Fire.

His surroundings burned as he clutched his bleeding arm. He forced his gaze upwards, towards the source of the chaos.

Screams.

Cinder Fall hovered in the air, her gaze ignoring him as though he was insignificant. Below her, rubble and dirt kicked up as hordes of Grimm clashed with what remained of the militia.

Fear.

Fear was the first emotion he felt, he knew what Cinder Fall was capable of. She killed Yang, she killed Pyrrha, she killed Winter Schnee. Three huntresses he could never hope to amount to, one of whom had been a maiden. He coughed out smoke as he forced himself upwards and took hold of Crocea Mors. His fear was followed quickly by anger, he was livid. She floated up there all high and mighty. Did she think she could get away with it all? That she could just go scot free like she hadn't taken and ruined so many lives? He wanted - no, he was going to kill her.

He grit his teeth as he limped forwards, drawing his sword and expanding his sheath. He ignored the fire crackling around him in favor of his single minded goal. Was this a stupid idea? Of course, she was out of his league. He could never forgive himself however, if he let her walk away from this without paying something. If he died without giving any fight at all.

Each step was a monumental task. His eyes remained focused on his target. He opened his mouth, prepared to call out her name. He-

Thunder clashed.

-No-

"Hey, you! Burned toast! Yeah you!"

Cinder Fall turned her head towards the source, annoyance clearly present on her face.

-No-

Silhouetted against the night sky, Nora Valkyrie held Magnhild up high. She was crackling with electricity, with barely contained fury on her face. Despite this, a smile was still present on her face, her eyes lit up and jovial.

-No-

He staggered, Nora was better than him. She stood no chance. He quickened his pace, attempting to call Cinders' attention to himself. His words had no effect, his voice still recovering from the explosion that cost them valuable food and resources.

-Nora please-

Cinder raised an arm, at the same time Nora brought back Magnhild, a smile ever present on her face. She caught his eye and winked.

-No-

Nora-

Thunder clashed.

—

The Spared Knight shot up from bed, breathing heavily.

A nightmare - no, a memory.

Jaune Arc massaged his temple. His breathing evened out as he calmed down. He brought his face to his hands, sighing. He looked towards the clock hanging at the top right of his window facing wall.

9:38. Groaning to himself, Jaune got up from bed to freshen himself up for the day. As he washed his face with warm water, he ruminated on his rather vivid nightmare. Those were rare these days, he had hoped they would stop after 24 days of being nightmare-free. He supposed he had been a tad optimistic.

He got dressed and placed Crocea Mors on his hip. He ensured the safety of Xaku Mors and opened his door, another day had dawned. Distantly he heard laughter echo at the - courtyard? Yeah that was probably it. Smiling faintly he began to walk towards the mess hall, or as he liked to call it, the cafeteria. It gave him a sense of nostalgia, referring to it as that.

Beacon still stood as tall as it had before the fall. It had been rebuilt and repurposed into an orphanage of sorts. Though really anyone was welcome here if they pitched in and helped the community. The hallways were as they were when he had been a student, though notably less clean and polished.

"Jauney my boy!"

And there it was, Jaune turned to greet a few hundred pounds of muscle. A hand accompanied by a laugh slapped his back. His legs buckled and he fought back a chuckle, letting a small smile slip on his face instead.

"Have you heard yet?"

Cardin Winchester hadn't changed much appearance wise since they had been teenagers if you ignored how much taller and generally bigger he was now. He wasn't wearing much of his armor, only a few plates and his shoulder armor. He had his helmet in one hand and his other on the hilt of a collapsed Executioner.

"No," Jaune stated. Heard about what now? God he hoped it had nothing to do with the situation in Luvrine, he did not want to deal with that right now.

"Ivory's taking the dive," Cardin said with a wide smile on his face. "She's confessing tonight, after dinner."

Oh shit.

"Are you serious?" Jaune asked, Cardin nooded. This was now far more interesting than he had expected. Everyone knew the enormous crush Ivory Lassn had on Richard Mahogany. Everyone but Richard that is. It was frighteningly reminiscent of his own situation when he had been their age.

Flowing red hair, emerald green eyes.

A smile tha-

-Stop that-

Jaune banished the thoughts of the past. Focus on the present, the here, the now. Watching Lassn and Mahogany dance around each other had been agonizing. Ivory might as well have pasted a sign on herself that said "I love you Richard!" Richard meanwhile remained oblivious to his "best friends" advances. Wow, he hadn't been that bad right?

"What pushed her to finally do it?" Jaune asked. He himself had been sending subtle nudges to the two of them, he had half a mind to drag the two aside and lock them in a room until they started making out. Neither of them had apparently taken the hint, and the two kept tip toeing around each other.

"Goodwitch," Cardin answered with a self satisfied smirk. "I asked her about it, apparently she finally had enough and dragged Ivory aside to give her a talk."

Yup, that was a good motivator alright. Goodwitch was in her early fifties now, yet she could still exude an aura of absolute terror.

"I'm gearing up to claim my own prize," Winchester stated mischievously. He paused, when he realized Jaune had no idea what he was talking about he coughed and said "Bets, Jaune. If Richard reciprocates, Velvet owes me two of Lionheart's paintings".

Of course there was a betting pool. In fact, how hadn't he heard about it? Jaune would have gladly contributed. Did people think he was straight laced or something? "Well I'm glad, it's about time anyways," Jaune said as he pushed open the doors towards the cafeteria.

The air was abuzz as conversations filled the hall, a few eyes turned their way and most quickly went back to whatever preoccupied them at the moment. He waved back at a few hands that welcomed his and Cardins entrance and walked towards the serving line. Taking his fair share of food, he made towards his usual spot where he saw Velvet already halfway through her breakfast.

"Hey"

"Good morning," said Jaune. Taking a seat next to her, he began to dig into his food.

"Have you heard?" Asked Velvet. Jaune nodded, "Ivory's finally taking the first step." He ought to congratulate Mahogany, if he reciprocated — which he very clearly did, the new couple would already be doing better than him and Pyrrha.

Velvet shook her head "Not that," he let a look of curiosity fall on his face. She idly twirled her fork, her face was oddly tense. "Glynda's sending a scouting party to Mountain Glenn. She's still picking its members but they'll be leaving tomorrow."

Jaunes spoon stopped halfway to his mouth. Did he just hear that right? "What? Why!? The risk is too great, we don't send people into death traps for a reason!" He exclaimed. A few heads turned his way and he lowered his voice before continuing, "What is she thinking?"

"I don't know, no one does."

"What's this now?" Cardin asked as he took his own seat next to them. He had a large chunk of meat on his plate, the mess hall workers always liked Cardin. Taking a bite, he motioned vaguely at Jaune's direction, "Jaune looks tense, that's a mood change from like, 10 seconds ago."

Velvet glanced around before telling Cardin of Goodwitch's plans. His reaction was the same as Jaune's: disbelief. That was a monumentally risky idea bordering on stupidity. Mountain Glenn had changed from its past as a fallen city overrun by Grimm, it had been the site of a major conflict during the last Great War. The Grimm were no more, having vanished along with Ozma and Salem after the war ended. In their place, Mountain Glenn was filled with death traps of noxious gas, pools of burning darkness, crumbling infrastructure and dangerous sporadic bursts of magic. The last people to step into that place had been vaporized after they triggered the remnants of magic that was left there after a large battle years ago.

"What does she have to gain from this, what does Vale have to gain from this!?" exclaimed Cardin. This was indeed very, very odd for Glynda. She wasn't stupid, far from it. But this was strange, even for her. Vale had decently recovered from the War, and sending skilled, able-bodied people, which such a mission would call for, into Mountain Glenn was not a good idea.

"I'll talk to her," said Jaune. He needed to know why such a mission was needed. He finished his breakfast — he was a fast eater, and stood up, his two companions gave nods of acknowledgement and he left the beginnings of a discussion between them.

Walking briskly, Jaune turned and headed up towards what used to be the Headmasters office. It was the Perceiver Witch's office now, Glynda had repurposed and redecorated it to her liking. And as he stepped inside, he had to say it suited her well. The walls were painted marble white, with golden outlines that complimented the black portions that snaked around the room. A library's worth of books were to the side, arranged neatly on a large white shelf. Ahead of him Glynda herself sat on a comfortable looking black chair that paired nicely with the mahogany desk before her.

Glynda herself aged beautifully, her blonde hair was tied neatly into a bun, not a hint of gray hair was present. She wore a white blouse with a purple pelerine on her shoulders. She couldn't see it but he knew she was wearing a long black skirt underneath. Her face showed only the faintest sign of wrinkles and if he didn't know any better, he would have thought her to be in her early thirties at most.

Jaune cleared his throat as Glynda looked up from a small stack of papers on her desk. "Ah, Jaune. Please, take a seat," she smiled, she was clearly expecting him.

Jaune sat on the red chair in front of her desk. Damn, she still terrifies me like I'm still a student. He liked that, in a way. It reminded him of simpler times. Hands fidgeting, he began to talk. "So I heard an interesting piece of news recently, about a-"

"Mission to Mountain Glenn, yes."

Straight to the point then. Alright.

"Why?"

Glynda stared at him briefly, before she sighed and pushed her glasses up. "Jaune, I'm sure you know of… the gift that Ozpin left behind with me." She paused.

The Relic.

Or what was left of it. During the Last Great War, Ozma, Oscar or whatever he called himself at the time was…strong. His magic had rejuvenated, more than that it had been stronger. Much, much stronger than Ozma had ever had in his many lifetimes. Strong enough to create his own relics, the relics of Destiny and Domination. In the end Domination was destroyed by Ozma himself, deeming it too dangerous and powerful to be in anyone's hands. Destiny, which had been damaged, was left with Glynda Goodwitch, one of his closest and most trusted allies.

"You're saying… Destiny led you to this choice?" That made more sense, but what else? What brought this about?

Glynda chuckled, "My magic may not be that of a maidens, but it is enough all the same. I sensed… a disturbance to put it simply. Of course I have sensed these kinds of things before, last year's shortage of supplies for example. This, however… was different. More dangerous, I used Destiny to set myself on the right path."

"And this path leads to Mountain Glenn?"

"It leads to something in Mountain Glenn. There's something there Jaune, something that may prove very, very important in the future."

Jaune bit his lip. As much as he wanted to refute it, he trusted Glynda's judgment. If she said there was something of interest in Mountain Glenn, then there was bound to be something of interest in Mountain Glenn. But still…

"Let me join"

"Excuse me?" questioned Glynda, a brief look of confusion on her face - then acceptance.

"I know Mountain Glenn better than anyone here, I fought in the Battle of Fire and Ice, I slew Cinder Fall in Mountain Glenn. I-"

"Alright"

"I- wait, what?" Really? She was just letting him go, just like that? "I don't think I would be able to stop you anyway," Glynda stated as though she read his mind.

He flexed his hand and made to stand up. Mountain Glenn. "I won't disappoint you," Jaune said as he started towards the door. He one hundred percent knew this was possibly a terrible idea, but he can't stand back when something this big was happening. He was the Spared Knight, no matter how he earned the title.

Before his hand could reach for the door handle, he turned as Glynda called out to him. "Just… come back alive and in one piece," Glynda said, emotion present in her voice and in her face. She's lost so much, it wouldn't do good for her if he too got himself killed.

Jaune smirked, shooting finger guns at her. "No promises," he said as he stepped out of the room. Glynda let a small smile show itself on her face. "They grew up too fast." She returned to her work, picking out the last members of the now seven member party to be sent out tomorrow. Ah, Lassn.

Jaune inhaled the fresh air and spotted Cardin and Velvet nearby, waiting for his meeting with Glynda to end. Cardin had his arms crossed and was leaning on the wall, while Velvet was kneeling, speaking to a young boy who looked to be about eight. She stopped her conversation, shooing away the boy as he approached.

"Thank's Miss Scarlatina!" the boy cried out as he ran to the direction of the southern tower.

Velvet waved before turning her attention on Jaune. "Well?" she inquired. "What'd she say?" Cardin finished.

"Ok, so don't get mad…"