Here we go. This chapter went through a few iterations before reaching where it is now, mostly involving the last segment.

Beta: College Fool

Cover Art: Kegi Springfield

Chapter 55

Ruby was no stranger to being summoned to a headmaster's office, though that was usually because Yang had done something wrong like blowing up the gymnasium in Signal, or beating up some guys who groped her, or using some guys who groped her to blow up a gymnasium. She wasn't used to being called in on her own, and even less used to seeking out someone like Ozpin herself.

Poking her head out of the elevator, Ruby stared at the man behind the desk, who was at that moment staring at some paperwork with the clear focus only someone like Weiss could normally achieve. She bit her lip and wondered whether she should come back another time.

"Miss Rose. Do you intend to come in, or are you going to stand there frustrating my elevator for the next two hours?"

"Eep!" She hopped out of the elevator, finally allowing the golden doors – which had been closing and opening when they sensed her head in the way – to close. The carriage ran down with a near-silent whirr, leaving her alone to kick one foot against her heel. "Um. Hi?"

A pen clicked down on the desk. Ozpin linked his hands together, looked up to her, and then raised a single eyebrow. "Hi," he replied, lacking the same kind of excitement her greeting had. "How can I help you, Miss Rose?" He noticed her shuffling a hole in the floor and sighed. "Would you like to take a seat?"

Ruby was relieved to do so, rushing forward to pull out and sit down on the other side of the desk, even if it did make her feel a little short compared to the man opposite.

"I apologise for not having any cookies this time," he said, chuckling. "Now, I'm sure you came here for a reason and I doubt it's my scintillating company. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I-It's my eyes…"

Ozpin nodded. "Your eyes?"

"I just woke up from a coma."

"I heard. I hope you're better, Miss Rose."

"I am, thanks." Ruby smiled, then realised he was changing the subject. "But my eyes. Uncle Qrow said it's because I have silver eyes that this happened."

"He did? How very eloquent of him."

"And he said you'd be able to tell me more," she pressed.

"Ah. How very annoying of him."

"That's my Uncle," Ruby giggled. "Um, but yeah. Something happened and there was all this pain, and then Hentacle was running away, and I was falling unconscious – and I know Dad says I shouldn't jump to conclusions, but this seems like pretty obvious!" Ruby waved her hands wildly. "So, yeah. That's why I came to see you, sir."

"And what, Miss Rose, makes you believe I know anything about this phenomenon?" the headmaster asked, sipping on his coffee.

"Apart from the fact Uncle Qrow told me you would?" Ruby asked.

"Apart from that, yes."

"My eyes are silver."

"They are."

"And you kind of made a big deal of that the first time we met…"

Ozpin's poker face could have won tournaments. "I did."

"And that didn't raise any alarm bells at first but now it strikes me as a little odd," Ruby said, more rambling than making any real point. "I mean, most people don't tell you what your own eye colour is the moment they meet you. At least I think not. No one's done that to Yang, though there was this guy once who walked up and said she had amazing boobs and-"

"Your sister's breasts are not the subject of this conversation, Miss Rose." The headmaster paused to think. "Nor, I hope, will they ever be a subject of conversation in my office."

"Y-Yeah…" Ruby scratched her head and laughed nervously. "But I know you know something about my eyes and I think I deserve to know. They're my eyes."

Ozpin let out a long sigh and put his mug down, then pushed away the papers in front of him, leaning his elbows on the desk and his chin atop his linked hands. "I do know a little about your eyes," he admitted, not surprising Ruby in the slightest. "But I'm afraid the information won't be as satisfying, or as detailed as you might like."

"That's fine," she said, leaning forward herself. "Anything you know. I need something…" She needed answers, even if those answers led to more questions. She couldn't just ignore the fact that she knocked herself into a coma – not if it was going to keep happening!

"Then I shall tell you a story about those eyes of yours. The story begins back before huntsmen and even the Kingdoms. Back then, those born with silver eyes were some of the greatest warriors the world had ever known, enough so that even the creatures of the Grimm feared them. They were the best of the best, and it was said that a single look from one of these fighters could strike a Grimm down."

Ruby leaned further forward. "And!?"

"And that's it," Ozpin said, picking up his mug once more. "Story time is over."

Ruby stared at him, mouth open.

Ozpin sipped his coffee.

"How is that it!?" she cried, falling back.

"There's no need to shout, Miss Rose. I am right here. I warned you that there wasn't much I could tell you. I hope this has been an enlightening experience."

"E-Enlightening?" Ruby gripped her head between her hands and groaned. "You didn't tell me anything! What were the silver-eyed warriors? Why were the Grimm afraid? What does my eyes do? Why did I knock myself out?"

"In order; I don't know. I don't know. I don't know, and - believe it or not - I don't know."

Ruby whined through her teeth.

"Come now, there's no need for such pitiful sounds. Although we don't have all the answers we can at least make some assumptions. The fact of Grimm fearing those with silver eyes seems true enough, given that your friend, Hentacle, fled from you. Since I'm sure we can all agree Grimm aren't normally prone to random bouts of cowardice, it seems safe to assume your eyes have some kind of detrimental effect on them."

"It's a weapon?" Ruby's eyes lit up. "Do I have laser eyes?" The whole `descended from ancient warrior people` had sounded cool at first, but if eye-migraines and spontaneous unconsciousness was what she got from it, then she wanted her money back. Eye lasers, though? Ruby felt she could come to a compromise on those. But only if they were awesome.

Pft, who was she kidding. Eye lasers! That was already awesome.

"I cannot confirm or deny the eye lasers, I'm afraid." Ozpin shrugged. "You might consider it more akin to a Semblance than a weapon, especially given that it appears to be hereditary. As such you'll need to unlock any such abilities on your own. Your mother shared the same traits as you, but failed to manifest them in any significant manner."

"Could she… you know…" Ruby waved towards her eyes.

"Summer did not need assistance knocking herself out, Miss Rose. She was very adept at dragging every spar with her teammates to that conclusion as it was. But no, I'm afraid she did not manifest any of the… abilities, or complications, you have."

Ruby stared meaningfully at him.

Ozpin sighed. "No. No eye lasers."

"Aww…"

"That's not to say she wouldn't have in time, but her life was cruelly cut short as you know. I expect that much like Semblances, the power of the silver eyes only manifests in extreme circumstances. After all, you have had to fight Grimm normally ever since you became a huntress. It is only now that your eyes chose to reveal their powers."

That made sense. Some people didn't discover their Semblances until late, usually at the very moment they needed them. She'd unlocked hers running away from some Grimm when she'd been caught along visiting her mom's grave. It let her run away fast, escaping certain death. If her eyes were similar then maybe the whole `passing out` thing was just her getting used to them.

There'd been a few similar accidents with her Semblance when she first got it, though mostly because suddenly being able to accelerate and run at high speeds didn't necessarily mean you were used to it, or impervious to the consequences of running face-first into a wall because you misjudged your ability to brake or pull high-speed turns.

"So, is it something I can practice? Is it something I should practice?"

"It's hard to say, and you're right to be wary about it. If your eyes only reveal themselves around the Grimm, then I would not consider it safe to practice alone."

Ruby's heart skipped a beat. "R-Reveal around Grimm?"

"Why yes," Ozpin said. "I expect this is the case anyway. The silver-eyed warriors have ever been enemies of the Grimm, hence why you were able to use them to attack Hentacle. They shouldn't cause any problems in typical company."

"I-I see…"

"Is there something wrong, Miss Rose?"

Yes. Maybe. She… She wasn't sure…

"No!" She shook her head. "I was… I was just thinking. How am I supposed to find out more about my powers, then? I can't just sit back and ignore them and I don't want to get a headache every time I run into a Grimm!"

"The rest, I'm afraid, will be up to you to figure out."

"B-But how am I supposed to do that?"

Ozpin made a mysterious gesture with one hand. "The answer to that question lies within you."

Ruby groaned piteously. "Is that your way of saying you don't know?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you just say that?"

"Because fifteen year-old-girls keep assuming I have all the answers in the world," Ozpin said pointedly, earning an embarrassed giggle from her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Miss Rose, I have to organise the security for the upcoming Vytal Festival. Leave your eyes for a later time. Focus on the tournament instead. I'm sure things will work themselves out in time."

Ruby nodded and rose from her seat, whispering a farewell and heading back to the elevator, which had been called up remotely for her. As the golden doors shut she reached up to touch the skin around her eyes once more. They didn't hurt. They didn't feel any different from how they normally did. But if that was because she wasn't around any Grimm…

"No," she said, shaking her head. "No way is that possible."

/-/

"Transfer students are arriving," Yang pointed out, staring nosily at a team of girls that had just come off a Bullhead. They wore a mix of skirts, trousers, and other outfits that matched a colour scheme like their own. "Some of them look pretty tough."

"The schools will be sending the best of the best to the tournament," Ren said, sat beside her. He'd chosen the position on purpose she was fairly sure, as sitting anywhere else left him open to Nora and Blake, who were still in some kind of weird mood around him.

She'd have felt bad for her team leader if it wasn't so damn entertaining to watch.

Ren noticed and glowered. "Shouldn't you be cheering on your boyfriend?"

She rolled her eyes but acknowledged the point, turning back to the sparring ring and cheering out. "Whoo! Go Jaune. Kick Weiss' ass!"

"He'll have to actually fight me to do that!" Weiss snarled, lunging for her partner's face. Jaune `eeped` and dodged it, as he'd been doing for the last fifteen minutes straight. Sweat was running down Weiss' forehead and had already stained her outfit. "Stop running, damn it!" she howled. "Fight me properly!"

"But isn't me wearing you out a good strategy?" Jaune had the misfortune to ask.

"RARGHHH!"

"I think he's doing fine," Yang said, grinning. "He's getting better."

"Is he? He still hasn't landed a good hit on Weiss."

"Yeah, but he dodges now. Back when he started he'd just take most of the hits, which admittedly didn't do much to him, but it let Cardin beat him in a spar." Again, Cardin had only won by a technicality and by this point Jaune's endurance was almost legendary. "Learning to not be hit is pretty good progress, and like he says if he can wear his opponent out then it doesn't really matter when he strikes back."

Ren acknowledge the point with a nod. "I guess we'll need to factor that into our own strategies in case we end up against him in the tournament."

"Leave that to me. I'll be the Anti-Jaune countermeasures." Yang grinned when Ren shot her an interested look. "I'll just lure him to the edge of the arena and tackle us both out. It'll be a double ring-out, but you and Blake don't have the stamina to keep up with him."

"That still leaves us to deal with Pyrrha, Yang…"

"That's your job," she cooed, making a little shoo-shoo motion with her hands. "I came up with a plan to deal with Jaune. You come up with one to deal with Pyrrha."

"The undefeated championship fighter," Ren drawled.

"Hi," Pyrrha waved, smiling from the other side of Yang.

"Yep," Yang said, mock-ignoring her. "I'm sure you'll think of something, Ren. You're team leader for a reason. I have the utmost faith in your abilities."

Ren rolled his eyes at that, sensing the sarcasm. Pyrrha laughed at it, not even bothering to argue against the face she'd be their biggest problem. It would have been an empty gesture anyway. They all knew it.

Some of those arriving knew it too, since Yang caught more than one staring at Pyrrha once they realised who she was. Some pointed and others even took out their scrolls and snapped pictures. Luckily, Pyrrha didn't realise.

"I can't believe the festival is almost here," Pyrrha said.

Yang snorted. "I can't believe no one seems to care about the White Fang attack that could have ended in disaster. Is there any reason everyone's forgotten that?"

"They haven't forgotten," Blake said, entering the conversation at last. She wore a beleaguered expression, one that spoke of faltering patience with her partner. "People are just trying to move on, even if they're doing so recklessly. It happens all the time."

"Still dumb," Yang said. "You two finished with your little argument?"

Blake sighed and flicked her head. She didn't even seem to notice when it made the bell around her neck tinkle. Hell, she didn't seem to realise she was still wearing it. "Not even close. Nora won't stop trying to change the names on our team attacks – or the attacks altogether."

"I'm just saying mine and Ren's attack should be called `together forever`," the ginger bombed declared. "Or Renora. And Blake's and Ren's needs a new name."

"Why?" Yang asked. "I thought Black Lotus was pretty cool."

"That's the point! It should be called `Home Wrecker` or maybe `Not going to work`, or – ooh, I know – how about we design a new one entirely and call it `Operation Meat Shield`? Basically, Blake runs in to draw their attention while Ren escapes."

"And I flank them?" Ren asked.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Help me," Blake hissed to Yang, clinging onto her arm. "She's been like this since we woke up. I asked for a pen this morning and she thought I said Ren and hasn't let it go since. I'm losing my mind."

Yang patted the girl's arm. "Fight for your right to love, Blake."

"I hate you so much!"

"I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" Weiss echoed, collapsing at last onto the grass and taking great gulps of air. The poor girl's entire body was twitching and she'd lost all ability to stand. She was covered in sweat. "My loathing for you knows no bounds. When I finally hit you, when that heady day comes, I will spare no expense in making you scream for mercy!"

Jaune, to his credit, looked a little hesitant to step close and end the match. He hovered out of Myrtenaster's range, Crocea Mors held loosely in one hand. "Do you surrender?"

"I'll make you suffer so much!"

"That doesn't sound like you surrendering, Weiss."

"…" Weiss glared at him. "Let's call it a draw…"

Yang snorted to herself at that, and laughed even harder when Jaune had to actually help Weiss out of the ring. Despite Weiss' words he'd definitely caught a few blows here and there, but the damage had been slight and he was capable of ignoring the most of it. She had a feeling she ought to have been upset at watching her boyfriend bridal carry Weiss out of the ring, but it was just too damn funny.

"How does he do against you and Ruby?" she asked Pyrrha, still giggling. "Does he beat you?"

"He hasn't bested me yet. Although Jaune's stamina and endurance are impressive, he's not quite able to keep up with my speed and I can find the gaps in his guard."

"How does Ruby do?"

"It's about fifty-fifty. Ruby's speed makes any effort on his part to dodge pointless. It usually comes down to whether she can do enough damage to bring his aura down before she wears herself out like Weiss does." Pyrrha's smile cracked a little. "His fighting style is… unorthodox to say the least."

That was one way of putting it. Still, it looked like he had energy to spare and she wasn't quite up for her own fight, having lost to Pyrrha less than an hour ago.

"Anyone want to fight Jaune?" she asked.

"I'll do it if only to escape Nora," Blake groaned.

"How about Ren?" Jaune called, surprising them all. He normally didn't like to be put into spars and had never actually requested one with anyone, let alone with the only other male between the two teams. And was that a flash of light in Jaune's eyes or had she imagined it?

Ren obviously hadn't noticed it, or the uncharacteristic look on Jaune's face.

"I'd be happy to spar," he said, standing.

Jaune's smile turned vicious. "Perfect…"

Yang, Blake and Pyrrha shared confused glances. As one, they shrugged. Nora ignored it all, of course, cheering her not-so-secret crush on. The three of them left her to it, and Weiss was too busy panting for breath to do anything but lay down with one arm over her face, shielding her eyes from the sunlight.

"Looks like even the guys are getting worked up for the tournament," Yang quipped. "Didn't expect Jaune to ask Ren for a spar though, or for Ren to accept."

"We're hardly the only ones getting in some last minute sparring either," Pyrrha said, nodding to the other training fields outside of Beacon. Many of them were currently in use, teams sparring on their own or as groups. It was the first time they'd had a day off and genuinely seen every student use it for training as opposed to trips into Vale.

Honestly, it felt like the week before a major exam in Signal, except with hardcore training as opposed to a hundred or more teenagers sat silently in a library fighting over the same ten or so text books.

"We'll have to be careful not to give anything away to the other competitors," Blake said. "It looks like some of the transfers are already trying to get an idea on what the completion is like." She gestured to a team from Haven, four guys, who were watching them quite intently.

Yang snorted. "Uh, Blake. They're actually watching you."

"Excuse me?"

"It's your stalker."

Blake blinked. "Bun?"

"I think it was Sun, actually," Pyrrha pointed out politely.

"Who would name their child Sun?"

"Who would name their child `Bun`?"

Blake sighed and shifted so that she was sat a little behind Yang, shielded from view by her and Pyrrha. "Just hide me. It's too hot a day to deal with this."

"You could always send him a hint by making out with Ren."

"She could," Nora giggled. She said nothing more but there was a certain edge to her laughter that had even Pyrrha leaning back. Blake, meanwhile, placed both hands on Yang's shoulders and angled her so as to take any sudden charge from their teammate.

"We're not like that," Blake said, both for Yang's benefit and more importantly Nora's. "Anyway, I- oh look, Ruby's back."

"Nice try, Blakey. I'm not going to be distracted so easily tho-" Yang saw her sister run up and wave. "Uh, never mind. Hey Rubes!" She patted the grass next to her. "Take a seat. You manage to talk to Ozpin?"

"Yep." Ruby sat down with a sigh, relieved to be back with them for some reason. "Yang, there are so many people in the corridors! It was like initiation all over again and someone asked me for directions and my mind just went blank!"

"What did you do?"

"I sent him somewhere."

"Where?"

"I don't know," Ruby groaned. "I panicked and rattled off some random directions."

"Classy." Yang rubbed her sister's hair and laughed. The poor guy was probably lost in any one of a hundred corridors by now. Sometimes it was easy to forget just how awkward Ruby could be, mostly because she'd made friends between the two teams and then never bothered to expand out of it. "So, did Ozpin tell you anything about your little problem?"

"Ugh. Barely anything. Apparently it's some kind of anti-Grimm weapon from people who had silver eyes and were big, mysterious fighters of Grimm."

"And?" Pyrrha asked, interested.

"And that's it. Apparently the `answer is within me`," Ruby said with a fake air of mystery. "If it is then I've got no idea. It's definitely a thing though, and it's what scared Hentacle away. He said that much."

"And the fact you passed out?"

Ruby shrugged. "I think it's just me being exhausted by using it."

"Maybe you just need to get used to it," Pyrrha suggested. "I doubt a trait that renders someone unconscious around Grimm would have survived this far. Those people back then must have been able to control it, so I'm sure you can too."

"That's a relief," Yang said, rubbing her sister's head some more. "No news on why it kept hurting yesterday though?"

"Ozpin said it should activate around Grimm."

"But there weren't any Grimm in our room the other day."

"I-I know," Ruby stammered, looking away. "I was probably just still out of it from the first time."

"Residual headache, perhaps," Blake agreed. "It makes sense. She'd just woken up after being out for a while. There was bound to be some lingering effects."

"Y-Yeah," Ruby agreed, though a little weakly. She glanced to the ring where Jaune and Ren were fighting. "Probably just… lingering effects…" The worry on her face disappeared, replaced with simple curiosity. "Is there a reason Jaune and Ren are fighting to the death?"

"It's a spar," Pyrrha said. "They're training."

"This is training?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Yang turned back to the spar for the first time since it had happened. She did so just in time to receive a huge wave of grass, dirt, and air to her face – courtesy of Jaune's sword striking the ground where Ren had stood so hard it carved a furrow into the soil.

"Stand still!" he growled, lunging after Ren. Ren obviously did the opposite, jumping aside and ducking as the sword nearly took his head off.

"Have I done something to upset you?"

"No!" Jaune growled. "Now die a little!"

Ren blocked the next strike with both his weapons. His eyes widened at the sheer force behind it however and he was launched back, landing in a crouch a good four metres away. He shook his hands and winced. "If I knew what I'd done I could apologise…"

"You've not done anything. You're a friend. You're a good friend." Jaune's chest rose and fell and his eyes flashed angrily. "I just want to spar. Nothing wrong with that, right? It's not like you did anything wrong. It's not like you took advantage of anyone."

Ren held up a single hand. "Um…"

"Isn't your harem big enough already!?"

"My what…?"

"Yes!" Nora shouted, waving a fist in the air. "Yes, it is. Kick his ass, Jaune!"

"What? Nora!?" Ren looked back in shock. Big mistake. Jaune missed him with his sword but caught the lithe man with one hand, drawing him into grappling distance. What followed was a flurried and panicked kicking of legs and fists, all the while Jaune exacted some unknown vengeance on his opponent.

"Aw," Nora crooned, ignoring Ren's cries for help. She wiped a tear from her eye. "Ren and Jaune are bonding. I always said Ren needs more male friends."

/-/

Ren, it turned out, could fight like a Beowolf.

Jaune sported more cuts and bruises than he'd given after instilling a little brotherly justice on the guy, even if Ren had no idea what he'd done to deserve it. Seriously, stealing his sister's first kiss without so much as a date – without so much as a declaration of never ending love? Unforgivable! Or, well, not entirely so… Ren was still a bro, even after their little scuffle.

"Are you going to explain why we just had to go through that?" Ren asked, eyeing him warily. In comparison to himself, Ren had come out relatively unharmed, though not entirely so. His hair was a mess and there was mud above and below his left eye where Jaune had pushed his head down into the dirt. He didn't seem to have noticed and Jaune sure as hell wasn't telling.

"I just found out my sister had a crush on you," he admitted after a second's thought. Since his team had technically met his sister he was sure Ren wouldn't jump to the conclusion it was female Hentacle. "I'm a big brother. Sorry."

"Wha- But I never even met her!"

"It's the principle of the matter."

"Is it?"

"Ask Yang," he said. "She'll agree with me."

"That's a terrible example and you know it. Yang would attack anyone who so much as looked at Ruby the wrong way."

"I rest my case."

"Yang is not a good role model, Jaune."

"That's my girlfriend you're talking about." Jaune raised a fist in mock threat and Ren let out an exasperated sigh, letting the issue go. Mission accomplished. Well, part one, anyway. Now that he'd worked out his anger – and potentially saved Ren's life, since that meant his older sisters wouldn't have the right to do so – he could instead start focusing on part two of the plan.

Operation Brother in Law.

It wasn't a very subtle plan. It didn't need to be. He liked the name though, mostly because it said everything that needed to be said. Not to mention if he falls in love with and marries Lavender, then that'll be more evidence humans and Grimm can co-exist.

"Until his teammate snaps and kills your sister," Remy drawled.

"Blake wouldn't do that."

"I wasn't talking about- ugh, you're hopeless." The parasite let out a suffering sigh. "What are you going to do about this festival, then? You realise whether you ask her or not Cinder is going to be doing something with it."

"She promised not to hurt my friends."

"She promised to try. Besides, do you expect that whatever she has planned, your friends won't want to interfere with? Your `Big Sis` will be hard pressed to avoid harming them when they're actively trying to tear her head off."

"I know, Remy. I've thought of that too." Thought, but been unable to come up with a solution. "Any ideas?"

"Order some Grimm to kidnap and keep her in a cave for a month?"

There was a long silence.

"I wasn't being serious."

"But it could work…"

"Jaune, she'd just kill them and escape. And then find you and make you wish she could kill you."

Yeah, he was probably right there. There was no doubting Cinder had some kind of plan. Realistically speaking he had two options; stop her plan or help it happen – and neither was the same as `do nothing`. If he helped with her plan then he might be able to make it happen better, saving any kind of risk to his friends and Beacon. If Cinder got what she wanted, she wouldn't have any reason to stay.

Stopping her on the other hand… well, that would make things awkward, especially since she'd report back to his mom, and he was fairly sure she'd let her know exactly who was to blame for things going wrong.

"Nothing's ever easy…"

"Hey, I'm heading out," Ren called, finally having finished changing into a fresher outfit. "I'll see you later. I'd appreciate it if you didn't attack me the next time."

"Sure thing."

Ren waited for anything more and rolled his eyes when nothing came. He swung his dirty clothing, now bagged, up over his shoulder and headed out the changing rooms, leaving Jaune alone with his thoughts.

There had to be something he could do, perhaps with Ozpin and Qrow since he had some kind of weird deal going on with them. First things first was figuring out exactly what Cinder had planned though, which meant either convincing her he was willing to work with her – hard given that she knew him and could see through his lies. Or he could try and find out another way, which meant going through Mercury or Emerald.

Still hard, but that depended on how loyal they were and whether that extended to him by association. "It's worth a shot. Worst thing is they say no, but if I'm lucky they might just assume we're all working together and tell me."

"Or you could ask your mother."

Jaune froze.

Remy… did have a point…

It was just a very, very scary point – and one that he'd been trying to avoid for a long time now. Mom had never really cared all that much for plans and secrets, seeing them all as rather pointless.

"I… well…"

"It's just an idea," Remy said. "CCT is still open and it could boost your signal enough to reach her. No one would know either."

"Yeah…"

"What's the worst she can do? It's not like she can reach through the screen and drag you back to the Grimmlands, is it? You're going to have to talk to her sooner or later and the longer you leave it the angrier she's going to be. Might as well be on your own terms."

"Could you stop making sense, please? Especially when that sense involves me calling mom."

Remy didn't respond and he felt the parasite drifting off, apparently content with his part in their little planning session. Remy was still a little wiped from Ruby going all crazy eyes on them, the little guy being fully Grimm to his half, making it hit him twice as hard.

But tired or not, he had a point, and compared to his odds of getting a straight answer out of Cinder it was one he couldn't get out of his head.

"I guess it couldn't hurt…"

It really, really could. He pushed off from the locker with a sigh and headed to the door. Best to get it over with before his self-preservation instinct kicked in and made him think twice. It was late in the afternoon, which meant now was the best time to make a call, the CCT being mostly deserted as people wasted away their time after lunch. Most of the transfer students would be busy being assigned rooms too, so they'd be out the way.

Heading out the changing room doors, he was surprised to run straight into a familiar figure.

"Ruby?"

"Oh, hey Jaune," she said, quickly averting her eyes. She stared at his chest. "Um, Ren said you were still inside and I wanted to ask you something. Uh, several somethings…"

"Now?" He hadn't meant to sound so impatient but it must have come through because Ruby cringed. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that I need to go and make a call to someone at the CCT and I don't have much time. Can't it wait?"

Ruby shifted nervously. "M-Maybe not. I don't think so." She started to wring her hands together, before an idea came and she perked up. "I could come with you. You can do your call and we'll talk afterwards."

"Come… with…?"

That sounded like a terrible idea. Oh, sure, Ruby could just sit next to him as he called the Queen of the Grimm. No way that could go wrong. No way at all.

"It's kind of a private issue," he said.

"I'll wait outside the room while you do it. I just want… I just need to talk to you." She sounded insistent and there was no way he could really say no to that. As long as she didn't come in and listen to what he was talking about, there wouldn't be any issues.

"Alright."

/-/

Jaune spared a third and fourth look around the CCT terminal room. He was alone, much like he'd expected, although there were two Atlas Guards off by the entrance. They were chatting between themselves, however, and he'd chosen a terminal far away from them. Ruby, meanwhile, was doing the same. Not chatting, obviously, but sat at a terminal several seats down, well out of hearing distance and also out of sight. Thankfully the call screens had partitions on either side to prevent anyone looking in on what you were doing.

He looked again, just to be sure, and yet again he was safe.

Damn.

He'd been hoping something would intervene so he'd have an excuse to call off the terrible plan and delay it, preferably until the sun died and the world ended. No such luck. He took a deep breath and placed his scroll face-down on the terminal, linking the two so that it could use his data and library to make the call. It rang once, twice, three times – and kept ringing.

"Maybe she's not in," he whispered to himself, feeling a little relief. "Maybe she has better things to do."

On the sixth ring he reached for the end call button. On the seventh, the screen flashed and the call was connected. A huge red eye filled the screen – ominous and angry with a lit pupil in the centre. Fetid breath washed over the screen.

"Manny," an angry voice cried. "I swear on Nicholas' testicles if you don't give me that back I'll have you made into a tapestry! Damn mutt!"

"Huff. Huff." Manny, his ever faithful Beowolf, recognised his master instantly and slobbered on the screen. He didn't seem to realise how it worked and it looked like he was trying to climb through to reach him.

"Hey boy," Jaune whispered, smiling despite his mounting panic. "It's good to see you. How you doing, boy?"

Manny huffed again and whined, frustrated that he couldn't reach through for a cuddle and a wrestling contest. The scroll was quickly picked up by another hand however, and the view tumbled and spun as it was moved around.

"Calling at this hour, I swear. You'd better have good information for me Watts or I promise you now I shall flay the skin from your-" His mom's face appeared on the screen. Her words cut off with a splutter. Her eyes widened.

Jaune winced. "Hey mom…"

"SWEETIEKINS! My little baby!" The shout, practically a scream, was so loud that everyone heard. The guards stopped talking instantly. Ruby's head snapped in his direction. Jaune winced and leaned against the screen, covering most of it from view.

"Shh, shh," he whispered. "I-I'm around people. Don't talk so loud or they'll hear you."

"Nicky! Nicky, our baby has called us!" Salem yelled, ignoring his words entirely. Luckily it seemed everyone had made up their own minds for the guards laughed at his embarrassment and got back to work, while Ruby giggled and went back to reading through some messages on her scroll. He wasn't sure what to think of a communique with Salem - Queen of the Grimm - being dismissed so, but it worked in his favour so he wasn't going to question it.

"Wait, Nicky isn't here," Salem said, volume coming down to a more reasonable level. "Hm, that's frustrating. I could have some Nevermore go and find him but the last time I did that he got angry. Something about it being difficult to explain how he'd survived being abducted from a public event by six Grimm. I'm sure he'd make an exception for this, though!"

"Don't get Dad," Jaune pleaded. "Look, mom, I'm at Beacon so you need to keep any kind of uh… family stuff to a minimum, okay?" He shot another look toward Ruby and lowered his voice even further. "I have one of my friends here. She can't find out about me, okay?"

"She?" Salem asked, suddenly much more interested.

"Mom, please…"

"Oh, do stop being silly." She fiddled with some buttons on the scroll and the screen suddenly became blurry. "There, I've switched off the video feed. Now it's just my voice, so can you please stop trying to make love to the display, sweetie. It's awkward to look at."

He breathed a sigh of relief at the blank screen, and did as she asked, climbing off the screen and no longer covering it from view. She could obviously still see him, even if that wasn't returned, and her voice was clear as day.

"So, you've finally decided to call mommy after all this time, hm? I don't remember raising my son to be so callous. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to call?"

"I've been busy…"

"So busy you couldn't spare me five minutes? Oh, that's fine. I only carried you inside of me for nine months and spent three excruciating hours pushing you out of my-"

"Mom!"

"But anyway," she said, quickly changing the subject. "Enough about my privates. How about yours? Have you gotten anyone pregnant yet?"

"No, I-"

"Well, that's fine, I'm sure it would take more time to show. Has anyone been sick recently? Has Cinder been sick recently?"

"I don't think so…"

"Hm. You should try a little harder, then. Sometimes it takes more than one try for it to take. Then again that's probably for the best or you'd have a thousand siblings by now. Why, Nicky was just here the other day and we spent a whole weekend without putting on any clothes!"

"I didn't need to know that, mom…" He fought past his revulsion, even if his skin turned a sickly shade of green. "Mom, I need to ask you something. It's about Cinder."

"Cinder?"

"Yes."

"Doggy or BDSM. I have a feeling she's into domination plays."

"It's about what Cinder is doing here in Beacon," he said, not really understanding the two phrases he'd been given or why Cinder would like a dog. He lowered his voice so Ruby couldn't hear. "Why did you send her here, Mom? What is it she's after?"

"I sent her for you. She was `supposed` to bring you home, or at least start on convincing you to return of your own volition."

"She was? She hasn't even mentioned it."

"Oh, hasn't she?" Salem's voice dipped. "Hm, well, thanks for telling me, sweetie. I'll be sure to remind her of that the next time she calls to make a report. As for why she's in Beacon, she was initially supposed to arrive now, but with the transfers. She was registered in Haven, after all. She only came to Beacon because you did."

He remembered that, or at least the fact she was posing as students who had transferred from Haven to Beacon. That she'd followed him made sense, but now with the arrival of the other school's fighters he'd realised she would have been here at Beacon anyway – which meant that whatever it was she had planned, it needed to happen in the time when Haven's students were in Beacon.

That was only for the next month or so. He was on a time limit.

"But what is it she's here for?" he asked. "Originally, I mean. She has some kind of plan in Beacon and I want to know what it is."

"And you thought I would tell you? Sweetie, I love you but you `do` realise we are on different sides on this, no? Since I'm almost certain you would try to interfere, I'm not sure why I should tell you her goals."

Damn it. It was like he'd thought.

"But I could be convinced to point you in the right direction."

"You could…?"

"But of course. Whether Cinder succeeds or not will be of her own making. While I won't give you everything, I'm not afraid to give you the opportunity to find out more. How successful you are will be your own choice. But such information doesn't come for free."

His eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"You to come home?"

"Not happening. Not yet anyway."

"Ah, then in lieu of that, how about a chance to meet this `she` you've brought along with you tonight? I think I'd like to have a chat with the girl my son trusts enough to bring along to a call with his mother."

"Absolutely not."

"Is that so? Then I suppose you won't find what you want. Goodnight then, son. It was nice talking to you-"

"Wait…" She had him. He knew she had him just as much as she knew it, and he was grateful for the blank screen that prevented him from seeing the satisfied look he knew graced her face. Letting his mom speak to Ruby?

Letting the Queen of the Grimm speak to one of the most exuberant huntresses ever… it was not a good idea. Hell, it was probably the worst idea imaginable.

"Promise me you'll not reveal anything."

"I'm hardly about to endanger my son when he is in the middle of the hornet's nest."

That was true, he supposed. Even he would have a hard time fighting his way out if she did, and she wasn't going to get him killed. Even so, he glanced back to Ruby and cringed. True to form, she was trying to sneak a peek without being obvious and buried her head back in her scroll the second he looked over.

"And you won't tell me what I need if I don't do this? Why can't you just tell me?"

"Sweetie, you're asking me to pick sides between Cinder and you. While I'll admit that's not very difficult, I do have hopes she will one day be my daughter-in-law, and I feel that sabotaging her here might lead to her withholding baby-cuddling rights. It wouldn't be fair for me to give you everything. I'll give you what I gave her, and it will be up to you to see what you make of it. Of course, none of that will happen if I cannot meet this friend of yours."

Regret had never tasted so bad. Heck, he was regretting it before he'd even started.

"Ruby, you got a second? My… my mom wants to meet you."

Sheesh, this chapter was originally 9k words, but I kept re-writing the final 2k, and by the third time I'd done it – with Ruby and Salem's conversations being INSANELY different each time – I decided to sod it and save it for next week. It's not a decision that can be rushed, especially with some implications.

Anyway, here we go for this week. I think the alert system is fixing itself on the site, as I'm sure everyone has noticed alerts not going out for my stuff, and for other author's and even for reviews, Pm's and the like.

Next Chapter: 1st March

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur