Weiss wasn't a morning person, and Weiss would never be a morning person. However, there was a few things that could make her get up early, Ruby's horrible whistle unfortunately one of the things included in that rather short list. Getting to spend time with her older sister being one of the more favourable reasons. They hardly got to spend time together since Winter 'escaped' to the military.
Weiss didn't say escaped, Winter didn't say escaped, neither her father nor Whitley said escaped. But it was what all of them were thinking.
Shaking the negative thoughts out, Weiss instead did her best to get ready for her day. All to the sound of Yang sawing logs. To call it annoying would be an understatement, but a small, miniscule, part of her couldn't help but find it comfortable. While annoying, it gave the dorm a sense of life she had never experienced home in the manor. Where everything was professionally silent, maids and butlers not making a single sound as they performed their duties.
Looking in the mirror, she hummed to herself, satisfied with her appearance. 'I need to get Jaune something.' She thought to herself, thanks to his advice the dance hadn't been the downright disaster it was leading up to be. She was still cross with Neptune, and he had burned whatever goodwill there was between them, but she had had fun. Sure her sister had sent her a funny look when Violet had sat in her lap, even falling asleep on her, and she just knew it was one of the things she would ask about today. But she had had fun, she had danced, and she had laughed.
Something she couldn't remember doing in a ball in a long, long, time. While there had been multiple flirts like Neptune who had tried asking her to dance, she was quick to turn them down. Even if the only reason she danced with what's-his-name-now was to make Neptune jealous. But she was petty like that. It had been fun, but it lacked the sparks she had seen fly between Jaune and Pyrrha as they danced.
She wanted someone like that. Someone who looked at her as if she was the greatest treasure. Not Weiss Schnee the 'Lonely Flower' as her fans had dubbed her, not Weiss Schnee the heiress to the SDC. Just Weiss, sheltered and lonely girl who wanted to be loved.
"I'm heading out." She called out, only getting tired murmurs from her teammates who were still asleep. Not that she was surprised in the slightest. Opening the door, she smiled at her sister. Winter as beautiful and cold as her namesake. "Good morning sister." She smiled. A soft smile breaking Winter's mask of professional stoicism as she smiled. "Good morning sister. It's good to see you."
The rest of Winter's greeting died in her throat as Team JNPR's door flew open. Jaune coming marching out dressed in only his white shirt and beige pants, his vest as usual filled with items, otherwise looking like a human climbing tree. In his left hand he dragged, or carried, Ren like cat by the scuff of his neck. A bucket hanging over his neck, with the sound of water sploshing around escaping from it. In another arm he carried a smaller girl, resting her head on his shoulder as she clung to him. Blue eyes that looked just like his, only filled with lethargy, looked at her in surprise. His great coat hanging around her. And on his other shoulder sat Violet, who clung to Jaune's head. Giving her a little wave.
His eyes landed on her sister, recognition and confusion coming to life. Something that also appeared in Violet's eyes. Almost as if she had seen Winter somewhere before and recognised her. Swallowing the question on his tongue, Jaune instead blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Nora crushed Ren's pelvis."
"I did not!" The girl in question screeched out from behind him. Coming stomping from behind Jaune, sneaking around him with a flustered expression on her face.
"We are moving to another dorm room, since ours were becoming a bit too crowded." Jaune smiled, carefully shifting his right arm around so the young girl sat more comfortably. The lethargy in her eyes washed away as she yawned into his side. "We have yet to see it, but you are welcome to join us."
With his piece said, Jaune walked away. Dragging Ren all the way. The boy's legs spasming as he tried getting his feet under him. Finding no purchase, before the sound of Ren puking rang trough the hallway. Sending a shiver of disgust racing down her spine. The only thing worse was the horrendous smell that slithered up her nostrils.
Nora gave her a little smile. Lifting a coffee table on her shoulder and balancing multiple pillows on top of her head. Two bags filled with clothes and other knickknacks slung over her shoulders.
"I'm so sorry~" Pyrrha apologised to them, a rug slung under her arm with her bag on her back. The girls eyes were red and puffy, however her shoulders looked more relaxed than they had in a long time.
And then the whirlwind that was Team JNPR and co passed. Leaving Weiss feeling confused, surprised, but mostly curious.
"Your… friends… are certainly something." Winter snarked professionally. Giving her a pointed brow.
"They… certainly are." Weiss smiled. A bit envious, and a bit glad that her team was normaler. Her team was a piece of work, but she had grown somewhat fond of them. And they were getting better as a team. So she had that going for her, which was nice. She really had no idea how Pyrrha dealt with her team.
Ruby's energy and excitement was manageable, Weiss didn't know if Nora had an off switch. Energy and excitement radiating from the pink bomber constantly. She wouldn't hesitate to switch Ren with Blake. But wherever Ren went, so went Nora. And Weiss knew she coulndt deal with her constant excitement. And Jaune was a better, more prepared Yang.
She didn't want to switch them just because she wanted to sing Violet lullabies or read her bedtime stories.
"Are we still on for breakfast? It has been long since we have gotten to spend time together." Winter smiled softly.
"That we are, lead on." Weiss smiled back. Happy for the chance to spend time with her sister. After all, she had an open invitation to see their new dorm. Waiting till they had properly moved in sounded preferable to being caught in the hustle and bustle.
####
"Welcome to our new home for the foreseeable future." Jaune called out, stepping into their new room. Violet already jumping of, darting around the studio apartment. For it felt wrong to call it just a dorm room. It had room for eight beds and its own kitchen area. The bathroom was smaller, it was a squeeze but not too tight. Letting Ren rest there, he carried Aurora out. Stopping the aura he had channelled to her the entire way. Aurora looking a lot less tired and cold now.
Setting her down on the closest bed, he handed her a flask filled with Ren's herb mixture that had been transmuted two times. "Here, this should give you your strength back. You will have to drink from this regularly today when you get hungry. I will have the method to heal you ready tomorrow. But for now this is the only thing I can think of that won't have you throwing up everything you eat."
"Yeah!" Nora's shout of delight rang through the studio, making Aurora flinch at the loud noise. "No more waiting in line in the laundry room!" Nora smiled, opening the door to a laundry room with a washing machine.
"What is that?" Aurora asked curiously, pulling his coat tighter around herself. Fighting of a shiver.
"Are you strong enough to stand?" Jaune asked softly, gently taking his hand in hers. Channelling some more aura into her subtly. Washing away the paleness in her cheeks and making the golden pendant hidden under her dress shine softly.
Aurora stumbled the second she tried standing on her own, falling into his side with a soft whimper. Violet was at her sisters side with an instant. All her previous reservations and thinking of her sister as dirty or unclean thrown to the side as she helped her sister.
"Why don't you sit and eat something at the kitchen table?" Jaune said softly, switching the topic to something else as he felt Aurora's weakness. Violet already staring at her sister with dew drops of tears in her eyes. Not giving Aurora even a chance to say no.
Aurora huffed, shooting a curious look to where Nora was eagerly separating laundry as she allowed herself to be directed to a chair. Moving at a snail's pace, Jaune let her walk on her own. Understanding why she needed to walk on her own. He understood that coming so close to death would always leave scars, no matter who it happened to. He also knew that she didn't want to feel like a burden. She was already wounded, and instead of dying she had woken up in an entirely foreign place.
To call her mental state frail was the understatement of the century. It almost felt like he was walking around on eggshells to not step on a landmine, or something worse.
"Why don't I see what we have in the pantry. And I can answer some of the questions you no doubt have." Jaune smiled softly at her. Gently standing up, Violet moving her chair next to her sister and helping her sit properly.
Looking around the kitchen area, Jaune coulndt help but smile at the food the headmaster had stocked the room with. It wasn't an ungodly amount, instead just enough for the six of them to eat all their meals here for about two days. Nodding to himself, he started on a pot of porridge.
"What is your favourite flower, Aurora?" He nonchalantly asked, letting the pot putter away as he took out some bowls and spoons. Fishing out a bag of sunflower seeds and a box of raisins. Setting it down beside a carton of milk and block of butter. He didn't personally like to 'spice' up his porridge, but he had lived with heathens who poured milk into their porridge long enough to know that they would whine if he didn't set it out.
"I like lily's." Aurora whispered, grimacing as she took a sip from the flask. The topic something mundane, allowing her to let her guard down and hopefully open more up a bit. "But white lilies are my favourite." They make me feel clean, she didn't say, but it was all he heard.
"I like violets." Violet grinned at him with a beaming smile.
"Amarylis have always been a favourite of mine." Pyrrha said sweetly, coming up to help him with setting the table. "However I also have a soft spot of gladiolus's as well."
"Who says you only can have one favourite flower?" Jaune chimed in, stirring the pot. "There are so many beautiful flowers in the world. Why limit yourself to only one?"
"I like spring crocuses." Nora chimed from the laundry piles. "I think they fit me to a tee. And Ren have always been particular towards Irises."
"What about you, master? What flowers do you like." Violet asked with her eyes sparkling with curiosity. While she had been with him, them, for some weeks now. He hadn't told her much of his personal life. Even if she had been with him constantly since then, there was much she didn't know about him.
"My favourite flower, huh?" Jaune hummed. "That would be a tossup to either the moonflower or wolfsbane. The lily of the valley is a close third place, but I can't choose one over the other."
Violet ate up his answer with an eager smile while her sister let a soft smile grace her features. Pyrrha on the other hand sent him a look, not missing how all his favourite flowers were poisonous. 'Huh, maybe I can use grow them in the dream. It could use some more life. And using wolfsbane as a base for a poison against beasts doesn't sound too farfetched.'
Instead of answering the question that went unsaid in her eyes. Jaune instead moved the pot of porridge to the table, before fishing out another calming brew for Ren. While he would have words with him, he wouldn't let him suffer needlessly. He was angry, betrayed even, but he wasn't needlessly cruel.
Opening the bathroom door he was immediately met with a tired glare from Ren. A thin line of bile trailing down his chin. Not asking for permission, he popped the cork of and shoved the flask into his mouth. Ren's eyes flying wide open before he greedily drank. Colour rapidly returning to his face when he was finished.
"There is a pot of porridge on the kitchen top. Can you stand?" Jaune asked. Ren giving him a nod, the spasms from earlier greatly reduced. They were still there, but he managed to stand, and he managed to walk on his own two feet. Only swaying like an old drunk. Nearly knocking into the tabletop as he sat down. Nora quickly filling his bowl and pouring milk into the porridge before handing it to him.
"So~ Is there a reason Violet's sister isn't eating with us?" Nora asked curiously. "And when are you going to introduce her."
"She did something stupid." Violet chimed in. Silencing the entire table with her cheer.
"Violet, apologise to your sister." Jaune said, giving his apprentice a look. Ignoring how she spluttered he continued. "Your sister had a lapse in judgment. Thinking with her heart instead of her head. It happens, but she is not stupid. She has learnt from her mistakes and won't do them again. Isn't that right Aurora?"
"I won't do it again." Aurora mumbled, holding a hand over her stomach as she shivered.
Nodding, he turned to Violet, raising a pointed brow at her. Violet's defiance crumbling like a castle built on salt.
"'M sorry." Violet grumbled, grabbing her spoon and shovelling porridge into her mouth.
"Aurora have lost all, most, of her lower organs, she will be subsiding on a liquid diet until the magic that is keeping her alive stabilises and I can properly heal her." Jaune said simply, much to the horrified gasps of Nora and Pyrrha. "I expect it will take until evening. She will be right as rain tomorrow. However till then, please be mindful around her."
"I'm not made of glass." Aurora grumbled, taking another sip of her flask with a grimace. She abhorred the taste, but she needed to eat. While some colour returned to her cheeks, she hid a yawn behind the flask.
"You are not." Jaune nodded. "But you are wounded."
That took the wind out of her sails. Another grumble escaping her as she went back to sipping on the enchanted health mixture.
"However, should you feel up to it, we can continue your throwing training later." Jaune said softly. Sighing as everyone around him perked up. "It shouldn't be so physically demanding, however if we say stop, you will stop. There is no need to make your wound worse. Or, if you want to do something else, I can conjure up something we can make in the kitchen."
If he had their interest earlier, now he had their full attention. Violet was almost vibrating in place as she grinned from ear to ear. Aurora had a much more subdued reaction. Even if she looked eager, glad to have something familiar to lean on.
"Jaune, what exactly do you need the kitchen for?" Pyrrha sighed, already regretting asking.
"Poison. We will be making poison." Jaune replied nonchalantly. "Poison of the paralytic kind to be exact." Seeing his partner frown, he smiled softly. "Don't worry, I will be the one making it, with the girls cutting some ingredients at most. I also have antidotes at hand if someone should grow curious." Looking at Nora, he knew she would find a way to end up paralyzed before the day was over. There was no shame in his friends eyes.
"Isn't poison… dishonourable?" Aurora asked with a frown. Shrinking in on herself at the sudden attention.
"As long as your quarry dies, there is nothing shameful with using everything you have at your disposal." Jaune lectured. Seeing that the young girl was still looking unsure, he instead switched gears. "Admitting weakness is the first step to improving. And Pyrrha, my partner-" He gestured, Pyrrha nodding at Aurora with a soft smile. "- beats me in a fair fight."
"But… how?" Aurora interrupted, looking extremely unsure of herself. Somehow looking even smaller than her sister. "You are a man. How can a woman beat you?"
A pin drop silence fell over the studio. Jaune felt his hair's grey in real time as he leaned back, wondering how to even begin untangling the knot's that made up Aurora's psyche. Violet had had much of the same problems in the beginning, thinking him invincible, something she still did, but the misogyny and gender roles of Yharnam had still followed her. She had been uncomfortable with muscles, thinking all women needed to be dainty and soft. She had gotten over much, but Jaune knew they had just started.
"I am physically stronger than Pyrrha. That much is true, however Pyrrha is more skilled than me. In a fair match, in an arena or otherwise, she will always come out on top." Jaune explained, making sure to keep a level matter of fact tone. When it came to combat Pyrrha was simply on another level. The dream might allow him to catch up quickly, but he had ten years of relentless backbreaking training to catch up with. "Even if I were to bring out most of my tricks, I would lose based on fighting fair. Simply because Pyrrha is more skilled than me. On the other hand, if I really wanted to win, I would simply poison her during breakfast or I would change the rules of the engagement to favour me."
"Of course I would never do that." Jaune amended, feeling his partner's emerald eyes bore into the side of his head. "But it was a hypothetical. You must know that there is a clear divide in how I and Pyrrha approach combat, and how we prepare. Pyrrha has been honing her skills day in and day out since she was younger than Violet."
"I began training when I was five." Pyrrha chimed in with a reminiscent smile. "And I was nine when I signed up for my first under thirteen tournament. I came third."
"Are you ok?" Nora whispered. Not knowing what to make out of Pyrrha's statement. When he was five he was running around, chasing after his big sisters or playing with his younger sisters. Not spending hours drilling in the basics of combat.
"Pyrrha is great at what she does, and it is reflected in how she approaches combat. It is a part of her lifestyle." Jaune continued, getting a tentative nod from Aurora. "Meanwhile I don't like fighting, if I could, I would never lift a blade. However it is part of my duties, and as such I will fight when needed. Unlike Pyrrha, I don't practice nine hours a day. Instead I fill my 'toolbox' with tools and equipment to allow me to do my job. I have a weapon for dispersing crowds of beasts, I have a hand cannon for larger prey. I have cocktails to lure and fuel the baser instincts of beasts, poisons to bring down the seemingly unkillable. In my arsenal I have spells to ensure I can stay in the fight for however long I might need, spells to change the rules of engagement completely, cruel curses that will see me wining without ever having to draw my sword. Pyrrha might be the better fighter, but I am better prepared for any situation I could find myself in."
Aurora sent a sceptical look between him and Pyrrha, face filled with disbelief. Everything he told her clashing with what she had learned growing up.
"Have you been holding out against me, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, fire dancing in her eyes. Jaune didn't know if she wanted to get back at him for the poison comment earlier, even if he wouldn't fault her for it, or if she was just that competitive. The possibility that he had been holding back making her want to fight him going all out.
"If by that you mean that if I have restrained from using lethal curses. Then yes." Jaune said between spoonful's of porridge. "I mean, I'm not going to give you necrosis. Neither do I see any reason to speed up your aging process. There is always the classic 'heart in hand' curse, however it doesn't work like you are imagining it. If you are machoistic, or crazy enough, I have a curse that lasts for ten minutes. It causes the body of the target to reject itself. Your cells will be fighting your own cells, organs will be fighting organs as their components fight themselves. While it is called an immobilization curse, it is in essence a torture curse. The immobilization aspects come from the screaming."
"Pyrrha no." Nora stressed, looking at the crimson haired woman in exasperation. Pleading for Pyrrha to have some sense.
"I worry for you Pyrrha." Jaune ribbed with a twinkle in his eyes. "Are you sure you don't have any latent machoistic fantasies?"
"Har har, Jaune." Pyrrha snarked, rolling her eyes at him. "As if you have grounds to stand on, Mr lost-my-virginity-to-my-own-femur-but-I-walked-it-off."
"Are they flirting?" Jaune heard Violet whisper to her sister. Aurora's eyes already filled with life as she darted between him and Pyrrha.
"I don't see anything wrong with using my resilience to my advantage." Jaune quipped back. Shooting a quick little look over to the girls. More than a little relived that Aurora seemed more grounded. She hid another yawn behind her flask; however the mundane conversation topic kept her mind from spinning out of control. "You know, on a related node. Gehrman commented that I should be impervious to small calibres."
"NO." Pyrrha and Nora chorused as one.
Tsking, Jaune stood up and began clearing the table. "But, Nora, if you could just lean one of the beds we won't use against a wall. Then we can set up a target on the backboards for the girls to practice against."
"You think you feel up for some more throwing practice?" Jaune asked, placing a hand on Auroras shoulder, infusing some more of his aura into her. Her lethargy disappearing. She smiled nervously up at him but nodded. He could see the questions in her eyes; however he was glad that he managed to shift her focus elsewhere. If only for a moment.
Nora had already flipped up a bed, already setting up a makeshift target against the bed frame.
Moving the silverware and bowls over to the sink he began doing the dishes. They had a washing machine, a freezer and refrigerator but not a dishwasher. But it wasn't like he could complain, even if this was a temporary measure, waiting in queue for the washing machines wasn't that bad.
Looking over at Aurora, he was quick to tear his eyes away. Focusing sorely on washing the dishes. Conjuring forty throwing knives on the kitchen table, he hummed as Aurora went over what he had taught her to her sister. Not before long a knife soared trough the air, biting into the target with a thud.
"A week for a week huh?" Jaune mumbled as he washed the dishes. He didn't look forward to the dream taking every blood echo for a week. However he couldn't say he regretted it either. It was a little price to pay for the miracle he had pulled off. Knowing it was only possible thanks to the Vicar's spirit. He might have done most of the heavy lifting, but the core that changed a day till a week was the Vicar.
He would never forget how those sky-blue eyes looked at him. The golden pendant moving over the tiles as if alive, before fastening around Aurora's neck when the Vicar was seemingly satisfied with what she found in his eyes. With that she dissipated into a thousand little motes of gold. Not saying a single word the entire time.
"What happened with the moon?" He heard Aurora ask. A little shiver entering her voice as she asked again. "Why is the moon broken?"
"Broken?" He heard Violet ask as he quickly washed his hands. And began hurrying over. His apprentice's squashing their faces against the window and looking up at the sky. "But it's whole?" Violet continued, shooting him a nervous little look.
"We don't know. In all of recorded history the moon has been broken." Pyrrha answered to the best of her ability. Patiently trying to switch their focus back on the knife throwing.
"The moon is the moon." Jaune answered vaguely, rapidly blinking as he felt tears in his eyes when he looked out of the window. Familiar heartache that was not his own settling in his gut. In one eye he saw the moon whole, beautiful and gentle. In the other he saw only a moon broken, shattered like a dinner plate. Blinking, the whole and cracked moon switched places. Another blink caused them to switch again. "A tragedy has befallen the moon, a tragedy older than the mountains and oceans."
Standing before the window, he felt sunlight warm his skin. Brushing away the heaviness that threatened to swallow his heart. Smiling down at the girls, he noticed how his shadow was deeper with sharp edges. Violet grinned up at him, nodding as she took his word as gospel. Her shadow thin, almost smiling up at him too. Aurora didn't have a shadow. In the sunlight her paleness stood out, pale and clammy.
"Why don't I answer your questions while I cook, Aurora?" Jaune said, absentmindedly twirling a throwing dagger between his fingers. Nonchalantly embedding it in the target. Tsking when he noticed he didn't hit the bullseye. "Or, what about a little competition. Say… if any of you manage to hit the bullseye ten times in a row, while having some distance of course, I will teach you how to coat a throwing knife in a layer of poison."
*Thunk*
"Drat." Violet mumbled. Having grabbed a throwing knife and send it flying before he got to completely say his piece. Already reaching for another throwing knife nervously holding it in her hand before throwing it again.
Sitting down on another bed, he watched patiently as a competitive mood settled over the girls. Even Pyrrha looked like she wanted a try. Smiling softly, he shook his head good naturally. Already knowing what was going to happen.
Five minutes, and Aurora had gotten ten in a row.
"I guess it's only right I hold up my part of the deal." Jaune smiled, ushering the girls into the kitchen. "Do you want to learn, Pyrrha?"
"No thank you, Jaune." His partner smiled at him. Gently placing his hand on Aurora's shoulder, he channelled his aura into her again. The lethargy that had seeped into her from her physical exhaustion disappearing. Not paying the look Ren sent him any attention, he instead started teaching.
#########
"Where are we?" Aurora asked the second they woke up in the dream. Staring up at him in fear laced confusion.
"Welcome to the Dream." Jaune said as softly as he could. "It is where our workshop is located. It also allows us to wake up in multiple locations in the waking world. A place for us to rest, recover, and to plan our next moves."
"Is this how you could leave down to the tomb, but appear in the chapel?" Aurora asked, getting a smile and nod from him. "It is." He answered softly, gravel crunching under their feet as they walked the path towards the workshop.
"Why are we here?" She asked, shooting him a nervous glance. Violet already skipping ahead of them with a smile on her face. Only stopping to shoot them an eager smile as she waved for them to hurry up.
"We are here to heal you, and for you to pick your weapon." Jaune smiled. "However, this is a secret of our workshop, so you are both forbidden to speak of it with others without my exact approval. Should you try, Arianna would only hear gibberish."
He didn't need to look down on Aurora to know she was going to try either way. Knowing that she had taken his words as a challenge, and not as a rule.
Jaune didn't sigh, instead he softly placed his hand on her shoulder and channelled some more aura into her. Washing away the lethargy that clung to her even in the dream.
"I will be holding the ritual to heal you first." Jaune said, gently marching her up the steps. Ignoring the way Gehrman sighed when they passed him by. The old man invisible to Aurora's eyes. 'Which was for the better. I don't think she would react well to Gehrman's disappointment.' Jaune absentmindedly thought.
Stepping into the Workshop, Jaune spotted Violet sitting by her desk. Furiously writing in her notebook. The heart was warm, ever burning. Throwing his coat over a chair, he gestured for Aurora to sit where she would please. She nervously sat down on a chair close to the heart, fighting back another shiver. The dream having long since fixed the giant hole's in her dress. But it wasn't a normal shiver.
Flecks of gold fell of her, caught by the wind and dying like fireflies after leaving her. She was bleeding aura. She was bleeding his aura. Death already had it's icy grip around her soul. The only thing he could do was filling her up with his aura, and even that was a losing battle. Aurora was a girl with both feet in the grave. While he could delay the impossible, he wasn't in any position to stop it. He wasn't at that level yet, and he may never be.
Part of him was sure Ren had noticed, if not him at least Iosefka would have notified him. However they weren't on speaking terms right now. He had some choice words for Ren, anger gnawed at him still. But now wasn't the time for it. Not when his spirituality was still unbalanced. Three calming brews had taken of the worst, however he still moved like a Parkinson patient. Any more potions would have any effect. The only thing he needed was time, and for his spirituality to settle.
'However much his insight increased is punishment enough.' While his own Insight had raced upwards, it had always been in increments. He coulndt imagine what whiplash Ren was hit with if his Insight flew sky-high.
"I will be casting Panacea." Jaune explained, moving a chair over to Aurora's side. Seeing how Violet tried sending them subtle looks from her desk. Trying to focus on the next work assignment he had given her even when her attention was nowhere to be seen. "It is the universal healing spell; casting will take up to an hour. The procedure might end faster, but please be patient."
Aurora shot him a nervous glance, biting on her lip as she handed him a hand. The golden glow of the Vicars pendant around her neck seemingly glowing. "Then I will begin."
Laying his hand over her, Aurora squeaked as a soft emerald glow enveloped their hands. Strands of gold dancing as motes of emerald green danced trough the workshop. He idly noticed Gehrman taking his hat of for him before he focused back on the task at hand.
He didn't as much control the spell as he focused it. He had never read a health textbook, but that didn't matter as the spell handled all the heavy lifting. The only thing he had to worry about was focusing on what would be returned. The magic of the spell working on the principle of returning health. Aurora had been whole, and she would be whole again. The spell returning the health that had been taken, and growing new intestines, organs, a new womb. Even going as far as to return her muscles to a state before she was malnourished. Returning nourishment to her muscles.
Crocked bones were set straight, old scars disappeared; wounds that didn't heal properly were taken care of. She was as good as new; she was healthier than ever.
A soundless gasp escaping her when she breathed easily for the first time in what must have felt like forever.
"And done." Jaune whispered softly. Ignoring the motes of gold that escaped from her. Aurora looked at him as if he was divine made flesh. Touching her abdomen, tears wetting her eyes as words failed her. Only a hiccup escaped her as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"How… how may I ever repay you?" Aurora hickuped out. Wiping away a tear as she waited patiently for him to speak. Faith and devotion drowning out every colour in her spirit. Making Jaune think that he might have stepped over a line somewhere. Violet was already scarily dependent on him. He really didn't need Aurora to think he was some deity come to cleanse Yharnam of it's suffering. Even if he could see where she came from.
Healing was sacred, the entire faith of the Healing Church stemmed from it's ability to heal almost all ailments. Yet here he was, capable of doing the same thing with only laying a hand on her. From his perspective he was simply bringing forth the magic of a ritual he had already held. Calling on it to return her to health. From her perspective, he had done nothing less than perform miracles after miracles. First bringing her back from the brink of death, the healing the wounds doing so had cost her.
"By simply being the best you, you can." Jaune smiled gently, reaching up and ruffling her hair. "The only thing I want from you is living a good life and doing your best to be kind."
Another sniffle escaped Aurora as she wiped away a tear. He hoped he didn't play to much into her delusions, but there was nothing else he wanted from her. He was hesitant to say anything more.
"Now, why don't we step out of the workshop so you can pick your weapon?" He asked, rising to his full height and gently helping her out of her chair. The hesitancy in her movement, the weakness in her steps, all gone. She walked surer that when he had guided her and Arianna to the chapel. Her eyes shining with the semblance of purpose.
Jaune had to do his best not to sigh as Violet also starred at him with stars in her eyes. Reaching for his hand when they passed and happily skipping down the workshops stairs beside him.
An array of weapons was already spread around the messenger bath. Thankfully there was some order to the chaos. With an experienced eye he could see that the weapons were sat in clusters, belonging to each badge he wore.
The stake driver and riffle spear were together. Ludwig's holy blade leaned against the wall, almost reminiscent of a scaled-up version of Crocea Mors. The saw cleaver, saw spear, threaded cane and the hunter's axe were neatly grouped together. The Kirkhammer stood alone, bringing his mind to the fairytale of a sword in a stone.
Multiple barrels and handles stuck out from the bird bath. The repeating pistol, an early but functional protype of a complete revolver. The blunderbuss and hunter pistol looking almost miniscule beside Ludwig's rifle. A large and clunky old thing. The flamesprayer was it's usual brass self. And Bertha the double-barrelled shotgun leaned against the bath. Something that was his own, a reward for leading the old crone to safety.
"Pick one weapon and one firearm. You are free to choose freely, you might not be able to use everything. However that's what training is for." Jaune explained to Aurora. Throwing a little look down at Violet, seeing how his apprentice stared starstruck at Ludwig's Holy Blade. Her eyes darting between the longsword, it's giant sheath and Crocea Mors. Not the only one who saw the connection. But whereas Ludwig's blade could equip it's sheath to create a larger weapon, Crocea Mors's sheath transformed into a shield.
'Can I turn the sheath into a shield while it was on the blade?' Jaune wondered idly, letting his thoughts go freely as he waited patiently as Aurora chose her weapons.
Instantly gravitating towards the holy blade and Bertha. She looked almost hypnotised, reaching towards Ludwig's blade hesitant, before grabbing the handle with all her little might. Panting, she managed to draw the silver longsword out of it's scabbard. The edge biting into grass, Aurora barely managed to lift the edge up before it fell back into the earth.
"You have chosen." Jaune replied plainly, not letting anything show on his face. It would be up to Aurora if she had chosen well, or if she had chosen poorly. Stepping over to her he placed his hand on her shoulder supportively, gently infusing more aura into her. "We all start somewhere. But if you are willing to grit your teeth and train. I wouldn't be surprised if you could blow your expectations clean out of the water."
Aurora looked up at him with big sparkling eyes, nodding as her eyes beamed. Another yawn escaped her, followed by a furious blush as she tried stammering out an apology.
"Of course you would be tired." Jaune chuckled good naturally. "I would have been more surprised if you hadn't been. Why don't you rest for a while. The dream won't pass you by if you sleep."
Aurora sent him a look, opening her mouth to say that she wasn't tired, that she could train and learn. Only for another yawn escaped her, this one larger than before. Tired dew drops of tears welling in her eyes. With a sigh, Aurora nodded. Moving reluctantly towards the workshop. Another yawn escaped her halfway towards the stairs, making her almost fall asleep on the spot. Swaying uncertainty on her feet.
Jaune was quick to move to her side, helping her up the stairs as she collapsed into his side. Releasing another yawn as he threw his greatcoat around her. Wrapping her up and lifting her up in a chair. Aurora fast asleep long before he sat her down.
"Why don't you sleep a bit with your sister." Jaune asked softly, smiling at Violet. "I think she have really missed you."
Violet looked up at him, eyes darting between Aurora, her notebook, before landing back at him. Sighing like an old crone before nodding. Violet climbed up into the chair and squirreled under his greatcoat next to her sister. Patting her on the head, Jaune smiled at Violet. Placing his hand on Aurora's head as well, channelling even more aura over to her.
Leaving his coat with the girls, he fastened Crocea Mors on his hip before walking out of the workshop. Pulling out his pipe and taking a deep puff. Stepping into Gehrman's little garden, he mulled over what he wanted to say. Before finally finding the courage to ask. "Am I a bad man, for wanting her to live? Even when I know it to be impossible?"
"I can't say, Laurance. I… I can't say." Gehrman answered airily. Sounding as if he wasn't completely there. "All… all I know is that we can't save everyone."
"But I can try." Jaune mumbled, puffing softly on his pipe. "I will try."
"You are setting yourself up for heartbreak, Laurance." Gehrman whispered airily. "Your church isn't what it once was. You should know better than me how the minds of lesser men will taint even gold."
"Then so be it." Jaune answered to himself. Knowing that the old hunter was reliving some old memory. Never in his life would he ever have thought Gehrman capable of begging. To plead for something, anything, to come and save him. Yet he had. Crying as he slept. Jaune had known that Gehrman was broken in some way, but to get a glimpse of what burdens Gehrman wore. Jaune pitied the old man, even if he knew he didn't need pity. "That includes you too, old friend. That includes you too."
With a sof sigh, he left Gehrman to his memories. Acting as if he never heard the desperate sobbing when he walked away. Knowing how close to the chest Gehrman kept his grief. Knowing that come morrow, both of them would act as if this had never happened.
"You are a good man, Kind Hunter." The Doll curtsied towards him. "Gehrman have long suffered alone. He might never say it, but you and your kin have returned life to this Dream of ours. He, We, are all grateful for what you have done."
"Violet isn't my daughter." Jaune denied, taking another puff from his pipe. Ignoring the melodious sound of the Doll's laughter.
"Is she not?" The Doll smiled at him. Mirth dancing in her eyes. "Is it not you who care for her? Is it not you who are raising her? Is it not you who are teaching her rights from wrongs? Is it not you she comes to, be it for praise, or to show what she has made, or to what bedtime story she wants to hear? Is it not your praise she craves above all else's?"
"I'm too young to be a father." Jaune said softly, ignoring how the Doll tittered her head at him.
"But you are not." The Doll spoke plainly. "Fatherhood isn't just the act of copulation. Many a man and woman can copulate with results ending in progeny. Yet not everyone can fill the mantle of parenthood. For all her flaws, your friend the Golden Dragon is as much the Red Reapers mother as she is her sister. And you, my Kind Hunter, while you may not have any progeny carrying your blood. You are no less the Hope of Tomorrow's father than the Corrupted Missionary."
Closing his eyes, Jaune took another puff of his pipe. The Doll's words unleashing a cocktail of mixing emotions. He didn't like how familiarly she spoke Yang's or Ruby's names.
"Maybe, maybe not. I only try my best." Jaune whispered softly. Taking another puff as he walked down to the headstones. Not minding that the Doll fell into step with him. It wasn't the first time, and it wasn't the last time either. But he had noticed that whenever she walked beside him, it was never right beside him like an equal. Always walking subserviently a beat behind him.
"Are you leaving your coat by the Fading Flower's side?" She asked.
"I don't see need of it." Jaune muttered softly. "Tonight, there will hopefully be no blood spilled. I will be picking flowers… And I will be holding a ritual for myself. Nothing more, nothing less."
Taking another puff of his pipe, he looked over his shoulder. Not surprised in the slightest when he saw Violet trying, but failing, to tail him. Freezing like a dear in headlights the moment his eyes landed on her.
"You are a smart girl, Violet. Please stay with your sister. She will appreciate the company." Jaune ordered gently. Laying his hand on the headstone and waking up in the grand cathedral's hall. Jaune took a moment to bath in the holy atmosphere.
Jaune didn't consider himself a man of the cloth, faith and religions had never been his thing. But now, with the fallen Vicar lying dead, he could only describe the feeling in the room as sacred, or solemn. A golden light finally shinning trough now that the rot and rust had been chipped away.
Blood and corpses weren't' staining the grand hall any longer.
Sighing, Jaune took of his hat. Walking slowly but with determined steps towards the altar. The skull of a beast, stripped from flesh, yet long locks of dark black hair trailed down it's sides. With the ball of ghost fire burning in it's mouth it looked almost alive. It's eyes seemingly judging him as he stood before it.
'Figure this out, then I can start with my night.' Jaune thought to himself.
Bracing himself, he reached forward. Putting his hand on the skull. A gasp escaping him as he felt himself sucked into a memory.
"Master Willem, I've come to bid you farewell." A soft spoken gentlemanly voiced called out. Awareness snapping into him as Jaune found himself standing in a study. Looking at a handsome black haired and green-eyed man. An old scholar's robe draped over him as he said his farewells.
"Oh, I know, I know." Master Willem replied, never taking his covered eyes away from the window. Only rocking gently back and forth as he used his staff to draw an eye in the air. Coincidentally aligning up with the moon's reflection in the still lake. "You think now, to betray me."
"No, but you will never listen." The young scholar replied, heat seeping into his voice. Having grown tired of the Old Master's penchant for inactivity. Determination coming to life in his eyes. "I tell you; I will not forget our adage." He said, preparing to take his leave. Unable to make the old master see sense.
"We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood." Master Willem whispered hauntingly. "Our eyes are yet to open…"
"Fear the old blood." Master and student echoed as one. The young scholar throwing a look over his shoulder.
"I must take my leave." The young scholar said softly, standing in the doorway. Throwing one last look back at the Master before boldly striding into the darkness. Jaune feeling the memory grow hazy as the young scholar left. Darkness crept in as the young student stepped further away. Leaving him trapped in a hazy limbo as he waited for the moment he was kicked out.
"By the gods, fear it, Laurance." Master Willem whispered hauntingly.
Jaune felt his eyes shot wide open. The second he was thrown out of the memory, he reached forward and twisted. His spirituality surging as he was floating in free air.
The next second he stood beside Laurance, now dressed in white, a familiar golden pendant around his next. Holding a healing sermon inside the grand cathedral. A familiar soft smile on his lips as he performed blood ministration for both the old and the young.
Feeling the moment grow hazy, his spirituality surged forth once more. Sending him standing beside a teary-eyed Laurance. From inside the clocktower where they stood, they could both see snakes made of fire slither around Yharnam's street as beastly men and those lost in bloodlust marched with torches and pitchforks held high.
"What have I done?" Laurance whispered hauntingly, before his eyes hardened in determination. "I must fix this. I will set things right again." He swore, emerald eyes turning to stare him flat in the eyes. "Even if it costs me my life. Yharnam will be free once again. This… this I swear."
The next memory found him standing in on a private meeting. Laurance's eyes still held the same burning determination. Even if he looked noticeably frailer. His white healers robe who once was filled out by muscles and vigour, now hiding frailness.
"The plague is getting worse, dear friend." Laurence said, getting a nod from a much younger Gehrman. His voice lacking the vigour it once held. Before Gehrman could answer, Jaune found the memory pushing him away. Ghosts of Laurance's sorrow following him into the next memory.
Where he found a softly sobbing Laurance. Quill and glasses laying scatted on his desk. The study empty, only filled by a dying heart, shelves filled with books, and blood ministration equipment. Multiple cords bearing blood and sedatives into his arms. His skin once rosy and filled with colour, was now clammy and pale. Locks of black hair scatted over his desk and shoulders. The only sound in the study the sound of tears and the sobbing of a once proud and ambitious man who's only wish was to heal and to help.
The next memory began with a familiar scream that sent shivers down his spine. A canopy of movement as the first true cleric beast roared before the altar. Surrounded by dozens of church hunters. Some cloaked in furs of their fallen marks, other standing horrified at the golden pendant around the beasts neck. Like Amelia and all other Cleric beasts he had encountered, Laurance also had horns. But his were large and crocked. A crown of twisted ambition.
Laurance screamed, moving faster than Jaune thought possible. Making the young Vicars beastly guards look like crawling insects. His monstrous fingers already impaling a young hunter. With a flex, he was torn apart.
"Seek the old blood. Let us pray, let us wish. To partake in communion. Let us partake in communion, and feast upon the old blood. Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears. Seek the old blood." The young Vicar's voice prayed, leading a choir of a congregation of hundreds. All men and women, both saved and condemned by Laurance's ambition repeating the mantra devoutly.
Blinking the memory shifted. Jaune stood before a throne. Laurance's beastly form lying sprawled across it. Crimson fire licking his entire body. Forcing himself to tear his gaze away, Jaune wished he instead had let the ghastly sight be forever marred into his soul instead.
"Seek the old blood. Let us pray, let us wish. To partake in communion. Let us partake in communion, and feast upon the old blood. Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears. Seek the old blood." The young Vicar prayed at his feet. Her gigantic beastly form a shadow of gold and crimson enveloping her. Behind him stood all men and women, both saved and condemned by Laurance's ambition. Their beastly forms chanting and feeding the fires open Laurance's form. Maliciousness flickering in their eyes.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Jaune felt his heart nearly burst out of his chest. Head snapping towards the hand so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. A young Laurance standing shoulder to shoulder beside him. Emerald eyes staring at him as tears freely travelled down his cheeks. He didn't say a single word, only giving him a strained smile, nodding at him, and squeezing his shoulder good naturally.
The world twisted on its axis, Jaune fell upwards as colours and snapshots of Laurance's memories showed themselves to him. To much, to wild, to inhuman to make sense. Before Jaune was shot backwards. Crashing backwards onto the grand halls marble floor. His heart hammering in his head, drowning out all sound as he panted for breath.
On shaking legs he got his feet back under himself. Forcing him to stand and taking in the altar again. Laurance's skull shattering before his eyes. Exploding into a thousand motes of gold and crimson that hung in the air like mayflies. An invisible wind came in a and grabbed them, washing them away from this once holy place. Jaune somehow feeling the wind squeezing his shoulder good naturally before he was left alone.
Standing before the alter, Jaune spotted one last thing left by Laurance. Cautiously reaching for it, he allowed himself to breath easily when noting happened. Running a finger over the blank runestone. Turning it in his hand as he pondered what it meant. Pocketing the blank oath stone before walking past the altar. Stepping deeper into the Healing Church's seat of power.
####
Note: Aurora have always had a single literary purpose since her first introduction. And that purpose has always been to die. The first idea was to have her and Violet duel eachother, Anakin and Obi Wan style. But I think this fits better with the themes of Bloodborne. It also helps to draw a clear line with what Jaune can and can't do.
Note: And the only thing I can say is that there will be 'two' endings, one in Bloodborne, and one final conclusion. That is all I will say.