Chapter 5 of The Heroes of Remnant. Re-Write Published as of 6/12/19
Song of the Chapter: Break the Wheel - Composed by Ramin Djawadi
As some of you may note, I have deleted chapters six through nine. Chapters One through Five have been completely updated. Please read those chapters before this or you may be confused. Also who doesn't want to read 50,000+ words of updated material? There will be a author's note at the bottom. Please read for your sake. Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize.
-Ozpin-
"What...is your favorite fairytale?"
The two young teenagers before him looked to one another. With Leo shrugging his shoulders, and the two turned back to him.
"I heard Blake mention once that she was reading a book about a man with two souls, fighting for control of one body." Percy stated.
"And Ruby told me a bit about the Maidens and how they each represent a season." Leo added "But we haven't really been here long so we don't know that many fairy tales."
Ozpin made no facial expression, merely nodding at what they said to him. "Now what if I told you both of those fairytales were real. That there are in fact, four maidens who wield incredible power without the use of dust. And that there is a man with two souls?"
The pair shared a look between themselves. And the pair shrugged their shoulders in response.
"Well we wouldn't exactly be shocked. Our whole life back home is a fairy tale.'" Leo answered "Every myth always has a bit of truth behind it."
"You could say that again" Qrow said as he took out his flask and took a long gulp.
Ozpin smirked at his friend "Qrow is right. Then I guess you wouldn't be surprised that I'm the man with two souls inside his body?"
Percy and Leo went wide eyed at the Headmaster. Ozpin had been given that look from James, Team STRQ, and Glynda when he had told them. He chuckled to himself, some things never changed, whether he liked it or not.
"Well...I don't think either of us were expecting that" the older demigod said slowly, as he chose his words carefully, "But we deal with freaky stuff all the time."
Ozpin nodded his head, "Good. Then allow me to tell you gentlemen about me and my past; after all, it is what I promised you."
"And we'll hold you to it" Leo confirmed.
The old man took a deep breath, calming himself and his nerves before speaking. Before he revealed the truth.
"In order to understand my ability to reincarnate, I must give you gentlemen a short history lesson."
"Long ago, two gods walked upon Remnant's surface, a being of light and life known as the Older Brother, and a being of darkness and death known as the Younger Brother. These brothers often were in conflict with one another. During the day, the Older would create animals and plants and produce life amongst Remnant, but when night came, the Younger would destroy with fire, famine, and disease."
Percy and Leo nodded their heads, following his story with interest.
"Over time, the Younger Brother became increasingly enraged with Life's return. So he made a decision. To create something so dark, so evil, that it's sole purpose would be to destroy life, no matter what form it took."
"The Creatures of Grimm..." Percy surmised.
"Precisely" Ozpin confirmed "Eventually, the Older Brother grew tiresome of the quarrel between him and his kin. So he approached him with an opportunity, to create something that had the ability to choose. To use their knowledge to either create or destroy. The Younger Brother agreed, and together, they created Humanity."
The teenagers in front of Ozpin were following the Wizard's story with tremendous aplomb and were taking it about as well as he had expected. The claim that they were children of god's had left Ozpin skeptical of the two. Afterall, the Brothers had departed more than a millennia ago, but the claim that they were from another world with other gods was enough to cause some sort of... intrigue. If these teenagers were lying or simply delusional, then they could be handed over to the proper authorities without a problem. But there was still a possibility that they were telling the truth, and no presence of either of them, both cyber and interpersonal, proved that there was some form of truth to their claim that could not simply be overlooked.
Over his many lifetimes, Ozpin had seen many people who were delusional enough to believe they were the descendants of gods, or clever enough to fool the masses into thinking that they were such. The ideology of divine right to conquer and rule over others was a powerful tool that could only be wielded three ways. With complete conviction, manipulation, or the least common of the three, absolute truth. Conviction and manipulation had been found throughout history, Beacon's very own, Professor Oobleck, had put forth a multitude of historically accurate theories that Ozpin could claim to be true off the record, but never publicly endorse without drawing some form of negative attention to himself.
However, the fates of what happened to these self proclaimed children of gods, had become muddled throughout the official history of Remnant. Many either failing out of power to violent coup d'etats, assassinations, or simply hubris in the face of Humanity, Faunas, or the Grimm. However, Ozpin, or Ozma, as he had been called in his previous lives, knew the truth. Occasionally, he had even worked behind the scenes to see the more violent leaders disposed of. A few subtle pushes in the wrong directions saw the cruel ones removed quietly, their legacies tied to a meager paragraph inside obscure history books. But the stronger despots, which Ozpin could not move directly against, fell into a strange oddity with Salem that Ozpin had only partially been able to put together over the years.
Normally, the Queen of the Grimm moved against the young and up-n'-coming despots with a tried and true formula. She would send one of her minions to the new ruler, under the guise as a powerfully ally who had learned to control the Grimm and offer them as servants. The puppet would then flatter them, claiming to recognize them as the 'son or daughter of the true god or goddess of Remnant' and would form an early alliance, with the notion that they would, for a lack of a better term, bet their chips on the winning horse. More often than not, the trap would work to perfection and Salem would entrap them, like a fly in a Black Widow's web. When the time was right, she would eliminate them, and silently amass powerful pawns who could get her closer to obtaining the relics which remained protected in each Huntsman Academy.
However, when it came to the most powerful despots who boasted some form of godhood or legacy to it and denied her pawn an alliance, Salem had a much… different approach. Unlike her more common methods of manipulation to gain what she wanted, Salem had taken it upon herself to see the most powerful ones completely wiped off the face of the earth and all remnants of their history burned to ash. To Ozpin, it seemed very unlike his former… lover, to act like that. She had always been very calm and very calculated. Always measuring her moves carefully and never leaving anything outside of her control.
A small part of him knew what it was… the driving force behind such hatred. The despots who claimed to be godlings reminded her too much of the Brother Gods who had actually walked Remnant, and allowing regular mortals to believe they were that powerful was a direct insult to her. A form of mockery sent by the Older and/or Younger Brother to laugh in her face. In some way, completely destroying them off the face of the Earth gave her some kind of twisted satisfaction. Anybody that believed themselves to be a god would be eliminated by Salem and shown the true power that she possessed as an immortal.
Upon watching Percy and Leo's interactions with himself, classmates, and the staff of Beacon, it cemented the fact that they did not have any ill intent to become despots and conquer Remnant. Like most of the students that came through Beacon, Percy and Leo were honest souls with very different reasons attributing to their desire to become humanity's sword and shield. It would only be a matter of time till their own team's training mission with a professional huntsman in which those motives would be revealed though. But the most important factor was that they possessed abilities necessary to hold Salem at bay.
The footage from spars and training sessions proved that the children had potential; that was something Ozpin could not deny. Percy was skilled with his sword and shield, but had a similar problem that Miss Rose had. For the skill that he had in bladed combat, he struggled in hand to hand. He wasn't as useless as Miss Rose, but it would be foolish to think he had reached his peak. Having a sword that always returned to him, while incredibly handy, could only get him so far.
And Leo, while not a master with his knife like screwdrivers and 'repulsor glove' as he had come to call it, was taking steps in the right direction. It was clear he had been trained by someone who had years of practice, but he could tell Leo was still relatively unskilled. He had done perfectly fine during initiation against the creatures of Grimm, but he had struggled against Russel Thrush in Glynda's combat class. Leo's lack of human to human fighting experience was of concern, with him being on a similar level to that of Jaune Arc. However, that was the benefits of Beacon, it wouldn't be long until these faults were corrected. Like a blade, they would be sharpened and turned into quality huntsmen.
However what the pair lacked, they made up for with their impressive godly abilities and their control of their fathers' domains. Percy's display of control over water was stupendous and his ability to create earthquakes and speak to his pegasus was intriguing, and Leo's control over fire and metalworking ability was just as phenomenal as his partner.
This is why this conversation now was so important. Never before had Ozpin had descendents of Gods on his side. They were a new piece on the board, and a piece whose was still unknown. If only he could've asked Jinn about them. Alas he could not, but that was perfectly fine. She resided safely under Haven Academy, waiting patiently inside the Relic of Knowledge.
Ozpin cleared his throat and continued, "Upon their departure, they left Remnant's affairs to the creatures that walked its surface. However, the Gods left behind four objects, relics if you will. And each relic embodied one of the four gifts the Gods gave to humanity: Choice, Knowledge, Creation, and Destruction."
"Salem's goal is to collect these four relics and destroy the world" he stated "Our main priority is to protect the Relics at all cost, and eventually find a way to end Salem."
At Ozpin's finish, the room became quiet. It was obvious that Leo and Percy were still processing the information, but they were clearly handling it better than Glynda when he first told her. Percy was the first to break the silence that had fallen over the room.
"Why... don't we tell everyone about Salem?" he questioned "It certainly feels like if we had every pair of eyes in the world looking for her, we could find her and stop her before she even got close to a relic."
Before Ozpin could answer, Qrow spoke up.
"It's not that simple. Telling people would only cause a panic. The idea of knowing that someone can control the Grimm would only cause people to become even more afraid than they already are. Looting, murder, and corruption would run rampant as people would fight and scratch to try and find any form of self security. And with that, the Grimm would run rampant, making their way to settlements and destroy whatever was unfortunate enough to be in their way. Maybe the walled strongholds of the Kingdoms would remain, but we can't risk it."
Ozpin felt the faintest of smiles creep onto his face. He was pleased with Qrow's answer. He had taught him well and everyday, Qrow continued to show that he was committed to protecting Remnant. He had certainly come a long way from the awkward, storky looking boy who had first entered Beacon all those years ago.
"Okay so then what about the Maidens?" Percy asked "I get that they're powerful, but why do you have one in a coma down in your basement?"
Ozpin almost scolded the boy. Amber, while challenging to reel in due to her desire for independence, did not deserve to be spoken ill of.
"As I said before, the maidens are blessed with extraordinary power. Four of them, meant to possess the power of the seasonz. However, they also serve another purpose. Each maiden is the key to unlocking the vault the relics are protected by."
"So then I'm guessing that the girl, Amber, is the Maiden who can open Beacon's vault?"
"Correct Mister Valdez."
"So then it shouldn't be a problem right? If she's hidden in one of the most secure places in Remnant, why don't we keep her there and hope she makes a full recovery?"
Qrow answered from his left. "That's wishful thinking kid. Even if we did that, there are still problems. What if she flat lines? And we can't forget what happens to the power if she dies."
A puzzled look crossed the pair's faces.
"What happens to the power?" Percy asked.
Ozpin stepped in to answer, "When a maiden dies, their power is transferred. Usually to the last person in their thoughts- if it's a woman. However, if it's not a woman, then the power randomly selects a woman to attach itself to."
"But you said that Amber was attacked by someone. And if that person was in Amber's final thoughts…" Percy said as he began to connect the dots.
"Then the power would transfer to said attacker" Leo finished for his partner, as he caught on as well. He then let out a long, low sounding whistle, "Jeez you're really in a pickle here now aren't you?"
"We're in a pickle now" Ozpin corrected as he folded his hands together, "But that's not all. While it's not the first time a maiden has been attacked in order to gain their power, this was through an unconventional mean. For the first time in recorded history, Amber had half of her maiden power stolen."
Leo and Percy both did a double take at Ozpin's words.
"How is that even possible?" Percy asked, but it was clear he was still struggling to understand. The demigods were out of their element, that much was clear.
"We're not sure" Qrow answered, slightly irked because they really had no clue. "But it's put us between a rock and a hard place. If we don't act, there's the chance Amber's power will transfer to the person who stole half, and the power of the maiden along with her ability to open the vault, will be in the wrong hands."
"So what is our solution then? What do we do?" Percy asked, clearly trying to be proactive.
Qrow and Ozpin shared a look.
"Right now we have a few ideas" Ozpin answered as he turned back to the two "But communication between the headmasters and what to do next has become rather… difficult. Each knows of their importance. The Headmaster of Atlas has been ever vigilant… maybe a little too excitable when it comes to his reports."
Qrow let out a snort but Ozpin elected to ignore it.
"The Headmaster of Haven in Mistral has been missing his deadlines as of late, but it is not unlike him to fail to report in. And the Headmaster of Shade Academy in Vacuo is well... frustrating. Getting them to do anything there is almost impossible, but I trust that the headmaster is keeping up with their duties."
"What Oz is trying to say is that when we're ready to act, he'll let you know." Qrow surmised.
"Precisely" Ozpin agreed "But for now, we have tasks for you. Things that need to be taken care of quietly and under the radar."
"You want us to be hitmen?!" Leo said excitedly.
Qrow let out another snort, but this one was much louder. Meanwhile, Percy facepalmed at the younger demigods exuberance. A small smile crossed Ozpin's face, but was quickly replaced by a serious look that meant he was all business.
Leo recognized the look on Ozpin's face and realized that was not what he meant.
"My bad." Leo said "Ruby has been talking about the remastered Hitman game and she got me really into it. Anyways continue."
"As I was saying…" Ozpin continued, slightly eyeing Leo with a look of amusement before shifting his attention to the both of them. "According to your specific skills, we have things that need to be done. Opportunity that cannot go to waste."
Ozpin then shifted his gaze to Leo, "Mister Valdez, I need you to take a look at Amber's stasis pod when you have free time. I have some modifications that need to be made and while Professor Oobleck has done well at finishing them, his workload has increased drastically because of the start of the academic year. I intend for you to become our head engineer on this project. So please use discretion when it comes to this."
He then looked toward Percy, "And as for you Mister Jackson, I want you to tag along with Qrow for a few select missions. The work we do cannot always be solved with muscle and might, so a few lessons on being stealthy and using a more delicate touch certainly wouldn't hurt."
Percy and Leo shared a look and nodded in agreement. They then turned back to face the esteemed Headmaster.
"I think we can do that Headmaster" Percy said as he reached out his hand.
Ozpin smiled lightly and reached out as well, shaking the demigods hand across the desk. The two let go after a couple of seconds and the process was repeated with Leo. Once that was finished, the pair made their way to Qrow where they extended their hands.
"Uh, I'm good" Qrow said as he dismissed the demigods "not really the handshake type."
"Oh thank gods" Percy said with relief "I hate formalities."
With that the demigods headed to the elevator and pressed the down button. Immediately, the doors binged open and the demigods slipped inside.
Once the demigods had finally left, Qrow turned to Ozpin.
"They're not too bad" Qrow admitted. "But I certainly don't think they'll be the next Team STRQ."
Ozpin let out a chuckle, "Maybe not, but they don't even have a real team yet. Personally, I have my money on Team RWBY to surpass STRQ."
Qrow cracked a small smile, "You're not wrong there. They'll make us proud. I'm sure of it."
"I certainly hope so Qrow… I really do."
-Perseus Jackson-
Percy quietly closed the door to his dorm room, making sure that the wood would not creak. When he turned around, Leo was sprawled on his bed. The son of Hephaestus was running his fingers through his curly dark hair, more than likely trying to wrap his head around the information overload which was that meeting with Ozpin and Qrow. He made his way over to his desk chair and pulled it out, taking a seat for himself. Percy let out a deep breath and began to massage his temples as he leaned on the desk. After a few minutes of quiet thinking to themselves, Leo broke the silence.
"You think he was telling the truth?"
"I think he was" Percy said. He then took a second to think before speaking again, "But it's still all so hard to believe. The Grimm have a master? Not even Kronos, or even Gaea had that kind of control over monsters."
"And don't forget she wants to destroy the world" Leo added in.
Percy groaned and began to massage his temples, "Don't even remind me."
He then moved his hands away from his temples and lightly slapped his face twice with his hands and stood up. The elder demigod walked over toward his dresser drawers and began to pull out workout clothes. Percy knew that if he sat at his desk and thought about everything Ozpin had told him, he'd go absolutely insane. He needed to do something, and it wasn't like Beacon had a lake he could just sit in.
He quickly got changed and made his way over to the door, "Leo I'm gonna hit the gym. I shouldn't be gone too long."
Leo didn't even look up from the issue of X-Ray and Vav he had begun to read before replying.
"Have fun sweetie, remember to stretch so you don't pull a muscle."
Percy rolled his eyes as he grabbed the handle. He pulled the door open and made his way through the frame. However, he ran into something and a small squeak was heard followed by the groan of said squeaker hitting the floor. He quickly whipped his head downward and he gazed at Ruby Rose laying dazed on the floor.
"Ruby?" Percy asked tentatively "Are you okay?"
Ruby let out a groan "Yeah I'm okay. But it feels like I got run over by a Boarbatusk."
Percy tried to muffle his laughter. He certainly didn't mean to have Ruby bounce off of him, but he couldn't deny that it was funny. He reached out a hand to help her up, and she readily accepted it.
"Is there something I can help you with Ruby?"
"Oh right!" Ruby said excitedly "Is Leo here? I need to ask him something of the utmost importance. But it's official leader stuff so you can't hear."
"Yeah he's here" Percy said.
He began to take a step to move out of he way before he did a double take. "Wait... leader stuff? I'm the leader between-"
However, before Percy could finish, he heard Ruby shout a quick 'Thanks Percy' and zip into the room behind him, the door closing as she went and a sign made out of paper stuck to it with tape. He peered at the piece of paper and it read in big red letters, IMPORTANT LRJ MEETING! KEEP OUT!" and in tinier words underneath it that read That means you Weiss!
Percy stared at the door for a second, shook his head, and turned to head for the gym, mumbling under his breath about how he was the Team leader and not Leo.
-Jason Grace-
Jason was sitting on a fallen log in the middle of a Louisiana bog. Sweat was on his brow and the son of Jupiter was focused on a small photo he was holding in his hand. As he looked at the photo, a mosquito landed on his arm, but before it could adopt its more vampire like tendencies, he lazily sent a small wave of electricity through his body, zapping the mosquito. The fried bug fell off his arm, and Jason continued to stare at the photo.
After a few more minutes of reminiscing, Jason let out a groan and used his other hand to rub his face. However, the demigod heard the crack of a fallen tree branch behind him breaking and he sprung up, photo away and his gladius now in hand, freshly pulled from the sheath that was slung across his back.
Jason eyed the surrounding area cautiously. Monsters had a habit of trying to be sneaky, but if he had learned anything in his sixteen years of being a demigod, it was that they could be easily taunted. Assuming it was a lesser monster, it would be a piece of cake. But on the off chance it was a stronger one, it might provide some sort of challenge for Jason.
"Come on out!" Jason yelled into the dense, swampy marsh "Let's not drag this out any longer than it has to be!"
Nothing came in response but Jason remained on guard. His eyes dashed between bushes and trees, trying to find any form of movement. After a little while longer and no movement from a potential enemy, Jason lowered his guard and chuckled to himself. Grover had told him he had been way too on edge lately. Maybe it was his emotions running on high.
However, Jason was back on edge as quickly as ever when he heard the sound of bow string draw from behind him. He quickly spun around, his gladius now in a reverse grip. He watched as an arrow shot out from the tree line, coming directly for his chest. He quickly side stepped to the right, and lunged his sword arm forward. The blade, now horizontal- slashed forward, connecting with the arrow. The Imperial Gold of the weapon made contact with through the arrows tip, slicing through the shaft like a hot knife in butter. When it finally reached the end, the two halves split off and lodged themselves into a tree behind him.
"You're gonna have to do better than that!" Jason yelled in the direction of where the arrow had been fired.
Instead of a grunt or roar of rage like Jason had been expecting, he heard a laugh instead. The laugh was obviously female and Jason lowered his sword, recognizing it. He hadn't heard that laugh in a while, but he smiled as the figure emerged from the tree line. The person who stood before him was the Lieutenant of Artemis, daughter of Zeus, and most importantly, his sister, Thalia Grace.
Jason reached up and put his sword back in the sheath on his back, a smile on his face as he watched his sister come closer.
"You know" Jason said flatly "There are nicer ways to announce your arrival. For example, 'hey baby brother, it's me! Thalia!"
Thalia laughed a bit "Pfft, where's the fun in that? Besides, I had to keep you on your toes. Can't have you out here getting rusty."
"I think I'll be okay" Jason said as he motioned to the split arrow lodged in the tree behind him "Or maybe you're not as good with a bow as a lieutenant of Artemis should be."
"Bows are stupid" Thalia mumbled under her breath "My spear and Aegis are way more fun to use."
Jason chuckled once and shook his head at his sister, "Why are you here Thalia? It's not like you to take random trips into the Southland. Unless Artemis has you hunting something, which I would be more than willing to lend a hand with."
His sister shook her head, "No, I'm not here for Artemis. I'm here for you Jason. What are you doing here?"
He eyed his sister carefully and he spoke slowly, rehearsing the lines he had repeated over and over again in his head. "I'm here because I'm doing what's asked of me as Pontifex Maximus. The major river god who resides in the Mississippi River needs multiple shrines to properly satisfy him. Grover and a few of the other fauns in the area are helping-"
"Cut the crap Jason" Thalia said sharply as she cut him off "You and I both know that's just a cover. You've been looking for something."
"I'm not looking for anything" Jason said calmly.
"Don't lie to me. You've been looking for Leo again, haven't you?"
"I-" Jason began, but he paused. He let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair "Yes I have been. But Thalia listen! I have a real lead this time. There have been whispers of fires starting randomly in Louisiana and California. One of them has to be him!"
Thalia just shook her head, "Jason... we've been over this. Leo is gone. It's been months since he's disappeared. Nico went to Hades and confirmed it. Him and Percy-"
Thalia bit her lip at the mention of Percy. Jason hadn't known it until Will Solace had told him, but Thalia and Percy had been close... essentially siblings. It didn't hurt Jason to hear that. It's not like it was her fault that she had begun to fill a hole in her life with another brother figure. She didn't know that Jason was alive, and he couldn't blame her for it.
"He and Leo are in the Underworld… Elysium." Thalia said as she collected herself "Stop looking for things that aren't there."
"But Thalia something isn't right!" Jason pleaded "Nico and Hazel can't summon them for us to talk… to say goodbye! Nico was able to summon Bianca for a while before she chose rebirth, and there's no way either would choose that, at least not right away."
"Jason stop!" Thalia yelled, cutting off her brother's rambling.
"You-" she paused, collecting herself "You need to go back to California. School at Edgraton starts soon and you need to go back. You need to put your demons to rest. Please Jason."
Jason winced at that. He had been putting off thinking about that damned school. California had been filled with hope and dread for Jason. Hope in the sense that Leo might actually be there, but dread because of what he had learned, and where his ex-girlfriend, Piper, resided.
Piper had been apparently been having self-confidence issues about their relationship and Jason had absolutely been blindsided when she said they needed to break up. She had told him that the relationship between them had been forced by Hera and Aphrodite, and she needed time to figure things out.
Jason understood. Hell, when she had broke the news to him he could barely utter a word, only nodding as she spoke. He wouldn't deny her logic; Hera and Aphrodite had meddled in their lives, and in turn, forced their relationship. To Piper, she had mistaken comfort and solace in Jason for romantic love, and Jason had been the one to feel the sting of it once the Giant Crisis had been over.
After the break up, Jason just… needed space. He transferred to Edgraton Day and Boarding School, joined the Lacrosse Team along with Speech and Debate, and according to his teachers, he had a real shot at attending a prestigious university in California. Things had finally started to be on the mend upward, until Piper showed up out of the blue one day, saying that she had been in contact with Annabeth. She had given him a quick breakdown before heading off. They had gotten word from Apollo, now mortal as punishment from his father, and his quest to reclaim the five ancient prophetic sites across the world. There was evidence of a reformed Labyrinth, leading the way to the Sybil, the ancient Roman Prophet who wrote the Sibylline Books.
So naturally, the pair went after Sybil. They investigated the Labyrinth and when he and Piper became separated, Jason found the prophet. But of course, the Fates had to ruin his life. Sybil told him, that if he or Piper went after her again, one of them would not make it out alive. So Jason fled. He made it out of the Labyrinth after finding Piper, and he told her he didn't find anything. He knew that Piper saw right through him. Regardless if Jason wanted to admit it or not, she knew him better than anyone else and it was only a matter of time till she came to him demanding answers.
After that fiasco, Jason took time off and away from California, opting to meet with Grover back East. They worked together to help recognize the lesser nature gods, traveling up and down the coast seeing to it that they were satisfied and that nature was as it should be. However, Grover had headed to Camp Half Blood a few days ago to reconnect with his girlfriend Juniper, before heading to California. The Lord of the Wild taking it upon himself to help nature recover from the devastating wildfires there.
Jason didn't want to go back to California. He really didn't. Sure school was entertaining, but when that wasn't there to distract him, he felt empty. Life had changed so much for him and not in a good way. Frank and Hazel had been together, the pair working with Reyna to help New Rome recover. Annabeth was away on Mount Olympus, her architecture distracting her from her loss. Leo and Percy, two of his best friends, had disappeared and died respectively. And Piper, the girl Jason thought was the love of his life, walked out on him, with the belief that their relationship wasn't real. And the worst part about it was that Jason couldn't tell her how much she really meant to him. It wouldn't be fair to guilt her like that, especially with all the things she was dealing with. So that left Jason with one option: to keep it all bottled up. It hurt Jason and he hated feeling so alone, and Thalia clearly didn't understand that.
"I don't want to go back Thals. At least not yet" Jason answered as he try to keep his cool "It just... doesn't feel like home."
Thalia rolled her eyes, "You've said that about everywhere. Camp Halfblood, New Rome, your boarding school." Thalia said as she listed off places on her fingers "Where is home Jason? Please, tell me."
Jason glared at his sister. She was pushing him and grilling him for answers he didn't have. Nowhere felt like home. Everything was just… empty.
"I… don't know" Jason said, trying to escape from his sister's questioning.
"Come on Jason!" Thalia said as she lost her cool and began to yell at him "Answer me! Where is home!"
"I…" Jason started but he couldn't get the words out. He hated this. This feeling of emptiness. The people he cared about were gone. He had saved the world twice, but it didn't matter. The people closest to him had walked out, moved on, or died. He could feel the anger building in his chest.
"Say something!" Thalia continued to scream "Spit it out!"
With that, Jason snapped. He could feel the wind picking up around him and the feeling of electricity surging through his veins.
"I don't have a home!" Jason yelled at his sister "Everyone is gone! Piper walked out, Percy and Leo are both probably dead. I feel like I'm back to being on my own again, only this time there is no fall back. No place I can go where I can just… connect with people like I used to."
"Finally you say something." Thalia mocked "You're not on your own Jason. You have people who still care about you."
"You don't get it Thalia. You really don't." Jason spat "There's nowhere to turn. I can't bother Frank and Hazel, they're busy enough as it is. Annabeth has barely started to recover, and I only see Will and Nico once every other month or so."
Thalia glared at him, hurt in hidden behind the anger "You're really going to say that to me? What about me? I've been here for you."
"No you haven't !" Jason shot back "You've been running around the US playing huntress! I've only seen you twice since you found out I was even alive. Seems like you'd rather spend time hunting than even check in on me. Hell, even when I iris messaged you that Piper had broken up with me, you hit me with the 'damn that sucks' and asked me if she would think about joining the Hunters. Who does that!?"
Thalia cringed and Jason knew he had got her there. Thalia had done a poor job of trying to reconnect with Jason. After all that talk at Pike's Peak, she had proven it to be nothing more than empty words. Her commitment to the Hunt and Artemis clearly more important than the last mortal family she had left.
"Jason I…" Thalia tried to speak, but Jason cut her off.
"Save it Thalia. You're just trying to cover your own ass now. You haven't been family to me. Leo and Percy were more family to me than you ever were."
As soon as the words escaped Jason's mouth he knew he had crossed a line. He was angry at her, and rightfully so, but he shouldn't have been taking it out on Thalia. It wasn't her fault. None of it was.
The wind that had begun to howl instantly subsided as Jason tried to apologize, "Thalia! Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it. I swear, I was just -"
Thalia just shook her head, her face ridden with a horrible mixture of anger and sadness he never wanted his sister to feel.
"Whatever Jason. You spoke your peace and if you really feel that way, I'll leave" Thalia said, her voice deathly neutral.
She began to turn around "If you think you don't have a home with me, then you really have run out of options."
"Thalia wait!" Jason said as he called out to her, but it was too late. His sister had retreated into the tree line and Jason knew there was no way he could find her unless she wanted to be found. His fingers began to ball into a fist. His anger and bone-headedness had caused him to burn another bridge, and this one might have been beyond repair.
He let his legs give out from underneath him and he fell onto his back. He looked up to the sky and let out a sharp breath. Why did his life have to be so hard? He knew the life of the hero was that, but after the war against Gaea, things had only gotten worse. Back then, Jason had hope - hope that things would get better. But the Fates must have made it their personal mission to make his life as bleak as possible, and they had certainly done a good job at it.
Jason ran his hands through his short blonde hair. He needed help, and he needed to talk things out with someone. There weren't many people left in his life who he could turn too, but there were a few back in New York… back in Camp Half Blood. He needed one of his few remaining friends. He needed to see Nico di Angelo.
-Yang Xiao Long-
Yang threw her towel around her shoulders and made her way toward Beacon's gym. Yang had made it her mission to go every day and to work on her technique. Her dad had drilled her before she left for Beacon to never forget the fundamentals. Her fighting style revolved around boxing, and while her semblance allowed her to dish out punishment, it didn't mean she would just take every punch that came her way. She'd do what she had to do in order to win.
Along with wanting to work on fundamentals, Yang needed a chance to clear her head. Living with three other girls, while fun, was starting to get annoying. There was no personal time and Weiss's grating attitude, mixed with Ruby's childishness, and Blake's brooding meant Yang needed to get away. She needed time to think and she was hoping the gym would provide her some much needed solitude.
She was about to walk into the gym when she heard a noise coming from inside and Yang groaned in response. There was really nothing better than an empty gym to work out in, and having to share it was not something she really wanted to deal with right now. She let out a huff and peered around the corner quietly, looking inside to see who she'd have to share with. As soon as her lilac eyes connected with who she'd be sharing with, they lit up in a pleasant surprise. Inside was Beacon's bad boy, Percy Jackson, working by himself on the bench press, lifting an impressive amount of weight.
Yang giggled a bit and rolled her eyes at the thought of the stupid nickname the student body had forced upon him. Ever since he had been the one to punch Cardin that day in the dining hall when he and Leo stood up to him and his team, everyone thought he was a troublemaker. If she was being honest though, the entire school had completely and absolutely mislabeled him. After hanging out with him and being apart of his immediate circle of friends, Yang could confirm he was in fact, a huge sweetheart.
After a rough few days of classes for Ruby, Percy had gone out of his way to make chocolate chip cookies for her younger sister - albeit the blue cookies were a strange oddity, entertained Nora in the library when RWBY and JPR were desperately scrambling to finish Port's surprise group project, and he had done something to earn Blake's stamp of approval - which was something Yang wasn't quite sure she had earned herself. However, if the least social and trusting member of Team RWBY could trust Percy, then that spoke volumes about him and his character.
She pulled her head back away from the corner and quickly fixed her hair, and then she headed into the gym. Percy didn't notice her as she walked in. He was was in the middle of finishing his rep and when he was done, he placed the bar back where it belonged. Instead of sitting up though, he stayed down and closed his eyes, resting from the exercise he had just done. A mischievous look appeared in Yang's eyes. She crept up toward where he was laying and once she was above him, she prepared herself.
"PERCY!" Yang screamed at the top of her lungs.
She got the desired effect from Percy, the teenager's eyes opening quickly and the panicked look on his face made him look like a deer caught in the headlights. However, what she wasn't expecting was for Percy to shoot up from his restful spot on the bench and accidentally slam his head into the bar above him. Percy recoiled back and fell off the bench, his hands moving to cover the spot where he had banged his head. Yang had to take a quick step back to get out of his way and she was trying her hardest not to laugh.
"Oh my gods" Yang said, failing to maintain her laughter "Are- are you okay?"
Percy let out a groan, "Well I was. Then somebody had to go and scream in my ear!"
"I'm sorry! You're just such an easy target. If anything it's your fault I did it."
Percy picked himself up and sat on the bench before looking at Yang. One hand covered his forehead and the other on his thigh. However this time he was careful enough to avoid the bar, "My fault? I'm not the one who goes out of my way to scare people."
"Then you should've been more alert" Yang said teasingly. It was then Yang noticed that Percy was still covering his bruise with his hand and she became curious, "Why haven't you healed it yet?"
Percy continued to rub his forehead softly. "What are you talking about?" he said somewhat annoyed "This bruise is gonna take forever to go away."
Yang rolled her eyes, "Use your aura dummy. That's what it's there for."
"My aura?" Percy said somewhat confused, and then a look of realization appeared on his face. "OH my aura. Well about that. I don't exactly… have it?"
Yang had to do a double take when Percy said that. "Wait, wait, wait, hold up." Yang said as she motioned for him to stop talking "You don't have an aura and you made it into Beacon? How?!"
He just shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I guess just being careful? I must've impressed Ozpin enough to make it in without aura."
Yang was flabbergasted. Never before had she heard of someone getting into Beacon without an aura. However, it was impressive, she couldn't deny it. Her own fighting style revolved around her aura and her semblance. She needed to take a few hits in order to dish it back ten fold. But then again, Percy was by no means the hand to hand fighter that she was, the same way she couldn't use a sword and shield the same way he or Pyrrha could.
But for some reason though, Yang couldn't get over it. Percy was a deadly fighter, every student at Beacon was, but something about him just seemed to be amplified by his lack of aura. The few times Yang had completely lost her aura during a fight, which had been few and far in between, she had gotten reckless and something she would never admit out loud - afraid. Aura was a part of her, and it was always there, ready to shield her from some sort of danger. But for Percy to come so far with only his sword, shield, and skill to carry him? That took balls.
"Doesn't that… bother you though?" Yang asked "I feel naked when my aura falls below fifteen percent. I can't imagine being without it. And how do you even fight Grimm without it? Aren't you afraid you'll get hurt?"
He just shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not really afraid of getting hurt per say" Percy said as he lifted his up the bottom corner of his shirt, showing a pair of jagged scars near his waistline, "Getting hurt was always a danger, but I'd rather be the one to suffer than the people I care about."
Yang eyed the wound, curious as to what it could have been from. It wasn't a large scar, maybe the size of a large eraser, but Yang had learned never to ask people about their scars. She had learned the hard way when she had joked with Weiss about her's.
But what Percy said was modest. It was a noble thing to put yourself in harms way for others and take both the metaphorical and literal bullet for them. Yang was sure she'd do the same with her friends, but it also had a different dynamic. It was different… jumping in front of a friend when you have aura versus no aura..
Then an idea popped into her head. "Do you… want me to unlock your aura?"
Percy eyed her for a few seconds, before nodding his head. Yang gave him a small smile and moved to sit on the workout bench Percy was still sitting on. She sat on it, and motioned for Percy to come closer. He nodded his head and followed. Once he was close enough, Yang reached out with both hands, placing on the side of his face and the other on top of his heart.
"Hopefully I do this right... " Yang muttered quietly.
"Wait what?" Percy said but he was interrupted by Yang closing her eyes and speaking.
"For it is in passing that we achieve strength. Through this, we become a beacon of light and life as we stand for others. Infinite in power and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my heart, empower thee."
As soon as Yang finished speaking, she opened her eyes and was greeted by the sight of a soft sea green glow encasing Percy's body. Yang glanced upward to the bruise that was on Percy's forehead and was pleased to see that the it slowly disappearing, his skin changing back from a dark bruise to its natural tan color.
Yang looked to look at Percy, and she had to suppress a giggle when her classmate's eyes were squeezed shut, as if waiting for some type of blow. She had to admit, it was kinda cute.
"Percy" Yang said calmly "It's done now. You can open your eyes."
It took him a second, but he opened his eyes to catch the final few moments of his aura encasing his body. He stared at his hands as the soft glow began to disappear, and then light disappeared completely.
Percy's eyes then jumped up to Yang and he had the biggest, goofiest smile on his face, "That was amazing! How do I bring it back?"
This time, Yang laughed out loud. Percy's eagerness was akin to that of a kid on the morning of Winter Solstice when they were opening their presents under the tree.
"It's pretty easy" Yang said as she stood up and Percy followed her movement. Yang then spread her feet apart getting into a ready position, "In order to use your aura, you need to know how to flare it."
Percy watched intently as Yang raised her hands into a boxer's stance. She flexed her muscles slightly and a yellow glow covered her body. She was pleased to see that Percy was absolutely fascinated by the display, drawing it in with intrigue.
"Okay okay, let me try it" Percy said as he stood up. He mimicked the position Yang was in and he took a deep breath. He attempted to flex his muscles, but unlike the blonde bombshell in front of him who's aura flared to life instantly and was sustained, Percy's flickered slightly over his chest once, twice, and then died out. The hero tried again, but was met with more pathetic results than from the first time, his aura only flickering once before going out.
Percy glanced up toward Yang, the look of excitement on his face long gone and replaced with one of frustration "Is that supposed to happen?"
"Hmm" Yang said as she used her hand to rub her chin, "Well performance issues are… not uncommon. Usually one out of five."
Percy scowled at Yang and the blonde couldn't help but smirk.
"That was so not funny" Percy replied.
Yang laughed "Yes it was and you know it. You're just lucky everyone else wasn't here to see it."
She then stopped messing with Percy and became a bit more understanding, "But seriously, don't worry too much. Everyone is different when it comes to aura control and discovering their semblance. It didn't take me long to figure out mine, and it even took Ruby awhile too. Don't stress about it too much."
Percy just huffed, but nodded his head. "I'll take your word for it."
He then began to head over to the punching bag that was hanging in the air. He got behind the bag and looked to Yang who hadn't followed.
"Are you just gonna stand there or do you wanna come over here and punch something?" Percy said to her.
Yang smiled a bit, and made her way over, grabbing a roll of tape from a counter as she did. She began to wrap up her hands as she'd done a million times before, and Percy got behind the bag, holding it in place for her. Once she had stretched a bit and gotten loose, Yang began to hit the punching bag, letting go of her stress from the first week of school.
As Yang continued to bounce on her toes and let loose on the piece of equipment, she was aware that Percy was eyeing her and her form. His eyes darted from her footwork to her head, clearly intrigued by her ability to bob and slip as she lashed out at her imaginary opponent. She threw a right - left - right combo into the bag before easing off and taking a breather. Percy loosened his grip on the bag, choosing to lean on it instead.
"That was pretty cool" Percy surmised.
Yang chuckled "What? You've never boxed before?"
He shook his head, "Nah, not really. I've been in the occasional scrap or two, but I've been fighting with my sword for forever, and fighting against monsters with just your fists usually doesn't work out too well when you don't have a pair of high powered shotgun-gauntlets to help out."
"Touche" Yang conceded. Then an idea popped into her head, "Do you wanna learn how to box?"
"Well I know some stuff already, but experience is the best teacher. Why don't we go a few rounds and see how I do?"
Yang snickered a bit at that, "Really Percy? I think it might be a little unfair. I've been boxing my whole life, and you're probably gonna get your butt whooped."
She was met though with Percy wrapping his hands in tape, the same as she did. She raised an eyebrow. It wasn't everyday she got challenged to a friendly spar, especially by someone who admitted they had little to no experience. Percy moved on to the mat below them, shaking out his arms and getting loose before getting into a fighting stance.
Yang let out an amused huff of air and brought her hands together, cracking her knuckles.
"Alright if you say so."
First off: Major apologies for waiting so long for any type of new material regarding this story. Only an unfortunate series of event can be used to explain my absence. As for the story (if you haven't noticed) most of the changes revolve around 1) pacing, 2) examining inner thoughts, 3) emphasis on world building, and 4) miscellaneous changes. Below I will discuss changes at length.
Pacing: One of the BIGGEST issues I had with the story was that I had terribly paced it. In the original story, Percy and Yang were dating by like chapter Seven and Eight. Which (while time lines in RWBY can be confusing) is estimated to be about a month or two. Percy and Annabeth were practically soulmates and it takes significant amount of time for a lover to recover from what was essentially a forced break up between the two. As for Leo and Ruby, the writing is on the wall for them to potentially become a thing, but you never know. I wanted romance in this story to be more akin to a slow burn, but after reading back on it, it was a hundred meter sprint.
Inner Thoughts: After reading back the early chapters of this story, I realized there was too much dialogue/description of action and little to no inner thoughts. The things that make good fanfiction stories rise to greatness is when authors can really get into the head of their characters and accurately portray how they would think and react in their given situations. Something I struggled with is that I pushed characters in a certain direction that violated KEY elements that shouldn't have been broken. And I did this simply because I wanted to advance my own plot, a common error that most authors make. For example, Ruby and Jaune will ALWAYS be each others first friends, Weiss and Blake will ALWAYS argue about the White Fang, and Renora will be canon in whatever story you read, either strongly platonic or romantic, etc. So with this story and the edits, I felt I needed to do a better job at understanding each character, along with their motivations. Ultimately, once this story finally gets caught up with the other edits (I have three chapters waiting on stand by to be published. They just need a final proofread) it will be great at examining inner monologue and reasons as to why characters do what they do.
World Building: RWBY has a humongous world to work with. I'm going to try my best to dive in and delve into its history, Grimm behavior, aura use, the role of huntsmen in society as more than Grimm killers, relationship between Kingdoms, social norms (such as bastards in the kingdoms and the Faunus). There will be a lot to see so stay tuned.
Miscellaneous: Percy has a new sword cause I got bored of Riptide (sorry not sorry), his combat suit is basically a black version of Captain America's Winter Solider Stealth suit, Leo has a repulsor glove (think of Tony Stark when he fights Bucky after Zola breaks him out of prison), Leo's dream sequence (which I guess is meant to amplify Leo's fear).
That's all for now folks. Hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review.
PS: I will not tolerate anyone who comments hateful things. Someone left a review saying that they were furious Nico and Will were gay and told me to change it or they would stop reading the story. All I have to say for that is go fuck yourself. Love is love and I'm not gonna tolerate any hateful shit. Go read a different story.