"You want anything?" Ruby asked, standing in the doorway.

"Coffee would be nice," Weiss replied. "It's freezing in here. Thank you, Ruby."

Ruby nodded and gave Whitley one look before closing the door.

Whitley spoke the moment Ruby closed the door. "Why is it that there's only you two?"

"You haven't seen the news, yet?" Weiss' eyebrows raised when Whitley shook his head. "The Grimm have already begun their attack. The media is trying to keep everyone's spirit up as part of the morale."

"That explains all the feel-good programs that keep coming back-to-back. How goes it?"

Weiss shrugged. "As well as it could be. For us students, they can't afford to send us all at once so we have to rotate by our partners; Yang and Blake are out there while I and Ruby are in here."

"To keep up morale and stamina?"

"More like there is no need for us to exert too much effort yet. The Grimm are manageable. Even with this as a siege, we could handle this for a while. Winter says that they have reason to believe that Salem has other plans. They've been trying to find it, but there is no lead yet."

There was also that opera house. At first, some weirdos suspected that Atlas council are keeping something in there and are deliberately trying to get in. Multiple attempts, civilian, huntsmen, and councilmen alike, have proven time and time again that no one except the Phantom is allowed in and out of there. Attempts to dig under it didn't yield different results either.

Team JNPR were currently the ones stationed there. Pyrrha especially was nervous looking at it though she kept her composure. In particular, her eyes kept trailing towards her partner, Jaune. Nora and Ren were of similar mind; they still remembered how Phantom tried to kill their own team leader. Any sign of movement was taken with utmost seriousness that team JNPR didn't allow even the little ant from getting near Jaune, much to his own protests and insistence that they're overreacting.

Jekyll—or is it brother Henry? He was in the Vault. With Winter's appearance sometime after, that meant that this process of turning himself into a proper Servant was underway. Weiss couldn't be blind even if she wanted to; Winter's worry was plainly seen on her face. Jack was especially obedient, not wanting to burden Winter any more than she already does. Whitley and Weiss kept themselves composed for the time being. Willow even stopped drinking.

"Last I heard," Whitley said. "Mother and father are now talking."

"Is that supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Father cares more for the company and the Schnee name. Mother is…well, trying to be a mother again. To think that all it would take is one little street urchin to come into our lives."

Weiss couldn't scold Whitley. That tone he adopted whenever he calls Jack a street urchin was too endearing for it to be anything else. There was no looking down on her.

Then, Weiss was reminded of the current state of Whitley. Either he doesn't think too much about his recent actions or he was choosing against it.

It wasn't fair. Weiss and Winter were huntresses. They were the ones who trained themselves to fight enemies, be they terrorists or Grimm. It is they who made the promise and accepted the realities that they may come to a point that they might not survive. They were the ones who made a promise to put down their lives so that others may live. Yet, right now, it was Whitley who put that promise into practice.

And he's not even letting it bother him at all! Winter was trained for it. Weiss was practicing that. But Whitley? He's a natural. Not only could he hide his own weakness from others, he could do it while actually remaining genuinely kind and not the one he would have given normally, before Jack came along.

Weiss got up. There was a comfort room in this room and she needed to refresh herself, or so she excused. The reality was that she needed time to really think things through. When she was inside, she looked at herself in a mirror. Her eyes were drawn to the scar on her face, a reminder of her one mistake, a reminder of her supposed flaw as a Schnee would always pursue perfection. Yet, the Schnee family is anything but perfect. That pursuit of perfection is what made them so distant from one another in the first place.

But Jack? The street urchin? The girl who is but a massive collective of abandoned souls of children looking for a home? The little child who possessed a maturity greater than even the oldest among them? With scars tied not only to her physical self but the very core of her souls? No one could say Jack was perfect. And yet, it was Jack that really brought them together.

She sighed. "Mirror, mirror on the wall." She chuckled. "I guess I'm the cowardly one, after all."

Weiss almost finished fixing her hair before she heard a sudden noise. Her eyes widened. That was not Ruby coming back from the hospital's cafeteria. That was not Winter coming in to relieve her. That was neither Yang nor Blake back from their mission. That sound came for Whitley.

The door was slammed wide open and Weiss was face-to-face with him. The Phantom of the Opera is there, his eyes on Weiss but his sharp fingers on Whitley. Weiss immediately drew her weapon but the Phantom kept her at bay by putting his finger-blades closer to Whitley's neck.

Even now, though there was a difference in his breathing, Whitley kept his calm composure. Experience of being held hostage by the White Fang had trained his senses on what to do. Weiss would have made an attempt at freeing Whitley with her Glyphs but Phantom knew that already; the blade lightly cut at Whitley.

"I do not think that he has enough blood anymore, Christine." He still doesn't see her as herself but as this diva of his. "Not enough to survive that is."

"What is that you want?" Weiss asked. She already knew the answer and Phantom knew it as well. There were only two potential answers that Phantom could give.

"Weiss don't!" Whitley begged, even trying to reach out.

Weiss sighed. "Fine." She sheathed her weapon. "Under one condition: Whitley stays alive."

Phantom held Whitley close, unwilling to let him go even as Weiss approached. When Weiss was near enough, she even tossed aside her weapon as a sign of trust.

"Weiss!" Whitley called out.

"You did enough Whitley," Weiss said. "I think it should be my turn to make the sacrifice."

Phantom quickly let go of Whitley with some force behind it, making sure that he couldn't quickly get up. He snatched Weiss and carried her on his back. His cloak left a big shadow over the hospital grounds as he climbed the building and leapt across the rooftops.

His running was quick and Weiss gave no resistance. His speed increased when the familiar whir of Ruby's petals was following after him. Ruby had seen Phantom and was now chasing after him. Shots were fired but none of them were against Phantom; they were, all of it, trying to speed Ruby towards him.

Ruby swung her weapon at Phantom's side who only deflected it. He kicked Ruby aside. Despite carrying Weiss on one arm, Phantom could easily deal with Ruby's attempted rescues. A chandelier appeared above them and crashed down, keeping Ruby away for a moment.

Nobody needed to question anything the moment they saw someone carrying a hostage away. Ruby had called for help and other huntsmen, and even civilians tried to intervene. But the Phantom's agility and speed was too much for most of them to handle. Weiss still gave no resistance; there was no telling what the Phantom would do if she did.

Beams of light suddenly drizzled around them, scarabs had been sent flying towards them and the Phantom saw that as an opportunity to keep running. He did not care for anything else and prioritized escape over everything else. A figure, made into shadow against the light of the afternoon sun, was fast approaching; her notable features were her ears and her staff. It was Nitocris rushing in.

"Insolent ghost of the theater!" Nitocris declared. Her outfit was different than what Weiss had seen her wear normally. Her combat gear that she saw once during the confrontation in the opera house. Weiss already knew her to be a Servant.

Mummies, undead creatures wrapped in linen, were called forth to hold Phantom back. There was a moment of terror and fear among the populace as civilians ran and huntsmen froze. Ruby didn't care and tried to reach out for Weiss.

But Phantom didn't have to look back. He had planned for this. He had explosives by his side, Dust. He created a smoke to hide away from the others, making up for the loss of his Presence Concealment. Weiss coughed and closed her eyes. Next she knew she was closer towards the opera house. Phantom had taken a different route, away from the public eyes as they searched.

There was no calmness in Phantom. He remained vigilant of his surroundings as he hurried towards the opera house. Scarabs were flying overhead and the mummies were all running around to search for them.

The opera house was within sight. Weiss herself could not see it but she could recognize the buildings and landmarks that were close-by. Phantom rushed towards it with a greater push on his speeds. His head tilted and he leapt in the air, still keeping Weiss close, unwilling to let her go.

"Jack!" Weiss called out.

Jack's eyes were glowing red, just like Hyde's. No words were exchanged. Nothing was said nor was there a moment of pause. Phantom kept moving. Jack kept chasing. In a contest of speed, these two were equal though Jack was slightly faster on account of Phantom having to carry Weiss. But Phantom dominated the strength and reach. Not only did he have longer reach, he had greater power behind his swings; Jack had to use everything just to overcome Phantom.

Phantom had planned the route. He memorized even the placement of the different trashcan lids that he could use. He left behind hidden items for use: drink bottles, dust contained in vials, and many smoke bombs. Not one of them could hurt Jack, but they could slow her down.

Eventually, Nitocris was able to catch up. The sound of conflict and panic had alerted her to Phantom's location. There was no sign of Fran anywhere and Jekyll wasn't about to come out of nowhere.

From above, Weiss could see the figure of Winter descending down like a falcon on the hunt. That speed was comparable to Ruby's own, maybe even faster. When Winter got close enough, Weiss could see the fires in her eyes, her sword drawn and the Glyphs that appeared one after another, all of them boosting Winter's speed.

If it were Weiss, she would have thrown herself away. This fight was not one that she could win. Phantom may be a Servant but so was Jack and Nitocris. Winter's Glyphs would have pulled Weiss back towards them.

But Phantom wasn't Weiss. He wasn't about to lose his so-called Christine.

"I will hear my angel sing," Phantom declared. Nitocris and Jack widened their eyes. Jack acted quickly and stopped Winter. "Christine, Christine!"

A terrible noise pushed them all back. Weiss covered her ears as the oppressive tune overwhelmed everyone around them. Even those not at all trying to save her were affected. The poor civilians in the building that they were on were affected by that song.

That moment gave them the pause that Phantom needed. He quickly rushed towards the opera house in a straight line. The affected huntsmen couldn't do anything about it. Anger oozed from Phantom for a moment but he kept going towards the opera house. Weiss and Jaune managed to make eye-contact before Weiss was ultimately brought to the other side of the bounded field.

Even then, Phantom did not relax. He quickly moved further into the opera house, bringing Weiss towards the many underground pathways.

Then, a sound was heard and Weiss heard the Phantom chuckle to himself.

"Finally," he said. "Now, we get to have our final confrontation. Winner take all, Raoul."

/-/

In hindsight, that had been a horrible tactical decision. Not only was Phantom a Servant, making him more powerful than any huntsman or huntress, Jaune himself was also one of the worst of them in combat ability. Though Phantom was an Assassin-class as he was told, he would still lose in direct confrontation and he knew that one from experience; he did not develop enough experience to outweigh that memory.

But the sight of Weiss being taken away from them, away from Ruby, that alone was enough to push Jaune's feet to act faster than his brain could warn him of the horrible decision he was making.

He couldn't get out. Despite Pyrrha's attempts at pulling him out with the metal on his person, or Ruby having hold onto Crescent Rose while everyone there tried to pull him out, he was not about to leave this bounded field. Jack repeatedly slashed and stabbed at the bounded field while Nitocris kept her hand on it, trying to find some sort of structural weakness before shaking her head.

"It's only weakness is that those whom the Phantom deems important, those he considers reincarnations of those he knew, are the only ones who could enter," Nitocris explained. "Mister Arc, stay in place. I may not be an expert of every form of magecraft but I will at least try to give you some kind of token to bolster your attacks." She raised a hand. "Do NOT throw your weapons to this side! There is no telling that if it does work I could toss it back to your side."

Ren was the first to think of something. "Jaune, Jaune, listen to me. You've been training your semblance, right?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, even with Nora."

"Good. Now, I want you to try focusing all that aura on one part of your body. Your hands are a good start."

"Ren, I don't think this a good time to—"

"Just do it, Jaune!" Nora insisted, shocking everyone who knew her. "I trust Ren, so should you."

Jaune nodded once and began. He had been training in controlling his aura.

"Alright, now apply your semblance to that part of your hand."

Jaune wasn't sure how he was going to do that. But he complied. An awkward feeling this was. He was amplifying his own aura. It was simple to amplify the aura of others. But to amplify his own aura was like plugging into the same socket of the extension cord. It shouldn't work but he Jaune was actually doing it, albeit poorly.

"Now strike!"

Jaune did it on instinct. It did nothing on the bounded field but it did hurt Jaune and forced him backwards. "What was that for, Ren?"

Ren ignored him. "Notice that? Pyrrha? Nora?"

"That was more aura than even you, Ren." Nora knew him best.

"Exactly." Ren nodded. "Jaune, keep this up while professor Nitocris readies those charms. We will practice this to the best of our abilities."

"I don't know how this is going to help me win this, Ren." Jaune didn't want to hope. His voice trembled.

"It won't." Ren chose blunt honesty. "I'm terribly sorry. But at worst, this can only prolong the inevitable."

Pyrrha began to bang on the bounded field harder. She was forcing herself through the field that her aura was quickly depleted. Even then, she tried to push through that Nora and Ruby had to force away from it.

"Between you and me," Ren continued. "You're the only huntsman who could go against Servants, right now."

"Ren, that is way too much faith you're putting in me."

"Aura, as a weapon, is a force multiplier. Concentrating all that aura in a smaller area means that the force generated from that area is even greater. Your semblance allows you amplify the effects of aura further. Used on itself, you are a walking battery that could never run out and one that perpetually generates an infinitely increasing amount of energy."

Jaune knew Ren to be the expert when it came to aura, both in theory and in practice. Right now, Ren was bringing it all up front that even professional huntsmen nearby found themselves surprised at it.

"If you master this," Ren kept going. "If you master your semblance and these aura techniques, Jaune, you can and will overcome even the strongest Servants within reason." He turned to the only other Servant that remained. "Am I correct in assuming so?"

Jack nodded with confidence. She looked like she wanted to say something more but she kept quiet.

The sight of Jack brought emotions on Jaune. The reminders of his own family was made bare on his own face. They were watching the state of Atlas by now. They would have been praying for his safety. If the journalists were recording this, then they would see that he was in a terrible spot, with an even clearer path towards death than most other huntsmen.

Ruby was conflicted, unsure of what to do. On one hand, only Jaune could save Weiss right now and he nearly lost his life against the Phantom of the Opera. On the other, that meant that she might have to choose between Weiss or Jaune when she couldn't hope for both to survive.

Nitocris was currently spreading out all the mummies in an attempt to search for those things for her charms. The mummies were moving with the best speeds that they could muster but they were not as fast as any huntsmen. Nitocris had called for aid; Atlas soldiers followed her as though she were the lieutenant general of Atlas, second to general Ironwood himself.

Jaune looked to everyone. All of them were unsure of what to do except for Ren. Ren himself was going through the different mental motions as he tried put down everything he could recall at the moment in his scroll.

Nora held Pyrrha from doing anything more. Ruby was held back as she tried to look around the opera house for some kind of opening. She was even using her scope to look at the windows for any sign of their movements.

Winter was held back by Jack. Winter was in tears. Frustration and anger at her perceived uselessness clearer than a cloudless, sunny day. Yang and Blake were still absent but they would soon be coming back anyway once their mission was done.

The Grimm resumed their lazy assault. Salem's forces weren't trying hard. Part of Jaune wondered if the reason behind it was because of Phantom.

A sudden announcement came from many scrolls. "Grimm activity has increased. I repeat: Grimm activity has increased. All huntsmen are required to be ready for the call of duty at any given notice."

Nitocris cursed at the sudden developed. She turned around and looked at him. Pained expression painted her face. She stepped closer to the bounded field. "Kneel, Jaune Arc. Take it for what it is worth."

Jaune complied though confused.

Nitocris raised her staff. She couldn't put it past the bounded field but Jaune knew that she intended to place it on her shoulders. "By my authority as Pharaoh, as the reincarnation of Horus, the sky god, and by everyone bearing witness here, I dub thee, sir Jaune Arc."

Jaune wasn't sure what this was supposed to do to him. Not that many people are aware of these Servants and thusly have no idea what it is that Nitocris was doing. But some huntsmen have lied on Nitocris' behalf and said that this was a fanciful way of recognizing full huntsman status.

Nitocris leaned closer and whispered: "arise, Rusted Knight."

Jaune knew that character. He didn't expect that lady Nitocris would have known that either. The seriousness of it all was enough to wipe away much of his doubt. The Rusted Knight was a character of ideals and heroism; he would overcome whatever obstacle there was and would take the poison in others' stead.

He was called to be the fairytale hero, the fairytale knight. He looked to the others. He took a deep breath. The mummies have returned and Nitocris begun work on those charms.

"Alright, Ren," Jaune said, taking that tone of a leader. "Let's do this."

Ren nodded. "Let's do a crash course on aura training, Jaune."

In the end, Ren could only train Jaune on the basics. Jaune still needed conscious thought and effort if he wanted to apply aura towards specific parts of his body. His semblance required split attention which he could not do well just yet.

With all other huntsmen being called to action, Jaune was left alone to deal with the Phantom of the Opera. Nitocris cursed again when the charms and talismans that she had made could not be used. Ren's crash course would have to do.

Pyrrha didn't look comforted. She looked to be in the biggest pain of them all.

"Nora," Jaune asked. "Ren. Look after Pyrrha in the meantime, yeah?"

"You better come back, Jaune," said Nora. "We're not losing you again."

"The moment the bounded field is gone, you come charging right in." Jaune tried to keep a smile. "Smash first, think later."

Nora saluted. "You got it, fearless leader."

"Jaune," Pyrrha still called out for him. It was strange, hearing such vulnerability from someone who was always so strong, so invincible.

Their hands hurt as they touched the bounded field. Still, their palms met.

"I'll be back, Pyr." Jaune nodded. "I'll be back. I promise… and you know me; an Arc never goes back on his word."

"I know." Pyrrha tried to remain strong. But that forced smile was faltering. "I know."

"Jaune," Ruby added. "Bring Weiss back."

"I will, Crater Face." Jaune tried to give her a toothy grin. But Ruby wasn't of the same mood.

All huntsmen began to gather around the borders of Atlas. Grimm activity only increased the more time had passed. Only two were currently compromised and could not respond to the call of duty.

Jaune Arc took slow and methodical steps towards the entrance of the opera house. When he reached the doors, he stopped and took one last effort of practicing his aura control as Ren had taught him. He couldn't hope to do it so naturally in the short time frame but he could at least comfort himself knowing that he could still remember.

When he had finished, Jaune placed both hands on the door. With minimal effort, since he was boosted by aura, amplified by his semblance, he opened the door with such force that his entrance could not be disguised. There were no enemies there waiting for him.

Jaune drew his sword as Pyrrha taught him. He kept his shield up, grip tight, front foot forward. He shuffled his way, keeping his stance as his eyes kept scanning his surroundings, expecting a counter attack.

The hallways and the different boxes were empty. Candles were lit, the only source of light around here if it were night. Daytime was dying.

His last destination was the stage itself. It was as though a play was had, full of props and effects resembling a fire. There was a stage lift that leads further down. Jaune enforced his feet as he jumped in.

/-/

"What did you tell him?" Pyrrha asked, her eyes pleading.

Nitocris stared into those eyes and looked back at the opera house. She sighed. Only the Servants would know, if they did at all. Henry Jekyll certainly didn't act like he knew, or perhaps he kept it to himself. Nitocris was of the same until that point.

Jack looked to Nitocris knowingly.

"Professor Nitocris?" Pyrrha waited.

"I told him what he needed to do," she said. I told him what he will become, she did not.

That declaration meant nothing at all but an attempt at keeping her own spirit up. Headmaster Ozpin would hate it if his students perished, and general Ironwood would hate it if it happened on his kingdom.

She could only hope that he follows the footsteps the threads of fate have woven for him.

AN: Before Nitocris, one of my initial Servant choices had been Cleopatra. While Phantom would have seen Weiss as a reincarnation of Chrisitine, Cleopatra would have treated Jaune as some kind of descendant/heir to Julius Caesar as a contrast of sorts. But considering how long it would take for them to meet, along with my confidence of handling Cleopatra, I ended up scrapping it along with most the ideas that went with it.

Nitocris' moment with Jaune here is the only thing that remained from that idea.