Noblesse Oblige
Chapter 1 - Rainbows, Roses, and Snowflakes
A/N: This is less of a crossover with Noblesse and more of a what if the Grimm were once Nobles and all that. If you don't understand that, it's okay, just read on and tell me if you understand what's happening.
"Those born with great power bear a heavy burden. Their existence alone has a great say in the matters of the world itself. In exchange for power is a price that no creature should ever pay."
"Their life."
- Lord Adonis of Grimm
"Lord Adonis… when can I see the world outside?" asked Jaune, looking up to the tall dark-haired man that sat in the large simple throne.
The Lord simply smiled and ruffled his hair as he asked the question. Jaune always wondered what was on the Lord's mind, especially when he controlled such a large amount of Grimm. He blinked as he thought of what it would be like to be in the Lord's shoes. He didn't think he'd be able to manage it all.
"When the time comes, Jaune. When the time comes…" said the Lord, smiling at him. "Now, the Leaders will return soon, do you wish to stand by my right or my left today Jaune?" asked the Lord, asking odd questions as he always did.
But, Jaune smiled, "By your right, my Lord. The left is always so cold." he replied, the Lord chuckling at that.
"They will come to tolerate you in time, Jaune. Do not worry about it." said the Lord, and Jaune just nodded.
"I won't worry about it anymore then." said Jaune, moving to stand beside the Lord.
"Good." as though awaiting for their conversation to end, there were several knocks on the large door that lead to the Lord's hall. "All of you may come in."
And that, was just another day in Jaune's life beside the Lord.
Jaune opened his eyes and saw the dark sky—but no, it was not the dark sky which he had grown accustomed to in Ardonis… it was different. New.
His eyes widened as he realized what happened and looked around.
No, he was not in the warm beds which he had barely even used in his time at the Lord's Castle, but he was on a cold near-smooth surface… The buildings around him, they weren't what he was used to either. Tall, square and of different colors… There were even many different people around.
He was finally outside…
He was finally outside!
Jaune grinned, barely unable to contain his excitement when suddenly he heard the loud noise of glass shattering. He quickly stood up from his place on the ground and nearly ran to see what was happening until he saw a dark haired girl wearing some red cloak alongside a red and black blouse and skirt rise up from the cloud of smoke, making him pause as he watched her twirl some large metallic object, one which quickly turned from some compact metal behind her, to some large gun Jaune wasn't familiar with, to a large scythe that had some gun in it.
Wow.
He also heard some sort of music playing from one of those headgears the girl had been wearing... one which had a woman in it singing to a lot of instruments. Before he could get a good listen to it, it stopped, following a clicking sound, which he could only guess was from the girl pressing a button to stop it. He tilted his head and looked at the girls surroundings, it seemed she had knocked down a man wearing a black suit and red-tinted glasses.
He wondered if he should step in… but then he remembered what the Lord had told him just before he'd arrived here, he shouldn't meddle in with Human business too much, no matter how much he wanted to… He kind of wanted to right now, but not that much so he stayed back and watched by the wayside, placing an illusion over himself and staying a fair distance away from the fight, jumping backwards to go on top of a building.
He narrowed his eyes as he got a closer look at the fight. It seemed that the leader of the black suited men ordered them to attack the girl. He wanted to intervene right now, but… he didn't. He looked to the girl again, and saw a bright white aura around her. Seeing human aura… it wasn't so much different from what the Grimm had, it was just that most of the lower Grimm had black transparent aura, making a lot of humans mistake them for not having aura apparently. Also for humans to mistake the family leaders as humans and not Grimm.
It was interesting… but what interested him the most was the girl's eyes. They were silver… The only other person with silver eyes was—
Jaune quickly turned around and narrowed his eyes, feeling a foreign aura close by. Had he been found out? No… he was the strongest Grimmborn, no simple human would be able to see him so easily, which meant that—
"Oh my, I haven't felt such an aura for a long time…" a smooth voice spoke, and Jaune calmed. It could only be one person, after all… "You are the mater's son, are you not?"
Jaune nodded after a moment, "Yes… I guess I am." he answered, watching as the man stepped out of the shadows, a green suit, silver hair, and rounded glasses… and of course, his trademark cane. It could only be one person. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir Ozpin." he said, bowing to Ozpin.
Ozpin chuckled, "Young master, please, there is no need for such courtesy. That Lord had taught you this hadn't he? A shame, I wished to see a master who would take after his mother…"
At this, Jaune blinked, looking up and tilting his head, "S… sir?"
"Ah, there it is." Ozpin smiled, "It seems he'd been more lenient this time. I was almost afraid he'd lock you up in Ardonia for a thousand years…"
"O-Oh?" Jaune stuttered, tensing when he realized what happened. "Ah! I'm sorry, I just—"
"Young Master Jaune, please don't try so hard to imitate the Lord's speaking. That would not do for someone of your stature, you are your own person after all." Ozpin explained, stepping towards him before bowing, "Young Master, please allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Ozpin, Master Julius' faithful servant, I am here to attend to all your needs and wishes as you will, young master. But please, just call me Ozpin, I am but a servant to you, after all."
Jaune blinked, before nodding, "Yes… I am Jaune Arc. But… I guess you already know that. Thank you… Ozpin." he said awkwardly, this was just like all the family leaders greeting him before the Lord… He then glanced towards the girl he'd seen before and pointed towards her. "Who is this girl? I see her Aura and it's…"
"Yes, it is similar to that of the Lord's. She's Ruby Rose… the Lord's great granddaughter." Ozpin explained, and Jaune turned towards him, tilting his head, Ozpin just smiled, "It's a long story, I believe it would be best if the Young Master learns it from the books we have at our library."
"You have a library?" Jaune asked, surprised,
"Yes." Ozpin nodded, "I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy after all."
Jaune just blinked, "An… academy…" he muttered to himself. A school huh… the Lord had not spoken of this.
"For Huntsmen and Huntresses, Young Master. These are for those who fight against the Grimm that are beyond the Lord's control. Those who terrorize the Humans' Kingdoms." Ozpin explained and Jaune nodded again.
It only made sense, of course, that the humans would have a way to fight the rogue Grimm… To think that his father's servant had control on one of such schools… that was not something he expected.
Still, there were many things he didn't know, so… he should probably go start learning some things now, it wouldn't do well for him to be uninformed, after all…
"Ah, it seems that her little scuffle is just about to get finished." Ozpin said, putting a hand to his chin as he watched ahead, Jaune turned as well to see some flying contraption moving away after it got hit by a number of purple tendrils, which suddenly got burnt to dust.
"Huh." Jaune blinked, that didn't take that long. He then looked to the other building and saw another person. "Who's that?" Jaune asked, pointing to the woman besides Ruby.
"Ah, that's Glynda, my assistant in running the school." Ozpin explained,
"I see…" Jaune nodded in understanding, "So… Ozpin, I wish to—want to learn more about this world. Where do I go to find this library of yours?"
Ozpin glanced at Jaune before smiling. "I shall lead you to it later, young master, for now, I believe we must speak with Ruby Rose." Ozpin said, nodding towards where Ruby and Glynda were. "Do you not wish to meet more people, master?"
Jaune hummed at that, "That is true… I shall follow you then."
With that, Ozpin nodded, jumping towards where Ruby and Glynda were, with Jaune following behind.
Well… guess he's going to make some friends then.
Ruby nearly jumped in surprise as she saw the Headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, suddenly appear in front of them, followed by a blond guy wearing a dark suit. Looking at the blond… she felt an odd pressure, but when he turned towards her with a smile, it suddenly disappeared.
She awkwardly smiled back, looking into those pure, deep blue eyes of his.
In some ways, she almost felt as though she should know him somehow… yet she doesn't. She wondered why.
"I see Miss Goodwitch has found a stray girl running around Vale again." Ruby jumped as she remembered that Professor Ozpin was still there.
She turned to him and smiled confusedly, "E-Eh? But this is the first time!"
The blonde huntress beside her just sighed, "Professor Ozpin…"
"It was a joke, Miss Rose." Professor Ozpin smiled, but Ruby was still confused.
Why were they here? "Am I in trouble…?" she asked meekly, looking down to the ground, fidgeting her fingers.
"Ozpin?" Ruby suddenly looked up as she heard the blond guy speak. H-he calls Beacon's headmaster by name?!
"No, Miss Rose, you are not in trouble." Ruby heaved a sigh of relief at that. For a moment she thought—"WIth us, that is. With the police however…"
Ruby's eyes widened, "N-No! Dad will kill me if I get in trouble!" she looked around, panicking slightly, "W-What do I do?!"
"Well, you could come to Beacon." Professor Ozpin said, and Ruby paused, blinking, looking at the headmaster again to make sure that she had not heard wrong. She must be dreaming, right? "You heard right, Miss Rose. And no, you're not dreaming… I also don't read minds, you're just quite expressive with your face." the headmaster said, smiling as Ruby pouted, "Very well, would you like to go to Beacon?"
Ruby's eyes widened, "More than anything…!" she said excitedly, grinning,
The headmaster, looked to the blonde Huntress, the one he called Miss Goodwitch, and she sighed, then the headmaster looked to Ruby again. "Very well. Welcome to Beacon."
Ruby squealed, "Yay! I finally get to go to Beacon Academy!" she jumped, before realizing the people around her, and also another important detail… "Wait, but I'm 15 years old… can I truly go to Beacon this early?"
Professor Ozpin just nodded, "Yes, your performance in Signal Academy are too excellent for someone at that level. It would make sense if you were enrolled in Beacon instead." he said, shrugging and looking to Miss Goodwitch, "Isn't that right, Miss Goodwitch?"
The huntress stared at the headmaster for a few seconds before sighing herself, "Yes. It meets the minimum requirements for Beacon applicants." she answered, before looking to the blond guy beside the headmaster, "But headmaster… who is…?"
Professor Ozpin finally turned to the blond guy beside him before looking back at Miss Goodwitch with a sad smile, "The last descendant of an old friend of mine…" he said, glancing to the blond guy beside him.
The blond guy nodded before smiling and bowing at them gracefully, "I am Jaune Publius Ethereus Sangre D'Arc. You may call me Jaune Arc, or Jaune, for short. I'm pleased to meet you all." Ruby just stared at him as he smiled at them. He was… so handsome… N-No—wait! She meant formal! Yes! Totally!
"Arc… I-I see. I am Glynda Goodwitch, Assistant Headmistress of Beacon Academy." Miss Goodwitch introduced herself to him, and Ruby's eyes widened,
It was her turn next! "A-Ah! My name's Ruby—I-I mean, Ruby Rose! But you can call me Ruby!" Ruby said, stumbling over her own words. She wanted to curse herself for falling so hard—failing so hard, but that would be bad! Then again… it's not like Yang was here to be angry at her. W-Wait, she hadn't finished introducing herself yet!
When she was about to open her mouth, she saw that Jaune was in front of her already, making heat quickly rise up to her cheeks. He held a hand out to her and smiled, charmingly, "Nice to meet you, Ruby." he said, and without thinking, she quickly held his hand.
Oddly enough, that made her calm down, and she just focused on his face. She smiled. "N-Nice to meet you too…" she murmured, smiling meekly and looking to the side. "S-Sorry, I was a little too…"
"Nervous? It's okay, I can understand. I'm actually new here so…" Jaune said, shrugging a bit, and taking Ruby by surprise as he let go of her hand.
"Really?" Ruby asked, blinking, "Where do you come from?"
At that, Jaune grimaced, "It's… hard to say…" he said, making her eyes go wide,
"A-Ah! You don't have to answer that!" Ruby exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her. "I was just curious…"
"Well then." Professor Ozpin spoke again, making Ruby blush as she realized that she'd forgotten about the two adults who were here. "I believe that it's almost 9PM…"
Ruby's eyes widened at that, realizing she'd forgotten the time, "Oh no! Dad's going to kill me!" she said, before looking around quickly, "How do I go home…" she moaned, putting her face in her hands.
If she doesn't get home soon… she really is going to get in trouble…
"Miss Goodwitch?" Professor Ozpin spoke, making her look up to see what was happening, "I believe it would be best if you take her to Mr. Xiao Long and explain the situation to him." Ruby was surprised again, w-what?
"Understood. Miss Rose, come with me." Ruby just nodded, not really sure why this was happening, but she just ran along with it.
Before she and Miss Goodwitch went to the airships, she turned around and waved at Jaune with a smile, "Oh! I'll see you later, Jaune, Professor Ozpin!"
Professor Ozpin and Jaune nodded, "See you later…" Jaune said, smiling and waving a hand at her.
And that, just made her night.
Fighting evil guys, getting to Beacon, and most of all, meeting a cute guy! That just made her night.
… not that she liked him or anything though! He was just cute!
… and handsome…
Okay, maybe she has a bit of a problem.
Weiss looked up at the shattered moon above the skies and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
Time for her training.
Weiss turned to look at the large floating ball of metal in front of her and raised her hand, letting her power course through it. She narrowed her eyes as trails of black smoke came out of her raised hand, shooting towards the large ball of metal and piercing into it. Slowly, she curled her hand into a fist, a thin layer of black smoke covering the metal ball, when her hand finally closed into a fist, the black smoke started to solidify and one could hardly see the metal ball anymore. Suddenly, she opened her hand and the black material disappeared, for a second, it looked as though the ball of metal hadn't changed at all, when suddenly a gust of wind passed by and what was once the metal ball got swept up in the wind in multiple parts, as though it was now dust.
Weiss just stared at it, before looking down to her hand. She was getting stronger, she felt it… but she had to wonder just what she had to go up against that would require her to get so incredibly powerful that she would dwarf even Remnant's greatest Hunter teams? She didn't know, but if her mother still continued to train herself until that time comes… then she would do so as well.
It's not as though her father can do anything about it, after all.
She felt a strong presence suddenly making itself known in the Manor, making her narrow her eyes. She closed her eyes and found that it was near her mother's resting area, in the underground hall. But this wasn't her mother's presence. She knew of her mother's presence well enough to know that, this was more than her mother's, this was more powerful.
Something… stronger.
But how could they get here without neither her nor her mother noticing it? Could this be…?
Not hesitating any longer, she rushed through the Manor, quickly heading towards the underground hall. Going to her room, she looked into the mirror and quickly activated her door, and going into it as it opened, barely managing to remember to close it behind her with a hand gesture. As she flew down the steps, she could feel the presence grow closer and closer, and she could also feel her mother's presence. She was…
She was kneeling…?
Was she too late? This could only be the work of an enemy Grimm… Salem! Upon reaching the doors to the hall, she quickly opened it, and what greeted her was the sight of her mother kneeling over to a man with dark hair and red eyes, wearing a long dark robe.
T…this was the witch? No… that was…
"Weiss!" Her mother said with eyes wide as she saw her. "T-This is the—"
"Ah… Weiss Schnee, is it? I'm quite surprised, Willow, you somehow managed to pass on the Grimm genetics onto someone still… She's the only one, yes?" the robed man asked, and Weiss just watched.
Watched, because she literally couldn't move right now. Her body doesn't seem to want to respond to her mind. Is this how she'll die…?
"Y-Yes, Lord. Forgive her for her unfamiliarity with you, she…" her mother seemed to pause as she looked down onto the ground, still kneeling on one leg.
"Ah, no, I understand." the man smiled, and Weiss could feel his power over her. T-This was true mind control? But only the... "Oh? She's finally pieced it together. You take after your grandmother quite well…" the man—no, the Lord smiled, and before Weiss knew it, she kneeled to him, looking down to the ground.
"F-Forgive me, Lord Adonis." Weiss said, gulping.
"You are forgiven, now… I have a request I wish to ask of your daughter, Willow. Will that be alright?" the Lord asked, both her and her mother looking up with shock,
"A-Anything for the Lord." her mother, Willow Schnee, said respectfully,
"Hmm… It's actually a favor I need," at those words, they were surprised once more. A favor, from the Lord of Grimm? What could it possibly be? The Lord sighed, closing his eyes for a tense moment. They waited patiently until he spoke again. "The current Noblesse… has stepped foot into Vale, and, if that wizard is the same as he always was, he's currently attending to the Noblesse to bring him into Beacon Academy."
Weiss was speechless, the Noblesse had set foot into Vale? And onto Beacon Academy no less? Why would he—
"The Noblesse wishes to learn of the Human world. As he is who he is, I cannot deny that… however I need your assistance with an important mission." Weiss blinked at this, what could she possibly do? She was… to put it simply, weak. And if this Noblesse is who he is… then she doubted she could be of much help…
"Of course, my Lord. We will do everything we can." her mother, Willow, said, and Weiss could only look up to the Lord in anticipation.
He looked at her, and that pressure was upon her once more, but this time… it didn't restrict her. At least, not so much as it made her keep her eyes on his. "Weiss Schnee." he spoke her name and she felt as though it was the beginning of a soul contract, which could it could very likely be. "Do you hereby swear to serve the Lord of Grimm, and those who hold such titles by my decree?"
Weiss blinked, before her eyes hardened with determination. "Yes."
"Do you hereby swear to serve the Noblesse, and those who hold such titles by my decree?"
"Yes."
The Lord suddenly smiled, "Good. Now, I only ask one last thing of you…" at this, Weiss frowned, worried about what comes next. The Lord just continued to smile, "Protect the Noblesse. Do not let him fall to the will of neither the wizard Ozpin, or the witch Salem." he said, before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh, "Eternity knows that these two are too caught up in their own desires to truly understand the Noblesse's one desire…"
Weiss hesitated, after hearing all of that, she wasn't quite sure if she should be the one to assist—much less protect—the Noblesse.
As she was about to speak up on it, her mother suddenly said something, "Weiss, my dear… I know it may be difficult for you, and that you may feel as though you aren't qualified for such a task, you are, in fact, the only one qualified here. Your task is to protect and guide the Noblesse, his existence goes a long way to ensure the peace that we all long for…" Weiss stared at her mother, those words not quite reassuring her.
"Your mother is right." the Lord then spoke, making her turn towards him. "Weiss Gretchel Anastasia Fleur Kriegsvan Schnee… much as it may not seem fitting for you to be in this role, you fit all the requirements for it. You are… well, young enough to be around the Noblesse's age, knowledgeable enough to guide him in the Human world, and most of all… you are known and affiliated by most people as human. The other family leaders and their children… they're not quite fitting of such a task. So this is something I can only ask of you, Weiss Schnee." he said, looking into her eyes, before he suddenly paused. "Ah… I seem to have forgotten something…"
Weiss' eyes widened at that—what could it possibly be that the Lord had forgotten that would make him pause? She already knew of the circumstances around the Noblesse's power, but… what else did she not know? Her mother had taught her everything she needed, right?
"I hadn't told you about him yet, have I?" the Lord said, putting a hand on his chin and humming, taking Weiss by surprise. W-What? "Yes… if you are to be given this task, I need to tell you everything about him… it can only aid you in becoming his… yes, yes… this can work…" the Lord muttered to himself, and Weiss gulped. T-This couldn't be, right…? "Right. Now, first, let's talk about his likes and dislikes…"
She had forgotten something as well.
The Lord was rather keen on getting people together… she thought her mother was exaggerating it, but this would be rather…
She didn't even finish that thought, already seeing the gaze the Lord was giving her.
She whimpered.
A/N: Something good for something new... Hey, Vsauce—I mean, hello fanfic readers old and new... Sort of an overused idea? Sort of an underused idea? I don't really know. But yeah, essentially, some people are quite... OP here. But that's okay, they're not really the true focus of the story here. You'll see what I mean later on. For now, thanks for reading, and uh... don't forget to leave a review if you liked it! It always helps me know if I'm doing well or not haha.
And don't worry, I've signed a blood oath to someone that I won't abandon this fic this time. If I don't finish this one, then you should know that I've died or something. Update schedule sure as heck ain't gon be daily. It'll be more or less whenever I finish a chapter.
Also yay for NaNoWriMo... though I'm late to it, so oof. I'll still try regardless, lmao.
Thanks for reading! And reviews are always nice :3