14

Chapter 14

I stood in the centre of the arena, stretching lightly as I did so keeping an eye on the increasingly volatile looking Pyrrha that stood by my side.

"So…" I said lightly, drawing out the word as I did so, trying to think of the correct way of wording this without drawing my partner's ire. "Care to enlighten me about our opponent's?"

Pyrrha stood there in silence for a moment before she sighed, raising a hand to point at the two profiles above our heads. "Amynta Porfyró. She wields a spear and a shield and has been known to heavily modify both with dust. She's known to throw both at her opponent's but don't let that fool you. Her semblance allows her to teleport them back into her hand at a moment's notice." Pyrrha explained, her tone clipped but there was almost a measure of respect in her tone as she spoke.

I let out a whistle at the last thing Pyrrha had said.

Well that was certainly overpowered.

I mean a semblance which meant your opponent essentially couldn't be disarmed?

I can see that becoming annoying.

"Her brother Paris is a ranged fighter. Uses a bow with a variety of different arrows loaded inside. I've got no idea what his semblance might be." Pyrrha continued on before I noticed her hands tighten into fists, "And he's also the most detestable little cockroach I've ever had the misfortune of meeting." Pyrrha finished, the look in her eye something I could only describe as murderous.

I heard the roar of the crowd pick up and I spun to see two figures walking towards us from the other side of the arena, stepping onto the stage as they did so.

The girl was tall, statuesque almost, looking for all the world to be a slightly shorter Pyrrha at first. But as she drew closer, other features began to be visible.

Her hair was dark, a purple so deep it could be mistaken as black in some parts. Her attire was somewhat similar to that of Pyrrha, thigh high armoured boots, armoured corset. But whereas Pyrrha had a miniskirt and her little cape thing, Amynta's skirt was much longer, almost a dress, with two slits up each side, obscuring her legs from view while at the same time not overly restricting motion.

Tricky.

The Old Bastard would approve.

Her outfit was much darker than Pyrrha's a black leather as compared to Pyrrha's own brown, with her armour being a muted steel, nowhere near as shiny as my partner's.

She wielded a shield that was of a similar style to Pyrrha's, bearing the gaps on each side for a spear to attack around but where my partner's was circular our opponent's shield was more of an oval, the same general shape albeit taller and a bit thinner than Akoúo was. A few dust gems shined ominously on the face of the shield.

Something tells me they're not just decorative.

Her brother on the other hand was an entirely different story. In terms of muscle mass and definition, his sister had him beaten soundly by a good distance. It was almost a study in contrast in the differences between the two of them.

Whereas Amynta, was quiet, respectful, focused on the fight that was to come Paris on the other hand was none of these things.

He walked with the confidence of a movie star, flashing his sparkling white teeth at a legion of fans that dominated one quarter of the arena. He waved broadly towards them and they erupted into loud cheers, waving a vast array of posters and merchandise bearing his likeness.

Jeez, what is with this guy?

Is he Spruce Willis' latest co-star or something?

He came to a stop in front of us, posing dramatically as he did so. "Pyrrha, my love!" He pronounced loudly, sounding more like an actor on a stage than anything else. "Fate has seen fit to bring us together once more!"

I snorted at that, a hand leaping up to my mouth in an attempt to muffle my laughter before I gave up and roared with amusement at what was occurring in front of me.

My God.

I honestly thought I'd seen the last of that at Amelia Academy but it seems fate has seen fit to prove me wrong once again. This guy could give Narcissus a run for his money.

Paris turned to look at me at my outburst, the charming look on his face twisting into something far uglier as he did so. "And who are you, cretin, to dare take the spotlight away from a true star?" He questioned, taking up another pose as he did so.

Come on, what is it with this guy and posing?

"I think Pyrrha is going to be just fine without the spotlight on her at this moment." I replied wryly, my partner giving off a barely muffled giggle as I did so.

Paris' face flushed in indignation. "I am obviously referring to myself you imbecile!" He hissed, sounding affronted at my answer.

I looked blankly back at him. "Never heard of you before." I said honestly, shrugging my shoulders at why this man thought I should know him.

What was once affront now smoothly transitioned into outrage even as his sister seemed to smirk slightly at my response. "I was the lead actor for the Sunset Saga!" He all but screeched at me, waving his hands about as he did so.

I shrugged my shoulders again. "Never heard of that either."

Pyrrha let out another giggle at that, while Amynta's smirk grew even wider at my words.

"It was the bestselling novel and movie among teenage girls in the past two years!" Paris tried again, still convinced that I knew of him somehow.

I arched a brow at that. "You're right I mean I'm so obviously a teenage girl so I must have read it." I deadpanned, rolling my eyes as I did so.

At this latest quip from me, Paris' face went so red I would not have been surprised to have seen steam coming out of his ears. He went to go to say something else when his sister cracked him solidly on the back of the head with the butt of her spear.

"Do forgive my brother." Amynta spoke up, bowing apologetically as she did so. "He's something of an idiot." She explained, the line sounding so familiar to her it could almost be rehearsed.

I chuckled at that. "Sounds like quite the handful." I noted, nodding my head in her brother's direction.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh he never ceases to find a new way to disappoint us." She promised me, shaking her head despairingly as she did so. "That being said, he's still family."

The holograms lit up and the conversation ceased, my eyes being dragged away from the fighters in front of me to the four different quadrants, eager to see what kind of environs we'd have for our fight.

Okay let's see then. We have…

Ruins…

Savanna…

Lava….

And…

Whatever the high tech platformy one was called.

Well certainly an interesting mix of environs.

But how to best make use of them?

"Fighters, ready?" Peter's voice boomed out from the speakers and my eyes were drawn back to the fighters in front of us.

I rolled my shoulders, drawing Candidus Mors from its place at my side and extending the sheath into its shield form as I strapped it to my left arm.

"Paris is mine." Pyrrha murmured to me, her tone brokering no argument between us.

I nodded slightly in response. "All yours." I said with a smirk, my knees bending slightly in preparation for what was about to come next.

"Three, two, one, begin!" Doctor Oobleck's voice fired out at us and I leapt forward, Pyrrha by my side, the crowd exploding into cheers at the start of the match.

Amynta's eyes narrowed, focusing on Pyrrha for a moment before flicking over to me. Her arm reared back in an incredibly fluid motion and threw her spear at me like a javelin, the weapon soaring through the air like a missile, such was its' speed.

But my shield was already up and ready, having seen this attack coming, moving into position to deflect the weapon harmlessly away from both myself and my partner who was now pursuing the fleeing Paris, who was peppering the ground with arrows, ineffectually trying to stop Pyrrha's advance.

The spear struck my shield and I felt my whole body ring with the force of it, the blow almost comparable to trying to tank a hit from Nora.

What force!

But thanks to a great many training sessions with Nora I'd learned how to handle her tremendous strength, and while Amynta was strong, she wasn't Nora strong.

The weapon spun away over my head and suddenly I was even closer towards her, my sword reared back to strike her.

My blade slammed home solidly onto her shield and I saw one of the dust crystals on the shield glow ominously in response, the light from the crystal spreading throughout the shield. I rolled to the side just as a conflagration of fire erupted from the shield, turning the area in front of it into molten slag in response.

Very tricky.

The Old Bastard's favourite type of strategy.

But this was no time to be admiring my opponent's technique and so I attacked once more, my sword slicing out to attack her unarmed side.

But Amynta didn't panic, calmly raising her free hand towards me. There was a flash of light and I flung my head backwards as her spear sliced through the air, cutting off few stray hairs off my head as she did so.

I dug my heels into the ground of the arena floor, forcing myself to a stop, my sword up and ready to block another swift strike from my opponent's spear.

Amynta didn't let up, a flurry of thrusts lancing out at me, my opponent making good use of the superior range of her weapon to keep me at bay.

Damn she's good.

I used my shield to block the forefront of the assault, the majority of the blows being easy to turn aside.

I think I might be getting the hang of this.

Amynta's spear soared forward towards my leading foot and I moved my shield accordingly to block.

I moved forward into the block when I caught sight of Amynta, leaping high into the air, empty arm reared back for a throw.

The spear point came within half an inch of my shield when it vanished in a flash of light, reappearing instantly in Amynta's hands.

And it was glowing.

I swallowed.

Oh, that is never a good sign.

I slammed my foot into the ground, less pushing and more kicking into the ground, pain rocketing down my leg as I changed from a full on sprint forward into a leaping roll backwards, turtling myself behind my shield in preparation for whatever the ominously glowing spear would unleash.

The spear slammed into the ground where I would have been standing if not for my hasty dodge and shined even brighter an explosion like a bomb going off. I flew through the air, soaring backwards into the ruins stage, skidding off the fractured cement sidewalks until I came to a stop when I slammed into a faux car chassis.

I picked myself up with a groan, shaking off the latest aches as I gathered myself.

Going to be feeling that one in the morning.

Hell, I'm feeling it right now.

I felt the hairs on my neck stand on end, the feeling of being directly in someone's crosshairs filling me and I scanned the horizon for sight of who could be behind this.

The centre of the arena is empty.

Where the heck did she go?

I saw something glowing out of the corner of my eyes and I turned my head to see Amynta standing high atop the uppermost platform of the tech stage, her spear once more fiercely glowing and drawn back to throw once more.

Son of a…

I turned and sprinted away into the ruins, hoping to break line of sight with my opponent, hurdling through the window of a half-collapsed building as the loud boom of the glowing spear striking the ground filled my ears once more.

Oh come on she can throw it from all the way over there?

That's just broken!

Okay, this isn't working.

Time to re-strategize.

At long range Amynta most definitely has me dead to rights.

So, obviously that's not something I want to be.

When her spear glows it unleashed devastating area of effect attacks, which are not something I can feasibly block.

The answer then is simple.

I collapse my shield, placing its sheathed form by my side.

Don't try and block it.

Okay then, that still leaves me with my opponent on the far side of the arena and next to know way for me to strike at her.

I mean I've got my vials but I've got nothing on hand that would let me d…

I paused for a moment taking of the haphazardly array of materials thrown all over the place.

Rusted power tools.

Useless.

But the rest of the stuff in here?

I felt a wide grin spread across my face.

"This looks promising."

Thank you, home repair stores.

I dashed through the store, grabbing an empty paint can, some dust crystals intended for lighting on an industrial scale and some frayed cable to tie it all together.

I reached into my vial pouch, pulling out what I needed and ripping the cork out with my teeth before I poured the entirety of the concoction into the paint can.

I slammed the lid on tight and shook it thoroughly.

Primed.

Okay now what else did Nora say I'd need to make something like this.

An active primary dust crystal.

I scanned the store quickly before swearing lowly.

No dice.

All I had at the moment was a big can of nothing if I couldn't add the final ingredient.

But where to find it?

Suddenly I heard the voice of Peter booming out of the speakers, dragging me out of my internal dilemma.

"Oh and it looks like Pyrrha has finally cornered Paris in the Savanna!" Peter's voice boomed out from the speakers.

Well at least Pyrrha's doing better than I am at the moment.

I stealthily snuck out of the depot, sticking my head slightly out from behind cover, trying to stay out of sight.

I looked up to see Amynta's gaze no longer focused on me, her gaze now focused on the Savannah to her right. She paused for a moment, her gaze twitching back to where I was before she turned back, moving swiftly as she made her way down from the peak platform.

Perfect.

Time for me to make my move.

I darted forward, making use of every bit of cover I could as I moved, heading towards the edge of the ruins environ into the molten death trap that was the lava environ.

Because it had just what I needed to finish my little project.

I moved swiftly into the environ, weaving past a plume of magma as it was spurted into the air through a crack in the ground.

Sweat dripped down my face, the sudden increase in temperature readily apparent.

The air was so hot it was almost painful to breathe.

But I ignored it, coming to a stop in front of my destination.

A formation of red dust crystals.

That'll work.

For what I'm thinking of, it'll be damn near perfect.

Candidus Mors sliced off a chunk of the formation, my hand whipping out to catch the fragment before it hit the ground and did something drastic, like explode. I popped the lid of the paint can, placing the crystal within it before quickly shutting the lid on as tightly as I could once more.

Had to keep my creation contained for this to work.

The paint can began to rattle, shaking in my hand as the concoction within it became even more volatile than it had been before.

Perfect.

The crowd let out another cheer and I turned to see Paris sent spinning into the centre of the arena, having been sent there by a fierce kick from Pyrrha.

I took a look at his aura on the screen and let out a whistle.

Damn.

Looks like Pyrrha's been doing a very good job venting her anger at Paris.

Amynta was on the arena floor as well, but was too far away to contribute, her brother's body blocking any possible ranged attack on my partner.

"No please don't." He cried out dramatically, throwing up an arm as if to block the incoming blow as Pyrrha charged towards him.

Pyrrha let out a battle cry in response as she leapt forward, Milo in its javelin form ready to pierce into Paris' helpless form.

Got him.

But then I saw something that made the blood drain from my face.

He was smiling.

Paris' whole body glowed briefly with a light purple aura.

One moment he was crouched there, helpless before Pyrrha's assault.

The next Amynta was in his place, shield up, ready and the dust crystals upon it all glowing dangerously.

Milo impacted Amynta's shield and the dust crystals within it detonate, a conflagration of flame, lighting, ice and even wind erupting from her shield slamming into the clearly unsuspecting form of my partner.

Pyrrha soared backwards, a cry erupting from her lips as she tumbled through the air, her aura plummeting downwards after the colossal hit that she had suffered.

I went to cry out before biting my tongue, silencing myself before I could give away my positon.

Getting myself taken out as well isn't going to help her.

Okay, Jaune, think.

What just happened?

One second Paris was a few seconds away from getting his ass handed to him.

The next, Amynta's there instead hitting Pyrrha with the most picture perfect cross counter I'd ever seen.

I was amazed Pyrrha was still standing, her aura rocked but still present if only barely.

So, unless Amynta's semblance is even more broken than I thought it was, I'm guessing this is due to Paris' semblance.

It'd make sense that Pyrrha would have no idea about it, the previous tournaments she fought in were all one on one affairs, so Paris' semblance would never have come up in the first place.

But man, that is quite the combination they've got going there.

The sister can attack from afar and in close range, and can't be disarmed due to the fact she can teleport her weapons back to her in the blink of an eye.

Paris on the other hand is not much of a fighter, but he's certainly tricky at range, and then there's the fact he can switch positions with his sister at a moment's notice.

It makes the two of them a far more formidable opponent than they would otherwise be by themselves.

I ran forward towards my fallen partner, seeing her still stumbling to get to her feet.

Milo was still in her hands, she was using it to help push herself off the ground.

But where the heck had her shield gone to?

Pyrrha was up now, fending off the fierce assault from Amynta who was clearly hoping to take Pyrrha out of the fight before she could regain her bearings.

And without her shield Pyrrha was at a distinct disadvantage.

Especially with her aura as low as it is.

Time to rectify that.

I lobbed the pain can into the air slightly, my now free hand grabbing my sheathe from its place by my side, extending it once more into my shield. "Pyrrha!" I roared before I threw it towards her, the shining steel spinning through the air like a discus.

Pyrrha didn't move her attention away from the opponent in front of her, my partner's gaze locked upon the formidable threat that was Amynta Porfyró.

But then again, Pyrrha didn't need to rely on just her eyes to 'see' around her, now did she?

I caught sight of a black aura surrounding my shield briefly before it accelerated, tripling its velocity in an instant, heading for the back of Pyrrha's head as she fended off Amynta's thrusts with Milo in sword form.

Then she seamlessly weaved her head to the side, my shield slamming into the clearly unsuspecting opponent's face, sending her head rocking backwards from the stunning blow.

Pyrrha's free arm smoothly slid into the straps that were used to hold the shield as she used it to knock Amynta's spear aside in a single impossibly swift movement, her semblance allowing Pyrrha to accelerate herself in ways that should have been impossible, before she slammed Milo into her opponent's unguarded chest.

I turned my attention away from Pyrrha, confident she could hold her own once more. I caught the paint can as it descended, before weaving to the right as a trio of arrows whistled through the air where I had been standing.

Looks like Paris is back on his feet.

A flurry of arrows soared towards me as the pretentious Porfyró did his level best to try and turn me into a pin cushion.

And I'm sure it was a very good attack.

But, well…

I weaved out of the way of the first few arrows with minimal movements, moving steadily closer to Paris with each passing moment.

I mean I had been training to try and dodge the Old Bastard's gunfire.

That stuff was ungodly fast.

A few measly arrows in comparison to that nightmare?

My sword lashed out, knocking a trio of arrows out of the air as they approached before I spun out of the way of one that was glowing with primed dust ready to explode at contact.

They might as well have been crawling through the air.

But I didn't want to get to close to Paris.

Not yet at least.

I needed a bit of distance for this plan to work.

And it'll take out both problems of this fight at the same time.

I threw the shaking paint can into the air, stepping around another ranged assault from Paris as I did so.

"Blackout!" I roared at the top of my lungs, gesturing grandly at the paint can as I did so, a bright light surrounding it.

Paris didn't hesitate, turning his gaze towards it and sending an arrow hurtling towards it in a single movement.

I closed my eyes, a smirk spreading across my face as I did so.

And that's check, Paris.

I heard the arrow strike the paint can as it flew through the air high above us.

For a moment there was nothing.

Then the world was full of light, blinding in its intensity even through my closed eyes.

I could hear Paris scream, the crowd's reaction at the birth of such an intense light out of nowhere.

The funny thing was, this item wasn't originally meant for fighting.

Hell, I didn't even make it in the first place.

It was one of the twin's practical jokes.

Just a toy that they had come up with in their spare time.

And for a long while it had remained just that.

Until I had an idea after a particularly gruelling training session blind fighting under the blackout bandanas.

We were all getting pretty good at the whole fighting without our eyes routine, Pyrrha doing far better than she normally would have with a little helping hand from her semblance.

So, why not take advantage of that fact?

The original plan called for Nora and a specially concocted payload unleashed from Magnhild.

But Nora wasn't here right now, so I had to improvise a bit.

Thankfully I'd been there with Nora and the twins during their many attempts and multiple failures trying to weaponise that bright flash of light.

So I also knew the formula for one that would work.

A little amateur crafting later and voila.

One Morningstar bomb ready for business.

Although the name itself is slightly misleading.

Despite it being a bomb, it doesn't have much in the way of explosive force.

The true weapon of the bomb was the light in unleashed, in its sheer intensity and the fact that it didn't simply flash once, it remained for almost half a minute with our best batch.

This however was more than a little clumsily made in comparison so I figured it gave us about fifteen seconds of blinding lights, tops.

Plenty of time.

I surged forward, charging towards where Paris had been standing, the sound of his panicked breathing broadcasting his location to me.

With each step I came closer towards him but even with my eyes shut I strained my other senses, focusing on the feel of the air as it whipped past my skin, the sound of the crowds roaring dully in the background.

The smell of ozone in the air.

I heard the twang of the bowstring snapping taut and I knew that Paris had fired towards me blindly.

Time slowed.

But at the same time, if I moved the wrong way, I risked running straight into Paris' attack, something loaded with lighting dust if the smell was any indication.

So before I committed to any action I had to know where it was.

I stressed my senses as far as I could, searching for any indication of where it might be.

The sound of my heartbeat thudding in my ears.

The feel of the sweat running down my skin.

The smell of the ozone growing stronger.

Where is it?

…

THERE

The arrow appeared in my mind's eye, clearer than a spotless window, and somehow I knew, not thought, knew where the arrow was.

And before I'd even went to contemplate just what it was my body was doing my free left hand surged forward, hand outstretched.

And snapped shut around the arrow an instant before it struck my chest.

The roars of the crowd doubled, the crowd ecstatic in the face of this utterly ridiculous stunt I had just pulled off.

But I wasn't done yet.

Still moving forward I spun the arrow in my palm to face the other way and ploughed it into Paris' body as if I was impaling him with a sword.

Paris gave off a particularly embarrassingly high pitched shriek before he dropped to the ground, the sound of the buzzer signalling his elimination from the match.

The blinding light assaulting my eyes behind my skin abruptly vanished as if someone had turned off a light, the change instantaneous.

I cracked open my eyes, still having to blink despite the fact I had kept them closed throughout the Morningstar's deployment, waiting for normal vision to return.

There we go.

I looked down to see my opponent still at my feet, Paris letting out little gurgling sounds as he twitched on the ground, errant pulses of electricity arcing away from him every few moments.

Yikes.

That is not a good look.

Then again I can't think of many people who could pull off being tased and looking good at the same time.

Well besides Nora of course, she doesn't count.

I paused.

What am I forgetting?

I turned around, searching for Pyrrha and Amynta in case I could give my partner a hand.

Amynta's spear was thrust forward, only to be impossibly caught between my shield and of Pyrrha's upraised armoured knee, before Milo smashed down onto the trapped spear, the spear point snapping off with a dull shriek.

Amynta's eyes bulged.

I let out a low whistle, feeling my own eyebrows reaching up as I watched on.

And I thought I'd pulled off the slickest move during this fight.

That right there was something that would be right at home among the stories I read to the kids.

Pyrrha's left arm bearing my shield shot forward with a textbook perfect cross, blowing past her opponent's bewildered defence to slam home solidly in the centre of her face.

The remaining Porfyró dropped like a sack of bricks, the buzzer sounding loudly to announce the end of the match.

"And that's the match! The team from Beacon emerges victorious over there incredible opponents!" Doctor Oobleck's voice blurred out of the intercom, the words echoing around the arena.

I heard Peter's chortle through the speakers as well as I walked over towards my partner, a grin on my face. "Indeed, through a marvellous use of the environment at hand Jaune Arc turned the match around in a stunning upset!" His voice boomed out as I came to a stop by my partner, Pyrrha breathing heavily, hands on her knees as she fought to keep standing.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention towards me. "Putting on a show are we?" I teased lightly, ribbing my partner as she came to her feet.

Pyrrha straightened her back, looking every bit the untouchable idol that was seen in her earlier matches before a snort of laughter escaped from her as she caught sight of something.

"You're one to talk!" She giggled pointing up, inclining with her head towards one of the projected screens above our heads.

I looked up to see a slow motion replay of me snatching Paris' arrow out of the air, my eyes still clearly closed before I spun and slammed it into his chest.

I chuckled sheepishly at that. "Fair point." I admitted, shaking my head as if I was a dog, spraying sweat everywhere.

I stopped, frowning as a thought struck me.

How the heck had I caught that thing anyway?

Well that was easy I'd seen it.

…

With my eyes closed.

…

Might need a bit more thought about that one.

I heard a low groan sound out nearby and turned to see Amynta bringing herself forward to sit up, cradling her head as she did so. "Going to be feeling that one in the morning." She said with a grimace, wincing as she did so before she turned to face us. "Well fought."

I stepped forward, extending a hand to help bring her to her feet. "Likewise. That was one of the toughest fights I've ever had." I said honestly, praising my opponent's performance. "Been a while since I've hurt this much after a fight."

"Indeed." Pyrrha agreed with a smile as I pulled Amynta to her feet, Akoúo zooming from wherever it had been knocked aside to be claimed by her hands once more. "Your combination with your brother was masterful. If not for Jaune's intervention I could easily have seen you prevailing."

"Thanks, that's kind of you to say so." A voice called out from behind us and a particularly frazzled looking Paris stepped over to his sister's side, sounding almost like an entirely different person.

I must have had quite a look on my face because Paris let out a little laugh. "Wondering why I don't sound like a dick?" He asked bluntly, his sister letting out a little sigh while Pyrrha seemed just a shocked as I was as she nodded slowly.

He flicked a hand up towards the cameras, which were now no longer pointing at us, rather idling in their cradles instead. "We're not on camera so I don't have to be 'Paris the Pop-Star' at the moment." He said, using his hands to make air quotes while he rolled his eyes. "Honestly, that guys a bit of a douche."

Pyrrha blinked, still seemingly unsure about this otherwise unseen side of Paris. "Then why did yo…"

"Do all those horrendous things during school?" He asked, looking slightly ashamed as he did so. "Because you were the most popular one. And my producers wanted to see that happen so I gave them what they wanted."

I stood there for a moment, trying to make sense of what was going on, why Paris would have done all these things that he clearly didn't want to do, when it hit me. "The money to pay the fees for the combat school." I stated, now even more sure of my answer as I saw the ashamed look upon Amynta's face.

"Our parents died when we were very young." She explained, gesturing to Paris and herself as she did so. "And when they did, there wasn't a great deal of money left for us, especially with the fees for the combat school's like you said as well as the debts our parents left behind."

"Luckily I had something going for me. I'm damn pretty." Paris said with a smirk, drawing a snort from myself and a chuckle from his sister. "That got me a job as a model and as an actor. But in order to get the money I needed, I had to have a lot going for me than looks. Then I found you."

"You were smart, beautiful, powerful and had the eyes of the world staring right at you. Just what I needed." Paris continued, elaborating on his old plan. "So I set myself up as your adversary, a villainous foil to your own righteous warrior. And they ate it up."

"You used my popularity to help magnify your presence." Pyrrha said realization coming to her.

"Got my first big role out of it. One that I will no doubt spend the rest of my days trying to actively repress." Paris said with a wince, looking less than happy about the role in question.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad." I consoled him, trying to cheer him up.

"I spend half the movie with my shirt off while being covered in glitter, while I spend the other half trying to pout so hard I may as well be attempting to swallow my own face." He said at a deadpan, under no allusions about the role he was in.

"Or maybe it is." I acknowledged patting Paris on the back as he sighed despairingly.

"You have no idea how good it is to be able to talk to people normally like this. Seriously, I've had to smile or pout so much that it literally hurts to do so." Paris complained, massaging his jaw as he did so.

I let out a laugh at that, Pyrrha letting out a giggle of her own as Amynta looked on with a smile on her face. "C'mon. Let's go greet your adoring fans." I said with a grin clapping a hand onto Paris' shoulder.

Paris clapped his hand on my shoulder in return, smiling broadly. "You're an ass." He assured me out of the corner of his mouth, lifting his other arm to wave to the crowd.

Amynta snorted before trying to disguise it very badly with a cough, grabbing Pyrrha's arm and raising it like referee would a prize-winning fighter.

I waved my goodbye to the Porfyró siblings, Paris now firmly back into his 'pretentious princess' persona ignoring us as Amynta waved goodbye from the edge of the crowd as they made their way back towards their accommodations from the landing strip.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving." I said as I turned to Pyrrha, a grin on my face. "You want to get a bite to eat at the fairgrounds?" I paused for a moment before pouting comically. "As celebration of our victory over the forces of darkness?" I said dramatically, running one hand through my hair in a parody of Paris, dropping to one knee as I extended my hand.

Pyrrha giggled. "Why Jaune I'd be delighted." She said in a dignified manner, accepting my hand daintily before we both broke out into laughter again.

I got up onto both feet again, still chuckling as I did so.

Now the, where to get a bite to eat?

That noodle bar was pretty good last time.

But maybe Pyrrha feels like something else.

Guess I'll just ask her.

"Hey Pyrr-"

"Laddie!" I heard Tob's voice call out from behind me. I stopped turning to face him, Pyrrha mirroring my actions.

"What's up old man?" I asked, still beaming after our victory. "Need some help with the kids?"

Tob shook his head. "Actually I'm not here for you laddie." He said, turning his head towards my companion. "I'm actually here to see the lassie."

"Me?" Pyrrha asked, sounding completely surprised by this outcome. "What is it you require of me?"

"Ozpin would like to ask you something, I'm here to take you to him." Tob answered, stretching his arms out as he did so.

I blinked, before I opened my mouth to ask what was going on when Tob cut me off. "Alone laddie. You run along now, I'll have her back to you before you know it." He said firmly, waving me off as he did so before his wheelchair turned around and started rolling away from us towards Beacon tower.

I stood there for a moment, making sense of what had just happened before I sighed, turning to Pyrrha with a tired smile. "See you back at the dorm then?" I asked, raising a brow as I did so.

Pyrrha giggled lightly. "I'll see you then." She promised with a smile of her own.

"I'm not getting any younger over here lassie!" Tob's voice bellowed out, still making his way away from us.

At that Pyrrha started making her way after the Old Bastard, waving a quick goodbye before she dashed off after him.

Ah.

All on my own again.

Well, it's a nice afternoon, still got a while before the sun drops too low. Might as well make the most of it and have a nice relaxing walk around Beacon.

A familiar ringtone blared out of my pocket and I cursed, reaching for my scroll as I tried to answer it, ensuring I had a firm grip on it so it didn't pop out of my hands when it expanded as it was so prone to doing.

The scroll expanded, the vid screen turning on to reveal Ren staring back at me. Albeit a slightly more dishevelled and soot covered Ren than I last saw him. "Jaune, where are you? We've got a real problem going on over here."

"Did she set the room on fire again?" I asked as I started moving again, my pace much faster than I was going before, trying to think of what it was Nora could have done this time.

"Even worse." Ren answered grimly, doing nothing to help allay my fears. "She's cooking something."

Ren was suddenly hit with great force by something, the view from his scroll spinning dizzyingly fast before it stopped, snatched out of the air by a hand.

Sage looked down at me, his expression grim. "It just tossed Ren and Scarlet out the window." He informed me, his tone still at an utter deadpan.

My heart dropped out of my chest. "Keep distracting her, I'll be there as soon as I can!" I commanded, abandoning my casual jog to do a full tilt sprint, belting my way over towards my teammates.

With a bit of luck, by the time I get there Nora's culinary monstrosity will only be semi-sentient as compared to completely sentient and it will only take half an hour to destroy and dispose of the remains.

At the same time that this was happening, another scene was taking place within one of the dorm rooms set aside for the accommodation of the visiting students

Mercury Black was silently doing push ups, his movements seamlessly smooth, never missing a beat as he rose and fell with the same rhythm. Nearby Emerald was lying on her front, propping herself up on her elbows as she focused her attention on her scroll her thumbs tapping away on it.

And sitting on the bed, still in her casual combat outfit Cinder was sifting through the information that her work in the CCT tower was allowing her to tap into, just as she had been every day since then.

It wasn't that Cinder had nothing better to do, far from it, rather it was due to the sheer amount of data that she had to go through that she kept searching, most of it being useless to her goals but every so often…

Cinder's eyes widened in surprise, her fingers halting her rapid scrolling through the database as she observed what had caught her eye before a small smile made its way onto her face. "Oh." Cinder said with a hint of satisfaction, more than pleased with what she had found.

…she found something which made all that tedium worthwhile.

Her two colleagues stopped what they were doing, Emerald looking up from her scroll and Mercury halting mid-push up. "What?" Emerald inquired, curious as to what would have caused such an expression to form on her superior's face.

Cinder tapped on the scroll, the screen now displaying the blueprints for some kind of project, one that bore more than a slight resemblance to one of the finalists in this year's tournament.

P.E.N.N.Y

"Oh nothing." Cinder demurred, her smile widening slightly as she did so. "We're just going to be making a slight, hmm... alternation in the plan.

Mercury and Emerald shared a look at that, shocked and more than a little concerned at this latest development.

Changing the plan? This late in the game?

But orders were orders.

Mercury put his worries to the back of his mind, knowing that voicing them wouldn't help him in this matter and started doing push ups again, the routine soothing to him. "What does that mean?" He asked finally, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the floor beneath him.

Cinder kept her attention on the blueprints before her, growing more pleased with the revelation of each high tech creation that was part of project P.E.N.N.Y. "It means that this will be even easier than we thought." Cinder concluded, her eyes flashing briefly as she did so.

The doors to the lift slip open soundlessly and Professor Ozpin looked up from his desk to see Pyrrha Nikos step out from it, Tob's wheelchair rolling a step behind her.

"Miss Nikos," Ozpin greeted with a nod before raising a hand and indicating to the chair in front of him. "Please, sit."

Pyrrha nodded politely in response before she made her way forward, taking a seat at the indicated chair before Ozpin's desk, catching sight of the headmaster's cane leaning against the desk as well as Ozpin's ever present mug of coffee.

Tob rolled forward, his chair coming to a stop at the side of the headmaster's desk before he turned to face Pyrrha. "You did well in your match today, lassie." The Old Bastard said gruffly, sounding almost disinterested in the words that he was saying to the young fighter.

Pyrrha in comparison lit up the room with the strength of her smile. "Thank you Tob. It was a tough match but hopefully we'll be able to do just as well in the finals."

Professor Ozpin chuckled at that before he gestured towards her. "Well, it comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move on to the final round of the tournament. Your performance was exemplary." He praised, smiling lightly as he did so.

Pyrrha bowed her head in gratitude. "Thank you professor Ozpin." She said humbly accepting the headmaster's words. "But I never would have made it this far without my teammates."

A snort sounded out from behind her. "Well that's debatable." A voice drawled out lazily, an almost sarcastic tone present in the voice.

Pyrrha stood from her chair, turning to face this new voice to see a man leaning against a column, his arms firmly crossed as he glanced towards her. Pyrrha recognised him, seeing an older version of the boy in Tob's photo of team STRQ glaring back at her. "I'm sorry, but I think I don't believe we've been introduced." Pyrrha said calmly, still the very image of politeness and respect.

"Name's Qrow." The man replied roughly, acting as an accurate antithesis of Pyrrha's approach.

"Birdie," Tob growled warningly. "Don't be an ass."

"Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine." Ozpin introduced him, shaking his head slightly as he did so at his associate's antics.

Pyrrha stared at Qrow for a moment longer before turning back towards Ozpin. "If you don't mind me asking," She began, almost hesitant to receive the answer, "why have you called me here?"

Ozpin smiled again at that before gesturing towards the seat once more. "Please take a seat." As she did so Ozpin leant back on his chair, bringing his hands together just below his chin. "What is your favourite fairy tale?" Ozpin asked suddenly, still smiling as he did so.

Tob rolled his eyes, muttering lowly under his breath as Pyrrha seemed taken aback by this truly unexpected question. "I'm…sorry?" She asked, sounding utterly bewildered by what it was the headmaster of Beacon had asked her.

"Fairy tales, stories from your childhood." Ozpin elaborated "Surely you must remember some of them."

Pyrrha blinked, clearly still unsure of why she was being asked the question but rolled with it. "Well there's the Tale of The Two Brothers, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in the Tower…"

"What about the story of the seasons?" Ozpin interrupted, leaning forward as he did so.

"Well of course!" Pyrrha agreed, her smile turning nostalgic as she remembered when her father had first told her that story. "A callous old man, who refuses to leave his ho…"

Tob coughed loudly, interrupting her. "Let's just assume we all know the story of the seasons, all right lassie?" He said dryly, Qrow chuckling idly in the background at that.

"Would you believe me if I told you that one's been around since I was a boy?" Ozpin asked, a self-depreciating smile on his lips.

Pyrrha giggled at that. "You're not that old Professor." She said in his defence, still giggling as she did so.

Ozpin smiled again for a moment before the joviality faded and he leaned forward, his expression serious. "Well would you believe me if I told you it was true?" He asked, his eyes locked on to Pyrrha's own.

Pyrrha sat there in stunned silence, trying to make sense of what her headmaster had just said. "I beg your pardon?" she asked, convinced that she must have somehow misheard the man's words.

"What if I told you," Ozpin said, his tone still deadly serious, "that there were four maidens existing in this world, that could wield such tremendous power, without dust?" He said, watching Pyrrha's expression carefully.

"You mean like a semblance?" Pyrrha queried, trying to think of what Ozpin could be suggesting through his words.

"Like magic." Ozpin answered, a slight smile on his face as he did so.

Tob's face darkened slightly, and he shifted in his seat, a seemingly innocuous movement.

But Qrow saw it.

Whatever answer Pyrrha was expecting, that was not it. "I…"

"Yeah. First time hearing this, it was pretty crazy." Qrow's voice admitted behind her, drawing Pyrrha's attention away from the seated headmaster for a moment.

"It's still too early." Tob muttered under his breath, turning his gaze towards his old friend. "We shouldn't be doing this until she's at least in her third year, if not graduated."

"And if circumstances allowed, I would be willing to do so." Ozpin replied out of the side of his mouth, not turning to face the Old Bastard. "But whoever went after Amber isn't going to stop. Better she learns now and is ready for what is to come."

"No…" Pyrrha spoke up, turning back from where Qrow had been distracting her. "Why….Why are you telling me this? She stammered, still reeling from this revelation.

Ozpin glanced at Qrow who nodded his approval, and Tob who growled in disgust before nodding as well. "We are telling you, Pyrrha Nikos, this because you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."

Pyrrha leant back in her chair, her eyes going wide at this latest shock before she realised the other implication within Ozpin's words. "We?" She asked, her head spinning as she felt the lift coming to a stop on the top floor once more with her semblance, the various metals within suggesting that someone was within it.

The elevator doors sprung open revealing Professor Goodwitch, Ozpin's right hand woman.

And General Ironwood of Atlas, a man supposedly no longer friends with Ozpin if common gossip was to be believed.

"Sorry we're late." Ironwood apologised, straightening his tie as he stepped out of the lift and into the office, Goodwitch walking alongside him.

Pyrrha stared in confusion at these latest arrivals, unable to make sense of what was going on in the face of all these upheavals to what she thought the world was. "Wait, what is this? Pyrrha asked, panic clear in her voice. "Who are you?"

A hand was placed atop of hers and Pyrrha spun around to see Tob calmly holding onto her hand, staring straight into her eyes. "Breathe lassie." He instructed her calmly, unflappable as ever. "Deep breaths in, deep breaths out."

Pyrrha found herself doing just that, following his commands just as she had been during her training sessions with the team almost instinctively, the calm and steady breathing helping to calm her down a great deal in the process.

Goodwitch stepped forward, her arms opened in a sign of trustworthiness. "You know who we are. "We're still the same teachers and headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon." She reassured, trying to do her best to help calm the young huntress down as well.

"'Cept we've just got a little part-time job." Qrow added, now standing next to the others, no longer leaning against the column as he had been since Pyrrha had entered the office.

"We are the protectors of this world." Ironwood continued, his every word trying to convey the gravity of the situation.

"And we need your help." Ozpin finished, his expression still serious as he looked at the young huntress, her hand still held beneath Tob's own.

Pyrrha was stunned into silence as Ozpin and the new arrivals looked at her, unable to think of what she was supposed to say or do in a situation like this. She felt Tob's hand leave her own and turned to see his wheelchair soundlessly rolling towards the lift, the doors springing open as he approached them.

"May as well show her now, don't you think?" Tob asked, his tone making it less of a question and more of a demand instead.

"I don't think that's such a…" Ironwood began before Tob cut him off with a snort.

"Oh no laddie. You wanted her in on this thing, she's seeing the whole thing." Tob growled, glaring at the general as he did so. "In all its sordid glory. Come on now lass, into the lift."

Pyrrha paused hesitating for a moment before conceding, following the wheelchair-bound old man back into the lift.

The others stood there for a moment before following after them as well, Ozpin standing up from his seat, picking up his cane from its place by his side and making his way over as well.

Ozpin entered the lift and raised his hand, ignoring the buttons on the side to place his hand onto the screen above them displaying Beacon academy's emblem.

The elevator beeped once in acknowledgment before it began descending rapidly, making its way down to the ground floor once more.

Only for Pyrrha's eyes to open even wider as she felt the elevator descend even further, her semblance painting a picture that her other senses could not.

"Where are we going?" Pyrrha asked aloud, clearly still perturbed by the revelation that had taken place upstairs.

"The vault." Ozpin replied, the elevator still rocketing downward as he did so. "Under the school."

The doors of the elevator slid open once more, revealing an entirely unfamiliar locale to Pyrrha, a marble tiled hallway only dimly lit by what appeared to be green flames appearing every so often. The others walked out, Pyrrha tailing behind them until Tob cleared his throat meaningfully at his place by Pyrrha's side, drawing Goodwitch's attention.

As Ozpin's second in command began engaging the young huntress in conversation, answering her questions as best she could, Tob's own thoughts were bought to the forefront, the old man's eyes clouding slightly as he thought.

So.

Here he was again, watching an innocent young girl get dragged deep within this world of darkness as a sacrifice to save the rest.

Oh he knew they'd say it like that, but it was true.

To become a Maiden was a death sentence.

It wasn't a matter of if you would die but a matter of when.

"You're not... talking about a war?" Pyrrha stammered, in shock at the turn the conversation had taken.

"Not a war between nations." Ironwood said darkly, his eyes narrowing minutely as he said it.

"We can fill you on the details once we know that you're with us." Qrow interrupted, waving a hand casually as he did so. "For now, all you need to know is that one of the Maidens have been attacked. And for the first time in history, part of her power is stolen."

The humming of electricy filled the room, lights flickering on to reveal some kind of machine, lit screens connected to two rectangular pods. One of which was empty, the lights within in it dim. The other was upraised and through the clear panel one could clearly see it contained a woman, clothed in basic undergarments to preserve her modesty.

She was still, unmoving with her eyes firmly closed, her dark brown hair trailing over her face

Pyrrha stepped forward hesitantly, almost unwilling to ask who it was before her. "Is that…" she trailed off, not sure how to put it into words.

Ozpin sighed heavily, his eyes closing briefly in sorrow as he looked upon the sleeping woman. "The current Fall Maiden, Amber." He replied, doing nothing to allay Pyrrha's fears with his response.

The others started talking again but Tob found the words to be drowned out as he stared upon that fragile form encased in the high tech coffin, only kept breathing by whatever technologies that Jimmy and Geppeto had been able to provide.

And even then, the girl was still dying.

He didn't need to ask any of the others to know that, or see any chart.

He knew.

When the assailant had ripped out part of the maiden's power, she hadn't just taken that. She'd taken part of Amber's soul in the process.

In all honesty he was amazed that she had even lasted this long to begin with.

And now they wanted to take what little remained of her aura and cram it inside of the lassie.

He knew Ironwood wouldn't have suggested this if it wasn't viable, and that Geppeto had been working himself to the bone day and night to make it as safe as possible.

But that didn't change the fact that what they were doing was unprecedented.

And could quite easily end very badly.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Pyrrha standing by his side, clearly conflicted, looking at him searching for some kind of answer.

"How do you…" Pyrrha began, wanting to try and make some sense of this situation.

"Know about the maidens?" Tob interrupted with a grunt. "My wife was one." He revealed, Pyrrha gasping in shock at the sudden revelation. "Not a Fall Maiden though. She was a Winter Maiden, met her at the start of the Faunus rights conflict over twenty years ago."

Pyrrha blinked. "Didn't the conflict not start until much later on?" She inquired, puzzled by Tob's words.

Tob laughed at that. "Well 'officially' yes." He said with a sly grin, air quoting as he did so before he seemed to remember something, the joviality fading from his expression once more. "But that leads me to another issue. About the laddie."

"What other issue?" Pyrrha asked, dismayed that this day of surprises didn't seem to be over yet. "What about Jaune?"

Ozpin stepped forward, drawing Pyrrha's attention back towards him. "Jaune's mother is dead. We know this for a fact." Professor Ozpin said simply, shocking her into silence. "You are not to tell Jaune, under any circumstances." He continued on maintaining eye contact with Pyrrha throughout.

"Why?" Pyrrha asked, flabbergasted at the headmaster's request. "Why would you keep this from him? Jaune's been trying to f…"

"Because his mother was the Maiden of Autumn before Amber. And a new one is only born when the old one dies." Tob spoke up, silencing the young huntress with this revelation.

"She…" Pyrrha began gobsmacked, "She was a Fall Maiden?"

Tob scoffed at that. "She wasn't just 'a' maiden lass. She was 'the' maiden." He answered, placing heavy emphasis on the words as he did so.

"What Tob is trying to say here is that Jaune's mother was without question the most powerful Maiden of Autumn ever recorded. She was at least twice as powerful as Amber was, most likely far more so." Qrow added on, his eyes flitting back towards the high tech coffin the comatose maiden now resided in.

Pyrrha looked between them all, confused. "I don't understand."

"Whatever killed the Fall Maiden, whatever killed Jaune's mother, was able to do so alone." Ironwood concluded, his expression grim.

"That kind of power is not one that Jaune can face, not yet at any rate." Ozpin continued on, still focusing intently on Pyrrha, trying to convey the seriousness of what he was saying.

"And hopefully the laddie will never have to." Tob said with a grunt, one hand twitching back to where one of his weapons was concealed within the wheelchair.

Pyrrha stood there in silence, mentally reeling as she tried to come to terms with this, frantically thinking of something else to ask, to say, to make this day make sense again.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a scroll going off, everyone turning to face the source of the trilling.

Ozpin removed his scroll from his pocket in a smooth motion with his free hand, answering it immediately.

If they'd been able to ring him while he was down here, then it was clearly a serious matter. He listened for a moment before his expression became firm and he placed it back inside his pocket.

That wasn't a good sign.

Ozpin spun moving back towards the elevator at a rapid pace. "Glynda, with me." He commanded, leaving no room for refusal with his words, his cane lifted high off the ground, no longer tapping with every second step, the others trailing after him.

"What's going on Oz?" Qrow asked, recognizing the look on the headmaster's face.

Good news never followed when that look was on his face.

"Something just crash landed into Beacon." Ozpin said seriously, his gaze narrowed as he stepped into the lift. "And I intend to find out what."