All credit to respective owners.
-Y.A.R.N.
Amber opened her eyes — groggy and head aching — only for a bright light to nearly blind her and cause her to squeeze her eyes shut and groan in a low voice.
"Are you alright?" A voice inquired, "I'll the dim the lights, please be careful when you open your eyes."
The orange of the bright lights darken and Amber slowly opened her eyes to see a professional-looking blonde woman looking down at her while holding her wrist in a gentle grip. The walls are white and from what she can tell she was in a hospital room of some sort. Amber tried to remember how she got there, but she can't seem to grasp anything much other than vague impressions. Suddenly, the memory of being hit by the tranquilizers hit her and she jerked violently in distress. She grasped at her powers to pull at any dust she can feel but the room was practically immaculate in how clean it was, there isn't even the tiniest amount of dust to form even a half-decent defense. Of course they cleaned it — they probably tested on her while she was unconscious — but dust can be made from almost anything and Amber eyes flitted to the wall.
If she could punch it hard enough…
"Miss Autumn!" The blonde cried, seeming to recognize what she doing, "Please calm down!"
Amber tried to roll out of the bed to get some distance, but the headache pounding in her head didn't appreciate the disorientation and she smacked into the wall and slid to the ground, groaning in pain. She tried to focus but it was just so hard with the way her brain seems to wiggle and throb while pressing against the inside of her skull. The blonde let out a tired sigh and waved her hand as a purple light emanated from her hand and a similar shade or purple surrounded Amber. Amber panicked, but she was lifted gently and placed back on the bed to lay down as the she felt a gentle pressure push her down to lean in the bed.
A conduit as a doctor?
Not new, but not exactly common.
"Ms. Autumn, I must ask that you please calm yourself." The blonde said, "It is understandable that you are distressed but I assure you that I mean no harm. My name is Glynda Goodwitch and my associate found you being attacked by some thugs and was able to intervene and stop them. What is the last thing you remember?"
Amber frowned as she tried to sort through her muddied thoughts but replied, "I can remember the darts hitting my neck and passing out… I can't think of anything after that…"
Glynda hummed at that and typed something down on a tablet she had laid on the bedside table, "That is not uncommon with the sort of situation you were in, the drugs that you were injected with messed rather heavily with your mind. We flushed any traces of the drug out of your system and I did my best to mitigate the damage but some memory loss is to be expected as my associate said you were barely cognizant by the time he drove the thugs off. My recommendation would be for you to rest and wait until you feel up to leave and then simply call for me and I will do one last check-up. Is that alright with you?"
Amber sighed and nodded, leaning back against the bed, "Do you had any Tylenol or Advil?"
Glynda smiled slightly, "I will have some delivered along with some breakfast."
Amber realized she was hungry and smiled, "Thank you."
Whitley didn't really understand why he was interested in finding out more about Jaune Arc, the Conduit was just a another Conduit.
And before anyone could make some incorrect assumptions, Whitely was heterosexual thank you very much.
He supposed it was his thought process that what made Jaune so damn fascinating, Whitley had never been exposed who had power and yet never flaunted it. His father had been his ideal ever since he had been little, a man with so much power that no matter what you knew you would have to show him the proper respect or you would be crushed. Yet Jaune had never seemed to want to lord it over people and his mindset was just... different. Whitley had simply thought that Jaune's speech was all talk — despite coming to the cafe and seeing Jaune acting so… like he preached — and that he was trying to show Whitely up by being noble. But as the days stretched into week and no matter how much Whitley tried to see something that would hint at some sort of secret behavior, Jaune never changed how he acted and what he did.
Then Whitley understood.
Jaune was genuine.
He demeanor and attitude didn't change — the only real difference was him being more respectful at his job since he was a barista — at all no matter where he was or what he was doing at the time. For Whitley — who had been raised in the viper pit of business deals, backstabs, and seeing the hidden agendas — it was something he had never encountered before. It was almost mythical in a way — even when he walked in the city after being kicked out — he could see people look at him with fascination. The general populace always carried some mix of surprise, interest, desire, or what they could get out of him.
Jaune either didn't care or didn't recognize him and frankly that was just unbelievable.
Jaune spoke without reservation and challenged Whitley without fear.
Whitley smiled.
For all he did love Weiss for being able to understand as she was in the same boat, he might find this exile actually something to be looked back on in interest.
Jaune bit down into the sandwich he bought from the school cafeteria as he idly read some of his school coursework. Given the whole amount of work he had to catch up on, he had tried to make a habit of spending time in either the school cafeteria or library as he had to double down on schoolwork. He had only just caught up on his assignments and it helped immensely that Cardin had backed off and he no longer had to actively avoid him. If anything, Cardin seemed to have toned down on the whole 'The world is mine to do with as I see fit' attitude and people seemed to be enjoying it just as much as Jaune did. Jaune polished off his sandwich and other school work before letting out a sigh and rolling his shoulders; it used to be the standard that it was rare for him to get any free time as he was either working, studying, training, and/or brooding in his room. Things had changed with him no longer having to hide, so he had more time than he thought and that let him have more time to relax and sleep. In all honesty, he felt more relaxed than he had in years and he was genuinely happy with how things had been.
He just hoped the new status quo would stay this way for a long long time; he didn't need anymore complications in his life. He blinked as his phone pinged and smiled softly at the text from one of his sisters checking in on him; his reconnection with his sisters was one of the most uplifting things that could've happened. And then he met Whitley and for some random reason he saw the snow-haired Conduit several times in the cafe and somehow began a acquaintance with him and he could even be charitably called a friend. They chatted casually about their days and they reminisced about better times and how their lives were two sides of the same coin in a way. Proud and respected to getting by and discarded in Whitley's case while Jaune was a relatively normal kid who was loved and cherished to a jaded young man who had been hated and thrown away.
Everything had changed in a matter of days.
There was a sound of a door opening and there was a drop in the volume of the general area as the new arrival seemed to draw attention.
Jaune didn't turn, he didn't feel that it would be of any interest until a voice called out, "Jaune? Is that you?"
He turned to see the surprised but pleased face of Pyrrha Nikos, "Pyrrha?"
"I didn't know you came here." She said as she quickly grabbed a seat next him.
Jaune shrugged off the stares — immediately insecure ladies — and some glares — suddenly jealous males — as he shrugged, "I could say the same, you never mentioned you'd be studying here. I wish I had known sooner!"
Pyrrha smiled and Jaune felt the glares intensify, "This is only until a new college I was invited to join is ready."
Jaune gave an exaggerated pout, "Aw…"
Pyrrha noticed some of the glares and frowned as they almost immediately turned to look at anything else, "Is there a reason that people are glaring at you?"
Jaune grinned, "Maybe it's because some random blond — who is now known is a Conduit which is intimidating — is talking to the a beautiful girl who appeared out of nowhere and chatting like old friends? You tell me."
Pyrrha blushed and smiled in a mix of embarrassment and surprise, "Thank you."
Jaune blushed slightly as well, he usually didn't throw around compliments but that was mainly because he didn't exactly have people to banter with. Blake had been his only friend and as much as he cherished Blake and her family, Blake wasn't the talkative sort and he didn't really meet enough with Ghira or Kali enough to really be friends. Either way, it was a experience Jaune hadn't had in a while since he was a child, and he hadn't realized exactly how much he had missed it. Socializing was something he knew how to do very well but his years at Curdun Cay had layered several years of rust on his social etiquette. His recent good fortune had given him a chance to start slowly building back up the social skills and friendly personality he had buried so long ago.
Besides, it was the truth — Pyrrha was definitely enviable for a myriad of reasons of which beauty was indeed a reason — and he was tried to always stick by it.
Jaune smirked at her, voice teasing, "I wish I could look as great as you do, but let's face it. A red wig would only make me look weird."
Pyrrha giggled helplessly as her blush deepened.
Weiss Schnee had been annoyed.
Granted it wasn't hard to annoy these days her given how her life — which was something she had meticulously planned ever since she was a child — had been flipped on its head due to the manifestation of her powers and subsequent shunted so she would be 'out of sight'. She now had to consider how best to go about earning a revenue when she was not a part of the Schnee corporation. The first thing she did was check all her savings and assets to private accounts she had set up as soon as she was able. She may not be the Schnee heir with Winter in the eldest position but she had attended the same classes that all of Jacques' children had to and she benefitted from them by setting account solely for herself and funneling as much cash from her savings that her father wouldn't care. It was never a good idea to stash all the eggs in one basket as the saying goes, and it was paying off in dividends in her current situation.
Although it was a good thing, her annoyance grew because her brother was suddenly happier than he had any right to be when he was quiet and cold before. he would come back with a steaming mug of coffee in hand and while he never forgot to bring her one, she was always in the relative opulence of their home while he wandered around yet still seemed happy. It wasn't as though Whitley hadn't been working hard, investing and working with her to grow what cash they had, but it was still baffling her that he didn't seem quite as tightly wound.
God knew she could do with something like that.
"What are you doing?" She inquired as he shrugged on his coat.
"Going for a drink at that wonderful cafe you found." He replied with a cocksure grin (one that irritated her to no end), "You really should take some time to just rest Weiss, it really helps if I just let myself unwind somewhere outside the house. Maybe you should make some friends, I think I made a good friend recently and he is different from the people we met before."
"I don't need leeches who want my money." She replied stiffly after he had already walked out the door.
She sighed as her phone rang and perked up at Winter's caller ID, glad her older sister was reaching out.
It warmed her heart that Winter carved out time for her and Whitley even with how busy she must have become. They had been divvying up all the work they had as heirs to an empire, with Whitley and Wiess no longer there, Winter was inordinately bogged down with work.
She happily picked up the call and reiterated Whitley going out and 'making friends' with people who were probably try to get money.
"And if you don't leave and try, will you ever know if there are people otherwise?" She prodded, voice intent, "Do you actually feel any better being alone and sitting in that gilded cage sister? You have your life to live but you still are stewing in the fact that father abandoned you, you need to just let it go."
"Like father did us?" She accused, words flying from her lips without thought.
There was a heavy silence at the other end of the line that struck like barbs ripping into the wound in Weiss' heart and pulling out pain like a gush of blood; Weiss blanched as she sputtered out a fervent apology because her anger got the best of her and she lashed out at Winter who was only trying to help.
She was so pathetic.
"Winter, I'm sorry! I didn't mean that! I-I was just mad and—"
"Weiss. It's okay." Winter sounded tired.
"I'm so sorry." Weiss offered weakly.
"He let go of you without any regret and a touch of annoyance. You're still clinging to the hope that he will want you back if you both prove yourselves useful and worm back into his good graces. He has me and you both were only spares if something ever happened to me." The words are calm, but Weiss has known her sister long enough to pick up the storm of rage, grief, and fury that are hidden beneath, "With the discovery of your powers you weren't even spares, just assets that he wanted to exploit. I found that all the burdens and expectations were just weights on my shoulders that I am happy you are rid of even if I have to take them on all alone. Weiss… You and Whitley both have the knowledge and skill to grow and thrive on your own, and his only regret will be that he didn't see you come into you own because he couldn't see past his own gain."
Weiss stilled at her sister's speech.
"You are doing yourself a disservice Weiss." Winter said gently, "Holding onto your pain and betrayal is only hurting you and I don't want that. Please Weiss, if not for yourself, let it go for me. Give me some peace of mind that my little sister didn't let her soul be crushed by someone as pathetic as Jacques Schnee."
Weiss forced out the words, "I don't want to be… abandoned again."
"There are good people out there Weiss. You'll find them and they will love you if you give them a chance."
"Okay… I… I'll try."
Ozpin panted as he sat heavily on the ground, dust settling around him as he could no longer keep manipulating it. He took a moment to lay on his back and just relax, he had been pushing himself hard since the power-transfer, trying to fully master his powers. Even with the original schematics and pseudo-blast-core, it seemed he only managed to copy about 70% of Amber's abilities. It was less than Ozpin had hoped or expected since the very first power-transfer device was capable of giving anywhere from 80% - 86% of the power of the original conduit to the recipient. Taking parts from the salvaged power-transfer devices the government had commissioned — destroyed since the DUP being dismantled — weren't ideal as they were never meant to take the full brunt of the powers of a conduit. The risk of mental instability was simply too high if they did, and therefore they took great pains to restrict the power-flow from Conduit to recipient.
He pulled out a bottle of water and began to drink it, trying to soothe the dry feeling that was burning in his throat while he contemplated what he had to do.
The list was daunting in a way.
He had to take time to gather Conduits, get them to Cinder, copy their powers, and finally send them to Goodwitch; all the while, he also had to make sure no one had an inkling of what he was really after. He also had to make sure he didn't let Oscar in on his plan without his son immediately rejecting the idea. Oscar was a good person, and if he knew what Ozpin had been doing, he would let it all out into the public.
And he didn't have the ability to just keep catching Conduits either as it had to be random or Glynda would no doubt catch on that that he was collecting Conduits.
Then he analyzed what he could do with the powers he gained.
He couldn't pull at the elements or aspects of his power like a normal conduit could do to reenergize himself, he couldn't use their matter-phasing movement, and some of the most powerful abilities were simply too much for him to conjure. And while it was galling, aside from those few hang-ups, most of the basic abilities were well within his ability to use. He knew that some pseudo-conduits were able to develop mutations to the powers they had, but those could only appear with time.
Still, if he had more abilities, then he would be able to cover the power gaps with other abilities, and all that would take is time.
Which was about the one thing he lacked.
He needed more powers to ensure he would be in control of everything once it came to a head.
Ozpin was no fool.
This charade was not to last.
All he could do was keep it going and get as many powers as possible. Then he would simply too powerful to stop.
He got back to his feet and focused on manipulating the dust again.
Hopefully he could at least master a few more techniques in the cooldown period.