So to be clear about what this is. It's a RWBY fanfic closely following canon with small deviations that uses elements from the Persona games. Specifically Persona 5. There won't be appearances from Persona characters and I'll mostly be trying to stick to original Personas to avoid getting wires crossed. Mercurial isn't abandoned, I'm just struggling on where to go with it for now. Enjoy :)

The mace came down in a broad, overhead swing, colliding against the shield with the distinct ringing of metal on metal. The sound rang in Jaune's head once again providing an uncomfortable soundtrack to the beating coming his way. His arms ached and his sword fell clumsily from his grip.

'Damn it, If I can just keep a hold of the shield' he thought gritting his teeth and attempting to plant his feet, 'I was able to block a Deathstalker sting but one aura-powered teenager breaks me easily'. As he attempted to steady himself the mace came upwards in a strike knocking the shield off balance. He could hear the jeers of Team CRDL from the audience as Cardin swung the mace directly into his chest, knocking him backwards a few feet and knocking his Aura solidly into the red. He lay on his back winded from the impact as the buzzer sounded tallying another loss to add to his collection.

Knowing that he wouldn't get any help from his opponent Jaune struggled to his feet trying to stabilize his breathing and clutching at his ribs. He looked up to where their teacher, Professor Goodwitch stood waiting to deliver her evaluation. She looked between the two and sighed.

"Mr. Winchester, whilst attacking constantly may be able to turn some situations in your favour, you stand to gain more by thinking more critically." She turned to Jaune. "Mr. Arc you need to improve in quite a few different areas but ideally I would like you to focus on your stance and keeping a track of your aura, it would do you no good to over extend when you should focus on defence." She nodded her head. "Dismissed"

Cardin sneered at Jaune as they both made their ways to the opposite changing rooms either side of the arena. Trudging into the room Jaune began undoing the straps on his armour. He could hear the sound of the final match of the lesson with gunshots and the familiar soundtrack echoing through the room. After removing his armour, he made his way to the sink, splashing some water on his face and gazing into the mirror.

'I know we're here to learn to fight Grimm. I know this is what I wanted to do' he sighed. 'But I also know that I'm not supposed to be here, isn't this even more proof. Some hero I am getting my ass regularly kicked in class'

He gripped the sink tighter and sighed once more. Drying his face, he got changed into his uniform and started making his way out of the class.

'I need to get it together, I'll never become a huntsman at this rate'

Making his way to the stands, Jaune sat next to his team as Professor Goodwitch dismissed the class. Twisting round from the bench in front of him he was greeted by Ruby.

"Nice try Jaune, you were closer than before." She said with a thumbs-up. Yang similarly turned and said.

"Yeah you're definitely improving Vomit boy" whilst flashing a cheeky smirk at him.

Jaune looked at them with a soft smile, "Thanks guys". He could feel his partner's eyes on him as well as the worried glances from Nora and Ren.

After finishing combat training for the day both teams retired to their dorms. Sitting down to try and cram some Grimm studies in before dinner.

'So what was the weakness of a Boarbatusk again, I think it was underneath, but it could be the eyes, I mean most video games the glowing bits are the one you wack so maybe?' His thoughts were interrupted as his partner came into view.

"Jaune," she paused a moment, "Do you need any sort of… help?"

"Help? No, I don't think so. Why?" He responded.

"Well… its just that you seem to be… struggling a little with fighting and I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help"

Jaune was conscious of the stillness from the other members of his team and he felt heat rise in his cheeks.

"No Pyrrha I don't need help" he said, perhaps a tad too forcefully as he saw her face drop slightly. He turned back to his textbook, but the words now seemed to be running away from him and mixing together. Grunting in frustration he closed the book and left the dorm.

Finding himself at the on-site training facilities held by Beacon, Jaune quickly got suited into his armour and retrieved Crocea Mors.

Standing across from a training dummy he took as comfortable a stance as he could, holding the sword in a tight grip. He swung the sword again and again watching as it cut shallow grooves into the marked wood of the dummy.

'Damn it this still doesn't feel right, it's cutting the wood but not cause I'm any good at this. Is the only damage I can do with this down to it being sharp!'

Swinging the sword in a wide arc it clattered against the head of the dummy sending vibrations up his arm and knocking the sword from his grasp.

'Well training dummy: 1, Jaune: 0' he bent and picked up his sword. 'Time to even it'

Hours passed as he kept hacking away, small wooden chips slowly collecting on the floor. There were higher level Grimm simulations for training, but it didn't really appeal to him.

'No point in fighting a Grimm if I can't beat a training dummy'

Finally pouring with sweat and muscles aching from the exertion he stepped back to examine his handiwork. Compared to others he had seen training it wasn't particularly impressive but the larger scores on the dummy meant he had to be getting better. Right? Taking a fresh towel from the communal pile he wiped off some sweat and sat on a bench.

'Do I need help huh. No the hero in the stories is strong no matter what. They're the one who helps, not the damsel in distress. I can work around this, I mean I've survived this long right that has to mean that I'm good enough. That everything I've done justifies the lies I've told.'

As Jaune's thoughts slowly got darker he packed up and made his way to the cafeteria for dinner. It was a muted affair with the normal conversation notably more still than usual with Nora doing most of the talking for Team JNPR.

Back in their dorm JNPR settled into for the night. Things were still a little frosty with Pyrrha occasionally glancing his way with concern and a little hurt in her eyes. Every time he turned to look at her, she would quickly turn her head away. Finally having enough, he approached her.

"Hey Pyrrha. I wanted to… apologise for earlier. I didn't mean to snap, and you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine." He said with a smile. Her earlier worry seemed to fade as she smiled back at him.

"Well if you're sure, apology accepted" she replied.

Nora and Ren smiled with approval as well as Jaune lay down on his bed glad that the small spat was over.

'But I need to get stronger, I can't keep worrying them like this'

He fell into a fitful sleep.

Soft music seemed to be emanating from the darkness surrounding him. He could hear the tinkling notes of a piano and the melodic voice of a woman.

"You, who lies to himself and to those he cares about, you may still hold the potential to change." Came a voice from the darkness.

"You must find yourself and stop running from the truth of what you are"

With this final statement he could feel the voice recede as the music got more and more faint.

The next day he found himself in Doctor Oobleck's class trying to keep his eyes open. That weird dream from last night didn't help with sleep and he swore he could still the music faintly.

'Maybe I am going insane, or that might just be Oobleck's voice'

He could hear the man talking, far too fast for the morning, about something to do with faunus but the words weren't registering properly. He was trying really but sleep just seemed so much more appealing. His eyes began to shut slowly as his head drooped towards the table.

Just before he slipped off, he felt something knock into the back of his head. He jerked up seeing a paper ball fall to the ground. Looking back he could see Cardin smirking at him. He then realised the class was staring at him.

'Did I miss something?'

"Sorry Professor I didn't hear that"

"Doctor" Oobleck said with a slight frown, "and I asked, what was the advantage the faunus had over General Lagune and his forces. You seemed eager to answer"

'Ok, relax you've studied faunus before, hell you've been friends with faunus before'

He couldn't remember what is was and how was this fair, it was supposed to be history not biology. Wait Pyrrha was gesturing to him. She kept pointing at her eyes. Eyes, eyes. Maybe the faunus used some sort of tool to help them see better.

"Was it binoculars?"

Laughter bubbled up from different areas in the class and he felt his cheeks begin to burn in shame. He could hear someone, probably Cardin, slapping a desk with ugly laughter.

"Whilst very funny, no Mr. Arc that is not the answer." His eyes narrowed, "Cardin. Perhaps you know the answer?"

That stopped his laughter but didn't wipe the smile from his face.

"Well I know it's easier to train an animal than a soldier."

The laughter stopped as suddenly as it had started. There was a mix of reactions from the class. Some in disgust, others in silent agreement. As the tension grew Pyrrha shook her head.

"You're not the most open-minded individual, are you Cardin?"

He bristled, glaring down at her.

"What? You got a problem?"

She looked up at him and smiled.

"No but I have the answer. It's night vision. Many faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark"

The class began whispering at this, from what Jaune could pick out most of it was not underserved praise towards Pyrrha as well as a couple jealous comments.

'That's my partner'

Blake chimed in as well with an addition to the answer as well as an insult towards Cardin. He stood loudly from his seat beginning to move towards her when Oobleck intervened.

"Mr. Winchester, if you would take your seat!"

Jaune couldn't help himself, it wasn't often he saw Cardin get his comeuppance, he let loose a little snort only to see Oobleck standing directly in front of him.

'Oh fuck my life'

"You and Mr. Winchester can both see me after class for additional readings, it seems like you need to work on your history."

'Welp at least we don't have to work together'

After a lecture from Oobleck about the merits of history Jaune and Cardin left the classroom.

'Worked hard to be here? Best of the best? If only they knew. I'm nothing like all of them'

His self-deprecation was interrupted when he felt himself get shoved from behind.

'And now the ground wants to say hello. Wonderful'

He landed heavily knocking his knee on the floor with a sharp sting of pain. Cardin laughed as he walked away.

Pyrrha walked over and helped him to his feet with a sigh.

"I could break his legs if you want?"

Jaune shivered at the cheery way she said their teammates favourite catchphrase.

'Note to self. Don't piss Pyrrha off.'

"N-no it's fine. Anyway, have they all gone for lunch"

She nodded and both of them made their way to join the others.

In the cafeteria they were listening to Nora as she went into detail about the process of acquiring Ursa skin rugs and exactly how much Lien they would sell for. Ren chiming in occasionally to provide the much-needed dose of reality. Jaune had to admit he wasn't really paying much attention. His mind kept flitting back to what Oobleck said.

'Beacon admits the best of the best. But I'm not even close to the best. Constantly having to be helped by people. What kind of hero can't even answer simple questions?'

He moved the food around on his plate not really having the appetite to consider eating.

"Jaune? Are you okay?"

He looked up Pyrrha and Ruby were both looking at him with concern. Behind them he could see Yang with one ear on the conversation as well as Nora and Ren both glancing at him.

'And now you're giving them more to worry about'

"Yeah I'm okay." he said giving them a hopefully convincing smile.

Ruby frowned. So, the smile wasn't convincing enough, he'll keep a note to work on that.

"It's just that you seem a little… not okay."

"Guys. I'm fine seriously! Look!" he gave them a thumbs-up that felt weak even to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Team CRDL jeering at a faunus girl.

'Isn't she like a second or third-year? She could probably turn them inside out'

He turned his attention back to his partner who was looking at him seriously.

"Cardin has been picking on you since we started here, you do realise that?"

"Nah he's just messing around, its all practical jokes." Maybe if he said it enough it would start to feel true.

"He's a bully." Ruby chimed in from the side.

'Trust me Ruby. I realise but it doesn't matter, there's nothing I can do that will stop him right now. Maybe he's some sort of karma for me'

"Oh please! Name one time he's bullied me."

He could see as most of the table, even Blake gave him a flat look.

'Huh, somehow it hurts more when she does it'

They began listing off some of the incidents.

'Oh boy and that's just the stuff they know about, if they knew about the rest they'd probably kill him. But that's more than he deserves.

"I didn't land far from the school in that locker and it actually helped me practice stealth so win-win I guess?"

Pyrrha sighed. "I know I said this yesterday and I know you said that your fine but please, ask for help Jaune if you need it. We're partners for a reason and I don't want to see you get hurt."

'There's that word again. Always with the asking for help. I don't want help. I have to deal with this by myself. Otherwise everything Cardin is doing is right.'

"Guys it's fine." He looked over to the faunus girl. 'Maybe this could work'. "It's not just me he's jerk to; I mean look over there"

Cardin was now pulling on the ears of the rabbit faunus. The mood at the table darkened considerably. Each person was glaring as Yang stood.

"One second, Imma just deal with this"

As she made her way over to the table Jaune tuned out. He could hear the spectacle in the background but it wasn't of interest to him.

"That was well done. Thou seems to hold a spark of rebellion. But why does thou decide to help but leave it to the others?"

The soft, feminine voice that whispered through his head left as quickly as it arrived. He shot up looking around for the source. The rest of the table were still focused on the beat down that Yang was administering to Cardin.

'What was that? Maybe I should turn in early tonight.'

After a day of lessons that went about as disastrously as the first one Team JNPR was finally back at their dorm. Jaune was getting ready for bed when Pyrrha walked up to him.

"Could you… follow me?"

He turned to her confused.

"What for?"

"I have an idea now just come with me" she said grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room. She pulled him through the corridors of beacon and up a set of stairs, going further up until they reached a metal door. She looked at him and pushed it open.

Cool night air ran over his face and the smell of the forest surrounding Beacon mystified his senses. They were on top of the dorms looking out over Beacon with the forest in the background. Jaune looked back to see his partner beaming at him,

"It's beautiful Pyrrha but why…?" he looked at the edge. With a small, teasing smirk he said "I know I'm having a rough time right now but I'm not that depressed". He looked over the edge, "I could also just be a farmer or something"

He was yanked back suddenly as Pyrrha sputtered, "No, that's not why I brought you up here." She took in his smirk and pouted, "That wasn't funny Jaune."

Jaune laughed properly for what felt like the first time in a while, "Sorry Pyrrha I couldn't help myself. Now why are we up here."

She cleared her throat. "Right, well." She took a deep breath, "Iknowyou'rehavingadifficulttimeinclassandthatyousaidthatyouwerefinebutyou'renotthestrongestoffightersandCardinkeepspickingonyouso I want to help you." She finished panting slightly

"Uh sorry I don't think I caught all of that." Jaune responded with confusion.

She steadied her breathing. "I want to help you Jaune, I know I keep saying it but I really do. I was thinking that we could train up here after class to improve your fighting. I use similar weapons to you so maybe we could start on your stance and after- "

"Pyrrha stop. I appreciate the offer, really but when I said I don't need help I meant it. I'll deal with Cardin myself."

She frowned "Why are you being so stubborn, everybody needs help at some point. That doesn't change anything. It makes you the same as all of us. You made it to Beacon right? What else do you have to prove?"

Her words cut into him. He had so much to prove, if she would just stop asking him, trying to help him. He didn't deserve it.

"I haven't proven anything yet," he whispered out

"What do you mean, just getting into Beacon says that you're capable of so much. If you would just let me- "

"I don't belong here!" he shouted.

Pyrrha looked at him with bewilderment clear on her face.

"What do you mean, of course you do, that's a terrible thing to think about yourself"

He felt anger rising up, why wouldn't she just listen to him. "No, I don't! I wasn't really accepted into Beacon!"

He finally had one over on her he realised as her expression crumpled into something looking like confusion mixed with anxiety. It didn't feel as good as he would've liked.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

He realised he should stop. He was breaking something that might not be fixed and that should've been left well alone. But it was too late to stop it now.

"I never went to combat school, I didn't do the tests you guys did or get the training needed. For the Brother's sake I can barely hold my sword properly!" he was breathing heavily now his breath misting into the evening air, "I lied Pyrrha, I bought fake transcripts, mailed them in, got on a plane here and lied, and I haven't stopped."

"Why did you go so far?" Huh, that was a surprise, she hadn't left him on the rooftop yet and she seemed actually curious. It tempered his anger and brought him back down a little.

"Arc's have always been heroes, my father, his father before him and even before that. We've always been heroes standing strong against Grimm acting as a shield against the darkness. I wanted to be like them ever since I was little, someone that people could rely on, a hero who had the adoration of many and could actually help." He paused.

"I wanted it so much that it hurt, but I wasn't ever good enough. I tried to train when I was younger, I did so much to try and prepare, but my dad didn't see it that way. He refused to train me, and I wasn't able to do enough on my own."

He felt a hand on his shoulder before his partner said

"Then let me help you. Let me make up the lost time with you"

He looked at her and saw her eyes shining brightly.

'She really is too good for me, but it wouldn't be right, heroes don't need help'

"I don't want help Pyrrha" he said anger still simmering, "I don't want to be the village idiot or the damsel in distress who sits up in a tower waiting for their gallant knight! I don't want to be the man stuck in a tree whilst his friends take a stand and fight for their lives!"

The fire suddenly went out as quickly as it arrived. "I don't want to be a burden anymore. If I can't do this on my own then what's the point, what good am I as a huntsman, as a friend. In that case Cardin is right to do what he does to me. It's what I'm worth."

He could see her reach out her arm to try and hold his. Moving out of the way he said

"I think it would be better if you left me alone for now."

Her head lowered and he could see her with something on the tip of her tongue.

"Ok," she said, "If that's what you think is best." She turned and walked back down the stairs.

He watched her leave and turned his attention back out to the view. Sighing he sat on the edge and took in the night sky.

'At least it's a lovely backdrop whilst I ruin friendships with my partner'

As he attempted to process the last few minutes, he felt someone come and sit next to him a couple feet away.

"Pyrrha, I said I wanted some spa- ", he began turning only to not see his partner. Cardin's face leered back at him.

"Hey Jauney-boy, I couldn't help but overhear your little issue. Gotta say that takes guts, lying to a huntsman academy and somehow, just somehow assuming that you'll be enough." He laughed. "I can't tell if that's confidence or stupidity."

Jaune felt his stomach drop as he began to sweat slightly.

'This is it, I break one of the best friendships I had and then get kicked out of Beacon'

"Cardin, you can't tell anyone, please"

The other boy turned to look at him. "Now why would I do that to a friend?"

"Friend?"

"Yeah we're friends aren't we, and friends help friends so as long as you're there for me then I'll be there for you." He stood. "You can start by getting those extra readings done for me, I really don't have the time, so how about it buddy?"

Jaune's head began drooped and he stared off the edge of the roof

"I'll have them done tomorrow."

Cardin chuckled, "Good, I'm glad to see you value our friendship, your secret is safe with me." He began to make his way off the rooftop. "Also, Jaune, I would move back a little. A fall from this height would be bad. Just some friendly advice."

The door shut behind him. Jaune stared out into the night sky.

'Well this is wonderful, I suppose I was right about that karma thing, Cardin must be my punishment.'

He took in a deep breath and looked out across the sky to the shattered moon. It felt like a cage was closing around him from all sides. He couldn't go back to his team and he couldn't ignore Cardin. Maybe the right thing to do would be to go straight to the headmaster and tell him. But what was the punishment for forgery. Jail time? His family would hear about it and that would be the end of him. To his horror small pinpricks of tears began to rise. He viciously attempted to stamp down the feeling, but it wouldn't vanish no matter what.

"This is truly unjust; you are trapped in a prison of your own design. However, you must not be disheartened and stand against your oppression."

'The same voice from before?'

Jaune looked around attempting to find the source but seeing no one. He turned his attention back to the sky where to his awe he could see what looked like a butterfly. It wasn't a normal one though. It looked like it was formed from pure starlight glowing a light blue and leaving small sparkles of light in its wake as it moved across the sky. His breath hitched as he took in the beauty before him before it twinkled and faded.

He stood up and took deep breaths before heading back down to his dorm to sleep. He dreamt of blue butterflies and soft tinkling piano music.

So what did you guys think? The second chapter will be coming very soon. I actually had to break up the chapter into two to stop it being monolithic in size (at least compared to other stuff I wrote)