Percy yawned as he stretched himself out on Shiro's (well, technically his) couch. "So, when do I take the bullhead ride over?" Percy asked, glancing at the notes he had for the meeting once again. It was a scattered list of things — what not to bring up, what to bring up, what his backstory is, how he had the information he had — a variety of things Shiro had managed to painstakingly craft for him.

"Well," Shiro began. "The meeting is tomorrow night. I figured you'd fly out tonight, get settled in tomorrow morning and afternoon, and then head over that evening. They may need you to stay in Atlas for a few more nights to iron out some details, but you can worry about that after, I've reserved you the hotel room for the month, though if things go well they might offer you stay there after dinner. If they do offer that, accept it. It's more than an honor."

Percy shrugged, filing the information away for tomorrow.

"Now, there was one last thing before you leave," Shiro said, standing up.

"Yeah?" Percy asked, still sprawled over the couch.

"Someone is here to see you, if you'll hear them. They want to offer you a business proposition."

Percy frowned, sitting up. "Not to sound lazy or anything, but is there a reason you didn't handle it? I'm sure you handle dozens of business propositions."

Shiro shrugged, walking over to the coffee table in front of Percy and pouring them both a drink. "Normally I only handle business deals within a budget, or that can be dealt with easily. This is a bit… more than I can just deal with."

Percy shrugged. "Okay, so where is this person that wants to pitch me this deal?"

Shiro held up a finger, stepping over to the door and leaning out of it. "You can come in now, Azurro."

Shiro ducked back into the room and picked up his glass, taking a sip before the man walked through the door. Percy leaned forward, intrigued.

The man that walked through the door almost looked like he belonged in a carnival. He was pretty stout, and, how did he say this kindly, had a lot of meat on him. He wore a bright blue suit that looked almost comical, but Percy tried not to judge him too quickly.

"Don Perseus! It's an honor, an honor!" He had a stereotypical italian accent, and if Percy didn't know better he'd figure the guy was from northern sicily. The man leaned down and grabbed Percy's right hand, pressing his lips to where Percy would be wearing a ring, if he had one. Percy was sure it was a sign of great respect to this guy, but as it was it was just making him uncomfortable.

All that being said, he thought he handled the situation pretty well.

"Of course, Azurro, now, take a seat and have a drink. I heard you had a proposition for me." Percy waved towards the couch opposite him. Shiro poured him a drink and sat down himself, in a chair further off to the side.

Azurro hastily sat down, taking a slow sip of his beverage as if he was afraid he'd screw up and spill it. "Of course, of course. Right to business. Don Perseus, I come here today with a plea for help. I am the chairman of the council of Kuchinashi, and we agreed in secret I should come here to plead for your help."

Percy raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his own drink. "And what exactly do you want my help with?"

"My city has been getting ever harsher as of late, the local bosses have seen your work and decided to form a cartel, but not so that they could allow the people the freedom to thrive as you have, but instead so they could collect more than ever from the locals. My city is suffering under the boot of such oppressive protection fees, and the council is under the scrutiny of the bosses. We can do nothing about it."

Percy swirled the bourbon in his glass around idly. "And what, they're not reinvesting it in the community I take it?"

Percy got a feeling Azurro would have spat if it wouldn't have insulted Percy. "These bosses, they don't care about using the money. They only care about more. They have more cash than they know what to do with, and they leave it around. They spend more on their whores than they do bribing the commissioner."

Percy whistled. That was pretty impressive, he had to admit, if not quite stupid.

"Through consolidating their strength they do not allow our city to prosper like yours has." Azurro waved a hand at the window as if to prove his point. And true enough, glancing out the window Windpath was looking better than ever before. Much of the squalor and petty crime that had existed when he'd come here had been erased, replaced with organized rackets and freed laws. He'd essentially just unofficially legalized drugs, smuggling, prostitution, and every other racket that existed and collected taxes on it. (Besides human trafficking that was. There were some levels even he wouldn't go to.) Which had taught him a very valuable lesson — government was the largest crime organization to exist. The entire thing was one big racket. As soon as a crime organization got powerful enough, a casual observer could easily mistake it for a type of government. Like Percy's had become.

"Okay," Percy shrugged. "So, you're having problems with this new cartel. Why come to me? What do you want me to do about it?"

"I beg of you, Don Perseus," There was that title again. "Relieve us from the scum we have in Kuchinashi and I can guarantee the people and council will unite behind you. The city will be yours, Don, as Windpath and the Hellenika Sive are now. I would give my life to see my city return to how it was before, but even that dream is nothing in comparison to what you could see our city become, Don."

Percy took another slow sip of his drink. "I got where I did in Windpath and Hellenika Sive because I knew how those cities worked. Who I had to take out, and more importantly who I had to win over to make sure it runs smoothly after everything is said and done. I still need people who know what they're doing to run the show, or it'll all slip through my fingers. Maybe you can run the civilian side, but how do you propose I take over the underworld?"

Azurro smiled like a cheshire cat. "Don, I have gone through the trouble of getting the contact information for all of those who are sympathetic to our cause high up in the Kuchinashi underworld. When the cartel was formed many gangs were not cut in, you see. Those gangs and clans have been pushed to the edges of the city and are not powerful enough to strike back, but if someone with enough power such as yourself were to back them, they would fall into line. I'm sure of it."

Percy glanced at Shiro, who nodded. Percy nodded back.

"I'll consider your proposal, Azurro. Are we done here?" Percy asked, glancing at Azurro. When there was no response, Percy nodded and stood up. "Alright, we're done here."

Azurro grabbed Percy's hand again and pressed his lips to his knuckle, paying his respects. "Here." Azurro said, pulling out a small box with a note on top. "The list of names and a gift for the Don, for considering my offer."

Percy took the box and saw that indeed the note on top of it was full of names and numbers, likely of dissenting clans. Percy thanked him, and he left.

"So," Percy turned to Shiro. "What do you think?"

Shiro shrugged. "Well, I can at least confirm what he said about the cartel in Kuchinashi taking over. And I doubt he'd want to live in an environment like that."

Percy hummed, peeking into the box to see some cigars. Likely old and very vintage, probably stupid expensive, too.

Percy pulled out two of the six cigars. "You smoke, Shiro?"

Shiro raised an eyebrow, reaching out to grab one of the cigars. "I guess today I do."

Percy chuckled, quickly cutting them both, grabbing a lighter from the coffee table (for candles, of course) and lighting his up, before handing it to Shiro. He wasn't exactly a smoker either, but he had to admit cigars seemed to have a nice sweet taste to them, that actually made them pleasant to smoke on occasion.

"Anyway," Percy continued. "I'm sure this new cartel is lining his pockets more than ever. Same with the rest of the council and the police. Why would he complain about that."

Shiro finished taking a puff of his cigar before answering. "You never know. Maybe they're not paying them more. These government officials are sitting around watching their community crumble around them, without even a raise. In fact most of the smaller clans probably can't even afford a token bribe anymore, so they're out a decent amount of money."

Percy blew out a chest full of smoke towards the nearest vent. "So what do you figure the odds are that this guy is setting us up?"

Shiro stroked his chin. "I'd say like fifty fifty. Malachite had quite a few agents in Kuchinashi, though, and some quite high up. If the council is working with the cartel on this I'll be able to find out before you're back."

Percy nodded. "Got it. If you find out that he's being honest, start making preparations with the names on that list." Percy said, standing up.

Shiro watched him, still sitting down "Really? Just because he's not setting you up doesn't mean it's a good idea." Shiro advised.

Percy shot him a grin, cigar in mouth. "Shiro, this is the plan — has been the plan. This helps things a bit, but taking over all of the minor cities in Mistral? If I own all of them, I'll almost be able to stack up to the big guys in the city. Certainly I can pressure them a bit."

Shiro coughed. "You want to do what? Percy, taking over every city outside of Mistral is… you'd be taking their country from them. The majority of Mistral's population lives outside the city, even if barely. Even if the great families allow it, the council sure won't."

Percy snorted as he walked to the door. "Shiro, every member of the council of Mistral is in the pockets of the great families collectively. What the great families decide is what Mistral decides."

Shiro shook his head. "Not Lionheart. He may report to the council but he has his own autonomy. He'll send some of his to stop you. And all of this is assuming you'll be able to sway the great families."

Percy waived it off. "I'm confident in my ability to make the great families not do anything drastic, at least. They're all high-borns. They didn't fight for what they got, and they won't fight to keep control of the settlements outside their city. I'll manage that. As for Lionheart… I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

Shiro pinched his nose. "Percy, you're playing a very dangerous game."

"Shiro I've been playing a dangerous game since I arrived at Windpath. Trust me, I'm aware." And with that, Percy walked out the door. Now he finally got to head to his meeting with the Schnees.

The next evening Percy shrugged his shoulders for the third time in a five minute span of time, trying to get comfortable in his suit. Despite being a big shot rich guy, he hadn't actually dressed nice since coming here. Even during his meeting with Ozpin and the dinner/party after, he'd been awkwardly stuck in jeans and a t-shirt.

So this was the first time he would be dressing formally, in… well, pretty much his entire life. Certainly he'd never worn anything this expensive, the suit that had been set out for him by the hotel staff (courtesy of Shiro, he was sure) probably costing hundreds or thousands of lien. He tried to ignore the fact he was wearing several month's rent of the person who'd put it in his room, and just tried to get comfortable in the gods-damned thing.

He hoped he didn't look as stupid as he felt, but he figured he'd have to trust Shiro's fashion sense.

Now that he thought about it, where did Shiro get his measurements?

Percy decided to selectively ignore that thought, and continue to get ready for the dinner. He went over the list again — price points, what Shiro thought they'd be willing to pay and how much to back down to if they pushed back. Just a lot of things he needed to deal with.

This meeting was about as far from 'up his alley' as you could possibly get, but he'd made his bed by investing in that arms business, and now he'd be sleeping in it. It was only a couple minutes before someone knocked at his penthouse door, and Percy opened it. As expected it was an SDC employee that led him downstairs to a limo that was waiting for him, courtesy of the SDC.

The limo took him to a private bullhead docks where a luxury bullhead was waiting, and that luxury bullhead took him on a short flight to… probably the largest building he'd ever seen. And he grew up in New York.

The Schnee manor stretched for miles, literal miles, almost as if a city had been made into a building. Why anyone would need so much land is beyond him, but they certainly felt they did. On top of being incredibly large the manor was also separated from the city of Mantle, and as such required dozens — hundreds, if not thousands really — of armed guards to keep out aspiring thieves and the occasional Grimm. Percy wasn't sure anyone had that kind of money back on earth, but he was sure some super billionaires could surprise him. Either way, it certainly reinforced the difference between the Schnees and everyone else on Remnant. Including Percy.

A contingent of servants were there to meet him at the landing pad, and it was a short walk to the front door of the manor, where even more servants met him. Thankfully this time he was led to a grand dining hall, though the table in the center was small relative to the room. He had no doubt it was customizable to fit however many people they wanted for any single event, but as it was it was just as large as a normal-ish table. Well, normal if you had enough money in your pocket to not worry about that sort of thing.

Once he was in the room most of the servants dispersed except for a couple who ran around making sure everything was organized, probably for the eight thousandth time that day. One of the servants approached him and gave him a shallow bow, which made him pretty uncomfortable. Not the least of all considering she was a cat faunus, and all the… stigma, that went along with that back on earth. "Mr. Jackson, Mr. Schnee will be with us momentarily, if you will please take a seat."

That was another thing that made this a bit uncomfortable. His name was officially Percy Jackson, as far as the Schnees were concerned. It helped with the whole 'Valean Investor' vibe, considering that while Perseus was a very Mistralin name, Percy Jackson was very, very Valean.

Percy nodded and took a seat. He was sitting at one end of the table, opposite of where Jaques would be sitting, he presumed.

"Can we get you something to drink?" the servant asked, and Percy nodded gratefully.

"Just water for now, thank you."

With another shallow bow the maid left. Before she even had the chance to be back with the water Jaques entered the room, a veritable column of girls behind him, as well as a very young boy. Now, that may sound strange, but considering they all looked pretty much the same, he figured this was his family. He'd done some very light reading on them before coming here, just so he would know who he was dealing with and not embarrass himself.

Percy stood to greet the entourage, and Jaques plastered on a smile as soon as he saw Percy. He returned the gesture.

"Mr. Jackson! It's a pleasure, I've been awaiting this meeting for some time now, you must be a very busy man."

Percy nodded, and reached out his hand to shake. "Mr. Schnee, the pleasure's all mine. Apologies for the wait, but I did have some prior obligations, and I thought it best we have more than enough time to discuss anything we needed to. And please, call me Percy." Percy went through his best effort to sound like somebody that was used to being at these kinds of meetings. He hoped he succeeded.

Jaques smiled pleasantly. "Then please return the courtesy, and call me Jaques. Now, where are my manners. Please, let me introduce you to my family." he stepped to the side, waving at those who had entered with him. While Percy hadn't really been paying attention, they'd formed a line before him. "This is my wife, Willow," he said, gesturing to the first lady in the line. She was certainly the oldest of all of them. She had white hair, an expensive dress and jewelry, and dead eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, giving an incredibly shallow curtsy. She didn't even bother faking a smile.

"This is my oldest, Winter. She's currently attending Atlas combat academy." he gestured to the next one in line.

Winter did bother faking a smile, though it was pretty painfully obviously fake. Her curtsy was a bit deeper, but still a token gesture at best. She looked like a taller, thinner version of her mother, if quite a bit more pleasant on the eyes. Not that he'd say that, of course, or risk an enemy of Jaques Schnee. She also wore a quite nice looking dress, but he'd be lying if he said she looked comfortable in it. Truth be told she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there. She also had the telltale callouses of someone who spent most of their days ramming their weapon into a training dummy, and glanced around at the exits like she was ready to bolt at any moment, which he assumed was because of her study at Atlas. Speaking of which, her attending Atlas meant she'd be pretty much his age, maybe a year younger. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jackson."

"The next is Weiss, she's just begun training to go to Atlas herself." he introduced.

Unlike her mother and older sister Weiss actually had a sincere smile on her face when she gave a curtsy, dipping what Percy assumed was the proper amount and greeting him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jackson." she said, and for the first time that night he was pretty sure she actually meant it when she said it. She wore a white skirt highlighted with red, and as far as he was aware she was about Pyrrha's age.

"And lastly this is Whitley, my youngest."

The small child gave a full, over the top bow, and grinned up at him. "Hello Mr. Jackson, it's nice meeting you."

Percy smiled, he wasn't super good with children, but that was honestly adorable.

"Now." Jaques clapped his hands. "Let us get to dinner before we discuss business, yes?"

Percy nodded back, and before he knew it they were all sitting at the table, full of food. He entertained conversation and idle chatter, but throughout the entire dinner they never once brought up quantity, the White Fang, pricing, or anything of the sort. It was strictly social. And strictly boring.

Winter sat next to him, and every now and then they would engage in some idle side conversation, which was probably the most interesting part of the meal. That being said, it was still pretty clearly fake. She was just waiting for the dinner to be over so she could go back to her room, he was sure.

But Percy stuck out the dinner until afterwards, when Jaques led him a few rooms to the side to a small room with a fireplace, and two comfortable chairs. It reminded him of his meeting with Alex, when he offered to vouch for Percy to start his own minor family.

"So, Percy." Jaques began after a servant had both poured them some drink. It smelled fruity, at least, but he really wasn't sure what it was. "Let's get down to business, shall we? The SDC is willing to buy out your company, including all of your manufactories and staff, for… three times the market price."

Percy blinked. That was… a lot of money. He'd bought the company for considerably under market price, so Jaques offering to buy it from him for three times that… well, it was certainly a prudent investment, if nothing else.

But he wasn't here to sell the company — he was here to sell guns. He didn't just want a lump sum of cash, he wanted to be able to have a steady stream of income, and on top of that he needed to be able to supply the White Fang with weapons, too. The money he'd make over several years would outweigh that which he'd make from being bought out outright. The offer, while generous, was only fair if the White Fang could be put down in the next year or so.

Percy had no illusions that would ever be the case.

"I'm sorry, but I won't accept that." Percy finally said.

Jaques' eyebrows rose. Percy couldn't exactly tell if he was angry, per se, but he was certainly surprised.

"No? I suppose the price is negotiable, though I'm not sure there's all that much wiggle room."

Percy shook his head. "No, the price isn't the problem. I'm here to make a deal with you about supplying weapons, not sell my business. I'm sorry, but I'm not looking to sell at the moment."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds after Percy was finished speaking where Jaques just stared at him. Not in shock, or growing anger, but in interest. Percy resisted the urge to fidget as the man's gaze stayed on him.

"Not many people have said no to me, Mr. Jackson. You are now one of the few. That either makes you very brave, or very stupid. Interesting, either way. Considering you managed to work your way to purchasing Johnson and Wesserschmitt yourself, I'll assume it's the former."

Percy took a sip of his drink and cleared his throat. "Ahm- Thank you?" he wasn't sure if he had just been complimented or insulted, but he was pretty sure the man hadn't meant anything bad by it.

Jaques sighed. "Very well, but before we discuss business, please, if you'll indulge me; why? Surely you'd make more profit selling to me now and reinvesting the profits. Why hold onto a failing arms company?"

Percy smiled slightly, faking confidence. In reality, he barely had an answer. What did he say, that he believed the White Fang were far more of a threat than literally any major organization thought they were at this point? There was no legitimate reason for him to know that. Hades, the only reason he was currently convinced there was no way this problem was going to just die out was because he was supplying one side. He was supplying them with cheap rifles he could make for a few dollars each, sure, but he still saw exactly how many rifles they'd requested, and how many thousands of people they had ready to fight.

The White Fang would be a threat exactly as long as Percy wanted them to be a threat, and he couldn't see them going away for a long time.

"Quite simply," he said instead, "Johnson and Wesserschmitt is the cheapest opportunity to have a real monopoly. Nobody else in the world does what we do. If we go out of business, small arms just… don't exist anymore. That is a unique opportunity, one I don't intend to sell off."

"Oh?" Schnee's eyebrows raised again. "Do you believe this conflict will continue to escalate?"

Percy shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. "I just don't think it matters. There'll be another conflict eventually - one bigger than the last, a greater scale. When that does happen, my company will be the only one in any position to manufacture weapons. I hope it doesn't happen, but I'm sure it will. And when it does, I'll be in the best position of anyone."

Schnee hummed, taking the bottle which had been left behind and refilling his glass. Schnapps, the bottle read. So that's what this drink was.

Percy had to say he was quite proud of himself for coming up with a reason like that on the fly. Why would someone like him want to keep the business rather than sell it for more profit than anyone thought he'd make from it.

"Do you know why the Schnees are so dominant, Percy?"

Percy blinked at the sudden change of subject. "Um… No?"

"Many great men exist in this world. They seize opportunities, and make something truly worthwhile. Almost every major business still around today was built by a great man. Every kingdom still standing, the result of great men. Every now and then, a special opportunity comes around. Often times, these are seized by mediocre men, who benefit from it but see it wasted.

"But once in a very long while, a special opportunity is seized by a great man. That, was Nicholas Schnee. He was one of the first to discover dust, and while he wasn't the best businessman, he was a great man. And that was enough. Now, most empires crumble when their leader dies. Every other company that reached the heights the SDC did crumbled when the great men that built them passed. But not the SDC. I took a multi-billion lien company, built by a great man with a special opportunity, one of the largest to ever exist, and turned it into the richest corporation to have existed on remnant. And now we are worth more than the next ten companies put together. That is the key, my boy, great men and special opportunities."

Percy held back a wince. It was a bit arrogant, but Percy figured the SDC had to have been built somehow. You couldn't get Schnee-rich off luck alone.

"Now, my family was lucky enough to have a special opportunity found by a great man, and then passed on to another great man. In order for the Schnees to continue to grow it must be inherited by a great man. I like to think Winter has many great qualities, and Weiss is shaping up to make me proud herself, but alas, I am but a proud father. I am biased, of course, but not a fool. If they fail, they will marry someone who will not."

Jaques paused, taking a long sip of his Schnapps. "You, Mr. Jackson, seem to be in possession of a special opportunity of your own creation. Time will tell if you possess what is required to take advantage of it."

The next chapter is already up on my pat reon, which can be found on my profile. My discord is also on my profile, so if you feel like hanging out with a bunch of different authors and readers both in pjo and other fandoms, feel free to join.

Expect some more time skips and some more high paced stuff in the next several chapters. We are as you know about 4 and a half years ahead of when RWBY actually starts at the moment, and trust me we'll be getting there. I hate stories that take super long before getting to the good stuff so I'll try and hurry it up, but all of this is very important to show. I can't very well just timeskip to volume one and just go "oh Percy's super rich and influential btw lmao"

That being said I'll hope I've highlighted enough of his conquests to be able to make some great leaps in time and progress, starting a couple chapters from now. Please just don't be mad when I stop showing details as to how he got a ton of money and land and shit, I think we'd all prefer to get to the beginning of RWBY before the end of 2021.

Anyway take care,

Next chapter August 1