"You dragged us up at three in the morning so we could look at some old, dusty books?" Uzziah eased himself into one of the swivel chairs the library had to offer, casting a glare in Eli's direction. "Tell me again why that is?"
The redhead paid him no attention, pulling another book from the stack in front of him.
"It's not everyday you have a freaky dream about something that actually happened."
"Well, there was one time I had a dream I ate a paper plate, once, and that actually happened." Joan stretched her legs out in front of her, letting her fatigue get the better of her.
"True- But this one seems a little more... 'out of the norm'... You eating things that aren't food isn't." Eli corrected, pushing his book off to the side in favor of a different one.
He hadn't opened the cover yet, when Liesbet reached for his hands, attempting to swipe the book away from him.
"Eli, what are you looking for, exactly?" She asked, thumbing through the book quickly as if she already knew. "The fall of Beacon?"
"Answers…"
"To what?" Uzziah asked
"I doubt a book would have anything about your dream in it then. Eli, if you want answers about your dream, we may need to find a more direct source in the morning." Liesbet muttered.
"Hey, you never know what kinda answers may be lurking in these-"
"Answers, you say!?"
A voice called out from behind the group, startling them to shrill screams, followed by a sudden appearance of a man with greying green hair and glasses that slid down his nose. His shirt was untucked and he held a cup of coffee, despite the late hour... And despite the fact that the cup was completely empty.
When their panic left, Joan spoke first to him. "Uh…yeah, you seem old enough. Were you there for the Fall of-"
"A better question, Miss Valkyrie- If you ARE Miss Valkyrie- is what you are all doing here at this hour?" The man scoffed, hands on his hips as he waited.
"Well, actually, Miss Valkyrie is-" She began, but was cut off suddenly.
"Since you won't give me an answer, Yang- I think! What are you all doing here?" The man cast curious eyes at the blonde, who could only stumble on her words,
"Sun- Wait, now that's stretching it a bit- But you do have his nose... Whoever you are, can you explain your friends?" The man folded his arms, though it was Eli who spoke up.
"We're looking for answers; you see, I had this dream of the Fall of Beacon and-"
"Boy," The man cut in, "You don't need some old book to give you those answers, what you need is a historian…" With that, the man spun on his heel, "Luckily, I happen to be one."
Exchanging glances, Team JUEL stood, following the peculiar man as he suddenly tossed his cup aside and hurried back behind the bookcase he had apparently been behind earlier.
"Ah yes, I remember it like it didn't happen a year ago. Back when I was still just 'Crazy professor Oobleck' and what not." The man, Oobleck, paced his desk, straightening objects every few passes, "It was a tragic battle...we lost so many... But, we looked great doing it!"
"Were any of them a black haired woman? With fire powers?" Eli grunted, stacking up a few books to use as a chair.
"Black hair and fire? Well, that sounds like Cind-" The man was cut off by the chime of his own wristwatch, a bird darting out of the thing to chirp the time.
"Crazy Professor Oobleck?" Joan piped up just as the chirping stopped.
When Oobleck looked up, his face was suddenly very grim and sullen looking. He seemed to be angered with something, but it didn't seem like he was angry with Joan or the title- Just at something far away.
"We lost one of our star students that night…" Oobleck's eyes drifted toward the floor, then back to Eli.
His anger seemed to melt away, and was suddenly replaced by confusion, and curiosity. He swiftly went to the boy and plucked at a strand of Eli's red hair, watching it snap back into place like a rubber band.
"Um-?" Eli gasped, taking a step back quickly.
"You know...She had red hair too…Not as springy as yours, but the colour is almost the same." With a shrug, the old professor took a step back. "They just don't make red hair like your father- I assume for some reason- has."
"M-my mother! She- er... Her name was-" JUEL's third in command stuttered, furiously attempting to get his hair back into place. "She was the one that had red hair-"
"You don't know your mother's name…?" A quizzical look appeared on Oobleck's face.
"N-no- No... My dad- Your boss- never told-"
"MY boss…? What did you say your name was again?"
"Oh! I'm sorry- I guess I didn't tell you... My name is Eli Arc…"
"Arc...Are you related to a Jaune Arc?" Oobleck gasped, causing a collective groan to rise from the group.
"He just said that your boss is his dad. Learn to listen." Joan all but yelled bitterly.
"Jaune Arc- He was never married..Quite frankly, I only remember one girl showing even an inkling of an interest in him." Oobleck went on, ignoring the group.
"Yeah. My mother." Eli filled in.
"Couldn't be. Pyrrha Nikos was her name...But, she-" Oobleck paused, cut off by the sound of Eli standing quickly.
"My mom is Pyrrha Nikos? The athlete!?" With eyes wide, Eli's voice went from matter-of-fact to no-flipping-way.
"Well, you DO seem to have her hair…But thats-" Oobleck stopped, walking over to his coffee cup and inspecting it for what seemed to be no apparent reason.
"You knew her-" This was Uzziah's attempt to aid the conversation along.
"Of course I did! I just never knew she had a child…"
"Well, where is she living these days? Do you know?" Liesbeit asked, rolling her wrist a little as she spoke.
"Eli-" Oobleck addressed him, "There's no easy way for me to say this, but she's no longer of this realm…"
"...H-how-...?"
"She's BEEN dead for twenty-two years now…You see- she was one or the student we lost the night Beacon fell..." Oobleck sighed. "Witnesses say she took an arrow straight to the chest."
Silence fell around the group just as quickly as Beacon had.
