A.N.: Well, this is a first, notes on the beginning instead of the end!
Why you ask?
So, last chapter some people got really surprised that Pyrrha used her Semblance to create a magnetic field to disperse Excalibur's attack and apparently that wasn't realistic… in a world of super powered people and magic. Funny how suspension of disbelief work.
Anyway, I don't think they are wrong in questioning it. For a good fictional world work, it needs to have a set of rules or else everything turns in a deus ex machina orgy and no one really likes this. It becomes a little hard when you mix magic or any magic-like power that challenge the laws of physics and sci-fi, where in theory everything is more grounded in the realm of the possible. But they do say a technology advanced enough will look like magic to anyone lacking the knowledge, and let's face it, some of our favorite sci-fi shows, even those more grounded in science have a science that is actually just magic.
So, magnetism! First, magnetism doesn't affect just metal. It does affect electricity too, for example, and that is why electromagnetism is basically its own field in science. And it does affect light, search for Faraday Effect and you see that light and electromagnetism have an actual relationship. In fact, the electromagnetism spectrum includes light, visible or not, X-rays, microwaves, radio waves and gamma rays.
So, yes, magnetism and its broader sibling electromagnetism can affect light, as long as you remember that light is not just what you see.
That out of the way, we have the nature of Saber's Excalibur attack. It's not a laser beam, while it does generate light. Just because generates light it doesn't mean it's a light-based attack, or fire and thunder would be light too. In fact in no moment it's defined the scientific nature of her magic attack. So, for simplicity's sake, her attack is an energy charged beam that does have a polarity, and therefore can be affected by a strong enough magnetic field. Hope with this we can resume our normal schedule.
Nero waited patiently for a challenger. Of course many of the most experienced soldiers and Hunters in the crowd could stand against her, but most would not dare going down there just to beat the smug princess down a notch. There was also the fact that many just saw what Artoria could do, and the Arcadians knew Nero was at the same level. There was a reason they nicknamed them the Saber twins.
"I accept your challenge!"
Nero turned in delighted surprise as she saw Weiss Schnee coming down the arena using her glyphs, sword in hand. The heiress acted a bit on impulse, but she also wanted to show to the world what she could do, as a Schnee, as a student of Beacon and especially as Weiss. The fact that Winter was there also compelled her to do so, since she wanted to show her improvement to her sister.
"Excellent, most excellent!" Nero shouted on the microphone followed by a happy laugh. "I knew my brother had incredible friends! Umu! So, let's fight to our heart's content and give the people a great spectacle that will keep them talking for ages!"
Nero pressed a button on her scroll and from a hidden door in the ground came her sword, an exotic black and red blade with an unusual shape, almost the size of her. With a flourish she took the sword and positioned herself in the starter mark. Weiss did the same, making a graceful pose as she pointed her rapier at her opponent.
The bell rang and the two girls charged at each other.
"I must say, I'm surprised you found me. But then, I have being here for days and none of your police or intelligence agents found me." Qrow commented to Chifuyu as she attacked him with her sword, forcing him to jump back in the large corridor of the service area of the Arena.
"Oh, aren't we a little too cocky. You came in a Mistralian ship bringing olive oil, and have being camping in the woods, hunting and fishing for food, then gathering intel around… or harassing our female citizens." Chifuyu answered as she used her sword to block some shots Qrow fired against her.
"Huh. So you knew I was here from the start. So what you want from me?" He asked as he traded blows with the woman.
"I know Ozpin have a secret he's hiding from me. Secrets are dangerous, so maybe you will tell me once I throw you at jail for illegal entry in the country." Chifuyu said as she kicked Qrow back.
"Aren't we getting cocky here… You guys became an official Kingdom and are already talking about illegal entry and such. Besides… You old hag haven't defeated me yet."
"Oh… I see… funny coming from a guy who never lasted two minutes against me." Chifuyu said while exuding a killing intent aura.
Weiss didn't understand her opponent. She was fast and strong, that was clear, and her long sword gave her a reach that made the heiress had trouble to land her strikes. But the white haired girl noticed more than once that Nero would forgo a sure hit for a fancy move, and while the crowd would cheer louder, it gave opportunities for a strike. Combining that with her glyphs and Dust based attacks was giving her an edge on the battle.
Yet, Nero was always smiling and keeping moving forward, relentless in her attacks as if Weiss strikes meant nothing to her. Using the glyphs, the heiress made a series of small attacks that were interrupted when Nero spun on her feet and hit the opponent, sending the white clad girl backwards.
"Hm… Hm! Beacon students sure are worth opponents! I praise your skills and your determination!"
"I… Thank you?" Weiss said as she took the time to recover her breath and reposition herself.
"Hahahahaha! Yes! A glorious fight against such splendid opponent! What more could I ask except for victory!"
Nero charged forward again, and this time got Weiss off-guard, using a series of three strikes to send the small girl flying. Weiss growled at her mistake them used her glyphs to circle her blonde opponent, and delivered a series of fast attacks from all directions, making the Arc girl fall on her knees for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Nero, but victory shall be mine." Weiss said with a confident smile, but the princess answered with a happy laugh.
"You're really the opponent I wanted! Umu! But it's time for the protagonist to have her comeback!" Nero declared and produced a rose in her hand in a magic trick. She tossed the rose in the air and the petals scattered… too many petals for them to be coming just from that single rose. Soon the whole fighting area was filled with flying rose petals. Weiss scoffed at that and tried to create a glyph to attack, but none come for her surprise. "Now it's time to shine!"
"Hey! Rose petals are my thing!" Ruby protested from her seat.
"What is happening? Why Weiss isn't using her glyphs?" A worried Blake asked Jaune as the two girls were once again trading blows.
"It's Nero's Semblance. As you can see, she's a show-off. So no one can outshine her in battle, therefore her Semblance denies the activation of others Semblance." Jaune explained as his eyes moved back to the Arena.
"That's certainly is a dangerous Semblance." Blake concluded and Jaune sighed.
"Yeah, and Nero would be the most dangerous fighter in our kingdom if not for her personality." Jaune added.
"What about her personality?" Blake asked again.
Weiss was severely aggravated by the fight now. She couldn't activate her glyphs and was locked in a melee fight with the most annoying fighter she ever met. Nero was showing off with rather ineffective moves and extending the fight unnecessarily, and that was getting on the heiress nerves as she tried to keep her cool and counter the rather broad and careless attacks.
"Umu! Who could tell such a thin girl like you would be such a warrior!"
That was the last straw to Weiss. How dared that annoying girl sell such a thing. So she did something she never done. She blocked Nero's sword with her happier, opening the blonde's guard and them…
Weiss punched Nero in the face.
The heiress shook her hand as pain set on her knuckles and Nero held her face and stared in shock. That was when the bell rang ending the fight and both girls stared at the panel, showing Weiss won the fight with 5% more Aura than her adversary. There was a stunned moment of silence around the stadium as Nero stared in shock at Weiss.
"I…" Weiss had no idea what to say.
"Pfffft… Ha... ha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Amazing! Beacon surely has amazing fighters! Umu! It's decided! Next year I'll be there!" Nero quickly approached Weiss and grabbed her hand, surprising the heiress. "That last punch sure surprise me! Thank you for such awesome spectacle! Everyone, please let's have a round of claps for such amazing performance!"
With her command the Arena cheered loudly over them, making Weiss blush slightly as Nero waved to them. She didn't look sad at her defeat at all and that bothered the heiress to no end. How she could take defeat so well?
"Come on, let's join or friends again. It's time for my younger sisters to shine." Nero affirmed as she took Weiss' hand again and walked with the girl, waving to the crow until they were out of sight.
"Nero, aren't you sad you lost?" Weiss questioned as the two girls now walked the corridors inside the arena.
"It was a beautiful battle that filled my heart of excitement. I'm sure it will be the reason for many stories to be told from now on. Umu! There's no shame in defeat when we delivered such a beautiful thing to my people."
"You… you weren't concerned about winning! You just wanted to make a show!" Weiss accused and Nero smiled back at the heiress.
"Don't mistake things. I wanted to win, certainly, and I'd have if you haven't surprised me with your fist. But we are here to celebrate, and you're not my enemy but my friend. Besides, I don't feel like I lost when I hear the cheers of my people."
Nero's explanation made Weiss finally understand the girl a little. She loved her people and would accept defeat for their sake. For the first time since they arrived the heiress finally recognized that the boisterous blonde so like Yang was a princess after all. The two took the elevator almost in silence (Nero hummed some song) and arrived back at the VIP area of the stadium where the two got back to their families.
Weiss entered the area reserved for the Atlas entourage and sat by Winter's side, avoiding staring at her. Instead she saw a huge stage being raised from the ground and several people working on it. She assumed it would be Jaune's sisters doing a show for them next.
"You fought well." Winter said in an emotionless voice.
"Thank you… but I don't feel like I won. My instructors would yell at me for throwing that punch… funny, Yang probably will praise me for that."
"Nonsense. Any tactic that works is a fair tactic. You won, and that's what matters. You showed progress, but later I'll talk about a deficiency I saw." Winter concluded her analysis and Weiss stared at her feet, then her sister put a gentle hand on hers. "Father must have tried to impose on you the idea you need to always be a proper lady, but Weiss, out there, be it fighting Grimm or people, surviving will always take precedence from poise."
"I… I understand." Weiss answered perking up a bit.
"You do have space to improve, of course, and I'll make sure to show you how." Winter finished talking as loud music started playing and Jaune's younger sisters took the stage causing the crowd to cheer the loudest they ever had. Weiss gulped a little just dreading exactly how his sister would help her.
Adam Taurus watched the TV as four girls took the stage to sing some obnoxious (in his opinion) pop song in a foreign language. He knew of Arcadia, of course, and he knew of its stance on Faunus, and he hated them for it. The other kingdoms made him a favor to keep from most people the existence of such place, and therefore he could work the notion that there would never exist pacific coexistence between Faunus and humans unless the Faunus used force to conquer it. But now he knew the rumors, actual truths, of Arcadia fair treatment of the Faunus would spread fast, and with it his support would dwindle.
"We need to act sooner." He commented to his 'guest', someone he would love to slash down at the place she stood, but that made herself useful to him.
"No, we'll stick to the plan for now. I have a spy there; one that I hope will create some commotion to keep them busy. Besides, I doubt Vale and Atlas will bring them in just yet, for I know their little treaties are just preliminary agreements." Cinder stated as she took care of her nails. "Besides, I think we might have a chance of using their prince for our ends."
"You overestimate your capacity of seducing people." Adam declared displeased and Cinder laughed.
"My dear Adam, is that jealousy I feel from you?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Adam answered making her smile.
"Don't worry, Adam, you'll have what you want and I'll have what I want." She said, and Adam couldn't help but dread whatever that woman wanted.
"Can I have those princesses then? Because they really know how to move their hips." Mercury said with a leer.
"You're a pervert. Cinder, can we get rid of him?"Emerald asked and Cinder's smile disappeared for a moment.
"Your sisters are really good!" Yang said to Jaune as she and Ruby danced together to the sound of music.
"You should tell them tonight at dinner, they will appreciate it." Jaune said with a big smile.
"And to think it's you who made the dance moves!" Ruby said as she made a few of her own, causing everyone to laugh a bit.
"Oh. I see someone is having fun. Meanwhile I had to go hunt a vermin." Chifuyu appeared as she dragged Qrow by his collar, then she pushed him forward.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shouted and hugged his arm. "Did ya miss me, did ya miss me?"
"Nope." He answered with a smile and petted her. "And I want to state… I lasted more than two minutes with Chifuyu."
There was a long, awkward moment of silence except by Ruby as she showered Qrow with questions.
"You was always the mouthy one of team STRQ. And since I better clarify his statement, he means we fought for two minutes and seven seconds."
"Still more than two minutes." Qrow stated and winked at Chifuyu, who wasn't amused.
"I wish you would come here with an invitation, Qrow." Charlotte stated with a sigh. "I'm compelled to throw you in jail, but I don't think I should punish the inmates that badly."
"You love me and you know it." Qrow said as he sipped from his flask.
"So I'll just deliver you to Glynda and let she deal with you as she sees fit." Qrow gasped and coughed.
"The jail time offer is still on the table?"
"So, I'll let you children to your own devices tonight. Go to the town, have fun." Charlotte stated to the group after they returned from the Arena.
"Mom, are you sure?" Jaune asked, eying the foreign emissaries as they waited for the queen. Ironwood still had a face that invited no friends, and now Glynda was annoyed and chastising Qrow while the man just sipped on his flask.
"Yes, I'm sure. It's your obligation to keep your friends happy, Jaune. And going to meet our people is also part of your duties. Now go have fun, just try to not cause much trouble." Charlotte hugged Jaune, breaking protocol for a moment before she walked back to her work.
"Well… so, who wants to hit the streeAAAHHHH!
"Less talking and more partying!" Yang declared, being supported by Ruby, Nora, Nero, Miki and surprisingly Blake.
The group left the castle by tram in the direction of what Jaune described as the 'party heart of the city'. And he wasn't kidding.
It was a park where the three biggest avenues of the city crossed, and at the moment the surroundings were close to traffic so many people took the streets. As promised, there were many street performs, food stalls and overall merriment around. The Arc siblings worked as guides to everyone, and the people came and go to met them along the way. Jaune was relieved no extra attention was being paid to him, as he had trouble to be a 'people's person' as Weiss would define. But…
"Jaune, you're really stiff." Yang commented towards him.
"Am I?" He wondered as in fact everyone of his muscles weren't moving as supposed.
"Yes. You're so stiff I could use you as a weapon." Yang joked with a small laugh and Jaune laughed back at her, releasing a bit of his tension.
"I think you can't be as open with us as you're in Beacon?" Ren suggested and Jaune nodded.
"It wasn't as bad, you know, when I was little. But now… I need to be careful because people have expectations and I can't let them down… they're my people after all." Jaune said and smiled a little towards the crowd.
"Jaune… we'll always be by your side if you allow us too." Pyrrha affirmed with a gentle hand on his shoulder, making him smile more openly.
"Hummfff pummfff gmmmph!" The Saber twins said at the same time with their mouths filled with food.
"I think what my sisters tried to say is that we all will help you, brother." Jeanne translated that and the two girls nodded vigorously in agreement. Jaune laughed a little more and nodded again.
"Thanks, guys… So, how about some fish and chips? I'm paying." He said and Blake's eyes immediately shone in mention of fish, while the Saber twins nodded again in approval. Taking that as a confirmation for his choice he spoke again. "So, you all try to get some spot for us. I'll get some MORE food for us."
"Won't you need help?" Weiss asked gently.
"Nah. The place I'm aiming for serve it in quite literal buckets." Jaune said and now Blake was drooling. "I'm coming back in a few, so enjoy the party."
The girls and Ren talked happily with each other as they tried to save a spot under a tree (and Ren tried to avoid Nora to just use hammer time to do so) while Jaune stood in line to get some fish. While the people offered to let him cut in line he politely declined to do so, happy to just be one more person in the crowd.
As he mindlessly observed the crowd Jaune failed to notice a mimic approaching him until the mimic poked him on the said with its umbrella. He turned around and smiled at the girl with black and white hair and clothes, making an exaggerated bow and starting doing her job. She them stumbled on him and smiled, before flashing his wallet to him and running away.
"Hey! Stop!" Jaune asked as he rushed after the mimic.
The crowd made it hard for Jaune to follow the tiny monochrome target, but she would stop from time to time to taunt him, making him feel more and more annoyed. It took him several minutes to find his target sitting in a trash container with legs crossed and with his wallet on hand.
"This is not funny! Give it back!" As he said that she threw the wallet back at him. "Look, this wasn't really funny. You should…"
He couldn't finish his sentence as a foot met his face and tossed him on his back. He stared in surprise as the mimic changed into a multicolored figure he heard about before. Yang told him about the brown, pink and white girl that pissed her off in the train. He got up and prepared to fight, cursing the fact Arcadia didn't had rocket lockers (he made a mental note to import some) and now he was facing a though opponent unarmed.
He tried to remember all that yang and Ren tried to teach him about fighting with his fists and tried to fight back, but the nimble girl dodged any punch and kick he tried to deliver, all while making a smug face that annoyed him to no end. And them she would give him a slap or kick on the legs just to show off, infuriating him.
"Why all the cute ones are better than me?" He muttered and his opponent silent giggled at it and made a 'thank you' curtsy before resuming to attack him.
And she was handing his ass back to him in the most humiliating manner possible. Not only he failed to land a single hit she now decided to literally kick his butt. He grew angrier and that apparently pleased his opponent.
"OK, that's it! I'm calling the girls!" Jaune said as he grabbed his scroll, only to see it speared by a blade hidden in his opponent umbrella. "Have anyone ever told you you're annoying?" The girl nodded and smiled at him. "They were right."
If Jaune's ability to attack were lacking, his ability to dodge was working as the girl tried to make holes on him with the blade as she did with his scroll. And even if his Aura reserves were larger than most, he was feeling rather tired after moving so much. And that took a toll on him when his legs buckled and she slashed his left cheek.
"Ouch!" Jaune cursed as she apparently prepared to do a finishing blow. "You know, you're really quiet. In that case…"
Jaune left out the girliest scream ever, getting the girl to stare at him in shock.
"Let go of my knight you ice-cream midget!"
The girl barely was able to dodge a furious Yang attacking with all her might, hair in flames and eyes glowing red. The two girls engaged in combat, but again the small girl was able to dodge many of the attacks, but different from the first time she showed signs of tiring since she fought Jaune previously. That apparently made the girl angry as she tried now to effectively hit Yang instead of just dodging. That resulted in both girls hitting each other at the same time, causing the enemy to be pushed back with a punch in the guts and Yang receiving a cut on her right arm.
"Stay away from them!" The Saber sisters appeared sword in hand and tried to hit the girl that disappeared as if she was made of glass. The group dispersed to see if they could find her and Jaune rushed to Yang.
"Are you alright, how's your arm?!" He asked in a panic and she blinked twice.
"Tis but a scratch. My Aura is healing it already." She affirmed as indeed the cut closed in front of them. "But I swear I'll make that girl in a milk-shake!"
"Sorry, because of me you got hurt..." Jaune said and Yang blinked again.
"Jaune, that girl tried to kill you. I should be worried about you!"
"I'm fine! How about you?!" She asked worriedly and he smiled, disarming her.
"I'm alright. But you're my guest, my friend… You shouldn't be hurt because of me. You're important to me, you know..." A small blush formed in her face and she just rolled her eyes.
"Don't be dumb, Jaune Arc. I'd rather get hurt than allow anyone important to me getting hurt."
"Yeah… I feel like when we met, getting hurt and you saving me..." He said and she patted his back.
"Hey, that girl was way more dangerous than Cobalt and you hold back well… but you still scream like a little girl." Both of them laughed together.
"How you even found me so fast?"
"I… I was actually following you, to help with the food… And I saw you chasing that girl. But I lost you two in the crowd."
"Well, that's a lesson to me about chasing girls." He joked and both laughed together as their friends and family returned.
"I see you two are alright." Jeanne said as she approached. "I called mother and she is putting the police after our mysterious guest. Should we call it a night?"
"Nah." Jaune affirmed as he got up and dusted himself. "But we might want to stick together and I still owe you all fish and chips. So let's go back."
The group (in special Blake and the Sabers) agreed and returned to the party.
"So much for your ability to protect yourselves." Qrow mocked the Arcs as he sipped from his flask. "An attack against the blonde boy..."
"It's true we failed to find her beforehand. Maybe if we were not busy following another intruder..." Charlotte said as she cast an evil aura at Qrow, making the man freeze for a moment.
"It doesn't matter who is at fault now." Ozpin said in a conciliatory tone. "We know our enemies are well aware of Arcadia and its importance and that they targeted a prominent figure of the kingdom and one of our students."
"Does this means you'll tell us what exactly is happening?" Ichika questioned, not too patient when someone of his family was in danger.
"I'll tell what I'm allowed to." Ozpin affirmed.
"You and your secrets. I thought we were all allies here." Chifuyu questioned the headmaster.
"Indeed we are. But sometimes you need to withhold information even from your allies when it is the best for everyone."
"What I fear, dear Ozpin, is that the secret can come back to bite us. I hope this is not a mistake from your part." Charlotte affirmed and Ozpin wondered the same too.
"She failed. You should have sent me instead of Roman's little pet." Mercury affirmed as he put his scroll away. "Now they're doubling the guard on the royal family and their friends."
"It doesn't matter. Tell Neo to come back, she did her part in showing that no one is safe, even a prince. Besides, we'll have other opportunities here, where the oh so confident Ironwood and the Beacon's headmaster 'wisdom' won't protect the Arc boy from me."
"Do you want us to get rid of him?" Emerald asked with a hint of hope in her voice.
"Not yet, dear Emerald. He can be useful if I play my cards right." Cinder said with a smile and fiery eyes.
OMAKE
In Chifuyu's private chambers, Charlotte was sitting on the bed with Chifuyu, and Glynda was sitting on a chair were all in pajamas chatting and laughing. The evening was going well, until Glynda found herself being ganged upon by Charlotte and Chifuyu about her private life back at Beacon.
"Come on Glynda! Let it out." Chifuyu insisted finishing off a can of beer.
"Chifuyu is right! If you talk about it you might feel better." Charlotte encouraged trying to coax Glynda into opening up.
"No, If I got started telling you about the things I put up with between James, Ozpin and Qrow I wouldn't stop." Glynda insisted stubbornly, finishing off her glass of Arcadian wine. "I don't want to make this evening a downer by having you two listening to me rant about my problems."
"We can't have any fun until you loosen up a bit." Chifuyu said crushing the beer can and throwing it into the bin at the other side of the room with great accuracy. "And if that means hearing about their stupidity then it's fine."
"You're not going to let this go are you?"
"Nope" Glynda sighed when her friends replied in unison, popping the 'p', and cursed how Ruby apparently was influencing them already.
"Fine, you win." Glynda conceded, worn down by her friends. "Just keeping Ozpin in line when he's alone is stressful; do you know how much of the budget he spends on Coffee? Too much! We wouldn't even be able to afford the repairs around the school done by Ms. Valkyrie and Ms. Xiao Long if that idiot spent anymore on it. He keeps trying to pull a fast one by disguising forms to allow him a larger coffee budget, there are times when I want to take his stupid coffee and drown him with it."
The women paused when they heard a muffled voice saying what sounded like blasphemy, a couple of thumps, then silence.
"What was that?" Charlotte asked
"Who knows? Probably Jaune getting into trouble again." Chifuyu sighed before looking at Glynda "I bet it gets worse with Jimmy around?"
"Oh, James. Don't even get me started." Glynda growled "I swear when he and Ozpin are together it's like I'm a referee, give them two seconds alone they'll be arguing about something. 'You're too inactive', 'No you're too aggressive' despite his 'military discipline'!" Glynda did air quotes when she said military discipline "James always seems to be the one who pushes Ozpin's buttons, like he's looking to start a p**** measuring contest with him."
"That sounds like James, always looking for the next fight." Charlotte sighed as she sipped on the wine. "He really hasn't changed in all these years."
A scoff and a pair of thumps where heard.
"And Qrow-" Glynda was cut off by three knocks on the door.
"Come in." Charlotte ordered.
Through the door walked a maid with Black hair in high twin tails and green eyes carrying a silver tray with two glasses of wine and a can of beer.
"Say who's this?" Chifuyu asked. "I don't recognize this maid."
"Relax Chifuyu. This is Mint, she's only a part time maid which is why you haven't seen her." Charlotte explained as Mint stopped sweating. "Thank you Mint." Charlotte took her glass from Mint as did Glynda. Chifuyu took and opened her can of ice cold beer from the maid.
Instead of leaving, Mint looked at the shut closet door for a moment and held a single finger to her lips as she silently made her way to it. Quick as a cat she grasped the handle and yanked the door open. Out of it tumbled three familiar figures; Ozpin, James and Qrow.
"Y-you three! what do you think you're-" Charlotte paused as she saw something in Qrow's left hand. "IS THAT MY UNDERWEAR?!"She shrieked furiously.
"OK, I know this looks bad but it isn't what you think." Qrow stammered as the other two remained frozen.
"You three are going to die here!" Chifuyu vowed drawing her sword as Glynda nodded and took out her crop.
Mint had scampered into a corner and was holding up a scroll to record the impending doom of the three.