The Random Hand of Fate

by TheMightyTeaRex

"Destiny is not set in stone. It only takes one grain of rice to tip a scale, one pebble falling into the sea to start a tidal wave; Every action, no matter how small has an effect on the future. So, tell me... do you believe in destiny?" Real-world SI. First-time fanfic. Rated M for violence, gore, swearing, smut (later on) and alcohol. Warhammer 40K characters in Remnant.

36. Jaune B Goode

...Okay, getting this out there right now, I am so sorry for the lack of activity on this story for the last few months. I've legitimately been struggling with this chapter trying to make it just right as well as juggling a change in workload and an increase in schoolwork. Admittedly, there was also a lot of perseverating on how to do this Chapter right simply because... this chapter is big for me, and I wanted it to feel right for everyone else who's been on this journey with me for the last two years , whether or not you came in recently or have been with me since Chapter 1. Cause while not the crux or climax, there is a lot going on with this chapter, specifically centering around Arkos, and I have been wringing my hands in dread that this chapter is going to feel rushed or out of left field or anything else like that. I hope I have done you all justice writing this, and I hope you can forgive me for my abhorred tardiness. I'm gonna keep writing this thing as much as possible, but the monthly deadline I had burned me out fast, so I concede I can't guarantee anything. I hope to get the chapter after this done by November 30th since it's going to be shorter and then the same principle with the next, but I can't guarantee anything.

Also, with Volume 7 coming out in three weeks from me writing this prologue, I hope that RWBY will improve from what it's slowly been becoming, but that's a gripe for another day.

Let's get to the chapter.

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Chapter 36: Jaune B. Goode

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"Where words fail, music speaks." ―Hans Christian Andersen

---

The last few days had seen Vale unusually quiet around the nighttime. While of course the activity was never as loud as the daytime, that gap of population had seemingly grown exponentially in opposite directions; few wandered the streets after nightfall, the shadows long and dangerous to the naked eye, sending most into unconscious fear as their imaginations conjured up strange, fantastical and downright terrifying forms from the deep shadows. Those that were out were hampered by curfews in the Residential District and the Downtown, leaving the rest of the city empty save those who were night owls working the reconstruction efforts or the graveyard shifts of the businesses still operating despite the madness. Police had roamed the streets for almost the whole week now, though the patrols were beginning to be replaced by Atlesian Knights as Ironwood and his soldiers offered to step in so the police force could get a break for a few nights. This had come with its own problems; people were complaining about almost being torn apart by overzealous robots as they scanned the streets in search of rogue Grimm or members of Torchwick's gang. Even with a week between the Breach and now, the city stunk of fear.

But he did not fear. He knew fear.

Fear was staring into the thousand ever-shifting eyes of a Chaos Spawn. Fear was facing a Skulltaker with mere mortal weapons. Fear was feeling Their Presence descend upon him to judge whether he be worthy to lead his Warband. Fear was first treading the ways of The Great Ocean of Souls, hearing their whispers, their screams, their chanting, their roaring, their growling and lowing.

He had known these things, and he had taken them into himself. He was the thing fear was made of. He was fear.

And fear was angry at the turn of events the last week.

Along the darkened streets of Vale's Industrial District he strode, like a lumbering shadow in the night, his half-ton form sending mini-quakes into the earth with each stride of his Terminator boots. This suit had always been a second skin to him, he felt more natural wearing it than in his ceremonial robes on his voidship; in that old rag you couldn't bounce a mosquito's tongue, much less anything equal to a bullet of any caliber. In this suit, he truly felt as invincible as Astartes were supposed to be; and with the will of the Gods at his side, few things could touch him. How humiliating had it been to be slain in the middle of Apotheosis by a weakling Ultramarines captain... He could still hear the Warp's shrieks of delight as his soul left his body, bound for the embrace of the Gods.

And yet, here he was, on an alien planet surrounded by pathetic mortals and a host of his enemies and rivals. Even with what he knew, he still remained baffled by the turn of events. Had the Gods granted him a second chance to spread their Gospel? He had not heard the whispering of The Four in his head for almost two decades now, and it always troubled him, plagued his sleep. Was this the work of the False Emperor? Who had deigned this fate for him?

Nemeroth turned his gaze to the building beside him, an old warehouse long since abandoned. 7020 Sesame Hill Avenue, he mused to himself. Addresses were still a foreign thing to him, having survived for so long in the wildlands, gathering followers to his take on The Dark Gospel from the various raider tribes and independent villages across the planet. Still, he couldn't deny it was much easier than "Follow the road to the abandoned warehouse outside the Harbor District"; there was a million more just like it.

A chain-link fence stood in his path. He harrumphed as he slashed with the talons of his power fist, Silence of Truth. The fence didn't even put up a fight, collapsing to the ground in a steel heap as he began to walk in, passing inside of the warehouse. It was dark and dank, smelling of mildew and sawdust; a sewer rat's sanctuary.

"Of all the places to meet," he said under his breath. "In the heart of enemy territory is both delightfully brazen... and foolish to no end."

"Says the idiot who had his skull caved in right in the middle of apotheosis. And by a simple Ultramarine captain no less."

He growled under his breath as he turned to see the speaker. His night vision was as good as ever, allowing him to see the bright red gems and angry red and brass of Khârn the Betrayer's armor in the dim light. He wore no visible emotion in his stance, but the tone to his voice the tracing of his fingers along the edge of his inert plasma pistol ebbed and flowed with a harsh anger to it.

"Ah," he mused. "I hadn't expected Angron's bastard cur to stay in town after that stunt—"

He never got the chance to finish as he felt a breath-stealing punch to the gut, one that rang with pain even in the confines of his Terminator suit.

"Mention his name again, and I'll teach the people of Remnant what it means to be bloodthirsty with what I shall do to your lifeless corpse," Khârn growled, the creaking of ceramite revealing his crushing grip as it stayed concealed in the darkness.

Nemeroth laughed in pained humor. "I believe the young of this world call that 'being triggered.' How appropriate for a rabid dog with Nails in his head."

Khârn growled menacingly as he feathered Gorechild in his other hand. Nemeroth's smile faltered; even he didn't want to test the wrath of a Primarch's weapon, regardless of Aura and Terminator armor or not.

"Why did you come," asked Khârn with a deep rumble to his voice.

"For the same reason you're here, I would imagine," he replied.

Khârn nodded and grunted in understanding. "She said that she would meet us here with others. It appears we're the first to arrive."

"Not by much, I would presume," replied Nemeroth in turn. "You wouldn't know how punctual she tends to be."

"Then why isn't she here yet," growled the World Eater impatiently.

Nemeroth smirked. "Because she is punctual by her own time," he hissed.

There was a distant sound of footfalls from the opposite side of the warehouse. Small, clearly not the boots of Astartes. Both Chaos Astartes stopped, absorbing the sound as it echoed through the room. The boots had the distinct sound of hardened rubber on concrete, and the tiny creak in each step was indicative of treated leather.

"Huntsman," growled Khârn under his breath. "They must have trailed you here, Sorcerer."

Nemeroth nodded in agreement. "A fatal mistake." Loudly, he flexed the fingers of his power fists, their pneumonic hissing accompanied with the distant sounds of screaming souls—a foul whispering wind that rattled inside his head.

The footsteps stopped for a moment, leaving the darkened building quiet but for the sounds of their beating hearts.

The footfalls started again.

Khârn took a colossal, roaring step forwards, the metal trudge of his boots sounding like a macrocannon. Nemeroth winced.

"You made a mistake coming here," he warned to the approaching figure, gunning Gorechild angrily. The chainaxe screamed its bloodlust, bringing the image of a bloodbath to the Sorcerer. He could see Gorechild's spinning teeth, glinting in the dim moonlight as if it absorbed all light in the room.

The footsteps stopped again.

A crescent of red appeared from the darkness, harsh and bright and angry. It glinted off of Khârn's armor, bathing them both in an ethereal glow.

For but a moment, Nemeroth dreamed that it was a sign from the Gods, some manner of Bloodletter or other lesser daemon sent to them to bring them glad tidings. But the moment was gone as a crimson curved blade was released from its scabbard.

"I didn't come here to fight," came the voice of the Huntsman. "But I won't back down from a human if he wants to pick one with me."

Revelation enlightened Nemeroth's face. Ah, he thought, this must be Mr. Taurus.

"You must be the abhuman cur that Cinder was in contact with," Khârn added. "Sheathe your sword, boy, else I answer the bloodthirsty call of the Nails."

Adam bristled angrily. "Spare me," he said as the sword began to glow as well. "I didn't come all this way to be cowed by a human, much less a brute like you."

Gorechild revved warningly. Khârn took a step forwards.

The overhead lights flashed to life.

Nemeroth blinked as he was met with the sight of a young man with spiky red hair and tall stature, clad in a black blazer with red flowered patterns lain on his shoulder. He wore black dress pants that seemed uncomfortable for combat at first glance, with equally black boots of leather that were well-polished with intense care. Nemeroth had heard the boy always wanted to keep up appearances, ergo it was no surprise his outfit seemed almost formal, less belonging to the leader of a group of terrorists and more along the lines of the outfit of an edgy club. The key feature, though, was the bone-colored faceplate he wore across his eyes and brow masking everything the height of his nose and above before you reached his hairline. It was tattooed with red patterns and carved with eye slits the perfect size to view out of but still protect his eyes.

Both combatants stopped at the lights snapping on, looking about in confusion.

"Now boys," came the hauntingly sultry voice of Cinder, "let's not go whipping our swords out when a lady is present."

Nemeroth turned to the source of the sound. She stood atop a line of gantry walkways in the center of the building, standing about ten feet above them, arms crossed as she leaned against the railing. Standing beside her were her two lackeys—the girl he could remember being named Emerald where the boy he forgot the name of—and a very bored and very disapproving Lord Eliphas.

Despite the difficulties of moving in Terminator armor, he bowed deeply. "My Lady," he said reverently. "A pleasure to see your wicked self again."

"And the same to you, Nemeroth," She said as she returned a curtsy before vaulting over the scaffolding with her lovestruck lackey in tow. Eliphas remained on the gantry, watching them from behind his horned helmet.

Khârn hummed under his breath as he sheathed Gorechild. "Care to explain why you summoned us to this place so early in the morning," he asked.

"If it were not important, Khârn," said Eliphas, "We would not have summoned you all here."

"Do not toy with me so calmly, Word Bearer," Khârn barked.

Eliphas let out a small chuckle, a dark rumble in his throat that sounded like the start of an earthquake. "Does my demeanor strike a nerve with you, Lord Khârn?"

Khârn didn't deign a reply to the Word Bearer. Nemeroth felt himself chuckle unconsciously.

"If you two are done with your pissing match," growled Adam, "We need to get to business; time isn't our friend."

"Despite the curtness of Mr. Taurus, I'm inclined to agree," said Cinder as she set herself directly in the center of them all. "We need to speak of the invasion."

"What of it? It's now a complete fiasco," Khârn spat with a snort of laughter.

Eliphas raised a finger to silence him. "On the contrary, Lord Khârn, we have brokered an opportunity for us to cut deeper than we did before."

"...Enlighten me."

Eliphas nodded to Cinder, who in turn produced a dataslate—a 'Tablet Scroll' some called it—to Khârn. The giant took it gingerly and began to study over it, Nemeroth glancing at it from behind him. He spotted a massive string of code before a myriad of tabs and images began to spring up across the screen, showing long lists; Manifolds of Atlesian equipment and soldiery, communication codes, files and subroutines leading to classified projects.

Nemeroth let the smile cross his face with abandon as Khârn stared up at Cinder. "Your egghead's virus took," the Betrayer announced grumpily. "How does it benefit us considering we have neither the forces to fight with nor the element of surprise anymore."

Cinder smiled as she tapped one of the classified files, revealing a password window. Neither even needed to lift a finger as the password seemed to form as if summoned by a techpriest's prayers.

The file opened to reveal a name: 'Atlas Army R&D Division: Robotics.' Beneath it were a series of sub-files and applications.

"Look," Cinder said as she clicked on one, revealing a stream of datafiles and schematics... of a robot in a chassis vaguely shaped like a little girl.

Now Adam took notice. "What have they created," he asked with a cold-blooded venom, "and why does it involve this girl?"

Eliphas let out a dark chuckle. "That is the creation," he said. "An Abominable Intelligence in the shape of an adolescent girl."

Taurus visibly bristled. "Beg pardon?"

Khârn let out a hum of thought. "A battle automaton," he said. "Capable of hiding in plain sight and striking on command. A cowardly tool of warfare."

"And yet brazen of our dear General Ironwood, especially brazen to put into action for the Vytal Festival, where trust is most needed and sought" Cinder said. "Tell me, what would happen if the people learned of its creation during the Festival, while Ironwood's armies scour the skies and patrol the streets in search of us?"

Nemeroth had already put the pieces together before Cinder had even spoken a syllable. He produced a snarly grin as he replied, "They would turn on one another, and the panic would cause a breakdown in the security," he said.

"And bring in more Grimm from Forever Fall, Mountain Glenn and the Emerald Forest," Eliphas finished with a voice dripping with mirth. "Allowing the White Fang to join the fray and enact its bloody vengeance with ease while we seek out our targets."

Adam nodded quietly. "A good smokescreen while my soldiers and I sweep into the city. I have targets of my own to remove that we'll be focusing on," he said, rattling off names of petty politicians and bureaucrats that Nemeroth presumed to be enemies or targets of interest to the Faunus cause. Perhaps he and Eliphas could whip up their fervor again.

"...And that Muller Huntsman has a toe tag with our calling card on it."

Cinder nodded. "Yes... Muller... he's been a repeated thorn in our side," she said quietly.

Eliphas looked back at her. "I have seen him converse and be aided by Ozpin's Inner Circle now on six separate occasions," he said. "I am inclined to believe if he is not fully onto us, then he is closing in swiftly, and dragging those Huntsmen teams with him."

"He is a weakling," said Khârn. "Roman's little bloodthirsty slut Neo was able to throw him around like a ragdoll. Killing him will take no energy."

Cinder held up a finger to halt the bloodthirsty brute. "Now, now, Khârn," she cooed. "Let's not spill blood prematurely. I do believe he knows who I am, as far as I am aware, and what I am to Ozpin's organization. And yet, he hasn't told anyone... outside of the android girl."

"How do you figure," Adam asked coolly.

"She knew who I was when we arrived up there," Cinder said, "and she was well aware of my attacks despite my efforts to be spontaneous. We haven't been able to access her memory records, but I have little doubt that she is now in on the hunt for us."

"Then it will suffer a similar fate," he replied. "A weapon of Atlas can't be trusted or allowed to exist."

Eliphas grunted in agreement. "The fact she was so confident in combatting Cinder means she is a dangerous long-term threat. Removing her will be our highest priority."

"No," Cinder replied. "Our highest priority is getting into the Vault and retrieving the Relic," she said with a curt point. "She is but an obstacle, and one we will be able to overcome easily with a little more digging on my lackey's part."

Nemeroth noted Adam's concentrated bristle. "You mentioned that before. A relic of some kind," Adam said. "What exactly is this, and why is it so important to you that you would instigate a full-on invasion of Vale, rather than infiltrate and take it in silent concealment? Or, hell, the complete opposite, overrun the city with both our armies?"

"Oh, my dear Adam," she cooed as she walked up to him, the black-clad Faunus towering almost at Astartes height over her. "While simple and easy as my mentors would rather have it, I have other desires; it's not about overpowering them, nor is it about stealing it away like a starving street rat with an apple. It's about taking what we desire, regardless of what they do to stop us; we don't need to overrun them or steal it out from under their noses."

She turned and strutted back into the center of their group. "We will take what we desire from them, they will kick and scream as we take our birthrights from the greedy hands. Even with these speedbumps, they cannot stop us. This is not a threat, this is not a hope... this is simply the truth; we are inevitable."

Taurus was nodding and wearing a terrible smile on his face as he listened to her. "The Faunus have been second fiddle to humans for far too long. It's time someone showed that we are superior to humans in every way."

Being in Taurus' blind spot afforded Nemeroth a smirk. By Imperial standard he was an abhuman, by The Gods' standards he was a perfect candidate for their blessings, especially Lord Khorne's with that simmering rage cooled beneath his discipline.

Cinder offered him a devious smile. "Exactly the example I was considering. It was time the White Fang were taken seriously, that the Faunus were treated as they are; more than humans."

Nemeroth smirked with malicious humor as she led him on. For the charismatic leader of a terrorist group, he seemed to be easily swayed. "Excellent, we're all on the same page," he said. "I trust we have the White Fang's allegiance, then?"

Adam turned to look the sorcerer in the eye through his faceplate. "You do," he said with a malicious smirk. "But what I'm curious about is what you three have to gain from this. The Eightfold Path is known by most to be an army of psychopaths and murderers... I presume you're just along for the carnage-fueled ride?"

Nemeroth felt the laugh rise in his throat before he could stifle it, soon joined by Eliphas' dark chuckling. "Astute observations," Eliphas crooned, "But that would only apply to Khârn in regards to exclusive motives. We have more than that for reasons to be here."

Adam looked intrigued. "The relic is also in your sights," he asked.

"Not quite," the Word Bearer said as he glanced over to Nemeroth. It was a silent suggestion; perhaps now was a time to introduce Mr. Taurus to the Gospels of the Gods?

Nemeroth nodded, a tiny motion that only an Astartes could have learned of and seen.

Eliphas hummed approvingly as he turned his attention back to Adam. For a moment, Nemeroth sword he heard a chuckle under that helmet of his.

Nemeroth heard the tiniest whisper of a Lord of Change's laugh in the back of his mind. For the first time in ages, he felt the spark of elation.

"Tell, me, Mr. Taurus... how do you feel about... religion?"

---

"I think it's just awful."

Jacob turned to look at the speaker in question, giving him a tired but focused look of confusion. "Seriously?"

"Oh yes," he said. "I don't trust her."

Jacob blinked. "Really? The guy who was willing to side with the Necrons to fight the Tyran—"

"Don't. Mention that," Dante warned sharply. "I hated having to do that and have vehemently killed any Necron I've encountered ever since."

Pandora sat beside her husband on the porch bench. "Necrons... those are the robot-aliens, right? The ones that use the green energy weapons?"

Dante nodded as he sipped from a sugar and cream-loaded cup of coffee. "Yes, foul automata that have been slumbering under some worlds across the galaxy. Mindless things, ancient and unthinking."

Jacob nodded in reply, sipping his tea. "Considering they're older than humans and were around to see the extinction of the dinosaurs," he said, "I'd love to pick their brains to see what things were like when there were only Orks, Necrons and the damn Space Elves fighting about. At least the brains of their Overlords, since they're the only ones who can remember that stuff."

A grunt from Dante warned Jacob that he should stop speaking of the xenos.

He took the hint in earnest as he sat back in his chair, sighing as he heard the calming squeak of the wooden chair. "I hate to repeat myself," he said, "but... this house is a lot bigger than what I saw in the show, and I for once am glad to be surprised."

He had not been kidding about that. That first walk up to the house almost a week ago had taken them off the beaten paths and onto a dirt road through the forest, their walk punctuated by the distant reminders that even on this island the Grimm were still a thing; howls and snarls from Grimm drawn by the emotional turmoil of the city hounded them every so often for a solid hour as they had traveled out into the edges of the island's wilderness. Then, it had ended, as if their approach had been stymied by the group passing some manner of unseen barrier. They began to spot houses scattered about the road, cabins of various sizes made of for the most part the same wood, some manner of pine tree if he had to venture a guess. Then again, most of the woods on Patch seemed to be made of large sycamores and maple trees if the leaves were any sign, so that was most likely what they were made from. Qrow and the rest of the older Huntsman seemed to be familiar with some of the homeowners, waving and greeting them with chummy smiles and nicknames; This area must have been only populated by Huntsmen, the daring few brave enough and strong enough to fight any Grimm who get to nosey for their own good.

Then they finally reached a fork in the road, Yang and Ruby lighting up at its sight. Not five minutes later, they were greeted by the sight of a large cabin on a shallow incline, giving it the tiniest sensation of grandeur outside of its basic size; Jacob was not architect but he ventured a guess it was a two-story house around four thousand square feet, maybe closing in on forty-five hundred square feet in overall size; it wasn't a mansion by any stretch, but it was a surprisingly large house to be seen in the backwoods of an island like this. The front sported a good-sized porch and some patio furniture, though the house itself was more impressive at first walk around; five normal bedrooms, a good-sized kitchen and dining room, a living room that was easily the size of a normal home theater or bigger, an upstairs loft nice bathrooms; Jacob knew for certain it was bigger than it first looked in the show, probably good for hosting as many as fifteen people if he had to venture a guess.

Jacob snapped back to reality as Titus replied, "Yes, Tai always wanted the team to remain in a single house. I had insisted he consider smaller out of worry that eventually when the girls grew up the house would feel a lot emptier, but he didn't really listen to me." The Ultramarine sat with Mira at his side in a loveseat looking out over the patio and the forest to the east of the house, the both of them sipping from a mug of coffee.

Jacob nodded. "Funny, a lot of parents have that problem everywhere," he said through a sip of tea. Overhead, the sun was rising up from the east, already well and up. "At least he did go with the bigger size, otherwise I think a lot more of us would be camped out here in the evening." He pointed to the tent housing Team SSSN to make his point.

"What's the matter, afraid of sleeping outdoors," Logan joked through a bite of a muffin he had snagged from the kitchen. "Afraid of getting eaten alive by the wildlife?"

"I happen to taste poorly to mosquitoes if that's what your insinuating," he replied in turn. "Regardless, I need to finish scrounging up a suit for the dance tonight. Won't do me much good arriving to a suit-and-tie affair in a denim jacket and khaki cargo pants."

Pandora nodded, a smile making her face as luminescent as the rising sun. "Everyone else is about ready, I just need to finish Pyrrha's dress and she'll be ready for the big night!"

Jacob couldn't deny her exuberance was contagious. "I've never been one for dances," he said, "but I wouldn't miss this one for a million bucks, especially to see everyone relax a bit from the Breach."

There were collective nods and murmurs of approval; most of them would be attending too in some manner or another, though mostly as volunteer staff or as chaperones.

Jacob smirked. "Especially if Jaune finally gets it through his head tonight, or she works up the courage to finally tell him."

Both Nikoses looked over at him with gazes that screamed of one or another basal parental instinct, though what he didn't recognize thanks to the animation. "Forgive me if I have reservations about playing matchmaker for my daughter," Dante replied. "But, yes, I do see your logic… even if I feel he is not a good match for her."

Pandora shared a look with Mira that very easily spoke of confusion. "What are you considering," she asked Jacob cautiously.

Jacob smirked as he sipped the last of his tea. "Well, seeing as she had been at such a crossroad at the time when she… you know, went up to fight Cinder, maybe nudging one particular event forwards could play to our benefits… give her yet another honest reason to not run up there."

Dante nodded, though still very defensively in his posture. "It might not fully work, but it will give her enough pause that should things come down to the wire… we should be able to garner enough time to convince her."

"Exactly. But barring that… well, he's the first person outside of you guys to treat her as more than just a superstar fighter. At least, that's what she's told us."

The Commander of the Blood Angels became suddenly very silent, nodding. "She was not lying… and it's partially my own fault."

Pandora shook her head. "Don't say that, Honey, you've been a great inspiration for her."

Dante sighed. "Yes, but she should have taken inspiration from you, darling… she shouldn't have spent all of her days training, she should have been spending at least some time with her classmates, learning how to socialize with peers her same age… I have done her no credit by my focus as a Huntsman."

Jacob watched on in silence, absorbing every detail. Suddenly things were starting to make sense, but even then, she still seemed quite sociable by his reckoning. She seemed at worst socially awkward, not a shut in like he could be in the past. What was it they were talking about?

"And yet she has found her niche," Titus added. "A company of friends who do like her for more than her skills and her prestige."

Dante shook his head. "Doesn't mean that she isn't in this position because of said training as well, now that I think about it…"

Jacob sighed. "Dante, now is not the time for that kind of talk. Now is the time for prep."

The Blood Angel nodded. "Right… my apologies, I haven't been around for her of late and… all of this has been gnawing at my mind of late."

"I can understand that well. How do you think I felt when I first—

Blinding pain screamed through his head and into his eyes.

"AAAH!"

He heard his travel mug hit the wooden deck with a thud as he dropped it. He felt himself fall to his knees as he clutched his forehead, his eyes squeezed shut.

He heard Titus' voice, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. He hissed out a few words to them, saying, "Eyes… Volume… hurts… AAH!"

He felt hands grip him and heard the sound of a wooden door burst open. A female voice, but he couldn't make out who it was. He hissed in agony again, feeling his fingers dig madly at his brow in vain, basal attempts to claw his eyes out. Someone pulled his hands away with gloved hands, their grip like fire. Time felt as if it were rushing by and yet still only crawling. Why didn't the pain stop!? Why wasn't it stopping!?

Suddenly, it was over, leaving that familiar empty echo. Everything came back to him in a rush, voices sounded as loud as fireworks in a thunderstorm, he could smell the dew of the morning grass as if his head were on the ground in the grass itself. His mouth felt like cotton, but he fortunately tasted no blood as he sat there on his knees.

"Jacob?! Talk to me!" It was Titus' voice.

"I… I'm… fine," he stuttered out. "It's… happened before… just before the food fight…" He forced his eyes open slowly as he prepared for what he'd see.

Immediately he was met with a distinct change to the world around him… or at least his vision. Gone were the deeper shadows of Volume 2, though some shadow still remained, but now he immediately noticed that… the color palette of the world seemed brighter, more vivid… especially in Logan's face as he looked at him with focused, predatory eyes, even more expressive than before, though still restricted by the confines of Poser's animations.

"What happened then," asked the Great Wolf.

Jacob grimaced. "My vision… it changed from… Volume 1 to Volume 2… and it just changed again," he said as he looked around at the rest of them. He noticed value changes aplenty, the colors now feeling almost video-game-like as he looked at them. Though this time there was not the lessened framerate that he noticed in Volume 3; the usual level of motion he knew the human eye could register was indeed there.

Logan cocked a brow. "Now that's an interesting side effect," he said as the sound of a door swinging wide with a slam.

"Jacob!"

The man turned was met with a worried looking Nora sliding into a kneel at his side, giving him a panicked look. "Nora," he began, only to be interrupted by her hand crushing his wrist as a maelstrom of worried questions rushed out.

"Was it a migraine? Oh, gods, even worse, an aneurysm!? Does your family have a history of strokes? Was breakfast too salty? Have you—"

"Easy, Ms. Valkyrie," Logan said reassuringly as everyone else began to quickly file out. "He's alright now, I think. Except for that hand you're crushin'."

She looked down and quickly withdrew her hand sheepishly as Jacob felt another set of hands reach for his arm and help his up. He turned to see Jaune looking worriedly at him.

"I'm alright," he reassured. "I… get really awful migraine spikes," he lied. "Just haven't had one in a few months, they tend to be early in the morning."

Dante walked up to Jaune and offered a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Jaune took to the message quickly and let go. "Sorry," Jaune said. "We heard the scream and everyone shouting…"

Jacob nodded. "No, no, I get it," he said as he spotted the door opening again. A mane of red hair exited, obscured by the others.

Pyrrha stepped out from behind Yang, wearing a worried look he hadn't seen since she was—or would be, time was so fucked up at the moment—riding the Beacon Tower elevators down to meet Amber. "Is everything okay," she asked.

Jacob only nodded, not wanting to repeat himself. "I'll be fine in a minute. Just need a drink, that's all."

Pyrrha nodded, though her worried look never abated. That was quickly abated as Jaune came to her side, giving her a quick reassuring look that Jacob could actually make out now. "I'll go get some water for you," she said.

"Might as well get some cookies just in case; enough around here to stock a bakery," Nora added as she was quick to go, followed by Blake and Weiss. Jaune took up the back of the group, watching back behind him as Logan and Dante had moved to prop Jacob up.

The door closed quietly as the group made for the kitchen.

"You have to admit he's a good soul for her," Jacob said as he looked up at Dante, now noticing there was a visible storm in his eyes.

Dante said nothing, only studying them closely. Jacob was only torn away from that moment as he felt Mira's hand on his shoulder.

"Now, then… what do we need to do?"

Jacob sighed. "To paraphrase an Elton John song… we gotta make them feel the love tonight. We gotta play matchmaker."

---

"Son of a bitch, this thing crawls!"

"It's not that bad!"

"I'm telling you, Mr. Xiao Long, this thing is working on giving me a wedgie."

"I didn't need to know that."

Jacob squirmed in the black slacks he now stood in, staring back at himself in the mirror. He groaned at the significant lack of color in his outfit, how stuffy he looked in the Beacon suits that the boys had been given. All black with a white undershirt; Even some grey or something would give him some more visual flair, now he just looked like a penguin cosplay without the orange beak.

"Come on, all the rest of the guy students are gonna be in this outfit, you'll be fine," Taiyang said with a smirk.

Jacob let out a small snort. "I just really wanted to look more like myself," he said. "This feels nothing like me; I'm more of a guy for plaid button ups if I want to look fancy…"

Tai hummed aloud. "Let me see if I have a shirt you could swap out of." He turned and left the room without another word, leaving Jacob alone with his thoughts.

"And cowboy boots if you have any," Jacob rhetorically said in a huff as he continued to study himself in the mirror. Again, he found himself trying to adjust to the new perspective, how different lighting was now. He could see the tint of the room change in the afternoon sun, how his facial features were even more expressive than before, eyes able to widen and squint far better. Any sharper angles he perceived before had rounded out, giving him that rotund face once again he struggled with so much, even after losing weight.

Speaking of which, he now checked himself in the mirror, studying some of the other changes to his self that he had only noticed in passing. Long gone were all but the last few vestiges of his extra weight, his body looking somewhat fit for a change. He scrunched the sleeve of his shirt back to glance down at his arm; not truly muscular as some others had, but it had toned up a lot from the flabby things he had arrived with, and now he could visibly confirm it rather than guess based on feeling it alone.

"Five months of changing everything," he said quietly as he stood there in front of the mirror, admiring his progress. "But it's not for my sake…"

"Well, look at you, checking out your guns."

Jacob startled and spun about at the voice, his heart leaping for a moment. "Jesus H. Christ, Pyrrha, you scared… the… wow…"

He started to wonder if the perception changes were timed just right make things more interesting. Pyrrha stood in the doorframe, shoulders hunched in slightly in sheepish hesitance. Her smile was timid but radiant in the warm afternoon light, giving her an angellike glow that only emphasized her… well, everything, honestly. But far more interestingly she was not clad in the simple red dress she had worn originally to the Beacon Dance.

Instead, her dress was a bit more complicated, and by his wager far more elaborate in appearance. It was a one-shoulder blood-red dress that wrapped down from her left shoulder across the top of her bosom, leaving the top of her cleavage visible but most everything below that securely and tastefully wrapped. It was ruffled and yet form fitting like a Greek woman's dress. The red dress was wrapped at her waist with an ornate cloth belt of black inlaid with Grecian patterns of gold before continuing onwards, stopping midway down her left thigh but continuing down to her calves on her right. But her left leg wasn't exposed; below that diagonal cutoff she seemed to be wear a skirt of gold material, the bottom that reached to just atop her ankles laced with the black crest patterns of her shield. Her circlet shone brightly as a red-pink lily sat in her hair, a much brighter color that complimented her hair.

And on her shoulder, he noticed a brooch of silver, gold and red; a garnet carved in the shape of a teardrop, flanked by two wings of gold feathers with silver arms. The Chapter badge of the Blood Angels; a gift from her father no doubt.

"You like it," she asked with a smile.

"Pyrrha, you're absolutely stunning," he said with a reassuring smile. "I hope that thing is up to the task of dancing."

She smiled and took a step forwards, spinning in place and revealing her black stiletto heels before doing a line dance side-step with ease, as if there were no skirt there to begin with. "I'm not the best dancer, but this dress is surprisingly easy to walk in," she said.

Jacob let out a scoff. "Says the girl who just pulled off a line dance side-step in high heels," he replied.

She blushed sheepishly. "Considering I fight in heels on a normal basis, dancing isn't that far off from it."

Jacob gave her a conceding shrug and nod. "Fair enough."

"So," she asked, "are you coming along, or are you trying that 'bachelor's night' I've heard Uncle Titus talk about before?"

Jacob ignored the connotations of that and decided to reply with, "I'm trying something a little more colorful, courtesy of Mr. Xiao Long. Nothing but black and white doesn't work on me, even if I have brown shoes; maybe a little blue plaid might liven things up."

Pyrrha hummed aloud as she crossed her arms and said, "Well, blue does suit you quite well. Although I think you might make the other guys feel like they went through a lot of trouble for nothing. As much as Jaune looks quite handsome in that suit—I mean, uh, looks dashing—I mean… uh…"

Jacob let out a chuckle as she began to become flustered and tried to fix her mistake. "Easy, Pyr," he said, waggling his eyebrows, "I know what you really mean about Jaune."

She grew a mortified look on her face that only made her cuter with the bright pink blush that crossed her nose bridge. "I, uh, don't know—"

"Don't play dumb with me, Pyrrha; you're mad for the man, aren't you? I can see it on you a mile away."

After a second of silence, Pyrrha groaned. "Please don't tell him," she begged quietly. "I don't want to make it awkward between us. He… I honestly am not sure he's into me to begin with."

Jacob gave her a baffled look. "Well, I mean he has his blockhead moments," he said with a shrug, "but not into you?"

She nodded. "Have you seen the way he fawns over Weiss at times?"

"And Weiss just asked Neptune as her dance partner for the evening," he replied. "If that doesn't get the point across that she's not interested in him, Weiss is going to need a hammer with the words 'I'm not into you' printed on it in big bold letters."

Pyrrha sighed. "Still, if he does only see me as a friend, I don't want to make it uncomfortable for him."

Jacob sighed as he stepped forwards. "I doubt it," he said, gently taking her hands in his own in a reassuring hold. "You've been there for him every step of the way, you've been his greatest teacher… and I think if you tell him, you'll find he likes you too."

Pyrrha blushed hard at the thought. "You… really think so?"

He nodded. "The thing is that I've seen how he reacts around you," he said, gently letting go of her hands as he backed away. "He does get flustered, especially when you two are very close. I think he feels it but he doesn't know what it is or how to react to it."

Pyrrha's brow furrowed. "I find myself doubting that last part," she said. "He surely must have had crushes when he was younger, right?"

Jacob shrugged. "Then again he also had seven older sisters who doted on him and shared a house with him; I'm half expecting he's desensitized to the naked form of a woman… though in that connotation that is really weird."

Pyrrha's blush grew deeper. "I mean, he has seen me wrapped in a towel before… I did notice him staring for a minute."

Jacob felt a bemused smirk. "Trying to get him to whip out his sausage, or just on accident?"

Pyrrha's face was almost the same color as her hair now. "Maybe… a bit of both," she squeaked out.

Jacob couldn't stop the small laugh-snort that escaped his nose. "Don't let your dad catch you saying that or Jaune won't live long enough to go to first base."

Pyrrha nodded as she cleared her throat. "A-and what about you," she asked, trying to deflect the moment. "Any, uh, any ladies at Beacon that catch your eye?"

Jacob shrugged. "Most of the ladies I spend time with here aren't exactly legal for me by the standards of home, and I stick to that rule regardless of the local culture."

She cocked an eyebrow at that. "Seventeen is not a legal adult for your people?"

He shrugged hesitantly, trying to explain it in a way that hid that he was from a whole nation rather than one frontier city. "Well, no, eighteen is. But, that being said… technically the age of consent is seventeen," he said, ballparking an average from what he could remember, "but I can't stomach the thought; gotta wait one more year as far as I'm concerned."

She nodded. "Fair enough. So, eighteen…" She leaned back against the door again. A faint smirk crossed her face. "You know, Yang's eighteenth birthday passed last month on the 3rd."

Jacob felt his eyes widen at that. "Oh, no, no, no, she needs someone who is a lot more… uh, 'alpha' I guess would be the best term. And furthermore, seriously? I figured she was a summer baby just on pure random guess, not a fall baby."

Pyrrha giggled. "She's not one to celebrate her birthday when Ruby's is so close," she said. "She said she wanted to celebrate her birthday at the same time as Ruby's, and when I found out she swore me to secrecy. So much for that."

Jacob sighed. "Still, I'm not her type. She needs a guy closer to her age and more of her type."

A shrug was Pyrrha's reply. "Well, opposites do attract."

"But alike souls stay together," he returned.

"And from what mother told me, being with someone who is like you can get boring after a bit."

"Agree to disagree, since you're pining for the farm boy who has to label his shoes and still is struggling with how to be a swordsman."

Pyrrha blushed through a mild look of indignation. "Jaune's intelligent," she said. "You know this as well as I do."

"Quick to learn, yes. Brainy, not so much, but that's in the works," Jacob replied.

There was a sound of footsteps from further down the hall. "I think this might suit you, Mr. Muller," came Tai's voice down hall. "Oh, hello Ms. Nikos, pardon me."

Pyrrha obliged as Tai entered the room, revealing a shirt of plaid patterns in blue, black and white in his arms. "Summer gave me this after a trip to Vacuo, but these are definitely not my colors," he said. "But you, on the other hand…"

Jacob smirked. "Oh, those are definitely my colors. Blue is my color, no questions asked."

A few minutes later—and some playful ribbing from Pyrrha about the back and chest hair on him—and Jacob was standing in front of the mirror staring back at himself. The suit was now gone, and the plaid shirt sat in its place, giving him the look of an urban cowboy. He smiled brightly at the pop of color on himself, the fact he now felt a little more like himself in attire befitting his Southwest roots.

"Now all I need is a ten-gallon hat and some boots with spurs and I'm ready for a hoedown," he said with a chuckle.

Pyrrha smiled. "It looks great on you," she said.

"Oh, yeah, plaid is one of the handful of patterns I actually can pull off," Jacob replied. "I owe you big time, Tai."

Tai let out a small dismissing noise. "Nonsense, any friend of my daughters is a friend of mine, and I'd do anything to help a friend out. Besides, I never wore it before and Summer would have been remiss if it stayed in my closet for the rest of eternity."

"I appreciate your generosity, Mr. Xiao Long," Jacob said with a bow of respect.

"Oh, think nothing of it, Jacob. And it's Tai, please."

Jacob nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Tai."

Pyrrha sighed contently. "Well, then… I'll go let the others know we're all ready." With that, she turned and left the room, leaving a shadow of gold and blood red that followed a few inches behind her.

Jacob watched as a small hint of giddiness seeped into his veins at the thought that Arkos could be a legitimate couple before the night was out.

"So… why was she talking so much about you and Yang being a thing," asked Tai, a notable tone of wariness in every syllable.

Jacob felt his stomach clench in terror. "Uhm… well… your daughter is… quite the first kiss for a man…"

The room fell silent as Tai studied him closely and Jacob vacillated between saying anything more.

"Uh-huh," Tai replied with a knowing smirk.

Jacob didn't stop the exacerbated sound that left his throat.

---

"Ugh, curse these lady-stilts."

"Oh, sis, you look adorable in that!"

"Yang…"

Jacob chuckled. "Don't tease your younger sister, Yang," he replied. "They usually sprout up and overtake their older siblings in the height range for a good old dose of karma."

"Oh, I doubt that," Yang replied as she pulled Ruby into a side-hug. Strangely enough, Yang's dress—chosen even before Tai had heard about the kiss—was perhaps a smidge more conservative than Ruby's, he thought as he compared the older sibling's white cocktail dress to her little sister's shoulderless red and net-necked dress. Odd thing, that.

For a second, the volume of the party seemed to increase a smidge, inciting a flicker of a furrow on his brow. He let out a small huff in frustration as he realized the volume would maybe be a problem as the party rode on later into the night.

He took a look around the area. Just as in the show before—only now seen in Volume 3 Vision—the Beacon Dance was being held in what he presumed was an emptied concert hall. It sat along the edge of the campus about three buildings south of the dorms, easy to access for students as it was within visual range of the courtyard statue—even now as he looked out he could see the man on top of the rock with his sword raised high in the air. Outside, the moon had fully risen over the horizon line an hour ago, at 7:00 on the dot no less. Summer was fleeting now, and the first few weeks of September now belonged to Fall.

Fall.

He didn't try to suppress the shudder that crawled up his back. Miraculously, no one noticed it.

"I'm actually amazed by how many people came out tonight," Jaune said from behind Jacob.

"I think everyone needs a good opportunity to come down from last week's horrors," Jacob replied. "What better way than a night of dancing, laughter, intimacy and spiked punch?"

Nora zipped up beside him with a gleeful grin. "Somebody already spiked the punch? Awesome!"

Both he and Jaune let out a sigh. He turned and felt a brief sense of levity as he saw Jaune standing next to Pyrrha, both flanked by both of the Nikos parents; several adults, from professors to family members had apparently volunteered to chaperone, though that was a loose definition at best since they were mainly there just to break up any coitus on the dance floor. Jaune wore a nervous look as the Commander of the Blood Angels stood behind him with a reassuring smile, and Pandora was grinning ear to ear. Farther back stood another two Imperial chaperones, Titus and Luce, standing in business casual outfits of their own; the former Marine stood in a tux that really suited him, complete with visible gold Ultramarine cufflinks, while the Inquisitor stood ready in a black and red pantsuit dress, looking like a principal of a school more than a dreaded Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus.

"Well, I suppose we should divide and conquer," Jacob said loudly to the group. "I'm going to go grab a glass of punch and claim a chair, I wanna see how the dance floor looks before I—"

"No, no," Yang said as she approached him. "If we're all dancing, you are."

"Speak for yourself," cried out Ruby as she stood rigid on her heels.

"Maybe," he replied. "But not now. Not my kind of music to dance to, honestly.

Yang smiled, very clearly picking up on the mention of the music. "Oh? Then what will you dance to?"

Line dancing, a little ballroom dancing when I tried to woo a girl at prom, he thought to himself. "I'm not telling," was his verbal answer.

"Oh, I'll figure it out," she said with a grin. "Sit like a bump on a log all you want tonight, I will get you to dance!"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Good luck, Goldilocks," he said bemusedly as he turned and walked away, noting how the rest of the group was also breaking apart.

His smile was quick to drop, however, as Jaune and Pyrrha seemed to go off in different directions, both looking uncomfortable.

"Damnit," he hissed as he turned and walked for the table spread. He didn't even bother to see the rest of the spread—he knew full well that by the smell on the air there were enough sweets to kill Nora, an impossible feat at best—and went for the punch, pouring a glass of the blue drink and garnishing with a lemon. He walked away and began to drink; blueberry-raspberry flavors, strong and sweet and reminding him of Jolly Ranchers, and no sharp taste of alcohol beneath it. Good, he thought, we don't need to get drunk tonight.

Jacob was quick to find a seat near edge of the dance floor, not far from the DJ booth that was surprisingly not as loud as he was expecting. He turned and took a sip from the drink, scanning the dance floor for the major players tonight; He spotted Mercury and Emerald surprisingly fast, both dancing near the center of the dance floor in a slow hugging rock that was unconvincing at best and suspect at worst. Nora had been quick to drag Ren onto the dance floor too, puling him to start a ballroom waltz that seemed about ready to turn into a ballroom blitz at a moment's notice. Weiss stood alone, and Neptune was deep in conversation with her if the laugh she was wearing was any indicator; to his chagrin, Jaune was watching them with a look that he couldn't determine. Blake and Yang were sharing a table across the way with Sun, the trio deep in the throes of laughter, a horrible joke floating on the air. Much of the crowd was various students he recognized in passing, people he had maybe spoken with once or twice as he had focused his time on RWBY and JNPR.

He felt his stomach twist at that revelation. So many students he was more familiar with. Sure, it wasn't by much, but still… how many of these kids perished in the original timeline? How many lived? Would some scar? Would some forget? Would some never forget, rendered screaming by nightmares in the middle of the night?

He watched two couples dance together a few meters in front of him, his thoughts zeroing in on them; one pair consisted of a dark-skinned boy with a striped mohawk like Rufio's and a pale girl in a pale pink dress with curly dark hair and reddish-brown eyes, like the color of rust. The other couple he was quick to recognize as two of the girls from Team NDGO, the violet-colored leader and her blonde teammate. Their names he noticed had escaped him, though he still recognized the two girls easily.

The first couple he noticed were dancing quite close to one another, but were in the throes of a dance that felt right at home in the Peanuts comics, clearly having the time of their life if their raucous laughter was any indicator. Jacob read the two as they danced, feeling the emotional connection between them practically ebbing off them like a sonic pulse; best friends if not possibly partners in romance, both clearly calm and collected internally even as they enjoyed their night. For a moment in Jacob's mind, the image of them fighting flashed to the forefront, the images of battle around them.

He shook his head and the dance returned as they collected themselves and pulled each other back onto their feet. His attention turned to the NDGO teammates, and there was a stark difference. The two danced together as one in their motions, fluid and coordinated in a dance halfway between a ballet and a ballroom dance. The two were beaming brightly, even giggling a bit as the shorter blonde was led by the purple-nette in their dancing, drawing some attention from the rest of the crowd. If he knew the names for dance moves, he might have been able to name them, though he recognized them; his left eyebrow raised high as he saw the blonde be led out towards the crowd in a twirl as she gripped her teammate's hand, only to spin back into her embrace like a streamer pulled taut and allowed to curl back in on itself. It was a classic romantic dance move, made all the more evident by the goo-goo eyes they were giving each other.

Jacob smirked in bemusement. "I wondered when I'd see some lesbians around here," he said to himself, taking another sip from his punch. "Considering Ozzie's comment on consent, I wonder if—"

"If what, Mr. Muller?"

Jacob started, punch sloshing and dripping onto his shoe. "Jesus Fuck, Ozpin," he hissed as he turned. "Someone needs to put a bell on you or something."

The Headmaster let out a chuckle. "Yes, I was quite proficient in stealth in my youth," he said as he stepped forwards to meet Jacob's side. "And…yes, come to think of it, there was a noise complaint from their neighboring room to theirs a few evenings after the Breach. I didn't act on it, I confess; they were in the middle of the Downtown region when the Grimm began to surge in. They were in the thick of it."

Jacob let out a chuckle. "Called it," he said as he sipped from the punch. "A little bit of life and death hanging in the balance never hurt in sparking romance."

"Indeed," he said. "It's a wonder that Mr. Arc and Ms. Nikos haven't shown signs of taking the initiative; a shame, that, I see them as a couple that will not struggle with their unity."

Jacob turned to look at Ozpin with a smile. "So, Nora and I are not the only one to see it," he said bemusedly.

Ozpin chuckled. "When you are Headmaster of a Huntsman Academy as long as I have, you pick up on the tells of certain things; rivalries, romances, friendships unrealized…. You would be surprised how easy it is to see when you first spot a tell."

Jacob nodded in agreement. "Well, I may just have to take a few lessons with you, especially considering our line of work," he said with a slight hint in his voice.

Ozpin side-eyed him warningly, though his smile never faltered. "I would advise caution of speaking openly on such things," he said in a low voice. "But yes, I would be happy to."

He paused for a second, though there was a pregnancy in said pause. Jacob felt an ill feeling in his stomach as he processed the tension.

"You seem on edge," he said to Jacob, offering a hand on his shoulder.

"A little," he confessed. "I was just thinking of things involving…Autumn…"

Ozpin caught on to his double meaning. He nodded solemnly. "Autumn is always the last vestige of life before the winter comes. But new life comes soon after," he said with the vagueness of a laundry list. "We simply need brace for the winter of discontent."

Jacob nodded quietly. In his mind, he was wondering if Ozpin knew just how right he was.

Across the way, giggles reached out across the hall. Jacob turned and saw Nora dragging Ren out onto the floor, a giggling Yang and Blake watching them from the sidelines before they turned and led each other out behind the other JNPR pair.

Jacob let out a noise like a second-long laugh. "There goes the other pair," he said.

"And Ms. Belladonna with your first kissing partner."

Jacob felt the heat rise to his cheeks. "Shit, don't tell me—"

"Word travels fast in Beacon halls, Mr. Muller, and it has been over a month now. Everyone knows. Ms. Goodwitch actually sees you two further down the line showing some greater chemistry."

"And I'm inclined to disagree, Oz," Jacob replied as he fought the rising blush on his face. "Familiarity makes for a solid bedrock. She and I are like oil and water; slow bulky strategist versus the strong, speedy spitfire, who's also brainy in her own right."

"True, it suits a couple best when they are of like mind," he said. "But perhaps you two are more alike than you think."

Jacob cocked his brow. "How you figure?"

"Consider how much RWBY and JNPR congregate around you, Peter has joking started calling you the big brother of the clique; and consider how Yang is practically maternal around her teammates."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "I am hardly the big brother of the group, that's more Ren's department."

"And yet Ms. Rose looks up to you a great deal, as well as Ms. Nikos and Mr. Arc."

There was the tiniest pang of guilt that jabbed Jacob in the heart at that. "Well… they really shouldn't, all things considered," he said. "I'm not that good of a person; I have my moments, but a paragon of virtue I am not."

"Perhaps," Ozpin said flatly. "But in our line of work, very few are truly a paragon. Miss Rose is one of the first I have seen in a great many years to be like that; a spitting image of her mother as I recall correctly."

His phrasing piqued an old question in Jacob's mind. "Actually," he said after another sip, "How does that work? Considering the age of STRQ and Glynda, that must make you, what, in your 60s? 70s at the most? You don't look a day over 40, honestly."

The stare Ozpin gave him spoke volumes enough. Jacob was fully aware of the reincarnations, but something about the deep stare Ozpin gave him, regardless of the smile with it spoke of an unnatural age, something beyond what he could conceive. "You are not wrong," he said quietly. "But I think this is not the time or place for that." He gestured to the dance floor in less of a suggestion and more of a hint. "Please, Mr. Muller. Enjoy the night while it's young."

Jacob looked down at his cup in uncertainty, letting out a faint sigh.

"You won't get Mr. Arc and Ms. Nikos to kiss if you don't get them to open up, and you won't get them to open up if you don't talk with them."

Jacob snapped his head back to the Headmaster as he walked away, smiling and nodding understandingly.

Jacob began to cradle his head in his free hand. "Oh, great…Dante's gonna kill me," he muttered quietly.

"Oh please, everyone recognized it from day one."

Jacob looked up. He was met with the sight of Delia standing before him, wrapped in a bright yellow dress with a black sash and a silver Imperial Fist brooch on her shoulder, the same place where Pyrrha was wearing her Blood Angel sigil. He smirked dejectedly. "Hey, Delia," he said.

"Hey, Jake," she said as she sat down beside him. "You doing your daily routine of moping, or you gonna try something new tonight?"

Jacob grimaced as he looked up at her. "Funny. And yes, I hope. I just need to figure out how to approach it."

She let out a sound as she leaned back. "Yeah, the plan… to play matchmaker, right?"

He shrugged. "It's the best option I can think of for giving her a reason not to go up there in case all else fails. If there is one thing that can make you do something—or rather not doing something—it's having something to lose."

Delia hummed again. "You sure that won't galvanize her to fight harder in a losing battle?"

He had no answer for that. It was a legitimate worry he had considered as well. "It's better than sitting around and doing nothing, Lysander. Something I know you hate doing…. And yet are doing now."

She let out a tiny scoffing sound. "Thought you might want some company… and I wanted to know some stuff." With that last sentence her voice had lowered to a hushed mutter.

Jacob turned to look at her. "What kind of stuff?"

"Indeed, what are you wanting to ask, Ms. Lysander," came the voice of Penny from behind him.

He jumped at the sound of her voice. "Penny! Christ Alive, is everyone trying to give me a heart attack?"

Penny ignored his swear, offering a big smile as she stood in her off-yellow dress and dark pink sash. "It's so good to see you both. I was worried after Ruby said you went to Patch that we wouldn't speak until the Festival started. Are you well?"

He and Delia nodded. "Yeah, I've been alright… had a vision shift this morning, Volume 2 to Volume 3."

Penny blinked. "Oh, your perception," she deduced as she sat down beside Jacob. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Lysander. You had wanted to ask something of Jacob?"

She looked back over her shoulder, clearly wanting to avoid being disturbed. "About Holy Terra… in your time. What it was like to live on the sacred home world of Mankind so distantly in the past."

Jacob cocked his brow. She wanted to pick his brain about home; he felt something bubble up to the surface in his mind, some manner of relief that he could for a moment speak freely about home rather than in hushed tones. But more than that, the tone in her voice was eerie in how reverent it was, how she said the name of Earth as if the name was weighted with benevolence. He felt a tiny flutter of unease at it all.

"Well," he said as he cleared his throat and adjusted himself in his seat, "Where do you want me to start?"

---

"Come on, Sun, dance with us!"

The monkey Faunus balked in an unusual awkwardness. "Well, I-I mean I, uh—"

"He doesn't know how to dance," replied Neptune as he sat next to the Ice Queen.

"Hey, neither can you," he said back.

Neptune seemed to pale. "What, that's not true, I totally can—"

"No, you can't! I've seen you flop trying to do a simple line dance!"

Yang's eyes lit up with delight as she heard this. "Oh my God, for real?!"

Neptune's pallor became rosy as clear embarrassment crossed him. "Okay, okay, you caught me."

Yang couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled up in her throat, followed swiftly by Blake's own. "For real, you can't dance… Oh my God, how is that possible?! You're coordinated enough!"

Sun blushed with an embarrassed scowl. "Guys…"

Yang found herself laughing at Sun's embarrassment as Blake took his arm. "Come on," she said. "Let me show you!"

Sun let out a startled sound. "O-Okay," he stuttered. "Uhm… sure, yeah, let's dance…" Yang saw him stare back at Neptune with a dark glare before her partner pulled him into the dancing crowd.

"Oh, no you don't, you're dancing with me too," called out Weiss. Yang felt another laugh roar to the surface as Neptune paled and was pulled along behind her, following the other pair in.

Oh my God, why did I leave my good camera in the room, Yang thought to herself as she wiped a tear from her eye. She was having the time of her life so far, and only a half-hour had passed since they had all arrived. Already Ren and Nora had danced their pants off, though not literally yet; Yang was expecting Nora to make the first move and have a bed rodeo with the guy before the clock struck midnight. After all, she had 30 lien riding on it with Delia that Nora and Ren would be grinding genitalia before the night was out, she hoped she wouldn't be coughing up money for her troubles. For now, though, she enjoyed watching her partner and her sister's partner dragging their boys out onto the dance floor for a little sway and sashay.

She blinked as she looked over the crowd, though, and noticed a distinct lack of several people. Particularly one dense noodle and his dewy-eyed heroine.

Yang felt a happy flutter. Wait, don't tell me she actually got him alone, she thought to herself. Yes! You go, girl! Get him and rein him in, you—

Her mental sentence was cut short as she saw Pyrrha walk past the table spreads, headed towards the far end of the seats where few other students were.

Yang felt herself grimace angrily. "Ah, damnit," she hissed.

"I see I'm not the only one rooting for them."

She blinked as the voice in question registered in her head. She turned to see Jacob standing beside one of the giant speakers she had suggested to put down, wearing a disgusted and disappointed look as he also watched her.

"I didn't expect you were also on this train," he said to her as he walked closer to Yang.

She gave him a look of surprise. "You didn't think I was? Are you kidding, she telegraphs like a neon sign for him. Almost everyone in our little circle has clued in."

Jacob sighed. "And he still can't or won't take the fucking hint," he growled. "At this rate this gonna last to the end of time."

Yang sighed. "I know, right? Now I'm just wondering what's going on now? She was up on the balcony, then he followed her, now she's walking away and I haven't a hell of a clue what happened."

Jacob furrowed his brow in thought as he traced a line following her described path. "Okay, that's disconcerting."

She nodded. "Do you think we should go after her?"

Jacob made his thinking face she was used to now, where one cheek scrunched up and the brow on the same side followed suit as he began to rub his jaw under that goatee-mustache of his "I think it would be better to divide and conquer," he said.

She took a second to think about it. It did make more sense, since they could confront them both before they either moved or were done with the dance altogether. "Yeah, that's probably best."

He nodded. "So, guy talk and girl talk, or vice versa," he said as he pointed off to the two lovebirds.

She nodded back. "Yeah, I think she'll open up more to me," she said. "You go talk with Boy Wonder, okay?"

Jacob shrugged. "Fair enough. We'll reconvene here in… what, ten minutes?"

She nodded. Plenty enough time, she thought to herself as she rounded and followed Pyrrha out the doors of the dance hall.

She didn't have to travel far to find Pyrrha, spotting her sitting on one of the benches in the gardens, right across from the pond. She looked downtrodden, but thankfully she didn't seem to be crying.

Yang sighed as she stood just outside of visual range. "Great, Yang, you jumped into this without thinking how the hell you're gonna bring her down… nice thinking."

"I'm sure you got it, Sis!"

Yang felt herself jump into the air in shock, letting out a small yelp. "Ruby," she hissed as she saw her little sister standing right behind her, "What are you doing!?"

"I saw you following Pyrrha," she said. "And I wanted to know if she's okay."

Yang looked back at Pyrrha. She was still unaware of them, at least at first glance, but…

"Just go back to the dance," Yang said. "I think she only needs one—"

Ruby circled around her and darted towards the champion. "Pyrrha!"

Yang swore under her breath as she rounded and saw Pyrrha looking back at them, offering an insincere smile. "Hello," she said as they closed in. "Why aren't you two enjoying yourselves at the dance?"

"We saw you bolt," Yang answered in mild exasperation. "You weren't hard to track."

Pyrrha seemed suddenly very guilty as she turned her head and cast her eyes onto the pavement. "You shouldn't be out here with me," she said. "I'm hardly any fun."

Ruby groaned as she sat down right next to Pyrrha, taking off her silver flattop heels much to Yang's chagrin; those were hers she thought they would look nice on Ruby considering they matched her silver eyes. "And I can't dance in these, so I'm no fun in there either," she said. "And we hate seeing our friends upset, you should know this by now."

Yang let out a chuckle. "See Jacob for further details," she replied. "Anything we can do to help?"

Pyrrha sighed. "Not unless you can turn back time so I can be more upfront with Jaune from day one," she said.

Ruby gasped. "I knew you were in love with him," she cooed excitedly.

She nodded with a bitter smile. "And yet he thinks so lowly of himself and so highly of me…"

Yang didn't even need to think long about that to understand. "Don't tell me he gave you the 'It's not you it's me' spiel, did he?"

Pyrrha sighed. "Yes… and no. It was more of… well, he put me on a pedestal and himself at the bottom… again."

Yang looked at Pyrrha with a look that was tinged with uncertainty. How could she comfort this kind of thing? She loved being in the spotlight. And yet, Pyrrha clearly was having a horrible time with it. Yang felt herself fidgeting with the curls of her hair in uncertainty.

Ruby, on the other hand, took Pyrrha's hands in her own. "Hey," she said, wearing a look of concern. "Talk to us, please. You need someone to talk to."

Yang turned to look at Ruby with a mild sense of shock. This wasn't like Ruby to be this up front about discussing feelings.

She locked eyes with her sister and saw something that churned her stomach.

A storm in those silver eyes; a tumultuous tempest in her eyes that felt like something wanted to rush to the surface. Ruby's eyes seemed far more mature than before, the sparkle of her innocence given way to something that chilled Yang's blood. She felt that sisterly need to take her baby sister in her arms and hug her and beg her to talk as well, to tell Yang what troubled her too.

She blinked and the thought seemed to fall away as Pyrrha let out a sound like a sigh on the way to becoming a sub. "Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha wiped her eyes, though no tears had been produced yet. "Being on a pedestal… is not as easy as most people think," she said. "All my life I've wanted to be the best Huntress I could be. Not for the accolades, I mean; they're nice, but they were never my goal."

Ruby nodded. "No, I get it," she said, that sparkle returning. "You wanted to help people, right?"

Pyrrha let out a sniffle as she nodded. "Yes… I… actually," she began as her mood continued to elevate. "I, uh… I knew a Huntress when I was little in Argus. She was a friend of the family and she… she was my babysitter sometimes, but always… always my best friend. And she was the kind of Huntress I try to be everyday."

Yang smiled. "Sounds familiar. I'm sure you've made her proud."

She nodded. "And my parents. I always looked up to them both so much, and they were so proud of me when I first wanted to join Signal. I… I could make them proud even when my friend was… no longer here." That last part wavered as she seemed to remember something.

Yang felt her heart sink. She knew what it was. "Oh my God… Pyrrha, I'm so sorry, I didn't—"

Pyrrha held up a hand reassuringly. "It's okay. I... I don't talk about her often… But regardless, I strived to be the best I could be… and I didn't realize until recently just how much it cost."

---

Jacob was met with the sight of Jaune hunched over as he leaned against the railing, clearly deep in thought with how his chin was resting on his left fist.

He sighed. I really hope he's actually clued in, or this is gonna be a long night, he thought as he sauntered up casually.

"Whoever you are," Jaune called out, "could you leave me be? I… don't want to talk."

"Easy there, Boy Wonder," Jacob jokingly.

"More like Boy Blunder," returned Jaune with a sigh.

Jacob sighed and rolled his eyes. He didn't have the time for moping. "Hey, only I'm allowed to be the self-decrepitating one around here," he said as he leaned against the railing next to Jaune.

Jaune shuffled away. "You should go enjoy the party, Jacob. Don't hang out with an idiot like me."

There was a moment of curiosity that rose in Jacob's veins. "Idiot? What for?"

He moved to cradle his head. "For screwing up every time I've gone after a girl… and now screwing up when my partner bears her heart to me."

Jacob felt his heart soar in his chest. The noodlehead had finally clued in. "Pyrrha," he said, failing to mask the excitement in his voice. "You finally figured it out."

He nodded, not paying attention. "How could I be such a dunce," he hissed.

Jacob patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, easy," he said. "Women can be hard to read."

"And yet the signs were there. I saw them all and it never clicked."

"Love is a complicated thing."

"But… I don't want that to ruin what we have!"

Jacob felt himself cringe. Oh, great. Hesitance. "Well," he began, "I don't know what to say in regards to that except… it won't be ruined if you make an effort to be what she wants and needs both. And you aren't gonna ruin it; you know her well enough."

Jaune sighed. "But still… I don't… I don't want to make things uncomfortable for her. Me, a farm boy who lied to get into Beacon, and her, the greatest Huntress of our class."

Jacob cocked his brow. "So?"

"She can do so much better than me, for one thing."

Jacob bristled. "Don't you dare do that," he said. "You're better than you give yourself credit for."

"How?"

Jacob pointed to himself. "Twenty." He pointed back to Jaune. "Seventeen. And already you're better, for one example."

Jaune scoffed. "Says the guy who can win fights more," he said.

"Remind me again who has had his ass kicked more in personnel battles as well as Grimm encounters," he said. "The victories on me are unbalanced, unprepared psychopaths and… other things."

Ferris' eyes flashed again in his mind, though he didn't shrug them off; they were quick to fade on their own.

"And yet you've also had more victories," Jaune replied.

Jacob growled. This was getting him nowhere. "The point is, Jaune," he said, "that you are more than enough! And she wants you, too! She doesn't want 'better', she wants her partner!"

Jaune let out an exasperated sound. Jacob followed suit.

"You know why she wants to be in a relationship with you," Jacob asked.

Jaune turned. "Why?"

---

Pyrrha let out a shaky breath as the two sisters held her hands in reassurance.

"I have been so blessed in my life… talent that even sometimes amazes myself; A family that loves me no matter what; opportunities that few could dream of; appraise from everyone, whether peer or professor or stranger on the street. But…"

Yang leaned in with worry. "But what, Pyrrha?"

"…But when you've lived your life on a pedestal… you become detached. In… in my pursuit of becoming the best I could be, I never made a single friend in my time at Sanctum. Admirers, yes, but never friends. And what's more is that… for a while, I was well aware of it, and I tried to make friends. But being where I was, there was always one obstacle…"

Yang felt the answer coming from miles away. "They never thought they were good enough," she murmured.

Pyrrha nodded. A tear dripped from the corner of her eye. "I never cared about that… I just wanted a friend, somebody I could share time with in some way or another." Her voice was wavering with the foreshocks of a breakdown, something Yang was familiar with.

Ruby must have picked up on it too as she leaned forwards slightly; after all, both had a fair number of experiences with such episodes.

"And Jaune," she continued, her voice wavering more. "Jaune was…"

A sniffle cut her off for a second.

"Jaune was the first person to treat me like a normal person. He didn't even know my name when we first met, and even after learning about me, he still treats me as who I am, not as… not as everyone else does. And I… oh, I've been so selfish, I've been becoming so infatuated with him. But I know even now he still has an eye for Weiss and I… I just want him to be happy."

Yang's heart ached. "Hey, hey, don't be like that, Pyrrha," she soothed. "That's not selfish at all. The fact you went so long not saying anything, letting him crush on Weiss… selfish, you're no such thing."

Across the way, Yang saw Ruby lean in and pull the Champion of Mistral into a hug. "Pyrrha… we all love you… and we want you to be happy too. And I think he knows too."

Another sniffle, stronger as if she were on the verge of crying. "You do?"

---

"Remember how you first approached her, Jaune? Remember?"

Jaune groaned. "I brushed her off."

Jacob shook his head. "No," he replied. "You treated her like a normal person. You always have. Yes, you were chasing Weiss, but you also went to her in confidence for your training like she was just a normal person!"

"So?"

Jacob grimaced in frustration and slammed his forehead on the railing. His Aura hadn't gone up and he felt the full impact, groaning in regret as he came up. "So," he said, "Remember how she's been treated most of her life."

Jaune blinked as the words began to drill at his skull. His eyes widened. "On a pedestal—"

"On a pedestal, bingo," Jacob replied. "But you didn't treat her like that. You treated her as just a normal person, a friend, a confidante. You weren't out for her reputation or her skills, you just wanted a friend. And she liked that."

Jaune seemed to study this idea slowly, letting it run around in his head.

"Then you showed your vulnerability and the fact you trusted her and were willing to put in the time and energy to improve yourself. Something she liked. Then you saved her."

Jaune snorted. "You saved us."

Jaco sighed. "No," he said. "Later, yes. But you kept her safe. I was just the distraction. She woke up with you next to her, holding her hand while you were asleep. That's only something that someone who is in love would do."

"That's not true."

Jacob shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned. I mean, another thing I noticed is that you've not been pestering Weiss nearly as much as before."

Jaune sighed. "Well, yeah… I figured it out not long after she and Neptune started making goo-goo eyes at one another on the sly… and I… I felt something."

Jacob cocked an eyebrow. "Felt what, jealousy?"

Jaune shook his head. "I don't know, it was…. It was like suddenly I didn't feel that cloud nine feeling I had around her. I mean, Weiss is still pretty, but… it's weird, I didn't feel like I even wanted to pursue anymore. It just felt like… like a waste of time."

Jacob felt a chuckle bubble up in his throat as the description given to him rang old memories in his head. "You weren't in normal love, you were in puppy love, Jaune. A crush, and a strong one at that if it lasted a good three months. You finally just… snapped out of it."

Jaune shuffled as he let the words roll over him.

Jacob felt a shift in the tension. "Well… that just brings us back to the question. You feel the same way about Pyrrha now don't you? Except… it feels different than before, right?"

Jaune was silent.

"Well? Answer me, Jaune."

Jaune grunted. "I guess… I mean… I don't know, I haven't really thought on it."

Jacob didn't want the half-marks; he was tired of his own instances of it, and he didn't want someone else missing out for it. He circled around to face Jaune. "Jaune Arc… I need you to tell me, to my face if you could… the truth of the matter."

---

Yang nodded. "I do. I can see it in his eyes, it's rattling in the back of his skull. But if you're gonna go through with this, you can't just go off of hearsay from everybody else, and you can't back down from it either."

Ruby pulled away, letting Yang come up to her, taking both of her hands in her own. She looked up at Pyrrha, the poor girl on the verge of tears.

"Tell it to me, and you have to be perfectly honest with yourself and with me if you're gonna ask him…"

---

"Jaune Arc, do you love Pyrrha Nikos?"

---

"Pyrrha Nikos, do you love Jaune Arc?"

---

"I… I… I love her."

---

"I love him."

---

The words hung in the air like a lone cloud in a clear sky. Jaune seemed to be processing the words that he had uttered, as if a daemon had possessed his lips in the confusion.

Jacob felt excitement roar in his veins. "Say it again," he said, though whether it was for his own sake or for Jaune's he couldn't say. "Louder."

Jaune blinked. "I… I love her."

"Louder."

"I love Pyrrha." Slowly, the revelation was dawning, his words breathy as if he'd had the wind knocked out of his lungs.

---

Yang beamed. "That's what you wanted to hear."

Pyrrha let out a shaky breath as the words echoed into the night. A gasp of a laugh as her eyes reached their dew point, the tears no longer sad, but now tinged by the growing smile on her face. "I… I love him…"

Behind her, Yang could hear Ruby slowly getting excited if the slowly-increasing tapping of her heels was any indicator. "You got this, Pyrrha… now you just have to say it to his face."

Slowly, she began to stand, leading Pyrrha back onto her feet.

---

"You love her?"

Jaune nodded as the wind seemed to be knocked out of him and then regained on constant rapid loop. "Yeah, I do…"

"is Weiss still rattling around in your head?"

Jaune seemed to process the question. "I mean, the thought's still there, but… why does it feel so off? I mean, it felt a little off before, but now…"

"Because it isn't the truth," Jacob replied. "Because it's not what your heart feels."

"I… I don't know, everything feels… better than before…"

Jacob nodded. "Clearer?"

"Yeah."

"Brighter?"

"I… I think so…"

"That's good, I'm told that's true romance; the world doesn't get narrow, it opens up! Everything feels like you could dance down the street with a cloud at your feet! The world seems to shine like you've had too much wine!"

Jacob himself felt on cloud nine, like he himself could belt Sinatra's song without a care in the world. Without a warning he pulled Jaune into a hug, feeling like the pieces were coming into place.

A few seconds later, Jacob pulled back and patted Jaune on the shoulder. "Alright… let's go find her."

---

Yang and Ruby held Pyrrha's hands the whole way back to the dance hall. Yang could practically feel the excited tremble of her heart through her palm, only tempered by the odd tiny squeeze of reassurance.

She chuckled. "I remember my first confession. Nice guy, name was Oak Anderson. Crack shot with his shotgun, but a bit of a wild card, more than even I am."

She wasn't wrong about remembering it either. Yang could remember her time before she was the blonde bombshell, when she was a cutesy tween in a yellow and black t-shirt, a tie in her hair and shorts who was cursed with a crush on the cool guy in the class. How she cornered him in the hallway on the way to lunch to ask for a kiss. How it was everything she imagined and nothing like it at the same time.

Shame he was really a bit of an asshole.

They approached the doorway in, only for Pyrrha to stop.

Yang turned to look at her in confusion. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Pyrrha seemed to find her shoes interesting with where her eyes were. "Are you sure he… he isn't still holding a candle for Weiss? I… I don't want to interfere if it means he's happier."

Yang let out a small sigh in unison with Ruby. "I think he finally clued in that Weiss doesn't want him, Pyrrha. I think he got the memo when she dragged Neptune on the dance floor."

Pyrrha looked down at Yang—something Yang was not used to in the presence of other women was looking up, she had to admit—with a hopeful look. Yang only responded with a gentle pat of reassurance on her arm.

Pyrrha's eyes seemed to twinkle with green light, as if emeralds. She nodded.

They turned and walked into the dance hall, three hearts fluttering with excitement if the second pulse Yang felt in her grip and the bright smile on her baby sister were any indicator.

---

Jacob had wrapped an arm around Jaune's shoulders in reassurance as they wandered back inside. Even then, Jacob couldn't deny the tense sensation in his whole body, how his heart hammered in his chest in anticipation of the big moment he had wanted all night. He wasn't even the one confessing love, and yet he was excited for Jaune, almost giddy for his friends; Arkos was coming to pass earlier than it should, and all it needed was a smidge of a push.

Jaune let out a worried groan. "What if I screw it up? I don't want to make her uncomfortable."

"Don't overthink it," he said as they caught sight of the dance floor, closing in on the spiral staircase. "Let the emotions come naturally, say everything with control and don't beat around the bush."

Jaune seemed to tense up. Jacob followed his gaze.

He was met with the sight of three lovely girls entering the dance hall, looking as tensed up as he felt now. They hadn't caught sight of the two guys yet, but that wouldn't stay that way for long.

He turned to Jaune, the poor boy looking more than just a smidge nervous.

He patted Jaune's opposite shoulder. "You got this, Jaune…"

He rose a hand up and waved from the top floor as their gazes crossed their general area.

Yang caught sight of him, her eyes brightening even from here. She smiled, something that un turn made him smile back.

Pyrrha's gaze turned up to them, and she seemed to tense up.

The world felt like it was holding a collective breath.

"Here we go." He pulled away from Jaune and gave one more pat on the shoulder. "You got her, my man. Sweep her off her feet."

Jaune was petrified and yet seemed like his legs were jelly as he walked towards the stairs, watching Pyrrha. Jacob couldn't stop the goliath smile that crossed his face as he followed a few paces back.

They reached ground level and immediately Jacob noticed several people step forwards or turn their heads towards them around the room. Jacob was quick to spot the face of Dante and Pandora, watching from a far table just outside of Pyrrha's line of sight.

Dante gave him a small nod and a slight smile.

Jacob returned it, only to notice Jaune do the same. He started to wonder if he had misread the Blood Angel.

Instead, Jacob took one step further up to Jaune, patted him on the shoulder and simply whispered, "You got this," before breaking away deeper into the crowd. Across the way, he saw Yang follow suit with a gentle squeeze of Pyrrha's hand before both sisters break off. Jacob felt his heart drum feverishly with excitement. This was it.

He met Yang with a smile and a tired laugh. "You think we got it?"

Yang smiled brightly. "Only one way to find out…"

Penny walked up beside them. "I predict an eighty-five percent chance of successful confession," she said beaming brightly.

Ruby smiled and stood off to the side of her sister and her robot friend as the two teammates continued to make their way deeper in. "She's right. They'll be fine."

Jacob nodded in agreement. Still, he couldn't deny one tiny part of his mind that was worried of failure. Maybe if he could seal it…

There was a quick silence that filled the air over the din of the students before a bass rhythm kicked into action.

Inspiration struck him so hard he wondered if he had been smacked over the head with a lightbulb. He reached into his back pocket and produced his phone.

Yang turned to look at him. "What are you doing? You gonna video it?"

"No need," came the voice of Nora behind him as her Scroll came into view with the video recording mode on. "Already wanted to be the one to record this to show them."

"Well, that's not what I was doing anyhow," Jacob replied. "I need to see if I can dock my phone into the speakers..."

The other four circled around him and looked down at his phone as he scrolled through music. "What are thinking of playing," asked Ruby.

Jacob smirked as he found his answer. "A sappy romance song."

The CD cover art for Enchanted filled the screen.

---

Jaune felt his heart racing a mile a minute as he locked eyes with her. They were maybe twenty feet from one another, and yet it felt so much longer and shorter all at once. Every step felt like lead, but he was walking on clouds; everything was a confusing mixture of soft and harsh, the music faint but still he could feel it in the floor beneath his feet.

There she was across the way; was she always this radiant? Did Pyrrha always look at him the same way he felt about her? He wasn't forgetting his partner, his trainer, his friend; and yet this all felt new. She was… she was something else. Maybe he was drunk on the emotion? Saphron always told him that you could feel so in-love that everything was distorted, maybe he was overdoing it? Or had she always been like this and he hadn't ever thought about it before?

He shook his head. The fog seemed to clear, and yet she remained.

Pyrrha.

How had he been blind to it? He'd never asked himself about it, how he reacted around her, how he loved to spend time with her. When he woke up with that crick in his neck and her hand in his, he felt something there back under the fact she was his partner and teammate. Something there he hadn't considered this last week.

The two met near the edge of the dance floor, but it felt like all eyes were on them. His breath felt heavy in his lungs.

"H-hey."

She brushed a loose bang out of her eyes. "Hey," she returned quietly.

Jaune felt himself fidgeting. He cleared his throat. "Pyrrha… I'm sorry about earlier…"

Pyrrha watched him with worried eyes that sparkled. He knew they were always this bright, but something about them tonight…

"I… I thought you had found a guy who was right for you. Or at least there should have been someone like that. I thought I was still pining for Weiss…"

Pyrrha nodded in understanding. "I know… and I didn't want you to worry about me. I… I would have rather seen my best friend be happy with someone else…"

Jaune felt guilt wash over him. He reached out with the timidity of a child, searching for her hands. He found purchase with a gentle hold, palms to palms, her hands immediately relaxing in his own.

He could feel her heartbeat in his own hands.

"Pyrrha… you should have just told me."

Pyrrha shook her head as her eyes began to dew with tears. "No, it was selfish of me, and I don't want to ruin what we do have, Jaune."

Jaune felt his heart ache at her words; the same worries. "Selfish? Pyrrha, you aren't selfish… never have been and never will be."

He stepped closer, just a single step, but now she was within inches of him. She tensed, but he could see the excitement in her eyes. He was the cause of that… he buried his elation down for but a moment.

"I've been the selfish one," he replied. "I… I wasn't paying attention, like always. And I wasn't paying attention to you… or what I was feeling. And I've felt it stronger than ever since we took that Matador on… and we almost lost… just imagining you unconscious there with that thing, I… I couldn't help myself but worry."

Pyrrha's hands clenched just a hair and her eyes sparkled. "Jaune…"

Jaune's heart was thundering a million miles an hour in his chest. "I… when I woke up that morning with you in that gurney… I had never felt that kind of worry before… and I was so worried that you'd been hurt beyond what I knew you could get up from… I needed your hand when I fell asleep that night. And I thought it was just because you were my partner and your friend… But…"

"But… what, Jaune?" She was leaned in close to him, so close he could feel her heartbeat now.

"But… I was wrong. It wasn't just that."

Her eyes teared up. "Jaune…"

His tongue seemed to struggle with the words as if they were a hundred pounds in his mouth.

The music stopped, cut off by a short burst of static. Both of them turned to look up at the DJ booth.

The DJ was plugging in something else to the rest of the system. With a single click, it started.

Piano notes. Gentle, soothing, heralded by the sounds of tiny bells making the sound of magic movies use.

The lights dimmed slightly as the dance floor was hit with a spotlight. The music began to grow a little stronger. A voice came on, gentle and calm.

You're in my arms,

And all the world is calm,"

The music playing on, for only two…

Jaune blinked. "I've never heard this song before."

"Neither have I," Pyrrha replied.

They weren't the only ones. Around them, other students looked up, though Jaune noticed others still were getting into the mood of the song.

Pyrrha let out a nervous chuckle.

So close together,

And when I'm with you,

So close

To feeling alive…

Jaune felt his stomach leap as he noticed a few couples on the dance floor turn and begin to lead their partners. Jaune felt his stomach clench; Saphron had taught him how to ballroom dance when he was eleven… maybe now was the time to make it count.

He cleared his throat. "May I have this dance?"

…

…

Pyrrha felt her heart leap with joy as he asked that, only to be tinged with worry; for as much as it was like fighting… she didn't know how to ballroom dance; line dancing she knew, but this was new to her. "B-but, I, uhm… that is one thing I've never learned how to do…"

Jaune blinked before giving her a smile that soothed her. "That's okay, Pyr… let me show you."

Pyrrha bit her lip. Something about Jaune being the one to teach her something felt… satisfying.

She let him lead her out onto the dance floor as the music picked up.

A life goes by,

Romantic dreams must die

So I bid mine goodbye

And never knew

Jaune seemed to be discouraged by the lyrics. "Kinda… kinda sad lyrics, isn't it?"

Pyrrha nodded, but offered him a smile. "But… the melody is hopeful."

Jaune nodded in agreement. He reached out to take her hand. "Hopeful… just like you, Pyr."

He took her hand in his, and his other hand shakily moved to her waist. She reached up and gently led his hand to take her waist, her hear soaring and thundering in her chest. Was this real? Had she fallen asleep on the bench and she was just dreaming this all?

So close was waiting

Waiting here with you

And now

Forever I know…

Jaune let out a nervous laugh. "So… I, uh, I lead… I step forward left—"

"I step back right?"

All that I wanted

To hold you

So close…

He nodded nervously. "R-ready?"

Pyrrha felt her heart flutter. "Always."

He stepped, and she followed suit. The music swelled again as they began to dance.

So close to reaching

That famous happy end

Almost believing

This one's not pretend

And now you're beside me

And look how far we've come

So far

we are

so close…

Pyrrha felt like she was on cloud nine. This had to be a dream, that had to be the explanation. She had maybe felt one or two stumbles on her part, but she kept rhythm and pace. They were in perfect sync, even doing a bride spin—a bride spin, she never imagined doing that—and a few other fancy moves with his guidance. Coupled with the lights—were they brighter on them, or had they moved to the center, she didn't know, and frankly she didn't care as the music soared triumphantly, happily, as if a bird had taken flight. She didn't even realize she was laughing and crying as they spun, the world around them a blur of music and light and color from both the other students and her own dress, trailing her movements in a dazzling blur of her own red and gold. He was laughing too, that bright happy laugh that made her heart soar, made things feel right, and it was because he was dancing with her…

The music came down and their moment of euphoria petered off, but only for a but a moment.

She caught her breath, not from exertion but from excitement as she once again stared into his sapphire eyes.

"Jaune," she said with a smile on her lips and tears in her eyes. "Thank you.."

Oh how could I face the faceless days…

Jaune let out a tiny chuckle before he took his hand free to caress her cheek. "Pyrrha… do you love me?"

Pyrrha felt her breath seize in her lungs. She nodded through teary eyes. "Yes… I love you Jaune…"

If I should lose you now…

"I love you too, Pyrrha…"

Her heart felt like it could burst in her chest as the music crescendoed.

He leaned in, his lips just puckering a tiny bit.

She met him.

She felt lips lock, and the world become nothing but joy.

We're so close to reaching

That famous happy ending

Around them, the world became music and cheering, cheering of familiar voices; Jacob she thought she heard cheering madly, and her mother's joyous cries, but she didn't care, not right now. Jaune had confessed to her… he was in love with her… and she with him.

This was no dream.

They rocked side to side just slightly as they kissed, the world feeling as if made of clouds.

Almost believing

This one's not pretend

Let's go on dreaming

For we know we are…

They broke the kiss, letting the emotion hang in the air as the world around them seemed to shine. Pyrrha felt so happy, tears streaming from her eyes as the smile refused to leave. This was no dream… this was real.

She sniffled. "Thank you, Jaune," she said through her tears.

A tear drew from his eye too. He chuckled. "Sorry I took so long to figure out."

So close, so close

And still…

She leaned into his chest, feeling his heart. Their heartbeats were in perfect sync.

"Never let go," she whispered.

"I never will, Pyr."

So far…

The music tinkled off as the music and strings came to their close, everything felt like heaven; she wondered if she was in heaven.

This was love. And she and Jaune were in love.

The music ended, and the room around them erupted into cheering and whistling around them. Even the rest of the school—no, schools, plural—were happy for them.

Nothing could ruin this night.

---

"YES! YES! YES! YES!"

Jacob was on cloud nine; euphoria didn't begin to describe what ran through his veins as his favorite love song finished playing and his favorite pair confessed to one another.

He heard Ruby squeak with delight behind him with Penny. "I can't believe it, I can't believe it, they actually confessed to each other!"

"They did more than that, Friend Ruby, they kissed!"

Jacob wheeled with a big dopey smile across his face that he didn't even bother trying to hide as the rest of the room continued to applaud the two lovebirds. He instead pulled the two into a hug, the two bouncing in excitement. "We did it," he roared happily. "Goddamn it, we fucking did it!"

Penny was laughing with excitement at this all. "Oh, I'm so happy for them!"

Behind them came the excited voice of Nora as she let out a cheer. Jacob felt her tackle him from behind, moving but not sending him over. "You crazy son of a bitch," she laughed. "How did you know that would work!?"

Jacob laughed. "Well, back home a lot of people love that song, I figured it would work here too," he said as he returned her hug. Across the way he saw Ruby and Ren hug real quick before a mass of blonde hair obscured their view. A pair of strong arms wrapped both him and Nora in a hug as Yang cried out, "You clever little cupid, you! I knew you were a romantic!"

Jacob chuckled again. "I don't get a lot of chances to try my luck in romance," he confided. "But I'm damn glad I got my chance to play Cupid now!"

All three of them laughed before Yang leaned in and planted a kiss on the cheek. His smile dropped in surprise as he turned to look at her.

She gave him a smug look. "Don't look too much into it," she said. "It's the high of the moment."

Jacob shrugged and let out a chuckle. "Fair enough," he said. "I'm too quiet for a party animal like you… or am I?"

Yang let out a hum of intrigue.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Okay, maybe not enough for your taste, but still, I'm feeling that excitement you wanted in me, and, well, fuck it! DJ! Turn it to Kenny Loggins for me, first song!"

Two more individuals walked up, followed by another two; Dante and Pandora were the leads, looking exuberant and happy as clams as they walked up. Jacob was immediately wrapped in a hug with Pandora, the mother so excited that she was crying what he presumed to be tears of joy.

"Oh, thank you so much, Jacob," she said, giving him a look that was both warning and alerting. "I knew it was eating at Pyrrha so much…"

Jacob gave her an affirming smile. "Oh, I can't let two of my best friends not get together when the signs are clear," he said.

Dante walked up beside the two and offered Jacob a shoulder pat in approval. Jacob felt a smidgeon of pride at getting approval from the Lord Commander of the Blood Angels like that. "To see my daughter happy like that, I can't thank you enough, Jacob."

Jacob bowed his head. "My pleasure, Sir."

The other two walked up, revealing Titus and Luce, both beaming. Dante turned to speak with them, but over the din of the crowd, he couldn't make out what they were saying as Pandora broke the hug.

"Well, I should go ahead and check on them before they disappear on us," Pandora said with an excited giggle; Jacob could feel her excitement for her daughter like a physical aura that permeated her for a meter around her.

"Right, right," he said with a nod, tinged with a message; Everything's gonna be okay, Ma'am.

The way her eyes lit up with relief gave him all the indication he needed. She nodded back and turned to go reach the two, or at least hover nearby.

He stood back to watch the group around him; Ruby was busy having just spoken with Weiss, Blake, Sun and Neptune about it all. Jacob could see they were all excited, all of them abuzz with intrigue about it all, the collective of eleven people mingling in joy about their friends and their confession to one another and the world while they were at it.

And Jacob had been at least one half of the arbiter of this. He and Yang had made Arkos come to be so much earlier than in canon.

He felt like he could scream with joy.

He heard Yang chuckle as she walked away from talking with Ren about it. "Nora was recording the whole thing," she said as she showed her Scroll. "She's sending it to everyone."

Jacob chuckled. "Fantastic. I can't wait to see how much shaky-cam she put into it."

Yang let out a laugh at that before gently socking him in the shoulder. "You jerk, she only had one pot of coffee today!"

Jacob picked up on the joke in turn, letting out a laugh in tandem. "Hey, uhm, thanks for talking with her," he said. "I couldn't have talked with them both, at least from a time crunch perspective."

"Hey, they're my friends too," she said. "Vomit Boy needed to hear another guy reassure him, it only makes sense; I was the better pick for Pyr."

Jacob shrugged in agreement. "Not gonna deny it," he said. "But I gotta ask about the kisses."

Yang seemed to blanche. "Huh?"

Jacob cocked an eyebrow. "I'm definitely not a good match for you, so why keep giving me lip locks and pecks on the cheek?"

Yang blinked as the question seemed to roll around in her head. "Honestly… you just seem like the kind of guy who needs a little reassurance," she said. "No disrespect meant about your confidence."

"None taken."

"And besides…You're a good guy," she said. "Sometimes you just need a bit yourself."

Jacob smirked. "Ah, don't waste your time on me," he said. "A lot better bachelors than I, objectively. Also, seventeen and twenty is not a good age gap; the half-and-seven rule and all that, we're right on the edge."

She returned the smirk. "Eighteen," she replied before turning to talk with a very excited Coco and Velvet that had walked up to them.

For a brief moment, he felt a hint of wanting to pursue, a feeling he was all too familiar with, especially when she glanced back at him for a sec.

He shook his head. His romance could come later… and Yang had more pressing things to worry about than romance in her future.

The flash of Wilt and Blush crossed in his mind.

He grimaced to no one. Second objective, keep Yang away from Adam. Actually, both her and Blake. Fuck it, keep Adam away from RWBY.

There was another sound as the speakers retorted back to him. He remembered what he was originally planning for.

Nora smiled as she turned to talk with Jacob again. "Are we gonna love this song?"

Jacob figured in the back of his mind that they would. I wonder if this is how Star Lord felt explaining Footloose to Gamora.

"I think so," he said as he stood up and turned to the crowds, standing around. I've always wanted to say this...

"Well, what are we all standing around for, I thought this was a party! Let's dance!"

The drums started to beat, an electric guitar playing in the back. In the back of his mind, a part of his mind that was into schadenfreude expected everyone to stare at him like a lunatic. Instead, he was met with several pairs breaking off to start dancing.

He smiled as the music kicked in. "An oldie but a goodie from home, it's time to cut Footloose!"

He turned to look at the others, wondering how they reacted. He was received by a half-dozen bemused stares, one eyeroll from Weiss, two approving nods from Sun and Neptune and a dancing Nora.

Jacob shrugged as he locked eyes with Yang and Ruby. "What? I can be fun."

Yang rolled her eyes and smiled while Ruby let out a giggle.

He chuckled and began to dance in place as the music started up. Across the way he could see Pyrrha and Jaune start to dance, smiling brighter than the sun as the bride-twirled and danced to Kenny Loggins. Both turned to look at him, offering warm smiles.

He got the message and bowed. Kenny's vocals bubbled up from the speakers.

Been working so hard

I punch in my card

Eight hours for what

Don't tell me what I got…

Tonight couldn't get any better if he had wanted it to.

---

Two hours had passed since the dance had kicked off, and many of the students had broken off, exhausted or simply had their fill of dancing for the night. Raucous techno music had given way to rock and roll and pop, even to styles that were foreign to Remnant's ears; something Jacob called 'country' music. Now the night was settling down and the group that remained danced to 'big band', a grandiose music most hadn't heard since the years before the Great War.

Cinder found herself enjoying the music for the first time all night. Oh, not that any of the other music was bad, Cinder didn't hate music, but this style was more her type; old, powerful in a different way, grand and roaring with emotions. Even when it was slow and calm it still felt grand.

She smirked as she watched the crowd from the second floor of the dance hall, letting herself sway a bit with the music while she let her sexy, clingy, shoulder-less black silk dress flow around her. It wasn't something she was used to doing, simply due to the lack of music in Salem's Palace most of the time, but she enjoyed it when she was out in the world.

She felt a presence approach her. Emerald appeared in her periphery, wearing a casual smile. "Interesting night so far," she said. "Gotta say, I didn't take you as the type to be into music, Cinder," she said.

Cinder hummed. "There is a lot you don't know about me, my dear." She turned her gaze down as the music was ending; some song that she heard was called "In the Mood". It was a bouncy little tune that was quite catchy, but it was more interesting to watch the groups that remained now.

Specifically, Mr. Muller and his cohorts.

She had watched as he and those eight children and their older compatriot had run off with the night, playing his music that she had never heard before; not a single song sounded like anything in the CCT datawebs.

Down below she heard laughter. She looked down to see Muller dancing and laughing with the two sisters and the Atlesian android, looking like they were having a grand old time. Across the way, the now two pairs of Team JNPR danced together, looking exhausted but eager to dance the night away. For as much as she was amused by their romance no doubt becoming the talk of the school, Cinder saw them as more obstacles to move out of the way when the time came to make her move.

"I gotta be honest, they're cute together," Emerald said with a small sigh.

"I'm amazed she's horny for a dunce like him," added Mercury, twirling a toothpick from a cheese plate in his fingers. "She has the whole school to pick from and she decides on an idiot like Arc. I don't get." She reached up with his other hand and scratched his scalp in confusion.

Cinder chuckled. "It won't matter," she said. "Not in the long run, at least."

Emerald turned to look at her as the music stopped and another song began to play, slow and calm. "Cinder," she said. "I have to wonder… considering how much he knows, do you think Jacob has—"

"Informed them? I highly doubt it," she said. "He has kept them in the dark. Well, except for the robot girl. I have no doubt they all know by now."

Emerald hummed. "Speaking of her, I think I found some more files on her deep in the infrastructure. Still mostly encrypted, but I think I found her command codes and her update pathways."

Cinder felt the smile crawl up her face. "Really? How fortunate."

Mercury looked over at her with that dark smile she liked seeing from him. "You got something in mind?"

"Indeed. I'll make a call to Watts in the morning, see if he can whip up something for us."

Emerald's eyes went wide. "You don't mean what I think you mean, do you, Ma'am?"

Cinder's smile only intensified as she watched the robot dance with the young Rose to the slow song, clearly having the time of her life as she did so. She made no vocal answer, instead humming to the gentle melody of the song.

Her lackeys looked to one another with confusion, much to her bemusement. "I think she means exactly that, Em," replied Mercury.

The two began to discuss plans as Cinder watched on at the group down below. A few adults remained, particularly the Nikos girl's parents and some members of the Inquisition, including Ozpin far off to the side of the dance floor, looking foolishly confident and happy at this little party. Her gaze again passed over the newly-star-crossed lovers and their other two teammates—she was bemused that, apparently, they hadn't fucked yet when the girl was giving her tall, dark-haired partner all the signs of wanting a good romp in bed. Her eyes crossed over the two Faunus dancing together, the poor boy still blushing as if his face were a tomato; the Heiress and her blue-haired boy toy had taken a seat to the side and were swaying together to the music. Again, her gaze drew down to the three pairs in the center, dancing to the slow music.

"Emerald," she called out, interrupting their planning.

"Cinder?"

Cinder stood up. "I have an additional request from you two," she said. "I want to know how much they know and how much Mr. Muller is onto us. I want you to get into Team RWBY and Team JNPR's circle of friends, watch them closely and report back to me if they're onto us."

Emerald walked up beside her. "But Cinder," she began to protest, "what if he catches onto us? I think we're better off watching from afar."

"He wouldn't risk revealing the truth about Ozpin to them," she replied with a smile of pride. "He won't risk that kind of gambit. He will keep his mouth shut, or risk being outed."

Emerald let her explanation roll around in her head for a split second. "Fair enough," she said, mirroring Cinder's smile.

Cinder felt the fire in her veins roil a smidge. "Good," she said. "For now, though, let's enjoy ourselves. Tonight might be one of the last few nights in a while that will be peaceful in Vale, before the fireworks begin."

Mercury chuckled as he walked up to Emerald's side. "Come on," he said. "Let's try this slow dance stuff out. Not my kind of dance, but it's better than standing around."

Cinder wordlessly shooed them away as Emerald seemed to hesitate before finally conceding and letting her cohort in crime lead her onto the dance floor, leaving Cinder alone with her thoughts.

Oh, what a night, she thought as she looked down at them all, like a child looks at ants with the intent to step on them. Afterall, that's what they were; ants she would crush under her feet if they dared to stand in her way.

She felt Muller glance up at her for a brief moment. She chuckled darkly in self-bemusement as she stood up and took a few steps back, letting the heat of the Maiden's powers run its course.

"Indeed, quite the night to remember," she mused to herself as she reached for her pendant of the eight-pointed star. "I'm sure my Master will enjoy hearing about it…"

She let the dark hum in her throat match the melody of the song as it continued to waltz into the night air, letting her mind wander to the future ahead for them all. By her plans' reckoning, this would be indeed one of the last peaceful nights Remnant would see…

---

And still I find ways to tinge everything with a periphery of shadows because I am addicted to schadenfreude!

So yeah, a lot happened; The swap to Volume 3, the setting of corruption and other villainous deeds in motion, planning some contingencies, some cultural exchange...

Oh yeah, and Arkos is now sailing at full steam ahead.

Next chapter, we see the Teams finish preparing for the Vytal Festival as Jacob finds himself conversing with twice the unresponsive people as before; a tombstone with no body, and our unconscious Fall Maiden! Fun times abound!

Please share your thoughts with a review if you can, and if you like this story but are new to it, if you want to continue receiving updates, favorite and follow for when I actually put these out.

Once again, thank you all for being with me on this journey, and I hope to see you all again in the next chapter. Bye!