Do you know that feeling of having a weekend off, then taking two days off from work, getting a bunch of stuff done at home, getting a lot of writing done, and feeling like an accomplished adult? Yeah, me neither. But hey, at least I got caught up on the anime I'm watching and played a fair bit of videogames.

Chapter Fifty-Two: Mending the Schism

In hindsight, taking RWBY and JNPR out to pizza with his team seemed the easiest way to gather them all together. Any emotional outbursts from Weiss or Blake would be toned down by the presence of onlookers, the venue was the right size to make listening in on their conversation difficult, and most importantly, cheese slathered on bread would theoretically stretch Cardin's diminished wallet far enough to cover the cost of feeding them all.

To say he hadn't counted on Nora's appetite would be inaccurate. Knowing her penchant for consuming absurd quantities of food, he had budgeted ten pizzas for her alone. Ten, apparently, was enough for her appetizer. The glutton called for nonsensical mishmashes of toppings, from bacon and red pepper to ham and pineapple, brought to her in batches of five. Once the waitress spread the pizzas out in front of her, Nora would roll them up and chomp on them like cheesy burritos, finishing each one in a few bites.

Cardin supposed that the metal discs that they served the pizza on would normally stack cleanly, but with the bits of crust and stray toppings left on them, their stack of empty trays at the center of the table sagged to one side, threatening to crush Cardin at the slightest twitch of the table. When the waitress passed him by, Cardin tapped her on the arm and asked, "Is there any way we can get this cleared up?"

The waitress gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry sir, that's how we keep track of the bill. I'll see if I can get a second table for those."

As the waitress ran off towards another crowded table, she tripped, banging her elbow on a table. Cardin checked his wallet again and grimaced. Tempting as it was to leave no tip, he could only imagine the reactions from everyone else, especially Blake.

"So," Cardin asked into the awkward silence around the table, "How is everyone enjoying the pizza?"

Blake scowled at him as she bit into a slice with anchovies, as if daring him to comment on her choice of toppings. Nora mumbled something through a mouthful of rolled-up pizza, and the others liked it.

"Hey, think we can take one back for Yang?" Ruby asked, pointing at an untouched pizza in front of her. "She was kinda bummed she couldn't go with us."

"I'll ask for a box."

Their table fell into silence again as Cardin struggled to continue the conversation. Sweat ran down his neck and stuck his shirt to his chest, leaving him with a clammy, claustrophobic sensation. Cardin's teammates looked at him with growing confusion. He sent them a silent plea to say something, but all he got out of them were hesitant stares and shrugs. Ruby fidgeted in her chair, staring down each person around the table, Blake sulked over her fishy pizza, Weiss kept her eyes glued on the floor, and Pyrrha looked away from him every time their eyes met. Nora was busy stuffing her face, and Jaune kicked his feet against the chair.

Ren sighed and pushed his plate away. "You brought us here for a reason, Cardin, so you might as well say it before the restaurant runs out of food."

Nora slapped another stack of empty pizza trays on top of the pile, tipping it a few degrees closer to Cardin's head. She stood, waved at the waitress, and shouted, "Another round, please!"

Lamenting the loss of the waitress' tip, Cardin gritted his teeth. He looked up at them, forced an amicable smile on his face, and said, "Vale's going to be overrun by Grimm in two days."

Cardin was glad they didn't have any utensils, as he was pretty sure they would've all been dropped, judging by the transfixed expressions of half the table. Both Pyrrha and Weiss snapped their eyes on him before looking away, and Jaune stared at him in wide-eyed confusion. Nora kept chewing, lost in her own world, and Ren took the sudden comment with a calm nod. As Cardin filled them all in, punctuated by occasional comments from Ruby, the others leaned in closer, straining to hear his low, quiet voice.

"We saw tons of Goliath by Mount Glenn," Ruby said. "There's probably tons more we didn't even see, waiting like they were."

Weiss went pale, wringing her napkin in her hands. Blake's eyes left Cardin for a second to take in what Ruby said, and her bow drooped.

"Shouldn't we warn everyone?" Pyrrha asked. "We can get the city evacuated or fortify Vale's defenses."

"Warning everyone's only going to make it happen sooner," Sky said. He deliberately chewed on a slice before explaining, "The city's at the tipping point when it comes to negativity. Any more, and we'll have an invasion on our hands."

"As for hunkering down," Cardin added, "Whatever defenses we prepare will be undermined by Cinder."

Jaune shoved away a half-eaten slice of pizza, appetite lost to the sudden gravity of their conversation. "If we can't defend ourselves or run away, what can we do?"

"Right now, not much." Cardin turned towards Blake. "The only thing we can do is try to figure out how Cinder plans to kick everything off. Not long ago, she had a bunch of heavily guarded cargo brought in, and there's no record of what's inside. It's gone missing, but wherever it is, it'll be close to the coronation's venue. If we can find out what was in those containers, it'll help us react more quickly to Cinder's next move."

"And you want me to look into it," Blake added.

"There's a chance it'll be under White Fang guard, and even if it isn't, you have the best chance out of everyone here of finding it without being seen."

Nora shouted something in protest, but her words were drowned out by pizza. She swallowed and said, "No way, Ren would totally be sneakier than her. Right Ren?"

Ren shrugged his shoulders and bit another slice of pizza.

"Exactly! Besides, Blake doesn't know the sloth call. How is she supposed to let us know that she found Cinder's secret stash of squirrel soldiers?"

"Secret wha?"

Ren shook his head and said, "Just ignore her. So, something is going to go horribly wrong at your coronation."

"I'll probably be assassinated," Cardin said. "That's been the general theme for Cinder's plans so far."

"So, you want us as bodyguards?"

Cardin nodded. "You won't be allowed near me during the ceremony, but I would appreciate it if you could watch from nearby. That way, we might also be able to contain whatever Cinder does." At Ruby's determined gaze, he added, "That's a pretty strong might, mind you. More likely, we'll fight our way through whatever mess happens there, get to Junior's, and come up with our next move there."

"Isn't that a nightclub?" Ruby asked. "I remember Yang talking about it once."

"A nightclub run by a gang. They've got the funding for some serious hardware, and I'll stash some extra supplies there in case we need them."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Seriously? You're paying off criminals to help you?"

"You're one to talk."

Judging by the murderous scowl on Blake's face, that wasn't the wisest retort Cardin had made. Across the room, someone cursed as their glass of water tipped over, spilling all over their pants.

Ruby looked nervously between Blake and Cardin and asked, "What about the whole eye thing. Couldn't I just petrify all the Grimm?"

"Maybe," Cardin said, "But after how much trouble we went through just to get rid of Weiss' Scarab, I don't think it'll be that easy. Although, Cinder has a Scarab in her. If you remove it, she'll be out of the picture. It might also keep her partner from controlling the Grimm, but I wouldn't count on it. Odds are, they have another Seer smuggled into the city by now." He felt his hands tremble just thinking about the Grimm, but he hid them under the table.

"Maybe it was in that cargo you told us about," Jaune added with sudden inspiration.

"I doubt it. They had Huntsmen guarding those crates, and I doubt even the Dukes could convince a Huntsman that brining live Grimm into the city, especially one as dangerous as a Seer, would be a good idea."

"In other words," Pyrrha continued, "It must be something dangerous, but not out of the ordinary. Dust maybe?"

"Or Atlesian Knights," Cardin added sourly. "One little display of 'programming errors' and all of Vale would be in an uproar."

"Or squirrel super-soldiers!" Nora chimed in. "Like soldiers, but they've been fed on a diet of rusty nails, human blood, and walnuts, the most super nut of them all."

Jaune scratched his head. "I thought pecans were better."

"That's what the squirrels want you to think."

"Well, from a health perspective," Ren added, "Almonds are the preferable choice for their low fat content and high concentration of vitamins and minerals."

"We just ate enough pizza to stack all the way to the ceiling," Dove pointed out. "I don't think any of us are too concerned about our health."

Ren held up a slice covered in spinach, olives, and bell peppers. "Speak for yourself. I'm keeping careful count of all the calories I consume. The carbohydrates provide quick energy for our exercise routine, while the fats from the cheese provide long-term energy to keep me full longer."

"That's why Ren's so good at sneaking around," Nora said. "He's so skinny, he can turn sideways and disappear. It's like magic! Not that I'm calling Blake fat or anything, but in comparison to Ren, she's a whale! I mean, whales are nice, they're basically the sloths of the sea, but they're also huge and not stealthy at all."

Blake's bow was violently twitching as she redirected her wrath onto Nora. "He doesn't have night vision like I do. It would put him at quite a disadvantage at night, since the White Fang keep their safehouses unlit."

"Ren's eyes are practically night vision goggles. He eats lots of carrots!"

"Carrots don't actually help you see better in the dark," Ren pointed out, "But they are very nutritious, if a touch high in sugar."

"Exactly," Blake said. "So clearly, thanks to my excellent night vision and perfectly healthy body weight, I would be the best one to scout out what Cinder is doing."

"You're volunteering?" Cardin asked, grinning ear to ear. "Great! I've come up with a list of likely spots in the vicinity that should be checked out. I'll send them over once we're done here."

"What, no! I never said I'd help you."

"I guess Ren's the man for the job then."

"Not interested."

Cardin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Looking up at Nora, he asked, "Then how are we supposed to find the squirrel overlord, or whatever?"

Nora gave him a huge grin and put a hand on Ren and Blake's shoulders. Her grip tightened enough to make Blake wince, but Ren looked unfazed by his partner's sudden intensity.

"Why don't both of you go together? It would be like a ninja's night out!"

"That's an excellent idea," Cardin said. "That way, you can cover more ground."

Blake glanced back and forth between Cardin and Nora, wilting under the pressure of Nora's grip. Ren nodded and said, "I'll go."

Now with Nora's full attention on her, Blake wriggled out of Nora's grasp and said, "Fine, sheesh, would you stop that?"

Rubbing her shoulder, Blake scowled at Cardin from across the table. "You shouldn't be helping him. Ozpin says that he's working with Cinder."

Ruby groaned and turned towards Blake. "I thought we were past that."

"Did he explain why he thinks I'm working with her?" Cardin asked.

Blake smirked. "He says that Seers don't leave people sane when they're done with them. They either turn into gibbering wrecks, or they're brainwashed into helping the Grimm."

Her mentioning that Grimm made his heart race, but he pushed himself past the fear. "Ruby's uncle can testify that the Seer wasn't quite done with me."

A look of confusion spread across Blake's face as Ruby confirmed it with a nod. "If that's true, then why was Ozpin so certain?"

"He has other reasons, but they're all a secret. Let's just say that I know things, and he's not happy I know them."

The conversation suddenly cut off as the waitress returned,

"You know about the squirrel overlord," Nora said in an excited whisper. As she bit into another rolled-up pizza, the other end came undone. Cheese and toppings gushed out onto her plate. Nora grumbled as she scooped up the cheesy mixture and struggled in vain to recreate her pizza burrito.

Blake fumed as she pushed around her last slice with a finger. "How can we trust you?" she asked. "You've done nothing but harass other people all year, and now, you expect us to believe you're just trying to save Vale?"

"I'm not trying to save Vale," Cardin said. "I'm trying to save my own skin."

"See? You even admit that you only care about yourself."

"Doesn't everyone?"

That question earned him five sets of glares. Cardin grimaced and said, "Right, that's frowned upon in the Huntsman's line of work. Whatever. You're right. I don't care about anyone else, and why would I? No one else has ever cared about me, not unless I had something to offer them."

Some of the anger left Ruby's eyes, replaced by pity. "But-"

"Exactly," Blake cut in. "There, you said it. So why would we believe you suddenly want to help people?"

"I already said I don't." Cardin took a deep breath as everyone around the table waited for him to continue. "But if Cinder wins, I'm dead. I'd like to avoid that."

"In other words," Ren said, "You have a vested interest in Vale's survival because you'd go down with the ship."

Cardin flashed a grin and clapped his hands. "There we go, someone's speaking sense. Now, I know I'm not your favorite person, but I would appreciate it if you all could ignore it and listen to me long enough to save Vale, if we can."

"Why should we listen to you?" Blake asked. "We can take care of this on our own."

Cardin was taken aback by Blake's sudden comment. "Well, I happen to know exactly what Cinder is after and where it is."

"Great. Then tell us."

Cardin swallowed. "That would be a very bad idea."

"You want us to trust you, right?" She leaned forward, staring at him with an icy gaze that chilled his blood. "How can we do that if you're keeping secrets from us?"

"It's Ozpin's secret, not mine. If you want to know so bad, ask him. Oh, and make it very clear that I refused to tell you or anyone else about it, while you're at it."

"Fine," Blake said, crossing her arms. "Then we're not helping you."

Cardin warily watched the rest of the students around the table. Their eyes darted back and forth between the two opposing sides, but none moved or said a word. "Does she speak for all of you?" Cardin asked.

Nora patted her stomach and let out a belch. "Well, you did just feed me, so I'm with you." She added five more empty plates to the monstrous, leaning stack on the table with all the methodical movements of a Jenga player and asked, "You are paying, right?"

Cardin set his wallet on the table, spilling some of the lien cards.

"Yep. He's got mine and Renny's vote."

Jaune darted a glance at his girlfriend and said, "I'm with Blake on this one. There's no way we can trust you."

Cardin rolled his eyes. "Anyone else?"

Pyrrha looked nervously at Jaune. "I feel the same way."

"Very well then. Ruby?"

Ruby looked at Blake for a moment. Blake stared at Cardin with smug confidence until Ruby started speaking. "I'll help."

"What?" Blake bristled with fury. "After everything he's done to your teammates?"

"I promised I would protect people," Ruby said in a calm, determined voice. "And right now, we're the only people that can protect him. That's why he brought us here."

Cardin's hands clenched, but he refused to look away.

Blake scoffed. "Then why doesn't he use those gang members you were talking about?"

Ruby twiddled her fingers. "Well, I did take out a whole bunch of them before I even started school, so it's not like they'd be much use."

"Well, whatever. He's rich, he can hire some Huntsmen or something."

Cardin glanced down at the wallet on the table, holding the last of his family's wealth.

"Cinder already bought them," Cardin said instead. "They're handling her cargo, remember?"

"Then ask some other students stupid enough to think you're a hero. There's plenty who think so after you killed Penny."

Mentioning the android ripped the smile off Ruby's face. She sank back into her chair, looking down at her hands as she squeezed them to her chest.

As the table faded back into silence, all eyes drifted towards Weiss. She fidgeted under the sudden attention and didn't look directly at anyone.

"Well Weiss?" Blake asked. "You're with me on this one, right?"

Weiss hesitated, lips trembling as she composed her answer. "Well, I don't know."

"Seriously? After everything he said to you?" Blake slapped the table.

The tower of platters, which had up to this point, all but defied gravity with how far it leaned to the side, tipped further over as the table shook. A collective shock of horror, aside from Nora and Ren, went across the table.

"Ha!" Nora shouted. "Blake loses. Now she has to clean up!"

Cardin leapt forward, activating his Semblance to lighten the plates, just as Pyrrha reached out with her own Polarity. Misjudging the weight of the platters, Pyrrha sent the whole stack flying into the air. She wildly reached after them, trying to snag plates with a magnetic field, but a couple dozen went flying towards the entrance. Ren sprang out of his chair, spinning in the air to catch those falling close to the table. Ruby zipped away, leaving behind a pile of rose petals, as she raced towards those flying at the doors. She caught a platter in each hand and stopped a third with her right foot. Balancing awkwardly with one leg, Ruby's eyes widened as another platter flew straight towards her head. She bit at it, catching it with her teeth.

Ruby waved her hands, which still held the platters, and shouted something enthusiastic, but it came out as a bunch of joyful grunts through the mouthful of metal. As Pyrrha wrangled with her cloud of pizza platters, one slipped out of her grasp and hurtled through the air towards Ruby. It struck her on the forehead, knocking her to the floor.

Pyrrha gasped and covered her mouth. The magnetic field wavered, and the plates flew up into the air. Everyone around the table scrambled to catch them, but most ended up on the floor. Pyrrha tried picking those back up, but as she did so, frantic shouts came from the kitchen. The servers' doors flew open, and a kitchen knife darted across the room, stabbing straight at Cardin. He tried to leave his seat, but his legs bumped against the underside of the table, trapping him in his chair. Instead, he tilted his head, ready to take the blow on his cheek.

Before the knife could reach him, Weiss leaned onto the table and snatched it out of the air. The blade ran along her fingers, blocked by her Aura, until her fingers closed on the hilt.

Weiss smiled and held up the knife. For a heart-wrenching moment, Cardin was back in the chair, watching her get ready to torture him as confusing emotions clouded his mind. His face went pale, and the strength left his arms and legs.

Russell put a hand on his shoulder. Cardin flinched and sprang away. "Hey man, it's okay. You're fine. Just take deep breaths."

Cardin's head spun. He shoved himself out of his seat and stumbled towards the door. Russell tried to help him up, but Cardin pushed him away. "I'll be fine. I just need some air."

The pizzeria was silent as Cardin staggered towards the exit. He wrenched the door open, scaring a bird into flight, and sat down on the sidewalk next to the door. A few pedestrians gave him glances as they walked past, but none approached him.

Cardin hugged his legs closer to his chest and buried his face in his knees, taking slow, deep breaths and holding back tears. A few times, he tried getting back onto his feet, but the moment he reached for the door, his head swam, forcing him back onto the ground.

The door opened. Cardin started, but kept from looking up. "Is everything alright?" Weiss asked.

Cardin didn't move. Weiss walked over and sat down next to him, an arm's length away. "Are you afraid of me?"

Cardin's hands tightened around his shins in response, audibly rustling his pants, but he gave no other response. Weiss sighed and said, "It's just that, you didn't seem scared when the knife was coming at you. It was only when I was holding it that you freaked out. I've been wondering why you… said all that, when I told you how I felt. It doesn't make sense, not when you could've lied and kept me from getting upset at you. But now, it think I have an idea why."

"What do you know?"

"I know you're not okay, and I know you need someone to talk to about it. So talk. Why are you afraid of me?"

At first, Cardin rebelled against the idea of showing his weaknesses to someone else. The thought that he would probably be dead in a couple of days anyways loosened his tongue. He revealed everything he saw when he was taken by the Seer, taking extra time to note how he felt when Weiss was in the vision. He had only planned on telling her that one thing he kept in the box, but as he kept talking, more and more spilled out, Cinder's plots and threats, the machinations of other Dukes, the rigorous training his father had put him through to prepare him for a life of politics and intrigue, and the final words spoken to him over the phone that, even now, confused him.

Weiss had a downcast expression as she stared at her feet. "You got put through all your worst fears? Shouldn't you be in counseling, or therapy?"

"I'm fine," Cardin growled.

"No, you're not. Nobody would be, after what you went through. I barely remember what happened to me with that Scarab, and I'm still in counseling with Oobleck." She put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay to need help."

Cardin drew away from her. "I don't need help. I'm fine."

"You're afraid that everyone you know is out to kill you, even your own dad." Her expression grew tender, and she reached out to him again. "Even the person you care about. That's not okay."

Cardin slapped her hand away. Anger boiled up inside him, even as his chest grew cold and numb. "I don't! I already told you, I don't care about you or anyone else!"

"Then why would you feel that way in the… in your nightmares. I am so sorry Cardin, I – I didn't mean–"

Cardin looked at her and asked, "What do you mean?"

Weiss stood and went back inside the restaurant. As he watched pedestrians pass him by, the gut-wrenching realization that he had just told her nearly all his secrets sunk in. Another bout of dizziness threatened to overtake him, but just as quickly, it passed. He began to think that, with his death right around the corner, maybe it didn't matter anymore. None of it did.

When he went back inside, the trays had been stacked on another table, and the waitress rushed the knife back into the kitchen. Cardin brushed off his shirt and pants and sat back down, feigning a smile and saying, "Sorry I missed the clean-up. Where were we?"

No one spoke up. The waitress came back, holding their tab. Cardin checked the sum and cursed under his breath.

"Forgot about taxes," he muttered. He turned to Russell and asked, "Think you can spot me some Lien? I didn't bring enough."

"Sure, how much?"

"Thirty should do the trick." He looked around the floor, at the scattered crumbs and toppings from the toppled platters. "Better make it forty."

"Don't you have a credit card?" Weiss asked.

"Credit froze when my dad died. Probably won't get fixed for a while."

Weiss plucked Cardin's wallet from the table, checking its contents. "That's all you have left, isn't it?"

Before Cardin could answer, Weiss took out her own card and handed it to the waitress, asking for two pizzas to go.

"You don't have to," he said.

"Repayment for the ramen," Weiss said. "It's no problem."

Nora watched the waitress leave with Weiss card and said, "I guess Weiss is the boss now. What are your orders?"

"Uh, help Cardin?"

Nora saluted and wrenched up Ren's arm to imitate her. "Sir yes sir!"

Alone once again, Cardin turned back to everyone gathered around the table. "I'll tell you. I guess it doesn't matter anyways."

"Tell us what?" Blake asked.

"Everything."