General James Ironwood had faced many strange situations in his admittedly short time as the General of the Atlas military forces and as one of the few people alive who knew the truth about the enemies of humanity.
But today had turned out to be something that he would place in the top ten of his list for most weirdest things he had ever seen.
It all started on a supposedly normal day, filled with maneuvering around politicians and businessmen alike, and then filling out paperwork. But the supposed normalcy went out the window when a meteor struck the floating city of Atlas.
Fortunately, the meteor did not hit any of the population centers and struck the barren lands at the edge of the floating landmass. But even then, they could not ignore such an incident.
So, being the good General he was, Ironwood sent out a team to investigate the crash site, only to receive the shocking news that it was not a meteor that struck Atlas.
It was a man.
James wasted no time in having him transported to a Special Forces base where he had his medical teams heal the obviously injured man. While they were at it, they also took some blood samples to perform a few DNA identification tests and see if he matched any profiles in their database.
But things soon started to become weird.
When his team found a very old and very much dead scroll on the unnamed man, he had it analyzed by his team, only to find that, despite looking to be decades old, the scroll was much more advanced than anything that they had access to. Even more strange was the fact that the scroll was obviously of Atlas make, specifically, it bore the manufacturing signature of Dr. Polendina.
In the end, James decided to have Polendina analyze the device and found many shocking things once they got past the security systems.
The Huntsman ID on the device was something that did not exist, yet the biometrics of the issuer of the ID could not be faked. Because the issuer was registered as none other than James Ironwood himself.
The time stamp was also all wrong. The scroll showed that it was the year 085 AGW before it died, when the current year is 075 AGW.
Then, the DNA test results came in, and things got even weirder.
The man's DNA did not match any of the known criminals or Huntsmen in the database of Atlas or the rest of the kingdoms. But James's team did find a perfect match.
A 9-year-old boy from a frontier town called Domremy, who recently came to Atlas for a vacation along with his family.
With everything that they found so far, James was very much inclined to say that this man obviously had something to do with the 'Supernatural' side of this world and thought of informing Ozpin about this.
But in the end, he decided to wait until this man woke up from his coma and explained his side of the story.
In the meantime, it would not hurt to have the boy whose DNA matched the man's arrive at the lab, along with his parents, to provide their input on this matter.
This is what led to his current predicament.
"….Nicholas, doesn't he-"
"Look, just like my dead brother? Yes. But the question is, if he really is my brother, why is his DNA an exact match with Jaune?"
James ignored the whispering between the husband and wife and focused on the young boy who was staring through the one-way window with a confused look.
A look that was being returned by the inhabitant of the room, who was surrounded by the best medical practitioners of Atlas Special Forces, who were examining his heavily scarred body.
Honestly, with how scarred the man's body was, it was a wonder if he was even able to exert 80% of his full strength.
Scars, while they looked cool, were actually damaged tissue that was weaker than regular tissue, which heavily reduced the strength of the body the more scars it had.
James winced once again when he saw the emotional turmoil in the eyes of Nicholas Arc.
He would have preferred to speak privately with Nicholas and explain to him the situation, but the moment he saw the picture of the man, Nicholas insisted on arriving at the facility as quickly as possible.
Just having the same looks as the dead brother of Nicholas Arc was already damning enough. Learning that the man had the same DNA as his son, Jaune Arc, was an even harder blow to the man's emotional stability.
That was the reason why James kept another crucial piece of information from Nicholas.
The Huntsman ID discovered on the man's scroll was in the name of Jaune Arc. Combined with the timestamp and various other inconsistencies about the man's existence, a picture was slowly forming in the mind of the General.
This response from the Arc family was the final evidence he needed to start his own investigations into the man, privately.
------------------------------------------------------
After living in that crazy world for many decades I did, I thought I was done being surprised by the absurdity that I had to face in my everyday life.
I mean, how many people can say that they once held a legendary weapon such as the Vorpal sword to destroy a horrific monster like the Jabberwalker in single combat?
Granted, that battle ended with the sword destroyed and the Jabberwalker killed temporarily until it eventually reforms just like that damned Cat would, but those are not important details.
I expected a lot of things to happen after getting thrown through that portal. Waking up in the Afterlife, getting transported to another part of the Ever After, or even getting back to Remnant.
What I did not expect was to wind up in the medical room of a kingdom that I witnessed the destruction of.
"….So, how are you feeling?"
I did my best to ignore the instinctive flinch and looked to my sides where two of the most important people in my life were seated for this discussion.
"…I am feeling fine, for now. How about you? Da-I mean, Nicholas."
"…you can still call me Dad, you know?"
I couldn't say anything and looked away with guilt.
During the many decades I spent in the Ever After, I always imagined what I would say to my parents if I ever got the chance to meet them again. I always wanted to apologize to Dad for all the hurtful things I said on the night I ran away from home. I wanted to say that I finally understood why he was so desperate to keep me away from the life of a Huntsman.
But now that I have the chance, I can't bring myself to say anything.
Because I haven't made any of those mistakes yet, or rather, me of this time has not made any mistakes yet.
Yes, of all the weird things I expected to happen to me after my death, traveling to the past was not one of them, which I should have expected since I already did that once with that damned clock in the Ever After and became a character in my favorite story as a child.
When I first saw Ironwood after waking up, I thought I had finally arrived in the afterlife. When he brought in Dad and Mom, I felt devastated since I assumed they had died as well. Then, things got weird when they brought in my younger version. Then, I started to see things that were out of place.
Ironwood was missing his beard, and the crazed look in his eyes during the fall of Atlas was missing. In its place was the look that had originally inspired us Huntsmen-in-training during the fall of Beacon to fight for our friends and our beliefs. The paragon of humanity that team RWBY and JNR trusted with our lives.
Dad was missing the scar on his face that he got from a particularly fierce Grimm during one of his hunts when I was 15. He also looked much more energetic and full of life.
The same went for Mom, who was missing the many stress lines and wrinkles that she got after worrying over us siblings for years on end.
After settling us down and sending my younger self out to play by himself, he explained his theory to us, which I practically confirmed on the spot after hearing it.
After all, I didn't really need any more evidence than what I already had on hand.
Then came a certain problem. My identity at this time.
Obviously, I cannot go around calling myself Jaune Arc since the Jaune Arc of this time period is an 8-year-old boy. And I cannot use the identity of my dead uncle despite looking exactly like him, since he was already recorded as K.I.A.
That was the reason why Dad, Mom, and I were seated in this room, waiting for Ironwood to finalize my new legal documents.
I failed to suppress a flinch as a hand was placed on my own.
"…Jaune, even if you are not the Jaune that we know, I can still tell when you are lying."
Damnit, Mom, stop that. I don't want to cry in front of you, especially when I have to act my age and intimidate Ironwood into giving me as much advantage as he possibly can to prepare for the future.
I simply held her hand and tried hard to suppress the tears from spilling.
How long has it been since I heard your voice? How long has it been since I talked to you, Dad, Saph, or the others?
During those decades I spent in the Ever After, I always thought of what you were going through. Did you think I was dead? Did you keep searching for me? Were Saph and the others okay? Were you okay? Did Salem and her Grimm get to Domremy? Were you already dead?
All of those emotions were now coming back with a vengeance now that I finally got to see you.
But I know, I cannot show my emotions, at least, not yet.
The door opened as Ironwood marched into the room with a few papers and a new scroll.
"…Well, things went much better than I expected. Congratulations, Juniper Arc. You are now an Official Huntsman recognized by the four kingdoms."
"And you did not tell Ozpin about anything?"
"Of course. While I don't like keeping secrets from my friends, I acknowledge the fact that your secrets are yours to share and I have no right to reveal them without your consent, But I do hope that you will tell me someday why you distrust Ozpin so much and yet are willing to trust me."
Because I know you, Ironwood. I know the kind of man you were before you were driven into a corner by many factors outside of our control. And I would rather trust you than that old man who only ever trusts himself and never reveals important information to even his closest allies.
After all, there must be a reason why the Ace Ops and Winter Schnee were willing to give their lives for you.
"So, what do you want to do now? If you want, I can directly have you join my Specialists. If your scars are anything to go by, and my older self was willing to personally issue a Huntsman ID to you, you must be a formidable Huntsman. We could really use someone like that."
I looked to my side, where Dad and Mom were giving me awkward but hopeful looks.
"…For now, I want to go home."
Yes, I want to go home and spend time with the family that I left behind in my foolishness in my past.
Then, I will make sure my other family, the family that I gained at Beacon, is fine.