"You're a child!"
"It's not your decision!"
"Don't walk away from me!"
"Vesper get back here!"
"Vesper!"
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
With a groan, she sat up and slammed her hand down on the alarm clock, stopping it from making more noise as she stretched out her arms above her head. The sound of her shoulders and back cracking was an immediate indication that she had hadn't slept very well, her whole body felt stiff, tense and not well rested in the slightest. Momentarily she thought about the dream she'd woken up from, sighing loudly as she looked around at the walls of her room, she'd been living at Beacon for the past three years and yet somehow, none of it felt like a home, nothing about Vale did.
One glance at the clock later and Vesper got out of bed, washed her face, put on the uniform, tied her hair back and left her room in favor of entering the dining hall for some breakfast.
The inside of the dining hall was practically empty, most students didn't have classes early enough to wake up as early as she always did, but Vesper much more preferred it this way, especially now with the new students still getting settled in. The only people up were some of the professors and a handful of last-year students, so Vesper quietly picked up a tray, gathered her breakfast and sat down at the same table as the professors. "Ah, young Vesper. Up early as usual I see?" Professor Port's voice was as enthusiastic as always, with said girl only nodding and taking a small sip of her tea. "Sleep well?" "Well enough I guess." She said, giving the professors a small smile before they resumed their previous conversations.
It wasn't unusual for the mornings to go like this, Port, Glynda, Ozpin, and Oobleck would be up, occasionally Peach would be up as well, and Vesper would silently sit and have her breakfast with them before the rest of the school properly woke up and prepared for another day of classes. This morning would prove a little bit more difficult than usual.
"Vesper, do me a favor and come up to my office before your first lecture today? Don't worry, you're not in trouble, there's something I wish to discuss with you." Ozpin glanced at her as he took a sip from his mug. "Yes sir…" Meetings with the headmaster was nothing new to her, considering the "arrangement" that was made for her to attend, seeing as she hadn't done anything to warrant a scolding, she just wasn't sure what this specific meeting would be about. "I'll see you soon then." Ozpin stood up, mug in one hand and cane in the other, gave his goodbyes to the other professors and then left the dining hall.
Roughly an hour later Vesper was sat in a chair opposite Ozpin in his office, the younger of the two nervously fidgeting with the hem of her skirt as she waited for him to start. "Seems like only yesterday you arrived here… you've grown quite a bit since then, haven't you? I hear from Glynda that your semblance control is making great progress?" She looked down at her lap and sighed, shrugging a little while thinking it over. "I don't know if I would say 'great'… We agreed that it's still too dangerous to let me use it around other students." Ozpin smiled warmly at her, holding his mug up and speaking before taking a sip. "And yet, when you first came you couldn't even stop it from activating…" He paused, his voice softening somewhat as he spoke up again. "You're not a danger to others Vesper. Not anymore." She tensed up, gripping onto the chair underneath her. "Is that what this is about? Are you sending me back home?" With a sigh, Ozpin leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "No, I told you, you're welcome to stay as long as you want or need. I just felt it was a while since I last checked in on your progress." The girl relaxed back into her seat, feeling a wave of relief wash over her.
"Have you spoken to him at all?" Ozpin finally asked, after a brief moment of silence. Vesper shook her head, keeping her eyes fixated on the floor. "I… I can't. Not after what I said…"
Once Vesper had exited the office Glynda entered and sighed as she walked up to the headmaster. "You didn't tell her, did you?" "I think she's more than capable of putting the pieces together when she sees the airships." "Not even a warning?" Ozpin took a sip from his mug and turned the chair around to look out the window. "You worry too much about her Glynda. They'll have to talk sooner or later."
The first time she saw the familiar uniforms of the Atlas Academy students, Vesper had just about had a heart attack, followed by mentally hitting herself for forgetting about the Vytal festival. Then, she mentally beat herself up for not even considering that that meant he would be coming to Beacon.
The following days were spent looking over her shoulder every other second to make sure they didn't accidentally bump into each other, it had been three years, but to Vesper it felt like she was three years too late to change anything about the situation. Thus… it was easier to avoid it all together.
The avoidance became increasingly more difficult on the night of the dance. Regardless of what was going to happen, she still got dolled up. Rather than keeping it tied up, she let her dark hair out, she put on fancier makeup than her usual concealer and brows, put on a beautiful dress to match her navy eyes. Taking one last look in the mirror, she smiled and twirled around feeling her confidence go up a notch as she left her room for the dance. No matter what happened tonight, she was going to look damn good doing it.
To say Yang and Weiss had done a great job organizing the event was an understatement. The whole area was decorated beautifully, the music was great, but most importantly, everyone seemed to be having an amazing time. Upon arriving, she gave a quick greeting to the few people she properly knew, mainly the professors, Yang and Ruby, then she started backing up towards the nearest wall as she scanned the room to see if there was a quiet spot for her to chill in. Unfortunately for her, Vesper ended up backing straight into someone else. "I'm so sorr-" As she turned around she came face to face with none other than the headmaster of Atlas Academy himself. "General Ironwood… I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." "There's no need for formalit-" "Again I'm really sorry General, I'll get out of your way." She quickly walked away, aiming straight for the balcony and leaving a stunned Ironwood behind her.
While out in the fresh air she felt her head clear up a little. "Why couldn't I just look around before walking somewhere?" she mumbled, burying her face in her hands as she leaned on the railing. "Rough night?" the sudden voice behind her was unfamiliar, at first she didn't think they were even talking to her, but before she could ask the man came up to lean on the railing next to her, nodding over towards the entrance back inside. "Bumping into the General? I'd be freaking out too." Vesper sighed and looked up at the new person. His hair and eyes were the same shade of metal grey, the plain looking suit helping both stand out against each other. "I'm not freaking out." "Of course you aren't. That's why you practically ran out here." He chuckled and held out his hand for a greeting. "Mercury." "Vesper."
The two teens continued their small talk, Vesper managing to find out that he was a student at Atlas, was here to compete in the tournament and just recently lost a sparring match against Pyrrha Nikos, but that was to be expected, that girl gave most students (and some teachers) a run for their money. Surprisingly, Mercury didn't seem interested in prying into her personal life, for once Vesper found someone who didn't ask 500 follow up questions every time she gave a short answer to things she'd rather keep private. Before long, Mercury held out his hand to her. "As nice as the fresh air has been, what do say we head back in?" "Sounds like a plan."
The two of them walked back inside, Mercury leaving momentarily to let his teammates know where he had suddenly disappeared to. In the minute of so he'd been away, Vesper managed to come face to face with the General all over again, which was just her luck. "A dance? As an apology for earlier?" he asked, holding put his hand for her to take. "That's alright, I'm the one who walked into you General." She tried to side step and walk off again, but he followed her movements and blocked her path. With a defeated sigh he looked down at her, a solemn look in his eyes as he continued speaking. "Is this how it's going to be Vesper? It's been three years, I just want to-" "There you are. Sorry to steal her away General, but this lovely lady promised me a dance." Before either one of them could react Mercury had pulled her away and onto the dancefloor, putting her hand on his shoulder before he gently put his hand on her waist, starting to move with the music.
"Thanks for the save. But I don't seem to recall ever promising anyone a dance." "Well a small white lie never hurt anyone, kinda like when you said you weren't freaking out. What's your deal with the General anyway?" Vesper sighed and glanced over at where he had stood, instead spotting him dancing with Glynda a few feet away. "It's a long and complicated story. I'd put you to sleep before we get through the intro." Mercury chuckled and helped her twirl around once before they continued. "Alright, I get it, personal business. I won't push it." "Appreciated." The two of them laughed a little, spending the rest of their evening dancing together.
"Is she doing alright? Eating properly? Making friends?" Ironwood and Ozpin were talking in the latter's office, a few days after the night of the dance. "She's good James, I'm keeping her safe, like I told you." Ironwood clenched his fist for a second as he let out an frustrated sigh. "She shouldn't even be here. If anyone but you were headmaster I'd march half the Atlesian army here to take her back." "She needed a safe environment to learn control James. Not a military training hall with soldiers watching her every move." He sat back down, slouching a little in a defeated manner. "She calls me 'General' Oz. Not even James. 'General'. How did I mess up this bad?" "I have a feeling young Vesper's problem lies with herself, not with you. Give her some time." "I hope you're right Oz…"
"I can't be sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if I'm right." Mercury shrugged as he continued doing push ups in the dorm he shared with his companions. "That certainly makes things… Interesting." Cinder had a smirk on her face as she tapped something into her scroll. "Want me to find out?" "Keep her close, for now. It might just prove to be useful to the plan."