Yo!

Without further ado...

Chapter 9

It had been a few days since their little excursion to Forever Fall, and apparently Cinder and Emerald were getting along again.

In Mercury's opinion, that was a good thing. After all, in the single day they'd been – fighting? Feuding? Just generally angsting? – about one another, Cinder had nearly immolated his game console the first time he'd so much as made a peep inside his dorm.

Apparently that woman was somehow more of a bitch than she let on, which was almost impressive, given she let on that she was quite the bitch.

Anyways, somehow that segued into why Mercury was currently standing in front of Team JNPR's dormroom, holding his controller in his left hand, and yawning into his right.

…Somehow. Mercury wasn't entirely sure, but…

Meh, it probably made sense.

Mercury knocked on the door, and Nikos of all people answered, smiling up at him with this little gleam in her eyes that Mercury didn't quite think himself capable of parsing. She'd been looking at him like that ever since Forever Fall.

He wished he could've figured out why.

"Ah, Mercury. Here to play with the others?"

"Certainly, seems like it." He responded to the rather idiotic question. "You gonna' let me in, or?"

"Of course." Pyrrha Nikos stepped to the side, before calling back into the room behind her, "Mercury's here!"

A chorus of halfhearted cheers rang out from inside, and Mercury found himself rolling his eyes at Nikos' short chuckle. He walked inside, and immediately, he noticed that Neo was there, because apparently she had decided she was playing tagalong with Mercury forever.

Honestly, she was quiet and didn't really get in the way, so it was all right with him.

Things seemed to be mostly back to normal in the JNPR dorm. Nora Valkyrie made vague noises that probably constituted speech for someone so high on either caffeine or cocaine that it might as well have been their blood, and the other one, Lie Ren, just humored her. Or perhaps he genuinely understood every word that came out of her mouth, though Mercury wouldn't have bet on that option.

Still, the fact that the chatter had gone back to incomprehensible let Mercury know that the members of Juniper were apparently cool with one another again, so that scenario Jaune had been having with that other kid – like Caiden, or something? – seemed to have resolved itself.

Which was good, given things had been too awkward the last time he'd been by to play as much as he'd wanted.

They booted up Smash Sisters, and immediately, Mercury's improvement earned him his first victory of the day. His lips curled upwards in blissful victory, and the others laughed and traded casual barbs. Hell, even Nikos joined in, playing as some green-haired goddess woman, though she was always the first one out, given she kept running off the side of the platform without anyone hitting her.

"How do you play this?" She laughed as she placed fifth yet again.

"Here, here," Jaune laughed as he scooted over, and placed his hands around Nikos' own. "I'll show you; you walk with this one, right?"

"H-Huh?"

"Pyrrha, you alright? You're awfully red."

Mercury wasn't really sure how the boy was quite that oblivious, and yet there he was, sitting just behind Pyrrha Nikos, his partner, placing his hands atop hers to guide her in playing the game, and genuinely doing so without any ulterior motives, despite the fact that the woman who was making a concerted effort to scootch into his lap most certainly wanted him to have ulterior motives.

Mercury would've sighed, or commented, if he'd cared more.

He still didn't.

They played for another hour or so, and Mercury had managed to win every single game. It was good. Great, even, up until Lie Ren, of all people, lucked out, juggling him with that blasted pink orb he liked playing as off the screen.

It took nearly everything Mercury possessed to not throw his controller at the wall as Nora Valkyrie screeched in victory, running over, and lifting up her boytoy and raising him high into the air.

"Nora, please put me down."

"Never! You are the victor of the grand tournament! As such, the queen offers you any wish you desire!"

"I desire to be put down."

Mercury rolled his eyes. The sexual tension in the JNPR dorm was so thick that Mercury was fairly sure it could've been cut with a reasonably sharp blade. Neopolitan seemed to think the same, if the way she actually looked up from her book to roll her eyes at them all was proof enough.

"If you two are done," Mercury hissed out. "We have another round to play. I'm not getting off on a loss!"

"Aw, c'mon Merc," Jaune laughed. "That last one was pretty close. Even you have to admit it was pretty fun, no?"

"Huh? Why would it be fun?" Mercury commented, shooting the boy a disbelieving look. "I lost."

Jaune reacted subtly to that, his eyes twitching ever so slightly.

"Y'know, Merc… it's not just supposed to be about winning." Jaune said, sounding a bit unsure of himself. "I mean… You're supposed to have fun."

Mercury brow drew down. "…Huh?"

"I mean… you can win, sure, but the real thing you're after is… I guess… entertainment? It's supposed to be a fun thing to do. Not really a… chore? When I played with my siblings, even when I lost, it was… well, it was less fun than beating them, but it didn't make me mad."

"Seems like you're the weird one, then. How could you lose and not be upset at yourself?"

"Well…" Jaune looked back at his teammates, seemingly asking for support. None of them seemed to really have much to offer the boy, likely because none of them had really played these games until he'd shone it to them. "I guess cause it's just a game. More than anything, it's supposed to be for fun."

Mercury just kept staring.

"Uhm… do you not have fun when you play it, Mercury?"

"Can't say I do, not terribly much."

"Then… let me ask you something. If the game does make you mad when you lose, and you don't have fun… then why play it?"

"To win." He answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "For the satisfaction of winning."

"I… I guess that's fine."

Jaune Arc very clearly didn't think that was fine, but Mercury didn't quite have the energy to call him on it.

"Can I ask something more personal, Mercury?"

He was quite surprised to find that it was Lie Ren of all people asking him that.

He shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"What do you do for fun?"

"For fun…?"

…What did Mercury do for fun?

When he honestly thought about it… he didn't know. Sure, he went to clubs on occasion, and partook of drinking but… did he do that to have… fun?

No. He never indulged in those to enjoy himself, he indulged to make the world disappear around him. To forget about his troubles, the things on the horizon, for just a little while.

To get out of his own head.

But for fun…

What did he do for fun?

And Mercury realized in that moment that he had no idea.

"Do you… not know?"

He didn't know. And for some reason, he didn't really want to broadcast that fact, either.

Hell, he wasn't even sure…

"I must confess… your situation is not that different to our own." Ren said.

"Huh?"

"Well, me and Ren used to travel a lot across Mistral." Nora Valkyrie butted in, laughing a bit awkwardly. "Not really because we wanted to… but because we didn't have a choice. We were trying to find a place to settle down, and, well… you can probably guess that we didn't really succeed. But at that time… I don't think either of us did a thing for fun. There just… wasn't space for it. Wasn't time, or… or energy to have fun."

"We lived our lives like that for quite a long time." Ren explained further. "Eventually, when we were in our later teenaged years… well, we found that fun was the time that we spent together. Even setting up a fire so that we didn't freeze to death in the winters became fun if whoever gathered fewer sticks had to cook outside in the snow."

"I always won." Nora Valkyrie smarmed.

Mercury sat with that for a moment, just sort of taking that in.

"That's…"

"But I'm taking it that you've never really had friends before, have you, Mercury?"

For some reason, he wanted to keep the fact that the boy had correctly guessed a secret. To do everything in his power to not reveal a thing. And yet…

"Yeah. I guess. Why?"

"Forgive me if I'm incorrect, or prying too far, but… you said your father abused you, correct?"

Mercury's breath hitched. There was something there, a pounding in the back of his skull, that he wanted to get away from.

But to do that would be to run. And Mercury had long since figured out that running got him nowhere.

"…Yeah."

And then Lie Ren leaned forward.

"Have you ever known anything else?"

That question sapped the very air from Mercury's lungs. He made to take a breath, then, but found the air not coming. A lesser person would've panicked, but Mercury had had the air beaten out of him enough times to know that it would come back. It always did.

Still, unfortunately, it seemed the others were still able to read him, despite his attempt to curtail.

"I apologize, that question, it was far too–"

No… no, if they spoke… if they spoke, then he couldn't focus on his chest. Couldn't make his lungs move. That wouldn't be good.

Oh… no… no, he was in his father's training room again.

The hits kept coming. Kept coming. Kept coming. It was all Mercury could do to dodge, and then that infernal voice, his father, thinking his advice – if it could even be called that – was worth anything, like Mercury wanted to get stronger, but he didn't, all Mercury had wanted was for the pain to stop, just to make it go away, to hide away forever until his father would leave him alone, and so the only option had been to win, to win to make the pain stop, until the entire world would just–

Gods his head was pounding.

"Shut it." Mercury growled under his breath. "Shut… just shut up!"

Lie Ren said nothing. He had a sort of guilty glint hanging in his gaze, but he kept a level-head. Mercury was glad for that, honestly. He didn't think any of the others would've faced him silently.

But gods, even Neo was looking at him like that. With that little pitying look. He'd never been looked at like that before. Never. Not in all his life. His father had made it clear, of course. No one would pity him. No one would care. Not with what he was. With what he would be.

A killer. An assassin. A murderer.

No one would forgive him.

And yet, those looks, their eyes, the way they wanted to reach out and reassure him like he was some fucking kid who couldn't keep a lid on his emotions…

He wanted them to go away. He wanted everything to go away.

"You… just… just shut up!"

"Mercury, no one's saying anything."

"Not you!" He shouted far louder than he should've, taking a palm to the side of his skull and running it down slowly, trying to grip the organ within that just kept hammering. "I… this damn ringing in my head…"

"Mercury…" Nikos said slowly, so damned slowly, like he was some fuckin' crazy person. "Try to calm down. You're okay."

"I said shut up!" He yelled again, this time backing away from the four of them, and his breaths kept getting harder, less defined. "I'm not… stop looking at me like that!"

By the gods, what he wouldn't have given to be in that damned club of Juniors right then and there. To have the pulse-pounding music, the intoxicating drink, the chance to flirt with women he never wanted a thing from, just a distraction, just a chance to get his mind to fade away…

What he wouldn't have given to be playing that damned game. Because then… because then, he didn't think about anything else.

No thoughts to bother him. His father's words were silent.

Just an empty head.

Those were always his favorite times.

Maybe that was fun.

A sudden sharp pain along Mercury's cheek had him reeling, and when he was able to right himself, it was to see Neo standing in front of him, meeting his gaze with a sort of harsh expression.

"M-Mint!" One of the others, probably Nikos, sounded appalled. "You shouldn't just slap hi–"

"Thanks." Mercury muttered under his breath, cutting the others off as he let out a dreadful sigh. "Ugh. Gods, what the fuck is wrong with me."

Silence reigned in the Juniper dorm room for a while after that, which at least gave Mercury the chance to get out of his own head for good, silencing the infernal ramblings of his father that kept hounding him on repeat. Eventually, one of them did speak.

To Mercury's surprise, it was himself.

"What is fun, anyways?"

"Huh?"

"I mean… you said fun's not the same as the satisfaction I get from winning at the game. So, what's fun, then? What's the difference between fun and satisfaction?"

There was a noticeable pause among the others at that, something that actually required each and every one of them to take a moment, to actually think.

"I think…" It was Pyrrha Nikos who spoke, and every head in the room turned to her, waiting to see what she'd say. "I think satisfaction is something for yourself, and only yourself. It's… it's the inner joy of growing stronger, or of becoming a better person. But… fun is something you can share with others. Something you… I guess it's something you only get the true joy out of alongside friends."

Mercury contemplated that for nary a moment before he had the urge to sneer.

Friends? How ridiculous.

Mercury had never, and likely would never, have friends. That'd never even been in consideration before. He felt it bore repeating that he was an assassin. Someone born and raised for the sole purpose of taking the lives of others.

Who would honestly want to be friends with him?

The only answer was that no one would.

"And hey, you're one step closer, right?"

Mercury looked up to see Jaune Arc grinning at him, like he held all the answers to the questions Mercury was asking.

"What are you…?"

"I mean… friends." Jaune said, gesturing to the people in the room. "We're all your friends."

"I… that…"

"Trust us!" Nora Valkyrie said with a beaming smile. "We're your friends now, and that means you're stuck with us, whether you like it or not! You're having some fun mister! No ifs, ands, or buts about it!"

Mercury just stared at the four of them, and Neo, who sat and stood in front of him. Each of them with these carefree smiles on their faces – well, sans Neo, she had one eyebrow raised as if silently asking him if he actually expected her to be joining in on this – and it was all Mercury could do not to laugh in their faces.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He brushed them off, before taking his controller back up and gesturing with his head. "Alright, I've had enough of this sappy shit; money match, I'm putting fifty lien down on the next one."

Jaune Arc just laughed, as did Nora Valkyrie, but Nikos and Ren seemed to be able to tell that he couldn't keep going. They nodded their heads, and picked up their controllers – or, well, their scrolls, neither had actually sprung for a controller themselves – to join in.

Mercury was glad, honestly, that they didn't call out his very obvious change in topics. He wasn't sure he'd have been able to handle that. Honestly, he just wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with the information he'd acquired today on its own.

The difference between fun and satisfaction… the way that they spoke, they made the latter sound somehow baser. More infantile. Fun, on the contrary, was…

Well, it wasn't for him, that much was for certain.

Because even if the people in the room with Mercury considered him their friends, that thought wasn't shared. Because Mercury knew things that they didn't.

He knew that the Kingdom they resided in wasn't safe. He knew the school they all called home would be a battleground. He knew that it very well may come to pass that everyone in this room would be dead before the year was out.

Because Cinder Fall got what Cinder Fall wanted. And that was the end of it.

Mercury wouldn't stand in her way. Not for such a pesky thing as friendship, which he didn't even know himself.

And so, as they loaded into the next match, Mercury focused solely on it. He drowned his brain in stimuli, until there was nothing but the game.

Just the game, and the blissful silence.

Cinder strutted across the concrete sidewalk of one of Vale's commercial districts, drawing the eyes of both men and women alike as she passed them by, sashaying her hips from side to side. She'd always liked the stares, because in some way, it was like controlling them, dictating their minds through her actions.

That, and she'd been a rather ratty girl when she'd been younger. A slave, given nothing. Ugly and trodden upon, invisible to all.

She was different now. She would prove it to the very world.

She would be seen now. She would make sure of it.

Cinder had gone through a rather hellish couple of days while she and Emerald had been dancing around one another, which was perhaps why she was so looking forward to having an evening just to herself.

It wasn't exactly what she'd have preferred to be doing with her evening, given that she was only really going to be treating herself to a massage and spa, but it would suffice to hopefully work out some of the kinks that had been building within Cinder ever since she'd been forced to coop herself up in Beacon.

…Well, Cinder said forced, but really, it had been her doing, coming there.

All because of that infernal feeling. That hitherto unforeseen desire that had suddenly sprung to life within her.

Her attraction to Glynda Goodwitch.

No. Cinder berated herself as she turned a corner and found herself at the salon she'd be partaking of. We are not thinking about this.

Cinder had come here to avoid anything that might give her a headache, to be cleansed of such infernal thoughts. There would be no thinking of Roman's ongoing fetching of dust, no thinking of Mercury and his infernal videogame addiction, no thinking on her own weakness in dealing with Emerald, and the way the girl seemed to cling even harder to her these days…

And certainly, no thinking on Glynda Goodwitch. No. That way lay madness.

That woman had caused Cinder's guard to drop far too many times already. She would not debase herself in such a way on a night she was meant to spend relaxing.

Especially since, knowing herself, she'd likely be back to thinking about the accursed woman the moment she found herself back in Beacon's walls.

Because like it or not, Ms. Goodwitch helping her with handling Emerald had left her feeling almost… grateful. She wanted to… well, she found she wanted to do some rather indescribable things to the woman, that perhaps did not bare repeating here, but aside from the more carnal objectives inside of her that seemed almost natural given her desire for the woman, there was something else that Cinder could not help herself from imagining.

That moment, back when the two of them had been in her office, and Cinder had clammed up due to having her past inquired upon… and then when Glynda Goodwitch had placed her hand atop Cinder's own…

Her heart had beat so soundly then. Pounded against her ribcage, against her very soul, it'd seemed, in a way it never had before.

Cinder had never felt anything like she had in that moment.

She'd initially suspected that her feelings for Glynda Goodwitch were purely physical in nature. After all, she'd seen the woman once, seen her platinum blonde hair, her evergreen eyes, her form-fitting attire, and become enamored enough to alter her entire plans. Well, she'd not known it at the time, but the thought still stood.

And she still stuck by that. Because to admit anything else… to admit that she were somehow compromised beyond that was…

…And Cinder only then realized that she was thinking about Glynda Goodwitch again. Great.

She let out an aching sigh as she checked herself in for her appointment and was led to the back by a woman only a little older than her.

Cinder had paid for the premium package, which meant that she would be worked on by three masseuses at once, and then she would have her hair and scalp washed for her. It had been rather exorbitantly expensive, but what Salem didn't give in benefits, she made up for in surprisingly ample pay.

Two hours later, and Cinder's entire body relaxed to a degree that her eyes were almost permanently lidded, she found herself stepping outside of the salon, and remembering that now that she'd had that first piece of the night to herself, she had other duties to take care of.

At the very least, it likely wouldn't take long. Just a simple call in to confirm that the night's heist had gone off without a hitch, and then she could get to the other event she'd planned for the evening, namely, dining at one of the best restaurants in Vale. A place called Villa Avitas.

She'd never been, but Roman of all people had recommended it, and while the petty thief was flippant and annoying at the best of times, she could at least admit that the man had taste. She'd take his word for it that the restaurant served delectable cuisine.

Speaking of…

She dug out her scroll from her pocket and dialed a number into it. It took seven rings – a rather astoundingly long time for anyone to keep Cinder Fall waiting – for the person on the other end to pick up, and they addressed her with a faux, almost tired enthusiasm.

"Hey, Cindy, just the woman I wanted to hear from." Roman exclaimed, his voice sounding almost weary. "And how are you this evening?"

"I have actually had quite the enjoyable evening." She admitted honestly, before trying to cut this conversation off as quickly as she could, wanting to just get on with her night. "But let us dispense of the pleasantries and get to business."

"Ah, yeah," The man sighed, his breath sounding horribly worn-out. "Sounds like you."

"My, a rather weak jibe from you, Roman."

"Eh, y'know, busy night. Sort of cut into my vibe."

"I can understand how tonight might've taken a lot out of you." Cinder spoke, rolling her eyes but projecting none of said annoyance into her tone. "And how went the pick-up at the docks? I assume without complications?"

"Ah, yeah… uh…"

Cinder's eyes went from lidded to narrowed, which most people probably thought wouldn't have made for much difference until they'd had Cinder Fall of all people direct both at them. A man who'd been walking towards her, looking to strike up a conversation, wisely chose to turn around, his face blanch with fear.

"Roman."

"So… Funny thing about that…"

Cinder got the strange feeling she was going to be cancelling that reservation.

Glynda Goodwitch had become awfully accustomed to being called up to the Headmaster's office in a hurry. She had not become the primary disciplinarian at a school for teenagers without having run a few detentions in her time.

But it had been an awfully long time since something of this magnitude had taken place.

Glynda had her arms crossed over her chest, letting the offending students stew in the uncertainty of just what she could say. She held a bit longer than she normally would've, because, in all fairness…

"So," Glynda began. "You blew up the docks."

Blake Belladonna raised one hand tentatively. "Technically, Penny–"

The girl wisely lowered said hand the moment Glynda glared her way.

"Let me reiterate, in case something about my former statement was in any way unclear," She cleared her throat, gave the students before her time to simmer in that, watched them seem to genuinely try to shrink in their chairs, and then, when she felt they'd adequately suffered, spoke again. "You blew up the docks."

Ruby Rose looked like she might cry.

"Property damage is something that we, as Hunters, grow used to. But more importantly than the loss of property, you engaged a known terrorist group, led by Roman Torchwick, an assailant of Huntsman skill, in a battle that could've easily cost one or both of your lives."

Glynda wouldn't have normally gone this harsh, might not have continued when Ruby Rose sniffled quietly, evidently trying not to break down, but she felt this was an important lesson.

They'd all made it back this time, and that was wonderful. But they'd inarguably gotten lucky. So, so lucky. Glynda had had some rather interesting students in her day but fighting a terrorist group in one's first semester was a first, even for her.

And that meant that the students in question needed to learn from this. Because walking into a situation that one shouldn't be in and getting lucky wasn't something one could count on twice. Hell, often, even experienced Hunters underestimated their odds of walking into a situation they should've been in and getting unlucky.

Summer Rose certainly had.

And so, despite the way watching the woman's daughter visibly tear up hurt, Glynda would not abate.

Not when this was for their own good. For their sake.

"Miss Belladonna and Miss Rose, you will, each of you, be serving in detention with me for the remainder of the semester."

Ruby Rose let out a pitiful whine, though her black-haired teammate didn't seem at all bothered, having clearly already expected as much.

"Be thankful that I am not punishing you further. I could, and perhaps should, have both of your attendances at Beacon Academy reviewed for something like this."

That, at least, had Miss Belladonna wilting, and though she felt bad for Miss Rose, she stood by the fact that this was necessary.

"For now, you are dismissed. I will be forwarding details of your detentions to your scrolls within the coming days."

The two stood immediately, making for the elevator at the back of the room as quickly as possible. Glynda herself sighed the moment the door closed, leaning back against Ozpin's desk behind her.

"You are rather hard on them, Glynda."

She turned back towards Ozpin, who was taking a sip from out of his mug.

"With all due respect, sir, they wantonly engaged with terrorists, caused millions of lien in damages–"

"And the latter part of that will most assuredly be blamed on Roman Torchwick. I'm sure the docks are insured for every bit of damage that was caused today, and they will be repaired within a month."

"If you honestly think I'm upset with the latter, then I fear we are operating on wildly different wavelengths, Headmaster."

Ozpin held up his hands in surrender, and Glynda allowed some of her building anger to dissipate as she let out a breath.

"At the very least, we can both admit that Team RWBY have accomplished something rather impressive. Fighting off Roman Torchwick is no easy feat."

"I simply wish they wouldn't have done so at all."

"As do I, believe me, Glynda. Still, we cannot change what has already happened…" The man's eyes had a far-off look to them as he spoke further. "No matter how much we might wish to."

She hummed in agreement at that, thinking back to a few of the many, many decisions she'd regretted in her life. Everyone had some, she couldn't help assuming.

Everyone. Even her.

"On a lighter note, I was just made aware of a rather important dignitary who will be attending the Vytal Festival from Atlas." Ozpin spoke up, and there was a certain lilt to his voice that sounded almost teasing that had Glynda's eyes narrowing on instinct. "I hear James will be here at the beginning of the next semester."

Glynda rather desperately tried to pretend that she was entirely unaffected by Ozpin's words. Judging by the small smile on her boss' face, however, it hadn't entirely worked.

By the gods, could Ozpin be entirely too annoying sometimes.

"Your interest in my love life seems awfully pointed on occasion." She muttered.

"You'll have to forgive me for that." Ozpin said, leaning forward in his chair and resting his arms on his desk. "I simply think you do far too much around here without spending any time for yourself. When was the last time you simply… went out for a massage? Or went out to a salon? When was the last time you honestly just took a day for yourself?"

Glynda… couldn't remember the last time.

"…That's not important."

"Mhm." Ozpin's hum sounded unimpressed. "Forgive me for wanting my deputy to perhaps live a little."

Glynda imagined simply saying 'bite me' would perhaps not be entirely appropriate, even if she really wanted to.

"While we're on the topic; what are your plans for Ms. Fall's affections?

"Hm?" Glynda eyed the headmaster, almost surprised. "Are you referring to her feelings for Ms. Xiao-Long? I had thought to merely help her out. Not much, just a nudge. But I felt having such innocent feelings may be good for a girl so clearly… troubled as her."

Glynda wasn't entirely sure why Ozpin's eyes briefly widened at that, like something had surprised him, but in the next moment, his expression morphed, into something Glynda rarely had the displeasure of seeing.

"Ah." Ozpin said, with just the absolute smuggest of smiles on his face. "Yes. Her feelings for Ms. Xiao-Long, is it?"

"What has you so amused?" She inquired.

"Oh, nothing, I'm sure."

"It is rather clearly not nothing."

"I wouldn't be too concerned, Glynda." Ozpin smarmed, still looking incredulously smug about something. "I'm sure you'll understand within time."

Glynda made every effort to appear as if the man's sudden change in attitude wasn't grinding away at her gears, though once more, she was fairly certain she'd failed.

"…If you're finished speaking of things that you're apparently not going to fill me in on, may I be excused, headmaster? I have a feeling our insurance would like to know why they're going to be paying well over a million lien in damages."

"You could always leave that to me, you know."

"And allow it to be buried away and never done until the council quite literally makes you do it?" Glynda almost scoffed. "Yes, well, forgive me, but some of us like to actually accomplish things."

"Rather scathing, Glynda." Ozpin said with this mirthful glint in his eyes. "And yes, you may be excused. Have a pleasant evening."

"You as well, Oz."

If she made her exit any faster than normal… well, it was probably just Ozpin's imagination.

Still, once she was alone in the elevator, and taking the rather terribly long ride down – seriously, it was at least a minute and a half long – she found herself contemplating the few pieces of information she'd acquired during their impromptu meeting.

Firstly…

James…

It was a secret to almost no one that she and James Ironwood had, at one point, been rather close. Close enough, in fact, that they'd shared an apartment, and a room, and a bed. Things had… well, they'd simply not worked out; in Glynda's eyes, they were simply two different people, with two different sets of goals.

Even still, the heart was a curiously weak thing, and so, despite saying that, she found herself tempted to rekindle what they'd once had whenever the man was in Vale. Such visits had become far rarer since he'd been promoted to general. He'd not been by in well over a year, but…

Glynda let out a weary sigh, trying to ignore the way her thoughts swam.

She did her very best to put such feelings aside for the moment, and instead focused in on the other oddity of the evening.

Namely, whatever had been the matter with Ozpin.

It had all stemmed from Miss Fall's feelings for Yang Xiao-Long, Summer Rose's other daughter. Somehow, they had served as a source of amusement for the man. No, more than that, that amusement had been directed at her, as if it had been Glynda out of the loop.

That was… odd.

Was there something there she wasn't seeing, perhaps, that Ozpin had picked up upon? Somehow, Glynda doubted that, unless Ozpin, too, had been spending nearly half his free time hanging around the members of Chamomile, trying to help them cope with the demons that seemed to hang over every one of them, worse in some than in others.

She couldn't imagine herself missing something, something that Ozpin would be able to pick up on so easily.

And yet, he'd been so frightfully amused, so insufferably smug, that she knew he was not faking it. So, there was something.

The elevator door opening opposite her served as the wakeup call Glynda needed to snap herself out of her own thoughts. As well and good as it was for her to be stuck in her head all night, she still had work to be doing.

Besides, the end of the semester would be here in nary a week or two.

She could think about such absent things then.

Jaune Arc had had a fairly odd first semester at Beacon Academy.

It had started off pretty normal – or, well, normal as Jaune had come to understand his life was going to be now – with him being launched off of a cliff and saved by Pyrrha, his partner, and the eighth sister he'd never had!

…every time he told her that, though, Pyrrha just looked at him like he'd stabbed her in the gut, so he'd sort of stopped saying that around her.

Still, really, things were going pretty well. He'd gotten a good team – and he'd been made leader, too, which felt like a pretty major oversight on Ozpin's part, but hey, he'd take it! – and made some great friends. There was Team RWBY, who'd apparently gone and blown up the docks – he'd also taken to not saying that too much either, because the moment he'd offhandedly mentioned their little foray Ruby had started sobbing and apologizing profusely, and he'd felt so horrible that he'd promised to take the girl out into Vale sometime this week to shop weapon mods with her – and also Team CMME!

Well, certain members of Team CMME, anyhow. He himself didn't really know Emerald or Cinder all that well, but Pyrrha was pretty close with both of them, and Mercury and Mint had become fast friends to the rest of them! Hell, Mercury had given him the kick in the ass he'd needed to get himself out of his funk the other day.

Honestly, Mercury really was such a good friend.

Thinking on Mercury, however, had brought up a certain line of thought for Jaune, one that he'd been grappling with for the last few weeks.

And it'd come to a head recently, as he'd learned more about Mercury's past.

After all, he'd learned that Mercury had been abused some weeks ago, but… learning that his dad had beaten him, like severely, had been a bit eye opening. Learning further still that Ren's parents were dead, that Nora's mother had abandoned her, that Pyrrha didn't really see eye to eye with her folks, that Emerald had apparently grown up on the streets, and that Cinder…

Well, actually, he didn't really know anything about Cinder, but he imagined she probably had similar circumstances.

Basically, what Jaune was trying to get at was that hearing about all of that had made him question his own situation with his family.

He'd been mad at them all – furious, even, when he'd come to Beacon. But… when he really thought about it, what had they done so wrong? Offer him a home to come back to if he failed? Support his dream, even knowing how foolish it was?

Jaune could admit that really, they'd been right now that he'd set his own ego aside. He'd nearly died a good half dozen times in the few months he'd been at Beacon.

And so… that meant it was time to once more do the right thing, even if it would be hard, and possibly painful, and a bit embarrassing, and…

And he was stalling.

Jaune let out a quick breath, psyching himself up, and brought out his scroll. He dialed into it a number that he'd been blocking calls from for… gods, it'd been months now.

He'd been terrible to them. He truly had.

The line picked up on the second ring, which had Jaune wincing, given he only then realized he had no idea what to say.

"Hey, mom." He winced slightly at the volume of the woman on the other line, who was shouting in surprise, before he himself laughed awkwardly. "Hehe, y-yeah, it's me."

"No, I… I know. I know you were worried. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have – Yeah, yeah I know I'm in trouble. Listen – Yes, I'll call Saphron. And I'll call – Uh-huh. …Yeah. I know. Seriously, though, I need to ask a favor. Could you – No I don't need lien! Gods, you think I only called you to beg for money, do you think I'm that pathetic? …Sheesh, mom, that was kinda' harsh. I suppose I deserved that one, though."

"Yes I know I worried you all! And I really am sorry. I plan on making it up to you! How? Well, uh… I had an idea for something…"

"…And I kinda' need your help."

End Chapter 9

Hints at future events!

Mercury gets a bit of a... not a reality check, but more like a slap in the face? I don't know. Meanwhile, Glynda and Cinder both have pretty shitty evenings, and Jaune is calling his parents.

Fun times all around.

Anyways, see you all next week!