Hey all, it's been a while again... Heh, sorry for such a long hiatus, I got a new job, now I'm back in college now, and these are just excuses. Hopefully now that my creativity is flowing again and I have a wonderful person who is now my editor and Fiance, still can't believe it, to help me write and move along with my writing. Anyway, I'll stop rambling about my life that has kept you wonderful people from the story you are here for. On to it.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Magic: The Gathering. RWBY is property of Rooster Teeth and the amazing mind of Monty Oum (RIP), MtG is property of Wizards of the Coast.
Editor/Beta Reader: CelticsPuppy
It had been a day since the Grand Procession returned to Ardenvale and in the early hours of the morning just before dawn Jaune Arc was awake and doing something special. Instead of his basic strength training he was slowly focusing on the mana in the air and his aura. As he did, he began to feel the energies rise again, the white lines began to flow up from his palms and up to his elbows. Then a loud clamor broke his concentration causing the lines to vanish and him to fall back groaning as he hit his head on the wall. Slowly getting up as he rubbed his head as guards came through and opened his cell with Syr Alin walking in with the harsh Captain of the guard as the bald man said "Jaune Arc, up."
His tone was harsh and unrelenting. Causing Jaune to look a bit surprised as he got up saying "Syr Alin? what happened?"
He was met by silence from the man he had come to respect as the captain snarled at him saying "Get moving filth!"
Jaune startled at the sudden extra aggression as he slowly moved forward while a guard roughly manacled him. The Huntsman in training walked with the procession of guards through the castle grounds and kept quiet so as to not incite any more rage. As they moved along the corridor Jaune could feel the heavy atmosphere as he was escorted to the throne room, where he saw only the queen and the court. Jaune took quick note of the increased aggression and anger towards him. He was rather happy he wasn't back on Remnant as this much anger and open disdain would draw Grimm from far and wide. His thoughts were stopped as he was shoved to his knees by the captain as he said, "My Queen, we have brought the prisoner."
"Where is my husband?" Was all that the queen said causing Jaune to look up and break into a cold sweat seeing the absolute fury and harshness in the Queen's eyes as he said "Y-your majesty, I don't know…"
He was then struck on the back of the head as the captain yelled at him saying "Don't you dare lie!"
"I don't know! The last time I was anywhere near the king was when I was first sentenced." The captain raised his hand to strike again but the queen spoke "Hold."
The captain snarled at Jaune as the queen spoke again "My husband The High King has gone missing. Do you have any knowledge of this?"
"Of course, he would!" One noble shouted.
"He just so happened to appear in the chambers of the circle two weeks ago, and now The High King is gone!" another spoke up.
"We should force him to tell us everything he knows!" another called.
This continued to Jaune's confusion before The Queen calmly called out "Quiet."
That was enough to silence the room as she slowly walked down the steps moving towards Jaune as the Captain stepped forward only to be stopped by Syr Alin who had yet to speak. Queen Linden stepped up to Jaune who kneeled there in manacles as she said, "Tell me the truth."
Her tone was cold and disciplined to keep the boiling fury he could plainly see in her eyes in check, much like Glynda Goodwitch, as Jaune took a breath and looked her in the eye, "I have no knowledge of where The King has gone Your Majesty."
Queen Linden stared at him for a long while before saying "Take him back to the dungeons."
Jaune sighed in relief before he yelped as the captain yanked him away causing him to stumble, as the Queen called out "This Court is dismissed. Syr Alin, stay."
The knight turned from walking with the captain and Jaune, as the boy was once again escorted out, the nobles all whispered and spoke to each other leaving the throne room. Once it was only the knight and The Queen she spoke up, "Do you believe him Syr Alin?"
"My Queen, I do. I have been speaking to him and having spars for the weeks before The Grand Procession left. He is a simple soul, he is an honest man." Syr Alin looked at his Queen with surety as she looked at him saying "Then we have a problem. We need to find The High King before this news spreads further then the court's circles. If the peasantry discovers this…"
Syr Alin nodded, "I already have knights going to the other Courts to bring in people that could help. What of Jaune?"
"The boy will remain in custody. Unless you have an idea." The Queen looked at Syr Alin as he shook his head admitting, "No, but I will admit I have taken a liking to him. He appears to be a strong man, but he seems to believe he is from another world."
Queen Linden cocked an eyebrow saying "Perhaps delusional. Whatever the case, until The High King is found he is the only suspect we have."
Syr Alin nodded and said, "Yes, My Queen."
-in the Dungeons-
Jaune was roughly thrown back in his cell as he was unshackled, the boy was kicked by the captain saying, "We will find The King and when we do, you will be exposed liar."
Jaune groaned, having not activated his aura to shield from the sudden blow. He coughed before pulling back as the door was slammed shut. Jaune drug himself up groaning as he focused his aura into healing the slight scrapes and aches easily. A new knight came up to the bars, he was an imposing figure with short black hair, fair complexion and a scar over his left eye. Glaring down at Jaune the Knight would speak up harshly, "So they say you are the one who took The King."
Then keeping his firm glare, he would speak clearly, "My name is Syr Cado, the King's personal guard."
Jaune walked up to the cage before saying "Sir… I did not do it."
"I know, you do not strike me as a man who can pull off such deception as Rowan and Will told me." Cado's face was still hard as he walked away stopping a few feet away saying, "I just wanted to look you in the eye when I said that."
The knight then walked away leaving Jaune alone. The blonde boy sighed as he moved back into his cell as he returned to his normal schedule. The days passed on; the guards closer to the captain acted with more hostility towards Jaune but did not do anything overtly destructive. Then after another week a new face came to visit. She was a middle-aged woman with short, curled hair and a simple circlet wedged into it, as well as a worn blue and gray surcoat with keyholes embroidered into the fabric. She had entered the jail cells area with a harsh look of anger and annoyance before it shifted as she took in the view of Jaune, "My oh my. You are different. I am Syr Elowen."
"You can leave." She would say to the guard who glared at Jaune. As the man was leaving Elowen would speak up again saying, "Oh, and please unlock the cage, I'd prefer to have a private conversation."
"I can't do that Syr." The guard spoke before Elowen sighed in annoyance saying "You will, or I will fetch Syr Alin, or perhaps Syr Cado. I'm sure either of them would be happy to know which guard impeded a loremage from helping in finding The High king."
Jaune himself was rather surprised by how Elowen was treating the guard. He then saw the guard begin to pale before grunting and grumbling. He would then stalk over unlocking the cell door and opening it as Elowen spoke up saying "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"
The guard huffed and left as Elowen closed the door and walked forward towards Jaune, while he stood up. His clothes felt filthy, even if the prisoner's garb was cleaned semi regularly. Jaune hadn't had anything fresh in a week or so, and he could feel it. Elowen didn't seem to react as she came in close.
"So, you are the oddity I had heard about. What's your name?" She spoke as she moved in close looking at Jaune with a penetrating interest. Jaune would swallow hard before saying, "Jaune. Jaune Arc."
Elowen then began to circle him. Gently poking his arm once, then his chest with enough force he could feel his Aura react causing Elowen to gain a dangerous gleam to her eyes. "How fascinating, what kind of spell are you using?"
"I am not." Was all Jaune could say as he rubbed his chest where Elowen had jabbed him before she scoffed," Don't fake pain, you're far too easy to read to pull it off."
Jaune then became curious himself as he said "Well, either way, I am not using magic."
He never thought such a sentence would be spoken with anything other than sarcasm as Elowen then jabbed him in the arm before she then wove a simple spell around her hand. With her palm glowing a dusty blue, she took hold of his arm and Jaune couldn't stop the absolute cold he felt from the contact. He jerked away as he felt his Aura being bombarded by the magic, before Elowen let go as she saw the small shine with a grin saying "My oh my, you truly are something else aren't you. Do you know what spell I just used was?"
Jaune rubbed his arm in frustration as he glared at her, "No, I don't."
He set his aura into soothing the cool sensation as she said, "It dispelled all magic within my touch, whatever your spiritual shield is, it truly isn't magic."
Her grin was almost feral and excited as if a child had found a new toy and wanted to see what it could do. Then much to Elowen's disappointment a tapping came from the bars. Turning and looking back both occupants of the cell saw the guard from earlier saying "Syr Elowen you are requested to see The Queen."
Elowen then huffed before speaking to Jaune "We are not done. Oh, you are something interesting and I want you to tell me everything you know."
Jaune couldn't help but shiver at the odd sensation he got from her. He then sat down and waited for them all to leave.
His days continued in a strange pattern of having Elowen visit him and asking several very probing questions trying to find out everything she could from him. He had been open about not being from Eldraine to Rowan and Will, but he held back such information with Elowen. Always giving half-baked ideas to Elowen, she was never deterred until a month later where she left with her parting words, "You are odd Jaune Arc. And we are not done, but Vantress calls."
After that his days went into a rhythm of eat, workout, practice his magic, and try to keep it all hidden. His days blended into each other and without him noticing two more months had passed. The only thing that told him it was winter was the cold he felt throughout his days. The cold also helped him learn to channel his Aura into keeping himself warm. One day, while the walls of the Castle were buffeted by a raging snowstorm, during his exercise he heard a commotion and saw a small blue light flit around in front of his jail cell holding a bronze ring of keys. He moved up curious as the light turned and Jaune could see it was a small blue man with wings with a mischievous look on his face as a girl, The Princess Hazel, came running up behind the thing. She must have followed the little man down this deep into the castle, then another voice Jaune hadn't heard in a while called after her, "Hazel, slow down, you're not supposed to be down here." It was Will Kenrith.
Coming around the corner Will noticed two things, first the dirty state of Jaune and secondly the blue fairie behind Jaune aimed to stab the young man. Will acted quickly and shot a small burst of frost towards the Fairie causing Jaune to jump to the side as the blue fae fell to ground shivering as ice gripped its wings.
"What is that?" Jaune asked aloud as Hazel looked at Will, as Will said "That is a blue fairy. But how did it get so far into castle Ardenvale?"
Jaune walked over and picked it up along with the keys. Walking over to the bars he held out the keys to Will who took them with a nod as Jaune yelped at a sudden spike in his hand. The Fairy giggled malevolently as it held a sharpened key like a sword and had stabbed Jaune's hand. The Fairy then vanished into blue mist. Jaune focused his Aura into his hand to seal the blood flow, Will would then state "A blue Fairy should not have been able to get this far. We need to find Father."
Hazel sadly nodded as she moved away from Jaune's door as Will then said to Jaune, "I wish I could help. Is there anything I can do. It might help convince people I didn't do it."
Will held his chin before saying "I will see what I can do."
Hazel looked up curiously before running back up the stairs. Will following her leaving Jaune to return to his cell. He had nearly gone crazy from the lack of interaction save for the anger he still received from the guards. The only thing that kept him sane was the peace he found in the simple exercises.
-Elsewhere in the Castle-
Will walked through the halls and upstairs to return to the great hall with Hazel, only to be stopped when he heard voices up ahead, "…convenient for The Queen, isn't it? It makes you wonder, doesn't it?"
"What are you saying?"
Will froze in the small shadow of the entrance to the dungeons as he held Hazel to the side holding a finger to his lips telling her to stay quiet as he listened.
"She wanted to be The High Queen, not just a consort. Now she rules in his absence. It's too convenient The High King disappeared if you ask me."
"It is strange she never finished the High Quest. Do you think it's true she murdered the twins' real mother to get Kenrith, and power for herself?"
At such a suggestion Will burst out from the shadow and grabbed the guard who said such things slamming him into a wall and cracking him across the jaw. With a ferocious snarl on his lips, he would growl out "Don't you dare speak of The Queen with such disrespect,"
The second guard jumped back out of reach of the enraged Will as he would defend himself "You can't blame people for questioning where Kenrith went, vanishing for months- "
Will whirled on the guard snarling, "They would both Vanish for months in the Wilds, that's how Quests go."
The guard being either an idiot or foolhardy continued speaking, "How Kenrith vanished for months, and everyone thought he was dead, yet she's the one who returned carrying twin babies he obviously had sired with a different woman."
Will continued to glare at the guard, his jaw set, and his fists surrounded by a chilling blue mist as he said "Queen Linden is my mother. But go ahead, explain to me why you think she is not."
Will glared them both down as the first man got back up testing his jaw while the other one simply mumbled something. Will focused in on the two guards, closely studying their faces, both greying blondes with rather bland features, also noticing neither of them had a badge of Knighthood. He would still make note of them. He wanted to make mention of such a thing as neither had been deemed worthy of knighthood but then his mother's disappointed face came to mind causing him to bite his tongue on such a childish insult before speaking up, "Perhaps you would like to tell me which of Queen Linden's four knightly honors weren't earned, in your opinion. Or why the Questing Beast saw fit to send her on the High Quest in the first place. Perhaps you think you know better than the ancient Questing Beast?"
Will could see every word he spoke grated on nerves by the way their jaws set, and their nostrils flared with every breath. He saw the second guard about to step up before the first grabbed his arm "Let's get out of here, before we offend The High King's blond son. Can't have that."
"You've already offended me." Will spat out before they began to walk away. The one who was about to strike, threw over his shoulder "Just because you don't like it doesn't mean people don't think it. They'll just talk where you can't hear."
As the footfalls and lamplight dimmed down the hall Will had to take slow deep breaths to calm himself from acting on his rage and turn the two guards into frozen statues. He also reminded himself of an iron-clad rule 'In the Castle, Magic may only be wielded while training or if the castle is under attack from the Wilds'. His use on the faerie to defend Jaune was acceptable but to use it on two guards, not so much.
Out of the darker shadow of the door Hazel spoke with a tremble "Why would they say such awful things?"
The younger girl walked up and held Will's arm as his magic receded. Since The High King vanished Will had noticed his confident and brave younger sister always seemed to be on the edge of tears. He then calmed completely to comfort her as he wrapped and arm around her shoulders, "They're envious men."
"I've heard people talking about those things when they don't know I'm there. About you and Rowan not being her children or that she is a murderer and- "
Hazel was looking down at the ground and only stopped when she felt Will's hands wrap around her before he said, "Hey! Don't listen to the things people say when they're scared and resentful."
"But you did! You punched that man!" Hazel looked up at him as only a little sister could before Will Chuckled "I did, Didn't I?"
"Are you glad you did?" Will looked down at her and said "I am glad. I was angry and it felt good, but I should have controlled myself. Mother and Father have always told us the truth. Rowan and I had a different birth mother. She came to a tragic end in the Wilds."
Hazel would look at Will before asking "Was Daddy in love with her first? Before Mommy?"
Will frowned. He always felt thinking about the woman he had no memory of was vaguely shameful, as if thinking about her would make him a traitor to the woman who loved and raised him. "Haven't Mother and Father sat you down and told you this?"
Hazel shook her head saying, "No. I asked, but they say I'm still too young."
"If you're old enough to ask, you're old enough to know." Will smiled at his younger sister before she looked up at him hopeful, yet distressed asking "Will you tell me?"
"All right, just between us two." She nodded and leaned against him as he lowered his voice even if he was sure none were around to eavesdrop. "Father and Mother both quested for years after they were chosen by the Questing Beast."
"That's how they met and fell in love with each other." Hazel let her smile flicker back to the usual brightness before Will continued with a smile of his own, "That's right, but they weren't always questing together. Often, they had to go their separate ways. Father himself says he had some difficult times in the Wilds, he was wounded and vulnerable. At that time, he met a woman who said they loved him, and for a time he believed he loved her as well. But people change their minds, or they fall out of love, or it wasn't really love at all, or they've already met the person they truly are meant to be with but don't know it yet."
"Like Mommy and Daddy!" Hazel would brighten for a moment again as Will chuckled continuing, "Yes, like that. He wasn't really in love, but the woman had gotten pregnant and gave birth to Ro and me, so he stayed because that is the responsible thing to do. Then she was murdered in the Wilds by foul magic. Tragedies like this happen all too often. It's why we fight the Wilds. Anyway, what's important is that our mother is our mother. If they say nasty things, that's on their heads."
Hazel would sigh before nuzzling her face into Will's arm as he slowly stroked her hair between the twin puffballs, she kept it in before she would speak up in a small voice asking, "Will Daddy ever come home?"
"Of course, he will," He said forcing his tone to be firm before lightening with a small smirk "Come on, Gnat. Let's find Rowan."
At that Hazel jumped back out of his grasp with a playful glare saying, "I'm not a Gnat!"
"Are so. Always buzzing at my ear. I'd miss it if you weren't" Will would say playfully with a happy smile before ruffling her hair again as the two siblings smiled a little while heading down the hall.
New progress within this story, finally! Anyway, Jaune is still stuck, he's still in trouble, and now other's may be figuring out he's weird. Anyway, I'm excited to see how Jaune interacts with the rest of Eldraine and Will and Rowan's friends. This is a quest and adventure.
Onto the Shoutouts
Xealchim: That's fair enough my man. Vampire is a marvelous tribe.
Firetrail: Sir... Sir... You are magnificent. (Apologies for assuming:p) but seriously, magnificent but I will say, no spoilers now.
The Baz: I saw that the Dragon Bros are actually very common themes with this kind of fanfic, it's surprising how many times I've seen Jaune being Nikki B's son or descendant of some way. And yeah, Gruul or Rakdos Jaune would of been... Shall we say changed by the experience lol.
DarkJackel: For Ch10 It might be, but think of the drama when they DO learn, hehe. New armor, "New" weapons, New skills, New Jaune will return to Remnant.
DarkJackel: For Ch11 Currently I do not have any plans to Ignite others currently, maybe if it makes story sense I might. Spectacular it will be ;). I agree, some stories might make them act like a typical anime thick headed girls, but they are the two most intelligent members of team RWBY and I figured they'd be calm about it and seek facts.
Xealchim: I'm back, don't worry.
Grimm Magician: That is true that Lilianna can summon undead and luckily she has many skills, both learned from her time on Remnant and her experiences throughout her centuries of life so lets see how she continues her life on Remnant.
Zander22122: Well, thank you for liking my story, I'm back :). Haha, you and several others. He probably would of crashed into Sorin or Arlinn and it would of definitely been a time.
Stay safe, Stay healthy, have a great time. Until next time, This Celt is out.
