Pyrrha blocked a devastating blow with her shield, digging her feet to the ground to stop herself from getting flung into the air like a ragdoll from the impact. She guided the rest of the strike aside, allowing her attacker to impale itself to her spear.

Her opponent let a pained roar as the hit connected, but instead of going down the creature let a furious howl and swiped at Pyrrha, aiming a blow directly at Pyrrha's throat. The red-clad Mistralian champion dodged by falling to a low stance… and the wind caused by the blow caught her and flung her aside as she hadn't expected the shockwave of the blow to cause so much updraft.

Pyrrha rolled and stood up, unfolding Milo into a rifle and firing few potshots at the attacker before something massive impacted against her back, driving air out of her lungs and almost concussed her as her head impacted against thick, cold grond.

Before she could recover from the invisible blow made entirely out of wind, she was picked from the ground with same invisible force that tussled her hair and clothes, and she was flung at a nearby tree with enough force to crack the tree in two. Pyrrha tried to recover by using her greaves to magnetize herself to the very world's magnetic field, rooting herself in place… and screamed aloud as lightning struck her out of overcast sky, almost breaking her Aura and causing the girl to slam to the ground.

"Match!" A gruff voice declared and Pyrrha shook her head to clear her disorientation. She took the hand offered to her and looked up to see red-eyed Yang Xiao-Long, the Fall Maiden, grinning at her. The golden-blonde hair flowed like lion's mane imbued with almost aetheric energy as wind danced in it… and fell as the buxom girl blinked, causing her eyes to return to their normal lilac colour. The blonde hair seemed to grow slightly dull without the aetheric energy swirling around it, which made the girl's appereance fit better with her brown and yellow clothes and with the brown, dying leaves of Mistral's forest.

Winter was soon coming to Remnant, and it had already started to snow lightly and inconsistently while the team had been making their camp in a patch of uninhibited woods few tens of miles away from Mistral's populated areas, just next to area known as Wind Path. The area had generally unstable weather, so it fit their needs perfectly- even if someone was looking at the general direction where Yang trained, seeing a localized thunderstorm wouldn't be too far out of the ordinary.

Pyrrha had wanted to visit her parents while they were in Mistral, but Qrow had put quick stop to that idea as they needed to maintain their incognito cover- and Pyrrha had to agree that she had a tendency of attracting crowds. Her sort-of stealth-training with Blake helped with that, but she had a fairly decent guess that her disguises wouldn't work on people around whom she had grown up, and could probably tell who she was based off her footsteps alone. She hadn't been all too happy with the outcome but she figured that the mission was to help Yang come to terms with her affliction rather than to sightsee Mistral, and had thus marched onwards.

"You're starting to get the 'ang of it." The gruff voice repeated and Pyrrha looked to the side where Qrow was overseeing their match while Nora and Ren were spectating. Nora bore few bruises and her hair had enough branches and brown leaves in it to build a small bird's nest while Ren was effectively unharmed, both having trained with Yang before Pyrrha's turn. The red-haired champion had a feeling that Yang had deliberately thrown the match with Ren in order to avoid Nora's ire.

"Good game, good fight." Yang commented to Pyrrha while rubbing a spot between her breasts where Pyrrha had managed to stab her during the brawler's devastating charge. "I need to watch out for those spear- uh... techniques."

"Spear-bracing…" Pyrrha commented almost reflexively as she cleaned branches and leaves out of her hair. "I… lost. Again."

"Don't fret over it, I'm just that good." Yang flexed her left hand and smirked… and her head bobbed down as Qrow whacked the girl in the back of her head. "Ow!"

"Don' get too cocky now. That's how the last Fall maiden died." Qrow's tone was grave as he reprimanded Yang. "Focus on yer training. You'll hafta fight against your teammates one-by-one, then all at same time, then all four of you against meself, and then against a pack of Grimm…"

"...And then against a Grimm in its nest, and against a stronger Grimm alone, and so on and so forth. Chill out, I got this." Yang repeated their training schedule to Qrow while rubbing her neck. "You worry way too much. I'm already getting the hang of this whole 'maiden' business."

"Yeah, but you still sucked hard when you tried to use it for the first time, and compared to Amber Fall, you still suck. And she got ambushed and killed. I don't want to see that happen to my lil' sunny dragon." Qrow's tone turned softer and he flinched as Yang hissed at the man. "Heh, forgot you don't like when someone other than yer dad calls you that, eh…"

"When that 'someone' happens to use it to manipulate me emotionally, no." Yang growled while her eyes turned red. "You know what, how about I stuff that scythe of yours where sun doesn't shine?"

"Yang, your mood..." Pyrrha commented from the side, carefully, as she spotted that the buxom girl's mood had shifted radically again. Yang's mood seemed to shift on a dime, again, and she almost cried as she turned towards Ren and Nora.

"I- I'm sorry, I don't know… It's the maiden again… ugh…"

Qrow sighed at Yang's stammering. "See? Yer not ready…"

Yang looked at Pyrrha while wiping her tears. "S-sorry… A-at least this didn't happen in the middle of the training, eh? I… ugh… this is so pathetic..."

"Well… that's why we are training, right?" Pyrrha tried to cheer Yang. She ignored her lower back which stung after getting tossed through a tree in order to pat the girl who seemed to gradually recover from the emotional shift.

Pyrrha felt sympathetic towards the buxom blonde's plight, she really did, but at the same time there was a tiny, miniscule niggle of a ugly feeling that threatened to take root in her heart after seeing Yang grow so ridiculously powerful in mere days… surpassing even Pyrrha, who until then had been effectively undefeatable in one-versus-one combat, and had spent her entire life training to get to the point where she was.

The ugly emotion was very reminiscent of the ugly feeling that swelled in her heart when she had fought for her place by Jaune's side, and had been only partially calmed when she had become one of the boy's 'special someone's'.

The fact she had to 'share' still caused the ugly feeling to fester in her heart, but she tried to reason with it as the alternative would have been to lose Jaune to Blake and then to Ruby, and then to Weiss as well- and she tried to ignore the suggestions the ugly feeling brought to her mind on how she could have… removed the issues. Most of which were slightly altered versions of Nora's plans, and none of them good.

Pyrrha shook her head to expel the emotion and instead offered her hand at Yang. "Um… you did well, Yang. That was probably the most decisive win you've scored against me so far."

"...Right… Sorry... Haa… Yeah, whatever. Ugh, I'm starving. I want pizza. And ice-cream. Preferably both at once. Blame Ruby for introducing me that that." Yang's tone seemed to shift again, this time towards needy arrogance, and Pyrrha had to stomp on the ugly feeling in her heart again as Yang turned away from Pyrrha's offered hand in order to deliver her demands to Qrow.

'She's not like that, not really, it's just the Fall Maiden speaking…' Pyrrha smiled at Yang's direction while keeping her eyes shut so that her glare wouldn't betray her true feelings. 'I shouldn't think like this… I'd be a horrible friend if I ignored her or shunned her when she's vulnerable, still getting used to her new, well-earned, justified, completely fair 'power'... yeah… right...'

She stopped herself again before her thoughts could continue towards dark places… and almost got a heart attack as someone pat her back.

"Is everything alright?" Ren's concerned voice was welcome as it allowed Pyrrha to think about something else than her own petty internal struggle.

"Y-yeah… I'm just… well, coming to terms with our new Yang." Pyrrha confessed. Ren nodded and then shook his head. The mantle of leader of team RYNN seemed to grow on the boy as time went on, allowing him to gradually come out of his self-imposed shell to aid his teammates as more than just as another blade in a fight.

"I understand what you mean." Ren sighed. "However I want to point out that there is no new Yang to come to terms with. She's just… going through a phase, as Qrow put once."

"You mean when we were just starting to train, Qrow said that, and Yang punched him into a tree?"

"Yes. And when she subsequently caused a forest fire with lightning storm and then almost flooded the lowlands by crying and apologizing so hard that a monsoon formed above us." Ren nodded. "It is still just a phase in our life, however, only around until Yang has reached mastery of the power entrusted to her. Yang will be Yang once more. But until then, we need to stick together- we are a team, after all."

"You're right… We need to stay together." Pyrrha sighed, contemplated for a brief moment, and steeled herself to reveal the ugly feeling to her team leader. "It's just… well…"

Ren waited patiently for Pyrrha to speak her mind… and she locked up. "Erm… I just… feel a bit hungry. W-we should probably look for food?"

"Very well. We've trained enough for this morning, I'm sure Qrow would agree." Ren nodded easily, allowing Pyrrha to breathe freely. "And whenever you feel like telling what is really bothering you, I am willing to listen."

Pyrrha's smile froze on her face. "U-um…"

Before she managed to come up with a convenient excuse or a white lie, Ren had already left (likely because Nora was looking at the two of them with a distinctly suspicious expression) and was heading towards the small camp the team and Qrow had set up in the forest.

Pyrrha looked to the camp where Qrow was looking at his Scroll, and furrowed her brow as the man seemed to grow pale as he read something. She used the odd sight to pull her thoughts away from her inability to tell about her true thoughts in front of Ren.

Qrow had ordered the team to shut down their Scrolls prior to leaving the outskirts of City of Mistral where they had landed aboard a unmarked Bullhead. A cloaked man had been waiting for them, and had ushered the team into a likewise unmarked transport… and the cloaked man had revealed himself to be headmaster of Haven.

The headmaster, Leonardo Lionhart, had then instructed Qrow to the remote, undetectable location that had been prepared for Yang's training, providing them the sturdy van-like transport loaded full of food, fuel and Dust which would last them the duration of their training.

Pyrrha sighed as she remembered that Nora had almost gone through their supply of wheat, butter and eggs in just two days by requesting constant stream of pancakes, and Yang had not made things any easier by demanding her fill as well, alongside occasional extravagant requests whenever her mood tilted towards 'arrogant snob' mindset. Qrow had his Scroll online and could request occasional supply drop-offs from Haven, but Pyrrha had a feeling that having a steady stream of supply transports and Bullhead flights dropping parachuted crates might draw some raised eyebrows should someone actually pay attention to the area.

'I wonder if Jaune has it any easier…' Pyrrha looked at her team, brushed away few dead leaves stubbornly clinging to her dress, and moved to fill her bowl with what appeared to be a soup made of wild greens and ration meat.


"...And as for the latest report from Vale…" Port mused as he looked over a page while Oobleck was busy snoring over a hefty pile of letters with a comfortable pillow under his face.

"Please, no more." Glynda groaned while sitting on her chair in the Headmistress's office.

"A break might be in order, true." Port mused. "While Oobleck and I took rotations answering Vale's questions and demands, you have not had such luxury."

"I can't afford to be weak at time like this. Vale's council is wavering and if I show weakness or cowardice, they will side with Atlas and have Beacon prosecuted for what they call 'unlawful aggression against Atlesian peace-keeping force.' If only Ozpin was here, he could pull some of those 'strings' he always talked about to get the council off my back." Glynda growled. "I… just need a small break. Five minutes. And then we'll continue."

"Yes, just five minutes. I am almost done with going through the Atlesian report on the Grimm Infiltrator issue, so at least that should be done soon." Port promised while grabbing the pillow Oobleck had been using, letting the professor's head impact against the papers and waking the man up. "Here."

Glynda took the offered pillow gratefully and put it behind her head, leaned back, and was out cold in mere seconds.

Port twirled his moustache as he took a stack of papers from in front of Glynda and moved them in front of Oobleck who was busy drinking coffee straight out of his coffee thermos-flamethrower-bat, whacking the man few times in the back after the still sleepy professor tried to talk while drinking and almost drowned himself on steaming-hot coffee.

"I doubt we can just write this off with letters, but we should at least try." Port sighed at Oobleck.

"If history proves right, and it often does, we'll likely see escalating stages of transgressions from Atlas until Vale either retaliates or caves in and allows Atlesians to do as they see fit." Oobleck agreed after coughing his lungs clear of the black liquid. "Either way, at that point Vacuo will likely chime in as well, reminding Vale of old pacts made to defend the continent in case of invasion from other nations, and Atlas will likely escalate so as well to do the same with Mistral. If Atlas just walks over Vale, what's stopping them from doing so to Vacuo as well? After all, Vale is Vacuo's greatest trade partner when it comes to food, so if Atlas can dictate the terms of the trade..."

"Vacuo has no choice but to either allow civil unrest from starvation, resulting in weakened nation before Atlas's possible invasion attempt, or try to seize Vale's more fertile land… which would then belong to Atlas. Much like how Mistral and Atlas hold similar deals, except with icy waste instead of scorching desert." Port nodded. "And if Vale retaliates, it could spark a war. Thus, no matter what happens we cannot resolve this situation peacefully alone. Atlas… if they want war, we can't afford to not give them one. Or rather, Vale can't, so they are grasping straws to try to avoid making the decision… Like trying to see if handing Glynda over would placate Atlas."

"I truly wish it hadn't come to the point where Vale is openly demanding such." Oobleck sighed heavily. "Yet, it seems it has. After all, throughout history we have seen examples of overwhelmingly strong attackers besieging defenders and demanding the head of the defender's commander. Most often than not, if the attacker appeared powerful enough, the defenders executed their own commanders in order to surrender with their lives…"

"You speak of 'game of kings,' a feudal war lasting hundreds of years, which led to the formation of Vale's predecessor nation." Port nodded. "I doubt that particular example holds as much relevance as you say, but it does have a striking similarity to our current situation. Nevertheless, Vale Council may find themselves on the minority if they push their luck- while they hold command of the army, most of the high-ranking officials and Hunters assigned to assist the army with Grimm still hold quite bit of respect towards Beacon. Even if Ozpin is… gone, the school still holds."

"Indeed." Oobleck looked towards Glynda who slept like a log while nuzzling the pillow in a manner that could have been almost called 'cute' if there wasn't a underlying wrongness in seeing the normally stern and strict task-mistress acting even slightly girly, even if she was unconscious when doing it. "Port… it's been five minutes. Shouldn't you wake her up?"

"I'll give that honor to you, old friend." Port nodded minutely at Oobleck who nodded back.

"Oh but I insist, old friend."

"...Glynda does look tired. Perhaps we should allow her to sleep for few hours? I doubt Vale is going to explode if she gets some rest. She does deserve it."

"And neither of us deserve her ire after she wakes up after too short nap." Oobleck agreed with Port.

"And we can only hope to survive her wrath once she finds out we let her sleep. Women are truly cunning." Port nodded once more while looking over a paper in front of Glynda. "Well, I suppose the council can wait to receive answer for what we did with the battleship wreck. Not that we have done anything with that bugger other than extinquish it before it could set the entire Emerald Forest on fire. Although I have no doubt the council will try to spin the forest fire as our fault."

"Indeed… The bill they expect us to pay for it..."

Glynda twiched in her sleep as she heard words 'bill' and 'pay', causing Port and Oobleck to fall quiet and make a unspoken pact to not tempt fate.


Ironwood stared at a ruined piece of equipment aboard his air-cruiser docked into Beacon's air-dock. The craft was completely free to detach from the dock at any time, but Ironwood knew he couldn't leave. He couldn't just let what had happened be buried under layers of bureaocracy.

Not when there was so many things that had gone wrong, that needed to be set right.

Not when the abomination still walked free, threatening the very Remnant he had sworn to defend.

Not when Ozpin's betrayer, the betrayer still stood by Glynda's side, axe held high above her neck and prepared to commit one more treachery before slinking back to his true, hidden mistress.

Not when Atlas's council was internally debating on what to do with the whole Vale issue: The council of Atlas couldn't afford to condemn Ironwood as he was the arm of the council and carried their authority- condemning one of their own would make Atlas appear weak which would attract political predators like blood in water. Instead, they locked onto the route of war, but were likely attempting to use it to puff their chests until finally accepting some sort of trade deal or suchlike from Vale and Beacon to keep face while avoiding war that neither side wanted.

What was making the possibility more likely was that the council was scrambling to redact the information and instead provided Ironwood with a new, less alarming report while they were getting to the bottom of the 'misinformation'. However, Ironwood knew that the first report from the research division had been accurate. The council knew that Ironwood was quick to act, so they sent the censored, modified report after the first one in order to calm him down, to keep him from continuing his war against the Grimm and their sycophants, to keep him from creating more 'political incidents' like the one which had blown over Beacon.

Yet, he couldn't stop when the only alternative was to allow the entire human race to be snuffed out by a new, horrible disease created on the lap of humanity's greatest enemy.

"Ozpin would have known what to do… even if that 'doing' would have been just to sit on our hands until situation somehow resolved itself as he pulled strings in the background." Ironwood sighed as he reached to clean some dust and ash off the broken Atlesian equipment in front of him and then reached for put on his general's coat. "...I will not surrender. I will save you, Glynda, even if you do not yet realize the danger you are in."

Ironwood's eyes regained their usual determined look as he left his bedchamber aboard his air-cruiser, leaving the destroyed piece of equipment on his desk. He needed to oversee the inspections of the troopers who had survived from the fight in Beacon, making sure that none of them carried the taint of the Grimm Infiltrators on their bodies.

It could not, would not be allowed to enter Atlas and fester the nation from inside like it had began spreading in Vale.

Ironwood hesitated for just a moment as he glanced back at his room, hesitated to open his mouth, to say something, but finally shook his head and moved onwards while pretending that his eyes weren't lined with red veins and his cheeks weren't bearing dried stains from tears.

Ironwood knew that he had to steel his heart, or he'd lose sight of his goal, lose what he held dear. And he had lost too much already.

The door closed, leaving Penny Polendina's disembodied, mechanical head lying on Ironwood's desk, staring into nothingness with unseeing, dull green eyes.


Ruby sighed and stretched.

As the battle in Beacon had unfolded Weiss had been mortally wounded by Penny's blades, and as a result she had gone into a very Jaune-y rampage... during which she had attacked Ruby, who at the time was completely out of Aura and thus unable to defend herself or use her eyes to calm Weiss like how she calmed Jaune.

Fortunately the white-haired girl had managed to latch onto Jaune after the boy had finished off Penny, and Weiss had come off the berserk state by consuming Jaune's blood… followed by falling completely unconscious.

Glynda had seen the spectacle and had ordered the entire team to stay out of fighting and focus on staying alive- and focus on keeping Weiss and Jaune contained. Luckily the woman had found a first-aid kit from Penny's corpse and had used it to Aura-boost Ruby and patch the wound in her thigh before leaving.

Thus Ruby had dragged unconscious Weiss and nonresponsive Jaune back to the ruined fourth-year dorm. She had found Blake within the dorm, propped against a half-broken wall and still in the state in which she had been dragged out of their private rendezvous- which is to say, completely unconscious, out of Aura, and naked.

Figuring that the team was completely out of action, Ruby had obeyed Glynda while the headmistress had departed towards Beacon Tower. At that point the sounds of battle had already ceased, and few hours after Glynda's departure, the Scroll network came back online.

Ruby had skimmed the news while looking over the team, occasionally slapping away one or few of Jaune's tentacles that had started to creep towards Blake's naked body, and found out that the Scroll jamming had apparently affected Vale as well… and that the whole nation was pretty much in chaos after the sudden Atlesian attack.

She had kept her shock to the minimum with conscious effort in order to not antagonize Weiss and Jaune further, although it didn't look like either really realized what was happening around them.

And when Glynda returned, she had ordered the team to stay in the ruined dorm, picking a still structurally intact room as their temporary abode while ordering the team under a house arrest while Atlesian claims were investigated. The headmistress left after making sure Weiss didn't need a doctor (seeing that her wounds had closed already and from previous experiences knew that sending someone to look at her 'other' affliction would end up badly), and the headmistress had posted a full rotation of Hunters to guard the dorm- both to prevent the team from leaving, and more importantly, to keep anyone from entering.

Ruby had found out that for some reason water supply through the pipes had been cut as well, and instead the team had been supplied with food, water and clothes through few separate drop-offs delivered to the front of the dorm by the Hunters. Initially Ruby had no idea why the Hunters had been surprised by seeing Ruby take the supplies the Hunters carried. After conversing with the Hunters (her small-talk attempt failing spectacularly), she discovered that the men had been sent to guard a 'extremely dangerous and potentially realm-threatening monstrosity caged into the dorm'… and seeing Ruby emerge from the dorm, bruised, covered in dust and ash had been quite a shock.

It had taken all of Ruby's diplomatic prowess to convince the men that she was supposed to be in the ruined dorm helping the 'beast' and that her wounds were from Atlesian invasion (which, granted, hadn't exactly helped the Hunter's mood), but finally they had allowed Ruby to return to the dorm, struggling to drag the food and water with her as her leg-wound was making carrying heavy things hard. The frustrated looks from the Hunters who stayed at the exit weren't making things easier, but Ruby didn't fault them for not helping as she knew that the Hunters were not allowed to enter the building itself.

She had delivered the food to the dorm-room where she and Glynda had dragged, carried and hauled Ruby's teammates… and found out that Weiss had woken up, but was stuck in a daze-like state where she just stared at nothingness with dull eyes.

Apparently Weiss had fallen out of a bed where Ruby had put the girl, and was kneeling on the floor, resting her back against her fur-covered guardian: Jaune had woken up as well, but his shapeshifting had turned him into what appeared to be maskless, bone-spikeless Beowolf.

Ruby had found the sight odd, not because of the appearance but because the boy had curled around Weiss's kneeling body like some sort of overly affectionate dog trying to warm and protect its owner. What was making it odd was the fact that Jaune had been quite hesitant when it came to initiating physical interaction in the past so seeing him initiate it felt odd to Ruby.

She had pushed past that though as it didn't seem that Jaune was about to lose control of himself- In fact, the dog-like appearance looked almost cuddly, specifically considering that the boy had been shaped like grotesque tentacle monster mere moments prior. Ruby had patted the boy-wolf's head, and had been rewarded by flapping ears and tail, making her think about how Zwei used to display that petting was of acceptable quality.

Ruby was secretly glad that Zwei was in their actual dorm still, so even if something happened to them, the dog would be alright and could continue Ruby's legacy and become a Hunter-dog himself if Ruby perished, making a Hunter-dog family and siring twelve adorable Hunter-puppies to cleanse Remnant of the Grimm threat. And she blinked as the oddness of that thought struck her, making her conclude that even she might have something loose in her head.

In fact, the only even remotely sane person in the team seemed to be Blake, who was by all accounts suffering a catatonic breakdown while lying on her back in the bed, half-covered by a bedsheet which Ruby had flung over the girl to give her at least some degree of modesty. It seemed that Blake getting flashbanged while she was about to 'bang' in a completely different sense had knocked the literal senses out of the black-haired girl, and she would likely need some sort of therapy once she finally stopped staring at the ceiling like it was about to fall on her.

Ruby sighed as she sat down to pet Jaune, listening to the faint, almost purr-like growl coming out of the boy-wolf's chest. She warmed her hands on the almost scaldingly hot fur, and realized that the only reason the dorm-room was still warm was because the boy was radiating enough heat to warm the space. It seemed that even electricity had been cut from the dorm, which sort-of made sense since the collapsed side of the building likely had crushed wires that could potentially short circuit and start a fire. And while the dorm was quarantined, the repairmen and electricians couldn't really get in to selectively cut off the power, so the power had been cut from the entire building.

"Haah…" Ruby sighed as she rubbed her hands together while trying to stare Weiss awake. Unfortunately her eyes just caused Weiss to freeze deeper into her stupor. "Figures nothing can go like how we planned… I hope you'll be alright, Weiss… Blake…"

Weiss seemed to twitch minutely as she heard Ruby's voice, but the movement was so faint that Ruby couldn't tell if the movement was real or if she imagined it. Either way, Ruby was getting tired and sleepy, so she pulled bedsheets down from nearby closet, flung few over Weiss and Jaune just in case, tossed the rest over Blake, and climbed into the bed with Blake in order to keep the girl warm as she seemed to shiver despite the room being warmed by Jaune's body.

"I bet Yang is having fun training in some exotic, pretty spot abroad in Shade or wherever…" Ruby grumbled as she checked the state of the bandage around her thigh before putting her face against the pillow she shared with Blake. Ruby exhaled, letting the day's struggle catch up to her… and by letting her guard down, she allowed the memory to return to her mind.

"Penny…" Ruby's grumble tried to stay neutral, uncaring, but she couldn't stop few drops of water falling down her cheeks as she thought about the girl. Penny had been weird but friendly, and Ruby had gotten along nicely with her… until the Atlesian girl's behaviour had shifted abruptly, like if it had been flicked like a switch from 'friendly, socially awkward teenager' to 'murder death kill' mode. "Penny… why… why did you do that? Why did you force Jaune to… "

She tried to stifle her sniffs, knowing that being sad would affect Jaune negatively, but couldn't quite stop herself from feeling depressed over Penny's death…

And a sudden pull from beside the bed caused Ruby's eyes to shoot open as she was pulled off the bed by some external force, collapsing on the floor…

...And she fell on top of a fluffy mattress made out of black boy-wolf who had nabbed the edge of the bed's mattress with his jaws and had dragged the occupants on the floor.

Before Ruby could protest or do more than to squeak in surprise, a pair of fur-covered arms engulfed her and Blake, dragging them along the bedsheets into the creature's warm hug.

She froze, staring at the Beowolf-form Jaune as the boy returned to his slumber after making sure Weiss was propped up in a comfortable position.

Ruby blinked and looked down at the massive arm that was tied around her waist, and resisted the need to fall into complete insanity by pretending that Jaune had shapeshifted into a big, burly and clueless mega-zwei, instead of taking the likeness of a massive beast of war whose only goal was the eradication of human race… which was cuddling Ruby.

She placed Blake's head into more comfortable position against Jaune's shoulder, pulled the scattered bedsheets better over the group, and tried to clear her head of stray thoughts so she could fall asleep.

While she was at it, Ruby attempted to ignore that Jaune had started to lick Blake's cat-ears in his sleep.

And she tried to ignore that Blake was starting to let slow, almost purr-like sounds in response, indicating that Jaune's licking had started to get through Blake's catatonic state.

'Yeah, I've had enough weird for the day…' Ruby pulled the sheet over her head, nuzzled against the creature's black fur, and fell asleep.

.

..

...

Larua let a small, almost depressed-sounding whine as Hazel left the thoroughly wrecked room in the Shard Mountains, leaving Jaune and his trio of maid-servant-concubines to sort out the mess.

"Lord Hazel should have inquired about our state before attacking. This will take some time to clean up." May huffed at the display and turned towards Jaune with her fists firmly against her hips and legs apart in a wide stance (likely to hide the shaking of her legs), completely ignoring the fact she was completely naked. Jaune tried his best to keep himself from staring. "Regardless! We have recovered, Lord Arc. However if I may advice, please allow us to prepare your clothing and dress you so you may meet with Queen Salem."

Jaune looked down and realized that his clothes had been effectively torn into shreds as well during the brief 'fight'. "Uh… right. About the room…"

"I'll request some servants to come and help replace the destroyed items. Rest assured, we will have this situation under control by nightfall." May tried to bow, but Shir had to step in to stop the girl from falling over due to her legs giving under her. Jaune stepped forwards and helped the two girls stand as Shir's movements looked as wobbly as May's were, almost causing the four of them to topple over as Larua, presumably feeling left out, joined in as well. "Erm, thanks Shir, Larua… E-excuse me for my weakness, lord…"

"I-it's alright, don't worry about it." Jaune mustered his resolve and nodded to the trio. "Um, so if you are alright for now, I need to get going if S- Queen Salem is waiting for me. Clothes?"

May tried to walk to a upturned dresser but Jaune stopped her before she could stumble and fall over. "Listen, I can clothe myself, and you three can go back to bath until you can walk properly again. Just point me in the right direction, what should I wear when I meet Salem?"

"I- if lord so dec…"

"I do. Now go."

"Y-yes, lord. Thank you." May nodded at Jaune and the three girls retreated back into bathroom after giving brief details on what kind of clothes would be appropriate when he went to see the Queen of the Grimm.

Jaune sighed before starting to go through the ruined dresser in search for a fresh set of clothes. While doing so he couldn't help but overhear the girl's conversation through the bathroom door as water ran and splashed, indicating that the girls were pouring a new hot bath for themselves.

"...Did my eyes fail me or did Lord Arc have tentacles when he fought lord Hazel?"

"...he did, and he looked like Queen Salem…"

"...Ohmygosh, what if Lord Arc is Queen Salem's son or something?"

"...Did we just become concubines to a prince?"

"...Wow… Well, there goes my days as a walking dishrag. Welcome luxuries!"

"..."

"...That's right, Larua. Shir, do you think the tentacles could, you know…"

"...I should totally try that…"

"...Shir? Wait, hold up, shark faunus, tentacles… wait, are tentacles your 'thing'?"

"Well…"

"..."

Jaune blushed, stopped eavesdropping and hurried his search for clothes. 'Yeah, time to go…'

.

..

"...And you allowed this?" a half-restrained, familiar voice came through the sturdy door leading to Salem's laboratory as Jaune approached it- or rather, the head maid led Jaune to it. The stern woman gave Jaune a evaluating gaze from his shoes to his haircut, clicked her tongue and muttered something ominous under her breath before knocking politely on the door.

The head maid opened the door precisely two seconds afterwards and gave Jaune a sideways glance after announcing their entry to the occupants of the room. Jaune gathered his courage and stepped into the laboratory, focused his eyes entirely on Salem who was standing in the middle of the laboratory, bowed his head and… 'Crap, crap, I forgot what I needed to say… erm... ' "H-hi, queen Salem?"

The head maid let a barely audible groan as she heard Jaune's 'greeting' and Jaune could quite literally feel the pulsating headache that started to form in the frilly-clad woman's head. 'Uh… I guess that wasn't it…'

"My my. I expected slightly more… different tone, considering the circumstances." Salem lifted her eyebrow at Jaune and motioned for him to lift his head. Jaune glanced to the side to see Hazel Rainart leaning against some sort of sturdy machine that seemed to shuffle vials while Watts was doing something behind the said machine, presumably operating it. The huge, tanned man responded to Jaune's look with one of his own, and Jaune had to avert his eyes as he could quite literally feel the man's all-consuming rage that was only barely restrained under his bronze skin.

"...Although I imagine you'll learn the proper etiquette in time." Salem finished her speech and clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Arc."

"Ah…. sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I was think- Ow!" Jaune snapped his attention back to Salem and felt as sudden burning pain coursed through his head like if a handful of rusty nails were forced into his eyeballs and ears at the same time. He fell on his knees as the sensation intensified, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the sensation went away. "A…. w…. wha…."

"Mr Arc, I may have to reconsider our arrangement if you feel like I am not worth your attention." Salem told Jaune with neutral tone while the head maid let a small, almost panicked sound behind Jaune. Salem lifted her eyes from Jaune to look at the maid and sighed at her. "I do not fault you for this. However, I would appreciate if you took time from your busy schedule to assist mr. Arc in reaching the very minimum required for social interaction in our little community."

The head maid let a barely audible sigh of relief and responded to Salem in a determined voice that Jaune ignored completely in order to focus his attention on Salem. The pain seemed to dissipate as he did so until he could stand back up and hide his shaky arms behind his back. "I… I ap- apologize, q-queen Salem…"

"I accept your apology. Now, to matter at hand: I had originally intended to have Cinder show the layout of this tower to you and afterwards let the two of you converse, perhaps come clear of each other's motives." Salem sighed at Jaune's awkward apology and waved her hand to move the matters forwards. "Unfortunately, it seems that…"

"Queen Salem. If I may, our matter is not finished." Hazel growled. "In fact, Arc's appearance is most fortunate…"

"Yes, I am aware you do not approve of Jaune's decision when it comes to manner in which he is employing the maids I sent to serve him." Salem tilted her head at Hazel. "However you should also consider the fact the maids have chosen this task voluntarily. I understand your frustration, but I have made my decision."

"You asked for those girls specifically, and we both know they will not refuse you- even if you asked them to feed themselves to your Grimm." Hazel seemed to ignore Salem's warning. "As far as I'm aware, that was more or less the sacrifice they expected they needed to make."

"I always give them the option to refuse."

"So does Ozpin."

"Enough." Salem's eyebrow twitched and Hazel fell silent. "We will talk of this later. Right now, someone else needs rescuing and unfortunately your talents are ill suited to saving them, Hazel. That happens to be why I summoned mr. Arc here in the first place."

"...What?" Hazel turned to look at Jaune with a expression of clear scepticism. "You? Are you even capable of things other than fornicating with defenseless, vulnerable women?"

"Hazel, tsk tsk." Watts clicked his tongue at Hazel from behind the vial-shuffling machine. "Show little faith in our new ally."

"...Fine." Hazel wasn't convinced and Jaune could pick the emotion clear from both the man's tone and from his state of mind.

"Uh… Sorry that I uh… caused things to be sorry for. But if someone needs helping, I will help. Did something happen?" Jaune tried to convey his message in a somewhat convincing and, in his mind at least, polite way. He felt strange emotions from somewhere nearby, but since the blackstone tower had odd impact on his Semblance, he wasn't entirely sure if he should trust the results of his emotion-sense.

"Somehow I feel that you know what I am talking about already. Cinder requires your aid." Salem lifted her eye at Jaune. "My dear… hm… adoptive daughter seems to have fallen ill and requires a knight in shining armor to save her."

"What, really?" Jaune blinked. "Like in the stories?"

"Quite, except I'll have you perform brain surgery on her cranium using your fists, and she needs to survive the procedure." Salem's tone was bland. "I am not sure you realize this, but you left quite the impression on Cinder. A physical one, and one that continues to grow and overtake her body as time goes on."

"E-excuse me?"

"A part of your Semblance, as I believe you call it, is embedded in Cinder and has grown again. I'd prefer if you removed it before Cinder is reborn as another copy of 'Jaune Arc', or failing that, she becomes some sort of flesh-abomination. Again." Salem motioned for Jaune to follow her. He followed the woman past Hazel, ignoring the hateful gaze the man sent at him, and arrived to a side-chamber that looked like surgery room.

To be honest, Jaune had half-expected the room to be the stuff of nightmares with blood on ceiling and walls, detached entrails everywhere and coated in other sorts of nightmarish objects typical for evil overlord's 'surgery' rooms. More shockingly though, the room was immaculately clean and was furnished with what looked to be state-of-the-art Atlesian surgery tools and stations, making Jaune pause for a while as he adjusted his expectations.

More importantly, he noticed Cinder lying on the surgery table, completely unconscious and breathing heavily through her mouth. If Jaune didn't know better, he could have sworn that the woman was moaning instead of groaning.

Jaune used his Semblance for a brief moment to make sure, feeling the pain Cinder radiated and also felt oddly… askew emotions that were something between what the girls in his bedchambers had radiated and what the odd abominations in Glenn had radiated.

It seemed that the act had triggered something in Cinder as he breathing grew laboured and Jaune curb-stomped his ability, pegging it as the fault as the timing was too convenient otherwise..

"Hm, so you felt it too." Salem's tone was neutral, analyzing, as she looked at Jaune and crossed her arms. "So, Jaune, what do you know about Grimm?"

"That they have something to do with healing Cinder? Erm, I mean, uh… that they are uh… mindless beasts?" Jaune felt sweat gathering in his back after his mind registered the dread queen of Grimm's voice. "Um… no offense?"

"Some taken. Regardless, I'd prefer your answer instead of one quoted from 'Mindless Beasts and How to Hunt Them' by J-K Strolling." Salem's eyebrow twitched. "If I may point out, Cinder's life may very well depend on the answers."

"Uh…" The stream of sweat flowing down Jaune's back intensified. "I-is this one of those kinds of… games?"

Salem buried her face in her hand, swept few strands of her white hair away from her brow and looked at Jaune with clearly unamused expression on her face. "Mr. Arc. I am not going to kill Cinder if your answer is lacking. But I see we are not going to get anywhere by asking and answering so pay attention."

"Y-yes, ma'am." Jaune flinched as he felt the annoyance Salem radiated even without his Semblance. He had a sneaking suspicion that Cinder felt it too, somehow, as she had frozen completely still and even her panting had slowed down. "U-um, so what are the Grimm?"

"Quite few things. But for now, you should know that Grimm are quite simple little things." Salem crossed her arms at Jaune. "A Grimm, in its barest possible form, is a offset without a purpose. It knows nothing, it serves nothing, it is nothing but a mass of negativity manifested as reality."

"Uh… so like, how the 'Mindless Be-'"

"However, that state is not what a Grimm is. A Grimm is that negativity given purpose, something to coascele around and finally rise as one of those you know as Grimm. Without that purpose the mass of manifested negativity is as much Grimm as a rotting corpse is a human." Salem spoke over Jaune. He spotted a vein began pounding in the dread queen's forehead and Jaune got the message.

'Right uh… don't interrupt the villain during a monologue, right…' Jaune sweated even harder, not wanting to repeat the scene he had made in the laboratory. 'Uh… s-should I apologize?'

Salem continued despite Jaune's internal ponderings. "...As such, a Grimm requires something to take shape, something to coascele around- a purpose. A Grimm is mindless in sense that it cannot truly exist by itself- it requires something to latch on, something to focus on, something to drive it forwards."

"E-erm, I didn't really get that." Jaune confessed. "Uh, Grimm are indecisive?"

"They are not so much indecisive as a manifestation of a concept." Salem clicked her tongue. "As such they require a core, a center to form around like a drop of water in rain requires a speck of impurity in air to form. That combination of manifested negativity and purpose around which it forms creates the concept you know as Grimm."

"Uh… you're talking like Weiss…" Jaune grumbled, and flinched as he realized he had spoken aloud. "E-erm, I mean, Weiss was… is my teammate, and uh... she is very smart, knows a lot about uh… things. So um…"

"I can only dread the amount of socializing lessons my maids must push you through before you can be released back into the wild." Salem's tone was somewhere between exasperated and slightly, minutely amused, but the emotion passed and turned to annoyance. "Do not stammer at me. Speak your mind, and I know you did not mean your initial words as compliment. Either be honest, or lie properly. Do neither, and you'll only come off as a fool."

"S-sorry…"

"And do not merely apologize, but learn from your mistakes. I have already raised one daughter in this century, do not force me to raise a son for I have little patience left over raising Cinder." Salem's strict tone caused Jaune to cower in fright that was almost familiar. It reminded him of… home.

For a moment the image of a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes passed by his mind, and Jaune tried to fight back a almost teary breath as he recognized his mother in the image. And afterwards, the image was combined with the last sight he had of the woman- in Shion. The tears that for shortest of moments threatened to fall were dried instantly and were replaced with cold rage that left him feeling weak. "A-ahm… S-sorr- I mean, I just remembered something… It's nothing..."

"Your family. Do you truly consider them 'nothing'?" Salem commented almost offhandedly, causing Jaune to freeze. "As I said, either lie properly or speak honestly- and you need to be far better at lying than what you are if you aim to deceive me. But that is a subject for another day. Focus."

"R-Right… Grimm?" Jaune tried to gather himself and realized that the moment had affected him more than it should have. 'I haven't really recovered from it, huh? Figures, It would have been too easy to just move on and save my sisters, and not think about it the loss… That there are some I can never get back... No, right now, Cinder needs me. I can still save her. I need to focus.'

He pushed the thoughts of his family aside, again, and tried his best to ignore the depression that stemmed from realizing how easy it had become to ignore the issue. "Cinder… needs something. Grimm need purpose, so… are you saying that Cinder needs a purpose? Is… err… Cinder a Grimm?"

"No. However, something in you is, and you placed that something in her as well." Salem tilted her head at Jaune. "Or should I say… hm… that you are a fountain of purpose."

"Uh… fountain?"

"Or a ever-spreading cancer chained by will that can redirect it, if only barely. Whichever you prefer. Something that grows without limit, without purpose other than to live. But at the same time, chained by something that diverts that goal." Salem tilted her head. "Something that consumes everything to sustain itself, until it is overridden by something else once the survival is guaranteed, only to resurface near the moment of death when that will is taken away and only purpose remains."

"So… If I understand correctly, I'm a human which has purpose to… live?" Jaune blinked. "Or uh, I have something 'Grimm' in me, and I'm alive because… uh, I want to be? That… um, doesn't make sense. Aren't humans alive by default? Wait, am I even a human? I'm confused…"

"Finally you begin to show honesty. Good." Salem nodded. "If we focus on Cinder's ailment for now, we should concentrate on the 'Grimm' that is within her, and is eating her from the inside."

"R-right."

"Now, from a Grimm's perspective, being alive can be a purpose. It is not a good purpose, as there is very little required to do in order to be alive." Salem seemed thoughtful as she looked at Cinder's pale face as the woman lied on the surgery bed. "After all, a cancer cell is alive. A blade of grass is alive as well, but you don't see either of them composing the anthem of the generation. No, it requires more- and that is precisely what Cinder lacks."

"Wait, so… why does Cinder have a Grimm that just wants to be alive?" Jaune blinked.

"You placed one in here, did you not?" Salem reached to place her hand on Cinder's abdomen. On a very specific spot on the woman's body.

"Uhh…. Did I… put a Grimm… in there?" Jaune blushed.

"Why yes."

"And… now I need to take it out, yes?"

"No, that would kill her as the corruption has reached her very brain and nerve system. Instead, you need to change its purpose. Can you recall what you felt, what you wished to happen when you placed your… hmm… 'seed' in her?" Salem asked. "Judging by Cinder's shape, it might not have been well thought-out feeling."

"E-uh? I just… wanted that she wouldn't die, that we'd all be together, that we'd all get out of Glenn." Jaune blinked and turned pale white as the meaning hit her, combined with what Salem had told him about Grimm, and after taking a careful leap of logic. "Wait, so… what I thought, er, felt when I healed Cinder in the Glenn metro tunnel before I blacked out… that's what the 'purpose' of the Grimm in Cinder is? Like a chicken getting imprinted to first thing it sees?"

"To put it simply, yes, but with few asterisks which we'll cover later to ensure this… incident… won't repeat itself by accident. Although I'd prefer if you used less… insulting… allegories in the future." Salem's eyebrow twitched as Jaune compared Grimm beasts, the very monsters which had been helding humanity under siege since time immemorial, to helpless newborn birds.

"S-sor… erm, I mean, uh… so… if I, well, p…"

"What did I tell you about stammering?"

"T-to stop doing it, queen Salem." Jaune gulped. "So to heal Cinder, I need to… have the 'thing' in her do something else than whatever it is doing now?"

"Yes. Although I must commend you on your choice of 'purpose' for the Grimm within Cinder. That very purpose 'to escape' allowed her to escape Ozpin's clutches once reached Vale and was imprisoned in the wizard's tower. That same purpose gave her strength to reach me. Yet the need to 'escape' and 'be together' may be what's causing Cinder's current affliction." Salem crossed her arms. "Hm… Not only is it a contradiction to be 'together' with what I assume to be 'humans' while 'escaping', the creature within Cinder may consider 'being together' in a more… literal… sense than what you might have thought."

"Is it that simple? To command Grimm, you just need to order it around?" Jaune blinked. "Uh, it kind of makes sense, you know, order it and it obeys, but uh… I mean…"

"Quite. After all, until now no-one else had been capable of giving, taking and altering the purpose of the Grimm. Which makes you quite interesting specimen in my eyes." Salem raised her eyebrow. "Indeed, given enough time, will, and a working spine, you might be capable of becoming something of a lord within Grimm. Regardless. Your current concern is Cinder."

"Back on topic, got it." Jaune nodded but made sure to remember Salem's words. "So, I need to somehow make her, er, whatever's in Cinder to not want to escape and to not be together?"

"Not quite. To be specific, I want you to focus on just feeling of being mortal, of being human." Salem tilted her head at Jaune. "I understand that it is quite… abstract concept, but you must understand that Grimm have absolutely zero understanding of context. A joke is a instruction is a order is a law. However, due to Grimm being born out of condensed, materialized emotional negativity, it responds best to negative emotions and purposes that feed into that feeling. Thus it is almost impossible to make a Grimm do a task that doesn't involve negativity."

"But… what should I do then?" Jaune blinked as the contradiction confused him. "I mean, if it's impossible to give a Grimm a 'happy' purpose…"

"Oh, it is indeed almost impossible to order a true Grimm like that. However, your… creation… is something more mixed. After all, it was not created from the condensed negativity that makes all other Grimm…" Salem reached to stroke Cinder's temple. "What affected Cinder was a creature that was a mixture of Grimm 'being' that was made out of flesh and bone of dead animals instead of the mass of negativity."

"Wait, so… I somehow made a Grimm that is just that 'purpose', without being made of the manifested mass of negativity?" Jaune's eyes widened. "So… what's in Cinder is not a Grimm made of purpose combined with the mass of negativity or whatever you spoke of, but a Grimm made out of… er, purpose and mass of meat and bone? Or something like that? Am I getting hotter or colder here?"

"In essence, yes. The flesh and bone allows the 'living' Grimm within Cinder to take purposes other than 'kill those' or 'hunt that' or 'bring a rock to me while destroying everything in your path'- The 'Grimm' you created is manifested negativity of Grimm 'flesh' which is partially merged into and suppressed by the living flesh that accompanies it." Salem hummed. "Am I making sense? Do you realize now how your ability allows Grimm flesh to be used in addition of normal flesh?"

"Uh, no, so…"

"...What makes you and your creation a special case is that normally the manifested negativity overtakes the flesh, killing the host when it merges with it. Humans generally document that as Grimm flesh being poisonous, but it is far, far more complicated than that." Salem lifted her eyebrow at Jaune. "Indeed, flesh-shaping is quite interesting field of study that has fallen by the wayside ever since the invention of modern medicine. Mostly since necromancy and creation of homunculi has become a somewhat… taboo subject alongside things like old gods. And Grimm are quite closely tied to those concepts."

"Uh… Aren't those things just made up?" Jaune blinked. "I thought necromancy was just a thing for fantasy novels and whatnot…"

"Oh? And here I was thinking that the 'Queen of the Grimm' was just a bedtime story told to keep kids straight and narrow." Salem furrowed her brow. "My, I still remember when people of Remnant called Dust as 'Magic Crystals.'

"Point taken." Jaune raised his hands in surrender. "So… I essentially made a ho- hamon- hurmon…"

"A homunculus: A creature mimicking the likeness of life, shambling monstrosity made to serve a single purpose, created through alchemy of life from flesh of another. Or that was how few dusty beards described it few thousands years ago." Salem rolled her eyes at Jaune. "Indeed, such art could be described as foundation of Grimm, but instead of tapping to the decaying flesh and bone of another, it instead draws from the manifestation of…"

"...Negativity, but since the Grimm I put in Cinder was made from my flesh, it… uh… didn't work like regular Grimm. Is that right? I think I get it now." Jaune sighed. "But I ate Grimm before that, so shouldn't that convey negativity since it's not real flesh, is it? Moreover, shouldn't I… I don't know, become negative when I eat Grimm?"

"And you don't?" Salem lifted her eyebrow. "Part of you is made of that manifested negativity when you devour its physical body, and thus is imbued into every part of you… including the parts which you place in others. When you 'eat' Grimm 'flesh' and use it, do you not feel the overwhelming negativity bearing down upon you, demanding, commanding, forcing you to destroy, hurt and kill?"

"..." Jaune fell silent. "...The Shadow… but… it's not entirely like that. Sometimes… it's almost sentient. Like if it knows things, like… it's actual person. When I came here, it stopped being violent and instead became… I don't know, peaceful? Reverent? Doesn't that contradict what you said about the negativity?"

Salem fell quiet. "Interesting. I'll have to inquire about that further in more detail later. But right now, do you now understand the 'Grimm' you made enough that you can begin healing Cinder?"

"...Yeah. Kind of." 'Or at least I hope so…' Jaune braced himself. "So… I re-enter Cinder, give the part of me in her a uh, different purpose, and then get out?"

"Yes. Focus on being neutral, of being tranquil, then focus on positivity like, let's say, reproduction since that appears to be your favorite subject at least if my maids are to be questioned, and let that positivity offset the negativity inherent in the Grimm material within your body and the body of the parasite within Cinder. I removed the part around her waist, but I couldn't remove what was stuck in her brain, so we'll focus there." Salem directed Jaune as she took his hand and placed it against Cinder's neck

Jaune tried to ignore the odd, tingly sensation that flowed up his arm as Salem held it, and instead focused on Cinder. 'Right… here we go…'

The skin between Jaune's fingers and Cinder's body grew hot… until Cinder's skin turned black as dark veins spread in her pale flesh where the two met, followed by feeling of sinking as Jaune's hand merged with Cinder's flesh.

And with that feeling, a dam broke.

Jaune felt as the equivalent of a physical manifestation of a panic attack flowed up his arm… and felt as the bottled-up feelings of fear, rage, loneliness, frustration and all other human negative emotions battered against his mind.

However, the assault was barely a blip on the radar when compared to the Shadow in its worst… and the reason became apparent as Jaune looked at the spot where his hand had submerged into Cinder's neck

Salem was holding her forefinger against Jaune's arm, and her finger had merged few inches into Jaune's flesh.

"I will hold the negativity in check while you work. I believe I have far more experience when it comes to that. I'll also see if this… 'shadow' is as you say." Salem explained as Jaune struggled to open his mouth. The whole situation was already starting to strain on his mind, and for some reason he was starting to feel as if he was sinking into a cold lake of ink as he sunk himself further into Cinder. "Arc. Focus on Cinder. Not in me."

Jaune gulped and nodded. He closed his eyes, allowing Salem to absorb the negative feelings radiating from Cinder, leaving just the garbled, panicked mess of need to get away from something, the desperate need to stay alive no matter what… and finally the almost parasite-like need to be together with something. 'Ah… so... It's as Salem said… It festered and became something else than I wanted… No, it became exactly like I felt, not like I wanted.'

He went through each 'part' of the emotions, absorbing them back into him… and allowing a feeling of more muted, more gentle state remain in their wake. Jaune realized that allowing such tranquility exist might have been impossible for him if Salem wasn't helping him to cope with the negativity within and without, and thus allowing him to focus on what he was doing without inside interference.

'...Right… I need to offset the remaining Grimm-mass-something made negativity like Salem said… So a positive feeling that can't be turned against her… hn... ' Jaune tried to think of a positive feeling that couldn't be turned against Cinder. Incapable of thinking of one, he latched onto the one Salem had suggested in a throwaway sentence 'It should work…'

He returned his mind to the heated moments in his bedchambers, to the feeling of skin against skin, to the heated kisses and lust while pushing away the regret that popped up alongside the feeling. 'Ugh… I'm sorry if this causes something bad, Cinder... '

With the 'purpose' planted, he began undoing the connection between him and the woman… until the connection between them broke with a jolt.

Jaune rubbed his hand where his fingers and skin was regaining its usual state after merging to a single blob of flesh. "Ouch… I… I did it?"

"We'll find out. For now, I'd like to go over what I discovered in your body while you were healing Cinder." Salem told Jaune as she pulled her hand off the boy, reached for a cabin beside the medical bed, and pulled out a sizeable meat cleaver.

Jaune's eyes widened as Salem lifted the weapon… and she swung it down to cut off the finger with she had sunk into Jaune's flesh.

He blinked at the dread Queen.

"I like to take no chances." Salem explained, showing her hand to Jaune and he saw that the bleeding stopped in mere seconds while a new finger began growing in her hand while she collected the finger and put it to a freezer. "Now then. I have some material to research, Cinder is healed, and I believe that you have some… etiquette lessons… to attend to. My head maid will see to them, so do try to pay attention."

Jaune felt sweat forming on his back. "Er… is that truly necessary?"

Salem looked at Jaune.

"P-point taken." Jaune shivered before turning towards the unconscious, waist-winged woman whose breathing had grown far more serene compared to her earlier pained panting. "But, before that, have you found anything about…"

"All members of team SABR have survived their mission in Glenn and are currently in Beacon." Salem told him before he managed to finish his sentence, causing Jaune's shoulders to droop in relief. "As for your missing sisters, I have a lead, but no concrete information yet."

"I… I see. Thank you." Jaune felt like crying as the relief over the team washed over him. "I… I need to tell them that I am sorry, that…"

"For now, I'd prefer if you kept low profile as far as contacting them is concerned. However, rest assured that team SABR knows that Jaune Arc is alive." Salem smirked at Jaune in a way that felt almost as if the woman was making a joke that went right over Jaune's head.

"...R-right, still, thanks for telling me." Jaune sighed. "If they know I'm alive, everything should be fine at least until I rescue my sisters. So uh… get well soon, Cinder?"

"I believe she will. For now, I will leave the rest of the parasite in her to see if your treatment was successful. If not, I'll just do with Cinder what I did with my finger, and shave off some excess before we try again." Salem told Jaune lightly as she led him out of the surgery room.

"Um, you're joking, right?"

"Oh, what gave you the impression that I was?"

Jaune gulped. 'Yeah… Mental note, don't get hospitalized here…'

Next:

A bit over week ish.

I realized later that the scene-structure in recent chapters could have probably used some improvements to make the story flow better. Then again, this is pretty much my first attempt at following multiple viewpoints.

Review, etc. Thanks for reading!