A.N. (3/27/23) - Here's your Monday release chapter, enjoy!


Atlas (15) - History

Rin took in a deep breath.

The three of them had quickly descended to Mantle once it was clear that somebody was after them. Having no choice but to leave the mind-controlled Ace-Ops behind, all they were able to do was activate Pietro's lockdown feature and make it difficult for anybody to enter or leave. For the immediate future, his laboratory would function as a temporary containment cell.

Leaving the technologically advanced city, Rin found her magic circuits humming as she drew closer to a place with more mana.

For a moment, she had forgotten what it had felt like to be in a place like this after living in Atlas for several months now even though this wasn't the first time she had left the city. Although it too was an urban environment, the difference between Atlas and Mantle was like night and day. It almost made her want to go back to traveling through the wilds again prior to settling in Atlas just to experience this feeling more intensely.

They entered a secure building and made sure to lock the doors behind them. Waiting for them was Ironwood collapsed on a comfy-looking couch with an exhausted face.

"I can't believe it," Marrow said. "He's really alive."

"My goodness, did you mess up your body again?" Pietro shook his head and quickly moved to Ironwood's side. "You should have immediately contacted me once you awoke. I hope that I don't have to remind you that your body needs proper maintenance and care, although I only know how to provide the mechanical kind."

"Then do as much as you can." With a twist, Rin's eyes flew up as Ironwood removed his entire arm and passed it over to Pietro. "Pardon me, but there's something private that I have to discuss with Miss Tohsaka. Would you two clear the room for a few minutes?"

"Hmph, very well."

"Sir!" Marrow saluted him on the way out. "I'll just… err… look up local news and keep us in the know while you talk."

Suddenly, it was only the two of them.

"As I mentioned previously, I was able to get in contact with Theodore and inquire what he knew about the Crown." By that, Ironwood was most likely referring to the headmaster of Shade Academy. "From him, I was able to learn that both Jax and Gillian Asturias were outspoken students during their time as students. He suspects that by then, they had already started recruiting people into their group."

"Did he say anything else?"

"Jax never revealed his Semblance during his time at Shade, or maybe he didn't awaken to his Semblance then. Either way, Theodore noted that his latest actions are something that seems out of character for him once I told him everything that has happened in Atlas."

"How so?"

"What do you know about the Great War and the influence of the Mistral Trading Company?"

Where had she heard that name bef—no, didn't she have a lecture about it recently?

"They were the ones who initially sourced the Dust used by the first Vytal Festival," Rin recalled. "It was an unpopular choice supposedly because of their role during the Great War when they drew resources from Vacuo and caused the kingdom to decline."

Ironwood nodded. "To be specific, it was a combination of mining companies from both Atlas and Mistral, even Vale to a small extent. The SDC wasn't really a thing back then, so it was mostly a collection of different companies all targeting Vacuo, with the MTC leading ahead of the others. Because of that, there is a form of persisting resentment against the other kingdoms that never really went away since the war ended."

"So is that what this is about? A grudge against the other kingdoms?"

"It could be, but there's something else. When I was attacked, a message was sent to me right before the bomb exploded."

He reached to a remote next to him, and a display turned on showing a message that Ironwood probably prepared ahead of time.

"The black sovereign has no face," Rin read. "For he imposes his will upon the people and stands above the headless giants' king…"

"You mentioned before that he used something called a Noble Phantasm," Ironwood continued. "According to your explanation, it's supposedly an ability that symbolizes a historical figure's feats and power. It might not even be an ability that they had in life, but one that manifests after their death."

"Yes, but…"

"I thought that message had some significance to the Crown if they sent that to me before trying to kill me, so I brought it up with Theodore and he told me that it was an old line from a historical document that described the ruling times of Vacuo."

Could it be? A thought crossed Rin's mind. I was wondering how someone on Remnant could gain access to a Noble Phantasm, but what if I had it the other way around? What if it was originally something that came from here?

"The Crown," Ironwood said. "I might not know much about magic, but the name of their group itself is a hint. Theodore also noted that Jax and Gillian were unusually obsessed with the idea of royalty and returning the kingdom to its roots. Supposedly, they also believed that they were descended from its first king, Malik the Sunderer."

It couldn't be that easy, right?

"Do you believe that the Crown somehow gained a Noble Phantasm of Malik?"

}-{

Ozpin paused as he felt something stirring in the air.

He was alone in his office at that moment, processing a large amount of paperwork that Glynda had dumped on his desk without remorse. Unable to escape it, he resigned himself to staying inside all day in order to finish it. With all the recent transfer requests from students wishing to attend Haven, things were busier than usual.

A beeping sound broke the silence.

Immediately dropping everything, he pressed a button and accepted the call. Any chance he could get away from the paperwork was worth the effort.

"Good afternoon," Theodore said once his face appeared. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important…"

"No, no. By all means, keep interrupting."

"Did you receive word about what happened in Atlas recently?"

And suddenly, Ozpin became serious. "Yes, it was quite unfortunate to hear what happened to James."

"He's fine, I just got a call from him earlier. Apparently, he's hiding it out until he finds a way to get back at the people who attacked him."

He felt a rush of relief at the news. "Is that so? I'm surprised that he didn't call me instead."

"Well, you know how he is when James gets serious. It wasn't all pleasantries either. Apparently, he had a few questions for me regarding the group of attackers in Atlas."

"What about?"`

"I'll send you the full transcript. To summarize, it was about two of my former students that used to attend Shade. He suspects that they're the ones in charge of this newest threat, not that I'm glad to hear that."

"I see. It is always a shame when those who learn from us use that knowledge against others."

"You won't find me arguing. Although, some of his questions bothered me. For some reason, he kept asking about what I knew about the first king of Vacuo, Malik the Sunderer."

"Oh…?" An old memory came to him at that moment. "Why do you think James wants to know about him?"

"You recall that I mentioned the two students he suspects are behind the attacks? Supposedly, their family is descended from his blood, although I'm not sure of the validity of that claim. Even so, they certainly believed it when they were students at my school."

"I see…"

"Do you think they could be?"

"Impossible," Ozpin replied. "Malik never had descendants. This isn't a case where there could be room for error. It was known throughout his reign that he was unable to sire a child. You could call it a curse of his legacy, or maybe it was the result of his actions. He could have had relatives that I never knew about, but he himself never had any children."

"I suppose it doesn't matter in the end."

The two discussed several other matters before they ended the call. A minute later, Ozpin received the transcript that Theodore promised to send to him. Reading the conversation between James and him, Ozpin felt his face grow darker the longer he looked at it.

"For he imposes his will upon the people and stands above the headless giants' king…"

It couldn't be.

Ozpin suddenly realized that his hand was clutching his cane, and the feeling from before came back. At that moment, he understood that it was not the paranoia of the Headmaster of Beacon that he was feeling, but the ingrained instincts of the ancient hero Ozma instead. Something was trying to tell him that there was significance in what he had just learned.

He sighed.

"If only Qrow wasn't so busy right now, I'd send him to investigate Atlas for me."

}-{

"Impossible."

Rin answered with no doubt in her voice. After all, this wasn't a world based on the "Affirmation of Human History" but something else. The ability to summon a Heroic Spirit was supposed to be beyond the possibility of even magic.

In fact, she had made sure of this by using the techniques of borrowing power from Ghost Liners based on spells stored in her Magic Crest. Rin had long concluded that summoning a Heroic Spirit was impossible even if one supposedly possessed an artifact similar in scale and function to a Holy Grail. The laws of this world did not support the summoning of one, and only something on a grander scale could even attempt to accomplish such a feat.

While she called what Jax had a Noble Phantasm, that was merely an acknowledgment of the possibility that whatever sent her here might have also sent something else to this world along with her. After all, it was more likely that there was a Heroic Spirit that she never heard of whose Noble Phantasm could have ended up in the hands of a random person on Remnant.

But the idea that a native Noble Phantasm could manifest was unthinkable to her.

"Unless history is completely wrong, Malik was only born sometime within the past six thousand years." Which was the estimated range of years since the Age of Gods ended according to Ozpin and recorded history. "That makes him nothing more than a normal human. Even if he knew about magic, nothing about his abilities or accomplishments would allow him to qualify as a Heroic Spirit. Which also means that he would be unable to have a Noble Phantasm of his own."

"But what if he discovered something that predated humanity?" Ironwood asked. "Something from the ancient civilizations where we unearthed other magical artifacts like that one you found in our facility a few days ago?"

Rin hesitated.

Ironwood was proposing the theory that Malik or Jax somehow found an artifact that eventually became a Noble Phantasm due to surviving thousands of years after the cataclysm that wiped out the first humanity. In theory, it was possible for a powerful mystic code to potentially grow into something more due to the inherent Mystery that such an object would possess.

And yet, somehow that theory sounded wrong to her.

Would Ozpin know more about it? No, even if he did he would never tell Ironwood. After all, he was like her in the fact that they both wanted to conceal the mystics of magecraft as much as possible.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "In any case, you might be onto something regarding the fact that Jax is linked to Malik. Although I'm not sure how knowing that the Crown is linked to a thousand-year-old king will be useful."

"I suppose so." Ironwood sighed. "Either way, the main problem is dealing with the Crown and not whatever potential magical powers they have. Both you and Theodore have told me that Jax is not a particularly powerful fighter. Having a powerful Semblance, or Noble Phantasm in this case, doesn't make one a powerful fighter. Such is usually a combination of mind, body, and spirit. Rather, it's his sister that we have to worry about."

"Gillian Asturias."

"She is the one behind the strength of their organization. Both with her Semblance boosting the Aura of others as well as her leadership skills and position. If we take her out first, then we can worry about Jax later."

"The only problem is finding her though."

It wasn't like dowsing for her position would work either. That kind of magecraft normally relied on the conscious and unconscious perception of information by the practitioner. Without enough data, it would be near impossible to rely on magecraft to find her location.

"She has to be somewhere in the city," Ironwood said. "Somewhere where she can closely monitor her men and empower them once they get weaker. Maybe she's hiding here in Mantle somewhere, or she could be working with some of the criminal elements of Atlas."

At that moment, Rin suddenly recalled what Terra had told her a few days ago.

"What if they're working with Amoncio Glass?"


This isn't a spoiler, but I want to remind you about my policy of involving Servants in this fic. While the introduction of Noble Phantasms might seem like I'm changing my mind, I'm still adamant that there's no need to involve Heroic Spirits since Rin alone is enough for a Fate crossover.