Chapter 11: Choosing Ranks


As weeks went by, the Aura Laboratory is under construction and wouldn't be running till the next semester. The twins are having a little discussion over their avian pets.

Would you not?

Sheesh, you really don't care on naming our birds? Inside the twins' private dorm room, Ruby is arguing back to her sister about their birds that are resting on their snowy white desk. For some reason, the birds keep following them everywhere and even in their classrooms. It also confirmed that no one can see them at all when the birds are walking in the halls as nobody seems to give a damn about them.

The room in question is well furnished and filled with modern luxury that anyone who steps into their room thinks the twins are rich. Although, it was General Ironwood who gave them their bedroom out of his pocket and the one who decorated their room to give the professional air-quote: "Atlas standard" to the twins. Though Tanya appreciated the minimalist décor, Ruby is not really thrilled with the design. Seeing their room is dull and boring with no vibrant meaning as its all white or the luminescent blue.

Look. Why are you even keeping them in the first place? These birds came out of nowhere and one of them is a Nevermore Grimm. The fact they cannot be seen or be touch except for us is not exactly normal either.

Well seeing you don't want to name them. I well call this dove Huggy because she really likes to hug!

You're intentionally ignoring me, aren't you?

Maybe? Groaning in annoyance that Ruby is not listening to her again, Tanya looks back at the birds and proceeds to look back at her wrist. Watching the vines squirming in her skin and feeling its resilience is indestructible. The Devil also wonder if those blackthorns back at the lab was her doing? Was this part of the side-effect? Is this part one of the brothers' schemes?

Tanya almost called her semblance Black Hermit which it sounds pretty ridiculous to her and reminding the once Wing Commander that she needs to find a better name for her vines that is crawling on her flesh.

Though Ruby constantly complains about the unsettling darkness that was crawling on their flesh and the two finally feel its ghastly tendrils that were digging into Tanya's soul. But Tanya could feel this strange empowerment of her soul, a strange flexibility of her fate, her future unbinding itself.

Before she could ponder of where these birds came from or figuring what her thorny semblance does. A knock echoed at their door and a kind voice calling out to them. But this wasn't Winter this time.

"Ms. Tanya, I was instructed by Ironwood to be your guide while Winter is off training. Would you mind I come in?" Getting off from her cushy chair and heading straight to the white door. She climbs up on a small stool to reach up for the button. About to press it, Tanya needs confirmation first.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Tanya did receive the message that Winter is being replaced by another student. She wanted to be extra sure who he is first when she left for her class.

"Sorry, I forgot my manners! My name is Balder Hallow or you can call me Biff." Knowing who he is, the door slides open to reveal a neat looking teenager. His milky pearl skin illuminates the air, his bright amber eyes looking at her curiously, and his bright white hair seems to radiate.

I like this guy!

Of how respectful he is. I agree. By his mere presence, everyone can tell he is a swell guy and strengthen everyone's trust.

"Hey, Biff! Are you going to stand there and babysit her? Let's go, man!" In the glassy white halls of the dormitory, a modest brown haired boy calls out to him as his cobalt eyes stare at him impatiently.

"I got it, Templar! Oh yeah, that's Templar Iscariot by the way. Anyways, let's head out!" Before they leave, Tanya and Ruby saw the Nevermore flew at the shoulder of Biff as it caws.

Hey. What is Muggy doing?

Why are you still calling them-Argh! Fear and pain flow through her chest through like someone stab a pole through her heart, adrenaline rushing in her body as she can feel the blood spilling in her mouth and softly hearing two soldiers fighting out of nowhere as she faintly about to die. Her life seeping away and her mind weakening. As she can feel the unbearable heat and the rustling sands whistling in her ears are becoming silent.

As her mind turns to darkness, her eyes shut up to feel everything is back to normal. Touching her lip, she sees there was no blood at all and her chest is intact with no holes going through.

What the fuck?! Surprise of what happen to her which her senses are about to be in the verge of death and hearing soldiers brawling felt so real in her mind, she couldn't shrug it off as a simple hallucination.

Sis? What happen? Worriedly wanting to know what happened to Tanya and seeing her infected soul is acting funky with its black vines swarming around it. The golden eyed sister responds back to her silver eyed host.

Don't know. When that Nevermore landed on his shoulder, my mind suddenly felt it was on the verge of death and hearing things that aren't there. Suspiciously looking at the Nevermore that Ruby names it Muggy as it flew away from Balder's shoulder. Tanya is getting a hutch of what it mind be.

"What are you two waiting? Let's go! We're going to be late!" Snapping out what happen and interrupt what the twins are thinking. The twins and Balder left the room as they walk the halls in a fast pace. Ruby proceeds to discuss that particular moment that Tanya had.

So you thought you were on the verge of death and heard things when Muggy landed on his shoulder?

Yes. That is correct. Ruby quietly snorted to avoid tracking attention of Biff or Templar.

Pfft, how can it temper your psyche? It just a bird, right? I think it's the darkness that you need to deal with Sis because I don't trust it. I know it's not normal for the birds but you can't blame them. Like Huggy, she doesn't look harmful. Looking back at the Dove which Ruby named her Huggy, the snow white bird flew on Templar's right shoulder softly and cooing innocently at him which Templar can't see her.

See, nothing bad happe- Her head jolts up and Ruby saw a vision. She saw visions of an orange man being impaled on the wall. She feels the rush of sudden emotions overwhelming her heart. Ruby can't describe how she is feeling. Denial? Rage? Sadness? Grief? Soon she heard a voice that sounded like an older Templar. She tries to find him but nowhere to be seen in the metallic room.

Somebody help me!?

An arm pushes her down and looks up to see a cyan armored woman belittling in front of someone she knows. She couldn't help but feel outraged of her not feeling the sorrow of what she did to him!

This isn't about you!

Soon she saw a black armored being jabbed her fist right at her jaw as she went flying away from her view. The being then grabs the wooden pole.

Game over.

Her eyes then splattered with his crimson blood. Painting her face of his ichor, she couldn't feel it, she couldn't smell it, only Ruby can feel her untold rage what she saw from the unjust she witness that's burning her heart. The sins they committed.

In all the hate and rage, the vision she saw soon faded from her mind and her teeth grit. But when her anger subsided, she only felt one emotion she can think of.

Lost.

She finally feels what it is like to lose a close friend as a single tear spill from Ruby's silver eye, the death someone that she doesn't know at all.

Forget what I said earlier. I felt it too. I saw a person getting stabbed through the heart and heard a voice that sounded like an older Templar! Looking over the birds as they walk on the floor, they were waddling on the glassy pavement as they phase through the students like they were nothing.

Hearing what Ruby said to her. Tanya starting to connect two and two together to see a clear link to what they experience. She felt her heart being pierced by a pole and sensing things aren't there when the Nevermore rested on Balder's shoulders. Ruby saw a man being impaled by a wooden pole and heard voices of what she saw.

Looking at the two students, Tanya has a good guess what they are and what her birds do. But she needs more information if her guess is right.

Stepping out of the towering dormitory they were in. They take a clear look of their snowy campus with technological wonder scatter across the school. Dust crystals float and androids patrolling every second with students passing by. The panic averted as they were told that R&D made a fuck up with their design that causes a massive explosion which the students easily eat up that excuse.

"Alright, the class is about to start in six minutes. Let's hurry up!" Templar shouted at the two which Biff wittily replied back.

"Stop kissing our teacher's ass Temp, you know we have enough time to reach class right?" Insulted him for being a suck-up, the twins' just roll their eyes and ignore their friendly insults at each other.

Reaching to their classroom, Tanya saw a man with his rimmed glasses that resemble of a man named Erich Von Rerugen who is the Colonel who listened to her pleas that war was approaching at their doorstep during the Empire's lull.

Besides him is a middle-aged man where his red eyes are filled with an unreasonable thirst for blood and the verge of senility.

Taking their seats and looking around with Huggy, Muggy resting on their shoulders. She saw Matt and his friend Simmons are present. As well Krapfen and Rhine she met back at the cafeteria. But out of the group, Tanya can't help but smell deceit and repugnance from a fat looking teen where his orange eyes bore laziness. But most strikingly in the group, Tanya could smell suppressed rage boiling in the room and she sweats when she saw who it was.

It is Marlene Sue.

Seriously? Why are you so scared about that girl?

Like I said, I don't want to talk about it.

Oddly to Tanya, the Devil could "smell" the people around her after she temporally mixed her soul with Ruby's. Could it be what she thinks it is?

"Congratulation of becoming fresh officers, I am Professor Eric Luger or Colonel. And beside me is Col. Rot Gunnery or Sarge of the asymmetrical warfare division." The old colonel calmly chuckles and introduce himself.

"Yup that's me. Hope you maggots don't make me angry. You dirtbags wouldn't like me when I'm angry!" Letting out a sadistic grin that some of the students nervously shiver, Eric continues on.

"Anyhow, seeing you all pass the written test. We're going to engage the practical trials to see how well you can lead and determining your given rank that you earn from the written test if you're worthy-" Sarge later interrupts him.

"Other words, if you maggots did terribly. You will get the lowest rank as I can stomp on! Those who did well…well, good job!"

Hearing what they said, Tanya slyly smiles that her papers will attract the attention of the staff which her ideas aren't native to Remnant.

"Okay, the one who has the highest score here." Luger eyeing on Tanya's direction as he saw her smirk of who's going to be here, the colonel cleared his throat and read the paper in his hand.

"Alright, Tanya Rose. Considering your high intelligence of leading your units and your superb efficiency from your written test, you are instantly par with the level of a General. But for now, you earn the rank of Colonel and you are in charge of training the rest of the officers here under your command." Tanya soon frowns that she isn't rank higher than Colonel, but she sees it as fair. Knowing she's merely a six-year-old who recently enrolled here and making Command slightly unease about a little kid running an operation by herself.

But for the people here that are going to be under her wing though, …she heard the Nevermore cawed in deceit.

"For your lieutenant who is going to be under you, your lieutenant will be…Griefer Ranja?" Widening her eyes in shock, how can this filthy, fat ass looking man assign to be under her and the earned the rank of lieutenant? She can see him cheekily smiling while the reincarnate of Matheus flopping through his papers in confusion.

"Wait a minute sir! Why am I ranked private? I was sure that I wrote my words correctly and the possible outcomes when leading a company?" If her guess is true, this man somehow cheated his way to be her second-in-command. Tanya knows this as she can tell Matt is extremely diligent and prudent on the situation. But this pile of filth that she got, she could actually smell a liar from his foul odor on his greasy skin. Ruby feels the same way as it's pretty obvious what his intent is.

Even Luger is dumbfounded. The colonel read reports of him constantly procrastinating and receiving low grades from his professors. Eric knows that something isn't right. For Sarge, he really wished he has his shotgun with him to point his barrel at the maggot as something inside his mind told him to beat the living hell out of this slacker.

"This couldn't be right. Sorry, Matt. But right now, you are now ranked as Private. We need to recheck the papers what I'm seeing here. So…Lieutenant Colonel Griefer, you are now currently assigned as Colonel Rose's second-in-command." As Luger congratulate him but with a pile of salt laced in his tongue. Griefer lazily thanked the Colonel and giving a slight boast to himself of the rank he got.

"Why thank you, Colonel Eric. But please, call me Grif. As you know, I will be the best for Colonel Rose and what is best for my units." Before Tanya could snide that poor remark that Grif made, Ruby quickly sees the bluff.

Yup. He cheated.

Noted for being a slouch, I agree. So if he's going to earn his title as my lieutenant, I will give him training if he's competent enough to be under me.

If it involves killing them, please don't.

What do you mean? I got everything in control of what I'm going to do with him and death is not involved.

But how do you exactly train them specifically? You told me you train your rookies before, but how?

Discussing their ideas, Ruby and Tanya have plans to make this possible cheater suffer. If he could withstand Tanya's disciplinary training, he earned his spot to lead her units. If not, it's going to be hell for him.

But to Ruby, she doesn't really trust Tanya's idea or her psyche at the matter. So she will keep an eye on Tanya if her sister is going way too far of her moral boundary. She knows this guy is a lazy pile of garbage, but there has to be a line in the sand for them to see.

To be as efficient as possible and obeying the rules if they want to survive in battle. The places I went are pretty damn risky if you don't know what you're doing and we need to be cautious above the sky.

What's so dangerous about the sky? What? Birds going to peck you and spying on your secrets?

That's not what I meant. I meant-wait…that gave me an idea. Turning her eyes to the birds that are calmly resting on their shoulders, she wants to know of their full extent and learning more about what they are.

Can they control them and see what they see or hear? Thinking of such an idea, Tanya devilishly smirks to herself.

Ruby, can we control our birds with our souls?


After they receive their supposed ranks and about to do a practicality test later in the future. The broken moon of Remnant shines over Atlas Academy like a glass window. But out in the darkness, a pudgy, dirty teen sneaks away from his dormitory to meet someone. But someone found him first.

"Hey fat ass, over here." Calling out behind him, Grif turn around to see the maroon eyed boy approach him and nervously looking around, seeing they pass their curfew hour. The orange-eyed fatty happily calls out to him.

"Simmons! Glad you're here buddy. Thank you so much on hacking into my files and switching it with someone else." As his layers of fat swinging in the air, Simmons quiets him down as he cautiously looks around if anyone is watching. The chestnut haired boy let out a sigh of relief that there is no nearby. But he cannot see the white dove or the black Nevermore hanging at a lamppost.

"Sssh, don't say it out loud you fucking idiot. Are you going to pay me or what?!" Reminding Grif of why he's outside in the first place. The orange teen digs through his pocket on giving Simmons his money.

"Oh, here's your 5000 lien for your work of charm. Because of my new position, I can be lazy whenever I want!" Cockishly speaking to him and dreaming his position of doing nothing. He doubts Tanya could lead them to battle, but Simmons burst that fantasy of his.

"Dude, are you sure you can be lazy around that girl? I have real bad mojos when I get close to that child." Seeing Tanya personally, Simmons felt something isn't right about that girl and her personality is way too extreme for an average child should have. Letting Grif being with her is not exactly a good idea in his opinion.

"What do you mean? She doesn't look too serious and way too young to lead us. I mean seriously, why don't you switch hers with mine?" The nerdy student stared at Grif if he was that stupid, soon it turns into furiousness of why he can't do the obvious.

"Because the General choose her personally dumbass! If I change her data, they will suspect something is up. Besides, all the professors and all students are gossiping about her being smart which doesn't help support that idea that she is a mere fucking Private. Also, you haven't noticed. Having a higher rank means you have a higher fucking responsibility!" Hearing enough of what they said, the birds flew away from their position and heading back of where they came. But to Grif, he has doubts about their Headmaster's decision.

"Pfft, probably Ironwood is an idiot I guess. How can a cute innocent little girl like her do such a thing-"


"OH SHIT!"

A week later. He is running in a very wide field that could take up four acres of land with trenches or boulders acting as cover, gunshots going off everywhere and explosions detonating around him as pieces of frag went flying. The shrapnel did ricochet off his floppy skin but it took out a quarter of his aura away.

He didn't suspect Tanya would be this extreme to simulate an actual battlefield as his heart is pounding fast by all the bullets that went flying pass by him. Snow and dirt flung everywhere from the arterially shells. Seeing smoke cloud forming everywhere in his area.

He ducks down when and when another shell exploded behind him. Terror grasping his mind, his resolve corroding in every second from seeing all destruction happening around him, the quaking sound if heaven is about to fall down on him.

"Enough talking Captain Turkis! Take the left flank of our enemies. Krapfen, you take the right! You two will make a pincer attack as Grif and I will penetrate through the enemy line! Rhine and Balder, you're joining with me on the assault!"Opening his eyes, he looks up to see a black haired girl with red tips that is tied up in a ponytail. Her hand pressing on the headphone and her fingers grasping on a white SMG that resembles an MP5 while her white cloak is being blown by the freezing winds.

Getting a sitrep, her golden eyes calmly and maliciously surveying the area. A few seconds later, she snarls at the situation. Seeing such a sight, Grif is straight up flabbergasted of how unfazed she is of the pure destruction that's happening around her.

"*Orders received!*"

"*Yeah! You penetrate right through those bots while Marlene and I take them at the left-bow chicka-WOWS!*"

"*You got it, missy, Time Travelling Krapfen is coming right behind them on the rear!*" Groaning at their immature response, she really needs to discipline these misfits up to shape. If they don't change and they're pushing her limits, she will make an example out of these idiots.

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS-!" A spiky vine spits out from her hand as it halted Grif's speech. The vine almost passes through his cheek as he felt the sharp thorn cutting through his skin, surprising him of how it bypass through his aura like paper.

Turning behind him where the vine went. The "lieutenant" saw plant stems tightly entangling a squadron of androids that were approaching them. The thorns ensnaring into the metal as they ripped through their armor like a Can Opener and the vines held firm tightly as the appendages crushing their insides.

With a strong pull from Rose's hand where her fingers are firmly grasping on her semblance, the robotic squadron is soon shredded into chunks of metallic pieces as bolts and chips scatter on the ground. Their steel arms twitch before shutting down.

"You didn't act fast enough "Lieutenant" Ranja. You would be dead right at that spot if this is a real battlefield. I wonder…why and how did you earn the spot as my "Lieutenant" Grif?" With her golden eyes gazing into his heart with great scrutiny, her malignant-unholy aura made his body nearly petrified by her menacing stare. There is no innocence or childish naivety in those eyes, only pure results.

A devil he is talking to.

"Oh come on! I thought we're doing normal training. Not death training! Aren't supposed to care for us and not acting like a fucking psychopath?!" Grif is now starting to regret his decision of switching his rank. He thought this little girl was playing soldier, not actually being a hard-ass soldier!

"You can hold whatever opinions of me. But incompetence and insubordination are not welcomed in the battlefield. Right now, focus on training or be a dead weight on everyone. I do care for my units, but there is a fine line between caring and a pushover." Looking back at the battalion of robots marching towards their position, Tanya sprinted for cover as she yells out to her useless lieutenant.

"Get up and move your ass. If you want to earn my respect, I want you to show me you can obey orders!" As the rush of adrenaline pumping through her body and dodging through the bullets with ease, she requested this battle simulation to her superiors as they reluctantly accepted her demands. Tanya wants her units to be ready and most important of all.

She wants to see how long he will break under her leadership when the Devil learned of his deceit.