136

Chapter 136:

One day earlier:

"I see...well...that's perfectly understandable," said Sasame, looking across at Kyo and Amber, who were seated on the couch in Kyo's suite in the faculty quarters.

Except that it was now Amber's suite too, as far as they were concerned. That first night; a blissful sleep, free of the nightmares she'd been dreading; had been enough to convince Amber to make the final move, gathering what few belongings she'd had in Glynda's suite on the floor above, and taking them with her to settle into Kyo's room full-time. Had it occurred under more pleasant circumstances, Sasame would have teased them about wedding bells ringing (something she was still considering for later). But it was clear that the feelings between Kyo and Amber weren't the actual reason Amber was staying in this room. Oh, they were a factor, but not the actual impetus behind Amber's decision.

"I have some notion of what Amber is dealing with," said Kyo, rubbing the back of his head. "It's not such an uncommon problem, after all. But...it's also nothing I have any personal experience with. But, I'm at least aware enough to realize that what we are doing is essentially a stopgap."

"Indeed, however wonderful it is to know that you and Amber-chan have gotten so close, the fact of the matter is that this is merely a means of treating the symptoms of her problem," said Sasame. "If the root cause remains unaddressed, then it is likely that said issue will raise its head at the most inopportune time."

"Is that really a problem?" asked Amber, who'd been wondering why her decision to essentially move in with her new boyfriend had led to him consulting his healer-friend. She had thought he would be happy, but her actions only seemed to have made him worry instead.

"Unless you intend to remain perpetually glued to Kyo's side, Amber-chan, I'm afraid so," said Sasame. "And, while that might seem wonderful in the short term, in the long term, I'm afraid you would come to find that stifling...and...well...even if you do, sleep is not the only place where those nightmares might find you."

Amber swallowed nervously, paling slightly. Kyo's hand rested over her own, giving it a reassuring squeeze. But she remained fixated on Sasame.

"Such trauma has a way of lying dormant," said Sasame. "While in Kyo's arms, your dreams will remain untroubled, but, just because you are awake, it does not mean that you won't find yourself vividly reliving those moments. In fact, from the sound of things, it was one of those waking terrors that drove you to this course of action in the first place."

She's not wrong, Amber realized. After all, it was a single remark from Ozpin, however unwitting, that had triggered her first flashback, which had led her to seeking comfort in Kyo's arms in the first place.

"It was locked before," continued Sasame. "But now, the door to those memories is ajar. Left unattended, it is now primed to burst fully open at the worst possible time, a time when your life is endangered in a similar manner. That onrush of terrible memory has the potential to paralyze you at the moment where movement is needed most. Therefore, it is absolutely in your best interests to address it as soon as possible."

"How...?" asked Amber. "If the door's open...can't we just...close it...again?"

"That is an option," agreed Sasame soberly. "However, just like sleeping with Kyo, that too is merely a stopgap. You can close it, lock it as tightly as you desire. But such doors always find a way to open again.

"Ultimately, the most effective treatment, even if it is unpleasant in the short-term, is to preempt the problem. We will force the door to your memory open all the way, and you will have to confront the events of that day directly. It is akin to ripping a bandage off a healed wound. It will sting something fierce, but it's far better than simply drawing it out."

Amber's mouth went dry. "Do I have to?" she asked nervously.

"Honestly, you don't, if you truly don't want to," said Sasame. "I could make you. But I would rather not do that to someone so important to Kyo."

"I..." Amber hesitated.

Sasame sighed, then looked over at Kyo. "Kyo..."

"Hmm?"

Sasame raised a hand and flicked her fingers dismissively. "Shoo."

Kyo sighed. "Very well."

Getting up from the couch, he headed for the door, and left the room altogether. Amber looked after him with a confused look.

"Kyo knows better than to talk back to me," said Sasame cheerfully, as the door shut behind him.

"But why?" asked Amber.

"Because I believe we need to take a moment to talk frankly, just between us girls," said Sasame, beaming cheerfully. However, her expression soon sobered once more. "Amber-chan...do you love Kyo?"

"I..." Amber glanced down. "I don't know for sure. I like him very much. When he holds me, I feel so comfortable. And...well...I do want to go with him, when he starts traveling again."

"That is wonderful to hear," said Sasame, her smile returning, then fading. "But...you do not think you're wholly ready to say you love him, yet."

"I guess...not," admitted Amber.

"That's understandable," said Sasame. "Kyo is already extremely attached to you, I can see that. He's also still wary of being seen as too clingy, which is adorable by the way."

Thinking about how awkward he could still be at times, Amber giggled and nodded.

"But that makes it all the more important that we address the issue of your trauma directly," said Sasame.

"Why?" asked Amber.

"Because you both deserve better," said Sasame. "You deserve to know you can sleep, free from the fear of reliving that horrible moment over and over again. You deserve to live without the threat of that incident coming back to haunt you, and causing you to lock up at the worst possible time.

"And there are things Kyo deserves too. Kyo deserves to be more than just a tool to keep the nightmares at bay. Kyo deserves to have you sleep with him, because you truly want to, not because you're too afraid to close your eyes without him around. It should be because you want to go to sleep, knowing that his face will be the first thing you wake up to in the morning."

Amber nodded slowly. She couldn't really argue against that. "I don't understand though," she said. "The way you're talking, it makes it sound like it's a repressed memory. But I recall everything. I know what happened that day."

"And do you feel comfortable thinking about it?" asked Sasame.

"...No..." said Amber hesitantly.

"You probably never will," said Sasame. "Given the nature of what happened, it's only natural that the memory of that day will be forever troubling to you. However, the issue of it is that, even if you remember those events, the fear those events planted within you has yet to be confronted. Faced with a stark reminder of what happened, that memory can surge up, paralyzing you with the feeling of that fear all over again."

"So how do I deal with it?" asked Amber.

Sasame smiled again, though, this time, there was something distinctly sly to it. "Well...it just so happens that there is someone that you can meet...someone with a distinct connection to that day."

Present:

Emerald scooted back away from Amber, eyes wide with fear at the sight of the Fall Maiden standing over her. Her mouth hung slack.

For her part, Amber stared down at the younger girl, watching her tremble. It was so strange. This girl had once attacked her, alongside Cinder and one other. Amber still remembered this girl wrenching one of her arms out straight, straining the arrow-wound on her shoulder, then going on to plant a foot against her back, just for good measure. She remembered Emerald and the other one holding her fast, rendering her helpless and immobile as Cinder closed in from the front, that smug smirk on her face as she slipped on that white glove, then held it out towards her.

Before, the surge of memory had brought with it a paralyzing surge of fear. But now, what rushed through Amber's veins was pure rage. It was burning hot. She was looking down on a trembling, helpless girl, and remembering when their positions had been reversed. When Amber had been the helpless one, what had Emerald done?

Unbidden, orange flames began to lick outwards from the corners of Amber's eyes.

"Enjoying your therapy?" asked Amber coldly, her tone belying the heat raging inside her.

Emerald could only stare.

"You know, I was using this room myself, not so long ago," continued Amber, walking down the lane between the parallel bars. "It turns out that being trapped in a coma for the better part of a year tends to have unpleasant consequences for your body."

A faint whimper was all that Emerald could muster.

"And I know, if you, and that bitch you worked for, had gotten your way, I wouldn't have stayed like that," continued Amber. "I would've been stone-dead, and you'd be laughing your heads off over putting me down. Isn't that right?"

Emerald said nothing, made no moves, staring blankly up at Amber, unable to muster up any kind of defense for herself. The fact that she knew that what Amber was saying was dead-on was a factor too.

Amber stood directly over Emerald, having closed the distance between them. For some reason, Emerald had stopped trying to back away, her look of fear being replaced by a blank one, as though she didn't understand what was happening before her eyes...or didn't care.

Amber's lips pulled back, baring her teeth furiously. The next second, she'd dropped down to her knees, her hands going around Emerald's neck, her weight bearing the smaller and weaker girl down onto her back, while Amber hovered over her, poised to choke the life from Emerald's body.

Gritting her teeth, Amber stared down at her victim, her hands aching to close as tightly as she could manage. Now that she'd regained most of her strength, that was quite tight indeed. But something was wrong.

She'd expected Emerald to fight back, to struggle, to thrash, to try and get away, to scream, to call for help...something. Instead, the moment Amber's hands found their mark, Emerald went completely limp. Her hands didn't rise up to close around Amber's arms, they just laid still on either side of her body. Her eyes, glassy and empty, stared up with the look of someone already dead. Emerald had given up on fighting, given up on her life, and was now simply awaiting the inevitable.

Because of that, however much Amber might have wanted to...she couldn't bring herself to tighten her hands fully, to give Emerald the fate that she seemed to deserve. Instead, she hovered over Emerald, staring back down at her, teeth still bared in fury. But that anger was sputtering with the lack of anything to fuel it.

"Well...?" asked Emerald, her tone flat and dull, yet still managing to somehow sound impatient. "What's wrong? Aren't you gonna end it?"

"Why?" asked Amber. "Why aren't you fighting back?"

"Why should I?" Emerald asked back. "What's the point? It's what I deserve, right?"

That only made Amber more confused.

"Besides, it's not like it matters to me anymore," said Emerald.

Amber's eyes widened. She'd expected scorn, taunts, insults. But this utter lack of resistance was swallowing her anger up. Instead of closing tighter, her grip loosened, then she relinquished it entirely, rising back up so that she now rested on her knees, looking over Emerald's prone body.

"Now what?" grumbled Emerald, managing to sound miffed that Amber wasn't going to kill her anymore. "Why do you idiots have to draw it out? Just kill me already! I've got no reason to fight back."

"Then why are you crying?" asked Amber.

Emerald blinked, realizing for the first time that she was crying. Tears were streaming down from the outer corners of her eye, small rivulets of water descending along the sides of her face. Her mouth opened slightly.

"Why are you giving up so easily?" asked Amber.

"Because there's no point to it, not if she's gone," said Emerald, her tone harsh, anger reaching her voice. She blinked, and that blank, resigned expression was gone, replaced by one of frustration. She forced herself to begin to sit up, the sudden change causing Amber to be the one to scoot back now.

"And that's enough to die for?" asked Amber.

"She was everything to me," said Emerald. "If it was her, of course I would do anything, even kill you."

"Why?" asked Amber, aghast. "She was just using you."

"So what?!" snapped Emerald, now glaring furiously, defiantly, at the Fall Maiden in front of her. "You think I didn't know that Cinder was a power-obsessed megalomaniac? I knew that from practically Day One. But I. Don't. Care!"

"How can you say that...?" gasped Amber.

"Why should I care about anyone else?" asked Emerald. "You think I should've just become a good little girl? If you cared that much, then where were you?"

"Huh...?" Amber blinked, completely flummoxed by the question.

"Where were you, when I was starving in the streets?" demanded Emerald. "Where were you righteous Maidens, when I was curled up in a ball, so hungry that I was in agony? Where were the Huntsmen I was supposed to look up to, when I was rummaging through trash for the smallest scraps? Where were the heroes, when people beat me for just trying to survive?"

Amber had nothing to say to that.

Emerald's glare was full of overflowing outrage. "You people disgust me, talking about ideals and how you should protect the weak and helpless. Well! I was weak! I was helpless! Why didn't anyone protect me?!

"The answer is because that's all a load of crap. The only one who did hold a hand out to me was the monster. No, she didn't actually care about me. Yes, it was just because I had something she wanted. But she was the one who made me into something more than a piece of street trash, just trying to survive another day. You can prattle along about all the crappy ideals you want, but the truth is that you only really care about them when they're convenient to you. You're all just blunt instruments, good for killing monsters maybe. But happen across someone like me, and it's just so much easier to ignore them, and keep on walking.

"So what if you didn't deserve what Cinder did to you. I didn't deserve what happened to me. She was the one who reached out to me, and I would have done anything for her."

Amber's mouth worked silently in the wake of the angry tirade that had spilled out from Emerald's lips. She could scarcely believe the pain and bitterness that were assaulting her ears. This was the furthest thing from what she had been expecting. She had come here to see one of the people who'd had a hand in the violation of her own soul. She'd expected fearful excuses or, on the other hand, defiant taunts and promises of retribution. Both extremes were a far cry from the despairing girl in front of her, a child who'd lost her compass in life, who was filled with nothing but pain and resignation.

In the face of that, Amber's anger couldn't hold. Instead, she just felt...sad. Though Emerald had grown into the cusp of young womanhood, there was still so much of the child she'd been before in her now. And that child had lost the closest thing she'd had to a mother, the one person she'd truly cared about. Her body moving on its own, Amber surged forward again. This time, her hands didn't go for Emerald's neck, but around her back, pulling the younger girl close, and holding her fast.

"Huh...?" Emerald blinked, shocked.

She found her body pressed up against Amber's body, her chin resting on the older girl's shoulder, Amber's arms wrapped tightly around her. "Wha-what are you doing?"

Amber didn't answer.

"Why?" demanded Emerald, blinking furiously now.

Pressure was building behind her eyes and in her chest. This sensation of being held, it was pulling something out of her, feelings, a longing long ago suppressed; a need that had never before been met, not even with Cinder.

"Because...I can't hate you," said Amber, sniffling.

"What?" gasped Emerald.

"I'm angry with you," said Amber. "I haven't forgotten, and I sure as hell haven't forgiven. But...even so...I still can't hate you."

"L-let go!" protested Emerald, struggling weakly. However, Amber was much stronger than her right now, so escaping was out of the question. "I'm an enemy! I helped Cinder tear apart your soul!"

"And I still can't hate you," Amber replied, her grip only tightening.

"Y-you should," said Emerald, gritting her teeth.

Despite her best efforts, the dam was breaking. Her eyes blinked all the more furiously, but she could feel more wetness making its way down her face. Her voice was shuddering. Arms trembling, Emerald raised her hands. Her conscious mind told her it was to push Amber away. But, instead, they wrapped around Amber from behind, and pulled her closer.

"I still don't know what to do about you," Amber admitted. "But...the one thing I do know is that I can't leave you alone...not again."

She won't...leave me...I won't be alone...? Emerald's last bounds of restraint fell away. A wail forced its way from her throat, and Emerald hugged herself tightly to Amber with all her might, sobbing in her arms. Amber held her tight, shedding tears of her own, clinging just as tightly to Emerald as Emerald was to her.

From the door to the room, Kyo and Sasame looked on, their Auras Suppressed to keep their presence from disrupting the event.

"I see that helping Amber wasn't the only thing you had in mind," observed Kyo. "Two birds with one stone..."

"In her own way, Emerald-chan was as much a victim of Cinder-san as Amber-chan was," said Sasame sadly. "They...we...the world...all failed her back then...not least of all that self-serving wretch who abandoned her."

"And now what?" asked Kyo.

"I will have to speak with Ozpin-dono," said Sasame, with a resigned sigh, though a soft smile spread across her face. "I think we will have at least one more person accompanying us back to Leng, when all is said and done."

"Hmmm..." hummed Kyo softly. "I wonder what he will make of that."

"I will find out," said Sasame. "Now that I've seen this, there's no way I can leave Emerald-chan alone either."

The second week of the Vytal Festival proceeded towards its natural end. With the second round of matches over, the excitement was at an all-time high, as people predicted what the outcome of the final rounds would be. Natsuki, who would be representing Team MNPS, had gained a surprisingly large following, given her lack of affiliation with any known school, and her young age, a status that was shared by Ruby. The fact that two contenders for the championship were two years younger than most first-year students was the source of a tremendous amount of speculation and excitement. Added to that, Ruby had been chosen to represent her team over Pyrrha Nikos, whom many experts had predicted would be the one to represent Team RASP in the finals.

So it was that Ruby and Natsuki found themselves transformed into celebrities, nearly overnight. Going out into the festival grounds proved to be somewhat harrowing, as neither of them could get very far without being recognized. For Ruby, it reminded her of the fallout of her viral sparring match with Pyrrha, all those months ago.

The sentiment was more positive this time. A lot of the less-professional commentators on the networks speculated that Ruby's inclusion over Pyrrha's was actually a concession to sportsmanship, and suggested that Pyrrha (or rather, her Semblance) had been deemed too much of a "ringer" by the rest of her team, and had instead sent Ruby, in order to give the other participants a better chance. It was a reminder that a fair number of people still regarded Pyrrha's Semblance as "unfair", and that a fair few still considered her victories in Mistral's regional tournaments to be the result of cheating.

Weiss would have gladly told off anyone who floated such speculation. But Ruby and Pyrrha largely ignored it, to the best of their ability anyway. Pyrrha had it a bit easier, escaping the limelight by virtue of not being in the tournament any longer, and not inclined to confront any of those who had been talking down about her (knowing full well the pointlessness of such an exercise).

In Ruby's case, she mostly found it tiring.

"You don't like being famous?" asked Maria cheerfully, circling around Ruby on the rooftop.

"It's a drag," groaned Ruby. "I mean...it's really nice that so many people are rooting for me and all, but I could do without all the attention." She sighed. "I've signed so many autographs the last couple of days, I'm worried my wrist is gonna cramp up when I try to fight on Monday."

Maria cackled. "You could always throw your match, you know," she suggested.

"I couldn't do that!" protested Ruby. "It would be disrespectful to my opponent."

"Well then, you might as well settle in for the long haul," said Maria, her demeanor softening. "Think about it this way, you aim to become a Huntress, someone who can save people from the Grimm, right?"

"Right," agreed Ruby.

"Well, the fame you gain from this will help a great deal," said Maria. "You already know all about the issues that come from fighting back the Grimm. An attack on a settlement increases fear, which brings in more. But, think about how people will react when 'Ruby Rose: Vytal Tournament Champion' is coming to their aid. The mere mention of your coming will lift people's hearts, assuage their fears, and lessen the pressure from the Grimm. For someone dedicated to fighting back the darkness, winning the tournament will help your light shine all the brighter."

Ruby gasped, her eyes widening. "You're right!"

"Of course I am," declared Maria proudly, rapping the end of her cane against the roof. "There times I wished I could have had that advantage, when I was still a Huntress."

"Was it hard for you?" asked Ruby.

Maria sighed, settling down next to her. "Yes," she said simply. "Part of it was my own fault. I was The Grimm Reaper, of course, so I had a reputation, but not one that I actively tried to maintain. I was better known amongst other Huntsmen and Huntresses than to the people. Plus, I was pretty antisocial, kept to myself a lot."

"Because of your eyes?" guessed Ruby.

"For the most part," said Maria. "I had to do my best to keep a low profile after all. But, in the end, I suppose I was just too careless."

Or Salem's people are just that good at gathering intel, Ruby thought to herself.

That didn't seem so unlikely. Cinder and her posse had managed to track down Amber, who'd been working to keep a low profile too. Granted, it was entirely possible that, as Maria had suggested about herself, that Amber had just slipped up in some fashion, falling back on her magic in front of the wrong set of eyes. But it still couldn't have been easy. Even though only women could be Maidens, that still made trying to track down one of them like looking for a needle in a city-sized haystack.

Of course, it was something of a moot point now. Salem's people knew who Amber was for sure. They would also be able to track her down easily, once she started traveling again, Ruby didn't doubt. In the same vein, Ruby knew that she herself had already been marked, with Tyrian indicating that Salem wanted her captured, not merely killed.

I wonder why that is, thought Ruby. It was strange for sure. Of course, even Tyrian had admitted that he had no idea why Salem wanted her alive. So it seemed that the only way Ruby would ever be able to find out was if she asked Salem herself, which definitely wasn't happening anytime soon.

"But enough of that," said Maria, her sharp tone returning. She raised her cane and prodded Ruby's ribs. "Get back to work."

"All right," said Ruby, closing her eyes.

Maria's training was actually rather easy, all things considered, mainly because it was right up Ruby's alley. In order to use her Silver Eyes, according to Maria, what Ruby needed to do was focus on the desire to protect the people around her. For Ruby, that had been her driving motivation since her youngest days. Her mind was immediately filled with the faces of all the people precious to her, and her desire to protect them.

The important thing, as she'd been told, was not to allow her fear of what would happen, if she failed, to butt in. She had to focus on what she wanted to do, as opposed what might happen if she couldn't do it. Again, that wasn't so hard.

Ruby snapped her eyes open, a strange, alien sensation humming through her entire being. The world around her looked somewhat different, the colors more muted and grayed, as though she was watching them through some kind of filter, everything imparted with a strange, shimmering quality...then it was over.

"Ah, I can feel it," said Maria, nodding to herself. "You're such a natural at this that it's somewhat scary."

"Was it hard for you?" asked Ruby.

"It was hard for me to get over my fear," conceded Maria. "It didn't help that I'd avoided forming too many attachments, or getting too attached to the few people that I formed attachments to. When you're trying to use a power that's rooted in your love of life and the living, then it gets tricky, when you've spent most of your life keeping people at a distance."

Ruby nodded slowly, her vision returning to normal. A buzzing sensation lingered in the back of her head.

"That will lessen over time," said Maria. "For Silver-Eyed Warriors like ourselves, the first awakening can be traumatic. When I first awakened to my powers, I knocked myself out for a full week."

"But I was just fine," said Ruby.

"Because I eased you into it," said Maria. "Honestly, it's somewhat scary how easily you learned it."

Ruby swallowed nervously. She still wasn't sure that this learning would do her much good, not against Jester. Sora and Kyoichiro apparently believed her power might be the key to defeating him, but Ruby couldn't see it. Jester wasn't a Grimm after all.

On top of that, her real trouble lay in her attempts to follow Kyo's recommendation to forge a kamikiri, god-slaying, technique for herself. The idea seemed to be that, if she could combine her Silver Eyes with a god-slayer technique, she might have something capable of killing Jester, once and for all.

But that didn't even seem feasible. Everything about the Silver Eyes that Maria had shown her was that they simply...well..."happened" was the best word Ruby could use to describe it. When she called upon the power, it just came forth. It wasn't like Aura, something she could shape with her will. In fact, aside from the change to her vision, and the buzzing sensation at the back of her head, she couldn't sense anything at all, nothing that she could engage with as a mechanism of control.

Further still, combining the two seemed virtually impossible, even if there was something about the Silver Eyes that Ruby could manipulate. After all, any technique, whether for use against humans or gods, was based on intent to kill, which was the antithesis of the root of her inborn power.

All told, it was frustrating. Jester was an opponent who broke the rules to such a degree that he'd been able to keep the Mibu from acting against Salem for centuries, if not millennia. Neither Kyo, nor any of his ancestors, had been able to kill him. The best that they'd managed was this pseudo-armistice, where the Mibu would not interfere with Salem, and Salem would leave them alone. It was an armistice that Kyo had essentially broken, now that he was in a relationship with the Fall Maiden, which meant that this was the one time, more than any other, that they had to find a way to beat Jester.

And everyone who knew...seemed to think that Ruby was the key to that. I just wish I could figure out how, she thought to herself.

"Well, that's it for tonight," said Maria, getting up. "At this point, I'd say your training is complete."

"Right," said Ruby, standing up as well. "Thank you for everything, Maria."

Maria cackled. "You're welcome. My other student could learn a thing or two about manners from you."

The mention of Oscar roused Ruby's curiosity. "Is he...doing okay?"

"Just fine," said Maria, laughing again. "In fact, he's doing better than fine, if his attitude is any indication. It appears he's taken quite the liking to your friend from home."

"Natsu-chan...?" Ruby canted her head, a bit confused. But it made sense. She couldn't help but notice that Natsuki had been spending more time with Oscar than with her. However, given that she still felt a little guilty about turning Oscar down, Ruby hadn't questioned it too much.

Well, it's not like I have to worry about Natsu-chan hurting him, thought Ruby, figuring that it was okay.

"Time for me to call it a day," said Maria, groaning, then stretching. "When you get to be my age, you come to treasure all the sleep you can get."

"I don't think that has anything to do with age," said Ruby, giggling. Her mind went to poor Ren, who had occasionally lamented to her just how hard it could be to get a proper night's sleep, with two people like Yang and Nora on his team. Blake was similarly bothered, though it apparently hadn't ever developed into anything unhealthy.

Maria ambled slowly through the door, but Ruby lingered behind, turning to stare out over the edge of the roof. It gave her a solid view of the festival grounds, stretching away beneath her. She could easily see the booths, as well as the people meandering between them. Silently, she wished that she and Jaune could spend more time seeing the festival together. Sadly, Jaune was usually too busy with training under Sasame.

The door opened and shut behind her. Ruby smiled, a familiar, much-wanted, presence entering the reach of her senses. She didn't even flinch when Jaune's arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her up against his front. She leaned into the embrace, even as her senses told her of the absolutely drained state of Jaune's Aura, a substantial achievement, considering how much he had at his disposal, and how its capacity had only increased in the weeks since he'd started nurturing it through the exercises Ruby had taught him.

"Hey," said Jaune, his voice whispering into her ear.

"Hey," Ruby whispered back.

They moved in unison, sinking down to sit on the roof, Ruby now resting comfortably on her boyfriend's lap. Jaune leaned forward a little, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Long day?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, you could say that," said Jaune, the feeling of his flinch conveyed easily to Ruby.

"What did Sasame-nee have you do?" asked Ruby.

"She had me help with a condition Penny's father had," said Jaune, grunted. "Seriously, it was like having my Aura sucked right out of me."

Ruby giggled. "Did it work, at least?"

"Yeah," said Jaune. Ruby could feel the satisfaction that rolled out of him. "In fact, Sasame told me that it wouldn't have been possible for her alone, so it was a huge help that she was able to draw on my Aura."

"That's good," said Ruby. "Are you okay with what she's doing?"

"Yeah," said Jaune. "It's crazy tedious. Her focusing exercises are ridiculous."

"Yeah, counting rice-grains can give you a pretty big headache," said Ruby.

"Oh, we're way past rice-grains now," said Jaune wryly.

"Huh?" grunted Ruby, eyes widening in surprise.

Jaune smirked. "I guess you didn't know, since you didn't ever really get past the basics. But, after rice-grains, Sasame moved me to millet."

Thinking about how small millet grains were, Ruby swallowed. "Yeah...that's pretty crazy."

"And that was earlier," commented Jaune, his tone rising as he vented. "After that, Sasame had me start counting salt grains."

Ruby squeaked in shock.

"And now she does this crazy thing where she mixes salt with sugar, and has me sort the grains."

Ruby's eyes widened. "I had no idea healers did that."

"Well, it's more through my Aura, than my eyes," said Jaune. "Once I get focused enough, it becomes pretty easy to tell them apart, they feel pretty different. But working on such a small scale really gives me a headache after a while."

Ruby supposed she understood the logic. She'd only ever trained in the most basic aspects of the Healing Arts, after all. She only really need to feel the basic details of simple injuries in order to properly treat them. In contrast, the more advanced skills Sasame was developing Jaune towards learning, could involve hm working on a cellular level, if not even smaller. True masters of the Healing Arts, like Makoto and Sasame, were capable of using their Aura to interact with their patients on a genetic level, if necessary. Ruby could scarcely comprehend the level of focus required to work on such a minute scale.

"Are you all right?" asked Ruby.

Jaune hugged her tighter still. "I'm more than all right," he said. "I gotta admit, I was really leery of it at first. But now...thinking about what I can do, when I get all this down. It feels really right. It means that, if you get hurt in battle, that I can help you, so it's the best thing for me, I think."

Ruby smiled warmly. "Thanks."

"What about you?" asked Jaune. "Are you doing all right?"

"Well...I'm doing fine with Maria's training," said Ruby. "I don't really have a grasp on kamikiri techniques, like Kyo-nii wants me to, not yet. The thing that bugs me is that I don't know what I'm supposed to do with them."

"Yeah," admitted Jaune. "Killing a guy who can't be killed is a heck of a job, and that's coming from people who are supposed to be able to kill gods."

Ruby frowned. "I just don't get it," she said, as much to herself as to Jaune. "Maria teaches me that the Silver Eyes are for protecting life. But Kyo has me studying techniques for killing. He seems to think that I'm supposed to put the two of them together. But...they're opposites."

Jaune was silent for a moment. "Well...maybe that's the point."

"Huh? Ruby jolted, surprise flashing through her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I think about what Maria told you about the Silver Eyes, and how they work, it makes me wonder," said Jaune. "What if it's like magic?"

"I kinda think we already knew that...sort of," said Ruby, frowning contemplatively. After all, according to what Kyo and Sasame had told her, being a Silver-Eyed Warrior made her a Shaman, just like Jaune, and the Maidens. Of course, as she'd been told before, Ruby also knew that Shaman was a generic term, and the different kinds of Shamans could be as different from each other as they were regular people. Ruby suspected that there was no connection between her power and Jaune's.

"The thing I was thinking was that...well..." Jaune frowned, scrunching up his face. "Remember what Ozpin told us about the Brother Gods?"

"Yeah...?" said Ruby.

"Well, the younger one, the God of Darkness, he's supposed to be the god of death and destruction, right?"

"Right," agreed Ruby. "He's the one who created the Grimm."

"That's right," agreed Jaune. "The thing is, if he was the god of destruction, and he hated the things his brother made, why didn't he just destroy them himself?"

"He..." Ruby blinked, the meaning behind what Jaune said registering. "He didn't."

"That's right," agreed Jaune. "In fact, being a god of destruction seems to mean that, instead of being a god who destroys stuff, the God of Darkness was mainly a god who created destructive things."

Ruby's eyes went wide. Jaune was completely right. Even the Creatures of Grimm, which were supposed to be the embodiment of that kind of power, were created entities, almost as though the God of Darkness had deliberately created perverse parodies of his own brother's creations.

"That's what's got me a little confused," said Jaune. "Maria was talking about how the Silver Eyes are a power that's supposed to be used to preserve life."

"Preserve life..." Ruby frowned. "You think they come from the God of Light?"

"Maybe," said Jaune. "The thing is, whether that's true or not..."

"They're contradictory too," said Ruby. The Silver Eyes are a power that exists to preserve life, but they do that by destroying the darkness!

Contradictions on both sides. But what did that mean exactly? If that was the point, how did she put it to use?

"Don't worry about it too much," said Jaune, hugging her a bit tighter. "If it's you, I know you'll figure out a way."

Ruby found herself smiling. "You give me way too much credit," she said.

"Never," Jaune answered. "If nothing else, I believe in you, Ruby. I know your family does too."

"Yeah...I just feel weird about it," said Ruby. "Kyo-nii is so strong, one of the strongest people I know. Kaa-san and Kyoichiro-sensei are even stronger...I think. But everyone seems to think it's me who can solve all this."

"Maybe there's something more to saving the day than just being strong," suggested Jaune.

"Maybe..." mused Ruby idly.

There was nothing to be gained by forcing herself to think in circles. In the end, Ruby contented herself with leaning back in Jaune's embrace, the two of them spending the remainder of the evening staring off into the night sky.

The grand hall of Haven Academy was a majestic space to be sure. Through the main doors, one stepped into a vast room, furnished elegantly with the decor that was typical of the Kingdom of Mistral. On the other side from the door, a statue of a goddess-like figure standing beneath a landing, seeming to hold it up over her head, the landing itself reachable by a pair of staircases, flanking the statue on either side.

It was on that landing that Haven's Headmaster, Leonardo Lionheart, stood, looking down at the two visitors that had come into his school unannounced.

He cut a noble figure, the tanned skin of his chiseled face framed by gray-hair and a matching beard, in such a way that gave it the appearance of a mane. Brown eyebrows rested over a pair of dark-brown eyes. His large frame was covered by a white dress-shirt underneath a brown, sleeveless vest. Protruding from behind the gray pants he wore, a lion's tufted tail flicked back and forth slowly.

Yes, Lionheart cut a noble figure. But the look on his face was anything but noble, as he took in the two people who had brazenly walked into grand hall of his school. Instead, his throat bobbed, and he observed them with a look of trepidation, a look of fear.

"Yo, Leo," cheered Jester, rapping the head of his marotte against his shoulder in an idle gesture. "How've things been for ya?"

"J-Jester..." stammered Lionheart, cringing back away from the man. "Wha-what are you doing here...and with her?"

Lionheart's eyes went to the black-haired woman standing behind Jester. Raven Branwen was well known to him, and not merely because she was still an infamous bandit, even if her tribe had fallen on hard times, as of late.

"I figured that would be obvious," said Jester cheerfully. "We're here to get into the Vault, Leo-buddy."

"Th-the Vault...but that would mean..." Lioneheart's eyes widened.

"Yep," said Jester. "Say hello to Raven Branwen, Spring Maiden extraordinaire...and our new best friend."

"R-really...?" wondered Lionheart.

"How long are we going to waste time for?" asked Raven coldly. "The less we have to do with this cringing cretin, the better."

"Now now," said Jester, raising a hand in a consoling gesture, which Raven, nonetheless, cringed away from. "We're all friends here."

"I can't comprehend why you're even bothering," said Raven, glaring at Jester. "You could just take us down to the Vault yourself, couldn't you? Why are we bothering with him?"

"Well...in this case, this is for him," said Jester, before turning back to Lionheart, who flinched away. "Now then, Leo..the time's come. This is it...moment of truth." His voice suddenly dropped in tone, low and dangerous. "Open. The. Vault."

"And...once I do...will she...?" asked Lionheart.

"Yeah, she'll release you," declared Jester. "You'll be free."

"B-but how do I know you w-won't...?" asked Lionheart, cringing away.

"Leo..." Jester's tone dropped again. "Raven laid it out for ya. We don't actually need you to get in the Vault. Understand? This is it, the final display of your loyalty, the ultimate betrayal of Ozpin. If you don't follow through, then I just kill you, and we head down under our own power. So...what's it gonna be?"

Lionheart swallowed, then pulled his pocket watch. Coming down the stairway, he stood before the statue. Reaching for a gold chain that was wrapped around the statue's waist, Lionheart inserted his watch into a circular medallion mounted on the chain. A second later, with a clicking sound, the statue began to lower, revealing the landing it supported to be the platform of a large elevator.

Jester and Raven moved to stand on the platform. Behind them, Lionheart looked on.

"So now..." he said softly.

"Yep," replied Jester. "It's done. You're free, buddy. Congratulations."

Lionheart closed his eyes with a relaxed look, his entire body seeming to slump as the tension drained out of him. He let out a soft, extended exhalation...and promptly exploded into pieces, seemingly sliced apart by a blade of incredible sharpness, with blinding speed. Blood splattered in a red arc across the floor, while severed pieces of Lionheart's body bounced and rolled away from where he'd been standing.

Raven's eyes nearly bulged out of her head, her jaw dropping. She found herself watching the sight from in front of Jester, the man's unfaltering grin framed by the shining light of his eyes, as Lionheart's body fell to pieces behind him.

Jester didn't even glance at the dismembered corpse.

It took all the will Raven possessed not to turn and start vomiting. She'd seen plenty such sights before. But there was something about the scene, Lionheart dying the instant he'd believed he was well and truly free, while the sinister specter of Jester stood before him, clearly responsible, but acting as though such an act was so natural that it hadn't required even the slightest diversion of his attention to it.

Instead, Raven fell behind one of her more-favored defenses...sarcasm. "Really...'Death is a release', right? Isn't that a little cliche?"

Jester cackled gleefully, as Lionheart's remains disappeared from sight with the elevator's descent. "Well, it ain't anything bad," he said. "Ole Leo didn't feel a thing. He's a lucky man, when you think about it. He died happy, and happiness is what's important. I made him happy, then I made me happy. Everything's good."

Raven shivered, her skin paling.

"Don't get me wrong," said Jester, his grin stretching to unnatural levels. "You have no idea, Raven. Death is a release. It's the ultimate release. You and Leo are so silly, living in fear of something like that. You have no idea what it's like to be cursed to never experience it for yourself, to find yourself longing for that sweet embrace. You have no idea what it's like to watch generation after generation go to sleep, and long to join them, only to be cursed to remain awake...always awake."

"I'll take your word for it," said Raven uneasily.

Jester sighed and shrugged. "Well, you're young yet. I guess that's the way it is." He turned his head upwards. "Was I ever like that? I can't remember..."

Raven fought to keep from trembling. She realized that the fate that had befallen Lionheart could, just as easily, befall her. She'd thought herself strong. But, compared to Jester, she was nothing. He'd killed Lionheart, all while standing within less than a meter of her...and Raven hadn't noticed a thing. She hadn't seen him move, hadn't sensed anything, not even the tiniest fluctuation of his intent. He could kill her just as easily as he'd killed Lionheart, and Raven realized she'd probably be dead before she even noticed.

"Second thoughts?" asked Jester. "It's a little late for that, my little Spring Birdy. Your chance came and went."

"You wouldn't have given me a choice," Raven countered coldly, "even when you framed it as a choice, it wasn't really a choice at all."

"I'm not talkin' about that," said Jester, waving a hand dismissively. "Your chance was years ago. You had the Spring Maiden in your fold. You could've let her go, could've helped her or done whatever. But, in the end, ya chose to take her power for yourself, didn't ya?"

"I did what I had to do," declared Raven, the words rising up automatically. "When I found her, she was weak and afraid. Even when I trained her, she never really managed to learn anything worthwhile. She would have been hunted for her entire life." Her eyes narrowed. "What I did...it was mercy."

"Really?" mused Jester. "Was it mercy...or envy?"

Raven backed away from him.

"Why don't I hazard a guess at how it really went down," said Jester, closing the gap between them by a step. "You found her, and she was scared, right? Still, you thought you could use her. You decided to whip her into shape, make her into a proper weapon for your tribe. Lovely idea, I'm sure. Of course, regardless of how well she did, whatever she might've learned from you, you would see it, and you would think, 'I can do better.'

"However long it took her to pick up a skill or a trick, you'd think that you could do it faster, that you'd have it down quicker. You'd train her, then decide that you could push yourself longer and harder. You saw her with all that power...and imagined how much better use you could make of it..."

Raven backed up again, but found herself stopping to avoid brushing against the walls of the elevator shaft, rising past them in the progress of their descent.

"In the end, you decided that, however good a Maiden she might be able to become, you would be a better one," continued Jester. "So...you made the decision to take it for yourself...because that's what you've always done. When you want something, you take it. That's what a greedy little bird like you does...

"Except, you didn't think it through, did you? You said she'd be hunted for the rest of her life. But did that occur to you before or after you killed her...when you realized that you'd taken the target that was on her back...and stuck it on your own...with no way of getting it off?"

Omen rattled, betraying Raven's nerves as she trembled before Jester's astute observations.

"That's when you made your decision, cast your die," said Jester. "You did something you couldn't take back. And now...you're stuck. But that's not a recent development. The truth is, despite the illusion you've been under for the past few years, the moment you took the Maiden's power for yourself, you set yourself up to be here, one day. And now...that day is here."

The elevator finally reached the bottom. The Vault of Haven Academy consisted of an immense cavern. Stepping out of the lowering railings that formed the door to the elevator, they emerged onto a platform, leading towards a door, set into the roots of a massive tree. The pathway was marked by a trio of cyan circles, connected by a line between them, running all the way up to the door. The door itself was a magnificent construct, formed from a quartet of gold-colored, metal fans, unfolded so that they completely overlapped one another, leaving no opening to see what was behind them.

As Raven's foot stepped down on the first of the three circles, it lit up, the light illuminating the circle, then stretching along the line that connected to the second, lighting it up as well, before proceeding to the third, before continuing the rest of the way to the door. Up above the door, the tree's branches bloomed with orange flowers, which burst outward, then began to scatter in a magnificent fall of glowing, orange petals that cascaded around the two of them. It was a glorious scene...and one that was utterly lost on Raven, her mind consumed by two things...the door in front of her...and the twisted thing behind her.

The clicking of her shoes against the floor came a stop, along with Raven herself, as she stood before the door. This was it. All she would have to do was raise her hand, touch the door, and it would open for her.

And then what? wondered Raven. Her mind flew back to the vivid image Lionheart falling to pieces, behind a grinning Jester, so sure that he'd escaped Salem's grasp...only to die, right then and there. Is that going to be my fate? Raven wondered. Jester had promised that she would continue living. Not only that, but he'd even said that she could take the powers of the other three Maidens for herself.

But, just as he had been to Lionheart, Jester could be lying to her as well. She'd seen it already, the ease with which he'd promised salvation, only to dispense doom. The servants of Salem have forked tongues. If she opened this door, then there was every chance she could be next.

"What if I don't?" she asked aloud.

"Hmm...?"

"What if I refuse?" asked Raven, turning to look at Jester with hardened eyes. "So long as I don't open the door, you can't kill me."

She'd been worried that her words would anger or frustrate Jester. But...she realized that it was a paltry worry...when his grin widened to a maddening degree instead...and she realized that she'd made him happy...which was so much worse.

"Ohhh...That would be wonderful!" declared Jester, his Aura surging out, twisted and cold, throwing his entire body into shadow, with a pair of white lights marking his eyes. It was a demonic image, making him look like a creature from Hell. "You're right, Raven. If you don't open the door, I can't kill you...not yet. Instead...I'll just take you out of here with me and, until the day Salem readies her next candidate...you and I will have so much fun!"

Raven's mouth went dry.

"Nothing quite peeves me like a person whose priorities are out of order. You're so scared of death that it's honestly funny. But I'll be happy to take you and show you just how wonderful it is...because there are so many things that are so much worse. Won't that be fun, Raven? I'll give you a thorough education...I promise."

Her entire body shaking, Raven turned, and raised her hand to touch the door. A few seconds later, the vine-shaped engravings on its face illuminated with the same cyan light as the circles Raven had walked across to reach this point. With a groaning, metallic creak, the fans that formed the door folded up, closing in on themselves, and pulling into the frame as they went.

Behind the door...was a completely different world.

They were underground, but beyond the door was an achingly clear blue sky. Light from above, with no discernible source, stretched downward, illuminating the sands of a desert that seemed to stretch on into infinity. Just beyond the door, three wide, circular stones, were set into the sands, forming a basic path to a stone pedestal, atop which sat the Relic. The world beyond the door seemed almost beholden to its own laws of physics. The sand beyond seemed to be slowly drifting upwards, flying away into that empty sky.

It was beautiful, magnificent, if utterly impossible. It was nothing more than a door, but it looked as though it had opened into a completely different world. In fact, Raven supposed that it was a different world, one created and sustained by magic. The things she had done with her power, the feats she had performed. They were paltry, in their own way. And yet...the power she'd always thrown around was nothing more than a scaled up version of what regular warriors could do. Yes, she could wield the elements without needing Dust, and at a level that virtually no normal person could hope to match. But this...

This spoke of something beyond rational explanation, a sight that, no matter how much she looked at it, just did not make sense. Silently, Raven stared down at her hands, feeling for the first time that she'd squandered her power.

"Pretty neat view, ain't it?" teased Jester, already skipping past, his footsteps not even throwing up any of the sand as he moved. Coming to a stop, he loomed over the Relic, taking it in.

Raven came to stand next to him, confused and fascinated. She had no idea what she'd expected, when laying eyes on the Relic of Knowledge for the first time. None of the stories had given any indication what they looked like, and Ozpin had never told her anything.

It was a construct of gold and blue. A central orb, glowing a light-blue color, was encased in gold metal, a slotted cap fitted over its upper surface, winglike projections spreading out to the side. Above the cap, a tiered stem rose up to a broad ring, which was apparently a handle of sorts. On the bottom, the metal encasing the central orb terminated at a point. It did not stand, but hovered rather, motionless, above its pedestal.

"Pretty gaudy thing, don't ya think?" asked Jester idly. "I'd say a god who made somethin' like that had some insecurities. A fancy look like that practically screams 'This is important!'" He chuckled dryly. "'Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair,' huh? Just the kinda thing a couple 'o Pretenders like them would cook up."

Reaching out, Jester closed his hand around the ring, lifting the lamp, that's what Raven thought it resembled most, from its resting place. "Welp, got the Relic."

Turning about, he began to skip towards the exit again. Raven followed, not keen to find out what would happen to this space, now that its purpose had been served; at least, not while she was inside of it.

They emerged back into Haven's Vault, the searing heat of the desert past the door transitioning back into the cool of the subterranean cavern beyond. Raven was so shocked that she had to turn in place, just to confirm that she hadn't hallucinated the whole thing. Except...turning had the opposite effect. Raven found herself staring at a face of blank stone, a large rectangle etched into its surface the only visible sign that there'd been a door of any kind there at all.

It took her a second to get her emotions back under control. "What now?"

"Now, we move onto the next part."

Raven jumped. She'd been expecting to hear Jester. However, instead she'd heard a different voice, a familiar voice...the voice of a man who was lying in pieces up above. Whirling about, she gaped unashamedly at the figure of Leonardo Lionheart, standing in the middle of the Vault.

"Lionheart...no..." Her eyes narrowed, and she saw that Lionheart had the Relic in his hand. "Jester...?"

There was a puff of smoke, obscuring the man for a second. When it cleared, Jester was back, the bells of his fool's cap ringing gayly. "You called?" he asked playfully.

Raven glowered at him. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Well, aside from 'die'...probably not," conceded Jester. "When you live as long as I have, you tend to pick up...well...everything..." He chuckled. "That's just how it is. Since the very beginning, I've been a Joker, a wildcard. Used properly, I can act as any card in the deck."

"Why Lionheart?" asked Raven.

"'Cause it wouldn't do for anyone to learn that he's dead...just yet," replied Jester. "I'll nip up above, clean up that little mess, then play along like everything's hunky dory. I've done that so many times that I've lost count."

"And what about me?" asked Raven.

"Head back to Vale," answered Jester casually. "I know you've got your own ways of getting around, so I think you can handle your own travel arrangements. You're a big girl."

Raven growled. "Still...this is quite haphazard. Does Salem know you're doing this?"

"Didn't really think she needed to know," answered Jester casually. "I figured since, hey, we've got the Spring Maiden on our side now, we might as well get the Relic at Haven out of the way, while we've got the time to spare. Figured she wouldn't mind too much." He shrugged indifferently.

Raven watched him take a few more steps towards the elevator. Instead of actually entering it, he abruptly vanished. A minute later the elevator began to rise up. Raven watched it go. She didn't mind overly much. She had her own way out after all.

Silently, she raised her right hand, staring at it. In just the short time since she'd met him, Jester had already firmly tethered her to Salem's side of this war. Worse still, she knew full well that he could betray her the moment he got what he wanted...and she was powerless to do anything about it.

She'd once determined that she would do whatever it took; make any decision, any sacrifice; if it allowed her to survive. But now, all her efforts, every path she took towards survival, instead seemed to lead her towards an inescapable death. Why did it turn out like this?

The empty expanse of Haven's Vault had no answer for her.