A Man of Honor.

Chapter 69: Coming Dawn.

"I like to be myself, because misery loves company." ~ Anthony Corallo.

"It's almost dawn." Cardin said, looking up towards Vale's skyline.

Saphron looked away from Jaune and indeed saw that the sky was starting to turn from black to a deep dark blue that was getting lighter every moment. To think that she had stayed up all night listening to Jaune's story. She could sense that the end was approaching, the inevitable battle for Vale that had already come and passed.

She looked from the sky towards the city, still standing as she knew it was, but considering everything she knew had come to pass she couldn't imagine what Jaune and his Family of criminals could have done about it. She tried to imagine it all, the destruction, the grimm flying down from the sky, picking innocent people up, destroying bullheads and airships, sending them down to the ground in flames. Of those monsters running through the streets attacking anyone and everyone who was unfortunate enough to be in their path.

It was why Saphron had forced herself to come here to Vale, to find her brother. After having months of no word from him, after countless failed attempts to call him she had to at least know that he hadn't been one of the many Beacon students who had died, or of the many faceless civilians who had been slain in one way or another.

As the news reported on the attack she remembered looking at all those casualty numbers. Her friends always talking about how terrible it was, so tragic that so many people had reached an unfortunate fate. But those conversations always had an air of casualness to it. To everyone she knew in Argus those deaths were just a number, a statistic, something unfortunate, but an unfortunate event that happened thousands of miles away in some distant country, not something that actually affected them directly.

But that wasn't the case for her. Every time she watched the news seeing the recovered body of a civilian torn apart by grimm, or a Beacon student who had been picked up by one of the flying monsters and dropped from a great height she couldn't help but imagine her one and only brother being one of those victims. Every time she saw the casualty numbers she was terrified that Jaune could be one of those simple numbers.

She had not expected him to be at the very center of all of this. She was still having a hard time believing that Jaune was apparently some kind of hidden figure behind the scenes. Jaune, her little brother, the boy who she used to babysit, who's dirty diapers she had changed growing up, who wore a sweatshirt with a cartoon bunny.

That Jaune was now apparently a mobster, a crime boss, a criminal mastermind. That Jaune had killed, had ordered others killed. It was so difficult for her to imagine those two different Jaunes as the same person. It was so difficult to imagine the Jaune standing in front of her was anything other than her little brother.

"Saph? Saph?" Jaune asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Saphron blinked and looked away from the city to her brother. "I'm sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a moment." She apologized. "Now, what were you saying?"

"I was just telling you about the next day's meeting between Junior, Sophia and I, how we tried to establish a firmer policy to our alliance." Jaune explained to her.

"I see, what happened?" Saphron said, suppressing a yawn.

"Not much if I'm being honest." Jaune admitted to her. "Just a lot of politics and arrangements for the future. We can wait until later, you look like you're exhausted."

"No, I want to finish the story." Saphron told him. "I'm a mother, I'm used to staying up all night with a crying kid, I just think I need more coffee and food."

"Then let's go inside." Jaune suggested to her. "I'll make everyone some breakfast or something."

Neo gave a nod, apparently wanting one of Jaune's home cooked meals. Saphron had to admit that it was one of her brother's better talents growing up.