The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Believing

Even after the light of my power faded, the room remained silent, Adam and Autumn ready to take on hell at a moment's notice. Adam had gather so much power in Crocea Mors that it was shining as if it were made of light and he didn't even glance my way as the room darkened.

After all, we weren't necessarily safe yet.

I took slow, steady breathes as I felt my power return with each passing moment, activating my usual skills as the MP to do so presented itself. To assist the process, I cast Temple upon the room and reinforced it with Sanctum Sanctorum, taking advantage of the barriers effects to bolster my MP regen and, hopefully, to slow down anyone trying to get inside. An unnecessary precaution in all likelihood, but I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it, especially with its support effects. After that, I activated my defensive techniques one by one, making sure I'd be safe from harm and able to react fast to any signs of danger.

Then I tried to activate my usual suit of sensory skills.

There was no response.

At that, even I couldn't help but stiffen, heartbeat picking up its pace in my chest. Sensing it, Autumn reacted by sending waves of thorns down the length of her vine fence and I knew without even having to look that they were lethally poisonous, for my sake. Though he didn't have her senses, Adam knew a sign that the danger hadn't passed when he saw one and didn't change his stance or cease charging his attack.

Careful, I told myself. First things first.

Midgardsormr's Skin (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00% MP: 2000

The ancient protective technique crafted by Prince Sormr for the sake of his imprisoned brother. To save him, Sormr cast off his skin a thousand times, regrowing it countless time as he battled his brothers captors until he perfected the technique and laid siege to the towers of his enemies at the head of Mistral's armies and received the title Midgardsormr for his strength. Through the use of intense flows of Aura, this technique changes the structure of one's skin, transforming it into an incredibly dense form of the organic material 'Adamant.' Warning: The malleability of the material is dependent upon the continuous application of Aura, without which it becomes completely rigid.

Skin becomes Adamantine.

If Strength is less than 400, user is Petrified upon deactivation.

If Strength is greater than 400, Petrification may be resisted; user receives 3000 damage and gains the status effect 'Flayed' until HP rises above 50%.

Additional 2000 MP used per minute.

As my skin hardened, I exhaled slowly, feeling its strength even as my power began to drain. Just from the feel of it taking hold, I could tell that it was different—stronger, more temperature resistant, more compatible with my Aura. With it as an extra layer of defense, I felt more at ease, despite what was happening.

Was it my new skill? No, rather, it had to be my new skill, my 'Pericognition.' Nothing else had changed after all. But…I felt odd, somehow. Despite my completely rational nervousness, I felt myself growing at ease, as if…

As if I knew I wasn't in danger. It was a feeling I'd felt countless times before, after checking to make sure it was true. But in this situation, I—

"Jaune," Adam murmured after several more seconds, growing worried. "Are we in trouble?"

"No," I answered without even thinking and yet sounded somehow certain. The moment the words left my mouth, however, I froze again, wondering what had made me say it.

But it was true, I thought. There was nothing threatening around us. Cinder was in her room, the halls around us were clear of danger, and everything seemed to be okay. I was sure of that.

How the hell was I sure of that?

"One sec," I interrupted Adam. "I have to check something real quick."

Bringing up my status screen with a thought, I began flicking through it with one hand while reaching out with my mind. Gou was on guard outside of the school, waiting from a vantage point to help if any threats presented themselves while I was preoccupied. While he was much weakened without my help, be was still more than able to turn into a building sized engine of destruction on demand, which was the type of thing that would distract most people, if nothing else.

He was right where I'd left him, I knew the moment I gave it thought—and as intent as he'd been the moment I'd first given the command. I reached out with Levant to confirm that and she did.

"Gou, status," I said at once. Gou wondered why I'd ask him that when I obvious had my powers back, but was quick to respond regardless.

"Cinder is still in her room, as are Emerald and Mercury," He stated, looking around slowly. "There was no response."

"You have visual," I asked, just to make sure. His ear twitched once at the odd question.

"I do," He stated. "I am watching them now."

"Where is Mercury in the room?" I asked.

"He's on the floor," Gou replied, growing more confused but continuing to treat this as a matter of great and immediate importance, which I appreciated. "He just sat up. I believe he's complaining at the moment."

Gou had a harder time using Clairvoyance then I did, which was why he usually didn't use it. It could provide a tremendous amount of information and its uses were almost beyond counting, but it came with some massive changes in how you perceived the world and how much information flooded your senses. He found it disorienting and dangerous to use in a fight, which was why he usually didn't bother with it except in brief spurts. Even with all the changes my power had wrought on him, his primary sense remained his nose, it seemed.

But he could use it when he needed to and the description he'd provided mapped perfectly to the one in my head—because I thought Mercury had been on the floor, that Cinder had been on her bed sewing, and that Emerald was resting near Mercury. Those weren't uncommon positions for either of them to be in, though, so I'd considered the possibility that I might have simply been projecting my memories, but with his mention of Mercury sitting up, I was all but sure.

I could still sense them. I wasn't watching them, I didn't have my Clairvoyance on, but I knew exactly what they were doing. I noted all of that calmly and filed it away as I focus on his words. He'd confirmed he was watching them which meant he was still using Clairvoyance, which meant I still had Clairvoyance, even if it wasn't activating right now. I checked to confirm that its icon was still present under my skill listing and it was, along with all the other skills I'd used with Tiferet.

Then I checked on my newest skill, trying to get to the bottom of this.

Pericognition (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

A relative of pre- and postcognition, this skill allows for perception of the present, rather than the past or future. Specifically, it represents the ability to gather useful information from one's surroundings through the use of one's mind and senses. This skill makes use of both the natural and unnatural senses of the user to gather data, which it then analyzes great speed, parsing and piecing together even minute details. In addition, all sensory-based skills with a cost of 10 MP or less become Passive if they are not already so and no longer cost MP or require concentration to use.

I took a slow breath and exhaled the same way.

So that was it, I thought to myself. It wasn't that I couldn't activate them, it was simply that they were already activated and were now running in the background. I knew where everything around me was without bothering to look or even think about it—I just knew, the information rising in my thoughts as it became relevant. I knew exactly what Cinder was doing right now, knew where everyone was and how they were feeling, but it wasn't a constant flood of information any more, just…knowledge. A quiet, simple understanding of the world around me.

"Jaune?" Adam asked again, still holding his sword. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I replied, looking down at myself. "Wow, yeah. I'm just…trying to get used to this, is all. You can put the sword down, though; everything's fine. Autumn, you too."

After a moment of hesitation, Adam slowly began to relax, the power in his borrowed bladed easing back into him. After a quiet moment, Autumn retracting her vines and thorns, mass retreating back under her cloak as she did and leaving the room looking almost normal again.

"What happened?" Adam asked and I had to stop for a moment to consider my answer.

"I'm…not sure how to explain it," I mused. "Mainly because I'm still getting used to it myself. I need to test it out, I think."

Adam frowned at that, eyebrows furrowing.

"How?" He asked and that, at least, I had an answer to.

"Two minutes," I replied, making a gesture to undo all the things my Elementals had done to seal the room before settling down to wait. Sure enough, a couple minutes later there was a knock on our door.

I stood up, hiding Autumn beneath an illusion with a quick thought, and took several strides towards the door before opening it.

"Porfyro," I greeted with a smile. "Why should I help you when your own family refuses to?"

The boy on the other side of the door flinched at the blunt words that I'd spoken. Absently, I wondered if it was okay to think of one of my seniors as a boy—but, well, I was probably older then him now, so I suppose its okay?

But the majority of my attention was focused on the words I'd just spoken and on their recipient. I'd intentionally spoken without thinking, curious as to what would come to mind—though I kept my senses stretched over Haven whenever I was nearby, monitoring everything in it in the process, the truth of the matter was that there were a great number of things I just didn't care about. The students and teachers met to talk about everything from weapon designs to books to the weather, professors spent hours planning lessons and grading papers, couples snuck kisses and more, people complained about just about everything in the world, laughed at jokes, and played games.

In a building with so many people, it went without saying that a lot of things were happening and I could sense it all. If I wanted to, I could hear ever whisper, watch every motion, and know everything that was going on.

But for the most part, I didn't bother. For both the sake of not wasting my time and giving others some semblance of privacy, I reined my awareness in. When something new started happening, I'd give it a cursory glance to see if it was anything worth knowing and if it didn't seem like it, I'd…not necessarily look away, because it was hard to look away when you could see everything at all times, but I'd unfocus unless something drew my attention. I'd gotten pretty good at reacting to specific words and phrases, so I thought I was fairly good at it, and it freed up my mind to think about things besides who was having sex with who and what the rumor mill was churning out.

Added to the fact that I spent a significant amount of time either meditating or in Naraka, I could proudly say I didn't know everything that was happening at Haven—which wasn't the type of thing I normally went for given my general need to know everything happening around me, but if there was anything in the world that could convince someone that not everything was worth seeing or listening to, it was a school campus.

All of which boiled down to a simple fact—Porfyro wasn't really a priority for me. Certainly, his team had a number of interesting powers, especially Asimi, and given the fact that there seemed to be some bad will between them and several other teams, I'd predicted that he might want to associate himself with me. But since I was fairly confident I could handle that simply by being sufficiently impressive, I hadn't made any particular effort to examine them or listen in on their conversation.

Thinking back, however, I knew the pieces had been there. Both Porfyro and Asimi were Alexandrians and, thus, related to Kyanos. Despite that and their age, however, neither was an heir to the family, implying they were either Kyanos' cousin or else that something had happened in the Alexandrian family.

Or both, I thought, looking at him as I thought my way to the conclusion I'd already come to, gathering the scattered pieces. Given their position at the school, they obviously weren't very were liked and could use all the help they could get—and yet, I'd barely ever seen them talk to Kyanos. I'd brushed that off as not wanting to drag a freshman into their problems, but was there more to it than that?

There must have been, or he wouldn't be here. Even with his relative inexperience, Kyanos was skilled for a freshman and, more than that, he was an Alexandrian. Whatever their relative power, it couldn't be denied that the Alexandria name held a lot of weight in Mistral—few people, after all, would risk inspiring hatred in a guy who'd one day be the head of a Family. And even if they couldn't rely on Kyanos for some reason, speaking to their father, whoever he was, and getting a sign of support would go a long way in avoiding people's wrath. Yet, Porfyro and his team were still targeted.

And instead of going to his family for help, he'd come to me. A powerful freshman, certainly, but an unknown and a Roma—at least, as far as he was concerned. It was a risky move and one that could be taken the wrong way by others. As close as our families had historically been, why would he take that chance and risk ostracizing his family?

Simply, I thought. They wouldn't help him anyway, so what did it matter if they turn their backs?

But why? He was an Alexandrian, right? Why would he be—

Abruptly, I remembered what Albus and Finn had told me about bastard children and how Haven was sometimes used and the pieces came together.

"Ah," I said, smiling a touch sadly before he could recover and respond. "I understand."

"Do you?" Porfyro asked, eyes still wide from my first unexpected statement. "Because I don't. What do you—"

"Who was it?" I asked. "Your mother or father?"

Mother, I thought before the words were even out of my mouth, remember something Kyanos had told me once. His father was Cynosarges' son and the next in line—and I was betting that Porfyro and Asimi were his half-siblings. Glancing over Porfyro to confirm it, I was all but certain they shared the same genes on the paternal side.

But whatever it's viscosity relative to water, blood wasn't everything. Given their names were still Alexandria, I was betting they'd been acknowledged in some capacity and that it probably hadn't made a lot of people happy. I mean, you walk home and show your wife the two children you had with another woman, things are bound to get a little awkward. Given their relative ages, Kyanos' father must have met Porfyro and Asimi's mother before conceiving Kyanos with what I was guessing had been or became his legal wife. Given how Mistral could handle marriages, well, that wasn't even necessarily a surprising situation.

Even so, if he had acknowledged them and brought them home…well, that would have gone a long way to legitimize them. And while they technically wouldn't be candidates for inheritance, Mistral had a lot of history when it came to matters of succession. Said history generally involved mass murder, torture, burning buildings, betrayal, sabotage, framing, and a variety of other horrible things. In all likelihood, it would be enough to worry a new wife and her young child—and if it wasn't, certainly piss her and her family off. Whatever issues Albus and Finn had with their families, I was pretty sure matters would be far worse when it came to the Families.

As I was thinking that, Porfyro flinched slightly and drew half a step back, eyes flicking down.

"My mother," He confirmed before hesitating for a moment. "She and Father were a team once—like Kyanos and Melania. Eventually they…"

I nodded to show I understood.

"But things changed," I guessed. "The arrangement fell through or someone made a better offer. Duty called."

Porfyro pursed his lips but nodded. He was quiet for a moment, looking around at the empty hall, down at the floor, and then up to me. After a moment, he made a decision and chose to tell me.

"As the head of the Alexandria family, Father formally broke things off with our mother," He admitted. He was a bit reluctant to speak but weighing his feelings against the safety of his team, the choice was obvious; he thought I already knew everything anyway, and whatever sympathy he could garner would be of use. "As far as I know, he didn't meet with her again except in his role as a Hunter until the day she died."

"And then he took you in," I said.

"We didn't have anywhere else to go," Porfyro stated. "He could have ignored us, pretended he didn't know, and shuffled us off into the system, but I think…"

I think he loved our mother.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that those were the words he wanted to say as he fell silent—or perhaps the ones he wanted to believe. I didn't know if it was true or not, though; even with my new Pericognition, data mining for me, there was no way to determine what feelings two people I'd never met had shared decades ago.

"Even now though, I'm not entirely sure what I think about that," Porfyro continued. "I know my father has done a great deal for me, far more than he had to—then he should have, even—but at the same time…"

"I'm guessing you're not the most popular people in the family," I replied. "You can't ask your father for help, I take it—there are limits to what he can do and if he interferes too much and provokes a response, it just might make things worse. Kyanos?"

"Kyanos…I don't think he's ever hated us," Porfyro mused. "But I don't think he's ever known what to do with us, either. Between being several years older than him, not meeting us for years, and the warnings to stay away…and truthfully, when our Semblances first came in, there had been a few issues."

I nodded, not particularly surprised. Porfyro's power allowed him to manipulate the Opacity of his surroundings, from making something crystal clear to turning it pitch-black. In the early days when his control was limited and he was testing things out, it was easy to imagine how incidents might be caused. From effectively blinding people, to making their clothes see-through, to turning himself invisible…add that to what had no doubt been a fair amount of frustration towards the members of his new family and incidents were bound to ensue.

And then there was Asimi. A young girl, suddenly gifted with the power to see the future, however limited it might be. No, even beyond that, the way she saw it, as a world empty of people but for how they acted on the world around them. Doors opening and closing randomly, objects floating and moving about, sudden damages and shifts being caused, and all the while being distracted from the present…if I'd gotten a power like that when I was a small child, I could honestly say I would have freaked.

I considered him for another long minute, mulling it over.

"Okay," I said at last, stepping aside to let him past. "Come on in."