Chapter 8

A random bar in Orient Town

Announcer: "The winner is Naoto Kurogane!"

"Damn it!" Cursed Qrow, sitting in front of the bar.

"Alright, I win! Well?" Said the person sitting next to Qrow.

'Is it because of my Semblance? Did I jinx him?' Thought Qrow.

"I get it. I'll pay for you and your friends' drinks. But only the one you're having right now! Not before, not after! You hear me?"

"Free drinks!" Said the person to his three friends behind him.

'I've been in this bar for two days now. When is Oz's friend going to show up?'

"Howdy."

Qrow turned around, and saw no one.

"Down here."

Qrow looked down, and saw a cat with a yellow hoodie…

"The name's Jubei."

'Jubei… so you don't want to give me your real name, huh?'

"Qrow. You're Ozpin's friend?"

"We ain't enemies. Sometimes our interests align, an' sometimes it don't. So, what do you need?"

"Information."

"Don't know how much I can help, but okay."

"First, here's a little something for you, from Ozpin." Said Qrow as he handed over a box.

Jubei opened the box, and revealed… dry grass…

'What!? Oz had me smuggle-'

"Mistral catnip. Aw shucks, you shouldn't have."

'Huh? So it's just catnip. Whew… wait!'

"I'll accept it with gratitude. Now, what do you want to know?"

"About outsiders, Remnants…"

Healing Ward

Jin walks in, and gestured Raquel to leave. After she left, he walked over and looked down at Naoto on the bed.

"Why did you let him get up?"

"What?" Said Naoto, rubbing his head.

"When you first knocked him into the ground, why didn't you just finish him?"

Naoto looks up at the ceiling. "I didn't want him to lose like that, after coming all the way from Remnant. I wanted him to have the chance to give it his all, to have no regrets."

"You let an opportunity slipped because of some misguided empathy?"

"It's for myself as well. So I too will have no regrets, whether I win or lose."

"Foolishness. And your last attack…"

"Grim of Phantom."

"I don't care what you call it. I told you, go for the throat. Aside from, because of the rules, the eyes or the crutch, give no quarter. What if your last attack didn't bring his Aura down enough?"

"It's just a tournament."

"It's a habit, one that you need to train now, or else it might be the death of you when you get into a real fight."

"I've had real life and death battles before. I know what must be done."

"For your sake, I hope that's true. And now you have revealed your Drives to them, your only advantage is gone."

"No. I don't think they know about my other abilities yet. And what do you care if I win or lose? You just want this to be over as soon as possible."

"I don't, but the higher ups do. I chose you over the Duodecim families. You need to at least enter the semi-finals, or your life will be hell from now on."

'The hell you put me in.'

"I get it! Now let me rest. I need it for tomorrow match."

Jin threw a document at Naoto's face.

"Your next opponent has been decided, study him."

Naoto opened the document, Mercury Black…

After Jin left, Raquel came back in.

"We should have never come here." Said Raquel.

"We don't have a choice, he is our superior."

"No, Naoto. He is your superior."

"In life, we sometimes need to do things we don't like."

"For you maybe. You are forcing normalcy on me. I never asked for this."

"No, you didn't, but you wanted it."

"No, I don't."

"You were smiling."

"What?"

"Talking to Haruka, taking a nap, hanging out with friends, eating ice cream. I want to protect those simple moments for you. That's all."

"She is here."

"She?"

"I can sense her. My sister. Not once, but multiple times now."

"I don't get it? You have a sister?"

"She is the current head of Alucrard."

Naoto imagined an older, more voluptuous Raquel.

"Is she… ugh… dangerous?" Asked Naoto, remembering what happened between him and his sister.

"She wouldn't hurt me if that's what you're thinking. She doesn't even care about me. But… something is going on in this city."

"Yeah… the Joint Tour-"

"No. My sister wouldn't waste time on some mortal event. No… we shouldn't be here."

Army Dorms- Training Hall

After the match, Team RWBY and JNPR decided to try out the newly opened training hall. When they entered the training hall, they saw that a lot of the other teams are already there, tingling and messing with the NOL equipments. Tsubaki and Noel can be seen teaching the huntsmen how to operate the equipment. Penny was also there, but instead of training, she was just watching.

Yang: "Finally, they opened up the training hall. Now we don't have to train on the rooftop under the burning sun."

Blake saw Makoto as she was doing some shadowboxing with some metal crosses.

"She's fast." Said Yang. "But what's with those strange pauses between swings?"

Yang just said what was on her mind. Makoto is fast and has good rhythm, but sometimes her attacks just have this strange wind up. When Makoto noticed them coming, she stopped.

"Hi guys, welcome to the training hall."

Blake looked at Makoto's weapons. It looks like it should be tonfas, but instead of holding them, it was fixed on the back of her wrists.

'So she can use her hand? But the point of tonfas was for hand-to-handcombatants to counter weapon users, to block their weapons with one tonfa, and then spin the other tonfa around and strike with the longer side of the rod. You can even grip the longer end and attack with the handle. Wouldn't it be less flexible with it fixed on your wrist? Is itworth it to sacrifice reach just so you can use your hand?'

"Need me to teach you how to use the ring? It's got a barrier." Asked Makoto.

"It's okay, Makoto." Said Noel, walking towards them. "You can go back to your workout. It's my turn to supervise."

Pyrrha: "Please! Lieutenant Yayoi! Spar with me! I'd like to have some first-hand experience fighting Ars Mugus!"

They turned their attention to the loud voice, and saw Pyrrha talking to Tsubaki, and a crowd was gathering around them. They decided to walk over and join in.

Yang: "Oh ho, the champion of Mistral Regional Tournament, ageist the great heiress. Me next!"

Noel: "Mistral Regional Tournament?"

Tsubaki: "Ah yes, I heard of the Mistral Regional Tournament, and now that I think about it, I may have heard of you."

Jaune: "May have? Pyrrha was champion four years in a row!"

Makoto: "Oh wow, four years in the row? That's great."

'That it?' Thought Team RWBY and team JNPR.

"She was thirteen when she won her first tournament!" Said Jaune, trying to get them to understand. "Mistral Regional Tournament isn't a tournament for minors!"

Yang: "I don't think you people really understand how big that is. Don't you get Remnant's news here?"

Tsubaki: "Of course we do. But no offense, we just don't have the time to follow everything that Remnants do."

Pyrrha always wanted people to treat her normally and stop deifying her, but now that her accomplishments were not being acknowledged, she felt surprisingly underappreciated, like all her hard work, accomplishments and even that of her opponents meant nothing.

Nora: "What about Pyrrha's match? Didn't you see it? The Announcer called her the Invincible Girl and Queen of Combat! She beat her opponents in under a minute!"

Makoto: "I did! You were great!"

Tsubaki: "I didn't. I was working."

"I challenge you." Said Pyrrha, suddenly.

Tsubaki: "Huh?"

Yang: "Yeah! And make it two on two! Team Beacon, versus Team NOL."

Tsubaki: "I don't think-"

Makoto: "You're on!"

Tsubaki: "Makoto!"

Makoto: "Come on, it'd be fun."

Tsubaki: "Sorry. Still no. I am the sword of the Imperator. I do not fight for myself."

Makoto: "Fine. I'll just fight them myself. You can be the referee."

Tsubaki: "No, you will do no such thing."

Makoto: "Huh? Why? Come on, what's the big deal?"

Tsubaki: "What if there's an accident? What if they got injured? Our actions reflect that of NOL, and we need to be cognizant of that. That is what it means to be part of an organization."

"What makes you think we would be the ones getting injured?" Taunted Yang, creaking her fists.

"And what the organization does, also reflects on the individual..." Said Makoto in a quieter voice, thinking.

"What?" Asked Tsubaki, while ignoring Yang's taunt.

"Oh, nothing, just thinking out loud." Makoto then turned to Yang. "Sorry, girls, Tsubaki's right."

Yang: "Ahhh, you guys are no fun."

"How about a compromise?" Said Noel. "We'll show you some basic Ars. That was what you were really asking for, right?"

"Y yes…" Replied Pyrrha. 'I can't believe I let my emotion get the better of me like that.'

Pyrrha: "Please! Show us some Ars! And if you can, teach us, Lieutenant Vermilion!"

"Teach you… I don't think that's legal…" Said Noel, looking at Tsubaki. "Is it?"

"No, and for good reason. Ars are dangerous. Only licensed instructor are allowed to teach Ars, and only NOL academies have licensed instructors, and the relation between Atlas and us aren't so great that we can transfer you to a NOL academy."

That's not entirely true. It's against the law to teach Ars without a license, but hunters have been teaching their trainees without a license since forever. And even the noble families have been teaching their children Ars before enrolling them to an academy. It's more of a "don't ask, don't tell and don't brag" kind of thing, something Tsubaki intends to change, at least within her own clan.

Tsubaki: "But it's pointless. Even if we could teach you, without a Grimoire or Armegis, you can't even start."

Yang: "Couldn't you just lend us-"

"No." Tsubaki shot it down before Yang could even finish her sentence.

"You need to take that stick-" Before Yang could finish, she was pulled aside by Blake.

"What's the different between a Grimoire and an Armegis?" Asked Jaune.

"Armegis are Grimoires, weaponized Grimoires. Not all Grimoires are in the shape of a book. Let's put it like this, all Armegis are Grimoires, but not all Grimoires are Armegis." Explained Tsubaki.

Noel: "Okay! And now, let me show you the barrier Major Kisaragi used during the demonstration."

Noel lifted her hand, and a blue shield with a magic circle appeared.

Noel: "We call it a barrier, but it's more of a shield. It doesn't protect the whole body. Well… there are other types of barriers that cover the entire body, or even an entire ship and city. But this shield is the one we commonly use in close combat."

"Try hitting the barrier. Don't use your full strength." Said Tsubaki to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha pulled her fist back, and punched the shield, and her fist bounced back.

Tsubaki: "It sends part of the impact back, pushing the weapons away, and allowing an opening to counter-attack. Now you see why we use this type of barrier in close combat?"

Noel dispelled the barrier. "It's actually quite taxing keeping the barrier up. Which is why we only use it when we have to."

Ren: "Are you sure you are allowed to share this information with us?"

Makoto: "The barrier Ars we showed you is a basic Ars. If you study Major Kisaragi's match footage, or even just ask anyone with a Armegis on the street, you would know. Of course there's no way we're gonna show you any classified Ars."

"Jin's opponent, your sister, must have known about the properties of the barrier beforehand." Said Tsubaki to Weiss. "Either because your Glyphs worked similarly, or she was briefed before the match."

'It is too similar to my Glyphs… did They crack the code of my family's Semblance?' Thought Weiss.

Weiss: "The one who created Ars was Nine A. Mercury, right?"

Yang: "What kind of name is Nine?"

Tsubaki: "Nine was her title. She held the ninth seat at the Order of the Ten Sages."

Jaune: "Ten Sages?"

Tsubaki: "The leaders of the Mage's Guild, predecessor to the Novus Orbis Librarium."

Jaune: "Mage's Guild? This is starting to sound like an RPG..."

Weiss: "How did Nine create Ars Magus?"

Tsubaki: "That, you have to ask her. Which is impossible, since the Dark War was a hundred years ago. I think it's more like, she had to."

Makoto: "It's a good thing that she did, or the world would have been destroyed."

The Dark War. Something all of them knew. About the titanic eight-headed Black Beast that almost destroyed the world a hundred years ago, and the six heroes who defeated it. Different kingdoms honor different heroes. They even have statues of the Six, albeit with questionable interpretations and artistic liberties.

Noel: "Alright, moving on, I'll show you guys a platform Ars."

Later…

'An Ars that created a platform in the air, and even slows down your descend, it's too similar to my family's Semblance. But then again… they can also use Ars like Scrolls!' Thought Weiss.

Ren: "I've always wondered how they made that hologram thing on their ears. I knew they were using some sort of communication device, but I didn't know it was an Ars."

Nora: "A Scroll that charges itself! Now I will never forget to charge my Scroll!"

Pyrrha: "One device that does everything, with the right knowledge of course. Without knowing Ars, you can't uses Grimoire."

Nora: "Man, forget that then! I didn't even read the first line of the user manual when I bought my Scroll."

"And besides, it only works when there's Seithr around." Said Weiss. 'Unlike my Semblance.'

Yang: "So? Seithr's everywhere, and it's harmful. Something that can get rid of Seithr and help people at the same time is alright in my book."

Weiss: "And when Seithr's gone? What then?"

"The same can be said about Dust." Said Blake. "At least with Seithr you don't need slaves to mine for it."

That was a sore subject for Weiss, and Blake knew that. And suddenly all of them stopped talking.

Pyrrha looked over to Noel, who was still supervising the other Huntsmen.

Jaune: "What is it? You still want to ask something?"

Pyrrha: "No. It's not enough. I want to learn Ars. I want everyone to learn Ars."

Jaune: "What? But-"

Pyrrha: "Not now of course. But someday…"

Cinder Sewers Hideout

"Alright, like we planned, Torchwick and Neo, you two will infiltrate the Atlas mothership. According to Kval, there will be a disturbance at 01600 hours."

"You trust this Kval?" Said Torchwick.

'I trust him as much as I trust you.' Thought Cinder.

Cinder: "If nothing happens, then just go with plan B. Let yourself be captured. And then you can hack the ship on the last day of the tournament, just like we planned weeks ago. I can pull some strings with my people in Atlas and have them keep you in the mothership."

"Hey, if nothing happens, maybe we can take the battlesuits out, cause a little mayhem, scare these Highlandans a little." Suggested Mercury.

Cinder: "No, we need them during the last day. They are our trump card."

Mercury: "Fineeee, whatever. I never get to have any fun."

"Your match tomorrow is with the NOL representative. Have your fun with him." Said Emerald. "Just make sure you don't hurt him… too badly."

"I get it. Just one broken limb then."

"Do not jeopardize our plan. You hear me?" Said Cinder with her eyes on fire.

Mercury: "I know. I'm still a professional you know."

"Just make sure you win. We can't rig the match like we originally planned. It's not possible for us to hack NOL Grimoire technology. You and Emerald return to the dorms with me and rest up." And she turned to Torchwick and Neo. "And you two get yourselves ready to move out."

Cinder Sewers Hideout- White Fang's corner

"Still no news, Adam." Reported Adam's Lieutenant, Saw.

"Send more people then."

"We already sent out almost all of our people. Cinder-"

"I don't care about that Human Female! Find Bloodedge!"

"We need to focus on our mission. We don't have time to go bounty hunting."

"That Human Female mission is not our mission! And that Bloodedge's bounty is big enough to buy a city!"

He says that, but they both knew, it wasn't about the money, it was about pride, Adam's pride as a Faunus and as a warrior. He was defeated by a human, whom Adam not only consider as evil, but also inferior.

"Ah, still looking for Bloodedge I see."

Adam didn't even turn to the voice. "You. What do you want, human?"

"I don't think it's about what I want, but about what you want." Said Kval the human informer.

"I don't need help from a human. Leave before I carve out that forked tongue of yours."

For some reason, this human reminded Adam of a snake, even though he's not a Faunus.

"Scary. Are you sure you won't be needing my service?"

Adam pushed his sword out of its sheath a little with his left thumb.

"Whoa there. Easy. I'm going, I'm going." Said Kval in a panic.

Adam smirked. Even among the cowardly humans, this Kval was in a league of his own.

"By the way. Ragna will be at the Kagutsuchi Grand Cathedral tonight. Ta ta."

Adam's eyes widen, and turned to Kval. But he was already gone.

Evening- Kaka's Village

"I'm going. Tonight." Said Ragna.

Jubei looked up. "You don't have to, 'ya know. You could just stay in this village, live here. The Kakas will welcome you."

"What? I don't think so. I hate Kaka kids, and I can't stand Tao."

"You say that, but I can tell, you are at peace here."

'That's the problem. The longer I stay here, the more my desire for vengeance fades.'

"I'm going."

"Alright, I ain't going to stop ya. But, I am going to give you a warning." Said Jubei, suddenly becoming serious. "Listen Ragna, I saw him. He's looking for ya."

"Him?" Ragna's eyes light up. "Tarumi?"

"No. But in some ways, he's even more dangerous. In fact, he's the most powerful foe you could face right now. You'll know when you see him."

"Cryptic as ever."

"Hey, I'm an old, wise an' mysterious cat sage. Gotta keep up that image."

Ragna smiled a little. As cryptic as his master Jubei was, he's the only person Ragna could trust completely.

"And 'sides, I don't know everything. Heck, I barely know anything."

'Till this day, I still don't know how to help my wife, or even talk to my own daughter.'

"Just be careful, 'ya hear me? There's no shame in running if you think yer life is in danger."

"Yeah, I hear you."

Kagutsuchi Novus Orbis Librarium Headquarter- Jin's office

Knock knock.

"Come in."

Noel walked in and saluted, Captain Hibiki Kohaku was also in the room.

"Major." Said Noel. "I-"

"What is it, Lieutenant? I swear if it's another request for a party at the dorms I'll-"

"Captain Hazama wanted me to personally hand this document to you, Sir." Said Noel, handing over a file. "He said it was urg-"

Jin grabbed the file so fast that it left a paper cut on Noel's glove. After looking it over, he twisted into an evil grin.

"Haha hahaha." Jin laughed, with a sick look on his face.

"Major?" Asked Noel, worried. Even Hibiki raised an eyebrow.

"I'm leaving for the day. Captain Kohaku, you're in charge."

"Major? But I have a meeting on the mothership, to discuss-"

Jin rose up from his chair and left, without even looking at Hibiki and Noel.

'Finally,brother.'

To Be Continued

Raquel is Rachel's sister in this story. I'm not sure if it's canon, but it is in this fanfic.