"This is the place, right? I stick it in?" Y/N asked Goodwitch, unsure whether it is in the correct way or not.

"Yes, that is correct. It may be a bit hard but if you push it in deep enough..."

A grunt escaped from his mouth as he tried to find a sweet spot. "Wow, you aren't kidding. It really is thick. I'll just have to-"

"Don't push it in too deep. It will only worsen it." Goodwitch grabbed his hand to show what Y/N did wrong. "Here."

"Ah, I see." With some strength, Y/N pushed it through with no resistance. "Hey, it's working. I can see the sap."

Shortly after leaving everyone, Y/N and Goodwitch went to their own trees to collect the sap from. Goodwitch was instructing Y/N the best way to get the sap from the trees instead of using a more barbaric method. "The red tree sap of the Forever Falls is a very delicious sap, and is used in many food products in Vale," Glynda explained to Y/N, eyeing the sap dripping in the jar. "You may taste some if you want."

Hearing the approval, Y/N swiped some from the nozzle and tasted some. "Oh, so that's the sap she used."

"'She'?" Glynda asked. Her eyebrow raising slightly.

"Oh, right. I'm working in a baking store called Monty's and the owner there, Ms. Belle makes these delicious jam-filled buns and this is the jam she used."

"Ah, I see."

"If you want, I'll get some for you and Ozpin."

"That would be grateful. Thank you."

And so, Y/N continued to let the nozzle to the work while conversing with Glynda on various topics. It made Glynda go into a good mood, a stress reliever to be honest; Y/N always had time to hear her out and help in ways that felt satisfactory to Glynda. If she didn't have this kind of job and Y/N was a tad bit older, she would've asked him out already.

Ozpin still asked questions to Y/N regarding his past and skill in combat, perhaps trained in some way due to how proficient he is in switching in a different type of weapon. Or his Semblance is versatile as deadly, like Glynda's Glyphs since he can change the output of his attacks by a large cut or a big explosion. However, Y/N still has no clue and that the words naturally flow into his power output.

But he let it be. What happens in the past, stays in the past.

His concentration was soon broken when he saw a couple of boys walking towards Goodwitch.

"Hey, Professor? One of our nozzles isn't working and now it's stuck on a tree."

Glynda nodded at the information and looked at Y/N. "Mr. L/N, stay here for the moment. I will assist students in need."

"Of course, Professor." Y/N replied as she went to the boys' direction, taking her away.

With a moment of silence to himself, he thought today felt too silent.

Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that.

Slightly surprised, Y/N kept his composure and allowed the sap to continue dripping into the jar. 'What do you mean?'

He has appeared to seek vengeance.

He knew what he was pertaining to. Y/N can fell it, after all, the bloodlust coming from behind him. It seems Cardin had targeted him instead of Pyrrha.

Not Cardin. 'HIM'...

Y/N felt the {Demon} go to his left and turned. There he faced the grove of red-leafed trees behind Cardin and Jaune. He was confused as to what it meant, who's 'He'?

'I don't understand what you-' That was when he heard a large roar coming from that direction.

Y/N stood up in response and eyed the trees seriously. "Right, a Major Ursa that came for the sap."

Not the creature...

"What, then who?"

Hehehehehe... You'll see.

With that, he felt the {Demon} left his mind. 'What was is it pertaining to?'

Shaking his head, Y/N towards the sound the Grimm made and drawn his blade.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cardin had never felt fear in his life, he never had the pleasure to. Growing up in a family like his taught him to never reveal his emotions becuase everyone will call the Winchester name weak and worthless. Sure he made friends but they were more forced rather than sincere so they don't count. After being nominated as leader, Cardin made sure of his dominance towards the group of people he will have to get along for the next 4 years and to make sure he threatened them for their loyalty.

That all changed when the Ursa attacked them in Forever Falls.

The moment it appeared, they fled. They fled like the cowards they were and soon, he will as well.

Cardin tried to escape the giant Grimm, running as fast as he can while also checking on the Ursa behind him. That was for naught as the Ursai jumped over the teen and swiped his breastplate, making him stagger to the ground. "Crap! Crap, Crap."

He tried to punch the Grimm but when it made contact, the pain from the recovery flared up and recoiled in pain.

A few meters from Cardin were Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha. Weapons at the ready. "Oh, no."

The Major Ursa licked its mouth and walked slowly towards the tasty and sweet snack before it. It raised its paws before the living organism and swiped with the intent to kill. It would have worked if it weren't for an annoying shield to stop it.

Jaune struggled against the weight of an Elder Grimm against his shield as he tried to stop the charge from the Ursa.

Weiss gets Myrtenaster to kill the Grimm but Pyrrha stopped her. "Wait!"

After a moment of struggle, Jaune managed to divert the charge and land a strike against the stomach.

Jaune fought the Grimm with just instinct and some skill he learned from the Emerald Forest with Pyrrha as he slashed at the Grimm in various points, its feet, stomach and body attempting to kill it. But the Grimm had knowledge from its various encounters and also took a few deadly strikes with its own paw against Jaune but Aura was the key factor from death and a fight.

The Grimm then launched a paw towards the weak knight and made him land a few feet apart. Jaune stood up and checked his Scroll for his Aura readings, it was in the red, and grimaced at the color. But that didn't stop him at all. Jaune ran to the danger with his will bet against the odds. The Ursa also ran towards him with the full intent to kill the annoying teen.

Just as they were about to clash, Pyrrha saw Jaune leaving himself wide open from the Grimm. She used her Semblance {Polarity} to raise Jaune's shield and block the strike from the Ursa, saving her crush. When it registered in his mind about the block, Jaune then shifted his movement and in one swift strike, decapitated the Elder Grimm.

Ruby saw the weird black glow from Jaune's shield and was a bit confused. "Uhhh... what?"

Weiss was equally amazed by the skill Arc displayed against the Grimm, on his own no doubt. "How did you?.."

Pyrrha merely smiled at their reactions and told them. "Well, Ruby has her {Speed} and you have your {Glyphs}. My Semblance is {Polarity}."

"Whoa, you control poles..." Ruby childishly said. Well, when you get to her age you are also prone to just disassemble big words in order to find the meaning.

However, "No, you dolt. It means she has control over magnetism." Weiss corrected her leader with a huff of ignorance.

"Magnets are cool too..."

Pyrrha then started to leave the site but Weiss stopped her this time. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Yeah! We could tell them what happened." Ruby wanted to tell Glynda about Jaune having the upper hand against Cardin Winchester, of all people.

"Or..." But Pyrrha had a better plan. "Perhaps could keep it a little secret?" Ruby and Weiss looked at each in mild shock but smiled at the champions' nice attitude.

Jaune, a bit bruised, sheathed Crocea Mors and took deeps breaths to calm himself. He then walked over to the cowardly Cardin, still managed to be in the same position when the Ursa swiped him.

Cardin then expected something of a beatdown from Jaune but didn't see him holding out his hand. With a bit of force, he lifted the brute from his feet. "Holy crap, Jaune."

Jaune wasn't done yet. He glared angrily at Cardin. "Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - my brother - ever again. Got it?" His voice is seriously deadly right now, threatening the bully.

Intimidated, Cardin nodded along with the order.

A nod between the two leaders ensured this and-

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

A power they never felt spike near their positions. The voice, demonic and distorted in nature, as if restraining one's self.

"I cAmE fOr A rEvEnGe AnD iNsTeAd I gEt ThIs!!! BuLlShIt!!!" A dark aura surrounded the two teens as if trapping them. "DoN't YoU gEt It?! FrIeNdShIp Is A lIE!!! CoMrAdRiE iS fAkE!!! tHeY wIlL aLwAyS sTaB yOu AnD lEaVe YoU tO DiE!!!" The mist then circulated around Cardin, panicking even more. "kIlL hIm, JAUNE. KiLl HiM sO tHaT hE wIlL nEvEr BoThEr YoU eVeR aGaIn."

Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby ran towards the mist and draw their weapon. "What is this?!" Ruby asked, fearing for Jaune and Cardin's safety.

"I don't know! I've never seen a Grimm do this." Weiss answered.

Jaune tried to stop the mist from whispering in his head. "N-No. I won't."

As if the mist wasn't terrifying enough, it then glowed two red orbs with black iris and stared deeply into Jaune. "wHy?"

"B-Because... I don't want to hurt him. Not anymore..."

"LIES!!!" The mist swirled more violently around the two as some moved towards Cardin and proceeded to choke the teen. "IF YOU CAN'T DO IT, THEN I'LL DO IT!!!"

"NO!" Jaune tried to stop the Mist Grimm but was harshly pushed out of the way and into Pyrrha.

"SAY GOOD-BYE TO THE BULLY OF BEACON ACADEMY!!!"

"{Makouga!}" A series of light sharpened then shot towards the mistified Grimm, stopping it from choking Cardin. It made contact to the orbs specifically and let Cardin go.

When Cardin fell to the ground, he ran away. He ran from the Grimm, past Jaune, and to safety.

The group looked to the side and saw Y/N there with his hand outstretched. "Y/N!!!"

Y/N snapped his attention to Jaune and co. with concern. "Is everyone alright?"

"HeHaHaHaHa..." A maniacal laugh made everyone snap their heads to the mist as it started to converge. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I KNEW YOU WERE THERE! I JUST KNEW YOU WOULD NEVER DIE!"

Y/N narrowed his eyes and grabbed his shield. "Who are you?!"

"WHO? WHO AM I?! WHO AM I?!?!?!?!" The mist then started the solidify in a small circle near them. The energy then runs rampant around them, destroying a few trees around the clearing.

Y/N took the chance to run towards his friends with Pyrrha and Jaune raising their shields. "What's going on?!" Ruby asked with fear, her hands shaking her weapon.

"Just stay behind us. We got you!" Y/N said, blocking a few shots from the energy shots.

"I don't know how long we can keep this up!" Jaune shouted, feeling his Aura reserves depleting with each shot.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha..." The swirling mist then started to slow. "Of course you would never recognize me. How could you when I looked like that..." Y/N felt the air thicken with power coming from the talking mist. He kept his calm and assessed the situation right now. "Now, why don't you look at me, JoKeR?"

That voice, when he said the name made Y/N's eyes wide open. He stepped out of the group as the mist started to disperse. His breaths were shaky and his mind tried to find a viable solution at what is happening. "No... It can't be. How?"

A slight chuckle came from the figure in front of him with a body levitating. "I ask the same question over and over and over again but you know what I realized?" The figure then lifted its knee to its face and placed a hand over it. "I was brought back to life, just to kill you."

When the mist started to clear up, Y/N was surprised and scared to the bone as to what the figure looked like. Thoughtlessly, he uttered the figure's name. "Akechi?..."

"Oh, don't be so surprised. You know I wasn't dead. You just didn't try hard enough." 'Akechi?' silently chuckled at the expression Y/N had and felt his face contorting itself into a grin. "What's the matter, breathless against an old friend?"

Jaune watched the expression Y/N and noticed how tightly he gripped Joker. "H-How? I saw you dead. YOU said it clearly."

"Oh you poor naive soul. This is why you depend so much on your little friends." He grinned massively and raised his hand. "I don't need to tell you anyway, after all you're all gonna die." A dark purple portal opened up behind him with a small blade revealing itself.

"Y/N!" Ruby called out to her crush upon seeing the small glimmer of a blade.

Y/N snapped out of his thoughts as 'Akechi?' let his arm fall towards him. "{Laevatin}"

The blade was swiftly brought out and screamed towards the teen. Y/N reacted just in time and dodged the blade when it struck the ground. It kicked up dust as the impact made Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha and Jaune fly briefly behind them. Y/N stabbed his sword to the ground and raised his shield to protect himself from the dust.

When the smake settled, Y/N saw the damage 'Akechi?' did. It left a medium sized crater but where the attack hit left a deep cut in the soil.

"Y/N!" Goodwitch came running towards them with her Riding Crop aimed at 'Akechi?'. "Mr. L/N, are you alright?"

"Tch, this is why I prefer to work alone." Mist gathered around 'Akechi?' as he looked at Y/N with a sadistic smile. "I'll be back to kill you later. See ya, Joker." 'Akechi's' body suddenly dematerialized in front of everyone but the same red eyes and grin was still seen. "Oh, my name isn't 'Akechi' anymore. Call me..." As his body further dissapeared, it went to his face and uttered a single word. "...Loki." And thus, Loki dissapread without a trace to be seen.

A single card then appeared, flying slowly down. Y/N stood up and grabbed the falling card and when he looked at it, a surprised look from his face was seen.

"What is that?" Weiss asked, taking a peek at the card. "'Take Your Hearts'?"

"More importantly, Y/N. Who was he?" Pyrrha asked the elephant in the room. She did hear from RWBY that Y/N doesn't remember his past at all but the assailent pronounced he was a friend to him. "And how does he know you?"

Y/N didn't reply immedietly, just staring intesly at the calling card he was given. "Mr. L/N?" Glynda asked her student.

Shaking his head, he kept the card and turned around to walk away. "Y/N?" Ruby asked him, concerned for his well-being.

"...It's getting late, we should go back." With that, Y/N left the scene without making contact at all.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Y/N arrived at the part Jaune blocked an Ursa's swipe with its claws, he let things play out. Jaune took a few hits, proceded to try and kill it, Pyrrha saved her crush's life and Jaune rightfully killed the beast. At first glance, Y/N would have just left them alone and finish his task.

But it never happened. That was when he heard the demonic voice of the mist come towarding Jaune and Cardin. It was unexpected factor for Y/N as he had never seen a Mist Grimm other than the Ghoul which possessed ininimate objects such as rocks, trees, so it was a first but it wouldn't be the last. Throwing caution to the wind, he quickly aimed at the mist when it was strangeling Cardin and cast a medium-tier {Bless} attack which all Grimm is weak against.

When it spoke to Y/N, he felt like he had heard it before from somewhere but couldn't pin it down as it shot numerous energy like blast around them. Running and protecting Ruby and Weiss with Pyrrha and Jaune, the mist started to solidify into a figure. At first glance, Y/N would have thought it would take a shape of a humanoid Grimm so when Akechi's face appeared with Loki's body, Y/N thought he was going insane like the mist did something to his brain.

Y/N was flabbergasted at the appearnce of Akechi, especially when it did his signature move, {Laevatin}, a heavy {All-Mighty} damage against him. So there was no denying it after that, Akechi was somehow revived into that form.

I have told you.

Y/N stopped his walking and clenched his fist. 'That's what you meant, huh? Akechi is still alive?' He quickly shook his head of negative emotions. 'Alright, start talking. How do you know he was here?'

Hehehe... Simple, I sensed his bloodlust.

Y/N thought back to when the {Demon} made him move slightly to the left to see where he got it from. He thought it was the Major Ursa coming for Jaune but he didn't felt the bloodlust at all, just the large sound of the Ursa.

Be wary of Loki. He has grown stronger than before.

Silently nodding, Y/N walked ahead with new information and a sense of guilt in his heart.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Mr. L/N."

"Ozpin..."

Now we are here, with Y/N and Ozpin staring at each other at the Headmaster's office. "Do you-"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean..." Y/N faking groaned his pain in his head as he tried to soothe it.

"Take your time, Mr. L/N. Recovering memories will prove difficult if you continue to fight." Ozpin gave his natural advice to one of his students groaning in pain.

Shaking off the pain, Y/N looked to the ground feeling guilty. "He should've died..."

"I assume you are talking about this 'Loki', correct?" Ozpin pulled a surveillance from the Forever Falls as it showed the figure of Akechi's head fused into Loki's avatar and attempted to kill Y/N.

"That isn't...  Is't... Isn't..."

Y/N's face contorted into an uncomfortable look. Ozpin himself was about to tell him to not push himself, unfortunately, Y/N spoke first before him.

"It feels like I've seen him before somewhere... when I look at him... I feel like I'm looking at a ghost...,"

"... I see. And this 'Ghost' has decided to haunt you, is it?" Ozpin asked Y/N with a questionable gaze.

"I... I don't know..." Y/N said with a grave tone.

There was a long pause as both Headmaster and Y/N stared at each other. Ozpin wanted t press for answers but the look on his face suggested otherwise. However, with his way for words and slight actions he did, Ozpin thought Y/N was masterful in acting or it may all be real.

Sighing to himself, Ozpin dismissed the student. "Very well Y/N, that is all for now. Thank you for trying,"

Bowing slightly, Y/N made his way to the elevator and pushed the button to the ground floor.

When he left, Ozpin sipped from his cup of coffee and stared deeply at the shattered moon. He replayed the same scene where 'Loki' used Magic to conjure a portal to materialize a blade and sent crashing down to the earth where Y/N might have been. The use of Magic was long gone by now, only he and Salem were the only ones to use such capacity and here he clearly saw the figure using it.

Sighing once again, he sipped form his mug and stared downwards to where Y/N has just left.

"When will you tell me your secrets, Y/N? Or is it, Joker?"