Mother is okay and at home, though I am literally living with her right now to keep an eye on her. Easier than her living at mine, etc. Got to stop her trying to overwork herself or get herself into a tizzy on the littlest of things.
Troll is still impersonating people in the reviews, as well as trying to invite hate on some poor writer in the Naruto fandom. Ignore it.
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Dishwasher1910
Book 7: Chapter 7
I'd known it would happen eventually, but the moment I stepped into the Lodge and found myself confronted by every member of the Guild bar Velvet, I realised I wasn't prepared. Whether they intended it or not, it felt like I was on my own facing each of them. The hesitant greetings hardly helped.
"Jaune, it's so good to have you back," Pyrrha said.
"The Lodge hasn't been the same without you," Ruby agreed.
Both were just a little too desperate, a little too forced. I didn't doubt for a second that they were happy to see me, just… awkward. Always awkward.
"Hey everyone." I was as awkward as they, as desperate. Yet again, the urge to play along, to pretend nothing was wrong, was all but overpowering. "Ozpin told you about the plan, I take it?"
"Let's talk in the meeting room," Weiss suggested. "We had some food and drink readied."
I wasn't hungry at all but nodded anyway, more grateful for the distraction than anything else. Having something in my hands would keep them busy, too.
The sofas and couches in the meeting room had been dragged into a circle around the central table, with a few plates and bowls already out, though empty. There was an odd moment of hesitation as to who would sit where or first, but I broke it by taking a seat and letting them decide. Blake sat opposite, on the other side, and Pyrrha and Weiss flanked her. For a second, I wondered if they'll all array themselves apart from me, but Ruby sat down on my left and Ren took the right.
"How has the Palace been so far?" Ren asked, breaking the silence.
"It's nice, I guess."
"You guess?" Weiss quirked an eyebrow, a curious smile on her face. "Most people never see the inside, let alone get to experience its hospitality. They have the best Cooks, the most expensive furniture."
"They do all that," I said, relaxing into the mundane, even random, topic, "But it feels… impersonal. There's no familiarity to it. My bed is comfortable, but it's one other people have slept in and the mattress hasn't adjusted to my body. Meanwhile, there are way too many pillows and the food is too rich."
"The struggles of the upper class," Yang teased. "Dying for some of Velvet's stew that badly?"
"Honestly… yes."
"You're in for a treat, then. Ren and Vel put their heads together for dinner today. They went out into Vale for the ingredients."
"Just a little celebration," Ren demurred. "It's our first meal as a Guild in quite some time."
It was, at least in the Lodge, and I felt a little conflicted about that. On the one hand, it was touching in a way, especially that they'd go to so much effort. On the other, the pressure was on. Don't mess this up, I told myself. Don't cause a scene.
"Well, I appreciate it. How have things been in Beacon so far?"
Yang was quick to pick up the slack. "Lessons are back on and already boring. To hear Port talk, you'd think he single-handedly brought the war to a close. Combat Class is brutal, though. Even if most people only fought against Grimm, everyone has gone up in levels. Like, a lot!"
"Really?"
"Mhm. Yeah!" Ruby nodded. "I fought Cardin the other day and he's a monster now. Everyone is… well, I'd still say we're some of the strongest in the year."
"The gap is closing," Weiss said diplomatically. "Where before we might have been fifteen levels up thanks to the ridiculous danger our Quests have put is in, the constant exposure to Grimm has seen everyone catch up. Now, they're probably seven to nine levels below. At a guess."
"It's a catch-up issue," Ren said. "Most Heroes plateau at some point because they run out of threats to face that challenge them. There's no documented limit to how many Levels someone can get, but sooner or later you'd have to seek out suicidal conditions just to make it worth it."
"Like how we've outgrown the Emerald Forest," I said.
"I think that was always Beacon's intent," Pyrrha said. "The Emerald Forest is for the newer students to hone their craft close to the school, in as safe an environment as one can have. Upper years, or higher-level students, are expected to make more use of the Quest system to gain Experience."
Velvet interrupted the conversation as she came through with a steaming pot gripped between two hands with thick gloves on. I moved to help her along with Ren, the two of us gripping some spare mitts to help lower it down.
"Doesn't your Blacksmith Passive let you do that barehanded?" Yang asked.
It took me a second to realise what she meant. The others flinched at the reference to my Labour Caste nature, but Yang managed to keep her face neutral, only a little curious. It was as good a way to break into the issue as any.
"My Passive only grants me immunity to heat that I cause. If I used a Skill to heat the pot, then I'd be immune to it, but I don't think Stoke the Forge would work well for cooking. The temperatures tend to be a little higher."
"Please don't melt the kitchenware," Ren teased.
"Ha. I'll try my best."
Disaster averted, Velvet brought out a ladle and started to share stew between the numerous bowls. Ren brought out some freshly baked bread, crusty on the outside, soft and spongy on the inside. Pepper and salt was shared across the table and I had to admit they'd outdone themselves. I could smell the beef pouring off it, and small chunks of meat floated temptingly in the broth.
It was, compared to what I'd eaten in the Palace, simple fare. Almost peasant's food. Velvet and Ren weren't Cooks either, so they didn't have the same Skills that let the Cooks working at the Palace ensure freshness, taste and texture, but at the same time it was something I was used to, something I'd come to enjoy on those long and cold Quests when we'd make camp in the middle of the night, never quite sure of what awaited on the morning.
"I can't say I ever saw things being like this," Pyrrha said, almost randomly.
"Hm?"
"Us, in our own Guild Hall, sat around a table eating stew, talking about a war we helped to end. I'm not sure what I expected when I decided to come here instead of attend Haven, but it certainly wasn't this."
Yang snorted. "Ha, you're telling me. I was convinced I'd have to watch over Ruby and try and force her to make friends, to even talk to people. Then `wham`, she's introducing me to Jaune and you guys. They grow up so fast."
"Yaaaang!"
"Same with Ren," Nora chimed in. "He made a friend all on his own!"
"I am not incapable, Nora."
"I must admit, it's not what I expected either," Blake said. I dared to look her way, but she didn't elaborate. Probably didn't have to. We all knew what she'd expected, being an Assassin, the black sheep of even the Rogue Classes.
"Beacon has been good to all of us," Weiss said, picking up the slack. "Torchwick's interference notwithstanding, though even that allowed us to gain the Lodge, and to take Velvet on. All in all, we've flourished here. I can't say I regret attending."
"I didn't expect to get as far as I did either," I had to agree. "Not as a Blacksmith."
And just like that, the conversation stopped.
Crap. I said it.
For a moment, no one knew what to say in return. Laugh it off, deflect, address. Everyone waited for someone else to start. I began to wonder if I shouldn't be the one to change the subject. The weather had been fairly interesting lately. Very normal. Interestingly normal, one might say. Totally… standard…
"You know, we should have been able to tell you weren't a Knight," Weiss mumbled. "Your ability to put you foot in your mouth should be impossible with a Knight's Charisma."
Despite the tense situation, Ruby sniggered.
I cracked a smile, too. "It's an acquired skill…"
"It must be. It's the only explanation for how bad at it you are." Weiss let out a long breath. "I knew this would happen, knew it had to happen. We should get it out of the way now, otherwise it's going to cause problems later."
"Weiss," Ruby said nervously, "What are you-"
"It has to be done, Ruby. We can't keep dancing around this. It's only causing problems." Weiss looked me in the eye, her face set firmly. "Ozpin wants you to infiltrate the Greycloaks and stage an argument with us in public. If we do that with any doubt still lingering between us, I have a feeling that argument will become quite literal."
I looked away. It was a concern I'd had as well. Even if they were pretending to hate me, some of the things they would have to say would cut deep. After all, everyone – Greycloaks included – would know what our fight was about.
Me lying my way into Beacon, and into their trust.
"Do you want to start, Jaune?" Weiss said. "Or should we?"
Neither, I thought, but that wasn't an option. We couldn't keep avoiding it. I laid the empty bowl down with a sigh and cracked my neck. "I'll start. I just… Can you all wait until I'm finished before interrupting? I think it'll be easier that way."
"A fair request. I agree." Weiss looked over the others, as if daring them to argue. No one did, and she nodded. "Whenever you're ready."
Ready, huh? Well, now or never.
"I lied to get into Beacon," I began, getting right to the meat of the issue. "I had no combat training, no Skills to help me out and no idea of what being a Hero was like. All I ever knew was being stuck in Ansel, and I… I hated that. It felt like a prison, as if my Class was a collar holding me back. In the same way that Blake was judged for her Class or Weiss for her Passive, my whole life was set out for me because of what I was expected to be."
"I didn't intend to hurt or lie to anyone. Honestly, I didn't even realise it would happen. Obviously, I knew I'd be lying, but I never expected to get this far. I never thought I'd be a part of a Guild or have friends like this, have a team." I gestured to them but didn't quite meet their eyes. "Once I did, once it happened… I guess I felt trapped. All of a sudden, I wasn't here because I wanted to be a Hero. Hell, after Atlas and Torchwick, I became a whole lot more aware of what being a Hero meant."
That it wasn't all adventures, rainbows and stories at taverns. That it was dark, brutal and oftentimes dangerous. That failure might mean death, but also demotion to the Soldier Caste. There was more judgement that wet into a Hero, more criticism. Everyone watched, like they had Tyrian, everyone judged, like how they'd broken him.
Tyrian, Cinder, even Ellayne. The life of a Hero hadn't been kind to any of them.
"All of a sudden, it was about keeping the people I cared about safe. It was about not leaving you all to go to Haven, Vacuo or be trapped in the War on your own. It was about wanting to fix those things first, always saying `I'll tell them once this is over`, only to run into another big catastrophe the moment one ends. And after a while… I almost forgot."
I could see their confusion, so I explained. "At the start, everything was a struggle. Everything was me, a Blacksmith, trying to somehow make things work. I bumbled around, got my ass kicked and was pretty much useless. But as time went on, I started to find ways to even the odds, ways to use my Skills, or improve my weapons or just how to fight as a Blacksmith. You can't tell me I'm no good in a fight, not now. I've held my own with all of you. And once I learned how to do so, I honestly just started to forget that I wasn't a Hero in the first place." I shrugged. "I mean, if I fight like a Hero, go on quests like a Hero and risk my life against Heroes, then what does my Class matter? At that point, I wasn't keeping the secret to avoid trouble, I just… stopped caring about it. it didn't matter. Half the time, I forgot I was even disguised."
"And then Salem," Ruby said, earning a slap on the arm from Yang. She'd promised not to interrupt.
I smiled to show I wasn't bothered and nodded to her comment. "And then Salem. Turns out the amulet which protected me was something given by her. Without ever realising it, I'd made a wish by her."
"A wish?" Pyrrha interrupted, horrified. "How!?"
"I don't know. I doubt my sorrow over my Class issues was enough to summon her, that would be insane. It's possible someone else summoned her near Ansel and was killed, or that the Greycloaks were active even then."
"But you're still alive," Ruby said. "Salem's wishes usually kill the one who makes it."
"And Jaune's should have killed him," Ren pointed out. "Think about it, she gives him the means to attend Beacon and become a Hero, but only in disguise. He's still a Blacksmith, under-levelled and inexperienced in combat. Any normal person would have died there. Salem no doubt expected him to, to the point that she didn't even bother keeping watch over him."
"Anyone would take that bet," Weiss agreed. "What simple Blacksmith could survive the First Quest?"
"I nearly didn't," I said. "I ran into a Beowolf, but I nearly died to three Canis early on. The only reason I survived was…" My eyes slid to Blake.
"I helped on a whim."
"A whim that saved my life. And then Pyrrha, Nora and Ren helped deal with it after. Beyond that, I still struggled, but I never went out without people to help me. You all helped with the Dungeon, covering my back. Coco helped boost me in levels. By the time I had to fight alone against real threats, I'd already grown beyond the average level for my Class. I'd learned how to survive."
"Making you possibly the only person to have ever survived one of Salem's wishes, and numerous encounters with her," Weiss said. "No wonder Ozpin thinks the Greycloaks would be interested in you. You're living proof that wishes can be made and survived! If only by the devil's own luck."
"Pretty much. I'm guessing that's why Salem was so interested in me. She wanted to finish the job, which is probably why she kept trying to goad me into making more wishes. In vacuo, though… that's where the gloves came off. She tried to kill me after I hurt her, and the amulet shattered."
The others tensed, awaiting my verdict. Rather than hide away, I closed my eyes and gave it.
"I know I lied to you all, but Vacuo, it was like a confirmation of all my worst fears. The moment you knew what I was, you started to act differently. When we got out of the temple, you made a formation around me, as if I was a helpless NPC." I used the derogatory term just to show them how angry I was. "I'd fought with you for almost two years! I'd faced Merlot, Tyrian and a war. Yet just because the words over my head changed, I suddenly needed to be protected. What the fuck?"
"We-"
"No!" I cut Pyrrha off before she could speak. "And after, when my entire life was crumbling down around my ears, when Ozpin expelled me, when it was over – when everything was over – the best I got was a weird kind of `Good luck, we'll visit` and some shitty offer from Ozpin to come be Beacon's personal Blacksmith. As if that would fix everything. As if it would fix anything!" I slammed a fist down on the table. "Do you have any idea how much it would have hurt to have to come back and pretend things were normal? To sit in some shed smithing weapons and armour for people weaker than me, so they can go out and risk their lives?"
"Did you even imagine how I'd have felt staying behind while you all go out and put yourselves at risk?"
Their heads lowered.
"No. I guess you didn't. You never even bothered." I looked away. "I guess the simple NPC wasn't worth wasting any time over."
"That's not true!" It was Blake who broke the silence. Weiss tried to shush her.
"How is it not?" I snapped. "It hurt from you more than anyone! I stood by you despite your Class!"
"And I loved you," she fired back. "I was in love with you, I slept with you, I gave myself to you." Blake threw her hand to the side. "Don't make this like I never did anything, because I trusted all my little secrets to you and you kept yours from me. And I don't even care about the secret, not about what it is. Do you think I'd have been so much of a hypocrite that you being a Blacksmith bothered me? No. I was angry – am angry – because you lied to me after I trusted you so much!"
"I had to lie!"
"Tell yourself that," she sneered. "Tell yourself there was no way you couldn't have trusted me with the truth, that I'd have never kept your secret. That I'd have dropped everything, including the man I love, because of some kind of pride over my Caste. Tell yourself I'd be that petty if it makes you feel better."
I grit my teeth. I knew Blake wouldn't have done that, but that wasn't the point. Or maybe it was, but I couldn't handle it.
"Calm down, let's stay calm," Nora leaned between the two of us and held her hands out in the universal gesture for a time-out. "Getting angry is good, yeah? It means both sides care. We're all upset because this is a big deal and because we care for one another."
"Well said, Nora," Pyrrha agreed, clapping her hands. "I… I'd like a chance to speak, if that's alright?"
I waved a hand for her to go ahead. I didn't think I'd be able to speak well right now, not with how my head and heart were beating wildly.
"I think that I'm not as good as Blake," Pyrrha began, surprising me. "I think, well, it depends on when, but if you'd come to me with the truth early, I'd have told Ozpin."
"Pyrrha!" Ruby cried.
The Champion held up a hand. "Hear me out, please. I'd not have done it out of dislike or prejudice, but because I'd have thought it best for Jaune. I'd have convinced myself I was helping him, either to help him accept his Class, or just to avoid being put in danger. Maybe after Mistral… I think after that, I'd have done differently, but even then I would have been cautious, always keeping an eye on you."
Her smile was flimsy, as if she expected me to rage at her. When I didn't, she continued.
"As such, I don't think I have much of an excuse to be angry that you kept it secret from me. You were probably right to do so. It still hurt, I won't lie, but I don't think I would have deserved to have your trust in that way. Vacuo…" She palmed her face. "Vacuo was a mistake. I… I know you can hold your own, knew it then and there, but my head wasn't on straight. I couldn't think rationally in that situation. There was too much shock, too much anger and disbelief from everyone. I just sort of… fell into what was expected. Defend the Labour Caste member."
"I think we all did that," Weiss said carefully. "As Pyrrha says, intellectually speaking we all knew Jaune could hold his own, but it's hard to think logically when your emotions are running so high. It doesn't excuse us," she said, looking at me. "We insulted you, and worse, we impeded your ability to help us if we were attacked. We put everyone at risk by limiting the ability of one of our frontline fighters to… well, fight. That was a mistake on all our parts, but, as someone who often takes the lead, it was more my mistake than anyone else's."
To my shock, and more than a little horror, Weiss stood and faced me. From her waist, she bowed, letting her hair fall before her face.
"I'm sorry, Jaune. Both to you and to the Guild."
"I… Weiss, that's not-"
"No." Ren shocked everyone by speaking up. "If anyone is at fault there, it is me."
"Renny?"
"I could think logically, I could rationalise everything that happened." Ren turned to me and smiled sadly. "If I can be frank, I never once cared about the fact you lied to me. I think you know why that is, Jaune."
His Passive. His horrible, cursed Passive.
"The moment the truth was revealed to me, I understood why he lied. There was no emotional component to what I felt, so I could divine his reasons and accepted them. He lied because he felt he had to, whether it was necessary or not didn't matter. Worse, once we reached topside once more and fell into formation, I knew we were making an error. I was fully aware and able to rationalise the fact that Jaune was no less combat capable as a Blacksmith, since his tenure as a Knight was falsified. He was at full combat capacity. However, I chose to say nothing."
"Why?" Nora asked, not accusingly, just… surprised.
"I think it was cowardice," Ren said, almost as if he were unsure himself. "While I can see things rationally, I'm still aware others cannot always do the same. I felt that with the emotions flying around, it would be best for me to remain silent and not provoke what I feared might be an argument big enough to fracture the Guild in a hostile environment. To be fair, I never anticipated Jaune would feel upset or hurt by what we did, and I thought it best to just accept the ignoble position until we were safe. I could have explained that to Jaune, however. I could have made that clear to everyone, and thus avoided this problem. That I did not, despite being the only one able to do so, is a failure on my part. Worse, it was a failure to a good friend. I'm sorry."
"It's…" What could I say, that it was okay? It wasn't, and Ren knew it, which was exactly why he'd felt the need to apologise. I didn't want to cheapen that. "I understand, and I accept," I said instead. "In future, though, speak up."
More than anything, Ren looked relieved with the fact I'd mentioned a future. "I will. Thank you for accepting my apology."
"I guess we all owe you an apology for that," Yang said. "I know I'd hate it if everyone looked at me like I couldn't defend myself. I do it enough for Ruby and I know she hates it, too. Like Weiss said, I… we…" She sighed. "It wasn't done out of cruelty, or even because we thought you needed protection. It was just… Everything was so sudden, you know? I don't think I even thought about covering you. If I had, I'd have known it wasn't needed. It just sort of happened."
Instinct, instinct from all of them – and not only that I really ought to expect them not to have, since all their training and all conventional wisdom said that Labour Caste members did need to be protected. In the same way that people from the Noble Caste did. It was typical `Escort Quest` formation, whether they'd realised it or not.
"It did hurt," I said to all of them, "But if you can all honestly say you didn't mean it, if it was just automatic…" I let my eyes roam over all of them. No one looked away. "Then I guess I can forgive that. Not everything, not the rest, but that, I can let go."
"Thank you." Pyrrha nodded to me. "I think on the expulsion part…" Her head fell. "I have no excuse. I should, as a friend, have been there for you, I realise that. We were hurt, but so were you, and we weren't the ones being told they could never attend Beacon again."
Ruby, Yang and Nora looked glumly down at the table, while even Weiss closed her eyes and Blake looked away. I had to admit, that had been the worst blow. Their reactions to my Class were bad, but always somewhat expected. I'd known Heroes would have a problem with a Blacksmith pretending to be one of them.
But what I'd never anticipated was to feel so abandoned by my Guild.
"I think it's fair to say we all made some mistakes," Weiss said. "We were hurt, and I maintain that we had a right to feel that. You lied to us, Jaune."
"I did," I admitted, "And I'm sorry. You're right to be angry about that."
"But we weren't right to stand by and do nothing while you were being expelled," Ruby finished. "I even figured out your Class and I still didn't do anything. At least the others had the excuse of being angry, I just…" She trailed off. "I messed up."
"We did." That Blake was the one to say it surprised me. I'd thought she would stick to her argument. "I'm still angry at the deception, and that you'd get so close to me and never say it. I'd be fine with you not telling me if we hadn't been lovers, but we were. That was a betrayal of my trust, but, Ruby and Weiss are right. We shouldn't have assumed you'd be fine with just being Beacon's Blacksmith."
"Well, he doesn't have to be now," Ruby said.
"That doesn't really change anything, sis. It would if it was because of us that he didn't, but it's because he managed to break the Caste System. We didn't do anything to help with that."
"I think the big question is where this leaves us," Pyrrha said. "We… I think we've all decided that we could have handled this better, that we should have. We should have supported Jaune while he was being expelled, and we should have asked him what he wanted. We all failed him there, abandoned him."
Their contrition was obvious, as was the guilt. Too little too late, a part of me wanted to say, but I wasn't sure it was. I didn't glean any satisfaction from any of this. In fact, I hated it as much as they.
"And I should apologise for the lies," I said, taking some of the blame on myself. "At least for continuing to lie. Up until Atlas could be excused, but once I'd proven that I could fight to each of you, I should have come clean." I paused and look to Blake. "And I should have told you the moment we got together. Lying to you in a situation like that was inexcusable, especially when I basically got with you on false pretences." Or close enough. "I'm sorry, Blake."
Slowly, hesitantly, she nodded.
Not entirely forgiven, but an understanding. For now. I wasn't sure we would ever get back together, but it was a step in the direction of healing the rift between us. I felt satisfied by that.
Echoing Weiss' movements earlier, I stood and bowed my head.
"I'm sorry for lying to you all, for not trusting you enough and for thinking so low of you that you'd all judge me for my Class and not for who I am."
"And I – we," Pyrrha amended when Nora, Yang and Weiss coughed meaningfully, "All are sorry for not standing with you when things were bad. For being crappy guildmates and leaving you to deal with your problems on your own because we were too busy feeling sorry for ourselves."
I didn't expect this would fix everything, it would be too idealistic to say that, but it was a start. I'd not be the one to make things worse, I decided. Not this time. As the rest of the Guild finally relaxed and started to chatter more naturally, this time including me, I smiled and went along with it.
They'd let me down, that was a fact. There was no changing that.
But for now, I'd trust that they knew, and that they wouldn't do the same again.
/-/
"Have you decided, Mr Arc?" Ozpin asked.
"I have. I've spoken to the rest of the Guild and we're going to stage the fight tomorrow. I'll infiltrate the Greycloaks as best I can. Though, I'm still not sure they'll accept me just like that. Not when they know I've worked against them before."
"You're overestimating them, Mr Arc. Or you're overestimating this branch. The Greycloaks are disjointed and large enough to span numerous Kingdoms. Although many will know your name, the information of just how much a threat you are is likely kept to those in power, not the individual agents. Regardless, I trust you to be able to look after yourself and we are in the middle of Vale. Should things go poorly, you are surrounded by potential allies. I will also have Qrow shadowing you in his Druidic form."
If I were being honest, I appreciated that more than I thought I would. I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Qrow since Mistral, but I could only assume he'd been busy. "Will he be close enough to overhear what the Greycloaks say?"
"If he can pull it off, butI doubt they will discuss their secrets outdoors where a crow might be accepted as normal."
A fair point. He'd be keeping an eye on the buildings, then, or my general location. Close enough to react if I needed help. All I'd need to do would be escape a building filled mostly with members of the Labour Caste. There was no discrimination in saying that would not be difficult. I was just too high a level for the average citizen of Vale. Qrow, too. He was stronger than me.
"If that's all sir, I'd best head back to the Palace before I'm missed. Saren will be waiting for me."
"Hm, it's best not to keep one such as him waiting, I suppose. Good luck, Mr Arc. I have absolute faith in your ability to pull this off."
I nodded. "Thank you, Headmaster."
Making my way down and out, I kept my head ducked. Anyone who got close enough would be able to read my name easily, but most people didn't bother. A face was more recognisable at a distance and I wasn't supposed to be here quite so obviously.
No one looked twice at me as I slipped out of the main building and into the gardens leading towards the Emerald Forest, the agreed meeting point with Saren and the way back to the Palace. I couldn't see him, but that was expected.
Before I reached it, however, a strange, warm vibration echoed from my pocket. The Whisper Stone, I realised, pulling it out. The gift from Ironwood for our Quest in Atlas. The range wasn't always the best, certainly not enough to reach from Beacon to the Palace itself, but this far was fine.
"Hello?"
"Jaune." Ruby's voice. She sounded nervous.
"Hey Ruby. Is something wrong?" And if so, couldn't she have asked me when I was at the Lodge?
"It's nothing much, I… I wanted to ask about tomorrow. About the fight. The fake fight." That she felt she had to point out that was regrettable, but I didn't comment on it.
"Yeah? What's wrong?"
"You said you wanted me to be the one to do it. You want to stage the fight with me."
It was what we'd discussed and, despite complaints from Weiss and Yang, I'd requested that the fight be staged between Ruby and I and no one else. The Reaper had been silent at the time, I'd thought she was okay with it. Evidently. Not.
"I did..."
"Why…?" Ruby sounded tortured. "Did I do something wrong!?"
"What? No, no. It's…" I paused, looked for the right words. "This is… You're alone, right?"
"Yeah. It's why I waited to call you."
Good. No one else would overhear. "It's not that I don't trust you, Ruby. And I know Weiss is against it because she thinks you won't be able to act it out properly, but you're the only one I can handle doing this at the moment."
"What do you mean?"
"It's… The apologies. I know everyone is serious about them. I am, too. But they're still just apologies at this time. The things that were said, the things they did, those still hurt. They'll probably keep hurting until some time passes and we put it behind us. But you figured out the truth before it was revealed. You knew what I was."
Only by a day or two, so small a time as to be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough that Ruby hadn't felt the same sense of anger and betrayal everyone else had. That was important. Very important.
"If I'm being honest, Blake and Weiss would be the best for this," I said. "Blake could act it out perfectly, and she could do it without meaning a word of whatever she said. And Weiss is just good at acting angry. At being angry." I smiled when Ruby snickered. "But I'm not good at taking it," I interrupted, more serious. "If Blake says things to me, even if she's pretending, it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt a whole lot more than I can handle."
"You're afraid the fight will become real…?"
"I'm afraid it'll open wounds that we've only just closed, and barely at best. Ruby, we've had our apologies less than an hour ago. If we start screaming things at one another less than twenty-four hours later, it's going to get heated. Some of those barbs, intentional or not, are going to stick. They're going to be founded in truth, even if we don't mean them to hurt."
Ruby was silent for a long moment. "And you're okay if I hurt you…?"
"Honestly… yes."
"Why? I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't," I said, smiling. "Because if you scream at me about how I lied about my Class, how I betrayed you and how much it hurt… it will be a lie. It won't be real. Because you figured it out, so there was no betrayal. There was no secret. I won't be able to take it seriously, so we'll both know everything we say, no matter how horrible, will be made up. It's… safer this way, I think."
"Safer for the Guild," Ruby said, sounding a little more confident. Relieved, even. "I think I get it. I'll do it. I'll fake the fight tomorrow, and I'll do it perfectly, I promise." Because if she didn't, Blake would need to step in – and that would drive an even bigger wedge between us. Ruby must have realised that.
"Thanks, Ruby. I… I want you to do this because I trust you. More than anyone else right now, and I know that sounds bad, but things have been rough."
"I know. And you can trust me! I won't let you down."
"You never have, Ruby. You never have."
No, the argument isn't "all over and now forgotten". They've come to an understanding and shared their apologies, admitted their mistakes. It's the first step on the path to fixing things.
And oh look, that Whisper Stone thing I put in AGES ago to facilitate a scroll's purpose. I'll happily admit to having forgotten about them. A mistake on my part there, since there were times they could have been useful.
Whoops.
Next Chapter: 26th November
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur
