Author's Notes:

-Hello, my lovely readers! Before we begin today's chapter, I have to explain something to you that you may not have previously been aware of. It had been slightly mentioned/alluded to in passing by Jaune (and perhaps in some personal responses to your reviews), but in this adaption, Jaune Arc and Saphron Cotta-Arc are cousins, not siblings.

-The reason for this change is that by the time volume 6 rolled around (and introduced Saphron, Terra and Adrian Cotta-Arc to us), I had already come up with and used OCs for Jaune's parents and all seven of his sisters. As a result, Jaune's relationship to Terra and Adrian is modified accordingly. This also allows me to introduce any future sisters revealed in canon as cousins to Jaune. In case you missed the connection, Saphron is the daughter of Crimson Arc (Jaune's estranged aunt, also briefly mentioned). I believe this trope is referred to as 'Adaptation Relationship Overhaul' on the TVTropes page. And in case canon gives us any future sisters of Jaune (which I doubt they will), I can use this trope to modify relationships accordingly.

You got all that? Good, cause I don't want to explain this again.

The scene began in the Cotta-Arc home. In the kitchen, Ash and Terra stood at the entrance as Saphron stood in the kitchen, preparing some form of soup. She stirred the pot a few times before putting the lid back on and setting the stovetop to simmer.

On a grey stone countertop, Saphron was mixing sugar, shredded coconut and milk in a large bowl as she spoke with her present company. "So you're telling me that Pyrrha Nikos, my cousin's teammate who everyone thought was dead, is still alive?"

"That's what this guy and the Nina News issue says." Terra responded with a smile.

She looked at her new guest, taking the bowl in one arm and stirring it with the other. "And who is this guy?"

"I am Ask Nikos, Pyrrha's younger brother."

Saphron looked at him in surprise. "Ash Nikos, the Hero of Sanctum?"

He smiled, a nervous blush on his face. "That would be me."

Setting the bowl down, she continued her conservation as she stirred its contents. "What are you even doing here?"

The tired messenger gave a sigh as weary as he was. "Well, in the aftermath of my parents being assassinated by unknown criminals and not being able to find Pyrrha, I needed a way to provide for myself. So I became a first-class messenger. With three years at Sanctum Academy, plus five years of prior training, I figured I'd be able to do a good job of delivering letters, a few packages here and there, and most importantly, surviving all the while."

She blinked, turning to face him. "Eight years. That's a lot of combat experience. How old are you?"

"Fifteen. Well, fifteen and a half actually." He sighed. "I was supposed to have one more year at Sanctum before going on to Haven, but then Athena came in and ruined everything. And to think it would get worse from there..."

Saphron blinked in sorrow. "Oh, you poor thing." She gave him a hug, causing a surprised reaction before accepting it. "Not even seventeen yet, and you've already faced enough trouble for a lifetime."

A moment or two passed before Ash broke away and looked at her with a sincere smile. "Thanks. Apparently I didn't realize I needed that hug."

Terra looked at the Hero of Sanctum. "You said that you're a messenger. Have you finished your letter delivery to the addresses in Argus?"

"Not quite. Technically I still have one letter left, to..." He looked at the addressee. "Caroline Cordovin. But it can wait."

Saphron blinked in surprise. "Madame Cordovin? The Head of the Argus Military Base?"

"That's the one." the messenger answered.

"That's odd. The only letters that I would imagine would be addressed to her would be from Atlas." Terra added. "You haven't traveled internationally, have you?"

"No, I only work on the national scale. I've heard from the rumor mill that messengers are more likely to die if they travel between kingdoms than staying in their native land. Take it with a grain of salt if you will, but I'm not going to risk my chances. Also if I stay here, I believe I'll run into Pyrrha sooner rather than later."

"I see." Terra then realized... "Oh, you don't have any allergies or dietary restrictions, do you?"

"No allergies or restrictions, but I do have a fondness for carbs, cheese, bacon and pizza."

Saphron smirked... "Is that so? In that case, I think you'll really like tonight's dinner."

Which Ash returned with a grin of his own. "And what is tonight's dinner?"

"Super cheesy potato and bacon soup, with bacon cooked into the soup and fresh bacon strips for extra flavor."

The messenger smiled. "Sounds awesome."

"Indeed." Saphron turned to her wife. "Terra, mind showing our guest to one of the guest rooms while I finish dinner and dessert?"

"Not at all."

Ash blinked. "You're letting me stay?"

"Of course." Saphron answered. "You deserve to sleep with a roof over your head, which you haven't had the luxury of for who knows how long."

The hero began to stutter over his words. "I mean, I... I'm just shocked. I... I never thought I'd be actually having warm food or a place to stay for such a long time. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Terra gestured for Ash to follow her. "Right this way." Ash left the kitchen and the two ascended the stairs to a cream-colored hallway, splitting into two different directions. "The bathroom's right there to your left, and this is your new room. I hope it's to your liking, we haven't had many guests over lately."

She showed him a room with blue walls and a twin sized bed with white and blue fittings in the upper left corner. Above the bed was a small window looking onto the backyard. On the left wall was a bare bookshelf and in the lower right corner was an empty closet with reflective sliding doors. In the other lower corner were a few boxes, some of them sealed with duct tape.

Ash smiled. "It's perfect."

From afar, Adrian was heard crying. "I'll leave you to it then." Terra told him before running off to check on her son.

Ash took his backpack and set it on the floor.

This seems too good to be true. I mean, are strangers always this nice? I am kinda tired though. Still, just in case...

The lost hero locked the door as a precautionary measure and laid down on his bed. The mattress was surprisingly soft, and he now realized just how tired he was. His eyes were weary, and soon they were closed.

So much chaos... so much misfortune... But maybe... maybe I can finally relax.

He soon fell asleep thereafter, snoring thereafter.

A fast-forward was shown, the room was dark and Ash was still snoring. A double knock was heard on the door, followed by a triple knock.

The messenger slowly stirred, "Huh?"

"Ash?" Terra's voice was heard from the other side. "Are you there?"

Sitting up on the bed, he wearily asked, "Yeah?"

"Dinner's ready!"

He yawned. "Alright, I'll join you in a few."

As Ash tried to get his eyes open, he stood up and stretched his arms and legs. He unlocked and opened the door and made his way to the bathroom. Using cold water and soap, he washed his hands and then his face.

Man, how long have I been out?

Done cleaning himself, the messenger made his way down the stairs and went to the kitchen. He picked up a bowl, got his soup and freshly cooked bacon strips and added them to the bowl before making his way to the living room table.

"How long was I out?" he asked, sitting down.

"Judging by the time you were in your room, you were out for four hours." Terra answered.

He took a deep breath in through his nose. "Mhmm... Smells delicious."

Saphron smiled at his compliment. "Thank you."

Terra took a bite, and Saphron soon followed her lead.

He watched them as they ate their soup. Well it's definitely not poison... Then again, I can't see any reason why they would poison their own food if they were really out to get me. Ash thought.

"Looks good..." Ash began aloud. "Smells good." He took a spoonful. "Tastes..." He took a bite and gave a nice "Mhmm!" He swallowed and said to them, "amazing!"

Saphron smiled. "I would hope so. It's my mother's recipe."

He blinked. "Your... mother?"

"Crimson Arc." Saphron clarified. "A well beloved huntress, like all Arc huntsmen and huntresses are. But alas... my mother has some problems."

"If I may ask... what are, or were they?"

"Well... Long story short, when grandpa Arc died after a mission gone wrong, Crimson and her brother Roux were left to pay massive debts. They agreed to split the debt evenly. Mom was fortunate enough to win a lottery. She paid off her part, and split the rest between herself and her daughters. Uncle Roux however, was angry because he felt that she should have been doing more to help pay off debt. She was accused of betraying her family by hoarding the excess wealth, and blamed her for their father's death, as he wasn't ready to return to the field. Crimson denied this, and stated that he deserved death for being a reckless gambler. The two continued arguing and the two have become completely estranged.

"All this happened ten years ago. However, me and my sisters didn't necessarily agree with her actions. Some of us are able to help out the extended family, while others are struggling to make ends meet themselves. One however, doesn't seem to care and seems to be selfish. Me and Terra send them quarterly checks every three months to aid the extended family. But it's not like they're lazy slouchers who don't care about paying back Douglas Arc's debts. In addition to Roux and his wife Azure working jobs, anyone who is eighteen or older is required to work to help contribute to paying off the debt."

Ash swallowed the food in his mouth before asking, "And what do they do to contribute?"

"Of Roux's eight children, four of them are old enough to be considered required to work." Terra began. "Rouge, the eldest, worked as a fashion model during her years at Shade Academy and even as a huntress continues to do so. Tangerine, the second eldest, is a vigilante crime fighter who fights criminals and turns them in for cash. This also helps train her to take the license exam outside the academy. Acacia, third in line, works as a chef at a local burger restaurant. And as for the middle child, Jaune... I... I actually have no idea what he's doing with Beacon Academy closed and the CCT down halting global communications. My best guess is that he's working in the service industry like his closest eldest sister."

The dinner continued on in silence for a few moments.

Eventually Ash asked, "So... what happened to Crimson?"

Saphron sighed, and Ash could tell she was reluctant to say the truth. "Two years ago, my mother was called upon to protect the village of Aslolis, which was at risk due to the previous huntsman team dying in action. Unfortunately, she has not been heard from in nearly a year and never responded to any texts. Last time any of us heard from her was ten months ago, when the youngest of us called her to check in and wish her good luck on her mission. She said that mother seemed to be running away from someone or something, and then the line cut. We feared that our mom might have been kidnapped, so she called the police department and they said they would look for her. After the CCT tower in Beacon went down, I sent a letter to her in hopes of establishing contact, but so far, there hasn't been anything..."

"Do you think there's any chance that your mother is still alive?" Ash questioned. "I mean, I thought my sister Pyrrha was dead for months, but then I learned she's alive. Thanks to the last words of an executed terrorist."

The blond mother nodded. "There is, but it's a small one. Most of us have given up on her. She's either dead, captured by bandits or other criminals or is otherwise MIA."

She looked downcast and there was a moment of somber silence. All three of them stopped eating, unsure what to say. Terra gently put her hand on her wife's shoulder, trying to comfort her.

Dang... this is depressing. Ash thought. She's lucky to have a loved one to comfort her.

Eventually, the silence was broken when Saphron asked, "And what about you? Now that you know Argus is rapidly crumbling, what will you do?"

He held up a finger, indicating he was still eating. The messenger swallowed and responded, "Honestly, I'm not sure." He put his spoon down. "At this point I have two choices; to continue doing a dangerous line of work by being a messenger, in hopes of finding my sister and leave Argus behind. Or, to step into a line of work that may be even more dangerous, give up trying to find my sister, and attempt to save this city."

"Take some time to think about it. You don't have to make a decision right away." Terra reminded him. "You have time."

But what time is there? Ash pondered as he continued eating his soup. Time feels so slow yet so fast...

Leonardo Lionheart was looking at something on his computer in anxiety.

Salem appeared behind him. "Leonardo Lionheart."

He screamed and fell out of his chair. He blinked upon seeing who snuck up on him. "Oh, Queen Salem! You terrified me." He breathed in and nervously stood up. "Why... why are you here?"

The Grimm Goddess interrogated him. "You closed Haven Academy without warning or telling me. Why?"

"Well, you see, Mistress Salem, as a result of your desire to kill off huntsmen and huntresses in Mistral, save for myself of course, I've been running out of teachers to teach the students. And... and knowing that I couldn't teach them all, and fearing my position as your accomplice would risk being discovered, I had to close the academy. To protect myself."

Salem looked at her servant, who cowered in fear.

Please don't hurt me! Leonardo thought.

The witch sighed. "I suppose that's an understandable reason." She looked at him with daggers in her eyes. "But don't ever make a decision like that without consulting me again."

Leonardo bowed his head and answered in fear, "Understood, Your Grace."

"I presume that all of Haven's students have left for Shade or Atlas then."

"Yes, well... almost." he stammered. "There's only three of them that haven't left."

Salem raised an eyebrow. "And who would they be?"

"They're shown right before you, Mistress." He turned back to the computer showing team SSSN. Sun Wukong's image was blackened out. "They are Scarlett David, Sage Ayana, and Neptune Vasilias, the three remaining members of team SSSN, who have chosen to become messengers. According to what their new leader, Neptune, had told me, Sun left to undertake an important quest. However, they did not tell me any details pertaining to his mission or if/when he will be back."

"Oh I know where he is."

The headmaster of Haven blinked. "You do?"

Salem conjured an image from thin air of Sun and Blake sitting alone in the hotel room, with Blake sobbing on her bed, and Sun watching from afar. "He was helping Blake Belladonna take down the White Fang. The only reason I could originally see him is because Blake is a beacon for negative emotions, which only got stronger after Adam's rise to power. More recently, Sun himself has become a beacon as well. But in the end, his status won't matter in the long run. One way or another, they will all fall. They now realize the severity what they're getting into."

The image disappeared with a snap of her fingers.

"And as for team SSN, they may be smart but they're not smart enough. They will likely fall to the Grimm like many other messengers have. Assuming they survive that, there's still Watts out there finishing off the last few huntsmen and huntresses needed for Haven to fall. And if they dare to travel to Argus, they will find nothing but misery and woe."

"Well they never said where they were going, but they are still using their apartment as their base of operations." Leonardo added.

She smiled to herself. "Free real estate. Another smart move on their part. Perhaps I don't give them enough credit. On the other hand, they are simply three huntsmen trainees without their leader. So in the end they likely won't matter." Salem tilted her head slightly. "And since I am here, is there anything else you have to report? Such as the report on where Rosa Vernal went to?"

"Unfortunately, I am still working on..."

She snapped her fingers and a large number of Shadow Hands held him down, pulling him to the floor. The Grimm Witch looked at her spy with anger and annoyance. "You've been stalling on the report for weeks. You are one of the council members here. You will exhaust every resource you have to find out something on where Rosa Vernal went within a month, or I will punish you personally. Do I make myself clear?"

He nodded. "Crystal."

"Good." She snapped her fingers, and the hands disappeared. Leonardo slowly rose from the ground. "I expect a full report on where Rosa Vernal went within one month's time. Failure will result in severe punishment."

Salem slipped back into shadows and disappeared. Leonardo's legs turned to jello and he fell back down.

Haven deserves a better headmaster. Lionheart pondered. Maybe I should have refused Salem's offer when she cornered me all those years ago. He felt a pang of guilt and sorrow. Would the world be better if I had done so?

Later that evening, as night fell over Omega, a two-tiered ship was shown docked in a private bay. The lower deck was completely shaded from the moonlight, and from the upper deck was a small enclosed section with a glass window.

The camera showed a wooden door to the control room and to the right of it was Tyrian Callows.

"Alright. Took me forever to find a private ship, but it was worth it. Now that the captain is dead and his body has been disposed of, I just have to assemble my crew. The bad thing is that I have no nautical experience, and if my crew mates suspect that or any of my other intentions, I'm done for. I could be honest, come clean from the beginning, but they likely still wouldn't help me. I need to find crew members just as bad as I am, and not rely on simply misguided souls. But where am I going to find such souls? Who else would want to see the world burn? Unless Salem has secret spies or allies within this coastal village, I fear that finding such souls may even be impossible! No, don't think such things Tyrian." He sighed and moved along, finishing his monologue. "Just get moving. If you can find three to four people willing to aid you, that would be great."

The scene transitioned to Tyrian in the village, looking for people to recruit to his cause. Few roamed the streets of the village at night, and even fewer looked like people that were willing to help him. He found ordinary people- groups of friends exiting a late night movie showing, couples holding hands, and families otherwise enjoying themselves. The former Scarlatti Alliance member continued his trek, and the scene

The scorpion leaned his back against a large stone wall.

"Hey! Get back here!" an authoritative male voice spoke off-screen.

"You'll never take us alive!" a man off-screen told them.

Hmm? What have we here?

Not even two seconds later, he heard an alarm go off and he turned to see another stone wall about thirty feet from him break apart in an explosion. From the wreckage emerged four prisoners, garbed in orange jumpsuits. Two of them were men, two were women. All had pale skin, black hair in varying lengths and styles and their eyes were too far away for Tyrian to see. One of the women had a green lizard tail.

Perhaps they can help me... Tyrian thought.

He saw how the police officers were hot and their tail. Throwing a cloak over himself, he ran to where the gang members were, catching up in no time. His presence confused everyone else, but the gang still ran.

"They're gaining on us!" the faunus exclaimed.

If I help them to escape...

The scorpion threw a smoke bomb at the police officers, blocking the escapees from their line of sight.

"Quickly, this way!" Tyrian told them.

"Should we really trust him?" the second guy asked.

"Do we have a choice?" the human woman responded.

The five ran until they found themselves in an alleyway.

"Alright, I think we're finally away from those blasted prison guards." the first guy, the leader of the pack stated.

The second guy raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so interested in helping us anyway?"

"I am a lot like you guys; a criminal in the underworld. If I may ask, how did you end up there anyway?"

"We're called the Green Chainsaws." the human girl answered. "We've been a rat pack of criminals stuck in prison for the last five years..."

"Stop being so dramatic." the faunus girl. "It's only been five months, and the only reason we were thrown in the slammer was because someone-" She glared at the human girl. "couldn't stop humming during the job!"

The human woman scoffed. "I didn't think the owner was a faunus with dog ears! How was I supposed to realize that they would hear me?!"

"Well when you're in prison, time blurs and you eventually lose sense of it." Tyrian told them, trying to shift the subject.

The faunus grimaced. "I'm guessing you speak from experience."

"Unfortunately I've been in jail twice. Once for a period of two months, and the second was for eleven days."

Lizard girl folded her arms. "Pfft. You're lucky. The Green Chainsaws were once the most powerful gang in the village. Until our luck ran out."

"And who are the members of The Green Chainsaws?"

As each member introduced themselves, their eyes were shown to be blue, black, purple and green respectively.

"Steve."

"Frank."

"Melody."

"Amy."

"Hmm.. I notice that your names aren't very colorful."

"They're aliases. Our real names are not spoken as a safety precaution." Amy told him.

Tyrian smiled. "A smart move."

Looking back on it, I probably should have used an alias when joining the Scarlatti Trojan Alliance. Tyrian thought.

"And what about you? What's your handle?" Steve asked.

Oh well. Not like it matters now.

"Call me... Scorpion." Tyrian introduced.

"Ooh, how intriguing." Melody smiled. "A title as a name."

"Why thank you. And since I saved you from being re-imprisoned, I believe you four owe me a favor."

Steve placed his hands on his hips, an arched eyebrow apparent. "Alright, we'll bite. What is it?"

Under the hood, Tyrian smirked.

The scene switched to Tyrian, still cloaked, as his new allies took their place at the ship. Amy was at the ship's helm, Melody outside the captain's quarters, while Frank and Steve stood on the lower level.

"Everything is in place." Tyrian told his crew. "It is time for us to set sail, my fellow gang members. Raise the anchor!"

Steve and Frank took up the ship's anchor and the ship soon took off into the night.

As the night went on, Watts was shown fighting a huntsman in an old home. The huntsman held a golden painted metal fan, laced with wind dust, and swung it forward without releasing the fan itself.

Watts tucked down, feeling the reminding wind brush over his head, and looked back at his opponent.

Farrow Vaccaro was a man with dark skin, brown eyes and black hair. He wore an old ragged olive green tunic over brown pants and black dress shoes stained with mud. Most notably in place of where his mouth and nose would be was a bird beak.

The Atlesian scientist tried to shoot him by aiming and firing towards his head, but Farrow blocked the bullet with his fan, causing it to ricochet off to the side. The bullet bounced from the fan to the nearby glass cabinet on Watt's right. He jumped back right before the aura exploded, landing in the kitchen. Small miniature wind-dust tornadoes soon followed him before Farrow reappeared. The tornadoes blew open the dish drawer above them and caused plates and glasses to fall. Watts shot at one of the glasses, causing an explosion to injure the huntsman by knocking him down and nipping at his aura, which flashed in a display of white light.

A few more shots later, one of the bullets hit Farrow in the shoulder, breaking his aura and leaving him vulnerable to be knocked down with a kick to the chest.

Farrow tried to catch his breath, and looked up as his opponent crept in on him. "Who are you?! What do you want?!"

"To take you down. It's elementary really."

The huntsman scowled at him. "Of course! You human supremacists are all the same!"

Watts gave a chuckle. "You think you're going to die for the cause of human supremacy?" Farrow got up and threw his fan at Watts trying to strike his neck, only for the scientist to duck down. The fan was instead embedded in the wall. Watts straightened himself out. "Oh Mr. Vaccaro, I'm afraid you're mistaken." Mr. Vaccaro made a charge forward, trying to retrieve his weapon, but Watts swept him down with a roundhouse kick. "You're not dying for the cause of human supremacy." Farrow got up from the ground. "You are dying for something much greater."

Farrow stood there in shock and confusion. With this, Watts shot him in the chest and without aura, couldn't defend himself from the oncoming blow. The huntsmen fell to the ground and started bleeding out.

"What is your cause?!" he demanded his attacker. "Tell me!"

"You want to know the truth?" Farrow stayed silent. "Very well then." Watts smirked. "You won't live long enough to stop me anyway. The truth is that I work for a dark goddess who will change the world. Part of her plan is to destroy the huntsman academies. And with your death, Haven Academy is one step closer to falling."

Farrow gasped. His blood ran cold... and soon, he was dead.

"Another huntsmen down for the count." Watts spoke. "All going according to plan." Shadows were shown gliding against the wall, smaller ones turning into something larger. "Huh? What is this?"

The shadow manifested into a shadowy form of Salem. Watts blinked twice to ensure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Ahem." Salem called out.

"Oh, greetings to you, Lady Salem. I didn't realize you had the ability to literally form yourself from shadows."

She smiled at her servant. "Have you forgotten that I am woman of many talents?"

"I have not forgotten Your Grace, but perhaps I was just simply unaware of that peculiar talent you have."

"Regardless, you've done well, Dr. Watts. Thanks to you and Hazel, and a few other forces, all of Mistral city's huntsmen have fallen. However, just be sure that all goes according to plan, I'll be assigning you some extra targets." Salem told him. "For your next task, go forth to the outskirts of Argus and find Shiro Wan. You know what to do from there."

He bowed his head to his mistress. "Right away, Your Excellency."

The shadow of Salem disappeared and Watts left the house soon thereafter.