~I O N M~
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Chapter Four
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All seven sisters were in the room she now shared with Aster. Senna had found Saphron had his old room and Myrtle had Aster's from his last life. Which was odd as she was sure Saphron would have argued that she as the elder twin should get Aster's larger room. So this room that had been the twins when he'd been a boy, was now easily accepted as Aster's and hers. It actually made things less complicated to think of herself as Senna with female pronouns in her new life, and Jaune in his old life. Senna guessed the rooms were distributed differently as eight girls would allow the eldest two to get their own room this time. The four youngest girls shared the two rooms in the gables of the attic. One question she still had though, was why it was Aster that got the other single room and not Saphron when he'd had to get one due to being a boy. As that was from his last life he'd likely get no answer from this one on it.
"So Senna how often have you been meeting your girlfriend." Saphron teased, getting the interrogation started.
Senna frowned at Jess and Dahlia. One in a bright pink princess pajama set and the other in black long sleeping shirt with the gimmick written in white on the back. "I'm a Huntress so I've already dusted today." Then bellow the picture it said. "That means I DON'T DO housework!" The picture was off a grimm as it was turning to dust after being killed. Jaune's youngest twin sisters were the perfect pair of princesses in his old life so Senna couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Dahlia in this one? Shaking herself out of her wool gathering Senna quickly replied. "I've got homework to do and I am not discussing my love life with those that don't have one."
"Wow, who's this bitch and where's my sister Senna?" Aster fired into the fray.
"I would think a bitch would be someone who deliberately got their own sister in trouble with their Mother. One that got them grounded for three weeks and losing out on their visit to Grandma Fay's, just to satisfy their own bloody nosey interest in something that is none of their fucking business." Senna felt a little bad seeing that Aster had curled in on herself a bit as she fired back at her. However, she needed Aster to not mention anything odd she might have said during the nights. Plus she couldn't have her possibly drawing the conclusion that Pyrrha was her teacher. She hadn't realized that she talked in her sleep and was worried if she had said anything more than Pyrrha's name. Even that was too much for her other sisters to find out about. So though she was unhappy with hurting Aster she knew it was necessary.
"Oy the three of you, claws in. Our younger sisters are listening." Myrtle quickly tried to diffuse the situation.
"Look, I have an essay from history to work on."
"We just got that assigned today it's not due 'till Friday." At Aster's comeback Senna realized that Aster was not as withdrawn as she had hoped.
"We could get a ton more homework tomorrow and if Dad is home we might not get as much time to study. I'm not going to answer any questions, I'm doing homework. What do you think Mom will say if I tell her I am being stopped from doing homework?"
"Mom won't begrudge our curiosity in finding out our sister's secret lover." Iris calmly stated. "Especially when the girlfriend is apparently world famous. So in Oum's parlance spill the dirt sister."
Senna just knew Iris was the sister she had no relationship with last time. Her archaic diction born from spending most of her time with her face buried in the oldest tomes, had made her the sister she had least in common with last life. "Pyrrha kissed me once. There is no dirt to spill. Now let me study." Senna hoped to cut this short.
"Hold your horses Senna, you think we forgot the bomb dropped earlier of her declaring her love for you, after the kiss. A kiss followed by you watching her fight. So what happened after the fight?" Saphron worried the details as a dog would a bone.
"Nothing I had to leave quickly, and I haven't talked to her since." Senna replied. "So you can now all leave."
"What about the whole sleeping together…
Senna interrupted Saphron. "It was in different beds in the same room and that was before the kiss. There is nothing else. Wait, and how do you know about that bomb being dropped?"
Senna turned on Saphron. "That was in the kitchen and Mom told all of you to go upstairs. I wonder what Mom would think that not only are you stopping me doing homework, but that you spied on her when she told you to go upstairs?"
Seeing the guilt in her elder sisters' faces and Senna offered. "I think you all should leave or I am calling Mom next." Senna was thankful that even if groaning, and complaining six of his sisters left.
"Are you going to stop training me?" Aster asked biting her lip.
"Aster, I said I would train you. Even though I am completely pissed with you, I still know how important it is to teach you how to fight. Dad is a pathetic jerk…
"Whoa Senna…
"Aster, he has decided that he doesn't want any of us to become huntresses. He plans to sabotage any attempt we make to try to learn. I will teach you, because I know it is important we all know how to protect ourselves. So no matter how mad you make me I will not stop training you. But Pyrrha is not a topic I will be discussing, and I appreciate that if I sleep talk you don't listen or share my secrets okay?"
"I am sorry for asking about Pyrrha at dinner. I didn't know about Mom's semblance. I think none of us knew that."
"I didn't know, but it makes so much sense on how she always smoked the truth out though." Senna said, and Aster nodded.
"Right now your anger with Dad." Aster waited for Senna to argue but not getting one continued. "Look I know on the trip last year he kept going on about how much pain, blood and injuries the huntsmen had to deal with. The loss of time with their families and friends, but how do you know he doesn't want us to learn to fight?"
"It's one of many things I can't explain. Just wait until I've taught you the basics and we ask Dad for training and see how he behaves." Senna sat at the desk and got her history book and the jotted down first paragraph she had made during class for her essay. Thankfully Aster seemed to take the hint and though she kept shooting her glances, most with lip worried by her teeth, she accepted and turned to start on her own homework.
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Prim was tired at work. Having had a hard time getting to sleep last night worrying with no solution found. She wished there was another week prior to her husband's likely return today, but his team had been on what they called the gravy mission, and that always ended as scheduled which was today. She wanted more time to enable her to interact with all her daughters and check to see if Myrtle, Saphron and Senna were an anomaly, or if all her daughters had such a bad relationship with their father.
This morning she had woke her two eldest up early after hearing the twins head out on their training gig. The fact that her semblance showed her that both of them felt so much resentment and bitterness and held the belief that their dreams were destroyed by the man she loved nearly caused her to call in sick and keep all the kids home from school to see how far the rot had spread in the family. She needed to find a way to get her two eldest to speak the emotions she was reading. How had she not noticed something wrong before? Deciding it best to clear her head at work first she didn't follow her gut and keep the girls home and act drastically. Better to calmly find out what the problem is.
Speak of the devil. She noticed Vylack crossing the floor with his lazy smile looking at her as he wound his way to her. Why did he have to swing by her work today? "I was wondering if I could take this beautiful lady out to lunch."
"Sorry Vylack, I've got a lot going on. I'll see you after work but I can't be distracted by you. So could you please leave?" Vylack tried to spin her chair to be able to pull her into a hug, but she propped a foot against the hutch opening to prevent the chair from easily turning. "Vylack I am very busy. Don't pester me. Get out!" Prim growled, and felt bad noticing some of the confidence leave her husband's cocky façade.
"Let me talk to that boss that is overworking a valuable recourse. You deserve a fantastic lunch and boy but don't I have the best one reserved for Ansel's number one girl."
"Vylack, don't make me shout. Get Out." Prim held onto her anger and this morning's pain from her eldest daughters' emotions, but refused to yell and make a scene at work. The tone behind her softly voiced words though carried her hurt and anger as clearly as if she had screamed at him. Unfortunately people were looking. The pain and hurt in her husband's eyes nearly brought her to tears but remembering that Senna was thinking of running away again if her Mom sided with her Dad and this morning the emotions of heart wrenching loss of her eldest daughters' dreams that were destroyed by this man hardened her heart and she angrily scowled at the man that had hurt at least three of her daughters.
Seeing her husband's confidence falter hurt, but she needed to read all her daughters when the family gathered this evening and she gained strength from her need. For the first time in her marriage she questioned whether her husband was a good person. Was he really the right choice to be the father of her children? She watched him leave knowing the office was watching her.
"Everything alright?"
"I've got a lot going on here right now so I'm a bit frustrated." Prim turned back to work not watching the concern change to a smile on the coworker that likely was sure she'd got the latest office gossip scoop. Why did the blasted man have to come by the office today!
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Wednesday passed easily for Senna, another morning of training and typical day of school ending with being in the changing room once more waiting out the last few minutes of school to wind down. Rochelle stayed as far away from the Arcs as possible. Saphron came over having already changed into her school uniform and asked the question she'd not asked last week. "Why are you just sitting in your sweats? You need to take a shower and get changed as you can't leave in your sweats." Wednesdays had the older and younger class combined so unlike Mondays and Fridays Saphron was with them.
"Haven't you noticed us taking showers at home? We're waiting for the bell so we can leave school and train on our way home." Aster told her. Senna was wondering why Saphron was still in the same class that in his prior life he'd only shared with Aster. She'd not really thought about it last week. Both Myrtle and Saphron had been forced to drop the combat class after their tenth year last time. Saphron smiled and then said. "That might be a good idea to really push yourself and get fit. I know Dad said he would be the only one to train us, but hold off as long as you can before starting his training and ask the coach for training tips." Saph informed them while hiding her hurt.
"Huh, what?" was Aster's eloquent reply. Saphron half smiled, while the pain and loss was still in her eyes and replied changing the subject and turning to Senna. "I'm sorry Senna, that you got grounded for three weeks but thanks for complaining about how Dad is determined to destroy our huntsman dreams. This morning Mom woke up Myrtle and me after you two left for training and she asked about Dad."
Senna was still trying to think what to say and Aster was obviously keen to know more so sitting quietly too. "I just want you to give Mom a chance. I think she might fix things... At least for you two anyway."
When Aster and Senna looked at her questioningly Saphron knew she should try to help them more than anyone helped her or Myrtle. "Both Myrtle and I were trained at the start of our tenth years so try to get ready now for then. Dad really means it when he says if you drop from his training that is the end of his help and your agreement to drop out of trying to be a huntress at the end of tenth year." Saph headed out of the locker room after offering the advice. One twin knowing it to be advice they wished they'd listened to last time.
Senna was sure Saphron hadn't mentioned they ask the coach for help nor emphasizing that it really was one strike and you out. She also recalled pushing to start with Aster at the beginning of his ninth and Aster's tenth year. Myrtle and Saphron had the training together around this time last year and so Saphron like her twin wasn't in the combat class. Why the delta? If Saphron failed it as she appeared to say she had why was she still in the combat class? Saph should have been forced like everyone was in their eleventh year to opt out of combat class on Tuesday through Thursday afternoons. Also if Saphron had somehow managed to stay in the eleventh year's class when Mrytle failed to, why was Saph so bitter? She'd be able to apply to Flare after completion of her secondary school education.
Senna enjoyed interacting with girls she hadn't had much interaction with when a boy, which now included two of her sisters. With the bell ringing and after saying bye to, from her point of view, new friends the twins left school. They then began the exercise routine like before while traveling back home. Senna reminding Aster of what Saphron had said and why they should try to hold off getting training from Dad as long as possible.
"Fine Senna, I agree to not pester Dad if he is home. You don't need to bring it up a million times already!" Aster grounded out, after suffering the constant near begging at times request from her twin.
"Thanks Aster let's sprint to the town park then do three sets of fifteen of each exercise. Then end by jogging home." As she turned to start the sprint she saw something in the new peripheral vision that would have been coming from behind her prior to the turning back to face forward.
Senna was moving on instinct before even knowing she was. As she twisted counter-clockwise away and back and her right arm swung up to block the fist that had nearly smashed into the back of her head, her left became primed to hit her attackers right torso. Senna stepped in with her left foot planting it on the assailant's right foot, locking it in place while the left fist swung at the side of her assailants torso. Due to Senna hitting through her target while pivoting counter-clockwise the end result was a counter-clockwise twist added to the forward momentum of the charging attacker traveling toward the knee of the rigidly held in place lower right leg. The aura protected the assailant from a bruised kidney or broken rib that the violent hit could have done on an unaware civilian without aura. The aura couldn't protect from the laws of physics. The ball joint at the thigh though strained was not the weakest joint between the different movements. The right leg's knee initially was.
Of the four ligaments holding the femur to tibia the lateral collateral ligament, (LCL) was the weakest link and was nearly completely torn. Just before it was the other ligaments rallied to protect it and the joint and the assailant's ankle twisted instead. Senna stepped back realizing it was not one of Cinder Fall's lackeys or Cinder Fall herself that had attacked her from behind. There was a young women on the ground crying out in pain. She had no idea who it was.
"Senna what did you do that for? Who is she?" Aster yelled running to stand beside her sister. "What do we do?"
Another couple of people had quickly approached, and as the women dropped to look at the victim the guy turned to face Senna. "What did you do?"
"She attacked me from behind. I just defended myself." Senna kept back that she had pinned the foot to cause the ankle to be twisted. At the time she was taking the unprovoked attack as though it were a grimm, an enemy like Cinder or a bully like Cardin. If they were armed and she was not she needed to remove their mobility. She didn't think that stating she deliberately tried to twist or break a leg would go over to well right now though.
"What did you do to make her attack you?" Aster demanded.
"I've no bloody idea who she is. She attacked me! From behind! I was just turning around after having talked to you while jogging backwards, and saw her charging at me, with her fists already swinging. I didn't even know if she was wielding a weapon. I blocked and defended myself!"
The second women that had crouched down to offer first-aid and comfort to the attacked one, twisted and while glaring back at Senna said. "You beat up her little brother, Derrick last week."
"First of all I had a spar with Derrick. I did not beat him up. Her brother is an abusive misogynous toe rag that assaults girls, and bullies boys, and based on her attacking me from behind. It appears the disgusting behavior is not isolated to one member of their family…
"Woah, everyone let's calm down. Shaylah, it looks like a major misunderstanding. Derrick's friends likely told Meenah incorrectly what happened, and Meenah, who needs to not be so hot headed, didn't get the other side of the story first." The guy got his scroll out and called in for medical help. He glared at both Meenah and Shaylah letting them know to not say anything more. "You are an Arc right, daughter of two hunters?" He asked looking back at Senna, and after she told him she was Senna Arc but only her Dad was a hunter, he continued. "I am Attikos Watts, team leader of ARMS. These two are on my team and after I take care of them I would like to swing by to talk to your parents. Do you fight competitively?"
"No, and I have no formal training. I just have combat class at school and what I've pieced together from watching fight recordings. I'm in ninth year at school, where I'm the same age as her little brother." Senna hoped Aster wouldn't say anything about Pyrrha. Currently she couldn't get in trouble. A huntress attacked a civilian. There was nothing to say anything else happened so it would count as accidental bad luck, not assault. Actually the guy would try to keep Meenah and Shaylah quiet because he would be worried that Meenah could be charged with assaulting a civilian kid. Likely why he tried to fish for a possibility she was a professional fighter.
"So we can go, and expect you to talk to our parents later then." Senna asked, and after getting confirmation grabbed Aster and dragged her off toward the park before she might say anything. Carrying on with the hope it would enable her to maintain stopping Aster from talking, Senna quickly and quietly said. "Come on we need to train in the park and we're running late. Remember I have to get home right after school as someone got me grounded." Luckily Aster saw Senna's expression and kept quiet as they left. Or the guilt on getting her twin grounded kept her from talking 'till they were well away. Aster could also have been shocked in what she'd witnessed.
"You did that deliberately. Didn't you?" Aster asked after they got to their usual training space in the town park.
"Aster, I was attacked from behind. It was more an automatic response to being attacked from behind. I didn't even know it was a person attacking me as I started to respond, let alone who was attacking me. I also had no clue she was Derrick's sister. This is the first time I've seen her. I didn't even know Derrick…
"Fine I believe you. However, you're hiding stuff. You blurt out a ton of comments to distract us, but you suddenly know way more about fighting than you could have learned in a weekend of watching fight movies." Aster interrupted Senna. "So do I get the truth?"
"Let's do some curls…
"No Senna. Damn it. It's… You are like a completely different person. We never kept secrets. Hell I kept that you liked girls a secret. The family found out when you slipped up…
"If you keep my secrets what the hell was the dinner conversation last night where you blurt out about me sleep talking and stuff…
"That was me messing up, because you weren't acting like my best friend. You were someone completely different. I was desperate, and I chose the wrong way to get you to open up." Aster interrupted Senna, and then begged. "Please Senna, what happened? Let me in. Let me help you. What happened to my twin?"
"Aster you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Then seeing Aster gearing up to complain Senna carried on. "Fine, but you have to swear to keep secret anything I tell you. No matter what I say and even if you don't believe it."
"Will anyone get hurt if I keep what you share with me secret? And you're not going to tell me something like you plan to run away. Because if I think what you say puts you in danger I will have say something."
"No, no one is in danger because this time I won't let them be. I will help train them to fight, and I won't have to runaway this time." Senna replied.
Aster concentrated on the part she understood from the statement and replied. "Senna, as long as the family is not being hurt I will keep your secrets and I will believe you because, nothing I can think of makes any sense, and I must have my twin back." Internally she was wondering if last year Senna had run away, not got lost in Vale city, and if so why.
Senna laughed. "That's the thing from my point of view you were my elder sister, not my twin. However, it is critical nothing I say can go to anyone else. As a civilian that huntress that attacked me is completely at fault. I must learn to fight. I will not say another word unless you swear you will not say anything to another person of what I tell you."
"I think of myself as your older sister too. I was born first."
"Not the same thing. I haven't heard you swear." Senna stated.
"You said nothing bad to the family then you make comments about how you must learn to fight. Why doesn't the rest of the family need to learn?"
"I think it a very good thing they did. It's why I am so pissed at Dad. He deliberately is ensuring all of us can't fight, because he doesn't want us to be huntresses. The training routine he provided to Myrtle and Saphron was deliberately chosen to ensure they quit. It is his plan to ramp it up too quickly to levels that are too hard so all of us quit."
"Why does Mum let him do that?" Aster asked.
"Mum must be in on it as she has the semblance to know about lies. Before I just thought she was unaware and deferred to Dad, as she had moved to police work, while Dad is still an active hunter."
"I swear I will keep your secrets Senna."
Senna took a deep breath in and recalled her last life when she was Jaune. Jaune calmly breathed out Senna's breath and finally relaxed. "From my point of view last week when you would think it was the Monday that you returned from our Grandma Fay's, I was seventeen, and I died. I can't even remember what the bloody day was, as to whether or not it was Monday was bloody unimportant…
Jaune not wasting time to try to work out which day it was, got himself back on topic. "You all got bent out of shape about my comment on sleeping in different beds in the same room. That was not a big deal our team JNPR, Juniper, shared a dorm with four beds for nearly a year." Jaune didn't know that tears were forming in the corner of his eyes as he thought of what he had lost. "It wasn't 'till the last day of my life that I even found out Pyrrha loved me. I'd been chasing a different girl that was on a different team and slept in their dorm. So you see the sleeping in the same dorm even for a year meant nothing!" Jaune couldn't stop a sob from tearing through him as his tears began to fall. "Weiss had zero interest in me. In fact I think she hated me. I never thought why Pyrrha took the time to teach me how to fight…
Pulling himself together Jaune decided to focus on what was important. He had sort of blurted all over the place. "I was killed by Cinder Fall, the bitch that had just killed Pyrrha. Pyrrha told me she loved me. She kissed me and told me to escape as I wasn't strong enough to fight with her. I wasn't strong enough because our Dad is a dickhead and forced all of us to quit hunter training." Jaune took a deep breath realizing he was messing up again and losing the thread of what was important. He just was too emotional, and it hurt. How could he have been so oblivious? After everything she'd done for him.
"I somehow woke up in the past. I had died before becoming eighteen. I was burnt to death by a psychotic cow that had just killed Pyrrha before me. Yet now I am twelve again, and instead of having my own bedroom, I was sharing one with my elder sister Aster."
Aster was confused she needed time to think about everything that had been said about the future. There was safety in their old argument of twin verses older sibling. Why was her twin taking her side of the argument and kept calling her the older sister? Well deciding it was as good as anywhere to start questioning, asked. "As a twin you always argued we were twins and never acknowledged the few minutes as counting. When you say elder sister you mean I wasn't your twin?"
"Aster you were fifteen months older than me. Our room that we sleep in was Myrtle and Saphron's…
"They were older than us still?" After Senna nodded, Aster continued. "Then why wouldn't they get the single rooms?"
"Because, I was Jaune, your brother."
Aster just stood staring at Senna. Finally she laughed. "Well that explains the bathroom Tuesday morning. I'd never seen you so worried about getting naked and visiting the bathroom with me. I thought puberty had kicked in and you'd gone straight and liked boys, while hating girls for a moment. Of course when you perved on by sunny side up buds and I knew that wasn't the problem.
Aster then had a thought. "So you were in Beacon… training to be a huntress?"
"Hunter, I was a boy, and I was bad. Pyrrha unlocked my aura…
"What's aura? Is that the semblance Mom uses to find out if we are lying?"
"No, aura is the only defense against grimm and can only be unlocked by someone that is already unlocked. Semblance is a skill or attack that can be usually be found after your aura is unlocked. Everyone's is different. Dad is supposed to unlock our auras or we have no protection against fights or being attacked by grimm. He hasn't even told us about it."
"Well Mum hasn't either." Aster pointed out, while digesting Senna's anger toward their Father. Aster didn't say what she was really worried about though. If Senna had been a boy and Pyrrha told him that she loved him, what would happen now he was a girl? She figured she needed to be ready to pick up the pieces when Senna finds out she can't rekindle the love that is obviously driving her. Instead Aster asked. "If you were a boy why did you share a dorm with Pyrrha?"
"The entrance exam for Beacon launches the students into a forest filled with grimm. The deal is the first student you see when you land is your partner for the four years of training. Teams of four, two groups of partners share a dorm. There were two boys and two girls in my team's dorm."
"You saw Pyrrha first?"
Senna nodded. "She went after me. See Pyrrha could have gone to school in Mistral. She came to Beacon to escape her fame and I messed up not knowing she was a famous person…
"She chose you because you could be a real friend." Aster interrupted.
Senna nodded. "Her semblance controls metal. She saved me from dying when I should have splattered into a tree. She unlocked my aura and when I finally got my head out of my ass she trained me how to fight grimm and other students. She taught me everything I know."
"What does your semblance do?" Aster asked and Senna sighed, what was this, fifty questions? "I never found my semblance, unless it was what gave me the ability to go back in time when I died. Come on let's at least do some squats while we talk."
Aster after getting tired doing squats took a break watching Senna keep going. She half heartedly did a few more when Senna indicated to keep going then finally stopped and after getting her breath back she asked. "Does that mean the first other partners you see are the other part of your four man team, what if one of you see a person from a different pairing than the person their partner sees?"
"No after getting a partner we had to go through the forest to a ruin and get a relic. The relics were chess pieces. The partners with the same piece as you chose were the other half of your team. Pyrrha and Nora both chose white rooks I was made leader of Team JNPR Juniper."
"But you didn't know how to fight."
"I also forged my documents to enter the school. I think Headmaster Ozpin knew. I don't know if it was because he knew, or if it is as he said, that I took on the role of leader telling the team what to do when fighting grimm. I was panicking and I threw out ideas of what the others should try to do, because I had no skill myself to do anything." Senna explained.
"Senna I believe you. It's a crazy tale but it makes the interactions of the last few days make sense. Also you don't list yourself as an amazing hero, but a bumbling untrained boy that just muddled through." Aster said while thinking about all she had learned. "I don't think this hurts the family so I will keep your secrets as you made me swear."
"We should get some more exercise done before we run out of time." Senna said, happy it worked. Aster believed her and it was a huge relief because she had been worried not knowing how to act with a twin. Considering she'd never had one before. Seeing Aster was tired she led the jog back home at a slower pace than she had yesterday.
Aster sighed and then whimsically allowed. "You know I didn't really get my twin back though…
Aster seeing her throw away comment was lost on Senna or was it Jaune? Figured she would need to explain the… No better to pretend it was a tease. "I was saying I wanted my twin back. However, you were never my twin so I got you instead. At least you agree finally that I am older." She turned away before Jaune saw her crying over her lost twin sister Senna. One who would never have called her an older sister, and one who was now dead to all intents and purposes.
"Well considering I was nearly eighteen I believe…
Biting back the tears and holding tightly to the things that were the same between Jaune and Senna, and oh so bloody thankful he had found away to reignite the whom is older argument. "Other odd reset lives don't count. So I guess you only have a bit over a week of sharing my classmates, and meeting with Rochelle and Derrick." Aster countered fishing for more dirt.
"Nope Derrick and Rochelle are in my class. You were in tenth year…
"I was Saphron's twin?"
"That would be triplet, but no I said tenth year. The twins are in eleventh…
"The twins? Wait Saphron and Myrtle were twins?" Aster screamed. "Wow so we weren't twins and poor Myrtle had to put up with Saphron trying to say they are the same age like I did with you when you refused to acknowledge I was older."
"Huh, Saphron is the older twin…
"Well in this life Myrtle's a year older than Saphron." Aster replied completely flooring Senna.
~o 0 o~
After showering, and prior to getting started on homework, Senna was called down to talk to her parents before dinner. "Alright young lady We need you to sit down and talk about Pyrrha…
"Actually I should likely talk about two fights I got into. One that happened today was because of the other fight that occurred last week." Senna barely paused to ensure her parents had no time to interrupt before barreling on. "I accidently put a huntress in to the hospital this evening on the way home from school. Their team leader will be swinging round sometime this evening to talk to you both." Senna, figured perhaps leading with this as the hunter guy would be round at some point soon anyway, might derail the inquisition about Pyrrha.
"How do you accidentally put a huntress into the hospital?" Dad asked, while Mother asked, "What happened in the other fight?"
"Last week, in combat class I had a spa with Derrick Milo. He likes to bully me, and so I decided to use my speed to overcome his strength. I didn't wait to see if any hit had been effective, but lashed out with two kicks, both fists and an elbow at several of his soft targets one right after the other. He was taken to the school's medical office."
"How does this have anything to do with a huntress?" Dad asked.
"That happened this evening as Aster and I were training on the way home from school. I was jogging backwards while giving Aster encouragement and as I turned back to face front I was aware of someone or something about to attack me… Well if I hadn't turned they would have thumped me on the back of my head…
"You were hit?" Mom interrupted. "No, because I had started to turn around I was aware of the attack so I blocked it with my right arm, stepped in while twisting to unload my left fist in the side of their torso. When I stepped in, my left foot stepped on their right foot, and as I followed through with the hit… Well she fell to the ground and the rest of her team were on me, and after yelling at me and asking a few questions called for medical help. She twisted her ankle I think." Jaune had made a last minute decision to not say accidentally stepped due to his Mum's semblance likely picking out the lie. Hopefully they would think it happened accidently in the heat of the fight.
"You were attacked by a team of hunters?" Dad asked, while checking to confirm Mom hadn't noticed any lie to this bizarre tail.
"Well no, only one of the team physically attacked me. A second yelled at me, and I only saw one more of the team. He tried to calm his two female partners down and he said he would swing by after getting his team member medical attention to talk to you both." Senna offered and when her dad looked at her Mom she murmured truth.
"Why did they attack you Senna?" Her mother asked worried, and Senna hoping to relieve her of that worry answered. "The women that yelled at me said it was because I'd attacked her partner's little brother…
"Derrick?" Senna nodded yes. Silence filled the room as Senna's parents tried to work out what they wanted to say. Senna's Mom knew the story though truthful had been a distraction, but before she could call Senna out on it, their front door bell rang. "I take it that will be a member of the huntress's team?" Mom inquired.
"I would expect so." Senna replied and her parents headed for the front door after telling Senna to stay there, in her Dad's office.
Though it was a hunter, Vylack found it actually wasn't one from the expected team, but his own team leader for team MARC. Two teams that should be going out on duty couldn't, so though his team had only just got back this morning they were needed to go out again for at least three weeks. Primrose wasn't angry. Then again something was really up with Prim. His gut told him she was happy he would be leaving and then there was the office thing at lunchtime. He couldn't help wondering if his wife was having an affair. Why else did she seem happy to get him out of the house for three weeks?
Mehki left after he'd told Vylack to get his stuff together and then go to inform Raul while he informed Ciaran and they'd meet at Ansel's main southern gate.
Prim helped her husband get ready. Thankfully Myrtle had run a wash with Vylack's laundry that he'd dropped off at home before trying to take her out to lunch. Myrtle, who'd dropped combat class had got home early from school and had been ironing his shirts when Prim got home from work. Prim was not upset for once with her husband going back on duty having just got off it, as she wanted a few days to talk to her daughters about their father. Hopefully, now she'd have the time to get to the bottom of the bad feelings she was getting from three of her daughters about their father. In fact she also noticed this evening that now Aster too held negative emotions for her husband. After getting Vylack out for work she remembered Senna was still sitting in Vylack's study.
Vylack looked back at the front door he'd just been bundled out of. Part of him wanted to head back in and demand some answers from his wife. Another part was afraid of the answers he might get. A quietly contemplating huntsman left to inform Raul of their new mission. He had new emotions he hadn't had before to unravel.
"Senna, go and work on your homework 'till dinner." She figured that she would get all of her eldest four to discuss their problems with their father after dinner. However, as Myrtle would be helping her get dinner ready she would start talking with her eldest now.
"Oh, thanks Myrtle, what's in the oven?" Prim asked seeing several pans inside prior to her eldest closing the main oven's door. On top of the stove, vegetables were steaming over pans of boiling water. "I've got four Primrose's meat pies, as they're Dad's favorite, two apple pies finishing up, and I just put in two peach cobblers in the main oven. I've put two two-pound loafs in the side oven twenty minutes ago as we're nearly out of bread and with Dad home we'll go through the loaf and half faster."
Prim hugged her daughter. "Thanks and it will be extremely helpful to me, having all the extra food prepared for the family this week. Dad's actually just got pulled back on duty. Thank you so much for having got all his laundry done after school. Prim couldn't miss the anger toward her husband. The initial resentment toward her Dad as she'd talked about what she'd got done for him turned into anger at the wasted effort for a mean man as soon as she'd said he had gone again. Why did she think him mean?
"Myrtle, you can talk to me about anything, you know that right?" Prim asked holding onto her daughter that now had resentment toward her. "I had plans for this weekend Mom. Now you probably want me to go back to being the helpful eldest daughter and not talk about anything that's bothering me."
"I'm not going to stop you from doing what you planned for this weekend, and though it is nice having you as my easiest daughter, especially as my third easiest just became my hardest and biggest worry. You must know that all of my daughters' happiness is the most important thing to me." Prim was upset in how her eldest pulled away from being held. She made it look like it was to check the vegetables, but her semblance told her otherwise. Prim wondered if she needed to make it a point to use it actively around her daughters more often.
"You already have destroyed my plans for this weekend, just like Dad destroyed my dreams of being a huntress when you both refused to allow me to stay in combat class this year. No, I had to hurry home like a good little women and do the women's work in the house until I have a husband and my own house to take care of." Myrtle replied with anger and disgust Prim had never heard in Myrtle's voice. "You know he's already told Saphron that she won't be taking combat class next year, and I wonder when Senna will be told to stop acting like a tomboy and how she must train to be some boy's housewife."
Prim was happy that Myrtle had put in words the emotion she had got from Saphron and her this morning with her semblance. Now she could hopefully get to the bottom of why her daughter thinks it was their parents that destroyed their dreams. "You quit wanting to be a huntress as you realized it is not for you…
"No, I talked with my friends and even now some after up to four years training with their parents or trainers… They don't have to do the crazy routine Dad forced on me and also on Saphron to ensure we quit. Dad stopped you from going to Beacon. He doesn't think there should be trained huntresses. I've heard his team talking about how huntresses are significantly weaker than huntsmen."
"That's not true. Your Dad didn't stop me from going to Beacon. I realized after meeting him that I was more useful with my semblance as a police officer and didn't need the huntress certification. I could go straight from graduating from Flare into the police force and marry your father." Prim checks and thankfully feels some of the anger and resentment toward her father bleeding off from Myrtle. "If I'd gone to Beacon your Dad might have married another woman. He'd already been out of Beacon eighteen months. He would have had to wait four and half more years for me instead of the fifteen month engagement we together decided on."
"So if you'd gone to Beacon I wouldn't have been born?" Myrtle asked, she checked the clock and checked how hot the main and side ovens were running. She adjusted the flow of air so less passed into the side oven to allow it to not run quite so hot. "Well I'd have to have got pregnant a few months before graduating, which would have made it unlikely, but not impossible. However, I don't think your Dad would have waited for me to graduate Beacon, so none of you would have been born." She felt all of the resentment to her gone, but didn't like the feelings of pity toward her while ones of being undeserving of her mom's sacrificed dream for herself that Myrtle now had.
"It was my decision to make Myrtle. I believed your father would not have waited and decided the dream of having him as my husband was greater than my dream to attend Beacon, just like you chose that your dream to be a huntress was not worth the effort of training…
"No Mother, Dad did steal Saphron and my dream. I don't want to be a housewife with eight children. I wanted to be huntress, and I wanted to take combat lessons and have my aura unlocked to defend myself against the grim out there!" Myrtle yelled possibly for the first time ever in her life.
Prim was a little hurt to see that Myrtle thought so poorly of her choice in life, but pushing that back as unimportant concentrated on what was for her daughter and pushed to get clarity on what her semblance seemed to indicate. "But, but you chose to stop combat lessons…
"No, you and Dad said I must be home doing the housework. Neither of you signed to allow me to stay in combat lessons for this year, nor be eligible to take the entrance exam for Flare at the end of this year. Even though you didn't go to Beacon if grimm attack you have aura and can at least fight back, having attended three years at Flare that Saphron and I won't get."
"I didn't say that…
"Well Dad did, and made me think you did too. Surely your semblance would know he lied if he told you it was my decision to drop combat classes and not go to Flare next year or Beacon in four." Myrtle said then noting the time opened the oven to start taking the pies out. Prim helped get the six pies out of the oven and onto the cooling rack.
"I will discuss with your school the ability of you getting back into combat class and what is needed for you to attend Flare next year. Now how is it my fault that your plans for this weekend have fallen through?" Prim asked while getting the table laid for nine. Myrtle, still showing Prim's semblance that she was upset of being used, answered. "I will have to take care of Grandma Fay this weekend as you have grounded Senna. Aster is visiting Aunt Camellia and Uncle Hugh's this weekend and Saphron has her project that is a full test grade this weekend at school."
Prim thought about what her eldest had said, and wished she hadn't been so hasty grounding Senna for three weeks. "Where were you planning to go?"
"It was the shopping trip in Vale you'd said I could go for the weekend with the Peters'. I've already cancelled it Mom…
"Can you un-cancel it?" Prim asked and as soon as her eldest nodded said. "Then I'll call up Grandma Fay and let her know she's seeing her youngest four granddaughters and me this weekend and visiting her son and daughter-in-law, and Senna can clean our house and do all the chores as she is grounded. Go call Valerie and let her know you can go." Myrtle beamed a huge smile and rushed for her scroll.
Prim checked the cobblers in the main oven and the loaves in the side oven. She figured she'd check with Myrtle when her daughter got back on when they needed taking out of the oven as she wasn't sure when her daughter had put them in. She'd said twenty minutes earlier on putting in the loaves but they'd been talking for some time both before and since she said that, and if she made mention about when the cobblers went in she missed it with all the family drama. Well the cobblers still looked uncooked currently. She'd have to ask Myrtle if the peach preserve had seemed good to her as Prim loved peach cobbler but having got a whiff of them cooking had barely managed to fight back on a gag reflex. As long as one of her elder daughters hadn't messed up on the rotation in the pantry the peach preserve should be fine. It couldn't have gone bad. It was preserves.
Prim wondered if it was safe to leave Senna and Saphron alone in the house. There were chores to be done and she didn't think she could trouble her parents with six extra guests. Four was bad enough. They were supposed to only have Holly and Iris. She'd have to ask a favor of Mary to keep her eye on Senna this weekend for her while saphron was busy. She could just see Mary's reaction to her asking to make sure the invincible girl doesn't show up while she was away.
~o 0 o~
Primrose Arc was currently glad of two things each caused by her husband being away. The first was it allowing her time like she'd just spent with her four eldest. After dinner, she'd settled the youngest two to bed while Holly and Iris cleaned up. She'd then listened to the grievances her eldest four had with her husband. She knew Senna must have spoken with Aster during the day as both of them were more vocal against their father and yet they hadn't even had a lesson from him. Well hopefully she could get Myrtle enrolled back in the combat lessons, even if she had missed the first several weeks of the year.
Her second reason to be glad was because she would get to spend some time with her parents and Grandmother. Hopefully one of the three would be able to help her work out what to do about Senna. The oddness kept growing. Now Senna was surprised to find out Aster and herself had already had their birthday two weeks ago. How could anyone have genuine surprise for when their birthday was especially if they had celebrated it just two weeks ago?
Her semblance seemed to say she believed her birthday should be about a month before the end of the school year instead of as it was, just six weeks after the school year started. The girl hadn't said anything but the surprise was as clear as day and Prim's active semblance filled in when she'd thought her birthday was. Hopefully her parents and grandmother would tell her what to do, but Prim worried that even they might be clueless in how to handle something like this. Why would you want to make up an imaginary name for yourself and give yourself a different birthday, especially one that makes you younger? All children want to make themselves older don't they? As she was a tomboy she could understand the boy part and just hoped puberty would fix that. She also was concerned in Aster willingly enabling the fantasy.
Talking of which she'd better call her parents. Prim quickly got her scroll out and called them. Thankfully her Mom wasn't difficult. It helped that she was worried about Senna too. She agreed that Senna should be okay in the house with the neighbor watching while Saphron was doing her project. As Senna needed to think she was being punished and they couldn't really talk about her as easily if she came too. Of course if Mary wasn't able watch while Saphron was busy then she'd have to bring Senna too.
Now hopefully the same worry would encourage her Grandmother to agree to the last minute change of leaving her house for the weekend. Well better she call before it was too late. She was happy when her Grandmother quickly picked up. "Hey Grandma what do you think of having your granddaughter and four youngest great granddaughters to come and take you to visit your son this weekend?"
~o 0 o~
Prim had wrapped up the scroll call to her Grandmother whom thankfully had agreed to her change of plans and been the sounding board to her worries about Senna. Now she could turn her concern to how it was that it now seemed Aster knew about Senna's other life. While jealous that Senna was more willing to confide in her twin than in her own Mother she at least was glad that Aster privy to Senna's secrets thought it was not an issue to worry over. They both had the weird thoughts that seemed to imply months or years of time had passed for Senna while just a night occurred for Aster. Did Pyrrha or someone in her entourage have some kind of time freezing or warping semblance?
That thought was interrupted by the front door bell rang. Opening the door she saw two men, one in his late teens or more likely early twenties, and the other likely similar in age to her.
"Mrs. Arc, I am Pete Mathews, Senna's coach at school for combat lessons, and I have Attikos Watts, team leader of hunter team ARMS. Can we come in and talk to you and your husband about Senna."
~o 0 o~
Author's Note: Last edited Jul 31st 2021 What is mine is mine all else is from RWBY please don't post or publish this story partially or in its entirity anywhere else.