The announcement was greeted by Violet clapping her hands once and grinning, "Great! Now I can show Mercury my true power! I'll show him how much I've grown."

Jeanne seemed just as excited, she was sitting on her bed and it was easy to hear her tail wagging against the fabric, "This is gonna be so cool! You two will beat them no problem!"

Lunus had a more measured response, "They're both incredibly skilled, but if anyone can beat them down, it'll be you two." He smiled, "Just don't make the same mistake I did earlier."

I smiled back at him, "Don't worry. I know everything Cinder knows, and more." I also had the advantage of her not being able to use her maiden powers this time, which was going to level the playing field even more.

My scroll vibrated and I pulled it out of my pocket. I had been sitting on my bed but as I read the text I moved to stand up, "Ah, speak of the devil. Cinder wants to talk to me."

Lunus waved me off, "Go have fun." He smirked and looked like he was about to say something else when suddenly there was a rapid knocking at the door.

It was Ruby, "Hey hey! I'm back!" I grinned at Lunus as his eyes widened. I walked to the door and pulled it open. A blur of rose petals shot inside in a blur of speed before he got tackled down by the ever-affectionate Ruby.

I left him to deal with that and stepped outside, shutting the door behind me before making my way towards the elevator and then out of the dorms. Cinder said she was still at the fairgrounds, so I'd need to look for her in the crowds. There were supposed to be firework shows every night for the Festival, so I had to wonder if maybe that's what she was wanting to see? The sun was setting and it would be dark soon, although the festival grounds would be so lit up that it wouldn't matter much at all.

People were abuzz with activity as expected, even this late at night the festival never really stopped. The Vytal Festival only came around once every two years, so it was an event that lasted all day and all night for the days it was being held. It would be a bit of a waste if it didn't, considering how many people came from all over the world to experience it.

It reminded me vaguely of festivals I'd seen in anime, except people weren't wearing kimonos, thankfully. As cute as Cinder would have looked in a kimono, I didn't think I'd see her wearing anything like that anytime soon. Besides, her regular outfit is just as good looking!

I heard some conversation that caught my attention. I couldn't place who it belonged to, some girl I think, was she a student? She sounded like a student, but I couldn't place a name to the voice, she was gossiping about someone, "Oh my god, what a fangirl, she even copied Daybreak! If it wasn't for the fight that's coming up, she wouldn't be able to get within ten feet of him. He's too good for her!"

Eh? Daybreak, huh?

I eventually spotted the source of the gossip, although she didn't seem aware of it. I was shocked to see just what Cinder was wearing, because when she had said she would buy some merch of my team, I didn't exactly expect her to buy as much as she did.

She was wearing a zip-up jacket with my team's name emblazoned over her heart. I was sure there was a design on the back although I couldn't see it at the time. She was looking for me and facing my direction. She also wore a black cap with… was that a graphic of a shattered dagger? Wow, the merch sellers worked fast. Gloves, a bracelet, and one of those mini-flags in her hands, she really did look like a fangirl.

It might have been somewhat embarrassing if it wasn't so adorable. I didn't take kindly to the idea of people thinking I was better than Cinder, that she didn't deserve me, because we deserved each other and nobody else, and that was the way I liked it.

So, I decided to make that point.

I walked towards Cinder and she spotted me, her eyes lit up as she waved at me, "Neve, do you like my-"

Before she could respond, I took her in my arms and dipped her like they did in all the romance movies and gave her an extremely passionate, heart-felt kiss. I didn't get too intense with it, we were in public after all, but I made my point with it. Especially since apparently it was so sudden and strong that when I broke off the kiss Cinder just fell backwards before scrambling back up and dusting herself off, "Wh-What was that about? Not that I'm complaining."

I smiled and took her hand before walking with her, "I just felt like it. You really went all out on the merch, huh?" She nodded, although now that I pointed it out she looked a bit embarrassed. I kissed her cheek, "It's cute, I like it. Although I'm not sure the baseball cap really fits your look."

She responded with a smirk as she took it off and put it on my head. I furrowed my brow at her as she giggled at me and smooched me on the lips.

That was when I overheard someone, they weren't talking to us but they were talking about us. When I looked I saw it was a guy with brown hair and a short beard, even if he looked like he wasn't that much older than me. He was talking to some woman with shoulder-length black hair, "In public, really? Shouldn't they be saving their make-out sessions for when they're in private?"

The woman responded with a chuckle, "Oh come on, they're just teenagers. Let 'em live."

While I appreciated the woman's sentiment I was now keenly aware that we were, in fact, in public. I decided to extricate us from the situation by leading Cinder by the hand, "So how about we get something to eat?" She didn't seem to notice, or care, that we had garnered some attention, but I didn't want us to be that couple anymore than we already were.

Together we looked for a place where we could eat, eventually settling on a stand selling all kinds of Vacuan street food. Delicious stuff, honestly, it kind of worked on the same rules that Valean food did, if it came from a stall on the street it was probably pretty good.

And this food was, in fact, delicious. While we were enjoying our meals, Cinder asked, "So, do you think you'll be able to beat me tomorrow?" She wore a smirk on her face, a challenging one as I've seen so often before.

I swallowed some of the taco I'd been eating and smiled, "I think we're pretty even, all things considered. So I'll say yes, I think I can."

She seemed pleased with my response, "We'll see, Coffee Boy. Even if I have to compete with a handicap, it will be a breath of fresh air to be able to fight again, especially now that I have Aurora."

I chuckled, "You have been out of action for a while now, haven't you? The most you've been able to do is train Shi on how to swing a weapon. Well, I know you won't disappoint. Will Mercury be ready to face Violet and I in combat?"

Cinder nodded, "Of course he will. He's a skilled fighter, even if his long-lost friendship with Violet was… unexpected, to say the least, I don't doubt that he won't pull any punches. Perhaps it might even be better if you and I face each other while Mercury and Violet face each other?"

I hummed and thought about it, "It was probably going to end up like that anyway, I don't see why not. Of course, don't expect us to go easy on you if Mercury gets knocked out first. We can't let the crowds think we're holding back."

Cinder seemed fine with that, "Same to you if Violet falls." I didn't expect her to, Violet was a naturally gifted and skilled fighter, even with her… eccentricities, she'd run circles around any but the most skilled of fighters. Granted, Mercury was one of the most skilled fighters at Beacon, I was sure, so there was still that chance that she'd lose, but I believed in her.

So, after we had our fill, it was about time for the fireworks to start. We headed out of the immediate area of the festival grounds, towards the cliffside where initiation had been held. It felt like a lifetime ago when I was launched into the air and shot Jeanne out of the sky after landing, even if it wasn't even a year ago at the time.

Most people were content watching the fireworks from the fairgrounds, however we certainly weren't the only couple that decided this was the ideal place to watch the fireworks. I saw Jaune and Pyrrha sitting together, for example, and I was sure Ruby would probably be dragging Lunus to see these, even if it wasn't somewhere like here. Cinder and I sat together in the grass near where the launch pads had been, gone now of course.

Cinder rested her head on my shoulder and sighed, "It's a shame we won't get to have days like these all that often, I will need to leave after the festival concludes to begin my search."

I knew she did, after all she was just a 'visiting student' as far as the school was concerned, even if she wasn't going on her crusade she would have had to leave. I slipped my arm around her waist, "I wish you didn't have to, but… I know you do." If she stayed, it'd just make her a bigger target for Salem, and there was nothing to be gained by sitting around while she plotted.

Cinder muttered, "Just try not to get too in over your head while I'm gone. I know you, you push yourself so hard even if you're tired, but you're not invincible, you need to rest just as much as anyone, myself included."

I would have told her something like 'I will' but that would be a lie, and if there was one person I didn't want to lie to, it was her. So, as the fireworks started and the sky began to light up with various colors and symbols, from the symbol of Vale, to Vacuo, Mistral and Atlas, to things like hearts and stars, I sighed. Then, between blasts of fireworks, I responded.

"You and I both know that I'll get in over my head plenty. I'll push and push until I fall, because no one else knows what I know, except you. No one else can do what I can do. So I'll pick myself up and walk on, because if I don't then no one else will."

We watched the fireworks together and then once the show was concluded, we both headed back to our dorms. After all, we needed all the rest we could get if we were going to fight at our absolute best the next day.

Luckily the 'first fight of the day' was around one in the afternoon so my team was able to sleep in for a while until it was time to go. I still didn't sleep in that often, waking up at six AM was a hard habit to break, but sometimes it was nice to just laze around for awhile, especially if I knew I was going to be doing something difficult that day. Fighting Cinder and Mercury was something I would classify as 'difficult', at least, at the time.

After getting dressed in our huntsmen gear and making sure we were armed and ready, Violet and I made our way towards the arena. Lunus and Jeanne were coming as well, although they'd be separating to get some seats to watch the spectacle. We just had to put on a good show for them!

Violet and I found ourselves sitting in the locker room, checking our weapons and ammo while we waited. It gave me time to ask her a question that'd been on my mind for awhile, "Hey Violet." I looked up at her from where I was sitting on the bench across from her, "How're things going with Mercury?"

Violet's face lit up with a bright smile even as she remained looking over Suncutter, checking for any damage no doubt, "Amazingly, it's like we never stopped being friends! He doesn't get a lot about manga and anime, but he's trying! He got really into comics while he was gone, so that helps, manga are just fancy comics when you think about it. Fancier and better, even if he won't admit it."

I had no dog in that particular fight so I just shrugged, "If I had more time maybe I'd read both and give my opinion, but you know me. Always busy. I'm glad you've found someone to share all your stuff with, especially since you both go back so far."

Violet and I had, at this point, completely moved past the whole rejection thing. She was far more mature than people gave her credit for, probably something to do with her scarily high mind stat and her mysterious yet clearly dark background. I could easily say that she, along with Jeanne, were my best female friends. Lunus held the title as my sole 'best guy friend', not that I didn't like Jaune, I did, but he and I didn't talk that much, and I couldn't recall one instance of me talking to Ren up to that point, not without Nora around.

…The only downside to any of that was Jeanne constantly came to Lunus and I to ask for advice on how to approach guys. I knew she was into girls as well, but I guess she just had trouble cracking the code when it came to guys. Not that we had anything to tell her other than the famed 'be yourself' shtick. Frankly, if she asked someone out and they said no, that was their loss. Jeanne was like a sister to me, and I could recognize that she'd be a total catch for anyone she was into.

Violet agreed, "Yeah! Although I don't think I could get him to agree to read my fanfiction, he'd think it's weird." I was about to tell her that it wasn't weird when she continued, "I mean sure, he's not into guys, but that doesn't mean he can't appreciate good literature even if it's a gay love story about two huntsmen-in-training finding solace in each other's arms as they face the trials and tribulations that come with being at Beacon!"

…Okay, I understood why Mercury wouldn't want to read that. Poor guy. At least he was better about standing up for himself than someone like Lunus. Now he was whipped with a capital W.

Violet came up with an idea, "I think I have something that could give us a one-up on them. So they're expecting us to face them in 1-v-1s right?" I nodded and she grinned, "Let's do that but on my signal, we switch who we're fighting! We can trade opponents a few times to keep them guessing!"

That… wasn't a bad idea. It would throw them off if nothing else. I smirked, "You've got some tactical genius hiding in there beneath all those fanfic plots, Violet. Alright, we'll do that."

Violet smirked and that was when the Holo-TV once again came to life with Port and Oobleck. Port opened, "Welcome one and all to a beautiful second day of this splendid festival! Today our opening act is a rather sterling one, if I do say so myself!"

Oobleck picked up, "That's right, Peter! Team CALM's Neve Cadere and Violet Merino versus Team CMSN's Cinder Fall and Mercury Black. We saw rather stellar performances from both teams yesterday, it will surely be a nail biter of a match!"

Port laughed, "Most certainly, Bartholomew! It's time for the contestants to take their places, let's turn our attention to the arena!"

That was our cue, with the two of us ready as we could be we headed out once again. The din of the crowd washed over us as we headed to the center of the arena. Cinder and Mercury emerged from the other side in their hunter gear, just the same as us, although it would have been funny to see Cinder wearing merch to a fight like this, I think that was a bit much even for her.

We stopped a few feet from each other and Cinder smirked, "Well, I've been waiting for this. Don't disappoint me, you two."

Mercury followed up, "I would say I'll go easy on you, Violet, but… I won't." He smirked, "Don't think you'd want that anyway, would you?"

Violet shook her head as she drew Suncutter and rested it on her shoulder, "If you go easy on me, then I'll make you read all of that stuff you said you wouldn't read when I get finished beating you."

Mercury's face paled as he gained a look of resolve. I chuckled and drew Daybreak, "I'll try not to damage Aurora, Cinder. What happened to that girl's weapon was an… accident."

Cinder just grinned as she drew Aurora, "If you break the metal component, you're paying for a new one."

Well, that was a good incentive to not try to shatter her blade into a million pieces, not that I was going to do that anyway.

Professor Port came on over the speakers, "This match is sure to get red hot!" All of us braced ourselves. Behind me, a biome covered entirely in ice. On Cinder's side, a biome of lava and fire. How appropriate.

"Now go!"

As we all started to close in on our designated dueling partner, time once again slowed down. I was greeted once again with Cinder's logo, except this time rather than being red, the heels looked like glass slippers that had cracks running along them. Over the symbol, there was text.

Cinder Fall

Leader of the Midnight Pact

A Slave No Longer

Mercury Black

Member of the Midnight Pact

Midnight's Messenger

…When do I get a cool title?

I didn't have time to think about it as time sped back up and Cinder and I closed in on each other. I heard the scuffle between Mercury and Violet beginning, but all of my focus was on Cinder.

She brought Aurora to bear and tried to strike at me with both her blades, strikes I deflected before kicking out to try and knock her off balance. She responded by jumping backwards and grinning from ear to ear before she raced towards me again and swung her blades at me.

I began to backpedal and she followed me, our blades clashed as she kept trying to swing at me and I kept blocking. She was incredibly eager, and I couldn't say I blamed her, we hadn't fought since the tower, and we hadn't sparred for far longer than that. I was smiling as well, although ultimately I was still focused

We ended up in the ice biome and I couldn't help but feel glad that my boots were made to be able to weather any terrain, ice sheets included. Not that Cinder's was any different, although I was sure being here too long might make her need to waste aura to keep her safe. Temperature control wasn't a big deal in normal climates, it took nothing, but in more extreme environments? It took its toll quickly.

Now that we were well and truly in the ice, I jumped backward and smiled at her, kicking on my semblance. I could tell she felt the temperature drop, but then she retaliated by turning on her semblance. It seemed with control of it as fine as hers, she could just emit constant heat to keep herself warm. Still, that was a drain on her. The question was, did she have more aura or did I?

I channeled ice dust into Daybreak and sliced horizontally outward, sending a wave of ice towards Cinder, she retaliated with fire in her blades, the way of fire and ice clashed between us and fizzled out.

We raced towards each other and clashed, fire and ice spewing out in waves as our blades connected. It must have been quite the spectacle for the crowd to watch, although I turned off my semblance in the midst of it all. Not that Cinder would notice, with her semblance going.

Now she could waste her aura with her semblance all day and not even know that I turned mine off!

With neither of us blinded by emotion or able to use anything other than the power we would have had if we weren't magic, we found that neither of us was truly able to gain any ground. Block for block, kick for kick, parry for parry, we were matched.

Something was going to have to give, luckily it seemed Violet agreed. As I jumped back to get some breathing room from Cinder, Aura appeared in front of me and blocked Cinder from reaching me. I grinned and joined Daybreak before I nocked a gravity arrow. Cinder barely had time to register what was going on before I aimed the gravity arrow opposite to where I wanted to go and fired it as I jumped in the air.

As I flew backwards, towards the fire biome, it seemed Violet had the same idea as me. I heard a shot go off from her rifle before I saw her flying past me, towards Cinder. There was a brief second where the two of us noticed each other and shared a smirk before we continued on our trajectories.

I twirled around and broke apart Daybreak. I saw a dumbstruck Mercury with his mouth agape as I flew towards him, he recovered quickly though and rolled out of the way, giving me space to land and turn towards him with a smirk, "Hey Merc, nice day."

Mercury re-entered his fighting stance and regarded me with a smirk of his own, "Well, if it ain't Mr. 'Beautiful Eyes'. You use that trick on every girl you meet? Cinder mentioned you used it on her."

I laughed, "No, that was a one time deal. Unless you're looking for a compliment?" I quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly.

He gagged, "Thanks but no thanks. Do you really want to fuel more of Violet's weird ass fanfiction?"

I made a show of shuddering, "No, no I don't. I hear enough about that on a daily basis." I raised my blades, "Let's give em a show." He nodded and we lunged at each other. Mercury jumped and spun in the air before kicking out at me, he was as active a fighter as I remembered him being. I side-stepped his kick and he flew past me before landing, whirling around, and kicking at me again. He managed to connect with my stomach and fired off a dust round while it was there. The impact sent me flying backward with a groan of pain, luckily being in the air was nothing I wasn't used to.

I flipped in the air and channeled some ice dust into my blades once again before turning around and swinging outward. I channeled my semblance at the same time as the ice dust exited my blades and the effect was immediate, the dust coalesced into a wall of ice sticking out of the ground that I connected my feet to before pushing off of it. I landed on my feet again and saw Mercury running towards me, so I thought up a reaction.

I channeled fire dust into both blades and swung them outward as Mercury drew closer, resulting in the fire washing over him and no doubt sapping some of his aura, yet he kept coming. He kicked out high so I dropped down low. Once his leg sailed past me I popped back up and struck outward, landing a strike on his chest and causing him to grit his teeth.

I jabbed outward with my other blade quickly and landed another hit on his stomach before he kicked up and jumped, backflipping and connecting his boot with my chest again. Luckily I was able to recover in time to side-step before he fired dust rounds at me again.

I struck down at his leg, fully knowing it's made of metal. As I brought Daybreak down on it I channeled ice dust into its blades. By the time Mercury landed away from me, he already had ice gathering on himself, if nothing else it would slow him down for a moment or two.

I rushed towards him again before he had a chance to get his bearings and began to deliver a flurry of blows, with him dodging as much as he could and still getting hit a few times. Occasionally he would get in a punch or a kick of his own, but I found that he was slowly beginning to slip up more. I was wearing him down, but I knew that if this took much longer, I wouldn't be in any better of a state.

I channeled some gravity dust into my blades when there was a lull in our fighting. Once he ran at me again I swiped him with the blades, the gravity launching him towards the middle of the arena. I joined Daybreak together and, much like before, fired a gravity dust arrow at my feet to send me after him.

We both landed in the middle of the area, with Mercury needing to twist in the air so he could land on his feet. When I landed, I stumbled and almost fell over, but I was able to find my footing again. Mercury started racing towards me again while I was still recovering, and he might have been able to put me on the backfoot if Aura didn't come from the ice biome in a flash. Aura delivered a powerful kick of her own to Mercury's side as he was about to hit me with a kick, throwing him off balance and sending him crashing to the ground.

Quickly, and in spite of Mercury's verbal protest of, "Hey, watch it!" Aura grabbed ahold of his legs and, using the immense strength she had from being a semi-solid manifestation of Violet's soul, proceeded to spin Mercury around a few times before throwing him high into the air.

Thinking quickly, I joined Daybreak and nocked an arrow as quickly as I could, a gravity dust one I realized, although I hadn't had time to pick out anything else. I loosed the arrow into the air after Merc, once it connected it launched him even higher into the air. I was about to fish out another arrow when suddenly I heard some shots from a dust rifle. Not a moment later, the blasts connected with Mercury and knocked him clear off the arena before he could even touch the ground. As I looked towards the source, I saw that Aura had returned to fighting Cinder while Violet herself shot a few rounds at Mercury, her chakram still delivering strikes to Cinder all the while.

Professor Oobleck came on over the speakers, "Mercury Black has been thrown out of bounds, Team Crimson is down to one member! The fight appears to be drawing close to its finish!"

Cinder seemed to still be holding on, but it appeared that she was having trouble dealing with Violet's constant barrage of attacks. Aura would deliver punches and kicks while Violet shot dust rounds and directed her chakram, a three-pronged attack delivered in the small package that is Violet.

Now, with Mercury out of the game, I moved to join the attack on Cinder, who had found herself a rhythm of dodging punches and deflecting dust rounds. However, she was so focused on that rhythm that she didn't notice I was hurrying to join the fight until I was already upon her, channeling ice dust through my blades as I struck out at her side. She gasped and her eyes widened in visible shock as she felt the blades and the ice connect with her side, causing me to smile, "Miss me?" I asked coyly before jumping backwards as she tried to swing at me.

Cinder was panting heavily and yet she still smiled, "Of course I did." Yet she didn't say much more than that before Aura was upon her again, giving her a push that threw Cinder off balance. Violet's chakram raced past and struck at her as well, although after that Cinder managed to get her balance back as she ducked under the chakram's second attack.

I took that as my cue as I rushed forward and slashed out at Cinder, once again hitting her side. If she had been able to use her Maiden power, we'd have been in a lot worse straits right now, but since she couldn't, she was more on level with the two of us. That was painfully obvious to her, I noticed, especially as one final dust round from Violet's rifle slammed into her chest and caused her to trip and fall backwards. Her aura flashed and I knew that she was finished.

Professor Port came on over the speaker to confirm, "Cinder Fall's aura has reached critical levels! Team CALM claims yet another victory!" I heard the crowd cheering while I slipped my blades back into their sheaths behind my back and held my hand out for Cinder.

She smiled an exhausted smile at me as she took my hand and got to her feet, "We'll have to do this more often, Neve, next time just the two of us." She looked positively excited at that idea.

I couldn't say no to her, so I just nodded, "Once the festival's over, that sounds like fun."

I was about to let her go when she made a big show of placing her hand on my chest, "My hero, always picking me up when I fall." Then she pressed against me and gave me a passionate and loving kiss, which I reciprocated. To say the crowd went wild was an understatement, it was like a kiss cam at a sports stadium but amplified a thousand times over. It was a real crowd pleaser, not that we were doing it to please anyone but ourselves, and to show how much we loved each other, no matter what anyone else might think.

After that, we separated and shared a smile before she went to collect Mercury.

Violet and I walked back towards our locker, with Violet reconnecting Suncutter and sheathing it on her back, "That was fun! What was it like fighting Mercury?"

I hummed, "Very fast-paced, he's got moves, I'll give him that. I'd love to see him on the dance floor, he'd probably kill it."

Violet gasped and as her eyes lit up I knew I said the wrong thing, "Oh yeah? Why not ask him out to a club?!"

I waved my hands quickly as we reentered the lockers, "Not like that, Violet! I'm taken, remember?"

She laughed and covered her mouth, "I know, I know! I'm just messin with you." She patted my shoulder, "I heard you trash-talking my fanfiction." She squinted at me, "You know I'll get my revenge for that."

I paled, what dastardly plans could she cook up? I tried to appease her, "Hey, I'll make it up to you! I'll cook something for us after the festival, promise!"

Violet smirked, "That's more like it, I'll hold you to that!" The two of us headed out from the opposite side of the locker room and made our way back to the fairgrounds. No doubt the other two were going to be along after watching a couple more fights, but I personally was exhausted. My aura levels were low, if Cinder and or Mercury had gotten in a few more hits, I could have been taken out of the fight.

We were eventually joined by Cinder and Mercury, all four of us desperately needed food to start regaining the aura we'd spent, which took the form of us enjoying noodles at the noodle stand that had been a rather popular destination for the past couple days. The noodles were good, so I couldn't be blamed for liking it so much.

I was the first person who finished eating so I got up and decided to stroll around some, I did want to return to the dorm to get some rest but for some reason I wanted to just see how the festival was going before that.

My curiosity was rewarded with the curious sight of Weiss standing around on her own near some stalls, apart from anyone else again. That was curious, but unlike before she didn't seem to be focused on anything in particular. I decided to see what she was doing, approaching her and asking, "Hey, Weiss, you look distracted. Something up?"

Weiss was pulled out of whatever trance she was in with a start, "H-Huh? Oh, Neve." She managed a smile, "Yes, it's quite alright. I'm just lost in thought, trying to figure something out." There was a pause as she looked at me, "Actually… Perhaps your assistance could be useful. You're a guy, so you know about guys, correct?" That was when I got a new substory notification.

New Substory!

The Princess' Favor

Weiss seems to need your expertise in matters relating to guys. It seems like it's time to play wingman to the snow angel!

Rewards

100 Lien, relationship increase with Weiss Schnee. Further rewards depending on method of completion.

…Well then.

I hummed, "I guess? What do you need?" I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like Weiss to need a wingman, so this had to be a special occasion, "Is Neptune giving you trouble?"

She shook her head, "Neptune? No, I stopped caring about him when I realized how fake he is. Who wants someone who pretends to be someone they're not?" Well, that was good for her. She continued, a light blush on her face, "No, there's this other guy. I share a few classes with him, and he's always been super nice, but… Ugh, I can't just ask him out! I don't know if he'd even accept!"

Well, this seemed like the kind of light-hearted trouble that was at least going to be easy enough to deal with compared to everything else going on. I hummed, "So… who is he?"

Weiss explained, "His name's Cobalt, Cobalt Lazuli. You might have seen him around." She gestured to her hair, "He's got clean, fair skin, dark blue hair, he's tall, like… Jaune's height, and when he's not wearing his armor he's usually got this cozy hoodie on…" She sighed a dreamy sigh that made me have to refrain from rolling my eyes. I was about to ask her to get back on track when suddenly she gasped, "There he is!" She pointed, "Look, I need you to figure out what he thinks of me! You're a guy, right? So he should be willing to tell you!"

I turned my head to see where she was pointing and, sure enough, I saw who she was talking about.

I mean absolutely no offense to Jaune when I say this, but this guy was clearly everything Jaune was not. Jaune was tall, blonde and scraggly, this guy was tall with azure colored hair and seemed well-kept. His hair wasn't carefully done, it was just kept a reasonable length, with strands of it carelessly going in one direction or another.

He wore a black hoodie with a pair of jeans and black short boots. Tall, azure, and well-kept to say the very least. He was also very clearly fairly strong, not buff but cut, although that was hard to see under the hoodie, not that you'd find me looking for it. He was turned away from us, looking at a stall that sold churros and other assorted snack foods.

Weiss seemed to work with the idea that guys worked like girls and just had this sort of understanding with each other. While that wasn't always the case, in a place like this we did have common ground, we were both hunters-in-training and we both were no doubt part of the festival. I cleared my throat, "I'll go talk to him, but no promises, alright?"

Weiss nodded eagerly and thus I was off, adjusting my scarf as I walked next to him and made a show of looking at the menu the stall had hanging from the ceiling, "Lots of good stuff here, huh?" I started with small talk, I had no idea what this guy was like, Weiss' taste in people was unknown at this point.

The guy looked at me and smiled warmly, the kind of smile that I knew would have melted Weiss' heart the second she saw it. He didn't even seem to be trying, instead he just nodded. His eyes were a warmer blue than mine, almost as dark as his hair. He had a light scar running along his left cheek, nothing unsightly, but it was clear he'd seen his share of battle, "Very good, I agree." He looked at the menu, "I've never had Vacuan food before. Do you know what might be good to try?"

His voice wasn't too deep, but it was polite and easy-going. I looked back at the menu, "The churros are good, can't go wrong there. You're used to Valean food, I take it?"

He nodded, "Back at my village it was all we really knew how to cook. Not that anyone was complaining." The past tense was indicative, there was more to this guy. He ordered a churro and I did the same, once we both had our snack we both turned away from the stall and walked away from it to give it space. He regarded me with some recognition in his eyes, "Neve Cadere, correct? You just finished up your fight not long ago."

I wasn't surprised he recognized me, "That's right. You're… Cobalt, yeah? I remember seeing your team fight those guys from Shade. Nice moves." I added, "You're one of the few people with an older type of weapon, if I remember correctly. Not that I'm much different."

He hummed, "You're right, yes. My weapon belonged to House Lazuli, it's something of a family heirloom. Still, it's more advanced than a lot of weapons were back then. A bec de corbin that can turn into a spear or a shorter warhammer, it may not be much, but back in the day it was cutting edge. So I'm told, at least."

House Lazuli, huh? I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised to learn there were more houses with a long lineage other than the Arc family. I hummed and decided to throw out a line, "House Lazuli, huh? I think I heard Weiss mention them before, something about them being one of the great houses back during the days of knighthood."

He seemed moderately surprised, "Weiss mentioned that?" I nodded and he hummed, "Well, she always seemed more interested in that kind of thing. I don't know her that well, but I know that. Truthfully, I never put much stock in that sort of thing. Glory is earned through action and displays of virtue more than resting on the laurels of the past."

I took a bite out of my churro while he was talking and after swallowing responded, "You don't seem like the normal kind of person to come here with your kind of background. Jaune didn't stop talking about how he was trying to live up to his family name for the first like… two months he was here."

Cobalt chuckled and shook his head, "Cause I'm really not the normal kind of person to be here. It wasn't much of a choice." He shrugged, "But that's a story for another day. I should probably go catch up with my team…"

Well, I couldn't just let him get away, I needed to secure a chance to bring Weiss up more to him! "Hey, some of my guy friends and I are gonna be hitting the town tonight, enjoying the festivities and all that, wanna come? I think you'd get along with them."

He seemed pleasantly surprised at the offer, "Of course, that sounds splendid." He dug out his scroll and we tapped our devices together, trading contact info quickly. I told him we'd be heading out at six and he said to just text him and he'd be out by the bullhead in no time.

Well, I supposed I was planning a guy's night out now…

Weiss approached me after he left and asked, "Well? What'd he say?"

I cleared my throat, "Well, I mentioned you to him but I couldn't really tell what he thought. Guy's kinda hard to read, seems really nice though."

Weiss nodded quickly, "He is! Like a true knight in shining armor, I never expected to find someone like him in a place like this. He's very breathtaking." I would feel bad for the resident knight in not-shining armor, Jaune, but he has Pyrrha now, so there was nothing to feel bad about.

I explained my plan, "I invited him to go out on the town with some of my friends and I, I'll see if I can't bring you up to him."

She seemed okay with that, so after she left I went about getting into touch with the guys. I don't remember the last time I was able to hang out with just bros, it was a special occasion no doubt. All in the name of getting the Ice Queen a date, what a world.

So it was that I got Lunus, Mercury, and Ven to agree to come with us as well. Not that it was too hard, with everything going on all of us were well within our right to want some time away from everything. Even away from the girls.

…It also helped that I told them I had VIP access to Junior's club and even if they weren't going to get drunk, they could still get non-alcoholic drinks, or get some food, or just dance.

Cinder initially wanted to go but when I told her that it was just guys this time around, she seemed to relent. There was nothing for her to get jealous about when I was just hanging out with my bros, right?

When six came around all of us met at the bullhead landing and headed down and started walking towards Junior's club. We were all dressed casually, I just wore my usual outfit while Lunus wore a gray zip-up hoodie and jeans, Ven wore a sweater and slacks, Mercury wore his regular clothes, and Cobalt wore the same outfit he wore when I saw him earlier.

Mercury asked the obvious question as we walked together, "So, Neve, how'd someone like you land VIP at a club like Junior's? Did you tell the Malachite Twins they've got beautiful eyes or some other suave nonsense?"

I shook my head and smiled, "I did him a favor awhile ago. It wasn't a big deal, but he was appreciative of it all the same."

Lunus looked surprised, looking at me, "What'd you do for a guy like him? I hope you're not gonna tell me you did his dirty work."

Ven and Cobalt were both clearly interested as well as they looked at me. I sighed, "Well, no. Remember that human trafficking ring that got busted back over the summer?"

I went on to tell them about my excursion, leaving out certain details like what happened afterward or how exactly I knew Roman and Neo before all of that, luckily they didn't pry. They were all satisfied to know that I had done something like that, especially when I revealed that the girl I mentor is one of the slaves I helped save.

When we finally got to Junior's, we all headed to the VIP area. Junior was there, but he wasn't upset that I brought so many friends. Quite the contrary, he seemed happy. Understandable, if they liked the place maybe they'd come back on their own later.

I had learned from my earlier mistakes and partook with moderation when it came to alcohol. I could handle a buzz or even being tipsy, but anything more was off limits. I couldn't afford to just say things to anyone like I did with Cinder that one time. However, my restraint didn't seem to be matched by everyone in my party.

Namely, Mercury was more than happy to get smashed. An hour in and he was thoroughly gone with the wind, yet he still meandered his way down to the dance floor and began to kill it. Even drunk, the guy knew how to move. Lunus was drunk too, and he was talking to the much more sober Ven, "I'm tellin' ya Ven, Yang is like… crazy for you."

Cobalt and I were both also fairly sober, not as much as Ven, who hadn't had any alcohol yet, but enough to find it amusing just how gone Lunus was as he poked Ven on the chest, sitting next to him at the bar as he was, "She won't say it cause she's s-so damn prideful, but she's in love with ya!"

Ven chuckled and shook his head, "I dunno about that, Lunus. We've known each other for years, I'm sure if she was I would have noticed by now."

While that was going on, I turned my attention to Cobalt and jokingly asked, "So how about you, Ser Lazuli, any fair maidens to speak of?"

Cobalt chuckled and shook his head, "No maidens. And don't call me 'Ser Lazuli', just Cobalt is much more preferable. Knighthood doesn't even exist anymore." He tipped back a sip of the tall drink he had, "Besides… ya won't find the actual House of Lazuli anywhere these days. The whole place got destroyed by a Grimm attack."

…Oh.

I patted his shoulder, "Sorry for bringing it up. Seems like stories like that are all too common these days."

He shook his head, "Don't worry about it, I've made my peace with it. Just means that I need to fight to keep the name alive, even if I didn't want to. I wanted to be a weaponsmith before I came here, but I had the training to fight. Auntie Aurum didn't let me skip out on that. I'd thank her, but I don't have the slightest idea where she is… She was always a wanderer."

Thinking about it, he reminded me a lot of Jaune in just how similar yet different they were. Cobalt was from a noble family like Jaune, but unlike the Arc, he wanted nothing to do with combat. The life chose him, not the other way around, and he seemed very humble and polite. Jaune wasn't proud or egotistical, but Cobalt had this humble refinement that made the blonde knight seem like he was prideful by comparison.

I hummed, "So, no maidens? You know I bet someone like you could get one really easily." I nudged his shoulder, he was sitting on my left, "Like what about Weiss? She's a proper lady."

Cobalt smiled, "Weiss? Would you believe I've thought about it?" I nodded and he continued, "She's beautiful, elegant, refined, all of that, but… Eh. Too good for a country bumpkin like me."

I realized then that we had a live one, I was just gonna have to get Weiss to actually ask him out and then at least they could see if they'd be a good match. There was nothing wrong with giving it a shot!

I nodded along, "Well hey, you never know right? I say go for it, even if you don't think it'll work."

Before I continue, Ven spoke up, "Neve, did you see they announced the first one on one match for tomorrow night?" The single matches were set to start after the remaining duos participated earlier in the day. Ven showed me his scroll and the first match, "It's you versus that Penny girl from Atlas."

…Huh. Well, I wasn't sure if I could win that, but it would be worth a shot. I nodded, "Well, guess I can't get too carried away tonight."

I supposed any greater celebration and time out on the town would have to wait, because the one v ones were supposed to be the most intense and spectacular. Even as one of the Holo-TVs in the room talked about the murders that had been ramping up again in recent days, I tried to focus on what was to come.

Namely, my fight with Penny Polendina.

With Emerald pacified, there was nothing to worry about as far as illusions went. Nobody was around to want Penny dead, nor to make her some sort of example. That meant that the match should be fine, and if I could beat her, that would mean that she would have made it through the festival in one piece.

The rest of the night consisted of Lunus eventually giving up on trying to convince Ven of the truth and instead turning to go and join Mercury on the dance floor. Mercury was far better than him though, so really all he did was make Mercury look better.

I talked up Weiss throughout the night to Cobalt, although it seemed like he didn't really need it. He knew she was great, but he was too damn humble to think he was worth her time. I wondered if maybe he knew she was into him and just felt she deserved better. That wouldn't be a first, I knew more than a few people who would work with that kind of logic.

Especially Mercury, who went on about how Violet had so much better friends now and that she didn't need him. Turned out he was a rather sobby drunk, that was fun.

It ended up being down to Ven, Cobalt, and I to get the other two back to Beacon. Cobalt and I were tipsy but at least we were in far better straits than the other two, who seemed to go whole hog for one reason or another.

Once we got back, Lunus ended up being incredibly affectionate towards Ruby, a total one-eighty to how he normally acted with how he hugged and praised her repeatedly. The poor girl seemed like she was going to short-circuit from all of that attention, meanwhile Mercury spent some time crying to Violet about something or another, what exactly I don't remember.

When I saw Yang, she seemed almost disappointed that Ven was not in the same state Lunus was in. Yet she didn't vocalize it, so there was no real way for me to tell. Either way, at least the objective of that night out was met, and I was able to suggest to Weiss that she just ask him out with full confidence that he'd say yes. The rest was up to her. Although I didn't get a substory completion notification when I told her, so maybe it had to wait for when she actually did it.

While I was laying in bed, I decided to check my stats, it had once again been awhile since the last time I'd done that.

Neve Cadere

Level 15 Wannabe Hero

Age: 18

HP

100/100

Aura

150/150

Stats

Vigor - 22

Mind - 35

Charisma - 42

Endurance - 38

Strength - 20

Dexterity - 43

Intelligence - 23

Sorcery - 10

Skills

Sword Fighting

65/100

Archery

65/100

Fist Fighting

40/100

Dodging

68/100

Blocking

40/100

Aura Usage

65/100

Dust Usage

60/100

Stealth

56/100

Deception

79/100

Leadership

60/100

I wondered just what it would take to get my title to change again… No sense worrying about it at that point, I figured. Instead I dismissed the text and focused on trying to sleep.

The next day I slept in and woke up in the afternoon, knowing that I was going to need all the rest I could get for what was to come. Penny was easily the most skilled opponent I was going to have to face, arguably more skilled than Cinder, if only because she was literally built for it. That, and her control of Floating Array meant she had a lot more she could do to fight me than Cinder could without the ability to use her maiden powers.

I remember hearing that the others would be a bit late to the match, but Violet was going to make it early at least. Cinder said she'd be along as well, of course she would, that was comforting.

I found myself in the locker room on my own, checking Daybreak and making sure all of my arrows were where they needed to be while I listened to Port talk on the Holo-TV, "It's finally time for the one v ones to begin, and I have to say we're kicking off with a highly anticipated bout. Neve Cadere from Beacon versus Penny Polendina from Atlas. Both have displayed skill and strength unmatched by any they've faced thus far, only rivaled by the likes of Pyrrha Nikos and Team RWBY's Yang Xiao Long, what are your thoughts Bartholomew?"

Oobleck responded, "I concur, Peter, this fight is one that will be talked about for years to come, of that I'm certain! Witnessing these rising stars clash is bound to be quite the spectacle! Speaking of, I do believe it's time for the contestants to make their way out onto the arena, let's turn our attention there!"

That was my cue as I once again walked to the entrance of the arena proper. The crowd roared and yet somehow I could still hear Violet cheering over everyone else. She may have been terrible with crowds, but when she knew nobody was paying attention, she could still be loud.

I saw Penny walking to the center of the arena as well. The stage itself was a lot smaller than the old ones, given that it only needed to accommodate two people on it this time. I knew there would be no biomes either, just skill against skill.

We stopped a few feet from each other and Penny grinned warmly at me, "Greetings, Friend Neve! It has been quite a long time since we got to interact! A pity that I have been so busy, I would have loved to do friend activities with you!"

…Penny had never given me any way to contact her, so it wasn't like I could just call her up and offer to hangout with her. Still, I shrugged, "Maybe after this we can catch up." I reached under my coat, behind my back, and drew both my blades, "For now, we've gotta see which one of us is better."

Penny's smile grew determined as she deployed Floating Array behind her, "I am combat ready!"

I grinned, "So am I, Penny."

Professor Port came on over the speakers, "It's time for another rousing bout! Ready…" Penny and I both prepared to move.

"Begin!"

Time slowed down again for the third time, this time the symbol of Atlas appeared with text overlaying it.

Penny Polendina

A Real Girl

Penny started by directing Floating Array out towards me, the blades all heading straight in my direction. I was able to duck below the first few and then roll after more of them came for me, then I lunged forward towards Penny and channeled ice dust into my blades.

I went to strike her and she was able to parry my first strike with one of her blades. I knew I was going to have to do something about the wall of swords she had if I was going to stand a chance of beating her.

The idea to shatter the blades was there, it was tempting, but I didn't want to do that unless I absolutely had to. Unlike Octavia, I actually liked Penny, she didn't deserve to have her weapons just broken up like that.

For now I decided that I just needed to continue to stay on the offense. She had far more at her disposal than I did, lasers, several swords, and her mechanical super strength, but that didn't mean I couldn't still outmaneuver her with enough effort.

A flurry of slashes and stabs met Penny as I continued to attack her, she deflected and dodged with ease even if I occasionally managed to land a hit. She was doing the same, and eventually slammed one of her swords into me with enough force that she sent me flying backward.

Once I landed on my feet again, I noticed that she was preparing to shoot lasers at me. I started running towards her and made a point to avoid the beams that she shot at me. I wasn't sure if it was easier to dodge these than it was to dodge regular bullets, but at least I only got hit a couple times as I reclaimed the lost distance between the two of us.

Penny continued to direct her blades at me and I continued to do what I did best, duck and dodge while I got in hits at every opportunity I could find. I laced ice dust into my strikes in order to slow down the otherwise incredibly fast girl, and I found it very effective. Her metal body, ever underneath the synthetic skin, wasn't immune to the elements. I supposed that made sense, her aura and her metal body made her more resistant to it all, but not immune, even if she herself couldn't feel the bite of the cold.

Penny felt totally comfortable talking during all of this, "Isn't this festival simply wondrous? I cannot wait to get to experience the final days with my friends! First Ruby and then you and all of your friends, it will be simply sensational!"

I swung at her head and she ducked, causing me to have to jump up and over her to dodge her blades as they tried to strike at my legs, "It'll be great, Penny!" I responded, as if I could say anything else with all of my focus on the fight at hand, breathing was important and talking expended breath!

I managed to get a couple strikes on her back, but she retaliated by bringing her blades into the air and firing several lasers at me, all of them connecting and causing me to gasp in pain. My aura was at 100/150, not bad, but I couldn't afford to let myself get hit like that too often!

I put some distance between Penny and myself as I joined Daybreak and nocked six arrows, fire and orange like I'd used before. I loosed them quickly, and as the arrows flew towards her she managed to swipe a few of them away with Floating Array, but two of them hit their mark and exploded on the ground near Penny, sending her flying backward.

She plunged two of her blades into the ground and used them to keep herself from flying off the arena, just barely, then she retracted the strings they were on and caused herself to fly forward. Barreling forward at such a high velocity, she headed straight for me and delivered a powerful kick to my chest before I had time to dodge, sending me flying backwards.

I landed on my back and grunted in pain as I blinked a few times, I moved to begin to get up and that's when I saw it.

Reports as to the cause were mixed that day, it wouldn't be until much later that I knew the full truth.

I should have known that when I looked at the sky and saw a wall of green lasers charging up, blotting out the arena stage lights with how plentiful they were, that it was an illusion. Yet I didn't have Focus on at the time, and with Emerald on our side I didn't expect to need it.

I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, but I still winced and closed my eyes before I, in a desperate act of self-preservation, kicked on my semblance. I should have been smarter than that.

And yet I caused my semblance to surge forth with all the might of General Winter, dropping the entire arena's temperature to absolute zero in a cold flurry as I heard the crowds gasp in shock, even they felt the temperature change.

It was so cold that I heard metal creaking and shaking from on high, this arena was built to handle a lot, but sudden flash freezes of that magnitude? No.

When I finally opened my eyes again and saw Penny, my blood ran almost as cold as the arena I was in, I thanked the Brothers that I was immune to the freeze my own body caused. Penny certainly wasn't.

She was frozen in place, her eyes were wide, for a moment I hoped that maybe she was just shocked at the sudden drop, or maybe rebooting her systems.

And then one of the stage lights broke off from the ceiling and fell dozens of feet, right on top of her. The result was Penny shattering into a million pieces like a glass statue, the only part of her that remained was a solid black metal cube where her body had been. It caused my eyes to widen and for the crowd's shouts to grow louder and more frantic.

The whole of the stage I was on groaned as a robotic announcer came on over the speakers, "Structural damage detected in the Arena, it is recommended that all non-maintenance personnel vacate the area. Please remain calm."

It was hard for that to happen when suddenly the whole arena shook, up on the glass roof was a giant Nevermore.

I was still sitting on the ground, my eyes wide and shock remaining over my entire person. I had fought so hard to prevent this, and yet it happened anyway. What did I do wrong? What did I mess up? My mind was a flurry of desperate questions and emotions as I struggled to pull myself together. I was exhausted, my aura gauge read 50/150, I had let out a burst of my semblance so powerful it drained a large chunk of my aura purely from its use.

Around me, I saw visions of people getting murdered. Citizens getting cleaved in half by a man wearing armor that evoked visions of the Arma Gigas, others getting stabbed, some getting shredded to pieces. All by the same man, and all were playing as if they were happening for real, right in front of the entire stadium and broadcast on live television.

I activated Focus and I knew these were fake, but the signature was not Emerald's aura, it was another, the aura coming off these illusions was white tinged with gold. Who it belonged to, I had no idea.

Yet I didn't have time to think about that, I struggled to my feet and looked around.

Crowds were hurrying out of the arena, directed by hunters-in-training, and with the howls and screeches I heard, I knew the Grimm had besieged the arena. Where there had once been cheers and celebrations abound, there were now crowds racing to try to get to the Bullheads that promised them safety and a clean evacuation. It was my hope that Atlas security not being compromised meant this wouldn't be so crippling, and yet at the moment, all I could think were panicked and quick thoughts as I grappled with the fact that everything I had lived in fear of was coming to pass.

Pandemonium had befallen the colosseum, and now, in spite of my every effort from the moment I knew I had to join the academy to now, Beacon was under attack.