Chapter 11 - The Truth of the Past

Jaune walked right out of the elevator and into the main room that is Ozpins office (The dude really likes clocks apparently) and noticed that Ozpin hasn't even acknowledged him. Thinking fast Jaune uses his sense stat and rolls forward right as his senses screamed at him about an incoming blade form his left.

Jaune quickly turns to face this attacker and draws his sword and shield out. He sees the enemy wearing a long cloak and some sort of scythe similar to Ruby's but with a different metal and configuration of parts. He also smelled like a walking bar, but seemed very sober on this occasion.

The cloaked individual comes swinging again with a leap and a spin to become a buzz saw. Jaune decides to spare Ozpins floor the damage and brings up his shield while activating his empowerment ability. As the glow affects himself and his opponent Ozpin raises his eyebrows despite his efforts to remain stoic and notices the auric glow over his body and the feeling of a boost being applied to himself.

He thinks to himself as Jaune and the cloaked person begin a battle of blades and their symphony of clangs ring around the office as Ozpin thinks back to his past. I haven't felt this kind of boost since his Grandfathers era. In my previous life as a headmaster. So he has confirmed that he has indeed gathered the abilities of the previous incarnation of his lineage. But has he reached the level we need? I shall observe a bit longer and see what he does next.

Ozpin schools his face into a mask of indifference again while Jaune and the potential assassin leap back from their flurry of blades. Jaune notices that his arm is shaking slightly from the efforts of blocking the heavy strikes of this person. And while Jaune is checking himself the cloaked person seems to be checking their weapon edge and are shocked at seeing the beginnings of nicks and dull bends in their blade from connecting with the kids sword and shield. He clicks his tongue and lets loose whatever control he had on his Semblance and rushes Jaune.

Jaune prepares to get into a defensive stance but a strap on his left sabaton comes loose and makes him lose his footing slightly as he steps and slides on the strap. The mysterious person comes in for Jaunes neck with his blade and prepares to stop short to avoid killing him before he is shocked to see Jaunes feet glow and Jaune shoots up a good 15ft into the air from his original position. The cloaked figure turns to looks at Jaune quickly only to be met with a shield to the face.

Jaune kicked off the shield into his attackers face and landed on a nearby pillar. He gathered his aura into his legs and charged his blade before shooting off like a bullet form the pillar and towards his opponent. His foe just recovered from the long range shield bash and readies their blade in a new weapon mode of a great sword with a triangle like shape to it. Jaune readies his blade and his target readies their blade and both combatants swing.

Right as their swords would meet though a barrier of green aura appears between them and stops their sword in their tracks. The cloaked persons sword clangs against the barrier uselessly. While Jaunes attack explodes against it and makes him fly back form the force of the explosion. The cloaked individual begins to chuckle then double takes as they see the barrier has a 5inch crack in its surface. Meaning the kid had put actual killing intent or at least maiming intent into his swing against them. With a sweat drop at how Ozpins barrier actually showed a crack the cloaked figure suddenly was happy that the final strike was interrupted.

Ozpin is seen standing at his desk with his hand glowing green and a slight grimace on his face. He speaks firmly at both fighters, "That is enough Mr.Arc. This man here is actually one of my personal friends and allies. Excuse us for testing you but we needed to make sure you had actually improved to where you were in combat class. If you had been taken out by my ally then we would have had to send you back with an excuse. And if you had beaten him with other tactics or tools then we would have had to arrest you. I hope you understand."

Jaune groans and sits up while rubbing his head and going, "I would understand better if you explained something to me better."

Ozpin asks with a raised eyebrow, "Yes?"

Jaune stands up and motions to the cloaked figure in anger, "Who is your ally!? I need to see their face before I can accept an apology!"

Ozpin chuckles and motions for his friends to remove his cloak. With a sigh the cloaked person unravels themselves, showing a grizzled person with a scythe on their back again, a gray shirt, black sleeves partially rolled up, black pants, a red cape on his back and a black and gray hair that seems to be swept back and spiked naturally.

He smirks and nods to Jaune in respect showing off an aloof nature, "Names Qrow kid… Looks like my nieces Ruby and Yang are in good hands."

Jaune gapes and looks at Ozpin before back to Qrow then back to his Headmaster again, "I feel like we have a lot more to talk about than I initially thought Headmaster!"

Ozpin sips form his mug and motions to a pair of chairs in front of his desk going, "That we do Mr. Arc. And we can explain quite a bit about everything as long as you can do me a favor."

Jaune perks up as he approaches the chair, nodding without verbally speaking this time.

Ozpin sits fully with his mug in hand and asks, "What do you know of Monarchs?"

Jaune stumbles into his chair while Qrow looks at the old wizard with a questioning look, "Wait Monarchs? Aren't those an old system of government we used to have back in the old days Oz? Why ask about them today?"

Jaune looks to Qrow then to Ozpin in a silent question, Ozpin nods and sits back waiting for Jaunes answer. With Ozpins confirmation that Qrow is trust worthy he nods and sits up straighter with a determined steel to his eyes. Qrow flinches a little at the sudden change from the nervous student he was expecting to this sense of him sitting next to a seasoned veteran Huntsman. Jaune begins to explain to Qrow and Ozpin everything he knows.

The Monarch war, how he is the current holder of the Monarch of Lights power, how he has been noticed by the Monarch of Darkness, and how he has recruited his friends to the fight against the Dark. Ozpin nods along as each piece of information comes across his ears, while Qrow is struggling to keep up and is getting more and more shocked at what he is learning. Once Jaune finishes he looks nervously to Ozpin to see his reaction. Qrow looks like he is about to have an aneurysm based on how wide his eyes are and how much he is babbling in confusion.

Ozpin turns to Qrow first as he looks like he is ready to explode, "Go on and let it out Qrow. You deserve to have confirmation."

Qrow explodes, and he explodes hard, "You are darn right I deserve confirmation!! This is huge! This goes beyond simply fighting Salem as the Queen of Grimm! Oz! You have to tell everyone else! Monarchs who would be able to fight the brother gods themselves! This is gigantic! We can't keep this a secret! What about the other Headmasters!? What about Glynda?! What about other allies we can bring into the circle! We need to make sure they can handle this! If she is waking up and becoming more active than before we need to prepare properly! An elite team is all fine and dandy, but we need an army at this point!"

Ozpin nods and goes, "All valid points Qrow."

Qrow explodes once again, "AND?!"

Ozpin sips his mug dry and places it down, "And we need to handle this carefully. I have been fighting her since I awakened in this world centuries ago. Ever since she came to being and ever since she lost her senses to want all living things dead."

Qrow takes a step back and looks between the man he thought he knew and the student who looks calm in this revelation. "So you're saying!… That you are a Monarch being too?!"

Ozpin nods and a cloak of magic flows around him, it is faded an dcan be mistaken for a light hologram but it is there as he states, "I am the Monarch of Magic, and I am glad to see you doing well Monarch of Light."

Qrow faints.

The two monarchs in the room look to the knocked out from overload hunter and then back to each other. Jaune raises a finger, "Weeee… mayyyyybe could have handled that better for the poor mans mind to follow."

Ozpin dissipates the cloak and chuckles to himself as he nods, "Agreed, but it is good to see you have awakened your heritage Mr. Arc, after all your family have been the main line of hunters chosen to house the Monarch of Light. Usually your families semblances meshed the best with the Monarch of Lights powers. And those that I choose to host my power and soul usually house a bit of magic in their bloodlines allowing me to recover bits of my original potential."

Jaune thought on that before perking up and realizing he heard about this from the System. "My System mentioned that! That you had split your powers out and thus had gotten weaker. But your magic seemed to be weaker last time it met you. You seem a bit stronger than the last time it met you. So what happened?"

Ozpin sighed and looked out the window. "You see the Monarch of Darkness wasn't always the Queen of Grimm. She was once a simple woman, a woman who I loved. And the woman who I promised I would be there for the rest of our lives. I made such a promise on the altar to her. And our 4 daughters."

Jaunes eyes bugged out as he asks, "Wait! The Monarch of Darkness, is the Queen of Grimm, and you two used to be married?!"

Ozpin smiled ruefully and nodded. "Her name was Salem, and our daughters were such beautiful little girls, I gave them magical blessings to help them grow as powerful and a beautiful as their mother. But as time passed and their powers grew, Salems heart grew colder. She seemed happy with me and our daughters at first. But her heart was slowly consumed with the whispers of the Grimm urges in her mind, and the urging of her Monarchs soul she still had in her being. She eventually betrayed me and humanity, and decided to become a tyrant of the dark. She wanted to rule the world to secure a place for our daughters to rule with their growing magic potential. We fought over this bit by bit as she changed, at first with words, then with blows, and finally with all we had available to us. And our daughters who were barely 8 at the oldest, were caught in the crossfire, and perished in the conflict. I tried to reclaim my powers from their souls as they faded, but the powers I granted them had gained a mind of their own. They instead became alive in a way. They flew off and became the backbone of the legend of the Maidens of Seasons. I was the wizard of that tale, and as such I became a legend myself."

Jaunes eyes were wide as he took in this information, "So we are fighting Salem, your Ex-wife, the current Queen of Grimm, and the current and so far only Monarch of Darkness."

Ozpin sat down with a sigh as he nodded. Jaune decides to do what he does best, and rationalize, "So essentially we are dealing with a divorce gone wrong, your ex having turned into a psycho path, and the lost powers of your daughters being in the wind essentially. Right?"

Ozpin let out a sharp but short bark of laughter full of bitterness and goes, "You are not wrong when you put it that way. Salem and her champions of Darkness are powerful, well trained, and are gathering their own forces. Not to mention that with the Grimm on her side she has a nigh unlimited army full of units she can throw at us until exhaustion claims us all. Meanwhile we have a school of partially trained protectors of the light for our army, separated into 4 continents, with no unity, and council members who care little for the plight of the people, just so they can have their pockets full, and they have no knowledge of what is truly going on."

Jaune looks at the desk in partial defeat when given the news of how steep the hill of battle is. His eyes land on the chess board and an idea comes to mind. He thinks it over before remembering a class skill he has unlocked recently that allows him to use not only Iron, but other units. "Headmaster Ozpin! I may have a way to get around the lack of a standing army!"

Ozpin perks up out of his funk and corrects Jaune, "Please Jaune when it is just us or my inner circle you can just call me Ozpin. But please go ahead."

Jaune nodded and brought the chess board to the center of the desk between them sweeping the pieces to the side to make a clear board. He asks, "You say we are without an army right? And that Salem is the Queen of Grimm correct?"

Ozpin nods while Jaune places a white king piece for Ozpin, and a black queen piece for Salem as he labels the sides. Soon he covers the board haphazardly with black pawn pieces and some knights and bishop pieces around the black queen. "She has her forces, her elites, and a literal army of pawns in the Grimm. Right?"

Ozpin nods already knowing this but intrigued at what Jaune is leading to.

Jaune continues and asks, "Since we are both Monarchs, we are teamed up obviously."

He places a knight with a unicorn horn on it from a different chess set that was in one of the side drawers of the board which housed different styles of pieces for different genres of chess. As he gets ready to explain his skill, a thought occurs to him, "And can you see my stats if I allow you to?"

Ozpin raises a finger then lowers it as he stops and thinks, "I don't believe I can, I never tried, and neither have any previous generations of Monarchs. Where are you going with this?"

Jaune ignores him temporarily as he goes, System can we show my stats to a fellow Monarch who is an ally?

The system answers with excitement, ~Why I believe so! Let me check… Yes! We can Simply say, "Allow Current Monarch of Magic, named Ozpin, appraisal of stats for Player Jaune Arc" and he can see what you allow him to see.~

Jaune nods and says out loud for Ozpin to hear, "Allow current Monarch of Magic, named Ozpin, appraisal of stats for Player Jaune Arc"

Ozpin goes to question Jaune on his words before he is shocked silent and looks to a message in front of him. He presses a button and suddenly he sees Jaunes current stats and skills.

Level 81

Exp: 70%

HP: 62,700/62,700

AP: 28,350/28,350

Fatigue: 0/100%

Class: Master of Knights

Stats:

STR: 115 (+35) (+1 ally boost)

AGI: 110 (+3) (+1 ally boost)

VIT:110 (+25) (+1 ally boost)

INT: 110 (+1 ally boost)

SENSE: 110 (+5) (+1 ally boost)

Points available: 5

Physical dmg reduction: +27%

Skills:

-???- : ?????

Inheritor: Access to system, over level 20 access to shop

Knight Master: +1 to all stats per ally under users command

Standing army: Gain ability to summon an army of knights under the users command, points available 10/110, basic unit 0 (5 pts per), commander units 0 (30 pts per), heroic unit 1 (Iron) (100 pts per)

Heroic Unit Iron title holder: Iron the Shield of the Light

Arc Bloodline: +250 to AP

Expert sword arts lvl 1: 9 times dmg with swords

Unarmed Combat Expert lvl 1: times 9 dmg with unarmed blows

True Warriors Aura lvl 1: +30 to Str, Agi, and Vit for however long this aura is active, heals 700 HP per minute, cost: 500 for activation, additional 50 per minute used.

Knights Rallying call lvl 1: +10 to all stats of every person you recognize as an ally within 100ft of user, Lower the physical abilities of foes by 10 points within the area of effect. Costs 500 AP, lasts 5 minutes.

White Knight Body Armor:

+10 str

+10 vit

+7% physical dmg reduction

White Knight Gauntlets:

+5 str

+5% physical dmg reduction

White Knight Sabatons:

+5 vit

+5% physical dmg reduction

White Knight Basic Helm:

+5 sense

+3 agi

Rank A Crocea Mors (Seal level 5)

Bonuses: +160 to dmg

+20 str when equipped

+10 vit when equipped

+10% reduction to physical dmg when equipped

He focuses on the standing army skill right as Jaune smirks. Ozpin goes to ask him what this skill means before he places a white rook on the chess board and summons Iron at the same time. Ozpin stands up quickly as he is gaping like a fish for the first time in his current reincarnation. He looks to the board as Jaune begins to place down another white rook, another unicorn knight, then a regular knight, a bishop, and soon numerous pawns as he motions to a now even playing field board of white chess pieces to black chess pieces.

Ozpin sits down and an actual smiles appears on his face for the first time in a long time for him. He chuckles then asks, "How long would it take you to build up a large army using this skill? I see you are almost full already with just your heroic unit Iron being there."

Jaune smirks and says, "I have many daily quests and leveling quests I can grab to gain extra stats and every stat grows by one per level up. So give me a month and I should be able to double the amount of soldiers under my skill."

Ozpin leans back and nods to himself. He looks to Qrows still 'unconscious' form and says sternly, "Qrow get up, grab Glynda, nurse Ivy, and get Ironwood on a call, we have a lot to discuss."

He turns to Jaune, "How much have you told your friends about this?"

Jaune looks nervous and explains to Ozpin the version of the story he told his friends so far, Ozpin rubs his chin and then comes to a decision. "We will need their aid as our elites, especially as our specialty group given their application to a large team group. Let them know I have approved your application for The Hunters to be an official group. Of in this case, official guild under Beacon academy."

Qrow grumbles and heads off to grab Glynda and Ivy with a small flame of hope in his heart now. The first flicker of hope he allowed himself after hearing Jaunes idea and about how he can summon a whole knight on his own. This makes Qrow feel like they have a chance for the first time in a long time to win this war against the Grimm.

As Qrow leaves Jaune looks at Ozpin with confusion clear in his eyes, "Um what is a guild?"

Ozpin chuckles as he refills his coffee mug in a dispenser he has installed in his desk, "A guild is an older system we made about 5 generations ago, it was to allow teams that grew closer together to make their own battalions to go on missions together. But as costs became a problem, and the council became more greedy, they decided to do away with the guild system about 30 years ago during your grandfathers time. Your team will be the first team to use it again since your grandfather used it to begin to build his army all those years ago. So then Jaune Arc… are you ready to start your own guild with you being the guild master?"

Jaune looks shocked that he has become not a battalion or even garrison leader, but a guild leader now. He was barely keeping up with the demands of being a team leader. With a gulp and a focusing of his mind he looks at Ozpin and goes, "I will step up to this task and ask that you be the main handler for the guild and the affairs of it sir. Will you help us stand against the darkness?"

Ozpin smiles as his mind flashes back to a better time to where Auriville Arc asked him something similar all those years ago. He flashes forward to the current day and time and imagines his friends around him all gathering their strength to fight Salem together. With a smile he stands up and faces Jaune fully, holding out his hand to the young knight, "I accept. And we better let your friends know about this in its entirety so that they know what they are signing up for."

Jaune goes to protest, but an open hand in his face stops him, "Before you tell me to think it through Sir Arc, you must realize that this is not something I say lightly, we need allies, we need your guild, but we can't do half measures. They must be brought in fully and ready to hear everything to know what they are fighting against. If they are not ready, this lying by omitting the truth will become a weapon our enemies will utilize against us to bring doubt into our ranks and to tear us apart from lack of trust. It happened to your grandfather before our big push to deal a lasting blow against Salem. She snuck in her agents and they began their work of letting the truth about us being immortal Monarchs slip and what they were really fighting. Then the lack of trust and the in fighting began among our troops. We must be honest with them. Your friends must be told the truth especially if you wish to keep them with you for this fight. Do you understand?"

Jaune goes to argue, but stops as he imagines it. His friends being kept in the dark, then one by one they lose them from being unprepared. Or he loses them from a careless truth being flung out in the heat of a moment about why they fight on. Or from a shadowy agent of darkness being welcomed only to cause the same lack of trust that happened to his grandfather. Every scenario he imagines only becomes worse as he tries to find ways to keep them in the dark but on their side. Every scenario… ends up with them dead or not willing to stay with him because he didn't allow them into the truth.

With a sigh of defeat but also determination he huffs out to Ozpin, "Very well Ozpin. I'll tell them but be warned that I will need to let them know about you too if I am to do this so that you can back me up for proof of this whole story being real. Deal?"

Ozpin smiles at the maturity Jaune has and at how Jaune is handling the weight on his shoulders with this situation. And says a single word, "Deal."

Jaune heads off to let his friends know as Ozpin sits down and makes sure that all the guild paperwork is brought up and finalized to be made official by tomorrow before the council tries to shut it down to save themselves some tax revenue that would go towards supporting the growth of a new guild.

As soon as he has finished and finalized the paperwork he looks up at hearing the elevator door open and in walks Glynda, Qrow and Nurse Ivy as well. Ironwood was calling him on his personal line of the headmasters secure network and sighed at realizing his has a lot to go over now that the new Monarch of Light has been chosen.

– Team RWBY's Dorm –

Jaune was outside RWBY's dorm room nervous beyond belief. He was wanting to tell them all as he knew it would be important but he was also afraid of them turning their backs on him since he promised to tell them all the truth and he gave them a half truth instead earlier. Swallowing his nerves he steels his eyes and tells himself that he would explain to them all fully about why he had to do that and how difficult it would have been to prove until now. With his nerves steeled he listens in and hears RWBY, NPR, and CVFY all laughing and enjoying a video game together.

He smiles at their antics and smiles to himself as well, he plans it out in his head and nods to himself before taking the plunge. He activates his access code in the door panel and heads in.

After he enters he sees they were finishing up a match of super smash bros. Brawl. And they all focus on him as he enters in and seems to give them a near deer in headlights look. They stare back at him as his resolve to tell them fades a bit before he shakes his head and looks at them all with his determination driving him on. Nora opens up the floor in her own way, "Hi Jaune Jaune! How did it go with Headmaster Ozpin? Did he agree? Did he gie you congratualtions for dealing with CRDL? Are you being moved up a year? *Gasp* Are you being made a team leader for a whole battalion of soldiers?"

Jaune paused at how accurate that last guess was before he refocuses and blinks his eyes a bit to remember why he was there and so nervous.

Weiss picks up on this change in his mood and asks, "Something important went down in that meeting didn't it? Can you tell us?"

Jaune looks at all of his friends and then decides to be honest with them all, he leans against the wall and says, "Well let me begin with this, it was important, but it wasn't about my recent performance in combat class. It was actually about what I told you all earlier."

Everyone grew worried and Pyrrha voiced their concerns, "Oh no. Was that temple cursed? Was it something we did during your recovery? Did Headmaster Ozpin think that Iron is an evil spirit possessing you? Do we need to vouch for him and you? Or-!"

Jaune stops her before she worried herself into a coma, "No! No. Nothing like that. It's just that… I may have kept a few things from you all because I was worried about what you would think of me in the end. But after our talk and the talk with Ozpin. I know this is something that you all need to hear and know. Otherwise I feel like it would cause too much friction between us down the line or too much lack of trust if someone told you all by accident or as a way to drive a wedge between us."

Ruby begins her protest, "But we are your friends! Why would this information drive a wedge between us?"

Jaune locks them all down with a stare that is so serious that they all stutter while being ready to say their own protests and gulp in nervousness. "Because this information affects not just our friendship but our dreams and goals of the future. And the lives of everyone in the world. If you are not ready to fight for your lives, and the lives of others, then leave right now and continue to be a student. If you are ready to train until you are bleeding, to fight until your whole body is broken, and to live on the front lines of a war between light and dark that has been going on for generations. Then stay. But. Please. Choose the right one you are ready for. I can't lose any of you if you make the wrong choice."

They all begin to see Jaunes angry stance and serious stare crack and he shows them all that he is tearing up and is scared at their choices. They all feel the weight of this choice from seeing Jaune partially break down like this. This choice really will affect their entire lives moving forward, and they really will be in danger if they don't take it seriously.

Pyrrha moves first and walks over to Jaune, he looks up at her through his tears and she hugs him tightly while whispering to him, "I told you already we are a team, and I will stand by you no matter what. Understood? I will stand by you even if it has to be on our own."

Weiss stands next and comes to both of them and hugs them both, "If it is that dangerous then we shall work together. We'll train harder, study harder, push each other to stand firmer, and to grow faster as a team. Like we said before, we are your team and we are going to be here for you."

Velvet comes up this time and says nothing, But tries to hug all three of them and even cover their heads protectively with her ears to keep them warm and secured.

Yang comes up with Ruby and both hug the growing group while Yang says, "Count us in, we lost out mom to this life style, we won't lose you guys too." Ruby pipes up next and continues, "Yeah! We are a family now! We don't abandon family!"

Ren and Nora come up next and confirm this family ideal, "We are brothers now Jaune and I won't abandon my family again, I did as a powerless child, but I have power now, I will use it to defend you all as best I can. And if I can't I will continue to train and grow to keep you all safe."

Blake simply comes over and nods while saying, "I made a promise to be there for my friends, don't forget that I don't go back on my words."

Nora boops everyone then bear hugs the group as best she can. Much to the squawk of Blake who was trying to avoid being dragged into the hug.

Coco comes up and smiles at them all and wraps her arms around as many as she can, while Fox and Yatsu both take a side of the group and clasp each others forearms around them to encircle them completely.

After a good 3 minutes of some tears slowly stopping for Jaune he tells them all he is better and they all sit.

Pyrrha and Velvet have each taken one side of Jaune while Weiss is sitting behind him in a chair rubbing his scalp gently to keep him clam while Pyrrha and Velvet as rubbing his arms to provide warmth and comfort to him to keep him from breaking down form whatever emotions he was feeling at that confession.

Yang was checking on him and brought over their comfiest pillow for him to use as he explained why he panicked and broke down emotionally like that.

As everyone stays calm and waits for Jaune, he thinks about the best way to break the news to them. He decides the best way to break the big news is to break the smaller news to them. And build up from there truth by truth.

He decides to ask them all, "What is your favorite fairy tale?"

Everyone answers honestly with many siting the legend of the Four Maidens, to the Man of Twin souls, to the Wandering Wizard, and even Yatsu and Fox citing their favorite being the Champion of Light.

Jaune breathes in and says one phrase that shatters their perception and makes them all spiral into a non stop interrogation session, "They are all true." Everyone begins to stare at him in disbelief, but he stops any questions or dismisses by beginning his explanation of each legend.

Jaune breaks it down for them piece by piece and answers their questions honestly, telling them that the Man of Twin Souls was Ozpin with his ability to reincarnate. The Wandering Wizard was from Ozpins first life when he lost his daughters and wanted to do right by their memory. The Four Maidens were Ozpins daughters and their powers still exist to this day in new hosts. The Champion of Light was his ancestor and the inheritor of the Monarch of Light.

Once the Monarch is mentioned everyone's discussions stop at once as they all look to Jaune in shock.

Surprisingly it was Nora who asked the next serious question, "Wait… Your ancestor was the Champion of Light and was also the host of something called a Monarch of Light?"

Jaune nods and corrects her, "Not 'A' Monarch of Light. THE Monarch of Light. There has only ever been one of them in this world. And in their original world too now that I think about it."

Weiss pipes up next, "So there are more worlds? And these Monarchs are from there? And came here to continue to fight? Using us as their pieces?"

Jaune seemed to be going between two answers as he teeters back and forth with a thoughtful look on his face. He seems to decide on an answer and looks up at Weiss who is still on her chair behind him, "Well short answer is yes. The longer answer is, the Monarch of Darkness dragged us into their war. The Monarch of Light was more than happy to try and leave us out of it. But when the Monarch of Darkness began to control the Grimm they attacked and the Monarch of Light had to join us and began to give us the means to defend our selves. The Monarch of Light is the one who gave our ancestors the first users of Aura to level the playing field against the Grimm. With this he became the first Champion of Light. He then chose hosts each generation to hold his Light inside them to continue to inspire hope and bond humanity to fight the Grimm all together. However the Monarch of Darkness kept the same host, so she began to refine her methods and her allies. The Monarch of Lights hosts kept dying so they had to rebuild their forces and efforts nearly every other generation."

Everyone was stunned silent at this information and began to wonder how deep this went.

Jaune continued the story and finally got to the explanation of why he was telling them this, "And my grandfather was the previous host, nearly 30 years ago, he dealt a lasting blow to the Monarch of Darkness. But in the end he lost his life and the power returned to the temple. Now we are in the war again, where the Monarch of Darkness has returned and Ozpin and the other Headmasters have all been working together as an elite force against her and her agents of darkness to stall her as long as they could until they had found a way to kill her. But this is starting to get dangerous. The recent trip to my family was a lie. I went out to unlock my full powers as the next host and thats when I got Iron as a spirit summon. And I am scared. I have all this power, and I was afraid of telling you all this to avoid dragging you all in. But if I kept you in the dark and I instead let you flounder as this shadow war continued… and I lost you all without you knowing why… I couldn't live easily or even at all with that weighing on me. So now you know this war has been happening for so long and our legends were created from this war. There is now guarantee to us living through it, but even if you all leave to live quiet lives I wouldn't stop you or blame you as I stay to fight further. I will stop her with everything I have."

Everyone is quiet at first before Pyrrha stands first and turns to Jaune, he doesn't look up to her afraid of what he will see, before she snaps her fingers at him to gain his attention. Gritting his teeth and ready for any anger or betrayal she may be looking at him with, he looks up at her… Tear stained face.

He looks at her stunned before she bawls out loud, no longer holding in the raw tears or emotion that has been hitting her as she realized what this meant for Jaune before he began to tell them this second part. She let out her thoughts all at once, "You don't get to decide our lives for us Jaune. This hurts that you kept this from us, but I am crying for something else. I know you could trust us with this, but you wanted to allow us a chance to live our own lives. But think of what we told you! We are a team! What kind of team would we be if we went on to live quietly while you were fighting and dying in the front lines of a war while we are home in bed?! I couldn't stand it! Yes this is dangerous! But we area team! And we are here to support you! We are friends! We are allies! We are Teammates! And I care about you too much to let you go off on a war by yourself! You hear me?! I like you a lot Jaune! I will stand with you no matter what!"

Jaune is now looking bugged eyed at Pyrrha while Yang, Weiss, and Velvet are all blushing and wide eyed that she let the cat out of the bag at this point. Pyrrha breathes hard and then goes over what she said before gasping and blushing herself in embarrassment from her sudden confession. Jaune smiles at her and brings her in for a hug, and while caressing her hair he whispers, "Thanks Pyr, I like you a lot too. And I would be more than proud and happy to have you by my side in the front lines of this war. Just please promise me that if things go south that you will take any survivors and retreat to rebuild our forces so the next Monarch of Light has a good start to build off of."

Pyrrha nods while crying lightly with joy at hearing Jaune return her feelings back to her, but also sad that he accepts that there is a chance of him, even with his monarch powers, dying in this war. Their friends all get up one by one to give their answers.

Coco says, "Well Arc you know how to break the news to us, but nothing has changed, sure this is waaaay bigger than we thought. But we entered this lifestyle and we are here for it! Count me in! I'm not going to lie in bed hiding while Grimm are threatening us with a Queen leading them! I'll show them what a true queen looks like!"

Yatsu nods and pipes up next, "Count me in. My sword is with you and so is the light of my soul Jaune. We will stand by you no matter what. And remember before you are this Monarch of Light, you are also our friend. So never forget that we are with you and not just the Monarch."

Fox simply nods with a bow and a fist over his heart saying, "By my masters ancient vows to protect this world, I will promise my soul and my fist to your cause. I promise on the honor of my life and my family."

Nora and Ren both come up on either side of Jaune and simply nod with smiles making Jaune know they were with him to the end.

Ruby comes in going, "You'll have my weapon knowledge to out fit our forces! Leave upgrades to me! I'm ready to stick it to the f***ing bast***s who took our mom from us!"

Yang sputters and looks at Ruby in shock that she would swear like that. Noticing Yangs look Ruby shrugs and simply says, "Hey Uncle Qrow trained me! How would I not pick up some stuff?"

Yang cries and laments over her sister growing up while Blake comes up next, "You'll need my help, my parents and the forces of Menagerie will no doubt be on your side in this war once we let them know that this goes beyond our differences of humans and Faunus, the Grimm don't care who you are or what race you are. If you are alive, and have a soul, then you are their target. Count me in I'm with you until the end so we can make a better world for everyone together."

Jaune nods and promises to Blake that changes will come once they stick it to the Queen of Grimm. He then notices Yang, Weiss, and Velvet approach him with blushes on their faces and they seem to be fidgeting as well.

He gives them a look of confusion before Pyrrha walks past him and next to the three other girls. Jaune is worried as they all seem to have something on their minds before at once they ask, "Will you go out with all of us?!"

Jaunes mind has to stop, reboot, then process, then reboot again before he lets out a very intelligent… "What?"

The girls look at each other before they all sigh out and begin to explain one by one, Weiss begins, "Well we all agreed that we wanted to date you, and we didn't want to fight over you with each other."

Velvet picks it up next, "And with how you were taking us out on dates and hangouts here and there, we figured you would be open to it."

Yang next, "But we were still unsure as how to approach you or when the best time would be, but after hearing all of this… We figured better do this now before there is no time, and only regrets. So what do you say Jaune? You obviously like Pyrrha… What about the rest of us?"

Pyrrha nods and show her support and the truth of their statements by wrapping her arms around them and smiles at Jaune in a supportive way.

Jaune pauses and thinks over his feelings of them. And how his memories of them have helped him go through his toughest moments and even his spar with yang helped him grow as well. He thought it over how they dominate his thoughts and how hard this war will be, and realized that… he will grow faster with letting his souls feelings glow out loud for all to see. This is not the time for the darkness of regret or the shadows of doubt to encroach, he was ready to let out the feelings that have been building inside him all month and also the months leading up to his awakening as the Champion of the Light.

He breathes out and looks at them all, "I am happy you all have such faith in me and I will not lie, I like you all. I was taking you all out on dates to see who I clicked with best or who was getting closer to me faster, but I noticed that I couldn't choose. I was falling in love with you all. I would be happy and overjoyed to share a loving relationship with all of you. If you are comfortable with me being in a poly-amorous relationship with you all. I care for all of you and I would say I am close to saying the special L word to you all. But give it a little more time then you will hear it."

The girls all have happy tears building in the corners of their eyes as they all come to hug Jaune between them and begin to kiss him one by one. With each girl Jaune gives them a quick but full kiss on the lips that way each girl gets a show of his affection and no one feels favored over the others.

Everyone around them all clap and cheer at the sight of a new beautiful relationship between their friends. And are all cheering them on and hoping they will live through this war so that they can all see them happily married with a lovely family growing between them all.

Jaune then looks around them all and checks with them all while Pyrrha and Weiss are each hugging an arm close. Velvet is hugging his chest, and Yang is happily hugging him from behind around his shoulders happy to find a guy tall enough to do so. Jaune was now a solid 6ft 6inches and was lean and ripped like an Olympic gold medalist. And as his power increases his physique will only continue to improve and grow a bit as he develops his powers further.

"So are we all agreed? We are together in this?" With a chorus of yes's from his friends Jaune smiles happily and yells out, "Then let us stick it to the Monarch of Darkness and stop the Grimm once and for all!"

Another cheer from his friends and Jaune accidentally drops a bomb he forgot to mention when explaining about the legends, "Lets take down Salem!"

The cheers stop short as all his friends look confused, even his new girlfriends all look at him as if asking a big old 'WHO?!'

He looks at all his friends then down to Weiss, then Pyrrha, then Velvet, and finally back at Yang, "Did I not mention her?"

Everyone shakes their heads, "Whoops, the name of the host for the Monarch of Darkness is Salem. She is the Queen of Grimm."

There is a chorus of 'Ohs' all around as they get clarification. Weiss then asks something due to how he explained the legends, "Wait you mentioned someone named Salem and Ozma were the parents of the Maidens. This… isn't the same… Salem… Is it?"

Jaune sweat drops as he realized what he accidentally forgot to tell them, "Ye-ahhhh… Um we are technically trying to stop Ozpins crazy ex-wife who is also the Queen of Grimm while he was her husband and also the Monarch of Magic I mentioned before about the Wandering Wizard… So… We are caught in a war between ex lovers technically? And also a pair of Monarchs who were married? SO... that's a thing."

Everyone all take a deep breath and let out a great big, "SAY WHAT!?!?"

– Ozpins tower –

Ozpin had just gotten done explaining everything and as everyone was about to leave they all stop as they hear the collective response of 11 voices yelling out into the night. Glynda, Ivy, and Qrow all look to Ozpin for an explanation while Ironwood was giving him an accusatory glare, "Ozpin… Who else did you allow Mr. Arc to tell?"

Ozpin looks at his inner circle as he grabs his coffee mug and says, "His friends… I guess he told them every part of the story and the needed information to keep them on our side."

A quick sip, "Including about Salem being my ex wife."

They all sigh and head off while the headmaster is currently chuckling to himself as their response to that news was quite similar to the students.

After Ironwood signs off and Ozpin is alone in his tower he looks at himself with his magic vision and senses out his reserves. He sees he is barely up to 45% of his original power when he was freshly brought to this world as the Monarch of Magic. Even with gaining hosts that he could use to regain bits of his potential generation by generation. A humans magic potential in this world was low without training. So he barely gained a full 1% increase per generation since the first fight against Salem that killed their daughters and began their conflict. That first battle had drained everything he had and then some just to keep her from destroying humanity in that opening move of their ongoing war. Grimacing after remembering that night, he shook off those memories and thought about what would soon come to be. Looking at the shattered moon he thinks to himself, The game has changed Salem. We now have a new set of Rooks, Bishops, Knights, and Pawns. Can we out maneuver you? Or will we reach another stalemate? We shall soon see… My former love.