Bits and Baubles
There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory – Sir Francis Drake
The soft twinkling of a piano filled the air as Jaune stepped down a grand staircase made of nearly transparent crystal. The sound bounced off of the high vaulted ceilings of the Esszimmer von Quandt's world-famous dining room, gently accenting the din of conversation shared amongst Atlas' most sensible clientele. Jaune's blue eyes lazily took in the art-deco styling mixed with the modern brutalist architecture as he straightened the lapel of his white tuxedo overcoat. Massive crystalline chandeliers, ice white drapery, accents of silver and gold. As much as the people around him made his skin crawl, the art lover in him had to admit this place was gorgeous.
An elderly aristocrat brushed past the silently gawking teenager. Hung off his arm was a classically breathtaking young woman dressed in a eye-catching burgundy gown no older than her early twenties. She fawned over the man like a practiced stage actor, drawing sidelong looks of ire from other men with slightly older or less beautiful women by their side.
The sight drew Jaune back to Remnant. While beautiful, this place was simply that: beauty for aesthetic sake. A house for the vain and gluttonous to gather within and pretend to be people of class. Just how many bones of Faunus laborers did these marble floors hide, Jaune wondered.
One of the waitstaff - a middle aged cat Faunus dressed in stereotypical butler attire - approached Jaune and bowed.
"Good evening Monsieur." He spoke in perfect Valean. "We welcome you to the Quandt. I know your time here will be excellent. May I have your name?"
Jaune gave him a once over. "Arc. Jaune Arc." The waiter nodded and looked down at a ledger of some kind.
"Yes, Herr Arc, guest of Herr Bucher. Come - I will show you to your table."
Jaune followed in the man's footsteps as they proceeded down a walkway that bisected the room. He was able to pick out a few faces of import amongst those seated at various tables throughout the room. Media moguls, prominent business men, crime lords, and mercenaries all suited up and sat together enjoying a quiet evening of fine dining. Though, it seemed, none more so than Eins Bucher.
He sat alone at a table right next to the modest stage that sat at the back of the room. A lone musician continued to plink away a soft melody on a grand piano as the elderly curator of Atlas's Kaiserlichesmuseum ate reverently from a plate of scallops. The tables around him were scarcely occupied – perhaps a dark suited man or two to a table – each blank save for an untouched bottle of wine. Bodyguards, and as Jaune approached, they all stared at him.
"Mmph. Oh mein gods." Bucher said between bites. The man who had lead Jaune here bowed and exited quickly. Jaune lowered himself into the seat opposite of Bucher. "You know- mm. You know, I have spent my life sampling the art and artifacts of Remnant. Countless thousands at this point, I am sure. Each and every one a masterpiece of the culture that created it. But after so many years, you feel as if you can only see so much." Bucher took another bite, chasing it down with a long draw from his wine, careful as to not spill it on his dark navy satin suit. "Ahhh, it is Food, Herr Arc, that is truly the highest artform. For what painting or sculpture can convey emotions through taste? A peoples history through smell? And to top it all off, still retain a unique visual beauty even the likes of Artois could never have drawn?"
Jaune stared forward at the wrinkly old man. "A pretty sentiment, Eins. I'm sure all the Hokko villagers you raided are overjoyed by your 'appreciation' of their culture."
Bucher's self satisfied smirk withered but did not die. He reclined in his crystal-lined chair. "Ah, how I've missed your color-commentary my frien-"
"I'm not your fucking 'friend', Butcher. I came here for business, not conversation."
The elderly curator's smile finally died. He tapped a ring-clad finger on the table surface twice.
"I had hoped for this interaction to be cordial but it seems that ship has sailed-no pun intended." Bucher added with a slight chuckle as Jaune sneered.
"The manifest, Eins." The teen all but growled. Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune noticed the black suited men surrounding him begin to shift. Bucher raised hand and glanced sternly in their direction, though Jaune didn't dare break eye contact.
"Very well." Eins said as his gaze slid back to Jaune. "But before any exchange is made, I must first verify the authenticity of your tender."
Jaune bristled. "No. Manifest before anything or I walk."
A lopsided smirk crossed his shrivled features. "Come now Jaune, lets be civil. You must understand I have certain reservations given our prior engagements. I propose two series of events. You may present the Idol for authentication and when I am - no doubt - satisfied I shall hand over the manifest and we both leave this establishment satisfied men." Jaune made to retort but Bucher carried on. "Or, perish the though, if for some reason you have come here this evening to take advantage of my goodwill and swindle me, you will walk out of here, certainly. Only it will be in chains Herr Arc, as the highly sought after enemy of Atlas you are. Do we understand each other?"
The soft keystrokes of the piano filled the void left by Bucher's proclamation like an aggravating snicker. Jaune leaned back and worked his jaw in tight circles, finally breaking eye contact with Bucher to observe his entourage. Ten in the immediate vicinity, clearly armed despite the Quant's strict no weapons policy. If a fight broke out, there was no doubt who's side the many disguised security staff employed by the restaurant would aide. He was well and truly alone in a house of hungry wolves. Defenseless, isolated. The perfect prey.
Jaune suppressed a smirk.
The teen raised a hand and beckoned over one of the Faunus waitstaff be had bribed earlier in the day. On his tray was a fancy-looking tumbler half filled with amber liquid and a roughly football sized object bundled in velvet table cloth. The waiter delivered Jaune his drink and - after a pointed nod - gently placed the swaddled object onto the table in front of Bucher. He bowed once then departed without a word.
Jaune thumbed the rim of his glass as Eins donned a pair of white cotton gloves and reverently began unwrapping the object. As gold became visible Jaune took a long sip of his much too expensive whiskey, using the smooth burn that followed to ground himself
After a final flourish, there on the table sat an idol made of pure - if a little time weathered - gold. It depicted a squatting humanoid figure with a body of muddy and slightly misshapen details. Its head, however, was large, much larger than the body by comparison, and intricately detailed. It angled up towards Eins with a nearly grotesquely elongated grin that was as much a smile as it was a grimace. It's eyes, wide and expressive, were made of the purest diamond.
"Mein Gott." Eins breathed, picking up the idol and holding it out. He turned it in his hands, observing it from every angle with purple eyes that nearly sparkled with wonder. "It is real." He smiled broadly as he traced a finger across it's broad smile. "How many have died pursuing your ghost, I wonder? Empires, risen and fallen in your name. And yet none," his palm slid up to cup the figures forehead before twisting. The entire head rotated and clicked before coming free, revealing the powdery substance entombed within the body, "Came within a tenth of your resplendence, Herr Alexandros."
Jaune watched on dispassionately, tapping the rim of his glass.
"Ahem."
The sound shocked Eins out of his eye-fucking session with the centuries dead-king as he twisted the head back on with a click.
"Where?" He demanded breathlessly.
Jaune rolled his eyes. "Danakil, under the Hagia. You really think Xiphos and Allegro cared enough to haul ass all the way back to Mistral? They had an Empire to divide."
Eins laughed. "I suppose you are correct. To think, the object of Malik's obsession was beneath his capitol the entire time. You are a wunderkind, Herr Arc, ein wunderkind!"
"I'm wonderful, I know. My manifest, Bucher."
Eins stared over Jaune's shoulder and nodded once as he re-wrapped Alexandros' idol. One of his bodyguards approached carrying a briefcase and set it down in front of Jaune, quickly entering a code that caused it to beep and the two latches to click. He turned it towards the Arc and opened the lid, revealing a weathered leatherbound cover. Three lines of flowing Atlesian on the cover read:
Wharf Maester's Log, Strausland
990 - 995
IMPERAT, SEMP, AUGU
It was now Jaune's turn to be breathless.
As the bodyguard carried Alexandros away, Jaune quickly removed the ledger from its case and began flipping through the major dividers.
990, 991, Wintar, Hornung, Ostar, his finger slipped and he dropped the page, loosing his place. 991, Ostar, Winni, Brah. Jaune winced as his head began to throb. He downed the rest of his whiskey, hoping it would counteract his anxiety and adrenaline. Brah, Hewi, Aran, Witu, Windume.
"I had found it odd," Eins began as Jaune scoured the dates. Sweat had begun to gather on his brow. He was so close. It was here, it had to be. A decade of searching and the answer was right in front of him. "That one would trade a priceless artifact like that of the Urn of Alexandros for a mere shipping manifest from the Reagetate."
The voyage from Garwick Bay to Strausland was a well-traveled shipping route. Jaune had calculated and recalculated how long it would have taken them hundreds of times. His finger skimmed along the paper, brushing past hundreds of entries detailing small merchant fleets and military patrols.
"I took a look, and imagine my surprise when I saw-" Jaune's breath caught in his throat as his finger landed on three words - Der Golden Flotte, "The Golden Fleet in Strausland on Windume of 991 of all times. Now I knew that date was familiar so I checked-"
The room span around Jaune. 7 Galleys, 3 Caravels, one less than when they set out from Garwick. His eyes dipped down to the loss report. "-and kicked myself because how could I forget? Windmune? 991? Why that was when Jeanne D'Arc was laid to rest and Artois d'Arc was coronated as King of Vale. Or so we think. Of course, no one has a clue where Jeanne actually is."
A single galley, the Midsummer's Crest, lost at sea with her entire crew accounted for. Scrawled next to it were a series of archaic coordinates just off the south coast of Solitas in the Labrador Sea.
His heart stopped.
He had found her.
"No one except for you."
It was then that Jaune realized how hard it had become to breathe.
The world began to tilt. The ledger slipped from his alarmingly loose grip and clattered to the floor. Jaune shot a hand out to brace himself on the table and knocked over his empty tumbler of whiskey.
Jaune's blue eyes lingered on the empty glass before switching to Bucher.
"Y-You… ng-fucker…" It felt like he was speaking through cotton. The lights in the room began to dim.
Bucher smiled at him through interlaced fingers. "Apologies, Herr Arc. While Alexandros is the discovery of the decade, Jeanne D'Arc is the discovery of a generation. Her sarcophagus would cement the Museum as the most prestigious institution on the face or Remnant and open many doors for myself. You understand, I can't sacrifice that to a mere grave robber, no matter how talented you may be."
A pair of bodyguards closed in as Jaune's vison narrowed, and his muscles failed.
Bucher stood and smiled down at him.
"At the very least, take solace in knowing I could not have done it without you."
/-/
Welcome one and all to my favorite fic ever. The influences here are pretty plain to see, what surprised me the most while designing this fic was the total lack of anything like it. With Crimewave, Jaunes Fall From Grace had at least done something similar before but there are like no Uncharted/Indy like fics in RWBY (that I could find at least).
Like a lot of things with this verse, it's a damn shame because Remnant has so much potential to be a massive and intricate world. With Bits and Baubles, I'm going to try my best to do that idea justice. Updates, as always, will be incredibly infrequent but I'm really excited to see where this goes.