Author's note: From here on out, there will be a lot of underlined text in Ruby's sections, which I use to signify that she's speaking a different language.
I'll also let you in on a little secret about Sirena.
Ruby walked into the magic academy and, after struggling a bit, managed to find her way to the classroom. When she entered the room, she drew the attention of the other students and the teacher, who all wore some red clothing.
"Hello, I see you have decided to join us after all," Adva said. She wore a red robe with long sleeves, and had her light blue hair tied to a ponytail.
"Yeah, sorry," Ruby said in Old Soraklian, "I still don't fully know my way around the school."
"I see," Adva said and asked, "Is this one of those surface-dweller things Her Highness spoke of?"
"Yes," Ruby answered, "But I'll get the hang of it in a few days, so no worries." She sat down on a free chair, next to some other students.
"Alright then. Now, let's continue where we were interrupted," Adva said and began to explain that day's practice. The students had to transmute a regular rock into gold, which Ruby found a bit cliche, but still better than nothing. She folded her hands, with her thumbs, index- and pinky fingers sticking up, and focused. One by one, the symbols of the rock appeared around her wrists. The weight of its density, the speed of its temperature, and so many other concepts she wouldn't have understood just a day ago. Then, she focused on the first symbol, and changed it to what she wanted.
~o~
Early in the morning, Ichigo woke up and found that her cell was open, with a soldier struggling to get her breakfast off the service cart. She quickly knocked the man out and hurried to get her weapon, then escaped the facility, not knowing that the combat drones were following her.
~o~
Weiss and Winter were sparring in a training room, letting their summons battle each other. Winter sent a pack of Beowulves to attack Weiss, who responded with two Arma Gigas and a Griffon. While one of the Arma Gigas kept the Beowulves busy, the Griffon carried the other to Winter, where it tried to break her aura and make the summons disappear.
"Nice plan," Winter said, "But futile." She blocked the Arma Gigas' attack with both of her swords and was about to push back to attack it, but the summon disappeared as their weapons clashed. Winter's aura flashed and crackled, and she made her summons disappear, calling off the training.
"Winter, what's wrong?" Weiss asked, made her summons disappear and hurried over to her sister.
"I… don't know," Winter answered, "But I felt strange just now." She pulled out her scroll and checked her aura readings.
"Looks normal," Weiss said, "I mean, I did have my Arma Gigas hit you harder than normal, so your aura did drop a lot, but that still doesn't explain why it disappeared. You didn't attack it, after all." Then, just as she said that, Weiss realized something she should have thought of much, much sooner. She took her own scroll and called Jaune's number, but to her disdain, he didn't pick up, so she left a voice message.
~o~
Jaune was walking through Atlas Academy, thinking of nothing special, when he found the spot where Winter and Sirena had stayed during one of the Grimm attacks to secure the city. The ambient aura still felt buzzing with power from that day, mostly due to that impressive feat of Winter's.
"Hold on a second," Jaune thought, "Maybe I can copy whatever semblance Sirena used to let Winter summon that thing, and help people out." He focused on the ambient aura, and time seemed to slow down around him as he relived the past. When it came to a stop, it began speeding up again, but in reverse. He skipped through days and weeks as if he was going through a photo album, until he reached that day and he saw Sirena sitting behind Winter and amplifying her aura, while Winter sat on the floor and focused on her Seer.
"Who are you really?" Sirena asked, confusing Winter a bit.
"What do you mean?" Winter asked, tilting her head a little.
"It's a literary concept," Sirena answered, "What we are in the dark. Essentially, when there is no one to judge your actions, when there are no consequences, no expectations, no regulations, nothing like that, do you still act the same as you do when people are watching?"
"I… suppose so," Winter answered and asked, "Why do you ask?"
"I'm just curious," Sirena answered.
"What about you?" Winter asked.
"I protect people," Sirena answered, "That's all I've ever done."
"What about the murders?" Winter asked.
"Those were outliers," Sirena answered, "Also, my people have a method of finding a solution to any problem. We compare the ease of implementing a solution to how long it keeps the problem solved. The solution with the best compromise gets implemented. Plus, I only killed people who either failed to be rehabilitated or worked for Salem."
"I don't think many of the people you killed were put in rehabilitation," Winter said.
"Didn't they go to prison?" Sirena asked.
"Yes, but the purpose of prisons isn't rehabilitation," Winter answered.
"That's just stupid," Sirena said, "Seriously, spending that much money on holding people and not trying to make them come out as better people is just stupid." Jaune could feel her use Tranquility, switching back and forth with Aura Amp to keep her cool without Winter noticing.
"That's how it has always been," Winter said coldly, and Jaune realized that, as weird as it was, Sirena actually had a valid point without room for criticism for once.
"Then it has always been stupid," Sirena said and asked, "But back to you. What do you want?" Jaune could feel her struggle to get Tranquility to work properly.
"I want to protect Atlas," Winter answered, "That's my duty, after all."
"But what about you as a person?" Sirena asked, "Not Winter Schnee the Atlas military special operative, nor the former SDC heiress, but the person sitting in front of me right now. No title, no rank, none of that. What is left if you ignore all that?"
"I never thought about that," Winter answered and asked, "Is that what you, Ruby and Maria taught the others?"
"We just helped them figure it out," Sirena answered, "We helped them improve overall. They're better fighters, better huntsmen, better people, because of us."
"They certainly changed," Winter said, "I just don't know if for better or worse."
"Trust me, it is for the better," Sirena said, "They think about what they want, and that improves their teamwork."
"But they're more emotional," Winter said.
"True," Sirena said, "But it's the good kind of emotional. They love the people they protect, which means they have a personal interest in doing their job, rather than just following orders. Like the Invincible Squadron in the Mistral army during the Great War."
"Do you really think a squadron can be invincible?" Winter asked and said, "I mean, I know the stories, but surely they must be exaggerated, right?"
"Not quite," Sirena answered, "Since the entire squadron was made up of lovers, and they fought side by side, they had a personal reason to fight well. Both to impress their partners, and to make sure those partners would survive. They didn't fight for themselves, they fought for others, and that is why they were so much stronger than other groups."
"I… think I made a mistake," Winter said, got up and asked, "Can you take care of things here until I get back? I need to fix something."
"Of course," Sirena answered and said, "But, let me help you first." She used Mentor to teach Winter something, and Jaune focused on the aura frequency, thinking that was what allowed Winter to summon the Kaiju. However, just as Winter hurried away, Sirena smiled and sat back down. To Jaune's surprise, Sirena summoned her own Seer, and a tiny Teryx, which flew out of the school and up to the top of the force field protecting the city, just as Tranquility stopped working and all of Sirena's negative emotions were exposed to the Grimm once more.
"Impossible," Jaune thought and returned to the present. He took his scroll to contact his friends, but noticed a voice message from Weiss that she had left shortly after he entered his trance.
"Jaune, call me, I need you to do something for me," Weiss said when he played the message, so he called her.
"Hello Weiss," Jaune said as soon as Weiss picked up, "Sirena summoned the Kaiju, not Winter."
"I kind of figured," Weiss said, "But… hearing it is still crazy. She had that powerful semblance all along, and just refused to use it."
"I think we should tell the others," Jaune said.
"Agreed," Weiss said, "Let's meet up in our usual break room in an hour." They both hung up and went to pick up any of their friends, including the Ace-Ops.
~o~
After Ichigo made her way through the sewers of Mantle, she created a pink hooded cloak out of cream threads to hide her identity and went to the harbor, where she stole a small aquatic vessel that one person could theoretically steer on their own. Sirena watched her, using Overactive Imagination to blend in with the foremen. She had used Emphatic Beacon on that vessel to scare Grimm away, as well as Deathzone to kill any Grimm that got too close anyway, with both effects lasting until Ichigo reached the shore.
"That should do it," Sirena thought and used Timer to figured out how long it'd be until the drones would reach the shore. She then used Emphatic Beacon on each one to make sure they wouldn't use up all their shots above the ocean.
"Sir, please step back a little," Blake said as she passed Sirena from behind, "Also, this may look a bit amazing now, so you might want to take out your scroll." Sirena stepped back and made it seem like she took out her scroll, having left it at the academy when she supposedly returned home for good. Blake entered her alpha state, and her aura manifested as claws on her fingertips and a tail protruding from her back. She used Deathzone on the incendiary-goo in her ears, pouring almost too much aura into it, then used that goo to augment a combat drone that she sent to protect the last one protecting Ichigo.
"What… was that?" Sirena asked, sounding like a man in his early thirties. Blake turned around and left her alpha state again.
"A combat drone," Blake answered, "It attacks any nearby Grimm. It's the semblance of a fusion of two of my friends. I augmented it with a special dust-like substance called goo, so now the drone's shots explode and have the same effect as incendiary-dust. I also added another semblance, making the shards resulting from it weaken the life force of parasites that harm crops."
"That will come in handy, I'm sure," Sirena said.
"It sure will," Blake said, "The damage is about the same as a regular bullet from a handgun, but it's enough to kill those parasites, since they're weak and the damage is applied every second they're within range of that semblance."
"Within range?" Sirena asked.
"Yep, it only works within a certain radius," Blake answered, "But I increased the ranged drastically, so it can easily cover an entire field. A friend of mine told me it was sowing season soon, so parasites would be an issue, especially for Vale. That girl, Ichigo, is going to seek out sadness for her own pleasure, and farmers seeing their crops destroyed will attract her, bringing the drones along with her. But of course, the despair will also attract Grimm."
"So, now the drone shoots Grimm drawn in by despair, right?" Sirena asked, trying to keep up appearances and hoping that Blake didn't recognize her.
"Exactly," Blake answered, "And the shards will kill the pests and save the crops, making it easier for the people."
"That is incredible," Sirena said.
"Thanks, Sirena," Blake said with a sly smirk and patted Sirena on the shoulder, dispelling the illusion.
"How long did you know?" Sirena asked.
"Not long," Blake answered, "But you were awfully calm when seeing an alpha faunus. That kind of tipped me off, so I used my predator sense to see how far you were away, and in which direction."
"I see," Sirena said and asked, "Anyway, how about we let this be our secret?"
"Not happening," Blake answered and switched places with a clone she had left in Atlas Academy. Sirena sighed and focused Eavesdrop on Blake and the others. She pulled a device from one of her pockets that Sophie had made for her and fused with Cinder's soul. Mithala jumped into the ocean and put the device, a cage made of eight corner pieces with telescope rods implemented in it, around the combat drone in the ocean current. She then attached an under water computer to one of the rods and made it copy Emphatic Beacon, scaring off all Grimm that see the cage for one and a half hours, and setting it so that it activates once the drone fired eighty-five shots.
~o~
After Blake switched places with her clone in Atlas Academy, she saw that all of her friends were gathered, safe for Ruby, all of whom gave Weiss or Jaune rather confused looks. She let out a gasp when she returned, drawing some attention to herself.
"Blake, something wrong?" Yang asked.
"Not really," Blake answered, "But I was just at the harbor, sending a combat drone to protect the last in the line protecting Ichigo."
"Wait, Ichigo?" Harriet asked, "Why is she at the harbor?"
"Because I'm using her to buy us time," Weiss answered, "I've had Sophie's swarm send a combat drone to protect her, one to protect that one, and a third one to protect that. All three use plant-dust to grow roses wherever they shoot."
"So what?" Elm asked.
"That means that the roses will harm Grimm," Weiss answered, "Then, since Sophie's swarm copied Spectral Assault, every time a Grimm pricks itself on those thorns, it will deal additional damage. Ichigo will return to Salem, and those drones will follow her. Three hundred shots, three hundred rose patches, and pure hell for Grimm."
"Wow… that, that is genius," Clover said.
"Thanks, but I actually learned that from Sirena," Weiss said, "She told me that a true huntress always looks for ways to protect people from Grimm. That is why I set that trap for Salem."
"Except it won't work," Blake said, drawing everyone's attention, "Ichigo isn't with Salem to hurt people, she's just there because she felt like it. Now that she got in trouble, she won't return."
"So it was all for nothing?" Weiss asked.
"Not at all," Blake answered, "Sure, Ichigo is on the run again, but the drones still follow her, and she'll still be drawn to places that attract Grimm. Also, I saw Sirena."
"Wait, what?" Yang asked, and everyone else also almost jumped out of their seats in surprise.
"I went to the harbor to send another drone after Ichigo," Blake answered, "It is augmented with incendiary-goo, which harms nearby pests that destroy crops thanks to Deathzone. The effect lasts for a year."
"What was Sirena doing there?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know," Blake answered, "But she used Neo's semblance to disguise herself as a foreman, to try and blend in. It kind of worked, but my predator sense is better."
"Do you think she tried to sabotage our plans?" Qrow asked.
"No," Jaune answered calmly and asked, "Why would she?"
"To prove that we need her," Qrow answered, "In the past, she always sabotaged plans of people who disagreed with her methods, just to prove that her plan was the only one that could work. However, there never was any proof of her meddling, so she couldn't be held responsible."
"How do you know it was sabotaged?" Yang asked, "I mean, you said it yourself, there was never any proof. Plus, if there is no proof, how do you know it was her?"
"I just do," Qrow answered, "She's just that kind of person."
"What do you mean?" Yang asked.
"She does all kinds of things, for all kinds of reasons," Qrow answered, "She helps random people, helps herself, acts kind, and in general, she is unpredictable. But one thing always remained the same."
"Sirena protects people," Jaune said, cutting him off, "That's all she's ever done."
"She said that to me as well," Winter said, "After the election."
"I know, I saw it with astral tracing," Jaune said, "I also saw that she was the one who summoned the Kaiju."
"I told her not to copy mine," Weiss said.
"She never did," Nora said, "I'm sure you would've noticed some bright flash of light like that."
"It wasn't me, either," Whitley said.
"It was me," Winter admitted, "A few years ago, I was trying to kill a Megoliath with brute force to get it as a summon. She saw me, and saved me from it. Back then, I didn't know what the light meant, so I didn't think much of it. Until now, I had completely forgotten about it." The entire room fell silent as the group realized that Sirena had access to one the most powerful support semblances for years, and no one knew about it.
~o~
Mithala swam down to Soraklia, with Cinder being mostly in charge and Sirena listening to Ruby's friends talk about her and her motivations. She almost felt compelled to use Suggestion on Maria to set things right, but they already figured it all out by themselves.
~o~
Ruby finished transmuting the rock she had been given, leaned back in her seat and let out a small exhausted sigh. Somehow, though not surprisingly now that she thought about it, changing the nature of an object took a lot of out her. She sat back up and looked around, and noticed that she was the first to complete the task.
"Are you done already?" Adva asked when she noticed Ruby looking around, directing some students' attention to her. One student lost control over her magic, and the protective spell on the classroom turned any excess energy into a foul-smelling purple goop that stuck to the student. The other students ignored the stench until they completed their tasks, and one by one, the rocks turned to gold.
"Well, yes," Ruby answered, "It was exhausting, but otherwise pretty easy." The class began to murmur about her reply, and she felt a bit uncomfortable.
"That is impressive," Adva said, "Though, also a bit strange."
"Strange? May I ask how?" Ruby asked.
"Your speed implies a certain level of skill," Adva answered, "However, one as young as you cannot reach that skill with as little power as you possess."
"May I ask what you mean?" Ruby asked, still a bit unsure of what is going on, or if she made a mistake somewhere.
"Hold on, I must test something first," Adva answered, "It is very common for beginners to only affect the outer layers of an object. Maybe that would explain your speed." Hearing that, Ruby was relieved somehow, and realized she was genuinely worried about being kicked out for something. Adva walked over, held her right hand towards the chunk of gold, with her thumb, index- and pinky finger sticking up and her middle- and ring finger touching their base, and a series of symbols appeared around her wrist.
"I'm sure she messed up," one of the other students whispered.
"Yeah, she probably just put a golden layer on it," another student agreed, and Ruby sunk a bit into her seat, when Adva suddenly gasped in surprise and stopped her scanning spell.
"I can't believe it," Adva said, "This is perfect. Pure gold. You managed to completely transmute the rock on your first try." The class started murmuring again, this time about how amazing Ruby was, and Ruby felt even more uncomfortable, feeling herself slipping into the role of some kind of chosen one, who masters everything on their first try. So, she decided to take it slow from now on.
~o~
Maria was piloting the repurposed Manta, with Winter sitting next to her, to see how it held up. Ren sat behind them in an additional chair, manning the aura disk launcher mounted to the top of the Manta, so they could shake off any Grimm that might attack them. Donna swam ahead, barely visible in the murky depths. They followed her through a series of spikes, when something hit the Manta.
"What was that?" Winter asked.
"I don't know," Maria answered, "But it's no Grimm."
"What do we do?" Winter asked, and the Manta was hit again.
"Turn on the cameras," Maria answered, "Get me as much info on that thing as possible."
"Alright," Winter answered and pressed a button. The cameras turned on, checking the Manta's surroundings in every direction. Maria flipped from one feed to the next, trying to find the creature, when she sensed Grimm.
"Ren, there are Grimm coming," Maria said, "I'll try to shake them off, but be ready in case we need a distraction." She piloted the Manta through rock spikes, trying to evade the Grimm.
"On it," Ren said and tried to lock onto something to lure the Grimm there. Maria used both the topographic scanners and her semblance to effortlessly weave through the rocks, hoping to shake whatever had attacked them in the first place. Winter tried to hold on to her seat, while also checking the camera feeds in order to find the creature that had hit them.
"Found something," Winter said just as the Manta was hit again, and showed Maria an image of a dark blue sea dragon approaching them. In passing, it hit them with an elongated bone plate protruding from the tip of its tail.
"The disk launcher was hit," Ren said, "We're defenseless." A dark green sea dragon with a spiked mace as tail weapon appeared and charged at the Manta, and a third one, black and with a stinger, rose from the sandy ocean floor.
"They're working together?!" Maria asked in surprise as the trio kept assaulting them. The green one wanted to slam its tail weapon into the glass, but stopped in the last moment.
"Why didn't it attack?" Winter asked.
"They're listening," Ren answered with a shocked expression on his face, "They want us to talk about our strengths, so they can learn."
"And now that they know that we know that," Maria said, "They know their plan won't work." The green sea dragon returned for another attack, and slammed his club into the front panel, cracking it. Donna slammed into the sea dragon from the side, tackling it off the Manta.
"Took you long enough," Winter said over the under water speaker system.
"Donna sorry," Donna said, "Donna busy."
"Everyone, hold on, I'm getting us out of here," Maria said and changed the course. She fled from the sea dragons and the Grimm, with Donna trying to fight them off. Donna created a combat drone and had it protect the Manta. The drone was too slow to keep up, so the Grimm eventually got within reach and were hit with blasts that turned into phytoplankton on impact, which in turn stuck to the Grimm.
"Dive," Donna said, "Trust Donna." Maria changed the course again and headed for deeper waters, while Winter used a Glyph to support the cracked front window. The light from the surface faded faster and faster, until Preflexes and the sonars were the only way anyone inside the Manta could perceive their surroundings. As the temperature dropped, the Manta's heating system kicked into high gear just to maintain habitable conditions.
"What now?" Maria asked.
"Wait, evade," Donna answered, "Donna, plan." Maria kept evading the Grimm without changing their position much, until the combat drone caught up and hit the Grimm, coating them in a green film. Tiny deep sea creatures emerged from the sand and the cracks in the rocky cliff walls, and latched on to the Grimm to consume the plankton coating. A massive siphonophore brushed up against the Grimm, recognized the creatures they were covered in as food, and folded around the entire pack. Maria stopped the Manta and hovered in place, observing the creature, which was big enough to register on the topographic scanner, completely envelop its prey and devour it.
"What… is that?" Winter asked in shock, and looked at Maria.
"I have… no idea," Maria answered, "That wasn't anywhere in Sirena's book." Suddenly, the sea dragons appeared again, surrounding the Manta. The black one latched onto the Manta and repeatedly hit the glass with its stinger, aiming for one of the weakest spots. Donna tried to save her friends, but the other two sea dragons got in her way. She blocked the purple one's tail blade with her nose and grabbed its tail, only to take the green one's club to the gut. Winter had more and more trouble supporting the glass, and she knew she couldn't hold back the ocean on her own.
"No hurt friends," Donna said and tried to force her way past the other dragons, "No. Hurt. Friends!" She unleashed a wave of psychic energy, and the sea dragons stopped what they were doing, looking at her with empty eyes, as if they were in a trance.
"What is your command?" Mithala asked, swimming up to Donna, also in a trance.
"You, free," Donna answered, releasing Mithala from her control, then turned to the sea dragons, "Dragons, no hurt humans. No hurt faunus. Only hurt Grimm. Only hunt food. Now go, remember orders." The sea dragons swam away into the darkness, looking for Grimm to kill.
"Guys, as impressive as this was, we need help here," Maria said, with Winter straining to keep the glass from breaking. Maria used Aura Amp to help her, and Mithala joined in the effort.
"I have a plan," Mithala answered, "But you won't like it."
"What is it?" Maria asked.
"Let go," Mithala answered, "I can fuse with two of you, and Donna can take the last one. Then you will be safe."
"Idea no good," Donna said, "Four, too many."
"We have to do something," Ren said, and Donna thought for a moment.
"I can use my maiden powers," Mithala said, "But it'll be difficult to filter the right amount of oxygen for you guys."
"Weiss magic," Donna said, "One person, animal. Fish, swim."
"Well, it's worth a shot," Maria said.
"Just do something," Winter said, straining ever harder to keep her glyph active.
"Good," Donna said and swam up to a side window. She took a deep breath, and a series of runes appeared around her wrists as she held her hands towards the small crew. After deciphering the runes for a few seconds, she focused on Ren.
"What is it?" Ren asked.
"Moray eel," Donna answered, surprising Ren a bit.
"What?" Ren asked in disbelief.
"You, moray eel," Donna answered.
"If you say so," Ren said, "Let's go, then."
"Yes," Donna said. Winter let her glyph disappear and the ocean water rushed into the Manta. Mithala fused with Winter and took Maria into a force field, while Donna turned Ren into a moray eel therianthrope before heading over to fuse with Maria. The first fusion had silver eyes and ash gray hair, with a black and white braid running halfway around her head from the middle of her hairline, and finally meeting to tie her hair into a ponytail.
"I am Purity," the fusion announced. She wore a light blue shirt with elbow-long sleeves, a black leather belt holding several pouches and a light red combat skirt, under which she wore white pants that reached past her knees and halfway down her shins. She also wore a black ankle band on her right foot, with three gems hanging from it, one red, one blue, and one white. The second fusion opened her silver eyes, and her black hair drifted in the water.
"We are Hunter," the fusion said, speaking in three voices. She had a roughly human physique, with clawed hands and feet, rows of razor-sharp teeth in her mouth, a shark tail protruding from her backside, and dark red, scaly skin. She wore a simple black tank top and shorts, and a curved horn protruded from her forehead. Realizing that Hunter wasn't going to last too long, the two fusions hurried back to the surface as quickly as possible, with Ren struggling to keep up.
~o~
Winter felt her mind adrift in some kind of void. She felt two other presences beside her, but couldn't make out where they were. She knew she was still breathing, even though it felt weird being that aware of something so normal. She knew she was under water, too. She suddenly remembered working at the Glass Unicorn. The memory faded again, as if it was pulled away by something, but then returned, stronger than before. She felt humiliation, anger, frustration, and fear. She felt like she was choking as a shock collar caused her throat muscles to violently contract for a few seconds. Suddenly, she was under water. It was dark, but she knew where she was. She hid inside a crate meant to bring food back to the kingdom. As the man set the crate down, she slowly peeked out, and one man noticed her and alerted the rest. Panic broke out and Grimm attacked as the men realized their crown princess was in danger. There was chaos and confusion all around, with people fighting Grimm wherever she looked. The farmers did their best to keep her safe, even at the cost of their own lives. She jumped out of the crate and swam as fast as she could, trying to get away from the Grimm. When a pack of Grimm caught up to her, she felt a sudden surge of power, and then nothing. Nothing but the faces of the men who died to protect her.
Author's note: Winter is getting lost in Cinder and Sirena's memories, since her own sense of self is so poorly developed. It may also be that Cinder and Sirena purposefully distract her, so she doesn't notice what they're doing, but it's mostly the former.
So, yeah, Sirena can use Glyphs. As in, the whole time. She could've easily sent some Sea Feilong to deal with Tyrian in chapter one, without all the trouble, but that wouldn't have scared him enough to let her keep track of his movements.
Also, Donna's Animal Control semblance works on alpha faunus, like Sirena.