The skies were clear today, which grated against the stormy turmoil that churned and thundered in Jaune's gut. No, his breakfast hadn't been poisoned nor had he come down with a bug. Rather, it had been almost a week since his success at entering Beacon, and his mother was about to arrive. After initiation was done, Minnie and the maids only stopped to offer congratulations to him on becoming team leader and took a picture of his team and friends. But where he expected a swift response from his mom he ended up getting a strange, drawn out radio silence. Even after unblocking his family and sending a few texts, there was no response.

Until last night.

'Meet us at Bullhead docks. 9 am. Bring your team.'

It was eight thirty now, he and his team were huddled on one of the benches by the docks, and each second passing meant a second closer to his possible doom. Who was 'us'? Why take so long to answer? Was it another strike team? Oh no, was Roon on the team? Is that why his mom waited so long? That's it, he was screw-

A gentle hand gripped his shoulder, shaking him out of his despair. "I'm sure it'll be alright, Jaune," Pyrrha said. "There's no need to worry so much."

Gods, why did she have to sound like she had so much faith in him? "Worried? Who's worried? I'm not worried." He tried to laugh but it sounded hollow.

"You've been pacing around and checking your scroll every minute," Ren pointed out. "Nora is calmer than you right now."

"Nora is also stuffed with thirty pancakes and a gallon of syrup," Jaune quipped back.

Nora, who was laying across the bench she and Ren were on, nodded. "The Queen's hunger has been sated. For now." She patted her stomach for extra effect. A normal person would have wondered where Nora packed it all away, but Jaune has long since been inured to the black hole effects of the female figure.

"My point still stands," Ren said, undeterred. "You're in Beacon now. You made it past initiation, and even became team leader. What are you so worried about?"

Jaune sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. "This is the first response I've gotten from my mom since initiation, and it just feels like the calm before the storm, you know?"

"Do you think she's going to attack you?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune shook his head. "Not really, but I am expecting yelling. A lot of yelling. I didn't exactly ask permission to enter Beacon. Or leave the house."

"Oooh, our Fearless Leader is a rebel," Nora said. "Did you fight any Grimm on your way here?"

"No. I took a Bullhead." Nora gave him an unamused pout at that. He rolled his eyes and added, "Okay, I knocked out a vampire that was living in my basement and stole a family sword before that."

Nora smiled. "Better."

Ren pointed up at the sky. "I think that might be them."

Jaune turned to follow his gaze and sure enough, there was a single Bullhead cruising towards their corner of the docks. He pushed down his nerves and stood up straight, just like he'd been drilled countless times. It was a false sense of confidence, but better than nothing. He was going to need every bit of it.

As the Bullhead started to land, Pyrrha asked, "Anything we should know about your mother?"

"She's practically perfect in every way, so feeling self conscious is normal."

Pyrrha's brow furrowed in confusion. "Do you mean she's a perfectionist?"

Jaune shook his head. "No, I mean she's actually perfect. I can probably count on one hand the times she actually messed something up by accident. Dad calls it her 'natural showboating.'"

"Come on, Jaune, no one's actually perfect," Nora said, hopping up from the bench.

The Bullhead was still in the air when it circled around and the side door opened. A woman in a crisp, navy white uniform leapt out in a swan dive. She almost floated in the air for a second before gravity took hold once more. Like water, she fluidly tucked herself in and somersaulted one, two, three, four, five times before executing a three point landing that would make a cat jealous.

While some bystanders cheered and Ren and Pyrrha clapped, Jaune gestured to his mother as he gave a deadpan stare to Nora. "She's actually perfect, Nora."

Nora whistled. "Alright, I see what you mean. Dang, even her angry face is perfect."

Angry? Jaune looked back towards his mother, only to find her furious expression mere feet from him and closing in fast. He let out a strangled cry as her hands latched onto his collar and pulled them even closer together. Not wasting her momentum, she nearly bowled him over to knock him off balance and make him dangle above the concrete in her grip. Her lips were somewhere between a snarl and a pout, but her eyes were shooting High-Explosive Incendiary shells at him point-blank.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" she all but shouted. "You took off in the middle of the night without even a note left behind, Jaune! And then the next thing I hear is you making your way into Beacon," her eyes shot a knowing glare of his forgery, making Jaune gulp, "despite God knows how many times I told you 'No.' And not only did you get accepted, but you even passed the dangerous, Grimm-infested initiation!" Her grip tightened further as her words hissed out like boiler steam. "But do you know what really grinds my gears about all this, Jaune?"

Jaune gulped. "What?"

"You had your first battle as a Commander," her furious scowl twisted into a pout mixed with prideful happiness, "and I didn't get to see it!"

"What?" The tonal whiplash threw Jaune's thought process overboard. It was promptly left to drown when she pulled him up into a vice-like hug and spun around, squealing happily.

"EEEEEEEE! My baby is all grown up and Commanding like I knew he would! Oh my goodness, you should have seen the looks on all the girls' faces when they saw the aerial footage that Bataan took while you fought. And when the team told the story of what happened, we just had to break out the celebration drinks. Between everyone, I think we cleaned out a quarter of Zeppelin's beer stocks, a third of Louis' whiskey, and at least a dozen crates worth of Shoukaku's sake."

Jaune's eyes bulged. That was enough booze to give a small village alcohol poisoning. All for him? He pushed the thought away and looked up hopefully at his mom. "So, does this mean I can stay?" For extra effect, he flashed an innocent-as-possible smile, the one every kid knew to try to shimmy out of trouble with their parents.

"Oh honey." She stopped spinning around and smiled back with perfect pearly whites. "Of course not."

Jaune's smile dropped like an anchor. "What?"

And then his mother dropped him like a rock. Literally.

What air he had left in his lungs was none too gently stomped out by the heel his mother drove into his chestplate. He thanked his foresight for wearing his armor or else the stiletto would have been very uncomfortable on his ribs. His mom leaned down on the leg pressed on his chest and her smile changed from reassuring to threatening. It was scary how natural it looked on her face.

"I am happy for your success, Jaune, really I am," she said, her voice dropping low. "But let's just say that Ozpin knew you weren't supposed to be here but let you in regardless. So I need to have a few choice words with that nosy, crusty, parasitic barnacle of a headmaster about meddling in other people's affairs." Her heel dug in a bit harder with each venom-laced word about Ozpin she spat out. "Then we'll talk about Beacon and your studies. Don't run off again in the meantime, okay? Or I'll tan your backside until you can't sit straight for a week. Understand?"

Jaune nodded without hesitation. "Yes, Mom."

And like a switch was flipped, Mom was back to her sunshine showboat self, minus that her foot was still on his chest. She clapped her hands together. "Good." She sweatdropped as she realized Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha were staring at her. "Ah. Sorry you had to see all that. A mother worries, you know."

"We wouldn't really know; we're orphans," Ren said, gesturing to himself and Nora.

Jaune watched as the blood drained from his mother's face, and chalked up another less than perfect moment. As she floundered and flustered about, a haunting laughter rang out.

"Thou hast run thyself into that minefield, dear Carolina. Ah, if only I could preserve this moment in time." The voice, clearly female, chimed in a manner much like the maids did, but only in its accent. Where a maid's voice spoke in service, this one held a regal authority and weight to it, as if used to a position of ruling.

Jaune shifted under his mother's heel to get a look at the speaker, and found the one person he had been both anticipating and dreading to meet: his vampiric grandmother. Maybe he had been overselling the vampire part, now that he got a better look at her. Clearly she wasn't affected by the sun, though she stayed in the shade of Newcastle's umbrella, and her eyes were a bright ocean blue instead of the blood red he remembered. Then again, she was awfully youthful for someone who should have wrinkles and grey hairs, not to mention the pointed ears poking out from her pink hair. But while her vampire status was still in question, her family status was cut and dry. Anyone who could act like showing off that much cleavage was normal had to be part of his family somehow.

"I've already recorded the dressing down, my Lady," Newcastle said, a scroll in her hand.

The vampire flashed a fanged grin. "Delightful."

That snapped Carolina out of her funk. "Delete that right now!" She lunged for the scroll, using Jaune as a springboard, but the scroll vanished between the folds of the maid's skirt before she was halfway there.

"Now, now, Carolina, thou shouldn't appear even more foolish in front of young Jaune's comrades," the vampire chided, wagging a finger. His mother tried to protest, her face flushed with embarrassment, but it quickly devolved into a cutely scrunched face and crossed arms as she was consoled by another arrival: Jaune's dad.

"Hey now, how about you handle the Royal introductions, Ma, and leave teasing the missus to me? Stick to what we're good at, eh?" He laughed as his wife socked him in the arm for that.

"Thou art a spoilsport, darling, but very well." The vampire stepped forth and stopped in front of the rest of Jaune's team. "Greetings, fair warriors! Allow me to introduce ourselves. Thou hast already met Jaune's mother, Carolina. Do forgive her outbursts. Her emotions have been as turbulent as the waves in a storm lately. This handsome fellow there is Jaune's father, Samuel." The man gave a small wave to the team as he comforted his pouting wife. "And I am Duke of York: Steward of the Port of Ansel and Matriarch of the Arc family." She gave a small bow.

Duke of York. Well, at least Jaune had something to call her by now (shouldn't it be 'Duchess' though?). It had to be a title of some sort, hiding her true name or whatever magic vampires subscribed to. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if the sword he took was connected to her somehow. Once again, more questions than answers. The only solace he found was that the source of his answers were only a few feet away.

Nora's head almost snapped as she stared down at Jaune with an unusually serious expression. With a steady and heavy tone, she asked, "Jaune, are you, like, Old Nobility or secretly Royalty or something?"

Jaune, having enough of the ground, got to his feet and tried to formulate some kind of answer. "Ah, no? Hmm, maybe?" He knew some of the girls back home acted like 'proper ladies' but he always chalked that up to strict etiquette than actual nobility. "We're not that fancy." As soon as the words left his lips, the vampire scoffed.

"'Not that fancy', he says. If I were to follow the proper protocols, I believe Jaune would qualify as a baron, or perhaps a count if I pushed it."

Jaune barely heard Nora's excited gasp as he was just as gobsmacked. "Wait, seriously? I'm royalty?"

"Of a sort; alas, not one officially recognized by the Kingdoms these days," Duke of York explained. "But thou art mine progeny and thus Royal Blood flows within you. 'Tis a shame it means so little now, but perhaps one day that shall change."

Before Jaune could really process that, Nora grabbed him by the shoulders. "Hold on a second!" With an unusually serious expression on her face, she stared deeply into his eyes and spoke with grave urgency, "Jaune, I need to know. Do. You. Have. A. Castle?"

"I… Does a fort with a mansion count?"

"By definition, it's technically a castle," Duke of York commented. "Though it certainly is far more comfortable than a traditional one by leagues."

Nora's eyes widened and almost sparkled with a mix of awe and glee. "I have the coolest Fearless Leader ever!"

While Jaune ducked his head in embarrassment, the vampire took the center stage. "Thou art Nora of the Valkyries, I presume?"

"That's me!" Nora puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips.

"Sirius had much to say on thee." Duke of York put a hand to her chin as she examined the girl. "She sang of thy strength and skill with a mighty hammer, and how thou wert a credit to thy namesake, falling from the heavens with wrathful fury to rescue thy companion." A wide smile crossed her face. "She was quite impressed by thy dedication, which is no small amount of praise from her."

Nora's confident posture crumbled like wet sand as she blushed and fidgeted under the praise. "Oh stop, it was nothing! A-and it's- we're not like that! Ren and I are friends, not, y'know, together-together."

"Is that so?" Duke of York's eyes slid over to Ren, who stared back impassively. "Few men can combat Sirius, fewer still can resist her. Thou wouldst be a fool to not lay claim upon him."

"But it's not like that!" Nora's blush became incandescent. "I swear!"

"If thou sayest so." The vampire's tone was wholly unconvinced, sending Nora into stammering fits. She moved on to meet with the man in question. "Lie Ren. Thou art remarkably well grounded for a young man. Art thou fair Nora's anchor?"

"More like damage control," he replied with a humored smile.

Duke of York laughed. "Indeed! Ah, 'tis a shame Carolina is insistent on returning young Jaune. Thou wouldst be a good friend for him. He knows few men as it is."

"He takes Nora's antics in stride," Ren said with a small nod, "and I do appreciate his help keeping damage to our room to a minimum."

Jaune shuddered as he remembered when Nora tried to copy Team RWBY's "bunk bed" idea. It didn't help that Pyrrha was oddly reluctant to stop the idea from happening. In the end, Nora dropped it because it meant she couldn't bounce on her bed without hitting her head anymore.

It was then that Duke of York's piercing gaze moved onto his partner, and all her body language became... intense, like a beast sizing up its prey. "Pyrrha Nikos. Hmm. Pyrrha. Nikos," she said, rolling the words around as if tasting the sound. "For such a fierce amazon, thou holdst such an… interesting name."

Pyrrha had stood fast under the burning gaze, but was taken aback by the unexpected words. "I'm sorry?"

Duke of York waved dismissively. "Thou hast naught to apologize for. 'Twas merely a curious observation." She then slowly circled around Pyrrha, her eyes hungrily taking in the girl's figure. "Newcastle informed me thou wert quite the stalwart defender of Jaune's decision."

"I still am," Pyrrha stiffly replied, her head turning to track Duke of York. "Jaune has earned his place here. I think he'll be an excellent Huntsman and team leader."

"A leader, no doubt. But Huntsman?" The vampire chuckled and returned to her original position. "Forgive me for saying this, but that remains to be seen, my dear. Speaking of which, Carolina, darling?" Duke of York looked back over her shoulder and flashed a fanged grin. "Please pass on my regards to the Headmaster, if you would?"

Carolina nodded and gave her husband a peck on the cheek. "Remember what I said, Jaune. No running!" she called back as she marched over to the Headmaster's office.

Jaune watched her go with a sinking feeling of dread, albeit one buoyed by hope. There was a chance he could convince her to let him stay, but his mom was still on the warpath and Ozpin was her new target. He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and saw the vampire embracing his side. He tried not to think about how soft and warm she felt for a vampire.

"Fret not, young Jaune. Thy mother only wants what's best for thee. T'would do thee no good to be concerned of an outcome outside thy control. Come! Let us partake in some refreshments and a long overdue discussion."

And just like that, all of Jaune's worries were shoved overboard and forgotten by all the questions he had.

While the rest of his team left to study, train, or whatever Nora did in her spare time, Jaune found himself sitting in a secluded gazebo in the Beacon gardens with his dad and vampiric grandmother across from him. Jaune had wanted to get into the questions as soon as he could, but before he could open his mouth, Duke of York held up a placating hand, telling him to wait until Newcastle served the tea.

Sure, fine, what was a few more minutes? But god, did those minutes seem to drag on forever. How long did tea take to brew? He had to refrain himself from sighing in relief when it was finally poured out. Yet Duke of York wasn't ready to talk until she took the first sip of her tea.

As soon as she did, she spoke. "I understand that thou hast many questions, Jaune. Speak freely, and I shall provide as much as I can."

And so, Jaune blurted out the question that had been burning in his mind for over a week. "Are you really a vampire?"

Duke of York's lips curled upwards in smug amusement. "I offer untold answers concerning thyself, and thy first question is about my countenance? Oh dear, thou really doth take well after thy grandfather's charm." She chuckled fondly as if remembering a very old joke. "But if that is what thou desires to know first." She closed her eyes and then leaned forward onto the table. When she opened her eyes again, gone were the ocean blue irises and the friendly charm, and in its place were pools of crimson and a fang-bearing sinisterness to her face. "Doth this satisfy thy curiosity?"

Jaune felt his heart skip a beat in instinctual fear at the abrupt change, but seeing it in the daylight was far less terrifying than in a dark basement. "Kinda? You answered one, but now I have a lot more about you. How long have you been living in the basement? Why were you never around if you were alive? Is Mom or Dad a vampire? Am I a vampire? What the hell did you mean by that Royalty stuff earlier?" He would have kept going, but his Dad cut him off.

"Hold on, Jaune," he said, "I know you want answers, but if we tried to answer everything right now, we'd be here for days. I regret going along with Carolina's idea to delay the pile of explanations, but what's done is done. So let's take things one step at a time to bring you up to speed."

"I concur," Duke of York said. "We only have a few spare hours at best to discuss a variety of topics, least of which is my presence here."

Jaune blinked incredulously at them. "Learning about my vampire grandma is the least important thing you have to tell me?"

Duke of York's eye twitched. "I believe I understand Hood's distaste for being called 'Auntie' now. Please never refer to me as 'Grandma' again."

"But-"

"Ever." Duke of York's eyes flared back to red.

"What was it you wanted to tell me about?" Jaune asked his dad, immediately changing the subject.

His Dad's amusement at the exchange dropped for something more serious. "Newcastle mentioned that she talked with you about your training and role at home and why you wanted to be a Huntsman. She said that you had misunderstood what we were training you for, and likewise we misunderstood your fascination with Huntsmen."

"So what were you training me for, then?" Jaune asked, half exasperated and half curious. He had laid awake at night a few times trying to piece it together himself, but the conclusions he came up with were barely cohesive. A harbor master was too humble of a position and didn't involve the sweeping strategy lessons of the high seas. He knew enough about the company that he could probably manage and market it, except the only economics lessons he had were around logistics. The only other explanation that incorporated all his training was a military officer of some kind, but there was no ongoing conflict to take part in except where the Grimm and bandits were involved. Even if that were the case, why didn't they ship him off to Atlas?

"Thou art to be our next Commander," Duke of York said as if discussing the weather. "Thou shalt be given control of our mighty fleet once thou art deemed worthy, and then thou shalt continue the hunt to root out and lay waste to the last of our enemy." She casually drank her tea, ignoring Jaune's shocked stare.

There was a lengthy silence as Jaune processed her words. Tea was sipped and cups were refilled as he tried multiple times to string together some response. In the end, Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Why does every answer I get only lead into more questions?"

"Because the situation is far more complex than thou realize. If thou wishes to understand, allow me to show thee how deep the rabbit hole goes."

The elevator doors didn't open fast enough for North Carolina's liking, and they screeched in protest as her hands gripped the edges and wrenched them open, leaving finger-shaped indentations in the metal. She only waited until she was out of the elevator to summon her rigging and point all nine sixteen-inch guns right at the smug bastard sipping his coffee. Even then, she marched right up to his desk and slammed her hands upon it, nearly causing it to collapse, as she glared at the vile manipulator.

In the background, she could hear some protests from Goodwitch, as well as a telekinetic tug on her rigging, but a raised hand from Ozpin ceased all activity.

Ozpin finished sipping his coffee. "Is there something wrong, Missus Arc?"

"We had a deal, you slimy, no-good, son of an anglerfish! You stay out of our business, we stay out of yours."

"I know. I may be old, but I'm not so senile as to forget that discussion. It was even a beautiful day at the time, too."

"Oh good, and here I thought I'd have to print out a copy, tape it to one of my shells, and run it through your skull!" Carolina knew that was wholly unprofessional and unbecoming, but damn it, this was personal.

"Don't worry, I remember the terms of the agreement. I was there, you know." Smart ass.

"So then you'll follow through and remove Jaune from Beacon, then?"

"Hm, I'm afraid I'm not legally obligated to do such a thing." Ozpin took a long sip of his coffee.

The room was silent for a moment, and if one listened closely, they could hear the tiny clicks of gun safeties being turned off. Carolina's smile didn't falter, but turned menacing.

"Would you care to explain, or am I going to have a talk with your next host?"

Unfazed, Ozpin leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers. "Certainly. Our agreement is one of non-interference and we've both held up our end of the bargain. However, nowhere in this agreement does it state that young Jaune would be barred admittance from Beacon should he choose this career path."

"You and I both know his paperwork was forged!"

"Was it?" Ozpin's face was oozing false shock. "Given how well the boy performed in Initiation, I'd say he rather lived up to his paperwork. You raised quite the young man, Carolina."

From anyone else, North Carolina would be flattered by the compliment, but from Ozpin, it made her want to throttle the man. "Don't change the subject, you crusty crab."

"My point is, Jaune approached Beacon, and by extension me, to become a Huntsman. All I've done is offer him a chance to prove himself worthy of being taught, and he passed on his own skill and merit. Had he not, I would have sent him home and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

"Furthermore," Ozpin flicked away at the keyboard to pull up a screen showing footage of Jaune and Newcastle in the woods, "It appears that Jaune is less than aware of our current state of affairs. If I'm not mistaken, he willfully came here of his own accord not to spite you, but to fulfill the grand expectations you've placed upon him without explanation. I simply found it as part of my duty as Headmaster to guide him onto a path towards achieving his goals."

"But his goals and yours are not the same, Ozpin!"

"Aren't they? We both seek an enemy that is singularly powerful and commands an army of mindless monsters. Wouldn't understanding how the Grimm function and are fought be good training for him as a Commander?"

"Do you think I'm a fool? I can see the parallels myself, but I will not have you worm your way into his head. We can provide the training he needs ourselves. We are all that he needs."

"But is that what Jaune wants?" Ozpin let the words hang in the air for a moment. "North Carolina, I understand your concerns, but Jaune has made his decision to come here for Huntsman training. If you want him to be a Commander, yet override his personal decisions, then that would only make him a puppet, and puppets make for terrible leaders, much less Commanders. Is that what you want?"

North Carolina felt like her teeth might snap from how hard she was clenching her jaw. Oh how she wanted to drop her anchors on this man, but she knew he was right about that. She had been so careful keeping Jaune out of Ozpin's war, yet Newcastle told her that it was such overprotectiveness that drove Jaune away to forge his own path. Was she really so controlling and careless that she would turn her son, Azur Lane's future Commander, into a puppet, a figurehead? His orders would be second-guessed, the factions would fight for control of him, and any semblance of a command structure would be flimsier than a house of cards. It would be the perfect recipe for disaster.

The previous Commander fought to prevent such fracturing, and despite North Carolina's personal wishes, she should too. She sighed and dismissed her rigging in a flash of light. "Knowing you, I bet you have some sort of arrangement in mind?"

"I do, and I assure you, it's mutually beneficial."

"I'll be the judge of that. Let's hear it then."

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was being exceedingly difficult to write as we are finally at a point where we get exposition and answers, but I couldn't just dump all the info and leave. I had to pick and choose what info and scenes to pull out first and even then I was second guessing myself as there were a lot of ways this chapter could go. Heck, I had some extra scenes I wanted to shove in, but at this point it wouldn't mesh well without some serious overhauling or making this a 10k+ chapter and I figured you all have been waiting long enough. The worst part is: there's a scene that I've been dying to get to but I have to build up the road first and it's just so fricken close I can taste it!

I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner