Author's note: Remember what Sirena said about Countdown? The first thing it told her was the day she'd die.
When Sirena woke up, she felt water in her lungs, more than usual, and heard a mechanical beeping sound. She also sensed the fear of a lot of people, who were more concerned for her than about her, which was certainly a new feeling to experience.
"Is she alive?" Nora asked, and Sirena felt another spike in her concern.
"Sounds like it," Blake answered, and Sirena felt everyone's fears reduce a bit again.
"Do you think we should give her some rest?" Weiss asked.
"It is probably for the best, yes," Destiny answered as she entered the room. Sirena opened her eyes and was temporarily blinded by the bright hospital lights, then looked around.
"Where am I?" Sirena asked weakly, drawing everyone's attention to herself.
"You're in Atlas," Maria answered, being the first to break the stunned silence, "You showed up here in a bubble a few days ago, and the doctors managed to save you."
"But your maiden powers are gone," Yang said.
"I see," Sirena said, and if she had been sitting, would've fallen back into the pillow, "I'm sorry." She let out a sad sigh.
"What do you mean?" Yang asked.
"I couldn't protect Ruby as much as I would've liked," Sirena answered, "She is alive, but I almost hadn't made it. But she is alive."
"Good to know," Yang said, "But you also need to get better, so you can go back to doing what you were doing. We'll leave you alone now so you can get some rest." Everyone left the room and Sirena stayed in her bed, not because she was too weak to get up, but because they had forgotten one important thing about her. She had known when she would die for years, and planned around that.
~o~
Ilia and some of her old acquaintances were out in the tundra, fighting a pack of Sabyr. She had her new semblance, Power Whip, augmented with lightning-dust, coating any Grimm she hit in yellow energy and sending out bolts of lightning at the nearest enemy when one of her allies hit one.
~o~
Sirena laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was clean, and white, and sterile. The pattern repeated five times, then was interrupted by poor craftsmanship, repeated three more times, then another break. She looked around more. The shelf beside her bed would collapse in an hour, startling the nurse and making her jumpy for the rest of the day. She would later jump back from a car speeding past, step on someone's foot and send him to the hospital, where he would fall in love with the person in the bed next to his. Their child would grow to become a powerful huntsman. As Sirena looked around in the room, Harriet poked her head through the door.
"Are you awake?" Harriet asked, and entered when she saw that Sirena was awake.
"Hello," Sirena said and turned to look back at the ceiling.
"How are you feeling?" Harriet asked.
"I don't know," Sirena answered, "I never felt like this before."
"Well, you know what they say," Harriet said, "There's a first time for everything."
"I don't like this feeling," Sirena said, "But I don't know what it is, so I can't make it stop."
"What does it feel like?" Harriet asked and said, "I mean, maybe I can help you this time around. I was there myself, after all."
"You weren't," Sirena said, "You lost the thing you based your identity around. I died and came back. But if you insist, fine." She reached out and used Mentor to let Harriet feel what she felt.
"Feels like emptiness to me," Harriet said, "You don't know what you're supposed to do now, and have no goal. Just wandering the world, so to speak, doing whatever keeps your mind occupied. You're in pretty much the same hole you dragged us out of, even though we were screaming and kicking the entire time."
"How do I make it stop?" Sirena asked.
"Find a purpose," Harriet answered, "I mean, you already have one, so it shouldn't be too hard."
"I had a purpose," Sirena said, "For almost five years now, I knew I would die that day. Now I'm alive, and it is past that day."
"To be honest, I have no idea what knowing your death date would do to a person," Harriet said.
"In my case, it made me rush things as much as possible," Sirena said, "I made sure that I completed everything I needed to complete before that day came, tied up all loose ends, and now, I have nothing left to do."
"Isn't there anything you never got to do?" Harriet asked.
"No, I did everything I had to do," Sirena answered.
"But what about things you want to do?" Harriet asked, "Isn't there anything that made you think you'd do it if you had the time?"
"A few things, yes," Sirena answered, "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Harriet said and asked, "So, do you go back to your people afterwards?"
"No, I can't," Sirena answered, "They know I have died, and have already accepted my death. Returning now would only cause problems."
"Are you sure?" Harriet asked, "Or are you just afraid of being proven wrong in front of them?"
"I… don't know," Sirena answered, "I don't know a lot of things right now, it would seem."
"Well, you can think about them as long as you like," Harriet said, "And if you need help with anything, just ask. You may be an agent of a god, but you're still mortal, and us mortals have to stick together." They spent a bit longer chatting, until a nurse came to tell Sirena that she could leave the hospital in the evening, and the shelf next to Sirena's bed collapsed, startling the nurse.
~o~
After the announcement of Sirena's death, the kingdom of Soraklia was hit with an overwhelming sadness, and on her orders, the new king, his royal highness King Srebro Blue the eighth, sent all veteran leaders to petrify Grimm and punish them for Sirena's death. Ruby wanted to go as well, but she was too inexperienced to qualify, so she was tasked with transmuting the petrified Grimm into usable materials.
~o~
Ilia spun around and hit a Grand Sabyr, the bipedal, more advanced form of a Sabyr, with Power Whip, augmented with the earth-dust in her skin. Her allies, with the help of some Atlesian Knights, opened fire as soon as the Grimm was coated in the thick, dark brown energy. Crystals shot out from it in all directions whenever it took a hit, and any Grimm struck by a crystal was slowly encased in a similar crystalline structure, immobilizing them. Just as a group of Centinel erupted from the snow and ice, something hit the Grand Sabyr in the back, and over a dozen crystals impaled the new Grimm, harming them and slowly immobilizing them, while also killing the big one.
"Ilia? Is that you?" Zohar asked as she made her way over from her vantage point on a nearby hill, using skis to get across the snow. She stopped in front of Ilia as her other allies caught up, and her skis collapsed into the soles of her boots.
"Zohar, hello," Ilia answered, a bit worried about the interaction, "Yes, it's me. Sorry for running off back then, I was, well, in a bad place. Mentally. You know, dead parents and all. But enough about me, how have you been?"
"I've been great," Zohar answered, "And, I never got to tell you, but I'm really really sorry for how I acted. And what happened to you."
"Ilia, who's this human?" Aswad, a White Fang enforcer, asked as he approached.
"This is Zohar, a friend of mine," Ilia answered.
"You… still think we're friends?" Zohar asked, mostly in surprise.
"Of course," Ilia answered, "Unless you don't want to, which is also fine, but to me, you'll always be the best person this kingdom has to offer."
"No, no of course I want to be friends," Zohar said, "I just… I didn't think you would still want to be my friend, after all the things that happened back then."
"Then that's settled," Ilia said, "Anyway, we better get back to work, those Grimm will start moving again soon."
"What was that you hit the big one with, though?" Aswad asked, looking at Zohar.
"Fragmentation rounds," Zohar answered, "They split up into multiple bits of shrapnel as they fly, allowing me to deal a lot more damage, since they're all razor-sharp."
"That's great," Ilia said and looked around, pointed at a hill and said, "Go to that hill and cover us. Focus your attacks on the Grimm I hit with my whip. I'll explain later."
"Got it," Zohar said, extended her skis and used the small thrusters built into their back to get uphill, then collapsed them and laid down in the snow, aiming her sniper rifle at the nearest Grimm. A frozen Big Ursa led a pack of regular Ursai, and Ilia augmented Power Whip with ice-dust before engaging, while her allies took out the immobilized Grimm. She hit the majority of the pack with a wide swing, including the Big Ursa, and Zohar immediately shot the big Grimm with her special rounds, spawning over a dozen snowflakes, which aimed at the nearest Grimm, flew into them, and exploded on impact. Most of the Ursai died, and the duo took out the remaining monsters, with some snowflakes flying back to Zohar afterwards.
"So, what's this?" Zohar asked when they met in an open space and said, "I know it's not your semblance, since that is emotion-based. But something is definitely happening."
"It is a semblance," Ilia answered, "You've heard of fusions, right? Well, Weiss and I fused, and our fusion's semblance is called Power Whip. Weiss has some semblances at her disposal, and some of them come together to let a fusion she is part of share their semblance with someone else. When I augment it with ice-dust, these snowflakes spawn when one of my allies hits a Grimm after I hit it."
"You're really friends with Weiss Schnee?" Zohar asked.
"Yeah, that happened very recently," Ilia answered, rubbing the back of her neck, "I actually asked her to tell you something from me."
"She did, actually," Zohar said, "I just… it was hard to believe you two actually got along, considering what her family did to yours."
"True, what happened was pretty bad," Ilia said, "But holding her responsible because she's related to the people who did it doesn't seem fair, considering I'm fighting discrimination. Anyway, there's one more pack in the area that we need to clear out."
"Sure," Zohar said and asked, "But, how did you know that hill would be so good for combat?"
"Chameleon instincts," Ilia answered, "I know the best ambush spots in the area now. Almost like a semblance." She led the way, and told Zohar where she can set up a good ambush, and they easily took down a pack of Teryx. Afterwards, they all headed back to Atlas, and arrived in the evening.
~o~
Walking through the city of Atlas, Sirena noticed that she got the same looks as back in Beacon. She didn't know if she had always gotten those looks on the surface and was simply too preoccupied to notice, or if the people had stopped for a while, but she enjoyed the attention. She stopped at a fancy cafe, where she sensed a man's worries as he looked over a book in his hands.
"What's wrong?" Sirena asked as she sat down opposite of him.
"I can't do it," the man answered, raising his voice a bit in frustration.
"Can't do what?" Sirena asked and said, "Maybe I can help."
"I doubt it," the man said, and Sirena needed a moment to process the unexpected answer.
"Wait, what?" Sirena asked, "What did you say?"
"I said I doubt it," the man answered, "I don't think you can help me."
"I… I see," Sirena said, got up and walked away, not really knowing where, just doing something to try and process this development. Normally, the man would be telling her all about his worries right now. She could still feel them, after all. Yet somehow, her powers didn't work. She needed to get her mind off of everything for a while, without any idea on how to do that. She needed help.
~o~
Talia was wandering through Vale, looking at the repairs to the buildings, and thinking of Project Alpha. She could speed things up a lot, but that would endanger their cover and make the city take longer to repair. Suddenly, her prey sense informed her that Weiss was looking for her, and shortly after, every member of Sophie's swarm was in on it as well. She was mostly interested in Weiss, however. She couldn't tell how strong she was from that far away, so she decided to let the swarm find her and listen to what they had to say. Ade Gold, a pangolin faunus, was the closest to her. He was a bulky man with a powerful defensive semblance, and easily the best tank among officially licensed huntsmen. His tower shield machine gun, All Clear, was one of the more stationary weapons, but a swarm member's Weightless semblance made carrying it easier.
"Lady Star, I have found you," Ade said as he walked up to Talia, "Miss Schnee has requested your presence in Atlas, and as the second-in-command of Apostle Rose, we must heed her orders. Please comply." The man towered over Talia, easily dwarfing most other huntsmen, and wore simple black combat boots, pants with forest camo print, and a black shirt with six armor plates on it under a long-sleeved jacket with camo print. His weapon was folded and on his back, making it look like a large backpack with similar camo print.
"Sure, bring me to her," Talia said, and Ade's dark brown eyes lit up with joy, which the gentle giant didn't express otherwise.
"Of course, Lady Star," Ade said and put his right hand on her left shoulder, with two of his fingers not fitting. Using Lily's Quick Travel semblance, he got both of them to their destination in an instant. Talia looked around and saw that they were in Mantle, a fair distance away from Weiss' location. She also saw that Atlas was finally back on the ground, and realized that the little code she programmed into Penny actually paid off.
"Is this the closest we can get?" Talia asked.
"Yes," Ade answered, "Unfortunately, our other members in the area were called away for another mission some time ago."
"Alright then," Talia said, "Wait for me to be done, then bring me back to Vale."
"Of course," Ade answered. Talia walked away to find Weiss, hoping the massive beast of a man wouldn't cause too much trouble. When he saw Talia leave, Ade learned from the swarm that some kind of monster was chasing civilians. There were three monsters, their torsos looked like steam-dust crystals with a purple tint, and they had robot-like arms and legs, with an orange rhomboid crystal in the middle of their face, as well as red eyes. Their left arm ended in a hose of sorts, and they blew toxic fumes from them as they chased civilians.
"Huntsman, please, save us," one of the civilians called out as a group of them ran past Ade.
"Of course," Ade said, and the scales on his tail rattled a bit. He put down his weapon and it unfolded into a tower shield resting on supports to reduce any impact against it, with the machine gun unfolding as well. With his portable machine gun nest ready, he activated his Triple Threat semblance, creating two copies of himself, one on either side. As soon as the monsters came around the corner, he opened fire. The monsters blew toxic fumes at him, so he had the swarm turn on the city's hard-light barriers to form a tunnel, allowing the ventilation system to suck up the fumes more easily. Air would be sucked up by the fans behind the monsters, creating a vacuum. The only opening in the tunnel was behind Ade, meaning the air would flow away from the civilians and keep them safe. His copies focused their attacks on the enemy he focused on, and all three quickly took out the first monster. The creature burst into a cloud of smoke, leaving a slightly purple steam-dust crystal behind, which triggered and released more toxic fumes. He and his copies took out another monster, and then the last one, and the people cheered.
~o~
As Talia approached Weiss, she could tell more and more about her. She had gained a few new semblances, improved her magic, and even learned, and practiced, making minor pacts to let people turn into animals. And more importantly, she hadn't given in to the thirst for power yet. When she found Weiss, the former heiress was sitting on a chair in an unoccupied dorm room in Atlas Academy, seemingly waiting for her.
"Hello Weiss," Talia said and asked, "You wanted to speak with me?"
"Hello Talia," Weiss said and answered, "Yes, I did. I'd like to fuse with you."
"Why is that?" Talia asked and sat down on another chair.
"Mostly to learn magic," Weiss answered, "But you can also gain something."
"Alright, now I'm intrigued," Talia said and asked, "What can I gain?"
"Another semblance," Weiss answered, "I can make our fusion share her semblance with whoever I want. Normally I'd make them share it with myself, but I'm willing to make an exception."
"Well, I don't know what the semblance is," Talia said, "So I don't know how good of a deal that is. Plus, we're both warlocks, and I don't know what would happen if our patrons met."
"Which brings me to my next point," Weiss said and asked, "Aren't you curious what would happen?"
"It is intriguing, yes," Talia said to herself, and answered, "Alright, I'm in." Talia got up, turned off the light with her tail, and the two took each other's hands and hugged, with Weiss using her magic to initiate the fusion. When Weiss opened her eyes, she could see normally, and for a second forgot that the lights were off, and only the slit under the door provided light.
"What are we?" Talia asked mentally.
"We're both really, really smart," Weiss answered mentally, "I'd say we go with Mastermind."
"Agreed," Talia answered, and both sat down before sinking into their soul core. As they got deep enough, they came upon a twisted world, barren wasteland on one side, fantastical desert on the other. The wasteland was ruled by a large four-legged creature with a humanoid torso in place of a neck and head, which ended in a classical dragon head, and had wings growing out of its shoulders. The desert was inhabited by what looked like the upper torso of a woman, made entirely of sand constantly pouring out of the top of her head and flowing down, with a tapir's trunk for a nose. Sand drifted around her in mesmerizing shapes and patterns, and the longer Weiss looked, the more sleepy she got.
"Looks like they're fine," Talia said, pulling Weiss out of her trance, "Now come, I want to see what's next." She had Weiss take the lead again, and both reached the part of their soul that dictated their semblance. Their nature was to shackle and bind people's souls, making them unable to use their aura or semblance until they met certain requirements.
"So, you want this?" Weiss asked.
"Yep," Talia answered, and Weiss made their fusion share the semblance with the mouse faunus.
"Now, let's see what's happening in other timelines," Weiss said, "And maybe help them a bit."
"Sure," Talia said, and both returned to the waking world, where they inspected their fusion. She wore a white leotard with light gray frills around the waist, light gray fingerless gloves and thigh-high socks, black boots, had short, black hair that faded through gray and into white, and a mouse tail.
"Well, this is a unique look," Mastermind said, with Weiss' voice being more prominent, "Good thing I don't have to go out like this." The fusion reached out to other timelines. Mastermind saw the battle for Beacon unfold, with Glynda, Qrow and Cardin fighting off both Grimm and the infected Knights. She summoned a Seer in her room and in Beacon's courtyard, as well as a Queen Lancer in the latter. Just as Cardin was held at gunpoint by Knights, the Queen Lancer took them out, drawing attention to itself and the Seer under it.
"What… is that?" Cardin asked, and the Queen Lancer shot its stinger through a Griffon trying to kill General Ironwood. Mastermind had the Seer in her room contact the one on the field.
"Hello, I am Mastermind," the fusion said, "I am here to help."
"Mastermind?" Glynda asked.
"That looks a lot like Winter's summons," General Ironwood said.
"I'm a fusion," Mastermind answered, "Of Weiss and someone else. Due to some circumstances, Weiss can use her semblances even when she fuses with someone else. She is very versatile like that."
"So, what else can you do?" Glynda asked.
"This, for example," Mastermind answered, and her Seer pointed a tentacle at General Ironwood. It fired a milky white energy beam at him, coating him in energy for a moment, before it seeped into him.
"What was that?" Glynda asked.
"My own semblance," Mastermind answered, "From now on, General Ironwood can only use his semblance to protect the people, never to further his own goals."
"Undo that right now," General Ironwood said angrily.
"Make me," Mastermind said, and General Ironwood tried to shoot the Seer, only to hit a glyph.
"James, look," Qrow said, "She's just making sure you stay on the right path. Trust me, I know what bad times look like, and right now, it looks like really bad times are coming. I don't know what your semblance is, and you don't have to tell me, but if she can make it so you don't end up on the wrong side of history, just let her. Besides, you're on our side anyway, so it wouldn't affect you to begin with."
"Well said, Qrow," Mastermind said, "Anyway, if you would excuse me, I have some of the General's mistakes to correct." The Queen Lander flew away and looked for Atlas students, as well as Winter. She found the latter fighting off a pack of Ursai, which were quickly disposed off by the Queen Lancer's bone spikes and Weiss' Landmine semblance. The Queen Lancer landed near Winter, and Mastermind summoned a new Seer, making hers contact it.
"What the- who are you?" Winter asked.
"I'm a friend," Mastermind answered.
"I don't have time for friends," Winter said, "I need to fight Grimm."
"The two go hand in hand, actually," Mastermind said, "So I'll block your semblance until you accept that simple truth. Penny can help you with that. But don't worry, I won't leave you defenseless. This Combat Drone has one hundred shots before it disappears, slowly recharging them if it doesn't fire any shots for five minutes. I'll tell Weiss about it, and that if it still follows you when she sees you next, it means you have avoided fighting Grimm and are a problem." Before Winter could object, her semblance was blocked and a Combat Drone appeared, circling Winter. The Seer disappeared, and the Queen Lancer flew away again, looking for Team FNKI. After blocking their semblances until they could survive without them, Mastermind made her Queen Lancer fly towards Atlas, and used Weiss' dream magic to put a curse on the Ace-Ops, as well as the future member Marrow, to help them train in their sleep. She also blocked their semblances until they had the right mindset to be called huntsmen. While she was at it, she also put the curse and semblance restrictions on all other military huntsmen, as well as academy students, and looked for Robyn, summoning a Seer when she found her.
"What is that?" Robyn asked upon seeing the summon, and the fog cleared up.
"It's a Seer," Mastermind answered, "It's my summon. Hi, I'm Mastermind, a fusion of two people. Anyway, I have something to tell you."
"A fusion?" Robyn asked.
"Not that, something else," Mastermind answered, "Look, there's a woman, Salem, and she controls the Grimm. She is behind the fall of Beacon, and she will try to destroy Haven next, followed by Shade. But because Ozpin will be on his way here after saving Haven, she'll change her plans and send some people here to make it look like Ironwood was killing people who criticize him. Two of them, Tyrian Callows and Arthur Watts, are the most prominent across timelines, so be ready for them."
"But… they're dead," Robyn said, not even sure anymore what to question first.
"Not really," Mastermind said, "They faked their deaths, Arthur is behind what happened in Vale, and he'll come here next. You have to get the city's cyber security upgraded, and have his credentials removed. Just tell the council that they're unnecessary anyway, since he's dead."
"But didn't you just say he's alive?" Robyn asked.
"I did, and he is, but he's been declared dead," Mastermind answered, "Also, you have to time this right."
"What do you mean?" Robyn asked.
"Right before the election, have the security upgraded," Mastermind answered, "Kick Arthur out of the election systems, and into false ones, so he thinks he's still messing things up. Also, let him turn off the lights at your election party, but don't give him full control. Three seconds after the lights turn off, have them turn back on."
"I… don't think I can remember all this," Robyn said.
"Don't worry, I can write it down," Mastermind said, and Robyn handed her her scroll to take notes on.
"Thanks," Robyn said as she took her scroll back, still confused as to what this was all about. The Seer disappeared again and Mastermind summoned a new one at Schnee Manor, telling Willow to check the security footage from Jacques' room after the charity to raise money for Beacon. Mastermind then retreated from that timeline, and decided to visit some others as well, before splitting up again in the evening, leaving both participants rather exhausted.
Author's note: Sometimes I wish I could make people experience my emotions the way Sirena let Harriet experience hers. It would make everything so much easier, and guarantee that the person I'm talking to understands what I'm trying to explain.
Sirena thinks she lost her powers. In reality, she just can't help the guy.
Originally, Ade was supposed to show Flynt how to properly use a power like theirs. But I decided against that. Also, Triple Threat is a bit different from Killer Quartet, in that the other two copies of him focus their attacks on the same enemy he does, rather than just mimicking his moves.
Mastermind has a plan. Basically, the lights will go back on when Tyrian is killing people, showing everyone who is really responsible.