"Now that is a marvel to behold." Arcturius declared as he saw the image of Beacon Academy set in while the Bullhead ramps were setting down.
The greenery of the grounds brought vibrant life to the landscape, with the trees complimenting the design of campus. The large arches that seemed to form into a circle were masterful architecture, designed almost exactly like the ones Roma, the Imperial Capital, had back in his time. The academy itself seemed like it was a palace or castle, elegant and yet strong at the same time. Even the tower, something Arcturius held a distaste for due to his history, held his respect with its commanding presence over the entire school. In his opinion, Beacon Academy was only second to the Imperial Palace in its magnificence.
"I-is it over?" Arcturius snapped back from his admiration as he heard the weak voice of Aurum ask from beside him, as the man placed a hand on his shoulder.
"W-why did we have to take a Bullhead again!?" Arcturius heard Jaune complain on his other side, the teen hunched over while supporting himself on Arcturius' other shoulder. Arcturius gave them a sympathetic smile as he rubbed their backs for comfort.
Arcturius felt for the two as they recovered from their motion sickness. Arcturius also had them whenever they sailed on a ship back then and it only worsened when he lost his left eye. Arcturius was only able to keep it under control through intense conditioning and liberal use of the Soul or in the modern term, Aura. His daughter, Salerna, also had it so it seemed to be an 'Arc' thing. Arcturius felt even more solidarity with his descendants at that knowledge.
"You will have to become accustomed to riding this Bullhead transportation if you are to attend Beacon Academy, Jaune. It will become your only method for travel to and from the academy." Arcturius told Jaune, causing the teen to give out a pitiful groan to which Arcturius gave a chuckle.
As the trio stepped down the ramp and touched the floor of the landing pad, Arcturius felt Jaune let go of his shoulder and saw the teen drop down to his knees.
"Sweet, sweet ground! How I missed you!" Jaune exclaimed dramatically as he steadied his breathing.
As Arcturius and the now-recovered Aurum allowed Jaune to recover as well, the two noticed four teens walking towards them.
"Jaune, you might want to get up. Some students are coming here." Aurum told his son as he helped the teen up from the ground.
"Hello. You must be the Arcs." The leader of the group, a girl with dark brown hair and wearing an outfit with several complimenting accessories, greeted as she and her group stopped in front of the tree Arcs.
"Yes. We're here to tour the academy grounds." Aurum answered the teen as he finished helping Jaune up.
"Who might you be, if I may ask?" Arcturius questioned curiously.
"We're Team CFVY. We've been assigned to guide you through the school before bringing you to the headmaster. He also said to tell you that he suddenly had some business to attend to first so that's why he isn't available right now to guide you personally." The leader informed the three.
"I see." Arcturius merely responded, not too invested on who would be joining them in their tour of the academy.
"Well, I guess introductions are in order. My name is Aurum Arc." Aurum started, introducing himself to Team CFVY.
"This is my uncle, Turius Arc." Aurum continued, gesturing towards Arcturius. Arcturius, in turn, simply bowed his head in greeting, remembering the cover story they developed to explain him.
Arcturius would pose as the long-lost son of Aurelius Arc, Aurum's late granduncle. It wouldn't really be much different from his actual story, considering that Arcturius was truly an orphan and that he eventually did reunite with his family. The only difference from the cover story is the several generations gap between him and the current Arcs.
"And this is my son, Jaune. He's the reason we're having the tour of the academy. We're planning on enrolling him in Beacon next year." Aurum finished as he put his hands on Jaune's shoulders, the teen slightly blushing at his own introduction.
"Ooh, so you'll be a first-year next year? Don't forget to look me up when you enroll." The leader said as she pulled her sunglasses down slightly to give Jaune a wink. Jaune's blush deepened at what she said while Aurum and Arcturius simply smiled at Jaune's embarrassment.
"Coco!" Arcturius suddenly heard the rabbit Faunus beside the team's leader loudly say. Arcturius noted that her rabbit ears were raised, signifying some sort of shock from the girl.
"Relax Velvet. I was just teasing." The leader replied to her teammate, seemingly not too worried about the Faunus' reaction.
"Anyways, as you just heard, my name is Coco. I'm the leader of our team." The fashionable girl started before gesturing towards the increasingly shy rabbit Faunus.
"This is Velvet and as you can see, she's a rabbit Faunus. That better not be a problem." Coco continued, her voice slightly gaining an edge at the end as a sort of warning.
As she was introduced, the rabbit Faunus' ears drooped a little as she gave the three a shy smile and a small wave. Velvet reminded Arcturius of Princess Istria, the youngest of the Four Princesses, with her apparent timidness. Seeing that she was also a Huntress, Arcturius also assumed that also like Princess Istria, Velvet was tenacious in combat.
"This here is my partner, Fox Alistair. While he's blind, he's still sharp." Coco introduced as she gestured towards the copper haired teen behind her.
"Sup." The blind teen simply greeted with a lazy wave. Arcturius found his laidback attitude amusing. While their handicaps are different from each other, Arcturius believed the two shared similar experiences regarding how they were treated by others.
"And the big guy here is Yatsu. He might look intimidating but he's alright." Coco finished, gesturing towards the large teen behind Velvet.
The teen in question simply gave a small nod in acknowledgement, opting to stay silent. Arcturius saw the signs of great discipline in the teen, and silently gave his approval.
"A pleasure." Aurum said, giving a friendly smile to the first years.
"If you'd like to start the tour of the academy, we can go at any time." Coco offered, her posture slightly relaxing after the introductions.
"Sure. That's fine." Aurum replied.
"Then let's go." Coco stated as she turned around to lead the larger group through the large avenue leading to the academy.
"Go ahead and join them Jaune. This is more for you anyway. Besides, that Coco girl seems to like you." Aurum suggested to his son with a slight teasing voice, causing the teen's blush to return.
"How about you guys? You might know Beacon, dad, but grandpa doesn't." Jaune asked, showing a slight concern about not including Arcturius. His concern warmed the heart of Arcturius.
"Do not worry about me, Jaune. Your father knows the academy from his days here. He will serve as my guide. And if I find him lacking, we will just right behind you so I will be able to ask the students." Arcturius reassured Jaune.
"Hey!" Arcturius heard the indignant cry of Aurum from his side, causing both him and Jaune to chuckle at the man.
"Alright, grandpa." Jaune finally responded before leaving the two to walk along with the first years assigned to guide them through the academy.
The two adults walked through the avenue in silence, following slightly behind the group of teens that were slowly having a more animated conversation.
"I did not have the chance to ask you this with all the preparations we did, but now that we do, let me ask you: Why did you change your mind?" Arcturius suddenly asked Aurum as he walked side-by-side with his descendant. Aurum stayed quiet for a few moments, probably thinking of an appropriate answer.
"I guess it's because of you." Aurum finally replied, causing Arcturius to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Me?" Arcturius simply asked, prompting for an elaboration.
"Before you came, I told myself that Jaune couldn't become a Huntsman since no one could train him. I was too busy with doing my job as a Huntsman and providing for the family to really give Jaune the proper training he needed to improve. Violet couldn't since she was always busy with taking care of the younger girls and managing our home. And with eight children, we couldn't really afford to send him to a combat school." Aurum started to explain.
"So when you came along and offered to train Jaune, that basically solved that issue. But I still didn't want to let him become a Huntsman. It's a dangerous and grim profession, nothing like the idealized perception of the public. And I didn't want that for him. But you showed me that Jaune wasn't fickle about his dream. I saw it in his eyes whenever you trained him: the determination to achieve his goal no matter how difficult it would be. And when you asked me last week about this proposal, I knew then that if I didn't accept, I would be then truly robbing my son of the purpose he set himself on. As a father, I couldn't do that. Not to my son. Not anymore." Aurum finished, his voice much softer than when he started but so filled with his emotions.
"You are a better father than I am, Aurum. Jaune will be a fine warrior and Huntsman, that I can guarantee." Arcturius assured Aurum as he placed his hand on the father's shoulder.
"So that ends our tour of Beacon. Just head on up to the headmaster's office, he's expecting you. We'd accompany you, but I don't think the elevator can fit all of us." Coco stated, motioning towards the elevator of Beacon Tower.
"When you meet the headmaster, can you put in a good word for us?" Coco jokingly asked the three.
"Coco! You shouldn't say that!" Velvet admonished her team leader. The three Arcs just felt amused at the interaction between the two.
"I was just kidding, Velvet." Coco assured her teammate with a teasing smile. Velvet continued to give her a pout as Fox smiled and Yatsu shook his head at their antics.
"Thank you for showing us around. Don't worry, we'll put in a good word for you." Aurum replied with a laugh.
"Yeah. Thanks for telling me all about Beacon. I'm even more excited now to enroll next year!" Jaune gave his own thanks as well, more comfortable with the four students already.
"It's no problem. We'll go ahead and leave you here. Still have some work to finish back in our dorm. It was nice meeting you all and touring you around. And Jaune, I wasn't entirely kidding earlier, don't be a stranger next year." Coco directed the last part to Jaune and gave him another wink. Jaune's cheeks slightly colored, but otherwise he looked fine.
"Thanks Coco. I won't be." Jaune assured the fashionista.
"Goodbye Mr. Arcs. See you next year, Jaune." Velvet said to the three with a friendly wave and smile, the two more lively and natural than her first.
"See you next year, Velvet." Jaune returned to the rabbit Faunus.
"Hit me up next year so we can hangout sometime Jaune." Fox told Jaune with a single, friendly wave towards the blonde.
"Sure thing, Fox." Jaune responded along with a wave of his own.
"I look forward sparring with you next year, Jaune." Yatsu said to Jaune.
"Looking forward to it as well!" Jaune replied with a smile.
As the group of teens walked away, Arcturius concluded that Team CFVY held promise. Being a veteran in combat and an admittedly effective teacher, Arcturius was able to gather from their body language and actions throughout the tour that they had great chemistry together, possibly developed throughout their first year. Individually, while they clearly had long ways to go as warriors, they seemed to be decent enough combatants with how their training seemed to stick on their postures.
'They will be effective Hunters.' Arcturius concluded mentally, becoming more assured about the effectiveness of the academy.
"Alright, let's go meet Ozpin." Aurum stated as he pressed the elevator's call button, causing the elevator's doors to open.
When the elevator doors opened up again, the three Arcs exited and entered the headmaster's office. Arcturius was impressed by the size of the office and how the mechanisms of the clock tower gave the room a venerable aesthetic fit for a headmaster.
However, as Arcturius admired the office, he just barely saw a pitch-black blur from his peripherals zoom outside the office windows. He felt the familiar feeling of magic, though it was so quick and faint that Arcturius dismissed it as just him perceiving the latent magic in all things.
"Ahh, Aurum. It's always good to see alumnus of Beacon come back to visit." Arcturius focus turned towards the silver-haired man who spoke from behind the only desk in the room.
"Headmaster Opzin. It's been too long." Aurum responded with a smile of his own.
"Please, you are not my student anymore. Call me Ozpin." Ozpin requested with a friendly smile
"If that's what you want." Aurum accepted with a smile as well.
"And this must be your son, Jaune. Your father has told me much about you when he requested to tour the academy." Ozpin told the blonde teen, causing Jaune to rub the back of his sheepishly. The three adults found amusement at the teen's actions before Ozpin turned his attention towards Arcturius.
"I do not mean to be rude, but I don't think we've met." Ozpin addressed Arcturius, the request to introduce himself embedded in the statement.
Arcturius felt a niggling sensation at the back of his mind when Ozpin addressed him, as if to dispute the assertion of them never having met but Arcturius dismissed it as simply seeing Ozpin in the newspapers or other forms of modern media.
"My name is Turius Arc. I am the blood of Aurelius Arc but was separated from my family for a long time. I lived most of my life in Western Mistral unit I reunited with Aurum's family six years ago in Arcadia." Arcturius explained, having practiced the story several times before.
"I'm sorry to hear that. At least now, you are with your family again." Ozpin offered, to which Arcturius accepted with a grateful bow of his head.
"So, Aurum. While it is welcome to have my students tour the grounds with their children, I have a feeling that that isn't the full story for your visit." Ozpin told Aurum, to which both Aurum and Arcturius donned a serious look while Jaune became confused.
"You're right Ozpin. We came here to ask that you give an exception to Jaune when he enrolls in Beacon." Aurum directly stated, shocking Jaune but apparently not Ozpin.
"May I inquire as to why?" Ozpin asked as he brought his hands together on his desk.
"We can't provide the proper transcripts for Jaune. Jaune wasn't enrolled in any combat school and neither me nor Violet personally trained Jaune." Aurum explained to Ozpin.
Ozpin took a sip from the mug on his desk before placing it down and speaking again.
"I'm guessing it was Turius that trained Jaune and that he has no Huntsman license?" Ozpin asked, getting a good picture of their situation. Arcturius was impressed by Ozpin's perceptiveness and saw how he became headmaster of a Huntsman academy.
"Correct." Arcturius answered this time.
"Hmm. Would you and Violet vouch for the training of Jaune, in the pure perspective of Hunters?" Ozpin directly asked Aurum, his eyes seemingly seeing into the father's own soul. Aurum looked slightly uncomfortable at the sudden scrutiny but gave his definite answer.
"Yes." Aurum said without hesitation.
Ozpin continued to stare silently into Aurum, possibly judging the truthfulness and weight of his answer before finally giving his response.
"While as Headmaster, I have the privilege of admitting three students every year that do not have a traditional background in training. Unfortunately, I have already scouted three individuals that I would bring in next year." Ozpin explained. Before Aurum could beg for more consideration from Ozpin, Ozpin continued to speak.
"However, since transcript reviews go through me, I can keep people from delving deeper if you provide the 'correct' information." Ozpin suggested.
"You mean forged transcripts?" Aurum clarified, to which Ozpin gave a nod.
"What about you Jaune? This is your life we're talking about." Aurum asked his son with concern.
"I… I don't know. It's always been my dream to become a Huntsman, but this would mean I'd be one through dishonest means." Jaune mused, looking lost on what to do.
"Do you think you are ready to undertake this journey? Do you think you have been prepared sufficiently by our training to take this responsibility?" Arcturius suddenly posed those questioned to Jaune, who looked up to Arcturius with a startled look. When the teen recovered however, he quickly responded.
"Of course I am!" Jaune proclaimed passionately, as if he was insulted at the implication that his training was all for nothing.
"Then there is your answer." Arcturius simply replied, causing Jaune's eyes to widen.
"So what's your answer, Jaune?" Aurum asked his son again.
"…yes. Let's do it." Jaune said with conviction.
Arcturius smiled at Jaune's conviction. While he wouldn't have approved of such an action back then, his sense of duty to the law of the land has become secondary to his duty to his family. And if the law would deny Jaune his purpose, then the law is not worthy to be followed.
"One last thing." Ozpin said after a few moments.
"It may be impolite of me to say this but given the financial situation of your family, I'd like to offer you, Aurum, a position in my faculty. It will make Jaune's enrollment cost almost nothing." Ozpin offered Aurum.
"I appreciate the offer Ozpin, but as much as that would help and let me stay close to my son, I can't leave the rest of my family alone." Aurum politely rejected with an apologetic smile.
"Well, if you cannot take up the position, maybe Turius would?" Ozpin said, suddenly offering the same position to Arcturius.
"B-but I do not have any license." Arcturius slightly stuttered out in a rare instance of shock.
"Fortunately, unlike the student selection process, the headmaster can hire any faculty at his discretion. Additionally, the qualifications to become a general member of the faculty is very accommodating. We'll just need to smoothen the finer details of your employment." Ozpin explained.
"You do not know me." Arcturius stated, still unsure of this sudden offer.
"If Aurum and Violet would vouch for you, that would mean you are capable. And I am always in search of capable individuals." Ozpin replied with a more mysterious smile like there was some double meaning about the statement.
Arcturius was still unsure. He would be leaving behind most of the family he has gained if took up this offer. While it would be nice to be able to train students again after Jaune attends Beacon, it would be another new environment for him to get used to as well.
"This would really help your family financially and you'll be able to continue guiding Jaune in his journey." Ozpin added to convince Arcturius.
Right. As the headmaster said, a position in the faculty would help reduce the cost of Jaune's enrollment. Seeing Jaune progress in Beacon would also be something he'd like. Additionally, an occupation meant income and that meant he could probably lessen his reliance on Aurum's work and even contribute to the family. With all of that in mind, Arcturius got his answer as well.
"Very well, Headmaster. I accept."