CHAPTER IV

Flowers Fit for a Princess

Lilly covered her mouth as she yawned in the middle of Dr. Cherenkov's lecture. She had long since accepted his invitation to sit in his courses, but the class she jumped in at the beginning of the school year was much too advanced for her. There was no way she would be able to keep up with the homework on top of her Labyrinth excursions. Fortunately, she wasn't actually doing any of this for a grade.

"Miss Schnee?"

Lilly stood up so fast that her blood failed to catch up to her head and she nearly fell over. She noticed some of the other students chuckle.

"Be careful," Dr. Cherenkov said. "You don't want to pass out due to orthostatic hypotension."

"O-Ortho-huh?"

"Would anyone like to explain what orthostatic hypotension is to our guest?"

Ariadne raised her hand before being selected. "Orthostatic hypotension is low blood pressure caused by rising too rapidly since gravity pulls downward on your blood. In extreme cases, it can cause blackouts, but normally results in some dizziness in healthy individuals."

"Excellent answer, Miss Jupiter."

Ariadne bowed before taking her seat.

"Are you feeling better, Miss Schnee?"

"Y-Yeah," Lilly said, feeling her face flush.

"Good. Now, the question I wanted to ask you was regarding the fundamentals of Thaumatology. As you all know, despite this being an Advanced Particle Physics course, the new field of Thaumatology shares some common ground with this one. After all, many of the Thaumaturgical phenomena we have discovered in our very own underground lab complex cause the formation of hitherto undiscovered particles, which your very own classmate, Ariadne Jupiter, has given the name of 'Erscheinung Particle.' The question then, Miss Schnee, is whether or not this Erscheinung Particle interacts with other known particles."

"Well," Lilly began, rummaging through her brain. "If I remember correctly, from our own experiments in the lab, the Erscheinung Particle's characteristics are pretty random, but they can be compelled to exhibit certain kinds of phenomena, but it requires the use of a rune to do so. The appropriate rune could, in fact, cause the Erscheinung Particles to behave like other known particles, including electrons."

"Precisely. It is because of this odd property that this new particle is even in your textbooks for this course."

A student raised his hand. "But, isn't this particle extremely rare to begin with?"

"This is true. However, because of the tests we are conducting in the lab downstairs, it may one day be commonplace."

"You mean magic."

"I prefer to call it Thaumaturgy. After all, it still operates on a fundamentally physical level."

"I personally think we should explore the possibilities," another student chimed in. "It would greatly reduce our dependence on Dust. Heck, we only got lucky that geological event almost twenty years ago caused new Dust veins to open up in our country. But even that won't last forever."

"It's good to see our younger generations thinking so far ahead," Dr. Cherenkov said. "If you all keep this up, I think the future of humanity is in good hands. And with that, class is over. You all have the assignment for next week. The chapter regarding matter-antimatter reactions is going to be very important on the exams in a few weeks."

Lilly stretched before packing up her things. Ariadne walked over to her.

"High-five!" Lilly said, holding up a hand.

Ariadne instinctively reciprocated before asking, "Wait, why? What did I do?"

"That whole orthoscopic hypermatter tension thing."

She chuckled. "I think you haven't been sleeping enough."

"Probably," she said with a yawn.

"What do you say we skip Labyrinth business today and just hang out?"

"But—"

"I agree with Ariadne," Demetri said, joining them.

"Hey!" Lilly said. "When did you infiltrate our classroom?"

"I always wait outside for your class to end."

"Where have you been this whole semester?" Ariadne said to Lilly, who didn't answer. "Yeah, we're definitely going to take today off. I'll let Dr. Cherenkov know our plans."

Lilly frowned as her companion headed to the front of the class.

"It's a good thing it stopped raining," Demetri said. "Should we explore the downtown area?"

"I was actually thinking we could hang around campus all day," she said.

"So you can 'accidentally stumble' into the underground complex?"

"No! Of course not!"

He didn't break his gaze.

"I swear!"

"Okay, Dr. Cherenkov is aware," Ariadne said, rejoining them. "What's going on here?"

"Lilly wants to hang out on campus," Demetri said.

"Oh, so you can accidentally stumble into the lab?"

"Why are you two so mean?" Lilly whined.

"Actually, I think the student council is throwing a festival later this evening. It's supposed to last all weekend."

"Right, it's your birthday on Saturday, isn't it?" Demetri said.

Lilly looked down at the ground. She had forgotten all about her birthday. Last year, she had spent the tenth of January with Team LILY and APEX, her closest friends. This year, thanks to her imprudence, she would spend her nineteenth birthday without them. Or perhaps, looking on the brighter side, it would be with new friends.

"In fact," Ariadne began, taking out her scroll, "I'm going to let my brother and Dr. Cherenkov know that we're taking the weekend off. I'm sure they'll be fine with it, considering you haven't taken a single day off in the last four months."

"I can't afford to take a day off," Lilly said, looking down at the ground.

"With all due respect," Demetri said, standing at attention, "one of the most important things for a soldier is to know when she's at her limits. Or at the very least, know when to take breaks to recuperate both physically and mentally."

"Was Ivory good at pacing herself like that?"

"Yes," Demetri answered without hesitation. "However, your cousin does have the unfair advantage of having been trained all her life. For better or for worse, you have to learn these things from experience alone."

"Not alone," Ariadne said. "That's what we're here for."

Lilly managed a weak smile at her companions. Though she had come a long way in the past almost year and a half, it was clear that she still had miles to go. For now, she decided to take the rest.

"Festival, then!" she said with a hop.

"That's the spirit, ma'am," Demetri said, loosening up.

"Why are you calling me 'ma'am', huh?" Lilly said, throwing her hands on her hips.

Ruby leaned back against the tree, closing her eyes as the breeze blew her hair to the side. Vacuo's deceptive summer heat made the winter chill all the more surprising, though perhaps that should not have been a surprise given that it was a desert environment, which resulted in greater temperature swings than most other climates. The massive lake to the northwest did store enough heat from the summer to keep the city from completely freezing over, though.

"All righty," Jaune said, sitting beside her under the tree. "Got some burgers and fries for us."

"Awesome!" Ruby said, stealing a fry from his tray.

"C'mon, you have your own food! Quit being a Nora!"

She giggled before leaning against the father of her children. She didn't eat for a while, sitting silently as Jaune went through his food.

"Not hungry?" he asked her.

"No, that's not it," she sighed.

"Thinking about Lilly?"

"Yeah. And then I thought about what Weiss would do if she found out what was going on here and then I thought about Leon and Athena and what they might be doing right now."

"Yang texted you yesterday, didn't she?"

"Yeah, and she says the kids are fine, but I just can't help but think about them."

"Me, too. I know Athena can take care of herself, but Leon's the one that worries me a bit. He takes after you too much."

She gave him a light punch on the shoulder and he chuckled. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

"Just that he's real passionate about everything."

"That's a good thing!"

"Yeah, yeah! It's supposed to be a compliment! But you're not eighteen anymore. You can control yourself. I was his age half a lifetime ago. I know how dumb he can be."

"You know what, he gets that more from you."

"What?" he whined.

"I remember you being the one who got all emotional, not me!"

"W-Well, but you were real fired up, too!"

"I could be reckless at times, but you were the one who always cried between the two of us!"

"I am a well of emotion! I can't help it!"

"Exactly!"

"What are we even arguing about anymore!"

"I don't know!" He stuck a fry in her mouth and she frowned as she chewed. "Stop treating me like a Nora!"

He chuckled before handing her food over. She begrudgingly went through her burger and fries, grumbling under her breath the whole time.

"I love you, Ruby," Jaune said, leaning against her as she ate.

Ruby couldn't help but smile as she finished up her food. She leaned back against him, finding his hand in the soft, cool grass before intertwining her fingers with his.

"Hey, isn't that Lilly and her friends?" Jaune said.

"Hmm?" Ruby said, following his gaze. "Oh, yeah, you're right."

"I'm honestly surprised Demetri's comfortable walking around in the open like this. I'm pretty sure people know who he is."

"I think that goes to show the kind of effect Lilly has on people. I'm pretty sure his loyalty is more to her than his own family. Heck, everyone seems to gather around her. Team LILY and Team APEX were technically two separate teams, but they hardly ever operated separately. I mean, they're both over in Mistral right now."

"It's not that different from us back then, huh?"

She looked over at him.

"Team RWBY and Team JNPR were pretty tight-knit, too."

"Not as close as LILY and APEX, though."

"She really takes after him, doesn't she? Gets all sorts of people to come together, despite their differences."

Ruby closed her eyes, recalling those past days. What might Bedivere think of his daughter if he had the chance to meet her?

He'd be proud, she thought.

"We still have a few hours to kill before the festival starts," Lilly said. "Ooh! There's a taco truck over there!"

"I'm craving a burrito myself," Ariadne said.

"I'm in the mood for a chimichanga," Demetri said.

"We're going to a taco truck, guys," Lilly said. "You're getting tacos."

"I'm getting a burrito," Ariadne said, unbending.

"You suck. Demetri, you better change your mind."

"Very well," he said.

"See? Demetri's cool!" Lilly said, hanging off of his arm.

Ariadne rolled her eyes before pushing up her glasses. She was the first to place her order, cutting in front of Lilly to prevent her from hijacking her order. Lilly stuck her tongue out before approaching the window.

"So," Ariadne said, standing with Demetri some distance from the taco truck. "I've noticed you never leave her side."

"My duty is to her," he said. "Is it not natural that I would stay by her side as often as I can?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to fault you or anything. I simply thought I would point it out."

"There's nothing more to it than that."

"It wouldn't happen to also be a proxy for her younger cousin, would it?"

"Not at all. I am perfectly capable of differentiating between my duties to Ivory and my duties to Lilly."

"So, if Ivory were with us, would you leave Lilly's side and return to Ivory's?"

He didn't answer.

"I see. I guess I can't blame you. Lilly seems to have that effect on everyone around her."

"To answer your question, I would stand by both of them," Demetri said without a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Would you?"

"Yes."

"I see. It must be nice to have someone like that. Someone to look after you."

"Are you trying to imply that you have no such person? Because if you are, you would be mistaken. I, too, look after you. As do your brothers."

"Yes, and I appreciate that. But merely having my back wasn't what I was referring to."

"Okay!" Lilly said, skipping back to them with their food, including Ariadne's burrito.

"Great," Ariadne said. "You're not gonna give me my food, are you?"

"Nope!"

"Lilly, please? I want my burrito."

"You're gonna get tacos instead!"

Ariadne sighed heavily before submitting and accepting the tacos Lilly handed to her.

"You let your guard down," Demetri said to Ariadne. "I expected more from the one who navigates for us in the Labyrinth."

"You can stow it, Demetri Holland."

Lilly giggled before leading the way to some benches. "So," she started. "I did some digging on my scroll and it looks like the festival tonight is gonna open up with a concert. After that, there's some games and stuff all over the place and a big bazaar for a whole bunch of vendors for weapons and stuff."

"Are you thinking of replacing Myrtenaster?" Demetri said.

Lilly shook her head. "I don't think I could get used to another weapon after using this one for so long. What about you? Thinking of doing some upgrades?"

"Yes. I believe the junior engineering division sponsored by Jupiter Enterprises has some new systems I want to incorporate into my gauntlets, particularly the grappling hooks I use."

"What about you, Ariadne?" Lilly said. "You gonna check out the engineers?"

"Perhaps I should," she said, "if only to ensure that they're representing my division properly."

"Oh, right! I forgot that you're the head of that division! How the heck do you find the time to do that and Labyrinth stuff?"

"I surmise the lack of a social life would give her the time she needs," Demetri said.

"You're one to talk," Ariadne said.

"I never claimed to have a social life of my own."

Lilly giggled. "It's okay, I don't really have a social life anymore either cuz of what we do. Besides, it's cool to hang out with you guys! Nothing beats team-building exercises like tacos together just before the festival, right?"

"Speaking of tacos," Demetri said before rolling her burrito to Ariadne, the latter of whom quickly snatched it up.

"Hey!" Lilly said. "How did you get that?"

"You let your guard down as well," Demetri said. He turned to Ariadne. "I told you I look out for you."

She smiled as she opened up her food.

"You're lucky we have a gentleman with us," Lilly said, sticking her tongue out at Ariadne, who returned the gesture.

Lilly awoke to the sunlight hitting her face. She squinted before stretching, losing her balance and falling to the ground with a yelp.

"Ow," she grumbled, rubbing her head.

"You will never stop doing that, will you?" Ariadne said, peeking down at her over her bed.

"I will suggest it again," Demetri said from across the room, "you should trade places with Ariadne if you're going to keep falling out of your bunk like that."

Lilly groaned before sprawling out on the carpet, closing her eyes now that she was out of the sunlight.

"Could you imagine Weiss behaving like this?" Ruby's voice sounded from the doorway.

"Heck no," Jaune said.

"How in the world did you come from her anyway?"

"Ooh!" Lilly said, instantly springing to her feet. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Arc Rose! Or, wait, is it Rose or Arc?"

"Officially, I'm Ruby Rose-Arc and he's Jaune Arc-Rose," Ruby answered, "but just call us by our first names."

"That's cool! You guys took each other's last names! Wait, but, then, why do Leon and Athena only have one?"

"They're officially Rose-Arcs," Jaune said, "but to keep things simple, they just go by Ruby's last name."

"I'm glad my family kept things even simpler than that," Ariadne said, getting out of bed and grabbing some clothes from the closet.

"So, do you guys all wanna go to the second day of the festival together?" Lilly said, stretching before going through her belongings.

"Yeah, why not?" Ruby said. "Ariadne, what about your family?"

"My brothers are busy with their own things," she said. "Orion's probably running security checks everywhere and for sure Dionysus is hanging out with his own friends."

"That's too bad," Jaune said. "What about your parents?"

"Dad's way too busy running the company and mom is with her sisters running the lake resorts."

"Yeah," Lilly began, "it's surprising Ariadne's able to go around with us cuz she's super busy with her own stuff."

"My engineering crew are doing well from what I saw yesterday. I don't need to babysit them. You, on the other hand."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lilly said, throwing her hands on her hips.

Ruby and Jaune shared a chuckle before heading down the hall.

"We'll be in the lobby," Jaune said.

"In so many ways, she's nothing like Weiss at all," Ruby said as she and her husband headed downstairs, "and yet in so many others, she's exactly like her."

"The addiction to coffee is just one," Jaune said.

"Oh goodness," Ruby gagged, imagining the exceedingly bitter cups that Weiss would enjoy from time to time.

The crowds had already swelled by the time Lilly, Ariadne, and Demetri joined Ruby and Jaune out in the courtyards of Shade Academy. Fortunately, the weather had let up and it didn't look like the plans put together by the students would be ruined.

"Isn't it odd?" Ruby commented, looking up at the skies as they strolled around. "Just this past week, we've been having endless rain, but now there's not a cloud in sight."

"Yeah, the weather's great, isn't it?" Jaune said, pulling his wife close.

She looked up at him and smiled and he smiled back before giving her a kiss.

"Where do you guys wanna go first?" Jaune asked the others.

"Another band is about to start playing," Ariadne said. "I believe Lilly wanted to attend this concert as well."

The group looked over at Lilly, who was preoccupied with something, staring off into the distance.

"Is something the matter?" Demetri asked her.

"Hmm?" she said. "Oh, no, I was just thinking about stuff."

"The Labyrinth again?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Are you gonna be mad if I said yes?"

"I won't be mad. But I would suggest clearing your mind of that for some time."

"It's...I can't."

"Yes, I know. I, too, have found myself unable to sleep some nights. There are some times when I wonder if we could have done more for our charges."

Lilly stared at the ground as the group continued their march. Demetri was referring to those times when they would retreat from a Labyrinth only to discover that it was no longer there when they returned before learning from the news or social media in the real world that said individual had passed away. She gasped as she realized that her fists were balling up of their own accord and she willed them to relax. She took a deep breath, letting it all out slowly.

"Let's go enjoy ourselves!" she said with as uplifting a voice as she could muster.

It was late in the afternoon when the festival began to pick up. There was another band scheduled to perform in the evening, one quite popular among the students of Shade Academy, but the big event was going to be the fireworks show later at night. In the midst of the growing crowds, Lilly had long since separated herself from the rest of the group, who decided not to interfere, not even Demetri, who was usually never too far away from her, always ready to shoulder her the instant she needed him.

She sighed, standing in the middle of a field of flowers, the very heart of Shade Academy's garden, which was engineered and built by the graduating class of four years ago. She closed her eyes, breathing in deep the scent of the countless variety of wildflowers surrounding her. The design of this garden established order where the walkways ran through, but this field was the exception. Here, mother nature was given free rein to do as she pleased.

A breeze enveloped her, catching her long, silver hair and her simple, white and blue dress, a change she had made to her wardrobe recently. Though a t-shirt and jeans were still number one for her, she began to expand her inventory to include more fashionable items. She smiled, thinking about the sparseness of her own closet compared to her mother's, which was probably ten times as large and varied. She wondered if her mom would be gladdened by the sudden interest in dresses.

Her hair was starting to bug her and she undid the blue bow, allowing the wind to toss her hair around for a while before retying it to relieve some of the tension that gravity and constant bouncing caused over time. She didn't have a mirror in front of her, but she had done it enough times that it was muscle memory by now.

The sound of crunching came from behind her, accompanied by a gentle, pale blue glow. She turned around to face her knight, which had emerged from the summoning rune of its own accord. She smiled and curtseyed and it bowed to her before picking a small, white flower and handing it to her. She let out a giggle before sniffing it, tucking the flower behind her ear before proceeding to dance through the flower field.

All the while, her knight was never more than ten paces away from her, keeping watch over their surroundings as she danced freely among the wildflowers, the gentle breeze joining her in dance. The sunlight today was warm even in the middle of winter. Or perhaps it was her heart which warmed her surroundings. It seemed no matter the state of the world, it only took Lilly's presence to bring light.

But lately it seemed that light grew dimmer and dimmer.

Lilly... the voice whispered in her head as it always did. Don't ignore me, Lilly.

Her effort to disregard the voice, as valiant as it was, ultimately ended in vain. Again, Lilly found her fists balling of their own will, anger once more rising to the surface. Peace was no longer in her heart. The toll the Labyrinth took on her soul was insurmountable, filling her with frustration and hatred.

Stop it, she told herself fruitlessly. Focus on the good.

But it was impossible to focus on the good when there was so much evil in the world.

A gentle hand placed itself on her shoulder and stilled her heart. She slowly turned to face her knight, which, despite the visor down over its face, seemed to exude a calmness that overrode the turmoil growing in her soul. Overcome by emotion, she lunged at her knight, wrapping her arms around him as she began to sob quietly. He returned her embrace, holding her head close, covering her with his blue and gold cape to shield her from the world.

Once she regained her bearing, Lilly backed away, standing in front of her knight, looking up to him. She gave him her biggest smile and she could sense a smile behind his visor, their souls interlocking as one.

"Should we go and enjoy the festival?" she asked him.

Her knight responded with a single nod.

"Awesome!"

"Yes!" Ruby yelled with a triumphant hop as she won the air rifle match.

"I don't even know why I still bother," Jaune said, setting down his air rifle. "I literally get zero practice since I don't even have a gun."

"My condolences," Demetri said, patting him on the back.

"Okay!" Ruby said, pointing at Demetri. "You think you can take me on?"

"I will do my best, ma'am."

"Aww, don't call me ma'am! You make me sound old!"

"But you are old," Ariadne said.

"Hush!"

Demetri and Ruby took their places at the booth, preparing for the final air rifle match. Once the buzzer sounded, they both went as quickly and accurately as they could. Halfway through the round, Ruby noticed that Demetri's score surpassed hers by ten points. Only through luck and sheer determination did she manage to close the gap, ultimately beating him by a single point.

Ruby let out a heavy sigh, setting down her air rifle.

"Good game," Demetri said.

"Did you let me win?" she said. "You didn't let me win, did you?"

"Of course not."

"Grr. You better not!"

After retrieving her prize, Ruby led the way along with Ariadne to the next activity.

"Smart move letting her win," Jaune said.

"I, too, value my life," Demetri said.

"Ugh!" Ruby yelled from up ahead. "I knew it!"

Ariadne couldn't help but chuckle, but her joyousness was cut short when she spotted Lilly further down, strolling around the festival with her knight in tow.

"What in the world?" she mumbled.

"Wait, is that her knight?" Jaune said as he and Demetri caught up with them.

Demetri looked around, noticing some of the reactions of onlookers.

"Whoa, check out that costume!"

"Holy crap, that's expert level cosplay!"

"Yeah, it even looks all see-through and stuff!"

"I wonder how they managed to do that."

"Man, look at that attention to detail!"

"How much time do you think it took to put all that together?"

Demetri couldn't help but chuckle. "If only you all knew," he mumbled.

"Hey, guys!" Lilly called out before skipping to them.

"You seem quite elated," Ariadne said.

"Mm-hmm!" She turned to Ruby, eyeing the big stuffed penguin she was holding. "Oh! Did you win that?"

"Yup!" she said. "None of these guys can beat me in air rifle shooting!"

"Oooh, I bet! Your scythe turns into a big sniper rifle, doesn't it?"

Ruby put down her stuffed toy before pulling out Crescent Rose and deploying it fully. "You bet!"

"It's just like Leon's weapon!"

"Yeah, he took after his mom," Jaune said. "Although his scythe is more like Qrow's."

"And Athena uses a shield!'

Jaune chuckled. "Yeah, but her fighting style actually mostly comes from an old friend of ours who died in the war."

"Oh."

"Hey, don't be down. She died a hero."

"Wait, was that Pyrrha Nikos?"

"Yeah. She was on our team back in the day. She was the best out of all of us, to be honest."

"It's no surprise Athena's the best out of us, too, then."

Jaune let the smile form on his face, a smile of pride in his daughter, the very embodiment of valor and strength. Meanwhile, Ruby watched as the nostalgia took hold of her husband. Pyrrha was his first love and her death was devastating, not just to him, but to all of them. It seemed that, finally, after nearly twenty years of grieving, he had found the strength to move on.

"We also have Jaune to thank for that," Ruby said, taking his hand in hers and locking fingers with him. "I might have the combat skill, but he's got the discipline and tactical know-how."

He gave her a smile.

"I think this would be a good time for a photo," Demetri said, standing at a nearby booth. "How about a souvenir for your birthday?"

"It's your birthday today?" Ruby said.

Lilly nodded sheepishly.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she all but yelled.

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry?"

"Ugh! We coulda done something else besides hanging out on campus all day!"

"But I had fun today."

Ruby's demeanor softened. "Well, if that's the case, then okay. C'mon, let's go get a picture!"

"Photobomb time!" Dionysus yelled before jumping in front of the group.

"Oh, goodness," Ariadne said. "You know there's no picture being taken right now, don't you?"

"Huh?" he said, looking over at Demetri, who waited for them at the photography booth. "Oh." He laughed. "I'm still photobombing!"

"C'mon, then!" Lilly said, excitedly leading the way to the booth.