The train stopped at a big train station. A certain young blonde looked away from the window and sighed. After a week of being cooped up in a little roomette, thinking of Pyrrha and his team while sitting and watching the world pass by him, Jaune Arc had finally arrived his destination. As the train came to a stop, he kissed the past goodbye and steeled himself for the worst.

"Olympia! Everyone for Olympia!" the conductor announced.

Well, it's time... To face my family... and my past.

He stood up with his backpack in hand. He waited for the crowd to recede, then got off the train and slumped his backpack over his shoulders. He left the train station, walking slowly and looking at the faces of people around him. He didn't see anyone he knew. It was a foolish thing to hope for, but he felt so lonely. A man with a scorpion tail braid passed him, although he didn't even notice that as he was looking in the opposite direction. As he exited the train station, he looked at the main city in front of him and turned to the hilltop and sighed. He had a long way to go before he reached the Arc family home.

It had been seven days since Pyrrha left. Due to a huge delay in the plane's departure time, and several layover stops, it had taken her a week to get to the closest city where she lived; Mistral, which had a forest to the west where her family lived in a log cabin. She had arrived at a community park in Mistral on the pathway to the Green Venom Forest, where she had lived her entire life. Once she reached the old oak tree, she walked forward away from the tree until she saw the familiar stone path and the always present sign that said in big black letters, Keep Out! The gladiator girl never knew why that sign was put up, but she learned to ignore it long ago and moved on. She roamed through the forest, trying not to let her negative emotions get the better of her. But as she approached her house, she kept asking herself several questions.

How can I tell my family what happened? What will I tell them? Do I tell them about the Maidens, the Relics, and Ozpin's presumed death? Do I mention the involvement of Goodwitch, Ironwood and/or Branwen in safeguarding this knowledge? Or do I just tell them the partially falsified version that I told Nora and Ren? Should I really have lied to them? Why didn't I tell them the truth? Why do I feel this feeling of regret and guilt for lying to them?

She reached the end of the path where her house stood on the right a cobblestone col-de-sac and gasped upon seeing it. "No... This can't be..."

The house was destroyed, in almost complete ruins. Around the perimeter was a huge grid line of 'Do Not Cross' tape, but there were no police officers or police cars anywhere to be found. Much of the wooden exterior of the house had been burned away and most of the wood that hadn't been disintegrated by the flames was charred. There was a huge hole in the roof, with wooden pieces of it not too far from the building they came from. The doorway had collapsed and the wooden stairs that led up to the door were slashed into pieces. The glass table on the right of the wooden front porch that was shaded by a huge umbrella was shattered into pieces and the umbrella had several slits into it as it laid on its side.

Although reluctant to do so, she stepped over the police tape, jumped up to the porch, walked on the door and into the house, trying to find out what happened. "Mom? Dad? Is anyone here?"

As she ventured into the house, she saw that the windows were all shattered. Many of the rooms were buried in debris and couldn't be explored, but she tried to figure out what happened. Much of the kitchen remained untouched, but the dining room table was cut in half and had it's lower left and upper right legs chopped off. She noticed something by her feet. Her eyes darted to the floor and she gasped, holding her breath in shock.

"No..." She felt tears swell up within her. "Mom... Dad..."

Her parents were dead. She saw their corpses weren't rotting away yet, so they were killed recently. Her mother had been stabbed right through the heart, a plain sword still embedded in her chest, and her father had several cuts all over his body and his skull cracked open, with a pool of blood that hadn't quite dried up yet. How long ago had they been murdered? Who did this? Where are they now? And most importantly, why did they do this? These were the questions Pyrrha asked herself as she roamed the rest of the house, trying to find a clue as to what happened.

Over in the living room, underneath a destroyed table, she saw a note that was ripped apart into several tiny pieces. She tried to gather them and see what the message said, but the pieces were so small she couldn't see how to connect them together. She sighed and dropped the minuscule pieces of paper, letting them fall to the floor. Letting the tears fall down her face, she continued to explore the ruins. She went to her room, opening the wooden door.

Her room was the only part of the cabin that was untouched. The rose colored walls were still whole, with a vertical red flower design on the left side of each wall. The walls were bare, save for a picture of Pyrrha and her family nearby the door. In the center of the room was a queen mattress atop a wooden frame. Her crimson bedspread was still nicely tucked in, showing a rose pink pillow at the head.

She searched an adjacent bedroom. This room had grey walls and a flame design made of big black lines on all of them, lined with a few pictures of family and one big poster on the right of the Pumpkin Pete's cereal box-art. The twin sized air mattress was directly on the ground, it's black and white bedspread undone, revealing part of the bare mattress. The room had jackets and hoodies all over the place, including one on top of the dresser. On top of the dresser was a bunch of various different colored gloves, each stacked into pairs.

"Ash, are you here? Ash!"

She looked around, but Ash Nikos was nowhere to be found. His weapon hasn't here either.

Or they could have stolen it. Where is he? Is he alright? Pyrrha asked herself.

She searched the rest of the house but found no sign of him, dead or alive. She sighed and tried to figure out what her next move was, and tried to table her overwhelming grief. The gladiator girl went back to her room, and grabbed some things. After taking what she could by shoving it into her backpack, she left the house. The girl looked into the sky, seeing the fading sun. It seemed all of her light and hope was fading along with it.

"I hope I can find Ash, wherever he is."

By the time Jaune arrived at the Arc family home, the sun had almost set. Twilight had come and gone as he walked up to the door. He tried the doorbell, but it didn't work. So he knocked on the door three times. A few seconds later, his father opened the door.

His father blinked in surprise upon seeing him. "Jaune? What are you doing here?"

"Hi dad. It's a long story."

"Then come inside. There's someone else who'd really like to see you." He placed his right hand to his mouth. "Oh honey, guess who's here?"

"Who would be visiting at..." She gasped upon seeing her son. "Jaune?"

He nervously waved to her. "Hi mom."

She quickly threw his arms around him. "Are you okay? Tell me you're okay!"

"I'm fine. I'm fine." he quickly answered.

"Good." She broke the hug and proceeded to glare at him and then tightly grabbed his ear. "Now what the hell were you thinking?!"

"Ow, that's my ear!" He swatted her hand away and rubbed his left ear.

She sighed, exasperated. "You've been gone for almost an entire year and you just left us in the dark! Why?!"

"I had my own problems!" he retorted. "I had to quickly learn the ropes or risk being sent home as a disgrace!" He folded his arms angrily. "You wouldn't understand."

His father looked at him sadly before breathing in and returning to a neutral expression. "Well, then. I'd say this calls for an interrogation."

"Shall we summon the girls?" Azure asked.

"I'd say they have the right to know." Roux nodded in agreement. "Let's do it."

Azure walked over to the bell nearby the entrance to the dining room, and rung it three times.

"Coming!" a voice said in a sing-song tone.

"Be right there!" two voices said in unison.

"I'll be right down!"

"Just a moment!"

"Ugh... What is it this time?!"

"Alright, hold your horses!"

As the sounds of footsteps were heard, Jaune unfolded his arms and heard some of his sisters coming down the stairs, seeing the youngest sister first.

"Jaune!" The young girl threw herself at Jaune, hugging his leg. "I missed you. It's great to see you again!"

"Hey Amethyst. It's great to see you too."

"Did I hear that correctly?" another voice asked, this one much older. That voice belonged to Tangerine, who frowned upon seeing Jaune. "Oh, you've returned."

Next was Acacia and Emerald.

"Jaune! You're alive and unharmed!" Acacia exclaimed.

"Jaune! You're alive. Huzzah!" Emerald exclaimed at the same time.

They dragged him into a group hug. He threw his arms around his sisters. "Oh, I've missed you guys."

Next was Azura. She smiled at him... "So he has survived. Good to see ya, Jaune." Before pointing at him, her eyes shifting to a mean glare. "But don't think you're off the hook."

He scoffed. "Isn't that obvious?"

She was then followed by Indigo. "Jaune, you're alive!" She threw her arms around him and he hugged her back. She smiled at him. "Did my advice help you at all?"

"It did for a while, but I didn't follow it forever." He briefly smiled.

Finally, the eldest one, Rouge, appeared at the foot of the steps. She frowned and folded her arms upon seeing her little brother. "Oh, great. The disgrace to the Arc family name has returned."

Jaune had to bite his tongue. He would retaliate later. He had looked at his sisters, seeing what had changed and what hadn't.

Rouge, aged 23, was the oldest sister and the very definition of femme fatale. Or if nothing else, she certainly looked the part. Her face was naturally gorgeous and usually caked with makeup such as blush, red eyeshadow under her red colored eyes, eyeliner and concealer. Her velvet red hair was knotted into a huge elegant bun on her left side. Her hourglass figure was slender and graceful, perfectly fitting into a red strapless cocktail dress with a flower lace design on the skirt that reached to her knees. She wore red ballerina pumps that could be converted into heels with the touch of a button on the right side. She donned ruby heart-shaped earrings with a silver heart lining on them. The fashionista adorned a necklace of tiny diamonds around her neck while donning a golden delicate bracelet on her right wrist and a silver link bracelet with heart charms on her left. Her nails were adorned with shiny red nail polish and a ruby ring on her right pinky finger. To complete the outfit, she wore a red purse with a long shoulder strap that reached to her waist.

Many would say she's a fashion model or even a seductress. While the first part was certainly true, not everyone was clever enough to realize that underneath that gorgeous image was a professional huntress who graduated from Shade Academy. In addition to all the usual items in her purse, she carried multiple kinds of daggers, some normal, some loaded with various kinds of dust. She also carried pepper spray, mainly to use against any crooks who would try to rob her. She had some fame and popularity from being a huntress and fashion model, but not everyone knew who she was. Gorgeous, confident, and prominent, she was almost impossible for guys to resist, and in Jaune's view, was overly confident with herself.

The second eldest sister was 21 years old and her name was Tangerine. The two eldest sisters were complete opposites. While Rouge was a feminine fashionista, Tangerine was a tough tomboy. Her orange hair was kept in a messy pixie cut. She wore orange cargo pants with a visible rip on the lower left leg paired with a thin black belt that was actually a whip. An orange horizontal stripe t-shirt covered her torso while orange tennis shoes with black laces covered her feet. She wore no jewelry, makeup, or accessories of any kind. And the two eldest sisters didn't just differ in terms of physical appearance, but also in combat and personality.

While Rouge was a graduate of Shade Academy, Tangerine was mostly self-taught with some guidance from various warriors. Also, Tangerine used multiple different kinds of weapons, including but not limited to; swords, spears, daggers, ranged gauntlets, whips, bow and arrows, nunchucks, scythes and guns. Although Tangerine used multiple kinds of weapons when hunting criminals, she always kept two weapons with her at all times; her signature fire-dust spear and the whip-belt. Since she was a self-proclaimed semi-pro huntress/vigilante, it was not uncommon for Tangerine to come home with a few scratches and bruises. Hot-headed, determined, and sometimes impulsive and reckless, she was a tough warrior who was not afraid to show her scars and injures.

Jaune inspected the damage; she had two bruises on her face, one on her forehead and one on her right cheek, both orange colored eyes blackened and swollen, and multiple cuts on her left arm. But the most disturbing injury was a huge visible scar on the outer part of her arm that ran from her right wrist to her elbow.

Acacia, was born before Jaune and was the 3rd oldest sister. Her sun-colored hair was tied into a long braid that reached to her waist. She wore a knee-length lemon chiffon colored flamenco dance dress with a rose petal like design on the skirt. She wore a headband of fake daisies in her hair close to her forehead. On her feet were golden slippers that sparkled whenever she walked. She didn't wear many accessories like Rouge, but she did wear small imitation diamond earrings and a golden cuff bracelet on her right wrist. Unbeknownst to everyone save for her family, she wore contacts on her yellow colored eyes. But she never told anyone.

This 19-year old woman was very sweet, kind and absolutely amazing at singing, but she was easily intimated and had no backbone. Since she was a child, she had wanted to become a singer, but since the dream was unrealistic to her parents (since she never had any singing lessons or involvement in a choir) and difficult to succeed in, she defected to being a chef. This was because her parents required everyone in the household 18 or older to get a job. She still wanted to be a singer, but was unsure how to go about achieving her dream.

Emerald, age 15, was born after Jaune and the 4th youngest/oldest sister. After Jaune's encounter with the thief Emerald Sustrai, it was a bit strange to see Emerald Arc again. But the thief and the intellectual looked nothing alike. Her eyes were actually bright green and colored like emeralds. Her bright green hair was kept in a long ponytail that snaked a few inches down her back. She wore ivy green jeans along with a forest green polo shirt and lime green high top tennis shoes with a white rim. She wore a black headband in her hair to keep her bangs (which she was growing out) away from her face. She wore a small green rubber band around her left wrist along with two black hair bows, one on each wrist.

Although Emerald was commonly called a nerd, bookworm, and a know-it-all, she always said the most accurate and appropriate term to describe her was 'intellectual'. She was the smartest of the Arc siblings and never acted on impulse or emotions. She was always in the pursuit of knowledge and thought everything though, sometimes to an excess. Because of her wise and calm nature, sometimes her family members would come to her for advice. She was not afraid to speak her mind, and if Azure and Roux didn't step to stop an argument between siblings, she would.

The 3rd youngest was a 13-year old girl named Azura. In terms of physical appearance, she was the spitting image of her mother. Same bluebell eyes, same ocean blue hair, they were even styled in a similar manner; long, wavy and completely loose. Azura wore a royal blue dress with a shoulder strap showing a blue rose on her left side paired with wedged blue heels. She wore a blue threaded charm bracelet with a blue scale symbol on her right wrist and donned a blue butterfly charm necklace.

Azura was a very honest girl, never being sarcastic or facetious. She was always straight and to the point. While she was honest, she tried hard to be kind when breaking the truth. In addition to her honesty, her semblance allowed her to detect the lies of others. If anyone tried to lie to her, aware of her ability or not, she would give them a mean or suspicious look. Also, she never once lied to anyone. Whether it was a drawback of her semblance or some high moral code she felt obligated to uphold, Jaune didn't know. Because of this, Jaune never trusted her to keep secrets.

Indigo was the second youngest of the Arc siblings. This 11-year old girl had deep blue eyes, and long slate blue hair, which was loose and usually a rat's nest. The girl wore a blue and white hoodie shirt with a horizontal stripe pattern and blue jeans with a flower/vine design towards the bottom of the right leg. She wore navy blue canvas shoes and a blue ribbon headband in her hair.

Similar as to how Rouge and Tangerine were opposite, so were Azura and Indigo. While Azura was honest, Indigo was crafty, sneaky, ambitious and cunning. She lied quite often. Sometimes for fun, sometimes for her own gain, and sometimes even to try and aid her family. She has said in the past that she has no qualms about lying, and that lying was as easy as breathing. Not only that, she was also really good at it. Not only was she an expert liar (when Azura wasn't in her presence) she was a prankster every now and then. Usually her pranks were harmless, but they were always annoying.

Amethyst, the youngest at the age of nine, was small but cute. Her amethyst eyes shined with many emotions. She wore her purple hair in long pigtails held with slate blue scrunchies. She wore a purple flowergirl dress with a royal purple ribbon around her waist and violet ankle boots. She wore imitation amethyst circle earrings and a pinky ring made of purple thread.

The purple clad girl was bright, cheery and grotesquely optimistic. On one hand, she was like a ray of light, the moon on a dark night, a ray of sunshine on a bright day. On the other hand, due to her being the youngest sister, and youngest in the Arc family, she commonly felt very lonely and unneeded. She had no skills, no interests or talents. Still, she tried her best to help her family however she could.

As his sisters and parents took their place around the table, he reluctantly joined them.

"So Jaune, you've been gone for a year. No calls, no messages, not even a letter! How could you just leave us in the dark like this?!" his mother angrily asked, making him wince in fear.

"Well I tried to send you a letter after the CCT went down, but it seems it never reached you." Jaune answered. "Poor guy probably got eaten by Grimm."

"That's a disturbing thought." Indigo said.

"Indeed it is." Roux began.

"So what happened?" Tangerine inquired.

"It's a long story..." Jaune began.

"Well start talking!" Rouge commanded.

"And don't leave a single detail out." Azura added.

Jaune sighed. "Where do I even begin?"