Children of the Grimmlands Ch. 5

“And then I go, ‘sh-pow!’” she mimed the sound of glass breaking, “‘Looks like I’m onto you, evildoers!’ and then they go-”

“I recommend against the term ‘evildoers.’”

Emerald blinked in surprise. “But- but… but it’s so cool! I wanna call people evildoers!”

“Yes, but,” Ms. Fall explained in her patient, cool, wise way, “Emerald, if anyone is an evildoer, it’s us. Our opponents think of themselves as-”

“Well, why do they get dibs on this stuff!” Emerald threw up her hands in a pout, “I wanna be a superhero! And, like, once we’re in charge, they’ll be the evildoers!”

But Ms. Fall… she just smiled at Emerald in that way that made Emerald feel like she was a super cool assassin superhero as she shook her head. “You want to be an assassin superhero? Who works for the Queen of monsters-”

“The Prince,” Emerald corrected, “I pledged my loyalty to Jaune last-”

“You have pledged your loyalty to your brother no less than a dozen times since I first began tutoring you, I think he gets it.”

“Yeah,” she shot back, “but do you?”

Ms. Fall chuckled at the bon mot and Emerald was over the moon. She thinks I’m cool, Emerald thought with a big grin on her face. But her tutor’s face quickly turned serious as she said, “Let’s focus on some of these techniques and then you can talk to me about what catchphrases you want to use.”

Stepping into the practice hall, Emerald bounced from one foot to the other. Now was her chance to really show off as she looked at the obstacle course before her. Dr. Watts had made it, saying that it was going to really put them on their toes, but Emerald had just stuck her tongue out at that. Especially when he said that Blake helped him build it! Then she double stuck her tongue out!

But… but it was a scary setup. Emerald had learned how to spot security features, and she could see the pressure plates, security cameras, atmospheric sensors… and the various devices that were set to go off if any of them were tripped, adding insult to injury. But they wouldn’t get a chance, cause Emerald was just too good!

Glancing upwards, she saw Ms. Fall take her place in the observation room, activate the machines… and start the timer.

She was off in a flash, her body more like water, fluidly shifting through blind spots as she swept up to the door. Shifting her thumbprint into a copy of Dr. Watts’s she neatly slipped it onto the scanner, then punched in his password (someone wasn’t as careful checking behind his shoulder as he ought to be!), and-

Insert Keycard? What? He- he had a-

Emerald’s eyes darted to the display, counting down the seconds before the alarm would sound for failing to enter the passcode. Well, she knew she was going to be doing things the hard way…

Her hands shifted into a mess of black strands, tiny filaments of Grimmstuff tipped with diamond-sharp razors and secreting a powerful acid, she decided to disregard the keycard entirely and simply sliced through the door, careful to cut where there weren’t any sensors that would give away that the door had been breached. She was going much louder than she’d hoped, but her goal now was to beat the alarm. If she could reach the end before the alarm went off, she’d count it as a win. Ms. Fall was always telling her “don’t become blinded by your perceptions of victory—you can always find another way to win,” and so Emerald was going to win this way.

She slipped through the hole she cut in the door. Ha, she’d like to see some Atlesian General try to explain how a mouse-sized hole got cut through a five-inch thick door and how whatever squeezed through there managed to… whatever this mission was simulating! Maybe it was breaking into Dr. Watts’s lab or something! It didn’t matter, Emerald was killing it!

Reaching into her pocket, she flung the small disk she and Blake had pilfered from Dr. Watts’s bag while they were looting it for goodies. Blake had wanted to keep it, because it was shiny, but Emerald had traded all her chocolate for it, because it could do this.

It burst in midair with an electrical ZZZT and the motor on the security camera went haywire. Emerald dashed past it, shifting her body back into her thin, paperlike form to squeeze past the tripwires, rolled into the endzone, and slammed her hand on the button.

Time.

Emerald was getting really good at being a superhero. She was good at stealth and gadgets and had actual superpowers cause she could shapeshift. Yeah, those comic books she’d gotten from Ms. Fall were such good instructional aids, no matter what Weiss and Blake said! They liked boring books about kissing, but she liked books with fighting! And Jaune liked them, too, so there!

Jumping up and down in celebration, Emerald started humming her theme song just before she was cut off by an “Ah-hem.”

Cringing, she turned to see the stern face of Ms. Fall, her eyes darting over the course to assess every element of Emerald’s performance. Emerald stood as straight as she could, trying to look like a mature, grown adult who had self-confidence and certainty that she’d ace this exam and not like a little kid who was too eager for praise. She was thirteen now! A full year into her teens, and thus, an adult. A cool, mature adult. Who wasn’t freaking out.

“You adapted well,” Ms. Fall began, and Emerald couldn’t stop the way-too-big smile from breaking across her giddy face, “and your control of your powers has increased most impressively,” Emerald’s smile grew even wider, all thoughts of being mature utterly forgotten, “though it is unwise to grow cocky—your enemies number in the millions, Emerald, and they can devise far more strategies than you can conceive and anticipate.”

Emerald nodded, trying to seem wise and sensible and humble and not at all like she had while Ms. Fall was praising her. It was bad to rest on your laurels and think everything’s going to be easy or all figured out. Because Emerald wasn’t just going up against Atlesian super-scientists and Valean secret agents and Vacuan warlords and Mistralian sword masters… okay, that last one was a trick Weiss played on her with some cartoons, but they were really cool… but they also weren’t what Emerald was really up against.

Because she had three sisters who were also trying to be the best and they were… they were really good at being the best. She had an Alliance with Pyrrha, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t competing with Pyrrha who was just… just… just the best. At everything. And if Emerald wasn’t careful, she wouldn’t even get noticed next to that. And Blake and Weiss were… were big jerks a bunch of times! Just because they thought they were so smart and mature and pretty with their long, silky hair… that didn’t make them any better than Emerald! But Emerald had a secret trick that nobody else had!

Ms. Fall was giving Emerald notes and pointers on how she could get even better at being a sneaky spy. She was sooo smart, so much smarter than Arthur or Hazel or anyone else and she was taking Emerald under her wing to make her the best ever! And Jaune would see that Emerald was way cooler than her sisters… just like Ms. Fall was so cool… and pretty… a-anyways, Emerald hoped she’d be as cool as she was some day!

LINE BREAK BLAKE

The hallways of the Castle was Blake’s territory. She was a lioness, a tigress, a… leopard or some other kind of predatory cat that stalked her prey with simple, ruthless efficiency, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She was unique among her sisters in how she blended their strengths into one. Like Pyrrha, she was a warrior. Like Weiss, she was attuned to magic, able to mold herself to the shadows. And like Emerald, she was as subtle and stealthy as could be. Whatever she sought out, she found, and whenever she struck...

Her prey was oblivious, his eyes darting nervously from side to side, looking for her in every impenetrable shadow, but he wasn’t looking where Blake was: up. Not that he could spot her, even if he was looking right at her. The shadows belonged to Blake, and only Emerald could even come close to catching her. This poor soul didn’t even stand a chance.

Crossing the threshold, Blake saw her moment and she pounced, surging forward in a sudden, swift strike that slammed her prey to the ground, his neck exposed in all its vulnerability as Blake proclaimed her victory!

“Caught you.”

Jaune sputtered beneath her. “But I’m it!” he protested.

“Yeah,” she said, “but I still caught you.”

“Well...” he replied, then tapped her on the arm, “Now you’re it!”

She tapped him back. “You’re it.”

“You’re it!” he tapped her again.

Soon they were laughing and slapping each other, chanting “You’re it!” over and over again until they couldn’t keep their focus up, the two of them giggling as Blake perched on her big brother’s chest. It was nice. Comfortable.

So she curled up like a cat and decided to take a nap.

“Blake!” her brother whined, “You can’t go to sleep on me!”

“Can’t hear you,” she purred, “napping.”

Then she felt him shift in a way that Blake immediately recognized as his familiar smirk. “Blake...” he started, “I have a task for you...”

Blake’s ears perked up at that and she abandoned her pretense of napping on him.

“What?” she asked, doing nothing to hide her eagerness.

“Mom said I wasn’t supposed to have any more cookies, but now I want some.”

Blake shuddered as she felt the pulse of power that came with her Prince’s command. They had all been strengthened by the Pool of Darkness, a strength that had been fine tuned by their tutoring, but Jaune’s gift was the power to rule. Not by politics or intrigue or force of arms like any of the rest of them. No, Jaune’s rulership was something fundamental, and his will was a Sovereign power in and of itself. Doors opened with a word, things flew to his hand if he summoned them, and with people… Jaune gave them the power to ensure his orders were carried out! If he was with them, and they were carrying out his command, the Daughters of Salem could pull more from the Darkness than even their mother could.

And more importantly, it felt exhilarating.

Blake loved the sensation. Both from the Darkness thrumming within her, carrying her on a current of a singular will, and the feeling of total invincibility as she could move anywhere without being seen, but also from the sense that she was carrying out Jaune’s commands.

Without a word, she disappeared into the shadows, sneaking to the kitchen where she knew the cookie tin would be carefully guarded by Tyrian—he considered their mom’s words to be a sacred duty and he would be a difficult opponent to sneak past… if Blake wasn’t acting under her brother’s command!

...and if Tyrian could still be considered in the same league as a Daughter of Salem. Weiss had recommended humoring him, that it’d make Tyrian feel impressive if he caught a glimpse of Blake or Emerald or managed to land a punch against Pyrrha, but the other two weren’t going to do something that Weiss had suggested, and while Blake valued her alliance with her sister… she wasn’t going to slip up just to help Tyrian out. Especially now, when her blood flowed hot with predatory agility and she could see a challenge before her that she was tasked to overcome.

Really, it was trivial. Hardly worth noting as she silently, invisibly, moved between his blinks as Blake reached the tin and retrieved three yummy cookies and departed, stifling a giggle as she slipped past the guard. This was when Blake was happiest.

She felt important. She felt valued. She felt… loved.

Loved...

Ever since she’d found that bookshelf, Blake had been thinking a lot about what it meant to be loved. She was a voracious reader, even more so than Weiss, and Blake had started to learn a lot about love. Namely, that she didn’t really get it, and that nobody else really seemed to get it. She’d brought it up with Weiss, who didn’t know, and, through clenched teeth, admitted her uncertainty to Cinder, who had… only told her, “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

She was lucky that Emerald was protecting her.

But in moments like these, Blake wasn’t thinking about vengeances, she was thinking… she was thinking she was really starting to understand what love was. Because she loved Jaune. And she knew she loved Jaune, like how she felt as she snatched up a handful of cookies in fulfillment of his command, but she was starting to think that maybe she really loved Jaune?

And she didn’t understand a lot of things that Ninjas of Love had to explain about those things, but she studied the books carefully and today had shown her that it actually was really nice to sit on top of him, feeling him beneath her, and… if he hadn’t given her this order… she was actually going to do it. She was going to go all the way and sleep with him. Slip into his bed and everything, she was wholly prepared to nap on his chest like a cat and then brag about to Weiss!

But as she appeared before her Prince with a gracious bow, spoils in hand, she knew she’d have even more to brag to Weiss about!

LINE BREAK PYRRHA

Pyrrha felt the connection between a dozen weapons, levitating before her in a cloud of destructive power, each and every one of them ready to strike a killing blow. She was a walking army, but it would take all of her power to defeat this enemy as she tensed her body and readied the moment to strike.

None of her tutors were strong enough to really contest with her. None of the Grimm were strong enough to really contest with her. So in order to really spar, Pyrrha had to go big.

And there was nothing bigger than the Queen of the Grimm.

Her mom hurled a tornado of masonry that Pyrrha snapped right past, using her arsenal to block, rather than deflect—much more tiring, but the intensity of the racket threw them both off their game, and that gave Pyrrha and opportunity to pounce, leaping forward with her spear in hand, closing the gap in milliseconds, and-

SNAP!

The spear snapped in twain in her hands as her mom’s hand shot forward, almost faster than Pyrrha could track, her hand catching her by the breastplate as she prepared to fling Pyrrha onto the roof. But Pyrrha had prepared for this, and the shattered haft of her spear still had a point and-

Too slow. Her mom wasn’t trying to throw her, as Pyrrha anticipated, but used her other hand to deliver a strike that sent Pyrrha flying backwards straight through the stone wall. The stone’s, forged by an ancient god, cracked from the force as Pyrrha felt the shock of the blow echo through her body. The Darkness within her took the blow, her armor absorbed the shock of it but… but as she slumped to the ground, she knew she didn’t have the strength to get back up and keep fighting. Which meant...

Defeated again.

“You were so close!” her mom cheered, with obvious and sincere praise, the kind that made Pyrrha immediately perk up, even if only a little. And especially when she didn’t want to. “Oh, I’m so proud of you, Pyrrha! You’ve gotten so much better with combat tactics, the bit with the noise was really impressive!”

“Thanks,” she said, still smarting from her defeat, as she extricated herself from the rubble, “Jaune came up with it.”

But her mother’s cheer seemed to drop away with Pyrrha’s words.

“Honey...” her mom said softly, “You don’t have to always give credit for your accomplishments to your brother—you did fantastic! You should be proud of what you, a strong, independent woman, is capable of, instead of just your brother’s instrument.”

Pyrrha, already in a mood for losing, just grunted, “But I don’t want to be an independent woman. I wanna be his Eagle.”

She felt the pride in her voice as she said it. When their mother told them that she would be raising them as princesses, Pyrrha was the only one of her sisters who didn’t want that. She didn’t want to wear dresses and have tea parties, Pyrrha wanted to learn how to fight!

No, Pyrrha was Jaune’s knight. Her brother’s sworn shield and protector. She was going to be the best fighter ever and conquer all of Remnant! She’d fight Huntsmen and robots and battleships and really big monsters and they’d all lose! And once she had the leaders of the Kingdoms surrender at swordpoint, then Jaune would say she was his favorite sister!

But Mom didn’t argue with her. She knelt down beside Pyrrha, placing a comforting arm on her shoulder. It felt nice, but Pyrrha didn’t want to feel nice after losing, so she turned away.

“Pyrrha...” her mother’s voice was compassionate, yet had the force of royalty behind it. She wasn’t going to let Pyrrha just turn away from what she didn’t want to talk about. “I know you care for Jaune very much, but I… I care for you. You’re my precious little Pyrrha, my fearless girl who never saw a challenge she couldn’t overcome. And I...” her voice suddenly took on an emotional tremble, “I never, ever want to lose that girl. My sweet little soldier, my Pyrrha.”

Blushing, Pyrrha kept her eyes down. She wasn’t getting emotional. She wasn’t going to cry, like a baby, she was a strong and mighty warrior. Someone so strong that nobody, other than Mom, could fight her!

“It’s all for Jaune,” she mumbled, kicking the ground awkwardly as she did. “Because… because he’s the Prince and-”

But her mom simply wrapped her in the tightest hug as Pyrrha couldn’t help but nestle into her maternal warmth. “Everything I do,” she whispered into Pyrrha’s ear, “is for the five of you. For all five of you. You’re all precious and perfect to me, and none of you have to do anything, could ever do anything, that would make me love you more.”

Pyrrha tried not to tear up, but she couldn’t help it. Hugging her mother back, Pyrrha couldn’t stop the sniffles as she clung to the best mom ever. “I l-love you too, Mommy,” she said, and received a tight, loving squeeze from her mother in response.

For a moment, Pyrrha just let herself be held until her mother gently loosened her grip and pulled away, smiling warmly at her daughter. “You’re becoming so strong, Pyrrha. All of you are, and nothing makes me happier than seeing all of my children work together. And not just in the service of your brother—don’t forget, your Prince is only as strong as who he’s working with.”

It was their mom’s usual reminder. They had a tendency to… perhaps hero-worship their Prince, and their mom raised them to be a team, each and every one of them playing a part. Weiss could be a huge jerk, but she was also the diplomat, insightful and wise. Blake might keep stealing candy from Pyrrha (even if she couldn’t prove it), but she would be their spymaster, attentive to all the secrets of Remnant and telling Pyrrha where she could find hidden foes. And for foes that shouldn’t be stomped so flat it left a crater, Emerald was there, their superhero (per their alliance, Pyrrha always referred to Emerald by her chosen title) to ensure no evildoers escaped justice. United under Jaune’s leadership, they were the greatest force on Remnant, and…

And they would make their mommy proud. Blinking away her tears, Pyrrha got back up and resumed her fighting stance as she saw Mom’s eyes widen with delight. “I’m not gonna give up just yet!” she declared as she summoned another weapon to her hands. She would never give up, no matter what she was up against!

LINE BREAK WEISS

Work.

There was always more work.

Weiss was out of her girlhood, and was now a mature, responsible, and sophisticated young woman. And that meant that she was busy and didn’t have time for such unserious things as the… the glass of chocolate milk that was on the table. Obviously, she didn’t want it. What use would she have for adding chocolate to milk? It was the sort of thing Emerald might like, as… juvenile as she was. Or perhaps Pyrrha would lack the refinement to enjoy a beverage that wasn’t sweetened with chocolate. But… Hazel had clearly brought the drink as tribute to Weiss and to refuse his tribute could cause… problems. Maybe… maybe they were the sort of problems that were…

Weiss was already downing the glass before she even figured out a way it might be in her advantage to do so. Well… she’d think of one later! So there! As she finished the glass (it… didn’t feel like she’d drank it that quickly), she looked over at her family’s servant, her eyes narrowing in clear suggestion that he get on with it and explain what he wanted.

Hazel was appreciatively straightforward in his aims in his servitude to their mother. Well, most of their servants were—Arthur wanted revenge and to have his ego fed, Tyrian wished only to… Weiss preferred not to think about what Tyrian wanted, and Cinder was simply a dangerously ambitious woman who might need to be stopped—but Hazel was the least inclined to try and twist things towards his ends. He wished for revenge on Ozma, the wicked King who’d ruled the world before their mom overthrew him and ended his reign. He believed that Mom had a plan to end Ozma’s influence once and for all, and saw little to be gained from currying the favor of Weiss or her siblings.

Which made him predictable, but Weiss was a little annoyed that he wasn’t, at least, making an effort of it. Though this gift of chocolate milk was appreciated…

“Mhhhm,” he cleared his throat. It was more like a low rumble, the giant’s sheer presence being impressive, if not imposing, to even a master of magic like Weiss. “I wished to speak with you about a matter of great importance.”

Weiss didn’t like that there was “a matter of great importance” that she wasn’t already aware of. There were many matters in the world, and importance, particularly great ones, was determined by where you were standing. Weiss, however, thought she knew where Hazel stood, and getting caught unaware was… troubling. Perhaps she’d need to consult with Blake and strategize how they might better keep tabs on their servants…

“I wish only to ask… how are you getting along with your sisters?”

Weiss practically sputtered with indignance at that! What- how dare- what kind of question was- that was none of his business, thank you very much!

“I’ll have you know,” she said, her voice an icy lash that made even Hazel flinch to hear it, “that the state of our alliances is not the concern of-”

“I was not asking about alliances.”

Weiss was startled to be so interrupted. Her voice was powerful. Not as powerful as Jaune’s, to be sure, but it was the channel of her magic and she was exceptionally good at controlling it. Her words could be as sweet as honey, charming those who would be her enemies, or a threat darker than the Pool itself, but no matter what tone she chose, her words carried the verbomoteur trace of magic and authority, all bound together. So to see her power interrupted by a servant…

Said servant continued, “Your mother cares for your well-being very much, but she is sometimes… blinded by her affections. And in those cases, it’s important that the five of you look after each other. But I especially turn to you, Lady Weiss, as the foremost diplomat in all the Grimmlands, indeed, all of Remnant itself, to ensure the happiness and well-being of the Royal Family.”

Her earlier affrontement at the impropriety of his inquiry was momentarily blown out by the mention that she was especially important. “What- whatever do you mean?” she replied, struggling to not reveal how pleased she was to be recognized as the Grimmland’s chief intellectual. Perhaps she’d never be as strong as Pyrrha was or as subtle as Emerald or Blake, but Weiss knew the power of words. She read books—and not the dirty books Blake was always reading, either!—and studied the Kingdoms of Remnant, and Jaune always came to her to ask about what was going on in the world. She was his smartest sister, and as he got older, he would come to appreciate her more.

“Unlike the divided Kingdoms of Remnant guided by the deceiver, Ozma,” Hazel continued, “Our strength is our unity. I serve the Royal Family, as do the rest of your servants, but you, my Lady, are best positioned for the unity between your siblings.”

Weiss preened at his insight. She knew Hazel was by far their most useful servant. Not vain like Arthur or irresponsible like Tyrian or treacherously interested in brothers she had no right to put her hands on like Cinder. And yes, he was quite right—ensuring peace between her siblings was an important task that naturally fell to Weiss’s exquisite talents as a peacemaker and diplomat, to ensure that Pyrrha, while, perhaps, a little brutish, still felt valued as Jaune’s foremost warrior. That Blake wasn’t ignored as Weiss’s key ally, or that Emerald felt like she belonged as a Daughter of Salem, lest she fall under the sway of… certain treacherous witches.

“You’re quite right, Hazel,” she agreed, thinking of how long it had been since the four of them had done something fun together. Just girls, scheming and plotting together, coming up with plans for the conquest of Remnant… just because they were no longer children didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy themselves like they used to! “And though you need not worry yourself with such things, I can assure you, I will take your words to heart and work to ensure harmony among my siblings. But I appreciate your concerns… I’ll be sure to instruct Emerald and Pyrrha to not finish off the treacherous Ozpin until you’ve had your chance at him.”

There was nothing beyond Weiss’s perception, no trick or deception that could hide someone’s true intent from hers, and she saw the dark desire briefly flash behind Hazel’s well-disciplined facade, that told Weiss that offering him an opportunity to feed his revenge was a wise way to ensure his loyalty. Enough so that she merely had to push her empty glass an inch towards him before he rose to fetch her another glass of chocolate milk!

And all she had to do was promise him one little murder. It was practically a steal!

LINE BREAK JAUNE

“Open,” Jaune said, and the door swung open. “Tea,” he added, and the teapot poured him a cup. With another word, the cup flew to his hand. Jaune tried to remind himself that this was a sign of great power, that he was clearly very strong to be able to do this, and yet… he still felt very… underwhelming.

In the Castle of Darkness, so much of their surroundings were infused by the Pool’s nature and so his commands could carry a far greater complexity than with other matter (he had attempted to command a crashed Bullhead to follow him home, but ultimately wound up having to rely on Pyrrha to carry it), which made him feel like, once again, it wasn’t his strength that mattered. Like he was just… the figurehead. He gave orders, but it was really his sisters or his… his mom who did the work for him.

When he was younger, he didn’t mind as much, but recently, he’d started to… fret about how much his mom did for him. Mom was great, he loved her, but he was… he was thirteen now! He wanted to stretch out on his own and prove himself! Just like- like all his sisters were doing!

Jaune had vastly increased strength and stamina, plus the power of Royal Authority, but without training, he just… wasn’t that good at fighting. Yes, he could just tell an opponent to stop fighting and sit down, and that’d be good enough, but… not for him. Jaune wanted to get stronger, to learn how to fight. Mom had given him permission—which was only because Cinder had conveyed his wish, another thing he couldn’t take credit for—but all attempts at tutoring him had… gone wrong.

It was his sisters. He couldn’t stop them, not when they just… cared so much about him, but it was impossible to learn how to fight when his tutors knew that landing a blow upon the Prince of the Grimm would have dire consequences. Weiss cursed them with terrible nightmares, Emerald and Blake stole every last one of their worldly possessions, and Pyrrha… Tyrian had scored a blow across Jaune’s shield that knocked him to the ground and Pyrrha had simply tackled him through a wall. Luckily, Tyrian… took that very well, but Jaune couldn’t keep putting his servants in harm's way like this! He was too… too soft hearted for his own good, and even if Mom told him that it was his heart that made him her special little Prince, he didn’t want to be a special little prince!

Which meant that he had to go to the one person who had no fear of his sisters. And the one place where he had almost no advantages. Jaune didn’t like commanding people, but here, the point was a bit… moot.

Cinder was the one person he truly could not command.

Something about being around her, Jaune just got… weirdly nervous and uncertain, and his powers became anemic. She was the one person who could tell him “No.” And she did it a lot. Downing his tea, he tried to focus on how hot it was or anything about it that might give him some focus as he marched himself to Cinder’s private quarters where… she hadn’t even noticed him enter, she was so busy with some other work.

“Um, well, ah...” his throat suddenly became dry as Cinder looked up from her paperwork and gave him a once over. How… how scrawny he must seem to her, the Prince of the Grimm by title, and yet, being no more than just a child before one of his servants! “M-Ms. Fall, I-”

“I believe,” she cut him off, “that you are to call me ‘Cinder,’ am I correct?”

“Y-yes, Ma’am!” he said a little too eagerly, “I- I mean, yes, Cinder, w-we’re on a first name basis…”

Cinder sighed, a sigh Jaune had heard, unfortunately, many times, “Jaune, you are Prince of the Grimm. Your word alone is death, and you command all the Grimm of the world. But if you have no confidence-”

“-it doesn’t matter,” Jaune glumly concluded as he took a seat. Cinder’s expression softened. He didn’t get all starry-eyed about Cinder like Emerald did, but she was the only one of Jaune’s servants that he could actually relate to, the only one close to his age at only five years older than him. And even though those years made her seem… impossibly worldly and sophisticated, she was the only person Jaune could really talk to about some things. She was a harsh, stern woman who did not allow anyone to underestimate her, and yet… he still had a way of drawing out her tender side in moments like this.

“Jaune…” she said softly, “We’ve talked about this enough that you know what I have to say. And I know that you are, in your own way, working on it. But I also know what it means to be ruled by fear. When I was younger than you are now… one moment.” Cinder’s eyes swiveled around the room. “Emerald, this is a private conversation.”

A muffled voice broke from the cabinet, “How- how did you know?”

“You just told me,” Cinder replied, crisply. “And if you could tell your sister to stop eavesdropping as well…”

Another voice from the corner snipped, “Way to blow it, Emerald.”

“No fighting, you two,” Cinder dryly replied as Jaune’s sister’s glumly slunk out of the room. Jaune blushed—Cinder was only human, and yet… she spoke with more authority than even Mom, certainly more than he ever did. “Incidentally,” Cinder added, “I expect the two of them will be heading straight for Pyrrha and Weiss to inform them of this, and I’d appreciate it if you asked them to not… actually, that might be something…”

Cinder leaned back in her seat, contemplating something Jaune impatiently waited for her to explain to him. It made him feel even more like a child, having to wait for his tutor to tell him what she was devising, and yet, he didn’t know anything else he could do but lean forward impatiently as Cinder nodded and resumed her thought. “You do have power, Jaune, tremendous power, but it’s unquestioned. While your sisters are training, testing themselves against their limitations, against the best challenges we can devise for them, you live in a castle where your orders are absolute… how could you expect to learn confidence if you’ve never been challenged? If you never overcome what holds you back.”

Jaune raised an eyebrow, unsure where this was going. “And… you think I should…” he let his voice trail off as Cinder’s lips curled into a smile.

“You need to test yourself as the Prince of the Grimm, as a leader… Jaune, you need to go out into the world of Remnant.”