"The number of children is not growing any longer in the world. We are still debating peak oil, but we have definitely reached peak child."

- Hans Rosling

Glancing down at the arena as soon as a new bout began, Percy looked only long enough to see that neither of the combatants were people he cared about, and then returned his gaze across the small table to Shiro. It was just them at the table, though the room as a whole had almost a dozen people. Said room was a penthouse overlooking the Mistrali national arena with a heavily tinted window. Percy'd have preferred to sit down in the stands like a normal person, but he had to work today, and talking to Shiro — Perseus' closest advisor and public face — was not something Percy Jackson could be seen doing.

"Menagerie is doing well, at least." Shiro continued going through the list of items on the paper in his hand. "The miniature CCT system you asked me to start getting set up in Menagerie a couple months ago covers ninety percent of Kuo Kuana now, and as of last week is fully hooked up to our own local network. They hardly have breakneck speeds, but it's enough for text communication. As far as their economy is concerned that's just about all they need. We'll work on developing it some more, but the priority right now is on coverage rather than quality."

Percy nodded to show he approved. That was good. Menagerie was rapidly developing, but because of that had no shortage of things to spend money on. It was a good problem to have, but it was a problem all the same. Paired with Percy's investments mostly drying up because of how much he'd been spending to prepare Mistral's military, well… Percy would say that getting them internet would help, and leave it at that. All he could really do now was abolish the old laws to officially let commoners own property, which would let Mistral and Menagerie thrive more than they had been. Unfortunately despite his nigh ultimate political control over Mistral, his power was still through a blessing of both the people and great families. He could get away with quite a bit just because of how little the nobility cared, but abolishing their exclusive property rights was something they'd certainly take exception to.

"Wolke has accelerated his campaign against corruption and organized crime." Shiro moved to the next item, lips downturning slightly. "A second one of our councilmen has been arrested on charges of graft, and given how the last trial went…" Shiro trailed off. He didn't need to finish, Percy had seen how quickly one of their other councilmen — Alfred, Percy was pretty sure the name was — had been indicted, convicted, and shipped off to prison in just over a month by Valean law enforcement. Percy had to admit he had been a bit… less than careful with the way he'd bribed some of the councilmen in his employ, but before now the upper ranks in Vale were down to play ball. Now, they were not. Even though Wolke was the one to order the investigations Percy couldn't help but blame himself quite a bit for being so careless. It wasn't Mistral, there actually existed cops which weren't owned by the mob. Now he was down half his council members and the other two wouldn't be too far behind.

"Other than them there are some crooked cops and bearaucrats, a single police captain, and a lot of union leadership. We're bleeding in Vale."

Percy withheld a sigh. "Any of your men arrested, Malachite?"

"No, my lord." the man in question answered, rising from where he sat just a couple feet away to address him. "Some of my assets have been found out, but none of my agents have had so much as a hair of suspicion placed upon them."

Percy nodded his thanks, and the man sat back down. Assets meaning people that he or his agents had bribed in return for information, then. But none of his agents — the spiders — had been caught.

That helped rule out any sort of inside info. They were purely following the numbers. Unexplained wealth and mysterious payments. Percy wasn't all too surprised.

"We do have to do something." Shiro said when Percy remained silent. "This is equivalent to declaring war on us — literally a war on organized crime, according to Wolke's own words. If we let him walk all over us, we'll never be taken seriously again."

"I know that." Percy bit out. "Wolke isn't worth it. He's nipping at our heels, trying to goad us into action."

"He's doing a lot more than nipping at our heels." Shiro commented dryly. "A fifth of our unions are cleaned out, with three more under-"

"I said he's not worth it Shiro!" Percy snapped. "Anything we do to respond will be seen as intervention by Ozpin. Who cares if we lose some cops and some councilmen and some unions. It's not worth facing a war on another front."

"Why are you so worried about Ozpi-" Shiro's jaw clicked shut, apparently realizing that he was missing a piece of the puzzle. And if it was something Percy hadn't told him about, it was likely related to the supernatural.

Which was… not incorrect. Percy's suspicions that Ozpin was Ozma weren't quite confirmed yet, but other than Ozpin and the people at Beacon Percy was either in bed with or fighting a war against every power on Remnant. Oftentimes both at the same time. If Ozma was influencing humanity as Percy guessed he was, he either was Ozpin, or working closely with Ozpin.

Percy might have been able to take them on, but he didn't care to find out if that were true or not on a good day, much less when he was already facing an inevitable war with Atlas and the SDC within the next year, and was already waging a civil war in Vacuo.

"I could deal with it." Cinder offered, swirling red wine around a glass. It had become a weird sort of tradition for him to make sure there was red wine available whenever Cinder was around. If the amount she'd consumed thus far was any indication, she certainly didn't mind. "I'll make quick work of this chairman and his backers."

"And what, let all of Vale think Mistral's declared war on it?" Percy shot her incredulously. "Or were you hoping your dust-weaved red dress, Mistrali features, and aura would convince the same people that have pinned every corner store robbery on Mistral for the last half a year that you were actually acting alone for some unknown ulterior motive, and not with Mistral?"

Cinder's eyes narrowed, and though her posture didn't shift from relaxed, the glass in her hand stopped its motion. "I'm not one of your lackeys, don't speak to me as if I am."

"You don't need to work for me to be told no." Percy snarked.

They stared each other down for several seconds, both looking for signs of weakness; signs the other would back down. Neither found any.

The staredown was interrupted when the silver haired boy behind Cinder — a few years younger than both of them, Percy hadn't bothered to learn his name in the last few months — adjusted his stance and cracked his knuckles.

That got Cinder to break her gaze, shooting the boy a withering glare. Percy just chuckled to himself. Considering everything it was almost cute, being threatened by him, in this room, with all of his allies surrounding him. Irving Malachite was a demure overweight man, and no fighter, but everyone else in the room… Shiro was still a huntsman, and rusty though he may be Percy would put money on him wiping the floor with just about any student. If that weren't enough, both Ren and his friend Nora sat in the corner. Ren's skill was clear, but Percy had recently learned that even the girl had had her aura unlocked, and knew how to use it. Ren's semblance let them both be a bit more careless than the average person when it came to attracting grimm. Even though Cinder also had the green-haired girl, that wasn't counting Percy himself, or the squad of soldiers he had standing vigilantly in the hallway outside. Even Cinder, who just a few seconds ago had been unflinching at the thought of fighting Percy a second time knew that her 'lackey' was not the most imposing sight.

"Step back and control yourself." She bit, turning back to sit normally, though this time with a scowl. "You embarrass yourself." and me her tone seemed to say.

Cinder's wine glass started moving again, the tension not broken but at least interrupted.

Shiro cleared his throat awkwardly. "Moving on, the war in Vacuo has stalled." Shiro admitted, moving on down his list. "In great part due to Atlas and the SDC's support, the sitting government of Vacuo has managed to hold a large part of the strategic objectives we've been trying to capture. We've also received word of huntsmen on Vacuo's side for specific skirmishes, and quite a few students from Shade."

Percy's eyes narrowed. It was international law that huntsmen weren't to intervene in conflicts between kingdoms, and certainly not in politics. Atlas had all of theirs in their military, but the reasoning for that had been that their military was just for defense against the grimm anyway. Percy had no expectation that they'd keep up that rhetoric once they decided that Mistral was a threat to them.

"Has Shade backed them?" Percy asked, glancing down at the arena as another bout began. Once again, not anyone he cared about.

"We don't think so." Shiro shrugged. "We've only gotten reports of a small handful of them assisting on the lines. Of the actual huntsmen maybe a single team spread throughout the entire conflict, and a couple teams of students. As impactful as that is, it's not nearly as bad as we'd expect it to be had Shade itself decided to intervene in the conflict."

So, bad but not as bad as it could be. A stalled civil war wasn't the best for them. If they didn't control the city, all the war would be was a bottomless pit for Percy, Atlas, and the SDC to pour money into. Percy was very rich, but he was neither the SDC nor Atlas. He might be able to rival the latter, but the former… The only good news was that popular support would inevitably continue to mount against the government, but that was on a timeline of months, years, and decades. Far longer than Percy had intended to fight there.

The sudden roar of the crowd outside pulled Percy out of his thoughts, the ear-shattering noise almost deafening even through the thick, tinted, bullet-resistant window. Glancing to the arena floor, he saw what all the noise was about. The arena, filled to capacity for the first time since probably the great war, was full of people who had come for the same reason as Percy.

Pyrrha Nikos stepped out to thunderous applause and cheers, her tens of thousands of adoring fans cheering her on. She held herself upright, shoulders squared and chin up, looking the absolute image of a confident champion as she waved to the crowds. But behind it, Percy could see the sheepishness, the bit of disbelief that all these people actually cared enough to show up to see her fight.

But Pyrrha was sixteen and had already won the three tournaments she'd been old enough to enter, all in the green, and this was her last tournament. She'd tied a record that hadn't been set for centuries or something like that, but if she won all four she'd set a record, a first for as long as recorded history went back.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind that she'd set that record, and people wanted to be here for it.

Pyrrha's opponent — a dark skinned, robed girl who was also from Argus, initially — stepped out to face her from the other side of the arena. Percy expected that maybe there'd be some boos, or at the least the applause would be much more muted. But neither of those things happened. Instead, the applause didn't change volume at all. The volume drowned out the voice announcing Pyrrha's opponent, and the crowds didn't even so much as stop to acknowledge her. It was almost worse — they didn't like her less, they didn't dislike her, they just didn't care. They were here for Pyrrha, and that was made clear.

Percy felt bad for the girl, who did a poor job hiding how upset she was at the circumstances — not that he could blame her. She had been Pyrrha's opponent during the finals last time, if Percy recalled correctly. Her former classmate who had now made it to the finals twice in a row. Were she in any other generation she would've been celebrated as a competent and promising future huntress, the best in her generation. She'd be a two-time finalist, and there's a good chance she would've won both as well. Celebrated across Mistral in the same way a multi-time Olympian gold medalist might've been back on earth.

But none of that mattered, because she was up against Pyrrha Nikos. High nobility, and the three-time undefeated, unscathed champion of the arena. Even though he was sure it came with some drawbacks, Percy was glad her fame had worked out for her. The alternative was the treatment the rest of the great families received. Hatred and resentment, dulled by the years but still present, was just about all any of them got anymore. That drawback of his little scheme, at least, had turned out not quite as bad as expected.

Even Alexandros, for all that he and Percy avoided each other these days, was not as bad off as any of the other great families. He'd been the one to bring Perseus into the spotlight, after all, and Pyrrha's father. He was hardly loved, but on average the people tolerated him quite a bit more than the others.

The tournament organizers apparently gave up on waiting for the applause to settle down after a few minutes of uninterrupted uproar, and so even though the announcer couldn't be heard the screens changed to count down the start of the bout.

Percy leaned back and watched the numbers count down. It was what he was here for, after all, and it's not like he could hold a productive conversation without yelling over the noise.

A handful of seconds later the screens changed to a green 'Go!', and a beep so high pitched that it could be heard over the crowd sounded out. The match had started…

And it was over just as quickly.

Not that the audience knew that, but Percy knew. Pyrrha knew, and from the close up of her face it looked like her opponent knew as well. It might have taken them a few more seconds, but soon the other fighters in the room knew as well.

Pyrrha was holding back, and she wasn't doing a super good job of pretending otherwise. Maybe to civilians she was, but to anyone with any combat experience against aura it was painfully obvious she was being incredibly risk-averse.

Each probing punch the other girl threw, each little kick and shuffle and movement had Pyrrha shuffling back behind her shield, dodging them like they were tank shells. She let her opponent make contact a few times, blocking with her forearm or shins. But that wasn't why she had won — it just highlighted the difference that would make it impossible for her to lose.

For whichever reason she was holding back, she wanted to make it look close. So instead of moving slower than she was capable of or accidentally falling for a feint, instead she waited until her opponent's fist was eighty percent of its way to hitting her…

And then moved out of the way fast enough that it missed completely, stumbling backwards as if it'd had any chance of touching a hair on her that she didn't want it to. After the third time, it was made clear to anyone that had ever fought with aura that there was no winning this fight for the poor girl facing her.

For Percy, it had been made clear as soon as Pyrrha had started holding back. As much as he had physically worked her hard in ways that she kept to today, her main advantage wasn't in her speed, or her strength, or endurance. Her main advantage was her skill with the blade and her own body, and the plethora of tricks she had up her sleeve. In a bout that was even in strength and speed, Percy'd bet on Pyrrha every time — she was first and foremost, skilled. But even against an opponent who was just as skilled, Pyrrha would win. Her semblance, some of the tricks Percy had taught her, the level of tactical thinking she was capable of, all together she was prepared to defeat someone twice as strong, twice as fast, and just as skilled. It's how Percy had learned, against unyielding impossible odds, fighting gods and titans and monsters thousands of years older than he. Despite everything else, Percy decided that that's what he was most proud of. That Pyrrha was so like him in that way.

For her age especially, she really was something. Put Percy up against her when he was her age (sans the curse of Achilles or his powers, of course) and… he honestly wasn't so sure who would win. Aura or no, for a mortal that was an extraordinary standard to live up to.

Percy pulled his thoughts back to reality, where the fight was slowly progressing. Pyrrha launched probing jabs and light strikes, slowly tanking the other girl's aura while keeping her own intact. Said other girl was yelling at Pyrrha now — screaming, it looked like — though there was no way to know what she could have been saying. Nothing pleasant, if Pyrrha's thinning lips were any indication.

But whether it was the girl's intent or not, something she'd said had succeeded at goading Pyrrha into ending the fight early.

Percy saw the shift in stance from defensive to aggressive, and knew the fight would be over in moments.

Pyrrha shifted her grip on Milo, the same spear Percy had had made for her, and the spearhead retracted to reveal a javelin head. It was something that, as far as Percy knew, Pyrrha had yet to use during a tournament.

Her opponent had no time to react. Tossing the shaft a few inches into the air to rapidly shift her grip Pyrrha thrust it forwards, and let it go. It sailed between the few feet that separated the two like a missile, only barely being deflected by the girl's forearm so that it hit her chest at a slight angle, instead of her sternum dead on.

There was a crackle of aura as the breath was briefly driven from her. She adjusted well, Percy gave her credit, her feet moving with her body to maintain balance. But before she could so much as take a breath to recover Pyrrha had already covered the distance, hooking her right leg behind her opponent's lower leg and using her momentum to aid the swinging of her gauntleted forearm which slammed directly into the robed girl's throat, only ensuring she wouldn't recover her breath. The leg Pyrrha had positioned behind the other girl's calf accomplished its mission, and her opponent stumbled and tripped back without balance.

Pyrrha caught Milo from where it was still falling to the ground, the spearhead forming back over the javelin tip. But it needn't have, because Pyrrha didn't lower her spear to her opponent's neck and demand she yield, she didn't give her opponent the chance to recover and fight to the end, she didn't even stab her aura into the red.

Akouo, her shield, fell like a guillotine and slammed into her once again defeated rival's head. Caught between the sandy stone ground and Pyrrha's dust-reinforced shield, the tournament ended with a concussion and a brain knocked around too much to remain conscious. The round was over within a few short seconds.

Percy didn't think it possible, but the crowd's roar grew louder than it had before. The arena was on its feet now, and if Percy didn't have a limited control over earthquakes he'd have thought one had struck. He wouldn't be exaggerating if he said the match could probably be heard — and felt — from Windpath and Kuchinashi both.

That is, if there wasn't a similar uproar in both settlements. Because Pyrrha hadn't just ended her last tournament with her aura in the green.

She'd ended it without her aura taking a single hit.

"You made it!" Pyrrha exclaimed with a wide smile, entering the overlook where Percy still sat with Shiro. She still wore her armor — apparently not bothering to shower and change after the tournament.

Cinder had made her excuses to leave after the match, and Percy had dismissed Irving Malachite for now. The man was very useful, but had yet to prove himself unerringly loyal. Loyal enough to see first hand how much of a weakness Pyrrha was for him.

Percy stood and gestured for her to come nearer, a grin across his own face. "Of course I did. I knew you'd never let me live it down if I missed this one."

She approached and, when she was close enough, was scooped into a hug which she pretended to try to get out of.

"I'll leave you two to it." Shiro chuckled, standing from the table himself.

"Hello Shiro." Pyrrha greeted, extracting herself from the hug and dodging out of the way of Percy's hand attempting to turn her hair into a static electricity field. She waved, and Shiro gave an amused wave back. But the distraction was enough to let Percy briefly ruffle her hair before she could duck out of the way once more.

Shaking his head, Shiro walked out, the smile never leaving his face. "Best of luck, Pyrrha."

She waved a quick goodbye before dodging out of the way of another assault, laughing and backing off. "Okay, okay, I give up."

"If you gave up you'd stop backing up." Percy pointed out dryly, but ceasing his attempts at her hair all the same. Sitting back at the table, he gestured for Pyrrha to take the other seat.

"Wow." Pyrrha looked out the tinted window as she sat. It showed the masses of crowds slowly leaving, though the celebrations throughout the city were far from over. "This is where you've been the entire time?"

"All day." Percy confirmed. "Had to do some work in private, but I've made sure I'll be free for the rest of the day so we can go do something. How about a spar? You certainly didn't seem to get much of a workout during the tournament today."

Pyrrha smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I… it didn't seem worth it, to go all out for a tournament."

Percy shrugged. "I agree. You did good holding back, for the most part. No reason to show off and reveal your tricks when you can win without them. It looked like the other girl must've said something to change your mind, though."

Pyrrha's frown melted away briefly, "Arslan." she scowled. "One of the girls back at Sanctum. She always had the second highest scores in the class, and… I don't think she liked me very much for it. I never had a problem with her, but in the arena…"

"What'd she say, Pyr?" Percy asked softly.

"Nothing." Pyrrha shook her head rapidly. "It's not worth thinking about her. She's not worth the oxygen she breathes."

Percy grimaced, that was very harsh, as far as Pyrrha's thoughts on others went. It was clear something was bothering her, but the difficult bit was to know when to pry and when to let it be.

He settled on a middle ground. "Look, Pyr, you have to deal with this stuff eventually. And not just by tossing people around in the ring either. You're not at Sanctum anymore, but what about when you go to Haven? This girl — Arslan — will almost certainly be there, and a lot of the other kids that were at Sanctum as well. You don't have to tell me what she said, but that doesn't mean you don't have to deal with it eventually."

"I want to go to Beacon." Pyrrha blurted.

They sat in silence for several seconds, Pyrrha staring a hole into her lap and Percy staring one into the top of her head.

"I don't want to go back." Pyrrha finally said, "I didn't want to be at Sanctum, and maybe it's gotten better since then but I don't care. I'll know it's all fake, that everyone will just be treating me better because I did well in some stupid tournament."

Ah. So holding back in the tournament hadn't just been Pyrrha's way of concealing how strong she was to keep an advantage. Why would it be, she wouldn't have to fight other huntsmen — she would be fighting grimm. It was to try and play down her talent.

And Arslan had goaded her into throwing that plan out.

"No." Percy denied flatly. Going to Beacon wasn't an option. Patch was one thing — Taiyang and Qrow were there, and Percy had been embedding the island with sleeper agents for years now. She was, to a fairly large extent, protected. He'd even consider letting her live within Vale proper. He had a lot of friendly faces there, and in case of emergency was capable of reacting to just about anything. But Beacon? It was away from Patch and his agents, away from Vale and his mob, and on a little island of its own entirely under Ozpin's control. He had no allies there (with the minor exception of Qrow, but Percy would hardly wager on Qrow's allegiance coming up to his favor in a choice between him and Ozpin) and no real informants. If Ozpin wanted to do something to Pyrrha, that was it, it was over. Percy may as well lock her up and hand her to Ozpin himself. Maybe better than living on Atlas or in the SDC's mansion, sure, but worse than just about any other alternative. Especially since Ozpin, having the uncanny knowledge that he did, was probably well aware of what price Percy would pay for Pyrrha's safety.

"What?" Pyrrha looked taken aback at the flat out denial. "Why? Why can I go to Haven, but not Beacon?"

"The headmistress of Haven is a personal friend of Shiro and I's." Percy assured her. "I can make sure you're safe. And there's nowhere I can keep an eye on better than Haven, right in the middle of Mistral."

Pyrrha looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "I can take care of myself! I don't need to be kept in the middle of your- your fortress! I don't need your friends to make things easier for me, and I don't need everyone treating me differently because I won a few tournaments!"

"That's not-" Percy started to object.

"Yang is going to Beacon." she plowed on, "and Ruby will be, too. And if I'm at Haven then I'll have to deal with Arslan, and anyone else from Sanctum who makes it in, everyone will know me as a celebrity instead of a person, and father will demand I stay at the estate and be groomed as his heir."

Percy didn't know whether to grimace or smile at that last bit. For all he'd had a falling out with Alexandros, Percy knew he loved his daughter, despite the… icy relationship he had with her. Victory in the battle for Pyrrha's heart was a little bittersweet.

Which… reminded him of Weiss. Of her relationship with Jacques. Another girl who wanted to be away from her father and the expectations that he carried. Another who wanted to go to Beacon for that very reason.

Percy took a deep breath, and thought over his next words carefully… before realizing he didn't really have an explanation for Pyrrha. Beacon wasn't safe; okay, why not? Because Percy couldn't protect her there; what did she need protecting from? Ozpin might want to kidnap her; why? Because she was important to Percy; why did that matter? Because Ozpin was a potential enemy; why? Because he was probably either an immortal wizard with his own agenda or working closely with one.

But Percy couldn't exactly say that. Even if he just played the angle that he and Ozpin were political rivals, he made it a habit to avoid talking about the less pleasant aspects of his 'work'. That Ozpin, the reputable Headmaster of Beacon, was locked in a shadowy game of manipulations and leverage with him would raise too many questions he wasn't prepared to answer.

But… did he have another choice? Pulling a 'because I said so' might work for a lot of things, but not quite so much for such a life-changing decision.

But, well, Weiss would be going to Beacon. It wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to keep that knowledge in his back pocket, and with Pyrrha being allowed unrestrained access…

No. He wouldn't use Pyrrha as a tool. He refused to. And, if he were honest with himself Ozpin wasn't really the aggressor here. He hadn't actually done anything to Percy — he'd flat out refused less than moral methods in the past, as well. Relations with Ozpin were sour enough that Percy was paranoid enough to keep Pyrrha out of her reach, but if he smoothed things over with the headmaster then he wouldn't be the most opposed to Pyrrha being within his reach. Ozpin had been nothing if not true to his word over these last few years. In fact, if he gave up enough he might even be able to arrange for Ozpin to protect her while she was there.

But that'd still leave Pyrrha, in Beacon, alone, without reliable protection of any sort.

Percy found his eyes drifting just to the left of where Pyrrha waited out his silence with baited breath and finding the answer to his problem.

Ren stared calmly back at him, dipping his head when Percy's gaze turned to him. He'd been waiting patiently thus far, sitting quietly at the side of the room with his friend all morning. His friend — Nora, Percy recalled — was less attentive, trying to get reactions out of Ren one way or another. At the moment she was poking him in the arm, repeating something to him that Percy couldn't make out from here. It looked like he'd been unbothered thus far, but when Percy glanced over he grabbed her wrist and shot her a look. She got the message, glancing over at the table, seeing Percy watching them, and quickly adjusting her posture to make it look like she'd not deviated from the image of patience that Ren was.

It was not convincing.

But that didn't change that he was looking at two competent people at his disposal, who he had no use for. Ren's skillset was certainly a valuable one, but Percy didn't find he wanted to use it all the same, for the fact that it'd take what little of his innocence remained. Or more aptly, squash any chance of it coming back. But if he could make him go to a school as an assignment…

"Ren, how old are you?"

The boy blinked, "Seventeen."

No 'why?', no asking for elaboration, no questions at all. Just immediate, obedient response.

Pyrrha turned quickly to look at the other two people in the room, who Percy realized she probably hadn't seen before now.

"And Nora?" Percy continued before Pyrrha could respond.

"Sixteen." Ren told him, though slightly slower this time. Percy knew Nora was a sensitive subject for the boy. He'd seen firsthand how Ren's adherence to authority and what he viewed as honor was only dwarfed by his care for his friend.

"When's she turn seventeen?" Percy asked, leaning forward.

"August fifteenth."

Percy blinked. Only a few days before his own birthday. But more importantly, before the Beacon school year started.

"Wha- who are they?" Pyrrha span back to look at him, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"Pyrrha, this is Ren and his friend, Nora." he introduced, waving them over. "I've been taking care of them for a while. They're from west Mistral, but they've been moving around for a while. I can't tell you exactly why I'm so worried Pyr, but part of it is knowing you'll be alone there, against anyone that would do you harm. Yang helps some, but knowing you'll have two more friendly faces there would help put my mind at ease."

"Nice to meet you." Pyrrha greeted shyly, extending her hand for Ren to shake. He stared at her hand for a few seconds before replicating, shaking her hand.

"Likewise."

Nora's greeting was a bit less dulled, shaking Pyrrha's hand with a wide grin the moment Ren had let it go. "Nice to meet ya!"

"You want to… send them to Beacon with me?" Pyrrha asked apprehensively. "No offense to either of you, but I told you Percy, I don't need you to send people to look after me."

Percy waved it off. "Pyr, they're your age. They won't be there to hover over you, or watch you, or whatever else you'll be thinking. They'll just… be in the same year. Honestly if I'd thought of it before, I'd have offered to send them to Haven this year anyways. How about you two. What do you think about attending Beacon?" Percy gave Ren a meaningful look.

Nora looked to Ren, who briefly glanced at her before turning back to Percy and nodding. "We'll do it."

Pyrrha straightened, wide eyes looking to him. "Does that… you're letting me attend Beacon?"

"Maybe." Percy said, grimacing at the way Pyrrha deflated. "I have to speak to Ozpin first. It might be some time, but… I think so, Pyr."

He could see her perk up again ever so slightly, the brightness of her eyes hedged against the tempering of her expectations.

"When will you know?" she asked, trying in vain to hide the excitement and impatience in her voice.

"Give me a week. I'll talk to Oz before then." he promised.

Percy really hoped he wouldn't have to ruin that hopeful smile she wore.

Percy turned to Ren and Nora "Now you two have been sitting patiently all morning, thank you for making it today. Go get some more practice in, you'll need it if you end up going to Beacon."

Nora smiled widely (what Percy was beginning to think had become her default state) and grabbed Ren by the arm, hauling him off. "Let's go Renny! I wanna go break some more robots!"

Percy snorted, as far as he knew using Percy's training facilities was just about all the duo did when Percy didn't need them. It was a good thing they had them, though, with the two's styles being so wildly different any sparring wouldn't be the most conducive to either of them refining their skill.

Percy gave Ren a subtle nod just as the boy was half-dragged out the door, a nod he returned.

Percy stood and stretched, glancing over at Pyrrha.

"Well, how about that spar?"

"Good night, Pyr!" Percy called down the hallway, hearing a quiet, muffled, and muted 'Night' as a response. Percy just smiled, she had worked herself hard today. She more than deserved the rest.

They were still in Mistral, but Pyrrha had wanted to stay with him and Percy decided it wasn't a good idea for him to enter the proximity of the Nikos estate, so she stayed the night in his apartment in the city.

Stepping out of the door to his apartment (though he technically owned the building, and there was nobody else on the floor) Percy wasn't surprised to see Ren waiting for him in the hallway.

"I'm ready to receive the assignment." was Ren's greeting, nodding deeply. "Am I to infiltrate Beacon and observe?"

"I meant what I said in the arena." Percy replied. "At least, mostly. I'm not sending you so I can invade her privacy or make her decisions for her. You won't be there to spy on her. Don't collect information on what she's doing, don't spy on her, don't look into her personal affairs or tell me anything which isn't relevant to your mission."

"My mission being…?"

"Protect," Percy said simply. "Make sure, through any means, that Pyrrha's safe at Beacon. Keep an eye on her, watch out for anyone who could mean her harm — you and Nora both."

Ren opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated.

"I'm not asking her to take the risks you're used to." Percy assuaged. "You'll just be attending Beacon as if you were normal kids. Hades, you don't even have to be friends with her, if you don't want to. Don't even have to be on the same team. But make sure there's always a pair of eyes watching, there's always a defense between her and any would-be assailants. I don't have much reason to think there would be, but I want the security all the same."

Ren nodded once. "I understand."

"Thank you." Percy said, nodding his dismissal .

Turning to the door and twisting the handle, Percy paused. "And Ren?"

The boy in question stopped where he'd been walking away, looking back curiously.

"You'll be spending a while at Beacon. Enjoy yourself, alright?"

Percy didn't wait for a response, twisting the handle and walking back into his apartment. It was time for him to get some sleep, too. Pyrrha wasn't quite as easy to beat into the ground as she used to be.

He smiled as he entered his bathroom and began preparing for bed, taking out his toothbrush. Pyrrha was developing well, and now he had a place to put the two kids he'd picked up. Somewhere they could be kids and keep Pyrrha safe at the same time. The future seemed just that much more certain — that much brighter.

Percy thought that maybe, just maybe, it was a sign of good things to come. That everything would work out.

He should have known better.

Man, I am bad at predicting how many words it's gonna take to get somewhere. Everything I thought would take a chapter either takes a thousand words or four chapters. Everything I think will take a thousand words takes a chapter.

But because of that I've guilt-tripped myself into making these things longer on average, so... not all bad I guess.

Discord and Pat-reon are on my profile. My discord channel is privated rn, but if you want in just ping or DM me on discord (

Curious Beats#2276) or PM me here.

Hope you all enjoyed.

Next chapter July 20