"How?" Jonathon Arc wanted to run. To gather his children and flee Beacon. Somehow the gentleman standing behind a desk covered in several books, some looking rather ancient knew.

"Be assured Mr Arc none of what I am revealing is of general knowledge, even among my staff. This discussion is just between you and myself. No one else will have any knowledge about it." Ozpin tried to assuage the man's obvious shock and fear, "As for the how. It took some work, partially thanks to information provided by our on staff doctor, and some research using some rather outdated materials. So I would like to ask you again. Are Jaune and Joan; Banned Dolls?"

"I want those medical records. All of them!"

"And we will provide them to you without hesitation. The question still remains. Are your 'children' Banned Dolls?"

"I..."

"Again I assure you Mr. Arc. None of this leaves my office. What you say here to me, is, and will always be just between us."

"I don't want to say. I can't say."

"Is there anyway I can assuage this fear?"

"I can't let them be used." Jonathon commented, his eyes growing hard.

"That is NOT my intention."

"And what is your INTENTION."

"To understand. This is a rare opportunity. There is no mention of dolls in any of the literature I have been referencing. At least since the Great War, and if my materials are correct; it was during that time the Arc clan was, at the behest of the king, able to present a sizable force."

"That is ancient history! It has NO bearing on my children! If you WOULD be so kind I WOULD like to be reunited with them."

"Please calm yourself."

"I want to SEE my children NOW!"

"What are you so scared of?"

"That is none..."

"It is my concern. I see two unique individuals; with abilities that defy any logical reasoning; considering the evidence." Ozpin moved around his desk to stand in front of Jonathon Arc. He leaned forward on his own cane before continuing, "How long before someone else discovers the truth. How long before someone who WOULD take advantage of their abilities steps forward to confront you?"

"I... would protect them."

"And you have been, but how long before you can no longer do that? Ten years? Twenty? Maybe less?"

"I..."

"Confide in me. Help me understand, and just maybe I can help you. Beacon has resources at its disposal that could be swayed to step in if required. We could also give them a chance to grow, and learn." Ozpin eyed the older man before him, and he had to suppress a smile. Only a select few knew of his true origins, and to be considering someone as older was somewhat of an amusing thought. "So let me help you, but you have to be honest with me. Are they Banned Dolls?"

"They are." Jonathon Arc admitted. His anger turned with in him. Instead of radiating outward towards Ozpin and his words. It focused inward aimed at himself and his lack of resolve.

"I see." Ozpin regarding the defeated slump in Jonathon Arc's stance. "None of this leaves this room. You have my sworn word on that. What you confide in me tonight, stays with me, to the grave."

"I'm concerned." Jonathon lifted his head and looked Ozpin directly in the eyes. "If the truth was to get out. People will try and take advantage."

"Then we will take steps so it doesn't." Ozpin comforted. "Shall we take this discussion to the gardens. It is past curfew and there will be no one around that could overhear, and I feel being in a more neutral setting will beneficial."

"You run Beacon. How would the gardens be neutral?"

"They are not my office, and I think being outside of this backdrop would make our conversation; a conversation."

Jonathon Arc just nodded. The air in the office felt stifling, and maybe it would be better as Ozpin was implying. Away from the books, gears and trappings of official business.

/=/

Twenty minutes later the click of metal ended canes as they contacted paving stones, echoed through the night air. The pair of elder gentleman walked, took their time as they followed the well lit pathways of the garden. They said nothing for the first little bit, and just walked.

"I notice you need your cane. Injury from hunting?"

"No," laughed Jonathon, "I'm no huntsman. Never had interest. My wife is one, or was."

"Why the cane then? If it is not too personal."

"Considering this little tour will eventual have me speaking to you about something I want kept in the shadows, nothing is really too personal." Jonathon chuckled again, "I fell down the stairs. Tripped over on of Amanda's toys. Twisted my knee, tore some ligaments. Ended my career, so I became a house-husband."

"Career?"

"I was a dance instructor. Ballroom specifically. Though I did dabble in other styles."

"I never would have thought." Ozpin commented, "You said your wife is a huntress?"

"She is, or was. Age has caught up with her too I'm afraid. She studied at Beacon in fact. Jasmine Heath. Did you study here? Maybe you had known her?"

"No I'm sorry, the name does not ring a bell. My apologies."

"There is no reason for that." Jonathon's mood slid from light, to more subdued. "So you want to know about Jaune and Joan. What do you want to know?"

"Why? And How?"

"The how is simple. My family has a long history of being, for the lack of a better term, Puppeteers. My sister Violet is much more adept at the practice than I am. My skills lean toward design over manipulation."

"Any other of your family have this... trait?"

"My grandfather did. But as of now, it is only myself and Violet. None of my children show the knack, though it is possible some of their children might. But nothing is for certain."

"You design?"

"For the ease of explanation that is the best descriptor. I used to create toys for my children. Dolls and the like, that could move on their own. Of course I had to constantly charge them, but that is part of what having children entails."

"Interesting. So what about Joan and Jaune?"

"I need you to understand something before I continue. If you can't than there is no need to keep this conversation going."

"I can not promise, but I will keep an open mind."

"There is a certain grief that takes you when you lose a child. It is unexpected, and it draws you into a dark place. No parent should suffer such pain, but Jasmine and I did. Now I know the ends don't justify the means, but grief makes people do strange things. I was no different."

"So Jaune and Joan died?" Ozpin asked in a very sombre tone. He wouldn't let it show, but he knew what Jonathon was alluding to. The pit of despair, and longing that constantly ate at your insides; that even time only seemed to strengthen.

"They did."

"We can stop here." Ozpin offered.

"No we can't. If you want to know about Jaune and Joan you need to know the whole story." Jonathon countered, "It was a fever. The doctor's couldn't determine a cause. It just suddenly took them. One day my wife and I watched our only son and his twin sister, go from being vibrant individuals with hopes and dreams... to being bed ridden, unable to even dress themselves."

"I'm sorry."

"It ate away at them. For six months they suffered as did we." Jonathon stopped walking and leaned heavily on his cane. Ozpin could see the tears threatening to spill. "It was two days after their seventeenth birthday. Jaune went first. I'll never forget it, that sound; his final breath. Joan followed him with in the hour. It makes sense now that I think about it. They did everything together, it was only fitting that they should... I... I... I don't think one could be with out the other."

Ozpin placed his hand upon the older man's shoulder. He gave him a gentle squeeze, to offer him comfort as his voice failed him.

"Ah..." Jonathon took a moment to collect his thoughts, and after a nod of thanks to Ozpin for the show of compassion he continued. "Listen to this old man ramble. It's hard. Very hard."

"Take your time. I can listen as long as you want me to."

"Well...ah... where... ah right. Well I doubt you could image how we took it. I'd like to think we did okay, but in truth if we had; we wouldn't be talking today."

"They were replacements?"

"I guess that is one way you can see it. Jasmine and I saw it as having a second chance. Of making our family whole again." Jonathon took a moment to collect his thoughts as he looked up into the clear night sky. "It was a night much like this one, that I made the decision."

"You used their bodies, correct?"

"I did. We had just lost them, and were trying to come to terms with it. A think it was the second day after it happened that I went to work."

"How?"

"No one else knew, they had passed; aside from the girls. We hadn't even told my brother or sister. Jasmine was an only child and her parents had long since moved on." Jonathon turned from the night sky to look directly at Ozpin. "It took me six days of constant effort to preserve their bodies, and even after that I wouldn't have much time. I had to move quickly, and I did. The longest part of the process was creating and tempering the cores."

"Cores?"

"Think of them as a special type of artificial heart. I had to make one for each, and I had to do it from scratch. But I was able to do it. I used some materials from their siblings as well. Namely blood."

"So they have the blood of your entire family inside them?"

"From all their sisters."

"Why?"

"To give the cores and even stronger bond."

"Bond?"

"For an average automation the core is fused to the shell much like an cpu to computer. It's wired in. Attached to the channels that lead into the extremities. It is the energy from the manipulator pushed into the core that allows it to move the shell."

"And Joan and Jaune are different from that how?"

"You obviously know, from some source that Banned Dolls using living tissue. Well that is not entirely true. It is the blood the surrounds the core. It the blood that transfers the energy given to the core from the manipulator; but the blood also acts as a battery of sorts."

"Battery?"

"A self recharging battery. While it allows the doll, in this case Jaune and Joan to move and interact with the world around them without constant need to be charged. It holds energy, and generates some of its own."

"So it was the blood of their siblings that allow Jaune and Joan to be?"

"Yes, and like in our bodies, the blood nourishes, keeps the tissues alive, and healthy."

"Our doctor made mention that they seem dense. Build to withstand damage."

"I wanted my children back, a part of me wanted to make sure they would always be safe; and a deeper part knew what I was doing. You see Jaune and Joan were designed over five years ago."

"But you said they passed just after their seventeenth..."

"They did. They will never age. They haven't aged. If they hadn't died they'd both be twenty-two years old, with careers and possibly families of their own. That fever robbed them of a future, and by my actions so did I."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"For all intensive purposes, Joan and Jaune are immortal. They will never age, never grow old, never get sick. But in that same vein they will watch as everyone they care about withers away. They will never start their own families..." Jonathon paused as if trying pick the right words. "What I did was curse them to a never ending existence. Even without input from another puppeteer, they will continue to function. They will continue to live. In fact only through the complete destruction of their cores could one consider them as dead."

"So what was to happen when you and your wife, passed?"

"My sister Violet or my brother Robert, would have stepped in to watch them. As would their sisters."

"So they all know?"

"They do, and everyone of them has made choices with their lives that would allow them to provide for Jaune and Joan; or protect them. They are central to my family."

"I see."

"Is there anything else you wish to know?"

"Ms. Valkyrie and the brands."

"She has the ability. She is a manipulator. I discovered it when she was without knowing why, able to recharge some of the girl's old toys. If she hadn't been set on attending Beacon, I would have had Violet offer to train her. In the end I gave her what instruction I could."

"And the brands?"

"They are open conduits. A way to directly push energy straight into their cores."

"How does that work?"

"Jaune and Joan are sustained on their internal energy, that which their blood generates, and to a much lesser extent the living tissue their bodies are made from. However they can also absorb and convert energy directed towards them. This extra boost can enable them to perform various feats."

"Like say jump ten metres into the air, or throw punches and kicks at blinding speeds?"

"For starters. Yes." Jonathon eyed Ozpin, "Is there something I should know?"

"I will divulge everything I know once you've completed you explanations. Is that fair?"

"Fair enough. So the brands, correct?"

"Please."

"As I have mentioned they are open conduits to Joan and Jaune's cores. If someone was to lay their hand upon the area of that mark and push energy into it..."

"Could this energy be Aura?"

"I suppose it could, not that I have any knowledge on that front."

"I see. Sorry for the interruption."

"Anyway. Buy pushing energy into the core through the brand you can essentially overcharge the core. Providing the target with exponentially increased abilities."

"This energy you keep mentioning. What is it if not aura?"

"For the lack of a better term, magic."

"Magic?" Ozpin forced himself to look surprised at the mention of the word. He was intimately aware of powers that exist beyond just aura. There were in fact many more avenues available to the general population than anyone was aware.

"I don't know how to label it. What I do know it is surrounds us, flowing through the very crust of Remnant like water. Puppeteers, be they designers or manipulators have the ability to direct this flow. We can focus it, and aim it."

"Thank you, for being so candid." Ozpin raised his cane and pointed back towards Beacon's tower. "Shall we return to my office. I have things I would like to show you, and if you are so inclined a proposal I would like to make."

"Proposal?" Jonathon asked eyeing Opzin warily.

/=/

Jonathon Arc and Ozpin sat comfortably in the headmaster's office. Each holding a steaming mug, while before them on a holographic screen the events surrounding Jaune and Joan's actions during Beacon's initiation played. Ozpin had watch the feed several times over the last couple of days, and was paying more attention to the reactions, or lack of that Mr. Arc was displaying. As the replay ended Ozpin took a sip from his mug.

"You don't seem overly surprised at the actions of your son and daughter."

"To be honest I am surprised that they made it to Beacon; as for their actions, I'm not."

"So as you have told me. Ms. Valkyrie is what you term a manipulator, and that she had a talent towards focusing and directing an invisible force that can empower your children. A force or energy you called magic."

"I'm sorry but that is as good a descriptor as I can find to explain it." Jonathon responded after taking a sip from his own mug.

"I understand, and I accept the use of the term. There are many things that are yet to be understood in this world. Aura for one, but who is to say that there isn't another form of power available. I know I'm not."

"If you have a question, please ask it. If not; please let me in on this proposal you mentioned out in the gardens."

"Ms. Valkyrie seems to be saying something. It happens every time before Jaune and Joan display an astounding ability. What is she doing?"

"She's using a focus point."

"Focus point?"

"It's a singular word that when combined with a directed flow of energy gives the target enhanced capabilities with regards to the nature of the word. Take for instance when Joan and Jaune were attacking so fast. She used 'Blitz'. When they performed the aerial attack 'Spike'."

"Hence Jaune driving his sister into the deathstalker like a nail."

"Exactly."

"And when they both hit the deathstalker nearly bending it in half?"

"I assume she used 'Sledgehammer'"

"Thereby accentuating a straight forward heavy attack."

"Correct."

"This has been very enlightening. I appreciate your candour Mr. Arc." Ozpin took a sip from his mug, "How many more of these focus points does Ms. Valkyrie have access too?"

"A couple more. As a designer I am very limited to what I could teach her. My sister Violet is a manipulator and could have provided her with a larger repertoire."

"Could she create her own?"

"With enough practice, yes she could." Jonathon replied as he set his mug down. "What is this proposal?"

"Yes. The proposal." Ozpin set his own mug down on the coffee table. "This will seem strange, but I have a question for you Mr. Arc."

"You've had many for me this night. So what is this one?"

"What is your favourite fairy tale?"

/==/

So five chapters for an idea that has been stuck in my head for over a year. Please excuse any typos/errors. This should get some additional chapters at some point, but nothing in the near future, but was mainly geared as an exercise for myself to actually get some writing done. I have a couple other similar exercises, which may appear as stories at some point.

I'm not sure I'm doing Nora justice, in this fic. Let me know what you feel. I'm courious.

I'm also aware that these chapers are shorter than the normal 5k, I aim for in my other offerings. Again let me know what you think about the shorter chapters.

Quick update on my other works. I am working on "Unleashed"; I'm just having a little trouble figuring out how to realistically close a plot hole I let stay open for far too long. I'm working on it, but I'm not yet happy with what I have written. So for anyone following that story, I promise it will be updated, soon.

Anyway as always comments, critiques and suggestions are always welcome. Hope you enjoyed.