The living room of Jaune's house was lively.
For perhaps the first time in months, the house felt nicely occupied. The quiet loneliness that had settled over it ever since Jaune's disappearance seemed to have retreated beneath the noise of conversation and laughter.
Nora moved around the room carrying a drinks before handing them out one by one. Once everybody had something to drink, she happily flopped down beside Ren on the couch and immediately joined whatever conversation happened to be occurring nearby.
The group spent the next hour simply talking.
It had been a long time since all of them had been in the same place at once. Ever since reaching Rank 2, their responsibilities had increased dramatically. Missions and Dream Realm hunts pulled them across Vale and beyond. Some spent weeks or months stationed in different regions. Others were constantly travelling between kingdoms dealing with Nightmare Zones or assisting local LUCID branches.
As a result, opportunities like this had become surprisingly rare.
Ruby enthusiastically recounted several recent missions in Vale, complete with exaggerated hand gestures and dramatic sound effects. Yang interrupted every few minutes to either correct her version of events or make them even more ridiculous. Blake spoke about her brief return to Menagerie and the various developments occurring there, while Weiss complained about Atlas weather with enough passion that it became obvious she had spent entirely too much time there recently.
Oscar and Mocha were not spared either.
The moment someone brought up their relationship, the teasing began. To everyone's surprise, Oscar actually handled it fairly well now.
A couple weeks ago he probably would have turned bright red and attempted to disappear into the nearest wall. Now he simply rolled his eyes and accepted the barrage with surprising composure.
His skin had clearly thickened. Unfortunately for him, that composure lasted right up until Mocha decided to join in.
"Actually," she said cheerfully while pulling out her phone, "I think everyone should see this."
Oscar immediately looked alarmed.
"No wait."
"Oh yes."
The holo TV on the wall flickered to life. A second later a photograph appeared on screen.
It was Oscar, dressed in a furry fox costume and holding a heart shaped dog biscuit and offering it towards an equally dressed, laughing Mocha.
The room exploded in laughter. Even Weiss had to turn away as she attempted and failed to maintain her dignity.
Oscar covered his face.
"I was sure I deleted it, how do you still have that picture?!"
"Because it's adorable."
"No! And... who even took that photo?"
"Not telling, because it's a treasured memory!"
"It's blackmail."
Mocha tilted her head thoughtfully. "Those aren't mutually exclusive."
That only made everyone laugh harder.
Oscar looked toward Ren for support. Unfortunately, Ren was doing a poor job hiding his own amusement.
"For what it's worth," Ren said calmly, "the heart shaped dog biscuit was certainly unique."
Oscar stared at him in betrayal.
"Nora."
"Yeah?"
"Your boyfriend is making fun of me."
Nora immediately nodded.
"He absolutely is."
Another round of laughter swept through the room.
Eventually the teasing died down enough for conversation to resume. Yang leaned back into her chair and glanced around the familiar living room. Her eyes wandered across the furniture, the television, the decorations and everything else that had become strangely familiar over the years.
A thoughtful look crossed her face.
"You know," she began, drawing everyone's attention. "Not to throw shade or anything because I know Ren and Nora, you guys live here, but isn't it kind of weird that we keep using Jaune's house as a meetup spot?"
The question immediately caused both Ren and Nora to look somewhat guilty. When she actually said it aloud, it did sound a little strange. Jaune had been gone for over eight months.
Nobody knew exactly where he was or what exactly he was doing. And yet somehow, everyone still kept ending up back here.
Ren rubbed the back of his neck and Nora coughed into her drink. "It was supposed to be a short thing."
"We did talk about moving out eventually," Ren admitted. "But..."
His gaze moved across the room and the house. The memories attached to it. The empty space left behind by someone who wasn't there.
"If Jaune comes back one day," Ren said quietly, "I wanted someone to be here."
The room became a little quieter.
Nora nodded.
"If he finally comes home after all this time, the least we can do is make sure it doesn't feel empty."
Yang opened her mouth before closing it again. After a moment she sighed and leaned back into her seat.
"Yeah. Fair enough."
Nobody argued after that. The conversation naturally drifted elsewhere. Eventually Pyrrha set her tea down.
"Since we're already talking about Jaune," she said.
The room immediately focused on her. Pyrrha explained everything she had learned regarding the Mountain Glenn incident.
Everyone listened carefully.
When she finished, Weiss folded her arms. "Well, whatever he's doing, it's pretty obvious he doesn't want to tell us."
Her irritation was immediate and genuine.
"Which I still think is stupid."
Ruby nodded.
"Agreed."
Yang pointed at Weiss.
"Extremely stupid."
Blake leaned back slightly. "I understand wanting to handle things alone. I don't understand disappearing without explaining anything."
Pyrrha looked away somewhat guiltily but Weiss continued, without paying her expression any mind. "He could have simply told us what he was doing."
"Exactly," Ruby agreed. "We'd still worry, but at least we'd know he wasn't dead."
Pyrrha quietly stared into her tea. The conversation lingered for a few moments before Yang suddenly gained a suspicious expression.
Ruby immediately noticed, as she was seated next to her. "Hmm? Yang?"
Yang grinned.
"What?"
"I know that look."
"You don't know anything."
Yang reached into her bag and pulled out a glass bottle.
Everyone stared.
Mocha immediately sat up straighter. "Hohoho. Now we're talking."
Yang grinned proudly and placed the bottle on the table. "As much as I love talking about our favorite blonde wonderboy, I think it's time we did something fun instead."
She tapped the bottle. "And... I finally figured out who Qrow's alcohol supplier is."
Ruby nearly choked.
"You what?"
Yang looked incredibly pleased with herself. "Mostly thanks to Dad."
Mocha nodded approvingly.
"Nice. I was wondering where we were gonna find good liquor besides going to that nightclub all the time."
Yang pointed at her. "See? Someone gets it."
Ruby still looked confused. Yang waved a hand dismissively. "Apparently the guy who makes this stuff only sells it to awakened. He even has an official channel that sells directly to LUCID."
"Well... at least its legal," Weiss said.
"It is."
"That... sounded sarcastic."
"It was."
Ruby looked between them helplessly.
"I don't understand."
Yang patted her shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, Rubes. It's one of those things that's simultaneously legal, illegal and encouraged."
"...What?"
"Exactly."
Nobody bothered trying to explain further. Yang lifted the bottle. "Anyway, this stuff is strong enough to get Rank 2s buzzed. Which means it'll totally kill an elephant in two seconds."
That immediately caught everyone's attention.
"Who's interested?"
Several hands went up. Yang nodded approvingly.
"Excellent."
Then she pointed at Mocha.
"Except you."
Mocha froze.
"What?"
"You're still Rank 1."
"That's discrimination!"
"You can have a small sip."
"A SMALL SIP?!"
Before the argument could continue, a sharp electronic chime suddenly echoed through the room and everyone paused.
Then another.
And another.
Every one their phones. All of them activated simultaneously. The mood in the room changed instantly.
The joking vanished and the smiles faded. Years of training and experience took over. Slowly, everyone reached for their devices.
The screen glowed red.
A single message sat at the center.
[ALL LUCID PERSONNEL. REPORT TO THE NEAREST LUCID FACILITY IMMEDIATELY.]
Nobody spoke for several seconds, simply staring. The red alert symbol remained motionless on the screen.
Yang slowly lowered the bottle back onto the table.
"Well, that's just fucking unfortunate."
Blake was already standing and her expression had become serious. "If they're sending a kingdom-wide alert, something major happened."
Ren nodded.
"LUCID doesn't issue red alerts lightly."
Oscar frowned as he read the message again.
"Right. Looks like whatever this is, it's urgent."
Yang let out a long sigh and looked mournfully at the untouched bottle.
"Just when we were about to have fun."
Nora patted her shoulder.
"You can get drunk later."
"That's not the point."
A few small chuckles escaped despite the situation, but only for a moment, because everyone understood what this meant.
Something serious enough had happened. It was problematic enough that every available operative was being recalled.
Without another word, they began gathering their things.
Friends became operatives.
Casual conversation became mission readiness.
And as they stepped out of Jaune's house and headed toward Vale, none of them realized that before the night was over, they would hear news that would send shockwaves through the entire awakened world.
The moment they arrived at the base, they headed toward the hangar bays that housed much of LUCID's equipment. The area was already packed with operatives, researchers, awakened personnel, and support staff.
Ruby and the others quickly made their way toward the section where the Rank 2s were gathered. Glynda Goodwitch, Peter Port, and Bartholomew Oobleck were already present.
At the center stood Ozpin.
Several recording drones hovered around him.
Weiss frowned.
"He's broadcasting?"
Pyrrha nodded.
Not just to this base either. Judging by the setup, it was likely every LUCID branch in the Kingdom of Vale was tuning in.
A few minutes later, the recording lights activated and the hangar fell silent. Ozpin looked toward the nearest drone.
"LUCID personnel. I regret that I must interrupt your duties and leisure time under such circumstance, however a matter of the highest severity has occurred."
A holographic screen appeared beside him, displaying four runes.
"All of you know of present, are aware of the existence of the Relics which have been the foundation for LUCID's existence. Four Supreme Runes. Knowledge, Creation, Destruction and Choice."
Ozpin paused before continuing.
"For generations, LUCID has safeguarded these Runes. Unfortunately, just a few minutes prior, we have dreadfully learnt that the facility responsible for safeguarding these relics was breached."
The crowd immediately stiffened. "Everyone responsible for protecting the vault has been murdered and..."
His expression remained calm, but there was a hardness in his eyes.
"...the relics have been taken."