flame raced up his arm. He channeled it to his other arm and held it there for a few seconds, before moving it down and repeating it with both of his legs.
"You have enough time for only one round." Orion informed. "Due to the fact that you're still inexperienced with it, it will run out faster. The more you practice, the stronger it will become and the slower it will eat up aura."
"Understood." Jaune called back, before getting into his stance. He had his right leg behind him, with his arms positioned at the waistline, slanting upwards. His right arm was behind his left, due to how his body was positioned. "Well, come on then!"
Ren listened and shot off towards Jaune, dodging his high kick, and following through with a strike to the back. He felt it connect and the felt a heel to the side of his head as he saw Jaune regain his footing.
"So the Ruby Flame makes you faster?" Ren inquired, repositioning himself.
"Sort of. It enhances my physical abilities, such as speed, power, awareness and perception, as well as channel the Fire into my weapons."
"So that's what you used during the fights with Weiss and Jin?"
"Correct." Jaune finished as he lept towards the ninja, extending the Flame into his right arm.
Ren side-stepped and brought down a backhanded strike against Jaune, only for him to be grabbed and thrown a few feet away. He got back up and looked at Jaune, noticing the red flame dashing away from his eye.
"The Grimmoire is your trump card?" he asked.
"More or less." Jaune answered, getting into his stance again. Only to be surprised when Ren stood up straight and made the 'surrender' motion with his hands.
"You're going to wipe the floor with me." Ren explained. "I think that Grimmoire training might be better dealt with Orion."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Jaune answered. He still had traces of the Red Fire in his mind, as it warned him of an incoming object. He reached out with his right arm and caught a hand axe, head towards the ground, and brought it in front of him. He looked at the hilt and saw two familiar crescent moons as he sighed.
"So it is true." came a deeper tenor from the entrance. It was a voice that Jaune internally groaned at as he turned to look at the source of the voice. Standing at the entrance was Jin, but with him was another blonde slightly taller than him and held a hand axe in his left hand. He wore a blue and gold, military styled cloak as well as an Atlesian combat uniform, minus the over shirt. "The Arc bastard remains at Beacon."
"Last time I checked Yuuki was married to Iris when I was conceived." Jaune retorted. "Doesn't that make you two the bastards?"
"It's all a figure of speech, knave." the golden locked male insulted, walking towards the two teens with arrogance in his step.
"Huh, actually using a decent insult." Jaune smirked. "Hey Jin, you could learn a thing or two from tall, egotistical, and stick up his ass."
"Well I do try to teach my younger brother a few lessons."
"So… You must be Aron?" Jaune asked, tossing the hand axe up in the air.
"That is correct." Aron replied. "And I would like it if you gave me back my axe."
"And I would like it if you left me the hell alone." Jaune retorted. "But I guess we can't always get what we want."
"Fine," Aron responded, outstretching his right arm and opening his hand. As he did a purple glow emitted from his wrist as his axe flew back to him. "Well maybe we can have a family 'talk' then."
"Already had one with Jin yesterday." Jaune answered, desperately wanting to leave.
"As I recall, brother, it was a tie." Jin retorted eviley.
"I landed out of bounds while I wiped the floor with you."
"Alright this is taking too long." Aron growled as he flicked his hand axes downward as they extended. He turned them to the blunt side and slammed them together, creating a full sized battle axe. He threw his cloak aside and lept towards Jaune, who quickly manifest Hellfire and brought it up to defend himself. He pushed Aron off who landed a few feet away from him.
"So, Jin was right when he said you are our brother." Aron launched himself at Jaune and performed an over handed swing. Jaune blocked it and pushed it off, thrusting a Ruby-infused punch into his Arons chest. The Arc flew back before flipping and landing on his feet. Jaune pulled out Gematria and Gehenna, and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets onto Aron.
Only for the bullets to ricochet off him, into the walls and ground.
"Curious?" Aron asked, tilting his head as he leisurely walked towards Jaune. "It's my semblance. I can reflect any incoming damage, with twice the power at minimum." He shifted his battle axe into two hand axes, and got into a fighting stance. "I call it Distortion."
"Well, I'm calling you a pain in the ass" Jaune shouted, channeling the Ruby flame into Hellfire, determined to end the fight.
Ren had moved closer to the stands, as to not get hit by collateral damage by the two fighters. As he observed he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head slightly, he saw Jin move to grab his katana. Ren shot Stormflower out into his right hand and held the blade up to Jin's neck.
"If you wish to join, just know that you will have my team and Orion to fight as well." Ren informed. He watched Jin nod, and place his katana back down.
"I seem to have underestimated Jaune." he commented, watching his twin swing both axes at his step brother.
"It seems as though a lot of people are these days." Ren answered, remembering the fights with Weiss and Tang. "I fear the day that Jaune lets it go to his head."
"Why is that?"
"Well, before becoming a Set, he was very unconfident with his skill and abilities." Ren informed, "however, he left for a month to train with the clan, and he's starting to gain some confidence."
"Shouldn't you be happy for him?"
"I am, however I'm worried that it he might get too confident to quick, overestimate his abilities and pick a fight with someone out of his league." Ren observed. "What's made Jaune who he is, is that he never show boats, he wears his heart on his sleeve and, most of all, analyzes his enemy before attacking. His new fight style is much more aggressive, which is not his strong suit. For the time as my leader, he always played a much more defensive role."
"Interesting." Jin mused as he watched Jaune perform a Grimmoire-infused clothesline on Aron.
"Why are you asking me these questions?" Ren asked.
"Simply put, I want to know about Jaune." Jin answered. "I made the mistake earlier this week of rubbing it in his face, but…" he sighed, " if what you say is true, then he seems to be someone who I would rather have as an ally and friend rather than an enemy."
Ren smiled, "Jeanne was right about you." Jin looked at him in confusion. "She told us that you have your moments of not being problematic."
Jin smirked in return. "Believe me, it's Aron that's the annoying one. He takes after father way to much."
The two of them silently observed Jaune and Aron continue to fight. It was obvious to the crowd that they were starting to tire. Ren looked closer at Jaune and saw black and blue veins crawling up the right side of his neck and below his ear.
In the stands, Orion noticed the same concern. The major difference is that he knew what was happening, and he had to stop it fast.
"JAUNE YOU IDIOT! CLOSE YOUR GRIMMOIRE!" He shouted in desperation. His words fell on deaf ears as Jaune continued to fight.
"Orion, what's wrong?" Pyrrha asked in a worried voice.
"The idiot left his Grimmoire open." Orion informed. "If he leaves open any longer, he's going to lose control to the Draco Tuci."
"Draco - what now?"
"The first Grimm Hydra. It'll take over his body." Orion explained. "JAUNE CLOSE YOUR FUCKING GRIMMOIRE!"
The others quickly understood that gravity of the situation and joined in on the chant, but to no avail.
"It's not use!" Nora exclaimed. "He can't hear us. Oh no! He has his airpods in!"
Orion, Jeanne and Pyrrha looked at Nora with disappointed stares before Orion looked back and took action.
"The idiots not listening. Jeanne take care of Aron." Orion commanded. "Restriction 407 release, Dimensional Interference Field Deployed, Lateralus
Disruption Event engaged, Obsidian Flame… IGNITE!" He called out as black fire crawled up both of his arms. "I'll take care of Jaune."
Jaune felt a primal power rising up in him. As if there was an ancient power itching to take over. He was ready to obey it's command, if it meant finishing this fight. He channeled the Fire into his chest, then into his weapon and prepared to unleash an attack that could easily give him victory.
That was until he saw Jeanne jump in front of Aron and Orion jump in front of him. Orion swung Eyeless out, for Jaune to counter with Hellfire. Orion kicked Jaune back and with a flick of his wrist, turned Eyeless into its bladed whip form. He unleashed a torrent of swings at Jaune pushing him back further.
"Downward spiral." Orion called out, aiming his Grimmoire at Jaune. As he did a dark circle appeared under Jaune and pulled him down as Orion walked over with a closed fist. He sheathed Eyeless and pulled out Duality as he knelt down to Jaune.
"Close. Your. Grimmoire. Now." Orion ordered, anger adding punch to his voice, as he pushed Duality to Jaune's Grimmoire shoulder. "Or I'll remove it myself."
Intimidated by Orion and the thought of not only losing the Grimmoire but also being removed from Beacon as a result, Jaune complied. As he did, the primal energy that was building up and aching to be released, vanished, as did the lines of black and blue.
Orion pulled Jaune up, anger present in his eyes.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" Orion demanded in a hushed tone.
"I was going to win."
"You were about to lose control." Orion cut off. "What did By-Tor tell you when you met him?"
Jaune was silent for a moment, before responding. "Don't keep the Grimmoire open too long."
"What did you do?"
"I kept it open too long."
"I'm going to reinforce what Goodwitch said." Orion stated. "Get. Control. Of. Your. Emotions. Are these asshats really worth losing control over the Grimmoire?"
"No." Jaune responded, guilt starting to rise up.
"Then control your emotions, practice controlling the Grimmoire. It will take some time, but it will help you in the long run." Orion instructed, before looking over at Jeanne, who held Aron in a choke hold. "I think Jeanne has that situation under control."
"I think that would be a fair assumption." Jaune responded. "I'm going go get cleaned up." He let his weapons disperse as he slowly walked off the stage and in to the change rooms. After getting changed, he walked casually down the Beacon halls to his dorm, in no hurry even though the dance was that night.
When he reached the final stretch of hallway, he bumped into someone. It took him a second to realize that someone was Yang. The two of them glared at each other for a minute before Yang started to walk past him.
"That was a good fight yesterday." Jaune said, not turning around. He knew, she didn't either.
"Thanks." He heard Yang respond. "You were a bit of a challenge. Although I won't lose next time."
"Don't get too cocky." he responded with a smirk, as he entered his dorm. He checked the time and realized that he still had a few hours before the dance. Content with this, he laid out his suit and set a timer as he fell asleep, wanting to recover from the stress that the Grimmoire had on him.
When Jaune arrived at the dance, he saw Yang greet the guests and gave her a polite nod, receiving one in return. He looked around and saw Jeanne chatting up a few other students, evidently making new friends. Nora and Ren were together, not together-together though. That would be weird. The two of them were dancing what seemed to be a traditional Mistralian dance, obviously a nod to their heritage. He saw Blake and Sun dancing together, Blake wore a content smile, while Sun wore one of the goofiest grins he'd ever seen.
He looked over to the punch bowl and saw Ruby standing alone and decided to give her some company. Along the way, he looked around, noticing that Orion kept his word about not showing up. He wished that Orion wasn't so anti-social.
"So you're awkwardly hanging out by the punch bowl too?" Jaune asked his fellow leader.
"Yeah." Ruby pouted. "It's hard to find a date when your sister is Yang Xiao Long. I mean, they look at me and then at her. They either ask her out, or they turn away in fear."
Jaune chuckled at his friends misfortune. "She does have a very… eh, outgoing, personality."
"Jaune. Set." Ruby enunciated, while sending glare to Jaune. Or she tried to, as she looked more like an angry puppy, rather than intimidating. "Are you telling me, that you wish to hold hands with my sister?"
"What? No. I was commenting on the fact that she can be intimidating and… friendly?" Jaune offered, slowly shrugging.
Ruby continued to give her 'angry puppy' glare, before smiling and lightly punching Jaune. "I'm just messin' with ya, Vomit Boy."
"Good to know that, Crater Face." Jaune responded, taking a sip of punch. He felt a repeating tug on his Grimmoire, and looked down to see Ruby pulling on it. "What are you doing?"
Ruby snickered for a second before answering. "I'm pulling your Devil Trigger."
It took Jaune a second to realize what Ruby was saying, before giggling at his friends antics. "Don't ever change Rubes." he sighed.
"Don't worry." She responded, confidently. "I don't plan on it."
The two of them stood there in a comfortable silence as they finished their drinks. After a few moments, Jaune extended his hand towards Ruby.
"May I offer you a dance?"
"Even though Yang would kill you?"
"She could try."
"Hmmm… Sure!" Ruby agreed, taking his hand. The two of them walked onto the floor, as Jaune led them in a slow dance. He noticed that Ruby kept stumbling, and offered that she stand on his feet. She accepted the offer and lightly headbutted him as she heard him giggle.
Jaune continued to lead her in a dance as he met Yangs eyes. She gestured at him that she was watching the two of them. He nodded in acknowledgement as he continued to dance with Ruby.
The two of them continued to the end of the song and into the next one. Ruby soon leaned in and rested her head on Jaune's chest, letting herself relax into what she thought was going to be a nightmare. She let herself close her eyes and grew a soft smile as she felt Jaune move the two of them to the rhythm of the music.
"Thank you." she heard Jaune say in a hushed tone. She looked up and saw that he had a smile that she hadn't seen in over two months. She saw his genuine, goofball, Jaune smile. And it warmed her seeing it again.
"For what?"
"For not giving up on me." Jaune replied. There was happiness choking up his voice. "For not caring about my transcripts. Thank you for being my first friend at Beacon." He finished, letting the happiness wash over him. Ruby turned her head and saw Jeanne looking at them with a raised eyebrow. Embarrassed, she turned away in the other direction.
"I guess I should thank you as well then." Ruby replied. "For being my first friend at Beacon. For helping me out of that crater. For not caring about my quirks and love of weapons. Thanks for staying with me, Vomit Boy."
"Anytime, Crater Face." Jaune replied, his voice was returning back to normal again, although it still had happy tones to it. "Where's Pyrrha?" he asked, noticing the lack of a certain spartan.
"She's here somewhere, although she came alone." Ruby pouted. "I thought she would've come with someone."
"Dammit." Jaune chuckled. "Thank Oum, Jeanne and I are the same size."
"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked, looking up in curiosity.
"I told Pyrrha that if by some miracle didn't have a date, I'd wear a dress." Jaune answered. "So I might need to leave to get changed, before I offer her a dance."
"I could dance with her as a distraction?"
"Good plan." Jaune responded with a smirk. They turned around in another swing, and he watched Neptune climb a set of stairs to the balcony. "I thought Neptune was going with Weiss?"
"Weiss asked him out, but he turned her down."
"Did he say why?"
"No," Ruby pouted. "He didn't."
"I'm going to go talk some sense into him." Jaune told her as he walked towards the stairs.
To say Blake was having a good night was an understatement. She had originally planned on looking into Roman Torchwick and his affiliations with the White Fang, in order to guess where they would strike next. However, Yang had worn her down and she agreed to come to the dance, arriving with Sun. They had moved around on the floor, sharing several dances, until Sun made way for Yang to give Blake the dance she was promised.
Blake was happy. And it had been a long time since she had felt this way. It felt… liberating. Relaxing. Knowing that her friends were here for her and that they enjoyed her company and who she was.
Yang and Blake had shared several dances, before Yang popped a question.
"Hey Blake, mind if I dance with Mr. Stowaway?" Yang asked, nodding to Sun.
She smiled, before answering. "Sure, I need a little fresh air anyway." She let go of Yang's hands, watching one blonde walk to another blonde and extend a hand. She walked off to the side and, giggled as she watched them stumble as both of them tried to lead the dance. They finally started moving, as Sun allowed Yang to lead. Blake smiled at the two of them before turning for the stairs.
She was in need of some fresh air. She was enjoying the dance, but there were too many people in one place.
When she reached the doors, she paused as her cat ears picked something up from the otherside. Thankfully, the song was dying down so it was easier for her to hear it.
"You turned down Weiss?" came a voice that sounded like Jaune's. "Seriously, she's beautiful, smart, funny, has a great voice. And she asked you!"
"I know," came Neptune's voice. "It's just that, it feels wrong. You were going after her first it feels like I'm stealing her from you."
"Newsflash, jackass she's not an object, she's a person." Jaune retorted.
'Wow, Jaune's really giving it to Neptune right now.' Blake thought.
"I know, I know, but I'm not sure if I want to that's the thing." Neptune continued "Also the way she bad mouthed y-"
"I don't care that she bad mouthed me." Jaune interrupted. "I've been bad mouthed my entire life. The difference between her and the other assholes, is that she explained her actions and apologized. She and I are working out our trust with each other right now, so stop using me pining over her as an excu-"
"I can't dance!" Neptune exclaimed, interrupting Jaune's rant.
"You… what?"
"I spent years perfecting the 'cool' look, I can't go out there and make a fool of myself."
"Dude, I'm about to put on a dress and dance with Pyrrha-freaking-Nikos. For love of Oum above, swallow up your ego, and make her night already."
There was a pause hanging in the air, before she heard Neptune speak up again.
"Alright. I can do this."
"You sure? Don't need me to rip your head out of your ass?" Jaune offered.
"I'm good, really." Neptune answered. Blake heard him approach the door. She backed up to the top of the steps and turned around and moved at a slow pace. She was a few feet from the door when it opened up, revealing a nervous Neptune re-entering the building.
"Oh hey… Blake right?" Neptune offered, putting one hand on the back of his head.
Blake looked at him for a few seconds before pointing to Beacons, Ice Queen. "She's right over there." She said before grabbing his shirt. "Don't disappoint her. She likes you."
"Eh… got it." He nervously chuckled as he walked off.
Blake watched him walk over to Weiss and start talking with her, watching her downcast emotions disappear. She smiled as she watched the two of them, before heading out to the balcony.
Jaune looked out a the Beacon grounds and the faint glow of Vale in the background. He was enjoying himself tonight. He danced with Ruby, someone who he cared about, and now he was about to look like an idiot to cheer up a friend. He didn't care that people would be laughing at him, he made a promise and he planned on keeping it.
"I heard you going pretty hard at Neptune." came a voice from behind him. He turned around and saw Blake standing in front of the door, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Yeah… someone had to get his head out of his ass." Jaune responded, letting the quiet resurface. The two of them stood there for s few minutes not really sure what to say. Then Blake broke the silence.
"You and Weiss seemed to be getting along."
Jaune nodded at this. "It's because he wants to change who she is. You'd probably know that better than anyone else."
"Because of my ears?"
"I was gonna say because of your past, but yeah that too."
"How did you find out abo-"
"Orion told me." Jaune answered. "He told me the first day he saw I was at Beacon."
Blake looked at Jaune suspiciously, as if to assess whether or not he was going to take action on the information.
"Are you going to tell everyone?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at Jaune. The question hung in the air for a moment, tension building, before Jaune decided to answer.
"No." He responded. "I don't care about someone's past. They did what they did and no one can change that. But you can use it to change what will happen." He walked over to the railing and leaned on it, before continuing. "You can't change the past, but you can influence the future."
"When did you become a philosopher?" Blake joked, joining him on the railing.
"One of the first things that Orion taught me while he wiped the floor with me at the Set home camp, was philosophical thinking. How to observe life, and question why things happen the way they do and how people act with one another." Jaune answered, turning his head to Blake. "Which brings up the question, what happened in your past?"
Blake hesitated, which didn't go unnoticed by Jaune.
"If you don't want to answer, I understand."
Which was true. He wasn't saying that to be nice, he was saying that because a person's past is theirs. They get to choose who to share it with. The two stood in silence, looking out at the city of Vale, enjoying the view, until Blake answered.
"During my time in the Fang, I fell in love with my mentor, who also happened to be one of the more radical leaders." Blake answered. "His name was Adam Taurus."
Like a piece in a puzzle, everything made sense to Jaune. Why Blake left him that night, it's because she was scared of what could happen. She had seen it before. He didn't know to what extremes but from her tone of voice, it didn't sound good.
"I'm not sure what to say." Jaune answered. Blake confessing her past to Jaune was a big deal. And a big show of trust.
"Then don't." Blake responded. "I'm not looking for sympathy. Or empathy. You asked, I answered."
Jaune nodded at this before speaking back up. "So that's why you left that night? You experienced betrayal before."
There was a pregnant pause, that hung in the air. Jaune realized that he may have overstepped when he asked the question, but Blake spoke up again.
"Yes." she answered. "And so much more." she finished quietly. Jaune looked back out to the city of Vale, before remembering a promise, that he had to keep. He smiled, as he turned to leave.
"You may have had your reasons, but you and I still have a way to go if you want to be on the same page as me." Jaune told her. "If you don't want to do it for you, fine. But maybe you should do it for your team leader."
"I'll keep that in mind." Blake answered. "Where are you going?"
"To get my sisters dress." Jaune answered, approaching the doors. "I have a promise to keep."
A/N: So Blake and Jaune have started talking again, which is good, however Jaune has made it clear that he's not just going to roll over and accept an apology. The next chapter will have the attack on the CCT as well as the aftermath and the beginning of the mission. This was another chapter that I struggled writing with, which might also be due to the fact that I have to follow the canon a little bit more closely right now. I am planning on putting a chapter or two in between Vol 2 and 3, just to help build some of the secondary characters.
ALSO! I'd like to thank LordHellPhoenix for letting me borrow the Distortion semblance from his story of the same name. It was updated recently and you should probably go check that out as well as his other stories.
I've made the decision to limit the amount of musical references. They were fun while I wrote them, but in hindsight, they take people out of the story. I'm also planning to end the book at the end of Vol 3, and continue it in another book, following the group in Vol 4-6.
Finally, I've been toying with removing 'Undertow' and potentially 'The Arc-verse'. Both were cool concepts when they were originally being written, however the drive for them isn't there anymore. I'll probably make the decision within a month, however if someone wants to adopt either, then be my guest.
AND NOW! Review Response:
Sabert00thsa: I probably should have explained it a little bit better, but Syrinx resides on the top-most layer of AEnema, on the Azure Schism.
And that's all there were.
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!
-Nouget
