King: For context, Jaune will have an accent in this reminiscent of a Louisiana/Haitian Creole speaker. Neo Orden is a play on New Orleans, just without a good second part. Have fun as per usual.

Inspiration: n/a

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Blake wanted nothing more than for the next world to start. She hoped Yang would be able to forget the whole, leaving her books around for Ruby to find and read. It wasn't her fault! She had to put them somewhere! It's not her fault Ruby got curious enough to read them. She didn't even seem to care!

King knew her plight and decided to start the next round sooner rather than later.

The screen came to life to show Whitely standing opposite his father in the office. Jacque took in a breath. "Your sister plans to go to Beacon to become a huntress. She will be away for the next four years. She remains the heiress, however."

The screen faded to white before showing Whitely standing over a balcony in his room. Whitely grimaced. When Winter left, she had to give away her right to the company. One would think the life of a huntress would be as time taxing as a military commander. "So why is she still the heiress…" He closed his eyes and twitched a bit. After a moment, e calmed. "Fine then… She wants to be a huntress, that's fine."

Weiss and Winter could tell there was nothing good about what he was saying.

Whitely grinned. "After all… it's a dangerous job…"

Yang caught his implication. "He wouldn't."

Winter sighed, "He would."

"The hell?!"

His grin widened as the screen faded to a scene of Weiss during initiation.

Sun crossed his arms and tilted his head, "So, another initiation one?"

Neptune nervously chuckled, "Apparently, they're initiation was crazy…"

Nora jumped up a bit, "It was awesome!"

Weiss had a crosshair on her as Whitely continued to speak, "Anything can happen." A loud bang and a blank screen followed.

Weiss knew Whitely was a… well, an ass. But to have her killed?! All for some stupid company?!

Yang couldn't believe the very idea. Sure, her mother abandoned her, but she never tried to kill her! She at least had her father!

A clicking of heels grabbed everyone's attention. Weiss was walking around in a dark forest. "What in the world? What happened?"

She could hear something in the distance. She moved toward the sound at a lagging pace. For some reason, she couldn't run. She could barely walk. In the darkness of the forest, she saw a light coming from the nearby sounds.

Ruby almost started to cry, "Don't do it, Weiss! Don't go into the light!"

Weiss groaned, Ruby had wrapped her arms around Weiss for support. Despite her frame, she was strong. Stronger than Weiss, at least. "Ruby! Let go! I can't breathe!"

"Oops…" Ruby let go and nervously smiled, silently asking for an apology.

Weiss kept moving. She was drawn to the sound and light. She had to know what was beyond the forest. When she moved the leaves and walked out, she couldn't help but pause. It was a graveyard, a party, and a world unlike any she'd seen. People were clinking glasses and dancing about in the gravesite.

Yang grinned. "So… It's a g-rave?" She was met with silent groans.

Weiss walked forward and looked around cautiously. She didn't know there was a graveyard in the Emerald Forest. Or why anyone would hold a party out here. She felt wrong… But she couldn't tell what she was feeling.

One of the partiers noticed her and held a cup upward, "We got a new one!"

Everyone cheered and held a glass up in a toast.

Weiss wasn't sure how to take that. Why would they say that? What in the world was going on?!

Weiss recoiled a bit, not sure what was going on. She took a step back and into someone behind her.

Yang raised a brow, "Who's that then?"

Velvet thought for a moment, "I have a guess…"

Yang caught her implications and remembered the point of the screen, "Good point."

"Well now…" He spoke with a bit of an accent most couldn't place.

Ruby gasped, "Oh my gosh! Yang, he talks like Louis!"

Weiss turned to the youngest huntress, "Louis?"

Yang grinned, "A fisherman from the island of Neo Orden, not far from Patch. It used to be a cultural/shipping hub where different kingdoms would come together before airships. Eventually, they blended together. Anyway, Louis is a really nice guy that would visit Patch every so often. He's a family friend."

Weiss turned around to find Jaune standing behind her. This Jaune was dressed in a purple, pinstripe suit. He had a cane with a skull at the top with a snake wrapping around the entire form. A purple top hat on his head was accented by feathers and… a bone.

"A bone?" Ruby questioned.

In fact, he had a necklace of bones as well. And his opened shirt revealed black skeletal tattoos along his body.

"Okay…" Velvet thought he looked good, but the bones and tattoos were running a theme she wasn't sure about. She looked over to her partner to find Coco deep in thought. "Coco?"

Coco was jarred back out of her mind, "Huh?"

"You okay?"

"Oh! Yeah. Just… This Jaune reminds me of something… Someone?"

"What's that?"

"My grandmother was from the island Yang talked about, and she told me about a man called 'the Baron.' She never told me much about him, just that he was a man of the dead and buried…"

Jaune smirked and placed his cane behind his back, reaching out with his other hand. "A pleasure."

Weiss cautiously reached out and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you?"

Jaune's face sunk a little, "You're a little young to be here, ain't 'cha?"

"Pardon?"

Yang crossed her arms. "We were 17 at the time, so I guess that makes sense…"

Weiss rolled her eyes.

Blake saw a way out of her personal predicament. Moving back to her original seat. "Didn't stop you from trashing a night club." She kept her voice low to prevent Professor Goodwitch from hearing her.

Yang groaned a little, "Fine… You get a pass for the books…"

Jaune grabbed a glass from on a gravestone, "A glass to your health?"

Everyone in the background started to laugh.

Weiss was confused as he drank the glass. He held his cane back up to poke her center mass. She looked down to find her dress bloodied and torn by a bullet hole.

"Holy shit!" Weiss jumped up in shock. Hearing Weiss curse was like hearing Nora curse, unheard of. Granted, Weiss not cursing was because of her upbringing. Meanwhile, Nora was because she just didn't bother.

Weiss started to freak out seeing that. Jaune placed the bottom of his cane on her shoulder, "Calm down, little lady. Ain't no need to lose your head!" He swung the cane away and knocked one of the patron's head off a moment. As he chuckled, he put the head back and the patron just kept drinking.

Everyone was in shock at the headless man just going about his day. All except Coco. Coco was in shock because she was looking at her grandmother's story. This Jaune was the Baron, lord of the dead.

Weiss was freaking out. "No no no no no no no! I can't be dead! I was… I was supposed to be a huntress!"

"And it would'a got ya killed. Huntsmen and huntresses tend to live a short life."

None of that helped to Weiss. "But… I had to try to help turn the company around… I wasn't supposed to die!"

"No. You weren't." Jaune took a sip from his glass again. "But that hole in your chest says otherwise. And it's very persuasive."

"No! I can't… I just…" She started to cry, her situation flooding over her.

Jaune seemed uncaring.

"Damn…" Yang took in his stance. He genuinely didn't care for Weiss's plight. "That's harsh…"

Coco shook her head. "That's not it…"

"What?"

Jaune suddenly grinned. "Tell you what, why don't we make a deal?"

Weiss looked back up to him. "What?"

"A deal. Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Baron Jaune. Lord of the party beyond the grave. And we're gonn' have a grand time one way or the other."

Coco pointed to the screen, "That. My grandmother always said the Baron takes the dead and shows them a party to last eternity.

Yang whistled. "Well then…"

"But you can still go back. If that's what you really want. Personally, I prefer the party here, but I won't stop you. But, it'll cost you." Jaune snapped his fingers and a patron brought him an ornate coffin. "But first, a drink!"

Everyone toasted again as Jaune held out a shot glass toward Weiss. She shook a bit. Could she really go back? She took the glass and looked down to the liquid.

Weiss would never drink something like that. Winter knew this. But… if a lord of death said it would let her live? She didn't know how Weiss would take that…

Weiss, however, knew her answer. She clenched her fists. She didn't really have a choice. She needed to right the wrongs of her father, and her brother in this world.

Jaune grinned toward Weiss, "Is a little drink really a problem?" He poked her bullet hole to remind her of her situation. "What have you got to lose?"

Weiss took the drink and drank it quickly. Her vision started to blur. "What…" She blacked out seeing Jaune's smile.

Yang frowned. "That can't be good…"

Weiss woke up looking up into the Forest around her. She shot up and patted her chest, searching for the bullet wound. Finding no sign of blood or a hole, she sighed in relief.

"Feeling better?"

Weiss shot up and found Jaune standing in front of her.

"What… You're…"

Jaune removed his hat and bowed slightly. "Not a dream, Reine des Glaces."

"Rei, what now?" Ruby asked.

Coco, who remembered her grandmother's speaking style, recognized the phrase. "It means Ice Queen."

Weiss groaned, "Why does everyone call me that?!"

Jaune tapped his cane and the snake seemed to shake. "Now, why don' we have a little talk."

Weiss started to step back. "What are…"

He raised his cane and placed the skull end on her shoulder. Now, she could see that the snake wasn't ornamental.

Ruby started to shiver, "Ew, ew, ew!"

The snake looked up to Weiss and hissed. It slithered over her shoulders before returning its cane. Jaune smiled, "Aw… Samedi likes you~ Then again, that could be the effects of your resurrection."

"What?"

"To come back, I had to make an alteration here and there. For one, your aura was drained, and I had to replace it. Without any of your own, I had to transplant it."

"You what?!"

Weiss watched on in shock. "He can do that?!"

Coco shrugged. "Grandma only told me the basics about the Baron. This is new to me."

Jaune moved his cane back to a normal position. "I didn't have much of a choice to bring back the dead. Also, for your costs to be resurrected." Jaune swung his cane around and held it behind his back with both hands. Samedi looked toward Weiss from the cane. "You are going to be my champion."

"Your…"

"… champion?" Both Weiss's spoke in unison.

Jaune grinned, "Yep!" He swung his cane back in front of him and held and hand out toward the woods, "I want to branch out. I want life to be as big a party as I host in death!" His outstretched hand moved to point to her, "And you're going to kickstart that. Live yo' life and spread the joy. It's all I ask for. Think you can handle that?"

Weiss nodded. It was, in a way, already her goal. She wanted to help people and make things right for what her father had turned the family name into.

Weiss smiled. It was how she hoped to live. To be the best she could be.

Jaune smiled and handed her a small flask. "You'll need to take a swig every day for my aura to settle into your body. It'll take time, but you'll get used to it. In time, it'll settle. Then you can cut the drink and do your own thing. Shouldn't take more than a few weeks."

Weiss took the flask and raised a brow. "What's in it?"

"Fire. The best kind~"

Qrow laughed at that. "I like this version, already."

Winter groaned, "You would…"

"As little as a sip to as much as a gulp. Either way, one a day. And there's no need to refill. It's my personal style with an infinite flow."

Qrow whistled in awe. "Where can I get one of those?"

"Don't you think you've had enough?"

"If I had that, I wouldn't have to worry about that or my coin."

Winter wanted to say something against that, but she couldn't. She had no ability to argue against is logic, only the fact that he drinks. Hers was not the place to fault him for that. She couldn't condone it, but she couldn't stop him either.

Weiss hesitantly held the flask. "And… I only need to take one sip a day?"

"Until your body settles. You just need the taste on your tongue once a day. Good luck out there, kid." Jaune snapped his fingers and the ornate coffin from before appeared from the ground. "If you need me," he held out a card toward her, "Just call." With card and flask passed on, he leaned back into the coffin and it fell away, disappearing into the ground.

The card didn't have a number. Rather it showed a glyph: a circle of swooping lines with a skull in the center. The Arc symbol etched into the skull, wrapping around the eyes. Putting the card away, Weiss looked at the flask and sighed. She used a clip on the bottle to place it on her dress and went off to the north.

Velvet was a little sad, "Is that all we get of Jaune?"

Coco grinned toward her partner, "Oh? Disappointed, huh?"

Velvet was silent, but her blush spoke volumes.

From there, Weiss's initiation played out normally: meet Ruby, giant Nevermore, fall, meet the rest of the team at the ruins. The only difference being Pyrrha never found a partner. She was allowed to form a team with Nora and Ren as team LVR (lavender). They had to stretch given the team was three people.

Over the coming weeks, Weiss was getting used to classes and her resurrected form. The drink she had to take each day was starting to go down easier. Weeks passed, and she felt more comfortable at Beacon and with her team.

"It's so weird reliving this stuff from the outside." Ruby smiled.

Yang chuckled for a moment, "No kidding."

Blake, however, was caught up on something, "Save for that drinking…"

That's not to say it was all the same. Weiss was becoming more outgoing. She went from Ice Queen to ray of Sunshine. Everything about her seemed to change in subtle ways. Biases faded, superiority of a name forgotten, she didn't even care for being an heiress anymore. That's not to say she didn't plan to take over, but it wasn't what drove her. Her friends would notice over time. She started to join Yang on trips to the clubs in Vale, she smiled more often, everything seemed to be coming up Weiss.

On this particular day, Weiss was walking through the locker room to reach her combat gear. She had to prepare herself for a round in the Combat arena for class. Her opponent was that smug prick that is Mercury Black."

Emerald laughed toward Mercury again. She was loving these versions at his expense!

Weiss reached her locker and found a note taped to the steel. She removed the paper and unfolded to read it:

[Weiss, Your new body should have settled by now. As such, I'd like to give you a gift. A little something from the Baron's best. May your drinks be fiery and the party never stop. Enjoy~ -J]

[P.S. To collect the gift, just place the paper back on the locker and inject a bit of aura.]

Weiss took in a breath and placed the note on the metal door. A faint purple glow surrounded her and flowed into the paper. The aura filtered through paper and into the locker. When the process ended, she took the paper away and opened the locker. Inside was a white corset with a matching tail-coat. Leggings and boots were added to accent the form. She took out the coat and turned it over. Her symbol was smaller and placed between her shoulder blades.

Coco was surprised. "Woah… High end coat with velveteen inlay. That's incredible stuff to find… expensive too. Then again… Jaune is the Baron in this."

Weiss wasn't sure why, but she felt drawn to the clothing. She smiled and put on the new garb. When she exited the lockers and made her way to the ring, her team was surprised to see the new look.

Mercury scoffed across from her in the ring. "What? Going through a rebellious phase now that you're at Beacon?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. She readied her weapon and spun the chamber to the fire dust. "Why don't you quit yapping and start fighting."

Yang grinned, "Damn! Look at Weiss-cream go! She's almost unrecognizable!"

Mercury smirked, "Oh don't worry…" His boots' cartridges spun a bit and snapped. He readied his stance and got ready to fight.

When Glynda signaled for the fight to begin, Mercury ran forward and kicked with a powerful shotgun blast. Every shot ended up fired out of his left boot.

Emerald leaned a bit toward Cinder, "What's he doing?"

Mercury shook his head. "You could always ask me…"

"Fine…" She turned to Mercury, scoffing at the idea he could know, even if it was him. "What is he doing?"

Mercury rolled his eyes. "If I had to guess, he set a lethal charge in his right boot. He's whittling down her aura just enough to keep up appearances until he needs to fire that shot."

The others had heard him and looked up to the screen in fear.

Sure enough, Mercury knocked Weiss's aura down to the low yellow range. He reared back his right leg and shot a heavy, dust-enhanced slug into Weiss's chest. The power behind it would rip through her body and sent her flying across the ring.

Ruby jumped up in shock. "NO!"

Glynda immediately stepped forward to stop the fight but froze in the moment.

Glynda couldn't believe she'd ever freeze up when a student was in danger. "What are you doing! Move!"

Weiss slammed her sword into the ground.

The rest of team RWBY cheered that Weiss was okay. The others, however, were shocked to see Weiss get back up.

Weiss stood back up as an ethereal snake coiled around her body. It spit out the slug and hissed at Mercury. Weiss smiled and pet the snake on its head, "Hello again, Samedi." Weiss glared toward a horrified Mercury. "Now, where were we?"

"Woah!" Ruby shook Weiss a bit, "You can control Jaune's snake thing!"

Weiss watched on, surprised given that she hadn't even begun to master the ability to summon things through her glyphs.

Mercury took a step back and into a glyph formed behind him. Weiss took a step forward, seeming to glow a faint purple. The purple aura flowed into her coat and revealed a black skull pattern hidden away, her own symbol seeming to be etched into the forehead.

The screen cut away to show Jaune sitting on a throne in the graveyard. He raised a glass of rum and smiled, "To the champion! The life of a new party! I look forward to seein' what you become."

He smirked to himself as he held a pin in his other hand. With a quick throw, he impaled a doll of Mercury. Emerald and Cinder dolls were hanging to either side. "One down…"

Mercury recoiled when the pin hit his doll. He actually felt the impact! He looked up toward the Jaune on screen with a bit of fear in his eyes.

Emerald was about to call him out on it, when she and Cinder felt the same force. They looked up to see Jaune had skewered the other two dolls and turned his eyes toward them.

The screen cut out and King reappeared. "Okay… note to self, Voodoo god magic on screen affects viewers… Good to know."

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King: I just wanted to say thank you to everybody that's read this so far. I'm not done, but by next chapter we'll hit, no joke, 100,000 views! That's awesome! Just getting a thank you out of the way and get myself ready for it~