Nobody is born a hero. One must become one, be molded into one, learn and uphold the virtues necessary to follow an unspoken code. Yet all great heroes share a common past. None were born knowing how to perform their deeds. They had to grow, experience... fail. What else can such a time be named, but humble beginnings...

~o~0~o~

It was early morning in Mistral. The sun had barely appeared on the horizon, painting the sky with a soft yellow glow. The village was quiet, serene. Few residents were even awake at this hour... except for two.

CLANG!

In the Arc family training field, the peaceful silence was broken by the collision of metal on metal. Two figures occupied the field, locked in combat.

Jaune Arc, age 17, backflipped away to gain distance, while his opponent did the same. Jaune settled into a wide stance, crossing his large twin sickles behind him in a reverse grip.

His adversary did the same, staring into Jaune's shocking purple eyes with pools of striking green from under his hood. Both were breathing heavily from exertion.

Jaune's foe finally lost patience and charged forward. Nimbly twirling his own pair of blades upright in hands, he swung downwards, the twin blades ready to tear the young Reaper to shreds.

In a burst of purple smoke, Jaune transformed into the Reaper, sending the the gigantic blade now in his hands across his opponent's chest with a vicious upswing, drawing blood. His adversary landed hard on his back and groaned, running a hand through his scraggly blonde hair.

"Uuugh... guess I lost again..."

Jaune changed back to his Abyssal form and dropped to the ground. He slumped tiredly and looked at his doppelganger.

" I'm... beat..." he panted. "How 'bout... a break..."

His body double got to his feet and smirked.

"Works for me... I'm sore..."

The doppelganger burst into ethereal green smoke, revealing a large crow where the double's chest used to be. The bird flapped over to the tree sitting at the edge of the field, coming to roost on a low branch. Jaune shuffled over and sat down with his back to the tree. He set his massive blades to either side. Looking up at his avian friend, Jaune smirked.

"Have to admit, Dusty, your new transformation is a real game-changer."

Dusty turned his beak upwards mockingly.

"Yeah, I know, right? I gotta say, being your green-eyed twin is pretty fun! I mean, who knew I had a transformation, too? Now I can do anything I want, then just blame it on you!"

Jaune's eyebrow twitched.

"Touché..."

The pair settled into a comfortable silence. Jaune leaned his head against the tree and watched the clouds floating overhead.

"... It's weird, y'know? Just five years ago I couldn't even swing a sword straight, and now I'm secretly a demigod, destined to preserve all life..."

Jaune closeed his eyes, his mind drifting back to the memories of the last five years of his life...

~o~0~o~

After the night his destiny had been revealed to him by his ancestors, nothing abnormal happened for about a week... If a crow that can talk with his mind and teleport qualifies as normal.

Jaune's conversations with his avian friend helped him come to grips with the fact that he wasn't crazy.

On the seventh night, Crowfather and Ryder appeared his dreams. They warned him that, as he was, he could not hope to master his abilities and defeat the current Avatar of Chaos.

They also could not predict how the power would manifest due to his link with Dusty.

Over the next few weeks, the ancients visited him in dreamland, and taught him the techniques that Ryder had used during his time as the Reaper. Jaune then practiced his abilities during his waking hours.

Of course, he made sure to be as discreet as he could. Crowfather had made it clear that it would be unwise to broadcast his power to anyone's knowledge, lest he attract any agents of Corruption.

Dying before he completed his task would probably be bad for the Balance.

The first thing Jaune learned was summoning his Harbinger weapon, which Ryder had affectionately dubbed the Harvester.

The weapon took the form of a pair of massive wide sickles that had purple-black swirl patterns running through the center of each blade. On the back of each blade were two identical sets of upward-facing horns, with a space in between for the back edge of the blade to jut out. A flat skull was ingraved at the converging point for the horns.

The space between the twin plates was no accident. The blades of the sickles could flip like a hinge to become parallel to the handles. Jaune had ended up calling it Glaive form, since it looked like he was holding a pair of glaives.

By putting the pommels together, he could magically combine the the twin sickles into one large double-headed scythe. He could also shrink one of the baldes and switch it to Glaive, making it perfect for stabbing. He named this the Power form since it was slower than its twin blade form, but stronger.

The final feature of the weapon was Jaune's favorite. Harvester wasn't just one weapon. It was actually the shared name of two blades. One was the set of sickles he used normally... while the Reaper wielded the other.

The Reaper's Harvester was massive, slightly taller than his 8-foot frame. The flat of the blade was covered with skulls engraved on the metal. Instead of a point, the blade ended in two wicked prongs.

The Harvester could also be summoned separately from Jaune's Reaper form. This made the ancient weapon an excellent finisher.

In order to tell the two apart, Jaune decided to name his main weapons Abyss, since he mostly used them in conjunction with his Abyssal Armor form.

Ryder had taught him much about the Reaper form. Under his tutelage, Jaune learned to summon a ghostly specter of the Reaper to enhance the range and power of his attacks. Ryder also taught him to summon the arms of his Reaper form to perform tasks for him.

Unfortunately, this ended up being all that Ryder and Crowfather would teach him. After that they just... vanished. No warning, no saying goodbye. They were just... gone.

~o~0~o~

Jaune and Dusty were left to find out the rest of their powers by themselves, testing and experimenting with their potential and limitations. Not to say that Jaune was particularly upset at being hung out to dry. In fact, he was more frustrated at himself. He huffed, running a claw-tipped hand through his sweaty hair.

"Five years. Five years, and I haven't been able to dig up anything at all! All this time, the least they could do is send a clue or something!" He slouched against the tree and sighed.

"... So did you find anything during your trip this time?"

After his parents had found out that he had been escorted back to the village by a Huntsman, covered in his own blood and sporting a grotesque set of ugly scars, his father had absolutely forbidden him from leaving the Arc household without someone to chaperone him.

On top of all that, word got around about his situation, and he was bullied even worse than before. Even though his older sisters tried to step in whenever possible, he couldn't help but feel they were babying him.

That did not stop Jaune, however, from sneaking out at night to go to Mistral proper, whenever he could. He had to admit, however, that being a vigilante wasn't as simple as he thought. In reality, it was pretty hectic. Just in this last year alone, he'd gotten roped into several shootouts, blown up a Dust storehouse, and damaged one of Mistral Academy's own massive supply elevators during a face-off with a local smuggler.

He even had a run-in with a chapter of the White Fang while patrolling one of the higher level airdocks. Apparently he had caught them in the middle of a raid on the Schnee freighters docked there.

... In his defense, he hadn't been trying to turn the airdock into a crash site, but at least they didn't get the Dust, right?

Unfortunately, while he tried to avoid injury as best he could, he rarely got away without at least a bruise or two. He'd played them off with a myriad of excuses, from accidents to run-ins with the bullies. The stories got a little more complicated around the more serious injuries, like sprains or broken bones ... or bullet grazes.

Lucky for him, that part was a little easier, as most of his minor injuries usually scarred over in less than half an hour. Heavier injuries normally took only a few hours, tops. By the next morning, all he had to do was maybe slap a couple band-aids on for show, and he could pass off any lingering pain as soreness or something along those lines. Nobody could tell him being a demigod wasn't cool.

Back to the fact he was under figurative house arrest, by order of his own father. The only silver lining? Dusty had no such restrictions. He could go anywhere in the world and nobody would bat an eye. C'mon, nobody really expects a bird to be so important, right?

Because of this fact, Dusty regularly left the village to scout out the world in search of the other Harbingers. Doing this for five years had taken him through all four kingdoms by now, from Vacuo to Menagerie. He had even come across, and swooped in to save, people from Grimm (or other people) when the occasion arose.

Dusty dipped his beak and shook his head. "Sigh... Nope, still haven't found squat. Kinda hard to find something if you only have some cryptic riddles telling you what to look for." He cocked his head sideways in thought. "Let's see... I stopped a few Grimm, busted some heads in a Faunus trafficking operation in Mantle, broke up a White Fang heist in Vale... little things like that..."

Jaune chuckled. "All in a day's work for the Light of Providence, huh?" After hearing about his tales of heroism, Jaune had taken to referring to Dusty by said nickname as a joke, since he left a contrail of green light when he used his powers.

Dusty straightened and ruffled his feathers. "Yeah, well, it's not enough. You're right, it is frustrating to feel so helpless when you're supposed to be the savior of all life. We need backup."

Jaune got up from his seat under the tree with a groan. He stretched out with a sigh. The Abyssal Armor evaporated into purple smoke, leaving him in a grey t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans.

"Well, that's what the others are. Or at least they will be, once we find them..."

"Jaune, honey! Breakfast is ready!"

Jaune felt himself smile at his mother's voice. All his life, no matter what was said or done to contradict his heroic aspirations, Asia Arc had always encouraged him to keep dreaming. If angels existed, Asia would definitely fit the bill... when she wasn't tearing through Grimm three times her size, that is.

His parents, his sisters, even his usual bullies. The whole world was counting on him for survival.

"...And we will find them. We have to."

~o~0~o~

Jaune poked halfheartedly at his Pumpkin Pete's cereal while he listened to his relatives talk amongst themselves. They mostly spoke of the success of their latest jobs or whatnot, and he was already used to such music. Occasionally, however, Jaune would hear them speak of strange happenings they either saw or heard of. Things that would seem random or inexplicable to those who didn't know what he knew. The current topic in particular garnered his attention.

"... As I was saying, I was requested to guard some rich Vacuoan merchant and his son during their stay in Vale for a fundraiser a few weeks ago," said Rayden. He wiped his face with his napkin.

"C'mon, Dad, that's nothing to boast about," drawled Joan Arc, Jaune's twin sister (though she constantly boasted that she was older than him by eight minutes) as she sent a disapproving stare at her father. "Nothing ever happens on those kinds of missions, you said so yourself!"

Rayden adopted a serious yet thoughtful expression, steepling his fingers. "That's true," he said. "But this time something did happen, and it was the the strangest thing I'd seen in years. Believe me Joan, weird things have been happening in the past few years, but this is the first time I've heard of this."

Slightly taken aback by her father's intensity, Joan nonetheless decided to press the the question. "Oookay then. So... you're gonna get to the point or not? I got to brush up on my shield techniques for initiation tomorrow."

"Right," Rayden nodded. "So, the merchant had a Faunus secretary. At the end of the fundraiser, the merchant gives a speech in the CCT tower courtyard, along with a councilman and the secretary. Thanking everyone for their support and all that jazz. Then, in the middle of the whole thing, this homeless man gets up onstage and pulls a knife." Joan leaned forward, eyes wide, while Jaune tensed.

"Oh, my that's horrible!" Asia emerged from the kitchen, set down her plate and took a seat. "I hope you stopped him, at least?"

Rayden nodded. "Oh, stopping him was no problem. What he did before that is what concerned me." he leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "Okay, so, he pulls the knife, but he doesn't go for the merchant, or the councilman. No, he goes straight for the secretary, and ignores everyone else."

Jaune finally spoke up. "Do you think it was because she was a Faunus?" His father hunched back over the table. "Most likely, I guess. I wouldn't know," he said. "Never got the chance to ask. The perp yelled something like 'they're here' and just... died. Slumped over in my arms like a puppet with no strings." So engrossed were they in the story, the parents and the sister failed to notice when Jaune paled and froze solid, staring at his bowl.

'They're here'?

"Hey dad?" Ana Arc, third oldest Arc sibling and resident 'emo kid', appeared at the entrance to the family room. "You might want to see this."

~o~0~o~

Ana led the Jaune and the others into the family room, where a newscast had been paused on the TV. The heading read 'Beacon Breached!'

As they entered, Ana casually vaulted the back of the couch, picked up the remote, and pressed the play button. The announcer unfroze and resumed speaking.

"--Our next story: Vale remains in state of shock after a man was found to have infiltrated the Beacon Academy campus several days ago, attempting to steal the roster of this year's first-year candidates. We're told new Beacon professor Katherine Peach was able to stop the thief, after a brief altercation. The professor will not be attending the initiation, in order to care for a mysterious injury sustained during the struggle." The reporter gestured to the holo-screen next to her. "We now show you recently released footage of the suspect's interrogation."

The holo-screen lit up to show a typical interrogation room. Two men sat facing each other across the metal table. One was dressed in a wrinkled dress shirt and slacks. A badge sat on the table in front of him. The other wore a windbreaker over a ruffled t-shirt and jeans. His hands were cuffed to the table, bangs shadowing his eyes.

The cop stood up and slammed his hands on the table, . "Alright, buddy," he started. "Here's how this is gonna go. You're gonna tell me who you were looking for on that list." The prisoner let out a low chuckle. "Why would I need the the whole list, if I already knew who I was looking for?" The cop grit his teeth. "You think this is a joke?!"

The other man snorted "Oh, it's absolutely hilarious." He leaned forward. "You put your trust in the integrity of your walls. You build your weapons to defend yourselves. But they will not protect you from us forever."

Then the man looked directly at the camera, and his eyes became visible. " The Four will fall before us. You cannot hide from us forever. Once we find you, you will know true despair. And then... we will end you."

The convict began to chuckle, getting louder and louder until it turned into full-blown maniacal laughter. "So flock to your 'beacon' if you think it will protect you. You are only delaying the inevitable."

The holo-screen shut off and the camera re-centered on the reporter. "The criminal was found dead in his cell later that day. Authorities have begun investigating to find any associates of the suspect, but so far no new information has been released. Meanwhile, rumors and conspiracy theories have surfaced about the mysterious 'Four' the suspect spoke of. Are they possessed of good intentions? Or do they have more sinister aspirations? Only time will tell. This is Lisa Lavender, reporting for VNN news."

Ana hit the mute button, then set the remote down. "Yeesh, that was unsettling. You think his friends decided to keep him quiet?" she suggested.

"Maybe he offed himself or something?" wondered Joan. The parents threw in their own suggestions, and a full conversation was started. Out of all four relatives, only one noticed Jaune leave.

~o~0~o~

Jaune slammed the door to his room, leaned against it, and slid to the floor. His heart beat a drumroll against his ribs as he struggled to control his breathing. Emotions spiraled around within his being, chief among which were excitement... and dread.

That man was no ordinary person. His eyes... there was no color in his eyes. The iris, the pupil... niether were there. They were just sightless pools of pitch black.

It was a very long shot, but this was the first solid lead Jaune had recieved since he became a Harbinger. If he had this right, this could be the luckiest break he'd ever had in his life!

If (it was still a big if) he was guessing this correctly, one of the other Harbingers would be in Vale next week! And Jaune already knew the first place he should look. That place... was Beacon Academy.

How could he not think that? The clue itself was vague, but the evidence was pretty clear. Strange incidents began to happen to the Faunus population. Corruption had an intense distaste of the species, due to their natural resistance to its influence. Someone also tried to steal a list of the first-year applicants from the on-campus archives. That fact alone was damning enough. All of this pointed to the fact that the agents of Corruption were searching for someone in Vale...

... But that also meant that they were already in Vale, and thus had a head start. Meanwhile he, being the only active Harbinger he knew of, was stuck halfway across the world in a remote village, several miles from Mistral proper. If they found their quarry before he did... there was no way he could let that happen.

I can't stay here anymore. Anyone that Corruption is looking for directly is in danger... it's decided then! I need to get to Vale!

Knock knock!

Jaune was broken from his thoughts by a knock on the door, followed by intense whispering.

"Hey Jaune, open the door, will you? We need to talk..."

Confused, Jaune pushed himself off the door and opened it. Ana crept quickly into the room, closing the door behind her. She then turned to her brother and crossed her arms. "Okay, spill it," she ordered. "What do you know about that news story that spooked you so much?"

Jaune immediately tried to defend himself. "What are you talking about? I wasn't scared!" Ana shot him an unimpressed look. "You looked like a haunted mannequin with blonde hair before you bolted," she deadpanned. Jaune crossed his arms and pouted. "Why are you asking me that anyway?" he asked. Ana hesitated. Then she took a deep breath. Here goes. "I might know something about it too."

She expected Jaune to call her crazy or deny it. To try and redirect the conversation. So she was caught way off guard when Jaune suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. "Tell me everything you know."

Ana stepped back out of his reach. Needless to say, her brother's complete 180 in mood was starting to freak her out. "W-well, there was this dream I had the night of my birthday, four years ago," she started. "I'm standing in this limbo space, and then I'm approached by this woman with golden armor and a pair of massive wings. She called herself Uriel."

Jaune made a 'go on' gesture. "She said she was a member of the Hellguard, some ancient order that maintained and defended the domain of Nature. She told me I was chosen to... inherit her power and assist the Reaper in his quest to fight something called 'Corruption'... Whatever all that means."

Jaune stared at Ana as if she'd just slapped him. Then he sighed and looked down with a thoughtful expression. "Jaune? Hello? You're starting to creep me out..." Not knowing what else to do, she brought up her earlier accusation. " You do know something, don't you?"

Jaune met her eyes, this time with a hesitant expression, then sighed again. "Okay... you obviously have some part in this, so there's no point in keeping you in the dark..."

So he told her everything. The night he became the Reaper. The secret origin of Faunus and humans. Every last detail.

When he was finished, Ana was at a loss for words. Jaune couldn't say he was honestly surprised. He guessed that this would have been a lot for her to process, what with her brother secretly being a demigod. And that another demigod was set to destroy the world if left unchecked. Nevertheless, Jaune decided to try and diffuse the tension, but when he opened his mouth to speak, Ana beat him to it.

"You said... you said something about a transformation, right?" she asked urgently. Jaune nodded hesitantly. "Yes, I have two... why?" Ana looked at the floor in thought, then looked back at Jaune. "Because that might explain how I can do this."

Ana walked to the center of the room, turned toward her brother, and spread her arms. A soft light began to emanate from behind her, growing and unfolding. As soon as it finished, the light faded, revealing a pair of full-length, translucent white wings. "So... what do you think... uh, Jaune?"

Said brother was gawking like a toddler who had just been shown a professional magic trick. Ana began to figit uncomfortably under his starry-eyed gaze. Thankfully, Jaune realized what he was doing. He looked away and cleared his throat. "Sorry. I guess I kinda lost it after seeing the wings. They just look so cool." Ana scoffed. "Stay on topic, will you?!"

"Right, serious conversation," he muttered. "Well, since you decided to reveal all this now, do you wanna come with?" Ana's wings drooped slightly as she cocked her head in confusion. "To... where exactly?"

"To Vale," her brother replied. He strode over to his closet and pulled out his treasured Pumpkin Pete's hoodie, which he won in a boxtop raffle three years ago. He also pulled out a pair of polyester cargo pants. "You saw that newscast, Corruption has a head start on us. If the bad guys manage to find the other Harbingers before I do... well, then we're all royally screwed. I need to stop sitting on my butt and start looking ASAP."

"Wha--wait, soon as in, like, right now?!" Ana sputtered. Jaune pulled a travel backpack from the closet, then turned to her. "The sooner we leave, the better." Then he pushed her toward the door. Ana hurriedly banished her wings, the appendages dissolving into light particles just in time to avoid colliding with the door frame. "Better get ready," he said. "Grab some casual outfits for public settings."

"...Okay, how long are we planning to stay there, exactly?" inquired Ana. Her brother looked at her and tucked his lips between his teeth. "... Until we find a Harbinger, I guess."

Ana groaned. "So in other words, you don't know."

" So... yeah, anyway, unless you want to walk around Vale in nothing but that sports bra and your Achieve-Men sleep pants, I suggest you pack." And with that, Jaune shut the door. Ana looked down at the Achieve-Men logos patterned on her sleepwear. "...There's nothing wrong with appreciating good music..." she grumbled as she trudged off to start the shower.

~o~0~o~

Ana placed the wall-mounted spray nozzle back in place, then walked over to the large soaking tub and settled in. She sighed as she leaned her head back, letting the water soak what remained of the shampoo out of her shoulder-length blonde hair. Once that was finished, she got out and started towards the towel rack, but stopped short in front of the mirror. Intrigued, she strode over for a closer look.

At a glance, there wasn't anything new for her to see... at least, not since she acquired her powers. Ever since she met Uriel four years ago, Ana had enjoyed almost unnatural levels of agility and flexibility, along with an impressive boost of endurance. She also acquired unbelievable durability, allowing her shrug off a head-over-heels tumble down the stairs when she was 15, take a fastball to the cheek with just a grunt of surprise, and even fail to notice when a shard of glass lodged itself straight through her hand. Long story.

All while retaining the soft, charming features shared by all the Arc siblings. Add that to a ridiculous metabolism, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't had to turn down a few dates.

As for the strength... well, let's just say the metal armor for the training dummies became a lot more... fragile, around her. However, she'd had four years to get used to these abilities, so... yeah, nothing new there.

What interested her was almost hidden by her low-hanging bangs. Sweeping these to the side, Ana found a strange, slowly fading white symbol on her brow, identical to the one Uriel had possessed. Odd, she thought as the mark faded completely. I'm positive that's never happened before today. What changed?

"Hey!" clack clack. "You done yet? We need to leave before something stops us, and I want to at least take a shower before I go!" Ana smirked at her brother's impatience. She ruffled her bangs back to normal, falling diagonally across her face and shadowing her right eye from view. " Don't rush me, Jaune, I'm almost finished!" She grinned mischievously. "... Or are you that eager to see me naked?"

"... Oh, ha ha. Just speed it up, will you?" Ana laughed quietly at the embarrassment in her brother's voice.

~o~0~o~

"Okay, we'll only be gone for a couple hours, so just sit tight," said Rayden Arc. "I'm sorry you two can't come with us, but I promise you're not missing anything important!"

Haven Academy was hosting a special orientation to get the new students acquainted to the layout of the school. It was also held so they could select their first year electives before initiation the next day. However, only aspiring students and their guardians were allowed to attend.

"Relax, Dad," drawled Ana. "There's no point in going if we're not gonna stay there." Her father sighed. "You're right." Then he smirked and winked at her. "Don't throw any parties while we're away, eh?" Ana grinned back. "Still don't have any friends," she said sarcastically, mimicking his playful tone. Rayden cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well... best be off then..."

"See you guys!" called Joan as she brushed past them toward the car. "Next you see me, I'll be a Huntress!"

"Have fun! Don't get expelled before your first day!" called after his sister. Joan simply rolled her eyes before entering the vehicle. Jaune waved his hand high over his head as the car sped off, while Ana simply raised her arm lazily.

"So... when are we leaving?" asked Ana. "I mean, we can't exactly explain to them how important this is when they get back." Jaune turned and followed his sister back to the house.

"You're right. This is the perfect time to get away without having to go through anyone, and none of our younger siblings are even awake yet." he frowned. "Still have no idea how they do that... but, it works in our favor. So, you got an outfit to wear?" Ana gestured to herself. "You're looking at it."

Ana was wearing a custom form-fitting, polyester, blue-and-grey top that cut off before her lower stomach, baring her hips. The collar of the top was raised almost to her chin. A zipper that ran down to her chestline was halfway open to allow her neck to breathe.

Over that was a custom black hooded jacket mad of faux leather and fleece, with yellow decals along the sleeves and back, most notably the large Arc family crest on the back. Each sleeve was made of fleece until it got past the elbow, where it turned back to faux leather. On each sleeve, a zipper ran halfway up the forearm, lining up with the backs of her hands. A set of sleek, hexagon shaped green-and-black headphones sat around her neck, with the Achieve-Men logo branded on each side.

A pair of custom, dark grey cargo pants were held up by a brown double belt that swooped over her left hip. A chain looped crookedly around her waist, drooping over her right hip.

The pants draped over a pair of tough-looking, shin-length treaded boots. A matching pair of fingerless sleeve-gloves could be seen underneath her jacket sleeves.

Jaune's eyes widened in surprise as he point numbly in her direction. "Is that...?" Ana nodded. "It is."

Back when Ana was 15, she started writing down ideas of what she had wanted her Huntress outfit to look like. She'd ramble to anyone who would listen (mostly Jaune) about everything, from the materials the oufit would be made of, to the colors, to extra built-in padding. Her parents finally decided to draw the line at five hidden weapon holsters.

Jaune was at a loss for words. "Where did you get this?" Ana shrugged. "During my... late-night encounter with Uriel, she told me she would send a gift to me, as thanks for accepting her 'burden'. The night of my 15th birthday, some kind of chest just appeared in my room, sealed with some gilded padlock or something. A week later the lock opened and... well, you're looking at what was in there."

Jaune looked her up and down, then shrugged. "Works for me, I guess. I think you should take a few pieces of armor with you, though. I don't think a nice jacket will stop a bullet."

Ana nodded in agreement. "Trust me, this jacket can survive much more than a bullet. Whoever made this oufit knew what they were doing."

Jaune raised an eyebrow at her confidence. "What, did you test it yourself or something?" he joked. His smirk drooped a little as Ana shifted uncomfortably, looking away with a nervous grin. An awkward silence carried on for two more beats.

"Well... guess we just have to finish packing," said Jaune. Ana turned and padded toward the stairs. "Already finished, just need to grab our packs and get going." As his sister ascended the staircase, Jaune turned to stare at the fireplace. Or rather, the object sitting above the fireplace mantle.

Crocea Mors. The Arc family weapon. Used by Jaune's great-grandfather in the War of Colors, it was passed down from parent to child. At least, to the young Arcs who were worthy. Jaune looked upon the ancient weapon with a sad smile. His whole life, he had believed his destiny was to carry that sword into battle, like the Arcs that came before him. Now, he knew otherwise.

"You were right, Dad. I wasn't meant to be the next heir to that sword. My destiny is to be someone different. Something else."

~o~0~o~

"So..." started Dusty, "How long have you had wings?"

Jaune, Ana and Dusty were currently soaring over the landscape toward the coast of Anima. Jaune was in Reaper form, gliding along on his skeletal wings, while his sister coasted through the air beside him.

"Counting the first time? About four years." Ana replied. The three demigods descended below the treeline, weaving and dancing through the pillars of bark. "Uriel taught me how to Summon and Banish my wings, but according to her that's all I can do right now." Ana swooped under a low branch. "She said that aside from my physical enhancements--Whoa!--the rest of my powers are locked."

"Same here." Jaune swooped upward and changed to his Abyssal Armor form, slotting himself between two close branches. He did an open backflip before leveling out and reverting to Reaper. "Crowfather said something like that back when Dusty and I were still training under him." Dusty weaved around them, a green streak of light that danced through the web of wooden limbs. "What do you think he meant by that? You really think there's more to our powers than we already know?"

Neither of his companions answered him as they broke the treeline, the landscape changing from forest to country. A couple of rural roads wound towards a large town, beyond which peeked a horizon made of water. The trio came to rest in one of the tall trees near the commercial entrance, providing a good view of the coastal town. Dusty alighted on Jaune's shoulder and cawed. "Lady and gentleman, welcome to Port Bay!"

Ana hopped off the branch and lande in a four-point crouch. Jaune let himself fall forward into a slow somersault, sticking a hard three-point landing. Dusty once again swooped down to perch on Jaune's and together they walked toward the main entrance.

"It smells like fish here," Ana commented, sniffing the air as they strolled through the gate. "I could really go for some seafood right now."

Dusty ruffled his feathers. "Good call. Port Bay is actually pretty popular in the tourist community for its waterborne cuisine. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling a little peckish myself."

"Tell you what," said Jaune, "Let's look around for a while, grab a bite to eat, do some sightseeing and all that." He regarded both of them seriously. "But we gotta make it quick, we're on a tight deadline here." Then he scratched his cheek sheepishly "We also need to buy a ferry ticket, because there's no way I can hold Reaper form long enough to fly there." Ana just shrugged. "Okay then, why don't we do that first?"

BANG! BANG!

A cacophony of gunshots sounded, followed by screams. All three of the demigods tensed, ready to fight. A plume of smoke became visible over the buildings, coming from further into the town.

"Guess that ferry ticket'll have to wait," Jaune said as the three companions rushed off toward the rising smoke.

~o0o~

(A/N): Well... that certainly took longer than I expected. Who knew making up an outfit was so so hard?Anyway, I don't know if I have to address this or not, so I'll say it anyway just in case: For those Darksiders fans who already know, or if you just think the story's interesting, I'm trying my best to accurately describe the references I inject into the story. If you are a Darksiders fan like me, you most likely will know what I'm referring to, but as for the rest of you... well, I'll try my best.

Next Time...Jaune, Dusty, and Ana finally make it to Vale, but run into trouble when they start looking for their target, as well as finding more questions. Meanwhile, Ana begins to exhibit a level of focus and skill that seems too practiced for someone who is supposed to be new to the whole "vigilante" business. To top it all off, an unexpected encounter leaves Jaune with a tempting offer. Still left with more questions than answers, Jaune continues to trek into unfamiliar territory... and an increasingly dangerous destiny...