AN: Welcome, to... whatever this is. Thank you for spending your valuable time to visit my fanfic, and I hope that if you like it, you will stick around for later chapters. Even if you don't, please feel free to leave a review, even if it's just a rant about things I messed up.
This story will take place in the RWBY universe; however, I claim no ownership of the franchise.
I will be AUing parts of the world that: I feel the writers left far too ambiguous, too boring, were part of an extra series not in the show itself, or just don't make sense. So, if you see a point where I mess up Ruby's name and call her Rudy or something, let me know. But, if it's something like different reason for a war or something, know that it's probably on purpose.
One often hears about various descriptions of the afterlife. Some say it's paradise or a hellscape of catastrophic proportions. Others say it's an endless journey or possibly a direct ticket to reincarnation.
As he was laid bare to the afterlife, he could honestly say they were all wrong.
All around him was a cacophony of... everything.
His vision was assaulted with the same image that appears when you flip a tv to an input with nothing connected. But he could also hear it, feel it, smell it, and even taste it.
The soul was truly surprised that whatever comprised his 'being' at the moment wasn't overloaded by the excess stimulation from his environment.
He could still count the seconds and therefore have a sense of time for how long he was there, maybe a few minutes at most. The 'Noise' he had named it, felt... cleansing for lack of a better term. It wasn't cleaning away his memories, but he felt it smooth away his distress of his death. It felt like a gentle river, and he was the stone at the bottom, being gently smoothed by the sands of time that wafted across his being.
'Maybe this is Heaven' he idly thought, 'An endless calming river that cleans away the sins and pain of life. Yet, if that is its goal, then what happens when it succeeds? Does it continue to clean away at my very being until I am reduced to nothing left? Do the fractured pieces of my soul join the other sands of the grand river? Or are my memories merely cleaned away before I am swept back down to Earth to rejoin everyone else as a newborn?'
In his past life that he could easily remember, he knew he was a stout Atheist, yet he knew he was taking the experience very well. Another thing that he attributed to the river 'Noise'.
His thoughts however were interrupted by a presence- or rather the lack thereof one. In the distance he could see nothing, a void, an inky blackness slithering its way down the river. It didn't seem to harm the 'Noise', but merely pushed it aside. Though pushed felt like the wrong word here. It didn't seem to have a physical presence at all. If the river was matter, then the tendril was nothing. The matter or 'Noise' in fact seemed to be repelled by the matter. However not in a mechanical and magnetic like way, but one full of great emotion. It took the soul watching it move for a few minutes to realize that it was fear.
He continued to watch as the 'Null' he had termed the nothing advanced, or rather the 'Noise' retreated. It didn't take a genius for him to figure out it was searching for something. It continually probed and prodded into the 'Noise' that fled at its touch. Soon, its presence had gotten close enough that his world looked split. In front him lay the 'Null', nothing, and behind him lay the 'Noise', everything.
The soul watched as the 'Noise' directly surrounding him finally began to shy away, and the 'Null' took a few experimental probes onto his being. When it made contact, or rather nothing was for once actually contacting him, he was awed at the feeling of complete sensory deprivation. It was frightening, but still somehow felt inviting. That inviting feeling from the 'Null' was parallel to the one he know realized he had been feeling from the 'Noise'.
That was when he discovered he had a choice, to either return to the 'Noise', the river or life and death, or to embrace the 'Null' and both fill part of the void, while simultaneously becoming part of it.
Xenophobia, contrary to what every news network believes, does not just mean being a racist. It instead is the fear of the unknown, and what lurks within it. It's the common trope of Lovecraftian horror, who surprise, surprise, was a massive fucking racist. Right now, that fear of the unknown is what the soul felt, crushing down upon it.
He considered how many other souls had chosen the 'Null' over the 'Noise', and somehow, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that the answer was none. The fear that was instilled upon him, and every other soul that had faced this decision, was so incredibly grand that none, including he, could face it.
Yet, a part of him was defiant in just returning to the 'Noise'. He may not have known what lay in the 'Null', but he could safely conclude that he had a better chance of conserving his 'being', memories and all, if he chose it over the 'Noise'. He tried utilizing his intense phobia of true death, and nonexistence to drive himself forward, however he still stood locked in place before the void.
He waited there for so long that he finally did lose track of time, contemplating how he could move forward. Ideally, he wriggled himself away from the 'Noise's grasp as it tried to himself into it. He knew that the only thing allowing him to even move in the way he was now, was his intense fear of entering the 'Noise' and losing his existence. Still the soul stood there, trying to discover how he could overcome a conceptual being of such terrifying presence, that no one had done it before.
He idly recognized himself going through the five stages of grief. First, he kept trying to push himself towards the 'Null', denying its impossibility. Then, he got quite angry at the 'Null', trying to utilize his anger to drive himself at it to 'attack' it. Then when that failed, he tried bargaining that he could instead be the first to choose neither, but the 'Noise' kept nipping on his heels, letting him know that it would eventually choose for him. Next, he felt sorrow that his very being would be wiped away when he rejoined the 'Noise'. Finally, he reached acceptance... or at least he should have.
As soon as his mind drifted to the thought of letting go and returning to the 'Noise', a small thought in the back of his head made all the difference.
'If you go back to the 'Noise', you'll never know what lurks within.'
A simple thought, obvious in both its meaning and how the conclusion was drawn. Yet when the soul considered that, he did not feel anger nor sorrow for the knowledge lost. No, he felt fear-fear so intense it consumed his very being. If he never entered the 'Null' then he would never learn what lied within its depths, and his lack of knowledge meant that anything was lurking in it, and there was nothing saying something from it couldn't follow him away.
All of a sudden, his world flipped, the fear he felt from the 'Null' in front of him was now on the 'Noise' behind him. His body sped into action as it scrambled and clawed itself away from the 'Noise' that tried to tug onto his being.
Eventually, with an inaudible *POP* he was adrift in the 'Null'.
It didn't take long for his consciousness to fade.
The soul was startled out of his reverie by a sharp *PING*
System Initializing...
Out of the 'Null' the soul heard the sound of a couple switches being flicked and a couple fans starting up.
System Booting...
He heard the sound of the windows start up before a jarring error sound occurred.
System Error
Trouble Shooting...
Error Identified: System/Documents/Saved Data/Most Recent Saved Data
File corrupted
Attempting to Repair...
...
Error
Attempting to Repair
...
Error
Attempting to Repair
...
Error
Reevaluating Solutions...
...
Attempting to Start New Save
...
Success
System Booting...
Welcome to The D&D System V.5.2
Would you like to begin?
Y/N
The soul was speechless for a while as the words flashed across his vision. Part of him was questioning if he had been drugged, and another part was questioning that if this is what drugs are like, why the fuck didn't he do them sooner? For the sake of his sanity he decided to assume that the impossible fantasy before him was real, and he clicked yes.
World Select
Class Select
Race Select
Ability Score Select
Background Select
Equipment Select
'Well... it's not going to fill itself out.' The soul idly thought.
World Select:
Avatar the Last Airbender
Shadow Knights
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Adventure Time
Harry Potter
Percy Jackson
Knights and Magic
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
...
The list went onwards seemingly infinitely. Testing a theory the soul mentally called out 'Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood' and low and behold the title appeared. Taking some time to consider where the soul wanted to be reincarnated to, he knew he wanted some place in either a modern or slightly post-modern setting as he didn't want to lose access to computers and the like. Further it needed to have some form a 'magic powers' present that he could obtain, because... Fucking Magic! And finally, it needed to be not on too high of a difficulty level as he wasn't really interested in doing a Dark Souls LARP. Mentally searching through all the shows and other sources of fiction he consumed the soul eventually settled on his new world.
World Select: RWBY
Confirm selection?
Y/N
He had considered Percy Jackson for a bit, but eventually decided the power level of the world was way too high, everything would want to kill him, and he didn't want to get merc'ed by Artemis for not having tits. Mentally sending the okay, the soul opened the next tab.
Class Select:
Artificer
Barbarian
Bard
Cleric
Druid
...
Once again, the list went on, however this time it wasn't infinite in length and covered just the published D&D classes.
He quickly narrowed down his possible class choices to cleric and paladin, as he was 99% sure that Radiant damage would have increased effectiveness on Grimm. Eventually, he settled on cleric as he knew that he was going to have to go up against Salem at some point, and he didn't want to play a half-caster in that type of battle. However, he was a bit worried about having to worship one of the gods of remnant, so he hoped against hope that D&D gods would work.
Class Select: Cleric
Hit Points:
Hit Dice: 1d8 per cleric level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) your Constitution modifier per cleric level after 1st
Proficiencies:
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, and shields
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Wisdom and Charisma
Skills: Select two of: History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, or Religion
Cantrips: Light, Sacred Flame, and Thaumaturgy Selected.
Confirm selection?
Y/N
He confirmed his choice before a new set of screens popped up.
Race Select:
Dustling (Human)
Dustling (Faunus)
Grimm
Now, as someone who had played D&D in his past life, the soul instantly new the correct option... The one that gave darkvision.
Race Select: Faunus
Languages: Vytalian (Common/Pseudo-English) and one other: Valean (Latin), Vacish (Spanish), Mantlease (German), Mistralian (Mandarin), or Ancient Faunian (Sumerian, no longer spoken).
Ability Score Increase: Select one to increase by two, and another by one: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.
Age: Faunus reach adulthood in their late teens, and rarely live greater than a century.
Aura: Faunus, being a mixture of a human and an animal, have an aura size that corresponds as such (10 Aura Points). The soul has no damage, and is still wholly complete, but rather just weaker in strength. Aura Points can be spent either absorbing the damage of an attack (2 HP per Aura Point) or activating a semblance (Case by case cost). However, Aura must be unlocked in the first place to be properly utilized. The unlocking of Aura is a difficult and rare task, it requires that the Aura be of a significant of enough strength (Amount of Aura) and prominence (How easy the Aura is drawn upon) to be able to sustain itself, when unlocked. Also, the individual needs to either meditate and try to draw the energy out, or have it jump-started by someone else with Aura. When an Aura is unlocked, the individuals physical capabilities become naturally enhanced by its energy, and they acquire the ability to develop a semblance (2 Strength, 2 Dexterity, and 2 Constitution). Gain 10Ap every 5 levels and Aura fully restores after every long rest.
Note: Jump-starting someone else's Aura takes prodigious skill, Aura prominence, and Aura capacity to do so. It it is often recommended to instead use the combined efforts of training and meditation.
Warning: Unlocking Aura can lead to increased attraction of Grimm.
Size: Faunus typically reign anywhere from 5ft to 7ft tall and are Medium in size.
Speed: Ignoring outliers of specific species, Faunus have a walking speed of 30ft per turn.
Boosted Senses: Faunus have Proficiency with Perception checks due to their boosted senses.
Predator and Prey: Faunus can see in dim light within 60 feet of themselves as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. They can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Faunus Trait: Select how the Faunus heritage manifests: Natural Weapons, Enhanced Senses, or a Movement Aid.
Enhanced Senses: Select how the senses are further enhanced: Enhanced Darkvision, Enhanced Eyesight, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Taste, Enhanced Smell, or Enhanced Touch.
The soul was a little curious about how he could use some of the more, nuanced, sense enhancements. Sure, better taste, smell, or touch could be useful for tracking, but also cooking and the like. Still, enhanced hearing seemed like the most effective option due to his already increased night vision, along with the prevalence of visual illusion-based semblances on Remnant. The Aura part was interesting to him, and he took a moment to look at the human Aura Points and found that they had 20 compared to the Faunian 10.
Generating Subrace in Accordance to Features Selected...
...
Lynx (Faunus) Chosen
Lynx (Faunus):
Hunters Insight: Hunting knowledge is imbued in a Lynx Faunus very being, scouring and understanding the movements of others attributes great wisdom to these Faunus (+2 Wisdom).
Sly as a Fox... Lynx?: While not as crafty as their Fox Faunus brethren, Lynx Faunus are still inherently silver-tongued in their mannerisms. (+1 Charisma).
Tufts of Terror: Lynx Faunus, like their animal counterpart, can easily be identified by their adorable tufts of fur that stick straight up on both ears. These tufts are not without reason though, they act as a unique hearing aid that increases the already boosted hearing capabilities of normal Faunian ears, to a whole new level (Advantage on all Perception checks utilizing hearing and +2 to Initiative. Vulnerability to Thunder Damage).
Confirm Selection?
Y/N
'No one. No one will hear about that trait.' He vowed while looking at the enchanted hearing trait. 'Yes.'
Ability Score Select:
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 11
Points: 15
Note: Increasing an ability score past 13 requires two points from then on.
Note: Mental related ability scores only effect actions with an ability tied skill. (Ex: Increasing Intelligence will not improve mathematical prowess but will improve Investigation checks).
'Hmm... I don't need to worry too much about physical stats with the bonus I'll get when I unlock my Aura. Plus, I'm going full caster, so it's going to be even more useless to put points there, other than constitution of course. Let's see, how does this look?' He thought to himself.
Ability Score Select:
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 14
Points: 0
Confirm Selection?
Y/N
The soul knew that with the powerful different factions ruling Remnant, he was going to need to be a good 'face' in order to survive. ('Face' refers to a D&D character that specializes in the mental ability scores of Intelligence, Wisdom, and most of all Charisma. They are the 'face' of the party and deal with most negotiations and the like).
'yes' He answered confidently.
Background Select:
Acolyte
Archeologist
Charlatan
Criminal
...
'Noble' the soul instantly called out. He hoped that by picking noble, one of two things would happen. One, there are lots of mentions of Jaune's family having old and noble ties to the king of Vale, and the soul hoped he would end up related to him somehow and be able to help him train before Beacon. Two, the system recognizes the councils of the various kingdoms as nobles and he becomes related to one of the councilmembers, giving him access to influence in some of the kingdoms. His only worry was that he might end up related to Cardin, as lots of AUs made the Winchesters an old 'noble' line like the Arcs. Then again, he was a Faunus, so he doubted that would happen.
Background Select: Noble
Skill Proficiencies: History and Persuasion [Already Obtained]
Select (2) Alternate Skill Proficiencies: Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Arcana [Already Obtained, Athletics, Aura Use, Deception, Dust Use, Insight ...
Tool Proficiencies: Select one Gaming Set: Remnant: The Game (What happens when Yu-Gi-Oh! and Risk get frisky), Poker, Dice, or Chess.
Languages: Select one: Vytalian (Common/Pseudo-English) [Already Obtained, Valean (Latin), Vacish (Spanish) [Already Obtained, Mantlease (German), Mistralian (Mandarin), or Ancient Faunian (Sumerian, no longer spoken).
Confirm selection?
Y/N
He chose Mistrailian over the others quite easily, as he doubted, he would need Mantlease since he planned to avoid Atlas with his new heritage, Valean just felt boring, and Faunian was a dead language.
He briefly considered taking game proficiency for poker in order to win some money gambling but decided against it as he didn't want to possibly make a habit.
The skill proficiencies of Aura Use and Dust Use obviously intrigued him as being brand new, so he took a look at them.
Aura Use: The Wisdom (Aura Use) check measures the user's ability to utilize their own Aura for healing injuries, defending themselves, activating their semblance, along with any other Aura related task.
'Holy crap that's broken as fuck!' The soul mentally exclaimed, 'Hell yeah, I want that!'
Dust Use: The Intelligence (Dust Use) check measures the user's ability to utilize Dust for weaponry, powering machinery, combining Dust, along with any other Dust related task.
'Eh, not as good. I could honestly take it or leave it.' The soul thought, eventually deciding to take Insight instead of it.
Equipment Select:
-Mace
Select one: Scale Mail or Leather Armor
Select one: Light Crossbow and 20 Bolts, or any Simple Weapon
Select one: A Priest's Pack or an Explorer's Pack
-Shield
Select one Holy Symbol: Amulet, Emblem, Reliquary, or any other Holly Symbol
-A set of Fine Clothes
-A Signet Ring
-A Scroll of Pedigree
-A Purse Containing 25gp
The soul was curious how valuable actual gold pieces would be on Remnant. Hearing his thoughts, the system gave an update as he was filling out the section.
Equipment Select:
-Mace
Select one: Scale Mail or Leather Armor
Select one: Light Crossbow and 20 Bolts, or any Simple Weapon
Select one:A Priest's Pack or an Explorer's Pack
-Shield
Select one Holy Symbol: Amulet, Emblem, Reliquary, or any other Holly Symbol
-A set of Fine Clothes
-A Signet Ring
-A Scroll of Pedigree
-A Purse Containing 2,500 Lien
Confirm selection?
Y/N
The soul nodded his nonexistent head.
Confirm ALL selections?
Y/N
'Alright, let's do this' The soul thought resolutely before darkness took him once more.
~Elsewhere~
The reincarnated soul darted up in his bed. The room felt both familiar and foreign, and as his gaze swept the room memories flitted through his mind.
He was laid in a queen sized bed tucked into the back corner of the crowded room. It was not crowded for the size of the bed, but rather the sheer number of other items littering the tables and shelves. Books, maps, random scribbled pages, and various other nick-nacks like his sextant and globe.
Before he even truly began to evaluate his new memories an immense feeling of guilt crashed down upon him.
'Did I kill this person in my reincarnation?' He thought sitting upright in the bed.
Yet, in the back of his mind a small part of him snorted out a 'No.'
Checking his status that he mentally called up, his heart was at ease when he realized that his aura was 30/30. The exact value of adding the aura of a Faunus and a Human together. The soul of the Human and the Faunus had pulled an Ozpin.
Surprisingly neither felt at odds nor confused about their... his... new fused soul. Looking over their combined personality and memories of both lives they realized they were quite similar. He hypothesized that the system had sought out the most compatible soul for the reincarnation.
It just happens that the most compatible soul with the background he had selected was not one of Jaune's distant relatives, or Cardin's, or a member of a Council member's family.
Instead, his name was Mowgli, which he found quite amusing considering a human had just reincarnated into the body of a Faunus. But more importantly his name was Mowgli Dé Coquina Belladonna. His middle name had come from his mother's maiden name meaning "of Coquina ", a settlement in Vacuo. His last name however came from the chieftain of Menagerie. Making him the younger, by two years, brother to Blake Dé Coquina Belladonna, and him, the prince of Menagerie.
He thought about his older sister, looking through his technically both old and new memories of her. For so much of his life he had looked up to her, they both had spent most of their childhood reading various stories, the books of which had flooded their manor. They had been so close, and worked so well together, and while they both were highly knowledgeable, they still had their differences. The main one being that while Blake was often Spontaneous and actionable, he was methodical and generally passive in his movements. That's not to say either couldn't be methodical or spontaneous in their lives, but their core traits tended to lean in separate manners. He was the planner and Blake was the attacker, they balanced each other out. Where he got stuck on the consequences and worrying about the results, Blake had already leapt into action. Sure, their plans mainly only consisted of stealing more fish and cookies from the fridge while their mother wasn't looking, but to Mowgli it was everything.
However, everything changed when the fire Nation- WAIT! Wrong thing.
However, everything changed six years ago when their father Ghira had stepped down as leader of the White Fang, passing the position onto Sienna Kahn.
How he loathed her name. Under his father's leadership the White Fang had been peaceful, and progress for Faunus rights was steadily underway. Maybe not as fast as they wanted it to be, but it was progress. Yet, the moment Sienna took the reins the Fang's attics turned more aggressive. Raids on dust convoys, burning down SDC mines, and even a hostage situation with one of the Atlesian council members. Soon their movements reached full blown assassinations and burning of the mining towns themselves.
Sure, fewer businesses posted "No Faunus Allowed" signs, and the various council passed a couple of useless laws to appease the group. But from all the reports that Mowgli had gathered and read through over the years, the number of Faunus assaulted, in the kingdoms had tripled. Anti-Faunus sentiment was at an all-time high and seeing a Lynch mob in rural towns while not common by any stretch, wasn't an impossibility.
When his father noticed the beginnings of Sienna's violent movements, he had tried to reason with her and convince her to maintain the pacifistic ways of his leadership, but she refused.
Mowgli remembered that day, he along with Blake, had snuck out of the house after their father. They followed him through the dusty streets of Menagerie to the headquarters for the Fang that resided on the isle.
~Flashback 6 Years Ago~
Ghira approached the "War Room", as Sienna had relabeled the conference room. Just one of the many signs of the shift that had occurred since the end of Ghira's reign.
Blake and Mowgli followed closely behind as their father knocked and upon receiving confirmation entered the room shutting it behind himself. There were guards earlier in the compound who could have spotted them, but upon the isle of Menagerie in the middle of the night they had seen no reason to suspect a threat and were asleep.
The two Faunus children crept along the carpeted floor until they could huddle close enough to press their enhanced ears to the door.
That was one of the interesting things about Faunus biology that Mowgli had learned. While the offspring of two different types of Faunus could technically end up being any type of Faunus, no matter the parents. There was still a much higher likelihood that the child would be at least of the same family, order, or at least class of animal as one or more of the parents. Similarly, the form in which the Faunus traits were usually manifested, often was similar to that of the parents.
As such, it wasn't too surprising that his mother a wolf Faunus, and his father a panther Faunus, gave rise to his sister Blake a cat Faunus and himself a lynx Faunus. Both of which sporting their own style of black Faunal ears.
Such ears now laid against the chipped paint of the heavy oaken door of the war room.
"-was dangerous and could bring down the wrath of all of Atlas on our people!" Their father shouted.
"I did what was necessary to gain respect for the Faunus!" Sienna countered.
"Respect... or fear?" Ghira drawled out.
"Respect is driven by fear!" She spoke vehemently.
"No it is not! Is this respect even for the Faunus, or just for the Fang?" Ghira inquired heatedly.
"What difference does it make?" Sienna questioned with an annoyed grunt.
"It makes all the difference!" He roared back.
"If you had a problem with it, you shouldn't have stepped down!" She snapped.
"I only stepped down because you forced me to!" He shouted.
"I didn't force you to do anything." She hissed venomously.
"I stepped down to save lives from being lost in your coup." He whispered harshly.
"Coup...?" The earlier heat was lost, and she sounded generally perplexed.
Ghira sensing her confusion, pulled out what sounded like a piece of paper and smacked it on the table.
It was silent for a moment, the two children assumed Sienna was reading over the paper.
"This wasn't me" Sienna spoke resolutely.
"Then who was it?" Ghira interrogated.
Sienna was silent for a moment before a whispered "Adam" left her breath.
"Where is he?" Ghira continued.
"I don't know, he left for a mission yesterday." She explained.
"What do you mean, you don't know? You are the leader of the White Fang; did you not check over his mission before approving it?" He ground out tersely.
"I trust him." She spoke, but some of her earlier confidence had wavered.
"He is dangerous, he takes lives that never need to be taken. He is a killer Sienna!"
"He's a Patriot! He is an individual who would do anything for the benefit of Faunuskind! Just like I would! Would you?" She stressed out.
The former leader was silent for a moment before he barked out a sharp "No, not if it costs the lives of others." he said bitterly.
"Then you're a coward!" She screeched.
"I'm someone who values life! All life!" His voice had reached a deafening volume, and the heirs of Menagerie could hear the slam of their father's fist and the resulting crack as the wooden table in the room split down the middle.
"Guards!" Sienna ordered; her voice laced with fear. She turned back to Ghira "You are a member of the White Fang no longer, leave!"
"This," he said as he tapped on the remains of the table, "Is no longer the White Fang." His footsteps echoed back against the ones of the approaching guards as he walked to the door of the room and slammed it open, its hinges groaning in agony before breaking free from the wall.
Blake and Mowgli watched from the nearby alcove they had retreated to, as the door fell and crashed upon the carpeted floor of the hall. The guards approached from the far end and held out their spears.
"Halt, intruder! What is your- Chieftain Belladona?" He started out in a barked military manner but was thoroughly confused by the end.
"It is nothing. I was just leaving. Mowgli, Blake, come, we're going home." He ordered sharply.
Blake and Mowgli let out a collective "Ah!" At being caught and hurried after the retreating figure of their father.
That night was the last night Blake and his parents got along.
Over the next few months meals became tense, as it was only a few minutes before Blake and their father were in a shouting match over what was right for the White Fang. Thought it wasn't really a shouting match. Usually it consisted of Ghira trying to gently broach the topic with his daughter, upon which she erupted into action. Ghira would try to firmly talk with Blake, but she was angry beyond reason, and his mother's attempts to calm her down were left with vitriol and scorn.
Blake kept disappearing for longer and longer times, with who Mowgli now knew was Adam. She would come back seemingly both satisfied, and angry. Satisfied that her beliefs over the White Fang had been validated, and angry that Ghira continued to condemn their actions.
What used to be a form a bonding between the father and daughter became a taboo in the household. It was only heard in hushed whispers coming from their parents' room and their father's study.
It was barely three months later that the fights came to a head.
They were eating dinner. It was a silent affair as with the many previous. However like the many silences that came before, it was broken by Blake.
"I'm leaving for a mission in Haven for the White Fang."
At once the soft clinking of silverware stopped as their father swallowed the food in his mouth.
"I don't think that's a good idea." He started calmly but firm. "You could be hurt and your mother and I-"
"-Have nothing to do with it. This is my decision to make." She declared.
"You are only twelve years-old, your still our responsibility. We are your parents, and you will listen to us." Ghira spoke tersely.
"I am a proud member of the White Fang; I will only listen to my superior officer." She spoke petulantly.
Kali, sensing that Ghira was at his wit's end, stepped in. "Dear, we just want you to be safe. We can't look out for you beyond the island." She spoke softly.
"I can take care of myself. Besides I'll have Adam with me during the raids." Worship for his name was laced into her speech.
"Adam." The father practically spit out, loathing coloring his voice.
"Yes, Adam." Blake said quite smugly. "He will be able to protect me, he is not a coward who shirks their duty to the Faunus people, to the Fang!"
With her declaration made she stood up from the table and began walking to her room. Surprisingly, she turned back at the last second to look at Mowgli.
"You can come with me Mowgli." Her voice was surprisingly warm all things considered. "Join the Fang and be a hero to the Faunus people."
It took a long while for Mowgli to find his voice, and even when he did, it was only a warbled whisper. "B-Blake, they're hurting so many p-people. I don't want to hurt anyone."
Her scowl was back. "They are enemies of the Faunus they hurt our people. If you are not willing to fight, then you're just as much of a coward as them!" The disgust in her voice was palpable. "Adam was right, they have brainwashed you to be weak and cowardly." She whispered almost to herself. "Well I'm not a coward, and I'm certainly not related to any." She declared before walking off.
Mowgli felt the beginning of hot tears, stinging like needles in the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall. He of course was not alone, as he could hear his mother openly sobbing with her head in her hands at the table. Almost every part of him wanted to breakdown and cry, but there was a piece of him that knew that his tears would only bring his mother more sorrow. So, he put on a brave face, or at least tried the best he could, and joined his father in comforting the weeping mother.
They eventually composed themselves enough to go to sleep, planning to talk to Blake in the morning before she left.
They should have known that she would have used the cover of night to flee.
~Present~
The wound still felt raw to this day. Mowgli idly wiped away the itchy tears that had formed in his eyes while he was lost in thought. They had hoped that she was eventually going to come back, but days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and eventually months even turned into years.
His mother had quietly taken down most of the photos depicting Blake. Not out of hatred or scorn for her leaving, but for their own sanity, to protect themselves against the pain they felt every time they saw them.
While there was a somber mood in the home for a while, time goes on and soon they learned how to function again. The only times they struggled was when someone accidentally mentioned her name, it had become nearly taboo after she had left.
'Alright Mowgli, let's think, there is only 96 days until the Vytal festival begins, and each tournament usually lasts four days. So, you only have give or take a hundred days to prepare for the end of the world... no pressure.' He mentally groaned.
"Okay, one step at a time. You're a cleric, but you're not following any deity yet. What are your options? Brother Gods are off the table since they'll probably try to stop you from interfering. The Animal/Faunus god is an option, but he may report back your work to the Brother Gods, if he isn't just the God of Light in disguise. You could try calling for one of the gods of Earth, but the only one you know enough about is the one from Christianity, and you swear way too much for that to work. Technically you could try one of the gods of mythology, but most those people are narcissistic assholes who'll kill you for no reason. Cthulhu...? Yeah fuck no. So, all the leaves are the divine from D&D." He spoke to himself.
He went over all the gods from D&D that he remembered, and eventually settled on Mystra.
He chose her for a few reasons: One, he knew following her would give him access to being an Arcana Domain cleric without having to be evil following Vecna. Two, she was one of the immortals he knew the most about sheerly from reading about Karsus's Folly. Three, Mowgli knew that she was a good, aligned deity. Four, he knew that save for Ao and very few others, Mystra was the most powerful entity from D&D. Five, he hoped that with Mystra's help as a goddess of magic that he would have a better chance of defeating someone like Salem, who had who knows how long to practice the art.
Silently getting out of bed in an effort to not alert anyone of his activities, Mowgli quickly walked to and locked his door to make sure he wasn't interrupted. Then, after clearing out an area, he sat on his knees with his hands together, not unlike praying.
Thinking for a moment, he then gave his best attempt at a 'prayer' on the spot. "Oh Lady Mystra, please hear my call, I seek to be your apostle upon this plane..."
...
...
Realizing that it didn't work, Mowgli got up of the floor in order to pace for a bit to think. However, in the process he ended up knocking against one of the table and causing a sheet of paper to fall off. Reaching down to pick-up the sheet he noticed that it was one of his practice pages where he was getting used to using his various geographical and geometric instruments. It was covered in various shapes and scrawls, from which an idea sprang forth in his mind.
Taking a few minutes to search his room he eventually came upon a piece of chalk. He went to the small carpet that sat at the base of his bed and quickly pulled it off to the side. The floorboards there that hadn't seen light in many years were a bit darker having not been bleached by the sun like their counterparts. Grabbing a wedged piece of wood and some string, he pushed the wedge in between two floorboards in the newly cleared space. Then, after tying the string around both the wedge and the chalk, he quickly scribed a curved line, with the assistance of the strings guidance, into a nearly perfect circle. Disposing of the wedge and string, but holding onto the chalk, Mowgli continued. He silently thanked the part of him that had been reincarnated for remembering the iconic symbol of Mystra.
With deft movements he carefully etched the image of the flowing river-like stream of the weave, and for a brief moment his mind was brought back to the 'Noise' of the afterlife. Breaking away from the stray thought, he finished the symbol with the seven stars orbiting the river, and the one in the center.
Looking over the finished product he brushed his hand along a stray line of chalk. Yet, the moment his hand contacted the circle, a bright flash emanated from it, temporarily blinding him.
Now, when Mowgli was preparing to 'meet' and become one of Mystra's clerics, he had thought it would be pretty mundane. Maybe he would hear her voice in his head for a few moments, a feeling of revelation, or the appearance of a holy symbol to use in her name.
What he didn't expect was lady Midnight herself appearing in the circle. She stood nearly six and a half feet tall, wearing a dark black dress, with a cowled cape that seemed to depict an ever shifting galaxy. Everything below her knees was obscured in a blackish fog that revolves around her. Finally, atop her head stood raven black hair that cascaded back into her cowl, two sets of strands framing around her pale face, set in which were eyes that looked like actual stars. Not in a way that they twinkled, but as though he could see miniature solar flares burst from her eyes every few seconds.
Needless to say, she was an imposing figure. All of that was of course ignoring the general atmosphere that being in the presence of a being as powerful as her has. Mowgli felt like his whole body was being held down by the weight of the ocean if he was 200 feet down.
Mowgli, being a wise and self-valuing individual gave the correct response.
He bowed down on his hands and knees and waited for the Goddess of magic to say something.
The fusion reactor like orbs of her eyes scanned the surrounding room, lighting up various parts like a spotlight from a lighthouse. Eventually her eyes came to rest on Mowgli's form.
"Fascinating! I never seen a Tabaxi like you before. Are you a half-breed? Human and Tabaxi? Or perhaps Elf?" She sounded extremely giddy, and her earlier intimidating presence was washed away.
Mowgli, a little perplexed at the goddess' personality, responded. "I-I'm not a Tabaxi Lady Mystra, I am a Faunus."
"A Faunus?" She looked contemplative. "I've never heard about a race such as yours. What plane are your people native to?"
"Technically the material plane, but not the one of Toril."
"What?" She looked very lost. Suddenly, she spread her arms and mist seemed to shoot out in streams before fading away. "I'm not on Toril anymore." Then she looked terrified. "Shit! I'm not on Toril. Ao is going to kill me! I've gotta go-"
"Stay. There is a task at hand." Ordered a voice, which held the authority capable of telling Asmodeus to give to charity.
Mowgli felt his whole being light-up in fear, in levels close to that of when facing the 'Null'. "W-was that… Ao...?"
"Yes," Mystra said, sounding surprisingly calm, "and I have a feeling that you are going to be able to tell me what that task is...?"
"Mowgli Dé Coquina Belladonna, Lady Mystra." He supplied.
"And you were seeking to be my cleric were you not?" She inquired.
"Yes Lady Midni-Mystra."
She looked very curious now. "You know my name? That information was held from almost all of my worshipers, except my champions. Not out on any distrust, but merely to smooth over the transition from my predecessor. So tell me mage Belladonna, how do you know my name, how did you know how to summon me, and how do you know about Lord Ao?"
For a moment he hesitated, wondering how much of the truth he should tell her before a voice in his head interrupted his thoughts. "You can trust her with the truth."
Unnerved by the voice of what is one of the most powerful beings in fiction, Mowgli began explaining. He told her how he came from a world where both the realm they resided in now, and her own home realm of Faerûn were stories believed fiction. When he got to the topic of his reincarnation and mentioned the 'Noise', she seemed familiar with it.
"Midnight," He began, as she insisted he call her, "do you know of the 'Noise'?"
"I do, what you saw was the Primordial river, the foundation of all that exists. It's unsurprisingly also the origin of the Weave. However, I've never heard tell of this 'Null' you mentioned. Something tells me though, that Lord Ao is aware of its existence." She looked searchingly for a moment. As though she was waiting for a response from said Overgod. Seemingly getting no reply, she turned back to Mowgli, "Now, tell me of this realm."
So Mowgli went on, regaling her with the "Tale of the Two Brothers", all the way up to present day. "I know certain future events, but the exact timeline of them are quite iffy. The people who wrote the story in my realm saw timelines as unimportant for storytelling."
Mystra for her part, looked positively murderous. Not for the treatment of Salem and Ozpin, although she did seem sorrowful for their tale. No, it was the fact that the Brother Gods had stolen the people of Remnants ability to use magic and bastardized it into Aura and Semblances.
"Bastards! Tainting the Weave like this, all over a temper tantrum because they cursed a girl!" She ranted.
"Um... Midnight?"
"What?" She turned her murderous flat to Mowgli.
"My parents are still sleeping." He spoke gently.
"Oh. Sorry about that." She said looking embarrassed.
"It's fine." The Faunus waved off.
Switching back to their conversation, Midnight continued. "Well, I think I've figured out roughly what our task is."
"Return proper magic to Remnant, and kill the Brother Gods?" Mowgli suggested.
"Yep, or at least something along those lines." She affirmed.
"And I guess the justification for this will be eliminating a deity with a domain that overlaps yours?"
"Seems about right, Ao isn't yelling at me for starting a divine war so that seems to be his idea as well."
"And I'm guessing there's also some rule, or something put in place by Ao, so that even though he wants you to reinstate the magic system in this realm, he can't directly interfere, hence me?"
"That's about the just of it." She said matter-of-factly.
"I don't exactly know if that is wise?" Mowgli meekly spoke.
A bit of heat returned to Midnight's features "...and why, pray tell would that be?"
"Well, I have a theory on how Dust came about. I believe that like coal or oil, they are a form of fossilized energy, except in this case, the energy is magic. It most likely came about as a result of the end of people casting magic, and so the inherent magic present in the air, clustered together and became buried until it formed crystals. This is just a theory of course, but if its right, returning the magic system could cause Dust to no longer be a renewable resource. The entire world of Remnant relies solely on Dust for everything though, power, weapons, and so much more. If we took that away, the society here could collapse."
"Hmm," She hummed thoughtfully "You wouldn't perhaps happen to have any of those Dust crystals on hand?" she inquired.
"Oh yeah sure, let me get them." He quickly went over to the shelf in his room containing protectively encased crystals of all the known Dust types. Bringing them over to Midnight, he watched as she levitated down to the floor and the smoke around her legs cleared. When her feet finally touched the floor, Mowgli realized that she was a lot shorter then he originally thought. She stood at around 5'2", coming only to Mowgli's chest. Her projector-like eyes dimmed until there was only a faint glow left.
She grabbed one of the crystals from the display case after Mowgli opened it. Taking the dark-blue Ice Dust crystal, she rolled it in her hands before sending a piercing gaze at its inner geometry.
"Facinating." She incanted again. Mowgli noted that she seemed to enjoy using that word a lot, probably an after-product of her investigative and curious personality. "It's seems to be an accidentally formed magical storage unit. Yet, it seems to be only infused in a specific element of magic. Cold in this case, and as for the others..." She then went on to look over the other crystals and listed off their inherent magical alignment. Halfway through her investigation, Mowgli had pulled out a piece of paper from one of his drawers and made a chart listing off all of her observations. As he was writing them, he soon realized that they were the different damage types in D . Their end result ended up looking like this:
Dark Green-Earth-Bludgeoning
Dark Blue-Ice-Cold
Red-Fire-Fire
Black with a purple glow-Gravity-Force
Yellow-Energy-Lightening
Pale Yellow-Wind-Slahing/Piercing
Light Blue-Hard Light-Broadening
Orange-Sonic-Thunder
The first being the color of the crystal, second being its name on Remnant, and third being its corresponding damage type. Midnight had explained to him when he got confused over her mention of broadening damage, that it was the third directly physical damage type. They had a little back and forth as Mowgli told her how in the depictions of Faérun, piercing and slashing were their own damage types. Midnight then went on to inform him that they were each based on one of the three strengths of a material: tensile, compressive, and sheer. Showcasing a surprisingly high level of worldly understanding for a place with no electricity. Broadening damage, was basically damage caused by stretching. The two then theorized that the crystal that Midnight had immediately identified as artificial compared to the others, stretched the light particles themselves into a solid substance.
That was of course after Mowgli had given her a crash-course in modern physics. Faérun was advanced, but not that advanced.
"It's odd, we're still missing the aspects of acid, poison/venom, psychic, radiant, and necrotic. I'll have to do some more research back in Dweomerheart."
Dweonmerheart being Mystra's personal divine domain on the Celestial planes.
"Technically, were still missing Broadening aswell, as Hard Light Dust is artificial." Both were in silent deep thought.
...
...
""Aura!/Grimm!"" The two simultaneously exclaimed
Midnight continued her thought aloud first, "The Grimm you've described to me sound like creatures made almost entirely of necrotic magic. Do any of them display Psychic, Acid, Broadening or Poison like abilities?"
"Yeah, there are deathstalkers with venomous stingers and some Grimm spit acid. Then, assuming that the other traits went into the basis of Aura, Broadening created the shield-like effect, Psychic explains the mental control and ties to the soul Aura has, along with some mind based semblances, and Radiant allows Aura users to cause more damage to Grimm, and it explains why Grimm are attracted to them." Mowgli spoke.
Hidden Quest Completed: Missing Magic
Objective: Identify the fate of Remnant's magic [X]
Reward: Strixhaven Initiate Feat
Feat Gained: Strixhaven Initiate
Through your theorizing, and while brief, intensive look into the magic of Remnant, some of Mystra's mystical knowledge has rubbed off on you.
Choose a College of Strixhaven: Lorehold, Prismari, Quandrix, Silverquill, or Witherbloom
'That is way to overpowered' Mowgli mentally exclaimed, 'Quandrix all the way.'
Choose Two Cantrips to be able to cast once, unprepared per long rest, and the Associated Spellcasting Ability for them: Druidcraft, Guidance, or Mage hand. (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).
Choose One Class (Wizard or Druid) and One, Level One Spell from that class to be able to Cast once per long rest without at no cost: Find Familiar selected
Having finished selecting his spells, he was broken out of his thoughts by Midnight's inquiry.
"You don't mind if I take these crystals back with me for study, do you?" She inquired, eager to study the crystals.
"No, by all means, scholars of Remnant have been trying to unlock more secrets of Dust crystals for thousands of years, I doubt I'm going to uncover much. And while I may be getting access to magic soon, you are the master of the field" James complimented.
Midnight smiled "Thank you." She waved her hands over the crystals in a grand gesture and... nothing happened.
...
She did it again.
...
Nothing.
She tried again, and she was visibly sweating in concentration this time.
...
Nothing.
"Um... Midnight? You, okay?" James inquired.
She huffed. "No, although I may be a powerful entity back on Toril (The planet that the continent of Faérun resided on), I have no worshippers on this plane, or even in this realm. My power is so weakened that I can't even move these crystals back to my own realm."
"So you need worshippers on this plane to increase your power?"
"Yes."
She kept standing there, doing nothing.
Mowgli gave her a deadpan stare.
...
...
"Oh!" Her eyes suddenly widened as she realized why Mowgli was giving her that look.
"Yeah" Mowgli responded a little smug.
"Well, becoming my cleric isn't really that complicated. Basically, I take a little bit of the divinity that I get from my worshippers and impart it upon you. Then as you use it more and more and spread my name, the piece of divinity in you grows." Midnight lectured.
"So it's like making a bunch of demigods?" Mowgli asked.
"In a way, but much weaker, and more in the level of quasi-immortals. The whole point of this system being out in place by Ao was to help prevent all the chaos that the death of a god or goddess brought. When a deity dies, the worshipper holding the largest chunk of their power ascends as the new patron. That is assuming of course that there isn't a lower ranked deity with a similar portfolio, or that the murderer of the immortal doesn't take it for themselves. Churches are usually formed with the highest authority cleric being based on their level of divine energy. As such, when a patron dies the leader of the church is the one who ascends, and the leadership change isn't as messy." Midnight said.
"That sounds quite practical actually." Mowgli responded with his hand in his chin. "But, if your giving me a piece of your divinity, and you can barely do anything in this realm due to the lack of worshippers, won't it be useless?"
"In theory yes." Midnight acquiesced. "But this physical avatar that I embody now actually takes up a large portion of magic. When I make you my cleric, I will no longer be able to speak with you in a physical form, but I should be able to send you telepathic messages to check in. Now, normally I would show my new clerics a vision of the aftermath of Karsus' Folly to help them understand the consequences of irresponsible use of magic, but since you've heard of it before, and your only fifteen, I'll refrain from traumatizing you." She finished giggling like a psychopath.
"Wait, can I convert people to increase your divinity here?" Mowgli responded, ignoring Midnight's last comment.
She looked tentative, "In theory yes, but with those two Brother Gods that you mentioned, I wouldn't put it past them to kill you and anyone you convert if they noticed followers of another god. They may even notice you before you spread my name, so when I leave, I will place as strong of a concealing spell as possible with my power available, it should last you for a bit, but once you start growing in strength, they may notice you. If they ever check, merely act surprised that the Brother Gods have come to speak with a mortal and tell them that you thought it was your semblance. They will most likely chalk it up to missing one of the points were Ozpin or Salem gave away some of their magic."
"before you go, what should be our goal for now? Since we need to consider the ramifications of returning magic to the realm." Mowgli asked.
"The end goal of defeating the Brother Gods still stands." Mystra said resolutely. "But that is a long way off, and complications may arise. For now, I need you to grow in strength and influence, see if you can get Ozpin interested in you, and join his circle. Are you up to the task?" She instructed.
"Of course Lady Midnight." Mowgli returned to a bowing position.
Without saying anything, Midnight walked forward and placed the palm of one of her hands on his forehead and the other across his chest where his heart lay. Then she spoke, "Mage Belladonna, I seek your aid as my founding sage of this realm. You shall lead the people of this world out of the darkness, and into the light of a new age of knowledge and magic, even if you must do so from the shadows. Do you accept my plea and carry the torch of my holy fire to the mortals below?"
Suddenly, Mowgli instantly new the words by heart. "I do Lady Magic, I shall be your Prometheus, illuminating knowledge, magic, and your name to those blind of your greatness."
Abruptly, the seriousness left her tone, and she gave a cheerful smile. "Then good luck my Prometheus."
And with a bright flash, she was gone.
As Mowgli blinked open his eyes for the second time that day, he realized he was now holding something in his hand. It was a small amulet, made of what appeared to be electrum, and held by a golden rope. Looking at the image depicted, it showed a surprisingly familiar image. The Belladonna family crest was embossed on it. However, there were some changes, as the three petals had been lengthened and were now more reminiscent of rivers. The one on the left was blacker than any substance, almost empty, and looked like the 'Null'. Then, the one on the right was an ever shifting chrome of colors, reminiscent of the 'Noise', or Primordial River as Midnight had called it. Finally, the one in the middle was a deep purple, with animated flowing lines through it, resembling the Weave. As for the eight stars usually present, only one was left, nestled in the bud of the flower itself, the familiar pink glowing mystically.
Cleric Domain Gained: Arcana Domain
Domain Spells: Detect Magic and Magic Missile
Arcane Initiate: Proficiency in Arcana Skill and select two cantrips from the Wizard Spell list: Blade Ward and Fire Bolt selected.
Spell Points Gained : 2
...
Quest Chain Initiated: Bastard Brothers
Quest Initiated: Mystra's Might (Bastard Brothers)
Objective: Reach level 5 and prove yourself ready for the next step of Mystra and Ao's plan. [0]
Reward: ?, and the next quest in the Bastard Brothers quest chain.
...
Quest Initiated: Finding the Fled Faunus
Objective: Convince Blake to return home
Reward: Racial Feat
...
Quest Initiated: Vital Vytal
Objective: Prevent the fall of the Vale CCTS. [0]
Bonus Objective 1: Prevent Penny's death. [0]
Bonus Objective 2: Prevent Pyrrha's death. [0]
Bonus Objective 3: Prevent Amber's Death. [0]
Reward: Respect of the people of Remnant, Respect and Adoration of the people of Vale, 100,000 Lien, Tome of Understanding, and 10,000exp.
Bonus Reward 1: ?
Bonus Reward 2: ?
Bonus Reward 3: ?
Looking over the various rewards, it wasn't hard to see how intrigued Mowgli was. The racial feat especially, as he wondered if he was going to become some sort of 'super' Faunus once he got it.
As he went to stand up, he noticed a glint from the symbol he had drawn upon his floor. Taking a closer look, he realized that it was a brass handled, fastened to the floorboards. Taking a tentative pull, the newly made trapdoor silently pivoted open.
Looking down, the area past the floorboards was pitch black, suggesting it was magical darkness covering the underground area. Wanting to test out his new skills, Mowgli took hold of the amulet he had wrapped around his neck and attempted to cast a spell.
"I call upon the Weave, illuminate that which is shadowed with your divine Light." Mowgli incanted, before his amulet took on a bright, but gentle glow, that illuminated the ladder down.
It took only a few step down the ladder, before he felt his feet touch hard stone, gazing around the room, he still struggled to distinguish much. However, he did catch sight of a glowing rune on the far end of the room. Carefully making his way over as to not trip in the darkness, he examined it closer.
The symbol unrecognizable to him, the best way he could describe it was a six, with a down-facing three on top, and a dot in the middle. Pressing the rune, he watched as more lit up in trails around it and spread across the entire room. The whole area seemed to thrum with magic before several floating flames ignited and illuminated the room.
Looking around, he saw that the room was made of large stone bricks, with alcoves for the floating flames. Along the walls were shelves stocked with alchemical tools, and a dew items that he recognized as his equipment. Taking a significant portion of the backwall was an armor stand, upon it laying a long-sleeved combat shirt, covered by his scale mail. However, the armor wasn't just scale mail, it had seemingly been integrated into full huntsmen attire. The scales themselves were charcoal ash in color, with a deep purple mantle overlaying it, with a magenta inner lining, beautiful golden accents lined both the pauldrons of the armor, and the edge of the mantle. The deep purple was echoed in the reinforced pants that led down to greaved combat boots that mimicked the black color of the upper armor. The arms themselves were covered both by the long sleeves of the combat shirt, but also by themed vambraces and black gloves, the right one having a buckler shield hooked onto it, matching the rest of the color scheme. hooked on the purple and gold belt of the combat outfit was his mace. Taking a closer look would reveal that the light crossbow had been integrated into it, and could fold out, with the fins of the mace acting as sights. Finally, in magenta coloring, and highlighted in gold, was his new motif, depicted across the back of the mantle. Mowgli thanked Midnight for her thoughtfulness when he realized that she left holes for his ears in the hood of the mantle.
Deciding to get started on preparing for the road ahead, Mowgli grabbed a brass brazier, one of his incense blocks, and some charcoal from his room. Putting his ingredients and his light spell in the brazier, a rainbow-esque fume of smoke began wafting out of it.
Climbing up the ladder to his room, Mowgli began considering how he could increase his influence.
Yet, a knock on his door interrupted his musings. "Mowgli dear, who are you talking to?" His mother asked. He heard an excited gasp from the other side of the door. "Do you have a girlfriend over? Am I going to have grand cubs?!"Her voice was giddy in excitement.
"No." Mowgli responded, a bright red shade across his face. "I was just talking to myself."
"Oh..." she sounded extremely disappointed. "We'll come out for breakfast before your father eats all your salmon."
"You got it Ma." He responded, as he quickly shuffled the rug back into place over the symbol of Mystra that was now tinged in gold and seemed embedded into the floor.
Before leaving his room, he quickly scrawled out upon a paper his major plans moving forward.
1. Stop the fall of Beacon
2. Defeat Salem
3. Get Menagerie established as the fifth kingdom
4. Reunite with Blake
5. Defeat the Brother Gods
His heart felt a momentary pang as he looked at his sisters name. Quickly memorizing the contents he grabbed a red fire Dust crystal from his lamp and swiped it across the sheet like a match. The paper instantly caught fire and he tossed the burning sheet into the dust bin in his room.
Mowgli walked to the kitchen table where his father was already spreading some cheese on a bagel and layering pieces is cured salmon on top. The two men of the house had ubiquitously agreed that it was in fact the perfect breakfast.
With a quick "Morning." Mowgli sat down at the table and began mirroring his father's movements. Menagerie may have been a poor and unindustrialized nation, but it was full of skilled laborers and craftsmen. Evidenced by the fact that the people there could still enjoy semi-elaborate meals, regardless of refrigeration technology.
His father finished the food he was chewing before opening his mouth, "So, who was the girl in your room?"
"I was just talking to myself." Mowgli lied.
"I walked by your room before your mother did. I heard her voice, who was she?" He pressed on.
"Would you believe me if I said she was a goddess from another realm asking me to help her kill the Brother Gods?" He asked sarcastically.
Surprisingly, his father nodded "If you told me that was the truth, I'd believe you."
A little shocked at his father's trust, but also warmed by his faith in him, Mowgli considered his next move. He didn't have to keep what had occurred a secret from them, he could trust them. Plus, they of all people deserved to know the truth, and so far, Ao's voice wasn't in his head telling him not to.
"Let's wait till mom joins us, it'll be easier to explain only once." His father nodded his acceptance.
Kali had just finished up in the kitchen and joined them at the breakfast table, however she quickly noted the odd mood at the table.
"Is everything alright, did I overcook the eggs?" She asked looking worried.
"No Ma, it's fine, come sit down, I have something to tell you and dad." Mowgli reassured.
She quietly pulled out a chair next to her husband and sat down at the table.
Mowgli massages his forehead, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on from having to explain his situation over again. He eventually decided where to start.
"Mom, dad, what do you think happens when you die?"
They clearly weren't expecting the conversation to move there. "Well dear, your father and I have always believed that when you pass on you enter the domain of the god of the Faunus and are absolved of your sins." Kali explained.
Mowgli was silent for a moment, "What if I told you I knew someone who had died, but reincarnated, and somehow made it through with their memories intact?"
"We would ask you to introduce us to this individual." His father said gruffly.
Mowgli walked to the cabinet in the corner of the room and brought out the home Aurameter. In Remnant having an Aurameter in the house was about as common as having a thermometer. It could check the amount, stability, and regeneration rate of the Aura to make sure a patient was healthy. The one thing it couldn't check for was its prominence. As such, accurate measurements on the prominence of peoples' souls were non-existent. It was estimated from general surveys of the populous that, only 5% of the population has the capability to unlock their Aura. Then, when compared to the low number of people interested in a nearly Deathwish job, you get a scarily low number of Huntsman, in ratio to population, about 1%. Sure, there were people with unlocked Auras who weren't Huntsmen, but they were few and far between, as having unlocked Aura drew the attention of Grimm. It made sense that the manifestation of your soul would amplify the 'scent' of your emotions once unlocked. It was such an increase in Grimm attraction, that most small towns, and some larger ones, charged a tax on individuals with unlocked Auras, unless they were a soldiers, militia members, or Huntsmen.
He took the device that unsurprisingly ran on Aura alone and stuck his thumb in the test slot while showing the screen to his parents. His regeneration and stability rate was normal, but his Aura read 150.
His mother looked panicked, "Oh my baby, are you sick? We need to get you to the doctor right away!" She spoke frantically.
"Mom, I'm fine. Look at the Aura level, do you notice anything?" Mowgli asked.
"It's much higher than usual, you always had an almost exactly average Aura for a Faunus." His mother said very worried. The fact that Faunus had a lower Aura level to Faunus was often used as a form of pseudoscience, especially during the Great War's propaganda, to justify Faunus inferiority to Humans. Most of it went along the lines of them not having full souls, and therefore not worthy of the same rights as people. Knowing what he did now, Mowgli wished that there was some way that he could give proof to the falsehoods of these claims, from what the system had shown him. People prior to him had made efforts to disprove the propaganda, citing that Faunus were still capable of utilizing Aura in all the same manners as humans, including developing a semblance, though admittedly at a lower level. However, the propaganda had been effective, and was rooted into common culture in many places across Remnant.
"It rose by a hundred." His father noted.
"Exactly." Mowgli confirmed.
His father looked lost in thought before he started muttering. "But a hundred is the average Aura for a human, why did your Aura?... No."
"Yep, he died and plonked straight down into me, us, we're still working on how to refer to ourselves." Mowgli elaborated.
His mother and father leaned back in shock. His father continued his query, "If he reincarnated into you, were you talking to him earlier in your room?"
"No," Mowgli denied, "that was someone else. Basically, for some reason when he reincarnated, we were gifted with a power. That power allows us to call upon gods or goddess and make an agreement of worship in return for magic."
Somehow his parents looked even more shocked. His father spoke, "I know I said I trust you, but this all seems a little..."
"Far-fetched? Like a hit my head? Ate some shrooms? Licked a snail?"
His mother chuckled at that, "Yes dear, would you mind showing us these 'magic tricks' they taught you."
He thought about which spells would be most convincing as magic. Then, without saying a word he sprinted off to his room, and upon checking on the spell, realized that it was almost complete. Grabbing the brazier and carefully returning to the table, he mentally prepared himself for his first bit of 'intense' magic.
"Alright then," he said grinning like a loon. "You want a magic trick? Here's a magic trick!"
The fire in the brazier flared a chromatic hue as it danced in Mowgli's awaiting hands. He moved his bare hands across the fire, seemingly molding it to his desires as he muttered under his breath. "As a follower to Lady Mystra, I invoke her gift to me, and call upon an ally in my time of need. Oh Weave eternal, I seek your aid to Find a Familiar!"
Ghira and Kali Belladonna watched with growing intensity as their son worked, until with a flash of light it was over.
When everyone regained their vision, which took a bit since they were all Faunases... Fauni? Faunae? Just Fauna? They gazed upon the now only smoking brazier. It rattled for a moment before, with a gentle poof of feathers, a beady eyed owl popped out of the pot.
It was a great horned owl, black plumage covered most of it body, all except for the orange highlights around its shining yellow eyes.
"Tah Dah!" Mowgli said while giving a set of jazz hands.
"Hoo~" the owl deeply trilled.
Mowgli's parents sat shellshocked.
Turning to the owl, he considered a name for his familiar. "Merlin? No... Athena? Nah you're a dude. Shadow? Nope, too edgy. Oh! Archimedes!" The owl gave another soft hoot, as though it accepted the name.
Turning back to his parents, he noticed they both were still having trouble picking their jaws up off of the floor.
His mother broke out of her comatose state first, "M-m-magic is real?"
"Yep, magic, and a whole lot of other things." Mowgli nodded. "Speaking of which..." Mowgli pulled out a chair and sat back down at the table.
Lacing his fingers together, as he rested his elbows on the hard oak of the table he spoke softly to his parents. "What's your favorite fairytale?"
AN: I cannot wait to do the lionheart showdown with this OC.
Mowgli: Pettigrew you traitorous rat! I know you betrayed the Potters!
Lionheart: ... um what?
Mowgli: oh my bad, wrong universe. Lionheart you cowardly lion! I know you betrayed Ozpin!
Please let me know what you think in the reviews. Did you want Mystra to have more screen time? less? More world-building? Less? Or do you have something else you want me to add?
Also Yay! I wrote a chapter over 12k words!
If you liked this story, I encourage you to check out my other story "An Artificer's Account of the Boiling Isle's"
I hope you have a good week! BYEEEE!