Ozpin's gaze lingered on the rune for a long moment. His eyes traced the etched symbol as though it were a scar rather than a marking, something that had healed badly and never quite stopped aching. Then he turned his head slightly toward Qrow.
"Was this the girl's rune?" he asked.
Qrow nodded with the quiet confirmation of someone who had already replayed the memory too many times. "Yeah... that's hers."
Ozpin inhaled slowly, the kind of breath meant to steady something beneath the surface rather than fill the lungs. He stared at the pylon again, fingers clasped behind his back, shoulders squared yet somehow heavier than before. For several seconds he said nothing at all. Then, quietly, almost to himself, he spoke.
"Evergreen," he murmured. The word seemed to resonate faintly in the chamber, as if the space itself recognized it. "To think one choice would lead to all this."
No one answered. The three rank 1's felt the silence press in around them, thick and reverent, like the pause after a bell had finished ringing but before its echo truly faded. They watched Ozpin closely, the man's expression was unreadable in the way of someone who had learned to keep regret masked behind a single frown. Yang shifted her weight, arms folding loosely and her jaw set in a way that suggested she was filing the moment away for later, when adrenaline no longer drowned thought.
Eventually Ozpin turned away from the pylons and began walking back toward the tunnel they had entered from. The soft hum of machinery filled the gap left by his words. Raven was the first to move after him, steps silent against the metal floor. The rest then followed, retracing their steps through the dimly lit passageways until the minecart rails came back into view.
The junction opened up before them, a hub of branching tunnels that disappeared into darkness. Each rail curved away like a decision left unmade, iron tracks glinting faintly under the sparse lighting. Ozpin stopped near the center and glanced toward Qrow.
Without a word, Qrow's form shimmered, then split, and divided. Copies of him stepped away from the original, each identical down to the tilt of the head and the tired edge in the eyes. One by one they headed down separate tunnels, shoes clanking softly as they vanished into the dark. The original Qrow remained near Ozpin, arms crossed, posture loose but attentive.
Ozpin turned then to Jaune, Ruby, and Yang. His expression softened slightly, though the weight behind his eyes did not lessen. "I imagine this has been a shock," he said. His voice was calm, measured, carrying the tone of a man who understood exactly how insufficient words could be. "Your mission has escalated far beyond its original scope which means that you will be compensated accordingly."
Ruby blinked, then nodded automatically. The concept of compensation felt strangely distant compared to everything they had just seen. Yang let out a slow breath through her nose, tension easing from her shoulders by a small degree.
Jaune simply listened.
"For now," Ozpin continued, "you are dismissed. Effective immediately, you will return to Vale and be granted a short leave of absence from patrols. This site will be secured and investigated by other LUCID operatives."
He reached into his coat and retrieved his phone, already dialing as he turned slightly away from them. Jaune caught fragments of the conversation. Coordinates. Containment. Equipment transfer. Ozpin's tone shifted subtly into that of a commander issuing precise instructions, the kind of voice that expected compliance and received it.
Jaune stood there, hands clenched at his sides, questions stacking up behind his teeth. Arias. Evergreen. The pylons. The rune of Perpetuity etched into a structure that was clearly built to channel power. The basic understanding of imbuement that Jaune had was well enough to know how odd Perpetuity being etched there was.
To imbue it into something else was to turn a permanent rune into a one time use rune. Though, considering that Arias's daughter probably still had her rune, that meant that Perpetuity clearly functioned on a different scope than what Jaune understood.
In any case, Jaune said nothing.
Ruby glanced at him, reading the storm of thoughts on his face with unsettling accuracy. She didn't speak either. Yang noticed too, one brow lifting slightly before she shook her head just a fraction.
Not now.
Ozpin ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket. "Transportation will be arranged," he said. "It is recommended that you take the time you need once you are back in Vale. Psychological support will be available."
That earned a faint smile from Yang, though there was no real humor in it. Ruby simply nodded.
Raven stepped forward. Shadows gathered around her feet, darkening as they spread outward like ink soaking into paper. "Let's go," she said simply.
The warehouse ceiling reappeared around them in a blink, the transition smooth and disorienting all at once. Cool night air brushed against Jaune's face as Raven deposited them just outside the abandoned structure. The city sounds of Belmont filtered in faintly, distant traffic and wind moving through forgotten alleys.
From there, it was a short journey back to the bullhead. No one spoke much along the way. Ruby stared out at the city lights as they passed overhead, her reflection ghosting across the glass. Yang leaned back in her seat, arms crossed behind her head, eyes closed but clearly not asleep. Jaune sat upright, hands resting on his knees, replaying everything in his mind.
The deaths. The emptiness of the facility. The word Evergreen echoing in Ozpin's voice.
When the bullhead finally lifted off and Belmont city shrank beneath them, Jaune felt a knot loosen in his chest. The tension did not disappear, but it shifted, settling into a dull ache rather than a sharp edge. He exhaled slowly, gaze fixed on the dark horizon ahead.
Vale awaited them and answers would come later, but for now, distance was mercy.
Behind them, deep beneath the city, Ozpin and Qrow remained, standing among relics of choices long past.
The bullhead slid into the underground hangar with a muted thrum, its engines winding down as the platform locks engaged. The moment the ramp lowered, the difference was impossible to miss. The LUCID base was scuttling in a way Jaune had never quite seen before. Personnel moved at a brisk pace across the hangar floor, voices overlapping in clipped exchanges. Technicians shouted coordinates and cargo numbers. Operatives jogged past in partial gear, some fastening armor plates as they moved, others already fully suited and carrying weapons slung over their backs.
Bullheads lined the hangar in staggered rows, some already humming with pre launch power, others lifting off in rapid succession. The air smelled faintly of dust exhaust and ozone, sharp and metallic. Jaune paused at the bottom of the ramp, eyes tracking the motion around him. It felt like stepping into a hive after someone had struck the walls.
He reached out and caught the sleeve of a passing operative, gently but firmly enough to make the man stop. "Hey," Jaune said. "What's going on?"
The operative blinked, eyes flicking toward the launch lanes before returning to Jaune. "Belmont city," he said quickly. "Something big apparently went down over there and orders came through just a little while ago. Full mobilization for the area. We're pulling people from everywhere. Patch, Ansel, Merit. Anyone with clearance."
Jaune nodded with sigh, absorbing that information. "Got it. Thanks."
The man was already moving again before Jaune was finished speaking, swept back into the current of activity. Jaune turned back toward Ruby and Yang. They stood a few steps behind him, both watching the scene unfold with the same quiet stillness. Ruby's hands were clasped together in front of her, fingers worrying at each other. Yang's arms were crossed, shoulders tense.
For a moment none of them spoke. They just watched the base move around them, as if they were standing still while the world surged past.
It was a strange feeling, seeing members of the members of LUCID once again. Unlike in Belmont, these people weren't half dead on their feet and most importantly, they were alive.
Raven's footsteps sounded behind them. "Stop standing around," she said.
Her voice was level, controlled. Anyone else would have heard nothing unusual in it. Yet Jaune did. Beneath the flat delivery was a thread of tension, a faint tightening that betrayed concern she didn't allow herself to show. His Weakness rune caught it instinctively, not as a flaw to exploit but as a deviation in habit, a fracture in the pattern of how she usually spoke.
Yang turned at the sound of her mother's voice, scowling openly. She did not say anything, but the look she gave Raven carried a tired defiance rather than anger. Jaune recognized it immediately. The edge was gone. There was no energy left for confrontation.
Raven held her gaze for a moment, then looked away. "Configure your spawn points," she said. "The pods here. Don't forget."
None of them argued. They split off without another word, moving through the hangar toward the inner corridors that led deeper into the base.
The hum of activity followed them for a while, gradually dulling as reinforced walls swallowed the noise.
.
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A day passed.
It was late afternoon when Jaune found himself standing in his kitchen, staring at a bottle of whiskey. The house was quiet. The sun filtered in through the window, casting pale reflections of light across the counter. He reached for the bottle and poured a measure into a glass, dropping an ice cube in afterward. The cube cracked softly as it settled, a small sharp sound that seemed louder than it should have been.
He hesitated, fingers tightening around the glass. Then he downed it all in an instant.
The burn hit, sharp and unpleasant, followed by a bitter aftertaste that lingered stubbornly. Jaune winced and set the glass down with more force than necessary. "Yeah," he muttered. "No."
He capped the bottle and placed it back in the fridge, pushing it toward the back shelf. His father had bought it a few months ago. Before he left. Before the ultimatum.
Jaune leaned back against the counter, staring at the glass. He wasn't even sure why he had poured it. He did not feel numb. If anything, he felt too much. The past day pressed against him from all sides.
He picked up the glass again, not to drink, but because he needed to do something with his hands. Aura stirred within him, responding to the quiet frustration coiling in his chest. He let a thread of runic force bleed into the glass.
It liquefied instantly.
The solid structure collapsed into itself, the glass losing cohesion and flowing like thick water between his fingers. It dripped onto the floor in slow strands, pooling without heat or steam. Jaune watched it fall, expression distant. He did not move to stop it nor did he bother to clean it up.
The liquid glass was cool. Another quirk of his Weakness rune. He was not generating energy. He was removing resistance. Weakening the bonds that told matter how to hold itself together.
He let the aura fade.
The puddle stiffened in the space of a heartbeat. Liquid became solid. Solid became brittle. The glass shattered on its own, fractures racing through it until it broke apart with a quiet crystalline sound.
Jaune exhaled slowly.
Weakness at comprehension was interesting. He had gained some type of sixth sense ability. A constant awareness of where things might fail. Where pressure accumulated. Where habits cracked under stress. It was not danger sense or aura perception. It was something almost colder and more analytical. Harder to ignore.
A sense of weakness.
He rubbed a hand over his face and straightened. The apartment felt too small. The silence pressed in. He needed motion. Impact. Something real.
Jaune hesitated only a moment before reaching for his phone.
He scrolled through his contacts and stopped on Pyrrha's name. His thumb hovered, then tapped. The line rang. Once, then twice, then three times.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice came through, warm and alert. "Is everything alright?"
He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Hey," he said. "Yeah. I mean, sort of."
There was a pause, brief but attentive. "Do you need me for something?"
Jaune glanced at the shattered glass on the floor, at the fridge where the whiskey sat untouched. "I was wondering if you were up for some sparring?"
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AN: Advanced chapters are available on patreon