Author's note: Now let's see whose help Sirena enlists to learn how to get her mind off of everything.
Walking through Atlas Academy, Nora felt as though someone was following her. She turned on her aura-based electroreception and realized that it was Sirena, so she decided to play along for a bit and see how long it would take for her to realize she had been spotted. Nora kept walking, leading Sirena through various parts of the academy and talking to different people, before running into Harriet playing Pong in the arcade, with Jaune sitting on a nearby chair.
"Hey Harriet, what're you doing?" Nora asked and said, "Hi Jaune."
"Hi Nora," Jaune said, and went back to reading his magazine.
"Hi Nora," Harriet said and answered, "I'm playing Pong to get better at understanding how angles and stuff works. You?"
"I let Sirena think I haven't noticed her," Nora answered, "She's been following me for a while now, and it's been fun seeing how long it takes her to realize she's been found out."
"That won't work," Jaune said, "One of her semblances tells her something about others based on what others know about her, so she knew that you knew her location as soon as you learned about it." Hearing that, Harriet paused in surprise and lost the game.
"Wait, what?" Harriet asked, "Really?"
"Yes, really," Sirena answered, "That is how I could help you and the others so easily. I told you about me, and how my abilities evolved, and the semblance taught me the same about yours."
"So, you weren't just talking about yourself for the fun of it?" Harriet asked.
"No, everything I did had the purpose of protecting people," Sirena answered.
"Got any new plans?" Jaune asked.
"No, I do not," Sirena answered somberly, "I set up everything to make sure I was no longer needed past that day, because I did not intend to live past it. Yet, here I am, in a world that has no more need for me."
"That means you've done a good job," Harriet said, drawing all the attention, "I mean, I'm not good at this sort of thing, but you're all about protecting people. So, in a way, the best outcome is for you to no longer be needed, because it means the people are safe. If that makes sense."
"It… it does, actually," Sirena said, cheering up slowly, "Yes, it really does. The goal of any huntsman should be to no longer be needed. I am now free to do however I please, for the first time in my life, without having to concern myself with the duty the god of light created me to carry out."
"So, what do you want to do now?" Nora asked, and Sirena's mood changed again. It was almost unsettling to see the usually stoic woman go from one facial expression to the next so often.
"I… do not know," Sirena answered, "That is why I wanted to speak with you, to be honest."
"With me?" Nora asked, "Why?"
"You are a master at clearing your mind," Sirena answered, "Your thoughts are unburdened by concerns of duty or responsibility, and I wish to learn from you."
"Are you saying I'm reckless?" Nora asked.
"You are thoughtless," Sirena answered, "It is similar, but not quite the same. Whenever I am confronted with a problem, I think of it first. I make plans, weigh the positives and negatives, and then act. And when I am free to do as I please, I make plans for possible future events, to be prepared. I learn new things, so I can make better plans, and set some ground rules which outcomes I must avoid, and in which order."
"And you think I don't?" Nora asked.
"I am quite certain that you don't," Sirena answered, "Not in the same capacity as me, at least." Hearing that, Nora became a bit thoughtful.
"Can I go back to my game now?" Harriet asked with a tone that suggested she really wanted the two other women to leave.
"Of course," Sirena answered, turned to Nora and said, "If you make your decision, please let me know." She left the room, but Nora followed her quickly.
"Wait, I'll help you," Nora said as she left the room, and Sirena stopped and turned around, "I'll teach you, but on my terms." Sirena was a bit worried what that might entail, especially considering Nora's mischievous grin, but chose to not use any of her semblances to better gauge what Nora might have planned. She was a new person, reborn, and would face any struggle as an average person, with only one semblance.
~o~
Ruby walked through Soraklia, which was still mourning Sirena's death, and noticed that the people gave her somewhat sour looks because she had removed Sirena's body, making it impossible for her to get a proper burial. Her successor, King Srebro Blue, respected Sirena's decisions to let Ruby learn alchemy, but was understandably upset about her actions regardless, as she had denied his mother her last rites of her people. With the increase in sorrow, more Grimm were drawn to the people outside the cave, meaning that procuring food was even more difficult than before. Luckily, the people had enough for the time being, and therefore didn't need to leave the cave anytime soon.
"Your Highness, I have a plan," Ruby said in old Soraklian, kneeling before King Srebro's throne, "If it succeeds, it will help save countless lives."
"My mother trusted your judgment, and so will I," King Srebro said and asked, "What is your plan?"
"A new weapon," Ruby answered, "It runs on aura, and with the right semblance, we can supply it with all the aura we need. After some preparation, that is. It will be risky, but if everything works as I have planned, we won't have to worry about Grimm as much anymore."
"What would you need for this plan?" King Srebro asked. Ruby knew that she had to put forth her best now. If he didn't approve of her plan, it would be really bad.
"A lot of materials, a semblance, and some people," Ruby answered, "I can make the materials from petrified Grimm, but the semblance will be an issue. It belongs to a surface-dweller, who has no knowledge of copying semblances, and is not trained in combat. Her name is Saphron Cotta-Arc, and her semblance is Aura Storage. It grants her the ability to store her aura in things, allowing others to use it to recharge their own. If soldiers copy it, they can feed their excess aura into jewelry when they return home from a patrol, or feed it into the weapons." King Srebro turned thoughtful, but wasn't convinced. The fact that he was about six years old didn't help, either. Ruby could tell that he was using his semblance, Inheritance, to access his mother's leadership skill and use it for himself, but he was running low on aura. Suddenly, a realization hit her.
"Well, all things considered, I can't-" King Srebro said, but Ruby cut him off.
"Enter your soul core," Ruby said, catching the king and the guards by surprise.
"My… what?" King Srebro asked.
"Your soul core," Ruby answered, "It is the deepest part of who you are. I can teach you right now, if you would allow me to." The situation in the room became surprisingly tense, mostly due to Ruby speaking to the king in such a manner.
"What would that accomplish?" King Srebro asked.
"Sirena has a semblance called Kindred Link," Ruby answered, "She most definitely used it on you and your brother when you were born, so she could always come to protect you if you were in danger. If she is still alive, that connection should still be there."
"And if it is not?" King Srebro asked.
"Then we at least have certainty," Ruby answered, "I sent her to a hospital on the surface, in hopes that they could save her life. They aren't the best healers, but they know how to bring back someone who has technically died, if it is within a few minutes after their death."
"Surface-dwellers can raise the dead?" King Srebro asked, "Why do I not know of this?"
"It's not technically raising the dead," Ruby answered, "When someone dies, for example by drowning, their brain is starved of oxygen, and their body shuts down. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, or CPR for short, allows another person to imitate the deceased person's heart beat, manually maintaining a pulse in hopes of bringing oxygen back to the brain and restarting vital processes in the body. The body is dying, yes, but it isn't dead just because the heart stopped, and for a few minutes, CPR can restart it."
"So, there is a chance she is still alive?" King Srebro asked, "If she is, then why is she not coming back? Why is she staying on the surface, instead of protecting us? Why did she leave me?!" The king got up from his throne and his aura broke, and both the guards and Ruby were shocked at the outburst, despite his age being more than enough to justify it.
"I- I don't know," Ruby answered, sensing his pain, "But if she is alive, and I teach you to enter your soul core, you can use the connection to enter hers, and speak with her whenever you wish."
"My mother always had a reason for everything," King Srebro said, still angry, "You were her reason to go, and now that you are here, and no longer need you, she has no reason to stay away. You know nothing of her."
"I know how dying changes someone," Ruby said somberly, surprising the king, "I died once. And I came back, despite it being close to too late. A friend caught my escaping soul, and put it back into my body. And… I don't know what that experience, or that revelation, did to me. I still feel like me, I don't think I have changed, but my sister, my own sister, asked me if I was alright once. Something about me changed that day, and I don't know what. I can't tell if I lost something, or gained something, but I am not the same I was before. I can't tell if it is good or bad, either. To me, everything is normal. I am myself, but it is undeniable that my friends and family have noticed a change in me."
"That still doesn't explain-" King Srebro said angrily, but his brother spoke up.
"Brother, it is fine," Biser said, "I know how it feels to be neglected by mother. I am the firstborn, I should sit upon that throne right now, but my past sins demand I atone for them first. Nobody could have predicted this, and it is nobody's fault what happened. Nobody knew she would die that day." Hearing that, Ruby gasped a little.
"Wait, she- may I ask if she ever told you?" Ruby asked and said, "About that semblance, I mean."
"What semblance?" King Srebro asked.
"Countdown, one of the semblances she copied," Ruby answered, "It tells her when an event will occur. The first thing it told her… was when she would die." The entire room fell silent for a moment.
"Bu- but that means," King Srebro said finally, "That means she knew. She knew all along, and told no one. But, there is no reason for that."
"There is," Ruby said, "She didn't want anyone trying to prevent the inevitable, and focus entirely on preparing for the aftermath. She knew her death would bring sorrow, and Grimm, so she did what she had to do to prepare for that. But she is out there now, without a goal, without a purpose, and without guidance."
"Then, why doesn't she come and protect us?" King Srebro asked, his sadness showing through the facade of anger as she slumped back into his throne.
"She doesn't know how," Ruby answered, and had an idea, "But I might just know a way she could help."
"And what?" King Srebro asked, regaining hope. Ruby remembered how weird she felt about that, but now it felt like she was meant to do that.
"She has two semblances that can help her do that," Ruby answered, "She just needs some help from Saphron Cotta-Arc in Argus. In short, she goes there and kills Grimm, using Spectral Healing to create a bunch of orbs to recharge Saphron's aura, which she then feeds into jewelry with her own semblance. Then, Sirena uses Bubble Teleport to bring the jewelry to us, and then the soldiers can use the stored aura to recharge their own as needed." Ruby knew it was a long shot, but she hoped that Sirena was using Eavesdrop to listen to her plan, and actually acted on it as well. If it worked, it would definitively prove that Sirena was still alive, since no one else on the surface could send things to Soraklia through Bubble Teleport.
~o~
Surge looked around the room. The fusion had long, dark orange hair with a single dark gray streak in the middle that was tied into a wolf's tail, silver eyes, and her shoulders and arms were covered in scars from a lightning strike. She wore a black siren suit with white belt straps around the sleeves and legs, and her thunder cloud emblem as silver belt buckle. Her dark pink and light blue coat was open, but held mostly close by another white belt, and she wore a dark blue skirt held by two more belts, which crossed in the middle and shared a belt buckle. Her skirt had a cut in the back, allowing her wolf tail to wag freely.
"So, what now?" Surge asked, with Nora's voice more prominent.
"We learn," Surge answered, with Sirena's voice more prominent, "Since you can't tell me how you don't think, the best option for both of us is to share a mind, until I learned enough." Walking through the academy, she noticed Sirena's Eavesdrop semblance notify her that someone was talking about her, and activated it on reflex. Before she could do anything, Surge was listening to Ruby and Srebro talk about how Sirena could help people, and while they talked in old Soraklian, Nora understood what they were talking about, due to Sirena understanding it.
"I like that idea," Nora said mentally after the conversation was over, and Sirena groaned internally.
"It is good, yes," Sirena said, "So I suppose we will have to leave Atlas for a while."
"Why's that?" Nora asked.
"So that we can get Saphron's semblance," Sirena answered.
"I guess that makes sense," Nora said.
"It does," Sirena said, "In order for this plan to work, we need Saphron, and I doubt she would be excited about being near Grimm for too long. So, we just copy her semblance, and get to work." Without realizing it, Surge had kept walking, and almost bumped into Blake.
"Hi there," Blake said and asked, "Who are you?"
"Oh, hi Blake," Surge said and answered, "I'm Surge. Part Nora, part Sirena, and full awesome."
"Sirena and Nora?" Blake asked, "Definitely an interesting combination, but why?"
"Sirena wanted to learn how to not worry too much," Surge answered, with Sirena's voice being prominent, then switched to Nora's and said, "But now we have a plan to help her people."
"A plan?" Blake asked, "What kind? And can I help?"
"It was Ruby's idea," Surge answered, with Nora's voice most prominent, "Basically, we copy Saphron's semblance, then use Spectral Healing to make orbs, and store the aura in stuff, which we then send to Soraklia. Not only will this help her people, but they'll also know that she's still alive."
"So, how can I help?" Blake asked, "And how did you talk to Ruby?"
"We didn't," Surge answered with Nora's voice, "We just used one of Sirena's semblances to listen in on what she and the new king talked about." Due to the increasing clash of interests between her parts, the fusion split up again, leaving both Nora and Sirena sitting on the ground and slightly dazed.
"Well, there goes that plan," Sirena said and got up, and Blake helped Nora back onto her feet.
"Are you alright?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Nora answered, "Just a bit confused. Why did we split up again?"
"Because you kept talking without thinking," Sirena answered, "You just blurted out all kinds of things, without considering when it might be better to not say something."
"I thought you wanted to learn how I do things," Nora said.
"I do," Sirena answered, "It's just frustrating at times. I have some things I'd rather not say out loud, for various reasons."
"Like how you can listen to people's conversations?" Blake asked, "What's that about, exactly?" Sirena thought for a moment, then sighed.
"One of my semblances, Eavesdrop," Sirena answered, "When someone mentions my name in a conversation, or an epithet, I know about it. And then, if I want, I can listen. I did it without thinking just now, and now we're here."
"Does Ruby know that?" Blake asked.
"Yes," Sirena answered, "I told her when she came to Soraklia. In fact, it is likely she used that to relay this message to me."
"Anything else we need to know?" Blake asked.
"She is currently talking to my kingdom's treasurer," Sirena answered, "She is trying to get permission to send jewelry to us so we can use it. Knowing my treasurer, it will take a while. My son is protective of our treasures, especially since he believes me to be dead."
"You have a son?" Blake asked, "Since when?"
"Can't you tell him to let her have the treasures?" Nora asked.
"Two, actually, they were born within a year after I returned home," Sirena answered, "But no, I cannot. As the new king, Srebro has more authority than me. At most, I could offer advice, but it would be up to him whether he acts on it."
"So, what do we do now?" Nora asked.
"I will send some help to Vale," Sirena answered, "And maybe suggest that General Ironwood does something like that as well."
"What kind of help?" Blake asked.
"Special projectiles," Sirena answered, "This military is ripe with people whose semblances enhance projectiles. With enough aura, the soldiers could supply huntsmen with a variety of special bullets they couldn't find normally."
"But aren't there a lot of huntsmen?" Nora asked, "Where do we get enough aura to make bullets for them?"
"I can handle that," Sirena answered, "I can use Aura Amp, and if I'm in my Alpha State, I don't need to worry about aura for five minutes. Also, I can sit in any body of water and remotely recharge Maria's aura, who can in turn use Aura Amp on the soldiers."
"Wait, hold on," Blake said and asked, "So, when we were trying so hard to protect the military's systems, you could've just provided all the aura yourself?"
"Yes, I could have," Sirena answered, "But I still would've needed to recharge Ruby's aura, who would've needed to recharge yours."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Blake asked.
"Because the result would've been the same," Sirena answered, "Plus, no one asked me, yet you all knew I could do that. But in any case, now that you have mastered the Alpha State, this is no longer an issue, as you can do the entire thing yourself."
"Alright, fine," Blake said angrily, calmed down and asked, "But what if, instead of your plan to provide soldiers with aura, we do things differently?"
"Meaning?" Sirena asked.
"First of all, I need to know what Saphron has to do with this," Blake said and asked, "What is her semblance, and how do you know it?"
"One of my semblances, Knowledge Exchange," Sirena answered, "When someone learns something about me, I learn something of equal value about them. When I told Saphron and Terra my semblance, I learned which ones they would be most likely to unlock, and how to do it. I had Ruby help me with that, actually. Saphron's semblance is called Aura Storage. It allows her to invest some of her aura to turn anything she touches into a kind of aura battery for others to use. A delayed Aura Amp, if you will."
"I see," Blake said and asked, "Then what if you go to Argus to copy it, and we do what we can here in the meantime?"
"I would like that," Sirena said, "Unfortunately, my kingdom's laws forbid me from entering Atlesian waters. A fusion would not be hindered by such limitations, though."
"Then, what if a fusion goes?" Nora asked and said, "Maybe you and I could fuse again, or you and Blake. Or we could send Weiss and Maria there so the soldiers in Argus can copy their fusion's semblance as well, and then whoever you and Ruby copied that funky teleport semblance from could help by sending stuff to all the main cities once Saphron is done with it."
"That's actually not a bad idea," Sirena said, "Except for Alya. She's a thief for the White Fang, and Bubble Teleport only lets her send stuff to places she considers safe, so she couldn't send things to Atlas. But once Maria is done in Argus, I can make a portal to her. Then she can come back, and I can go there to copy Saphron's semblance for myself."
"That sounds like a plan," Blake said, "Let's go and tell the General so we can get going." The trio met with General Ironwood, and filled Weiss and Maria in on their plan as well, and before long, the preparations for the plan were underway. A few days later, Weiss and Maria left in a Manta to Argus.
Author's note: Ruby knows what CPR stands for. Also, now I can consider my fanfiction educational.
Surge is a fun fusion. Also, notice how she referred to herself in plural? Yeah, bad sign when a fusion does that. I had some trouble deciding on her semblance at first, going back and forth between two options. One of them, Light Thunder, was more fitting for their elemental themes, but would've been too powerful, especially considering that the fusion could make crystals and distribute them en masse if she had enough aura.
It would have had an increased effect against Grimm, and could even be used to reinvigorate people.