Rewritten as of 6/4/2023.


Along the way, the four friends sliced and diced their way through Grimm.

Sometimes they fought, sometimes they ran, and sometimes they had no choice but to fight. Every encounter drained their Auras, but they pushed on, slaying Grimm and giving chase until, finally, they were close to the relics. The moment they saw a glimpse of that temple, they knew they were halfway through the Initiation.

Y'know, it's nice to go on autopilot once in a while. I can't focus on everything, especially when it's something that's become instinct, like fighting Grimm and taking paths. That'd be a waste of valuable brainpower.

That said, I have to watch Calfuray.

Every time she tries to attack Grimm, I have to step in and help. Even when she knows she could just breakdance and kill Grimm that way, she'll default to trying to stab them. This means she'd get shoved around, whether by Beowolves, Ursas, her shoes, etc., and she doesn't even have a partner yet. Plus, if she can't find a—

Wait, who's that? Oh... oh no, it's Paisley again. And she's looking right at us.

I gasped. I trembled, the hairs on my bodies' skin standing up. I felt ice seep through my veins. C'mon, breathe! Keep your balance; don't let yourself stagger like this! Damn... I've been burdened and overwhelmed, left cold in my hopelessness.

Are we alone with her?

No... it's warm. I could stand up again. I don't feel cold, nor are my skins' hairs jumping anymore. And she gave us a sweet and motherly smile. Yeah, "sweet and motherly" my ass.

"Howdy." Paisley rested one of her boxing gloves on her hips.

I turned to face her with quiet waves that said "hello" from two different directions. Calfuray walked up to her and stood on her shoes' blade tips, bowing with her legs crossed and her hands lifting the edges of her skirt. "Why, good afternoon, my fellow future companion!" she exclaimed.

Of course, she doesn't mind. Paisley did something really funky with her Aura in front of us and started acting like a totally different person to someone who'd never seen her for who she is! In fact, she wasn't anywhere close to her when I caught a glimpse of that Aura. There goes warning people about her...

"Think you'll make it to four years?" Paisley asked her.

"Indeed!" Calfuray proudly exclaimed (oh, Calfuray).

"Then please hurry."

Excuse me, were Paisley's eyes glowing? I looked at Calfuray and saw that her eyes had likewise glowed. Oh good, she's using her Semblance. I'm not surprised; if I saw her use that on a whole group of students to gaslight them, then who's to say she won't use it on someone like Calfuray, even if for a mere, seemingly innocuous thing?

I sighed, then continued on, trudging along—checking Paz, Livio, Emi, Talan, and what-have-you's surroundings—and making sure I don't have to use my four Auras any more than I already have.

The Grimm attacks had dried up for the time being, giving my mind time to wander. Really, I should ask myself, "How did I even get like this?" Not talking about my Huntsman team aspirations or the fact that I'm with a cho... chun... chuu... ni (?); why do I have four bodies? I don't have the slightest clue why, but my best guess is that what might've been four separate bodies got joined by a single soul controlling them. If that's true, then how? Not sure.

I guess I'll save that for later, then.

Now comes the problem: how do I deal with Paisley? Come on, she had a position as the student president, and she managed to keep herself elected using a mixture of both her smarts, her so-called "charm," and, no surprise, her Semblance. What am I supposed to do about that? It's not like I can tell everyone; she'd just gaslight them into thinking that there's nothing wrong with her and that I have serious problems.

Even if what I said sticks? There's no telling what she'd resort to.

"Here be our destination!" Calfuray called out.

There it was: a temple with its roof and pillars collapsed onto the once-pristine limestone floor. Leading there was a stone bridge with the relics on its railings. That bridge led to a circular formation with wrecked columns further chipped away by the elements. Those columns all sat near the other bridges, some of which had long since collapsed from either time or previous Initiations taking their toll. Further north of us was a temple of sorts.

Something tells me that this piece of classical architecture used to belong to a kingdom, like one from way before our time. Whatever that kingdom was, though, that's not important. Right now, Paz, Livio, Emi, and Talan are focused on those relics, which their future professors had placed for them to gather.

Hmmm. What do I get first? There are only four pieces left: two white pawns and two black knights.

Pawn, knight... ah, Pawn sounds nice. I mean, I'm one entity with four bodies, which means four bodies are at the mercy of my will. Does that say anything about me? I mean, kinda. Yeah, I'm putting up an act with 'em. Yeah, if I could, I'd present myself for who I am, no questions asked. As it is, however, I'm expressing parts of myself through those four bodies.

That's it. Pawns are in front, like how my bodies are in front. I put on an act so people don't suspect things about me, much like I send my pawns first so my opponent doesn't suspect my plan. I've long since managed it (mostly), but I'd feel afraid around people, just like I'd feel afraid of sending the rest of my pieces. And I feel afraid now because, face it, I could accidentally reveal myself to the world at any time.

So, pawn it is.

I picked up the two pawn pieces and started making my way out when I saw a few familiar faces: Ash and Morley, who had just arrived—oh no, please don't tell me Ash and Paisley are gonna argue.

"Well, well!" Ash threw her hands behind her back as she skated up to the remaining relics. Wait, is she wearing high-heeled rollerblades? "What do we have here? Couple'a fancy rocks?"

Morley cleared his throat. "Artifacts."

"...Ooh, pony!" Ash exclaimed, having seen a piece that interested her most.

She darted to a black knight piece and picked it up. She and Morley made their way out themselves when she saw Paisley, and the two girls... s-s—stared at each other. I prepared to book it and run when I noticed: Ash had clenched her teeth and hands alike and furrowed her eyebrows like usual, but she didn't lunge right at her, whether with words or her sword. Instead, she's stiff, she's breathing heavily, and...

For the first time, she's quivering.

This can't be good; did Paisley make Ash, who was ferociously against her back there, fear her? Thanks to Paz's time at Alsius, I know the two have faced off many times before, but it looks like what Paisley did dealt some serious damage to her.

"Ash," Paisley replied, "I'm a different woman now. I learned the errors of my ways after realizing what I was doing was wrong, so I decided to turn over a new leaf, a fresh start here at Beacon—"

"So why are you here?!" Ash responded with a shout. "I thought I escaped you!"

"Because I didn't feel I was doing what was right—"

"So you 'changed', right? Did you change plans?" Morley tried to squeeze Ash's shoulder to get her to stop, but she swatted his hand away. "Or did you think not getting to kick more people out of school changed you?"

Paisley was getting impatient. She sighed and started tapping her foot against the ground. "Ash, I'm not here to boss people around."

"Hah, sick fucking joke."

"Ash, Paisley, please!" Calfuray begged in a rare moment of awareness.

"If Paisley's here, then anything could happen!" Ash paused for a moment, looking at Paisley, then back. "So-called 'accidents,' sabotage, anything!"

Paisley calmly responded, "Well, Calfuray, I don't think there's anything to worry about other than—"

"Can you two please calm down?" Calfuray stepped between the two, then cleared her throat. "We need not quarrel amongst one another so long as this Initiation quest is still underway! Perhaps, after we have successfully retrieved our relics, you could resume this... civilized discussion?"

Paisley and Ash stared at each other, then the former sighed. "Promise me you'll help out?" she asked, her eyes glowing once again.

Ash's own eyes glowed as a result. She huffed. "Fine!" She tightened her teeth. "If it means being with people way better than you, so be it!"

"Good." Paisley gave her a "warm" smile. "I'm glad we're making progress, Ash."

Eugh.

Hold on, why didn't Ash make a sarcastic sendoff?

Suddenly, there was a deep pounding of muscles in the distance. It was faint, but whatever it was, there's a reason everyone stopped: that's a Beringel. I know that sound from the final act of Paz's last magic show. That Beringel she brought on pounded its chest with its bare hands as she introduced her final act to the audience, and it's that same sound from before.

I gotta prepare.

I got out my wand and battleaxe, then I put on my brass knuckles and took my metallic staff from behind my back.

"Get ready," Talan said. "A Beringel's coming."

"Might I solemnly request to know: Beri-pardon me?!" Calfuray asked in a panic.

"Beringels are one of those bad news Grimm," Emi began, "but they don't know that I'm their bad news!"

"Emi, not now!" Talan shouted.

"Ah?!"

Okay, enough pretending; that thing's come into view, and it's coming right at us! I ran! I looked back, then split up as Ash and Morley ran at it! Alright, Strings, what's the plan? What's the plan?! You can't just charge in without a plan, right?! Okay, so the Beringel is headstrong, but something tells me it's smarter than it looks. When I dealt with one on stage, it knew that there was an audience watching. It knew that it'd get locked up in a cage for that final act.

It even tried to escape.

If it's that smart, then, hoo boy, tricking it off a cliff or making it run into something won't work. C'mon, think! Think, Strings, think!

Right, so what's going on over there? Ash used her fiery walls to fend off oncoming attacks from the Beringel. In fact, she exclaimed, "Woohohohooo!" as she launched into the air, ready to stab the beast in the eye. Meanwhile, Morley swung his left hand to deflect the Beringel's swing towards Ash with his Semblance, allowing her to stab as planned. He then lunged forward to bash it from the side with his shield as he shouted.

"Thanks!" Ash gave him a thumbs up.

Meanwhile, Calfuray tried to charge forward but fell over as Paisley tried to throw a powerful sucker punch to the face that barely missed. Then the Beringel noticed her attempt and tried to pummel her to the ground, only to hit Morley.

I looked away, still trying my hardest to come up with a plan, when suddenly, a Goliath tooted its horn. Great, as if I didn't already have a gorilla Grimm to deal with!

Forced out of the woods, I emerged from the trees and looked around the damn place. Alright, where's that Golia—

"AAAAAAaaAAAAH!" I ran—I ran–I ran-holy shit, it was right behind me! Split up, split up! I swung the metal pole into its legs, then I jumped and punched it in the tusk—GAH! E—Emi's flying, so I t-t-tried to catch her using Paz's wand to make tree leaves cushion her landing—mmmf!—so she made a four-point landing on the grass and got back up! Okay, she's safe, but what about Livio and Talan?! They're barely making a dent in that Goliath as it is, even with Livio's battleaxe producing explosions on impact!

It's no use; I can barely take on the Goliath as it is! Sure, it's not tactically smart, but the Beringel is, which means the second it's done with Ash and co., it'll help the Goliath pick me off for dinner one-by-one! Now look at that: that gorilla thing's wiping the floor with Paisley, Ash, and Morley. In fact, only Paisley's standing, but there is only so much her monstrous Aura can do! Uh oh, she's out too!

And now the Beringel is looking right at me. It started walking on its fours towards me as it picked up Calfuray and chucked her right at Livio—woah!—who barely sidestepped to avoid her! It pounded its chest again and circled around me as the Goliath followed along, covering the other side as they left me to back myself against my own bodies.

If I try to attack, then I'll get eaten! I can't just go to Ash and ask her for help because she and everyone else are down for the count! Emi's only chance at taking on them uses too much Aura for a reliable hit with whatever Aura's left in her, and the only reason Paz took out a Beringel was because of a couple tricks up her sleeve, made possible by weeks of preparation and an abundance of stage gimmicks!

What do I do?!

Wait. That's it.

Remember the idea of tricking the Beringel off the cliff or making it run into something, me? Surely the Beringel is smart, and the Goliath knows when to attack, right?

Well, what if I tried it anyway?

I waited. The Beringel and Goliath stopped to stare me down. They think I'm as helpless as those fighters who took on the former. Any moment now, they'll attack, thinking that this whole thing will end with me in their mouths.

They charged at me. I waited. As they were about to strike, I dove out of the way. The two Grimm collided and fell, damaged and stunned.

"Now's our chance!" Emi... no, I said as Emi, flipping the clasps on her jacket. As light surrounded her and she glowed from top to bottom, I unleashed a barrage of cards at the Beringel. As it roared, I threw my battleaxe, which homed towards the Goliath's weakened leg, and watched it slice cleanly through as it spun like a razor-sharp boomerang. The Goliath let out a high, painful toot, stumbling as my weapon homed back in Livio's hand.

"Now!" I shouted towards one of my own bodies, Emi, as Livio. As Emi, I landed on the ground, now in my colorful pink-and-white "Madam Raging Bull" form, now equipped with gigantic mechanical gauntlets, and began charging my fist with electricity as I reeled it back. As I prepared for the grand finale, I waved my wand, using the cards embedded in the Grimm to keep them in place.

Finally, I swung my fist, now charged with several metric tons worth of volatile electricity, at the Beringel and Goliath.

Lightning illuminated the forest as those Grimm practically disintegrated, their mangled bodies tumbling towards the ground. Eventually, all that was left was the dark dust slowly disappearing into the air, leaving me with my cards falling onto the grass near the forest and its trees.

This is what it means to be all in one place, huh. All those team attacks I dreamed of? I can finally put them into practice. Oh! If that's possible, then I could do all those high-action team attacks from those cartoons I watched as a kid! ...four kids, technically, but hey!

I'm unstoppable! HA—hahahahaaa!

. . .

"Pastel Pacana. Livio Pinto. Emi Takaki. Talan Silverstein."

Yes... yes..! I walked onto the stage and faced Ozpin. That I've been called up all together and not with other people is promising. In fact, I didn't even think I could get through the whole thing, but here I am, on the stage, with the Headmaster of Beacon himself presenting us to the audience! Well, for once, I don't mind them all looking at me; after all, they were able to see me do something worthwhile, right?

"The four of you retrieved the white pawn pieces."

C'mon, Oz, give me the good news already! I can do it! I can hardly waaaait!

"From this day forward, you will work as Team PLET."

Here we gooo..!

"Led by... Pastel Pacana!"

YEAH! That's what I'm talkin' about! I jumped into the air, pumping my fists, and celebrated because holy crap, this is glorious. I marched off the stage, bringing myself into a group huddle as I passed Ash and them.

"Hey!" Paz took off her top hat and bowed towards Emi. "Good job back at the Initiation!"

"Awww, don't sell yourself short," Emi shot back. "You too did great!"

"Actually, I think the four of us all did well." Livio smiled. "After all, we did come to a combat school, right?"

Talan interjected, "Well, you don't need to go to combat school. Just look at me." He then gave him a halfhearted wink.

"Yeah, yeah, we know." Emi whipped her twintails back with a jerk of her head. "Trouble in the cafeteria, sometime?"

"Why not wait until senior year?" Paz then chuckled.

"...day forward, you will work as Team PCKM. Led by..."

Oh, I almost forgot! I took four of the spots in the audience and watched as Ash, Morley, Calfuray, and... oh, no, no, no!

"Paisley Brisley!"

The audience clapped. I repeat, the audience clapped. HOW?! There's no way a person who essentially bossed people around until they either submitted to her demands or were expelled would have people cheering! Unless... if the culture at Alsius was restricting enough that she would thrive, and the number of people who saw her for who she really is only goes by tens...

That makes sense now. I hate it.

I watched the newly formed Team PCKM... Ash? Why is she—

She collapsed to the floor on all fours! She's breathing heavily, she has her hand on her chest, and she's trembling. Oh, she's having a panic attack—something she hadn't gone through before and shouldn't experience again. I've been through one before, and it's never something you want to happen to you.

Understandably, the crowd's gone silent, Morley's trying to help her, and Paisley's—

"Don't try anything funny with her," Talan spat as he stepped back onstage, getting in front of the damn snake.

"I wasn't," said the cause of the panic attack, "I was only going to tell her to calm down and—"

"So you can watch her spiral?"

"I'll take it from here." Ozpin walked up to me and Paisley before turning to face her. "Now, I have a few questions, Ms. Brisley."

"Yes, Professor Ozpin?" Paisley turned to him.

"What is your history with her? And if you believe you will be fit to lead her, why do you think so?"

"Our relationship was rather rocky," she began without hesitation. I could feel the effects of her Semblances starting to wash over the audience as she started her "explanation." "At first, it was a merely amicable relationship between me and her, but when she changed, things went downhill from there. However, my time at Alsius Academy has also changed me; I don't want to commandeer people I've been told to lead. Every time I would do so, it only ended in anger, frustration, and perhaps even fear." So you changed your vocabulary. "Instead, I chose to understand my people before I lead them." Like hell you will. "I knew that if I want to be a better person than I was at Beacon, then I want to start by making amends with those I'd burned bridges with in the past."

"I appreciate your words, Ms. Brisley," Ozpin began, "but would you mind elaborating further?"

"Basically, I took a long look in the mirror and realized how much hurt I'd inflicted in the past." And you're proud. Got it. "For all the friends I could have made, I instead chose to turn against them. Now that I am here, I want to avoid the same mistakes. I was being too pushy, so I learned to take a step back and let the others shine. I was being too stiff, so I learned to loosen up and relax a little easier."

I want to yell at Ozpin. Why is he letting her lie about having "changed" as a person? Why is he letting her use her Semblance on the audience? What, then, does she even want from Ash?!

I want answers!

"Plus, my fellow classmates don't seem to have a problem with this. Wouldn't you say that says all you need to know?"

Oh, I see how it is, Paisley. You focused on the audience during your speech so you could make them think nothing but good things about you. You're setting up Ash to remain on your so-called "team." Now you're making Ozpin look at the audience, which you just bent to your illest wills, so you can make him say what you want him to say.

Is that what's going on here?

"I see, Ms. Paisley." Ozpin adjusted his glasses as he told Paisley how much of a–"I was previously thinking of a team shuffle earlier, but now I understand your position. You will remain as team leader of PCKM."

...

...

...

Excuse me... WHAT?!

. . .

Paisley, the bitch who got people kicked out of Alsius because she didn't like the tiniest thing about them, who never let up until graduation despite what she said, somehow convinced Ozpin that the teams should stay as they are! Again... WHAT?! How did Ozpin let that slide?! I know her Semblance could make people change their minds however she wants them to, and I know there are some limitations to that, but did Ozpin seriously give her the green light to treat her "team" members like puppets?! Even though there's probably countless footage of her being such a control freak jackass?!

She really didn't want to give up a chance at power, huh!

Shit, calm down, Strings. You can't let yourself go like that, especially not in a moment like this. All you're doing is walking to your own dorm, which you have to yourself. The last thing you want to do is flip out in front of people. I took a deep breath. Then another, then another. Alright, I think I'm calming down a little.

So, even if she did, it would have been during those rare moments when her Semblance failed to gaslight people. I'm scared to even think of what she would've done in those rare moments.

Do I want to know? Not anytime soon, but that doesn't mean I'll give up resistance.

Now, where was I? Right... Well, I'm laying down in my four beds with the curtains closed a little. Emi's wearing sunglasses. Glad I remembered to grab them as I left Mistral. Hell, I could have sworn I left them back home before I realized she had packed them in her luggage the whole time.

Every little bit helps me avoid sensory overload. Turns out, being born with four bodies at once and staying in one room for extended periods of time really isn't that smart of a play.

Just then, someone knocked on my door.

"Coming!" I said. Wait, did I talk as everybody?! Dammit, time to improvise.

"Hey, I said it first!" Emi exclaimed.

"No, I did!" "Jinx!" "You said that later than I!" "No, I said it first!" Talan, Emi, Paz, and Livio shouted over each other.

"Stop!" Paz ordered. Damn, that took quite a bit from me, didn't it? "You... you do realize we have someone waiting at the door, right?" She asked.

"Huh?" Emi leaned in and tilted her head as laughter came from the hall. Yeah, that's Ash, alright. I've heard that laugh before, and it usually comes when someone tries to do something brave within her vicinity and pays the price for it.

Whatever. Paz went to answer the door and saw Ash standing behind the door frame, letting out a long sigh from all that laughing.

"You sure know how to put on a good show." Ash smiled. "I like that!"

Paz nodded. "Why, thank you."

"No problem!" Ash shot her two finger guns, then sighed, hands drooping. "By the way, Paz... can I stay here? Like, indefinitely?"

Indefinitely. I don't blame her at all.

"S—" Shoot. I'm not prepared to hold long conversations with every body around her, but I also can't just turn her away and leave her with Paisley! I mean, considering what Talan, Emi, and, thus, I went through, I guess she can stay for as long as she wants to. I'll miss having a room to myself, though. "Sure," Paz answered, stepping aside to let her in.

"Sick." Ash walked in, carrying her luggage inside, and then set it on the floor before she started unpacking. I mean, what can I say? She's not only still herself after everything that's happened, but she seems determined to defy Paisley. With that in mind, who wants to take orders from someone who almost destroyed your future?

Speaking of that, Paisley has shown that she can manipulate Ozpin without her Semblance. If she can manipulate someone who has undoubtedly had to deal with several people like her before, then who's to say she can't manipulate Ash?

Maybe I'm worrying too much. I don't know. But I don't want to be right, either.

Dear Lord, I am praying to you right now for a normal school year. It doesn't need to be the best year, nor should it be the worst. Just a normal year is fine.

That's all I'm asking for.


ORIGINAL AN (3/1/2023): Hi. After what happened tonight, I am putting everything on hold at the moment. Thanks for understanding.