A/N: Here we go again.
August Caspian was recovering at a decent pace.
After Jaune Arc had found him, he had miraculously stopped his semblance, and all Gus' problems had been solved. Jaune had dropped him off at his parent's house, and although August had been nervous about the whole thing, they had gladly welcomed him back into their home.
August's parents had forgiven him for the things he did, and vice versa. Soon, he was going to meet with his uncle to learn meditation, the Huntsman way.
It was like he'd gotten through the tragic origin story, and could now start being a hero. Such were the delusional dreams of the child.
Well, being starstruck by a cool Huntsman-in-training like Jaune might have something to do with it, although Jaune would have probably denied his accomplishments with all his might should he be given the chance.
Anyway. Uncle Edward should arrive in a week. It had been a while since August last saw him. The job of Huntsman made him very busy. August couldn't wait to tell him about Jaune.
A whole week to wait. Until then, August was going to have to endure his parents' worries. And they were worrying a lot.
Scratch that. Rather than worry, it was more like shock, and outrage.
The reason was...
"That boy did what…?"
August blinked at his father. "Um… He… He broke my semblance."
Yeah… It… didn't sound very good, did it?
"Son..." His father groaned, "I've called Edward, your uncle. I know what a semblance is. I know what Aura is. They are the manifestation of one's soul! It's extremely important!" He exclaimed, "And you're saying that… He broke yours? Something as important, as personal as this? Are you sure you're feeling okay?!"
"Yes, yes!" August hurriedly said, "Don't worry, don't worry. It's... It's going to be back eventually anyway…"
"When?" His mom asked. "When is it going to heal?"
Now that she asked, August realized he had no idea. Jaune hadn't given any timeframe. Hopefully, it would stay shut off until Uncle Edward arrived at least.
"…In… time…?" He tried to answer, his heart squeezing anxiously. He was still scared to anger his parents. Flashes of their past violent treatment came to mind, although August tried his best to dismiss it. It had been his fault, not theirs.
"You don't know? Something like this... We don't understand the effect it could have on you." His father continued, "Even Atlas' best scientists admit they know far too little about Aura… And a student of Beacon plays with such obscure things? With his destructive semblance? How dare he...?"
"He - he saved me!" August raised his voice, defending Jaune. "He helped me! If not for him, I would still be… I'd still be...!"
"All right, all right. I know, I know… We know…" His father immediately calmed down, lowering his voice. August did not often raise his voice like this, so when he did, his parents took him seriously. "All right… I understand; I'll leave it alone for now. What's done is done, okay, son?"
"Y-yeah…" August nodded hesitantly, still pretty fearful that his parents might get angry again. His heart was still scarred by the events of last time.
"Though we don't know the effects… But... I'm sure it'll be all right. Hmph." His father mumbled, before flashing him a smile, which August tried his best to return.
"...Right, son?"
"...Right..." August mumbled, averting his eyes.
"..."
"..."
Silence suddenly fell between them, with only the radio's country music filling it.
"..."
Eh... Wait, how did I do this again...? August wondered, looking outside through the window.
I can't... continue the conversation... at all.
How did we use to talk in the past...? We used to have so much fun.
I even apologized to them, and they did the same. So why... am I still like this?
What should I say? My throat is dried up. Just talking... tires me out...
"..."
"..."
"Anyway... I made pancakes, Gus," Mom suddenly said with a gentle smile, "Are you hungry?"
"Um, yes, please..." August nodded, glad that she started the conversation again, and let go of the topic of Jaune.
He watched as his mom put a plate of pancakes right in front of him. He smiled nostalgically.
Naturally, August, who had just spent two weeks starving in the streets, had a new appreciation for delicious food like these.
Nevertheless, he still restrained himself from jumping on the food, watching his parents. Before, he would have dug in unceremoniously, but now... Something held him back, a tight feeling in his chest.
"Go on, eat up!" His mother smiled at him encouragingly.
August gave a smile and nodded, grabbing his fork.
Hm?
What's this red thing? On the pancake?
He poked it. Weird... This was not the usual strawberry jam. The texture was different. Some kind of sap maybe?
August shrugged. It looked like it tasted good. So he dug in and started eating.
"Do you like it?" His mother asked, watching him.
"Er, yesh. It'sh delishious..." August nodded, mouth full.
"Good," His father nodded.
August continued eating silently, blissfully unaware of the satisfied glances his parents exchanged as they observed him.
He did not know, that his parents had switched the usual jam to a new variety of tree sap, mainly originating from the Forever Fall forest.
This expensive, crimson-colored tree sap, was actually a point of interest for Vale researchers to invent a new type of medicine for Huntsmen, as one of its remarkable properties had been discovered recently.
That property was accelerated Aura recovery, along with increasing its healing effects. A giant breakthrough in the field of medicine, which was going to improve the survival rate of Huntsmen expedition into the wildlands.
However, because of this, August Caspian's semblance started healing a lot sooner than it should have...
Hours later, with Jaune.
"Well, that sucks." Lazu Li sighed, "I was hoping we could finish the mission this morning."
"It's only natural, Mister Li," Jaune said, "Since I disabled August's semblance, the people's emotions aren't being amplified anymore."
"Which means, less Grimm." Ruby nodded with him. "It's kinda amazing to see such a big difference compared to yesterday. Makes me realize how much negativity attracts these monsters!"
The three of them just had lunch in a restaurant, Lazu Li's treat. They'd gone hunting for Grimm in the morning, but couldn't find many.
"Yes, yes. I suppose." Lazu Li groaned.
"We may not be able to complete the mission, but in this case, it's a good thing," Ruby pointed out.
"Yeah," The man grimaced. "I guess."
"…Why aren't you happier?" Jaune asked.
"It's just, we didn't reach the necessary quota for the mission." Lazu Li answered. "Generally speaking, it's best to properly finish the mission before heading home."
"…Oh." Jaune blinked, before frowning. "But… How would they know?"
"Hm?" The Huntsman raised an eyebrow at him. "Know what?"
"That we didn't properly finish the mission, I mean." Jaune specified, "That we didn't reach our Grimm quota."
"You really think I would lie about our results?" The man raised an eyebrow at him. Seeing Jaune not answering, he shrugged. "It's impossible. There are a few convoluted rules in place to prevent that. For example, they could hire someone to make sure we did our job."
Jaune hummed. "And… Is it a -"
"A Huntsman? Not always." Lazu Li shrugged, "When it is, it's a trusted one though. Like, not me." He winked, making Ruby giggle at him. "This kind of mission is pretty uncommon, though."
"I see…" Jaune mused.
"So there's some kind of trust system in place?" Ruby asked, tilting her head to the side, very interested.
"No, not really." Lazu Li shook his head, leaning back into his seat. "The higher-ups just handpick the Huntsman themselves, instead of having the mission free for everyone to take."
"Oh! I know, it's like my uncle!" Ruby exclaimed, "He often goes on super-serious Huntsman missions that last a long time."
"Does he now?" Lazu Li raised an eyebrow at her, "Must be these specific missions they can't trust other Huntsmen to do. Your uncle must be well acquainted with the higher-ups, for them to trust him so much." Lazu Li commented, eyeing her curiously. "What's his name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Uncle Qrow Branwen! He was the one who taught me how to wield a scythe at Signal Academy."
"A teacher, then?" Lazu Li assumed a wry smile on his face. "Hah… They always give comfy jobs to their special agents."
"Y-you mean, he's like a secret spy?" Ruby gaped at him, "That sounds so cool!"
Jaune agreed, watching Ruby. He sure seemed like a pretty cool uncle. And Jaune already knew that her father, Taiyang, had been replacing Miss Goodwitch at Beacon. This family sure seemed well acquainted with the headmaster.
Unlike Jaune, who was still very nervous around the man. Jaune had only talked to him a couple of times, but he figured, there was something about Ozpin. Something that made Jaune very uncomfortable.
"…Something like that, I suppose. Maybe. I don't know." Lazu Li nodded, "Most likely, your uncle is just that good. Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"He always dodges the question," Ruby shrugged.
Lazu Li hummed, eyeing Ruby, "You call him uncle… Is he from your mother or your father's side?"
"Neither, actually!" Ruby giggled, "He's not my biological uncle. He's, uh… the brother of… my dad's… first wife." She blinked, "That was hard to say!"
"I see." Lazu Li said simply, leaning back in his chair.
Sounds complicated. Jaune thought, looking at his partner. "Yang's mom, then?" He asked her.
"Yeah…" She muttered, and quieted down, probably realizing she was revealing some pretty personal family stuff to a stranger.
"What about you, Jaune?" Lazu Li asked, realizing Ruby was getting uncomfortable.
Jaune shrugged. "What about me?"
"Your parents were Huntsmen too, right? The Arc family were pretty famous for their warriors in the past."
…Eh?
Jaune widened his eyes at the man, surprised. "What, famous? What do you mean?"
"Maybe not nowadays," The man amended, raising his hands as if to calm him down, "But a couple of centuries ago, people wrote about them."
"What? They wrote?" Jaune repeated, staring at Mister Li, eyes wide, "What did they write?"
"Their exploits in battle, and contributions to wars, mainly." Lazu Li frowned at him. "Wait. Did you… not know any of that?"
"No!" Jaune exclaimed, exasperated, "I never knew anything about any of my relatives! In fact, I only learned my family name a few months back!"
"…R-really…?!" Lazu Li blinked and raised his eyebrows at him. For the first time, Jaune felt like the Huntsman was genuinely surprised.
"…Whaaaat!" Ruby, too, gaped at him. "How can you not know about your own family's name?"
"I, uh… It didn't seem like a big deal at the time." Jaune shrugged, shaking his head in confusion. "Because I thought it was… natural…"
Natural. Yes, it had felt natural that someone like him didn't have a family. Since Jaune had never thought he deserved to have one. After being rejected by so many foster families, how could he think otherwise?
"…You're an orphan then… I'm sorry I asked." Lazu Li apologized tactfully, "I didn't know…"
"No, it's all right." Jaune shook his head, giving a smile, "I don't even know if I'm really an orphan, to be honest, since I just never heard about any of my relatives, ever…"
"And you're not curious?" Mr. Li asked.
"…I don't know." Jaune mused, "To be honest, I never thought much about it."
That... was a lie. Jaune had thought about it. But he'd never decided what he wanted to do. What he wanted to know.
The topic had always made him uncomfortable, anxious even. There had been one time he had asked Miss Crappert - the woman who took care of him between each foster family swap, and the one responsible for finding new homes for him - about potential blood relatives, but she'd adamantly refused to answer. He had thought it was because she knew nothing of the matter, but now…
Miss Crappert had never told him his name before, but if Miss Goodwitch herself knew, surely Jaune's replacement caretaker, the one responsible for him and for what family he ended up with… the one who knew him for the longest time, the one who probably knew him the best... Surely she must have known, too, right?
Yet she never told him.
Perhaps because she thought he didn't deserve the Arc name? For as long as Jaune remembered, Miss Crappert had pretty much hated him. Always screaming at him when he was kicked from a family. He was so different from a heroic Arc warrior or whatever his ancestors had been. She must have thought he didn't deserve the name of a family whose exploits were part of history - whose fame he would have tainted.
And yet, she'd never abandoned him, either… Simply put, she did her job, and that was it.
"…You think some of them are still alive?" Lazu Li asked, observing him.
"Let's search for them!" Ruby suggested, getting excited. "They must all be badass Huntsmen!"
"Wait…!" Jaune halted them, "We don't even know if there are any members left…"
"But there could be!" She pointed out.
"I, um…" Jaune hesitated.
"Come on!" Ruby insisted while Lazu Li stayed quiet, observing them, "When we go home after this, let's do it, let's search for them!"
"N-no…"
"Just a quick search on a scroll might do it!"
"No."
"But they're your parents!" She insisted, and something rose inside Jaune's chest, making him grit his teeth. "Family! Family is, like, your root, it's super important-"
"I said NO, Ruby!" Jaune snapped at her.
She visibly recoiled from him, the expression on her face that of a kicked puppy.
Jaune breathed deeply, immediately regretting getting so upset at her.
"…S-sorry." Jaune stood up. "I think... I need some air."
"A-ah, Jaune-" Ruby was about to stand up as well, but Lazu Li grabbed her by the arm.
"We should leave him alone for now," He advised gently.
"But…!" Ruby hesitated, looking at Jaune who was just now leaving the building.
Lazu Li's hand grabbed her by the shoulder. "You can apologize to him later." He advised, "I think he needs some alone time at the moment."
"…"
Through the window, Ruby concernedly stared at Jaune, who was walking away from the building.
She'd known he never had any family, but… To think that he hadn't even known his surname only three months back?
Ruby hadn't known that.
"If he didn't know it himself… How did Miss Goodwitch know his name…?" She wondered.
"Eh, that's easy, it's probably buried somewhere in Vale's records." Lazu Li waved her question away. "Doesn't explain why he himself doesn't know, though. Someone should have told him earlier in his life."
"Yeah…" Ruby agreed. "Someone should have."
Ruby herself was called Rose, not Xiao-Long like her sister, and she felt her surname was carrying a lot of her mother's heritage. This was why, to her more than anyone else, Jaune not knowing his own family name for most of his life was a big deal.
Then again, she should not have pried so much…
"Aaaah~ I messed up…" Ruby lamented, grabbing her head with her hands.
"Bah, you'll be fine." The Huntsman rolled his eyes at her. "Come on, cheer up, I'll buy you something sweet."
Ruby sulked quietly. As a leader, she should have known not to step over boundaries, yet she just couldn't help herself, could she?
"Uuuugh…" She groaned in pain, "I'm so duuumb..."
"Here, hope you like it." Lazu Li put a bowl down in front of her and ruffled her hair, to which Ruby took a page from Blake and hissed back at him, disliking the touch. "Those are my favorite flavors."
Grumpily, she looked down at the bowl.
Ice cream.
Strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla.
With Jaune.
Jaune sighed as he sat on a bench. His feet had led him to a nearby park.
The Arc family… a line of warriors long since forgotten?
He didn't know how to feel about that. Warriors? His family? Was this a joke? Jaune certainly didn't have the body of a warrior, so if that was true he hadn't inherited their genes at all.
On one hand, yes, he'd been curious who were his ancestors.
On the other hand, he feared he might find something he'd rather not know.
This was why he'd never asked Miss Goodwitch for a proper explanation. In reality, he was scared of the answer.
After so many foster families had discarded him, he didn't know how he would feel if he found out his original, biological family had done very much the same.
And so, Jaune felt nervous at the idea of meeting any of them. No, it was more than that… It was fear.
"…"
Jaune narrowed his eyes, suddenly noticing that his hand had somehow found its way to his pocket, on his scroll.
Ruby's words came back to him.
A quick search on a scroll might do it!
"…Should I...?" He muttered under his breath.
But what if his real family had really abandoned him? Did he really want to find out?
Faces of Miss Goodwitch, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake surged up in his mind.
Jaune shook his head, smiling softly.
What am I getting so worried about? The Arcs aren't my real family.
He took out his scroll and deployed it.
Just a quick search… Huh.
"…"
Jaune took a deep breath as he stared at his scroll for a moment, hesitating, a feeling of anticipation building up in his heart. Uneasiness filled his mind.
He gulped, his mouth suddenly dry. His stomach felt heavy.
He moved his finger over the screen, and...
Dululululululululululu…
"…?"
Jaune blinked, his scroll ringing.
Huh? What was this?
Call from: August Caspian
Gus? Jaune frowned, swiping a finger across the screen to answer the call.
"…Hello?"
"He-hello… Jaune…?"
"Gus? What is it?"
"I-it's my parents –"
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!" A loud noise came out of the scroll. Both August and Jaune jumped in fright at the sudden noise. "Let me through, son! Right now, or else!"
"Gus? What's happening?" Jaune asked urgently, eyes wide, standing up.
"I-it's my parents… They're fighting again…!"
"What?!"
"My semblance…! I think – I think it's back!"
Jaune widened his eyes. "Already? Impossible…!"
It should have taken way more time to heal the damage he'd done! Unless someone had used a healing power on him or something, there was no way.
"I'm coming right now," Jaune said. "Don't hang up! Stay hidden!"
"Y-yes…"
"BOOM BOOM! BOOM!"
"It might be a good idea to try to barricade yourself, too!" Jaune suggested, very worried about August's safety.
"Yes!"
In the past, there had been a couple of times when Jaune had made his family very angry, but he'd never felt concerned for his own safety, he'd been concerned for theirs. Unlike Jaune's, August's Aura did not act on its own to protect his body.
Nevermind the emotional trauma of having your own parents beat you up. If he didn't act fast, August could even die from this…!
"J-jaune!" August spoke up, panting after having pushed his armoire in front of the only door of his bedroom, "My semblance! I don't know why, but it's w-waaaay worse than before! I can feel it!"
"What?"
"Jaune!"
Jaune raised his head, seeing Ruby and Lazu Li run towards him.
"You guys!" Jaune showed them his scroll, "Something happened to Gus, it's very bad, we need to get to him fast!"
"We know! Look! Look!" Ruby gasped, pointing somewhere.
Jaune turned to find a group of people starting to argue with each other. Further away, a couple was slapping each other on the face.
Somewhere else, kids were crying and some started pulling on each other's hair. Some people were already fighting, and various shouts of panic were surging around them. Drivers honked and left their vehicles to argue with one another...
Soon, more and more people around them joined in what was quickly becoming a general melee.
"Oh no…" Jaune's eyes widened as he shared a glance with Ruby, both of them recognizing the pattern.
"Jaune, what the hell is this?" Lazu Li exclaimed angrily, raising his hands at their surroundings. "You told us you disabled the kid's power…! But now it is even stronger than before?!"
"Th-this is… Like last time…" Jaune realized under his breath.
He remembered the same thing happening with Ruby. Right after Jaune broke her semblance, she'd been able to go past the speed of sound. Her semblance, right after recovering, had been somehow amplified.
Which meant… Things were going to take a turn for the worse.
DuuuUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUU….
Hearing the strident noise, a chill right down Jaune's spine. He'd already heard it in the past and knew what it meant.
"Th-that sound… It's…" Ruby gaped.
"… The town's emergency siren." Jaune finished her sentence, a grim expression on his face.
"Attention. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: Seven. Please seek shelter and do not panic."
At that moment, everyone lost control. Screams of terror and panic echoed through the entire town. Agitated arguments escalated into fistfights, and the waiting drivers started ramming their vehicles into others to force their way through.
"Their fear is getting amplified…" Lazu Li realized, "Shit, this is bad. We need to get to the kid fast!"
"Let's go then," Ruby declared, raising her voice, "I'll take the lead, Jaune, you follow after me, Mister Li, cover our behinds!"
"Shouldn't we get the SUV?" Jaune asked.
"No," Lazu Li shook his head at him, "At this hour, with the Grimm coming, everyone's gonna jump in their car to barricade themselves in their home. Soon there will be traffic jams everywhere."
"Guys, let's go!" Ruby insisted, and the two of them followed her lead.
It didn't take long before they encountered the first Grimm, a Nevermore flying over the town.
Lazu Li grabbed a pistol out of his jacket, aimed at the monster, and took the shot. A sharp hook came out of his gun and pierced through the Nevermore's wings, causing him to writhe in pain. A metal cable was holding it to Lazu Li's pistol, so the monsters just decided to dive into him, screeching.
"Jaune!" Ruby called.
"Got it!"
Jaune slammed his palm upwards to meet the Nevermore's beak headfirst.
Crack!
Jaune's knees couldn't handle the force, and he collapsed under the monster's weight, but his Aura fought back. The Nevermore screamed again and was blown away from him before it could fully crush him. Jaune's semblance spread through its bones and broke them one after the other as if they were snapped like twigs.
Not wasting any time, they continued to run to their objective, chaos unraveling around them. The town was gradually descending into mass hysteria.
The streets were filled with chaos before the Grimm even reached them. Such was the power of amplifying people's emotions, it seemed. Some people were calling for help, others were displaying murderous intent. Some buildings they passed by were on fire. They even saw a group of people hunting down innocent Faunus, as well as groups of Faunus hunting down innocent humans. Ironically, those groups stayed out of each other's way.
Murder, racism, burglaries, vandalism, rape, suicides...
Madness.
Yet they couldn't slow down.
"Avert your gaze, kids. Keep moving." Lazu Li recommended darkly. "Lock your eyes on my back. Stay focused on the objective."
And so they averted their eyes and stared at his back. He was right, of course, the best way to save lives was simply to reach August and disable his semblance as fast as possible.
"S-so much suffering..." Ruby mumbled, her voice shaking. She sniffed, emotionally scarred at the sight of it all.
Averting her eyes didn't keep Ruby from crying, and that alone made Jaune want to destroy all these horrors. He teared up himself, his heart tight, shocked at the turn of events.
However, even if he wanted to punish them somehow, he couldn't. Not just because of his morals or ethics, assuming he would ever be willing to kill people, which he would never do.
Rather, it was because he thought none of them were actually guilty. They were all under the influence of August's semblance, so the murderers, thieves, racist extremists, and rapists, deserved to be considered innocent of their own crimes. Even if their crimes were the result of their amplified emotions, they had never acted on them until now, and to him, that was enough.
Such was Jaune's hopeful thoughts on the situation, as he was, still, painfully naive of the cruel reality of the world. The truth was: a substantial number of civilians and criminals alike were taking advantage of the situation to let loose. But Jaune preferred to assume the people's innocence, and Ruby was very much the same.
It's not their fault... Jaune thought to himself as he gritted his teeth, eyes stuck on Lazu Li's back. It's not their fault... If it's anyone's fault, it's probably mine.
August's semblance had been amplified because of him. Had Jaune miscalculated? Underestimated the destructive nature of his own semblance? Gus' semblance wasn't supposed to heal so quickly... Something had gone wrong, something had to have interfered, to help Gus heal. There was no way he would recover this quickly... Right?
Or was it his fault? No... No, it was the fault of the ones who helped him recover...
But if no one helped Gus heal... Then I miscalculated, and it really is my fault.
As Jaune was having these dark thoughts, fortunately, they arrived at August's house, and could now focus their minds on saving him.
It was burning.
His house.
All of it.
"Oh no…" Jaune breathed at the sight, his heart tightening in his chest. "…Gus!" He screamed.
"Shit…" Lazu Li cursed. "Is the family even alive?"
Zzzing!
Not leaving them time to think, Ruby had already bolted inside.
"Ruby!" Jaune exclaimed, hesitating to follow after them as a burning piece of the building crashed right in front of him, "Crap…"
For a couple of seconds, he hesitated to rush into the fire after her.
Zzzing!
Before he made his choice, Ruby had already bolted right back to their side.
"Gah…" She coughed, covered in sweat. In her arms, were…
"NOOO! Let me go! My baby is in there! My baby is IN THERE!" A woman, who Jaune recognized as August's mother, was crying and screaming while Ruby was holding her back. She was trying to free herself to run back into the fire to save her child.
"Madam! You can't go back in there." Lazu Li swiftly grabbed the mother out of Ruby's hands, "Let us handle this."
Zzzing!
"…Ruby!"
"Dammit!" Lazu Li cursed. "Is that girl simply crazy, or is that the effect of the boy's semblance?!"
"...Not sure!" Jaune admitted. Was her courage being amplified? Jaune couldn't know, since he was immune to it.
Zzzzing!
A few seconds later, Ruby was already back, with unconscious father on her back.
"J-jaune," Ruby said, coughing again. "August, I think he's stuck in there… Somewhere I can't access… Third floor!"
She coughed again.
"Crap, of course." Jaune realized, "He's barricaded himself in his room… I'll go!" He decided, "Stay here."
"But… Jaune!" Ruby protested, "You're not fast enough to go through the fire, and you won't be able to breathe! If you can't breathe, then even you will die!"
"Better than you going in there again. Petal roses burn easily," Jaune replied, looking at her. "And don't worry. I've caused plenty of fires and they've never killed me. I can breathe. Trust me." He smiled and turned back to the building to walk into the fire.
"Be careful!" Ruby warned him, he stepped into the inferno, his Aura flaring up to protect him from the heat.
Soon after entering the burning house, he heard the cries of a child.
"Where are you?" Jaune yelled, looking around.
The third floor, he remembered. He quickly found the stairs and climbed up, stepping over several burning spots and skipping steps.
"Guuuus! Where are you?" He asked again, louder.
"Jauune!" A voice came to him from his right.
Jaune ran through a corridor, heading in the voice's direction.
"Haaaa… Haaaa…" Jaune panted, the heat getting to him.
He also started coughing.
"Ugh…"
It was to be expected. Of course, he was breathing smoke… Very bad for his lungs.
However, Jaune had already known this was going to happen before he stepped into the burning house. And he had a counter.
After burning his fair share of kitchens in the past, of course, he had one. Usually, his Aura did it on its own, but now - ever since he broke his own Aura probably - it seemed like he had to make a conscious effort to do it.
Jaune closed his eyes, letting his Aura shine around him, healing him. He focused the essence of his soul into his lungs.
Crack!
And destroyed the toxic smoke from his lungs. This was not too hard to achieve, as his Aura usually already dealt with poisons like alcohol or diseases such as a cold. Anything that harmed Jaune was easily identifiable by his Aura, even within his body itself. It was sensible enough to the point that it could figure out that a bullhead was responsible for his motion sickness, which was why he'd nearly crashed on his first day at Beacon.
Anyway, just like that, Jaune was able to breathe better. He kept the focus of his Aura on his chest, maintaining the destruction of the toxic smoke. It still burned his throat, of course, and his eyes were tearing up, but his Aura was healing him as well; and he could endure the pain.
Now back to the saving… He needed to go through that door. It was locked, but no problem. He simply applied a finger on the lock.
Crack!
It exploded.
"Gus! Are you in there?" Jaune called as he tried to kick the door away.
Even then, it didn't move. Furniture had clearly been placed on the other side to block the path.
A barricade, of course. What was he thinking?!
"J-jaune!" Gus' voice came to him, sounding muffled.
If Jaune burst through the door, the debris might hurt August, so the best option was to simply… go through the wall nearby.
"I'm coming in, just hold on!" Jaune called, "Cover your eyes!"
If it's a bearing wall, the roof might fall on us… I need to be careful about this.
Gathering Aura at his fingertips, Jaune drew a large circle on the wall with his finger and softly applied his hand on its center.
Crack!
A disk-shaped hole was cleanly cut from the wall, and Jaune only needed to push a little to make it fall off.
"I'm here!" Jaune called as he stepped through.
Where is he?
"J-jaune?"
The closet?
"Huh? Are you in there?" Jaune asked, reaching for the handle.
Opening the closet's doors, he revealed an anxious, sweating Gus, tears rolling on his cheeks. He had a black eye, and his lip was bleeding.
"M-my parents were angry… s-so I hid…" He sobbed.
Seeing his emotional state, it reminded him of his old self. So, Jaune knew he had to be strong and give the child hope, despite all the horrors he'd just seen in the streets of Meteor City. Be an inspiring figure like Summer had been to him, a beacon of hope.
"All right, all right, you did good," Jaune tried his best to smile at him, trying to calm him down.
"Dad hit me again... Mom fought with him... I escaped... I-I hid...!"
Jaune nodded, "You're very brave. It's going to be okay now. Come on Gus, take my hand, let's leave."
"A-are they... o-okay...?"
"Yeah. My partner saved them. They're okay. It'll all be okay now. Let's go, Gus..."
"Y-yeah…"
He grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly.
"That's it. You're strong." Jaune said, leading him to the hole he'd pierced earlier.
Right before they left the room, they heard a creak right above them. Something broke, and a large piece of the ceiling fell towards them, causing Gus to scream in fear.
Jaune reacted quickly, pulling Gus close to him with one hand, and throwing up his other, channeling his semblance.
Crack!
The piece of ceiling exploded above them, Jaune's knees bending under the shock.
"Are you okay?" Jaune asked, looking at the child.
August coughed a vague answer back to him.
Crap. Of course. He can't breathe like me... He needs air. Badly!
Jaune could easily identify smoke when it was within his own body. But if it was not his body, he would have trouble knowing what's what. Should he tried the same trick on Gus, he would risk stopping his heart or damaging his lungs. Or worse, making his body explode in a shower of blood, just like the Grimm Jaune killed.
"Let's go," Jaune hurried, leading them back to the corridor.
Crrrrk!
As they stepped outside the room, the floor cracked ominously, and Jaune jumped back, pulling August away, just in time for the floor to collapse.
The piece of ceiling fell down into the roaring inferno downstairs, the fire cracking like thunder.
"Crap…"
The corridor now had a huge hole. About three meters large.
Can I jump so far?
Maybe alone, but not with Gus.
"Wh-what do we do?" Gus panicked, still coughing.
There was no window nearby. And if Jaune broke through the wall again, the building would probably collapse. Jaune knew this for a fact, because he himself had destroyed buildings in the past.
Crap, crap, crap... What to do?!
"…"
An insane idea came to mind.
Should I just… jump down into the fire?
"August. You stay here for now." Jaune declared, "When I tell you to jump down, you'll jump down. Okay?"
"J-jump down?" His eyes widened, "B-but the fire?! Th-there's fire down there!"
"I know. Trust me."
"O-okay…" He nodded shakily.
Not hesitating, Jaune stepped into the hole, letting himself fall.
He crashed into the heart of the inferno, pain surging up his legs. Flames immediately burned his skin, damaging his Aura.
"Aaaaouch!" Jaune groaned in pain, throwing his hand into the fire. "Hot, hot, hot!"
Crack!
The fire disappeared.
Just like I thought! Jaune smiled in relief, I can break immaterial things like fire, too.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Jaune quickly went around to extinguish the biggest fires that were burning right below the hole.
However, Jaune suspected this wasn't going to last for long. It was probably going to start burning again soon.
"Gus, jump!" He called, "I'll catch you!"
To Jaune's surprise, the boy did not hesitate to jump.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Jaune raised his arms, and collapsed under the impact of August against his weak body.
"G-gaaah!"
"AaaaaAAAh! J-jaune!"
"Wh-what!"
"I'm burninnnggg!"
Jaune widened his eyes: August's clothes were burning! This was why he'd jumped as soon as he could!
Jaune applied his hand on the source of the fire on the boy's back, wincing in pain at the heat.
Don't break his bones...! Do NOT break his bones! Jaune focused, being extra careful.
Crack!
The fire was instantly extinguished.
"U-ugh..." Jaune groaned in pain, still on the floor. "I... did it..."
"J-jaune…!" The kid managed to stand up, coughing. He offered his hand to him, in order to get him on his feet as well.
Jaune took it. "Th-thanks... You're awesome. Let's go." Jaune said, and they jogged to the front door.
And so, they finally escaped the building.
"Gus! GET HERE!"
"MY BABY!"
"Um, crap," Jaune groaned as he saw the parents still in an overly emotional state of mind, barely held back by Mr. Li. "I'm going to disable your power now that we're safe. Are you still okay with it, Gus?" He asked urgently.
"Y-yes!" Gus nodded instantly, clearly still scared of his parents, "Please do it quickly!"
"You get THE HELL away from my son!"
"Don't touch him! Don't you DARE touch him!"
Smack! Smack!
Lazu Li suddenly knocked the two in the back of their head, rendering them unconscious.
"M-Mr. Li!" Ruby protested.
"…What? Grimm aren't attracted to unconscious people, you know? So it's better this way. Besides, they were fucking annoying."
"S-still…!"
"D-dad…" Gus whispered, hesitating to go to his parents.
"Not yet, Gus," Jaune stopped him. "Come on, now, everything is going to be okay. Close your eyes, let me help you."
"Y-yeah…"
"I sure hope you know what you're doing," Lazu Li mumbled to himself. "And please, hurry the fuck up!"
"Yes."
Shutting his eyes close, Jaune laid his hand on Gus' trembling chest. And then he felt himself fall within. Descending through the whirlpool of dark water, he eventually slowed down.
When he arrived in the same old dark ocean, Jaune narrowed his eyes, blinded by the light of the blue flower.
The flower and the sun hadn't changed, it seemed, except the flower was glowing much more intensely now.
He did not waste any time. With a light touch of a finger, Jaune instantly turned off the light of flower.
However, this time, he did not stop there. This was not enough.
Jaune narrowed his eyes, looking at the shining threads that were connecting the sun to the extinguished flower.
They were shining more and more intensely, he noticed. It was faint, and if he hadn't paid attention to it, he definitely wouldn't have noticed it. But it was there. As if the energy was getting blocked. Like a traffic jam, it accumulated into the threads, causing them to shine more and more intensely.
So then, if Gus' semblance was to suddenly be restored, all the energy would go into the flower… all at once?
Which would be why his power had been amplified. More energy equals more power. And this was why Ruby had been able to go past the speed of sound, too.
…Holy crap. Jaune mused, impressed with his own understanding of Aura.
Between extinguishing fires, destroying the smoke in his lungs, and now finally figuring how those threads worked, Jaune sure was on a roll today.
Moving on, Jaune raised his hands and moved his fingers like a pair of scissors.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
One by one, he cut the threads.
These threads, Jaune figured, were the roads that led the Aura into the semblance. If there were no roads to go to the semblance, it would simply never activate.
So, in other words, destroying these threads was the equivalent of locking someone's semblance away. Hence, Jaune reckoned that when people unlocked their semblance, they were actually creating those threads within their souls, connecting them from their sun - their Aura pool - to their... semblance... thing. Flower. Whatever it was that represented the semblance.
From this, Jaune was able to instinctively deduce that the threads connecting the sun to the outside of the dark ocean were actually the rate of "Aura output". So, when someone unlocked their Aura, they were actually creating paths from their sun to the outside - to their body - to provide the protective force field around their body for example. The fewer paths one had, the less Aura one was able to output, and the less intensely one could use Aura.
For instance, someone with a low number of paths would only be able to block light blows with their Aura; heavier strikes would break through their forcefield, since they wouldn't be able to output enough Aura at once to block it.
The same went for the semblance. The fewer the threads connected from the flower to the sun, the less powerful semblance. And, logically speaking, there would always be fewer threads connected to the semblance than threads connected to the outside body. Having more would be useless and create a traffic jam.
Plus, the bigger the sun, the bigger the Aura pool... Jaune's own sun must be enormous.
And finally, those paths were most likely built with time, with meditation being one of the ways to do it.
All of this, Jaune was able to deduce from observing the inner workings of August's soul. Hence, he was able to 'lock' his semblance.
Alternatively, Jaune supposed he could have destroyed the threads connecting the sun to the outside ocean, and that would have effectively 'locked' the boy's Aura. But Gus needed his Aura to train his control through meditation, because his semblance could unlock itself on its own in the future. So only locking his semblance and leaving his Aura unlocked was the best solution.
"..."
Jaune noticed the threads that he had just cut still hanging, floating in the water.
Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Jaune continued to cut these threads, into multiple pieces, until barely any was left.
Then, he rolled the strings into a pile and crushed them into his fist.
Crack!
Disintegrated! There wasn't any thread connected to the flower anymore.
It was going to take a very long time before August unlocked his semblance once again. But it was much safer this way. For him, and for everyone else.
Jaune let himself float back, scanning his surroundings to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.
And... No, he hadn't.
This time was for real - Jaune had done it.
He smiled proudly, looking at his work. Jaune never liked to brag, but he was pretty sure that what he just did, and how much he understood of the inner workings of the soul in the span of just a few minutes, was absolutely not normal.
After all, he'd just learned how to lock semblances and Auras on the spot! It was completely insane.
In a good way, of course. This was the benefit of trading power for control, he supposed.
Hmmm... So what does my own soul look like now...? He wondered. Had he broken his own Aura paths, to reduce his Aura output and gain more control?
He shook the thought away. Later. He would think about it later.
Satisfied, Jaune looked up to the surface of the dark ocean, and let himself be drawn back to the real world, with everything spiraling around him and becoming tiny.
"…D-done," he said as soon as he felt his body once again, opening his eyes, and holding back the feeling of nausea rising from his stomach.
"R-really?" Gus gasped, "I didn't feel anything... I-is it for real this time?"
"Yes. I didn't simply disable your semblance temporarily, instead, I locked it." Jaune explained, "It'll be a while before you unlock it again." He grinned at August, "You've been brave, Gus. It's over now."
"Th-thank youuuu!" The kid broke down in tears, throwing his arms around him. He continued crying into his shirt, clenching his white cloak.
Jaune patted his back and noticed Lazu Li waving his hands at him, signaling him to hurry up. Ruby smiled at him warmly, but also nodded her head, agreeing with Mr. Li.
"Okay," Jaune broke the hug, and knelt to Gus' level, "Now, we have to help defend the city. You understand, right?"
"Y-yeah..." The kid sniffed.
"I'm gonna ask you to be strong again... Can you do it?"
"I... I can..." Gus nodded shakily.
"I'm gonna need you to stay hidden with your parents while we deal with the Grimm attack. Think you can do that?"
"Y-yeah... I... think... " He nodded hesitantly, probably not enchanted at the idea of being alone with his parents again. "U-um..."
"... You won't be alone with them," Jaune reassured him, knowing all too well what he was nervous about. "We'll find someone to take care of you."
"... You... S-so you're going..."
"We need to defend the city from the Grimm," Ruby answered for Jaune, stepping forward. Jaune was glad to not be the only one to answer the poor kid's questions. "It'll be all right Gus, you're a pretty strong guy, right?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Keep it up, and you will be okay. Your parents would be proud!" Ruby grinned, giving him a thumbs up. Kinda like her sister and father would, Jaune realized.
"I'll come back for you," Jaune promised Gus, and it seemed to calm the child's fears down, as he nodded shyly.
Jaune hesitated for a second, before deciding to ruffle the boy's hair.
"We'll drop you at the nearest refuge, August," Lazu Li said. "There's one around the corner of the street."
And so, they grabbed Gus' parents, and in just a minute, they were already there. They entrusted Gus to some decent looking people.
"B-be careful...!" Gus called after them as they left, waving at them.
"All right, that's good... Now..." Ruby groaned ominously after waving back. "We know what's left to do..."
Clack-clack! She loaded up Crescent Rose.
"Let's go kill some Grimm." She declared, her eyes sparkling with rightful fury. If looks could kill, then Ruby's eyes could have easily lasered all Grimm down to oblivion.
"Yeah." Jaune nodded, feeling very much the same. His Aura shined around his body, ready to be unleashed.
"..."
Lazu Li followed after them, not saying anything.
Somewhere else...
On a hill, a man was observing the disaster happening to Meteor City.
"Well boys, it seems my contact was right! And on top of that, it looks like it's our lucky day~!"
The White Fang members behind him cheered wildly. Each of them climbed in a truck, making up a total of thirteen vehicles.
Torchwick smirked as he turned around and climbed into his own, while Neo, already seated in the passenger's seat, rolled her eyes at his theatrical antics. Roman winked at her, puffed at his cigar, and settled his eyes on the SDC facility, which was away from Meteor City, where all the Grimm were conveniently concentrated.
"Right on time... Today is Dust Bargain Day! Minus 100% on all dust products, feel free to help yourselves!"
A/N: There it is. I'm gonna be honest, I've written this four times and I've never been satisfied with it, even now. But I'm releasing it regardless. It is what it is.
So obviously, I'm taking some liberties with how Aura works. In the show, it is so vague that I can't really deduce much from it. Hope you all don't mind the 'Aura system' that I'm setting up.
In other news, volume 8 is here, so that's pretty exciting. Who's going to die this volume, I wonder?
Next chapter: In a few days. Because actually, I've already written it. In fact, this chapter and the next one were supposed to be released as one chapter but it ended up being way too lengthy. And way too much stuff was happening all at once. So I cut it in half.
See you next chapter.