章 121: 23
Chapter 23 - Jaune be Nimble
7:15pm… Vale.
Forty-five minutes before her arranged meeting with Nicholas Arc, and also exactly fifteen minutes after her arranged detention with Glynda Goodwitch. As Yang kept reminding her in numerous scroll messages.
Blake, what the hell – Goodwitch is shitting bricks, where are you?
The faunus closed the scroll with a quick snap. This was more important than a detention. This was settling the fate of her partner, and then afterwards, protecting so many innocents from the White Fang.
This was just too important to miss…
That fact didn't stop the sweat that she felt on the back of her head though. Miss Goodwitch had that effect on people. And if someone had told her a week ago she'd be welching on a detention with the most terrifying woman in Beacon? Yeah well… it had been a crazy week. And around about the point where she'd ended up being stalked by a dead spirit, she'd learned against dismissing the impossible.
"Are you sure he said he'd be here?" Jaune's spirit floated before her, the bear tucked away in her bag. Ever since he'd figured out what they'd stitched onto his ass, he'd been reluctant to go back into it.
"I've only answered that fifty times," she whispered past her clenched teeth, trying to look natural while standing in what was an abandoned construction site. As though there was anything natural about it in the first place.
Seriously… even the White Fang met in nicer places, though that was usually sympathising faunus houses or businesses.
"Yeah well, have you got Crocea Mors?" She didn't bother to answer that, seeing that the weapon – still wrapped in some bedsheets – was held under her left arm.
"Isn't there anything you can tell me about your old man? Something so I'm not surprised here."
"Dad?" The figure floated into the air a few feet, before pulling lazy cartwheels before her. "He's pretty normal, you know? Old Hunter, big family – he has seven daughters and me, so he'll probably be fairly light on you since you're a girl."
"And what are the chances he'll approach this meeting… violently?"
"Nah, dad doesn't like that kind of thing. He always says it's better to talk things out when you can, that force should only be saved for rare and desperate occasions."
Okay… that sounded promising. Honestly, maybe she was just thinking too much on this. Drawing too many parallels to what they'd gotten up to in the White Fang. This wasn't like that. This was a normal adult, a normal father and a norm-
"Don't move or you'll be a head shorter than you are right now."
Aaand there was a sword at her throat. Yeah, sure – that was cool too. And that sword was attached to a hand, which was attached to the rather large figure behind her who had somehow managed to sneak up on her.
Probably because she'd been so distracted by bloody Jaune.
"Nicholas Arc?" She tried, going silent as the blade tickled her aura.
"Ah-ah, I'm the one with the questions," amber eyes slowly closed as she tried to calm her breathing, despite the hammering of her heart. An annoying tone sounded, causing her to flinch. "Answer it, act normal."
"That's my dad by the way," Jaune offered unhelpfully, even as Blake slowly drew her scroll and flipped it open.
"H-hi?"
"Blake, what the fuck!?" Yang's voice came through the receiver, and from the sound of it she wasn't exactly pleased. "You just abandoned me to go to a detention alone – knowing that when you didn't show up, Miss Goodwitch would be pissed!"
"Sorry Yang."
"Don't say sorry to me. Okay, actually – do. But damn girl, Miss Goodwitch is going to have your head!"
"Interesting choice of words…" Blake mumbled, flinching as he moved against her back in warning. "So yeah, sorry Yang… is that all you wanted to call me for?"
"Uh, no? Don't you think you owe me an explanation for where you are?" Blake tilted her head up at the man behind her, wondering what she was supposed to say. Sadly, that second's hesitation was all it took for Yang's creative imagination to come up with something. "Oh Blake, you sly little kitten – you're with your secret boyfriend aren't you? Don't tell me you're necking each other right now?"
I'm necking something alright…
"No it's-"
"Afraid so," he spoke from behind her. Loud enough that Blake knew Yang could hear him. And the blonde on the other end of the line was loud enough in return that everyone could hear her. The high-pitched squee that was honestly more reminiscent of Ruby, making Blake's sensitive ears ring.
"Sounds like you're having a productive time; I'll leave you to it. But don't let this go to your head Blake – you still owe me for dealing with Miss G! And you, don't be too rough on her!"
"I'll be gentle," the middle-aged man chuckled as the line went dead. The sword was removed at the same time. Letting Blake fall onto her knees in relief, before spinning round to face him with a snarl.
"What the hell was that!? I can see you're his father, you both have the ability to cause me more trouble than my life really deserves!"
"Eww, Yang thinks you're sleeping with my dad… please don't get any ideas. I'm stuck with you and I don't want to see that."
"So you do know my son," the man mumbled, sheathing the longsword at his side before walking to a nearby wall. With a moment of thought now to herself, she took the time to analyse him. He was taller than Jaune, though only by a few inches. Longer blond hair, slightly rough as it fell to his shoulders, and a thick blond beard that gave him a rugged edge. With the shadows from the late evening cutting dark lines across his face… well, he looked more than suited to ambushing young women in construction sites.
"O-of course, why else would I even contact you in the first place?"
"Ransom, threats, an ambush… there's plenty of good reasons, you can never be too careful."
"Ah yeah, he always says things like that too!"
Couldn't you have maybe mentioned that earlier? Before he had me at sword-point perhaps?
"You said you had information on my son," he cut into her thoughts, stepping forward so that he towered over her. She tried to scramble to her feet, keen to lessen the imposing height distance between them. But as she moved back, he followed. "I said to bring him with you, where is Jaune?"
"I-I couldn't-" she tried, only to be cut off as her back hit a wall, his hand slamming beside her head – trapping her.
"Wrong answer. Where is he?" His dark blue eyes bore into her, and though his face remained calm, she could feel his supressed rage. Unbidden, her eyes twitched to Jaune.
Only to notice the defeated look on the spirit's face. A longing gaze, as though he was seeing something far away that he could never touch.
"I'm dead," he said, eyes slowly closing. "As much as this… whatever it is we have here… it doesn't change that fact. I can't go back to my family. They can't ever see me, or hear me. Tell them the truth Blake."
Why did these kind of things have to happen? When had her life become so complicated?
"Jaune died," she rushed the words out, taking advantage of his shock to explain herself, "he died in initiation at Beacon – I'm so sorry."
"Impossible!" An arm pressed against her throat, pushing the girl back into the wall. She didn't even try to struggle, knowing he was too strong for her. Instead she did her best to remain calm, to show him the truth with her own eyes.
"I'm sorry. He asked me to contact you. He didn't want his family to not know what happened."
"You're lying…"
"I'm not," the arm against her throat shook, "I'm sorry I couldn't save him. I really am."
He didn't release her. Nor did he reply, even as his face fell to look at the ground between them. She wished she could look away… that she could ignore his heavy breaths, or the way the arm that had once pinned her felt so fragile she could snap it like a twig.
"I knew Jaune," she continued, knowing the other man wouldn't be able to speak, "I was there when it happened, tried to help him. He asked me to give you something." He didn't say anything in response, stepping back from her so that she could reach under her arm and hand over the wrapped weapon.
Nicholas Arc took it reluctantly, peeling the cover back to reveal its silvery surface to the light.
"Crocea Mors."
"Jaune said it was a part of the Arc family, and that I needed to return it."
The man pulled the rest of the cloth back, revealing the weapon in all its glory. Blake wasn't one for weapons. Not in the same way Ruby was anyway, to her a weapon was simply a tool. But even she could tell that Crocea Mors was a very good tool.
Which was why she flinched in shock when he threw it to the floor, the metal ringing as it scattered across the concrete.
"I don't want it. I want-" he shook his head, "thank you for contacting me. Goodbye."
"W-wait," she called, rushing after him as he stormed from the building. "What about the weapon?"
"Keep it," he waved one hand dismissively back towards her, "sell it, throw it in a ditch. I don't care."
"Let him go Blake," Jaune sighed, coming to rest by her shoulder, "look on the bright side, you got a free weapon out of this." Something within her snapped, as she span about to confront him – throwing an arm wide.
"And you're okay with this? How are you taking this so lightly – your father just… he's like that, and you're making light of it!?"
"What can I do Blake?" The figure snapped, flashing before her eyes. "You think this doesn't affect me? Don't be so fucking arrogant! I'm dead. Done, finished – gone. There is literally nothing I can do for them… other than give them peace."
"And you're… okay, with not seeing them ever again?" She couldn't remember any family of her own, but surely this wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Wasn't family meant to be like what Ruby and Yang had?
"I don't see how what I'm okay with has any meaning here. My life is over."
"Jaune…" she tried to reach out to him. Only for his point to be reinforced, as her hand went straight through his shoulder. She couldn't feel anything. Not warm flesh, not even a cool sensation. It was as though he didn't exist in the first place.
"You've kept your side of the bargain," he sighed, turning away and floating what little distance from her he could. "Let's go meet with Sun. If the White Fang are on the move we need to be there."
"Alright," she nodded, kneeling down to pick up the discarded Arc family blade. She didn't know how to fight with a long sword like this… but at the same time, she couldn't accept the idea of getting rid of it. This belonged to Jaune. In the end she strapped it across her back, using one of her ribbons to lock it in place.
I'll find a way to help you Jaune Arc, she promised as she looked at him, his ghostly fingers resting against a nearby wall as he stared off into Vale.
Even if you keep trying to pretend you don't need it.
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