章 147: 49
Chapter 49 – Something Wicked this way Jaunes
"Tell me again why I'm doing this?" Blake asked, frown set in place as she walked through overly crowded streets. The bright lights and screaming voices grated on her nerves, even before her current company could.
"Because you need to unwind," Yang laughed.
"Because your angst set off Yang's maternal side." Jaune added.
You're my biggest source of angst, Blake thought as she spared a quick glare for the teen floating above her. As always it was half-hearted, more because she appreciated his presence than most of the others around them.
A day out at the carnival with her team might have been nice… Okay, no, it would have been an absolute pain. Between Yang wanting to go on every ride, Ruby wanting sweets and Weiss trying to be mature – it was doomed from the start. But it would have been less doomed than what they had now.
"I have never been to a fun fair friend-Blake!" Penny gushed, rushing forward and grabbing Blake by the elbow. Blake tried to smile as the robotic girl crushed her arm a little tighter than necessary. "There is a building there which claims to be haunted. Do you think…?" Penny trailed off, giving Blake a meaningful glance.
"It's an attraction," Blake sighed. "It isn't real and there won't be any ghosts there. Just mechanisms and jump scares."
Really, Blake knew the girl was unused to the real world, but this was a bit much.
"False advertising?" Penny's wide eyes narrowed. "Such is illegal in Vale! As Huntresses we should put a stop to this immediately."
"You might want to put a stop to that immediately," Jaune warned. Not that Blake needed it. Penny had already taken two steps towards the ride before Blake had hold of one arm. Thankfully Ruby had heard too, and taken quick hold of the other. Between them they were able to drag Penny away, though not without some complaints.
"Just trust us," Ruby said, "We know what we're doing Penny. You don't need to go beat up or arrest anyone here."
"If you say so…"
And this is just the start… Blake shared a glance with Jaune, the two of them sharing a sarcastic look. Why couldn't it have been just the two of them, relaxing on the couches of the library together?
"Hey Blake," a smooth, well, it was probably supposed to pass as smooth, voice whispered. "How about you and I check out that ride over there?"
"No thanks, Sun," Blake answered automatically. She didn't even bother looking. Most likely it was some kind of romantic ride, the Ferris Wheel, Tunnel of Love or something.
"Ferris Wheel," Jaune said, easily reading her mind. She wanted to laugh at that, but Sun would no doubt think it was at him. It was strange how Jaune and her had slowly become adept at communicating without words. Ironic even, considering that words were really all they had. "Also, you can back off buster. Can't he take a hint?"
No, he can't, Blake thought. To be fair it wasn't his fault. Persistence was a virtue, so long as he didn't take it too far, and Sun never did. Even now he laughed good naturedly and went to chat with his teammate, giving Blake some space. Maybe if things were different she might have given him a chance.
"We should go on that!" Yang gushed, pointing towards a frankly ridiculous looking roller coaster. Blake's eyes widened as she watched a car plummet down, people screaming wildly. To her experienced ears it seemed that more than a few screamed with terror rather than excitement.
"Oh, I love roller coasters!"
"How?" Blake whispered, "Didn't you suffer from motion sickness?" She remembered seeing him on the Bullhead, not to mention in the bushes after the Bullhead. Plus, he'd told her about it a few times. He even got queasy when they took a Bullhead to Vale – and he was dead. He didn't have a stomach to feel nauseous over!
"Oh that doesn't kick in for roller coasters," Jaune said, making absolutely no sense. "It looks like fun, tell Yang you're up for it."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Blake said.
"I think you mispronounced `yes` Blake."
"I mean, look at the size of the queue for one," she pointed at the long line, which true to her words was filled with people. Then again, more than a few looked to be having second thoughts as they got to the front and realised just how big it was. "Besides, we're not all into that sort of thing."
"Oh we so are!" Nora cheered, dragging Ren forward in a headlock. Blake met those pink eyes as they were dragged by. They seemed to cry for help. "I'm in! Ren says yes."
Ren gurgled something, but it didn't sound like a yes.
"Wait… are you scared of roller coasters?"
Blake scoffed silently. She wasn't scared of something that wasn't designed to hurt her. She… just had a strong sense of respect for what exactly it did to her stomach. It wasn't cowardly to be afraid of putting your hand into a blender. It was common sense!
"Looks pretty exciting," the silver-haired teen from the new team offered. His teammate didn't look quite so enthused, crossing her arms and not answering. At least it was just the two of them. The black-haired woman made Blake feel nervous at the best of times.
"All in favour," Yang grinned, "hold up your hands."
Yang, Mercury, Sun, Nora, Ren – by force and Penny all held their hands up.
"And against?"
Blake, Ruby, Emerald, Pyrrha, Ren – before it got slapped and Neptune held their hands up. Eleven pairs of eyes quickly zeroed in on the heiress who hadn't answered either way.
"Weiss," Ruby grabbed her partner's arm, "if you have any love for your partner then please don't agree to this or anything Yang says." Weiss looked like she was going to offer her opinion, before Yang interrupted with a grin.
"So what's it going to be Weiss-cream? You want to give it a go, or are you scared?"
Weiss no…
"Hmph, as though I would be afraid of something like that. I say yes."
Damn it Weiss… don't fall for her stupid tricks.
"Talk about played," Jaune laughed, as Blake fought down the urge to throttle the ego out of the white-haired girl. Yang winked at Nora, mouthing the word easy.
"Well at least you didn't scream," Jaune grinned, standing before her even if no one else could see him. Blake was hunched over with her hands on her knees, fighting to keep her balance. That had not been fun. No matter how some of the others had whooped and screamed in pleasure. There was clearly something wrong with them all.
"Where are the others?" Blake gasped, throwing her head back and taking a long drink from a bottle of water.
"They went on again," Jaune said. "Well, some of them did. I think I saw Ruby and Penny go off to win some prizes in the shooting stalls."
"That feels a little unfair."
"Eh, I think they cheat on them anyway to make winning harder. They can afford to lose a little for a change."
"Did you ever come to something like this?" Blake asked. With the brief period of peace, she was able to sit down on a nearby bench, watching as kids and families ran by. Jaune sat down beside her, though to everyone else it would have looked like she was alone.
"Once or twice. There was a travelling fair that would come to Ansel every now and then, though we once went to a bigger fair in Vacuo. That was where I discovered my love of roller coasters. It was pretty funny since not only did no one expect me to like them, but I'm better than my sisters on them too." He chuckled, "I remember they were pretty shocked."
A few more kids ran screaming before them, chasing by what must have been their parents. It meant little to Blake, other than a vague reminder that young children could be annoying. Jaune's expression was more complicated.
"You miss them."
He sighed, "Of course I do. They think I'm dead."
"You are dead."
He gave her a dirty look but pushed on regardless, "I never really thought about dying before. But I guess it never seemed lonely since surely if I was dead, I wouldn't be able to miss anyone."
Blake couldn't say it was anything she had imagined either. That was the beauty of uncertainty, she supposed. If there was an afterlife, then you got to experience it. If there wasn't, then you wouldn't care on account of not being able to experience anything. Then Jaune had found this, which was neither one nor the other.
"You have me." She said at last. Blake's fingers curled into fists.
"And I'm glad for that," he laughed. She sighed as her hands relaxed. "I think I would… well, I don't know what I would have done with you. Probably just gone insane."
"And instead you get to drive me insane."
"I like to think it's more me helping you mellow out."
"Idiot…" she said fondly, leaning back. A loud scream came from the roller coaster, likely the rest of their team and various tag-alongs finishing the ride. "You could go meet your family again you know, once you have a body."
"If I get a body." He shrugged. "I… I think I would, or I'd want to at least. I just don't want them to know unless we're sure, though. What if it doesn't work? They would be stuck never able to see or talk to me, never knowing if it was true or just some sick joke."
Blake hummed. He wasn't wrong. Given the craziness of the situation she was hard pressed to believe that anyone would believe them. Sure, he could make his bear move, but what did that prove - that there was a ghost possessing it? There were a hundred other explanations for that, more if one considered semblances.
Any information he might be able to give to. Real, or just taken from Jaune before he died? It was human nature to reject the surreal, to decry that which lay outside of what was deemed natural.
"-othing unusual." A familiar voice caught Blake's attention, muted but just about audible, somewhere behind the hedge their bench lay against. She tried to place it, but couldn't quite figure out who. "Mercury's keeping an eye on them right now."
Emerald, Blake realised, followed by her brows crossing as she considered the rest of the message. Mercury was watching them?
Why was he watching her team?
She caught Jaune's eye, silently jerking her head in the motion of the conversation. He nodded and floated off the bench, phasing through the foliage and out of her sight. Not far enough to cause any problems, but the hedge itself must have been only a metre or two thick at most.
"I'll report back if I see or hear anything unusual," Jaune reported, echoing what he heard. "This feels like a waste of our time. Yes, I understand. Yes, ma'am. She's ended the call and has gotten up now." It took Blake a second to realise the last bit wasn't what the girl had said, but as Jaune came back through to her the faunus frowned down at the floor between her legs.
It could be nothing important. They were competitors in the tournament, it made sense that some might try to get some intelligence on their biggest opponents. A lot of people took the Vytal Festival seriously. It could make your career if you won it. There was nothing unusual in Emerald and Mercury trying that. In fact, it would be odd if they didn't. There was nothing suspicious about it.
Blake tried to convince herself of that.
"I'm not going to like what you're about to suggest, am I?" Jaune crossed his arms before her, face flat. Blake didn't bother trying to lie to him.
"If you don't want to go back into the bear after what happened then I'll understand."
She wouldn't force him, not after what had happened the last time.
"You know if they are spying on us, then two wrongs don't really make a right."
"Is that a no?"
"I suppose it's about time I stretched my furry little legs a little."
If they wanted to use the excuse of an amusement part to do a little information digging… well, two could play at that game. And as Blake watched the green-haired girl walk over to where Ruby was playing - at a stall which featured teddy bears as prizes?
"You have got to be kidding me…"
Well… Jaune had never accused her of having good plans.
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