169

Black Rose Blooms SilverCyberQueen_Jolyne

Chapter 169

Chapter Text

Somehow, in the face of everything, the Vytal Tournament seemed like such a background event to Glynda. She watched every match, of course, took notes on the students and made sure that she could provide them better training plans in the coming semester- save for the fourth years, whom she simply recommended for specific licensing tests once they were ready for such things. 

Still, it was… it felt unimportant. There was a rising sense of paranoia in everything- how long would it be before Salem's next attack? Where would she attack? The only place that the immortal witch hadn't gone for yet was Vacuo, and even then, that didn't mean Vacuo was safe. It just meant that Vacuo might end up being the next target.

Then again- Vale might end up a target again now that Ruby was back on her feet and participating in the Vytal Tournament as her team continued to rack up win after win after win. They'd defeated Team BRNZ in the second team fight round, Weiss, Blake, and Yang had defeated Scarlet, Sun, and Sage in the trio round, and then a string of students that Glynda didn't particularly know anything about seeing as they were from other schools and she only had the bare minimum knowledge about them, and the doubles round had gone…

Well. 

Flynt Coal and Neon Katt from Team FNKI had tried. Unfortunately all that Neon managed to do with her speeding around was piss off Ruby hard enough that she went full speed and delivered a Burning Finger straight out of G Guntan straight to the girl's midsection and launched her out of the arena entirely. After that , Penny started playing music out of a different Guntan series and used her Floating Array to fire lasers in dizzying patterns at Flynt, which thus knocked him out of the fight in mere seconds , with the final blow being a solid sword strike across his chest that sent him to the ground with a dramatic thump. All while saying something about running and advancing and pride that Glynda really didn't get because she didn't watch much in the way of media.

She would have protested at the sheer mockery that Team RWBY was making of the Vytal Tournament, but the crowd reactions were largely positive and they were still following all the rules, and it wasn't like some of the other teams weren't just as ridiculously goofy and weird sometimes, so really the only actual mockery was that Team RWBY was facing opponents that were just so hilariously beneath their skill level that it was frankly insulting.

Thankfully, the finals rounds were proving much better, seeing as Team CVFY and CMNE had made it there and had put forth Coco and Cinder respectively for their finalists. Glynda knew that, whoever ended up facing Ruby in the finals, the resulting fight would be utterly spectacular- after all, the other finalist would have proved themselves the best of everyone they'd fought, and seeing as Ruby was the single strongest student in Beacon (a feat which was, surprisingly, not actually due to her grimm abilities but rather due to her sheer ability with her weapons and Semblance that had somehow only gotten better while she was in a coma), then it was a faceoff of the best of the best.

Hopefully, it would end well.

Glynda sighed, worrying her thumb as she sat in her office, squinting at the screen before her as she continued to monitor the safety net that kept an eye on Beacon and Vale- Pietro had mentioned that he'd been reverse engineering the hack that took over the doors and developing a patch that would insulate Atlesian systems from any further attempts using the same vulnerabilities as before. Theoretically, that would render Atlas and Mantle safe within about three to six months given the scale of the code replacement that would need to happen. Beacon's systems had also been given a number of security updates that made it harder for hacks to use the vulnerabilities present before the attack during the dance or the attack during the Cataclysm last year. 

"Things keep getting more and more tense… I don't know why but I keep feeling like we're on the precipice of something big… " Glynda murmured, grimacing as she continued worrying her thumbnail as she glared at her datapad. "Why does it feel like something is about to go horribly wrong?"

"I don't know, but it's either paranoia or foresight. The only thing we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best," Qrow answered, flittering through the window and landing in the seat across from her with a muted thump of his weight hitting the cushioned armchair… and a sudden gasp as he sat on something no man enjoyed sitting on in such a manner.

"Shitfuck!"

"... Somehow, I had thought you were above things like that," Glynda deadpanned, pinching her brow as she watched Qrow slide out of the chair and onto the ground, wincing and writhing as he clutched at his crotch and tried not to scream. "Honestly, you've fallen from far greater heights in far worse positions, and somehow a little bit of testicular trauma is what puts you on the ground writhing like a dying spider?"

"F-fuckkkkk…. You'd know exactly what it's like if you had balls, Glyn," Qrow wheezed, slowly pushing himself up and fanning himself as his Aura began to heal the damage. "Fucking hell… ow…. Gods, I thought I could get away with it this time but somehow that only works half the time…"

"Truly, even without your Semblance, your luck seems to be the absolute worst ," Glynda sighed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

…

…

…

"... You didn't respond with a witty quip. How… out of character for you," Glynda muttered, looking at Qrow again after a moment and tilting her head. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no… just… my Semblance… I don't think it is gone," Qrow answered after a moment, patting at his chest and grimacing as his Aura flared. "Things have been… weird lately. Like there's this… pulsing in my chest. My Aura's been acting funny too, like, I keep getting flashes like it's trying to heal something, and like something is… moving or growing inside of me. Not…- in like a good way. I'm not sure what it is but… I don't think Marcus Black's Semblance actually took mine. I think it just… copied it and buried mine so deep it normally wouldn't ever come back."

"So you mean-" Glynda stood up, furrowing her brow as she held out her hand vaguely, Aura senses tingling as she stretched out her soul and brushed it against Qrow's- usually it felt jagged, rough, as though it hadn't been formed properly and something was missing . But… now…? It felt like… something was there. The sharp edges had dulled with time, rounded out, but something made it feel whole again. Not entirely, not completely, but there didn't feel like there was something missing anymore. It just felt like… something was there … she just didn't know what. "That- your Aura…"

"Feels more complete than it has in years, come to think of it. Think I might actually get my Semblance back eventually," Qrow nodded slowly, pursing his lips and clenching his fist as he looked down at his lap. "And… I don't think it's going to be the same as it was before. I'm older now. Stronger, wiser. In a better place. I think my Semblance… it's gonna change with me. I don't know why, but I think I can feel it. Something about my rotten luck is changing- I think it might not be Bad Luck anymore at all."

"What, you think it might be more like proper luck manipulation like Clover Ebi's?" Glynda asked, raising an eyebrow as she mentioned the Atlesian Ace Ops that she'd met over in Atlas- a fishing pole sure was an odd choice of weapon, but as someone who wielded a riding crop and sometimes a whip, she supposed she couldn't really say anything when he was clearly extremely proficient with the tool itself. "That would be something, wouldn't it?"

"Mhmm… it sure would…" Qrow murmured, nodding along with Glynda's words as he relaxed back in the armchair once he was sure he wouldn't sit on his balls again. "Lotsa weird moments of bad luck have been happening, but a lotta weird moments of good luck too."

"As in?"

"Well, I flipped a coin twelve times and got heads every single time," Qrow shrugged. "Did it again, got tails every time."

"Were you trying to do that or-?"

"I was."

Glynda hummed. "... Well. That is good news then. Congratulations Qrow."

"Yeah… the only question is… is Mercury's Semblance gonna come back too?"

"... That is a good question…"