A/N: Someone asked what Eien's new personality could be most related to out of all the anime characters knew. Here's my perfect answer; Kisuke Urahara from Bleach. Also, sorry about being a few days late, I was on holiday at the time and the resorts internet came down for a few days, but now I'm back. Updates should be 4-5 days apart unless I give a reason as to why, but one might be the plot bunnies that are converging on me.
Send help.
This chapter contains a shitty Omake at the bottom, and I'd like it if you could tell me if it was amusing or not, 'cause to me it was barely humorous so... yeah. Love you guys~
I DO NOT OWN RWBY
Chapter 17: Downtime I
The streets of Violet City were rather quiet at this time of day. Violet City was situated on the west coast of Mistral, a large city based on a Cliffside to the vast oceans. Violet City was one of the few large settlements outside of the capital, Mistral - bearing the same name as the continent, much like all the other kingdoms. Violet City had been successful in survival because of one fact; because they did not need to build a 360 degrees wall (since the cliff was too steep for Grimm to climb), they only had to build it around the side where land Grimm could come in while building anti-air weapons facing the sea. Most sea Grimm couldn't reach up at Violet City, and the very few that could didn't bother.
A dozen miles to the east was the infamous Mistralian swamps, and a little past that was the remains of Rockledge Town, having been widely said it was destroyed by a powerful dragon Grimm before said dragon was taken down by a lone man, bearing a black cloak and wielding a scythe. Currently, Violet City was pretty low on the crime scale, much like the other kingdoms; just a few robberies every now and then. Today however, the first major heist would occur in a while. Led by one Roman Torchwick. Said man was currently in a back alley with a dozen of Junior's thugs and a dozen White Fang grunts, all impatiently hiding in the shadows.
''How much longer?'' One of the grunts grumbled. They'd been waiting for almost an hour after all.
''Quiet'' Roman also grumbled. He was about to give Eien a call before he caught a glimpse of a person entering the alley, hiding in whatever shadows they could find during the daytime. They came into view, revealing it to be his old partner Neopolitan, one who he was sure was dead, but he wouldn't question it. From beside her another person practically appeared - invisibility? - on the spot, smirking.
Judging from their faint but noticeable curves and bulge on the chest, they were female. She wore a red vest with a high zip collar underneath a dark, pale purple-grey hoodie with a headphone design on the hood. Her jeans are green with white insides, with her shoes being mint green trainers, no weapon visible on her person. Her hair was a darker, almost khaki green and stopped at her chest, though she had her hood up at the moment. Her eyes were a bright ruby red with small, black slit-like pupils.
''Neo! Good to see you'' Roman grinned lopsidedly as he walked out of the shadows to greet them ''And I presume this is Risa, great to meet you''.
''A Pleasure'' Risa said with a half smile, one that greatly reminded him of Cinder's half-smile, but she dragged out the 'S' a lot more in her words ''Apologies for being late... it does take a while to come from Vale to Mistral''.
''Lets go ahead then, shall we?'' Roman suggested with a smirk as they moved down the street, the grunts following.
''So, what might be we doing?'' Risa asked, walking beside Neo.
''Simple. At the end of the alley, across the road, is an SDC Headquarters building. Its currently empty because they're hosting a party on the other end of town with all the employees, and all that's left is a dozen or so Atlesian Knights or whatever. Plan's simple; we move in, bust down the front door, make our way to the basement floors where they keep the Dust and keep a very special set of Dust crystals, immensely worthwhile''.
''I see. If I can procure one or more of these crystals and return them to Master, he might be able to replicate them without reduction in quality'' Risa replied, once again dragging out the 'S'.
Roman gave her a surprised look ''The kid can do that?''.
''Indeed'' Risa replied, voice smooth as they walked onto the quiet street ''But for now, let us begin''.
They broke into broad daylight, since it was around lunch time, and only a handful of people were still present at this part of town. Those who did however, grew fearful and high-tailed it out of there as soon as possible. The group ignored them and fast-walked over to the SDC building, a large, towering complex that had several sub-floors beneath the construct. Two WF Grunts kicked the door in, and true to their information no staff was present, at least visibly.
''Alright, Risa and Neo - you're with me. Grunts, you wait here and kill any cops, alright?'' Roman drawled, getting a nod from all ''Well then, lets get this show on the road!''.
My footsteps were quiet in the halls of Beacon, people chatting amongst me. Because two subject teachers had been put in the infirmary for the day because of the sparring matches, many were out of classes and avidly chatting in the halls, a few dropping to whispers as I passed. Kotori was cheerfully walking beside me as we walked to Ozpin's office. I remained silent while Kotori hummed a tune, and I found it made the trip much more enjoyable even though it only took two minutes to reach the elevator.
''Wait here'' I asked, not facing the girl.
''Fine~ don't take too long'' Kotori pouted childishly as she pulled her broom out of nowhere, sitting it on air and taking a seat, leaning her back against the wall. I shot her a smile before I entered the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor as classic elevator music played. I waited for nearly a minute before the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, allowing me to walk into the headmasters office. I was curious on what he wanted me for, though it was obviously private considering he did not do it earlier. He was sat in his chair with a repaired outfit, facing away from me and staring out the window. Silently I took a seat, waiting for him to say something. I was content to wait.
''You've improved rapidly since you've come to Beacon'' Ozpin said mysteriously as he paused to take a sip of his mug ''And even then you have a vast amount of potential. Do you know that many of the greatest weapons, aside from Dust, were lost prior to the Great War? They were capable of many things depending on who you asked, and what you spoke about, but one phrase that always came around... was Magic''.
''Magic has long since been a part in fairy tales and fictional stories, taking on various forms and types, effects, everything about Magic is varied and differentiated. Yet despite it reoccurring, century after century, the general public has yet to witness a solid, real case of true Magic. Semblances and Auras were originally thought to be Magic, but of course time dispelled those theories... leaving true Magic in the past, forgotten by time. Many will believe that your Sigils are Magic, and rumours might start... but the important question? Is it Magic?''.
He paused, spinning his chair to look at me ''I have not been entirely honest, nor has your mothers journal, both about Dunkelheit and everything pertaining to the Haizen family''.
''I see'' I responded with a light frown ''Enlighten me''.
He nodded ''Dunkelheit is not what you believe. It was not created through Dust infiltrating a persons body, such a thing is nearly impossible, and it would be guaranteed to be lost over several generations. Dunkelheit is in fact the product of Magic from over a millennia ago, back when the German language was still present in Mantle, when Spanish was used in Vacuo, when Japanese was used in Mistral. It is a binding, a Magic formed in the soul of everyone of the Haizen family, and will continue for future generations regardless''.
''Have you ever wondered why you never knew your last name from birth? It was to protect you, to protect you from those who knew of this, to stop them from tricking and manipulating you before you had a chance to grow your own opinions and views'' He paused for a sip of tea, ignoring my stunned expression ''This measure was taken from centuries ago, first integrated when I was still in my prime...''.
I blinked, frowning a moment later as I mumbled ''Centuries ago... but then-''.
My eyes shot wide open and he chuckled, nodding ''Yes. You are not the only one who is the pawns of the gods''.
I gawked, genuinely shocked for the first time in months ''So you knew my ancestors?''.
''Knew them?'' He outright laughed ''I am your ancestor, the very first''.
I blinked owlishly, jaw low, before my hand slapped my face.
''Oh hell'' I face-palmed, groaning ''I knew there was something odd ever since we first met... so not only are you immortal - against age at least - you're also the very first Haizen of the family, and have some amount of correlation with the Arcane Arts... and that means so do I''.
''Correct'' He said smugly, as if he had been waiting to drop this bombshell for months.
''And that also means my Sigils have been Magic''.
''A less powerful one, but yes''.
''Aura Construction?''.
''That's a descendent of Magic, possible for those who do not have Magic flowing through their veins'' He said, before adding ''That is also why your blood has unique properties - it has Magic in it, therefore affects things differently''.
Face still in palm, I asked ''Who else knows about this?''.
''Nobody outside the Haizen Family, so I do advise you to not share this publicly, though I have a feeling you will eventually share this with your teammates''.
''Yeah'' I mumbled, drawing my palm back from my face, revealing my frown. Sadness and Despair whipped at my chest like snakes, but like many things in life I ignored it ''I'll have to tell them eventually, especially about that''.
''Mm, it would be best to do so soon, no longer than a month''.
''Yeah, when the time is right'' I sighed, nodding ''So... what now?''.
He hummed ''Well, we continue. Salem, Cinder and the White Fang have been dormant since you died, though I do not know why. With your Spirits, nothing short of several of Salem's personal soldiers will be able to defeat you if you choose to summon allies to assist you. The students can benefit from you putting them through some more... harsh training, and overall now is a sort of downtime, a calm before the storm''.
''I guess'' I hummed, leaning back in the chair as I gave him a smirk ''Any Magical tricks to pass down, Ossan?''.
''Hai'' Ozpin smirked back.
''Kotori, go on without me, I'll be busy with Ozpin for a while. Don't piss anybody off, excessively, and don't blow up the school, or parts of it. Feel free to summon the others, but don't overdo it''.
'Okay~' I replied in my mind. After waiting a little longer to see if he wanted to tell me anything else, I took off on my broom. Said broom was passively powered by my Aura, allowing it to levitate and fly wherever I wanted. Eien made it, obviously, but it was as much a part of me as my clothes, not literally but metaphorically. I hummed a tune to a song in my head as I flew through the halls at a languid pace. As I passed many waved up at me or pointed, murmuring stuff I didn't care about.
'I'm bored' I sighed, puffing out a breath as I made my way outside. There was nothing to do. That was probably one of the bad things about being strong; fighting wasn't any fun unless you were fighting someone who could actually match you. I might as well summon some of the others, see if they have any ideas. Risa and Neo were away on a mission that Eien assigned, so they were out. Eleanor and Mona were no fun, Jaeger was too lazy, Kenshi and Shu were too serious, Doran was constantly busy training or meditating. That left only three; Aria, Gin and Kindle.
Summoning the three, Gin almost immediately asked ''Are ya bored, Kotori-chan?''.
''Yeah'' I puffed out a sigh, lying on my back on my broom ''There's nothing to do''.
''Well~'' Gin grinned even wider ''We could ask (E)RWBY, JNPR and AREME and see what they're doing~''.
''We don't know them though'' Kindle pointed out rather lamely ''We only know them through Eien''.
''And what better time to meet them?'' Gin retorted with his usual grin, already strolling in the general direction of the dorms. Me, Aria and Kindle shared a glance before shrugging. As long as we didn't do anything too bad, Eien wouldn't mind. Hell even if we did, he'd just give a stern talking to.
Following on my broom, Gin led us towards the dorms, where I created one of Eien's Sigils and forced it to carry and lift us up to where ERWBY's dorm is. The window, like most days, was open and Ruby, Blake and surprisingly Adam present within the room, Yang and Weiss nowhere in sight. Ruby was lying on her bed, face-down while Blake was reading peacefully on her own bed, Adam also reading while leaning against the frame of the bed.
''I'm bored~'' Ruby groaned, disrupting the quietness of the room.
''So are we'' Gin grinned, causing Blake and Ruby to yelp in surprise and Adam to flinch in surprise.
''Fucking hell'' Ruby cursed when she fell off the bed, poking her head out.
Gin tittered mockingly ''Now, now Little Rose, its not good to swear''.
Ruby glared ''Oh screw you Gin''.
''Ma, Ma, why the hostility'' Gin giggled childishly, mockingly.
''Maybe because of the amount of pranks you pulled'' Ruby twitched, more annoyed than she usually was with Gin, probably because she was surprised. Ruby and Gin weren't buddy-buddy, but Gin's tendencies aside, they're friends. Not close ones, but friends regardless, as she is with practically all of us Spirits, sans the newbies who Eien's hinted at, but won't let us see. My attention was drawn back as the door opened.
''We're back-'' Yang had begun to say when she paused, a confused look on her face ''Since when were we having a party?''.
''We're not, we're bored'' Me, Aria, Kindle, Gin and Ruby all say in tandem while Blake and Adam don't offer a retort.
''Hm~ What to do indeed'' Yang hummed as she skipped and jumped onto her bed, making the springs groan. Weiss walked into the room, sitting in her own bed with a huff.
''I agree, with the free time we have gained because of the fight, we haven't got much to do - and we can't leave the school since we've got classes later in the day''.
''Hm... nope, I got nothing'' Aria hummed, leaning her elbows on the windowsill - we were still outside, standing on the ivory Sigil (or in my case, floating above it on my precious broom).
''Isn't there anything we could do? Fighting's out of the question after Eien and Ozpin trashed the arena'' Yang grumbled lightly ''That fight was awesome, by the way''.
''I agree, Eien certainly has improved greatly in the time he was... gone'' Adam spoke up quietly, using the last part with slight bitterness.
''Hey, we all have'' Yang defended, smirking at Ruby ''And Ruby in more ways than one''.
''Oh Oum don't get me started on the noise'' I muttered, twitching. While it was more of a long-running joke to embarrass Ruby, Eien and Ruby did still 'do the deed' more than a few times, and the noise kept Death awake. It was horribly embarrassing.
''Shut up!'' Ruby hissed quietly, blushing.
''Anyway~'' Kindle whistled, blushing also at the memory ''Is there anything else cool to do?''.
''Nope''.
Cue hours of boredom.
Unfortunately for many students, Oobleck was quick to get back into his position as teacher, and also just in time for third period. ERWB(Y), J(N)PR and ARE(M)(E) were present - Yang, Nora, Mercury and Emerald not present, having different classes. Oobleck was still zooming about the room as if the fight hadn't happened, showing no wounds or difficulties from the result of the fight. Currently, he was ranting about Aura, Semblance and their ties to the soul.
''Yes, many theorists believe Semblances to actually be a mutation of sorts, created when the soul needed it most. Semblances are often known to appear when a person is in a life-or-death situation, and when Aura is not enough, the persons Semblance is born. Many also believe it is formed because of a concentration of Aura that builds up over time, and is forced to create the Semblance or will go through a process known as Soul Suicide, in which too much Aura in built up and results in various bodily failures, and also occasionally several mental failures such as migraines, unconsciousness, memory loss, and much more''.
''While cases of Soul Suicide are much less frequent in recent years, when humanity first discovered Dust it was a very big issue, so much so that it was estimated that every one in ten hunters would potentially die to Soul Suicide. The main cause of this was because back then, Semblances were a rare thing, and it is presumed through natural evolution that they became more common to the point of which 80% of Secondary Schools Students, such as Beacon, are in possession of a Semblance''.
''Now, can anyone tell me when the increase of Semblance Awakening initially started?'' Oobleck asked after a brief pause. For a few moments no hands rose, confused and slightly despondent murmurs from the class. They'd only got off break recently, so nobody had expected it since this was a new subject. Finally, one lithe hand rose from the back of the room, belonging to Eien.
''115 Years ago, with the main amount of Semblances popping up in Vale and Mistral'' He said, his usual friendly, calm smile on his face.
''Correct!'' Oobleck nodded, pausing briefly for a sip of his coffee ''And does anybody know what might have caused such sudden spurt of growth?''.
Again nobody answered immediately, until Eien once again raised his hand ''Many believe that it was because of the surge of Grimm activity in what was a mini-war against the Grimm, in which the Grimm made a second attempt at erasing Humans and Faunus, the first being the First Grimm War. While theorists do not know wholly what caused the increase of Semblances, many believe it to be because of the many life-and-death situations the soldiers were put through... this is not entirely true''.
''Do tell'' Oobleck replied, sipping his coffee.
''While the many life threatening situations did have a hand in the increase of Semblance awakenings, the main factor was the fear that was felt'' Eien lectured, pausing for a moment ''The fear that the prospect of dying, the fear of facing creatures that could tear a man limb from limb, the fear of not returning to their families, it doesn't seem to matter on what the source of the fear was, but the fear itself. The fear made the soul go into a sort of 'passive overdrive', forcing the soul to produce more Aura than necessary, which was also a reason why Soul Suicide was a commonality during the early phases of the war. This, when discovered by a small group of scientists in Atlas, caused them to use Soul Suicide as a method of combating the stronger Grimm, forcing high-degree criminals to become walking bombs against the Grimm''.
Many cringed at the thought, some gasping while others just winced faintly. Death by killing yourself in the face of Grimm wasn't the most pleasant thought.
''Regardless, it appears fear is what was, and still is, the main cause for awakening a Semblance, though the reason behind the fear seem to now play a role in it'' He continued ''A good example is when Jaune unlocked his Semblance, by getting trapped in a cave and fighting against a seven hundred year old Duststalker, one that was quite near to evolving into a Grimm-Human through 'new' means. He was desperate, since the Duststalker had many advantages over him, and while not prominent, he did not fear dying, but not being able to come back to his friends who assisted him through his time at Beacon, therefore his Semblance was unlocked, the power of the Semblance both being because of his heritage and massive Aura capacity''.
Jaune, who was sitting a row down from Eien, blinked ''I don't remember telling you that...?''.
Eien chuckled, holding out his right hand as a small, golden-white orb appeared in it, floating slightly ''Your soul contains your memories Jaune, and I'm relatively versed in the usage of Souls''.
Jaune blinked, once again not understanding, before it clicked and he sighed ''I feel like I should be bothered by that''.
''Perhaps so'' Eien chuckled as the blue orb faded from existence ''Its more of a matter of opinion and trust opposed to fact''.
When Jaune's face showed his confusion, Eien sighed ''It depends on if you trust me to keep your secrets, opposed to the fact I possess them''.
''Oh~'' Jaune drawled, nodding ''Yeah''.
Smirking slightly, Eien nodded back to his friend as Oobleck spoke up again ''Eien, would you mind giving an example on Soul Structure, since you are versed in it?''.
''Of course'' Eien smirk grew faintly as the palm that was still extended once again glowed faintly as another sphere formed into existence. This one was a royal purple in colour, but also held no glow like Jaune's did.
''This here is the base of any Soul, akin to the spine of a body; its needed for the Soul to survive, but on its own its useless. The base of any Soul is needed for the Soul to hold itself together, and without it the Soul will crumble in on itself and destroy itself'' Eien explained crisply, pausing as he raised his other hand, a faint purple glow shining from it, and also from his sole purple eye. The Soul itself glowed faintly, growing in size by a few millimetres and glowing ''Now, I've added what could be dubbed the 'heart' of the Soul, which pumps Aura throughout it instead of blood''.
Nobody noticed Oobleck rapidly writing notes, too enamoured by the sight of Eien's 'example' as his free hand went under the bottom of the literal Soul, the glow brightening slightly ''The outer shell of the Soul protects it from disintegrating from existence, while also assisting in holding the whole thing together. From the state its in now its relatively akin to a normal person with their Aura unlocked, sans the body of course. However, I personally have a mentally inability that prevents me from feeling fear, and as I have previously stated is key to unlocking a Semblance - which is likely why I unlocked my Semblance from a young age, if not birth. Because of this, since I am unable to feel fear, I cannot mould a Soul to feel fear - since I've never felt it, I can't fully program what it feels like. With this in mind, their Semblance should be popping up right about... now''.
On cue with his words did the Soul tremble slightly. It dilated in size slightly, expanding dramatically before returning to normal size. Slowly, a part of the Soul - the right side - became a lighter lilac colour ''That is what a Semblance looks like to the Soul, it alters the colour depending on the colour of the soul - if the colour is darker, then it gets lighter, and vice versa. During this process so far, I've idly been implanting the required memories into the Soul, their personality, etc. It means they have no trouble in language, though being freshly created does tend to make a new Soul a bit... confused. It takes a freshly created Soul a few hours, possibly a day or two before they fully adjusted and fully alert because of the fact they do not grow from a baby into their form, but rather are created in their current age as you see them''.
''And finally the Soul is ready, now the body is needed...'' Eien continued, snapping his fingers as a grey Sigil appeared to his left in the gap between him and the wall, where a comatose-looking body formed. The body was female, with long black hair that stopped just above her waist, with her bangs passing her chin and cupping her face. She was relatively young looking, about the same as Kotori, Era and Reality. The body wore a white, long sleeve coat that ended in three petal-like partings with a grey-silver collar that was over a black, long-sleeved dress. The skirt was also a grey-silver colour with a white trim, with black leggings and heels.
''Now the Soul merges with the comatose body...'' Eien added as he moved his hand over to the body, which was leaning on the seats. The Purple Soul was gently pressed against the chest of the body, around where the heart was. A few seconds passed before the Soul slowly melted into the body, soon disappearing as a faint glow encompassed the body. A majority of the students couldn't see, since Eien was higher up than they were, but the people on the same row as he were able to watch (though they mainly consisted of his team and one or two unfamiliar students).
After nearly a minute of ensued silence, violet eyes flickered open ''Otou-san(Father)?''.
''Nokori(Rest)'' Eien replied to the soft-spoken girl, both using words unfamiliar to those around them. The girl, looking equally confused and tired, merely nodded as her eyes closed, a grey Sigil forming under her as her body disappeared into it, back into the Soul of her literal master.
''And that's the process of how I create a Soul'' Eien smiled as the bell went off, signalling the end of class.
Nearly an hour after the end of Oobleck class did ERWBY finally return to their dorm, having been in Professor Peach's class on plants and medical uses of Aura. Eien's little display had earned them a lot of attention, with many wondering on if Soul Creation was his Semblance - since nobody outside close friends knew it was Matter Manipulation. Regardless, while the attention was almost laughable at first it quickly got annoying after it was near constant, and even Eien had slowly felt it (Even though he hid it in the name of politeness).
Still, it was a relief to return to the safety of their dorm, all of them collapsing on their beds with a unified ''Ugh''.
After a few seconds silence, Weiss spoke up ''Was it such a good idea to openly show how you did that?''.
Eien, who had his face in his pillow, nodded and turned his head so they could hear him ''Yeah, unless they're advanced in Aura Construction, Aura Manipulation and have a Semblance similar to mine, then they won't have a chance in hell of replicating it - and I kept out some important information for that very reason''.
''You should be a teacher'' Yang joked half-heartedly.
''Perhaps so, I could make an interesting class'' Eien chuckled with a smirk.
''Just don't forget to bury the bodies'' She shot back humorously.
''I won't need to'' Eien smirked, getting a deadpan from everyone in the room.
''Please don't try''.
''Killjoys'' He pouted, rolling onto his back as a small Sigil formed, a book popping out ''Now lets see... what to name her weapons?''.
''The Soul you made you mean?'' Blake clarified and Eien nodded ''What happened to her? She disappeared into your Glyph-''.
''Sigil''.
''-Sigil and since then you haven't said anything about it''.
''Well, she's currently with Kotori and Eleanor, getting used to things - I've also decided to call her Homura, its suits her'' He nodded to himself, crossing something out in his book with a pencil he pulled from nowhere ''Now... maybe I'll call them Smoker and Flashbang, with her third weapon called Eruption... eh, it'll do''.
''Are you going to tell me what these weapons are?'' Ruby perked up slightly, grinning.
''Two silver Colt M1911's and an M72 LAW, both use a unique ammunition that only she can use with the help of her Semblance'' Eien chuckled in the usual amused tone he's always used, though it had a tinge of something else in his tone.
''No transforming weapons?'' Ruby pouted.
''Nope'' Eien shrugged ''Most of my Spirits are reliant on their Semblances, like Kindle and Aria, while others are reliant on their weapons, like Jaeger''.
''What were their Semblances? - Jaeger and Gin? They, nor you, announced them or displayed them'' Weiss asked as she got comfy on her bed, seeing as the whole team would seemingly be playing catch-up for a while.
''Jaeger's is Retina-Telekinesis, anything he can see he can move without even twitching a muscle, and in his released form it allows him to move people around too. On the other hand, Gin's is Threat Detection, which allows him to see incoming moves long before they happen. The best example is him seeing what move you intend to make in future, thus making him one of the strongest melee fighters I have because of his capacity to block and counter almost anything, even bullets, and also have the knowledge to incapacitate an opponent in seconds''.
''Huh, no wonder they're so strong'' Ruby hummed from across the room ''Are you ever gonna stop making them? Spirits?''.
''I don't exactly have an intention to, its fun~'' He smiled cheerfully ''Plus it means if a situation every arises where Hunters are needed, but are not available, then I have a small army I can deploy in seconds''.
''That's so unfair'' Yang bemoaned teasingly ''And you can create their Semblances, so you could just give them something totally overpowered for the hell of it''.
''And I intend to'' Eien grinned widely ''I intend, once I can, to create one that can warp space and potentially time, and another that can predict the future, and one that cannot even die~''.
They all just sighed ''You're insane''.
''Partially'' He pouted. Silence ensued for a few moments of peace, before Yang broke it once more.
''Hey, you never told us about who the strongest was'' She pointed out with a curious look ''Kotori mentioned it, but other than that you've been pretty quiet about it''.
''And I intend to'' He smirked ''I will tell you a little about him, but I want to keep him as secret as possible, after all there is a reason why many of my Spirits fear him''.
They all frowned ''Fear him?''.
''Indeed. He's ruthless, bloodthirsty, doesn't hesitate, lacks many morals, and has a pinch of sadism added in for good measure. He's everything I'm not, and I mean, for the most part, every aspect'' Eien explained seriously, and at once all four of the girls swore they saw a white figure behind Eien, but it was gone when they blinked ''Despite that, he is as much a comrade as the others, and believe me there is a reason he's my strongest fighter, not counting the fact Kotori is downright terrified of him, hell even being in the same building as him makes her nervous and jumpy''.
''Why would you make him like that?'' Weiss was the one to ask, frowning.
''Because of Empathy'' Eien explained eloquently ''I am Human, and as a Human I have psychological limits on what my mental state can take before I would 'break down', everyone does. Empathy also has the effect of making one hesitate on when doing something immoral or unempathetic. He, however, doesn't have such mental limits or excessive empathy. For all intents and purposes, if you told him to go maim someone for the hell of it, he'd probably do so - and enjoy it''.
''So you created him as a weapon?''.
''A failsafe'' Eien corrected ''His Soul is unique compared to the others, and while I will not disclose all the information, the primary factor is that his is what I call a self-regenerative Soul. This means if he dies, he'll come back from the dead in a few hours or less, regardless of how he died. Even if his Soul is eviscerated from existence it would come back, even if I die, he'll come back and become an independent Soul. The whole purpose of him is that if something was to happen to me that took me out of the fight or killed me, then he would take my place and repeatedly assault the enemy, being technically unkillable its only so long before he wins''.
''Well its... unique'' Ruby smiled slightly. Honestly this person didn't sound too appealing to be around, but he couldn't be that bad. Eien made him after all.
''Its actually funny in a way, this whole Soul Manipulation'' He grinned at them ''Technically I can observe your Souls, and then make identical copies of you... I could make an army of Sun's too''.
Blake shivered ''I still have nightmares''.
''I'm not surprised'' Eien mumbled ''The thought of a thousand me's is a weird thought''.
''You can clone yourself?'' Weiss blurted, surprised.
''Technically yes, since I'm just copying my own Soul, but there's complications on why I don't'' He said with a slightly serious tone, before shaking his head, dismissing the thoughts behind his mask ''Regardless, I believe I should meet up with Homura and the others, get her settled in - care to join me?''.
''Eh?'' All but Ruby said in unison, the latter just shrugging.
Eien quirked a smirk ''What? I'm capable of creating living beings, Grimm, any object made from matter within reason, I came back from the dead, and you're surprised I can let others enter my Soul?''.
''With you, nothing is surprising'' Ruby sniped from across the room, wearing a smirk.
''Indeed, lest you lose your mind'' He said as he stood up, donning his normal cloak, not bothering to shrug out of his uniform ''Regardless, you coming or not?''.
Blake, Weiss and Yang all looked at each other, before shrugging ''Sure''.
Smirking, Eien snapped my fingers as the air next to him shattered like glass, a dimension gate that allowed access into his own soul, something Life taught him during his stay within Death's Soul. He walked backwards into the portal, fading from view as the other hastily followed, shimmering from existence as they entered.
Eien's Soulscape (as he called it) had changed a fair bit during the twelve months he had been dead. It was still a land of grassy hills and a cool breeze, but unlike before it was now capable of becoming night-time - because he had died, which was apparently a metaphor for it. Night being the end of the day, death being the end of life. Since he also had 'residents' he had constructed houses for them to live in, since it appeared even inside his soul his Semblance worked. It was through talking to Life that he learned that while this was his literal soul, it did not mean it was explicit to much change. In other words, he could blow up a mile-wide crater and nothing would happen to his soul.
He had tried it anyway, success.
Each of his spirits had their own houses, and because this was only a 'manifestation' of his soul, food was not an issue but more of a commodity. It wasn't necessary for them to need to eat, but they could 'spawn' food if they wanted to. It was a little complicated, but he didn't question it very much. He never did. Apart from that, he had also found a few rivers and a waterfall or two, but he had never explored his whole Soulscape, mainly because it was huge and - according to Life - growing as my Aura Capacity did.
''Here we are'' I said with a smile. The houses were more dotted around than in a formation, but it was nicer like that. Some of them had small gardens, some massive ones, some had nothing at all. All of the houses and the area around them were tailored to the persons personality, style and interests. An example is that Kotori had a relatively big library in her house, which was more like a witch's tower than anything. Doran, on the other hand, had a more oriental styled house, with paper-like walls and a wooden frame, with a tiled roof with wooden indents.
''Huh... you built houses since I last saw it'' Ruby commented. Since we lived in Death's Soul during the majority of the time during the six months of training, she hadn't seen that I built houses, as she had said.
''Well yeah, they need a place to sleep... though Jaeger likes to sleep on the grass'' I shrugged. We had spawned outside my own little house, which was a large, almost mansion-like house. I didn't initially know why I made it so big, but I guess the ultimate reason was that because of my growing population, and if the event ever arose when all of them needed a room to stay, then they had one.
''Who's owns this one?'' Yang asked, jerking a thumb to the building.
''Mine, though Eleanor is here often cleaning, though I do not know why she enjoys doing it'' I chuckled in amusement. I honestly didn't know why she liked coming to the large mansion and cleaning, dusting and redecorating occasionally. I hadn't given her that quirk when I created her, but then again she was human - she developed habits, and I cant imagine her sitting doing nothing for days on end.
All of them had something to occupy themselves; 'He' trained himself day in, day out in an attempt to surpass me. Kotori read a lot and messed with her Semblance in an attempt to create new 'spells', and from the knowledge I had gained (and gaining) from Ozpin it was giving her something interesting to do. Jaeger sleeps, a lot. Gin pulls the occasional prank, trains, and occasionally paints. Kenshi trains a fair amount, stopping only to start again later. Risa plays card games with Gin, pulls pranks, and hangs with Neo often, and has skill in writing. Eleanor cleaned, decorated and painted. Aria spars with others, has surprising skill in cooking and sleeps more than most, sans Jaeger. Shu trained, and other than that I didn't know much about what he did.
Doran trains as much as Kenshi, but also reads quite a bit and has a fair amount of skill in painting. Mona read and write often, and Kindle liked to join Mona when the latter was reading her book aloud. All of them had their own quirks, opinions and personal pleasures. I didn't mind what they did in their free time, since there was a fair limit on what they could do. Physics still applied to an extent, such as gravity and universal laws, and while some could be defied, some also remained.
''Huh'' They all just said ''Never took you for someone who liked a big house''.
''Neither did I'' I mused with a light smile ''Though it does mean you can walk the halls dramatically if necessary, does help with thinking''.
''Well it looks nice'' Yang grinned and I smiled, nodding.
''Thanks, I'll have to leave you in Kotori's care, as it appears I am needed elsewhere, though I will be back shortly'' I smiled, doing a mock-bow.
''So you're just leaving us here?'' Blake said dryly, amused.
''Yep'' I chuckled ''See you soon, bye~''.
My vision became onyx black before it returned, my location now displaced as I left my friends in the hands of Kotori, who had been heading their way when he left. His form had dematerialised from outside his mansion over to a small, almost cave-like area. The best name for it would be a grotto almost, being a grassy cave with a small opening above me with a small lake on the far side of the cave. It was an expansive network of caves, and this was where several of my soon-to-be newest Spirits 'lived'. There were a few houses above in the open, but they came down here to train in secret. Before him stood his newest Spirits, one's who he had been training for the past two months in private.
The first was a man in his forties if not older, being quite tall at over six foot tall. He was a lean-built, and stoic middle-aged man. He has pale skin, high cheekbones, stubble, and long ragged black hair with brown highlights. His attire consists of a tattered white dress shirt with an upturned collar and cuffs, black pants, low-heeled boots, and a long, amorphous black overcoat with a burgundy highlight that flares out into ragged ends. He wears brown-tinted, semi-transparent wraparound sunglasses. His name, was Juha.
The second was a teenage girl around the same age as the others during their first year, seventeen and with a bust to match. She had slightly messy black hair that had two small, almost unnoticeable ponytails on the side of her head that formed naturally, grey eyes and a small grin on her face. She wore a white vest with black outlines with a light pink undershirt with matching black outlines, a black skirt with a pink outline on the hem and a pair of metal-and-leather gauntlets on her forearms with black fingerless gloves underneath. She had a single stocking on her right leg, but not on her left. She also wore silver metallic boots with roller blades on the bottom, which she used for both assisting in fighting and for fun. Her name was Chrystal.
The third was a relatively tall woman in her mid-twenties, with long dark ginger hair that covered one jade green eye, the other uncovered. She had a fair amount of freckles on her face, having a fur cap on her head for style. She had a dark green vest top, black jeans and a black leather jacket with fur cuffs over the vest, the leather jacket left open. Unlike her two companions, her weapon was actually visible on her person, being a heavy calibre sniper rifle that was slung over her shoulder, the sling diagonally across her torso to prevent it falling off when not actively holding it and moving. She, was Natasha, or Nat for short.
''Are you ready?'' I asked, not specifying the question. Not that I need to.
''Of course'' Juha nodded stoically.
''Hell yeah'' Chrystal smirked, Nat just nodding lazily. I nodded back at them as I tapped into my Dunkelheit, extending the effects to the three others as my vision swam black, my form distorting and becoming as light as a feather, before gravity and physics returned and my vision joined a moment later. I reappeared outside my little abode once again, the other three appearing once again with me. A calm breeze was now blowing from the north, and down a slight incline (a very smooth hill you could practically roll down painlessly) and down the flat area a little was a large football field-like patch of raw dirt. It was one of the few training areas around my Soul, which had a barrier around it to protect the outside area from damage while also muffling the sounds and shockwaves. They were the only place fighting was allowed, as to protect the rest of the area from destruction.
Eleanor was fighting with Gin, even though she was at a severe disadvantage. Her weapons, duel Sai's, had less than half of the range of Gin's Katana. Gin was stronger in every aspect, and his Semblance had a severe advantage over hers, since he could combat it if she used it, and she knew it. Still she was making a valiant effort, having dealt a couple of wounds against the taller man. However the fight finally came to an end as Gin snuck inside her guard and bashed the pommel of his sword into her chin, stunning her and knocking her onto her back as he pointed the tip of the katana at her throat. She stared for a few seconds before sighing and nodding faintly. Gin retracted his sword and Eleanor got up, flipping the Sai's and sheathing them in her sleeves like Ren did.
''Good to see you aren't slacking in your training'' I commented with a light smirk, making both spectators and combatants jump.
Gin recovered quickly, grinning ''Well 'course, you'd think'a some kinda punishment then''.
''Point taken'' I chuckled, dramatically sweeping my arm behind me ''Juha, Chrystal, Natasha, meet... well, a portion of your brethren. Gin, Eleanor, Kotori, Homura, Kindle and Aria - and Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, though they're not Spirits as you know''.
''A pleasure to meet you'' Juha inclined his head at all of them.
''Hi!'' Chrystal grinned and waved enthusiastically, like a much more hyper Kindle... or even a combo of Kindle and Aria.
''Hey'' Natasha just nodded, smirking faintly... before turning around and walking away ''I'm gonna find somewhere to sleep, see ya''.
''...Does she do that often?'' Kotori blinked, sitting on her broom. I turn to Juha with a raised brow and he nodded, while Chrystal was more vocal about it.
''Yeah... she's lazy like that'' She sighed, pouting a little as he rolled back and forth on the balls on her heels ''So~ what do we do now?''.
''Party~'' Aria cheered, only to get a deadpan from me ''Please?''
''Aria-''.
She got right in front of me, pulling puppy dog eyes (despite being a Fox Faunus) and a quivering lip. I grimaced and looked away, only to find Yang and Chrystal doing it too. I sighed, nodding as all three girls cheered in victory. It wasn't a danger to be honest, the only thing I was hesitant about was since I created them, and by the same method that I was unable to feel fear, they also had a high alcohol tolerance. Which meant it could take a long time for them to get drunk, if they even would.
''Fine... just try not to mess the place up too much, alright?'' I sighed and the three girls nodded vigorously, heads blurring up and down before dashing away ''I understand Yang is a party girl... but has she taken the title to heart?''.
''Only recently'' Blake explained with a fond smile ''Apparently her Semblance is stronger if she has even a small amount of alcohol in her system, though we cant seem to find if the amount of alcohol affects it''.
''...So she's resolved to get herself drunk a lot?'' Both Ruby and I question, neither of us having been present at Beacon for the past six months.
''Yep'' Blake drawled amusedly.
I chuckled ''Well I'll join in a bit... I have to give a visit to someone''.
''I'll-be-at-the-house!'' Kotori blurted a second later, practically teleporting away from the small group. Eleanor had a small frown on her face from my comment, Gin grinned a little wider, Juha nodded idly, Kindle looked uncomfortable and Homura looked confused. It showed their relationship with him.
''Who?'' Ruby questioned with some degree of innocence.
''Perhaps you'll find out later'' I said, giving her a quick kiss before disappearing with Dunkelheit. My form rematerialized on top of the clock-tower in the distance, a fair distance from everyone elses buildings. It was a simple construct made from brick with a bronze interior, emerald lining a straight line on each side of the wall on the inside as you ascended the stairs. At the top was nothing, it looked like a clock tower on the outside, but on the inside was nothing, just empty space. At first glance.
I reached into my cloak, pulling out a Monochrome Dust crystal, my own make. I dropped it carelessly, letting it shatter as it warped the air around it, but since this was in my soul I controlled what happened. To an extent. I knelt down and put my hand into the gas-like residue, coating my hand in a tar-like monochrome substance. It stung a little, but my pain tolerance allowed me to ignore it. Once it was more gel-like, I stood back up and swung my hand in a slash, my hand in a claw motion. It created a tear in the air, making a thin Monochrome portal, which slowly began leaking Monochrome tar, but really slowly.
Ignoring it, I stepped through the portal and found myself in a Monochrome, morbid recreation of my Soul. I sighed, activating SchattenSchritt as soon as my feet touched the white grass, taking me into the attic of the mansion. The whole world was black and white, but still light enough to see things. Tar substances littered rivers or puddles of mud, and was dripping through the attic ceiling. Within the attic were many paintings, all of them in colour, standing out clearly against the monochrome background. On a monochrome stool sat a person, who casually spun around to face me.
They wore a stark white cloak, a white shirt underneath, white pants and boots with matching lases. Their hair was chin length, being ivory white, their eyes being a royal purple with a black sclera background to them. The person wore a wide, near insane grin, as our mostly-concealed eyes met.
''Yo, Eien''.
''Hello, Nein''.
A/N: And that's the end. Like the ending? Why is Nein a nigh-identical copy of Eien? Who is he really? What's his purpose? All will be explained in time.
I hope you liked that Eien's Dunkelheit was actually Magic all along, a basic form regardless. Roman's little escapade will be shown next chapter, or at least the rewards of it. How'd you feel about Ozpin being the very first Haizen, making his name Ozpin Haizen. Someone actually guessed back in chapter 7 that Eien and Ozpin were related somehow since both lacked last names, and here it is. Haizen doesn't mean a colour because of one reason; the Haizen family has existed for centuries, so the colour rule doesn't apply - also counting why Ozpin isn't based on a colour.
Eien gave a little demonstration on Soul Creation, giving a little insight into the workings. For those wondering why Eien's friends don't seem too surprised by anything, its mainly because Eien does weird things often, and so they get used to it. He could ride on a Grimm and they wouldn't give it a second thought. Anyone a little interested by Jaeger and Gin's Semblances? Retina Telekinesis is powerful in that you wouldn't have to move a muscle, but at the same time it means you have to take your eyes off your opponent to do so, especially with multiple projectiles.
As per usual, the characters that I based the appearance/personality off of;
Homura - Homura Akemi from ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica''.
Risa - Kido from ''Kagerou Project''.
Juha - Quincy Zangetsu from ''Bleach''.
Chrystal - ? inspired from ''Kantai Collection''.
Natasha - Original Design.
AND AS PROMISED, A CHIBI OMAKE SESSION~
It was a normal start to the day in Team RWBY's dorm for the most part, Eien was always the first to wake up, and after a little bit he woke up his teammates, shaking their shoulders and waking them. Groggily they sat up on their beds, and in unison froze. Why? Because near the foot of the beds, were what could only be described as Chibi version of themselves in combat gear. Slowly, all eyes turned to Eien, who was fully dressed in the Beacon Uniform... with a mini-him on his shoulder, dressed in his signature black cloak and concealing the mini-him's eyes.
''What...?'' They all muttered, rubbing their eyes.
''Get ready for class'' He said, flashing a mischievous grin ''Our little companions will be joining us''.
Weiss came out of the bathroom last, looking down at the Chibi Weiss that stared back up at her, arms crossed. The Chibi's, despite slight height differences, were only the size of their hands, so really small. Neither party had said anything to one another, sans Eien who was quietly conversing with his Chibi form, who was still sitting on his shoulder.
''Alright, are you going to explain?'' Weiss huffed, giving a light glare at Eien. Ruby's Chibi was currently sitting on Ruby's shoulder also, Yang's was sitting on Yang's bed and Chibi Blake was just staring at Blake, who stared back.
''Nope!'' Both Eien's smiled widely, before the elder one spoke ''For the next little while, you, JNPR and AREME will have Chibi versions following us~ They're real people too, just really small and adorable''.
''We are pretty adorable'' Chibi Blake agreed with a confident nod, smirking at her counterpart.
Abruptly the door to their room burst open, Reality and Era abruptly burst in, their Chibi counterparts sitting on their heads, small ball-like hands gripping their heads to prevent them from falling.
''Oh...'' Era mumbled, both of the young girls calming quickly ''So we weren't crazy... there is just a bunch of Chibi people invading us...''.
''Chibi versions of AREME, ERWBY and JNPR'' Eien corrected cheerfully.
''Oh...'' Era repeated, nodding as she reached up and picked up the Chibi version of herself and blushing, hugging it ''Kawaii~''.
The Chibi Era said nothing, merely blushing and accepting her real counterpart's hug. Reality on the other hand had Chibi Reality sitting on her shoulder, humming a song and swinging her legs cheerfully.
''Eh, I can work with this'' Reality shrugged lightly as to not knock off her passenger ''Its like another me''.
''Except twice as adorable'' Chibi Reality said smugly, getting a light glare from the real one.
''I am going insane'' Weiss muttered with her face in her hands as the Chibi version of her scoffed, looking away. Blake and Chibi Blake were still staring at one another. Chibi Ruby and Chibi Eien were now flying around the room on a Sigil while the regular sized counterparts were sitting on the latter's bed, relaxing before they had class.
''Oh good, I wasn't going insane either'' Jaune commented from the hallway, looking at the rooms inhabitants with his own Chibi in his hands, looking quite unwell at the moment - probably from how Jaune was shifting from one foot to the other, constantly moving. As JNPR filed into the room also, it showed Pyrrha having her own Chibi in her arms, Ren's on his shoulder, and Nora's... on Ren's shoulder also. It should've been expected.
''Time for class~'' Eien sang as he left the room, leaving his friends to follow. The Chibi's all shared a look before shrugging, looking at their counterparts expectantly. They all sighed, before following. Chibi Ruby and Chibi Eien followed on their little flying Sigil.
As one might expect, they got many odd looks that day.
As the three main teams walked into Professor Ports class, all of the students - and Port - blanched at the sight of a secondary person somewhere near to the person. Adam had his Chibi sitting on his shoulder, Emerald had hers on her shoulder, Mercury's on his shoulder, Reality's in her arms, Era's on her head, Ruby and Eien's were floating on a Sigil, Yang's on her head, Blake's on her shoulder, Weiss's on her shoulder, Jaune's on his shoulder, Pyrrha's in her arms, Ren's and Nora's on Ren's shoulders while Nora skipped next to him.
''Don't ask'' At least half of the them all said at once before proceeding to their seats, Chibi's in tow. Despite the initial weirdness, most students were able to ignore it - mainly because weird things happened around Eien. The Chibi's just sat on their desks, staring down at Port as if to dare him to speak out about it. Honestly the professor had seen many strange things in life, but living Chibi's was new. It didn't help Eien's Chibi was casually floating around Eien's head.
Port however continued with his daily class, droning exuberantly on about his fight against an C-Rank Grimm using only his bare hands, while most of the class tuned him out. The Chibi's, having been creating mainly in appearance and personality opposed to based upon their Semblance, just entertained themselves by either messing with one another or by assaulting their real counterparts, but because of their size and lack of fingers, they basically just threw themselves at them.
It was amusing for both of the Eien's, who merely watched. Chibi Blake occupied herself by pulling out a Chibi-sized book. Yang was trying to catch her Chibi, who had fallen off the desk onto Pyrrha's head below. Both Ren's merely stoically watched, both Nora's (not-so)quietly conversing with one another about sloths, Jaune and Pyrrha's were politely listening to Port's rabble, Chibi Ruby whispering with Chibi Reality and Chibi Era, Chibi Mercury relaxing and Chibi Emerald lying on her back in boredom.
Finally having enough of it, Port sighed ''Eien, I would appreciate it if your... smaller friends could be quiet''.
''Of course'' Eien merely smiled, not question how Port presumed he was responsible for it. Abruptly a low engine whirl entered the room as a small Bullhead flew into the room, hovering above the desks. Chibi ERWBY, AREME and JNPR jumped up into the Bullhead, before it turned and flew out the open door.
''Well that's one way of doing it'' Adam muttered.
''Don't worry, I just sent them on a mission somewhere'' Eien cheerfully informed ''Chibi Nora is leading it, so probably a mission revolving around Sloths, Pancakes, and Breaking Legs''.
''Oh Oum...'' Weiss murmured, face in hands ''Please just kill me now''.
Somewhere else in Beacon, a man cried as a Chibi Army descended on him and broke his legs.