A king's return
Chapter 6 difficult times
Arthur laid back against the roof of the Arc residences as he watched the clouds pass over head while using his senses to keep track of what was happening around the house as well as using the "invisible air" in its proper form as the (Bounded field of the wind king.) he had it spread wide around the house to keep up to warn him if someone or something came through it. While he laid across the roof he focused on his hearing and listened in on the conversation that was happening in the back yard between Jeremiah and Qrow.
He was only able to hear parts of what they were saying as they seemed to be talking about the past. 'Looks like those two are reminiscing. I guess I will head down later.' He thought as he started to think about the events of the night prior. Arthur had gone along with Qrow allowing the man to question him about his circumstance. While the former king only had partial knowledge on his circumstance he still answered all of the Huntsman's questions to the best of his ability.
After the questioning the two had finally decided to stop and collect the corpse of the assassin that Arthur had fought with. While the two still had questions for one another they had decided it would be better to just hold off on the rest of the questions till later. Sadly when they went to collect the remains of the assassin they found that the assassin's corpse was gone. When the two finally interred the clearing where Arthur and the assassin were fighting they were only met with the sight of some toppled trees and a few scattered knives here and there.
There was no split corpse no blood nothing that remained of the assassin. It was like he hadn't even been there to begin with. The two had searched after that for any signs of someone coming and collecting the assassin's body only find nothing but their own tracks alongside the few animals that were around. The two had spent the better part of the night searching only to find nothing of noteworthy value.
After that the two had parted ways and decided it would be best to keep the matter with the assassin Quiet. Thought Arthur still found something odd about the words Qrow had left him with last night. "I just hope that this matter doesn't involve the maidens, if what you say is true about this magecraft stuff." While Qrow had left that vague question in the air Arthur knew that it wasn't for him to answer. At least not yet. It seemed Qrow had hoped he would answer that question but wasn't dead set on getting an answer for it.
'I wonder what these maidens he is referring to are.' The former king thought as he let out a tired sigh as he watched a large cloud pass over head shadowing him from the sun. He really needed to figure things out. While he was being questioned by Qrow he had found that the man had little care for his circumstance and was more intrigued by the prospect of magecraft. Though not surprising but the man had a strange way of asking about it.
The old crone had asked how those who used magecraft were chosen while also asking what was the cycle like for those next to inherit said magecraft. While not surprising questions seeing as back when Arthur had been learning about magecraft himself he had the same questions, but what was odd was that the more Arthur had explained to Qrow the more the man seemed to be lost. It was almost like he had different expectations.
Still though after Qrow had finished with those questions he had questioned Arthur on his identity more. While the former king didn't feel too keen on sharing he had little choose seeing as he needed the man's information as well as position. With everything that Arthur had learned from the old crone he had come to find the man was holding back information as well. While Arthur had only given small answers that at least helped explain his on standing in the development of this strange predicament he found himself in.
Qrow had seemed to act like when Arthur questioned him on his standing and position in the world the old crone had seemed too reserved. It was like the vague answer he had given him when he asked his reasoning for hunting the assassin and the "shadow Beowulf's" as the old crone put it. Qrow had said. "While I am a Huntsman, I am more like a guardian who stand as a wall to protect the people from both the Grimm and criminals. I may only be but a small part of it though."
Now the way the old crone said that left Arthur wondering what type of Guardian he truly was. While Arthur was no stranger to the regards of a guardian he could tell that this Qrow was no such thing. Qrow fit more of a role that a spy or assassin would fill while also having a face for the public to hide his true intentions. That left the former king with questions as to the man's true intent but he could do little but guess, seeing as he didn't have all the pieces to put that puzzle together.
With a tired sigh Arthur figured it would be best to just leave that train of thought for later as he went to sit up only to hear the sound of the latter shaking as he turned to see the latter getting set up against the house. He tilted his head slightly as he waited a few seconds before seeing Lily lifting herself up onto the roof. She smiled and waved at him as she slowly made her way over to him and sat down next to him.
"So what brings you here?"
She asked with a smile as she tilted her head sideways as she looked over Arthur. The former king let out a small chuckle as he reached out and patted her on the head.
"Now are you by any chance flirting with me?"
The former knight asked jokingly as he watched the young girls face flush at his teasing as she then began to pout as she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him adorably.
"Hey don't tease me."
The former king just laughed as he patted her head again while she just wacked it away as she smacked him in the shoulder. She huffed as she turned from him.
"You are so weird."
She said as a small smile formed on her lips as she turned back to look at him.
"Hey that guy down with dad seemed to be talking about some strange stuff. You wouldn't happen to know what they are talking about would you?"
She asked as he childish curiosity was piqued by Qrows appearance. Now Arthur didn't know whether to answer that or not seeing as he did know what Qrow was here for. 'Maybe I should just make something up.' The former king thought as he ran a hand through his hair.
"From what I have seen and heard it seems that the Qrow fellow with dad is an old friend of his." Arthur paused as he watching Lily tilt her head to the side even more now giving him a slightly bored look at his answer. "If what I have heard is true they are going to be working on something."
With that answer the former king saw how Lily lit up at the prospect of seeing her father work with a Hunter. While Arthur just felt a little at odds with the prospect seeing as he had hoped to find the time to speak with the Huntsman alone.
"For now though it seems the two might end up sharing more than just one drink together before the day is over."
The former king said as he watched the happy look on Lily's face fade as she began to pout. She began to say things like how she wanted to watch her father go out and be like the heroes of fairy tales or try and be like the king of knight's. while the last remark had caused Arthur to freeze up in slight worry as he seemed to get drawn in by his former title as he remembered the bloody scenes he had witness back when he was king.
Sadly for the former king his freeze hadn't gone unnoticed by Lily. The moment he froze tensing up like lost in a dream Lily stopped her banter as she reached out to the frozen blonde with a worried stare as she placed her hand on his shoulder bringing him back. He flinched slightly under her touch as he then turned back to her his Green eyes almost dole as if faded. It took him a second to return to the moment as he took in her worried stare.
He shook his head dispelling the thoughts as he let out a deep breath before turning back to Lily with a small smile.
"Sorry about that I don't know what came over me."
He lied as he felt a knot form in his stomach as he did so. 'Why must I lie to her?' He thought bitterly as he felt the wait of his words. For him lying was going against his morals. It was like betraying his own being. He was a knight he shouldn't lie he had a code of honor that he had to follow and lying went against that code.
"You know you shouldn't lie." Lily began as she watched Arthur flinch. "If you don't want to tell me just say so, you know I won't question you if you didn't want me to."
She said as Arthurs shoulders slumped slightly as he turned from her with a guilty look. He just let out defeated sigh as he reached up and wiped a hand down over his face. 'To think she could see through me so easily.' The former king thought as he gave the young girl a sideward glance. It was weird, whenever he was around Lily it was like she could see clean through him.
He has found that she was the only one he really couldn't lie to. She would see through it the moment he spoke. It was funny how quick she was to point out his lies. Maybe he should just stop completely. It's not like he could keep it up every time he lied he seemed to always cause more problems. He let out a deep sigh as he turned back to look Lily over.
"Hey can you tell me what it is that gives me away when I lie to you."
The former king asked as he looked up at the sky with a far off distant stare.
"It's because you are just like Jaune, you see every time he lied his eyes always became dull like they lost color, yours do the same." Lily said as she rested her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok to tell me the truth Arthur."
As she said his real name he could only feel pain at the fact that she knew the truth. He was such a fool for ever believing he could fool her or the others into thinking he was Jaune. She had confronted him a just few days ago to tell him she knew he wasn't Jaune. Arthur had seen how hurt she was when she said it. She had begun to argue that she might be wrong that she was just trying to get used to the fact that after the attack that he was just acting different.
She went on to say that his personality only changed because of the life or death experience he went through that made him act different. She said she read a book saying that when people experience traumas they tend to change. She had tried so desperately to prove herself wrong. To prove that she was just imagining things. And just when she asked him if she was wrong to finally be proven wrong she was only met with the truth.
He stopped hiding then he told her she was right that he wasn't Jaune. He had expected her to scream and hit him to be angry to hate him. Instead she just cried. And that was far worse than any physical harm someone could cause him. For seven and a half months he had tried to hide the truth but there was no hiding it. How could he when he was confronted with the people who knew Jaune best. At the time all he was left with doing was just hold the poor girl as she cried.
Even then he had expected to be struck anything to show that she was angry, but still nothing she just cried. He remembered spending at least an hour before she finally stopped. It hurt to just watch. He was a war torn king who has both seen and done things far less than moral without a second thought but when he was presented with a young girl crying he was at a loss. So when she finally stopped crying he prepared himself for her to lash out at him in some way.
While he had expected to be struck what had really happened caught him even more off guard. At the time instead of screaming or hitting she just smiled and thanked him. It was such a strange situation he had no way of reacting other than being frozen in both shock and wonder at the girl. He still remembered her words. "Thank you for not letting my brother's memory die."
He was at such a loss at the time he had just lost the ability to speak from her reaction. He had never once believed that the girl would be willing to thank him for taking away her brother. At the time all he could do when his shock wore off was apologize to her. He continued to apologize for what felt like forever at the time till Lily stopped him. She shocked him even more with how well she had taken everything.
She was but a child with little experience in loss and yet she was the one who had been the calmest at the time. When she stopped him from apologizing she had said she forgave him. She told him that ever since the attack by the shadow beast happened she had her worries that he was different. She had asked all her sisters, her mother and even Jeremiah if they felt the same and they all said yes.
While Jeremiah was the voice of reason for them saying that he only changed because of the traumatic experience telling them not to worry about. It was funny it was like he was the one trying so desperately to hold onto the memory of his son. While over time the rest of the girls just decided to accept the change not wanting to face the painful truth. Lily was the only one though to continue on with her questioning.
She had only done so in hopes to be proven wrong but in the end she only found that it was all true. It had hurt her but she was stronger than Arthur had though. After finding the truth she forgave him. It was such a shocking turn of events that at the time Arthur was left with little to do other than tell the truth.
While he left out most of his history he explained to the young girl at the time that he was not Jaune that he was someone else who had been given his body. It was such a strange conversation. While he found that all Lily cared for was the fact that Jaune was gone he still felt she deserved to know why at the time. This was all before he confronted the assassin so it at least helped him at the time to steal himself for what he had planned.
This had all happened no more than a week ago and now here he was sitting on the roof of the Arc house with the only person in the family that really cared to know the truth. It pained him to think that everyone else in the family didn't want to know what really happened but when he thought about it more he could understand why they didn't want to know.
It would have been too painful for them to really bier. While Lily had accepted it she was really only let her emotions settle. She had her doubts from the beginning and she couldn't get rid of them like the others she was just too close to Jaune to not see the difference between Arthur and him. While the others where close they all had been willing to live out a fairy tale were their brother was still with them.
Sad but Arthur couldn't go against it. He was the one who filled their fantasy who let them believe Jaune was still alive. So in truth their fantasy no their lie of a life was of his making. He was the one to blame for that so what could he do. Destroy that lie or fuel it till they came to the truth them self. Neither set well with Arthur but he really wasn't the one to decide that. It was their choice to live a lie so it was their choice to destroy it.
With a deep breath Arthur lifted himself up and stared up into the sky as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back letting the suns rays to fall over him. Lily still sat down at his side staring up at him as he did so. With a sigh he opened his eyes and reached out towards the sun as if he was trying to grab it.
"I know I told you this once before but let me tell you again." He spoke up as he closed his hand in a fist before turning back to Lily with it held out in front of his chest. "I will bring you back your brother. You have my word."
He said as he saw the small smile form on Lily's lips as she stood up and reached out and grabbed hold of his closed hand in both of hers.
"I know you will, so thank you."
She smiled as a few tears fell down her cheeks. She knew it was just a dream though. He brother was gone even if Arthur said a part of him was still alive in side of him a part that was more than just a memory she had resigned herself to the fact that she would never see her real brother again. No matter how much she wanted to she knew that was a wish that couldn't come true.
Still she couldn't help the small hope she felt when Arthur said this. She knew that she wouldn't meet Jaune gain but she couldn't help the small wish from at least wanting to come true. So she fueled Arthurs resolve.
The former king let out one last sigh before turning back to look up at the sky. 'No matter what I will bring Jaune back.' with that final thought Arthur reached out and gave Lily one last hug before turning to leave. He walked over to the edge of the roof and gave her his farewells as he jumped down to go and talk with Qrow. Lily just watched with a small smile as he left. "Thank you."
It was but a whisper but she knew Arthur heard her. With that she just leaned back and looked up o the sky to watch the clouds with a small smile.
End
AN/ yea, new chapter. Again I need reviews to see if you readers like the story and help understanding what I did wrong to try and fix it. I do hope you leave one. Also fav and follow if you wish.