Author's Note: I would like to thank you guys for reading and leaving reviews for me. One of the reviews actually asked a question, while I would love to actually respond, I can't respond to Guest reviews, sooooooooo. I'll just leave a response here: one of you guys figured out the identity of one of the characters, that being the character called Red. Which in retrospect I wasn't really being subtle at all. If you are curious as to what had happened to her then all I'll say for the sake of the story is this - this current fic is a soft/spiritual sequel to my previous short story fic titled The Myth of the Hero, you can find it on my profile. That story should clarify pretty handily what happened to Red and how she got to where she is right now, while leaving some room for minor mysteries. Thank you for reading.
The Church of the Seasons was a religious branch that spread far and wide under the rule of the God King Ozymandias. The people of the Valley greatly revered these spirits of primordial concepts that dated back farther than any recorded history. According to these ancient myths, the Seasons were far larger than anything mortals could possibly imagine. Larger than even the Giants themselves who once roamed this earth. As a matter of fact, the Giants of old were said to have descended from the spiritual energies of the Seasons themselves. Primordial cosmic conceptual beings who did not have a tangible form, manifesting themselves into powerful mortal Maiden figures to interact with the lower planes.
But of course, when it comes to the people of the Northern lands they cared very little for conceptual things. They cared more for things they could actually see and touch, this philosophy made them godless, and there was really nobody else out there to tell them they were wrong given how the Empire had effectively conquered the planet the moment they marched south into the Valley. Other nations still existed of course, but only because the Empire allowed it.
Even though they were a godless nation, they found little cause to outright ban religion as a whole in these conquered lands. Part of the reason was because they really could've done it any time they wanted, just to hammer home how much control the Empire possessed – that these churches only existed with permission from Atlesian steel. Another part of it, however, was that the Church really did not hold any more power now that their God King was in hiding. It also did not help that the spirit of Winter, one whom the Valley surprisingly revered to a high degree, taught them lessons in pacifism and peace of mind. Retaliation simply was not in their nature.
The spirit of Summer was, of course, also very prevalent and much more assertive – often depicted as the God of War. But Winter's teachings had also sheltered them from a great many harm in this world of flesh and bone, a world where the cold was cruel and the hunger was agonizing. Thus, from this contradiction created a schism within the peoples of the Valley. And a divided people was not a threat to the Empire's authority.
Jaune Arc and his older sister Saphron were among the humble people of the Winter branch, who would always keep their heads down and out of trouble, away from the politics and violence of the world. They moved here to the Valley years back when Saphron was attending college in hopes of becoming a lawyer. Jaune would follow suit to attend Beacon Academy, leaving behind his home in the countryside where his parents and a few of his other sisters resided. All of this, of course, happened before the War.
Things did start to become a bit more difficult now after the Empire marched in and started assimilating the peoples of the Valley into their Northern cultures. They eventually found out about their religion as it was inevitable. Harassment did come and go, but living in accordance with their beliefs they were easy to forgive. What was much more difficult to endure, on the other hand, was how little respect the people around showed them, including their own peers, many of whom were Atlesians.
"I'm going to go to the office and talk to them in the morning," Jaune said to his sister as they both walked on their way to church. "They've pushed you around long enough. You made it clear you had plans, and they just keep shoving more responsibilities onto you. That's not right."
"Let's just leave it, Jaune. I don't want to cause any commotion."
"I'm not going to yell at them or anything, don't worry. But this has to stop. They said they have standards, right? So they should be treating you fairly as well."
"Aw, where would I be without my adorable little baby brother?" Saphron ruffled his hair.
"Cut it out," Jaune laughed, "took me all morning to have it neat like this."
"So… tell me about school. You said you met a girl in class right? What's her name?"
"Come on, sis. Knock it off, I misspoke okay? I said, um… I met a guy with a curl. Not a girl. I don't know where you got that from, ha."
"I know what I heard, Jaune. You can't hide from big sis. I see all."
"Ha, I suppose you do."
"So is she pretty?"
"That's putting it mildly," Jaune paused, thinking for a moment. "She – is majestic."
"Wow, that's one way to describe her."
"She's tall, confident, and strong, and just… just beautiful, really."
"Tall? Taller than you, I bet."
"Actually yes, unironically."
"Really? I was just joking. You're being serious?"
"Yup, one hundred percent."
"Welp, who am I to judge people for their kinks."
"Hey!" Jaune burst out laughing. "It's not a… come on, I'm being serious here."
"I'm just kidding, bro, ha-ha. And this girl is in the same class as you?"
"Eh, well, yes and no. She kind of just comes and goes. Sometimes she's here, sometimes she's not."
"Huh, she some kind of prodigy? She just gets to come to class whenever?"
"Oh, she is super smart. Probably the smartest in the class. She makes it all look easy. I just… I just want to be good enough, too."
Saphron's smile disappeared briefly, pausing for a second, before reappearing for her to ruffle her brother's hair once more.
"Cheer up, lil' bro. You'll get your chance to prove yourself soon. I can feel it."
"Oh, shoot. Come on, sis. Let's go, we're going to be late. Mother Saffire is going to kill us."
The two of them rushed forward the final couple of blocks to reach the church at the end of the neighborhood, careful to avoid any large puddle of water to prevent splashes on their clean fresh attire. It was raining just the day before, a huge storm brewing coming from the east that lasted nearly an entire day.
Jaune still wondered what that loud sound thundering in the distance that day was. It sounded like it came from the far ocean, but it didn't sound exactly like a lightning storm. It was much heavier, almost as if it was a cannonball.
Another mystery of this vast world for Jaune to mull over in his sleep.
They arrived at the doorstep of the church not a minute too soon, entering inside they were met with a moderate amount of people attending today's session. But the thing that caught both of their eyes immediately was not any of the usual familiar faces. But instead – there floating next to Mother Saffire was a tall figure donning her towering white cape, flowing in the wind like that of snow. It was unmistakable.
"Weiss?" Jaune almost shouted before quickly lowering his voice. It, of course, did not matter, because Weiss was still able to hear what he said.
Turning her head to face them, she walked forth approaching. Her feet still yet to touch the ground, walking on air just a few inches above the floor.
"Jaune – Arc, correct?" Weiss asked.
"Um, yeah, hi, hey there, ahem," he cleared his throat. "Fancy seeing you here. I didn't take you for a churchgoer."
Weiss would glance back and forth between Jaune and Saphron for a few seconds before saying:
"I do attend the sermons whenever I have the time. Not just with this church, but other places as well. But whenever I'm on duty, I would listen in from afar."
"I just never thought you'd also revere Winter's spirit. A lot of people say you're an atheist or something, or just straight up the reincarnation of Winter," he said.
"Do you believe that?" Weiss asked.
"Well, I don't know myself. Your strength is just, you know, admirable – ahem…"
"I assure you, I am not the spirit of Winter. Or if I am, I am not aware. I am just – me," Weiss grinned ever so slightly.
"That's great… that's great. Oh, hey, Weiss, I mean, General – I'd like you to meet my sister, Saphron."
"You may call me Weiss, how do you do?" She went in to shake her hand.
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Super… I mean, Miss Weiss Schnee."
"The sermon is about to start," Weiss turned her head to the front. "Shall we? There are some empty seats in the front."
"Yes, gladly, we'll be there just a sec," said Jaune.
Weiss nodded and proceeded forward. With Jaune about to follow shortly behind, but not before Saphron pulled him back to whisper into his ear:
"You never told me the girl you like is the Superman herself. This is great, isn't it? She is absolutely gorgeous, by the Seasons. You got yourself a good one, eh?"
"Come on, sis, let's not talk about it right now."
There was a factory built on the northern side of the city of Vale. Although one would not be able to tell that it was a factory at all given how it was disguised and hidden away behind a façade of a high school. Indeed, there were some classes being taught to middle school students in the front of the campus. But deep inside was a vast assembling line made to gather precious metals and powerful Dust to produce something much more important and powerful than the ordinary citizens would realize.
Sun Wukong knew much better than most, however. Alongside his fellow White Fang members Sienna and Tukson – the last of the revolution.
After the event of Adam's arrest on the train raid, the entire operation was left in shambles with no sign of Ilia anywhere as far as Sun could see. Many of their bases were left vulnerable and exposed in the open for Atlesian authorities to swoop in and apprehend a massive chunk of their military forces. A lucky few managed to escape in the middle of the scuffle, many more were not so lucky. Sun and his two fellow members with him were part of the fortunate ones. He thanked the Seasons every day since for giving them this opportunity.
The security of the factory was tight, endless lines of robotics being occupied by human workers piloting large exoskeleton suits to work the machines and bring about necessary cargo, much like how it was back in their old White Fang bases, since they stole most of their technologies from factories like this one. With the amount of eyes and cameras in this factory to monitor the scene, it would be near impossible to sneak past the guards. That wasn't much a concern for Sun and his gang, however, because sneaking around was their forte. They could practically do it in their sleep if they wanted to.
What was much more concerning to them was despite the fact that they had managed to steal so much of these equipment, not once were they able to retrieve a good enough sample size of the pills these factories were manufacturing. There must have been an entire ocean of these things in this one factory alone, just ripe for the taking. But it still somehow felt like a herculean task to pull off if they even so much as think to attempt it, and Sun wasn't exactly sure why.
All they had on them so far was the one pill Ilia was able to retrieve for them. Not good enough to make extensive tests and reverse engineer in order to manufacture it themselves, given what little technology they had access to. It was also part of their trump card to use for self-defense in cases of emergency.
"Let's find the surveillance room," Tukson tapped on Sun's shoulder as the three of them were hiding behind some tall crates. "Maybe we can disable the security systems long enough to grab some schematics and samples."
"Good idea," said Sun, "but we don't know where the surveillance room is, so should we split up to cover more grounds?"
"It's risky," said Sienna. "I don't think we have a choice, though. This way even if we get caught the revolution will still be able to live on as long as one of us can escape."
"A yes, but a single soul cannot win a war, my dear White Fang members."
A voice sounded off from behind startling the three of them into a defensive position, with Sun drawing forth his gunchucks, Sienna drawing forth her bladed chain whip, and Tukson following suit to bare the claws on his fingers. To be able to sneak behind the three of them was a feat they simply could not comprehend, it was as if the shadows in the darkness were coming alive – and emerging forth from within was a tall familiar figure with a stylish dark mustache wearing a gloomy gray jacket.
This man was, of course, none other than Professor Arthur Watts himself, head of the staff at the current Beacon Academy under Atlas authority. One of the most celebrated scholars of the modern era.
A million thoughts began cycling through Sun's mind as he tried to process the situation to find a solution out of this predicament. What was most peculiar to him however was the fact that he could not sense or detect any Aura around this man standing before them. He couldn't even feel any fighting spirit or malicious intent within his relaxed pose and casual demeanor.
"Let's not draw attention to ourselves here, shall we?" Said Watts. "Rest assured, I have no intention of arresting any of you."
"Big talk from a human," Sienna snapped, ready to attack. "After what you people did to Adam and Ilia."
"Miss Ilia Belladonna is currently approximately twenty miles from here on campus attending a lecture on forensic science 101," Watts responded, to their complete shock.
They all sat there in silence for a good long second to let that information soak in before coming to the realization of what he was really implying. They felt drained of energy, completely exhausted now knowing this news, powerless to do anything before Sun mustered up the courage to say:
"You're lying. That can't be true. Ilia and Adam are siblings, she wouldn't do something like this."
"Step-siblings, technically," Tukson muttered under his breath, to Sienna's annoyance.
"Believe me if you wish," said Watts, "or not. It makes little difference to me. Because I am not here to deliver you news about Miss Belladonna – I am here because I have something to offer."
They paused for a second before Sienna said:
"How do we know we can trust you?"
Watts shrugged:
"I could've called security and have the three of you arrested right here while I sit back in the comfort of my office upstairs. And as you can see – I have come here unarmed with my Aura deactivated."
"So why are you telling us all this?" Sun asked. "What do you want?"
"I want to tell you the truth," Watts responded. "You and I share the same goal, as hard to believe as it is. But I wish to assist you in your endeavors."
"Why?" Sienna asked, "What do you get out of it?"
"I get the one thing I've been wanting ever since the Empire marched south into the Valley five years ago – I want to kill the Superman."
The sermon lasted all the way until noon, at which point the people within the church had already begun scattering. They were a much quieter crowd than usual this week. A lot fewer greetings and conversation exchanges when they were parting ways. And it was kind of easy to see why, given how the envoy of the Atlas Empire itself was sitting on the front row of the church. Her mighty imposing figure towered over everybody there. The people became hesitant, confused, and unsure of what to make of the situation.
It was definitely a good thing that Mother Saffire, head priestess of this church, was a blind woman, and one who accepted people from all walks of life into the heart of this church, no matter who they were or where they came from.
Jaune himself definitely felt that same uneasiness when they first took their seat and the people fell a little too quiet for comfort. But Saphron's cheery demeanor and positivity managed to keep his head high and confident. And eventually, he remembered a strange feeling of comfort while in the presence of the Superman. Even when she was in class with him, and even in times when he would feel that nauseating feeling in his gut, he still remembered how majestic this young woman really was. It was what he admired most about her.
"It's so nice to finally meet you, Weiss," said Saphron as the three of them walked outside. "So what are you going to do now? Have any plans?"
"I still have some time to kill," said Weiss, pondering. "Maybe I'll take a walk – just to enjoy the scenery."
"Why don't you come over to our apartment?" Asked Saphron. "I'll make you some tea, and maybe get to know you a little more."
"Come on, sis, Weiss is a busy woman. She can't just hang around all day."
"Aw, shush, bro. She doesn't mind, right? It'll be fun, there's loads to talk about. I'll even cook lunch for you if you want. The company I work at just had this huge office party the other day. And the chef there, sweetest guy ever, had a surplus of some really high-quality beef. He gave me some as a gift, it's really nice, you'll see."
"I… I would like that. Thank you."
"Wonderful! Come on, Jaune," she grabbed his hand, "let's show our guest the way."
"I should let you know," said Weiss, "I am more of a coffee drinker. But I don't want to bother you if you don't have…"
"Oh, hush now," Saphron interrupted, "we have coffee, too. So don't you worry. You're our guest, so we'll take care of you today, 'kay?"
"I…" Weiss paused, "thank you, you are very kind."
"So tell me, Weiss," said Saphron. "What does it feel like to fly? I can only imagine, must be fantastic to be able to see everything from up there."
"There is a beauty to this world. But too much of it was ravaged by the Grimm in ancient times. I've wiped out a good portion of their population, so I hope one day we'll be able to restore the lands to their former beauty. It's a beautiful world, to be able to see from afar. But I hesitate to take people flying especially at the speed I often fly at. My body is as hard as diamonds, so I have the durability to fly at that speed. But for you, I don't think you'll be able to even open your eyes in your current state."
"Yeah, that makes sense," said Jaune. "But still, it's nice to be able to see the sky up close like you often do. Back when we were living with our parents, I remember going outside every night to count the stars in the sky. There were so many of them, ha. But now that we live in a city, we don't really have the opportunity to do so anymore."
"Maybe we should go back home for a visit after this semester," Saphron suggested. "They're probably worried sick with all the Grimm and Kaiju or whatever attacking all the time."
"Dad might be worried," said Jaune, "but our mom actually adores you, Weiss. Whenever she sees you on the news killing a giant Grimm, she cheers really hard, like she's supporting a sports team or something. You've probably met a lot of people who wanted your autograph or something right? Weiss?"
The two were confused by the lack of a response, but only when they turned around did they realize that Weiss had stopped in her tracks and was looking elsewhere. Right across the street, in fact. Into a dark alley between two large buildings. Jaune himself wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at, however. It just looked like an ordinary back road leading behind what looked like a kitchen to a restaurant, with a few trash cans placed around.
Jaune wanted to tap on Weiss's shoulder to ask what was going on, but before he could even reach where she was floating, his head began to lighten up and fall apart into shambles. His eyes were becoming a lot dizzier, making it difficult to focus. Jaune turned around to his sister trying to see what was really going on, only to be shocked that Saphron had already collapsed on the floor, knocked out cold.
"What on earth…" Jaune muttered, following suit, falling to the ground.
Weiss's eyes were not deterred even after that strange occurrence, because she knew exactly what had happened. Her gaze focused into a steely unblinking look that glared into the darkness of the alley. And from the shadows came forth a tall magnificent figure in a hideous ragged brown leather cloak. In his hand, he carried with him a black cane with a strange silver mechanical hilt. But what made his identity clear was the brilliant silver hair he exposed from his hood in the open for Weiss to see.
There was no doubt about it – King Ozymandias.
"Hello, Miss Schnee," Oz smirked as he donned his shaded glass spectacles. "Love what you've done with the place."
She did not answer. Instead, only stared on, clenching her fists.
"I hear you're trying to find me," he said. "And that you're using Rubio Rose to do that. Good plan, he's a good kid. But he doesn't know anything about my plans or my inner circles, so he'll be useless to you soon. His magick is nothing in comparison to what I myself can do."
"You are an illegal trespassing on Atlesian soil with no documentation of any kind. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just bring you in right here, right now."
"My dear, I'm not literally here. I would hope the Atlesian Superman would be a little more perceptive and clever than this. Or did you forget that I have mastery over illusionary magick?"
Weiss paused, to which Oz's grin began to widen ever so slowly, taunting her.
"Ooh, I see what it is now," he said. "You can't really see me, can you? The most powerful pair of eyes on the planet, capable of seeing things down to the very atoms – powerless against my might. Tell me, dear girl, what do you see if you try to concentrate and zoom in right now? I'm curious, because I don't have your eyes."
"It's none of your business."
"I bet all you see is nothing but a dark void instead of ordinary atoms," he mused on. "Sucking in the light and vision like that of a black hole, this is the power of a strong gravitational pull. But you know all about gravity, don't you?"
"I do. Your point?"
"I'm just saying, we're not so different you and I. We are both born for great power, Destined to do things no one else can Dream of. Do you know what the difference is between an ordinary person and a god? A person is weak-willed, and prefers to be conquered. While a god is meant to be a conqueror. Just like your Atlesian friends fainting on the sidewalk over there. Their minds cannot even fathom the willpower of someone like us, they will literally crumble in our presence."
"They – are not Atlesians," Weiss pointed to Jaune and Saphron. "They are Valeans. You do know your own people, yes?"
To that, Oz's smile faded into a stone-cold glare. Their eyes met one another in a staredown that could ignite the very air itself. Their fighting Aura was absolutely unbearable, it was fortunate that there were no other bystanders nearby to witness the strong gravitational force around them lifting the dirt off the ground as they began to power up ever so subtly. The strained boiling atmosphere around made it difficult to even breathe properly, but of course, that did not affect either of these two extraordinary specimens.
All of this was made much worse by the fact that Ozymandias was not even here physically himself. What was standing before her was only an illusion, and yet this illusion was already strong enough to exude this level of fighting Aura. Obviously, Weiss herself had never had to use her full power before, nothing on the planet could handle that kind of strength. But it was in moments like these that Weiss began reconsidering such a decision.
"I suppose it doesn't really matter," said Ozymandias at last. "Valeans, Atlesians, mortals. They are all meant to serve people like us. People are meant to be conquered."
"I do not want to conquer anything," she responded firmly. "The flag I fly is a symbol of power and safety. That is all I want, the strength to protect everyone."
"You just keep telling yourself that my dear. I got what I wanted, to test my magick against your strength and eyes. We will meet again soon enough, but first – I want to show you a demonstration of what's to come. I want you to know what even a fraction of my magick is capable of. Observe."
From the shadow behind him, Ozymandias pulled forth a familiar face, one whose hands and feet were tied with a strong chain. Weiss recognized immediately the crimson hair of this young man and the two bull horns on his head – Adam Belladonna.
The Prophet King would toss the unconscious Adam onto the street for Weiss to catch. The moment she made contact, she came to the shocking realization that this was no illusion. Adam was actually physically here himself, she verified it herself with her enhanced vision, zooming in to see his DNA. But this should have been impossible. Adam was locked away in a maximum-security facility, awaiting his trial. How could Oz have accomplished this? And more importantly, how could a single illusion even make contact with Adam's body?
"Behold, my power," Oz pulled forth a knife, one that looked like any ordinary silverware you would find in a restaurant. It was dull, and doubtful if it could even leave a scratch. But imbued with a glowing Aura, Oz smiled on as he tossed the knife into the air for it to land straight on Adam's unconscious body.
It did not cut him, however. Instead, it bounced off him like that of a rubber ball. But the moment the knife landed on the ground, right next to it was a woman lying on the concrete. She had long flowing black hair, fair skin, and a pair of cat ears on her head.
A Faunus? But then for what reason was she wearing the exact same clothes as Adam was wearing? The same black clothing with the exact same rose emblem on the back of her shirt. 'What on earth is going on?' Weiss thought to herself, scanning the woman's unconscious body just as she had scanned Adam moments before. And this strange woman was also a real entity, not an illusion. Made out of real physical atoms, flesh, and bones.
Who was this woman exactly?
"Save these people if you can," Oz smirked, before his fighting Aura began to light up. He did not even move a muscle, but the power emanating from his inner willpower was strong enough to emit shockwaves aimed directly at where Jaune and Saphron were lying.
"NO!" Weiss shouted, as she leaped from where she stood, with Adam in one arm, and the mysterious woman in the other. There she stood in the middle of Oz's shockwave of power to block it from hitting these people.
But the power of a God King could not be so easily thwarted. Because while Weiss herself was strong enough to withstand the full blast of this Aura shockwave, that did not mean there was no collateral damage when this powerful force began blasting behind her to explode the entire building into nothing but smithereens. Crushing the bricks into sand in a matter of seconds, almost as if the Aura was disassembling the very structure of the building down to the very last atom.
The moment the building collapsed behind Weiss was the moment she realized that the God King Ozymandias had vanished from sight. Another impossibility, because she was absolutely sure that she never once took her eyes off of him. And yet, by one way or another, the illusion was gone. Either slipping back into the shadows or vaporizing into the light.
Weiss walked out of this commotion unharmed, but in the middle of the rubble and dust – she began to sweat, grimacing as her mind rushed through all the possibilities trying to decipher how he had managed to accomplish this. She would quickly realize, however, that her hesitation in the matter was a mistake the moment she heard a scream from behind where Jaune was lying.
Saphron had inexplicably woken up from being knocked out and was now desperately trying to claw the boulder crushing on top of where Jaune was lying. Desperate tears flowed as she pushed it off trying to get his lifeless bleeding body out of the wreckage.
One single look with Weiss's enhanced vision through the walls into the building and she knew right there and then, the sheer amount of people inside screaming in absolute agony from the destruction. Their cries were deafening to Weiss's own enhanced hearing senses, piercing her eardrums to create a pain she was not prepared to deal with. Not a physical pain, but instead, one that attacked her mental state directly.
In the middle of this whole chaos, the only thing Weiss could muster to say under her breath was:
"Winter help me, what have I done?"