Ehe. Sorry for my absence. turns out our vacation home didn't have wifi
Atlas
The great floating city and capital of the kingdom with the same name. A city of wonder!
And team JNR were already bored of it. While their sister team was out having fun and training they were forced to stay and guard the Relic of Knowledge. It was a very boring but necessary job. That didn't mean the team had to like it. The lamp however did intrigue the member of the team, Nora more than the others as Ren had to silence Nora multiple times so she wouldn't waste the last they had
The boy however was curious too. A thing that could grant knowledge of anything except the future? That could be very useful in any situation! Except the limit was on it. It had to have a limit, otherwise everyone would make use of the thing. In short it wouldn't end very well if it didn't have a big limit
Jaune was thinking about other stuff however. More so about how the spirit works. She had a gender, title and a near physical body. She was so close to human but still so far detached from humans. Maybe just talking to her might alleviate their boredom and thirst for some knowledge. A bit of experimenting might be warranted and hey. What could go wrong?
"Guys. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Jaune asked Ren and Nora. Ren had a sinking feeling he knew what was coming, but he wasn't in the mood to stop it. Nora however
"JINN!" Nora had already grabbed the lamp and held it up, basically yelling the name of the spirit inside to awaken her. She showed far more enthusiasm than Jaune or Ren at the prospect of talking to Jinn
The world around the trio began to drain of colour till everything was coloured in different shades of grey. Slowly the colourless world was filled with a blue smoke smelling like…. something indescribable yet strangely nostalgic. Then out of the smoke she appeared
A very tall woman. Her body minus her head was detailed enough to make out body parts but not enough to make specific things stand out. Kinda like a silhouette or outline of a woman you'd find in textbooks. Slowly she spread her arms and let out a loud yawn before turning her head to team JNR with a smile as she finally opened her eyes
"Hello Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Do you require the use of my knowledge for something? Do note you have 1 question left century" Jinn asked. Making Jaune and Ren flinch a bit at the reminder of only having one question while it just made Nora more excited
"Well" Jaune quickly spoke up before the silence made Nora speak up "We actually just wanted to talk with you. Without asking the last question we have" He just said, hoping Jinn's reaction wasn't bad
Jinn's reaction was immediate. She started to sputter as she heard his request. A soft blush had also started to form on the tall genie's face. This has never happened before! The first time in eons Jinn was actually freaking out a little but her freak out was quickly stopped when she heard… laughter
She looked over again and noticed Nora and Jaune laughing! They were laughing at her! She could even see a small smirk appearing on Ren's face as he managed to hide his laugh much better than the other 2 but Jinn easily saw through it. "Why are you laughing! What's so funny about this!"
"O-oh brothers! I'm gonna die laughing!" Nora's response was less than stellar. It only made Jaune laugh a bit hard and made Ren actual let out a soft chuckle while Jinn pouted. Which made Jaune and Nora laugh even harder
"N-Nora! Wait f-for me! I'm c-coming to the a-afterlife w-with ya!" Jaune joked and fell on the ground, still not answering Jinn in the process and making Nora laugh even more
Slowly Ren came out of his chuckle fit and began to calm down, afterwards he began to use his own semblance to slowly start to calm himself down more and calm Jaune and Nora too "We're sorry miss Jinn, it was just so unexpected"
"W-Wait you weren't joking w-when you a-asked to just talk?" Jinn still stuttered a bit and still seemed very flabbergasted but a bit more interested in just talking now
"Yeah. We don't want to use our final question though so if talking would use it we would rather back out" Jaune said, having quickly calmed down due to Ren's semblance and the joke finally fading
Jinn quickly shook her head and actually sat down on top of Jaune's bed. Like sitting and not just floating on top of it "No no no it won't take the question. I'd love to just have a chat with all of you!" Jinn's tone quickly changed from surprised to very happy "from now on small or as you would say casual questions will be free"
Team JNR were quite surprised that Jinn actually wanted to talk to them and that she actually would give them all free questions even if they wouldn't be the grand questions the Relic of Knowledge was known for. Quickly Nora jumped up happily "It just keeps getting better and better!"
Ren could agree that things were getting better quickly. A yes or no would've been enough but the spirit wanting to talk a lot and making normal questions free? That far more than he ever expected to get from just wanting to talk to the spirit
"Well why not start immediately! Is your name Jinn or is it like a title? And if it is like a title what is your real name?" Jaune asked. He thought it could be a good icebreaker to start up the talks with Jinn and learn a bit more about the spirit
What he didn't expect was Jinn to take some time to answer
Jinn was a bit surprised at how the question… stumped her. She kept looking through her own mind, trying to ignore the pull to tap into her full potential as spirit of the relic but she just couldn't resist looking through the relic to see if it could give a clear answer
It horrified Jinn that it couldn't. It could create some hazy images of the past but not a clear answer. At least she had something to work with and something is better than nothing. So Jinn decided to see what the hazy images gave her
(-)
She saw what looked to be memories from someone's perspective. She looked around in the person's memories. She could see 3 other people like her, a army behind her and the other 3.
The first notable person was a man. He was clad in little clothes, his chest bare and his legs partly covered in what looked like primitive shorts. He looked very physically strong. The strange part was she could feel some energy coming from him like….. magic. Jinn looked a bit surprised. Maybe he was a reincarnation of the old man
The second person was another man. This shorter than the first one but as a mirror to the first he was very well clothed like he was a medieval royalty. She for some reason he was well armed and armoured. Even if the layers and layers of protection and concealed weapons under his clothes made him look quite fat. However like with the first man she could feel traces of magic coming off from him. How strange
The last person unlike the others was a woman. Her clothes tattered and her skin caked with mud and blood. Unlike the others she seemed like she had just come from a massive battle. Even the army behind her seemed smaller and more battle worn than the armies behind herself and the 2 men
Well their forces didn't matter in the face of a giant wall of energy. One moment she was there, another she heard someone scream 'PERSEPHONE' and then suddenly her most recent memory was of when the brother of light created her…. Wait no. She still had 1 before her creation but it seemed to be…. Out of order. She felt the gold chains that adorn her body being placed on her. How did this memory get created before she remembered her and her relic being created? How strange
Well Persephone was a nice name at least
(-)
To what Jinn felt like had been hours had only been a solid 2 minutes for team JNR. Currently the team was staring at the silent for of the thinking genie. Jaune and Ren had to dissuade Nora from poking Jinn. Sadly the boys knew they had to let Nora poke or they would find themselves through a wall probably
Nora got on a chair and slowly moved closer to Jinn's cheek. Her hand just a few centimeters away from the spirit when suddenly Jinn turned her head to smile at Nora. "Hello miss Valky-" "Boop" Jinn stopped talking. Being a bit confused while Nora smirked as she managed to salvage her poking attempt by booping Jinn
"W-Well I was about to say I have found what my name is. It's Persephone but Jinn is still fine" Jinn said as she managed to recover from Nora's snoot boop. Jinn still couldn't shake the feeling something was off about the memory her name appeared in. Like she remembered it or told people about
"Well Persephone is a very nice name" Jaune smiled. The name reminded him of one of his sisters, his youngest to be exact named Percy. It made him just a bit softer towards Persephone if he was to be honest "Brothers why is finding questions so hard" Jaune murmured to himself. He did want to talk but he just couldn't come up with any meaningful or basic questions he could ask
"Maybe instead of talking we should try to do something. In this…. Stopped time we could do a lot" Ren said as he looked at the clock and like he expected. The hands didn't move a inch from when they first called upon Persephone. He was very fascinated what a fraction of the power of a god could do
"Hmmm now that I think about it talking is boring. How about we go to the new arcade!" Nora said. She quickly had gotten bored of the slow conversation. She wanted to have some FUN and talking with Persephone wasn't as fun as she made it out to be in her head
"Oh that could be fun! I've never visited a such human establishment. Closest was the time I was summoned in a weapon and ammunition shop" Persephone said, making Jaune a little sad but it only made Nora want to go to the arcade even more
"Then you'll find a arcade a very fun place to go when nothing is going on. Maybe we could even get some Pizza later. We do have to stop playing games tho" Nora was very happy with her idea at first, her happiness only fading once she realized that to order pizza they needed to stop playing games
"I don't mind leaving you all for a hour or so so that the food can arrive. It would be hardly fair to keep you three starving while you try to keep me company" Persephone waved Nora's concern off. She didn't mind spending a few more hours in the relic if it meant being able to taste human food when she was let out again
"Well if you say so" Jaune said, a bit skeptical if Persephone was actually that okay with it but he conceded knowing he couldn't really argue against it or know for certain if she was okay with it. At least he could influence it by ordering from somewhere close
"Now we are going!" Nora said a bit irritated that they weren't going to the arcade already so she hooked the lamp to her belt and tightly grabbed Ren's and Jaune arm and started to pull them with her. Persephone floating just behind Nora
Persephone was quite excited for her trip out
[]
The walk/drag to the arcade didn't take that long. With everyone other than Team JNR and Persephone frozen in time things like queues and traffic didn't exist, even things like elevators weren't a problem, they seemingly just started to work once they were interacted with. It was very convenient! Even if it meant Nora was allowed to drag the 2 boys of her team. Strangely they didn't feel any pain from it, just a feeling of discomfort from it
"We're heeeereeee!~" Nora said in a singsong voice as she stared at the grey'd out neon sign of the arcade. Finally Nora let the 2 boys go so they could stand up and get their own bearings and let them rub their back and arms
"Well that sure went differently than I expected but nevertheless! We are finally at the arcade" Persephone said, a squeal coming out at the end of her sentence. She couldn't wait to finally get to play, and since she is tapping into her full power with the relic she could actually experience the games without the advantages the relic would normally give "However I do have a question. Don't these games normally require a token?"
"Ah don't worry about that guys!" Jaune said, making the three others turn to him as he began to rummage through his pockets for his wallet. As he opened it and began to look through it Persephone moved to behind him to look over his shoulder. Persephone noticed many things. Mainly cards and some pictures. 2 however did catch her eyes
One was of a lot of blonde people, 10 to be exact. They all strangely looked the same with their blonde hair, fair skin and blue eyes. She at least managed to pic out which one was Jaune. The second pic however was a bit sadder. 4 teens sitting around a table. Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren and… Pyrrha Nikos
They seemed so happy. It made Persephone a bit sad. She knew what happened to Pyrrha Nikos. Quickly Persephone looked away, hoping Jaune wouldn't notice her snooping. She at least realized Ren noticed. Jaune go ally fished out a brightly decorated card from his wallet and held it up. Ren, Nora and Persephone looked a bit confused
"Well back before beacon my sisters always asked me to play with them at the arcade. My mother eventually just bought me and my sisters 3 years worth of membership to the arcades and since most arcades use the same membership system" Jaune said and it finally began to dawn on them what it meant, Nora had the most visible reaction. Trembling a bit with excitement "still have a month or 4 left so let's play!"
The 3 teens and spirit entered the arcade and quickly began to look around. They started with Laser tag to soothe Nora's strange urge for fighting. It made them find out a bit more about how Persephone interacted with the world. She was able to actually touch the laser rifle and interact with the gear. It did have them thinking about or stuff and if she could possibly disable the time stop but they quickly ignored that thought for now to go on with having fun
Persephone was…. Happy. She was having fun. In the first time since her creation she was having fun. No questions were asked and she wasn't dismissed. And even in the slightly irritating parts she had fun, like when Ren beat her multiple times in racing games or when Jaune beat them all in a dancing game or worse when Nora kinda broke the wack-a-mole. It still made her happy to do those things and as if triggered due to her happiness the world regained it's colour and time seemed to come back. None of them realised it at first till
"Hey big sis! They seem to be having fun!" A child rounded the corner. He looked a bit like Jaune with his blonde hair and light skin but the differences started with unlike Jaune the child was wearing brightly coloured clothes and seemed to be eager to talk, however the biggest differences came with his piercing silver eyes and the strange aura she felt from him. Persephone was a bit taken aback as she realized time had moved again but wasn't fast enough to disappear as another person had seen her
"Yes. They seem to be slacking off" from where the boy came came a far older woman too. She reminded Persephone a lot of Cinder, although this person was wearing a sleeveless suit and jeans which were only coloured white, black and grey. Just like the boy she had those piercing silver eyes and an slightly different but still strange aura coming off her
"H-Hello there!" Persephone managed to say as she waved at the duo. Hopping to seem a bit non-threatening even if she was, well, very different than any human or faunus. Just then team JNR realised that time has started to move again. Just like Persephone tho they also waved at them
The woman was about to say something till the boy grabbed her hand and tugged on it. Making her look down to see the boy shaking his head. Reluctantly the woman sighed and turned to walk away with the boy. As they were walking away the boy turned back to the group and smiled again, waving as he left with the woman "goodbye! Have fun!"
Persephone turned back to the other 3 as they fully took in time moved again. They were all bit confused on when it happened or how it happened but they weren't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. Slowly they made their way out of the Arcade, opting to take a longer route so Persephone could see more of Atlas and could keep away from most people
[]
Quickly they entered their dorm room and closed the door behind them. Some members of the academy had looked very strangely at Persephone but seeing as she was with students they didn't really feel the need to interfere. Persephone was happy for that. She felt a bit strange under their gazes
"We should go back to the arcade once in a while. It was so fun! But now I'm hungry and pizza sounds good!" Nora said with a big smile on her face. Even if she was a bit more competitive in games than normal now that she was with 3 people it was still the most fun she had in a while
"Already 2 steps ahead of you Nora" Jaune said as he showed his scroll to the rest of the people in the room. Showing he was already on a delivery site and ready to pay for their food. Ren and Persephone quickly got closer. Persephone to observe and Ren to do the same while also blocking Nora from ordering more food
"Alright. This seems enough. Might have some leftovers but we can eat those tomorrow" Ren said with a content sigh, getting a audible groan from Nora as she realized her plan to see if they had pancakes and if she could order then was foiled. Even if Ren hadn't commented on how the day had been going he did have quite a lot of fun. He hadn't felt this kind of fun since….. Pyrrha. Maybe he thought maybe team JNR needed a new face to spent time with
"I've never really eaten food. I'm quite nervous honestly" Persephone said and let out a soft uncomfortable chuckle. She hoped she did have a sense of taste, she never needed to test to see if she had it
"Well the pizzas should be here in 15 so you can taste it then. In the mean time I think you should look outside" Jaune said with a smile on his face, confusing both Nora and Persephone while Ren began to smirk to and making the 2 women more confused and more curiously what was out the window
They were all about to protest till a sudden loud noise came from outside causing both Nora and Persephone to rush to the window. No one seemed startled or made a loud noise and both boys seemed okay with it. Persephone was about to question why till she heard another loud noise and finally turn outside fully and to see what was outside
Fireworks. Many and colourful and beautiful fireworks. Something Persephone has never seen in person. She could faintly hear Jaune say something about celebrating and colour but she just tuned that out to be honest
Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. It took a while for Persephone began to actually cry. Even if the tears clouded her vision a bit. She just laughed and kept staring at the fireworks. Even as the Pizza's came and they began to eat Persephone's tears never stopped and she kept staring at the pretty fireworks
"Thank you. Thank you so much" Persephone managed to choke out between sobs as she turned to team JNR and hugged them. It just felt good. In one day they had made her feel more happy than she has ever felt. She was very grateful
"Don't sweat it" Jaune blushed slightly from the sudden hug but just hugged Persephone back. He liked the spirit smiling and being so happy
"You lightened our moods too, even if our original intent was selfish" Ren was a bit surprised by the hug but didn't mind it, he even expected it slightly. He was happy too it wasn't one of those bone breaking hugs Nora gives
"We should do this more! Oh ooh! Next time to a pancake factory!" Nora said excitedly and hugged the genie back. Nora was happy Persephone didn't say anything about the tight hug she was giving and was just thinking about how fun today was and how she wanted to do it again
"Thank you. Thank you so much"
[]
"Guys were have you gone!" Ruby Rose yelled as she ran through the halls of Atlas Academy. She hated not being allowed to use her semblance due to a no semblance rule. Oh well. She was gonna meet up with Team JNR to switch over lamp duty. However her own team had gone ahead while she was showering
Ruby eventually found her missing team and Oscar standing in front of the open door to Team JNR's dorm. Seeing them all began to worry Ruby and against her better judgement (and the possibility of a Weiss lecture) a Ruby used her semblance to appear next to Yang, hoping that nothing bad had happened to her friends
"JAUNE. NORA, REN! ARE YOU OKA-. . ." Ruby was cut of as she looked into Team JNR and noticed while everyone was stunned and just staring. It even made Ruby start to just stare into the dorm room
Inside the room the beds were empty. Instead all 3 members of Team JNR laid on the ground. This wasn't that strange. The strange part came from them all holding onto a certain blue woman while she wrapped her arms around them. Ruby took a moment to process the info and filled her head a bit before taking "Hm. They look pretty cute and peaceful. Maybe we should give them another hour or 2 to sleep"
Like i said at the start. I have no wifi and am currently posting this from a restraunt. Critica out