"You will die repeatedly until both of your parents know peace, your soul isn't yours to command. It never was," The Light God spoke softly to the small child in front of him.
"Why must I be the one to stop their war? I wasn't the one who started it," The child replied.
"You are far more powerful than you realize. It has been made clear that Salem will not listen to reason," The God stated. "You are far stronger than even your mother may know."
"I'm not, that's why mother killed me. I wasn't good enough for her or father," The Child stated.
The girl knew that her sisters had died with her, what she did not know was that her father and sister would be sentenced to the same punishment. But, only her father and sister would keep their memories. In one of her life, she had been rendered completely deaf in her human ears due to being struck in the head for obedience. She had been granted lynx ears for this purpose.
It had been many years and quite a few reincarnations since then, and like all before the child had been reborn and received her new life's name. Periwinkle. She thought it was odd but could not place a finger on why. Was it a remnant of who she was? She could remember nothing else from her previous lives. Was it punishment for crimes she did not know? Despite all of her attempts, there was one who knew her secret. In this life, she was a librarian at Haven Academy. She could not afford to get close to the headmaster, Salem would find her faster if she did that.
Periwinkle held a stack of books as she placed them onto the shelf, it was the day that students would be pouring in from all over to attend Haven. Was she one of them at some point?
She couldn't remember but she felt comforted knowing that the library would get a lot of traffic. Peri also knew that Lionheart would probably call for her to help introduce students to Haven.
She set the final book in its place and looked as her scroll rang. Winnie picked it up and answered it.
"Yes, Professor Lionheart?" She asked.
"Will you come down to the auditorium?" Professor Lionheart's voice came from the other end.
"Of course, I'll be there at once," Winnie stated and left the library in a hurry.
She made her way down to the auditorium and quietly took the stage near Professor Lionheart, Peri could feel the stares of the students raining down on her like fire. Some of them had 2 feet on her, including the headmaster himself, he was so tall.
Periwinkle waited for her turn to speak on the pedestal, Leo finished his sentence and looked to the librarian. She carefully stepped forward and smiled at the group of teenagers.
"Welcome to Haven Academy, I assure that you will find a cozy and happy home for the next four years," Periwinkle spoke gently, "I can also attest that in a few days, your teams will be decided and they shall be your new family."
Winnie bowed and gave the mic back to Lionheart, she knew that the Vytal Festival would be going on in Vale. Leonardo had also let her know that there were fewer students than usual and she'd have to deliver some to Beacon since they had far more. She had never been that far away from Mistral before in her life and she found it terrifying.
The Faunus waited and Lionheart dispersed the students for their meal.
"Periwinkle, would you like to join me for lunch?" The headmaster asked.
"Yes I would enjoy that," Winnie replied flatly.
The pair were led by the Headmaster into his office and she took a seat across from him, her meal of fish and rice in front of her. Winnie couldn't help but wonder why Lionheart cared for her so much. She was just the Librarian there was nothing really special about her. She was afraid of growing close to him in fear that he'd get taken from her.
Lionheart had taken notice of how her ears stood up whenever she spoke to him, whenever she was talking to other people they would move to the side. He found it rather adorable, Ozpin had requested for Leo to hire Winnie to keep her safe. He wished that she would open up to him but she was so timid and quiet. He also knew that in case of an emergency she'd be sent to Atlas for Ironwood.
Winnie finished her meal up and shut her tin, she smiled at the Headmaster and stood up to leave.
Peri nodded and headed out without another word, her ears were perked up and moving around to the various sounds around her. She found it all fascinating, she couldn't figure out what made it so interesting to her.