Symbiote Knight
Chapter 32: Sleeping Beauty
"Oz, are you sure about this?" Qrow whispered to him as they were walking towards where Amber was kept.
"We've run out of options," he told him. "Other than finding a new candidate to try and take her powers which I remind you isn't guaranteed, it will still kill her. At least this way we have a chance to save Amber."
Qrow made a grunt as he took out his flash and took a drink, all this was just a bit much. There were aliens now on Remnant and this kid apparently has one inside of him. Just when he thought his life couldn't get anymore stranger this happened.
'Well, if everything goes right, I can at least visit the kids and see how they are holding up, give Tai a firsthand account.' He thought to himself as he hoped Yang and Ruby were doing well.
Jaune wasn't sure what exactly he and Valor had to do but he hoped they could at least help.
~I do have a question, whose this Salem person?~
'Oh right, he did ask if we were working for her,' Jaune had forgotten about that part as he looked to Ozpin. "Uh Professor Ozpin, Valor wants to know who this Salem person is."
The three adults shared a look giving him an idea that they all know who this person was. Ozpin adjust his glasses as he thought about what to do. Jaune was going to learn some of the deepest secrets going forward. He hated to bring in someone so young into this Inner Circle, but it seemed fate wasn't giving him much of a choice. He wanted his students to live long lives but given their career he could only give them the tools they needed to try and survive.
This however was different this was him making a choice on just how far down the rabbit hole Jaune would fall. The deeper the boy went the tougher it would be.
"Jaune I should warn you. You are going to see and learn things that only a handful of people in the world know about. There are deep secrets in the world, hidden to both protect people and give them peace of mind."
"Ignorance is bliss," Qrow stated. "Trust me kid, if you walk through this door you're not getting back out and things are going to change for the rest of your life."
He took another shot from his flash. "I learned about all this a little older than you are, I won't lie, there are days I wish I was still ignorant of all this but in the end, I know I've been fighting the good fight."
From someone like him who had been raised as a bandit and would also admit to harming a lot of innocent people in the past, he felt his work for Ozpin was a way to make up for that past. To do something worth a damn instead of just harming innocent people just to make himself and the tribe's life a little easier. He would rather die doing his job than go back to that miserable life, too bad his sister couldn't say the same but that was a whole can of worms he didn't want to open right now.
"The secret you learn today will be something you will have to keep from everyone, even your team," Ozpin told him sadly. "Because if they learn, then they would be pulled into this world as well and it would put targets on them. So, I'm giving you a choice, you can simply help and keep all this secret and then pretend it never happened, or you can learn secrets that will change your life forever but put yourself in more danger."
"I'm not going to choose for you Mr. Arc, I am giving you the option right here and now just how deep you want to get involved."
Jaune was silent as he thought about it, he was no stranger to secrets after all.
~Whatever you choose I'll support you Jaune, however I feel if this Salem person has a Klyntar and one of the Corrupted, we will have to face it at some point~
'I get the feeling you're right about that, I don't like going in blind, seems like this is something we can't take back though.'
~No but so was our bonding and that worked out~
'True, okay buddy in for a penny and all that, I guess. I'd rather know what's coming then just getting blindsided, but I got to ask a few things.'
"Professor Ozpin," Jaune started. "What if I need to tell others about this? Like, actually need to tell them. My team already is keeping Valor's secret so I know I can trust them."
Ozpin sighed as he thought about it. "Like I said, if you tell them, you will pull them into this world as well, all I can say is that choose carefully. This is very dangerous information in the wrong hands."
"I'll keep that in mind sir," Jaune wasn't sure to tell them anything yet, but he would have to know everything to judge it. "So, who is Salem?"
Ozpin went into the basics, how Salem was an immortal being, that she was the one that controlled the Grimm and how he and the Order that Glynda, Qrow and others belonged to had been fighting a shadow war all this time. How every school Headmaster was a part of this group with a few other agents like Qrow out in the field.
"That's…a lot to take in," Jaune commented.
"You're taking it pretty well," Qrow stated.
"I leaned that aliens were real and so are gods recently, this is kind of a seven out of ten compared to some of that." Jaune sighed.
Ozpin perked up at the mention of gods, he would have to ask about that later as they came up to the device keeping Amber alive.
"Here we are," Ozpin stated. "This is Amber, she's one of the four Maidens."
"Wait like in the fairy tale?" Jaune remembered that story as a kid of an old man being visited by four sisters.
Ozpin grinned at him. "Like I said, many of the fairy tales, myths and legends all have a source of truth Mr. Arc. The Maidens have access to magic unique to themselves that is passed on from Maiden to Maiden upon death, however in this case, Amber was attacked by Salem's forces we believe and has been in coma this entire time. Somehow, and I'm not sure how, about half of her Maiden powers were ripped out of her."
Jaune took a step closer to the large machine, there was a girl a little older than him in a glass pod, she was pretty, tanned skin and brown short hair but there was horrible scaring on her face, like web pattern of some kind.
"What happened to her?" he asked looking at her sleeping form.
"Honestly, we're not sure," Ozpin stated. "This is the first time this has ever happened when the powers were directly being stolen, normally the last person in a Maiden's mind gets her powers but this was different. You can see the scars left and it did something to put her into a coma. We've been trying to wake her, but she's been asleep this entire time."
"I got to her but not in time," Qrow said remembering that day of finding her on that road. "I spooked off those that attacked her, but I didn't get a good look, she was like this when I found her. You think your little alien pal can help her?"
~Hard to say, there's just too little information, I'll have to connect with her to find out~
"He says he needs to connect to find out," Jaune explained to them.
"Doesn't that get freaky having someone living in your head like that?" Qrow asked.
Jaune shrugged, "It got some getting used to but honestly? It's actually kind of nice after awhile, like you're never alone."
Glynda looked at the controls and frowned. "This device is keeping her stable for now, but she's slowly been getting worse, if we do this we'll have to open the pod and she'll only have a limited time before her body could give out." She looked at Ozpin silently asking if this was the right thing to do.
This could end up killing Amber and then the Maiden powers would be lost to them.
Ozpin knew this was a gamble, but it was worth it, too many little things were lining up. Another alien being like the one Salem had only now in one of his students that could possibly heal Amber? He wasn't superstitious but even he had seen enough in his lifetime to know when Fate was being worked at. What that fate was he had no idea but the timing of everything was a bit too much to just ignore. This was a crossroads moment, he could feel it, like a coin was being flipped. Would it land on heads or tails? Or could it be that rare moment when a coin landed on its side?
"We have to try," He nodded to Glynda who hesitantly worked the controls. The glass to the pod slid open as warning sounds came from the controls.
"Okay buddy, do your thing," Jaune said thrusting out his arms as the symbiote spread from them and attached to the young woman.
Through Valor, Jaune could sense and even 'see' what was going on in the woman's body. Her cells were slowly dying, although he wasn't sure why. He could feel Valor attaching to the cells and fixing them at a rate his mind couldn't keep up with. He could see her organs being engulfed by the symbiote as Valor went to work on restoring them.
"Amazing," Glynda said looking at the readouts as her vitals were slowly rising.
Ozpin looked it over and for a moment he felt hope.
Valor wasn't sure what was causing the damage in her body, something had been attacking it from the looks of things. That's when he spotted something, something that shouldn't have been in the body. It was this black lesion on the organ, like something had been filling her liver with toxins. As soon as he touched it however, he felt the familiar traces of a Grimm.
~Grimm!~
"What!?" Jaune said surprised.
"What is it kid?" Qrow asked.
"There's some kind of injury to her organ, no wait, multiple organs. Valor says they feel kind of like a Grimm." Jaune explained.
"Our testing didn't show anything," Glynda spoke up.
Ozpin thought about it, certain Grimm left poisons in the body, maybe Salem had been experimenting with something again and had come up with something harder to detect? Qrow had arrived before it was finished so the toxins had to be at a lower level than what they were designed for. If something was attacking her organs that would explain why her vitals had been slowly fading away all this time. They were only slowing down the damage and not repairing it.
Because of how weak she had been they had very little time to examine her. Maybe if they had more time, they might has seen something, but she wouldn't live long enough outside of the pod to do a complete medical check, only the most basics ones like her blood work could have been done at the time and the pod wasn't designed with in-depth medical scanning technologies.
"Have you checked her brain yet?" Ozpin hoped it wasn't there, although it might explain the coma if there was.
"It's there," Jaune stated through Valor. "He says it's slowly eating away at her, he's trying to fight it off and repair it but there's a lot of damage."
Ozpin sighed and nodded. "Please, do what you can to save her."
"We're trying, it's just-" Jaune got off as Valor linked with her brain and suddenly he was somewhere else.
Jaune suddenly found himself in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road in some grassland area he wasn't familiar with. The sun was out, and he noticed a rider coming with a hood up covering her face.
"What the!?" he looked around and jumped back seeing a familiar black inky person next to him. "Valor! Don't jumpscare me like that."
"Sorry, while linking with her brain I found she's stuck in this moment," Valor stated as the woman on the horse came to a stop at a crying child on the road. "I believe these are her final moments."
"So, we can see what happened to her?" Jaune asked as he saw the woman who was Amber going to help the child when suddenly the child vanished and she was attacked.
"Can we do something?" Jaune charged forward at a boy with grey hair, but he passed right through it.
"These are memories," Valor walked around casually as he witnessed the fight. He could see the Amber was holding her own, her weapon was some kind of staff with a jewel on it. He wasn't a fan of all the fire she was using though.
"Jaune, can you hear me?" Ozpin's voice was like it was coming from far away but also close at the same time, it was a little odd to hear it like that.
"Professor Ozpin?" Jaune called out.
"Yes Jaune, what's going on?" Ozpin asked.
"We're inside Amber's memories, she's stuck in the moment of her attack." He explained. "We can't do anything only watch."
"Can you tell us what happened? Who attacked her?" Qrow asked next. He hadn't seen the attackers clearly, so he had no idea who had done it. The only one he had gotten a decent look at had been the one that stole half her powers, but her face had been distorted by heat waves. He guessed she had somehow did that on purpose to hide her identity. The other two he didn't get much of a good look as they had seemed to vanish before he could.
"Uh…three people, two look about my age a boy and a girl, another woman is with them, I think she might be older slightly?" It was honestly hard to tell with her youthful looks.
"You might want to describe them more," Valor stated as Amber was now on her knees taking a closer look at the strange glove the woman who seemed like their leader was using.
"Right, let's see. The younger girl had darker skin and really short green hair and reddish eyes, the boy's tall, short grey hair, whoa, he's got cybernetic legs, I can see them after Amber burned parts of his pants off. The last one is the woman with in red with a long white glove on, she has dark hair and yellow eyes and-what is that!?" Jaune stepped back at the sight of a small Grimm creature coming out of the glove as it attacked Amber's face.
"What is it?" Glynda quickly asked.
"She's-she's got some kind of Grimm coming out of the glove, the woman in red that is and it's attacking Amber's face with some kind of black webbing or something, she's in pain. Amber's eyes are glowing now but so is the woman's eyes with the Grimm-glove thing."
On the outside the three adults shared a look each one silently questioning the other about this development. The glowing eyes was a sigh of the Maiden's powers being activated.
"I never heard of anything like this," Qrow had been around, he'd seen and killed all kinds of Grimm, but this didn't sound like anything he had ever encountered, not even a rumor of something like this. He didn't' get a good view of what the girl had been attacking Amber with, but he hadn't known it had been some kind of Grimm involved in the process.
"I think Salem created this Grimm for one specific reason," Ozpin stated looking at the scared face of Amber. He had been wondering how it had been done, how she had been injured and how half her powers were just taken. He wasn't sure how she had done it, but he was sure that Salem had somehow figured out a way to make a Grimm steal those powers and transfer it to another person.
He would have to think on how it was done more in depth later but looking at Jaune and Valor and how they worked together and of the creature that Salem commanded, he was starting to get a picture of how she thought of such a thing.
'She had to be experimenting with the creature,' Ozpin thought knowing the woman well. 'She always was a curious person, and I can see her trying to figure out the creature. There's no telling just what she has learned in her time with it.'
Backside the whole scenario was running through again, the poor girls mind was stuck in a loop, always reliving the last moments over and over again.
"Are you sure we can't do anything?" Jaune asked Valor.
"It would require a closer bond, it's only a surface level but being that connected we would feel what she feels, it could also add to the mental stress and I'm already trying to heal her." Valor watched at Amber was once again beaten. The sight of that little Grimm creature attacking her face would make him grind his teeth if he had them in this form. It was all too reminiscent of how the Corrupted worked.
Her body was a mess in the real world, whatever that Grimm did it left her body a wreck, he was trying to keep all her organs working and fixing them up at the same time not to mention all the cellular and nerve damage that was done. Without the life support her body was failing quickly and even then, he wasn't sure he could fully heal her body. He was certain he could save her life, but her body would be weakened after all this.
She would never again be the same woman she had been, too much damage was placed, and he wasn't sure what the lack of half of her magic would do to her.
Watching Amber cry out in pain as the thing attacked her face made Jaune unable to just sit and watch. "We have to do something, can you try?"
Valor knew that Jaune wasn't the type to just sit around and watch and that was one of the good qualities he found in his host. "This isn't going to be pleasant."
"I know, but I have to try."
Valor vanished and suddenly Jaune felt the blinding pain in his face from the memory of the attack, he cried out as his hand went to a wound that wasn't there as Amber cried out as well. With one eye open he pushed through the pain although it felt like his insides were being torn apart. He pulled out his sword and slashed at the woman in red, she vanished like mist. The memory faltered as this was not what had happened, this change made the memory/dream unstable as the other two members were moving erratically.
It was like they were bugged out characters in a game since there was no clear action that they should be taking. Amber herself was 'glitching' for a better word in the position she had been in, on the ground, on the horse, a battle position during the attack.
"Oh no," Jaune looked around as the world itself started to fall apart. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all…"
Amber was there glitching between several moments, screaming, surprised, in pain. He wasn't sure what to do so he just reached out and held onto her the moment he could. Her body shifted even faster changing over and over again.
"It's okay Amber, it's over, you're safe, I got you, you're safe now." He cried out to her hoping that she could hear him. Maybe she could as the forms slowly started to stop shifting, the world became dark as it was just the two of them.
"It's okay Amber, it's okay now." He gently told her hoping his voice would calm her down.
Eventually there was just the one version of her now who was standing still. He wasn't sure how long but eventually she moved slightly.
"Safe?" Her voice sounded hollow he got a feeling of confusion from her.
"Yeah, you're safe now, you're with Processor Ozpin and the others, you're going to be okay now."
"Ozpin," she repeated as he felt a sense of longing and wishing she could see him.
He blinked realizing he was feeling her emotions, it had to be the link. "Yeah, you're just asleep now, you can wake up soon and everything will be okay."
"Sleep…yes…I feel…so tired," she was starting to 'wake up' now, he could feel her mind starting to slowly work itself back up. She looked up at the unfamiliar face and yet it was like she knew him, she could feel a connection with this person and with someone else, someone she couldn't see but she could feel them. "Who are you?"
"Jaune, Jaune Arc and I'm here with my buddy Valor."
~Hello~
Amber felt the words more than hearing them, it was odd but strangely comforting. She felt this 'Jaune' person holding her, and she had to admit it felt nice, it felt warm and safe. She wanted to ask him something else but that's when the pain started again.
"What's happening?" Glynda asked as she saw Amber go into what looked like a seizure.
"Her body has taken on too much strain," Ozpin had many lives and some of them has been medically trained thankfully. Granted he hadn't practiced in decades but a lot of the knowledge while out of date was still there. Looking at the readings he saw the train Jaune was under as he raced over to the young man.
"Jaune, Amber's body is failing, can Valor do more?" He asked.
"He's…trying," Jaune was sweating now as the intense pain was flowing into him. Qrow was already at the boy's side helping him to keep standing as the strength in Jaune's legs were about to give out.
~Jaune there's a lot of damage here, I'm doing my best, but it might be too late~
"No…we can't…we can't just give up," Jaune groaned out. He was inside of that dark place holding onto a screaming Amber, he could feel her pain, her fear of death, of her wanting to live. He felt the sting in his eyes as tears were forming, he felt so weak in that moment. He wanted to do anything to help her in that moment, he could give anything.
Suddenly in that moment of desperation the darkness had a light, Jaune looked to see he was glowing as the glow entered Amber as her pain seemed to lessen. On the outside they would see Jaune's aura flare up as the white energy flowed through the symbiote and into Amber.
~What is this?~ Valor could feel this new energy flowing through his body and into the girl. ~Wait, is his using the girls' aura? It is, wait a minute, I might be able to use this.~
The energy was like Jaune's aura, but it was different, a purer form of the power and more intense. Valor took some of it and sent this new energy and focused it on her the most damaged areas. The symbiote could see now all the damage was being fixed at a much faster rate now. The damage was being repaired through him and Jaune, both of them working together as one.
The adults watched as the symbiote covered the girl as her vitals were becoming stronger. Jaune's eyes were closed, and he wasn't responding anymore to them as Qrow kept the boy on his feet the entire time wondering what he was witnessing.
Then the glow faded as the symbiote slowly pulled away from the girl, her face still was scared but he scared lines were less noticeable now. They were just thin lines across her face as the Klyntar merged back into Jaune. The boy gave groan as Qrow set him gently on the floor.
"That…was rough," Jaune groaned out. "I have a splitting headache now."
~You and me both but I think we did it partner~
Jaune wearily looked up to see Amber stirring as she groaned and her eyes fluttering open.
"Amber?" Ozpin asked checking to make sure she was okay.
"Ozpin?" She weakly asked, she felt so weak now, like her body had all its strength sucked out of her. "I had a dream."
Ozpin gently caressed the top of her head like a father would to a young child having a nightmare. "I know but the dream is over now."
Amber sighed and nodded before her head falling to the side. Ozpin look at Glynda who was looking at the readouts now.
She breathed a sigh of relief. "She's just sleeping, normal sleeping."
Ozpin was grateful to hear that.
"She's not the only one," Qrow grinned as Jaune has passed out as well. "Something tells me you got a special on here Oz."
"More than you know," Ozpin smiled proudly at the young man. "Take him to the infirmary, we should check to make sure he's fine."
Qrow nodded as he easily picked up the boy over his shoulder and made his way to the elevator.
Glynda walked over to the pod to the sleeping girl. "I honestly thought we were going to lose her there."
"So did I," Ozpin gravely nodded and looked at the sleeping young woman. "For the first time in a long time though, I feel like we got a win today."
A lot of the time most days felt like a draw if not an outfight lose but not today, today felt like a real win for once.
-Later-
Jaune woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling as he blinked away the sleep from his eyes. "Where are we?"
"Medical center, private room," Qrow stated from his seat. "The docs said you were just exhausted, so I've been watching you while Glynda and Oz are putting Amber in her own private room next door."
"How is she?" Jaune asked struggling to get up, but Qrow helped him up into a sitting position.
"Well, she's doing a hell of a lot better thanks to you and your alien buddy," he explained. "Doctors are still looking her over, apparently she's very weak."
~I'm not surprised even with fixing all that damage it would leave a lot of scar tissue all around the inside her body~
"He says there's a lot of internal scars left."
"Huh that right? I'll let the docs know about that," Qrow sat back down. "You did good there today kid, I couldn't save her, I just got there to prevent her from dying but today you saved a life, you should be proud of that."
Jaune did feel a sense of accomplishment, it was the first time he felt like he really saved someone. It felt great to know that he and Valor were able to really make a difference. All his life he wanted to be a hero, someone that helped others and today, today he felt like he accomplished that.
The door opened as Pyrrha's head popped in, "Excuse me we were told Jaune is in here?"
"Right here." Jaune waved.
His team members quickly came in followed by Team RWBY, before anyone could say anything Ruby happily shouted out.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby in a flash was on her uncle. "What are you doing here?"
"That's my line squirt," He grinned seeing his nieces here.
"Jaune's our friend," Yang told him as she looked at him. "What happened? All we were told is that you collapsed."
"Uh…" Jaune had no idea how to explain it thankfully it seemed Qrow (he was still processing that he was Ruby and Yang's uncle apparently) spoke up.
"Kid seems to have been working himself too hard," Qrow clapped him on the shoulder. "Old Ozpin called him up to see him personally about it and the kid just fainted. You got to learn to ease up kid, you push yourself too hard and it can be harmful."
To Qrow lying at times was as simple as breathing, you just got to make it seem plausible and make it sound like you believed it. It was a skill he put to good use with the kind of work he sometimes did.
"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha rushed over hearing that, she knew how hard that Jaune pushed himself, but she had always thought Valor could help take off the strain, had she been wrong about it?
"Okay, I know you like to push yourself Jaune, but you need to learn to take it easy now and then," Yang said crossing her arms but with a worried expression.
"She's right," Weiss nodded her hands on her hips. "While putting in a lot of effort is commendable, pushing yourself to exhaustion isn't one of them. You need to take some time to relax."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Yang nodded. "I'm thinking making sure he gets relaxed is something we can handle."
Pyrrha, Weiss and Yang shared knowing looks as Jaune suddenly got the feeling they were conspiring to be the ones that made sure he was relaxed. He did wonder how Qrow came up with that lie right on the spot. Had he worked that out with Ozpin while he was unconscious or did, he come up with that on his own?
Qrow blinked at the sight of this, just what was going on here? If he didn't know any better, he swore those girls were more worried over him with more than just friendship in mind. Looking at Yang he had never seen her look that worried except for when Ruby was involved.
'Something is going on here,' he cast a look to the youngest niece still holding on to him. 'I think it's time to get to the bottom of things and luckily I know what it takes to bribe Ruby for a little inside information about her sister.'
"So, what are you doing in Jaune's room Uncle Qrow?" Ruby innocently asked him.
"Oh yeah, why is he here?" Nora commented as everyone looked to the old Huntsman.
"And how did you know what happened to Jaune?" Blake asked curious about that.
"Easy I was reporting in to Ozpin's office when the kid showed up," Qrow stated with a shrug. "I was finishing up before coming to check on my friend when the kid here starts losing his balance and feinted. I managed to catch him on his way down, so I carried him here."
Lying was like any skill for Qrow, it also helps when you put in a little nugget of truth mixed in with the lies.
"So, I came to check in on the kid on my way out from visiting my friend to check in on him. Also wanted a bit of a sip in an out of the way room," he pulled out his flash and shook it.
"Seriously?" Blake asked.
"I believe it," Yang sighed knowing how much her uncle loved to drink.
"Hey, I'm just trying not to drink around all you impressionable kids in the halls," Qrow smirked.
"So, how's your friend then?" Ruby asked innocently.
"She's actually doing much better now squirt," he ruffled her hair as she let go to swat away his hands in a comical manner. "But I'll leave you to it, I know you all want to check up on your friend here."
Qrow left them but not without watching them gather around him making sure he was okay. It was nice to see that the kid had a good support group, it reminded him of his old days at Beacon. He also cast a closer look at Yang, yeah something was going on there he could see it. He'd known that girl since she was born, she was doing that nervous thing with playing with her hair.
The Schnee girl he wasn't sure about but at least she seemed less frosty than her older sister, he knew who Ruby's partner was, when he learned it was Winter's little sister he had a good laugh about the situation. The red head looked familiar, but she was being very obviously worried over the blonde boy.
'I don't know weather to salute you kid or pity you,' he thought with a grin as he left them.
TBC…
So yeah, big changes to the timeline will happen now, especially when Cinder, Emerald and Mercury's faces will know be known. I wanted to play around with Amber still being alive to see how that will work out but yeah, she will not be at 100% ever again and it's something she's going to have to learn to live with.
Also I know his semblance activated early but given this was similar to how it started with Weiss being injured I felt it was appropriate way to activate it. It's not at 100% and he will still need to train and learn about it so it's not instant, in fact he still had to learn what he did there.