XxXxX
"QueenSally: Are you certainly certain that you wouldn't want to attend other schools than Beacon? I've heard that Haven is a lot better." The Queen of Grimm couldn't help but beg the two buffoons and any other deity that would listen for her friend to change his mind.
"RustedKnight69: Sally… for the fifteenth time, I want to attend Beacon. It's the school my family attended for generations. And it's called the best Huntsman academy for a reason."
"Curse you! You two color coded idiots! This is the fault of you two!" Screaming in anger, Salem tossed her Scroll at the wall, causing a large crack to appear on its solid surface.
The poor device rebounded off of the destroyed wall and barely missing her head hit Mojo's stand, the small Nevermore taking flight with an indignant squawk from its toppling perch.
"This is bad…" Chewing on her thumb, Salem sat at her desk while sending a mental command to her pet bird so it would bring her Scroll back.
It was a good idea to reinforce the device with magic, it wasn't the first time she used it as a projectile based stress relief.
"Squawk!" Mojo dutifully brought the small device that closed itself up from the impact.
"What should I dooo~..." Letting her head drop to the surface of the desk she moaned in despair.
"Squawk!" The bird of darkness replied, tilting its head.
"Why did I think it was a good idea?"
"Squawk?" Tilting its head the other way, Mojo let out another confused noise.
"You think that he will get in trouble with Ozma?"
"Squawk."
"What am I saying… of course that idiot is going to recognize that Rusty is using magic instead of a Semblance…"
"Squawk… Squawk?"
"What do you mean 'tell him'. I can't do that!"
"Squawk…" Tilting its head nearly upside down like an owl, Mojo seemed to squint its four eyes at its Queen.
"Don't you use that attitude with me, young man! I'm your Master!"
"Squawk!" Bristling its feathers, the small Nevermore started to pick through its wing with its beak while ignoring the depressed mess that was its owner.
"Young Lady… right, sorry… I could have sworn that you were supposed to be a boy…" Salem murmured, observing how the black and white bird took care of its feathers.
Picking up her Scroll she saw that there was one more message from her friend.
"RustedKnight69: I don't understand why you are so adamant that I should go somewhere else… I even received a letter of acceptance today, I thought that you would be proud of me even the slightest bit…"
"Ughhh… This is so unfair!"
"QueenSally: I am proud, Rusty! I am really proud! I just don't like the headmaster there…" Staring at what she wrote, she felt how fast blood drained from her face.
"Oh no…" Seeing how her thoughts sneaked themselves into their conversation the indomitable mistress of darkness could have sworn that she managed to reach a new white color with how much her skin paled.
"RustedKnight69: You mean headmaster Ozpin? Is he a bad man?"
"Squawk." Making a few short jumps Mojo let out an interested sound after peaking at the opened conversation on the Scroll.
"What do I tell him?" Panicking, Salem asked her Grimm companion, receiving only a long and unblinking stare back.
"Some help you are…" Huffing, she decided to do the one thing that always worked.
Bullshit time.
"QueenSally: It really depends. I know him personally, he is unreliable and full of hot air. He thinks that talking in riddles, looking into the distance and being vague is how a leader should act."
"RustedKnight69: Huh… Who would have thought… How do you know him btw? You said that you weren't a Huntress but the books and notes about Aura, Aura techniques and sword fighting were too advanced… I know that we agreed to not ask too many questions like that but I'm really curious… And you still didn't tell me how in the world you managed to sneak that box into my room…"
"Well… crap baskets…"
She should have known that sooner or later those questions would need to be answered, especially as Rusty didn't have any problems with answering any questions when she was the one that asked.
She couldn't tell him that she used a magical array to find his location, constructed a special multidimensional, two way translocation spell and sneaked into his room when he was asleep. He would think she was a creep or something, which she totally wasn't.
She even managed to push down the urge to look closer at his face. The mop of bright blonde hair did tell her though that he didn't really lie in their first conversation.
It made the following magic bestowal and soul linking ritual a bit hard to perform but hey… The untold years of studying magic out of boredom weren't for show after all.
She wouldn't tell him that he became the equivalent of four magical girls that are prancing around the world though… Or the fact that his soul was now connected to her own so he would be able to draw from her own reserves if such need arises.
She even managed to perfect the magical energy dissipation that Ozma's imperfect spell caused, as well as creating real magical circulatory system like in the people from her times. It wasn't easy but because of that Rusty wasn't locked into an elemental affinity like the Maidens and could use raw Mana to weave spells like a real Sorcerer.
"Hah! Screw you, you ungrateful green clad bastard! My magical girl is better than yours!" Voicing her thoughts she couldn't help but smile, gaining yet another squawk from her companion.
Teaching someone through messages proven to be a challenge, something that she tackled with glee. The fact that Rusty was able to follow the written instruction by himself was helping too, especially when he started to experiment with his newfound abilities.
It did cut into their gaming time but their friendship only blossomed more.
Lately she started to play a shooting game called Call of Honor, that was a nice pastime.
She might or might not have sent a Nevermore to the home of one of the other players that called her a 'skank with saggy tits' but no one can prove anything.
There also was that thing with everyone being super nice to her when she started to use voice chat in the game, some of them even asking her for her 'deets', whatever it was.
Rusty said to ignore them, so she did just that.
Looking back to her Scroll, she only had one real problem in her life right now.
How to explain without really explaining?
XxX
"QueenSally: You could say that I'm an unlicensed Huntress, I'm quite powerful if I say so myself and I had a rather… explosive disagreement with that man. The Aura techniques you learned aren't that common and I'm afraid that he would try something when he recognizes I was the one that taught you."
"Jaune, you can text with your girlfriend after dinner." A maternal voice full of mirth caused Jaune to blush slightly, even when he didn't really feel that embarrassed.
"Yeah, J-man! We are 'only' celebrating your miraculous acceptance into the most prestigious Huntsman Academy in the world! Your mysterious not girlfriend can wait a bit!" Amethyst exclaimed, patting him heartily on the back with a smile.
"I still can't believe that big brother became so strong so fast!" Bleu, one of the twins, followed with her sister, Indigo nodding in agreement.
"Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence…" Jaune deadpanned, telling his friend that he couldn't talk right now and pocketing his Scroll for now. He could always talk with Sally later.
"Oh, don't be like that, Jaune. You know that we all support your decision now, even if Nicky is still grumpy about it." Juniper Arc, their mother, said.
His sisters agreed, nodding their heads or verbally acknowledging what the matriarch said.
The head of the table was empty though, their father being on a mission.
The situation between the two males of the Arc household wasn't really good those days, his father still fuming at the fact that someone unlocked his Aura.
Sally was adamant about not saying anything to anyone, she didn't even want to say anything about how she managed to unlock his own Aura.
Understandably it didn't go too well with his father, who in his fit of anger announced that even with his Aura unlocked he wouldn't give Jaune any training, nor would he give his son any weapon.
Thankfully, his DustNet friend thought about that too, leaving a small box with old books, some handwritten journals and a few accessories needed to manipulate Aura.
He never mentioned it to Sally but he did have a vague recollection of something happening that night, something that would freak him out to no end of it wasn't something ultimately beneficial to him.
"Don't worry Jaune. I'm certain that Nicolas will come to his senses." His mother assured after she saw that he was looking at the only empty seat.
"Dad's still pissed that you managed to go behind his back about that whole magic aura thing." Violette, the youngest of his sisters said, garnering a few soft glares from their sisters.
"What! It's true!" The little girl exclaimed, puffing up her cheeks.
"I need to admit that I'm a bit worried too… Like Nicky, I don't want you to become a huntsman but I can accept your decision, Jaune." The matriarch of the family said, looking sadly at her only son. "Like your father I know the reality of being a huntsman, it's a hard and unforgiving occupation. I'm just worried for you… The fact that you don't want to tell us who it was to unlock your Aura doesn't help."
"Mom, I gave my word that I would never disclose their identity and an Arc never goes back on his word." Jaune sighed, he didn't even remember how many times he told his family the exact same line at this point.
"I bet it was his mysterious girlfriend." Violette mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Viola… I never even saw her face. We are just online friends." Jaune replied, taking a sip of an orange juice.
"See?! He is suspiciously defensive about it!" The little girl jumped at the occasion, pointing one of her slender fingers at the only man at the table.
Sighing, Jaune already knew that it would be a long day.
Thankfully, in only a few days he would be able to attend Beacon and distance himself a bit from his family. He loved them deeply but sometimes he wished to have more space.
Slowly chewing on his mother's casserole, Jaune manipulated the Aura in the air to coalesce into three spheres over his open palm, making them slowly rotate clockwise in a little exercise that Sally detailed in one of her notebooks. The small bluish balls of light lazily traveled around, casting a delicate glow from his hand.
It was a challenge, especially as Sally was insistent that they couldn't speak via voice call or video.
It took him nearly four months to be able to manipulate Aura at this level, another two to be able to use it in combat scenarios in any, semi-competent way.
He was fairly good at defending himself, at least that was what the old mister Cena told him. For an old guy he is quite spry, having no problem smacking Jaune's ass around. Most of the time he couldn't even see when the old man attacked, appearing out of nowhere just like that. Probably one of those Semblances now that he thought about it…
"That's as cool as it is freaky…" Amethyst's comment took him out of his thoughts.
Looking around the table he saw that everyone was mesmerized by the small spectacle, even his mother looked a bit puzzled.
"I never saw any of the Huntsmen using their Aura like this… That teacher of yours is getting more and more intriguing from one moment to the next." Juniper said, observing the little spheres of light that her son was playing with.
"It's supposed to be some sort of secret Aura controlling technique. Teacher knows that I don't have a weapon of my own so they showed me how to create temperature weapons from my Aura." Jaune explained, waving his hand to dissipate the gathered energy.
"Oh! Oh! I want to see the lightsaber again!" One of the twins, A rather small girl with a side ponytail on the left side of her head suddenly exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Maybe later Indi." He replied, patting her head. Seeing that she pouted he smiled, deciding to agree to something at least. "We can go to the backyard after the dinner, I'll even cut a few logs with my Flashsword if Mom allows it."
"Only if we will be able to put the wood into the fireplace this time." The mother replied with a smile, getting an embarrassed chuckle from the only man in the room.
True, the first time he managed to stabilize the Flashsword he decided to try it out on the firewood, brilliantly deciding that it would be good training because he had to chop it anyway.
It worked too well, the Aura blade sliding through the wood like a red hot knife through styrofoam. He got a bit too excited, starting to chop it into tiny pieces.
Bright side? They would not run out of kindling for the foreseeable future.
Downside? He had to go into the forest and gather enough wood to replace what he turned into scraps.
At least the downside had the added upside in how it doubled as physical exercise.
Seeing the now happy and smiling family really he really appreciated that they didn't do anything besides discouraging him at the beginning. Unlike his father who purposefully was trying to stop him from becoming a Huntsman.
He understood why they were worried about him, he really did, but it didn't change the fact that the only person who actively encouraged him and helped in achieving his dream was a stranger. A friend on the DustNet whose face he never saw was more supportive than his blood, and it stung. Maybe not too much, but just in the right place to make it extra painful…
Now… If only he managed to discover why Sally was so adamant that he shouldn't attend Beacon at all costs. Her explanation probably got a bit of truth in it but he already understood that she wasn't telling him everything.
Which was okay, but the fact that his friend didn't want the headmaster of Beacon to discover that he used her Aura techniques still remained…
XxX
This was really bad.
No, it was catastrophic.
For quite some time, Cinder didn't need to put up with this heavy feeling in her gut, until now that is.
All this power her new master bestowed, all this grueling training of her Aura and mastery of her Semblance and she still was unable to fulfill her purpose.
She was a failure.
Lady Salem was a generous master.
From the first day that she was welcomed into her inner circle, young Cinder couldn't help but wonder why she was allowed such a blessing.
It couldn't be pitty, the Queen of The Grimm, literal Goddess of Darkness, wouldn't even think about such things.
It couldn't be her knowledge or training, she was little more than a street urchin after burning down the Glass Unicorn with those witches she had to call family still inside.
All the knowledge and training was offered to her, the only things that she really needed to do in return was to excel.
That was, until a year back.
When the sixteen years old Cinder discovered that her master's tower got a stable connection to the CCT Network, she immediately started gathering information about everything she could. Being a slave for most of her life she didn't have such luxuries, she didn't even have any books, let alone a personal Scroll before.
She was a bit reluctant at first but seeing that even her master started using a personal scroll she quickly tried to emulate the powerful Queen of Grimm.
At first she wanted to learn from her master directly, maybe by looking up what the Goddess of Darkness was searching for herself, but that quickly turned out to be impossible.
For some reason, Lady Salem ordered Doctor Watts to prepare her a Scroll that wasn't see through and a personal workstation that would be installed in her personal quarters.
The last one was a doozy too, the overconfident man nearly said goodbye to the world of the living when he suggested that he should install it personally. Turns out their master really didn't appreciate it when someone tried to enter her personal space.
Fast forward a few months and Cinder was a witness to a peculiar sight. For the first time in the few years of knowing the incarnation of death that was Lady Salem she saw her with a hint of emotion on her face.
The short conversation that followed was rather strange, but more than understandable. Why would the Queen of Grimm need to know anything about the measly hunters?
If she was feeling especially blasphemous and suicidal she would hazard a guess that in that moment, Lady Salem showed a hint of worry and fear on her beautiful, ghostly face.
It quickly turned out that she was more than wrong.
Not even an hour later and she was briefed by one of her favorite allies, Hazel, about the Fall Maiden. She was confused at first, then became terrified that she was once again lacking because she couldn't piece together what Lady Salem was expecting her to do.
Thankfully, her benevolent master gave her a little clue after a few days, implanting her with a Grimm parasite that could help her with grasping and siphoning magical powers.
The plan formed shortly after and was executed nearly flawlessly.
And that nearly was the biggest issue.
Using that fool of a cat that was the headmaster of Haven academy, Cinder tweaked slightly the message from Ozpin to the Fall Maiden, making sure that she would be alone and prime for the taking.
Everything should have gone smoothly, but the one helping her, one Tyrian Callows, managed to fuck everything up in a spectacular manner.
Now here she was, sitting in the dining hall with nary a sliver of the maiden's power, the procedure being thwarted by a passing huntsman. At least she was wearing a disguise and the strange, inebriated man focused more on securing the incapacitated maiden than pursuing her.
Now… she needed to report that failure to her master and beg for forgiveness that she didn't deserve…
As if fate was telling her 'Here you go little child, this is your chance', Salem glided into the room with a heavy scowl on her face.
Deciding to wait and see, she observed how her Queen sat at the head of the table and with a wave of her hand materialized an ornate goblet filled with a deep red liquid.
The sight alone caused goosebumps on her back.
Salem seemed to be in deep thought, swishing lazily her drink while looking off into the distance through one of the windows.
After few minutes, the raven haired girl couldn't withstand the slowly mounting pressure, letting out a shuddering breath.
"L… Lady S-Salem…" She stuttered out, gaining the attention of her master. The imposing Grimm woman didn't even move a muscle to acknowledge her, only her eyes lazily taking a glance at her.
"I… I failed you, my Lady…" Taking a deep breath, Cinder forcefully controlled her own breathing, not trusting her own body to not get into a panic attack.
"You seem… different." The regal voice of her master didn't need to be loud to be heard, smoothly traveling through the room. She was certain that even if she would sit on the other end of the table she could hear it loud and clear.
"I… I managed to take a part of the maiden's power with your gift, my Lady." Making doubly sure that her eyes wouldn't stray in the direction of her master, Cinder bowed her head hoping that the punishment wouldn't be too severe.
"Fascinating…" The Queen observed her closely, making the young girl feel like a bug under a magnifying glass beneath those glowing red eyes. The tone of voice indicated, if barely, that the monstrous woman had something on mind.
"Cinder. I have a personal mission for you. It shouldn't interfere with your previous one but it takes priority." With her heart thumping loudly, the poor girl barely could make out the spoken words.
"You are to infiltrate Beacon Academy and make contact with a person of interest." The Queen continued, seemingly unaware of the girl's turmoil.
XxXxX