Morning was quick to arrive at Argus as Pyrrha, as usual was the first one up. She rubs her eyes and feels a light weight on her side. Looking down she spots Neo, arms and legs attached to her side like a sloth in a tree. She gives a small groan, blushing brightly as Neo's arms are underneath her bosom. "Wake up Neo. We need to get ready for today." She tells the mute, only to be met with a small grumble as the woman hugs tighter onto the Spartan. 'God did Roman have to deal with this every morning?' Pyrrha thinks to herself as she decides to just get up and out of bed, with Neo still attached to her. Sitting herself up, Pyrrha slips on some crimson-colored slippers and heads out the door.
As soon as she enters the hallway she's greeted by a sleepy Ruby, her eye mask still on her head as she's carrying a cup of water. "Hey Pyrrha! Good…morning?" Ruby greets, albeit confused at the sight before her.
"She doesn't want to wake up and get off of me. Just… try not to make a big deal out of it." Pyrrha blushes, embarrassed to have been caught like this.
Ruby gives a soft giggle as she walks up to Pyrrha. "Don't worry! I know what will wake her up!" Ruby says in a sing song voice. She gets up to Neo's face and brings her hand up to pinch her nose shut. Neo moves around a bit in slight distress before her eyes burst open as her grip on Pyrrha comes loose, causing the mute to fall to the ground with an audible thump.
Neo takes several deep breaths as she looks around her surroundings, confused on how she got from bed to out in the hallway. "About damn time you woke up you lazy sloth." Pyrrha chuckles as she helps Neo up to her feet. "I swear, despite how tiny you are, you have one tight grip."
"Yeah, you clung to Pyrrha like a tree! Which is kinda fitting considering how tall she is and how…" Ruby trails off as she sees Neo glaring at her, almost as if welcoming the young huntress to go ahead and say that she's short. "Uh… fun sized you are!" Ruby beams nervously, giving a small laugh.
Neo raises her eyebrow at the statement and tosses it around her head for a bit. Being called fun sized is something she can get used to. "You live for now Little Red. But for that comment you still owe me some bacon!" Neo signs with a devious smile.
"Noooo! Not my bacon!" Ruby whines as false tears build up in the corner of her eyes. The pathetic display causes Neo to give a silent chuckle alongside Pyrrha.
"Let's eat some breakfast and then we can go over the plan in more detail." Pyrrha says as she walks down the large set of stairs. Ruby quickly drinks the rest of her water and dashes forth in a burst of rose petals to catch up to Pyrrha while Neo jumps off of the railing, opening up Hush and slowly floats down to the bottom floor of the small mansion. Pyrrha rolls her eyes at Neo's excessiveness and scoffs. "Show off."
"So, how much of the plan do you have in mind?" Ruby asks.
"I have most of it planned out. It all comes down to execution. I want to try to get out before it's 10." Pyrrha says as the two girls reach the bottom of the stairs. The two are suddenly met with a hypnotic aroma emanating from the kitchen.
Walking towards the kitchen, they spot Ren and Athena making breakfast. Ren was making his signature pancakes that Nora loved so very very much, alongside bacon and eggs. Athena on the other hand was making coffee, yogurt with fresh fruit and slicing up some carrot cake. Neo was already at the small island bar, enjoying a plate of fresh pancakes that had a small smiley face made out of two eggs sunny side up for the eyes, bacon for a smile and one square piece of butter for the nose. Ruby's eyes sparkle at the amazing display of food. "Oh wow! This looks soooo good!" She squeals as she bursts into rose petals once more to launch herself into the barstool and sit on top.
"Ahaha well I was going to cook all of you breakfast myself, but your friend here insisted on helping me. Apparently, he's known back at school as the pancake king, is that true?" Athena asks her daughter, giving her a motherly smile as she sprinkles a few blueberries and granola pieces into a cup of yogurt.
"Heh he certainly was, and Nora was his queen. Those days take me back." Pyrrha sighs in remembrance for the good ole days of Beacon where they didn't have to worry about saving the world and all that they had to concern themselves over was being good students and warriors. "By the way, I'm surprised Nora isn't up yet. I expected her to be right beside her man begging for more pancakes."
"Well, she didn't want to wake up and get ready. So unfortunate for her, I decided to make breakfast without her. Plus, this means that all of us can have a chance to eat some pancakes before she devours all of them." Ren laughs softly, flipping a pancake before sliding it onto a large stack of pancakes. "I'd give her another five minutes before she shows up."
"Well, I gotta start eating as fast as I can then! I don't want to miss out on your pancakes!" Ruby says as she prepares herself a plate of food and quickly starts to eat it all. She let's out a loud hum of delight. "Mmm! This is as good as it looks!" Ruby compliments as she takes another forkful of pancakes.
Neo slides her plate over the counter, not a single crumb left on the plate as she stretches her arms. "If being your teammate means that I can get delicious breakfasts like this all the time, well I think I've hit the jackpot then." Neo signs with a giggle. Ren puts his hands together and gives a silent bow to Neo as thanks before getting back to cooking.
Neo pats the barstool right next to her, wanting Pyrrha to sit down and eat. Pyrrha gives a smile and approaches the island, sitting down on the stool as she looks at her mother. "What do you want sweetie? Anything in particular?" Athena asks as she gets a plate for Pyrrha.
"Umm I think just a few pancakes and eggs, as well as fruit will be fine." Pyrrha says. Her mother nods and prepares her plate before setting it in front of the spartan. Pyrrha takes an eager look at her plate and digs her fork into the pancake before quickly bringing it inside her mouth. She chews on it for a moment before a look of realization came to her eyes. She still couldn't taste it. They tasted like nothing.
Athena notices this and looks at her daughter. "Is something wrong dear?" She asks with concern.
Pyrrha shakes her head and puts on a false smile. "Nothing's wrong mother! They taste perfect!" She says as she takes another bite to emphasize her point. However, Neo knew what was really going on. She puts her hand on Pyrrha's shoulder for support and gives the spartan a small smile. Pyrrha smiles back and takes another bite of her food. Despite her not being able to enjoy the delicious looking breakfast, she knew that she still needs to eat. Besides, in a roundabout way, eating with friends is making her feel better already.
A few moments would pass as soon the rest of the crew would walk down the stairs and smell the delicious meal, save for Nora who is still somehow asleep. Yang pumps her mechanical fist in the air. "Aw hell yeah! Ren's pancakes are the best! And is that bacon I smell too?" She asks as she sniffs the air before giving a happy sigh.
Blake pats her shoulder tenderly and gets her to sit down at the table. "Thank you so much for cooking this breakfast for us Mrs. Nikos and Ren." She says as she prepares two plates of food, one for her and one for Yang. She sits down next to Yang and starts to eat her delicious food.
"Yes, thank you so very much! I haven't had food this good since… well Beacon I guess. Ren's pancakes were always better than the ones that the butlers made at home. I was never able to put my finger on why though." Weiss says as she gets a plate of her own.
"These eggs taste very fresh, just like the ones back at my farm. Did you get them from a market?" Oscar asks as he eats his food.
"I did actually! I've always preferred going to the farmers themselves for my products. They always taste better." Athena smiles as she finishes making the last parfait.
Qrow takes a plate of pancakes and puts a forkful in his mouth, letting out a satisfied chuckle. "Man, it's been so long since I had some delicious pancakes." He comments.
As if on que, a loud rumbling can be heard from upstairs. Rapid thuds echo throughout the mansion and before anyone could question who was making all the sounds, Nora, appearing right by Ren in a huge flash of pink lightning, eyes sparking with energy asks. "Did somebody say something about delicious pancakes?!"
The sudden appearance of Nora, drool leaking out from her mouth as she stares at the pancakes, causes the group of friends to give a chuckle. Qrow gives a whistle as he looks at Nora. "Never knew you had such good hearing Thunder Shock." He chuckles as he picks up his flask, stares at it briefly before throwing it away.
"Well, let's just say that I have a second semblance that I like to call Sweets Detection! It allows me to use my senses to pick up the locations of any sweets!" Nora grins, as she quickly picks up a plate and stacks it full of pancakes, bacon, sausage, and fruit. Afterall, a heavy hitting girl like her needs her calories so that she can continue being the powerhouse.
Ren gives a small sigh as he starts to help Athena clean up the kitchen. "You don't have a second semblance Nora. You're just hyper fixated on anything that looks good." He tells the ginger haired girl before putting several dishes into the dishwasher.
"Hey, you can believe what you want to believe, and I can believe what I want to believe." Nora teases sticking her tongue out before taking a humongous bite out of the stacks of pancakes. Knowing no sense of table manners, Nora speaks with her mouth full, though surprisingly very few crumbs are spat out. "So, when do we have to steal the air ship?"
Athena smiles at what Nora said, not registering it for a brief moment until her daughter says. "Hurry up and finish eating, then we will head out."
This causes Athena's eyes to dilate in shock as she drops a plate onto the floor, thankfully not breaking it this time. "YOU'RE GOING TO STEAL AN ATLAS AIRSHIP?!" She shouts as she stares at her daughter.
Pyrrha gives a small wince at the outburst, knowing that her mother would've reacted like this. Neo gives a soft whistle, as if mocking Pyrrha for getting in trouble with her mother. Taking a deep sigh Pyrrha looks straight into her mother's eyes. "Yes, we are Mother. More specifically, Team RWBY, Oscar and Qrow are. We're just helping them with the heist."
"But why would you do that?! Don't you know how powerful their military is?"
"I do Mother. But we need to get them to Atlas and to meet Ironwood. They need his help for something that's a matter of life and death." Pyrrha explained, not wanting to delve into all the specifics of their quest. Her mother is under enough stress as is from knowing that they're going to be stealing from the military, she doesn't need to know about Salem and everything else. "My team and I are going to Vacuo too. We know that there's a boat that leaves for there later today, we have our own quest to handle there."
Athena's heart seems to have broke at this revelation that Pyrrha won't be staying with her for much longer. She lifts up her glasses and rubs her eyes, trying to clear them of any tears. "But I just got you back… now you have to leave me again?" She utters softly.
Pyrrha feels her heart sinking in her chest as she slowly walks over to her mother, embracing her into a tight hug. "I know mom. I'm sorry that I have to leave you again so soon but, I don't have any other option. Many lives are at stake here." Pyrrha says as she rubs her mother's back. "But I promise to come back home to you and Father. And I never break my promises." Pyrrha tells her mother as she separates from the hug.
Athena gives her daughter a gentle smile. "You've changed so much Pyrrha."
"In more ways than one." Pyrrha solemnly agrees, remembering how shifted her moral compass is now.
"But no matter how much you've changed, you will always be my daughter. And for that I will always love you." Athena sobs softly, getting overcome with emotions. Seeing her mother cry is causing Pyrrha herself start to tear up just a tiny bit. Everyone looks at the mother daughter duo with a heartwarming smile, feeling warmth build up inside their chests.
The sound of a fork hitting a plate can be heard breaking this tender moment as everyone looks over at Nora, who is blushing brightly. "Oops! Uh… my hand slipped." She giggles nervously, giving a small shrug.
Athena gives a soft chuckle. "You go on ahead and get prepared to steal that airship. I'll be waiting for you to come back and when you do, I'll make a very special dinner for all of us." She says with a smile.
"Thank you, Mother. I'll try to write when I can." Pyrrha says as she leads the gang to the living quarters of the house to go over the plan.
Once everyone was seated, Pyrrha steps up to the front of the room. "Okay everyone, here's the plan."
"You know, I've noticed that you say, "Okay everyone" and "I'm Sorry" a lot. We should get that printed on a shirt for you." Neo teases with a wink causing Pyrrha to roll her eyes.
"Oh, you should've seen her back at Beacon! She couldn't last ten seconds without saying "I'm sorry" to something!" Ruby brings up with a smile, much to the Spartan's dismay.
"Ruby, stop enabling her. Neo, my offer of giving you a new necklace still stands." Pyrrha threatens, clenching her fist and performing a motion that resembles pulling something out from a person's body.
Neo gives a small gulp and backs down, signing. "You know on second thought; I don't need a new necklace." She signs.
"Good. Now back to business. Here's the plan. Oscar and Ruby, you two are the smallest people in your team, so you can hide in Weiss's comically large suitcases." Pyrrha tells them, eliciting a "Hey!" from the Ice Queen. "Weiss, your job is to look depressed at the aspect of you leaving your friends behind as you know it's your job as a "dutiful daughter" to go back home."
"Ugh… I think I can manage without that "dutiful daughter" aspect. Plus, you know how terrible my acting is. I just hope that SOMEONE doesn't laugh like a hyena while locked inside my suitcase." Weiss shouts, glaring at Ruby.
"Hey! I can be quiet when I want to!" Ruby retorts.
"Really now? Then can you be quiet now so I can continue explaining the rest of my plan?" Pyrrha asks with a smirk.
"You got it!" Ruby smiles, zipping her lips and throwing the zipper away.
Pyrrha nods her head as she looks over to Qrow, Yang and Blake. "You three have the most important jobs. In about forty minutes there will be a change in shift for the troops stationed at the base. What we will do is that we will sabotage three troops who are making their way towards the base. You three will steal their clothes and ID access cards, then Neo will use her semblance to disguise you three. Then you will continue on, pretending to be those three people and infiltrate from the inside. An hour later, Weiss will come to the base to go home. PNNR and I will be there as well to see her off and to make sure that nothing goes wrong. The idea is that when the station is ready to send Weiss home, they will want to give her a personal guard, which you three will volunteer to do. Once everyone is inside the ship and a fair distance away from Argus, Neo will deactivate her semblance allowing you guys to sneak up on the pilots and force him out of the ship with a parachute. We don't need to kill anyone if we don't have to." Pyrrha explains to everyone.
"This sounds like a good plan. I have a good feeling about this." Blake says with a smile.
"You sounded just like Jaune there Pyrrha. I'm certain he would be proud." Ren tells her, causing the spartan to blush softly and get a small smile. To be compared to her lover and old leader, it makes her heart a flutter as she knows that she's living up to his name and role as a leader.
Refocusing herself to what's on hand, she takes a look at everyone. "If there are no questions, let's go pull this off before it's too late." Pyrrha says. Everyone gives her a nod of determination as they get up from their seats and get themselves ready for the mission.
Once everyone was ready, Qrow, Yang, Blake, Ren, Nora and Neo wait by the door for Pyrrha, who was talking to her mother. "Pyrrha, please stay safe." Athena asks.
"I can't give any guarantees, but I will try my best to come back to you in one piece." Pyrrha smiles giving her mother one last hug for the foreseeable future. Pyrrha then turns her attention towards Oscar and walks up to him. "Be safe you country bumpkin. Remember, you're not Ozpin, and you will never be Ozpin if I can help it." Pyrrha tells him with a reaffirming smile.
"Thank you Pyrrha… I promise you, the next time we meet, I will still be me." Oscar affirms the tall spartan. Pyrrha rustles his hair, causing the young boy to let out a small "Hey!" in response before fixing his hair.
Pyrrha then goes over to Ruby and stares into her eyes for a brief moment before giving the smaller girl a tight hug. "You be careful Ruby. Once we've completed our missions, let's try to meet back at where we all started. Who knows what the future may hold for us? But we won't let that uncertainty hold us back." Pyrrha tells her, separating from the warm embrace.
"You stay safe too Pyrrha. I promise you; I won't let the unknown stop me. I will persevere, no matter the cost. No matter what, you will always be my friend and I will help you avoid the dark path that consumed you all those months ago." Ruby says with a smile. Ruby, the woman who sought to forgive Pyrrha despite all the torture that she made the poor young girl go through, is still determined to help her friend. Were it not for the kindness that Ruby showed Pyrrha, and for Neo's help and company, who knows where Pyrrha may be right now.
Pyrrha smiles back and gives the huntress one last hug before going back to her group. "Remember to come down in one hour. We will meet you halfway there." Pyrrha says before leaving with the rest of the group.
As the group makes their way through Argus, they find a shady alleyway to wait and ambush three unfortunate Atlas guards. They wouldn't have to wait long as conveniently three guards who were walking together cross the alley, talking to each other without much of a care. Using Neo's semblance to hide themselves from the public, Qrow, Yang and Blake sneak up on the guards, putting them into a sleeper hold before hitting a pressure point on their shoulder, causing them to fall unconscious. After a brief moment to put on their new clothes and get their disguise from Neo, the three imposters leave the alleyway without much suspicion and continue as if nothing bad ever occurred.
Feeling bad about causing these three guards to go unconscious, Nora slumps their bodies, against the wall and places a coupon for a free ice cream cone that she got from last night. Pyrrha rolls her eyes and takes out her bag, remembering that large bounty she collected long ago. She places 100,000 lien on top of the wallets for each of the guards as a way of saying sorry while still having about 200,000 lien left.
Still under the illusion of Neo's semblance, they quickly sneak their way to a nearby park, sit down on a bench and wait patiently for Weiss. An hour passes and they soon notice Weiss walking down the streets of Atlas by herself. Team PNNR quickly group up with her and help roll out the massive luggage that a rich girl like Weiss would have. Once they arrived at the base, they knock on the door asking for the general. "What what what?! Didn't I tell you that no one can go to Atlas except for the Schnee daughter?!" Asks an older and very short woman dressed in the garb of a high-ranking soldier. Neo looks at the woman and gives a surprised gasp at the fact that she's actually taller than someone for once. This is a welcome surprise as she gives a smug smile and tips her hat.
"I'm sorry General Cordovin, but we're just here to see our friend off to Atlas." Pyrrha says, talking in her old voice to give the general a sense of familiarity.
Hearing the familiar voice, Cordovin's cold stare softens at the sight of the Pride of Mistral. "Oh! Pyrrha Nikos! It's so good to see you alive! Everyone at Argus has been worried sick about you. Most people ended up thinking that you were dead but not me. I always knew that you were alive!" Cordovin states proudly, her massive arrogance really compensating for her small stature.
Pyrrha laughs it off, this woman is already getting on her nerves as she tries to keep calm. "Well, it's been a very long journey but I'm just glad to finally be home! It was such a coincidence that we ended up running into Weiss here, so we decided to see her home." Pyrrha explains, hoping to rush things along.
Nora's eyes start to water as she lets out a loud bawl. "PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US! WE'LL MISS YOU SO MUCH! JUST IMAGINE HOW DISTRAUGHT RUBY WILL BE WHEN SHE FINDS OUT THAT YOU DECIDED TO LEAVE WITHOUT HER KNOWING!" Nora cries loudly as she hugs Weiss tightly. When Cordovin couldn't see her face, she gives a wicked grin towards Ren and Neo, who give the ginger a thumbs up to keep up the act. Nora then continues her rain of crocodile tears as she bawls louder and louder.
Weiss rolls her eyes and pries Nora off of her, the woman falling to the ground on her bum. "Get off you dolt! We weren't supposed to tell her that I was leaving!" Weiss scolds, wagging her finger at Nora.
Cordovin rolls her eyes at the pathetic display of the ginger before opening the gate for Weiss. "Well come on, let's go get a ship prepared for you and get you a personal guard." She says, welcoming Weiss forward.
She nods her head and turns back towards Team PNNR. "Well… thank you for all the memories. I promise that I'll cherish them forever. I really do wish it could've gone some other way but, this is how it was meant to be." Weiss sighs.
"It's okay Weiss. Besides, this isn't goodbye. We will see you again." Ren tells her with a calm smile.
"You'll hear about me quite easily no doubt. I always tend to be the main focus of gossip." Neo signs with a smug smile.
"Take care Weiss." Pyrrha says, giving the whitehaired girl a brief hug.
"You too Pyrrha." She says, returning the hug before separating. Weiss turns around and looks at Cordovin, who has called for a personal guard consisting of three soldiers that Weiss has most definitely never met before. The guards give Weiss a knowing wink before escorting the Ice Queen to the airship.
The gates would soon close behind them as Team PNNR stand still, a smile on their face. They see the airship take off from the landing pad and fly up north towards the snowy tundra that awaited them. Once the ship was a good distance away, Neo releases her semblance and falls to the ground, panting heavily as she's definitely not used to holding her semblance for that long and for such a great distance. Pyrrha goes over to support Neo, arms wrapped around her shoulders. "Are you okay?" She asks back in the old familiar tone that Neo, Nora and Ren have grown accustomed to.
Neo nods her head and has Pyrrha help her back up to her feet. "I'm just really not used to holding my semblance for that long and with such a great distance." she signs, wiping some sweat off of her forehead.
Nora reaches into her pockets and digs around a bit before finally pulling out a candy bar. "Here! You look tired! Have some sugar to get you energized back up!" Nora smiles, waving the candy in front of Neo's face.
Neo snatches the candy bar and unwraps it. She takes a small bite out of it and lets out a pleased giggle at the sweet. Holding the candy bar in between her teeth, Neo signs "Ah sugar! How I love you so!"
"I'm assuming that you said thank you, so you're welcome!" Nora smiles, still oblivious to whatever Neo just said.
"We really need to teach you sign language." Pyrrha says flatly as the group starts to walk away from the military base.
Nora let's out a sad moan as she slumps her shoulders. "Yeah, I know…"
Ren rubs Nora's back comfortingly and tells her. "Don't worry, I'll teach you. Thankfully, you're a fast learner so you shouldn't have too much trouble with this."
"I'm a fast learner in anything but math and chemistry." Nora points out.
"Nora, does sign language have anything to do with math or Chemistry? No, it doesn't." Pyrrha tells the slightly airheaded girl with a fond smile.
"Hey! Stop teasing me! Pick on Nora day isn't until October 7th!" Nora proclaims, crossing her arms and pouting.
"Isn't that the day before your birthday?" Pyrrha asks.
"Yeah… I just came up with a random date to be honest." Nora sighs, tapping her fingers together.
Neo gives a small hum and smirks. October 7th is definitely a date that she will have to remember for later. It's almost July, so she has plenty of time to come up with a large repertoire of teases and jokes for the poor unaware girl.
A few hours would pass and soon, Team PNNR finds themselves boarding a boat that's leaving for Vacuo. With little fanfare, the boat leaves the dock and starts it's long journey towards the country. Team PNNR look out into the sea, standing side by side. Pyrrha looks at her friends, seeing the light from the setting sun reflecting off of them. She looks back out to the horizon and gives a relaxed sigh. It feels like she's been through so much already, yet she knows that this is only just the beginning of her new adventure that she's taking with those she cares the most about. Looking down at her chest, she plays with one of the strings of Jaune's hoodie, rubbing it in between her fingers as she remembers how she started alone and hid behind a mask. But now, she can throw away her mask for she doesn't have to be alone anymore. Neo, Ren and Nora will stay by her side through thick and thin, just like how she will be there for them. "Vacuo awaits us. Let's give it our best."
Well everyone, this is the end of Volume 1 of Vindicta! It's been a long journey but I'm so glad to have been able to take this journey alongside all of you! Now to answer some questions that you may be asking.
Will you be writing more volumes to this story? Yes, I will! The current plan right now is for me to write three more volumes of this series. Right now, I will be taking a break so that I can recollect my steam. I can't say for certain when the first chapter of Volume 2 will come out, but I do plan on starting work on it by Summer.
What will Volume 2 entail? Will we see Team RWBY at all? To avoid giving a lot of spoilers, Volume 2 will stay focused on Team PNNR with chapters featuring Cinder, Adam, Cinder's faction and a very special group that I can't wait to show you. Unfortunately, we won't see much about Team RWBY's escapades in Atlas, though assume that it's essentially the same as what Volumes 7-8 are currently. (This is being written before the conclusion of Vol 8)
So how many changes to the lore do you plan on? Currently, I have several drafts and ideas on changes to the lore and canon I would like to make. I'm not positive on going through with them just yet but I would like to make this feel more of it's own universe than strictly following canon.
What are some of the planned character arcs? To not spoil everything, I will name only a few. Nora will be going through a similar arc that she is going through in vol 8, though there will be several key differences, especially in regard to her relationship with Ren. Ren himself will be going through a personal struggle as he evaluates himself in regard to his team. While everyone is getting stronger and mastering their semblances in combat, Ren will start to think that he's slowing his team down and that his semblance is only useful against Grimm. Nora of course will be helping him as well. Currently, both have a very satisfying outcome to their character arcs planned!
Are we allowed to make art/music/dramatic readings/radio plays and/or fanfics based off of the Vindicta universe? Of course you can! My goal as a creator is to spread creativity towards my audience and encourage them to create! Whether it be something as complex as an animation to something more simple like a poem, as long as I can get you to create and express your love for my creation, then I will be happy! All I ask is that you simply credit me for the being the original creator of the Vindicta AU.
You said something about introducing a very special team. What is this team that you're introducing? I'm glad you asked! Without any need of saying anything further, please take a look!
"Professor Straw? You have guests waiting outside your office." Says a soft masculine voice through the intercom that rests on a messy desk, overloaded with papers, chess pieces and what appears to be sewing materials.
A slumping figure is seen in a large wooden chair before scrambling back up, dazed and confused from the sudden interruption of her daydream. She has long golden hair tied up into a ponytail, with soft brown eyes hiding behind a pair of round glasses. Her face looked soft and squishy, almost as if her cheeks were like a cushion of hay, her freckles most certainly didn't help make her face look cute. She was wearing a plaid cotton shirt, with a brown felt overall dress on top. She had what appears to be stitches on several parts of her tan skin such as across her forehead, on her neck, her biceps and around her ankles, no doubt these being scars from her previous battles. She pushes the button on the intercom, quickly fixing her hair and speaks in a thick country accent. "Go ahead and send them in sugar cube!" She says before turning off the intercom and unplugging it. She quickly readjusts her desk, throwing some papers onto the ground and into random drawers while tidying up her chess board and quickly solving a puzzle cube in the matter of seconds. She readjusts her name plate that reads "Professor Corvy Straw" before sitting upright in her chair as she hears the doors to her barn like office open.
"Headmaster Straw? Did you need to see us?" Asks a confident feminine voice.
"We hope we weren't intruding." Asks a gentle feminine voice with a proper accent.
"No, you weren't! I was just in the middle of my siesta! I can resume it later after I talk to you four!" She laughs, before motioning towards the comfortable looking chairs that rested in front of her desk. "Please take a seat!"
"So what do you need us for? Another mission to handle some Grimm?" Asks a gruff male voice as the group of four take a seat.
"No, not this time. I have something very important to tell you." Corvy pauses as she dims the lights in her office and close the blinds. She locks the door to her office with the press of a button on her desk. Once all the precautions were taken care of, she looks at the group of four. "Team CFVY, ever since you four have arrived here at Shade Academy, you've gone far and beyond the call of duty."
"Well thank you for the praise! But no need to applaud us, we're just doing our job professor." Replies Coco as she adjusts her shades. "Velvet, Fox and Yatsuhashi have each helped lift their own load of our responsibility, so it's no wonder that we're able to get stuff done before other teams have had a chance to start." She boasts, proud of how skilled her team is.
She gets nudged by Velvet, who had her rabbit ears slightly pinned back. "Now's not the time for boasting. What did you need to tell us Professor Straw?"
Straw gives a small smile. 'Oh, I love this part!' She thinks to herself before clearing her throat. "Tell me. What's your favorite fairy tale? Is it the Tale of the two brothers? Or perhaps it is the tale of the Four Maidens? Maybe it's even the tale of the Man with Two Souls? That one is my favorite." Straw asks as she mindlessly taps on her desk.
"Uh… I guess I enjoy the tale of the Witch of the Woods." Coco replies, not exactly sure how to feel about this odd question.
"Tale of Two Brothers for me." Fox replies as quickly as it took for him to think of an answer.
"Well… I was always fond of the Four Maidens, ever since I was a wee little kit." Velvet smiled, remembering her fond memories of her mother and father reading the tale to her and her many siblings.
"I suppose the Man with Two Souls. Something about how it's told always struck a chord with me." The large mountain of a man named Yatsuhashi says with a soft voice.
"All good options my students. Now what if I told you that they're all real. That every single fairy tale that you've been told in life has been past historical events of Remnant." Corvy tells the team of hunters. She was expecting to see their shocked and confused expressions, which brought a smile to her face as she has perfectly calculated this response. "Now I know that this may be hard to believe, so let me explain everything to you. Starting with the Witch of the Woods, otherwise known as Salem."