Limbus Company has been fun so far – though this is coming from a Project Moon fan, so I don't feel the same rage some have when the difficulty spike goes vertical. Others acting like it's pure evil. Me, who faced Queen of Hatred in Library of Ruina and White Nights in Lobotomy Corp.

"First time…?"


Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 35


.

Jaune Arc 's new claims are staggering insult to Atlas' generosity

Atlas Times

.

Vale Council confirm claims of unusual aura fluctuations in Jaune Arc. Testing and treatment to begin soon

Vale Daily Tribune

.

Mistral offer of aura specialists on loan accepted by Vale Council

The Mistral Review

.

Aura overload is "something I can help with" says Vacuo's Gillian Asturias, citing Semblance

Vacuo Today

.

The nation that strangled the golden goose – how Atlas nearly worked their greatest asset to death!

Kuo Kuana Express

.


He was the centre of attention.

Again.

Jaune sat on a stool in the middle of a room packed with scientists, researchers, doctors and the odd member of Vale's Council there just to say they were. No one was attending from Beacon on account of lessons, but Elm was there as his bodyguard – not that anyone would dare try anything when he was surrounded by so many people. There were at least twenty wires poking out from patches stuck to his body to monitor every little thing, and his left arm stung from where blood had been drawn. People were arguing.

It felt like that was all he got lately. Arguments. If it wasn't people arguing over him, then it was him and Weiss arguing. She wasn't here of course; Weiss had lessons. Even if she didn't, he wouldn't have invited her. They weren't talking. Or, more specifically, he wasn't talking to her. Weiss was of the opinion that he was being ridiculously childish and that he would soon come to his senses and apologise to her. He wasn't about to, not until she realised what she'd done wrong.

Which, if current events were anything to go by, might take a while.

The researchers were louder now, shouting at one another and slapping hands against stacks of paper as if to drive home their points through force. One or two even looked ready to replace paper with cheeks, but they were always stopped before it got that far. Jaune sighed from his position, closed his eyes, and wished he could be anywhere else. Elm noticed.

"Alright. Alright!" Elm strode into the mess, voice raised. "Enough with the arguing. We get it – you have conflicting thoughts. That's to be expected. This is about gathering evidence from which you can all come up with your own ideas and solutions."

"Well said," replied one of Vale's Councillors, who looked pleased someone had stepped in. The old man clapped his hands together for quiet. "Discussion like this is healthy, ladies and gentlemen, but this is not the place for it. I trust that you have enough material to form some preliminary hypotheses. Yes?" There were nods. "Good. Excellent. We are, again, truly grateful for all your aid – especially those of you who have come from Mistral. It does our hearts well to see such cooperation and it shall not be forgotten. Mr Arc will be available for further testing two days from now – so let us give him a rest and let you all get to work, hm?"

Finally. The various men and women nodded along, shaking hands, apologising, and breaking off into smaller groups to discuss their findings with maturity more befitting their age. Elm helped peel the various sensors off his body, and Jaune hopped off the bench, glad to be on his feet once more. That didn't stop the councilmember cornering him before he could go.

"Jaune. Capital. I haven't had a proper chance to meet you yet. It's Coppersmith." He offered a hand, which Jaune automatically took. "I must say it's great to have you back in Vale where you belong. If only you'd returned sooner, eh? Then maybe those slave drivers in Atlas wouldn't have put you in this position."

"If only," said Jaune, trying hard not to roll his eyes. "But I think I'd have ended up the same even if I'd stayed here. Things were no less hectic in Ansel – I was simply never given time to recover my aura long enough to see it."

"Yes, well, we have the best people on the case here. Even some sent from Mistral." He winked. "Politics. I'm sure you know how it is. But if anyone can find a way to help it will be these people. Honestly, you and Ozpin should not have kept this to yourselves. We have more than enough resources to help, and our interests align with yours here fully."

Their interests. Yes. Sure. Vale's Council weren't unlike Weiss in what they wanted, except that their end-goal was less him saving lives and more the economic boom that would come from housing him. The world's eyes were on Vale once more, and combined with the Vytal Festival it was a chance for people like Coppersmith to strike it big. If they could hold a perfect festival, repair his aura, and convince him to stay? It would enshrine their names in political history. Still, Jaune felt some need to defend Ozpin, especially after he'd been put under such pressure thanks to Weiss' "clever leak" to the press.

"We only knew about this for a day or two. Ozpin wanted to avoid a panic until we had a better idea what was going on, and I agreed with him. You've seen how much publicity even something like this generates."

"All publicity is good publicity, I always say."

"Not all. Or have you not seen it from Atlas?"

Coppersmith's jovial expression faltered. "Oh, I've seen it. Been on the receiving end, too. Let's just say Atlas isn't thrilled with this news, and are likely to be even less thrilled with the fact we've found genuine evidence that your aura has been damaged. Don't you worry, though. We'll smooth that over. In fact, our political ties may have found you an interim solution already!"

Jaune hummed. "Oh?"

"Have you heard of Gillian Asturias? Vacuo's new mayor?"

"I have not."

"It happened after your political visit to Vacuo gone wrong. It turns out rather a few people were upset at the old council's poor handling of your visit, and the subsequent terrorist attack, so they held a snap election and cast out the old guard. The woman at the head of the party that took over is Gillian Asturias, and she's been very eager to expand political ties and secure trade deals. Quite the progressive young woman if I do say so myself."

Those trade deals were favourable to Vale, then. That was about the only reason he could think of this man being so pleased with her. "And how does this help me exactly?"

"Ah. Gillian got in touch through channels to send us her graduation documents from Shade Academy. Former huntress, you see. They contain her Semblance details. Simply put, her Semblance is called Aura Siphon and allows her to manually drain aura from an individual and grant it to another, or take it for her own."

"That could be useful," said Elm, stroking her jaw. "And it's safe transfer?"

"According to all documents, and Miss Asturias has offered to let us test it if we wish. She will be coming to Vale anyway for the Vytal Festival, so this is really just convenient timing. You're welcome to reject it of course. We just thought it might be a painless interim solution for you. Easier and safer than trying to burn off all that extra aura."

It would be that, and likely quicker too. The problem with burning off aura the traditional way was that it was limited by the state of his body and fitness. Elm could, and did, work him over most nights in sparring to lessen his aura, but if it started recovering too swiftly then she couldn't do that a second time without risking an injury to him.

"I'd be prepared to meet her at one of these sessions," said Jaune. "Not at Beacon, though. I don't want to put more stress on Ozpin's shoulders when he already has so much to content with."

"Understandable my boy – and respectable at that. I'll get in touch with her. It's good to have spoken with you." They shook hands again, and the politician couldn't hide his smile. "We'll get on top of this as soon as we can, so we can get you back in the hospitals where you belong."

"That sounds great…"

/-/

Jaune wiped a bloody hand across his forehead as he stumbled away from the last of the Grimm. Another afternoon in the forest, another fresh batch of slaughtered Grimm, and a marginally drained aura once more. Better yet, his burning emotions had cooled somewhat, the anger at Weiss simmering away, and his confusion surrounding Pyrrha behind that. If there was anything he missed, it was the chance to just talk with her and be normal, but he was too afraid to get in touch so soon after their kiss. Afraid he might encourage her, or that he might feel encouraged himself. He could have certainly used a hug right now but asking that of Pyrrha was a recipe for disaster.

I need more friends, he thought. A few extra close friends on her level would have made life easier, but he'd barely gotten to know Pyrrha's teammates, and Weiss' were… well, they were okay, but they were also a bit too much. Ruby quite clearly idolised him, and Yang was too intrusive. Blake? The less said, the better. And good luck me befriending anyone else when everyone just sees me for my fame.

"Jaune," said Elm. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just thinking it'd be nice to have a wider friendship circle right about now."

"Hm. I don't disagree. Why not try and make some?"

"Oh, sure. I'll just walk up to people and ask them to talk to me without their jaws hitting the floor."

Elm snorted. "That might happen, but you'll not make any friends if you don't at least give it a try. You can't wait for people to approach you and expect them to be exactly what you want. You've got to put some effort in yourself."

He knew she had a point but it was so hard to approach people without his fame hanging over him. Plus, most people were in teams and friendship circles right now, and that made dealing with them difficult. At that very moment, the nearby bushes rustled again and a familiar team of three stepped out. He'd have called it suspicious if not for the fact they were in roughly the same area as last night, and that the team were clearly just sticking to their routine. They'd also run into a few others as well since coming out, though few teams wanted to train this late.

"Hello again," said the dark-haired woman. "Is this going to be a recurring theme that you've killed all the Grimm we'd train on?"

"The early bird catches the worm," said Elm. "Besides, having to roam further is good training for you." Her eyes sparkled. "In fact, why don't we join you this time?"

Wait, what? Jaune eyed Elm frantically but she was doing that "refusing to make eye contact" thing, so he couldn't find a way to intrude without speaking up and being rude. It wasn't like he didn't know what she was doing. I know I said I wanted to make friends but why would you grab the first team you see? Argh!

"We'd be happy to have your expertise, Miss Ederne. I'm Cinder. These are Emerald and Mercury. Introduce yourselves."

"Hello," said Emerald, a green-haired girl with tan skin. "I'm Emerald."

"Sup," grunted the silver-haired boy. Emerald frowned and elbowed his side, but he just sighed and took it, refusing to say another word.

"Forgive Mercury," said Cinder. "He's not as gung-ho for extracurricular training as the rest of us." She smiled and rolled her eyes. "He'd rather sit around reading comics and playing videogames. It's a wonder he made it as a huntsman at all."

"Takes all types. So, I'm Elm Ederne – you three don't look old enough to attend my guest lectures here. Don't mind me, I'll sit back and let you all fight. Though, if I might ask, aren't you supposed to be a team of four?"

"Our fourth member is even lazier than Mercury and vanishes whenever we plan to go out. There's not much I can do short of handcuffing herself to me, and even then I've a feeling she'd slip away the moment I look aside."

Elm and the woman laughed, and Jaune felt left out – which wasn't as bad as it sounded. It was a relief that they weren't gushing over him. The new part of five roamed out a little further into the Emerald Forest to find some Grimm, and the team of three, from Haven in Mistral, made short work of them. Elm offered advice and little tips here and there, but for the most part let them go at it. What she did was keep looking his way, eyebrows raising, head tilting, inviting him without words to put his idea into practice and make some new friends. Or at least one. Jaune groaned internally but did slide over to the closest – the boy who, at least, shared an interest in comics.

"H-Hey. Mercury, wasn't it?"

"Hm? Yeah, that's me. Jaune, right?" The boy smirked. "What's it like being the most famous person in existence?"

Erk. Straight to the point. The guy was almost mocking with the way he said it, but that didn't feel so bad. At least it wasn't being put on a pedestal. I'd rather be mocked than adored at the rate things are going.

"It's not as fun as it sounds."

"Yeah? How come?"

"Everyone watches your every move and feels they should have a say or an opinion. You can't go to the toilet without someone trying to snap a photo. Not to mention people think they know you before they've even met you, and make assumptions on how you act and what you're like. And they approach you out of nowhere to talk to you."

"Ugh. No thanks. That last one sounds shit." Mercury snorted. "I'm not a people person. Can't stand them. Don't even do that whole `buddy-buddy` thing with my team. You know if it's talk you want then Emerald is better at this shit than me."

Was that a hint to take his friendship elsewhere? Maybe, but Jaune wasn't feeling up to approaching Cinder or Emerald. The former seemed nice, but almost too nice, and the latter…? Well, maybe he was reading into things wrong but she felt a little off. He said as much, and far from being offended, Mercury wore a huge, feral grin.

"Yeah? How does she seem?"

"I don't know how to put it into words. Like she's trying too hard to be nice? Like she's been told to be friendly and is putting it on? I'm sorry if that sounds rude."

"Rude? Ha!" Mercury burst out laughing, drawing everyone's eyes. He waved them off and wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh man, that's great. And not rude. Man, you nailed her perfectly. Emerald is such a goodie-two-shoes that she'd polish Cinder's shoes if she asked. You know what, you're alright."

Jaune found himself smiling back a little. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Really? Cinder and Emerald constantly tell me I have zero social skills and that I'm probably a misanthrope or something."

"People with social skills tend to crowd me asking for autographs or thinking they understand what it's like to have a Semblance like mine. Maybe I'm feeling a little misanthropic myself recently as well."

"Hmm. People suck, eh?"

"Yeah." Jaune nodded. "They really do."

"It's a lesson to learn early," said Mercury, leaning back against a tree. "Everyone has their best interests at heart – even us. And that's fine and all. Got to look out for number one. It's just shit when people start tyring to push you to do what they want and justify it with stupid things like moral right, obligation, and duty."

"Or responsibility. Like because I have this Semblance, I have to use it on people or I'm killing them myself."

"Stupid. At least you got paid. I'd have zero respect in you if you'd done all this for free."

"I did at first, back in Ansel, but that was before I realised how much everyone else was benefitting from my Semblance. My healing was never a charity. The hospitals make money, the city makes money, the people around me make money. It's stupid if I'm the only one not."

"Bet some would push that idea, though." His voice rose to a squeaky one. "You should be using your semblance for good! You should share it with as many people as possible! With great power comes great responsibility!"

Jaune laughed. "That last one is straight out of the comics."

"Yeah, well, it's a shit idea either way. Why does responsibility come from power? If you've worked for something and earned it, then why are you suddenly responsible for every little thing that goes wrong if you don't act? It's lazy is what it is. Anyone can perform CPR and yet most people never learn how. Aren't they responsible for anyone who has a heart attack near them?"

Mercury really was cynical. Not wrong, though. Maybe he'd also become cynical over recent days. Either way, it felt nice to be able to talk to someone about that – though there was always the chance this conversation would make it on tomorrow's headlines. He had to be careful about that.

"I take it you don't care much about fame, then." said Jaune.

"Nah. I care bout food, women, fun and… well, that's about it. Oh, and laying around. I can't believe I get dragged out here every night to exercise."

"You could always vanish like your teammate."

"Yeah, well, she has a little help on that front from her Semblance and I don't."

"You've not unlocked it yet?"

Mercury's face darked. "I unlocked it. Someone stole it from me."

What? That was a thing? Jaune couldn't quite help the feeling that swelled up in his stomach, even if he knew the world would never understand him wanting it. "W-Who did that? Is it-?"

"He's dead." Mercury's deadpan response had his hopes crushed. "I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not."

"No. That's fine. I mean, I don't expect you to be happy about it."

"Yeah. Guess you were interested, huh?" There was no condemnation in his voice. "Are things that bad?"

"Hospitals twice a day, worked to exhaustion, protests even when I am working. If I heal humans I'm racist against faunus, and if I try to heal an equal amount of faunus then I'm virtue signalling. Parents crying that I should heal their children instead, and people arguing that I'm favouring rich people over poor even though I'm not the one who decides who gets healed. My life isn't my own anymore."

"Okay. Wow. Shit. Didn't realise it was that bad."

Jaune felt the air escape him. He deflated. "I-I'm sorry. I-"

"Nah, man. It's fine. I rant and you rant. It's cool. Honestly, it's good to have someone who isn't all love, peace, and putting on a friendly face."

"Yeah." He felt the same way, odd as that sounded. Maybe it was desperation to make a new friend, or maybe it was the relief in being able to complain to someone who would freely complain back. Even he felt it was a bit too quick, but he wasn't in the right state of mind to take his time. Elm was great, and he loved her, but it wasn't the same when she was so much older and wiser. "That's one thing I'm sick of. Especially smiling for politicians. Had to do that today."

"You met them today?"

"It was at the aura testing."

"Oh yeah." Mercury scratched his cheek. "That thing…"

"You have no idea what I'm talking about…"

"Oh, come on," groaned the other teen. "It's news. I can't be arsed with that. It's always misery this, misery that, some famous idiot cheated on another famous idiot. Whine, whine, whine. Life's bad enough when you have homework. I don't want to borrow drama from other people."

"Hey…" Jaune's tongue felt too big for his mouth. "Want to exchange numbers?"

"Yeah, sure." Mercury tossed his scroll over. "Might be fun to have someone on my contacts who isn't getting on my back to be more positive, more friendly, or shit like that." He took the scroll back when Jaune put his number in, then sent a quick message. Just the letter "a". Mercury shrugged at how low effort it was. "What you see is what you get. Don't expect effort out of me and we'll get on fine."

/-/

Shock and awe, his conversation with Mercury had not made national news come morning. In fact, none of them had mentioned him at all. It reminded him of what Ironwood and Elm had said before, that out of any demographic, huntsmen and huntresses would be the least likely to expect things from him. They knew what Semblances were like, they knew how aura worked, and they were trained to stay alive and healthy. There still hadn't been anything worse than illnesses, concussions and broken bones at the infirmary. The only fatality had been that man who tried to walk his way to Beacon. Jaune had to wonder if there were more dead bodies out there as a result, and whether those were his fault for encouraging the first.

Then he remembered Mercury's words and dismissed such thoughts. People should take responsibility for their own lives. It was different if a board meeting got blown up by terrorists – no one could predict that – but walking into a forest full of Grimm when you didn't have aura or training was suicide, and he refused to hold himself accountable for idiots. There were no texts from Weiss. His fiancée was still waiting for him to apologise. There was one from Pyrrha – a simple "are we okay?" No, they weren't, and yet Jaune didn't want to let that stay the same. He couldn't criticise Weiss' inability to communicate if he did the same thing.

"I'm not angry or upset with you," he typed back. "I'm just trying to deal with a lot of crap since Weiss leaked my aura condition to press. Talk to you soon. Promise."

He finished with a smiling face, hoping that would alleviate her concerns. Seconds later, he received a responding face, the same smiley emoji. They'd have to talk about the kiss. No escaping it, really. He didn't want to lose her either. He thought about typing that he'd missed her, but that might be taken the wrong way.

"I'll have to meet up with her in person and talk. Not looking forward to that…"

It was a plan, though. A step forward. Maybe Elm was right and he'd been overthinking everything. Not everyone was going to see him for his Semblance, and he just needed to have the guts to reach out, and the willingness to let his prejudices aside for a moment and give people a chance. If they threw that back in his face then to hell with them.

I'm at 120% aura, thought Jaune, checking his scroll. Guess I'd better get to the infirmary and let Doctor Tsune take a look at that.

/-/

"I can't believe you of all people got close to him."

"What can I say?" mocked Mercury. "We're kindred spirits."

"In being assholes?"

"The world is a shit place, Emerald. Anyone and everyone wants you for what you have or can offer, and they'll drop you the second you're not useful. Jaune gets that. The sooner you do, the better."

"If you two can stop for but a moment," said Cinder. Despite the instructions, she didn't look displeased. In fact, she'd been rather happy with them since last night. "I, too, am surprised dear Mercury was the one to form a connection, but that is good news either way. Perhaps you're right. He's clearly disgruntled with the attention and expectations the kingdoms have heaped upon his shoulders. Kindred spirit might be a more apt term than any of us realise."

"What's the plan, then?" asked Mercury. "Am I to lure him out for a trap?"

"No. We're staying here in Beacon for the short term anyway to take care of our other plans. There's no need to make that harder. You should take the time to become a closer friend to him. Be yourself – horrifying as it is to admit that – and befriend him. By all accounts it looks like he's losing all faith in the system anyway, and the recent actions taken by Vale aren't going to help that any. Recruiting him to our cause might be less a factor of us taking action, and more being there to pick him up once the kingdoms turn on him." She chuckled. "I don't see any reason for us to interfere or make his life worse at all. In fact, I'm content for us to become his greatest allies. We certainly don't care for his fame, and we won't be asking him to waste away in a hospital."

"Huh." Mercury grinned. "I'm fine to just be me, then?"

"Yes."

"Heavens help that poor guy." muttered Emerald. "Encouraging Mercury to befriend him is probably the most evil thing we've done yet."


So, you're saying I get to be "bro" Mercury?

Aight. I'm sold.

In a sense, it's an odd but fitting friendship with some weird Semblance dynamics. Mercury had his Semblance stolen from him and killed the one who did it, and Jaune had his Semblance forced upon him and wishes he didn't have it.


Next Chapter: 9th March

Like my work? Please consider supporting me, even if it's only a little a month or even for a whole year, so I can keep writing so many stories as often as I do. Even a little means a lot and helps me dedicate more time and resources to my work.

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur