Chapter 9
It was a few days into the next week now, and Yang and I were just leaving Oobleck's class after serving our detention. Surprisingly, Professor Goodwitch didn't really punish us much. She had us clean up the mess while she put it all back together before assigning us two days of detention in Oobleck's class, two hours each day.
Apparently the violence wasn't that big of an issue in Beacon. Headmaster Ozpin had pulled me aside and explained to me that violence was sometimes unavoidable, and that he was aware of Jaune's predicament from the beginning. Not just Jaune's faked transcripts, but also Jaune being bullied.
When I asked why he didn't do anything, he said he was hoping his team would, as it is their responsibility to look after the team leader as much as vice versa. He also explained how violence is sometimes encouraged to solve problems considering the students are here to learn how to fight. You could imagine his surprise when two students from two different teams stepped in first. I also asked why he didn't do anything about Jaune's transcripts, and the only thing he told me was that "He had a hunch".
That same day after the fight on the weekend, Jaune pulled all of RWBY, the rest of JNPR, and the pair that was me and Liya into JNPR's dorm room and explained his secret. How he was a descendant of heroes and that he wanted to learn how to fight so he could be a hero as well; not for some family legacy, but because it was what he really wanted.
He explained how his parents weren't willing to teach him and told him to give up on any hope of being a huntsman, much less a hero. He didn't have any aura during initiation, and Pyrrha had to unlock it for him. When he was done talking about his plight, the group's reactions were very mixed indeed.
Ruby and Nora's respect for him immediately grew, while Weiss had to be convinced not to rat out Jaune to the headmaster. She passed out when I let out that Ozpin knew and let him in on purpose despite that. Yang gave Jaune the nickname "Rebel", which was definitely a good step up from "Vomit Boy".
Ren and Blake were more or less neutral, but Ren spoke up, saying that Jaune had earned his place in Beacon after initiation, and that while he didn't spend enough time with his team thanks to Cardin, he did work well as a leader, better than any of them could hope to compare to.
I was glad that Weiss was awake for that part. Blake didn't say anything, just nodding. Pyrrha came out and explained how Jaune had told her first, and that she was proud of him for opening up to the rest of his friends. I also noticed how Pyrrha leaned into Jaune's side as he smiled at her. I dare say the Arkos ship is getting ready to make sail.
I also told everyone how I was sort of in the same boat as Jaune as well. How I had no formal training whatsoever before Ozpin invited me in, and that I had no aura when I started initiation as well, which Liya unlocked for me. More mixed reactions later, Jaune and I agreed to train hard in with the teams in order to catch up to our classmates.
Class resumed as normal for the time being, and Cardin and his team didn't bother Jaune or me since the fight. It was pretty likely that Cardin tried to rat out Jaune but received denial from Ozpin, as well as punishment for the bullying he did.
Detention was pretty uneventful as well. As Oobleck assigned us additional homework to pass the time in detention, I decided to let him know about my web-story and ask him to read it for feedback. He agreed instantly when I told him the premise of the story.
Both detentions went off without a hitch, with Professor Oobleck dismissing me each time with several pages of feedback, opinions, as well as historical facts of how human vs Faunus conflicts went, and how I could take inspiration from real life history (in the RWBYverse) to assist with my literate endeavour.
"So, you write stories, huh?" Yang said as we walked away from the class. "What do you write?"
"A...very dark story," I said as I looked through the pages of the notes. They were relatively set up neatly with cursive handwriting. Good thing I could read it and not mistaken it for scribbles given how fast Professor Oobleck operates. "Not sure how much you're into fantasy based stories."
"Fantasy? Like what?" Yang asked as she leaned closer.
"Hmmm...a fantasy world with no Dust, no aura, no magic, and no Grimm," I explained to her. "Faunus versus humans but both sides are really bad guys with good guys in them."
"Huh?" Yang said as she thought hard on what I said. "No aura, no magic, no Grimm?"
"Yeah. Humans outnumber Faunus 6:1, but they're in a sort of dark age with swords, spears, bulky armor, bows and arrows, etcetera. Faunus have cannons and guns, primitive ones. For the war, it's basically quality versus quantity," I explained briefly. "Humans do unspeakable things to Faunus, Faunus commits all sorts of war crimes to humans."
"Oh," Yang said and I realized how that sounded, she was likely thinking of how much of a creep I was writing something like this. "I know a lot of good books are usually very dark ones but...damn, that sounds dark. Also, magic? Doesn't that not exist already?"
"Yeah," I said, wincing at the magic part. "Best make sure Ruby doesn't come across it. And I classify semblances as magic. They're superpowers." Too late to stop Ruby, given that I knew very well that she's already reading it. "Anyways, tomorrow is our field trip, right? All ten of us should probably get some training in before dinner. Then go home, go bed."
"Sounds good. I'll tell Jaune to meet us in the training grounds. He should be in the library with Pyrrha," Yang said before heading away. I went to my dorm to see if I could find Liya. Sure enough, she was watching videos in her scroll.
"Oh. Hi," Liya mumbled as she sat up, still watching videos on her scroll.
"Hi. Are you up for training?" I said. "Also are you alright?"
"Just tired is all..." Liya said as she paused the videos and lowered her scroll. "Mind if you skip me?"
"Oh, uhh...sure," I said as I went over to my partner, who still seemed bummed out. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired is all, nothing to be very concerned about," Liya said as she set down her scroll on the bed. I could tell she was lying without having to really look close at my parter. As calm and collected as she usually is, she seemed bothered by something. Frowning, I sat in her bed next to her.
"Pet my ears," I said firmly. Liya seemed taken aback, eyes slightly widened as she jolted. "Uhh...what?" she asked.
"You heard me," I said, laying my head next to her. "Pet my ears and talk to me."
"Uhh...I dunno," Liya said. I rolled my head over on Liya's lap. "Come on...I see you when Yang or Ruby come in and pet me. I know you wanna rub my ears-wait no that sounds dirty. Just pet my damn ears."
Liya reluctantly set her hands on my head and began to stroke the tips of my caracal appendages. Purring softly, I let the soothing feeling of ear massage wash over me, and I felt Liya relax as well. "So, what's bothering you?"
"It's pretty stupid..." Liya said, more to herself than to me as she rubbed the soft muscles at the tips of my ears. "I don't really wanna bother you with it."
"I'm your partner. I may not be as good as you, but I'm willing to help. I'll tell Yang I can't make it to training this time around," I said, quickly texting her before looking back to my partner.
"Well...my parents called," Liya said, and I recalled Liya mentioning her parents and life as shitty once during initiation. "They want me to come home."
"Why?" I asked. "I recall you saying they were shitty," I said as I looked up to Liya who was now twirling the tip of one of my ears around her finger, which tickled a bit.
"They are. I haven't really told you about my past, huh?" Liya said sadly to herself.
"Well...we didn't exactly ask," I admitted awkwardly before purring again. Liya snorted before rubbing my scalp, which did feel much nicer than I thought.
"Well...my parents are rich. Not SDC levels rich, but richer than most. Most of what they do is to make more money so they get buried in their work a lot. I was raised by family friends a lot, but mostly by Auntie Tabitha," Liya said. "Her husband; my uncle, is a huntsman and I always enjoyed hearing stories when he came back from his job."
"So that's how you got the idea of coming here. Which, I'm glad for by the way," I said, smiling up at Liya.
"Thanks," my partner said, smiling back. "But my parents wanted me to work on this high paying job they scoped out for me. They cursed out any desire I had for fighting Grimm, and eventually they forced my aunt and uncle to stop looking out for me. I just stayed home alone after that."
"Then...how'd you learn how to fight? Your weapons?" I asked.
"One of my neighborhood friends was training to be a huntsman. He had a crush on me, so he agreed to unlock my aura and teach me the basics. Yes, I know it's illegal so shush," Liya said, rubbing the fur in my ears softly.
"You're talking to an idiot who had no aura during initiation," I said as I shifted my head slowly on Liya's lap. "Go on."
"My parents never found out...not until they learned I've been going to combat school rather than business school," Liya said. "They didn't even check until 2 years later. By then, I had mastered most of the training and had my own weapon."
"Wow. Neglectful parents," I said before sighing. "What'd they do?"
"They were gonna have me move to Atlas to 'discipline' me and reform my lack of respect for such 'caring parents' such as they. They didn't beat me but...they didn't hold back on the insults either," Liya said, her voice wavering. "I ran. A sixteen year old girl with a sword strapped to her back and what allowance I had at the time."
"And you came here?" I said.
"Yeah. I got my transcript from school and applied to Beacon a month after I arrived. I turned seventeen then. I'm surprised that Ozpin let me in. Then again...Jaune had fake ones and he got in. You had none and you got in," Liya said to herself.
Incomplete transcripts were still transcripts...but why did Ozpin still let Liya in? Shrugging off the question, I just sighed. "And what did you parents wanna call about now?"
"They want me to drop out and go back home to train for this job they scoped out," Liya said, face scrunching up in disgust. "Said they won't tolerate any sort of stupid shenanigans I was doing and that it's best I go back and do what an obedient daughter is supposed to do."
"Eugh," I groaned. "Ignore them. You have a right to your own future."
"I know that. I'm just hoping they won't try anything stupid...or worse," Liya said, her anger giving way to concern. I guess she still loves them in some way. But I do hate controlling parents, the neglectful but authoritarian types. My parents at least were authoritative, strict yet caring.
"Well, ignore them. Focus on the now. If they wanted to care about you like a parent should, then they should've been more involved," I said before flinching. "Sorry, it's still your choice. I shouldn't be telling you what to-"
"No, you're right," Liya said. "If they wanna talk to me, they'll have to come here and talk to me themselves." Sighing loudly, Liya gently lifted his head off her lap and smiled. "Thanks...this really did help."
"Anything for my partner," I said. "Come on, we should get some sleep."
- the next day -
Professor Goodwitch had our combat class brought into the Emerald Forest the next day. Like in the series, each team was to gather four jars of sap separately, with risk of the Grimm attacking us nearby. Luckily, Professor Goodwitch told us that this patch of forest was close to the school and had very little Grimm, mostly Beowolves and Ursa; which were very common and easy to fight Grimm.
We were all split up to various parts of the forest, assigned via a map. Our part of the forest was relatively quiet, with no super dense concentration of trees. Little cover and little chance of an ambush by the Grimm. "I'll collect the sap, you keep on guard," I offered as I took the first jar and began to tap into the tree, looking for a good point to start draining the tree.
"We still have to get four jars and since there's only two of us it's gonna take a lot longer. More time spent here ourselves means more time spent at risk of the Grimm. It's best we watch ourselves and collect at the same time," Liya explained.
"I mean, both of us busy with the sap is gonna be pretty difficult," I said. "And if we have one working and one guarding compared to both of us guarding and working at the same time, it's safer. Slower but safer."
"You have a point..." Liya said as I found a good area, and I began to twist the tap into the tree, hitting a sweet spot and watching pink sap slowly slide down the chute one drop at a time. "Alright. I'll keep watch. Just let me know when we're moving to another tree elsewhere."
Nodding, I secured the jar into a snug spot between roots under the tap, before taking another tap - the professor gave two to each team - and looking for another tree matching the description of what we were supposed to tap.
A growl nearby jolted me, and I turned to see two beowolves of medium stature slipped out of some distant trees, approaching us. Liya pulled out her anti-material rifle and cocked the charging bolt. "Just keep going, I got this."
"Understood," I said, and I walked to another tree, loud booming shots from Liya's weapon being heard.
An hour passed, and Liya and I stared at our jars of sap. Some trees were destroyed from that earlier fight with the beowolves, but . "So, what's the sap gonna be for?" Liya asked as she leaned against a tree, her buster sword in her hands.
"I heard Nora say pancakes. If that's the case, I want some," I said as I picked up one of the jars, opening it. "I wonder how it tastes."
"Fruity. Don't eat it," Liya said. I whined and set down the jar back on the ground. "Think we oughta move all these back to the others?" I asked.
"Yeah, it'd be best to stick as close to the others as possible," Liya said, grabbing two of the jars before I grabbed the other two. They came with lids, and they were screwed on tight. "So, what do you think of this semester at least?" she asked.
"Well, I'm still really surprised I'm even here. Ruby, nah. She's incredible; of course she'd get in two years early. Me? I didn't even know how to fight, much less know how to use aura," I said awkwardly. "And I expected Beacon to be super hard, but the hardest thing about Beacon is combat training and catching up with all of the material I missed, you know?"
"I hear you. Beacon's been more combat than much else, so it's easy for me to adjust," Liya mused as she walked alongside me. "How's you and Yang?"
"Oh, uhh, we're doing fine. I mean, we haven't really done much since our date but there was the fight with Cardin," I said. "That was fun."
"I seem to recall you fighting three v one," Liya said. "And I also remember you nearly losing."
"Wait, how much did you see?" I asked. Liya just smiled and I whined, feeling more than embarrassed. Coughing awkwardly, I decided to change the subject. "Since you wanna talk about Yang and me...is there anyone on campus you have an eye on?"
Liya raised an eyebrow, and that answered my question. "No?" I asked, just to be sure. I didn't get an answer after that.
Our conversation was cut short anyway when something shattered against my head. An explosion of pain erupted at the back of my skull as I felt my head and back feel extremely wet. For a second, my vision went white, then black for a few seconds, and then just blurry. "Agh!" I yelped as I tumbled into the grass.
"Markus!" Liya cried out as she knelt down next to me. I could barely hear the thumps of two jars landing in the dirt as a pair of hands clutched my head. "Are you OK?"
"Son of a bitch..." I whimpered through the pain. Cardin. I forgot what he planned with Jaune if we didn't alter things earlier. I guess he had a grudge against me this time. Turning, I could see a flash of silver vanish behind a tree. "My head..."
"Hold on, I'll pick you up," Liya said as I tried to get up myself, only for her to push me down and hold me tight. "I'll get my scroll, call the professor. Just lemme..."
I heard a buzzing noise just barely outside the ringing in my ears. "Wait...I hear...I hear...uhh, something," I mumbled.
Liya looked up, and I could feel her chest contract in the gasp she had just taken in. "Rapier Wasps!" she cried and she began to pull me away, regardless of my headache and blurry vision. Is this what having a concussion was like? I wouldn't go blind, would I?
Also why was that buzzing getting louder? I screamed as my hand was stabbed by a razor sharp pincers and needles, then more on my other hand. Then my chest and collar, then my face, my legs, everywhere erupted in hellish pain. I couldn't even activate my aura, I was in that much agony.
Is this what Cardin wanted Jaune to do? That bastard.
I didn't remember much, but I remember Liya screaming and the buzzing getting louder as I was swarmed.
Everything was black for a moment, then I woke up. I expected myself to still be in the forest writhing in agony, or in some hospital bed in Beacon's infirmary. But I wasn't. I was in some kind of white void.
"Great...weird dream. A fever dream?" I thought to myself.
"It is not. It is simply your consciousness opening up after being incapacitated," a voice echoed around me. Turning around, I noticed a shimmer in the distance to my left. "Allow me to introduce myself...though I have a feeling you know who I am."
I turned to that shimmer, and I saw a yellow glowing figure appear before me. He was tall, pure bright golden in color, and had a pair of large elegant antlers on his head. He had no features on his body or his face, seemingly just light shaped like an antlered human. "I do hope you forgive the circumstances of this meeting."
"You're the...God of...Light?" I asked, a bit overwhelmed. This had to be a hallucination. "What're you-"
"It's not a hallucination. We celestial beings are capable of many things. It is I who allowed the soul to be able to manifest so long ago, after all," the God of Light said, clearly reading my thoughts. I guess it made sense, if the brother of darkness made the Grimm, the brother of light would create the concept of aura. "I see you are well informed of my brother and me. No doubt from your world."
"Well...I don't really know how to explain this so I'll ignore it. You're the reason why I'm here, right? In this world that's not mine?" I asked, finally figuring out my appearance here was by no means accidental.
"Correct. As I have said, us celestial beings are capable of many great things," the God of Light said serenely. "Many of which include the manipulation of time."
My brain put two and two together. "Salem wins?" I said. "And you turned back the clock to try and throw me in the mix, see if I can do anything?"
"Yes," the God of Light said, his wise and seemingly regal tone dropping into sorrow for a few seconds. "Her control of the Grimm was too powerful. In the end, it is our fault for leaving for so long...but we cannot interfere with the course of events. It is why we brought back Ozma so many years ago."
"And doomed him to immortality?" I asked.
"Yes. Do not think I take these decisions lightly. Remember, we picked Ozma because he knew Salem. Perhaps that was the biggest mistake of all, but..." the God of Light said before sighing. "I fear that I do not trust myself to make all the right decisions anymore. The same goes for my brother."
"So I'm making the decisions?" I asked.
"You are of a world where ours is fictional. You know most of the events of this realm merely by watching a screen and reading books," the God of Light said. "You would have more direct impact on this world without compromising us or this world's integrity."
"You still won't explain why you can't just...come back," I said.
"I doubt you'd understand," the God of Light said, which I guessed was his way of "I just won't explain." And since he didn't refute my thoughts, I knew I was right.
"OK, answer me this then. Why was Salem so punished for...being sad?" I asked.
"Her sorrow was understandable," the God of Light said, his own sadness seeping in his tone as he bowed his head a few degrees. "However, the balance of life and death must not be disturbed for the sake of one broken heart. She could have moved on, focused on a life of her own. She could have seeked help for her sorrows. But she refused every other option for the sake of her own selfish gain."
"Selfish?" I asked, my voice raising a bit.
"I'm not saying she was wrong to feel such sadness over a loss, but that sadness has grown so deep that it was dictating her every choice. Choices against me and my brother, as well as the world as a whole," the God of Light said. "I do feel bad for subjecting Salem to such a path, but she needed to learn."
"And now that's backfired on you," I said. The God nodded, and I sighed. "OK...I guess I see where you're coming from. Still, what you did wasn't fully right. You downright put Salem through torture."
"I know," the God said quietly, and I shut up instantly.
"Sorry, I..." I mumbled before the God of Light held up his hand.
"You understand more than you could ever think you could. I am not angry over your words, because they are all true," the God of Light said before I felt the realm around us flicker, like a dimming light bulb. "Our time grows short."
"Why did you talk to me?" I asked.
"Because you deserve to know the truth," the God of Light explained quickly as the realm began to darken. "Stop Salem, and help Ozma understand."
"Ozpin? Why does he-" I asked before everything went black. Suddenly, the floor beneath me failed to exist any longer, and I began to fall.
"He only sees one way to save humanity. He does not see that there are more," the God of Light's voice echoed.
Screaming, I felt hands grasping on my shoulder. "Hey!" Liya's voice rang out, and I opened my eyes. Liya looked at me, immense worry in her eyes as I felt myself calm down. Without any thought whatsoever, I grabbed and hugged Liya tightly, feeling myself about to cry.
"Hey, what about me?" a voice asked. I turned to see Ruby and Yang sitting next to the bed on the opposite side. Both were smiling and crying at the same time. "Everyone will get one, I just need...some time," I said, wiping my tears as soon as I let go of Liya. "What happened?"
"Cardin threw the jar and the Rapier Wasps. He's getting sent home for this semester, as well as facing criminal charges," Liya explained. "No jail time, but likely a year's worth of community service, therapy, and a bunch of other stuff or something. Wouldn't be surprised if he does have some mental sickness or something."
"What about his team?" I asked, feeling my head get woozy.
"They ratted him out," Yang said. "Turns out someone can know what they're doing is wrong when you see your leader laughing at probably the sickest thing possible."
"Tell them I said thanks," I said before looking down. "I thought I'd still be injured."
"Yeah, Rapier Wasp stings aren't too lethal. They hurt a lot, but they don't actually do much to you. You'll be fine," Liya said. "Plus you got aura boosters to speed up your recovery. Though it'll take a lot out of you."
"Yeah...I'm hungry," I said. "What time is it?"
"It's lunchtime. Day after you were attacked. By the way, the professors waived all your homework for the day," Yang said.
"That's nice of them," I said before my stomach growled. Liya smiled and got up. "I'll grab something for you to eat."
As she left, I turned to see Yang and Ruby, who both tackled me in a hug simultaneously. "I'm so glad you're OK!" Ruby whimpered, and I pat her head softly.
"What Cardin did was disgusting. You're feeling good now, right?" Yang asked softly. It was a far cry from her usual bright tone.
"I'm OK..." I whispered. "I'm OK..." I hugged them both back tightly, and we didn't move for several minutes.
I was released an hour later, after eating a sandwich Liya brought back. The first thing Liya did was throw me straight to bed and force me to get more rest, despite me feeling OK and having stayed in a hospital bed for a day straight.
The rest of the week went by normally, with teams RWBY and JNPR constantly checking up on me. Apparently Liya wasn't injured at all due to the fact the Rapier Wasps continuously ignored her for the sap I was covered with.
A week later, I was busy writing my next chapter of the story on my scroll, sighing as I crossed out grammatical errors in the light of the desk lamp. Team RWBY and JNPR had gone out to spend time at Vale. Liya had decided to go with RWBY as well, but she barred me from coming due to Yang accidentally spilling the beans on how I was treated horribly the last time we went to Vale.
As I worked, all I could think about was the God of Light and his words. If what he was saying was right, that meant the events that the show went through led to Salem's victory. Which meant I had to change things completely. But how? Maybe stopping the Vytal Festival? Or perhaps finding a way to at least save Pyrrha and save Cinder?
This was a lot to think of. I still had a full semester to go through, and there were too many variables to think of. Would saving Tukson do anything? Or maybe actually getting Roman arrested after that rampage in the Atlesian Paladin? I shelved all the ideas for that and decided to focus on the present.
I remember today being the day that Blake's identity came out, so I knew I had to quickly intercept Blake in the hallway at night, which it was right now. Pausing my progress, I left the room to go see team RWBY. Liya had texted that they were back now, so I might as well get to them ahead of time.
Knocking on team RWBY's door, I could hear talking inside. Loud talking. Very loud. I think Weiss was the loudest.
When Ruby opened the door, I saw her face in a state of panic. "What happened?" I asked nervously as I stepped back one step.
"Blake's gone!" she cried, and I looked to see a shocked Yang, furious Weiss, and a nervous looking Liya in the room. The window was open and the curtains blew.
Son of a bitch.