Chapter Eleven: Of Swords and Spartans
Well, that was a fucking long list. Standing up, I let my Light flow through my body, erasing the aches and pains of sitting on a stone floor for so many hours. Glancing up at the windows, I can see that it's still nighttime, probably early morning at this point.
A hint of motion shifts my gaze to Jaune, who appeared to have been speaking with his Ghost for the last couple of hours. Catching his eye, he drifts over to me.
"So."
"So, what?" I say, idly inspecting the seals on my gloves.
"Why'd you do it?" Jaune asks.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I lie, knowing damn well what this is.
"Why'd you shoot me." He snarls.
I open my mouth to reply, before a sudden shift turns my attention to a pair of sleeping figures. Thankfully, neither awakes, simply shifting around in their sleeping bags. Hm, false alarm.
Reaching out, I quickly don my helmet and open a comms channel. "Mute your external speakers and switch on your helmet mic," I order. "It'll keep this conversation private, but the sound will leak out if you start yelling."
Jaune glares sourly at me before doing the same. Once his helmet has been secured, I decide to take control of the conversation before he has a chance to speak. "What is the value of life?" I ask.
"What? I don't… no, you're distracting me. Again. Answer the damn question!" He whispers.
"First, you can talk normally. It won't carry with your speakers off. Second, this question will help me answer your question. So, what is the value of life?"
Jaune tilts his head to the side for a moment, thinking. "Fine." He says. "But I don't know."
"Well," I begin, "value is a relative measure. What one person holds as priceless and dear might be shunned entirely by another. But it all follows one simple rule; value is directly proportional to scarcity. Meaning, the rarer something is, the more valuable it is."
"Now, apply that to life. For humans, life is a scarce thing indeed. After all, everybody only has one. So, life is held as unbelievably valuable." I pause for a moment, to let that sink in. "Obviously, that's not all there is to it, but please just roll with it. And a Guardian has an infinite number of lives. So, going by the previous rule…"
"Life for a Guardian is… worthless?" He asks, confused.
"Got it in one." I smirk. "And it really is. I couldn't tell you how many times I've died for no dumb reasons - sometimes just to see what it felt like. No one cared." Letting my smile fade, I continue. "You need to understand, though, a Guardian is above human morality. I won't bore you with the usual philosophical excuses like "oh, good and evil are all relative" and crap like that, I don't have the time or energy right now. To put it simply, we're the defenders of the entire human race. And in this line of work, everything has a number – people, supplies, ships, guns, all of it. We will let a thousand die, in order to secure something without which millions of others might perish."
"That is why I shot you, because I know that you'll now go on to save more. One life ended now, for thousands saved in the future." I shrug. "Humans would say I had no right to kill you. A Guardian would say I had no right to let you live. It was never a question of good or evil, just a matter of adding up the numbers and seeing which way the scale tilts."
"Wow, that's… exactly what Oh told me to expect." He says, seemingly disappointed.
"And who's Oh?" I ask, curious.
"My Ghost." He says, motioning it forward. "He starts off every other sentence with the word, so I thought it fit." He looks at me curiously. "What's yours called?"
"He doesn't have a name," I say. "You see, we made a deal where he got to choose my name, and I got to choose his. I was named after a Post-Collapse war hero…" I say, idly waving a hand over my robes. "…And I haven't come up with something suitably mortifying for my Ghost yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something in a few centuries."
Jaune pauses, turning back to Oh. "How old are you, again?" He asks.
"Depends on how you count the years." I say. "I like to say I'm over a thousand, but that's only if you count my first life and all the time I spent dead, none of which I remember. You could also say I'm somewhere in my mid-40's if you only count my first life and this one. If you go by the time I remember, then I'm 20." I lower my voice slightly. "Truth be told," I say. "The latter's traditionally how Guardians have counted their age, but it doesn't look good when people learn that the leader of all mankind is barely out of his teens."
"Yeah, what's up with that? So, as the Speaker you're the leader of humanity and the Guardians?" Jaune asks.
"Yes, and no." I sigh. "The Speaker leads the Guardians in name only – traditionally there would be a trio of veteran Guardians called the Vanguard who handle everything. The Speaker mostly serves as a liaison between the Guardians and the City. Which is ruled by the Consensus, of which the Speaker is the chairman." Jaune seems confused. "Think of it the Valean council, except twice as corrupt and one person gets to decide what they vote on and when. I don't control the Consensus; I simply guide it." Jaune makes an 'oh' of understanding.
"Then, shouldn't you be back on Earth?"
I shake my head. "Eventually, I'll have to return. But the Consensus can handle itself for a little bit. I appointed a close… friend of mine to take care of things while I'm gone, so I don't have to worry about being deposed or something. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop them from interfering in my operations out here, in hopes that I either discredit myself or get killed." I bite back further complaints, knowing that this isn't the time to start lashing out again.
"…So, why you?" He asks quietly. "Why are you doing all this? I doubt it's out of the goodness of your heart."
"Hmph. You'd be right on that front." I mutter. "Look around you, at all these… people. They are all, every single one of them, weak. Even as you are now, alone and weaponless, you could kill every single one of them if you wanted to. Together, we could destroy this entire city. Even the staff, humans who have spent their entire lives honing their skills and talents, couldn't stop us."
"That's it? The strongest rule?" He interrupts.
"I wasn't finished." I snarl. "What I'm saying is that humans are incapable of defending themselves. Only we can protect them. And if leading the Consensus can help me do that? Then I'm all for it. Power and influence, with enough freedom to get away and run operations like this. It's everything a Guardian could want."
"But why did you choose to protect them? Why not just… go off and do your own thing?" Jaune asks.
"…Because that's what I was made to do." I say quietly. "You… don't understand, not yet. The Traveler… when it brings us back, it alters our minds, to better fulfill our intended roles. You haven't been alive long enough for your instincts to flare up, but you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. We're programmed, every one of us, with an overriding desire to protect humanity at any cost. I cannot abandon my duty. It was never a matter of choice. I woke up knowing what I had to do, and I did it. Case closed."
Jaune keeps his silence, apparently thinking about what I've said. Eventually, he opens up. "Tell me more about the Guardians."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"What were they like? What did they do, and why? Oh told me a little about them, but you're the only person alive who actually remembers what being one is like."
"Well, get comfortable, Guardian, and let me tell you a story. It starts on Earth, at the gates of a Russian spaceport called the Cosmodrome…"
Staggering out of the restroom, I shade my eyes against the morning sun peeking in through the windows. Apparently, I'm not the kind of Guardian who doesn't need to sleep, as I found out after staying up all night talking to Izanagi.
"Morning, Jaune! How're you… oh, wow, you look terrible." Ruby says, zipping over to me.
"Ugh." I groan, rubbing my tired eyes. I caught a glimpse of my face in the bathroom, and I can see that the bags under my eyes have transitioned to full-on suitcases. Summoning what's left of my energy, I glare sourly at the cheerful faces of the students around me. "Stayed up a little too late, talking to Izanagi. Didn't get much sleep." Much, more like any.
"Oh." She says, downcast. "Well, come on then! Let's get breakfast together! Maybe you can have some coffee or something!" Grabbing my hand, she starts pulling me out of the ballroom.
With a tired sigh, I trudge after Ruby towards the mess hall. Coffee sounds really good right now.
"Oof," I grunt, as I crash into a redhaired girl who appeared out of nowhere. Grabbing her shoulders to steady her, I force myself to lift my gaze from the floor and make eye contact. "Sorry about that," I say. "Wasn't… *yawn*, wasn't watching where I was going."
She just stares at me like I had grown an extra eye. But with this Guardian shit, you never know. Belatedly, I realize that I'm still holding onto her, and quickly let go, bringing my hands back to my sides awkwardly. "Sorry about that, too. It's just been… a long night." I mutter, holding back another yawn.
Surprisingly, she giggles at that. "Not a morning person?" She asks, her green eyes glinting teasingly.
"Traveler, no," I say. "I'm just… nervous about initiation today." Realizing that I don't even know her name, I hold out my hand, while I try to force my tired mouth into a smile. "Name's Jaune Arc. Yours?"
"You don't know?" She says, shocked. Wait, what?
"Um, should I?" I ask. Shit, did I know this person before? "I'm sorry, I don't… uh, I'm not great at remembering people. I'm sorry..."
"No, it's fine!" She says quickly, blushing slightly. "I was just surprised. My name is Pyrrha Nikos." She says, searching my face for a hint of recognition.
She finds none. But what can I say? That I don't remember anything about my life before the last 12 hours? Yeah, that'd go over well. "Uh, a pleasure." I mumble. "I was just headed to breakfast, so if you'll excuse me…"
"Oh, of course!" She says, jumping aside. "It was nice to meet you, Jaune!"
"You too." I say distractedly, already walking towards the mess hall.
She seems nice.
Looking up from my breakfast, I see a tired-looking Jaune trudging towards my table, a large tray balanced on one hand with the other clenched tight around an oversized mug of coffee. Slumping into the seat across from me, he wastes no time before digging into his food.
Idly, I note the oversized bags under his eyes. Exhaustion might be a problem, could lead to poor performance in the field. Nothing to be done about it now, though. To be honest, when I suggested he find out if he needed to sleep, I meant for him to simply try to sleep if he could. Not stay awake all night to see if he got tired. When he'd stayed up talking to me, I assumed he couldn't.
A sharp prickle on the back of my neck had me spin around. Somebody's watching me? Looking back and forth, I try to find the source of the disturbance. There – I can't make them out, but I caught the motion of a lowered head. Seems like they noticed. Reaching out, I push my half-empty tray aside and pull on my helmet. Rear cameras might catch them.
"You already done?"
Turning back around, I can see Jaune's already finished with his breakfast – how? – and is eyeing my abandoned food. "Sure," I grunt. "Go ahead."
Seizing a biscuit, he turns his gaze to me as he tears into it. "Sho..." He mumbles, "Mmph… What's the… mmm… what's the plan?"
"Traveler only knows," I say. "Not sure what initiation's gonna be like, so it's going to be hard to plan. Push comes to shove; I just station my ship overhead and we use the short-range transmat systems to rendezvous."
He looks around, still chewing. "So… Traveler, this is good – we're trying… mph… to get on the same team?" *Gulp* "What about the other two slots?"
"Eh." I shrug. "I don't know. It'll probably be harder for four to rendezvous than two, and we won't be able to transmat them. I'd like Ruby on our team, at least. She's…" I pause, as I feel the back of my neck burning again. "…like you."
"Oooh." He says, leaning back. "So, is it going to be a normal recruitment, or a 'murder them in the forest and say the Grimm did it' recruitment? Oh, wait, that is normal!"
"Keep it down!" I hiss, checking for any eavesdroppers. None, and I can feel the burning begin to settle again. "We'll give her the same chance we gave you… later. But, if she does get in trouble, then lucky us."
"…Aren't we supposed to be the good guys?" He moans, looking down at his porridge.
"We are." I assent. "How'd the saying go… decent men doing indecent things for the sake of decency? I really can't remember. Either way, this discussion is over. We've already talked about this."
Jaune opens his mouth to reply, before thinking better and transitioning into a sullen glare. Standing up, I grab my tray to take to the wastebin and… there! As my neck prickles again, I snap my head around, just in time to meet the gaze of a redheaded girl. She quickly looks away, but it's too late. Leaning down, I quietly whisper to Jaune. "Don't look, but we have a stalker. Tall, red hair, two tables down."
Thankfully Jaune is smart enough not to move his head, but I can feel his gaze slide across the room, before zeroing in on the target. A brief look of surprise twists his features. "Oh, that's a girl I bumped into earlier. Pyrrha, I think?"
I hum quietly, before turning away. As I clean off my tray, I open a voice channel. "Keep an eye on her. It might be a coincidence, or it might not. I don't think we've been rumbled, but it pays to make sure. Let me know if she approaches you again."
A brief burst of static washes over me. "…You know you need your helmet on to transmit, right?" I say.
The hiss of pressure seals echoes over the radio. "…I knew that."
I roll my eyes. "Go find Ruby and Yang or something. Speaker out."
Cutting off the channel, I quickly send a command to my ship, activating the autopilot. "Ghost," I whisper. "Have the ship over the school when initiation begins. I don't know if we'll need it, but better safe than sorry."
What the fuck even is this?
Who… throws children off a cliff as a test?
As the hiss-snap of a launch platform sounds off further down the line, I quickly take stock of the situation. Recover relics? Doable. I already have a significant advantage – a scan from my ship has pinpointed their location in a large ruin to the west. No, it's the eye contact part. Though even that's not so bad. All I need to do is make sure I land near Jaune, a simple matter thanks to our suit telemetry giving us realtime updates on each other's location.
So, the question is… how do I make sure I land near him? Well… I don't know what class he is; we won't figure that out until he gets his grenade at least. He doesn't have a jump yet, so he's constrained to the trajectory and distance of his launch. Even if we get shot off at different angles, my Glide when combined with the velocity from the launch should give me enough time to maneuver. Unless…
"Hey, headmaster," I call out. "Are we required to use the platforms?"
He pauses for a moment, eyes sweeping over my robed form. "…I suppose not." He says. "Though it would put you at a significant disadvantage."
"That's fine." I say, stepping off the plate. A few others look around nervously but remain on their plates. Another student gets launched – Jaune is next. No time to lose then. Eyeing the cliff, I try to estimate how many steps it'll take to reach the edge – got to time this just right.
Taking another step forward, I reach into my robes in order to hide the transmat effect as I draw Worldline Zero. A few students turn to stare, murmuring quietly to each other. What? Compact weapons aren't uncommon here! Grasping the hilt in both hands, I square up and turn my head to look down the line. Three… two… one… I hear the platform snap forwards as Jaune sails into the sky. Breaking into a sprint, I race towards the edge of the cliff…
And step right off. Just as my feet leave the ground, I squeeze the hilt of Worldline Zero, my body disappearing in a flash of light as Tesseract engages. Blinking forwards, I slam Glide as soon as I feel myself rematerialize. With the momentum from Tesseract, I can feel myself soaring through the air at breakneck pace, quickly closing on a flailing Jaune.
A sudden weight slams into my back, the world spinning rapidly as my shields break. Reigning in Glide, I look down – a red spear falling towards the ground. Whipping my head around, I catch that redhead from earlier soaring past me. Same color scheme as the spear.
I snarl in frustration. If she's willing to attack me in broad daylight, her intentions towards Jaune are likely less than wholesome. And unfortunately, he may not be in a state to fight her off. Without me to help him land, he's going to hit the ground hard. Might even die. Something I'd like to avoid calling attention to.
Leaning forwards, I settle into a slow glide. With my momentum drained from the attack, I have no hope of catching him before she can. And if she hurts him, I'm going to fucking kill her.
Just another name for the list. Right up there with the bitch who put a sword in my chest.
Pyrrha Nikos was not happy.
All her life, she'd been isolated, put on a pedestal by her peers, her opponents, even her parents. Invincible Girl. Untouchable. Too good, too good for anyone, in anything. She'd hoped Beacon would be a… reprieve, of sorts. A place where she could get away from her fame, from the crushing pressure of expectation.
It didn't even last a day. It didn't even last a minute. Some girl had shrieked out 'Look guys it's Pyrrha Nikos!' the moment she'd stepped onto the bullhead. Cue another agonizing day of false smiles and empty, polite words.
So, when she met Jaune Arc, it… it changed everything. Sure, it wasn't the greatest first impression, but it was early, so she could cut him some slack. More importantly, he had no idea who she was! It made her want to giggle like a little girl. Finally, somebody she could just be herself around. Not a famous championship fighter, not the top graduate from Sanctum. Just Pyrrha Nikos, a normal student.
So, she had decided then and there to have him as her partner. He was the only good choice, honestly. So, when she heard him whispering with another student, her heart had risen right into her throat. They… they definitely knew each other, the way they acted, you'd think they'd have been friends for years. What if… what if he didn't want her as a partner? What if he decided to seek out this other boy?
Well, she was the 4-time champion of the Mistral Regional tournament for a reason, wasn't she? If the odds weren't in her favor, she'd just have to… tip them. She'd tried to get a position next to Jaune but had been rudely shoved aside by some small girl with a scythe. She'd felt her chest tighten, as she saw them eagerly chatting to each other.
Thankfully, Jaune wasn't launched anywhere near the girl. Instead, he'd been run down by the same boy from breakfast! Her heart leapt into her throat as she saw him shoot through the air, and she knew she had to act fast. Reaching out, she used her semblance to ever-so-slightly adjust the orientation of the launchpad, sending her flying towards Jaune. Throwing her spear, she aimed carefully for the back of the other boy, hoping to knock him out of the sky or slow him down.
It worked like a charm. Whatever he was using to go so fast, it knocked it right out of him. She couldn't help but give a small smile. 'I'm sorry!' She'd shouted, as she flew past him – but it just felt so good to take destiny into her own hands for once! No longer the shy, silent Pyrrha Nikos, she'd claimed her partner in front of the rest of school, and nobody could do anything about it. Oh, she was sure the tabloids would learn of it eventually and run with it like they always do. If they had their way, she'd probably be engaged, cheating, and pregnant by the end of the month.
Pyrrha blushed. Too soon to be talking about children, but he was kind of cute, in a sort of boyish way. Pyrrha was sure he'd make a great partner and friend and maybe… something more?
She couldn't wait to find out.
A/N: Uh oh, a rival for Jaune-senpai's heart as appeared! Better move quick, Urs, before she steals him away from you! Looks like Pyrrha has her work cut out for her, though – throwing a spear at Urs isn't going to earn her any points in the 'not a spy' category.
Another talky chapter, I know – the action's coming, though! I just couldn't fit it into the last one, it was long enough as it was… and it needed to be done. I actually cut a fair bit of the pre-initiation character interactions out, as I felt like the story was starting to drag on a bit. Oddly enough, I also feel like Pyrrha is the easiest character to write in the entire fic – probably because she's one of the easiest to understand. Really, one of the most one-note characters in the series besides hangers-on like Neptune and the usual cast of 'people who show up for one arc and then disappear forever'. I mean – loves Jaune, for very little reason, and hates her fame and success though refuses to act against her public image. Add a dash of possessiveness and a little-teensy bit of arrogance, roll it in the usual 'duty and honor' package, and you have Pyrrha Nikos, fully cooked and ready to serve.
But hey, when you're going to get killed off anyway, who sweats the small stuff like character development?