Chapter 2 - Swallow A "Self-Insert" Pill
Coamceuvensis Triumphans
1st Ianuarius, 1989
6:20 pm
Iohannes "Jaune Arc" Arcensis arrived at the gate of Coamceuvensis Triumphans 10 minutes earlier. The restaurant was in the centre commerce area of Vale City where all the most luxurious shops and business corporations were located. The restaurant was a completely independent 3 story building which made it stand out clearly among all other skyscrapers of the area. The outside of the restaurant was grand and regal despite having very simplistic decoration which resembled the Executive Residence of the White House. The Neoclassical and Palladian architecture with Doric order clearly showed that the owner and designer were no ordinary billionaire but true men of high culture. To be honest, Jaune was very nervous. Not only was it his first time ever to visit a 5 Star Michelin starred restaurant, he was also not ready to face his parents and twin sisters. Even though he knew they would forgive him rather easily, he still could not face the guilt of leaving his family and chasing a dream that they did not approve of.
If you know your action is wrong, then why do it in the first place? You put your personal pride and dreams above your family! Yet you now feel guilt? You are so damn wise after the event. A shameless hypocrite!
Jaune just sighed internally. Some said that negative thoughts and self-hatred were the trickery of your personal inner daemon. Yet, these self-blaming sometimes depicted the truth of your wrongdoings which led to further self-reflection. It actually motivated you to be a better man by self-improvement due to the fear of one's failings. Real life was not like modern cliché anime where protagonists were flawless who could just ignore their shortcomings. Jaune fully agreed with this. He was indeed a hypocrite and a selfish person who ignored the will of his parents. However, what it mattered was how he would be a better son and brother afterwards. What was done was done. He could not go back in time and stop himself from entering Beacon Academy. Even if he did, the grandfather paradox would only help another Jaune of another multiverse but not Iohannes "Jaune Arc" Arcensis of this dimension. Time moved forward and it was time for change. Maybe after he graduated from Beacon Academy, he could find a middle ground where he could satisfy both his dreams and the will of his parents? Joining the Vale City's Special Weapons And Tactics Team seemed to be a good choice. Not only could he help people like a hero, it also guaranteed authority, fame, money and high promotion. Yet, before he could activate the fairy tale ending, he had to face the overly warm welcome from his parents. He was now ready but he did not want to face the embarrassment.
Another reason why Jaune felt so nervous was that he had no idea how to face Sichelgaita Romanus. The feeling was strange. It was like you had a crush on a girl during secondary school and you saw a weird guy trying to ask her out during a school dance. He was visibly very nervous and started shaking. He kept shaking all over the place and everybody laughed. It then turned out there was nothing funny about Parkinson's disease. You were not the coolest kid on the block but you know you have a better chance than the previous poor guy. Yet, his failure made you so afraid to talk to her so you were in a dilemma: would you go all in or turn around to leave or just silently stood there waiting on until the dance it over. Jaune was now in a similar situation. He knew that he would eventually enter in the end but was now stuck in that awkward "waiting" process. He just needed a right moment and motivation to go inside.
"How may I help you sir?"
A handsome waiter well dressed in an elegant black suit approached and asked. Jaune was taken by surprise and could only answer stiffly, "Well… yea…um.. Yes."
The waiter just smiled, "Do you have any invitation or appointment?"
"Yes! A lady named Sichelgaita Romanus told me to show you this card before entering."
The waiter accepted the card and inspected it carefully. He nodded and continued, "May I ask what is your name?"
"Iohannes Arcensis."
He smiled genuinely instead of a fake professional act. He performed a sincere light bow and said, "It is nice to finally see you, Mr. Arcensis. Miss Romanus and your family are waiting for you. Please follow me. "
The waiter led Jaune into the restaurant. The inner decorations shocked Jaune - the simple country boy to his core. The whole place resembled a palace more than the stereotypical high class restaurant that you watch in an Italian Mafia crime film. Apart from being clean, tidy and had a high ceiling, it was filled with luxurious antiques, ancient paintings, sculptures, agarwood wooden furniture, silver tableware, silk tablecloth, Persian carpet and platinum chandelier. The walls were also made of magnificent marbles. Their craftsmanship was magnificent and Jaune could not help but simply felt like a royalty simply by walking in. However, he also felt these decorations were too over the top. Many items were just unnecessarily extravagant. You just did not need to gild every corner with gold! They slowly walked to the second floor and stopped by the door of a pirate room.
"Here they are, Mr. Arcensis. Please enjoy your night."
Jaune took a deep breath and opened the door. He closed his eyes and expected to receive a death strangling hug from his family. Yet, nothing happened. Instead, he was greeted by unexpected scenery where his dear twin sister Ioanna was giving a historical presentation to their parents and Sichelgaita who all listened extremely attentively. In fact, they were so concentrated that none of them noticed Jaune entered the room or even aware of the door closing sound. They all had their backs turned on him so Jaune could not have a clear look of what they were wearing but he could still feel the excitable atmosphere. However, Ioanna's presentation content was so absurd that Jaune had no idea what it was about. It almost sounded like she was talking about the history of another dimension.
"From the 5th to the 9th centuries AD, Germanic barbarians and Arab Muslims progressively invaded the Roman world of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. They settled in and radically reshaped local Roman culture, creating the post-Roman Late Antiquity and early Medieval world. However, we should view them as more of a Roman culture transformation rather than a crisis because these invaders were either Romanised gradually or inherited local Roman legacy.
Firstly, traditional Roman culture was gradually "barbarised". Long before the fall of Western Roman Empire in 476, Roman society had changed dramatically compared to the time of Pax Romana. Starting from the late 4th century, Germanic barbarians had already played a significant role in the Late Roman government. For the Western Empire, Stilicho was a powerful Vandal Magister Militum and later a regent. Ricimer was a Suevian Magister Militum who ruled by killing or controlling puppet Emperors, including Majorian, Libius Severus, Anthemius and Olybrius. Ricimer was the uncle of Burgundian king Gundobad and had very close ties with other barbarian tribes. The Eastern Roman Empire was also dominated by the Germanic Magister Militum. Areobindus Dagalaifus Areobindus and Flavius Ardabur Aspar were both Alanic-Goths. It showed that the government was already deeply infiltrated by Germanic influences. The late Roman Army was deeply barbarised. As local Romans were unwilling to fight due to poor wages and the government was too poor to maintain a traditional professional army, the Late Empire employed barbarians as Foederati for war. In return, the Empire would pay them with food, money and land. The Franks, Burgundians and Goths traded military service for rights to settle deep within the Western Empire. Germanic recruits eventually dominated the army. Their culture, dress (wearing trousers, torcs), customs (having long hair) and equipment (spangenhelm and lamellar helmet) significantly influenced the military. Romans soldiers also fought in identical barbarian battle tactics. For example in Notitia Dignitatum, the Cornuti (horned ones) was a auxilia palatina unit that used Germanic horned helmets and famous for their "barritus" - a Germanic tribal shout-dancing warcry. Many frontline Roman officers were also of Germanic origins. Emperor Julian the Apostate's trusted Cornuti tribune Bainobaudes during the Battle of Strasbourg in 357 AD was a Frank himself.
Secondly, Germanic barbarians were gradually Romanised. Since the day of Octavius Augustus, the Germanic people had close interaction with the Romans. Being exposed to Roman civilisation, the primitive Germanic barbarians looked up and tried to integrate into the advanced culture. By the 5th to 6th century, this Romanisation process had continued for 500 years and both sides were not fundamentally hostile against one another. While the barbarian invaders inflicted numerous atrocities to Roman society, they were actually geographically confined and chronologically short-lived. In a pre-modern society, razing and sacking settlements could only do a certain damage to the overall population. Only mass plague and famine were capable of crippling the already well established populace. It was thus impossible for the Germanic Barbarians to wipe out the entire local Roman population as they did not bring new diseases, unlike the Conquistador during the Discovery of America. Furthermore, the Germanic hordes were actually rather small. The powerful Visigoths had just 60000 personnel and were still minorities compared to the estimated 55 million Roman population in 376. They were thus easily Romanised. In the Kingdom of the Lombards in 6th-8th century Italy, "true" Lombards only made up about 5% of the entire nation's population while the rest 95% were local Romans. According to Paul the Deacon, the Lombards were so Romanised that their ancestral Lombardic language, dress and hairstyles were all extinct by late 8th century. Since the Germanic barbarians were a core part of the Late Roman army and government, they were familiar with the Roman systems and were technically "Roman" themselves. They quickly adopted Roman customs, titles, institutions and Catholicism. Germanic Frankish, Gothic and Lombardic languages became extinct and assimilated into local Vulgar Latin, forming the new Romance languages. The Germanic barbarians also seeked cooperation with the Roman Empire. Burgundians under the Gibichung family even saw themselves as Imperial agents. When the Western Empire slowly disintegrated, these highly Romanised Germanic warlords took up the power vacant and nibbled the crumbling Western Empire from inside out. Since the West was already so chaotic and decentralised with numerous usurpers, the new Germanic masters were just another "normal" provincial warlord for the local Romans rather than an apocalyptic crisis.
The barbarisation of Romans and Romanisation of barbarians eventually transformed Roman culture into the Romano-Germanic culture of 5th to 9th centuries Western Europe. These "civilised" Germanic barbarians maintained Roman systems and had a "renaissance" of local Roman culture. They imitated Roman buildings to create Romanesque architecture. They presented themselves as Roman patricians that ruled and minted coins in the name of the Eastern Roman Emperor. Ostrogothic Italy perfectly maintained most Roman infrastructures (aqueducts, bathhouses) and institutions (Senate, Curia). Local Romans actually lived in prosperity and were ironically destroyed by Justinian's Gothic War. As the Romans were the core of Latin literacy and Catholic clergy, many Western Roman upper classes survived as administrators. Barbarian rulers created Romano-Germanic laws to maintain social stability. They were Germanic legal based but were heavily influenced by Roman law. They were written in Latin and used Latin legal terms with strong civil and canon law elements. King Liutprand's Lombard Land Law in the 8th century was just Late Roman Law with slightly different inheritance rules. Early barbarian rulers separately ruled Romans by Roman law (like Lex Romana Visigothorum and Lex Romana Burgundionum) and Germanic individuals by Romano-Germanic laws (like Lex Visigothorum and Lex Burgundionum). When the Germanic people completely converted from Arianism to Catholicism by the 7th century, the legal differentiation became obsolete and post-Roman Western Europe was dominated solely by Romano-Germanic laws. It showed that these Germanic barbarians were actually very "Roman" in their way of life. Also, the pre-modern national identity was extremely fragile. When a Roman lost connection to the central Imperial government, his self-identification would be easily localised according to his local region or rulers. As the minority Germanic people ruled over a majority Roman population from the 5th to the 9th centuries, local Romans eventually lost their Romanness and self identified as Germanic people. The majority of the later "Germanic barbarians" were actually ethnic local Romans (Gallo-Romans integrated as Franks, Italic-Romans integrated as Lombards). Their Roman culture survived but were further bastardised/barbarised as Romano-Germanic culture. Lastly, even though the traditional Roman trade route of Western Europe slowly declined, middle eastern products like Gaza wine were still imported to Gaul and Britannia. Eastern Mediterranean trade continued to flourish until Muslim Invasion. The Roman way of life gradually changed from time to time. The post-Roman culture of the 5th-7th century resembled the 4th century but not the 1st century. It was maintained with various alterations in different regions. These showed that the traditional Roman culture was not in crisis but in a Germanic led transformation. While the representation changed, the core Roman framework still retained.
The Roman culture transformation continued in Germanic Western Europe by religion. Chalcedonian Christianity was the state religion of the Roman Empire. When the Western Imperial Government collapsed, its Church survived. It represented the last connection and remnant of the Western Roman Empire. The Catholic Church thus carried the Roman legacy of institution, Latin knowledge and theological ideology of Universalism: Roman Empire as an eternal, prosperous, mighty and civilised universal Christian empire on Earth. Such a great "Christian-Romanophilic" concept was the ultimate dream and goal of every European ruler. In the late 8th to 9th century, the post-Roman world experienced a renaissance through the "Renewal of Roman Empire" under the Carolingian Frankish Empire by Charlemagne. Charlemagne devotedly promoted Catholicism. He focused on Church liturgical matters, canon law and constitutions. Charlemagne demanded extensive Latin education among clergies for proficiency in religious classics and preaching. He reformed liturgical practice and reinforced ecclesiastical laws; reorganized ecclesiastical regions and hierarchy. The Church was the foundation of the Carolingian Empire and had very close ties with the Roman Papacy. Catholicism promoted Latin education and Roman culture. Latin became the lingua franca of the educated elite and foundation of Western European culture. Comprehensive education of antiquity continued and traditional Latin Roman literatures were highly valued. While bookmaking was expensive, ancient Greco-Roman knowledge was well preserved by Charlemagne's patronage to scribal and papyrus productions. The Roman Seven Liberal Arts and Mechanical Arts were the basic education for elites. Charlemagne thirsted for knowledge and invited numerous scholars to his court. Classical Roman science and philosophy were highly valued. Their teachings of logical classification, questioning and tolerance became the essential European intellectual values. Charlemagne fought against heresy and felt offended when not being invited to the Second Council of Nicaea by the Byzantine Empire. Pope Adrian I awarded Charlemagne as "Roman Patrician" for his help against Lombards. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as "Emperor of the Romans" for supporting his Papal succession. Charlemagne tried to marry Byzantine Empress Irene to reunite the Roman Empire but failed since she was deposed. The Carolingian Empire was the Emperor's material possession with feudal aristocrats ruling different regions as his "representatives". This caused serious regional fragmentations and decentralisation despite having a dense network of Late Roman-like institutions. Yet, Charlemagne still tried his best to imitate the past Roman Empire apart from religious aspects. He called his state "Romanum Imperium" (Roman Empire). He minted coins in classical Imperial Roman style, in which he was always portrayed as a Roman Emperor dressed in toga with a laurel wreath. These showed that in the 9th century, Roman culture was further transformed into a universal Christian dream of greatness. It was well preserved and continued. The Romano-Germanic people still remembered and venerated the ancient glory of the Roman Empire. They either claimed direct succession or attempted to revive it constantly.
Compared to Germanic Barbarians, the Arab Muslims were not Romanised because they had way less interaction with the Roman Empire. They also did not care about continuing or reviving the Roman Empire. Yet, they did not completely destroy the Eastern Mediterranean Roman culture like a crisis but transformed it into Islamic traditions. In Early Muslim conquests of the Roman Eastern Mediterranean, violence was only focused on Chalcedonian Romans but not the Nestorian and Monophysite Romans. Early Islam was actually identical to the latter 2 Christian denominations as it held a similar view towards the nature of Jesus. They thus presented themselves as liberators of Nestorian and Monophysite Christian Romans. Their culture was thus not destroyed but were transformed and absorbed into the Muslim society. The Dhimma contract protected Christians as "Dhimmi" while restricting their rights. To maintain their own laws and customs, Dhimmi had to pay poll tax (jizya) and respect Muslims as social superiors. The concept may have been based on Roman legal precedents. Early Muslim coins were completely identical to their Roman counterparts. Some gold coins of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan even had the image of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, except the crossbar of the holy cross was erased and looked like a pole. Muslim and local Christian Romans were not entirely hostile and were able to co-exist. The Tomb of the amir al-mu'minin 'Umar II was located just beside the cathedral-monastery complex of St. Simeon. Christians like Saint John of Damascus became a high administrator for the Umayyad Caliphate. Ironically, he actually thought that "Muslims" were just another branch of Christian heretics due to close similarities between Christianity and early Islam. Traditional Roman culture was the essential contributor to the Islamic Golden Age. Early Islamic architecture was extremely identical to Byzantine architecture. The Umayyad Mosque was very similar to 6th and 7th century Byzantine basilicas. Early Islamic art fundamentally followed the Byzantine styles. Its iconic geometric pattern mosaics were directly inspired by Late Roman arts. The Arab Muslims also translated many classic Greco-Roman science masterpieces and widely utilised them across their cultural sphere. Unani Medicine was Arabic medicine based on the Greco-Roman teachings of Hippocrates of Kos and Claudius Galenus. 9th century Arabic astronomy was directly adopted from the works of Greco-Roman astronomers like Hipparchus and Claudius Ptolemy's Almagest.
To conclude, Germanic barbarians and Arab Muslims progressively invaded the Roman world. They radically reshaped the original Late Roman culture of Europe and the Mediterranean region. Even though the progress was violent through war, we should still view it as a cultural transformation because the original Roman framework maintained variously in different geographical locations. While the traditional Roman life was mixed as a Germanic led Romano-Germanic culture, its descendants still remembered the ancient Imperial Roman glory and tried their best to continue the Roman lineage. The Arab Muslims were not as enthusiastic as the highly Romanised Germanic barbarians but they still greatly carried on the Greco-Roman intellectual legacy. Roman culture transformed ever-constantly and changes should not be seen as a crisis.
Here are my reference list: The History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria by Severus ibn al-Muqaffa; The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, 395-700 AD by Averil Cameron; Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam by Fred McGraw Donner; Warfare in Roman Europe, AD 350-425 by Hugh Elton; Authority: A Sociological History by Frank Furedi; The Middle Ages by Johannes Fried; The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian by Michael Maas; and lastly The Transformation of the Roman West by Ian Wood.
So this is it! Let's start our Q & A Session!"
As the quadro started to discuss, Jaune was in deep thoughts regarding her twin sister Ioanna.
The coherent content, timeline, logical development and clear citation. There is no way that Ioanna is pulling things out of her ass. Judging by my dad, mom and Sichelgaita's genuine reactions, what Ioanna said was definitely real… Yet, what really is it? Is it some kind of alternative history of Remnant or history of another fictional universe? Ioanna always said that she was planning to write some novel regaining these genres… Maybe this discussion is just an "immersive content planning and opinion collecting discussion"?... Whatever, this is a question for another time. Let's hear what they are going to talk about next.
It was a total mistake. The Q & A Session took over 30 minutes and was still going non stop without care of time flow. Jaune's parents and Sichelgaita were all hyperactive like Nora seeing pancakes and kept asking questions non stop like a triple linked minigun with Ioanna answering each of them in extremely LONG detail. The quadro just kept talking and talking without pause or even noticing Jaune was sitting in the corner awkwardly. Jaune was getting very frustrated, annoying and most importantly - hungary. He did not even have lunch today just to save more reserved stomach space for this supposed grand and regal dinner. Yet all he had done was just waiting and waiting. With this rate, Jaune could not have his dinner even until Remnant's Solar system went Supernova.
Fuck this! Whatever they are discussing, it has to stop. I am hungry and tired of waiting. It is now time to carry on my "wayward son" judgment, don't you cry no more!
Jaune coughed loudly to get their attention but to no avail, so he shouted like Vickie Guerrero, "EXCUSE ME!"
With that said, it finally got the quadro's attention and they turned around. Jaune could finally see what they were wearing and dressed up. Like a true crime drama film fashion, they all dressed in full suits. Jaune's father Ludovicus Arcensis wore a white dress shirt and black suit with red tie. He had emerald green eyes. His golden blonde hair was barbered in a Caesar cut with a clean shaven handsome masculine face, overall resembling Caeso Quinctius Aquilinus from Expeditions: Rome. Contrary to traditional stereotypes where ladies wore dresses and heels to dining restaurants, the women of the room all wore masculine clothing, with long trousers and shoes without heels. Jaune's mother Ermengarda Gundobadus-Arcensis was in a grey dress shirt and dark brown tailcoat suit with deep red bow tie. She had bright blue eyes. Her premium blonde hair was tied into a simple ponytail, resembling Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower from Bloodborne. Even though Jaune's parents were already in their mid 40s, they still looked as youthful and attractive as in their early 30s. Jaune's twin sister Ioanna Arcensis wore a light brown dress shirt and blue suit with green tie. Her eyes were crystal blue like Jaune with her blonde hair tied into a loose ponytail with a blue bow, resembling Elizabeth/Anna DeWitt from the early half of BioShock Infinite. Sichelgaita Romanus was in a red dress shirt and white suit. She did not wear a tie but had a big red rose on her left chest pocket, resembling Antonio "Tony" Montana from Scarface.
Right at the moment they saw Jaune, his family instantly greeted Jaune with the biggest heartwarming smile that he had ever seen, except Sichelgaita who only gave Jaune a polite nod.
"Son!", the father cried out.
"My Boy!", the mother shouted.
"Big Bro!", the twin sister yelled.
The trio instantly rushed over like a tsunami and hugged Jaune as tight and close as possible. If their hugs in the past could make Jaune pass out due to suffocation, this hug literally crushed his spine and all internal organs into a bloody pulp. It was like 3 gargantuan king cobras tied its prey up. It was 360° fully sealed with no room and chance to escape.
"Thank God! It's been 4 years! You are finally here! Damn son! You are so much taller and muscular, you are a true man now!", the father complimented happily as he measured Jaune's bicep size.
"Oh! I miss you so much, dear! Did you sleep and eat well in all these 4 years?", the mother said as she checked up on Jaune's acupoints.
"You can't imagine how I miss you bro! I have waived for this moment like forever. How are you? We all miss you! Do you feel the same? Did your lionheart ache for us?", the twin sister cried as joys of tears slowly dripped down from her cheeks.
"...My back…", the young man could hardly phrase his words as sheer titanic pressure was destroying his lung, trachea and windpipe.
"No, sunshine! We can not let go yet. We need to fill up the personnel vacancy since your remaining sisters were not able to participate in this reunion due to various reasons. Stay strong for a little more. Or are you telling me all these muscles were just some cheap steroid mock-up? Haha!", the dad just casually dismissed his son's agony like a joke.
When they finally let go, Jaune was completely broken in half like Mankind being chokeslamed off the top of the Hell in a Cell by The Undertaker. He just laid on the ground, barely breathing. While his family were still busy calling their remaining 6 Arcensis sisters on Scroll and sharing the euphoric joy about the triumphant return of their wayward son, Sichelgaita crouched down beside Jaune and checked on him, "You are fine. Now tell me, why are you so late?"
"Then why are you 4 keep ignoring the poor old me at the corner for your presentation and discussion session over 45 minutes?"
"I am sincerely sorry for our rudeness. We are simply too concentrated and attracted to Ioanna's topic.". Sichelgaita apologised but then quickly frowned and asked, "How much did you hear?"
"All of it. So, mind telling me what it is really about. You don't seem to strike me as a person who likes alternate history and sci-fi fiction."
"It is not fiction. Instead, it is a specific dimension of truth that your twin sister is currently working hard on in the infinite Sea of Doors."
"... Em… What?"
Sichelgaita just sighed, "This is a question for another time. You can ask Ioanna later after the dinner. She is the true expert or rather one of the greatest aspiring scholars in this field of study. I am just a mere beginner. Anyway, enough of this discussion. Now, let's go to the Teleportarium."
"Err… What is that? Also, ain't we supposed to have dinner here?"
"No, I just said 'Meet me in this restaurant tomorrow night at 6:30, your parents and twin sister Ioanna will also join us'. I did not mention anything about dining here. This place is just too shabby for our status and too lackluster for a surprise."
"...Fine… Before that, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Just who are you? I mean… ya know, I am not dumb. You never tell me anything about yourself except your name. We are actually just ransom strangers. Yet, you act all so friendly and somehow participate in our family affairs, not only providing a meeting invitation like a mediator but also directly taking part in the whole situation. My family also acts strangely casual around you like you are already part of us all along for many years. It is just far too suspicious. So please tell me, who are you really?"
Sichelgaita sighed deeply again, "You are right at every point. Yet, my identity should be kept as a secret until dinner. You will know everything when the time comes."
"OK?"
"Good! Now on your feet, solder!", Sichelgaita said in a playful commanding tone and offered her right hand to pull Jaune up. Just like a duo of great chemistry, the young man accepted it automatically instantly. Due to the sheer momentum of the pulling force, Jaune basically hit on the woman and clinged to her body. It was supposed to be an embarrassing moment and Jaune was ready to be slapped or scolded by Sichelgaita for accidentally being a pervert just like any anime romance cliché. However, Sichelgaita did not even seem to care at all. Instead, she simply held Jaune by the shoulder, dust off and tidied up his suit.
Once they were done tidying up, the long and ear blasting Arcensis family phone finally ended. Jaune's father Ludovicus then led the entire group down to the suspiciously deep story basement of Coamceuvensis Triumphans. During the long walk, Jaune asked his family, "So… Um… you guys are not gonna ask why I ran away to join Beacon Academy? Are you not angry about it?"
The father sighed, "Even the dumbest liberal California valley girl can understand your motives, son. 'I want to be a hero so that I can help people, just like you and mom, just like my grandfather and great grandfather. I want to follow your footsteps, make you and our ancestors proud.' We have already heard this sentence like a million times now so you don't need to repeat it again. Are we angry about it? Of course we are. You mom was so pissed off that she nearly went straight into Beacon Academy and extracted you during the initiation in broad daylight."
The mother joined the son-roasting competition with a very irritated tone, "You have no idea how your insubordination interrupted our future plans for you. How many times did we tell you that there were always alternate ways to achieve greatness other than being a Huntsman? We always tell you that you are a natural born leader, you are born to command inferiors and guide them to the correct path. That's why I always tell you to go to university, so that you can have the right knowledge, experience, degree and recognition to get into a high position. Being a pathetic Huntsman grunt leader is not your destiny."
With that said, The group of 5 entered an elevator. As the door closed, Jaune responded to his mother, taking great offense regarding her overwhelmingly spiteful attitude towards the Huntsman profession, "I really don't get it, both of you are former Huntsman and Huntress yet have such extremely hostile opinions against them when they are just trying to help people. They did nothing wrong. Also, I don't enjoy bossing people around or acting like an authority figure who just simply orders people to fulfill my commands. It just feels wrong and strange to me. I prefer to be boots on the ground and share the burden with my friends in the frontline, not an otherworldly arrogant higher-up who only manipulates without the care of the world."
The mother then just smirked maliciously, sending a bone chilling shiver to everyone in the elevator. At this moment, Ludovicus Arcensis knew that his son had just fucked up the entire conversation by passively refuted his mom. 23 years of marriage had taught the poor man to simply keep quiet when his wife was sounding irradiated. You never wanted to make a woman with the bloodthirsty nickname "Faunus Necator" - the "Faunus Slayer" to get angry.
Now, Ermengarda looked at her son like a wicked ATF agent interrogating a random poor innocent gun owner for possessing illegal "assault weapons" and "destructive devices". She spoke in a malevolent tone, "Yet, your performance in Beacon Academy in these 4 years only further proves that you are what you keep denying - an authoritarian but down-to-earth populist mastermind in the sugarcoat of a friendly consultative leader figure. You said you hate bossing people around yet all you did during team combat is commanding people like subordinates. Do you even realise why people never object to your commands, willing to follow your orders and leadership without second thought? No matter how many other teams you are assigned to command or how bizarre their members are, you still absolutely manipulate them like marionettes. It is because you subconsciously create a cult of personality all by your passive Magic, charismatic leadership and magnificent intellect all along. You are an overseer, administrator and moderator of a bigger picture. You are wasting your talent, potential and future as a lowly grunt leader of a mere group of 4 morons!"
Despite clearly hearing the word "Magic", Jaune simply dismissed it as a metaphor and angrily responded to his mother's blunt criticism, "What? No! First, my teammates are my close friends. Our relationship is built on mutual trust and natural chemistry! I never control them! Secondly, other teams only follow me because they are told to do so by Ozpin-"
"Even some childish fool with a saviour and protagonist complex like Ruby Rose? An arrogant brat like Weiss Schnee? Faunus terrorist and supremacist like Blake Belladonna? Absolute bullies like Team CRDL? Dear, we were once students before and we all know what being forced to follow an unwanted leader feels like. You will always argue with them as an insubordinate member. Even if you follow their orders, you never carry them out wholeheartedly. Therefore, don't you find it strange that no one has ever opposed you so far, even though they are some of the most pain in the ass personnel in the world?"
"No! It is simply false. Stop messing with me! And how the hell do you know my friends and what I did in school?"
Ermengarda's evil smile became even more uncanny, "Oh my sweet little boy~ How ignorant~ We have eyes in Beacon Academy and we receive reports every weekend. We know all you friends, academic score, combat performance, timetable and recreational activities. Your actions demonstrate facts, and facts don't care about your feelings. There is no shame in accepting the truth. You have a good heart, dear. There is nothing wrong about being an populist authoritarian and strategic mastermind. All you have to do is to use this power to do good and be a righteous person of a bigger picture that we always teach you. If you can't even handle your true self, how can you handle all the truth beyond it? Knowing one's self is the beginning of every great man. Yet, you already falter miserably at the first step."
"Then tell me your so-called truth!"
"You will know it in no time but we can spare you one before the dinner - we are never Huntsman, nor are any of your ancestors."
"How?... Why? It… It can be…". Jaune's brain just instantly stopped upon hearing this and suffered a temporary mental breakdown. Beyond devastated, Jaune could barely mumble words. After a few seconds of silent, his system restarted and exploded like a volcanic eruption, "You all fucking lied to me for all these 18 years!"
Ludovicus wanted to intervene and defuse the tension but his wife just gave him a death glare, shut him up instantly.
Don't you dare play the nice guy here, I ain't the villain.
…Yea… sure…
With a satisfied smirk, Ermengarda continued, "Yes, we did. We are not proud of it. Yet, it is totally necessary."
"Necessary? How the fuck is lying to your son necessary!? What can you possibly gain from deceiving me with all these false family glory and deeds? Is it all a sick joke?"
"They are not entirely fictional. In fact, they are actually half truth with fancy rhetoric. I hope you understand. During the upcoming dinner, you will know why this painful process is necessary. Please, just wait for a few more moments, for your own sake and the future of Remnant."
"You and the entire Remnant and kiss my sweet ass goodbye. I am done with this bullshit family. Fuck this dinner and fuck you all!", Jaune furiously shouted as he was going to press a random elevator floor button just to leave this confined space of toxic atmosphere as soon as possible. He never wanted to see his deceiving parents again. Yet, his hand was stopped in the mid air by his twin sister Ioanna's bone crushing death grip, completely contrasted to her following gentle tone, "Calm down, big bro. There is no need to be angry."
"Calm down?! How can you calm down after hearing all this? Don't tell me you actually agree with them!"
"Maybe if you didn't abandon me 4 years ago for your stupid Huntsman dreams Just be a little more patient, trust your parents and enroll in university with me per Arcensis family protocol, you will already know the truth and we wouldn't have an awkward family drama like this. This is all your selfish fault! You and I can achieve so much together. The world is ours yet you just let it slip away from your fingers like a bloody wanker!"
With that said, the entire group went quiet. Jaune was absolutely stunned by his twin sister's sudden outburst. He felt sincere guilt. Ever since childhood, Ioanna was literally inseparable with him. Apart from studying and history research, the clingy sister would spend all her time with Jaune like no tomorrow. He remembered that he actually promised Ioanna:
I will follow you to the setting of the sun and assist you whatever I can. I promise. An Arcensis never goes back on his word.
While Jaune technically did not break words since the oath did not contain "accompany her into university", his hot-headed teenage adrenaline of applying to Beacon Academy did severely damage the "unwavering companion until the end" expectation. Jaune felt extremely ashamed and disappointed at his selfish behavior for chasing his selfish dream. Had he ever considered the feelings of his sisters and parents regarding him running off without a word. In the end, he was just another self-centered prick like any ordinary cliché anime protagonist. Everyone cares for him but he never lives for them. Jaune's wrath regarding his family quickly vanished into honest self reflection. Suddenly, a certain remark from Ioanna caught Jaune's attention.
'Just be a little more patient, trust your parents and enroll in university with me per Arcensis family protocol, you will already know the truth'... does it mean that they always have some kind of super grand family plans all along and only decided to reveal it when the time is right. Yet, my unexpected runaway coincidentally missed their long planned revelation. Is that what she meant?...
With that thought in mind, the remaining long ride continued in complete awkward silence even till they finally reached the designated floor. The group walked through a long light and clean hallway which gave Jaune a serious vibe of the Umbrella USA's NEST underground laboratory complex in Resident Evil 2 Remake. Jaune finally broke the silence by asking stiffly, "Em… Have you all been here before?"
"Far too many times, so as Desiderata and Hildegarda. We have visited here every weekend since we enrolled into university. Your rebellious act of applying Beacon has delayed this grand tour for 4 years. We originally planned to give you a quick tour of this gargantuan subterranean secret military-civic base - Castellum Langobardia before the dinner. However, we are a little bit behind schedule so we will just skip to the Teleportarium. We are using the VIP one instead of the gigantic normal one on the Terminal floor in order to save time and energy. That tour can be rearranged for another time."
The group eventually reached a room with a strange huge sci-fi industrial looking electronic personnel device with countless electronic wires, dust pipeline and Tesla coil. The entire room was filled with high-voltage, low-current, high-frequency purple-blue lighting which kept erupting from the electrical resonant transformer circuits with ear buzzing electrical sound. The room and the shape of the machine greatly resembled the Matter Transference Device (MTD) from Call of Duty: Black Ops's Zombie map Der Riese and Kino der Toten. Despite looking uncanny and eldritch. Jaune could not help but feel a strange but holy and sacred energy that he could not describe, particularly with the beautiful religious mosaics, frescoes, calligraphic decoration that he had never seen before. This small single room was just so gorgeous that put the entire Coamceuvensis Triumphans and Beacon Academy to shame. Jaune also noticed it had a huge platinum Broken Crescent which looked completely the same as Sichelgaita's pendant. As the young man looked around, there were no ordinary scientists or technicians. Instead, the room was filled with Roman Catholic looking clergies with albs, stoles and biretta. One particular wore the stole around his neck, resembling a priest. Meanwhile, all the others placed the stole over their left shoulder and hung across to their right side, resembling deacons. There were also additional monks who wore simple tunic/hooded scapular. They all surrounded the strange looking but sacred device, singing powerful Gregorian chants and Latin hymns. They blessed the machine with holy water and burned incense in the swing thurible. Ignited candles were all over the room. The ritual was truly breathtaking. Jaune's admiration of the scenery was suddenly interrupted as his parents, sister and Sichelgaita all knelt down before the huge 3m tall premium Broken Crescent standard and started praying:
"Father, maker of all things, you have given us the talents to design many machines.
Help us to use this Teleportarium in our travels.
May we bring you greater glory by all our actions, and work to build your kingdom on Remnant.
Holy Lunar God, we ask this prayer through the iron will of Humanity.
Amen."
Jaune awkwardly stood silently and watched them finish the prayer by blessing themselves with a gesture resembling the Catholic sign of the cross. He then asked, "So… you guys keep saying this 'Teleportarium' thing. Is it some kind of teleportation device?"
Jaune's dad Ludovicus answered happily, "You are absolutely correct! Smart as always, that's my son! Teleportarium is a sacred device powered by Magic, wisdom of the Lunar God, willpower of Humanity and advanced technology. It moves a person or object instantaneously from one point in space-time to another, completely bypassing the intervening distance. Teleportation across extremely large distances is impossible. The most we can do is to teleport from Remnant to the Broken Crescent. Since each teleportation requires a large amount of resources and the capacity is still rather low compared to regular spaceships, most of our transportation is still done by the latter, except the VIPs like us of course."
"I see… Wait… Wait… Wait! What?! You guys go to the Shattered Moon?! Are you kidding me?! Even Atlas, the Kingdom with the most advanced technology, has not yet landed on it! How the hell can you guys manage to do it? Is it just a prank? Also what on Remnant is that 'Magic' thing? It does not exist… right? Right?!". Jaune was always ready to take up new challenges but insane shit like this was where he drew the line.
Jaune's mother just smirked evilly, "Oh dear, we are not kidding. Magic does exist and it is more real than ever. Now, hold your jaw.".
She finished her sentence by forcefully pushed Jaune into the Teleportarium. With marvellous mother-daughter chemistry, Ioanna was already waiting inside. She caught her twin brother from behind and tightly death locked him into an unbreakable full nelson, making any escape futile. She laughed playfully, "Don't worry big bro~ I am sure you will love this motion sickness-free ride~"
"Wait! Wait Wait! Where are you guys taking me?!", the poor young man just screamed for help like a ritual sacrifice as all his companions positioned themselves inside the Teleportarium. Sichelgaita cupped Jaune's horrified face with her hardened but strangely comforting left hand to comfort him and answered softly, "Your true home.". With that said, the warmth left as Sichelgaita turned her back on him to face the entrance.
The next thing Jaune saw was an eye burning waves of purple-blue lightning and then an endless void of an infinite rotating wormhole of the same colour - a chaotic immaterial universe filled with endless ear bleeding electronic buzzing and the mind flaying deep mumblings from the dark corners of the universe…
Author's Note
Ioanna Arcensis's presentation is originally based on my university's Medieval history course final term paper titled "Roman Cultural Transformation: The Post-Roman World of Germanic Barbarians And Arab Muslims". It is a slightly modified version with additional sentences and words. If I remember correctly, the original one received an A grade from the professor. The content and historical accuracy are thus guaranteed.