Disclaimer: Don't own RWBY, I just like Sandboxes and throwing sand at people.

Chapter Eleven: Acheron's Secret

Ozpin sighed again, lifting his mug to his lips and exhaling a sigh of relief as the bitter liquid hit the back of his throat. It didn't matter how many lives the man had endured, it was moments like this he could always cherish. Just himself and a mug of his favorite beverage. The world could be burning outside his very window and it likely was but this was one moment that he could truly count being lost to time. Another sigh was freed from the man's lips, but this time it seemed to be filled with regret and sadness rather than relief. Did Excalibur's recent resurgence cause Acheron's memories to become prevalent in his mind? Of all the countless lives he'd endured, Acheron was the one that he recalled the least, for, despite being one of the lives most costly associated with his time with Excalibur it was also one of the shortest in terms of length.

Ozpin slowly moved across the ground back toward the cabinet he'd been leaning on and pressed a lone finger to the knob, he didn't even wince as the blood secreted from his finger and encompassed the locking mechanism. A small click indicated the process had been successful and a moment later, the doors slowly opened to reveal the contents that Ozpin had hidden inside. The objects looked ordinary enough and to the outside eye they probably wouldn't mean a thing. Ozpin's eyes, though, they flashed with recognition at the sight of the small dagger and a gleaming silver ring.

A sigh fell from the aged man's lips, "Where did it all go wrong, Llacheu?"

"C'mon Ach!"

"You're going too fast! L'lac!"

A blond boy was running across the field, laughing happily as the dark-haired boy rushed up, hot on his heels...though, the second boy looked far more exhausted than the first, "You'll never be worthy of the Knights if you can't even run at my pace, little brother!"

Despite the exclamation, Llacheu slowed so that the younger boy might join him where he was standing. Laughing at his little brother's pout, Llacheu reached over and ruffled the boy's hair, "Don't worry about it, Ach. I'm sure they'll need someone to clean the stables or something!"

There's another laugh that passes from the older boy's lips and the younger just shook his head mumbling something under his breath. There was a tense silence for a moment, then the two boys shared a laugh and continued on their way, not noticing the two men watching them rather closely from the hill-top.

"They are growing quickly, Arthur."

"Too quickly," the second man agreed, "Far too soon, the time to hand Excalibur to one of them will be upon us. That alone shall be the ultimate test of the bond they share as brothers and friends. My only hope is that no matter my decision they do not lose themselves to jealousy."

"Is there even a choice, milord? Surely as the blood heir it should be Llacheu who inherits the sword and be named hero of the realm like you are."

"Unfortunately, the decision is not such an easy one to make, Lancelot. I must do what is right for not only our realm but I am also deciding the best course of action for the future of that realm as well. I have struggled my entire life with a duty tied to both crown and sword..."

"A weight I'm sure that Llacheu would carry proudly, my King."

"As I am sure he would as well, but am I to leave Acheron with absolutely no inheritance merely because he's an adopted son? I have no desire to leave my youngest with nothing. Adopted or not, he's just as much my son as Llacheu is, no matter what anyone else in the Kingdom might think."

Lancelot sighed, "That heart of yours is going to be what gets you killed someday, my friend, you're so unwilling to hurt anyone else that the only one who ends up with the pain in the end is you."

"A burden that I have come to accept over these many long years, old friend."

Ozpin sighed, gripping the dagger in his hand a little tighter, his fist trembling around the handle he had a grip on. That had been the end of the lighter years. The end of his childhood. A month later, Llacheu had been announced as King, the coronation was held...and everyone was in celebration as Arthurian Arc stepped down from his role as King...the only problem with that was when Llacheu turned around expecting to be handed Excalibur by his father... he was met with only a smile and an explanation that Arthur wasn't quite ready to let go of Excalibur just yet.

Ozpin hadn't known it at the time, but Arthur had only told his eldest son this to bide some time and would entrust the role of protector of the realms to Acheron, thinking that one child having the crown and the other possessing Excalibur would cease any possible fights and that the two could work harmoniously together as they had all the way through their childhoods and right up into their adult lives. Llacheu had already married Princess Isode and were on track to have a happy life together.

But right from the time he was a teenager, something had been different for Acheron and if Arthur didn't know better, he'd have thought that his son was two people sharing the same body. The way that he seemed to be able to have knowledge only possessed by an extremely select few, or the mystical energies he could utilize in a way that almost rivaled Camelot's oldest wizard in Merlin... It was all a little uncanny.

Arthur's thought that his son's would be able to get along with one inheritance each, however, did not come to pass. While Acheron was content to not receive the title of King as he had never wanted that role for himself, Llacheu was furious that he had not been chosen as protector of the realm and the new wielder of Excalibur. It would lead to Arthurian Arc's murder at the hands of his own blood. He and the remaining members of the Knights of the Round Table were all slaughtered in one fell swoop by the mad king. Not even Merlin and his apprentices had been able to bring him down.

Only Acheron and Excalibur together had the power to bring down Llacheu. Ozpin remembered it as one of the most painful battles he'd ever had to endure across multiple lifespans. There was so much love, loss, friendship, brotherhood, hatred, anger and emotion embroiled into that one struggle and if it were not for the curse the brother's had placed on him...Ozpin was sure that all the different situations he was dealing with during that time would've brought about the end of his life. It was after that day that Ozpin and by extension, Acheron had realized that humanity could not be trusted with the power of Excalibur and thus split the weapon into seven pieces.

Ozpin rubbed at his temples, slowly returning the dagger and ring to the inside of the cabinet. The moment he'd closed it, the blood ward kicked into gear and a small 'click' indicated that the two weapons were hidden behind the seal once more. How long had he carried these secrets? More than he cared to remember, really in those days, the tradition to name children after colors had not been too popular during that era, or it was just an effect of that place specifically. It was also the life that he had the least interaction with her. Ozpin had been constantly looking over his shoulder yet his enemy had never made herself known. He knew she was still out there, yet she hadn't intervened.

One thing was for sure, Ozpin needed to make sure that she never learned of Acheron's secret. He'd barely retaken his seat when he heard a soft ringing drifting through the entirety of his office, signalling that someone had just rung the door-bell.

"Enter," Ozpin answered calmly.

The door to his office slipped open and the aged Professor Port entered the room. Ozpin nodded once, "Good evening, Peter."

"Good Evening Headmaster," Port said, entering the room fully and he approached Ozpin's desk, "I have handled the task you gave, I doubt we'll be dealing with anything from that hoarde for a while in the very least."

"Very good," Ozpin acknowledged, the mug in his hands being raised back to his lips for the aged man to take another sip from the depths.

"I always found it weird how much of that stuff you drink if you don't mind me saying so."

Ozpin grinned down at the cup in his hand, a memory of a long time since passed. It reminded him of a faraway place that he could never quite let go of, a memory of his first discovery of the liquid many centuries prior had a smile cross his face, but he simply nodded to Port and a shrug followed along with the words, "It's just...I never want to miss how beautiful it is."

Peter Port laughed openly at this, "You remind me of one of my students!"

"Oh, really now?"

"Mr. Arc is almost as fond of that stuff as you are."

It might've been a trick of the light, but Port could've sworn he saw the smallest of smiles quirk up on the lips of the headmaster, but as soon as he got a chance for a proper look the smile was gone again. He did see instead the elder man's mug rise to his lips again as he inhaled yet another gulp of the coffee he enjoyed so much.

"How strange," Ozpin observed, 'must be a family trait after all.'

"Coffeee~"

"We get it, ladykiller."

Another day at Beacon had begun for Team ABYN, and this day began much the same as all others did, complaints from one Jaune Arc, Leader of ABYN, who was yet to consume his daily morning coffee. This ultimately led to another layer of frustration from the still tired young man who was becoming more irritable with each passing moment that didn't include said beverage in front of him. Eventually, and painfully in Yang's opinion, they got through both Jaune's whining and the space between the dorms and the cafeteria. Jaune sprinted ahead to claim his prize and this was followed by another sigh from the Brawler.

"We'd better get him some food when we grab ours," she bemoaned, "I've dealt with complaints about coffee all morning and I'm not about to go until lunch hearing about the fact he didn't think to eat anything at breakfast."

There's a light laugh exchanged between the three girls and they follow after Jaune at a much more relaxed pace. After collecting his coffee, Jaune paused about half-way towards the table that Teams ABYN and LVWR had chosen as theirs. His eyes widened with horror as the realization of what he'd done finally came crashing against him. He'd been so focused on obtaining coffee that he'd neglected to get any food while he was at the counter. He really was not a morning person and it was damn well showing in the worst possible way. What an idiot! Did he have enough time to get back in line and eat without being late for his classes? He'd barely taken a step back when he felt a tray being shoved into him. Jaune's eyes widened to meet the playfully exasperated face of Yang Xiao Long, the person whom had just thrust the tray into his hands.

"Thanks," he vocalized, a nod following his words.

"Don't mention it," Yang told him, "C'mon we'd better go and join the others at the table. We're going to run out of time if we just stand around here."

Jaune nodded, making his way toward the table before Yang had even fully finished her sentence. She chuckled at the boy's departing form and shook her head at his antics. She turned her head to Pyrrha and Blake who were also sharing a similar expression to herself. Their leader's one-track mind when it came to coffee clearly a point of amusement for the three of them. Ren looked up from the teacup he had his focus on and gave Jaune a nod.

"Greetings, Jaune."

"Mornin' Ren, sleep okay?"

"It was pleasant enough, thank you, and yourself?"

"Weird, if I'm being honest with you."

"Weird? What makes you say that?"

Jaune sighed, he'd not brought up the previous night with any of his team-mates, yet, when Ren had asked it sort of came out and now everyone around their table was looking at Jaune expectantly as though waiting for him to elaborate.

"Just a dream I had," he said somewhat evasively. How much could he reveal without sounding completely insane? Acheron Arc? The hell was his brain doing to him right now. He sighed and turned back to Ren, "That's all."

"What happened in-" Ruby went to ask but she was immediately cut off by the cold voice of Weiss.

"I'm sure no one will care to hear about the dreams of a teenage boy, no doubt filled with tales of perversion and granduer."

Jaune sighed, no doubt he should've expected such a response from Weiss. His fist naturally clenched, his hand trembling slightly, "My ancestors weren't perverts obsessed with grandeur and even if they were I'd bet they were right in with your family. Aren't they the primary reason there's so much dissonance between humans and Faunus?"

"Oh snap!" Nora shouted loudly.

"You probably shouldn't say that about your team-mate," Ruby put in meekly, trying to keep the peace somewhat.

"So, this dream was about an Ancestor, then?" Ren asked, wanting to cut off any argument between the two teams before it even started. Brothers forbid Yang getting angry at Weiss again.

Jaune nodded, "Someone named Acheron."

"Acheron?" Pyrrha asked softly, "Well, the name sounds old enough to belong to someone's ancestor for sure. Perhaps if we have time between all the other things on our schedule we should do some research on him?"

"I'd like that," Jaune agreed quietly.

The conversation is interrupted by a laugh from Weiss, except it's not a happy one, it's harsh and condescending even, "Acheron? There's no way you're related to him in this or any other reality."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Well, it was a dream for one thing. Besides, the only Acheron I've ever heard of was an Athurian Prince who existed to the latter end of the sixth century and the thought of you coming from royalty is laughable."

"Well," Jaune said, pointedly talking over Weiss so that he didn't hear the end of her sentence, "Even if I'm not related to him, having a dream about him has to be significant, doesn't it? I'm going to research him either way."

After their breakfast was consumed, the two teams stood and exited the cafeteria, though Weiss, of course, made sure there was a wide berth between her and the rest of the group. Jaune's attention once again drifted back to the dream he'd just experienced the previous night. Acheron Arc had been the previous wielder of Excalibur. Yet, Weiss had just pinpointed him as someone who existed several centuries before the modern era. Was there a possibility that Acheron had wielded Excalibur before it was split into pieces?

Was that dream somehow linked to Crocea Mors and discovering a way to reclaim that strange power he'd wielded during the Emerald Forest? There'd been no clue of that, only that Acheron and his brother had argued about Excalibur and from that he had created the assumption that the two of them had gone on to fight over the sword. He was clueless on the result of that battle, he had a firm resolve, he would find out more about Acheron and the secrets he was hiding.

"Jaune? You've been staring at the classroom door for ten minutes," Pyrrha pointed out, "Class starts in two."

His eyes almost burst out of his skull and the Arc charged into the room as fast as he could. Yang and Pyrrha giggled at the sudden change and Blake gently shook her head though she was smiling whilst doing so as Jaune rushed toward his seat. The remaining members of ABYN ascended the steps then joined their leader at their desk. Jaune had his notebook open already and was scrawling down notes in as small handwriting as he could manage.

- Acheron Arc

- Excalibur

- Brother 'Name Pending'

- Late Sixth Century - Early Seventh? Time-Frame

- Athurian

- Royalty

If Acheron was truly an ancestor of his, then...how much of the family history had his father been concealing for all this time? Did anyone else know? Could he even prove that Acheron was an ancestor of his family? He couldn't really afford to be getting distracted right now, class was still important especially when he lacked in every aspect of huntsman life. His little side project about finding out more in regards to the man he'd dreamed about would have to be put on hold until a later moment in time. Blake kept a close eye on Jaune throughout the next few moments. She didn't say anything about it aloud, but the rapid obsession that seemed to be forming in her leader's mind surrounding thoughts of this mysterious Acheron figure was concerning to her.

She personally knew how damaging an obsession could be, her hand trembled hand slightly and she clenched her fist to stop it from shaking any further.

"Blakey?" Yang asked the other girl concernedly, "Are you alright?"

"Fine," she responded airily.

The conversation was effectively cut off before it could really get started. The door to the classroom had once again swept open and this time it brought with it a man who looked not too much older than any of the students in the room, if Jaune were to guess this man was roughly mid-twenties or late at the very most. He was a hazel-eyed man with long, dark hair that had been tied back into a warrior's wolf-tail using a hair-band that looked to be made out of chain-link. His outfit consisted of white trousers, black combat boots that came up to his knees and a black trench-coat over what looked like a metallic vest. Jaune thought its design was rather ornate for a Huntsman's armor, especially the small chain that dangled over the man's belt from the bottom of the metal of his vest.

"Welcome students to my class, now first off I'll have none of this Professor nonsense. I'm not all that much older than yourselvea and we're all Huntsman and Huntresses anyway so what's the poit in formalities, name's Desmond Quicksilver. You can call me any variation of the above."

"How unprofessional," Weiss muttered under her breath.

"What's unprofessional Miss Schnee is speaking so quietly about someone when they're in the room. If you're going to mutter about me, might I suggest you not be so obvious about it?" Jaune sees it, though it doesn't seem obvious at first, this Desmond...was exuding a smirk in his very demeanor yet his facial expression remained as impassive as it had been when he had entered the room, "I'll let you off with a warning this time, but insult me again and you'll face severe consequences, clear?"

"Y-yes."

"Good," Desmond confirmed, "Now that we're all on the same page, you must all be wondering what it is that I teach? I'm afraid that I must bore you, I'm here to teach you sorry lot about the magic of the English Language."

The room was so silent you could've heard a pin drop. Desmond let this continue for a moment longer then he burst out laughing, "You should see the looks on your faces, it's like someone murdered your pet or something! Don't worry I'm only joking!" He turned slightly then appeared at the other end of the black-board and every student in the room leaned forward in their seat slightly, hoping to get a better glimpse of their instructor.

"I'm a specialist in Assination Techniques," he explained, "and my course is likely one of the most useful you'll find in Beacon Academy."

"Assination Techniques?" Cardin called from the back of the classroom, "Isn't that just a fancy term for killing Grimm?"

Desmond's gaze shot up to this and another laugh left his lips, "Humans, Grimm, anything in-between. Assination is the art of killing entire hoardes of enemies without being detected even once before all enemies have been felled, but I'm not going to be teaching you lot Assassination techniques. I personally doubt anyone in this room could perform even the most basic of Assassination techniques.I was well into my years as a Hunter when I began my journey into these techniques."

"Then what will you be teaching us?"

"How to survive," Desmond answered Sky Lark seriously, "Not only from Grimm but also from other things you can expect to find out in the wilderness. Sure, you'll have the basic concepts from the time you spent being trained or during the time at the Huntsman academies but there's more to surviving the wilds then knowing how to sleep on the ground."

"What could be so difficult about camping?" Cardin continued.

"In theory, nothing," Desmond answered Cardin's question good-naturedly, "But it becomes much more complicated when hunting for food and supplies because you don't have anything except for the clothes on your back wouldn't you say?"

"I...I guess so."

Jaune couldn't wipe the smirk off his face. This guy had just put Weiss and Cardin in their place within five minutes of his first lesson and if that wasn't a sign of good things to come then he would accept that something was just criminally wrong with this world.

"For example," Desmond said, removing a small knife from the inside of his trench-coat. He held it to the light and the blade glinted, "This tiny little dagger has many applications for cutting and slicing, but not many people know that it can also be used for something else...could anyone here tell me what that might be?"

"A blade holds heat," Jaune observed, "One could use it to cauterize a wound with the right experience, or it could also be used to spearfish and collect fruit after being tied to a stick with rope or some strong, resistent vine and if you really wanted to stretch it, knives can also be used for scaling trees, though it's generally recommended to use two for this."

All around the room jaws were falling open one by one, Jaune, resident nobody of Beacon who was the lowest student, surely, in their year level, had finally displayed some semblance of knowledge in a topic related to huntsman life? It was purely unthinkable that he might be able to have such a moment. Desmond didn't seem to notice this however, for there was a smile on his face as he nodded and flipped the knife back into the scabbard concealed within his trench coat.

"Wonderful," he said appreciatively, "That's the sort of survival knowledge you're all going to need if you hope to survive out there. There's also certain patterns and such that you'll need to be aware of if you end up close to an encampment of Grimm. Camping near them is incredibly stupid and I would highly advise against doing so if you have literally any other choice. As huntsman and huntresses though, you're not going to always have the luxury of making that choice and I'm going to make sure that by the time you finish my course that you can, if forced, handle a night or two in such a place."

Desmond looked on at the varying expressions on the faces of his students. He was somewhat relieved to see their excitement. Camping and survival weren't exactly the most glamorous parts of the job and even though it was such a big part of missions, most people he'd been instructing just wanted to see and/or hear about his assassination techniques rather than being interested in what he had to teach. Problem with many students in Beacon he thought, was that they all assumed they had everything all figured out. This year's intake though, perhaps he could actually work with students like these.

"Right, well, here's the deal," Desmond said, as for way of breaking through the silence that had taken over the room upon him concluding his previous statement, "Over the course of the semester I'll teach you the things you need to know and right before semester ends, if your skills have improved to an acceptable level we'll celebrate both your improvement and getting through the first semester by having a trip of sorts into the wilderness, how does that sound?"

"Like you should start teaching!"

Desmond laughed, "I like your enthusiasm, Miss Valkyrie, then...let's get started."

The rest of the lesson passed without issue and furthermore, Jaune seemed entirely in his elemeent during the entire process. He answered questions, offered Desmond thoughts and the two ended up having a very in-depth discussion about the advantages of spear-hunting versus bow-hunting. By the time class came to an end, the Arc had a big smile on his face as the students exited the classroom and headed off for their next lesson.

Unfortunately, the rest of the day hadn't gone as well as Desmond's lesson had for Jaune. It had been an absolute disaster to put things gently and once the day had come to an end, the Arc couldn't help but feel happy that another one was out of the way. Now hr could look toward other things until he had to suffer through the exact same process come Monday morning. For now, he had the entire weekend to do research on Acheron and also to train with Blake, Yang and Pyrrha. That was also an anomaly in his life. Jaune really hadn't expected the traning to be as fun as it was and despite all three of his friends wiping the floor with him, Jaune had already began to notice small flashes of improvement by the end of their first session and it inspired him to get right back to doing the same thing so that he could improve some more.

He wanted to be up there at the level of the rest of his classmates and though he had much further to travel in order to get there, he was determined to one day walk alongside his peers and not miles behind them. He'd work towards it, never giving up on his goals for even a single moment. It didn't matter what Weiss, Cardin, his father or anyone else thought. Jaune Arc wanted to be a Huntsman and a Huntsman he would be.

"You alright, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, unknowingly interrupting the young man's musings.

"Yeah, Pyr. Sorry, just got a bit lost in thought that's all."

She nodded, accepting his explanation as they both turned their heads to the classroom door in time to see Yang and Blake walking out of the room. Yang was wearing the usual smile she had on her face, but Blake looked downright exhausted. Jaune couldn't tell what it was, but something about his dark-haired team-mate felt incredibly odd. He didn't know her well enough to press the matter though, so...as much as it bothered him, he accepted that he probably wouldn't tell him what was bothering her and decided it best not to pursue the matter any further.

"Are you in any rush to start research on Acheron?" Yang asked him.

"Sort of, but I can wait if there's something more important that's come up."

Yang pointedly looked at Jaune, then looked toward Blake and then without a second thought, she announced, "Blake's looking pretty tired, think you can carry her back to the dorm on your back like you did for me the other night?"

"Y-yang, that's hardly necessary," Blake tried, even as she grumbled, it was hard to miss the tiredness in the amber-eyed girl's voice, "I am perfectly capable of walking back to the dorm myself and if Jaune wants to go to the library to begin research on Acheron then I also have no issue with that."

Evidently, Yang and Pyrrha had already decided that they woud be having none of this and with their combined strength managed to put Blake on Jaune's back despite her protests. There was a moment of tense silence, then Blake leaned her cheek into the Arc's back and closed her eyes.

"Fine."

End Chapter