Author's note: This chapter will show some things about Sirena, among others. It also shows one of the new abilities Jaune has unlocked through training his aura.
After fusing with Sirena, Weiss opened her eyes and looked around. She was still in the cave, but her neck felt somehow strange, yet not bad. She slowly reached for it, but as soon as she touched the sides, she felt like she was drowning.
"I would avoid doing that, if I were you," Sirena said mentally.
"Wh- what are we?" Weiss asked mentally.
"I am inclined to go with Aurora," Sirena answered, "Beautiful from afar, yet a powerful, unstoppable force of nature that will wipe out all in its path if they are not prepared."
"True, auroras are beautiful," Weiss said, "But I don't know about that other part."
"Trust me, it is true," Sirena said.
"Well, it's a pretty name in any case, so I guess it's settled," Weiss said. She realized that she saw the world in much more details, and colors, than before, and a wave of Sirena's memories washed over her. Weiss saw Sirena's visit to an optometrist, who found out that Sirena had four rods for colors in her eyes, as opposed to the normal three, and her eyes were so good that the conventional measurement system couldn't even be applied. They then visited their fusion's soul core, and Weiss caught a glimpse of Sirena's oldest continuous memory, which was of a midwife holding her and announcing that it was a healthy baby girl. Aurora walked over to the body of water and looked inside. She had shoulder-long, light brown hair, which was mostly kept open but had two small braids starting in the middle and going around either side of her head, and silver eyes. She wore a dark blue dress that took on lighter shades further down and was longer on the back side, almost touching the ground. Aurora let herself fall forward, and as soon as her fingertips breached the water's surface, her hydrographic sense mapped out most of the cave system. Weiss realized that the cave was filled with crystal corals, dangerous aquatic organisms whose outer layer consists of microscopic flakes made of all kinds of materials, which will explode off the coral if anything makes contact, shredding everything they come into contact with. The corals were covered in flakes of all colors and patterns, making them as beautiful as they are dangerous. She suddenly realized that, under any other circumstance, she would freak out. They were in the Entrance to Hell, the most dangerous cave in all of Remnant. Noone who entered it ever came out again, and noone knows what the cave looks like in full. A natural labyrinth, covered in crystal corals. If so much as a single hair touched these things, it would trigger a chain reaction that would turn them into a fine red paste. Aurora's wrists disappeared under water.
"Just relax, and let me take the lead," Sirena said, "I've done this countless times before." Weiss relaxed and let Sirena take the lead, following along with whatever she suggested they do. She trusted her fully.
~o~
Down in Mantle, an Atlas military police aircraft dropped off a man near a dark alleyway. He was still unaware of the tiny summon Weiss had placed on him, got off and the door closed again as the aircraft prepared for take-off.
"Thanks for the lift," the man said as the aircraft departed, and headed into the alleyway. Under a flickering light, he saw Tyrian, who grinned at him devilishly.
"Hello," Tyrian said, and the man took a step back.
"Who are you?" The man asked.
"I'm like you," Tyrian answered, "I'm someone who… likes to shake things up a bit." Before Tyrian could poison the man with his stinger, the tiny Life-Stealer paralyzed him. The man looked at Tyrian fall to the ground, and Tock ran him through from behind with her sword. She sheathed her weapon and knelt down next to Tyrian, trying to get her communicator to work.
"Arthur, we've got a problem!" Tock shouted, "Arthur, answer me Gods damned! Arthur, Tyrian's down! Arthur, come on, answer!" After the Life-Stealer listened to her a little, it paralyzed her too, then grew to its full size and covered the man in webs to stop the bleeding. After the man was in a cocoon, the summon made its fangs glow light green and sunk them into the webbing, pumping a potent mutagen into the cocoon. An hour after being paralyzed, Tyrian and Tock woke up again and looked around.
"What happened?" Tyrian asked.
"Something hit ya, and ya dropped dead," Tock answered and asked, "Now, what in the world makes those webs?" She kicked the torn cocoon, which was mostly a squishy sludge.
"Life-Stealers," Tyrian answered, "I'd rather not meet them. They're Grimm, but assholes. Our Goddess made them to combat Ozpin's army a few centuries ago, but they were too powerful, and rebelled against her." Suddenly, they heard Ruby behind themselves.
"Assholes?" Ruby asked, "Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"Looks like it's my lucky day," Tyrian said, and he and Tock turned around, only to see a dark alleyway. The Life-Stealer became visible right in front of them, and they both jumped back. Tock set her stop watch and activated her semblance, then rushed in to fight.
"Try paralyzin' me now!" Tock shouted. The Life-Stealer shot an energy beam at her, disabling her semblance, and caught her weapons on its fangs.
"A Schnee summon?" Tyrian asked in shock, "How?" The Life-Stealer flung Tock into him. Tock created a hard-light armor in the shape of an anthropomorphic crocodile, and both went on the attack. The Life-Stealer jumped up and clung to the nearest wall, looking down on them. It prepared another ranged attack. Tyrian shoved Tock away and jumped out of the way himself, just as the blast shot towards them. The attack hit the ground and acid burned a large hole into the concrete, as well as the layers under it, all the way into the sewers. The summon targeted Tyrian with its next shot. Tyrian jumped out of the way and the projectile hit a Sabyr. The Grimm dropped to the ground and started writhing in agony. Tock jumped towards the Life-Stealer. The summon hit her with a projectile and extended one of its legs, disabling her armor and piercing her right shoulder. Tyrian let out an angry scream and charged at the summon. The Life-Stealer tossed Tock towards Tyrian, who had to stop his attack to not accidentally hit Tock with his weapons.
"This is no place for the likes of you," the Life-Stealer said before it crawled into the sewers.
"Arthur, we have a problem," Tyrian said, "Tock is injured."
"So now you answer," Arthur said, "Tock called me over an hour ago, and when she finally let go of the send button, she didn't answer. Where are you, and what happened?"
"The Schnee family," Tyrian answered, "They have Life-Stealers." Arthur was silent for a whole minute, then told Tyrian where they could meet someone to treat Tock's injuries.
~o~
Aurora rushed through the cave at breakneck speed, elegantly evading the corals, twisting, turning and spinning to follow the cave's every turn. After a few minutes, Weiss noticed the skeleton of a clownfish faunus diver up ahead.
"I have an idea," Weiss said, "Let's use Guardian's Gambit on that skeleton to make it protect the cave if any Grimm come here. Plus, if it dies after three months, it will spawn three new minions."
"You're starting to think like a proper huntress," Sirena said, "But let's add some water-goo so the skeleton adapts to the environment."
"Sounds good," Weiss said and asked, "But, what do you mean by me thinking like a proper huntress?" Aurora turned the skeleton into a mermaid-like minion, coated in light blue energy and with the legs forming a single fin.
"You see a way to fight Grimm, and do it," Sirena answered, "That's what a huntress should be doing every waking moment of her life." Aurora created another minion, this time from a shark faunus skeleton.
"So, what do I tell my friends why we fused?" Weiss asked.
"Good questions," Sirena answered and asked, "Why not the truth?"
"Because I'm not ready to tell them the truth," Weiss answered, "I'm afraid they'll think I was overreacting or something."
"Well, we can change the truth," Sirena said, "If we have my people copy our semblance, you can tell your friends that that was the reason why we fused."
"By the way, what is our semblance?" Weiss asked.
"Let's see," Sirena answered. Aurora focused and extended her arms forward, and a large orb of white energy manifested in front of her palms. A small group of Lurkjaw swam up to her, and as soon as the Grimm got within fifty meters of the orb, it began shooting energy projectiles at them.
"Neat," Weiss said.
"I know," Sirena said, "It can fire one hundred shots before it disappears, but regenerates one every minute if it doesn't shoot anything for five minutes." The orb killed the entire pack of Grimm and remained largely unchanged, and Aurora swam north.
"How do you know that?" Weiss asked.
"One of my semblances, Knowledge Exchange," Sirena answered, "It tells me as much about someone else as they know about me, and since Aurora knows everything about my semblance, it tells me everything about hers."
"Wow, this could come in handy," Weiss said and asked, "Can I have it?"
"No," Sirena answered, "In fact, I'd rather you don't know this at all. The fewer people know that I have this semblance, the better. So far, only Ruby knows that I have it, aside from the two of us. I'd like to keep it that way. Also, a lot of people know your name and face, and while the semblance's drawbacks would likely protect you, the risk is just too big."
"What risk?" Weiss asked, "Also, what drawbacks?"
"The drawbacks are simple," Sirena answered, "If you used this semblance at a time you would have forgotten the information about someone if you had used it immediately, you won't learn that information. For example, everyone who saw you in the tournament knows your semblance. If you had used Knowledge Exchange back then, you wouldn't remember theirs now, so you won't learn them now."
"But you never forget anything, right?" Weiss asked.
"Exactly, and that brings me to the second drawback," Sirena answered, "If a lot of people learn something about you at the same time, and you use this semblance, it will tell you something about a lot of people at once. I spent three days with a paralyzing migraine when I first used this semblance."
"And you don't want me to know anything about you, right?" Weiss asked.
"Partly, yes," Sirena answered, "I only want you to know what I need you to know, when I need you to know it." Aurora kept swimming through the ocean, heading north-west at incredible speed.
~o~
Aurora stopped near a coral reef off the coast of Patch, hovering in the water. She used Guardian's Gambit several times to create fifty sharks made from corals, and then used Emphatic Beacon and Deathzone on them, scaring Grimm away and harming them if they come too close, with both semblances lasting three months.
"This is amazing," Weiss said telepathically, "Normally I'd run out of aura ten times over by now, but I feel like I could do anything."
"I know," Sirena said, "My training with Argent allows me to draw ambient aura from the water around me. Anyway, there is something else I want to show you. This way." Aurora swam to a cluster of sponges and watched one of them. A parrot fish approached one of the sponges, and in the blink of an eye, the sponge turned into an octopus, grabbed the fish, bit off its head and covered it, then turned into a sponge again.
"What… was that?" Weiss asked.
"A mimic octopus," Sirena answered, "Usually they camouflage for defense. But recently, they've learned to use it as a hunting strategy as well. Anyway, come, I want to show you something else." Aurora swam over to a pile of rocks, and watched. Suddenly, one of the rocks lunged forward and swallowed a clownfish before it knew what was happening. Weiss just stared in shock as the stonefish returned to its unassuming disguise as part of the scenery.
"And that?" Weiss asked.
"Stonefish," Sirena answered, "They're ambush predators, able to take out their prey before it knows what's happening. Without my perfect memory, we wouldn't be able to see anything, as your brain wouldn't be able to process this information in time to realize what was happening, causing it to delete that information."
"Why would my brain do that?" Weiss asked.
"Because it wouldn't have enough information to process," Sirena answered, "It all happens in a split second, and that is not enough time for your brain to register anything. It's like that test where images flash up for such a short time that you don't have time to remember anything, so you don't see anything at all."
"Wait, does that mean you have better reflexes, too?" Weiss asked.
"Of course," Sirena answered, "Also, due to my training, I can strike so fast that my enemy's aura has no time to react. It is a huge pain in most of my body, and the friction heat damages my aura, so it's a last resort, but I can, in theory, bypass someone's aura. But in any case, let's show you the deep sea."
"Do I have to see it?" Weiss asked and said, "The ocean up here is sufficiently scary for me."
"That's where my people are," Sirena answered, "And we have to have them copy our semblance to give you an excuse to fuse with me."
"Alright, fine," Weiss said. Aurora began swimming back up north, heading towards a deep, seemingly bottomless ocean trench.
~o~
Aurora sunk towards the endless darkness, and pulled out a thermometer to see that the water got colder by the second. After a while, the thermometer burst from the pressure.
"That is incredible," Weiss said, "I think I'm the first human to ever see this."
"You are," Sirena said.
"Hold up, what's this?" Weiss asked and said, "Let's go check it out."
"Alright, if you're sure," Sirena said. Aurora swam over towards a small light hovering in the blackness. Just as she was about to reach it, another small light swam up to it and was promptly swallowed. Aurora's hydrographic sense told her that a large fish, almost the size of an adult human, had lunged forward and eaten the smaller fish.
"What the? How? What? Why?" Weiss asked, staring in shock.
"Angler fish," Sirena answered, "Their lure emits light to attract smaller fish, which think it's a potential mate, and its skin absorbs all the light it gives off, making them invisible in this environment."
"Angler fish?" Weiss asked in shock and said, "But… small."
"Don't worry, they're harmless," Sirena said, "Relatively speaking. Now come, we got a bit more to go."
"Alright," Weiss said, a bit uncertain if she really wanted to go on.
"Don't worry, I'll keep us both safe," Sirena said. Aurora sank further down and saw a massive fish, covered in small blue glowing spots. It swam past a cave and an eel shot out trying to eat it, but it turned out to be a swarm of tiny fish moving as one, pretending to be a single massive creature. The fish evaded the predator and stopped glowing, and Aurora followed them by tracking their fear. She touched the glowing fish as they swam around her, then moved on. A while later, she found another school of fish like that. An eel swam up to try and eat some of the smaller fish, but it turned out that it was a single fish pretending to be many smaller ones to attract food. Aurora activated Sirena's semblance, making her aura glow enough that she could see in the dark.
"So, this is this faunus night vision, right?" Weiss asked.
"Sort of," Sirena answered, "My people are used to complete darkness, as opposed to what is known as pitch black on the surface. Even faunus who have night vision on the surface would have as much trouble down here as you have on a cloudy new moon night." Aurora swam up to a cleaver shark, a dangerous aquatic predator with a flat and elongated nose, which had serrated spikes standing off to the side, with which it could cut through any natural armor. The shark, part of Sophie's swarm, swam around Aurora, and she turned around to keep eye contact with it.
"What now?" Weiss asked.
"Now we'll help you survive under water without me," Sirena answered, "And turn you into a mermaid."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Weiss asked.
"It'll let you keep up with Ruby in ways noone else can," Sirena answered, "You can be there for her when noone else can." Weiss thought about it for a bit.
"Alright, how do we do it?" Weiss asked.
"Simple," Sirena answered.
"Sophie Weber," Aurora said, looking at the shark, "My name is Aurora, I come in the name of Sirena Blue to ask you to repay the debt you owe her. Release this shark's soul and have it aid Weiss Schnee in her travels, and your debt shall be paid." The shark went limp and Aurora plucked half a dozen of its razor-sharp, inwardly curved teeth.
"What was that?" Weiss asked.
"One of my more… powerful semblances, Pact," Sirena answered, "It allows me to help people, for a price. I prefer not to use it, but sometimes I do. I can either ask for something right away, or wait until later, like I did here."
"But, what are its limits?" Weiss asked, "I mean, stripping a soul from a creature and transferring it to someone else is a pretty big deal, so what are the limitations of this semblance?"
"It only has one limitation," Sirena answered, "Both parties have to agree to the deal. Other than that, it can do anything to make sure both parties get what they want. That is why I don't use it too often. If Salem knew I had this semblance, she would feel threatened, and send stronger minions to kill Ruby and I. Right now I am in control of the situation, even though Salem thinks she is. If she knew she wasn't, she would try harder, and I don't know if I could compete with her if she goes all out."
"I see," Weiss said, "Still, that semblance is pretty powerful."
"It is, yes," Sirena said, "But in any case, we have one more stop before I bring you back to Atlas." Aurora sunk further to the bottom, and eventually touched down in what looked like a field of sea weed. She turned off Sirena's semblance to not accidentally kill the plants, and looked around. The plants looked either dead, ugly, or both, but were very much alive. Half a dozen Soraklian royal guards swam up to her, all wearing light padded armor and wielding all manner of combination weapons.
"Who are you?" One of the guards asked.
"Aurora," Aurora answered, "I am a fusion involving your queen, and I come to let you copy my semblance, Combat Drone."
"Of course, thank you," the guard said, and the group swam to the outer reaches of the kingdom to find some Grimm. After Aurora petrified the Grimm with her silver eyes, she bid her farewells to the guards and returned to the surface. On the way, Weiss shared Aurora's semblance with herself.
~o~
Aurora approached the ocean's surface at incredible speed, and jumped out of the water just outside of Atlas' borders. She broke the sound barrier and shot towards an open window in Atlas Academy. The full moon was high up in the sky, and Weiss realized that she went from southern Anima to the west of Vale, the bottom of the ocean and back in a matter of hours. Aurora slipped through the open window and activated Sirena's semblance, coating herself in air. A janitor barely missed her and went to close the window. Aurora slid through the hallways, moving like a figure skater, and stopped in front of the door to the dorm room Team RWBY was staying in. She split up and Sirena handed Weiss the shark teeth before leaving.
~o~
Late at night, Jaune and Pyrrha were astral projecting to walk around in Atlas Academy unhindered, to try and figure out what Sirena did during their meeting the previous day. Jaune focused on the ambient aura, and all the ripples left in it. He heard the sound of wind, which turned into incomprehensible whispers. After a few seconds, a group of auras appeared in the room.
"I told them what you said. What you did. They know," Sirena said, "If you think I banned my people from entering Atlesian waters to spite you, you are sorely mistaken. I did it to protect you."
"I… I don't know what to say," General Ironwood said after a long silence.
"Don't say anything, then," Sirena said, "In fact, forget that last part." Sirena's aura flared up shortly, and everyone in the room was confused for a few seconds.
"And, what happened?" Pyrrha asked after Jaune returned to the present.
"Looks like Sirena erased our memories," Jaune answered, "Also, she seems to really care about Atlas. Or at least said she does."
"So, she said she protected Atlas?" Pyrrha asked, "But then, why did she erase everyone's memories?"
"I don't know," Jaune answered and said, "Everything she's said and done so far points towards her hating Atlas, and she seemed to not want anyone to know how she really felt about the kingdom. I guess we'll have to ask Ruby." Jaune and Pyrrha returned to Jaune's body and spent the rest of the night in their dream, sparring and working on their aura manipulation techniques.
~o~
It was late at night, and a few Atlas scientist were working overtime on a new weapon. One of them, a bulky human with short white hair and orange eyes, looked over the files and calculations for the weapon system. He wore the standard white lab coat, pants and shoes.
"Everything in order here," the man said and asked, "What about you, Doctor Acacia?" Another scientist looked up from a screen. She wore her black hair in a ponytail, and had green eyes.
"Perfect," Dr. Acacia answered and said, "Thank you for helping me, Doctor Oak. I know this is probably not how you imagined to spend your night, but this matter cannot be delayed further."
"You're welcome," Dr. Oak said, "Besides, you're an inspiration for us all."
"How so?" Dr. Acacia asked and went back to checking the aura accumulation devices on the weapon.
"You came out of nowhere," Dr. Oak answered, "Just some girl from the slums, and now you're one of Atlas' smartest."
"You can pick up a lot when noone pays attention to you," Dr. Acacia said, "Besides, we had to survive somehow, and Atlas wasn't helping a whole lot."
"Is this why you came up with this weapon?" Dr. Oak asked.
"Yes," Dr. Acacia answered, "A weapon anyone can use, even without combat experience or an active aura, will revolutionize the fight against the Grimm and provide an advantage unlike any other since the discovery of dust." Suddenly, the speakers in the corners of the room came to life.
"Sorry to burst your bubble," Talia's voice came out of the speakers, "But I have other plans. And orders." Talia made the computers go crazy and corrupted the files a little.
"What? No!" Dr. Acacia shouted and tried to save the project.
"What are you doing?" Dr. Oak asked, half shouting at the ceiling.
"Sorry, orders from the top," Talia answered.
"You… you'll pay for this!" Dr. Acacia shouted, extended her wolverine claws and used her semblance to disrupt Talia's. Dr. Oak hid behind a desk as Talia manifested in the laboratory.
"Wait, what?" Talia asked, shortly before taking a five-finger strike with orange glowing claws to the chest. The incendiary-dust explosion launched her backwards and through a wall.
"What is going on?" Dr. Oak asked.
"Die!" Dr. Acacia shouted and jumped at Talia, her claws glowing bright orange. Talia jumped out of the way and ducked under the next furious swipe. Dr. Acacia slashed at her again. Talia jumped up and over the doctor. Suddenly, a portal opened near the two of them, and a couple dozen Beringel came flying out of it.
"Guards, help!" Dr. Oak shouted into a communicator, "Grimm in laboratory zeta!" Dr. Acacia immediately focused all her rage on the Grimm, and Talia stumbled backwards as Sulfis took over again. Just as half a dozen guards showed up in the corridor, Sulfis unleashed a burst of white light, petrifying the last remaining Beringel. Dr. Acacia pulled her smoldering claws from the petrified Grimm's chest and looked at Sulfis. She retracted her claws and looked at the small silver-eyed warrior in awe.
"Who… are you?" Dr. Acacia asked.
"Sulfis. Talia made me to protect her," Sulfis answered, and Dr. Acacia froze.
"That girl is under your protection?" Dr. Acacia asked, "I had no idea. Please, can you forgive me?"
"Sure thing," Sulfis answered.
"Thank you," Dr. Acacia said and asked, "But, why did she hinder our progress with the weapon?"
"I do not know," Sulfis answered, "But she had her reasons. Do not question them."
"Of course," Dr. Acacia said.
"Good," Sulfis said, "Now, I'll take a nap, until Talia needs me again." Her eyes turned light blue again, and her aura regenerated Talia's mouse tail. Talia wobbled around a bit, but then managed to regain her balance and just walked away, past the guards, who still had no idea what had just happened.
Author's note: Sirena can see colors others can't. She actually prefers pictures of herself over mirrors, because pictures or screens only emit the colors the people on the surface can see, which gets rid of some of the colors she doesn't like.
Aurora's design is meant to look majestic under water, even though it looks kind of weird on land.
Luckily Raven had to dispose of some Grimm just now. Total coincidence.
And yes, Dr. Acacia is part of Sophie's swarm. The reason why she's so smart is because the swarm includes 3 of Atlas' top scientists, but they're retired by now. However, the entire swarm can now build a rocket launcher with nothing but a banana peel, some tape, and a rocket launcher.
Originally I had planned to have Weiss make Aurora share the guards' semblances with herself, but they're all silver-eyed warriors, and royal guards, so their semblances are made for combat, and I don't want Weiss to have 6 different semblances that give her an advantage in combat like Sirena's or Maria's semblances.