Devils' Arc

by Dragonfan6

For So long Remnant has been at peace, but now those lurking in the shadows are coming out into the light to burn that peace to ashes; stronger than before. This time around it'll take more than hero's to win. This time, the world will need its own warrior of darkness. Assuming he can learn to master his inner demon…and survive the deadly beauties he finds himself surrounded with.

15. Chapter 14: Teen Drama

Hello Readers guess who's back! Sorry for the long wait, but I hope this chapter can make it all worth it!

and on a side note welcome to new readers who've chosen to follow/favorite my story/me. Now in the words of everyone's favorite pizza loving devil hunter, let's rock!

Chapter 14: Teen Drama

Within a large dark room, a single beam of light illuminates a combat stage where five people can be seen.

Four of them being the boys of Team CRDL, and the fifth being the lovely spartan known as Pyrrha Nikos, who was currently wiping the floor by blocking Cardin and Sky at the same time before forcing them away from her.

The leader of CRDL managed to quickly recover and move in on the red head with a swing of his mace, only for it to bounce off her shield as she then crouched down and used her own feet to sweep his leg, causing him to fall on the ground.

The blue haired male of the team then tried to attacker from behind with an overhead strike of his halberd, which was blocked by the shaft of Pyrrha's spear before she used her own strength to force the weapon back, causing Sky to loose his balance long enough for the spartan to shield bash him.

Noticing a shadow looming over her, Pyrrha back rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the descending form of Russel who found himself scowling at the fact his short blades only hit the ground.

In an attempt to redeem himself for his error, the mow-hawk haired boy leaped after her, slashing repeatedly once he was close enough.

Only for the red head to dodge every hit until she used her sword to deflect his blades, and then kick him in the stomach.

Pyrrha then heard a clicking noise going off before turning in time to block a bullet with her shield, lowering it enough to see her attacker to be Dove aiming his gun sword at her.

She had no time to strike back against the guy however once Sky came in trying to repeat his previous attack, only for Pyrrha to jump up in the air.

This move proved to be a miss lead though when the halberd user smiled at her as Russel came up from behind and used him as a spring board to reach for the spartan.

Only for Pyrrha to use her shield as a boomerang to smack him in the face before it flew back to her hand as she landed on the ground, doing a small jump and roll to avoid the combined swings of Sky and Dove.

After landing, she had her spear resting on the back of her shoulder's before using the thrust component of the weapon to knock Sky back despite his attempt to use his own weapon to block the attack.

Then she turned around to shoot at CRDL's sword user by switching to her rifle until he was knocked down.

"Nikos!" shouted Cardin as he slammed his mace on the ground and unleashed a wave of fire that she was able to roll out of the way of; and into the path of Dove who ended up in a blade lock with her own sword.

Unlike his previous attacks though, his blades were now coated in electricity which traveled through the red haired beauty's weapon, forcing her to drop it.

Then the Mohawk boy made the Dust containers in his blades switch and coat them in flames as he moved in with slashes that Pyrrha was forced to back-peddled from.

That is until she leaned back from one particular attack, and then used her right leg to kick Dove in the jaw with enough force to knock him into the air.

She then moved quick to reclaim her sword back before turning to face Cardin, only to find Sky and Russel take aim at her with their own weapons and start shooting at her.

To which Pyrrha simply used her shield and Aura to block as she charged towards them.

Once she was a few feet away she jumped over them while rotating her body so that she would be facing their backs upon landing.

She then shot at them both in the back with enough force to make them crash into the ground and slide a few feet from her on their faces.

Team CRDL's leader was just about to start swinging his flame coated mace at her, only for her to throw her shield into his chest, grabbed it when it flew back at her, and then went in to deliver a flurry of sword slashes that ended in her smacking Cardin so hard he went flying into the air; with her jumping close behind him.

Upon getting close enough, Pyrrha used her spear to get Cardin into a head lock while they were back to back.

Using her own strength she caused them to spin mid air like a wheel, and then let go of her prey as he crashed into the ground with a powerful impact while she gracefully landed on her feet.

It was at that moment that the dim room they fought in became coated in better lighting, revealing that the five teens had been fighting within Ms. Goodwitch's training hall while the audience above applauded the spartan.

With the ginger of her own team being the most vocal in her praising while her gun-slinging friend simply clapped with a smile on his face.

Though the one that actually made Pyrrha inwardly frown was her team's leader, who while he was clapping for her, was not doing a good job of hiding the far off look in his eyes.

She was forced to pull her attention away from the hybrid by the class instructor as she made her way onto the training stage.

"Well done Ms. Nikos, you should have no problem qualifying for the tournament," praised the teacher.

With a bow of her head, the spartan decided to throw Cardin a bone by saying, "I will admit that Team CRDL proved to be great opponents, thank you all for the great match," before giving him a respectful bow.

To which the bulky teen said, "Don't, think you'll get as lucky the next time we face off Nikos," and then passed out.

With a shake of her head, and a call for someone to take the all boys team to the nurse's office to sleep off their fatigue, Goodwitch took another look at her Scroll before saying, "Okay, I know that's a tough act to follow but it looks like we have time for one more fight. Any volunteers?"

No one seemed eager to jump at the chance for some sparing as indicated by the lack of raised hands.

"Ms. Belladonna, you've been rather docile for the last few classes," pointed out the teacher, with said Faunus looking uncomfortable with the blond's observation.

"Perhaps you could-" she tried to add until one grey haired youth named Mercury stepped up to take a crack at it.

"Very well Mr. Black, please feel free to choose your partner then," said the blond teacher.

To which Mercury started to look around until he said, "I pick...him," as he pointed to one Jaune Arc.

Said cambion actually looked around for a few seconds before looking back at his challenger while saying, "Me?" as he pointed to himself.

"Ya you dude. I want to see if the rumors about you being the best fighter next to Nikos are true. You're not chicken are you?"

Ms. Goodwitch actually answered that question with, "Mr. Black I will not tolerate insulting a fellow classmate to provoke a chal-"

"I'm game," cut in Jaune as he got up and flashed a challenging smirk at Mercury's own."

A few moments later-

The two boys now stood across from one another ready to attack; one with a sword, the other with no visible weapon.

As soon as they got the call from the teacher, the two were quick to charge at one another with Jaune trying to use surprise by shooting at the grey haired boy, who managed to evade the assault by using the gun mechanisms in his boots to jump into the air.

He then quickly turned mid air to aim one of his feet at the young knight, and then taking a shot at him.

Jaune avoid by spinning his sword around to use the flat side as a shield before turning around to use his weapon's guns to blast Mercury in the gut; knocking the wind out of him while also causing him to land on his back.

The half demon attempted to come in with an overhead slash which was stopped when the grey haired boy used his boots and Aura to catch the blade before using the limbs to push the silver head back long enough to get up and start kicking the air to unleash an assault of bullets.

To which the cambion blocked by using Lama D'Argento to smack the shots away as he moved in close to Mercury, where he started using rapid slashes to push Mercury back.

With the audience-

"Hey your friend is doing pretty good," Ruby pointed out to the dark skinned teen known as Emerald.

Said girl with mint colored hair responded with a sheepish smile that changed into one of annoyance when looking back at the fight.

"Ya but I still think he's got nothing on Jaune," cut in Yang from beside her sister before the two were cut off by Nora shouting for her team leader to make sushi out of Mercury.

With the fighters-

The half demon saw an opportunity to get Mercury with a forward jab of his sword and took it, only for it to be revealed to be a trap when the brawler bent backwards, flipped his body so he was standing on his hands, and then used a spin kick to knock Jaune's weapon out of his hand before unleashing an onslaught of bullets at the hybrid until he was knocked down.

Back with the audience-

Seeing this actually surprised the other students, especially Teams RWBY and JNPR.

"Hmm," responded Lie Ren who had been observing the fight with a contemplating look on his face.

"What's up Ren?" asked the hooded girl of RWBY after getting over the shock and noticing his puzzled expression.

This lead the gunslinger to answer with, "Not sure, but it seems as though Jaune is bit off today.

"Well duh, he just took a hit by the Mercury guy! Sense when can one guy take down a tank like Lady Killer?" Yang contributed to the talk.

"Sorry. What I mean is, he has seemed off sense before the match. As a matter of fact he's been like this for most of the week ever sense his dream," corrected the dark haired boy.

"Dream?" questioned the silver eyed girl.

"Well more like a nightmare given how he woke us up with a scream. Sadly, that's all we got from him in terms of an explanation while insisting we not worry about it."

This lead to the members of Team RWBY (yes, even Weiss for the slightest of moments) to look upon the red jacket wearing teen with almost as much concern as Pyrrha.

With the fighters (this isn't getting too repetitive to anyone else now is it?)-

Jaune meanwhile had managed to move himself onto his hands and knees with his head down while he breaths heavily.

Not out of exhaustion, but out of an attempt to get his anger under control.

"Jeez Arc you're not done already are you? I don't want to sound like an ass but I was lead to believe you were made of tougher stuff. Then again, teens do like to exaggerate," said Mercury with cocky smirk on his face.

At that moment, the knight's eyes opened and flashed the familiar demonic red as Beowulf manifested on his arms and legs before he lunged at the grey haired fighter.

He first went with a downward slash of his claws that Mercury managed to evade with a tuck and roll to the his left before retaliating with a shot aimed at Jaune's face.

Something that the cambion was able to block with his gauntlets before moving in to block the fighter's next bullet by knocking that leg upwards with his own.

This lead the two to lock eyes for a second before they started trading blows with their legs.

That is until Jaune used his superior strength to force Mercury to spin around so that his back was against the hybrid, allowing him to ram into the grey haired boy's back with a shoulder bash; knocking the exchange student onto his face.

The young knight allowed the leg fighter to get back up and face him before charging again.

That is until Mercury said, "I give up," while putting his hands down.

This actually took Jaune by surprised as he forced himself to slow down and dematerialize Beowulf to avoid contact with his opponent.

"Wh-what?" questioned the cambion with a mix of confusion and slight annoyance.

"I realize I was wrong and there is no way I can beat you. So I don't see a reason to keep going when we already know you're going to win," reasoned Mercury with his smug grin still present.

Before more could be said, Glenda came in and announced Jaune the victor while lecturing Mercury on being smarter about choosing his opponents.

To which the leg fighter complied with before walking away.

As the knight tried to do the same however, the blond teacher walked over and said something to him which he nodded to.

After picking up his sword, he proceeded to go meet up with his friends.

The half demon was met with praises from his group over his victory (even if he didn't really feel it was one) with a bashful smile on his face.

"And the best way to celebrate this win, is with Ren's pancakes!" shouted Nora with glee in her eyes.

"Ya that sounds nice. Sadly Ruby and I will have to catch up with you later thanks to Ms. Goodwitch reminding me about the detention sentence we still have to serve out," stated Jaune while said scythe user had anime tears rolling down her face upon hearing what her fellow team leader said.

Roughly a week and a half after the group's last encounter with Roman and The White Fang, they were all called up by the headmaster and his lovely assistant.

They were then told about how there was evidence at the scene of the battle with the Atlesian Paladins in the form of scorch marks, ice, roses, and the three mech suits which looked like they were torn up by two Ursa each.

Needless to say the two teams and their friends from Vacuo were easily found out and would have been in for an ear full had it not been for good old Oz coming in to point out how while they did do something very reckless, they unveiled a significant breach in security with the reveal of the stolen Paladins; and thus were able to make a compromise for a slightly more lenient punishment.

Said punishment was for Jaune and Ruby as the leaders, and thus most responsible for the teams, to spend some time after classes in detention with Glenda in her office learning the significant differences between good and bad leadership.

At least the historic examples she gave didn't involve her talking about her own adventures like a certain mustache wearing professor that everyone knew.

The others of course still suffered a bit in the form of having to write an apology letter for the destruction of the mechs.

Minus Sun and Neptune who Ozpin informed would be receiving punishment from their own school; something that seemed to cause the color to literally drain from their bodies.

Anyway, the two had to sadly go off for their daily meeting with Goodwitch.

Elsewhere-

Meanwhile one Mercury Black can be seen walking away with his confident smirk on his face until he feels someone smacked him upside the head and turned to see the culprit was Emerald giving him a death glare.

"What were you thinking!" she demanded in a hushed voice.

With his hand's raised in surrender, and his face taking on a confused expression, Mercury responded with, "What did I do?"

"What you did was only attempt to draw attention to yourself while showing off your skills, you picked a fight with Jaune Arc. The one student Cinder told us not to mess with because of...you know!"

"I believe her actually words were, 'Be cautious of Mr. Arc, for he is one of, if not the most dangerous individual here just for being what he is,' so I chose to test whether or not what she was saying had any merit to it. I mean we are here to scout out for potential threats to the mission aren't we?" responded the grey haired teen.

This left the dark skinned girl speechless due to the logic behind his words, much to her annoyance.

To which Mercury continued on by saying, "And if you ask me, she's just being paranoid. Sure Arc was tough but I don't see how he can be that big a deal," while shrugging.

This comment caused Emerald to get in her partner's face as she harshly whispered, "You want to say that again Merc?"

"Ah, is the loyal pet getting defensive?" he teased with no care of the irritation the dark skinned girl was projecting to him.

"That loyalty is part of the reason Emerald is my favorite between the two of you Mercury," said a new voice.

Said teen nervously turned around to see the raven haired girl known as Cinder standing in her school uniform while giving him a smirk of her own while her one visible eye stared into his own dark eyes.

"Cinder...how long have you been standing there?" he asked while trying to hide the nervousness from his voice.

"Long enough to know you chose to pick a fight with Mr. Arc."

"Oh. Look I was jus-" he tried to say before his boss held up her hand to silence him and continue speaking.

"I understand you enjoy trying to take on challenging people Mercury, especially if you think you cane get some useful information out of the fight for a later, 'Job.' But understand that the information I've been given about Mr. Arc comes directly from, 'Her.' And if she says we should be cautious of him, then we will be cautious until otherwise noted. Although you did manage to gather some good data on him and Nikos here. So I will let this slide for now. Understand however, that I do not want to find you doing something this reckless again. We don't need to give him or anyone reason to house hostility towards us, or end up on his radar. Understood?"

"Yes," answered the frowning boy.

"Good, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to try out this little cafe in town that I've been dying to visit. Care to tag along Emerald?" questioned the dark haired girl as she turned her back to walk away while extending an offer to the other female in the group.

Said teen simply answered with a smile before moving to join her leader's side as they walked away.

"He wait can I not come?" Mercury asked in a confused manner.

"Consider this your punishment for insubordination. We'll try to bring you back a dessert," replied Cinder as she and Emerald walked away.

"That's assuming we don't forget or get hungry on the way back," the mint haired girl added.

"I'm surrounded by evil bitches," mumbled Mercury with his head held down in defeat.

Time Skip-

"Well children as much as I believe you are still getting off far too easily, this is your last day of detention as instructed by the headmaster. Please be sure to look back at our lessons the next time you make a major decision. You are not just students of this school, you have been entrusted to lead a group of others. Every choice you make can effect them as much as they can effect you," lectured Glenda closing the book she had been using to help with her lessons.

Ruby couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as she and Jaune collected their stuff and began heading out the door.

That was until the mature woman told the young knight she wanted to have a word with him.

To which the cambion took a moment before nodding towards the hooded teen, who reluctantly left after looking back and forth between them.

Once she was certain they were alone, Goodwitch walked to her desk, and Jaune took his typical spot in front of it.

"Mr. Arc would you please tell me what happened today in my class?" questioned the professor.

"Eh-What?" was his intelligent reply.

"Today in your match with Mr. Black, he was able to knock your sword from your hand and force you switch weapons."

"And that's a problem because?..."

"In every match you've fought in my class you have only ever needed to resort to one weapon when dealing with your fellow students; no matter how many you fight at a time. Today however, you had to use two against just one adversary. While I am not trying to downplay Mr. Black's skills, this has never happened to you before. And unless I was seeing things, you even seemed to get a bit more aggressive when switching to Beowulf."

This caused the half demon to shrug and say, "Guess I just got caught on an off day," while throwing a playful smile her way.

Only to have the blond blankly stair at him in a way that told him to cut the act.

With a sigh, he continued with, "Look it's been a little rough lately. Between loosing Torchwick AGAIN, school lessons and homework, my training with Nevan, and your detention, I've been busy. So I'm probably just tired. So can I go now?"

"No Mr. Arc. I don't think that would be wise given how I know for a fact that you have only been acting differently recently."

"What is the big deal here! What am I supposed to always be perfect or something! Because sorry, but I cant be!" shouted the teen as he actually shot out of his seat when lashing out.

To her credit, the professor didn't allow herself to show her shock at being yelled at by the knight.

After awhile the fury in the half demon's eyes wavered and was replaced by regret as he fell back into his chair quietly apologizing.

Rather than lecture Jaune on his lack of control, Goodwitch actually got out of her chair, walked around to stand in front of the teen, and then placed a hands on one of his shoulders before asking him, "Mr. Ar-Jaune? Was it one of your nightmares again?"

The cambion tensed up a bit, giving the professor all she needed to know.

The blond then gave his shoulder a slight squeeze before saying, "Tell me about it. Please."

Thus the teen told her the source of his problem.

Flashback, Jaune's POV-

Song: When Your Middle Name is Danger, by Trocadero

(Also known by some as the theme of the Meta from RvB. Or as I like to call it, the, "We're screwed!" song)

"I was back in the fight against Roman and the stolen Paladins with my friends. We had just finished beating them to pieces and surrounding Torchwick when the shadow from all my other nightmares rose out of the ground behind him and ran its' fist straight through his chest, holding his heart for us to see before crushing it," Jaune said as the shadow let the corps fall to the ground and then exploded into a red fog that covered the whole area.

The dream version of the cambion looked around until he heard the screams of Sun and Neptune as the real Arc continued speaking, "I chased after the sounds until I found them. Or rather, I found their heads."

The teen looked on in horror at the severed heads with lifeless eyes looking back at him.

"The next thing I heard was the sounds of Yang's gantlets firing off into the distance as she shouted at something to bring it on, I also heard swords clashing," the knight ran into the direction of said sounds as the story went on.

I tried to find the source, but the fog was just too hard to see through, and the smell of blood everywhere made it hard to track anyone that way. So I had no choice but to rely on hearing to guide me to the battle. That's when the gun shots stopped, and I heard the agonized voices of Blake and Weiss as they screamed Yang's name. I double timed it in the direction of their increased screams until I finally found them. Sadly it turned out I was too late again," Jaune looked around in panic until he saw a drop fall in front of him, leading his eyes upwards.

"I found the three of them strung up by Blake's ribbon, with large spikes stinking out of their bodies. I barely took an inch of a step when the spikes lit up."

The spikes then explode with enough force to knock the knight onto his back.

"As my ears stopped ringing, I was able to hear Nora call me from behind."

He turned to see her carrying a knocked out Ren with one of his arms over her shoulders; both were beaten and bleeding from multiple cuts across their bodies.

The cambion spoke up once again to begrudgingly continue his dark story," She tried reaching out to me when suddenly a small blade burst out of her chest. She only had time to look at it and me before she and Ren were encased in ice that then exploded into pieces."

Jaune took a moment to look on in terror before the sound of the blade being pulled away by a chain attached to it.

"I forced myself to stop thinking about all the deaths so far so I could chase it down. In a rage driven state I followed after it until eventually loosing track of it in the fog. That's when I heard foot steps behind me," the knight said as his dream self turned and aimed his weapon at both Ruby and Pyrrha who had ran in his direction until they became visible to him.

Thus he lowered his blade and let go of the breath he was holding upon he realization.

"We didn't have much time to talk when we heard what sounded like the growl of an animal coming from all around us. So we went back to back, trying to look in all directions for it."

"The dream version of Ruby start shooting before Pyrrha and I turned in her direction to see the shadow," said Jaune before the three teens joined together in shooting at the attacker.

"Bastard never even flinching as it made its' way over to us. So I did the dumbest thing that came to mind, I leaped at it; Beowulf and sword in hand," explained the teen as his dream self did as the real one described, while also managing to hit it.

"When I got lucky enough to hit it, it exploded into pure darkness. When my vision cleared I didn't see the monster, so I turned around to look at the girls, only to see them looking back with fear in their eyes.

The dream version of the hybrid began walking towards them, "Against my will, my body moved towards them. They tried backing away, only for me to move so fast the world around me became a blur and I couldn't see what happened until I found myself looking into Pyrrha's eyes. Eyes that widened in shock while she choked on the blood spilling out of her sliced throat, followed by her collapsing on the ground. Ruby screamed in horror, drawing my gaze to her."

Ruby tried backing away on trembling feet while the young man continued on his explanation.

"I moved to knock Crescent Rose from her hands so that she couldn't defend herself as I bound her hands in one of my own, and lifted her into the air."

"Please, no!" She tried begging me to, and I really wanted to.

I screamed as loud as I could in hopes I would stop as I summoned Rebellion in my right hand and used it to pierce her through the heart, watching the tears and life leave her eyes.

I then allowed her to fall the ground, watching as her blood flowed and mixed with Pyrrha's into a massive pool that showed me my own reflection.

Only instead of it being my face, it was the shadow, and the three red eyes laughing at me before everything was engulfed in fire."

End Song and Flashback

Minutes passed by after the cambion told his story, with the two inhabitants in the room being completely silent and with different expressions on their faces.

The teen looking down while his hands hid his face, and the teacher looking at him with first horror, and then sorrow.

"It's just another dream sent to mess with you. You know that right?" asked Glenda as she crouched down to try and be near the same level as her student.

However this only seemed to anger the knight who stood up and began walking around to rant.

"Ya it was another dream sent to mess with me. Just like the nightmare before that, an the one before that, and ever other time beforehand. Only this time I was the monster killing my friends! A reminder that I have no control over this-this demon inside!"

"Please calm down Jaune, I understand your frustration-"

"How could you understand! It's nearly halfway to the end of the semester and I honestly don't see a whole lot of improvement in myself compared to how I was at the beginning! I know it might sound pathetic that I'm complaining about this one issue, but I can't help but think that as I am now isn't good enough! I mean look at Roman Torchwick! I've fought him two times now, and both times he got away! If I can't take him down, then what hope do I have against the full might of Hell!"

Goodwitch could do nothing but watch with an ever growing look of sadness on her face as the hybrid pored his heart out.

"As far back as I can remember I've been told I'm supposed to save the world, because I share the blood Sparda and his family. But lately I'm starting to feel like that's not enough. I feel that at the end of the day... I don't have whatever it was that made my ancestors heroes," finished the ranting knight while his back was turned away from his teacher.

Said blond slowly got up to walk over to her distraught student, but then he cut her off with, "I need some air," before proceeded to bolt out of the office; ignoring the shouts of Glynda calling for him to wait.

For the next few hours Jaune spent some time on top of the roof where he first told Pyrrha about his heritage.

He almost laughed thinking about how long ago that time felt, and how he used to think that was the hardest thing he ever did.

Though those thoughts quickly vanished when he starting thinking about the thoughts that now plagued his mind and what he can do to resolve his problems.

Only to find himself unable to draw a descent conclusion.

With a sigh he looked up to the sky and asked, "How were you able to make it seem so easy? Sparda, Dante, Nero, you all saved the world. Some of you did it multiple times. I know you guys can't really say it to my face, but if you could at least give me some kind of hint, some kind of sign, as to how you were able to find a way to tip the scales and save the day, I'd really appreciate that."

In the end, all the young man got was the sounds one usually hears at night before lowering his head while muttering, "Didn't think so," and then made his way towards the rooftop entrance.

Not feeling quite ready to head in for the night yet, Jaune chose to wander through the outdoor halls of Beacon with his eyes glued to the ground, and his mind still filled with doubts about himself as he walked aimlessly in hopes the cool night air would make him feel somewhat better.

Which is why he didn't notice the white blur charging into him until the two collided.

Once he could focus again he looked to find the blur was a person he was familiar with.

"Weiss?" the cambion questioned in surprised.

Not because he saw her in an unlikely places, but because he could see the bloodshot eyes and damp cheeks that the heiress of the Schness Dust Company was sporting.

"Wh-what are you doing out here Arc?" the whitette questioned with a scowl on her face.

All while furiously trying to wiper her face and hold back her tears.

"I think I should be asking you that question," replied the knight with a look of concern on his face as he looked at the girl who was obviously trying to hide the fact that she had been crying.

"I don't know what you are talking about," she shot back.

Only to get a look from the silver haired youth who tapping on his own cheeks to tell her what he's referring to without saying it out loud.

"Like I said, I don't know what you are talking about. And even if I did, it is none of your concern," she said with a bit more hostility in her voice as she stoop up and attempted to walk away.

However, that was quickly stopped when Jaune grabbed her by one of her hands.

"Weiss, please. I know you don't feel like I'm the smartest guy in the school, and you might not think we're friends but-

"But what Arc! You think you can give me some speech about how much you care, and I'll poor my heart out about how I caught Neptune flirting with some random girl when I was going to ask him to the dance this coming weekend!" lashed out the heiress before realization dawned on her face and she looked away from the half demon in hopes he wouldn't see the embarrassment on her face.

"Yeah you heard right, I'm mad over the fact that the guy I wasn't even dating was hitting on other girls, and I feel like such a fool for not only seeing him for the playboy he is, but the fact that I'm upset over him!"

While Jaune wanted to say something about it not being a surprise about Neptune's behavior, he instead tried to focus on trying to help the white haired girl out by saying, "Sometimes we want to only see the best in people, and sometimes they prove us wrong. At least that's something my parent's warned me about. For what it's worth, I'm sorry Weiss," with a genuine look of sadness on his face.

"Just stop! I don't want or need your pity Arc! This has nothing to do with you, so just leave me alone to deal with this myself!"

"I'm just trying to help."

"Why, because you still think we're friends? Get real Arc! The others and I are really nothing more than some support or cannon fodder for you to use when the time comes to fulfill some grand destiny to save Remnant!" snapped the girl before pulling her hand out from Jaune's loosened grip.

What happened next was something the heiress was not expecting.

"You still think that's how I view you all?" mumbled the silver haired teen who currently had his eyes shadowed by said hair.

Weiss was about to say more until Jaune's face shot up to reveal his eyes, which now sported slits for pupils as he let his own feelings loose on the Dust user.

"How many times have I risk my own life to save you or the others Weiss! How about all the time I've spent trying to get to know you all despite your attempt to treat me like the villain! After all that, you still think I don't give a shit about you or the others! What, was me going berserk over the idea of you and the others becoming meat suits for the Chimera not clear enough on how I feel! And still you act like a bitch towards me just because you feel like you got forced into something I was also dragged into the moment I touched this amulet around my neck! Let me tell you something about being me Weiss. I am a half human half demon teenager who comes from a bloodline so hated by the Underworld they attack me on site, I keep being reminded that I need to save the world without really having a clear idea on how to. And on top of all of that I have to deal with nightmares about being forced to watch the people I care about get butchered! All while fighting to keep the literal devil inside under control! Despite all of that though, and despite the fact I feel like the most useless guy in the world right now, I still am here trying to help you with your issue, which fun fact, ain't got shit on what I'm dealing with at the moment! But if that's not enough to make us friends, then I guess there's nothing left to say."

With that, Jaune stormed away, slamming his fist into the wall at the end of the hall he was walking though on his way out; leaving a large dent in its' surface.

Meanwhile Weiss did nothing but look upon the hybrid with shock on her face before it morphed into one of shame as she reflected on their history and what she said.

Scene Change: JNPR's room

While this was happening, the rest of the knight's team, and demon freeloader, can be seen doing their own activities.

Ren was reading a book on how to strengthen one's semblance, Nora was practicing hand-stances, Nevan was laying down on Jaune's bed while resting her head on one hand, and Pyrrha was pacing around the room with a nervous look on her face.

Deciding to be the voice of reason, the only male in the room placed his book down and said, "Pyrrha, you know freaking out about Jaune not being here isn't going to make him appear right?"

To which the spartan quickly turned her head towards the gunslinger before letting out a sigh as she expressed her worries to the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry, it's just that none of us have seen Jaune sense classes ended, it's late, and he's still not back. I just can't help but worry something might be wrong.

"Or maybe you're worried you wont get the chance to ask him out to the dance?" Nora chimed in while trying to do a one handed stand that ended in her falling over.

Letting out a pained, "Ouchy," as her response afterwards.

A blush formed on the red heads face upon hearing that teasing remark as she denied the accusation.

Ren then came over to help Nora up while adding, "She does have a point though Pyrrha. If you are ever going to progress in your relationship with Jaune, the upcoming dance would be a good way to do so."

The spartan was about to argue against what the dark haired boy said, only for him to cut her off by adding, "There's really no reason to deny it you know. Everyone in this room can tell by the way you act that you like him as more than just a friend."

"Everyone but Jaune that is," joked Nora before her partner placed an ice-pack on the comically large bump on her head, causing her to wince in pain as he gave her a quick lecture on the dangers of hand-stances.

"Let's say you all are right and that I do have, 'strong feeling,' for Jaune. There are just too many reasons why I shouldn't make attempt," the spartan tried to argue.

"Oh come on girl, what reasons could there be to stop yourself from snagging a good guy like Jaune! It's like a fairy tale story! Boy meets girl, you end up on the same team dedicated to the protection of the innocent, you fall in love, get married after graduation, and then live out the rest of your days fighting monsters and bad guys alike while raising a little family of your own!" said the hammer user of JNPR with stars in her eyes while somehow making herself float in the air by fluttering her feet like butterfly wings.

Only to be brought back to Remnant when she saw the weirded-out looks she was getting from Pyrrha and Ren, thus causing her to go on another rant while looking around anywhere that wasn't the gunslinger.

"You know, just as an idea of what could be. Not like that was how I imagined my life going or anything. I mean I don't even have a boyfriend! Sure I have friends who are boys but neither of them are my boyfriend or anything! Just imagine if I started dating Ren or something, how weird would that be! Not that it would be bad to be involved with him but he's the guy I've known for most of my life and is basically the closes thing I've had to family even though I don't see him as a brother or anything! But like I said that would be just so weird for me to image the idea of holding hands with him as we walk though shopping districts, or bake sweets together, or snuggle up to one another for movie night! I mean if your into that stuff, which I'm not!"

Once she was done with her rant, which made everyone look at her in confusion, she gave off an awkward laugh before saying the head bump must be messing with her brain and that she was going to go lay down to sleep it off.

It was then that the teens turned to the source of laughter coming from their leader's bed.

"Forgive me kiddies. It just amuses me to hear the noble Pyrrha Nikos lie to her team with excuses," said Nevan who opened her left eye to look at her fellow red head while the corners of her mouth twitched up in a smirk.

The spartan understandably tries to right off the claim as the lie but was cut off when the demoness spoke again as she moved into a sitting position on the bed with one leg crossed over the other, and using her arms to support her upper body.

"The real reason you hesitate to claim Jaune for yourself is because you're too scared he'll reject your feelings, or that you two getting together will complicate things in the group."

"Why would them getting together effect the group?" Nora asked while tilting her head in confusion.

Only to get another chuckle from the sorceress as she replied with, "You humans can really be amusing with how naïve you can be at times," she then turning to look Pyrrha in the eye and added, "It's honestly quite adorable," before making her way to the door.

"Ms. Nevan, exactly where are you going?" asked the spartan with a hint of concern in her voice as she debated whether or not to stop the mature redhead.

"Sense you're so worried about Jaune I decided I'll go get him for you. And before you say anything remember that this is a school night and that you should all get your rest," was her answer.

Pyrrha was still hesitant to comply but eventually backed down when Nevan swore she had no reason to worry, and then made her way out of the room.

Once outside, the she demon shook her head with the smirk still on her face before it morphed into an unusually serious expression as she made her way to her next destination; keeping in mind to use stealth as she made her way through the dorm-room halls.

Scene Change: Training Grounds

Meanwhile the person of JNPR's interest let out a battle cry as he swung his sword with enough force to send out an Aura wave towards a training dummy, shattering it upon impact.

Left in pieces with the other twelve dummies he had taken his anger out on that night in an effort to vent his excess energy, which at this point manifested in the form of a very pale red Aura field around his body in place of the traditional silvery white.

And if one were to see his eye's behind his damp bangs at the moment, they would see his azure blue eyes now had a slight tint of purple around the slit pupils.

"Having fun are we?" questioned the voice of Nevan, causing the cambion to snap his head in her direction.

Only unlike most of their interactions in the past, she was frowning in a way one could only find on a disappointed teacher.

Ignoring the unusually icy look the demoness was giving off, Jaune chose to practice his sword swings while asking what she needed.

"I think at this point it's clear to anyone that you've been in a funk hotshot. I figured it was best to let you be so you can deal with it, but seeing you sporting that shade of color in your Aura, I think it's time to step in before you do something you'll regret," Nevan said as she began walking into the ring with the hybrid.

Only for the silver haired teen to scuff and say, "Had a heart-to-heart with Professor Goodwitch and a shouting contest with Weiss today. Neither helped."

"That's because sometimes talking isn't enough," she retorted before she raised her right hand forward to shoot out a blast of her purple lightning at the teen in front of her.

Said boy had no time to react before being knocked away by the bolt, avoiding any real damage due to his Aura.

As he tried to get back up, he saw another lightning bolt heading for his head, only this time he was able to bend his head to the side and avoid the attack before jumping up to his feet and shouted for the snow white skinned woman to explain herself.

Only for her to surround herself in her respective element as she answered with, "You need to vent, so I'm giving you a training partner that can take it as much as she can dish it back!" before going rapid fire with lightning attacks.

Song- Nevan Battle Theme, from the Devil May Cry 3 OST

In his frustrated state of mind, Jaune returned her challenge by snarling out a battle cry, and then charging at his opponent while either weaving to avoid shots of demonic electricity, or simply knocking them away with Lama D'Argento as he quickly made up the distance between the witch from Hell.

When he tried to slash her with his blade however, Nevan exploded into a swarm of bats that quickly flew behind Jaune and then reforming into the demoness to zap him in the back.

Shaking of the affects of the attack, the young knight swiftly turned around to shoot at the red head with the guns of his weapon, forcing her to bend her body back to avoid the bullet.

Next, she summon a swarm of bats to act like a shield as Jaune tried to hit her with a downward slash.

Nevan then used her shield to push the knight back so hard that his weapon was knocked from his hands.

Luckily he was able to recover and do a back flip to land on his feet as he brought Beowulf out to give himself more speed to get in close with claw tipped jabs.

Only for the demoness to morph into another bat swarm that enveloped the cambion in a dome of bats and lightning that was now trying to tax his Aura field.

Suddenly the dome exploded to show Jaune now sporting Lucifer in place of the gauntlets and grieves.

Meanwhile the remaining bats reassembled to form Nevan who shook off the disorientation long enough to avoid one of the Devil Arm's explosive spikes.

Looking forward, the sorceress noticed that the cambion's Aura had gone a few shade darker to look like the same color of red as Ruby's cloak before he moved his wings forward to start letting out a barrage of spikes.

To which Nevan was forced to dodge and forgo using any offensive strategy.

At least until she got a sudden crazy idea, and when an opening presented itself, she shot one of the spikes before it could get more than four or five feet away from Jaune.

The result was Jaune getting a face full of concentrated fire, giving him an idea of what it must've been like to be one of the monsters he's used Lucifer on in the past.

As for Nevan, she was now standing with her guard up as she waited for the smoke cloud to clear up around her opponent.

Only to be surprised when a spectral hand shot out to ram her in the stomach with enough force to send her rolling to the near edge of the arena, just a few feet in front of Lama D'Argento.

As she got up, the she devil looked forward to see the now glowing hand of Jaune's Devil Bringer as he walked out of the smoke while letting out ragged breaths with each step.

his now red eyes locked onto Nevan's own for a few seconds before he charged towards her in a desire to engage in another fist fight.

Or that's what it seemed like his plan was until he pulled a fast one by bringing out Nightmare to let out rapped fire blast of green energy.

Forcing Nevan to make another barrier.

And once he was close enough he leaped over the red head to land behind her, grab the sword he had lost earlier in a reverse grip, and then used it to deliver an upward slash to Nevan's back.

End Song

Upon seeing the blood fly from her back, and hearing the sorceress let out a pained shriek while also falling to the ground, the red left Jaune's eyes and Aura as he called out his pseudo teacher's name while rushing to her side.

"Nevan, I'm so sorry, I didn't-" the knight tried to say before the demoness raised her hand to stop the rant as the wound on her back healed.

"You feeling better now?" she asked as she turned to show off her familiar smirk despite the pain she was currently feeling at the moment.

Or at least it would be her typical smirk if her eye's weren't obviously full of concern for the one who gave her the cut.

Rather than answer though, the knight flopped on his butt, buried his head within both hands, and began shaking while taking sharp breaths.

"No, no I'm not okay. I feel like after all these years, all the training and all the monsters I've taken down, it all means nothing in the end. I know I like to talk with confidants and act like I'll become the next Dark Knight, but in all honesty it's mostly just a face I put on to hide the fact I'm scared shitless over the fact I might actually fail and let you all down!" expressed the half demon as he raised his face to show he was on the verge of tears.

It was then that the sorceress moved in front of the silverette after her wounds healed, pulled him into a hug, and told him to let it all out.

And let it out he did.

Jaune Arc cried until he could cry no more.

Scene Change: JNPR's Room

"It's almost 11, I'm going to go look for Jaune and Ms. Nevan," declared Pyrrha in an uncharacteristic voice of irritation.

"She did say to wait here," Ren tried to reason with the spartan before his partner popped out to say, "Actually she said she would go find him and that we should get some rest because it's a school night."

To which the gun user gave her a deadpan look and then refocusing on the red haired teen who was proceeding to walk to the door leading out of their dorm.

As she was roughly two feet away from it however, the door opened to show the lovely she demon the team housed, and the leader of JNPR standing right beside her.

"Jaune," the spartan gently said as she tried to walk over to the cambion after seeing the defeated look in his puffy blood shot eyes.

Only for him to slowly raise one of his hands and say, "I'm feeling really tired right now Pyrrha. If it's all the same to you I'd like to take a shower and go to bed."

And with that, he grabbed a pair of sweatpants from his drawer, and made his way into the bathroom.

A few minutes later he had traded in his cloths and armor in place of a bath towel and proceeded to look himself in the mirror as he waited for the water in his shower to heat up.

While doing this, his gaze fell upon his demonic right arm, inspecting every detail from the black scales and silver/white glow of his hand, to the point were the arm became that of a human at the shoulder.

He then turned to look at his own reflection in the mirror before muttering to himself, "Why did you end up being the one?"

Once he saw the glass began to fog up, he took that as his cue that the shower was ready.

By the time he got out of the bathroom his team was already in bed, with Nevan actually taking on the form of a bat to hang herself from the fan of the ceiling.

After letting off a tired sigh, he made his way to his own bed where he let the events of the day finally catch up to him, and drag into a dreamless sleep.

The Next Day

Jaune had spent the next day just allowing himself to go through the motions, not really focused on everything around him.

And no one really doing anything to get his attention.

Sure his team had tried talking to him in the morning, but were quick to leave him be at the beseech of Nevan.

Good news was the red haired demon chose to let him have training off, bad news was that he didn't really have anything to do as a result.

So he decided to head for the library, believing he would figure out what he could do research on once he got there.

That changed however when he heard someone shouting in protest, and looked up to see two familiar heads of gold and black make their way inside a nearby class.

Part of him actually didn't want to get involved in whatever was going on between those two given his resent encounter with their white clad teammate, but even in his depressed state, Jaune just couldn't help but be himself and go see what was going on.

Flashback

While the cambion was going through his issues, Team RWBY had some drama of their own.

More specifically, problems stemming from one Blake Belladonna.

Ever sense the second attempt to catch Roman Torchwick failed she had spent every second outside of class time and homework trying to find the criminal and get whatever info he had on the White Fang.

She had become so obsessed with her personal war against the the two parties of interest that it would honestly shock her team if she managed to get more than two hours of sleep a night.

As a result, she had become far more distant from her friends and even got a little snappy with Sun when he tried asking her questions about the upcoming dance, saying how she didn't have time to go to a, "stupid dance," and that he of all people should get why.

Harsh?

Probably.

But of course it might have not been smart of the monkey tailed teen to tease her about asking Jaune out when she was obviously not in a proper state of mind.

Anyway, the cat girl's attitude had been affecting her both her social life and performance in class, thus drawning the concerns of Ruby, Yang, and Weiss (even if she wouldn't admit it).

Even as the three fourths of RWBY tried to help set up the large room they slept in their first night at Beacon as a dance hall, the silver-eyed leader of the group was constantly plagued with a downcast look when thinking of the other dark haired girl of her group.

And if she wasn't thinking about Blake, she found herself thinking about the first friend she made at the academy.

Which actually made her mood sour a bit more because she felt like she had to be a responsible leader and take care of her teammate before she could help the young knight, who she hoped was being helped by his own squad; even if she did feel like crap by not being there for the guy as well.

The guy who helped her out in more than once sense they met.

She was pulled from her thoughts by her blond sister who had just dropped a large loudspeaker next to the table she was currently sitting at.

"So, you picked out a dress yet?" asked the lovely brawler as she rubbed her hands against each other to get the dust off her hands.

"What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?" asked the red and black haired girl while mentally adding how Jaune might not be going either given his behavior over the last couple of days.

Only for the older of the two to confidently say how the topic of their conversation would be going before turning to see what the heiress was doing.

"Weiss I thought we agree, no doilies!" shouted the blond as she ran over to the whitette.

Only to be ignored by said girl who frowning in thought as she was lost in her own thoughts over recent events.

So the brawler did the only thing she could think of and snapped her fingers in front of the Dust specialist of RWBY to get her attention.

"Wha-what?" asked the heiress as she looked towards Yang.

"You've been going full crazy work mode though-out most of this project of ours. Now you're just going through the motions. So what's up?" Yang asked with her head tilted to the right.

Only for Weiss to shake her head while saying she just had a lot going on in her head with trying to prepare for the dance before asking for her teammate to repeat herself.

While the brawler wanted to push the matter, she figured she ought to deal with the Blake problem, and possibly another person she knew, before she could move onto the "Ice Queen" of the school.

So she just went ahead and told the whitette no to the doilies she was currently holding in her hands.

To which the Schnee heiress argued back by getting in the blond's personal space to say, "If I don't get my doilies, you don't get fog machines!"

It was then that Sun and Neptune walking in to see how everything was going, with the goggle wearing teen asking Weiss about the fog machines, only for her to say, "We're negotiating about it," in an indifferent way that actually caught the exchange student off guard before he just mentally shrugged it off.

The monkey Faunus then stepped in to ask if they were all excited about getting dressed up, and got various responses.

For Ruby, it was a snort and, "As if," for a reply.

A smug, "I'll be turning heads," response from Yang.

And a surprisingly monotone, "I suppose so," from Weiss.

"Wow, you sound as excited as Blake," joked the blond boy before asking if said cat girl was doing better or still in the same mood as when they last talked.

To which the red hooded girl of RWBY expressed her sadness of not knowing how to convince her to go.

"Guys, trust me. She'll be there. We ALL will," promised Yang before she made her way out of the hall.

While this was taking place, the black haired Faunus was in the library doing some research on Roman with very little progress.

Partly because Tourchwick and the Fang were surprisingly good at covering their tracks (better than they are at fighting high school age kids anyway), and also because Blake was likely missing details on what she was reading due sleep deprivation indicated by the dark rings around her eyes.

When she took a second to rub her eyes, she looked back at the screen in confusion.

Because what she was now looking at was a red dot in front of it, which began moving up and down before moving onto her hand, and then away in another direction.

Causing her to turn around to see who is trying to distract her.

As she did so, she saw that whatever students where behind her were too occupied with some other task to even notice her.

So she chose to just ignore what happened, and get back to her work.

That is until the dot returned on her hand, making the blackette turn once more to see where it was coming from.

And once more she found everything the same as the last time she looked, causing her to reluctantly try again at refocusing on her original goal.

For the third time that day, the dot appeared on her screen, going side to side at first, and then in random directions.

Finally angering her enough to not only make her turn around, but to jump up from her chair, ready to chew-out whoever was bugging her.

However, that changed once she caught sight of the source of her agitation on the ground in front of her as it began moving away from the Faunus, leading to the annoyed teen stomping after it.

This went on for a few seconds until the dot just vanished, and Blake looked up to find herself almost crashing into one Yang Xiao Long.

With said blond giving her typically more stoic partner her familiar, "Helloooo!" with the addition of a wave.

"What are you-" Blake tried to ask before she found her left wrist being grabbed, and her teammate giving her an unusually serious, "We need to talk," for an answer.

And thus the cat girl found herself being dragged away by the fun loving blond.

Flashback End

After a short while the black and yellow duo found themselves in a class, with the brawler sitting cross-legged on top of the teacher's desk, watching her bow wearing friend walk back and forth, and Jaune standing outside the room with the door cracked open enough for him to hear what was going on.

"Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well save you're breath," Blake said as she looked towards her partner while still walking.

The smirking blond shook her head before replying with, "I don't want you to stop, I want you to slow down."

"We don't, have the luxury of slowing down," shot back the cat girl with a slight bitter tone to her voice to show off her annoyance at this conversation.

Meanwhile the older sister of Ruby just shook her head again as she told the Faunus of RWBY that slowing down wasn't a luxury, but a necessity.

"The necessity is stopping Torchwick!" Blake said as she finally stopped pacing long enough to look the other girl in the eye.

"And we're going to. But first, you need to sit down and hear what I have to say," Yang said back while patting the spot in front of her on the desk.

Barely a second later, the black haired girl reluctantly caved into the request with a, "Fine," and took the spot offered to her as she listened to the blond's tale.

"Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an Island just off the coast of Vale. Our parents were Huntsmen. Our dad taught students at Signal, and our mom took on missions around the kingdom. her name was Summer Rose, and she was like, super mom. Baker of cookies, and slayer of giant monsters."

At that last part, the young knight outside the room let out a silent snort thinking about how this might explain the two sister's desire to be Huntresses; and why Ruby seemed to have a "minor" love for cookies.

He was drawn away from his thoughts when the brawler spoke up again with what he caught as a ping of sadness in her voice.

"And then...one day she left for a mission and never came back. It was tough. Ruby was really torn up about it. But, I think she was still too young to get what was going on you know. And my dad just kind of shut down. It wasn't long before I learned why. Summer wasn't the first love he lost, she was the second. The first, was my mother. While he didn't tell me everything, I learned that the two of them were on a team with Summer and my Uncle Qrow. He also told me about how she left me with him shortly after I was born. No one had seen her sense."

"Why did she leave you?" Blake asked with authentic curiosity plastered on her face.

Her answer, came in the form of a sigh from the blond who then said, "That question. Why?"

Yang then proceeded to get off the table and make her way to the blackboard.

"I didn't know the answer, but I was determined to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anyone I could about her," she said before picking up a piece of chock, and began drawing something as she continued her story while thinking back to the past.

"Then one day, I found what I thought was a clue in the form of a broken photo. I thought that it would lead me to answers, or maybe even my mom! So I waited one day for my dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out. I must've walked for hours because I had cuts and bruises allover. But I wasn't going to let that, or anything else stop me. When we got there I could barely stand, but I didn't care. I had made it to the place. And then I saw them. The burning red eyes of Beowolves staring me down as they growled in anticipation for what they were planning to do. There we were, a toddler asleep in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl so tired she couldn't even scream for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter. But, as luck would have it, or uncle showed up in time to take them all out and save us...My stubbornness should've gotten us killed that night."

With that, Yang finished her story, and the drawing she made of what appeared to be some sort of eye made from a gear and a feathery brow.

(A.N. yeah sorry guys I'm not sure how to really describe the symbol Yang drew. Hope I came close at least)

"Yang...I'm sorry that happened to you, and I get what you're saying, but this is different! I'm not a child searching for answers. I can't just-" the black haired girl tried to argue before the brawler cut her off again.

"I TOLD you, I'm not telling you to stop. I haven't. To this day I still want to know what happened to my mother, and why she left me. But I will never let the search control me. We're going to find the answers we're looking for, Blake. But if we destroy ourselves in the process then what good are we?" asked the blond with her back still to her partner.

Blake took about a second to reflect on those words before she looked back to say, "You don't understand! I'm the only one who can do this!" in a frustrated manner.

This resulted in two reactions.

One was that the cambion currently spying on the two widened his eyes in shock upon realizing how he wasn't the only one feeling the pressure of resent events.

The second, was the blond teen of RWBY turning on her friend with her normally lilac eye's burning an angry red as she started yelling back.

"No you don't understand! If Roman Tourchwick walked through that door right now, what would you do?"

"I'd fight him!" Blake countered

"You'd lose!" proclaimed Yang as she shoved her partner.

"I can stop him!" argued the cat girl as she tried to shove back but was not able to move the brawler more than an inch.

"You can't even stop me!" the blond stated as she shoved the other teen hard enough to make her fall onto the desk behind them.

The two stared each other down for a moment until Blake looked down while balling her fist and Yang started walking forward.

Meanwhile, Jaune found himself debating on whether or not to step in until Yang surprised both him and the cat girl by pulling her into a comforting hug.

"I'm not asking you to stop," Yang repeated for the last time as she opened up her now lilac eyes and continued with, "Just please...get some rest. Not just for you, but for the people you care about."

They then separated to look each other in the eye as a soft smile formed on the blond's lips, and the cat girl gave her a timid nod.

"Speaking about people you care about," continued the brawler who's smile morphed into a mischievous smirk as she looked towards the classroom door and added, "You can come out now if you'd like Jaune!"

To which the young knight found himself caught off guard, and tripped into the room.

After getting back on his feet, the three stood around the room for about a minute in awkward silence (well awkward for two of the people prescient) before Jaune spoke up.

"Do I want to know how you knew I was there?" he asked while trying to avoid eye contact with either girl.

"I caught a glimpse of you in the hall as I dragged Blake into this room. Figured your curiosity to check out a situation would get the best of you. Which actually worked in my favor because it brought you to me so I could try to deal with whatever's got you in as much in a funk as our favorite kitten here," explained the blond in a manner that made the others look at her in a way that said, "Who are you and what have you done with our happy go lucky dork!"

"What, I'm smart enough to come up with plans too!" Yang argued back while giving them a cute little pout that made Jaune mentally chuckle and think how much alike she and Ruby looked when doing that.

Family thing he guessed.

The mood quickly died down when a frown formed on the knight's face as he then went on to say, "Too bad that curiosity didn't seem to be working when Blake was clearly not doing too hot."

"Jaune," was all the cat Faunus said before the silverette picked back up.

"I've been so consumed with feeling like a failure for over Tourchwick, and inadequate as, 'The Heir of Sparda,' that I failed to see you were going crazy trying to figure-out how to stop a possible war. Same thing I've been doing sense I was nine," confessed the cambion while playing with the red stone around his neck.

"Inadequate?" both girls asked at the same time in confusion.

"Yeah, as in not good enough to save everyone from what's supposed to be coming. I know I may not show it but the truth is I always asked myself if I was really the right person for the job, or if someone else in my family should've found this necklace and gotten this power," Jaune confessed as he watched his own reflection in the gem around his neck.

"Not the right guy for the job?" Yang questioned while trying to suppress her laughter.

Something that confused, and to an extent, annoyed the hybrid before she spoke again.

"Jaune I honestly don't know anyone I'd rather see with that power than you," the blond confessed much to the eye widening shock of the only guy in the room.

"Sense I've met you, you've saved not only me, but my whole team, including my sister, on multiple occasions; you were also the first to accept Blake for being a Faunus; kicked Cardin's butt before helping him have a somewhat change of heart; proven your bravery by being one of, if not the first in our group to run into danger; and most of all, you've just admitted that this whole time you've been afraid you might fail, and yet you've still tried your hardest to be everyone's hero! Showing both your courage and humility. You Jaune Arc, are one HELLuva guy!"

Any other day that pun would get a chuckle from the knight, and a head shake from her partner, but not this time.

This time, they just looked at her before Jaune broke out in hysterical laughter for the next minute or two.

Once he had a chance to calm down, and wipe the tears from his eyes, he walked over to Yang so he could hug her.

"Thanks Yang. I needed that. All of it. jokes and all," said the cambion.

To which the brawler proceeded to hug him back as she replied with, "Pun aside, I meant everything I said. I really believe you are the guy for the job. And stop thinking you need to be perfect, just try to be the best you that you can be okay? And know we'll be there for you like you've been there for us in the past." requested the blond before pulling away just enough to look up into his blue eyes and get almost as lost in them as he did with her lilac ones.

The moment was ended however when Blake let our an awkward cough to remind the two of her presence, causing the knight to pull away and rub the back of his head with a sheepish smile on his face.

Yang on the other hand just smirked and headed for the door, but not before turning around to say some final words for the other inhabitants of the class.

"Just so you guys know, I will expect compensation for taking the time to help you through your issues. And by compensation, I mean one dance with each of you this weekend at the dance," stated the smiling brawler who winked at the duo, and then continuing towards the exit; adding a little extra sway into her hips as she exited the door.

"Leave it to Yang Xio Long to be a caring and supportive friend one minute, and a complete tease the next," joked the hybrid as he looked to the cat girl who answered him with a giggle and smile before giving him his second hug of the day.

"What she said about being there for you, know that goes ditto for me. You don't have to be afraid to face the future alone anymore," said the Faunus.

"Right back at you Blake. And know the next time the Fang or Tourchwick show their faces will be when we finally take them down. And then maybe go get some pizza to celebrate?" replied the cambion with a joke at the end."

Something that caused the blackette to chuckle at before joking back with, "Tell you what. You nab Roman before me, and I'll buy the pizza myself."

With that, the two broke off, and Blake made her way out of the class, stopping at the door to look back at the sliverette one more time with a smile and wave goodbye before leaving for Team RWBY's dorm to get some much needed rest.

Now being the last one in the room, Jaune looked at his necklace one last time, closed his eyes as he told himself, "No more doubted," and then tucked it away in his shirt as he made his way out the door as well.

A short while later, he turned a corner, and nearly crashed into the last person he expected to see that day.

Weiss Schnee.

The hall went really quite for about 30 seconds until Jaune cleared his throat so he could apologize for nearly running into her, and then walked around her in an effort to get back to his room as quickly as possible.

Because while Yang may have helped him deal with his depression, he was still not quite over the hurtful things the heiress said to him, nor did he admittedly feel all that good about lashing out at her.

(AN: sometimes you can still feel like an ass even if you're in the right.)

However, he failed to get more than five feet away before he heard what came from the white haired girl's mouth next.

"Jaune wait!" pleaded Weiss.

Something that caught the young knight by surprise do to the fact she had never pleaded for him to do anything, or ever called him by his first name for that matter.

Thus the cambion chose to stop, turn around, and face the white clad girl.

Who to his confusion was fidgeting in obvious nervousness while keeping her eye's firmly glued to the ground.

However the two fell into silence for about a minute, with Jaune almost tempted to say his farewells to the heiress.

Something she must of realized because at that moment she shut her eye's, bowed her head, and yelled, "I'm sorry!"

To which the silverette answered her with a look of confusion.

After raising her head and taking a deep breath, Weiss locked her pale blue eyes with Jaune's dark blues as she continued speaking.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you yesterday, for how I treated you everyday sense our return from the tower, and even for the short time I was rude to you back when we first met. I know I've done nothing but treat you like you're the villain here when the truth is that you are the opposite Jaune Arc. You are a genially good man, pizza loving tease aside. You're brave enough to charge into action when danger arises, you've shown willingness to drop everything to help those you care about, and you've saved my life and the lives of my tea-my friends on several occasions without asking anything in return," confessed the white haired girl as she finished with a sad smile aimed at the taller teen.

"Weiss I-" the knight tried to say but found himself at a loss for words.

Thus allowing the heiress to continue speaking after her smile turned into a frown while she looked away.

"The truth of the matter is that I've been reflecting issues from my past onto you."

"What do you mean by that," he asked while tilting his head to the side and raised his right eyebrow in confusion.

Weiss answered by taking another deep breath before finding a nearby window to walk up to and look out of as she gave a proper explanation.

"Most people hear the name Schnee and automatically treat us like we're royalty with power to change the world. That we should be praised as the greatest thing sense the creation of the Huntsmen academies. Or rather that's how my father seems to think about our families name, which is why he's such an arrogant, greedy, uncaring, and manipulative man who will do whatever it takes to keep my family's name and company on top! Provided they both keep him rich and acknowledged by the aristocrats of Remnant," the heiress finished while looking outside with anger on her face, and her hands balled up into fist.

"Weiss," muttered the cambion with concern.

The white haired girl continued with, "And when I say anything, I mean anything! Taking on questionable business partners who promise great fortune, cutting corners on safety precautions to save time and money regardless of the risk to employees, and using his own children to improve his image while claiming we were doing it for the good of the family! And the worst part is, I would allowed him to make a pawn of me because I believed it was how I could earn his love! So I endured every interview with the press with the biggest smile I could force on my face while spewing whatever he told me to say to make him sound like the epidemy of leadership. Every concert I sang with perfection, and after all that, he'd express his 'love' only when in front of a camera! But when we we're home, with no one but my family and the servants to see, I was written off as invisible or a nuisance as he told me one day when I asked him why he never spent time with any of us. As I got older, I eventually came to understand that my father would never see me as anything more than a tool, one who he convinced to obey with the promise that I was helping the family and the people we work so hard to provide for! and I was too spineless to say I had enough! That is, until the day I unlocked my Aura and Semblance. When those came along I thought I finally found a way to get away from my father and use my powers to do some actual good like my sister did when she learned she could be a Huntress. Of course, simply going to an academy wasn't enough, I wanted to try and get as far from that man as possible to improve myself for a future career in the Huntsmen community. So, I chose Beacon. Sadly my father fought me over my choice until I proposed a compromise. I would defeat a mechanized suit of armor my family built to serve as both a guard and training partner for the advanced combat lessons. Ones my own sister feared were too much for me. I didn't care thought. I was ready to do whatever it took to get my way. It wasn't easy, I nearly lost the battle, and received this scar on my face to remind me of that day whenever I look in a mirror. But in the end, I managed to pull through, and I earned my ticket out of Atlas. I felt that I would finally be able to choose my own path."

Weiss took a moment from telling her story to give the smallest smile she could to express the little bit of happiness she felt over finding her escape, until she started her story once gain, with a frown.

"That is until that day at the tower, were I was told I had to either join in some crusade against evil monsters from another world, or let Remnant burn. Then came the situation yesterday when I realized Neptune was only flirting with me because he found me to be a cute girl and not because he had genuine feelings towards me. I felt like I was back at Schnee Manor, living my old life and having to follow the will of another while getting very little choice in what I did with my own life. I was so angry and I let it get to me, and I took my anger out on the one I felt was most at fault for me ending up in such a situation. I realize that I was in the wrong for doing so. You didn't ask to get me and everyone involved anymore than I asked to be born into the Schnee family."

She then turned around to face the knight, with tears threating to spill from her eye's.

"So again I want to tell you how sorry I am Jaune. Sorry for every hurtful word I've thrown your way, for the time I physically harmed you during training, and for all around just being a spoiled bra … for being a total bitch towards you. I know I have no right to expect your forgiveness, but I hope you'll give me a chance to try and earn it," finished the heiress while failing to hold back some of the tears.

With that, the cambion answered her with a a smirk before adding, "Buy me the best pizza in town and we'll call it even. How's that sound?"

This left the whitette slack-jawed for a minute until her face turned red in embarrassment.

"You-you-you dolt! I just gave you a sincere apology and you answer with a joke!" she shouted before she started to beat against his chest in a child like manner.

This only caused Jaune to start laughing until he took her hands in his own, drawing her attention back to him.

"Weiss, in the time I've come to know you, I've learned you can be a very prideful person. And I understand that for you, saying you're sorry like you did was not the easiest thing for you to do. So... thank you," he said with a warm smile on his face.

Leaving the heiress slack-jawed as she just looked at the boy before her while thinking, "How can he go from infuriating me one moment to making me feel better the next with just a few nice words and a smile? Has it always been this nice of a smile for that matter? Wait, why am I thinking about that? Or that his eye's remind me of sapphires! WHY THE FUCK AM I THINKING ABOUT THESE THINGS!"

To try and end her train of thought, Weiss pulled her hands free, turned around to wipe the remnants of her tears away along with hiding her beet-red face, and responded with, "W-well now that we got that all cleared up I suppose this means we can move forward on better terms yes?"

This reaction confused the silver haired boy for a minute before he just let a smirk form on his face as he shook his head side to side while thinking, "In the end, Weiss will be Weiss," before looking back at her to say, "Yeah, we're good now. See you later Snow Angel!" and then began walking away while imagining the tick mark that must have formed on Weiss's head from the nickname she despises.

"Hey Jaune?" the heiress called out before he got too far.

The cambion responded by turning towards her with a raised eyebrow.

"Nevan is making our teams do a group training exercise tonight. Something about making up for the fact we'll be busy at the dance this weekend. So, I figured in the event she didn't say anything, you should know and choose whether or not to join us. I-I think everyone would like to see you," said the white haired girl while she was brushing her long ponytail in a fidgety manner.

The young knight answered her question with a smirk and a nod before going on his way; waving goodbye to the heiress as he did so.

Time Skip: Training Ground

"All right kiddies, this will be your last training session with me before the weekend, so you better give me your best effort!" Nevan ordered in an enthusiastic manner.

"Already planning to Boss Witch!" Replied Yang with a new nickname she made for the red haired demoness as she switched her gauntlets into their demonic form.

"Really Yang, you just making a name up for all of us?" Weiss asked as she made sure her sword was filled with Dust and that the Philosopher's Stone was secure around her neck; with her fingers lingering on the item for a few seconds more.

"You need to ask, 'Ice Queen?' Blake questioned back with a smirk on her face; with the bags under her eye's having somewhat receded due to her getting a much needed nap in earlier after her chat with her blond partner.

To which the white clad girl responded with a glare while internally expressing her relief to see the Faunus of RWBY doing better.

"So then what would yours be? Kitten?" asked Dark Blake who was now able to manifest thanks to the original regaining the energy she lost from her sleep deprivation.

Said bow wearer sent her clone a, "shut it," look

Only for the damage to be deemed irreversible once Yang said, "Oh I am so using that one now!" before running off to join their instructor in the training ring.

"Oh oh, me too!" added the ball of energy known as Nora, who bounced her way to the same location with Ren following close behind.

"Come on guys, let's get to it," Ruby said as she finished examining her Crescent Rose/Artemis hybrid weapon and then walked over to join the others.

"You okay Ruby?" Pyrrha asked as she walked right next to the hooded girl as they made their way into the to the ring.

"I'm fine. I've just got something on my mind," the younger teen said while still looking as bummed out as she did earlier when talking about Blake not going to the dance.

"Would this something happen to be a someONE?" asked her blond sister with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk.

"Wha-" Ruby tried to question before being cut off.

"I'm your big sister, it's my job to know when something is bothering you. As for what exactly is causing that trouble, I just took an educated guess and proceeded to take care of that issue along side our little Blakey problem." Yang answered.

The silver eyed girl hesitated for only a couple more seconds before asking, "And is he also alright?"

At the same moment the blond happened to see something from her peripheral vision that caused her lilac eyes to light up while her smirk grew wider before saying, "Why don't you turn around and tell me?"

Ruby did so, letting her own eye's widen in surprise as she saw Jaune Arc enter the training arena fully geared for a fight.

"Hey there. Any chance you guys can make room for me to join?" the silver haired leader of JNPR questioned with a playful smirk on his face.

"You sure you're up to this?" the red haired demon asked.

Only for the smirking knight to take a quick glance at each of the girl and Ren before looking back at the sorceress and answered with a, "Yeah. Let's rock."

Something that caused the teams and Nevan to smile at, knowing their old Jaune was back.

"Well then, ladies, gentleman, and cambion, tonight's assignment is my version of Capture The Flag. You'll all pull either a red of blue card from this bucket I got my hands on, and whichever one you get tells you which team you're on, and the flag will be the charm around my neck," she pointed at the silver charm with a lion on the front of it for emphasis, "Remember to work together with your teams and use all of your skills and training to get it before the other team does. Oh and as a way to sweeten the deal, the one to get the charm before time runs out gets a kiss from me," instructed Nevan while trying to tease the teens with her last sentence.

To which most of them looked flustered, or weirded out in Ren's case, while Yang just joked back by saying how getting a kiss from a demon would be an interesting thing to brag about to everyone.

Taking a quick glance at the half demon of the group without his notice.

"In that case, what are you all waiting for?" challenged the demoness as lightning began to dance across her body.

The teens looked at one another before getting into a battle stance, and then leaped into action.

---

Finally finished, this chapter took me FAR too long to finish but I managed to get it done! Sorry for the long wait guys, I hope you enjoy it (or at least those of you who still enjoy my work hopefully haha). And sorry if it's still a little rough even after my editing. Feeling a little rusty and all. Anyway this is going to be the last chapter of this story for a while, because I want to try and work on some new stories I've been wanting to write. God willing it wont take me nearly as long to get them out. I hope you'll like them as much if not more than this story. As always thank you all for your support by choosing to follow/favorite my story and hope to get some feedback from you all. Till next time, this is Dragonfan6 signing out!