A/N: Hey guys, it's been (checks notes) 538 days since the last update huh. Really don't have a good excuse to justify that so I'm gonna stop here for now and leave you to the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY although i really wish i did. Aura needs a lot of work to well…. work as a magic system

Arc Family Household, eight years earlier…

"Dad!" A middle-aged blonde looked down at the person who called for him, a small blonde boy with blue eyes stared up at him expectantly. Bruises adorned the boy's body, bruises that looked to have been administered by a blunt object. "Up!" the boy raised his hands to his father who chuckled as he picked him up placing him on his lap before opening his palm. The boy watched with awe as a medical kit materialized in the air and fell into his palm. "So cool!"

"Are you done training with your sister Jaune?" the question made the boy pout.

"Yes." The man simply stared at his son. "I did" The stare didn't waver. "Ok I may have left early, but in my defense, I was getting tired of being lectured by Lav. Why can't I start learning actual magic." The man ruffled his hair affectionately.

"You are learning actual magic."

"No I'm not! All I do is sit down for minutes on end practicing reinforcement magic on a stick. When do I finally use it on my body so I can start punching boulders and stuff."

"Reinforcement Magic is very important Jaune."

"Didn't you say that in the old world, almost no one learned it because it wasn't worth it." The man sighed.

"I never said it wasn't worth it Jaune, just that it was highly advanced and thus difficult. It was an expert-level skill for a reason." The man looked around the forest that surrounded their home before locking eyes on a tree. Nodding to himself he stretched out his hand to the tree and a single branch from it broke off and flew into it. "There's a reason you're sticking to sticks son." the stick started to glow a bright light blue ."When you improperly reinforce something. "The brightness grew exponentially. "This happens." the stick exploded into splinters that flew all around. The shards that would have hit them paused in the air before dropping to the ground. Jaune silently stared at the fallen shards silently before looking at his father with a questioning look on his face.

"But if it's so advanced, why am I learning it early?"

"Good question but one with a simple answer." he paused for dramatic effect. "Control. No one person has infinite magic Jaune, when it comes to learning to control how much magic is put into spells, there is no greater teacher than reinforcement." He paused to ponder something in his mind. "How about this, if you impress Lavender enough with your reinforcement, we'll move on to the next lesson." Jaune had stars in his eyes.

"You mean-"

"Yup." he opened his still outstretched hand and focused, a second later dark blue particles gathered above his palm and formed into a basic iron longsword."Projection Magic"

"And I can't learn this first why?"

"Because without control and skill, any object created…" He swung the sword at the wall behind them, the sword shattering into pieces. "Shares the same durability as glass. This is kind of the reason why it was written off as a useless skill back then. No one had the skill and control to create anything useful outside of props."

"But I'm tired of taking things slow, I wanna make things explode while looking away from them like a badass!" Jaune whined childishly. His father merely chuckled.

"If you want to be a badass, then you need to take things at the right pace, even if said pace is slow." Jaune's pout didn't waver. "But I can sense that you've had enough training for one day, how about a story then?" The pout was replaced with a bright smile.

"Is it a story about how you beat a Grimm dragon by yourself, or about the time grandpa fought an entire cave of Elder Deathstalkers with nothing but a sword hilt, or about the time when-"

"How about a story about Arcadia" the out returned.

"Is this just you trying to be sneaky with a boring history lesson' Jaune's father's facial expression became one of mock outrage

"How could you son, Arcadia's history isn't boring" Jaune hopped off his father's house and started walking towards the house.

"Uh-huh." mock outrage shifted to a sly smirk.

"Are you sure you don't want to hear about the battle between Frederick the Valiant and his battle again the forces of the imperial's monster horde?" Jaune stopped in his tracks"

"I guess I could stay awhile" He climbed back onto his father's lap, the man letting out a soft laugh as he ruffled Jaune's hair.

"Alright then, so there Frederick was, his army on one side and the Imperials monstrous horde on the other…"

Beacon Infirmary, Current Day….

"A childhood memory huh" was the first thought Jaune had as he woke up from his sleep. "At least it's better than the usual" The sounds of him sitting up along with the bed rustling from the motion caused the redhead laying her head on his bed to sit up immediately, a tired smile on her face. "Hey Pyr" he said calmly.

"JAUNE!" her response wasn't as calm, instead she lunged at his bandaged body and hugged his torso tightly. "You're awake."

"And about to pass out from both lack of oxygen and pain." he said through gritted teeth. Pyrrha jumped away from him with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry!"

"It's okay, wasn't really that bad. At least it's not-" an orange blur interrupted him, her hug far tighter than the girl before her. "Nora… air…please"

"Fearless Leader, you're okay" Ren walked into the room behind her and leaned on the wall beside the head of Jaune's bed.

"At the rate you're squeezing it won't be for long for that to change Nora" Nora only loosened her grip. Chuckling softly the teen turned his attention from his partner to his leader. "How are you doing Jaune." Jaune finally convinced Nora to stop hugging him and rubbed his bandaged ribs.

"Currently, numb in a lot of places. Most likely from the medication I suppose. I doubt the answer will remain the same when they wear off. " the smile on his face dimmed a little. "How long has it been."

"A little over two days." the answer his partner gave him made his eyes slightly widen in shock. "Headmaster Ozpin insisted that you should sleep more."

"Of course he did. I didn't need to rest that long."

"I disagree Mr Arc" The grey-haired headmaster walked into the hospital room, cane in one hand and cup of steaming hot coffee in the other. "If you had your way you would have been up and about after only a few hours."

"I'm not that bad"

"You can keep telling yourself that"

The familiarity at which the two spoke surprised the three. The way they spoke felt less like a student and a teacher and more like two close friends.

"There is also a far more important development to discuss Mr Arc." his tone turned serious. "I'm afraid your battle was published."

"What?" Jaune asked

"It seemed Mr Wincenster wished to livestream your battle with his teammate and instead got your fight instead. Vale's historical society managed to get a copy of the video before it was taken down."

"That means…"

"Yes, Your Highness, The symbols on your magic circles, the weapons used by both you and the figures you summoned, the words both you and the beast spoke. All that along with your appearance linked both you and your family to the royal family of Vale." Jaune sighed as he covered his face with his hands and took a deep calming breath.

"So everyone knows then?"

"There are of course some who don't believe, that and some members of Vale's council. The rest, the only thing they're waiting for is an official response." Jaune nodded and turned to his teammates.

"I'm guessing you have some questions" While Pyrrha seemed to be trying and gather herself and Nora remained quiet Ren stepped in with the first question.

"Who are you?" Jaune adjusted his sitting position so his legs were hanging on the side of the bed.

"My Name is Jaune Lucis Arc, Prince of the kingdom of Vale formerly known as Arcadia."

"I didn't know that Vale had a royal family." asked Pyrrha.

"Vale did have a royal family a little over two centuries ago. They had ruled over the kingdom for a millennia. They stopped ruling after The Great War" Ren remained silent throughout the explanation. After a while, he turned to his leader again.

"Why did you come to Beacon" At Jaune's confused look he clarified himself. "You're obviously more than capable enough to be a huntsman. I also highly doubt that you chose to spend four years here for a Hunstman license.' Jaune chucked.

"You always were far more perceptive than you let on Ren. The reason I came to Beacon was to learn more about Vale's history through Professor Oobleck and -" He looked to Ozpin for approval. The headmaster simply nodded with a smile. "complete my magical studies under Professor Ozpin." the words were accompanied by the blond raising his hand in front of his face, snapping his fingers, and summoning a wisp of flame above his finger.

The words that Jaune said brought out three different reactions from his teammates. Shock from his partner, silent contemplation from Ren and from Nora-

"I KNEW IT!"

-a look of excitement and joy.

"I told you Renny, I told you Ozpin was a wizard". Ozpin looked to Ren for an explanation.

"According to her, you exuded the presence of a wizard. Or in her words"

"You felt like one."

"I….. felt like a wizard?" Ozpin said in a questioning tone.

"Yup, you just gave off this old bearded wizard feeling" Ozpin exchanged a quick look with Jaune, one that only Ren caught.

"While I've never had the long beard commonly associated with wizards-"

"So you say" Jaune interrupted.

"It's rather impressive that you managed to sense anything at all from me Miss Valkyrie." Nora beamed at the praise. "What are you going to about your heritage being revealed, Your Highness." Jaune flinched at the use of his title.

"Well, trying to deny it is illogical. It's a miracle we managed to last this long without being recognized."

"How exactly isn't your family's connection to the royal family well known?" asked Ren. " The last king of Vale didn't exactly share your name."

"And what was the name of the Last King of Vale?" Ozpin asked with mirth.

"Arthur Aurelius Regulus Caelum" Ren paused for a bit after talking before letting out a soft chuckle. "Arc stands for Aurelius Regulus Caelum doesn't it?" Jaune nodded. "How did I not see it."

"A combination of two things really. For one my family hasn't really done anything of note to public knowledge. I'm sure if we had as many eyes on us as the Schnees someone would have but two and two together."

"And the other thing?"

"Don't lie to me, when we first met did I strike you as someone of importance, as someone who would ever amount to anything." Pyrhha opened her mouth to respond but he interrupted her. "Blonde tall and scraggly. Those were the words Weiss used to describe me. Along with foolish, naive, idiotic, and weak. Everything about the Jaune Arc that came to Beacon was tailored to ensure that even if someone started to suspect something in the slightest, one look at me would immediately destroy that notion."

"So it was all a lie?" said Pyrrha sadly. "Everything was fake."

"Not everything. While I did recognize you the moment I met you on initiation day I saw that you needed someone who didn't, that you needed a friend."He looked from her to the rest of his team. "The Jaune you've known as these months may have been fake in some ways never doubt for one second that I considered you all to be my closest friends." while Ren and Nora seemed to be somewhat satisfied with his answer, Pyrrha didn't look convinced." Before he could try and convince her more he was interrupted by Ren again.

"One last question." Jaune shifted his attention to him. "Do you happen to know someone named Alexander?" the name caused Nora to perk up and Jaune to look to the floor with a sad smile.

"Yeah, he was my dad"

"Was?"

"He passed away a few years back doing what he loved. Defending the innocent." he let out a wry chuckle.

"Sorry for your loss."

"It's okay." he turned his gaze back to Ren, a soft smile on his face though the monk could see the hints of sadness in his eyes. "I'm more interested in knowing how exactly you know my dad's name."

"He's the reason my village still stands today." at Jaune's confused look he continued. "Eight years ago a horde of Grimm attacked my village. The mercenary we hired to protect us after some of our villages saw the incoming ran off, taking the money we paid him as he went. We were all preparing for the worst when he came along. He singlehandedly killed every single one, even the nuckalavee didn't stand a chance against him. He's the reason Nora and I wanted to become huntsmen, to ensure that no other person will experience that fear." throughout his story the fake smile on Jaune's face morphed into a true one. "Seeing you on initiation day was really a shock to me. I will admit that your personality and general appearance shifted me away from that conclusion."

"That was the original intent." glancing over at his partner showed that she looked deep in thought, the most likely thing on her mind being the topic she had brought up. Could I get a few minutes to talk to Pyrrha alone?" Ren and Nora shared a look between themselves before nodding and stepping out of the room with Ozpin right behind them.

"We'll be right outside Your Highness" The door closed behind the wizard leaving him alone with his partner.

"Pyrrha" she didn't acknowledge his voice. "Pyrrha please look at me." she finally met his gaze with wet eyes. He opened his arms in an invitation for a hug. Pyrrha hesitated for a moment before diving into his arms after seeing his pleading look. "I'm sorry for tricking you."

"That's not why I'm sad Jaune" His confusion was apparent even though she couldn't see his face.

"Then why-"

"You were going to leave weren't you." her words stopped him in their tracks. "You said it yourself, you only came here to learn from Professor Ozpin. You were going to leave after that weren't you?"

"... yes" the answer came after a long pause. "I was never going to stay longer than a year. As soon as I was done with Ozpin it would be discovered that I entered the school with 'falsified' transcripts, the punishment for that being expulsion."

"So you would have just left like that?"

"That was the plan. I didn't plan on making any friends, didn't want to get close to anyone only to leave them after everything. Then I met you all and I knew that plan was going to be harder."

"Then you could stay with the team, with me." the last part was whispered quietly but he picked it up.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that. Even without my identity being revealed I was always going to leave either way. Dark times are coming to Remnant, threats even more dangerous than the Grimm. I have to go face them." she left his arms, stood up, and looked down at him with a determined expression.

"Then I'm coming with you." the door slammed open with Nora stepping in.

"I'm coming as well. Ren?" she looked back to her partner who stepped through the door while shaking his head with a soft smile.

"I'm also coming." he said

"You guys don't need to do this. You don't need to quit Beacon for me." Jaune tried to argue.

"Yes we do, you're fearless leader Jaune-Jaune. Wherever you go, we'll follow. After all, we're Team JNPR aren't we?" Nora said as she placed her hand for a Hand-Stack. Ren let out a chuckle as he placed his hand on top of hers. Pyrrha followed in his footsteps and placed her hand on his and looked at her partner pleadingly.

"Please Jaune. Dont, leave." Jaune sighed with a smile and stood up from the bed, his hands landing on top of his partner and squeezing it lightly.

"Very well then. It looks like Team JNPR is here to stay." his stomach growled loudly interrupting their tender moment. "Although maybe we could talk more over some breakfast." He said with a blush of embarrassment. "Maybe over at the Pancake House" Nora let out a loud cheer.

The Pancake House

Sometime Later

The Pancake House was a place known for many things. Their exceptional breakfast menu, their not-so-exceptional customer service, and their questionable hygiene practices. It wasn't a five-star restaurant, it was barely a three-star restaurant but to Nora who sat down next to her partner eating from her third plate of ten stacked pancake, it was heaven on Remnant. Team JNPR sat at a table at the corner of the restaurant with each member of the team wearing their usual casual wear. The only exception was Jaune who in addition to his usual hoodie and jean combo wore a baseball cap to hide his identity.

"By the way," Jaune said as he pushed away his empty plate from himself. "Where's team RWBY?"

"Ruby had been staying with Pyrrha waiting for you to wake up. Yang took her and the rest of their team to a weapon store to distract her" said Ren as he passed the remainder of his pancakes to Nora who immediately started eating them."She was really worried about you, everyone was."

"It couldn't have been that bad"

"You were in a medically induced coma for over two days after fighting a weird talking Grimm Jaune." said Pyrrha who also had a half-eaten plate in front of her.

"I guess." his attention was drawn away to a yelp that came from a female waiter carrying a tray of food that tripped on a small pool of syrup on the ground. A second later she fell to the floor with the tray hitting their table on the way down, the syrup pitcher falling over and splashing the sticky substance on Jaune's hoodie.

"The pancakes!" screamed Nora as she looked at the mess with sadness. "How could this happen." she grabbed unto Ren's arms and sobbed into them. "How can someone let innocent pancakes be slaughtered." Pyrrha passed over the remaining of her stack to her. "Thanks" she immediately dove into them.

"Ow" said the waiter as she rubbed her head, a second later a hand came to view. She looked to the owner of the appendage to see a blonde in his late teens with striking electric blue eyes and a smile.

" Are you okay?" the blonde's face looked really familiar, as she took his hand she went through her memories to try and figure out why he seemed to recognize him.

"I'm so sorry sir."

"As long as no one got hurt it's alright" His face took on a more concerned tone. "You are okay right?" before she could answer a cow faunus in her early thirties came out from the back.

"Gosh darn it Catelin dis thuh thurd time dis week ya dun fell over. How many times have I told ya terr get non-slip shoes, don't make meh consider dockin' yurr pay." the woman turned over to Jaune. "Sorry 'bout dat mister, how 'bout I make yurr order on thuh house."

"There's no need for that ma'm," Jaune said as he rubbed the back of his head. "It was an honest mistake."

"Still though I've gotta do somethin'."

"More pancakes!" shouted Nora mid-bite.

"I can do dat. RUFFUS I NEED A TEN STACK ON FIFTEEN!" she screamed into the black. A second later a "yup" came from the kitchen in response. "Go clean yourself up Catelin."

As the girl stood up she overhead the redhead next to the blonde calling him Jaune as she passed him a napkin. The name she heard helped her figure out why he seemed familiar to her.

"Prince Jaune!" she shouted in shock and a little bit of fear. She trembled as she bowed to the blonde. "Forgive me for I did Your Highness, it was a mistake I promise." the words she said or more specifically the name caused the eyes to go from just a couple of curious customers to the entire restaurant.

"The Prince?" "Is that really him?" "What's royalty doing in a pancake house?" murmurs began to pick up in volume from all over the building, some even took pictures, their flashes causing the blonde to cover his eyes."

"It's really okay." said Jaune as rubbed the back of his head again. He could the other customers rising from their seats, his own team doing the same as they stood around him protectively. When the photo flashing started coming from the crowd that have started forming outside the windows he only had one thought about the situation. 'You've gotta be kidding me'

A/N: I'm really trying to get back into the fanfiction space even though I'm a chronic procrastinator. I don't want to be known as someone who only releases new stories and doesn't update the others. My goal is to prepare at least one of my chapters ahead of time and have specific due dates for my stories to be released. Speaking of stories, I'm focusing on this one, A Different Saiyan Saga and Reluctant Hero. Chess Master needs to be rewritten from the ground up, the rest need to be reviewed for either a rewrite or adoption/abandonment.

Also pls suggest any royal-sounding fantasy name that ends in Caelum for the acronym ARC.

Slight tangent, apparently I'm an overrated hack? Didn't know I was that well-known to be overrated. Anyways pls leave a review as those really help me improve.

Sloth out!