Ch. 60 Dialogues in the shadows
"Mister Arc, thank you for coming. And thank you for your discretion." said general Ironwood in a calm and measured tone.
"I hope you realise I won't hide our conversation from Ruby." said Jaune as he took a seat opposite Ironwood.
"Of course, your wife simply has a fairly regular schedule and her absence from the labs would be more noticeable. Feel free to fill her in on our conversation later. Now onto the topic of our discussion." Ironwood slid a file across his desk and Jaune opened it to flip through its pages.
"Your people work fast, general." noted Jaune as he looked at the various projects set on replicating their success with Weisses leg.
"...fast they may be, successes however are few…"
"I see, how many are deemed a success?"
"Three, two partial and only one true success."
"I see, what were the differences between these?"
"The inscriptions…"
Jaune paused. The inscriptions were an addition not present on Lunatum Cor Rosae and as such were a bit of a shot in the dark.
"I can tell you're surprised, mister Arc."
"...yeah, that was… I didn't think it would actually work."
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you come up with the idea?"
Jaune felt a slight panic come over him before pausing in contemplation. They were preparing for the conversation for days now and there was no real reason to delay it.
"Perhaps it's time I explained a few things, general… I… We've had our suspicions about how much Ozpin shared with you, after all you seemed fairly close during your interactions in Beacon, but…" Jaune took a deep breath. He was dreading this conversation ever since they arrived in Atlas and knowing Ruby wasn't here with him wasn't helping.
"I hope Ruby will forgive me for not being involved in explaining… As you may know, my semblance is… special. The minutiae are unimportant, but the core function relevant to this discussion is my Aura capacity.
When I had my Aura unlocked I was told I had the Arc genes to thank for my above average capacity… When I unlocked my semblance I did so by binding Atra Aurora, my first successful creation, directly to my Aura. I poured all of my soul and Aura into that weapon, effectively doubling my capacity as the sword now acted as an extension of my soul. During my time at Beacon I reached a point where I could under the right circumstances… well ignite my Aura, for the lack of better words."
Jaune smiled a little while remembering his time at Beacon and the circumstances under which he first discovered it. His face then darkened as he recalled his first real interaction with professor Ozpin during the following detention.
"That is when the nightmares started. They were infrequent and I wrote them off at the time, taking no notice of them. But as my Aura capacity grew, so did the clarity and frequency. Those nightmares foresaw the fall of Amity, the death of Penny, and the battle of Beacon. Not in any specific capacity mind you. With every nightmare I took steps to make sure those specific events didn't come to pass. It was subconscious and unintentional at first, but as the tournament started I became… obsessive and paranoid."
Ironwood frowned a little. It wouldn't be inaccurate to call himself the same at the time, though as they say, it's only paranoia if there are no enemies.
"Once Beacon fell my dreams became even more erratic, though it is impossible to tell how much of that was the result of trauma. I then left Beacon and returned to the workshop where I first learned my trade. The nightmares subsided and I had a new goal in mind - reforging Crescent Rose. In the process my Aura grew further and I estimate it may have doubled from what it was during the battle for Beacon.
I didn't return to Beacon after that, but I did come across a peculiar individual. Someone who provided more context for both Beacon and now I believe he gave me pieces of the puzzle that are my dreams. You see, Keel spoke of a few things that cast Remnant in a new light. The gods, his magnum opus, the existence of immortals and his own curse of immortality, and one specific man he called the wizard in his tower and later the Infinite Man."
It was at this point that Jaune noticed the general was at the edge of his seat, one hand on top of his holstered gun, wound up like a snake ready to attack. That was an answer in its own right though he didn't like having their suspicions confirmed.
"I see you're familiar with the moniker. We speculated on who he may be referring to by the title of wizard, and came to the conclusion of it being headmaster Ozpin, with Beacon being his tower. Of course that would mean Ozpin's death was… temporary. But I digress… Keel's help within the Forever Fall forest was what kept us alive. His involvement is also the answer you sought from us upon our arrival here…
I believed this chapter to be closed. While it was possible Ozpin would resurface, we had no reason to believe he'd share his secrets with us and with me away from the place of nightmares and trauma I thought no more dreams would drive my actions."
Jaune closed his eyes and scrunched his face before continuing.
"I was wrong. The night we arrived in Atlas the dreams returned. I realised however they were different. Where Beacon was a forewarning of what fate had in store for us, these dreams showed off other things. Stories of powerful men and their ingenious creations. I thought at first they were unconnected to each other, but that is not the case. I have reason to believe that these powerful men of ages past were in fact a single man. One that doesn't simply disappear upon death. Ozmond, Ozislav, Ozric, Ozimír, Oztek, and many more men who despite having names that didn't immediately lend themselves to the nickname called themselves Oz.
More pertinent to your initial question however was the instrument they all used in their grand displays of creation. An ornate golden staff covered in script."
The general was now standing gun in hand. His face hardened, Mettle in full effect as he pointed the gun at the teenager's head. Jaune didn't even need to open his eyes to feel the weapon pointed at him.
"...Ruby was certain this would be your reaction when we eventually told you. I wanted to think you a better man but I suppose better men than you had to make hard choices too. I would appreciate it if you could avoid doing anything rash."
"I would advise the same. Miss Arc-Rose is being arrested as we speak…"
Before the general could continue speaking a laugh escaped Jaune's mouth.
"You just made me lose a bet, general. Now I owe my wife a batch of chocolate chip cookies." Jaune opened his eyes and the mirth disappeared from his face. "You are lucky that Ruby expected this to happen, otherwise ordering her arrest may have very well been the last thing you did in your life."
Jaune's Aura ignited as he stood, the barrel of the white revolver now pushed against his forehead.
"You've clearly not been listening very well. There is no man or weapon in this building powerful enough to stand between me and my wife. And pointing your gun at me is little more than a pointless act of aggression."
Jaune gripped the edge of Ironwood's metal desk and it creaked underneath his fingers.
"We are not enemies for the moment. I don't particularly care for what you're hiding but so long as it invades my dreams…"
He didn't get to continue the sentence as the door to Ironwood's office opened and Ruby walked in flanked by three specialists. She was smiling despite the fact that her hands were bound behind her back.
Jaune's demeanour immediately softened and his Aura calmed down from the raging white flames to a subdued, yet visible glow. As he went to kiss her on the forehead, he decided to pointedly ignore the specialists for now.
"Told you so…" Ruby whispered conspiratorially.
"Yes, yes, you will get your prize later."
While the two ignored the armed forces around them, Ironwood frowned before addressing the specialists.
"Good work specialists. Clover, would you kindly remove miss Arc-Rose's handcuffs. It would seem I was too hasty in my actions."
When Clover did so, the general motioned the specialists out of the room, much to their confusion. While Jaune glared at them with barely contained irritation, Ruby called out to them "And make sure nobody touches my work. Jaune, I almost got the turbine to work!" Jaune couldn't help but to return her beaming smile.
As the door closed Ironwood turned to address them, but instead caught Ruby motioning to where she would normally affix her scythe. Jaune grinned with glee as he turned to Ironwood and slowly enunciated "Lunatum Cor Rosae"
Ironwood watched as Jaune handed the warscythe back to Ruby and waited for the specialists to come running back in.
"Sir, her weapon just… disa…peared…" the panic in Marrow's voice was quickly replaced by confusion.
"Never truly unarmed…" Jaune addressed the dog faunus specialist with a smile and glanced down to the floor.
Hit with the memory of when he first saw Arc's semblance in action, Ironwood looked down at Ruby's feet and facepalmed. She was wearing those same red converse shoes.
=O=O=O=
Cultri Pedum make their return! Also if you're wondering why the chapter name doesn't quite correspond with the narrative, time constraints are the answer. Didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to. I was already behind and then some stuff happened in my personal life (all good things I assure you).
Either way it does mean that some of what was meant for this chapter will make it's way into a different one later on, namely White Fang in Menagerie will happen soon-ish.
This is probably going to end up as one of the shortest chapters so I may prep one of the one-shots for later in the week if time permits. Speaking of one-shots there is now one available for supporters, so if you want to support me you can do so on P a treon . com (slash) OlympianScribe
And shout-out to j hudey thanks for the support.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter: Ch.61 Tribunal