AN: To the guest who thought the brother gods were dead with the Greek Pantheon being gone that's not the case. They weren't Erebus and Aether. They were their own thing for the RWBY-verse.

AN2: Glad to see how many of you liked the introduction of Selene mode Salem last chapter. And I was quite surprised to find out that not everyone recognized her as Salem right off the bat. Gotta say, this fic is making for fun character explorations.

A New god of Remnant

Chapter 23

-Percy-

Humming to himself, Percy's pencil scratched away at a notebook as he jotted down various ideas. He had the essences of so many gods and goddesses within him. Ozpin's point about how just ignoring them, just suppressing the shards of their souls, was liable to just make his situation worse.

So, he practiced. Experimented. Sought ways to utilize the natures and domains of the gods whose memory he carried within him. He wasn't sure if it was because he was 'appeasing' the remnants of the gods, or if it was because he was finally moving past the losses he'd endured. But he found himself feeling almost lighter of late.

"Sir. Do you have a moment to talk?" roused from his thoughts at the question, Percy looked over to see a silver haired student was the one who spoke. A boy he remembered being the partner of the girl who stole Annabeth's dagger before, and the teammate of the girl who was now on the run from the Huntsman and police as an ally of the White Fang and a murderer in her own right.

"Come to my office." Percy kept his expression professional, still not too happy about the theft that had occurred but not wanting to take it out on someone who hadn't actually done it themselves.

"Thanks." The silver haired first year nodded even if his eyes kept flitting about nervously. As they walked, Percy remembered what Ozpin had told him about this Mercury guy's family. With that bit of context, he was recognizing a lot of unpleasant signs. Getting to his office, Percy sat behind his desk, snapping his fingers as a plate of cobalt blue cookies appeared on it, Mercury jerking in shock at the ability.

"The fuck?!" Mercury gaped at the sight, even as the teenager's nose perked up at the smell of hot melting chocolate chips, "I thought your semblance was making Grimm drop shit?"

"Yes. And?" Percy grinned mischievously for a moment before adopting a more serious expression, "So you wished to speak with me?"

"I…yeah." Mercury's leg started bouncing, "I wanted to ask you to take your…whatever it is off of Emerald."

"She robbed me and then boasted about it." Percy responded stoically. He wanted to see what the boy had to say.

"Yeah. Because Cinder didn't like you and she thought doing that would make that bitch notice her." Mercury scowled darkly at the mention of his old team leader.

"Keep talking." Percy ran a tired hand down his face. He may not be happy about it…but he knew his mom and Annabeth would at least want him to hear Mercury out. To give forgiveness a chance.

Mercury looked shocked but nodded, "Did Ozpin tell you about me and Em's history with Cinder?"

"He filled me in on some of it." Percy steepled his fingers, "Just that Cinder was apparently working with the White Fang and had found you and Emerald, being the ones who got you enrolled at Haven."

"There's…a bit more detail to it than that." Mercury kept up his jittery energy. Percy had seen this first year be completely cool, even cocky, while fighting Grimm on training exercises or when sparring in the ring. But here he the kid was nervous, unsure. It painted a picture he didn't like.

"Like what?" Percy grabbed one of the cookies, he'd need the sweets for this. Plus, hopefully him eating one would help convince Mercury that they weren't poisoned.

"She found me right after I lost my legs." Mercury tapped shin against shin, a distinct metal ping filling the office "I'd barely survived it, and she got me a chance at haven as well as my prosthetics. Em? She was a gutter trash kid who grew up on the streets, having to use her semblance just to get by. Till Cinder found her and got her off the streets anyway."

"And she latched onto the first person who treated her with kindness. Who offered her a chance at a better life and possibly at getting back at the system they felt hurt them." Percy sighed, running a hand down his face. The story reminded him painfully of Luke and the other demigods who sided with the titans.

"She…I think she was planning something." Mercury shrugged, "I guess working with the fang made that obvious. But Emerald's semblance? That thing is strong. But once you did…well whatever it was you did, Cinder changed towards Emerald. Cinder not only said Emerald was now 'useless to her' but Emerald said that the bitch backhanded her over this." Percy was getting reminded more and more of Luke.

"What of you? Why did she seek you out?" Percy was curious if Mercury would lie to him. So far nothing had felt untrue, but it had felt like it wasn't everything.

"I think she was after my dad actually. The assassin Marcus Black." Mercury's tone was bitter.

"He abused you." Percy spoke softly as Mercury jerked a bit.

"I thought you said Ozpin didn't tell you?" Mercury stiffened, Percy recognizing a 'fight or flight' response when he saw one.

Tugging down the collar of his shirt, Percy showed the top of a scar to Mercury "My stepdad did that when I was eight. Broken beer bottle. He was pissed that he lost some money on a bet and Mom wasn't around to stop him."

"You kill your old man too?" Mercury relaxed a bit, the shared history of suffering putting him at ease.

"My mother killed him when she found out what he was doing. Used a semblance to turn him to stone and then sold his statue off to a collector of ugly art pieces." Percy smirked as Mercury blinked stunned before barking out a laugh.

"Your mom sounds like a badass." Mercury finally took a cookie, perking up at what might have been his first taste of a homemade sweat.

"She was." Percy's somber tone clued Mercury in if the student wasn't already aware.

"But yeah. Dad wasn't just an assassin; he could steal part of a person's soul to take away their semblance." Mercury's shudder as he spoke made it clear that the student had suffered such a fate.

Percy weight the matter before sighing, walking back around the desk as he looked at Mercury "I won't remove what I did to Emerald. Not right now at least. If I feel she has truly grown from this, that she truly understands why what she did was wrong and regrets it for the act and not the consequence then I will do so. For now…I can do something else."

Focusing on the powers of Psyche, goddess of the soul, Percy placed a glowing hand upon Mercury's brow "My people are gone. But thanks to one amongst them, their abilities live on within me." It had been Glynda's cover story idea in point of fact. A semblance to transfer semblances to explain why he had so many differing powers "Your semblance is still a part of who you are. And now, by my command, let it return!" Mercury jerked ramrod straight, letting out a strangled gasp as power and light rushed into the silver haired teenager's body, aura glowing brighter and brighter before finally fading away.

"It...it's back." Mercury had tears running down his face as he stared up at Percy wide eyed, "My soul…I can feel it again."

"Emerald will need your help Mercury." Percy's voice was gentle as he helped Mercury straighten back up, "And if she truly wishes to grow…then I shall help you both as well."

-Mercury-

Head down, still trying to process everything, Mercury entered the house that he and the others were staying at in Vale. Well, apart from Cinder but fuck her.

"Ah, there you are." Hazel's deep voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked up. The big man was preparing some food at the moment. Watts was doing something with a computer, Salem was browsing for properties, and he saw Tyrian being a surprisingly good yoga instructor for Emerald.

"Sorry I…I had something to do." Mercury sat down at the counter, bouncing his leg nervously before looking over at Salem who noticed his gaze.

"Is something wrong Mercury?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. She thankfully didn't sound angry or threatening but she was still intimidating as all hell.

"I…I don't think I'll be able to fight Jackson if you ask me to." Mercury hung his head, waiting for the expected insults, the backhands, the stabbing, anything.

"Mercury. What happened?" Salem's voice was surprisingly tender as she moved to sit beside him, the others not so subtly listening in.

"I…I went to him. I asked him to remove his curse from Em." Mercury admitted as Emerald looked over surprised. "He said he wouldn't do it now, but did say what would have him change his mind. But after that he and I got to talking and…I told him of pops."

"I don't see why this would keep you from fighting him young man." Watts interrupted before gulping when Salem shot the man a look.

"He…he was like me." Mercury's words made the room suddenly feel like it was growing colder.

"Explain." Salem demanded, her tone no nonsense as Mercury shivered from the intensity.

"He showed me a scar his stepfather gave him as a kid." Mercury relived every drunken insult and punch from his own father as he said those words, "A drunken monster who liked beating Jackson down whenever his mom wasn't around to protect him."

"I assume Jackson killed him once he was strong enough." Hazel rumbled even if Mercury could see his grip warping the handle of the skillet he was using.

"Actually, Jackson said his mom turned the bastard to stone and sold his ass as an ugly lawn statue." Mercury's statement made the room freeze before Salem nearly fell off her stool laughing. It seemed the queen of darkness and Grimm could laugh. Good to know.

"So…you relate to him?" Emerald spoke up to get the conversation back on track, his illusionist partner having been weird around him recently, but he didn't get why. He wasn't acting any different.

"He…he also gave me back part of my soul." Mercury clutched at his shirt as the room went deadly silent.

"What?!" Watts, the one doctor, ran over, starting to frantically run tests on Mercury's aura.

"How?" Salem frowned in confusion, "I tried as well but my magic couldn't."

"He has multiple semblances. Or maybe the powers of multiple gods." Mercury looked over at her, "Apparently someone from his home had the ability to transfer semblances, souls, from one person to another and he was given those of his homeland as it perished. I think that would include their gods. If one of them had an ability based on souls…"

"Then he could fix your situation." Salem nodded as she slumped down, working through the slew of new information he'd gotten for her unintentionally.

"What did he say I had to do to get this curse off me?" Emerald frowned in confusion even as Tyrian made her do a back bend he'd sure would break his own spine if he tried.

"He said if he felt you'd grown from it. If you understood the extent of what you did and came to truly regret the action, and not the consequence." Mercury told her as Emerald groaned, although whether it was from the ultimatum or being forced to do her best human pretzel impression, he wasn't sure. "But there's more. He's…offered to train both of us."

"He what?!" Emerald lost the war of the pretzel and collapsed into a pile of Emerald on the floor.