Explanation

After some walking, Cinder was brought to a small cottage deep in Mistral. She was certainly suspicious, and didn't trust Drago by any stretch, but as was established earlier, as capable as he may have been, he was definitely no where near her level as a Maiden. Drago knocked on the door, and after a moment, it opened.

"Come on," Drago said, gesturing for her to come in. After a moment, Cinder did so. When she did, she was greeted by two other people sitting/standing around a table in the center of the otherwise empty room. Both were bird Faunus, one with black wings under his arms, and another with red plumage on her head.

"We're back," Drago announced, getting their attention.

"Mhmmm," the vulture Faunus said, eyeing the new arrival, "This the one you told us about?"

"You didn't say she was a human," the other one said, glaring at Cinder, as she stood up straight.

"I didn't because you were the only one who cared," Drago answered, before glancing at Cinder, "This is Slate Skek, and Carmine Grant; Slate, Carmine, this is Cinder Fall." The two eyed Cinder suspiciously, who returned it. While Cinder didn't recognize the vulture, she recognized Carmine as one of the (now former) Imperial Guard, who had tried to kill the Empress.

"Well, it is all truly wonderful to meet you," Cinder said, "But I fail to see what this has to do with me."

"It's simple," Drago answered, "Every person in this room wants those Beacon students dead."

"Is that so?" Cinder answered, as she overlooked the group, before looking at Drago, "May I ask why? Something tells me the price Watts put on them is no longer in effect."

"I don't care about the money, not anymore," Drago answered bitterly, "The rest of my team is dead anyway."

"I had a sense of that," Cinder said, "So if the money isn't what you're in for, why do you want them dead now? Why do any of you want them dead?" The lizard and the birds were silent for a time, as they exchanged glances.

"My group was tracking four of those kids on the way here to Mistral," he said, "However, we were intercepted by a Basilisk on the road; I was the only survivor. I can't kill the Basilisk, but I can kill the kids who started this whole thing for us."

"Accursed Belladonna and lying Amitola ruined ambitions and efforts," Slate said as he spread his hands, "Only fair repay debt." Cinder's eyes then turned to Carmine, who was glaring at the table.

"I can't kill the Empress now," she said, as she moved her glare to the ceiling, "But maybe I can kill those who got in my way." All simple enough reasons for revenge Cinder supposed, as she rubbed her chin slightly.

"I see," the Maiden said, arching her eyebrow, "But let me add another question to the matter: why should I be interested in working with any of you?"

"Because you need us," Drago said bluntly. At that, Cinder actually laughed.

"You think I need you?" she sneered, "You said you knew what I as capable of."

"I do, and we all also know what those students are capable of," Drago answered, causing Cinder to stop laughing, "You know, I was watching when you fought that serpentine dragon in the sky. You didn't do so well then there if memory serves." Cinder's teeth clenched at that, as her glare hardened.

"You can't take them all alone," Carmine said.

"And you think you can?" Cinder responded.

"I don't care about 'taking them'," Carmine said, as she put her foot on the table, showing the metal claws on her boots, "All I want to do is kill them; I'll take slitting their throats in their sleep."

"Exactly," Drago said, "Killing them is all that matters. We can and will find a way to do so, just you wait." Cinder was silent as she considered all of that. Were she being honest, they did have a point; doing this alone would likely be a lot more difficult than doing it with a team. Did Cinder trust them? Of course not, but she didn't trust half the people she worked with, and that hadn't stopped her before.

"Very well then," she said, as she stood up straight and took a step forward, "I think we've got a plan." Drago smiled darkly, as he offered a hand, which Cinder took.

"Oh, how naive you four are." Immediately, the whole group was on guard at the phantom voice that echoed through the room, with Cinder manifesting a ball of fire in each hand.

"Oh, put those away child, they're useless against me." Somehow, that didn't make the Maiden feel any more secure.

"Show yourself!" Drago demanded.

"Quite yourself, little lizard," the voice hissed. That was when silver mist started to gather at their feet.

"Who are you?" Cinder asked. There was then a sinister sounding laugh, that seemed to be coming from the mist. With that, the mist gathered up, and coalesced into a figure. The figure was tall, and masculine, with silver skin, with dark hair that was in a long braid. He had golden bracelets on his hands, and wore golden shorts with a golden vest with a golden circlet on the crown of his head. But the trait Cinder was the most drawn to were his eyes; they were a brilliant silver color, that reminded Cinder too much of the eyes of Ruby Rose, though his sclera was black instead of white.

"What are you?" Cinder rephrased. She had witness a number of strange creatures and monsters in her time with Salem, but even she had never seen a creature like that.

"I am Vishnu, High Spirit of Preservation, created by the God of Light to preserve and protect his creation," the being said, as he leaned down to the four, "And I have a proposition for all of you…"

(in Argus)

"Hey Mom! I've got two girlfriends!"

That wasn't exactly how Jaune had broke the news to his family, but it may as well been, considering the way they reacted. The Arcs were all sitting in Saphron's living room, with Jaune sitting in the middle, being stared down by his parents and sisters. Adrian was in his grandmother's lap, curious why all these people were around while his cousins were sent outside by their mother to play; several of the girls in the team (including Ilia) made mental notes to swoon about how cute he was. Some of the girls in the group made mental notes to gush over how cute he was.

The introductions had gone fairly well actually up until this point. Milly, as it turned out, had two other children, two five year old girls, Lapis and Lazuli. They were also octopus Faunus, but unlike their brother, they had yellow tentacles with blue rings on it, and had been quite excited with Flynn when they found out Ilia and Blake were Faunus themselves. Learning that Jaune had family who were Faunus proved rather surprising for both girls, especially Ilia. A human and a Faunus getting married and having a family? While Blake felt it rather assuring (proof that they weren't so different), Ilia felt all sorts of emotions. It didn't feel right honestly; she felt disgusted about those emotions, but couldn't help but feel that way.

The whole of the group, save for Weiss and Ruby, who were sitting on either side of Jaune, were on the edge of the room, trying to deal with the awkwardness of all that was going on. Blake was standing on the other side of the bookshelf, with Ilia all but hiding behind her, while Nora was chewing on an apple she pilfered from the fridge. Ren would've tried to stop her, but he doubted she'd listen. Oscar and Qrow were standing the furthest away. As for Yang….

The blonde hadn't be pleased when she found out Jaune was now with Ruby and Weiss. Much to the contrary, she was very displeased. She wasn't opposed to Ruby getting a boyfriend, but she wanted her to have one who would devote all attention to her, not split it with another girl. Pyrrha was keeping her back for a time, though.

"Do we have to be here for this?" Nora muttered between bites. Ren elbowed her slightly.

"You know, when I married a Faunus, I thought that would be the thing I'd get the most stupidity from people for," Milly commented, "Not Jaune being a playboy." She would've said "crap", but didn't want Saphron getting mad at her for using that kind of language in front of her son.

"I'm actually surprised our baby brother was able to attract a mate in the first place," Azure said. Rain would've scolded her daughter for that, but not in the mood she was in.

"Jaune," the Arc matriarch said very cooly, as she shifted Adrian's position in her lap, "You know how your father and I had a successful relationship?"

"Uh…"

"We committed to each other!" Rain all but hissed, "We gave each other our complete and undivided love and affection."

"Mom…"

"Seriously, what were you thinking?" Saphron asked, "Think of what kind of example you're setting to your nieces and nephews!"

"If it's worth anything, I didn't plan it go this way," Jaune said.

"Oh, well then that makes it all better!" Jade said, her voice oozing sarcasm.

"I actually had a lot of trouble finding a girlfriend in Beacon," Jaune continued, "I followed Dad's advice…"

"Alistair!" Rain scolded, as the man's female relatives all suddenly looked at him, "You had him use your pickup lines? No wonder he had such trouble!" The Arc patriarch just coughed into his hand briefly, and averted his eyes.

"Well, I'll deal with that later," Rain said, as she stood up, shifting her grandson in her arms, "But in the meantime, I can't say how disappointed I am in you. Did everything I teach really mean nothing? I mean…"

"Please don't get mad at him, Mrs. Arc!" Eyes were suddenly on Ruby, who decided to finally come to her boyfriend's defense. Everyone was rather surprised she had the courage to interrupt Rain Arc.

"Yes, if I you wish to get angry at anyone, let it be us!" Weiss added, as she also came to Jaune's defense.

"This whole thing was our idea," Ruby said, though after a glance from Weiss, she amended, "Okay, it was my idea. We both liked him, and so then we agreed to confess to him at the same time, but then we got all tied up in a train, then we had to walk the rest of the way on foot where we ended up at a cabin…."

"The long and short of it is that we both confessed to him," Weiss interrupted, sparing the Arc family from anymore of Ruby's ramblings, "We put him in the classic, but honestly rather cruel scenario of being forced to choose between two different women. But he said that he couldn't choose between the two of us, at the risk of choosing one, and then breaking the other's heart."

"So I suggested we try and both date him," Ruby said, "It really was just my idea."

"These two girls are some of the nicest, and all around good women on the planet," Jaune said, as he stood up, "I thought if they cared about me enough to want to try something like this, then I figured that there may be no harm in trying."

"And…," Ruby said, stepping forward as well, "If things really don't work out, then…." Her voice faltered, but she took a deep breath.

"Then I'll be the one to step away," she said softly. That surprised everyone, including Jaune and Weiss.

"Ruby," Jaune said softly, while Weiss could only stare in surprise. The Arcs all looked at Ruby, taking what she said in, as Yang also stared at her, considering what she had said. Rain then stepped forward, handing Adrian to his Aunt Violet as she did, as she slowly approached Ruby, who was suddenly deeply interested in the floor.

"This is certainly not how I envisioned getting more daughters," Rain said, as Jaune and Weiss joined Ruby in looking at the floor, before sighing, "But if you're all sincere about these about these feelings, I suppose there's nothing I can do to stop you." That got all three people to look up at that.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Arc!" Ruby said happily, as she gave another one of her classic, huge smiles. The sight of that smile made Rain's eyes widen, as she began to sake slightly.

"You're… you're so cute!" Rain said, as she suddenly hugged her.

"Gah! Mrs. Arc!" Ruby said, flailing her arms around.

"Oh no, you're going to call me 'Mom'!" Rain said, as she continued to hug her. Then her gaze was shifted to Weiss, who suddenly moved herself behind Jaune. Rain then all but threw Ruby to the mercy of her daughters, as her gaze zeroed in on Weiss.

"Jaune," she said, as she tired to shelter herself behind her boyfriend, "Please…."

"Sorry, Weiss," Jaune said, "But when my mom wants something…" He then stepped aside, leaving Weiss to be lost in the embrace of one Rain Arc. Meanwhile, Ruby was being surrounded by Jaune's seven sisters, as they analyzed their potential new sister.

"What's you're favorite food?" Saphron asked.

"What's your favorite movie?" Violet asked.

"What's your favorite way of fighting?" Jade asked.

"What's your favorite book?" Cyan asked. Ruby could only make various "uh" sounds as she tried to think of anything real to say. Meanwhile, with his wife and daughters hoarding his son's girlfriends, Alistair took an opportunity to approach Jaune.

"You know," he said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I wasn't being serious when I told you to use those pickup lines."

"You weren't?" Jaune answered.

"Just tell your mother that if you can," Alistair said, patting his son on his back, as the two watched the women in their life buzz about. Fortunately for Ruby and Weiss, the front door opened.

"I just don't get the appeal, of it," Terra said as she stepped inside, followed by a Faunus about Jaune's height with four green tentacles with dark green hair. He was wearing an aviators jacket over a green shirt with jeans. Terra was carrying a grocery bag in each arm, while he was carrying one in each arm and in each tentacle.

"How can you not?" Hunter Tako, the husband of Vermillion Arc, answered, "It's giant monsters fighting giant robots, its like… Jaune?" The two looked up to see their brother-in-law in Terra's living room.

"Hey Terra! Hey Hunter!" Jaune said, greeting his in-laws.

"I didn't know you'd be coming," Terra said, as she set down the bags, so she could hug him.

"I didn't know either," Saphron answered, as she went to help her wife with the bags while Milly did the same for her husband so he could give Jaune his own hug.

"You're looking good," Hunter said, "Seems Beacon did right by you."

"Thanks, Hunter," Jaune said.

"Hey hon!" Saphron said, "Guess what?"

"What?" Terra responded.

"Adrian's going to be getting more cousins!" Saphron said excitedly.

"Saph!" Jaune cried out, as Weiss and Ruby both turned red.

Note: Cinder's now meeting up not just with Drago, but with Slate and Carmine as well. And they're meeting up with another High Spirit. That makes three out of four of them revealed; that just leaves the red one.

Going into the Jaune's family, I knew it would raise some eyebrows amongst them if Jaune showed up with two girlfriends, so I decided to try and knock that conflict out in one chapter. It would've added extra baggage to the story if it had gone on longer, and weighed the main conflict down. And at any rate, I'm going to take this as opportunity to indicate that while the romance will have a presence, it won't have a major one. It will be an additive to the plot, something to give it a little bit more flavor. Not to say it won't be coming up in the future in big ways, though…

Be sure to review.

Something to know, is that I've recently edited a few of the previous chapters (namely 67 and 71). I wasn't entirely happy with the way they turned out, so I did some edits on them. Props again to Simply Christian for giving me the idea for editing 71.