Well, today was the day. The school dance was going to happen tonight, whether Sera wanted it or not. Which meant that she had to be ready for possibly the most awesome-slash-embarrassing moment of her life. She and Weiss had been practicing their routine relentlessly—and she could hardly keep it all a secret.
Sera rolled out of her bed, or rather her spot on the floor (she really needs to get a bed), groaning and wiping the sleep out of her eyes. She straightened her night shirt and headed for the bathroom to get ready for the day. She glanced towards her teammates' beds and frowned for a microsecond. Unfortunately, Blake was still being… Blake. She hasn't seen the Faunus since yesterday, and everyone was getting nervous. Yang was supposed to talk to her about taking it easy, but no one's heard an update.
"Hmph," she mumbled before disappearing into the bathroom. She tried to enjoy what was likely going to be her only time alone during the day. Fortunately, she didn't have any nightmares about the woman's voice in the fog again, so she actually had a pretty good night's rest. Now, she just had to make sure she stayed in a good mood for the rest of the day. But first, she needed to go shopping.
. . .
After a quick flight into the City of Vale, she had to resist running through the streets to get to her destination. If the huntress was going to go through with what she was planning, she had to look the part. It wasn't long until she found that first store that she'd ever shopped at near the shady part of town. Good thing she'd been saving her Lien (aka the money she took off of Junior), because this was probably going to cost quite a bit.
"Hi there!" a voice greeted from inside the store. It was a nice-looking older guy with smile wrinkles and thinning hair. "Is there anything I can help you find?"
"Not really, I kinda already know what I'm looking for," she replied, looking towards the back of the store until she found the racks of black clothes. "Jackpot."
"Okay! Well, just let me know if you need any help!" the worker said.
"Uh-huh," the huntress said absent-mindedly. She hoped she didn't come off as rude to the guy. He seemed nice like just about any elderly person, she just had a mission.
She moved to the back, scanning the racks of clothes until she found what she was sort of looking for. Sera grabbed a few things she liked, a grin plastered on her face while she imagined the night to come. Why she was only just now going shopping, she wasn't sure. It's totally not like it was completely last minute or anything
After getting enough of what she thought she'd need, she went back to the front with an armful of stuff. She set it down on the counter then straightened her jacket.
"Find everything okay?" the older man asked kindly.
"Sure did!" she replied. "There was everything I was looking for."
"Good!" he said while ringing everything up.
She paid for her things then headed back towards the airship docks with her sacks of clothes. Sera wasn't even sure if she'd use all of it, but then again, she had a plan for Weiss, too.
For the moment, she just enjoyed the cool weather of the day. There was a slight breeze, and the sun was shining high above, and it couldn't really get any better. Then she passed by a familiar shop that she'd spent nearly an entire day sweating and exhausting herself in.
"The Iron Maiden," she thought aloud, looking up at the sign above the door. 'Maybe I can stop by for a minute…'
Without a second thought, she entered the shop and smiled at the scent of smoke. The walls were still covered in a billion different kinds of weapons, some ranging from simple to absolutely convoluted in design. She was eyeing over a particularly interesting pair of blades with chains attached at the hilts when a familiar voice boomed.
"Hello there!"
Sera whirled around to meet Janis's eyes and see a grin spread across her tanned face. "Sera! How are you?"
"Can't complain," she grinned at the tall blacksmith and approached the counter she stood behind. "How's business?"
"Oh, can't complain. I actually just finished with the last order of the day. Speaking of," she gestured to the bags in Sera's hands. "You doing some shopping?"
"Just some stuff for the dance tonight," she shrugged.
"Black clothes for a Beacon school dance?" the muscular woman asked.
"It's a surprise," Sera winked. "Just a little something planned with a friend." She nearly gagged at the implication that Weiss was her friend.
"Okay, okay," she shrugged. "So, is this a business or social visit? Not that it's not nice to see a customer."
"I was just passing by and thought I'd stop in," she leaned onto the counter. "But now that I'm in here, I might have an idea," Sera scanned the wall of weapons beside her. "I'm not sure if I could make it myself like last time, though. It might need your expertise."
"I figured as much," Janis smiled, crossing her arms over her apron. "What did you have in mind?"
"Something I've been toying with for a little while now, I just wasn't sure of all the details," she said, pulling out her scroll. "Everything I have for it is on here," she handed the device to Janis.
"Hmm," she scrolled through, her eyes scanning every bit of the screen. "Interesting. And you want it to be like your sword with its Dust usage?"
"If it's possible," Sera nodded.
"Oh, it's possible. And this one will actually transform?"
"Oh, yes," the huntress said. "You get the joke?"
"I do," Janis smirked. "It's not a bad design. I'm not sure I've made something quite like it."
She deflated a little. "Are you saying you won't be able to do it?"
Janis narrowed her eyes at the shorter girl. The blacksmith swiped across Sera's scroll, then pulled out her own scroll to accept the file she'd sent to herself. "Give me a few days."
"Great!" Sera lit up.
"And how's that new weapon treating you? No problems?"
"Oh, I love it!" she perked up. "Couldn't ask for a better sword."
"Good! I'm glad to hear it. Now, about payment…"
. . .
'Holy shit, that thing is going to cost a fortune!' Sera clapped her palm to her forehead while she strolled down the long walkway leading to Beacon. 'Better be friggin' worth it for how much she's charging.' She groaned and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Hey, Sera!" a voice called from behind her. The huntress turned around to find Cerulean waving at her. Fortunately, her teammates weren't with her. Not that she had anything against them, her team just made her feel awkward.
"Hey," she greeted. "Been a while!"
"I know!" the blue-haired girl stopped a few feet away from her friend. "What happened? We never got to hang out!"
"Well…" Sera rocked on her feet, feeling a little disappointed in herself for not reaching out. She and Cerulean first met on the first day of school when she didn't know anyone, and her amnesia was a fresh problem. She thought they'd end up on a team together, but Ozpin meticulously saw that she was placed elsewhere. "We could hang out later at the dance. I hear there's supposed to be some sort of surprise with the stage."
"Really?" she raised her eyebrows. "What, are the Achieve Men performing for us?"
"No!" Sera laughed. "But Yang would probably like that. She's got a poster or something."
"Huh, didn't take her for the type," Cerulean noted. "Anyways, about the dance—I guess you're going?"
"Yeah, guess so," she shrugged. "Mainly just for the experience."
"Are you going with anyone?" she asked, rocking on her heels slightly with her hands held behind her back.
"Ha! No way, that's the last thing I need right now. Besides, no one's even asked," she crossed her arms.
"You want to be asked, don't you?" Cerulean pointed at her.
"What! No!" she laughed. "I've got way more important things to focus on than getting a date to some dance."
"Sure, sure," the blue-haired girl chuckled. "That's what they all say. I don't have one either, so, I guess we're both going stag tonight."
"Did you want someone to go with?" Sera asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Cerulean shrugged. "Would've been nice."
"What about that guy on your team? Mulan, or something."
"Meallan," Cerulean laughed, rolling her eyes. "And eh, I'd rather asked by someone that wasn't on my team."
"Fair, that guy is kinda off," Sera shrugged. "Who would you wanna get asked by?"
The tan girl shrugged, looking off into the distance momentarily. "I'm not sure. Hopefully someone I know instead of some stranger, right?"
"Right," Sera nodded. Cerulean smiled, raising her eyebrows almost expectantly at the white-haired girl. Sera, bless her heart, just wasn't getting it. "Well, I hope that works out for you, Cerulean," she clapped a hand to the girl's shoulder.
"…Yeah," Cerulean resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Me, too."
"Well, what now? You wanna go to the cafeteria or something?"
"Oh… I think I might just go back to my dorm, or something. Get ready for the dance, y'know?" Cerulean said.
Sera blinked. "Uh, sure. Yeah, I'll see you there!"
"Hell yeah," Cerulean grinned and gave her a fist bump before leaving her there.
Sera blinked. That was kinda weird.
. . .
"Oh, my gods," Sera thought aloud.
"You look so good!" Yang squealed. Yang was in full swing with the school dance excitement. She's already dressed and ready to go, as well as made Ruby get ready, too. But as soon as Sera got back to RWBY's room, the blonde made her try on her dress.
Sera had bought her dress months ago on an outing with Yang into Vale to visit Junior. The trip ended with her and Yang tearing apart Junior's club.
"I feel like I want to die," she stared at herself in the mirror. The dress was tight and hugged her form, and its silhouette was split in the front so that her left leg was exposed. The dress was strapless and was a little more low-cut than she would've liked, in hindsight. She must've been out of her mind when she first bought this. Then again, that was a night where she was feeling pretty full of herself.
"Ditto," Ruby groaned. She pulled at her red dress like it was itchy. Knowing her, it probably was.
"Oh, shut up. You two look adorable!" Yang said.
"I will strangle you, Xiao Long," the amnesiac glared at her.
"If you do that, then there won't be anyone to fix your hair for tonight," she said.
"…I hate you," she crossed her arms.
"No, you don't," Yang stuck her tongue out.
Eager to change the subject, Sera glanced around the room. She spotted the bags of clothes she'd bought. "Where's Weiss at?"
"Who cares?" Yang shrugged. "Probably studying somewhere or something."
Sera shrugged. "Yeah, probably." The truth was that she needed to find the heiress so that they could go over their plan. Thankfully, her dress had pockets. She pulled her scroll out and sent Weiss a quick message.
"Where are you? It's almost time," she typed. Moments later, she saw the three dots indicating that Weiss was responding.
"Practice room," the message read.
Sera glanced at Ruby and Yang, who were discussing the annoyances of formal wear. "Be right there, Ice Queen," she quickly typed. She grabbed her bag of stuff and slipped out of the dorm before the sisters could notice. They only had a little while until the dance officially started, so they'd have to be quick.
She hurried down the hall in the direction of the practice room, as best as she could with the dumb heels on her feet. She was complaining to herself about it when a slightly familiar group of students in Mistralian outfits saw her down the hall. Sera was leaning onto the wall and trying to straighten her shoe when the lead girl approached.
"Sera, right?" she asked.
Sera looked up. It was that same tall girl with long, black hair and fiery amber eyes. "Uh, hi?" she looked past her and at the rest of her team—the pale guy with grey hair, the dark-skinned girl with green hair, and the guy with blond hair and cold, green eyes. "Can I help you? Cinder, I think?"
Cinder smirked at the recognition. "My team and I just wanted to say hi. It's been a while since we've seen you around."
"Uh… Okay," she blinked. "Then why are they standing back there like that?"
Emerald and Mercury shifted in place like they were uncomfortable. That other guy, Magnus, she thinks, just continued to stare at her with calculating eyes.
"They're just shy around new people," Cinder laughed, but Sera could detect something off about it. Ever since she'd first met these people, she could tell something was wrong with them.
"…Right," she looked that Magnus guy up and down. "So, are you guys going to the dance?"
"We are," Cinder confirmed. "We were actually just on our way to prepare for the night to come."
'Man, she just spews ominous-ass stuff like it's second nature,' she thought to herself.
"…Uh-huh," she stood straighter. "Well, I'll just let you guys go get ready. I still have stuff to do, too, so I'll be on my way!" she walked past the tall girl. Mercury and Emerald moved aside for her, but Magnus just stayed where he was. It wasn't much of a problem, though. The hallway was pretty wide. Once she was gone, the four "Mistralian" students watched her walk away.
"She seems more powerful than before," Magnus said calmly.
"How can you tell?" Emerald asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Cinder walked up behind them, her heels clicking on the floor. "Her aura is more prominent. She really has been training a lot."
Magnus's lip curled.
"Do you think she'll get in the way of the job?" Mercury asked.
"Almost definitely," Cinder crossed her arms. "But if she doesn't become aware of us until it's too late, it won't matter."
"Might wanna dial it back on your 'pleasantries' then," Magnus said.
"Hmph. Maybe, but it just makes her think we're weird instead of suspecting us," she replied. "And we need tonight to go flawlessly, so get off my back or I'll tell her that you're causing trouble."
Magnus rolled his eyes and walked in the direction of their "team's" dorm.
. . .
"Come on, we're going to be late!" Weiss urged.
"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying!" Sera rolled her eyes while she packed. In hindsight, they probably should have already packed for this. Weiss had already suggested it, but naturally Sera didn't listen.
"I told you we should have packed this already!" the heiress glowered down at her.
"Yeah, yeah," she groaned and zipped up a case. "Okay, let's go!"
She and Weiss hurried down the hall lugging all their things. Sera could tell it was getting darker outside through the windows of Beacon, meaning they were running out of time. After nearly five minutes of speed walking, they finally made it to the ballroom.
"There you two are!" Yang exclaimed. She was standing behind a podium near the entrance in her white dress. Apparently, she was in charge of checking people in. "Where have you been?"
"Uh-" Sera said.
"We were getting ready, of course," Weiss crossed her arms. "Now, check us in already."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "Am I checking you in, like, together?"
"No!" the two white-haired girls screamed.
"We've been over this!" Sera added.
"I'm just checking!" Yang said, but not before laughing a good bit. "Jeez, you two get so flustered."
Weiss groaned and hurried past their teammate. Sera just shrugged at Yang and followed her.
They got onto the stage and quickly began setting up for the dance. There really wasn't a lot of stuff to do, most of their time was spent hooking things up and making sure everything worked right.
"This is going to be so cool!" the amnesiac nearly squealed as she plugged two cords into each other.
"Will you shut up already?" Weiss rolled her eyes.
"What's with you? You're being more unbearable than usual," she glared at her. Weiss groaned, looking into her lap.
"If I tell you something, could you promise not to tell anyone?"
Sera blinked at the heiress. "Umm, are you feeling all right?"
Weiss got to her feet and stormed off. "Oh, never mind," she sighed.
"Wait," Sera said, and she halted. She wasn't sure what was up with Weiss, but the last thing they needed right now was something eating at her. Plus, she wanted her friends to feel like they could talk to her. "What is it?"
Weiss sighed again. "I asked Neptune to the dance."
"Okay? And…?"
She glared at the purple eyed girl. "He said no."
"What?" she blinked. "Why would he do that? I thought he liked you."
"I thought so too, but when I asked, he refused," she rubbed her arms. "It's been bugging me."
"Hey, it's his loss, right? Don't let it get to you, he probably just couldn't get around the idea of having his date the heiress to a multi-billion Dust company," she said. She wanted to make her feel better, so she tried to be as genuine as she could. She liked the guy, but if Neptune shot her down, then screw him, right? Plenty of fish in the sea. 'Not that he'd be seen anywhere near the sea. Wimp,' she thought with a smirk.
"I guess so," the heiress shrugged. "I still just can't believe he said no."
"Hey, you could always go with Jaune. I'm sure he'd be happy to be your date," she chuckled.
"As if! That boy doesn't deserve my presence," she crossed her arms stiffly.
"Maybe, but I know he'd certainly like to try. He's asked you out, what, about a gazillion times?"
"I lost count," the heiress sighed.
"Remember that time he nearly fell out of the window?" she snickered.
"And broke that stupid guitar of his," Weiss smirked.
"Then tried to keep playing with the thing snapped in two?" she laughed, and Weiss joined her in making fun of the desperate team leader. After a few seconds their laughter died down, the two huntresses looked across their equipment. They could hear dozens of voices just on the other side of the curtain get louder and louder, meaning that the room was filling up with students. Also meaning that the dance had officially begun.
"Hey, don't worry about Neptune, okay? This is going to knock his stupid goggles off and I'm sure he'll be dying to say sorry," she said to the heiress.
The corners of Weiss's mouth lifted into a small smile.
Music filtered through speakers throughout the room, and the two huntresses took that as a sign to join the crowd.
"Before I forget—I got these," Sera held up the bag of newly-bought clothes. "Better to look the part, right?"
Weiss's eyes widened. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."
Sera's grin lit up the dimness of the stage.
. . .
The two girls merged into the party with ease and went to find their friends. The plan was to just enjoy the dance until it was time. Fortunately, their friends seemed to find them first.
"Hey!" a voice shouted. Sera whirled around to find none other than Cerulean Myst smiling at her. She was wearing a long turquoise dress with no sleeves and thin straps on her shoulders. "Where's that surprise you were going on about?"
Sera grinned. "All in due time."
Weiss appeared at her side. "Friend of yours?"
"My first friend here at Beacon," she nodded at Cerulean. The blue-haired girl seemed to appreciate that.
"Weiss Schnee," Cerulean said.
"And you are?" the heiress raised an eyebrow.
"Cerulean Myst," she said with purpose. She put her hand on her hip and quirked an eyebrow at Weiss.
"A pleasure," Weiss put on a fake smile that she probably mastered growing up in Atlas. "Sera?" she glanced at her fellow white-head. Clearly, Weiss didn't feel too strongly about Cerulean. That wasn't too surprising, since Weiss despised ninety percent of the population
"Go on, I'll catch up," she told the heiress. Weiss rolled her eyes, but she left them. In seconds, she disappeared into the crowd.
"So, that was Weiss, huh?" Cerulean asked. "Can't say I'm that impressed."
"Yeah, she tends to have that effect on people," Sera shrugged. She looked around to just soak in the scene in the ballroom. Several couples were dancing or talking to each other, there were groups of guys and groups of girls talking amongst themselves (definitely because they were too nervous to ask anyone to dance), and a sizable crowd around the table of punch and food. People were dancing with each other on the dance floor; they were either awkward or their chemistry was great, there was no in-between.
"So, having fun?" Cerulean asked, shaking her from her thoughts.
"Uh, sure. I've only been here for like, five minutes, but it's good so far," Sera rubbed the back of her head.
"Well, you look great!" Cerulean smiled. "That dress is so cute."
"Oh—thank you," Sera blinked. She wasn't used to getting compliments. "Uh, you look good too! Your dress is a very nice, uh, blue."
Cerulean smiled at her. "Why, thank you Sera."
The huntress cleared her throat. "So, still staying away from your team?"
"They're here somewhere," she replied. "I just wanted to talk to you first."
"Oh yeah?" Sera raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
Then the blue-haired girl smiled wider and held her hand out. "To ask you to dance, of course."
"Uh…" she trailed off.
"Oh, come on. One dance won't hurt your precious ego, will it?" Cerulean said.
"Ego?" she blinked.
Cerulean rolled her eyes, grabbed Sera's hand, then pulled her to the dance floor before the amnesiac could even react.
"Hey!" she complained. She was dragged through the crowd of students to the center of the dance floor, then Cerulean put Sera's hands onto her hips and draped her arms around the amnesiac's neck. "Very, very smooth," the huntress told her friend.
Cerulean shrugged. "You weren't going to say yes, so here we are."
"That sounds kinda wrong," she pointed out.
"You know what I meant," the tan girl rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and dance, okay?"
Sera shifted uncomfortably, moving her body to the tune of the music with Cerulean holding onto her. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about romance, especially now of all times. With her having no idea who she was or what her past held into store, she didn't think getting involved like that with someone would be wise. Hell, she wasn't even sure what her preferences were. Cerulean was cute, sure. But the thought of something happening between them made her nervous.
"What's your game, Cerulean?" she murmured.
"Does there have to be a game?" she responded, her head resting on Sera's shoulder. "I can't just have a dance with someone?"
"I mean, you've been acting kinda weird today," she said. "Something wrong?"
"Of course not," Cerulean looked up. "I just needed a friend, if I'm being honest."
She blinked. "And you didn't want it to be any of your teammates?"
"I wanted it to be my first friend at Beacon," she said. Sera just smirked and looked out across the dance floor.
"Okay, sure, Cerulean."
So, they danced. The longer it went on, the less weird it became to her. Finally, the song ended, and the two girls separated. Cerulean smiled at her and raised her hand in a small wave before disappearing into the crowd.
"Huh. Well, okay," she blinked.
Sera turned around, looking around the room for either of her teams. Fortunately, she found more than that. Her eyes widened when she saw Blake on the dance floor with Sun, and she actually looked like she'd gotten some sleep. Yang must've finally talked some sense into her, thank the Brothers. Ruby was at the punch bowl with Jaune. Nora was trying to pull Ren onto the dance floor. Yang was still checking people into the ballroom. She even saw Penny off to the side with two Atlas soldiers on either side of her, but it seemed that the redhead was still having fun on her own. She decided to head off to the side of the room to just be on her own for a minute.
"Ahem," someone cleared their throat after a few moments. Sera looked over to see General Ironwood next to her.
Where did he come from? She tried to not look surprised, but the general made her kind of nervous.
"General Ironwood," she greeted.
"Miss Calypso," he nodded. "Enjoying yourself?"
She shrugged. "A bit. Uh, this is my first school dance and everything."
"Of course," he nodded. "I'm sure there's a bit of culture shock, but trust me, you can enjoy yourself if you try. And do try to enjoy it, while you can. Once you're a huntress, there will be little opportunity to attend a gathering like this."
"Right," Sera said. "I guess you have a point. Is that why you're here, General?"
Ironwood took a sip of his punch. "Partially."
He didn't say more, and Sera didn't ask further. She had a feeling that Ironwood didn't feel too fond of her, though she wasn't entirely sure why. He was suspicious of her for reasons she didn't quite understand, and that made her resent him for it. At least a little, anyway.
"You're here to keep an eye on me, is that it?"
The general looked down at her, smirking slightly. "Partially."
"I see," her shoulders sunk. "Is this on Ozpin's orders?"
"No, it's not," he shook his head. "Ozpin believes your intentions are pure and that you're telling the truth about, well, everything. Forgive me Sera, but I am not quite as giving when it comes to trust," the General said, knowing damn well that Ozpin was just about the least trusting person on Remnant.
"Oh," the huntress said in a small voice. "I mean, I get it. Given the circumstances, I'd probably be suspicious too. But I promise that Ozpin's right; I've been completely transparent with all of you about everything."
"I think you're telling the truth," Ironwood said. "But I have to keep my guard up. One slip, and there's no telling what might happen."
"I see," Sera said again, shifting uncomfortably. "Well, thanks for that, but if you don't mind, I'll be joining my friends now."
"Of course," the general nodded. "I apologize for being so blunt."
"No, no," she held up her hands. "I get it. Just doing your job and all." Then she walked away, and she could swear that Ironwood's gaze was burning a hole through the back of her head. She just had to get away from him before she got upset. She's been cooperating with them and telling them everything she knows, so why are they still so on edge with her?
She made it to the punch bowl to find that Ruby and Jaune were missing. Not really feeling like searching for them, she poured herself a cup of the brightly colored punch and sighed.
"The General giving you trouble?" a familiar voice said. She turned to find Ozpin smiling kindly at her.
"Hello, Professor," she greeted.
"I must say, I certainly wasn't expecting Ironwood to confront you like that in a setting such as this," he admitted.
"I can't really blame him," she sipped her punch. "I'm just a big threat to the kingdom's safety, apparently."
"Why would you ever say that?" Ozpin asked in his usual kind voice.
"Why else would Ironwood say all that? Atlas's number one General finds me untrustworthy, so there has to have plenty of reason to believe so."
Professor Ozpin took a deep breath and gazed across the sea of students in the ballroom. "General Ironwood is a paranoid man, and that paranoia is how he got to where he is today. He simply doesn't trust anyone, so he treats almost everyone like how he treated you tonight. But he still likes you, at least a little, or else he wouldn't have said anything to you."
"How do you know that?" she asked.
"Because," Ozpin smiled. "Ironwood and I are very similar when it comes to paranoia. I, however, do trust you, Sera. You have given us no reason to doubt you, and you have been honest and friendly."
She took a moment to process the headmaster's words. "Why do you put so much faith in me, Professor? I haven't done anything to earn it."
"You have, though. You're becoming an exceptional huntress and I can tell that you're a good person, Sera. Even if you do give Professor Goodwitch a headache every time you attend her class," he chuckled.
The huntress said nothing.
"I wouldn't dwell on it, if I were you," Ozpin patted her shoulder. "Just enjoy the rest of the night and don't let Ironwood's words eat at you." Then the headmaster strolled away, leaving her at the punch bowl.
Was she really that much of a problem to people like Ironwood? She just had amnesia. How could she be a threat to the people who were allowing her to stay at Beacon?
She looked across the dance floor and watched Sun and Blake, then Neptune and Weiss.
Wait… didn't Neptune turn her down?
Then she saw someone in white walk by and she had to do a double take. Was that… Jaune? In a dress?
Sera watched him walk through a crowd of people laughing amongst themselves, presumably at Jaune, then the team leader went right up to Pyrrha to ask her to dance.
"You have got to be kidding me," she murmured when she saw Nora and Ren appear beside Jaune and Pyrrha, then they went straight for the dance floor. 'They're going to do their dance thing with Jaune looking like that?' she wondered silently.
She just watched as they immediately started to move in sync with each other to the tune of the now-upbeat music. She was really glad she got out of doing this performance with them, even if it was fun to watch.
The students around her cheered and murmured amongst themselves at the sight in front of them.
But JNPR performing their dance meant only one thing—it was almost time for her own performance so that she could hold up her end of a deal.
'Weiss,' she thought to herself before delving into the crowd to look for her. After nearly a minute, she found the heiress. She was sitting with Yang near a wall of the ballroom, but when she saw the look on Sera's face, she knew.
Weiss said something to Yang about going to get some punch, then she and Sera dashed towards the stage.
. . .
Sera and Weiss got ready as fast as they could behind the curtain. Just in time, too. Just a few moments after JNPR were finished, the two girls were ready to go.
They got into position and Sera sent a quick text to RWBY's group chat.
'Check out the stage,' she typed. She nodded to Weiss, then hit the switch that raises the curtain.
Sera took a deep breath and tried to stop her hands from shaking as the curtain raised and revealed them to the room full of students and faculty. All attention turned to the two white-haired girls, and Sera couldn't help but grin.
She had to quickly change out of her dress to put on her new clothes she'd bought specifically for this. She wore a royal purple tank top under a black leather biker jacket with her Omega symbol necklace around her neck. Her pair of black sunglasses sat on her nose and she gave a quick smile to the crowd. Her pants were a pair of ripped black jeans with its biggest hole being at her right knee, and the pants legs were tucked into her black boots.
Weiss was a different story. Sera had to pick out clothes that suited the heiress's style, and she thinks she did a pretty decent job. She wore a black shirt that left one shoulder exposed and a plaid black and white pleated skirt and a pair of white high-top canvas shoes.
Sera straightened the strap on her shoulder and tightened her grip on the white Flying V- style guitar in her hands. Weiss shifted in place behind her microphone. She's done live performances plenty of times, but this would be different from all the others before.
With all eyes on them, they glanced at each other. Then Sera hit a switch on the floor with her foot, and a drumbeat filtered through the speakers on-stage. She raised her pick and brought her hand down fast, strumming the chords like she'd practiced for hours. She put out a steady rhythm while Weiss waited for the right moment.
A lot of time went into deciding which song they should perform first, but after days and days of consideration, she decided that I Love Rock 'N Roll was the perfect choice, inspired by Joan Jett's cover of it.
When Weiss started to sing, it was unlike anything the crowd could've been expecting. They clapped their hands to the beat. They cheered, throwing their arms in the air and jumping in place. Sera just kept strumming, spending all of her focus into hitting the right cords and the placement of her fingers.
By time they'd reached the middle, the entire ballroom was cheering and singing along to the song. Then it was time for Sera's solo, and she stepped up and absolutely shredded; her fingers flying along the strings while her pick moved faster than anyone could watch.
Sera grinned. She couldn't help it. Up on the stage playing one of her favorite songs flawlessly—she felt great. She could tell that Weiss liked it too. While this genre didn't exactly fit the heiress, she had to admit that she was doing well.
They were nearing the end of the song and Sera joined Weiss at the microphone to sing with her for the final bit. Sera poured all of her effort into the final solo, watching her own hands on the guitar. Then it was over, and everyone in the ballroom was screaming at the top of their lungs.
She grinned and looked over at Weiss. The heiress was smiling and watching the crowd with big eyes. Sera scanned the room until she found the rest of their friends cheering for them. Ruby was the most excited. Off to the side, Ozpin was watching them with interest.
Sera raised her arms and smiled when the crowd cheered even louder, then slowly lowered them. The noise died down the lower her arms got. Once everything was nice and quiet, she returned her hands to the guitar.
Weiss wrapped her hand around the microphone and stepped closer. Then she cleared her throat before belting out the first lyrics of their second and final song. (Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)). And the crowd loved it immediately.
She chose the songs that she thought could get the crowd fired up the most, but to be honest, she wasn't sure it would work. Now, though, she couldn't be happier with the decision.
Once again, her fingers flew across the guitar's frets and strings while strumming the strings with as much precision that she could muster. Weiss was doing incredible, if she was being honest. She knew that the heiress was really only used to opera-like singing, but she was killing this. Maybe after all of this, Sera will have improved her taste in music.
The amnesiac was glad she spent so many hours practicing with the instrument in her hands. Fortunately, she hasn't messed up a single time while playing. There were some close calls, but she made it through all right.
She kept an eye on where her team was and the big smiles on their faces. Then she saw familiar blue hair in the crowd. Cerulean was grinning at her and applauding the performance.
When she and Weiss reached to the part of the song where they agreed Sera could take over the microphone for a moment, the huntress made her way over while still playing the song. It was her favorite part of the song where the vocals were strongest and sounded the best. Now, Sera wasn't the best singer, but she could definitely hit the note.
Weiss stepped out of the way and subtly rolled her eyes. The amnesiac grabbed the microphone with one hand and sang her little heart out with just that one line of lyrics. Coincidentally, the crowd joined in for that line, too. Maybe her song choice was more popular than she'd thought.
They reached the end of the song, and everything was quieting down. Sera slowed the pace of her strumming and let the noise trail off while she finished with the lyrics, which consisted of screaming 'Saturday' over and over. She hit the last note and raised her pick into the air before flicking it into the crowd of students.
The ballroom erupted with noise and Sera soaked in all of it. She let her head fall back while a smile spread across her face. Weiss just rolled her eyes, but even she had to admit that she was feeling pretty good about the performance.
"Thank you, thank you!" Sera shouted and raised her hands to the crowd of students, letting her guitar hang by its strap. Professor Ozpin smirked at the purple-eyed student on-stage. "Well, that was certainly interesting, if I must say."
"Definitely unexpected," Ironwood replied. "Perhaps there is more to this girl than we were expecting. If she's capable of things such as this, then maybe…"
"I know, General," Ozpin finished. "I know."
Back at the stage, Sera waved at the crowd and Weiss performed a polite bow while the curtain closed on them.
"Whoo!" the amnesiac said excitedly while taking the guitar off of her. "That was amazing! I did the-! And you sang the-! Then I sang and…!" she squealed.
"That was fun!" Weiss agreed. "It certainly went smoother than I predicted. I was expecting at least three screwups on your end."
"If I wasn't so pumped about what we just did, I'd throttle you. But that! Was! INCREDIBLE!" she shook the heiress's shoulders with every word.
"Hey! Stop that!" she complained.
"Screw this, I'm going to see the fans!" she let go of Weiss and dashed for the stage exit.
The heiress shook her head and sighed.
. . .
As soon as she made it to the ballroom floor, the students that saw her clapped and cheered, and Sera just grinned and delved into the crowd. She said her thank you's to compliments and reciprocated high-fives and fist bumps while making her way to the punch bowl. What could she say? She was thirsty after all that.
Just when she was about to reach it, Cerulean appeared in front of her with a sly smile on her face.
"Lose something?" she asked, holding up a violet guitar pick between her fingers.
"Ah," Sera said. "Not really 'lose.' It was a gift to you guys."
"Uh-huh," the blue-haired girl said. "Here for some punch?"
"You guessed it," the amnesiac said. Then Cerulean smirked and led her over to the table so she could get a drink.
"Sera!" a voice shrieked, and the huntress in question looked over to find Ruby and Yang rushing over to her.
"Hey!" she greeted. "You gals enjoy the show?"
"It was so cool!" Ruby jumped excitedly. "That's what you and Weiss have been working on?!"
"Oh yeah," she grinned. "Paid off, huh?"
"I'll say!" Yang said. "You shredded up there!"
"I've been practicing a lot," she said sheepishly. She wasn't used to praise.
Cerulean peeked around Sera and gave a small wave. "Hi. We've met before—Initiation."
"Oh, right!" Ruby said. "You were with Sera in the locker room. Then we all fought the Grimm!"
"Exactly," the blue-haired girl nodded. She bumped her shoulder against Sera's and put a hand on at the middle of her back, making the white-haired girl jump slightly.
"I'm going to get some fresh air," she cleared her throat and headed for the exit.
"Uh, okay?" Yang blinked. "What's her deal?"
"No idea," Cerulean watched her go, smirking slightly.
Sera exhaled deeply when she stepped out into the chilly night air. She was grateful for the new leather biker jacket she was wearing. Wrapping it tighter around herself, she suppressed a shiver.
"Gods," she rubbed her hands together. She reflected on hers and Weiss's performance and Cerulean's sudden advances on her. What was going on?
Then she saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, and she looked over to investigate. She saw a someone in black running across a nearby building's rooftop.
"What the…?" she took her sunglasses off to get a better look. Sure enough, a slim figure was racing across the rooftops, heading towards the CCT. Whatever that person was up to, it could not be good.
Sera looked back into the ballroom. She considered going to get her friends for help, but by then it could be too late. She made a break for the CCT, running through campus with a determined look on her face. If she can stop this person, whoever they are, that might win her some points with Ozpin and Ironwood. Maybe they'll even finally let her have a bed, she mused.
'Yeah,' she rolled her eyes. 'As if that would ever happen.'