Nothing too great in this chapter, I'll admit. Mostly just fallout from the previous one. But I am curious about whatever or not any of you have been noticing some of the references I've been throwing in here and there these last few chapters - here's a clue: they are not referencing 40k.

In this chapter: Ozpin learns some of the truth about Jaune but still can't handle it. A bit of a visit to the Arcs and Jaune finally lets more people in on who he was - but not everything.
And Cinder is going to have a bad time.

Ozpin and Goodwitch came together in Beacon's infirmary to discuss what to do. They stood a good bit away from the students as to not be overheard.
They had hoped for answers now they were even more confused. Ever since Jaune Arc had been brought to the infirmary with his wings nothing seemed to make much sense.
"Ozpin, do you think this has something to do with "The Emperor"?"

"I don't know Glynda, but I sincerely doubt it. There is no one on Remnant that can make something like this. Mind tricks I can understand. But to grow wings like these, not so much."

"Well, how did he end up with them?"

"Glynda, he obviously grew them. As for why? Well, I would have to put my money on genetics."
How Jaune Arc had obtained the genes for this however, was beyond Ozpin. For all he knew, genetic manipulation was just the stuff of science fiction as of yet.
That only left good old breeding as an option.

Goodwitch understood what ozpin was getting at.
"Wouldn't that mean that all Arcs... have… these…. Oh, fuck. Ozpin, what do we do?"

"First we take a chill pill. Remember, Jaune Arc's father studied here and I'm very sure that he didn't sprout either fangs or wings. Nor did Gaius Arc." said Ozpin, trying to keep his cool.
Trying - not succeeding.

He furrowed his brow. He had believed himself to be in the know of the Arc bloodline but now he began to doubt.
The Arc line had quite a few legends surrounding it and not even Ozpin knew them all. Maybe Jaune Arc's changes had something to do with them.
Or maybe they didn't. As far as Ozpin could remember were the Arcs as human as they came.
Maybe Jaune Arc wasn't an Arc at all.

That... would fit.
Jaune Arc was after all not like his siblings or his father. Sure, he had the eyes and hair but that was it. When he first came to Beacon he didn't have the same vitality as his siblings or his father's strength. If that was the case then the Arc family would have to answer a few questions.
"We will contact his family. They might have answers for us."

"Do you actually think they have these changes as well?"
Glynda wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

"Maybe." muttered Ozpin.
"For all we know they might just have taken him in and falsified his birth certificates."

"And how do you think they would do that?"

"Please Glynda, birth certificates are documents and documents can be falsified. Maybe the Emperor helped falsify them like he did with his transcripts."

Ozpin knew he was going to need a lot of coffee to deal with this. He turned to the source of his headaches. Jaune Arc was still asleep, seemingly talking in his sleep while surrounded by his friends.
Surgia was giving instructions to the students about moving Arc to his own dorm. Better that he wake up there rather than in the infirmary.

He would wake up soon. The sedatives and painkillers Surgia had injected into the boy had barely been enough to keep him still while the good doctor did his job.
This angel was shrugging of medication that would keep grown men down for days in a matter of hours. Just what was he?

Ozpin simply nodded at the situation and left. He would have a lot on his plate as it was.
He would leave talking to the Arcs to Glynda.
Ozpin himself had a meeting with Ironwood to attend to as well as a small conference about what had happened in the city.
He would need a lot of coffee indeed.

"Oh, and Glynda. Send for Taiyang as well. I have a feeling we might need him soon."

Arc residence - the day after the Breach

Livia Arc sat down in the Arcs' dining room.
Yesterday she had just gotten off the phone with the deputy headmistress of Beacon Academy. Augustus Arc put a cup of tea in front of her before he sat down at his usual spot.

Spread out around the table were their children, except for Thulite who was fetching the morning paper and taking her time doing so.
They were all eagerly waiting for their mother to start telling them what she had learned. They had all noticed the shock on her face as she had been talking on her scroll, not to mention her angry yelling.
They had been denied an account of the conversation the day before but now they were going to get it.
"Well, dear? What has happened?"

Livia Arc took a deep breath. First she would give the most important details and then go give a more detailed account.
"Jaune was taken into and released from the infirmary yesterday and is now recovering. There were some issues with the painkillers they were giving him so they called to ask about his medical records and our families' medical history. They know about his forged transcripts but are not kicking him out."

"And? That wasn't all, was it?" asked Rosinca.

"No. Professor Goodwitch also asked if he had any brothers."
Livia sighed. Why did these supposed brothers keep popping up? Goodwitch seemed to be very interested in them for some reason.
As well as Jaune's conception. That had earned Goodwitch a verbal lashing that she was not going to forget anytime soon.

The news sank amongst the family. The matter of the fake transcripts did not seem to matter, at least not until the matter of Jaune's injury had been discussed. The girls' voices mixed into a din of worries, speculations and questions. Augustus got them to quiet down after a while.

Livia continued.
"Jaune suffered a concussion and some minor injuries while fighting grimm yesterday. When they got him to the infirmary the painkillers they gave him didn't quite work. When they tried to figure out why they noticed that they didn't have his medical records on file. So they decided to call us to ask if we knew anything about it. For some reason did they have this odd idea that it might be a family trait."

"Well is it?" asked Desmine.

"No dear, it's not. The only thing in your genetics you have to be mindful of is the risk of your appendix bursting. And high cholesterol but that only seems to be a problem for the men in the family."

"So what about them wanting to know about his "brothers"?"

"I have no idea. It would seem like Goodwitch didn't know about my talks with Lie Ren."

"Well, what did you tell her?"

"That Jaune has no brothers."
Livia eyed Augustus. "As far as I know."

"Oh, please. I know that you would flay me alive if I ever did anything behind your back. Besides, I already got my hand full with you, dear."

"I know." she patted him playfully on the chest before getting serious again.
"I told her that Jaune is the only male Arc of his generation, not for a lack of trying, mind you."

"Mom, we know. But why did she care?"

"Supposedly Jaune began talking about them in his sleep when the painkillers started to wear off. I just told her that he must have been out of his mind due to all the painkillers and stress."

"So you didn't tell her about what we have found out?"

"No. We will tell Jaune about that first. He deserves to learn it from us and not second hand by one of his teachers. I simply told Goodwitch that we have no idea what he is on about."

The entire family let out a sigh of relief.
"So, our brother isn't getting expelled for forging his transcripts? Neat. I wonder why?" said Virdine.

"Supposedly it's because Jaune has improved enough to earn his stay there. Somehow he has managed to catch up to the others by now."

The patriarch shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, that's better than what I had expected. But I also suppose Ozpin had a finger in it. He had a habit of bending the rules when I was at Beacon."

"Well that's goo-" Iolite didn't get to finish her sentence before Thulite rushed in with the paper.

"Jaune! Beacon! Hurt! News!"

The paper was taken from Iolite who seemed to have forgotten how to make sentences.
Augustus Arc looked at the paper's front page.
"Students hold off grimm invasion. Student praised as hero." was the big headline.

There were pictures of several students. The Arcs recognized many of them. There was Jaune and his team and Augustus could recognize the features of some of his fellow alumni on Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long - Rose's and Taiyang's kids (and Raven's).
'Huh, small world.'
There was also some pictures of another team, CFVY. Augustus couldn't make out where the pictures had been taken as the focus was too heavily set on the students.

He began to go through the paper. Thulite had tried to say something about Jaune being hurt but he already knew of that from his wife. Maybe this would explain how he had gotten hurt? But why had it become news? Students did get hurt fighting grimm. It was not something that was considered newsworthy. Where had they been fighting to be caught on camera?

Augustus hands stiffened but he composed himself and began relaying the information from the paper. It was how things were done in the household as they were too many to read the paper at the same time. Better to have one read the interesting bits out loud.
"There was a grimm attack in downtown Vale yesterday. They got there by one of the old Mountain Glenn tunnels."

"Weren't those demolished to prevent this sort of thing?"

"They were but apparently have the White Fang and that crook Torchwick opened them up again with a train full of explosives."
Augustus remembered Mountain Glenn. So many lives lost.
"Apparently RWBY was on the train, trying to stop it and that's why they were the first to respond. They tried to hold the grimm back but there were too many."

"Yeah, but what about our brother?"

"I'm getting to that. Your brother's team arrived soon after the breach. Apparently they had been on their way outside the kingdom when they noticed the trouble and went in to assist."

"Way to go bro!"

Augustus nodded. He was proud of his boy. His eyes fell on a specific paragraph.
"Oh, listen to this!"

"Before even arriving on scene did Jaune Arc, leader of Team JNPR, take charge of the situation and sent for his fellow team CFVY to coordinate the containment of the breach. Had it not been for his quick thinking would the damage caused by grimm been more severe and widespread."

"Hot damn!"
"Language, young lady!"
"Sorry mom."
"Continue dear."

"Upon arriving at the scene did Arc effectively take command of the situation and worked to ensure that the threat was contained with the arrival of CFVY. General Ironwood of the Atlas military has stated that the containment action would not have been so successful if Arc had not utilized the capabilities of the team so efficiently."

"Are we sure it's our brother they are talking about here?"

"Jaune Arc was however severely injured by grimm while clearing out stranglers."
Augustus blinked. Had he read that right? Goodwitch had said that Jaune had been released from the infirmary yesterday. What about this injury?

"There's a quote.
"The fighting was dying down when I looked out of my window." says Siwan Taillen, tailor and local businessman. "I saw him get attacked by a grimm, driving him to the ground. It was right on top of him, biting like crazy! He started screaming like he was in pain! His teammates rushed to help him as the grimm made another push for it. I did not see what happened after that.""

Augustus put the paper down. Driven to the ground by grimm? Bitten?
That was a possible death sentence! Had Goodwitch been lying about his son's condition? He steeled himself. He had to learn more, not waste time assuming things. Observe first, then act as he had been thought at Beacon.

"Despite his injuries did Arc not hesitate to put his life on the line to rescue a civilian from being abducted by a Nevermore that had managed to hide itself on a nearby rooftop. Arc managed to intercept the grimm and secure the civilian but at the cost of worsening his injuries."

Oh, dust! Was he alright or not?! Why couldn't the paper just spit it out?

"He was rushed to Beacon Academy's infirmary for treatment. Officials say that he is expected to make a full recovery."

""I was still hiding underneath my counter when he came crashing in through the window." says Siwan. "The first thing I did was to ask him if he was alright but he only asked me if the child was alright. I could barely answer before he passed out. After that he was taken to Beacon. Next thing I knew there was Atlas droids everywhere.""

The paper was snatched away from Augustus' hands. "Hey, check it out! They are calling him a hero!"
"No way!"
"Yes way! Look! It says it right here."

Before the discussion could go any further the front door to the Arcs' house was ripped open and someone rushed in.
"Have you seen it? The thing about Jaune?"

"Yes, granddad, we are looking at the paper right now." said Morganite to Gaius Arc.
"Also, good morning."

"Yes, hoooo-, good morning. Just give me-, puh, minute to catch-, huh, my breath."

"Gaius, you know what the doctor has told you about exerting yourself like this." scolded Livia Arc her father-in-law and pulled up a chair.

Gaius sat down and pulled out his scroll.
"I didn't mean the paper. I meant the video on the net. Sweet dust, I hardly recognized him fighting."

"There is a video? Show us!"

"Blende, mind your manners."

"Urg, fine. Granddad, can you please show us the video?"

"Sure, just as I get it open. Eh, this is embarrassing. How did I get the video to start playing again? I forget."
Instead of telling the retired old huntsman to press the ring made out of an arrow Blende got up and showed him. She knew that her grandfather, being of older stock, could have trouble with modern devices and thus she was patient with him.
Make no mistake, he did an honest attempt to learn on his own but sometimes he had to ask the girls for help now that Jaune was away.

"Thank you dear. Let your siblings and parents watch it. I already did before I ran over here." Gaius might have been retired but he tried to stay in shape.

The two younger generations gathered around the scroll and turned up the volume.
"Dad, what are those?"

"Beowolves. Not that big a problem on their own but they hunt in packs."

"And that thing?"

"An Ursa. Bigger, slower but stronger than a Beowolf, also favors packs but they do pack a wallop."

"Man, he is just carving them to bits."

"Yeah, doesn't look that impressive though. No offence to Jaune."

Gaius chuckled.
"Just you wait for it. The good part is about to begin."

"What, is he gonna face a boartusk or- SWEET MERCIFUL DUST! That's a Death Stalker!"

"See, I told you it was gonna be good."

"Um, dad, grandpa, non-huntsmen here. Please explain."

"Giant, very strong, poisonous and almost bulletproof tanks. One sting can kill a huntsman. They are best dealt with from afar with a f#cking big gun or cannons. Even full teams can have problems with them."

"Well how is Jaune going to- Ahh! I can't look!"
On the screen the Death Stalker was going to sting Jaune for the first time. Was this how he had gotten hurt?

"Do not worry your little heads. Jaune had the fight in the bag. Just watch."

Indeed, the fight was in the bag. Every move the grimm did either was countered or seemed to be planned for. The grimm couldn't even touch him!

Augustus didn't know what to say. His little boy wasn't fighting the Death Stalker. He was toying with it. Was that really Jaune?
"How? How could some mangry Beowolf bring him low?"
In the video Jaune tricked the grimm to deliver its own coup de grâce.

"Incredible, isn't it? And you always said he wasn't huntsman material."

"Drop it old man. He still got hurt and the school isn't telling us what we need to know about it."

"And you expect them to? Really, they never told me anything when you attended there. We both know that the best way to figure out what is wrong is to ask Jaune directly."

Augustus took a deep breath. His father was right. It was time they called Jaune.
"We will call him today. Not now, but later. If any of what we been told is true then he is still recovering."

He turned back to the video. The girls couldn't seem to get enough of it.

At Beacon Academy

Headmaster Ozpin's office

"The hell happened yesterday, Oz?"

"I don't know, Qrow. I just don't know." Ozpin was looking out of the window, his thought drifting around in his head.
"Glynda, did we learn anything from the Arcs?"

The deputy headmistress shook her head.
"Nothing. Maybe they are hiding something but if so they are not saying anything. However, I can with confidence say that your baby-swapping-idea was complete bull."
Glynda put her hand to her still ringing and aching ear. Livia Arc really did know how to deliver a proper verbal scolding.

"I see. Thank you Glynda."

Qrow stroke the stubble on his chin, thinking.
"So, to surmise: There was a breach in Vale caused by the White Fang and Torchwick. people are scared. The Atlesians are sending in more troops for security. Jaune Arc is an angel and we don't have a clue if this "Emperor" is involved in it or not and there is potentially an entire family like him out there. Is that all or did I miss anything?"
Qrow took out his bottle and took a swig. Sober or drunk, things didn't seem to make such of a difference now.
"Oh, and the council is breathing down your neck again."

"That sums it up nicely, Qrow."

Ozpin was not having a good day. His problems were just piling up.
The White Fang issue still remained even if many of the organization's members had gotten caught in the tunnel before it was sealed. He had just gotten word that the local branch of the White Fang had gotten a new leader, Adam Taurus - pain in the ass extraordinaire.
And Torchwick was not cooperating, instead claiming to be a part-time electrician and shouting "down wit the government!".
Someone seemed to have sabotaged the CCT's signal yesterday but the source of the disturbance remained unknown.
All signs and suspicions were directed towards whoever had sent out the broadcast in Arc's weird language. But then again, all Ozpin had were suspicions, no hard facts.
Not to mention that Ozpin was running out of options with Jaune Arc. The only option left was to confront the lad directly.

That was going to be what Ozpin had to do next. It was probably the easiest issue to deal with at the moment. The boy was still bedridden and would not be able to put up too much of a fight if it came down to that.

There was a signal from the elevator. Ozpin pressed a button letting the person in.
From the elevator stepped Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck. Oobleck was wearing his betting-pool cap. Port was smiling a devious smile.
"Ozpin, I dare say it is time we settled the score about the bet."

"Peter, for dust's sake, not now. The bet is still on until the end of the school year and will be settled then."

"Correction!" said Oobleck.
"By the wording of the bet and Beacon's betting rules it is possible for the bet to be settled at any time before that moment provided that Arc fills the requirements!"

"I doubt that becoming a winged humanoid counts as "becoming something great"." countered Ozpin.

Port grinned.
"Maybe, but what about a hero?"
He produced a copy of the morning paper.

Ozpin hadn't had time to read that yet. He looked at the headline.
"Dust dammit."
He had just lost a lot of Lien on a stupid bet.
Today was really not Ozpin's day.
'Aaand iiiit's aaaallllll theee boooyyyy'ssss ffffaaault.'

Oobleck took out the money and started counting.
"Here you go Peter. Oh, and Qrow, here is your share."

"Wait. You mean I actually bet on this?"

"Yes."

"And that I actually won?"

"Indeed."

"Sweet."
Now Qrow had more money on him than he had owned in a long time.

"Qrow, my boy, how about we go out and celebrate our little victory? I know a place that makes great grimm brews."

"Sign me up, Sweet Pete."

Before Ozpin could stop them they were already on their way.
'Dust dammit. Last time Port went out drinking we had to rent a bullhead to get him off the roof. And now he's got Qrow with him.'

Ozpin downed his entire cup of coffee. It was time to confront Jaune Arc before things got any worse.
"Glynda, please inform Mr. Winchester and Taiyang to meet me by the dorms. It is time we had a little heart to heart with Mr. Arc."

Jaune was waking up. He was aching all over. His back was the worst. It stung while it also felt like an arm that you had slept on for too long. No, not an arm but a wing.
'Dust, why did they have to put me on my back? The wings always get the worst of it.'

There was a feeling of something weighing down on his chest.
Was he having a heart attack? No.

It was soft and very warm. The thing moved and there was a feeling like a wet dish cloth was rubbed in his face. Then there was a panting followed by another slosh on his face. Something was licking him.
"Leman, get your hound off of me." muttered Jaune.

The thing on his chest barked and got off him.
"He is awake!"

He opened his eyes, the light stinging in them. After blinking a few times he could make out colors, then shapes and then people. There was Pyrrha holding Zwei in her arms and the rest of his team.

"Did I do good?"
Jaune's voice was weak and hoarse after screaming so much the day before.
Jaune did remember doing something, trying to save someone.

"No!"
Pyrrha eyes became hard and looked at him sternly. She was angry with him, angry that he almost got himself killed.
"Do you have any idea of how worried we were?"

Jaune bowed his head in shame, trying to avoid her disapproving look. His healthy wing came up and hid him from from her eyes.
"I'm sorry." he said. "I didn't mean to worry you guys."

Pyrrha let out a sigh and put Zwei down on the floor and sat herself down next to Juane. She gently pushed the wing away and gently put her hand to his chin. Her hard stare was gone. She leaned closer and gave him a small kiss.
"You didn't do good, Jaune. You did great!"

"Wut?"

"We were so worried but you did the right thing. You saved that little girl!"

"Yeah." said Nora and handed him something. It was a red piece of paper with a picture of a little girl on it. There was some text. In the handwriting of a child it read: "Thank you for saving me."
On the other side there was a line, written by and adult.
"Thank you for saving my girl."

Jaune was almost speechless.
"Woah, I've never gotten one of these before."
His voice was low and his head was still spinning. He felt so tired but he forced himself upright to a sitting position. He had to get some of the pressure off his back, off his wings.

Ren stepped forward with a newspaper in hand.
"Well, I dare say you can expect more in the future. Seems like you have made a name for yourself."
The article was shown. It was obvious that Nora had highlighted the important parts of the article. Well, the parts she thought were important at least.
"Congratulations Jaune, you are now a hero."

Now Jaune was speechless. Hero? Him? He had set out to try to become one. Now he didn't know what to do.
He read the article, looked at the pictures. He had been recognized for the first time in his life. He looked up to Pyrrha who simply embraced him in a hug.
He buried his face in her neck and just enjoyed the moment, letting go of his stress.
Surely he had earned that?

Pyrrha was smiling to herself. Things would turn out fine.
Then she felt something press against her skin, something sharp. She immediately recognized it as Jaune's fangs.
She pulled away and pushed him back.
'Not here! Not in front of Ren and Nora!'

She looked Jaune in the eyes.
He was just as surprised as her with himself and he was not proud of it. He had relaxed a bit too much at the wrong time. He had held himself back but still, he had almost drank of her without her permission.
He had allowed himself to forget, for a single moment, that murky core buried in him, waiting to be awakened. And he hated himself for it. For it always cried out for blood and there would never be enough.

Pyrrha scolded herself for.
'I should have known. It's been a while since last time and he had been through a lot since then. Yesterday was probably the straw that broke the camel's back.'

"Don't stop on our account." said Nora and sat herself down on the next bed, dangling her legs like she was sitting in a swing.
"We have actually been wondering how the two of you do it together."

Ren nodded and went to lean against the door.
Pyrrha could only blush. She thought the pair was talking about sex or making out.
"No, now is not the time and place for that. He is tired and we prefer to be alone when we-"

"We know about the Thirst." said Ren, cutting her off.
"You don't need to pretend for us and we won't tell anyone."

"Uh, what thirst?" asked Jaune, feigning ignorance and failing at doing so.
"Is that some sex thing?"

Nora giggled.
"Ha, nice try! But seriously, we know about the blood thing."

"How?" asked Jaune and Pyrrha in unison.

"Well, you two sort of forgot to close the door the first time you did it."

The couple face palmed. How had they forgotten such a basic thing?

"We first noticed Jauney rushing in while crying and then came P-girl looking mighty worried. We got worried and decided to see if something was wrong. But not gonna lie, at first I thought it was a sex-thing."

"We decided to not interfere as Jaune didn't want to be around people at the moment and you had the matter well in hand, Pyrrha."

"Then we hid outside the door like ninjas."

Jaune and Pyrrha just looked at their friends. How were they not freaking out about this?
"Why haven't you reported this to anyone?"

"Because we are a team and teams are family!"

"Yes, and you are all the family we have. We didn't want to lose you or split the team apart by telling anyone."

"Why didn't you tell us that you knew?" asked Pyrrha.

"Nora's idea. She didn't want to interfere in your "bonding" as she called it."

"Bonding? As in-?"

"She's been shipping you since she saw you in bed together. She became downright insufferable after the second time. And yes, she has pictures of that as well. And no, she has not shared them with anyone else… yet."

Jaune almost couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"And you were okay with this?"

Ren shrugged.
"We were concerned at first but seeing as it got you sane again and you took such good care of Pyrrha afterwards, we decided to not worry."

Nora nodded. "Sooo~, gonna do it? Ren is gonna watch the door for you."

"Pyrrha, you don't need to-"

"Jaune, there is no telling what will happen today now that the teachers now about your changes. You need to drink if you are to manage."
Pyrrha was not going to take no for an answer. This had to be done, even if neither of them would like it.
She leaned in closer, hugged Jaune with one arm and pressed his head against her neck with the other.
He was hesitant, what with Nora and Ren looking on. Pyrrha had to really nudge him to do what had to be done.

After a while did she feel his fangs or her skin. She kept nudging him to do it but he kept hesitating but finally did she feel her skin getting pierced.
She eased up on her hold on his head but didn't let go, not yet. Otherwise he might just pull away the instant she did.
He put his arms around her, a gesture of gratitude and as an apology for what he was doing to her. Soon he pulled his head away, having sated the Thirst for now.
"I'm sorry." he whispered.

"Don't be." she answered.

Ren walked over and handed Jaune the team's first-aid kit. Pyrrha did not make any fuss about it being necessary anymore. Jaune would not let her go until he had looked after her and she knew it.

Soon enough they found themselves leaning back on a pile of pillows propped up behind them. She was on his left side, not wanting to risk aggravating his injured right one. To her surprise had Jaune wrapped his good wing around her, like he was hugging her. She let herself play around with it, running her fingers along the feathers.
Soon they would have to discuss the wings and everything else but for now they just tried to enjoy the moment.

They were quiet for a while. Jaune was going over what had happened yesterday in his head, what he had done and what he could have done better.
"Jaune? Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Pyr."

"Do you remember the day I first helped you with the thirst?"

"I wish I didn't have to. I was so worried about hurting you."

She patted him on the shoulder.
"But you didn't. But do you remember the dream you talked about before that?"

Jaune nodded. That had been the first time he had dreamt of the grimm in Vale and flying.
"I'm sorry." he said.

"For what?"

"For not warning you about the breach. For not warning any of you."

"It's okay. And don't protest." said Ren
"Even if you would have told us we probably wouldn't have believed you."

"True that." said Nora and proceeded to ask more questions.
She asked if his dreams had a tendency to come true like this? If he had had any more like this one?
"Did this have anything to do with why you got so uneasy when we left tailor's? Did it have anything to do with your brother?"

Jaune nodded.
"I remembered Curze because I tried to make sense of my dream. I tried to look for any meaning to it and memories of him came up."

"Why did he come up?"

Jaune sighed. These were not good memories.
"Because like me, he had visions of the future. Dreams even."

Nora looked at him wide-eyed.
"That's so cool! Can you tell me the lottery number? Can you tell who we will be facing in the tournament?"

Jaune shook his head. "No to both question and it is not cool."

"But-"

"Nora, it was because of his dreams that Night Haunter committed his atrocities. We had no control over what we saw and what we saw was not always nice!"

"Sorry." said Nora. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know. No need to apologize."

"As for you questions, Nora, I haven't had any other dreams like that."

"Any idea why?"

"No clue and frankly I could do without them entirely. The dreams of my past are more than enough."

"I get it. I'm still sore over not getting the lottery number though."

"Don't sweat it Nora."

There was a knock on the door.

Before anyone could open the door did it open from the outside. The door swung open to reveal Ozpin, Goodwitch, Cardin and a blond man they didn't know. He made JNPR think of Ruby and Yang.

Both the stranger and Cardin were staring at the wings.
"Well, now I see why Oz has been frying my ass over this." murmured the blond man.
Cardin stumbled into the dorm. He was confused. He had seen hints of this during his talk with The Emperor but to see them in real life was something else.
"My lord Primarch…" he mumbled but so low that almost no one could hear him.

"Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, Cardin and-" said Ren to greet the new arrivals.

The blond man snapped out of his surprise-induced daydream.
"Taiyang Xiao Long." the man said, introducing himself.

"Xiao Long? Are you related to Yang Xiao Long?"

"Yes, I'm her dad. Ruby's too. You know them?"

"They live in the dorm across the hallway. We hang out." answered Nora.

"Taiyang, please. This isn't a social call." said Goodwitch.
"And no need to get up, Pyrrha. We just have some questions for Jaune."

"Then why are they here?" asked Pyrrha and nodded to Cardin and Taiyang.

"Cardin and Taiyang are here because they are both connected to someone who we believe helped forge Mr. Arcs transcripts." said Ozpin as he sat himself down on a chair provided to him by Goodwitch's semblance.
"And no need to worry, we will not be expelling you for that, Mr. Arc. Doing such a thing after what you did for the people of Vale yesterday would be a serious faux pas."

Jaune let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you professor but why are you here? Is it my wings or fangs?"

"Somewhat, yes, but for now I have a much more pressing matter to deal with."
Ozpin pulled out his scroll from his pocket and opened an audio file.
"This is an enhanced version of a message that was broadcasted throughout Beacon, the CCT-tower and all systems directly connected to the CCT-tower mere minutes after it was infiltrated and exited by an unknown individual during the time off the Vytal Festival Ball."

"Wait, there was a broadcast?" both Jaune and Pyrrha were confused. They hadn't heard this broadcast nor had they heard of it from the others.

"How don't you two know about it? Everyone at the school heard it!" said Cardin.

"We were busy having the happiest moment of our lives to notice!" said Jaune and leaned his head against Pyrrha's. They had been in their own little world back then.

The message was played. Despite the sound being better now could no one understand a word of what was being said. All look confused except Jaune who just looked worried.
"That's High Gothic. A language of the Imperium." he muttered.

Ozpin just nodded. The boy did indeed know the language. That meant Ozpin finally had a solid clue to work with. But what was this Imperium?

When the message ended all turned to Jaune. His eyes wide in shock and disbelief.
"Oh, crap baskets."

Ozpin put away his scroll.
"Well, care to tell us what the broadcast meant?"

"Professor, someone has infected the CCT with a virus."

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" asked Ozpin in disbelief.

"Someone has infected the CCT with a virus." repeated Jaune.
"The message is a warning about it. Supposedly it's quite serious."

"Oh shit." said Cardin under his breath.

Ozpin got up from his seat, eyes wide with fear. The implications had almost made him shit himself. The CCT was the heart of everything and it was infected.
Oh shit, indeed.

"We will talk more later! Glynda, call Ironwood but don't tell him the real reason over scroll! Tell him it's a f#cking booty call if you have to!"
The two teachers burst out from the dorm leaving all speechless. No one had ever seen them run that fast before or heard Ozpin use such language.

Taiyang looked after his former teacher.
"Well that was something. You wouldn't expect a guy with a cane to be that fast."
All nodded.

"So, Mr. Taiyang-" Ren stepped forward.

"Just Tai, pleace. I'm not that old yet."

"Very well, Tai. mind if we ask why you are here? The same goes for you Cardin."

Tai shrugged.
"Well, Ozpin wanted me here because I had a hand in getting Jaune into Beacon, in violation to all protocols and rules we have."

Jaune eyed the man.
"I'm sorry, but how do you figure into me getting into Beacon?"

"Oh, I teach at Signal. I'm the one who handled your, obviously forged, transcripts."

"Oh, I see. Why did you approve of them?"

"That's the thing. Until yesterday Ozpin had the idea of you being an enemy agent, planted into Beacon to cause trouble. The fact that I of all people greenlighted your transcripts just made him more suspicious."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Tai threw his hands into the air.
"I know! I just don't know how to explain it without sounding insane!"
He took a deep breath.
"I'll tell you but you have to promise not to tell the girls. I don't want them thinking I'm crazy."

"I promise." said Jaune reassuringly.
"But to be fair, what they consider insane might have changed since yesterday."

Tai nodded and began telling his story of how he had talked to a man in his mind and agreed to send in the transcripts to Beacon.

"I'm sorry if I'm a bit short on details but Ozpin had to get me drunk in order to get more out of me and I'm not having a hangover like that again so soon after the last one." said Tai after he was done with his account.

"It's okay. And what about you Cardin? Did Ozpin bring you because of my transcripts? Did you rat me out after all?"

"No, I kept my mouth shut about that. I'm here because I was contacted by the same guy as Xiao-Long."
Cardin puffed out his chest with pride.
"I was recognized and given a mission by the Emperor of Mankind himself. Try to beat that, angel-boy."

Cardin was quite full of himself. He had been recognized by the Emperor, and given a mission that, seemingly, couldn't be trusted to anyone else. Or at least, that is what Cardin thought.
Jauney-boy might have a role to play but it was Cardin who had been contacted, not Jaune.

Pyrrha turned in the bed to Jaune. She had heard him speak of this Emperor before but she believed that the Emperor had lived eons ago. How could this be?
"Jaune, can it be him? Jaune?"

Jaune didn't answer. He sat up straight with a look of joy, excitement, confusion and hope on his face.
"Ren! Pen and paper! Now!" Jaune barked out.

Jaune began to draw furiously. Everyone in the room were amazed by his skill. His team had only ever seen him do ugly doodles before in his notebooks except for in his journal.
Had that skill now become available to him in full? It seemed so.

"Did he look like this?"
Jaune showed his drawing to Cardin and Taiyang who both started nodding.

"That's him! No doubt about it!" said Tai while Cardin just nodded.

Team JNPR looked at the picture. So this was the mystery man?
The Emperor did not disappoint, no sir. But then again, few of the people Jaune drew did.

"Well, Jaune, you seem to know this man. What is your connection to him?"
Taiyang didn't get an answer.

First Jaune was quiet and then he began to laugh. It was a joyful laugh, a laugh of relief. He gave Pyrrha a tight hug as he kept laughing.
"He lives! My Father lives! I didn't die for nothing! Even now Father looks after me! Thank you, Sire! Thank you, Father!"

Everyone just looked at Jaune like he was insane. Was this man his father? Was his father an emperor? If so, what did that make him?

Cardin was backing off.
Was Jaune his employer's kid? Was that what being a Lord Primarch meant?
Best not to mess with him.

Jaune punched the air with both hands, even letting his wings show his joy. His laughing stopped when he accidentally tried to move his bad wing. He calmed down but was still smiling despite the pain in his wing.

"Your father? Do you mean Augustus?" asked Tai.

He knew Augustus from his time at Beacon.
Tai had been told of how Livia Arc had informed Goodwitch that Augustus Arc was indeed Jaune's biological father. The woman had been abundantly clear on that point.
Was Augustus an Emperor? Not likely.

"No, I mean the man-being that created me and my brothers."

"Last I heard you only had sisters, Jaune." pointed Tai out with an raised eyebrow.

Jaune shook his head.
"I never had sisters. Well, I do now. I meant back before, in my previous life."

Tai and Cardin looked at him like he was confused and/or crazy.
Nora leaned over to Ren and and whispered into his ear. "My sweater has long sleeves. Do you think it could double as a straitjacket?"

"Nora, let's wait and see how this goes." said Ren. "And no, your sweater does not second as a straitjacket."

"Boo."

Taiyang, being an experienced huntsman, did not lose his shit over what Jaune had said.
"So this Emperor, he is your father from another life?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll bite. Who are you, kid?"

Pyrrha nudged Jaune.
"Go on. We would all like to know as well. If anything else, see this as practice for when you to tell your family."

Jaune nodded. Pyrrha was right, as usual. He tried to remember as much as he could. He already remembered much but it was all fragmented and blurry. His past life had been a long one with lots of things in it and he had only begun to remember it such a short time ago. He just couldn't remember it all, not yet.
"I am - or rather - I was Sanguinius, Primarch of the IX Legion of the Legiones Astartes, reluctant Imperator Regins of the Imperium Secundus and son of the Emperor, the master of mankind."

"Your father was the master of mankind?"

"Probably still is if he could help me get into Beacon. He can be very good at hiding when he wants to."

Tai just nodded. "You commanded legions? Troops?"

"Indeed, but only really one legion. I think my legion was around 120.000 strong. The memory is a bit blurry"

Taiyang just shook his head at this.
"I will try to keep quiet about that part. I swear, Ozpin will have a heart attack when he learns of this. Not to mention Ironwood."

"Why would they?" asked Ren.

"Ozpin has never liked power that he can't control or at least influence. This Emperor is both. But that's not all."

"There is more?" Pyrrha was confused.

"There is a question you kids are missing and it's about the message. Who sent it?"

"Well, Jauney's astarte-buddies, of course!" said Nora.

"Yes, but where are they?"

"Well, they are- Okay, I really don't know that one."

"And neither does Ozpin. And if these people were legions as Jaune said, and as numerous as he says they were, then Ozpin is going to pull his hair out trying to find them and keep them under check. Not to mention how Ironwood will take this."

Tai looked Jaune in the eye.
"And I guess you don't know where they are either?"

"No, I don't"

Jaune tried to figure out where the Astartes, the space marines, could be but he couldn't. He just couldn't remember enough about them. He recalled rough principles of their tactics but not how they moved, what vehicles they used and so on. They could be literally anywhere: in the woods hidden under a layer of leaves or up in space for all he knew.
The only thing he remembered clearly was that they were warriors, capable of kicking tons of ass.

Dammit! He wanted to remember! This was important! Lives could be at stake!

"Jaune, calm down."
Pyrrha snapped him out of it.
"If they are still around they will find you eventually once the tournament starts."

"But I have to-"

"No, you don't. For now, all you have to do is rest."
She would suffer no argument.

"Right." Jaune turned to Tai.
"Thank you for telling me all of this. I will not forget it."

"Don't thank me. I have stuff riding on you. Don't ask me what, though."

"Okay. Will you be staying? I'm sure Ruby and Yang would be happy to see you."

"I'm sure they would but I'm needed at Signal. Give them my regards until I give them a call."

"I will."

Tai made for the door.
"Oh, and Jaune. Good luck explaining this to your folks. Maybe you should invite them to the festival. I'm sure Augustus would like to visit Beacon again."

"That… would be a pretty good idea actually. Thanks for the tip."

"No problem. Hope the wing gets better soon."

And so Tai left, quickly followed by Cardin who really didn't feel like being there anymore.

"It would be nice to meet your family." said Nora.

"Yes, but I'm not so sure it will happen. It cost me quite a lot to get to Beacon and they will be many more than just one person."

"Well, you did get your ticket at the last minute so cost were bound to be a bit steep. If they act quickly they can save quite a bit." Ren pointed out.
"But it is the Vytal Festival. People will be flocking to Vale so prices will be going up. Better act fast."

"Right. Has someone seen my scroll somewhere?"

The scroll rang and Livia got up to answer. She and the rest of the family were sitting in the living room. They had been waiting for a good time to call Jaune all day. It had been decided that the afternoon would be best for that.
Livia looked at the caller i.d.
"It's him!"

She all but ran into the living room with the scroll. She accepted the call and put it on loudspeaker. Soon Jaune's voice was heard by everyone. He sounded a bit tired.
"Hi, guys."

"Jaune, can you hear us?"

"Yes mom. Am I coming through on your end?"

"Loud and clear, my boy."

"Grandpa, that you?"

"In the flesh."

"We are here as well!" shouted Thulite.
"All of us."

"Hi sis and other sisses. Have you missed me?"

"Like the plague." joked Desmine. "But we have missed having your scrawny butt around."

"Aww, love you too, Des."

Livia leaned closer to her scroll, wanting to be heard over her daughters.
"Jaune, how are you? We got a call from one of your professors yesterday saying you had been released from the infirmary but the paper says that you- that you were-"
She couldn't bring herself to say it. Why did she have to have such an outdated scroll or data plan? She wanted to see her son, to see if he was alright.

"Mom, I'm fine. Well, mostly."

"What do you mean!?"

"I was released from the infirmary yesterday. My injury was just some wounds and a fractured bone and some pulled muscles. Nothing aura won't fix."

Livia let out a sigh of relief.
She knew about aura from her husband. She had been tempted to unlock all her children's' aura to protect them from harm but had decided against it. If they had aura they would just get pulled towards something even more harmful and put themselves in even greater danger.
Still, broken bones is a bit much for even aura to deal with and he had only said that he was mostly okay.
"Jaune, how is your injury?"

"I'll be at 100 % for the tournament. Other than that I'm just a bit tired."

"That's good. You need your rest."

Livia smiled. Her son was going to be alright.

"So, son, you seem to have become quite handy with Crocea Mors. We watched a clip of you going up against that Death Stalker. Nice touch with tricking it to strike at you like that."

"Thanks dad, but I couldn't have done it without Pyrrha's help."

"Help? I'm pretty sure you went mano-a-mano with that thing."

"Well, she has been helping me with my training. She is one hell of a teacher."

"I can imagine. Blende just won't shut up about her and her titles."

"Oh, are you a fan now Blende?"

"Well, no, I'm just-"

"She totally is." interjected Morganite.
"And she won't shut up about how her brother is on the same team as Pyrrha Nikos. She has already told the entire village about it. Twice! You should consider yourself lucky to be at Beacon, brother, safe from her madness."

"HEY! I'm not crazy! I'm passionate!"

The entire family laughed as one at this.

"So, Jaune, do you feel like telling us what's up? Your professor's call has gotten us rather worried. Not to mention the spiked up intensity of your nightmares."

"Spiked up? What do you mean, granddad?"

"We have been planning on telling you once we see you again." said Livia.
"We have learned something that we feel you should hear from us, but not over scroll."

"That's okay." said Jaune.

"Is it?"

"Yes, there is actually a lot that I have been meaning to tell you guys about as well, face to face. We can share once we meet up."

"That's great! We can wait until your semester is over."

"Actually, about that…"

"What? Are you visiting? Won't you miss classes?"

"Wha- No! I wanted to ask you guys if you wanted visit me and attend the Vytal Festival. We could talk then and my teammates would like to meet you."

Livia was silent. Could they do that? The transport for the entire family would cost quite a bit. Not to mention the seats for the entire family. She looked at the girls. They were looking at her with pleading puppy eyes.
"Mom, please, can we go? We really want to see our brother again."
"We have never been at the Festival, mom."
"We could watch him fight."
"Please, Mom."

Livia gave in. A part of her wanted to go as well.
"Alright, but you had all better be at your best behavior or I'm leaving you to watch the house."

Augustus chuckled. "Well there you have it, son. Seems like we will see you at the festival"

"Thanks mom, thanks dad. I appreciate it."

"Think nothing of it. We haven't done anything like this since we last went camping together."

"Yeah, good times."
The Arcs could hear Jaune yawn.

"Well, we will be start getting tickets to the festival. I dare say it's time you got yourself some rest."

"I will. I love you guys."

"Love you to, dear."

Livia ended the call and Augustus smiled, Gaius chuckled and the girls were beside themselves with anticipation. There was still some time until the festival would begin but to them it couldn't begin too soon.
"We are going to Vale!"
"What will we wear?"
"We are going to the Festival!"
"Should we get our hair done?"
"We will meet his team!"

"Only if you are good, girls." Augustus reminded them.
Oh, who was he kidding? The girls would be at their very best behavior now because there was no way they would miss this opportunity. Until they were at the festival Augustus would be raising angels.
He allowed them this moment of excitement for he was feeling pretty excited as well. He would get to see his old stomping grounds.

Livia however was a bit more skeptical to all of this. There was something off about all of this. Call it a mother's intuition. Something had been off for quite some time. And then there was what she had heard just now. Maybe it was the speakers of her scroll but Jaune had sounded a bit worried about meeting his family again.

Gaius patted her on the shoulder. Livia had always been blessed with the fact that she always got along with her in-laws, particularly Gaius.
"Don't worry. Let the girls have this. Soon we will know what is up with him."

"I know, Gaius. I just can't shake this feeling that something is wrong. Maybe it's my motherly intuition going haywire."

"Maybe he has gotten a girl with child?" Gaius joked, earning a pillow to the face.

"Gaius Arc! I did not raise my son to be that careless! You are sleeping on the couch tonight for that one!"

"Not unless I go over to my place for the night."

Livia would not have it. The old huntsman would have his punishment!
"Girls! Block the doors! Barricade the windows! Keep this old coot here at all costs!"

Gaius rolled his eyes and dropped the act. He still teased Livia though.
"Oh no, how will I get my meds if my tyrannical daughter-in-law keeps me prisoner?"

"We have some of your meds here for this kind of occasions, dad." said Augustus with a smile. This was fun to watch.

"Oh no! My own flesh and blood has fallen to the witch's spell! Woe, my only solace is that the son of my son has escaped his wicked mother's clutches."
Gaius leaned back on the couch and made an over the top pose of distress.
The girls just burst out into laughter while their mother muttered something under her breath.

"So, son? What do you think?"

"I really hope he hasn't gotten a girl pregnant. If he has done something so foolish I will spank his ass so hard that his blood will look pale in comparison."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Cinder Fall was considering her plans.

Roman had been caught but she trusted him to keep silent about her plans. Not because she trusted him, but because she trusted the man's desire to survive and he would not live long if he ratted on her.

But with the breach having happened prematurely there simply wasn't enough Grimm or White Fang for her plans. At least not with their current numbers.

To her great surprise did Adam Taurus, bullheadedness personified, agree. He wanted more grimm. While he was prepared to send in some of his faunus into the upcoming fray he would prefer if they used expendable grimm for the meat grinder.

"It would be prudent to get more grimm than we had originally planned. Judging from their performance at the breach, the students are a bit tougher than we anticipated.

"Agreed. I will have more grimm directed to your people for capture." said Cinder absentmindedly.

"Mam, how will we manage that?" asked Emerald.

"Yeah, won't we be missed at Beacon?" agreed Mercury.

Cinder chuckled.
"Why, my dear disciples, have you forgotten that our curriculum involves missions outside of the school?"

Her mood soured. This change of plans would mean that Cinder would have to contact Her. Only She could call upon the forces that they needed for this job.
'Should I deal with the idiot Arc?' thought Cinder in the back of her mind. He had been occupying her thought more and more recently.
'Yeeesss. Youuu sssshouuuld.'

'No, he was just lucky to have so many strong fighters with him. That's why he managed to hold back the breach. He was taken down by the grimm equivalent of cannon fodder for fuck's sake!'
Cinder had read the papers and seen the videos. There was nothing there for her to be concerned about.

'Dooon't beee a fooool. Deeeaaal with hiiiim iffff yoooou survive whaaat's comiiing.'

'What's coming?" thought Cinder, discarding the annoying voice in her mind. She needed to start focusing on the real matter at hand. All this recent sitting around wasn't suiting her at all.

Suddenly Cinder coughed. Her co-conspirators looked at her worriedly but she waved them off.
"Just some dust in the air. I'm fine. Now I believe we all have our roles. Let us go perform them."

*GROWL*
He stomach churned. She could feel things moving and not in a good way.
'Oh-oh.'

Cinder felt hot. Her dress was sticking to her skin as she began to sweat. She felt dizzy, weak, tired.
"On second thought, let's head back to Beacon. We can do plenty from there."
Yes, to Beacon, where there were toilets, showers and beds to sleep in.

'Yeeessss, spreeaaad theee looove~.'