After Zinnia had broken the ice, things had gone… alright? It went better than it had with his dad, anyways, what with them already having gotten the gist of things from the man. His younger sisters, especially Aurelia, were still very much upset with him, but Second told him it was just because they cared. He hoped that Second was right.

But after they had spent a while catching up with each other, a good number of his sisters had gotten swept up in the idea of seeing their dad beat the tar out of him.

They claimed that since he was training to be a huntsman now, they wanted to see if he was really past his “slacker past”, as Solana had so kindly put it, and putting in the work now.

But he was pretty sure that since they’d been barred from mocking him and didn’t have the muscle to punch him into next Sunday themselves, they had just decided to outsource that job to Aurelius.

That’s a feint, he’s focused on your left arm.

Jaune put Second’s observation to use, avoiding the follow up attack that obviously had a lot more power behind it.

His father smiled at him, pride in his eyes. “Well done! But that’s not enough to save you.”

Aurelius suddenly lunged at him, swinging his replacement sword against Crocea Mors so hard that it was torn from his grip and launched to the side, forcing Jaune to surrender as he felt his father’s blade at his neck.

“I yield.” He admitted with a sigh.

“You’re really not that bad for someone with so little training,” Aurelius assured him as he picked up Jaune’s sword, inspecting it before handing it to him.

“Sure doesn’t seem that way when I’m up against you…” Jaune grumbled.

“Relax, you know what my semblance is. You didn’t stand a chance.”

Jaune nodded.

Uh, I don’t though? Mind clueing me in?

Seeing Jaune zone out as he listened to Second Thoughts, and probably to help any of their audience as well, Aurelius began to explain. “My semblance is called Meditations. It’s all about the power of the mind over the body. I could get into the weeds on the details for a long while, but… the simple explanation is that if I believe I can win a fight, then I will. If I don’t think I can win it, then I’ll lose.”

Second materialized next to Jaune. “Wait a minute, doesn’t that mean you can just win any fight you’re in? If you’re confident, you’d be a one man army…” The semblance’s doubt was obvious on his blue face.

Aurelius nodded. “If only. That’s what happens if I actively use it. Passively though, it makes me vaguely aware of how well I stack up against an opponent. Any huntsmen with experience can do that on their own, but I seem to be able to do it faster and a bit more accurately.”

Second balked. “But that would mean-”

“Yep.” Aurelius had a resigned smile on his face. “If I use it against someone stronger than me, it all but guarantees my loss. Doesn’t matter if I’m more clever, if I should be able to outmaneuver them, if I should be able to at least escape… my semblance will ensure my loss if I activate it.”

“It’s really great for helping him to kick my butt though…” Jaune grumbled.

Aurelius laughed. “Fighting a student, especially a beginner like my son here, means that the situation is reversed. No matter how clever they might be, they won’t be able to beat me.”

Second hummed. “Even then, you probably don’t fight students often. A semblance like that seems…”

“Like a burden?” Aurelius suggested. “It’s not all that bad. I don’t have to activate it. If I pick up on the fact that my opponent is stronger, I just go at them without it. Fight them normally, give myself the opportunity to sneak out a win. And in rare instances, someone might project themselves as being weaker than they are…” He smiled slyly, “and they suddenly find that they’ve screwed themselves.”

Second squinted at the man. “So it doesn’t have to be an accurate estimation? Just what you initially perceive? Is that at first sight, or when you activate it properly? How does it actually ensure a win, mechanically? Does it make you physically stronger or weaker? Or maybe it forces your body to move in certain ways? It could be similar to a luck based semblance…”

Aurelius’ sly smile morphed into a full on smirk. “That’s all the information you’re getting out of me. I can’t go giving away all my secrets and securing a victory for you, now can I?”

Their talk on Meditations was interrupted by a shout. “No, dad! You’re supposed to kick his butt, not make him give up!”

A look into the stands revealed that Aurelia had been the one to shout, sat next to her mother who was giving the girl a disapproving look.

Aurelius rolled his eyes. “I think that’ll do it. Anymore and they’ll be calling for your blood.”

“Are we sparring again tomorrow?” Jaune asked, not sure of how he wanted the man to answer.

A brow rose in response. “Don’t you have classes tomorrow? I’d hope you get enough training there. Besides…” the playful tone from before faded. “Getting rooms for this many people is a bit outside of our budget. We’ll have to head home after we leave today if your mother and I don’t want to bankrupt ourselves.”

Jaune frowned. Being a huntsman was a well paying job, but when you had a family as large as his, the expenses added up quickly. Add the costs of hotels in Vale, even outside of the outrageous markups that would have left with the Vytal festival, and it had probably cost his dad a pretty lien just to spend these two short days with him. “Right,” he agreed. “Classes tomorrow…”

Second elbowed him in the side, rolling his eyes. “Stop pretending to worry about training, we all know that Pyrrha can whip you into shape just fine. She’s gotten you this far, after all.”

His dad smirked at that comment for some reason.

“You two already had your little heart to heart or whatever it was, didn’t you?” Second continued. “Talk. Use your words.”

“I’ll…” Jaune hesitated. Yes, they’d gotten the really emotional stuff out of the way, but even still, it had been so long since they’d just-

“You’ll call me.” His father demanded. “Or your mother. Actually, you’ll call both of us,” he corrected. “We’re your family, Jaune. We’re here for you, even if… even if our communication skills are lacking. If you ever need me, I’ll be there. Just say the word.”

Jaune swallowed heavily. “...right.” He pulled out his scroll. “I should probably make sure everyone has my new number then…”

He ignored the way that Second was smiling at the two of them.

He missed the way that his eyes didn’t quite match the smile.

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Dealing with Jaune’s father had been one thing. He was a huntsman, just like they were training to be, just like their instructors were. The dynamic had been a bit odd, but the man, despite the fact that they had only just met, had a level of familiarity to him that made things easier.

The rest of the Arc family however…

“So which one of you is the strongest?” One of them asked. Lie Ren thought her name was Solana, but with the entire group consisting of blond haired, blue eyed girls, he was struggling to keep them straight.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Don’t talk to the enemy!” The youngest, smallest one shouted at her, a pout on her face.

Orianna, who he could thankfully tell apart by her age, though he’d never say that to the woman, tore her worried gaze from the spar down in the arena to give her daughters a stern look. “Do not start causing problems, young ladies.”

“It’s fine, Mrs. Arc,” Yang both reassured the mother and brushed past the remark of the youngest. “There’s no harm in a question or two. But as for the answer…” she held her arms up, preparing to flex with a cocky look on her face.

“It’s Pyrrha,” the rest of the group, sans Pyrrha herself, answered.

Yang guffawed. “Even you, Ruby?! My own sister?!”

Ruby was still staring down at the spar, surprisingly interested despite the lack of mechashifts at play. “I’ll change my answer when you start winning against her.”

Yang looked as if she had been struck, but Ren was sure that her ego would recover with time.

Solana eyed up the redhead in question, humming in thought.

Pyrrha, well used to being under scrutiny thanks to her minor fame, gave the girl a practiced smile. “W-well, I’m not so sure that it’s cut and dry like that,” she shrank in on herself when the rest of them gave her a look. “But, why do you ask? Thinking of becoming a huntress yourself?”

“She’s become obsessed with the topic since we saw Jaune’s performance in the Vytal festival,” one of the twins explained.

“Though you would think that spending so much time watching the footage would mean she saw you wipe the floor with the competition rather than having to ask now…” the other twin continued.

He couldn’t tell them apart at all, and so he would endeavor not to put himself in a position that required it.

Solana blushed, glaring at the twins. “I am not obsessed! And maybe she got lucky, it’s not like we’d know!”

“Luck?” Nora chimed in, “Team JNPR doesn’t need something like luck! We’re totally-” Ren nudged her, hoping to curtail any expletives around Jaune’s family, “-amazing, and as awesome as the rest of us are, Pyrrha seriously kicks butt! Right, Renny?”

Ren let out a sigh of relief. “As much as some would like to contest the point,” he stopped himself from looking at Yang and rubbing more salt in the wound, “yes, Pyrrha is the strongest, at least in regards to our teams. I won’t discount the fact that luck may have played a large role in winning the Vytal tournament, but her performance in our combat classes places her in a clear lead amongst the first years.”

“It doesn’t matter, because my dad could beat you!” The youngest shouted out once more. He thought her name might have been Aurelia… “Jaune just needs to come home, and dad can teach him to be strong, too!” She explained with a glare.

Orianna gaped at her daughter. “What did I just tell you? That is no way to behave in front of Jaune’s friends!”

“Don’t fret, Mrs. Arc,” Weiss cut in, “It’s perfectly understandable that you all are upset about what brought you here. It just means that you love each other.”

Her words seemed to relax Orianna a bit, but something about her words seemed off. Like it was more personal than Weiss was letting on.

“Well said, Ms. Schnee,” the one with glasses nodded. “Despite our… harsh words,” she settled on, “they come from concern for our brother. We have been quite worried about him, and seeing him again like this…”

The white haired girl smiled awkwardly. “Please, call me Weiss.”

Over time, the two groups managed to keep a somewhat civil discourse going, with two notable exceptions. One of Jaune’s sisters, Zinnia, he thought, seemed even more reserved than he normally was, hiding behind her family and refusing to participate at all.

The other quiet one surprised him though.

Normally Blake was keen on voicing her opinion, but today… today she was just biting her lip, looking between Jaune’s family members both in the audience and down on the field, a complicated look on her face.

He suspected that her conversation with Second last night consisted of more than just the gossip she had told them about.

But what was he to do? Even if they were ostensibly friends, the two of them weren’t particularly close. Her private matters would only involve him if she so chose.

His thoughts were drawn away from Yang’s partner as Jaune’s spar drew to a close and his family stood, making their way over to the men of the family.

One trailed behind at a more sedate pace, though.

Aurelia turned to them with hate and sadness in her eyes. “One day my brother will run away from you, too. I’ll get him back.”

Before those in the group better suited for interacting with children could say a word, she ran off, catching up with the rest of the blondes.

Ren knew not to put much stock in the words of an angry child like her. But as someone who had felt loss before… he couldn’t help the hint of worry those words implanted in him.

----------------------------------------

Jaune wasn’t quite sure what he was feeling as he watched the airship leave, taking his family away from Beacon. Their visit hadn’t been for very long, and they’d not done much other than talk or kick him around a training ring, in the case of his dad, but… he felt lighter. More at ease.

Wow, that’s crazy. Who could have thought that a positive relationship with your family was a good thing…

Is that really necessary? Jaune sighed. I was having a moment there.

Sorry. Just a bit bitter about someone else being stupid…

Jaune decided that he didn’t want to know, and started making his way back to his dorm. Hopefully he wouldn’t find that his sisters had spread any rumors about him amongst his team or other friends when he got there…

“Ah! Mr. Arc, what wonderful timing!”

Jaune paused, thrown off for a moment, before he realized that with his father having just left, that meant that he was once again “Mr. Arc” on Beacon’s grounds.

I mean, technically you never stopped, but I can see how that might get confusing…

He ignored Second’s mutterings as he turned towards the source, finding that Prof-

Doctor

-Doctor Oobleck was the one calling for him. “Uh, did you need something? I just got done with some training so I’m kind of tired and-”

“Worry not, that’s exactly why the timing is so wonderful!” The bespectacled man smiled at him. “I wanted to talk to you a bit about your progress with Second Thoughts, see how things are coming along and perhaps suggest a few ideas. Why don’t you come with me to my office?”

Great. Spend the day dealing with his family, having his dad throw him around the arena, and now Oobleck wants to add on to that? He just couldn’t get a break lately…

I don’t think he actually wants to discuss our progress.

Then why would he say that? Jaune rebutted.

Because the topic I think he wants to cover is something that we’re avoiding open discussion of?

Jaune gave the doctor a second look. He seemed… more jittery than normal. Like there was somehow even more caffeine running through his system than everyone had come to expect.

Like he’s been staying up for long nights trying to work out some secrets… Second suggested.

Jaune sighed.

This is still him adding onto a long day…

I never said it wasn’t.

With a roll of his eyes, Jaune nodded. “Alright then, although my team is expecting me relatively soon, so I can’t stay for too long…”

“Not a problem at all, Mr. Arc! I don’t expect this to take terribly long.” The professor quickly sped his way into the school, weaving around students and staff as he led the way to his office.

Jaune struggled to keep up, but managed not to get left too far behind, eventually shutting the office door behind him.

“So,” Jaune began, “what did you….”

He trailed off as he saw what was in the professor’s office.

Right in the middle of the desk was a rather large crow, in the middle of a staring contest with his professor. The two of them broke eye contact as the bird turned towards Jaune, looking into his eyes instead.

“Caw.”

…what?

Remember, Jaune. Birds aren’t real. They’re sent by the authorities to spy on you.

Jaune watched as the bird jumped off of the desk, and in mid air, transformed into Ruby and Yang’s uncle.

Holy shit. I’ve never actually seen the transformation before, that was…

Jaune felt like he might be sick.

“Qrow, that’s revolting,” Oobleck chided. “Why can’t you just wait in here like a normal person?”

“I’m too cool to be normal,” Qrow answered, taking a swig from his flask. “Now, are we gonna get into this, or what?”

Jaune fought back the all too familiar feeling in his gut as he tried to erase that scene from his memory. “Get into what?” he asked, hoping to distract himself.

“It’s almost time,” Qrow replied vaguely. “Bring out your semblance. We need to talk about the relic.”