Ruby had been quite enjoying that Friday, though Jaune's problems were a bit of a bummer, she was sure that his team would help him out! Right now she was too busy ogling the weapons in the latest Atlesian magazine she could get her hands on, as well as the weapons of everyone else at the training grounds where they had set up the dummies and targets, "There's that flaming sword again! Are those Gunchucks?! This one's a high-cal Gatling model with Hard-light rounds! Wait, it was rejected, why?" Ruby flipped the page, "200,000 Lien to fire it for twelve seconds!?" Ruby put the magazine down and started noting the weapons actually around her in the training area, seeing if she remembered their names, "This is Crescent Rose, there's Ember Celica, Harbinger, Myrtenaster, and finally Gambol- wait."

Ruby paused for a good moment before she realized, "If that's Harbinger, then that means-"

Ruby bolted forward and shouted, "Uncle Qrow!", colliding with the man in a large hug.

Yang, having heard this, stopped right after punching one dummy down and turned in an instant and said, "Uncle Qro-" and the dummy sprung back up, smacking and interrupting Yang, who got up and ran too, "Uncle Qrow!"

Qrow said, "Hey! Kiddo, Firecracker, I knew you'd both do it!", as he removed Ruby from himself, rustling her hair.

Yang said, after also giving Qrow a hug and getting the same rustle and receiving no backlash to Blake's visible surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Qrow said, "Besides seeing my favorite people?"

"Yeah, except for that," Yang said,

"Don't you have hunter stuff to do?" Ruby asked, before rushing back and forth between her team and uncle, "Oh! This is my Partner Weiss, she's a bit cold-" "Hey!" "But she's really smart!"

Yang gestured back, "The quiet one's Blake, my partner," Blake nodded, "And that's team RWBY!"

Qrow cut himself off from thinking about Ruby being stuck with a mini-Winter and said, "Wait a minute, you never said you were the team's leader!"

He pulled Ruby back in, she nearly tripped a little on the way, and Qrow continued, "Two years ahead too!" After a moment his face fell more than a little as he thought, "Man, she looks so much like Summer, like I'm seeing the past all over again."

Ruby, now a touch embarrassed, said indignantly, "C'Mon, I'm not- It's not that big a deal."

Weiss said, "It's, a little prodigy-ish. Just a little."

Qrow, after taking a drink from his recently refilled flask to Weiss's visible shock, said, "Alright, you're catching me up on what I've missed Kiddo."

The group had gone off to sit down in Beacon's courtyard, where Ruby and Yang started catching up Qrow on just what had happened in the past week.

After a good few moments, Ruby was partway through saying,"-and that's without even mentioning my friend on the reserve! I mean, I'm pretty sure we're friends,"

Qrow said, "I think I heard about him from Ozpin, Meem- Memo- Memna- Elodi-, Man that name's weird,"

Weiss said, "Memnol Elodyr, I guess you mean?"

Qrow said, "Yeah! What about him?" Qrow was curious what some of his classmates and his nieces thought of the guy, more info for Ozpin, and he'd be stuck with him for a while after all.

Yang groaned, "Where do I start, with the fact that he's an assassin or that Ruby's got a crush on him?"

Qrow said, "Ruby's got a crush? On an actual boy? Not a weapon this time?"

Ruby said, "I do not, and that was one time!"

Blake said, smiling like she was trying not to laugh, "Wait, Ruby had a crush on a weapon?"

Ruby said, "I was just a kid!" and more quietly, "And it was a really nice weapon with sleek edges and a laser scope and everything."

Qrow said, "Alright, the whole assassin thing, that sounds pretty important if I'm going to be leading him on a mission in a day."

Yang said, "Wait, you're going to be stuck with him for a mission?"

Qrow said, lying through his teeth, "Yeah, I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a job to lead around, what I thought would be a bunch of first years, on a mission. Check up on you two while I could stop by too."

Ruby said, "Okay, I'll say it since I know Yang won't," She gave Yang a pointed look, " Ex -Assassin, we-" Yang returned the look, "I think he's an ex-assassin, and I think he's trying to do something good with what he knows. He's been polite since his first day, so I think he's just wanting to do something good with what he already knows and took some time to adjust."

Qrow said, turning to Yang, "Alright, your thoughts Firecracker?"

Yang said, "I don't trust him, not even slightly." Ruby deflated a little, "He was a jerk to a Faunus girl, acted like he'd never even heard of Faunus-"

"Maybe he hadn't! And he even gave her a really valuable ring he made himself!" Ruby interjected,

Qrow said, "How valuable are we talking?"

Weiss said, "If he's to be believed, it's worth over three million lien."

Qrow looked at his flask, at Weiss, and his flask, before looking back at Yang.

"You heard right, I'll give him that." Yang said, "Before that though, Ruby," Yang now gave her an even more pointed look, "Let him into our room for a night after he had pretty much said he was an assassin!"

Qrow said, "Okay, I get the rest kinda, but still, an assassin? That's a pretty big-"

Yang said, "He called his own dagger an Assassin's Dagger, he had to wipe off poison from it when he let Ruby take a look at it, and he always seems to have it up his sleeve. Also, who uses a dagger against Grimm?"

Qrow said, "Wait, what kind of poison, did he say?"

Yang looked a little confused and asked, "What does that matter?"

Qrow said, "Trust me, do you know?"

After a moment Weiss said, "He said it was something called, I think turnable root? I admit I was somewhat curious since I'd never heard of such a thing before."

Qrow looked around, and unsure of whether what he saw was the work of his semblance or not, said, "I mean, have you considered just asking him?"

All of them let out sounds of confusion, before looking at each other, barely formed sentences starting and dying.

Qrow continued, "I mean if he's as much of a rules guy as I hear he is, I can just tell him to be honest. He's right there after all."

Qrow gestured over towards the base of Ozpin's tower, where Memnol was just walking out from, having received his instructions.

Ruby waved over at him and gestured for him to come over, at which he shrugged and went over. As he walked over Qrow was able to get a proper look at him, and thought, "Okay, rich kid doesn't cover that. That's actual gold, just straight out, on that vest. A lot of jewelry too. Hell of a lot frailer looking then I'd imagined though."

Memnol said, "Hello there," A brief, just noticeable pause, "Ruby, Ms. Xiao Long, Ms. Belladonna, Ms. Schnee." He faced each in turn, and then got to Qrow and said, "I'm afraid we haven't met sir. Memnol Elodyr, First Year general reserve, here at Beacon Academy,"

Qrow downed a significant portion of his flask in response before saying, "Qrow Branwen."

Without giving him a chance to reply Qrow said, "Right, so since you're the guy I'm supposed to be supervising over to Patch to reinforce that group, I want to know something my nieces are curious about, and you gotta answer honestly while we're talking. You an Assassin?"

Memnol blinked once and said, almost too precisely timed to Qrow's ears, "So far as the meaning of accepting wealth in exchange for incurring the deaths of others who otherwise would not have died or in a differing manner, then no, I am not an assassin as of the moment."

Ruby said to Yang, "Told you so!"

Qrow said, "And in the future?", causing Ruby to look at Qrow like he'd just told her dad that she'd been in the cookie jar.

Memnol said, "I admit, I am considering specializing in bounty missions as I believe they would make good use of my pre-existing skills."

Qrow continued, shifting around the potential and current threat levels of this guy by more than a few steps as he kept using that specific wording, "I've also been told that you poisoned your dagger, which if I hear correctly should still be up your sleeve right now, with some kind of turntable root. Care to explain that one?"

Memnol said, as he put together some number of pieces, " Terinav Root. A Nonlethal contact poison, rather close to a simple muscle suppressant, I imagine some of us here forgot. It would be rather rude if I didn't wipe it off before I let Mrs-" He halted himself with a cough, "Before I let Ruby look at it in our exchange."

Qrow looked at Ruby and said, "Exchange?"

Ruby looked a little bashful and said, "Yeah, I asked to see his weapon first before I'd let him spend that night with us." A look came over her face before she asked, "By the way, how are you managing the whole 'find your own room' thing?"

Memnol said, looking at Qrow and realizing he still had to be honest, "The Art permits me a way to provide myself with suitable lodging in a pre-built environment."

Qrow, dropping some pretenses and wanting to see how far he'd go if ordered, said, "Alright, more details. I want the name of exactly what you've been doing, and everything about what it does, and a demo if you can."

Memnol looked at Qrow, and what soon unnerved Qrow far more than the angry look he expected, was the mildly pleasant smile he got. Qrow thought, "Ah fuck."

Memnol had been conflicted for a moment. While the Assassin side of him and a decent other portion had suggested, "Mayhaps we shouldn't allow any of our capabilities, even one as apparently non-harmful as this one, to be revealed.", there was another side of him that was much, much larger. This was his Lawful side, which said, 'calmly', "You have received a direct order from someone who was assigned as your superior and it does not conflict with your own code. FOLLOW IT." The two sides argued until they came to a relative 'compromise' that Memnol soon acted on.

Memnol said, "If I may ask for a slight rearrangement, I'd prefer to do the demonstration, then move on to the explanation within, is that acceptable?"

Qrow said, "Yeah, sure."

Memnol nodded and gestured for them to follow him as he walked to a well-hidden part of the courtyard, behind a number of large bushes. He thought, "I suppose my previous one was about to run out and I can't think of much overt harm to me by relocating it."

Without a single word or gesture from Memnol, he designated the group of five with him, as well as Ozpin just in case, and a faint shimmering appeared in the air. Suddenly the shimmering swung inwards to reveal what looked like a building inside and Memnol said, "Come in, and I will explain."

They all walked in, noticing what appeared to be a 30x30x15 foot entrance hall with a long banquet table at the center covered in fine silverware and table dressings, with a pair of chandeliers above and candles atop it providing light to the room in places the wall sconces didn't light. Behind the head of the table, directly opposite to the entrance, was an empty fireplace that took up a full five-foot cube, causing many of them to notice that it was mildly warmer in here than it was outside even from the door, though the air was crisp rather than muggy in the least. Two staircases to the second floor were symmetrically aligned, with the table and fireplace at the center, 20 feet into the room leading to the second-floor balcony, the center of which was dominated by a portrait of Memnol in his full attire holding an ornate wooden staff. There were doors on the walls beside the fireplace, on the balcony of the second floor, and behind the staircases, each door on a given side having a symmetrical opposite. Arrayed on the two staircases and the second floor were 54 almost transparent figures, perfectly split between 27 copies of the exact same non-descript butler on the left and exactly 27 copies of the exact same non-descript maid on the right. Around the entirety of the Mansion, except for where they'd cover the doors, there were small handrails from the wall at 2 and 4 feet up. The floor appeared to be made of soft dark-blue carpeting with light-blue trim and the handrails had black velvet covering on all of them, and the walls were made from pure-white uninterrupted marble by the look. Anything made from metal appeared to be either silver or brass. If any of them turned around they would have noticed that from this side the door seemed to be made from a dark, oak, wood.

For Ruby, it looked super cool and rich and she was glad that he was at least spending his nights somewhere nice. For Yang, it was also cool and rich but seemed more than a bit stuffy. For Blake, it was both like something out of a book came to life, and also made her really hope this 'Art' could spread to some faunus communities that could do with this kind of thing. For Weiss, once she was done having her flashbacks, she started drawing more than the occasional parallel between Memnol and her father, which mildly frightened her, without realizing she had started making those connections. For Qrow, he realized that if he knew where you'd be ahead of time, the only warning you'd have was some faint oddity in the air before you were ambushed by who knows how many people.

As everyone else was gawking at the room and realizations, Memnol said to the servants in a way that Weiss noticed was near automatic, like he'd said it many times before, "Fetch me a walking stick, start the fireplace, set the table for-"

He stopped and turned to the group suddenly, "Tell me, given the current time and that we're already here, would any of you care to stay over for dinner this evening?"

After a general bunch of varyingly enthusiastic nods or shrugs, he turned back, "Set the table for a full dinner for six!" Returning his focus to his now-guests he said, "Then for each of you, would you prefer red wine, white wine, mead, beer, rum, cider, ale, or water?"

Weiss, without realizing it, ended up shifting into full etiquette as she visibly straightened up, actually damn well curtsied, and said, "White wine if you would sir." She realized she added the 'sir' just slightly late and went more than slightly red. When she remembered that Qrow, the adult, was right there she went redder. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and added, "If that's okay."

Qrow said, "Long as you guys can handle yourselves. Rum here."

Yang, internally glad her uncle was still cool about that kinda thing since she last saw him, said, "Beer."

Blake asked, "What kind of cider is it?"

Memnol said, "I have regular and non-alcoholic cider, and it can be chilled or heated if you'd like, Ms. Belladonna."

Blake said, "Non-alcoholic and heated, then, thank you."

Ruby said, "Um, Water. Please."

Memnol thought for a split second before he turned back to the servants and said, "Bring up a keg of Bitter Black and decade aged Moon Rum each for Ms. Xiao Long and Mr. Branwen. Make certain there's always freshly heated Vilhon for Ms. Belladonna and add the spices as it's served. Water for Ms. Rose, and a century aged bottle of Særloonian Topaz for Madame Schnee and I, though keep a second on hand."

One of the benefits of a Magnificent Mansion was that so long as it was non-magical, you could get very specific with exactly what foodstuffs and decorations it was stocked with, to the point of having specifically aged wine and the aforementioned walking stick, though not beyond a certain limit of years he'd found. The current limit he had was 108 years, though it was lower earlier in his life.

As the servants scurried around and Memnol received that walking stick, he turned back around fully to be met with Ruby and Blake sharing the same look of open astonishment on their face, with Weiss still stick in full etiquette mode keeping her face neutral as she could, which was its own tell in a way.

Qrow said, "Alright, the explanation?"

Memnol said, "Yes, you wanted it in-depth, correct?"

Qrow, and Yang behind him, nodded.

Again Memnol's internal self struggled, very very briefly before Law decisively won yet again as it was now somewhat backed by his code, and he said, "Alright then. This 'Piece' is known as Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, named so after its original creator Mordenkainen. It instantly creates a four-foot by eight-foot shimmering entranceway anywhere I designate within a ninety-foot radius of myself that only myself and those I choose when creating it can enter, which becomes fully invisible when closed behind me. Beyond this entranceway, it creates a potentially mansion-like area of varying size and capabilities based on the skill of the practitioner utilizing the piece, though it is always clean, fresh, and warm regardless of outside conditions, which cannot penetrate the Mansion. In my case, I am currently capable of creating any floor plan constrained within eighty-one ten-foot cubes, have access to fifty-four of the summoned servant-like forces that come with the mansion and cannot leave it, have enough foodstuffs to effectively serve three hundred and twenty-four people a single nine-course meal, and this space will last for fifty-four hours. I, however, have yet to test its compatibility with more modern possibilities and inventions that were not available where I am from. Is that all you wished to know, Mr. Branwen?"

At this, the entire group was silent for a while, though while team RWBY was silent because "Are you kidding me he was living better than we were this entire time," and other such reasons, Qrow was silent as he realized, "He's capable as an assassin and can hide anywhere he wants without leaving any tells, assuming the no footprints thing was true, and with hundreds of other people at effectively no time limit. Raven would kill- bad wording. She'd kill more than usual to get this guy on her side." Then the next realization hit Qrow immediately after that, "This is NOT something you normally just give away unless you're not thinking in this mindset, and that smile was way too knowing, and more than that he's got Oz's attention. Even more than that he's got Oz cautious, so I know he's thinking or thought of that angle. Seems like he really will follow instructions like Oz said, I'll have to tell him immediately."

After a period of silence, Memnol said, "I suppose I'll have to take that as a yes. While I cannot think of any overt harm in it, I still would rather you not spread this knowledge around too much, as then I might end up being hounded by uncountably many people, and I rather enjoy the peace I have in my abode." He paused before saying, to appeal to a certain part of his guests, "That and the less information is out there, the less information any criminals have against us."

Memnol turned and said to the servants, "Rotate the table ninety degrees and set my place centered on the side of the fire, everyone else on the other," The servants quickly obeyed in their wordless way, and soon Memnol had walked over to the slightly larger and more ornate chair that once stood at the head of the table. He was genuinely putting some of his weight on the walking stick as Qrow and Blake noticed, and walking faster than normal as all of RWBY noticed. RWB had also realized that whenever they saw him walking he had always been staying near the walls. At this, Weiss managed to draw a parallel to her grandfather instead which, combined with her previous parallels, unnerved her even more.

He stood next to his seat, only partially outlined by the now crackling fire and said, "Please, sit down first. I feel it would be terribly rude for me to settle before my guests did."