Domestic Girlfriend: Because if it's not directly related, it's safe to be dated.
Yeah, I kind of watched it out of curiosity. But it's not bad. Not bad as I thought it would be. I was expecting some weird shit to start happening.
Also, I'm alive!
College is done for the semester, so I've got an entire summer where I only have work and free time. However, there is some unfortunate news.
I want to focus on this story and You've Got To Use Silver. So, I am putting aside my other two works in favour of those. There's stuff I really want to get to in all of those fics, but I really want to make progress in this story especially.
Jaune is not yet the eldritch abomination that I want him to be. He is not enough like our lord, Mephistopheles, yet.
The longer I take to get there the more likely I'll never reach that point. But, I'm not abandoning my other two stories. I'll try to work on them in my free time but no promises.
However, when it comes to this story I have a lot laid out for us to go through. The relationship stuff is pretty easy to come across. Blake seems to be the easiest girl to write about with relationship stuff as she most definitely has a type (blonde hair, and blue/purple eyes). I have also made a decision to make the PRWBY x Jaune relationship a more polyamorous one instead of a polygamous one.
I shall also begin catagorising stuff in the bottom AN. Stuff like different weapons Jaune picks up, his enemies, and his allies. It will be a lot like the stuff I use in You've got to use silver.
One more thing that I have forgotten to mention in a current update is that Pyrrha is wearing a Monika-esqu bow in her hair. (Monika from DDLC btw) Since she wouldn't have her circlet in this world, I had to give her something, so I went with that.
Das Ewig-Weibliche Zieht uns hinan.
The eternal feminine lures us in.
The eternal feminine draws us on high.
The eternal feminine draws us aloft.
Looking up the phrase Jaune discovered on Crocea Mors revealed it was indeed in German. A quote from Faust. One of the most famous. The last line of a poetic drama when the main character ascends to heaven. Faust having prevented his soul from being taken by the demon, Mephistopheles.
Of course, trying to translate anything without being able to understand the language led the boy astray. Jaune got several translations and a bunch of different interpretations for the meaning behind it. He wasn't even sure why this phrase was carved into the blade. The Vampire had yet to check if it remained on the other versions of Crocea Mors either.
What he had learned about the sword was that its name meant 'Yellow Death' in Latin. It had once belonged to Julius Caesar before he lost it during a duel with the prince Nennius. Both the blade and the prince buried together upon the latter's death.
It was also said Crocea Mors could kill any that were struck with it.
Apparently not or I wouldn't have lost that fight with Pasty.
But what's a Latin sword doing with a line from a German story on the blade?
Jaune suspected the original blade had ended up in Germany at some point where someone carved the line into the sword. Nennius was a mythical character that no one was sure even existed, so it was likely the weapon never ended up with him. If that were the case, Jaune would have guessed another Roman soldier carted it into central Europe during Augustus' campaign against the Germanic Tribes or the same at a later date.
The original Faust was around during the Rennaisance, though. Goethe wrote the play in the 1800s as well. So, someone, had Crocea Mors sitting around with them for nearly two thousand years before carving a poem into it.
Why?
What does it have to do with vampirism and me being able to summon Crocea Mors?
I know the line states the 'feminine,' so that kind of lines up with the ghost and my incantation. All three are female or mention women in some way, which makes that the common denominator.
"Hmmm," Jaune hummed, stroking his chin in contemplation, but started drawing blanks the longer he took. A yawn pulled the boy out of his thoughts, forcing him to rub his eyes as a way to stave off his growing sleep pressure.
He had been at this for hours, researching everything he could find since he got back at two in the morning. Now it was almost six, and soon he would need to be meeting up with Ruby and Yang so they could head to school. The boy was even thinking of following Yang's advice now and staying home to catch a few hours of sleep. He had only taken an hour-long power nap before getting back to work.
Bad idea staying up all night long... This is gonna kill me if I don't get any sleep soon.
I can ask Pyrrha to take notes for me and sleep in Mr Port's class.
Jaune felt a surge of anxiety, just thinking about seeing Pyrrha again. He didn't know if the girl was going to question him again over the incident at the track. The boy couldn't keep lying or dodging the inquiries forever. There was a point where Pyrrha or someone else might suspect something else was going on here.
Even if Pyrrha was his childhood friend, Jaune still needed to keep his vampirism on the down-low. Avoiding her would only draw suspicion. The most Jaune would do was knock her out if it came to it. That would only be a last resort and something Jaune really didn't want to do. The same for the rest of his friends.
I only see her when I have Port's class and Gym, so I think I can slip away during lunch. Might as well take advantage of being able to turn into a swarm of bats and have an out-of-school lunch.
Suddenly the alarm of Jaune's Scroll began blaring a chime. He absentmindedly reached over and grabbed the device, checking the time. It was six, and he needed to start heading out. Jaune stood, grabbing his blazer along with his other school materials before moving to the door. As he left the desk, however, Jaune quickly cleared his browser history, leaving no evidence.
...
Okay, I've done all of my assignments, so I shouldn't have to worry about anything going in.
Jaune skimmed through a set of papers in his hands as he moved through the dining room towards the front door. The other members of his family were going about their business, and the boy passed through the crowd unopposed. His vampire senses providing Jaune with greater spacial awareness. Even without looking or barely paying attention, his body navigated the space.
I just got to worry about my friends then. Should be easy if I only have Ruby in all of my classes.
Kind of hope the gym teachers don't bother me again.
He really wished they stopped offering him spots on their teams. Jaune knew it would happen a few more times before the boy managed to convince them he wasn't interested, however. He just needed to make it less suspicious as he denied them.
For some reason, none of the coaches contacted his mother with any offers whatsoever. Not even to ask her if she knew about Jaune's superhuman athleticism. The boy really wasn't sure if that sort of thing did happen in reality, but it was something he was afraid of. Luckily, Jaune's mother hadn't brought anything up, so he may be in the clear on that.
Arriving at the front door, Jaune stuffed his homework into his backpack before throwing the hatch open. He was sure he would find Ruby and Yang there, standing with cheerful expressions on their faces. However, the sight he was granted was no such picturesque morning.
Something was off.
Yang was sluggishly walking in the direction the trio headed for school. With the way her posture came off, it seemed like she was carrying some invisible stack of bricks on her back. She dragged her feet mindlessly, each leg ready to give out under the pressure. The girl's expression was not her usually brilliant smile either. Yang looked entirely out of it. Almost like she was sleepwalking.
There was no Ruby there beside her either. Jaune looked towards the sister's house to see if she was coming out, but after a few seconds, there was no indication she was going to make an appearance. The boy instead turned his attention to his fellow blonde to figure out what happened.
As he took those first few steps, Jaune's anxiety began growing within his chest. The young man's entire body was soon ready to flee at any moment, depending on what Yang had to say. With everything that happened within the last few days, this reaction seemed entirely justified.
"Hey, Yang," Jaune said in an upbeat tone, waving to the Blonde.
His acting was perfect, giving anybody who watched the impression it wasn't one. In some ways, it wasn't that either, but a genuine move to check on his friend. Didn't matter which way, somebody needed to bring some life to this conversation.
Yang barely looked at him. She turned her head, giving the boy a sideways glance with a set of dead-fish eyes. Whoever was standing in front of him, the lights were on, but nobody seemed to be home. This walking corpse could hardly make any conscious effort to acknowledge him.
"Hey," she muttered back to him, continuing to drag her feet. Her movements and demeanour still just as lifeless as when Jaune first saw her.
Okay, where is Yang, and what did you do with her?
"Is everything all right, Yang," Jaune asked, prying into the subject. "Is Ruby not coming to school today?"
Ruby didn't text me, saying she wouldn't be there.
What's going on?
Now Jaune was quite concerned something had happened. He'd never seen Yang acting like this before. It left him with a sense of dread pooling inside his stomach, just like his anxiety. He hoped nothing had happened to Ruby or one of their family members.
A few seconds after asking the second question, Yang let out a loud yawn and reached upwards to rub her eyes. The pop of several joints made Jaune's spine tingle. However, after the girl removed her hands, life seemed to have come back to the Yang-zombie.
"I'm tired," she mumbled to herself before looking towards the boy. The bags under her eyes were prominent, making the exhaustion more apparent. Her entire expression just seemed tired at this point. When she was able, the Blonde spoke. "Ruby and I were walking home yesterday, and we ran into a bloodbath..."
Bloodbath?
It took Jaune several seconds to ponder the word. His brain having still not fully caught up to the reality that vampires were a thing now. His mind didn't immediately suspect the true nature of the girl's words. However, as he did so, the colour in his face disappeared for a second.
Oh...
"W-What do you mean," Jaune asked, feigning ignorance for details.
What if they saw Pasty?
If it was him, then I don't know how to protect Ruby and Yang. He would have their scent and be able to follow them back to me.
Jaune wasn't ready for a fight on his home turf. If Pasty really did come after him, the boy only had one option, which was to run. Jaune wasn't sure if he would be interested in going after his friends either. They were normal people after all, so why would Pasty even care?
"Bodies," Yang began forcefully, bringing a hand up to the back of her neck. "Like a dozen chopped up in an alley!" She looked away, trying to find her words. "You ever seen a side of ham? Then picture a dude's leg chopped up into a bunch of those along with the rest of him..."
"It's fine, Yang," Jaune cut in before she could say anything else. His expression shifting a more concerned one. "I-I get the picture..."
That couldn't have been me. I know it wasn't because I was at work the entire afternoon.
With how Yang described the details of the murder, it would have only taken place before nightfall. At least if the two were walking home. At that time, Jaune was inside the coffee shop with Velvet, and he didn't lose track of time like with his previous blackout. Immediately after work, Jaune retreated back to his house before setting off to hunt. That was closer to midnight.
I don't think it was Pasty either. He didn't bother using any weapon to deal with the girl he killed and not even with me. So why would he chop them up?
It had to be someone else. Another vampire probably?
No, it couldn't. Other vampires probably figured out how to absorb blood through their skin like I did. Then that means it was another serial killer. Unless it was a new vampire, then I'm not sure.
"I-I've never seen that much blood before," Yang continued regardless of Jaune's pleading. Her tone beginning to hold some emotion to it. The girl was getting something off her chest, and so he would listen. "Like I've played Doom before and thought if I ever saw something like that, it wouldn't freak me out... After the cops got done with us, I spent the whole night thinking about it. Couldn't sleep if I tried!"
It's a lot worse seeing it in person. She's got that right.
With Yang's condition at the moment, Jaune felt she was all right. She wasn't crying or anything, seeing evidence of mass murder. The girl needed a good long nap. Jaune was just willing to be here if she needed him.
"But are you okay now," Jaune asked in a genuinely concerned tone. "I mean, if you don't feel like going to school, I can take notes for you." His act faltered, disappearing entirely for the sake of the girl in front of him.
Yang pondered the idea for a moment or two. The part of her brain that wanted to sleep must have been on her shoulder like a small devil just telling her to go for it. The angel, however, as time went on, seemed to convince Yang otherwise.
"Real temptin' offer, but I'm gonna have to say no, Jauney," Yang replied in a tone closer to her typical one. "Track meet this week, and we have to go to school, or we can't play." She let a huff of air out of her lungs. "Thanks for asking..."
"Is Ruby okay, at least?"
Yang clenched her teeth slightly at the question. Something about the memory behind it really didn't sit right with her. Jaune supposed it was the older sister inside her regretting not shielding Ruby from seeing the bodies.
"It really freaked her out," Yang explained with a sigh. The last bits of her foul mood shaken off. Her tone was still sombre, however. "I threw up seeing that shit, but Ruby started screaming her head off."
Jaune felt his heart sink just a little. He didn't how much terrifying Ruby to that point required, but it indeed went past that. Now he wanted to ditch school to go hang out with her all day long. At least to comfort and ease out the girl's nerves.
"That bad?"
"Yeah, I had to drag her away from it to calm her down," Yang continued, running a hand through her hair. "Checked on her this morning and she didn't want to go to school today."
Of course, she wouldn't... But should I leave her alone today?
"Hmmm," Jaune hummed, cupping his jaw. "I might skip school today and hang out with her. Class can wait..."
Before he moved to head back home, a snort shot out of Yang's nose. He looked over to see a smirk cracking on the side of the girl's lips.
"Yes, Jaune, come over to the Dark Side," Yang said in her best Emperor Palpatine voice. "Let it consume you!"
The impersonation prompted the boy to let out a hearty laugh. It was enough to break up the serious mood between the two of them. After their laughter died down for a moment, only then Jaune spoke.
"And you call me a dork?!"
"You're just mad that I make it look so good," Yang shot back at him. "When you're this hot..." She gestured to her face and upper torso. "...you make anything look good!"
Before Jaune could reply to her statement, Yang cut him off.
"Anyway, don't skip class today," she said, looking at him directly in the eyes. Yang had her big-sister face on now. "Rubes will be fine without you for a couple hours. And someone needs to take her notes."
As much as Jaune wanted to call her out for being a hypocrite when it came to skipping class, Yang had a point. Something rare for the Blonde to make, but one regardless of the fact. Jaune only wished he could take the time to catch a few more hours of sleep and not have to sit through lectures all day long.
"So, let's hurry up Lover-Boy," Yang chirped, smacking Jaune's shoulder three times. "If we want to sleep through Port's class, we need to spread out and find the best spots!"
Can she read my thoughts?
[Pyrrha: Port's Class]
The scarlet-haired girl sat in her chair, twirling a pencil through her fingers. Despite her efforts to take any notes, Pyrrha's notebook was blank. Mr Port's words didn't even click in her brain. They flew right over the girl's head.
What is going on with Jaune?
Pyrrha took a quick glance at the blonde occupying her thoughts. He was sitting almost forty-feet away on the other side of the room. Jaune was also sleeping in class, much like Yang was right now. Both seemed to have fallen asleep at nearly the same time. Neither stirred from their rest either.
From her perspective, Pyrrha couldn't tell if Jaune had changed physically in any way. Yesterday, he seemed pretty normal. The blonde string-bean she'd known since their childhood. Nothing to indicate he would be capable of pulling off an extraordinary feat.
His character was always geared towards the art of wit over brawn. To see Jaune suddenly be capable of running well over thirty miles per hour was something he shouldn't have been able to pull off. Not that he wasn't allowed to perform such a thing, but that no person could have been physically able to. Especially if the person in question had never even approached those kinds of speeds before.
This debacle was enough to frustrate Pyrrha greatly. None of this anger directed towards Jaune.
No-No-No-No-No.
Pyrrha was confused. That's what angered the girl so. Every little detail she looked over would not tell her what she needed to find a conclusion. She needed to know how Jaune was able to run so fast. And to know why Jaune was so determined to dodge any questions about it.
Something had been going on with the boy for the past week. Not just the sudden appearance of what would be considered superhuman speed, but some other disturbance troubling him. Jaune was acting differently even before his assault; however, that was just him being down after Weiss hurt him. His mood had bottomed out, and Pyrrha was concerned... No, still concerned, his self-esteem had not recovered.
Jaune seemed to be avoiding all of his friends during school hours. Usually, he was glued to Ruby at the hip most of the time. Now he kept himself at arm's length away from her and the others. His new habit of dipping out of the room when encountering Weiss or just disappearing without any reason didn't do him any favours either.
Everything, when examined from afar, made Pyrrha worry for the boy. Luckily, her thoughts were shared with the currently missing member of the group.
Pyrrha's eyes settled on the boy once again, pondering any ideas she could use to improve Jaune's mood. After several moments, however, Pyrrha came up with nothing. Her mind filled with white noise, and the occasional word from Mr Port. With the block on any plans, her frustration grew even further. Enough so, her neutral expression turned into an adorable looking pout.
"Hey, P-Money," a person to her right whispered. The voice drew Pyrrha to look towards its origin. A lilac eye peeked out over an arm, staring directly at her. "You know, with the way you and Weiss stare at him, a girl can get all sorts of wrong ideas."
Nice to see your mood is great today, Yang.
Although Pyrrha really didn't mean it. She kind of wished Yang wasn't in the teasing sort of mood right now. Even for someone who had witnessed a murder, the girl's character was very resilient. It was surprising how she had the energy to make these jests in the first place. Jaune's talk with her this morning must have worked out great.
The tease, however, made Pyrrha blush slightly. Enough for her cheeks to dawn a pink dusting to accompany her hair. She had to force the blood out of her face lest her skin put those scarlet locks to shame. Pyrrha's skin even began to give off heat like a furnace, making her uniform feel very uncomfortable right now.
Underneath the desk, Pyrrha gave Yang's left foot a hard stomp. It was enough to send meaning through action instead of words. Yang seemed to understand as she grunted painfully in her throat. One of her hands went down to rub the sore area.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Yang said through a grimace.
Before Pyrrha could reply, the bell signalling the next class rang. The dozen or so other students all got up and began packing their things. Yang and Pyrrha followed suit, quickly grabbing their supplies and started funnelling out of the aisles.
"You know it's not like that," Pyrrha countered in a calm tone, keeping her emotions out of this. One slip-up and Pyrrha would find herself backed into a corner in this conversation. Every word needed to be chosen carefully.
"Hey, how am I supposed to know," Yang gave her own retort, sounding like she was bullshitting this entire thing. "You and Rubes always talk about him, so I might assume there's something else going on..." The Blonde did a complete three-sixty, surveying the room for any signs of Jaune. "...I mean, you guys are really old friends, after all. Rubes probably has a little crush on Jaune, but you, Pyrrha... I think there might be a secret childhood crush the rest of us don't know about."
Although Pyrrha managed to suppress any reaction to the tease, Yang wasn't exactly wrong. The girl did have a crush once upon a time on Jaune, but not any longer. It was a stupid childhood fantasy that disappeared years ago and had not resurfaced since then. Only Yang was accusing Pyrrha of still harbouring feelings for the boy when that was not the case. The Blonde probably having got the idea from one of Jaune's manga or something similar filled with those tropes.
It was already bad enough with the Blonde teasing her for meeting another cliche. That stupid 'perfect girl' one. Pyrrha didn't need anything else right now.
"And besides, since I know you were thinking about Jaune's little show yesterday; Nora and I already decided he is now a robot sent back from the future or a super-soldier... One of the two."
Pyrrha groaned internally at the notion. While their conclusion seemed far-fetched, nobody else had any concrete idea for a mechanism behind Jaune's sudden physical abilities. Pyrrha had exhausted her list of possibilities and was left with nothing to show for it. However, she seriously doubted Jaune was replaced with a doppelganger.
"Oh, please," Weiss scoffed, crossing her arms and shrugging her shoulders. She and Blake had been listening in, only enough to hear Yang's theory. "Those are dumbest ideas I have heard yet!"
There were plenty of ideas floating around lately. Jaune had caused quite the commotion during gym class, and the entire school caught onto it. The rumour mill had also done its work and fabricated several more ridiculous possibilities that made even less sense.
"Then what do you think, Weiss," Yang asked in a playful tone, prodding the girl for her thoughts. "Got any ideas in that big brain of yours?"
"Has anybody thought he might be using drugs?"
Pyrrha's spine stiffened at this one. It took a lot for the Champion to not tell off Weiss for suggesting Jaune would be doing drugs. The only reason Pyrrha didn't was that she didn't propose such a thing out of malice, but a legitimate attempt to bring this topic back to reality.
And Pyrrha was trying her damndest to be civil with Weiss even disregarding what she had just said. Because every single time she looked her way, Pyrrha could feel the sensation of disgust creep back inside her stomach. Alongside this growing tumult was the urge to show open contempt for the Heiress. It was almost a daily test of will to keep a pleasant air about whenever she was near.
After Weiss said those vile, disgusting things to Jaune, it was more than what Pyrrha felt she deserved. For the girl who thrashed one of her closest friends in such a way that his heart was quite literally broken. Who also made him cry openly, according to Ruby after she sought out Jaune in the aftermath. To which Weiss then proceeded to badmouth the boy even further with a slew of accusations, demeaning his character to make him seem like a lecherous fiend who only wanted her heart to use for his corrupt purpose.
Pyrrha believed there wasn't enough scorn her own body could create needed to be shown towards Weiss.
Despite what Pyrrha really wanted to do. She was keeping herself under control because Ruby had managed to persuade the Champion that damage control was more important than going ballistic towards Weiss.
It didn't help that Weiss accused Jaune of the very same thing she did when Pyrrha first met her. The Heiress merely thought she could use the Redhead's popularity for her own gain. Pyrrha tried to look past this and forged an at arm's length friendship, but now, it was becoming difficult to maintain even that facade.
With Weiss crying about how she was wrong about what she said and trying to worm her way back into Jaune's good grace's, Pyrrha's patience was becoming very-
"Weiss," Blake began, drawing Pyrrha out of her thoughts. Her voice calm and to the point. It managed to get the Champion's mind into a focused state and away from those niggling feelings. "I really don't think Jaune would be using steroids. Not just because he isn't the type of person to use them, but he hasn't gained any muscle."
Blake was correct on both reasons.
From Pyrrha's knowledge, Jaune's sisters only ever gave him a beer or some form of hard liquor because they stole it from their parent's cabinet. If he had ever been caught using hard drugs or even weed, she would have heard about it from Saphron or Marron at some point. Not to mention, he wouldn't have the need as the boy wasn't into bodybuilding.
The second argument was also accurate because Pyrrha had seen steroid use in other athletes. It was not always a pretty sight, and sometimes very easy to spot. However, as Pyrrha had seen Jaune at the track yesterday, she knew he was still pretty skinny, but toned. As in, there was not too much meat on those bones.
"Okay," Weiss replied with a shrug. "Then what other plausible explanations are there?"
"That's where she's got a point," Yang concurred, gesturing to the Heiress. "You don't get that good without a reason." The Blonde looked to Pyrrha. "Which, has me thinking Jaune's been training on the DL and no one's noticed."
It's possible... Unlikely... Extremely unlikely, but possible...
"So, what are you suggesting, Yang," Blake asked with a tinge of curiosity.
Whatever it was, Pyrrha needed to run it by Ruby whenever she got back to school. If it was anything that might help Jaune out, the girl would probably want in on the action. Also, because Pyrrha was kind of excited to see what Yang would have in store if it let her and Jaune hang out more often. Busy and often conflicting schedules made things very difficult at times.
"We invite him to work out with us after school," the Blonde revealed in a harsh whisper. "Now, before you guys say anything! Think about this... Jaune's schtick just might not be being able to run fast, but there's probably some other stuff we haven't seen. So, we can kill two birds with one stone here." Yang raised her right hand, numbering the benefits of her plan with her fingers. "Beat some confidence into him, and see if yesterday wasn't just a fluke."
Pyrrha had to admit, it was indeed a good plan. She wondered why Yang hadn't proposed it before now, but given what happened last night with Ruby, it was safe to assume the weekend excursion was off. So, this back-up was something they could work with if Jaune was willing.\
"I don't see how we can 'beat' confidence into someone," Weiss noted with a confused look. "It sounds counterproductive if you ask me..."
"That's because we're going to make him pump some iron," Yang explained with a dull look having hoped Weiss would understand. "He's skinny enough that any muscle he gets will show pretty quickly. As soon as you get a set of abs going on, pretty much everyone's confidence will go through the roof. And working out with a bunch of girls... I mean... Jaune's not too bad off in the looks department! A fish might bite whether he wants it to or not..." Her lips curled into a smile as the Blonde looked for approval. "Egh?! Eghh?! You guys picking up what I'm puttin' down?!" Yang gave a little shake to her shoulders for emphasis.
She has thought this out for far too long it seems...
Aside from the obvious benefits that working out regularly would give Jaune, which she never doubted. Pyrrha wasn't sure about whether or not they would see anything extraordinary like they had seen yesterday. If Jaune was still uncomfortable spilling details, then he was going to probably ensure nothing of note would happen. At least, that was Pyrrha's conclusion based on what she'd seen in the past day and a half.
But it couldn't hurt to try. If not for Yang's idea that Jaune would attract girls like flies to honey, but for the other reasons. His confidence could use some tempering.
"I think that's a wonderful idea," Pyrrha agreed in her usually cheerful tone. The girl's voice openly admitting her excitement with the plan.
Yang's expression morphed into an almost Chesire Cat-like grin. The sudden appearance of this smile was enough to send shivers down Pyrrha's spine.
"Great," the Blonde said, turning around to dig into her bag. From within, she revealed a notebook stuffed with random pieces of paper and doodles in Jaune and Ruby's style drawn on the outside. "Cuz' I got the perfect excuse to go talk to him." She shoved the notebook against Pyrrha's chest, giving her shoulder a pat as a final coup de grace. "And since you were so excited, you'll be our sacrificial lamb for today!"
Whaaa?
Pyrrha couldn't get a word out as Yang grabbed both Blake and Weiss and hurried around the corner, heading to gym class. The Redhead was left standing here flustered and nervous about being put on the spot. She didn't even have the right words down to begin this conversation.
Come on, Pyrrha!
She took a deep breath in and shook her head viciously, ridding her body of any anxiety. There was no way she was going to chicken out now. This was Pyrrha Nikos!
And they don't call her the Goddess of Victory for nothing!
[Jaune]
The boy had a satisfied grin on lips, rummaging through his locker for something needed for his next class. Jaune's mood rebounded from this morning, returning to him the high he'd been on since last night. The rush of excitement coursing through his veins at his newfound strengths. Everything pooled within his chest, nearly giving him butterflies in his stomach just thinking about it.
Despite the rocky start to this morning, today had gone well so far. Nobody bombarded him with questions or offers. It was just another typical day in the neighbourhood. Minus one best friend, of course. Things were not the same without Ruby in this day to day cycle. Everything felt rather dull because of it.
Jaune didn't fret over having to go see her later, however. At least, not anymore. She was a lot like Yang in being able to bounce back from anything life threw at her. The girl would just take it in strides once she figured out how to stop stressing out over it.
A fleeting memory of Ruby panicking as she tried to figure out where all of her classes were brought a snort out from Jaune's nose. The glimpse into the past actually gave the boy an idea for how he would approach the inevitable.
A second of effort into coming up with a plan was replaced with an onslaught coming from the background noise all around. This sudden rise in volume caused the boy to abandon his line of thinking to tune out the noise, dropping it to tolerable levels. Once, he recovered, Jaune grabbed the final piece of notes needed for a later class.
However, as Jaune turned to leave, he was met with Pyrrha standing right in front of him with a light smile on her face. She practically materialised out of thin air, somehow bypassing the boy's vampiric senses. The surprise was enough to cause Jaune to jump, accidentally dropping what was in his hands at the same time.
Several notebooks crashed onto the ground in a flurry of paper. Pyrrha immediately spat an apology out before diving to the floor to clean up the mess. Jaune did the same, scraping together whatever he could grab and neatly stacking everything. As soon as the mess was sorted out, both teens stood to face each other again.
"I-I'm sorry, Jaune," Pyrrha apologised once again, blushing from embarrassment. One of her hands went to fidget with the end of her ribbon. "I didn't mean to surprise you..."
Well, you did, anyway...
Jaune was not angry with his friend. There was hardly anything she could do to elicit that sort of reaction. Indeed, it was a good scare. Something Jaune could praise had he not been fighting vampires recently. His body was practically always in a fight or flight mode.
"Heh, it's fine," Jaune replied genuinely, flashing her a light smile and rubbing the back of his head. "I wasn't paying attention..." He turned his gaze away from Pyrrha for a second, feeling kind of nervous about being around her. "But did you need something?"
Please don't ask about yesterday!
Pyrrha's expression lightened up a bit, realising what she had come here to do. Her blush vanishing for the time. She dug into the stack of notebooks she carried, producing one that seemed awfully familiar to Jaune.
"Y-You dropped this yesterday," Pyrrha explained, thrusting the notebook towards Jaune's hands. "I was going to give it to you this morning, but I missed you in Mr Port's class."
"Thanks," Jaune said, taking the notebook from her. The memory of losing it didn't register in his mind. He never noticed it had disappeared.
"But there was one more thing I wanted to ask you about," Pyrrha blurted out. The exclamation brought the girl's blush back to her cheeks. She continued to fidget with her ribbon, completely wrapping it around her right index finger. "Yang was wondering if you wanted to come work out with us after school?!"
That's weird.
Jaune really wasn't sure what to think about it. He guessed it was a little awkward with how out of the blue this request was. If Yang wasn't the one proposing the idea to Jaune personally, however; he suspected it was due to him talking to her this morning. Then that would mean Yang was too embarrassed to even speak to him.
Wait, that doesn't make sense. Yang doesn't get embarrassed.
But I don't have any reason to say no right now.
Not against the idea anyway...
"Uh, sure," Jaune agreed regardless, trying to bury his hesitance. "I'll try it out sometime... Maybe later, though. I have to go see Ruby after school, and I've got work to take care of..."
Pyrrha's expression reverted back to normal, yet bore a concerned look. "Oh, yes," she said fervently, nodding her head. "Please take care of her first! You can show up at any time you want..." The Redhead paused for a second, contorting her lips into teasing grin. "Unless you're afraid of being in a room full of sweaty girls, that is."
Jaune blushed heavily, turning his gaze away from the girl. The picture in his head was cause enough for the boy to be embarrassed. Pyrrha knew what she was doing here. She giggled, seeing how flustered he grew and had no shame in doing so.
"Ughh," he groaned, trying his best to not make eye contact with Pyrrha. Jaune couldn't even look at her lest his blush burned a little brighter.
"Don't worry about it, Jaune, just do what you can for Ruby," Pyrrha continued, switching to a more reassuring tone. She looked around, seeing some of the other students beginning to rush to their next classes. "But, I have to go, so I'll see you in Gym."
"Yeah, sure..."
Jaune heard Pyrrha's footsteps begin heading off into the distance. Once she was out of sight, he opened his locker again and threw the reclaimed notebook back inside.
Before he could turn around and follow Pyrrha to their next class, he felt the presence of four people behind him. There was not enough time for him to react as someone wrapped their arm around the back of his neck. The pressure of the man's bicep and forearm squeezed down on the column, creating an uncomfortable pressure for Jaune to endure.
"Hey, Jauney-Boy," the man said in a deceivingly friendly tone. "So, Nikos, huh?"
Cardin...
Probably the second to last person Jaune wanted to see today.
Cardin had been a thorn in Jaune's side since the incident with Weiss. He made it his personal mission to screw with the boy at every possible turn. Everything from dumping food on Jaune's head to beating him up after school when he was alone. The past few weeks had been a personal hell to endure, and that wasn't the worst Cardin had dealt out to any of the students at Beacon.
Whatever Cardin had planned today, it couldn't have been worse than anything Jaune had been through this week alone, however. Being impaled, having your spine broken, and getting punch through a building made his bullying look pitiful in comparison.
So, Jaune was just going to take his licks and get on with his day. It's not like anything would kill him.
"What do you want, Cardin," Jaune replied in annoyance. He tried to lightly pull away from the boy, using only an ounce of his total strength. It didn't work, however, as the taller brute clamped his arm down tighter.
"Heh," he huffed, sounding entertained with the reaction. "I just noticed the way Nikos was talking to you. Guess it was bound to happen some time." Cardin flexed his arm even harder, putting a painful amount of pressure on Jaune's spine. "So, let me tell you what I want." He leaned down next to Jaune's ear, whispering into it. "You think you're the shit because Pyrrha's talking to you... She's a pedigree, not some fucking mutt! So, you're going to stay the fuck away from her! You're not going to talk to her! You're not going to look at her! Let alone think about her ever again!"
Rage began welling up inside Jaune. He could kill Cardin right here and now, but knew it would be the end of him. If he fought all the bully's friends off by himself, it would blow his cover too. Not being able to do anything about Cardin's demands was the worst part about it. That's what angered him so.
"Cardin," Jaune hissed, trying once again to plead for peace. "I don't have the time for this today! Let me go."
The taller boy turned to his compatriots, giving them a questioning look. Jaune could smell every one of them. Even their smugness gave off this unpleasant odour that saturated the air. They only responded to Cardin, giving a shrug of their shoulders at Jaune's demeanour.
"Well, gents," Cardin chirped with a smile on his face. "I don't think he gets it!"
With Jaune still in a headlock, Cardin dragged the boy down an adjacent hallway. This deserted path led to a set of bathrooms he had in mind for their isolation. Despite Jaune's physical resistance, the brute kept on going with his cronies just behind watching out for anyone trying to intervene.
Shoving Jaune's back hard, Cardin tossed the boy inside the men's restroom without bothering to check if they were alone. The Blonde tumbled forward, hitting the ground in a poor show of balance.
"You three, stay out here and keep an eye out for anybody," Cardin ordered his friends. Each obeyed, filing out of the room and shutting the door behind them. Cardin locked the door from the inside to ensure there would be no disturbances.
Without any warning, Cardin went straight for a gutshot, punching Jaune just below the diaphragm. The force behind it folded the Blonde over like a taco shell, causing him to collapse onto the ground. He heaved several times, coughing simultaneously while he tried to catch his breath. The pain radiated out from its epicentre, blanketing his entire stomach.
You hit like a bitch...
"Fuck you, Arc," Cardin hissed, grabbing Jaune's collar and lifting the boy up with one hand. "You and all those Faunus animals need to learn your place!"
He followed up with a right hook, dashing Jaune across the cheek. Cardin's fist left a small tear in the skin, allowing a stream of blood to trickle out. The Brunette cocked back his arm again, propelling it directly at Jaune's mouth. This time, the Blonde's lip was busted open, and the inside of his mouth began spilling out blood.
"I'm sick and tired of you fucking losers," Cardin spat as he drew back his right arm for a third blow.
As the fist rocketed towards Jaune's face, he reacted quickly enough to catch it inside his own palm. The two impacted in a hearty slap with the Blonde's arm stalwart in appearance. As the offending fist tried to pull away, the Vampire squeezed down tight, trapping it in his fingers.
You think you're all big and strong, Cardin! I can snap your fucking hand like a twig!
The look of shock on Cardin's face as his hand was stopped in its tracks was delicious. He must have guessed Jaune wouldn't have the strength to ever counter a blow from him. The Blonde could even see fear begin crawling up the Brunette's spine.
"Heheheheheh," Jaune snickered through a grimace, beginning to smile wide enough to show his bloodied teeth. He stood up to his full height, holding Cardin's arm in place. "Jokes on you Cardin! I'm part masochist!"
Cardin's face morphed into something resembling dread at that card being played. He pulled his arm back once, finding Jaune's grip to be far too strong to break. It took everything the boy could muster up on his second tug to pull himself out of Jaune's grasp.
Not that he would know Jaune let him go on purpose.
"Y-You're fuckin' weird, Arc," Cardin yelped as he turned tail. It took no more than two steps for the boy to clear the distance between Jaune and the door.
Once Cardin had vanished, Jaune pressed his right foot down onto the floor. Any of the blood that had stained the tile moved towards him, coalescing in a small puddle. As the last drop joined the mass, it began flowing back inside through his leather shoe.
[Pyrrha]
The second bell had rung, telling the Redhead she was going to be very late for class. Whatever fate Pyrrha would succumb to was accepted at this point. However, she would relish this destiny as something positive.
Pyrrha needed to work on her cardio after all. The inevitable suicides she was going to be running would be worth it in the end. Just helping her friend made it doubly so.
I hope I wasn't too pushy, though.
Pyrrha didn't want to upset Jaune while he was still trying to figure things out. Forcing him to join Yang and herself while the former probably threw him inside a boxing ring would just take the fun out of it. With everything going on with Weiss and now Ruby, she felt it was best to just give him the offer and a reason not to go.
However, a little teasing encouraging Jaune to show up wouldn't hurt. Pyrrha thought of it as a challenge.
"Hmmm..."
Her eyes wandered down to the books she carried against her chest. Pyrrha did a quick double-check to make sure everything was there. Today was already looking to be a rough one, anyway, so she wanted to get as far ahead as possible. However, as she scanned through the notebooks she carried, Pyrrha realised one was out of place.
She had accidentally picked up one of the notebooks Jaune had dropped.
Great...
"Huuugggghhhh," Pyrrha let out a frustrated groan, throwing her head back at the same time. The Redhead's stress levels rising with every misstep in this venture. She immediately turned around to go find Jaune once again to return this notebook.
Woosah, Pyrrha. Woosah...
This is all for Jaune. You're not going to get detention for helping a friend.
Walking back through the deserted halls, Pyrrha spotted Cardin and his friends heading in the opposite direction. She paid no mind to them as they were probably skipping class or something. A certain blonde was her only concern right now. Pyrrha just hoped he hadn't run off in the two minutes they were apart.
Rounding a corner, she reached the area where Jaune's locker was supposed to be. The metal container was wide open, and Jaune's things were scattered about the hallway. Notebooks were torn up and crumbled. Even an expensive graphing calculator was smashed to pieces.
It didn't take long for Pyrrha to put two and two together.
Jaune, where are you?!
Pyrrha passed right by the debris and began looking for the boy. He couldn't have gone far, and since the locker wasn't busted open, Cardin and his friends must have surprised him. The extent of the damage done by the boys was unknown to Pyrrha, however.
Dropping her things by the locker, she ran about the area to see if Jaune was nearby. Checking several of the adjacent chambers for the boy proved fruitless as he was nowhere to be found. If Cardin and his friends had jumped him, Pyrrha suspected Jaune would be laid out somewhere unconscious.
Please let him be okay...
As Pyrrha poked her head under a nearby set of stairs, she heard a door open and shut. The noise drew her attention to another hallway she already looked at but found nothing. There now, was Jaune walking out of a restroom. Blood staining his face and shirt, continuing to flow despite holding his nose shut. The boy's left cheek was beginning to swell up from the damage done to the flesh.
His attention was directed towards the floor. Jaune didn't even seem to acknowledge Pyrrha's presence. The boy looked as though he were lost in his thoughts. Maybe he was just trying to hold his composure together lest he broke down?
"Oh my gosh, Jaune," Pyrrha shouted, running up to the boy. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and another went to move his face to check the wounds. The touch, however, was slapped away, causing Pyrrha to recoil and pull back from the boy.
"Jaune, what's wrong," she asked with concern filling her voice. "Who did this to you?" She went to place her hand back on his shoulder once again, not getting an answer to her question.
"Pyrrha, stop," Jaune barked angrily, pushing away her hand once again. He turned and began walking away from her. Pyrrha tried to follow but stopped as he spoke. "I'm fine! Just leave me alone..."
"Jaune..." Pyrrha muttered, slowly retracting her right hand. A frown crossed her lips as the boy disappeared around a corner.
[Jaune: An Hour Later]
Opening the front door to his house, Jaune was met with silence, finding everyone to have left for the day. He was thankful for that. The Vampire really didn't need anyone to bother him right now. Luckily, the stars just happened to align for once.
Turning on his Scroll revealed a dozen or so messages from his friends asking about him. They were all trying to get into contact with him to figure out if he was all right or not. Jaune didn't feel like answering all of those, so he simply ignored their texts. There were no calls from his family, however, so that only confused him.
After Jaune cleaned up the blood, his plan was to regenerate the wounds he received, but then Pyrrha showed up. It was a split-second decision to keep the cuts open and blood flowing only to create a consistent story. He couldn't walk out of the restroom without a wound on him when Cardin and his friends trashed the locker. A part of Jaune hated leaving Pyrrha worried like he did, however.
Something told him he would have some explaining to do to her.
I wonder how I'll explain this to Mom...
Jaune knew these sorts of things were reported to parents almost immediately. Pyrrha would have taken this up with Ms Goodwitch and try to have her deal with it. But for why he hadn't received an angry call from his mother, Jaune didn't know.
This is perfect...
He reached behind his head to rub his neck. Jaune let out a sigh as he did so, coming up with a list of stuff to do in the meantime. He had promised to go see Ruby eventually, and this was probably the best time to go do it. There was plenty of free time on his hands now, and Ruby was most likely going to come looking for him some time or another.
I'll just leave the uniform on... Ruby's going to freak out anyway.
Jaune turned right back around and walked out of his house. He could already hear the sounds of Zwei barking incessantly at something. Whatever it was, Jaune didn't really care at the moment. He assumed it was what dogs just did.
Coming to the front door of Ruby's house, that same sense of dread began crawling up Jaune's spine. That same feeling from when he first saw Yang today. It left him with a poor taste in his mouth.
Three knocks to the door signalled to the occupants that someone was here. With the knocking came Zwei. The corgi bolted up to the wooden hatch and slammed against it, starting to aggressively bark at the person on the other side. His nails scraped against the wood with about as much vigour.
Someone's a little grumpy today...
"Zwei, get down," someone yelled from inside the house. Jaune could tell it was Ruby. The unique tone of her voice gave it away. As she reached the threshold, however, Zwei would not back away from the door, continuing to claw at it without pause. Ruby took him by the collar and dragged the animal to the other side of the house, tossing out back.
Guess he can smell me... That sucks, I liked Zwei.
Jaune would have to try his best to avoid the dog for now. He didn't want the puppy to go completely ballistic every time there was a vampire in his presence. People, he was fine with, but not dogs. Jaune didn't have the stomach for that.
As the front door opened, Jaune did his best to put on a believable expression. The nervous smile/goofy grin he had always kept on. When Ruby locked eyes with the boy, however, this facade quickly melted to become unemotional.
Ruby looked like crap. That word 'tired' was written all over her face. Yet, when she saw Jaune, her expression came back to life. In a very concerned way, but not a zombified version of the girl anymore.
"Jaune," she yelled loudly, stepping out from behind the door. Her speech running faster than even Jaune could track. "W-What happened to you at school! Pyrrha said you got beat up and then disappeared! And they've been trying to call you all day! We were super worried! So, why-"
"Ruby," Jaune said, interrupting the girl before she could continue. His expression shifting back to a more concerned one. "I-I'm fine, seriously. I just got punched twice, and I don't care. But what about you?! Yang told me you two ran into a mass murder!"
Her expression faltered a little at that, probably remembering the events once again. "Yeah, that..." she mumbled, kicking at the ground with her right foot. Ruby's eyes cast downwards before returning to the Blonde. "Do you want to come inside?"
Jaune nodded, and Ruby invited him inside. She led the way into the house, closing the door behind the pair. Once through the hatch, Jaune turned around and leaned against a nearby piece of furniture to face Ruby.
"So, how bad was it?"
Ruby took a second to come up with an appropriate adjective. She pursed her lips slightly, turning her eyes down while thinking about it.
"It was really scary," she answered meekly. One of her hands pushed up a loose sleeve on her shirt. "Like something out of a horror movie..."
"Yeah, I got that impression from Yang," Jaune replied with a shrug. "Stuff like that's been happening all over the city lately. People have been finding bodies all over the place. Then there was that explosion downtown..."
Jaune had looked into some of the murders over the past few weeks. Not the massacre Ruby and Yang had seen, but other unrelated events. Aside from the people he killed, Jaune found nothing similar to a vampire attack anywhere in Vale. Just random violence. These more vampiric killings only started after Jaune drank blood for the second time and found Crocea Mors.
"Really," Ruby asked with a disappointed tone and look. Kind of like a puppy denied a treat. "This whole weekend is ruined..."
"What do you mean," Jaune asked. His heartstrings were plucked by Ruby's saddened expression. It took a lot for the boy to keep his own composure.
As Ruby realised Jaune was poking into the secret plan of her's, she blushed heavily. The girl's expression and posture morphed into something resembling embarrassment. She couldn't even meet his eyes, and the girl began fidgeting with her hands.
"W-We were shopping for supplies," Ruby confessed. "Because after what happened with Weiss, I thought we needed to do something fun to get your mind off of it. Like going to an amusement park, and hanging with Ren and Nora to play games..." Her hands dropped down to her sides. The embarrassment replaced with a now melancholic expression. "But we dropped everything in the blood, and now that there's a killer out there we can't go out."
She ran into those bodies because of me?
Jaune clenched his teeth, trying his damndest to hold back this anger welling up inside him. What Cardin said didn't elicit this much of a response. Because everything Ruby had been put through last night was all because of him.
It was his fault that she was going to be haunted by the images of those bodies.
Ruby would never have been put in that position if it wasn't for him.
If she was going to those lengths to ensure her friend could at least cheer up, then Jaune had to repay it in kind.
"No," Jaune said, rising from where he rested. His tone bore such a strength that it would have made anybody's spine tingle. "We can still go, Ruby. I don't want to lose out on having a fun night out with you guys."
Because whoever did this to you is going to die.
You done goofed.
Honestly, this chapter was just something to move events along. I couldn't jump from last chapter's events to something else without having some other moments in between. I really wanted to have a Pyrrha perspective too. Nothing here is meant to be awesome.
However, if you have been paying attention to the events of every chapter, there is something you might notice.
Think, Ewige Wiederkunft and you'll figure it out.
Encyclopedia of MAJMLYAI.
Vampires:
Jaune
Aliases: Leonhardt, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown
Weapons: Crocea Mors, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown
People Consumed: 10
Major Arcana: Unknown Element
Pasty
Aliases: Element Unknown
Friends/Allies:
Ruby
Aliases: Element Unknown
Yang
Aliases: Element Unknown
Pyrrha
Aliases: Element Unknown
Weiss
Aliases: Element Unknown, Element Unknown, Element Unknown
Blake
Aliases: Element Unknown