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Jaune knew he had to omit a few key details when explaining things to his family. The maiden powers being magic for starters, it was easy enough to pass it off as just a powerful semblance with an odd way was passing on. Not to mention this Salem woman would be kept out for now as Jaune was already explaining things the Headmaster wanted to keep secret. Cinder was a psychopath working with terrorists is believable, his dad already thought she was just a bandit wanting revenge on Jaune. There was also the matter of Amber, which he was completely unsure how to break that or explain to them after everything else. The opening gave Juniper time to interject her own thoughts.
"Goodness boy, why are you even dealing with this in general!?" His mother said astounded. "This all sounds like something the police or the Vale council has to deal with."
The surprise and bewilderment at him being under constant danger from a power-hungry pyromancer already sounded bad but him not saying anything until now was probably where the frustration came from.
"For the longest time, no one else knew. When two of them came to Beacon I didn't recognize them. As for the White Fang... Well, I kept running into them because I needed to help a friend." There was a prudent cough from behind him, likely Blake.
"What kinda life have you been living here?" Linzy asked.
"It's... complicated for a lack of a better word." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, there were no words that could lessen the intensity of his situation. Not when it was clearly life-threatening. "Please, go back to Ansel, it's only going to get worse so long as Cinder is still out there."
"Gods above..." Roland groaned. "Listen, son, I can understand that you never asked for this to happen, that you've been locked into a precarious situation. But I'm not going to leave you here I deal with it."
That took Jaune aback. "Why not?! You know it's dangerous and I've got friends to look after me!"
"That it's dangerous is why I'm not going to leave you and your friends here to deal with it alone." He explained, and Jaune hated how much that made sense. "And no offense but four huntresses in training is not good enough in my book. Everyone else will go with your mother back to Ansel where it's safer."
That got immediate protests from all the girls, arguing that were family too. That they had the right to be here and how unfair it was for Roland to be putting himself in harm's way without them.
The man took it in strides. Weathering the barrage and giving the simplest reply. "I am a Huntsman, and know-how defends myself if needs be. The rest kg you are not and need to leave before this gets worse."
"The girls will go," Juniper stated with her husband looking as if he just won the argument then and there. "I will stay here will him."
Just like that, his mood changed back to stern annoyance.
"No, I will stay here and you take the girls home."
"Kate and Alice and go with Michelle to Saphron's place," Linzy added. "We can still stay here."
"No." Jaune complained.
"No." His father said more firmly. "Every one of you is going home with your mother. Besides, I doubt Saph is going to be happy that part of the family is coming on short notice."
"Not at all." Linzy held up her scroll in hand and showed the text messages. It turned out that Saphron and her wife would be ecstatic to have them over. With that part I the debate over Juniper spoke up.
"Alice and Kate are very young and can still go with Michelle to Argus-"
The little girls groaned and whined but Michelle protested more words-wise. "Why and I the defacto chaperone here!"
"Because I said so." Juniper Arc was many things and one was a mother, her gaze was enough to get the two youngest to quit their complaining. Michelle went into brooding mode though. "This is a family matter and no one is leaving anyone here to face something like this alone."
"Juniper..." Roland tried getting in close to his wife but she held a hand up to stop him.
"Please don't even try. An attempt was just made on our lives and our son has been dealing with events like this for some time... and never felt the need to call or write a message to us." Jaune flinched as she said this, he had been gone for a while without assuring them he made it to Vale safely.
"Why don't we call Ozpin and ask him if they can stay at Beacon?" Amber suggested. It was probably the best choice he was going to get if they were dead set on staying.
Jaune sighed. "Okay, I need to call Ozpin, don't get comfortable just yet because we might move you to somewhere safer. If there is any trouble promise me you'll call."
Roland added his own breath to the air with his own sigh. Crossing the few feet between them he drew the younger blonde against his chest and wrapped both arms firmly around Jaune's shoulders. "You can be unbelievable sometimes boy. Completely unbelievable."
He smiled. "I know dad."
Amber knew the moment Jaune began explaining the Maidens to his family that Ozpin was going to blow a fuse. He made sure to leave out the name and connections to actual magic but it was still a breach of the guarded secret. Calling the man to explain the reasoning and ask for the Arc family to be moved needed to happen as soon as possible. Otherwise, the Headmaster's frustration about letting too many people in on secret information would only grow.
"That's all I said, they believe it all easily enough." Jaune explained apologetically. "I don't think they'll be asking too many questions about it..."
"It's not digging into the information provided that I'm worried about Mr Arc. It who they'll feel like telling, especially the younger of your siblings." The man sounded exhausted like he hadn't slept well in a while. "Beacon always has plenty of space to spare, I'll see aside from a few rooms. Although I recommend they leave for Mistral, it will be far safer than staying."
"They're my family, you know not willing to leave me here to deal with a psychopath alone, most are going to stay."
"Of course, foolish of me to think otherwise." Ozpin chuckled light-heartedly. "Still, what little discretion you gave is appreciated. I don't need to stress how important it is not to cause panic to the people letting out news of a Grimm queen. Not to mention powers within arms reach."
He didn't need to say it twice. Amber never hated the secrecy, just that she ended up getting pulled into it all. Or that she pulled someone else in. This was Jaune's life and she still swore to pet him do things his way without her trying to control things.
"How is the device coming along? For the soul transferring." Jaune asked, eager to change the subject to something he was more than interested.
"Still too dangerous to use." Ozpin sighed. "This isn't going to be an exact science, I have been told that may be to increase the strength in pulling Amber's soul out..."
Amber felt him perk up at that, the hope of fulfilling his promise seemed to present itself. She needed to pull him back to reality though. "There is always a but Jaune."
He nodded in silent agreement. "So is there a problem with it?"
"We don't know what it will do to you. If Amber's soul is merely placed besides yours or connect to it, the end result will be both of you inside of Amber's body."
"Then we'll be back to square one." She finished for him.
"Anyway to test it first?" Jaune asked hopefully but the Headmaster shot it down.
"Too dangerous, James is having his science teams and engineers brainstorm a safer method. However, we may need to accept that there is no way to return Amber back to her body." There was a tinge of sadness to his tone. She knew it was genuine, Ozpin was never cold. "Until they find something anything testing with the device won't be available. The equipment isn't cheap and is actually quite fragile."
"I'd like to try every possible avenue first before saying that."
Amber sighed. "This stubbornness is going to get you hurt."
"At least try to go along with this."
"I am Jaune Arc, and will for now. Now get your family moving and maybe see what Pyrrha has in store for you."
"Also some more training with the dust Weiss gave us, Cinder wasn't here this time but that could change. What is with you and getting my partner and I to date one another?"
Cinder sipped a small glass of the finest wine she could get her hands on. One would question why she would both wasting it after everything that has occurred. And she'd tell them to shut up and let her enjoy something in this life.
"The last of the... 'explosives' have been prepared, although security is tight we've managed to get a few recruits that have jobs as engineers inside. They are willing to help us pass as carrying dust shipments." Adam's words were the best thing that had reached her ears in a while. "I still doubt the severity of the blasts with the dust we're using."
"We don't need to blow the entire place up, just enough to be caught by the cameras and broadcasted throughout the city." Cinder explained. "Creating panic is what we need."
"Hm," He nodded, this would follow the plan well enough. "Beacon is still a fortress, one that will take a lot more than the men and drones we have to crack it."
"Then settle for cracking it. Do enough damage to express Faunus superiority then unless the Grimm. It was never possible to destroy Beacon."
"Do not doubt our strength. If we had all the men and dust from before not even Vale's Hunters could withstand the White Fang."
"I doubt that very much." Cinder thought with an internal chuckle. His men would be slaughtered once the fighting began but that was of no concern as her prize wasn't even in Beacon. "You might want to consider the Schnee, a Huntress getting to where she is through the exploitation of the Faunus. A perfect opportunity to strike at your oppressors while showing strength at Beacon."
Adam folded his arms, not one to be given suggestions or orders from her without something resembling resistance. Still, he was able to see the value for his cause in killing the Schnee and backed off, leaving to finalize preparations.
In spite of everything. The constant setbacks, failures of underlings, and the general luck of her opponent. Cinder couldn't help but smirk all that effort and she was still going to unleash a carnage upon this city. Perhaps not as massive or widespread as she originally wanted but just enough to create a tragedy. They would rue the day they thought to opposite her, this was going to be a blood bath and by the end of it all...
"I will incinerate Arc."