"Good morning class, my name is Ms. Goodwitch. I will be your combat instructor for the foreseeable future."
As it would turn out, our next class was combat class, the primary focal point of the academy. I was surprised to find to see that Ms. Goodwitch actually taught a class, I'm not sure why though.
"On an ordinary day, we would go over various battle techniques, followed by a spar, though today you will be connecting your scrolls to the Beacon network and calibrating their aura detection software," Ms. Goodwitch continued, "Now, everyone launch the aura meter program on your scrolls…" she continued to give instructions in an impatient manner.
Clearly, she would rather be doing something else, probably actual teaching rather than technical report representative. Each student present followed her instructions, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, though most seemed as impatient, if not more so than Ms. Goodwitch.
Ruby and Yang for example, were very impatient, most likely wanting to get into the actual class as soon as possible. Ren followed the steps patiently, showing no visible emotion as he calmly tapped through the menus. Pyrrha was following through the menus with a practiced ease, she must have done something similar for her tournaments.
I, though I wasn't having any trouble, was more than a little nervous about those aura detection systems, and my abnormal aura. As if just to prove my fears, a few steps later I ran into a problem.
"Now, if you all followed my steps correctly, your aura should be displayed next to your name on the overhead screen," Ms. Goodwitch continued. I looked up at the screen, scanning the list apprehensively.
Ruby Rose – Full Green Bar
Weiss Schnee – Full Green Bar
This pattern continued with around a dozen or so students, then:
Jaune Arc – Error
'Fuck.'
"Mr. Arc, was I not clear in my instructions?" Ms. Goodwitch asked, now clearly irritated. Shit, now I'm in the spotlight.
"I did exactly what you instructed." Shit, was that backtalking?
"Come here, Mr. Arc." Yep, she was pissed. I walked up to the stage, now very apprehensive. She once again gave a series of instructions, this time watching every step as I did them.
"There. Next time, please listen Mr. Arc," She sternly stated and turned away. I looked up at the screen again.
Jaune Arc – Error
Nope, still there, Still an error. Ms. Goodwitch remained oblivious of this fact, evidently confident that the error was due to my incompetence, so the problem must have been solved.
"Uhhh…" I muttered, not sure what to do. Evidently, Ms. Goodwitch heard me.
"What is it now, Mr. Arc?" she snapped, clearly irritated. Startled, I just pointed at the error next to my name on the overhead monitor. She looked this time, actually showing a little surprise at the problem she oh so perfectly solved wasn't solved. She turned towards me.
"My apologies, Mr. Arc. If you would speak to Dr. Usanagi after four o'clock, she should be able to fix this problem," Ms. Goodwitch spoke in an apologetic tone. I just nodded and backed into the crowd. Ms. Goodwitch continued her explanation of her class, and explained the arena system until the bell rang ending class.
Apparently, classes are two-hours long each, so it was about lunch time. Our usual mealtime routine happened, my team made me eat three chicken nuggets, we talked and laughed for a while, I threw up in the men's bathroom, we talked and laughed some more, we went to grim studies. I mentioned the oddness of our school schedule, only to once again be met with confused expressions. I'm mostly resigned to the fact that no one else is going to notice anything strange, so I am quick to move on.
After grim studies was over, Nora reminded me that I had to go meet the elusive Dr. Usanagi.
"Alright then, I'll meet you guys at the dorm." I started to walk off in a random direction, but Ren caught my shoulder.
"Do you know where you are going?" he asked, raising his left eyebrow. Shit, he had me there.
"…No."
Ren nodded, as if expecting this, which I guess is fair. He took out his scroll and gestured me over. He then proceeded to explain how Beacon's map system worked. As an example, he showed me the search bar, typed in 'usanagi' and immediately her classroom was marked on the map.
"Ok, I get it," I said. And the group departed.
Personally, I thought the map of Beacon was stupid. At least the maps that worked in Vale made convenient highlighted paths for me to follow. At Beacon I had to look at the end destination and figure out how to get there, and there in lies the problem: I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to get to her classroom. Twenty minutes of circling the same spot later I figured out her classroom was on the second floor, and it didn't take too long after that for me to arrive. I checked the time on my scroll. 4:17. Alright, It took a little longer than I thought to find my way here, but at least I got here.
After double checking that I was, in fact, standing in front of the correct room, I opened the door, and stepped in.
It looked like a normal classroom… except that you could not see the walls. Not like they were invisible or anything, but there were so many pieces of paper, maps, and schematics stapled to them, that not an inch of bare wall could be seen. There was a woman with long magenta hair and a white lab coat standing at the front of the classroom, staring at a series of mathematical equations and pictures of warped grids.
She appeared to notice my presence, as she quickly turned around.
"Hello! Who are you?" she borderline shouted, "Oh wait, you must be Jaune! Glynda told me you were coming! I am Violette Usanagi, but you can call me Violette!"
I was honestly taken aback by this woman. She seemed friendly, but everything she said was louder than it needed to be.
"Uhm, yes. That is me that you speak of," I really didn't know what to say.
"Hold still!" She picked up a rectangular device with a handle, trigger, and a lot of wires sticking out of it. The entire thing screamed 'unfinished' and 'unsafe' and 'run like hell' to me. Before I could do anything, she pointed it at me and pulled the trigger. The world went white…
Then it went blurry, then it went back to normal. I was lying on the floor. Why was I on the floor? Violette was staring at a little screen on the back of the device with interest.
"What the hell was that?" I demanded, standing back up. The woman that just shot me looked at me curiously for a couple seconds, then raises an ordinary pistol and shoots me dead center in my heart. The force knocks me back down.
"What the fuck?!" I wheeze out. Not from pain, but she just shot my left lung so I can't exactly yell now, can I? Violette nods and puts the gun away.
"You can get up now, I know you're fine." What?
Violette walks over to me with an expression that is one part confusion, one part curiosity, and one part… excitement? She leans in over me, grinning. I don't like this.
"So tell me," she says, still grinning, "How long have you been dead for?"
Oh fuck!
Author note: HI! This is an AU, and creativity within predetermined boundaries is difficult, so there will be a few OC's, but for the most part I'll try to balance them, and they shouldn't be too big of a part of this story. I don't hate Goodwitch, so this isn't bashing. Thanks for reading!