It was a normal day for Jaune, well it was a normal day for everyone, that was until Team RWBY found a mysterious closet, but that in itself didn't matter. What did matter was that they found it right before game night, the night where Teams RWBY and JNPR would meet up and play games together.

Yang had wanted to use the closet they found for a game of seven minutes in heaven, she had said that it would be fun, everyone knew she was joking, but then she teased Ruby for not wanting to play a 'grown ups' game.

And then Ruby forced them to play.

That was why Jaune Arc and Blake Belladonna were standing in a dark closet together.

"Soo..." He started nervously. "It's pretty dark in here."

Blake turned to look at him, her amber eyes almost glowing in the dark. "I can see just fine." She finished with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, yeah, heh, you're a Faunus." He was suddenly more nervous at being the only one of the two who couldn't see. "How long has it been?" He asked, wanting to get out already.

"Five minutes and thirty-five seconds." She answered.

"Oh, you think they'll let us out if we ask?" Jaune asked, reaching up to knock on the door from inside,

"Jaune." Blake called as she put a hand on his shoulder. "If you leave I lose the game, and I have a bet going on with Yang, one that I can't afford to lose."

"Okay, I guess I could last another minute with you." He said with a sigh.

"Jaune, do you dislike me?" Blake asked with curiosity in her voice.

"No, I just don't really know you, we never really talk to each other." He said honestly. "We see each other everyday, but I don't know anything about you."

"If you wanted to talk, we could have used those five minutes you spent fidgeting."

"Well, we have a minute left and we're talking now."

"I'm not sure what we cou-" Blake stopped and her body fell to the ground.

Jaune dove to his knees next to her. "Blake!?" He shouted and tried to grab her shoulders, but his fingers went straight through her.

"-ld do with only fifty seconds left." Blake's voice echoed around the closet.

"What?" Jaune asked, falling on his butt as he looked around the room. He saw that Blake was still standing, and that she was standing over her fallen body. "What is this?"

"This, my Butterfly, is the result of bringing her into this 'closet'." A cold, synthetic voice resonated throughout the dark space.

"Who are you!? What's happening to Blake!?" He shouted in a panic.

"Nothing is happening to Blake, this is simply the result of bringing her in here."

"Why?" He asked, looking around the room for the source of the sudden voice.

"She is Schrödinger's Cat, and you brought her into the Box."

"What?" Confusion and panic filled him.

"Then you made her curious, and you know what they say about Cats and Curiosity."

"That Satisfaction brought it back?" Jaune's mouth moved on its own after his brain made the connection.

"Yes, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, right now Blake is dead an-"

"What!" Jaune interrupted and turned back to face Blake.

"Thirty seconds left." The Blake that was standing over the fallen Blake said.

"And alive, Jaune. She's both dead and alive, at least until they open the closet door, then Blake will be alive or dead."

"Wha-what is this?" The tired sounding question slipped out of him.

"Quantum Mechanics and Symbolism."

"What?"

"Do you want me to answer that? Or do you want to save Blake?"

"Twenty seconds left."

"Save Blake."

"Pledge your person to me. Accept this Nexum and I'll save Blake."

"I accept." There was no hesitation in his answer.

"Great, now say goodbye Jaune, we'll be leaving soon."

The fallen Blake flickered and vanished. "Another fifty seconds spent in silence, Jaune." The standing Blake, the only one left, said as she walked past him, and to the door.

"Goodbye Blake, tell everyone that they meant the world to me, and I'm glad I met them." Jaune said softly, barely keeping his voice from breaking.

His odd tone and words gave Blake pause, so she turned around to ask him what he meant.

"Time's up!" Yang shouted from the outside of the closet, and when she opened the door, only a shocked Blake was inside.


When Jaune finished giving his message, the standing Blake also vanished, leaving him alone in the dark. He wiped his slightly misty eyes.

"If you're done being dramatic. I could answer a few questions."

He took a moment to gather himself. "What just happened? In simple terms."

"Blake was a cat Faunus. Schrödinger's theory had a cat be both alive and dead. Curiosity killed the cat."

"So, because Blake was a curious cat in a box she almost died?" Jaune asked incredulously at the answer.

"No, those three alone don't matter, it was because she was in The Nexus with a Butterfly, The Chaos Butterfly."

"Nexus? Butter- Hey, wait! You called me Butterfly when you first spoke to me."

"I did, and the Nexus is a connection linking two or more things. This closet connected the two realities where Blake either lived or died, but this closet is also the Nexus."

"What?"

"This closet was more than just two connected realities, it's also the Central Location for the Multiverse."

"Multiverse? That thing from comics?"

"Yes and no, your comics may represent the multiverse differently than the real thing. The real Multiverse isn't caused by acts of man, I create more universes because I want to see more."

"Wait what!? You creat- Who are you!?"

"My bad, I forgot to give you an introduction, I'm ATLAS, the God of your Universe and the whole Multiverse."

"...Ha, I made a deal with God."

"Back to my explanation, this closet is two types of Nexus'. Blake was a 'curious cat in a box', and you were in there too."

"Me? And also stop finishing on stuff I have to question, it's making me feel slow."

"Okay, noted, and you are The Chaos Butterfly, based from the Chaos Theory, also known as the Butterfly Effect, it claims that one small thing, like the flapping of a Butterfly's wings, can cause a storm. That one small thing can change the world."

Jaune took a moment to think this through for himself. "Change the world?" He asked, but it wasn't a question, he was looking for clarification.

"Yes, Jaune, every choice you make changes your universe, from who you say hello to or who you ignore, and even to what stores you visit. You always change the world, you are important."

"No." Jaune whispered. "You have the wrong guy, I am no one!" He shouted.

"You could save your world or end it, a simple hello or defeating a monster, everything you do and did affected the world."

"Y-you're wrong."

"It was because you entered this closet that you saw Blake die, and because you accepted my Nexum that Blake lived."

"Nexum! Explain the Nexum! S-stop talking about me."

"...A Nexum is a debt contract, the person who agrees to it becomes a slave in exchange for something they can't afford, until the other party lets them free. They become a Nexus, a person bound by a Nexum."

"..." He didn't say anything in response.

"You were correct earlier, Satisfaction saved Blake, my satisfaction with gaining you as my Nexus allowed me to save Blake."

"..." Nothing.

"Jaune, both Blake and Ruby would be dead."

"What?" Jaune snapped.

"If Blake had entered this Nexus with Ruby, they would both be dead. I explained why Blake was in danger, but I haven't explained why you were safe, it's because you are The Chaos Butterfly that you were aware of the danger, if anyone else but Ruby went in, Blake could've died. If Ruby entered the Nexus with Blake, she wouldn't have saved Blake and she couldn't have left."

"Why?"

"Ruby is The Nexus, she is the most Important Person of the Multiverse, I wouldn't be able to make a Nexum with her, because it would collapse your universe, and if she entered the Central Location of the Multiverse it wouldn't have let her go. Only you could've saved Blake, and you did."

"...Okay, I could deal with being important."

"Good, because I'm done explaining what happened, I'm now going to explain what you have to do for me."

"I'm ready."

"I'll be sending you to different universes so you can fix something, most of the time you'll just be helping someone, sometimes you'll be the one getting help."

"I got this, or not! I'm weaponless in a blue bunny onesie and I'm about to travel the Multiverse." Jaune complained.

"I don't have rules about stealing stuff from other universes. Just grab a pair of clothes and weapon from yourself."

Jaune sighed.


Thanks for reading! I'm always open to feedback, so please leave a review, or reply in my forum, about what you liked or hated about this chapter or the whole story. If anyone wants to be a Beta Reader, then PM me and we'll talk details.

Although intentionally confusing for Jaune, I would rather everyone be on the same page.

A Nexum is a debt contract with your life on the line if you fail to pay back the creditor, and as long as you are in debt you must obey them.

A Nexus has three meanings, one meaning is a person bound by a Nexum (Jaune), another meaning is the most important point or place (Ruby and The Closet), the last meaning is a central connection between more than one location or things (The Closet).

I doubt I need to explain the Butterfly Effect and Schrödinger's Cat, and just so it's clear, the whole 'Blake in a Box' thing is just Symbolic Quantum Mechanics.