Weiss was currently sat in her room awaiting her seeing-to by her father after her scene with the summoning and her angry ranting at the socialites that attended, she ended up being seen by a doctor after she passed out from what was called an "Overexertion of her Semblance".
Needless to say that Weiss had a lot of time to think things over; About how much she realised that being around Ruby and the others changed her, how out of touch that the people who she had associated with had been and more specifically…Who really mattered to her in that moment. "That Summoning earlier…I'm able to do it now but what was that warped version at the party?" She thought to herself with contemplations that Winter could be the best person to talk to. "But that would involve me going to find her…Regardless, I refuse to stay anywhere here in Atlas anymore."
By the time that the door opened and Klein announced her father in the door; Jacques Schnee lumbered in with a thunderstruck look and a very clear idea on what he was going to say.
"Do you have ANY idea what kind of trouble you are in?"
"Tell me, Cinder…Why do you fixate on the girl and the Demon?" A calm Salem asked Cinder after she had finished "Treating" her injuries and felt like she needed a distraction from the search for the Relic and Ozpin's uncertainties of living.
Cinder grimaced as she still struggled to talk but following her last question regarding whether she had killed Ozpin left her reticent to call on Emerald.
"You can call on her this time…This is more of a curiosity for me than it is an inquisition." Salem assured her as she tapped her black nails along the glass table rhythmically.
Cinder hesitated for a moment but then snapped her fingers to summon Emerald in the room, the dark skinned girl had been lurking by the door to ensure Cinder wasn't disturbed.
"You…You wanted to see me?" Emerald asked while keeping her tone as even as she could; Her want to aid Cinder drove her to do anything but with Salem's presence around, it was like she KNEW it was like stepping into a web with a monster that would either trap her or eat her if she even breathed wrong.
"Yes child…Please, aid Cinder in expressing her opinions about the Silver Eyed girl plus the boy that they are traveling with?" Salem asked as she let her have the floor between the three of them.
"Ruby has been a constant annoyance to Cinder and to us even before she unlocked her silver eye powers…but she is still smarter than she looks and it was her insight that allowed her to get a foothold in our plan back at Beacon…It was a oversight but not one that we'll make again." Emerald explained, while she did still foster some annoyance towards the younger girl for being perpetually happy about literally everything, she still had to respect her optimism and skill in certain places.
"I see…And this Demon boy…If he is so ingrained into Cinder's fixation that he exists, can you please explain why that is? Or at least what would make a Maiden so worried about him?" Salem asked as she decided to inquire about what she felt was an equally curious ideal.
"Jae is…He's an oddity, his way of fighting is unorthodox and his Semblance makes it hard to predict what he will bring about next…He's more o-"
"Girl…I asked you about HIM…Not his profile as a warrior; I want to see what we can use to help garner some interest for him to join our side." Salem interrupted her as she had essentially heard everything from both Cinder in her minor communications and from what she could get from Mercury.
Emerald flinched at the sudden interruption but knew that going quiet would annoy her master's master and she really didn't want to test how short that patience was. "He…He likes to play himself off as happy go lucky but he's actually more responsible and focused than he looks." She detailed as she recalled each aspect though she did feel her confidence come back a little as she recalled him. "He's strong, quick witted and he knows how to not take himself seriously even when people try to push him…Despite him being a nervous wreck around Cinder and even some of the other girls at Beacon, he's not one to get a big head when it comes to that kind of attention."
"So…He's a warrior and a noble man…I can respect that much at least…But you sound more than a little invested in talking about this young man than you do about the girl…Is there something that you'd like to inform us about?" Salem asked with a satisfied smile on her face now that she had her answer though there was a faint hint of playfulness once she realised that there was an extra hook in this.
"I…No." Emerald's expression hardened itself; "My loyalty and my focus is towards Cinder…Towards our goal…He was merely a potential bonus to getting additional force on our side..He means….nothing to me." She stated with a firm resolve and kept her gaze firmly on them despite the fact that her voice halted in her throat a little at the latter part of her sentence. "After what happened at the Fall…I don't think that he'll see me that way, let alone forgive me…nor should he, maybe it's better that way…"
"Kid…I know you've probably got questions but save it for later…Right now, you need to stay ba-." Qrow tried to prompt a response out of the warped Kai as he growled menacingly in Tyrian's direction before he roared and rushed the scorpion man with blinding speed.
Tyrian was giggling manically as he watched Jae rush in to start swinging his claws at him. "Good, good! Let the violence bubble in your soul and let it run rampant!" He cheered as he ducked and weaved before rapidly thrusting his tail to sting at Jae again and again.
Qrow however intercepted and used the flat of his sword to block it and push him back; "Kid, I told you to get back! He's too dangerous."
"Screw that, whoever this nutjob is, he hurt everyone here to get at me and Ruby….So I'm gonna fight too!" Jae growled as he retracted the claws and summoned up his Fenrir spear to start making wild swings to try keeping Tyrian at a distance.
Tyrian was having the time of his life as he danced and twisted around both men attacking him before a shot rang out, making him reflexively duck and swing a leg upward to catch Jae in the chin with his heel while Qrow backstepped.
Qrow cursed to himself under his breath as he saw the effects of his own Semblance starting to take hold of Jae along with the fact that whatever happened to the kid before was starting to worsen. "The kid's in a bad way mentally but if I keep focusing on trying to push him back, this asshole will jump at the chance." He thought as he could tell that the boy stubbornly fighting Tyrian was equally trying to keep control of the situation.
Tyrian giggled like he was playing a children's game and started to push back with some quick jabs and swings from his claws and tail at both of them, unaware of or taunting the sniper that was trying to take aim at him from a nearby rooftop. "Hope you can keep up, little brother~ Because I want to play more!" He yowled and then swung some quick kicks and a thrust from his tail at Jae.
Jae who managed to block some of the kicks but ducked under the tail jab put him at a risk as another leg swung out to kick him fully in the face, knocking him backward and sending him skidding across the ground. "This guy really is a freak of nature…Any hit he lands always has a follow up, on top of that it takes every ounce of energy I have to keep focused enough to hit him."
"Then kill him."
Jae felt his body go cold at that sudden intrusive thought and shook it from his head as he changed his focus to find a weak spot in Tyrian's way of fighting, though he did notice that while Qrow punched at the scorpion man's body; He dealt more damage to him than he did with his weapon. "Wait, if he's a scorpion then that could mean that he tracks with vibrations…If that's the case then I hope this works."
"He hurt friends…Make him suffer!"
Jae's face was starting to crack more while he muttered to himself in an attempt to keep focused; With a plan in mind and his drive to fight back growing, he summoned up Beleth and started to strum.
Tyrian was easily fighting off Qrow after they emerged from a broken down house and his first reaction was to rush out of the open hole in the ruins, springing forward and clashing his bladed claws against Qrow's blade. "You've made a poor mistake in intervening, my friend~"
"Maybe, but while I'm here…I ain't letting you get a hand on the kids!" Qrow declared as he raised his sword to strike at Tyrian again but a blast of purple lightning shot past his ear and hit the scorpion man enough that he had to roll and brace to buffer the pain while Ruby jumped in to help her uncle.
There was a rumbling that was felt between the five others that seemed to rattle their bodies right down to their bones; At the epicentre of that was Jae as his face kept cracking at his eyes and lips, Beleth was buzzing with purple electricity and each strum he made on the bass strings sent another pulse of energy outward.
Tyrian was a scorpion in more ways than just his tail; His eyesight was diminished from his heritage as a Faunus but he had turned that into another positive, when every vibration could signal where opponents were and that made the psychopath even more lethal in a weapons oriented fight.
Qrow smirked as he seemed to notice when Tyrian was knocked off of his feet and screaming out in agony with his head clutched in his hands. "Should've guessed….If he could tell when someone picks up a sword from the ground then what good is he against something that doesn't vibrate from the ground….Or vibrates too much to track."
Tyrian was howling like a banshee as his entire being screamed at him for the sensory flashbang that he was being bombarded with; The ground rumbled and started to crack from under the duress of the seismic bass strings.
Jae meanwhile was slowly marching closer and closer to Tyrian as his fingers plucked the thick strings to send another wave of rumbling bass to ravage the area, the foundations of the barely constructed houses in the village started to shake and the other three members of RNJR were watching him in a mix of shock, awe and concern as they could see blood dripping from his fingers.
"How does it feel….To know that everything around you is going to stifle you…Suffocate you as you scream and beg for it all to stop." Jae muttered to himself as his voice started to take on a low growl as he felt that urge to protect the others grow and grow, unknowingly letting his darker focus draw out more.
"Kid, you need to slow down…Beleth is starting to cut at your fingers with how much you're playing."
Jae however didn't seem to hear that same voice that begged him to rest...Or he had ignored it as another dull boom echoed from Beleth. "But I'm going to make sure you remember this when Cinder finds you collapsed in a heap…No Faunus, Man or Demon that she can summon to her side will ever be able to protect her for long."
"Do it…End this monster who will take more of what you care about…Let him be a reminder of what you will do to your enemies." That darker, more vicious intrusive thought burrowed into his mind with an intensity that made his voice of reason nearly get drowned out.
"Kid, you need to quit playing! If you do then you'll either risk your fingers or your friends regardless!"
"KEEP. PLAYING!"
"Stop and rest."
"Don't quit."
"Take a break."
"Finish him off!"
"Protect what you have left…"
"DON'TQUIT! DON'TQUIT! DON'TQUIT! DON'TQUIT!DON'TQUIT!DON'TQUIT!DON'TQUIT!DON'TQUIT!DON'TQUIT!DON'TQUIT!"
A quick albeit vicious pain shot up from Jae's hand as he ended up slicing open his thumb during the dull cacophany that rang in his head, though at the same time; His head snapped to the side as a larger impact formed on his cheek in the shape of a hand firmly mid-slap. That moment of pause was all Tyrian needed to regain his footing as Qrow managed to move past the two and cut down a falling pillar that threatened to crush Ruby.
The Scorpion man took his brief respite to land what would be a killing blow but his sensory attack still addled at his mind, his tail instead swung forward and cut Qrow across the chest instead of injecting him with the full effecience of his poison. "Hmhmhm….It doesn't matter in the grand scheme, one scratch will be enough to remove him for good." Tyrian thought gleefully to himself but then that satisfied grin on his face quickly contorted to a screaming, agonising pain at the sound of a gunshot.
Ruby in that moment of Tyrian's triumph nonchalantly angled her scythe blade against his tail and fired off a shot to quickly and painfully sever their attacker's most prized weapon. The look on her face was one of stone as she couldn't stand by while she watched Qrow getting stung and Jae slowly fall apart during this fight.
Tyrian finally got to his feet with grit teeth and stared down the group; Qrow continued to stand tall although he was feeling the poison burn and his sword quivered in his hand, Nora put on a brave face but she ended up sharing the same sentiment as Ruby, Ren was the more focused but he could feel his concern wavering when his eye wandered to Jae.
Jae on the other hand was staring through Tyrian with a look that promised infinitely more pain than what he got right now, though it looked like he was slowly beginning to waver in his mind as one thought lingered in his head when that sudden shattering occurred in his cheek. The oddest part about that mental phrase was that it wasn't in his own voice or the voices that had been plaguing him…It was Weiss's. "I have done NOTHING but fight to uphold the honour of my family name…The one that YOU married into!"
"Mark my words, little brother, my goddess will forgive me…But you will be smart to accept a place by her side when you choose to abandon those unworthy fools…Not if…When." Tyrian promised before turning on his heel, breaking into a sprint and running in the opposite direction when he saw Qrow topple over in his daze, distracting Ruby, Ren and Nora to help him.
"Get back here, you coward!" Jae yelled as he sprinted after Tyrian, knowing that the others could help Qrow but he wasn't going to let the Faunus escape without answers. "I'll hunt you down! And when I do, I'll…I'll…" Jae roared but then finally stumbled at the entrance to the forest while he felt the inside of his body slowly burning hotter and hotter, he struggled to keep steady as he held himself against one of the trees.
"Forget it…He's too far away and even if you did catch him, you'd be an easy target for him alone."
"I…He has to pay for hurting everyone…For chasing us and trying to finish what Cinder started." Jae mentally snapped back as he could feel his frustrations bubbling faster inside of him.
"You weaken yourself by holding your restraint…That desire to cling will only cause you pain and poison your very being. If you really wanted to then that piece of vermin would be nothing more than a stain against a wall in the face of your true self."
"My priorities are on the others…They're more worth protecting than I am." Jae said with a more serious tone as he held on; "Besides, I've already dealt with this "Accept who you really are" crap already…I don't think there's any more that can be said." He joked but then grimaced as he tried to keep his head straight, a cold sweat starting to take a hold on him while he slowed his breath to ease himself; His blackened clawed fingers slowly returned to their normal look while the cracks that had previously threatened to shatter his face like pottery were now reforming, his face and his body slowly regressing from the Demon in the Making back into how he normally looked in the mirror.
Silence followed that rebuttal as Jae began to climb back to his feet and slowly walk back to the Oniyuri ruins, the adrenaline from the fight faded away as a feeling of pain erupted through his body and caused the boy to stifle down a grunt of pain before opening his jacket a little, he felt his worry grow and saw that the inside of his shirt was bleeding and a rather unsettling puncture wound that had started to harden over with time along with a faint purple substance forming around the wound. "Oh…shit."
"Hehehe. I told you~"