Jaune Arc: Vampire Hunter

Chapter 2: The Call of the night

It was not everyday that Ozpin got to investigate something beyond his understanding, it was quite thrilling. He had lived for so long that he had seen most of what the world of Remnant had to offer but the supernatural was another story entirely, the world of spirits was always changing and with time it became completely unrecognizable from what it once was.

But one constant remained and it was that it always bled too much, Glynda covered her nose as they inspected the fallen creature its body a mess of muscle and blood "Not something you see everyday"

"Headmaster, what is this?" Glynda asked genuinely surprised at the thing that rested on the table "I would say it's a demon, but I never dwelt too much in the studies of the supernatural. Bad for the soul, I would think our mysterious blonde lady knows more at the moment" Glynda pulled up her scroll "Julia Arc, Jaune's twin. Top of her class and according to previous teachers due to her physical abilities she was the most likely twin to become a hunter."

Ozpin hummed "But she didn't even apply" Glynda shook her head "As soon as she finished her basic studies she disappeared from record. She was not reported missing… just like Jaune."

"Both parents knew of their whereabouts, Nicholas and Amanda are both skilled hunters, but Nicholas was never one for subtlety I spotted him spying on his son's initiation. As for Julia… I don't know, never had the pleasure of meeting her. I think it's time to change that" Ozpin pressed a button as the creature was lowered into a tomb like cell. One could never be too sure about this type of things and creatures, reaching for his coffee he began to walk towards the infirmary.

Glynda followed closely behind as she typed away in her notepad "The damage to infirmary was not as severe as I first thought, seems like we only need to replace the doors and a few machines. And thank the stars no one was injured further, but there are a few students that might need psychiatric help" the headmaster nodded sadly, it was to be expected when faced with something outside of the understanding of mortals.

"I am telling you I am fine" the voice of one of the most… interesting students Glynda had this year reached them as they entered the infirmary proper, they saw how one of the nurses bandaged Jaune's hand while a doctor applied disinfectant on Julia's wound. The sister seemed to be amused at her brother "Don't be a baby, you have no one to blame but yourself"

Jaune seemed to grumble at that as he looked down at his hand "Using that whip is a lot more difficult than Crocea Mors" Julia hummed but said nothing as the headmaster approached them "Hello, I would like to start by thanking both of you, you saved the lives of students and my staff and for that I cannot thank you enough."

Glynda nodded as well as Jane chuckled nervously "I honestly didn't do all that much, just whipped the thing. It was Julia that did most of the work" the twin glared at him but said nothing else. A small nod followed as the headmasters eyes landed on Julia "I know Jaune he is my student after all but I don't think I had the pleasure of talking to you, Julia Arc correct?"

"Julia Belmont. I use my mother's ancestral last name now" she said as she internally smiled at the little act of defiance against her father, Jaune for his part rolled his eyes at her. Ozpin simply nodded "Of course, now I would like to know how exactly you managed to beat an invisible demon. I watched the footage and at first it seemed that the air was strangling the life out of Julia and then it materialized."

Julia waited for Jaune to speak as the blonde touched the whip on his hip "It was this weapon, as soon as it struck the demon it just… appeared out of nowhere!"-"Not a demon, it was curse" Julia said as she rubbed the spot where she had been grabbed by the many armed monster.

"Curses can take forms?" Glynda asked as Julia nodded and brought her book "Yes, according to this book I found Demons are larger and faster this thing seems to have been left behind by Death as a little gift" to who she could not tell, Ozpin was a powerful figure here in Vale but Jaune had the blood of a Belmont, at the end of the day it really didn't matter. Death had cared enough to leave a ticking time in the unconscious bodies of those he had brushed aside like flies. She could only thank God that there was a teleport spell on the old book or she would have never gotten here in time. She had been on the other side of the continent for crying out loud!

Ozpin nodded and then looked at Jaune "Mr. Arc is everything ok? Any other wounds?" the blonde boy shook his head. Glynda was about to say something but Ozpin quickly interjected "Then you are free to go, I know that your team and Ruby are worried about you"

"OH! I forgot about Ruby!" Jaune said as he stood up followed by his sister who glanced in the direction of Ozpin "You too are free to leave… but I would like to have a word with you later if you do not mind Miss. Belmont" Julia nodded and turned to stare at Jaune "Lead the way, we need to talk… but lets meet your friends baby brother"

Jaune frowned as he opened the door "You are minutes older than me"-"Hilarious right?"

The duo walked in silence for a couple of minutes as Jaune stopped in one of the empty hallways. Julia tilted her head confused about why he had stopped but found herself being embraced by her sibling "I'm glad you are safe" a soft smile reached her lips as Julia returned the embrace.

Ever since she was a child she had always hated how everyone looked down on Jaune, he was not weak nor a fool. He had a good soul and a large heart and that's why he always had the potential to be more than anyone from their family could even dream.

"I'm glad you're okay too."

The students of Beacon had become accustomed to the fact that their lives where a rollercoaster of emotions. From the highs of victory to the crushing defeat in exams and in combat but one thing that had remained the same for the past year was the lingering feeling that something was wrong, only reinforced by the fact that Death and a monster that possessed the wounded had managed to make their way inside the facility with ease.

Fear hung heavy on the air as the seniors had to fight an increasing number of Grimm that had appeared in the Emerald forest, this an many more rumors circulated the dormitories as the students spoke in hushed whispers. Classes had been suspended for the day until further notice and the students could only sit there and wait to see what happened next, one such group of students had all gathered to discuss the situation.

Team RWBY's dorm was noisy as Ruby did her best to retell what she had seen "… and then Jaune was all like, run Ruby get the headmaster and I ran like crazy and talked to Ozpin and then he and Miss. Goodwitch swooped down to the infirmary but when they got there Jaune had already killed the thing!"

Nora clapped as Ren looked pleased at the result, Pyrrah for her part was worried. Weiss was the only one that seemed to be surprised "Really, all on his own?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as Yang chuckled "Oh come on, Vomit Boy has improved a lot! I bet he whipped that things butt no sweat."

Ruby blinked as she remembered another "We were saved by this girl, she threw fire at everyone but didn't burn them and then she got attacked by the invisible monster, she and Jaune seemed to know each other" this made everyone give her a look "A mysterious savior now that is interesting" Blake said as she closed her book, at least the crisis here in Beacon had been resolved for the moment.

Her grandfather was only a child when the dark lord returned to the world but being a faunus with excellent memory he remembered, he had hardly spoken about them to her. Probably to spare her of the imagery but she sometimes caught some of what he said to her mother by accident, how those terrible days had been. The minions of the Dark Lord ravaged the countryside as they slaughtered both man and Grimm alike and then as quickly as they had arrived the castle crumbled into dust and the skies had cleared the enslaved faunus returned to their villages changed.

Their flesh torn and a delirious smile on their face, they said that they had evolved but those deliriums seemed to have faded as time went on and they all made a promise to never speak of those days again. "Yeah, it was…" the door opened as in walked the man of the hour who smiled at Ruby.

"Figured you would all be here, thanks Ruby" the blonde boy said as Nora threw herself at him "Fearless leader!" she crushed him in a massive hug that Blake swore she heard a rib or two crack under the pressure. Ren placed a hand on her shoulder "Let go of Jaune Nora, I think he is already blue in the face"

The girl chuckled "Nuh uh he defeated a monster, we have to celebrate!" Pyrrah was going to say something but to their surprise a figure had sneaked her way inside and was staring at the scene with some amusement. Pale skin, blonde hair and clear blue eyes, she was the girl that Ruby had spoken about.

"When the heck did you get in here?!" Weiss shouted alarmed at the stranger in her room, Julia pointed at Jaune "When all of you where distracted by my brothers shenanigans, sorry I felt awkward standing in the hallway" this made Yang move from her spot as she looked at the taller girl up and down "Hey Jaune how come you got all the worst genes" Jaune was finally released from his doom as Ren had to pull Nora away with promises of food, before he could crash to the ground Pyrrah moved to catch him, stabilizing himself he managed to glare at Yang "I am… taller…"

Ruby zipped past them as she hugged Jaune "You're ok! I mean the headmaster said that you guys had won but there was a fire andohmygodisthatyoursisterwhatsgoingonwhyarewebeingattackedbymonsters!" Julia blinked in surprise, she did not understand any of that. Jaune on the other hand seemed to be doing just fine as he patted her on the back and shrugged "I mean I am little beat up but other than that I think Julia got the worst of it, oh and everyone this is Julia my twin sister"

"You have a twin?" Weiss questioned. Julia simply waved at them "Nice to meet you all, I know you must have a lot of questions for Jaune but I need to borrow him for a moment now that you have seen that he is fine"

Serious, that was the first impression both teams got from the older sibling Jaune looked confused but gave her a thumbs up as he opened the door and lead the way to his own room Julia reached for the book on her hip and began to look for a specific entry "Is everything okay Julia?"

"There once was a great vampire named Walter Bernhard, the creature could not be hurt by any conventional weapons" Julia began to read as Jaune looked at her with confusion "A great sacrifice was made and born from loss a weapon like no other was forged. The Vampire Killer, a whip to drive the darkness back to the abyss but beware he who does not have the blood of a Belmont will have their life force consumed by the powerful weapon." She closed the book and then looked at the weapon on Jaunes hip "Do you know what that means Jaune?"

The blonde boy shook his head as his sister elaborated "The Belmont family has not been the only ones to have used the weapon, the Morris clan and other from what I read have all used the weapon but their strength faded the more they used it, they died a husk of what they once where because the Belmont family abandoned their duty" Jaune looked down at the weapon and put it on his palm.

It wasn't hurting him but it did make his aura feel weird "What do you mean they abandoned their duty? Mom said that grampa was a good man" Julia shook her head "Grandpa was, his big brother not so much. When the world fell into disarray one hundred years ago he was the oldest Belmont alive but instead of facing the darkness he ran away and handed the responsibility to the Morris family the only reason we know the whip hurts others is because grampa was gifted the whip by the clan after they defeated the darkness… it was their last act on this earth"

Jaune looked at his sister and then back at the whip "How did you even find this thing?"

"There is a castle owned by our family, its in one of the islands far away from here. It had everything, mom told me where it was after my fight with dad… it was all as God intended" she said as Jaune made a face, Julia was never a religious gal. what was going on here?

The smaller blonde looked at the room and the back at Jaune "You have a nice place Jaune and your friends look like decent people. I am sorry but we have to leave" Jaune looked at her sister as if she had gone insane "What?! Julia I can't just leave! I am in the middle of a semester and with the tournament coming up I cant just…"-"There wont be any semester left if we do not stop what's coming Jaune! We are the last ones that have the tools to stop the Vampire Lord!"

"We?! Julia we barely survived something that you said that DEATH itself left behind as a joke!" Jaune yelled as his sister did not seem to be bothered by that "We can train, we can be ready"

Jaune lowered his voice "Its my dream Julia… all I ever wanted to be and you want me to throw it away?"-"What's a dream compared to the weight of destiny? But I wouldn't go as far as to say that you have to throw it away" Julia placed a hand on his shoulder "There is a way but you would need to speak with this Ozpin fellow" Jaune looked at her in surprise "Y-yeah, I can do that… Julia what is this darkness, why don't you tell me its name"

Julia frowned "Names have power Jaune and this one is best left forgotten. But we are going to have to face him so… I suppose its better if you know. From a place beyond our time and space Dracula, lord of the night, is returning and with him horrors that no mortal should lay his eyes on"

In chaos there is nothing and yet everything at the same time. At the vortex of it all a large structure began to form from nothing, intricate rooms reshaped themselves and the creatures of the abyss all roared as their souls where once more given flesh, the clocktower formed and the clock began to count the days left for the end of mankind.

A large red carpet led to a throne room and a cup of red wine was filled to the brim.

A/N: Thank you for reading!