Jaune Arc awakens in his childhood bedroom, the bunny form of Crocea Mors lays on his chest, her head resting on his shoulder.
He stares blankly at the ceiling with numb eyes, eventually he picks the jackalope up as he sits, setting her beside him. Standing he stretches and walks to the bathroom.
Turning the handle he opens the restroom and turns the light on, he stares at his reflection. He had gotten paler in the four months after the battle with his si- with the rogue Alpha with his hair now resting at his shoulders and large black bags having formed under his eyes.
Soon he brushes his teeth, removes his pajama bottoms and enters the shower. Turning the shower on he barely flinches under the cold liquid and feels no comfort when it turns warm.
Minutes pass as he lathers shampoo in his hair and soap under his arms. When he feels antiquity clean, he turns the shower off and steps out.
Grabbing a towel from the rack beside him, Jaune dries himself off before putting it back and steps out of the bathroom. He walks to his dresser, grabs a pair of underwear and socks and puts them on before heading to his closet.
He pulls a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt with black long sleeves, slipping them on he grabs a pair of white sneakers and puts them on before crouching down to tie the laces.
Standing back up he walks to the door of his room, he grabs the badric, where the vessel of Crocea Mors hangs, off his chair and wraps it around his waist before striding out of his room.
He walks down the stairs, the jackalope following him, the two enter the kitchen and Jaune begins to cook himself breakfast; a simple meal of eggs and bacon.
After he's done eating he washes the pan along with his plate and silverware, when the job is done he places them back in the cabinet before heading out to the backyard through the sliding door near the entrance to the garage. The Alpha looks out to the graves of his family, all but one, and prays.
"Life may not treat us as kindly as we wish but death welcomes us all with open arms, may you be treated with grace in your passing."
It's not much but it's all he can give them, he then pulls the weapon from his belt, quickly sliding his left arm through the straps of the scabbard and pulls the blade free.
The shield unfurls without a touch, under the will of Crocea Mors spirit and Jaune trains.
It's all he can do these days.
Spend the hours of the day training.
The jackalope watches, not only from where she sits but through his eyes. He briefly wonders how she doesn't get disoriented but shakes the thought away.
As the morning sun starts to rise to the middle of the sky, the shield furls back into its scabbard form. Jaune sheaths the blade and places the weapon back into the badric before heading back inside the house.
Walking into the living room, he grabs the remote from the coffee table and sits as he turns the t.v on. As the holographic screen blinks into existence, the boy lets his mind deaden.
The horned rabbit climbs onto his lap and rests, his fangs absentmindedly run through her fur.
"Ring!Ring!"
Jaune reaches into his pocket, pulling out his reclaimed scroll, he opens it and answers without a thought, "Hello?"
"Is this; Jaune Luna Arc that I'm speaking to?"
"Yes, this is him, who I'm I talking to?"
"Just to confirm, are you the only son to Noah Arc and Jupiter Arc née Romée?"
"Yes." Jaune frowns and sits up, "Now who is this?"
"I'm the estate lawyer for the Hele-Nui family, may I ask for your birthday to further confirm your identity?"
The boy closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, "January 6, 19XX."
"Thank you, Mr. Arc. I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not but Mr. Hele-Nui has named you the sole beneficiary for his estate."
"What?" Jaune's tone is tinted in confusion, Crocea Mors looks up with a tilt of her head.
"Yes, I apologize I took so long to contact you but we had to confirm his passing and a few contested his Will in regards to a number of his assets but that has been dealt with you."
"Okay? That's… good."
"Very good." The man hums, "May I explain your inheritance?"
"Y..es, yeah." Jaune stutters.
"Mr. Hele-Nui owned a number of real estate properties; a loft in the kingdom of Vale, a townhouse in Atlas and a house in Mantle. You also inherited WolfSpirits along with fifty-five percent of the shares of the company, twenty five percent of the shares in the Schnee Dust Company, nineteen percent of the shares in the Vale News Network, fourteen percent of the shares in Atlas Broadcast Network, twelve percent of the shares in Megafirm, and been bequeath the totality of Mr. Hele-Nui's fortune which is two hundred and eighty billion Lien. "
The Alpha chokes, "Wh… wha… WHAT?"
"Congratulations Mr. Arc, you are a very, very rich man though you do need to come to the Kingdom of Vale to meet me and sign some paperwork, make it all official."
"..O..okay…"
"Alright, when would be a good time?"
"Um… next week?"
"Next week, sounds good. How does the 15th sound, at twelve o'clock?"
"It so.. sounds good."
"Then it's a plan, I'll text you the address of my office and I'll see you then. Please bring your birth certificate, a valid form of I.d, and your social security card, I hope you have a pleasant rest of your day."
The lawyer hangs up and Jaune pulls the scroll away from his ear, he stares at the device with uncomprehending eyes. The boy looks at the curious energy construct, "Looks like we're heading to Vale."
Jaune takes a shaky breath as he stares up at the large building. He's wearing his best clothes; a white button up shirt tucked into black jeans and high tops sneakers the same shade.
Many people gave him a large bereth, eyeing him with naked fear.
One woman clutches her chest as she passes him, her face turned away, tears gathering at her eyes.
He ignores them, nothing he hasn't gotten used to in Orleans, even Edward couldn't stand being near him for more than a minute or so right at the beginning.
As an Alpha his presence was large. He gave off an air of danger, as if he was seconds away from snapping and killing someone.
It wouldn't matter how harmless he tried to present himself, people would instinctively be wary of him. The sharper their senses were the more cautious they would be.
Faunus even more so; as part animal they would clock him as the king of predators and become paralyzed by fear, the sharper their senses were the more afraid they would be.
Considering Jaune is more akin to two Alphas stacked on top of each other he's lucky nobody has run away screaming bloody murder. Never mind the fact he's already suppressing his presence as much as possible.
The teen takes a deep breath but it does little to help. Walking in, the floor slows before standing stock still, in his peripheral he sees a security guard shakily palm the handle of his gun, ready to draw it out.
Jaune reaches the receptionist and smiles, she gulps, sweat gathering at her forehead, "Hi, I'm here for an appointment with Rosso Quill? My name is Jaune Luna Arc."
The woman nods and picks up the phone beside her, after a moment she asks for an I.d. He slowly reaches into his pocket, knowing dozens upon dozens of eyes are on him.
He takes his wallet out, pulls out a card and heads it over.
After studying the piece of plastic she hands it back and points to an elevator, "T.. o.. top floor, do.. do… down the first hall, las.. last… doOr and the right!" She struggles to tell him.
The boy nods, "Thank you." He turns around and hears a sigh of relief, as he walks towards the elevator, a man that was nowhere near him flinches as he passes him.
After entering the lift, he presses the highest number and waits. The doors open a few times on the way but the people on the other side stop cold as soon as they catch sight of him and allow the doors to close on them.
As Jaune reaches his floor, he exits the elevator. He sees a hall immediately to his right and walks down it, he sees another secretary stationed right in front of the lift stand up before sitting back down, her entire body shivering.
The boy knows he should probably turn around and talk with them but honestly he probably gave enough people panic attacks for the day.
He travels to the end and knocks on the door to the office on the left.
He can hear a person take a shaky breath, their heart desperately trying to leap out of their chest.
"Hi, I'm Jaune Arc. I'm here for our appointment."
"Co..co…come in!" The lawyer on the other end of the door speaks out.
Jaune opens the door into a spacious office, the Rosso Quill sits behind a large dark brown desk in front of a window panel overlooking the city.
The boy doesn't take another step, he simply waits for the other to get his breathing under control.
"Ta.. take a seat."
The Alpha nods with a smile and walks forward and pulls one of the two seats set in front of the desk, "Nice to meet you." He doesn't offer his hand.
"YoU too." Rosso doesn't offer his own either.
The talk between them didn't run very long, not that the boy expected it too.
He gave the lawyer the documents proving his identity, signed some documents and gave his banking information before creating a brokerage account for the stocks he inherited.
All in all, it took maybe thirty minutes.
He left with copies of the documents he signed and any relevant information of all the assets he inherited along with the number of Preto's proxy for the many Broads he sat on.
Jaune stumbles through the streets and finds himself back at his hotel, walking inside he heads straight to his room. As he sits in on his bed he feels Crocea Mors manifest and hops on his head, licking at his hair.
He ignores it, staring at the wall with dead eyes. Grabbing a pillow, he stuffs his face in it and screams.
The jackalope flinches and falls off his head, she shakes her head and bunts his side angrily.
"What I'm I supposed to do?" Jaune asks as he flops onto his back.
Jaune called the proxy.
There really wasn't much choice in that.
They would have all the information he needed and how to best move forward.
He sat outside of a small diner and sipped on a cola, his left pointer finger tapping nervously on his thigh.
Nobody was around, having left a few minutes after he arrived.
Soon enough he saw a man talking to the receptionist standing out front, her smile strained as they talked and she pointed at him.
Jaune sat up straight and studied the man.
He was tall, maybe an inch or so shorter than himself but built larger with dark skin, a shade or so darker than chocolate and no hair, at least on his head, he had a well trimmed white beard.
The proxy was dressed business casual with proper beige slacks and a salmon pink shirt tucked into them.
Jaune felt a hint of embarrassment as he wore a short sleeve yellow hoodie and cargo pants.
The man walked up to him, his smile never wavering, the corner of his seafoam eyes crinkling as he offered his hand, "Jaune Arc, right?"
"Yeah." The boy narrowed his eyes in confusion, "You're… um.. Vermelho Emissário?"
"Yes." The other sits down, "So let's get some stuff out of the way. I'm a druid."
Jaune blinks before his mouth widens, "You're the friend Preto was talking about?!"
Vermelho sighs in relief, "Ah good, he did talk to you about me, I was afraid I was going to have to explain everything."
The Alpha shakes his head, "No, no, Preto was maki.. making pla–" His words die off and an uncomfortable silence sits between them.
"I'm sorry for your loss, if it makes you feel any better Preto truly cared about you, more than he had for anyone in a long while."
The boy grunts, "I know. I don't think he would have left me with everything if he didn't."
The druid nods, "So can I ask, how did he…"
Jaune bites his lip, "It was my fault, we were trying to find the Alpha by using an ability I had," He licks his lower lip, wetting it. "I can feel my bonds as, like, strings or ropes or whatever, the two of us thought that I could reestablish the bond between the Alpha and myself."
"Reestablish? Does that mean you were able to break it?"
Nodding he continues, "I managed to link the strings back together but… but my oldest sister turned out to be the Alpha and she killed our parents and bit our sisters."
The other closes his eyes.
"I felt the bonds between my parents die and my sisters mutate, so I rushed towards my home and… and found the scene. I lost control, tracked her down and got my ass handed to me. Preto and two friendly Slayers came to rescue me but I got knocked out. She killed them."
"And you managed to kill her, that's why…" Vermelho gestures to his eyes.
Jaune nods his head then shakes it before groaning, "I woke up and she was doing some ritual to revive her… lover back? She had me in silver shackles and started killing everyone, I tried to escape but silver you know. Somewhere along the way I managed to become an Alpha, she called me a True Alpha, with the extra strength we fought and I killed her stealing her Alpha Spark."
"A…" Vermelho leans back, "A True Alpha?"
"Yeah, what is that? Preto never told me there were more ways to become an Alpha than the standard three."
The druid palms his face in astonishment, "A True Alpha is probably as you guessed, a wolf that doesn't have to steal or be gifted the extra spark of power, they rise to the status by pure strength of will, by the content of their character. There hasn't been a True Alpha in a hundred years."
"Oh…" Jaune utters, "Cool, I guess."
Vermelho stares at the boy for a long moment, "What are you expecting from this meeting, Jaune?"
The boy shrugs, "I… Preto never said his family owned WolfSpirits, he made it sound like a small business. He never said that he owns the majority of stocks in four major companies or was fifty rich. I guess I was wondering what I should do… and why he didn't do alot with his influence? Wealth."
The Druid hums, leaning back, "You have to remember until recently that Isabella was the one that owned everything and before her, their mother. The reason why they didn't use their wealth in the way you're probably thinking is because, well, they couldn't."
"Couldn't?"
"Ahuh." He nods, "The Hele-Nui name is well known in supernatural circles and thus well known by Slayers, if they made a big splash then that would put a target on their back which happened anyway but Isabella and Preto managed to escape. They were considered dead and if they did what you're suggesting they should have done then they would have exposed themselves and sure a Slayer or two wouldn't be a problem for them but a dozen? Two dozen?"
"Oh." Jaune felt like an idiot, "That makes sense."
Vermelho breathes out a puff of air, "They did what they could. More than what was necessary. Do you know how I became the druid for Isabella?"
"Uh, no."
"I met them in a small village in Solitas, fresh from running away from Orleans. She put on a brave face but I could tell how scared she was." The Druid starts, "The Pack I belong to at the time were… obsessed with her, she was from the Hele-Nui pack and they desperately wanted her in their ranks. The smart thing to do was to run away but then she found out their inclination."
"Inclination?" The Alpha asked, his heart dropping.
"The Alpha of the pack turned children, made them slaves in all the ways you're probably thinking. Isabella stayed and fought and won. She freed the kids, those that survived, and taught them as much as she could."
Jaune feels his eyes watering. Now more than ever he wishes he could have met Isabella.
"Most packs don't really care about humans, about other werewolves, or about anything really but those kids, those kids cared and from what they told me the Hele-Nui packed before them cared. Do you know their motto?"
"... We protect those who can't protect themselves."
"Isabella used the wealth she had to continue the mission her pack started and I'm sure Preto would have done the same."
Jaune looks down, "I… I want to continue that legacy."
"And I'm sure you will." Vermelho nods, "I heard you wanted to go to Beacon?"
The Alpha nods, "I did but without Aura that's obviously a no go."
The Druid raises an eyebrow, "What about your friend?"
Jaune breath stutters, his hand laying on his weapon, "Ho… how?"
"I can feel… her?" He answers, a hint of uncertainty coats the last of his words as he tries to identify the gender of the weapon.
The boy confirms hesitantly.
"Will wonders never cease, right?" Vermelho jokes, "I'm sure with enough practice you could use her Aura as your own."
Jaune swallows, "I… I don't know. Preto gave me a new dream, a new path to take. Going back to the old one feels like regressing, spitting on all the effort Preto put in me."
The man shakes his head, "Preto would never begrudge you for following your dream, Jaune. Never. Don't think about it going down an old path but that a new track on it has revealed itself. Having a Huntsmen License will allow you access to resources that Preto or Isabella wish they had, information that the two of them would have to pay a fortune for, and a reputation that will get people to listen to you when you need them to."
Jaune closes his eyes before nodding, "You're right."
"Good, Preto would be proud."
The Alpha smiles, "Does… can you be my druid?"
Vermelho laughs, the corner of his eyes crinkling, "Of course."
"Thank you." He breathes in deeply, "I'm going to be a Huntsman, I'm going to be a Hero. I'm going to help as many people as I can."
"I'll be with you every step of the way."
"But I won't do it in the shadows." Jaune states resolutely, "I will use the gifts I've been given and fight in the light of day."
Vermelho slowly nods, "That's your choice, I can't stop you." His smile drops slightly. "Now let me help you with your little problem." The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Lien coin, he clenches his right hand around it before thumbing it at the boy.
Jaune catches it pretty easily and stares in question.
"Keep that on you at all times, it will erase your presence and keep people from trying to lynch you."
He blinks at the golden bit before smiling, "Cool."
"Be careful though, everybody has some presence to them so you won't feel like anything, less than a bug."
"Better than having everyone treat me like a serial killer."
Vermelho shrugs, "Don't forget to continue to practice lessening your presence on your own, you never know what will happen."
"Right." Jaune nods, pocketing the piece.