It all started with a contract...
Introductions
Jaune looked at the mail he had received with undisguised glee as well and as amazement. His transcripts had been accepted. He would be going to Beacon soon!
"Yes!" he cheered as he waved his acceptance letters around.
It was then that another piece of paper fell out, a paper he hadn't seen. A paper that he was sure hadn't been there a few seconds ago.
Curious, he picked it up.
"I chooseth this fate of mine own free will." he read out loud.
There was also a line at the bottom, where he guessed he had to sign.
He shrugged. It was probably some kind of insurance policy or something. The important thing was that he was going to Beacon!
He reached for his pen and signed the paper.
He was finally going to Beacon! He was finally going to make his family proud! He was final going to be a hero!
Jaune Arc was so busy imagining himself as a gallant knight saving princesses that he failed to notice the contract he had just signed vanished.
Later, he would swear he had just imagined it.
On the way to Beacon
Jaune sighed as he realized that he would have to get on a plane to get to Beacon. Not that he was afraid of getting in, mind you. That would be ridiculous, especially for a hero in training.
It's just that he wasn't particularly fond of planes. Or cars. Or busses. Or motorcycles. Or horses. Or any sort of means of transportation, really.
'Okay, stomach, I don't like you, and you don't like me, but please get me through this and I swear I'll pig out on bacon as soon as I have the chance.'
He entered the flying coffin and quickly found a seat by the window.
'Please, please, please…' he desperately prayed to any entity that might've been listening.
Of course, his stomach lurched the moment the plane took off, destroying all his hopes.
He closed his eyes tightly. Maybe if he couldn't see his stomach wouldn't eject everything he'd eaten.
Yeah, right, because that had worked so well before.
Still, Jaune Arc was a master at the art of Denial and kept his eyes closed, desperately hoping his stomach would calm down.
Suddenly, his stomach felt fine. He opened his eyes hesitantly. Then he closed them again.
He took a deep breath and opened them again.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room, young man." a man with a ridiculously long nose greeted him. "It has been years since we last had a guest."
Panicked, Jaune began to look around, wondering why he was suddenly in a completely blue room with Pinocchio's grandfather. No wait, was he in an elevator?
"There's no need to panic, young man." If Pinocchio thought that reading his mind while grinning creepily would make him calm down, he was in for a surprise. "I mean you no harm."
"Where am I?" Jaune blurted out, still feeling pretty alarmed.
"This," the old man gestured around him, "is the Velvet Room. This is a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."
How was someone supposed to react to something like that?
"Huh?" Jaune managed to get out.
"My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance," Igor introduced himself. "And this," Igor gestured to his side, where Jaune saw a beautiful woman with yellow eyes standing next to him, "Is Caroline. She is a resident here, like myself."
"Pleased to meet you." Caroline smiled at him.
"Huh? Uh, right, likewise." Jaune nodded. Then he stopped. "Wait, no, where am I? What is this, is this a dream?!"
Igor chuckled. "Indeed. This is a room that can only be accessed by those that are bound by a contract."
Wait, what? Contract?
Igor waved his gloved hand and the paper he had signed appeared in the table before him. Jaune's eyes widened.
"That…But that is…" he stammered out. So it was real.
"My duty is to provide assistance to our guests, so that they might achieve their full potential." Igor went on, ignoring his weak attempts to regain some semblance of control.
"All I ask is that you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make," the large nosed man reached into his pocket and offered him a key, "Hold on to this."
Still confused, he took the key.
"But I…That is…" he once again tried.
"But alas, time marches on in your world. We shall meet again." Igor interrupted his thoughts.
"Wait, I still have more-"
Everything faded.
"-questions!" Jaune blurted out as he woke up. People around him began to give him strange looks.
He desperately looked around, hoping to see something, anything that would help him convince himself that he wasn't insane.
On the one hand, no long nosed man. On the other, no long nosed man.
'Was I…Was I dreaming?'
He resolved to never sleep in planes again. How had that even happened anyways? Wasn't he supposed to be puking his sto-
"Urk!" Jaune breathed out as his stomach lurched.
Oh, lovely. Speak of the devil and he will appear.
He looked around wildly, hoping to find a bathroom. Fueled by desperation, he rapidly found the bathroom sign and quickly ran towards its door; accidentally letting loose his stomach's wrath on some innocent blonde's boots while on the way.
"Hey! Ugh gross!" he heard her say, which killed any chances he might've had with her. He tore the door open and began the long, tedious process of…well…releasing his demons.
It was only during a brief moment when his stomach decided to cut him some slack that he noticed something in his pocket.
A quick search revealed a key. More specifically, the key that the creepy old ma-Igor. The key that Igor had given him.
So, in summation, he had just made a fool of himself, signed what was probably a contract with a shady organization, had just about ruined any chances he might have had with one the hottest girl he had ever seen, was no longer sure of how sane he was, and his stomach was still trying to punish him for getting into a plane.
Just a typical start for Jaune Arc, Transcript faker extraordinaire.
Initiation
Jaune closed his eyes as his new partner instructed.
Pyrrha placed her hands on him. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality." She intoned, causing something inside him to stir.
It was not an uncomfortable feeling.
Pyrrha frowned. "That's strange."
"What is?" Jaune asked her.
"I can't seem to awaken your Aura." She replied with concern.
"But I…But I felt something!" Jaune protested.
She examined him. "I definitely felt your Aura when I reached out to you…But it felt…different."
Of course. Because why should things ever be normal with him?
She frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe I didn't use enough?"
"Come again?"
"It is possible that I simply didn't use enough Aura," she answered, "Although there was something definitely strange within you…"
Well, he had a key that no one else had been able to see until now. He decided to change the subject.
"We can figure it out later. We should focus on finishing this test first." He told her.
Huh. He had never expected to be the one to remind other to focus. It was usually others berating him for not paying attention.
She nodded, even though she still looked doubtful. "Alright, but be careful. Aura's the only thing that lets us survive against the grimm."
He shuddered. "Right."
Initiation part 2
Jaune wondered what entity he'd angered to end up in a situation like this.
"Nora, distract it!" he heard the other boy, Ren, yell.
He chanced a look back and saw the girl, Nora, pull out a grenade launcher, which she began to fire at the Nevermore.
He was never going to feel like a man around that girl, was he?
Still, he heroically did his best to aid the fleeing group by putting on a burst of speed, putting more distance between him and the monsters behind him.
Which did nothing to stop the Nevermore from flying straight towards the bridge they were on.
The Nevermore struck, sending him flying forward as a portion of the bridge collapsed, leaving his partner, Ren and the black haired girl with the ribbon on the other side, where the Deathstalker was rapidly approaching them.
Now Jaune Arc may have been completely incompetent when it came to fighting, but he did not lack courage.
"We have to get there!" he told Nora, who had landed next to him.
Nora grinned. He had a growing suspicion that he was not going to like that grin.
His suspicions were confirmed when Nora managed to launch them both towards the other side of the bridge, by smacking him with what had been a grenade launcher but was now a Warhammer and blasting them off towards the stalker.
He groaned as he forced himself up. Landing on his face was not something that he enjoyed.
He looked around and saw Pyrrha, Nora and Ren.
For one brief moment he wondered where the black haired girl was before he saw her use her gun whip to pull herself up towards the Nevermore.
It was a testament to his adaptation skills that he managed to form a coherent thought at the sight.
'Well, I guess I don't have to worry about her.'
He looked at the rapidly approaching stalker.
Never let it be said that Jaune Arc was a coward. "Let's go!"
Only an idiot.
Surprisingly, he managed to block one of the stalker's attacks, giving his partner time to slash at it. That's where his good fortune ran out.
In another world, one where Jaune hadn't signed an unusual contract, one where his Aura had been awakened, he would have been able to stand his ground enough for someone else to help him.
In this world, even though he managed to block the stalker's attack, he was flung back.
Shortly afterwards, Ren was also thrown off, although he had the misfortune of getting slammed into a pillar.
Groggily, Jaune forced himself up just as the Stalker's tail came down on him.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled as she threw herself between them.
Her shield was thrown off, and the stalker's pincer quickly took advantage of her momentary distraction by slamming her sword away.
Pyrrha stood between him and the stalker, weaponless.
Nora was too far away to do anything but fire, which would also injure them.
The stalker reared its tail for the coup de grâce.
In spite of the fact that he was most likely going to die soon, the only thing he could look at was Pyrrha's trembling back as she stood between him and the stalker.
And in that moment, Jaune cursed himself. He cursed everything he'd done. Faking transcripts, putting people that deserved so much more at risk because of his own silly little fantasies.
No. No matter what happened to him, he would not allow anyone to be hurt because of him. "Wha-!" Pyrrha exclaimed as she found herself being pushed to a side.
He refused to see anyone die because of him. He wasn't going to let good people die because of his mistakes!
With newfound determination, he glared up at the stalker, determined to at least face death with some dignity, when he felt something in his hand.
He looked down at his palm, which now held a shimmering blue card in it. In spite of his current situation, he felt a savage glee coursing through him.
Jaune suddenly felt a smirk growing on his face. He raised the card.
The time had come.
"Per…so…na." A word he had never used before. He crushed the card it by forming a defiant fist. A wave of power surged through him, and his face broke into an insane grin. Blue flames shimmered around him.
I am thou…Thou art I…From the sea of thy soul, I come forth.
Behind him, a caped figure clad in silver armor manifested itself behind him, holding a spear in his armored hands.
I am Setanta, He who would become the hound of Culann.
Jaune's manic grin widened as the figure behind him drew a spear. Setanta charged at the Deathstalker, spear poised to strike and successfully managed to force the stalker back.
"What…What is that?" Pyrrha asked him as she stared at the pale figure battling the deathstalker.
Jaune's answer was to charge at the stalker, sword raised.
He heard Pyrrha call his name, but he with the sudden feeling of euphoria coursing through him, he ignored her.
He slashed at the stalker, who was too distracted by Setanta to attempt anything. The stalker let out a sound similar to a shriek and retreated even further, although he did notice that he hadn't actually hurt it all that much.
Still, that been…Strong. Too strong.
The stalker lunged with its pincers and he immediately dodged to a side.
Too fast.
He had never been this strong or fast in his life. Was this how the others felt when using Aura?
Regardless, Nora took the opportunity to fire at the stalker while Pyrrha retrieved her weapons.
Things were finally beginning to look up for them when disaster struck as Setanta made a mistake and overextended.
"Gah!" Jaune cried out as the stalker managed to slam Setanta away with its pincer.
He held his head in agony as Setanta disappeared.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out.
Jaune glared at the stalker, still holding his head.
He needed something, anything, to help get Pyrrha out of here. She didn't deserve to fall here because of a mediocre partner. That girl, Nora, she didn't deserve to die here either, even though she had smacked him with that hammer of hers.
It was just as those thoughts flashed through his mind that he felt something warm within him.
He reached within him and the card appeared in his hand once more.
"Agi!" he yelled as he crushed the card.
Setanta appeared once more and twirled his spear around, causing fire to burst underneath the Stalker. Even though he knew he should have been surprised at the sudden appearance of fire, he wasn't. If anything, he would have been more surprised if nothing had happened.
The stalker, probably not having even expected flames to burst out underneath it, let out a sound akin to a shriek and was forced back once more. Jaune knew this was their chance.
"Let's do this!" he called out in an ironic callback to his first failed attempt.
Pyrrha raised her shield and threw it at the retreating stalker, managing to prevent it from recovering its balance just as he and Nora began to bombard it with fire and purple grenades.
The combined explosions managed to damage its tough carapace, but Nora's ammo was finite and he could feel his own energy ebbing away with every burst of fire.
This was not a fight he could afford to prolong.
"Setanta!"
The silver plated apparition stopped conjuring its bursts of flames and drew its spear back. He grinned at his partner, who grinned back and drew her own spear back.
"Now!"
They both threw them at the same time. The stalker, still off balance, still trying to avoid Nora's shots, found itself unable to block or dodge.
The spears both pierced through the stalker's armored head. The stalker shrieked and reared back, swinging its pincers around wildly, which Nora took advantage of by running towards it.
She swung her hammer downwards, giving herself a boost and rising much higher than he would have thought possible.
Then she brought the hammer down in a devastating blow, cracking its damaged skull and killing it instantly.
Jaune panted as he observed the monstrosity's last twitch. Behind him, Setanta stood tall and raised its spear once before disappearing.
"We…we did it." He said incredulously. They had actually managed to pull it off.
"Yeah!" Nora cheered as she waved her Warhammer, still with bits of stalker dripping from it.
Pyrrha smiled at him. "We definitely did."
Jaune smiled at her and was about to answer when he felt his legs give out.
Fortunately, his partner caught him before he fell. "Jaune?!"
Gods, he felt so tired…so…tired…
"I…just…tired…" he muttered before his vision faded.
"Jaune!"
"Hey, are you okay?!"
Answers and Links
When Jaune finally opened his eyes, he found himself back at a familiar looking velvet room.
"It is so nice to see you again." Jaune looked up and saw Igor grinning at him. "You became unconscious after awakening to your power."
"Power? Do you mean…that thing that came out of me?" Jaune asked him, "This…Persona?"
"Indeed," the old man nodded, "By the way, I see it was Setanta who answered your call…most interesting."
"What is this…"Persona"?" Jaune asked.
"A persona is a manifestation of your psyche. You can think of it as a…" Igor paused briefly, "a mask. A mask that protects you as you brave life's many hardships."
Hardships, as in giant scorpions? Were Grimm things that people normally faced in their lives? Speaking of which, what were Grimm? Creatures of darkness didn't really explain much.
"That being said, your power is still weak." Igor interrupted his thoughts.
"Weak?" Of course. Jaune Arc, still a disappointment even with newfound power.
Igor nodded. "Indeed. When you use your ability, you channel your inner strength."
So he was inwardly weak? Great.
"The ability evolves," the old man continued, giving him hope that maybe, just maybe, he could actually get stronger, "as you develop your Social Links. Your emotional ties with others."
So, in order to get stronger, he had to make friends? Not only was that ridiculous, it was also so very wrong.
"But that's wrong!" Jaune blurted, "Then I would just be making friends for power!"
It didn't matter how strong this made him. He refused to keep this power if he had to manipulate others.
Besides, with the way things were going? It'd be a miracle if he made one friend in Beacon.
"You misunderstand," Igor answered with that perpetual grin on his face. "A Social Link requires you to bond with others. You yourself must be willing to open up to others to form a Link."
Well, that was mildly reassuring. Still something he was leery about.
"Now then, time marches on in your world. Next time, I suspect you will come here of your own accord. Until then, farewell."
"Wait, I still have more-"
Everything faded.
"-questions!" Jaune blurted out as he jolted up.
"Jaune?" he looked around and saw Pyrrha looking at him with concern. "Do you have any questions?"
Yes, but not for her.
"No, I just had a weird dream." He replied tiredly. He looked around. That wasn't a familiar ceiling.
"Where am I?" he demanded, truly getting sick of waking up in unusual locations that he couldn't recognize.
"In the infirmary. You passed out after the initiation exam, remember?" she asked him.
Well, he did now. He sighed as he remembered the stalker and all that had transpired during that fight. He looked at his partner sadly.
"I'm so sorry," He told her, feeling truly remorseful. "You deserved a better partner."
Pyrrha stopped and gave him an inquisitive look.
"It's my fault that you almost died." Jaune finished, feeling pretty disgusted with himself. Pyrrha truly deserved better than a con man who had somehow managed to acquire a power that didn't feel like he deserved at the moment.
He had not only endangered her life, he had deliberately ignored her warnings and had gotten an angry deathstalker chasing after them as a result.
Pyrrha walked towards him and he looked down at the bed he was lying in, unable to meet her eyes.
Then she punched him.
"Gah!" he cried out. By the gods, she had strong hook!
"Okay, listen up." Jaune looked up and saw Pyrrha glaring down at him.
"I chose you, understood?" Pyrrha told him sternly, "When you were falling? That spear? I didn't have to do that."
Jaune blinked. "Wha-"
Her glare softened. "I wanted you to be my partner."
That was…That was quite possibly the nicest thing someone that wasn't a family member had ever told him. But he couldn't accept it.
"But I'll only drag you down!" Jaune protested. "I'm only going to be a deadwei-"
"I prefer to think that we'll both push each other up." She interrupted him before smiling at him. "Besides, what you did back there? That's not something that deadweights would do. So what do you say, partners?"
She offered him her hand.
Jaune hesitated. "I can't do too much yet."
"That's what partners are for, right?"
Jaune started to smile a little. "I don't even understand this power I got."
"We'll figure it out." She replied with a small shrug, "Together."
Jaune smiled at her and took her hand. "Partners then"
She smiled back. "Partner it is."
SMASH
Suddenly, the world seemed to have frozen for him. He couldn't even more anymore. As if that weren't weird enough, he heard a strange voice. There was a voice inside his head that wasn't his own.
Thou art I…And I am thou…
Thou hast established a new bond…
Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a
Persona of the Strength Arcana...
He felt something warm inside him and suddenly, the world began to move again.
Jaune looked around, alarmed. "Did you...did you hear that?"
Pyrrha looked at him with concern. "What are you talking about?"
"That voice! The one just now!" Jaune gestured around him wildly.
"Jaune, are you okay?" she was now looking at him with concern.
"That voice…that…" he tried once again. Seeing his partner's confused look, he sighed and gave up. "Never mind must've been my imagination. How long have I been out?"
"A little under five hours." She answered, still looking worried.
Well, that was anti climatic. Also, so that was a Social Link. Igor really could've warned him about the voices.
He looked out the window and saw that it had gotten dark out.
"We should probably go back to the Auditorium. Ozpin said he was going to assign our teams." She told him.
He got up. "Let's go!"
The creation of JNPR
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin called.
They were in the auditorium, where the teams would be assembled.
"The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!" Ozpin declared.
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR." Ozpin called his name and that of his new team mates.
Nora was hugging Ren tightly, if his face was any indication and Pyrrha was smiling lightly.
"Led by..."
Pyrrha? She'd make an excellent leader. Or maybe Ren? He seemed calm and collec-
…Jaune Arc!"
Come again?
Pyrrha gave him a celebratory punch.
It was a punch that he himself did not consider celebratory at all. In fact, he had to bite back a shriek of agony.
"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin continued.
"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... "
Weiss? She was the daughter of a very important man after all.
"Ruby Rose!" Ozpin finished.
Jaune stared.
Ah, well, if he was a leader then Ruby certainly deserved the chance to become one too.
"I'm Nora Valkyrie!" Nora introduced herself the moment the assembly ended. "And this is Lie Ren!" she grabbed Ren and pushed him in front of him.
Jaune jumped back, startled.
Ren sighed and lightly pushed her off. "She gets excited sometimes."
"I'm Pyrrha Nikos. Nice to meet you." Pyrrha nodded politely.
"Oh, and I'm Jaune-" he began.
"Jaune Arc, right?" only to be interrupted by Nora.
He nodded.
"Do you like pancakes? What do you feel about hammers? What is your opinion on breaking legs? What do you feel about explosions?" she suddenly fired quite a number of questions at them in rapid succession.
"They're okay, they're not my style, it's a valid strategy, and they have their uses." His partner answered just as quickly.
Nora glared at her. "Just okay? Not your style? You looking down on pancakes and hammers?"
Ren coughed and gestured towards him. Nora stopped glaring at her and looked at him expectantly. Jaune had a feeling that he wasn't going anywhere until he answered her questions.
"Ah…I love them, they're pretty awesome," he stopped, struggling to remember her next question.
Ren sighed and gestured at his legs.
Oh, right. Leg breaking.
"Leg breaking is fin-" Jaune stopped again and gave the orange haired girl an alarmed look. "Leg breaking?!"
She nodded excitedly.
That…umm….meep.
Still, looking at the excitable girl's face and considering the way she glared at Pyrrha for not…umm…choosing the right answers, he knew that there was only one answer that wouldn't get him a pair of broken legs. "They're…uh….fine? As long…as it doesn't…happen of any of us?"
She smiled at him, which was a good sign before motioning him to go on. Which was a bad sign.
"What was the last question again?" he asked sheepishly.
The girl, Nora, pouted. "Explosions! Are they cool or are they cool?"
He didn't know why, but he felt as he only had one choice here.
'I chooseth this fate of mine own free will', my ass.' He thought bitterly.
"They're…cool?" he asked more than answered. Fortunately, this seemed to satisfy her.
"Oh, we're gonna have so much fun, leader!" she declared. "Right, heathen and Ren?"
Pyrrha sputtering was not a sight he was gonna get used to seeing. "My name is Pyrrha!" his partner cried out indignantly.
"Alright, blasphemer!" Nora chirped happily.
Jaune and Ren both chuckled and then grinned at each other.
This was…this was nice, in spite of the blatant display of psychosis. Really. Maybe, just maybe, he could finally make some friends here.
SMASH
Thou art I…And I am thou…
Thou hast established a new bond…
Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a
Persona of the Fool Arcana...
He was beginning to wonder if he should see a psychiatrist.
The door
"So when they saw the blood on my shirt they naturally assumed it was mine. So I had to explain to them that-," Nora began telling her story.
"Wait!" Jaune interrupted her.
"What?" she asked him unhappily.
He looked at the velvet door next to the door to their room. A VELVET door.
He sighed.
"Jaune? Is there something wrong?" Pyrrha asked him.
He pointed at the door. "Does anyone else see that? Please tell me someone else can see it."
"What? The wall?" Ren asked him while looking at him as if he were insane, or worse, Nora.
He sighed again. "No? No one?"
"Oh, I know!" Nora exclaimed.
Jaune looked at her hopefully. "You do?"
She nodded. "You see dead people, right?"
He had to fight the urge to facepalm. "No, nothing like that." He reached into his pocket, where the key he was sure he had left behind was, and sure enough, the key was right there. He used it to open the door.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." A familiar voice greeted him.
He looked up. Yup, man with long nose.
"Hello, Igor."
He looked at the girl standing beside the old man. "And hello to you, Caroline."
She smiled at him. "Greetings."
"I suppose it is time for me to explain what I really do here." Igor began.
Oh, gods, yes, please do.
"It is my job to create new personae." Igor went on.
Wait, what? New personae? He could have more?
"But in order to do so, I must fuse your persona cards together."
Wait, fuse?
"In other words, I shall merge them into a single persona."
So he'd be losing his personae to get a stronger one? Huh.
"Furthermore," Igor interrupted his thoughts. "If you've established a Social Link, you may be able to create an even stronger persona."
The concept of making friends to become stronger was one that still made him wonder if he was stuck in some sort of videogame.
"So, as you accumulate cards, please bring them to me." Igor finished.
Jaune sighed. "Will do. And before you kick me out again, I'd like to ask you a few questions."
Igor and Caroline shared amused looks. "Very well. But before you do, I cannot, as you say, kick you out as you entered this room while conscious."
Oh good.
"How do I get new personae? How many can I hold?" he asked him.
Igor's grin seemed to widen. "Your ability is unique. It's like the number zero…empty, but at the same time hold infinite possibilities."
The part about him being a zero was right, but the rest made no sense to him.
"You, my boy, are able to wield multiple personae and summon them as needed."
So wait, he had multiple personalities?
"And when you have defeated your enemies, you will see the faces of possibility before you. There may be times when they are difficult to grasp... But, do not fear. Seize what you have earned. Your power will grow accordingly." Igor explained.
So, he had to fight to get more personae? Okay, maybe he was stuck in some kind of videogame.
"Gotcha." He stood up. "Well, I'll see you later, I guess."
He surprised himself by his nonchalant attitude, when just a few days ago Igor's visage had almost given him a panic attack.
"Till we meet again…"
When his eyes opened, the first thing he was Pyrrha looking at him with concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked him.
"Yeah, you looked like a zombie." Nora added.
He blinked. "It was nothing! I'm alright!"
"You didn't just doze off, right? You're our leader!" Nora chastised him. "At least wait until we're in a classroom, where you can sit down!"
What?
"Nora, you weren't planning to sleep during class and copy my notes afterwards, right?" Ren asked her with a sigh.
"Hehehe, maybe?" Nora chuckled nervously.
Pyrrha sighed. "We should just go before we're late."
"Righti-o!" Nora cheered.
Jaune looked at them and back at the velvet door.
He resolved to convince them of the door's existence or die trying.
Chariot 1
"Hey, Nora?" Jaune asked.
"Hm? Jaune? What is it?" the excitable girl asked him.
"How? How do you manage to stay so optimistic all the time?" he asked her.
She gave him an unusually serious look.
"Nora?"
Her face broke into a grin that he was more accustomed to. "I don't know, I just do!"
Of course.
He sighed. "I see."
"Why?" Nora asked him. "Did you get shot down by Weissy again?"
He smiled sadly. "Yeah. I'm starting to think she's right and that I don't belong here."
She frowned. "Jaune?"
"Yeah?"
She punched him.
"Ow!" he cried out. "Why'd you do that?!"
"No more quitter talk!" she declared.
"But she made some good po-"
She punched him again. "No more quitter talk!"
"OW!" Jaune cried out again. "But Nora, look, she di-"
"NO MORE QUITTER TALK!"
He sighed. "But what if she's right?"
"Then you prove her wrong! Where's the Jaune Arc that helped the GREAT NORA VALKYRIE single handedly take down a Deathstalker?"
"Great? And wait, single handedly? Even though we helped you?" Jaune asked her with an amused look.
"Details!" Nora answered cheerfully.
Jaune chuckled.
"Feeling better now?" Nora asked him.
He nodded. "For some reason, yeah, I do."
She nodded sagely. "It's because I'm awesome!"
He grinned. "That you are."
She grinned right back. "Okay, then, come on, let's go!"
"Go? Go where?" Jaune asked her.
"Well, we're going to TP her room, right?" Nora asked him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"What? NO!" Jaune denied.
Nora pouted. "Why not?"
"Because I don't want to hurt anyone?" he answered. "Because her team lives there?"
"It won't hurt them! And besides, she hurt you, and you're on of ours!"
That…that was strangely touching. Nora might just be the broest bro of all bros.
"Thanks." He told her with a smile.
SMASH
What the hell?
Thou art I…And I am thou…
Thou hast established a new bond…
Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a
Persona of the Chariot Arcana...
Goddamn it, voices, goddamn it.
"Huh? Why?" she asked him.
He shook his head. "Never mind that, we can't TP her room!"
"Aww, come on, just a little!" she whined.
"Why don't I go buy you some pancakes?" Jaune asked her with an amused sigh.
"Really? Let's go!" she cheered.
He spent an interesting time with her.
Sun and Neptune
"Uh, hey, Jaune?" Sun called him tentatively.
"Yeah?" Jaune answered.
"You know that thing you called out, that…Persona thing?" Neptune added hesitantly.
"What about them?" Jaune asked a little defensively.
"Can you…Can you summon one?" Sun requested.
"Right now?" Jaune asked, confused.
"Yeah." They both nodded.
Jaune shrugged. "Sure, but I'm not gonna make it cast any spell."
No need to waste his reserves unnecessarily, after all.
Sun nodded excitedly. "That's fine."
He called and the card appeared in his hand. "Persona!" he called out as he crushed it.
"Man, why do you always call out the names of your attacks when you do that?" Neptune muttered.
Jaune ignored the heathen. It wasn't something that could be explained.
Blue flames shimmered around him and Samael, the Poison of God appeared behind him.
The two seemed disappointed for some reason. "Aww, c'mon, man, not that one!"
"What?" Jaune asked, feeling confused.
"Can you summon that one, the one with the wings and the tail?" Sun asked him.
"What?" Jaune asked, still feeling very confused.
"The blonde one!" Neptune added.
Blonde…wings…and tail?
"Are you talking about Succubus?" he asked them.
"Yeah!" they both answered at the same time.
But why would they want to see Succubus? Sure, she had wings, which was cool, but Samael looked pretty cool. Not to mention it also had wings. Although Succubus did have some pretty powerful magic spells and oh gods, judging by their leers, these two sick freaks were fantasizing about his persona.
"NO!" Jaune almost yelled.
"Aww, c'mon, why not?" Neptune asked almost pleadingly.
Because his personae were manifestations of his own personality? Which meant that they were fantasizing about an aspect of his personality?
Wait, did that mean that he had the potential to become a slut?
Okay, enough with the psychoanalysis. That led to a dark, dark path.
"Because no! Aww, gross!" Jaune replied with disgust. "I'm outta here!"
"Aww, come on, man!"
AN: I blame the Persona 5 teaser video for this. Also, this story was both annoying and fun to write.
Annoying, because getting inside the character's heads is difficult and fun, because getting into their heads was entertaining.
I originally had a few more links written out, but this story was dragging on so long that I decided to scrap some.
I had far more fun trying to match each character to an arcana than I thought I would. My interpretations, are, of course, my own. Everyone has different opinions so it is very likely that not everyone will agree.
Ruby-Justice
Weiss-Moon
Blake-Hermit
Yang-Sun
Pyrrha-Strength
Nora-Chariot
Ren-Temperance
Goodwitch-Empress
Ozpin-Hierophant
Sun- Sun Just kidding, Magician
Neptune-Star
Roman-Fortune
Cinder-Devil
Cardin-Tower
Junior-Emperor