A/N: Nothing much to say... Enjoy!

Beta: Prince of Austria

"Jaune? Jaune, where are you going?"

Pyrrha hurried to follow the frantic boy, which was harder to do than it sounded when she took an extra second to excuse herself every time she bumped into someone. The crowd that came to the Vytal Festival was enormous, and anyone attempting to make their way through the crowds would sooner become inundated by the lazy flow than defeat it. Luckily, Huntsmen and Huntresses seemed to have an easier and harder time getting through crowds.

Someone as famous as the great Pyrrha Nikos was giving a respectable amount of space, but was also flooded with many fans, all of them excitedly chattering away, hoping to get a picture, get an autograph, get a piece of her clothing. It was crazy, and someone as polite as Pyrrha always had a hard time navigating these waters.

Jaune, on the other hand, was quickly given wide berth when people saw the rushed stance that he had, as well as the ferocious scowl that was sported on his face.

"Jaune- oh I'm so sorry, oh yes, of course I'll sign this for you, can you give me a second, I need to—" Pyrrha made a frustrated noise deep in her throat, unable to follow as Jaune slowly faded from her sight. A hand touched her shoulder and she spun around, fake smile adorning her face before it changed to a relieved look, Pyrrha finding Blake to be on the other end of it.

"Where?" The faunus asked quietly, her tone promising that she would find him in Pyrrha's place. The Amazon pointed in Jaune's direction, where Blake simply nodded and disappeared into the crowd so quickly that Pyrrha lost track of her after she blinked once. Sighing in resignation, the girl turned and focused her attention on a ten-year old boy holding one of her old tournament photos, grinning widely as he waited for her to sign it.

Someone rescue me please, Pyrrha thought to herself as she moved from person to person, talking and signing and posing until her head, hands, and cheeks hurt.

"Oh Pyrrha, I'm glad I found you!" A blur of red appeared beside the tall girl, gently colliding with her before the blur grabbed her hands. "We need to go, there's some, uh, Huntress business that we need to take care of!" Ruby had her hood up, probably to shield herself from any paparazzi and fan phones that wanted to take pictures of her. Or maybe it was just Ruby being her regular shy self, something Pyrrha was leaning towards as she spotted a huge blush across her face.

"Huntress business? What sort of- oh!" Pyrrha exclaimed after seeing Ruby's cute glare, the Amazon's hand slapping across her lips. "Of, of course, that Huntress business!" Turning to the adoring fans, she bowed low. "I'm sorry, but I have to go and take care of this.. urgent matter. I hope to see you all again!" She said, wishing in her heart of hearts the complete opposite. Eventually the crowd parted reluctantly, allowing the girls to take off, not letting up the pace until they only heard silence.

Both of them leaned on a nearby wall in the alleyway, panting heavily, happy that they were able to avoid the crowds. Red hair whipped around as Pyrrha looked at Ruby, her eyes sparkling.

"Thank you for saving me."

The younger girl's face, red from running, turned redder from the Amazon's gratitude.

"It was nothing." Ruby squeaked out, her hand fumbling to find her hood and pull it back up over her head. Pyrrha's hand shot out and stopped it from happening, before she leaned over, a blush gracing her face as well.

"No." Pyrrha said, stopping the girl. "Thank you."

Ruby simply turned away, not able to blush anymore than this.

"Okay."

"Would you mind telling me why you're in such a hurry?"

Jaune turned to find Blake walking beside him, eyes focused on weaving in and out of the crowd to keep up with the boy.

"There's something wrong." The alchemist stated, not caring to elaborate as he reached Beacon's entrance. There was a lot less people around here, as it was far enough away from the amenities that the only people there were students of Beacon or tourists that wanted to take pictures of the building. Jaune skipped past the lines and flashed his scroll to the electronic reader, the gate opening quickly to let him in. Blake did the same as well, continuing to accompany him.

"You mean the fact that you couldn't transmute anything?"

He nodded, turning a corner after he entered the building. "Like I said before, I should almost always be able to use a circle. There's something interfering with it, and I need to find out what it is." Jaune shook his head, biting his lip in worry. "Because whatever it is, it can't be good." The blonde made a pleased sound as he reached the doorway to his room, muttering quietly to himself as he unlocked the door.

"So, what, you're going to look through the notes to find out what could be happening?"

Jaune pointed a finger at Blake, nodding . "Bingo. I just need to… find… ah, here you go." Jaune pulled out a folder of notes and flipped it over, frowning as he looked at the complex seal that he created on it. Stroking the spine of the folder, he cursed, having forgotten that the only way to open up his notes was by alchemy, something that wasn't available to him at the moment. Slamming it back onto the table, Jaune started to pace angrily across the floor, his mind whirling to try and figure out a plan.

He could go through every single book that he's read, but that would be utterly time consuming, as well as meaning to have to go back to Ozpin. He looked briefly at Blake, who looked concerned for him, before sighing, shaking his head.

"Sorry. I should probably… relax a bit. Just because I can't use alchemy doesn't mean it's the end of the world, right?" Jaune forced a smile, not believing a single word he had just said. Blake didn't believe it either, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"What do we need to do?" She drawled out, eyes focused on him. The boy shut his eyes, fingers rapping against the top of the table.

"We need to go back to the Colosseum. Investigate there. I mean, it's probably the best place—"

Blake took a step closer as Jaune stopped talking, wondering if something had happened. "Jaune? Are you alright?"

"My book. It's gone." Jaune said numbly, before diving into his drawers, pulling everything out. "Where is it?!" He knelt and looked under the beds, even lifting up the carpets as if expecting it to be there. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." He muttered, panic stricken on his face.

"What are you talking about Jaune?" The cat faunus grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around to see his eyes wide.

"My journal! The one, the one that I usually have whenever I'm reading my books?" Jaune gestured wildly around with his hands, before putting them both on his hair, ruffling it. "I couldn't have misplaced it, no, I usually keep it in my drawer… Dust, dust, dust."

"Jaune." Blake called out, trying to get his attention. She leaned over and grabbed him again, getting him to stand still. "Jaune!" This time he looked up at her, eyes wide at how close the two of them suddenly were. "Focus. Please. Where was the last place you remembered putting it?"

"In my pocket." Jaune replied quickly. "I usually carry it around with me, but going back into my room reminded me that I should've had it." He bit the tip of his thumbnail in worry. "We have to go back to the Colosseum now. I probably dropped it there somewhere. We need to find it. Now."

Cinder fingered the book that she held in her hand, looking at it curiously. Turning it over several times, she inspected it carefully. The book was a sleek black, and if it wasn't for the fact that she could bend it and feel sheets of paper crinkling inside of it, she wouldn't have known it was a book.

"And pray tell, what does taking this book have to do with me?" Cinder asked quietly, balefully glaring at the kneeling girl.

"I-I was thinking that maybe you could use it somehow." Emerald replied back shakily, not daring to look at her boss. "The alc- the boy who uses alchemy, he's always writing things down on it, so I was thinking that maybe you could—"

"Do nothing with it." Cinder interrupted, causing Emerald to look up and see Cinder's unimpressed stare. The woman clad in red held up the open book, having unraveled the alchemist bind that was put on it, and revealed all the contents inside. There wasn't much that Emerald could figure out though, as every line in the notebook was a mess of scribbles and shapes, undecipherable to the green-haired girl.

"I-it's in a cipher." Emerald muttered, stunned. Who codes their work and seals it?

"Well, I am glad that you can at least figure that much." Cinder snapped, tossing the book back at Emerald, who flinched as it tumbled towards her. "I'm glad that you did stole the book." Emerald's heart rose up in hope. "Now I can be assured that the boy will be suspicious of what is happening." Cinder dismissed Emerald with a single hand. "I'm glad that you can figure out how to make my plans ever the more complicated. I'm sure you won't mind me complicating your plans either."

Emerald winced, bowing her head again. "I-I have no plans ma'am."

Cinder laughed, walking up to the girl in front of her. "No?" She asked quietly, kneeling down and grabbing Emerald's chin. "Then I guess I will have to find something else to complicate instead."

Emerald shivered in fear as the lines underneath her feet pulsed with light, counting down the time until the world ended.