Sorry everyone, I disappeared and didn't say anything. Honest to god I was supposed to be done with this since the last Friday but when I was writing this I encountered several problems. The first was assignments and work for school. The second was more drama with regards to courses I'm doing and administration trying to shaft me again. The third was Genshin Impact and the fourth was more directly toward the fic.

See RWBY left me with a very big problem, and that was the timeline. There were never any clear indications as to how the timeline of events worked in RWBY. Major historical events such as the War of the Four Kingdoms and Faunus War were never properly addressed as to when they occurred, only small indications as to that.

From Salem and Ozma's backstory, we can tell that the War of the Four Kingdoms occurred when Ozma and Salem tried to unify them by force to create a perfect world. That is assumed to be within the first two centuries of developed humanity.

The Faunus were already enslaved by then but judging by the state of RWBY in current times, it can be assumed that the Faunus rebellion didn't occur until roughly 60-70 years prior to the events of volume 1. This would indicate why there is still inherent racism in society with so many people still strongly of those beliefs, as well as rebel groups still fighting for equality. Decades don't heal wounds like that and it would explain why tensions are still seemingly so high even if society has grown to accept both races equally. It's almost as if the war is still fresh in the minds of some people. I mean things could be said for our current society but the way RWBY treated the Faunus, it felt like their rebellion was something that happened within the last 100-200 years.

So I was faced with the question: How do I properly explain my timeline?
And the answer I came up with is: Original Word Destruction Restoration Humans return Faunus are created Humans evolve War of Gaia Faunus escape to the four continents Enslavement War of The Four Kingdoms Reprieve Faunus Rebellion Peace RWBY Volume 1

This isn't new information but I figured for anyone wondering how all the events are mixed in that I have mentioned or explained thus far, that is it. Also, I had to scrap my original idea for this backstory so some things have changed, including how Maria lost her eyes, I also changed the name Garuda to Aeros because it sounded cuter in my head. I'll go back and edit those chapters where I mentioned them.

Also if anyone wants to add me on Genshin Impact this is my ID 601315608


Chapter 62: How Maria Lost Her Eyes And Raisa Lost Her Mind, and Cordovin Somwhere Along the Way


It had been three full days since the team arrived in Argus, and time was running low for them. According to Hex's interception of an Atlas transmission, several ships loaded with Atlasian soldiers were scheduled to fly out in two days. This didn't leave them with much preparation time.

"So… what's the plan to get into the base?" Yang asked planting her hands down onto the coffee table. The small piece of furniture acting as a make-shift war table was comical, to say the least since most everyone had to bend way too far down to touch it.

"We can try talking to Cordovin again, maybe she'll be convinced…" Blake started but Weiss instantly shot her down.

"No! That woman is unreasonable, you saw the way she looked at you. She has a clear distrust for the Faunus and honestly, I don't want to negotiate with someone like that…" the ex-heiress said with a stern gaze.

"Cordovin wasn't always like that… but then again, given what she's seen, we can't exactly blame her…." Maria said with downcast eyes.

"Well I have a plan, but it's pretty iffy…" Hex said prompting them.

They all looked at her with anticipation so she just sighed, "Well from my readings on their systems, yes I know hacking official military systems is a criminal offense…" she looked at the door where Tera and Saphron were eavesdropping.

"We didn't hear anything!" Tera said aloud and began whistling.

Jaune sighed exasperatedly, "Sis! I told you guys not to come in here! We don't want you involved… it could put you in danger!"

"And any business of my little brother is my own. If I can help, I will help!" Saphron insists sternly.

"...And, wherever she goes, I go. Right, Adrien?" Tera said looking toward the toddler in her arms. The baby just giggled and raised his arms triumphantly.

Jaune groaned, "We can't stop you can we?"

"Nope!" Saphron said walking into the room and roping an arm around her brother. "So what's the situation?"

Hex looked to Ruby and Nova, who both shrugged simultaneously, "Fine by us…" they said together.

"Okay… so here's what we're gonna do…" she pulled out her holographic map layout of the base. "There's a shuttle dock over here," she pointed to the open pad. "It's got clear sight from both the tower and the ground forces so sneaking onto one is gonna be hard but…"

"With the right distraction, we can?" Nora said excitedly. Distractions were her strong suit.

Hex nodded confirmingly, "The next issue is take off without getting noticed. We'll have to fly at the exact moment the other ships are departing…"

"What about passcodes? Atlas ships need special codes to access their consoles…" Weiss prompted. When they all looked at her questioningly as to how she knew this she shrugged, "I had to fly one out of Atlas when the pilot got… you know what? That's not important."

"Right… anyway it should be fine. Atlas tech isn't so advanced I can't crack it. Just get me two minutes and I'll have those codes." The purplette continued.

"Assuming all of that goes well… what's stopping us from being found out when we need to sound off for flight?"

"That's… we'll just...wing it?" Hex shrugged unsurely. They all deadpanned.

"Winging it has always been our strong suit…" Blake said eyeing Nova who was rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

Elain who was sitting quietly in the corner let out a loud exhale, "Reckless plan with little chance of success, great that's what we're used to… but what happens if it all goes sideways? What's the contingency plan? Nine out of ten times this might just blow up in not just our faces but theirs as well…" she pointed to Tera and Saphron.

"What if we get attacked? We don't have the firepower to deal with the entire Atlasian military base… or have we forgotten that charcoal over there is burnt out?" Qrow said throwing a thumb toward Nova.

Maria and Raisa shared a glance, "We have some time… including today we might be able to help…"

"How? You aren't Maidens or Faunus, don't get me wrong, your knowledge and wisdom are paramount but…" Yang started but Raisa knocked her walking stick against the ground.

"Nova's in a state of attuning. As we've established before, the powers are conflicting until her body can properly integrate the magic into her system. The fact that she's stuck as a girl right now just proves that she's on the right track. All that's left now is to complete the process." Raisa said with commanding tones.

"Complete the process? What?" it was Nova who was confused.

"That's for you to figure out. You have two days. And as for you," she pointed the skull toward Ruby who leaned back startled. "You need to move to the next stage of the training! There's not a whole lot we can do in two days but you'll have to adapt and learn whatever you can before you leave. There's no telling when you'll get another chance!"

"What do you mean? You're not coming with us to Atlas?" Ruby asked.

Raisa shook her head, "Heavens no! I'm not fit for combat, and any more time I'm forced to spend around this gremlin is punishment enough!" she pointed to Maria who just bonked her on the head with her stick.

"Alright then, we all have our agendas, Hex you sort out the rest of the plan with them. Iron out the details, Ruby and I have some training to attend to." Nova said glancing at her girlfriend.

With that, the team separated with Nova and Ruby following the Calavera sisters into the backyard.

"So how am I supposed to do this?" Nova asked, plopping down onto the soft lawn, cross-legged.

"As I said, that's for you to figure out. If you're looking for a place to start, try calling on your Maiden's aura?" Raisa suggested.

Nova hummed in pondering before beginning to concentrate, closing her eyes and feeling the power of the Maiden, like when she did the Aura transfer to Pyrrha. The soft orange glow began to cover her as she went into deep meditation.

Maria clapped her stick against the ground, getting Ruby's attention, "No distractions. Now, do you have it on you?"

"Have what?" Ruby asked confused.

"The Silver heart."

"The what now?"

Raisa facepalmed, "She won't know like that! The necklace that one gave you, the gem." She explained.

Ruby's face morphed into realization and pulled out the ruby necklace that Nova had forged for her. The glistening gem, shining with radiance as the silver sliver in the middle seemed more prominent than before.

"What's this got to do with my eyes?" Ruby asked piecing two and two together.

Raisa studied it with interest, "So it has been evolving…"

"What?"

"Nevermind that. The gem in your hands is known as the Silver Heart. Fifty-something odd years ago that once belonged to… our father, and then to me… and now you."

"Okay but that doesn't tell me what it is…" Ruby said dryly.

"It's a mystical piece of divinity, like that stone on the lizard's hand. We don't know where it came from, our father said it was forged by concentrated divine light, but when or where it originated is still a mystery to us… but what we do know is what it's capable of."

"Wait hold on… this isn't just a normal gem?" Ruby tilted her head confused.

The Calavera sisters facepalmed simultaneously, "NO! It's a medium! It makes the Silver Eyes more powerful!"

Ruby flinched at their sharp tone, "Yeesh alright… but how?"

"Well it differs, we only saw our father use it once… and… he…" Maria began rubbing her thumb over her walking stick as if remembering a bitter memory. "He could wield a shield of silver light, manifested by his power through the gem. It could instantly destroy Grimm. When I used it… I…"

"It would be easier if we just told her the full story, maybe she'll understand what we mean…" Raisa said softly.

Her sister sighed, "This is going to be a long day and we don't have the time… alright sit down kid, we're gonna tell you a little tale…"

"It all happened during the Great Faunus War…" Raisa started.


-Several Decades Ago–

It was the era of the Great Faunus War. The Faunus entered the human population seemingly out of nowhere, integrating themselves into society from all corners of the world. Humanity, however, was still in the mid-stages of development. The introduction of a new species, so alike yet so different from their own, brought fear and anxiety across the land.

Many people subjected the Faunus to harsher treatments because they were different, it was human nature to fear what they did not understand, and it was that fear that gave rise to violence.

The humans realized that they outnumbered the Faunus ten to one, that these creatures were the minority in a world that, until just now, had thought humans were the dominant race.

That was the beginning of the enslavement, the mistreatment. Somewhere along the way, world leaders began to see the Faunus as exploitable manpower, resources to be used… after all… they weren't human, and anything that wasn't human as a means to an end.

The Faunus people, caught off guard and unaware by the sudden mass persecution and incarceration, were forced to submit to the humans. It didn't help that they themselves were already in disarray, having fled their homeland. Perhaps they could have won if they were to use the powers granted to them by the gods, The Aspects of Remnant, but they were too spread apart. One person, no matter how powerful, could never combat the forces of a country alone.

They were not a violent race, and came to the humans seeking asylum and aid, but were met with scorn and slavery. It wasn't for many years did a group of Dust Miners stage an escape in the territory of Mantle, this news sparked further rebellions across the continent, spreading fire into the Faunus. Years of mistreatment had festered and manifested into sheer hatred and conviction, and the boiling pot had finally blown its lid.

That was the beginning of the White Fang. The start of a war that would rage for years.

Raisa and Maria Calavera exonerated Huntresses who'd made a name for themselves across the world. Exterminators of Grimm by day, and military black ops by night.

Maria Calavera codenamed The Grim Reaper and Raisa Calavera, The Death Blossom, were sent to Vacuo on a mission, to quell the Faunus rebellion that had been wreaking havoc on merchant trade routes. They were on a plane traveling from Atlas, on route to dropping them over Vacuo territory.

"We arrive at the drop-zone, ETA ten minutes. By regulation, I'm required to mission brief you again before you leave." Caroline Cordovin said. She stood around 5ft 4 with subtle features and jet black hair, clad in standard Atlas military uniform.

"Classic Cordovin, I swear everything that comes outta your mouth is regulation or rules," Maria snickered, her blue skull mask staying still despite her body jerking with her chuckles. She picked up her twin scythes that rest against her dark blue cloak. "We already know what our objective is."

"Come now sister, she's just following protocol, would it kill you to be serious for one minute?" Raisa said from beside her. Like Maria, she wore a similar cloak except instead of dark blue and black, it was white and pink, around her neck rested a silver and pink gem in the shape of a carved sphere.

"At least one of you has their head-on, it's a wonder how you ever survive without her," Cordovin said leering at Maria who just stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry.

Caroline just disregarded her, "You're dropping over Vacuo desert, a fight's broken out between local military forces and they've requested backup. Both sides are at a stalemate, situated here and here," she had unfurled a map of the Vacuian desert and pointed at two sites, from the topography they could see both areas were centered around large rock formations that acted as cover.

"Wait… the fight's already broken out? I thought we were heading in to stop it before it started…" Raisa said looking unnerved behind her white skull mask.

"Well, that's what you were briefed initially. The reality of the situation is, that the enemy has taken a group of soldiers hostage. Our site has been receiving threats that if they don't comply with their demands, they execute the hostages." Cordovin said sternly. Maria just rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"So what? They send the two of us as backup? Something smells fishy about all this…" the younger Calavera voices.

"Well this is an infiltration mission, Atlas has specified they want this to be as covert as possible. They don't want a nationwide spectacle… at all costs…"

"Wait what do you mean spectacle? They're trying to hide this battle? What are you not telling us Cordovin?" Maria growled behind her mask.

"I'm telling you what I know. I don't know anything else besides that." She said fighting her down. Maria was about to protest but Raisa held her back with a hand.

"Don't fight the wrong enemy…" she glared.

Maria cursed, "Suit yourself goody two shoes but when this blows up in our faces, I can't wait to say I told you so…"

"ETA five minutes to drop!" The pilot said from the cockpit.

"The leader goes by the name 'Onyx Steelmane'. He's held out with his forces at that location, they have a camp set up. Get in, secure the hostages, and get out."

There was a sudden jerk as they physically felt the plane's velocity slow down, "WE'RE HERE!" The pilot calls out, as the cargo door for the plane begins to open up.

It was the dead of night outside as the rush of air filtered in from the outside. The smell of sea-salt and dry sand.

Maria and Raisa strapped on their parachutes, "Ready?" the older sister asked.

"No… but I don't have that luxury…"

"No, you don't. Come on, let's get going!" Cordovin yelled strapping on her own parachute.

"WAIT YOU'RE COMING WITH US?!" Maria yelled over the roar of the engine.

Cordovin smirked, "SOMEONE HAS TO KEEP YOU FROM FUCKING THINGS UP!"

"FINE, BUT CAN YOU KEEP UP?!" Maria said with her own smirk as she jumped out of the plane with reckless abandon.

"TRY ME!" she yelled jumping out after her.

Raisa clutched her head in her hands, "Dios mio, what am I going to do with you two…" she said before jumping after them.


On the ground, amidst the vast sands and rocky outcroppings, lay a sizeable encampment. Multiple military-grade tents were pitched to house various stations of operation, medical bays, mess halls, sleeping quarters and more.

At the very center stood a larger tent with a singular entrance, it was more akin to a shack covered in a tarp. Inside it was a war room with a burly man with black hair wearing desert wraps, accompanied by two other men who looked to be soldiers.

"Captain Ignis sir, we have an incoming transmission from the enemy on open channels." One soldier said rushing into the tent carrying a portable field radio.

"Play it." The large captain said, folding his arms. It had been three days since the men were captured, they were good soldiers, and many of them he knew personally. To think that he'd let them get taken like this, under his command, it bothered him to no end.

The soldier pressed a small red button on the side of the radio and what followed was the static, deep voice of a man, "Captain, my patience is wearing thin… you have something I want, we have something you want, it's a simple trade… you give me the artifact, and I give you back your men! It's a simple trade-off."

The captain grit his teeth, "I have no guarantee that if I give you what you ask, that my men are returned to me, unharmed, Steelmane" Ignis countered through the radio's microphone.

"Come now… I am a reasonable man! You have my word they'll be returned safely!" Onyx said Ignis could tell he was smiling even though they could not see each other.

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't trust the word of a scoundrel who'd sacrifice his own men to achieve his goals… or have you forgotten what you did at The Battle of Thunder Canyon." The other men in the room could see the good captain seething with fury.

Onyx's tone instantly changed, "Those loyal soldiers knew what they were heading into when they signed up for the operation. If bringing up past tragedies your answer to my negotiations, then I should start executing right now!"

Ignis' eyes shot wide open as a single fire of a gun was heard through the microphone and the collective outroar and screams of men, "NO! STOP!" Ignis began to yell but Onyx interrupted.

"You have three hours or I start executing them, starting with this one…" there was the sound of ruffling clothes as a soldier was pulled to the mic.

"Don't give him a fucking thing! YOU HEAR ME, CAPTAIN? WE'D RATHER DIE THAN HAVE YOU GIVE IN TO THIS MONSTER'S DEMANDS!" a younger male voice said over the radio. "DON'T-" he was cut off.

"Now now, is that how dear old dad taught you to speak? Is that how you raised him? Captain Ignis? The clock is ticking…" the transmission cut off and Ignis almost fell over from mental exhaustion.

"What are we going to do sir? Are we going to give them the artifact?" one of the soldiers in the room asked, a timid looking man with a bald head.

Just then the tent doors burst open, Raisa and Maria stepping into the room, "You aren't giving them a damn thing. We're here to clean up your mess." Maria said taking up a triumphant stance.

Instantly weapons were aimed at them, "Who are you?! How did you get in here?!" the bald guard said with zeal, although his hands were shaking.

"At ease soldiers. They're with me." Cordovin said stepping in from behind the Calaveras.

"Atlas uniform? You're the backup we requested? Just the three of you?" Ignis eyed them with suspicion. "How did you even get in? We were told to look out for you but…"

Maria waltzed up to the shaky bald guard and grabbed the rifle, forcing it down against his will, "Put that thing down pinky or you'll poke someone's eye out."

"We're here to infiltrate and extract, not fight your war. We get in, rescue your people and get out, maybe sabotage a few things. What's this about an artifact?" Raisa said with confidence, asserting her position.

"That's classified information," came the instant response.

"Mhm, listen, buddy, we're all on the same side here, and if you want our help you're going to have to give us all the details." Maria pressured, walking up and sitting down on the war table. "Or would you rather something go wrong while we're escaping and that little bit of information that could've saved us and your son be the death of us all?"

The captain bit his lip before sighing, "Four days ago we came across an artifact from an archaeological site to the far north of Vacuo. It's an ancient heritage site, said to be one of the first Faunus settlements dating back more than a century."

"The Temple of Whispering Death," Raisa finished for him.

This caught them by surprise, "You know of it?"

"It's been a buzz on the Huntsman networks, dangerous place said to attract Grimm like the flies. No one's been able to get close. The place has been abandoned for decades." She explained, though no one could read her expression through the skull mask.

"Our team was tasked with escorting the artifact from the site and delivering it to the research facility in the south when we were ambushed by Faunus soldiers in the dead of night. Two of our men managed to escape with the artifact but the rest were captured and taken as hostages when they realized their objective got away."

"Okay that's the story, but what I want to know is what's so important that the Faunus would risk it all to ambush a heavily armed military transport?" Maria eyed him suspiciously.

"That's…" one of the soldiers was about to answer but Ignis silenced him.

"They wanted this…" Ignis walked to the back of the tent and returned carrying a black lockbox. He opened it to reveal an ornate golden crown adorned with various coloured jewels. At the very center, standing out like stripes on a zebra was a black quartz, unlike the other colourful stones this one was glimmering like the night sky full of stars.

"A crown?" Cordovin asked with a lack of interest.

"We're not sure why they want it. Researchers speculate that its an important piece of their heritage but we can't be sure until it gets back to a proper lab. It's estimated to be worth millions just by the craftsmanship alone."

"Money? Typical animals, always after the shiny objects…" Caroline said bitterly. Maria and Raisa didn't share her feelings toward the Faunus but they also knew not to voice against it lest they be branded as traitors. At the end of the day, a job was a job.

"Alright… we know what they're after, we know what to do. We'll have your men home by sunrise, come on ladies." Maria said getting up from the table and waving her hand in the air, pointing her index outside.

"Sunrise? You're leaving now?!" Ignis asked alarmed.

"Of course! Didn't you hear that man? He'll start executing in a few hours!"

"But… you don't have a plan, a method of infiltration! How do we know that you can do this?"

"You didn't see us get into your camp right? That should explain our skill." She hollered back while strutting outside.

Raisa groaned, "Forgive my sister's childishness. I will deal with her later, but you can rest assured, we are good at what we do."

"I'm also watching over them. Don't worry captain, they might be annoying but Death Blossom and Grim Reaper are the best black ops agents I know… unfortunately…" Cordovin said with a heavy breath before following them out.

Ignis rapidly blinked, "Did she just say who I think she just said?"

"Yeap… we just met the famous ghosts of Atlas sir…" the bald soldier said with awe in his voice.


In the night, no light shone on the desert sands as the trio crossed the perilous path to the enemy camp. With nothing but moonlight and drifting winds to guide them, Maria, Raisa and Caroline plotted their route meticulously, following along a map and basing it on ground points of interest, like an extra-large dune. Strangely enough, there was no Grimm around the area, most likely cleared out by the respective armies before setting up.

"Weather report from the ground team, winds are about to pick up real soon," Cordovin said placing a hand on her communicator. "Once we're inside, we won't have the luxury of outside communication so enjoy it while we still have it."

"Winds? The fuck did you hear that from..." Maria was about to call the intel bullshit when there was a sudden spike in wind velocity as sand began to be lifted into the air. With their masks, it wasn't hard to weather the wind but Cordovin wasn't so lucky. It made traveling slow to a near crawl. The further they went along the arid, desolate landscape, the faster the winds began to pick up until they arrived at the encampment.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing? This is real right? I'm not high on duty, again..." Maria gaped as they approached what seemed to be a swirling vortex of wind encircling the enemy camp in a wide radius around the rocky outcropping.

"How are we supposed to get in? It seems like the weather just ain't on our side tonight..." Caroline said bitterly, trudging slowly behind them while shielding her eyes.

Raisa pulled up her night vision goggles and began scanning the area for an entry point. From what she could discern, the rock formation was elevated, forming a cage-like structure of pillars surrounding the base. The camp itself couldn't be seen from the outside, and it didn't help that the sandstorm was disrupting their vision. They could only tell the faint beams of light that were emanating from the center of the area, and from the direction, they could surmise that it was a crater-like area.

"Hug the walls, there's no real way in other than bracing ourselves, Marie let me borrow one of your scythes, my sword isn't built for rock climbing," she said without looking at her sister.

Maria grumbled before handing her one of the weapons, "Don't scratch it."

"Follow my lead and we should be fine." They scrambled along the side with sure footing, trying desperately not to be taken by the harsh winds. The moment they reached the rock face they anchored their weapons into its surface.

"WHAT NOW?!" Maria yelled over the roar of the wind.

Raisa pointed upward to where the rocks split and had an opening to the crater, "Over there, it's a narrow walk but it's our best bet!", and so the trio made their way through the perilous, windswept path up the side of the rocky outcropping until they crested the rim. The moment they did, they were met with an unexpected sight.

Within the crater was like the eye of the storm, still and calm. Sitting neatly in the center atop a flat metal foundation was a three-story metal building that looked akin to a research facility. Based on the metal rusting on the outside and the scattered sands on the foundation, they could tell that this 'camp' wasn't recently set up. Raisa also noticed grimly the mounted mortars that lined the platform and outer rim, judging by their design, they didn't use standard shell rounds.

"What the fuck am I looking at here? This is a full-blown base!" Maria whisper-shouted as they took cover along the outer rim as to not be spotted by the various guards located around the base.

Caroline pressed her finger to her chin, "Intel said it was a camp... not a base... but judging by this it's more than just an outpost..."

"Base or camp, doesn't change our objective. Come on we're wasting time," she pulled out her night vision goggles again to see the area. From what she could tell, there was a cargo hold to their right, various boxes were in stacks piled outside a large gateway. Most likely used for deliveries, why it was open they didn't know, but it was their point of entry. "Loading bay to the right, we can... MARIA WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"

Maria was already on the move before Raisa could relay the order, upon hearing her name she turned back and shot double peace signs and a wide grin, "Maria Calavera I am going to strangle you!" she yelled waving her fist as she chased after her sister.

Caroline wanted to argue but chose otherwise since it was a risk while behind enemy lines. She followed their footsteps, mimicking everything precisely, and she found it to be a gracious reminder of why the Calavera sisters were called the "Ghosts of Atlas". Every move they made, every action was done with precision and purpose, and it wasn't complex nor convoluted, simple use of blind spots and knowing where to step allowed even someone untrained in stealth to be a specter among the shadows.

Ducking and dodging behind crates and cargo, sticking the shadows they were right under the guards' noses without any of them being aware. It was would have been inspiring had Maria not had the personality she did.

Once they were safely inside, they were greeted by large stacks of more crates, by this time, Maria's curiosity was burning her, and she'd already begun to crack open a crate.

"Maria, what do you think you are doing?" Caroline hissed.

"Just checking what the Faunus are hiding~" she hummed, "A little information gathering isn't against orders is it?"

Caroline ground her teeth in anger but held her voice, if she were to let it out she would probably alert the whole base, so she stewed in anger.

Maria finally popped the lid to find Dust crystals of varying shapes, sizes, and elements all in perfect lines. "Dust... of course it is, why would I ever think it would be anything else," Maria said unimpressed.

"The question is, why would the Faunus in this base need so much? This could fuel a whole army..." Raisa said thoughtfully.

"We can study this later, for now, I think we should stay on track, or have you forgotten there are lives at stake." Cordovin countered bitterly. "We have less than two hours left."


Aeros Swiftwing stood guard in the main room on the second floor where the hostages were being kept. She was under orders from her commanding officer, Onyx Steelmane to ensure that the prisoners remained where they were, and she was to execute should they try to run.

She was a small-framed, light blue-haired hawk Faunus with a particular genetic trait. Unlike her fellow Faunus, whose traits were usually not overwhelming, hers took the form of wings, feathers branching under her arms, while her legs were taloned bird feet. Her father was just like her, he said it was due to her unique heritage, and she took that word as gospel, not that she ever got the chance to question it further.

When she was ten years old, her parents were abducted by the humans and forced to slave away in their Dust mines. She only got away because her father hid her in a small storage cupboard when the humans invaded. She was taken in by an old woman, a human who raised her until she was sixteen, whereby the humans struck again, this time taking her captive and executing the old woman for treason. As luck would have it, before she could be taken, the local rebellion intercepted the human soldiers who came for her and saved her.

She'd fallen under the Faunus military ever since, training to one day bring an end to the war, to take revenge on the humans who caused her thing but misery. She would kill them all, or at least that's what she told herself every day. In reality, she couldn't bring herself to take a human life, even during her debut missions, she never aimed to kill, maybe disable but never kill. She couldn't do it, because deep down she believed that not all humans were inherently evil. Any time she tried to think of acts of violence, the voice of the human lady who raised her would echo in her mind "Violence only breeds more violence, deep down we are all the same."

She felt pity for the soldiers held captive, tied up at her feet, but for the sake of her job, for the sake of her people, she would do whatever it was that needed to be done. This war was started by them, she needed to remember that.

"Sir, there's been an unauthorized opening of the storage room to the east," a canine Faunus soldier said stumbling into the room, saluting to the large muscular bear Faunus who stood with a large rifle strapped around his neck, Onyx Steelmane.

Onyx rubbed his temples, "I told you not to bother me with things like this. It's probably just one of those idiots going for resupply of Dust, it's the third time this week this shit's happened."

"But sir, protocol states..."

"DON'T REMIND ME WHAT THE PROTOCOL IS! Cadet Swiftwing!" he called.

"YESSIR!" she saluted stiffly.

"Take three men from the barracks and check it out, I doubt it's the humans since they're not smart enough to get through the wind barrier but, just in case..."

"Will do sir!" she nodded, leaving the room stiffly.

One of the soldiers spoke up, "Is it alright sending her sir? She's still pretty green..."

Onyx just shook his head, "As I said, it's probably nothing. Kid's got no guts, no confirmed kills, and mediocre training scores. If it weren't for her powers she wouldn't even be in this facility..."


Aeros entered into the facility's corridors with a gleeful expression. This was her chance to prove herself to high command.

"It's probably nothing so I'm not going to bother the guys... and if it is... imagine all the praise I would get if I take down all the intruders single-handedly! Aeros the Ace! I can see it now..." she squealed giddily as she absently strolled down the corridor.

It wasn't until she rounded the next few corners was she blindsided by a force, knocked on her back and disarmed, her gun scattered to the side and a hand covering her mouth so she couldn't speak.

"Scream and we gut you where you lie..." A voice threatened. She peered open her eyes and shook off the initial disorientation to see two masked women and what seemed to be an Atlas soldier in uniform pinning her down, their blades trained on her. All three were human.

Aeros realized her position and tried to kick them off but with three bodies on her, it was impossible to move, so she nodded slowly in compliance.

Raisa, who was pinning her down by the chest could see in her eyes that this girl was clearly very surprised and more scared than panicked, so slowly, she released her hand.

"Tell us where the hostages are," Raisa demanded, inching her segmented sword to her throat.

"And why would I do that? You humans should all die!" she spat at her but Raisa just shifted her head and dodged the glob.

"If you value your life you will..." Maria threatened darkly.

Raisa knew she was outnumbered and outgunned, the corridor was too tight to make use of her wings, and the look in the Atlas soldier's eyes said she wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger. "Fine... but you gotta do me one favour..."

"Huh?!" The three were confused. It was the first time a prisoner offered compliance so easily and asked for a favour. Usually, it took more threats and actual harm before they complied.

"Can you tell the commander that you beat me and three other soldiers? I kinda was supposed to be here with a group and..."

"You arrogantly chose to go alone because you wanted to prove your mettle? Sounds like someone I know..." Caroline said rolling her eyes toward Maria who stuck her tongue out.

"Fine, now lead the way," Raisa said much to their surprise. This was definitely turning out to be a new hostage experience for all of them.

As they walked down the corridor Aeros was looking for methods of escape but no matter how she ran the scenario in her head, she'd end up dead eleven out of ten times.


"So what do you people want with the artifact anyway? What's it to you?" Maria asked casually as they moved through the corridors. It was surprisingly empty, most likely all the guards were either asleep or stationed in the hostage room.

"That is our heritage, a piece of our history that once belonged to our king, and you people stole it!" Aeros said bitterly.

"Stole it? We found it on our own, dug it up from the archaeological site!"

"You mean our people's temple?! The one that we were forced to abandon because your kind invaded and tried to enslave us?" Aeros countered with genuine hate.

"Well uh... finders keepers!" Maria said trying to come up with an excuse.

The hawk Faunus laughed dryly, "What are you five?"

Caroline chuckled, "I think that sometimes too! I'm starting to like this one."

"Don't get too chummy because once I'm free I'll kill you all!" Aeros threatened, but despite her tone, they could tell she didn't mean it.

Raisa who was holding her arms behind her back to prevent her from escaping just spoke in an even voice, "No you won't."

"And what makes you think I wouldn't?"

"Your eyes. You have the look of someone who hasn't killed anyone in their lives. You've seen a lot of pain but you've never once acted out in aggression. I think deep down you don't hate the humans, you think this war is a load of bullshit and we should all just move on." Raisa said with pure seriousness.

Aeros' eyes went wide, "How... do you...?"

"Because I think the same way..."


As they approached the door to the hostage room they held back, selecting to listen in and gauge the contents before barging in blindly.

"Where the hell is she? It's taking too long..." they heard a man's voice utter on the other side.

"Useless as always, she can't do anything right... well, neither could her parents so it's to be expected... still she does have some worth," the voice said again, this time Aeros froze up, eyes widening in shock. How did Onyx know her parents? What did he mean by they were useless?

Raisa felt her freeze up but didn't bring attention to it. She felt sorry for the girl even if she was the enemy. "We need a plan, we can't just rush in there. Chances are he starts shooting the hostages as we enter the room," she said while thinking of a plan. Cordovin checked her watch, they were running out of time.

"With my semblance, I can maybe get one or two people out at a time but..."

"Follow my lead this time, I have a plan," Maria said confidently, already reaching for the door handle.

"Marie what are you doing?! What plan?!" Raisa hissed urgently but she was ignored. Before even Cordovin could stop her, Maria already barged open the door, swinging it wide open with a bang, drawing all attention to her in the room. To say the Faunus in the room were surprised was an understatement. Inside the room were four guards at corners of the room looking at the hostages who were all bound and gagged, a large bear-like man standing at the front with his own rifle and six soldiers

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please!" Maria gestured to the open doorway where Raisa and Cordovin stood holding Aeros.

Instantly guns were raised, aimed at the hostages.

"Upupup no-no, you shoot them, we shoot her," Maria said, gesturing to the handgun Cordovin had pressed to the girl's right temple.

Onyx smirked, "I don't know how you two got in but you must be good to make it this far undetected," he then nodded his head toward Aeros, "She means nothing, go ahead and shoot her. Once you're done we shoot them and you, you can't play the game human."

Maria laughed, "Oh see, that's where I think you're wrong. I think that this girl is worth something to you and a rather important thing at that. So, what'll it be, our soldiers or your asset?"

Onyx's smile didn't move, "And how much are you willing to bet on your statement?"

Maria stared him dead in the eye, "My life."

The bear Faunus' smug look dropped instantly, he knew she wasn't bluffing. In all honesty, he didn't care what happened to the girl, combat wise she was nothing more than a liability, but her powers were the ones allowing the wind barrier to remain up. Without it, their base is open to ground and aerial assault leaving them exposed. He could use his semblance, his Miasma here, but it would do more harm than good, and if the enemy's mental fortitude was strong enough, they could resist the Miasma easily. He wasn't about to risk it all for the sake of one play, it was then he hatched a devious, horrendous plan.

"Alright fine, I'm placing down my weapon," Onyx said taking off his rifle and placing it on the floor in a slow, fluid motion. "You throw her to me, and I'll allow you to leave with the hostages."

"Sir you can't be serious!" one of the soldiers said in concern. Onyx flashed him a glare, "Don't question me, private. This is an order, stand down."

Maria eyed them, "You'll have to forgive me if I don't fully trust you..." she said moving into the room and inspecting the hostages. There were supposed to be seven of them but the bloodstains on the floor suggested that the gunshot from earlier wasn't just for show.

There was a young black-haired boy with stern features among the ranks, looking unblemished, unlike the others who had a few cuts and bruises, Captain Ignis' son. He looked too young to be in the army, around sixteen, and judging by his features he wasn't in combat-ready shape, that left the question as to how he ended up with the soldiers. Upon closer inspection she noticed the emblem on his khaki vest, it was a crest with a shovel and pickaxe suggesting he was part of the dig team, the one who probably found the artifact in the first place.

Maria undid his binds first followed by all the others, "Come on we're getting you out of here," she said as they led the group of men out.

"How are you so sure they'll let us walk free? They could shoot us the moment you let go of your hostage," the boy said bitterly, "We should take them right now while they're unguarded!"

"That won't work, we try that and we get swarmed by the rest of the facility in seconds. Play it slow, we'll make it out of here. Trust me." Maria said as she picked him up by the arm. "Alright we're leaving, here's a little parting gift from yours truly!" she held up a blue dust crystal and a red dust crystal and smashed them together on the ground simultaneously. The mixing of a fire and ice dust crystal created white steam that shrouded the room, blocking everyone's vision and disorienting them long enough for the hostages to be escorted out. As they exited the room Cordovin released Aeros and shoved her toward Onyx before hastily shutting the door.

"Sir I am so sorry... I know you said to take a squad but..." Aeros began to stutter but Onyx silenced her.

"I want no excuses private Swiftwing, you'll have your chance to redeem yourself soon," he said darkly. "It's all still within my plan..."

"But sir the hostages are gone, how is this within the plan?" a soldier asked.

"It's in the plan if I say it is..."


"How did you know that would work?" Cordovin yelled as the group ran through the strangely empty corridors of the facility.

"My semblance, Preflexes, can sometimes be clairvoyant, I can tell a few seconds before something would happen, I can't usually control what I see but this time it was in our favour!" Maria yelled back.

As the team exited the compound they were uncontested, just as Onyx assured them they would be, the sun rising on the horizon, finally illuminating the crater in a dull morning glow. Things were going smoothly until they encountered the reason why they were let off so easily. The storm hadn't subsided. They were trapped behind a wall of swirling wind and sand, on the bright side, according to Cordovin's watch, if they had made it out of the barrier at that moment, they would've been exactly three hours.

"Have you had your fun?" Onyx called out with a megaphone. "I think it's time we get this done!" He stood on the flat platform just outside the base, with a group of soldiers behind him and Aeros at his side, all holding assault rifles.

"Shit we got played!" Maria cursed.

Onyx turned to Aeros, "This is your chance to redeem yourself, private. Kill them all."

Aeros' eyes widened in horror, "Sir?! I thought we needed them as hostages?!"

Onyx let out a throaty chuckle, "We took hostages for negotiation, I was playing it safe, testing to see if the humans had the balls to send an actual army, but all we got were three wenches and bad planning. Do you know what that says to me? It tells me that the humans don't want the world to know what's going on here, it tells me that we could have just raided their base this whole time and no one would've so much as put up a real fight. So... do what I say and kill them all."

Aeros hesitantly raised her rifle and looked down the scope, she could see the fearful face of the various soldiers, the scared young boy, and the three women who had every opportunity to kill her but didn't. There were s many ways Maria and the others could've handled her, but they chose to let her live. Why?

It was then the words of the woman who raised her rang through her mind again, and then the words of Raisa "This war is just bullshit.." she muttered under her breath.

"What was that Swiftwing?" Onyx raised an eyebrow.

"I said this is bullshit!" she yelled and threw down the rifle, knocking down two guards next to her and taking flight into the air, zipping toward them. "FLY YOU FOOLS!" she yelled down as her body began to glow a light mint green, the windstorm subsiding almost instantly.

Onyx was thrown for a loop by the sudden betrayal as he helplessly watched Aeros escape with the hostages.


Maria thought they were dead, at that moment as Aeros raised the gun, she prayed to the gods that they would get out of this alive, that a miracle would happen. Then she heard it distinctly across the still crater "This is bullshit!" and the sound of thrashing as Aeros took flight with her wings, joining them. Her speed was too much for the enemy's bullets as they harmlessly sailed passed her as she flew in erratic directions to avoid fire.

"Fly you fools!" they heard as the winds dissipated magically allowing them to pass. They didn't stop to question it as they took off running pell-mell back to camp.

As they crossed the expanse of desert, Cordovin received a message on her communicator, "Cordovin? FINALLY, I've gotten through to you!"

"Command? Sorry, we were in a covert mission, no outside communications," Caroline answered back.

"It's about that! Commands had a change of plans! That place is going to turn into a hot zone real fast! YOU NEED TO EVAC BEFORE HELL BREAKS LOOSE!" the man on the other end said with fear.

Caroline's eyes widened, "What are you talking about HQ? What's going to... *BOOM*" she was cut off as the sound of cannon fire was heard, they could see on the horizon, in the direction of their camp tanks and caravans of various sizes, foot soldiers began stomping their way toward them with a steady pace. Suddenly from behind them, bullets began firing off, and instinctively the entire team dropped to the floor prone, just in time as sand began to fly in all directions from the various explosions that were happening around them.

Somewhere, someone gave the order to open fire on the base and raid them, so much for covert operations. It seems they had little faith in the Ghosts of Atlas and decided to level the playing field, literally, at least that's what Maria predicted. Unfortunately for them the Faunus were well prepared for such an assault and while they didn't have mobile tanks, they did have mortars loaded with dust rounds that could be fired from their facility, and enough ammunition for days.

"GET MOVING! NOW! DUCK AND COVER BACK TO BASE!" Cordovin yelled to the hostages as they picked back up the pace. As they neared ally tanks they began waving their arms and shouting, "FRIENDLY! FRIENDLY! DO NOT FIRE!"

Aeros had taken to the ground, running alongside them.

A caravan stopped, filled with foot soldiers, they disembarked the vehicle and allowed the hostages to climb on, "We didn't expect you to make it out of there, HQ called in the strike said the mission had gone sideways."

"Yeah well HQ needs to stop assuming just because we went dark, what's the situation?" Maria asked, helping Ignis' son onto the vehicle. "Take care of Ignis' kid."

"Please don't call me that, I have a name, it's Jacques! Jacques Gelé!" he hissed.

Maria rolled her eyes, "Sounds just like a right name for a pompous little shit like you... but you got serious guts to stomach this chaos," she threw her thumb toward the onward rolling tanks.

As soon as the soldiers saw Aeros they raised their guns to shoot, "WAIT!" Raisa stopped them. "She helped us escape, she's friendly. Even if she is a Faunus she got us out of there. If it weren't for her we wouldn't have made it out."

"But she's the enemy! She can't be trusted..." *BOOM* a shell flew and landed just a few meters from them, splashing up sand everywhere and forcing the soldiers to drop for cover, separating the vehicle and the others.

"GET THEM OUT OF HERE NOW! BEFORE ANOTHER FUCKING SHELL HITS!" Maria yelled at the driver over the explosion. The man didn't need to be told twice as he kicked the vehicle into high gear and gassed it back to camp, leaving Maria, Cordovin, Raisa, and Aeros on the battlefield.

The rain of bullets and fire began to grow in frequency, making them realize they were caught in the crossfire. It was now either fight to survive and hope for another evac or die.

"I never thought I'd see the day where I fight alongside a human... against my own kind no less..." Aeros said with a nervous grin.

Raisa drew her sword whip, Vile Thorn, and Raisa drew her twin scythes, Oath, and Sorrow, while Cordovin just whipped out her pistol as they stared down the army of Faunus approaching. "There's a first time for everything," Raisa said bitterly as they plunged into battle


Ten minutes, twenty minutes, Maria wasn't sure how long it'd been since the battle had begun, all she knew was that her ears were ringing from the sound of gunshots and explosions, and she was two steps from raising hell out of pure frustration. She was no stranger to death, but never in her life had she been thrust into such a bloody battle.

The Calavera sisters were assassins, black ops, they weren't foot soldiers. One or two dead bodies were fine, but not the tens borderline hundreds that had been dropping on both sides. She felt sick, nauseous all the way to her core, it felt wrong to be cutting them down, but this was a kill or be killed situation. In war there was no time for hesitation, if she didn't cut them down they would take her head.

The main reason she felt sick was that she was working with a Faunus to kill other Faunus. To her, it felt wrong, as if they weren't meant to be fighting, and this may not have been the first time the thought had crossed her mind, but it was certainly the first time it happened with these circumstances. It was one thing to kill the enemy, but it was another to kill the enemy when you had physical proof that the enemy didn't need to be your opponent.

"MARIA WATCH OUT!" Cordovin yelled as she dove toward the girl, knocking her down as a mortar shell narrowly missed her head, landing behind them, sending them flying from their position, sprawling across the battlefield.

"What are you *cough* doing? *cough* You need to focus or else you'll die!" she said helping her up.

Maria groaned and looked around, it just didn't feel real. She saw her sister with a bloodstained mask, slashing her way through a group of Faunus with her sword-whip, breaking Auras, and cutting down three. Maria couldn't see her face but she could tell that Raisa was not alright with the situation.

Across the battlefield, Aeros was nervously flying around like a hummingbird, desperately trying not to injure her ex-comrades while also avoiding gunfire from the humans. She was caught in a desperate situation, unwanted by both sides.

Aeros tried to dodge but was unlucky with her flight patterns as upon dodging, she was struck by a stray bullet on her right-wing and crashed to the ground in a dusty heap the Faunus advanced on her instantly.

"Look at you, a little bird with nowhere to go..." a sinister voice said, drawing the other three's attention to Aeros. She was surrounded by a group of Faunus with their guns aimed at her, leading the band was the all too familiar hulking figure of Onyx. "Such is the fate of a traitor to die an undignified death. To end up among the countless corpses that will undoubtedly pile up here today..." as he said that, an explosion happened several meters from him, the flash illuminating his twisted smile.

"Aeros!" Raisa called out in panic realizing none of them would make it in time.

The bird Faunus spat on the floor at Onyx's feet, "Undignified death? Is that what happened to my parents? You told me they were taken by the humans, but I heard you. You said they were useless, just like me. What'd that mean huh?"

Onyx chuckled, "Exactly as it sounds. See... you think your powers were unique? When I found out they had a daughter I tipped off the humans, figured I'd raise a loyal soldier if the White Fang came, and rescued a little girl from the clutches of the rotten humans. Imagine my surprise when I find out she got adopted by an old lady, a human no less. Of course, at the time I couldn't act on it, too much was going on... but when the time arrived, well..."

Aeros' eyes shot wide, tears brimming her eyes but her face was not sadness or fear, it was pure unbridled rage, "So... it was you who did this to me? YOU BETRAYED MY PARENTS FIRST?! YOU KILLED THAT SWEET OLD WOMAN? AND YOU DARE BRAND ME A TRAITOR?!" her voice trembling with fury.

"Sir is that true?! Did you really?!" one of the soldiers with Onyx began stuttering, unsure of what to make of the situation.

Onyx shot him a bright smile, "Of course! It's all true! Didn't you hear me?" he asked with a false surprise.

"Sir if that's true w-we'd have to t-take you out for t-treason!" he stuttered again, raising his weapon on his superior.

Onyx inhaled sharply as a bullet whizzed bu his head, he simply shifted to the side and avoided it, "You've made your choices and so have I... I hope you can deal with the consequences..."

"Sir w- *SPLAT* *CRUNCH*" the man was instantly killed by Onyx, the smoking barrel of his gun aimed at the others. Before they had a chance to react he unleashed a black aura that grasped hold of the soldiers, suffocating them and shaking them to the core. Aeros wasn't affected but she could see their faces contort in pain before blood began to pour from every orifice on their head before they collapsed onto the floor, a bloody heap.

Aeros watched in horror as he killed his own men without a single shred of hesitation, he looked satisfied by doing it, their blood splattering onto her face.

"Now that, that's taken care of... where were we? Oh yes..."

"You... MONSTER!" She roared, her body glowing mint green with power. "I think I've had enough of you... you say I'm useless? The only thing I was good for was my power? WELL HOW'S THIS FOR POWER!" she let loose a war-cry as a gust of wind crashed into Onyx's torso sending him sprawling backward, skating across the bloody desert sand. The action seemed to exhaust her as she crumpled back onto the floor on her knees.

Maria and the others were finally able to get to her side, Maria helping her to stand again, "What was that? Where'd that freak wind come from?!" Cordovin asked alarmed.

"More importantly are you okay? Can you walk? That fall you took earlier looked pretty nasty..." Raisa said checking her legs and wings only to come up with bloody hands. She was definitely injured in serval places.

Aers coughed, "I'm fine... that... wind was me... it's... hard to explain..."

"Is it your Semblance? Can you control the wind?" Maria was curious.

Aeros shook her head negatively but spoke the opposite, "Something like that... now's not really the time to explain though, we've got other things to worry about..." she shakily pointed to Onyx who was already getting up, and the approaching soldiers of the Faunus.

"Shit... this isn't good, where are our men?" Caroline cursed, looking around for their troops, a small squadron of about twenty men were on foot, marching to their location with weapons at the ready.

Onyx spotted them and began grinning madly, "It seems a buffet has arrived..." he said with fervor as he changed targets from Aeros to the oncoming troops, barehanded and unarmed.

"He's insane... he's running to his death!" Cordovin exclaimed as the watched him take off at break-neck speeds. What followed was something purely out of nightmares.

As Onyx was about twenty feet from the group, before they could even fire their weapons, he leaped off the ground with incredible strength and agility, rocketing into the air and crashing down into the center of the troops, knocking several of them aside. The soldiers were unable to fire in close quarters for fear of hitting their allies, so Onyx used this to his advantage. With his size and strength he grappled one soldier and crushed his skull with his bare hands, a dark aura began emanating from his body again.

The men began to choke and lose themselves, the stronger ones seemed undeterred, trying to fight him hand to hand, but Onyx was just too physically superior. He took the dead body of the man whose face he crushed and began to use it as a club, beating the other soldiers. Bones were cracking, skulls shattering and blood went flying as the black aura began to increase in size. With every kill Onyx seemed to be growing, his muscles pulsating and tearing through his once-white shirt.

"What in the living hell am I looking at..." Caroline said in horror, her face turning slightly green after witnessing the gruesome bloodbath.

Maria just shook her head stiffly, "I-I'm not sure..."

Aeros shuddered, "I heard rumours that the commander's Semblance all-consuming darkness but... I didn't believe it..."

Onyx turned to them with a mad grin and blood dripping down his face, "Now then... I think we can agree it's fair?"


He was on them before anyone could react, like a juggernaut barreling toward them, raising a dust cloud in his wake. Deciding not to face him head-on, the quartet dispersed, narrowing avoiding his onslaught.

Raisa reacted, sending out Vile Thorn and trying to wrap the bladed whip around his neck but the blades seemed to do very little to him as he instead, grabbed the blades with his bare hands and tugged onto the length, pulling Raisa off the floor and toward him.

Seeing her opportunity, Maria tried to close the distance while he was preoccupied but Onyx was always one step ahead. As soon as she was in range, it was the exact moment Raisa was also flying into her blade path, forcing Maria to falter in her aim. In the split second she hesitated, Onyx brought his massive fist crashing down onto Raisa's stomach, plowing her into her sister, knocking them both into a crater on the floor, both of their Auras breaking instantly and the sound of cracking bones followed suit. Maria was knocked unconscious but her sister suffered a few broken ribs and a concussion.

Cordovin shot a few bullets at him from her pistol, but a handgun didn't so much as phase her as he thundered toward her with heavy steps. She tried to disengage but Onyx unleashed his black Miasma, and unlike before, this time she was affected by it. The air in her lungs felt like it was being torn away, her heart began to hammer against her chest trying to make up for the lack of oxygen, she felt suffocated and helpless. Tears poured fro her face as she realized she was out of her league, she was a soldier, not a Huntress, and even though she had Aura, she was not proficient in agility-based combat like the two Calaveras, but she did know how to read the battlefield.

Even in her oxygen-deprived stupor, she was able to make out the outline of a hand grenade, buried in the sand at Onyx's feet, most likely belonged to a fallen soldier. Keeping her grip on her gun and her mind on the trigger, she shot the grenade in a last-ditch effort to take him out.

The explosion sent sand and dirt flying everywhere, flinging Caroline away from the hulking Onyx and shrouding the area in a cloud of dust.

"Surely that must've got him?" Aeros said weakly, still unable to properly move. "No person can survive a point-blank grenade explosion, even if they are half-monster."

There was a tense moment of silence before, through the darkness they swore they saw the glowing black eyes of a demon, Onyx was still standing, "THINK AGAIN!" he roared, the dust clearing. His torso was torn up and bleeding but he looked unphased. The wound would've surely been causing pain, especially with all the sand and contaminants but he looked more alive than ever.

"This is unreal..." Aeros mouthed.

"RAHAHAHA! This is who you chose to side with? Creatures who cower and shrivel in the face of real power?!" he walked up to Aeros and picked her up by the throat, "Pathetic weaklings stick together I guess... strength in numbers..." he began crushing her throat.

Aeros' mint green Aura began to flicker showing signs of breaking, any more pressure and her only line of defence would be down, so Raisa acted without thinking. In a moment of desperation, she charged at Onyx from behind, tearing off her mask and charging her Silver Eyes.

Onyx didn't realize what was happening until he was blinded by a light so bright it seemed to burn his very skin, as a reaction he tossed Aeros aside, crashing her into Cordovin.

"THAT FUCKING LIGHT!" He roared and began flailing around madly, shielding his eyes. In his wild swinging, he managed to actually hit Raisa who was too exhausted to react quickly enough, as her head was swimming from the previous damage. He turned to see the source of the light lying on the floor, bruised, bleeding from her mouth, and badly beaten. "To think I'd find one of your kind here... I heard you were rare..." he kicked her in the stomach, practically shattering whatever was left of her ribcage.

Blood gushed out of her mouth from the internal injury as her necklace broke off its chain and landed on the sand next to the downed Maria. Onyx spotted the glint of a blade in the sand and pulled out Vile Thorn. "To die by your own sword... there's a sense of irony in this but I'm not one for puns..."

Back at the spot where Onyx throttled the Calavera sisters, Maria was finally waking herself from her unconscious state. Her vision was blurry and her body sorely beaten. She felt like hell but nothing was too badly damaged. She glanced around for her enemy only to see Onyx standing over her sister, blade in hand. Her eyes went wide with fear.

She needed to save her sister, she couldn't let her only family die. They say that when the mind is in a state of fight or flight, time slows down to a crawl, thoughts begin to race in nanoseconds, and for Maria, it was one of those moments. It was then she saw the shining gem of the Silver Heart, the necklace her sister always wore. From her father she knew that the gem was supposed to amplify the power of the Silver Eyes, the proof was in her memory, as her father's last act as a parent was using the power of the Silver Heart to summon a shield to protect his children. An Act which took his life for he chose to protect them over himself.

Raisa saw her sister clutching the Silver Heart out of the corner of her eye, "MARIA NO!"

Onyx whipped around to see the staggering girl, standing shakily, clutching at a shiny red gem, her mask broken and her Silver Eyes glowing with power.

"Two of you? Well, this is my lucky day..." Onyx said with malicious intent.

"YOU STEP AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Maria threatened, holding the necklace.

"MARIA DON'T DO IT! THE HEART DID NOT CHOOSE YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN!"

Maria wiped the blood leaking from her mouth, "I don't give a flying fuck what happens, to me... THIS BASTARD IS GOING TO HELL!" she yelled with fury, the power in her eyes skyrocketing as the necklace began to resonate a bright silver light. Her hands began to tremble as it shook violently on its chain.

Her father always said not to use the necklace unless they were chosen by it. He was chosen, and upon his death, the necklace had gone to Raisa. There was no clear indication as to how the necklace chooses, but when a person with Silver Eyes holds it they instinctively know, as if the gem would resonate with their minds. When the necklace was passed to them Maria knew she wasn't the one, and she dared not find out what the repercussions were until now.

Onyx dropped Vile Thorn and began charging toward Raisa, but it was too late, a white light had engulfed the girl and the mask of a skull made of pure Silver Light covered her face. Onyx felt his skin being burned off by the light as it touched his skin much more violent than before. As if it was trying to incinerate him, soul, body, and all. He wasn't sure how much more he could take and instead of trying to stand his ground, began to bolt off into the desert, using all of his strength in his legs to propel him as far away from the light as he possibly could get.

When he was finally able to open his eyes again, when the burning finally stopped, he was in the middle of nowhere, without knowledge of hide nor hair of where he was. Looking down he could see that his skin had bubbled and blistered in several places and the pain was finally catching up to him. The power of his semblance had run out and he was returning to his original state.

"This won't be the last time you've heard of me... mark my words humans..." he cursed under his breath, taking hold of the burnt skin on his arms and forcefully tearing it off, cringing in pain as he did. He was now faced with the task of finding his way back to civilization.


Back at the battleground, the four girls could finally breathe a sigh of relief... or at least they would have had the sound of bullets not still been echoing through the air, and Maria screaming in agony.

"AAAARGHHHHH!" came the blood-curdling screams of Maria Calavera as she began grasping at her face where the Silver skull mask was. The necklace in her hands was shaking more violently than before and her eyes were forced wide open.

"MARIA CALM DOWN! LET GO OF THE NECKLACE!" Raisa urged, crawling over to her sister.

"I CAN'T LET GO! IT BURNS! MY EYES!" she continued to scream. Caroline tried to pry the gem out of her hands but her fingers were locked together. It wasn't until Aeros and Caroline worked together to pull the necklace out of her grip did they finally manage to free her. The gem landed next to Raisa as its bright glow began to fade. She watched in awe and curiosity as the sand began to gather around it, stick to it forming a ball before hardening into a dull rock, rendering the Silver Heart dead.

Once the gem was gone, the skull mask began to dissipate, but Maria's eyes remained wide open.

"Maria?! Mi hermana are you okay?!" Raisa asked checking over her sister for signs of the after-effects. Everything seemed normal, but she knew something had to have gone wrong. Maria would never scream out in that much pain otherwise.

"Rai? Is that you? Rai?!" Maria called out and began flailing. Raisa caught hold of her sister and brought her eyes to meet hers.

"I'm right here Maria! I'm right here!"

"Where?! I can't see anything! Did you cover my eyes?!"

Everyone's face paled as they realized what happened, "Maria... you're looking right at me..."


-Back to the present-

"And that's the story of how I lost my eyes and how the Silver Heart works," Maria said, looking quite disgruntled about having to remember the experience.

Ruby was caught in awe, mesmerized by the tale, "That's incredible... but I have so many questions!"

"As I'm sure you would..." Raisa said drumming on her cane. "We can't entertain you that much, however..."

Ruby didn't waste a moment, "What happened after? You mentioned Onyx, is it the same one we're after? It can't be right because that would make him super old! And what about Aeros?!"

Raisa felt her head starting to hurt, " After that, the battle was pretty one-sided, the Faunus lost but both sides suffered heavy casualties. People say that the sands of the desert are still stained red with the blood of the fallen. Aeros became the first ambassador for peace toward the Faunus and she headed the negotiations for the treaty. Cordovin became distant afterward, the war had taken a toll on her mental and she decided never to set foot on the actual field again, choosing to become an Atlas pilot. The two of us and Aeros would go on expeditions, later on, hunt down Grimm, explore ancient Faunus heritage sites. It's in those adventures we discovered that Aeros was an Aspect, and we learned about the Fragments of Remnant."

"That captain Ignis was actually accused of treason by the Atlas government, they said that it was him that leaked information about the artifact and got his own team taken. A load of bullshit but the council needed someone to throw under the bus to save their own faces so who better to throw in jail than the man whose job it was to protect the thing in the first place. It didn't help that a couple of weeks after the battle that the crown was stolen while he was in charge of guarding it." Maria continued.

"As for Onyx... yes I believe it to be the same person that abducted Nova's family and tore down Beacon. He's grown in power but his methods are still the same..." Raisa said with a serious tone. "I haven't seen him but... tell me... how does he look?"

Ruby placed a finger on her chin, "Pretty normal? Well as normal as you would get for a big hairy bear man... I'd say he looked maybe in his mid-thirties? maybe forty?"

"Then he hasn't aged... he's not immortal, the gods only made two of those... so what's the cause of his longevity?" Maria folded her arms and began thinking deeply.

Ruby was about to follow suit when Raisa smacked her on the head with the skull of her walking stick, "Enough distractions. That story was to give you an idea of how the Silver Heart works. It chose you, awakened in the presence of the Agniseki for the new champion. You must learn to use it if you want to combat the forces of darkness."

Ruby pouted and rubbed her head, "You said in your story that I'm supposed to just know that I'm chosen, that I can just use it, but I don't feel anything."

"The Silver Heart never makes mistakes, you already know, you just need to find it."


AND THAT'S A WRAP! It took WAY TOO LONG to write this. In fact, it was insanely hard to do because I needed to incorporate a lot of world-building. I also made Maria and Raisa aligned to Atlas because it makes sense why they would know Cordovin and Pietro Polendina. Also I know I had Maria phrase her eyes as lost by "someone she was too eager to trust", but it came out wrong. That someone is the personified Silver Heart and she trusted it because it embodied her father, and even if it was a heat of the moment thing, she put her faith too readily in the heart. (That's my cover story because I had to scrap my original idea)

Onyx's semblance is called Devouring Miasma. He extends his aura like a force that constricts and kills anyone with a weak mind or in a state far below his power. For example, regular soldier grunts that he fought were free to kill but people with Aura aren't affected. The more he devours the more power he gets and it infinitely builds up. The effect lasts from between 5 seconds to several minutes depending on his kill count. It keeps going the more he kills or devours but if he doesn't do it within the timeframe it dissipates.

He uses it nowadays mainly for threats and imposing his authority, like Darth Vader and force choke because he can't overpower people like Team ASHNRWBY or anyone on the level of a Huntsman, it won't do him much good. He didn't use it in the battle of Haven because even if he did he would've still been defeated by the combined powers of Blake, Luna, Sun, Adam and Bell, and the other soldiers. At least that's what he believed.