7,803I hate when I look over a chapter and it seems fine, then I post, come back a day later, and see I made a mistake in the opening fricking sentence!
Me Tuesday writing Willow instead of Winter in Xia. Literal first sentence. Arghhh.
Cover Art: Curbizzle
Chapter 65
Ozpin gave Jaune the night to recover and the morning to spend with his teammates and friends and assure everyone he was okay before he was eventually summoned to discuss what happened. Though he was now Oswald, a huntsman in his mid-twenties, Jaune found he couldn't stop thinking of the man as Ozpin.
Though everyone else just thought of him as "that bastard" after his brutal combat lessons.
Once he was inside the office, Jaune wasted no time. "Salem is real."
Ozpin steepled his fingers. "Indeed."
"I didn't believe it."
"I don't blame you. Immortals, gods, curses – you'd be a fool to think any of those are real. But reality is sometimes stranger than fiction, or so they say. Qrow tells me you saw her in Cinder's dream, and that you gleaned a fraction of their plans...?"
It was worded as an invitation but Jaune knew better. Though he'd initially promised to keep the subjects of dreams a secret, he considered this an exception. Criminals and genocidal, world-ending threats didn't get the same protections. He told Ozpin everything, up to and including his "deal" with Mercury that should have by now seen the boy abandon Cinder's faction. He wouldn't be joining theirs, but Jaune wouldn't have trusted someone with such flexible allegiance anyway.
"So, Salem plans to use your Semblance to her advantage. I suppose that's a direct response to my new ascension." Ozpin chuckled. "You really have upset the status quo in returning me to my previous power. Decades, perhaps even centuries, of Salem's plans thrown out the window."
"Should I apologise?"
"Not to me, Mr Arc. I'm rather thrilled. And given Cinder's alleged plans to destroy Beacon, I imagine you're happy as well."
"Less so that Cinder and Salem both want to fight over me."
Ozpin leaned back. "True. On the other hand, your quick thinking has them fighting one another. Good work there."
It was hard to take the compliment as it was intended. He hadn't really planned for how to deal with Cinder, and her dream had provided the ammunition. All he did was jump on it. As such, it felt more that he'd been adaptable and quick to react, rather than a genius. Good traits all the same, but he couldn't really accept that he'd been a strategic mastermind for it.
"Obviously, we shall protect you as best we can," continued Ozpin. "Not only for your strategic value but because we will protect any and all students. And while it's not ideal Cinder wishes to take you, it's perhaps better than her wishing you dead. The same for Salem. Killing you would be much easier than capturing you."
"I guess. Did Qrow find anything of Tyrian and Hazel?"
"Both dead."
"You don't sound thrilled about that, sir."
"I suppose I'm not." Ozpin let out a heavy sigh. "Though I didn't know Tyrian, looking into our files shows failures on my part with regards to Hazel. His sister died under my care and her wishes for him to be looked after were ignored by unscrupulous insurance firms. I feel responsible to some degree though, it should be noted, his sister died to Salem, so I'm not sure why Hazel would have joined her."
"He wanted you dead."
"No, I get that part. I just don't know why he didn't want us both dead. Not that it matters now. I hope he finds some peace in the afterlife. Back to you," he said, "I'd like to ask you to work on refining your Semblance, which I know you're already doing your best with."
"I'm trying but... I get the feeling you're asking something more. You want me to do something to Salem. Don't you?"
"Eventually. Not now, and not anytime soon if I can help it, but your Semblance has proven capable of rewriting the laws of reality. I'm not sure if it could undo the curse of a god, or if that would even be wise – if they might take vengeance on you for it – but even if you can weaken her or cut away at her power to control Grimm – which the gods did not grant her – that could change everything."
"Cut away her power? How would that work?"
"In the past, Salem tried to take her life in a fit of grief by throwing herself into a pool filled with the essence of Grimm matter inimical to life. Her curse kept her alive and her body was changed. Given that the gods never intended this, I can't see them being too upset if you were able to revert this change."
"And turn her human again? Would that fix anything?"
Ozpin shrugged. "I've no idea. If nothing else it would rob her of the Grimm and that's good for innocent people. But I had..." Ozpin trailed off, glanced away, and then forced himself to continue. His voice was terse. "I had a thought long ago, fleeting and whimsical as it may be, that perhaps the reason she and I split under such horrible terms was because the essence of the Grimm – ever violent and aggressive – had influenced her. Made her violently angry where before she would just have been angry."
Jaune didn't respond.
"I understand it's a long shot," he said. "And I also understand it may be pathetic of me to even suggest it, as though I'm trying to shirk responsibility or say she only acted as she did because of some outside influence. I fully accept my responsibility in bringing her to this. I failed her as not only a husband, but as a friend and someone she could trust, but, still, I've clung to the hope. We argued in the past like any couple did, but Salem began to grow cruel and hunger for violence, and that was never like her before. It is, however, something that all Grimm exhibit..."
"I can try," Jaune said.
He didn't want to promise because he couldn't say how it would go, or if he'd ever be capable of changing her. Even if he could, would it be right to use his Semblance to rewrite someone's mind? There'd be such temptation there to change people for the better. It would start innocent, with changing criminals so they didn't want to commit crimes, maybe helping people with anxiety to just not be anxious anymore.
But how long would it take before he started changing the minds of politicians to be more honest, or businessmen to donate more to charity, or humans to end the discrimination against faunus?
Where would it stop? There was so much wrong in the world that could be "fixed" if he could use his Semblance to rewrite a person's mind while he was in the dream. It was such a slippery slope that might end with him in some disgusting harem surrounded by women who could do nothing but love him because he'd forced them to. Maybe that was the extreme, and something that'd never happen, but even the least extreme meant mass mind control. Not something to be lauded, no matter how many people it "helped" along the way.
"I don't think I'm anywhere close to having that kind of control, though. I gave you this by accident. I could end up giving Salem power by accident as well."
"I know." Ozpin leaned back and smiled in a more relaxed fashion. "When I said `in the future` I meant it. I hope this won't be something we have to attempt for another ten years at least, maybe even fifteen or twenty. You've time, Mr Arc, and, thanks to your Semblance, I have time as well. As does Beacon. Enjoy your time here. Train, work, live, love, and experience all Beacon has to offer. We will worry about the fate of humanity later. For now, Salem has lost almost every asset she has. I doubt she will do anything reckless."
/-/
"Ma'am!" Watts desperately argued. "This is reckless! Too reckless!"
"I care not!" Salem spat, strapping herself into the passenger seat of the aircraft. "Cinder has betrayed us, and Tyrian and Hazel are dead. I know her aims, Watts. She wishes to use the boy's Semblance to gain power close to mind, and then she will be a third player on the board. I cannot destroy the world if both Ozma and Cinder are acting against me!"
"By all accounts, Cinder is a wanted criminal to them."
"But she longs for power. Power and the freedom to use it. Cinder won't want humanity destroyed when she's a part of it and wants to lord over it, will she? Even if they're enemies, they will find common cause in getting in my way. Anyone I recruit, Cinder will hunt and kill on the off chance they might later become a threat to her."
Ozma wasn't fool enough not to recognise that, and he might even reach out to her for a tentative alliance. Common enemy and all. That would only happen if Cinder became powerful enough to be of any real value to Ozma, and that might never happen, but sitting back in the Grimmlands and giving Cinder chance after chance to corrupt the boy and use his Semblance was an unallowable risk.
"I'm not moving against Ozma," she told Watts. "Not like this, when he's regained his magic and his youth. He's too strong for me as he is. No, we are simply going to locate and kill Cinder."
That seemed to calm Watts down. "We're not going to make a play for the Arc boy?"
"If he throws himself in front of us, I won't ignore it, but he's not our primary objective. You are going to use your skills to locate Cinder, and I am going to use mine to end her pathetic existence. Then we shall calmly leave Vale and return to the Grimmlands to rebuild our forces."
Something in her voice must have convinced him, her reasoning tone or just the simmering threat of what she'd do if he denied her. Either way, Arthur climbed into the Bullhead and strapped himself in, then turned on the engine.
Ozma would not expect her sudden arrival. He wouldn't believe for even a second that she'd take such a risk, nor come to his place of power so unprotected, and that would grant her time to act. That greedy little girl had taken things away from her, betrayed her, and an example had to be made.
Cinder would suffer greatly.
/-/
Given all that had happened, it was a relief to have a relaxing dream spent in Ren's head. Even more relaxing was that Ren quickly became lucid during it, probably because of all the stress from his near kidnapping.
They spent the night on a sandy white beach with just the two of them, a cooler box full of drink, and a gentle breeze on a warm summer's day. Come the next morning, Ren told him it was the best night's sleep he'd ever had.
It was a shame about the tan, though.
Hiding that proved impossible, so Team JNPR had to tell their friends the next morning that Ren had been caught out in the sun and that his pale complexion tanned easily. Ren even had to go so far as to tell them he normally wore sunscreen every day, even in lessons, but that he'd forgotten due to the panic of Jaune's kidnapping.
Jaune had no idea how Team RWBY bought it.
Probably because there was no better explanation they could give. Maybe they thought the team were lying or hiding something, but the only thing they could think up was that maybe Ren had used a tanning bench and fallen asleep, or that this was some prank gone wrong. Something Team JNPR might be hiding to avoid embarrassment rather than be malicious. The four girls shrugged, let it go, then proceeded to tease Ren about his new look, which he took with impossible patience and a wry smile.
I really need to work on my control, though. Giving someone a tan because we dreamed of a beach isn't so bad, but at this rate if someone has a nightmare of being diagnosed with cancer, am I going to give it to them!?
The upside was that he could maybe cure it too – and that was a big fucking deal if true! – but that was yet more reason he needed control. And fast.
Doctor Oobleck was the obvious port of call.
"Giving and curing cancer? I want to say no but you did completely scramble Miss Valkyrie's genetic code, so it's certainly not out of the question. Though, and I realise this will only panic you more, there are far worse things you can do than give someone a disease that can sometimes be treated. You could accidentally rearrange someone's body so they eat through their rectum and defecate out their mouth."
"You're right. That does panic me more! Control!" Jaune begged. "Please!"
"I've collated information from my colleagues and friends on how they trained control." Oobleck brought out a notepad. "Glynda, for instance, told me she began by lifting small objects, adjusting her Semblance each time, and gradually moved up to heavier ones. Once she had practiced on lifting heavy weights, she began to practice manoeuvrability by making them move about, and by now has progressed to knitting with her Semblance."
"Knitting...?"
Jaune couldn't imagine such a badass woman knitting.
"Don't think it a hobby so much as a technique. To wield needle and thread in the air without the use of your hands takes a lot of concentration and mental dexterity. Simply throwing things around is simple, she says. Creating something with just her Semblance is much harder."
"That's good for her but how does that work for me?"
"Sadly, it does not. None of the examples I found do." Oobleck closed the book. "The problem is they consciously use their Semblance, so they test it on something, stop when it fails, make some mental adjustments, and then try again. Glynda would use her Semblance for maybe ten or twenty seconds before pausing to consider the results. You go eight hours before getting a chance to tell what the result is."
The same probably went for his friends, too. Ruby did a burst of speed, stopped, then practiced with another burst. Blake made a quick clone, Pyrrha needed little use of hers. Weiss was probably the best example he could draw from since Ruby had told him she spent a long time working on her Semblance. It was slower, involving deep consideration over glyphs and practice with them.
But Weiss still got to consciously see what she was doing and correct herself if something started going wrong. He didn't. He got the full experience of using his Semblance for eight hours, and then a frantic waking up where he wondered what, if anything, he'd changed in the real world.
"I do have one silver lining for you."
Jaune looked up desperately. "Yes?"
"I've done research on Semblance growth and evolution and everything I've looked at shows that Semblance growth is finite. Everyone knows Semblances can evolve, but they don't do so endlessly. You'll reach your peak at some point – you may even have reached it now given you use your Semblance for a third of your day. At this point, it should stop growing and you'll have a chance to work on control without the goalposts moving further away."
That... That was something. It wasn't much, but it was something. At the very least it was good to know he wouldn't keep growing in power to the point his dreams influenced everything in a hundred mile radius or something. That'd be terrifying.
At that point, he'd become an apocalyptic threat and need to be dealt with.
"You think this is it, then? No more?"
"I think so. Reality warping is already a ridiculous ability and quite the drain on your aura. Semblances are rarely so intensive that they kill their wielders, and any more than this and yours would be. I'm about 85% certain this is the peak of your power. And if I'm wrong, then I expect future evolutions to be much smaller."
"Smaller?"
"Maybe you'll instinctively know the dreamer the moment you enter a dream or gain the ability to hop from dream to dream. Something small like that."
"The last one doesn't sound so bad."
"That might be something you can already do," Oobleck pointed out. "It's just control that's the issue. What I'm saying is that I know this is frightening and frustrating, but you are making progress and you'll continue to do so. The fact that your Semblance has evolved to become so powerful and you haven't been exposed is a good sign. Imagine if you had this power right at the start, back when you were wildly changing people's dreams. You might have done a lot worse. The fact you've mitigated the damage to what you have is good – and the fact you were able to selectively apply and heal the legs of Mercury Black show you're gaining in control."
"That felt more like good luck. I told him to hang close to Beacon and that I'd heal him if I happened to end up in his dream, and I did."
"Good luck, Jaune? Or intent? Your Semblance works on the subconscious, so perhaps that is what we've been missing!" Oobleck jumped to his feet and rummaged around his bookshelf excitedly. "Of course! This makes sense. You're trying to consciously choose who you dream of, but that's never going to work. Your Semblance is subconscious to both the target and to yourself. Who did you dream with last night?"
"Uh. Ren."
"Relaxing? Stressful?"
"Incredibly relaxing."
"Good. And how did you feel the day leading up to that? Tired? Stressed?"
"Yes to both. I mean, I'd just come back from being abducted and I was thinking how I really wasn't in the mood to end up in another dream, especially not if it was a traumatic one. I was lucky to end up in Ren's head and—" It dawned on him. Jaune's eyes widened. "Wait, are you saying it wasn't luck!? I picked Ren?"
"Is there anyone else on your team you think would give you so relaxing a dream? If you had to pick someone from your team to spend a weekend with, assuming relaxation and de-stressing was your goal, who would you pick?"
It was obvious.
"Ren."
Pyrrha was his partner and best friend and Nora was awesome, but they were very active people. Pyrrha also crushed on him and Nora had her crush on Ren, which she'd probably want to talk about. They were fun to hang out with, and if he wanted a day out to do crazy shit and have fun then he'd pick one of them, but for pure sit back and chillax, it had to be Ren.
"You wanted to relax, you needed to relax, and you entered his dream. When you were kidnapped, you needed someone who could fight off Tyrian and Watts. You may not have chosen Cinder, but you subconsciously knew she was strong enough and that she had the motive."
"Wait, wait, wait. Did I know that...?"
"Subconsciously."
Oobleck slammed a book back on the table. It was aptly titled: The Psychology of Consciousness: Theory and Practice. He opened it up and fanned through, before turning it around and pushing it to Jaune.
"Take and read through this in your own time. Pay attention to the section on hypnosis. Not like that," he said, when Jaune rolled his eyes. "I'm not talking about hypnosis as a vector for mind control or whatever other nonsense people refer to. The word itself has lost its meaning. To hypnotise yourself means to control your thought pattern in a way that influences your conscious and subconscious thoughts. If you've ever seen sleep and breathing exercises, then those are self-hypnosis. Anti-anxiety exercises are the same. In psychological terms, hypnosis refers to exercises like those, not the fantastical version you see on television and in movies."
"Right. It's normal, then?"
"Very normal. Some use it to calm themselves, others to help fall asleep, or to be more disciplined and quit drugs. The point is, there are ways to clear the subconscious..." He hesitated. "No. That's wrong. There are ways to declutter the subconscious. Or to attempt to. They're not perfect and if you could well and truly clear your subconscious, I think you'd count as medically braindead. But clearing your mind as best you can should cut down on the free-ranging aspect of your Semblance. Maybe. It's a theory for now."
"One worth exploring," Jaune said. "What should I do tonight?"
"Don't fight your subconscious for one. Don't try and force your Semblance on me or one of your teammates because that might mean fighting your subconscious wishes. Instead, try and understand what you want or need. You'll have to be honest with yourself, too. If you selfishly want to peer into the head of someone, then accept it and do so. If you simply must visit your girlfriend's dreams for those sorts of things, then do so."
Jaune blushed. He hadn't, and wouldn't, but he got the point.
Don't try and force it. Don't deny his subconscious. Work with it, rather than against it, and then see if he couldn't influence it in small ways. If his subconscious desire was to relax, then he should think up people that would make for relaxing dreams and see if his Semblance ran with that and connected to any of them.
"Write down what you believe to be your subconscious thoughts before you sleep," Oobleck said. "Then write down a list of who you deem as targets aligned with those. Sleep, dream, and write down who you visited. See if there are any links. Then tell me tomorrow."
"I will. And I'll read through this." Jaune took the book. "Thank you, doctor. Thank you so much!"
/-/
There was no reason not to tell his team what happened, so Jaune showed them the book and recounted the conversation to them. Nora looked downright offended at the idea Ren was a more chill dream buddy than her, and Pyrrha looked a little sad as well, but they calmed down once he explained he'd have picked them if he wanted an exciting-fun dream, and Ren for a calm-fun one. That he trusted them all, but that they had different personalities that suited different types of dreams.
That seemed to convince them, especially since Nora couldn't have sat on a deckchair for hours on end without trying to bury Jaune in sand or toss him in the ocean. He also went over the exercise he had to do.
"So, what are your subconscious desires now?" asked Pyrrha. "How do you tell what those are?"
"I'm not sure."
"Just talk," Ren suggested. "Tell us what's on your mind. Ramble if you must. Maybe we can pick out what you're dwelling on by what you talk about."
It was a good idea – and a good way to involve them. It also felt like therapy, especially when Pyrrha suggested he lay back on his bed and talk. And, so, he did. He talked about Cinder and the kidnapping, about Mercury, about how bad he felt for Tyrian and Hazel dying when they weren't evil people.
But he also talked about Ruby, admitting that she was still refusing to believe what he was telling her, and how stubborn she was being. He loved her, obviously, but he couldn't help his voice becoming a little heated when he talked of how ridiculous she was being. To be fair, she was his first friend at Beacon, and he wouldn't have put up with Cardin or anyone insulting her, so he didn't see why he should put up with her insulting herself.
Blake's help wasn't enough in solving the issue either, not since Ruby had become more stubborn. He'd honestly sort of assumed he could fix it quickly and easily by pointing out how great she was, and that she'd just gasp in shock and realise how silly she was being, hug him, and then thank him for being such an awesome friend.
Pyrrha snorted into the back of her hand.
"Am I being unreasonable?" he asked.
"Yes," the tree of them said at once, each deadpan.
"Not bad unreasonable," Pyrrha said, with a tiny smile. "Just naïve. No one likes having their insecurities thrown in their face and you can't just tell people not to be anxious. I still get anxious in fights sometimes and I'm a championship fighter."
"Everyone has their issues," Ren added, "and sometimes you know and accept they're stupid, but you still stick to them. If getting over them were this easy, there'd be no depression in the world."
"I guess..."
"But it's great you try and care so much!" Pyrrha said, quickly. "I think we're all proud of you for that. It's just funny how easy you thought it would be."
"And how you assumed Ruby would be a cute puppy over it," Nora snickered. "Just because she's young and friendly doesn't mean she's not riddled with issues. I think I was worse at fifteen than I was at seventeen. Hormones, growing up, new school, older friends that all have two years' experience on her. I'd be worried if Ruby didn't feel insecure."
"I just wish she'd be reasonable about it."
Pyrrha smiled. "People aren't reasonable, Jaune, especially not when those people are teenage girls. We're speaking from experience here."
"But," Ren said, "I think we've found what your subconscious is focused on." He tapped a pen against his notepad, having been taking notes the whole time. "You want to help Ruby and you're also frustrated at how difficult it's being to help her." He tapped the pen once more. "If Oobleck's theory is correct, you'll end up in Ruby's head."
"Or maybe Yang's," Nora chipped in. "To learn more about what caused this in Ruby."
"Or Yang," Ren allowed. "Good thinking."
Ruby or Yang. Yang or Ruby. It made sense, and it gave him two names to repeat in his head as he closed his eyes that night. Their faces played in his vision, Yang's grinning as she often did, and Ruby with her arms crossed, lips twisted in a pout, giving him a suspicious side-eye. It was the look she kept giving him for their nightly "talks", and one he wanted to see wiped off her face.
Ruby or Yang. Ruby or Yang. Ruby... and Yang...
Jaune dreamed.
And his Semblance split.
Next Chapter: 22nd August
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