Chapter 11
The wait in the elevator, to the headmaster's office, was long and quiet. Both Theodore and Glynda Goodwitch didn't say a word to each other after they left the arena. He knew that Goodwitch was angry at him for starting a fight with Team CRDL, but he believed she was wrong in saying that he was in trouble and they were not. He was pulled out of his thoughts when the elevator doors opened, signaling that they had reached the headmaster's office. Walking out, Theodore saw that the entire room was made of glass. Both the ceiling and floor had gears spinning around and dials as well spinning a little faster.
It's like being inside a giant clock. He thought to himself. He was once again pulled out of his thoughts when the headmaster called him.
"Well, Mr. Constantine," Ozpin said, "only a week into Beacon and you are already in trouble."
"If I may add Professor Ozpin," Theodore replied, "I don't find this meeting quite complete if Team CRDL isn't here."
"Team CRDL is not the one at fault here Mr. Constantine, you are." Glynda added.
"Excuse me? I beg to differ since they were the ones who started the whole mess."
"It was how you handled the situation that you were summoned here."
"What was I supposed to do? Stand by and do nothing?"
"You were supposed to wait for a teacher to show up."
Theodore was reciting the alphabet backward, in his head, to keep his cool while Goodwitch was talking. She was criticizing him on protecting the Faunus girl instead calling up Team CRDL and reprimanding them for harassing her.
"I must admit Mr. Constantine," Ozpin said, "how you addressed the problem with team CRDL is out of line."
"Protecting a Faunus, who was getting harassed, is out of line?" Theodore nearly grounded out.
"It is, when you threaten to make the school run red with blood." That comment caused Theodore to have a look of surprise, which turned to embarrassed accompanied with a nervous chuckle.
"Heh, heh…you heard my threat, didn't you?" he asked with a shy smile.
"Yes, I did." Ozpin replied with a smirk, "As did Miss Goodwitch when she entered the room."
"Did you plan to make good on your threat?" Goodwitch asked with a stern look.
"I don't think he was Glynda. From what I could tell, he was bluffing. He was just trying to scare Mr. Winchester."
"That was my goal, Professor." Theodore replied, "Can I leave now? I'm going to be late for history class."
"Of course, Mr. Constantine. But first, Glynda would you please unlock the young man's aura?"
Theodore turned around to face Glynda Goodwitch who had a neutral look on her face. She walked up to Theodore until she was half a foot away from him.
"Close your eyes." She ordered. Theodore obeyed and waited for something to happen. He felt a hand pressed against his forehead, but just concentrated on keeping his eyes closed. He then felt something, not on his body, but inside it. It felt like a new power was being unlocked and he was afraid of interrupting the process. Almost a minute later he felt the hand leave his forehead.
"You may open your eyes now." Glynda said. Theodore opened his eyes to see Glynda with a surprised and almost fearful look on her face. Turning to Ozpin, he had the same calm look that he always had when they first met.
"Why don't you take of your sling, see how your arm is feeling?" Ozpin suggested. Theodore gave him a questionable look, but decided to take his advice. Slowly, he removed the sling and cast from his arm only to find that it didn't hurt anymore. He swung it around a few times to make sure.
"Thank you, Professors." He said with a smile on his face. Theodore then walked the elevator and pressed the button to the history classroom. Once the elevator shut, Glynda turned to Ozpin with fear written all over her face.
"What's wrong, Glynda?" Ozpin asked.
"When I was unlocking his aura," she said "I felt that there were two different souls in him. One was bright but had a shadow hiding inside of it, the other was darkness but still had a sliver of light."
Ozpin looked calm, but deep down he was becoming worried. It seemed that Theodore was keeping more secrets than he expected.
"What should we do Ozpin?" Glynda asked.
"We'll just have to wait and see what happens Glynda." Ozpin replied, "I know it sounds like a ridiculous idea, but Mr. Constantine seems to trust the students at the school, except for Team CRDL. I doubt he would do anything to harm them. If we want to learn what secrets he's keeping from us, we must earn his trust. That is something we do not have yet."
History class was going incredibly fast to Theodore. Professor Oobleck, or Doctor Oobleck as he preferred to be called, was talking very fast and dashing around the room making hard for everyone to keep up. Theodore had to use a tape recorder just so that he could take notes from the lesson.
This guy talks faster than Barry Allen did. He thought to himself while continuing to listen to the teacher's lesson.
"Yes, yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popular known as the Faunus War, human kind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." Oobleck stated, then stopped to take a drink from his coffee. "Now, while this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events. Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day. Now have any among you subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"
The rabbit Faunus girl who Theodore saved earlier, Velvet, slowly raised her hand after hearing the question.
"Dreadful. Simply dreadful. Remember students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence. I mean…I mean…I mean, just look what happened to the White Fang. Now, which one of you young scarlets (I think that's what he said) can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?"
Looking around the classroom, Oobleck saw Weiss raise her hand.
"Yes?" he asked.
"The battle at Fort Castle." Weiss answered.
"Precisely. And who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagoon's Forces?"
Theodore looked around to see if anyone was going to raise their hand until he saw two things that he didn't appreciate. One: Jaune was sleeping during class, not paying attention to the lesson. Two: Cardin was preparing to throw a paper football at Jaune. Thinking fast, Theodore threw a playing card to intercept the paper football right before it could hit Jaune's head. It worked but also got the attention of Oobleck.
"Ah, Mr. Constantine!" Oobleck stated after running up to Theodore's face. This caused the boy to yelp in surprise and fall off his seat and under the desk. "Oh, my apologies for startling you. Please, tell me what the answer is."
"Night vision, Dr. Oobleck." Theodore answered while getting up and sitting back down, "General Lagoon thought he could catch the Faunus by surprise in their sleep, but learned that lesson the hard way with his capture."
"Pfft. Anyone could have answered that question." Cardin said with a mocking tone.
"If that's true, Cardin, why didn't you answer before me?" Theodore replied. Cardin got up out of his chair in a threating manner, but froze on the spot when Theodore showed five cards in his right hand.
"My shoulder is all better Cardin. You saw how dangerous I was with my left. Do you really want to see what I can do with my right?"
"Mr. Winchester, please take your seat," Oobleck said, "and Mr. Constantine, please put the cards away."
Theodore did as he was told, flicking the cards out of sight. Jaune was laughing at Cardin's predicament until Oobleck dashed in front of him.
"You, Mr. Winchester, and Mr. Arc can all see me after class for additional readings." He said with a serious tone. Jaune gave a groan of disappointment before Oobleck dashed off. "Now, moving on!"
Class had ended, and Theodore was looking for Team RWBY, specifically Blake. He found them and ran after them before they could leave the classroom.
"Blake, wait!" he shouted. The team stopped, turning around to see Theodore reach into the right side of his shirt. Pulling his hand out, he was holding the Sherlock Holmes book and holding it out to Blake. "I finished the book. You can read it now."
"Oh, thank you." Blake said with a smile and took the book. The team said, 'See you later' to Theodore and left the classroom. Theodore then returned to his seat to listen to Dr. Oobleck and hopefully get the information that he missed.
"Mr. Constantine." Oobleck started, "If your hoping to get the small part of the lesson that you missed three minutes after class started, I'm sorry, that is not the case. I appreciate though that you have been paying attention in class though."
"Thank you, Doctor." Theodore replied.
"Please, don't be late again, and don't threaten other students, even if they are bullying someone else. Also, please come to Headmaster Ozpin's office later tonight." Oobleck then turned his attention to Jaune and Cardin. "You two have been struggling in my class since day one. Now, I don't know if it is from a lack of interest or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is…it stops now. You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school and we only accept the best of the best, so I expect you to act like it."
Theodore looked at Jaune with a concerned look seeing he was not taking this information well. Cardin looked as if he didn't care at all, which Theodore's look went from concerned to mad.
Of course, he wouldn't care. Theodore thought to himself.
"History is important, gentlemen." Oobleck stated to all three boys, "If you can't learn from it…you're destined to repeat it. Pages 51-91, I want an essay on my desk by next class. Now, run along."
With that said, Oobleck dashed out of the room. Theodore and Jaune walked out behind. Just as they left the room, however, Theodore was shoved to the floor, nearly landing on his face. He looked to see Cardin walking away with a scowl on his face. Jaune and Pyrrha, who was waiting for her partner, helped him up off the floor.
"You know, I really will break his legs." Pyrrha said in a serious tone.
"Not if I break them first." Theodore said. Jaune just let out a sad sigh.
"I have an idea!" Pyrrha stated in a happier tone, "Here, come with me."
She grabbed Jaune by his arm and ran to a different location with Theodore following closely behind. They exited through a door that led to the room of the History Class building. Walking to the edge of the building, they looked to Beacon Tower. Theodore pulled out his scroll and a picture of the view. The lights lit up the tower at night, making it look stunning.
"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time," Jaune said while standing on the ledge, "but I'm not that depressed. I can always be a farmer or something."
Theodore turned to Jaune and tried his hardest to contain his laughter. He knew Jaune was dense, but he didn't think he was that dense.
"No!" Pyrrha exclaimed while pulling Jaune from the ledge. "That's not why I brought you up here. Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class, and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so…I want to help you."
"What?" Jaune said with surprise written all over his face. Theodore just watched the two with a smile on his face.
"We can train up here, after class, where no one can bother us."
"You think I need help?"
"No! No. That's not what I meant."
"But you just said it."
"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon. That speaks volumes of what you are capable of."
At that statement, Jaune turned away from Pyrrha.
"You're wrong." He said, "I don't belong here."
"That's a terrible thing to say." Pyrrha replied "Of course you do."
Jaune turned around to face her after that statement. "No, I don't! I wasn't really accepted into Beacon." He turned away from her again. Theodore started to get worried after hearing what Jaune said.
"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.
"I mean, I didn't go to combat school! I didn't pass any test! I didn't earn my spot at this academy!" Jaune then turned to face Pyrrha, "I lied. I got my hands fake transcripts and I lied."
"What? But…why?"
"Because this is what I've always wanted to be!" Again, he turned away from Pyrrha, "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes. I wanted to be one too. I was just never good enough."
"Then let me help you." Pyrrha said while placing her left hand on his right shoulder. Sadly, Jaune shook it off and turned to face her.
"I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero, like you Theodore!"
"Jaune, I- "
"I'm tired of the being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree, while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand?! If I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?!"
Theodore had heard and had enough. He knew where this was going if he didn't help. He grabbed Jaune by his shirt and pulled him to the center of the building. Pyrrha closely followed worried about what was going to happen. What she didn't expect was for Theodore to let go of Jaune and act like a mime. When she walked to where he was standing, she put her hand out and felt something.
"We're in a sound proof glass dome." Theodore said, "I was setting it up while you two were talking."
"Theodore, what is this about?" Jaune asked.
"I'm tired of hearing you whine and saying that you are a failure. Do you think I became a hero and magician because I was born for it?"
"Well…yeah."
"You're wrong. I couldn't get an elderly woman's cat out of a four-foot tree without a ladder. It took five years for me just to do simple card tricks."
"It took you that long?"
"Yes. Jaune, people get to where they want to go because they work for it. I had to learn to do these magic tricks. I had to learn how to be a hero. Nothing comes naturally, only through hard work."
"But what about me?"
"There is a word for you Jaune. It's late bloomer. It may take longer for you to learn how to fight, but you'll get there, and when you do it will be worth it. I want help you as well. Train you how to use a claymore sword. It comes in handy with certain, trust me. Look, I understand you want to fight your own battles, but that doesn't mean you have to do it alone. You have friends who want to help in any situation, big or small. Don't push them away."
Jaune listened to every word that Theodore said. He felt bad for how he talked to Pyrrha when she was only trying to help. He did want to get stronger, but he also wanted to do it on his own. Then again, his friends were always there for him, whether he liked it or not. He wanted to try himself, but he also didn't want to hurt their feelings and possibly loose the only friends he had, especially one who he started to see as a brother.
"Can I think about it at least?" Jaune asked.
"You can have all the time you need." Theodore replied, "Pyrrha and I will be waiting for you answer."
"Thanks, Theodore, and Pyrrha…I'm sorry. I know you're trying to help and I'm acting like a jerk- "
"Jaune," Pyrrha said, "it's okay. I'm glad you're trying to understand."
"Thanks, Pyrrha."
"Well, you two," Theodore said while leading them out of the dome, "I need to go see Oobleck and work my essay, and so should you Jaune."
In team RWBY's dorm, Blake was lying on her bed reading the Sherlock Holmes book Theodore had leant her. She was enjoying the mysteries and how the detective solved them. Facts that she missed while they were plainly laid out in front of her eyes. Just as she finished the chapter she was on, The Silver Band, she saw a note fall out of the book. Picking it up, she saw that it had her name on it. Unfolding it Blake read the contents and almost gasped at what it said.
Blake, I know your secret but not why you are hiding. Please meet me on the roof in 30 minutes to talk.
Theodore Constantine
Blake was scared at what she read. Someone was able to deduce what she was hiding. Careful not to wake up her teammates, she got dressed in her usual attire and walked out of the room, heading straight for the roof, hoping that Theodore hadn't figured out where she really came from.