The King Of Knights (RWBY X Jaune Arc)

RWBY x JL P1 IF: Chapter 5

"You're leaving already?" Manaka asked with puffy cheeks as Jaune stood up, summoning Excalibur without the mist. He wore an unwaveringly serious facial expression as he stared at the little girl.

Jaune didn't reply as he began to walk away. "Wait! If you stay, I can tell you something useful!" Manaka begged, not wanting him to leave. A red claw was soaring towards Jaune, about to grab him. With a swift motion, he countered the claw and sliced it off. The figure merely growled as it retracted its arm to heal.

Jaune looked at Manaka. "Fine..." Manaka sighed in relief. She may be cunning and extremely manipulative, but her heart and soul were devoted to Saber and Saber alone. "I'm not the only one here. Someone among your allies is an imposter."

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Jaune had left the area where Manaka was. He began opening random doors, desperately trying to find Jessica. He had attempted to get answers from Manaka, but all he received were insults directed at Jessica. "Come on, Jessica... Where are you?" He started running down the hall, breaking through door after door, only to find the same classroom repeatedly.

"Is Manaka trying to keep me away from her...?" Jaune stopped and pondered for a moment. "I have an idea..." After some thought, he formulated a plan. He sat down and began enveloping himself in mana. "Focus... Focus... I know you can hear me, Jessica..."

He closed his eyes, concentrating on the mana that had developed into Jessica, trying to locate her. It took some time, but eventually, he gained a sense of where she was and what she was saying.

Jessica was in a state of panic, her cries for help becoming sobs. "Someone... Help... I hate this... Please..." Jessica's voice was raspy and dry, her continuous pleas for help taking a toll on her voicebox. She seemed to be trapped in a small, dark room.

"Jessica" Jaune spoke through her mind using his mana that was still inside her, but there was no response. "Jessica, it's me, Jaune Arc" he spoke again as her eyes slightly opened. "J-Jaune... W-Where... Help! Jaune, I-I need help! I dont like this!" Her heart began to race as she clutched her chest, feeling pain.

Jaune continued to speak softly to Jessica, trying to calm her down, but the mixed emotions she was experiencing made it challenging for her to focus on anything.

"Dammit... Let's try some of Merlin's magic then" he sighed to himself, recalling a spell that Merlin had taught him during his time being trained by the wizard. Jaune focused his mana, and a low-tier projection of himself appeared in front of the panicked Jessica.

"Jessica, I'm here, so please don't be scared" he said gently. He leaned down and softly rubbed her cheek, pulling her close to his chest. Jessica instinctively sought warmth, gripping Jaune tightly as if her life depended on it. She continued to cry and call out to Jaune, and it was painful for him to hear such cries.

"I'm sorry... I should have known Manaka would do this to someone close to me, but I still had trust in her not to harm you..." Jaune used his sleeve to wipe away her tears. Jessica's chest was still pounding from her fast heart rate due to the panic attack, but eventually, Jaune's warm aura and mana surrounded them both, gradually calming her down.

Even when Jaune saw that she seemed to have calmed down, Jessica never released her hold on Jaune. "Thank you... Jaune" she hiccupped before leaning completely into his warmth.

Jessica appeared to have forgotten where she was and what had happened, which was a good sign.

"Can you hear me now, Jessica?" He asked softly as he caressed her cheek, and she leaned into his touch. "Mhm..."