Gods Within The Arc

"Speaking"

"gods/heroes speaking"

'Thinking'

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[Beta-ed by LordHellPhoenix]

Chapter 9

Twisting The Truth

Jaune stood all by himself atop a hill, overlooking a small riverbank, his undivided attention was solely on his approaching foe. Jaune's body trembled uncontrollable in an odd rhythmic way, the fear and existential dread made his knees wobble, almost making them collapse underneath him. Jaune glanced down at his hands, noting that lightning was being emitted from them, allowing Jaune to infer that this might be one of Zeus's memories. Jaune's attention remained unfocused for mere moments, allowing him to escape the reality of the hellish situation that he founded himself in, that was until an ungodly roar snapped his attention back to his foe. Jaune stared at the mountain that approached him, feeling his breath to quicken in absolute dread of the beast. The creature was unlike any the gods spoke of. It was grotesque and downright hideous, with it being as tall as a mountain that could reach the stars themselves with ease, while his hands that numbered a hundred for both his left and right, could expand and reach eastward and westward without problem. The beast's head was that of man with horns protruding out of it and its hair was comprised of serpents and vipers flowing and cascading down to it's waist like some form of amalgamation of a waterfall. The creatures eyes were an everlasting infernal of raging flames and smoke that could seemingly glare holes into anything the beast looked at.

From the waist up, the abdominal beast was human, but from the waist down its body was comprised of a plethora of coiling snakes and vipers that all hissed in Jaune's direction, causing the blond host to take a step back and to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. As the abomination of all nature continued on its rampaging approach for Jaune, bat-like wings expanded and came forward from its back. With one final slither of its coiled snakes, it stood above Jaune with a horrifying and dread inducing aura.

Jaune stared at the creature, the one that they called the father of all monster, Typhon, with fear and dread crawling all over him as the fire-filled eyes glared at him with hatred and rage. Jaune's heart pounded hard within his chest that he could hear it throbbing in his ears, drowning any noise from the outside world, apart from his heavy breathing.

Jaune wanted to run, to bolt the other way and just run for dear life but he couldn't as he was so paralyzed with fear that his legs wouldn't budge. Typhon raised its hands and brought them down to crush and completely destroy the puny creature that stood below him. Just as the hands were about to close in on him, Jaune shut his eyes and awaited his fate.

"...aune... Jaune! Wake up!" Jaune's eyes shot open at the sound of his friend's voice and constant shaking to wake him up from his vivid nightmares. As Jaune steadied his breathing, he noticed the titular colorless effect that Ren's semblance had. The stoic boy's power ran its course as it immediately removed the fear, shakiness, and dread he had experienced while face to face with Typhon. As the effects from Ren's semblance faded, Jaune sat up on the side of his bed, sighing as he wiped the sweat that had formed.

"What was it about this time?" Jaune turned his head to be met with magenta eyes filled with worry and concern.

"Just... remembering some horrible encounters that I've had with the Grimm. It wasn't connected to my semblance this time."

"Do you wish to speak about it?" The stoic boy asked as he sat beside his blond comrade. Truth be told, Jaune didn't want to speak about his nightmares, it's not like anyone would ever believe his claims. Most likely thing to happen is that no one would believe him or worst they would toss him in a mental institution, but a small part of him did want to tell someone, to tell someone and vent out his stress and frustration that the nightmares brought upon him. It would be nice to have someone to lean on for a semblance of support. After a long uncomfortable silence between the two male members of team JNPR, Jaune spoke out.

"Ren, have you ever seen a... creature so horrendous and terrifying that no matter what you do, you just can't shake its ghastly image from your mind? It's in your dreams, in your nightmares, you can see it in your peripherals, even though when you turn, there isn't anything there." Jaune asked, still not wanting to speak about his own experiences, but to hear Ren's. He remembered Ren saying how he had nightmares before, and he wanted to know and gain some insight about his stoic friend. As Jaune spoke, Ren's face turned from one of concern to one of bitter remembrance.

"I have and so has Nora, back when our village was attacked and subsequently destroyed." The normally quiet and neutral boy spoke with a dishearten and sadden voice. Ren closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself before beginning to speak again.

"My village fell under attack by a Grimm known as a Nuckelavee when I was very young, destroying everything in its path, as standard Grimm nature. As far as my knowledge goes and after some digging around, I believe that Nora and I might be the only ones that escaped with our lives." Ren said the last part while he looked at the sleeping form of his energetic orange haired partner.

"After we escaped Kuroyuri, we were picked up by a small caravan and there we met our teacher. He took us in and raised us as his own, giving us our needs and training both of us to become Huntsmen. And he was the one that helped Nora and I finally get over the horrible nightmares we had about that beast; I owe my teacher a great deal." Ren concluded speaking, allowing the blond host to digest the information that had been given to him. He cursed himself for bringing up the tragic past that haunted Ren, and felt a pit begin to grow in his stomach as he felt guilty for bring up that painful past and for the lies that he was about to say.

"Something similar happened to me." Jaune begun to say as Ren returned his undivided attention to his leader. "When I was pretty young, my town was attacked by an unknown Grimm. It wasn't a horde or a new species that had never been documented, it was just one Grimm. A singular Grimm that was able to cause so much death and destruction, no matter what our local militia or resident Huntsmen did, it wouldn't put a dent in it. I remember seeing it, a brief glance but I could never forget it. Perhaps it was my infant mind imagining and blowing the Grimm's appearance out of proportions but... I could've sworn that it was as big as a fucking mountain."

"What happened? How did the Huntsmen and militia kill it?" Ren inquired, having small flashbacks to that faithful night in Kuroyuri as Jaune's experience was much like his own. Ren got his answer as his leader shook his head and spoke up once more.

"Neither the militia nor the Huntsmen killed it. They simple stalled for enough time until reinforcements arrive. They must have spent hours luring and distracting the beast at the outskirts of the town, and we the townspeople were lucky that no more Grimm came because it wouldn't have ended well. Finally, the reinforcement arrive and it just one man and nothing else. I remember watching through a small window as the man singlehandedly defeated the Grimm, but no matter how many times I told myself that it was dead, the appearance of that Grimm will always haunt me, although it isn't as bad as it used to be. "

Jaune finished speaking, having just lied yet told the truth to his stoic friend. There was no unknown Grimm that attacked the town of Bitterwood, there was an attack, but that was the one where he was first approached by the gods. The tale that he had told Ren was a slight twist to the tale of Typhon, having replaced the rulership for the cosmos for the survival of the quiet town of Bitterwood, Typhon replaced by a creature of Grimm, and Zeus being told as a legendary Huntsmen that came in and rescued the people of the town. Jaune had twisted the truth to fit the logic of Remnant, for now he would keep that logic intact and would keep up with the secrecy until it was the right time

"It's good to know that it isn't a recurring nightmare anymore, and I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me about it. If you ever need any help dealing with anymore nightmares, be it of your past or related to your semblance, let me know, we're teammates after all. We should strive to help each other." Ren said as he put his hand on Jaune's shoulder as a sign of camaraderie and friendship. Jaune smiled bitterly, the pit in his stomach growing as he heard Ren's words.

"Now if you excuse me, I have to go make Nora breakfast." Ren said as he got up from Jaune's bed. Due to Jaune's mind being solely on his nightmare, he had failed to see that Ren had been already in his uniform and ready for the day.

"Wouldn't it be easier if we just head to the cafeteria and grab some food there?" The blond leader asked as he jumped out of bed and proceeded to grab his clothes from his wardrobe.

"It would, but Nora didn't have pancakes all day yesterday, seeing as how we missed breakfast due to rushing to get to class and how the cafeteria didn't serve pancakes in the afternoon. Which I'll have to talk to them if they wish to keep Nora appeased and not invoke her wrath, I was lucky to be able to keep her calm with the promise that I would personally make her pancakes." Ren said the last bit in a low and hushed whisper, but it was still audible enough for Jaune to hear it.

"Are the chefs really gonna allow you to use the cafeteria for yourself?"

"I don't need the entire cafeteria, and besides I don't have to use it. We can just use the community room, I checked it out yesterday afternoon. It should be able to accommodate all of us, even team RWBY if you wish to invite them." Ren said as he poked the Amazonian princess in the forehead to wake her up from her slumber.

"Well, if you're going to make breakfast, allow me to help out a bit. Just let me shower and get dressed, then we'll begin cooking!" Jaune smiled brightly as he saw Ren poke Pyrrha once more in the forehead, this time spurring the warrior from her sleep. The stoic ninja nodded at his leaders request and left the room, presumably to the community room to get set up. Jaune quickly entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him, sighing as he undressed and got into the shower, letting the water hit his bare back.

"It had to be done Jaune, you know it." The wise and caring voice of Ra came to his comfort to justify his slightly deceitful nature.

"I know Ra, I just wish I could tell them the truth, instead of lying." Jaune said, wishing he could be truthful to someone other than his sister. To be able to rely on them and let them know what he truly is.

"In time Jaune, you'll be able to tell them the whole truth but you must be patient." The calm voice of Baldur chimed in with his thoughts, always being the wisest of his roster, even beating those that were gods of wisdom. Jaune sighed once more, knowing the gods where right. There would be a time and a place to tell them the truth but not just yet, it's too early for that. Jaune finished his morning shower and got dressed before opening the door to be met with a half awake and zombified Pyrrha, who simple muttered a 'good morning' to her partner and then shambled into the bathroom, shutting the door as she did. Jaune blinked a couple of times before shrugging and leaving his team's dorm.

Just as Jaune was about to go out to look for Ren, he stopped in front of team RWBY's dorm and had a small idea as he went over and knocked on their door. The blond host didn't have to wait long as the door was answered by the white haired member of team RWBY.

"Yes? Is there something you need?" Weiss asked as her normal way of speaking, with a professional tone of voice, but underneath it was a faint hint of... friendliness? Jaune wasn't sure what it truly was but it seemed Weiss was more lenient or had a more friendly attitude towards others, which made Jaune quite pleased.

"Sorry for waking you up Weiss, but I was wondering if you and your team wanted to join us for breakfast in the community room down the hall?" Jaune asked as he stifled his laugher as he looked at Weiss's disheveled haired. Just as the heiress was about to answer, she was beaten by a speeding Ruby who opened the door further and jumped on her partner to address her blond friend.

"Breakfast?! We'll take the offer!" The energetic leader of the all-female team said as she was clinging onto Weiss's back.

"Get off of me you oaf!" Weiss said as she tried to shake her leader of her back, although she acted like she was annoyed, Jaune saw a small smile on her face.

"Glad to see you getting along better then yesterday." Jaune stated as Ruby simply giggled and smiled as Weiss attempted to get her off. When she realized that wasn't happening she sighed in frustration and turned to the smirking blond.

"We've come to a... mutual understanding. I'll do my best to be the best partner to her while educating her on how to act like a proper leader. As for her, she'll do her best to be a good leader." Weiss said as Ruby finally climbed down from her back as she brightly smiled.

"Yeah! Mark my words Jaune, team RWBY will be the best team in all of Beacon!" Ruby exclaimed loudly and proudly, to loudly as the next moment she got a pillow to the face for her pride.

"Ruby, it's too early to be screaming at the top of your lungs!" A slightly angry and irritated Yang said as her eyes were now red instead of their standard lilac. Ruby picked up the pillow and charged her sister, saying something about 'retribution' as she did.

"You got some energetic and over the top teammates, expect for Blake." The blond leader said as he laughed at the duo's antics, noting how Blake was on her bed reading her book while eyeing the two down.

"I know but, they seem like very good people. So, I guess I could give them a shot. Anyways, as Ruby had stated so cruelly, we'll gladly take up your offer for a nice breakfast." Weiss politely said with a small smile before closing the door. Jaune smiled to himself, glad to see that Weiss and Ruby were on the path to reconciliation, and because he could hear Weiss shouting at the two sisters to stop their antics before a low thud from a pillow to the face shut her up, making her a causality to the pillow war.

"It's so nice to see them getting along, glad you went out of your way to help them Jaune." The motherly figure of his roster said as she was ever-so-glad to see both Weiss and Ruby being on good terms with each other.

"What can I say Nut, I can't let their friendship be ruined so easily. Besides, I'll always help out a friend in need, no matter what." Jaune internally though, making those that choose him to be a vessel for their powers beam with pride towards their host. Jaune walked down the hallway as he quietly searched for the community room, stopping as he caught the whiff of pancakes nearby. Carefully following the sweet and delightful aroma led Jaune to finally locating the community room. Opening the door to said room blasted Jaune with more wonderful and sweet aromas.

"Guess you didn't hear me when I told you to wait for me before starting." The snarky remark was met with a tilt of the head and a roll of the eyes from the Mistralian ninja.

"You were taking far too long; you must've not been able to operate the shower properly yet." Ren retorted quietly as he mixed more pancake batter, flipping a pancake that was already on the pan and onto a stack of pancakes.

"By the gods, that's a ridiculous amount of pancakes. I don't think all eight of us can eat all of that." Jaune said as he eyed the stack of over a dozen fluffy pancakes, only to be met with a low chuckle from his friend.

"Oh, you thought this were for us? This stack is just for Nora." Ren couldn't see it but Jaune's jaw had hit the floor as he looked the ever increasing number to the stack.

"But, what about us? What are we gonna eat!?" Jaune asked as Ren turn to look at him dead in the eye just so he could shrug his shoulders.

"I don't know, you said you wanted to help, so I thought you'd think of something." Ren turned back to his station of pancakes, hiding the smile that was forming on his stoic face and missing Jaune's face of utter betrayal. Jaune grumbled and muttered to himself that he would get Ren back for this as he ignored Loki's and Apollo's irritating laughter.

The community room was quite spacious, having a small living room to one side with a television while on the other side was a medium sized kitchen and a larger table in the middle to accommodate several teams. Jaune opened the fridge and took out a carton of eggs but he didn't really know what else to make alongside them.

He was planning to make scrambled eggs but he didn't want to make it to plain of a breakfast, so he wanted to add something to them, like a side.

"How about we make some hearty hash browns?" Loki inquired as he had seen some potatoes in the fridge.

"What are we, five? Let's make something that will give them more energy for the day! Like meat! Lots of meat!" Quetzalcoatl loudly shut down Loki's idea, making the Viking god of mischief give him the evil eye.

"...Or we could just...you know...make both?" The ever wise and the voice of reason Baldur said quietly but he was still heard by everyone. Quetzalcoatl and Loki thought about it and hated the fact that the answer was so simple. Jaune chuckled at the antics of the gods within his head and reached into the fridge once more to gather the ingredients and all the cooking supplies he needed. Jaune glanced over at his teammate and noted that he was finished making the huge stack of pancakes for his partner.

"Hey Ren, do you have any leftover batter? I'm thinking of making some scrambled eggs with a side of hash browns and sausages, but I'm really craving pancakes today. How about you make some mini ones with the left over?" Jaune asked as the blacked haired boy stopped to think about it before glancing to the leftover batter before slowly nodding at his leaders idea. Soon, the community room was plagued with lovely aromas from all the wonderful cooking. On one side of the kitchen was Jaune, cooking the scrambled eggs on a rather large pan while on another pan where the hash browns and the sausages, and on the other side of was Ren making the miniature pancakes.

"You seem to know your way around a kitchen and can move around it with ease, where did you learn?" Ren asked as he flipped a couple more mini pancakes.

"My mother and elder sisters taught me. They always said that a girl liked a man who knew how to cook for himself, so they were adamant on teaching me. How about you?" Jaune asked as he carefully flipped the hash browns onto their side.

"My teacher taught me how to cook and how to make several traditional teas and other types of drinks. Although he did try to teach Nora to cook but that...really didn't end all too well." Ren shuddered as he remembered the horrible and severe food poisoning he and his master had to deal with. Jaune thought about it and even he shuddered at the idea of Nora trying to cook and ending up burning the whole kitchen. The only male members of team JNPR glanced at each other and begun laughing, a small mutual understanding between each other was met as they kept cooking. The two boys held smiles of their faces as they reached a small bond with each other while they enjoyed the peaceful and tranquil silence that befell them, which lasted only a few seconds as the door to the room was kicked opened by the 'Y' of team RWBY.

"Damn, it smells great in here! What's cooking good looking?" The blond bombshell said as her sister groan behind her.

"Just making us some healthy and much needed breakfast. Now that you're here, could you help me set the table?" Jaune asked as he and Ren begun to plate up the eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and sausages while Yang took the plates and set them down on the table and Ruby took several glasses out and a carton of orange juice and set them on the table too. Soon, the table was finally set and not a second later the rest of the members of both teams came in and were amazed by the meal prepared for them as they took their sits, team RWBY sat across from their self-proclaimed sister team.

"You made so much you guys! I expected as much from Ren but not from you Jaune, where did you learn to cook?" Nora asked as Ren set down the stack of pancakes in front of her, much to her delight.

"Well, just like how I had told Ren before, I learned from my mother and older sisters, they wanted me to be able to cook for myself...and because they said that girls liked a man who could cook." Jaune admitted as he took his seat beside his partner.

"Well, they weren't wrong, this stuff looks great!" Yang said as she begun to stuff her face with the meal that had been prepared. But a certain red haired partner felt like it was a perfect opportunity to learn a little more about Jaune, seeing how she had already met his mother and twin sister while they were at Mistral.

"You have more sisters besides Joan?" Pyrrha asked as she drew several pairs of eyes to herself as the girls across were curious as to how much the champion knew about Jaune.

"Well, counting Joan, I have seven sisters." Jaune said as he took much pleasure in watching people react to the ridicules number of siblings that he had. Reactions ranged from spitting out their food or almost choking on it such as Nora, Weiss, and Yang, while Ruby's and Pyrrha's eyes went cartoonishly wide as their jaws hit the floor. Ren and Blake were the calmest reactions, as they continued to eat or drink while humming to themselves as if everything about Jaune now made much more sense.

"You have seven sisters?! Did your parents have no other hobbies!" The normally composed Weiss screeched as the table slowly recovered from the small bomb that Jaune dropped.

"My parents always wanted a lot of children, and even more grandkids so that contributed to them having so many. And yes, I do in fact have seven sisters. Going from youngest to oldest, June the youngest, Jane the second youngest, Joan who is my twin sister, which makes her and I the second set of twins, then there is Saphron, then Noir and Blanc the first set of twins, and finally the oldest of us is Janet." Jaune said as he counted and listed his sisters off with his hands. The rest of the table looked at Jaune in awe as he did. Yang grabbed her glass of orange juice and took a sip before she spoke.

"No wonder you came out the way you did." Yang joked as she got the table to laugh and giggle at Jaune's tragic luck of having seven fucking sisters. But Jaune paid it no mind and he laughed alongside them. Jaune felt good to be able to bond with them like they were doing, laughing and enjoying each other's company, having nothing to stress over say for their schoolwork. They continued to eat with the occasional egg pun from Yang, and before long they were cleaning up after themselves before leaving to get to their first class. Jaune smiled as he felt like they grew a little closer as friends, and that brought him much joy...and a little turmoil as he didn't want to betray this trust they were building with a lie such as his true nature and the nature that creatures and magic straight out of fairy tales actually existed out there. But for now, he would keep quiet about that magical world.

"Write that down! Write that down! Oh, and that too!" Zeus ordered his host to literally write down anything they deemed important from the book provided by professor-sorry-doctor Oobleck. Jaune wasn't here on the first day to experience the hyperactive personality that was Oobleck, since he was out there trying to comfort Ruby and try to convinced Weiss to give Ruby a chance. Jaune really tried to pay attention, but unlike Port where he could decipher his tales into normal lessons about Grimm, Jaune could only gather a single word every so often but it didn't matter as it was only one word for what felt like a whole thesis. This time around, everyone gave up, even Weiss and Pyrrha had given up as they couldn't keep up with the way Oobleck talked. He was like Hermes but if he was jacked up to a thousand and could talk a thousand miles per hour.

"Well look at the bright side Jaune, at least we get to learn some history from this." Ra said as he carefully analyzed the textbook given to the blond host, humming and nodding when he found something mildly interesting. Jaune at some point tuned out the hyper voice of the overly caffeinated doctor and laid his face on the textbook, earning several cries from several gods, primarily from Zeus, Apollo, and Ra. Just as he begun to doze off, a small and quiet buzzing went off on his pocket, making him wake straight back up and subtly reach for his scroll. He expanded it and viewed the newly sent message by his fellow blond.

Yang: Hey blondie, thanks for the egg-cellent meal.

Jaune deadpanned at the message and contemplated straight up booing Yang for the pun, but he relented, even though he could hear Yang giggling to herself, seemly proud of her own pun.

Jaune: Your welcome. And, for the record, I'll delete your contact if you use terrible puns like those again.

Jaune hit sent and watched as Yang's laugher began to die down as she read the message. She threw a glance over her shoulder and huff angrily.

Yang: Killjoy. You sure know how to kill the mood.

Jaune: Well, if I killed the mood, then you utterly wiped it off the face of Remnant.

Jaune hit send and instantly heard the telling sharp gasp of air that symbolized the taking of offense, and took slight pleasure in messing with her.

Yang: Whatever, I didn't message you to throw insults at each other. I messaged you to thank you.

Jaune: Thank me, for what? The breakfast?

Yang: No dummy not that, I already said thanks for that. I'm thanking you for what you did to help out my sister. She told me what you did for her.

Jaune looked at the messaged and threw a glance at Ruby, who was drooling all over her textbook and snoring a little.

Jaune: It was nothing. Just encouraged her a little bit and cheered her up, that's all.

Yang: You may think so, but you did Ruby a great favor. She doesn't do well in new environments and has trouble making friends. You saw how she was before the Initiation. You really helped her out. She seemed very nervous and pretty quiet yesterday but, next thing you know she comes back that night with stacks of books and a cup of black coffee. She doesn't drink black coffee, ever. Today, she seemed her usual lively self, and for that, I have to thank you.

Jaune smiled softly as he read the lengthy message, chuckling as he did. He really didn't know he had helped and made that much of an impact on the red hood wearing Huntress. He simply did what seemed right, although he debated whether to stick his nose in other's business or not, seeing how perhaps it would've been better for Ruby to take control of the situation and assert her role as leader. But that would've led Weiss to start resenting her, which could breed bitterness between the two. Jaune weaved away the what ifs and was simply glad to be of help to his friends.

"Ms. Xiao Long! Mr. Arc!" Jaune's attention snapped back to reality and to the source that had called him. Jaune lifted his head to see Doctor Oobleck, arms crossed and tapping his foot at a rapid speed.

"May I ask what is it that you and Ms. Xiao Long deemed so important to talk about?" The hyperactive asked as he continued to rapidly tap his foot. Jaune and Yang froze up and simply looked at each other, hoping the other had an excuse to get them out of trouble.

"Are either of you going to speak up?" Jaune saw that Oobleck was getting more impatient as the seconds ticked by, and he had to say something on the fly, before the man got any more upset.

"There...there is a... wolf on the loose in the campus. Well, Yang thinks so as she thought she caught a glimpse of it." Jaune said, cause the doctor to physically recoil at his outlandish excuse. Yang made a face of utter confusion while the rest of her team gave him weird looks, even Ruby, who was awoken by Ooblecks shouts, looked at Jaune like he was crazy. Oobleck took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Mr. Arc, out of all the thousands of excuses I have heard in my whole career as a teacher that is the-" Oobleck stopped himself as he heard the bark of a canine outside in the hall, and his face morphed into one of confusion. The barks grew louder and louder before the sound of paws scurrying away could be heard, with a long and deep howl following it. Oobleck looked to were the barking and howling came from before turning to Jaune, who was trying, and failing, to hide a wide grin. Everyone in the class seemed perplexed and was having difficulty understanding how Jaune's extremely outlandish excuse seemingly became true. First it was Port's magically appearing cage, now Jaune. Yang looked at Jaune with awe and with a face of astonishment, while the black and white of team RWBY looked at Jaune with more confusion. Nora and Ruby were giggling at the whole situation, with the red headed warrior losing her cool and edging into joining them and Ren was stoically laughing to himself in amusement. Oobleck narrowed his eyes for a second before returning to normal a second later and proceeded to put his glasses back on.

"Well, it appears that you were telling the truth, Mr. Arc. I shall proceed to inform security about our unwanted friend. I thank you both, Ms. Xiao Long and Mr. Arc for bringing this to my attention, if you hadn't, I fear that someone might have gotten injured." The doctor said as he straighten up his tie and marched down, pulling up his scroll and dialing a number. Jaune sat right down, still getting odd stares from his fellow classmates and from some of his friends too.

"HAHA! That was amazing, Jaune! No, it wasn't just amazing! It was brilliant! Did you see his face? It was priceless. I approve of your method, but I would've gone with the excuse that a snake was on the ceiling and then make him look up to see Jörmungandr." Loki praised Jaune's actions as he petted his loyal child Fenrir, who had just return after saving Jaune's ass.

"Trickster, don't encourage this type of behavior!" Nut protested at Loki's attempt to 'corrupt' Jaune with his trickster nature. Loki just laughed it off which earned him several slaps from the goddess, which he took as he laughed his Norse-ass off. Oobleck finished talking on his scroll and turn back to his class.

"Now class, security has been alerted of the...wolf threat, and will be looking for it. But seeing as you are all Huntsmen-in-training, you should be able to handle a mere wolf. So, stay on high alert. Now, let's go back to our lesson shall we?" The doctor returned back to his regular self and begun to teach once more, making the rest of the class to go back to sleeping or just ignoring him. Jaune paid a little attention but was simply allowing the gods to read his textbook, but like before, a small buzzing went off and made him go for his scroll again.

Yang: Thanks for the save!

Jaune: Don't worry about it. Now, let's try to pay attention before we get caught again. I won't save you again.

Jaune typed out, feeling like Oobleck's eyes were still somehow on him even though he was zooming around the class at Mach five. Jaune simply ignore it and laughed quietly as Yang replied with a bunch of angry faces. Jaune collapsed his scroll and turn back to the enigma of deciphering what Oobleck was talking about, which would be grueling and would test all of his mental fortitude and ability to endure.

"Stay down you metallic piece of arghhh!" The leader of the all-male team shouted before being interrupted by an electric baton to the back, causing him to fall to his knees and drop his weapon as he screamed in pain. The training droid pulled back his weapon from the boy's back, leaving him a huffing and disheveled mess.

"Your aura levels have reached thirty, therefore the match is over. You managed to last five and a half minutes but you only accomplished that by sheer endurance. You only managed to destroy a handful of droids. Your weapon and armor make you a tank but when faced with several fast moving opponents, you're nothing but their punching bag. I suggest you change that, Mr. Winchester." The cold and levelheaded voice of the combat instructor harshly lectured the young Huntsman as he picked up his mace off the floor.

"I understand, Professor Goodwitch, I'll work on it." Cardin said with a determined voice before taking a polite bow to Glynda Goodwitch, before taking his leave from the area. Jaune watched as the boy climbed up into where his team was waiting, earning a round of cheers and compliments from them for being the only one to last so long from their team. Jaune then turned back to the arena that had several training droids on it and on the side on standby, waiting for Goodwitch's order to join the fray.

From what he'd been told by Pyrrha, Glynda was conducting a same test to evaluate their combat prowess, with them being tested on endurance and efficiency to dispatch enemies. The endurance part was evaluated by how long the individual was able to last before their aura dropped to thirty and the other part was graded by how many droids you could destroy before the match ended. Due to this being a large test, it was already on its second day, from an estimated three. All of his friends had already gone up, with each having a wide array of results, with Ren and Blake being the ones with the lowest times and lowest kill counts from their circle of friends. This caused both ninjas to go into a silent brooding state which then triggered their respective partners to attempt to lift their spirits. Up next was Ruby and Weiss, who were in the same tier.

Both of them had the speed and strength to dish out powerful attacks that helped them secure droid kills but had almost no endurance what-so-ever. After them were the two bombshells of both teams, Yang and Nora, who had the killing power to rack up kills and the endurance to take heavy punishment. And finally, Pyrrha, who had gone first yesterday and managed to secure herself more than ten minutes as her score and several dozens of kills, making her the one holding the number one spot. Which Jaune was hoping to steal, or at least mange to make Pyrrha aware that some have the talent to catch up with her. He knew that she felt like she didn't have much competition, and not in an arrogant way.

Jaune had already seen that she enjoyed having a challenge, he saw it when he watched her compete in Mistral's tournament, she enjoyed that thrill because she doesn't experience it very often. This was confirmed when Nora and Yang were up and were closing in on Pyrrha's spot, and when they were attempting to dethrone her of her number one spot, Jaune noticed a smile of excitement. So, if Pyrrha wanted a competition and a challenge, he would give it to her.

"Next participant will be Mr. Arc. Please step down and prepare yourself for combat." Glynda ordered as Jaune stood up, armor and weapons already on his person. He got a round of cheers and 'fight wells' from his friend along with a small little flag that Ruby had somehow acquired which had his name on it. Jaune walked down the idle and jumped down into the arena.

"Hey, blondie! I have a hundred Lien on you that you surpass the eight minute mark! Don't let me down!" Cardin shouted as he gave Jaune two thumbs up for encouragement, which Jaune chuckled and gave a salute for confirmation.

"He seems friendly, right? Perhaps we should talk to him more." Hephaestus noted as some of the other gods agreed. Jaune made a mental note to talk to him some other day but he put that off for now as he reached the center of the arena, facing the cold Goodwitch as she typed away at her tablet making Jaune's face pop up on a big screen with his aura percentage right below it and a small timer to its left.

"Is the combatant ready?" Goodwitch asked as her finger hovered over her tablet, awaiting for Jaune's respond of confirmation. The blond host took a deep breath before drawing his sword and expanded his shield, giving a small nod to Glynda, who in turn press a commanded on her device and begun the onslaught. Not a second later after the match began, Jaune blocked an incoming baton with his shield and easily dispatched a droid with a quick stab to its side. Jaune looked at the rest of his metallic opponents, whom wielded a verity of weapons, such as batons, axes, swords, spears, among other weapons that the school armory could provide. Jaune withdrew his sword from the droid's side and kicked him into a group of droids that were trying to rush him.

"Watch your back." Baldur warn, serving as his eyes and ears to any attacks from his flank. Jaune spun on his heel and swung his sword in a wide arc, decapitating the head of a droid in one flawless attack. The blond let a pulse of his aura go through his sword, awakening the strange and magical flame properties on the runes on it, courtesy of the strange ore that Sully gave him. Jaune swung down and cleaved half of another droid, parrying an attack with his shield from his left and kicking another metal enemy with an aura infused kick, before turning his attention to the half cleaved opponent and making the flames heat rise, allowing him to start melting through him. He melted through his metal inners and turned to return to combat but was met with an electrified baton to his mid-section, making him grit his teeth as he endured the pain momentarily before switching over to Zeus, allowing the electricity to run through him before discharging right back his attacker.

"You must be getting slower by the day if you allowed that to hit you." Quetzalcoatl taunted, watching as Jaune dodged another baton aimed for his face and returning the favor with a lightning bolt to the droids face. Jaune grunted at the Aztec god remark and rolled to the side from a spear rush, putting up his shield to stop an axe to the neck and proceeding to cleaving at the axe users feet before rising from his kneeling position and stabbing it through the chest. Jaune got back to his feet but didn't stay still for long as he shot forward and grabbed one of the training droids and flew up into the air before violently sending him crashing into the ground, taking some of his metallic brethren as it crashed. Jaune continued to do this tactic for a few more time to allow him to evaluate the situation properly.

"You're outnumbered Jaune, that much is cleared. They aren't fast but they can take a hit before going down. I suggest we attempt to take them from a distance and drop some weight too." Baldur pointed out as the droids begun to fire at Jaune's flying form. Although the gods were willing to help Jaune grow in his combat prowess, they did after Jaune got his ass handed to him and would give him tips and advice on what he did wrong and what he could improve on, with Baldur being the only one that actually helped him in active battle

"Then let's lose some weight." Jaune replied to the Norse god, dodging incoming fire and swooping down onto the arena flawlessly, summoning the power of Hephaestus and lunging Crocea Mors at the wave of droids like a javelin, piercing two and lodging itself into a third one's chest. The blond host collapsed his shield back into his sheath form before pulling Theós from its holster and firing at the wave of droids that were coming at him. Jaune then simply thought of a command for Crocea Mors and successfully dislodged it and begun to command it to begin cutting down droids without his help. This is due to Jaune being able to control the flames that the runes created on his sword, efficiently controlling his sword at a distance like he had telekinesis. Off on the sidelines, his friends cheered on for him with all their might.

"Look at Jaune go! He is using all the tricks he has up his sleeve." Yang said as she began to get to cheer even louder, hoping her fellow blond could hear her over the sound of him fighting.

"Wait, I'm confused, so Jaune's semblance is fire and lightning based? But that doesn't explained the ability to fly." Ruby commented as she saw the flaming Crocea Mors fight and slaughter the training droids as if it had a mind of its own, while Jaune kept firing and reloading.

"You'd be right, Ruby. That also doesn't explain the snake from yesterday or how he became invulnerable to the Deathstalker's stinger." Ren pointed out to the events that they had witness, finding that none of those things really connect to Jaune's ability of fire and lightning manipulation.

"He can also summoned a wolf called Fenrir, if I remember correctly." Pyrrha through in her two-cents as she remembered the first time she met Jaune at their shop for the blacksmiths festival in Mistral, remembering how the wolf had forcefully dragged him to meet her and her family.

"That brings up the question. Just what is Jaune's semblance that allows him to do all of this and bring him nightmares almost nightly." Ren said in a hushed tone but it drew their attention away from the fight and onto him.

"Nightmares? Jaune has nightmares...because of his own semblance." The stoic Faunus-in-hiding said as she turned back to Jaune's fight, who was still fairing off well with his new tactic.

"Yes. I don't know all the details, but his semblance causes him to experience vivid nightmares that seem to trouble him even after being awake." The ninja said as he watched his leader morph his revolver into a bowie knife and beginning to stab a droid who had gotten to close in the face like a desperate madman before once more kicking him away into the crowd and switching back to his tactic of shooting.

"Just how vivid are they?" Weiss asked quietly, hoping to keep the whole thing on the down low since this was invading on Jaune's personal life and privacy.

"The first time I met Jaune was in the bullhead over to Beacon. He'd momentarily fallen asleep and immediately began to experience a nightmare. I'm not sure what it was about but it seemed that even after it had passed, it troubled him deeply. Then, the morning of Initiation, I saw him wake up very early soaked in sweat. I haven't heard of a semblance that can cause it's user to have nightmares, and Jaune still hasn't mentioned anything about it." Ren spoke softly, recounting the two times that he'd seen Jaune's semblance affect him, purposely failing to mention today's events. Both team RWBY and Jaune's team took in the revelation of Jaune's mysterious semblance and its effects that it has on him quietly, making it so that a tense and uncomfortable to settle upon them as they watch their friend and leader fight for dear life.

"Then we ask him about it. Simple as that. We ask about his semblance and then about his nightmares." The young crimsonette said as she crossed her arms and leaned back into her chair.

"Ruby, we can't just waltz up to him and ask him about personal stuff like that! It's not exactly right, what if when we ask about his nightmares we make him remember even more of the trauma that caused them!" Weiss screeched at her partners lack of proper manners.

"Well, I think you and I own him for what he did for us yesterday. He helped us with our falling-out, didn't he? It might not be proper to ask him about it but I don't want to see his health decline. We, as his friends, should help him in any way we can." Ruby retorted, making the heiress open and close her mouth like a fish at her leader's logic.

"Then we can hold a small gathering! We might be friends but we don't know much of each other, so...let's make it seem like we just wanna learn more of each other! This will make it so that Jaune tells us about his semblance naturally, which could lead to him telling us about his nightmare problem. And what's better, we get to learn more of our new friends and grow closer together!" The orange haired bomber proposed excitedly and loudly. The white heiress was about to refute her idea before falling short with anything to say. The colorful band of friends stared at Nora like she'd said something crazy but couldn't refute her logic either.

"Well done, Nora, that is a perfect idea that could work. You always come through when someone is stuck with a problem." Ren said as he smiled softly and praised Nora's intelligence, happy to see it in action in front of their new friends. Nora blushed slightly at the praise but giggled, nonetheless.

"It's settled then! We'll invite team RWBY to our dorm and tell him that it's a small get together to simply get to know each other more." The Amazonian warrior pleasantly stated, glad that a solution was reached in no time.

"That sounds like a great idea, Pyrrha. I'm sure Jaune would like it, since he has proven to care for both us and you guys too. I think he'd want for us to grow closer together." Blake said calmly, earning a soft smile from the Amazonian, but was internally worried and in turmoiled since this was the perfect opportunity to tell her team about her true heritage, but at the same time she was terrified of them rejecting her, but to help her feel a glimmer of comfort, Blake knew that Jaune would be there and would support her, at least, she hoped he would. Both teams turn their attention back to Jaune's battle, now with the determination and the plan to find answers about him and to help him if they can.

"Jaune, you have to stop using Hephaestus's power soon, before you begin to experience its drawbacks." Baldur warned as his host fired six more rounds into the metal skulls of the droids, cursing as he commanded Crocea Mors to come back to him. Said sword sliced a droids head cleanly off before going back to its master, but just as it was almost in Jaune's grasp, a droid broke into a sprint and decked Jaune hard enough to send him flying. Jaune bounced several times before finally coming to a halt, quickly recovering and getting back to his feet.

"What will you do without a weapon, Jaune?" Loki taunted as the blond noticed that he'd dropped Theós along the way and was now out the fighting ring, and Crocea Mors was being held in place by a droid's foot. Just as the blond host was thinking of a plan to get back either of his weapons, a droid with daggers rushed him, getting in several hits before it got a fist full of pressurized air that hit like a bus.

'There isn't time to do anything. I don't have room to breathe. I just gotta make do with what I have until I find an opening.' Jaune thought as he saw several more droids sprinting at him with more daggers and spears. Jaune's eyes snapped back and forward through all his incoming enemies, allowing them to get near to him before switching over to Nut and allowing himself to fall backwards, hoping his plan would work. Jaune flew backwards into his own shadow as daggers and spears stabbed into the ground where he once was. The droids, the audience, Jaune's friends, and even Glynda seemed perplexed at what had just happened. Seconds later, Jaune reappeared via the shadow of a droid and grabbed his head and torn it right off with the might and strength of Baldur, chuckling to himself as he finally got to use Nut's powers. He didn't waste any time as he jumped into the metallic fray of droids, using punches, kicks and all the close-quarte-combat that he knew. He delivered a blow to a droids med-sections before roundhouse kicking him, turning just in time to notice another droid with a spear charging him. Seeing the perfect opportunity to get a weapon, Jaune sped to meet him and closed the distance between them as he dodged the long weapon, and in that moment Jaune's heart sank.

In one fluid motion, he brought down his elbow on the spear, breaking it with a loud snap that drowned out every other noise in the room. Jaune spun on his heel and slit the throat of a Greek soldier, watching as he once more feebly clung onto life as he grabbed his throat, staring him dead in the eye. Jaune's world began to spin around him, a wave of dizziness washing over him along with a pounding headache. A pit began to grow in his chest and he could barely breathe, almost as if the room had been starved of all oxygen.

"Jaune! Snap out of it!" Baldur shouted, making Jaune return to reality just in time to get a metal fist to the face, which launched him several feet back and making him land on his back. The blond host tried to get up, still having difficulty breathing and telling what was up and what was down.

"I surrender! I-I surrender." Jaune weakly called out as the approaching droids came to a halt. He began to slowly get up, catching his breath in the way up and catching a glimpse of the supposed soldier's throat he'd slit, realizing it was just another stupid droid.

"Mr. Arc, is everything alright? You were doing well during the fight. You could've beaten Ms. Valkyrie time and kill count if you continued like you were doing." Glynda commented, carefully observing Jaune as he held a hand to his chest, breathing in and out slowly.

"I'm sorry Ms. Goodwitch, I just got very tried and exhausted, that's all." Jaune replied with apologetic look, finally gathering his bearings and returning to being able to breath properly. Glynda eyed Jaune for a little bit more before telling him to retrieve his weapons and to head back to his sit. Jaune, like Cardin, politely bowed and did as he was told.

"Jaune, it was just a droi-"

"I know they were just droids! I know that I can rip their head, tear their arms and stab them all I want, and that they wouldn't feel a single thing! I'm not worried over that, it's the fact that I pulled that move without thinking. It was like it was engraved into my muscle memory after that nightmare in the Trojan War." Jaune internally ranted, causing whomever spoke to fall silent at his outburst. Externally, Jaune looked calm and collected as he neared his group of friends who were complimenting him on his score, smiling with his normal goofy smile.

"What if...what if next time it's an actual person. What if I take their live just like I did back in that nightmare. I'm not ready to go through that, I really don't wanna go through that anytime soon." Jaune continued addressing the gods, hoping that they would understand where he was coming from but the gods didn't say or do anything. Jaune held a smile on his face as he talked with his friends, but internally he felt nothing but fear. He stayed quiet for the remainder of the next matches, only speaking up when someone addressed him, even then he only spoke in short replies, causing his friends to grow concern but they didn't show it.

Jaune sighed as he finished taking a nice relaxing and warm shower, allowing himself to calm down from the events that had transpired today. The day had started off shitty with the nightmare involving Typhon, then it got better as Jaune felt that Ren and him bonded over their past and their time cooking together, then it got even better as he saw that Ruby and Weiss were on good terms. Everything was going great, everything seemed to be looking up for Jaune, but it was just that single moment during his fight that really fucked him up for the rest of the day.

Now, all he thinks of is the fact that he may end up performing that maneuver on someone, someone who was alive. Thankfully Jaune was ready to just forget it all and head to bed to get a well earn rest, that is if he doesn't have another nightmare. The blond leader stepped out the shower and proceeded to dry himself and get changed into his nightwear, heading over to exit the bathroom after being done. Nearing the door allowed the blond to hear several people talking, which made him curious as he could hear seven voices instead of just three. The blond leader opened the door to see his teammates along with team RWBY sitting on the floor, munching on a small variety of drinks and snacks.

"Oh finally! You're done with your shower! Now we can begin the party!" Nora exclaimed with much glee as she took one of Ruby's cookies and ate it, having said crimsonette protest as she did.

"Party? What are you talking about?" Jaune questioned as he playfully narrowed his eyes at the group and cautiously eyed them for answers.

"It was both Nora's and Pyrrha's idea. They thought it would've been a good idea to have a small get together to learn more of each other, since we're quote-on-quote, sister teams." Weiss answered in her ever so professional demeanor, while making air quotes. Jaune made an 'oh' face and turned to both the culprits.

"Maybe we should've told you first but after your fight ended, it kind of slipped our mind. Sorry." The red haired Amazonian apologized to her leader, but the other culprit simply giggled and gave off a not-so-apologetic grin. The victim of the surprise party let out a long and tiresome sigh before grabbing a bag of chips and sitting down on the floor like everyone else.

"Although I feel like my authority was violated and discarded aside, I'll let this one slide." Jaune said as he began to munch on his unhealthy snack, watching as the rooms tension dissipated and everyone else let out of small breath of relief. And with their last member finally joining them, the party began as Ruby went and took the helm and introduced herself, what her semblance, where she was from, her weapon Crescent Rose, which promptly led to her talking about her hobby of weapons before geeking out about all of their weapons.

Yang followed right after her and did the same thing but added the fact that her and Ruby were half-sisters, having the same father but different mothers. Jaune would've asked but the gods promptly stopped him and told him that right now wasn't the time for that. They didn't want him to ruin the happy mood that they had right now. After the sisterly duo finished, Weiss went up and presented herself and went on talk about herself a small bit before ending her turn to allow someone else to go up.

"I believe that it is my turn to speak. My name is Lie Ren but I rather be called Ren. I hail from Mistral, as does Nora. I have some pretty boring hobbies to be perfectly honest. I cook, I read books, and I sometimes make tea. My weapon is Stromflower and semblance is the ability to mask negative emotions. As you have seen and witness, Jaune." Ren said, hoping to instigate a comment from Jaune about his nightmares, but Jaune just casually munched on his bag of chips and nodded in confirmation.

Up next just Pyrrha and Nora, one of which simply summarized the important details and was quick on her turn, while the other went on a long and very much outlandish tale and took her time to explain everything and anything and she took her sweet time doing so. While Nora kept talking about how she wished she could keep an owl as a pet for various reason, Jaune noticed that Blake was stiff, looking almost like an unmoving pillar. Her hands were trembling and she went pale as Ren finally told Nora to let someone else go, causing all eyes to shift their attention to her and Jaune. Jaune lightly nudged the raven haired hair to speak up, seeing how he had stuffed his face with more junk food and couldn't talk. The room fell victim of a deafening silence as Blake sat there without saying a word, shaking slightly as she gathered her courage and her resolve.

"Well, my name is Blake Belladonna. I really don't have many hobbies apart from reading and liking seafood. My weapon is called Gambol Shroud and my semblance is called Shadow and allows me to create a clone of myself, and..." Blake hesitated a bit, looking at the blond host across from her, who had put down his precious junk food and had given Blake his undivided attention. Jaune smiled a warm and kind smile, giving a reassuring aura while mouthing 'you can do it.' Blake closed her eyes and took a deep breath before taking her hand and hovering over her bow.

"I think it's better if I just show you." Her hands wavered before they tighten around her bow and yanked it off, exposing her Faunus traits to her friends and teammates. Blake opened her eyes to see the shocked and surprised expressions, except for Jaune who simply smiled. The shock effect lasted for about a couple seconds before Nora broke all semblances of tension.

"That's so awesome! Ren, do you know what this means! She is the first Faunus friend that we have ever made!" Nora exclaimed as she bolted towards the raven haired Faunus and proceeded to violently shake her hand. "I hope we can be very good friends!" Blake felt like her arm was rapidly turning into jelly from Nora's handshake.

"They look so cute and fluffy! Why didn't you tell us?" Ruby says as she reaches over to her teammate, who allows her to touch and feel her ears for a brief second before pulling away quickly.

"It's obvious, isn't it? She didn't tell you guys because she was scared of being treated like the other Faunus. She feared that she'd be discriminated. Some more than others." Jaune commented, as he glanced at Weiss for a moment to make his statement clear. The mentioned heiress kept her head low as she dealt with an inner struggle. On one hand, she was happy that Blake trusted her and all of them enough that she would be willing to tell them her secret, but on the other hand, the hatred filled teachings and the bad experiences that she has dealt with involving the White Fang and other Faunus has not painted a good picture for her.

"You feared that I would hate you, didn't you? Because of my family, Because I'm a Schnee," Weiss pauses as she sees Blake look down and nod her head in confirmation. Weiss looks down in shame before huffing and straighten her posture before returning to addressing Blake. "Well, I'm not my father. I'm more than him, better than him. Although I've had some bad run-ins with the Faunus, I, Weiss Schnee, intend to one day take over my father's company and turn it around. I don't hate all the Faunus, I just hate the White Fang for what they've done to my family." Weiss says failing to notice the somber look on Blake's face. Jaune felt like a battle had been won today in favor of Blake, but he still felt like the war she was fighting in was long from being over.

"Thank you. You had no idea how terrified I was of being rejected, I guess you were right, Jaune." Blake said, wiping the tears that had formed on the corners of her eyes. It felt like a huge load had been taken off her shoulders but a small weight still lingered on; the weight of the White Fang. Weiss and the others had accepted her for being a Faunus, but the same wouldn't apply for the days she spent as a terrorist and agent for the White Fang. Blake would rather have this bliss and wonderful chance to forget about her past then to risk losing her friends over it.

"Hold on, hold on, Jaune knew about it before any of us? How?" Yang asked, eyeing the blond boy down. Jaune laughed and scratched the back of his head, explaining that he met Blake while he stayed in Mistral for a festival, twisting the story to make it seem like she was a customer and leaving out the part where he rescued her from the White Fang protest that had occur during the day they met.

"And that's how I met her. Back then, she wasn't wearing a bow to cover her cat ears up. But, that's enough of the past, it's my turn. My name is Jaune Arc, my weapons are my family heirloom Crocea Mors and Theós, and my semblance is Spectral Necromancy. It's the ability to borrow the powers of ghost." The blond host said without hesitation, using the same lie he had used against his father and the Beacon staff.

"Spectral what now? How does that fit in with you being able to use lightning and fire?" Ruby asked, slightly confused at the explanation provided. The others were skeptical at first but after thinking about it a little, it was a possibility.

"It's rather simple, Ruby. His power allows him to see spirits of those who have long since passed, this allows him to leech off of their semblances and use them as his own. Would that be correct, Jaune?" Weiss theorized, hoping that her explanation was accurate to the functions of his semblance.

"Yes, but at the same time, you are slightly incorrect, Weiss. My semblance works as a one-way lane. The ghost are the ones that come to me and offer a small portion of their soul, which then continues to live on inside of me. I know it's a crazy concept to understand, but that's my semblance." Jaune explained like he'd done so many times before. Jaune hoped that if his lie could work and if they could accept it, he could someday tell them the whole truth about the gods and everything else. The colorful merry band of Huntsmen-in-training glanced at each other and were lost in thought, seemingly still coming to terms to the half-truth that Jaune had dropped on them.

"Well, I believe you, Jaune. You don't have any reasons to lie about it, so I believe you." Ruby said, prompting the others to nod and reassure him that they believed him. Jaune smiled but felt a knot twisting in his chest, causing him to feel bad for lying to his friends.

"Thanks, I'm glad you trust me this much. Now, I think I should tell you about the drawback that my semblance causes, my nightmares." Jaune said, drawing everyone's attention onto himself. "As I've already stated, my semblance allows me to...host a small piece of the ghost's soul. This inadvertently makes it so that their memories and experiences begin to leak into my subconscious. The nightmares are just those memories coming into my mind." Jaune explained making his situation clear to his friends. He might've not said it outright but Jaune made it clear that there was no way to stop or deal with them in any way.

"Is there something that you can do to stop them?" The ever-so hopeful Ruby asked, praying that something could be used to stop the nightmares, but in respond Jaune simply shook his head before speaking up again.

"There isn't anything that I can do. Their memories, something that is almost impossible to tinker with. All I can do is endure them and hope that someday the memories stop coming." Jaune said bluntly, causing the gods to feel atrocious about themselves. Over on the more mortal plane, Jaune's friends felt like they were failing Jaune as a friend and as a team but like he had stated, they couldn't do anything about it.

"There might not be anything we can do to stop them entirely from happening, but what we can do is to make sure you have someone that you can rely on. We are here to help you Jaune, so if you ever need to talk to somebody, then come to us." Ren said with a kind smile, accompanied by reassuring smiles and thumbs up showing their support. Tears threaten to escape from Jaune's eyes but he held them back and laughed and smiled at the amazing luck that had been given to him; first the gods, and now his incredible and supportive friends. It's all he could've ever asked for. The party continued well passed curfew, and until the late hours of the morning. They continued to chat with each other, getting to know about each other's hobbies, likes, and dislikes and anything else brought up during the conversation. The group partied and goofed around until they tired themselves out from eating junk food, playing games and watching movies. Soon, only the original residence of the dorm remained to clean up before being defeated by exhaustion and clocking into their beds. Jaune fell asleep without a problem, a smile still plastered on his face, ever so grateful for his friends. That night Jaune slept peacefully without having nightmares, allowing him to rest well in what felt like an eternity.

...

...

...

A young man with ashen hair strolled through the crimson forest, silently moving and ever so watchful of his surroundings. The boy stopped in front of a large tree and knelt beside it, brushing away some leaves and sticks to fine a small parchment letter underneath it all. He smiled before taking the letter and stashing it away in his person.

"Askeladden? Are you there? Ash please answer me." A sweet and concern female voice whisper loud enough for him to hear it. The young man, now known as Askeladden, was startled by his partner's sudden appearance but calmed down enough from the initial fright to call out.

"Dahlia, what are you doing out here? Why aren't you at the camp?" Askeladden asked, squinting as the figure of his partner became more visible under the moon lit forest. Dahlia narrowed her deep magenta eyes at her ashen friend and cocked an eyebrow up.

"What are you doing out here?" Dahlia asked was more curious then angry at her friend. Askeladden took the letter out without a moment's hesitation and got a confused reaction before realization dawned on her.

"Did the Vulpes finally answer back?" Dahlia asked, knowing the answer quite well as Askeladden nodded his head like a child in a candy store. It had been a very long time since they received any updates from Vulpes, a mysterious figure that found them and their camp in the Forever Fall Forest and began to provide them with Lien to be able to survive with. This allowed them to get by while they lived in the forest and waited for Onyx's return.

"I heard a noise that woke me up and decided to check what it was. When I found nothing, I felt compelled to see if our dear friend Vulpes had come, lo-and-behold Vulpes came and delivered to us." Askeladden smiled as he noticed the excited expression that his partner had. "But, let's save it for tomorrow morning. Let's head over back to our camp." Dahlia nodded at his idea and both trotted back to camp as quickly as they could so that they could rest and read the letter from their ally.

Author's Note

Hello, not dead, once more. I have no idea how many times I must apologize for taking so long to update the story, but I feel compelled to do it every time. So, sorry. This could've probably been released much earlier but there were some things that prevented that. Anyway, onto my small talk about the chapter. This chapter is sort of like filler. Acting like a small set up for the Beacon Arc, as well as to serve the characters as a chapter for bonding. As you read, the chapter was focused on Jaune and the others growing as friends. This also sets up other things for the future and what is to come. Next chapter will be dealing with Cardin and the events of the Forever Fall forest, also, in the original draft/idea for this, I wanted Cardin to be the other Host that was in Beacon. I wanted him to act like a sort of mentor to Jaune and help him along. If I would've gone with that, Cardin would've been very OOC and I decided to not go with that but I will build up Jaune's and Cardin's friendship later on. Also, the two new characters are a part of Onyx's faction. I tried very hard to come up with creative names for them. Askeladden is from Norwegian folktales and his names means Ash Lad, so if you see him being called Ash, you already know why. As for Dahlia, I based her name from the Black Dahlia flower, which can be black, magenta, and among other pretty colors. If you noticed too, I deleted my other story dealing with the SCP mythos because I wanna change it to be something else. I apologize to those that liked that story but I didn't really like it and wish to take it up a new road. I will be starting Highschool once more so be patient with me. So, yeah, that was the chapter. I really hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a comment or some constructive criticism, and PM if you have any advice for me.