"This is an absolute disaster."
"It's a disaster of your own making, my friend." Ozpin replied to his friend, taking a sip from his mug. Giving the holo-image of James a flat look. His 'brilliant' charity stream playing on another holo-screen.
'Out of everything you could do, why did you choose to be honest now Jaune?' Ozpin thought to himself, feeling a migraine announcing itself in his head with thunderous fury. His inbox flooding to the point he was beginning to worry about the mail servers going down. "However, four of the milestones have been reached. So our students must be doing something right."
"Ozpin. One of your student's have already been turned into a meme." James replied with the dryest possible tone imaginable. "I didn't even know what a meme was until a picture of Mr Arc with the caption 'No thoughts, head empty' spread like wildfire. I thought they were harassing him!"
"Honestly, being turned into something as incurious as a 'meme' is the last of Mr Arc's worried right now." Ozpin sighed. "From the stream started till now, Mr Arc have received over five hundred death threats, and that is without me putting a number on all the other harassment."
"Excuse me? He was in his full right to do what he did!" James shot back indignantly, completely incensed on his student's behalf. "That's without mentioning how he was a terrorist."
"None of the death treats stems from his actions at the docks. They are all from Miss Nikkos fanbase." Ozpin clarified, taking a sip from his cup and wondering idly if he maybe should take some asprin. 'Unfortunately being immortal doesn't make me any more immune to headaches.' He thought with another sigh. "Apparently, they took great offense to Mr Arc and Miss Nikkos communicating with their eyes. And you know how rabid and possessive some fans can be. Some of the threats are calling for him to be castrated and lobotomised for 'daring' to make their queen laugh, others are simply calling for his death, and some are so vile I envy the times I didn't have eyes."
"Surely you jest, old friend." James chuckled, making Ozpin roll his eyes and send James some copies of the mails. The general's eyebrows disappearing higher and higher into his hairline the more he read. Words and sentences died in James mouth as he was left tied for words.
"As for the public outrage surrounding Mr Arc's mercy killing, I can confidently guess that it originates from keyboard warriors wanting to feel involved." Ozpin mussed to himself, James nodding slightly to himself. "I recon it stems from the divide between civilians and huntsmen. What they may see as 'wrong', simply being the best and kindest decision that could be made on the spot."
"Some monsters come dressed in flesh and blood after all. Last Tuesday was just another example." James replied sternly with a nod. "I take it Mr Arc and his team have Beacon's full support behind him?"
"He does." Ozpin nodded. "Not that it is needed. The committee found it to be a cut and dry case. Mr Arc's report saying the same the coroners pointed to. The public outrage will die down soon enough. With how integral Team JNPR and Co was to minimizing casualties in the breach, I think the public opinion of him will change. Even if some will think of it as a permanent black mark."
"Is he someone you have your eye on?" James asked with a pointed look, giving Ozpin a raised eyebrow. "You wouldn't be so invested in a first year otherwise."
"Yes, while he is still young right now, I do think he will make an excellent member for our Circle." Ozpin answered with a slow nod. 'At the same time I can keep a closer eye at him. The lingering echoes of magic around him are making me wonder if I just imagined that faint stench of divinity clinging to him. Or if there could be something more.'
"While I am against of introducing someone so young into our circle. Character can't be taught." James replied instantly. "I can respect Branwen for his skill, however his character leaves much to be desired. He is someone I can trust to do his duty, but in all honesty, I can't stand his disrespectful attitude. He is loyal to nothing but himself. And without someone to meditate, it's going to be a disaster when 'Ozpin's' time comes."
"Qrow is loyal to people first and foremost." Ozpin clarified, rolling his eyes at James's words. Knowing that he had some good years left in this body. "And so is Mr Arc I recon. You only need to look at how he handles anyone who slights Violet. Team Cardinal is terrified of him, even if I do wonder how he managed what he did. And what he plans for Team NDGO. If he oversteps, I will have to intervene."
"That may be, but we all have our flaws. And anyone would be rightfully incensed if someone were to hurt someone they care for. It speaks more about Team NDGO's character as they chose to bully a nine-year-old." James replied harshly. Steel in his eyes.
"I have already taken it up with Thedore." Ozpin nodded. "What he intends to do, I'm unclear on. Frankly, we have other matters to focus on. How goes the search?"
"Badly." James sighed heavily. "The white fang has completely gone to ground. We have managed to apprehend some mules. The bombs they were carrying were quickly neutralised. However, due to it we are forced to make multiple revisions for the night's procession. I shudder to think about what damage they could have caused. This has Adam's scent all over it."
"Then we have work to do my friend." Ozpin sighed, his finger's flying over the holo-keyboard. Never having stopped working and sending mails during the meeting. "I will take up what you have learned with the council, and push for you to be given more freedoms. I will also send some trusted huntsmen and huntresses your way. However, this is only for today. And don't apply inside Beacon itself. I have sensed the fall maidens power moving around inside Beacon. I can't point out who or where she is exactly yet, but she is here somewhere. I will see if I can maybe smoke her out."
"Then I will make sure my men won't get in your way." James replied immediately. "While I can't understand what it's like to 'sense' magic, you are the expert here so I will leave it to you. Hopefully Amber's murderer will be brought to justice." Something flashed in James eyes as he gave Ozpin a scrutinizing look. "However, I must ask. Are you still planning to give what remains of the Fall Maiden power's within Amber to Miss Nikos?"
"Yes." Ozpin chastised himself for lacking his usual confidence. Shaking his head and turning to give James a gentle look. "The plan was to give her the powers closer to her graduation. Maybe around the end of her third year if possible. However, with the other 'maiden' so close at hand, Amber's wounds seem to have been aggravated."
"Impossible. She is in stasis. There is no way her wounds can be aggravated." James shot back instantly.
"Physically, yes, nothing has happened. It's the maiden powers which is the problem." Ozpin explained, frowning slightly before sighing. With magic extinct, he didn't mind explaining himself. Even if part's of him screamed at him for revealing his hand slightly. "Magic wants to be whole. The part inside Amber is reaching for its missing half and vice-versa. And since Amber isn't conscious to leverage her aura to protect herself from her own power."
"It is eating her up alive." James finished with a grim nod.
"Essentially. What time Amber have left is rapidly running out." Ozpin nodded tiredly. "We can safely assume she have till after the tournament, however, each time the Maiden uses her power. Another second, minute, hour is shaved off the estimate."
"Miss Nikkos might be our best bet if we want to transfer the power to someone we have control over." James nodded. Shaking his head with a rare sigh. "Normally I would be against burdening someone so young with such responsibility, but it's for the greater good."
"I will take it up with her this weekend." Ozpin sighed, what guilt he felt expertly locked away. Even if multiple part's of him screamed out at the injustice it would be. Unfortunately, he would gladly burden a young girl if it meant neutralizing Salem's agent. 'It's for the greater good, after all. I hope Miss Nikkos will one day come to see it like me.'
#-#-#
"!" A high pierced shriek rang through the stage, followed by a loud thud. Pandemonium erupted a second later, multiple stagehands rushing out, grabbing their fainted colleague and pulling her backstage. The bags of food left spilled out on the stage floor.
"Hmmhmm, yes." Ren muttered to himself. Reaching into his tailcoat and pulling out a thermos. Popping the lid of and pouring himself a steaming cup of tea. Sipping on it with a soft delighted hum. "Jaune can turn his head hundred and eighty degrees like an owl. Hmmmm. Interesting." Taking another sip of his cup, Ren was an ocean of calm in the chaos.
"What are you drinking?" Ivori asked from the other coach, looking a bit green, a bit squeamish, and mostly just done.
"My chai blend." Ren replied politely, scooting slightly away from Jaune. The boy in question already hammered by questions as he tried helping some stagehands with the spilled food. Violet was mimicking him like she did, Nora and Sun were bombarding him about doing it again, and the sinking realisation that taking this job had been a bad idea was slowly creeping into Lisa.
'I hope Lisa would stop poking at Jaune.' Ren thought idly, pouring Ivori a cup as he shot a quick glance at their host. 'He really doesn't need any more on his plate. However, if she doesn't let up, I wouldn't mind testing some of my more unscrupulous talismans on her.'
Having experienced firsthand that trying talismans on himself could be dangerous. The index and middle finger on his left hand still cramping whenever he tried moving them, and that was without mentioning the 'I shouldn't be alive' disaster that the dream walker talisman had resulted in. Ren liked to think he had gotten a ratter good education in what not to do when it came to testing his talismans.
Since he coulndt test his talismans on himself, he would have to find other willing participants. If that were grimm for some potentially harmful talismans or people for his more nuanced ones. It mattered little to Ren. Growing up on the street didn't much allow one to develop a moral compass. Morals and a conscious were luxuries for those who grew up in safety. If you didn't have the grit and ruthlessness needed to protect yourself and yours, others would trample over you.
Me, mine, and everyone else was the moto he and Nora had grown up with. It included his bed, his bedding, his toothbrush, his food and his weapons and ammo. It also included his brother, his sister, and his maybe niece or maybe younger sister. And if someone was going to go around poking at his brother's frail mental state, then they got another thing coming.
"So, I got to ask, just, between you and Nikos, how does it feel being the only sane ones on the team?" Ivori asked politely, throwing his silver eyes at Jaune and trailing over to Nora as he died his best not to cringe at Ren's overexcited other half.
"Thank you for the compliment." Ren replied politely, what goodwill he had for the man disappearing instantly. "However, I do think you may have gotten the wrong impression of our team."
"Okhay?" Ivori muttered in confusion. "I don't know if I should be afraid to ask, or to just take it at face value."
"Renny is just as sane as me! He just hides his quirks better than most." Nora's arms wrapped around his neck from behind. Jumping energetically behind the couch as she leaned on him, digging her jaw into his skull. "Like the time he broke someone's arm when he and Jaune was having a 'guys night out' together with Violet, because they said something mean about her. Or the time he helped a good fella along his transition quicker by removing his pesky testicles after he tried to sexually assault me."
"Nora, we were twelve. And neither can anyone prove I did it." Ren sighed flatly, bumping his head up, not minding the playful hug he received. Neither minding the nervous silence that had descended over the stage. For once it wasn't directed at Jaune. "And honestly, a broken arm is nothing compared to what Jaune would do should he find out. After all, drunks stumble in alley's all the time. He should be happy he just landed badly on his arm and didn't hit his head instead."
"Someone did what, did they?" Jaune asked calmly, his voice breaking the silence. Sending shivers down everyone's backs as they turned to look at him. The dozen queenly ghosts that had been leisurely floating around, all zeroed in on him. Black tar blood trailing down from their eyes as their nails grew into sharp claws.
"No one." Ren replied with finality. Setting his foot down as he stared flatly into Jaune's eyes. The brief staring contest between them ending when the man in question nodded slightly, going back to imposing his help on the stagehands. The last of the scattered food items quickly and efficiently placed back onto trays. While Ren wasn't particularly inclined for fast food, he could understand why it was forced onto them. 'Wanting us to seem approachable, no doubt.'
"So what did you do bro?" Sun asked, stealing a wrapped burger and some fries of the tray before it was sat on a coffee table. Unwrapping the wrapping and taking a bite as he looked at Jaune. Quickly chewing before asking. "Because, no offence, but you feel more like tired teenage dad than dangerous trained huntsman. Five seconds ago notwithstanding. But if tired uncle over there says you got no breaks, I need to know."
"Nothing." Jaune sighed, sitting back down in the couch with a loud sigh. Violet squeezing tightly in between him and Pyrrha with a smile. Nibbling on her hamburger as her eyes bore into Ren.
"Tall, indigo eyed dude with orangeish hair?" Neptune butted in. Left hand coming up to stroke an imaginary beard as he looked at Jaune. "Because, I have never seen someone scamper so quickly the second you walk into the room."
"I just talked with them." Jaune deflected, rolling his eyes.
"Is that Valean slang for threatening them? Because it sure sounds like it." Brawnz butted in by the side. Curiosity in his eyes. Grease on his lips.
"For the last time, we are not some mafia. It wasn't the first time they tried to do something, so I sent them a message. And that was that. What beef you are imagining doesn't exist." Jaune explained, patience quickly waning as he stared at Sun.
"You don't get it bro, Jaune isn't in the mafia. He is the mafia." Neptune butted in with a grin. "The docks were just him taking back territory after the fang muscled in. After all, can't threated to have someone swim with the fishes if someone else controls the docks."
"Sun, Neptune, Brawnz. I ask you politely to drop it, now. I won't be asking again." The boys in question sat straighter when Jaune glared flatly at them. "It was funny the first time, I can admit. But I also won't stand for everyone being out to poke fun at my team. Is that understood?"
"Loud and clear chief!" Sun called out instantly while Neptune nodded his head faster than a bobble-head doll.
"Good." Jaune sighed tiredly as he bit into his food. Making Ren think if maybe he too should have a conversation with Sun and Neptune. After all, Jaune was already spreading himself thin. If he wasn't going to look after his mental wellbeing himself, Ren would simply have to step in and make sure Jaune had some time for himself.
"Soooo… Jaune… about the contraband I'm selling in Beacon…" Nora started, quickly shutting up when Jaune give her the flattest glare possible. Wisely knowing when she should shut up.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Jaune replied flatly, before going back to eating.
"Miss Valkyrie, if when we return to Beacon the room we stash contraband is empty, I will be freezing your stipend for three months. You will also be serving detention with me every day six to nine pm for a month." Miss Goodwitch's voice crackled out over the speakers.
"Oh come on." Nora whined. "It's not my fault Port made the code one-one-one-one! How am I to earn money for my grenades now! Those things aren't cheap you know!"
"Here." Jaune said, pulling out a stick of dust explosive from his vest. "I got some more stored… somewhere."
Nora nabbed the stick of explosives out from Jaune's hand. Quickly going over it, shacking it to see it was properly sealed, wiggling the fuse to check if it wasn't lose. "Eh, fearless leader, why is the fuse a bit moist."
"I bit of the lit part; it was the quickest way I could think of to stop the burning." Jaune replied with a shrug, idly cleaning up some crumbs around Violet's cheek with a napkin.
"Why do you carry Atlas sanctioned explosives on you." Flynt asked, wiping away some crumbs around his mouth as he leaned forward.
"It's not Atlas sanctioned explosives." Nora rolled her eyes. "It's white fang sanctioned explosives." She continued, showing the white fang logo to him.
"What's the difference." Nolan chuckled in bad faith. Rolling his eyes as everyone from Atlas turned to glare at him.
"The question isn't why I carry Atlas sanctioned explosives." Jaune butted in flatly, giving Flynt and Specialist Schee by the stage side entrance a flat look. "The question is why there was Atlas sanctioned explosives on the train headed into the central square."
"Mr Arc, you are to return all other explosives you may have looted from the train to me this instant. You are interfering in matters where that don't concern you." The voice of Specialist Schnee crackled over the stage.
"No. No, I don't think I will." Jaune replied flatly, idly biting into his food instead. "You are overstepping your bounds as security by demanding something I rightfully earned on the field. Why don't you instead take one moment to think what would have happened should the explosive gone off in the train? I understand national pride, but I refuse to let you try and brush the potential disaster under the rug."
Blinking, Jaune looked up with something malicious flashing in his eyes. "And when are you going to hand Torchwick and his accomplice over to the VPD? As security you are by law required to hand detainees over to proper law enforcement after forty-eight hours."
"Mr Arc, I can understand your reassessment, however, please don't openly antagonise our allies on live television." The voice of Miss Goodwitch's crackled over the stage. "As for the explosives, we will be discussing with the general about the next step forward. You are free to join, as it was you who have confiscated it, but there is a chance you may be required to return it."
"Oh come off it, they shouldn't have had other's clean up their mess if they hadn't let their things be taken in the first place." Sun muttered loudly under his breath. Jolting, the hairs on his tails bristling out as he looked over his shoulders and locked eyes with Specialist Schnee for one instant. "Ok… shutting up now." Sun whispered, shuddering as he turned back.
"Yeah, sure." Jaune replied flatly, some yellow bleeding into his eyes as his voice was harder than normal. "But, now with the elephant out in the open and all that. 'The Breach.' Or whatever you want to call it. Why don't we start." Jaune's right eyebrow twitched erratically, his free hand coming up to scratch at his neck, his foot tapping against the floor. "This stream has already gone completely off track after all."
"Due to no fault of our own." Nora butted in with a smile. Shooting a petty glare up at the control booth. "We did nothing wrong. It's not our fault fearless leader gets cranky when he is on his period!"
"Dude. You should have told us." Neptune muttered sincerely. Breaking the silence while everyone else reeled at the sudden topic switch.
"It's a medical marvel." Jaune replied flatly with a roll of his eyes. "But do forgive Nora, she is pure of heart, smooth of brain, and full of violence. Her idea of fun is walking into a bar fight and handing out knives."
"How did you know?" Nora asked happily, eyes twinkling with glee.
"Oh for fucks sake, Nora." Jaune sighed into his hands.
Ren nodded in solidarity as he looked down into his cup of tea. Pulling out his hipflask and pouring a little trickle into his cup. Blinking to himself, Ren sighed, emptying the flask into his thermos as he filled up his cup. Knowing he was going to need something strong to stave of his coming headache. Nora and Jaune fed of another like a house on fire. Pyrrha could try and play moderator all she wanted, but she didn't have the same authority Jaune had over Nora that could make her shut down entirely. Due to no fault of her own.
Pyrrha and Jaune were cut from the same cloth, the same kindness that overflowed from Jaune, existed and was freely shared by Pyrrha as well. It was one of the reasons Nora had attached herself so quickly. After all, when you had only one source of stability in your life, when two seemingly infinitive pools of kindness suddenly appeared in your life. You latch on tight. It was a high Nora had been running since initiation.
However, since Jaune's mental state coulndt be described as anything but an absolute shitshow. Pyrrha was left trying to pick up the slack. Which meant the two of them were juggling Jaune's inevitable crash, Nora's energy and Violet's dependency at Jaune all the while Ren was juggling his own rapidly growing insight. It could be tiring on a normal day. Then there were the day's Jaune woke up as a changed man, acting as if he came back from war. Needing some extra alone time to just sit and work through what he had been exposed to. Something he had needed today, but the powers that be hadn't allowed him.
'And by the looks of it. Last night had been anything but kind.' Ren knew from the bottom of his heart. The dozen queenly ghosts chatting excitedly with another or poking fun at the other ghosts in their seats. Elizabeth, the eldest of the ghosts, was having an amiable conversation with a man that looked strikingly like Jaune. The only thing that set them apart being the bullet wound in the centre of his forehead that dripped crimson.
Jaune's kindness together with all the identical wounds on the queen's painted a clear picture of what had happened. The malicious presence Jaune had somehow jammed into his blade making it crystal clear to anyone who could see the pieces.
"You are right, yet wrong, spirit whisperer." Iosefka whispered in his ear. Even with the auditorium filled out with so many ghosts it wasn't even funny, no one dared approach anywhere close to Iosefka. More than content with sitting in their seats and watching the show live. They ghosts might not have much understanding of what was happening, yet they were cheering, booing, and clapping over each other.
Knowing he coulndt answer, Ren simply waited for her to explain. Paying no attention to what was happening around him beside nodding every now and then to show he was paying attention. 'Even if there is little to pay attention to.'
"Castle Cainhurst revelled her secrets to the Kind Hunter, each one more vile than the last. The young ladies that follow him, are those who are unable to pass on. Shackled in limbo between life and death by she who resides in his blade." Iosefka began, her wispy voice giving life to the macabre picture he had already conjured in his mind. "Yet they are not the only one who followed him over. Let me show you."
Before he could say anything, two cold spectral hands gently grabbed him by the side of his head. Forcefully turning his head towards Jaune against his will as a film of something slid over his eyes. In an instant he saw more even as he saw less. Colour muting until the world tittered between black and white. The more colour died out, the clearer he saw the small forms that drifted around Jaune. Small hands reaching towards his brother, only to never quite reach. Mouths breathing, even as lungs refused to work. Eyelids shivering, even as their eyes refused to open. Yet adoration for Jaune fell of them in spades.
Ren didn't manage to count the number of small forms. Only knowing that there were many, far too many. Forcefully shaking himself out of Iosefka's grip as he wiped away the nosebleed that tickled down. "It's a bit dry." He lied the second Ivori turned to look at him. The images of foetuses, not even having taken their first breath, floated in his mind. Drifting side by side by newborns. Some still with their umbilical cord attached to them.
"The cosmos was breached, built upon the souls of forty-one newborns and forty to-be-bornes, to herald a child." Isolde whispered, rattling him to his very core.
Blinking, Ren looked down at his cup of tea. The pieces of the puzzle surrounding Jaune's 'semblance' quickly falling into a picture that sent shivers through his soul. In an instant, he lifted his cup and emptied it in one go. The alcohol he had added burned, clashing fiercely with his tea, but he didn't care. Compared to finding out that the multiverse was real, and that someone or something had quite literally 'yoinked' Jaune into Yharnam. It didn't burn as much as he wished.
"I missed five seconds ago when I didn't know that." Ren butted in, muttering under his breath. Blinking owlishly when his voice rang louder than he had expected. Sun and Neptune breaking out in laughter. "It appears I missed something."
"It was as much a success as it was a failure." Isolde continued airily, not paying any mind to the world around them. Her eyes burning a hole into the back of his head. "For a child was heralded. Yet it arrived not through a womb as the ritualist prayed for, but through a dream who wishes for a child of its own."
"Is it possible I can go on the toilet?" Ren asked Lisa politely. Ignoring everything else around him. Wanting to wash his face and maybe empty his stomach. What he felt of his own burgeoning spirituality churning inside. Waves crashing against waves as each revelation out Iosefka's mouth pushed him towards his breaking point.
"Why? Don't want to suffer with the rest of us?" Kobalt snarked with a roll of his eyes.
Had it been any other day, at any other moment, Ren would have had a clever comeback. Or have simply rolled with the punches to get away quickly. But Isolde had just crashed everything he knew and forced an existential crisis onto him. Together with the other horror she had just shown him, Ren's patience was wanning quickly. Making him say the first thing on his mind instead of choosing his words carefully as he always did. "I'm on my period."
"Wait, you too, bro?" Sun asked in concern. "Why didn't you tell us? I thought we were bros."
"It's a medical marvel." Ren parroted with a serious nod. "I didn't want to impose."
"Mr Lie, for your sake, I do hope you are joking. However if you are in need of a break, you could simply ask. You are not held against your will." Miss Goodwitch called out over the speakers. Voice laced with exasperation.
"Well that's a fucking lie." Roy whispered what everyone was thinking. Vale might be a democracy, but no one here was blind enough to know it wasn't a rigged one. There wasn't no place for no when the head of state requested your presence for a propaganda piece.
The only reason Ren knew most of the money raised would actually go to charity and to funding the city. Was because the headmaster of beacon sat on the council and that with the whole world watching, Vale would do it's absolute best to paint itself it's best image possible.
Ren didn't much get to think on his gloomy thoughts for long. Thoughts of corrupt politicians seemed so mundane compared to the knowledge that the heavens could be reached by mortal hands. Not to mention the familiarity it brought. After all, if there was one thing Mistrial had in excess, it was crime. The tongs, the triad, the spider's. Gangs owned the streets of cities, while in the countryside bandits roamed free.
'But I do wonder, if someone could manage to breach the heavens. Could I do the same?' The thought was as addictive as it was terrifying. Having wormed itself into his mind before he knew it. Colour drained from his face as he rapidly made his way to the bathroom. Staunchly ignoring how Specialist Schnee tried to get his attention, absentmindedly noting the atlas soldiers who glared just a bit to sharply at him.
"Be careful, young spirit whisperer." Iosefka voice echoed out beside him, acting as if she wasn't the cause of his current mental state. "Power, all power, comes at a cost. Your skills cost time and effort, while the kind hunter's skills cost blood. The unmatched prodigies fame cost victories. While a politicians power is directly linked to a framework of law and rules. Eighty-one souls weren't the only cost the Queen paid, yet even I am blind to what that cost may be. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I do not wish for you to end up like me."
Stepping into the closest bathroom, the first thing he did was turning on the faucet and splashing water in his face. Sighing deeply when the cold water didn't quicken him up. The only thing he saw when he looked up into his reflection, was a monster of stars and dust sewn together by human flesh. Blood turning from red to silver and back to red with each heartbeat as it raced through the split.
Iosefka smiled kindly at him, gently reaching down from behind him and moving some hair away from his face.
"This is me, the cost of my knowledge stems from being forever caught in ascension. Forever caught between mortal and something higher. What I may scry today, I will forget tomorrow. For my knowledge is not my own and is not able to last in a half-finished vessel." She whispered. Her form in the mirror changing as she spoke. Her human part staying the same, the kind cleric who only wanted to help and heal. Yet the other part of her, the part he lacked the words necessary to describe, made that a lie. Turning and twisting, caught in the point between beauty and horror. Where he coulndt help but stare as blood tickled down his nose.
"We believed we could forcefully evolve humans into godhood." The powerful statement hung in the air for a moment before she continued. "No sacrifice was too great, no price too steep for our grand cause. Yet, when men and women transformed into horrendous beasts, what holiness we envisioned we carried had long since been twisted by human ambition." Isolde continued, two voices coming out of her mouth as her words made blood trail from his ears. "The Kind Hunter may resent fate, instead forging a destiny of his own. Yet fate exists in the form of causality. Action and inaction both leave their ripples. So, for your sake, heed my warning. Don't let your ambition rule you. Power and knowledge all have a cost, no matter how minuscule the price might seem at first. There are fates far worse than death."
"I know." Ren whispered flatly, speaking safely as he had turned off his microphone the second he had stepped off the stage. "I'm seeing two." He continued as one of the younger ghostly spirits yawned, stretching before pulling her knees into her chest and lazily bobbing up and down in the air beside him.
"Then pray you do not live to experience a third." Isolde whispered airily. Her words at last breaking what little willpower he had left. Lifting the toilet seat, puke came flying out as everything became too much for his mind to bear.
#-#-#-#
"Cinder." Emerald called out, stepping into their shared dorm in Beacon after having watched the broadcast in the large recreation room. Partly to investigate to see if she could get her hands on some spicy nuggets of information, and partly because for one stray moment her heart had won out over her mind. Playing into her fantasy of being one of them, if only for a moment.
But the second Arc had called out Atlas, Emerald knew she had to report to Cinder. While she didn't know the entire plan, she knew that Roman being on Atlases flagship was crucial. And if he somehow got moved, they would be set back so far it wasn't even funny.
"What is it Emerald? Have you figured out a way for Arc to not interrupt your semblance?" Cinder asked the moment she closed the door behind her. A beautiful burning amber eye coming up to look at her, before she returned all her attention to her scroll. Where the livestream played out. Making Emerald chastise herself, if she could pay attention to the stream, of course Cinder would know it's importance.
"It's about the stream. Arc calling out Atlas to move Roman." Emerald started, trying to get her courage back by focusing on something else. Not knowing where to even begin when it came to her semblance.
"Emerald, I don't know what world you are living in where Atlas would head a boy's advice." Cinder smirked, making Emerald's heart flutter slightly. "Atlas is proud, too proud for their own good. They will stall, stonewall, and do everything in their power to make sure they bring Roman back to Atlas with them. Should they hand over Roman, it's only after the tournament. And by then it would be far too late."
A sigh of relief escaped Emerald. Making her shake her head, not knowing what she had worried about in the first place.
"Emerald, pray tell, what more have you found about Arc and his group? If he is able to interrupt your semblance, he is the biggest threat to our plans. He may need to be removed." Cinder asked, taking her eyes up from her scroll and giving her a stare filled with fire.
"Outcasts." Under Cinder's intense stare, Emerald spoke the first thing that came to mind. "They are outcasts. Everyone but the kid's team feels as if they are impossible to approach. Pyrrha's fame might have something to do with it, so does their standoffishness. However, even if they are social outcasts, they are respected. Or their skills are at least. From what gossip I have heard, many feel it's hard to get a read on them. Arc isn't in most classes, but still scores top marks. Pyrrha is the champion in combat class, hogging the top spot from initiation. Ren and Nora are there, I guess? They are competent, but they are also overshadowed by their teammates."
"Hmmm. Interesting." Cinder hummed, satisfaction creeping into her eyes. "That gives us options. Maybe we don't need to remove him, as simply having his attention be somewhere else would be enough. Of course, should he overstep, he would need to be removed. But if they are outcasts, maybe we can use that to our advantage."
Emerald watched in fascination as the light in Cinder's eyes grew clearer and clearer. Making her excitedly wonder at what plan was brewing in her mind.
"They had some conflict with some other teams, didn't they?" Cinder asked, even if Emerald knew she already had the answer.
"Yes. A team from Vacuo tried starting something with them. Even getting a Beacon team in on it." Emerald replied eagerly, frowning as she knew Cinder wasn't going to exactly like what she heard. "However, Arc and his team did something. I don't know what. The boys have been tight lipped about it. But they are terrified of Arc."
"Their fear is of no concern to me. Fear can always be leveraged." Cinder replied with wicked confidence. Emerald nodding whole heartedly. "Reach out to them, make them think we are on their side and also want to take them down peg or two."
"Will do." Emerald said instantly. "With the stream, it won't be hard to make jealousy rear it's dirty head."
"Good. This is why you are my favourite Emerald." Cinder praised with a gentle smile. "You always know what to do."
"Thank you." Emerald replied, having to do her best to hide her glee from slipping out. "Then I'm going back to the common room, to see if I can mingle some more."
"Good." Cinder nodded, moving her attention back to her scroll.
Turning on the spot, Emerald skipped towards the door. Slowing down as she placed her hand on the handle and turned around. "I don't want to overstep, but where is Mercury? I haven't seen him all day."
"He is out on an errand. Don't concern yourself about him." Cinder replied instantly. Shooting down the question without a care in the world.
#-#-#-#
"What did I miss?" Titus asked as the stepped into the living room. Hair still wet from his shower. A deep sigh escaped him the second he was bombarded by a wall of sound. His daughter's talking over each other, which only made them talk louder.
Turning to the tv, he stood gobsmacked. The wettest meaty thwack he had ever heard echoing out as his son buried his fist so deep into another boy's nose his aura strained against the blow. Another boy, his team leader no doubt, instantly shoot up with rage on his face, only to be stopped in his tracks by a harsh hand on his shoulder that pushed him back down into the couch.
"Poking fun of me is one thing. I can accept that. I'm even willing to be the bigger person and let it slide." Jaune said, his voice cutting through all the noise. In an instant all the eyes in the Arc household were on the screen. "But making fun of my teammates because they are orphans, and calling my mother a whore is stepping over the line."
"Yeah dude, that's real low. Real fucking low." Another boy with blond hair and blue eyes called out. His teammates holding him back as he struggled in their grasp with all his might. "Let me go!" He snarled at his teammates with a glare. "I need to introduce my foot to his balls. Since apparently 'orphans should be happy they can do what they want'."
"That's my boy!" Titus called out in fatherly pride. Chest swelling as he did his best to not grin like a loon.
"Dear, this is the first time you have been openly proud of Jaune." Clair said with a soft smile.
"I have always been proud of Jaune." Titus corrected her instantly. "He is blessed, he will grow to be a better man than I can ever be. That's why I don't want him to follow in my footsteps. There is nothing noble to find in violence."
"And does Jaune know that?" Claire asked gently as he sat down beside her. The crows feet around her eyes crinkling as she smiled softly at him. "Does Jaune know that you are proud of him? Or did you shut him down harshly whenever he asked for training without telling him your side of the story?"
Titus didn't answer, because he had none.
#-#-#-#-#
Far away, on a different continent haunted by shadow and jagged rocks. Mad gleeful cackling echoed through the lonely castle that stood there.
Tyrian swallowed deeply as his tail wagged around like an exited puppies'. Golden eyes boring into the form of the screen as pure exhilaration shoot through him. Mirroring the time his Queen, praised she be, broke his shell and allowed him to be free.
"Like me." The words echoed out from his mouth with fervent disbelief. "He is like me!" His voice rose as his extasy escaped him. "My Queen must know!"
With that thought firmly in his mind, he grabbed the hard light screen and ripped it out of the CCT station Watts had built. Ignoring the sparks and screaming machinery as he tore it out. Grabbing the screen and sprinting wildly through the castle. Bursting into the conference room. His Eternal Queen sat on her throne as the unbelievers Hazel and Watts sat on their chairs. Looking in the midst of discussion.
"Ah Tyrian, so kind of you to join us." The voice of his liege rang out through the halls, sending fervours shivers through his body. A single burning crimson orb in a pool of black stared at him. Making him feel both so small and oh so blessed. "You are late, I was about to send a seer to come get you."
What he was to say fought over itself to escape his mouth, leaving him tongue-tied. Since words had abandoned him, Tyrian knew action would help him get his message across. The hard light screen was placed on the table as he glared at Watts. The man in question looking at him with a raised eyebrow, before sighing. Tapping something on his wrist as an identical image shot up from the centre of the table.
"Like me. He is like me." Tyran managed to get out, shuddering in delight as he spoke. Eyes darting wildly between his Queen Eternal and the image of the boy.
"What? Mad?" Hazel snorted with a roll of his eyes. Sending righteous fury spiking through him. The only thing stopping him from decorating the table with his insides being that his Queen had use for him.
"No. NO!" Tyrian snarled as he vigorously shuck his head. Golden eyes staring up at the frozen image in fanatic glee. "He understands. He UNDERSTANDS!" He shouted whispered hysterically. Glaring at Hazel with all the righteous anger that surged within. "He understands violence."
"Have you finally gone off the deep end?" Watts snarked, shooting a look into his cup. "Or did you slip some poison into my coffee again."
"No. You can never understand." Trian hissed. "To logical, too shackled. Violence is beautiful. Paling only to Queen Eternal. Hazel might think he understands violence, so does Cinder, but you are wrong. So so wrong. Violence isn't an outlet of rage. Violence isn't something to control. Violence is beautiful in and off itself. Not when used for eating, or surviving, and certainly not when its used for fucking. No, violence is the most beautiful when it's in its purest, when it's used nothing but for its own sake."
"So you are telling me, this boy is like you?" His Queen Eternal asked gently, her voice sending shivers through his body as he turned to her.
"Yes." He replied instantly, not wanting to hide anything from her. "He is like me before I was blessed by your grace. When I shackled myself. When I was miserable. But…" His words died in his throat as Tyrian knelt before his Queen. For the first time since joining her circle, asking for her favour. "But maybe I can do as you did for me. Free him. From societies shackles, from the chains he places on himself."
"Hmmm." Never in Tyrian's life had hearing his Queen contemplate made him feel so uncertain. So miniscule. "I will allow it."
"Really?" Tyrian asked, not daring to believe his ears as he looked up at his Queen.
"Yes." His Queen reassured him gently. "However there are some caveats, you are free to approach him. To try and sway him. Make him question what he wants and who he is. However, you can't approach him until after Beacon have fallen. Should he die in the fall, he would simply be unworthy, should he survive. You can use the fall as a catalyst to turn him into your protégé."
"Oh thank you, thank you my Queen." Tyrian bellowed, pinpricks of tears streaming down his face. Not able to contain the joy he felt inside. Through tearstained eyes, he turned to the floating image. Jaune Arc, his soon-to-be protégé stared back. His blue eyes holding back an avalanche of bloodlust and carnage. Making Tyrian's chest puff in fatherly pride even if they had never met.
#-#-#-#-#
Note: Things are happening, all over the place. And things will soon come to a head. There will be one, maybe two, stream chapters left, if only for me to properly tie up the event up. While it's the 'focus', the core pieces are what's happening around it.
Note: To say the relationship between Emerald and Cinder is toxic is the understatement of the century. So I hoped I did good job capturing the toxicity, and Emeralds dependency/feelings for Cinder. Who is constantly abused by the woman in question.