Date Night

Adam ran his hand alone the side of the collapsed train. He had on a new mask, one giving to him by Mnemosyne, that was black, with red eyes and orange markings, and the crown Mnemosyne had given him now sat atop his head. Adam inhaled deeply through the nose, as he growled. He could smell both Blake and Ilia, and the humans that accompanied them. His arm started to shake slightly.

"Calm yourself," Mnemosyne said, as she floated up beside the bull, "Don't go losing control just yet." Adam just growled again, but took a breath to calm himself. He looked around; unfortunately there were no tracks with the snowfall, and the scent was somewhat muted. Meanwhile, Mnemosyne floated through the area; her smile faded into a frown. She could sense the memory of a presence, a familiar one.

"Sister," she muttered.

"What?" Adam asked, glancing towards one of his creators.

"Nothing of your concern," the Spirit of Memory answered, "They were here, of that there can be no doubt. This place remembers them."

"So where did they go?" Adam asked, approaching her.

"Find them yourself," Mnemosyne said, as she floated up and away, "I'm not your guide." Adam scowled, as he sniffed the air again. He couldn't smell much on the air, but he inhaled and exhaled, before walking down the road. He wasn't sure how or why, but he knew that was the right way to go.

(in the Cotta-Arc household)

"So that's it then?" Ilia said.

"Unfortunately, that's how it seems," Oz answered, "We certainly won't be getting any help from the Atlesians here."

The whole of the group was in the Cotta-Arc living room, discussing their next course of action. Some of them felt a little bad for the Arcs, kicking them out, but Rain and Alistair understood, and took the family out for the day.

"Maybe I could go?" Weiss suggested, "I mean, the middle child of the SDC needing to get somewhere might force the issue slightly."

"We tried name dropping you," Qrow said, "The garrison commander didn't believe us."

"I could go back with you."

"I've dealt with people like her before," Oz said, "I don't think there's anything we could do to get her to helps short of saving the city from an army of Grimm."

"So, what do we do now?" Nora asked.

"For the time being, we don't have much in the way of options," Oz explained, "I think all we can do is bide our time, and try thinking of ideas." Jaune wasn't thrilled by the prospect of imposing on Terra and Saphron like this, but Oz was right when he said their options were limited.

"Well, I say for the time we adjourn and take some time to clear our heads," Oz said, as he rose to his feet, "If there's nothing…"

"Hey Professor." Eyes were suddenly drawn to Jaune, who was sitting on the sofa with Weiss leaning against him.

"Yes, Mr. Arc?"

"There's… something that's been bothering me for a while," Jaune said, "I didn't want to bring up at the farm with who tense everything was, but I can't help it now."

"What is it?"

"Jinn said you asked her who to defeat Salem," Jaune said, "But she said we can't. Just what is your plan to beat Salem?" The air suddenly turned as thick as cement, as all eyes were now on Oz, who had tensed up visibly.

"Professor…," Oscar said slowly.

"I'll…. I'll confess," Oz said, "I don't have a conventional plan to kill Salem." With that, the hearts and faces of everyone crashes to the ground (and llia turned an unpleasant shade of grey). So that was it then? They had no way of beating Salem? How were they supposed to win this? Was any of this really worth anything?

"I know what you are going through," Oz suddenly said, getting their attention, "I once went through it myself for a while. But I learned long ago that trying to permanently defeat Salem is an exercise in futility. It's not great power or a grand strategy that slows the advance of evil, rather it's small acts of kindness and decency. Things that keep hope alive. I established the Huntsmen Academies as a way of fostering unity and hope throughout Remnant. I knew I could never defeat Salem, not on my own at least, but every day that she remains at bay is a success in my mind." The students listened to their professor in silence, considering his words. A number of them wanted to be mad at Oz for keeping these kinds of secrets from them though they supposed if his goal was to encourage positivity, maybe there was something to keeping those kinds of secrets, and at any rate, it was small stuff compared to what Darkness had been hiding from them.

"So, is there anyway?" Ren asked. Oz sighed slightly.

"The gods cursed Salem," he said, "I can only imagine that only they can undo the curse."

"The gods," Pyrrha muttered, causing them to all remember their teacher, or perhaps their former teacher. Who knew where Darkness had gone now.

"What about the Spirits?" Blake asked, "We've met Jinn, but there are still three other High Spirits out there."

"And if the Spirits we've met are anything to on," Ilia added, "I imagine they aren't friendly."

"I'm afraid I only learned about the Spirits recently myself," Oz said, tapping his cane on the floor slightly, "I have no idea what they want, let alone how to defeat them." Ruby reached onto her belt, where she had been carrying the Relic of Knowledge. They could always just as Jinn about the Spirits, but they only had one question left.

"If Darkness was here…," Jaune said softly. All of the rest of RYPJ and BRWN visibly tensed up at that. The didn't doubt that he may have been able to give them some kind of answer. But he was gone, and he had taken his magic with him. It had been some time now, and they still had an empty feeling inside of them; like a part of their very being had been taken away from them.

"Again, I can only advice you all to rest, and clear your thoughts," Oz said, "Take this as time to think about what you seek for yourselves." His eyes flashed yellow, as Oscar took back over.

"So, what now?" he asked.

"No damn idea," Qrow said, as he got to his feet, and walked right out of the house. Right after he was gone, as if on cue, the door opened back up, as the rest of the Arc family came back in.

"We're home!" Rain announced. Taking that as a cue to disband, the group spread apart, while Jaune went over to Saphron and Terra.

"Hey Saph," Jaune said, "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Saphron asked, cocking her head.

"I need advice," Jaune said after a moment. Saphron opened her mouth, paused, and made an "o" face. Terra just chuckled.

"Let me put this guy down for a nap," she said, as she took Adrian from Saphron's arms, "I think it might be best if you talk this out sister-brother." Saphron didn't protest, as she leaned on the wall, thinking.

"Well, I guess the best advice I can offer is to treat those girls right," she said, "Not that I've ever really had to worry about that with you."

"Ah look!" Azure said, as she almost materialized on her brother's right shoulder, "Our baby brother's trying to get girl advice!"

"It's cute isn't it?" Aoki said as she appeared on his other shoulder.

"Can you two please give me and Saphron some space?" Jaune said.

"No way in heck!" Azure said with a smirk.

"We ain't giving up a testing opportunity like this… GAH!" She was silenced when Violet came over and yanked her by the ponytail.

"Uh-uh," Violet said, "I'm not letting you two get in the way of more nieces and nephews." She proceeded to drag Aoki away by the hair, while Azure, not as inclined to pursue the teasing with her twin, followed.

"What's this about Jaune needing girl advice?" Alistair said as he approached. Saphron groaned at that slightly.

"Dad," she said, "I think…"

"Son, if you want girl advice…," Alistair began, as he put his hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"Oh no," Rain said, as she blocked her husband, "I will not have Jaune at the mercy of your bad tactics." She then looked at her son.

"Sweetheart," she said, "The best advice I can offer is to do whatever you can to make them happy. Despite what your father may have taught you, that's how we've stayed married for thirty years now." Jaune looked back to Ruby and Weiss, who were talking. He then got an idea…

(sometime later)

Ilia sat outside on the patio, watching Jade and Violet Arc playing with Flynn, Lapis, and Lazuli, contemplating everything that happened to her in the fast couple weeks. If she had told the Ilia from just a month that she'd be on an adventure with humans tons ave the world from an ancient evil cursed by the gods, that chameleon would've laughed in her face. And yet here she was. It still didn't seem real as she looked up at the sky above her.

"You look like you could use some company." Ilia looked, to see Hunter coming up her, holding two cups of tea.

"Do you mind?" he asked.

"Sure," Ilia answered, after a moment, as she scooted over on the bench so Hunter could sit down next to her, offering her one of the cups, which she took. She glanced over at Hunter as she sipped it, surprised by the taste.

"Is this Menagerie tea?" she asked.

"It is," Hunter answered with a nod, "They've actually got in the grocery store here." Ilia wasn't sure why that surprised her, but it did.

"Do you miss Menagerie?" she then asked.

"Oh, I'm not from Menagerie," Hunter said, shaking his head. Now that did really surprise Ilia, and this time she knew why.

"I was born and grew up Reflection, like Milly," Hunter explained, "I've never even been to Menagerie."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, humans aren't exactly welcome there," the octopus answered, "And I'm not going anywhere unless I know my wife can come with me."

"Your wife…"

"Yeah, is that an issue?" Ilia flinched, not realizing she had said that out loud. Hunter didn't say anything, as he took another sip from his cup.

"No! It's just…"

"I know what you meant," Hunter said, as he looked into his tea cup, "While Milly get's the occasional weird looks from humans, I get them from other Faunus. Everyone's wondering why I married a human, but it happened, and I had three kids with a human." Ilia looked at the children, playing with their aunts.

"Do your parents…," she began.

"My parents are completely okay with all of this," Hunter explained, setting his tea on the table, "No one can help who they fall in love with. I fell in love with a human, it's just what it is." Ilia's teeth clenched, as she stared into her cup, starting to feel ashamed of herself. He was right, and she knew it, no one could help who they fell in love with; there was definitely nothing wrong with a Faunus marrying a human. Ilia knew that, so why did she feel this way?

"Hey Hunter!" Terra said, as she stepped out, "Have you seen… oh, sorry."

"Oh, it's okay," Ilia said, as she started to stand up, "I was just leaving."

"No, it's fine," Terra said, as she stood on Ilia's side, "What're you talking about?"

"Just about how I met Milly," Hunter answered. That was a lie, and Terra seemed to know that, but didn't press the topic.

"So, Ilia," Terra said, "Have you got a special someone?"

"No," Ilia said, sounding somewhat sadder than she meant.

"You know," Terra said, leaning down, "Violet's actually bi, and I heard she thinks you're cute." Ilia sat up in surprise at that, as she looked at Terra, then at Violet, who glanced over in her direction, and gave Ilia a warm smile.

"How'd you…," Ilia began.

"Sister, you think I can't see how you look at Blake?" Terra asked, arching an eyebrow. Ilia's brow furrowed slightly, apparently still unsure about the prospect of dating a human.

"For what it's worth, and I think Terra will back me up on this, " the octopus said, as he rose to his feet, patting the chameleon's shoulder while he used a tentacle to take his cup, "'You can never go wrong with an Arc." Terra patted Ilia's other shoulder, as the two Arc-in-laws walked back into the house, leaving the girl to consider what she was told.

(in downtown Argus)

With them looking to be stuck in Argus for a while, Saphron had recommended a nice restaurant to Jaune to take the girls to, but it was a rather… pricey. So instead, Terra recommended a hole-in-the-wall cafe. Nothing too fancy, but good for a quite date, which Jaune certainly wanted. So there Jaune was, standing in front of the restaurant, holding a red rose, a white rose, and a small bag in his other hand, as he looked out for his girlfriends.

"There he is!" Jaune glanced over his shoulder, to see Ruby and Weiss approaching together.

"H…. Hey," he said, as he nervously waved, as he offered them their respective roses, "These are for you."

"Thank you," Weiss said, as she took her rose, and kissed him on the cheek. Ruby took her's as well, as she flushed as red as the rose she had.

"What's that?" she then asked, gesturing to the bag Jaune had.

"It's a surprise," Jaune answered, "Let's go in." He then lead them into the cafe, where they found a table.

"This place is nice," Ruby said, looking around. Weiss would've made a "for what it is" comment, but didn't want to ruin the moment, so she just nodded in agreement. An awkward silence then set in over the table, as they tried to figure out what to talk about. Jaune considered talking about dragons, but then remembered it'd be too soon; Ruby wanted to talk about weapons, but figured she'd end up doing most of the talking; Weiss thought about talking about Dust, but thought it would go uncomfortable places. Eventually, Ruby decided to take the plunge.

"So, what's it like growing up with seven sisters?" she asked. Jaune looked to answer, but paused. Just what would the word be?

"Hectic," he finally said.

"No kidding," Ruby said, "Growing up with Yang was crazy enough."

"Certainly leagues different than growing up with Winter I suspect," Weiss commented.

"I heard you also had a brother, right?" Jaune said. He quickly regretted asking that, as Weiss looked away slightly, clearly not comfortable with the subject.

"Sorry," he said, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"It's fine," Weiss answered, "I did, his name's Whitley, but neither Winter nor I were ever close with him. I'm honestly not sure why, it just never happened." Eager to change the subject, Ruby quickly scanned her mind for something else to talk about.

"Speaking of siblings, I heard from Blake that your sister's a writer," she said.

"She is," Jaune said, "Seeing her reading Cyan's novels, it was hard not to tell Blake."

"I just don't understand that appeal of those dirty works," Weiss said, rolling her eyes slightly.

"That's right!" Ruby said, "It's filth! Filth!"

"You sound like my mom now," Jaune said, laughing slightly, "You should've seen her face when Cyan published her first…. adult book."

"Give me a sci-fi or fantasy any day," Ruby said, with a confident nod.

"Finally," Jaune said, spreading his hands," Something else get's it!"

"I can't wait for the next volume of Starblade to come out! I want to see what happens to Eldza!"

"Really?" Jaune said, "I'm more of an Ildza fan."

"Blasphemy!" Ruby accused. Weiss just rolled her eyes as the two geeked out.

"Come on, Weiss," Jaune said with a slight smile, as he noticed the rolling, "I know you're a fan."

"What're you talking about?"

"Nora… may have told me that you have a secret stash of science fiction." Weiss suddenly flushed red, as she looked away.

"Well, anyone can enjoy a well written piece of imagination," she then said.

"I knew you were one of us," Ruby said, poking her friend slightly with a smile.

"It's not like that!" Weiss protested, as the other two laughed. As the group's spirits were lifting, Jaune decided to take the plunge, as he picked the bag up.

"I… got you both some things," he said, as he reached in. That quickly got both girls' attention, as they leaned forward.

"Ruby," Jaune said, "Saphron told me about a really good bakery in town, so…" He then pulled out a small plastic bag filled with cookies. Ruby's eyes lit up, as she saw the cookies, and she snatched them from him.

"You're the best boyfriend ever!" Ruby said, as she leapt over the table, and embraced Jaune, kissing him on the cheek, attracting the attention of a few of the others there. Weiss couldn't help but laugh at that slightly, suspecting that this was going to come up a lot in this relationship. Once Ruby had her time, and was diving into her gift, Jaune turned to Weiss.

"Nora… may have also told me about the stuffed Ursa you had at Beacon," Jaune said, "And how you left it in Atlas when you ran away." Weiss coughed slightly, making a mental note to speak with her partner after this.

"So," Jaune said, as he reached into the other bag, "I got you this." He then held up a little stuffed dragon. It was like the one the girls had seen with in the Arc family photos, only white. Jaune had debated whether or not it'd be in good taste considering all that was happening with them, but thought it was still good. After a moment, Weiss took it, and looked into its blue eyes. Her response was certainly less subdued than Ruby's, but it was no less warm when she bent over, and kissed him gently.

"Thank you," she said, with the warmest smile anyone could give. That gift giving set the tone for the evening, as the three ordered their food, and enjoyed each other's presence, until Weiss had to excuse herself to the bathroom, leaving Jaune with Ruby.

"You know," Ruby said, as she leaned forward, "I'm glad we tried this."

"So am I," Jaune answered, as he put his hand over her's. The two smiled at each other, as Jaune looked into silver's eyes, before he blinked slightly.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"I was just thinking back to the farm," Jaune said, "The way you turned the Wendigo to stone." Though neither teen noticed it, an elderly woman sitting nearby perked up slightly.

"Yeah…. I don't know how I did that," Ruby said, as she frowned, "I mean, the last time I did it, I turned the Wyvern in Beacon to stone."

"Could it have something to do with your eyes?"

"I mean, I guess it could," Ruby said, remembering what Oz and Qrow told her about Silver Eyed People, "But I don't get how it could."

"Pardon me," an elderly voice said, getting her and Jaune's attention. They looked over to see a little old lady with her hair in a braid, with blue clothes and a skull-themed cane. But her most notable trait were her eyes, which were mechanical.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your… date, I assume?" she asked, "My name is Maria, Maria Calavera. I couldn't help but over hear your talk. You said you have silver eyes?"

"Uh… yeah," Ruby answered, nodding. This woman, Maria, frowned, as she looked closely at the girl in red.

"I don't want to ruin your time with your boyfriend," she said, "So I'll just say that if you want to learn a little bit more about your eyes, come to the park tomorrow at noon." Not waiting for an answer, Maria hobbled away, as Ruby watched.

"I'm back," Weiss said, as she came over, "Who was that?"

"I really don't know," Jaune answered. But Ruby remained silent, as she stared after the woman.

Note: Another quiet chapter, save for the beginning with Adam of course. It seems there's something off about him.

So Oz get's confronted about his lack of a plan in this chapter, but since the group has had some time to cool off, they don't all lash out of him. So that means he'll be sticking around for the time.

I didn't think in canon Ilia was really confronted with her personal (but I suppose understandable) prejudices against humans, so I thought it would be appropriate if she had a scene dedicated to dealing with it. Beyond that, I wanted Jaune to go out on a real date with the girls; it also offered a chance to finally introduce Maria. I knew she had to be included, she was an important part of the story; Oz wasn't sufficient to teach Ruby about her eyes.

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