Author's note: From now on, it's going to be a bit slower, with little to no tension, because all the baddies have been removed from the plot. For now. But luckily, I have my first-ever villain OC coming up in a few chapters, who is going to really cause chaos.
Ryn and Donna were swimming through the arctic ocean, supposedly just looking for an ocean current that followed the right route. The two mermaids fought off some Grimm, then Ryn used her silver eyes to petrify them, giving both mermaids some time to relax.
"Donna," Ryn said.
"Yes?" Donna asked and turned to look at Ryn.
"Sirena has plan," Ryn answered, "Light, many people. Salem, darkness. Light, no darkness. Much light, little darkness. Sirena use trick, make Weiss help."
"Good. Weiss ready," Donna said, "No more words. Now, mission."
"Yes," Ryn said, and they both swam away in different directions. Looking for the right ocean current, Ryn followed one around Solitas, but didn't get where she wanted to go. She then had another idea and swam to Patch, so that she could follow the right current back up north.
~o~
Donna found a cave cut into the glacier and, despite knowing what she had to do, decided to explore it. The ice was cold to the touch, smooth, and shifted through different shades of blue as she made her way deeper into the tunnels. The smooth ice meant that she wouldn't have to worry about bumping into any walls, as she would just slide off of them. After some time, the ice was replaced with stone, and she found herself inside a large cave with a lake in the center. Donna swam to the shore, dragged herself onto the stone floor and reverted back to being Weiss. She created a combat drone to serve as her light source and looked around. She found a glacier wall and, inside the ice, saw several massive skeletons. She thought about what to do, realized she didn't know whether or not these bones were important to archaeologists, and materialized the relic of knowledge.
"Jinn," Weiss said and summoned Jinn. Jinn appeared and stretched herself, then looked around.
"This takes me back. And by that, I mean you," Jinn said and asked, "So, what do you want to know this time?"
"I need to know if anyone would mind if I used these bones," Weiss answered, "I mean, they're the biggest archaeological discovery in the post-war era, but at the same time, using Guardian's Gambit, I could probably create some powerful minions to help fight Grimm."
"Most certainly," Jinn said, "Using Guardian's Gambit on bones gives the minion all the physical properties of the living thing. But yes, the scientific community would like to take a look at those. They are incredibly well preserved, and a few even complete previously incomplete skeletons, thus revealing new species."
"Thanks, Jinn," Weiss said, "But, something tells me you've been here before."
"Well, yes," Jinn said and explained, "This was my hiding place before the Haven vault was built. It used to look a lot nicer here, but I guess time does that to everything."
"Maybe I can do something for you," Weiss said.
"What do you mean?" Jinn asked.
"I can get this place back in shape for you," Weiss answered, "I'll just need to know what it looked like, maybe get some help with some things, but then it'd be back to how it used to be."
"Are you trying that again?" Jinn asked.
"Maybe," Weiss answered.
"No," Jinn said, "You saw what Talia is like. It's not worth it."
"You still owe the world one answer," Weiss said with a smirk. Jinn sighed, lowered herself to the floor and flicked a small stone away. As soon as she no longer touched it, the stone froze in time, and she began explaining how Weiss could contact higher beings.
~o~
Ryn swam around the ocean near a beach on the island of Patch, mostly reminiscing about the past and how many happy holidays Ruby spent on that beach before Summer died. Using her electroreception, Ryn sensed that a boy was about to take a picture of his boyfriend and jumped out of the water in the right moment to end up in the picture as well. When she fell back into the water, she sensed several people being surrounded by Grimm and quickly hurried to save them.
"Somebody, help," one of the surfers called out, sitting on his board as the Razorfin approached. All three surfers wore wet suits, with one boy wearing a green one with white accents, the other one wearing a red one with white accents, and the girl of the group wearing a black one with subtle pink accents. Ryn poked her head out of the water in the middle of the group and unleashed her silver eyes, copying the three people's semblances, and letting them copy her Kindred semblance.
"Thank the gods," the surfer in green said. Before she was noticed, Ryn disappeared under water again and swam away. About a hundred meters off the beach, she spotted an old Vacuo warship from the Great War, which was sunk and got stuck between some rocks. It disrupted an ocean current, causing the organic material suspended in it to cloud around in the area and creating the coral reef this beach was famous for.
~o~
Marrow was walking through Atlas Academy, looking for something to do, when he got a message on his scroll. He checked it and it simply said to come to one of the laboratories in five minutes. At the lab, he saw June waiting for him again.
"Hello, June," Marrow said and asked, "Did you send this message?"
"Hi Marrow. Yes, that was me," June answered and said, "Look, I know you said you weren't interested, but I really like you, and I want this between us to work."
"I… I'm sorry," Marrow said, "For how I treated you, that is. You're a great person, but your approach back there just caught me off guard a little. I'm not… used to this kind of relationship. I've never been in love, or even kissed a girl, and when you just came up to me like that, I guess I was just overwhelmed."
"How about I teach you a thing or two, then?" June asked and said, "No pressure, no responsibility, nothing. Just teaching you the basics so you can go and make your own little… mistakes."
"You know, I think I'd like that," Marrow answered. He didn't know why, but for some reason the idea of a risky workplace romance seemed a lot more appealing to him now than it did before he learned under Sirena.
"Good," June said, "You did pretty well on our first date, so I guess it's time for lesson two." She went in and kissed Marrow, pinning him against the wall. He was hesitant at first, but then gave in and enjoyed it. June's orange-glowing claws traced over his body, giving off an exhilarating warmth, and Marrow couldn't think straight any more. However, he realized that, for the moment, he didn't want to think at all.
~o~
Ryn poked her head out of the water by the Atlas harbor, looked around a bit and caught Marinus' attention. The foreman looked at her and shook his head.
"The world keeps getting stranger," Marinus said with a chuckle.
"I am Ryn," Ryn said, "Ryn talk Robyn Hill. Important."
"Sorry, I don't think she'll just take calls from mermaids," Marinus said.
"Wall good, faster," Ryn said, "Important."
"Alright, I'll give it a try," Marinus said. He pulled out his scroll and called Robyn.
"Hello?" Robyn asked.
"Hello Miss Hill," Marinus answered and said, "This is Marinus Rosmarus, foreman at the Atlas harbor. I have a little something for you."
"What is it?" Robyn asked and said, "And make it quick, I don't have all day. The wall is still not finished, and we're running out of materials."
"That's why I'm calling," Marinus said and answered, "Apparently, there is a mermaid here that can help."
"A mermaid?" Robyn asked and said, "Look, I'll give you one chance to prove it, but just because the world is getting crazier every day and at this point, not even a talking dog would surprise me."
"Hold up," Marinus said, turned on video chat and held his scroll to face Ryn. Ryn raised her body so that all of it could be seen on the ocean's surface.
"By the gods," Robyn said, "You weren't lying." Ryn lowered her body back into the water, as it was getting difficult to keep herself suspended like that.
"I am Ryn," Ryn said, "Ruby and shark, become one, become Ryn. Ryn semblance, strong. Copy animal ability. Fiona copy Ryn semblance, breathe like fish in water, fly like bird in air. Survive, always. Ryn copy Fiona semblance, absorb matter. Both help, more materials. Wall good, faster."
"Well, alright," Robyn said, "We'll be there as fast as possible."
"Wait," Ryn said, "More people. Military, Ace Operatives, soldiers, stronger. Help all, good."
"Fine," Robyn said begrudgingly, then hung up. Ryn dove into the ocean again and Marinus returned to his work.
~o~
Yang and Blake walked up to Jaune, who was sitting in the break room and having a break before he continued fighting the Grimm that were still drawn towards Mantle. They didn't make it into the city, thanks to the combat drones, but it was still good to keep in shape and make sure the drones didn't have to do all the work, so they would last longer.
"Hey Jaune," Yang said and sat down next to him, with Blake sitting down next to her.
"Hey guys," Jaune said and asked, "And, how did it go?"
"You mean against Tyrian?" Yang asked and answered, "Great. Somehow Tock is back, and those two get along super well."
"Wait, you mean the one who took Maria's eyes?" Jaune asked, "What happened?"
"That's the one," Yang answered, "I had an idea to have them fuse, and Blake helped me out. Then we fused into Bumblebee and brought their fusion out of the kingdom."
"Somehow we ended up in the swamp region south of Argus," Blake said.
"You had them fuse?" Jaune asked in shock, "Why? And how did it turn out?"
"I wanted to see how well that would work," Yang answered, "Apparently, pretty well. For them. Also, they have genetically modified traits or something, and Tyrian can now produce poison gas from his tail."
"Are you alright?" Jaune asked.
"Of course," Yang answered, "We ran into Ilia, and our three-way fusion beat those two to a pulp."
"You do realize that I heard everything you two thought, right?" Blake asked. Yang rubbed the back of her head and chuckled.
"Sorry," Yang said.
"Anyway, Jaune," Blake said, "The reason we're telling you all this is because, well, Ilia told us about the situation in Argus."
"Really? How is it?" Jaune asked.
"Apparently, there is a disease outbreak," Blake answered, "The sewer rats died, so now the parasites are targeting the people. The military helps the doctors and such, and there are clay soldiers protecting the city."
"How?" Jaune asked.
"I checked on our way back here," Yang answered, "And apparently, Terra and Saphron are working together to keep the city safe."
"Wait, what?" Jaune asked and said, "But, they don't have any training. They can't even generate their own aura."
"They can now, apparently," Blake said.
"This has Sirena written all over it," Jaune said and got a bit angry, "She just uses people for her own gain, sometimes even her own amusement, and doesn't think once about how she makes them feel."
"I don't know," Yang said, "I mean, sure, she does some weird stuff, and maybe I'm biased because she has silver eyes like Ruby and Summer, but I don't think she has bad intentions. She couldn't have known there would be a disease outbreak, and we don't even know if she is responsible for Saphron and Terra learning to use their semblances. I think she did this to protect people."
"Then why did she hide it from us?" Jaune asked.
"Because that's how she's always done things," Blake answered, "She kept her silver eyes a secret from everyone, until Ruby started telling everyone about them to give them hope. I think Sirena just wants things to go smoothly, but make people think they're the ones saving themselves, rather than her saving them. That way, they get more confident in their own strength, and that combats fear, which would attract Grimm."
"Doesn't she normally present herself as great savior?" Yang asked, "Why change her approach so suddenly?"
"I think it's because of Ruby," Jaune answered, "She's becoming a better strategist, so Sirena wants to put some things in place to make it seem like Ruby is much better than she actually is, which gives people hope that she has a plan."
"Should we, you know, try and do something ourselves?" Yang asked.
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.
"We could try and figure out her plan," Yang answered, "And then plan around that to make sure people stay safe."
"It would be pretty difficult," Jaune said, "I mean, we don't even know what her end goal is."
"I say it's world domination," Blake said, "She wants to protect people, and the best way to do that would be to make sure she has as much influence as possible."
"And she's already trying to reinstate monarchy in Atlas," Jaune said, "I guess you're onto something there."
"So, how do we stop her?" Yang asked. Suddenly, the door opened.
"Stop whom?" Sirena asked and entered the room.
"Salem," Jaune answered nervously.
"Don't worry," Sirena said, "I have a plan for that."
"What kind of plan?" Yang asked.
"If you can figure it out on your own, I'll let you help," Sirena answered.
"Shouldn't you help repair the wall?" Jaune asked.
"They're out of resources for now," Sirena answered, "But I'm on my way back there, since Ruby and Weiss are bringing new materials as we speak." She turned around and walked away, leaving Yang, Blake and Jaune to themselves, and they were somewhat confused why Sirena's silver eyes didn't affect them.
~o~
Ryn swam around in the Atlas harbor and saw Weiss jumping off a Queen Lancer before turning into Donna again. The Happy Huntresses and Ace-Ops all arrived at the harbor and boarded a small ship that could hold all of them, and which had an under water observation deck that could fit all of them.
"Clover," Robyn said, still a bit upset with the Ace-Ops because they didn't help Mantle sooner.
"Hey Robyn," Clover said, "Sorry about not helping out sooner, we were… kind of stupid."
"To put it mildly," Joanna said.
"Quiet," Ryn said, "Mission, now." The group left the harbor and Ryn lured in some Grimm by building up sadness. The boat stopped in the middle of nowhere, and the people on board gathered in the observation deck, with Fiona getting a front row seat to make sure she copied Ryn's semblance. Everyone stared in disbelief at Ryn, watching her swiftly move through the water. When the Grimm showed up, Ryn swam around the boat for a bit, making the Grimm follow her and surround the vessel. She then turned around and sunk her claws and teeth into the monsters, ripping them to shreds like a vicious beast. When she was done showing off, Ryn activated her silver eyes, using Maria's method, and petrified the Grimm. While the Grimm sank to the ocean floor, Ryn swam to the surface and poked her head out of the water. The others came up as well and Fiona leaned over the handrail.
"So, what now?" Fiona asked.
"Fiona, Ryn, dive," Ryn answered, "Get ships, help wall."
"I don't think it's that good of and idea for me to go swimming," Fiona said, "I can't breathe under water, and it's too cold for me."
"Fiona copy Ryn semblance," Ryn answered, "Copy animal ability. Breathe water, no cold. Work, no thought. Stay alive, always."
"What?" Fiona asked. Suddenly, Ryn jumped up and dragged Fiona under water.
"Fiona!" Robyn said, and most people on board wanted to jump in after her, but Fiona came back up and didn't seem that bothered by the cold.
"This is incredible," Fiona said, "As soon as I hit the water, the semblance sprung into action and copied the abilities of the Atlesian cod, so now I'm immune to the cold, can breathe under water, move around like I'm flying, and I even have infrared vision." Ryn came up again.
"Ryn sorry," Ryn said.
"It's fine," Fiona said, "Now, let's get going. Or, you know, swimming." She dove towards the ocean floor, and Ryn turned to the others.
"Go. Mantle, danger," Ryn said, "Grimm, north-east." She then followed Fiona and caught up with her, and both swam to where Donna was collecting ship wrecks. When Fiona touched down on the ocean floor, she looked around in awe. The area was littered with broken-down weapons from sunken ships, and dust crates were scattered on the floor. The lighting conditions were close to a cloudy full moon night at the surface, and Fiona couldn't imagine how much darker it would get further down. She wasn't even sure if she could see anything without her natural night vision. While she was still taking in everything, Ryn swam away to start absorbing smaller objects.
"This is incredible," Fiona said as she looked around.
"Yes," Donna said and swam up to Fiona from behind. Fiona whirled around and materialized her weapon when she saw the other mermaid, startled by her sudden appearance and monstrous form. Donna swam around Fiona, who fired a few bolts into the water. Donna dodged the slow-moving projectiles and charged at Fiona, who barely had time to block the attack. She was knocked back like it was nothing, and Donna attacked again. Fiona swung her weapon to hit her with the bladed ends. Donna deflected the strike with her sword-like nose. Fiona could barely move her, but Donna punched her in the gut. Fiona stumbled backwards and Donna charged at her again.
"No," Ryn called out and slammed into Donna.
"Ryn? Why she here?" Donna asked and looked at Fiona.
"Fiona help," Ryn answered, "No fight."
"Donna sorry," Donna said, "Shark mind, strong. Deep sea, most thing, food, rest enemy. No friend."
"It's fine," Fiona said, "Noone got hurt, so no hard feelings. Now, let's get to work." She went to absorb a large warship, Ryn went back to absorbing smaller objects, and Donna swam to another ship to absorb it.
~o~
Maria was riding a tundra bear through the tundra, looking for Grimm, with help from some members of Sophie's swarm. Her semblance picked up a penguin in danger a bit away from them, and she pulled the bear's fur to direct him towards the creature. They arrived to see a penguin stuck between two ice chunks, and Maria hopped off the bear to free the flightless bird.
"Don't worry, little guy," Maria said, "I've got you." Just as she freed the penguin, a group of Centinel came out of the ground around them, and Maria unleashed her silver eyes to petrify them all. Unbeknownst to her, Sirena had chucked a light blue angel's tear through a portal, resulting in Maria copying three semblances at once. The penguin waddled away and Maria sat down on the bear's shoulders again. The bear trudged off and headed to a military outpost, where Maria entered her soul core. It was an island in the middle of an endless sea of chaos, and most of the island was occupied by a fort with a dojo in the center. She went inside to a wall plastered with wooden plates, which had different people's emblems etched into them, and looked for the new ones. She found one that looked like a penguin skull, and when she touched it, she felt a sensation like sledding down a hill. She touched an emblem resembling a bear's head and felt a certain warmth wash over her, as if she was wearing a fur coat that had hung over a radiator. Then she noticed another emblem. It was a circle with a pentagram in it, and each corner of the pentagram had a circle on it, with a square surrounding the small circles. Maria touched the emblem.
"One man's trash is my treasure," a mischievous and slightly gloating female voice said, and Maria felt a wave of energy wash over her as if she just found a large pile of gold. She returned to the waking world and put her right hand on the chair next to her. She focused a little, and the chair turned into gold. She tried again, and the chair turned into wood. Then she turned the chair into glass, iron, steel, carbon, and her aura ran out.
"I'm sure I can use this to my advantage," Maria said to herself, "I just need something to transmute. Luckily I know where I can find all the stone I need." She looked outside and focused, trying to locate Grimm from farther away while her aura regenerated.
~o~
Two massive cargo ships sunk to the bottom of the ocean, with an army of aquatic Grimm following them. Drawn in by their red glow, deep sea animals came looking for free food. As soon as the Grimm noticed the animals, they attacked, still under the effects of Ilia's semblance. Ghost eels, nearly transparent predators, sunk their jagged glass-like teeth into the Grimm in defense. Colossal squids grappled the enemies with their barb-adorned tentacles. The hungry tide, a large cluster of tiny fish, washed over the Grimm, ripping them to shreds in passing. A sea dragon swam up to the Grimm, using his large wing-like back fins for speed and the smaller fins for maneuvering. The remains of a child's rib stuck in his right eye, but even without depth perception, he was still dangerous. As the Grimm attacked him, he rolled to the side and exhaled a cloud of chlorine gas. The Grimm swam into the cloud and died shortly after. The sea dragon turned around and exhaled another cloud, wafting it into the other fighting groups with his wing fins. He dodged an attack by a ghost eel and bit the animal's head off. A Sea Feilong tried to bite his head off, but the sea dragon dashed backwards and left a chlorine gas cloud for the Grimm to swallow. All throughout that area of the ocean, Grimm and animals were killing each other. The sea dragon swam up to a colossal squid and blew a large cloud of chlorine gas into its beak and dropped an egg, just before the massive predator bit its head off, and both creatures died.
"Alright, move in," Sirena ordered from within her invisibility field, and her royal guards charged the dwindling masses. She began ordering her people in old Soraklian, which sounded more like singing, while she also fought off the animals and Grimm.
"Sector three secured, Your Highness," a woman said after a few minutes, and petrified Grimm littered the area.
"Well done," Sirena said, "Make sure the alchemists have enough to work with."
"Yes, Your Highness," the woman said and swam away again. All around the cargo ships, silver eyes lit up the dark sea for a few seconds, and Grimm turned to stone. Looking around, Sirena felt a bit bad about having lied to Ruby. She had known this would be a massacre, but for the real New Light Protocol to be enacted, Sirena needed more resources, including food for her people. Both for the current population, and the planned one. She would save Remnant, one way or another.
Author's note: Marrow is getting some action. Granted, he's not exactly himself right now, but in court, everyone who has worked with him long enough, like the other Ace-Ops or Winter, can truthfully say that they didn't notice a change in his personality.
Back after V5, I had actually planned to have Ruby copy the Transmutation semblance, and then refuse to help Ironwood unless they did things her way. Her reason for that was that, so far, things have worked out when done her way, while Ironwood's biggest decision at that point had seriously backfired, and instead of keeping Vale safe, he destroyed the city, divided mankind, and almost started another Great War, so he has not the best track record when it comes to making plans against Salem. Then Maria showed up, and I got another idea.