Chapter 3
"Ugh…"
I mumble, slowly waking up. My head feels like it's about to cave in, not good.
Trying to sit up, I notice a weight holding down my arm.
"hmmm?" I think to myself, the memories of what happened to me before going unconscious resurfacing, 'Did I break my arm?' I think as I remove the blanket to see something completely different.
"….Iwa…don't….go…." She says while scrunching up her face, it looks like she is having a nightmare as she hugs my arm tighter.
As I look at the sleeping Weiss using my arm as a pillow, a smile creeps up onto my face, she doesn't seem hurt; good.
"Ah Mr. Schnee it seems you're awake." The same silver haired man walks in from behind the curtain sipping his cup of what is probably coffee, but it might not be, maybe tea? It would be nice if it was hot cocoa, I myself would love a cup right about now. I must have a weird look on my face as he follows up, "You are in the nurse's office of my academy, you've been asleep for quite a while, don't worry we have contacted your parents, in fact they are already here."
"How is Weiss?" I respond, wanting to know her injuries, although she may look fine, minus the fact she is having a nightmare, there could be something you can't know just by looking.
"Don't worry I followed through when I said she would be healed before she wakes up, we have some of the best medics in Beacon; she probably didn't even know she was injured."
"good." I reply matter-of-factly, he probably wasn't lying, I'll see how she feels when she wakes up.
"But I think you should be worrying about your own situation now, Young man." He says with a light chuckle, "You have been unconscious for almost 2 days, but congratulations, you have unlocked your own aura, albeit a little forcefully."
"My aura?" I reply, tilting my head before remembering the feeling on the bullhead. Oh, so that's what aura is? It's nice to know it gives you a nice warm feeling, I was kind of worried it feel weird considering it's, you know, projecting your soul and everything I think to myself in silence, until I continued "What do you mean forcefully unlocked my aura?"
"Well, you see Young Man, while if it succeeds there shouldn't be any negative effects, forcefully activating it is quite dangerous. The chances of surviving…." I held up my hand to stop him in his track before he could continue,
"I appreciate the explanation but I think if we keep talking we'll wake this one up." I say, gesturing to the sleeping girl at my side, getting a chuckle from the headmaster.
"It would seem so."
###
POV Change
"To unlock it at such an age, with no prior training! A prodigy, he should be trained to make full use of his abilities; he would make a valuable asset to us." General Ironwood shouts, with clear enthusiasm.
"James…." He receives a sigh from the headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin. In his youth he was considered a prodigy, being the youngest headmaster in all the four kingdoms, so his word carry a lot of weight, even with those as distinguished as General Ironwood, although the professor seems to be treating him rather rudely in my opinion.
"There are rules we must follow, surely you aren't suggesting turning the child into a child soldier?" Miss Goodwitch continues.
"Of course not Glynda." General Ironwood says calmly, "I merely think that it would be best to nurture his abilities, surely you also noticed the amount of his aura?"
Things progress like this, it seems the General wishes to train Ira, and I have to say I agree. Ira, although he is my younger brother, often acts a bit…strange to say the least. At first glance you would think he is nothing but a child, but there are times I can't help but wonder who the older sibling is. I've even noticed him wince when he watches me training sometimes; oddly enough it is during the more difficult forms, that I would then be corrected on by the instructor.
"Leave it to Jimmy to ruin a childhood." A suspicious man says in the back behind the Professor, before taking a drink of what I assume is alcohol. A rude individual to say the least, isn't he just a teacher?
"Qrow…." General Ironwood, who was about to reprimand the dull red-eyed drunkard, is interrupted by the Professor.
"James." He says in a stern tone. "While what happens to those in Atlas is under your jurisdiction, I believe it would be best to wait until he is of the age to decide for himself."
With that, it seems the discussion ends, although Mother and Father were rather quite during this discussion. I wonder if Whitley would want to become a huntsman, perhaps he would rather join the company.
"And Mr and Mrs Schnee, it seems your son has woken, Glynda here will show you the way." Ozpin says, gesturing to the Miss Goodwitch.
"Yes, of course." "Excuse us." Father and Mother say as they get up and bow, I also bow.
###
"Winter, can you use your semblance?" Ira asks, after spending most of the time with a far off look. Weiss is still by his side, with her head on his lap.
"Yes, although I just learnt how to, it took me a year to properly learn after unlocking my aura." I say, although he should inherit our family semblance,perhaps he wants a demonstration, is he trying to learn how to use them already? I wonder as I produce the basic glyph without any dust.
"Our semblance is called glyphs. On its own it can attract and repel like a magnet. This can be used to jump higher, run faster or as a shield. Recently I discovered a way to use it to walk on the air. It can be a solid construct, or you can pass objects through it, this would give them a similar property to the Glyph." I say lightly throwing a crumbled up piece of paper, which speeds up as it goes through the glyph. "However…" I pause to make sure he understands. "We can also use it to summon our vanquished foes, those who pushed us past what we were, making us who we are." As I finish speaking I notice his crumpled up face looking at the Glyph.
"I see…" He mumbles, sticking out his right hand.
…
"Wha….."
….
I quickly close my mouth, it seems I was stunned with mouth agape, hopefully it went un…not…iced…. He is smirking.
Taking a closer look at his Glyph, it seems a bit different from mine and mothers. That shouldn't be a problem, but to already have unlocked his semblance….
"Do the Glyphs look different from person to person?" he asks, obviously noticing the difference.
"Hmm, not that I am aware of; mine and Mothers look alike." I say, I wonder why they look differently. "However the type of dust used will change their colour." I say, unsheathing my weapon, I use the gravity dust in its chamber to create a gravity Glyph that make us float lightly in the air. This must have amused him, as his eyes lit up, although his eyes always look bright red, almost glowing.
"Can you pass me that for a second?" He asks, clearly wanting to try it himself. I shouldn't, however….
"Very well, however take your time." He nods as I hand him the weapon, we have about 10 hours left on our flight, that sword should keep him entertained.
###
It seems I was right.
After fiddling with this thing for what felt like hours, I finally got it too work, admittedly though, I didn't control it and I hit the ceiling. No pain, thank you aura. After spending time to control it to just levitate me in the air I called over winter to ask to see hers again. Yup, the design is different. The design between my own is even different. I wonder why that is? Isn't the Schnee semblance hereditary, I may not be their sibling, but we are related, it shouldn't be like this, should it?
After seeing mine is different she took by her sword and looks like she is inspecting it. Although it did give me the same effect, even if it looks different, it should be okay. Probably.
###
"Hmmm." I say as I look at the Glyph in front of me, it's currently alternating between going between attraction and repulsion, the basic forms of the Glyphs that don't require dust. A ball is currently being bounced on it, attraction catching it and keeping it on the Glyph, then repulsion sending it into the air. It's not heavy, so I can do this for a while.
After gaining my aura, I had spent the last week doing the same thing, mainly for control; there is still a hole in the ceiling above my head from where I used too much force. Unlike Winter and Mother, my semblance is slightly different, that much I know. It still produces the same effect, the strength being dependent on the amount of aura. Luckily I have quite a bit, even as a 5 year old, maybe reincarnation bonus? I don't know.
Anyway, I've noticed something peculiar about my Glyphs, They change colour and design to match the dust used, and without dust they are black. They are like magic circles rather than Glyphs, writing around the outside, in some language I don't know, and then lines in the center making complex designs and shapes. But what is really peculiar however is the changes depending on the circle. For example; Attraction and repulsion use the same shape, but the writing on the outside changes slightly when I switch between the two, it's nothing major, you'd miss it if not familiar with the circle, but there is most definitely a change. So instead of removing the glyph and replacing it, I discovered I could just change what the writing, allowing for the catching and throwing of the ball to be smoother and use less aura. Oh how sweet success is! I thought to myself, before a certain idea came to my head. One that would undoubtedly backfire, but on the chance it didn't… Oh ho ho, this could be good.
Waiting until nightfall, I made my way to were Winter keep's her hunter gear and 'borrow' her sword before booking it back to my room as quickly as possible.
Creating the same gravity Glyph as before using her sword's dusty, I found myself floating in the air, but due to something I was mre interested in, it completely escaped my perception. I was too busy staring at the Glyph below me. The lines in the centre made a shape a bit more complex than my basic Glyph; however it still had some resemblance, like the difference between a triangle and a pyramid. Even the writing on the outside had more than doubled, going all the way around it, twice. This is going to be take a while…
###
BAM
"ow."
BAM
"OW!"
BAM
"Fucking hell, OW!"
A few hours later, just as the sun was beginning to surface on the horizon, creating a beautiful aurora as it reflected off the snow. A young boy could be seen ascending from what can only be described as a palace.
"Oh shit."