Author's note: Now, for less end-of-the-world-y stuff.
After Ruby petrified the Wyvern, and a couple other Grimm, she felt her strength dwindle rapidly and passed out. With her last bit of strength, she focused on Sirena's sorrow over her dead people and separated her soul from her body. She looked around to see if she had succeeded, and immediately saw more silver-eyed warriors than she had ever seen in one place before. Then, a fourth one showed up. She looked around and saw more and more silver-eyed warriors show up, coming out of houses that seemed poorly put together, and no matter where she looked, the people wore very little clothing. Most houses were constructed from rope, sail, and wooden boards as support, with only a few imposing buildings. After the initial culture shock wore off, she realized that the people seemed to look at her, or at least in her direction. Some people walked away, and guards came to form a circle around her. One of the guards said something to another one in a language Ruby didn't understand, which sounded almost like singing, and the other guard hurried towards the castle. Ruby stood around, not knowing what was happening. After a few minutes, a mage wearing a yellow hoodie and jeans shorts walked into the circle and stopped a few steps away from Ruby.
"By order of crown prince Srebro Blue, regent of Her Highness Queen Sirena Blue the third, I will now reveal this spirit," the man said and cast some kind of spell, releasing silver particles from his hands, which stuck to Ruby and made her visible and audible to the people, who gasped at the sight of a girl with a wolf's tail.
"Hello, I'm Ruby Rose," Ruby said after an awkward silence, "I'm from the surface." She heard the people muttering to themselves, when they suddenly parted to let Sirena through, clearly surprised to see her.
"You come with me," Sirena said to Ruby, then turned to her people, "And you can resume your regular activities. I will handle this personally." The people all returned to their work places, and as the crowd dispersed, Sirena walked away, followed by Ruby. She looked around the large cave and saw that they were walking towards a large building made from almost fully intact wooden ships.
~o~
Weiss was walking through Atlas Academy, not quite sure what to do. Winter was currently patrolling the tundra with her summons to make sure there were no Grimm left, but with Ruby gone, things just felt weird. She entered a break room, only to find Talia sitting on a chair with her legs crossed.
"You seem… different," Talia said and made a finger circle with her right thumb and index finger, then looked through a lens of lime green energy.
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, not even questioning why Talia was there anymore.
"Did you make a pact?" Talia asked in surprise and ended her scanning spell.
"How do you know?" Weiss asked.
"You just told me," Talia answered, "But seriously, I can sense this stuff. You can, too. It's just unlikely that someone makes a pact. But in any case, I came to teach you."
"Wait, really?" Weiss asked, "Why?"
"I'm just about done in Vale, so I'm bored," Talia answered, "Plus, an untrained warlock is how you kick off the apocalypse, and I don't think a lot of people would like that."
"A warlock?" Weiss asked and sat down on a chair opposite to Talia.
"Yep, a warlock," Talia answered, "People like you or I, who made a pact with some higher being to gain magical powers."
"I see," Weiss said and asked, "What do you mean by kicking off the apocalypse?"
"I'll teach you that later," Talia answered, "Right now, I'll teach you the basics. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself."
"Just the basics?" Weiss asked, "Why?"
"Because we have different types of magic," Talia answered, "I can teach you the basics, but for the rest, you'll have to ask the entity."
"Wait, you mean I have to talk to that again?" Weiss asked and said, "It was… weird. I really don't want to go back there."
"Don't worry, you don't have to," Talia answered, "Now that you've made a pact, it has settled into your soul."
"What?!" Weiss asked in shock and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"There is no need to worry," Talia said in an oddly reassuring voice, "It can't force you to do anything, and it can't take the powers back by force. Even if you two end your agreement, you won't lose your powers unless you give them up yourself. However, the entity will likely try to let you think that it has control over you, but it doesn't."
"I see," Weiss said, relaxed again and asked, "So, what do those entities even get from the pact?"
"Life, mostly," Talia answered, "Every being has a life, a set time before it dies of old age. If you take a being's life, then that is literally what you're doing. However, people can't use those lives. The entities can, so they trade. The more lives you take, the more power you get in return."
"I see," Weiss said and asked, "Is that why people used to sacrifice virgins?"
"No, they were just weird," Talia answered, "Baby tortoises, that's where the real power comes from. They have insane lifespans, so killing one is pretty beneficial. In general, the younger something is when you kill it, the more power you get."
"Well, alright then," Weiss said, slightly uncomfortable, "Anyway, let's go over the basics now."
"Alright," Talia said, "The first thing you'll need to know is runes."
"Runes?" Weiss asked.
"Yep, runes," Talia answered, "There are a couple dozen of them, and they basically dictate what your spell does. Watch." A single symbol resembling six lines moving away from a dot formed out of sickly green energy on her right index finger tip, with the lines slightly bending downwards.
"What's that one?" Weiss asked.
"Fragmentation," Talia answered and flicked the rune at a flower pot. As soon as the rune hit it, the clay pot shattered.
"Was that necessary?" Weiss asked.
"Nope," Talia answered nonchalantly, "Anyway, try to put it back together. Here's the rune, try to visualize it." She pulled out her scroll and showed Weiss an image of a circle with cracks coming from the outside, but stopping partway to the middle.
"Alright, I'll try," Weiss said and closed her eyes, focusing on the image. As she visualized the rune, she felt energy well up within her, almost as when she unlocked her aura. However, it felt different, like it was someone else's aura. She opened her eyes again and looked at her left palm, where she saw the rune in milky white energy. She moved her hand as if to push the rune towards the pot, and the pot reassembled itself within seconds.
"Well done," Talia said, and Weiss froze for a moment as she realized that nothing Winter ever said to her when she did something good felt nearly as genuine as this.
"Th- thanks," Weiss said and eagerly asked, "So, what's next?"
"Next is another theoretical bit," Talia answered, "While you can take lives yourself to gain more power, you can also… outsource the work by making minor pacts with others."
"Minor pacts?" Weiss asked, "What are those?"
"Like the pact you made, but smaller," Talia answered, "You let someone use some of your magic, and in return, any lives they take go to you."
"Is that what you did with Yang?" Weiss asked.
"Kinda, yeah," Talia answered, "I really thought she'd get me more power than she did."
"So her turning into a dragon was just so you could get stronger?" Weiss asked, getting upset with Talia for her antics.
"Not at all," Talia answered, "I also think dragons are cool. Plus, just like nobody can steal your powers, you can't force others to make a minor pact with you. So, unless someone wants your powers, they can't get them."
"But there's a work-around, right?" Weiss asked.
"Nope," Talia answered, "Unless you count the subconscious, which I don't. Yang wanted to be a dragon, even if she wasn't consciously aware that she made the choice. If I had asked her, she would've made the choice anyway."
"So, how can I do that?" Weiss asked.
"That is advanced magic," Talia answered, "For now, the basics."
"You know, I never thought you could be so serious," Weiss said.
"I'm always serious," Talia said, "Now, let's teach you some basic runes." She pulled up a file on her scroll and showed Weiss a couple runes of varying shapes and sizes, each with a different meaning and purpose in spells.
~o~
Ren was walking through Atlas Academy, heading to the ammunition wing to restock on fire-dust rounds, when a soldier walked up to him.
"Lie Ren?" The soldier asked.
"Yes?" Ren answered and asked, "What is it?"
"I am part of Sophie's swarm," the soldier answered, "We were just contacted by Raven Branwen, and her tribe wants to settle down in Kuroyuri. With you being its only surviving resident, she thought it was the polite thing to ask you first."
"Well, if she doesn't cause too much damage," Ren said, "Tell her it's fine. And also, I appreciate her asking first."
"Done," the soldier said and asked, "By the way, would you be interested in a new weapon system our swarm has been developing?"
"Sure," Ren answered, and the man led him to a laboratory, where people were experimenting with what looked like a backpack. A woman had it unfolded, with the harness holding a hexagonal plate over her head, standing crouched, and a disk made of energy formed in the circular indentation on the plate. The disk began spinning faster and faster, until the holding mechanism released it and it flew into a wooden practice target resembling a Beowolf, making a sound like a tiny circular firework, just a bit louder.
"Incredible," Ren said as the wooden Beowolf shattered into hundreds of pieces upon impact.
"Thanks," the woman said, "My name is Dawn, by the way." She stood back up to full height and the weapon collapsed back into its backpack form.
"And, how is it?" Dr. Oak asked, walking over to her with a tablet to make notes on its functionality, and the user experience, as necessary.
"Pretty good, actually," Dawn answered, "It's easy on the back, intuitive to use, just the sound is a bit annoying."
"Yeah, we won't be able to do anything about that," Dr. Oak said, "Sorry, that's just how aura sounds when you force it into a tangible form without a body or conduit."
"Couldn't you use dust?" Ren asked.
"Well, yes, we could," Dr. Oak answered, "However, the swarm wanted a weapon that didn't need any ammunition, to allow anyone to fight off Grimm. Once bought, anything anyone needs to kill smaller Grimm is to wait about one second for this thing to charge up, and then it's good. It uses ambient aura as ammunition, so there is no limit to how much anyone can use it. However, anyone with their aura unlocked can use a special disk with a secondary effect."
"Can I try?" Ren asked and said, "Also, I kind of need more fire-dust rounds for my weapon."
"Why, of course," Dr. Oak answered, "In fact, we need more data on how a person's aura, and especially their semblance, affects the secondary projectile they can use. Here, give it a try." He waved one of his lab assistants over, who handed Ren a backpack. He put it on, adjusted the straps, and another assistant brought in another wooden Beowolf, while a third assistant checked his tablet to see what kind of ammunition Stormflower used, then went to grab ten clips of fire-dust ammunition.
"Alright, here goes," Ren thought, and the backpack unfolded.
"How is it?" Dr. Oak asked.
"It responds to my thoughts pretty well," Ren answered, "Now, I'll try to fire it." He focused and felt his aura get sucked into the machine, but it was so little as to round to zero.
"Let us know if you feel anything strange," Dr. Oak said.
"I can definitely feel my aura being affected," Ren said, "It's as if I used my semblance, but less noticeable." He looked over to one of the assistants, who checked his aura levels and gave him a nod.
"No noticeable drain," the assistant said.
"That's good," Dr. Oak said, "But yes, the weapon does need a part of your aura as primer for the special disk. We used aura suppression technology as basis, but reversed the polarity, allowing the device to adjust to the user's aura much faster."
"I see," Ren said, looked back at the target, and fired the disk. It hit the target, but aside from flinging it against the wall and cracking it, the projectile didn't seem to have much of an effect.
"Wait, what happened?" Dawn asked, "Why was his projectile that much weaker than mine?"
"Because it's not meant to hurt," Ren answered, drawing the scientists' attention.
"What do you mean?" Dr. Oak asked.
"It's a lure," Ren answered, "My semblance hides negative emotions, but I also learned to sense them. In other words, I can see the world the way a Grimm would. And right now, there is an area with a ten meter radius around the point of impact, which is the most attractive point to Grimm."
"So, if any Grimm were here, they would go there?" Dr. Oak asked.
"Most likely, yes," Ren answered, stood back up to full height, had the weapon collapse into its backpack form and asked, "Can I keep this?"
"I suppose so," Dr. Oak answered, "You'll need to discuss this with the swarm, they own the rights to the weapon." Ren looked at the soldier who he knew was a member of the swarm.
"Ask Maria what she thinks of this idea," Ren said.
"Of course," the man said, waited for a bit and said, "She says it's a great idea. Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc, and Harriet Bree are also on their way to receive personalized versions. If you wish, we can make one for you as well."
"No thanks, I'm good," Ren said, "I'll just repaint this one." He took the weapon off and had the man show him to a room where he could repaint the weapon to match his color scheme. He started with a green foundation, then added light and dark purple highlights, with some minor pink lightnings.
~o~
Yang, Jaune, Whitley, Maria and Harriet were sitting in a break room, just relaxing from their most recent missions. Yang and Jaune were eating cookies, Whitley was still slightly uncomfortable around such competent fighters, and Maria and Harriet were engaged in friendly banter about whether Super Speed or Preflexes was superior, when the door opened and a soldier entered the room.
"Miss Calavera, ma'am," the woman said, "So terribly sorry to intrude, but Lie Ren asked us to inquire whether or not you wish him to have a new weapon we just finished developing."
"Just call me Maria," Maria said and asked, "What kind of weapon?"
"As you wish," the woman said and answered, "It's an energy weapon, which uses aura to form a disk, which is then launched towards the enemy. Anyone can use it, even without any combat experience, and so far, it has proven useful against weaker Grimm, enabling regular foot soldiers to kill anything up to an Alpha Beowolf in a single hit. Also, if someone with an active aura, or who can generate an aura, uses it, they can use a special projectile."
"That… sounds really awesome," Yang said and clenched her right fist, which gave her an idea.
"True," Jaune said, "Maybe I should get this as well, seeing how I don't have any ranged capabilities, aside from my aura arc."
"Yeah, I guess it can't hurt," Harriet said.
"What about Ren?" Maria asked, "What did he say?"
"He tested the weapon, and asked if he could keep it," the woman answered, "When he learned that he would have to ask us for this, he told one of us to ask you."
"You're with Sophie's swarm, aren't you?" Maria asked and said, "But in any case, yes, let him have the weapon. And be ready to give Yang, Jaune and Harriet one, too."
"Of course," the woman said, "This way, please." She waved the three to follow her and left the room, and Yang, Jaune and Harriet got up and followed her. On the way, Yang gave the woman the dimensions of her robotic palm's back plate, Jaune did the same with the space under his emblem on his shield, and Harriet had her take the measurements for the lower arm portion of her weapons, planning to install one weapon on each arm.
~o~
Neon Katt jumped out of a Beowolf's shadow and hit it with both of her weapons, smashing its head in from above. Just as she came down, her feet drifted apart and she fell on her face.
"Stupid anti-gravity skates," Neon hissed through gritted teeth as she got back up. After the latest battle, and her skates getting stuck in just about anything, she had decided to upgrade to anti-gravity skates, but she still had trouble standing on them, due to the lack of friction.
"Use your tail," Blake said as she walked up to Neon.
"What do you mean?" Neon asked.
"You're a cat faunus," Blake answered, "If you rely on your instincts, you'll have no problem keeping your balance, no matter what you're standing on."
"Well, if you say so," Neon said and took a deep breath, trying to find the part of her that she was always told to ignore. Instead of being reluctant, however, her instincts reached out to her, like a house cat.
~o~
Elm was on her way to oversee the reestablishment of a military outpost a kilometer away from Mantle, with several soldiers who had unlocked their combat-related semblances, due to James' new one. As the Manta transporting them approached the outpost, the Grimm that had made it their home noticed them.
"Alright, just as planned," Elm said and used Petal Burst to get to the ground, and used Poisonous Roots as soon as she touched the ground. The spores killed most of the Grimm, creating healing orbs that recharged her aura. The Manta landed in the area immediately around her, and soldiers left the aircraft, immediately attacking the Grimm. The soldiers used their semblances to deal more damage to the Grimm, modify their bullets, or have bullets pierce multiple enemies, while Elm's poisonous spores both harmed the Grimm, and created a steady supply of healing orbs to recharge their auras.
~o~
When Yang got her arm back, she inspected the back of her hand, which now had a small circular indentation, with lots of tiny electrical things on its inside. She focused on it, and a small disk of yellow energy formed inside it. She held the back of her hand towards a wooden Alpha Beowolf and shot. As soon as the projectile hit, the target was hurled backwards with incredible force, turning into sawdust upon hitting the wall and leaving a small imprint in the concrete. Everyone looked at Yang, who smiled sheepishly and hid her prosthetic hand behind her back.
"Well, at least now we know what it does," Yang said.
"Alright, me next," Jaune said and aimed his shield at another target. The disk formed in the space framed by his emblem and was launched at the wooden Beowolf. Upon impact, the disk generated a large shield, three meters wide and one and a half meters high.
"A shield, nice," Harriet said, "Now let's see what I've got." She held both of her arms up and shot both disks at once. The first disk knocked the wooden Alpha Beowolf over and bounced off, and the second one bounced off of the wall. Both disks began ricocheting off of anything, knocking down anything they hit. Jaune created three clones of himself, and all four used Preflexes to predict the path of the disks, and Petal Burst to reach endangered people in time to bounce the disks off of their shields.
"You have to be more careful," Yang said.
"That's just golden coming from you," Harriet said, and Yang simply raised an eyebrow, reminding Harriet what her primary color was.
"Six," Jaune said, drawing both women's attention, and his clones disappeared, "Each of your disks bounces off of something six times, then deals double damage on the seventh hit."
"Great, what am I supposed to do with that?" Harriet asked and said, "If those things bounce around randomly, I can't even use them."
"Come with me," Yang said and grabbed Harriet's arm, dragging her out of the room. At first, Harriet was confused, but quickly started protesting, to no avail.
~o~
Clover inspected his upgraded weapon, which now had a fishing spear form for when his aura broke and his semblance no longer helped him, or when he actually wanted to deal damage instead of simply restraining the enemy. He reeled in the hook, which now stood off at the end, and the hook and tip of his fishing rod split in two, creating a double-pronged spear with barbs on the inside, allowing Clover to catch enemies, but deal a lot more damage.
"Now, how did she do that?" Clover thought and started the video footage of Sirena and Marrow sparring. He played it in slow motion, trying to analyze every move Sirena made, and any way she distributed her weight during combat. He didn't see her attack a lot, but he knew that she hit Marrow.
"What are you doing?" Qrow asked when he saw Clover sit in the empty classroom, looking at Sirena projected onto the blackboard.
"Qrow, hello," Clover said and answered, "I'm just trying to learn how to use a spear. You know, improve, and all that."
"And you're looking at Sirena for that?" Qrow asked.
"Well, yes," Clover answered, "I mean, she helped the others get better, so I figured she might have something for me, too."
"I see," Qrow said, "In any case, there is still something about her that has me worried."
"What is it?" Clover asked, and gestured Qrow to sit down next to him.
"I can't really describe it, to be honest," Qrow answered, "But somehow, things turned out too well for her. As if she set this all up. She put this entire kingdom in danger, put the world in danger, and I feel like she's up to something."
"Like what?" Clover asked, "Aside from saving the world, that is."
"That's the point," Qrow answered, "I know what she can do. I've seen what she is like. Saving the world may just be one step in her bigger plan."
"What kind of plan?" Clover asked.
"I have no idea," Qrow answered, "But if I know her even half as good as I think I do, it's not good for any of us." They talked a bit more, then Clover continued watching the video to learn some basic spear stances, and the two went to a training room for practice.
~o~
Just after Ruby had petrified the Seer that she had forced a Wyvern in Atlas to spawn, Salem was walking through her castle, furious at the fact that Ruby managed to gain control over a Grimm. However, she kept her composure, carrying herself with the same menacing elegance as usual.
"My Queen, what is our next move?" Tyrian asked as he approached Salem, and bowed.
"Sirena is planning something," Salem answered, "I don't know what it is, but she likely plans to do it in Vale. That city was always her weakness. Without her guidance, Atlas will return to its old habits shortly."
"So, what do we do?" Tyrian asked.
"Tell Marcus to send all his minions to Vale," Salem answered.
"Of course," Tyrian said and hurried to go find Marcus.
Author's note: I could have gone into more detail about how each soldier modifies their attacks, but that would've turned out too long. But in general, all the semblances modify the projectiles permanently, and only work on regular projectiles, not those with a dust payload.