I'll be off from 15th – 21st April, and back on 22nd.
Cover Art: GWBrex
Chapter 40
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Two arrested for plots against Arc's family. Politicians from all parties decry rise of violent extremism.
Atlas Times
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Foreign investment in Vale for first quarter eclipses all of last year according to economical forecasts. Experts credit Jaune Arc's presence as primary cause for companies moving to Vale.
Vale Daily Tribune
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Mistral Council averts political crisis by reaching agreement on envoys to be sent to Vale.
The Mistral Review
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Vacuo's mayor uses political kudos gained from work with Arc to "cash in" new trade deal for Vacuo worth seventeen million lien!
Vacuo Today
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Tensions flare between Sienna Khan and Ghira Belladonna.
Kuo Kuana Express
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"WHAT!?"
Weiss slammed her hands down on the table and rose to her feet. It was a good job he'd decided to have this be a private dinner because all eyes would have been on them if this were a restaurant. Jaune sat back, stomach sinking. He'd known it would probably come to this but that didn't mean he hadn't been holding out hope for things to go better. Naïve of him, really.
"What do you mean we're not working out?" she hissed. "Is this… Is this some sort of sick joke?"
The dinner had been good, the movie they'd watched on the couch had been well-written, but the wine they'd sat down to after to "talk" hadn't really been strong enough to soothe his nerves. Still, he'd thought the good outweighed the bad so he'd swallowed his fear and done as Elm suggested.
"Weiss, please-"
"No! You don't get to Weiss please me after what you just said!"
"Well, we have to talk about this, don't we? We can't just shout at one another. Besides, I'm only doing what you asked of me." Her stunned expression told him she didn't understand what he meant. "Wasn't it you who told me I should be honest to you at all times, and come to you in private with any problems I might have with our relationship? What do you think I'm doing right now?"
"…" Weiss stared at him and then glanced away, caught by her own words. Her teeth gnashed, but she forcefully took her seat and slid herself back against the table. Her hand gripped the glass of wine like a vice. "I do not understand," she said, voice tight and tense, and only a smidgeon below angry shouting because she forced it to be. "I felt – I feel that things are going well. Where's all this coming from? I thought we were happy. Is this about me leaking your condition to the press? I said I was sorry about that already."
You said you were sorry it upset me, not sorry that you did it. Jaune took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. They were scattered all over the room. Elm had made this sound so easy but that was the thing about hypothetical scenarios. They were always undertaken with logical characters. He was anything but at a time like this, and Weiss was on edge as well. Though, given what they were doing, he wasn't sure there would be a time where either of them wouldn't be.
"I'm just not convinced our future will be a good one," said Jaune. "You love the idea of me spending every day in the hospitals working my Semblance, or as many as I can manage, while you go around being the high-flying huntress and businesswoman."
Weiss stiffened. "What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing on your end. It's my end that's the problem. I don't want to be someone who exists solely as a Semblance with a person attached to it. I'm me, but the world doesn't see it that way. My Semblance is what matters to them. And that's fine. I don't expect a stranger in another country to know and love me as a real person." He leaned forward. "But I'd hope my future wife would."
"What makes you think I don't?"
"Oh, I don't know. How about the fact that every conversation we have loops back to my hospital work in one way or another."
"That's not fair!" said Weiss. "You bring that up half the time."
"I wouldn't be bringing it up if the matter was ever dealt with. Look, you asked me for full honesty so here it is." He took a deep breath. "I hate working in the hospitals."
Weiss' mouth fell open.
"I hate the people, I hate the children, I hate the crowds, I hate the negligent parents, I hate the stupid way most of the children have died. I hate the doctors, I hate the photographers, I definitely hate all the idiots screaming that I should be healing their family instead of someone else's. I especially hate being so tired after that I can't think, that I can't muster the energy to do anything, and that I feel like while everyone else gets a second shot at life, I just get to crawl into a bed and begin the day anew."
His voice had risen towards the end, growing in strength as he found an odd relief in letting the truth out at last. It was satisfying in the same way wailing on a punching bag was. More so for him than Weiss by the looks of things; she was horrified.
"I hate how entitled everyone is and how I'm just a dispenser of life being squeezed to breaking point. Don't you get it, Weiss? That's not me. I'm not me. The guy you would meet up with after my hospitals trips was a version of me too exhausted to show my real personality. It was muted and worn out."
"T-Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I was too damn tired!" he shouted. "And did you hear what happened to me in Ansel? What part of that makes it sound like I'd have any faith that saying my mind would change a thing? They trampled my mother to death in front of me! I watched her die!" He forced his fingers to unclench from the table's edge. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be shouting." He made himself sit back down with great effort. "It's not you that's the problem. Not specifically. More like, you got wrapped up in all of that. You saw the me that was working himself to death in the hospitals, the me that was slowly falling apart and hating every moment of it, and who was only going along with it because he felt he had to and because his family needed him to…" He took a deep breath. "And you fell in love with that shell of a man. Somehow."
Weiss was staring at him like she didn't know what to make of him. As if he'd spoken in another language. He might have come on too fast, too soon, and he'd meant for this to be a much longer and thought out discussion. So much for that plan.
"I…" Weiss stood. "I need to think on this. Alone," she added, moving for the door.
It opened and closed behind her, and Jaune slumped down on the table to bang his forehead against the wood. A moment later, Elm walked in. He didn't doubt she'd heard everything. Jaune brought his head up and let it fall again with a thunk.
"That went well," said Elm.
"Are you seriously saying that to me?" asked Jaune. "I can't tell if you're trying to trick me, being patronising, or if you really think I'm that stupid."
"Neither." The taller woman came around to stand behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She pushed down, kneading his tense muscles. "And that didn't go as badly as it could have. I admit, I expected screaming for a moment."
"Weiss couldn't give me an answer…"
"That's a good thing, Jaune."
"Is it…?"
"If she'd given you an answer here and now then it would have been a rushed answer or a lie. Both of which suggest she doesn't take this relationship or your feelings seriously." Elm chuckled and let go of his shoulders to ruffle his hair. "She asked for time to think about what you've said instead, which means she's going to put real thought into your words. Consider them deeply. Isn't that for the best? Do you really want her to make a bad decision on the spot?"
"…" Jaune sighed. "I suppose not. And I guess you're right." It didn't feel good to watch her walk away, but Elm had a good point. There was nothing bad about Weiss wanting to think long and hard on what he'd asked her to. Maybe she'd have an answer for him after that. "I guess I was just hoping she'd have the perfect answer that fixed all this. That's silly of me."
"That's human of you. You both obviously care for one another's feelings which is why you're both taking this so hard."
Jaune chuckled. "I thought you were on Team Pyrrha?"
"I'm on Team Jaune. And you can have feelings for a person that don't equate to romantic love. I care for you – but I'm not about to jump you." Elm grinned. "I'd crush you."
"Some might say it would be a good way to go."
"You flirt." Elm laughed and cuffed his shoulder, then dragged him out his seat. "Come on. A bottle of wine alone in the dark isn't a good thing for you right now. You're going to have a spar with me in the rings."
"Elm, I really just feel tired-"
"You're emotionally tired. Not physically. Trust me, if you go to bed right now you'll be awake for hours thinking over this and picking apart your every word. I'll have you so worn out you'll pass out the moment you hit the bed."
Pass out, huh?
That sounded kinda good right now…
/-/
"How did they die?"
It was as busy a day as it ever was in Vale's hospitals, and since his healing was still a novelty here, various newscasters and camera people had shown up to video the whole thing. He hadn't had any response from Weiss yet, which he told himself was a good thing. It showed she was putting serious thought into this, just as Elm had said. Any impatience on his part would just impact her decision and maybe even cause another problem. He had to give her time.
A cynical part of him wished Weiss could be here watching to see what he had to go through, but she'd been here plenty of times and always loved it. He supposed it would be easy to like watching people be brought back to life and reunited. He might like it too, if he wasn't the one expending his literal soul to make it happen.
"-only took our eyes off him for a second," rambled the man that must have been the boy's father. "He jumped off the swings. I tried to catch him. He landed headfirst."
The rest was history, and also kind of obvious given the neck brace the boy was in. Just another playground accident. It was honestly ridiculous how many children died in those, though his experience was probably exaggerated somewhat by the fact he got saddled with every single one. It wasn't like Vale could ban play among children for safety concerns. But, and yet again, he couldn't help but feel like the parents could have kept their eyes on their children. His parents had eight, and they'd managed to keep them all alive and well.
Minutes later, the boy was alive again and being smothered by his parents. Jaune walked out before the gratitude could come. It always made him feel irritable when they heaped it upon him – though that was probably because he felt deep inside he didn't deserve it. After all, he was only doing this because he had to.
"-could smile at least," mumbled a man behind a camera.
Not quietly enough.
"Perhaps you'd like to come out here and give your very soul out in bits and pieces and then smile about it," mumbled Jaune, under his breath. He wouldn't say it because they'd only get it on tape and make his life hell.
Rescue came in the form of Elm who told the doctors, in no uncertain terms, that he would be taking a quick break for a snack and a drink. "No one that's waiting will go beyond the time limit if he takes thirty minutes to recharge his batteries. And you have no idea how exhausting this is for him. Go. Shoo. Get out of here."
They took over a staff room at the hospital and Elm got him some snacks from the nearby vending machine. Jaune tore into the chocolate greedily, checking his scroll as he did. No missed calls or messages from Weiss.
It's a good thing. It's a good thing.
A couple from his family he'd respond to later. He missed them. Closing it, he leaned back and yawned. His aura was about half, which was near the point where most huntsmen stopped training for fear of exhausting themselves.
"Looking at you now, I can't believe we ever thought this sustainable," said Elm. "Were we really that blind?"
"I think it's more I convinced myself I had to do it," said Jaune. It wasn't their fault. "I had to repay Atlas, and I had to keep my family safe, and I had to earn the relief money for Ansel. All that together and I just forced myself to go along with it day-in, day-out."
"Was it ever fun for you?"
"No-" He considered that. "Maybe. I think it was for a while. Back when it was new and exciting, and when it all still mattered. I don't know if I got bored of it or if something changed inside me. Maybe seeing all those dead bodies got me used to the idea of it. All I know is that it stopped feeling special after a while. It stopped mattering."
"Boredom could be the answer. We spend most our time training, and sometimes it winds you up. No one can do the same thing over and over and not go stir-crazy."
"Yeah. Try telling that to them."
Elm laughed. "I guess it'll never stop seeming like a big deal to the average joe. Death is something terrifying to them, you know? I mean, it's scary to me as well, but I've been in so many life or death situations that I think I could face it bravely if it came. Most people go about their lives trying not to think about it. Ever. It's too uncomfortable for them."
It was hard to say if it had ever been that way for him when he'd only been fifteen when he unlocked his Semblance. Most kids that age didn't think much on their mortality. He knew what she meant, though. He'd heard that some parts of Vacuo practiced a more "in touch" spirituality with the dead, having different cultures and rituals about it so that you accepted it as a natural part of life. Most places didn't. To most people death was a taboo you didn't speak about, and one everyone knew waited at the end of their lives, but never wanted to address. It didn't surprise him that soldiers and huntresses would be a little more open to the idea of it. They probably had to cover the concept and very real possibility of it in training. Plus, they'd no doubt seen a lot of dead people where Grimm were involved.
"Do you think things would be better if everyone was less afraid of it?" asked Jaune.
"Dunno." Elm seemed to realise it was an idle question because she kicked her legs up. "Maybe. I don't think it could hurt – and not just from your point of view. I mean that I think everyone would feel a lot less afraid if people were more willing to talk about it. I hear a lot of people die early and don't even have a will laid out. That'd be one thing fixed at any rate."
"It's an interesting thought." Distracting, too, which was what he liked about it. Elm never acted like he was an idiot. "But I guess you'd have to get through people's automatic reactions of wanting to avoid talking about life and-"
A loud noise sounded several floors below and the building trembled. Jaune grabbed the table to keep himself still, but Elm was already off her chair, on her feet, and against the door. "What's happening!?" she roared to the people outside.
"I-I don't know," said a doctor, mere moments before a shrill alarm began to ring. "That's the fire alarm. There's no drill scheduled today-"
Elm was already on her scroll. "General. It's me, Elm. There's been an incident at the hospital. Requesting backup either from Atlas or from Beacon. No, I have him secure. I'm not leaving this room unless the building is threatening to come down. Understood, sir. Holding position."
Jaune waited for her to be done before standing. The building had trembled but was staying up, so that was a good sign. He let Elm usher him away from the window, not that there was any sniper looking in but… well. Better safe than sorry.
"Maybe it's nothing or maybe it's an accident," she said, "but there's no point taking any chances."
"Yeah. I know." Jaune smiled weakly. "Ten lien says it's White Fang?"
Elm snorted. "No bet."
It only took fifteen minutes for aircraft to touch down and General Ironwood to rush out with a number of soldiers and even a few huntsmen. Glynda Goodwitch was among them, but so too was Vacuo's mayor, Gillian Asturias, who had been staying at Beacon and had presumably answered the call for any huntresses and huntsmen able to assist. Elm soon received a call that it was safe for them to come down, at which point the devastation had become clear.
The downstairs waiting area of the hospital had been turned black and grey, and bodies lay slumped about underneath cloth sheets that emergency workers were laying here and there. Ambulances, fire trucks, police, and the hospital's own staff were doing their best to assess the damage, and groaning but surviving victims and staff alike were being quickly wheeled away for treatment. General Ironwood was shouting at some police officers who wanted to close the scene and get them all out. That soon ended when they spotted him.
"Jaune!" barked Ironwood. He rushed over. "You're all right? Good. Well done, Elm. Quick thinking. Glynda!" he shouted. "They're here." The teacher hurried over, her face set like thunder. "We're still piecing together what happened but it looks like an IED was brought into the hospital and detonated. A survivor claims that the man who did it claimed to have a daughter meeting with you, but he activated the device when the receptionist demanded ID proof."
"White Fang?" asked Elm.
"Curiously, no," said Glynda. "The witnesses reported him as human with a pale complexion and clothing reminiscent of Atlas."
Jaune's stomach dropped. "You can't be serious. They already tried to kill my family but this too?"
Glynda looked to Ironwood. "James…?"
"A new group starting up in Atlas," he explained quickly. "We're looking into them. I hadn't thought they'd be capable of this. It was mostly just disjointed idiots blaming all the world's ills on Jaune here. The one who tried to kill his family was neither well-equipped nor particularly clever."
A crunch sounded as Gillian Asturias walked over to them. Her face was set in stone. "You can surely find out more if the perpetrator is resurrected, no?" She glanced jaune's way. "Assuming you can bring back someone blown to smithereens. Can you? I'd more than understand if it wasn't possible."
"I've brought back people nearly crushed to death before. It should work."
"There are too many here," said Elm. "There's at least thirty people dead – not to mention ten children still on the waiting list, and you know Jaune will catch shit if he doesn't bring them back. Even if we prioritised the doctors, nurses, and then the young, he wouldn't be able to save half the people here."
He wouldn't.
And yet he wanted to.
It was an odd feeling – to want to use his Semblance. After he'd just decried having to use it too. What was the difference? Why did he feel so utterly sick of helping some, but then feel a burning desire to step in here? Was it because the one who had killed them was a bastard he wanted to prove wrong? Was it because it was different? Exciting? Jaune really wasn't sure. Either way, he looked to Gillian with an almost desperate intensity.
She noticed.
"I could drain us all to give him enough aura, but are you sure you want me to? It might set a precedent. Even if I tell people I won't exist as a mere battery for you, there will be people who say we should. They'd say we were both selfish."
"They'll say that anyway," said Jaune. "They're already saying it."
"You're not wrong." The woman from Vacuo sighed and looked to Ironwood, Elm and Glynda. "Are you willing?"
"Not Elm," said Ironwood. "She needs to be capable of protecting him. I am fine, and we can find more volunteers among the huntsmen who came with us I'm sure. But Jaune, she's right. Do you really want to do this? They have four hours yet. We can wait and think this out, discuss who to bring back and no one will criticise you."
"No. I want this. I… I don't know why but I actually want to do this. Like, I actively want to."
"Really?" He looked curious. Good. Jaune was curious, too. Maybe Ironwood could figure it out. "Hm. Well, if you want to then I'm willing." He held his human hand out to Gillian. "Take what you need but leave me able to stand and walk."
Gillian ignored his arm. "I'll need to give my own first. Not much point me taking from you if I'm full aura." Her hand found his shoulder, and Jaune sucked in a breath as heat roared into him. It wasn't actually hot, but it felt like a warmth spreading through him. It was the best analogy. Gillian let go a moment later. "There's more left. Burn off that first. And a word of advice – leave the perpetrator until last."
/-/
It took an hour.
Weirdly, he'd call it one of the best hours of his life. The people who gasped back to life were shocked, confused, and then left in abject panic looking over themselves and realising that they had just died and lived again. They weren't crying and holding onto one another, they weren't shaking his hand and thanking him.
They were just taking in the fact they were alive again, as police officers and hospital workers wrapped towels about them and led them away to sit down with some coffee or tea. For a lot of them, their clothes had been burnt off and obviously didn't come back with them so a lot of gowns and spare hospital scrubs were being found and handed out.
Jaune wasn't sure why he enjoyed it even as Ironwood gave his aura, and then Glynda. All he knew was that he stood in the middle of a bombed-out waiting area surrounded by the dead, but that the number of dead dwindled minute by minute.
The one responsible came last of all, and several officers stood nearby, ready to jump him the second he reformed. His body was in pieces, so it wasn't like they could pin it down beforehand, but when the man – pale, Atlesian, human – came back to life, two police officers jumped him and slammed his face down to the floor.
Elm sighed. "I should have taken that bet."
"Your loss," said Jaune, smiling brightly. He knelt, wanting – no, needing – to look the man in the eye, and to let the man see him. "Hello there. I understand you were trying to see me. Well, good news. I saw fit to bring you back. And everyone you so thoughtlessly hurt."
The man was older than him, maybe early or mid-thirties. He had a short buzzcut, so he might have been military, or it might have just been his look. His dark green eyes met Jaune's and widened. "You!" he rasped. His lips peeled back. "You traitor!"
"Traitor?" Jaune's brows came together. "Traitor to what?"
"We paid you," ranted the man. "We gave you a home, we made you who you are – Atlas made you!"
"Atlas also pushed me out. Does that not ring any bells?"
"I'm not alone! You won't get away with your lies! And this proves it! Ahah! Ha ha! This proves you could have done more, could have saved more, but you never did! You always held back. You're a selfish, greedy sack of human shit!"
"You got one part right. I'm human. I only have so much aura. Gillian helped here, and I've undone all the wrong you did." Jaune stood. "You're welcome. You'll probably go to jail for life over this. I hope it's worth it."
"Probably?" snorted an officer, slamming cuffs into place. "I'd like to see a jury decide otherwise. You have a right to a lawyer once we find one with skin thick enough to represent you. Might take us a while." He hauled the man up, then pulled him back when he tried to break free and run Jaune down. "Bad enough having to deal with White Fang, but now Atlas has its own brand of terrorists. That's just what we need."
The man frothed and spat and screamed as he was hauled out. Screamed about justice, about others coming to finish what he started, and about how he wouldn't be going to jail once Atlas heard about this. Jaune doubted the latter. Even those basing their whole platforms on disliking him wouldn't go out and approve of terrorism like this. They'd never speak well of someone who detonated a bomb among women and children.
"You look pleased with yourself," said Ironwood.
"I guess I am. It feels good to hit back against someone like that. This all felt kind of good actually. Miss Goodwitch?" He waited for her to turn his way and hum to show she was listening. "Huntsmen and huntresses are often hurt on missions, right? And they come across people who have been killed by Grimm."
"More often than I can recount."
"I think I'd like to heal them more than I do people at the hospital." He wasn't sure if the good mood would stick, or if it would be transferable, but it was worth a shot. "Is that something Ozpin can make happen?"
"He can certainly try. May I ask why?"
"It just feels different. More real. More effective. And they died because they risked their lives against monsters. The people I deal with here…" Jaune lowered his voice. "They're dead because of stupidity, or accidents, or just from bad decisions. It's not the same. It felt good to help these people because they shouldn't have died. They had no choice and no control. I know it doesn't make any sense."
"I'll speak to Ozpin. He'll have to speak to the Council. I'm sure we could get at least one day swapped if nothing."
His scroll buzzed angrily. There was a message from Weiss. "I saw the news! Are you okay? Are you safe?"
I'm fine, he typed back.
He felt more alive than he had in months.
I've heard rumblings that Weiss x Jaune might become a thing in canon because Weiss is maybe falling for Jaune's older alter-ego. Doesn't that come across a bit shallow, though? I mean, surely it'd be better for them to fall for one another due to expansive character development over the course of all those volumes rather than "oh look, he's older and hot now!"
Don't get me wrong, it's not unrealistic to like someone's appearance, but if Weiss is going from 0 interest before to 100 interest after, then it's basically just the same as saying the only thing she's interested in is his looks.
I could be wrong though. I'm only getting cliff notes sent to me as I'm not watching it.
Next Chapter: 13th April
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