The arena lights dimmed, then flared gold.
At the center of the coliseum, high above the battlefield, Commander Ozpin's voice carried with calm authority, amplified yet unhurried. A type of voice that could probably announce the end of the world and make it sound like a schedule adjustment.
"Victory goes to Vale."
The crowd appeared quite happy from how they erupted. To be fair, most of the participants were from Vale.
Sound rolled outward in waves as applause crashed against the arena walls.
Jaune exhaled slowly, relaxing his taut nerves.
Pyrrha dismissed the last of her metal and let them all dissolve into harmless motes of runic energy before they reached the edge of the field.
The seal had done its job.
Neptune was gone from the arena and so was Sun. There was a separate medical bay in the arena stands that were able to treat injuries.
For a moment, there was quiet between them. Not silence as the arena itself was a hubble of chatter. But between them, there was a pocket of stillness.
"You okay?" Jaune asked.
Pyrrha gave him a small nod. "Are you?"
He rolled his shoulders once. "I've had worse sparring sessions."
She almost laughed.
Above them, Ozpin continued.
"The next match will commence shortly. Mistral versus Atlas."
A ripple of anticipation passed through the stands.
Jaune glanced toward Pyrrha. "Back to the stands?"
Her eyes brightened just slightly. "Of course."
They made their way toward the exit corridor, footsteps echoing against stone.
As they rounded a bend, two figures approached from the opposite direction.
Mistral.
The boy walked with relaxed confidence. Grey hair fell loosely around his face, framing sharp features and an easygoing smile. He carried himself like someone accustomed to attention but not consumed by it.
Beside him walked a girl with emerald green hair that caught the light like polished jade. Her posture was composed, almost delicate, but there was a steadiness in her gaze that suggested anything but fragility.
As they passed, the grey haired teen's eyes flicked to Jaune. He slowed just enough to speak without breaking stride.
"Meta rune user, huh?" His tone was casual, friendly even. "You're pretty impressive."
Jaune blinked, caught slightly off guard.
"Uh. Thanks," he muttered.
His attention shifted almost immediately to the girl.
Her eyes turned toward him and she smiled.
Not with her mouth but with her eyes.
Jaune's sense couldn't decipher any hostility from her but yet, something about the way her gaze watched him... Jaune couldn't help but feel that she was mocking him.
He couldn't explain why.
He pushed the thought aside as they passed one another completely.
Pyrrha glanced back once, thoughtful, before continuing forward.
By the time Jaune and Pyrrha reached the stands, the Ozpin's voice announced the victory.
"And that concludes—"
Jaune blinked.
"Wait, what?"
The arena floor below told the story.
The Atlas team lay sprawled near the edge of the field, both on their backs. Their eyes seemed to flicker weakly.
Unfocused.
As if they were staring through the sky rather than at it. At the center of the field stood the grey haired Mistral boy.
He adjusted his sleeve casually, as though he had just finished a light jog rather than a tournament bout.
Jaune had only just caught the final moment.
The boy pivoted smoothly, his body rotating with perfect alignment. His leg whipped upward in a clean, efficient arc.
His foot connected with the jaw of one Atlas combatant.
The impact cracked through the stadium like a snapped branch.
The Atlas student's head snapped sideways as he was knocked out. Though... curiously enough, both seals on the Atlas teams didn't trigger, which meant that the hits weren't fatal, just enough to put them out of the fight.
It was quite a rare occurrence considering how strong Rank 1's were in fights.
Silence fell.
"Victory. Mistral."
The crowd reacted a heartbeat later, confusion blending with applause.
Jaune leaned forward slightly.
"That was… incredibly fast."
Pyrrha's eyes narrowed, focused.
"Yes. Perhaps even a little too fast."
The green haired girl apparently had not moved much during the exchange. She stood near the edge of the arena, hands loosely clasped in front of her.
Watching.
Not even particularly engaged.
The Atlas pair were being helped to their feet now by some medical staff.
Their expressions were quite strange as if they couldn't believe what just happened.
He glanced sideways at Pyrrha.
"You see that?"
"Yes."
Her gaze flicked toward the Mistral pair as they exited the arena from the far side. The grey haired boy stretched lazily and the green haired girl turned her head just slightly.
Her eyes found Jaune again across the distance.
That same quiet smile.
"Her meta rune. It's a powerful one." he murmured.
Pyrrha, seemingly hearing his words, frowned as well.
Jaune climbed the steps toward his section with the faint ache of small exertion settling into his limbs. Victory still hummed under his skin, but it felt distant now, like a bell that had already finished ringing.
What greeted him at the top was warmth.
Nora had migrated from her earlier koala configuration and now sat properly on Ren's lap, legs tucked neatly to one side, as if she had always intended this arrangement and the previous clinging had merely been a rehearsal. Ren, as always, accepted this with a monk like composure. His hands rested lightly at Nora's waist, as though stabilizing a particularly energetic constellation.
'This guy's emotions ain't as composed as he appears. Damned bastard.' Jaune secretly thought, after sensing Ren's... excitement.
The moment Nora spotted Jaune weaving through the row, she lit up.
"Jaune!" she declared at a volume that threatened the structural integrity of nearby glass. "You did it! You were all shield bash, stab stab, heroic spin, and nobody exploded. Ten out of ten!"
Jaune didn't even know what she was talking about. He didn't even have a shield. He had clearly been fighting with two swords...
She half rose in excitement before Ren gently grounded her with a subtle shift of his grip. It was not restraint so much as gravity applied with affection.
"You and Pyrrha fought well," Ren said, his tone smooth and measured. "Your coordination has certainly improved. Though, I must admit to being curious as to why Neptune's seal triggered out of nowhere."
Pyrrha looked a little sheepish at that.
Yang leaned back in her seat, legs propped casually against the railing ahead of them. Golden hair caught the stadium lights, turning each strand into a flare. She grinned sideways at them.
"Probably some weird fucky thing that she likes doing with her rune. My money's on blood control or whatever. Buuut.... winning matches and looking all confident about it, gotta say Pyrrha—I might have to start paying you for mentoring fees."
Ruby shot him a double thumbs up, eyes sparkling with the kind of pride that made his chest feel unexpectedly lighter.
"Yang, language! Great job, Jaune... oh and Pyrrha too." she called.
Weiss gave a dignified nod to Pyrrha. "You handled Neptune incredibly well."
Blake, now sat beside Weiss rather than Ruby, offered him a quiet look of approval. There was no need for many words from her. The gesture was precise and sufficient.
Below their row, Mocha was engaged in animated conversation with Oscar, her hands carving shapes in the air as she spoke. Oscar listened attentively, nodding at intervals, his expression earnest. Though from his blush... Jaune was certain that Mocha was teaching him about something filthy.
She was a bit of a weird pervert after all.
Jaune slid into the empty seat beside Yang and let out a long breath. The familiar presence of his friends felt like stepping into sunlight after navigating fog. For a moment, he allowed himself to simply exist there, to feel the normalcy of it.
Then his thoughts drifted back to the match before his own.
The Mistral team.
He leaned forward slightly, forearms resting on his knees.
"What happened in that last bout?" he asked.
The shift was immediate.
It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but the levity in the air thinned. Nora's grin softened, not disappearing but losing a degree of its wild brightness. Yang's smirk faded into something more thoughtful and even Ruby's enthusiasm quieted.
"It was really strange," Yang said first, her voice losing its teasing edge.
"That's taking it mildly." Ruby added, her brows knitting together.
Ren's gaze remained forward, but his focus sharpened. "The match concluded before anyone could really fight."
Weiss folded her hands in her lap. "My theory is that the girl from Mistral was the key player."
Jaune's attention sharpened.
"You saw something?"
Blake spoke next, her tone low. "She moved her hand. It was small."
Nora leaned forward slightly. "Like she was flicking away dust. Or waving at a fly. Except not that cute."
Ruby nodded quickly. "And then the Atlas fighters just stopped moving."
Ren clarified. "Their bodies remained responsive. They were not stunned or physically restrained."
Weiss exhaled slowly. "Their expressions changed. It was as though something behind their eyes dimmed."
"And then?" Jaune asked.
"And then her teammate moved, to end the fight." Ren said
"Boom," Nora concluded softly, hands making a small downward motion. "Match over."
Jaune leaned back in his seat, the stadium noise receding into a distant murmur in his awareness.
"She has a meta rune."
Weiss frowned. "A mental effect type then?"
"Possibly," Jaune said. "If she tampered with their perception, or their intent, that would explain what you saw."
Ren considered this. "Hmm, possibly some type of hypnotizing rune."
Yang crossed her arms. "So she mind controlled them?"
"I do not think it was full control," Jaune said. "More like she suppressed the impulse to fight or something like that. Cut the spark before it could catch. Meta runes are dangerously powerful like that. Only thing that gets in the way is Aura. But considering the fight ended fast, we're not even sure if there's a time limit."
Ruby hugged her knees lightly. "That is scary."
Jaune nodded faintly.
Scary was one word for it.
His mind moved quickly through implications.
His weakness rune allowed him to undermine stability, to corrode what had form and anchor. His plunder rune siphoned strength and power, tangible forces that flowed through the physical world.
But illusions?
Hypnosis?
Altered perception?
You could not weaken something that was not solid.
You could not plunder a thought the way you could plunder strength.
Jaune paused.
'Plundering thought...'
If her rune operated in the realm of the intangible, then his usual strategies would struggle to gain purchase.
"I'm probably not going to be able to counter her." he admitted.
Yang glanced at him. "You saying you're worried?"
"I am saying I need to be careful," he corrected.
He thought again of the end of his own match.
When Pyrrha had made that final attack against Neptune.
His weakness sense had reacted to it but... he still wasn't entirely sure what Pyrrha had done. He figured that he should have asked her about it afterwards but... well...
If Pyrrha had discovered a way to manipulate something less tangible, something that brushed against intent or perception, then maybe there was a path forward against them.
Jaune's gaze drifted across the arena.
Far on the opposite side, beyond rows of spectators and shimmering banners, he caught the glimpse of emerald hair.
Jaune's jaw tightened slightly.
If her rune was something similar to mind control or hypnosis, then he would need something deeper than technique to face her. He would need clarity anchored so firmly that no external hand could loosen it. He would need to understand the nature of her power before stepping into her range.
"Ugh... too many different runes. What a drag." Jaune muttered.