Percy sat upright in his bed, checking the time again. He hadn't been able to get much sleep, with too many thoughts on his mind. The only thing he had achieved was tossing and turning in his bed.
It was half past four. He grunted quietly, sliding himself out of his bed and putting on his clothes. His teammates were still sleeping peacefully.
He moved to his desk, checking the designs for his suit again. Not designs, so to speak. The only things he'd asked for on that end were sea green highlights on black, and maybe a little bit of silver if needed, and he'd asked them to be creative with it. No, what he was checking were the wards he drew, on paper this time. He'd put them on various areas of the body; unsight wards on the hands, parrying and blocking wards on his forearms, blocking wards on his chest and back, impact wards on the palms and boots to augment raw, blunt force, and even a deployable shield that mechashifted from a watch that had piercing wards on the edges and a massive blocking ward in the center. He'd given instructions for wards to be put all over the suit, and all of it to be subtly laser etched onto the material. The problem was, would it work? Hypothetically, yes, since he'd done that exact same thing to a smaller extent with his skin, except, well, he didn't actually carve the wards on, he drew them before putting a certain amount of aura into it, before it ran out and dissolved. In actuality? No one knew. He sighed softly, running his hand through his raven black hair as he turned off the lamp, moving towards the door. He needed a breath of fresh air.
He opened the door, quietly slipping out and closing it gently, as he made his way towards the sparring rooms. The night air was cool, and refreshing, soothing his troubled mind like a gentle lullaby.
Remnant's pale, shattered moon shone brightly even in the dark tenebrousity of the night, unhindered and strong like a silvery claw in the night sky. The blanket of stars stretched to infinity, dotting the sky.
"Bob says hello..." he whispered.
If only Bob could see the stars right now... He scoured the starry night sky for the Huntress, Zoe, but she wasn't there, of course. None of the past ever was.
"Hello, Perseus," a voice behind him said.
"Hello, Headmaster," Percy replied evenly, having already sensed him.
"What brings you out so early?" Ozpin smiled warmly, his eyes crinkling slighty.
"I... couldn't sleep," Percy admitted, turning to look at the stars again, "I just... I'm doubting myself. I don't know if I've made the right decision."
"In convincing Miss Nikos to take the mantle of the Fall Maiden?"
Percy shot Ozpin a look, and the headmaster responded with an amused smile.
"I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on this planet. I feel the burden of those mistakes every day. But when you make a mistake, and you will, never let it control you or weigh you down. You must accept those mistakes and keep moving forward. Now, was convincing Miss Nikos to take the Maiden power a mistake? That remains to be seen."
"I-" Percy sighed, "I know... I just can't help but worry. What if she does become a different person because the quarter of Amber's soul merges with hers?"
Ozpin sighed, sipping his heavenly coffee, "We all have worries and concerns, Perseus."
"I know... this is different. It was solely because of my words that she chose to take up the Maiden powers... if Pyrrha changes, it is because of me. I told her to do her duty, her responsibility. Don't you get it? She's made up her mind not because of the others, but because of me! I am the reason she might get hurt!"
"You bear the true weight of responsibility, Perseus. You care for your teammates and inspire fierce loyalty in them. But it is Miss Nikos' decision in the end. There is no need to stress over such a thing. The benefits of the Maiden power outweigh the risks of her merging with one fourth of a soul."
"I... suppose that's fair... I'm worrying too much about her..."
"Would you like to worry a little less?" Ozpin smiled, taking another sip of his coffee.
"As good as your master brew coffee is, I don't really want it right now. I'm awake enough already; I don't need to be sleeping at two in the morning tomorrow."
Ozpin let out a snort of amusement, "No, I was thinking of something else..."
"What did you have in mind?"
"A spar."
"A spar?"
Percy was taken aback. A spar? Did Ozpin really want to get his ass beat up?
Ozpin chuckled at the dumbfounded expression on Percy's face.
"Beware of those in a profession in which men usually die young."
"Are you sure, Headmaster?"
Ozpin smiled in amusement, "Even I must stretch these old muscles out every once in a while, and I believe I haven't truly been tested in a while. You could give me a challenge."
Oh? Him give Ozpin a challenge, and not the other way around? Percy was fairly sure the man wasn't in over his head or anything, but the way he phrased it was interesting. Was he going to be better than Qrow? He would just have to wait and see.
"You're on, Ozpin," he grinned in anticipation.
-----
"Ready?"
Percy nodded, watching the headmaster as he pulled out a cane of all things.
Ozpin came towards him in a burst of speed, and in an instant, all the fancy new tricks and moves Percy had been planning to try out were thrown away.
Percy ducked, rolling away and putting some distance between them. Ozpin was almost too fast for Percy to react from. Ozpin pushed, and for the first time on Remnant, Percy found himself on the backfoot.
He was good. Like really, really good. The headmaster was a blur of strikes and speed, molded with perfect counters, and unpredictability. Percy missed a swing by a hair, and Ozpin punished him for it, heavily.
Hundreds of painful strikes flowed from the cane like water, and Percy could do nothing to stop it. Percy was forced back with a punch to the jaw, Ozpin's fist having surprising force, and he slid backwards on the ground. He tried to hook Ozpin's leg with a ward chain, but Ozpin stood his ground.
Percy was forced to give up on the attempt when the headmaster pushed again, his cane swinging at him. He left green afterimages in his wake, and Percy managed to parry his slashes, before swinging a haymaker into the man's chest, pushing him back.
He couldn't help but compare Ozpin to the gods and titans he'd fought before. Unlike those immortals, Ozpin didn't have an ego he could taunt, and he wasn't rusty; no, he was clearly in practice. He seemed even faster than Hyperion, the titan of light, which was saying something.
His actual stamina was in question, though. Percy could see he was beginning to slow down just the tiniest bit, which was why Percy disengaged, dancing away to let Ozpin chase him. The man had to keep on the offensive if he wanted to finish the fight and win. Raw skill couldn't win if his endurance ran out first. Ozpin's style emphasized adaptability, but none of that mattered when Percy could just keep retreating.
The man launched a tirade of attacks against him, several of them slipping through, but not doing any real damage to him, even if they were painful. Percy tried to put space between them so he could quickly sketch a ward, but Ozpin wouldn't let him do anything. Percy grit his teeth in frustration; he couldn't use his semblance.
But it was tiring Ozpin out more than anything. If he kept bluffing that he was going to use his semblance, Ozpin would keep pursuing... Percy grinned inwardly, as he maintained a stoic mask on the outside. He kept putting space between them, dancing away from Ozpin's strikes that promised pain.
Percy played keep away until he could see Ozpin begin tiring. He grinned in victory. It was time to attack.
Like the flip of a switch, Percy pushed back, and their sides were switched. He was the aggressor, and Ozpin the defender. Riptide pushed back immediately in a flurry of strikes, his arm nothing more than a blur. Ozpin managed to deflect and parry all of them, which was telling. It seemed that he wasn't as tired as Percy had thought.
Nevertheless, Percy pushed harder and harder against Ozpin's staunch defense, growing faster until his sword was nothing but a blur. His left hand flicked Requiem from his sleeve, the stylus mechashifting into a gladius. Not missing a beat, he threw Requiem at the headmaster, causing Ozpin to have to dodge, and his boot slammed into the headmaster's stomach.
Percy pushed, his left hand now wielding his ward longsword as he spun like a hurricane, not giving the headmaster a chance to even disengage and recover.
Ozpin couldn't block everything, and Anaklusmos worked in tandem with his longsword to cut away chunks of the headmaster's aura. Ozpin shielded himself, remnants of green shields popping up in his left hand as he desperately tried to get away. But Percy kept up the pace, controlling the very flow of the fight. With a final push of power, Ozpin yielded, and they both fell to the ground, panting.
Sweat rolled down Percy's body, a testament to the skill of the headmaster, at least.
"Good fight," Percy managed to get out, panting for air. He pushed himself up, staggering towards the water fountain.
"A good fight indeed," Ozpin laid against the left wall of the massive sparring room, breathing heavily, "With that level of fighting prowess, you'll easily win the Vytal Tournament."
Percy gulped water like it was his lifeline, feeling his energy rush back to him.
"I don't care about the Tournament. I was forced into it by Cinder having access into systems. Did James cleanse the systems yet?"
Ozpin shot him a look, "I believe this spar was to relax your mind, not to talk about business."
"Did James cleanse the systems yet?"
Ozpin shook his head, "He is still working on it. The virus is a tricky one to root out, he says. He tells me that they've managed to cleanse some of the virus that had been uploaded to the CCT, but not fully."
Percy grunted. That was annoying. If Cinder's virus was still in the systems at least partially, that would spell disaster for the Vytal Tournament.
"What is the name of your blade?" Ozpin asked, somehow managing to do it elegantly while also out of breath.
"Riptide," Percy answered. Ozpin shook his head, "I meant the other blade, the longsword you conjured."
"Right..."
"Convergence," he decided, the name coming forth from his lips easily. It was an amalgamation of his semblance and aura, a convergence
"A worthy name. This," Ozpin pressed a button on his cane, lengthening it, "is the Long Memory."
A surprisingly powerful cane in his hands, Percy had to admit. It had hurt with the force of his strikes, even with aura.
"A surprisingly painful weapon," Percy commented, as they shared a chuckle at that.
"Well, I believe it's time for me to return to work," Ozpin sighed.
"Have fun with your paperwork!" Percy grinned as Ozpin shook his head in amusement while picking up his mug.
"Very funny, Perseus, very funny."
-----
Mercury and Emerald made it past the second round with ease, taking Adel and the giant. Emerald's hallucination semblance had helped a lot, but Mercury was no slouch himself. He'd done most of the work, and that wasn't exaggerating.
"Good work, you two," Cinder congratulated them, Emerald nearly purring at the sound of praise. Mercury grimaced inwardly. It was like Emerald was getting groomed by her. It only hardened his resolve to get out, even if it meant leaving Emerald behind. As much as he cared about her, he would always prioritize his own life first.
"Our next step, well, is to match Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina in the finals."
"Why?" Emerald asked.
Cinder was apparently feeling generous, because she deigned to elaborate, smiling like a Cheshire cat, "Penny Polendina isn't a human; she is a robot girl, made entirely of metal. We know the Invincible Girl's semblance thanks to Mercury; it's polarity. Emerald, you will use your semblance to force the Invincible Girl to use her semblance en masse to cause a tragedy, where Polendina is ripped to shreds, and her robotic nature is exposed."
"As for which of us will move on to the finals, Mercury will be moving onto the finals. We will stage a tragedy before Polendina vs Nikos with Jackson, the people's beloved hero. Mercury will lose the fight, and you, Emerald, will use your semblance to make Jackson think Mercury is attacking him. He will react violently, causing another tragedy," Cinder smiled, outlining her plan so unusually clear that Mercury thought she might have been possessed by someone.
Mercury nodded, quipping, "Can do."
Maybe it was time to leave before he did any real damage and, more importantly, got caught. No way was he going down with this ship. Making a deal with Roman was too risky; Torchwick wouldn't have any use for him. He could bet both of his legs that the thief was planning to just dip during all the chaos.
And Mercury would do the same.
-----
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at Percy as they made their way onto the bullhead leaving Amity Colosseum. Both of them had made their way past the doubles round with no issues. Percy had put on a brutal show for them, absolutely decimating through his opponents from Mistral and ending the fight in less than a minute. He tried to hide it, but he was nervous.
"You're worried about me, aren't you?"
"No," he instantly denied, "I'm not worried about you, you're Pyrrha Nikos, four-time champion of the Mistralian Regional Tournament, you're the Invincible Girl!"
"Percy..." Pyrrha gave him a look that said she wasn't buying that bullshit.
"Okay fine, I'm worried, okay? I still don't know if you'll be okay..."
"I'll be fine, Percy," Pyrrha rolled her eyes, "I can take care of myself. Besides, Nora will be representing us in the finals tomorrow, since I'll need the day off."
"I know..."
Pyrrha looked up at him, stepping closer and poking him firmly in the chest. The action caused his eyes to meet hers.
"You aren't responsible for my decisions. Stop worrying so much, and focus on the fight tomorrow."
"... alright. I will."
The bullhead landed, and Percy and Pyrrha made their way to the headmaster's office, sending nervous glances at each other. It was best to keep it all under wraps, which was why Pyrrha wasn't telling their teams that the procedure was to begin today. She'd chalked her anti-socialness today up to a cold, and Nora was to fight in the finals instead of her.
Pyrrha and Percy took the elevator down in silence, stepping out into the Vault again. The Headmaster and the General were already waiting for them when they got to the end of the Vault.
Percy gave her a firm nod, trying to portray confidence, but Pyrrha knew him too well. She could see the uneasiness, the nervousness in his eyes. They embraced, and Pyrrha moved forward, towards the machine. Every step she took was filled with trepidation, but she managed to squash it down. She finally stepped into the machine.
"Good luck, Miss Nikos," the Headmaster said, as General Ironwood closed the pod with a foreboding thud.
Ozpin turned on the machine as it gently whirred to life. For a few moments, nothing happened. Pyrrha sat there in trepidation, sweat beginning to form on her forehead as her heart beat erratically.
Then, pain.
Pain unlike anything she'd ever felt before. It felt like she was burning up, submerged from head to toe in unyielding, furious fire. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, writhing like she was possessed.
Through the pain, she could see Percy rush towards her, only to be stopped by Ironwood.
Several minutes passed by, but they felt like eternity. Her very soul felt like it was burning up.
Finally, the pod door was opened, though she was too out of it to notice it. Her eyes felt heavy-lidded, The world was hazy, her body no longer registering as all her senses felt like they were hazed and muddied. She stumbled and would have fell over, had Percy not caught her quickly.
She could see his lips move, but she barely registered his words. Her eyes were heavy, too heavy. They closed of their own volition, as she embraced the darkness.
-----
Blake and the others knew something was up when Percy returned to their dorms with an unconscious Pyrrha in his arms, citing that she had feinted. When he entered Team PRWBY's dorm, the team surrounded the entrance, crossing their arms. He turned around, and JNR was behind him.
Percy sighed, "I-"
"Out with it," Blake stated evenly, "There's a tense mood everywhere in Vale because of the Breach, and everyone knows something is going to happen. People are on the edge of their seats, and not for the Vytal Tournament. Why is Pyrrha unconscious in your arms?"
Yang put her hands on her hips, "You know something, don't you? You've been going to Ozpin's office so much recently. What is it?"
Percy sighed, his hand running through his raven black tufts of hair, "Pyrrha took the maiden powers... and I... know something. The Fall Maiden's assailant is here, right now, at Beacon. And her name... is Cinder Fall," he admitted carefully.
Cinder... Fall... that name sounded vaguely familiar. Blake had a neutral reaction, considering she didn't really know who it was.
The reactions of her friends, however, were different. Very different.
"Cinder!??" Ruby cried out, "That's impossible! She's the leader of Team CMEN! She's Emerald's friend! They're our friends!"
Blake's eye twitched at how utterly naïve Ruby was. Blake could see it, but she couldn't. Emerald had been trying to insert herself into their social life from day one, and Blake saw how Percy sat next to them, chatting with them more than usually during Team RWBY's fight. Clearly there was something there, and Blake would give Percy the benefit of the doubt before he explained himself.
"That's impossible!" Yang folded her arms again, "Emerald has been nothing but friendly to us, and even if her teammates are a little anti-social, they're good people at heart."
Weiss remained silent, as did Jaune, Ren, and Nora, since Team CMEN had only socialized with Team PRWBY, and not Team JNPR.
He sighed again, "Why do you think Emerald was so overly friendly with us from the beginning? Because Cinder ordered her to. Her expressions are fake, plastic. Cinder's fighting style matches the woman we fought when we pursued Torchwick, Ruby. Her physical height and eye color, along with fighting style, match the woman I fought at the CCT tower. It's her. And if she is after the Maiden power, she already has three quarters of it."
"Then why not detain her now?" Weiss asked with strange calm, "If you are aware of her, why not detain her now?"
"It's not so simple," Percy sighed.
"He, nor the Headmaster or the General, can detain her because they have no concrete evidence, and if Cinder does have most of the Fall Maiden power like Percy suspects, anyone attempting to deal with her would become a mess," Ren elaborated, earning a grateful nod from Percy.
Blake could still see that Ruby was in denial, but Yang was still on the fence about it all.
"Percy is right here," Blake added, "Emerald was always fake. She made friends with Ruby because she picked the most innocent of us, and preyed on her naivety, because she was the weak link out of all of us, the one that would be the least suspicious if some stranger walked up and tried to be friends."
"No..." Ruby looked horrified, "I know her! She would never do that!"
"I cannot believe the nerve of that girl!" Yang growled, ignoring her sister's denial, "I'll go cave her face in."
"Yeah! We'll break her legs!" Nora added, grinning.
"You will do nothing," Percy corrected instantly, chastising them, "It would only cause a mess. This is why I didn't want to tell you all, look at the reactions. Ruby isn't going to be able to pretend like it didn't happen tomorrow, and she'll be nervous when Emerald comes around trying to say hi. She'll avoid her, and then Cinder will be tipped off. Or, Emerald doesn't come around at all tomorrow."
"Why is that?" Jaune asked.
"Remember Coco and Yatsuhashi against Mercury and Emerald today? Something was... off about that fight."
Blake agreed. Coco looked confused in that fight; she hadn't looked like her usual, cocky self.
"Let me pull up the footage," Weiss said.
"You think there was foul play?" Blake asked, not surprised when he nodded.
"Maybe not foul play, but some usage of a semblance or something," he added, "We haven't seen either of the two's semblances,
The footage was certainly... interesting. Mercury took both of them on by himself, before Coco was dragged into the forest by a chain.
"Pause it," Percy abruptly told Weiss, who did so.
"Go to camera five."
It was the only camera that held an angle of the inner forest, with the others being outside or only able to peer into some of the foliage.
"Play that at a quarter speed," Blake interjected. All of them leaned in, watching as Coco looked like she was speaking to someone... but there was no one there. No one at all. Coco looked up at the screen, seemingly surprised to see Yatsuhashi on the screen. She then whirled around, surprised. Emerald walked up to her casually from her back, and promptly booted her out of the trees.
"She's confused, and doesn't even hear Emerald coming. It's not an illusionary semblance, it's a hallucination semblance," Ren deduced, "It's auditory too."
"How do you know? For all it's worth it could just be fight-induced hallucinations," Weiss pointed out.
"And that would be what everyone else would think if Emerald used her semblance on someone in the finals!" Jaune pointed out, narrowing his eyes in thought, "The fighter would go crazy on someone who they thought had more aura, but actually has less aura! It has so much potential to be used for bad!"
"My thoughts exactly," Percy said, "And who do you think they would use it on, Ruby? I'll give you a hint: Pyrrha."
"Pyrrha? Her semblance is polarity... who's in the finals that could be affected by that... Penny!" Ruby shrieked in horror.
Penny Polendina? What did she have to do with anything?
"And why Penny, Ruby?" Blake had to ask.
"I- she made me promise not to tell..." Ruby said guiltily.
"Don't worry, I could tell, though. After all, it's not Ruby telling that way, is it?" Percy proposed a clever loophole.
"You can't just expose her like that!" Ruby shouted at him, eyes wide, "I thought you were my friend!"
"Yes, I am," Percy sighed, "But this is bigger than her, bigger than both of us. You aren't betraying her trust, I am."
"D-Do they need to know?" Ruby pleaded with Percy, her silver doe eyes widening.
"No, I suppose not. But they will figure it out anyway... Emerald's plan was to have Pyrrha hallucinate something, and Pyrrha would use her polarity, tearing Penny to pieces."
Tearing her to pieces? Polarity? Wait... but that meant...
"Penny is an android!?" Blake realized, the others having come to the same conclusion as her, to Ruby's dismay.
"Indeed. I think she has an aura, which is what gives it an organic experience," Ren added.
"Right as always, Ren," Percy complimented, "I'm sorry Ruby, but they did figure it out on their own. I didn't mean to betray your trust, or Penny's trust."
He paused, giving Ruby a sorrowful look before continuing.
"Either way, the timeline has changed for them. When they find out Pyrrha isn't advancing to the finals, they'll pull some sort of bogus hallucinations on one of the other contestants, most likely me or Yang."
"Why us?" Yang questioned, "I mean, we aren't anything special right?"
"Because we're students from Beacon, the huntsman academy of the kingdom that's hosting. They want to make some kind of smear campaign on Beacon's reputation. Think about it. They know you, no offense," Percy shot Yang a certain look, "are a hothead because of your little stunt in the doubles round with Team FNKI from Atlas. All they have to do is provoke you, and you will retaliate with a punch instead of blocking, so a hallucination that provokes you is sure to get a powerful response."
"In my turn, they don't like my recent publicity, so if I acted out of line due to Emerald's semblance, it would smear all over my reputation, and make it look like I'm just another arrogant hero who's in over his head."
Blake couldn't help but be amazed at Percy's uncanny ability to dissect and tear apart plans, just from the information that their enemy had a hallucination semblance.
Of course, it could all be wrong, but it was better to make plans in advance than adapt on the fly.
"Isn't this just speculation?" Ren asked, confused, "And speculation is bad, right?
"Semantics," Percy dismissed with a casual wave of his hand.
"Right..." Nora drawled, "So what's the plan? Can we go in and crush their skulls?"
"Well Nora," Jaune shot her a look, "I don't think that's a good idea. I mean one of them basically just handled Coco and Yatsuhashi, two experienced, second year students, with ease, and it didn't even look like he was trying!"
"Aww..." Nora looked grumpy, "But Team PRWBY can help! Two teams against one, and we have Percy and Pyrrha!"
"Pyrrha will be out tomorrow," Jaune pointed out sensibly, preventing the Nora train from running off the tracks, "And the entire thing would be a mess. Cinder has maiden powers, so she would just fly away, a-and the public will see us attacking them. Also what would the headmaster say if he saw us attacking Team...uh... CMEN out of the blue?"
"I guess you're right..." Nora grumbled sadly, her formerly gleeful expression replaced by a downtrodden look.
"The Headmaster and the General already know about it, but they have no evidence," Percy reminded them, "So we must play this safe, careful. When Yang and I make it to the finals, there's no telling which one of us hallucinations will be used on, or even both. Yang," Percy called her name out, causing Blake's partner to jerk her head up, "please, do not do anything if you see your opponent attack you out of the blue after the fight has ended. Do not block, do not react."
"But what if the person actually attacks her?" Nora scratched her head, confused.
"She could get hurt!" Ruby said, worried more for her sister than defending the integrity of her fake friend, "She would take a hit without even blocking!"
"If she blocks when nothing is coming her way, she'll at best look like an idiot doing a celebration, and at worst? It'll make her look like a person seeing hallucinations and someone who should be put in a mental ward, which, although isn't exactly what Cinder wants, she will settle for it."
"I'm not saying you can't block though, Yang," he added, "Reinforce your aura like normal, even if it's going to be low anyway, but don't show any sign of weakness, no matter the number of hallucinations Emerald might throw at you. And if you're up against Mercury, be careful. He knows about your semblance, so he might just throw the fight."
Yang nodded, lilac eyes blazing. There was little doubt that it would happen tomorrow, in the finals round, where everyone on Remnant with cable network would be watching.
"Are you sure it's wise to let Emerald play a game of hallucinations, basically a game of chicken, with Yang?" Ren asked stoically in his typical fashion.
"No. We should follow Emerald," Jaune suddenly realized, all eyes on him, "A-And we should like, bump into someone's drinks and spill them over her, or sit with her and bother her incessantly to the point where she can't focus!"
Well, Jaune certainly had improved in his reasoning. "Genius," she praised him, getting a shy blush of embarrassment from the leader of Team JNPR.
Blake felt disbelieving eyes on her, and she snapped, "What!? Can't I compliment someone?"
"No," Yang deadpanned, "Blake complimented someone, and it was Vomit Boy! The world must be ending!" she declared dramatically with a flourish, much to Jaune's protests in the background at the nickname.
"Hmm..." Percy thought out loud, "Good thinking Jaune. The question is, who's gonna do it? Normally, it'd be Ruby talking to her, but she's too... emotionally compromised for this."
"I'm emotionally compromised because I don't believe what you're saying!!" Ruby protested, but her team leader ignored her.
"Yang would be a good idea, since she talks with Emerald sometimes, and can talk her ass off if needed. But she's in the finals, so she's gonna be in the lockers the entire time because the whole thing is randomized..."
"Then Weiss," Blake suggested immediately, not knowing if she could stomach having to play nice with Emerald.
Her team leader nodded in agreement, "That would be best. If Weiss comes off as frigid, that's just her reputation, so it'll be all good."
"Tch. I am not that cold," Weiss harrumphed, shaking her head.
"Aww I wanted my beautiful Blaky-fly to spread her wings and socialize for a bit though!" Nora protested. Blake rolled her eyes at the insufferable nickname. She was not a butterfly faunus, she was a cat faunus. Nora had the endearing but annoying habit of making stupid nicknames for everyone.
"Nora..." Ren shot her a look, which at least stopped her for the moment.
Percy continued, "Alright, we can play around a little bit with 'accidents' on Emerald. But most importantly of all, we must protect Pyrrha, since she is recovering from the aura transfer. When Cinder comes after her, and she will, we have to be ready."
"We will. Team JNPR won't let Pyrrha come under harm," Jaune firmly stated. Percy answered him with a firm nod.
"Tell Pyrrha what we've discussed when she wakes up," Percy said, "And please let us know when she's up, okay?"
Nora shot him a grin and a big thumbs up, "Will do!"
"You didn't force her to do it, did you?" Ruby suddenly piped up, worried for her friend.
Percy smiled softly, "You know I would never do that, Rubes. She made her own choice. She must live with the consequences of it; hopefully they aren't too drastic."
With that ominous warning, the room fell silent. He sighed for what felt like the thirtieth time that day. The action was becoming increasingly common for him, and even Blake worried for her team leader, who seemed to be aging before her eyes. Percy turned to the door, Jaune, Ren, and Nora parting like the sea before him.
"Finish your suits that you started this morning. If you need me, I'll be in the gym."
-----
Ruby was shocked, horrified, all of the above as Percy, her team leader, left the room.
"It all has to be a big misunderstanding..." she declared to the room after Percy had left. Percy was her friend, her leader, someone who she trusted in and saw as a big brother and a mentor.
only to see no one agreeing with her.
"No, it's logical," Ren said neutrally, "We all saw evidence of Emerald's hallucinations, and the description of Cinder did match the woman he fought at the CCT and he fought with you while trying to detain Roman Torchwick..."
"Maybe Cinder does match the woman described, but that doesn't mean Emerald is guilty!" Ruby argued, only to be rebuffed by her own partner.
"That makes Emerald guilty by association even if we assume she had no ulterior motive in getting close to you," Weiss pointed out, "She will not hesitate to obey her team leader, and neither will Mercury, or their final teammate Noir, and if Cinder is really our assailant, Emerald is a prime suspect. She will more than likely use her semblance in the audience
"I know Em! She wouldn't do that, ever!" Ruby said, putting every ounce of her emotion into her voice, trying her hardest to make them believe her. Why couldn't they? Emerald was a friend of hers, was nice and everything! She was a genuine person, and her teammates were convinced she was a devil in disguise for no apparent reason!
"Better to be safe than sorry," Blake shrugged unapologetically.
Jaune butted in, "We're only making plans in advance if they do something. If they don't do anything we have suspicion of, we won't do anything. It's a purely reactive plan that doesn't hedge on complete speculation."
Ruby's heart felt like it had dropped into her stomach. Even Jaune was against her on this one. Why couldn't they just give her a chance?
"Fine!" she spat angrily, "Have it your way! I'll prove to you all that Emerald is innocent when she won't do anything!"
Ruby burst out of the room, not even bothering to slam the door shut. She bolted straight for the forge. Crescent Rose needed some repairs. And it was not because she needed time to cool off or anything.
AN: A whole lotta talking done in this chapter, I know, but it was all to build character tensions, which is necessary for the plot to be done well. It was kind of a filler chapter, I'll admit, but the action is coming up soon, so stay tuned! Noir is Neo, if you haven't already figured it out.
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FFN (remove spaces): discord . gg / M4yMguEz2J
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How'd you like this chapter? Review, comment, favorite, follow, vote, but only if you enjoyed! It helps motivate me to write more.
'til next time!
Next Chapter: September 2nd (1 week)
-thann3