All credit to respective owners!
P.S. So when it came to the seven sisters of Jaune Arc, I think we only know names as far as Saphron's (I think, my knowledge of RWBY has stagnated very heavily). That said, I will be inserting names that I want into the fic for Jaune's other sisters. Violet as an example.
-Y.A.R.N.
Blake had been relieved to see Jaune the day after the whole Conduit fiasco.
She hadn't waited and hugged him after he was okay after the Conduit warning, she didn't know where he lived so it was quite possible he had been in the path of destruction made by the battling conduits.
She didn't expect him to hug back as tightly as he did, as though he was clinging to the last thing he had. Jaune let go quickly and apologized, but Blake hadn't minded except for the trembling that wracked Jaune's body in those few seconds.
The entire city was both excited but quiet, unsure to set anyone off lest they be the conduit that had a hand in that fight. The video — low quality as it was — was the talk of the city in almost every place you went to, people wondering how it started and who could've won that fight if it continued. Some bemoaned the reformed DUP — a specialized subset of the law now called the Conduit Containment Services or CCS — having a reason to start patrolling again. It was a bit of an unspoken understanding that Conduits rarely fought unless they were attacked or attacked another. The fact that the concrete wielding conduit was caring little to the surroundings while the glowing conduit was trying to run made it clear who the aggressor was, and that was the only saving grace for the light-wielding conduit that he was on the defensive until it obvious there would be real casualties.
People ate up the superhero idea as 'The Patron Saint of New Marais' and 'The Smoker of Seattle' proved conduits were just people who could choose to be better or worse. Others worried as the 'Demon of Empire City' once fought 'The Beast' and his failure to win turned Empire City into a broken husk of a city. No one wanted a repeat of that happening again even if neither Conduit had that raw power on hand; every hero's brilliance cast a shadow for the villain to come from.
Blake would've been much more relieved if Jaune hadn't looked like death warmed over and so nervous he might collapse in a panic attack ever since. She had asked him multiple times if he was okay or hurt, and he would give a fractured smile before assuring he was fine and there was nothing to worry about. Every time there was a unexpected loud sound he twitched violently as his fists clenched as if he was about to be struck and was bracing for it. He did his job flawlessly as usual, but the regulars could tell something was wrong with the blond barista and did voice a concern only for him to wave it off with the most typical 'just an off-day' explanation. And everybody was getting a bit exasperated at the blond's obvious discomfort and lies in regards to his health.
All these little things made Blake worry all the more that Jaune was under a lot more pressure than usual.
Jonathan watched the news, a scowl affixed firmly on his face at the abomination actually holding Yuma back with surprising skill and agility.
How?
How did that thing harness his abilities to become so powerful?
Every time Jonathan refined or reworked his plan, that thing rose to meet it and fight back and keep going! Why couldn't it just die? Why did it — of all his children he had sired — inherit the Arc's ability to survive no matter what odds were placed against it? Was it because it was the only child that was a male? That was ludicrous, even with his daughters rebelling and leaving he did keep tabs on them and they were all doing very well in their chosen professions. Not a single one of them were struggling in their lives and it was frustrating that while that thing struggled it still was surviving, perhaps even thriving.
Jonathan growled and put away a bottle of alcohol in order to approach this without alcohol clouding his judgement.
Maybe he should ask for his wife's opinion on the matter?
Cardin watched the video over and over, hand running over his mouth as he tried to figure any alternative identity of the conduit wielding the light. Because the conclusion he had reached was something he would have never guessed. He mind pointed out the indisputable conclusion but at the same Cardin's whole being rejected it. It just wasn't possible, it went against all his beliefs. He tried to figure anyone else who could possibly be the Conduit in the video who was wielding insane power and matching the concrete Conduit blow for blow. Everything he believed about people who had power and how they should use it was being thrown in his face.
Because he knew who the concrete conduit was.
And he was only here for one reason.
He wouldn't jeopardize his mission by picking fights with random conduits.
But that meant only one thing.
And while it filled in so many blanks in how that person could be fine in such a short time no matter how much of a beating he could take, it would mean Cardin had been literally playing with fire this entire time.
Jaune Arc was the conduit.
A powerful conduit who had never once fought back. The video showed Jaune's abilities and powers and Cardin knew that even with his latent conduit gene influenced by Augustine's power transfer to him, Jaune surpassed many of the conduit files he had seen before except for the classified files he browsed during his time in the DUP. He didn't the insanely broken and versatile ability of Delsin Rowe to copy and use powers but he did have a plentiful supply of power around him at all times like Cole McGrath, and that made him very dangerous.
Jaune was very, very strong and incredibly skilled.
Who acted meek and unassuming, taking beating after beating without batting an eye and shrugging off all the unfair assaults on his existence. Who pretended that he couldn't fight back and let Cardin attack him without pushing back or showing his abilities. Who only when his friend was in any sort of stressful situation and was actually able to hurt Cardin (he hadn't thought Jaune had been the one to attack him when he hit on Blake but in hindsight it was obvious). Why would he do that? Why would he hide it from everyone, from Cardin when he knew it was his best chance to back off?
He realized it had to do with his past.
What his powers must have done to his family or what his family might've done in response to him.
Cardin had almost been sick when he realized WHY he was asked to bully Jaune Arc.
He was a conduit.
Yuma was a conduit.
Jaune was too, but he was cast out of his family and literally been under attack for that lottery chance of having powers?
Not even Cardin's dad would let his son go because of that, instead trying to re-educate him to give him greater control and responsibility. Something Cardin took for granted now that he realized what an alternative could've been.
Cardin had never felt as disgusted with anyone in that moment of haunting realization than he felt about Jonathan Arc.
Saphron was nothing more than a storm of activity as she packed and Terra was trying to make sure she knew why they were packing for a trip as she scrambled after her wife. It had taken one phone from a near hysterical Violet — on of her sister-in-laws — to get Saphron to get moving, nearly tossing Terra out of the bed as she tried to get to her feet only to tangle with the covers and face-plant on the floor. Adrian had been amused by his mother babbling nonsensically as she darted everywhere; the young baby laughing and clapping in glee. Saph had been placing haphazardly packed suitcases in the living room before Terra managed to finally catch her wife and hold her in place for a moment.
"Saph!" She cried exasperatedly, "Slow down please! I can't keep up!"
Saphron rounded on her wife with a almost manic desperation, "NO! I need to get to Empire City NOW!"
Terra placed her hands on her wife's shoulders, "Saphron Cotta! You need to tell me why we need to go there right now before I tie you up and make you wait!"
Saphron seemed to deflate, mania draining out of her as she looked into her wife's stern and concerned gaze, "Do you remember how I wanted to take your last name? I didn't even want a trace of my old last name?"
Terra carefully maneuvered her wife onto the couch, "Of course."
"When I was a kid, you knew I had a lot of siblings, right?" Saphron said softly.
Terra nodded, "Six sisters."
Saphron hesitated before murmuring, "I had a brother."
Terra stiffened, having not known this about her wife until now, "You did? Why did you never mention him? Why am I only finding out about him now?"
"I wanted to…" Saphron murmured, "But it hurts… just thinking about him and how we failed him hurts…"
Hearing the misery in her voice, Terra pushed aside her confusion and pressed her lips to Saphron's head, "It's okay… just talk me through it Saph."
"When I was seven, Jaune was born. He was so sweet and kind. He was the kindest person who ever existed. He had a smile that lit up the room. Our mother was busy with us and barely had time for another addition to the family, so we stepped up as mothers and sisters to take care of him. A few years into his childhood he and my sisters were playing in the yard when he dissolved into light and crashed into a tree." Saphron couldn't help the watery laugh when she recalled Jaune's surprised cry of a a face full of tree bark, "He apparently was the only one in our family born with a Conduit Gene. He was terrified and knew our parents would never accept him as a person. We never got an actual reason of why they hated Conduits so much, but they just considered them freaks and monsters. But Jaune was our baby brother, we loved him too much to let him get taken. We did our best to hide it, I swear we did Terra. But he was too much of a good person, his own need to help people in trouble worked against him. He used his powers to save some of his classmates and by then it was too late to hide it, they took him from us Terra. He made us promise not to fight it because he knew they could hurt us if we tried to physically resist it. After that, we visited whenever we could, but then out parents found out and said that we had to make a choice between him or them. We chose him and moved out, it took time to get all of our money together and leave, too much time."
Terra let her wife sob into her shoulder, tightening her grip around the woman she had married. She wondered how long this weighed on her wife, how long has she held the loss of her brother, how much the pain had festered. She tried to think of losing someone like that and the only person she could fathom being close was Adrian and even that was unthinkable. She would go mad, she wouldn't survive without Adrian being there, she wouldn't WANT to survive without him. In all the time she had known her wife, Terra never imagined she carried such a burden.
"How is he now?" Terra asked gently, wanting to help Saphron.
"We don't know." Saphron whimpered, "We went to get him but he was gone, no trace for us to follow. Curdun Cay gave us the records that he lived and left after it fell, but we had no idea how to track him after that. We didn't have the funds to hire anyone and now it would have been too long for any credible lead. I wanted to find him and hold him again, but after not seeing him waiting for us in Seattle, part of me… Just gave up. I still love him, but considering how our actions looked in hindsight…"
"Shhh…" Terra soothed, "I understand. But why now, what makes you think he is in Empire City?"
Saphron straightened and her eyes blazed with hope, "One of my sisters was watching the news and there had been a fight between two conduits in Empire City. One of the Conduits was wielding light, the same abilities that Jaune used when he was a kid except stronger. I saw the videos and the conduit was blonde, same shade of hair as all of us. It has to be him Terra, it was one of the few places that Conduits go to that people are apprehensive of going to. It was the perfect place to hide from people, we didn't think he'd hide there because we thought he'd distance himself from all cultural conduit areas while still living in a pro-conduit location. We have to go, even if he hates us we need that closure. We need him to know we will never stop loving him."
Terra nodded and patted Saphron's shoulder, "Okay love. Now let's get started actually getting ready instead of freaking out, you book the tickets and coordinate with your sisters while I'll pack the suitcases."
Saphron kissed her wife, too happy to do anything else.
"So things have calmed down a bit?" Yang asked Blake as she settled into a seat at the Cafe with a warm coffee in her hands.
Blake sighed, following suit with a cup of tea in her hand, "Seems so, but ever since the fight, Jaune's been worrying me."
Yang would've teased her over her worry but she knew what Blake was talking about.
Yang was great at reading people, and she didn't like what she was getting from Jaune these past few days.
Yang liked to have fun in general, she loved teasing Blake about Jaune when she worried over him, but this wasn't mild worry and Yang knew when to put her usual antics on hold. Yang had seen Jaune working in the cafe as per usual but Jaune looked exhausted and on edge the entire time he was working. His attendance at school hadn't shifted, but he would dart in and out of the classrooms at the last seconds before being tardy. And while his new demeanor didn't affect how he worked, it did affect the people he worked with and how they were trying to help but didn't exactly know how. Jaune was the sort of guy to try to take on his problems alone because he didn't want people to worry, but the problem was that did exactly the opposite of what he wanted. Jaune probably had many gifts but acting like he was fine when he was anything but was not one of them. Yang had once been the same way, terrified of exposing her powers and awaiting the way her house of cards would come crashing down around her. However, Ruby, Her dad, and her mom turned her house of cards into a skyscraper of steel, unbreakable and standing tall; unafraid and willing to face any storm and weather it bravely.
Jaune didn't have the same support except for Blake.
And while Blake was an amazing and fantastic person and a loyal friend, and Ghira and Kali cared for him, Jaune wasn't one of the Belladonna family, and he knew it. Jaune always gave up his time for Blake if she wanted to be with her family for even the most insignificant of things. He smiled when he saw them, genuinely happy he could help, but Yang had noticed the smallest flicker of jealousy and hurt in his eyes when he saw the family together and the love that they had for each other.
He was practically alone.
And Yang didn't like it because it reminded her of past feelings of insecurity and that no one in the whole world should ever be alone like that.
And because of that opinion, Yang felt like helping her fellow blonde with his problems. Jaune was a great guy if a bit goofy at times, and he always tried his best to be helpful. He played along with Yang's jokes and always respected her and Ruby like they were important to him, even if they weren't quite friends yet. He went out of his way to greet Pyrrha — an apparently new customer who was quickly becoming a regular — happily as though she was an old friend he had been missing. Yang didn't like the stress that seemed to wear the young man down more and more.
"Maybe you should sit him down and ask him to talk to you." Yang suggested.
"I did that." Blake sighed, "He just waves it off."
"Then force him to talk." Yang replied, "You know whatever is stressing him is breaking him down Blake. He needs to have someone and you are probably the only person who he might want to talk to. He can't keep going like this and you know it, you gotta be firm for once if you really want to help him."
"I want to help, but he keeps drawing away when I try!" Blake snapped, offended at the idea she didn't want to help.
"Then stop backing off when he says it's okay!" Yang retorted, "Because it's clearly not okay and this gentle approach your using isn't going anywhere!"
Blake bit her lip and looked at the cup of tea she hand in her hands.
Ozpin watched the video, eyes lingering on the blonde conduit trying to minimize any casualties and hummed thoughtfully. It was one of the things that made him hope that his idea for the creating of a Conduit-associated area would work. If he could find people who didn't want to fight, to live peaceful lives then maybe it could all work out. A place for his son to be who he was, who would have people who could understand him better than Ozpin could (and that was painful to admit). But his lips thinned with the sight of the concrete kind throwing slabs of rocks arounds to crush the other conduit.
As long as anything existed, there will never be peace for it.
Because for every person who did want it, there was a person who didn't want it.