Yo! Another chapter of this!

Not much to say tbh. I'm almost at the end of Metaphor Refantazio! Fantastic game, definitely recommend it. First time in a long time I've wished a JRPG could be LONGER.

Start Chapter 18

"I want you to teach me magic!"

Jasmine had been expecting for Oscar – Ozma – to look at her like he currently was; a mixture of shock, mistrust, and doubt all rolled into one. She'd been hoping he wouldn't, but somewhere in her heart of hearts, she'd known he would.

"And why, Ms. Arc, would I do such a thing?"

It was a fair question, although Jasmine certainly felt like the answer was simple.

"Because I'd like to learn it. Because I think having it on our side would aid us in the battles to come."

Ozma hummed. "Ms. Arc, you are already quite well versed in magic. In fact, the healing magic you specialize in was so rare in my time that it was thought to be the exclusive domain of the Gods, and those that they'd chosen."

"That… it's just like any other field. You just have to learn." Jasmine spoke. "That's why I want to learn more. My family passed down the healing magic that I utilize, but it was so… haphazardly taught! It's all I can do. I'm no good with a sword and shield, the others, they… if I had offensive magic, then I could protect them, I could–"

"What you ask is beyond me, Ms. Arc." Ozma spoke, shaking his head. "I have not wielded true magics in thousands of years. The last time… I cannot even truly recall, but it was before I split my already dwindling power to create the Maidens."

She didn't believe that. Not even for a second.

"Please, sir. If I learn this, then–"

Ozma put his foot down. Literally. Really, he slammed it down, and looked up at her with fervor in his eyes.

"I am not going to teach you, Ms. Arc!" He almost shouted, before seemingly realizing that he had overreacted when others in the house looked over at them. He nodded to them, waving them down, before turning back to her apologetically. "I am sorry, but trust me when I say that I am doing this for your own good. For the greater good of this world."

Jasmine bit down on her lower lip, even as she nodded her head. She wanted to sneer, but instead simply turned away.

"Right…" She muttered below her breath.

"That's what everyone seems to think."

/

Seeing Saphron and Terra again was nice. Seeing little Adrian was also very nice. Heck, seeing Argus again was nice. It had been a while since Jasmine had last had a chance to visit. Nearly… two or three years, now? The whole family had gone to see Saphron and Terra when Adrian had been born.

That was the last time she could remember all the Arcs being in one place.

Then again, it had been Jasmine's idea to go off to Beacon, thinking she might finally be able to be a hero like in the ancient legends. It had been her idea to steal away Crocea Mors, infused with the Arc Family's power, for her foolish endeavor.

And in the end, it had been her fault that she'd had to unseal her family's magic to make right on what her own weakness had wrought.

Reviving Pyrrha…

It went against everything her family had told her as a child. It went against the very tenants of Remnant. Death was supposed to be the end. And Jasmine had gone against that core belief.

She'd forsaken everything she once believed in to save her partner.

The worst part… was that she couldn't even pretend like it had been a hard decision for her to make.

She'd done it without thinking, and even after thinking, she realized she'd have done it all again.

She was pulled from out of her own head when she spotted a curious sight. She had been coming back from the grocery store, doing a quick run to pick up some items that Saphron and Terra needed. They were nice enough to let their whole gaggle of people stay with them, and so Jasmine wasn't going to ruin that by being a poor guest.

And that ended up letting her catch her old Beacon crush wearing a tan trench coat, with a brown bowler hat, sipping coffee and holding a newspaper. That was just about as stereotypically 'I'm in disguise' as one could get. Jasmine followed her line of sight, trying to find out who she was watching…

Holy crap, she was watching Cinder Fall!

And Cinder Fall was watching them.

…

So, Jasmine was watching Weiss, who was watching Cinder, who was watching the rest of the gang?

Huh.

Complicated.

In the end, Jasmine chose to sit back for the moment, and simply observe. She wasn't even really sure what she was after. Sure, it was useful to know that Weiss was here, and judging by the fact that there was a mirror on her back, the man within was, too.

But there was another figure at the table with them. A figure who Jasmine couldn't quite deny a strange familiarity with.

In fact, as Jasmine kept staring, that figure looked up, and met her eyes. They were wearing a mask, some ancient, rusted-looking thing, but when their gaze interlocked with Jasmine's own, she swore she could feel them smiling beneath it.

They nodded their head to her, before going back to whatever they were doing before.

…She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She didn't think it was a good feeling.

A few minutes after that, Weiss stood up, and began walking away from the table. The other figure stayed seated, and Jasmine was loathe to walk right by them. Even so, she couldn't deny that she was curious about where it was that Weiss was going.

So, with some apprehension, she followed behind Weiss as she made her way down the road.

As she passed the other figure, they nodded once more to her.

Jasmine nodded back, almost on instinct.

She didn't have any idea why.

She followed Weiss for quite a while. It seemed she didn't really have a destination in mind, or, if she did, then she didn't quite know the streets of Argus as well as Jasmine. That was hardly surprising given that she'd been born and raised in Atlas, and had, from Jasmine's knowledge, never actually left it before she'd gone to Beacon.

Being a bit confused in a more rural – well, Argus was a pretty well populated city, but comparing pretty much anywhere else to Atlas made it feel more rural – environment was hardly surprising.

In the end, she made it to a discount grocery store, and Jasmine hung out outside, watching what was happening within. Weiss bought groceries, which consisted mostly of sweets and things that weren't particularly healthy, and then seemed to be going back to her hotel. Jasmine followed at a medium distance, not close enough to draw attention, or to be suspected of stalking.

…Which she kind of was, actually. It was for a good cause, she swore!

The real problem came when, suddenly, a hand reached out from an alleyway that Weiss was walking by, and pulled her in.

Jasmine's eyes widened, even as she drew Crocea Mors from off of her hip, and ran forward, trying to find out who it was that had just grabbed her. Unfortunately, before she could close the distance on the alleyway, a massive white blade swung down, and carved a line in the concrete.

Jasmine yelped, hopped backwards, and got out of the way as the sounds of combat continued. She swore beneath her breath, but pushed her way into the alley, trying to get some idea of what was going on.

And what she saw…

Cinder.

Look, Jasmine understood what it was that Nora had been trying to do back in Haven. Cinder was the kind of person who was loyal only to herself; the kind of person who could easily be swayed by having a better situation elsewhere. If they could have managed to convince cinder to turn her back on Salem, then their chances of winning this… whatever this was increased by quite a bit.

But that didn't mean that Jasmine had to like the woman. In fact, she hated her. She'd been the one who'd gotten them involved in that whole business relating to the Maidens. She'd been the one to attack Beacon, which had fast become Jasmine's home away from home. And she had been the one to kill Pyrrha, to make it so that Jasmine had no choice but to utilize the magics that had always flowed throughout her bloodline to bring her best friend back.

And that…

She could remember, sitting there, atop the spire of Beacon Academy, reconstituting Pyrrha's incinerated form. She'd had to reforge her from each individual piece of ash. It had taken hours of painstaking work.

But in the end…

/

"Jasmine?" she could remember Pyrrha looking up at her, her body still flaky from her using the magical equivalent of glue to attach each piece to the next. "You…"

She'd hadn't known what to say. She'd been so overwhelmed by the fact that the stories her family had always told her were true, that they truly did wield ancient magics even more than she'd been taught, to really think about the fact that just about a few hours ago, Pyrrha had kissed her, shoved her into a locker, and sent her careening off into Vale.

Really, she probably should have thought about that a little bit more, but sue her, she had other things on the brain.

"I… I took a bad hit." Pyrrha had voiced weakly, and it was the truth. A very bad hit. "How am I…?"

"It's my semblance." She'd lied, because there was no way she could tell her the truth. "I healed you."

"That…" Pyrrha actually laughed, high and terrified and grateful all in one. She'd been so brave, but she was just a girl. A 17-year-old girl, who hadn't asked for any of this to be thrust upon her.

She'd broken down, then. Thrust herself into Jasmine's arms and sobbed. Her body had shaken, and in that moment, Jasmine had made the decision that no matter the consequences, no matter what might come about as a result of her breaking her family's most ancient taboo, she'd do it all again.

No matter if it painted a target on her back to the Queen of the Grimm, spoken about in hushed whispers in the old tales. No matter if it made her an enemy to Ozpin, and his group of loyalists…

No matter if her utilization of magic drew a long-forgotten relic of a bygone age to the surface, where it would be found, as pristine as it had been a eon ago, by a mining team in the cold nothing of Atlas…

She would not regret what she'd done.

"It's okay." She'd whispered, clutching Pyrrha close.

"It's all going to be okay."

/

She caught up to Cinder and Weiss a few minutes later to find that the latter had seemingly claimed victory. That victory was mostly a moral one, since it looked as if Weiss had gotten the crap beaten out of her, and Cinder looked mostly unscathed.

And yet…

Cinder was crying.

Like, actually crying. Sobbing into her hands as she lamented the fact that the magic of the Fall Maiden had been taken from her.

Which, uh…

Huh. That was something.

Cinder got thrown into a wall by Weiss' newfound maiden powers, and Jasmine watched it all with a sick sort of interest. She was debating whether or not she should go over and… she wasn't even sure… finish Cinder off, maybe? Help her? The fact that those two thoughts existed at the same time within her told Jasmine all she needed to know about herself.

She was flippy-floppy, and that was bad.

In the end, Cinder got up about five minutes later. She growled out under her breath, then hiccupped out a little, pathetic sob, and followed some sort of trail that Weiss had left behind. Jasmine wasn't entirely certain what was going on, but at the same time, she couldn't deny that she too was more than a little curious.

So, she followed Cinder, who was following Weiss.

This seemed to be something of a pattern that day.

Eventually, Cinder tracked Weiss to a hotel which seemed average in just about every way. The woman manning the counter gave Cinder a room key, which was weird, since Jasmine knew for a fact that she didn't need a room, and then she disappeared up the stairs.

Perhaps to look for Weiss' own room.

Jasmine herself had no such problems. The magic of the Dread King was practically screaming at her from this close, and she knew for a fact she could follow it to where she needed to be.

But still… she wasn't sure whether or not that was a good idea.

In the end, she waited an hour or two. She called everyone, let them know that she was okay, but where she was just in case something might happen, and then followed the feeling within her gut. She walked up the stairs until she felt as close as she was going to get, and then followed the feeling onto that floor.

It turned out that she needn't have been any more accurate than that, because Cinder was standing in front of the door that Jasmine was after. She and Weiss seemed to be having some sort of conversation, but it also seemed to have just finished up, given that Cinder turned around and stalked down the hallway.

She spotted Jasmine with a sneer, but passed by her without doing anything.

Huh.

Weird.

…Still…

Jasmine couldn't deny she was curious.

And so, despite the nerves hanging about her…

She walked towards the room, regardless.

/

"You… knew I was coming?"

Weiss was equally as surprised as Jasmine was, mostly because Jaune hadn't seemed capable of just… tracking people before. He'd been able to spot out Adam and the other White Fang back in the forests of Mistral, but then, she'd just sort of assumed he'd seen them.

"Thou art a rather difficult person to miss, Ms. Jasmine." Jaune spoke, and for once, his voice sounded almost… soft. "After all, the magic that flows through thee marks thee just as it would've someone in my time. Thou feel… familiar, because of that. A familiarity that I have not experienced outside of Ozpin, Salem, and that bandit woman. I suppose it applies to thee now as well, Weiss."

Oh, right. She was the Fall Maiden all of a sudden.

That was… something.

"Although, I do not believe that is the only such reason that thy presence brings me such peace. Nor the only reason that thine magics steady me."

Jasmine's eyes widened, and before Weiss could think to question why…

"So… you already know?" She looked up at Jaune, who Weiss was now holding in front of her. "That I'm your descendant?"

Weiss felt like she'd been punched in the gut, but before she could truly comprehend what she'd just heard…

"Not mine, assuredly." Jaune chuckled. "I confess I had no time for relationships, or courtship of any kind. But I suspect that thou hail from my brother's line, or perhaps more accurately, from the union of Ozma and Salem themselves."

This was the first Weiss had heard of it! Sure, they had somewhat similar last names, but she'd assumed that didn't automatically mean they were connected after a good hundred thousand years of time!

"Our family tells legends of those days." Jasmine spoke, half a whisper, as she stepped into the space, and closed the door behind her. On another day, Weiss might've gotten upset with her about that – coming in without asking – but… eh, there were other things on the brain for all of them. "Of the Lands of Light. Of the Dread King who rose to claim sovereignty. Of the Gods betrayal… much of it was long assumed to just be stories, but you…"

She turned, and met Jaune's eyes.

"You can tell me the truth."

"And… for what reason would I do that, exactly?"

"Because I'm… asking you to?"

"Hm. Tis a decent reason."

"Really?" Weiss eyed him. "That's all it takes?"

"Well, I hath told thee much of that time." Jaune proclaimed, and it was true. "Is it not fair that I do the same for one belonging to my own bloodline?"

"I would think that bloodline is somewhat… distant."

"Such makes little difference," Jaune clarified. "At least to me."

"I didn't mean to imply that I thought there was no value in your blood connection at all."

"Thou didst not. Do not worry."

She nodded her head, and the three of them – well, really two, given that one of them was a mirror – made their way further into the room. Weiss pulled a chair up at the bed to pose Jaune on, and then sat down on it. Jasmine stayed standing.

Over the course of the next hour or so, Jaune laid out the history of the world as he knew it for Jasmine's sake. Almost all of it was rehashed knowledge that he had already gone over with her, but there were a few bits and pieces that he'd not yet covered.

It was also clear that he wasn't going to be delving into his personal life with Jasmine. It seemed he didn't quite know her well enough to tell the true history of the D'Arc Kingdom, or of what had happened after he'd been removed from the capital a second time, and somehow rallied the Kingdom to overthrow his brother, and banish Salem. Weiss very much wanted to hear that part, since they'd gotten cut off last time by the Apathy, but it seemed that particular story would have to be saved for another time.

All in all, however, it was still a thorough telling. Jasmine was flabbergasted by the amount of information that Jaune had presented to her, and was now pacing about the room.

"That…" She shook her head. "Much of what you just told me goes against some of our oldest legends and fables. In our family, it was passed down knowledge that you were a tyrannical dictator who overthrew the just king before you, and that you were eventually overthrown by the king's daughter, and her loyal knight."

"I imagine that would've likely been the tale told, yes." Jaune chuckled. "After all, it is not as if I was around to tell my side of the story."

"I just…" Jasmine frowned. "I thought our families' lorekeepers would be more accurate."

"It has been a hundred thousand years." Jaune answered. "I would not judge thy lorekeepers so harshly. They were going off hearsay of hearsay. Rumors of rumors. Myths of myths."

"I suppose…"

Weiss was glad these two were getting along, but at the same time, she couldn't quite hide the question that had been eating at her for a while now.

"Jasmine… why are you here, exactly?"

Jasmine's eyes widened, which told Weiss that she had, in fact, asked the right question.

"I… well, I followed Cinder here, but I suppose the real reason I was so curious was to see whether or not you would, or Jaune would, I should say, uhm…"

She cleared her throat, steadied her stance, and then…

Bowed.

"I want you to teach me to use magic!"

Weiss wasn't terribly surprised by this, although Jaune very much was.

"What?"

"I want you to teach me to use magic!"

"No, I very much heard thee," Jaune shook his head. "I was more expressing disbelief. Thou art a plenty capable magician already."

"I don't know nearly enough!" Jasmine argued. "I'm… when Beacon was falling, when my home was falling down all around me, I couldn't do a single thing! All I managed was to take out a few Grimm. A civilian might as well have been capable of doing the same! Pyrrha went off, and she left me behind… and she also kissed me–"

"Wait," Weiss interrupted. "I was under the impression you were oblivious to her feelings!"

"Uh, Weiss, a person can only really be so oblivious to their best friend coming onto them, can't they?"

"Hearing that from you feels wrong." Weiss spoke flatly.

"Regardless!" Jasmine coughed. "Of my and Pyrrha's sordid…"

"Love life?"

"Please do not call it that." Jasmine groaned. "It's… complicated. She just feels that way because I saved her life–"

"You just said she kissed you before you saved her–"

"I had to use my magic to save Pyrrha, but that was all it could do!" Jasmine blitzed through her attempts to continue talking about her and Pyrrha, so Weiss decided to let it be for the moment. "I don't want to be helpless like that again! I want to be able to use spells of all different kinds!"

"I see." Jaune hummed. "And why me?"

"Because no one else can." Jasmine spoke, before seemingly realizing something, and sighing. "And because no one else will."

Jaune nodded his head, slowly, with a calculated air.

"…Fine."

Weiss' face screwed up. "Jaune, don't you think we should consider this a bit?"

"Why?" Jaune looked up at her. "What's to consider?"

"Er…"

/

"Oh my gosh! Weiss Schee! I love your music!"

She laughed, feeling that sense of pride that always filled her when someone complimented her. Fans could grow aggravating in abundance, but a little indulgence every once in a while had never hurt anyone.

"Well, thank you. And what's your name?"

"Jasmine Arc! Nice to meet you! Do you want to be partners!?"

"No."

"Oh."

/

"Weiss! Hey!"

Weiss turned, and lo and behold, it was the girl from earlier on the previous day, before initiation.

Ugh, if only she'd taken the idiot up on her offer, she'd have at least avoided getting partnered up with Ruby Rose, of all people.

"Hello… Janine, was it?"

"Jasmine, but that's fine!" The girl was incessantly peppy, much like Ruby, so perhaps she wasn't missing all that much. "Hey, do you want to go out sometime?"

"…As in… on a date?"

"Yeah!"

"…No."

"Oh."

/

"Hey, Weiss!"

"Hey Weiss!"

"Weiss! Hey!"

"Weiss, do you wanna' go out on Saturday!?"

"Weiss, do you want to go to the dance together!?

"Hey, Weiss, I made a song on my guitar! Let's go to the dance!"

"Weiiiiiiss!"

"No."

"Oh."

/

"No… particular reason." Weiss coughed into one hand. "I just felt like we should consider all our options."

"Ah. Well, I have considered them." Jaune cleared his throat. "And I hath subsequently decided that I shall teach magic to Jasmine regardless."

Jasmine cheered. Weiss sighed.

"However," Jaune held up a finger. "If thou art to be learning from me, I ask that thou travel with us."

Jasmine's eyes widened. "You… want me to go along with you guys?"

"I think that only fair, no?" Jaune retorted. "Thou sayeth that it is thine wish to protect people; I would have thee protect both myself and my bearer."

Weiss didn't really need protection, but then, she didn't actually think that was what Jaune was trying to say.

"I…" Jasmine paused a moment. "I'd… may I consider it?"

"If thou wish to join us, then I must ask thee to do this now." Jaune shook his head. "We cannot allow Ozma to possibly learn where it is we reside. Especially now that Cinder has decided to join up with us. We will be leaving quite soon."

"Wait, what?"

"Tis a long story." Jaune summarized in what was perhaps the truest statement he'd spoken in his life. "But regardless, I ask thee choose; will thou go back to those thy care for, with no knowledge of magic beyond that which thou currently possess, or wilt thou come along with us?"

"…I'll go with you all." Jasmine decided, and Weiss was quite surprised she'd made up her mind so quickly. "I… if I'm with you guys, then… the chances of bad things happening to Pyrrha and the others… it's a lot lower. You're where the action is. Salem seemed interested most of all in you."

"Understandable, given what once transpired between us." Jaune nodded his head. "Very well. We will be leaving Argus the moment that Cinder returns, having managed to find us a way out of Argus."

Jasmine nodded. It was clear from her expression that she was more than a little bit nervous, but she hid it well. More than that, she seemed determined to succeed here.

Weiss respected that determination, even if she also held some doubts.

There was a knock at the door behind them, and all three of them turned when the door opened, and Cinder stepped in. She glared over at Jasmine, before stepping into the room and crossing her arms.

"I've gone ahead and registered us all for a particular flight. I've had Watts delete all records of the flight's existence ahead of time. No one will know we were aboard." Cinder looked to Jasmine. "Although it seems now that I'll be needing to purchase a fourth ticket."

"You will." Jaune nodded. "Jasmine shall be accompanying us to Atlas. And Cheshire will be attending as well, of course."

"Was that… the masked person?" Jasmine asked.

Weiss hummed out in the affirmative. Jasmine paused a moment.

"…Something's off about them. It's just…"

"They feel so… familiar."

/

In the end, they arrived at the airport barely an hour later.

It helped that none of them had needed to pack anything.

Cinder had a few outfits she was leaving behind, but given that she was using a card that Salem had given her to pay for everything – and Salem had apparently been using the stock market for the last few hundred years, and when one was immortal, they could afford to take a few risky investments – she was in no danger of being unable to refill such a supply.

The only one who was concerned about leaving things behind was Jasmine.

"I just…" She frowned. "I don't want to leave them all without saying anything."

"Oh my–" Cinder growled. "Can you be less mopey for five minutes?"

"Forgive me for having people that might actually care I'm leaving!" Jasmine fired back. "I know that must be a foreign concept for you!"

Cinder's eyes lit up with fire – purely metaphorical, given that she no longer had the Maiden's powers – and though she made to grab at Jasmine, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder by Weiss.

"Calm down." She glared. "Both of you."

The two of them met her glare with flat expressions, before hissing out below their breaths as they separated, crossing their arms in front of them.

They arrived at their gate and sat down, awaiting the plane that would ferry them across half the world. They were… quite the odd grouping, what with Cheshire wearing a full body cloak and mask, Cinder being down an eye and an arm – and being a wanted criminal, but no one ever seemed to give much of a shit about that, and it was driving Weiss slightly insane – and Weiss being…

Well, Weiss Schnee.

Somehow, no one cared.

Then again, it was an airport. People were probably just too busy hating everyone, everything, and themselves to notice.

"It's not too late to go back to them, Jasmine." Weiss told her as she sat down beside her.

"I know." She sighed. "But… I don't know. I feel like… if I'm going to face them again, then I need to be able to pull my own weight."

"You don't think having the power to raise the dead could be considered as pulling your own weight?"

"It's… complicated."

It didn't sound complicated to Weiss. It sounded like Jasmine was just underrating her own abilities; downplaying them when they were obscenely powerful.

But then, Weiss couldn't claim that she'd never done the same, either.

It was easy to undersell one's own contributions, whilst overselling the contributions of others.

An announcement came on over the PA system, and all around them people began to stand, making their way towards the boarding gate.

"Well, that's our cue." Cheshire sounded giddy. "Ooh, how exciting! I've never ridden in a plane before!"

Why they were letting Cheshire on board in a full black cloak and a mask, Weiss had absolutely no idea. But then, the world didn't make much sense to her these days, either.

"Come." Cinder spoke as she stood, and nodded back to Weiss. "Atlas awaits."

Weiss hummed out in response, even as she stood, adjusted her carry-on luggage – which was to say Jaune's mirror packed into a suitcase just large enough to fit him – and made for the gate.

She was going home.

It was oddly humorous to her – in a cosmic sort of way – to think about the fact that this had all started from her leaving Atlas. And yet, here she was, making every effort to return.

The world was just like that, Weiss supposed.

She shrugged, even as she walked onto the plane, and sat down in her seat. She let out a breath of relief at finally being able to just… sit down for a while.

Well, she was going to enjoy it for the meantime. She was nearly certain that the moment she touched down in Atlas, something, somehow, was going to explode.

Literally? Figuratively?

Honestly, it could've been either. She wouldn't have been surprised.

Still, she could at least look forward to seeing Winter again.

That would be nice.

/

Winter Schnee stood before General James Ironwood, leaning on his elbows at his desk as he looked up at her darkly.

"You understand, then? She makes to come here. To bring that… darkness to the last bastion of humanity."

"I understand, sir."

"You know what you must do?"

"I do." Winter answered, her eyes darkening.

"I'll bring Weiss, and her mirror, here to you."

/

She was sure her sister was getting up to great things, even now.

…Why did Weiss suddenly feel nervous?

End Chapter 18

Weiss' streak of having absolutely no luck continues! We're off to Atlas, folks!

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