"Oh my God, Salem turned me into a Blacksmith," Jaune cried. The suspicious looks on everyone's faces vanished, replaced with shock, panic, and a fair bit of sympathy.
"We'll find a way around this," Blake said, patting his head. "Don't worry."
Jaune sniffed a fake tear.
Ruby slapped a hand against her face.
Anyway, welcome to what is, and will probably remain, the hardest chapter in the entire fic to write. By now, much of the dialogue has been re-written three or four times. This comes out later in the day as a result.
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Dishwasher1910
Book 6: Chapter 10
Everyone was staring at me.
There was an expanse of open space which seemed to grow larger and larger by the second, creating a clear divide between me and them. Even Weiss, who had been at least somewhat close to me after we'd fought Willow, had now moved over to the others, almost unconsciously. It felt like we were separated, in different worlds.
Given what had just been revealed, maybe we were.
"Jaune…"
It was Blake who spoke first, voice choked – hoarse – and filled with some unidentifiable emotion. I knew what she wanted; some kind of excuse, some kind of explanation. An easy answer that would allow all of this to not be real. So we could both pretend this didn't matter. I wanted one too.
There wasn't one. Not anymore.
The longer my eyes met her, the wider hers became, and when I looked away without giving an answer, she let out a strangled sound, turned, and stormed away. Yang tried to stop her, but Blake pushed past.
"Blake!" I called, reaching out a hand.
She ignored me. She ignored Weiss, too, when the Mage called out a warning that it wasn't safe to go off on her own. The Assassin's hands were clenched at her side, face hidden by shadow and hair as she took long, angry strides.
I shot Ruby a pleading look, and the Reaper nodded a moment later, jogging after Blake. I wished I could as well, I really did, but everyone else was still watching me. Demanding their own explanations.
"Is this real?" Yang finally asked. Her voice was clipped, angry, but also confused. Willing to give me the chance of an explanation if I had one. "Is this…?"
I didn't have one.
"It's real."
"Fuck," she cursed. "I don't…" Yang shook her head. "I don't even know how to handle this." Yang seemed like the only one capable of speech, and she pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath. "So, this is the real you?"
"Yes."
"And you lied to us?"
Silence stretched between us. It was only when Yang's eyes flashed crimson that I answered.
"Yes."
"I can't even believe this. All this time…? From the very moment we met?"
I drew a deep, shuddering breath. "Yes."
"Damn it. You-" Yang bit off her words and looked to the rest. "Why are you all staying silent?" she yelled. "I can't be the only one who has something to say here! Well? Someone say something!"
"We're silent because we're trying to process this," Weiss snapped. The Mage's eyes closed slowly. "Trying to come to terms with it. I'm no less shocked than you are." Her eyes opened again, fixing on me. "You're an NPC, then?"
"Labour Caste."
"Yes. And little wonder you took such offence to the term. You've been one all along. Doing what? Pretending to be a Hero? Pretending to be out friend?"
"Weiss!" Pyrrha admonished.
"Don't step in on his side, Pyrrha! He lied to us. Endangered us. He's been playing at what is for us a life or death struggle. And for what, personal glory? Pride? His own twisted amusement?"
"Yes, but… he's still the same person." Pyrrha looked to me desperately, as if she expected I'd argue. Or that I'd have lied again. That hurt more. That she could both trust and not trust me. "He's still Jaune," she said weakly.
"I'm not arguing that he isn't the same person – the same person who lied to us. We went into battle with expectations. Expectations he couldn't fill. Expectations he could never hope to fill. Expectations he knew he couldn't fill and yet somehow chose not to warn us." Weiss' head snapped to the side. "Gods, a lot makes sense now. No Knight-based moves. The constant visits to the city. His inability to tank. Ruby nearly died because of you!"
My voice cracked. "I… I know…"
"You know?" she mocked. "Oh, good. Ruby nearly dies and is only saved because I had to give up one of my most precious possessions, but that doesn't matter because `you know`. You understand. Perfect. That's great!" Weiss threw her hands in the air and laughed loudly. Mockingly. "Of course, you didn't know good enough to back out and see that you'd made a mistake. No, you just kept on going. Kept on lying. Let us believe it was something else."
The barrage of words hit me harder than any spell, any blow from Watts. Each one drove me a step back, but distance didn't save me. Didn't let me unhear what I'd known all along, chastised myself over in private, but never had the guts to accept.
Pyrrha and Nora looked upset, like they wanted to stop Weiss, but neither of them did. I knew then that both agreed, even if they'd never be so harsh as to say it. The fact they couldn't defend me was proof enough that they felt the same.
"Don't you dare look away from me!" Weiss howled. The sheer anger tore my eyes back, and they widened as I realised Weiss was crying. Actually crying. "If I still had the Elixir, if I still had it, I could have used it to save her!" she snapped, throwing an arm back, toward the twisted pile of Willow and Watts. "I could have saved my mother. But no, I don't have it because you thought you'd be good enough to be a Knight. Even when you weren't!"
"Weiss." Yang's hands settled on Weiss' shoulders. Even she seemed to think it was too much, not that I could blame Weiss. Her mother had just been killed before her eyes.
I tried to rationalise that. Tried to tell myself that her anger wasn't all aimed at me. Some of it was just her pain, the loss, Weiss already being frayed and on the edge before this came out.
It didn't help much. Anger or not, unfair or not, Weiss wasn't wrong.
I'd blamed myself for that too, but blame wasn't what Weiss wanted. She wanted someone who would have learned from his mistake. Who would have realised that the game he played was too dangerous, and that for the betterment of everyone – to make sure it never happened again – I should have told the truth and left Beacon.
Instead, I'd continue to lie.
"This isn't a game," Weiss sobbed brokenly, gone now, lost in grief. It was a miracle she'd lasted this long, but she must have been controlling herself during the fight, determined to kill her own mother to save us, no matter how much it hurt. Such control was gone now. I doubted she could even see my face. "This isn't a game. It's people's lives."
"I'm gonna get her out of here," Yang said, pulling Weiss against her chest. "Staying here…" Yang glanced at Willow's body. "It's not fair on her."
"We should all leave," Pyrrha said, fighting to keep her voice calm and confident. It wasn't and we all knew it. "Maybe this is a conversation best had up top. Maybe things will be easier."
Yang didn't think so. It was obvious in the way she refused to look at me. "Yeah. Maybe…"
"Take Roman," Pyrrha said to Nora. "I'll take Neo." She hesitated and looked back to me. Even Pyrrha's eyes didn't meet mine. "Jaune, can you collect the Dungeon loot. We'll need it for the festival."
It didn't escape me that she'd given me the task that would separate me from the group. Even if I knew they wouldn't abandon me here, none of them wanted to deal with me right now. "Yeah," I said, fighting to force a smile on my face. To act natural. "Yeah, I'll handle it."
Pyrrha nodded, still not meeting my eyes. "Thank you."
Their footsteps echoed away, leaving me alone. Sun staggered up and followed them, though not without a hesitant look in my direction. I waved him off. I wasn't worth him feeling miserable, and right now I wanted to be alone.
Not sure whether I wanted to scream, cry or throw myself off the platform to my death, but I didn't want to deal with their anger.
The moment I was alone, I let out an angry roar and hurled what remained of Crocea Mors away. The hilt and cross-guard, both badly burnt, slammed into the back wall with a clink and dropped down into the abyss below. It did exactly nothing to help me and I sagged, falling onto my hands and knees. My eyes burned. My hands clenched into fists.
Even now. Even after we'd frightened Salem away, she got the last laugh. I hadn't died to her amulet like she'd expected, but the agony was no less visceral. Death would have been preferable, or so the cowardly, childish part of me thought. Anything to not have to deal with their looks, their betrayal, their pain. Anything to hide away from it like a coward.
I'd wanted to tell them the truth, hadn't I? Wanted to tell them after the war.
Ha. What a joke. I'd wanted it, but here and now, feeling what I did, I knew I'd never have gone through with it. I'd have backed out at the last second. Like always.
Staggering to my feet, I stepped over to Watts and Willow. Still, bleeding and without a spark of life in their eyes, the two might have been considered lovers for how they died together, in one another's arms. The scene sickened me, and I placed a foot on Watts' body and rolled it off Weiss' mother. He didn't deserve to be with her. He'd betrayed her.
Just like I had everyone else, really.
No. Don't think it. Ignore the pain. Pretend it wasn't there.
Watts' sword was still glowing when I reached down for it. It wasn't the one he'd fought me with in the desert, this one being far more ornate and humming with a life of its own. Definitely the loot from the boss here, which he must have taken for himself. His other was gone, possibly thrown off the edge. I sheathed this one anyway, it not quite fitting in my sheathe, but looping into my belt easily enough.
With my true class now revealed, the fact that I wielded a sword felt out of place. I looked pretentious. Felt it, too.
To my surprise, someone had stayed behind when the others left. It wasn't until I stepped into the tunnel leading to the first staircase that I saw him, one foot on the wall, back leaned up against it. Ren watched me with crossed arms and a calm gaze.
I looked away. "You heard that, did you?"
"Your anger?" Ren asked.
I nodded.
"I heard it. Given the circumstances, I can see why you feel that way."
"You stayed for me."
Ren nodded. "I did."
"Why?"
"The Dungeon is dangerous. We shouldn't leave anyone alone."
Not for me, then. Maybe it was selfish to think so. "Are you angry as well?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"I don't have the capability to be angry."
Right. His Passive. Ren's emotionless gaze remained fixed on me, and somehow it felt worse than Blake's fury. A part of me wondered what Ren would feel if he could. Probably anger. I'd lied to him as much as anyone else.
"Why did you do it?" Ren asked. "I'd like to understand, even if I cannot feel."
"It…" Excuses flashed through my mind, but all of them were hollow. I was done lying. Done pretending. "If you're waiting for a good reason, one that absolves me of all of this, then I don't have it. My reasons were purely selfish. I wanted to be something I wasn't. I wanted to be more than what I was. I wasn't happy with how I was. Who I am."
"A Blacksmith?"
"A nobody. Someone who didn't matter." Something in the moment made me laugh. It was a horrible, brittle sound. "Everyone grows up with stories of Heroes saving the day and doing heroic deeds. Of Quests to slay the Grimm-Dragon and save the Princess. Everyone dreams of being a Hero. I guess I just took it a step further."
"That was all it was then? Wish fulfilment?"
"Yeah." I smiled bitterly. "That's all it was. Maybe it became more in time, but to start off… that was it."
Ren shifted his position, pushing off the wall to stand next to me as we walked down the tunnel. "Such a reason isn't going to please anyone."
I knew that.
"It's the only one I have."
"Can't you think of something better?"
"And lie again?" I asked. "Is that what you want?"
"Ah." Ren's eyes closed. "No. I guess not. Then, for what it's worth, it's been fun, Jaune."
"Yeah. Yeah, it has…"
/-/
The others were waiting for us when we reached the surface. Or not me, but Ren and the sword I brought, which Pyrrha took without saying a word. Without meeting my eyes. Hers were fixed on my chest and her smile was fragile as she turned away, wrapping it in cloth. Off to one side, Blake stood alone, arms crossed and back towards us. Ruby was a little further off, tears in her eyes as Yang laid a hand on her shoulder.
Nora took Ren and whispered something to him. Weiss stood with the map in hand, staring at it. Sun simply sat, bandaging the wound on his stomach, the unconscious forms of Roman and Neo tied up beside him.
This was it, then. Nothing.
No words. No recriminations. No demands. Just a cold anger that bubbled beneath the surface. Maybe they thought now wasn't the time. Maybe it wasn't the right time. We were still in Vacuo, still in danger. Still on a deadline.
"We're a day out from the rendezvous point," Weiss said, voice colder than Atlas. "If we make a good pace, we can reach there before nightfall, and perhaps meet with Cinder en route. We can signal Ironwood using the maps and get our portal out of here, prisoners in tow." Before, they might have looked to me for my thoughts, but when Weiss turned around she pointedly did not. "What does everyone think?"
Muttered and muffled responses. No one disagreed.
No one asked my opinion.
I didn't try to give it.
As the group moved forward, I was ushered into the centre with Roman and Neo. The safe spot, where one might keep those who had to be protected. Maybe it was because I was unarmed, but considering we now had a spare sword – the loot from the Dungeon – I didn't think so. It was the words over my head that defined this.
It was obvious from the way only Ruby would meet my eyes, and that when she did, her face was filled with regret. Ruby mouthed an apology. A simple `sorry`. Not sure why I deserved it, I looked down to the ground, and then ahead, to Blake at the head of the party.
She never once looked back.
Still no words between us, not even anger. That hurt more than I dared admit. Anger and rage like Weiss' I might have been able to deal with. Not immediately, but it would be like a bandage being torn off a wound. Blake's silence was the twisting of a knife instead, the slow, torturous breaking apart of everything we'd worked so hard to build.
More than once I thought to say something, to step forward and try to touch her.
But I didn't. Blake's shoulders were too stiff, her posture rigid and unyielding. It was back to square one, back when Beacon began, and I couldn't so much as talk to her in public without her running away.
Blake was always a private one. She never wanted her feelings or problems aired. And right now, I was a problem. There was no mistaking that.
I only hoped the silence didn't destroy us completely.
/-/
It might have been a miracle that we reached Vacuo without a single person talking to me. I say it might have been because it wasn't. Rather, it was the hard work of all involved to ignore me, even when that meant sentences would cut off half way, or when it meant Blake would have to walk the long way around the group just to avoid me.
Vacuo, the city that was, because something of an execution ground in my mind. A place where avoiding the issue would no longer be possible, where we couldn't rely on danger and the threat of Roman waking and escaping to keep us focused. Cinder was close behind, or so Weiss reported. On her own way to the Roaming City, where a portal back to Beacon could be opened at last.
Either way, Vacuo was the moment we would stop, and the moment where I would have to face the reality of my deception. If not that, then certainly Beacon, where the full consequences would come crashing down. Here, I'd betrayed my friends. Back home, I'd broken the law.
Sun said his farewells once we reached Vacuo. I felt bad for him. He'd been a good friend and companion, even if just for the short time we'd known him, and yet I'd so completely broken the Guild that his goodbye felt stilted and unimportant. He still spoke to everyone before he left, but his words didn't filter into my head.
I think he knew that, for he finished with a warm hug, drawing me in and patting my back with his fist, whispering something into my ears that didn't quite fix everything, but at least had me nodding in return.
"Good luck," I whispered hoarsely.
"You too, man," he replied. "If you ever need a place to get away from it all…"
Then I wouldn't choose Vacuo, no offence to Sun. He knew, laughing as he backed away, waving one last time before he departed into the crowd and vanished. I hoped he'd find his tribe again, before I shook off such thoughts as melancholy. All tribes found their way to Vacuo eventually. Sun was fit and strong. It wasn't yet his time to return to the desert.
When I turned back to the others, I wasn't surprised to find they'd left us. Only Ruby and Yang remained, and even then, Yang refused to meet my eyes or leave Ruby with me. I tried to tell myself it wasn't that she didn't trust me all of a sudden, but more her concern for Ruby.
Ruby tentatively stepped towards me. "Are you okay?" she asked.
I laughed. "Not really."
"Yeah, I guess that was kind of a stupid question." Her smile didn't quite hold, her attempt at humour falling flat. "Blake is angry," she said, throwing aside all pretences. "She's… very angry. More than I've ever seen her before."
Not a surprise.
"She also knows I know," Ruby said. "She… didn't like that. I told her it was because I figured it out and not because you told me, but…"
Ruby didn't look hurt, which meant that however angry Blake was, she hadn't taken it out on her. At least not physically. Knowing Blake, I doubt she would have. All her anger was probably being reserved for me.
"Where is she?"
"O-Outside Vacuo. She said to tell you she'd be outside in the sands."
No exact location, but I knew enough. I wasn't to find her. She was the Assassin. She'd find me. "Thank you, Ruby."
"Will you be okay…?"
"I don't know," I said honestly. "I hope so."
Yang took that as her cue to step forward. Her eyes were still narrowed, her lips pursed into a thin line, but she did meet my eyes, and nod once as she came up. "We should go, Ruby. Weiss doesn't deserve to be left alone right now and the others are all lost in thought."
To my relief, Yang refrained from pointing out why.
"But Jaune-" Ruby began.
"Will be fine," Yang said. "Blake isn't going to kill him."
Well, she probably wasn't.
/-/
The reasons as to why Blake chose the outside of Vacuo for our talk wasn't lost on me. Evening was settling in and the cool night air chilled my bones. Lights had sprung up in Vacuo, and would signal the approach of anyone, giving us – or Blake – time to react if we were approached. I was far enough away that I doubted anyone could hear us speak, not even if I were to shout at the top of my lungs.
Again, intended on Blake's part. It didn't fill me with confidence.
Even less so when her voice spoke out from behind. "I'm here."
I stopped walking. "Blake."
In the distance, the chatter of Vacuo drifted over to us. It was the only sound that existed for a good two or three minutes. I waited for her to say something, but she never did.
"I'm sorry," I said, instead.
"Sorry?" Blake scoffed. "For what, exactly?"
"Everything."
"I'd hear it said."
"For lying to you. For lying about my Class. For putting you in danger."
"For not trusting me with the truth…?"
"I do trust you," I said.
"Do you? You trusted Ruby enough to tell her the truth, but not me."
"Ruby figured it out on her own-"
"And you still didn't tell me!" Blake suddenly snapped. Her eyes flashed in the dark, lighting up like fire. "How many chances? How many chances did you have to tell me the truth? How many times did you let me think you were something you're not? Were you ever going to tell me?"
"Of course I was!"
"When!? You didn't when we first met. You didn't when you befriended me. You didn't when you fucked me!" Blake paused, allowing breath to slip from her mouth in an angry hiss. I stepped back, shocked. "So, when was it going to be, Jaune? At what point would I know? I was serious about us. So serious. I bared everything. Were you going to tell me if we were to be married? Or maybe once I had a child and he or she was a Blacksmith?"
"Would that have been a problem?" I asked.
"Don't you dare make this about me!" she roared. Her hand shot out, catching my collar and dragging me close. She didn't hit me, didn't even shake me, and the movement seemed designed to let me see her eyes more clearly.
There were tears in her eyes. Angry tears but tears nonetheless.
"I couldn't care less about you being a Blacksmith. What I care about is you lying to me. While I was trying to open myself up to you, trusting you were doing the same, you held back. You didn't trust me and kept lying to me."
"I did trust you," I said again. "But I was afraid."
"Afraid of what I'd say and do," Blake snapped. "Because you didn't trust me to be able to look at it calmly, to sit down and talk. You can make whatever excuses you want, but the simple fact is - you didn't trust me."
My stomach squirmed and twisted. I had the right words somewhere, there on the edge of my consciousness, but try as I might I couldn't grasp them. "It's not like that," I said pathetically.
Blake laughed. "Yeah, sure. Not like that."
"Blake, I love you…"
Her face fell. Her anger fell. All that remained was gently parted lips and sorrowful eyes. "I know. That's why this hurts so much. I love you, too. I really do. But I'm not sure if love is enough. Not if there's no trust."
"Blake-"
"I don't want to say your being a Knight was all it was," she interrupted. "That makes me sound shallow and there are plenty of Knights I couldn't care less about. I fell in love with you. But it was because I thought you could see past my Class, past the expectations. Not because you were in the same situation, trying to be something you're not. I think if I'd found out in any other situation, I'd have been angry. I'd have shouted and yelled at you, but we could have gotten past it. We could have worked it out. I… I'd have cared, but I could have gotten over it." She shook her head. "Now? I'm still angry. But more than that, I'm just disappointed."
The words were a knife in my stomach. I gasped and looked down, expecting to see a hilt sticking from me. There wasn't one. It felt just as bad. Nothing could hurt more than words, not when they were uttered by someone you held so close.
"Maybe I'm disappointed in me," she mumbled. "For being so worthless a girlfriend that you couldn't trust me. For being so inattentive that Ruby discovered the truth before I did. Maybe it's all my fault…"
It wasn't. It really wasn't. I felt the whole world slip out from under me as I tried to say something. Anything. Inevitably, all I could manage past the pain and the despair was a single, pathetic sentence.
"I'm sorry."
Blake's smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Me, too. I'm sorry, Jaune."
Blake turned. There was one final moment where she looked back over her shoulder, and I could see how much she was hated this. I could see how much she cared, but also how much I'd hurt her. And then she was gone, melting into the darkness, leaving me.
With a strangled cry, I fell onto my knees, crying into the desert.
/-/
It was how Cinder and her team found me what had to be ten minutes later, curled into a ball, whimpering to myself, eyes dry because I'd cried all I could and now wanted to stop existing. The three of them must have stumbled on me by accident, on their way to Vacuo and just reacting to a shape they'd seen collapsed in the sands.
"What the- Jaune?" Mercury asked.
"His Class-" Emerald began.
Cinder silenced them both. "Emerald, Mercury, go on to Vacuo and reconvene with the others. Take the armour we found with you. Tell them I shall be with them in fifteen minutes, and that they should summon for our portal."
"What about him?"
"Go! Do not question me!" Cinder snapped, patience gone. "I will deal with this."
"Y-Yes, ma'am." The two fled.
The Elementalist, the Prestige Class, the future Queen of Mistral. Whatever her title, Cinder was far above the measly Blacksmith I was, and yet she knelt beside me, hands reaching under my shoulders, pushing me up.
"Oh, Jaune," she whispered, perhaps to herself more than I. "I always knew something was hidden, that your Class was not your own. But not this. I thought you a tier-three hiding as a two. Or perhaps a Rogue-Class afraid of prejudice." Whatever her feelings, Cinder's voice softened. "They found out, I take it?"
Fitfully, pathetically, I explained what happened. Blake and my argument should have been private, but I was too far gone. I told her everything.
Cinder, for her part, stayed quiet throughout it, allowing me to speak even as my fingers crinkled her expensive crimson robes, staining them with the occasional tear. She didn't seem to care. Or if so, she hid it well.
"I see," Cinder eventually said. She made no move to make me stand, or to bring me to Vacuo. "I can understand why your friends are angry," she said. "But I can also understand why you went ahead with it. I can understand it. And I can respect it."
"You can…? Why?"
Cinder sighed. "Look at me, Jaune. I am a Prestige Class in Mistral. My life has been set out for me the moment I was born, the expectation; greatness. Now, I'm to be the future monarch of a Kingdom, and life is not going to be any simpler. This war, the Greycloaks, even my participation in it, my very presence in this hell-blasted desert. It's all because of what I am and what I was born to be. Lives depend on me, tens of thousands of them, and I did not ask for it to be that way. It was simply my destiny." She paused. "Do you believe in destiny, Jaune?"
"I don't know."
"I think you do. I think you believe in it, because you have spent your life trying to fight it. And you cannot fight that which does not exist." Cinder smiled down on me, and it was possibly the first time I'd seen her smile like that. It was a soft, gentle expression that took away from the mystery around her. "Your destiny was to be nothing more than a Blacksmith. It was to stay in your little village and work at a forge. Nothing more. And yet here you are, in Vacuo, completing a Quest that will hopefully put an end to the bloodshed between two Kingdoms."
Fighting destiny; was that really what I'd been doing? Maybe so. Cinder was right about one thing – that the life of a Blacksmith was what awaited me the moment I was born. I'd fought against that, railed against it, and while I'd have some success, it was – in part – due to Salem's interference.
"The problem is, you can't fight destiny and win," she continued. "You've done well to get this far, but sooner or later destiny was bound to rear its ugly head. You can no more escape your destiny than I can mine." Cinder's smile, rather than patronise me, was sympathetic. "It's the fact you tried, and for a moment forced destiny to cede to you, that makes me respect you so. Regardless of Class or Caste."
But, she didn't say, no matter how hard I tried, it could never last. Cinder pulled no punches. She didn't tell me everything would be okay because it wouldn't be, and she knew that. I knew it. Things would be different now. I might be able to keep my friendships, when the anger died down, but things could never go back to how they were.
I couldn't be a Hero in Beacon.
"Thank you," I whispered, though my voice came out more a wheeze. "Thank you for caring."
"There are few in this world I truly care about," Cinder chuckled. "Perhaps it's foolish of me, but I came to care for you and your party in the short time we spent together. Enough for this, at any rate." She helped me to stand, supported me, even though our positions in the world were so different. "Do you know what will await you back in Vale?"
"I don't. I've broken the law, though. Punishment, I guess. Expulsion certainly, but possibly arrest. Jail time."
"If it were Mistral, you would be executed," Cinder pointed out.
Then I was glad it wasn't Mistral.
"There could be a way around it."
"Huh?"
"If Vale will not have you… come with me."
My mouth fell open. "W-What?"
"Join me," Cinder said. "I am future royalty. I can determine the rules. If I say you, a Blacksmith, belong to my retinue, then the world shall bend over to accommodate you. You could travel back to Mistral with us. You could smith, or you could accompany Mercury, Emerald and I on our Quests."
"B-Be a Hero…?"
Cinder's face fell. "In private, perhaps… I know you can fight, so I would not keep you from joining in to assist us. We would not look to hold you back."
"But in public, I would have to be nothing more than a Blacksmith. A fortunate one, one blessed to have a master who cares so much, but still nothing more than a Blacksmith." I smiled sadly. "An NPC. Isn't that right?"
Cinder held my gaze. "I can only try to help you. I can't fight destiny any more than you can."
"I appreciate you trying." I took a deep breath and let it go. "And for helping me here, for comforting me. I… I feel better. But I think I'm going to go back and face them. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I ran away now."
"No reward will await you," Cinder warned. She appeared genuinely frustrated at my stupidity. "The Noble Caste maintain the system as a way of ensuring their lives are secure. They will despise you for daring to challenge it."
"You're probably, no, almost certainly right. But if I want to fight against my destiny, I need to face my opponents head on. Don't I?"
"You're still going to try and fight it? You're a fool!"
"Yeah." I laughed. "But a respectable fool, right?"
Cinder sighed. "Yes. Yes, I suppose you are. I will respect this decision, then, no matter how reckless it seems." The Elementalist reached out to touch my heart, two fingers against my chest. "Fare you well, Jaune Arc. In the short time I knew you, I came to respect your courage. Knowing that you were but a Blacksmith, I respect it all the more."
Nothing else was said. Cinder spoke not a word, leading me back to the city, and to the gathering where Mercury and Emerald had the others ready. However they'd intended to do it, they'd sent a signal back home. Probably though the scrolls. A portal stood before us, shimmering brightly, warm air pooling from inside, the heat of a fire, likely Ozpin's office.
Ruby expressed some surprise at seeing me return with Cinder. Blake refused to acknowledge me. Pyrrha smiled weakly, offering what comfort she could, while Nora shrugged, and Ren sent me a single nod. Weiss was silent, lost in thought. To her, I was but a secondary concern. She was grieving still.
"We ready?" Yang asked, and for once she asked it to me.
She was asking if I was ready to face what I'd inevitably have to.
Was I?
Not really.
I'd barely had the strength to face their reactions, even if half of them hadn't said a word to me. But I doubted anything Ozpin decided could hurt quite as much as Blake's words. Or Cinder's quiet fatalism. I nodded once and squared my shoulders.
"I'm ready."
/-/
Words, it turned out, were easy.
Ozpin and Ironwood had awaited us the moment we came through and appeared genuinely ecstatic to see us all alive and in one piece – and then doubly so when we revealed not only the desired gifts for the festival, but the gift of Roman and Neo, still unconscious. They were quickly secured by Ironwood using bands of steel summoned by magic.
It took them a few minutes to notice the Goliath in the room – and it was only because our reaction wasn't what they expected that they did. Ozpin's eyes trailed across our face's, looking for injuries, for signs that one of us was hurt. It was only when he found none that his attention strayed higher, and soon after his eyes widened.
Everyone else had been sent away. They'd gone, some more reluctantly than others. Soon, it was just Ozpin and I, even Ironwood having been asked to leave. Ozpin sat behind his desk, the Sage placing both hands on it and appearing to age several years.
"Explain," he requested.
I did. In full.
Like Cinder, Ozpin sat through it in silence, though unlike her, his face became more and more grim as time went on, his lips tugging further down. When I was done, Ozpin sagged behind his desk, shaking his head with one hand cupped to his face.
"What have you done, Mr Arc…?"
"I-"
"Do you know what the punishment for this would be? If the King knew, he would demand your head – almost certainly!" Ozpin's sharp voice made me flinch. "The crime is a deep one and not normally one that would require so harsh a sentence, but given what is at stake, given how serious the situation is, the fact that you lied and went on this Quest would be the height of arrogance! The Kingdom depended on your success."
"And we succeeded!" I complained.
"Irrelevant!" Ozpin shouted, silencing me. I'd never heard him raise his voice, not even once. Ozpin saw my fear and relented, speaking in a gentler tone. "That will matter remarkably little to those in positions of power, Jaune." It was serious. I knew because he called me by my name. "The Caste system was created by the First King. By the one who saved us from the Grimm and founded the four Kingdoms, the Kingdoms splitting apart after his death."
"The Caste system is a way of life," he went on. "I know it is not always an ideal one and I can see why you would rebel against your place in it – I can see and understand – but that does not change anything. Certainly not to those who would see you not as a brave young man fighting his lot in life, but the first member of what could be a revolt from the Labour Caste. They would see you as evidence that the Labour Caste can become dangerous." Ozpin leaned forward. "And they would make quite the example of you to dissuade that. Believe me."
"Would and could," I whispered. "You make it sound like it won't happen."
"Because it will not," Ozpin said. "The Knight, Jaune Arc, will be said to have retired after this Quest. Badly injured, tired of the war, or perhaps disillusioned. I care not what people decide."
"What about me?"
"You will live on as Jaune the Blacksmith. It is out of genuine respect and affection that I do this, Jaune. The law dictates I hand you over. But I will not. I would never deliver one of my students to so ignoble a death. Not after all the things you have done for the Kingdom." Ozpin reached over to touch my hand, offering what comfort he could. "I cannot change the way the world works, Jaune. But I can do my best to protect you from it."
Just like Cinder. She couldn't fight destiny, nor could Ozpin. Neither could I.
"I wish I could do more for you. I really do. You deserve it. For all that I might say I truly believe you a hero for what you've done, I cannot force others to accept that. The only way I can repay you is by trying to help you survive."
"I understand…"
"This isn't what either of us wants," Ozpin admitted. He sighed, picked up his mug and downed whatever drink was inside, slamming it down a moment later. The mug rattled and fell over, further evidence of just how shaken he was.
"Your new Skill," he suddenly said. "Purify. It worked against Salem?"
"Yeah."
"I might be able to offer you work. Even though I can't keep you as a Hero, I can work to keep you involved in the battle you're a part of. I can enable you to help your friends. To help other Heroes. You could become Beacon's Blacksmith, forging equipment that saves lives and that could enable us to defeat Salem once and for all."
"But everyone would know I'm a Blacksmith."
"I can't change that," Ozpin said again. "Neither of us can. I also wouldn't be able to do this until after the war is over. Your face and name will be too familiar and the last thing we need is your reveal getting in the way of the peace process. You understand that, correct?"
I nodded again. If the King was distracted trying to deal with me, the war might continue. No one wanted that.
"You would have to go home for a period of three to four weeks. After that, should you wish it, you could return, and I would see you put to work. I can offer you lodging here in Beacon. You'll still be able to interact with your Guild – perhaps even live with them. It would be like nothing has changed."
Ozpin smiled as he delivered the idea, and I could see how much he was trying to help me, trying to make life better. He really was a good person. A good headmaster. He cared for his students, at least as best he could. The picture he painted was one that filled me with hope.
But I knew it was a forlorn one. I wouldn't return as I'd been, and life wouldn't go back to normal. The Guild would go out on Quests without me, unable to take me along, and they'd continue to grow and develop while I stayed the same, left behind because I couldn't hope to face the same challenges they did. Ellayne would be devastated, too. She didn't even know, and I dreaded the idea of telling her.
It would be a life that looked the same but wasn't. Not where it counted.
"Can I have some time to think about it?"
"Of course. If you want the position, return at any time. But for now…" Ozpin stood. He placed both hands down on the table to push himself up, and the action made him seem incredibly haggard. He breathed out once, closed his eyes and stood a little straighter. "Jaune Arc," he intoned. "By your action and by your decisions, you have breached that which is required. It is with my utmost regret that I must make this decision."
My eyes drifted shut.
"You are hereby expelled from Beacon Academy."
This chapter.
Fuck me, this chapter. Obviously, it's one that has been planned since before this story even started – the reveal being one of THE biggest things in the whole story – but even so, it's really hard to write.
A part of the problem comes from just how many people there are in RWBY, which makes it hard to balance reactions when I need to have seven people reacting. I tried to think of a way to do it all, but really couldn't. Not in one chapter anyway. Instead, I decided to use spokespeople and focus on the main ones.
That's why we have Yang and Weiss kind of standing in for "everyone", while Blake gets her one to one with Jaune in private. Pyrrha and Nora's responses are more shown through their actions and the few things they said, how they act around Jaune after. They'll get more dialogue next chapter, as I decided that it would be better to have two sides to things. Sort of a "hot and cold" wherein some of them react with hot fury, and others with a colder "I need to think about this" kind of feeling. Where they are trying not to talk to him until they can sort out how they really feel, etc.
Even so, this chapter was really hard to balance. Didn't want it to be all just people yelling at Jaune, or it would wear off quickly and become dull. Didn't want them to just ignore the issue either. Couldn't have a revolving door of eight people telling Jaune what they think one-by-one or it would be ridiculous.
I really just wanted a feeling of "coldness" or "emptiness". Of an argument – and an issue – that is unresolved. Like teenagers deciding to ignore the problem and simmer in silent anger lost in their own thoughts rather than face it head on. Also wanted a lot of their feelings said not by what they `say`, but how they act around Jaune.
Ironically, I wanted that more than I did a big fight and a resolution. I want this to be unresolved in this chapter. Still an issue. A weight on everyone's shoulders.
Make no mistake. This is – if it's not super obvious – the black moment of this book. The Guild fractures. Jaune loses everything, including his place at Beacon, his dream, and the possibility of him ever fighting against Destiny again. He even loses Blake. In fact, this is intended to be one of the biggest black moment of the entire story. Not just book six.
Welp.
Next Chapter: 20th August
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur
