An*Hello and welcome to the next chapter there will be a detailed evaluation of my decisions at the end of the chapter so if you have questions check there.

We waited patiently for the next students to slowly trickle in. Two groups of students arrived carrying the black bishop pieces after which we could hear a fight erupt beneath us by the structure we first saw down by the cliff side. I wanted to approach to get a better look but Professor Ozpin held me back when I looked over to see what's the big idea all I saw was a pleading look saying " It's not safe."

I could make out the screeching of a Nevermore amidst all the explosions, gunshots and shouting and it didn't sound small or happy. I once again tried to approach but this time I was stopped by the sight of the massive Nevermore being pinned to the cliff by something or someone and in the next moment a girl charged up the cliff, decapitating the large bird with a ton of momentum only to smoothly land and reveal a large red mechanical scythe.

I was stunned, here in front of me stood a girl easily a year or two younger than me who just decapitated the largest Nevermore I have ever seen. Our age did nothing to change the fact that she was still taller than me. She was fair-skinned with choppy black hair which ended in red tips at her neck. She wore a black long-sleeved dress with red trimmings and lacing and a hooded red cape pinned to her shoulders by cross-shaped pins. By far the most striking feature of her were her eyes, which were a shade of silver I last saw mining in the quarry.

She soon realized where she was and sprinted back down to retrieve a relic. Medusa approached from where she was standing nearer to the school and leaned in on my shoulder to catch my attention.

"We should probably head to the assembly hall."

I simply nodded and followed her to the same stage in the ballroom where Ozpin first gave his 'welcome' speech to the new students.

Knowing that the other students will take some time to arrive I decided to take the time to get to know my new partner.

"Hey 'dusa." She turned to me expectantly, not showing a hint of anger or distaste at my nickname."Euryale said that Stheno doesn't like the story of your birth, why is that?"

"Well... -" she scratched the back of her head in an uncharacteristically bashful moment. "-Where to start. Our parents were not the most well-known people. Our father is a Reptilian Faunus and our mother is a Feline Faunus, their claim to fame was when our mother was successfully impregnated with... well... us. When our family found out that she was expecting triplets they were skyrocketed to the top of the social ladder, theories of what traits who would inherent became the talk of the town-" She started her story shyly but she ramped up in enthusiasm as she went on." - When we were born, no one expected us to have a combination of both traits, all centered in our eyes. We were famous... that is until the birth of Chief Belladonna's daughter."

A statement she said caught my attention. "Now that I think about it, you all have different irises."

"Yes, Stheno has the thin slits of our mothers feline genes, I have the strange squares of my fathers reptilian genes and Euryale has a combination of both giving her almond-shaped irises. What about you, do you have anything interesting to tell?"

At this, my excitement at getting to know my partner was immediately replaced by the fear of reliving my most painful memory. Instead of letting this get me down I focused on finding common ground to relate to.

"Yes, Actually. Much like you and your sisters I was also born under irregular circumstances, You see, I was born to a Faunus father and a human mother. While I took after my father's physical traits, including his Faunus gene, I feel like my mother had a profound effect on my personality." The profound smugness of the statement was not lost on her.

"Your family sounds-" she mulled over the word "-interesting."

I smiled, thinking back at my most fond memories, my father's incessant need to rub crystal powder into my hair, my mother's sailor temperament that conflicted with my father's mischievous nature, our first time hollowing out a section of the quarry to expand the home. All these memories brought tears to my eyes.

Medusa looked extremely concerned and she rested her hand on my shoulder, giving me a sympathetic look.

"If what your remembering brings you pain, we can talk through this during our four years of living together. Right now we should check who would be our teammates."

In my reminiscing, I failed to notice the hall fill with the students. The Professor approached the stage with his cane in hand.

He cleared his throat and in his signature monotone voice that still somehow conveyed wisdom started his speech."We have gathered here to appreciate the students who have passed our initiation and now without further a due, we shall form the teams. Please note once you have been placed in a team you can't leave them." Behind him, a couple of screens flared life. "To start us off we have the team with the shortest average time. Échelle Quarian, Medusa Gorgon, Rán Jormungandr and Lance Asterios, you have collected the white rook pieces and from this day you will be known as team E.M.R.L (Emerald) lead by Échelle Quirian.

I... Lost... My... Mind.

I wasn't cut out to be a leader, especially since when I stood on stage I found out I was the shortest one of the group, hell one of the members was nearly twice my size. I turned to the screen behind me to link name to face. The tall boy was Lance and the person next to him was Rán. I say person because I couldn't tell whether or not they were male or female. Their build was that of a stocky athlete, they had messy black hair that was tied in a large ponytail and they wore a black kimono with a tattered dark blue robe that faded into red at the edge, their lower face was covered by a black mask, the only stand out feature was their eyes, they had eyes reminiscent of a dying flame. On their hip were two swords, one Nikana with some sort of gun functionality and one Wakizashi which was roughly half the length of the Nikana and lacked the gun functionality.

The boy on the overhand had a terrifying mask that made him look like some sort of bull demon. The fact that he was a Faunus put me slightly at ease. He wore a large red cloth held up by a large metal belt that left his chest exposed. He had several metal rings around his arms which made him look like he was supposed to be restrained. He also wielded two large axes which I confidently wouldn't be able to wield if it were half its size.

While I was still in shock at my announced leadership, I left the stage with my team... My team. The words still tasted new in my mouth and I didn't know how to react.

The only thing to shake me from my stupor was when the next team was announced. "And now to announce the next group, they collected the black pawn, Stheno Gorgon, Aurel Candor, Grant Reingold and Euryale Gorgon lead by Stheno Gorgon."

From the stage, Aurel gave me a warm smile with the other members of her team. Then the professor continued."You shall now be known as team S.A.G.E."

I simply smiled back at Aurel hoping my team won't be disappointed in me.

Thank you for reading this chapter and now my explanation.

Firstly Échelle's appearance is based on a piece of fan art of League of Legends' Aurelion Sol as a female human while her skills were just me picking my favorite skills, weapons and personality traits

Medusa and her sisters were based on a combination of the actual mythological figured, their depiction in the Fate series and skills I fit to their personalities.

Rán's appearance was based on the Fate series's imagining of Okada Izo which is why she is described without mentioning her gender since Okada is actually a man while her skills are based on Norse mythology.

Lance was based upon his namesake Asterios also known as the bull king of minos or the minotaur.

Aurel's appearance is based on the Fate series design for Jeane de Arc while her skills are based on Norse mythology.

Grant is based on Siegfried of Norse mythology.

If you didn't pick it up already I like mythology and the Fate series and most of my characters are based on both.

Thanks for reading and if you have more questions post them in a review and I'll answer them later