Just so those who are reading this on Ao3 are aware, I have had to turn on comment moderation. The reason for this is that there is a bot, or several bots, running around on Ao3 that are putting misleading flags on stories claiming them to be AI-generated. If you are reading on Ao3, please do not let this discourage you from leaving a comment. Your input is greatly appreciated.
That being said, let's move on to my responses to reviews/comments.
[Response to Reviews/Comments]
(Qoutev) TACO SENSEI: Yeah, to be fair, Zain is gonna be a little hard to write for me, mainly because he's super moralistic. Like, frustratingly a good guy. And yes, he will need a lot of luck. Like, a lot of luck. And Kokichi finally gets to be Kokichi, at least to some extent. I've been waiting to do something with him for a little bit now, and I'm glad it's been well received.
Reader 451: I too feel bad for Ozpin. That man really needs a break, but unfortunatly for him, things only get more stressful, for better or for worse. Zain is, well, he's Zain. He will be appearing a lot in this arc. Although in his defence, it's not like he'd do a Steven Universe, he's not that insufferable. Also, love the comparison. Fun fact, I had recently watched a Jackie Chan movie so the action was quite fresh in my mind. As for how Winter is doing… Read and Find out… in the next chapter, because I don't have the time to make this any longer! And yeah, as I figured out, even re-watching Volumes 1 – 3 (Which are important to this story, anything beyond is unrequired for reading this part of the story) that even back then Aura wasn't really well explained. Go figure, yeah?
Kolt999: What can I say? Being Ozpin sucks, and it's only reasonable that Ozpin sometimes needs to wash away his woes with a few shots of 10% Alcohol-level Brandy. His life's been a living hell for quite some time, and it's only reasonable to assume that he gets drunk from time to time to forget.
Also, your Analogy is kinda spot on, with the exception that Jolyne is more of a lesser of the two evils. Like, yeah, she's not a good person, but she's better than those two assholes. As for Raven leaving out that important detail… well, you'll learn why she did that in either this chapter or the next one, depending on how much I focus on Jolyne's perspective in his chapter. (News Flash, it's a lot)
Then we get to Zain. Zain is going to be in for a world of hurt. That's all I'm gonna say. We all know by now that when Jolyne fights someone, she does so with no remorse and does not hold back if she thinks it's needed.
Then, Kokichi being Kokichi. Winter being trolled into oblivion. And Chiaki getting her truest of true gamer moments. No, Atlas will not be catching a break, if anything it's just gonna get continuously fucked over until the end of time itself. If you couldn't tell, I'm not the biggest fan of Atlas. Ironwood's cool, but Atlas can suck my donkey balls for all I care.
Have a good day, Kolt!
Now, with that being said, let's hop right into the chapter, shall we?
[Markaria Plutos and Jasper Quartz belong to Shine375. Zain Hotaru belongs to Sunky Addict.]
xxXXxxXXxx
[Jolyne Brooks]
Styx had seen better days, that much Jolyne knew. From what she gathered from the mayor, over 65% of the population had died because of The Branwen Tribe and the devastating raid that they had conducted on the town, bringing the town's total population from a whopping 8,585 to 3,000. Or, more accurately, 3,004 if they included Jolyne and her friends.
Oh, there were also the slaves that she rescued from The Branwen Tribe, so that was 50 people right there, and another 300 because of the now ex-bandits turned private militia for Styx, led by Jolyne seeing as they only took orders from her, making her in a way the General of the militia, despite the fact she knew nothing of how to run a military.
So, in reality, the population of Styx was now actually 3,354.
Jolyne sighed. This whole thing was beyond her, and not in a cocky way. It wasn't even a stretch to say that Clay knew more about training for armed combat than she did. All of her skills came from holding a weapon and instantly gaining knowledge of how to use it. Of course, she vaguely knew how to fight without it, but that was beside the point.
Then came the issue with Styx itself. It was in extremely rough shape, and while the population was still large, it was nothing compared to what it used to be. That, and everyone was still grieving, hurting, and trying to move on from the raid that happened only literal hours ago.
But hey…. It could've been worse.
Don't get Jolyne wrong, it wasn't good, far from it, but it was better to look on the bright side rather than mope about in the darkness thinking that nothing could ever get better ever again. But even with a cheery outlook, It didn't make up for the losses. The deaths of husbands, wives, children, and whole families plagued the air, making Jolyne sick to her stomach.
She thought back to the world that she had left not even two days ago, and felt her stomach knot, twist and turn. She caused this same thing to happen back there but to a whole world. She did this to them on a much grander scale.
If the Branwen Tribe was evil… then what did that make her?
Back then, she was filled with rage, hatred, and vitriol toward the world. It had hurt her, greatly. That world took from her a choice. A choice to not be able to just stand by and live the life she wanted. Not without being targeted by someone. So, rightfully, she lashed out.
But the way she did it. She killed millions. Or at least, that was what she projected.
She didn't dream. She couldn't because of how the system worked. But if she could, she knew her dreams would be plagued by nightmares.
And she deserved it.
Shaking her head, she cleared those thoughts from her mind. That was in the past. Something she was striving to avoid ever happening again. She wasn't going to shift the blame, but Junko and Mukuro actively encouraged her to do what she did.
Maybe that was why she was so "okay" with it. Either way, it didn't change the fact that it weighed heavily on her consciousness. Maybe one day she'd go back and fix it. Fix the world that she broke. Even if Daimen was heavily against it, she'd fix the world that she destroyed. She'd make amends one way or another.
"Yeah… maybe one day…." Jolyne thought, clenching her jaw, thinking back to The Branwen Tribe and its leader, Raven Branwen.
A part of her, for a split second, thought that she had overreacted, just like what happened with The Kuzuryu Clan. But then she remembered that it wasn't just her who was affected by The Branwen Tribe. It was a whole town. Whole families who would never see their loved ones again. All because of one woman and her group of scumbag bastards.
Fittingly, it mirrored her quite well, now that she thought back to it.
The dual-haired Dragon Faunus overlooked the burning buildings that were being put out. She watched from the balcony of Ronins Inn as the former Bandits helped to gather the dead and scanned through the rubble of destroyed buildings. She was putting them to good work. For them, it was a part of their penance for aiding The Branwen Tribe in raiding a bunch of other villages in the past.
She remembered that when she told them of that, the looks on their faces were ones of determination. It seemed as if they truly wanted to change. Jolyne thought it was good, and while the mayor was distrusting of them for obvious reasons, he was willing to give them a chance. She was thankful for it because she had plans for them.
After all, if Styx was going to grow past the tragedy of today, they would need to be better equipped to deal with similar things happening. And what better way to do it than by having former bandits make up a portion of the militia that she made specifically to defend this town? And all of it was to move toward a brighter, better future.
Beside her, sitting to her left and narrowly reaching her height whilst sitting, was Tyrone. Along with her, he too overlooked the town, silently watching everyone with hound-like awareness. His crimson-red eyes scanned the streets, his bone-like nose sniffing every so often. She found it adorable in a strange sort of way.
This literal demon dog sitting next to her had the loyalty of a husky and the jaws of a jaguar, tamed and alert, like a guard dog ready to pounce when commanded. It fascinated her in ways that seemed almost impossible. She created this. She created Tyrone, and she loved the big dog.
That aside, there was an irony here that she fully understood. At least, to some degree anyway. Tyrone, a creature of The Grimm, had stepped up to help protect this town. And while she had been the one to create it, it had caused a lot of confusion among the surviving masses.
Jolyne never stopped to think about how wrong it must have looked to have a Grimm help dig under rubble for any survivors, then safely help them out of the rubble. Most of these people were under the impression that The Grimm were dangerous, violent, and monstrous beasts.
From what Jolyne was aware, they were like that. And she had to tell several children that Tyrone was different and that other species of Grimm were extremely dangerous and not to be attempted to play with.
She hated to break the children's reality like that, but it had to be done. You know, in order to keep them safe. That aside, there was yet another facet to this whole thing, and that was the current mood of the town.
Truth be told, it was a harrowing sight. The town was in shambles, and it would take weeks if not months for the place to recover. Tyrone no doubt sensed all the despair and sorrow and was lapping it up. She could see that it made him stronger, as he had a bar above his head named "Terror Boost" and it had been fully maxed out.
She had no idea what it was, but she had to assume it didn't mean anything good. But, because she didn't have him in attack mode, she didn't know what it'd do. But, she assumed it probably made him stronger in some way, shape, or form. He was a Grimm after all, so it made sense.
From what Jolyne knew about The Grimm, it was that they were attracted to that sensation—of terror, fear, despair, and any other kind of negative emotion. Which begged the question… would The Grimm come here?
Actually, that was a dumb question. Of course, they would. That was like if Winnie The Pooh would eat an entire city made of honey. Of course, he would.
Luckily for everyone, Jolyne had thought ahead, as she had a bunch of Abominations already patrolling the outer reaches of the forest surrounding Styx, sweeping the area so that if any Grimm did come by, they'd have to deal with Tanks, Assassins, and Ninjas, all of whom scaled to be at least superhuman in one category or another. Granted, they weren't the strongest things out there, but they were better than nothing.
So, with that part being taken care of, that left Jolyne with what she was doing now: staring out into the city with her pet(?) Beowulf, and contemplating her next move. But, it didn't take her long to actually think of what to do next. In fact, she had made it clear what her current plan was to everyone once Huginn finished the transport.
She was going to make Styx a better place.
"No matter what… I'm not going to let this place suffer as it did just now. I'll make it stronger. I'll make those who dare do that kind of thing fear Styx. I won't let history repeat itself. I cannot allow Styx to fall like this again. Call it hypocritical, but this can also act as my repentance for what I did to the other world. This is a fresh start. For me, and for everyone. To that end, I vow to make this place better."
[Plus 35 Karma (Good)for making a vow to make Styx a better place]
[World Quest Line 1 – Rise from the Ashes stronger, better, and more powerful!]
[Quest 1 – Make Styx Great Again!]
Description: After the near destruction of Styx at the hands of Raven Branwen and her Tribe, Styx is going to need help rebuilding. And when rebuilding is involved, so too does innovation come into play. Styx was one of the biggest settlements in Anima, nearing the size of a small city. However, they are now back to being a simple, if not overly bloated, settlement. Now, it is up to you and The Mayor of Styx to make this once bustling town great once again. No matter the cost.
Quest: Rebuild Styx. Return it to its former glory. This can be done by any means you so desire.
Rewards: 320,000 EXP, 20,000 Lien, 1 Mythical Gacha Token
[WARNING: THIS IS A QUEST LINE THAT MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE TIME YOU END YOUR JOURNEY IN THE WORLD OF REMNANT. FAILURE TO COMPLETE THIS QUEST LINE WILL RESULT IN DEATH!]
"Why… why did you have to make it a Quest, Mono? Also, why the harsh punishment?! Seriously! Death?! I thought you wanted me to live!"
[I do not understand. Do you not want to be rewarded for such a monumental task? That, and this is for the whole quest line, which, failure to complete some of the goals would result in Death regardless, so I decided to tack it on anyway. Besides, it is not like you can complete everything here in less than a year here. By my estimation, you will be in your mid-20s by the time this world is considered "complete".]
Jolyne sighed. Whatever, it didn't matter. At least it would make her stronger. And that was all that mattered for her personal growth. Besides, the stronger she got, the better off the world would be. That, and Raven Branwen proved that the enemies here were going to be much, much more difficult to beat. Her previous world was a cakewalk, if she ignored the fact that she was constantly restricted except for her fight with Izuru and Daisuke.
Don't get her wrong, her fight with Raven was also a cakewalk. All that was needed was a singular blow to the chest, and she was done. However, that didn't take into account of her health, defence, magic defence, and endurance. She couldn't afford to take that much damage from a single blow. If she wasn't a Dragon she would've been two-hit, and that was something she could not allow to happen again.
It was clear that this world while having tons of fodder, was no pushover. Humanity and whatever Faunus truly was had been on the back peddle for years, which meant that she needed to be on high alert. If Jolyne were to fight any more people from this world, she would need to get stronger, more durable, and faster.
Speaking of faster… that was something that had been illuding her for a while now. The biggest question she had on her mind was her speed capabilities, and most of it came from her fight with Izuru.
She had been capable of keeping up with Izuru as if it was nothing, yet Izuru had the same speed as someone like Akane, but triple because he was the Ultimate Ultimate. Meaning that even without practice, he was outdoing everyone and everything.
There were times in that fight that she could've sworn that he had swung that sword of his faster than her eyes could track. Then again, they moved at similar speeds, so it honestly didn't matter. The fact of the matter is… if that was the case, then what the hell was up with her Speed?
She had no real gauge of what her speed was, but she had to assume it was fairly high. A part of her wondered why there wasn't a stat for that. Maybe it was a flaw with The System as a whole? She honestly had no idea.
"Hey, Mono… why don't I have a speed stat?"
[It is a hidden stat that fluctuates depending on the amount of HP you have. If you must know, your speed stat is currently double what your HP is. When your health lowers, so does your speed. After all, you can't be fast if you're heavily damaged, correct?]
Jolyne blinked. That made a lot of sense. "Still, I don't see why it needs to be hidden…"
[It was not my choice. For that, you'll have to ask The Almighty]
She scoffed at that idea. Jolyne had no real intentions to bug The Almighty about that sort of thing. It was probably a massive waste of his time, time that he needed to spend doing… whatever The Almighty did.
Stepping away from the balcony, Jolyne, followed by Tyrone, re-entered the building. Silently, she made her way to her bedroom, opening the door and frowning. Rantaro was sitting on a chair, as a dishevelled-looking girl lay upon it. Her hair was stringy, her skin was sickly pale, and she looked more like skin draped over bones than a person.
She was so unbelievably malnourished that it was a miracle she was even alive.
"How is she doing?" Jolyne asked, a tinge of concern in her voice as Rantaro, who was focusing all of his mana into his healing runes, grunted.
"Several broken bones, several infected wounds all over the body in various locations, a collapsed lung, viral pneumonia, over a dozen areas where the muscle is torn and not healing, severe iron deficiency, severe vitamin C, D and E deficiency, and that's just the least worrying symptoms. The fact that she's alive at all is insane, as any normal person who had these would've died days ago. Yet here she is, alive," Rantaro said, his voice carrying an air of whimsy. "Luckily for her, my Healing Runes should be more than enough to clear up those issues. Well, the non-vitamin-related ones anyway."
The dual-haired Dragon Faunus nodded, looking away from the sight that was the girl as she frowned. The only thing covering the girl's modesty was her hair and the blankets over her lower half. Rantaro had done it so that he could get a better look at what they were dealing with, and it was nothing short of grizzly. Then again, she had been worse just a few moments ago.
"And what of the person who brought her here?" Jolyne asked as Rantaro shrugged.
"Last I checked she ran off before I could ask questions. She simply thrust the person onto me and left, saying something how if some guy named Adam Taurus came here to run. She was in a bit of a rush, so even if I did ask her questions, I would've gotten nothing out of it," Rantaro said as Jolyne frowned.
That… was a problem. She never got to see the person in question, but if she was able to deliver this injured of a person to them… "A slaver, perhaps, one who felt remorseful if I were to guess," Jolyne said as Rantaro grimaced.
"True. The other slaves that I saw before this one looked just as malnourished. But those ones weren't shipped off. That means this one was. And if I were to guess, that person who we're assuming was a slaver herself risked her life to send her here," Rantaro surmised as Jolyne frowned.
"Do you know who she was working with?" Jolyne asked as Rantaro shook his head, focusing back on his healing. The dual-haired Dragon couldn't help but frown. Something wasn't adding up. If this person was a slaver, then why would they relinquish one of their slaves to be healed, then run away without trying to collect the slave?
It made no sense.
"Unless… they were trying to free the slave. And if that's the case…." Jolyne smirked, an idea forming in her head. "Hey, Rantaro. Were you able to get a look at what they looked like?" Jolyne asked as Rantaro glanced back at her.
"Black hair, yellow eyes, cat ears. Aside from that and her overly impractical outfit, there wasn't much else to go off of," Rantaro stated, glancing back at the unconscious, frail lady on the bed. "Since I have you here… mind explaining to me what that Daimen guy was talking about. What with you apparently being a Demi-God?"
Jolyne sighed. She was supposed to explain that now, wasn't she? The dual-haired Dragon leaned against the wall by the door to the room and crossed her arms. "Truth be told, Rantaro. I was just as shocked as you were. I knew nothing about this apparent "Demi-God" status I had. The only thing I knew was that I was reincarnated into your world, given the powers that I now have, and sent on my way to entertain Daimen."
Rantaro's eyes narrowed, though he still focused on the girl in front of him rather than Jolyne. "And how can I know for a fact you're not lying to me?"
Jolyne lowered her head, biting the inside of her lip. "You don't, and I don't know how to prove it to you. But I swear on my soul that I'm telling you the truth," Jolyne said as Rantaro said nothing, his face scrunching up in thought. They sat in silence, with the only real noise being made having been the shimmering sound effect of the runes that Rantaro was using to heal the mystery girl.
[Reputation with Rantaro decreased from 50 to 40/100]
"Ouch… but, I understand," Jolyne thought, shaking her head. "Well then, I'll leave you to it. Let me know if something happens." In response, Rantaro grunted, causing Jolyne to leave. He wasn't in a good mood, and she couldn't blame him. But even so, she had hoped that a more positive outcome would've resulted from this whole thing.
When she exited her room, Jolyne was greeted by Tyrone sitting just outside of the door, his crimson-red eyes gleaming with what she had to assume was worry. She patted the large dog on the nose, causing him to whimper. "It's alright, big guy. Things'll get better, I promise."
"Gotta say, never thought I'd see a Grimm whimper," a voice off to her left spoke up, as Jolyne looked over in that direction. Standing there was Jebidah Maroon, his arms crossed and his expression casual. "Still… I can't believe it. You really are The Dragon Faunus… I can't believe I'm meeting one in my lifetime. It's... an honour."
"Oh great… this was the exact kind of thing I was worried about happening when I heard that being a Dragon Faunus was spoken of only in legend. Pandering…." Jolyne thought, rubbing the back of her neck with an uneasy look on her face. "Heh… thanks.Um… why aren't you helping to rebuild?" Jolyne asked as Jebidiah sighed.
"I just got done putting out a bunch of fires, and I'm running out of Aura, so I need to rest for a bit," Jebidiah said as he leaned against a wall.
"Your Aura? Like that shield stuff that comes around you? Why would you need that unless you're in combat?" Jolyne asked, curiosity in her tone of voice as Jebidiah blinked, perplexed.
"That's… a stupid question. You do know how Aura works, right? You have a lightning semblance, don't you?" The goat Faunus asked, his eyebrow raised as Jolyne's eyes widened in realization.
"So… semblances and magic are separate things? Ah, that makes sense. When I said that I used magic, Raven looked alarmed. So that means that magic isn't common. I mean, it wasn't common in the last world I was in, but outside of fear of not knowing what was going on, these people have supernatural abilities. Why would magic seem so… foreign…?" Jolyne thought, clearing her throat as she waved away Tyrone, muttering under her breath and telling him to walk around the town and see if it can help with lugging heavy stuff around. With a bark of excitement, Tyrone walked around the balcony of the second floor then pranced down the stairs, going to exit the building, his eyes sparkling with life and his tail wagging back and forth.
"That is… beyond surreal…." Jebidiah murmured, shaking his head. "Seriously though, how do you not know what aura is, especially since you have a semblance," the goat Faunus pointed out as Jolyne put her hands in her pants pockets.
"I think I see the confusion here. See, I don't use a semblance, nor do I have Aura, I utilize magic," Jolyne replied as she activated Finger Laser, harnessing a small purple beam on the tip of her index finger, pointed upward toward the roof. "This is one of the many spells I have at my disposal. I've dubbed it "Finger Laser". By compressing my mana to one point on my finger, I can unleash a giant blast of pure energy. It usually wipes out anything in the direction I shoot it at. Only really strong enemies have been able to withstand its power. And that's not even tapping into my strongest ability. One I… haven't used yet. Mainly because it also hurts me when I use it."
Shaking her finger and dispelling Finger Laser, Jebidiah looked at her as if she was crazy. "Sure, and pigs can fly. You just have two semblances," Jebidiah said as Jolyne gave him an unimpressed look.
"From what I know about semblances, you can only have one, because it's directly tied to one's soul. What other explanation could I give for my multitude of powers if not for the existence of magic?" Jolyne questioned as Jebidiah frowned, sighing.
"Yeah… I guess that makes sense," Jebidiah drawled, narrowing his eyes at the ground. "And… even in the legends it's said that The Dragon Faunus can use magic… so that checks out. Damn…. Uh… sorry for doubting you, o' great one," Jebidiah said, taking a knee, before standing up. "Well, I, um… should probably get back to work. See you around!" And with that, he left, leaving Jolyne with a bout of annoyance.
It was just as she had feared before.
Followers.
She now had followers, and devoute ones at that.
"This isn't going to be uncommon, is it?" The dual-haired Dragon Faunus thought in frustration as the door to her room opened. Rantaro came out, glancing at Jolyne, his hands in his pockets. "So… how's she doing?"
Rantaro shook his head. "It'll be a while till she's fully healed, even with my constant help. It'll take a week at most, and even then I don't know if she'll be able to fully recover from the unjust harm to her body," Rantaro explained. "I need to take a break. I'm running low on mana, and I've begun dipping into my emergency reserves. If you need me, just shout," Rantaro stated as he walked past Jolyne.
Just before he could leave, however, Jolyne grabbed him by the wrist, making him stop dead in his tracks. "Jolyne…?" Rantaro questioned, glancing over his shoulder. Grabbing the Hebi Hebi no Mi out of her inventory, she passed it to Rantaro, who took it, looking at it with a raised eyebrow. "What is this?"
"You know how I have my magma abilities?" Jolyne responded as Rantaro nodded, a silent confirmation for her to continue. "Well, I gained my powers from eating a fruit called the Magu Magu no Mi. That right there is the Hebi Hebi no Mi, or the Snake Snake Fruit. It'll allow you some form of combat ability without the use of Mana. The only real negative thing about it is that you'll lose your ability to swim." As Jolyne said that, she let go of Rantaro's wrist.
The green-haired teen looked down at the fruit, eyes focused on it. After a while, he looked back at Jolyne. "Why are you giving me this? You know I'm not a fighter," Rantaro said as Jolyne frowned.
"That'll most likely have to change in the near future. The world we're in now seems to be a kill-or-be-killed kind of world. Even if you don't want to fight, we probably won't have a choice. That, and I don't want a repeat of today. I can't have you be captured again, or anyone for that matter," Jolyne replied as Rantaro looked back down at the fruit, a contemplative gleam in his eyes.
There was a brief second of hesitation as Rantaro stared at the bizarre-looking fruit. Jolyne could understand the hesitation. After all, when she first got the Magu Magu no Mi, it looked and felt kinda strange, and it was probably doubly so for someone like Rantaro, who was training to become The Ultimate Adventurer.
After a few more seconds of staring at the bizarre-looking fruit, Rantaro sighed, before biting into, chewing, and then swallowing the part of the fruit he bit off, before gagging and coughing. "Ack! W-What the hell!" Rantaro exclaimed, before tossing the fruit on the floor as it began to dissolve. "Ugh, that was gross!"
Jolyne chuckled nervously, rubbing her arm in an embarrassed sort of way. She kinda forgot that it tasted like hot garbage, and she had neglected to mention it. It wasn't out of maliciousness but out of genuine regret. "Yeah, probably should've said something about it… they're pretty gross..." As Jolyne said that, Rantaro frowned, wiping his mouth. When he did, he curled his hand into a fist and smirked.
"Huh… I feel… a lot stronger now. So, what exactly does this snake thing let me do?" Rantaro asked as Jolyne shrugged.
"From what I was told, it allows the user to either shift between a regular human mode with superhuman strength, speed, and durability, to a hybrid form, to a full-on snake form. Specifically for you, that fruit gives you the form of a Black Mamba, which if I were to assume, doesn't shrink you but keeps you at the same height… I think," Jolyne said as Rantaro hummed, clenching his hands into and out of fists as he huffed.
"Huh… neat," Rantaro murmured, before looking over to Jolyne. "Thanks, I guess. Uh, so what do I do?" The green-haired teen asked as Jolyne shrugged her shoulders.
"Train, I guess. Luckily for you, The PTD followed us here. It's in my room," Jolyne said, pointing to the door, a small smirk coming to her face. "I was going to use it to get stronger in junction to this world so I don't get completely curb-stomped by any of the stronger people. I have a reputation to uphold now, that of a legend, so I might as well try and get strong enough to keep up with that legend."
Rantaro nodded. "Fair enough. Well… why don't you train me? You gave me this thing, right? So it only makes sense, right?"
Jolyne hummed as her smirk turned into a half grin. "Alright, but I won't go easy on you, m'kay? However, a small warning, if we do this, we'll be spending 12 hours in there. That's almost three days out here. Think you can handle that?" Jolyne asked as Rantaro gained a serious expression.
"Of course. Truth be told, I don't want another incident like last night," Rantaro stated, before looking back to the door before his serious expression turned into a worried one. "But I think we should shorten it from 12 to 30 minutes, and split it up over two weeks. We still have a deathly ill former slave with us. I want to monitor her throughout the week or until she wakes up," Rantaro explained.
"Right… can't believe I forgot about that," Jolyne said, a small bead of sweat travelling down her forehead. "Right, I uh… almost forgot about her. But, yeah! Alright, I can do that. 30 minutes is better than nothing, right?" Jolyne paused as Rantaro yawned, rubbing his eyes. His body language screamed "tired" and that kind of made sense.
Sometimes, she forgot that not everyone was like herself and Chinatsu. "We'll start tomorrow at 12 PM, alright?" Jolyne said as Rantaro nodded.
"Sounds good," Rantaro said mid-yawn. "I take it you're just gonna train yourself till then, yeah? You don't exactly need sleep, right?"
"Bingo," Jolyne replied. "Till then, Rantaro. Good night." And with that, the green-haired teen left to go to his room for the night. When he did, Monaca opened the door to her room, and looked out of the doorway, rubbing at her eyes, before looking at Jolyne, who smiled at her. "Oh, heya kiddo, what's up?"
"Can Monaca talk to you?" Monaca asked. She was still speaking in the third person, and from what Jolyne knew it meant that she was either uncomfortable or scared, either that or there was something else going on there that she couldn't pinpoint.
Either way, she didn't see a problem with it. So, shrugging her shoulders, she walked toward the door and entered Monaca's room, the green-haired child closing the door behind her. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"I…" Monaca paused, knitting her eyebrows. "Why does Monaca have bear ears… and a bear tail… thing?"
"Ah…" Jolyne thought. "Well, this is going to be a long story, isn't it?" Jolyne pursed her lips, before crouching down and ruffling Monaca's head, making the little kid squirm with annoyance. She pulled her hand away as Monaca stared at her with an annoyed grimace and puffed-out cheeks. "Well, to be honest, even I don't know. If I were to guess, it has something to do with Daimen. You know, the big guy with the bird tattoos and the mischief tattoo on the front of his chest?"
Monaca crossed her arms, pouting. "I don't wanna be a bear person…" As Monaca said that, she plopped down on her bed, back against the wall. Jolyne sighed, standing up as her Dragon's tail swished from side to side.
"And I don't want to be a Dragon, yet here we are. We can't pick and choose these things, you know? Although, count yourself lucky. You don't have to experience the pains of… bleeding once a month," Jolyne shivered at the thought, grimacing. "Only something a million times worse in the next five to six years…." It was only then that Jolyne realized something, looking over to Monaca with wide eyes of realization. "Wait a second… I never asked her age! Damn, that's kind of dumb now that I think about it."
"Why are you looking at Monaca like that?" Monaca asked, her tone of voice guarded. Jolyne didn't know why, but it didn't paint a pretty picture in her mind.
"No particular reason. I just realized that I never asked about your age or any of the other kids. Or what you're birthdays are or anything! If you're gonna stay with me I kinda gotta know that, ya know?" Jolyne chirped, hands behind her back and a smile on her face.
Monaca, for her part, didn't look too impressed, but the tension in her face and the guardedness in her eyes went away. "I… see. Um… Monaca's birthday is The first of April. And, Monaca is 12 years old, the oldest of the troublemakers… with maybe the exception of Nagisa-kun. He's 13. Oh! And Masaru is 11, Jataro is the same age as Monaca and… Kotoko…" Her expression became dower, and her head lowered, while at the same time, her voice became quiet and filled with what Jolyne could only assume was guilt and regret. "Kotoko-chan was 12. She would've turned 13 in a month but…"
Jolyne felt the incredible urge to hug the little girl. However, Jolyne refrained from that because from what she knew, at least from seeing her interact with the others and hearing stories from Natsumi back in the last world that she was in, Monaca didn't like to be touched by anyone, not even her friends for simple shoulder holding, even hi-fives were off limits with her. So, she suspected that hugs were also a no-go.
That didn't stop Jolyne from feeling sad at her expense.
"I… see. Are you alright, Monaca?" Jolyne asked, her tone soft and her body language as non-threatening as possible. Monaca was an abuse victim after all, and while sometimes people like Jataro didn't really seem to care all too much about certain things, Monaca was especially jumpy. She'd notice it out of the corner of her eye sometimes, like during dinner yesterday. Loud noises seemed to really freak her out, despite her best efforts to hide it.
Once again, coming from Natsumi, there was a time when Nagisa rested his arm on her shoulder when he was laughing, only for Monaca to flinch violently, even causing Kotoko to raise an eyebrow.
Kotoko… was a sore spot for everyone. Jolyne bit her tongue, looking down at the ground. "If and when I get Resurrection powers, or even a Resurrection item, reviving Kotoko along with Fuyuhiko and Natsumi's parents will be one of my goals."
"Monaca… wants time alone, please?" Monaca said as Jolyne nodded, exiting her room. Just before she did though, she looked over her shoulder and saw Monaca lay down on her bed and curl up into a ball. She summoned Whitesnake to her side, had it walk over to Monaca, and drape the blanket over her body, before patting her on the head and disappearing. Once that was done, Jolyne walked out of the bedroom.
Looking over to the staircase, Jolyne decided that she was going to go find something to do. Seeing as her bed was being taken up by the unknown slave girl, she knew she wasn't going to be sleeping all that much.
Besides, thanks to Gamers Body, she really didn't need to. Not unless she wanted to recover her HP, Mana, or Stamina overnight. Even then, she had passive regeneration when not in a fight. Then there was Bleeding, who me? And a bunch of other things.
"Come to think of it… I have a lot of survival-based skills and traits and very few offensive-based ones. Why is that? Do you know why, Mono?"
[Because most of the scenario's you've been in require survival moreso than combat. Do not get me wrong, Jolyne Brooks; while you are powerful, you are also rather squishy in terms of your defence, endurance, magic defence, and hit points. This is mainly due to the fact you are a witch, and previously, a mage. And while it is mostly your luck when it comes to spell tokens, whenever you level up, I usually select things that keep you from dying.]
Jolyne hummed, crossing her arms as she made it to the bottom of the stairs. Just as she did, she noticed Ronin off in the corner of her vision talking to Clay.
"…Still though, I have my eye on you. Just because you work under a new person don't mean you still don't got that itch to kill. I'm not stupid, kid. Now get lost," Ronin spat as Clay narrowed his eyes, not saying anything further, before storming out the door, grunting a greeting at Jolyne before leaving the inn. The pig and or boar faunus sighed, shaking his head before spotting Jolyne. "Oh, evenin' Ms. Brooks, what can I do for you?"
Jolyne approached the desk, uncrossing her arms as she slipped her hands into her pants pockets. "Nothing really. Although, I happened to overhear the last part of your conversation with Clay. He wasn't giving you any trouble was he?" Jolyne asked as Ronin "tch'd" audibly enough for Jolyne to hear it.
"Nah. I just wanted to point out to him how I don't trust him or the other guys you brought in. Not to say that I'm judging your actions or anythin' like that, Ms. Brooks. But… are you sure bringing all these bandits here was a good idea? Even if they say they're working with you, who knows if they'll backstab you and cause havoc?" Ronin said as he poured himself a shot of some sort of alcohol. He looked up at her and shook his shot glass. "Want some? It's a bit on the strong side and has a little bit of a bite to it."
In response, Jolyne snagged the bottle and took a swig, before putting it down, making Ronin snort in amusement. "That's pure, undiluted 18% Nihonshu, you know? Usually, 3 to 4 shots of that stuff can get you drunker than a skunk, and you just went ahead and shot back at least… I'd say 6 shots in one go. I can't tell if you're gutsy, or just plain stupid for doing that."
Jolyne scoffed, leaning against one of the support beams near the desk. "I've got pretty high tolerance," Jolyne stated. "That, and I'm pretty sure Gamers Body doesn't allow me to get drunk. I… am correct for thinking that, right Mono?"
[Yes. Unless, of course, you wish me to temporarily shut that function off, Jolyne Brooks.]
"Nah, I think I'm good."
[Very well.]
"High tolerance, huh? For someone so young looking, that doesn't sound too good. Do you drink often?" Ronin asked, his tone worried sounding. He really did sound like a grandpa there for a moment. In response, Jolyne shook her head.
"No, but the times that I have drank I was able to go late into the night without even feeling tipsy. Though the drinks were weaker and less… strong tasting than this, so I guess we'll see." While it was a lie, and seeing as she only drank once in her life, that being the mead she had tried when she had beat Chinatsu within an inch of her life not even a month ago, she didn't get drunk from that. "Oh, and to answer your last question; I don't think they're stupid enough to do something like that. They saw what I did to the other six thousand idiots. Unless they have a death wish, they'll do what I say, when I say it, and how I say it, and do so down to the dot on every i and the cross on every t."
Ronin shot back the full shot glass in front of him, putting it down and refilling it, before humming. "If you say so," the boar faunus replied, crossing his arms. "Still though, I wouldn't trust them. I've met a few bandits in my younger years. Their word can never be trusted."
Jolyne nodded. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind then."
They stood in silence for a bit, neither one of them speaking or saying anything to one another. Rather, they simply enjoyed the small quiet peace allotted to them for the brief moment in time that they had it. It was… refreshing to say the very least, and while Jolyne never really had much downtime other than being in a hospital bed, the dual-haired teen had to acknowledge the fact that she liked it, even if it was after a massive disaster having had happen to the small town of Styx.
After a while, their peace was interrupted by Tyrone returning to the inn, nearly startling Ronin. The over 9-foot-tall Beowulf snorted in his direction, before making himself comfortable in the corner of the foyer, spinning in circles a few times, laying down, and instantly falling asleep with a light rumble.
"That Beowulf… I still can't believe you made that using that fancy Grimmoire," Ronin said as Jolyne smiled.
"What can I say? I've always wanted a dog," Jolyne replied honestly. "Beowolves remind me of husky's a little bit, so when I found this thing, I knew that I was going to make one," The Dragon Faunus continued as her expression straightened out from a smile to a neutral expression. "That being said… that girl. When I brought her in, you looked pale in the face. Why was that?"
Ronin frowned, staring down at his empty shot glass. "Well… that's cause I know the girl," Ronin said, his tone of voice distant. "See… in the past, when I was a little bit younger than now. I'd say… 8 or so years ago, give or take, I… was a soldier of The White Fang."
Jolyne narrowed her eyes. "The White Fang, huh? I don't know much about them, but I've heard they're a terrorist cell. Am I correct to assume that?" Jolyne asked, her tone of voice dripping with venom. Ronin sighed, pouring himself another shot of Nihonshu, shooting it back, then gaining a stern expression.
"In the past, I'd say around about a decade ago, it wasn't like that. In fact, you could even say they were more comparable to The Branwen Tribe, except less "slaughter and pillage villages" and more "slaughter invading armies who tried to colonize Menagerie". In other words, The White Fang was a military unit, formerly led by Sienna Khan," Ronin said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice.
"Formerly?" Jolyne questioned as Ronin stiffened.
"Yeah… she's… honestly, her fate's ambiguous. The last time I ever saw her was before Adam Taurus took over The White Fang. Rumour has it that she and a company of White Fang soldiers went to Vacuo after getting a distress call from Kali Belladonna, who at that time was there to speak to the leading figure of Vacuo at the time, Mr. Rockafeller." Ronin paused, pouring yet another shot, downing it, coughing into his hand, before then continuing.
"She, along with Kali, never returned. Many believe them to be dead, myself included. Adam was also a person who believed them to be dead. And, against Ghira's wishes, declared war on Humanity. Ghira… exiled everyone who was a part of The White Fang, so as to not stir the pot with the other Kingdoms. That was the last thing that they needed, and I don't blame them."
Ronin sighed, shaking his head with shame. "At first, under Adam's rule, things were the same. The only difference is that we expanded our reach to human settlements in the continent that we were exiled to, that being Sanus. I… wasn't a fan of it, but I stuck with them because I still believed in the cause. The cause was to make it so that we as Faunus had equal rights to Humans. A noble goal. But… then the human slavery started, and the massacres, and the bloodshed. I tried to speak up, tried to tell them that this was wrong, but no one listened to me. So, in the dead of night, I defected. Around that time was when Weiss Schnee, no older than eight years old had been enslaved."
There was a distinct vitriol in his voice at the mention of her age, and his clenched hand only further proved the fact to Jolyne that he was angry. "She was a child. And Adam kept her around as his personal punching bag. I don't know the extent to which she was hurt, but I didn't stick around for long enough to see what would happen. A week or so after they started using human slaves, I realized that it was only going to get worse, and I left. I was labelled a blood traitor, and ever since then, I've been on the run from The White Fang. Styx has been the only place where I have been able to settle down for longer than a year without being found."
Jolyne felt her blood boil, as she felt her anger soaring. "I see…" Jolyne grunted out through clenched teeth. "And just where might I be able to find them?" Jolyne asked as Ronin shook his head.
"No idea. They're constantly moving. So unless you can get someone from the Fang to tell you, then you're shit out of luck. Besides, I'd advise going against them. Not because I sympathize with them, but because they're armed to the teeth, matching Vale's military might. While not nearly as impressive as say, Atlas, it's still borderline insane to take them on. They aren't like The Branwen Tribe with their spears, bows, and sometimes Dust Weaponry. The White Fang are a militarized terrorist cell with top-of-the-line Mecha-Shift weaponry." As Ronin spoke, he rested his forehead in the palm of his hand, most likely because of a headache.
Jolyne chewed on the inside of her mouth in thought, tapping her left index finger on her upper arm in a rhythmic pattern, her head lowered to the ground as she went over the information in her head. Mecha-Shift weaponry… she had no idea what that could've been, but if she had to guess, it might've been kinda like what Vernal was using. And Dust Weaponry could also be linked to that.
If that was the case, then that beam of yellow light could've been this "Dust" Stuff. Or, perhaps a product of Dust. And if these White Fang people were loaded with that kind of weaponry, that meant that she'd take damage from them.
For some reason, Dust bypassed her Magu Magu no Mi's ability to negate physical damage. Meaning it was in some way linked to Magic. While Light, Fire, Water, and probably nature Magic would do nothing to her, other magic like ground, poison, or any other kind of magic might do something to her. Dust seemed to be universal.
Now, granted, she had no idea if they came with elements of their own, and quite frankly, Jolyne didn't care enough to find out.
"Yeah… I think I'll pass on that until I'm stronger. But, I will put a pin in it. They will not be getting away with this," Jolyne thought as she looked over to Ronin. "Well, thank you for telling me. If you excuse me, I'm going to see what I can do to help the town recover, I had other plans, but I've changed my mind. The sooner Styx get's back to normal, the sooner we can start to improve upon this place," Jolyne said as Ronin raised an eyebrow.
"At this time of night? Kid, it's almost midnight. Are you sure? You have to be tired by now," Ronin said as Jolyne smiled.
"Don't worry, Ronin. I'm fine," Jolyne replied as Ronin sighed.
"Well, if that's the case, who am I to stop you? Just… don't overwork yourself. Take it from me, it's a bad idea. Bad for your mental health, too." And with that bit of sagely advise, Jolyne silently nodded, before exiting the Inn.
She had a long night ahead of her, that much she knew. And with everyone practically asleep and the other bandits off somewhere sleeping, Jolyne decided that there was no better time than now to help with the reconstruction effort.
Activating Abomination Creation, she created over 1,000 or so standard Abominations to gather supplies for houses, and around another 500 Ninja Abominations to do construction.
It had narrowly drained her Mana to do all of that, but it would be worth it. She was going to make Styx look better than it had before. It might take days, it might take weeks, but to Jolyne, all that mattered was repairing the damage done to Styx because of The Branwen Tribe.
After all, it was the least she could do.
[Yang Xiao-Long]
Yang did not know what to think about the current situation, especially because of… well, what just happened. Her goal that she had put her mind, body, and soul towards for the better half of her life had been completely uprooted and tossed aside due to recent events, and quite frankly Yang didn't know what to do because of it.
First, to set the scene: She, her wonderful sister Ruby, and drunkle Qrow were in the living room. Ruby was watching TV with Qrow and Yang had been scrolling through Moritter, favouriting bike and car-related posts from her favourite creators on the platform when suddenly a red portal opened up in their living room, and moments later, out popped her mother.
Again, for context, Yang had been looking for Raven for brothers-knows-how-many-years and then *poof* there she is, crumpled on the floor with burns and other scars and parts of her clothing that were on fire, which she put out after she said she "needed to talk to Ozpin, now."
Why her mother wanted to speak to The Headmaster of Beacon Academy illuded her, but it probably had something to do with the fact that she was a former alumnus of the coveted academy. Although the seriousness in her voice had been enough to draw her attention aside from the fact that, well, her mother was here.
That was a few hours ago, and Yang was laying in her shared room with Ruby, who was soundly asleep off to her right. They had separate beds, of course, and Ruby's just so happened to be off to Yang's right. They were supposed to go to sleep about two hours ago, and while Ruby had done so after tossing and turning for some reason or another, Yang just… couldn't, and she had a feeling as to why she was having such a hard time falling asleep.
The busty blonde didn't know what to do. Her mind was wracked with so many questions that needed answers. Hell, she even went downstairs and took a melatonin, and still couldn't sleep. That was just how active her brain was right about now.
And that wasn't really a good thing, all things considered. To those who knew Yang, if her brain was active on more than just fighting, finding fun ways to interrogate Junior and his wonder twins that he had hired as muscle for his club, or fantasizing about riding her bike miles and miles all around Vale, it was a living nightmare—especially if she was emotional.
And speaking of being emotional, Yang was rife with emotions, anger and confusion being the more prominent ones for obvious reasons. Anger because how dare she just show up out of the blue now and confusion because why now? Why show up now of all times? And where the hell had she been all this time?
The blonde sighed—well, more or less groaned—before getting out of bed, flipping the covers off of her body to reveal an orange tank top that exposed her midriff, along with a burning heart motif on the front, and a pair of black thigh-high shorts. Her hair, now messy from tossing and turning in bed, reached down to the center of her back.
If she couldn't sleep, even with melatonin in her system, then she saw no point in staying in the room. Maybe her father was home? He did work late into the wee hours of the morning, and it wasn't often to see him just get home, have a power nap, then get up for work in the morning after downing 7 or so cups of unsweetened, no-cream coffee; which was gross if you asked Yang.
Quietly, Yang exited the shared bedroom that she and Ruby had, before walking out into the living room, where her father, Taiyang Xiao-Long, sat on the black chair adjacent to the TV. He had medium-length shaggy blond hair, vibrant blue eyes, and stubble along his jawline. He wasn't dressed in his exploration attire, rather wearing a plain white tunic and a pair of brown cargo shorts. He was pretty beefy looking, which was to be expected from a top-of-the-line hunter.
He was late home from work tonight. If Yang had to guess, with all the students he had in Signal, he was probably caught up in grading all of his student's assignments and just wanted to relax. The upset look on his face probably came from the revelation that Raven was back. And Yang couldn't fault him for it.
It was only then when she noticed him that she stepped on one of the creaky floorboards, causing the sound to echo throughout the living room, that his eyes darted to his left, spotting Yang. "Hey, what're you doing up for?"
"Couldn't sleep," Yang replied as Taiyang frowned, a gleam of understanding in his eyes.
"You do know what time it is, right? It's almost 2 in the morning. Did you take melatonin?" Taiyang asked as Yang nodded, making his frown slightly worse. "Let me guess, you got Raven on the mind?" Once again, Yang nodded, taking a seat on the couch next to him as Taiyang sighed. "Yeah, I get it. You're probably just as confused as I am, right?"
"Yeah…" Yang replied, almost exasperated. "I mean… I've been looking for her for years now, and… and then she just shows up. How? How is that even fair!?" Yang said, her voice raised slightly as her eyes flashed red with rage. Taiyang placed a hand on her shoulder, signalling to her that she was starting to get angry. She calmed down if only to take a deep breath.
God, she was a mess. She just couldn't stop thinking about her mom. It wasn't fair, damnit. She should've been there from day one. She should've stayed and thought about her family than a stupid bandit tribe. For as much as she thought that drunkle Qrow was a bit of a dumbass and somewhat of a fool, at least he had the mindset to stay behind with family.
Her mother, apparently, thought otherwise and made her blood boil. Maybe that was why Team STRQ didn't stay together. Because, much like how her mother did to her, she abandoned them when they needed her the most.
Maybe she was the reason why Summer Rose was killed….
Yang shook her head. She didn't need to think about that. Summer was dead and buried. Or, well, she should've been buried if her body had been found. Either way, it didn't change the fact that she was brooding now, and she needed to stop, lest she spiral. "Sorry. I- I just… It's not right. She should've been there… for me… for us…."
"You're right, and your anger is warranted. Just, try and keep your voice down, will you?" Taiyang said, a sheepish smile on his face. "We don't need Ruby waking up. I'm actually surprised she fell asleep before you, so either she's dead tired from training with that hulking sniper scythe or she just desperately needs rest. We all know what a grumpy Ruby looks like and no one wants that," Taiyang said, all the while a slight shiver went down both their spines.
A grumpy Ruby was a bad Ruby. It was something she inherited from her mother, Summer, except it was far worse than Summer; at least, according to her father and drunkle Qrow. The word "demon child" applied to that particular part of Ruby moreso than any other time, even during the few sparring matches that she and Ruby had, of which the score was just about even now, with Ruby having a total of 30 victories and 32 losses, the inverse being what Yang was at.
Speaking of Ruby, she was worried about her half-sister, in more ways than one. Of course, there was the whole anti-social thing going on, wherein she got easily flustered when it came to talking to people. She had zero friends at school and because of that probably had some bullying problems that she wasn't talking about. And aside from being a damn good fighter and a really smart student when she wanted to put her mind to it, that was all there was to say about Ruby.
In many ways, Ruby was beyond average, and in other ways, she was below average. There was no "striking a middle ground" when it came to Ruby, and Yang could tell it bugged her.
And then… she started to change. Not in a bad way, or even in the way of her personality, but things about her were changing. Like, say, for example, she would train more than she normally would, and do so in the privacy of the woods, which was a little strange, but something that she could understand if she needed more space.
Then came the fact that she hadn't been utterly obsessed over cookies anymore. Well, no, that was a bald-faced lie. If there were cookies around, she would gobble them up in a split second. That part of Ruby hadn't changed. No, see, the difference came in when she never actively sought out purchasing cookies.
In fact, her obsession seemed to… change slightly. She ate a lot more protein such as meat, you know, like sausages, or hotdogs. She also started asking… strange questions. Like, not strange as in "Ruby strange questions" but strange questions that Ruby wouldn't typically ask.
Like, for example, "How to sneak out of the house without being caught," or bizarrely enough "Would it be possible to hide things on my body that typically shouldn't be there even in a normal circumstance?" That raised alarms, but no matter how much she questioned the red-haired girl about it, Ruby wouldn't say a damned thing, and it annoyed her. All she'd say is that "I'm just trying to find new ways of utilizing my speed" or straight out deflect the question with something else and that was it, often capped off with a nervous laugh.
Now, why was this happening?
The only reason it had gotten like that was because of that strange coin Ruby had found a couple of weeks back. She had picked it up and accidentally broken it when fiddling with it. When she did, it made her collapse and she didn't wake up for about two days. Ever since then, she had to train twice as hard, both because of her Speed Semblance, and… well, what the coin seemed to have given her.
Speaking of that coin, while Yang didn't know what it exactly looked like, it had a cross on the front, along with a strange black glow. As corny as it sounded, the coin almost looked evil. That was the reason why Ruby wanted to show her it, and then, she broke it, passed out for two days, then reawoke needing to vomit, take a hot shower then come back out wrapped up in a towel, closed and locked their bedroom door and dressed in insanely conservative clothing for a week straight constantly muttering to herself stuff like "I will not do that" over and over again even when she thought she was alone.
It… freaked Yang out. But, yet again, Ruby would never, ever say anything regarding that whole week, and eventually, she reverted back to wearing what she'd normally wear, granted all of her pants would no longer stay just below her belly button. In fact, she'd wear them above her belly button.
It was, yet again, another strange change but if that was what Ruby wanted to do, then so be it. All in all, the behaviour was strange, even for Ruby. Like she was hiding something. But, yet again, Ruby wouldn't speak about it even when questioned. So, Yang had all but given up.
Yang sighed. It wasn't as if that particularly mattered at the moment. What mattered was figuring out what to do now. She could always just go back to training for Beacon seeing as the entrance exam was just in a few days now. Her transcripts had been approved, so that was good.
A part of her was worried for Ruby, though, especially after recent events. She didn't want to leave her little sister all by herself. After all, their father was gone most of the day, and for as much as she loved drunkle Qrow, he was about as reliable as two tits on a bull.
But, at the same time, it wasn't like there was much of a choice in the matter. Becoming a Huntress was her dream, and she wasn't about to give it up even if one of her goals had already been completed. Now, all that was left for her to do was to become a strong Huntress and live up to her Dad's expectations.
It was only in those thoughts that she realized she was starting to doze off, and before she knew it, she was drifting off to sleep, with the faint snorting laughter of her father….
-To Be Continued-