AN: Okay, I know I said only a few days ago that my output was going to slow down, and here I am uploading like two days later. I know I look the fool, but it was more of a warning that it was probably going to slow down. Plus, the semester has only just started, so I haven't had a whole lot of schoolwork to do.

I also would like to address something that has been bothering me about this story, and it's how copy-and-paste Volume 2 was. I'm aware that it was an issue, and honestly it was a mixture of rushing to get it done during winter break, and for some reason I didn't feel that Volume 2 allowed for a whole lot of changes. At least not as easily as Volume 1 did. Besides how Cinder's team interacted with people. I can promise you now that Volume 3 and beyond will be like pre-Volume 2, with more original content and major changes to canon.

With that said, let's get into Team JNPR's first mission!

Enjoy!

Chapter 43

One day earlier…

Aqua watched the Bullhead carrying her daughter's team with a solemn expression on her face. She wasn't even entirely sure where her apprehension was coming from. Was it the fact that they were going on their first official mission (and not one they made up for themselves) and she was just being your typical nervous mother? Did she not trust Bart enough to keep them safe? Or was it the fact that she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something more sinister was at play?

"Everything okay, professor?" Jaune asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I don't know," she answered. "I just have a really bad feeling."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Pyrrha said, putting a hand on Aqua's shoulder. "Team RWBY is nothing if not resilient."

"Yeah!" Nora said. "I don't think anything except a train rigged with explosives would be enough to stop them, and what are the odds of that?"

"…That was oddly specific," Aqua said.

"Nora has a very active imagination," Ren said.

"…I see." Aqua shook her head with a chuckle. "Anyway, we should probably head out for our mission."

"Yes, we should," Pyrrha said, and the five of them headed towards the Bullhead designated for them.

"So, all Professor Ozpin told us was that we'll be helping a local Huntsman investigate some missing people," Jaune said, gripping the handles on the interior of the Bullhead as they were flying. "What else do we need to know?"

"That's most of it right there," Aqua said, pulling out her scroll and looking at it. "It says here that 15 people have gone missing from a small farming village a ways outside the Kingdom called Luca. A few bodies have turned up, but most of them are still unaccounted for. A citizen called it in a few days ago, and the Huntsman that answered the call, a man named Jecht Tidal, called Professor Ozpin to request a student team to help him. Apparently, he's stumped about what's causing this."

"Well, isn't it Grimm?" Jaune asked. Aqua shook her head.

"Apparently, this village doesn't usually have very many problems with Grimm."

"Plus, Grimm aren't known for being stealthy," Pyrrha said. "It would be very odd indeed for one to keep taking people and have no one see it."

"Which means a person is very likely behind this," Ren said somberly.

"Right," Aqua confirmed. "Someone who's probably been doing this for a while if they can take that many people from a town that small without getting caught." The students became visibly more tense at the realization. "When we land, make sure you stay on your guard. Anything can happen down there. And keep in mind that if I think the situation is too dangerous at any point, I will pull the plug, regardless of if the job is finished or not. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.

The Bullhead landed in a field outside the village a few minutes later, the team and Aqua wasting no time jumping out to get their mission started. They knew they were supposed to be greeted by Jecht when they landed, but none of them were quite expecting the person they saw.

He was a fairly tall man, with black hair, tanned skin, stubble, and a very muscular build. They could see all of it, since the only thing he wore on his upper body was a tattoo on his chest, a metal gauntlet and chainmail on his left arm, and a red bandana around his forehead. On his lower body, he wore a pair of black shorts with an orange waistcloth draping down his right leg, and for some reason no shoes. His body was also riddled with scars, including a few on his face, a testament to the no doubt hard-fought battles during his career as a Huntsman. He had a very large sword strapped to his back. It was wide, and flared out near the end, so it was shaped vaguely like an anchor.

The group's reactions to him were all varied. Pyrrha blushed and looked away, squeaking out an "oh my". Jaune looked down at his own body in disappointment. Nora, for some reason, covered Ren's eyes, while she looked at the Huntsman intensely. Ren sighed. Aqua just raised an eyebrow, thoroughly unimpressed.

Qrow was better.

…And now she had to stop herself from picturing her husband shirtless before her legs turned to jelly.

There would be time for that later.

"So, you're the group ol' Ozpin sent my way," the man said. "I hope you're stronger than you look. Name's Jecht Tidal, best Huntsman this side of Beacon Academy. And you are?"

"These are the students of Team JNPR," Aqua introduced them. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and Pyrrha Nikos." The students all gave him a greeting.

"Pyrrha Nikos?" he asked. "As in the Invincible Girl?"

"U-um, yes," the girl said.

"Well, I'll be damned," Jecht said. "Maybe you'll be useful after all." He looked to Aqua. "And you are?"

"I'm the professor that's going to be chaperoning them," Aqua answered. "My name is Aqua Branwen."

"Huh, I know someone with the last name Branwen," Jecht said, putting his hand to his chin. "His name's Qrow. You his sister?"

"Wife, actually," she said.

"No shit," Jecht said, smiling. "That son of bitch. I knew he had been seeing someone, but I didn't think he had it in him!"

"How do you know Qrow?"

"Old drinkin' buddies," Jecht said. "Of course, since he quit, I haven't seen him as much, but we still go on missions together from time to time."

"Um, not to be rude," Ren said, "But don't we have a job to do?"

"Oh, right," Jecht grumbled, frowning at being reminded of work. "Come on, I'm supposed to introduce you to the mayor. We'll compare notes after that."

"Welcome, Huntsmen and Huntresses of Beacon Academy," a regal-looking man said in a soft voice. "I am Seymour Guado, Mayor of this fine village." He bowed deeply. He was a skinny man, with long light blue hair, wearing a deep blue robe that honestly looked more like it belonged on a holy man than a politician. The robe prominently featured a design that resembled an eye with wings.

"Nice to meet you," Aqua said. "My name is Aqua Branwen, and these students are called Team JNPR." The students introduced themselves, and they bowed in respect. "I assume you know why we're here?"

"Ah yes," Seymour said. "The missing citizens. Nasty business. I do hope that you can resolve this matter quickly to put our people's minds at ease." Jecht hummed when he said that. "If there is anything I can do to assist you, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Well, in that case, can we ask you when this all started?" Aqua asked.

"Oh, it was a little over a month ago, I believe, that the first person went missing. I could give you a list of names, if you'd like."

"That would be great," Aqua said. "With your permission, I think it would be best for us to start our investigation."

"But of course," Seymour said. "Just do take care not to be too disruptive. This is a peaceful town, and we don't want fear to bring the Grimm."

"Slimy little bastard," Jecht said when the group left Seymour's office.

"What makes you say that?" Aqua asked.

"Something about him just rubs me the wrong way."

"Yeah, he does seem kind of creepy," Nora said, only to be elbowed by Pyrrha. "What? He does."

"The thing that bugs me the most is that he claims he wants this whole thing solved, but he's not even the one that called it in," Jecht said.

"Wait, really?" Jaune asked. "Why not? That seems super suspicious."

"It was, so I asked him about it. He said he left it up to a private citizen to call it to avoid an official investigation scaring the residents. Wanted to avoid the fear attracting Grimm."

"But then why wait a month?"

"Beats me. I get the impression that this guy prioritizes keeping the Grimm out over everything else. He mentions it a lot when you talk to him."

"Weird," Aqua said. "So, who called for you?"

"A woman named Pearl. Her daughter Sapphire was one of the victims."

"I think talking to her seems like a reasonable first step," Pyrrha said.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak to us, Ma'am," Aqua said, sitting down in front of a middle-age woman with platinum-blonde hair. She was wearing a plain white dress, and around her neck was a necklace bearing the same symbol they saw on Seymour's robes.

"You'll help bring my Sapphire home, right?" the woman asked. "I'll gladly talk to whoever I need to."

"When was the last time you saw your daughter?" Jaune asked.

"It was about a week ago," Pearl answered. "She went to her Youth Service meeting and didn't come home. At first I thought she was just hanging out with her friends, but then night came and she still wasn't home. I knew something was wrong when she still wasn't back the next day. I tried asking the other Church members, but they all said she left when service was over and they haven't seen her since."

"Church?" Jecht asked.

"Why, yes. Everyone in this town is a member of the Church of Yevon. Is there a problem with that?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"No, not a problem," Jecht said, putting his hands up. "I was just curious. Is your necklace their symbol?"

"Yes."

"We saw it when we spoke to Seymour," Pyrrha said.

"Oh, you've already spoken to Grand Maester Seymour?" Pearl asked. "He's just wonderful, isn't he? He's the leader of our church. He took over after his father, Lord Jyscal, passed away a few years ago."

"Uh, yeah," Jecht said. "He's a great man. Listen, I think we're getting a little off-track here. How old is your daughter, ma'am?"

"She's 17."

"Do you know if anyone would want to hurt your daughter?" Jaune asked.

"No. She's been nothing but a good Yevonite her whole life, and that's all that matters here. The teachings of Yevon are very important. They're how our town stays safe from the Grimm. For anyone in our town to do something to one of our own is blasphemy, and I can't picture anyone here doing something like that. It's why I can't even imagine what might have happened to Sapphire. Please, you need to find her!" Pearl had started crying, and Ren placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We will find you daughter, ma'am," he said. "I promise you." She looked up at him gratefully.

"Thank you."

"You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep, kid," Jecht said to Ren once the group had left Pearl's house and were walking down the street. "A few bodies have turned up already, so this Sapphire girl is probably dead."

"What was I supposed to do?" Ren asked. "Tell her that her daughter might not be coming back?"

"Yes," the Huntsman said. "Don't get people's hopes up."

"I think it's better to give them hope than tell them to give up," Aqua chimed in. "Hope is always better than despair."

"And that despair is all the stronger if they had hope first," he said. "Anyway, Seymour sent you a list of the people that went missing, right? Why don't you take the kids and go over it, see if you can find any patterns?"

"And where are you going?"

"The bar," he said simply.

"Is a Huntsman supposed to go drinking on the job?" Nora asked.

"No, they aren't," Aqua said, crossing her arms.

"Oof, scary," Jecht said with a shudder. "Now I know how you keep Qrow in line. But, for your information, I'm not just going drinking. Bars are excellent sources of information. Tongues tend to loosen once the booze starts flowing."

"But you will be drinking?" Aqua asked.

"Of course," Jecht said. "You can't go into a bar and not get a drink. That would just look suspicious. Anyway, happy hunting," he said, turning on his heel and waving nonchalantly. Aqua shook her head.

"Unbelievable. I can definitely see him being one of Qrow's friends, though."

"So, uh, I guess we should go look into this?" Jaune asked.

"Yes, let's."

"I can't see any discernible pattern in these victims," Ren said, the team sitting in the town's library. "They're all different genders, ages, occupations."

"Yeah, there aren't even any similar physical features among any of them," Jaune observed. "All different hair colors, eye colors, skin tones. Some are humans, and some are Faunus, so we can't even rule out that these people are targeted for their species."

"Is there anything at all that these victims share?' Aqua asked.

"The only thing I can see is that they were all considered Acolytes in this Yevon religion," Pyrrha said. "But that doesn't really mean much. Everyone in this town is a member, according to Pearl."

"So we have no pattern of victims," Jaune said.

"And with that, we can't figure out a motive," Aqua said with a sigh. "This is more complicated than we thought. No wonder Jecht called for backup."

"I hear my name," Jecht said as he walked in. "So, you brainiacs figure anything out?"

"No," Aqua said. "Other than their religion, which is nothing special in this town, there's nothing that they have in common." She sighed. "So how'd your information gathering go?"

"It was weird," he said. "Everyone just clamed up when I walked in. That hasn't happened before."

"Interesting," Aqua said. "Is there anything else we don't know about the victims? Didn't you say something about some of their bodies turning up?"

"Yeah," Jecht said, pulling out his scroll and projecting all the victims' images. "So these are all 15 victims." He pressed a button, and several of the images turned red. "And these are the ones that turned up dead. They were pretty much all ripped to shreds."

"Ew," Nora said.

"Hold on," Jaune said. "Does anyone else notice that the people that never turned up are all teenage girls?"

"You're right," Pyrrha said, shivering when she realized that. "Every body that was found belonged to either a man or an older woman. But the people that are still missing are all girls between the ages of 17 and 21."

"This might be even more sinister than we thought," Aqua commented.

Aqua wasn't surprised to find Jecht in the lobby of the inn they were staying at, nursing a drink in a lounge chair. She took a seat next to him, and he sighed.

"Today was a bust, huh?" he said. He wasn't wrong. They had gone around town asking the family members of all of the victims about anything they knew, and they hadn't learned much. Every victim had just left and not come back, and no one seemed to know where they went. The fact that every victim besides young women was later found mutilated just made the mystery even creepier. Which was why it was so puzzling that no one seemed to know anything. "Honestly, I kind of wish that blond kid hadn't noticed the kids were the only ones not being found."

"What makes you say that?" Aqua asked.

"My son would be about that age now," he said.

"You have a son?"

"Had."

"…I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago. What about you? Any kids?"

"Yeah. Two daughters. Ruby and Yang. They're both Beacon students now." Jecht whistled.

"Bet you're proud, huh? Being a teacher there and all."

"I don't think it's possible for me to be more proud of them," she said with a smile that quickly fell. "I can't imagine what these girls' parents are going through."

"I can," he said. "So let's solve this thing for them."

For some reason, Nora felt cold. Like there was a draft or something.

And instead of lying down in her bed, she was standing up.

And her arms hurt.

And her neck was sore.

And she was really hungry.

"Reeeeen," she whined, but there was no response. "Reeeeeeeeeeen." Still no response. "Don't make me open my eyes, mister." He still didn't answer, so Nora reluctantly opened her eyes. Instead of the girls' room at the inn, she was in a candle-lit underground cave. That explained why she was cold. She also realized why she was standing up and her arms hurt when she realized that she was in fact standing up, leaning against a wooden pole, with her arms in shackles, the chain attached to the pole above her, keeping her arms suspended above her head. Her legs were shackled, too, and attached to the base of the pole.

She also realized why she felt so drafty. Someone had changed her clothes, and honestly, the word "clothes" was kind of stretching it. She was wearing little more than underwear, a bright pink bra and panties, with light pink sheer material covering her arms and legs. And nothing else.

"What the?!" She asked, blushing at the thought that someone had put her in something so scandalous while she was sleeping. Actually, how did any of this happen while she was asleep? And why couldn't Ren be here to see her like this?!

She tried to pull her limbs free, but she couldn't seem to gather any strength. Since brute force wasn't going to work, she just settled for thrashing around a little bit, trying to pull the chains off of the pole. She heard someone whistle, and realized that there were two men in hoods staring at her.

"Aw, come on," one of the men said. "Don't stop. I was just getting into the show!"

"Who are you?!" she demanded. The men chuckled. The first one walked closer to her.

"We're your new masters."

AN: Welp, Nora's somehow managed to get into a lot of trouble. How will she get out of this one?! Find out... Next time!

In all seriousness, though, I'm surprised at the amount of people in the comments that didn't know anything about Final Fantasy X. It's my personal favorite in the series, not counting the FFVII Remake. For the uninitiated, Seymour was the other FFX character. For those who aren't aware, Jecht was the father of Tidus, FFX's main protagonist. He disappeared 10 years before the game began, and had a contentious relationship with Tidus before his disappearance. A lot of people actually guessed that Tidus would be a character that I was adding, but it's very easy to forget that he actually had already been in Kingdom Hearts 1. He's kind of a more dickish version of Qrow, so he was pretty fun to write, and I hope you guys like how I portrayed him.

Seymour is one of the main antagonists of FFX, and is a Maestor of Yevon, the dominant religion in the world of Spira. Without spoiling anything, since it's obvious he's a villain, just like Jecht described, he's super slimy, and very much unhinged.

As always, thank you guys for reading, and I'll see you all next time!