It was a normal fall afternoon in Anima. The leaves were beginning to change color and the temperature was dropping just enough that wearing a longer sleeve shirt and pants would be more than comfortable. A cloaked figure was walking up a well walked dirt road to a large Mistralian wooden building. It looked very similar to the home of the Huntress legend Gin Inari but with many additions and the size being about twice of the aforementioned home.

The person's face was hidden underneath the darkness of the hood but if someone looked close enough, you could see the content smile on their lips. The closer they got to the home, the wider the smile got. They stopped just shy of the front door when they heard the sounds of combat in the air. They tilted their head before stepping away from the door and walking around the side of the house to see what it was.

As they came around, they saw the large backyard that the home had access to, flanked by a beautiful forest behind that. And towards the righthand side of the home, was a small training area. Two younger girls were fighting in the middle, training like normal and that made their smile stretch a bit more.

The older of the two was about thirteen, dressed in a red tank top and grey sweatpants. She had two wooden practice swords that had rubber surrounding the blades, to insure that they did not hurt as much when someone was hit, in hand. Her long blonde hair with two red streaks that went from her ears down the entire length of her hair, was tied back in a braid. Her emerald eyes were focused as she looked at her opponent with a slight grin. Laevina Nikos-Arc was her name.

Her opponent was a slightly younger girl, around twelve or so. She was dressed in a yellow t-shirt and black shorts as compared to her opponent. She in turn was using a pair of black, padded MMA gloves, to make sure she didn't hurt herself or anyone else when she was training. Her wild blonde hair went down her back in a wild mane much like her mother and her violet-blue eyes were alight with excitement. The wide smile on her lips was a testament to that. She was the one and only Jin Xiao Long-Arc.

The figure just watched the two in the shadows of the house, just watching them spar with a grin on their face. They could hear two voices offering advice as the two fought but was focused completely on these two for the time being. They were about to come around and make themself known but he got a mischievous idea and smirked.

They waited until Laevina jumped back to the very edge of the practice ring to avoid Jin's punch. And right before she was about to charge back in, the figure leapt from the shadows. She only had time to turn around in shock before their arm wrapped around her and drew her close to their body. Her arms were pinned so all she could do was thrash her legs as she shouted, "Put me down!" in a panic.

"Let go of my sister!" Jin shouted before she leapt forward to try to punch them in the face. The figure just grinned as they took a step to the side, her punch missing entirely. Before she could process what just happened, their other arm whipped out and pulled her close to them as well.

As the two struggled in this impromptu hug, they grinned and finally spoke, "Is this any way to say 'Hello'?" they said in a familiar masculine voice.

The two stopped before they both looked up in shock. Jin got her arm free and reached up to pull the hood from his head, revealing his face. His skin was tanned and that content smile was still on his face. His blond hair was kept shorter now and he had short length beard to match. His warm blue eyes just looked at the two younger girls as they were trying to come to terms with what they were seeing. This was the older, mid-thirties, Jaune Arc. But to these two, he was something else.

"Dad!" the two shouted in joy and excitement. Laevina dropped her weapons and the two wrapped their arms around him to hug him tightly, the two showing just how much they had missed him in his time away.

Jaune chuckled as he hugged them back, "I missed you too." He told them as he kissed the sides of their heads. "Have you been behaving for your mothers?"

"More or less." Said one of the voices from earlier.

Jaune looked over to see two matured women walking towards him. One with red hair that was out of the ponytail for once, wearing a simple blouse and jeans. The other wearing a simple tank top and cargo pants, who's blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail. Their usual get ups for their lazy days around the house. They both smiled at him with loving smiles as he held their daughters. They were none other than Pyrrha Nikos-Arc and Yang Xiao Long-Arc, his wives.

"You know how they can be." Pyrrha spoke up with her smile still in place.

Yang grinned, "They are practically our mini-mes after all."

"That a good or bad thing." Jaune said with a laugh as he gently set his daughters down.

Yang shrugged, "Guess that depends on the person." She then grabbed a fistful of his shirt, "Now get over here!" she said as she pulled him close, smashing her lips against his.

Jaune chuckled slightly as he held her close, returning her kiss. They eventually pulled apart and he grinned at her, "Yang, it's only been a week since I went on mission. You can't have missed me that much."

She just stared at him with a sultry gaze, "You know how I get without you." She licked her lips slightly, "I need my Jaune fix."

"Ew! Mom, gross!" Jin shouted at her as she saw her mother's display of affection, much to her chagrin.

Yang pulled away from her husband and looked down at her daughter, hand on her hip and a smirk on her lips, "How do you think you got here, honey?"

She quickly covered her ears, "Nope. Not listening! Can't hear you!" she started shouting. Yang quickly scooped her up and started to give her a light noogie, "Mom, no! My hair!" She tried to push her mother's hand away but with little success as Yang just laughed.

Jaune smiled and rolled his eyes playfully at the mother-daughter duo. He then felt an arm wrap around his left arm. He looked to see Pyrrha looking up at him with a happy smile, "She's not the only one that missed you."

He just smiled and leant down slightly to kiss her as well. As he did, her other hand came up to gently lay against his cheek. They pulled apart and gently placed their foreheads together. "Did your mission go well?"

He chuckled and pulled back slightly, "Just clearing out a few Grimm nothing too dangerous. It was also nice to team up with Sun and Neptune again."

"Speaking of team, Ren and Nora called earlier." Pyrrha told him, "They wanted to stop over in a few days. Nora is getting stir crazy since she has to be off duty because of her pregnancy. Ren thought a visit would help."

Jaune chuckled, "I'm not even slightly surprised by that." He then felt someone tug on his arm and looked to see Laevina, "Yes, sweetheart?"

"Since you're back, can you show me more of your dual wielding?" She said excitedly, "I've been getting better at using both arms and I think I can do it now."

He grinned and gently rubbed the top of her head, "Absolutely." He looked to Pyrrha, "Why don't you and Yang finish up with their training while I see everyone else?" He turned back to his daughter, "Then after dinner, I can show you a few basics." She nodded quickly in excitement and that made him chuckle some more.

With that, Jaune left Pyrrha and Laevina to try to get Yang to stop embarrassing Jin. She was now blowing raspberries into the side of her daughter's neck, causing her to flail and laugh uncontrollably. Leaving them to it, Jaune walked over to the back door of his house, which led into the kitchen. He peeked in the window to see four people in there. Three facing the door while sitting at the island in the center and the fourth with their back to the door as they stood across from the other three.

He grinned to himself as he slowly and quietly started to open the door. He slipped in and silently shut it behind him, now getting a better look at everyone in the kitchen.

Sitting at the table, on his left, was another younger girl; this one being around ten. She was dressed in a light blue long sleeved shirt and a knee length white skirt. She had platinum blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail using a yellow and white band. Her blue eyes, which she got from her father, were staring at the speaker with rapt attention as her hands were gently folded on the island in front of her. His middle daughter, Anastasia Schnee-Arc.

In the middle of the table was another even younger girl, about nine years old. She was dressed in a red hoodie that was a size or two too big for her but she liked it, nonetheless. It went down to her knees, covering most of the jeans she was wearing. Her blonde hair with red tips, just like her mother, went just past her shoulders. Her silver eyes were dulled and it looked like she was about to nod off any moment now. Named after her grandmother, Summer Rose-Arc.

On her other side was none other than her mother, Ruby Rose-Arc. No longer the teenage girl, she had grown into a beautiful woman. Dressed down in a simple black t-shirt with a red design on it and red yoga pants. She was sat there with her hand under her chin as she stared at the other adult in the room, looking just as bored as her daughter but she had already grown use to it over their time at Beacon.

The final person in the room was still faced away from him, still unaware he was there. She was dressed in a regular white button up shirt with black slacks, meaning she must've been on a business call earlier. Her white hair was pulled into her old side ponytail as she was telling the two younger girls how to act like ladies during a business party. The CEO of the SDC, Weiss Schnee-Arc.

Weiss continued to give her lecture as Jaune slowly stalked up behind her. The other three girls noticed and their eyes widened in shock and excitement to see him. Before they could say anything, he smiled and placed a finger to his lips. They all understood, Ruby just smiled as Summer and Anastasia just started to giggle.

Weiss stopped her lecture at that point, "What are you laughing at?" She asked, slightly annoyed that her lesson was being interrupted. "This is important to know this when the occasion comes up that we need to- eep!" She yelped halfway through her sentence when two arms wrapped around her stomach, hugging her from behind.

Jaune leant over her shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek. When he pulled away she turned to him wide eyed. He just grinned, "Hi, Weiss."

She glared at him before slapping him on the shoulder, "You nearly gave me a heart attack." He buried his face into her shoulder and started to laugh. She pouted at her husband's reaction to her blight, "You are such a dunce."

He gained control of himself before moving his face so his chin was gently resting on her shoulder, "But I'm your dunce."

She was silent for a few seconds before she turned around in his arms. She looked at him with a small smile, "Always." She said simply before giving him a kiss on his lips. When they pulled away, her smile was still in place, "At least I know what got the girls so excited. Speaking of which…" She pulled away from him with those words.

Jaune turned to see that Anastasia had walked up to him. She grinned up to him as she gave him a practiced curtsey, "Hello, Father." She stood back up just looked up at him. "It's wonderful to see you and I hope your mission went well." She said with the epitome of poise.

Jaune raised an eyebrow with a small grin, "It's good to see you too, Anna." He knelt down to be eye level wit her. "Remember what we talked about?"

She thought for a second before looking down, "That I do not have to be prim and proper when I am home and we do not have special guests. That is unless it is the way I want to act."

He grinned more, "So, does my little angel wanna be that right now?" She looked back up at him and shook her head. He just smiled and opened his arms, "Well?"

That invitation was all she needed to throw her arms around his neck and give him the tightest hug she could muster. "I missed you, Dad." She said earnestly.

He just kissed the side of her head as he hugged her back, "I missed you too but I'm home now." She nodded and kissed his cheek before she pulled away from him.

No sooner did he stand up; did he hear the quickly approaching footfalls. He turned just in time to see Summer leap off the ground towards him. "Dad!" she shouted excitedly as she went through the air. He caught her with practiced ease as he spun her around slightly, getting a giggle from her. When he stopped, she was rubbing her head against his shoulder, "I'm so happy you're home!"

He chuckled and kissed the side of her head, "I am too. Did you behave while I was away?"

There was a silence, "Yes?" she answered weakly.

Jaune pulled away and just looked at her, "Summer, what did you do?"

She looked down nervously as she poked her fingers together, so much like her mother did when they had first met. "I may have climbed the tallest tree outside that you told me not to. And I maybe got stuck in the branches for a long time until Mom finally got me down…"

Jaune just stared at her before he sighed, "Now do you know why I told you not to climb it?"

"Yes…" she said sadly.

"Are you going to do it again?"

"No…" she answered.

He gently patted her back, "Good. Now no more sad eyes, okay?" She gave him a bright smile as she nodded. He kissed her forehead before putting her down. He then turned to Ruby who was still sitting at the table, "I thought you'd be the first one to welcome me back?"

She smiled, "I was but I think the girls deserved their time first."

He just held his arms open, "Well I think you waited long enough, your turn." As soon as the words left his mouth, she used her Semblance to slam into him. As she materialized, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and kissed him hard. He nearly tipped backwards but her quickly gained his balance by placing his hand on the island. He stood back up while trying to support Ruby's weight before he kissed his other wife back. He had to gently push her back so he could breath with a gasp, "I need air."

She simply laughed as she hung off him, entirely too happy with him holding her like this. "I missed you." She said simply.

"I can tell." He told her once his breathing was back to normal. He then gently placed her back on the ground before he asked his next question, "Where's Blake?"

Weiss pointed down the hallway, "I think she's in the living room."

Ruby nodded, "You go see her and me and Weiss will start dinner. Since her lesson was interrupted and all."

His stomach rumbled loudly and he chuckled, "A home cooked meal sounds wonderful right now."

They all laughed before Summer poked her mother to get her attention, "Mom, can I help?"

She smiled down at her, "Of course you can."

Anna looked up to her own mother, "Mom?"

She smiled, "You can help too. But no using knives." She said sternly.

As the mothers started to instruct their daughters on what ingredients to grab, they started to get the pots and pans they would need. Jaune smiled before leaving the kitchen. He walked down the hallway, the walls were lined with dozens of pictures of their family: Pictures with the girls together, with their mother and/or father, with Jaune and his wives, both solo and together. Even with them hanging out as teams in their Beacon days. Every single one just showing how much genuine love was in this home.

As he walked into the living room, he saw that the holo-screen was on but he didn't see his last wife anywhere. That was until he saw a very familiar head of black hair and cat ears peeking out just over the arm of the couch. He walked up to it from behind and what he saw made him have the largest smile on his face.

Sleeping on the couch was Blake Belladonna-Arc. Her hair cut to neck length now as compared to their school days. Dressed in one of his hoodies, it being at least a size too big for her, and purple shorts that went to her knees. The most peaceful and content smile on her lips as she snuggled what was in her arms. Purring coming from her entire time.

Napping in her mother's arms was his youngest daughter. The six year old was dressed in a purple, sleeveless t-shirt and white pants that had dirt stained knees. Her black hair was long and went down her back with blonde stripe-like streaks that ran throughout it. On top of her head were a pair of blonde tipped black cat ears, just like her mother. And as she was being snuggled close to her mother, she was giving off her own purring. All in all, it was a heart melting sight to see from Sable Belladonna-Arc in.

He sighed to himself before walking around the couch to stand directly in front of them. He knelt down before carefully laying each of his hands on one of their ears and gently started to rub them. The two girls shivered slightly at the feeling before their purring stopped. That's when two matching pairs of amber eyes opened and looked at him. He just grinned at their drowsy looks, "Did you sleep well?"

They blinked a few times before their eyes widened in realization. Sable scrambled out of her mother's arms before throwing herself at her father, "Daddy!" she shouted in joy and he hugged her tightly. "You were gone forever!"

He kissed the side of her head as he gently ran his hand down the length of her hair, getting another purr out of her. "It was only a week, honey."

"Too long!" she pouted and redoubled her efforts in hugging him.

He chuckled again as he saw Blake sit up and smile at them, "She is a daddy's girl." She then gently patted the seat next to her. He didn't need to be told more and took the seat next to her. He turned to his right and kissed her as she held his one hand. Sable shifted so that her father would hold her in his left arm and she could use that shoulder as a pillow as he did so.

As they pulled apart Blake gently rubbed his cheek with her thumb, "You look tired."

He nodded, "I'm a bit exhausted form all the travel." She tucked her head into the right side of his neck, "Then get some rest. We still got some time and I think Sable is still sleepy."

He looked down to see that she had indeed fallen back to sleep. He gently rested his head against the top of Blake's, "That sounds like a good idea." He grinned as he closed his eyes. This was the life he always wanted. He was a Huntsman and he was married to the five most amazing women that he had ever met. He had the five most wonderful girls as his daughters and every day was filled with nothing but love. He was happy.

He was at peace.

Blake watched in horror as she was Jaune collapse to the ground, unmoving. She just stared for several seconds before she quickly pulled herself to her feet and raced over to her boyfriend. Keeping the sword half of Gambol Shroud in hand as she ran. She couldn't afford to lose both halves of her weapon.

She slid across the sand on her knees to him. "Jaune!" she shouted as her hands grabbed him and rolled him over onto his back. She struggled but managed to do it. Her hand quickly went to his neck. It felt like years before she finally felt his pulse and she sighed in relief. She started to shake him, "Jaune. Come on, Jaune. You need to get up!" But he was unresponsive. She shook him harder in a panic, "Jaune, please! Get up!"

She was pulled from that panic when she heard the reverberating chuckle filling the air around her. She turned around to see the Draco, Black Mercy, was staring at them after shelving the pain of its stinger from being cut off. It's toothy maw was shifted into its equivalent of a cruel grin, "It is useless. He won't wake."

She quickly stood and turned to face the Grimm. Gambol Shroud brandished in front of her as she put herself between it and Jaune. "What did you do!?" she hissed at it while her ears pinned back.

It chuckled, "What I always do." It answered back. Blake growled at the response. It brought its tail around to show the smoking end of it. She couldn't tell if that was because the wound was fresh or because it was healing but that wasn't what was important right now.

"When we Dracos reach this stage in our evolution, we gain a unique ability to help us deal with the tougher prey we need to complete ourselves." It started to explain. "The Parasite had the power to possess its victims. I, on the other hand, have the power to inject a special combination of toxic energies into my victims. It causes intense pain before it makes them live a nightmare based off their worst fears and memories. That goes on until the mind breaks… Then they are easy to devour."

"Cowardly." She hissed as her grip on her weapon became tight enough to turn her knuckles white. "But I shouldn't expect anything less from a Grimm."

The Black Mercy scoffed, "Its effective. We need aura to complete our evolution. If we fight those with it, we risk the chance of shattering it and when we devour them, we'll get very little for our efforts. But my way is effective in getting as much aura as possible. Plus the pain, despair and anguish that comes off them as they struggle just whets my appetite." It then moved its gaze past her to look at Jaune, "It's a shame I could not do the same here…"

Blake took a step to the side to completely block its vision, "What are you talking about?"

"The first time I injected him, he shook off the mental effects. It still hurt him but he didn't fall under its influence." It explained. "That has never happened before. It could be possible that he has experienced so much pain and suffering over his life that the toxin didn't have as much of an impact as it should have. That gave him enough time to purge it out of his system."

Blake took a second to peek over her shoulder at the still unconscious Jaune. There was a bit of truth to what the Grimm said. Jaune had been through so much and knowing that it still affected him even now, still hurt her.

"But since that didn't work, I had to resort to something else." It continued. Blake quickly turned back to it as it lowered its tail. "If showing him what he feared wouldn't work. I would show him what he wanted most. What, at his core, he desired more than anything." It chuckled, "I consider that a mercy. Allow him to live in a dream as his body slowly starts to shut down. Let him die peacefully in his bliss filled paradise."

A bullet was fired but it was easily deflected off the remains of its mask. Blake still had her gun pointed at it as she commanded, "Free him. Now!"

Black Mercy just released a booming laugh that put Blake on edge. "Impossible."

"What?"

"That is impossible." It reiterated. "Maybe if my stinger was still intact I could create an antitoxin but he has taken care of that sadly." It shook its head. "Maybe he'll be able to break himself out but I highly doubt he would do that." It chuckled again.

"And why is that?" she questioned.

"Who would give up their paradise, their dream, for reality?"

Blake narrowed her eyes at it. Her left hand reached over to the right side of her belt, taking hold of Fukiri. She pulled it free as she shifted Gambol Shroud back to its sword mode. "Then I guess I only have two options: Either hold you off until Jaune breaks free or I can just kill you and break your hold over him."

"You're welcome to try." It grinned as it got back into a combat ready stance. "I could use an appetizer before the main dish."

While not taking her eyes off the Grimm, she spoke to Jaune. "I don't know if you can hear me, Jaune, but I am here. You aren't alone and I'll be waiting for you to come back. You can beat this. You've beaten worse odds. So… I believe in you. I always will."

She charged forward with both blades in her hand as the Grimm charged forward. And as she did, for a split second, a green flame flickered from the edge of her eye before it was extinguished. As a connection between herself and Jaune's aura was established. Weak but constant.

A/N- Here it is! I can't believe that it has been three months since I last updated. How did that even happen?

Regardless, here it is now. And the people who knew what the Black Mercy was probably all but know what I have planned for the coming chapters. For those of you that don't, it is gonna get rough. Also, I'll leave the reasons for the names of his daughters below if anyone is curious:
Laevina- From a Laevinic Defeat, which some consider the opposite of a Pyrrhic Victory, where Pyrrha draws inspiration from
Jin- Her full name minus Arc roughly translates to Little Gold Dragon
Anastasia- From Grand Duchess Anastasia
Summer- Should be clear enough and with her blonde hair, it make even more sense
Sable- Another term for Black

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all in the next update!