1. Happy Birthday
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
You smash your fist on your alarm clock as hard as you can, sufficiently breaking it. You then roll over in your bed, pulling the covers over your head.
"Stupid thing." you mutter.
As if on cue, your father enters the room, already dressed in his usual outfit: a dark blue vest over a purple dress shirt - the left sleeve folded over itself to accommodate for his missing arm - tucked into black dress pants with black shoes. He eyes the broken alarm clock and sighs, walking over to your bed and shaking you awake.
"Son, why is your clock broken?"
"Why do you think?" you groan sitting up.
Your father sighs.
"That's the third one this month."
"Well, it wouldn't be if they weren't so annoying." you grumble.
"No matter, just get dressed and ready for training." he turns and walks away, stopping just short of the door. "Oh, and happy birthday son."
He leaves your room, leaving you alone with your thoughts. After a minute, you begrudgingly get out of the bed and throw your broken alarm clock away. This was a daily occurrence for a while now - wake up, train, eat, sleep, repeat - every day; your birthday being no exception. You weren't sure why your dad was working you so hard, something about you being a "Guardian" or whatever. But it didn't matter what his reasoning was, you weren't in any position to complain, no matter what you did.
"Yeah... happy birthday."
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You cautiously walk down the stairs as to avoid your mother. When you reach the bottom, you're suddenly tackled from the side by you mother. She nuzzles your cheek, hugging you tightly.
"Happy birthday Firecracker!" she beamed.
This... is what you were trying to avoid. You mother always got like this on your birthday. She was a small woman, just barely taller than you, but her size was deceptive, as she was monstrously strong; something you've learned the hard way throughout your 10 years of life. She had bright green hair with eyes to match, with freckles dotted around her pale cheeks - which you inherited. Today she was wearing a light blue dress with numerous flowers around the bottom; she had a multitude of dresses for multiple occasions, and since today was the first day of Spring, this is the one she wore. You squirm and struggle in her grasp, desperate to escape.
"Mom... air..." you gasp.
She looks at you and, seeing your face turning blue, releases you.
"Oops, sorry Firecracker, you okay?"
You stand up and dust yourself off.
"Yes mom, I'm fine."
"Oh good." you mother breathes, relieved. "Don't want another trip to the hospital."
"He wouldn't have needed to go to the hospital if you would just watch your strength Holly." your father states, walking into the kitchen. "Hurry up and eat your breakfast, we're wasting daylight." and with that, he leaves.
Holly rests a hand on your shoulder, looking at you apologetically.
"I'm sorry honey, I tried to talk him into giving you a break today but... well you know how your father is."
"Unfortunately." you sigh.
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You grunt as you hit the ground. You've been training for 2 hours and you've yet to land a hit on your father... again. You painfully sit up and look at him, he was just standing there staring at you... studying you... scrutinizing every move you make.
All with those damn silver eyes.
It's made you start to resent your own eyes, as they're the same. You stand and glare at your father, raising your fists.
"Oh? Are you actually going to start trying now?"
You grit your teeth, your Semblance flaring up - literally - as fire begins to erupt from your body. You run full speed at your father and start throwing fire enhanced punches, all of which he weaves between.
"I've... been trying... this whole time!"
You throw one final punch at his face, but he catches your arm at the wrist. You then open your fist and unleash a blast of fire from your palm, right in your dad's face; but when the fire subsides, he's completely fine - his silver eyes shining. He sighs, shaking his head disappointedly.
"If this is you trying..." he lets go of your wrist, letting you fall, but immediately drives his knee into your stomach, knocking the wind out of you. He then punches you in the face, making you fly back until you hit a tree. "Then the last 4 years were a waste."
You struggle back to your feet, holding your stomach and glaring at your dad.
"Well, that's one thing we agree on! This is a waste of time - always has been!"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I mean I didn't want to be a Huntsman! I never did! I was only going along with this because you forced me!"
"Is that so? Well too bad, because you have an obligation to the people of Remnant to be their Guardian."
"But why?!" you exclaim, throwing your arms to the side. "You haven't told me anything about this!"
Your father sighs, reassuming a battle stance.
"Fine... if you can land one solid hit on me, then I'll tell you everything you want to know. Deal?"
You smirk, 'firing up' your Semblance.
"Deal."
You throw your hands forward, releasing huge bursts of flame from your palms at your dad. He smirks and activates his own Semblance, creating a dark blue hard light longsword in his hand. He runs toward the wall of flames spinning the light sword in his hand in front of him; he cuts through the flames and slashes downward where you were standing - emphasis on were. Your father pivots his body to block a kick from you on his left side. You kick off his sword and land on the ground, sliding a bit. You use your Semblance to propel yourself forward, and your father readies himself to strike. When you're close enough, you redirect your Semblance downward and you flip over him, landing behind him. He looks over his shoulder and smirks.
'Smart.'
You spin around and blast him with fire; any normal person would be incinerated... however, your father is far from normal. When your fire blast subsides, your father is completely fine - not a single scratch on him. Your eyes widen and your jaw drops.
"How... I..."
"You didn't think you could catch me off guard with that did you?" in an instant, he's already behind you mid slash, silver eyes brimming with power. You're left completely unaware as the light blade closes in on your neck. Closer... closer... until-
"LUCIEN!"
He manages to stop himself a hair shy of your neck, potentially killing you. Standing up straight, he disperses his light sword and turns to his oh-so-lovely wife.
"What Holly?"
"A word please?" she demands, tapping her foot on the ground.
Lucien sighs, knowing it's definitely not the best idea to argue with Holly, especially in front of you. He places his hand on your shoulder, snapping you out of your stupor.
"We're done for the day; you're free to do... whatever you wish."
"Really?"
"Yes honey." Holly answers. "Why don't you pay a visit to the village? I'm sure they're wondering where you've been."
You waste no time running down the dirt path from your home from your house leading to the village in the valley below.
"Thanks mom!" you wave. Holly smiles and waves back.
"Make sure you're back by sundown! And say hello to Cyan for me!" she turns to her husband, her expression souring. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You could've killed him!"
"I wouldn't have, obviously." Lucien states plainly.
Holly stomps her foot, making the earth tremble a bit.
"Lucien!"
"Why are you just now saying something about this?" he sighs.
"Because I thought that you would be done with this by now! You've done this every day, and you go even harder on him on his birthday! Can't you just let him have one day?!"
"No, he needs to be ready."
"He's 10! A child! What, are you just gonna put him out there on the front lines of your stupid war?!"
"A war that you are also a part of."
"I didn't want to be! I didn't ask for this - any of this! I just..." Holly wipes away some tears trailing down her cheeks. "I just wanted to be a normal girl." she feels an arm wrap around her waist; she looks up at Lucien momentarily before burying her head in his chest.
"Holly, I wouldn't have fallen for you if you were just a 'normal girl'. You've been patient and loving even when I've been completely unreasonable, and for that I'm very appreciative of that." Lucien releases Holly, silver eyes looking into green ones. "But our son has potential - potential that can save Remnant, and I need to make sure he's ready."
"I know, you've told me a million times... but you need to tell him everything - about the war... the Guardians... me; let him decide, and if he says no, then that's the end of it, understand?"
"I... yes dear."
"Good." Holly smiles, pecking her husband on the cheek. "Now come on, let's just sit back, relax, and be a normal family for at least one more night." she takes Lucien's hand and leads him into the house.
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You stroll through the village, smiling and waving to passersby as they do the same. You've only been here a handful of times, all before your dad started training you, so you didn't really remember literally everyone being a Huntsman or Huntress, but you don't really question it right now as you reach your destination - a large building with equally large double doors. You push the doors open and walk inside; it was dark, the only thing lighting the room was the light from the open door and the lit candles lining the walls on candelabras. You shut the door and begin walking down the red carpet leading from the front door to a doorway covered by a curtain at the end of the hall.
"Man why does she keep it so dark in here?" you mutter to yourself. "I guess to keep up the 'mysterious' factor or something."
You keep walking and when you reach the doorway, dark blue smoke starts to billow out of it, a figure in a black hooded cloak steps out.
"Fool! Who dares to enter the lair of Madame Cyan?!" they raise their arms for emphasis.
"Hey Aunt Cyan." you say plainly.
The figure lowers her arms and takes off her hood, revealing a middle-aged woman with light blue hair true to her namesake, green eyes, and freckles dotted around her cheeks. She smiles wide at you and pulls you into a hug.
"Hey! Long time no see Firecracker!"
You groan as you hug back.
"I hate how that name stuck."
"Sorry about that, when I saw your Semblance it was the first thing that came to mind."
"Eh it's fine, I actually don't care that much." you wave off.
"Well come in, come in!"
Cyan leads you into the room, closing the curtains behind her. You take a seat on a pillow in front of a table with incense and a crystal ball.
"Tea?" Cyan asks, holding up a kettle and a cup.
"No thank you." you politely decline.
"More for me." she pours herself a cup, and then sets the kettle aside. "So, what brings you here, I thought you'd still be 'training' with Lucien."
"Yeah well, mom let me off early today, thankfully."
"I see..." Cyan takes a sip of her tea. 'Right on time... which means...' she sighs before speaking again. "Well, that's good. So, how've you been? It's been a few years since I've seen you."
"I've been fine I guess... other than my dad beating the crap out of me every day for 3 years straight." you say bitterly; Cyan hums in response.
"He... has his reasons."
"Ugh, you sound like mom! What reason could he have for railing me so hard?!"
"Listen to me, I can't tell you the specifics, but... Destiny has big plans for you."
You scoff.
"Destiny? Are you actually serious?"
"Of course I am. We all have a path that we walk upon, driven by our knowledge, choices, and experiences; that is what we call our lives." she takes a sip of tea. "However, there is an invisible, intangible force that guides us toward where we... belong so to speak; that is Destiny."
"So, what, is a farmer 'destined' to be a farmer?" you ask sarcastically.
"Perhaps; Destiny works in mysterious ways."
"No offense, but that's stupid."
"No offense taken." Cyan smiles, but then her expression turns deadly serious. "But know this, Destiny is not to be taken lightly; whether you believe in it or not, it still affects you."
You groan, leaning forward and resting your head on the table.
"Sure, whatever. Anyway, has this place always had a bunch of Huntsmen and Huntresses living here? I don't remember."
"Ah, no, that was a recent change. They moved the original residents over to Mistral and took up here."
"Okay... why?"
"Well they're friends of your father; they're supposed to be helping you with your training when the time came."
"Why am I not surprised?" you mutter, standing up. "I'm going back home, it was nice seeing you again Cyan."
Suddenly, Cyan embraces you tightly, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Yes, yes it was (Y/n)... goodbye."
You're beyond confused at her sudden change in attitude, but you hug her back regardless.
"Uh... yeah... bye."
You leave the room and subsequently the building, on your way home. However, you bump into someone and fall over; you look up and see four people - a woman in a red dress with ashen black hair and amber eyes, a younger dark-skinned girl with mint green hair and red eyes, a boy with silvery-grey hair and eyes to match, and a taller figure in a black hooded cloak. The amber-eyed woman leans over and extends her hand to you, helping you up.
"Are you alright?" she asks, her voice smooth as honey.
"Uh, y-yeah... sorry about that."
"Not a problem child, just watch where you're going next time."
You nod nervously, backing away from the group slowly as they watch you leave. Something was telling you to get as far away from these people as quickly as humanly possible, so that's what you do, running full speed out of the village and back home.
"Mercury, follow him." the amber-eyed woman orders, to which the boy nods and runs into the forest after you.
"I'm going in alone, you two know what to do correct?"
"Yes ma'am." the girl responds, while the figure simply nods.
The woman enters the building, closing the door behind her. She pauses for a moment, listening through the door; after she starts hearing screams and the telltale sounds of destruction, she smiles wickedly and continues walking. She reaches the back room and asserts herself inside, where Cyan was waiting for her.
"Hello Cinder."
Cinder smirks, sauntering over to the table.
"So you know who I am? I expect nothing less of you, Oracle."
Cyan takes a sip from her cup of tea.
"Just do what you've come to do."
"You're... not going to try and stop me?" Cinder asks, genuinely confused.
"No. There would be no point to try and fight you, so I offer no resistance."
Cinder smirks, conjuring a bow and arrow made of glass in her hands.
"Well... at least you know your place. I'm sure Salem will enjoy having you at her side." she nocks the arrow in the bow and pulls back, aiming directly at Cyan's face. She remains nonplussed.
"Hmph. Tell me Cinder, do you believe in Destiny?"
"...Yes."
She lets the arrow fly.
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Cinder walks out of the Cyan's home, a satisfied smile on her face with her bow disconnected into twin swords at her hips. She overlooks her cohort's handiwork - the entire village was destroyed; burning buildings and piles of dead bodies, a scene of utter chaos... just the way she liked it. Mercury comes up to her, breathing heavily.
"Well?"
"The kid lives in a cabin just up that hill." he gestures. "The targets are there."
"Good. Let's pay them a visit shall we?"
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You, Holly, and Lucien were sitting on the couch watching a movie after dinner. You couldn't focus on it however, as your mind was on the group of people from the village; your instincts were telling you that they were not good people - especially the one in the cloak. As much as it bothered you, you wouldn't let it show; with any luck you were just worried for no reason. A sharp knocking at the door catches your attention; Holly waves her husband toward the door.
"Get that. I'm not missing the best part."
Lucien sighs, but gets up and walks over to the door anyway. Opening it, he eyes Cinder standing before him.
"Can I help you?"
"Hello; you wouldn't happen to be Lucien Argent would you?"
His ears perk up a bit at that - if he wasn't on guard before, he was now.
"It's Evergreen actually."
"But you are him right?"
He narrows his eyes at her.
"And so what if I am?"
Cinder smirks, giggling evilly.
"Then Salem sends her regards."
Lucien immediately slams the door in her face and turns back to his family.
"HOLLY!"
BOOOOOOM!
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Cinder and her posse come from out of the trees, surveying the destruction. She glances around the rubble of your home, searching for her targets.
"Find them." she orders. "They're around here somewhere."
Cinder's caught off guard by a beam of light knocking her into the forest, an explosion occurring afterwards. Everyone's attention turns to Lucien reforming his body out of light in front of them. He opens his eyes, a fiery silver glow emitting from them.
"You... have made a grave mistake." his voice reverberates through the trees.
Before Lucien can obliterate the enemies in front of him, the cloaked figure suddenly appears in front of him and drives his fist into his stomach, sending him high into the air. Five giant roots shoot up from the ground and surround him in a wooden fist, tossing him into the forest. The figure runs off after him, leaving Mercury and his companion behind. Their attention turns to the ruins of your home as Holly pushes some rubble off of her and you. Thankfully both of you were unscathed by the blast, mostly due to her instinctively protecting you both.
"Welp, let's get this over with." Mercury shrugs.
"But what about Cinder?" the girl frantically asks. "She's-"
"I'm fine." Cinder struts out of the forest, a bit scuffed up but otherwise okay. "Do you really have that little faith in me Emerald?"
"N-no ma'am." she nervously shakes her head.
"Good girl. Now then..." she pulls out her swords while walking menacingly over to you and Holly.
"M-mom? What's happening?" you weakly ask.
"Shh, shh... just stay behind me; I'll protect you." she whispers standing up and taking a step forward.
"This doesn't have to be difficult; just hand over the boy and we'll let you go."
"Bullshit! Even if I did believe you, I won't let you touch one hair on my son's head!"
The group hears the rumble of thunder overhead. Looking up, they see massive storm clouds localized overhead, as if called there by something. Holly clenches and unclenches her fist, and you notice electricity sparking between her fingers.
"Hmph; well can't say I didn't try." Cinder dashes forward while Emerald and Mercury circle around. Holly cuts Mercury off with a blast of wind before encasing Cinder's legs in ice. The assassin is easily able to stabilize himself; but with a stomp of her foot and some hand gestures, she traps him in a prison of stone up to his neck, doing the same thing to Emerald.
"You need to get out of here, now." Holly calmly says referring to you.
"What?! Mom, I'm not leaving you! I can help! I-"
"(Y/n) listen to me!" it was rare that you mother actually used your real name, much to your chagrin, but it was confirmation that she was absolutely serious. "If you stay here you are going to die, and I won't let that happen; and I know your father would agree." she looks over her shoulder at you. "You are our most precious treasure, don't throw that away. Get to the cellar, you'll be safe there okay?" you slowly nod, wiping a few tears from your cheeks. "Good. I love you (Y/n)... we both do."
"I-I love you too." with that you run unimpeded to the remains of your home, opening a thick steel door embedded in the ground, and go inside.
Cinder breaks her legs out from their icy prison, glaring at Holly. She readies her swords, activating the Dust in them and setting them ablaze. Mercury and Emerald look on nervously, worried that they might be in over their heads, but Cinder's confident smirk reassures them.
"Final warning, give up the boy and it won't have to get ugly."
"Oh, it's far too late for that." Holly brushes some hair out of her face and activates her powers, a green aura flaring around her eyes. "Now face the wrath of the Spring Maiden!"
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Lucien grunts as he lands hard on the ground. Before he can go flying again, he transforms into light and reforms out of the forest near the village in a standing position. He surveys the area, taking note of the destroyed village and the large storm clouds over the area where his home once stood in the evening sky.
'Looks like Holly's fighting... keep him safe.'
His attention turns to his assailant leaping over the trees towards him, a large root erupting from the ground for them to land on. He reactivates his silver eyes, and makes a hardlight sabre in his hand, pointing it at the enemy.
"Who are you people?! How did you find us?!"
The figure doesn't respond, instead making two large roots shoot up from the ground and rush at Lucien. He blitzes forward, tearing up the ground behind him. He jumps over one root going for his legs, lands on it, and starts running up it; the root bucks upward, sending him into the air. Several more roots shoot up from the ground toward him; he corrects himself and fends them off - slashing, blocking and parrying, but there's only so much he can do with one arm. One root finds its way into his shoulder and from there the rest of his body is impaled in various places.
He hangs there for a second before he activates his Semblance and eyes in tandem, a silver explosion of light breaking him out of the roots. He creates another sabre - this one colored silver - and releases a wave of light at the main root. It cuts clean through, separating the root and setting it ablaze in a silver flame. The figure jumps down, landing smoothly as the top half of the root crashes to the earth; Lucien lands shortly after, staring the assassin down.
Lucien rushes his opponent, dodging and weaving through roots trying to impale him. More and more roots sprout up from the ground, making Lucien need to use his Semblance more and more; zipping and bouncing all around in flashes of blue and silver light. He decides to use his Semblance to its fullest, blitzing through all the roots in an instant, cutting them into pieces all at once. He dodges out of the way of another root trying to crush him; he cuts through it easily, but stumbles when a collection of roots raises the chunk of ground he was standing on. He jumps off to see more roots raising more chunks of earth around him, waiting for him to make a move.
A twitch sets them off, all attacking from every angle. Lucien jumps over one, weaving through the empty space between two and slicing them in half. One comes from above and from each of the cardinal directions, trapping and crashing into him. Another explosion of light frees him however; now the combatants are staring each other down, Lucien breathing heavily.
"Impressive." the figure finally speaks, their voice sounding oddly familiar to Lucien's ears. "Just what I'd come to expect from you Lucie."
"So, you do talk... then answer my damn questions!"
"Who I am and how I found you aren't important... what's important is that you die tonight."
"Not. Gonna. Happen."
"...We'll see."
The figure kneels down, placing a hand on the ground. The roots retreat into the earth and a black, tar-like substance seeps into the ground. A faint rumbling is felt before several wooded hands burst up, grasping at the air. The hands claw at the ground and figures sprout forth: black masses with blood red eyes covered in twisted mangles of roots, stone and dirt; dozens of them sprout up, surrounding their master.
'Grimm? Did they summon them? Though it looks like they're mixed with their Semblance... something about this seems all too familiar.'
The figure stands and gestures toward Lucien.
"Kill him."
The Grimm hesitate for a moment, but comply with their master's command, all attacking the Guardian at once.
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Cinder dodges out of the way of a lightning strike, then slices through a fireball, but is knocked back by a blast of air into a tree. Holly gestures and a series of ice spikes jut out from said tree, nearly impaling her, but she's saved by Mercury. They both dodge a fireball and Cinder rushes in, brandishing her swords.
"Help Emerald!" she orders, to which he nods.
Holly conjures two ice swords to clash with Cinder. They exchange blows blocking, slashing and parrying. The Maiden breaks one of Cinder's swords, sending shards of glass everywhere, slashes her twice, and blows her back with a gust of wind. A pair of gunshots gains her attention; she eyes Emerald, now free from her prison of stone thanks to her partner, her red eyes slightly glowing.
"Cinder did not tell us that fighting a Maiden would be... like this." Mercury complains stretching.
"Just think of it as practice for the future." Cinder comments, readying her sword. "Emerald, stay back. Mercury and I will keep her attention while you work your magic."
"Yes ma'am."
The thief jumps back while her teammates rush Holly. She blocks a slash from Cinder, while ducking under a kick from Mercury. She uses her powers to coat Cinder's weapon and arm in ice; she then creates two arms out of stone to grab the two, smashes them into each other, then into the ground. She scans her surroundings looking for Emerald, but can't find her. A sudden sharp pain rings throughout her entire body; she looks down and sees a spike of glass jutting out of her abdomen. She turns to see Cinder and Mercury behind her, cocky smirks on their faces.
"How...?"
"Oh, you know that you can't always trust what you see." Cinder smugly lectures.
Holly back-steps and pulls the glass spike out, a bit of blood gushing out. She simultaneously melts the glass and ices over her wound, and then calls down a bolt of lightning on the two to smite them... if they were still there. She frantically looks around staying on guard, but unfortunately it's no use due to Emerald's Semblance. Mercury suddenly comes flying at her from the right; she discharges electricity from her hand, but it goes right through him and he disappears. She feels a blow strike her in the stomach right where her wound is. She grunts and doubles over in pain; Mercury sweeps her legs then abruptly and painfully forces her head to the ground.
"Heh, well whaddaya know? You ain't so tough after all." the silver haired assassin smirks, planting his boot on her head.
"And you ain't so smart."
Holly grabs Mercury's leg and activates her powers, sending electrical shocks through his whole body, not relenting until his Aura is drained. He screams out in pain then falls over, Holly still gripping his leg as she stands.
"Your friend can fool my sight, but it's useless if I can touch you eh? Good to know." she conjures an ice blade in her hand, smiling a bit sadistically.
"Shit... Cinder!"
A shard of glass comes flying out of the tree line impaling Holly's arm; she recoils in pain but her grip holds firm. She raises her sword arm, poised to slice Mercury's leg off, but Cinder comes in from behind, stabbing her in the shoulder. Holly yelps in pain releasing Mercury and dissipating her sword. She spins around and blasts Cinder with a blast of air powerful enough to send her through several trees.
"...Bitch."
Out of the corner of her eye she sees Mercury trying to get back to his feet, but she uses her powers to trap his legs in stone.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She holds out her hand and starts closing it slowly, making the stones around Mercury's legs squeeze tighter and tighter.
"You're... not gonna..." he painfully groans.
"Oh, I'm gonna."
She fully closes her hand, the sounds of bones breaking and Mercury's screams filling the air until he falls unconscious from the pain. She releases the stone around his legs as her magic starts to fade.
"Not... yet..."
She holds her arms out in front of her at angles then pulls them inward, moving the very earth around her. Emerald comes stumbling out of a bush rolling in front of the enraged Maiden. She tries to use her Semblance to escape but Holly whips some dust in her face, making her flinch. She grips the girl by her neck and conjures a small flame in her free hand.
"You know... something tells me that your little Semblance has caused a lot of people a lot of grief, myself not included... let's fix that."
Emerald reaches for her weapon but Holly clasps her hand over the thief's eyes, releasing small blasts of fire that quickly drains her Aura and burns her skin. She cries out in pure unadulterated pain as she struggles and slaps at Holly's arm in a vain attempt to free herself. Holly drops her and kicks her hard into a tree making her cough up some blood; she covers her eyes, screaming and writhing in pain. Holly wipes blood from her face and spits some out, hobbling over to her destroyed home, nearly falling over in the process.
"Listen up... tell that Cinder bitch, or Salem, or whoever the hell else... that if they come after my family ever again... I won't leave any bodies."
She takes a seat in the ground to rest and recover her magic. Her attention is caught by a pillar of silver light shooting up into the sky.
'Lucien...'
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Moments earlier...
Lucien cuts through another Treant, branches and dirt flying everywhere. The black tar falls to the ground and another Treant spawns in its place. It and two more Treants try to attack from behind, but they go right through his body, immediately getting cut down, then blasted by a silver ocular beam, incinerating them. The remaining Treants - about fifteen in total - all pounce on Lucien at once, piling on him. An explosion of silver light frees Lucien and decimates all the Grimm - roots, dirt and stones falling to the ground. The Guardian takes a knee, holding hid hand over his eyes and breathing heavily.
'This is bad... I've used my eyes and Semblance too much, while I haven't even landed a single hit. I have to end this before-'
A sharp pain cuts off his train of thought; uncovering his eyes and tearing off his left sleeve, he inspects what's left of his arm. Black veins have started appearing, running up to his shoulder.
'As I thought... it's starting to appear.'
Underneath their hood, the figure smiles. A root sprouts up behind them and rockets towards Lucien's left side; he leaps to the side, creating a sabre and slices it lengthwise. The black tar comes flooding out, covering Lucien and the ground. It's far from over however, as it seeps into his skin, making the black veins spread further and further, reaching his eye. He yells out in pain, falling to his knees clutching his shoulder; from there the veins expand, coloring his arm and skin up to his face pitch black.
"Well, well... she was right." the figure quips, walking up to Lucien.
"So... this is what you were aiming for..."
"Indeed. Salem would be quite pleased to have another Guardian at her side. And with the boy-"
Lucien releases a silver beam from his eyes, blasting the figure back and to the ground.
"STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!" he hollers, recoiling in pain afterwards.
The figure stands up, hood now off to reveal a middle-aged woman with faded brown hair with green highlights. Her skin was a pale, ghostly white, black veins crossing over it. Lucien chuckles dryly while looking into her eyes - dull, lifeless silver with black sclera.
"So... this is what happened to you Gaia. What has she done?"
Gaia summons a root beneath Lucien's feet, rising up and coiling around his neck, strangling him.
"The same thing she's going to do to you... enlighten you to her majesty."
"I... think I'll pass."
A silver aura emanates around Lucien's body and eyes making Gaia step back. Seconds later, he releases a blinding silver light that overtakes her senses and pierces through the heavens.
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Holly's attention turns to the door of the cellar opening and you coming out. You survey the carnage then, spotting your mother, run over to her and embrace her tightly.
"Mom!"
"Oof! Easy kiddo, I'm hurt here." she coughs, hugging you back. "But it's alright now... it's over."
"Oh, far from it." Cinder steps out of the forest, her hair messed up, dress a bit torn, and a few bruises blemishing her skin. She glances at Emerald, still covering her eyes writhing in pain on the ground; then at Mercury's mangled and bloodied legs, cringing a bit at the sight.
"Yeah... that's right." Holly breathes, getting to her feet. "If you don't want the same to happen to you... then take these idiots and leave."
"I'm afraid that's not an option; I don't intend on disappointing Her Grace."
Cinder snaps her fingers and the glass sword embedded in Holly's shoulder breaks apart. She gestures and the pieces telepathically lodge themselves in the Maiden's back; she cries out in pain and falls to her hand and knees.
"Mom!" you send a blast of fire Cinder's way, but she sidesteps and blitzes you; grabbing you by your neck.
"I'm tired of humoring you fools." she growls, tossing you behind her; you land with a thud but get right back up.
"You bitch! I'll-" roots suddenly sprout from the ground and wrap around you restraining your arms especially. Gaia limps out of the forest, the right half of her face scarred immensely.
"You'll... what?" she asks, her voice hoarse and weak.
"So... you took care of him then?" Cinder inquires, looming over Holly's downed form.
"Not... without... some difficulty... but he's gone."
"He... no... Lucien..." Holly utters.
"D-dad?" you mutter, tears welling in your eyes.
"Aww how sad... but don't worry, I'll allow you to see your dear mother dying... before I kill you." Cinder stomps on Holly's back, digging her heel into her wounds and eliciting a cry of pain from her.
"STOP IT! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" you struggle to free yourself, but the roots tighten around you.
"Because you mother has something we want." Cinder reaches down and grabs a handful of Holly's hair, bringing her up to a kneeling position. "Gaia, if you would..."
Gaia limps over to Holly, obstructing your vision of her; you can, however, hear her screams of pure agony. After a few seconds, her screams subside and you finally see her again - her skin was paler than usual, cheeks sunken and eyes dull.
"You have... what you wanted... now leave... please." she begs.
Cinder yanks her head upwards so she's looking into her eyes.
"I'm afraid not... you see, you hurt my companions... so now I have to hurt you." she whispers maliciously.
She manipulates the glass shards in Holly's body, pulling them out and reforming her sword... and then stabbing it through her heart.
"MOM!"
Cinder releases Holly, pulling her sword out and letting her fall to the ground, eyes still widened in shock. The roots release you and you fall to your hands and knees, sobbing.
"Take these two back to Salem." Cinder commands, motioning to Emerald and Mercury. "I'll deal with the boy." Gaia nods, creating two red swirling portals beneath them, taking them back to Salem's Domain then creates one for herself, limping through. Cinder then saunters over to you and kicks you in the stomach, knocking you into a tree. "Alright you little brat, now it's your turn."
You pull your body up, head down, slumping on the tree; your whole body shuddering with pain and rage.
"Mom... dad..." you mutter repeatedly in a trance, a silver aura flaring around your eyes.
Cinder drives her heel in your stomach, then knees you in the face, gripping you up by the neck. She readies her blade, a sinister smirk on her face.
"Any last words?"
"You... you... you..." your snap your head up, a fiery silver aura in your eyes. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Cinder's eyes widen as a brilliant silver light engulfs you both.
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You shoot up in your bed, breathing heavily. You look around the room you were in, and were confused that it wasn't your room. You feel a dull pain on the right side of your neck but ignore it as you get out of bed. Looking out of the window, you see that it was the dead of night, the shattered moon high in the sky.
'Was that all just a dream? No... it couldn't have been.'
You leave the room and creep downstairs, the glow of television static lighting the otherwise dark house.
"(Y/n)? That you?" a voice comes from the kitchen.
You turn and see a woman standing before you - long, platinum blonde hair and silver eyes that were red and puffy, no doubt from crying; in a black bodysuit with bits of silver armor on her legs, forearms, shoulders and around the chest and stomach, with silver armored knee high boots. Three four-pointed stars were on her breastplate, as well as in her hair, one large star and the other two smaller and at diagonals on the top left and bottom right of the main star. She wears a white cape that was black on the inside hanging off her shoulders.
"Aunt Lux?" you remember her vaguely, she was fun whenever she showed up - which was a rare occurrence.
"How're you feeling? You alright?" she speaks, her voice soft and a bit slurred.
"I-I'm fine... how long have I been out?"
"Couple days, nothin' major... just... dammit!" she punches the wall, putting a large hole in it. "I need another drink."
"I think you've had enough." you say dryly.
"Yeah, yeah..." she walks past you and crashes down on the couch in the living room, hand over her face in an attempt to stop herself from crying again.
"Where are we?"
"A house of mine in Mistral. After I found you and your home... well you couldn't stay there right?"
"I guess... but what about my... my mom?" you utter you voice breaking a bit.
"Yeah she's- I mean me and Qrow already buried her." she says somberly.
"And dad?"
"His body's back in Vale."
"So it wasn't a dream then..." you sniffle, looking at the floor.
"'Fraid not kid, and the people that did all this was long gone when we got there... so what now?"
You look up, tears still streaming down your cheeks.
"What do you mean?"
Lux sits up, attention focused entirely on you.
"I mean what do you want to do?"
You hang your head again as the events replay in your mind. Instead of sadness, rage and resentment flow through you. You tighten your fists, grit your teeth and look up, a determined, hateful look in your eyes.
"I want revenge."
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Hello all! What's this? Another new story? Well don't worry, this isn't replacing anything, just something that I wanted to get out there now that I finally figured out how I wanted to start it and will be updated whenever - at least until the Blake story is done. Hopefully this chapter will set a mood as far as how over-the-top this story will be, showing off what the Silver-Eyed Warriors and Maidens can really do - at least my interpretation of what they can do. Trust me, it'll be awesome... hopefully. Let me know how it was, and I'll see you guys next time!