The Games We Play

Detect

**See story description for disclaimer**

  An hour or so later, I was waiting in the police office lobby with a lap full of dog. Healthy or not, he shook and panted hard, frightened by the presence of so many people, and probably would have reacted violently had I not continued to pet it and whisper softly. As long as I did that, he seemed content to stay put, though I had to keep petting him to stop him from growling—and I was thus left sitting with a dog on top of me. He wasn't heavy or anything, but he did seem pretty certain that there was no justifiable excuse for me not petting him or moving or anything.

We weren't alone, of course. The kids sat beside me, legs swinging freely, and then there were a few others in seats throughout the room. After picking up Johannes, Margaret, and the dog, I'd meandered in the general direction of the closest police station, pausing somewhat frequently to address anything Levant alerted me to. Because Levant didn't distinguish based on the degree—or even species—that meant progress had been fairly slow, but...

Well, I helped a fair amount of people, I think. I'd seen a lot, too—from a man suffering from arthritis have trouble walking down the street to a domestic dispute I'd interrupted. I'd healed the man and he'd been on his way, but in the latter case...well, things like that were more complicated.

I'd broken and entered, kind of. Well, really, I'd just sort of unlocked the door with Crocea Mors and opened it to get a good look at what was going on, interrupted with a pretty lame 'I guess it was unlocked,' and taken some pictures with my scroll. Nothing huge or anything, but I made it clear I knew what was going on and didn't like it and having someone barge in like that...well, that changes things. I hadn't shouted or threatened or thrown a punch—this really was a matter for the police, after all, and such a thing would just complicate things for them legally—but I'd stood my ground calmly. When I'd seen the thought of threatening me or beating me down cross his mind, I stared at him until he thought twice.

Then I'd left with the victim, talked to her about coming with me to face the police, and had eventually brought her along. Things had continued along that vein; Levant led me to a cat with a broken leg and I healed it. She led me to a minor car accident and I'd fixed a small concussion. There was a drunken man getting sick outside a bar who I'd done my best to fix up and get sober before letting him go on his way. Besides the abandoned children and domestic abuse, there had been a few other things that seemed important, but a lot of them weren't really the type of thing I thought I should interfere with directly, especially at such a time. I'd tell the police about a building I was pretty sure was being used by dealers, because if I went in myself I'd probably make legal action harder. There were a few other places I'd noted but...

Well, maybe a part of Wisdom was knowing not just how to act but when to act? That's what I thought, at least.

Regardless, with a few exceptions most of it was fairly small stuff, especially in comparison to the White Whale incident—but I still thought of it as pretty important to help people in need, even if they weren't being held slaves.

Still...as worthwhile as it had been, my actions today had been inefficient. I'd never really considered its use for this particular purpose before, but my power was well-equipped to handle stuff like this, I just lacked any experience doing so—something I'd need to correct. But really, between my Elemental's senses, Observe, and my other abilities, I could pretty easily help people this way as well. No, even beyond that, just my ability to see people's titles...

I supposed it wasn't really surprising given the nature of my power, but sometimes it still surprised me a little how many ways I had to help people. With my ability to adapt and excel in any situation given enough time...it was really more of a question of what I should do then what I could do. Though I'd dismissed them as empty words before gaining this power, my Mom had always said I could become whatever I wanted. Now, I guess that was factually accurate. It wouldn't be immediate, but if I dedicated myself to something hard enough for long enough, my skills should let me become a master in any field. The only question was which field.

What I wanted more than anything else, what I'd always wanted, was to be a Hunter and defend the world for the monsters at our door—and that was a good choice in a lot of ways, I thought, because our history was all too full of nations that had succumbed to the darkness. In time, I could become a legendary warrior, push back the beasts, and slay even the most deadly of monsters as I helped further the borders of Mankind. I had no idea what my limits were in the long run—in a year, two years, a decade...when I was my father's age, what would I be capable of? I couldn't even guess. But being the slayer of monsters and defender of the innocent was a good choice and one that let me go further by gaining experience quickly.

But there were other problems in the world besides the monsters, and I...I could fight them, too. I could become an investigator easily, even with just my passive skills; I could Observe the details on evidence, gauge suspects, watch out for titles, and hunt down the monsters inside the system. As a healer, if I continued on this path I'd be able to cure any disease, close any wound, save countless lives with but a touch. I could probably develop some sort of political skill, too, if I figured out how; perhaps I could even help unite the Humans and the Faunus. Or maybe I could build technological wonders if I focused on Craft, advance Mankind that way.

I could become any of those things. Maybe all of those things. But what was the right choice? Even if I could do everything, I couldn't do everything at the same time, so what should I focus on and when. I had the chance, especially while I was still at relatively low levels, to shape my entire destiny, but into what? I knew that I was far from the only sixteen year old with uncertainty about the future—but with power like mine, the choices I made could affect so many...

I sighed quietly.

But even with my Wisdom high as it was, I wasn't certain about all the choices I was making for my own life; I don't think I was up to weighing the implications all of my actions and decisions might have far in the future—and if even the short time since I gained my powers had proven anything, it was that I had no idea what the future held, for me or anyone else. For now, I should just—

"Jaune Arc, right?"

I looked up to see a man in a neat suit with salt and pepper hair. Several officers, detectives, and lawyers had filed in and out since I reported what happened to people I'd brought in, but this one was new and...familiar, maybe?

"That's me," I said, patting the dog to indicate why I didn't stand. I looked at him inquisitively for a moment, trying to place his face. "Do I know you, sir?"

"I...think we met once or twice, yeah," He said with a smile, leaning against the side table to my left. "Name's Delrick Albion; I worked with your mom and dad a few times. Last time was about...a year and a half ago, I suppose? They invited me over a few times so we might have seen one another. To be honest, though, I recognized you because you look a lot like your father. Your parents know you're here?"

"Already sent them a message," I nodded. "Kind of surprised they aren't here yet, actually, but they got called in for something earlier. Must have turned out bigger than they expected."

"That happens, yeah," Albion said, looking over me closely. He didn't comment on the armor or the roses, but if he'd worked with my parents, he'd probably seen weirder. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, sir," I replied. "Just here for emotional support, really."

"Yeah?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow as he looked over my little group. Sini drew away, looking elsewhere, while Levi—a young man I'd picked up who seemed to be having problems with his life in general—stared at him nervously.

Margaret, in contrast, looked really bored, her brother already sleeping in the chair next to her.

"Our mom left us in an alley," She said, the words slightly bitter but otherwise without inflection. She could have been talking about a sudden rain shower for all it colored her tone with annoyance.

Albion raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at me as I sighed. I nodded at him in confirmation.

"One sec," He said, pushing off the wall to wander off for a minute. When he returned, he was idly flipping through something, brow furrowed. He must have been a fast reader, though, because he finished the rest of it in a few more seconds, and then sighed. "Busy day, huh?"

I shrugged.

"What were you doing that close to the FF, anyway?" He questioned. "The HQ is in midtown."

"Keeping busy while my parents were held up," I said honestly. "Ended up wandering."

"Up North?" He asked, eyebrow going up again. It didn't really look like he was suspicious but more...well, more like he was looking at a member of my family.

"Mom's been training me, lately," I said defensively. "There wasn't a whole lot else to do on short notice."

"Ah," His expression cleared as if the words explained everything, though he looked at me with enough worry that I assume he knew my mother. "Well, whatever the case, it's a good thing you were there. Your parents will probably be here—"

"Woo!" I heard my dad shout, door slamming wide open to reveal his grinning face. "If it isn't DA the DA! How you doing, Rick?"

Mr. Albion rolled his eyes but smiled a tad fondly.

"Jack," He said. "I was just telling your boy here that he did a good job. It seems he spent his day actually being a productive member of society."

"Ugh, why?" My dad asked, expression pulling back. "I'd heard you were downtown and hoped you'd had fun or something."

"Helping people is fun, Dad," I chided.

He snorted, but gave me a smile as he rustled my hair, sending the dog in my lap growling.

"Oh," He said, looking down at it. "You pick up a puppy, Jaune?"

He reached towards it and was promptly bitten for the attempt, which did nothing but amuse him further.

"What is it?" He asked. "An Atlesian?"

"I think so," I shrugged. "Don't know a lot about dogs, though."

"It is," Albion said surely, not even giving the dog another glance. He'd shifted his attention to look at each of the people I'd brought in in turn, observing them closely.

"It likes you a lot, whatever the case," My dad continued, glancing over my armor with a small smile. "You heal it?"

I glanced at Mr. Albion, a bit surprised he'd bring that up here. I mean, I wasn't really hiding it since I'd used it liberally, but...

He probably knew what he was doing, I thought, trusting him.

"Yeah," I said and saw Albion's eyebrows go up. "He was in a pretty sorry state when I found him."

"My son's been practicing to be a healer," My dad bragged to his friend easily. "Gonna be the best in Vale before you know it. How bad?"

I hesitated for a moment before rattling off a quick list of what he'd suffered from, making my Dad's smug grin widen.

"You got the flowers too, I see." He noted, surprising me again. "You want me to talk to your mother about keeping the dog?"

"Uh," I said, brow furrowing as I looked down at the puppy. I was surprised he would bring up something like this here, but...

I scratched the dog's ears and it panted happily, lifting a paw to pant it against my chest.

"Sure," I said at least. "I mean...yeah. Um, but..."

My dad snorted.

"Rick's got good eyes," He said meaningfully—or perhaps warningly? "It's why he's so good at what he does."

"Why thank you," Albion said, bright green eyes fading abruptly to a more worn color. "I was going to mind my own business, though, Jack."

"You?" Jacques Arc laughed. "And nah, I was gonna speak to you at some point, anyway. Wanted to talk to you about my boy here."

"Oh?" Albion said, casting an easy glance around. "Shall we talk in my office, then?"