• Published 31st Aug 2018
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SAPR - Scipio Smith



Sunset, Jaune, Pyrrha and Ruby are Team SAPR, and together they fight to defeat the malice of Salem, uncover the truth about Ruby's past and fill the emptiness within their souls.

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Put a Ring On It (New)

Put a Ring On It

“I’ve got to say, I’m a little surprised,” Kendal said as she fastened Pyrrha’s dress — this particular dress didn’t have a zipper running up the back; rather, a few buttons which not only exposed some of her back to view but also couldn’t be manipulated with Polarity — behind her.

Pyrrha stood facing the window, although the curtains were drawn. She turned her head so that she was looking at Kendal over her shoulder. “'Surprised'? Surprised by what?”

Kendal snorted. “That you still think we’re worth getting dressed up for.”

“Do you include yourself in that?” Pyrrha asked. “You were on my side, and Sky. And Terra, for that matter.”

Kendal chuckled. “'A princess of the old blood would never behave in such a way.'”

“Excuse me?”

“What Terra said, in your defence,” Kendal explained. “When Ruben said he’d caught you cheating on Jaune, Terra said … well, she said that. 'A princess of the old blood would never behave in such a way.' Is that true?”

Pyrrha was silent for a moment. “I think a true princess of the old blood would have mounted Ruben’s head upon a pike,” she murmured.

Kendal was silent for a moment. “Really?”

“Mistral’s history is … frequently rather violent,” Pyrrha said quietly. “Are you going to be alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean with Ruben,” Pyrrha said. “He’s still technically Rouge’s husband, and … is he going to cause trouble for you?”

“He might try,” Kendal replied, “but I doubt he’ll get anywhere, not now that everyone knows what he did — thanks to your Sunset for making sure of that; that was clever of her. Makes me want to make sure I stay on her good side, but very clever all the same.”

“Sunset … understands the power of social opinion,” Pyrrha said. From having been on the wrong side of it. “And she’s very protective.”

“Of you?”

“Of all of us,” Pyrrha said. “I am, I have been, less in need of protection than Ruby or Jaune, or even Blake, but … my mother charged her with my protection, and so, yes, she does take that seriously.”

“Right,” Kendal said. “You’re all done, by the way.”

“Oh, thank you,” Pyrrha said; she turned around, her red skirt flowing around her like water, rustling lightly as it moved. “How do I look?”

Kendal smirked. “Better than mortal Arcs deserve.”

“Stop, please,” Pyrrha pleaded gently.

For tonight, for her last night here in Alba Longa, she wore a gown of red, styled somewhat loosely after an old-fashioned chiton or peplos from Mistral’s history, which meant that though the skirt reached all the way down to the floor and covered her feet, it did not expand very far outwards around her. There was gold scrollwork just above the hem; at her hips, dipping slightly between them, there was a golden belt. Gold decorated the bodice also, a golden line passing around her body just beneath her breasts, passing upwards in an inverted V to reach the top of her sweetheart neckline, said neckline being adorned with little beads of gold that sparkled when they caught the light. The sleeves were short, and Pyrrha had left all the clasps that would have fastened them up undone so that they were scarcely sleeves at all, but rather flaps of fabric falling off her shoulders and down by her sides towards her waist, leaving her pale arms bare to the world. Her armband was upon her arm above the elbow, while upon her wrists, she wore a pair of golden bracers, and her gorget was clasped tightly around her neck. Her circlet gleamed upon her brow, where it was not hidden behind her bangs, just as it always did.

Just as it had not in the faked pictures that Ruben had sought to use to mar her reputation.

Forgetting her circlet, indeed. There were little girls attending Fighting Fan Expo for the first time who remembered to include a circlet as part of their Pyrrha costumes, even if it was only a bit of gold foil wrapped around their foreheads — some of those costumes were very adorable.

“When you dress like that,” Kendal said, “it makes your protestations of modesty ring just a little bit false. You can’t dress to impress and then insist that you never meant to make an impression.”

A little laugh escaped from Pyrrha’s lips. “No, I … I suppose not.” She glanced at her case. “It was very good of Sky to go and get my dress from … that woman, what was her name?”

“Jolene Parton.”

“Do you know her?”

“Everyone knows her,” Kendal muttered. “Ruben’s a fool if he thinks she’ll take him in, let alone marry him once Rouge finalises the divorce.”

“She doesn’t love him, then?”

“She was in love with everything he’d come into once he inherited Dad’s estate,” Kendal replied. “The house, the land, we’re not as well off as you, but there’s a bit tucked away.”

“And it would all have gone to Ruben?” Pyrrha asked. “Not to any of you, or Jaune?”

“If you had brothers or sisters, would your inheritance get divided up, or would you get the whole thing?”

“I would,” Pyrrha conceded. “Assuming, in that scenario, that I was still the eldest. Custom would dictate that I take care of my younger siblings, at least, unless, or until they found other ways of supporting themselves: successful careers, good marriages, that sort of thing. However … nobody could actually compel me to do so.”

Kendal smiled. “And so we come back to my question: is it true that a princess of the old blood would never behave in such a way?”

“I wish that it were so,” Pyrrha murmured. “But all I can say for certain is that I would not behave in such a fashion, not because I am a princess, or because I am of the old blood of Mistral, but because I am … because I am myself, and being myself, I hope I am … a better person than that.”

Kendal smiled, but it was a sad smile, like a sun partly obscured by clouds. “Be happy,” she said. “You will, won’t you, the two of you?”

Pyrrha reached out, and took her hands. “In our lives … I cannot say what the future holds for us, what challenges, what obstacles.” Unfortunately, I can say more … almost more than I would like upon that particular subject. “But so long as I am with him and he is with me, as long as we are together, then … then he will be my light, and I will always take joy in his presence, as I hope that he will in mine.”

Someone knocked on the bedroom door. “Pyrrha?” Jaune said. “Are you ready?”

Kendal’s eyebrows rose. “Well? Are you?”

Pyrrha glanced down at her nails. She had painted them red tonight, matching her dress. “I believe I am, yes,” she said, smiling as she picked up a shawl of golden silk and draped it around her body, falling towards the floor as it rested on her elbows.

Kendal made way for her, although in the cramped conditions of her room, that meant getting up onto the camp bed so that Pyrrha could walk down the central aisle of the room and open the door.

Jaune stood on the other side, dressed in his black suit.

“Hey!” His eyes widened and his mouth opened at the sight of her. “You look amazing. As always.”

“Thank you,” Pyrrha whispered, a bright smile lighting up her face. “And you changed.”

“Well, you make an effort every night. I figured that I could do worse than to do the same,” Jaune said. “And Mom had washed my suit for me, so there wasn’t anything to stop me from wearing it.”

“You look very handsome,” Pyrrha said. “Although, if I may say, you looked better in gold.”

“Really? That’s … something I’ll keep in mind,” Jaune said. He looked as though he were about to hold out his arm to her, but did not. Instead, he reached out his hands towards her, taking hers in his fingers. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Pyrrha said quickly.

“Pyrrha,” Jaune said. “You can be honest. I won’t … you don’t have to pretend with me, remember? If it had gotten to you … I wouldn’t blame you. If you didn’t want to go downstairs, I wouldn’t blame you either. Seriously, are you okay?”

Pyrrha was silent for a moment. She kept her eyes fixed on him, her green eyes staring into his blue ones. “Did you ever think that it might be true?”

“No,” Jaune said. “I know that if you fall for someone else, you’ll tell me first.”

“Jaune,” Pyrrha sighed. “But you thought that I could have fallen for someone else?”

Jaune shrugged. “It would be kind of arrogant to think you never would, wouldn’t it?”

“Not when I have told you that I will not,” Pyrrha said. “Do you doubt the constancy of my heart?”

“I don’t doubt you in anything,” Jaune insisted. “I doubt myself.”

“You should not,” Pyrrha said, taking one hand away from his to touch his face, first to brush some of the soft hair from out of his forehead and then to stroke his cheek. “You are a better man than those who made you feel small.”

Jaune reached up and took her hand in his once more. His palm was warm against her skin, and his fingers were gentle.

“Are you okay?” he asked again.

“If you had doubted me, I would not be,” Pyrrha admitted. “But, since you did not, I am content.”

“And my family?”

“Have acted always out of love for you, as I said.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“With less proof, I would bear more grief,” Pyrrha admitted. “But this other woman was dressed like me, and though she wasn’t wearing my circlet, I suppose they haven’t known me long enough to realise that I am so rarely seen without it. I told you, I did not want to make you choose between us; I will not, now that they are contrite, and with their reasons and actions being understandable.”

Jaune leaned forwards and kissed her. “You’re amazing,” he said.

If only that were true, Pyrrha thought. “And you are the only man whom I desire.” If I say it often enough, perhaps you will believe it.

Jaune nodded, a smile playing across his face as he took a step back, and this time, he did offer her his arm. “If you want to go down, if you’re determined … shall we go?”

Pyrrha placed her hand upon his elbow. “I think we shall,” she said.

They walked together down the stairs, her hand upon his arm, the other resting lightly upon the bannister, as Kendal trailed behind them, following upon their heels.

The three of them were amongst the last to arrive; even Aoko was seated at the table when they got there; aside from Jaune, Pyrrha, and Kendal, the only other people missing were Adrian, who was probably upstairs in his room, Sky, and Sunset.

River did not meet Pyrrha’s eyes. She looked everywhere in the room but at Pyrrha and Jaune. Chester put his hands upon her shoulders and whispered something into her ear. Violet looked sullen, pouting and crossing her arms. Rouge … Rouge bore an expression that Pyrrha knew well: of studied, practiced lack of emotion. The kind of face you wore when you didn’t want anyone to know what you were feeling, and so you acted as though you felt practically nothing at all.

Pyrrha’s heart went out to her; she wanted to say something, but … but she couldn’t think of anything to say. She could hardly imagine — she couldn’t imagine — what Jaune’s eldest sister was going through: to have been betrayed, repeatedly, by the person who was supposed to love you most, to cherish you most, to be your rock and support and helpmate for all your life. To have been betrayed by them and to know about it and to … to put up with it, to almost convince yourself that you deserved it?

No, Pyrrha could not imagine what Rouge was going through, what she had gone through all these years.

And, having no idea, she had no idea what she could say on the subject, although it seemed as though Rouge needed someone to say something to her.

All Pyrrha could do was hope that she found the happiness that had eluded her so far.

“Jaune,” Gold said. “Pyrrha. You look very nice.”

“Thank you, sir,” Pyrrha said softly.

“Pyrrha,” Violet muttered, before saying something else so quietly that Pyrrha couldn’t hear it.

“Excuse me?” Pyrrha asked.

Violet sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you earlier,” she said, every word sounding like it was being dragged out of her.

“Apology accepted, Violet. I’m sure it looked convincing to someone who didn’t know me.”

“Ruben could be a bit of a jackass,” Chester said, “but we all thought he had the best interests of the family at heart. He … always seemed to know what he was doing.”

“He knew what he was doing alright,” Kendal muttered.

“I blame myself,” said Gold.

“Dad,” Rouge began, “it isn’t—”

“Yes,” Gold said, “it is. I’m the one who thought that he would be a good husband for you, I’m the one who gave him my blessing, I … I’m sorry, sweetie. I made a terrible choice, and you’ve paid for it.”

“Perhaps there’s a lesson here,” Kendal said. “About how we should all stop interfering in one another’s love lives.”

Gold looked at her. “Is this the part where you tell us that you have a boyfriend I don’t know about?”

“N-no, Dad, I … I just—”

“I think what Kendal is saying,” Saphron said, “is that not everyone was very welcoming to Terra at first, just like not everyone was very welcoming to Pyrrha, and yet … it turns out that we knew what was best for ourselves.”

“I feel the need to point out that my marriage is going pretty well too,” River pointed out.

“Nevertheless,” Rouge said. “Saphron, and Kendal, have a point. Perhaps we could do with being a little less judgemental and controlling.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at Jaune. “Treat her right, Jaune,” she said. “Don’t hurt her or take her for granted.”

“That,” Gold said, “might be the only advice you ever need for a happy partnership.”

Pyrrha heard the front door open, and footsteps in the hall, before Sky led Sunset into the dining room. Sky had exchanged her sheriff’s uniform for a white blouse and black skirt. Sunset was wearing a one-piece summer dress of purple, shading into pink as it descended towards the hem of her skirt, which was short and stopped above her knees. Upon her chest was stamped her flaming sun symbol, while the off-the-shoulder neckline exposed a pair of spaghetti straps across her shoulders. Around her neck, Sunset was wearing a dark purple choker, while her gloves upon her hands and arms added an incongruous touch to her outfit.

As, in point of fact, did her boots.

“Good evening, everyone,” Sunset said. “Pyrrha, Jaune.”

“Good evening, Sunset,” Pyrrha said.

“Hey, Sunset,” said Jaune.

“Well, now that everyone’s here, I’ll start getting everything out onto the table,” Honeysuckle said as she turned towards the kitchen.

“I’ll help, Mom,” Rouge said.

“No, dear, you sit down,” Honeysuckle insisted. “Sky can give me a hand, can’t you?”

Sky smiled. “Sure thing, Mom.” She followed her mother into the kitchen, the doors swinging back and forth after her as she passed in.

Gold sat down at the head of the table. “Go ahead, sit down, everyone,” he said, gesturing to the empty spaces with both hands. “Jaune, why don’t you sit up at the top next to your mother, and Pyrrha you can sit up there next to Rouge?”

Jaune’s eyebrows rose. “Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t,” Gold said, “come on!”

It had been somewhat clear from her first night here in Alba Longa with the Arcs that the place at the table was correlated to status in the family, if only on a temporary basis, with father and mother at the top, with the eldest daughter sitting likewise near the head. Pyrrha could not help but recall that, on that first night, she and Jaune had found themselves sitting near the bottom of the table.

Although she did not think Aoko had sat at the very foot of the table because she was in bad odour with the family; rather, given that she took that seat again tonight, it seemed that she just liked it there.

It was not an exact correlation; nevertheless, it seemed from Jaune’s reaction to mean something, and what it meant was good.

That was … also good. Despite what had happened, despite the attitudes of certain members of the family, Pyrrha’s objectives were unchanged: she wanted their acceptance, so that when — if, but she very much hoped when — Jaune made her truly a part of his family, they would not stand in her way.

And that, she thought, she had accomplished. At the party, when they had invited her to join them, that had shown their true feelings towards her; what came after, what seeming proof of malice had made them think … and now, she thought that they were embarrassed by the way that some of them had behaved, but she did not think they bore her any malice.

The fact that she and Jaune had been invited to sit up at the top of the table was proof of that.

Jaune pulled out a chair for her, and Pyrrha smiled at him as she sat down, pulling her shawl up onto her shoulders so that it didn’t fall onto the floor.

Kendal took the seat next to Jaune, while by unspoken consensus, the seat next to Pyrrha — the one on her left, the one on her right being taken by Rouge — seemed to be left empty for Sky, just as the seat on Gold’s right was left for Honeysuckle. Sunset took the chair next to Sky, giving her a temporarily empty space from which to look up at Pyrrha, while Violet sat next to her, Terra opposite, and Saphron next to Terra; River and Chester took the farthest most seats down at the foot of the table with Aoko.

Honeysuckle and Sky brought out the meal, which tonight was a joint of lamb, cooked in a red wine sauce with mushrooms, parsnips, carrots, and onions, and served alongside new potatoes, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. As before, everyone helped themselves to the vegetables, but Honeysuckle sliced the lamb as plates were passed down to her, stopping when everyone said that they were satisfied.

“No, thank you, ma’am,” Sunset said, raising one hand when it was her turn to pass her plate up. “I don’t eat meat.”

“Oh, right,” Jaune winced, “Yeah, I probably should have said something.”

“Yes,” Sunset said, “yes, you probably should.”

“Sorry.”

“You don’t eat meat?” Gold repeated. “Not at all?”

“No, sir,” Sunset said. “I’m afraid I’m not secure enough in my superiority over animals.”

“Are you going to be alright?” Honeysuckle asked. “Or do you need me to—?”

“I will be fine, ma’am; there is plenty else,” Sunset assured her. “I wouldn’t want you to let your own meal grow cold on my account.”

Sky dished up the sauce, ladling it and its attendant vegetables out onto the meat and onto the potatoes. Once done, once every plate — even Sunset’s — was laden down with food, then Sky and Honeysuckle sat down.

“I’d like to say grace, if that’s okay with everybody?” Sky said.

“Go ahead, sweetie,” Gold replied.

Sky held out her hands to Pyrrha and Sunset. Pyrrha smiled a little, her lips closed as she placed her hand inside Sky’s palm.

Sunset looked a little confused, but did the same, and after a moment, she held out her hand for River sat beside her.

Sky was silent.

“We give thanks,” she said. “We give thanks…” She looked around the table. “We give thanks for the fact that we are still here. We give thanks for the fact that, although some of us may wander far from home, we are still and will always be a family, bound together, no matter what life throws at us, how difficult or unexpected, no matter how much we drive one another crazy sometimes. We give thanks for the fact that this family keeps on growing, with Terra, with Adrian, with the little one growing inside of River … and with Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune’s girlfriend. We give thanks for the fact that she still wants to be Jaune’s girlfriend after all we’ve put her through.”

Kendal snorted. Pyrrha couldn’t suppress a chuckle. Sunset’s eyebrows rose.

“We give thanks for the fact that although we may make mistakes, we have the chance to learn from them and to do better. Because, like our great-great-grandfather said, the future is in our hands.

“For what we are about to receive, may we be truly grateful.”

Everyone began to eat, and for a moment, there was no sound but the clicking of cutlery upon plates.

“May I say, ma’am, that that is a rather nice ring on your finger,” Sunset said.

Honeysuckle glanced down at said finger, and upon the emerald ring that glistened there. “Oh? Oh, yes, it is lovely, isn’t it? Gold gave it to me when he asked me to marry him.”

Sunset smiled. “Even at this distance, I can tell you have good taste, sir.”

Gold chuckled. “I’d love to take credit for that, but that ring belonged to my mother; she gave it to me when she realised that I was serious about Honeysuckle, so that I could pass it on.”

“Ah, an antique,” Sunset said. “I don’t suppose that your father got it from his mother to give to yours, by any chance?”

Gold was silent for a moment. “Yeah, yeah my father did say something about that.”

“A family heirloom,” Sunset murmured. “Ma’am, this may sound impertinent, but I don’t suppose I could look at the ring briefly?”

“Why?” asked Kendal.

“It goes back at least three generations; it may be older still,” Sunset explained.

“It’s just a ring,” said Saphron.

“Perhaps,” Sunset allowed. “But there may be something in it. With your permission, ma’am.”

“I don’t see what you expect to learn from a ring, like Kendal said, but if you’re interested,” Honeysuckle said, taking the emerald ring off her finger and passing it to Jaune, who passed it down to Kendal, who passed it across the table to Sky, and seemed to do so in such a way that Pyrrha could get a good look at the ring, which was more detailed than it had looked from the moderate distance at which she had seen it glimmering upon Honeysuckle’s finger. It was, in any event, a beautiful ring, with a large emerald — large for a ring, at least — set in a band of gold, but the gold that held the stone in place was thicker than one might have expected and styled in such a way that it resembled the golden crescents that Jaune bore upon his shield: two arcs of gold — or Arcs of gold — holding the emerald in place. And, now that Pyrrha could look at it more closely, she could see that what she had taken to be a band of gold was in fact a pair of serpents coiling around one another, their mouths meeting around the stone.

Sky passed the ring to Sunset, who turned it over in her hands, examining every part of it, even the insides.

“Fine work,” she murmured. “May I take some pictures?”

“Be my guest,” Honeysuckle said.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Sunset said as she got out her scroll — she was keeping it strapped to her arm, hidden beneath the collar of her dress — and took several pictures of the exterior and the interior of the ring. “Thank you, again,” she said as she handed the ring back to Sky.

The ring made its way back to Honeysuckle Arc, and the meal continued for a little longer.

“Mom, Dad, everyone,” Jaune said, before he stuck a forkful of lamb in his mouth, rendering the rest of what he had to say quite unintelligible.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, dear,” Honeysuckle reproached him gently.

Jaune swallowed. “Sorry, Mom. What I was trying to say was that me and Pyrrha and Sunset will be leaving tomorrow, to go back to Beacon.”

There was a moment of silence at the table.

“Had to happen sometime, I guess,” Sky said.

“So soon?” Honeysuckle asked. “You’ve only just arrived. Your friend has literally only just arrived.”

“If there had been more to find, I would have stayed longer, ma’am, though I cannot speak for Jaune and Pyrrha,” Sunset said. “But, for myself … my being here any longer would be futile; there is nothing to be learned earlier than the history of this place itself, and that does not concern me.”

“Because founding a town isn’t enough?” River asked.

“A town a little more than one hundred years ago?” Sunset asked. “No, not when set against the heritage that Pyrrha can boast of.” She snorted. “Not that Pyrrha boasts, of course.”

“So … are you like Pyrrha’s mom’s spy?” asked Violet.

Sunset leaned back in her chair a little. “No,” she said. “I am not a spy. If I were, I would hardly be sitting down to dinner with you all — by the way, ma’am, these sweet potatoes are very well cooked — would I?” She paused. “But I am her sworn woman, I suppose. She gave me a blade which once belonged to a retainer of her family, and what is more, I have taken a monthly stipend against my combat expenses. I am bound to her, by ties of duty and honour.”

“Or why else would you come up here to research our family history so that she can decide if Jaune is worthy to date Pyrrha,” Kendal said. “It’s not exactly any of your concern, is it?”

“The happiness of my teammates is absolutely my concern,” Sunset replied.

“'Teammates'?” Rouge repeated. “Not friends.”

“They are my friends too, do not mistake me,” Sunset corrected. “But as a mere friend. I would have no … duty of care.”

“'Duty of care'?” Sky repeated.

Sunset smiled. “If I thought that these two were bad for one another, I would be as zealous in trying to separate them as I think that you have been, at various times.”

Silence fell in response to that remark.

“Perhaps the fact that you have been so zealous rendered that in somewhat poor taste,” Sunset muttered.

“A little bit, yeah,” Jaune said.

“Don’t say it like that!” Sunset cried. “Have I ever been anything less than a hundred percent supportive of the two of you?”

Do the times that you have implied or outright stated that I could do better count? Pyrrha wondered. However, she did not mention them, in part because she didn’t want to knock Jaune’s confidence, and in part because — as far as she knew, but she trusted Sunset so far in this; she did not believe that she would say such things to Jaune — she had only said them privately to Pyrrha, and even then without the intent to persuade her to change her conduct in any way. In that sense, she had been nothing but benign.

“No,” Jaune admitted. “No, you’ve been a big help, actually.”

“I only wish that I could have taught you enough to impress Lady Nikos, the way that Pyrrha has impressed your relatives,” Sunset murmured.

“'Lady Nikos'?” Sky said. “Is that … is that what you call Pyrrha’s mom?”

Sunset glanced at her. “I could hardly call her ‘Pyrrha’s mom,’ could I?” She placed some broccoli into her mouth.

“Doesn’t she have a name?” asked Chester.

“Her name is Lady Nikos,” Sunset replied.

“My mother’s name is Hippolyta,” Pyrrha said softly.

“Which I have not been invited to use,” Sunset pointed out. “Better to be too respectful than not enough.”

“Is that a thing?” Saphron whispered to Terra. “Do you just call people ‘Lady This’ or ‘Lord That’?”

“In Mistral proper, yes,” Terra informed her. “The chances of finding a lord or lady in Argus are very slim, and even if you did, there’s sufficient Atlesian influence upon the city that you could probably get away with not observing that particular courtesy, but the short answer … yes.”

“Your culture can be very strange sometimes.”

“My culture is perfectly normal,” Terra declared. “Your culture is crass and boorish and wears its hat in the parlour. And besides, you chose to live in Argus; I didn’t move to Vale.”

“A decision I haven’t regretted for a moment,” Saphron said, kissing Terra on the cheek. “Wait, does that mean we should have been calling Pyrrha ‘Lady Pyrrha’?”

“No,” Pyrrha said firmly. “There is absolutely no need for that.”

“So…” Violet began, and then trailed off for a second, before saying, “are you going to tell her that we thought Pyrrha was cheating on Jaune?”

“Violet, is there really any need to ask that here?” Rouge demanded.

“I want to know if we’ve made any trouble for Jaune,” Violet explained.

“I will say nothing of it,” Sunset declared. “What is there to say, after all? An odious toad attempted to slander Pyrrha’s reputation, but Pyrrha’s reputation proved to be beyond slander. Such petty pibble pabble is nothing that need reach the ears of Lady Nikos.”

“Thank you, Sunset,” Pyrrha said quietly.

“Much obliged, Miss Shimmer,” Rouge added.

Sunset shrugged. “As I said: one hundred percent supportive.”

“So do you have to leave?” Honeysuckle asked, returning to the initial point. “Surely you and Pyrrha—”

“I guess that Jaune and Pyrrha have to join the rest of their team in preparing for the Vytal Festival,” Gold said. “Assuming that you plan to compete.”

“Oh, we’re going to compete,” Sunset declared. “Apart from all other considerations — such as the fact that I relish this opportunity — if Pyrrha did not fight, then the howls of outrage from Mistral would be heard in Argus, no?”

“They would be howling in Argus,” Terra corrected her. “You’d be able to hear it over here.”

“What is the Vytal Festival?” asked River.

“You don’t know— wait, Jaune didn’t even know about aura, of course you don’t know what the Vytal Festival is,” Sunset muttered.

“The Vytal Festival is held every two years in one of the four kingdoms,” Gold explained. “They take turns hosting it, and this year, it’s the turn of Vale, and Beacon Academy. It’s a celebration of the end of the Great War, and peace between all four kingdoms. There are parades, parties, but the big centrepiece is a tournament of students from the four academies: Beacon, Atlas, Haven, and Shade. Teams from all the schools — teams like the one that Jaune is on with Pyrrha and Miss Shimmer here — fight one another in mock battles in a giant floating arena up in the sky, and the huntsman or huntress who defeats all challengers is crowned the winner.”

“I don’t understand why the number of huntsmen gets smaller,” Aoko said from the bottom of the table.

“Because people are losing their fights, I guess,” River answered.

“That’s not what your sister means,” Gold said. “You see, in the first round, all four members of each team fight, but in the second round, the teams that win the first match select just two people to go forward and fight two people from another team who won their match, and then of the pair who win, only a single member goes on to the final round, where they fight other winners in single combat.”

“That will be Pyrrha,” Sunset said.

Pyrrha said nothing and ate her dinner.

“Did you fight in the tournament, Dad?” asked Jaune.

“My team won the first round match, but they didn’t pick me to go into the two on two,” Gold explained. “More fool them, they got knocked out.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Pyrrha murmured.

“We were always an outside chance,” Gold said. “And when there can only be one winner, well, then there have to be a lot of losers, right? But, I had a great time at the festival, and getting to fight in that arena in front of all those people — what a rush!”

Pyrrha smiled. “It is quite exhilarating,” she agreed. “The roar of the crowd in your ears, the sound of their applause, their cheering. It can be intimidating, to have so many eyes upon you, so many hopes resting on your shoulders, but … quite exciting, at the same time.”

Gold nodded. “You know, if you two are going to compete,” he said, “we might…”

“Dad?” Kendal prompted, as he fell silent.

“I was just thinking, we might actually have to get a TV so that we can watch it,” Gold said.

“Jaune’s going to be on TV?!” Violet cried.

“The Vytal Festival is one of the biggest events in all of Remnant,” Gold said. “It’s televised everywhere, live. And it … you know, it wouldn’t feel right for Jaune to be fighting in front of millions of people and not be watching him ourselves.”

“Yes, we have to support Jaune and Pyrrha,” Rouge declared. “That’s a great idea, Dad.”

“You’re all going to be watching?” Jaune said. “I don’t know whether to be thrilled or terrified.”

“It will be fine, Jaune,” Pyrrha assured him. “Believe me when I say that the terrors of the arena are nothing compared to some of the things that we’ve been through recently.”

Jaune looked up at her. “No, no, I guess they’re not, are they?”

“How are you two feeling?” Terra asked. “Confident?”

“Yeah!” Sunset cried. “We’re going to blow our way to the one on one round, and once we get there … Pyrrha will do what she does best.”

What I do best indeed. Perhaps the only thing that I can do.

“I … will do my utmost not to disappoint anybody,” Pyrrha said. “I will honour the expectations that everyone has of me and bear the dignity of Team Sapphire proudly.”

“Count on us,” Sunset said. “Because we’re going to go all the way.”

“I hope so, because we’ll all be watching,” Gold said. “A toast, everyone: to Jaune and Pyrrha, success … and happiness.”

Pyrrha felt a blush rise to her cheeks as everyone raised their glasses.

“To Jaune and Pyrrha!”


“Jaune?” Mom called from the other side of the bedroom door. “Can I come in?”

“Uh, just a second, Mom,” Jaune replied. He’d been in the middle of getting ready for bed, with his jacket and shirt off but with his trousers still on. He grabbed his hoodie off the bed and pulled it over his head. Then he opened the door. “Hey. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, dear, everything’s fine,” Mom said, a bright smile upon her face. “Everything’s wonderful. Of course I’m sad that you’re leaving so soon, but … I suppose you had to go away again sometime.”

Jaune nodded and smiled himself. “Yeah, Mom, I did. Just like I told you I would.”

“I’m not here to argue about that, Jaune, believe me,” Mom assured her. “You’ve made your choice … in every way. Can I come in? I feel awkward standing out here, and besides…” — she glanced down the hall — “someone might see me.”

Jaune frowned, not knowing why it would matter if someone saw Mom in her own house talking to him. “Um, okay, come on in.”

He stepped back, letting her enter.

Mom walked inside his room, closing the door behind her. She looked around, a sigh escaping from her lips. “I remember when I used to come in here to see if you’d cleaned this place like I told you to or not,” she said. “I remember when you used to try and hide the comic books you’d been reading from me.”

“And you always found them anyway,” Jaune said, a little laughter in his voice.

“Mothers always know, or they should,” Mom said. She half turned away from him, clasping her hands together. “I know that I haven’t always been the best mother, and I’m sorry for that—”

“Mom, you don’t have to—”

“Yes, Jaune, I do,” Mom replied, looking at him even though she didn’t actually turn to face him. “You weren’t happy here. You were so unhappy that you ran away from home, and that … that is at least partly my fault. I thought more about what I wanted than about what you wanted, when all I really ought to have wanted was that you’d be happy. I only hope that … that even if I am responsible for you being unhappy, I’m also partly responsible for the fact that you’ve been able to do so well out there in the world.”

“You are, Mom, definitely,” Jaune said. “My teammates definitely appreciate that you taught me to cook.”

Mom chuckled. “Well, that’s wonderful to hear.” She paused for a moment. “I was always a little worried that you’d end up alone. I suppose that should have been a sign to me that you needed to leave this place, get out of here, find people who understood you better. And you did, and I … I’m so happy for you Jaune.”

“Mom,” Jaune murmured. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because I think the time has come,” Mom said, “for me to do what every Arc mother does, when the time is right.” She plucked the ring from off her finger and held it out to him. “This is for you to give to Pyrrha.”

Jaune’s eyes widened. “Mom, you … are you serious?”

“I’ve spoken to your father, and he agrees,” Mom said. “Since we don’t know when or if you’ll be back here, we don’t want to miss this chance.”

Jaune stared at the ring that was being proffered to him. His mother’s ring, the ring that Dad had given her when he asked her to marry him, the ring that grandma had gotten from grandpa, and that great-grandma had probably gotten from great-grandpa too, and who knew how far back it went?

“What … what about Rouge or River?”

“That’s not how this works, Jaune,” Mom said, shaking her head. “It’s for Arc men to give to the loves of their lives.”

The love of my life. Pyrrha was certainly that, but … but this ring. An engagement ring, the family engagement ring. It looked so big. It looked so heavy. It looked like such a big, heavy thing to take and then to carry around.

Pyrrha was his future. He knew that, and they had talked about what that would look like, and what that would look like included marrying her, but…

“I don’t know if I can,” he murmured.

“You love her, don’t you?” Mom asked.

“Of course I do, but … I don’t know if I’m ready,” Jaune admitted, his voice hoarse.

“Oh, Jaune,” Mom said. “You don’t have to ask her to marry you tomorrow, or next week, or even next year. In your heart, you’ll know when the time is right, and when you do … you’ll be prepared. Take it, Jaune. When else are we going to be able to give it to you?”

She had a point there; he might not be back here … well, the point was that he didn’t know when he’d be back, which was also Mom’s point, that was why she was giving him the ring now, so that he was, as she said, prepared.

He wasn’t ready right now. It didn’t feel right, when they were still in school, when he still hadn’t really proven himself at all — at least not to his own satisfaction — when he still hadn’t really gained the acceptance of Pyrrha’s mother. It was one thing for Pyrrha to date him in spite of what her mother thought, but if they were going to live in Pyrrha’s house as man and wife, it would be good if she could at least tolerate him.

He wasn’t ready.

But, one day … Jaune found that he could imagine the scene: that place in Mistral that Pyrrha had brought them to, the high place with that great view of the whole city and the waterfall crashing down the side of the mountain. He’d wait until the sun was going down and bathing the world in a warm golden glow, and then … and then he’d get down on one knee and pull out the ring. He’d pull out that ring.

Gently, he reached out and took the ring from his mother’s hand.

“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t know when exactly I’ll give this to Pyrrha, but I will one day. Thanks, Mom.”

Author's Note:

Art by Miku

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