Okay, I'm back, sorry for the long wait life has been hit me like a chocolate addicted kid to a pinata. I haven't been in the mood to write anything last week. I'm going to try and get chapter twenty-two done by next Saturday but I can't guarantee anything as it stands.

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"Are you sure we can train tonight?" Jaune asked Pyrrha they were also to the locker room to prepare for their nightly training sessions.

"Yes, you're improving with parrying and I'd like to see where we can take your offensive tonight."

Amber hummed at that, going from using his sword to a more shield oriented defense took time but Jaune was using it whenever Pyrrha's blade came down.

"Am I getting closer to knocking you down?" To Jaune, if his butt wasn't hitting the ground she was going easy on him, it had become part of the routine at this point.

"I'd encourage you to keep trying, I love watching you fall on the ground." She laughed as Jaune pouted, his rear was always sore after her training.

Once inside Pyrrha had to collect her gear and leave to a more secluded room, while Jaune had a few armor plates to fit on him she had a whole outfit and needed more privacy for it.

"You should spend more time with her." Amber said.

"Isn't that what I'm doing now?" Jaune asked as the slipped his chest plate over his head.

"Not in training you dummy, I mean casually like going out more like the club."

"I kind of don't have an infinite supply of money..." Jaune had stocked up what he could from doing jobs for people around town but there was a reason why he was dependent on cafeteria food.

"Sell my staff," Amber had no need for it and really trying to use multiple weapons seemed like a waste of time at this point. "The dust crystals could earn some lien, especially with the demand rising now."

"But it's your staff," Jaune said confused. "You made it yourself right?" She nodded. "Don't you want me to keep it?"

"I'm never going to use it again Jaune, be realistic there and sell it off," Amber said dismissively. "Selling it might give you some actual worth from it."

Jaune pick it out and stared at the crudely cut fire crystal, cheap usually didn't look nice.

"He thinks it's a sentiment to me." Amber smiled, he'd taken care of the thing because he thought she valued it beyond a tool.

It was her weapon and she was grateful to have it but if Amber ever had to ditch it there wouldn't be any hesitation behind it.

"Why do you want me to spend more time with Pyrrha- oh." She could feel Jaune coming to some form of conclusion. "You want to know more about the Mistral Champion."

A wrong conclusion.

"What? No Jaune, I think Pyrrha is trying better know you and-"

"It's okay," She could feel his face forming into a dumb grin. "I'll help you Amber, I just need to find someone who would-"

Jaune paused and his head snapped over to the door.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Amber asked and Jaune shoved the staff back into the locker and grabbed his word.

"That!" He cried as if the sound was obvious.

"Ow!" A voice familiar to Jaune cried out with pain.

"That!" Amber couldn't have missed it as he rushed out the door Crocea Mors in hand.

Once out Jaune reared his head over to see Blake of all people here and so was a brown-skinned girl that look similar somehow. He didn't have the time to ask questions when he noticed the brown hand wrapped around one of Blake's ears.

"Get off me!" His teammate cried out as desperate as the bunny Faunus did when Cardin was picking on her.

Jaune's teeth ground so hard he was almost felt his jaw lock. Instinctively his sword left it's sheath as Blake tried to remove the girls had from her head.

"Can't believe they're real!" Her assailant laughed. "What a freak!"

"Get off me!"

Blake couldn't pull back or force the arm away without causing her more pain, she looked so lost and helpless. Especially when her eyes, usually board or uncaring, looked so pleading when they locked eyes with him.

"HEY!" Jaune shouted as loudly as he vocal cords would let him and leveled his sword in a threatening manner. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

"Jaune volume please." Amber replied back but he ignored her in favor of following a protective instinct for his friend.

The girl looked unimpressed and with a hard shove knock Blake to the ground. "Back off blondie, I'm just petting your cat."

Jaune's blood boiled as Blake scrambled back, clutching her ear. She was assaulting Blake for what? Because she's a Faunus, why does that even matter?!

"Leave now or I'll-"

Her red eyes rolled and a hand produced a firearm from behind. Seeing a threat Jaune rushed forwards to swung his sword at her hand overshooting and cutting across her upper arm. She cried out in pain as aura handily flared stud the blade's apporch protecting her from the damage.

"Jaune what the hell?!" Amber cried out, Jaune barely understood her, but like an inherent aptitude Jaune borough his sword up to strike if she tried anything more.

Suddenly his weapon and armor glowed with a black haze Jaune felt himself being pulled back. He slammed into the wall and thrashed uselessly against the force nailing his body against the wood. A turn of his head reveals Pyrrha staring at him with disbelief.

"Let go!" Jaune pulled against her semblance fruitlessly.

"Why did you do that!" Amber cried.

"Pyrrha Blake needs-"

Jaune froze, Blake was no longer there and the gun that once occupied the floor had disappeared. Her attacker was on her rear with back laid flat against the wall in more shock and fear then Blake had.

"What's going on...?"

Pyrrha stared in horror, when she heard Jaune crying out in anger she rushed to get her clothes on and missed parts of her armor. She heard Blake being called out and rushed out of the changing room expecting to find him under attack by someone.

Not assaulting a defenseless student.

She wasn't clutching her arm but wasn't bleeding when she took off and the redhead remained there is able to move or even question him. Her gaze was locked on Jaune, who was franticly moving his head trying to look for something.

"J-Jaune." The boy's eyes met hers with a pleading look to them.

"W-Why did you..." Pyrrha couldn't even bring herself to ask, she'd never seen someone in such a frenzy before.

"Blake was... she was there I thought she needed... Amber I-" He pointed to where the green hair girl had been laying before with confusion clear in his voice.

"What does Blake have to do with this Jaune?!" Pyrrha cried desperately, the severity of what happened wasn't lost on her. "You... why?! Tell me anything Jaune why did you do this?!"

The equally startled look on his face only filled her with further dread, he didn't know... there was something wrong with him and Pyrrha knew she couldn't ignore it as Ms. Goodwitch rounded the corner with the girl who coward behind the Vice Headmistress.

"I'm taking it from here Ms. Nikos," Her riding crop flicked out and Jaune's sword flew over and to the teacher.

Pyrrha released Jaune as he was tugged on by Goodwitch and carried flat into the air. He didn't move or protest he act but continued to stare at the floor.

Once Pyrrha was left with her thoughts she could only think of one thing

"Amber..." She whispered.

Did he say Amber... the voice inside his head... was it responsible?

"I need to say something," Pyrrha told herself.

Jaune attacked someone, she not to say anything before because he wasn't hurting anyone nor would the anyone allow him into the school if Jaune was a danger to everyone around him.

"The rest of the team needs to know... Headmaster Ozpin should hear what I know." Pyrrha thought, would this lead to his expulsion?

Would Pyrrha lose her chance to have someone?

"I can't make this about my personal desires." She thought sadly.

"Blake was there I saw here... I was trying to... this transfer student was trying to attack me..." Jaune had acted on his instincts as he had done before however, this instance was vastly different from fighting Grimm or that guy from the docks.

Jaune had gotten a glimpse of the injury when be was thrown back onto the wall, aura was useful for healing so he wasn't the cause of anything permanent. Still having her glance up at his floating form in fear as he was carried along pulled at his heart. They reached the CTT, that Headmaster Ozpin was waiting for them still awake even though the sun had set a while time ago. Told that he had been called in advance.

Jaune was plopped unceremoniously into a waiting chair while Emerald, that was that he heard, explained what happened from Goodwitch's side. Clinging to the woman as if she was a lifeline. Jaune didn't even know the full story so he kept quiet throughout the talk.

"T-Then I ran off and found Ms. Good witch and told her I was attacked." Emerald shuddered out.

The headmaster's stern gaze had Jaune flinching in his chair as the man peered into his eyes. "What do you have to say about this Mr. Arc?"

Jaune flinched, even after the docks he hadn't heard such a tone. "I... I thought she was attack one of my teammates, Blake!"

"I was just saying hi!" She cried back still cowering behind the school's dean.

Here wasn't much Jaune felt like he could have added to this situation. He was still confused about what even occurred in the hallway to try and defend himself even if wanted to try.

The professor sighed. "If silence is your further defense then so be it. Mr. Arc, you will serve another month of detention the same you have served with Ms. Belledonna and are suspended from combat class or from having access to your gear until further notice. You will also be barred from leaving campus. A call will be sent home to your legal guardians as well." Ozpin said as if the phrase was a fill in the blanks paragraph, considering his position in a combat Academy it wouldn't surprise Jaune.

"Glynda, please escort Mr. Arc back to his dorm room." The woman looked as if she wanted to protest something but held her tongue in favor of lifting him into the air.

Jaune did and said nothing as she carried his limp body out from Beacon tower.

Although Amber had remained verbally silent thought the trip to the CCT, the sentencing from Ozpin, and the walking trip back to the dorm inside her space of Jaune's head she was anything but quiet.

"I'm such an idiot!" Amber growled at herself.

Jaune had attacked someone unprovoked, she waved to him and said hello there was no denying that. Amber saw it all from first person. He wasn't one to just go ballistic like that. There was an attack, a mental one that she thankfully wasn't effected but now that the 'victim' lingered on her mind Amber finally recognized the green-haired girl as one of her assailants.

How had Amber missed that? She saw her once before and wished someone could kick her in the rear for not noticing before. Amber started that girl dead in the eyes, was first attacked and yet a simple wardrobe change was enough to fool her!?

"Now Jaune is being framed... but why?" Her mind scrambled but no sensible conclusion would come. "Revenge is one thing but why enroll one of the thief's cronies into Beacon just for that? Why not try and take Jaune out when he left, why cause the illusion in the first place?"

There just had to be more to it than simple revenge then but what? Amber's mind bogged in a fruitless attempt to piece something together when it hit her.

"They need to know where my body is... I can feel a part of my power gone which means the thief is looking and who better to know that Ozpin." Amber thought about how foolish they would have to be to try and go after information here but they planned that ambush and managed to find a way to forcefully steal her powers.

They had to have a plan for Beacon.

The question wasn't what it was or even how to stop it.

But how Amber was supposed to warn Ozpin.

Jaune didn't know the truth and Amber didn't plan on telling him anytime soon, she never got a choice but to be thrown headfirst into that life. He had the time to grow without constantly looking over his shoulders. Whatever revenge they were planning it had to involve expulsion from Beacon perhaps ruining Jaune's life or driving him mad with illusions.

"Not going to happen little girl." Amber declared. "I can't tell Jaune the full truth about the Maidens, he'll want to dive head into Ozpin's plans and that's a choice for when he's done with his fun teenage years."

Still, that meant telling Ozpin could look like he's trying to shift this attack off him but that was a problem for when it happened.

"Jaune is being targeted for intervening not because he has the Maiden powers, still we need to prepare for anything they try and throw at him." Amber thought firmly. "I said I would help Jaune as he tried with me and by the Gods I give it my best try... even if it might be pointless in the end."

Ozpin gazed into the pod, he had hoped it would never be needed to be used but there she was. He couldn't help but sigh at the scar covering most of Amber's face. She valued her freedom but him respecting it now led her to be on permit life support awaiting what's left of her soul to be placed into another.

"How is she?" Glynda asked.

"Hasn't so much as twitched in place but vitals are normal and nothing life-threatening has happened." Ozpin sighed. "The pods are functioning as intended but what's most concerning is her aura levels. It's so small you'd be forgiven for thinking she doesn't have a soul..."

"Then we are lucky someone managed to sever the connection before the assailant managed to take all her powers away." She remarked, even if it carried little gratitude. "The thought of Salem even managing such a feat should be impossible."

"We never thought it possible to forcefully remove someone's aura until James came with his 'breakthrough'. Even then it's supposedly impossible to make anything smaller than the pods we have." He thought somberly, impossible or even limits didn't seem to apply to Salem.

Glynda moved closer to the pod and peered into the girl's closed eyes mournfully. "She still had a full life ahead of her. Has anything been found to how they located Amberand managed to create that trap?"

Ozpin's eyes darted to the side as he had pondered the same thing for almost a month now. "I'm not sure, she has a vast information network that much we know. However, Leo and Qrow were the only ones I had tracking Amber's whereabouts while she had been traveling so a leak from within doesn't feel likely."

He felt no closer to the answer that they found out who the fallen maiden was and where he could believe but what road she was on and with Qrow busy elsewhere? It was too suspicious but how Amber was found took a backseat to the current need of keeping her safe. The relic vault is the most secure place in the entire kingdom and with the pod finally installed it was the obvious choice. Anywhere else would never be as secure.

"Now about Jaune Arc." Glynda began, it was inevitable she'd try and lead a conversation towards this, she had been trying even since the incident last night.

Ozpin had read the boy's physiological file after initiation but it said nothing on having split personalities, schizophrenia or having any fits of outrage. So the boy might have been good at hiding it or it's a recent development.

"The former or the latter is anyone's guess." Ozpin thought, seeing him talking to himself in the Emerald forest should have garnered more attention then.

"I don't care what his transcripts say, he was not ready to be placed at this academy." His deputy said firmly, although when was she not? "Ms. Rose is better prepared and still had a year and a half at Signal to finish, I've seen many waitlisted with more qualifications then Mr. Arc."

"I have my reasons Glynda," Ozpin sipped his mug before turning to meet her eyes. "When he saved Amber it may have placed a target on the boy's back, whoever attacked her could be someone who holds grudges and Jaune Arc was safer here where we can more easily keep an eye on him." He calmly explained. "Besides, Mr. Arc is training with one of his teammates, he's at least taking hi education seriously."

"Yet you gave him Amber's staff, that can raise a few eyebrows from her assailants if they notice him carrying one of her personal belongings," Glynda argued. "Why did you give to him in the first place?"

Ozpin hummed and tapped his mug. "Amber isn't going to be using it anytime soon, I- we all have doubts she will ever recover from this." His brown eye glossed over her sleeping state, brain activity was kept to a minimum only keeping her blood and air flowing throughout her body. She was a vegetable in every description of the word. "I thought the boy deserved something as thanks, selling it was my first thought as the dust could fetch a good price but keeping and attempting to experiment with it is odd."

"It was- is Amber's weapon and not something to be pawned off." The elder woman hissed. "If he's truly here for his safety I won't argue that, but he's not fit mentally... he struck another student in a fit of anger, and did you hear how is he trying to cover it up?"

Seeing his teammate when she wasn't there as if they need more cause for concern. Glynda wouldn't argue on Jaune Arc's safety Ozpin wouldn't on his mental health.

"There will be no expositions. But he's clearly in need of an evaluation." He added when the dean made to argue. "Suspension from participating in combat class and a month of lunchtime detention is as far as I'll go, for now, he only has combat class with Ms. Sustrai as it stands."

The young student had no blood on her arm to suggest skin was cut, had it been the boy's expulsion would've been a foregone conclusion.

Glynda made to argue further but Ozpin was quick to interject before she talked.

"All this will be dealt with by someone qualified," She said firmly, neither of them had the experience or expertise and it was best to leave it with someone who did. "Now let's give our student counselor's salary justification in the budget."

When Emerald was excused she made a cautious beeline towards and an especially secluded area near the CCT to find Mercury leaning against a wall. He stopped playing on his scroll to ask how it went.

"He's in trouble, Goodwicth bought everything I was selling."

"Can't believe you actually took a hit back there."

"Cinder needs him gone, from Beacon and running home to Vale, it had to look good." Regardless of how she felt Emerald still rubbed her arm, that guy strength she'll give him that. "I'm sure none of them expected foul play from me but don't screw up your part!" She hissed if they used illusions too many times someone out catches on.

"Cool your jets Em," Mercury's causal dismissal of her concerns was annoying. "I know what I have to do, I'll have that catgirl limping by tomorrow."