...Hi...I'm sleep deprived as I write this Author's Note. But I get some of my most inspired ideas like this, surprisingly enough. Enough on that. I bring you this long awaited continuation of the story.
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And much like my In The Right Hands story, I'll say that there will be at least one major character death down the line. I'm evil I know~.
'I'm going to miss them.' Jaune suddenly thought as he ate lunch with Amber. He paused for a moment then. Miss them? Who? What was he talking about? For some reason he felt like he just spent a good sum of time with people that he grew to call friends. It was a strange feeling. As though his memory was wiped, but the feelings invoked in this body were still there. An oddity to be sure. But he was conversing with Amber on what's been happening since she woke up from her 48 hour nap. After she found out that Jaune was going to be okay and that there wouldn't be anything to worry about, she promptly conked out and fell dead asleep. His training with Hanzo was mostly just getting in tune with his soul...or, that's what he said was happening. Mostly, he just sat there and closed his eyes for what felt like the whole day. Even though it was only a few hours at most. He tried to 'Look deep within the self that is not what you perceive, but the one that perceives you.'...whatever that meant. When he came here to get training, he expected something like rigorous breathing techniques. Like a breathing mask that would make it impossible to breath unless he took in oxygen a certain way. But just meditating was cool too...
"Hey, you know, I still have to meet this one guy that Ozpin sent. I was supposed to tell him of some things that I came across regarding the behaviors of some Grim along with what his enemies are doing, but after you...you know, I obviously had to push that back by a few days. Though, if I wait any more than four days they'll have to assume that I died. And wanting to avoid what that entails, I am going to meet him at the village Inn. Would you like to join? I think Ozpin would like to know about you and vice versa." Amber said as she fed on a rather delectable curry. The family was kind enough to make them food. Surprisingly enough, Reinhardt was almost graceful in the way he moved around the kitchen with Hanzo. It was rather amusing to see such a large man in a rather small apron. But of course, the man had to leave shortly with his own sizable portion due to his duty as Head of Village Security.
"Sure. Why not. I'd like to know what type of people he surrounds himself with anyway. You can tell a lot about a person by seeing who their friends are." Jaune said as he finished his own bowl. He got up and went over to the sink and began to wash it by hand. Normally, he would just do it with his power over the elements, but since those were out of order, he had to do it the old fashion way. It wasn't bad though, just a little tedious sometimes.
A total of two days have passed since he's awoken in that bed, and he's only gotten more acquainted with both Rei and Nora. It was a blast being able to play with the redhead. Rei still hasn't really tried to talk with him since that one time when he first woke up. He knew that she wanted to talk to him. But she looked like she was too nervous to really approach him. He understood and would wait patiently until she was ready. He wouldn't want to push a potential friend away now did he?
However, right now, he was out in the streets of Kuroyuri, just exploring and enjoying the sights that it had to offer. It was simple enough. A very tight-nit community that made him feel safe. Some of the people had sent him small glances, having not seen his around before. He waved back at them with friendly smiles. He figured that if he was going to be here for an unknown amount of time, he may as well get comfortable with his neighbors.
"Who's he? I've never seen him before."
"It's the child that collapsed at the border almost a week ago."
"Oh! He seems to be alright. I heard that he was taken in by Hanzo, what to you think he did that for?"
"Well, I heard..."
Oh, so a bunch of gossipers lived here. Neat. Got to pass the time around here somehow, right? But he'd rather avoid such things if possible. He knew that if he were to go for important roles within the political field when he grew up, things that he does now will surely be brought up then. I mean, if you saw some of he internet posts of those guys...sheesh! What a bunch of clowns they are...no, that doesn't properly describe them. They are not clowns. They are the entire circus.
Either way, he just traveled the roads and even walked into a community park that was filled with wild plants and flora. It was here that Jaune's leisure walk was interrupted by the lotus flower of the Lie family, Rei, suddenly walking out from a corner and in front of him.
"..."
"..."
"...Hi." Rei eventually said as they stood there in silence. She wore a nervous expression on her face, having apparently not planning on getting this far.
"Oh hi, Rei. What brings you here?" Jaune asked the smaller girl. He was thinking about her not three minutes ago and how he wanted to see what she wanted to talk about. Funny how things work out like that. Who knows? Maybe a surprise visit from his family then?
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Can't blame him for trying.
"I...I just wanted to apologize." Rei said, looking to the side and poking her finger tips together. Something that Jaune found to be extremely cute, but confused him with what she meant.
"Apologize for what?" He asked, tilting his head. Rei then tilted her head down while trying to maintain eye contact. Gosh dang it...she was going to start rivaling Ruby at this rate.
"I wanted to apologize for my rudeness. I have been avoiding you. I did not mean to offend you or seem unhappy with your presence. I simply...have trouble talking to other people." Rei explained. Jaune just gave her a broad smile before giving her a thumbs up.
"It's alright. I'm just happy that your talking to me now." Jaune said with no small amounts of joy and relief. At the very least, he now knew that she didn't hate him. Which was a plus.
"...If you would wish...I could help you with my father's lessons. I have seen you train with him. You seem...lost. I understand that my father's words of wisdom can be...hard to decipher. I can help you to understand...b-but only if you want. I will not force you..." Rei said timidly. Jaune looked to her slightly surprised. She saw them training? And on top of that she could see that he was struggling. Well...what the heck. Why not? He'd not only get better training from this, but he'd also spend more time with her. That meant that he would be able to get to know her better. Always a plus whenever he could better his friendship with everyone.
"Really? Are you sure? I'd love to get some help then. Thank you!" Jaune said, proclaiming his gratitude with an even more radiant smile that somehow literally shined in the limited sunlight that the high walls of the bushes allowed. Even so, his expression of excitement and gratitude was enough to make Rei feel happy with herself and paint a small hue of pink on her cheeks. She had a small but significant smile on her face as she turned from him. Her father had told her that she simply needed to speak to Jaune as she would her father. But it just wasn't that simple! She could talk to her father so easily because she knew that he would lover her unconditionally no matter what she did. But she felt so nervous around Jaune. Like she truly cared about what he thought about her. It all started like this when she first saw him be brought into the house. As she saw his resting face, she had a feeling like he was going to be rather special. That thought was solidified when her father informed her that Jaune had an exceptionally large Aura pool.
"I-it's no p-problem. I can help you later today...I-if that's okay with you." Rei said as she turned back to him and saw once again those sparkling azure orbs and his kind expression.
"Of course. I have somewhere to go right now, but I'll talk to you about it when I get back. It's been good talking to you, Rei!" Jaune said before quickly wrapping her in a warm hug and just as quickly releasing her so that he could leave. He had only planned on coming to this park for a small while before he went to that Inn that Amber mentioned. They were to go there at around noon. So with a pep in his step, Jaune walked away from the park and left a frozen Rei there to process what just happened.
'I feel warm...'
This was it. It would be the first thing that he would see of this 'Ozpin' fellow. Granted, he would rather have met the man in person, but even he knew that matters of this degree, there was a certain amount of caution that one must take. If the attack on Amber was any indication, then he could understand why he would send someone else to get information like this. He was assured by Amber that Ozpin only had the best in mind for everyone and actively sought the end to his curse.
'Immortality. Something that I would have no problem with when I was still a god myself...but now that I have people that I care about. To have to live on and see everyone that I've come to know and love die while I outlive them all...a curse of the worst degree.' Jaune thought to himself as he approached the building. Even so, he couldn't help but feel troubled by the fact that he was bringing other people into this war of his. Strength in numbers he guessed. But if that were the case, then why was Amber traveling by herself? With only small meetings like this to make sure that they were okay that only happen once every few months if not once a year!? That means that a Maiden could be killed literally two days after a meeting and they wouldn't know it happened until MONTHS later. None of it made sense to Jaune. Why not keep them in a populated area like Vale or something? 'Oh, it would leave them out in the open'. Good! That just meant that if anyone wanted to get to them, then they'd need to sneak pass the border without any weapons on them, weed them out from the literal thousands of people there, and try to find a way to get to them without A) Being caught. B) Raising Suspicion. and C) Do it all without revealing to everyone what's been happening behind the curtains. Not to mention, they could live normal lives while knowing that they could be saved by either the local police force, a Huntsman, or even the Headmaster of the Academy they would live right next to. Amber has shown him that a Maiden can hide their powers really easily and that they have regular Aura and Semblances like anyone else. So they could blend into the crowd making it even harder for them to be easily killed. They could go to the Headmaster directly when they find something suspicious. No need for this forced isolation bull-honky...
Just saying.
"Alright Jaune, lets go in. He's already here. He said that he'd be the one that has a plate in front of him, but reading a newspaper backwards and upside down instead." Amber said as they entered the building. Jaune was a little perplexed by that. If that were the case, wouldn't they stand out even more than-
"Oof!" Jaune exclaimed as he tripped over...his own shoelaces? He could have sworn he tied those earlier. Amber looked down at him and slightly giggled at his misfortune. He let out a slightly frustrated sigh, got up, and tried to walk agai-
"Oof!"
He looked down to see that there was a displaced floorboard at his feet. How did he not notice that beforehand? Amber had given up and started to giggle uncontrollably, going to try and find the guy while Jaune got his bearings back in place.
"Alright Mr. Two Left Feet, I'll go on ahead while-WHOA!" Amber tried to say as she took a few steps. However, it seemed that in her neglect, she failed to notice that there was a caution sign that warned of a wet and polished floor, making her slip and fall. It was now Jaune's turn to lightly laugh at her misfortune. Amber did not seem amused.
As they both stood and silently questioned why they suddenly had such a streak of bad luck, neither of them noticed that as they were walking into the food hall of the Inn, a waitress had stumbled and flung forward a full tray of glass mugs and cups their way. They were barely able to react before they both hastily caught every single one on nearly every limb on their bodies. They were even able to balance one on their noses! Who knows, maybe the incident in the hallway was just a coincidence and that this was their luck finally turning arou-
*Crash*
*Shatter*
Or maybe not.
As they both layed on the floor with broken glass all around them, the waitress was spewing countless apologies as she went to go and get a broom. However, as that was happening, Jaune knew that something like this would cost the woman dearly. And if she was working at an Inn for what he would assume to be minimum wage, then she didn't have the money to pay for these.
'It's a little risky as I am right now, but I still need to help her.' Jaune thought to himself. He could already feel the strain on his body from even thinking about using his abilities.
Regardless, he raised his hand, and a small glow encompassed him and the broken glass.
Qrow hadn't expected much when he went out here to see what Amber had found out. Maybe an update with how the Grim were acting around settlements like these. an offhanded comment about a stupid arrogant bounty hunter trying to gain her powers. From what he was told by Ozpin, Amber was a nice person, which he could respect. It spoke a lot about a person if they can remain like that even when they're forced to travel alone. But that didn't stop him from having fun with his Semblance. Now he didn't have much control over the thing. All he could do was either soften the kind of bad luck someone got, or just go buck wild and have it cranked up to the Nth degree. But he just wanted to mess with her, make her trip over her own two feet a few times. Maybe have a pie land on her face. Same old same old.
He snickered behind his newspaper as he heard the telltale signs of someone eating dirt. Though, he thought that he heard a rather young sounding voice that made it. Maybe a kid caught in the crossfire. Whoops. He's so sorry. Not really...not at all, actually. He didn't necessarily like kids all that much...of course, his own daughter and niece were the exceptions to that along with the...kid...
'Great, way to ruin your mood, Qrow.' He thought to himself as he flipped another page and pretended to read. Of course, he could easily read this, even if it was upside down and backwards. A skill truly useful. His mood slightly rose again when he heard two more plops to the ground. Funny as it was, he was also interested in some of the village news that this paper had. 'A child suddenly collapses and is taken to the hospi-'
*Crash*
*Shatter*
Whatever that article had to say could wait, he needed to see what kind of chaos his Semblance caused others this time.
As he slightly lowered his paper to see what happened, he saw a retreating waitress shouting a tons worth of apologies, and two people on the floor with broken glass on and around them. He chuckled a little bit at that.
'Ha! I almost feel sorry for you, brunette and kid.'
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'Kid with blonde hair...'
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'Kid with blonde hair and blue eyes...'
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'Kid with blonde hair, blue eyes and uses magic...'
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Wait.
"Kid!?"
As Jaune finished repairing the glass he was suddenly hit with an intense pain in his chest. He turned to Amber who was still recuperating and quickly deciding that her seeing him like this after using magic that he was specifically told not to do was not a good idea. So he grit his teeth, tensed his gut, and bore the pain before she could see anything.
Dear lord this hurts.
As Amber finally shook her head of her confusion, she saw that all the mugs around her were...completely safe? That was...weird. She could have sworn that they broke. She even heard the loud shattering of glass too. But what could have-
Her head whipped around so fast that there was a possibility that she could have snapped her own neck as she looked to a seemingly fine Jaune. He gave her a confused look as if to tell her that he didn't know what happened either. She squinted her eyes and stared deep into his soul, trying to find out of he was at all hiding something. Because if she found out that he used magic to fix those mugs and made his condition worse, so help her she will bring down a wrath that no amount of godly power will save him from as she would mercilessly-
"Kid!?" A voice came from behind them. Amber was broken out of her trance as she looked back to see a rather rough looking man approach them. Or more specifically, Jaune. The boy's expression instantly brightened and whipped around to see if his ears had been playing a trick on him.
"Qrow?" Jaune questioned as he turned. As he rotated his torso accordingly and saw that it was indeed the veteran Huntsman that he had lived for a better part of a year.
"Qrow!" Jaune instantly sprung up from his seat on the ground and enveloped Qrow in a hug that could only come from him.
Qrow himself was caught off guard for a moment, just shocked that he literally jumped at him. But...
"I missed you too, Brat." Qrow said in a warm voice as he hugged the little munchkin back. This was something that he had been worried over the past months since Jaune left. The kid seemed genuinely hurt by him. He hoped that he'd be able to at least clear any bad blood between them when they saw each other again. But it would seem that he was worried over nothing.
They stayed like that for a few moments before Qrow set him back down and looked him over, trying to see if he had changed at all since he left. So far, only a change in wardrobe. But as he looked at him a bit more, he noticed that there was a certain...sickness to him. His skin seemed to be a little more pale than usual. There were small bags under his eyes from improper sleep, and a slight shake of his extremities that suggested some sort of fatigue or weakness. It was concerning to say the least.
"Hey, are you alright? You seem pale." Qrow said, getting into papa mode and crouching down to his level and holding a hand up to Jaune's forehead. He did similar things with his daughter, mostly because Faunus children are generally more sensitive to sickness or physical weaknesses. Heightened senses can make them feel overwhelmed at times. So he had to care for his kid as much as possible. Thankfully, Jaune did not in fact show to be suffering form any form of fever. Which was good. He wasn't sick...but that still didn't explain his skin complexity.
"Um, hi?" Amber chimed in as she watched everything unfold between the two. Obviously, Jaune knew who this guy was and vice versa. But the only people that Jaune would act this way towards was to the family that he told her about. And if that were true, then she had an impression to make!
"My name is Amber. I assume that your part of Jaune's family then? It's an honor to finally meet you." Amber said politely. Mostly out of respect to Jaune than to the Hunter. Again, not too thrilled to meet one of the kingdoms puppets. But if what Jaune said was true, then the ones he lived with were good ones. Lord only knows how few of those there are.
Qrow looked from a smiling and carefree Jaune to Amber, realizing rather quickly that she was the Maiden that Ozpin had sent him out to meet with. He only agreed to the mission because he and his family had successfully been able to move into Vale. They were still settling in, but for the most part, they were all able to get a nice house that was only slightly secluded from everyone else. It had a great front yard, an even better backyard. The house itself being two stories high. It's great honestly. The kids have been starting to go back to their old selves, mostly due to their childhood wonder of moving to a new place. Though, there was the glaring fact that Summer pointed out to him. The fact that Ruby may have actually imprinted on Jaune.
His Baby Girl...
His Tiny Wolf Pup...
His Strawberry Explosion...
The Silver Lining of his life...
Imprinted on someone...at the age of SIX!
"Don't mind him. Sometimes, he blanks out for a few moments. It happens at random. Though, it most often happens when we talk about his daughter. Probably reminiscing about when she was a baby or something." Jaune said, making Amber nod slightly. She looked into the eyes of the older gentleman and saw only a man that had seen something precious taken from him. Of intense sorrow...
'FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-'
Or was it insurmountable uncontrollable, all consuming rage? Amber was never all too great at reading people's expressions.
Either way, she would love nothing more than to chat with Jaune and his family member, but she really did need to find out where Ozpin's informant was. Now to find where...
She saw an empty table over a few feet from them with a single plate of food on it, having gone neglected and having a newspaper hanging off of the table.
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Oh dear lord he was the informant.
"Hey, by any chance, do you know what the weather's going to be this afternoon?" Amber asked in a casual manner. It was the question she was told to ask when she met with the informant. If he answered correctly, then she was to tell him what she had learned and leave it at that. If they didn't, then she was told to walk away, and terminate them should they attempt to follow her. Nothing she hasn't had to do in the past, regrettably.
Qrow looked to her, having been broken from his thoughts and cleared his throat.
"I don't know, why don't you go to your local farmers market for information on goat milk?" Qrow answered with a tone that spoke of practice. As odd as the confirmation was, it assured that no one else would be able to imitate one of them. Mostly because that the only people that would try to do that would never allow themselves to repeat such lines in the first place. For as smart and evil they were, their over sized hubris would never swallow their pride to say such things.
"Alright then, I assume you were sent here by Ozpin." Amber said as all three of them went back to his table and seated themselves. The waitress from before had returned with broom in hand and was thoroughly confused at the lack of broken glass and surplus of unbroken glass. But without much thought on the matter, she went and gathered them up and quickly left before anything else could happen.
"I'm Qrow, as you might have guessed. I am here on behalf of Ozpin. We just wanted to know if anything unusual happened. Any weird Grim activity, an increase of bandit raids on villages, anything of the sort." Qrow said, just telling her what Ozpin wanted to know. He glanced over to Jaune and saw that he was just smiling at him. He wanted to know why he was here, and more importantly, why he was here with the Fall Maiden of all people, but all in due time he supposed. He just smiled back for now before turning back to Amber who seemed to be a little troubled with what his question would imply her to answer with.
"You could say there's been a few...'developments'." Amber said anxiously. Qrow's expression went from a nonchalant one to one of worry and trepidation. He did not like the way she worded that.
"What kind of 'developments' are we talking about?" Qrow asked, giving both her and Jaune expectant looks. The two took a moment, looking to each other before turning back to him.
"The kind that may or may not...have tried to kill Amber for the powers of the Maiden." Jaune said rather quickly. This raised a number of red flags for the veteran Hunter.
For one, Jaune knew of the Maidens. Which immediately placed a target on his back.
Two, someone tried to kill Amber for those powers.
And three, from what he heard, it sounded like these people got away.
"What happened?" Qrow asked. Though, it sounded more like he was commanding them say what transpired on that day. Jaune was going to start on his explanation, but was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea and nearly doubled over himself. Amber noticed this immediately and went to his side, already trying to use her Aura to make him feel better.
"I knew it. You used your powers to fix those mugs back there. You know that your body can't handle that kind of strain right now. Do you want what happened three days ago to happen again?" Amber whispered harshly as Jaune's breathing became raspy and clutched his chest. Qrow became even more worried as he saw this and actually got out of his chair when he saw that the smaller boy had coughed up some kind of viscous black liquid on the table in front of him.
"What the hell...what the hell happened?" Qrow asked in a deathly serious tone. In the entirety that he's known the kid, nothing was able to even phase him. Not even a scratch appeared on his face when they trained him. The pail skin, tired look, weakness...the liquid. What in the ever living Fuck happened?
Amber was still trying to use her Aura on him when she turned to answer him. Her expression never shifted from worried as she spoke.
"It's...a little hard to believe. Even by our standards. But let's go back to where we've been living for the past few days. I'll explain everything there." Amber said as she picked Jaune up and carried him. Qrow nodded instantly, needing to know what happened to make the kid like this. There was absolutely way that he was injured this much from just a few attackers. There had to be something more to it than that.
"Lead the way."
"That's...is he going to be okay?" Qrow finally said after Amber had told him everything that happened during her and Jaune's journey here. When they had arrived at the house of the Lie and Wilhelm, Amber told them that Qrow was Jaune's family, father on Qrow's interruption, and informed them that Jaune had injured himself when he used some of his powers to fix a mess they made. Hanzo nodded in understanding and helped them in healing Jaune to a stable condition. After Hanzo left to talk to the other children, Amber explained how she and Jaune were attacked by three of the Queen's pawns in an attempt to claim the Maiden's powers. But that's where she turned to a still weakened Jaune for the next part.
"I'll be alright...but it's what got me to this way that you need to worry about." Jaune said weakly with a solemn expression. His face was a little more pale now, and the bags under his eyes had grown as well. Qrow looked between the two and saw how hesitant they were and grew even more worried. If those three weren't the problem, then who was...oh shit, was it the Queen herself!?
"It's not who you think it is, Qrow. For as strong as she might be, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have put up much of a fight. No, it was...my father." Jaune said as he rested his head on a pillow. Qrow squinted his eyes at him. Brushing aside the most dangerous creature on the planet was not something Jaune would do. If he knew who the Queen was, then he should know what she is capable of. And more importantly he knew when to get serious. He even took the training drones serious. So whatever's got him like this...
"Jaune...what are you talking about?" Qrow asked. Jaune told him that his family had died in a Grim incursion. What was this father that he spoke of?
"Qrow, I need you to know that this is something that I had every intention of telling you and the rest of our family. It's just..." Jaune started, his gaze absently spreading across the room. But as he did so, he suddenly saw someone that made his grit his teeth.
Dux Omnium.
"I feel my ears burning~." The god sang. Instantly, Qrow sprang up and brandished his weapon. Amber did the same, instantly activating her Maiden powers while Jaune just laid there, not able to do anything other that weakly glare at his father.
"What the hell are you?" Qrow demanded to know, looking at the figure. The divine figure simply laughed before simply willing Qrow to freeze in place. He didn't bother with Amber, as he knew that the woman would not pose any threat. If he so wished, he could call back the magic from her body in an instant. And the process would not be painless.
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Hmm, not now. Tempting, but not now.
"So you are one of the people that took care of my boy. How amusing. I must commend you however. I know for a fact that he must have brought you some sort of displeasure. It is the sad disposition of being the spirit of a god within a mortal's body. It attracts trouble from miles around. And I must admit, reading this adventure has been rather fun. Going chapter to chapter, seeing what our creator comes up with next. All of it has been so entertaining." Dux said as he glared into Qrow's eyes. The man himself had no choice but to look into the empty void that was the god in front of him. After a few moments, he backed off and turned to a still glaring Jaune.
"But far be it from me to stop your explanation. The one writing this wouldn't allow for me to destroy anything here...yet." Omnium relented, simply floating at the center of the room. The smug smile on his face told anyone that he knew that he was in control of the room.
Jaune stayed silent for a moment, a trying to figure out what his father meant. He felt as though he should know. That he was forgetting something that he used to know.
"Ah, yes, without the Cores you can't realize The Truth, can you? With time I suppose. With time. But enough of that, Go on and tell your 'FATHER', what you had been hiding from him. No need to worry about me. I am simply here to act as proof." His father instructed, making Jaune even more angry. However, given the fact that he couldn't do anything at the moment, he had to listen.
"Qrow, This...is my father. It's a...long story. I used to be a...god. My father created me to give life to the planets in the universe. However, when I came to this planet, he forbade me from creating humans. Yet I did so anyway. For disobeying him, he stripped me of my powers and sent me here. When I woke up, I found Summer. And the rest..." Jaune trailed off, giving a very brief summary of his origins. From his position, Qrow only managed to get out a single word.
"Why?" He asked. Jaune set out a sigh, feeling terrible for having lied to his surrogate father for all this time.
"I was scared. I was scared that If I told the truth, none of you would see me the same. I thought that if I told anyone, then they would try to hunt me down for my powers. All I wanted was to get to know you all better. I never meant to lie to you. I'm sorry." Jaune choked out with tears streaming down his cheeks. By this point, Dux let go of Qrow and allowed him to move, seeing Jaune look so vulnerable. Qrow just stood there for a moment. On one hand, he just heard that some of what he originally suspected the kid of was true. But on the other...he had a good reason to keep that a secret. If the Maidens were any indication, people would want to try and get him for their own gains. Lord only knows what Atlas would try in order to get their hands on him. Besides, Qrow by this point had already seen what Jaune was like. Just because he was a god this entire time didn't really change what he saw of him. It isn't one's past that defines a person, It's what they choose to be now that makes them who they are. Qrow could relate to that all too much given who his family used to be.
"Kid...It's alright. Just no more secrets, okay?" Qrow said reassuringly. Jaune calmed down considerably when he heard those words. Assured that the one of the people he had considered family had accepted his apology.
"Ugh, how boring. This is what they decide to do? Let bygones be bygones? And They used me to let this happen. There had better be a large reward for this. I'm leaving. This chapter has been a waste of my time." Dux proclaimed looking disgusted at the scene before warping away. Amber stayed alert for a few moments before letting out a breath.
This has been an eventful afternoon.
"You know kid, out of all the weird crap I've ever heard, that takes the cake. And considering everything that I've been involved with, is impressive." Qrow said as he sat by Jaune's bed. After all was said and done, Jaune was able to tell Qrow a more detailed summary on his adventure so far. Qrow had sat there and listened, with Amber being there to add in her own two cents.
"It's...not the best, I'll admit. But I'm trying to find a way to beat him. If I don't, then no one is going to survive the end of this. Not you, not the rest of the family, everyone is going to be wiped out." Jaune said, looking up at the ceiling with a grim expression. Qrow himself winced at the imagery. So the fate of their lives rested on his shoulders, huh?
"Don't sweat it. I'm sure you'll find a way. You've exceeded my expectations before. I know you'll do it again." Qrow said with a hand on Jaune's shoulder. The child looked back at him and smiled as well. If nothing else, Jaune was grateful to have his family with him.
"But, you can't do that if you keep almost killing yourself! Why did you use your magic back at the Inn when you knew that this was going to happen, Jaune? Why?" Amber said from the other side of the bed. Jaune just shrugged and gave her an easygoing smile.
"She was going to get in trouble if I didn't. Besides, I can't very well let her take responsibility for something that she had no control over, now could I?" Jaune asked as he smiled at her. Amber's eye twitched before taking a deep breath.
"You can, if it means that your health is at serious risk for doing it! How can you try t save the world when your hurting yourself for every little problem that happens around you?" Amber asked with an annoyed tone. Qrow was right there with her, feeling that Jaune would need to stop that habit of his if he wanted to go about saving the world. However, Jaune shook his head and gave his view on things.
"That may be true, but If I ignore everything else just to defeat my father, then the world would be left with so many troubles that it would destroy itself anyway. I know that these small acts of kindness might not mean anything now, but if I can inspire even one other person to act kind in turn, then it might inspire even more to do the same. I want to be able to make a world where hatred, segregation, fear and racism are just a forgotten part of history. Where no one has to worry about sending their kids out to risk their lives. Where Faunus and humans can understand that they all have souls. That they're not so different from one another. I just want to make a world where...strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Jaune concluded with a heartfelt smile. Qrow and Amber looked at him with slightly awed expressions. That was...
"It's horribly optimistic." Qrow finally said while giving him a deadpan expression. Jaune's expression fell a little bit, feeling a little disheartened at his words. Amber was going to smack the Huntsman before Qrow continued.
"But...If anyone's going to do it, I know it's you." Qrow finished as he gave an assuring smile. Jaune's expression went back to one of happiness and got up to hug the man. Qrow smiled and hugging him back, being mindful of the boy's weak state.
"Thank you Qrow." Jaune whispered. Qrow nodded in understanding and pulled back, letting Jaune lay back down. He then turned back to Amber, going to go over what he was going to tell Ozpin when he got back.
"Alright, so I'm just going to tell him that you two were attacked by three of the Queen's pawns, right?" Qrow asked, getting a nod from both her and Jaune. Qrow nodded in turn before continuing.
"And that you two were able to fend them off."
Another nod.
"But leave out the whole part of Jaune and his father being gods, and said father planning to destroy everything if Jaune fails to beat him."
Even more nodding.
"Got it. Well, it's been nice catching up, kid. But I do have to get back. Otherwise Ozpin isn't the only one that's going to start worrying where I went." Qrow said in a half joking matter.
"It's alright, Qrow. Just...tell the family I said hi, okay?" Jaune requested.
"Alright, sure." Qrow said, getting up to leave and heading for the door. However, as he was going to open the door, Jaune spoke up one more time.
"Wait, Qrow." Jaune called, making the older man look back from the doorframe.
"What's-"
"I love you, dad."
"..."
.
"..."
..
"..."
...
"I love you too, kid." Qrow finally responded before leaving and closing the door behind him. Jaune's smile grew just a tiny bit larger, feeling satisfied that he was able to say that finally. To his side, Amber was about to burst with excitement.
"Awwwww~! That was so CUTE! My heart is going to melt!"
"Gack! Amber! I can't breath!"
So...you'd think that I would be joking with the whole, 'Some of these characters are going to die', but no, I'm not. I'm just not going to do it any time soon. Or as crudely as RoosterTeeth did. While I understand the plot device of death, it can't just be used without warning. It has to be used very carefully. But that's all I'm going to be saying on the matter for now. Anyway, that's been this chapter, I hope you enjoyed! Until next time, Toodles~!