AN: In no way am I connected to RWBY
Ruby packed her final combat skirt into her suitcase. After a promise to never be so stupid again and to stick with at least two of her friends at all times, she was allowed to return to Beacon for her second year tomorrow. Yang and Emerald had the same restrictions.
She wanted to be happy.
But last night, she and Emerald had woken up cold inside again. But now, they knew why.
Even if he wasn't controlling it, Ruby wasn't afraid to run into this Grimm dragon (there was another one. Cool.) It was still his aura. Mercury, even in that state, wouldn't hurt her.
Ruby was tired of being the one that needed to be protected. She was going to become stronger. She would never be as strong as Mercury (didn't want to be as he had had such a horrible childhood to get it), but she did want to be as strong as her Dad and Uncle Qrow. Stronger.
She could protect everyone if she was stronger.
She also knew they were lucky. Beacon was Ren and Nora's home. It had been Weiss' home these past two months. Violet had stayed there too. Mercury may be gone for now, but he had protected their friends. He had managed to protect Em.
Ruby wanted to protect everyone. She had a lot to live up to.
She had lost badly to Ginger that day. If it wasn't for Talaria, she would be a goner. She also probably would have attacked Cinder, even though she had healed her. Only later did it occur to Ruby that Cinder was probably healing Mercury too. Mercury had always been more cautious of Ginger and Pepper than of Cinder.
Ruby had been told that there were new security devices around the school, which was a relief. Pepper could turn invisible and, while they allowed Talaria around the school now, someone who turn invisible was just unfair.
It would have made getting away with trouble a lot easier.
Ruby sighed. She shouldn't be thinking about that.
The twel-ten of them had had study sessions every Saturday. They had Combat Class several times a week, but Ruby wanted more. She wanted to get out there; to get more experience. Uncle Qrow had said that 'a day out there was worth a week in this place'.
But she had promised.
And Cinder and Ginger had been very close to Vale City when Ruby came across them, along with quite a few members from the White Fang. They weren't there when Uncle Qrow went to look.
The security was those heat sensors, but for privacy reasons they weren't in the dorm or any of the bathrooms. Ruby and her family had gotten into the habit of locking their dorm when they left, so that was no change. Jaune had locked himself out enough times to know they did too. BRN would too when Ruby explained why.
Blake had gone home to her parents for those two months. Ruby remembered meeting Blake's parents and had gotten along well with them. Much better than Sun anyway.
Though that isn't saying much. And Yang never answered me when I asked her if she had considered dating Scarlet. They certainly went clubbing enough.
The number of videos that Mercury had on his scroll when they had been drunken idiots, though far more of their fun when they hadn't been. Ruby had never touched alcohol (as much as she wanted to but all of them said no) and Mercury hadn't touched it either because he never did. This had given them a front row seat to their friends' clumsy antics. Of course Mercury recorded both times it happened.
Although Em swore off getting fully drunk as she had wound up with a migraine after playing with her Semblance under the influence. Mercury, amused, commented that it should probably be a law of 'no Semblance use under the influence'.
And Pyrrha nearly skewered herself with Crocea Mors once.
Giggling, Ruby closed the suitcase. Maybe they would spend the night watching those videos. There should be some popcorn in the cupboard.
Jaune was very happy to see REY on the first day of their second year.
He had been in the courtyard with his team and BRN, having a good chuckle at the new first years who had no idea what they were in for. Getting launched off a cliff into Emerald Forest had always been the Initiation, with only the relics being different.
It did make Jaune wonder exactly what they were going to do when they graduated. Somehow, Sun's joke of setting them on fire was something Jaune couldn't rule out.
While the new first years went to the auditorium (good memories), the other years returned to the same dorm rooms they had had the previous year (the first years were going to get the ones that people had moved out of).
When Jaune stepped into the room, he noted that Weiss' bed now had a puppy cover and made a note to ask for that story. He noticed that there were doilies that were dangling around the room that he was sure Weiss was not responsible for.
It felt like he was back home.
The first day was slow for JWMP. All of them had left most of their stuff in the dorm over the two months, but there were still some things to unpack. It still took all of two hours and that was mostly because Melody had somehow got a suitcase that seemed bigger on the inside than on the outside.
"Looks like a good two months," Pyrrha chuckled happily as Melody placed a much needed clock on the wall. Weiss was the only one that had had any sense to bring one last year and she had gotten irritated at their late starts to the morning.
"Not really," Melody responded idly as she rooted through her clothes for something else. "Nyall got into a row with his parents, so he ended up on our couch while Ivy was in with me. She was still there when I left, though Nyall's first day of Haven is today."
"Wonder what their Initiation is?" Jaune grinned. This set the others off again.
"Professor Goodwitch spoke with me yesterday," Weiss stated after they had calmed down. "She asked that we keep it small while the first years get settled. The example she used was that bungee jumping of the highest spire while baiting which idiot had the longest rope was going to result in a month's detention with Professor Port and Dr Oobleck."
Jaune winced. "Harsh." Then nodded in acceptance. "But fair."
"She also asked that we act as mentors and not as poor role models."
Pyrrha smiled. "I don't think we are the team she needs to say that to."
True, Melody and Pyrrha had been the ones to lean on last year. All twelve of them had been in their own way. Then again, RMEY and ZBRN then had to be responsible while attending a school that sounded like it should have had a much higher death rate than it did. Jaune would have loved to see them having to behave themselves. Ruby and Yang would have hated it.
Now there's ten of us.
"Nice bed sheets Weiss," Melody teased.
Weiss shrugged. "I may not have picked them out, but I didn't pay for them. I also know that Blake's bed now has cats all over them. Except a few images of a hand drawn Zwei."
Jaune shook his head with a chuckle. That would have been an interesting surprise for Blake. She had gone home and she also hated that dog with a passion. The only other one who claimed to was Mercury and Jaune had seen him sneak him snacks enough times to doubt it (although he had sworn not to tell anyone that).
"Seriously though," Jaune started, glancing at Melody. She looked okay. "Everything okay at home?"
"Everything's okay at my home." She sighed, her hands stilling. "Not so much at Nyall's. He's more worried about Ivy. She's got the grades so far, but she hasn't got the money for a medical degree. If it was anything else they might manage, but if her parents decide not to support her…" Melody shrugged. "I don't know what she's going to do."
"If he chooses the right jobs, Nyall could support her through university when he graduates," Weiss pointed out.
"But it takes away some of his freedom to choose the jobs he wants. On top of that, the best paid jobs aren't normally the most…"
"Moral ones?" Jaune supplied. "Easy ones?"
"Both," she agreed. "Anyway," she turned to Weiss. "Did you get it?"
"Nyall's CD? Yes. It arrived at Professor Ozpin's office yesterday and he gave it to me then. Ren and Nora have theirs too. Remedy said they had their copies."
"I'm happy to pay for it," Jaune cut in.
"So were they," Melody replied. She took a folded towel out of the suitcase and unwrapped it revealing a pile of CD cases. "But Nyall insisted. As you guys chose the songs, he says you can have them for free."
Nyall had agreed to do one record and have it released to the public, but he asked RMEY, JWMP and at the time ZBRN for the songs he would cover and he would ask for permission from the original artists. If it was out in this time, then he obviously hadn't had any problems. Then again, song covers were normally allowed. Nyall himself had chosen two songs, one of which he sang on the stage that final night of the Vytal Festival.
Jaune accepted a case with a joyful "thank you" and had a look at the back. The twelve of them hadn't told any of the others what songs they chose. "I still don't mind paying, especially if this money helps him support his sister."
"He's got this in a savings account," Melody responded. "But bills and education aren't cheap. Neither's travelling and while the school pays for their trips, he's got a feeling he's going to get a lot of legal fees when his parents fall out. They don't have much money, so he's going to feel the bulk."
Jaune winced. He may have had seven sisters, but his parents had never been short on money. They had never been rich, but they had been economic. That was one reason they had so many camping trips while other families went to a different continent altogether. The kids hadn't cared; before he came to Beacon, they were some of Jaune's best memories.
One thing he had learned was that it was very easy to be rich one day and in debt the next. One successful CD did not necessarily mean Nyall was set for life. Some would have been donated to places like orphanages and Nyall obviously wasn't going to be asking for the money for them.
"Even so…" Weiss frowned. "That does seem odd. Shouldn't he still be set?"
Melody bit her lip. "Well, he said it was okay to tell you. Turns out his mother was having an affair and well…"
"They weren't careful," Jaune finished.
"And the dad wants nothing to do with it. Not even child support."
That rankled Jaune. It took two to have a kid, even if it wasn't planned.
"In other words, Nyall might be left having to support a kid," Pyrrha sighed. Jaune could tell she was just as angry about it as she was. "Has he told anyone else?"
"Just Silvo, his best friend. Even the rest of his gang doesn't know, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."
"""Promise."""
"So it's even more of a mess," Pyrrha noted.
"Pretty much," Melody agreed sadly. "Not much anyone can do for the moment. Not until the last straw anyway and as his dad was having an affair for a lot longer..."
Jaune looked at the case again, but focused on the songs. There were no club tracks on here. The songs weren't really love songs either. Nyall should make a good amount off this, but his family was a mess.
"I insist I pay for the one I'm sending home." Jaune wasn't taking no for an answer for that. He thought his parents would enjoy it. He then continued before Melody could say anything. "So what are we going to do to Remedy's and Burgundy's dorm to get them back for the doilies?"
Melody perked up.
Pyrrha smiled at him while Weiss nodded in approval and offered their first suggestion.
The year was off to a rough start.
But Jaune wasn't going to let it hurt any more of his friends.
Two weeks later, things had settled down for most. It was odd to be one of the elder groups watching new teams form. Had some of their arguments really been that petty? However, at least there were only two 'trouble' teams, but the professors were keeping a close eye on them, just as they did for them when they were first years.
Blake was in her dorm, reading a book on past wars between human and Faunus. She had asked Ren and Nora for some space and they had willingly done so, deciding to spend the day in Vale.
Maybe this will finally count as a date.
With a snort of amusement, Blake turned the page.
Her two months at home had been happy. Her parents had been thrilled to keep her. It had finally allowed her to move on from foolishly running away from home in the first place.
It had also told her a bit more about the White Fang too. The two that had been keeping her dad up to date with the White Fang's activities claimed that Adam was the leader of a splinter group. Blake wasn't sure she believed that, but she was sure those two in particular worked for Adam. Otherwise, why wait until Blake pointed out the White Fang were a part of the Dust robberies and worked for humans to tell her dad?
If it were true, then maybe the White Fang weren't as lost as Blake thought. Her father was now interested in meeting with Sienna Khan, the Leader.
Blake's ears twitched, the bow no longer hiding her ears. She shook her head, focusing on the text.
Her father was much better at politics and the two were friends once. Blake had her own friends to look out for and, despite the dangers, she may be ready to face them emotionally, but she wasn't ready physically. She needed more training.
More importantly, what got Ruby grounded was going after Cinder and some White Fang members not far outside Vale City. They weren't done here.
Blake's attention was drawn to the door at a knock.
"It's open," she called. Her hand casually went to her sword lying next to her, but she didn't grab it yet. She had been warned about someone that could be invisible. Emerald had given them a description.
She was pleased she hadn't drawn it when a teen girl entered. She remembered seeing her around and knew she was a first year, but not much more than that. There was something familiar about her though.
"Hello."
"Hi." She shifted, hovering in the door. "Um-"
"Come in," Blake suggested, waving at the Nora's bed, the one next to hers.
The girl's shoulders sagged in relief as she closed the door behind her and sat on the bed. This close, Blake could now see something odd under her scarf.
"A first year, I take it?" Blake guessed. She knew all the others in the school at least by name if not properly.
"Y-Yeah. Coral Sphere."
Now I remember.
Blake smiled at her. "How's your first fortnight been?" She shifted on the bed. "Classes wise."
"Good on the Combat Class and little slow on the Grimm Studies." She didn't say anything about the other subjects.
"Are you enjoying them?"
"Most of them. Grimm Studies is a bit…Err…"
"Dull is the word you're looking for there," Blake chimed in. "We think he does it on purpose. There's important information there that's hidden in the way he says it. I think it's also training for picking out the important things in rather boring or trying witness statements when you're trying to complete a mission."
"Oh." She frowned. "Why not say it then?"
"Because that would defeat the purpose of it." Blake chuckled at her scrunched expression. "They'll get more interesting soon enough. Whatever you do, do not get detention with him. He definitely does it deliberately then and unless you get the info the first time, you have to sit it again."
Coral shuddered. "I'll keep that in mind." She bit her lip. "Blake, did you…know my brother?"
"I did once. I haven't spoken to him in a few years." Two years before she left the White Fang. "How is he?"
"Okay. He wants to leave the White Fang, but…"
Blake did know the price for running away now. It was a sticking point.
She remembered Jasper well and he had never been interested in violence. He tended to be the aid to doctor for those that came back injured after a raid. He had never liked being there, but had fallen in with his friends. Ironically, he had come from a home like Weiss'; not physically abusive but very suppressive.
Coral on the other hand had been raised by their father, who had the opposite idea of how to raise a child. Blake remembered Jasper telling her once that his sister was a wild one.
So what happened? She's been nothing but nervous since the first week of school. Maybe it wasn't the normal problems with her team.
"I want to help you Coral, but I'm not sure how."
"It's not just Jasper. He told me that there are quite a few of them that want out." Blake could believe that. "But it's not as simple as just not turning up for meetings."
"No, it's not." Blake had been very lucky. She had only needed to survive a few months on her own (she could have gone back to her family) and managed to get into Beacon. She hadn't had any trouble with the White Fang since except when she went looking for it.
Beacon could shelter Coral. But it was a school and not a safe house. It couldn't do the same for her brother.
A safe house…
"Is he in immediate danger Coral?"
"He's okay where he is for the moment. But he's being asked to do things he doesn't want to do and even the friends he went in with are having second thoughts. Have you met Byrd?"
"Never met a guy that liked to flex his muscles so much." At fourteen, he had the body of a body builder and was always looking for a fight. "He's having second thoughts?"
"I don't know what the job is, but yeah. Blake, I hate to ask but…you know the White Fang. But you're a Huntress. I don't have anyone else to ask. I'll do anything."
Blake did not like where this was going. "For starters, you're going to live your own life. I'm not going to ask you to fight a war you don't want to." Coral relaxed instantly. "I'll see what I can do, but I don't know at the moment. There's a few people I need to talk to."
"Like your team?" She almost snarled at that.
"Like my father," she corrected harshly. Coral flinched at the rebuke. "But yes, my team too. I'm not making decisions for just me anymore. I'm responsible for them and I'm not letting them down. Understand?"
"…Yes. Sorry."
"…Your team haven't been treating you well, have they?"
"Me fine, but I can hide it." Under the scarf were fish scales and gills, but only around her neck. "Dale on the other hand…"
"He's your friend with the bear ears, isn't he?"
"Yes."
The old way of dealing with this was to pit them against Mercury as he loved putting rude, arrogant idiots in their place, regardless of whether it was bigotry or suicidal self-confidence. However, it wasn't just the fact he wasn't here that Blake wouldn't have wanted him involved.
"If you have any problems, tell Professor Goodwitch and tell her I've offered to re-educate them on the dangers on picking on a Faunus. Believe me, CRDL were just as bad in their first few months, but they learned."
"…Won't that make them worse?"
"First few weeks, they get a free pass as they learn better. Many of them just parrot their parents. We are protectors of innocents now, regardless of them being human or Faunus. If they try again in the courtyard, even the teachers aren't going to get involved to help them much, save stick them in a detention they'll never forget."
When Blake had been told about that, she was almost disappointed CRDL backed down so quickly. She would have definitely been amused by the teachers treating them as if they were five years old, supervising them everywhere, making them stand in a corner during class, having a curfew and not allowing them into Vale.
"That won't work."
"Then I'll sic Emerald on them."
Coral winced at that.
No one knew exactly what Emerald did, but one rather inconsiderate third year cornered her repeatedly and tried to flirt with her, which she always brushed off. Then he did the most idiotic thing he could: he insulted Mercury, calling him a 'waste of scum and a whore' and that was his kindest language. Predictably, Emerald sent him to the infirmary five days ago and he was only just been released earlier that day. Ruby and Yang sat the detention with her, claiming they would have done the exact same thing. Blake didn't doubt it. She would have too and marvelled at Em's control. She could have killed him.
Said idiot was now sitting detentions of his own. He was supposed to be a protector and, failing that, have some sense of self-preservation. He was now persona non grata with everyone, even his own team. Jealousy was one thing, crudely insulting at least a teammate like that was going to result in time in the infirmary, never mind the fact no one knew if Mercury had broken up with them. That was a rule among all the schools and the students didn't take kindly to it being broken by anyone.
Most people were also under the impression Emerald was still dating Ruby, but Blake wasn't sure of that. Maybe it was something else.
I bet the utter lack of discipline at Hogwarts really drove home the point of allowing words to go unchecked and to instil a sense of responsibility. Especially as we're actually adults.
"Would Emerald help?"
"The boyfriend he insulted? Turns out he's a Faunus." Blake had been very surprised to hear that, but she had never seen any traits and had no idea what kind he was. "Even if he wasn't, she really doesn't like bullies."
None of her friends did.
"You and your friends are the cause of gossip for all the years."
Blake smiled at her. "Just wait until we get to the big things. We were asked to go slow while everyone adjusted to Beacon. Mostly for the first years."
"So…About my brother?"
Blake flickered her ears again, thinking. "I need to talk to a few people. Me and my parents were planning to create a safe house for people who wanted to leave, but we haven't found a good place for it. I promise though, I won't just abandon you or your brother. But we do have to be realistic."
Coral nodded, green eyes hard. "Then let me know any way I can help."
"I will." She placed a hand on Coral's, who didn't pull away. "I know it's hard, but I will help. I promise."
She nodded, swallowing. Then she smiled shakily. "S-So, what do we newbies have to look forward to?"
Blake leaned back a little and began with the time that the swimming pool was dyed purple. It had been one of Zephyr's first ideas.
Tai and Qrow had nearly had a heart attack when Mercury's scroll received a message, especially when they saw who the message was from and what it said. The fact it said to bring weapons to the rendezvous could mean a variety of things, but it was also on a rooftop. Not one person would see even if they did look up.
Still, it didn't take much discussion to come to an agreement on their plan.
Zephyr Oakley/Solgale was more familiar with Qrow. Even if he hadn't lived with the man in the magical world, Qrow was known as a big nuisance to Salem. So he was going to stick to crow form and out of the way unless a fight went down.
By the way his eyes widened slightly before cooling over into a mask, Zephyr hadn't been expecting Taiyang and probably didn't know how to deal with him. He was also eyeing Talaria warily, even though he had been the one to suggest her.
In response, Tai had dropped Zwei off with the girls for the day, saying he was out of the house. They had shrugged and had been happy to have him.
"You put my son in a deadly tournament with very high mortality rates." Just so Zephyr knew where he stood.
"I did." At least he was responsible enough to admit it. "It was mostly curiosity, but at the time I did wish him harm."
Certainly got his wish now.
Tai kept his face blank. "And now?"
Zephyr shifted, almost too minutely to see but Tai caught it. The General had once told Tai that he somehow had an ability to make him feel like an errant five year old that had been caught red handed with his hand in a cookie jar. Barty agreed with that and so did Qrow. Obviously, Zephyr was feeling it and Tai felt a sense of satisfaction at that.
"As unbelievable as it sounds, I want him back with you."
That was something he wasn't expecting to hear. "You're right. I don't believe you."
"I do have an olive branch other than info, but you're not going to like it." He pointed to a rather clean alley nearby. "Pepper's supposed to meet someone there in about…" He checked his watch. "Three minutes. I did think about killing her myself, but I don't want to get caught. And invisibility is kind of a problem I don't have the resources to counter. It shouldn't be that difficult, but people have got lucky before."
Pepper. That certainly explained Talaria and the weapons.
"What do you get out of this?"
Zephyr folded his arms and gave a very obvious 'are you kidding me' look. "A lot of things. But the main point is that I don't want her baby born."
"What." Tai knew he wasn't going to like this.
"Pepper's pregnant. Six months. You can guess the male, as impossible as it seems." It couldn't be… "But I'll explain properly later. If you want to believe it, it'll have to be the long version."
It would have to be the long version. Zephyr may have taken a more neutral role, but they had never known exactly what he was doing and they were very sure he had helped Salem when he attended Beacon. That made him an enemy and someone to distrust.
"I need to know a reason why you want Pepper dead before I help." He wanted Pepper dealt with, but he wasn't going to risk getting stabbed in the back by Zephyr to do it.
"Most simply put, a Black raised by those triplets is going to result in another Marcus Black. I'd like to say worse, but I don't think that's possible."
Tai was in Huntsman mode. Emotions were noticed, but they were suppressed until they could be handled properly later. He was certainly going to be destroying a lot of things later, but that was for later. His focus right now was taking out a big asset to them and a big torment to his son.
For now, he would accept that Zephyr would help with Pepper. He hated Marcus Black.
He tapped his three right fingers against his left arm. It looked like a natural movement for someone who was thinking, but it was also a signal to Qrow to stay in his crow form and that things were going well enough.
That translated into they weren't at each other's throats. Zephyr might look as old as three of his kids, but he was in reality eleven or thirteen years older depending on your point of view. He could have spent most of those years in the field or he could have spent them mourning. There was no way to know.
Tai did recognise the man that Pepper was with: Roman Torchwick.
"Where does he fit into the operation?" Tai asked. Zephyr had said he would give info.
"As far as I know, small time at the bottom of the ladder. Doesn't know anything of value and is easily replaced. The main contact to Vale underground."
Qrow would know more about that. However, they had no idea how he would react to an attack. He could aid Pepper, he could do nothing or he could flee. Zephyr didn't want to be spotted and, if his intel was useful, there was a good reason for that.
Pepper was definitely many months pregnant. But how could Mercury be the father or, to put it more accurately, be the male donor? He had been missing 79 days. Nowhere near enough time.
Is that something this supposed time cell or simulator can do? How long has it been for him?
Tai was well aware he was ignoring reality that was staring him in the face. He would have a mental breakdown later where his daughters wouldn't see. Given that Qrow would be just as bad, he would allow him.
Maybe he would drain Qrow's flask before he could.
Torchwick was moving away.
Pepper waited a few moments before heading back.
Talaria shot down and tried to bite her. No doubt she would recognise the little creature from the night of the final finals, but it should make her stick around longer as she knew she would be able to chase her down.
"Go," Tai ordered to Zephyr.
He obeyed, hopping across the rooftops and blocking an escape that way. That was the thing about alleys; they were good if you want to meet someone without others noticing but it was very easy to get trapped.
Tai should feel some guilt about attacking a woman that was pregnant, but that was easily squashed under the confirmation of the father. Even if Zephyr hadn't told him, Tai would know. What those girls did to Emerald was proof enough.
This was still going to be something he was going to partly regret. He normally tried to bring people in alive. That wasn't happening here. Most of that regret was going to be for the baby, an innocent. But Tai wasn't going to risk Pepper being held for three months to have it.
He would admit that part of his bloodthirst was for revenge for his family.
He caught something small and black in the edge of his vision. Qrow was tailing Zephyr. Smart idea.
Pepper was really having trouble hitting Talaria. She was very apt at dodging. Pepper hadn't tried to run, though. That made Tai suspicious. It also made him grateful that Qrow was in a good position. If that something was Zephyr, than Qrow could handle him.
Then Talaria managed to get her fangs in Pepper's neck. The pointed baton nearly skewered her, but she wasn't the fastest dragon breed for nothing.
Oddly enough, that bite had made Pepper's aura shatter. Yellow flashed all over her.
That was worryingly easy.
That made her retreat, especially when she saw Tai. She just smiled, patted her stomach (definitely Mercury's) and fled the opposite way.
Straight into Zephyr's sword.
After the initial stab (which was definitely aimed at the baby), Zephyr casually swung and took Pepper's head off.
"Rather overkill," Qrow commented from behind Zephyr. The words were flippant but the tone was stern.
Zephyr jumped and glared at him very suspiciously. He turned his head to look at Tai, who had his arms folded in a way that told his daughters that they were in Big Trouble. Zephyr scowled, but squirmed very slightly.
"What, are you complaining?"
"I am curious as to why you think that's his, despite the fact it physically can't be." Tai was certain too, but he wanted answers.
Zephyr hesitated for a moment. "I want a better location than here to talk."
"About?"
"A lot of subjects. Ozpin and Ironwood probably want to hear it. Not Lionheart."
Lionheart…It took a second for Tai to recall the name. He met Qrow's eyes, who gave a frustrated nod.
"Then Ozpin's office." It was the nearest definitely secure location.
"Fine." He hesitated for a moment. "The baby…that's because of the time simulator. Also why she was weak enough to be killed so easy. The baby's developed, but she didn't age so it was more of a strain."
…
Zephyr didn't cause any problems for them on the walk, though he did remain stubbornly silent. He even handed his sword over to Qrow without any prompting or suggestion. With classes still in session, Zephyr didn't have to worry about accidentally running into his old team.
Tai was also glad there was no danger in him running into his daughters.
Naturally, with all the teachers either doing their jobs or enjoying their free time, Ozpin was alone in his office.
"Zephyr."
"Professor Ozpin." Zephyr still respected him it would seem.
"Do you prefer Solgale or Oakley?"
"Oakley."
Qrow leaned against the pillar, not so subtly guarding the door. He was leaving the part of interrogator to Tai and was probably going to remain pretty quiet unless he needed to talk. Ozpin looked as calm as ever.
Tai honestly wanted to punch something and he wasn't even halfway into his morning.
"Then Mr Oakley. What would you like to discuss?" Trust Ozpin to be the diplomat.
"He can start with why we should trust him," Tai cut in. "I want the long explanation."
Zephyr turned back to him and his face became carefully blank. "…Okay…You know my story?"
"Your siblings and father were killed by Marcus Black. You were or weren't, but your mother saved you and gave you a new body using a stolen aura transfer machine."
"A good summary. Leaving out a lot that's important but a good start." He took a deep breath. "Okay, Cinder approached my mother first. She didn't say yes until much later, mostly because she was still working in Atlas at the time." That was new. "I heard 'Black's son' and agreed on the spot. I later learned he had been killed by Ginger. Imagine my surprise when I find out the jerk at Initiation was Mercury Black."
That meant that Zephyr was recruited within those five days Mercury had been kidnapped from Glade Town. That led to a problem.
"How would Cinder have both of you? You wouldn't have worked with him and she offered his job back."
"I didn't learn that until much later. A few weeks ago in fact. My guess is that I would have been one of Mercury's first victims if he agreed. It would certainly have got my mother on board if Cinder claimed he didn't do it on orders." Zephyr shrugged. "He's not one to leave a threat to his life alive unless he has to. Just ask Warrick, Roland and Nash. A pity that it was Basil he should have been more focused on. He's the triplet."
Tai closed his eyes. This was just what he didn't need. He would get back to that later.
"So what happened that changed your mind?" It was a simple enough reason. Tai didn't agree with blaming the son for the father's actions, but he could understand where the anger came from. It didn't help that Mercury had clearly been raised to be an assassin.
"I started having doubts when Mercury lost his eye. No one should be that blasé about it. It only occurred to me then that Mercury had probably been Marcus' greatest victim." He scoffed. "Turns out I didn't know the half of it."
Tai wasn't pressing that. Neither did Qrow or Ozpin.
"I had also met the most bitter and hypocritical man I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. Severus Snape. Not only was he part of the reason Harry didn't know his parents, he then blamed Harry for being born and made his life a living hell, as well as bad mouthing the father he helped to murder and obviously felt no remorse for. No, I didn't want to be like Severus Snape. So I gave Mercury some info and left."
That would be the night Mercury killed Umbridge and Lestrange. That was when Zephyr turned neutral.
"Did Mercury show you the letters?"
Ozpin nodded. "He did. At the time, it was because he had gotten fed up of the magical world."
Zephyr laughed. "More than once, we both complained. Even had a pretty decent plan for mass genocide if it came to that. Fortunately for them, some had a sense of responsibility and did their jobs. They enforced laws that were illegal to pass in the first place and ignored the original laws that contradicted them." He shook his head slightly. "Ironically, our problem with them was the same: they had no sense of self-preservation."
Even Ruby had said bad things about the stupidity of most magicals, so Tai wasn't too worried about that. They had made some good friends there, so there had been some good times. Luna had been the main one to help Emerald through her depression.
They hadn't gotten onto the part where Zephyr wanted to help them. Stay out of the fight yes, but not actively help.
"I asked about Marcus and my family. Mercury couldn't give me any details, which was what I expecting. He was only seven at the time." Seven years and three days to be precise. "Once we returned to Remnant, we didn't talk anymore." He rubbed his temples. "Then he got caught almost three months ago."
Tai tensed again.
"I wanted to talk to him immediately. But first off they took him to talk to someone called Salem, who sounds like Cinder's boss." Zephyr looked at them. "You know who that is. Great, because I don't. Then he was given to the twins, which annoyed me. No one lasts long with them, a few days at best.
"No one…except Mercury."
Zephyr's face had gone blank again. Tai shoved his paternal instincts down for now and listened impatiently.
"I don't know how long it was for him, but it was at least a month. For me, it was four days. I expected him to be insane. That's the fate of most of the twin's victims. Basil normally doesn't get involved unless he needs a punching bag after a long day. But no, he was perfectly sane. To this day, he still is."
Cinder had told Ruby that. They could both be lying.
"I asked him a few things. See, Ginger has a dual Semblance, just like Pepper did. One of Ginger's could be compared to Legilimency; she can see into your mind, make you relive memories in moments…You get the idea."
Dammit.
Mercury had a lot of horrific memories.
Also, that meant they definitely know everything. He needed to keep a close eye on Emerald.
"Doesn't work on him too well. He could probably stop it from working at all, but…" Zephyr shrugged. "Either way, she can't see anything after he kills his father. She just sees a Grimm dragon, the one he creates."
In the corner of his eye, Tai saw Qrow's frown turn contemplative as well as furious. He would ask him later.
"When I spoke to him, because of Ginger's Semblance use, he remembered a few details of that day he had previously overlooked, though they didn't help much. On top of that, he found my account of Marcus' slaughter of my siblings odd. Apparently, Marcus doesn't usually kill in his victim's home." Zephyr turned to Ozpin. "My research says that's true."
"From the statistics, it is. Of Marcus' known victims, less than 5% were killed in their home. Most were killed in public places and it is thought that many more sudden deaths there are his work."
"Mercury said that. He said that an odd fingerprint in a house or odd people even entering the house gets noticed fast. On the other hand, it's a lot more difficult when the place is public, is known to be a criminal destination as a lot of people won't consent for forensics and no one would think anything of strange people and strange meetings.
"Then he told me that the main reason Marcus killed in someone's home was because he had been there before."
Ozpin shook his head. He was also tense, but Tai wasn't sure why. "I can't confirm that."
"Don't need to. Turns out he didn't normally take jobs in someone's home for the same reasons as he didn't kill them there. So not only was I looking for Marcus' client, I was also looking for a reason why Marcus would be in my house."
Tai did have some sympathy for Zephyr, if for nothing else that he wouldn't want anyone meeting Marcus Black. He also had the feeling Zephyr did not want to know the answer to that question. "Did you?"
"Both. Took me this long. Finding the client was difficult on a lot of levels. He only wanted the head of the Solgale Empire removed as he had lost his four year old daughter due to not following orders of blowing up a train while anyone and everyone was on it and didn't want to lose his eight year old son. He didn't know about me or my siblings and never would have ordered that. Mercury agrees it was most likely Marcus' idea of not leaving witnesses and his clients very rarely requested it."
Zephyr went quiet here. Was that sorrow or anger? He took a deep breath and continued.
"The reason why the bastard was in my house before…was due to a client. One that hired him two years before to take out the leader of a small gang that had been getting in the way of a few plans of my parents."
All of a sudden, Tai could see where this was going. For Zephyr's sake, he hoped he was wrong.
"My father was only interested in the money side, so I didn't think it was him. So yesterday, I went the straightforward route and asked my mother. She told me that yes she had hired Marcus Black to kill an annoyance and she was the one to insist to meet him in our house. While we were still there."
What.
"I was pretty pissed at her. Then she told me she already knew who the client had been for years and not only had she not told me, she had told me it wasn't important and he wasn't to blame. But for some reason, in her mind, the son is and he deserves everything that is happening to him. That it was justice for Lake and Dakota.
"I made my choice then and there."
Tai…did feel for Zephyr. From the sound of it, his mother didn't care for him at all and was far more focused on ill-directed revenge than looking after her son. Zephyr may be much older than he looked, but he needed emotional support. Losing his siblings and father in a matter of minutes would be hard on anyone. The way he spoke of his siblings, he was the main one to look after them when they were alive.
All he had had was revenge.
Now, he didn't even have that.
"So ask away. There's only one question I won't answer and that's 'what is happening to Mercury'. He's alive and waiting. That's all I'll say. Believe me, you don't want to know."
Tai locked eyes with Qrow. His head was lowered a little more, muscles strained. Tai looked back to Zephyr.
Waiting…
"Are all the security systems at LiaGuard operational?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes. When we leave, it's on a specific airship and it's scanned carefully during the approach. If it does not fit exactly to what they are expecting, like the number of life signatures, they destroy it before it gets too close by cancelling their instruments and letting it fall."
Ruby wouldn't have got anywhere near the prison. She would have been killed.
Tai let out a long breath. So sneaking into LiaGuard wasn't going to be easy.
"You brought up Lionheart before," Qrow piped up from where he was. "Why?"
"He's Salem's contact in Mistral. That's how RNBW got their transcripts."
There was a flicker of something across Ozpin's face. It settled into calmness soon enough, but it had been there. "How are you sure?"
"When I reported the names of the students, she told me that Emerald used to work for her as well. I then pointed out they had probably talked. She agreed and commented they wouldn't be alive if they hadn't. She told me not to worry as my transcript was genuine and that RNBW's transcripts came from Haven's highest authority."
That did mean it must be Haven's Headmaster, unless it was one of his assistants that helped with much of the work. From the betrayed fury on Qrow's face before he hid it, it was most likely Lionheart.
"You said you wanted Mercury back with us." Tai couldn't see how that jump happened. "Why?"
Zephyr hesitated there, a little uncertain. He sighed. "I hate Marcus. Always will. That said, he certainly took a great interest in…'training' his son. The best way to get back at him is to return Mercury to you. It'll piss off my mother as well and I've found I hate her as much as Marcus. Mercury though…I respected him before and I definitely respect him more now."
Ozpin gave Tai and Qrow a sympathetic look before his attention went back to Zephyr. "What has Mercury told them?"
"Nothing." Zephyr must have seen something in Tai's expression that he hadn't meant to show. "They took him to Salem who…well, Cinder said she searched his soul and I don't think she meant aura reading." Salem herself. Ozpin looked grim. That wasn't good. "That's when they learned that he had a…Animin bond I think it's called, with two others. It was easy enough to guess Emerald was one by his actions during and after Cinder's service and they think it's either Ruby or Yang for the other. They're thinking Ruby."
So Mercury hadn't told them about the bond at all.
And if Mercury hadn't told them about the bond then…
Almost as if he read his mind, Zephyr continued. "They also dosed him with Veritaserum and with his aura suppressed, he was vulnerable to it."
"Veritaserum?" Why did that ring a bell? "Is that that truth potion?"
"Where did they get Veritaserum from?" Qrow questioned. His arms were more tight than normal; he was worried.
"Apparently, Cinder had it on her when she came back and it stayed in her pocket. As you have Talaria, you don't have much room to complain." Again, Zephyr smiled. "You named him well Qrow. He couldn't deny that he knew who had the rest of the Spring Maiden power, but his opinion that Veritaserum was 'made by simple minded fools for simple minded fools' was proven."
"He overcame it?"
"Not exactly. He merely took advantage of some of its limitations. In particular, three things. One: he could answer 'I don't know' to a lot of things because he had never seen factual information on anything, only hearsay. That is his 'truth'. Two: the potion does not have you volunteering information and he is good at phrasing it to mean something else when he did have to answer. Three: in no way does Veritaserum force you to answer in a language the questioner understands."
That was so very Mercury. Although the last one was new.
Qrow groaned. "Of course he would learn the entire dead language rather than the actual spells."
Zephyr chuckled lowly. "His point was that spells went in and out of fashion like some girls change shoes, so it was simpler and more memorable to just go with the entire language. Of course, he never had a tutor, so he could respond 'I don't know' when they asked for a translation. And they can't look it up."
"You asked him about it?" Tai focused on. He wanted to hear about his son more than anything.
"Sure. He knew I'd find it funny. When I asked him how he wriggled out of describing her, he said he had been told what was red, but that was subjective and as it was Marcus that taught him that, he wouldn't trust him to be truthful. The colour didn't change but people's interpretation of it did. That's how 'red' could be 'black'."
"That's ridiculous." But Tai couldn't stop a smile across his face before he focused again.
Still, it was a far cry from a teen that had been brought up to follow orders mindlessly.
"And 'what do you think that means' becomes 'I think it describes the one you asked me to describe'. He'd make a great politician." Zephyr's amusement left. "I can see he's your son now, not Marcus'. I don't have anything left to fight for. I won't deny that. He does. For the same reason I used to."
…
"Is he okay?"
"Far from it. But he's still Mercury and he can recover if you get him home."
Of course they would. They wouldn't allow anything else.
"As for LiaGuard, I'm not allowed into the control room because I come and go. Until recently, I wasn't interested and Cinder will notice if I start asking too many questions. My wonderful mother still never told me who the client was and they have no idea I already know, so they're not going to think anything of me talking to Mercury. But there's not much I can do to help him."
Tai's heart sank.
"However, what I do know is that there is a second force field inside the well-known one. That one is directly connected to the same circuits that control the electric pulse that shuts down approaching airships. If you can get something powerful enough to destroy both shields, it should knock that pulse offline, though I don't know for how long. I know when Venus left at the end of last year, Atlas didn't have any technology that powerful."
That was what James had said in his last contact. It had taken years of development to build those paladins. Still, that was something they definitely had not known before.
"What about this aura transfer machine?" Ozpin asked. "What do you know of that?"
"If you're asking about that Grimm aura dragon, then there's something you need to know about that." He stopped, obviously considering how to phrase it. "Cinder made a miscalculation. She forgot that, while we didn't age on Earth, we still needed to eat. At that point, Mercury hadn't had anything to drink for five days and yes, the twins were that eager. This led her to realise he could keep himself alive with his aura alone. That led to a problem: how much did she allow him? Too much and he'll slip his leash. Too little and he'll die soon. She ended up allowing him too little, only 6% of it. He needed to increase it to survive and the only way to increase 6%..."
"…Was to increase the other 94%." Ozpin rubbed his temples. "This one is going to be even stronger than the last."
So far, it hadn't attacked anyone that they knew of. That was encouraging. It also meant Mercury would be more powerful when he got home, so this wouldn't happen again.
Shouldn't.
"And it's going to continue that way for each replacement, until 6% is enough. Eventually, you're going to wind up with one that is too powerful to destroy. On the other hand, they don't control it. At all. They just create it and set it loose. As for the machine itself, it needs at least a week to recharge after completely ripping the aura out of someone and just like last time, Mercury almost died this time because they haven't perfected a way to keep him alive in his state without his aura. On top of that, he's only going to get worse."
Tai swallowed, but remained professional. If they could figure out exactly what made it attack other villages, they could just leave it in peace. If they weren't the ones making it aggressive, what was?
Or…if it is Mercury's aura, he might be able to control it. But he couldn't control the Guardian Form he did create. He always had something else that needed doing and never had time to train with it.
"Speaking of Cinder," Qrow started. "Any idea why she would let Ruby go when she was caught?"
Tai immediately snapped out of his misery and refocused.
"Yeah and that's down to that miscalculation as well. See, if his aura is keeping him alive, then surely the opposite is true. He could use it to kill himself." Tai's breath caught in his throat. "So they came to an agreement. She would allow him some of his aura and would not go looking for his family, such as Ruby. She did comment that Qrow was likely to get in the way due to his job. He in turn wouldn't use his aura to kill himself. After all, Cinder would then have to go looking for Ruby or Emerald to keep the twins in line."
Tai's heart skipped a beat.
After everything and he's still looking after us…
"What's so special about these twins or triplets?" Ozpin asked. "Surely a lot of problems would be solved if they just kept him in a coma until he was needed."
Tai remembered when Yang was younger. 'Behave or I'll take your toy away.' That was not a comparison he liked.
"I don't know what Pepper's Semblance was other than invisibility, though Mercury tells me it's not for combat. I don't know about Basil either. Ginger's other Semblance allows her to steal another person's Semblance. That's what happened to Orion Shard that night."
"Steal…?" Tai couldn't wrap his head around that. Hallucinations were one thing, but this?
"She needs something to…shall we say 'store' the power and she can only keep one at a time. Mercury is out because she needs to take all of a person's aura and him being an Aura Wielder makes that a tad difficult. She can't handle it. She also can't kill the person who the Semblance belongs to as she then loses it. Once it returns, they recover."
"And Mountain Glenn?" Ozpin pressed. "If Cinder wanted Emerald's power, than why not have Ginger take it?"
Zephyr chuckled. "Well for starters, I wouldn't trust Ginger with Emerald's Semblance no matter what leverage I had over her."
That was a good point. Tai was just furious they had Mercury at the moment and after what happened to Emerald then...
"The reason they were at Mountain Glenn was because they got bored and tortured some poor guy to death. Homeless guy, no one noticed, but Cinder was angry. When she sent them there, she took the part of Ginger's gear that she stores the Semblances she drained. Worked well at first, but they had no way of knowing Remedy would turn up. Ruby's words to me: 'just outside the Kingdom'."
Of course she did. Ruby had little sense of actual geographical distance.
"What do you know that can help him now?" Tai wanted-needed an answer.
With a flinch, Zephyr shook his head. "Only what I've already told you. I can try to get some more up to date schematics, but unless those two shields come down, nothing can get close. From what I've seen, there are no real guards other than the Atlas Knights, but I don't know about the original prisoners."
"Can you give him a message at least?"
"That I can do."
"Won't you get in trouble?" Ozpin asked. He had wanted to avoid being seen attacking Pepper.
"Mercury doesn't talk much and he's never helpful to them. Doesn't scream or beg either. Just…quiet. As inhuman as it is, he doesn't tell the secrets he knows under any circumstances and never plays their games. Unless he rats me out, which he won't, then I'm fine." The not-teen met Tai's gaze. "What do you want me to tell him?"
Tai's mind went blank. There was so much. Where to start?
"Tell him that his family misses him. Tell him that they're fighting to bring him home and nothing is going to stop them from doing exactly that. Tell him we love him."
Ozpin smiled.
Zephyr's shoulders seem to relax and his tension faded. A sincere smile. "He knows that. But I think he needs to hear it."
Finally.
It finally seemed they were one step closer to having the whole family reunited.
AN: I always meant for Ginger to be able to use other people's Semblances and it works in a similar way to Velvet's that it needs something to contain data (such as a camera in Velvet's case). I had meant to make her worse than most of the canon villans, but it took a few more chapters after I introduced her in the first to realise one particular long term consequence. While it does fit in the story, I am not proud of it.
For those who are wondering, these are the songs on Nyall's CD:
1. Meet me on the Battlefield (Svrcina)(Nyall's choice)
2. Come With Me Now (The Kongos)
3. If Today Was Your Last Day (Nickelback)
4. Somebody to Die For (Hurts)
5. True Colors (Zedd)
6. Unbreakable (Fireflight) (Accoustic)
7. Fight (All Good Things)
8. World So Cold (12 Stones)
9. A New Hope (Broken Iris)
10. Yours Truly (Paradise Fears)
11. Come Home (Kyle Kupecky)
12. Untravelled Road (Thousand Foot Crutch)
13. Believer (Imagine Dragons)
14. The Last Goodbye (Billy Boyd) (Nyall's Choice)
Thanks for reading.