Not too much in this chapter but before we get into that, a few words on what I wrote before the previous chapter about my references. I have referenced more than just "If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device". Better luck next time "Guest".
In this chapter: Jaune takes the wings out for a spin. And we see just what sorts of nasty things that I have had the sweet and loving Grandpapa Nurgz "gift" our heroes with.
Ozpin gets yet another clue but does not take it too well.
Oh, and another music number. I think you will all know the tune.
It had been one day.
It had been one day of waiting in bed all day long, only getting up to go to the bathroom or to eat.
His meals had been provided to him by Ren, bless his heart, and Nora had given him accounts of the lectures he had missed out on. Of course Ren had been there to correct any errors or to refute any exaggerations.
There were a lot of those.
What? It was Nora telling the stories. A bit of hyperbole was to be expected.
What had surprised Jaune was the story of how professor Port had tried to hold a lecture whilst hungover and sipping a glass of scotch to ease said hangover.
Goodwitch had not been happy with the man.
Supposedly had Vale's police department called Ozpin to get Port out of town in order to keep him from destroying more bars and clubs.
There was word that Port had an accomplice, a tall and lanky man with bad hair but all the police had found was a few black feathers.
It was a mystery for the ages.
Jaune had tried to be productive or as productive he could be. He had been attempting to adjust his clothes to fit the wings. That had been a lot of work.
Maybe Siwan Tallien could make him some new shirts later, once it was time.
Until then, Jaune would have to settled for his own handiwork.
And now, it was time for him to leave the dorm for the first time in days.
Oh, dust, he was nervous. Even if his friend said that he would be fine he couldn't help but worry. Maybe it was because JNPR and RWBY surrounded him like some security detail, deterring any possible hostile actions against him. In the background, CRDL was running "interference", keeping anyone from taking pictures.
Beacon had strict rules about posting pictures of others and that went double for this matter. It would be obvious that he wasn't "human" anymore and he wasn't a faunus either. How would the students react?
With shock, amazement, fear and a lot of pointing fingers apparently.
That's how the students had reacted as Jaune walked through Beacon with his wings out in the open.
His right wing had still been wrapped up as Surgia had made him promise to have the wing checked before having it liberated.
Everyone was looking at him.
Dust, it was embarrassing! And Pyrrha was used to this? How could anyone ever get used to dealing with this?
He steeled himself and tried to act as if they weren't looking but he did acknowledge those who called out to him. He didn't want there to be any rift between him and anyone else.
His visit to Surgia had been a short one. A quick scan by had revealed the wing to be completely healed.
The doctor just nodded at the amazing recovery and undid the bindings on the wing and asked Jaune to flex it a bit, to see how it felt.
Jaune had obliged and with both wings he had created a massive gust of wind into the infirmary, making papers and items fly around the room.
"Well, I'd say they are in pretty good shape." said Surgia as he and Jaune were picking up stuff from the floor.
"One would not think that you have only had them for a few days."
"Yeah, I'm quite surprised as well."
"So what now? Are you adapting alright? Any of the students giving you trouble over them?"
"No, they just stare for now."
"Understandably. Give them some time and they will accept it."
"I will, and thanks for the help."
"Just doing my duty, Mr. Arc. Now off with you, lest you send something else flying. I have a bunch of appointed visits today for some reason. I just wish it's not an epidemic. Not this close to the tournament."
Jaune gave a quick nod, thanked the doctor once again and left the infirmary. His team had chosen to wait for him outside of the infirmary.
"Well?"
"The wing is fit for flight or so the doctor said."
"That's grand. So what now?"
"Well, Pyr, I was wondering if you would like to do something before we go training? Something fun?"
"I would like that. Do you have anything in mind?"
"I have an idea in mind. Mind waiting for me by the lawn outside the CCT tower? I just remembered I forgot something at the dorm."
"Okay. Should I tell Ren and Nora not to wait up?"
"Yes, but we won't be too long. We will meet up with them at our usual training ground."
"Very well. I will wait for you."
"Thanks. I will try to keep you waiting."
Cinder Fall's point of view
Her headache just wouldn't stop. She just wanted to lie down and die if it meant being freed from this.
But she couldn't find any respite. Whenever she closed her eyes she could not fall asleep. She felt like she could go on for days yet even as she felt like her insides were rotting away in her.
She felt cold but she was sweating anyway. She couldn't make herself eat for nothing tasted anymore. What little she forced herself to consume was a challenge to keep.
And when she coughed she felt as if the contents of her stomach would flee her anyway.
This was why Cinder Fall, the self-made Fall Maiden, found herself struggling towards the infirmary. This had to end.
The voice in her head kept telling her that she was doing the right thing even as she steadied herself on door handles, tables and students to make her way to her destination, not caring who or what she touched.
Yes, if she couldn't be rid of what ailed her then all the rest would suffer with her.
They would suffer even if she got better. None would be spared this fate.
'Yeeesss, spreeaad theee looove.'
"Why do you think Jaune wanted us to wait for him here?"
"I don't know, Ren. He just said that it would be fun."
"Well where is he? We have been waiting for an hour!"
"Nora, please, it's been ten minutes."
Pyrrha sighed but she couldn't help but find Nora's antics amusing.
There was a nice wind that day, not too warm but not too strong. A light breeze that came in from the Forever Fall forest.
Nora and Ren allowed themselves to bask in the sun while waiting, eyes closed. They were both rather tired for some reason.
Pyrrha just looked around for Jaune. Surely she must see him. He was a human with angel wings! How could she miss someone like that?
A shadow passed over the three of them making Nora and Ren look around. They could have sworn that they had just heard something.
"Hey, Pyrrha, did you see what that was? Pyrrha? Pyrrha? Where did she go?"
Nora looked around but saw nothing. Pyrrha's footprints just seemed to stop in the grass.
Ren poked at his partner's back and pointed up in the sky. Nora looked up and heard the sound of laughter.
"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle."
The wind was pulling at her hair, a buzz was filling her ears and the air felt chilly against her skin but she was laughing. Pyrrha felt like the queen of the world.
Out of the blue Jaune had swooped down and snatched her off the ground. She had been surprised at being so high up so suddenly but when she noticed that she wasn't plummeting downwards had she realized what was going on.
"Don't scare me like that!" She had to shout to be heard over the air drag.
"Sorry! I wanted to surprise you! And isn't this fun?"
"It is!" she admitted.
They were flying over Beacon Cliff, from where they had been launched into the forest during their entrance exam. There was a steady wind coming in over the forest and by the cliff that wind became an updraft that easily kept them in the air.
Jaune would climb in altitude and then dive down with her, letting gravity speed them up until he pulled up. Occasionally he would dive, pull up and then let go of her and let her make a somersault in the air and then catch her before she got to the treetops.
Her heart was beating like a drum from this aerial acrobatics and the adrenalin rush. This was exciting! They would hold on to each other by the wrists or he would wrap his arms around her and let her hand from under him.
Jaune pulled her closer to him, closing the gap between them.
"Hey, Pyr?"
"Yes?"
"Would you like to steer?"
"Can I?"
"Sure. Just hold out your arms and try it."
"Okay."
She did as she was told and immediately could she feel their speed slowing and their direction changing. Jaune did adjust ab it so that her actions didn't put them too off course but she still had a fair bit of control.
She angled the flats of her hands to tilt them to the side or to make them turn to one side or the other.
It was like a carnival ride that she could steer by herself.
On the ground at Beacon Cliff there was a gathering of students. They had been attracted to the Cliffs to watch the show. Some had seen Jaune fly of with the champion, others followed the commotion and some had been attracted there by the laughter in the air.
Quite a few of Beacon's ladies gathered there were getting quite jealous of Pyrrha Nikos. She was having the time of her life, flying through the air like some goddess with her angel while they were stuck on the dirty dirt like some lowly worms.
Weiss looked up at the sky. "Seems fun, if a bit silly"
"Sure does." admitted Yang.
"Do you think we could try it?" asked Ruby hopefully.
Blake shook her head.
"I dunno. Seems like Pyrrha isn't done with her turn yet. If ever."
"Good thing I'm not jealous." said Nora, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yep"
"Mmm-hmmm"
"You said it."
(…. Wait for it….)
"Dust, I'm jealous!" shouted Ruby.
"I wanna fly too!"
"YES!"
"Preach it, sister!"
Even the lads were getting jealous. They were missing out on a cool ride but getting on this ride would require more contact with Jaune than most of them were comfortable with.
"So Jaune has wings? Who would have thought?"
Neptune was processing this fact as he looked up, slightly jealous of the attention.
"Man, they are so cool! How much do you think he can carry?"
Sun was genuinely admiring the sight.
"I don't know. They must get in the way when he showers."
"Don't be jealous Neptune."
"I'm not-" *cough* "I'm not jealous."
"You okay buddy? That sounded bad."
"I don't know. I feel like I'm coming down with something."
"Oh, man, I hope not. The tournament is coming up! We need to be at the top of our game for that."
"Well, let's head inside then. I swear this wind is going to give us a death of cold."
"If you haven't already."
By the time they saw the crowd disperse, Jaune and Pyrrha decided that it was time to finish their little flight. She was getting tired of hanging on for dear life, even if it was fun.
They glided down to Ren and Nora and asked them to head to their usual training spot but were told that all students had just been forbidden to train until further notice on orders from Beacon's resident physician.
"Pity. I was looking forward to training today." muttered Pyrrha while Jaune took them up to the level of the treetops again.
"Do you still feel like flying?"
"Actually, I think it's time for my actual idea for the day."
Pyrrha tilted her head. Had flying not been his idea? Then what was it?
He took her out from Beacon Cliff to the forest. The view was familiar to her. There was the spot they had stood on as Ozpin launched them into the air. There was the trees she had used to break her fall and there…
'Hang on a moment. I don't recall that branch being red.'
And she was quite sure that the three she had slammed into had been tree-colored, not red, or spotted with red.
Jaune took them closer and Pyrrha could make out the details of a picnic blanket and on a smaller branch there was a basket.
"Jaune, what's this?"
"I told you I was going to pick something up from the dorm. This is why it took so long."
"Oh, you didn't have to."
"No, but I wanted to."
They touched down on the blanket, Jaune making sure Pyrrha had her feet on something solid before he let go.
"What made you come up with this?"
"Well, I figured since we can't go out the usual way without making people stare at us, I should at least try to make it up to you. Do you like it?"
"I do."
She looked around and giggled. There, in the distance, was the tree she had pinned Jaune to during the entrance exam.
Jaune handed her a drink and look in the same direction. He chuckled.
"We have come a long way since then. I can see the hole in the bark from where Milo pinned me."
"We sure have."
Pyrrha didn't comment on Jaune's apparently great eyesight. She had witnessed that in the Death Stalker's cave. A bit away was the spot she had unlocked his aura and there was the cave where she had witnessed his eyesight.
'The first thing to change with him. After that he had begun having nightmares and in the morning had the fangs popped out.'
Ren had told her that Jaune had in fact had his nightmare before Beacon but they had become so much more frequent. That was something Ren had learned from Jaune's mother.
Pyrrha pushed those thoughts away and let her thoughts drift a bit to more pleasant matters. They had indeed come a long way. When she had first gone after him she had only wanted a friend. That friend had become her partner and now they were together.
It was one action she did not regret even if she had ended up with someone with huge wings, fangs and a thirst for blood.
'That's Sanguinius, not Jaune. And even then it is not by choice.' Pyrrha corrected herself.
She did not know exactly where the line between Jaune's and and Sanguinius' personalities went. Were they two different personalities in one head or were they simply two different sets of memories in the same head?
Jaune had made it clear that he and Sanguinius were QUITE different people.
She leaned back against the trunk of the tree.
Dust, holding on to Jaune while flying must have taken a lot out of her.
"Jaune, could you tell me about your family. I would like to know a bit about them before meeting them."
"Sure. Why, are you nervous?"
"Lots." She couldn't bother with proper words or full sentences. Dust, she really was tired after the flight.
"Well, we have mom and dad, Augustus and Livia Arc. He's an former huntsman. Mom is a geologist. They met when dad was guarding her at an excursion into grimm territory."
"Sounds nice."
"Yeah, but he quit that life soon after. Apparently, wives don't like the fathers of their children to risk dying at their jobs."
They chuckled a bit.
"Then there is my granddad Gaius. You will like him. He's an retired huntsman as well. Had to quit due to an injury and his age. He was the one who inspired me to become a huntsman, telling me my family's history."
"Your parents didn't like that?"
"Nope."
"The what about your sist-*YAWN*-ers?" she yawned.
It was getting hard to keep her eyes open.
"Well, there is seven of them, but you knew that. Virdine, Iolite and Rosinca are older than me while Desmine, Thulite, Morganite and Blende are younger. Oh, and you will have to watch out for Blende. Turns out she has become a fan of yours."
"Warning received. A bit… odd names I think, though."
It was true. Jaune seemed to be the only one in the family to follow the traditional way of naming children after colors.
"Dad and granddad were named in honor of one some of their ancestors since before the war. Mom changed her name at some point to distance herself from her old family. As for my sisters, mom wanted to expand on the color-based naming so she decided to name her girls after material or rather minerals. Now they are all known as the 'Rock wall girls' back home."
"Ha ha haaaa…"
"Pyr, are you okay?" he reached out for her. She had seemed fine moments ago.
"Just…. tired." she said, trying to swap away his hand but she was so slow.
He put his hand over her forehead and winced.
"Dust! You are burning up!"
Before Pyrrha could protest was she wrapped up in Jaune's arms and carried off to Beacon and her own bed. She threw a glance to the almost full picnic basket. They had not even gotten started with it proper.
Maybe next time, maybe next… time.
Her eyelids became too heavy to keep open and soon she fell asleep while in his arms to the sound of his beating wings. The red square of their blanket became smaller and smaller until all went dark and quiet.
"Just… tired."
A few days later
It was like something had touched Vale. Like something rotten and contagious had touch Vale and stained the city with a blight unlike anything seen in an age. It was like something putrid had reached out and embraced Vale in a sickly and repulsive hug.
The smell of rot and decay was everywhere. Not strong, but omnipresent.
Beacon Academy of the Kingdom of Vale was having an epidemic. No, it was having a tri-demic.
Three infectious diseases had spread among the students, be they of Beacon or exchange students.
The diseases were Atlesisan Wet Cough, Mistralian Water Bed and Subterraneus Remnaticus Bacterium.
All potentially fatal if not treated properly. And all thought eradicated until now.
If there had only been one at a time it would not have been too serious a matter but now all three were loose in the school at the same time. The danger was real.
Atlesisan Wet Cough got its name from the cough it caused.
The lungs of the afflicted would fill with mucus that the patient then would try to cough up. This mucus would remain fluid and easy to remove but there would always be more mucus and that requires moisture.
If the patient quit drinking enough water the slime would become thicker and harder to the point of becoming impossible to be rid of the normal way, suffocating the victim by cluing the lungs shut.
Mistralian Water Bed was named after how it made its victims sweat in their beds.
Towards the end the patients could feel like they were sleeping in a pool of water.
This happened because the bacteria released a compound that stimulated the sweat glands, regardless of the body's actual temperature.
If the patients quit drinking they would dry up and die.
And finally there was the Subterraneus Remnaticus Bacterium, an subterranean bacteria believed extinct until now.
Once unearthed from its natural habitat the bacteria had demonstrated that it could easily survive for days and potentially find a host and then spread like wildfire.
Once it was in a person it could give them severe bacterial gastroenteritis, manifesting as the diarrhea and accompanied by violent vomiting.
Treatment for all three diseases was simple and straightforward: keep the patient hydrated and keep them from infecting any more people.
The source of this outbreak was obvious. During the Breach in the City of Vale, had the explosion and all of the grimm unearthed the germs after them being undisturbed for decades.
The intervention of Beacon and Atlas' military had ensured that many had become carriers of Subterraneus Remnaticus Bacterium. After that someone must have been going around Beacon, spreading the contagions everywhere.
There was a silver lining to all this however.
If treatment was begun in time and carried out properly (read: keep the patient hydrated) the symptoms and infections would pass quickly enough.
And like a boon from the havens, all afflicted had aura that sped up their recovery. The students would all be fit for fight again for the tournament.
Until then however it was up to Arzet Surgia to keep everyone alive and keep the situation from getting worse.
He had realized what was happening the day Jaune Arc had taken to the air again when he kept getting patients showing signs of infections of the various diseases. A few quick tests had confirmed his suspicions and he had used his authority as resident physician to put the entire school on lock down.
No one came in and nobody left Beacon without being cleared by him and that was not going to happen.
Not even general Ironwood was foolhardy enough to question the good doctor on this matter.
Surgia had decided to quarantine the teams in their dorms. He reasoned that the teams as a whole most likely had gotten the same infections it was a simple way of containing the infections.
There was a reason for this. Surgia would have no way of keeping them all in his infirmary and using any other large premises would lead to the illnesses spreading further.
Therefore the dorms became quarantine zones and sites of treatment for the patients unless Surgia deemed their condition to be so dire that it would require his immediate intervention and attention at the infirmary.
Fortunately Surgia had been right. Pretty much all members of any team followed this pattern with only a few deviations. And those who thought they weren't sick generally just hadn't displayed symptoms yet.
Those who were genuinely symptom free and free from infection or were immune were separated for the rest with haste. Surgia also made a point of making these people his spare set of hands.
Beacon was a rather large place and there was no way in hell that Surgia could be everywhere at once. He needed help.
The duties of these conscripted were simple: go around Beacon at a set schedule making sure everyone was getting hydrated and report any case of symptoms worsening.
Some of the people who had found themselves under Surgia's command included Velvet Scarlatina, Sky Lark, Sun Wukong and Jaune Arc among a few others. Some agreed to help without hesitation, others needed persuading.
Jaune Arc had not needed persuading. In fact, he had stepped up and taken on a large part of the responsibility of the group seeing as he most likely was immune to anything Remnant could throw at him these days.
"I can't thank you enough for doing this, Mr. Arc!"
Arzet Surgia and Jaune Arc were walking down the halls of Beacon after having moved another student to the infirmary. Hopefully it would be the last time they had to do that.
"It's nothing, sir. I'm just doing what anyone else would."
"Nothing? Bah! That's nonsense! If it wasn't for you I would have to manage several teams on my own! Do you have any idea of how many people are immune to Atlesisan Wet Cough, Mistralian Water Bed and Subterraneus Remnaticus Bacterium at the same time?"
"Um, a few?"
"Only two, Mr. Arc! Only the two of us and I can't risk having any of the others contract anything else."
Surgia let out a sigh.
"At any rate, you are a lifesaver, in the literal sense. I have to get back to the infirmary and check up on the patients there. I do believe your next round is scheduled any minute now. I suggest you hurry along now."
"I will, sir. Thank you."
Jaune let out a vary sigh. These last few days had been hectic to say the least. He had hardly slept during this time, only a few hours each night.
Jaune was indeed one of two people who was immune to Atlesisan Wet Cough and Mistralian Water Bed and Subterraneus Remnaticus Bacterium.
That meant he had a lot of people to look after. All thanks to the Emperor's handiwork.
Jaune almost laughed at this. Without his changes Jaune Arc would most likely have been in the infirmary by now with the other critically ill ones. Instead he had been found to be essentially immune to everything on Remnant.
Jaune started to head to his dorm. On his way he poked his head into the dorms of his charges, making sure all was alright. He was met by waves of hands and tired "hellos".
It had been strange for many to be getting help from him.
One or two had even believed themselves to have died and that he was an angel sent to collect them.
Among the teams Jaune had to look after were CRDL, JNPR, RWBY and Cinder Fall's team.
Jaune did not like having to look after Cinder's team. Something about the made him feel uneasy and unclean.
He didn't know why though. Something just seemed off about them. Not to mention the way Cinder herself kept acting around him, brrrr…
'Damn that woman.'
Jaune was back at his rounds. His break had been short, barely long enough for him to eat anything.
He had visited CRDL and RWBY as well as his own team. It was now time to look in at some of the exchange students.
That meant he had to visit his least favorite patients: Cinder and her team.
Oddly enough, Jaune had only ever met three of the teams members: Cinder, Emerald and Mercury.
The fourth member was always busy somewhere else or off Beacon's grounds like she was now.
For some reason she had been off Beacon's grounds when the quarantine came into effect. Not too big an issue. Surgia had commanded Cinder to order her teammate into contacting Vale's health authorities. Supposedly all had worked out on that front.
Jaune took a deep breath and braced himself.
"Here is hoping Cinder will be decent this time."
She wasn't.
Cinder Fall was on her bed, just like the rest of her "team".
They had all come down with all three illnesses at the same time.
Cinder Fall did not like it. Cinder Fall hated it!
She hated being reduced to some sweaty, coughing, weak woman that had to run to the bathroom once an hour! It made her feel like some old hag with a weak bladder.
Cinder didn't want to be weak. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to be feared. She didn't want to be pitied. Pity was for the weak. That is why she had taken the power, the sweet, delicious power.
'Poooweeer yooouuuu deseeerrrrve.'
She tapped into the power, the power that was now hers, and turned it onto herself. The heat of fire began to course through her.
She tried to burn the infection out of herself. That was the excuse she told herself, that she was just being practical. She had been trying it for days now but to no avail.
In reality she just wanted to feel the power in her. It was exhilarating! She had to have more! It was better than sex to her!
"Cinder… please."
Emerald's voice snapped Cinder out of her thoughts but it didn't get her to let go of the power. Cinder needed it. She needed to stay strong.
Emerald had sounded worried. She had been worried ever since they got sick.
Emerald all but worshipped Cinder. Seeing her like this made Emerald uneasy. But now she was not looking at Cinder. She was looking at the door.
There was a knock at the door and in stepped Jaune Arc. It was time for Cinder to get her game on.
'Well, maybe there is something good with all of this.' thought Cinder.
'Teasing the little idiot angel is always fun.'
'Yeeesss. Tuuurn hiiimm. Corrrrupt hiiimm.'
"Oh my angel, how I've missed you." she stretched out on her bed, making sure to show off her legs.
She had taken to resting on her bed in nothing but her underwear due to the sweating. But ever since she had learned that Arc, the newly discovered angel, was her team's caretaker had she changed her usual underwear for lingerie.
All just to tease Arc.
If Cinder couldn't go around scheming she must get her kicks some other way.
'Keeeeep aaat iiit.'
Jaune sighed and did his best not to ogle or blush.
He was already feeling weird and uneasy around her, like there was a pressure inside his head. He tried to ignore it, certain that it was just his uneasiness.
"Cinder, we have been over this. You have to cover up or else you will end up catching something else."
Cinder pouted and stretched her long and slender legs. She spoke with the sultriest voice she could.
"You're no fun. I thought you wanted me to be comfortable, and I am."
Jaune just shook his head.
"Hey, Mercury? Is she always this impossible?"
"*Cough* Only when you are involved. *Cough*" answered Mercury from behind a separator made of a torn-down curtain.
Cinder may be wearing lingerie to tease Jaune Arc but that did not mean Mercury Black would get a free show, much to Mercury's dismay.
As Jaune started his visit by checking up on Mercury did Emerald turn to Cinder.
"Do you have to? It's beneath you! He is beneath you!"
"My dear Emerald, we must allow ourselves a bit of fun once a while."
"But what if he-"
Before Emerald could voice her concern Jaune came up to her and did his check. Emerald held her tongue, not wanting to expose any information. She still looked worriedly at Cinder who still hadn't turned off the power in her.
For anyone else Cinder would appear to just have a figurative fire in her. But to those in the know, like Emerald, there were telltale signs of the Maiden's power being used.
Emerald prepared to reach out with her semblance to hide the signs of the power being used. She prayed silently to whatever gods were listening that Arc did not notice anything.
'It's the illness. Cinder wouldn't do this otherwise.' Emerald told herself but in truth she didn't believe herself.
Cinder was using the power to remain awake, to stay strong. It could empower her physically and make her ignore her fatigue - but not remove it. Her mind and body needed rest, rest that she was denying herself.
Emerald knew it was stupid but she could do nothing to stop it.
And finally it was time for Cinder's check up. Cinder Fall sprawled out in all her glory. She was not letting up on her teasing.
"Tell me Jaune, have you ever desired something?"
Emerald gasped at this.
'She wouldn't. Would she?'
Jaune just shrugged.
"Lots of things, but these days I'm almost content."
"Surely there has to be something. Everyone wants something. What would you want? Fame? Glory? Power? Isn't that why you came to Beacon? To come get strong, to get power and become someone worth mentioning?"
Cinder was cramming on all of her charms into this. Too bad that it didn't seem to work.
'Tryyy haaardeeer.'
"Once, yes. But now I really don't care for those things. I still want them but not for the same reasons. Back then I wanted power for myself. Now I want it for the sake of others."
"Oh, come now. No need to be so noble. It's okay to desire power for oneself. It's okay to tap into those dark desires. In the darkness of our hearts we can find the will and determination to rise above all others and rise into the light. That is how greatness is achieved! Through power!"
Jaune contemplated this for a moment and shook his head. Jaune Arc did not agree with Cinder. He wouldn't have agreed even if Sanguinius soul and some of the primarch's memories resided in him but the memories made it easier to say why.
"No Cinder, I don't agree with you. Once I might have but now… No, just no."
"But to reach ever highe-"
Jaune cut her off.
"It is not the descent toward the shadow nor the rise toward the light that makes us great. It is in the never ending struggle between the two that greatness of character lies. We are tested, and we do not break. We do not fall. That is greatness."
Cinder gaped at that. She actually gaped.
She had never believed Jaune Arc to be so eloquent. She quickly regained her bearings. There was more to Arc than met the eye, she was sure of it.
'Whyyy dooo youu hesitaaate? Aaact!'
She reached out and grabbed hold of his hand. She wasn't done with him.
She let the power course through her a bit more, not caring if the idiot might feel it.
She needed the strength, she needed the drive. She needed the confidence it gave her and allowed her to sway people to her way of thinking.
'Tuuurn hiiim.'
And it worked. Jaune stood there looking at her as if spellbound as she began to speak.
She would speak of power. She would speak of getting power. She would speak of how she thought of how he might be interested in said power and how she could help him get it, if only he would help her…
… Or rather, that is what she would have spoken of if Jaune was actually listening.
"Arc? Do you hear me?"
There was no answer. Cinder took a closer look at him. He wasn't looking at her at all. He was looking… nowhere.
The lights were on but Jaune Arc wasn't at home. His thoughts were elsewhere.
The instant Cinder had grabbed hold of him his mind had gone blank. He saw stuff but not with his eyes.
He was having a vision. It couldn't be anything else.
He saw astartes. He saw astartes fighting grimm.
Their heraldry was that of the Blood Angels, his legion. They were - or rather - would be fighting in Vale and at Beacon.
But why? Why had seen them fighting grimm? When would this happen? Where exactly? Where had they come from?
Before Jaune could get answers the vision ended.
"Arc? Still with us?"
Cinder was waving her hand in front of his eyes, having let go off him.
"Wha- Yes, just blacked out for a moment. Sorry about that, I swear I wasn't staring!"
"No, nothing to worry about. You were only gone for a moment. Is something the matter?"
"Um, yes, I mean no! Oh, look at the time! I have to get to my next visit. Make sure to cover up now!"
Jaune all but bolted out off the room. The door slammed shut leaving Cinder and he cohorts alone in the dorm.
"Cinder, what happened?"
"I think I just found another application for the power of a maiden."
This had certainly made her day. Still, Cinder would have to inquire from her "benefactor" what this could mean.
If she could reach Her that is.
'Beee miiindfuuulllll of iiiit.' warned the cautious voice in the back of her mind. It sounded worried. More so than usual.
Yes, maybe Cinder had underestimated him? Just maybe.
Jaune had never imagined that he would be happy go enter CRDL's dorm but now he was. Cardin knew of what he was and would not talk unless his arm was really twisted. Jaune could breath out a bit here.
In the dorm there was only Cardin, Dove and Russel.
Sky Lark had been moved to another location for the time being as he reluctantly served as one of Surgia's spare hands as well.
Jaune slumped down in a chair and cradled his head. He was a few minutes ahead of schedule, he could take a small breather.
He was still reeling from the vision. He hadn't had one when he was awake before.
It was so taxing on his mortal head. Back before, in his past life, these visions had taken place so quickly that no outsider could notice. Back then they had been no problem apart from their implications of things to come.
Why had he gotten a vision back there? Did it have something to do with Cinder? Doubtfully.
It wasn't really the vision that was bothering Jaune.
Sure, fighting in Vale and at Beacon was worrying but the vision had stirred up some of the old memories.
Memories of the Adeptus Astartes, the space marines. He now remembered more. He had already realized that he had not spent his past life on Remnant but his current life was having a hard time accepting all the implications of his past life.
Cardin's coughing made Jaune snap up again and made him see if everything was alright.
Cardin was quite ill. It was hard to think that this man once had bullied Jaune, even less been given a task by the Emperor himself. Oh well, the Master of Mankind worked in mysterious ways.
"Easy, Cardin, easy. Here, drink."
Cardin did as he was told. In his current state he did not even have the will to resist even if Jaune hadn't been the son of his Emperor. Or the fact that said Emperor had ordered Cardin to do as Jaune said.
Cardin felt weak. Had the Emperor sent his angel for him in thanks to his brief service?
"Thank you, my Lord." Cardin's voice was hoarse after days of coughing. "What's troubling you, Lord Primarch?"
"You can still call me Jaune, Cardin. As for what is bothering me? Well, I just got here after looking in on Cinder and her crew."
"Is she still being impossible?"
"Yes. She has changed to nothing but lingerie just to mess with me. Doesn't she know I am with Pyrrha now? I don't care for anyone else!"
"Sheesh, I don't know if I should envy you or feel sorry for you. Hmm, definitively envy. I wouldn't mind seeing some of that ass."
"Cardin, she would kill you if you even got near her."
"Oh, make no mistake, I would not touch her bitchy skank-ass with a ten-foot pole."
Jaune cocked an eyebrow.
"Explain."
"Well, before the Ball, I had Sky keep an eye on Cinder's teammate Emerald. Seems like she and Cinder had something to do with the rumours about you and Weiss."
Jaune nodded. He knew Cinder and Emerald had been part of the rumour-making, but then again, a lot of people had been.
"I know about that. Pyrrha told me of how she heard the two of them talk about it at the library one time."
Cardin rolled his eyeballs.
"Guess what? I was there with my team. Let me tell you one thing, Lord Primarch, they wanted Nikos to hear it."
"Why?"
"Beats me. Maybe they wanted to demoralize Nikos for the tournament? Who knows?"
Yes, that was certainly a possible reason. Many wanted to win the tournament. It came as no surprise that some would try to be so underhanded as to demoralize the competition.
"Thanks for telling me that. Anything else?"
"I don't know. She's been going around a lot. Haven't been able to keep track of her."
"Well, thanks anyway. But why were you trying to keep an eye on her anyway?"
"The Emperor showed me a sign of a woman with dark hair. Told me to keep an eye out. Cinder fit the description but I never found anything too alarming. I guess it must be someone else."
Jaune shrugged. By now he knew the gist of Cardin's contact with the Emperor. The purpose of which was still foreign to him.
But the silence from his sire was unnerving. He remembered the time on Terra when the traitors were at the very heart of the Imperium, when Horus was dropping death from above onto them, and when the Emperor had remained silent.
That silence had been terrifying.
But there was nothing he could do now but carry on.
"Well, keep an eye out. Maybe someday you will find this woman. Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to be."
"Hi, Jaune. How was your last round for the day?" asked Pyrrha Jaune as he got back to the dorm. The time was 10 pm but Pyrrha was sitting up in her bed leisurely going through Jaune's dream journal.
Sick or not, one could not sleep all day and night without doing something.
"Like the others. Cinder Fall keeps trying to mess with me, I keep ignoring her as best I can, everyone keeps getting better."
"That's grand." she gave him a smile.
It made him want to forget all worries. Too bad there was something that was worrying him.
"Pyr, there is something I have to tell you. Something I have to tell you all."
"What is it?"
"I had a vision. It happened when I was looking in on Cinder."
His entire team sat up straight when they heard this.
"Did Cinder notice?"
"No, she just thought I just blacked out for a second."
Nora got up out of bed and pushed Jaune down in a chair.
"Who cares about Cinder? What did you see? Did you get the lottery number?"
"Nora. Calm." said Ren, also getting up. He put on a pot of tea.
Jaune thought about how he should word this. He had tried to figure it out ever since he visited Cardin's team.
"Well, it's a lot to take in right now. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow."
"Jaune, we have seen you grow wings and we know you have a second heart, not to mention everything else. I think we can manage whatever you have in store for us."
"I don't know. It's rather dreadfu-"
"Jaune!"
Pyrrha rose up and pulled him down to her bed to sit. He tended to be easier to deal with then.
"You are going to tell us what you saw. Please."
He looked around at his team. They were all eagerly waiting for him to tell them something.
"Okay. but it's not happy news."
"When is it ever happy news with you?" asked Nora.
"Seriously, it's either some dark and bloody secret or grim foreboding. And you never want to tell us! Pyrrha has to pry it out of you every time. Why can't you be more like my Renny?"
"True." noted Ren.
"You've never been as agreeable as I am."
Jaune laughed at that and nodded his head.
"True that. Guess I'll just settle for simply being a better warrior than you."
It was little more than a playful joke between brothers-in-arms.
"Don't make me get up and pluck those wings." answered Ren just as playfully.
"Please don't! Without them I'm only as handsome as you are."
"That would be tragic." muttered Pyrrha. The wings did have a certain charm to them.
"But I do believe you were about to tell us what you saw."
And so he told them what he had seen in his vision. What he said was indeed worrying. The astartes coming out of hiding to fight the grimm in Vale, not to mention at Beacon.
Ren sipped his tea calmly but it was clear that he was thinking hard.
"So, let's surmise. At some point in time there will be grimm in Vale and your astartes will fight them but we don't know when."
"Yes."
Ren shrugged.
"Well, we will just have to cross that bridge when we get to it."
Nora eyed her partner with shock and horror.
"Renny! How can you say that? After what happened to Kyo-"
"I'm not making light of this revelation." Ren assured her with a pained expression.
"Nora, I if anyone would not wish this fate on anyone. But we have no way of saying when it will happen and we can't garrison the entire town all the time waiting for something that might happen 50 years from now."
Pyrrha nodded, albeit reluctantly.
"He is right, Nora. the best we can do to prepare for it is to make sure we keep up with our training so we may face this threat when the time comes."
Nora sighed.
"You're right. So fearless leader, any idea of how your buddies will get to Vale and Beacon?"
Nora didn't get any response. Jaune had wrapped his arms around Pyrrha, his wings as well. It would have been heart-warming if it wasn't for his troubled expression as he look out through the window.
He looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Jaune, what is it?"
"There is something I have to tell you. The vision, it reminded me of something and I'm worried of how you will take it."
"It's fine Jaune. I doubt you could surprise me anymore."
"Promise? Please promise you won't freak out."
"I promise."
Their foreheads touched as she leaned in closer to him as she made her promise.
Jaune gave her a nod and looked out the window at the shattered moon.
"Do you remember that I told you about the moon? That I never saw it shatter?"
"Yes. Why?"
"The reason why I never saw it shatter is because I didn't live on Remnant."
"Oh Jaune." she said and took his face in her hands.
"I already figured that out."
"You did? How?"
"You still talk in your sleep and write in your journal. Besides, I just couldn't fit your story into Remnants history no matter how many questions I asked professor Oobleck. The empire that you describe couldn't have existed on Remnant."
Jaune was at a loss for words. She had known. Bloody hell, she had known!
"Then why didn't you tell me that you knew?"
"Because you already had so much to deal with, what with the wings, the tridemic, the tournament coming up and your parents visiting. You deserved a bit of a break."
"But I-"
"Jaune, I didn't tell you because I wanted it to be a secret. I was just worried how you would take it."
"How I would take it? But I-"
"You suffered when you began remembering. You suffered when you began to change. I didn't want you to worry about your past like that. I just figured things would work out with time. Just not now, not until we have time."
Jaune tilted his head so that their foreheads touched. "Thank you."
Soon all of JNPR were both under their covers, looking at the moon and the stars through the window.
"Do you think we know anyone with a telescope?" asked Ren, finishing his last cup of tea for the day.
He too was looking out at the moon. Now, the sight of the night sky had a completely different meaning to him than it had before.
"Maybe Velvet has one? She is always going a round with her camera. Cameras have lenses."
"Wrong kind of lens, Nora."
"Jaune?"
"Yes?"
"You will have to tell Ozpin about your vision. We may not be able to do anything about it but he might."
"I will. Good night."
The lights went out for JNPR but Jaune's eyes stayed open for a while longer.
He thought he had finally seen something. There, among the pieces of the shattered moon, he thought he had seen a voidcraft.
He shut his eyes when he couldn't spot it again.
Unbeknownst to him however, the vessel returned to its hiding place among the pieces of the shattered moon, having finished a reconnaissance mission.
The next day
Jaune made his way up to professor Ozpin's office. People kept staring at him but he tried no pay them no mind.
Actually, people were more okay with him now after he basically had been their lifeline for a few days.
To his great delight was he granted entry immediately when he spoke of his desire to speak with Ozpin. Hell, he was almost ushered into the elevator.
Ozpin was not in his office when Jaune exited the elevator at the top floor. Instead there was only general Ironwood. The man was leaning over a table.
"Greetings, Jaune Arc. Or perhaps you would prefer Sanguinus? So good of you to come. I'm afraid Ozpin is out at the moment but he has told that he will be here shortly."
Jaune nodded. The general being there was fine. Maybe it was for the best as well, given the nature of what Jaune was about to divulge.
"It's fine. And it's just Jaune for now, thank you. I take it Taiyang told you about our little talk."
"Yes, but do not think ill of the man. We had to threaten him with Goodwitch pouring 190 proof spirits down his throat to make him talk. Either way, he would have."
"I see. And your thoughts?"
"Concerning to say the least." admitted the general.
"The very thought of such forces still roaming around with allegiances to entities we can't even negotiate with is quite worrying."
Jaune caught a glance of what the general was leaning over. It was a chess game.
"You were playing with someone?"
"Yes." said the general.
"But not against Ozpin, regrettably. Would you like to try?"
"I don't know. I have never really played."
Jaune knew the rules of the game but it had never really interested him. Partially because he was terrible at it.
"My endgame is terrible and so is the rest of my game." admitted Jaune.
But then again, that had been Jaune Arc, not Sanguinius.
Jaune got a better look at the board. The general had his opponent quite outplayed but there was an opening in the generals defense. Intrigued, Jaune approached the board.
"Well, maybe one game won't hurt."
"Don't worry, you can't do worse than my drunk of an opponent" said Ironwood and gestured Jaune to took his place by the board. He played white while the general played black.
They made a bit of small talk while they waited and played.
It was obvious that the general was dealing with Jaune with kid gloves, not wanting to risk offence.
He, General Ironwood, did not acknowledge the Imperium but it would be foolish to openly offend the supposed son of its Emperor.
Particularly when said Imperium might have troops hidden somewhere on Remnant that Atlas had no way of finding, and subsequently, dealing with.
Then the general asked, ever so politely, about the Emperor and if Jaune had any idea where this man was or how he had managed to remain hidden for so long along with the legions.
Jaune shrugged and answered that if the Emperor didn't want to be found or recognized then Ironwood would be searching for naught. Sanguinius' reunion with his Father came to mind. Good times.
"As for the astartes, that's kinda why I wanted to see professor Ozpin."
"Then please tell me of what you wished to discuss."
The gray haired man stepped in from the elevator. He looked worried about something.
"I wanted to give you a heads up."
"A heads up? About the astartes? Are they finally going to show themselves?"
"Yes, but there is something else. There will be grimm."
Ozpin's eyes narrowed as he became suspicious. Why would there be grimm with the astartes?
The general and the headmaster looked at each other. This was worrying.
"Please, elaborate."
Jaune turned away from the chess board and found himself a chair and soon got a cup of coffee in his hands.
He explained his dreams and how they worked as best he could.
He brought up his dream of flying in Vale as an example. He told them that back then he had just believed them to be nightmares at first but that he now knew better.
"I know it sounds suspicious but that's the way it is. Had I realized it sooner I would have warned you."
'Thaaat'sss whaaat theee boooyyyy sayyyssss. Buuut doesss heee meeaan iiit?' said the voice of suspicion in Ozpin's head.
Yes, did Ozpin have any way of verifying Arc's claims?
Ozpin decided to play it cool for now.
"It's quite alright. As you have stated, you had no way of knowing when the event would take place. Instead you acted to the fullest of your abilities when you knew the time was upon you."
The headmaster nodded at the general's words and took a sip of coffee.
"Rest assured, this is not the strangest thing I have heard of in my career and given your other… attributes..."
He gestured to the wings.
"... I'll not dismiss your 'foresight'."
Ozpin sat down by his desk.
"Now, what does this vision of yours have to do with these astartes and grimm of yours?"
"I saw them. I saw them in Vale and at Beacon. The astartes were fighting the grimm."
"Was there anything else you saw?" asked the general.
If they simply could limit the possible time of the event they could prepare for it.
Jaune just shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could be of more help."
"Don't be. You have brought us a important waring and we will make sure to act upon it to the best of our abilities. Rest assured of that."
"Thanks. Um, if you don't mind me asking, what about the virus in the CCT? Do you know anything about that?"
The general shrugged.
"We have the virus contained and my men are working on its removal as we speak."
"That's good. Do you know who did it?"
"We are working on that." interjected Ozpin.
"But we are managing that investigation quietly as to not worry the public."
The headmaster did not want to reveal more than he needed to. Arc might have helped them find the virus but his final loyalties might not coincide with Ozpin's.
Still, the headmaster considered himself fortunate of having learned of the virus. If it had gone unnoticed it could have caused much harm.
'Quuuite theee cooincideenccce, thoouugh? Theeere waasss aaa waaarniiing abouuut a viruuus that ooonly the boyyy happend to uuunderstaaand…'
Yes, that was indeed quite the coincidence. But Ozpin did not believe in coincidence.
Ozpin threw a look at the clock on the wall.
"I do believe we have kept you here long enough. I do believe Surgia gave his permission for classes to resume today. Best not be late, Mr. Arc."
"Thank you professor, thank you for believing me."
Jaune got up from his chair but instead of going to the elevator he walked over to the window and opened a glass door. He did not want to be late for Goodwitch's class and flying was faster than taking the elevator.
"Oh, one last thing."said Jaune. "Have you tried to contact the astartes?"
"We are making attempts. We will let you know if we manage." said Ironwood.
Of course they had tried.
It was just a difficult matter to find a way to find a way that was not traceable by a third party, a party with a nasty virus planted in their systems.
"Right, thanks a bunch."
Jaune stepped out and soon the two men could hear the sound of wings beating outside.
As Jaune glided down to the ground did the elevator come up to the office again only for Qrow Branwen to step out, drunk as usual.
"Hey, I'm back. What did I miss?"
"Only a rather worrying talk with Jaune Arc." said Ozpin, pondering what he had just learned.
Qrow shrugged and walked up to the chess board that Ironwood was still standing by.
He took a look at the board and moved a piece.
"Check mate, Jimmy. Man, too bad I'm drunk. I would have like to remember how I beat you."
"With help." said the general, not happy about having lost to a drunk, even if said drunk had gotten help with his game.
"Well, James, what was that you said about the virus being taken care of?" asked Ozpin.
"It was not the entire truth but we are working on it."
The general sounded very annoyed but also very worried.
"I am expecting a report on that soon. I'll let you know more when I know more."
"So what do you two think? The astartes: good or bad?" asked Qrow.
"We don't know, Qrow. We just don't know."
All they did know was that there might be a risk of them needing Ironwood's fleet at some point in the future.
'And that will make people worry and that will bring the grimm.'
'Maaayyybe thaaat'sss the poooiiiinnnt?' said a cautious voice in the back of Ozpin's mind.
Maybe Arc's intentions weren't as good as he led them to believe?
But still, there was no way of knowing that. For now, all they could do was to play along.
This couldn't have come at a worse time for Ozpin and his inner circle.
'Buuut maaaybee iiit's aa perfeeect tiiime forrr theee boooyyy?'
The Festival was upon them and Ozpin had a feeling that it would bring a lot to his doorstep. Not all of them would be good things.
Now it was combat class. The first years were all gathered in Goodwitch's classroom. Team JNPR had all moved to the backmost row of the class.
Not because they weren't interested in the class but because Jaune didn't want to be a bother.
If he sat anywhere else his wings would make it hard for all behind him to see.
That, and in the back he had room to stretch them, having gotten himself a more suitable chair. Dust, the wings sure could get in the way at times.
Professor Goodwitch was going through her notes. She had been trying to give everyone a suitable match after their recent recovery. No point in having the students going all out yet. She also had some consideration for Surgia's little helpers.
They had worked their butts off these last few days and did deserve a small breather.
Only a small one, mind you.
There were only a few more students who hadn't had their matches yet.
"Mr. Arc. please come up for your match."
"Yes, professor."
"Jaune, be careful. This will be the first time you have ever fought with your wings so make sure to mind your balance."
"I will, Pyr. thanks for reminding me."
Jaune was nervous but this felt right. Like that time he had challenged Cardin. He now felt like some old part of him was with him again, properly and in full.
"Will Sun Wukong enter the ring."
"Sure thing, professor."
There was a murmur. Sure, all knew Jaune Arc had improved since he came to Beacon, his tussle with the Death Stalker was proof of that, but quite a few did brush that one off as pure luck. The Death Stalker had not been able to strategize or come up with a plan, even less reach Jaune.
Sun Wukong was a different beast altogether. No offence or pun intended to his faunus heritage.
(Some offence was taken as Sun did not like being compared to some grimm.)
The faunus and the angel met in the ring and shock hands.
"I'll try not to ruffle up your feathers too badly." joked Sun.
"Thanks. I guess I'll try not to step on your tail."
"But I won't go easy on you for that."
"Figures."
"Combatants ready."
They went to their positions, weapons ready.
"Begin!"
Sun made the first move, hoping to catch Jaune by surprise. He failed. Jaune simply took a step back, dodging the blow by an inch.
Sun did not let up and continued his barrage of blows with his nunchucks. Simply dodging would not suffice, sooner or later Sun would land a hit.
But try as the faunus might, he didn't.
Pyrrha was watching with weighted breath. Something was different about Jaune's way of fighting. He moved differently now than he had before. Whereas before he would have been tripping over his own feet he was now giving Sun a run for his money.
Sun swung for Jaune face but Jaune merely leaned back whilst pushing his wings a bit forward.
Jaune countered, leaning forward to reach Sun with Crocea Mors, his wings stretching backwards.
Sun, not having faced such an opponent before, was having a hard time predicting what would come next. Arc's way of moving had little of the usual clues Sun would look out for and the few that were there were negated by the wings' movements.
Pyrrha facepalmed.
"I have been an idiot."
"What?" asked Ren. This was a first, coming from Pyrrha.
"I have been an idiot. All this time I've believed him to have a problem with his balance. But of course he was having problems with it! He didn't have his wings to compensate with!"
Sun had by now realized that his usual approach wasn't working. He could step up his efforts but then he would be going a bit too hard for this to be considered a sparring match. Instead he decided to take a more defensive stance, waiting for Jaune to come to him.
He made a provocative gesture to his opponent.
Jaune obliged. Soon Crocea Mors was clashing with Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang but neither combatant was actually landing any blows.
"Not too bad, Jaune, but you will not get my aura to the red at this rate."
"True, but there are other ways of winning."
"What!?"
Instead of giving Sun an answer Jaune decided to show the young man what he was up to. He crouched down a bit, getting his centre of gravity below Sun's, still keeping constant contact with their weapons and Jaune's shield.
Then Jaune flapped his wings whilst stepping forward.
Sun almost toppled over as Jaune pushed up and forward at the same time. He had no way of adjusting for this. Soon his feet left the ground, robbing him of any real traction he might have had.
Sun couldn't push away with his weapons for Jaune reacted perfectly to maintain the right amount of force on them and in the right direction for that.
Sun could plant his feet against Jaune and jump off but that leap would only plant him outside the ring.
Sun had been outplayed.
"Clever bird."
The match ended with Sun being pushed out of bounds.
There was some cheering when Jaune put his weapons away and helped Sun dust himself off.
"Good match."
"Yeah, I seriously never saw that coming. Do you have any other surprises up your sleeve?"
"Not yet. With time perhaps."
They chatted as they left combat class. Sun kept straying back to the wings but he tried to be polite about it. As a faunus he knew better than to keep asking about a non-human body part but that didn't cure him of curiosity.
Jaune didn't mind too much. He would have to come to terms speaking about his wings before his family came for a visit.
"I wasn't ever born with them. They just began to grow, I suppose."
"Yeah, but hey, they look good on you, man."
"Heh, thanks."
"I'm not joking. Come on Nep, back me up on this one!"
The blue haired youth just snorted. He would not admit that he no longer was the eyecatcher among the lads. Sure, Jaune wasn't getting romantic attention but Neptune still didn't like it.
"I suppose they have a certain charm."
"Oh, man you are so jealous."
"Am not!"
"Oh, knock it off!" said Nora, taking a break from her own little world.
"Nepty' got blue hair. Sun's got abs and Jauney has wings and fangs. You all have something that marks you out."
This calmed the boys' tempers…. Right until Nora kept talking.
"But Jauney is a prince so of course he's going to get more attention."
'Dust damn it Nora.' thought all of her teammates.
'What was the one thing we all agreed not to talk about?'
The existence of the Emperor of mankind and Jaune's relation to said Emperor was something they had all agreed to keep secret until further notice but apparently Nora had gotten bored with that.
Sun and Neptune were stunned and in unison they asked "What?"
"Nothing!" said Jaune and tried to move the conversation towards something else.
"So about the tournament, excited?"
"Yeah we are! We are going to make a real name for ourselves!"
"Or fools out of yourselves." mused Blake.
The conversation shifted once again to Jaune's wings. Dust he was getting sick of that. Couldn't they talk about anything else? Anything!
The matter of Jaune's family coming to see him was brought up. Jaune could have sworn his second, still growing heart, started beating only to skip a beat when he was reminded of that.
His parents had told him that they would arrive no sooner than the second day of the team matches but that was but a few days away now. His parents and sisters and grandfather would come here, to Beacon. Jaune was very nervous about that.
He had been walking around the dorm trying to figure out what to say to them. Nora claimed there now were indentations in the floor where he had paced back and forth.
This piece of information spread quickly among his circle of friends and throughout the school. Soon he was bombarded with questions about them. What were they like? What did they look like? Did they also have "add-ons" like Jaune?
Still, though, how sure could Jaune be that no one had heard Nora's slip of the tongue?
It had happened before that someone had spied on him. Cardin's account of Sky Lark's account of Emerald spying on him came to mind.
Needless to say, Cinder and her little troupe was not as welcome in Beacon after that became public knowledge.
No one did anything overt to the group but it was clear that a lot of people treated them with a bit of disdain and mistrust.
Not surprisingly then that the bunch seemed to spend more time outside of Beacon then.
Later
The library of Beacon academy was a place usually reserved for reading or other quiet activities. What was happening now was all but quiet. There was singing and it was directed towards a single place. The sound had managed to draw a small crowd who wanted to listen in.
"Our angel, our angel has a hero's heart
We tell you, we tell you, an Angel has come
With sword and shield of the the ancient Arcs'
Hear, Hear, an angel has come
It's an end to the evil of all Beacon's woes
Beware, beware, an angel has come
For the threat has passed and bothers none
You'll know, you'll know, an angel has come
Our angel, our angel, by your grace we are sworn,
To keep the grimm at bay-"
The chorus didn't get any further than that when Jaune finally had enough of their singing. He shot out of his chair and turned towards them.
"Enough already!" he said. "Don't you all have a tournament to prepare for?"
The gathering of faunus dispersed, if a bit unwillingly.
"Boo! Couldn't you have waited a bit longer? They were about to get to the part about you smashing Cardin's balls."
Unlike Jaune, Nora actually liked the song performed by some of the faunus who had gotten the mindbogiling idea that Jaune was an actual angel.
"Nora, I don't really appreciate them singing about me like I'm something I'm not. Like, seriously? How have they come to the conclusion that I'm an angel?"
"You mean apart from your wings?" asked Ruby.
"And your apparent immunity to any dust-forsaken plague on Remnant?" suggested Yang, also annoyed that she hadn't gotten to hear the ball-crushing part of the song.
"The absurd rate at which you heal?" Weiss pointed out.
"Your readiness to save people, even at the cost of your own health?" said Ren.
"Or the fact that Beacon has not had an actual bully since you dealt with Cardin?" muttered Blake from behind her book.
"You agreed to help during the quarantine without any coaxing." pointed Pyrrha out.
"Like it or not Jaune, but they have some valid reasons to believe the way they do."
Jaune slumped down onto the desk he was playing chess by against Ren. All this talk about him being an angel was wearing down on him. He knew that he had been called that in his previous life but that didn't mean he liked it now.
If this was how the fine people of Beacon saw him then how would the rest of Remnant react?
With a collective spit take?
A witch hunt?
Worship?
Religious awakening?
Full-blown heresy?
Maybe all of the above?
Needless to say, Jaune was not looking forward to it.
And then there was the matter of the astartes.
Jaune had no way of contacting them or to talk to them. He figured the space marines were in space and simply bided their time surveying the planet.
Why? Jaune had no idea. All he knew was that apparently they hadn't tried to contact him specifically.
What would he say when he met them? Would they believe him if he said that he was a primarch when he was such a runt compared to his former self?
Jaune also figured that Remnant would be in for a mighty surprise when the Imperium made itself known.
No doubt some would try to fight the Imperium, an act Jaune considered suicide.
When the time came he would have to act as a mediator, or at least try to.
"So Jaune, what are you thinking about?" asked Pyrrha.
"The astartes." muttered Jaune.
"Oh, were you thinking about Konrad again? Can you pweease tell us about him? Pretty please with syrup on top." Nora all but begged.
"Who's Konrad?" asked Sun joining in on the discussion.
"People called him Night Haunter." said Nora excitedly while ignoring her teams signs to shut up.
"He was like a super vigilante that conquered cities by himself! Jaune mentioned him once but didn't tell us much because he thought we would get nightmare."
The people around them had frozen in place and turned their heads to listen in. Everyone was quiet for a while until Yang opened her mouth.
"Sounds awesome! Go on, tell us Angel-boy."
Almost everyone agreed. The only voices of reason were Velvet, Pyrrha, Ren, Blake and Yatsuhashi. Unfortunately they were overruled by the majority.
Jaune sighed. There was no getting out of this one.
So they wanted to know about Night Haunter?
Fine, he would tell them of Night Haunter.
Not his problem if they got nightmares.
He did however ask for a pair of earbuds for pyrrha so that Pyrrha could listen to something else. He didn't want her to have nightmares.
Jaune checked his surroundings. There were some people there who he didn't want to know too much about him. Like Emerald Sustrai. He didn't want knowledge about his origins to become too widely known.
Thanks to Nora there was already talk that he was bloody royalty of some long dead line of emperors.
Despite profes- Doctor Oobleck's assurance that the Arcs were not royal the rumor persisted.
Jaune decided to tweak the story of Night Haunter a little bit, to make people assume he was talking about Remnant.
"Okay, then. Once there was a man in a place called Nostramo…"
Ruby was the first to buckle under the horrors of Jaune's tale.
He had spared them no detail of Curze's actions. When Jaune had gotten to how Night haunter used to publicly broadcast what he did to whatever criminal he had found had the young reaper's stomach given in.
Ruby had darted for the toilet and puked her guts out. It looked like some others were about to join her.
"... And it is said, that in the dark of the night, at the midnight hour, he haunts the night and he knows your name."
By the time he finished his tale everyone was looking over their shoulder nervously like Jaune had just told them a very horrifying ghost story.
"Shall I continue?" Jaune asked them but they all said that they had had enough.
To Jaune's great annoyance did his least favorite person walk up to him.
Thankfully Cinder was wearing actual clothes now.
She did not appear as bothered by the story as the others. Either she was very brave or insane.
"That was quite a story. Was it perhaps based on a true story?"
"In a way but it was quite a while since I first took part of the story. Practically another lifetime."
"I see. And where could one maybe find this place, this Nostramo?"
"Why the interest?"
"I am ever so interested in learning new things and this Night Haunter seems like such an... interesting fellow, worthy of being looked into."
Jaune shrugged.
"I don't know and even if I knew you would not find it. Nostramo was destroyed by Night Haunter and his band of murderers. It was his way of cleaning house one final time."
"I see. Well thank you for the story. Perhaps you could tell me another one sometime, my angel?"
"Don't count on it."
Cinder walked away with Emerald and Mercury. Everyone eyed them suspiciously.
Jaune shivered.
"Was she like this when you had to look after her?"
"Yes, only with less clothes. Only underwear, sometimes even less than that."
"Oh?" Pyrrha did not like to hear that. Not one bit.
Jaune looked up from the table and gave Pyrrha a smile.
"Hey, she may call me her angel but I'm only yours."
Pyrrha rolled her eyes at that one. Smooth talk wasn't one of his strong suits. He was just too dorky for that. Still, she appreciated the sentiment.
Ren moved a piece on the board, taking one of Jaune's knights with his bishop.
"Your move."
Ren was confident. While the others had been hearing about Night Haunter had he been planning his move and strategy. There was no was he could lose. Jaune would lose this tim-
Jaune made his move without as much as glancing on the board.
"Check mate."
Ren double checked the board. He was indeed in check mate. That made it 10-0 in Jaune's favour.
Do note that Ren hadn't lost all ten games. He had only played this one. The other nine losses had been suffered by the various members of JNPR (Pyrrha included), and RWBY and professor Oobleck.
Who would have thought the man played chess? Not the students at least.
"But how? Renny must have thought about my move for minutes."
"Well Nora, Jaune is good at tactics." admitted Ren and offered a handshake, thanking Jaune for a good game.
"Thanks, but it's really just that I have-, well Sanguinius actually, has experience of a similar game, Regicide. From my past life that is."
"I figured as much. Was it more difficult than chess?"
Jaune nodded and admitted that Regicide could make chess look easy as it required a lot more thinking from the players.
"Did many in your family play it?"
"I suppose. Pretty much all the place I or one of my brothers grew up on developed some form of strategy game. It wasn't uncommon for our legionaries to play as well."
Ren nodded in acknowledgment.
"Well, let's move on to something that you won't beat us all in so easily: combat training."
"Yes, the tournament will begin in but a few days. We still wave time for a little training."
"Well let's go then. I won't get better unless I practice."
"Eager, are you?" asked Pyrrha half amused.
"Well, I figured you deserve a chance to get back at me for actually managing to beat you at chess."
She gave him a clap/slap onto the back of his head. Even so did he pull her closer with his wing and gave her a playful kiss.
"Don't think I will hold back and go easy on you for that." she muttered.
"What if I give you another kiss?"
For that one he got another playful clap/slap to the back of his head.
Team JNPR couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh, but we can't train for too long! There is one thing I have to ask Ruby about."
"What's that?"
"I'm just wondering is she would have some paint that I could use. I'm thinking of adding something to my shield and armor."
"I think she might have something for you."
In the next chapter: The Vytal Festival Begins!
So yeah, another music number. Don't worry, this will be the last of those in this story I think.