Silver

by Imyoshi

Forced to admit that Crocea Mors didn't feel right in his hands—no matter how he held it—Jaune Arc struggled to overcome this obstacle through the insane idea that Aura could become more than just the armor that protected him. Barriers broke as he pushed past the limits of what Aura was capable of, creating and forging his very own weapons from the manifestation of his soul.

20. Grey

Disclaimer: I own nothing of RWBY.

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Grey

By: Imyoshi

Nora Valkyrie was dreaming.

A beautiful, wonderful, ever-fantastic, perfect-perfect dream, but a dream nonetheless. She should know. She'd dreamed this kiss for far too long for it to be anything else. One point in time had her counting the days for her dream to come true, but those eventually blurred into an ever waking nightmare, where everything she wanted was just out of arm's reach. Partially out of fear, but mostly awkwardness always held her two steps back from making the first move.

In her dreams, Ren was always the one pulling her in—just like now—and like clockwork, she waited. Waited for it all to come crashing down in a bedridden disappointment that would break her into a million, bite-size pieces. And all she would get out of it would be a broken heart.

Any second she was going to wake up in her bed, possibly with Sir Scrabbles wrapped around her neck, with zero lip-to-lip contact. She just had to bind her time and wait. Any second now, any second and it'd all be over.

Whoa? She'd normally wake-up by now.

Reading her mind, Ren smiled devilishly into the kiss, whispering the words right on Nora's lips. She tasted like maple syrup. "By the way, Nora, this isn't a dream."

Nora blinked hard, heat rising throughout her body. There was this air of dizziness surrounding her from Ren's words, almost like she was going to faint any second. She broke off the kiss, hearing the words leave his lips like a song. Then, like a catchy tune, she found herself repeating the lyrics.

By the way, Nora, this isn't a dream.

Not a dream? Not. A. Dream. Then?! His lips and hers were?! They were?! K-Kissing!

Based on the way Ren was smiling flirtatiously down at her, she gulped. Alarms were going off in her head. Code red! Code blue! Code whatever color! This was not a dream! Repeat! This was not a dream! Someone wake up the captain! They were losing her! There was overheating in sectors one and two! Three was not too far away! Her future king was right here!

Time for the ultimate test to prove once and for all if she's dreaming!

Pinch!

"Ow!" Nora grumbled, rubbing her aching cheek. "That hurt!"

Ren smirked, enjoying the way realization hit Nora like Magnhild to the knees. "Here, I'll kiss it and make it better."

Smooch!

Breaking off the sneak kiss, Ren hid back a joyous laugh to Nora's weakness to flustering-romantic moments. He chalked that up as adorable and smiled handsomely at her, eyes closed and glistening in the moonlight. Not to say he never knew Nora wasn't prone to being embarrassed when suddenly given even the smallest ounce of affection—because he'd been paying close attention all these years—but it was still amusing in its own right. Poor Nora must be short-circuiting from it all.

Ren was really going to milk this moment for all it was worth.

He went in for another, but Nora stopped him by pressing her palm to his cheek, already beating herself up for doing so dumb. Even now, her muscles refused to give her the strength needed to hold Ren back for long, wanting that sweet, tantalizing romance, but she did give it her all. She pushed him away, flustered with her arms pressed to her chest where her heart's thumping wildly. Her breathing was heavy, but in a good way, like he somehow stole her breath away.

Maybe he did.

She was denying everything because it was too good to be true. "It's not true! You don't love-love me!"

Ren blinked with such innocence that Nora found herself melting. "It is. And I do. Do you need me to say it again?" He moved closer and trapped Nora with a greedy hug where she was forced to look up and meet his perpetual affection. "Because I will, I will say it every day if you want me to. Do you want me to, Nora? Do you want me to say I love-love you every day? How about every morning after you wake up, and every night before you go to bed? I promise to say it."

Her eyes were wide and hopeful. "This isn't really a dream... you really do love-love me?"

Ren rolled his eyes in a playful way. "Do you want me to pinch you? I'll make sure to pinch the other cheek, so I can kiss that one, too." He paused, hating the idea of hurting even one hair on her beautiful head. "Or I could just kiss you and let you figure out for yourself? I can't be doing all the work now."

Wanting nothing more in life, Nora's throat was too dry to form words. So she desperately hoped her timid nod was enough. Please be enough!

Her gut said yes. Her soul yelled yes. Her heart screamed yes. Which meant the answer must be yes. A hundred times yes! It did help that he wore that adorable—handsome—dumb smile of his. It wasn't fair! Not fair she glowered, blushing like a peach! She totally wasn't ready for Ren to make her the center of his world, at least not like this!

How could she not be prepared for this day?

Wow! How cliché! She'd waited for this moment all her life. Prepared for it! Planned for it! Even dreamed of it! Yet, Nora was nowhere near ready for it when it finally did actually happen. All she could give her lover boy was a pair of shaking knees and her unbalanced weight because she'd long lost the strength to hold herself up.

So much for thunder-thighs!

Unlucky for her, Ren didn't seem to mind holding her up, not only used to it but actually wanting to feel her pressed close. He had that charming smile of his, mixed in with his forehead pressed to hers, and with eyes only meant for her. Not to mention he had his hands wrapped gently, but firmly around her back. So Nora was forced to rest her hands on his chest with her body pressed closely.

Jerk!

Stop being so overly romantic! Cut it out with the sugary sweetness. No more chocolate kisses! She wasn't used to it! It wasn't fair! How was she supposed to do anything when it felt like her soul was flying over the moon? Her feet might as well be floating off the ground for how happy she was.

Lie Ren found it funny. Nora was currently an emotional burnout, while he was overloaded with emotions, a complete one-eighty to their normal status-quo. Just kissing her had caused her thinking process to come to an abrupt halt, while he was more grounded and eager to push the realm of normalcy out the door. The effect was only temporarily, he knew that, but he was going to savor every moment of it.

Some say lightning never strikes twice, well; those people never kissed Nora Valkyrie. As long as Lie Ren was breathing, they never would. His affection for Nora was like a message in a bottle, one-of-a-kind in a sea of emotion. No matter how hard the tides tried to sink the bottle, they'd forever remain adrift, mocking normalcy for all it was worth.

Busy feeling each of their nerves coming to life, neither Ren nor Nora paid any attention to their little companion hiding in Ren's collar. Not to say the sloth Grimm felt left out, the tiny creature was still trying to wrap its head around the waves of emotions bearing down on it, and from both humans no less. Then the king's subject was kissing the Fair Maiden and the whole order was thrown out the window.

Sir Scrabbles gawked at the male human, caught off-guard from the Lie's unexpected truthfulness. Bravery such as that should be rewarded. Boldness for such actions couldn't be taken lightly. Heretic to even consider! And judging by the way the Fair Maiden deepened the kiss, if not a little unsure in the act, it looked to be so. Perhaps, in the near forthcoming, shall its caretaker go by Lady?

Now that was a future Sir Scrabbles wished upon the new couple. Truly, a marvelously and perfect day! The full moon shined down upon the duo like a spotlight meant for them and only them, with Sir Scrabbles as the witness to their blossoming happiness. How it wished it could tell its sire the good news. But for now, Sir Scrabbles would observe and watch. Reporting to its king would come later.

What the tiny Grimm could see was the devoted smile pressed against the Fair Maiden's lips. The female was still blindsided from the courtship, an obvious reaction, Sir Scrabbles would expect no less.

When Ren broke away from the third kiss, he was feeling giddy. "Love-love you."

Nora was still not there yet. Part of her still thought this was some crazy dream. "Gah! Stop saying that! Stop it!"

Ren smiled. "Okay, but I'm still thinking it."

Nora squirmed, hating how much she missed already hearing those stupid, three words of his. Pressing her fingers together, she shyly looked away, hoping he wouldn't point out her bashfulness. If anything, Ren liked it—no! He loved it. He wanted to see it every day and wake up to it and Nora wanted to show him how much this all meant to her. Show him how badly her heart was beating from the blood rush.

But most of all, she just wanted him to know.

"Love-love you, too."

This time she moved in for the kiss first, throwing her arms frantically around his neck, pressing her body as close as possible, and burying him in her added weight with legs wrapped around his torso. Throwing in everything she had and then some, she drowned him in love, and the look of surprise on Lie Ren's face was one neither Sir Scrabbles nor Nora Valkyrie would ever forget.

...

When the other two members of Team JNPR woke up the following morning, they knew something was off. First of all, there were no loud noises; an oddity considering Nora was a part of the team. Secondly, Ren was bed was unmade, a greater threat than Nora was absence. Guy liked to be clean and healthy above all else. And finally, dark clouds covered the horizon, threatening a thunderstorm between the transition of summer and fall, though that might just be the upcoming weather for a mountain region.

Still, there was something in the air—sweet and off-balance. They could almost taste it.

Battle instincts on full alert, Jaune and Pyrrha escaped their temporary room to locate their missing teammates. If only they hadn't slept in, but their practice spar the day before practically robbed them of energy, Jaune even managed to sleep through Pyrrha's snoring. A miracle, he might add. The only hint of his victory yesterday were the bruises hidden around his body. He forbade his Aura from healing them just yet.

He enjoyed the constant reminder, more than the constant pain, but it was a close second. A very close second.

Lurking around the corner, Noodle and Cereal found their lost companions in the kitchen. Pancake was currently waiting to be fed, while Health Nut made said food. It wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary if Nora currently was locking eyes with the floorboard, totally silent throughout the whole process. Things only turned stranger when the duo heard Ren's soft humming, breaking the small bubble in the kitchen. And were those reddish-purple marks on Nora's neck? First Nora's quietness and now Ren's cheerfulness?

What was going on?

What finally pushed them over the edge was when Ren handed Nora her heart-shaped, thunderbolt splashed pancakes! There was this small smile of his that put everyone else's to shame and he was still humming that little song of his, even when he began pouring syrup on her food for her, oblivious, or not caring for Nora's comatose state. Then he was cutting up her pancakes for her and—?!

Subtly could go jump off a cliff! Jaune was getting to the bottom of all this madness right now.

"Alright, what's going on here?" Jaune threw his hands out, voice cryptic. He eyed them both warily. "Nora's all quiet and Ren's humming while he's making pancakes? Something's not right here, and Pyrrha and I want to know what's up."

If Ren was at all surprised by Jaune's walk-in, he didn't show it. The Lie continued on making breakfast, albeit the pancakes on his pan retain a normal circular shape much too his leader's annoyance. Jaune's intrusion had done nothing to his good mood. Besides, Ren knew a certain firecracker preferred to break the news and he didn't want to get on his girlfriend's bad side on day one.

Wouldn't be too surprising with the Semblance he had, but he was trying to beat the odds down with cheerful optimism. It seemed to be working, too.

Flipping the last pancake, Ren set the table, and when he approached Nora, she exploded in a flurry of emotions. Like Jaune's signature Supernova, she was the center of attention, hugging his arm tightly, almost dropping the plate of pancakes in his hand. There was this grin on her face, honest and truthful, that Ren couldn't help but smile alongside her.

"We're together-together now!" And just like a switch, she was out of juice, back to being subdued by the whole situation. It was apparent she was blushing like a tomato. "So yeah, get used to it because this is happening!"

Just to make things a bazillion times harder for Nora, Ren kissed her on the head, ignoring the way her face grew three higher shades of pink. She had no problem accepting the affection, having had time to cool down since yesterday, but having people around for Ren's display of public affection was another entirely. Her heart was still jumping around in her chest, and were those black butterflies in her stomach? She wished they go away. They were making it hard to for her to look anyone in the face.

Pyrrha, on the other hand, was eating it all up! And she wasn't talking about the pancakes. Her inner romantic was coming out to play, and she couldn't wait to pull Nora away so she could get her to spill all the details. But for now, Nora was embarrassment was plenty. Then there was Jaune, grinning for them, but it was more like a nonchalant grin. Like he already had this relationship locked away since day one.

"About time! You know I'm going to tell Sun and Neptune, right?" Ren said nothing; of course, he knew. The Lie was just busy putting the dirty utensils away. "So? When it'd happen? This morning, right before breakfast?"

Cleaning his hands off, Ren shrugged. "Last night. Kind of sprung it on her. She's still a little... embarrassed by the whole thing."

Nervous was what Jaune would say. Embarrassed was the biggest understatement of the century. Poor Nora was tongue-tied and Ren wasn't making it any easier by taking a seat next to her and offering to feed her bits of pancake. He was even doing this whole lean on the table and gaze into her eyes shtick, and she was falling for it, hard. How come Jaune was just now realizing that Ren was wearing an apron over his Lore cloak? Or that the words written on it were King of the Castle? Silly wouldn't be the best word to describe it, but it was damn close.

Throwing in the towel, he sat down and ate away at his food, staying close to his googly partner. "Am I the only one who finds this weird?"

Pyrrha grinned, resting her elbows on the table and head in her palms. She could recount the few times Nora found herself love-struck by Ren's presence. Each and every time had the girl a bumbling fool, totally under the control of Ren's actions. Some misfortune always pushed them apart. It was honestly bittersweet to think about, but romantic all the same.

She couldn't wait to tell Team RWBY when they got back. Little or not, this was just the distraction she needed from the whole Fall Maiden mess.

"I think it's cute. Nora's been pining for this for so long, and now that she has it, she doesn't know what to do with it. It's like making your cake and eating it too. She's lost and Ren's only making it harder for her to concentrate."

Jaune blinked, waving Pyrrha's observation away. "No. Not that. I get that. I'm talking about how Ren's all about the public displays of affection."

To prove his point, Ren grabbed Nora's hand and fed her a forkful of pancake. His soft smile deserved to be plastered on a magazine cover. She was smiling too, but it was one full of blushing. He then wrapped an arm around her shoulder and continued on eating and feeding her.

They were totally oblivious to their presence.

Jaune discreetly pointed at the pair, shushing his voice for only Pyrrha to hear. "See! That's what I'm talking about! That's coming from Ren of all people! Ren! Tell me I'm not going crazy? Just say it. I dare you!"

"Well, what do you expect? He's been holding back his feelings for who knew how long, forced to act a certain way to for her benefit." Pyrrha had this faraway look to her, knowing the feeling quite well from worn experience. "Trust me, I can understand where he's coming from. And now that's been given the freedom to express himself, he's not going to hold himself back, and Nora just so happens to be the center of his attention."

Jaune stuck a fork in his pancake, still shaken up by the whole thing. "... It's still weird."

Pyrrha ignored her Heartless Leader in favor of giggling for Nora's predicament. To be fair, she did get where Jaune was coming from. Having Ren as Mr. PDA did put them in a sort of Limbo state. Still, she'd be the first to admit that she was a little jealous of her friend, and by a little, she meant a lot. But she was super happy for Nora regardless and hoped for the best.

Plus, seeing Nora so flustered was its own reward.

In a way, Ren stole her thunder, like catching lightning in a bottle, and Pyrrha found that absolutely adorable. Jaune just found it weird; Nora was normally the emotional one, not the other way around. Strange how backward it was, but he wasn't the one in a relationship, so what did he know. Love made people do crazy things.

Cutting her pancake into five pieces, it was then she noticed they were still missing the fifth person of their little mission team, a certain combat professor. "Excuse me, but where's Professor Goodwitch?"

Ren shrugged, not knowing anything about it. "I'm not sure. She was already gone by the time we woke up. Professor Goodwitch might be out, surveying the area? Or she might just be an early riser."

"And Sir Scrabbles? I'm surprised Professor Goodwitch hasn't seen him yet."

The mention of its name made the little guy's head pop out of Ren's collar, clueless. "Sir Scrabbles either hides underneath the beds or in my cloak. Sloths are notorious for hiding in plain sight."

Jaune snorted. "And wearing a perfectly concealing, Grimm-furred coat has nothing to do with it."

"I never said that."

Sighing, Jaune plucked a piece of pancake in his mouth, enjoying the enhanced taste. "Gotta say, these pancakes are to die for? You've really outdone yourself? What's your secret?"

Ren perked up mildly. "The secret ingredient is—!"

"If you say love, I'll call Sun and Neptune right now."

...

Breakfast past without much interruption, only lasting awkwardness for Jaune and Pyrrha, but they kept it to themselves. The whole together-together thing would take some time to get used to, well, it wouldn't have if Ren hadn't turned out to be such a romantic. None of them expected that. So the duo was forced to adapt. At least they weren't Nora. Poor girl didn't like being the center of attention when it came to romance, apparently. She was fine with all other forms of attention-seeking, but romance was a no-go.

Even handholding—which Ren did guiltlessly—brought out the mess in her.

Fortunately, when it came down to going about their current mission, Ren was all serious, which meant Nora was, in turn, serious, too. However, it was much harder for her, so much harder. Serious or not, she was still on cloud nine. There was a pun about Ren's silly rainclouds in there somewhere.

Their professor and commander met them outside their sleeping quarters, bidding them a clip good morning before sending them off. The mission's current goal was to finish the cleanup of the compound. If Glynda saw the tombstones and connected the dots between Nora and Ren, she respectably kept her mouth shut and thoughts to herself. It wasn't her business, and unless they spoke first, she was just going to treat the mission like any other, but that didn't mean she'd simply standby if she bore witness to a victim-breakdown on either party. The professor would gladly step in and offer a comforting shoulder.

To be honest, if she had known prior to the mission specs, they would've never gone on this mission, to begin with. An insight on her part, but one she didn't plan to make again. Actually, when she was being completely honest about it, she was proud of the way Nora and Ren were handling it.

Glynda knew she would've reacted far worse. If only she knew what happened the day before, at the meeting of the elders and a center Lie. Her opinion wouldn't have changed, but she would've learned a thing or two about the village's secrets.

Nonetheless, besides the cleaning part or defending the villagers from random Grimm attacks, Glynda had another goal in mind. She wanted to talk to the four members of Team JNPR, separately if possible. That was her true intention in this mission; otherwise, the professor would've never left Beacon in the first place. They had plenty of other professors to watch over the students.

For her first target, she decided to seek out the strongest link of the team, Pyrrha Nikos. Of the four of them, Miss Nikos had the most going on—as far as she knew—and getting that out of the way now would not only allow for that bandage to be peeled, but it'd give the champion time to cool down, unwind, and think hard about her choice.

Too bad that wasn't what irked her.

Foolish or not, Glynda expected Pyrrha to be mad—livid even. It was guaranteed. She anticipated nothing less than hate. How could she not? To force a Destiny upon one person and hold their leader hostage was nothing short of backstabbing. Sure, the cards might look different to someone else's perspective, Pyrrha might've even acted saddened by the whole thing at first, but sins were part of being a human, and she figured either wrath or pride awaited their little talk.

Glynda was leaning more toward wrath. Pride wouldn't have allowed Pyrrha's Fearless Leader to step in and stop the fight, nor would it have allowed her to be pushed around. So either her pride was overshadowed by her wrath, meaning her respect for her leader's tremendous, or Jaune Arc was more powerful than he let on, and he simply outshined both her wrath and pride.

There was even the possibility of both options coming to fruition.

Sighing, Glynda went hunting for her star-student, figuring their good relationship would forever be tarnished. "Let's just get this over with."

Anonymous to her, Pyrrha made her choice yesterday, surrounded by tombstones in a cemetery crafted by the hands of man, and not by the monsters that plagued the world.

...

There was something peaceful that came with doing menial chores. A lack of fineness that was neither needed nor wanted. Just a broom and her thoughts, and Pyrrha liked that. She would admit it wasn't the most glamorous of activities; a far outcry to what her Polarity could solve in a matter of minutes, but simple was sometimes better. This just so happened to be one of those times and it gave her time to think.

Now that she was alone with her thoughts, her mind was stuck on the Maiden problem, not the Penny one. She didn't need to give Penny much thought, not when she really broke it down, the girl knew instinctively her leader would solve it. He always did. Pyrrha couldn't even recall the last time Jaune truly asked her for help. It both saddened and filled her with joy.

Jaune would make a fine Huntsmen in the future. She just knew it.

Fluttering some trash into a neat pile, she found her natural smile breaking upon the notice of a random, forgotten tombstone. It was next to a compound, most likely their old home, covered in dirt and grass from years of heavy neglect. She only spotted it because she moved enough trash away—a sad sight to behold.

Kneeling down, she attempted to restore the tombstone, wiping away the dirt and grime with a surprising urgency, but her efforts prove to be far too late. Years of neglect have weathered down the stone's writing, leaving it only the base form for none to see. It was probably for the best. She couldn't keep this person's memory living for them.

"I'm sorry..."

She didn't know why she was apologizing; it just felt like the honest thing to do. But her words meant nothing in the end. The least Pyrrha could do was clean up this individual's grave and try to forget she ever saw it. Maybe then, it wouldn't remind her of the monsters that killed these people—monsters that were dressed up as humans, because calling them anything else but monsters would be blasphemy.

Gripping a tight fist, she glared around the ghost town of a compound, hating how this place felt hollow. She couldn't even imagine what it did to Ren and Nora. Sure, they acted happy on the outside, but she knew that feeling all too well. It's just a mask.

Perhaps Ren had moved past it, she saw the tear stains on his cheeks during the reveal yesterday. No one was an emotionless shell, he included, but Pyrrha feared for Nora the most. The bombastic girl may act like everything's fine, but she knew better. They all did. Underneath that shell of sugary and sweetness was a bitter center that had remained untouched for twelve years and those layers holding it back were slowly melting away in this place of Death.

How Nora managed to hold on for so long astounded Pyrrha to no end. To be able to smile every day and get up every morning with such a black plague lingering in her mind? Pyrrha was many things, but not invincible. Everyone had gotten that one wrong.

Nora Valkyrie was the invincible one.

Now that Ren no longer viewed himself the monster in their little fairy tale, she didn't need to hold anything back or be the emotional outpost that her childhood friend needed. Actually, the more Pyrrha was carefully pondering it over, the more it made sense. Nora had always been a shock-absorber from the very beginning, taking the brunt of all the pain for twelve years inside to make it something prosperous and beautiful on the out.

Nora Valkyrie made their life a life worth fighting for, even when Lie Ren had all but given up on such a dream. She never let him completely sink to the depths of his despair, not for twelve whole years, and thanks to her Fearless Leader, together, they managed to pull Ren back up. Pyrrha just hoped Ren could pull her back when the time came because Pyrrha doubted anyone but Ren could.

Pyrrha would never forget Nora's heartfelt confession.

Thank you, Jaune. Thank you for giving me back my Ren.

And people often questioned why Jaune was in their team. They thought him nothing more than a burden, a filth that held them back. Ironically enough, they're half-right, he was holding them, but not back, but together—the glue to Team JNPR.

Releasing a tense breath, Pyrrha smiled, finding a purpose to keep on moving forward with this whole Maiden thing. When it was all said and done, life wasn't so bad when there were friends around to lift and share the burden.

Sweeping some trash to the side, she found a large stone beneath a pile of junk. Brownish-black to black in color, the rock called to her, attracting her negativity with its positivity. When she blinked, she recognized the stone almost immediately and brushed her broom aside.

Pyrrha reached down with almost childlike enthusiasm and grinned. "Oh, it's a lodestone! I haven't held one of these since I began my tournament run."

Call her a Geology nut, but rocks have always fascinated the girl. How could they not when her Semblance allowed her control over Magnetic Forces? All things magnetic were subjected to her will. Rocks were no different but proved to be fragile in the thick of battle, and they were a little too heavy for her tastes.

However, lodestone meant more to her than any other rock. By definition, this rock was a natural magnet, resembling her in many ways. A little secret she kept to herself, one she hadn't found a reason in sharing yet, was that Pyrrha's Polarity allowed her to properly angle herself respectively True North. A little tricked she learned before leaving for Beacon, and she wasn't the only thing capable of such a thing.

Take this lodestone for example.

Suspended in air, mixed with its natural magnetic properties and it'd face north as well. And the best part! They attracted others metals, such as iron. Pyrrha even reached down and picked up a dented, iron nail and pressed it against the lodestone. Just like she prophesied, it stuck to the rock and made her smile grow. In a way, this rock was her. It attracted other metals to it and had a sense of reliability that was hard to find in nature—or in people.

Could that make Pyrrha's magnetic personality pole dependent? She couldn't honestly say. At times she'd be a pole of negativity while positivity surrounded her and vice-versa. That could mean she changed her polarity from time to time, acting as a sort of Magnetic Reversal. Did that mean her Semblance attracted more than just metals? Definitely seemed like so if her interaction with that Penny girl meant anything. That robot was too happy around her and she brought nothing but trouble for her and her partner.

Even her fame turned out to be a curse in disguise. By the time she figured out the truth, it had already been too late. It'd only attracted loneliness for the spotlight she trapped herself in. And she had hated it with a passion. Her positive nature only attracted the worst in people, never the good. Weiss had been no different when they first met. The heiress only wanted her for her skills and fame—at first—and not for whom she was.

Even now, the so-called protectors saw her nothing more than some candidate and that had hurt worse than any stab delivered in combat. But then a wonderful, joyous miracle had happened, and it made her heart leap and her soul sing.

She met a certain blond noodle. A blond noodle who managed to get closer to her with magnetic polarities broken, as if his warm personality demagnetized the positive field she had trapped herself in. Her fame meant nothing. Her accomplishments meant nothing. None of it mattered. Not even when Weiss had told Jaune about her feats and victories. He merely brushed them aside like an afterthought. Jaune just saw her as Pyrrha Nikos, girl born in Mistral, and nothing else.

How was she supposed to ignore that? Trick question! Pyrrha couldn't. It was like Jaune flipped some switch and reversed her magnetic polarity. That flip came with friends, laughter, happiness, fond memories, meaningful relationships, and perhaps something even more in the distant future. But the positivity attracted negativity, and now her leader was in deep trouble. His very dream was on the line, and he couldn't power through it on his own. He needed his team to pick up the slack where his shoulders could not.

Pyrrha Nikos would be damned if she allowed anyone—Headmaster or not—to take that all away!

Clink!

Peering down, her eyes found themselves locked onto the dented nail, lying lifelessly on the floor. She was frowning, completely lost. Thinking it was nothing more than a fluke; she reached down and picked up the nail, attempting to stick it back to the lodestone. When it fell back to the floor, she paused, panicked a bit, and then picked up any piece of scrap metal and tried to feel any sort of magnetic attraction from the rock, but there was no acting force to be felt.

"What? How could this have happened?"

Pyrrha was more than confused, she was astounded. If there was one thing she knew like the back of her hand, it was how magnetic polarity worked. Rocks didn't just lose their magnetic property. Not like that. Chemistry didn't work like that. That geology fanatic in her was breaking free, interested. She still felt the Fe atoms buried within the rock's chemical structure, so there hadn't been a change to its atomic structure, nor had the magnetite been altered in any way. And there was an absence of an influx of heat, so the chemistry to rid a magnetic field was naught, but the polarity field was just not there anymore.

It was gone.

The problem only grew more troublesome since it was lodestone that got demagnetize, a naturally made magnet. In order for such an occurrence to happen, extreme heat was needed to be involved. Heat broke down a magnetic field, rapidly moving the atoms until the field was weakened, the bonds broken, and eventually demagnetized. That was why heat was such a terrible match-up for Pyrrha.

Whereas cold amplified magnetic properties, slowing down the atoms so the magnetic domains got aligned, in turn, strengthening the polarity and the bonds, making Moirázo and Akoúo̱—which were constantly sustained at below freezing temperatures—perfect for her Semblance and fighting style. The Aura shards just kept the blood healthy so it wouldn't rot and break down. Plus, iron wasn't the strongest of metals, but Aura did strengthen that property.

So unless she was baking in an oven, she was going insane. The sun wasn't even out today, adding to the already growing problem!

"What's going on? Nothing's making sense." It was then she noticed her forearm glowing in a blood-crimson shade of Aura. "I'm... glowing?"

Pyrrha found it odd. The furthest she ever got in Jaune's Aura training was looking like a fool. Only Nora managed to pull off any sort of glow. A pity, too, the cereal mascot really wanted to master Aura control like her leader. But it wasn't meant to be. Even now, she felt no different than the time at Emerald Forest, but she was radiating that bloody red color.

Thinking it logically, she tilted her head at the options she was given.

Could it be from the mastery of her Semblance? She didn't feel any different. Her control over Aura still felt the same. The training must've just pushed her control over the limit to glow. It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad. On the other hand, the champion hadn't realized she had been focusing so intently on her Aura. Her emotions must've gotten the better of her.

Could it have been her Aura? Jaune did mention Aura was heat. Anyone could read that footnote from his Aura notebook. And Pyrrha had been on the opposite end of his Aura weapons to know how blinding-hot Aura could be, plus, she was glowing. Maybe her Aura burned the lodestone and demagnetized the rock?

Would prove more prominent if she could see any scorch marks on the rock to indicate burning. This must be how her leader felt trying to unlock Aura and Lore's secrets, confused and out of his element, while at the same time being in his element.

How troublesome.

To anyone else, she could imagine them thinking that's just the ramblings of an optimistic but clueless girl, and they'd be mostly right for anyone outside of Team JNPR. To prove her point, her Aura glowed in response to her happy emotions and then faded out of existence.

Smiling, Pyrrha figured she had it all broken down. The strange demagnetization and glow of Aura made somewhat sense. Although, she had no idea how she managed to pull glowing off, or how to scientifically break it all down. None of that mattered. As long as she was making headway, her journey's end was just around the corner, one step at a time. Patience was all she needed to make her dreams come true.

Dropping the lodestone, Pyrrha picked up the broom and continued on sweeping, but she was just going through the motions. Her mind was reeling on the fact of her initial glowing. Like a broken record, she couldn't get the moment out of her head. More so, she couldn't wait to tell the others. Hopefully, Jaune was willing to help her train, because as much as she wanted to ask Ren and Nora for help, something told the cereal girl to give them their privacy.

Sighing, she leaned on the nearest wall, trying to find an excuse not to ask Jaune for help. Pride partially stopped her, mixed in with some jealousy to how adept with Aura he was, but her conscious beat her into submission for even thinking such a thought.

Jealousy wasn't what held her back, how could it when she was nothing but proud of Jaune's fortitude to break the barriers and push past the limits of what Aura could do. No. Pyrrha was afraid she might do something stupid like reveal the whole Maiden nonsense if she spent enough time around him. Wait. That was a total lie. She knew she would reveal it all. So she couldn't be around him. Not now.

Her lips need to remain sealed until further notice.

Biting said lips, she relinquished all attempts to cleaning. Instead, she opted to sit down, bring her knees together, and pick up the piece of lodestone she discarded, more interested in breaking down the how and why the rock lost its magnetic properties. Even if she did have a general gist of why it happened, she still found the whole process fascinating and thought-consuming.

Never before did she picture her Semblance and Aura influencing a rock's chemical properties to such an extent, and now that she acquired a taste of it, she wanted more.

Breaking it down, she knew how her Semblance worked better than anyone, pr at least she thought she did. Before, her Semblance required her to personally interact with the metallic objects, but now that wasn't the case and her range of control extended further down to a molecular structure now. She'd always been able to bend non-metallic things as well, like aluminum, that was just how powerful her Semblance was at the time.

Now it'd grown stronger. Never before had she had the power to demagnetize an object? Granted, Aura might have had an influence there, but it was still her own power. Her Polarity, an enigma in the purest of science, had opened doors to newer possibilities. Take her ability to sense nearby metals. Now that she was focused on sensing the metal from this rock, her Polarity was picking up other metals around her. Some large, others small, some magnetic and others not, they were all the same in the grand scheme of things.

Pyrrha would even consider calling her ability Compass over Polarity, considering the range of scope it had and her ability to face True North at a given moment. Maybe she could call her ability to find magnetized objects Compass? That way she could still call her Semblance Polarity, and keeping her abilities true to their origin, while at the same time having a name for her ability to sense metallic objects around her. And Magnetic Field didn't exactly roll off the tongue as she had been hoping.

Pouting her lip, she sighed and banged her head on the wall. Apparently, she'd picked up a few bad habits from her Fearless Leader? Naming was one of them. It'd worse if it wasn't so much fun to do.

Laughing at herself, she glared at the lodestone before wandering her eyes over the compound. She smiled wistfully at the way the oxidized metal all around her, beckoned for her reach. Her Polarity allowed her heightened senses to actively and inactively feel such things, but it was only after learning the craft of blood bending, was Pyrrha able to actively feel such oddities. And her confusion knew no ends, but the attraction actually felt nice.

The metal didn't judge her. It didn't exploit her. It didn't even ask for anything in return. It just wanted her to reach for it. It wanted to help, to protect, to defend, and to fight. Iron, nickel, titanium, copper, and so many others surrounded her in a blanket of comfort.

They let her know that help was just a stone's throw away.

Wiping a tear away, she pocketed the lodestone, wanting to keep a memento that made her think of her childhood before fame took over. As she stood up, a piece of wood, sticking out the wall, cut her roughly on her shoulder. Before she could wince, a small trinket of blood was flowing down her wound. Her Aura was already on the case, closing up it up in seconds, but the blood was already free.

Waving her hand, she called the blood to float to the center of her palm. It condensed in a sphere, a natural victim to Polarity's properties to shape things spherically—the power of gravity. If she wanted, it would be a simple task to shape the blood into a different shape, but time was limited, so she willed the blood to attach to her weapons before the chemical bonds shattered.

Done, she reached for the broom, but her fingers remained distant. Something had been bugging her ever since she learned to control the iron in blood. She wasn't dumb. Pyrrha knew blood shouldn't be affected by her Polarity. Even if it did contain Fe atoms, the size, numbers, and even magnetism weren't there to be affected by her Polarity. Blood wasn't even a metalloid or metal to start with.

So why?

Why did she have power over the life-giving liquid? There was a chance a little reading would reveal the answer. It had gotten her this far. And her medical book was back at their temporary room. A quick jog there should suffice to quench for thirst for knowledge.

Feeling absolutely positive, she picked up another piece of scrap and glared wistfully at it, wondering if she should make a sculpture for Nora for finally landing her King. She didn't know if she would react in joy or embarrassment, but that was the fun part. Silently, she was hoping for embarrassment. Nora was amusing to watch whenever she was flustered. It was like watching a dancer with two left feet, a disaster that was prone to be painful, yet, no one could look away from it.

"Hello, Miss Nikos. I thought I'd find you here. Can we talk?" Smirking wishfully, Pyrrha dropped the ball of rusted metal.

Guess the fun was over.

Next time she'd have to control her positivity because it seemed to have attracted negativity. Now she was stuck to deal with Professor Goodwitch and her apparent sympathy. Pyrrha really preferred not to deal with such issues. At least she could chalk this up as confirming her ability to attract negativity with a positive attitude.

She wasn't so sure if that was a victory.

Shrugging her shoulders, Pyrrha turned to meet her professor, doing her best attempt at a smile. "I would love to talk."

The blonde glared. "You can cut the act now, Miss Nikos. You're not fooling anyone."

Like the drop of a pin, she did drop the smile. If they were being brutally honest here, then Pyrrha wasn't even going to give Glynda another passing glance, she was not even going to put in the effort to care about her company. That ball of rust proved to be a better companion, anyway. At least it didn't force her to make choices or hold her leader's dream over a barrel.

Reaching down, she plucked the ball of rust off the floor; she had a glare that proved colder than Moirázo and Akoúo̱. "What do you want?"

Glynda frowned, not used to her star-student angry. "Okay, I deserve that. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for the inconvenience this whole problem had brought upon you and your partner."

She huffed. There really was no point in beating around the bush. "It's not just Jaune and I. This affects the entire team."

After thinking it seriously over, Glynda agreed with Pyrrha's assessment, but she wasn't going to be the one to entail the champion's wrath. "To be fair, Mr. Arc did make the deal with Ozpin, not I. Your anger's just being directed at me because I'm the closest candidate."

Wrong choice of wording.

Glynda thought she held all the cards, but Pyrrha played her hidden ace. "You're still supposed to convince me to accept the Maiden powers. Isn't that the whole point of this mission?"

Glasses were pushed up. "I won't lie to you. Partially, yes, but the mission is to also assess your teamwork. All teams must go through an assessment." Pyrrha didn't say a word, interested more in the metal. "Can we please act like adults here?"

Crush!

The ball of rust fractured in Pyrrha's hand, Semblance free. "Talk like adults? You're forcing me to make a choice. A choice between either being a good person or not! But here's the best part, by choosing the obvious one; it affects my team in a bad way. And by not becoming the Maiden, then I'm letting down humanity. So tell me! Please! When do you want to talk like adults? Huh? Where's the compromise?"

"You're just assuming the worst!" Glynda yelled. "You're forgetting about the third choice. You become the Fall Maiden and nothing bad happens."

Pyrrha laughed bitterly. Nothing bad happens? Who would believe that nonsense? "Because that worked so well for the last one! You don't even know if the Aura transfer is going to work. Worse yet! Something could go wrong. The Maiden powers could be destroyed or even lost. I could even die! Then how is Team JNPR supposed to win the tournament if they're down a fighter?"

Glynda paused, snide on her tongue dissolved. Oh? Now she understood. Now she figured it out. "What do you want me to say? Just tell me."

Pyrrha glared, she glared so hard that it hurt. And her glare was turned to the forgotten person buried underneath a neglected tombstone. "Why me? Of all candidates, why me? You knew about my leader's bet, and yet you dump this all on me, anyway. Couldn't you have at least waited until after the tournament? Why do you need a Maiden now?"

"We told you why—!"

"I want to hear it from your mouth!" Pyrrha shouted with her arms out. "Not Ozpin's! Not Penny's! And not General Ironwood's! But yours! Why can't you just wait for Amber to get better? Her condition is stable. Why isn't that an option?"

Glynda sighed, rubbing the corner of her glasses with tiredness. "We're desperate, okay. We need someone we can trust to be the next Fall Maiden, someone who understands the difference between right and wrong. Amber was a good candidate, but she won't be strong enough to fight her assailant a second time, not if she's afraid of them. And we can't have that. These powers need to be entrusted to someone worthy." Goodwitch pinched her nose, annoyed with herself. "I'm sorry things are turning out the way they are, Miss Nikos. But time isn't on our side."

Glynda expected Pyrrha to accept the answer, but the champion simply narrowed her eyes at the professor, looking beneath even the subtext. "Why is time running out? You have Amber locked underneath Beacon Academy. I can't imagine anyone being able to break-in. So who is it you're afraid of?"

The girl was smart, Glynda was forced to admit that, a perfect candidate for the Maiden powers. So she deserved an honest answer. "... A group of individuals who want nothing more than to control the world and watch it burn."

Pyrrha wanted to ask more, but she knew her professor planned to reveal nothing else. A useless cause, she already planned to go through with it. The champion just wanted to see how much information she could milk out of her professor. Even then, her description of these bad people left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was as rancid as the air surrounding Ren and Nora's family compound. The only difference was these monsters sounded ten-times worse and were human.

Sucking in a deep breath, Pyrrha frowned. "Keeping this from my team has not been easy, you know that?"

Glynda tilted her head. "To be honest, I didn't think you could lie to your team, Miss Nikos? You're so close, I expected you to tell them the truth at the first given moment. I'm sure anyone would've."

Pyrrha gripped the rusted iron firmly, bending it with sheer will alone. "You think I like lying to them? You think I enjoy keeping secrets, and from them of all people? I can't imagine me doing anything worse."

She had the courtesy to lift an eyebrow. "If that's how you feel, then why haven't you told them yet? Your team is as close as a family." She should know. She watched them all this time.

"How could I?" Pyrrha whispered with hush cruelty. "I gave my word not to tell. Ozpin and you put your faith in me. A Huntsmen's word is everything. Ozpin believes that, but no one believes that more than my leader! His word means everything to him! What kind of person would I be if I broke mine?"

Quiet for a minute, Glynda pushed down a smile, content to the level of trust Pyrrha Nikos had. Now she saw why Miss Nikos hadn't spilled the secret yet. Doing so would break her word. She couldn't. Not with a leader who put all his faith in his family's name and word. Who could fault her for doing so? Even Ozpin put a lot of faith into words alone.

How honorable.

To think, she was surrounded by trustworthy, potential Huntsmen. It really brought a smile to the older woman's face. For her star-student to have that much trust, it was astonishing in this day and age. Glynda couldn't make any promises, but she would try to prevent disaster whenever possible, including the Aura transfer if Pyrrha decided to go along with it.

Moving forward, she stopped in front of Pyrrha, sympathetic. "I must thank you for keeping this all bottled up. I know it must've been difficult with a team as close as yours. And I really hate to ask... but have you considered it at all?"

Pyrrha glared at the grave in front of her, knowing full well a human-caused this. "I've seen the worst in humanity. And I've seen kindness from unexpected places. I'm not going to become like one of them. I won't burden anyone with my problems, because they're mine and mine alone. But this was caused by people. And you're asking to risk my life to protect them? That's asking for a lot."

Dropping the rusted ball of metal, she glared bitterly at the corroded piece of scrap. It reminded her of the first time Jaune and she truly fought. Bent and broken she had been. Pyrrha had only wanted what was best for her leader, but she walked that path in the wrong direction. By lying to Jaune, he discovered and grew on his own, and she had missed it all.

Maybe if she had been honest from the very beginning, about her feelings and his swordplay training, then things might've turned out a little bit different. A lot of things could've turned out different. Oh well, it was too late for regrets this late in the game. And maybe, just maybe, everything had turned out for the better.

There was no denying it. She wasn't the same champion as before, not the one who saw the good in everything she did or offered to help at the drop of a word. For someone treated as invincible, she once lacked a backbone. Speaking her mind and saying no hadn't existed for her before. But for the better, she changed and blossomed into something new and exciting.

Pyrrha may act almost the same, but her world was forever changed. She wasn't so much interested in pleasing people anymore. True, the girl was determined to be likable, but it was safe for her to say she developed a bit of a mean streak, at least to her leader and team.

No.

That was a blatant lie. Pyrrha developed something beyond a sense of kinship with her team, something more, a place where she felt safe and herself. No cameras. No forced smiles. None of that trivial nonsense. Team JNPR was home. And she did not appreciate her home coming under attack. Be it indirect or direct, the champion didn't take kindly to her team being put down.

If the plan hadn't been to protect Jaune's secret until the final rounds of the Vytal Tournament, Pyrrha would've given General Ironwood a good lashing for his so-called advancements in Aura. Advancements this and breakthroughs that! Ha! Jaune could show those idiotic Aura scientists a thing or two, but she had been forced to bite her tongue instead.

Pyrrha would just have to wait for the Vytal Tournament to see her leader get the recognition he deserved.

"Miss—?"

"I'll do it." Pyrrha said finally, full of conviction. "I'll become your Fall Maiden because I just can't stand the thought that people did this, but I have demands that must be met. I'm not just going to give you everything for free."

Maybe a different Pyrrha Nikos would've done it out of the kindness of her heart, but she wasn't some other Pyrrha Nikos.

Glynda glared, but couldn't find it in her to be surprised. She figured as much. And she wasn't going to let this opportunity slide. "Like what?"

Pyrrha didn't need to think it over. "If something happens to me, and I mean anything, then you tell my team everything. They have the right to know. I don't want them left in the dark. I don't care what the ramifications are, I don't care if it puts you and Ozpin in jeopardy, you tell them. If..." her voice lowered, trembling a bit. "If this process should kill me, Jaune stays. He doesn't have to win; he doesn't even have to compete! He stays at Beacon. End of story."

Her professor narrowed her eyes but figured she could squeeze Ozpin's arm enough to agree. "Fine. I'm sure I can get Ozpin to agree to those terms."

"And lastly!" Pyrrha added. "If I am to lose myself, become someone different because you said that's a real possibility, you make the person I've become meet my team at least one more time. They at least get to say goodbye before I become someone else. I don't want them wondering what happened to me."

Goodwitch wasn't sure she could uphold that part of the bargain but saw why Miss Nikos would want it. Desperate times called for desperate measures. "It's a deal."

"I want your word—and Ozpin's—on all of this!"

She sighed, nodding her head. "I can give you my word now, but you're going to have to wait till the mission's over to get Ozpin's. But I don't think he'll have any qualms over it. Not with what we're putting you through."

Pyrrha glared, her eyes could cut through stone, but she accepted the confirmation wholeheartedly. Naturally, the four-time champion would have a contingency plan if things should just so happen to go south.

...

Glynda sighed, taking the time to fix her glasses into place as she traversed through the almost maze-like compound. That went better than she initially expected. Now that Miss Nikos had agreed to be their next Fall Maiden—under certain conditions—humanity's protection was practically ensured. The hardest part of this mission was over. All she needed to accomplish now was assess Mr. Arc's team and see how they felt about him as their leader, minus his partner, and their value of teamwork.

Listing the order, Glynda figured to locate the orphans of Team JNPR next, saving Mr. Arc for last. Finding Mr. Lie and Miss Valkyrie should prove to be no challenge. Where one was, the other's not too far. A clear understatement to her previous observations the first time she saw them in action back at initiation.

...

Basking on some random stairway, Ren relaxed and lied down with an uneasy stride, eyes deadly focused on his family's scroll. Call him lazy, but Ren didn't feel like cleaning up his old home. For a clean freak such as himself, ignoring the mess all around him was fairly easy with a scroll of priceless clan secrets to read. Besides, what was the council going to do about it? Make him clean his family's forgotten graveyard?

Over his dead body!

Ren still had half a mind to gut them all alive for keeping him in the dark for so long. He may have been a child at the time, but the Lie liked to believe he could've handled the truth as a child. Definitely better than allow him to roam the Kingdoms, letting him believe to be some sort of monster. Nora had only tagged along because he didn't have the strength, will, or stomach to say no to her.

Thinking of Nora, Ren wondered where his lightning bug went. She had to be around here somewhere. Probably still embarrassed about the whole public displays of affection. He wasn't clueless—obviously—he clearly saw her reddening face each time he showed her even the tiniest bits of romantic affection. Clearly, she was shy when it came to that sort of stuff.

Maybe he was prone to enjoy her flustered displays of embarrassment?

Shrugging to himself, Ren skipped over the next passage of his family's secrets on the Evil Eye, planning later to sort his inner feelings later. For now, his Evil Eyes saw through the lies written on the parchment, seeing the truth written within.

Colors of a Lie

Scanning the lines of text, he hummed and settled easier into the steps. Apparently, there was a variation of the lie, the Red Lie, and the White Lie. One was commonly known throughout the lands, while the other was a more reclusive lie only heard of in passing glances. Both represent a Lie to the truest form. Both come together to create the perfect Lie.

Reading the first passage, Ren found his attention focused on the White Lie.

The White Lie, the lie originally created to help others. A White Lie is the weakest form of lying. The emotions are too scattered, and the Lie indefinitely falls apart. White represents fear of loss of control of a situation. It only benefits the other party involved. Even the Lie clan isn't safe from its influence. A change from pink to white in the iris destroys the foundation of the Lie. At that point, a Lie becomes harmless. The misfortune is no longer predictable, causing nothing but problems for the Lie. The lies are thus discovered and destroyed. A White Lie is one of preserve innocence.

Ren coughed, narrowing his eyes. "The more emotional a Lie becomes, the weaker the Lie gets, hence the change of pink to white. I don't think that's happened to me before. It must have something to do with having two Evil Eyes."

Reading on, he jumped to the Red Lies.

Red Lies are more prideful and revenge inducing than White Lies. They haunt an individuals' need to seek retribution, going so harm to even harm their own person if needed. Consequences for their actions are not taken into account, and a sense of betrayal is followed. The justice a Lie searches to wrong this right can be anything, as long as they feel like they've righted the wrong they've done. Emotions work in favor for this lie, yet they could harm the Lie themselves. A Red Lie is one for a cry of passion.

He blinked, rereading the passage once over. "This is a lie of omission on oneself."

Now that lie sounded more like him, more so than the White Lie. He had thought himself a monster once, so he tried killing his emotions to protect Nora. It was funny how he still fell into his clan's grace no matter how far he tried to run from them. To think he had been living a lie all this time. How ironically cruel.

Peering up at the paper, Ren unraveled the truth hidden behind the readings in record time. A Red Lie was completely controlled by the expression of emotions, whereas White Lies were completely controlled by a control over said emotions. They were similar in many ways, but different all the same. Summing it down, the Colors of a Lie meant two different things.

Red was the color of passion.

White was the color of innocence.

Revealing more, Ren pressed onward, wondering what other secrets lie in wait for him to discover.

The true secrets of the Lie Clan come from the combination of both the White and Red Lie, blurred together to breathe life to the Pink Lie—the flawless color of lying. Impossible to be a completely emotionless person; the two hues get mixed together so effortlessly. Emotions reciprocate from the mind; Aura and soul blend together seamlessly, meditation clears the mind for all but Lies and Aura, resulting in the pink hue that is only noticeable in their hair and distinctive eye. Pink does both protect and fight out of compassion. However—!

Ren abruptly paused in his readings, pausing a few times to get the meaning of the current passage cemented. He sat up and laid down the scroll, focused on finding a mirror, any mirror. His search found him a piece of broken glass on the floor, idly next to his foot, trash he was supposed to be cleaning up.

Picking up the shard, he glared at the reflection staring back at him, oddly surprised even now that deception lay before him. After all this time, he was unable to run from the lie.

"Well, at least that explains the whole pink hair thing."

Tossing the glass, it hit the cobblestone ground and shattered into countless pieces, cursing the Lie with seven years bad luck, or so the legend said. Ren found it tasteless and returned back to reading the passages left behind from his family. It worked for all but a minute. A certain love-struck bomber made her presence known, jumping right into his lap like she owned the place. To be fair, she kind of did.

Ignoring his own heart's fluttering, Ren tried to ignore Nora in favor for finishing his family's scroll. There was little left to be read, but Nora hated being ignored and made a show for it by booping his nose. It was for the best, anyway, he couldn't focus on the words anymore, not with her body pressed against his chest. Damn hormones.

Still, he needed some sort of boundary. "You know, I'm not your personal wall."

Nora grinned and made herself comfortable. "As of last night, you are. So you better get used to it." She rested her head underneath his, warming up quickly to the position. "So, whatcha reading?"

Ren didn't laugh, but he wanted to.

Nora appeared more boastful to the whole situation now. An audience really did cause her to shell up, at least to romantic moments. Who knew she could be so shy? Last night must've been a curveball for her, but now she had time to cool down and allow her thoughts to wrap around the sudden, wanted change in their dynamic.

Now she was reaping the benefits. Like lingering her head securely under his chin while he read his family's scroll, acting a lot more like herself. Lovey-dovey or not, Ren was dishonestly trying to split his time between her and his family's secrets evenly, a battle he was quickly losing.

Nora was merciless with her snuggling.

"Nora..." Ren forced, pretending that Nora didn't just open and then close herself within his cloak, squishing them painfully close together. "You're making it difficult for me to concentrate."

Nora, with a goofy grin, just let the gravity from the cloak squeeze them together. It was tailored for one person, not two, and she was taking full advantage of that. "I know. You're cute when you're all focused."

And there went any arbitrary chance of him reading this. Cute wasn't a word he wished to be described, ever. Like adorable, but they'd cross that burning bridge another time. For now, he had to maintain a semblance of masculinity.

Eyes boring down at his mate, Ren thinned his mouth into a line. "I thought I was always handsome?"

Ren couldn't see the way Nora's lip turned sadistic, but he knew her enough for such a reaction. She rested her cheek on his chest, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her blush again. "You can be both."

"... I don't want to be both."

Nora found sleeping here was a definite possibility. She always liked the sound of his strong heartbeat, this not being the first time she slept on his chest, but the sped up version was even nicer because she was the one making it beat like that.

"Well, tough noodles! You're gonna have to learn to live with it!"

Glaring down at her resting body, Ren smiled a bit. He wasn't really focused on the readings, anymore. His mind was wandering elsewhere. To places that made him smile like a complete fool. Like to the soft feel of Nora's lips or the heavy thumping of her heart when he pulled her close. Those thoughts made reading more of a chore, rather than a hobby.

Love was a distraction he was fondly opened to.

Although, compromises or not, he did not want to be called cute. Jaune, Sun, and Neptune would never let him live it down if they ever found it, and knowing his luck and his leader, that was guaranteed. The Lie couldn't have that. Not a chance. He was going to have to up his game and make the idea of cute seem like a distant dream.

For now, though, he'd give her this win, anything to keep her happy. Funny, that was his life goal for the past twelve years, and even after discovering the truth, that proved not to change in the slightest. Maybe he wasn't exactly living a lie, just one filled with half-truths, one of them being the girl resting comfortably underneath his chin.

"You okay, Ren?"

Frowning, he just realized how awfully quiet he had been. Thinking hard, he stared up at the sky. The dark clouds were nice, so was the passing wind a few droplets beginning to rain down. Sometimes he wished he could join them. Must be his clan's influence, or maybe he just loved the way the rain cleaned up all the messes and purified the land around him. It really spoke to his desire to be healthy and to keep Nora safe.

He settled his head over hers, wrapping arms around her this time. He felt her tense up but soon relax into his hold. "Everything just happened so fast yesterday. I guess I'm still trying to let it all sink in. Our families' death and the truth just hit me kind of hard."

She sighed restlessly. "I know what you mean, but it's still nice knowing." Nora hummed, wondering. "So you've forgiven those old geezers then? You know, for not telling us the truth?"

Ren frowned, full of hate, arms wrapped even tighter around her. "Not even close. I still have a few words to say with those elders. If they think I'm done asking questions, then they're sadly mistaken."

Nora giggled, loving Ren's mean streak. "You're so cute when you're angry."

His glare was directed at the ball of orange hair. "You'll pay for that."

She squirmed in his hold, free from consequence. "Nope! I can call you anything I want now, my handsome sloth. I don't ever have to pay for anything from you ever again."

He hated how right she was. He made a show for this by resting his chin on her giggling scalp. "You never do, anyway. I always have to bail you out of trouble. It gets pretty tiring, Nora."

"You know you love it."

He wouldn't dignify that with a response, but he held her closer. He was just hoping the Lore cloak would hold. Being made out of Lore—gravity—he still felt there was a chance it might rip, a weird concern of his since he felt perfectly fine without it this morning, even before making breakfast. It had something to do with getting closure, he knew that, but he still preferred if it didn't rip. Dangerous or not, the article provided aid in battle, and being able to direct Bad Luck was its own reward.

His thoughts were broken when he felt Nora shift the tiniest bit in an uncomfortable way. She had a distinct way of doing it, almost invisible to everyone, but Ren learned to read her body language over the years. And right now she was deeply troubled.

"Nora, are you okay?"

She was quick to answer, a little too quickly. "Yup! Never better!"

Ren huffed. That was an obvious lie. "What aren't you telling me, Nora? What's wrong?"

This time he could hear the panic in her voice. The shaking didn't help. "What? Nothing's wrong? What makes you think something is wrong?"

He was nonchalant with his answer. "I don't even need to use my eyes to tell if you're lying or not, you're just very bad at it." She said nothing, so Ren pressed firmly onward. "Nora? What's wrong? Tell me."

When she finally did say something, it was as fragile as a whisper. "I found my parent's grave."

"... Oh."

Thunder!

Rain slowly began to fall around the village, nothing out of the ordinary. It was starting off weak, but Ren knew it would pick up in due time. Yet, he wasn't so sure what to do right now. He knew firsthand how difficult it was to act when he found his parent's grave. Sure, there were other dead people buried all around them, but nothing would ever truly beat the gut-wrenching punch he felt his stomach when he found his mother and father's resting place. And now it was Nora's turn.

Ren had known Nora all his life. He knew she was strong enough to say her goodbyes without him. She knew she was strong enough to say her goodbyes. Didn't mean he was going to let her go it alone, not if she wanted him to hold her hand. Maybe she was just tired being the one who always smiling. Probably be nice to have a shoulder to cry on.

Nora rested her head desperately on his chest. "Can you... can you come with me?"

Ren smiled and kissed her on the top of her head. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

She didn't even need to ask.

...

The trip had taken longer than necessary to reach Nora's parent's resting site, but she hadn't wanted to untangle herself from Ren for a while. He never said a word during the time, opting to remain quiet unless Nora wanted him to say anything, but she wanted him to be there. So that was what he did until she found the strength to say goodbye.

Walking around her old home, the two grave-sites stood separated by a rusty gate, surrounded by overgrown vegetation. The gate was open, by Nora's earlier curiosity no less, and the hinges appeared rusted beyond repair. The growing rain would only weaken the metal and corrode it until it shattered upon itself.

Together, they step inside, hand-to-hand with her clinging close to Ren. Both their hair was wet from the rain, and Sir Scrabbles had popped out of Ren's collar to see what all the troubling emotions were about. It felt some from the male, but it was mostly the female with heart-wrenching sorrow. The Grimm wanted nothing more to bury those emotions and keep them far away from his caretaker.

To think, a Grimm had come this far to understanding love—compassion.

Kneeling down, Nora gave it her all and smiled wholeheartedly at the tombstones, not fooling Ren or Sir Scrabbles in the slightest. Ren said nothing and grabbed her shoulder for reassurance, kneeling on one to knee to shield her partially from the rain. Sir Scrabbles didn't fully understand the situation, but attached itself to Nora's neck, hoping to ease her troubles.

Waving, she acted all happy. "Hiya mom and pops! How's being dead treating you?" Her mask was breaking fast. "Sorry I haven't visited... ever. I've been super busy trying to become an awesome Huntress. And let me tell you, it's not easy! There are all these rules I'm supposed to remember! And studying! I hate it so much."

That smile of her began to wobble. Her eyes glistened with twelve years of unexpressed emotion. Even her voice cracked underneath the rainfall. Only Sir Scrabbles and Ren's hold kept her from completely breaking down.

A little love could go a long way.

"I-I..." Nora whispered. "I just know I could've really used a hug sometimes. I miss you both."

Ren frowned with sympathy. He could see the tears in her eyes, rain or no rain. As Nora tried to build up more courage to talk, he looked over to her parent's tombstones, Thor and Sif Valkyrie. Even in Death, Thor made Ren feel uncomfortable, more so that he got together with his daughter. He remembered the tall man well, a behemoth in all rights. Nora's father even sported a manic grin like her daughter, but he had actively gone out of his way to cause destruction for sport. The man even sported a mullet. Her mother, on the other hand, was as gentle as water. She had accepted her husband explosive tendencies with open arms.

Nora looked a lot like her mother, but she got her father's smile and teal eyes. Not to mention his bravery and drive to never give up.

Little did they know Glynda Goodwitch was watching from the sideline, a ghost in all pretenses of the word. She didn't say a word or even make her presence known upon finding Nora and Ren kneeled over a pair of tombstones. Only Sir Scrabbles felt her presence nearby, sensing her scattered emotions, but remained mute, silently thanking the king's subject for blocking her view of it.

"Ren..." Nora hiccuped, unable to hide her tears in the rain. She clung to his hand with distress. "I don't want our family torn apart again."

He laid his head on hers. "Then we'll win the tournament and force Jaune to stay. That way our family won't ever be broken up ever again."

Nora sniffed, wiping away her endless tears. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Glynda wisely decided to retreat, hearing all she needed to know and more. Her intrusion was unwanted, and she had no plans to sour the mood, but she did leave the area with a proud smile and good mood, all of which was meant for one blond noodle that acted more than just glue for Team JNPR.

Bouncing back to Ren and Nora, the Lie heard the telltale sounds of nearby thunder and urged Nora up. "We need to get out of the rain, Nora."

She wasn't ready yet. "Can we just stay... a little longer? Please?"

Someone once told Ren that love made people do the craziest things, like stand in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. He didn't get it at first and thought them nothing but fools. Now he wanted nothing more than to be at the heart of that rainfall if it meant that Nora would smile again.

Crazy or not, he wasn't willing to let Nora get sick.

Getting up, Ren peeled off his Lore cloak and stretched it out over his head, blocking the falling rain from drenching her in any more water. He didn't care if he got sick, but he wouldn't allow her to. And unlike the rain clouds hovering over him, the pink rainclouds hovering over Nora wouldn't allow her to be cold; their compassion was meant to keep her warm.

There Ren waited until Nora felt better. She couldn't muster up the courage to say anything else, or maybe she didn't have anything else to say. He just waited until the rain finally began to let up. The thunder eventually came and went, leaving only behind a small trickle of water. The skies were still murky, a testament to the raincloud's presence, but the horizon held a sunset and a blanket of stars waiting to be revealed.

Finally, Nora stood up. Before Ren could react, she swiftly leaned into his chest, tired. She smiled lovingly when he wrapped one arm around her stomach, using the other to keep his cloak up so the remaining rain wouldn't fall on her. Having Ren always there was nice, but having his love was doubly better. Nora normally loved the rain. That was when the lightning came out to play. Knowing he was here for her was what made the pain wash away with the rain.

"You know I love-love you, right dummy?"

Ren smiled and held her close. "You might've mentioned it once or twice."

After that, she appeared to get better, but there was this underlining sadness only time could heal. She broke away from Ren, needing some time alone, heading off in some random direction with no real importance. She left Sir Scrabbles with Ren, really driving that need to be alone part.

Frowning, Ren fixed his cloak, a little impressed that the water just rolled off. Sir Scrabbles attached itself to his neck, quiet to the whole ordeal. It felt cold without the male's mate to warm-up the air around them with positivity, but rare moments such as these shouldn't be disturbed.

After fixing his collar, he looked over to Sir Scrabbles, tired from it all. "I don't know if coming here was a blessing or curse yet. What do you think?" The Grimm blinked. "Yea, that's what I'm guessing, too."

Taking a step forward, a wooden support beam fell from a nearby housing unit, broke, and laid in front of Ren. He was totally emotionless to the whole situation and stepped forward to continue on walking, but the second both his feet left the wet ground, Lady Luck rolled the dice.

Thunder!

Pausing on the wood, Ren turned his head to see where a bolt of lightning had struck. The loud noise hurt to hear, but he was more cautious of the fact that said lightning bolt hit the spot where Nora's parents laid. It was kind of poetic and lucky of him to be stepping on a non-conductive piece of material. That could've turned bad with all the water everywhere.

Thunder!

Now Ren had no choice but to widen his eyes, Sir Scrabbles made it a duet. A second bolt of lightning hitting the same spot just didn't happen. Ever! That was more than just a coincidence. Not even his clan believed in that form of Misfortune since the odds of that happening were astronomical. Luck was still a probability game, but the odds could only be stacked so much before the house of cards started tumbling down.

Lightning striking twice in the same spot was one of those bust hands.

Narrowing his eyes significantly, Ren's Evil Eyes tried to find any fault with Nora's parent's tombstones, but no pink was shown. Then his sharp senses pick up a minuscule light floating from behind a tombstone. It flashed on and off with intervals less than a second each. The glowing light it emitted was teal in color, blinking endlessly. Then a second one joined the first, flying away from the other tombstone, adding to the little light show.

As they got closer to Ren, they kept flying in circles around the Lie, acting like tiny bouts of electricity. When they land on his shoulder, they stop glowing for Ren to be able to see.

"Fireflies? What are these doing here? The summer's too far along for any more of these guys to be flying around? And how's the rain not pelting them?" They light up once more, flashing Ren a ray of turquoise before flying off toward the direction where Nora went. It was when they turn a corner did he realize what they were, or whom they were.

Turning around, Ren walked over to the gravestones and leaned down to wipe the dirt away from resting site. "Don't worry Mr. and Mrs. Valkyrie, I'll keep Nora safe. I'll protect her."

At a faraway corner, surrounded by the graves of Valkyries and very tall grass, Nora was wiping tears away, finally getting some semblance of control over her emotions, but then a pair of fireflies land on her nose and just stay there. She was too confused about their presence to do anything, yet, they didn't stay long and soon flew away, but not before giving the lightning bolt a little dance in the air.

She didn't know why, but it made her feel better, a lot better. Magic then happened in front of the Valkyrie's eyes. The rain stopped and hundreds to thousands of fireflies escaped the tall grass, dancing around her in a light show only meant for her and no one else. What confused Nora to no end was the light those two emitted, compared to all the others around, they were a deep shade of turquoise that reflected the pigment of her eyes.

Wiping her remnant tears, she reached out with an open palm and the two fireflies perched themselves there for a minute, tickling her skin with the tiny scuffling of their bodies. Then they all soon began to do just that, surrounding not only her hand but her whole body in a blanket of light. She couldn't even find the sensation scary or weird, having always loved fireflies for their little power to create electricity, like her ability to absorb electricity.

Getting lost in the sensation, Nora blinked when they emitted all at once.

It felt like a really warm hug.

Then they scattered, following the retreating rainclouds in a show of light. Nora couldn't follow their movements forever. Eventually, they just disappear mid-flight. She had to rub her eyes to make sure it wasn't just for show.

Not seeing her firefly friends anymore, she sighed with small bits of contentment. Her heart didn't feel as heavy and there was this weight in her soul that's just missing. The urge to cry was beaten down into submission and invisible joy was tugging at the strings attached to her soul. Not even the sight of the surrounding tombstones made her want to cry.

Although, their sight did fill her up with something else entirely, an emotion she had little time experiencing before. "I can see why you want to hurt the people who killed our families. It would be so easy to get mad. To throw just everything all at once at them. It would be so easy."

Ren coughed, embarrassed that he got caught the moment he turned a corner. So he wasn't that sneaky or Nora knew him too well. He was hoping on the latter. He couldn't afford to not be sneaky. Still, to be caught red-handed like this was a little awkward; he just wanted to check up on her for a bit. The fireflies didn't exactly make him want to stay away.

"Nora?"

She kicked a lone pebble, feeling the dark temptation go away. "But I don't think I can ever be mad enough at the person to want revenge. I've moved mostly past it. I mean... I'm still sad about it. I don't think I'll ever get over it, but to suddenly want revenge is not for me. It'd take more than this to make me want to hurt someone."

Ren sighed, proud of her ability to let go. "You're a stronger person than me, Nora."

She went up and hugged Ren. "Good, because my shoulders hurt and you're going to give me a back massage!"

He was at a loss for words. "But—?"

"Butts are for sitting, which mine will be doing as you massage my back!"

He would blame this as being part of the couple package, but this wouldn't be the first time Nora demanded such a thing, and the distraction was obvious from the start. At least it wasn't her feet. That was a nightmare he preferred to stay away from. He could handle shoulders and back, but not her toes.

Wiping away some water from his hair, she booped him on the nose, stole Sir Scrabbles and grinned. "Fine, but don't drink any caffeine, I can't have your muscles tensing up, or else there's no point in getting a message." She kissed him on the cheek and ran off, probably to drink some coffee to mess with him. I'd be funny if it wasn't so true. "I guess I am whipped? Oh, Dust, I hope Neptune and Sun don't find out. They still haven't let go of the whole tattoo on my back thing."

Knowing the storm of teasing to come his way was inevitable, Ren figured he had a few minutes of peace before Nora dragged him away. Like the way his collar opened up, he mentally willed the family scroll to fall from his sleeve. A nifty little trick he learned the cloak was capable of. Next to opening up his collar, it could attach small objects to the inner interior as if gravity was holding them in place, and then will them to drop. StormFlower was one of those items.

Pulling the parchment open, Ren unraveled the text until he found the moment he cut himself off. He began to read quickly, cutting down the seconds.

However, compassion comes at a great cost. When the Lies suffered enough, when the lies finally took their toll, it was said their souls developed a taste for Misfortune, to make sense of a world powered by Fortune and their lack of. Red is known as the color of Fortune, but the white from the White Lies ended up changing the color altogether, disrupting the balance between Chance. What emerged from it was Pink—a color that doesn't actually exist. And from that day onward, Lies and Misfortune have traveled hand-and-hand together, backs turned to Fortune, allies against a world that is nothing but fantasies fit for fools.

He lowered the scroll, stuck on the color of Misfortune.

"Pink is a lie, huh? I didn't know that." Ren glared at the retreating storm clouds, feeling oddly empty with them floating away, but he did get a moment to glare at a phenomenon that filled him with unknown anger. "Now I know why I hate looking at you so much."

A cold gust of wind swept under Ren's cloak, brushing cool droplets against his skin. His pink eyes burned with contempt and he now longed for the rainclouds' return. He still held some lingering pride for his clan. "Didn't have enough room for our color, huh? It's alright. We didn't want your good luck, anyway."

A rainbow towered over Lie Ren, haunting him in a seven-colored bridge of fortune and light with the color red as its roof, the color of his enemy. The color wheel always did make his eyes hurt whenever he spotted one, and now he knew why.

Gripping the secrets firmly, Ren smirked with his eyes closed and finally understood the meaning behind his eyes. When mixing passion and innocence into an emotional, caring person, there was only one emotion to come out on top—compassion.

Pink was the color of compassion.

Finally understanding it, he peered down at the scroll, surprise evident. "Hn? There's only one passage left to read." He scanned it for a moment, very interested when he read the first line of text. "Oh? This tells of a secret hand-sign to get the full power of both a Lie and Misfortune. And it's..."

"Massage time!"

Sighing, Ren hid the scroll in his sleeve; arms already out to catch the torpedo coming full force. His torturing began now. Price for being in love he supposed.

A price he'd gladly pay tenfold.

Catching her, her momentum was slowed down thanks to the cloak's gravitational properties, but Ren didn't seem to notice. What he did notice was Nora's attention captured by the rainbow hanging over his head. Any minute now he was expecting her to praise if for its beauty and all that useless mumbo-jumbo. What she actually said made his heart grow three sizes.

"Bleh! Look! It's a dumb rainbow! I hate rainbows; it means the rain's gone! I like the rain more! That's when the lightning comes out to play! How am I supposed to enjoy my massage with that hanging over my head?"

Ren almost dropped her. As if he needed any more reasons to love this woman.

Looking closely at Nora, he saw why his eyes didn't mind watching her. Her outfit consisted mostly of black, white, and pink, the colors he wore, although the proportions were skewed, they were colors absent from a rainbow. Even her eyes, a lovely shade of turquoise, was completely lacking from the spectrum. Perhaps Nora dwelled near the side of fortune, completely swayed by bright, exuberant colors, more than his clan's ties to darkness and dishonesty?

Sir Scrabbles then popped out from behind Nora's neck, bored to the world. Its pitch-black fur contrasted nicely with Nora, and Ren found the urge to reach out and kiss her almost overbearing. Maybe she wasn't so innocent than he first thought. They did have a pet Grimm name Sir Scrabbles for Monty Oum's sake.

Screw it. He pulled her close and kissed her like his life depended on it.

When they broke off, her cheeks represented the color of deception quite well. "W-What was that for?"

Could it be any more obvious? "I love-love you, what other reason do I possibly need?"

Her cheeks turned into a deeper shade of pink while she squirmed pitifully in his hold. Ren may have never known how prone to embarrassment Nora actually was until he showered her with affection. How could he with her always being so direct and emotionally attached? But it was kind of turning into a guilty pleasure of his. He honestly enjoyed watching the hue of pink burn on her cheeks. The fluttering from his heart was only matched to her flustered appearance. Not to forget her shyness was only paralleled by her desire to act adorable.

"Stop saying that!"

How could he not love this woman? She was the lightning to his raincloud. The fluttering echo of light in the dark crevice of his world. Everything he could want and then some. No one could ever compare to the sacrifices she made for him.

True, Nora may have a colorful personality at times, optimistic at the worst and passionate at the best, but she was the furthest thing from a rainbow. Behind that picture-perfect smile of hers was darkness that couldn't overcome the light. Her pain was his pain. Her suffering reflected his like a mirror. Even her happiness beat in sync with his heart. She was the woman who believed in the man who painted himself the monster in their little world. Nora Valkyrie never gave up on the bad luck charm that was Lie Ren.

And he knew he'd never stop loving her for it.

Smooch!

...

Jaune spent the last hours of the day at the area where Pyrrha and he fought. After cleaning the place up, with help from the rain, he had a Lore shard in his hand, weak right now, but getting filled with Lore as he glared up into the great unknown. This time he wouldn't let this piece escape his pocket, determined to keep everyone away from it. But if the little shard still proved to be dangerous, it only proved to be hostile to everyone but himself. Plus, he only intended it to be used by him and no one else. So if someone actually consumed this, he wasn't going to lose any sleep over it.

And Nora should know better by now.

Shuffling his thought, he continued to feed the Dust shard with Lore, trying to shove as much Lore as possible in a short amount of time. If only the power wasn't so damn slow, it'd be done like in two seconds, like how Aura shards worked. But Lore was just slow like that. There was nothing he could do about it. Like the problem with Penny's soul.

Biting his lip, Jaune wearied around his thoughts, careful to Lore's negative properties. But it was hard. Real hard. He didn't know what to do to help Penny. He wanted to help, but screaming Aura was way too out there for his current Aura experience. And truthfully, he wasn't even sure if she could be saved. A part of his thoughts, the darkest part where Lore lived, told him Penny was beyond saving.

A hopeless cause that was better forgotten and purged from his worries.

The worst part about it, Jaune wasn't too sure if that was the Lore talking or his own inner thoughts throwing him advice. They were so interlocked now that discerning between the two was next to impossible.

"Damn it, I want to help Penny. I just don't know how." He threw his head back, taking the time to gaze at the stars. "What's an Arc to do?"

Sadly, that wasn't his only problem. Pyrrha had been secretly closed-off lately with her cleaning on her own. She probably thought he wouldn't notice, but she must've forgotten what set him on his Aura path in the first place. Seeing through her panicked smiles and carefully chosen words was like breathing at this point for him. But he had little time to pry with what was eating away at her. Too many things were jumbled up on his plate for anything less. And she'd seek her team's help when the time came.

So Jaune was left to prepare for the future. Wasn't exactly an easy task. Penny's problem taunted him at every turn. The Vytal Tournament was approaching and his Lore control was far from perfect. There was still some step he was missing, a wall he could not break through because he lacked some crucial information that revealed its weak spot. Nothing good came from this invisible barrier. So why? Why didn't it just go away already?

Gripping the Lore shard strongly, Jaune's emotions began to get the better of him; his Lore reacted and glowed strongly under the starlight. The sword he once imagined no longer appeared to be within reach. The Dark Energy of Lore almost acted like it hated the idea of a sword, but that couldn't be right. Lore couldn't possibly have an influence on such a thing.

Still, this Lore problem had his insides bunched up together like a bad knot. The quest to create a sword had been one dead-end after another. Lore was just too foreign to be unraveled by simple optimism. Penny's Aura wasn't doing him any favors. In fact, all this Lore and Aura problems only seem to have shown him his need to learn more about the world of both Aura and Lore.

Like a sucker punch to the gut, he never saw it coming, and it hurt to admit. All his practice proved to be lackluster, but that actually made him smile, too. The Aura expert in him reveled in the idea of finding more secrets to discover. For all he knew, Aura and Lore were limitless, and all their secrets could never be accurately discovered.

A truly perfect thought for a man consumed by the ideas of Aura and Lore.

Sighing, he didn't even know what he was looking for staring up at space. The stars hardly provided anything but light for him to see. They held no secrets, no path for him to follow. To him, they were just tiny specs of dust floating aimlessly in a dark region of space. Why he bothered to stare at them was a mystery.

What good could they be?

"You sure like to sight-see, don't you Mr. Arc? You've been out here for quite some time, I was starting to worry that some Grimm got you, but it appears I was wrong. There must be a little astronomer hiding underneath all that exterior? Or am I mistaken?"

Jaune gasped, scared at how easily Professor Goodwitch invaded his peripheral space without making so much as a sound. Judging by the light smirk on her face, she was taking delight in his fear. Classic Glynda Goodwitch, scaring teenagers, like him, since day one of Beacon.

"Professor Goodwitch! I didn't see you there!"

Glynda relaxed, hating how fear was the go-to emotion most people associated her with. She couldn't blame them. She just hated it. "You can relax; I'm not going to bite. I'm much too tired for that nonsense."

Jaune laughed a little, awkwardly rubbing his neck in a half-hearted gesture. He subtly clutched the Lore shard. "Sorry. I'm not used to people sneaking up on me. Nora kind of makes it impossible to be sneaky. And Pyrrha's even worst at it. Only Ren can do that, but usually, Nora's glued to his side like a shadow."

She taunted at his excuse. "You're a paranoid person, Mr. Arc."

"I'm cautious!" Jaune argued, crossing his arms in the ultimate act of teenage defiance. "There's a difference."

"Oh, I'm sure there is." Pushing her glasses up, his professor stared up into space to find what he was glaring at. "So, are you going to tell me what you're doing out here, or must I ask you a second time?"

"Just thinking."

"Beating around the bush is a child's game, Jaune. I didn't know you still liked to play games." He wasn't sure which surprised him more. His professor being so tact or her calling him by his first name. Of course, she still reprimanded him for his silence. "Come now, Jaune, we're on a mission. We can drop the formalities. You may call me Glynda until the mission is over."

He pinched himself to make sure he was not hallucinating. Nope. Turned out he was fully awake and conscious. He also learned that Aura armor was weak to pinches.

Scratching his cheek, he lacked any experience to Professor Goodwitch calling him Jaune, but even he admitted that saying his name in such a formality must get annoying in a classless environment. Still didn't mean that Jaune could just start calling his professor by her first name. It'd be too weird.

"If it's all fine by you, I think I'll stick to Professor Goodwitch or just Goodwitch. It's too weird for me to call you by your first name. Sorry."

She shrugged with offhandedness. "Suit yourself. Just warning you, that's going to get old pretty fast. I've been called Professor Goodwitch for years now, and let me tell you, I'm already tired of hearing it." Coughing, she waved her hand in a small circle. "So? What is it that you're thinking of? You're too young to have problems that need alone time. Must be important?"

Jaune bit his lip. He couldn't tell her about Lore, or even Aura for that matter. What else could he make up? Maybe he could throw in a half-truth. "I just have a lot on my plate right now. You know with the Vytal Festival coming up and the dance. It's a lot to take in." Truth be told, he held no feelings about the dance. "And I don't want to screw up Team JNPR's first mission. My team's depending on me."

Being much more than a professor, Glynda saw through the half-truth, but she couldn't blame the Arc. The Vytal Tournament was coming up, and she knew full well what that entailed for him. There was more than just simple glory to be fought over. A bigger prize lied ahead of him, one with worse drawbacks than shame.

Folding her arms, she searched for meaning in the stars. "Are you're hoping to find comfort by looking up at the stars? What do you expect to find?"

Jaune frowned, defeated. "I don't know what else to do. I'm at my wit's end."

Glynda couldn't help but smile. "Perhaps you're not looking hard enough, or maybe you're looking too hard." She pointed at a specific star that shined brighter than all the rest. "Tell me, Jaune, what do you see right there?"

He wasn't sure to which star she's pointing to. Maybe one of the brighter ones? "Uh? A random star?"

"That's not just any random star, that's the Polaris, but some call it the North Star. If there's any star you should remember, it's that one."

Now he was interested. "What makes the North Star so special? To me, it looks the same as any star up there."

"What did I tell you about looking too hard?" she humphed, wanting to lecture him. "Just like the North Star, all the stars in space can be useful. But to answer your question, the Polaris is special because it guides." Glynda began dwelling into her past hobby of stargazing. "The North Star has been used to guide people for ages. It's called the North Star for a reason. It never changes from its location, not like all the other stars, that's what makes it so valuable for finding your way. It's reliable, even in the darkest of time, but that's not to say all stars aren't useful, some just provide help in different ways."

Jaune squinted and actually found the star Professor Goodwitch was talking about. It was brighter than the rest, motionless in the sky. Compared to all the others, Polaris made all of them pale in comparison. To think it never moved. Such a mind-blowing thing to learn. No wonder that star was famous.

Still, he was confused. There was more he wanted to ask. "I guess I get the North Star, but how can they all be useful? To me, it all just looks like tiny pieces of dust floating in space. They're endless. They can't possibly all be useful."

Acting very professor-like, Glynda taught. "There's an old wives' tale that's as old as history itself... it tells of a time when scholars used to look to the stars for answers and guidance. And strangely enough, the star themselves did provide some of the answers they sought after. Others thought the stars told a story."

"A story?"

Glynda hummed. "Yes, stories. Although the stories have changed throughout the years, they're always centered on the constellations—stars that create a picture. That's where the magic really happens, you know, in the constellations."

He was forced to ask. "What are the constellations?"

Glynda thought about his answer, truly pondered over it. She wanted to answer in a way that'd stick and not just fly over his head.

"The constellations are a picture. Do you know what it's like to imagine?" Jaune wasn't sure what she wanted him to say. Glynda, however, had no need for his input yet. "That's what the constellations are. They are just stars with a story behind them that someone made up from nothing. All they had was an idea and that was it." She smiled. "You'll be surprised at just how far an idea can take you, no matter how crazy it may sound."

Jaune found his mouth suddenly dry. It was almost like Professor Goodwitch could read his mind. Of all the things she could've said, she brought up crazy ideas and their ability to carry a person—the very same principle that got him to work on his Aura control, or Ren on his trust, even Pyrrha on her blood. To think, the stars above managed to convince people to believe in their dreams, too. Even if they only looked like tiny specs of dust he could find anywhere, like in his team's ceiling back at Beacon.

"People got all that..." Jaune glared, lacking any hate. "From tiny specs in the sky?"

She swiftly shot him a glare. "To you, they look like nothing more than tiny specs of dust, which makes them insignificant. Those are two different interpretations, but they both are insignificant because it's all just imagination in the end. It's what you do with that imagination that counts."

Jaune couldn't find a reason to fight back the irony biting him. Imagination pushed him this far. Turning his back on the idea would be the ultimate backstab. How could he fault others for finding inspiration in the most unlikely of places? Look at him! Dust-counter extraordinaire! It was dust that allowed him to forge all his Aura weapons. Those specs taught him to not take the world seriously. They showed him just how insignificant everything really was. Big or small, his place in the universe was as important as a lone piece of dust.

He was just a piece of cosmic dust floating boundlessly in an endless cosmos.

How could he have forgotten that? That was the very first lesson dust counting taught him.

No longer seeing the error of others putting their faith into the stars, Jaune smiled, hungry for more knowledge. "Do people still use the constellations to search for stuff?"

She frowned sadly, but she was happy with his new upbeat attitude. "Some do, but it's mostly just farmers who use the constellations to tell which upcoming seasons are upon them. Technology has made the practice pretty much extinct."

She looked away from space to see Jaune laughing awkwardly. "You know it's funny, I always thought I could've been a farmer or something."

Glynda shared in the sentiment, chuckling with a clipped tone. "I'm certain you would've been a terrible farmer."

That was unexpected. And he showed this by getting offended. "Hey! I could've been a great farmer! You never know!"

Based on the way Glynda frowned, she didn't believe so. "How am I supposed to believe you, when you didn't even know what the North Star was until only moments ago? I have faith in my students, but not that much faith." Jaune crossed his arms, hating how easily his professor was poking at his humiliation. She was ruthless both on the battlefield and school, but there was a sweet side underneath that hard exterior, somewhere. "You know... I was wrong before."

He paused. "Wrong about what?"

Glynda stopped stargazing to walk over to him and address him directly. This couldn't be said any other way. He must know she was being a hundred percent serious. And he honestly deserved this much for all the improvement she witnessed over the weeks.

Her arms were still crossed, but she did use one to point at him. "You... I was wrong about you." He tilted his head. "Let me finish. When I first saw you, I thought you nothing more than a nobody, a failure. I didn't expect you to last too long at Beacon, more so with Pyrrha Nikos as a partner; I was more than ready to stamp your papers out of Beacon when the situation arose." Glynda smiled at the stars. "But not anymore. You've changed all that."

"W-What did I do to make you change your mind about me?"

She chuckled with a push of her specs. "You've surprised me. I've seen not only your unwavering will but your heart as well. But most of all, it's your character that sealed the deal. After seeing how your team adores you, and even your vast improvement in skills and leadership, and to top it off with your sense of loyalty to the ones that trust you, I had no choice but to admit I was dead wrong." Glynda smiled sadly at his confused expression. "I know about your transcripts and your deal with Ozpin. I know about the tournament and the consequences for failure. And I know what you did to protect your team."

"And?" Jaune gulped. He was afraid to ask. "And you're not mad about my fake transcripts?"

"Oh! I was for all about five seconds." She waved away the concern like a bug. Her eyes narrowed in thought. "But that was then. This is now. And now you have a tournament to worry about. Beacon Academy can't afford to let go of such a talented student. It'd be a permanent stain on our record."

Because it was Glynda Goodwitch saying this, Jaune still didn't believe her. "D-Do you really believe that?"

She smirked. Professor Goodwitch actually smirked in a reassuring way! "Of course I do. Who the heck do you think recommended this early mission? You don't have time to be worrying about upcoming missions. You have a tournament to win. And I won't settle for anything less out of a promising student."

The urge to cry was strong. He had to wipe his eyes with his forearm. "Professor... I... I don't know what to say."

She moved from her spot to grab his shoulder, comforting the clueless noodle. "How about we start over? So Jaune, I will only ask you once more. What are you doing out here?"

He was at a loss for words. He had been the moment he walked outside to glare at the stars. But his soul felt better. "I... I don't know. Looking for answers, I guess. I don't want to disappoint my team, but I feel like I've hit a wall I can't overcome. And time's running out."

"Then walk around it."

"Huh?"

"Walk around it..." she said simply. "There's more than one way to go about problem-solving. You don't always have to charge at it head-on. Sooner or later, that's not going to work. The same strategy isn't always prone to success. Sometimes a different approach is needed."

Thinking to himself, Jaune was forced to agree. That was why he was even outside in the first place, busy gazing at the stars, looking for answers. It was like an amplified version of his dorm's ceiling back home. His normal approach to problem-solving was getting him nowhere. Discovering and breaking down Lore's concepts weren't as elementary as Aura tended to be. Light and darkness may be two halves of the same coin, but they were still at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

He was starting to see that clearer now.

Desperate, he peered up in space, imagining each star as a speck of dust. It was surprisingly easy once he got to it, but he was not beyond asking for help. "Can you tell me a little bit more about the constellations?"

Glynda grinned wisely. He already figured out her weakness. Clever child.

"Very well. I guess I can indulge you for a bit." She pointed up to a bundle of stars. "That array of stars is known as Leo the Monarch. It represents the lion that was killed by a Huntsman with limitless potential, and a heart just as pure, but that power can also hurt others around him." She pointed to stars close by. "And that there is the Great Bear, where the two brightest star point towards the North Star, guiding others to their dreams. Next is The Scorpio, the constellation that taught darkness to a naïve world. And finally..." she pointed to her favorite constellation of them all. "The Lupus, the wolf, a creature that fought to live, a creature that's both monster and human. It holds no meaning but what you make of it."

His interest was peaked. Someway, somehow, those stories sound vaguely like his. But that was nonsense. A lion killed by a Huntsman with a bright future but dangerous powers for their allies? A bear that guided the path toward dreams? The scorpion that showed man darkness? And a wolf-like creature that was both man and monster? Those couldn't possibly relate to anything he experienced on his adventures.

Could they?

Jaune blinked. "How do you know so much about the universe—about the stars above?"

Professor Goodwitch had the gall to look reluctant. "I was a bit of a geek for astronomy when I was younger. People used to call me a nerd."

Glynda Goodwitch, Professor Goodwitch, Combat Professor at Beacon Academy, and right-hand Huntress to Headmaster Ozpin, used to be a geek? A nerd! No way! Jaune didn't believe that. He'd sooner believe in magic over that. Even the way she wore her glasses leaned more toward not nerdish.

Shaking his thoughts away, he reached out. "Do the stars really have that much to offer?"

She frowned. "You won't always find the answers you seek or even the ones you want to find if that's what you're asking. But there's always something to be gained stargazing."

"That's troublesome."

"Life usually is. The sooner you learn that, the better." She sighed, fixing her glasses into place. "If you're ever lost, just look to the stars for guidance. Those tiny specs of dust can be useful, after all. The constellations may not hold all the answers you seek, but they can help you find your way back home. And who knows, maybe you'll find something new if you look hard enough."

He laughed, shaking with renewed excitement. "I'll give it a shot! What's the worst that can happen?"

Famous last words or perhaps the beginning of a new story? Only time would tell.

Peering up to the heaven's one last time, she breathed in a cool wisp of air. "It really is a beautiful night for stargazing. The storm cleared the entire sky. You couldn't ask for a better view." A ball of light flashed through the night sky and her eyes lit up. "Oh? Did you see that? A shooting star! I guess it's my lucky day? Time to make a wish."

She closed her eyes and wished. Jaune was too curious for his own good. "What'd you wish for?"

Even though it was obvious to the world, Glynda kept her wish bottled up. Her simple smile glowed like a star above. "Reach for the stars, Jaune. With a little luck, who knows? You might just be able to pull off a miracle and actually grab one."

"Glynda?"

She liked the way her name rolled off his tongue. "Good night, Jaune."

His professor abandoned the courtyard, perfect prose and all. The telltale clicking of her heels got softer the further she walked. And Jaune was left along with his thoughts. Fortunately for him, they were much clearer than before, and he always preferred listening to himself think. He wasn't so much plagued by doubt anymore.

Tired of standing, he sat down on the ground, before lying down, and thought. Arms bunched up together by his head, Jaune allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he counted the stars hanging over him. He doubted he'd ever get tired of doing this. Counting was such a relaxing treatment. It always made his mind wander, which allowed him to see things in a different light. With so many stars to look at, there were many stories waiting to be told, and with an infinite supply, it was all the better.

Recalling the first time he discovered the secrets of Aura, Jaune switched out of Lore to Aura and held his hand out, focused on the task of creating Supernova. It had been some time since he observed the task of how his weapons came to life, usually forgoing such things, and he was itching to watch the process unfold. Just like the first time he created the technique, Aura, in the size of dust, broke away from his hand and condensed into a singular ball of Aura in the center of his palm.

Now that he looked closely upon it, the way Supernova formed in his hand was anything but spontaneous. The process was undeniably fast, Aura training had done nothing less for him, but now Jaune saw those tiny particles of Aura actually make up Supernova. They were like specs of dust coming together to create a new structure, building blocks if he truly broke it down. Those specs of Aura—small and insignificant alone—have the power to create and destroy when pushed together.

Jaune smirked at his foolishness. Even now he had so much to discover. He had yet to even master the basics!

How thrilling.

He absorbed the ball of Aura a minute later, infusing it into his palm with ease. He then stopped counting, intent to call it a night soon. But first, he was feeling feisty. And dare he say it? Inspired? His talk with Glynda had opened up his eyes to the endless possibilities still waiting for him. And he wouldn't let that inspiration go to waste.

Getting up, Jaune allowed his body to react for him, and before he was second-guessing his actions, he fired Shooting Star straight into the waiting cosmos. There it soared through the sky, adding another light for all to see, and adding his own story into the mix. Soon Shooting Star became nothing more than a tiny spec. He couldn't even figure out which one it was anymore, having lost track between the countless margins of lights above.

But he was far from saddened. If anything, he was joyous.

In a way, those specs of dust and the stars above were similar in so many ways. Some would find the dust counting pointless and a waste of time, just like how he had frowned upon the idea of stars telling a story. And it wasn't true. None of it was. The dust proved to be the guidance he needed to change his life around. They practically wrote his story for him. And Jaune didn't think he could ever brush that sentiment away, even if they're just tiny bits of dust floating in an empty vacuum of space.

He made his own story with the dust, and others have made their own stories with the stars. So what if they were both insignificant compared to the vast universe they live in? It mattered. And even if he couldn't unravel the secrets of Lore tonight, he knew he wouldn't ever stop searching for them. Somewhere, in some region of space, he had yet to explore, the answers must be waiting for him. He just had to keep searching until that day came.

He would make up his own stories along the way—his own constellations.

...

When Pyrrha walked in with a medical book tucked underneath her arm, intent to study the effects of magnetism on blood, she didn't expect to see her leader there. She more or less figured Jaune to be training, or sightseeing, or anything else. She could understand where Ren and Nora were; having past the room where Ren was giving Nora a massage, but Jaune was a bit more prone to disappearing acts. What was odder was that she found Jaune lying down on his makeshift bed with a soft smile tucked between his cheeks.

He was humming a small tune with no real beat. More like he was just doing it for the sole act of humming, just like what Ren did earlier that morning. His Aura notebook was lying parallel on his stomach and his eyes were focused upon the ceiling as if there was some secret message there that Pyrrha just couldn't decode. And judging by the way his feet moved side-to-side, he was content.

Like he was watching a story unfold right in front of his eyes.

"What are you up to, Jaune?"

Her Fearless Leader laughed silently and sat up, finished with his dust counting. Even now the hobby filled him up with old hope and it showed with the way he smiled at his confused partner.

"Me? Nothing important. Just changing up a few words in my notes, counting the dust on the ceiling, you know... same old, same old." He got up and walked past her, rubbing the Lore shard between his fingers with determination. "If you would excuse me, I have work to do. Aura's not going to wait forever."

Jaune passed her with a small kick in his step, still singing that odd-melody tune of his. She was a little curious about his good mood but found her interests a little more piqued on the possible notes he added to his Aura notebook. Whatever discovery he made, she wanted to know. Anything to get her leader in a good mood like that must be interesting.

Reaching forward, she picked up the white notebook and found herself stumped by the words he inscribed on the front in clear, bold, black lettering.

The Constellations.

---

Author Notes: Never stop reaching for the stars. The stories they hold are too precious to pass up.