Ironwood despised politics.
Of course he could keep up with the best of them, his job necessitated that. Even causing him to go out of his way to gain the position of Headmaster of Atlas Academy a year and a half ago with Ozpin's help.
Two seats and double the voting power on the Atlas Head Council was a powerful tool to levy, after all. No General worth his salt would ever let his foes be the ones to dictate the battlefield given the choice, after all.
And he certainly was no fool. After all, sometimes enemies were not outside the walls.
Politics was just a form of warfare that he found distasteful, but it was an unavoidable battlefield that he had to stand upon.
He took a breath, the built-in chem-sniffers in his right lung sending information to his right eye's HUD to display that Councilman Brown had traces of certain illegal herbs on his breath as he shook his hand.
Now wasn't that interesting.
He smiled, letting nothing show on his face as he shook his hand and welcomed them to the dinner party, his own thoughts enough to compile and send data to an information operative offsite to begin to piece together a report for further investigation.
Was it possible to just replace his other lung while he was at it? Both eyes? His new replacements, a product of young Jaune's NIKKE technology, were often more comfortable than his own. The boy warned of potential cyber-psychosis theory, however, and it was the only thing keeping him from taking his augments further.
He'd never have accepted them in the first place if it were not for necessity, after all.
Or he wouldn't have before Jaune.
His fingers clinked glasses with the Councilman as they discussed the mundane trivialities of their city management work.
"Delightful wine, General." The councilman spoke, his slightly wheezy voice causing the loose skin around his neck to tremble.
His cybereye detailed it was a likely result of liposuction judging from the scar tissue.
Ironwood almost wanted it to become mandatory for his operatives.
"Mistralian grapes?"
Ironwood smiled.
"Yes, a new favorite of mine." He cheered, taking a sip for himself. It wasn't actually, but still delightful enough for most 'refined palates' to enjoy to their fullest. Ironwood enjoyed it enough, but he had always been more particular to a good scotch. "From the Arc Vineyards of Domremy."
Despite being a seemingly habitual drug user, Councilman Brown seemed to know his wines. Interesting to note that his choice of drug use didn't destroy the man's sense of taste or smell. Ironwood would destroy his ability to control and make his own political decisions in time, however.
It wasn't his fault that his fellow councilman was providing him the keys to his own eventual manipulation.
"Mmm." He savored, "A robust yet uniform consistency in flavor, using just one kind of grape all throughout. It's hard to find such dedication to the craft nowadays. Too many skip corners for sub-par product, blamin Grimm for everything. I'll have to commission some for myself."
Brown laughed as he waved over another server for not another glass but a full bottle to read the details.
"Dom Perignon. Hmm. Named after their village. How quaint." Councilman Brown poured himself a new glass, as he gazed at the gold liquid, a stream of tiny bubbles rising to its surface. "Remarkable color as well. Truly you have good taste, General. Might I assume this… Arc Vineyard is related to the young prodigy whose name has been the new mysterious celebrity of Atlas?"
"The very same." Ironwood agreed with a thin smile. "As their son is in our care they have sent some thank you gifts. I simply believe they are truly worth broadcasting their craft to a larger audience."
That wasn't untrue. Due to the nature of Jaune's importance to the future of Remnant as well as his new budding ties to Atlas, Ironwood had sent a series of gifts to the Arc family alongside, against their slight protests, including a small squad of three operatives to go undercover as new guards for the village of Domremy.
Noelle Arc had clearly been uncomfortable, but it wasn't as if she could deny extra defenses against the Grimm or the ability to free her up for more time with her family as a result of the extra hands. Especially when those hands were some of the most elite of Atlas.
It was also extra insurance in case some more unsavory individuals tried to inevitably pull something to gain young Jaune Arc for themselves.
And it would be Atlas then that further earned the boy's trust.
Especially once he assisted the child in elevating the value of his parents' wine. It was indeed good stuff, and a shame that Mistral had begun adding additional levies and taxes due to Jaune's heritage.
Vale might be known for valuing civil freedoms too much, Vacuo for their lax policies and seeking strength above all, but Mistral? Mistral was pretentious.
And that was coming from an Atlasean.
Everything tied to some misguided sense of familial honor, the value of heritage over ability, the elevation and exaltation of select powerful individuals, and a slew of backwards policies that only cared about the money that could be earned off the backs of their own people.
Ironwood was convinced that Jacques Schnee who was conversing with Councilwoman Snell must have had a Mistralian upbringing.
At least even if Atlas's taxes were equally high, it all went back into the protection and welfare of their citizens in the end in one way or another, even though not every civil liberty was guaranteed. And most upper echelons of the Army purposefully took voluntary pay cuts until they had a family of their own to support. Half due to tradition, the other half knew exactly how important a strong army was to the defense of the Kingdom.
Even he was only taking the same pay as a Sergeant, though he was provided amenities by the Kingdom for appearance purposes.
Mistral though?
There was a reason why Atlas and Vale allied with each other, despite their cultural differences, over Mistral.
Both Kingdoms were more likely to be stabbed in the back in the dark.
At least if Vale or Atlas had a future dispute they'd be up front about their issues and actually pave the method to diplomacy.
That and the fact that the criminal elements of Mistral had significant sway in their politics. More than Vacuo, as their criminal empires had more come into an agreement with their leadership to keep themselves separate in exchange for leniency.
Ironwood kept Councilman Brown company a while longer before excusing himself and interacting with other guests at the gala. He knew that Jaune had made a similar request of Ozpin, but knew that the man would instead operate less directly and send his purchased bottles as gifts for a slew of wealthier Huntsmen and Huntresses as well as certain influential people and cast a wide net.
Ironwood respected Ozpin. Regarded and respected him as a friend.
He still wouldn't give up Jaune Arc that easily.
Jaune adjusted the mask over his eyes and his fingers tightened around his new spear.
SSR Rarity Equipment: Yaksha's Jade Winged-Spear
Origin: Liyue of Teyvat
Description: An earlier iteration of the Primordial Jade Wing Spear wielded by Adeptus Alatus, the Conqueror of Demons, the final remaining Yaksha of Rex Lapis: Morax, the Geo Archon.
Broken during the Archon war in the defense of Liyue in service to the God of Contracts, this spear retains the martial and Adeptal arts and power of the Anemo Yaksha. It hungers, even thirsts, to vanquish evil and is not yet tainted by Kharmic Vengeance like the replacement now handled by its original wielder. Reforged by the Trans-Dimensional Ultimate Gacha, this polearm has been restored to its prime, though it's history remains fragmented.
Every strike caused by this weapon causes its strength to increase in small increments. After seven consecutive blows, it will gain a burst of power, extending the force and cutting power of the speartip by the mystic weight within the primordial jade. This weapon is also empowered to seek more critical blows.
Additional copies of this weapon can either empower the power of the Winged-Spear or grant additional techniques of Adeptus Alatus.
Base granted ability:
Lemniscatic Wind Cycling - Shroud thyself in wind, become as a falcon and tear through the wretches that dare block the path of justice as dictated by the God of Contracts.
Even though the solid length of magic jade from another world had resized slightly to fit his frame better, the weight and shape was different from Durindana. However, unlike the Noble Phantasm, this weapon did not require his Command Seals to unleash their true might.
Unlike Durindana it didn't just magically bypass the Aura of his opponents.
That was the big thing. As powerful and beautiful as Durindana was, it was a weapon meant for warfare, not for the defense of the innocent. Well, so was the Jade Winged-Spear, but the second spear didn't carry any inherent defense and Aura piercing abilities.
Despite its haft being painted in black and gold, the viridian jade weapon was one solid piece of carved mystic mineral. It was gorgeous and drew Trivia's jealousy as six smaller pointed 'wings' of jade floated off of the edge like magic, only one of the six wings alight with viridian energy like the core of the speartip.
But seeing as she had nothing to defend herself, at Juniper's guidance he had given the girl a woman's parasol that was a bland gray and blue, but it carried a hidden blade in the tip that could be produced at the touch of a button.
Neo applied an illusion to make it a prettier white and pink, completely ruining its ability to have any stealth utility.
Trivia seemed to like it though, so Jaune left it at that.
He just wanted to know why Big Brother Juniper seemed so suddenly uncomfortable seeing Trivia with the parasol, as if he had made some sort of horrid realization too late.
Jaune had asked what the problem was, but Juniper had just shook his head, stating this might end up as some sort of pre-emptive reform program and telling Jaune that he had an idea for a proper weapon for Trivia later. However he was holding Jaune responsible for helping prevent Trivia from falling down a dark path.
That was no issue with Jaune, he'd make a Hero of Trivia and Neo yet!
They were just misguided and lashing out. No different than him running away from home. They were good girls!
Juniper had gone and done a bit of light scouting in their vicinity by floating through walls and found something he called a gambling den. A place where people broke the law and conned money out of people with alcohol and cards.
What better place for heroes to strike?
Neo seemed especially bemused at the thought of stealing from people who also stole for some reason. Plus it would allow Jaune to be completely guilt free.
Somehow she tended to be more brutally honest than Trivia herself, reminding Jaune sort of of Raven. She was still loads nicer than Raven was though.
Trivia wanted little things here and there, but Neo wanted big amounts of whatever. Things for the sake of things, and wanted to hoard it like a dragon in a fairy tale. She didn't even want to spend or use what she stole, just sit on it all pretty.
Rather having Jaune pay for stuff for her made her feel special and happy, which suited him well enough. He didn't exactly have any plans for any of his Lien to be honest.
She was just like his sisters who enjoyed being spoiled and he was happy enough to do just that for his friends.
Regardless, the plan was that Jaune would be the big distraction, and since Neo and Trivia didn't have any combat experience, they were to stay invisible using Neo's Semblance and steal from the bad guys, only using their weapons to defend themselves if absolutely necessary.
Jaune had his mice Shadows ready to teleport him out if anything got hairy and felt confident with the combat instincts and knowledge of Hector of Troy to make things work against common thugs even with an unfamiliar weapon.
He was ready. He could do this! He-
Trivia flipped his skirt from behind again, giggling with Neo as he deadpanned.
"What do you mean, for luck?" He scowled half-heartedly in his neon green thigh highs and black skirt. "Besides I'm just wearing bike shorts under this."
Neo mimicked a swoon.
Jaune rolled his eyes from under his green and black wig. It wasn't anything special, but it was a R Rarity item that couldn't be dislodged without his permission and kept his ears and blonde hair hidden. A pair of mundane colored contacts made his eyes green to match.
Wearing elbow length silk gloves on the other hand was weirder. The black silk felt nice and smooth against his skin, but the material made the Winged-Spear slip slightly in his grip more than he'd like.
"So are we going to explain to me why you put me in the cheerleader outfit over all your other options?"
Trivia gave him a smug smirk.
"No? Ok, fine. Whatever floats your milkshake." Jaune rolled his eyes as Trivia flipped his skirt again. "Ok, come on, that's enough. Let's just do this."
Trivia and Neo giggled at him silently as they picked the lock to the window in the alleyway as Jaune left to circle to the front of the building.
It was a nondescript brick architecture, not unlike many locations in Vale. Jaune hid his weapon in his inventory as he skipped up to the front door, mimicking the mannerisms of his sisters when they skipped about the house.
He rang the doorbell, as if nothing was wrong.
It opened up to a tall man in a black suit and red tie. He smelled like cigarettes and the sort of cheap booze Qrow was always sipping.
"The fuck? What're you doing here, little girl? Ya lost?"
"Could I use your Scroll mister?" Jaune asked, giving his voice a bit more of a girlish cuteness, mimicking his sisters more. "I'm lost."
The man snorted like Jaune was an idiot. He certainly felt like it, dressed how he was.
"Bit early for Hunter's Eve, ain't it brat?"
"I'm not a brat!" He replied with a fake offended huff, "I was playing Huntresses with my friends! I just got a little lost!"
The red tie man just rolled his eyes.
"Get the fuck off my porch, brat, while I'm being nice. This is King's turf."
And slammed the door in Jaune's face.
He sighed.
"Hard way it is."
His fingers flicked around as a long polearm appeared as it was spun around in a full circle behind him before settling in his grip.
"Lemniscatic Wind Cycling!" He hissed, feeling a pressure like being squeezed through a tube.
His Aura concentrated and launched him forward in a tunnel of wind and green-gold Aura that drilled a hole through the door as a mote of green wind floated up the blade of his Winged-Spear.
"The fu-"
The flat of the Winged-Spear slammed against his face as a second mote of green wind joined the first. Aura flashed against his form but barely held.
Leaping up and cycling the spear around his form in a helix, Jaune pointed the butt of the Winged-Spear at the red tie thug.
"Lemniscatic Wind Cycling!" He flew through another green-gold vortex of wind that tore past the thug, breaking the man's Aura as it knocked him to the ground, unconscious, as a third mote of wind glowed.
"What the hell is-" Another red-tied thug walked through a door by the reception area only to eat a small platform boot to the face as Jaune launched himself forward using his Winged-Spear as a pole vault and knocking the thug into the gambling den.
"Yaho~" Jaune grinned as he spun the Winged-Spear behind him flashily as a Hero should, stopping to lean to the side to react to a handgun raised towards him, flashing with the ignition of Combustion Dust as a Dust Round fired past his form.
"I'm sorry, did you just shoot at a little girl?" Jaune asked, raising a brow, only realizing moments after that his facemask hid his eyebrows.
He hopped, dodging a hand from the thug he just kicked that lashed to grab the ankle of his platform boots, striking down with the blade of the Winged-Spear like a pogo stick, driving the hand into the wood floor with the combined weight of the weapon and Jaune's own body to the sound of a pained scream, not breaking the Aura yet.
A fourth mote of wind formed.
"Get the girl!" Handgun called out to the four other thugs in the room who began rushing over to Jaune.
"Yes, officer! This man!" Jaune yelled, swinging the Winged-Spear to deflect a Dust-Round out of instinct, getting honestly lucky as Hector had dealt with arrows with the same force as bullets, but lacked the same kind of read on firearms, "Lemniscatic Wind Cycling!"
Still the principle was roughly the same. Look for where the bullet would be aiming and react accordingly.
He tore through the air like a large green bullet of his own, barrelling into Handgun as he blew through one of the four other Red Ties, throwing the thug into and through a poker table. Jaune however was shocked when he made contact with Handgun, twisting the blade away from the man's shoulder when he realized he had no Aura.
"Aw come on! How was I supposed to know?!" He groaned as a fifth mote of wind appeared as a multitude of small cuts from the shrouding wind began to bleed through Handgun's suit, "Go to sleep!"
The jade haft spun around to clock the man in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious.
Jaune kicked the poker table he landed by over on its side, spilling cards and chips everywhere. Civilians screamed and began to run when the other Red Ties began opening fire, Dust rounds colliding with the heavy poker table.
Luckily they were low caliber and didn't immediately pierce through.
Jaune saw Trivia and Neo enter through a back door and begin to sneak to the locked side money exchange room where a woman in a vest and red tie was quickly beginning to throw piles of Lien into a duffle bag from behind protective bars.
Meanwhile he pulled a Potion of Healing out and poured it over the bleeding Handgun beneath him to ensure he didn't bleed to death.
"B-bike shorts?"
"Oh my gosh." Jaune groaned as he drove the base of the Winged-Spear into Handgun's forehead, knocking him out again. "Why does that matter?! Why are you looking?!"
A sixth mote of wind formed, beginning to swirl around the tip of the Jade Winged-Spear like a miniature tornado.
On instinct and from a warning from Juniper, Jaune leaned to the side, spinning the Winged-Spear up to block a curved red machete. He let the weight of the blow cause the spear to spin under him, catching it with his forearm and over, spinning to roll over his shoulder and land on his neck, where he spun, twisting the polearm in a reverse grip, whipping the blade back around to collide into the chin of Machete with massive centrifugal force.
His Aura shattered as he was launched up into the side, landing into the side of another table, causing one of the legs to buckle and break as he was sent rolling up and over the other side.
A seventh mote of wind formed, screaming with glowing viridian wind as it formed an extending bladehead at the tip of the Yaksha's Jade Winged-Spear.
"Cool." Jaune grinned, spinning the blade around, leaning back almost ninety degrees as the polearm swung in a wide arc above him, deflecting two more machetes. It didn't stop him from catching a bullet from another Red Tie to his thigh, sending the edge of his pleated black skirt fluttering.
"That hurt!" Jaune growled, spinning up with a kick to catch one of the two melee Red Ties across the jaw.
Then his Shackles allowed him to use the man as a fulcrum to swing himself up and around as he spun, the other foot landing on the man's shoulder for stability, spinning his extended Winged-Spear twice as he did so, he caught the second Melee Red Tie and the wind coated blade flashed against his Aura, tearing up his suit, despite his Aura holding.
"Get off!" His platform roared as he fell back, losing his balance, but Jaune thrust his Winged-Spear down blade first, letting go with his Shackles as he pole-vaulted over another shot from across the Melee Red Tie's Aura shattered as he fell back, falling unconscious as his head hit the edge of a table.
"Sure!" He spun acrobatically in the air, swinging the spear around to deflect another shot as the second landed in his shoulder, stinging against his Aura.
The base of his polearm was pointed at the second Melee Red Tie who was still up.
"Lemniscatic-" He was a blur of green-gold wind, sending his foe flying into a wall, the man's Aura shattering as he entered unconsciousness, "-Wind Cycling!"
Caring the force forwards after rolling once on the ground, he landed on the wall, running along it to the other side of the room using the Shackles Spider Climb ability, spinning the Winged-Spear above his head to ward off additional shots, shifting to spin the wind infused polearm in front of him like fan as he rushed the final Red Tie.
"Fucking monster gir-" He was silenced by the wind extended blade shatting through his handgun with an explosion of Dust that swirled in the wind and spread in a mid-sized combustion explosion, sending Jaune head over heels with a yelp as he was flung into a table, his Aura flashing as his small form shattered through the drink bar, drenching him in amber liquid.
"Ugh. Pteooey. Gross!" Jaune gagged, spitting out the bitter liquid that trickled down the side of his face. "Ugh! How does anybody drink this stuff?! Gross!"
"Fucking bitch!" The last Red Tie screamed, picking up a chair as he rushed at Jaune.
"Now that's just rude." Jaune split the chair in half with a swing of the Winged-Spear, "And also probably clinically stupid."
In a green blur, the spear spun around Jaune like a green and gold arc, building up force before the side of the wind coated blade slammed into the side of the final Red Tie, shattering through his Aura and knocking the man unconscious.
"Please don't kill me!" A woman's voice cried out from the Lien exchange room.
Jaune turned to see that Trivia and Neo were already leaving with the cash, as somewhere out of sight and under the counter the woman must have been cowering at, as if terrified of some invisible foe.
Some illusion prank again.
"You're taking it easy on her, right?" Jaune asked weakly.
Trivia just gave a shrug with her new duffle bag as Neo rolled her eyes with a thumbs up.
"Kay! Let's break out the back and go! Our first Hero mission is a success!" Jaune cheered, hugging his arms around each of the two girls waists after putting his weapon away in his inventory, carrying them with excited energy as Neo struggled in his arms, not wanting to be carried in such an embarrassing fashion (also weirdly light), Trivia clinging around his torso as she twisted a human ear in complaint.
Jaune didn't care as he was whooping in laughter as they fled into the night.
He lay in a pool of deepest black.
A second realm formed and managed. Yet nothing had changed. But this second, the mirrored experience had given him both perspective and time to think.
Order. Ha.
More like control.
And he'd drawn the short end of the stick once more due to his brother's now obvious machinations.
How would humanity ever approach a Brother known to encompass Destruction and Darkness?
There was an inherent stigma in the mentality of man. Why would they approach and entreat the God of Darkness when the God of Light declared that he was the God of Creation?
Fools.
The Umbral granted as much in the form of creation as the Astral. So what if his creations were more random in nature? They were more powerful. His peering into their previous experiment, the Remnant Realm was proof.
Salem, the woman that offered herself as his first worshiper all but ruled the world's future in shadow. The downfall of man was inevitable. Even guaranteed, despite his brother cheating him again.
Fury filled the God of Darkness, the pool beneath him rippling malevolently filled with the Umbral energy of primordial chaos.
He regretted the childish feeling of betrayal he felt when his brother had informed him that Salem had approached the God of Light before him for the resurrection of her lover. In hindsight, of course she'd have approached his brother first. That was simply how it went. Why had he been so short sighted to agree to curse his only potential subject?
His brother's damned manipulations had only worked because he loved and trusted his Brother.
It was natural. That's how it should have been, but it was clear now his Brother loved the humans' worship more than he loved his fellow God.
Salem had been cursed with eternal life only so that she'd see the folly of usurping the natural order. Once she'd understood the weight of her mistake a century or two later, should she have come to apologize she'd have been allowed to pass and join her beloved in the afterlife.
It was never meant to end the way it did.
But even thinking back on those series of events filled his dark heart with fury.
How dare his brother remind and chide him of the sanctity of the order of life and death and then send the Hero Ozma back into the land of the living again and again?! The barest of loopholes, that he wasn't given his own living form was the one reason that the God of Darkness could not personally step in and intervene at this point.
The whole series of events left the God of Darkness with deepest regret.
Gods too were not perfect. He and his brother were younger then, and he now had more time to reflect without childish anger. But even now his brother's heart, so filled with Light was so rooted in his own sense of justice that he blinded himself to the truth.
Ha. How so like Light.
However a God could not take back their words.
But his brother, the God of Light, made one mistake.
He gave Ozma four Relics. Objects filled with the God of Light's Divinity. Even created a line of Silver Eyed Warriors to weigh the scales in his favor for his believed eventual return to Remnant.
His brother broke the rules first. It was only fair then, that HE played his own tricks.
A black grin could not be seen in the inky pool.
Thus, he had created a Relic of his own in the essence of the collapsing reality as time itself was unmade, consuming all that would have been to power HIS Relic.
Filled with the Primordial Darkness. One relic that encompassed Four Aspects to match that of his Brother's Relics.
Shadow to hide it from the greed of fools.
Umbral creation that could bring forth lesser artifacts of great power as long as they didn't draw upon any Divinity other than his own.
Darkness that could swallow and hold objects.
Cosmos conversion that could consume sources of energy into more power for the Umbral aspect to draw from.
When Salem had gained the power of Two of his Brother's Relics, the God of Light in a panic unwound the flow of time, which was the only reason that he had the ability to pull this deception in the first place.
His brother assumed he had not noticed, wallowing in his self-pity, but if the God of Light was cheating by sending back Ozma, he'd send a hero back as well.
He could not take Ruby Rose, as she already carried his Brother's lineage.
Yang Xiao-Long, Blake Belladonna, and Weiss Schnee were too close to Ruby for anything else.
His only choice was Jaune Arc.
The Brother of Darkness grinned.
A boy that once dreamt to be a hero beyond any reasonable logic. Who broke the rules and snuck his way into Beacon, cheating and lying. A being descended of heroes, but steeped in dark potential.
Despite his kind soul, he was one steeped in regret and filled with dark self-loathing. And yet sought further purpose than his peers. He was capable of humility. Learning from his mistakes, even if he was… bland.
Better than the alternatives.
A young heroine tainted by the Light. A wing clipped dragon that lost her spark of passion for the vices of life and in her jadedness tempered herself so far that it muted her personality and passion down to dull embers. A cat that did nothing but run and was rewarded for running at almost every turn while she lashed out to those that would help her. A beauty in white that lived a life of abuse by a male authority, but then when complaining to the male authorities at the school where she had run away to, simply obeyed without question, making her own rebellion ultimately pointless.
Fah.
Jaune Arc was no gem, but he was malleable. He lacked drive and passion in his teenage years, but as a child… now that was a boy that was only filled with dreams and bursting with passion.. but those dark, jealous, YEARNING embers were smothered by his own parentage.
The Brother Grimm laughed.
Now that boy had been unbound!
To be twisted by his every insecurity, obsessive passions, incoherent fear, and burning desire.
Once he grew strong enough, he would gain the power to consume and destroy Salem, she who SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIS and destroy his one regret. He would do so for the sake of his God.
For he who fueled the power of the boy who THIRSTED with the desire to be a Hero.
His laughter echoed in the dark side of his second Realm as he stared up at twin moons.
"This time, it shall be me. I Gacha, Brother."
The night echoed with the sound of dark, cackling madness.