Μελάνι είναι το αίμα των αναμνήσεων

Ink is the blood of memories.

-The Author

An idea is an impossible thing to describe. In science, it could be considered a sequence of neuron firings that coincide with a preassigned thought. However, since all of these neurons exist in different brains, and store different memories, an idea is extremely difficult to pass on. But that...that rare control over dreams, that was what made Perseus Jackson, or Nightshade, special.

Percy had a problem, not that he knew it, but his problem was huge, like staring at an A-bomb that just dropped on your house and wondering how you'll pay for the damage to your roof.

The blast was still to come.

If there was ever a time that Percy Nightshade wasn't oblivious, it was when he was sleep deprived, starving, and simmering with an insatiable fury. As fights played out in front of him, each of them ending with Glynda Goodwitch stepping in between the pair and analyzing every aspect of the student.

"You've progressed remarkably well, Mr. Brunswick, perhaps next time, you should consider using less pizzaz, and focus instead on the power of your attacks. Your use of sleight of hand would have come in handy in order to capitalize on any openings, and you should also wear less restrictive clothing." Glynda listed off, pointing out the problems that everyone had. "Mr. Nightshade, if you would come to the stage please?"

"Why do you keep picking on me?!" Percy asked, his top finally blowing. "I've done nothing to you!"

"I'm not going to harm you, Mr. Nightshade, quite the opposite, I plan on activating your aura. However, if you'd like, I'm sure I could find quite a few volunteers here to do battle with you."

"I like that first option. Let's go with that first option." Percy responded quickly, his voice raised half an octave. After another feat of great idiocy, or fearlessness, whichever you deem fit, Percy landed gently on the arena floor, looking rather impressive, standing almost half a foot taller than Glynda. As the intimidating, though alluring, blonde stared up at him, Percy smiled shyly and whispered to himself. "Why are there so many hot blondes around here?"

Glynda acted like she hadn't heard what Percy said, but she barely kept up the facade that prevented her from strangling him for his distraction and his inappropriate comment. Ozpin didn't share her control, though, and instead hummed with silent amusement from his platform, hidden in the shadows of the rafters. Glynda placed her hand on Percy's shoulder and closed her eyes, reaching out into Percy's being, trying to find the key to his soul, only to be stopped…

"You shouldn't be here." A voice of immeasurable power growled. "This child is mine to protect, therefore, to ensure no ill will, you shall be tested and tried, and if you are found wanting, your soul shall suffer the eternal torments of the sea's unending wrath."

"I'm not here to harm Percy, I'm here to help him, I only want to allow his soul to break free of its bonds. There is no ill intent behind my words."

The voice remained silent before, with an invisible nod, she was beckoned forward. "Speak friend, and enter."

Glynda's eyes opened and she scanned Percy's face before muttering words that Percy had not heard for a long time. "All hail Perseus Jackson, son of the sea god." As the last word left her mouth, Percy's eyes widened, and he felt a very different voice mutter something incomprehensible before dragging Percy into a fugue state…

"Percy, Percy, Percy!" Richard admonished from beside a young Asian man that Percy couldn't identify. Percy looked between the two with a growing curiosity. The Asian man smiled at Percy, waving at him coolly. "You just had to go and do that, didn't you?"

"I told you he'd go for it." The younger apparition smirked. "It's literally a part of him. He can hardly resist his soul, now can he?" Both ghosts sighed, one in exasperation, the other in humor. "However, there are rules."

Richard sighed and rubbed his temples. "Monty, let me tell him." Monty frowned and shrugged, taking a step back. "When your aura is active, you have extremely limited access to your powers. You can't really use much of your power at all, however, your aura will add to your already considerable endurance and reflexes. It'll feel like you're stronger and faster, but unfortunately, you're not. You've been...in a word: Nerfed. You're stronger than you were, but you can't get to that strength in normal circumstances. Your aura doesn't acknowledge your power as a non-threat. So, it's sorta like a last resort, your aura is protecting you from your power, so only when you're halfway dead does your power come back. I'm sorry, but you need this training. You need to become better without your demigod capabilities. Good luck."

"Wait." Percy spoke up, looking between the two with an almost sickening smile on his face. He stuck his hand out and both respectively shook it before he frowned and bluntly stated. "You both suck." Causing both men to smile lightly.

As Percy returned from his fugue state, he growled before realizing that he had turned an even more vibrant shade of green, and his skin gained an even deeper bronze tan before his aura even began to reach past his skin, but as it did, it enveloped not only himself, but also Glynda, absorbing her into a small island peace and serenity for a moment, a warm summer breeze blowing through her, carrying along with it the scent of saltwater and wood smoke, causing her to smile in bliss to the sound of distant Calypso music. She opened her eyes and Percy was looking down at her with a knowing smile.

"I think I'll take option two now." Without missing a beat, Glynda snapped herself out of her thoughts and nodded, looking up into the stands, trying to find people who hadn't fought during the period yet. "Alright ladies, it's time to hop aboard the as- err, butt-kicking express. Population? Whoever's got the cajones to go toe to toe with me!"

This earned a few mutterings around the room about how he battled it out with Yang Xiao Long, or as she was better known as 'busty brawler'. That didn't stop a couple of people from stepping forward, including Nora, who in turn dragged Ren along, and a green-haired girl with a dark complexion and red eyes.

And Blake.

"Ms. Valkyrie, Mr. Lie Ren, Ms. Sustrai, and Ms. Belladonna, I'm afraid that this seems a tad excessive against a single man, even with his record. Perhaps we should take this a little mo-" Glynda was interrupted mid-thought when Percy calmly stepped up beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder, showing more courage than anyone south of Ozpin.

"This is everyone who wants to fight?" Percy asked, making sure that they were all certain of their stances in the arena. He received an almost imperceptible nod from Ren, a calm acknowledgment from Blake and a hyper bobbing of Nora's head, while the mysterious girl simply smiled. "I'm willing if they are."

Glynda sighed. "Children…"

As the combatants arrayed themselves, performing their own pre-battle rituals, Percy was rummaging through his bag, scouring it repeatedly, almost as if it was constantly changing contents. "Where are you? Ooh! You'll be intriguing."

"Combatants ready?" Glynda asked seriously. Without waiting for a response, she continued instantly. "Fight."

Before Percy was even standing, Nora was upon him, a huge overhead swing from Magnhild caused Percy to roll to the side, dragging with him a three and a half foot gladius, swinging it up as he barrel rolled in midair, knocking aside Gambol Shroud as Blake leapt back, allowing Ren a moment to launch a flurry of kicks at Percy, each one connecting with Percy's stomach. Percy rolled to his feet, feeling at his ribs, expecting at least a bit of pain before he was forced back by a spray of bullets that he deflected with the edge of his blade, he then charged forward, swinging his sword with accurate slashes and strength that knocked everyone but Nora back to give himself space. He took a single breath and decided to go with a different approach. He took a neutral combat stance and allowed himself a heartbeat to relax completely before he took a glance around the room. His opponents were hesitant to approach for some reason. "Okay, I think I'm getting used to this aura thing."

A sudden blow to his spine threw Percy across the floor of the arena, skidding to the edge of the arena, only staying on by sheer tenacity and a three foot sword imbedded in the floor. Ren was quickly closing on Perseus as he pulled himself to his feet, his head down. Ren threw a few quick slashes at Percy's chest but his sword had already been dislodged and with a few quick parries, the green-eyed swordsman had already knocked Ren's Stormflower out to his side and he planted a firm Spartan kick straight into the green clad boy's chest, launching him into the oncoming Nora. She quickly caught Ren, which threw her off balance, allowing Percy to pull a home plate slide, knocking the Valkyrie's legs out from underneath her. Without missing a beat, Percy quickly raised his blade out of pure instinct, blocking an overhead cleaving strike from Blake's sheath. A blink later and Percy found himself sprawled along the floor, an imprint of a size seven heel across his back.

He turned to meet Blake's gaze. Nora and Ren were slowly recovering from their dazes, and they were the first target. Another blink and Percy jabbed his blade into the space between Ren and Nora's heads, growling at the pair. "Surrender." The single word, imbued with the aura which originally was calm and serene, but now reminded Ren of a squall that could destroy small islands. Ren raised his hands in defeat and dragged Nora behind him.

"Ren, I can still fight." Nora murmured, shaking off her dazed state.

"I refuse to allow that." Ren stated, his usual stoic and calm state shattered, leaving Ren a shuddering, frightened wreck. "I'm afraid, Nora. That is not a man, that is a force of nature. I hope to never face him again in combat."

"Ren, what's wrong?" Nora implored, her voice surprisingly somber as the two placed their weapons into their lockers.

"His aura was not human. It looked-...it didn't end." Ren hesitated, trying to find a way to simplify it for Nora. "It was like staring out at the ocean, an ocean of power, and of hatred, and of-...sadness."

Emerald and Blake watched as Ren and Nora left with trepidation. Both of the fighters were still in relatively good shape, but for some reason, both of them decided to surrender without giving any sort of fight. Percy twirled his sword a few times before he finally grasped it in a stance similar to Weiss'. Blake lowered her stance, thinking that she knew what Percy was going to do. She had seen Weiss in combat, and had made herself familiar with her style of swordplay. Emerald charged, confident in her abilities to surprise the opponent. Percy, meanwhile, was trying to get used to his new abilities with aura. Ooh! What does this button do?! Percy thought to himself, focusing all of his aura in a single point, not on the entire bottom of his foot, only underneath the ball of his left foot, which he promptly planted, causing a small tremor to rock the arena.

Emerald was soon upon Percy, however, Percy didn't see her, he saw a young woman with wavy, honey blonde hair, the most intense eyes that he had ever seen and an extremely muscular, while still effeminate figure. He would know her anywhere.

Annabeth.

No no no no no no no no! Percy's mind muttered to itself, recalling red-stained images, flitting across the silver screen of his worst nightmares. I watched you die. You died at the other end of my blade, cursing my name for ever having met you. You tried to gut me, and thanks to you, I realized that love is for children. The deadly swipe of his sword tore Emerald's aura based illusion apart, chipping into her overall aura reserves as well. Emerald was already upon him though, slicing her dual sickles through the air, the force sending Percy reeling across the arena, pushing himself off the ground at the last second, landing on his feet, using his momentum to spin himself into another neutral stance. It's time to end this battle Percy, time to pull out the stops.

Blake and Emerald charged together, expecting their combined effort to force Percy back to the edge, or at least destroy his aura, but he was suddenly faster and stronger than before, dodging, parrying, deflecting and reversing attacks from both of them. With tiny adjustments from his blade, Percy was able to fend off two of the more skilled acrobatic fighters. Then he went on the offensive. A wide swipe pushed the two into the perfect distance for his next attack. Using his momentum from his previous slash, Percy planted his right foot and used the twist of his torso like a spring, bringing all of the saved up power he had to counter swing, making a complete circle around his body as he jumped up and came to slam his sword at their heads, continuing in a flip and landing behind them.. Spin attack and Helm Splitter, where did that come from? Both barely had time to even flinch as they were forced to block the horizontal slash, only to see the blade ready to cleave them in two. Both combatants skidded across the floor, Soon, both of them were panting, and Blake recalled something that had previously seemed unimportant, but was currently leaving her in serious distress. Percy stood across from the panting duo with barely a glisten of sweat across his brow, he was composed and calm, and both of them were currently suffering from severe exhaustion, but no pain whatsoever. "What's- huh huff- going-...on?"

Come on! Don't tell me that this guy isn't even going all out! Emerald implored, growling to herself under her breath. Blake was having very different thoughts, however.

God, yes! If he's got this much stamina, imagine how great he'd be in bed! Slutty Blake was beaten down by logical Blake, who glanced at her aura levels and realized that she was hovering at about twenty percent, and it seemed that Emerald wasn't doing much better. "This is our- huff huh- last shot. We'll attack together."

Too late, both of them realized that they had taken their eyes off of the enemy at the same time, and as they turned back to where Percy was, it was too late, he was upon them, swiping the flat of his blade across Emerald's ribcage. Blake brought up Gambol Shroud, firing at him as he swiped at one of her shadow clones, but as she landed, she heard the buzzer ring.

"This match is over!" Glynda Goodwitch announced calmly, hiding her mild awe. Percy Nightshade had just defeated three of the four students that he was to fight, and his final opponent was only a single percentage point above fifteen, while he had just reached fifteen himself. "Mr. Nightshade, perhaps you shouldn't underestimate your opponent next time, or at least use some sense of reason while fighting. Your instincts are excellent and your speed is good, however, you often turned away from your opponent, leaving them with openings."

"Yes professor." Percy said calmly, rolling his shoulders and hopping to his feet, his aura was beyond depleted. Even now, as he calmed down, his aura was still dropping, soon it fell into the red, stopping at five percent. "Ugh, I'm parched!"

Percy walked over to the last two opponents, noticing that both were panting hard, but didn't seem to be in pain in the least bit. He reached his hands out to both of them, helping them to their feet. Emerald smiled at him and thanked him before walking over to her teammate. Meanwhile, Blake was staring up at Percy with a conflicted look in her eye. She remembered what had happened when Percy had stepped into the water, and she wanted to test this power out, and as such, she had planned ahead. "Here."

Percy smiled in thanks at Blake, taking the water bottle and downing half of it before sighing loudly. He then proceeded to dump the rest of it onto his head and close his eyes in bliss, not noticing, or not caring, that his aura was still being displayed on the screen. He was too focused on the fact that he was suddenly reenergized, like he could go toe to toe with Ares himself right now. "Percy." Blake whispered, her voice quivering in suppressed awe. "Your aura's full again-"

"No, No, No! Cut, Cut!" A voice rang through the room, sending a piercing headache spiking through everyone in the room. "Percy! P-money! PJ's! This just isn't cool! You're getting pretty OP man! You need to chill! How about this, you can keep Monty's little booster shot, and Richy's good old fashioned demigodliness, but you better be ready for some godly-and monsterly-retribution! You're seriously, just- too strong, man! You need to realize something! I'm in control here! And while I'm on a seriously short leash when it comes to putting the screws on you, that doesn't mean that I can't put the screws on you." Suddenly the voice gained a body, an amorphous body, but a body nonetheless. Striding across the stage, not a care in the world, the body approached Percy, stopping only for a moment when Glynda stepped in his way.

"I'm not entirely sure who you are, or even what you are, but these are my students, so I would suggest you consider your next action carefully." She raised her riding crop, and with a flick of the wrist, she sent herself flying into the stands as her power was reflected back at her. The flickering body in the center of the arena smirked as well as it could without a face and pointed a finger-gun at Blake, his entire body tensing up.

"Bang." Blake was sent flailing across the arena, her chest suddenly compressed as if she had been smacked in the sternum by Magnhild. Percy strode up to the nondescript body and struck out with his sword, swinging completely through the nonexistent body with a nice little swoosh. "C'mon Percy! You really thought that you could beat me with a sword that I allowed you to have! You think you managed to bring your junk through that portal through wit, luck and your winning personality? I let you keep it!"

Percy suddenly felt his throat constrict as the world around him dissolved, turning into a strange line of words that seemed to form into shapes, like Blake's prone form, splayed across the floor, a crater with smoke still rising from it, everything Percy could see was comprised entirely of different colored words.

Smoke.

Blake.

Wall.

Door.

Floor.

As Percy turned to face the faceless fellow, the words became a single resounding expression.

ENEMY

FOE

KILL

DESTROY

RAZE

OBLITERATE

"What did you do to me?!" Percy screamed, clutching his eyes, trying to make the words go away. The ambiguous entity snickered and placed his hand on the top of Percy's head, ruffling his hair before gripping it tightly and slamming Percy into the floor. "What'd you do to me?!"

"I just gave you a glance of what it is that truly makes up your world!" He/it muttered, kneeling over Percy's undefended body, pushing him back onto his stomach every time he tried to get up. "Maybe now you'll realize how little hope you can actually cling to."

"There's always hope, Chaos." An enigmatic voice stated simply from behind Percy. Standing next to Glynda's slowly rising form, cane and mug in hand, Headmaster Ozpin stared calmly at the now shimmering form that loomed over Percy. "Hope lies in more than power, it can also lie in...smaller, more innocent concepts."

"Even after your massacre, you speak of ideals and hope." The voice was no longer haughty and sarcastic, now it sounded almost...scared. "You can prepare your armies Ozpin, you're going to need them, there's a new threat about, and you'll need some meat shields if you have any plans of surviving to face Nyx. Especially with your only hope being an amnesiac."

"Bye bye, now!" As Chaos disappeared, Team RWBY's remaining members rushed to the arena floor to check on Blake, meanwhile Glynda strode forward and knelt beside Percy, examining him for obvious wounds. Though outwardly, Percy seemed fine, everyone in the room could tell there was a change in his aura. Before Chaos had arrived, Percy's entire soul was like an endless squall, seeping into everything, but it was also sharp and refined, agile and swift, now, it was gone.

"Mr. Nightshade, are you alright?" Glynda asked, kneeling down. She rested her hand on Percy's head, detecting the changes to his aura. It wasn't gone, it was just infinitesimally small. Percy's eyes opened and his face seemed to explode with youth, the bags around his eyes diminished, the lines across his brow vanished, and his eyes seemed to finally display the smile that previously only his mouth had born. Percy tilted his head to the side and queried innocently.

"Nightshade? My name's Percy. Percy Jackson." Ozpin stared down at him with a curious glint in his eye and frowned. "Where am I?"

"You're at Beacon Academy in Vale." Glynda said calmly, her voice wavering as she looked at the boy who had at one point scared her beyond measure. He looked like he could be fourteen. "Do you know my name?"

"Should I?" The green eyed amnesiac asked. "I'm sorry if I don't remember you. I'm kinda fuzzy right now, sorry."

"Mr. Jackson, my name is Headmaster Ozpin, and I'd like to speak to you in my office." Without a question, the raven stood up and smiled at the headmaster, following the dapper huntsman whimsically. "Meanwhile, perhaps Professor Goodwitch could have a conversation with team RWBY. The rest of the class is dismissed."

"Percy has developed a type of, hopefully temporary, retrograde amnesia. His memories are muddled at best and at worst-..."

"Gone" Blake finished for Glynda. She looked down, her own mind muddled as well after the confrontation, that amorphous bastard hit like a freight train. "So, what now? He seems to remember most of his life, he just can't remember his recent past. So, he could very well have forgotten everything he had known about combat."

"That's one of the possibilities that I have considered, and that's one of the reasons that I wanted to speak with you. I was hoping that you might help him to regain some semblance of his previous skill."

"So, you want us to train him?" Weiss asked bluntly, looking almost bored at the proposition. I shall mold him to be the perfect apprentice! He shall be refined! He shall be swift! He shall be elegant! He shall be perfect! Weiss laughed maniacally in her mind, silently plotting her uprising. "That seems to be quite a sizable task, perha-"

"Sounds like fun!" Yang interrupted, leaning forward, smiling at Glynda. Professor Goodwitch gave a sigh and a relieved smile. "But what exactly are we supposed to be teaching him? We hardly know his style of fighting, only Jaune and Pyrrha could teach him, and Pyrrha already has a trainee and Jaune's not exactly the best teacher."

"Teach him whatever you can. Teach him your styles, teach him whatever he can learn." Ozpin walked up behind Glynda and placed a hand on her shoulder. Glynda sighed but nodded. "Think of everything that you wish someone would have told you when you decided that you wanted to be a huntress, and teach him these things."

As team RWBY approached Percy, sitting lightly on a bench, munching on an apple, they each adopted places beside him, getting as comfortable as they could beside someone they hardly knew.

"So...I'm sorry about your amnesia." Ruby tried hesitantly.

Weiss elbowed her in the gut and she grunted in annoyance. "You imbecile."

"When we fought...you were- you were a force of nature. If you were to use your power to fight the Grimm, you would be unstoppable. You could contend with the best of huntsman with the training that you could receive here." Blake spoke quietly, but because of the silence of the other four, her statement rang through the air.

"Why would I want to do that?" Percy asked innocently. "Why would I want to be a hero?"