The Fountain Courtyard
The herald, a blue toga fringed with gold draped around his body, banged his heavy golden staff down on the floor. He was a broad-chested man, and his voice echoed throughout the spacious courtyard. “Hippolyta, Lady Nikos, her daughter Pyrrha Nikos, and party!”
'And party'? Sunset thought. 'And party'? Would it really have killed you to have tacked on, ‘Miss Sunset Shimmer, Miss Ruby Rose, and Mister Jaune Arc’ at the end there, pal?
You will announce my name one day. It will ring out across this room and all the rooms that I walk into.
For now, however, she had to settle for being part of ‘and party’ as she stood just behind Pyrrha and her mother in the doorway leading into the palace antechamber.
Pyrrha – or her mother; Pyrrha had given Sunset the dress, but Sunset more than half-suspected that Lady Nikos had actually ordered them and left it to her daughter to deliver – had given Sunset a dress to wear for the occasion and lent her the services of one of her maids to help her get ready. Whether it was Pyrrha or her mother who had picked out the dress, Sunset had to admit they had good taste. The bodice was white and hugged Sunset’s figure tightly; as it descended downwards to form the first of three layers of peplum on top of her skirt, it slowly and subtly changed colour until it was green at the hem which hung at the level of her hips. A second layer of peplum, subtly transitioning from a light to a darker shade of green, reached ankle level, while the third fell all the way to the floor. All three layers sat atop a ruffled A-line skirt that was just a little too green to be called turquoise, with a lambda-shaped slit in the overskirts allowing it to show through. The neckline was décolleté and turquoise, with a large emerald – with how wealthy the Nikos family was, it might even be real – set in the centre of the neckline, concealing Sunset’s cleavage from view, while the sleeves were short, translucent, and fell off her shoulders to drape down her swarthy arms. Pyrrha’s maid – Sunset hadn’t asked her name – had styled her hair in a sophisticated updo, her fiery locks rising like a ball of fire up from the back of her head. Sunset had, however, removed the pins that were holding her hair in place at the front and let loose locks descend with seeming artlessness down on either side of her face. She had dug out an old gift from Flash, a necklace of five faux emeralds of green glass hanging from a choker of green silk, and hung them around her neck. It wasn’t much, and it would probably look very cheap amongst the real jewels of the great and good of Mistral, but… but at the same time, she really liked it, even though she almost never got the chance to wear it. She liked it, and it really did go with the outfit. Pyrrha said so, and Sunset hoped she wasn’t lying about it.
Ruby was wearing a red dress with a ballgown skirt and a strapless, shoulderless bodice; over the red – bodice and skirt alike – was a layer of black lace which ruffled as it neared the hem. Ruby had pinned her silver rose brooch to her waist, even as she wore a real rose – a white one – woven into her hair, which had otherwise been altered only in the methods which it had been cleaned and the slightly glossy sheen it had acquired as a result of said cleaning. She was having a little trouble with the long dress, and at the moment, Sunset had one hand upon her partner’s pale arm to keep her from tripping and falling.
Pyrrha wore a gown of vibrant green, matching her eyes; the bodice hugged her figured tightly where it existed at all – there was a triangular slit at the belly just above the wait that exposed her stomach to view, and even more of her back was likewise bared to the world – with a sweetheart neckline and off the shoulder sleeves that seemed to embrace her arms so tightly Sunset doubted she could raise them too high. The skirt was mermaid style, displaying Pyrrha’s athletically-toned hips. Around her neck, she wore a necklace of three reasonably large, square emeralds set in glistening diamonds, while another emerald, much larger, formed the centrepiece of a sparkling bracelet on her right wrist. Her circlet, and the emerald drops dangling from it on their chains of gold, maintained its accustomed place gleaming brightly on her brow.
Compared to the three girls, Sunset had to admit that Jaune was rather plainly dressed in an ordinary dark three-piece suit of the Valish style. She hadn’t said anything because, well, he seemed like he was well enough aware of the fact already.
It was a nice suit, she had to admit; it was a better cut than his school uniform, and it actually showed him off a little bit in all the right ways. And his hair had gone from a complete mess to be artfully floppy down the sides, framing his face.
Okay, in the current circumstances, it was just possible, if Sunset squinted, to kind of see what Pyrrha saw in him. Physically, at least.
He’s a nice boy, I suppose. Sometimes, that’s all you want: a nice boy to hold you. He doesn’t have to be the smartest or the strongest; he just needs to be there and to be nice. Someone who won’t make things any more complicated than they already are. Someone who’ll take you as you are and maybe even… love you for it.
But then, I thought Flash was a nice boy too.
Lady Nikos was dressed in a gown of burgundy, with golden scrollwork dancing around the hem; it was a loose garment, that hung off her frame and pooled around her feet, spreading out just a little along the floor. The sleeves were loose and exposed her arms below the elbow, while she had covered her head with a vale of red silk very thinly woven so that it was translucent, which draped across her shoulders and fell down her back. Like her daughter, she wore emeralds around her wrists, but she seemed to have given the best jewellery to Pyrrha, because the stones that glimmered upon her skin seemed decidedly smaller than those which graced her daughter’s beauty.
They had already been ushered through various palace corridors, where ancient tapestries hung from the red and gold walls, mingling with paintings of old battles and far-off heroes, to reach an antechamber which, their party having arrived fashionably late, was already thronged with people. The wealthy and well-born of Mistralian society milled about, the men wearing suits or robes, women wore gowns of many colours while bracelets glimmered around their wrists and diamonds sparkled around their necks. In amongst the throngs of notables, the servants scurried, dressed in the uniformed livery of the palace, bearing trays of silver and gold laden with glasses and canapés. The space was dimly lit, with braziers filled with glowing fire-dust crystals which, by accident or possibly by that same desire to appear antique that seemed to govern the Mistralian aesthetic, failed to produce enough illumination to fully light up the room, just as a burning brazier of coal would have done. In the corner of the great chamber, an orchestra played soft and soothing music which lilted out across the chamber and beyond, for Sunset could see a door at the other end of the room leading to what looked to be an open courtyard, where yet more guests seemed to have congregated.
Because this was a high-class gathering, Pyrrha’s arrival was not greeted with gasps or squeeing or everyone rushing to take selfies. If Canterlot – the actual Canterlot, the seat of Celestia’s governance – had taught Sunset anything, it was that these people were far too proud to admit they were impressed by anyone, not even the Princess Without a Crown. But Sunset could read a room well enough to notice the check in conversation in the antechamber, the way that people glanced their way out of the corners of their eye as if to confirm that this was she.
“Lady Hippolyta!” Lady Nikos was hailed by a tall, broad-shouldered figure, wearing a grey greatcoat over his suit, who approached them from the edges of the assembly. He bowed a little from the waist. “It is so very good to see you again.”
“Leo,” Lady Nikos replied coolly, her expression still and stony. She did not curtsy in return to his bow.
Leo stared down at her for a moment. He appeared lost as to what to do next for all that he had initiated this by approaching her. His eyes flickered away from Lady Nikos to alight on Pyrrha. “And of course, your daughter is as lovely as ever.” With one of his hands, he reached for Pyrrha’s, and she allowed him to take her right hand and raise it to his lips, which he brushed lightly against her knuckles. “A pleasure to see you again, my dear.”
Pyrrha smiled politely as she curtsied to him. “Likewise, Professor.” She gestured to the other three members of Team SAPR. “Allow me to introduce my Beacon teammates: Sunset Shimmer, Ruby Rose, and Jaune Arc. Sunset, Ruby, Jaune, it’s my honour to present to you Professor Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy here in Mistral.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” Ruby said, putting one hand on her hip and waving the other in a kind of salute.
Jaune managed to more or less execute the bow that Sunset had taught him. He forgot to move his feet, but he did remember what to do with his arms. “An honour to make your acquaintance, Professor Lionheart.”
Professor Lionheart is a small man. The scornful words which Lady Nikos had had for the headmaster of Haven returned to Sunset like a shot as she beheld the man himself. Obviously, she hadn’t been speaking literally – physically speaking, there was nothing small about him – but even at a mere glance, Sunset could see why a person like Lady Nikos might form the impression that he was spiritually small. Professor Lionheart seemed to Sunset a very grey figure, most obviously in his mane-like hair and beard, but it seemed to have spread beyond that to have affected everything about his appearance. He looked like a dead man walking, and although it was not especially warm tonight, he had sweat beading his brow.
It was easy to see why someone like Lady Nikos would despise a man like Professor Lionheart. Sunset wouldn’t be surprised if half of high society held him in such contempt. It might not be fair, but that was the way it was: this world was no place for the meek, and nervousness was a sign for the jackals to move in. It was rather incredible that he’d managed to get the headmaster’s job in the first place; he must be hiding a ferocious talent underneath that unassuming exterior. A bit like Pyrrha, but without the ancestors.
She bowed. “Yes, Professor, this is a great honour.”
“Ah,” Professor Lionheart said. “Yes, uh, always a pleasure to meet huntsmen and huntresses in training, especially students of my old friend Ozpin.”
“The pleasure is all ours, Professor, to meet a huntsman of your skill and experience,” Sunset replied.
“You have a silver tongue, young lady; you might be more suited to politics than to the life of a huntress.” Lionheart laughed nervously. “I suppose you must be enjoying your studies at Beacon, Pyrrha; at least you must be getting along with your teammates rather well to have invited them here to Mistral.”
“Yes, Professor,” Pyrrha said. “I thought they might enjoy the sights of our fair city.”
“Indeed, there are so many,” Professor Lionheart replied jovially. “Still, I don’t mind admitting that I wish I’d been able to snag you for Haven. You would have been a great boost to our chances in the Vytal Festival tournament.”
“What a pity it is that Haven has produced no young warriors who could come close to rivalling my daughter in these last few years,” Lady Nikos declared acidly.
Sunset’s eyebrows rose. It was true that Beacon had begun to monopolise victory in the Vytal Festival recently; of the last ten tournaments, eight had been won by Beacon students, with the remaining two victors being Atlesian, but everything she had read seemed to consider that a positive reflection upon Professor Ozpin rather than a negative reflection on his counterparts. More importantly, Sunset was astonished at just how brazenly rude Lady Nikos had just been. There had been no subtle suggestion here: she had straight up insulted Professor Lionheart to his face. That was not how these things were generally done.
Even more surprisingly to Sunset, Professor Lionheart just took it. He flinched. “I, uh, yes, well… Lady Hippolyta…” he cleared his throat. “Well, as I say, it is a great pity, Pyrrha, that you chose Beacon over Haven; you would have been one of the star pupils at our academy without a doubt.”
“'One of'?” Lady Nikos asked.
“But as it happens,” Professor Lionheart continued, “I have found a young lady of great potential who is most anxious to meet you.” He stepped out of the way to reveal that someone had been hiding behind him this entire time, waiting for the dramatic moment of revelation. “Lady Hippolyta, Pyrrha, students, allow me to introduce my most promising huntress-in-training: Miss Cinder Fall.”
“Charmed,” Cinder purred as she stepped forward. She was dressed all in black, her gown descending sharply off her shoulders to reveal a great deal of cleavage even as her arms were enfolded by a pair of long black gloves. A plain black choker was wrapped around her throat. Black swan feathers decorated the shoulders of her dress, but in her hair, she wore white feathers which added a splash of colour to the otherwise monochromatic outfit. Her eyes, as best Sunset could tell, were amber; one of them was hidden behind the fall of her hair. She smiled. “A pleasure to meet you, Pyrrha.” Her eye swept over Sunset, Ruby, and Jaune as she chuckled. “Forgive me, a pleasure to meet you all, of course.”
“Of course,” Sunset murmured.
Cinder’s smile widened momentarily. “I hope that we can talk-”
“Later, perhaps,” Lady Nikos said. “For now, I believe that we are blocking the doorway. Leo.”
“Lady Hippolyta.”
“Come, Pyrrha,” Lady Nikos said, brushing past Cinder Fall and Professor Lionheart as she led the way in, giving the three of them little choice but to follow her into the shadowy antechamber.
The four teammates followed her for a little while, passing amidst the notables in their gowns and suits and robes, until Lady Nikos was approached by an old man, broad-shouldered, with a long grey beard and hair that, for all that it was held in a braid, was still long enough to descend almost to his waist. He wore robes of green trimmed with purple and wore a diadem upon his brow.
“Lady Nikos,” he said, his voice a deep bass rumble. “I’m so glad that you could join us, and bring your daughter. Lady Pyrrha, the city is made brighter by your presence.”
Pyrrha curtsied. “Thank you, my lord, you flatter me with honour I am not deserving of. Allow me to introduce my-”
“I am sorry, child, but I have many pressing matters to attend to. Lady Nikos, might I have a word with you in private?”
“Of course, my lord,” Lady Nikos said. “Excuse me, Pyrrha, children.”
Sunset bowed her head. “Farewell, my lady.”
They watched as Lady Nikos was drawn away. “Who was that?” Sunset asked Pyrrha.
“That was Lord Diomedes Thrax, the Steward of the Council,” Pyrrha said. “It was his eldest daughter who approached me the other day.”
“Ah, yes, the one who wants to take you away,” Sunset muttered.
“Sunset,” Ruby said reproachfully.
“What?” Sunset demanded. “I am allowed to want Pyrrha to stay with us.”
“I want Pyrrha to stay too,” Ruby said, offering Pyrrha a brief smile, “but if Pyrrha wants to go and do something important for Mistral, then… then we should all be supportive of our friend. I’ll miss you, but I’ll wish you luck at the same time.”
Pyrrha blinked rapidly. “I… I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet, Ruby,” she murmured. “That is to say… I haven’t made my final decision. I might still return to Beacon.”
“Is that really true?” Sunset asked.
“Sunset, come on,” Jaune said. “We all have our own opinions about this, but let’s not badger Pyrrha about it, not here, not tonight. Let’s just… let’s all try and enjoy the party, okay?”
Sunset hesitated for a moment. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb. “I’m sorry, I just… I didn’t mean to be an ass about this. I’m sorry.”
“I know,” Pyrrha said softly. “I understand.”
“I just don’t want to lose you,” Sunset declared.
“I know,” Pyrrha repeated.
“Nobody wants to lose Pyrrha,” Jaune said, “but… like I said, let’s try and enjoy the party.”
“Yes, let's,” Pyrrha agreed as the light from the dust crystals burning in the braziers glimmered upon her circlet and on the diamonds that hung about her neck and wrist. “Come with me; there’s something that I’d like you to see.”
She led them through the crowd, passing between groups discussing politics, trade, and the state of the kingdom, and into the large open courtyard that lay beyond the antechamber. A hundred paper lanterns hung from ropes strewn across the open space, adding their light to the light of the moon and the myriad stars that hung in the night sky above.
Here, there were more attendees, more servants, and more music for those who couldn’t hear the orchestra in the other room, but it was less – or seemed to Sunset to be less, at least – crowded here than it had been in the chamber just beyond the palace doors, although that might have been a function of the greater space.
The floor was made up of a sequence of mosaics, running clockwise across the courtyard floor, depicting… Sunset was not entirely sure what it was depicting, to be honest, except that creatures of grimm and the slaying thereof figured prominently. It seemed that there was a story of some sort being told, but Sunset didn’t know it, and there wasn’t enough information being conveyed to let her grasp where the sequence began or what precisely was being depicted. Pyrrha would almost certainly know, but she had not stopped yet to be asked but carried on, leading Sunset, Jaune, and Ruby into the courtyard towards the fountain that sat in the centre of the space.
The fountain was fashioned out of gleaming marble, with four fish with gaping mouths surrounding a man with spear and shield, clad only in a loincloth, striking a heroic pose set upon the very top. At first, Sunset thought that the fountain had simply been turned off, for no water was leaping from the fishes’ mouths. Then she saw that there was a good reason why the fountain had been turned off.
The water was... the best word that Sunset could find for it was "dead"; black, still, almost crusting over in places. It was so unnatural as to make it hideous to look at.
The fact that such a fountain was still there was baffling enough; the fact that it seemed to be guarded by four armed men, exhibiting the same combination of ancient armour and modern weapons that Sunset had seen in the streets that day, was stranger still
“You… you wanted to show us this?” Jaune asked uncertainly as the guards made way for Pyrrha and her friends to approach.
Pyrrha stopped a few paces away from the dead fountain. She looked down at the black, still water, a melancholy look upon her face. “I know it doesn’t look like much now, but it wasn’t always this way.”
Sunset pursed her lips together as she came to a stop by Pyrrha’s side. Whatever was so special about this fountain, it was clearly in need of more than just a good clean. “What is it?”
“The heart of Mistral,” Pyrrha murmured. “When our earliest ancestors climbed to the top of this mountain, they found a spring that ran so clear, so fresh, so refreshing, and so beautiful that they took it as an omen that this was the place they were meant to build their city. They built the city around it; later, a palace was raised around it and the fountain too.”
Sunset frowned. Clear, fresh, and beautiful were not words she would use to describe what she could see in front of her at this moment, and she wasn’t going to take a drink to see if it was still refreshing.
“There was a time, so the legends say,” Pyrrha continued, “when a drink of the water from this fountain could cure any injury.”
“I… wouldn’t drink that if you asked me to,” Ruby muttered.
“I wouldn’t ask,” Pyrrha murmured sadly.
Jaune frowned. “What happened? How did it get from that to… this?”
“The Emperor laid down his crown at the end of the Great War,” Pyrrha said, “and when he did… the spring ceased to flow, and the water became as you see it now. It is said that the fountain will never flow clear again, nor the water be fit to drink, until an Emperor returns to the throne of Mistral.”
Sunset smirked. “That’s you, isn’t it?”
Pyrrha glanced at Sunset, and her cheeks flushed. “As I’ve said, it is my mother if one wishes to be correct about the line of succession. In any case, that is not the destiny that I desire.”
“Yet perhaps it is your fate regardless,” Sunset said.
“I don’t believe in inescapable fate.”
“If fate exists and it is truly inescapable, then I hope that it believes in us, regardless of our views upon the matter,” Sunset said. She chuckled. “You become Empress, and you can make me your grand vizier or something.”
Pyrrha shook her head slowly. “Now I know that you’re joking.”
“Pyrrha,” Jaune said, “why would anyone still guard a dead fountain?”
“Because they still have hope that one day the waters will flow once more.” It was not Pyrrha who answered, but rather the silky voice of Cinder Fall as she drifted towards them in her black and feathered gown. “Humans, after all, are such hopeful creatures, aren’t we? Hope for something better in the face of misery, hope for life in the face of death, these are the things that sustain us even in the darkest moments as individuals and as a species.” She smiled. “Please, forgive me; I hope that I’m not butting in.”
“No, of course not,” Pyrrha said quickly. “Although I’m not sure that I would agree with you.”
“About hope?” Cinder asked. “Why, what would we do without it? Isn’t hope what drives us on to do, to dare, to strive for more and better than what we are and have?”
“I’m sure you’re right, in general,” Pyrrha said softly, “but in this specific case, I think that the guard has more to do with tradition than hope. I’m not sure anyone is hoping for the return of the emperor.”
“Perhaps they should, even if they don’t,” Cinder replied. “It’s clear to me, even from a single semester of history, that Mistral has gone terribly downhill since the Great War, wouldn’t you agree?”
“True,” Pyrrha allowed, “but that has more to do with the losses of the Great War than with the end of the monarchy, don’t you think?”
“I think it has everything to do with where power lies, who wields it, and who ought to even if they do not,” Cinder declared. “The kings of Mistral, Mantle, and Vacuo knelt before the King of Vale and offered up their crowns to him. He could have become the ruler of the whole world, High King over all nations… but instead, he chose to cast all those crowns, including his own, into the garbage. The rule of the four kingdoms was given over to lesser men. Weak men. Can it be right that the world is divided into four quarters, and each quarter rests in the hands of those unworthy of lordship?”
“No,” Sunset said.
Cinder’s gaze had been affixed on Pyrrha, but now she glanced at Sunset, turning her head a little more towards her. Her smile remained in place. “You agree with me… Sunset, wasn’t it?”
“Sunset Shimmer, yes,” Sunset said, as she folded her arms. “And I agree with you. Power should reside with the best, not merely with the most popular.”
“I’m delighted to hear it, so few people do agree,” Cinder said. “Some people are rather rude in expressing their disagreement.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Jaune muttered.
“Don’t you chafe under this ridiculous system?” Cinder asked. “Why, most councillors don’t even have their aura unlocked. Why should people like us, gifted with immense power and abilities that ordinary men cannot even dream of, bow and scrape before those who are so inferior to us in all respects? Pyrrha, as a team leader, surely you agree with me that the strongest should lead, and those weaker should be content to follow.”
“I am afraid that you’re mistaken; I’m not the leader of my team,” Pyrrha corrected. “Sunset is.”
Cinder was silent for a moment, her one visible eyebrow rising gently as Sunset stared at her and tried to control her rising chagrin.
Don’t get upset; it was just an innocent mistake that anyone could have made. Don’t get upset. Don’t snap. Don’t let her see that she’s upset you at all.
You have achieved a state of calm about the whole thing.
Except that calm was a lot harder to maintain when the person who had said the thing you ought to be calm about was smirking at you. Sunset could not quite stop her ears from flattening down onto the top of her head.
The smile on Cinder’s face suggested that she knew very well how Sunset felt. “I’m sorry, truly; I just naturally assumed that, well, she is Pyrrha Nikos after all.”
“It’s fine,” Sunset said, through teeth that were only slightly gritted.
“So…Sunset, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby,” Cinder murmured. “I admit, I can’t guess the name.”
“Sapphire,” Sunset said.
“Ah, I see,” Cinder said. “A little bit of a cheat, not pronouncing the P, don’t you think? But then, my team name cheats a little itself.”
“Which is?” Sunset asked.
“Clementine,” Cinder said. “C-L-E-M, and then I’m afraid you just have to imagine the rest of the word.” She grinned. “The L, E, and M went home for the holiday, along with everyone else.”
“So you’re the team leader?”
“Of course,” Cinder replied. “I am the strongest.”
“I’ve always believed,” Sunset said, “that the ideal leader should possess wisdom and strength united in a single form.”
“And do you consider yourself to be both wise and strong?”
Sunset licked her lips. “I try.”
Cinder chuckled. “I may get the chance to see for myself. Pyrrha, there’s a part of me that wishes that I’d had the opportunity to have you on my team, here at Haven. But there’s another part of me that’s glad that you decided to attend Beacon. Our two teams may get the opportunity to face each other across the coliseum. That might be a lot of fun.”
Pyrrha chuckled nervously. “I always appreciate a good match against a worthy opponent, but… I am afraid you might not get that chance after all.”
“Why ever not?” Cinder asked. “Surely, you’re not saying that the great Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl, Champion of Mistral, has no interest in competing in the greatest tournament in Remnant?”
“It would be a pity to miss it,” Pyrrha admitted, “but I have been offered a position here, in Mistral, with the Imperial Guard.”
Cinder’s eyebrows rose. “A great honour for one so young, but I suppose that it is as expected of your lineage. Still, it will be a great pity. I am sure there are many eager to see you triumph in the coliseum.”
“There are more important things than tournaments,” Ruby said softly.
Cinder glanced down at her. “Perhaps, but if nobody knows how strong you really are… are you really strong at all?”
“Yes,” Ruby said flatly. “You’re as strong as the deeds that you do, not as your reputation.”
Cinder chuckled. “That’s a… very selfless way of looking at it.”
“Our Ruby is a very selfless person,” Sunset said.
“Clearly,” Cinder replied. “Pyrrha, I don’t suppose there’s anything that would change your mind about leaving Beacon? I was looking forward to facing you in battle.”
“You wouldn’t say that once you lost,” Sunset muttered.
Cinder’s smile was dragon-like in its enthusiasm. “I won’t pretend to know my destiny, but I assure you, all of you, that if we do face one another in battle, I won’t be holding back.”
And on that charming note, Cinder turned and drifted away from them into the swirling depths of the party all around.
“I… don’t think I like her,” Ruby said.
“She seemed perfectly fine to me,” Sunset replied.
“Yeahhh,” Jaune said, drawing out the word. “That’s… kind of the problem.”
Sunset looked at him over her shoulder. “What are you getting at?”
“She’s like you… without… um… so anyway,” Jaune stammered. “What now?”
Sunset narrowed his eyes at him. “We should split up,” she declared. “We don’t want to look as though we’re scared or hiding behind Pyrrha.”
“What if we’d rather hide behind Pyrrha?” Jaune asked.
Sunset sighed. “We need to split up. We need to show that we can hold our heads up high in this company.”
“Why?” inquired Ruby.
Because Pyrrha’s mother is watching us, and if we don’t get this right, then it won’t matter if she refuses the Imperial Guard position because Lady Nikos will just browbeat her into transferring to Haven anyway. Not that Sunset had shared that information with anybody else, and to be perfectly honest, it was a little bit late now. “Just trust me, okay,” she urged. “This may not be fun, but it is necessary. So… good luck.”
Ruby didn’t see what the problem would have been with them sticking together. Yes, they might have looked like they were a little nervous, but so what? Ruby was a little nervous. She kept looking around the party for any sign of somebody who looked like they might be a huntsman or huntress that she could talk to, and she couldn’t see anyone anywhere. She couldn’t even see Professor Lionheart. Now, it was possible that she’d already walked past dozens of huntsmen and huntresses and she just didn’t recognise them because, like her, they were all dressed up and – unlike her – didn’t look really, really uncomfortable in these stupid fancy clothes, but she doubted it. Not least because of the news reports which suggested that all the qualified huntsmen and huntresses were out fighting all of the grimm gathering on the outskirts of the villages – and why was anybody holding a party at a time like this? – but also because… well, Ruby didn’t get that vibe from anyone here.
Not that she was in very much position to pay too much attention to anyone; it was taking all her concentration not to trip on the hem of her dress. The only advantage to wearing a skirt that went all the way down to the floor was that she didn’t have to wear lady stilts – she could get away with wearing flat-soled slippers under her dress, and nobody could tell – but that went with the disadvantage that she’d still almost gone flying twice from tripping over her own skirt.
It would have been really embarrassing if it weren’t for the fact that absolutely no one cared. No one was paying any notice of her whatsoever. Ruby Rose just wasn’t important enough for anyone in Mistral to take notice of.
At least she wasn’t embarrassing Pyrrha. People would have had to look at her for that.
“Miss… Rose, was it?”
Ruby squeaked in alarm at the voice behind her, almost falling over – stupid long skirt! – as she whirled around, before she realised that it was Professor Lionheart standing over her, looking down upon her with a degree of concern upon his face.
“Uh, yes, Professor,” Ruby said, her voice high and squeaky with surprise. “Ruby Rose, at your service.”
“Of course,” Professor Lionheart said. He hesitated for a moment. “By any chance, are you the daughter of Summer Rose?”
“Uh, yes,” Ruby murmured. “Yes, I am.”
“I see,” Lionheart said softly. “A terrible tragedy. You… have your mother’s eyes.”
“Yes, Professor, I know,” Ruby whispered uncomfortably.
Professor Lionheart cleared his throat. “Forgive me, but you seem a little young to be attending Beacon.”
Ruby looked down at the hem of her dress. She played with her hands in front of her. “I… I’m only fifteen.”
“'Fifteen'? You must be quite the talent. Are you looking forward to the Vytal Festival?”
“Yes,” Ruby said, with more enthusiasm in her voice. “Even if we don’t get to compete, I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun.”
“Yes, of course, but why in Remnant wouldn’t you get the opportunity to compete?” Professor Lionheart asked. “With no disrespect intended towards the rest of your team, Pyrrha-”
“Might not be there,” Cinder said, as she stalked out of the crowd to stand by Professor Lionheart’s side. “She has been offered a position as a qualified huntress here in Mistral.”
“A qualified huntress?” Professor Lionheart repeated. “But that’s… who is going to-?”
“The Steward’s daughter, apparently,” Cinder said. “That’s right, isn’t it Ruby?”
“Yes,” Ruby said quietly. “At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”
“I… I see,” Professor Lionheart said. “That… is unfortunate. I know a great many people – the same people, unfortunately, who do not greatly rate Haven’s chances – were looking forward to seeing Pyrrha represent Mistral in the Vytal Festival.”
“I was one of them,” Cinder added.
“It’s sad, but… I just hope Pyrrha’s happy, whatever she decides,” said Ruby with slight lament upon her mind.
“That is a very generous sentiment of you, Miss Rose,” Professor Lionheart said.
“Quite,” Cinder murmured. “Professor, if I might have a word with you?”
“Of course, Miss Fall,” Professor Lionheart said. “Please excuse us, Miss Rose.”
Ruby watched them bustle off into the crowd. She turned back in the direction that she’d been going in before – and promptly tripped over the hem of her dress and went flying.
Flying straight towards another girl who happened to be walking by.
Ruby cried out in alarm. The other girl turned, her blue eyes widening as Ruby flew towards her.
And then she disappeared.
Ruby flew through the empty air where she had been a moment ago and landed flat on the courtyard floor, head first. She felt the impact through her aura, even if the latter protected her from any harmful effects.
Of course, it couldn’t protect her dignity.
Hopefully, nobody was paying any more attention to her than they had been a moment earlier.
“Are you okay?”
Ruby looked up. It was the girl that she had almost run into a moment earlier, the one whom she should have run into, standing over her, holding out one hand. She looked to be about Ruby’s age, with a soft face and bright blue eyes, made even bigger by the copious eyeshadow she was wearing around them, matching the streaks of blue that ran through her long, black hair. She was dressed in a little black dress with spaghetti straps, long black leather opera gloves covering most of her arms, and high boots almost up to her thighs. A pearl choker with a sapphire set in the centre of it was clasped about her neck, and around her wrists, she wore pearl and sapphire bracelets, with more sapphires dangling from her ears, glimmering amongst the blackness of her hair.
Ruby gingerly reached up and took her hand. “Thanks,” she said. “I’m okay.” As the other girl helped her to her feet, Ruby asked, “How did you get out of my way so fast?”
“Oh, that? That’s my semblance!” the other girl declared cheerily. “I can turn into a cloud of mist and phase through stuff. Or let people phase through me. Check it out.” She disappeared and then reappeared a moment later behind Ruby. “Pretty cool, huh!”
“Yeah, that is pretty cool,” Ruby agreed.
“I know; I only just discovered it, and I’ve been doing it all the time,” the other girl said as she once more disappeared only to reappear back where she’d been before. “Whoo!”
“Stop doing that!” a voice called from out of the crowd.
“You’re not my mom!” the girl who had helped Ruby up shouted back. She beamed brightly as she held out one hand to Ruby. “Juturna Rutulus, how are you doing?”
Ruby stared at Juturna’s outstretched hand. “Ruby Rose… did you say Rutulus?”
“Yeah,” Juturna said. “Let me guess, you’ve heard of my brother’s company?”
Actually, Ruby remembered Pyrrha mentioning the name of the former Mistralian police commissioner who had been murdered by one of his own officers… but she didn’t want to mention that. It was kind of touching the way that everyone remembered her mom, but at the same time, Ruby didn’t always appreciate the way that everyone kept bringing it up, like Professor Lionheart just had. Sometimes… sometimes, she wished people would just let it alone. So she said, “Yeah, exactly. Um, should I bow or something?”
“Oh, I’m not going to make you do that; you clearly don’t belong here,” Juturna said breezily.
Ruby groaned. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well, you did trip over your own dress,” Juturna informed her. “So, where are you from, and what brings you to the dullest party in history?”
“Uh… my friend’s mother brought us here,” Ruby admitted.
“Was she trying to punish you?” Juturna asked.
“I don’t know, maybe?” Ruby guessed. “I’m not sure what for, though, but… hey, if you think this place is so awful, what are you doing here?”
Juturna rolled her eyes. “My big brother – who would ordinarily never make me go to anything like this, by the way – is out of town on business, and so, my surrogate big sister says that I have to go to this thing with her because she doesn’t want to show up by herself, and apparently I need to-”
“Get out of your shell?” Ruby suggested.
“Yes!” Juturna cried. “Like, I don’t need to get out of my shell; I have the two of them. In fact, I don’t even have a shell; just because I don’t have any other real friends doesn’t mean I have a shell.”
Ruby giggled. “She sounds like my big sister. She was always nagging me to try and make friends… although, I’ve gotta say, once I did… she turned out to be kinda right.”
Juturna shrugged. “Maybe, but come on, who comes to a high society party to make friends? Make connections, maybe, but… hey, do you want to blow this place and go somewhere fun?”
“I don’t know if I-” Ruby began, looking around for her friends.
Juturna grabbed her by the arm. “Oh, come on! It’ll be great! We can go to a nightclub! I hear they’ve got this new thing called Joy and-”
“No.”
Juturna yelped as a figure strode towards her, a stern expression upon her face. She was a fox faunus, with skin even paler than the very pale Ruby Rose, with hair as white as snow – and long enough to fall straight down below her waist to boot – and eyes as red as blood, for the blood her veins seemed the only color in those orbs. Weiss looked as though she had been coloured white; this woman looked as though she had been drained of colour, leaving her pallid from its absence. Her face was painted - a soft pink blush upon her cheeks, a dark red upon her lips, a smoky grey above her eyes - to remedy that; the effect was almost to point out the absence of any colour elsewhere. A pair of vulpine ears emerged from out of her hair, and a fluffy tail swept back and forth as she advanced upon them. She was wearing a blood red qipao with a pattern of white camellias upon it. Her features were gentle, but her expression was stern as she advanced upon them.
“You are not leaving this party,” she declared, “and you are certainly not going to some low club, and you are absolutely not taking any substance you might find there.”
Juturna sighed. “When did you become such a killjoy?”
“Since your brother left in my care what was most precious to him in all the world,” the other girl declared. She glanced at Ruby and bowed her head. “Camilla Volsci, at your service.”
“Ruby Rose, it’s nice to meet you,” Ruby said.
“Indeed,” Camilla said. “Please do not indulge Lady Juturna in any of her bad habits. I have sworn not to let any harm come to her.”
Ruby remembered the other thing that Pyrrha had told her in her story about Juturna’s father: that his ward had gone out and murdered everybody who had had a hand in his death. Camilla didn’t look the type to do that… but then, Pyrrha didn’t exactly look like a tournament champion either. For that matter, Ruby was well aware that she didn’t look like a badass huntress in training. “Don’t worry, I think that we should probably stay at the party. My friends might worry if I left.” She could only imagine how mad Sunset would be if she ran off somewhere, and she didn’t want to imagine how furious Yang would be with Ruby, Sunset, and Pyrrha - and maybe even Jaune, too - if it turned out that she’d done drugs while she was on vacation in Mistral.
“That is a very wise decision, Miss Rose,” Camilla declared. “Juturna, I’m sorry, but Turnus left me a list of people to speak to on his behalf tonight, and I have yet to get through more than half of them.”
“It’s okay,” Juturna assured her. “I’ll just hang out with Ruby for a little bit more.” She put one arm around Ruby’s shoulder.
“Very well,” Camilla said evenly. “Miss Rose.” She turned away.
Ruby glanced at Juturna. “So… your semblance lets your turn invisible and move through walls.”
“Yep.”
“So, couldn’t you just get away any time you wanted?”
“Yeah, technically, but where am I supposed to go all by myself?” Juturna asked. “Hey, do you play video games? I bet you do, you’ve got the look.”
“Yeah, I do,” Ruby replied.
“What kind of games do you play?”
“Mostly fighting games.”
“I’m not a huge fan of fighting games,” Juturna said. “Ooh, do you have a boyfriend?”
“No,” Ruby answered, surprised by the sudden change of subject.
“Is there a boy you like? Or a girl?”
“Um, kind of?” Ruby murmured.
“Aww, what’s the problem? Do they like somebody else?”
“Maybe,” Ruby said. “I mean, he used to, but now… I don’t know. What does this have to do with videogames?”
“Because I’ve got a load of dating sims that you could use for practice, if you like? Or otome games to work out what your type is.”
“Uh… no thanks,” Ruby said apologetically.
“Well then have you ever tried Warring Tribes?”
“No.”
“You have to try it. You can borrow my scroll,” Juturna said, fishing her scroll out of a little black bag that hung from her shoulder.
“Are you sure it’s okay to play videogames at a high class party?” Ruby asked uncertainly.
Juturna grinned at her. “Ruby, I’m a Rutulus, I can get away with anything.” She pinched Ruby’s cheek with one hand. “And while you’re with me, so can you.”
“Quick!” Juturna yelled from over Ruby’s shoulder. “Quick, put the towers up!”
“But I-”
“Don’t be stingy on the coins, now’s not the time. Towers, troops, go! Quickly, before the red faction gets you!”
“I’m doing it!”
“Faster! Faster!”
Pyrrha watched Ruby and Juturna Rutulus from some distance away. At least somebody was having fun, even if they were doing it in a slightly unconventional manner.
She was incredibly tempted to go over to join them, except that she knew nothing at all about video games and didn’t want to get in the way.
Even if she had known, she probably wouldn’t have wanted to intrude. Ruby looked to be getting on quite well enough without her.
And so, Pyrrha stood alone and watched them from afar.
It was how she spent most of these events, watching from afar. Just as her mother might be watching her now, although Pyrrha couldn’t see her. But, just in case her mother was watching, Pyrrha maintained in her bearing and expression the poise expected of a Nikos and the champion of Mistral.
Occasionally, someone would approach her, to murmur a few words, to offer some expression of good luck on her chances in the Vytal Festival. Pyrrha wondered how disappointed they would all be if – or should she be honest with herself and admit that it was when – her duty kept her home in Mistral instead.
When her duty took her away from her friends.
A sigh escaped from Pyrrha’s lips as she watched Ruby. She had never known that she could feel about anyone the way that she felt about her team. Her friends.
The truth was that, if the situation in Mistral stabilised, then she would return to Beacon like a shot and not look back. She would give anything for the opportunity to spend the next three and a half years as Pyrrha Nikos of Team SAPR, and no amount of honours that could be offered to her would sway her mind.
She would give anything… except her sense of where her duty lay.
Unless Sunset is correct, and my duty lies more in honing my skills and my self at Beacon rather than rushing headlong into a role for which I am, as yet, ill-prepared.
Ah, Sunset; if only I could trust that your advice was not tinged with selfishness I would take it in moments.
“Lady Pyrrha.”
Pyrrha glanced at Camilla Volsci, who had approached her from the left. “Camilla,” she said softly.
Camilla followed Pyrrha’s gaze to where Juturna and Ruby were playing. “Do you know that girl?”
“She’s my teammate, and my friend,” Pyrrha replied.
“Ah,” Camilla murmured. “Then she is of good character?”
“The very best,” Pyrrha declared.
“I am glad to hear it,” Camilla replied. She hesitated. “You brought your teammates here to Mistral?”
“I wanted to show my friends my home,” Pyrrha said.
“That is not always wise,” Camilla muttered.
“As I am beginning to realise,” Pyrrha said, allowing a touch of melancholy to enter her voice.
Camilla frowned, but only for a moment. “Turnus asked me to convey his apologies for not being able to meet you here in person. Duty took him away.”
Pyrrha sighed. “Tell Turnus that he has nothing to apologise for.”
Camilla exhaled loudly. “You do him wrong, Lady Pyrrha. He is a good man. The best man in Mistral.”
“And yet, my affections do not that way tend,” Pyrrha insisted.
“Can you think of any who would make you happier?” Camilla asked. “I cannot.”
I can, if only he could think of me that way. “I do not love him,” Pyrrha said. “There is nothing more to it than that.”
Camilla’s mouth twisted. “You are cruel, to reject a good heart so.”
Then why don’t you marry him? Pyrrha thought unkindly. “It is not my intent to be cruel, but nor… nor can I submit myself to unhappiness. Not in this, at least.”
“I see,” Camilla said coldly. “Forgive me, Lady Pyrrha, but I have… other business to attend to on my lord’s behalf.”
“Of course,” Pyrrha murmured. “Don’t let me detain you.”
Camilla bowed and then departed.
And Pyrrha was left alone once more.
I don’t remember high class parties being this irritating, Sunset thought as she stalked through the antechamber. She had gone back in, but after only a little while there, she longed once more for the fresher air of the courtyard. No one tried to stop her. No one intercepted her. No one had anything to say to her at all.
Why would they? She was just a faunus from beyond the kingdoms by way of Atlas and Vale, born of no family and possessing no wealth. Why would such as these have anything to say to her?
All the same, she was sure that she didn’t remember Canterlot parties being quite this bad. Of course, her circumstances had not been nearly so bad in Canterlot: her parentage was uncertain, but she was not only Princess Celestia’s student but also a ward of court, the princess having raised her after she was abandoned at the gate as an infant filly. That had made ponies eager to seek her favour and to seek her friendship as a way to that same favour and that of the princess. Not that it had done anypony much good; she hadn’t seen a lot of point in friendship even before she realised that none of these ponies had any genuine interest in her. After she reached that conclusion, her interest in making friends had been less than zero. Yet still, she was tolerated, even indulged by those who still believed that they could worm their way into Celestia’s heart through that of Sunset Shimmer.
And then, of course, one had to remember Celestia’s influence upon Equestria. Whatever the faults of Canterlot, however much the stuffiness and arrogance of the nobility might be said to have corrupted the shining city and rendered it less than the ideal that it could and should have been, however much the reality did not match the gleaming light in Sunset’s imagination of that now far-off city, nevertheless, it could not be denied that Celestia had done what she could to make it a gentle and harmonious place.
Power united with wisdom. Sunset found it hard to disagree with Cinder’s assessment that a single ruler possessed of the strength to lead, the wisdom to rule well, and the charisma to be loved by those over whom they ruled, was a much better way to run a land than to divide it between several councils of politicking, ambitious nobodies. Celestia was such a one, the ideal monarch: the prosperity which she had brought to Equestria and the universally high esteem in which she was held were both alike testament to the righteousness of her rule and the benevolence of her influence.
All that influence was lacking from Mistral. So too was any status that Sunset might have possessed. She was nothing here but a hanger-on of Pyrrha Nikos; to be team leader meant less than nothing in this company. She was nought but a faunus, and to a faunus, well… they had nothing to say to her whatsoever.
Nevertheless, Sunset kept her head high and her back straight. She had endured much worse than indifference in Atlas, and in any case, there was a part of her which wondered if Lady Nikos hadn’t brought her here in order to see how she would react to this kind of treatment. Perhaps Pyrrha’s mother thought that she would throw a tantrum about it or start attacking people.
Well, if she thought that, then Sunset Shimmer was going to show her how wrong she was. Just because she might want to do those things – a little – didn’t mean that she was going to. She had enough self-control to get through this and more, and she was going to do it with all of her pride intact.
Especially since it had been her idea to split up in the first place. Ruby and Jaune had been considerably less keen on the idea, but Sunset had… talked them around to her way of thinking. They looked scared, huddled together in a group; they looked as though they were hiding behind Pyrrha. And so, Sunset had insisted that they split up, each going their own separate way, to at least try and mingle with the other guests. They might not be enjoying themselves, but they would – Sunset thought – be showing the kind of attitude that Lady Nikos expected of them. This was a test, and although it might be thought that trying to impress Pyrrha’s mother was a futile exercise in light of the offer that she had received from Terri-Belle Thrax, nevertheless, Sunset had not given up hope yet. If she could not convince Pyrrha to stay, then she would, ultimately, resort to the underhand tactic of enlisting Pyrrha’s mother as her ally to try and… persuade her daughter to change her mind. Sunset was fairly certain that Lady Nikos wanted to see Pyrrha compete in the Vytal Festival tournament.
That was a last resort, not least because Pyrrha would probably have views on Sunset doing something like that, but it was a last resort that Sunset would employ, for Pyrrha’s own good.
Which meant impressing Lady Nikos by keeping her head up high amongst this disdainful company.
“You don’t seem to be particularly enjoying yourself.”
Sunset raised her eyebrows as Cinder Fall approached her from behind one of the pillars that lined the edges of the courtyard. “Miss Fall-”
“Cinder, please,” Cinder urged. “Are we not equals here, as huntresses in training?”
“Very well, Cinder; someone more paranoid than I might think that you were stalking us.”
Cinder chuckled. “Perhaps it’s just that I’m not particularly enjoying myself any more than you, and you’re perhaps the most interesting person here.”
“I’m flattered,” Sunset muttered.
“Don’t be; this is a very boring party,” Cinder said.
The two of them looked at one another for a moment before nearly-identical grins swept across their faces.
“Don’t be too disheartened, Sunset,” Cinder said. “Nobody wants to talk to me either. You shouldn’t let it concern you.”
“I don’t,” Sunset replied.
Cinder’s smile widened momentarily. “As you say; I believe you.”
“You don’t sound like it.”
Cinder sniggered. “You’ll have to forgive me, but I find you easier to read than you might like.”
Sunset folded her arms. “Is that so? And why is that?”
“You’re one of the few people to agree with me on the right of the strong to rule, for a start,” Cinder pointed out. “You remind me of myself. I think that you’re a lot like me, Sunset Shimmer.”
“No, I’m not.”
“No?”
“No,” Sunset repeated. “I’m the original; you’re just a lot like me.”
Cinder snorted. “Very good, Sunset. That’s just what I would have said in your situation.”
“Did you know it was going to be like this before you came?” Sunset asked. “The party, I mean.”
Cinder nodded. “I wanted to come dressed as a grimm, but Professor Lionheart forbade it.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone dressing up as a grimm for a party.”
“Think on it,” Cinder urged. “Outside the walls the world grows dark; grimm stalk the land, and the little people on their farms and in their villages tremble in fear. Yet here, feeling themselves safe behind their walls and protected by their wealth and privilege, the elite revel as though nothing at all were amiss. Would it not serve them right if death were to stalk into this company, and lay low the Steward and all his guests.”
“Except for the fact that, you know, we’re his guests too,” Sunset pointed out. “Not to mention my friends.”
“Of course, we wouldn’t want anything to happen to you or I or them, would we?” Cinder acknowledged with a laugh. “But to answer your question, I suspected it would be like this. I came anyway because I was hoping to see the great Pyrrha Nikos. I’m afraid that turned out to be something of a disappointment.”
“If you wanted to see her fight, then perhaps you shouldn’t have come to a party,” Sunset muttered dryly.
“I’m sure her combat prowess is everything that it’s described,” Cinder said evenly, but not wholly without insincerity. “I was referring to the fact that… well, she’s rather boring, wouldn’t you say?”
“No,” Sunset said, her voice acquiring a touch of the Atlesian winter’s chill about it. “I wouldn’t.”
Cinder’s eyebrow rose. “No?”
“No,” Sunset said again. “You see, I’m the team leader, and that means that I don’t badmouth my team to outsiders, and I don’t let outsiders badmouth my team to me. I thought you would have understood that, since we’re both team leaders and so alike.”
Cinder was still for a moment, and silent. “I have a confession to make.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes,” Cinder admitted. “You see, I actually knew that Pyrrha wasn’t the leader of her team. Everyone knows that Pyrrha isn’t the leader of her team; the papers could barely contain their disappointment about it. And of course, I know that your team was involved in that fight at the docks with the White Fang earlier last semester. I confess that I… I wanted to see how you’d react to the apparent misunderstanding.”
Sunset stared at her for a moment. Cinder seemed disinclined to say any more.
“Well?” Sunset demanded.
Cinder affected to be a picture of innocence. “Well… what?”
“How did I do?” Sunset asked.
Cinder smirked. “You controlled yourself majestically. I’m guessing that you must have had some experience being insulted. You’re from Atlas?”
“I think I could be a faunus from anywhere and have some experience being insulted,” Sunset replied. “But, yes, I am from Atlas.”
Cinder nodded. “What’s it like, being the team leader to someone like Pyrrha Nikos?”
“It’s great,” Sunset said. She smiled sardonically. “I can sit back and let her do all the work for me. I barely have to lift a finger in the field.”
Cinder laughed. “You joke, but doesn’t it bother you that that’s how people think? That you are harnessed to her chariot for her glory? That everything you do will accrue to her advantage and not yours?”
“It did,” Sunset admitted. “At one time.”
“And now?”
“You might have noticed that Ruby looks a little young to be a Beacon student,” Sunset said.
Cinder shrugged. “Some people have a natural youth about them. I, on the other hand, have been told that I look old beyond my years.”
Sunset winced. “You don’t look seventeen, I admit. But in a good way.”
“Oh?”
“You don’t look old,” Sunset assured her. “Just mature. Grown up.”
“Attractive?” Cinder asked with amusement in her voice.
Sunset thought about it for a moment. “Sure,” she said with a shrug. “Why not?”
Cinder put one hand above her heart. “Why thank you, Sunset Shimmer; you certainly know how to make a girl feel special.” She sniggered. “I take it, however, that Ruby isn’t one of those lucky enough to keep young and beautiful.”
“No, she’s actually that young,” Sunset said. “Fifteen years old.”
“'Fifteen'?” Cinder repeated. “And a Beacon student?”
“She’s that good.”
“Gods, you have been unfortunate, haven’t you?”
“I’ve got the best team at Beacon, hands down,” Sunset declared. “In fact, I’ll go even further than that: I’ve got the best team in all four academies, and if I can keep Pyrrha – which I will – then I’ll prove it in the Vytal Festival. Where is my misfortune?”
“The fact that you’ll never get any recognition for what you’ve done?” Cinder suggested.
“Oh, I’ll hold my own,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Depend upon it.”
“You’re very confident for someone trapped on a team with two prodigies.”
“Once you know me better, you’ll realise that I have good reason to be confident,” Sunset replied.
“So confident that you would like to keep Pyrrha on your team in spite of the fact that you would benefit to be rid of her,” Cinder mused. “So confident that you led your team into battle against the White Fang.”
Sunset shifted uncomfortably. “It… we won in the end.”
Cinder smiled. “Oh, of course. You saw an opportunity, you took a risk, and it paid off. I’m just a little curious as to why you leapt into such a struggle feet first. Do you see yourself as some kind of crusader for justice?”
Sunset laughed darkly. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I just thought…” she considered for a moment, not wanting to give away Blake’s secret, “that it might be fun.”
“Oh, really?” Cinder asked. Before Sunset could answer, Cinder closed her eyes and bowed her head. “Good evening once more, Lady Nikos.”
Sunset glanced over her shoulder to see Lady Nikos approaching from behind. “My lady; good evening.”
Lady Nikos nodded in acknowledgement of them both. “Excuse us, Miss Fall. My guest and I have matters to discuss.”
Cinder bowed. “Of course, my lady. Sunset, until next time.”
“You don’t know that there’ll be a next time.”
“Oh, I think there will,” Cinder said. “In fact, I’m certain of it.”
She withdrew, walking backwards away from Sunset as the latter turned toward her host.
Lady Nikos looked down upon her, the older woman’s expression stern but at the same time not wholly without sympathy. “I feel as though I should apologise for bringing you here. You have not had the most pleasant time.”
“Without malice or insult, my lady, I ask was it not your intention that it should be so?”
“My intention was to test your conduct in a large gathering,” Lady Nikos said. “If you are to be my daughter’s companions, then you must be able, at the least, to not disgrace her at such gatherings as these.”
“I fear, my lady, that I have disgraced her by my race,” Sunset said coldly.
Lady Nikos closed her eyes for a moment. “And for that oversight, I must seek your pardon. I forgot that not all here share my views upon the faunus.”
“If I may ask, Lady Nikos, what are your views upon the faunus?”
“My view is that there have been as great warriors amongst your race as there have been amongst mine,” Lady Nikos said.
Sunset clasped her arms together behind her back as they began to walk across the courtyard. “Can I ask if I have passed the test, my lady?”
“You have, tentatively,” Lady Nikos said. “Now, do you wish to leave this place?”
Sunset hesitated, wondering if this was another test. “I am content to remain, my lady, if it please you.”
Lady Nikos smiled thinly. “Not everything is a test, Miss Shimmer; you may speak the truth.”
“Then the truth is that I think my teammates would be glad to leave, my lady,” Sunset admitted.
“Then let us find Miss Rose, Mister Arc, and my daughter, and be gone,” Lady Nikos said.
“As you will, my lady,” Sunset said, because nothing would please her better right now than to be gone.
Jaune had no - well, very little - problem admitting that he was socially awkward. His dad had tried to give him advice, and the whole women appreciate confidence thing had worked out really well with Weiss, hadn't it? His mom had tried to give him advice, or at least encouragement, encouragement that had not turned out to be particularly well-founded, he had to say. His sisters had tried to give him advice. None of it had worked out. But that was okay. Well, no, it wasn't okay okay, but he could live with the fact that he wasn't cut out to be the life and soul of the party.
He could certainly live with the fact that he wasn't cut out to be the life and soul of this particular party. After all, he was just Jaune Arc, Beacon student. Why would these people, the rich and the powerful of Mistral, have anything to say to the likes of him? So Jaune felt pretty much resigned to the fact, as he stood in a small and shadowy alcove, that he was pretty much painted onto the wall and was going to be so for the rest of the night. That was fine by him. As long as he could get through the night without making a fool out of Pyrrha by association, then everything would be fine. She'd been so kind to him, from the moment when she'd saved his life in the forest. She’d taken him under her wing, been understanding of his secret and of his unjustified pride towards her... she'd had the patience of winter towards him, and he, well, he couldn't have borne it if he'd repaid her kindness and generosity by making her look bad through association with a loser like him.
If… if he was going to lose her – and it was taking a lot for him to not beg her not to go, because he really didn’t want to lose her – then he was determined that her last memories of him would not be of how he made her look like a fool in front of all her peers.
In the midst of these thoughts, Jaune was surprised, astonished even, when the crowd parted across the courtyard to let him catch sight of Pyrrha standing as alone as he was, looking as awkward as he felt, her head lowered a little and her eyes downcast. Why? He could understand why nobody wanted to bother with him, but she was Pyrrha Nikos for crying out loud, and if that wasn't enough, then her mom seemed to be a total big deal around here.
So why was someone as nice and… and as beautiful as her standing all alone? It was a crime against... well, he wasn't sure what the word he was looking for was, but he was certain that it was a crime against something!
Jaune made his way across the courtyard, twisting between clusters of people lost in conversation, apologising to the servants as he got in their way momentarily, until he was bearing down on Pyrrha. She didn't seem to notice him until he softly spoke her name. "Pyrrha?"
She looked up, shock momentarily in her lovely green eyes to be replaced by recognition. "Jaune! What are you doing here?"
"Well, I saw you all by yourself, and I didn't have anything better to do," Jaune said and instantly regretted it. Great. Just great, you moron. Do you want her to think that you only came over here because you were bored?
Pyrrha looked away from him. "I'm sorry," she said. "I've really been very selfish. I hope that you can forgive me."
"'Selfish'?" Jaune asked incredulously. "You?"
"I brought you here," Pyrrha explained. "I asked you to come even though... you're not enjoying yourself, and it's my fault."
"You didn't invite us to this party, your mom did," Jaune said. "I know that you would never do something like this on purpose. You invited us to spend time at your beautiful home in a beautiful city, and that... that means a lot to me, really. And as for what happens here, for tonight... you can't take the whole weight of the world on your shoulders, Pyrrha. You don't need to take the blame for everything." He coughed and cleared his throat and tried to remember what Sunset had told him about speaking in a place like this.
“It might sound awkward now, and it will sound awkward if you get it wrong, but when you get it right, it's like speaking in poetry. It rolls, it has rhythm to it.”
That was all very well except he'd never been very good at poetry. "I mean, uh, forsooth my lady you doth have nothing to worry about, I do declare that it's all-"
"Jaune, stop," Pyrrha said with laughter in her voice.
Jaune grinned sheepishly. "That bad, huh?"
"No," Pyrrha said. She smiled apologetically. "Well, yes, but... you don't have to pretend to be anyone you're not. Not to me." She hesitated. "The fact that you're always yourself is, well, it's one of the things that I admire most about you."
Jaune laughed nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking down at his shoes. "I... well, I'm nothing special, I mean... who else would I be?"
Pyrrha didn't reply for a moment. When she spoke, Jaune could hear her voice cracking with anxiety. "I feel as though I spend my whole life pretending to be someone else, wearing masks that hide... Jaune, can I ask you a question?"
"Anything."
"If you take away the mystique of the Invincible Girl," Pyrrha said, "if you take away my victories, my skill... is there anything left? Is Pyrrha Nikos anything more than a shadow?"
"Yes!" Jaune declared emphatically, so emphatically that he almost yelled it out. A few people stared or even glared at him, but at this point, he didn't really care what they thought. He didn't want to embarrass Pyrrha, but right now, it sounded as though Pyrrha needed his help more than she needed him to make a good impression on her behalf. "Pyrrha Nikos is the nicest, most selfless person that I've ever met in my entire life. Pyrrha Nikos is the girl who saw an idiot with dreams that were a couple of sizes too big for him and when everyone else wrote that loser off, you... you took pity on me. More than that, you believed in me. You were the first person to ever believe in me... so now let me believe in you, even if you can't believe in yourself. You're a hell of a lot more than just your trophies, Pyrrha. You've got heart, and it's a big one."
"Jaune, I..." Pyrrha closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them to look directly into his own. "Thank you," she said. "You're the only person I can imagine saying that to me. I'm so glad to have you as a part of my life, and if I haven't told you that before, I'm sorry. That's why I invited you here; I... I wanted to share this part of my life with you, even if it wasn't the best idea. I suppose that I just didn't want to be alone."
Jaune paused, struggling to find an adequate response to a declaration so earnest, so heartfelt. He looked into Pyrrha's eyes. Had he noticed how beautiful her eyes were before? "I... I'm glad to be in your life too, Pyrrha, for… for however long you’ll let me. Although I… I am kinda confused."
"By what?"
"Why someone as great as you was all alone in the middle of the room like this when I came over."
It was the wrong thing to have said; Jaune realised that as soon as he saw some of the happiness drain out of Pyrrha's face. She turned away from him.
"I'm sorry," Jaune said. "I didn't mean to... I just meant..."
"It's alright," Pyrrha said softly.
"No, it's not, not if I've upset you," Jaune said. "I would never do that on purpose... not anymore, anyway. I just... you always seem to be surrounded by fans and here... aren't these your people? I just thought that the guys would be all over you or- or something."
Pyrrha did not turn back. She remained with her back to him, although her face was turned in such a way that he could see her profile. Her long red ponytail, red like fire, hung down her back. When she spoke, her voice was soft, quiet. He had to strain to hear her. "'Always be the best, my child, the bravest, and hold your head up high above all others.'"
Jaune frowned. "I don't understand."
"The Mistraliad," Pyrrha explained. "An ethos that has guided life amongst the highest here for generations."
"But I still don't get it," Jaune replied. "I mean, you are the best, and the bravest person that I know. If anyone's earned the right to hold their head up high, it's you."
"Perhaps," Pyrrha said. "But, although we are all encouraged to seek for greatness, too much greatness is dangerous. We all should rise like flowers towards the sun, but if any one flower grows too high... then all the rest are plunged into shadow. And that is something to be feared... and hated."
"'Hated'?" Jaune repeated in disbelief, because the idea that anyone, anybody at all could hate Pyrrha, it was... it was incredible. It was unbelievable. It was ridiculous. "People hate you because... because you're too good, and it makes them look bad, is that it? That's crazy, and so are they!" Again, his outburst drew accusing glances from around him, but he didn't care. He really didn't care. These people deserved worse than to have to listen to him shout a little bit. They deserved to have him yell at them about how dare they treat Pyrrha this way? But now wasn't the time. Jaune didn't often get a bolt of inspiration from the blue, but he felt as though he had one now. "Let's get out of here."
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she turned back towards him.
"Let's go... anywhere, anywhere you want," Jaune said. "Let's get out of this place, away from these people. Or do you really want to stay here, all alone, being treated like this?"
Pyrrha smiled. "I'm not alone, Jaune. You're right here. And I feel... when I'm with you, I feel as though none of the rest matters. So long as you're here I can... thank you, Jaune."
"For what?"
"For seeing me," Pyrrha said. "When no one else did."
"Pyrrha," Jaune whispered.
"Pyrrha!" Lady Nikos' voice cracked like a whip. Jaune turned to see Pyrrha's mom looking very intently at the pair of them. Sunset stood half a step behind and to the right, her expression unreadable; Ruby stood to the left, looking almost confused.
"Mother-" Pyrrha began.
"We're leaving," Lady Nikos declared. Her face was stern, but she said nothing further. Rather, she turned away and began to stalk out, leaving the rest of them no choice but to follow in her wake.
Lady Nikos didn’t say anything to Pyrrha or Jaune – or Sunset or Ruby, for that matter – on the way back home, nor even once they got back to the house. She simply retired to bed without saying a word to anyone.
Jaune looked nervous, but that didn’t stop him walking her to her room.
He walked her to her room! Perhaps Pyrrha was making too much of it – they did normally share a room, she supposed – but all the same it felt… it felt very wonderful.
“I… I hope I didn’t do anything wrong,” Jaune admitted.
“I… I can’t speak for my mother,” Pyrrha admitted, “but as far as I’m concerned, you did nothing wrong. Quite the opposite.”
Jaune seemed relieved to hear it. His smile, at least, looked quite relieved. “That’s… I’m sorry that I didn’t get to take you anywhere.”
“It’s probably for the best,” Pyrrha admitted. “Can you imagine how worried Sunset would have been, searching Mistral for us?”
“I guess,” Jaune conceded. “I just…”
“Jaune,” Pyrrha said. “I had… a wonderful time tonight.”
Jaune blinked in surprise.
“You did?”
“Yes,” Pyrrha said, “with you.” She hesitated, unsure whether she was about to be too forward or not. But impulse seized her, and she leaned forward to give him a peck upon the cheek. “Goodnight, Jaune,” she said, and took a sort of glee in the look of stunned surprise upon his face as she shut the door.
She leaned against said door and let the memory of his face fill her mind as she sighed contentedly.