Blake Belladonna wasn't stupid.

She had made mistakes. She had overlooked a lot of important details. She had done things rashly, and had a long record of that with the White Fang, but when the chips were down, she had the cognitive and observational skills to figure out what was going on. She could do better at Beacon than she had with Adam. Not just in terms of morality, but competence. Clearheadedness. With Adam out of her life, her infatuation no longer blinding her to reality, Blake was on the top of her game.

She currently had two major mysteries she was puzzling through. The first was with Roman Torchwick—what was his agenda, and what did it have to do with the White Fang? It was increasingly seeming plausible that the master criminal had some connection to the White Fang, and his increasing activity in Vale had her antsy. But her second question was even more pressing: who the hell was Jaune Arc, really?

In spite of what she had said when Yang asked her, Blake was wondering what on Remnant was going on with him. Jaune was close friends with her team leader and dating her teammate, so Blake got a lot of opportunity to observe him closely, and what she saw was starting to add up to something, but not enough to be definitive quite yet.

Jaune Arc was clearly someone with underworld connections. Some mob boss's failed son or the like—he certainly didn't have the bearing to make it at Beacon, much less in the underworld, but he enjoyed a level of inexplicable privilege that made it clear that Jaune was from a world where problems were taken care of before they came to him.

Blake didn't doubt for one moment that Jaune had major ties, because how else to explain the way his team was practically his hand-picked bodyguard squad? Oh, of course, they looked like a random bunch of Mistralians, thrown together by chance, but Blake, as mentioned, wasn't stupid. Those three communicated like the elite operators Sienna made use of, that silent, subtle language of professional assassins. And they protected him, always in plausibly deniable ways, as Team CRDL had found out. But most of all, the way they acted around him… there was no denying that they weren't just any teammates, they were teammates who would give their lives for their organization, and that organization had told them to protect Jaune Arc.

The loyalty that was clear in their eyes was… well, it reminded her of her time with the White Fang, and not always the bad times. It reminded her of when she was a little girl, meeting her mom and dad's old friends from the Movement and the way they spoke of her parents, how they could command that aura of respect that everyone seemed to recognize. Hell, Blake was sure she used to look at Adam with eyes like that.

But the worst part was, by far, Pyrrha.

Hell, Blake could write a book about Jaune and Pyrrha, a book that would give Ninjas of Love a run for its money. No, really! They were perfect. She was the unstoppable, undefeatable bodyguard whose love and loyalty were clearly at war with each other. How… romantic! Jaune clearly had no awareness of his protector's feelings, and uggggggh Blake was just stupidly enchanted by that.

The problem was, it made it difficult to observe Jaune carefully because she always noticed those devoted, caring looks his partner was giving him. It wasn't Blake's fault that they obviously had chemistry and it constantly felt like they were about to kiss at any moment! That quiet, secret longing in her eyes as he picked up Weiss for a date (and yeah, Blake was pretty sure something crooked was going on there, with how quickly Weiss had switched her opinion without any explanation) really just overcharged Blake's imagination and made it really hard to focus on the important things!

Like the criminal conspiracy between Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. But, on that at least, she figured she had a way to take out two birds with one stone, and all it would take would be a little private chat between herself and Mr. Arc's newly-enamored girlfriend.

Sitting in the library, enjoying the peace and quiet (a stark contrast with her dorm), Weiss took a moment to contemplate how much had changed in the past few days. Surprisingly, she found that dating Jaune was an… enjoyable experience. She had thought that it'd be a series of tedious dates, a trade off for the real thrill, the high-stakes political maneuvering, but catching dinner and a movie with Jaune was… fun. She was having fun. Which was a weird experience and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Fun, she had always known, was something to be enjoyed in moderation, not… in quantities. But there was something to be said for just enjoying herself.

And she'd give him this: boy knew his wine. His family owned a vineyard, and it showed. It had given them the first link of common connection that made Weiss realize their might be more to dating Jaune than a high-stakes game of blackmail. That, and she knew Father was going to hate him. So that was two points in Jaune's favor, even if "just hanging out" went against everything she'd ever been raised to be. What would Winter think of her, alone in a room with a man, playing video games and enjoying herself…

But she reminded herself of the important thing. Father would hate it. Father would fall over backwards with how much he disliked a farmer's son, from a family of no importance, even if it was just a cover, dating his only acknowledged daughter. Yes, she could already picture it, and it would be sweet...

"Hey princess," an annoyingly superior voice cut in from behind her.

Rolling her eyes, she looked over to her interrupter with a practiced look of disdain. "What ever could you want from me, Blake?"

"Just wanted to talk," she said, taking a seat beside her. "Particularly about your sudden change in your relationship status-"

Weiss realized that she might have rolled her eyes too early. "I don't want to talk about those silly rumors I know Yang's saying about me."

"Absolutely not!" Blake replied, with genuine affront. "I am nothing as crass as my partner! And I absolutely would not judge a woman if she was in a polyamorous relationship! It's a perfectly healthy relationship arrangement even if it goes against the patriarchal norms of our cisheteronormative-"

"Just say what you want," Weiss said through gritted teeth.

Blake looked at her with mock innocence. "Weiss, I just wanted to have some girl talk with one of my teammates. Like… are you thinking your boytoy's organized crime, or-"

"Oh, definitely organized crime," she agreed, making Blake do a double take. Now it was Weiss's turn to be the smug one. "What? Did you think I didn't notice he had three retainers following him around and making sure things work out for him?" Then she added with a self-satisfied smirk, "What do you think happened to Team CRDL?"

Blake stared at her, goggle eyed. "You're… okay with this?"

Weiss laughed in the haughty fashion of her mother. "Oh, I think you'll find that, as heiress of the SDC, it's quite advantageous to be attentive to every opportunity that presents itself. And Jaune brings quite a bit to the table."

Blake scowled. "You're… you're using him!"

But Weiss just shook her head. "Not at all. Jaune's actually quite a lovely boyfriend—very caring and a lot more cultured than I expected. He knows his reds very well. And we're having fun! If he happens to be a way to advance and secure my future with the SDC, I thought you'd be happy that a reformer would be in a good position, instead of my brother."

Picking up her implication, Blake bristled. "What do you mean by that?"

Time to play her trump card. "Well, I just know you have your reasons on this, and if you don't want to talk about it, it's something I understand and won't push you on."

Blake's eyes went wide, her bristles dropped. With a soft voice, she asked, "You- you know I'm… Faunus?"

Technically, Ren knew that Blake was a Faunus and he'd been the one to notify Weiss. He was clearly Jaune's bodyman, and Weiss was quite impressed with his ability. She hoped he'd stay on board after she and Jaune were married—the SDC could use someone with his talents as an information broker. Because he allowed Weiss to do things like this.

"Blake," Weiss said with sincere sympathy in her voice, "I know what it's like to have famous parents and the expectations that come with it, and I know what it's like when the organization that defines so much of who you are… isn't what you thought it was. I'll never break your secret, and… I just want you to know, if there's something you need to talk about… I just think we have more in common than you might think."

It was a risky move. Weiss knew that Blake likely had no great love for her personally, on top of her antipathy for her family name, but Ren's report had revealed something to Weiss: Blake was someone who wanted to change. Wanted to break out of her past and start fresh, here at Beacon.

Just like Weiss herself.

So Weiss offered an uncertain smile to Blake, hopeful her teammate would accept her attempt to reach out. Blake took a deep breath, then reached up, and removed her ribbon, revealing her two little kitty ears, and even though this was an emotional moment, Weiss had to admit they were the cutest goshdarn things she'd ever seen. Through herculean force of will, she forced herself not to ask if she could pet them. That would come later, but Weiss knew… they were so soft… and she would pet them. One day.

"I want," she began, hesitantly, "I want a meeting with Roman Torchwick. Think your man can swing that?"

"Of course he can," Weiss replied, with full and utmost sincerity.

"And how do you know happen to know a legendary cat burglar?"

"Ummm… from a friend of my aunt's?"

Blake was asking questions Jaune didn't really like to think about, but he wasn't going to leave a friend in need. If she… needed to meet with Roman for some reason, well, Jaune was happy to be able to help. And if it made his new girlfriend happy… well, even better!

Man, Weiss was just… so much more amazing than he'd ever expected! She was so smart, and she was funny and pretty and he had some really amazing times just hanging out with her and learning all about her. But man, he had been such an idiot in how he tried to flirt with her. Pyrrha had been right—respect her no, give her space, and (substantially faster than Jaune had anticipated), she'd rethink what she thought of him.

But the four of them (Pyrrha had asked to come along, and, well, it wasn't a date, so the more the merrier!) had reached the warehouse that Roman had told them to meet him at. Jaune knew it was the right one as he saw a familiar pink-and-brunette haired girl sitting on a box, twirling a parasol.

Oh, hey Neo! He signed to her.

Hey Jaune-Jaune, she signed back, with a grin, reminding him that she actually happened to already know Nora. Small world, and one where his nicknames traveled fast.

Is Roman in?

To your left.

Jaune looked to his left, seeing nothing but more warehouse. But then a voice burst in from, of course, his right.

"Jaune Arc!" Roman said as he made his grand entrance, sweeping into the room, arms spread wide. Jaune shot a peeved look at Neo, who was silently laughing her butt off. "As I live and breathe, it's been too long! Neo's been dying for a chance for us to get lunch. I know a little place that sells the best kebabs you can get outside Vacuo, and the chef-mwah!" he kissed his fingertips, "Trust me, he can make a nice-"

"Mr. Torchwick," Blake brusquely cut him off, "I'm here to ask you some questions..."

But Roman seemed unphased by her rudeness, even as Jaune was mortified in embarrassment. "Right down to business, I guess. Kids these days are just in too much of a-"

"I want to know about your dealings with the White Fang!"

Roman looked at her with a bemused expression. "And I want to know about getting lunch with a good friend! But sure, sure, let's talk about my favorite subject: the White Fang and why they're my problem."

Jaune… wasn't sure about how this was going. It was nice that Roman called him a good friend, but considering that they'd met only once before… he didn't think he should read much into it. What he should be reading in to was the increasingly agitated posture Blake was taking. Which, well, Jaune kind of got, he was reeling a little from the fact that an associate of his aunt's was connected to international terrorists, but from the way Blake, Weiss, and Roman were taking it… evidently he shouldn't have been as surprised to hear it as he was?

But he would have to ask Aunt Salem about that later, though, how you ask, "hey, Auntie, what's your connection to this militant Faunus supremacist group I keep hearing about?" was a mystery to Jaune.

"And yes," Roman continued, "they're my problem. Bunch of aggravatingly pious and pompous meatheads who can't take orders without giving me a lecture about 'the movement.' But that's my problem with the Fang—I don't see why you care," Roman added, giving Blake a piercing look.

But instead of answering his question or explaining anything to a very confused Jaune, she just reached up to her bow and…

Oh.

Blake was a Faunus?

Jaune almost took a step back as his eyes went wide at the surprise reveal… only to notice that neither Weiss nor Roman nor Neo seemed even the least bit surprised by it. Not even a raised eyebrow, it was… was this another thing he was the last to learn about?

"I want to know," Blake said, her ears (though Jaune kept telling himself not to stare at them) bristling, "what agenda you have with the White Fang. As a human criminal," Jaune winced at the way he said those words, but Roman seemed to take it as a compliment, "I cannot imagine you have any shared political interests unless you were trying to cause chaos in Vale!"

But Roman just shook his head and smiled at the accusations. "I do crimes for money, sister," he explained with a smirk, "not for anarchy or an abstract hatred of the Law. It's purely- oof!"

Neo, who before then was content to lurk in the background (sort of like what Pyrrha was doing? Jaune was starting to notice they had some... worryingly similar traits), jabbed him in the side with her elbow and gave him a pouty expression.

"Ok," he amended, "Neo here does crimes for the sake of anarchy and an abstract hatred—sorry, a concrete hatred—of the Law. But my dealings with your old buddies can be summarized as 'they gave me money and manpower, I gave them Dust.' A simple transaction."

Blake didn't seem to accept that. "But the White Fang wouldn't have the coffers to finance this operation! Where's their money coming from?" she asked, righteous indignation hot in her voice.

"What are you, the Department of Revenue?" Roman asked, leaning on his cane. "I'm not calling up Accounts Payable for receipts or anything, I just make sure the Lien arrives on time. If you want, I can get you in touch with my contact, a fella named Adam-" Jaune noticed that Blake made a sudden, sharp inhalation as she heard that name. And it was no surprise—even Jaune knew about how fearsome Adam Taurus was, and he really didn't want to have to meet him. "-and he can walk you through the whole operation."

"That… that won't be necessary." Blake stammered out.

Roman shook his head with a smile. "But hey," he said, gesturing broadly with his cane, "if Mr. Arc here would prefer that our White Fang operations go zilch, well..." his grin grew wider, in a way that made Jaune feel like Roman had all the angles figured out, "I wouldn't want to do anything that makes him unhappy now, even if it did mean that I was no longer allowed to work with a bunch of ill-tempered zealots who hate me... so, what's the call, boss?"

Jaune stared at Roman, the wheels turning in his head. This wasn't Jaune's skillset, in the slightest, but he couldn't help but notice that he was, in some way, being used here. Against who or to what ends or even why were a mystery for Jaune, but he wasn't sure he liked feeling like he was getting taken advantage of, even if it would end in exactly the outcome his friend was hoping for. And… he did like seeming like he was a big shot in front of his new girlfriend. Jaune wasn't sure what his aunt's dealings were with… international terrorists, but he was sure she had a good reason.

So Jaune collected himself as best he could to seem like he, too, was considering the angles before giving a slow, dramatic nod to the master thief with a decisive, "Consider the operation terminated," as he tried not to smile too hard at Weiss.

"Mr. Torchwick?" Pyrrha cut in cheerfully, stepping forward, out of the shadows, "Now that the formal business is concluded, I believe you mentioned a good kebab place? I think that sounds like we have a lovely opportunity to get lunch in the city!"

Of all the things Cinder had expected with infiltrating a school on behalf of an immortal Witch-Queen's quest for world domination, she certainly hadn't expected to have to report on childish nonsense and rumors to an ancient evil.

Nor did she expect said ancient evil to be so excited to hear that her favorite nephew had a girlfriend.

Cinder… was of two minds with Jaune's new relationship. Yes, blackmailing a Schnee into dating him was quite the demonstration of power and Cinder liked that, but… the kid was, frankly, far too… dopey to take advantage of the power Salem's minions, herself included, were giving him, and that made it all so embarrassing. This wasn't villainy, this was helping the boss's idiot nephew get ahead. But, at the least, it kept Pyrrha and Tyrian's little creeps from getting too close to him. She didn't like the way the champion bitch was looking to sink her claws into Jaune—no better way to rise in the ranks than spreading your legs, after all. And Cinder had worked too hard, sacrificed too much, to be lapped by a teenager batting her eyelashes.

That made this conversation all the more critical as she looked into the Seer's creepy black form and waited until a familiar, inhuman face—though one with more… humanish attitudes than Cinder had thought she might have—swam into view.

"My Queen," she began respectfully, "I'm calling you to request we resume our plans to pursue the Fall Maiden's power. I believe that we can work with Jaune to-"

"You said you had photos?" the Queen interrupted, making Cinder realize that she wasn't going to get to lead with her concerns.

"Y-yes, my Queen, I'll forward them to you now."

Salem took a moment to remind herself how to operate the scroll Arthur had developed for her. But when she opened the photos Cinder had discreetly snapped from their recent meeting, she gasped in delight, a sound Cinder hadn't known Salem was capable of. "He has two girlfriends!" she cried in surprise.

"What? He only-" but Cinder stopped herself. The undisguised glee on Salem's face told Cinder that this was not an illusion the Queen of the Grimm wanted dispelled, possibly under pain of death. "Yes," she corrected herself, "he's been quite… the popular guy on campus."

Salem beamed, a look that triggered something primal and terrified in Cinder's soul. "It's that Arc charm—he's just like his great-great-grandfather, he was quite the lady's man in his day! I was worried that girls would be afraid to approach him because of… my support, and I was hoping the power I granted him would help, but that's such a relief he's spreading his wings out of the nest. And they're cute too! Ooh, Helene's going to be so excited to hear that she'll have more grandbabies in no time! Oh, a little Arc kitten, can you just picture it! I've got to start knitting, right away!"

How Queen Salem could tell that the Belladonna girl was a Faunus from that photo alone was surprising enough to make Cinder almost miss that Salem knit. That mental picture, or lack thereof, left her blinking in disbelief before she was able to rally enough of her senses to remember what she was here for.

"Um, well, your Majesty, I do need to alert you to a troubling development. Your nephew's called an interruption to our operations with Roman Torchwick because his, uh, Faunus girlfriend wishes to disengage from the White Fang. It's created a severe-"

But Salem only laughed. "Oh, indulge the girl," she said with a degree of whimsy in her voice that made Cinder wonder if this wasn't just a hologram Watts had put together, just to mess with her. "Young love, it's a beautiful thing… tragic how often it curdles into something darker..."

What? No! No, no, no, no! This couldn't- "But, my Queen," she tried to be as diplomatic as possible, "I… your nephew's actions are jeopardizing our mission, and..."

All merriment disappeared from Salem's face and Cinder realized she'd made a big mistake.

"Cinder..." the Queen of the Grimm growled, her voice reminding Cinder what fear was, "The Arcs are my one connection to humanity, to life, and they are precious to me in a way you could only understand if you too had endured my endless years of immortality. I would trade the Relics for their safety, and I would burn a continent entire if anyone tried to hurt them."

"I- I didn't mean-" she stammered.

"I know you didn't," Salem snapped, "because it would be insanity to try to question my decisions here. You will do as I say and you will ensure the safety and comfort of my nephew! Now," she said, the brightness suddenly returning to her voice, "did you happen to get a chance to speak to his girlfriends? I would rather like to know more about who will be bringing in the next generation of Arcs..."

Cinder's throat felt as dry as the deserts of Menagerie, but she wasn't going to risk her life by hesitating. "While I was unable to speak with them, my Queen… I did perform a background check on the request of… your appointed guardians. Ms. Schnee, the white-haired one is the heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation and the, ahem, Faunus girl is Ms. Belladonna, daughter of the Chieftain of Menagerie. Their support could give us critical leverage in our plans..."

But Salem was hardly listening, lost in thought. "He's my favored nephew, you know. Of all of them, and there have been many. In my day, a man of his status would have a dozen wives. Though… he was always the shy one… Cinder!" she barked, jolting her back to attention, "You might need to give him some guidance on these matters. His bodyguards were trained by Hazel and Tyrian, so… they likely don't have any of your expertise in this."

Cinder stared blankly. Was she- was she really asking her to help with what she thought she was asking? Was that- That wasn't- Wait, no...

Of course it was what she was being asked to do. Correction! Being asked to do under penalty of horrible death. Because that was her life now. And with this being her life, there was only one thing she could say.

"Yes, Ma'am. I will... carry out your Will."

Thanks to Renarde for feedback on this chapter!

Next Up: The rich and varied traditions of Salemism.