A/N: And now it's time for a chapter that centers around the most underused character of the entire story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Akame Ga Kill, RWBY, and/or Fairy Tail. They belong to their original owners.
A New Beginning: Vol Special Part Six
Across Worlds
Kill Eighty Nine: The Devil's Daughter
In a large room with orange walls and a large custom-made heat radiator set in the corner. In the middle of the room were two people sitting; a father with a strong, muscular build with multiple scars on his body, and his eight-year-old daughter with her having a recently healed large burn scar on the left side of her face trailing to her neck. The father only wore shorts while the daughter also wore shorts and a top fitted for a child her age. Both had their eyes closed and appeared to be deep in thought while their bodies were enduring the intense heat. The father was perfectly okay while his daughter was sweating up a storm. She trembled slightly at first until the bearing the heat became too much and let out a loud gasp. She fell backward to the floor and was breathing heavily. The father opened his eyes and looked over at his child and chuckled lightly. "I guess we can call it for today." He stood up and walked to the radiator to turn it off. As he did, they finally left the room which was connected to the garage where the daughter sighed in relief feeling the cool air. Her father closed the door behind them and laughed heartily. "I have to say, you did pretty well lasting this long for the first time, Rienna."
Rienna whined as she still felt a little warmer than usual. "I don't know how you can handle that much heat, daddy."
Bols, her father, laughed again. "That's because I've been doing this a long time. Heat at that level doesn't even bother me. Don't worry, though because if you keep at this, you'll eventually handle the strongest heat and flames. Now, about some lunch? I'm sure your mother has left some delicious sandwiches for us and I'm starving. Let's go." He walked over to the door and was about to reach the handle when he stopped. He turned around to see his daughter didn't follow him and was looking at the mirror near the door. He saw her lightly touch the burn scars and seemed a little sad. He knew exactly why as it's been about two months since that terrible accident. Rienna was playing around with the fire dust that he uses for ammo for his weapon and she accidentally set them off. She was caught in a huge blaze. He managed to rescue her but part of her body was badly burned and had to be taken to the hospital. She was able to make a full recovery but the doctor told her parents that the nerve endings in the part of her body were seared off and could no longer feel pain. It was the same for the area around the eye as she couldn't cry from it anymore due to the tear ducts being seared off as well. It took another month for her to take off the bandages and was left those burn scars.
They didn't make her life easier when she returned to school because the other kids made fun of her. They constantly teased her because of her scars and called her names. There were times when Rienna didn't want to go to school because the teasing and bullying became too much. This was one of those days. Rienna's mother had enough of this and she was currently at the school right now to talk to the principal and teachers about this. Bols loves his wife to the moon but when she becomes angry, he knows better to stay out of the way and pray to whatever God there is to the unfortunate souls who will face her wrath. While his wife was tearing the school system into a new one, Bols had the responsibility of cheering up her daughter and that's exactly what he was going to do. "Are they still bothering you?"
Rienna was spooked a little hearing her father talking to her and immediately turned in his direction. She then grabbed her left arm while looking away from her father before closing her eyes and nodding. Bols walked up to his daughter and kneeled before her. He then put his hand on her head and she opened her eyes to look at him. He gave her a gentle and sweet smile. "You know, not all scars are bad. Look at mine." He stood up and spread his arms out to show off the countless scars he's received from the missions he's been on. "These scars tell stories of the missions I went on and how I got them. Some of them are worse than others but they're proof of what I've gone through. Although, there are scars that can't be normally seen." He set his arms down. "That scar of yours tells the story of how you got it."
His explanation only depressed Rienna more about how she got it. "But I got this because I was playing around with your fire Dust."
Her father only chuckled at that. "And you survived. That's all that matters. Plus, that scar will carry memories of what you experienced, the emotions you've felt, and how it would be part of your life. All of that can contribute to making you stronger." After his explanation, he saw a little light returning in his daughter's eyes. He figured his explanation helped her. Little did he know, it'd help her much more than he originally thought. "Okay, now how about those sandwiches?" Rienna smiled and nodded as they left together.
Rienna enjoyed spending time with her father and greatly looked up to him. However, unbeknownst to her, that time would be cut short. Two years after her father gave her advice, she and her mother were patiently waiting for Bols to return from his latest mission. From what she heard, it was extremely dangerous, and skilled and experienced huntsmen were needed. The mission was to only be a few days long but it's been a week. This hasn't been the first time he's been away on a mission longer than it needed to be but what worried them is that if he was taking longer than usual, he would've told them via text or letter. The fact they haven't received either left a bad taste in Rienna's mouth. To distract her from these bad feelings, she was in the heat room strengthening her heat endurance and resistance. She's made quite a lot of progress since she and her father first trained together but was still not ready for the highest setting. She tried it once and didn't even last three minutes while her father spent hours at a time with that setting.
While Rienna was preoccupied with her training, several knocks were coming from behind the door. "Rienna, dear? Can you come out?" Rienna stood up and turned off the machine before walking to the door.
Rienna grabbed the handle and opened the door to see her mother slightly worried. Judging by how she looked, it must've been something serious. "What's the matter, mom?"
"Just...come into the living room."
As her mother walked away, Rienna quickly changed in her casual clothes and walked over to her house. When she walked into the living room, she saw her mother sitting on the couch while a man was sitting on the chair across the coffee table from her mother. He had the same expression as her mother. "I'm here, mom. What's going on? Who's this man?"
The man looked over in Rienna's direction. "You must be his daughter. Please, have a seat." Rienna did as she was told but with each step, that bad feeling within her felt heavier and worse. She sat next to her mother and the entire living room remained silent. Only the ticking of the clock could be heard and it didn't help with this tense atmosphere. "Since we're all here now, I'd like to apologize for this sudden intrusion and I'd like to introduce myself. I'm one of the Huntsmen that participated in the mission alongside Bols. There's no easy way for me to say this so I'll come out with the truth." Upon hearing his next words, the clock rang out in the living room and Rienna's world with her father shattered into countless pieces.
The following months after the Huntsmen told them what happened to Bols were the most difficult for Rienna and her mother. He told them that the Grimm horde they were supposed to eliminate was much larger than anticipated and they were overwhelmed. Only a few stayed back to fight off the horde, Bols being one of them and before the Huntsman last saw him, Bols wanted to relay a message to them. "Tell my wife and daughter what happened and I loved them to the very end." Moments after that, he'd heard and felt a powerful explosion Days after the Huntsman left, the remains of Bol's flamethrowers arrived and were badly damaged. It sat in the garage in all those months and Rienna hadn't been in there since she heard about her father's death. The kids and teachers at her school expressed their condolences and apologies to her for losing her father.
Rienna was grateful to hear all of that but it still didn't close the hole in her heart that was left by her father's death. Everything seemed so different to her now that her father wasn't of this world anymore. She couldn't enjoy the things she loved anymore and seemed to lose interest in all things. Her mother was in the same state but she hid it better. One day, she had overheard her mother talking to her friends on her scroll in seeing someone else but told them Bols was the only love of her life and no one could replace him. After that, Rienna left and was headed to the garage. When she opened the door, she saw her father's flamethrowers laying in the middle of the floor. Seeing them in this state pained her heart as she spent countless hours watching her father fix and repair them. She looked past the weapons and saw the door leading to the heat room. She walked up to the door and placed her hand on it. She hadn't been in it ever since she heard of her father's passing. She sighed heavily and turned around but stopped midway when she saw her reflection. She looked at her reflection and focused on her burn scar. Suddenly, she remembered what her father told her about scars. "These scars tell stories of the missions I went on and how I got them. Some of them are worse than others but they're proof of what I've gone through. Although, there are scars that can't be normally seen."
"Scars that can't be normally seen." It was an apt description of what she was feeling in her heart.
There was something else she remembered her father said. "That scar will carry memories of what you experienced, the emotions you've felt, and how it would be part of your life. All of that can contribute to making you stronger." Rienna placed her hand over her chest and clutched it tightly. Inside of her, a small flame suddenly flared up and became a powerful blaze.
Insert Symphogear Song: KNOCK OUT!
She went over to the workbench and took out a large red toolbox. She brought it over to the weapons and opened it. After seeing her father fix his weapons countless times, she knew every inch and corner of how they worked. For the next few weeks, she worked tirelessly on restoring Devil Incarnate. Within those few weeks, her teacher and classmates did notice she had a change in her demeanor. Her mother even took notice of this as well. She saw Rienna go into the garage more often and came out with oil splotches on her clothes. After a month, she decided to follow her daughter in the garage. As soon as her daughter closed the door, she opened it. "Rienna, what have you been-" She eyes widened, and gasped in shock at what she was seeing.
Rienna turned around and was surprised to see her mother but giggled happily and smiled at her. "Oh, mom look!" She turned her attention to an almost fully restored Devil Incarnate. "Look, I'm almost done fixing up dad's weapon. I just need to work on it a bit more and it'll be good as new." She looked back at her mother and gave her a serious expression. "Hey, mom? Can I ask you something?"
Rienna grunted in pain as she was thrown to the ground. It was the afternoon of the next day and both she and her mother were sparring outfits. She pushed herself up from the ground and stood up. She turned around to face her mother who was worried about her. "Perhaps we should stop here for today."
"No, I want to keep going." Kije was surprised by her daughter's response. "I'm not done yet. I want to keep going. I want to be the kind of daughter dad can be proud of. I want...to be just like him."
In that instant, Kije saw just a little of her husband in her daughter and couldn't help but chuckle a little. "You are just like your father. You know, he kept on pestering me to go out with him but I refused every time. Then a whim, I'd thought I humor him saying yes this one time. Little did I know that one simple answer changed my life and the next thing I knew, we were married and we had you." She sighed one more time before smiling at her daughter. "If you're really serious about this, Rienna, I'll help you." She slammed her fist into her other hand and her eyes glowed red while her hair flowed around her. A threatening red aura could be seen emitting out of her. "So, get ready because I won't go easy on you." Rienna couldn't help but gulp in fear.
From that day forth, this became Rienna's routine. Eventually, she went back to the heat room to work on her endurance and began to work out to use Devil Incarnate. Five years later, she was able to wield her father's weapon, but it still felt heavier than she thought. Obviously, she figured her movement would be limited but she was okay with that. She could always make that up with her semblance. The next year, she was finally able to withstand the highest setting in the heat room and continued to train on that setting for the next year. And it was the next year that she went to Shade Academy.
In the middle of the initiation trial, Rienna burned down the Grimm surrounding her. Some did get past the fire, but she wasn't worried. As the Grimm surrounded, they were all blown up by her explosions. Just because she was mostly stationary doesn't mean she wasn't prepared. More Grimm appeared and she was more than prepared to take them on when Kurome, Chelsea, and Taeko appeared in front of her. She couldn't but smile and they all took on the Grimm horde together.
End OST
After the initiation and the teams were established, Kurome, Chelsea, and Taeko were all in their dorm room getting comfortable. Then the door opened to reveal Rienna walking in and looking a little nervous. She threw a small, awkward wave at them. "Uh, hi. I guess we're all on the same team now." She laughed a little awkwardly. "It's kinda funny. I've never been on a team before. My name is-"
"Rienna Louge," Taeko spoke. "The daughter of the late Bols Louge, also known as the Devil Huntsman which granted you the nickname 'The Devil's Daughter'." She chuckled a little. "Our team will do well with you on it."
Rienna stared at Taeko with a baffled look before Chelsea interjected. "Don't get too weirded out. She does that all the time. Family thing and all. Anyway, nice to officially meet you. I'm Chelsea," She gestured to Taeko. "That's Taeko, and she's..." She looked over at Kurome sitting on the bottom bunk.
Kurome looked in Rienna's direction. "Kurome Chariot. Nice to meet you. And with you here..." She stood up from the bed. "I have a feeling we're going to be the best team in Shade Academy." She placed her hand in front of the others. "So, how about it?" The other girls looked at each other before smiling and placing their hands on Kurome's. She then smirked at all of them. "Let's show them what Team KRCT is made of." From that moment on, Team KRCT quickly rose to be one of the best teams in Shade Academy. Little did she know that her life was about to have another drastic change.
…
Rienna was standing with Mine, Weiss, Nora, Ren, and Jaune and across from her was the person who killed her father.
"Mine, you know Chelsea the best out of all of us. What do you know about her?" Ren asked.
Mine studied Chelsea from where she stood. "Well, for one, the Chelsea I know wouldn't even think about getting into a fight. Stealth was more of her specialty. Besides..." She sensed how powerful this Chelsea's aura was. "Comparing her aura and the Chelsea's I once knew, it's like night and day. Yeah, we have the advantage of numbers and but that didn't help Kurome and the others fighting Akame. Not to mention she can use magic like Akame. The only thing we know what magic she can do is teleport a large group of people." There was something else Mine thought was off-putting about Chelsea. "Teleporting can't be the only thing she does. This is Chelsea we're talking about. She has to have other tricks up her sleeve. I know it. We just need to figure a pla-" Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Rienna walk past her. "H-Hey! Where're you going? We still need to-"
"I'm fighting her."
Mine chased after Rienna and grabbed her shoulder. "No, you're not. We still don't know-"
Rienna quickly turned around and grabbed Mine's arm while glaring at her. "I'm...fighting...her." Her grip on Mine's arm tightened and the other winced at the pain. She had no idea this girl had such strength.
Rienna let Mine go and turned around. Mine rubbed her arm as she could still feel the pressure from Rienna's grip. She looked back at the others. "Aren't any of you going to stop her?!" She saw that all of them had remorseful expressions. Her anger became confusion. "What's wrong?'
Jaune looked at Mine. "Just...let her do what she needs to do." Mine became more confused as she didn't know what was going on.
Off to the side, Wendy observed Rienna closely and groaned a little. "What seems to be the problem, Wendy?" Carla asked.
Wendy kept focusing on Rienna. "I don't know but for some reason, I feel like I've seen her before but I don't know why because I've never met her before."
"You're not the only one who thinks that," Leone spoke. "She reminds me of someone but I can't place it."
Akame shared the feeling. She thought more about who Rienna really was. "Considering what I've seen so far, most of the people in this group are comprised of people we know and encountered from the Captial. And yet we've never encountered her before. What's more..." She looked at Wave and the others and they all had the same expression Jaune and most of his group had. "They all know something about her. What's her connection with all of this?"
Finally, out of everyone, Chelsea was the most intrigued by Rienna. This girl's been giving me the eye ever since we told each of our side's stories. What I want to know is what's her deal with me?" She knew she'd receive her answer soon enough. She saw Rienna stop and still gave her that same glare. She just smirked in response. "So, I guess you're the first one up. So..." The wing blew softly through them. "You got something to say to me?" Rienna said nothing as she made the first move and ran straight at the other girl.
"H-Hey! I didn't announce the match yet!" Wave called out.
Insert RWBY OST: I Burn
Chelsea was caught off guard by Rienna's speed. She and the other Night Raid members had the same thought. "She's fast." As soon as Rienna neared Chelsea, she threw her right arm forward with her blade aiming at her. Chelsea conjured a long needle made of light and parried the other girl's attack. She used the momentum of the parry to turn her body and use the other half of her needle staff to deliver a counterattack on the other girl's back. Rienna was struck on the back and lost her footing for a few seconds but recovered. She quickly turned around and ran back to Chelsea. She delivered another swift attack from her left arm and Chelsea blocked it again. As soon as her first attack was blocked, Rienna turned her body clockwise and used the momentum to swing her other arm to deliver another attack. Chelsea blocked that attack but Rienna swung her left arm upward for another attack. Chelsea used the other half of her needle staff to block the next attack. At that moment, withdrew her arm and immediately lowered her body to perform a sweeping kick. Chelsea jumped back to avoid the kick and twirled her needle staff before lunging it forward at the other girl. Rienna looked at the blunt end of the stuff dead in the eye before disappearing before Chelsea.
Chelsea became confused for a few seconds until she looked down to see Rienna crouched down with her arms crossed. Fire lit up along the edges of the blades and Rienna uncrossed her arms to deliver a burning cross-shaped slash as she quickly bypassed Chelsea, her needle staff being destroyed in the process. "Hell's Edge!" Seeing the fire tickled something in Wendy's memory and it only added to this strange feeling she had about the blonde. Chelsea yelled out in pain as she felt the fire burning into her. Rienna quickly turned around and passed by Chelsea again while delivering another burning slash attack. She turned around again and delivered another burning slash as she passed Chelsea. She repeated this attack pattern two more times and Akame noticed there was a pattern with her attacks. From above Rienna made a star-shaped pattern with her attacks. "Burning Star Slash!"
Rienna turned around once more and charged at Chelsea with her right arm pulled back. Wave gulped as he feared for the worst of what Rienna was going to do. "Rienna, don't do it." Before she threw her right arm forward, the blade on her weapon retracted and gave a successful, non-lethal punch square at Chelsea's jaw. Wave sighed out of relief upon seeing that.
Yang let out an impressed whistle seeing Rienna's punch. "Nice right hook."
Taeko narrowed her eyes at the scene. "Something's not right."
A few seconds after Rienna punched Chelsea, she quickly noticed the other girl didn't budge and smiled through the punch. In the next instant, Chelsea delivered a small, swift strike with her fingers at a specific point at the other girl's body. The first hit was strong enough to separate from the two and Chelsea unleashed a swift flurry of attacks with her fingers hitting all over Rienna's body, all hitting specific points. Her final attack pushed Rienna back away from her which gave her another opening. She spread her arms apart and countless small yellow needles appeared in front of her "Paralysis Needle!" All of the needles were sent flying right at Rienna. The blonde recovered quickly as she used both her weapons to deflect the needles, but with so many, it was inevitable the other needles pierced her. The attack stopped and Rienna panted heavily as the needles embedded in her body disappeared.
Ruby had a confused expression to what she'd witnessed. "Wait, what happened?"
"She let herself be hit with Rienna's last attack," Taeko explained. "She used it as an opportunity for a counterattack. There's something else about her too. Do you notice it?" The others took another look at Chelsea.
They saw Chelsea moving her head around and stretching her arms in front of her chest. "I have to say, those weren't bad attacks you did. If this were a normal fight, I'm pretty sure they'd be lethal."
Weiss figured out what was very wrong with this scene. "She took all those attacks and she doesn't seem the least bit hurt."
Seeing that made Mine very wary about Chelsea and realized something important. "If the Chelsea I knew took those kinds of attacks, chances are they would've killed her. Or at least seriously injure her. The fact that she's still standing and just shrugged them off like nothing shows how much stronger she is."
The "younger" Leone was impressed by what she's seen in the fight so far. "Man, never thought I'd see Chelsea fight like that. That was pretty cool."
The younger Chelsea threw a quick glare at the "younger" Leone. "I'm right here you know."
Taeko took notice of what she saw during the brief exchange. "It's interesting she's using a fighting style focused on a body's pressure points."
Ruby looked at Taeko with another confused expression. "Pressure points?"
"Pressure points are points on the human body," Blake explained. "They're used in practices like acupuncture to help soothe the human body but there are also fighting styles focusing on them. If you hit a specific pressure point, it can cause a great amount of pain. Even render that person immobile."
Upon hearing that, Chelsea's fighting style made more sense to the "younger" Leone. "Considering how Chelsea killed her targets, that suits her perfectly."
"There's something else," Taeko spoke again. "It's the magic this Chelsea used."
"Oh, that? Chelsea uses Needle Magic." Leone explained.
"And yet..."
Taeko thought back to what Chelsea did previously. "We're here because I used something called Transportation Magic. Kinda handy when you want to go somewhere quick."
"She used this Transportation Magic and can use this Needle Magic. Clearly, she's hiding her true strength. And since this is Chelsea, we're talking about, her magic must be something similar to the Chelsea we know."
Back at the fight, Chelsea stopped her stretching and was surprised to see Rienna still standing even after hitting all her pressure points and being hit by her Paralysis Needle Magic. "She must be still standing because of that aura of hers. And here I washed my hands to get rid of the poison painted on my nails so I don't poison her. I guess my usual thing won't work on her." She saw Rienna make her next move and rushed toward her. This time, she was making serpentine movements. Chelsea couldn't help but laugh. "So, is that all you got, or are you finished now?" She already knew the answer to that question as she could still see that certain look in the other girl's eye. Rienna didn't say anything back as she rushed back right at Chelsea while trying to serpentine this time. Chelsea grinned at the other girl's tactic. "The same thing again? Sorry, but that's not going to work a second time!" She slammed her right hand on the ground and multiple large needles came out of the ground surrounding her. "Needle Spire Field!" Just when Rienna was getting closer to Chelsea, she saw the needle spires coming out of the ground and jumped just before one was able to hit her. "Ha! Now, what are you going to do? You can't get close to me no-" Rienna put her right arm in front of her and the next second, a large and powerful explosion erupted from underneath Chelsea.
The loud boom of the explosion shocked Leone and the others. "What the hell was that!?"
The younger Chelsea was more than happy to explain. "That was Rienna's semblance. She can create explosions."
"Explosions, huh?" For some reason, hearing what Rienna's semblance reminded her about the time Bols detonated his Imperial Arms to create a devastatingly powerful explosion.
Mine was relativity impressed at what she saw Rienna do. "She used Chelsea's defense against her. That's a pretty smart tactic she did."
Rienna landed on the ground and saw both the smoke and the needles vanishing. Within the smoke, she saw Chelsea temporarily out of it from being hit by her explosion attack. She rushed toward her again and once she was near, she stopped just a few feet in front and put both her arms in front of her. Her two gauntlets combined into one and the front ends of it glowed bright red. "Purgatory Judgement!" A large, powerful burst of flames erupted from her combined gauntlets and Chelsea was enveloped by the fire.
"CHELSEA!" Both Leone and Wendy yelled together.
"I hope she's fire-proof." The younger Chelsea commented.
As Wendy continued to look at the fire attack, her eyes drifted to Rienna. Time seemed to slow down for her as she continued to stare at the blonde. Then something deep in her memory resurfaced and instead of seeing Rienna, she was seeing Bols with his Imperial Arms. As soon as she remembered Bols, Wendy screamed once she realized why Rienna seemed familiar to her. Carla became worried about her friend. "Wendy, what is it? What seems to be the matter?"
Wendy's eyes were still wide at her realization. "This girl. She reminds me of Mr. Bols!"
As soon as Wendy said that, Leone and Akame took a second look at Rienna and they could see what the young dragon slayer was talking about. "Holy crap, Wendy's right!"
Akame turned her attention to Wave. "Does she have a connection to Bols?" Wave didn't answer as he looked away from her. She looked back at Rienna and started to put the pieces together. "The fact she brings a strong familiarity to Bols and she's fighting Chelsea all on her own, with our other world selves telling them the truth about who we were, there can only be one possible explanation."
The flames from Rienna's attack died down and she could finally see the damage she dealt with Chelsea. Only for her to see that Chelsea had completely vanished. She had a moment of confusion before feeling a powerful kick at her left side and was sent away. From the Taeko's and the other's viewpoint, they saw Chelsea suddenly appearing behind Rienna and delivering that same kick. "There's that teleportation magic again."
End OST
Chelsea landed on the ground and narrowed her eyes at Rienna who groaned in pain while standing up again. "Okay, enough bullshit. It's obvious you have a grudge against me. Who the hell are you, really?"
Rienna glared back at Chelsea. "You already know the answer."
Chelsea wasn't satisfied with that answer but it was true. "I can piece together some things but I want to hear it from you."
Rienna was more than happy to reveal her identity to Chelsea. "Fine, I'll tell you. I am the Devil's Daughter, Rienna Louge, and my father was known as the Huntsman Devil and he was someone you confronted once before." As soon as she said those words, Chelsea's eyes widened as she began to realize who Rienna was. "My father's name was Bols Louge and, in your world, YOU KILLED HIM!"
As soon as Rienna said those words, the realization hit both Wendy and Leone like a sack of hammers dropped on their heads. "MR. BOLS'S/BOL'S DAUGHTER!?"
Akame was surprised to hear this as well, but for a different reason. "I guess she isn't a female version of Bols then."
Mine had the same reaction as the other former Night Raid members and turned to Jaune and the others. "She's Bols's daughter? Is this true?! And you all knew about this already?!"
Jaune and the others looked at each other before looking at her. "Yeah, we did and it's true. Leone told us about what happened to her back in your world."
"You haven't been with us for that long so it's no surprise this is news to you," Nora spoke.
Mine looked back at the fight and everything now made sense to her. Now I understand why she was so adamant about fighting Chelsea in the first place. And yet...I get the feeling she isn't out for revenge."
"The Huntsman Devil..." Qrow took out his flask and unscrewed the top. "That's a name I haven't heard in a long time."
"Do you know him?" Yang asked.
Qrow closed his eyes and shook his head before stopping and opening his eyes. "I know of him. He specialized in crowd control and handling large hordes of Grimm with his signature flamethrowers."
Esren had more to add. "He received the nickname 'Devil Huntsmen' due to him wearing a mask and the flames burning Grimm behind him. With a nickname like that, people were often surprised at how nice and friendly he was. He'd even gush over telling people about his wife and child. However, eight years ago, he went on a mission with other Huntsmen dealing with a massive Grimm horde. From what I heard, the horde was much larger than they thought and he and other Huntsmen gave their lives to stop it and for the others to escape."
To Wendy, it was nice to know Bols was still a nice person in this world, but it was tragic to learn what happened to him. Though she long accepted Bols was an enemy that had to be eliminated, she felt bad they left his daughter without a father. She knew all too well what it was like to lose a parent. She was still in shock learning Bols had a daughter. "I knew Mr. Bols was married, but I didn't know he had a daughter."
Leone strongly agreed with Wendy. "Yeah, it's crazy. It makes me wonder what's going on with her other self from our world."
"About that..." Wendy, Leone, and Akame turned their attention to the younger Chelsea. "There's something you should know about Rienna." She solely focused on her teammate. "I know a majority of us are people you know that died but if you ask me, out of all of us, Rienna has the worst in that category."
The younger Chelsea's words piqued Akame's interest. "What do you mean by that?'
There were a few seconds of silence among the rest of the group before Cornelia spoke. "The truth about Rienna is that back in our Leone and Akame's world, they were killed. They were victims who were killed by the group you know as Wild Hunt."
Leone's eyes went wide with shock while Wendy silently gasped upon hearing this. As soon as Cornelia explained what happened to Rienna and her mother, she suddenly remembered what Najenda said about Wild Hunt before they started their mission to eliminate them. "Their most recent crime was killing a woman and her child and left them beyond recognition."
As soon as she realized that, Wendy could feel her heart drop. So, the woman and her child Wild Hunt killed were..."
Akame looked over at Wave. "Is that true?"
Wave closed his hands tightly while lowering his head slightly. "It's true. I was there when I saw them. When I did, I never felt so much anger before. They had nothing to do with anything and yet that happened to them. I fought against Syura for what he and Wild Hunt did and I won, but it wasn't enough. Kurome and Run knew how I felt about this and they were going to take the fight to them. I wanted to join but they knocked me out."
"I see. Now it makes sense why we saw them fighting Wild Hunt back in the park." Akame spoke.
Leone couldn't help but growl angrily at what Wild Hunt had done. "Two worlds over and Wild Hunt still pisses me off what they've done. I know Bols was a target, but as Wave said, they had nothing to do with what've been doing." She focused her attention on Rienna. "Man, now I feel sorry for this girl."
The younger Chelsea had one more fact to reveal about her teammate. "Another thing you should know about Rienna is that she has extreme coulrophobia."
Wendy tilted her head in confusion. "What is that?"
"She's really afraid of clowns," Ruby explained. Given what Wild Hunt did and Wendy fighting against Champ, she could understand why Rienna was afraid of them.
Back to Chelsea, she was still in disbelief that she was fighting against Bols's daughter. She felt a bitter feeling deep within her. "Why? I've killed countless people so why?" Her mind flashed back to when she first killed Bols and then when she met him again when Fairy Tail was fighting against the Empire. "Why does Bols always keep coming back to haunt me? First him and now his daughter is fighting me." There was something she noticed while Rienna was attacking and something about her opponent herself. "Bols's daughter, huh? Somehow, I get the feeling you're not really after getting revenge. You had the chance to stab me with your weapon but at the last second, it retracted just before you punched me. So, tell me, what's your goal in this if you're not trying to kill me for what I did?"
Rienna kept glaring at Chelsea. "I wanted to see how strong the person responsible for killing my dad is. And I'll make you pay for what you did to him, to my mom, and me!"
Insert Akame Ga Kill OST: Yami O Kiru
Rienna slammed her hand on the ground and glared daggers at Chelsea. "Chain Explosion!" Multiple explosions were headed to Chelsea in a straight line. She evaded the chain attack by moving right and vanished. She then reappeared in front of Rienna and thrust two fingers at her as her starting attack. As soon as Chelsea did, another explosion underneath the two girls. Chelsea groaned loudly as she didn't expect Rienna to unleash an explosion on both of them. Meanwhile, Rienna was completely unaffected by her own attack and the blade on her other gauntlet retracted.
She delivered a swift uppercut at Chelsa before delivering a right hook at her jaw and delivering a few more jabs. Yang seemed to know what fighting style Rienna was doing. "Is she doing boxing?" After getting a few more hits in, Rienna grabbed Chelsea's left arm and twisted it forward before delivering a right kick to her shoulder. Okay, not boxing unless it's kickboxing but I don't recognize that move." Rienna let go of Chelsea's arm and struck the other girl with her left elbow and then another right jab and then left punch to the side. After that, she grabbed Chelsea's right arm and turned her body around so now her back was turned to the other girl. Her other hand grabbed Chelsea's bicep and performed a full shoulder throw. Chelsea's face was slammed into the ground at full force. Her body remained still for a second before falling forward and her laying on the ground face up.
End OST
The "younger" Leone was astounded by Rienna's fighting style. "Damn. I didn't Rienna could fight like that."
"I guess the reason why we haven't seen her fight is that she's always proving backup and support from the rear. That and I'm pretty sure it wasn't very useful since her flamethrowers were so frigging heavy."
Leone raised an eyebrow upon hearing that detail. "Those things are heavy? She swings them around like they're nothing."
"No, they didn't look like that before," Kurome spoke. "They were a hell of a lot bigger, heavier, and it took Rienna forever to get them on. They were originally were her dad's and she didn't budge on changing them until recently."
"All that added weight contributed to making her more agile and made it possible for her to accomplish feats she couldn't do before," Taeko added.
All of that was very interesting to hear for Leone and turned her attention to the fight. "The question now is what she's going to do now?"
Rienna's glare deepened and there was a deep fury in her eyes. "I know this goes without saying but I hate you. Ever since I saw you, I've had this burning hatred for you and the more I look at you, the more intense it becomes." Her hands closed very tightly and shook with anger. "Tell me, do you carry the weight of those you killed like Akame? Or did you not feel anything when you killed my dad? It's because of you my dad died and because of you I died alongside my mom." She gritted her teeth hard. "You hear me? IT'S YOUR FAULT ME AND MY MOM DIED!"
Cornelia closed her hand and placed it on her chest while having a worried expression. "Oh, Rienna."
"She must've been bottling up these emotions inside of her for a long time," Taeko spoke. "And now they're finally being let out."
The younger Chelsea couldn't help but look away from the fight. "It must've been insufferable for her to be around me. I mean I have the same face as the person who killed her dad."
"That's not true, Chelsea!" The younger Chelsea and others turned in Kurome's direction. "You and she are different people. You don't have to feel responsible for what another you did." The younger Chelsea smiled at the other girl and really needed to hear that.
Mine had similar feelings relating to Rienna's situation. "I know how she feels. When the Seryu I knew killed Sheele, I wanted revenge for what she did and I did get it in the end. Now, Rienna, what are you going to do?"
There was silence present in the air for several seconds before Chelsea spoke. Rienna's eyes locked onto the other girl's. "I'll answer your question with another question; why do you care about a Bols from my world? As far as I know, the Bols I know and your dad are completely different people. Why be angry for something about a person who's different than the one you know?"
Rienna snarled at Chelsea. "Because of what Wave told me. What he told me about my father of what he was like from his world and he's exactly like the dad I've known growing up. So, it doesn't matter if it is a different person or not, he was still the same dad I've looked up to and wanted to be like!"
"Even if means being a murderer like him?" Chelsea asked. She stood up from the ground and turned around to face Rienna. She narrowed her eyes at the other girl. "You dad burned thousands of innocent people to their deaths, women and children included. Do you honestly believe you can still look up to someone like that?"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THAT!" Chelsea was taken aback by Rienna's answer. The blonde slightly lowered her head and her bangs covered her eyes. "I don't care if he did kill people. I don't care if he did do all of those terrible things. As I said, Wave told me what he was like from his world and I know my dad better than anyone else. He loved us and he'd do anything to protect his family!" She raised her head and Chelsea saw Rienna crying from her right eye only. "If it's for his family, I don't care what he does because he'll always love his family no matter what!" An image of her family smiling flashed through her mind.
Chelsea was bewildered by Rienna's answer before closing her eyes and sighed. "You really are Bols's daughter. He told me something similar when I confronted him again."
Now Rienna had a confused look on her face. "What do you mean by that?"
"It was back when Fairy Tail fought against everyone we in Night Raid encountered from the Empire..."
F
Chelsea couldn't help but stare at Bols. It was like she was seeing a ghost but he was actually there standing in front of her. There was a tense silence between them before he spoke. "I remember you. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Chelsea didn't say anything back to him. "Since I believe this'll be the only time, I'll be able to talk to you, let me just say I don't hate you for killing me. Like me, you were just following orders." Chelsea was surprised to hear that coming from him. "And to answer your question, you're right. I didn't recognize that girl." He was talking about when Chelsea took the appearance of a young girl to fool him to kill him. "But there is one thing I do remember and it was their screams. I could never forget that. There were times when I woke up at night because I always heard their screams. The only thing that kept me going was my family. I'd do anything to protect them because they meant the world to me. Even if all the things I've done were unforgivable, I'll bear all the sins I've committed for them" Though, Chelsea couldn't see it, Bols was giving her a fierce and determined look. "If it means protecting my family, I'll become the devil himself if I have to!"
F
"And that's what he said to me. After fighting you, I can definitely see the resemblance." Chelsea gave Rienna a faint smile. "I can also see a bit of myself in you."
Rienna became a little confused upon hearing that. "What do you mean?"
Chelsea closed her eyes and let out a little chuckle before opening her eyes again. "Remember when I said everything was all water under the bridge between me and Akame? Well, when I first found out she was the one who killed Taeko and her team killed Granny, I wanted revenge. I was so angry that the person I fought alongside killed the two people I looked up to the most. It's so ironic, it's not even funny but I was able to move past it. What I've done in the past, I can never undo but I won't ask for your forgiveness. The only thing I can do is move forward." She turned around and walked away from Rienna.
Rienna became further confused by what Chelsea was doing. "Where're you going?"
Once Chelsea was at a far enough distance, she turned around to face Rienna again. "Out of respect, I'm going to fight you with my true strength and I know the perfect person to fight you with." She held her right hand in front and was carrying Gaea Foundation. "It's a shame, though because I was saving this for Mine and her group."
Mine immediately became confused by this. "What is she doing? Gaea Foundation isn't suited for battle."
Leone chuckled and that caught Blake's and everyone else's attention. "What's so funny?"
Leone just kept smiling. "Pay attention now. What you're going to see is Chelsea's true strength."
Chelsea kept looking at Rienna with a determined look. "I got one more thing to say to you. It's not enough for you to try to be just as good as your dad. Instead, be someone who can surpass him!"
Those words dug deep into Rienna and she became very bewildered hearing them. "Surpass...my dad?"
Chelsea smiled as she took out a couple of makeup brushes from Gaea Foundation and swiped herself with them. In the next second, she took on the appearance of a different person. As soon as she did, Mine and everyone else who could sense aura felt tremendous pressure and it made Mine feel shaky. "What...the hell?"
Weiss saw Mine's reaction and didn't understand what was frightening her. "What's wrong?"
Mine just kept staring at the person Chelsea transformed into. "How? How is that even possible?"
The "younger" Leone shared Mine's reaction. "What the hell kind of aura is this?"
Wave had similar thoughts. "I've...never felt an aura this powerful before."
Esdeath gulped as she and the other member of Night Raid felt overwhelmed. "It's...incredible."
Yang looked around the Night Raid group and let out a frustrated groan. "Okay, mind telling us the rest of us who can't sense aura!?"
Leone chuckled again. "Just wait and see."
Mine was still having a hard time believing what she was sensing. "It doesn't make sense. How can Chelsea have a completely different aura by taking another appearance? What the hell is going on!?" Meanwhile, "Chelsea" smiled through her disguise and showed his fangs.
Fairy Tail Member, Salamander: Natsu Dragneel
"Hope you're ready because I'm all fired up!"
Kurome wasn't impressed by "Natsu's" line. "That's a dumb thing to say."
Insert Fairy Tail OST: Blazing Dance
"Natsu" slightly lowered his body and launched himself right at Rienna. She didn't have time to react as he already reached her and threw his right fist forward to her midsection. The impact of the punch was already strong but then intense flames burst out and quickly spread out from the fist and strangely enough, almost sounded like a dragon roaring. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!
Rienna screamed in pain as "Natsu" sent Rienna flying from him and she crashed through the ground while leaving tall clouds of dust behind.
Mine was flabbergasted at what she witnessed. "How's that even possible? Chelsea can't even do anything like that!"
When Rienna stopped, everything around her seemed to stop. She felt a strange feeling coming from the area where "Natsu" punched her and it quickly became too much for her to ignore. She screamed in pain again as she clutched the area while writhing in pain. "IT BURNS! WHY DOES IT BURN!? WHY'S IT SO HOT!?"
The younger Chelsea's eyes went wide with shock. "Rienna's burned? That shouldn't even be frigging possible!"
"Why's that?" Ruby asked.
"Because out of all of us, Rienna has the highest resistance when it comes to heat and fire," Taeko explained.
Carla remembered what Rienna did before when she used an explosion on herself and Chelsea. "I see. That explains why she wasn't affected by her own attack."
"And no matter how hot it got; Rienna was never bothered by it. Hell, she crossed the damn Vacuo desert getting to Shade without having a canteen on her."
"She did what?!" Blake found that to be almost unbelievable that someone could accomplish such a thing.
There was something else Taeko noticed that was peculiar. "What's stranger is that Rienna is feeling pain. Her aura should've protected her."
"Oh, that's probably because Natsu's fire burned through it. It's not that surprising." Leone explained.
The name instantly grabbed Blake's attention. "Did you say Natsu? As the same person, you told us who defeated a war god with one attack?"
"Yep." She added a pop effect to the end of the word. "The same person. As you all know and heard, Chelsea's pretty good at pretending to be another person but that's all she can do. She couldn't do the things that a person is known for. That's why she learned a magic that fits perfectly with Gaea Foundation. It's known as Mimic Magic which not only allows her to use another person's magic, but can also move like them, have their strength, abilities, and as most of you can sense, even their aura. Basically, it's almost like she becomes that person fully."
The "younger" Leone started to piece together how powerful this magic was. "In other words, this Mimic Magic eliminates any weakness Chelsea has when using Gaea Foundation."
The younger Chelsea had similar thoughts about her older counterpart's magic. "So, her magic is kinda like a combination of my semblance and Velvet's."
"Who's Velvet?" Akame asked.
The "younger" Leone smiled at the question. "A really awesome person."
Something Leone said about Chelsea's magic caught Taeko's attention. "You mentioned this Mimic Magic can allow her to use other kinds of magic. I'm assuming that Transportation Magic she used before belongs to someone else."
Wendy nodded at Taeko's question. "Yes. It's Mest's magic, another person from our guild."
"And this magic is called Imperial Arms Magic: Gaea Mimicry." Leone explained.
Ozpin took a special interest Chelsea's magic. "A magic that can mimic not only another person's magic but their physical abilities as well. Quite the formidable magic and dangerous as well."
Rienna managed to recover and stood up while panting heavily and clutching her stomach. The pain she was feeling from "Natsu's" fire attack was beyond anything she'd felt before. The last time she felt heat that strong was when she was enduring the highest setting of her late father's heat room back when she was younger. But the heat she felt before was stronger and it wasn't often she experienced burning. Whatever fire it was, it was something completely different. I guess that's to be expected. Since this Chelsea is from another different world. I guess the person she's now is someone she knows and is extremely proficient in fire magic." She narrowed her eyes slightly and had a strong, determined look in them. "As someone who specializes in fire and explosions, I won't be outdone!" She slammed her two gauntlets together again. Two rectangular pistons emerged from both sides of the gauntlets and they quickly became red as did the front of the gauntlets. "Now, take this! My strongest attack!" She aimed at "Natsu" "Devil's Inferno Invitation!" Her gauntlets reached their full charge and she unleashed a massively powerful flamethrower attack that spiraled straight to "Natsu".
"Natsu" just stood in place and smiled as the fierce flamethrower attack neared him. The attack struck him head-on and the flames widely spread out in every direction. "It's a direct hit!" Cornelia shouted.
"Not quite," Leone spoke.
In the next second, all of them heard a strange sound. The younger Chelsea and the others took a closer look and they all shared the same surprised reaction. "Is she...he...eating...?"
"Rienna's attack?!" Cornelia shouted.
Mine was having trouble processing what she was seeing right before her eyes. "This person attacks with fire and can eat other fire-based attacks? What the hell is this person Chelsea is supposed to be?"
"I don't know, but I don't think it's healthy to eat fire," Jaune added.
They all kept seeing "Natsu" taking in Rienna's attack into his mouth and devouring her attack until it was all consumed. Kurome had only one thing going through her head. "What the fu-"
"Natsu" burped loudly and let out a refreshed sigh. "Now that was a good meal. A little on the grainy side, though."
Rienna had a look of absolute disbelief as her arms dropped to her sides. "My attack...was eaten. How is that even possible?"
"Natsu" grinned at Rienna. "Not a bad attack and now it's my turn. Thanks to your attack, now I got a fire in my belly!" Kurome was too stunned to make another comment about his next catchphrase. He slammed his fists together and took in a deep breath. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" He opened his mouth and let out an intensely powerful stream of fire right at Rienna. She couldn't avoid the attack in time and she was completely enveloped by the attack. As soon as she was, she let out another painful scream.
"Rienna!" Almost everyone shouted at once.
The attack stopped and Rienna was barely standing now and swaying slightly side-to-side. Weiss decided she'd seen enough and had enough of standing on the sidelines. "Okay, it's time for us to step in now." The others nodded and started to move.
"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Weiss and the others immediately stopped when they heard Rienna shout at them. Though she was badly injured and burned, she didn't lose her spirit as she glared at "Natsu". "This...is still between me and her! As long as I'm still standing, she hasn't won!" She then smiled at him. "Besides, I don't think I'll get another chance experiencing this kind of fire again." She turned her attention to the rest of her team. "So, don't get in the way, no matter what happens."
Mine looked at Rienna in the eyes and saw a strong resolve in them. Weiss thought differently about Rienna's demand. "No, we're going to help-"
"Let her go," Mine spoke.
Weiss turned to Mine and thought she was crazy. "But she needs-"
"She's already accepted the outcome. Interfering would just add insult to injury. Just let her be." Weiss growled at the other girl but reluctantly relented. Jaune and the others felt the same way but they'll respect Rienna's wishes.
Ruby was still confused as to what Rienna was doing. "I don't get it. Why doesn't she want Weiss and the others to help?"
"Because this fight's already decided." The "younger" Leone spoke. "She knows she can't win if that guy can just eat any fire attacks she uses. Plus, this is the same guy that one-shot a war god so she's outclassed in strength. Yeah, it's easy to call it quits but for the sake of pride, she won't admit defeat. The only way this'll end is her defeat."
After hearing that, Wave focused on Rienna and gripped his hands tightly. "Rienna..."
Even Chelsea caught on to what Rienna was insinuating. She saw the other girl look in her direction and looked at her those same determined eyes. She sighed internally. "If that's the way you want to go out, fine. I'll grant your wish." "Natsu" spread his arms apart. "With a flame on the right hand and a flame on the left hand..." The fire appeared in the palms of his hands. "You put them together to create...!" He clasped his hands together and two flames merged into a larger sphere of fire. He yelled as he threw both hands forward and sent the sphere of flames right at Rienna. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Rienna smiled as the attack quickly approached her and struck her. When it did, it became a funnel of flames that shot up into the sky and she let out another painful scream. "Natsu" wasn't done yet as he slightly lowered his body and flames covered his entire body. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" He launched himself right at Rienna traveling at a high speed. When the fire funnel dispersed, Rienna was immediately hit by "Natsu's" next attack. She used all her strength to endure the attack as it pushed her back while bearing the intense hot flames that were coming out of him. "Natsu" broke off his attack and flew back a little away from Rienna. As soon as he landed on the ground, large streams of fire spewed out from his arms. He swung his arms around and the fire followed. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" The fire reached Rienna and enveloped her completely while twisting around her body widely. He ran toward Rienna once more while fire covered his right hand. "Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!" He swiped his hand against Rienna from the right side and that caused his previous attack to disperse. However, he wasn't done yet as fire erupted from his left elbow and swung it at the other girl. "Fire Dragon's Burning Elbow!" His elbow strike was just as powerful and fire flared up from underneath his right sandal. "Fire Dragon's Talon!" He kicked Rienna from the right side.
While seeing "Natsu's" attacks, Ozpin was impressed by how strong his fire magic was."I've never seen fire magic with such power before. There's certainly something about it that sets it apart from the fire magic I've seen before."
Rienna let out weak moans when "Natsu" grabbed her face with his left hand and put his other hand on his arm. "Fire Dragon's Grip Strike!" A powerful explosive flame erupted from his hand and covered Rienna's entire body.
Once the attack stopped, "Natsu" let go of Rienna who was barely conscious at this point. He pulled his right hand back and both of his hands glowed bright orange as flames gathered around them. "Dragon Slayer's Secret Arts!" He then unleashed a continuous barrage of powerful punches all over her body. "Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" He roared loudly as he continued to pummel Rienna's body.
With her losing consciousness, every hit Rienna was being dealt with made her remember a memory related to her father. One was where she was young and crying while he was trying to comfort her while her mother was profusely apologizing to the circus ringmaster for her daughter blowing up the tent. There, there, Rienna. It's okay. The scary clown is gone."
"I'm so sorry for what my daughter has done!"
Another memory was her father sitting next to her bed. "So, Rienna, which bedtime story do you want to hear this time?"
"This one, daddy!"
"Ha, ha. Okay then."
And other memory where she was talking to her father over the scroll. "Daddy, when are you coming back?"
"I'll be back soon, sweetie and when I do, I'll make sure I'll give you a big hug!"
"Ha, ha! Not if I give you a bigger hug!"
And she remembered the memory of when the accident happened. "Daddy...it hurts...daddy. It hurts so much!"
"Treat our daughter, quickly!"
Soon different memories about her father were flooding into her mind, only appearing for a brief second before another one appeared. It almost became too much for her until everything went white and saw an image of her father smiling. "Da-" "Natsu" delivered a final punch to the side of Rienna's face while yelling loudly. Fire fiercely erupted from his elbow to add more power to his punch and pushed all the way through. He sent Rienna flying away from him and crashed through the ground and dust kicked up into the air. When she stopped, the dust began to clear out and it revealed that Rienna was knocked unconscious and badly injured.
End OST
The entire field was silent as everyone stared at Rienna's beaten and battered body. All Wave can do was sigh sadly at the sight. This fight started because Rienna wanted revenge for her father on the person who killed him, only to be beaten by that same person. At least history didn't repeat itself like last time and this fight will most definitely have a lasting effect on her. Especially with what Chelsea told her earlier. "It's not enough for you trying to be just as good as your dad. Instead, be someone who can surpass him!"
After seeing what Chelsea can truly do, she turned her attention to Mine. "Be honest. How tough of a fight are we looking at here now?"
After seeing everything, Mine had a clear and easy answer for Weiss. "Considering what we've seen what Chelsea can do now..." She saw "Natsu" set his right arm to the side while it was still covered in fire. "Extremely tough."