15 Sperata 3/3

"It was then that she also asked me if I wanted to become one of Arthurs 'Sperata'…" The moment she said this Arthurs eyes flew open as he took a spit take covering the bed he was in, in water.

"You okay there?" Yang asked

"Peachy, Ruby, please tell me you didn't accept it, do you even know what 'Sperata' means?" He asked with mild annoyance and an extreme amount of panic to Ruby who was now feeling something was incredibly wrong, this same feeling pervaded most of the people in the room as well.

"Sh-she said it meant partner or-or trusted ones. Is that wrong?" She asked nervous at what the answer might mean as she realized that she may have been tricked into something she didn't mean to accept.

Releasing a heavy sigh Arthur began "It-it's not completely wrong, but it's also not exactly true…" he said as he squirmed uncomfortably and started scanning the room for the nearest exit that he could possibly escape from should things go south.

"Arthur, please explain what my daughter has gotten herself into." Summer asked as her personality flipped from caring mother, to, say one thing wrong and I sick Yang on you mode.

Arthur realizing there was no way out instead opted to request an audience with his Tome "Before that, let me check something" he said as he picked up his Tome and began to flick through the pages until he opened the page titled 'In Memoriam' as he began to think of Ashe.

Soon a picture of Ashe appeared on the left page, whistling while looking around, acting as if she had done nothing wrong. "Really? You're going to play innocent?" Arthur asked out loud, getting concerned looks from most of the others in the room except Ruby and Ozpin who silently watched him. Ozpin Squinting in intrigue at the lifelike picture that seemed to be capable of moving.

"He has lost it, it's official." Weiss muttered getting consensual nods from Yang, Blake and Glynda.

Ignoring Weiss's remarks Arthur asked the portrait "You have any idea what you have done?" getting a wide smile from Ashe's picture as she crossed her arms and gave a dignified nod, Arthur swore he could even hear her say "Yep!" in her usual Í have caused mischief, and I regret nothing' voice.

Everyone stood mouths agape as they watched the picture respond to Arthurs question "It, is actually moving… I don't believe it" Yang was the first to muter out her disbelief. While Ozpin, Summer and Glynda shared a look as if questioning each other what this would mean for them.

"… Ashe, I will make you regret what you have done" Arthur said as Ashe responded by pulling her eyelid down and sticking out her tongue to mock him.

"Oh, Ashey, you will regret this, the next time I see Sir Fluffles, he shall meet the firing squad." He confidently stated with a wide hostile grin and squinted eyes as the image of a teddy bear wearing knights armour with a sword and shield appeared on the right hand page.

In response to Arthurs threat the 'picture' of Ashe turned to her left and lunged onto the other page as she grabbed the teddy bear, revealing it to be almost as big as her as she mouthed 'You wouldn't dare'.

"Oh, yes I would. You should know me by now Ashe. Now, how do I fix this?" he asked while everyone looked at him with increasing amounts of shock and intrigue, the intrigue mostly coming from the adults who had kept quiet throughout the entire process.

Of course Ashe didn't respond and instead turned her head away as she attempted to avoid eye contact with Arthur, who's eye began to twitch in irritation "Ashe, please tell me there IS a way to fix this?" he desperately asked as she kept avoiding his gaze trying to escape.

And seeming to have thought of something a light bulb appeared above Ashes head as she placed her fist on top of her open palm before raising her hand revealing a wide grin as she started to wave her hand as the image began to fade away.

"Oh, no you don't! Get back here! Ashe!" Arthur shouted as the image finally faded away as the Tome shut closed and refused to open. "Oh you little shi…"

"Ahem!" Professor Goodwitch said interrupting Arthur before he could finish his sentence. "Mr.Fielder, please do watch you language, I do not appreciate my students having glib tongues, should I hear you curse again, I will be sure to make it so that you never speak again." She threatened sending shivers down his spine.

"Sorry" he responded with slight amounts of unhidden annoyance.

"Sir Fluffles?" Yang asked not concealing her chuckles.

"Not, mine. It was Ashe's teddy bear. It was her favourite, she would protect it with her life. It was quite cute really, also made for an incredible bargaining chip if she ever annoyed me." He answered as he looked at Yang in annoyance.

"Can, we please look at the more pressing thing here. His book, like his 'paper' book, created a moving picture of a woman who Ruby says lives inside of it! Is no one else concerned about this!? What if her soul is trapped in there and is being used by Arthur for nefarious deeds!?" Weiss shouted as she heard a whistling sound as something collided with her fore head sending her to the ground with an undignified squawk.

"What was that for!?" she shouted as she sat up and began to rub the new bruise on her fore head as she glared at Arthur who held his hands up to indicate that it wasn't him. Weiss not believing him kept glaring daggers at him while everyone else looked at the Tome in shock, as they had just seen it float upwards and launch itself towards Weiss's fore head.

"The Snowball is right. I still want to know what 'Sperata' actually means." Yang said smirking as she used Weiss's newfound nickname, much to her chagrin.

The moment Yang said this everyone's eyes darted towards Arthur who froze in place as he let out an awkward chuckle as he rechecked the room searching for a new escape route that might have appeared during the last few minutes. Only to go plae at the realization that, yes indeed, he was screwed.

Deciding that he did indeed have no other choice Arthur spoke up "Fine, but I have a condition"

"And that would be?" Blake asked

"Either tie up Yang so she can't move, or knock her out." He pleaded.

"What!?" Yang shouted in response as her eyes once again turned a bloodthirsty red and her hair seemingly exploded into fire as she grabbed Arthurs collar an lifted him up. "You intimidated by me?" she asked with an angry grin getting quick and furious nods from Arthur in return. Her eyes returned to their normal lilac hue and her hair stopped 'burning'. "I can work with that." She said with a wide mischievous smile that slowly went blank as a loud 'Thunk' could be heard as she fell to the ground unconscious leaving her mother standing behind her with her hand raised in a karate chop after she had hit the back of Yang's neck, knocking her out.

"Summer! I will not have you assaulting my students!" Professor Goodwitch shouted as she took out her riding crop and pointed it at Summer.

"Oh, she will be fine." Summer stated in a careless manner as she turned back towards Arthur and asked "Now tell me before she wakes up, what my daughter has signed herself up for? And what does 'Sperata' actually mean? After what just happened, I don't think it means wither partner, or trusted one, am I right?" her silver eyes seemingly piercing through Arthurs very soul as he turned away only to meet the nervous and concerned gaze of Ruby.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur closed his eyes as he began chanting in his head 'oh lord above, please let me survive this ordeal you have sent against me'. After his prayer he opened his eyes which were now revealed to be glossy and seemingly hopeless as he began to speak, not noticing that Yang had already begun to awaken and was groaning as she held the back of her sore neck as she glared at her mother who was keeping her head pushed down out of Arthurs sight.

"'Sperata' comes from a language called 'Latin' used by an ancient civilization where I'm from." Arthur said trying to prolong his inevitable demise.

"That's cool and all, but that's not what we want to know." Weiss said as she started getting frustrated at Arthur.

Arthur turned his eyes back to Ruby asking with his eyes 'Are you sure you want to know' getting a small confused nod in return from her. Taking another deep breath Arthur looked down at the bed he was lying in and began to say "It means …de" so quietly that only one person in the room heard him. This person being Blake, whose bow she always wears atop her head twitched as her eyes opened wide, as she began to blink trying to puzzle out if what she heard was actually what he said.

"What was that? We couldn't hear you, you're gonna have to speak up." Weiss snidely remarked much to Arthurs dismay as he shouted out "It means bride! Okay!" before he buried his head into his hands attempting to hide his now flush face.

The room was silent as everyone, as they stared at Arthur much like Blake trying to piece if what he said, is what he said.

Blake, having had something ignited in her quickly brought out her scroll and began manically typing away at something releasing an ominous cackle, which unnerved Arthur as he began to think of the things Blake was famed for reading in the show.

Weiss, not knowing how to react, froze, as she soon returned to normal moments later as if nothing had happened.

Ozpin had taken a very large sip from his coffee mug and Glynda simply palmed her face as she too groaned at the hassle this whole incident was causing.

Now the people that this affected the most was Summer, Ruby and Yang, who had decided to reveal herself, by launching up from the ground, hair ablaze and with fiery eyes as she cracked her knuckles and pulled her arm back about to unleash a punch, that would have at the least broken Arthurs face, or knocked his head right off. But this didn't happen as Summer once again took it upon herself to knock Yang out with another karate chop to the neck, once again causing her daughter to slump forward with a meaty 'thwack'.

After Yang was put out of commission, Summer's face instantly brightened as a wide smile appeared on her face, that was even more unnerving than Yang's 'I'm gonna kill you' face and Blake's maniacal cackling that came from the corner of the room causing everyone who look at her to feel sweat dripping from their backs.

And finally there was Ruby, who either did not hear Arthur, or was having difficulty processing his words, again. As judged by her confused face that gradually began to turn crimson as reality crept up on her causing her to dart back to the corner she had huddled herself in previously except this time with an extra blanket to shield herself from any looks she may get.

Oh, and let us not forget about Arthur. Who was currently burying his head into his knees, hiding himself from embarrassment until slowly he lifted his head and picked up his Tome and began trying to pry it open, only for his attempts to fail initially and suddenly work once he attempted to forcefully open the book using am iron crowbar with an orange painted handle that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

When the Tome suddenly opened Arthur faltered slightly but quickly caught himself steadying himself on his infirmary bed as he got to read the page that had been opened Arthur saw it was titled 'Sperata'.

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Sperata are individuals that have willingly offered themselves to accompany the Holder of the Akashic Tome throughout their travels and act as the Holder's caretakers and partners.

Sperata are granted the ability to read the Akashic Tome as well as being able to summon a page from the Tome where they may view their own Status, Skills and Abilities.

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To become a Sperata one must:

*Be trusted by the Holder of the Akashic Tome

*Be willing to care for the Holder of the Akashic Tome in sickness and health

*Be selected and approved by 'The first Sperata'

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Becoming a Sperata provides:

*Access to basic function of the Akashic Tome

*May travel through the records alongside the Host of the Akashic Tome

*The Sperata may enter into the internal world of the Akashic Tome

*One Sponsa Ring {Required to allow a Sperata access to the functions of the Akashic Tome}

*One Sperata Ring {Required to access the functions of the Akashic Tome}

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Breaking a Sperata contract.

*Death of either the Sperata or the holder of the Akashic Tome.

*Willing dissolution of contract by both parties, uninfluenced by outside forces. [May only be used after one years' worth of time for either party.]

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After reading the short explanation on Sperata's Arthur face went pale at the mention that the only way to dissolve the contract was either death, or after a year has elapsed for both himself and Ruby. Glancing at Ruby he saw her still hiding under the blanket in the corner of the room, probably from a mixture of embarrassment and shame at having been so easily tricked.

Arthur looked towards the other occupants currently standing in the room, his eyes being drawn towards Summer, who had a wide grin that unnerved him, not due to fear but because he could feel something else, something much, much more fearsome, Happiness.

Summer realizing Arthur's probably terrified gaze covered her mouth with one hand as she squinted and began laughing "Fufufufu…" causing Arthur to sweat even more.

"You know what," Arthur said as he straightened himself out by laying back on the bed he had awakened on and closing his now hopeless eyes, in an attempt to drown out the surroundings. 'You are going to regret this Ashe, mark my words…'

Seeing that Arthur had decided to end his torment through sleep Ozpin announced "I believe we should let mr.Fielder rest, his wounds are still fresh and this much 'excitement' must have exhausted him." Getting nods from two out of three conscious members of team RWBY.

Professor Goodwitch soon agreed and used her semblance to telepathically lift the now unconscious Yang as Goodwitch began to leave the infirmary with Weiss and Blake following behind her and Yang, who was currently doing cartwheels in the air as she floated in unconsciousness. Once they had left the room a swathe of bright red petals filled the room as Ruby disappeared from the room.

"Oh, and Arthur if possible I would like to talk with you about your 'Book' once you are healed." Ozpin said as he turned and entered the door way as Arthur lightly nodded as he also said "And I would like to speak with you about the seasons." His words caused both Ozpin and Summer to pause as they both looked at him with surprised eyes, with Ozpin taking a small sip from his mug noting that there was nothing in it. 'this is making up for an interesting year' he thought as the door to the infirmary closed behind him.

Back in said infirmary everything was silent as Arthur attempted to fall asleep, failing miserably as the strange, unhostile stare of Summer sent shivers down his spine.

"I'm not going to get killed by you am I?" he asked seemingly already accepting his fate.

"And why would I do that?" she asked in return, her grin not faultering in the slightest.

"Because, of the four people in your family, two of them seem like 'murder' is the correct way to fix this situation, while you, I have honestly no idea what to think. You seem 'happy' that your daughter was tricked into this by the girl living inside of my book."

"Oh, honey, you have no idea how happy this makes me. Believe me, you do anything to Ruby and I will sick Tai and Yang on you without a second thought. Though I do want to know more about what Ruby has gotten herself into, I saw you read something from your book that turned you pale. What was that?" she asked

"I wanted to see how the contract could be nullified…" he answered downcast

"Doesn't sound like you came across any 'good' news." Summer replied, seemingly disgusted at the thought of cancelling what has just occurred.

"It said there are only two ways to end the contract. Death of either me or Ruby, which I'm sure Yang will be happy to hear about. And the other is we have to both agree to it after a year has elapsed for the both of us…" he explained as he brought his hands up to his face covering his eyes with his arm as if suffering from a headache.