ALSO NEXT BANNER TEASER:
"Fire another! Pray that they'll take our Lien after! We can't handle that thing alone!" Kamina roared, swinging Breaker to deflect a shot towards Aether as he passed by him, protecting the orange haired South East Mistralian. "Fuck! That bastard knows what we're saying!"
"Keep running!" Aether fired another flare up into the air in the direction of the camp. "We're not much further!"
"We can-"
The air was knocked out of his lungs as his body was flung forwards, feeling the rippling of an explosion sending him flying.
He swore that he saw a streak of light appear from the clear sky above.
"No, you sit here. You're weirdly pale today, even if you're not feverish, you clearly need way more rest, Aura or not." Yang wrapped her arm around his left arm on the couch, making him hyper aware of how soft she was. "No. This is enough."
"She's right." Blake was on his right, locking his right arm in place with her soft form as well. "You're going to sit down, relax, do something that isn't work or training. We can turn on a movie or read a book. Literally anything else."
Jaune let out a weak laugh, sighing as he didn't have the heart to try to explain Ruby's situation to the two girls. Not because they didn't deserve to know, because Yang really did deserve to know above all, but because them thinking he was pale and tired from being overworked wasn't wrong either.
And it was… unfortunate that it was more convenient at the moment for that to be the case, rather than being a bit anemic from bloodloss.
He let himself sink into the soft couch, feeling Yang and Blake's Aura buzz softly against his as the two girls began to debate what movie to stream on the television in the living room of the Belladonna Estate.
Unfortunately the less people knew about Ruby's new situation as a living miracle drug was best. All it would take was a single freudian slip for things to quickly spiral out of hand. He'd even forced (he felt bad about it, but it was necessary) a Geas onto Ruby, that she'd contact him if anything ever happened that made her feel as if she'd need to heal someone with her blood.
He'd rather give up the ability to hide his teleportation ability rather than let the world know of that. He wouldn't risk Ruby like that. He'd made a promise. He wouldn't break that.
Unlike the one that he'd forced on Roman which could burn him to death, for Ruby all it would do was give her a bit of a headache with the additional threat that he'd never give her another cookie ever again. That had been enough to get the girl to swear to never consider doing as such, looking truly frightened. And that was definitely cute.
And from the corner of his eye he could see she was currently giving him a slightly thirsty/hungry look from around the corner of the hallway leading into the living room, her silver eyes glimmering brightly, wanting a bit of blood.
Still, he focused to call his Inventory by his feet, scrolling down as he delicately and stealthily pulled out a vial of his blood from it, letting a Shadow rise from the shadow of his foot, grab it, and (reluctantly) replace itself with one inside Ruby's shadow, the newly replaced Shadow leaping into his own as if coming home after a long business trip in a dangerous foreign land.
They were so weird about Ruby.
So that he'd be able to act as a proper blood supply for Ruby (as she'd not responded well to blood that wasn't fresh) Jaune had been tossing Dust from his reserves into the Gacha until he'd gotten something to help him with his newfound predicament, but had been… as usual a bit too zealous about testing its limits and was found out by his kissing practice buddies.
SSR Rarity Ability: Viridian Thunder Skybeast Marrow Refinement Art*
Origin: Tiny Realm of Cosmic Yanxia Realm #TGD001
Description: Bypassing the first four of seven steps of Body Refinement Techniques, this ability grants the direct ability to refine, purify, and empower the bone marrow of the body, taking another step towards Divinity. Though it is still highly recommended to find Abilities that cover the previous steps that do not conflict with the Viridian Thunder Skybeast.
Skin*, Flesh, Bone, Viscera*, Marrow*, Half-Step of Innate Soul, and Innate Soul (Sky Realm). Complete these steps and the foundations for cultivating the Soul and Body to Divinity can be achieved.
All compatible Refinement Arts to the Viridian Thunder Skybeast inside the Inventory are marked via *
So Jaune had spent a night of channeling the ability without sleep and taking a bunch of herbs labeled with pretentious titles like Three Hundred Year Spiritual Ginseng, Thousand Year Spirit Dew of Spirit Vine, and whatnot. Without cheating using the Inventory, the shower after would have been hell with how much inky black weird bodily goo seeped out of his body.
The stuff smelled awful too.
Anything labeled Yanxia or Xianxia often did that weird stuff. Next time he got around to things like this he'd just go soak in a tub as he did so. Maybe even make one just for that so he didn't accidentally clog a drain. He was pretty sure some medicinal herbs even claimed they were meant to be soaked in during cultivation, whatever the heck that was. The only upside was how his whole body felt weirdly cleaner by the end of it, after he washed off, of course.
But at least now he knew that drawing six liters (filling a single tube of 200mls at a time) at once was definitely his current limit. He'd stopped the moment he felt lightheaded, but he had gotten too fascinated that he'd reached a full liter (the body could normally only safely give about 14% of their blood, about 0.7 Liters for the average adult) that he'd just kept going like a moron.
Honestly he should have genuinely stopped at five. That's the upper limit a normal human had in their body total. He was fifteen.
Even with freaky Gacha stuff, he shouldn't have been trying to push into superhuman biology so blindly.
And then Blake had found him in the aftermath as he had gotten up and ready to go and do some work (he was planning on taking things lightly, only supervising as the BOLTs did the physical work!) and dragged him to the living room. Honestly it might have been for the best he'd sent Emerald out to help his mom in the morning with some of her volunteer work. She'd have forced him into bed immediately and made a bigger fuss than this.
Ruby just gave him a thumbs up, her eyes sparkling (honestly he could swear that her eyes were brighter now that she'd become a Szentire, whatever that was) as she ran away to enjoy her sanguine snack.
"Jaaaaaune." Yang growled, leaning into his shoulder, shit he should have never told her much power she had when she did so. "You even listening?"
"Sorry, I genuinely phased out for a bit. You're right. I am a bit tired." He apologized honestly. He was honestly a bit light headed, too. "Sorry, Yang."
For a lot of things. Especially for keeping even more secrets.
"Alright." She chewed her lip, drawing his eyes. "We were saying we should watch something light and fun. Like a comedy?"
"Sounds great." He smiled, looking around real quick to make sure the three of them were alone now that Ruby had taken her treat and fled.
His hands reached out to grab his friends', their fingers lacing.
"Ok. Now I'm ready."
Blake laughed, her head resting on his shoulder, the scent of her shampoo making his head turn in her direction. His tail, trapped between his body and the soft couch began to wriggle.
They didn't have a lot of time left to spend together in Menagerie. His hands gripped his friends' firmly. So he didn't want to waste these moments.
A few quick kisses made the rounds between the three of them as they watched the movie. That was their story and they were sticking with it. Th-they totally watched the movie.
"Armored Dust-cooled insulated pouch. Three vials. Don't binge them all at once, Ruby." Ruby Rose reminded herself. "Save the first vial for after first period. Stretch it out."
No matter how tasty it was.
Outside of the almost super sugar-rush sensation of when Jaune used magic, his blood only got tastier somehow day after day. It was almost as good as cookies. Dangerous.
Her big brother Jaune's blood was dangerously tasty.
Ruby wiped a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth.
He'd let her try some blood transfusion packs, but the different blood types didn't really change anything. If anything they all tasted sorta mid. Like she could drink it, but it was sort of like drinking liquid cardboard. And it made her stomach feel sour afterwards.
Out. No. Gross.
As long as she didn't accidentally boost it with her Aura and cut its lifespan, she'd only have to replace the twenty gram piece of unrefined Ice Dust once a month, which her allowance could afford even if Jaune wasn't forcing replacements on her (she felt guilty about that, cuz this was her fault). Jaune would send three vials every day with his Shadows, so that would be covered and she just had to make sure nobody would know. Even her size changing and shapeshifting (she could turn into a small flock of white doves or a single Whitehawk) would be easy to hide as long as she didn't get super duper emotional.
Easy, right?
Right.
Confidence, Ruby! Have confidence!
Now that she was back on Patch she'd have to keep an eye out for her new cravings on her own. And she could always just message Jaune if she needed an extra pick me up, as they weren't sure how being whatever a Szentire was would change over time. Even with her Huntress training they'd be fine with just three but…
Honestly she got stronger for a little bit when she drank blood.
The urge to use it as a cheat for combat class was pretty tempting. Jaune could probably even make her a little capsule with his blood in it, right? If she hid one or two between her teeth and cheek and cracked them in a fight, she could go Super Ruby and kick all loads of butt!
It was Jaune that taught her that if she wasn't cheating, she wasn't trying right?
Even though he said that cheating in training isn't winning, it's stealing from yourself in the future, which was complicated and annoying and bleh. Still, he wasn't wrong. It was pretty rare for Jaune to be wrong.
He'd been the one that figured out with a single guess that she'd rock with a scythe, after all. She had to learn to adjust and utilize Recoil Tech more than some other kids, but she kicked BUTT.
But it was also sort of annoying to see Yang running her fingers along the edge of her motorcycle and staring off into the sunrise. For some reason. It made Ruby itchy watching her mope like that.
Her fingers reached over to stroke at Drei on her side, the gentle plush sensation distracting her from that feeling. Apparently it was magic too, and so important that Ruby was to carry it with her at all times, which suited her fine. Well, he'd offered something he called a Sacrificial Misanga instead if she wanted something more subtle, but no thank you. Drei was important.
Jaune had tried to explain something else to her when she'd said that, but Ruby didn't listen. If she did, he might actually convince her to leave Drei at home! She couldn't do that, Zwei was a good boy, but he'd tear poor Drei apart!
"Yaaaaang. We're gonna be late for classss!" Ruby reached out to the back of her sister's coat and shook her big sister back and forth. "I've had my helmet on for ten minutes!"
"Hmm? Yeah, sorry Rubes." Yang flashed a smile before she slipped her highlighter yellow and black helmet on her head. "But don't worry, we'll get there on time. Bumblebee is a monster."
"Psh. Of course it is, Jaune made it." Ruby rolled her eyes, slipping on behind her sister, doing her best at ignoring the weird sixth sense feeling the blood coursing under her sister's skin. Great, Jaune's Shadows made her eyes itch, and now everyone could make her fangs itch. "Jaune never really knows how to do things in half-measures."
"Heh. Unless he gets hung up over it." Yang let out a half-annoyed, half-longing sigh. Ruby felt itchy. "But that's why he's Jaune, I guess."
Ruby didn't have a chance to reply as her sister's motorcycle roared like a metal monster, tearing down the snowy path, taking Ruby to Signal.
Ruby could peek over Yang's shoulder a bit better than before, as she'd made herself 'grow' an extra inch and a half. She'd only be able to explain that away so much, so she tried to keep her shape shifting down to only a little different from her baseline.
At least that was easier to manage than her new appetite.
She kinda wanted a nibble right now.
Her fangs itched. Ruby had begun accidently nibbling at her family over their coats on occasion and for now they just thought it was a game she'd made for herself (apparently they didn't think this was weird for her, just what did her family think about her?!), but it was embarrassing. They teased her endlessly for it.
Her fangs scratched traitorously at her sister's coat's shoulder.
"Hey, Kozuki! Take a break! Your sister's here to check in on you!"
"Oh, boss. Uh, yeah, thanks."
The mining foreman frowned at him with a pair of droopy green dog ears hanging down the sides of his head, matted with a bit of sweat and dust.
"Hey, brat. This ain't Mistral, ok? Relax. You get paid breaks, kid. Don't feel like you have to overdo anything. If you keep letting it build like that I'm going to just sum it up and make it an extra forced paid day off so you take the time to spend with your sister. Get the fuck outta here, you're still young."
Despite the fact that Kozuki was also wearing a mining exoskeleton (and that still seemed like an insane luxury) Foreman Ferrous picked him up with a single hand by the back of his suit, carrying him up and out of the Honua HoHonu Mines.
The other miners jeered at him, but unlike the Dust mines he'd lived in most his life, these men were smiling as they teased him. It was weird and warm, but Kozuki didn't dislike it. Rather this was embarrassing at how he was trying to not cry. He was a fully grown adult of nineteen, this felt like everyone was treating him like he was half his age.
"Bro! I brought you lunch!" Guren was smiling, dressed in a red short sleeve and blue denim overalls, the legs cut off near the upper thigh. "I made it in home ec today!"
He found himself smiling behind his clear plastic mask, keeping the dusty air inside the mines out of his lungs. His old cough from his miner's lung had diminished a lot thanks to it because he was still young.
And it was amazing that Guren got to go and get a proper education. The offer had been made to him by the Fang as well, but he didn't want to accept any handouts choosing to work after he'd received his prosthesis.
He'd been sworn to secrecy, but Jaune Arc had somehow secretly made his way into Mistral just to try to help the miners displaced by the good work of the Black Knights. He had been the kind stranger that had lent a hand to him and his sister. That was hard for Kozuki to wrap his head around.
Though not a lot of people seemed to think of the Knights as heroes in Menagerie, feeling they were a bit too violent. That didn't feel right for some reason. It didn't change the fact that they'd helped when nobody else had.
"Thanks Gura." Kozuki smiled, yelping as Foreman Ferrous flipped a switch on the back of his mining exoskeleton, sending him flying out and forwards. "Whoa! Boss hey-"
"Take the rest of the day off with pay, you little shit." The foreman turned, carrying the exosuit over his shoulder back to the locker rooms. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thank you boss!" Guren cheered, running up to give the tall man a quick side hug, "You're the best!"
"Get out of here, kid, these suits are dangerous." The foreman grunted, his free hand, pulling Guren off by the top of her head and turning her back to face Kozuki's direction. "You're too young to be around here longer. Git."
Guren pouted, grumbling about how she knew mining shafts like the back of her hand, stomping back towards Kozuki as he laughed.
"Alright, Gura. Let's go. I'm excited to try some of your food."
"Ooh! We got to mess with some stuff with soy sauce today! Even got a free bottle to take home!" Guren reached out to the book bag hanging off her side, pulling out a black glass bottle, the label showing the smiling form of Kali Belladonna, wife of Chieftain Ghira, holding a similar bottle in her hands as the symbol for the Menagerie brand Shoyu Soy Sauce.
"That's great." He pat the younger girl on the head. "Did you make sure to thank your teachers?"
"Yeah! The Albain Headmasters are creepy as hell, but the rest of the teachers are awesome!"
"Pyrrha!"
She laughed as Jaune picked her up, despite being about twenty centimeters shorter than her, swinging her around in a large hug.
"I hope your winter break was amazing!" He continued, setting her down.
It wasn't nearly as impactful or amazing as his, in all honesty. His photos and messages made his time in Menagerie seem so much more amazing than her just training at home, trying to keep herself from getting bored by doing some training and self-conditioning, occasionally playing a board game or watching a movie with her parents.
"It was great!" She lied with a smile, getting a frown from her best friend.
Ah she always forgot how good Jaune was about reading people.
"Sorry." He winced in apology, "But I'll make it up to you."
She couldn't help the laugh that snuck past her lips as he swore such.
"You don't need to make up for anything, Jaune." Pyrrha rolled her eyes, knowing Jaune well enough to know that like her, he blamed himself for more than he should.
Honestly they both had pretty big issues with confidence outside of fighting, no matter how much they both put on a brave front to fake it all. They both wanted to be heroes, Huntsman and Huntresses for people to look up to, but weirdly they both felt incredibly uncomfortable with fame and also wanted to be allowed to be normal at the same time. It was conflicting and maybe a bit selfish, but that was just how they were.
"No, but I want to." Jaune pouted. "I missed you, is all. I snuck off a bit early just to come say hi to you."
Pyrrha tried to not overreact to that, knowing that he meant it purely as a friend. Still her heart raced ever faintly, making her smile.
"I missed you too, Jaune. Do you, uh, want to do something later? We could watch a movie or just have a spar."
"I'm down for anything!" Jaune smiled brightly. "I just gotta stop back at Sanctum and meet with Robin. Oh and help drop off all the luggage I'm carrying in my Semblance. We can meet up after."
Pyrrha laughed.
"You do make the best luggage shuttle on Remnant, Jaune."
"He he." Jaune chuckled, "I'm a smuggler's wet dream. Honestly I'm kind of a massive security risk for everything. Oh, and it's not ready yet, but I figured out something really cool for a spar down the line! It'll really be a fun surprise and mix up once I get it working up to snuff."
"Oh?" Pyrrha felt her breath cool, her fingers twitching for the promise of a good fight. Akuou wasn't at her side, but her hand instinctively had reached out for it anyway.
Jaune said that it was that she had a Warrior's Instinct, though he also said it was pure and different from his own. Whatever that meant.
She was just glad that they were both a pair of (lowkey) battle junkies that enjoyed their spars together. There weren't a lot of people that could push her to the limit like Jaune. They pushed each other to the limit constantly in pure skill, growing from each other's influence, even though he was physically faster and stronger than her.
"That's exciting. Dual wielding aside, you're starting to get predictable, Jaune." Pyrrha teased.
Jaune laughed.
"You're smiling super hard."
Pyrrha blushed as she covered her mouth with her hands, feeling her dimples against her palms.
"A-am not!"
"You totally are!" Jaune teased back.
"Don't make me kick your butt, Jaune!"
"Bring it, Pyr! I'll whoop you right back!"
"Good, good."
Adam knelt, smirking inwardly as Jax Asturias strut around him, the silver diadem glimmering on his brow. The silly topknot formed with his black hair flopped a bit ridiculously. The blue linen knee length duster fluttered with swirling silver, seeming to spin upon the cloth as the leader of The Crown blasted his Semblance at full force.
"Now, my little knight. Who do you owe your loyalties to?"
"To you, my king." He lied.
"Yes to me. Good." He spun around grabbing the side of Adam's collar, fingers digging into the black longcoat that Jaune had forced onto him in response to the fact that The Crown was trying to dig into Menagerie. "So why have you fought to keep that boy from my hands?!"
"My king. The whole of Vacuo is still not yet under your full reign. The fools fight your glory." Flowery words that meant nothing, but the instruction he'd received under Black-Knight-1 was useful for poetic compliments, weirdly enough. Mistralian culture might be something Jax despised, but he was weak to its cultural influence. The man wore a topknot, for the gods' sake. "As it is, the whole of Atlas would bear down upon you. I could not, in good conscience, bring the enemy to my king's doorstep."
Jax growled, the back of his hand slamming against Adam's cheek.
"You are merely a knight! You have no idea what-"
"Brother." Gillian advised from the side, "Adam did well. He only did that out of deference to your safety. Besides, keeping those filthy Atlaseans off our soil is for the best. At least until they come out of subservience."
Jax's eyes narrowed at his sister, seeming as if he was debating on walking over to strike his own sister as well. He'd certainly done so before.
He sighed, closing his eyes as he pushed his hair back with his hand, letting go of Jaune's gift.
"Che. Fine, fine. You're right, sister. That loyalty will be what spares him from my wrath."
"Thank you for your mercy, my king." Adam bowed, his core simmering with hatred.
"Just you remember, my knight, that eventually Shade and Vacuo itself will be mine. And when it is, I will expect the boy. You are dismissed!"
The blue and silver linen duster swirled as Jax turned to leave, leaving Adam and Gillian alone in the depths of the abandoned quarry outside of Almurawij.
"...You did well, Adam. Thank you for your loyalty." Gillian gave him a small smile, contemplative as it gauged his worth, but thankful. Despite being a monster herself, she loved her brother.
Hmph.
If she loved him, she should have knocked some sense into him, being the more intelligent sibling. But then again, she was as twisted and deluded as her sibling at times.
At the very least, he'd have smacked some discipline and sense into his, if Adam had his own sibling. He supposed it was possible she was under the influence of her brother's Semblance as well, though muted a bit by a lifetime of adaptation.
"Naturally." Adam simply adjusted his coat without complaint, the fashionable (Jaune seemed weirdly obsessed about dressing his friends well, even though he himself liked more grungy rebellious punk style) longcoat glimmering at the edges in a soft and dark golden trim. "I am a knight."
Though for his own people, not for The Crown.
The twin loops of black braids in Gillian's hair shook as she chuckled into a balled up hand.
"It's cute how you've taken so much to that title. Most everyone just accepts working for my brother. But… it's rare for any one of them to display this level of seriousness. Vacuo isn't really known for our discipline."
His icy blue eyes glanced at the sister of the monster of a man trying to manipulate him and his people.
Fair skinned, a human that wore a long dress with layers of green, blue, purple, and white that draped down her body like some sort of magical river, glimmering with a silver chain that wrapped around her waist like a belt. She too wore a silver diadem upon her head, but unlike Jax's which was always polished (desperately) to an unignorable shine, hers was more muted and dull. Just an accessory of less value than the chain that served a purpose around her waist.
That was not to say that she was any less of a deluded psychopath than her brother, of course. She too believed that she was destined to be a monarch of Vacuo, but while she lacked her brother's Semblance, she had all the knowledge and power befitting of a ruler.
Her brother was the glue that tied all of The Crown together, but Gillian was the real threat, the one able to manage and manipulate the web her brother had woven.She was the spider upon the web. And unlike her brother who only had his Semblance for power, she was a fully trained Huntress. Powerful and threatening.
"I have formed an Order of Knights. It is inevitable that discipline will be expected of me. It is better I learn such sooner, rather than later. Eventually the Kingdom will require it of me."
That being Menagerie, of course.
"My, my. What a loyal knight." Gillian's face twisted into a smirk. "But that loyalty is not of my brother alone, yes?"
"Naturally." He lied once more, his eyes closed and head bowed, the picture of subservience. His core roared with hate. "If you have need of me, I am here to serve until I return to my work in Menagerie."
A firm hand pulled his head up, his eyes opening at the motion, attempting to judge if somehow he'd been made.
"Mmmm." Her small eyes narrowed like a fox's, the glimmering silver-blue of her eyes peering into his own ice blues as she gripped his chin, turning his head from side to side as she took in his features. "I do suppose I might have a need."
She purred seductively, and Adam only felt hatred, though his face was clear as the crystal shores of his homeland. The lands where his true loyalties lied. The one place he wished to be buried when everything was finally at an end.
"No matter what you require, my queen. I am here to serve."
Gillian's smirk deepened, flashing white ivory.
"Well, Carmine was to meet me in half an hour. You'll join me until then, my knight."
"A mere half a bell." Adam rolled his neck, "I'm afraid you'll need more time than that, my queen."
"Oh? How confident. I suppose I like that. Then if it comes to it, I suppose she'll just have to endure a show."
AN2: Wow this banner arc ended up being way longer than I expected.
Apologies once more for the experimental mystery on the ship to Menagerie. I literally straight up even ripped off Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and adapted it so i'd have a full working structure to work off of to see if I could feel like I could do my own direct mystery subplots here and there, but I'm not good at direct mystery I think. The experiment was a failure, yup.
The part about the logbook on the other hand I was able to recover into something longer burning. Im better at setting up small clues and letting them simmer rather than present them directly. My brain just gets bored and tired of it :X
We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I'm just glad to know one of my own limitations.
There is never any shame in trying, only shame in failing and being unable to admit to one's failures.