Beta: ShadowMeister234
An: I believe I owe you all an apology for how long this chapter took to come out. I don't want to make excuses, but there were two main reasons for this delay. The first is that jumping from my internship straight back into my senior year of college while a pandemic is going on has made me extremely busy. It sucks but all those things must come first.
The second is related to the story itself. The basic plot for this story has been outlined since chapter one, but while the first half was pretty well detailed, the second half not so much. I had decided back then that I would just start fleshing out the second half when I needed to. Well, with the end of the Cryphilictal arc that time had come. I don't want you all to think the latter half of this story is now just me winging it because it's not. There's always been a plan, but of course, things change over the course of two years (more on that at the end of this chapter) and even if nothing had changed there were still show stopping gaps in my current outline. Things like an entire arc only having four sentences to describe what happened, or another where the characters need to do something and my explanation was literally just "and somehow they do it," so before I even started writing this chapter I spent a lot of time just working on the outline and making sure everything fit together.
I understand that it can be frustrating to wait so long and I'm truly sorry for it, but I want you all to know that I'll always be working on this story until it's complete.
Now with the long author note out of the way (the ending author's note is even longer), please enjoy the chapter.
"This is a disaster, Ozpin," Ironwood said.
"I admit things are not great but this is not the end of the world."
"Perhaps not, but a bombing that killed fourteen people and put dozens more in the hospital doesn't speak well of the future especially with the Vytal festival only a few days away." Ironwood took a moment to let Ozpin pour him a drink. "The media is already in a frenzy. It might have been a White Fang rally, but the malice in this attack is completely unjustifiable. Relationships between humans and faunus were already at an all-time low because of the breach. I can't imagine what this will do to them. Worse, the conspiracy nuts are already claiming that either the Vale government or Atlas military is responsible. Protests are already happening on every street in Vale."
"We will get through this just as we have made it through before." Ozpin reassured his friend. "Do you have any suspects?"
"You already know who I have in mind."
"I do, but I still do not believe Miss Belladonna would do such a thing."
"Your belief is irrelevant!" Ironwood bellowed. "I have three eyewitness accounts that place a cat faunus with long black hair fleeing from the scene of the crime. The same faunus who also just so happens to have deep connections with the White Fang and who has also been absent from your school for more than a week."
"Be that as it may. There is no proof and I'd appreciate it if you'd not condemn my student before you are certain."
The General massaged his temples with his fingers. "You and I disagree on a lot of things, but accepting Blake Belladonna into your school has to be near the top of the list. Do you have any idea how hard it was to explain to the council that one of our closest allies offered a terrorist a spot at Beacon?"
Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "I'm sorry for any problems I may have caused you, but everyone deserves a second chance."
"A second chance she spat on."
"James," Ozpin warned
"This will not go away just because you want it to."
"I understand that, but I fear in your rush to fix this you are placing the blame on a young girl who does not deserve it."
"We shall see, Ozpin."
Ozpin sighed knowing that was the best he was going to get from his dear friend. "Let's move on to other topics. Miss Rose has finally awakened."
"I heard. I also heard that her sister is responsible for her recovery after she suddenly reappeared after being absent for nearly as long as Miss Belladonna, who also happens to be her partner. Didn't she also have to get medical attention for a broken arm with shrapnel sticking out from it. Almost like she had been caught in an explosion."
"Are you trying to accuse my niece of being a part of last night's bombing!" Qrow cut in. Up until now, he had been content with standing in a corner drinking his flask without adding anything to the conversation. Ironwood had preferred it that way.
"No, but you can't deny that it's suspicious especially since she came back with two unknown individuals."
"My niece hasn't done anything wrong."
"You can't know that."
Ozpin quickly stepped in before things could escalate. "Arguing about this will get us nowhere. Qrow, how about you tell us what happened one more time."
Qrow groaned and took a long drink from his flask. "I was sleeping in the infirmary watching over Ruby like always when a noise woke me. That's when I saw Yang, a blond-haired kid with no shirt, a green-haired girl with dark skin being carried by the blond, and one of Raven's portals closing behind them."
"That explains how they got in without tripping the security or alerting anyone," Ironwood muttered. "Raven being involved makes this that much more complicated. From what I know she doesn't exactly have a relationship with her daughter so why did she choose to assist her now, of all times?"
Qrow huffed. "You're giving that woman too much credit. Raven doesn't give a damn about anyone but herself, but she does have this rule about saving people once. I'm sure she just plucked Yang out of whatever mess she and her friends had gotten themselves into, then needed a person to dump them off on. That person of course being me."
"Given Raven's personality I do find it unlikely she would have intentionally helped in Miss Rose's recovery even at her own daughter's request," Ozpin said in aid of Qrow's reasoning.
Ironwood didn't argue. "What was it Miss Xiao Long actually did to cure her sister? Not even my best doctors could figure out what was wrong with her let alone how they might treat her."
"She had some liquid she insisted be dropped into Ruby's eyes." Qrow answered. "Of course, the doctor refused that request, so Yang did it herself before anyone could stop her. Then she demanded Ruby be woken up. After some debate the medical team decided to do it probably just to make sure Yang hadn't damaged Ruby's eyes any further, but as you know Ruby woke up without even trying to rub her eyes."
"Yes, I heard about most of that, but I still haven't heard what that miracle cure actually was."
Qrow looked away leaving Ozpin to fill the gap. "Unfortunately, we don't know. Every test we've put it through shows it to be nothing more than ordinary water."
Ironwood slammed his fist onto Ozpin's desk. "That can't be right."
"On that we agree, but if that's what the tests say there's nothing else we can do. Even after all this time, there's still so much I don't know about the silver eyes."
"Yang Xiao Long must know," Ironwood stated. "She didn't get that substance from nowhere."
Ozpin sighed. "I'm sure she does, but at the moment she's not talking about any of it."
"So she's withholding information. That only adds to her questionable behavior."
"Watch it Jimmy, I'm sure Yang has a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything."
"Then why hasn't she told you! In fact, why did you not stop the two people that came with her and question them."
"You weren't there. You didn't see them. It was like the three of them had walked out of a warzone. You'll have to excuse me for not jumping to arrest them."
"More like you were too drunk to be thinking straight."
Ironwood and Qrow were glaring daggers at each other forcing Ozpin to step in again before a fight broke out. "Qrow was worried for his nieces. I think he can be forgiven for not making the perfect decision."
Ironwood growled. "How did those two even get out of Beacon. The school Bullheads don't run that late."
"From what our cameras saw, a private bullhead came to pick them up."
"That isn't normal. Bullheads can't just be called like taxis. Do we really not have any idea who those two are?"
"No, but I will look into it," Ozpin lied. He didn't know exactly what Jaune Arc and his friend had been up to since he had last seen them during this year's initiation, but helping two of his students definitely didn't deserve having the general of the most powerful military on Remnant hunting him down.
"That's all I ask," Ironwood said, seeming to calm down a bit. "There is another matter to discuss though. Have you talked to the Fall Maiden's replacement?"
"I have spoken with Miss Nikos about it. She of course seems hesitant and nervous, but I'm sure she'll come around, she just needs time to think about it."
"I know it's unfair to rush her, but we need and answer sooner rather than later. I fear Amber does not have much time left, and Miss Nikos truly is the best option with her combat skills and loyal personality."
"I will schedule another talk with her if she doesn't get back to me so soon. Try to impress on her how important this is."
"Good. In the meantime, I'll continue investigating the White Fang bombing, and hopefully, Qrow can get his niece to open up to him about what she has been doing this past week."
"I'll do what I want," Qrow retorted.
Ironwood apparently decided he had enough of the drunk because he didn't respond. "I don't like this, Ozpin. Too many things are happening at once. Amber attacked, the CTT, the breach, the bombing. Things are spiraling out of control. Even if this isn't the Queen's doing, it would be the perfect time for her to make a move."
"We shall be prepared for when she does," Ozpin said.
"I wish I could share in your confidence. I really do."
"Here drink this."
"Thanks Yang." Ruby accepted the glass of water.
Yang watched every sip ready to intervene at the slightest sign of a struggle. It was ridiculous. Ruby was more than capable of drinking her own water, but Yang couldn't help but worry. Ruby hadn't had any negative reactions since waking up, but Yang didn't feel that meant much. This whole thing started because Ruby shot magical light out of her eyes and then was cured after spilling magical water on them. Not exactly a sound methodology. No one knew what might happen to her which was why she was still being kept in the infirmary despite all signs pointing to her being completely healthy.
Ruby finished her drink and handed the glass back to Yang which she grabbed with her left arm on account of her right one being in a sling. Most of her wounds had already recovered but her arm had been in bad shape. The doctor told her that even with aura it would be at least a few days before the sling could come off and almost two weeks for it to fully heal. When compared to those without aura, the healing time was practically nothing but it was still long enough that Yang wouldn't be able to compete in the Vytal festival. She felt like she should have been more upset about that than she actually was. Maybe it was because Cryphilictal had given her enough excitement to last a while. No need to get back into fighting so soon.
"It's so strange to see you with short hair," Ruby mentioned.
"You got a problem with it?" Yang smirked.
"No," Ruby quickly denied, shaking her head so fast it looked like it might fly off. "I think it looks good."
"Really?" Yang ran her hand through it.
"I do. I just don't understand why you cut it. You loved your long hair."
Yang still did. She didn't hate her shorter locks and she'd dare anyone to say she didn't still look damn hot, but she just didn't feel very Yang-like without her long mane. Still, it was nothing when weighed against her sister's safety. "I did it for you."
"You said that the last time, but I never asked you to do anything like you think cutting your hair is what healed me?"
Yang laughed along with her sister even though that was closer to the truth than she knew. Yang had given Ruby a version of what she had been doing this past week on the hunt for the cure. It was a version that didn't include any magic. While Jaune hadn't explicitly said anything, it had been implied that the existence of magic wasn't something to be spread around. It was why Qrow had also gotten the magicless versions of events when he came to ask her about it. He hadn't looked nearly as believing of her half-baked story, but that was fine, he could think whatever he wanted. Not only would the truth sound absolutely insane, but even if Qrow did believe her, that might generate some interest in Cryphilictal, and the last thing Yang wanted to do was convince anyone that going to that place was a good idea. It should just be left alone.
"Yang, you're shaking." Ruby grabbed Yang's arm and she looked down to see that she was indeed shaking. A few calming breaths were enough to get it to stop.
"Don't worry about it." Yang looked into Ruby's eyes to reassure her—her silver eyes. Ruby hadn't asked about them. If she had, Yang would have told her about magic and what really happened, but Ruby hadn't talked about what had happened to her at all. She probably just wanted to forget about the whole thing, and Yang didn't blame her. Of course, there was always the chance Ruby's eyes could go off by accident again, but now they had the cure on hand. Though if it did happen, Yang would probably have to come clean to her sister. The cure wasn't infinite. Ruby would have to learn how to control her eyes. Jaune could probably help with that if the time came, but there was no reason to force anything on her right now.
The quiet moment was interrupted when Ruby's partner entered the infirmary. "Yang, I see you're here again." Sulfur grinned.
Yang grinned back and slightly bounced her broken arm. "I'm injured. Why wouldn't I be in the infirmary?"
He rolled his eyes. "I know you've already been discharged. You're just here to dote on your sister."
"Guilty as charged, but what brings you here?"
"I came to see my partner. There are some things we need to discuss about the team now that it's only the two of us."
Ruby caught her breath and sunk into herself. Of course, one of the first things Ruby had asked when she woke up was what had happened during the breach. Ruby had been devastated when she heard what happened to her team, Vale, and Zwei. Both Yang and Headmaster Ozpin had tried telling her it wasn't her fault, but Yang knew Ruby would blame herself. She would never forgive herself for letting her first mission as team leader end so tragically.
Yang balled her fist, angry that Sulfur would remind Ruby of it so casually after she had done so much to stay away from the topic. He seemed to sense her irritation and turned to look at her.
She wanted to yell at him so bad. Calm down, her brain told her. Just let it go. Like it or not, this is something they have to talk about. Yang released her fist as logic won out over emotions.
Sulfur seemed satisfied that he wasn't going to be the target of her anger. "Not to be rude, Yang, but you should probably leave. This is a conversation best had for teammates only."
Yang looked to Ruby for confirmation and was returned with a firm but sad nod. "Alright, I'll leave you two alone for a little bit."
Yang exited the infirmary and made her way back to her dorm wondering what she would do. She didn't have to wonder for long though as another student ambushed her.
"You're Blake's partner right?"
Yang looked at the student and easily recognized him as the faunus who had so desperately tried to get Blake to go to the dance with him. He looked different though. She remembered him being the perfect representation of his name, Sun, all smiles and full of energy. Now he had large, dark bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days and walked with a slouch.
"I am," Yang replied.
Sun got closer. "Do you know where she is?" The desperation was so clear in his voice that it made Yang pause and with that came an awful realization.
She had almost completely forgotten about Blake. Her own partner. She had met up with her team after her arm had been set and hadn't even thought to ask if there was any news on Blake. She hadn't even really comprehended that Team BRYL was still down their leader. She had been so worried about Ruby and everything with Cryphilictal that Blake's disappearance had just slipped her mind.
"I don't know where she is."
He got even closer—so close that Yang thought he might actually try to grab her. "Do you know where she might be?"
Yang winced. "Sorry, I don't. She mostly kept to herself."
Sun's hands fell to his sides in defeat. "Okay, but please let me know if you hear anything."
"I promise."
The poor guy slumped away like he had just been told he had cancer. Yang felt her anger come back in spades. After everything she had just gone through, she still had to deal with her missing team leader. While Ruby was beating herself up over what happened to her team, Blake couldn't even be asked to stick around with theirs, and she was making one of the nicest guys Yang had ever met worry about her. Just how much of an entitled bitch did she have to be?
Yang switched directions and stomped off to the training rooms to blow off some steam. Her right arm might have been useless, but her left was still good. When—and if—Blake returned, Yang was going to give her a piece of her mind and her fists.
But, while Yang destroyed training bot after training bot, she couldn't help but think that it might have been better if Blake never came back at all.
Emerald examined herself in the mirror. The her of a few months ago wouldn't have recognized the person being reflected back. Her wet hair shone with the shampoo she had used and a puffy blue bathrobe clung to her freshly washed skin. She also had a little more weight to her and all around just looked healthy and brighter than the skinny, unwashed street rat she had been.
It wasn't all an improvement though. She lifted her right hand where a silver thumb and finger replaced the lost ones. She flexed them once again amazed at how easy it was to control them. It wasn't perfect. They were a bit heavier and felt a bit stiffer than the rest of her fingers. She would have to practice with her weapons to make sure everything worked correctly, but it shouldn't be that big a deal.
There had been a brief scare as the doctors were unsure if they could connect the fingers to her nerves since they had healed over so well thanks to Jaune's semblance. Luckily, throwing the SDC's money at any problem made it go away rather quickly and with only a few hours in surgery, Emerald had her new body parts.
She grabbed the coverings off the sink, that were the same color as her skin, and slipped them over her mechanical fingers. With them on it would be pretty hard to tell her fingers were fake unless you knew what to look for.
While she was thinking about that, her other hand drifted up to her face and outlined the damage that wasn't so easily hidden. A circular scar dotted the left corner of her lips courtesy of the monster that had pretended to be Jaune. It looked like someone had taken a hot poker to her face and twisted it into her skin. It didn't hurt, but it was a permanent reminder of where that incubus had tried to suck the life out of her. In other words, the world's worst hickey.
It wasn't massive by any means, but it was noticeable. Something that if she stole from someone they could use it to describe her. It didn't really matter, she hadn't needed to steal from anyone in a long time, and her illusions could have covered it anyway, but it still annoyed her. A blemish on her otherwise perfect figure.
She walked away from the mirror, not giving the scar any more attention than it deserved, and into her room. From there she smelled the most dazzling aroma wafting through the crack in her doorway. Something mouthwatering was being made in the kitchen and Emerald wanted it. She went to grab her clothes, but stopped with a naughty smirk and left her room without them.
Jaune was indeed cooking in the kitchen and whatever it was smelled even better the closer she got which was all the way to the counter. "What are you making me?"
"I'm making us homemade pancakes," Jaune replied.
"What's the occasion?"
"Thought we'd celebrate our first night back from the hospital." He looked up from his work station, and his eyes went wide when he finally noticed her. Her bathrobe covered up more than her normal clothes, but knowing she wasn't wearing anything underneath must have made Jaune's blood rush.
He was quick to recover though. "Are you planning on putting some clothes on?"
"Being back home means I don't have to worry about stuff like that." She took a seat at the table, stretched her back, and crossed her legs, letting Jaune get a good look at them as he brought the food over. He tried to act like he didn't notice, but Emerald saw him take a peek.
"You've gotten bolder since we started dating," he said.
"Lucky you." She smirked as she took a plate full of pancakes.
It felt good to interact like this. They hadn't gotten to talk to each other a lot while they were in the hospital. Some of that was because they were both receiving the best medical care money could buy, which meant constant testing and surgery, (Emerald for her fingers and Jaune for his missing tooth and blood clot the doctors had found which had been the cause of his headaches and nosebleeds. Could have saved himself a lot of trouble and pain if he had just gone in earlier.) but it was mainly because Jaune's time had been monopolized by Whitley as he demanded to know every aspect of their adventure. The two had been on the scroll so often that it felt like Jaune and Whitley were the ones dating instead of him and her.
This was the first time the two of them had gotten to just sit down and talk. "So, what else do you have planned for your lovely girlfriend? Pancakes are a good start, but I remember telling you that you had to work double to pay me back."
Jaune smiled. "Don't worry I remember. That's why I have a date planned for us today."
"Really?" She didn't think he would have something ready so soon. "And just what is this date going to be?"
"It's a secret, but you will have to be wearing clothes for it."
Emerald frowned before she had a genius idea. "You know, I never did give you that reward." With a simple wave of her semblance, Jaune saw her dressed in a black and white maid outfit complete with a short skirt, tight corset, and fluffy headband. She even leaned forward so Jaune could look down her cleavage. "How may I serve you master."
Jaune just rose an eyebrow not nearly as titillated as Emerald had been hoping for. "You're going to have to wear real clothes."
Emerald pouted as she let her illusion wash away. "Why aren't you falling over yourself with how sexy that was. You were even the one to bring it up in Cryphilictal."
Jaune shrugged. "What can I say, I only brought up the maid stuff back then because I needed you to believe it was me. It wasn't something I actually thought was going to happen. Mainly because the Emerald I know would throw herself into a raging fire before willingly wearing something like that."
Emerald groaned as she placed her chin on the table. "Fine mister hard-to-get, I'll go put on my normal clothes, but this date better be worth it."
An hour later they arrived at a place of wonderful color and loud noise. "Is this what I think it is?" Emerald asked.
"It sure is," Jaune replied. "The arcade you took me too when we had our first date."
"Oh yeah, I did call it a date back then." Emerald's thought back to that day. Back when she and Jaune were little more than strangers that just happened to work out a deal. It was strange to think there had been a time where they hadn't completely trusted each other. "I also remember kicking your ass in all the games."
Jaune decided to humor her. "You did, but that's only because I never showed you my true power. Follow me."
"This ought to be good." Emerald followed Jaune to a very particular arcade cabinet. "Really, the claw machine? Aren't these things super rigged?"
"They are, but you can push through with enough skill."
"And you're saying you can?"
"Definitely," Jaune said with a smugness that was completely overblown for what they were talking about.
Emerald wasn't just going to let that stand. She pressed her face to the glass and examined the prizes inside. "If you're so confident then you better win your girlfriend a present." She pointed to a stuffed Nevermore not because she really wanted it but because it was wedged up against the back corner and half-buried under a different stuffed animal. Jaune would be here all day trying to win it for her.
But, Jaune didn't look the least bit concerned as he walked up to the controls. He inserted his coins, cracked his knuckles, and placed his hands on the joystick.
Now, since partnering with Jaune, Emerald had witnessed a lot of ridiculous things from actual magic to horrifying monsters, but what transpired in front of her was almost too crazy to comprehend.
Jaune jammed the joystick forward causing the claw to rush to the back corner. The sudden stop when the claw hit the end of its track caused it to swing like a pendulum. That's when Jaune dropped it. Normally the fuzzy Nevermore would have been too far back for the claw to get to, but its swing gave in just enough reach. On top of that, it also knocked the other stuffed animal away leaving the Nevermore completely opened. The claw wrapped around it, but it was clear it wasn't applying enough force to actually grip the prize. Instead, one of the arms managed to work its way through the loop of the Nevermore's tag and caught itself on it. The Nevermore was lifted up and taken over the prize shoot where a last-second jiggle knocked the Nevermore loose and dropped it into the bin.
With an easygoing stride, Jaune retrieved the stuffed Grimm and handed it to Emerald. She took it and held it to her chest without really thinking about it. Her body was on autopilot as her mouth hung open. "How?" she managed to spit out after spending a few moments sucking on air.
Jaune chuckled and placed two fingers under her jaw to remind her to close her mouth. "Like I said, it's my true power."
"Bullshit!" Quite a few people looked her way. A few kids snickered and most of the adults looked horrified by the sudden swearing, but Emerald didn't care. "No one should be able to do whatever that was."
"A guy with seven sisters can. Every time we ever came to an arcade it was always 'Jaune, win me a stuffed animal,' and of course, if I won one for one of my sisters it meant I had to win one for all of them." Jaune sighed as he seemed to reminisce. "If I wanted to have any coins to play the games I wanted to, my only option was to get good at the claw machine, and as you saw I got very good."
Emerald couldn't believe she was hearing such a ridiculous story. "Did you ever think of just telling your sisters no?"
"And have the younger ones cry while the older ones ridicule me with their fake disappointment, I don't think so. Besides, I'll treasure the look on their faces the first time I won seven times in a row for the rest of my life."
"Alright, so you're some kind of claw machine god. Congrats. But, why didn't you do it the first time we came here?"
Jaune shrugged. "You didn't seem interested at the time, and I didn't want to blow your mind that early."
"You do realize that was after you had already shown me magic."
"Yet even now you were so shocked that you could barely keep your jaw off the floor."
Emerald huffed and looked the other way. "If you only brought me here to make fun of me, then I'd like to go home now."
"Aw, don't be like that. I won't tease you anymore."
It was hard for Emerald to keep a neutral face as she leaned into Jaune's side and tilted her head so she was looking directly up at him. "You promise," she said in her best girly voice and even fluttered her eyelashes.
Jaune rolled his eyes and patted her on the shoulder. "Yes, I promise."
They spent the next few hours playing every single game in the arcade. Emerald beat him in pretty much every single one, but there were a few where he had gotten close. Whether that was because of any actual skill on Jaune's part or the unspoken threat that if she crushed him too badly he'd do that thing with the claw machine, no one could say for sure.
After the arcade, Jaune took her to the aquarium. It was a wonderful experience for her as she had never been to one before. It was amazing getting to see so many exotic creatures, and for once, they weren't even trying to kill her.
They walked around all the exhibits and at some point Emerald had decided the best way to experience it was by clinging to his arm the entire time. It was a little awkward at first as Jaune really didn't expect this kind of cutesy behavior from Emerald, but over time, he got used to it.
The aquarium took up the majority of the day and when they left the sun had already set, but Jaune still had one more stop for them. Unfortunately, they ran into a slight issue on the way.
"WE WANT JUSTICE!"
"WE WANT ANSWERS!"
"WE WANT TO BE HEARD!"
"MURDERERS!"
A faunus protest was taking place outside a government office. It wasn't a massive crowd but it wasn't small either. They had signs saying "14 dead but no one said," and "We aren't your animals!" Tempers were flaring, and it was probably only made worse that it was Atlesian Knights that were forming the barricade around the office.
On the surface, Jaune understood. Putting androids on the front lines made it safer for everyone. The police didn't have to risk being attacked by angry protestors and the androids wouldn't react violently if the situation became too tense.
On the other hand, Jaune could see why the protesters were upset that they were being met with machines from another kingdom instead of actual people. The Knights didn't care what the protest was about or what the people had to say. They were only there because they were programmed to.
Jaune had read about the bomb that was planted at the White Fang rally. No one had been arrested and there weren't even any suspects which to some people screamed coverup. There had been unrest in Vale ever since. Nothing too bad, but with the city already packed with tourists coming for the Vytal festival even a little unease makes an impact. Even on his date with Emerald, Jaune had noticed some faunus speaking in hushed whispers and more Knights patrolling the streets.
Jaune honestly wasn't sure if Atlas' presence was making things better or worse. The only thing he could say for sure was the extra force made the shadow of the Atlas fleet above loom all the darker.
But, this wasn't a problem Jaune could or wanted to address. Besides he was on a date, they were supposed to be having fun. "Let's just find another way around," Jaune told Emerald.
Sadly, it wouldn't be that easy. A faunus with leopard ears saw them and decided it would be a good idea to approach them. "What are you humans looking at?" he snarled. "Think this is funny?"
"We were just passing by," Jaune tried to reason. A couple of eyes were being drawn to the brewing conflict and Jaune didn't want to do anything that would make the situation worse.
"Yeah, just passing by? You sure you and your girlfriend didn't just see a group of faunus and decided it would be a jolly good time to take a peak." His glare turned to Emerald and instead of standing her ground and glaring back like she would normally do, she slid behind Jaune and grasped the back of his shirt. She even let out a small squeak like a scared little girl that Jaune knew she wasn't.
Maybe Emerald thought it would be funny, but her reaction only gave the faunus more confidence to push. "Scared, are we? Well, guess what! That's how us faunus feel every single day!"
He drew a step closer and Jaune feared that things might actually come to blows. He prepared to summon his sword hoping that would be enough for the faunus to back off.
It ended up being unnecessary.
"Halt citizen," the robotic voice of the Knight said as it approached the faunus. "Cease your harassment or face arrest."
The faunus growled at the Knight but did take two steps back. "You're lucky Atlas' tin can is here to protect you, human." He spat onto the Knight's face. Of course, the android didn't care as it moved back to its station now that its objective had been fulfilled.
"Creepy," Jaune said as they walked by the protest without any other problems. "You can let go of my shirt now," he told Emerald.
"Don't tell me you don't like it." Emerald squished herself to him so her breasts were digging into his back. Normally, Jaune might have blushed and fidgeted from the contact, but Emerald's actions at the aquarium had let him build up a tolerance.
"It's not that I don't appreciate it, but do you really think that was the best situation to pull that in."
"I thought you enjoyed getting to play the hero?"
Jaune raised an eyebrow at that strange comment. "I don't enjoy playing anything. I want to help people. That faunus might have been rude, but he was out protesting for a reason and we both know he wasn't any threat to us. He would have backed down if we stood our ground, but you decided to make a game of it."
Emerald pulled away from him and looked down like a child that had just been scolded. Jaune hadn't yelled at her but the irritation had been clear. Emerald took a deep breath. "You're right. I'm sorry. I think I got caught up in the moment. I should have taken it more seriously."
Jaune was glad to see that she looked genuinely apologetic and so wrapped his arm around her shoulder to show her everything was okay. It seemed to make her day as she smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Just remember it for the future."
"I promise."
The final stop on their date was a place they were both very familiar with. "I can't believe you brought me here," Emerald said. It was the restaurant where they had first cemented their partnership. Back when they had been at each other's throats and there wasn't enough trust between them for her to tell him her name.
How much things had changed since then.
"Reservation for Arc," Jaune said to the exact same host that had sat them originally. This time there was no look of skepticism or questioning if they could pay. The host didn't give them a second thought as he led them to a table in the nicer part of the restaurant.
"Please enjoy your meal." Jaune and her were each handed a menu and were left in peace.
"I'll admit you've put on a pretty good showing so far," Emerald said.
"I'm glad I could meet your standards." Jaune would have given her a bow if he wasn't sitting down.
"Don't pat yourself on the back too soon. There's still time left for you to screw it up."
Jaune rested his elbows on the table and cupped his face. "and how do you think I might do that?"
Emerald didn't know what to think about the odd question. "I don't know. Just doing something stupid."
"Something like serenading you in the middle of a restaurant."
"Yes." Then, almost as if it was perfectly planned, the host walked back to their table with a guitar in hand. A guitar which he handed to Jaune and which Jaune took with the biggest, dumbest, self-satisfied grin Emerald had ever seen.
He gave the guitar a test strum alerting the entire restaurant to his intention.
"Jaune Arc. Don't. You. Dare."
"~Oh, Emerald my beautiful gem~"
"I said, stop it!"
"~You keep me from feeling so grim~"
Emerald was not one to blush, but at this moment, her face was so red that people on the other side of the restaurant could see it. Jaune wasn't even good. He was strumming at seemingly random and it felt like he was just making up the lyrics as he went.
Then as if things couldn't get any worse someone a few tables down called out. "You go dude!" That led to a round of cheers coming from everyone in the restaurant like they were at an actual concert.
Emerald was mortified. She wanted to die. She wanted to run away. She wanted to use her semblance to make her invisible. Sadly, her mental state was at a point where she was incapable of doing any of that. She just laid her head on the table and tried to pretend that nothing around her was real.
After what felt like hours, Jaune played his final note and ended the torture. There was one last round of cheering and then everyone went back to doing their own thing. All except Emerald who had kept her face buried in the table.
"So, how'd you like it?" Jaune still had that stupid smile.
Emerald felt something inside her snap. She practically lunged over the table to grab him. Sadly, he had been prepared for that and leaned just out of her reach. "I'm going to kill you!"
"Yeah, the song could probably use a little more work."
"It's not the song! How could you do something so embarrassing? Don't you have any pride?"
"Pride was beaten out of me a long time ago." Jaune waved away.
Emerald groaned and relented her assault. The more she reacted the more people kept paying attention, and that was the last thing she wanted. "When did you even set all this up, it couldn't have been easy convincing the restaurant to store your guitar for you and let you play."
"I was planning this while we were still in the hospital. Whitley helped me out a bit. Honestly, the hardest part was keeping it a secret from you."
"Because you knew that if I found out about this I would have thrown you through a window."
Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "That was a concern, but be honest, you actually enjoyed that."
As much as she hated to admit it, she kind of did. It was stupid and ridiculous but you didn't do something like that unless you really cared about someone. No one had ever done anything like that for her before. It made her feel special.
Maybe it was finally time to show her appreciation.
She got up and walked to Jaune's side of the table. He was obviously nervous about her approach and tried scooting his chair back. "Okay, I admit I went a little too far, but there's no reason for violence."
She grabbed the front of his shirt. "Then don't resist." She brought him forward and their lips touched.
One of the other guests that had still been watching had the nerve to whistle. Emerald rolled her eyes. It was embarrassing but if Jaune could put himself in an embarrassing situation for her then she could do the same for him.
After a while, Jaune's brain was finally able to process what was happening to him and returned her appreciation. Compared to the kiss she shared with the incubus this one was sloppy, static, and short, but it was with the person she loved, so it was perfect.
They split apart a few seconds later. There was a moment where they stared into each other's eyes like they couldn't believe what had really happened. Then Jaune adopted his goofy grin and the atmosphere returned to normal. "I guess that means the date was a success."
Emerald gave him a saucy wink and went back to her chair to grab her menu. "Depends on how good dinner is."
She could still feel him on her lips. The kiss had been a good start, but she knew she needed to do more. Tonight she would give Jaune his true reward.
She just hoped it would be enough.
Jaune laid in his bed trying to go to sleep. It felt like a hopeless task. There was too much running through his mind. His date being of course the number one thing. Besides that one moment with the protesters the date had gone well—better than he could have hoped, but he couldn't bring himself to feel completely satisfied. As good as it had been something had just felt off.
He didn't have much more time to think about it as the door to his bedroom slid open. "Are you awake?" Emerald said.
"Yes," Jaune replied although he kept his eyes shut.
"Good because I have a present to give you."
He heard the soft pater of her feet walking on the carpet and felt her stop by the side of his bed. Just what could she want to give him?
Jaune opened his eyes and nearly fell out of bed when he saw Emerald Sustrai standing there completely naked. Her assets were on full display and her dark skin only highlighted them. Jaune caught himself staring for a bit too long and quickly forced his eyes to her head where red eyes seemed to pierce the darkness.
"Em-Emerald, what are you doing?" Jaune was horrified to hear his voice crack in embarrassment.
Emerald's lips quivered with nervous determination. "I think you know exactly what I'm doing." She lifted a knee onto his bed flashing a part of her in the process that had Jaune breaking out in a hot sweat. The other knee came up and now she was on all fours in front of him.
Jaune wanted to say something, but his mind was drawing a blank. Emerald took that opportunity to grab the bottom of his shirt and gently pulled it above his head.
Jaune let it happen. Too stunned to do anything else.
He was now shirtless and Emerald stared at the massive scar on his side where the binder compass had taken a chunk out of him. The moment was brief though and Emerald placed one hand on his chest to slowly push him back down. Then she moved on top of him so her pelvis was directly above his and her hands were placed on either side of his head,
"Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?" Jaune said after finally finding his voice. They had only been on one date!
Emerald paused for a brief moment. Then she spoke in a soft hush. "Jaune, I love you. I have for a long time. You'll never know just how much you mean to me, and I know you said back at the hospital that you were unsure, but I want you to love me too."
Jaune's mouth fell open. Everything was moving too fast. Forget about the thoughts that had been keeping him awake. This was real whiplash. He had no idea what to do.
The stirring in his pants told a different story. He would be lying if he said he hadn't dreamed of a moment like this since he hit puberty, and the woman who was fulfilling it was not only gorgeous but also the person he was dating. If Emerald wanted to do it and he wanted to do it too, was there really any problem?
Emerald moved her hand down to the waistband of his pants—and then she stopped, frozen for a few seconds.
Jaune noticed. "Are you okay?"
"Yes!" Emerald said much too quickly.
Jaune narrowed his eyes and took note of things he hadn't noticed before. It was hard to see in the dark but he could feel Emerald's arm shaking beside his head. She was also breathing heavily. Her hot, shaky breaths washed over his fast quick successions. "Are you sure?"
"I'm fine." Emerald replied even faster this time as her eyes darted every which way like she was in a panic. Her hand tried to pull down his pants but she kept fumbling with it until Jaune finally grabbed her wrist.
"Emerald, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"Emerald." Jaune looked into her eyes and although she tried her best to look away, he kept catching them again. Finally, Emerald released a deep breath and collapsed onto his chest like a deflated balloon.
"Why is it only in these moments where you have to be so observant?" she said.
"We don't need to do this if you don't want to."
"No, I want to—I have to."
Jaune looked down at the girl laying on him. Even though she was naked and her breasts were resting on his chest, all his sexual desire had dissipated. Something was clearly wrong.
He reached one hand over and started rubbing the back of her head. "Why don't you tell me what this is about."
She turned her head to the side and didn't answer. That was fine; Jaune would wait.
They laid there for a long time with Jaune alternating between rubbing her head and back. It took awhile but eventually Emerald did start to speak. "Do you remember the story I told you back in Bury? About what happened to me when I was younger."
"The story about how you were betrayed by Robin and captured by Sir," Jaune summarized to make sure Emerald knew he was paying attention.
"Yeah, that one," Emerald mumbled, "but there was a part of that story that I left out. The part where I escaped. I've never told anyone it before although I guess Yang did find out from that stupid tower."
"Didn't you say you got Sir to unlock your aura and used your semblance to run away."
"Yes, but Sir didn't just unlock my aura out of the kindness of his heart. He made me do something for him first."
With how Emerald was acting, Jaune had a feeling he knew where this was going and he had to use all his willpower to keep from clenching his hands and accidentally pulling on Emerald's hair.
"He wanted me to have sex with him. At first, I refused, but I was weak and the ring fights weren't getting any easier, so a week later I was back." Emerald stopped and stayed silent for about a minute. "I think he liked it that way. Liked that I was the one to come to him. It made him feel powerful. The type of powerful where you can get what you want without having to use force. It made me feel worthless though. That I had to beg on my hands and knees to let him use me. Every second I was disgusted with myself, yet I did it. I did it exactly to his liking, and as my reward for being such a loyal pet, he unlocked my aura."
Emerald didn't cry, but Jaune did feel the tremors that shook her body.
"It stupid," she continued. "You're not him, but…I don't know. I just panicked."
Jaune didn't say he was sorry. Emerald wouldn't want his pity and nothing else he could say would make her feel any better. All he could do was hold her and continue the conversation.
"Then why did you come in here in the first place? Why did you say you have to?"
"Because I don't want to lose you." Emerald said it so softly that her words barely made a sound, but Jaune heard it perfectly, and they made him realize why the date had felt a bit strange.
It was because Emerald herself had been acting a bit strange. Ever since they got back from the hospital, she had been over sexual and clingy. She had always had her moments and little jokes but she had never been so blatantly physical before. At first, he had just thought she was excited about what they had become or just playing it up as a bit of teasing, but now he recognized it for what it was.
Emerald was scared. She was scared things might not work out and was doing everything possible to appeal to him from clinging onto his arm at the aquarium to hiding behind his back in the face of danger. She was changing to try and suit his preferences, and of course, that meant serving the more carnal pleasures as well. She didn't walk into his room naked because she necessarily wanted to, but because she felt she needed to.
That was a terrible way to think about a relationship, but if Emerald's most intimate experience had been with Sir, what else did she have to compare it to.
"Emerald, you don't have to do anything. Even if things don't work out between us, I'm not going to leave you. We'll always be partners, so please don't try and change for my sake. I grew feelings for the Emerald I've gotten to know. Not the Emerald you're trying to be."
"You mean it. Even though I can be such a bitch at times and we're always prodding each other?"
"I do."
"Then can I spend the night with you?"
"Of course."
There was no sex or even a shared kiss that night. The newly formed couple just enjoyed each other's company as they slept.
The halls of Beacon were basically deserted which made sense given how early it was. Lie Ren was probably the only student awake at this time. The reason for that was simple. He had breakfast to make, specifically pancakes.
It was a daily routine he dare not miss because a pancake less Nora was a cranky Nora and that was something Ren liked to avoid at all cost.
Most people would probably be upset that they had to go to the kitchen every morning to cook enough pancakes to feed a small army, but Ren enjoyed his quiet journey. He enjoyed being with his team, but they could get a bit much at times. It was nice to have some time to himself.
But, a slight scuffle from behind Ren gave him pause. His alone time wasn't so alone anymore. It was rare for another student to be making their way to the kitchen so early, as most just got their breakfast from the school cafeteria, but it also wasn't unheard of.
He turned to greet whoever would be accompanying him, but what he came face to face with was something completely different. Before Ren could process it or even think about defending himself, that something attacked and sprayed his blood across the walls.
Jaune was woken up by the ringing of his scroll. He knew it had woken Emerald up too, but in proof that she was no longer going to change for him, she was pretending it hadn't. That only left Jaune to answer it. "Hello," he said groggily.
"Hey, Jaune. Sorry for calling you so early." Yang's voice came through loud and clear.
"What do you need? Is something wrong with Ruby?"
"No, Ruby's doing good." Yang sounded nervous. "It's just there's been an incident at Beacon."
"What kind of incident?"
"A magical one."
"What makes you think that."
"Well, I don't know for sure that it's magical, but one of my classmates was attacked last night and unless someone is going around attacking people with the strangest weapon on Remnant or a new type of Grimm snuck its way into Beacon, I don't see what else could have caused his wounds. I'll send you a picture. It'd be easier for you to see it for yourself."
A second later, Jaune scroll got a message and he groaned when he opened it and saw that he wasn't going to be getting a break. No rest for the weary.
"Anyway I'd really appreciate it if you could come over here and help out," Yang said.
Jaune ran his hand over his face. "I'll see what I can do."
Looks like after all this time Jaune's dream was finally coming true.
He was going to Beacon.
Excerpt from the book
I'm writing to address the constant queries that are addressed to me by new and immature caretakers. I suppose it's not entirely their fault. The application of sex magic is well known in legend and literature. It's only natural for those of our kind to wonder if there's any truth to these claims.
The answer is yes, but do not get too excited. Real sex magic differs much from what you will find in your poor erotica. First, if you're thinking of using sex magic as an excuse to exchange in the pleasures of the flesh, you should discard those ideas. All known uses of sex magic required complex rituals and circumstances that to put it simply makes the act unpleasant.
Second, sex magic has very limited use. The advanced rituals already offer a significant barrier, but the results from participating are rarely ever worth the effort. Minor temporary buffs to the participants' stamina, sight or a pain bond between participants are about the best you can hope for.
An: One of the things that has always frustrated me about some works of fiction was how characters the author clearly wanted to get together never would until the end of the story where it was too late for the audience to actually follow their relationship. I always wonder why this was such a common thing to do, and writing this story has led me to my answer.
It's fricking hard!
Having your characters in a romantic relationship adds a whole new dimension to the story that you have to juggle. There is an entire genre of stories that are dedicated to exploring this single element and including it in an adventure story (which this story is) creates a problem. On one hand, there will be people who don't like how exploring Jaune's and Emerald's relationship takes away from the "real" plot. On the other, there will be people who would be disappointed if the adventure carried on like normal with Jaune and Emerald acting exactly the same even though they're a couple. It's a difficult situation to manage.
That's where this chapter and Emerald's reveal comes into play. I'd be lying if I said this aspect of her character was planned from the start. When this story was first being planned, I just thought "hey you know what would be a neat thing for Emerald's character? What if she was sexually assaulted when she was younger? Then there could be a sad reveal scene where she admits it to Jaune. That'd be awesome!" So in the early chapters it went as foreshadowing.
Then a few years passed and I grew in my writing and just in general, and I realized that having a character be sexually assaulted just to have a reveal scene where the guy gets to enjoy the perks of comforting her is not in fact awesome. For a while, literally until a few chapters ago, I thought about just dropping the plot point completely and just hoped people would forget about Emerald's little omission back in chapter eight.
But, as I started realizing what I was dealing with by having Jaune and Emerald become an official couple, I really thought about how Emerald's past might taint her view on relationships. It's already been shown quite a bit that she has serious abandonment issues, but how far would she really go to keep the one person she really cares about in her life.
This chapter is what I decided on. Not only does it show (in my opinion) a more mature take on how damaged Emerald really is but also allows me to basically speedrun the early part of their romantic relationship to where they've gotten to skip the awkward "we're-actually-together-now" jitters and move on to them having a true understanding of each other.