Why?
Why the hell was he even her first visitor at the hospital?
Nex sat on the lone chair, his fingers brushing the metric fuckton of tubes and wires and who knows what else.
Needles wrapped in medical tape pumped fluids into her wrist—some sort of healing agent, no doubt. A pale blue sheet covered her form, matching the colour of her eyes.
The very same eyes looking at him, bright and alive despite the sorry state of their owner. A scar ran over her left eye, crossing her eyebrow down to the tip of her cheekbone.
Weiss shifted, probably trying to hide the blemish on her otherwise flawless face. Her hair was let loose, fanning out and covering most of her pillow.
She looked... different without the ponytail, the fringe, and the tiara.
Somehow.
Like Weiss Schnee was just another girl in the park—a girl complaining about scraped knees and spilt ice cream.
"Hey, Weiss," Nex said. "You really did everything to pass, huh?"
And it was so like her.
Weiss nodded, her flaked lips pulling into a smile. "I passed the test, Nex. We're going to Beacon."
And there was nothing else to say.
Nex stared at her scar, resisting the urge to dump aura into his semblance. There would be time for that later.
Weiss turned her head, facing him. Evidently, she gave up on trying to hide it. Her eyes stared into his.
There was no need for words.
Certainly not when their way with words was through silence.
Minutes passed.
A clock ticked somewhere in the background—just like that one afternoon in the library.
"How did you know?" Weiss said. "The media doesn't even know."
Nex shrugged. The media could go fuck itself. "Winter called me. She's busy with military stuff, so she sent me to pitch in."
"That's just like Winter. Always looking out for me even if she can't," Weiss said, breathing a sigh. "Not that I don't appreciate you coming here, because I do."
Winter Schnee. The big sister who loved her little sister very much.
But his partner's entire ordeal was nothing but a decoy. And it served nothing more than the satisfaction of her father. The scar on his partner's face was nothing but a ploy.
Some answers would be great.
Wonderful, even.
Now.
But Weiss needed him here. Not now, then.
Maybe later.
It was doubtful her father missed her current companion.
"What happened?" Nex said.
There was no need to clarify what he was asking. His partner was intelligent enough to know. He had already been staring at her scar for minutes.
"My father made me fight an Atlesian Paladin," Weiss said, her eyes fixed on her needled wrist. "I did everything I could."
Her father made her fight one of those mechs Roman was interested in. It was a miracle she was lying here at all. And it was certainly better than being dead.
A scar meant she was strong—that she survived so she could become even stronger. Being dead meant he would have been missing a partner. And that would have meant he lost yet again.
"What happened?" Weiss said.
Nex smiled. Probably expected him to know what she meant. "Ironwood endorsed me to Beacon. I got in."
"That's great, Nex," Weiss said, beaming. Then she grimaced, pain ghosting over her face. Just like when her arm broke. His calves tensed, already moving to push him up. "No, I'm okay. What did he thank you for?"
Nex shrugged, plopping back into the chair. "Didn't Winter say that it's classified?"
Weiss frowned. "Then declassify it. I won't tell anyone."
Nothing wrong with telling his partner, but there was a camera on one of the walls.
Did that thing even record audio?
Knowing her father, it probably did. Her father's association with Ironwood meant that if he did tell her here, then the general would definitely know.
"The walls have ears," Nex said, glancing at the camera. And eyes, even. "Besides, I don't think the general would like it if I told you. On record, at least."
Weiss smiled, her hand flexing. "I can wait then."
Nex shrugged. There was nothing left to say. And nothing left to do but sit here and wait for his partner to recover.
He was no longer a bartender at the Huntsman's Respite. Nor did he actually need any more of the Atlesian lien. There was no real need to rush. And for probably the first time in his entire life, he could finally sit still, relax, and close his eyes without worrying.
A pity the occasion only arrived when his partner was grievously injured. But then again, people won some and lost some.
What was important was that they lived to see another day.
The door hissed open.
A heartbeat stepped into the room. It was calm. Collected. Eerily similar to the beating in his partner's chest.
Her eyes widened.
Weiss stiffened, plastering a smile on her face. "Father! It's a pleasure to see you."
And so, the big man came.
As expected.
Time to see how her father really was.
"Weiss. Excuse me and your interim guardian for a moment," Jacques Schnee said. "We have important matters to discuss."
It was most definitely not a request.
Rather, it was a demand.
And the look in his partner's eyes only confirmed it. She only ever looked like that during the White Fang incident.
What kind of father inspired that look in his daughter's eyes?
Fuck it all then.
Fuck all the fathers in the world.
Particularly the secretive and manipulative ones. And the ones who were missing a set of balls. Too drunk to even—
Screw it.
Nothing would really change, would it?
"Be right back, Weiss," Nex said, hauling himself to his feet. Even as his partner whimpered. He spun on his heel, face to face with the smiling man. The smile was matched with practised ease. Mirrors and all. When he was younger. "Your father and I need to talk."
Jacques led him through the door and out of the hospital. They spoke little, until they were well-situated inside his stupid, fancy car. The unseen driver sped them off, probably back to his office.
All important men had those.
"I'm sure you know who I am," Jacques said. "Everyone reads the newspapers nowadays, don't they?"
Jacques opened with a joking tone, obviously expecting him to loosen his guard.
The city zoomed past the black-tinted window, the SDC private hospital turning into a dot on the highway.
Weiss was alone. While he was sitting here with Jacques. But her father definitely had the answers to his questions.
A compromise then.
"Actually. I don't," Nex said, rolling his eyes. It was the furthest thing from the truth. But her father did not need to know that. "The name's Nexus. Nexus Shade."
Jacques chuckled. Definitely at his own joke. "Jacques Schnee. I already know who you are."
Jacques did?
Shocker.
Nex shrugged. "Well, now I know who you are too. So, what do you want to talk about?"
"We'll talk in my study. But if you'd prefer," Jacques said. "We can talk right now. I'm sure you're eager to return to my daughter's side."
Nex shook his head. It was probably a bait. "We can talk there. I'm in no hurry."
The roads turned into twists and the twists turned into spirals. By the time they arrived, he already lost count of the number of cars they overtook on the dark, neon-lit streets. It was simply the way Atlas was—cars, billboards, commercials. Even the vans of the news outlets, looking for their next big scoop—a scoop that they were definitely missing.
The one in the hospital and all.
It took an elevator ride to ascend the SDC's main headquarters. Probably one of the tallest buildings in the heart of Atlas.
And well, it was probably compensating for something.
The varnished wood of Jacques' personal study opened by itself. A camera swung on the ceiling, sweeping the carpeted floor.
The carpet looked like as if it was made of real fur. Strands of white stuck to his dust-caked boots. And knowing the man, it was probably real.
If the SDC's most vocal critics were to be believed, then Jacques Schnee skinned his underpaid, faunus miners just to make some carpets.
Easy propaganda material.
But still, what exactly was the truth?
Jacques Schnee made no derogatory comments about his extra pair of ears. Not a one. Not even when he was purposely being difficult during the drive.
Jacques' veiled comments were definitely reserved for his general attitude instead. The one with the rolly eyes and the shruggy shoulders. And certainly not for his half-heritage.
Or else it would have been nothing new.
"After you," Jacques said, gesturing at the doorway. "I'd hate to be seen as a poor host."
Gods forbid.
Of course he would.
Nex rolled his eyes, stepping into the room. "Well, thanks. That sure is nice of you."
Jacques' personal study was the exact opposite of Ironwood's. Where the latter was a pure-bred minimalist, the former kept a lot of portraits and bookshelves.
There was barely enough space inside the lamp-lit room for a single desk and two chairs.
Jacques waved at a velvety chair—the one probably meant for his guests. "Do you need refreshments? Perhaps some water? Do speak your mind."
"No thanks," Nex said, sitting on the chair. Damn. It was second only to the headmaster's in Atlas Primary. Maybe even softer. "I don't want to keep Weiss waiting."
And that was the absolute truth.
Every second here meant Weiss was alone in that cold, sterilized hospital. There was no way he could call himself her partner if he could not even take care of her while she was injured.
"Your dedication and loyalty to my daughter is admirable," Jacques said, sitting on the chair across him. Right across the desk. "Tell me. What do your eyes see?"
Nex shrugged. A lot of portraits hung on the walls, most of them displaying the man in various poses. "A lot of your pictures. You sure love having yourself framed."
Jacques chuckled, apparently missing the implication that he was narcissistic—which was exactly what a narcissist would have done. "I'm glad you're appreciative of my tastes. But that's not the only thing that I want you to notice. Look behind me. Use your eyes."
Nex squinted.
There was a rectangular portrait.
Hidden by a shadow.
Four people stood side by side in the picture.
A petite woman with waist-length, luscious blonde hair stood farthest on the left, hefting a sheathed sword on her armoured shoulder. Two tufts of fur sat on her head.
To her left stood a pale-skinned woman. Probably the same height as the fair-skinned blonde, but her white hair was cut into a pixie bob. One that barely touched her squared shoulders. She was pointing a rapier straight at the camera, arching an eyebrow, her chin raised.
The third was a man with slick black hair and the beginnings of a moustache. His bare hand was joined with the white-haired woman's, just under their hips. Almost managing to hide it, even.
The fourth was definitely a grizzly bear. A tanned, seven-foot one. But a grizzly bear nonetheless. His scarred arms were planting an axe into the dirt.
All of them were smiling. All of them looked suspiciously familiar. Familiar enough that he already met at least three of them.
His semblance flared.
White fizzled over black.
"That's my mom. And a younger you before you bleached your hair," Nex said. "And Mekel. They're your teammates? You're a huntsman from Beacon?"
Jacques chuckled, placing a fist on the brown wood. "The implication that I'm old is unflattering. But you're correct. What you see in the portrait is Team SSJW of Beacon, pronounced as Shadow, led by your mother. Amariss Shade."
Nex sank into his seat, blinking twice at the portrait.
The scene in the sunny meadow did not change.
He could definitely recognize Oathkeeper and Vigilance on sight, even if the scabbard still looked like its curved, unmodified self. More damning was the golden wolf howling at the moon. The one stained on the scabbard's surface. His mother's emblem. It was even on his own version of Vigilance.
The woman with the rapier resembled Weiss so much that there was no question the woman was her mother. In fact, the crystal-white rapier was definitely the same weapon Weiss was using.
Mekel still looked the same, albeit thinner. Well, his ex-boss was getting a little bit bulky under the brown suit.
"Why W for Mekel?" Nex said. "What's his surname?"
His ex-boss never said anything about it. It simply never came up. He was happy enough the crime lord gave him an honest job, despite the thick irony. And this was apparently why Mekel did.
It was a small world.
An incredibly small world.
It was getting claustrophobic.
"Winterheart. Our eldest is named after him," Jacques said. "You see, my partner and I are two threads in the same stitch, weaving our own tapestry inside Atlas. I'm sure your incredible intellect can connect the dots."
The incredible intellect part was debatable, but his semblance did connect the dots.
Jacques Schnee controlled the Schnee Dust Company.
Mekel Winterheart controlled half of the criminal underworld.
They were definitely coordinating their efforts, keeping the city under their thumbs. But that was relatively unimportant—what mattered was why his mother's teammate was telling him all this.
Jacques smiled. "I'm sure the cogs in your head are spinning. You take after Mary. And if she were in your place, she'd have already asked why I brought her here by now."
"Why?" Nex said. "Why tell me all this?"
Because believe it or not, his mother's teammate held the answers to his questions. And it seemed Jacques was perfectly willing to provide them. As long as it stayed that way, Weiss could wait a little while longer.
A hologram flickered over the desk.
White Fang goons collapsed in the hallways of Atlas Primary, clutching their stomachs. Those in the auditorium did the same, splashing vomit on the white-washed walls.
His chest tightened. Yuck. Somehow, it looked even more toe-curling on record.
The tape ended just as the soldiers barged into the auditorium, led by Winter herself.
"The Mantle Frequency. Don't bother denying it," Jacques said, chuckling. "I don't believe Winter's little fairy tale. As amusing as it may be."
Nex shrugged, tearing his eyes away from the hologram. "I did what I had to do to protect Weiss. I don't care if my methods step on the sensitive feelings of faunus or politicians. They can stuff their feelings elsewhere while I attend to reality."
"And you've answered your own question. Stupendous," Jacques said, smirking as he clapped once. "You are unlike any of my progeny. You are a man willing to do whatever is necessary, the consequences be damned, to further your own agenda. If only my son and my daughters had half your perspective, then I wouldn't be going through all of these ridiculous schemes."
Jacques' claim was undeniable.
Well, he could deny it, but then there was no point in lying to himself. In his own thoughts, even.
But still, Jacques Schnee was turning out to not be as irrationally evil and one-dimensional as Weiss portrayed him to be.
Maybe Winter was right.
There was more to the official story.
An unofficial one, even.
"Why then?" Nex said. "Why put them through all of your tests?"
Jacques rubbed his temple. "Why does any parent put their child through a test? Would you believe me if I told you, that everything I do is only for the sake of my family, so they could live the life of luxury that they deserve?"
Now that was an interesting thought. Weiss was afraid of him. Winter was tight-lipped about him. Their mother seemed to be missing from their lives.
How did Jacques see it from his side?
"That's interesting," Nex said, licking his dry lips. "Where's your family now, then?"
Jacques frowned, his gloved finger tapping the wooden desk. "They don't understand, so they shun me along with my methods. They don't know what it's like to work until their hands bleed. They don't know what it's like to fear that today's lien may be their last. They, are neither you, nor I."
Admittedly, Jacques had a point.
But he would never go as far as the Schnee patriarch did.
So far that his own daughter was afraid of him.
"I'm nothing like you," Nex said, his eyes narrowing. "I wouldn't put my hypothetical daughter through all of your schemes."
Jacques grinned. "On the contrary, I am you. I'm even starting to see myself in you. A boy pushed to the edges of society, attached to one of its elites by coincidence. I clawed my way out of the gutter just like you did, all for the one person that I truly gave a damn about."
Thunder rattled his brain.
Nex flinched, almost falling off his chair.
Something about the statement strummed all the right chords. And that was because it was nothing but the truth.
He met Weiss because they were partnered in Dust Practical. A complete coincidence. Everything stemmed from their partnership. If they never met, then he would probably be half-asleep somewhere, his head lost in the clouds, his brain waxing some lyrical poetry.
Or even some songs for no one.
"Willow Schnee," Nex said, breathing a sigh. "She inspired you, didn't she?"
Just like how Weiss inspired him.
"Now you're starting to understand," Jacques said with a curt nod. "Weiss insists that she enrols at Beacon. She will be alone for four years, surrounded by those I can't possibly trust."
Jacques paused, seemingly considering his words.
"But you'll be there, won't you? Do you understand exactly what I'm offering you?" Jacques said, steepling his fingers together. "I give to you what I value the most in this world. Ensure that the world doesn't take her away from you."
Jacques did not need to tell him that. He would have kept Weiss safe even if her father did not ask.
But he was definitely missing something here.
A critical detail of what Jacques just said.
"Alright," Nex said, heaving a sigh. "What's your game?"
Jacques smiled, dropping a card on the desk. "I assure you, I'm not playing any games. It'd be disrespectful to our old friend if I played games with her son. And I'm, as your generation will put it, quite serious about this."
His semblance never reacted to anything dangerous. It was possible Jacques meant him no harm. But then again, it was possible his semblance was lying.
Fat chance.
The odds of a rogue bagel destroying the Grimm were higher than that.
Jacques arched an eyebrow, his grin growing wider. If that was even possible. "You don't trust easily. That's good. You do take after your mother."
As opposed to what?
His father?
Gods forbid.
He was definitely swearing off alcohol because of Qr—
He who shall not be named.
"Only a fool takes everything at face value," Nex said, rolling his eyes. "There's always something more."
Ironwood, Amariss, Summer, and all the other people in the world. There was something connecting them. A thread. Some stitch that wove them together in the tapestry of life. Team SSJW was proof of that. An unexpected connection. Or even a cloak-and-dagger conspiracy.
Maybe his mother's teammates were in on it as well?
"I happen to agree. But you don't need to trust me," Jacques said. "You only need to assume responsibility when the time comes."
Nex shrugged, swiping the card into his pocket. Maybe it could come in handy. "Can I go back to Weiss now?"
"You may. I'll have one of my employees take you back," Jacques said, smirking as he shot him a look. "But don't do anything irresponsible. Willow and I are still unprepared for that eventuality."
Nex raised an eyebrow. "What? I'm not sure what you're talking about."
Come to think of it, Winter said the exact same thing.
"Well. Everyone has their weak points," Jacques muttered, cupping his forehead. Like he was contemplating his life choices. "Go now. Don't keep my daughter waiting."
Nex shrugged, standing up.
No need to ask him twice.
Chapter 18
What happened?" Weiss said, her eyebrows furrowed into thin lines. Her chapped lips twisted, forcing out her words. "My father didn't do anything, did he?"
Nex shook his head, settling into his chair. "Nope. We had a peaceful talk. No comments about my extra pair of ears, even."
A glass of water sat on her bedside table.
Nex reached for it, cradling it with one hand. He smiled and brought the refreshment to her lips.
Weiss sucked on the transparent rim, her pale throat bobbing up and down as she drank her fill. When she was done, he returned the half-empty glass to its original place.
"Thank you," Weiss said, breathing a sigh. "What did my father say?"
"Nothing much," Nex said, shrugging. "Just stuff about the past and the future."
"And what would those be?" Weiss said, her fingers groping for something.
Impossible to reach, considering that her wrist was stifled by a lot of pointy stuff.
Nex closed the gap between their hands, wrapping his fingers around hers.
Cold.
So cold.
And so unlike her.
"Apparently, our moms were partners in Beacon. They formed a team with your father," Nex said. "And my ex-boss. Team SSJW. Pronounced as shadow."
"Really? I didn't know that," Weiss said, flashing him a smile. "I always knew that my father was a huntsman, but he never wanted to talk about his past."
"Your mom didn't talk about the past either?" Nex said. "Your father showed me a portrait of their team. The dust rapier you use is your mom's."
"The dust rapier I used. It broke during father's test," Weiss said. "I overloaded it, and one of its shards almost cut my eye out."
Nex wanted to reprimand her for being so reckless. Overloading a dust-based weapon amplified its effects at the cost of certain destruction.
But since when did their roles reverse?
She was the one who scolded people.
He was the one who let things slide.
Apparently, a hospital bed was enough to flip the tables between them.
"Anyways, my mom is complicated," Weiss said, frowning. Her eyes peered into his. "My father, he's—"
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Nex said, giving her hand a squeeze. "If talking about it is hard, then don't."
Her family was divided.
A father who drowned himself in work, plotting schemes around his family. For their betterment. Or so he claimed. A mother who seemed to be missing. And an older sister who was trying her best. But one who still chose to live her own life away from theirs.
Jacques let slip he had a son. But not one of his two sisters ever mentioned anything about him. That spoke about the boy more than cumbersome words ever could.
But at least she had a family.
More than him, anyway.
Or more than he would ever have.
"My parents loved each other," Weiss said, pursing her lips. "Back then, everything seemed so simple."
"What happened?" Nex said.
"They argued about the direction of my family's company," Weiss said. "The morally grey area that my father was taking it on."
It was what Jacques implied as well.
Apparently, her father did tell him the truth.
Not that Jacques Schnee was particularly pitiable. He already made his own life choices. Dug his own grave, even.
"It turned into a spat. My father immersed himself in work," Weiss said. "While my mom stepped down and turned to alcoholism. We were there. Caught between their shouting matches."
The fear-stained look ghosted over her eyes.
Nex squeezed her hand, offering her his best smile. Well, probably the best he could manage. It was the only thing he could possibly do.
Something about what she said brought his mother's words to mind. Living a life of sobriety and responsible parenthood, indeed. Those words were probably directed at her partner. And probably even at his father.
Typical of Amariss Shade to care in a roundabout way.
"An argument couldn't really do that much damage, could it?" Nex said. "I mean, look at us."
They argued about things, sure. But only the life-and-death ones were particularly memorable and worth storytelling. Whether to risk their lives against the White Fang was one of them.
He lost that battle hard. Stubborn, idealistic women and their strong moral fibres.
Troublesome, even.
Weiss smiled, quirking both of her eyebrows. "No. But I think their marriage was already strained by something. And when my father said that he only loves mom because of her family name..."
"So, did he mean it?" Nex said. "People say or do things when they're angry."
Case in point—him.
Ruby Rose did not deserve the tip of his rage-fuelled spear.
Never did.
"I don't know. They never yelled about it," Weiss said. "But my mom's right. What my father is doing is wrong."
It was debatable.
Maybe Jacques Schnee intended good things. But then again, there was that saying about the road to hell and good intentions.
Still, far be it from him waylay either his partner or her divided family. Certainly not when he did not experience the situation for himself. It would have been unfair. And his partner was probably not looking for a debate in her hospital room.
"That was about the past," Weiss said. "What did he say about the future?"
Nex shrugged. "He trusts me to watch over you in Beacon. Apparently, I made quite an impression on him. Particularly the part where we took back the school."
Weiss laughed, the tinkling sound bouncing off the walls. "Why, Mr Shade. It's like you're applying to be my bodyguard."
"Do I pass, Miss Schnee?" Nex drawled, fixing her a deadpan stare. "I'd hate to disappoint."
"Hm. I'll have to think about it," Weiss said with a wide smile, cupping her chin with her uninjured hand. The one on the opposite side of her bed. "Maybe if you wore a white suit—"
"Gods forbid," Nex said, cracking a smirk. "You'll have to make do."
Weiss stifled a yawn, her lids half-shut. "Oh, very well, Mr Shade. Will you be staying here?"
"Sure. I guess," Nex said, bobbing his head into a nod. His fringe ruffled, brushing his left cheek. Well, his hair was getting a little bit long. "I'll be right here with you."
And he would be.
Until his partner was alright.
Weiss grinned, her eyes drifting shut. "Goodnight then."
"Goodnight," Nex said, closing his eyes.
The chair was a bit hard, but he could definitely manage.
Especially with her hand in his.
"This is—"
Weiss sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes fixed on the multi-action dust rapier.
The wooden case lay open on her lap. Six vials of unused dust stood on one side of the box. The rapier was silvery grey—a stark contrast to her mother's crystal-white rapier. It resembled her broken weapon, down to the four prongs on its revolver.
"My partner's missing a sword," Nex said. "I have free time, so I made her another one."
Weiss ran her index over the hilt, her eyes widening. "This is exactly the same as my mom's. How did you even design it?"
Nex shrugged. "What can I say? I have a pretty good memory."
That, and a semblance that analysed her weapon whenever she used it.
It was unknown if its inner mechanisms were still the same. They were based on Oathkeeper's. His mother's choice of armament operated in a similar way, channelling dust from its cartridges. In theory, it would be as if Weiss did not change her weapon at all. The only thing that changed was the colour scheme, but grey was definitely cooler than white.
"Thank you," Weiss said, a smile blossoming on her lips. She closed the box, placing it on her bedside table. "What do we call it?"
The multi-action dust rapier went unnamed during its production, as a huntsman's weapon was personal—a representation of how they approached the world.
Hrunting and Vigilance was unassuming, hiding its true form by separating into two distinct weapons. It almost never revealed its full capabilities, not unless the fight had actual stakes. Coupled with his semblance, it definitely spoke a lot about him. He only used the barest amount of effort necessary to complete a task, never overextending or using all of his cards.
Or maybe he was just lazy.
Well, it was nothing but semantics.
"I don't know," Nex said. "It's your weapon. You get to name it."
Weiss giggled, leaning towards him. She poked his shoulder. Her wrist was bereft of wires and needles, her pale skin already taking on its healthy colour. "You constructed it, Mr Shade. I grant you the honour of naming it."
Nex nodded, his brain spitting out an appropriate name. A pun, even. "Myrtenaster. We can call it Myrtenaster."
"Myrtenaster. It sounds beautiful," Weiss said, pausing. Like she was rolling her tongue around the pun. "Why Myrtenaster?"
"It's after a family of flowers," Nex said, smiling. He always brought some of them to his mother's memorial. "White flowers. Pretty ones. I think it suits you."
"You think I'm pretty?" Weiss said, flushing. She lifted her hand, touching the mark on her face. "Even if I..."
Nex stiffened, his stomach definitely doing back flips. Fire swam through his cheeks, but the words still slipped from his traitorous tongue.
His father asked him the exact question before.
But back then, he never really had an answer.
Pale blue swirled, sucking everything in the room, even as he drew harsh, ragged breaths, his throat tightening like a rattlesnake.
But hopefully, his lips could still spit out an honest answer.
Thank the gods if they could.
"Yep. I think you're pretty," Nex said. Thankfully, he did not sound like a frog croaking out its last words. "Why wouldn't I?"
Weiss frowned, lowering her hand. "It's this scar. I'm not very pretty with it."
Nex reached out, his hand stopping beside her temple. He ran his thumb over her scar, caressing the rough tissue on her smooth skin. Warm like a flat iron. Even warmer than her hand.
"I think," Nex said, his lips curling into a smile. "It makes you even prettier."
"You know exactly what to say, Mr Shade," Weiss said, snatching his outstretched hand. Her soft, slender digits laced through his. A grin stretched her dimpled cheeks, pink-stained under the white light. "I didn't know that you were such a flatterer."
Cloying warmth stuck to the back of his throat. His chest pounded, an army marching at two hundred miles per hour. His breath hitched, blood gushing through his arteries. The ones on his neck. His lifeline was rioting, almost bursting in his temples, even as she leaned in, just a little bit closer. Her eyes were half-lidded—for reasons unknown to even his semblance.
There was definitely something different about this.
Different from that night in the barbecue place.
Heat raced through his spine instead of electricity, while his overcooking brain came up with a reply. One that would not have embarrassed him or sent him flying into a heart attack.
In hindsight, both were equally possible.
"Oh, my," Winter said, boots stomping over tiles. The door hissed shut. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
His brain crunched to a halt.
Weiss burned tomato, scowling as she threw his hand away. "Sister! Don't you know how to knock?!"
"I know how to knock, little sister. And I did knock," Winter said, placing a stack of boxes beside Myrtenaster's case. Her lips formed her trademark smile. The secretive, ice-queen one. "But never mind that. We should eat before it gets cold."
Nex breathed a sigh of relief. He had to thank Winter for the save, even if his partner fixed her the Mt. Weiss signature glare.
Nex tossed his camping bag over his shoulder, smiling as his duds fit snugly against the back of his trench.
For the first time in almost ten years, his home was flooded with blinding light.
Every corner of the flat was cleaned and sanitized—well, except for the cobweb-encrusted mirror. The place was also blanketed with motion-sensitive traps. Well, motions not attached to his nanotech bracer.
It was simply taking precautions.
Bargaining with Roman for four minutes to secure his flat for four years was worth the effort. The thief sent him boxes of dust along with the best traps. The ones that would make the most hardened burglars hesitate from breaking into an unguarded bank. One of them even did... certain things to a certain part of the male anatomy.
Neo probably had a hand in that one.
The mute minx sat cross-legged on the brown linoleum, shovelling scoops of ice cream into her mouth. A single pink eye winked at him. She promptly went back to emptying her bowl of fancy, strawberry ice cream. The last of its kind, his fridge having been emptied and plugged off. She was all too happy to teleport his stock of ice cream, alcohol and food to their hideout in Vale, in exchange for her transportation services.
Hrunting and Vigilance, along with Oathkeeper, was attached to the sides of his belt. The black leather ran over his waist, keeping his coat fastened to his torso. He wore a plain white tee under his trench. It was practically his apparel as a bartender, except for the stupid tie. Well, his mother's armour would only draw attention in the station.
"Neo," Nex said, swiping at his bracer. Locks clicked around his flat. The lights dissolved into darkness. "It's time."
A hand grabbed his stiff arm.
The world cracked.
White tiles stared at him.
Nex killed the sigh in his throat. He spun and pulled at the door, stepping out of the cramped room.
"Nex?!"
Weiss jumped on her feet. Her eyes swerved, poking holes into the other huntresses in the room.
And him.
Definitely him.
Damn it, Neo.
"Oops," Nex said, turning towards the stone-faced women. He smiled, loosening the muscles of his legs. A hairbrush clattered on the floor. "Stepped into the wrong toilet. Sorry."
He sprinted towards the far door, streaking past a hail of gunfire. His teeth clattered, even as a white blur matched his pace. Right beside him. Glyphs spun into existence, tinkling around his body—blue like hard light. The bullets he could not dodge pinged off his partner's shields. He had to thank her for that one.
But still. Huntresses. Mad. Utterly mad.
Nex panted, leaning against his safety blanket—a hard pillar. A crowd bustled in the station, climbing up the bullheads.
One of them was theirs.
The one going to Vale.
"Nex, why were you in the huntresses' restroom?" Weiss said, crossing her arms. Droplets of sweat raced down her pink-tinged cheeks. "That was quite inappropriate."
"Would you believe me if I told you," Nex said, steadying his lungs. "That I just walked into the wrong room?"
Weiss heaved a world-weary sigh, smirking under her tussled fringe. "It's incredibly sad. But I do believe that you can commit that mistake."
Phew.
He was definitely going to have some words with Neo. The little minx. Preferably words spoken with his weapons.
"So, how do I look?" Weiss said, arching an eyebrow.
Nex blinked. Why was she even asking?
Weiss twirled, spinning a full three-sixty.
Apparently, she was wearing some new duds, Myrtenaster attached to her hip.
When did she get a new combat outfit?
Weiss Schnee was wrapped in a tight, buttoned coat and skirt. Her new attire resembled what Winter wore in the Huntsman's Respite, all white with black accents. But she had something wrapped around her shoulders.
Something Winter never had.
His hood cascaded around her shoulders, its tail resting on the small of her back. Her emblem was embroidered on the midnight-blue fabric, the white snowflake stark against the darkness. The Schnee crest sat right above her heart, mirroring the position of his own emblem.
"You look great, Weiss," Nex said, tapping the marble with his boots. The crowd flowed around them, probably ignoring the obvious pair of huntsman and huntress. "Is that my hood? You turned it into a scarf?"
Weiss flushed, grinning as she fidgeted with the hood-turned-scarf. "You're not mad, are you?"
Nex shook his head. "Nope. I gave it to you, right?"
There was definitely something symbolic about this. Something literary his brain could probably put out.
Weiss was wearing his colours over hers, the midnight blue almost blending with the black. She even placed her emblem on the fabric—fabric the same colour as his trench. If anything, it only reinforced the idea that they were partners.
"I'm glad. You're not looking half-bad yourself," Weiss said, smiling as she stared at something on his chest. Probably at his own emblem. "Well, shall we go, partner?"
Nex shrugged. "Right. To Vale. To Beacon."
To the future, his brain supplied, as they climbed into their bullhead.
Chapter 20
A few days passed, the snow melted into dirt, and the silver-eyed girl exploded.
The Weiss-bomb followed, even as their crew picked up the surviving containers. His camping bag was probably there, together with his partner's luggage.
Well, what was it about people and having a lot of unnecessary stuff, anyway?
Was there really a point in having five identical tiaras?
Or even five identical boxes of makeup?
"It's you," Weiss said, crossing her arms. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"
Nex shrugged, smiling as his partner propelled herself into a long-winded rant about dust and safety protocols.
Heh.
Same old Weiss.
Ruby Rose sat on her red-trimmed skirt, the floor of Beacon's plaza giving her a convenient safety net. Well, no one could possibly blame her for shrinking away from Mt. Weiss.
"And what do you have to say for yourself?" Weiss said, placing her hand on her waist. "Ruby Rose, was it? You could've done a lot of damage with your clumsiness."
Ruby blinked, her silver eyes snapping back to reality. Apparently, he was not the only one with the divine skill required to tune out his partner's rants.
Well, good for her.
"Sorry, Weiss," Ruby said, fidgeting with her skirt. "I just wanted to talk to Nex."
Well, that was a thing.
The last time they saw each other was at the Sanus Festival.
He almost injured her after she lost her aura, losing his grip.
Her mother took away his mother.
Well, fuck.
It was definitely an irrational thought—but she almost took away his partner as well.
And now, she was here, wanting to talk to him.
Why?
If he was in her boots, then he would have definitely avoided the guy who almost crippled her in a sanctioned, friendly match.
"Here he is," Weiss said, smiling as she shot him a glance. "What did you want to talk about?"
Ruby waved at him. From the floor. "Hi, Nex."
Nex shrugged. There was a black-haired woman at the corner of the plaza.
Amber eyes stared at him, before she stood up and walked away.
Well, good for her.
Apparently, it was survival instinct to avoid Mt. Weiss. Something encoded in people's DNA.
Or was it just the way her face twisted?
Well, nothing new there. But it must have been new to them.
"Should we go somewhere else?" Nex said, managing a smile. "Weiss won't mind if I'm a little late."
"Not at all," Weiss said with a curt nod. "But I expect you to be at the opening ceremony, and not sleeping under a tree."
Weiss Schnee knew him too well. His master plan of talking to Ruby Rose and then ending up under a nice tree died before it was even born.
His brain spat out Jacques' words.
He was supposed to be watching over her, was he not? And he could not do that without sacrificing some of his shut-eye.
Odd as it was, it was a perfectly okay sacrifice.
Nex smirked. "I'm not the type of guy to abandon my partner, listening to some old guy talk. It's torture."
Weiss smiled, shaking her head. She strolled away, taking their crew and their luggage with her. Leaving him alone with the silver-eyed girl sprawled out on the floor.
Just right behind him.
Great.
Nex spun, his eyebrows twitching.
Jaune Arc was there, grinning as he loomed over Ruby Rose. He turned his back once, and Jaune was already picking up another girl.
Again.
Vomit Boy's attempts at talking to women in The Club were heart-breaking, especially since Yang was there to egg him on. Never mind Jaune Arc's purpose behind all of it. Their bickering was funny, especially when Jaune received a frigid rejection.
Not that he would admit it to them.
Of course not.
"The name's Jaune. Jaune Arc," Jaune said, pulling the silver-eyed girl to her feet. "It's—"
Nex snorted. "Short. Sweet. Rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."
Jaune flinched. "Nex? Is that you?"
"Who else?" Nex said, quirking an eyebrow. "See any other wolves around?"
Vomit Boy should definitely get his eyes checked, but the new trench must have thrown him off.
"I'm Ruby," Ruby said. She giggled, her eyes fixed on the blonde. "Ruby Rose. It's nice to meet you."
Fuck.
This was definitely it.
Soft wind blew in the background, some sort of perverse soundtrack for the plaza.
And definitely for their moment.
This was totally it.
The day Nexus Shade always trained for—the day when the socially challenged elites gathered for their first boardroom meeting.
And Ruby Rose opened their discussion.
By drawing her fucking scythe.
"So, I've got this thing," Ruby said, her weapon clicking, unfolding into its complete form.
Yep. A totally normal conversation starter. Nothing wrong there.
Ruby slammed her bulky scythe into the cement, shattering the stone. A lot of lien right there. Just gone. "His name is Crescent Rose. Isn't he adorable?"
Jaune eeped, hopping in place. "Whoa! That's a—that's one cool-looking scythe."
His right palm brushed Oathkeeper, the fingers of his left already tapping Vigilance, drawing on the dust stored in its cartridges.
No.
Nex shook his head, prying his hands from his weapons. It was an accident. A sanctioned match. There was no need to dredge up what happened weeks ago.
"Cool-looking. Right," Nex said, his jaw stiffening. Fuck. "Does it turn into something else?"
A spear was probably more practical than a scythe. But there was no point in telling her. A person had to step into her guard before she could use the scythe to its full potential. It was already half the battle won for whoever her adversary was.
Case in point—how Hrunting and Vigilance overwhelmed Crescent Rose in close quarters. She should have definitely stuck to ranged. But then again, Hrunting and Vigilance had a little something for long-range as well.
"It's also a bolt-action, high-velocity sniper rifle," Ruby said, quirking an eyebrow. "But I thought you already knew that."
Nex shrugged, smirking at the blonde. "It's more for Vomit Boy's benefit. He wasn't exactly there."
Jaune rolled his eyes. "It's nice of you to care, Broody Face."
Ruby smiled, folding her scythe and returning it to the back of her waist. "Shouldn't we go in? I don't want to be late. I don't want to get kicked out on my first day."
Wait.
Why was she here again?
Ruby Rose was a second-year at Signal Academy. Trainees graduated from combat schools after their fourth year. Just like he did.
"Why exactly are you here?" Nex said, licking his dry lips. "Aren't you supposed to be in your third year at Signal?"
Ruby flushed, fidgeting with her skirt. "Errr... I'm a normal girl with normal knees?"
Right. Because that totally made sense.
"Really?" Jaune exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. "You must have been moved up. I didn't know you were that good, Crater Face."
That explained it.
Ruby Rose was skilled enough to make it to the finals of a tournament for fourth-years. Skilled enough to defeat Weiss Schnee in a ranged duel, even—where his partner was at her strongest.
He definitely had to watch out for Ruby, especially if combat class in Beacon was anything like the one in Atlas Primary.
Ruby pouted at the blonde. "Crater Face? I'm not the one who threw up on Yang's shoe, Vomit Boy."
He did?
It definitely earned Vomit Boy a spot in his withered heart. Throwing up on Yang was a brave, brave act. One worthy to be immortalized in a book somewhere. Probably one entitled The Chronicles of Jaune Arc and The Forbidden Projectile.
But then again, throwing up on Yang's shoe was tamer compared to throwing up on her hair. That one already happened in The Club. He still had the phantom bruises from stopping their impromptu brawl, and that was before it could even happen.
"Hey. I'm telling you guys," Jaune said, waving his arms around. "Motion-sickness is a perfectly normal condition."
They strolled through the winding hallways of the academy.
Nex flanked his fellow elites, the two of them bouncing back and forth to fill the silence. He was definitely right. If he stayed silent, then he could doze off without the rest of the socially challenged elites noticing. There was no way he could daydream like this if he and his partner were alone.
Was it too late to find a tree somewhere, maybe grab a mug of iced tea?
"O-oh, hey guys," Ruby said, her eyes snapping towards the front. "Sorry, I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!"
Ruby vanished, bursting into rose petals.
Jaune's eyes roved over the thick crowd.
His semblance tingled—spiders crawling on the walls of his skull. Oh well, oh well. Naturally, there would be a lot of weapons in a place sardine-packed with huntsmen and huntresses.
He toned it down the same way at Patch.
"Great," Jaune said, rubbing the back of his messy hair. "Where am I supposed to find another cute, quirky girl to talk to?"
Nex smirked, his partner already alone by the corner, her head whipping around. "I don't know about you, but I think I found mine."
Nex loped away, waving at Vomit Boy from behind.
The blonde groaned, whispering something about lucky bastards, even as he was swallowed by the buzzing crowd.
Nex rolled his eyes, his brain labelling the pointless chatter as white noise. Sometimes, wolf ears were a bitch and a half.
"There you are," Weiss said, smirking as their eyes met. "I thought you were asleep somewhere."
Nex fixed her a deadpan stare, stopping right beside her. "Such faith. My heart has been pierced."
Weiss giggled, stopping when a few heads spun. Definitely to look. A small circle formed around them—a circle no one seemed keen to cross.
Well, good for them.
"Of course," Weiss said, frowning. "We should turn our attention to the headmaster's speech."
The headmaster walked up the stage, a coffee mug and a cane in his hands. He wore a green scarf over a black suit.
Like his partner, even.
The grey-haired guy—or was it silver—stopped in front of a microphone.
The crowd stopped talking. Most of them turned their attention to the headmaster while some simply nodded off.
He could definitely tell which did which. He was a master of the technique, after all. And of course, being a master of such a skill, he would be remiss not to use it.
"I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."
Nex blinked, his partner nudging his arm.
The headmaster was probably at the tail-end of the speech.
Ozpin, was it?
Well, it was nothing but the truth. A few months ago, he had certainly been in dire need of purpose and direction. Now, he was almost there, just a stone's throw away from finding his purpose. He only needed to follow the direction, the course. he was already on, and he would definitely find it.
After all, it worked for Amariss.
Right?
"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at Beacon will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It's up to you to take the first step."
A truth. His semblance was proof of that—practically absorbing knowledge via osmosis. But without application, that knowledge was useless. Wasted space in his brain. He had the ability to learn how to code entire systems in one sitting, but that knowledge was useless if he did not actually use it to code some stuff.
The headmaster strolled off the stage, a blonde woman stepping up, replacing him at the podium.
"You'll be staying in the ballroom. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be prepared. Dismissed."
Their fellow students trickled out the auditorium.
Nex stood still, leaning against the wall. It was more efficient to wait until the crowd dispersed rather than to push his way out of the auditorium.
Apparently, Weiss thought the same.
"Nex," Weiss said, poking his arm. "What did Ruby say?
Nex shrugged. "Nothing much. Something about how she was moved up two years."
He glanced at her left arm. Her eyes followed, her lips sinking into a frown.
"Well, she seems skilled enough," Weiss said. "She did manage to defeat me on her own."
And it was the heart of their issue.
He already apologized to Ruby, the girl accepting it with a smile.
Yang simply grinned and bumped his fist.
Qrow waved the incident off.
But it was still an itch on the back of his head.
And it was probably because of him.
Not Ruby.
He was the one who lost control.
Not her.
But it would not happen again. Especially not if they were going to be classmates for four years. Maybe it was time to stop being so angry.
Time to lay the ghost to rest.
Or at least, Summer Rose.
"I lost control," Nex said. "It was unacceptable."
Weiss frowned, elbowing his side. "You had cause. But if it's troubling you that much, then just try not to do it again. Perhaps you should take deep breaths or count to five?"
Weiss Schnee was the type of woman who gave solutions and not just a listening ear. He could definitely appreciate that. It was certainly better than waving it off or ignoring it.
"Thanks," Nex said, smiling. "You always know what to say, huh?"
Weiss nodded, her hand flipping her ponytail. She smirked and raised her chin.
Great.
She looked like a hen preening under the morning sun—the morning sun being the overhead lights.
"Naturally. I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress of the SDC and your partner. Of course I know what to say," Weiss said, waving a hand. "I've been trained in the fine arts of diplomacy and it shows."
"If only that diplomacy training included a course on modesty," Nex drawled. "It'd be perfect, Miss Schnee."
Weiss gasped, putting a hand on her scarf. "I'll have you know, Mr Shade, I'm perfectly capable of being modest. But I'm not currently seeing the need. Because you see, when my partner is feeling down, I have to pick up the slack."
Her eyes met his.
Pale blue meeting gold, his brain supplied.
Weiss swept her arm at the empty auditorium, grinning as she arched an eyebrow. "Well, shall we go, Mr Shade?"
"Yeah, sure," Nex said, putting more bounce into his steps. He reached out, tugging at her extended hand. Her fingers laced around his. "Let's take Beacon by storm, Miss Schnee."
Amber eyes burned on the window.
The one behind Weiss.
Nex blinked.
Then they were gone.
Chapter 21
Spectacular. Magnificent. Brilliant.
His brain spat out the words while he fingered the piece of wood in his pants.
The sun pierced through the horizon, his legs dangling over the edge. A window sat open behind, the loud, grating snores drifting through.
Beacon's wide ballroom was cramped with students wrapped in sleeping bags, roughing it out on the floor. But his partner got the royal treatment. She was lucky he brought his tent with him.
And well, every possible essential from his flat.
Just in case.
His baggage included their robot dog. It sat beside him, a few nuts and bolts lying on the marble. Dust and other tools sat beside his crossed legs. He was twisting the corgi into something else, modifying the thrusters on its legs and even the cannons hidden in its frame.
Being accustomed to a nocturnal life did wonders for one's sleep schedule. It was impossible to get some shut-eye, so he gave his tent away and found something else to work on.
Barring the rope hanging from the balcony, there was nothing about the scene that could have attracted the faculty's night watch.
Nexus Shade just so happened to be a student getting some fresh air.
Nothing wrong with that.
Right?
Definitely.
Nex squinted at the wire between his index and his thumb, channelling some lightning dust. It sparked. "Got it. Now I just need a little bit of this..."
Nex reached for a shard of gravity, putting it into the robot's centre. He attached the wire to the terminal, closing the gap with some screws and his trusty screwdriver.
It barely resembled a dog anymore.
Aside from the triangular face plate on the front, meant to cut through drag force, nothing remained of the corgi.
Weiss would have to forgive him. But seeing as she was currently asleep, it was better to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission. That was, if she would even raise a fuss. They did win the dust fair. It was doubtful she cared about what happened to their project afterwards.
But still, if she wanted a pet dog, then he could simply make her another one. Or well, buy her another one. But she could probably do that one herself.
Nex chucked the sleek board into the air, grinning as the slab of titanium hummed and gravity failed to work as nature intended.
There was something poetic about this—man defying the laws of nature through innovation.
But he had to grab his clothes and change, instead of letting his brain wax lyrical poetry. Right now, he was still in his silver onesie, a golden wolf reaching for the moon printed on his chest.
Definitely not ready for the initiation.
But to be fair, it was cuter than the wolf on Winter's dashboard.
Nex swiped at his bracer. His little inspiration barked, settling on the tiles.
Well, he did manage to fiddle with the tech so it could interface with other things. Things like his scroll and other machinery. It could be handy if he ever needed to hack something on the field.
He looked up, staring at the orange clouds.
Fuck.
Beautiful.
Nex fell, his back resting on the warm tiles.
It was a rare sunrise—strokes of yellow splashed with orange and red. The breeze stroked his extra pair of ears, even as he shivered, the wind whispering words no longer there.
Remnant could wait a while longer.
There was no need to rush. The day was already secured. He only needed to secure his partner. She would probably wake up after thirty minutes or so, judging from their hospital routine. Practically every day for the past few weeks, even.
Something whooshed, skidding to a stop.
Ruby Rose leaned over, blinking. "Nex? What are you doing here?"
Black pyjamas.
Well, to each their own.
"Enjoying the sunrise," Nex said, offering her a smile. "Rigging the initiation. You take your pick."
Ruby's wooden slippers poked his impromptu project. She glanced at the rope, her eyebrows furrowing. Probably confused. Most of their fellow students were probably not as crazy as him.
"What's this?" Ruby said. "This won't get anyone in trouble, will it?"
Nex closed his eyes. "Nope. Maybe. It depends on how well they can dodge Grimm."
"What?" Ruby said, her voice rising. Well, more than usual. "But they didn't do anything to you, did they?"
"Nope. They didn't. But think about it," Nex said, his eyes snapping open. "There's enough of us to cramp the ballroom. There's also an initiation. Some sort of test."
Ruby twiddled her fingers. "I uh... don't get it. Sorry."
So that was why most of his fellow students slept the night away.
They did not understand Beacon could not cater to all of them—that half of them would most likely fail the initiation. The boisterous, moustached professor talking to the one with the glasses confirmed everything.
Thank the gods for his extra pair of ears.
There was definitely no way that he was going to risk their slot in Beacon. And if the other students had an inkling of what was in store for them, then they would be out on the balcony as well.
"It's like this," Nex said, his brain preparing another angle of attack. "If Beacon could cater to everyone, then there would be no need for an entrance screening.
"It's a school that accepts only the best trainees. The cream of the crop. What better way is there to pick out the strong from the weak than a live situation in Grimm territory?"
Ruby gasped, her eyes widening. "They're going to throw us down?"
Now she gets it.
The Emerald Forest stood beneath the cliff, a long drop from the balcony. No light escaped from its shadows, but the red eyes of Grimm glimmered between the trees. There was the growling of Beowolves and the cackling of Nevermores. The howling of Ursai, even.
Well, the monsters—the Grimm were agitated. Probably his fault, but the faculty should have accounted for pre-gaming.
It was a wonder why no one else was doing it. The faculty did not stop him. The cameras in the trees should have alerted them to his presence.
The fact that he was allowed to accomplish his goal meant pre-gaming was part of their test. Something the staff just so happened to forget to tell them, baiting them with sleep instead.
What Ozpin said was true. Knowledge without taking the first step was useless. Blind trust in that knowledge could only get them so far.
"Yep. Don't act so surprised," Nex said. "Pros probably eat this stuff for breakfast."
His stomach groaned.
Ugh.
Well, it was a friendly reminder.
"Right. Do you—do you want to get breakfast with me?" Ruby said, bending. Practically over him. "With Yang, I mean. I mean, after we get changed."
If today was yesterday, then he might have refused. But the present was a gift—according to that one saying.
No takers though.
"Alright. I'll just get Weiss," Nex said. "Then we can continue where we left off."
Ruby smiled. Upside down, but it was definitely due to their orientation. "Really? That's awesome."
Nex shrugged, but it was kinda difficult while lying on the floor. "No prob. We're cool about what happened, right?"
"Yep. It's kinda my fault," Ruby said. "I didn't mean it. I promise. I was aiming at her sword and she kinda moved a bit—"
"Ruby. It's fine. Don't worry about it," Nex said, rubbing his forehead. The ice dust was heavenly on his lids, freezing away the bags hanging from his eyes. "Don't worry about what's in the past. Let's just focus on the future."
Ruby stepped back.
Nex hauled himself to his feet, grabbing his board as he returned his tools to the box.
By the time he was done, the balcony looked as if no one had been there at all. All the better, since he was just a simple, inconspicuous student getting some fresh air.
Right?
"Try not to tell anyone," Nex said. "We don't need people overhearing."
Left unsaid was the fact that he would tell his partner via scroll. That was expected—they were a pair, a unit.
Nex unhooked the rope from the railing. It fell into the forest, enjoying a small sample of their initiation.
"I can tell Yang, right?" Ruby said. "And Jaune. They need to know."
Nex nodded. "Yep. Send them a message. And tell them to not breathe a word of it. Not even to us."
Ruby held out her left hand, her palm facing up. "Come on. Let's go."
"What?" Nex said, raising an eyebrow.
"My semblance," Ruby said, grinning. "I'll just take you along."
That was kind of her.
Nex glanced at her pale hand, before he placed his arm in her calloused grasp. The world shattered in one fluid, crystallizing motion. Rose petals rushed around them, the sounds, the smells, and the sights, compressing into a tube of glass.
Was that a hint of blood?
And sulphur, even.
But maybe it was just his sleep-deprived brain talking.
Reality caught up, and they were standing inside the ballroom. His board and his toolkit were intact, as well as his effects. No motion sickness. It was surprisingly nice, similar to Neo's semblance. Like being turned into warm fluid and pressed to perfection.
"Thanks," Nex said. "Can't believe I just experienced time travel."
It was definitely a thing.
Neopolitan manipulated space with her semblance, using it to create localized illusions and cross the gap between two points instantly.
On the other hand, Ruby Rose manipulated time, using it to accelerate herself ahead of the world.
It was unlike how the books depicted it. Her semblance was simply dilation between two points of time. But it was still time travel, since she went faster and further ahead before the other parts of the world caught up with her.
Maybe the reverse could be achieved.
If Ruby could use her semblance to go slower than the rest of the world. It was something that could add another dimension to her combat capabilities—principles of uncertainty and all.
If he had her semblance, then he would have simply slowed himself down during class, so it could go faster and he could sleep even more.
But that was probably just his laziness speaking.
What could he possibly say?
Maybe his semblance was laziness instead of precognitive analysis.
Ugh.
Well, it did provide a lot of shortcuts.
Or maybe efficiency was simply a by-product of laziness.
It was definitely debatable.
"What? My semblance is speed," Ruby said. "Not time travel. But that'd be so awesome."
Nex shrugged. The other students were just starting to wake up. They better hurry—initiation started at eight.
"Have you ever wondered how it works?" Nex said.
They walked towards the tent at the corner. And of course, it housed a sleeping Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long was curled up outside, her hair tussled over her white blanket. Jaune Arc was sprawled over her legs, dressed in a blue onesie similar to his.
Apparently, they had a little get-together sometime during the night. Probably while he was off doing some pre-gaming.
"Nope. Not really," Ruby said. "I just turn it on, run, and go somewhere else."
Nex shrugged, stepping over the two blondes. "Well, it's hard to explain. Maybe during breakfast. Let's wake them up."
Their group composed of one him, one Ruby, one Weiss, and two zombies hobbled towards the cafeteria. That the two zombies were blondes was just a coincidence.
All of them were decked out in their combat uniforms, but it was doubtful any of them were ready for a fight.
Free food was served to a line of students—a line composed of the early-wakers.
Nex shoved a metric fuckton of bagels into his plate, along with some eggs, topping it off with a tall mug of coffee—the strongest brew the cafeteria had. He definitely needed it. There was no way he was falling asleep in the Emerald Forest.
They sat at a long table. Minutes passed in silence, broken only by the sounds of metal utensils on ceramic plates. Evidently, no one was in the mood to talk. Probably because they were hungry.
"So, Nex," Ruby said, looking up from her plate of cookies. She held a glass of milk in her left hand. Apparently, he was wrong. "What did you want to say about my semblance?"
Nex took a sip of the sludge they called coffee. The black, soulless gelatine stuck to the walls of his white mug—the one emblazoned with two axes crossed over a wreath. "Your semblance isn't speed. It's time manipulation."
Weiss looked up from her eggs, coughing. Almost next to his ear. "That's impossible. Are you saying that Ruby's semblance allows her to time travel?"
"Yeah, Broody Face. This isn't one of her comics," Yang said. "Ruby doesn't exactly go all Back To The Past when she uses her semblance."
Seriously.
Where did people get the idea that time manipulation equated to time travel?
Time travel did not exist, because time itself was a human construct. It was just something they used to quantify the progression of events. Definitely not a place they could enter or leave.
"I don't know," Jaune said, prodding a piece of bacon with his fork. "Maybe it's possible."
Nex shrugged. "Not time travel. Time manipulation. Think of time as the progression between different states of reality. When Ruby uses her semblance, she doesn't actually go faster in the physical sense. No sudden, inhuman change in velocity—inertia, air resistance and G-forces would kill her if that was the case. Instead, she accelerates her progression between these states. In layman's terms, she experiences time faster than the rest of the world. The world catches up to her when she stops using her semblance. That also explains why she can use her semblance on others without killing them with said physical forces. She can alter their relative time through touch, although I hypothesize that she can channel her semblance through air particles, since she's technically touching those."
Yang dropped her fork. The poor thing landed on her plate with a resounding clang.
Weiss stared at him, definitely missing the unforgivable faux pas.
Jaune paused halfway, a long piece of bacon almost through his gaping lips.
Ruby sputtered, spilling milk and cookies over her gothic dress.
"Broody Face," Yang whispered, her eyes wide. "That's the most you've ever said."
To be fair, it was probably true.
"I have two more," Nex said, drawing a deep breath. "Things I don't think Ruby's ever considered."
Ruby leaned into the table, pressing her palms into the cloth. "That sounds so cool. Tell me. Please?"
Nex sighed. No sugar-coating, then. "One, accelerating your progression through time makes you age faster. Every time you use your semblance, you age a little bit more than other people. It will shorten your lifespan, no question about that. Using it a lot will definitely let you overtake Yang in terms of physical age. Abusing it will probably make you older than your parents."
None of them so much as twitched.
"What's the other one?" Jaune said, frowning. "It can't be all bad, right?"
Nex glanced at his mug of coffee, the steam heating his nose. "It's possible that Ruby can do the opposite. Instead of accelerating her progression through time, she can decelerate. Reduce her rate of progression. Practical applications include slowing down her relative time, which should make her age slower. I think that it can allow her to pass through fast-moving objects like trains, but I don't really want to test out that hypothesis. You can try phasing through solid matter in a pinch, if you can't do anything else to avoid said train."
He bit into a bagel, just to let his friends process what he just said. They did ask for it. Far be it from him to deny those who wanted to hear another perspective.
"Well... That's just a theory, right? You're insane," Yang said, her lilac eyes fixed on him. "Crazy. My little sister isn't really dying. She can't."
Well, to be fair. She was definitely right on the crazy and the insane parts. But the other parts were debatable.
Weiss stabbed her boiled egg with her fork, heaving a sigh. She frowned. "My partner isn't the type of person to lie about this."
Gee. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Now if only his semblance did not twitch.
Yang scowled and slammed her fist into the table, their plates shifting on the cloth. "Well, I'm sorry. Okay, Weiss-queen?"
"What did you just call me?" Weiss said, glaring at the blonde brawler. The one probably ready for some fisticuffs. "You take that back."
"Yang, Weiss, please don't fight!" Ruby said. "It's fine. Nex, are you sure about what you just said?"
"You're not dying. You're just ageing faster," Nex said, breathing a sigh. There was a stark difference between the two processes, even if they tended to yield the same result. "But yeah. I'm sure. My semblance just confirmed it."
"Your semblance?" Ruby said, her eyebrows furrowing.
Weiss sank into her chair, breathing a sigh. "Nex can see the future. He denies it. But that is exactly what his semblance is."
Three pairs of eyes turned to him. Blinking. Probably at what seemed to be another crazy concept.
Well, not exactly.
"You know that's a gross oversimplification," Nex said. "Yeah, it does allow me to see the future. But that's just something I've learned how."
Nothing but the truth. His semblance was precognitive analysis first and foremost. It subconsciously analysed stimulus or even data, feeding his brain the result and allowing him to predict and react to the events most likely to happen in the near future.
But tinkering with it enabled his brain to practically absorb knowledge, see what could happen in the far future, and detect imminent danger. The second one was unreliable. More data was needed the farther the event was—and more aura, even.
It was the reason why Roman gave him lots of it, increasing his chances. The chances of gleaning something useful from the ever-shifting possibilities. Semi-concrete stuff like the location and time of a mark, the security, and other things—which were all Roman asked.
But something like a weapon's physical form was enough to discern what it was capable of. Or a cursory look at a semblance to figure out how it worked. But still, every aspect of his semblance could be traced to a single, unifying concept.
Pareidolia.
It was like seeing the universe with an extra dimension—in realms of abstract ideas and possibilities rather than just concrete actualities.
Or at least, in theory.
No explanation for those dreams yet, if they were even a part of his semblance. Well, maybe they were just by-products of his overactive imagination.
Curse his brain.
"Nex learned how," Jaune said. "Can't Ruby do the same?"
Vomit Boy had a point, admittedly.
If he could do the same with his semblance, then it was possible Ruby could mess around with hers. Preferably while she was asleep so she did not move like a turtle. It would probably fuck up her sleep schedule, but that was a relatively small thing to pay for a longer lifespan.
In theory, it should offset her accelerated ageing. Maybe even give her an extended life.
"Jaune's right," Ruby said. "If you can do it, then I can do it too. Teach me."
Nex shot her a glance, fingering a smooth, buttery bagel on his plate. "What?"
Ruby pressed her palms into the table, rising from her seat. "Teach me how to slow down my time or whatever you just said."
Ruby Rose was not the first person to ask. Jaune Arc did as well.
Fuck.
He was definitely on his way to becoming a professor, instead of a professional huntsman.
Mekel would be laughing his head off at Professor Shade.
Yuck.
"Yeah, sure," Nex said, killing a sigh. "I have a few ideas."
Helping a fifteen-year-old kid live longer.
Screw it.
It was definitely a lot better than helping some crook take over the Atlesian mechs.
At the end of the table, Yang smiled and shot him a look, mouthing some word or another.
Nex shrugged. No takers.