Winter Break Part 9

Jaune nodded his head in affirmation, "That device is vital to achieving our goals. Problem is, the creators of the barrier. Dr. Geminy Krick and Dr. Polendina are very important figures in the kingdom Atlas. So, getting them to help could prove to be...well, difficult."

"Wait, I've never heard of these two doctors before!" Weiss said with her arms crossed.

"Not surprising. Atlas has a lot of top-secret scientists that are hidden away from the public. They fear if their identities became public they would attract the attention of those who would use their talents for less...noble intentions," Lance spoke up. 

Jaune nodded his head, "Both of them are brilliant technicians but their Semblances are perfect for building crazy Aura-Tech. Krick is a Technopath, and Polendina's semblance is called Life-Giver. It allows him to transfer his aura into artificial objects, granting them sentience and a soul."

Everyone gasped.

"So he can give souls to inanimate objects? That's amazing!" Gwen commented.

"Not exactly without cost. He has to shave the persons Aura and insert it into the said object. It left him crippled."

"Then won't it cripple Ren-Ren?!" Nora shouted with wide eyes.

"That's where I come in. If I amp your Aura beforehand, it's like taking a little off the top rather than cutting into the soul. We tested this on my self to make a new form of power for Kuroyuri."

"Well, at least I get to keep my legs…Wait how can their Semblance make use of mine? Didn't you say his Semblance is to take and cut his own soul?" Ren questioned.

"They don't know it yet, but Polendina can use his semblance on other peoples Aura's as well. He hasn't tried it yet because he considers it to be too dangerous."

"So, is there any sentient computers we should know about?" Nora asked.

"You guys remember meeting with Penny, right?" Jaune answered the question with another question.

Pyrrha placed her hand over her mouth as she recalled the memory of her dismantling the android through Jaune's perspective, "I..."

Jaune interrupted her by gently placing his hand on her shoulder, "You didn't know, plus, Emerald used her Illusion Semblance on you to alter the position of her body. Besides, since you know she is an Android with a soul now, you understand that using your Semblance against her is a death sentence for Penny. We don't have to follow the old timeline anymore. We should be making our own."

Pyrrha nodded her head as Jaune smiled and said, "Dad, Mom, annoying sisters, I need a favor."

"Hey!" Jaune's sisters called out at the same time.

Lance and Gwen gave Jaune a serious look before Lance spoke up, "What do you need us to do?" 

"Whatever you need, son," Gwen nodded her head.

"I need all of you to join my party," Jaune said as he smiled at his siblings.

Everyone smiled. A few of his sisters chuckled with excitement, they all gave their permission and watched as a screen appeared showing their status. His father's Aura was 100,000 and his sisters all in the tens of thousands. His mother's Aura on the other hand, made her an absolute monster. She must have a quite a few powerful friends because her Aura was at shocking 750,000.

Jaune smiled and placed his family in a separate team roster, Team Arc. He then gave their classes and titles a quick look over. 

Violet-Crystal Swordswoman

Claire-Gravity Caster

Amy-Storm Caller

Noire-Saint

Ash-Plant Master

Rouge-Silver Tongue

Saphron-Animal Tamer

Gwen-Moonlight Maiden

Lance-Holy Arc Knight.

Jaune's eyes narrowed on the Moonlight Maiden and thought, "Mom has relations to the Maidens or is it just a coincidence? But I've never heard of the Moonlight Maiden before. I have to talk to Ozpin about this."

Jaune then looked over his family's status. Although they were only level 1 in Class, their total levels were at 50 for his sisters and 91 for his parents. On top of that, their class grid had monstrous bonuses. A single sphere on their set up gave them stat bonuses in the 25+ range.

"Why do they start out with so many levels…is the system evolving the more I add to it? Or are all hunter-in-training classes just limited to starting at level 1?" Jaune thought before he looked at his parents and said, "You know, if you had chosen to retreat that day instead of fighting until you all died, we would have had a much easier time fighting Salem."

"We could have never abandoned this place, all our friends and family live here," Gwen said with a sad look on her face.

"That brings me to my next issue. After installing a barrier for Domremy, I'll need you guys to start unlocking the citizens' Auras. Normally, doing this repeatedly would be risky because of the massive Aura Drain, but as you know, we aren't normal when it comes to Aura." 

Jaune grinned before he continued, "I imagine before the hoard arrives, you guys can train up a small army."

Lance grinned, "You said the world turns into a place where only Hunters could survive, and you plan to turn everyone into Hunters to fight against it."

Jaune nodded his head, "Sometimes it's the simplest of ideas that proves to be the most effective."

"True, I don't think that anyone else could pull off awaking an entire town. It sounds like an impossible task," Lance said as he grabbed Gwen's hand.

Gwen smiled and said, "However, for a family of Aura monsters like us...piece of cake."

"Oooh! I want some cake!" Nora shouted.

"Nora, it's a saying," Ren said as he patted her shoulder.

"I don't care what she saying, as long as I get a piece of cake out of it!" Nora replied earning a chuckle from Gwen.

"I think we have some leftover cheesecake in the fridge," Gwen said as Nora turned into a blur.

"Don't eat anything else!" Jaune shouted.

"It's fine. The girl can eat what she wan..." Gwen was stopped mid-sentence by Ren.

The amethyst-eyed hunter held up his hand and said, "Ma'am..." 

Ren suddenly felt like for some reason he was in immediate danger before Jaune suddenly clapped his hand over Ren's mouth and whispered, "Never call her that...Mom considers herself forever 20."

After letting him go, Ren made a coughing sound as he said, "I mean, Mrs. Arc."

Ren felt the overwhelming killing intent disappear, and as Jaune let out a sigh of relief in response, Ren continued speaking, "I strongly advise against letting Nora eat her full."

"She can clean out a whole fridge if you let her," Jaune followed up.

"Listen to Jaune, captain's orders!" Ren shouted.

"Aww, man, everything in here looks so good!" Nora wined as she was poking through the Arc Family Fridge.

Jaune laughed as he held up his hands, "Well, I guess, I should fill you in on the rest of the plan. While I speak, I think you should spend your Level Tokens and manage your skills."

30-Minutes later everyone sat around the couch and looked at Jaune with pensive stares.

Jaune nodded his head and said, "Well, what do you think?"

Yang leaned back on the couch and faced the ceiling as she let out a breath of air, "Phew! Damn Vomit Knight, I didn't know you had that in ya."

Jaune raised his brow and glared at Yang, "Not funny, I'm serious."

"That's a tough plan," Gwen said with a downtrodden look.

"I know, mom, but it's the best chance to save as many lives as possible." Jaune smiled back at her.

With tears in her eyes, Gwen placed her hands on her son's cheeks and said, "But..."

Jaune placed his hands over his mother's and smiled gently, "I know what it means to do this, and although I don't like it either, it's the best plan I could think of."

Ruby hugged Jaune and said, "You won't be alone."

Nora jumped in next, "We're going to be by your side the whole time."

"It's a good plan son, but are you sure you want to do this? If you want, I can..." Lance spoke as Jaune held his hands out and stopped him.

Jaune chuckled, he shook his head before saying, "Thanks, dad...but, it has to be us. If you appear as the head and strongest Arc, do you think her forces will react? It's too risky. Our biggest advantage comes from knowing the events of the future. If you show up, it will change things in ways I can't predict."

Lance nodded his head, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." After letting out a sigh, he looked at Jaune's eyes and said, "Remember, you always have a choice." 

Lance started to leave the room, but before he left, he pulled out a key from his pocket and threw it to Jaune.

"It's the house keys for the vacation home. You'll spend the rest of the week here while I contact Qrow and James to set some things up. I'll also be training you as well." Lance cracked his back as he stretched his arms.

"Man, this is going to be a tough one to explain," The Arc Patriarch mumbled as he headed back to his room.

Gwen chuckled and said, "I'll get the girls settled in. Ren can bunk with you Jaune. Also, I left the workshop open, so feel free to prepare the metals you want in there. If you need any materials delivered, just contact Steele's Shop and tell him to use my account."

Jaune thanked his mother and spent time with his family along with his friends. He watched as his teammate and family became better acquainted and felt happy that they all appeared to be getting along.

Weiss was currently being asked twenty questions by Violet. Being Jaune's twin she expected her to be somewhat like the dork. However, Violet's interest in Dust sparked her intrigue.

Violet wanted to be the best Dust specialist in the world. She also discovered the Joan was a Dust Seemtrest, someone who specialized in the mysterious art of Dust Symbology. Gwen, Noire, and Violet were the only three heirs to the family art.

The fellow dust fanatics chatted for hours. 

Saphron was also interested in the tech from atlas as she was a proper technician. When they spoke about engraving Dust Symbols on thin pieces of metal to act as a motherboard, Saphron joined in on the conversation and offered her advice. 

Before they knew it, the three of them talked for well into the evening about Dust, Technology, and what they could do with both.

Amy was chatting constantly with Nora. Since Amy was a professional Hunter. She lived for the thrill of combat, and was a Grade-A adrenaline Junkie, so their personalities seemed to have many similarities and they became swift friends. 

They both had obsessions when it came to enjoying lightning and sugar. The two love explosions and both of their weapons spoke volumes about their passion for the art of blowing shit up.

However, they were at each other's necks when it came to Pancakes and Waffles. The two insisted that one was better than the other.

Amy shook her head, "I'm telling you, waffles are the best, they're crunchy, pour a little powdered sugar and syrup on them and they are the tastiest things on the planet. Pancakes are fine, but they have no substance."

"Blasphemer!" Nora shouted, "Pancakes are a thousand times better, them being compact just makes it easier to scarf down! A-N-D, they can be made anywhere. Not like a waffle that needs a machine to shape them! Pancakes are the ultimate food!"

Ren and Claire got along well. Since she was known as the voice of reason in the Arc sisterhood, she knew what it was like to put up with a force of nature like Nora. 

The two looked at each other and nodded their heads. Without speaking, they took the two arguing girls and separated them. A look of pity could be seen on their faces as they sighed and tried their best to remedy the fight.

"They're both tasty, why not have pancakes and waffles at the same time," Claire suggested.

Their eyes turned wide and their smiles stretched across their faces.

"What a great idea! What about a Panwaffle, something between a waffle and a pancake?! Or we could sandwich a waffle between two pancakes, a pancaked waffle we could call it!" Nora shouted.

"Nora you're a genius!" Amy shouted.

Nora nodded her head as if she were hearing old news, "Let's force...I mean ask Ren to help make them!" 

Amy and Nora grinned at each other before giving one another a high five.

Ren shook his head while Claire patted him on the back with a sympathetic sigh.

Ash seemed to get along well with Blake and Sun. Thanks to her ability to grow plants, she caught Blake's interests with a cup of homemade tea that she never tasted before. 

Sun, on the other hand, was more amazed by the aspect of owning his own Banana Tree, "So wait, you can grow anything with your Semblance, can you make a banana tree growing in an instant?!"

"Sun!" Blake shook her head with a sigh.

"Oh, come on, it's not like you weren't thinking if she could grow some kind of fish tree!" Sun shot back.

Blake's ears twitched, "Wait, can you?"

Ash laughed hard, "No, but I can make some catnip if you're interested."

Blake gasped, "Are you trying to make a joke! Keep that stuff away from me!" Blake couldn't help but feel a bit tempted.

Ash laughed again, "Awe, but cat Faunus are so cute when they give in to their animalist urges! I don't know why so many of them can't accept their animal heritage!"

Sun nodded his head at that last bit, Faunus should be proud of their animalistic side. Those characteristics are just as important as their human side.

"Did Yang put you up to this?" Blake questioned with a bit of a hiss in her voice.

Sun couldn't help but laugh a bit. Blake gave him a stink eye and made him wave his hands defensively in front of himself as he said, "Come on, that was funny!"

Noire was currently working on her own pet project. She was the brains of the family and the smartest of the Arc Clan. When she hit it off with Ruby, she knew she had made a friend for life. 

While the Arc maiden was more an all-encompassing type of scientist, she did love talking weapons with the silver-eyed petite. She also got along with the Mistral Champion swimmingly.

The two chatted about various things such as tactics and the nature of Aura. They spoke of experimenting with her semblance could make some very interesting tech through the use of her magnetic control. 

Jaune smiled, happy that they were all getting along and headed off to the family workshop/garage.

Author Note: I haven't had a chance to proofread this, so forgive the probably many grammar errors and brain farts. Just going to upload it all first.