The Fall Project
From Ashes
Legends
"Hello ladies and gentlemen today we are going to the museum now let's go!" Dr. Oobleck rattled off instructions to the class and vanished down the hallway in a blur. Scrambling after him, they chased the hyper professor all the way to the courtyard, where an airship waited for them to depart.
It was a few weeks into the second semester, and the Beacon history teacher had decided that a field trip to the Vale museum would be a good way to shake things up. Many students groaned, unwilling to 'waste time' looking at abstract paintings and old pieces of technology.
Gabe was one such student, who found a banner displayed across the street, "Oh my God, guys. Change of plans! We have to go to the renaissance fair!" he exclaimed, earning a laugh from the rest of his team.
"I think he's right, it could be fun!" Mike was quick to join his brother, as expected.
"You two belong in a renaissance fair," Nova quipped.
Cade noticed a team of girls off to the side that were whispering to each other and glancing in his direction. One of them was urged toward them, and he cleared his throat to gain his team's attention as the girl walked up to them.
She was short, and had shoulder-length green hair with streaks of blue in her bangs, along with cyan eyes. Clearly nervous, she reached up and tapped on Nova's shoulder, who had his back to her. The masked boy turned slowly, and had an eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"Is your name Nova?" she timidly asked.
"Uh… Yes?"
The girl giggled and turned back around, then melded back in with her team, who all began squealing among each other as they scurried away.
Utterly confused, Nova turned to Yang, "What just happened?" She just rolled her eyes and smirked, so he looked for an explanation with his teammates.
"Didn't you know?" Mike grinned, "You're famous now, you'll just have to get used to it."
"That is going to be annoying," the swordsman said distastefully.
They were spurred onward by Oobleck, and before long came to the large wooden doors of the museum. "Welcome to the Vale Museum of art and History!" Dr. Oobleck announced to the class with his arms wide, enthusiastic and even excited about the chance to teach so much to his mass of young pupils.
Few museums survived the culture-destruction of the Great War. The ones that did became the few major collections of history and art that people flocked to, to see and learn of Remnant's history. For Blake, it was a bit of a haven. Quiet, full of memory and symbolism, not to mention the dusty scent that reminded her of a library.
Most paintings were of humanity's battle against the Grimm. Massive murals of fighters holding the hordes of darkness at bay, the first time Dust was used, and the final stand of a great, hammer-wielding warrior against a fabled Leviathan sea-serpent Grimm.
One painting in particular caught the cat-faunus' eye, a massive work of a snarling Dragon in vicious battle with a Phoenix, wreathed in it's own flames. The land was burned and destroyed in the wake of their fight, depicting the two as hated enemies, determined to slaughter each other at any cost.
"Ah yes, everyone come quickly!" Dr. Oobleck waited impatiently for everyone to arrive, and continued with the fable. "'The Dragon and the Phoenix' by an artist unknown. As the legend goes, humanity's greatest threat, the Grimm, was only ever surpassed by that of the Dragon. It is said that in their darkest hour, the Phoenix defended humanity against this new threat, a greedy and evil being that threatened to destroy the entire world."
"That is not what my culture's history says," Ren interjected, "Where I come from, the Dragon was humanity's protector, and often brought our people good fortune. The Phoenix was the evil one, and is known as 'The Great Deceiver'."
"The painting doesn't take a side," Blake chimed in, "It only shows that they are enemies." Dr. Oobleck urged the students on and the crowd disbursed, leaving only Nova and Blake.
A long silence occurred between the two, neither one wanting speak their mind.
"I have to ask you something," the cat-faunus said in a hushed voice. Nova nodded, and continued to face the artwork. She calmed her nerves before continuing, "On the last raid I took part in with the Fang, we took something from a Schnee train. I want to know what it was."
Nova chuckled, "That's not much to go off of. What did it look like?"
Blake tried to recall the vague memory, "A large sphere with red wires all over it. Too heavy for us to carry on our own. It looked like some kind of explosive."
"Don't worry about it," Nova said a little too quickly. She knew he was hiding the truth, probably to keep her from losing her cool.
The raven-hared faunus gave the swordsman a demanding glare, "I need to know, Nova. If innocent people could be harmed then I need to know if I'm responsible, or if I can stop it before it happens."
He tuned to face her as she spoke, reading the sincerity through her facial expression. "As it happens, I know all about that train. That was where I was supposed to assassinate you and Adam." He didn't make any attempt to even try to sugarcoat or hide the truth.
Blake's amber eyes widened, "You were there, weren't you?"
He nodded slowly, "I was told to… never mind. The sphere you described is a large explosive designed as a last-resort against a massive Grimm invasion. They unimaginatively named it a 'Nova Bomb'." He paused and sighed, "I know what you're afraid of, and I'm not going to lie to you. In the wrong hands it could destroy half of Vale, but-"
"You knew it was on the train and you didn't stop us?" she hissed, her eyebrows furrowed in a furious glare.
"Are you saying you would've rather had me kill you? You weren't even the target!" he said and jabbed a finger in her chest, "They told me to kill you first to enrage Adam and get him to make more mistakes. I just decided not to pull the trigger."
"If you're saying I owe you then you have-"
"I didn't say you owe me anything," he growled, "I'm saying that you, out of everyone else on Remnant, should understand. I was ordered to do something that I knew was wrong, so I left. Sound familiar?" Blake blinked and nodded slowly, then let Nova continue.
"Luckily, they thought you two might try to activate the weapon and steer it into a populated area, so they taught me how to permanently diffuse it. Furthermore, it needs a tremendous amount of power in order to function, so I'll be able to sense when it charges up. If it turns up nearby then we'll be able to respond to it much quicker than anyone would expect."
Blake sighed. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of innocent people's lives were at risk because of her ignorance and naivety. "Before you start blaming yourself, there is something you should know," Nova said, "I helped them develop the weapon, because I didn't realize the dangers. They modeled it after an accident I had in training, and I helped them, so it's my fault that the weapon even exists."
Blake grit her teeth. She couldn't really blame the boy, especially considering her own past, but she was upset nonetheless. "Thank you." She would have to stick close to nova, and pray the bomb is never used.
The echo of clashing metal rang out through Glynda's combat arena, nearly drowned out by the cheering crowd. Gabe used his saber to parry Mike's much larger sword, then countered with a slash at the boy's exposed neck. Mike teleported behind him before the blade landed, so Gabe activated his semblance.
The greatsword phased clean through his body and threw Mike off balance. Their blades met again, and the crowd cheered. Most people were awed by the twins' performance, but one pair of Huntsmen-in-training were not amused.
"And next is the upward slash," Nova said impassively.
The blade swished past Gabe's neck, missing by centimeters.
"… Now the Dust gauntlet," Cade stood with his arms crossed, disappointed with his teammates.
Powdered Dust sprayed from Gabriel's gauntlet, and with the snap of a finger the crystals sparked, creating a pocket of air that coursed with electricity for a few moments. Mike powered through the shock and dove forward, tackling his brother.
"And this time Mike finally lands a few elbows and wins." Nova finished as the fight continued exactly as he said it would. They had been choreographing their fights to look as theatric as possible in order to win the hearts of the crowd.
Soon after, the crowd died down and the twins returned to the stands. Glynda called for the next match, Jaune vs. Cade. Everyone groaned, both were know as lackluster fighters and often went on losing streaks. Both of them together would be a terrible fight to witness. As far as they knew, hardly anything would happen at all.
Then people got to thinking; who really was the worst fighter at Beacon? Many started taking bets, mostly in favor of Cade, but a handful of people knew about the training Jaune had been getting from Pyrrha. Either way, the two would be competing for the honorary position of 'second worst' at Beacon Academy.
Jaune wasn't sure how he would win. While Cade didn't have a very aggressive fighting style, his defense was off the charts. The thick armor he wore kept him from being thrown around by the other students and helped him hold his ground, even against heavy hitters like Cardin or Nora. That means he would have to act on his weaknesses, which would be mobility and the low damage he could deal.
As a rule of thumb, the sword was more dangerous than the shield, so staying on Cade's left should make it a bit easier to keep from being harmed. At the same time, the only way to deal damage is to get through that shield, so being on the sword-side and taking damage may have to be accepted for a win in the long run.
The two knights squared off with each other, each taking their battle-ready stances. Glynda called for the match to begin, but both of them remained still, waiting for the other to make the first move. After several seconds, a groan was heard from the stands, "Ugh. You guys have to do something at some point! Come on!"
Cade huffed in irritation, then took a few tentative steps forward, and charged. He raised his sword to slash at Jaune's shoulder, but shoved his shield forward in a hard bash to surprise him. The hit did catch Jaune off-guard, but the blonde quickly recovered and countered the slash with his shield, then dashed to Cade's right and cut his blade across his stomach.
The blow only took a sliver off of his aura because of the lack of power behind the strike, and Cade capitalized on Jaune's committed attack. He thrust forward with his shield and bashed Jaune in the ribs, and the blonde used the attack to push further to Cade's right. Jaune swung again and caught the crossguard of Cade's blade, forcing it from his grip.
Before his opponent could capitalize further, Cade grabbed Jaune by the throat and shoved upwards, then pulled to his left and slammed Jaune to the ground. Jaune rolled out of the way just before Cade stomped, leaving a heavy dent in the ground. Cade recovered his sword before Jaune could attack, and resumed his defense.
The fight continued that way; a slow, calculated fight of action and reaction, both fighters determined to win despite their comparatively clumsy performance. Before long, the crowd was no longer entertained.
"This is just… terrible," Weiss said, resting her head with the palm of her hand, "I think I'm going to fall asleep."
Ruby pouted, "I feel bad for them, maybe we could give them some tips later?"
"Cade is too stubborn to accept help," Blake added, "and I think Pyrrha would lose it if anyone other than her gave Jaune training." The others nodded in silent agreement, while Pyrrha tried to shrink and hide her growing blush.
The fight continued, and Cade landed far more hits than Jaune, but they both stayed at relatively the same aura level due to the blonde's massive amount of aura. Exhausted, both fighters could barely lift their shields. Cade spared a glance at their levels, and saw that Jaune had 16 percent, just barely above red, and he was at 18 percent. It was far too close, and he was completely exhausted.
He would have to time it perfectly.
Cade gathered his strength and took a few agonizing steps forward and opened his shield to swing at Jaune. Instantly seeing the opportunity, Jaune stabbed upward at Cade's neck as the red-armored knight's aura began to shimmer.
The steel tip of his blade struck Cade's aura hard, and a bright red light burst from the boy, momentarily blinding Jaune. Cade reared back and slammed Jaune with every bit of strength he had left, and threw the boy off his feet.
Immediately after, a horn blared, signaling the end of the match. Jaune blinked the stars from his vision and looked up, seeing an exhausted Cade towering over him, his aura glowing a deep crimson. Jaune glanced over the boy's shoulder to peek at the scoreboard, and his eyes went wide in astonishment.
While he had lost with 14 percent aura, just under the red, Cade's aura was currently displayed at five thousand percent. After just a few moments, the massive number drained all the way down to zero, leaving Cade's aura pool completely empty.
Jaune frowned, and his brow furrowed. Cadence's semblance allows for one massive boost to his shield for a few moments, but then loses his aura altogether. While he did win the game by tournament standards, he would've lost in the long run. Nonetheless, the victor extended a hand to help Jaune up, so he accepted. "Good fight, Jaune. You almost had me there."
He smiled, "Thanks, but I've had a lot of help from my partner."
The brown-haired boy frowned, "Yeah, I with I could say the same."
They both exited the training floor and took their place back in the stands while Glynda considered who would be in the last match of the day.
Pyrrha didn't notice that Nova had walked up and sat beside her during the match. "So what do you think of your prodigy?" he asked with a hint of teasing in his voice.
Pyrrha frowned. Nova looked down on them; people who were not blessed with combat talent. But she did know that Jaune could prove him wrong. "I believe he has untapped potential."
Nova's head tilted, "Perhaps. I think he would be a phenomenal strategist, but not so much as a fighter. It'll take him years to catch up."
"Then I'll protect him until he does," she growled.
He chuckled, "Relax, I'm just teasing."
Why is he even talking to her? Just to get on her nerves? She thought Nova was normally anti-social, so what is going on here?
Glynda cleared her throat to gain the attention of her students, "Fighting next will be Pyrrha Nikos." A few irritated groans were heard from the audience as the reigning champion stood, eager to distance herself from Nova.
"Do we have any volunteers for this session?" Glynda called as per her custom, though she knew that volunteers to fight Pyrrha were few and far in between.
"I'll give it a shot." Glynda glanced to her left and saw Nova's gloved hand raised in the air. Pyrrha grit her teeth in frustration, it seemed like the boy was intentionally trying to be a thorn in her side!
The professor's brow furrowed, "Are you certain? You only got out of the infirmary a few days ago, and you still haven't mastered your-"
"I'll be fine professor," Nova interrupted, and stood to move down into the arena.
Pyrrha knew she was in trouble. Especially now, when her emotions were running rampant because of what happened at Forever Fall. She willed emotions to the back of her mind, forcing her body to recognize that this was just another tournament for her to compete in. She lowered into her stance, shield up and blade at the ready, and studied her opponent.
He didn't waste any time, sliding his blades from their sheathes without so much as a flourish. "Let's make a bet," he joked, "I bet I can hit you before you can hit me, what do you say?" The redhead grit her teeth in annoyance as the masked boy toyed with her.
Some people in the audience glanced at each other in confusion. No one challenged the champion without bringing everything they had. To see someone not taking it seriously either meant that he wasn't going to even try, or it could mean that this was the real deal.
Uncertain, Yang leaned over to Cade for his opinion, "How good of a chance do you think he has?"
CMSN leader shrugged, "I'm not sure, but after seeing what he can do in Forever Fall, I think Pyrrha might have her work cut out for her."
A pit of anxiety grew in her stomach as the two fighters took their places in the arena. This fight wasn't like the others. This was a battle of two legends, and either one could be the victor.
Nova casually walked forward, but raised his weapons as he neared the champion. She shifted her feet, staying at an angle to avoid being flanked or caught by surprise. Just as he stepped within range, she flipped her grip on her sword and spun the weapon into a javelin, firing it while the swordsman was merely a few feet away.
Nova spun his blades and blocked the attack, but Pyrrha used the defense as an opportunity and swept to the side, and recovered her weapon with a pull of her semblance. She barely managed to raise her shield as a blindingly fast sweep of his blades was aimed for her head, then she countered with a slash down at his knees in an attempt to knock him down.
He dashed backwards, then leaped into the air, striking downward as he flipped over her. She ducked and heard the blade cut through empty air, then spun to cut Nova across the chest. He caught the blade without effort, then shoved her weapon away and kicked her shield hard to the right, making it clatter on the metal floor.
With both hands on her weapon, Pyrrha slashed downward with all her might to force Nova back. Instead, he caught the blow with a single strong blade, then swung for her belly. The Mistrali shoved the blocking sword back and swiped the attack aside, then went on pure defense as Nova's constant barrage of attacks with his dual blades started to overwhelm her.
He was vicious, and absolutely relentless. It was all she could do just to keep dodging and blocking his attacks, never getting the chance to make a counter. Knowing that she couldn't keep this up for long, she decided the only way to truly win would be to take away his advantage.
As he slashed down with both blades, she managed to sweep one aside and use used her semblance to rip the other from his grip. Nova immediately disengaged and slid back with a chuckle, "That was very sneaky, Nikki."
Her breath hitched as she heard the name, "Do not call me that. Ever again."
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said in mock guilt, "Did I touch a nerve, Nikki?" He regretted his tone once he spoke, sounding much more harsh than he intended. Nova shifted his stance, turning to the side and pointing his blade straight in her direction, holding his weapon like a rapier. Weiss raised an eyebrow and noted that while his stance wasn't flawless, he seemed to know what he was doing.
The two battled back and forth in a blur of motion, a precise and deadly dance of two masters of combat. Pyrrha quickly parried two stabs for her abdomen, then capitalized as his blade left him open by sweeping her leg low and following up with two slashes from the right. He jumped and blocked both, reading her attacks like an open book.
Quickly becoming agitated, she changed tactics again. She leaped up and toward him to stab from above, aiming for the inside of his shoulder. He smacked the attack aside with the flat of his blade and crouched low as Pyrrha landed, swinging hard.
A loud ring of steel echoed through the arena as the blades clashed, and Pyrrha staggered back. She felt a pinch below her left armpit, just between the ribs.
"Poke!" Nova laughed in victory.
The red-head dashed back and grit her teeth as she glanced at the aura levels on the scoreboard. He had only dealt one single percentage of damage, just to mess with her. He was good. Very good. In fact, she hadn't had a challenge like this since… Him.
"Come on now, Pyrrha. I know you're better than that!" Nova taunted, "Give me a real fight. You can do so much more, so why do you hold back?"
Her brow furrowed, "I'm not holding back."
"Oh, yes you are," Nova chuckled, "And you know it too. Go on, pick up your shield and lets get this fight started." The two warriors recovered their weapons before fighting once again, and she was considerably more formidable with her shield in hand, but Nova was still disappointed.
After deflecting several attacks from his blades, Pyrrha instantly noticed a familiar pattern. High left, low right, low right and left, then high right twice. It was the same pattern she and Milo had used against each other for years on end, with small variations to turn a fight one way or another.
But how would Nova know the same movements? It didn't make any sense. She refocused on the battle, pressing her attack to end the fight before she started seeing anything else.
Occasionally their blades would lock, and Nova would try to push her further, "You're good, but you've always had one problem."
"What are you talking about?" She hissed through her teeth, pushing against him as hard as she could.
"You think everyone is on the same team, so you treat them as a friend, and since when do you go all out on a friend?"
"You're not making any sense!"
Nova pressed harder, leaning in close, "You're afraid of hurting your friends, so you lose the drive to go above and beyond. But how will you ever protect that gullible idiot you call a leader if you don't fight at your full potential?"
"ENOUGH!" Pyrrha screamed, with renewed resolve. She threw forward a burst of magnetism that shoved the masked boy's swords back. She became a blur of motion, bringing out all of her most powerful combinations and strikes so quickly that Nova was forced to give it everything he had.
The audience was in awe with the two fighters, barely able to follow as they dashed around the arena at blazing speeds. Clashes of metal echoed through the arena, and bright sparks illuminated the stands as they watched in stunned silence.
Pyrrha jumped up feet first at Nova, and he raised his forearms to defend against the attack. She pushed off and into the air, transforming her sword into her rifle and hammering away at his exposed aura as she soared through the air. He recovered quickly and reared back, then heaved one of his swords up at the champion.
Pyrrha reached for her shield as the sword whirled in her direction, then deflected the blade back at him, using a wave of her semblance to give it an extra kick. Nova dodged the sword by mere centimeters, and the weapon embedded itself deep into the floor. Pyrrha switched her weapon to a javelin and landed, then charged her opponent with unbridled fury.
Nova, not willing to back down despite his disadvantage, pressed the attack. The two warriors furiously slashed at each other, completely unaware of their quickly draining aura levels and before long, the buzzer sounded to end the match.
Both parties dashed away from each other, drenched in sweat and breathing heavy from the exertion of the intense battle. "Now that," Nova said between ragged breaths, "was a real fight. Good work, Nikki."
Pyrrha furiously growled, "Stop calling me that, Milo!" The Mistrali froze, petrified. She couldn't believe the words that had just come from her own mouth.
Nova ignored it and simply looked up at the scoreboard. Pyrrha had won by a single percentage, retaining her 'champion' status. Soon, the Vytal festival would be here, and he promised himself there would be no more messing around.
A thought occurred to the redhead, "If you're not on our side, then who's side are you on?"
"I am on nobody's side but my own," the swordsman declared.
The two fighters parted without another word, and joined with their respective teams. Cade nudged Nova, a question in the forefront of his mind, "Why are you antagonizing Pyrrha? Over the past couple weeks you two have been through plenty. There's no need for all that."
Nova thought for several moments before speaking, "I just knew she could do better, and for some reason I'm afraid that she'll lose her edge." He didn't know why, but he was terrified that she might die, and wanted her to be prepared to give it her all. Just like at Forever Fall, he was so scared that his hands were trembling. But he barely knew the Mistrali champion, so why does he care so much?
Meanwhile, Jaune was trying to comfort his shaken partner. "Are you alright, Pyrrha?"
She shook her head and grabbed his arm, immediately dragging him out of the class. She needed to be away from Nova, to relax for a moment and get her bearings. Jaune was always a good help with that sort of thing.
He did ask why she hated the nickname 'Nikki' so much, so she explained that it was given to her by Milo, and ever since it was painful to hear it from anyone else.
It had to be mere coincidence that both Milo and Nova called her Nikki. She had always hated the nickname, so when she protested, the name Milo was the one that naturally escaped her lips. While she had been healing well because of Jaune, how was she supposed to do so if the memory kept being thrust in her face like this?
Jaune was there for her though, and Pyrrha could feel the heartache slipping away, replaced by excitement and love.
She was so close she could almost taste it. The Beacon dance was coming soon, and maybe, just maybe, she could feel whole again.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
- Proverbs 10:12
PS; The part where the girl asks Nova his name is a legitimate life experience of mine. I was so confused that I didn't know how to react! :P