Author's note: And we get to see more of Ruby. Yay.
Also, Sirena reveals another one of her semblances.
When Ruby entered Sirena's castle, she looked around in awe. It was nowhere near as fancy as the castles she knew, but it was still impressive. The entrance hall had a high ceiling and transitioned directly into the throne room. The throne stood in front of a short segment of wall, and behind it were two doors leading to hallways.
"This way," Sirena said as she led Ruby through a door into a hallway and up a flight of stairs into a conference room.
"This looks really nice," Ruby said, "Big, and roomy." Sirena sat down and gestured Ruby to take a seat as well.
"Thank you," Sirena said, "Now, on to why you're here."
"I wanted to learn magic," Ruby said.
"Well, I suppose that could be arranged," Sirena said, "I'll talk to the arch-mages."
"Thank you," Ruby said and asked, "So, about the crown prince. Does that mean you have children?"
"Yes," Sirena answered, "But please keep his existence a secret from everyone on the surface."
"Why?" Ruby asked.
"Because of Salem," Sirena answered, "She knows that my people need a ruler. If she thinks I do not have an heir, she will think I am not going to risk my life, and that I will be careful not to get hurt. She will underestimate me, and that will be my advantage against her."
"I see," Ruby said and asked, "So, can I learn magic now?"
"Of course, this way," Sirena said with an amused chuckle, got up and led Ruby out of the castle again. They walked through the city and towards a building built around a massive stone pillar. A student led them to the arch-mages, and they handled the rest while Sirena went to get something else done.
~o~
Weiss was laying in her bed, experimenting with some of the runes she knew already. Just as she was about to try a new spell she was working on, she got a message on her scroll asking her to summon a Seer so Whitley could take a break. She made the runes disappear and summoned a Seer.
"Alright, you can take a break now," Weiss wrote and sent the message to her brother.
"Thanks," Whitley sent back.
"You're welcome," Weiss wrote and felt his aura break, because hers had to keep Winter's summons active. She decided to help him out and created a Healing Circle around him, and a Safezone around herself. A few moments later, Whitley's face appeared in her Seer.
"Thanks again," Whitley said, "Anyway, Jaune, Maria and Elm are heading out now, to see if they can find this new Grimm, the Cenitaur."
"Alright," Weiss said, "Thanks for letting me know."
"You're welcome," Whitley said, and his face disappeared again. Weiss thought about what to do, and decided to send some Queen Lancers to help her friends. She summoned three small Grimm and had them look for Jaune, Maria and Elm.
~o~
Jaune and Maria were standing in the old hangar, waiting for Elm to arrive. The hangar was being remodeled and connected to the subway and sewer systems, allowing military personnel to move through the city undetected, and citizens to flee to safety if safe houses became unsafe for some reason.
"Run!" One of the workers shouted, and half a dozen soldiers, armed with pickaxes, came running out of the tunnels, fleeing from a pack of Sabyr that had survived in the old mines. As soon as the last person got past him, Jaune shot a disk into the tunnel. It hit the first Grimm and created a barrier that blocked the entire tunnel.
"Harriet, hangar three," Jaune said, contacting Harriet through his communicator. Within seconds, Harriet arrived and shot several disks into the tunnel. They passed through the barrier no problem, killed a Grimm on impact and bounced back, only to ricochet off the barrier and tunnel walls, causing utter chaos. After bouncing off the walls several times and killing several Grimm, the disks all disappeared, leaving some Grimm alive.
"How about we handle the rest?" Maria asked and held her right hand out towards Jaune.
"Alright," Jaune said, a bit confused why Maria would want to fuse for Sabyr, but not really opposed to the idea in general. He took her hand and she pulled him into a hug and the fusion. Their fusion, Micheal, wore white thigh-high boots with light blue soles and dark blue high heels, a skirt made from white armor plates with dark blue edges and golden bolts, a white leotard that had a stylized and transparent light blue skull with a golden halo on their slightly above average chest, white armor plates with dark blue edges extending from their shoulders to their waist, and had long, golden hair. Their silver eyes looked around, and they pointed their one-and-a-half handed rapier at the Grimm, holding it in their right hand.
"Let the battle commence," Micheal said, and their silver-white aura manifested as ghostly wings on their back. They didn't look like they could fly, but they definitely gave the fusion an angelic appearance. The barrier keeping the Grimm away flickered and disappeared, and one of the Sabyr immediately jumped at Micheal. Micheal cut the Grimm in half, killing it instantly, and a tiny white orb came from its body. It homed in on the nearest Grimm and exploded into a puff of silver-white smoke on impact, killing that one as well.
"Incredible," Harriet said, and Micheal looked around again.
"There are people," Micheal thought, "My power can help them. I shall share it." Just as the Sabyr wanted to turn and run, Micheal unleashed the light of their silver eyes, turning them all to stone.
"That was amazing," one of the soldiers, who had black hair and blue eyes, said, "My brother told me that someone supposedly borrowed my body, which felt honestly amazing, as weird as it sounds. Whoever that was did that as well, and when I heard about it, I just had to see it."
"That was likely Ruby," Micheal said and asked, "What is your name?"
"Dawn," Dawn answered and asked, "So, is it true that I can use your semblance now?"
"Yes, it is," Micheal answered, "It is the will to smite the darkness wherever it rears its head."
"But that also means you can use our semblances now," Harriet said, and the soldiers looked at Micheal in awe.
"That's great," Dawn said excitedly, "My semblance is called Ivy Projectile. It turns any projectile into a special one that sprouts vines wherever it hits. They can be used to climb surfaces or retrain enemies, and disappear into nothingness after an hour. However, it only works on regular projectiles, not ones that have a dust payload."
"Very interesting," Micheal said.
"I can make projectiles pierce up to six enemies," a soldier piped up, "It works on any projectiles, but if it is a dust projectile, only the seventh hit has a special effect. I call them Unholy Projectiles, because no god would allow this semblance to exist. At least no god that cares about fairness."
"Makes sense," Micheal said.
"I've got bats," a man said and made a bat out of light green energy manifest hanging from his extended left index finger.
"Seems useful," Micheal said.
"I can tell when people are sick," a woman said, "It helps me find dust mines, since all I have to do is follow the dust blight."
"My semblance manipulates the air around me," a man said, "It throws projectiles off course, protecting me from most ranged attacks, as well as freeing me from grapples."
"Defensive, nice," Micheal said.
"I always know the way to my goal," a man said, "It doesn't help with combat, but it is useful for when I need to find a place. Sadly, it only works for stationary things, so I can't find that Cenitaur."
"That is still a useful semblance," Micheal said.
"What's going on here?" Elm said as she walked into the room and saw the fusion discussing semblances with everyone.
"Not much, we just copied a great semblance," Harriet answered, "You should see it in action."
"Don't worry, she will," Dawn said, "Because I will accompany you." While Harriet was slightly opposed to Dawn's initiative, Elm chuckled a bit at her enthusiasm, and Micheal split up again.
"Who said that?" Elm asked.
"I did," Dawn answered, "You've got one ranged fighter, and two for melee. Plus, you'll need someone to keep the Grimm from dodging your attacks."
"Don't worry, they'll be fine," Harriet said, "Now get back to work." She got a call on her communicator and hurried away to tend to another emergency.
"I say she can come with us," Jaune said, and Maria nodded in approval.
"Really?" Dawn asked excitedly.
"As long as you don't get in the way," Maria answered. She and Jaune looked at Elm, who smiled and nodded as well.
"You've got guts," Elm said, "Besides, you need to learn somehow."
"Thank you so much," Dawn said, barely keeping herself from jumping up and down with joy. She hurried over to a weapon storage locker, leaned her pickaxe against the wall next to it and grabbed a standard assault rifle. She equipped a stock to reduce recoil, added a sniper scope and tactical light, and put on a multi-purpose belt with ammunition in almost every slot of the belt. Lastly, she put a holster for a combat knife on the free slot of her belt, and was ready to go.
~o~
In another part of town, Dawn's brother, Dusk, was patrolling Mantle alongside Fiona, to make sure there really were no more Grimm in the city. His black hair was cut short, and his blue eyes scanned the environment. When he detected movement, he fired a shot from his assault rifle and hit a Sabyr with a bullet that looked like it was made from ice.
"This would work a lot better if they weren't used to the cold," Dusk said, watching the Sabyr mostly ignore that it slowly started to freeze over around the point of impact. He fired another shot at it, this time hitting it in the eye, and its skull began to slowly be encased in ice.
"At least it does something," Fiona said and fired a bolt into the Grimm, killing it.
"This was awesome!" Cucurbita exclaimed, ran up to the duo and asked, "Want to join my club?"
"Of course," Fiona answered, chuckled and asked, "What club is it?"
"The humanity protection club," Cucurbita answered, "We protect people from Grimm." She gestured them both to kneel, and they played along to amuse who they thought was an ordinary child.
"That sounds like a nice club to be part of," Dusk said.
"It sure is," Cucurbita said and put her hands on the adults' shoulders, "And as the newest members, you even get special perks. Sir, your semblance is now no longer weak against Grimm that are used to the cold. And you, Fiona, can use imitation weapons as if they were real." The three of them glowed white with a faint red hue for a moment, and both Fiona and Dusk felt that something had changed for real.
"What was that?" Fiona asked, now more serious.
"What was what?" Cucurbita asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"The glow," Dusk answered and asked, "What was that?"
"That was me," Cucurbita answered, "You're part of my club now. Don't worry, it's mostly perks and benefits." A pack of Ursai came running around a corner and towards the trio, and while the adults were distracted by the Grimm and trying to find a way to protect Cucurbita, a portal opened outside their field of view. Dusk switched his gun into automatic mode and began shooting the Grimm, slowing them down. Fiona also fired some shots, but decided to go for melee instead.
"Run," Fiona said as she charged the Grimm, trying to buy Cucurbita enough time to escape.
"Don't worry," Sirena said and dashed past Fiona. As soon as she came to a stop in front of the charging Grimm, she unleashed the light from her silver eyes and turned the Ursai to stone. Before anyone could say anything, Sirena drew one of Cinder's swords from her back and opened another red portal to get away.
"Wait, what?" Fiona asked, "Where did she come from?"
"Incredible," Dusk said and walked over to the Grimm.
"She came to protect me," Cucurbita answered, "She said she'll always do that, but only if I can't survive a situation. But don't tell anyone, that's club rule number 2."
"What's number 1?" Fiona asked.
"And why does she protect you?" Dusk asked.
"Number 1 is to protect people from Grimm," Cucurbita answered, "And she protects me because I'm the crown princess of Atlas. But you can't tell anyone that, either. That's number 3."
"The crown princess?" Dusk asked.
"Yep," Cucurbita answered, "Once I'm elected into the council, I'll be in charge of the whole kingdom."
"That seems a bit… illegal," Dusk said.
"Nope, the constitution says so," Cucurbita said, "The king back then made the council equal to him, so the council would need five members to have the same power as the king or queen. But if the queen is part of the council, she can do whatever she wants." Dusk sighed.
"As long as you don't do anything bad, I guess it's fine," Dusk said, "We have to get going now though, there's still some left of our patrol route." The two adults walked away, and Cucurbita looked after them, happy that Recruitment forced people she recruited to accept any rules she made. She continued along the way to school and thought about what else she could do to help future generations. She decided to keep training her semblance, hoping to make it work on thrown stuff one day.
~o~
Jaune, Maria, Elm and Dawn walked through the sewers of Atlas, looking for any Grimm that had come into them since the city descended. Three Queen Lancers that Weiss had summoned were following them and providing additional firepower. They encountered a pack of Scavengers and stopped. Wings of white energy manifested on Dawn's back and she shot ivy projectiles into them. The bullets sprouted thorny vines and restrained the Grimm, and every time one moved, a white orb erupted from it, flew a meter away from it and targeted the nearest Grimm.
"How are you doing that?" Blake asked as she walked up to them, "And who are you?"
"This is Dawn," Jaune answered, "Maria and I fused, and she copied our semblance, and now she helps us."
"What does the semblance do?" Blake asked.
"Whenever the user hits a Grimm, it deals additional damage," Maria answered, "It works pretty much like Spectral Healing, but it kills Grimm instead of healing people."
"That sounds pretty nice," Blake said and asked, "Any chance I can copy that one, too?"
"That's a great idea," Jaune answered.
"What is?" Ren asked as he walked up to the group.
"Copying a semblance," Elm answered, "When the user hits a Grimm, the semblance deals additional damage to a nearby Grimm. It works pretty similar to Spectral Healing, but it kills Grimm instead of healing your allies."
"That sounds useful," Ren said, "I can just set a caltrop trap, use my special disk to lure Grimm into that field, and the Grimm will come and die on their own."
"Now we just need some Grimm," Elm said. Jaune and Maria fused again, to make sure they were ready when they found Grimm, and the group got going again. Along the way, Dawn also modified one clip for Gambol Shroud and two for Stormflower, in case Blake or Ren ever needed to restrain some Grimm.
~o~
Weiss was sitting in her team's dorm room, practicing magic again, when her Seer made some noise and informed her of a new semblance. She initially dismissed it, but then remembered what Sirena told her about a huntress' duties, and thinking like one.
"You see a way to kill Grimm, and do it," Sirena had said, "That is what a huntress should be doing every waking hour of her life."
"Alright," Weiss said to herself, pulled out her scroll and dialed a number.
"Hello, how can I help you?" One of the board members of Atlas' main bank asked.
"Sophie, I need a favor," Weiss answered, "I have a new way to kill Grimm." Hearing that, the man immediately switched his tone.
"Of course, what is it?" The man asked.
"First, I need to confirm something," Weiss said and asked, "Does the swarm have a semblance that can make something invisible?"
"We do, yes," the man answered.
"Good," Weiss said and asked, "How long does it last?"
"Until dispelled, or until the object takes too much damage," the man answered.
"Good," Weiss said and asked, "What about access to plant-dust?"
"We have that as well," the man answered.
"Alright, then everything is set," Weiss said, "Blake Belladonna and Lie Ren are about to copy another semblance. Have one of the swarm copy it as well."
"Alright, a rat is on its way," the man said.
"Good," Weiss said, "Now, there is an ocean current that I'll need a combat drone placed in, with plant-dust that creates phytoplankton. It's the same the military dropped the plankton into a while ago."
"Done," the man said.
"Thank you," Weiss said, "Lastly, I need three drones to be made with plant-dust that turns into roses on impact later tonight. I will meet with three swarm members in the prison's central control room at 10pm."
"Of course," the man said and asked, "Is there anything else you need?"
"No, that is all," Weiss answered, and both hung up. Weiss sent some of the summons Winter had left in her care to kill any Grimm that her friends might encounter, mainly to buy enough time for the rat to arrive.
~o~
Ruby set the magic books down on the desk in the room Sirena had provided for her and sat down to start reading, only to realize that she couldn't understand anything. She scolded herself mentally for overlooking the obvious issue with going to a nation that hasn't had contact with the one she grew up in in ages, namely the language barrier.
"How is it going?" Sirena asked as she peeked in through the door.
"Not good," Ruby answered, "I don't understand a single word. And the teachers said they'll start speaking Old Soraklian tomorrow as well. How am I supposed to learn a new language in under a day?"
"They're not trying to be rude," Sirena answered and sat down on the table, "We just learn things a lot faster than surface-dwellers. Here, let me help you." She put her right hand on Ruby's shoulder and used Mentor to teach her to speak Old Soraklian.
"Thanks," Ruby said and asked, "And what about the writing?"
"You're welcome," Sirena said and answered, "The books are all written by hand, and the one who wrote those has a really bad handwriting. Not even I can read it." Ruby leaned back, screamed at the ceiling in defeat and slammed her head on the books.
"Why didn't I think ahead?" Ruby asked and said, "There is no way I can understand something if I can't- Wait." She sat back up, now much more excited.
"Did you figure something out?" Sirena asked.
"Yes, I did," Ruby answered, "Now go, I have stuff to read."
"Alright then, see you later," Sirena said and wanted to leave.
"Wait," Ruby said, making Sirena stop halfway to the door, and asked, "Could you go check on my friends for me?"
"Yes, but I already know they're fine," Sirena answered, "Yang and Marrow are actually talking about you right now."
"Wait, really?" Ruby asked, "Hold up, how do you know that?"
"One of my semblances, Eavesdrop," Sirena answered, "It tells me when someone talks about me, and lets me listen to them. Marrow just told Yang that wherever you are, I'll keep you safe, no matter what."
"So wait, you can just eavesdrop on people?" Ruby asked, "Since when?"
"A few years," Sirena answered, "That's also how I heard Nora ask if I can walk on water when we first met. It's also a massive tactical advantage, because people can't plan around your actions without talking about you. But now, I really have to leave, my arrows should be ready any minute now, and I want to practice archery."
"You mean you want to use Innate Capability on archery?" Ruby asked, thinking she got her mentor.
"Not at all," Sirena answered, "Archery was one of the first skills I used that semblance on, so I can't do it again. I do have the experience of a few days already, but that is it." Sirena left the room and closed the door behind herself, and Ruby got to work. She looked at the stack of books, which were much larger than she had expected, and was about to complain that it was too much to read for one person, when she got an idea. Ruby created four clones of herself, each grabbed a book, and the clones began using Loremaster to scan the books and immediately understand the texts. When a clone was done, she disappeared, teaching Ruby the material.
~o~
Late at night, Weiss got up and paused for a moment when she saw that Ruby's bed was still the way she had left it the morning of the last big attack. Just as she was about to sneak out of the dorm room, she heard Blake wake up and scolded herself internally for forgetting about her friend's excellent hearing.
"Weiss, what are you doing?" Blake asked in a whisper.
"Hello Blake," Weiss said and answered, "I was just on my way to do something."
"And what?" Blake asked and got out of bed.
"You know, huntress business," Weiss answered.
"Alright, I'll help," Blake said, "I'm a huntress too, after all." Weiss sighed in defeat.
"Alright, fine," Weiss said and explained, "I'm trying to set a trap for Salem." Hearing that, Blake's eyes shot open wide.
"A trap for Salem?" Blake asked in disbelief, "Why?"
"Sirena told me something," Weiss answered, "A proper huntress never leaves out a chance to kill Grimm. So, that's what I'm doing." Blake calmed down again, but turned thoughtful.
"I guess that makes sense," Blake said and asked, "But how?"
"I'll use Ichigo, and Sophie," Weiss answered and explained, "A member of Sophie's swarm copied Micheal's semblance. I'll use that, Combat Drone, and plant-dust to create a carpet of roses in Salem's domain. The thorns will cut any terrestrial Grimm, triggering Spectral Assault."
"Alright, I'll help," Blake said, "Let's go." The two left the room and snuck into the prison's control room, where they met with a soldier, a doctor, and a secretary, all of whom were male.
"Hello," the secretary said and asked, "Was there a change in plans?"
"Yes, there was," Weiss answered, "But not to worry, the plan can still proceed normally. Follow me." She took the lead, secretly casting a spell to make sure that Ichigo was really asleep, and then cast another one to make her stay asleep until sunrise.
"What do we need to do?" The doctor asked.
"You make a Combat Drone," Weiss answered, "Augment it with plant-dust and have it turn into roses. With thorns. Then, have it protect Ichigo."
"Alright," the doctor said and followed the order, creating a pale green orb. It began floating towards Ichigo, but was stopped by the hard-light barrier.
"Now you," Weiss said, pointing at the soldier, "Make another drone, same augmentations, and have it protect the first one."
"Of course," the soldier said and followed the order. The second orb floated up to the first and tried to circle it at a distance, but was stopped by the hard-light barrier.
"And finally, you," Weiss said, pointing at the secretary, "Make a drone that protects the second one, also the same augmentations as the first two."
"As you wish," the secretary said and created another drone. It tried to circle the second one, but was again stopped by the barrier.
"Good," Weiss said, "Now make them all invisible."
"Alright," the doctor said and all three walked over to make their drones invisible.
"Thank you, that is all," Weiss said, "Unless Blake has something to add, of course."
"No, I'm good," Blake said, "At least for now."
"Alright," Weiss said, turned to the soldier and said, "Tomorrow, let Ichigo escape, but make it look like an accident."
"Will do," the soldier said and asked, "But… why?"
"She likes to make people miserable," Weiss answered, "So, she will undeniably attract Grimm. The orbs will attack those Grimm and plant roses. The thorns of those roses will cut Grimm. In both cases, Grimm will be hurt by the swarm, which will trigger Spectral Assault."
"And then they will die," the swarm members said in unison, "That is a very good idea."
"Thank you," Weiss said, "But now, off to bed again, so we don't arouse any suspicion." All five of them headed back to bed, and after she and Blake explained the plan to Yang, they all went to bed and Weiss cast a spell on herself to enter the dream state where she could talk to the arch-angel of dreams, to learn more about magic.
~o~
After a few days of intense training, Sirena swam towards an area she normally avoided at that particular time of the year, due to the metallic ringing sound, but she needed to do something about it. As she approached, she saw a plethora of small fishes that were drawn towards the sound.
"Alright, here goes nothing," Sirena thought, drew her bow and made an arrow appear from a hole in her hand. It looked more like an icicle than anything, due to Icicle Projectile. She readied the arrow and waited. A thick red cloud drifted through the water and towards the mass of entranced fish. The cloud was actually a siphonophore, a collective made up of thousands of organisms, and enveloped the fish as it tried to devour them all. As it began to feed, it also began releasing gasses, which drifted to the surface and caused problems for the surface-dwellers if they became too much. Sirena shot her first arrow into the creature, then more, but from different angles, and all the arrows drained the creature's body heat.
"That should do it," Sirena said to herself as the creature slowly froze and began drifting to the surface, taking the fish with it. She then headed to the next spot and repeated the process, saving the surface from the gas bubbles, one at a time. Not only would that hopefully strengthen her relationship with the surface, but the myriad of dead fish will provide food for scavengers in the higher levels of the ocean, which will then cause a chain reaction leading to more whales, more whale fall, and more food for her people.
Author's note: Micheal was designed in reference to the Foreigner of the same name from the anime Hina Logi: From Luck & Logic. Or rather, Nina's Trance with him. I did switch some colors around, and made the outfit work without needing magic, but that's about it.
Definitely check that out. It's super-powered teenage girls going to school to learn how to fight monsters. Except, their world is experiencing a time of peace, so they don't have anything to do once they graduate.
So, you know, nothing to worry about. Just normal high school fun time with super powers.
Except, the "monsters" are also called Foreigners. There's good ones and evil ones, and the main anime, Luck & Logic, is sometimes aggressively racist, due to the enemies being referred to as Foreigners. But you don't need to watch it to get Hina Logi, since the main characters only have minor roles in the spin-off.
Dawn's semblance is based on a spell from The Dark Eye, which enchants an arrow to grow vines where it hits. It can be modified to work on crossbow bolts, but that's it. The semblance has no such restrictions, and can work on any kind of projectile.
Dusk's semblance is based on a spell from that same group of spells, but it draws heat from the target's body. And yes, the spell is also less effective against creatures that are resistant to cold. However, it's more effective against creatures susceptible to cold.
Siphonophores are crazy dangerous. They just float around and, you know, do nothing. Until they brush up against something they identify as food. They can even change their shape to form nets around stuff, since they're a hive-mind of millions of tiny organisms.