Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.
I'm also exceedingly rarely chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.
Here's the link:
Disc: HrPrTeam
-Story Start-
The fractured moon hung above Beacon's campus with a shimmering glow, blanketing its vast premises in its brilliant light, replacing that of the sun that had set just earlier. Undoubtedly, it enhanced Alex's post-banquet stroll back to his dorm room.
As his eyes glided across the mostly empty campus, noting only the decent few staff as well as second-year students that roamed around during this time of day, Alex couldn't help but suppress the grim feeling coursing through him.
The food had only distracted him, a temporary, blissful respite from his confrontation with the mother of his victim.
He felt it was only a matter of time until she would call upon him to act on his own words, to act on his promise.
He sighed, 'I really don't want to do it,' he admitted easily enough as his heavy steps reverberated across the quietude.
His tight hold on Excalibur's handle, as it lay reassuringly on his left side, only grew in intensity.
Even so... he had resolved to do what he must.
As he walked, he took out his scroll from his right pocket. Alex half-expected a text message or a call by now from that poor lady requesting an executi-
Only to be met with a perplexing sight and most assuredly troubling sight:
Alex arched a most confounded eyebrow as the scroll's screen flared open with the finest greeting of:
Three missed calls from Weiss.
Two missed calls from Pyrrha.
Eight missed calls from Nora.
One missed call from Ren.
Four missed calls from Ruby.
And, most strangely, over a hundred unread messages in their collective two-team group chat.
A group chat that had been silent since the Mountain Glenn incident - unchanged, with not even Jaune being added to the group.
...
He blinked once, twice.
"What's going on?"
[Instead of focusing on stuffing your face, it'd have been far more productive to be at least mildly attentive to your means of information - what if it is a disaster, Master!? Such negligence!]
The vermin's words went unheard as Alex's eye twitched, his stoic thin line was replaced with a frustrated frown, "I swear it's just one thing after another-" His steps quickened as he simultaneously rang for the old reliable:
It rang for a few seconds before a feminine tone answered, one strangely surrounded by racket and was notably uncomfortable, "...Come to the training grounds. The sparring venues."
It didn't take a genius to figure out what Alex had come to conclude. "Whose fighting?"
"Jaune and Yang."
Pausing for a moment to comprehend the situation, Alex exhaled out of his nose, "...You need help to break them off?"
Alex couldn't really imagine a scenario where that would be an issue; however, that had been the first thing that came to mind.
He voiced his blunt guess, "Is it your typical school hallway brawl?"
Pyrrha bemoaned, "It's not that, but... It's not looking too good." Her conflicted tone was as clear as the night sky.
It wasn't a simple question of stopping the fight nor did it seem to be a children's quarrel.
He nodded, "Alright, I'm on my way... it was a bit unnerving with all those missed calls. I thought something bad happened for a moment." He released a breath of genuine relief he hadn't known he held.
[Your doubt wounds me. I am not without principle! You would have known long before if such a 'deadly' occurrence as you might have imagined were to occur. Unless punished, of course.]
"Sorry, it's just... given the situation, I, as well as the others, thought that you could talk some sense to both Yang and Jaune." She knowingly yet bitterly stated, "You know why, right?"
"I do, and I had already conveyed my stance on that day. It looks like she found her punishment through someone else, that's all."
"You're misunderstanding it; the challenger is Jaune, not Yang."
That had made him pause once more.
Alex hummed, "I guess her dismissal of him had reached its limits. Whichever the case, Yang's still getting what she wanted." He shrugged indifferently. His answer was met with a note of hesitance, nearly drowned out by the racket surrounding Pyrrha, "I'm not too sure that's his reason. Jaune would have kept it behind closed doors, but this..." Her voice was drowned out by the deafening crowd.
"Yeah, alright. I'm heading out." He hung up the call, his head turning towards his destination.
For yet another, vexing, infuriating disturbance to cease his steps.
[PING!]
[Sub Quest - "A Certain Blonde's Rebirth!" has been issued!]
-Sub Quests-
↓
[NEW!] A Certain Blonde's Rebirth!↓
Requirements - Yang Xiao Long is on the brink of giving up. Her hopes, her dreams, her aspirations. She is down in the gutter and about to fall into crippling despair! Encourage her, show her that she has a future to live for!
Static Rewards - 5,000 Lien & 1 Gacha Coupon & Significantly raised Relationship Progress with Yang Xiao Long (#N/A) & Significantly raised Relationship Progress with Jaune Arc (#N/A) & Significantly raised Relationship Progress with Ruby Rose (#N/A)
Performance-Based Rewards - Massively raised Relationship Progress with Yang Xiao Long & Massively raised Relationship Progress with Ruby Rose.
Time Limit - 12 hours.
Punishment For Failure - Kidney stones for two hours.
Difficulty - B-
Alex could only dismiss the notifaction screen with casual disdain, as his finger swiped it a close. His figure and steps hastening to a casual jog.
Not one that could harm the campus, of course.
-----------------------------
It was a couple of minutes before midnight.
On a week day.
The entire student body had classes as norm in the coming morning.
And yet...
"Are they really ruining their sleep for this nonsense?" Alex could only greet the sight in front of him with an unimpressed deadpan.
There he stood, past the entrance to one of the many sparring venunes - specifically the one used in Glynda Goodwitch's class.
The whole place was lit-up, and was packed to the brim to the degree of it looking, and to some, feeling, claustrophobic. If Alex had to hazard a guess there was at least half the entire student body of the first and second years within these chambers.
One second-year had overheard Alex's baffled murmur, "C'mon we're itching for some excitement! Our seniors been sent out to deal with the rising Grimm issue and we're here sitting on our asses doing nothing!"
Another girl from the second-year, seemingly from that guy's team approached Alex as well with a knowing almost smug mug, "You're itching for some action out of all of us I bet!"
"Hell, no." Alex curtly retorted, as he passed their saddened figures by.
Their voices were drowned out by the crowd, but still mildly audible. "What? Fighting the Grimm doesn't get your blood boiling?!"
"Not really."
"That strength's wasted on you, dude."
"Sure."
As always, upon being noticed, eyes immediately shifted from looking at the two individuals standing across from each other in the open arena to the bipedal powerhouse carrying a bedazzling blade. Those in his way making a clear path for him as he squeezed his way through a sea of people.
It wasn't too difficult finding his way, as he walked down towards the edge of the arena, the last barrier between it and the on-edge combatants.
"You sure found us quick." A haughty, yet weirdly relieved tone approached him.
"You're the only person with white hair in Beacon, minus some of our professors and Headmaster." He swiftly admitted, turning his head to see the rest of his teammates alongside Ren and Nora donning dreadful expressions not too far away, too distracted to notice him.
Arching an offended eyebrow, Weiss's lips parted to snappily retort only to pause in favor of shaking her head, "Good that you're here. Got any ideas how to... fix this? Perhaps an order from that 'God'?" Her tone had a hint of resignation.
[Sharp.]
"Are you praying on my downfall, woman?" He bitingly retorted, his tone notably harsher amid his usual poker-face.
Weiss's eyes widened significantly at Alex's almost visceral reaction, "O-Oh, I didn't expect to guess it correctly. I'm sorry but... that means this is a more troubling situation than anticipated, is it not?"
Huffing through his nose, "It's fine. Sorry for taking it out on you." He apologized. Turning his head, his dull amber eyes narrowed sharply at the two combatants.
His eyes glued to them, he answered Weiss's assumptions, "There's magnitudes to the God's orders. This one is of a lower magnitude. As for my task, it is to encourage Yang from falling into despair."
Weiss hummed, her lips forming a tight line on her face. "And will you? If you attempt to encourage anyone, it would be a most pitiable attempt." She paused and added, turning to look at Alex with what amounted to sympathy lingering in her icy-blue eyes, "No offense."
"You believe me?"
If Alex recalled, Weiss was the most skeptical of them all - then again, she can't be blamed.
"If the worrying by-product of your mind can find a creative resolution for this situation? Certainly."
Alex played her game for a moment, "Are you making fun of an ill person?"
"...My apologies."
No, he didn't attend therapy.
Yes, he did forget to go to the appointment.
He shook his head, as he waved her off keeping his eyes on the two combatants - specifically the troublesome older sister.
...
It has been nearly three weeks since the Mountain Glenn Disaster. Yang Xiao Long had yet to return to normalcy.
It wasn't that he had kept count of this information, nor went out of his way to keep track of her situation. It was all Ruby - Ruby's forthcoming suffering that she hid with the expertise of a saint attempting theft.
Alex could count on one hand how many times his partner and leader returned to the dorm-room donning that faux confident smile. That hollow smile that radiated no warmth, no light.
He wondered if she had shed any tears, but if she had, Ruby Rose had masked it all.
With all that in mind, Alex's answer arrived with relative ease.
"I won't do it."
[Your disobedience baffles me, are you seriously being petty right now?]
'That's not it.'
Weiss arched a skeptical brow, "Didn't you say you get punished if you disobey? What's the punishment?"
What went unsaid was 'self-inflicted punishment' but Weiss had a modicum of tact, or so she believed.
Alex's answer was straightforward and resolute, as he subconciously tightened his hold on Excalibur's hilt.
It was a truth he knew, nay, was certain of.
Given who he is.
Given what he is.
Given what he held.
"People are stronger than we believe. Stronger than what that God believes."
No one can sink lower than a Human... and no one can rise higher than a Human.
The miracle of Glory within his grasp was proof of that.
Weiss's eyes widened marginally, as her lips curled up to form an appreciative smile. "I see. I like that answer."
The greater question, however...
Alex's amber eyes shifted from the gauntlet-donning frowning Yang, to the steadfast and resolute figure of Jaune. His sword and shield at hand, at any moment the fight was about to commence.
The crowd had thrown Alex's prior theory into a loop and he now understood Pyrrha's bewilderment.
"What's his goal, exactly?"
To Be Continued!
-Author Note Start-
I know, I know! It's a short asf chapter.
But do not be alarmed! I will be supplying another.
I just thought this was a good place to cut it off, and next chapter should be pretty loaded considering we've got a pretty important fight scene on our hands.
Lots of things need to be done and written so be patient with me please!
In any case, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter thus far, and hopefully I haven't been TOO rusty with this fic and the characters lmao.
It has been a while XD.
Expect next chapter within 24 hours.
48 if it gets too long lol.
Love ya and bye-bye for now!