Seventeen years ago, in a run down house in a city long forgotten, Theodore Aurora was sitting in his wheelchair in front of a couch with holes and stains all over. There was a few bruises across his face, most were healed, and wrapped around his knees were white bandages with red marks all over them. It had been a couple week after the situation that changed his life, but it still felt like an eternity to him.
"They're beautiful, Dakota." He mumbled, outstetching his arm that was chiseled with muscles. He leaned in a bit, the nerves in his shoulder twitching as he gently rubbed a hand across a tiny pair of antler buds on the head of a small child. He slowly moved his hand over, brushing the scalp of another newborn which was smooth.
"I know..." The young woman nodded, her face free of wrinkles. Dakota sat on the couch, holding the two baby girls close in her arms. She couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. Her brown eyes couldn't help but swell with a few tears. She held the two children closer, held her two daughters like they were the only thing left in existence.
She then sighed, slowly relaxing and leaning back into the couch. "It's such a shame they are stuck here..." She glanced down at the two of them. "They deserve better."
"I know, dear." He mumbled back to her, slowly crossing his arms. As he did so, muscles flexed in his chest. He took a deep breath, sighing as he leaned back. He then reached his right hand up, rubbing the back of his head before gently rubbing his broken antler.
"If..." He trailed off as he started to speak. He then sighed, his arms dropping down as he stared at his wife dead in the eyes. "I may be able to use some of my connections to figure out something."
"No!" His wife quickly snapped. "You already lost your legs to those mobsters!" she went jquiet, feeling the children stir in her arms. She took a deep breath, lowering her head. "I'm not losing them too."
"I won't let..." He sighed, glancing around the room before leaning back. "It was just a thought."
"It was a dumb one." She snapped in a quiet voice.
"At least let me try to give them a better life!" He finally shouted, glaring over at her. "They will be in hell if they live here!"
Dakota when quiet at that, slowly looking down. Her jaw tightened up before she let her hair wrap around her face and block her eyes. "Don't... just..."
"I know." Theodore gave a nod. "I will make sure they are safe at all cost. I'll do whatever I can. I will make sure our daughters have a better life than us."
She just sighed back, clutching her daughters tight. "Alright. Just... be careful."
Her husband gave a nod back again, slowly turning around in his chair and rolling out. Little did either of the Aurora parents knew what was coming. They never would have guessed they would have to face a situation on deciding which of their two daughters got to be set free from an unending burden.
Seventeen years later, the two long lost daughters of Natus met and the winding threads that bound them together were finally fully connected and tied off. The journey between the moon and the sun was taking its first steps at full power.
Early in the morning, before her alarm clock could wake her up, Elise was laying on her back on her bed. She had her arms laid across her stomach while she stared at the bottom of the bed above her. She couldn't help but sigh faintly as she wiggled down deeper under her blanket. "You awake... Kagami?" She finally let out.
"Yea." Her leader mumbled back, staring up at the ceiling above her head with her hands behind her head. "Been awake for a while now."
"What about you, Kris?" The young farm girl rolled over, glancing down at the bed below her. She the sighed, rolling back onto her back as she saw said red head sound asleep and snoring with headphones on. "Nope, she's not."
"So what do you want?" Kagami spoke up, glancing at the window to their dorm as the sun started to slowly rise.
"Do you think Cheyenne is having fun spending the night with her sister?" The question was filled with concern if nothing at all.
"I dunno." She responded truthfully. "I am sure she is beyond confused with it all, but I think it would be a good idea for her to stay the night with her and her team so she could get to know them."
"I guess you're right." Elise sighed, hearing her scroll start going off. "Well," She sighed again and slowly sat up. "Guess it's time to get ready."
A while later, as Kagami pulled her hoodie over her shirt, she glanced over at the bed which Kris was still sound asleep in. "So which one of us is going to wake her?" She raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Elise.
She looked back at her, the two of them staring in silence for a moment. Their eyes then quickly narrowed at each other.
"Not-" Elise started, trying to speak as fast as she could.
"Not it!" Kagami quickly interrupted.
"-it!" Elise blinked, her shoulders dropping down as she groaned. "Damn it..."
But before she could take a step towards the vicious red head, there was a knock on the door.
"Excuse me," One voice started.
Another contiued "It is us,"
"The Varken brothers." The last finished.
"Oh for the love of Oum..." Kagami put a hand on her face, shaking her head slowly.
Elise just rolled her eyes, smiling as she walked over towards the door and opened it. There, she stared at the three brothers all dressed in Mystal uniforms. "So what you boys want?"
Prac fixed his uniform a bit, stretching out his shoulders. "We have come for Maya."
"She said she was staying here to get to know here sister better." Fid added, dusting off his shoes.
Fif gave a nod, perking his head inside the dorm. "So where is she? We need to practice for the tournament."
Kagami and Elise both blinked, looking at each other with the same exact look. Before either could even so much as exhale, Kris shot from her bed in a giant green shirt that went down to her knees.
"Hold on!" She slammed a foot down onto the floor. "Are you telling me that they pulled a red robin on us!?" Her face went as red as her hair from anger. "That is my damn thing!"
"Huh?" Kagami glanced back at her, raising an eyebrow.
"You know!" The red head waved her arms around. "When someone tells someone they are spending the night at someone's house and then that someone says they are spending the night at the other persons house and they just go out on the town all night!"
"Wait," Prac raised his hand.
Fid's eyes just seemed to go wide. "Are you saying..."
"That Cheyenne isn't here and is somewhere on the streets!?" Fif shouted with concern.
Kris just nodded, crossing her arms with a grumble. "Yes."
The three brothers let out screams as Kagami reached up to rub her face. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." She mumbled, shaking her head slowly.
"Well then," Elise blinked as she looked around. "Guess we know what we are doing today."
In an old coffee restaurant on the streets of Vale, early enough in the morning that those who sat down inside it could watch people trying to rush to work, Cheyenne and Maya were sitting across from each other with raised eyebrows.
"So..." Maya blinked a few times, holding a warm cup of coffee with a hint of caramel and sprinkles ontop. "You don't drink coffee?"
"And you..." Cheyenne just stared back at her, holding a cup of steaming chamomile tea with a peppermint stick in it along with a lemon slice. "Don't drink tea?"
The two just stared at each other, blinking a few times before sighing softly in unison. They then both took a small drink, quickly pulling each of their cups down and sticking out their tongue from the heat.
"Guess we can't be exactly the same." Maya muttered, glaring down at her boiling hot coffee.
"Guess that's true, even if we are twins." Cheyenne set her cup down, blowing on it to cool it off.
There was a few moments of silence before each of them leaned back and sighed softly. Then the question came that Cheyenne didn't want to answer.
"So how's mother and father?"
The deer Faunus went stiff at the question. She didn't exactly know, but she could definitely assume what had happened. "You know how I told you I was taken from them?" Her sister nodded as she continued. "I... never really went back. After all those years... since I was the only one taking care of them... I could only guess they didn't make it far without me. And once those people who took me realized I was gone, they probably went after them too..." She trailed off, sighing ever so slightly as she grabbed her hands, her fingers picking at each other.
"O-Oh..." She gulped back, looking down. She then looked up with a bright smile. "Well there is no harm in checking. They might be completely fine."
"But they're not... there isn't a way they could possibly be okay..." She looked up slowly before lowering her head back down. "I'm sorry... you just learn about them and..." She couldn't finish her sentence.
"Hey," Maya reached over, smiling as she grabbed her twin's hand. "Don't worry about it. I have faith they are fine and that's all I need to hold onto." She smiled even more. "So don't worry about it."
Cheyenne looked up, smiling a bit. "You're very optimistic, you know that."
"Yep." She gave a nod, leaning back as she picked up her cup and a sip. "I know I am."
Meanwhile, across the street, watching the two of them from a pizza store, Thanaton was rubbing her chin softly. "Nilly didn't say anything about two of them." She leaned back, watching as a waiter placed a peperoni and pinapple pizza on her table. "Thanks." She flashed a forced smile, holding out a few lien.
"Anyday." The waiter gave a nod, snatching the currency away before scurrying off to fulfill another order.
She just rolled her eyes at him, taking a slice of pizza in her hand as she went back to staring. "Valentine didn't say anything about two of them either." She tilted her head, taking a rather large bite. She didn't care that she was talking to herself. She did it all the time. Now if anyone said anything to her about it, that would be a much different story.
"Cheyenne!" Elise had her hands cupped around her mouth, looking around the streets and buildings. "Where are you!?"
"Maya!" Prac shouted, doing the same as Elise.
His brother Fid doing the same. "Are you out here!?"
"Shout if you can hear us!" Fif cried out, looking around.
"Come on you two!" Kagami called out, looking down through alleyways. "This isn't a game!"
"And it's past noon... I would like some lunch..." Kris grumbled out, her stomach growling extremely loud. She then yelped as she was pushed down by a hand.
"Can't you focus on anything but yourself for once!?" Elise snapped, dusting off her hands with narrowed eyes.
The red head just groaned, slowly standing up. "You're a jerk. Even if you like the best show in the world."
Kagami just gave a faint sigh, walking between the two and pushing them apart. "Alright you guys. We clearly aren't going to get anywhere with you two together." She glanced at the triplets. "So how does splitting up sound? In groups of two?"
"You mean..." Prac blinked a few times.
Fid slowly raised his hand. "The three of us apart..."
"Without each other...?" Fif finished with raised eyebrows.
The leader of MACE sighed again, slowly nodding. "Yes. The three of you split apart so we can find Maya and Cheyenne faster. Haven't you three ever been apart before?"
"Nope." Prac shook his head.
Fid crossed his arms. "Never."
"Not once." Fif added.
"Oh Oum..." She reached up, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"I call dibs on the guy who always talks first!" Kris shouted, suddenly clinging onto Prac who stunbled a bit.
"Oh heck to the no!" Elise snapped, suddenly clinging to Fif. "The last one is totally the cutest!"
"Liar liar pants on fire!" Kris shouted.
Kagami took a deep breath, looking up at the three brothers. She then motioned for Prac and Fif to scrambled.
The three boys looked at each other, blinking a few times before nodding softly.
"It was bound to happen at some point." Prac mumbled, prying Kris off him.
Fid gave a nod, looking between his two brothers. "Indeed it was."
"Then I wish you the best of luck." Fif nodded, picking Elise of him.
A second later, Prac amd Fif were bolting in opposite directions, carrying the arguing girls away from each other.
With another sigh, Kagami walked up to Fid with her hands in her pockets. "Well, I guess you're stuck with me."
Said brother just nodded back slowly. He was never the one to speak first and to be honest, it felt very weird for him to imagine doing such.
Hours later, after the sun had set on the edge of Remnant's surface while the broken moon was high and bright, Maya and Cheyenne were walking down the streets and staring up at the stars.
"You know," Cheyenne spoke in a hush tone. "Kagami said once that all the stars in the sky are the people who have passed looking down at us."
Maya blinked a few times before smiling a bit. "So who would you say is the sun?"
"Probably someone extremely important." She pushed her hands down into her pockets, the chilly air starting to show her breath. "Someone who was held deeply in all of Remnant's hearts long ago. Our creator so to say. They were probably a very inspirational person too. I mean, if they created our world they must have been very creative and not tend to follow traditions." She gave a small shrug. "That is if what Kagami says about stars is true."
"Do you believe it's true?" She glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow.
The deer Faunus just slowly shrugged again. "I don't know. It's weird, it's like I want to believe with all my heart, but I don't know how."
"Understandable." She nodded, fixing her beanie. "I get that."
Cheyenne glanced over at her twin, smiling a little. "It's good to finally meet you after everything."
"It's even better without those crazy people around us constantly commenting or bothering use too." Maya nudged her with a grin. "I bet you get tired of those three girls."
She gave a faint chuckle, rubbing the back of her head. "Don't get me wrong, they can be very annoying, but they are still my friends. I'm sure you love those three little slobs in a weird way."
"That's..." She held up a hand, sighing softly. "Yes, okay, that's not completely a lie."
Cheyenne gave a small laugh, her hand covering her mouth a bit. To that, Maya herself couldn't hold in a faint laugh. The two of them burst into full blown laughter after a moment, their arms wrapping around their stomachs. That laughter didn't last long though. The two of them walked past an alley and that was the end of it.
A few minutes before, Prac and Kris were walking past a book store. The two of them were an awkward pair, both silent and completely opposites. It must have been strange walking past them. On one side there was a giant man with arms as big as his head was round. On the other side was a skinny short girl so frail looking someone could assume she could be snapped like a twig.
"Sooo..." Kris stood up on her tip toes, looking up. "Have any idea where Maya might take Cheyenne?"
"Not a clue." He paused, blinking a few times before sighing. Part of him really thought someone would continue on his thoughts for him. "I really don't know where she would go. She has never been to Vale before."
The red head sighed softly, taking out her scroll again. She went to call Cheyenne, no one picking up yet again. "This sucks. It really does." She muttered before crossing her arms and looking forward. "She's lost. I'm tired. My feet hurt. I haven't eaten anything all day." She groaned, grinding her teeth together before letting out a scream.
The large boy blinked a few times, glancing down at her. "Yet you still look for Cheyenne. Much like how my brothers and I look for Maya. You must hold her close as a friend."
Her face went a bit red as she shoved her hands into her pockets. "I-I mean... she is always too quiet. And tries to make Elise and I stop fighting. And is a pain. And... and..." Her face gained more heat as she lowered her head. "She really has adorable antlers."
Prac couldn't help but chuckle softly, crossing his arms. He went to speak but before he could, there was a faint explosion from several blocks down. He blinked a little, quickly looking back down at Kris. "Maya could be there."
Kris nodded, already pulling out her weapons. "Same with Cheyenne."
"Then let's get going." He picked her up, bolting towards the smoke.
As he ran, Kris pulled out her scroll while on his shoulder. "I'm going to call Elise. She'll get your brother too."
"Good." He gave a nod.
Meanwhile, several blocks away in the other direction, Elise raised an eyebrow as smoke lifted up through the air. "You see that, Piggy?"
"You know this little Piggy has a name, right?" Fif raised an eyebrow at her. He then sighed, shaking his head softly. "Either way, yes. I did. And-" He was cut off as Elise's scroll started to go off.
Said girl blinked, reaching down and answering her scroll. "Yes?" She gave a nod, looking over at the ever rising smoke. "Okay." She looked back at Fif. "Alright." He looked back at the smoke. "Got it. Be there soon, Shorty." There was a sound of screaming from the scroll before she quickly hung up.
"Come on." Elise looked over at Fif. "Kris and your brother thinks Cheyenne and Maya are there."
"Then let us not waste anymore time." He started to run towards the smoke, Elise following quickly behind. "At the rate my brothers and I run, it shouldn't take more than eight minutes for us to get there."
"A lot can happen in eight minutes..." Elise munbled quietly, checking for extra air cartridges.
Down where the smoke was, Maya and Cheyenne were staring at the girl in purple who just seemed to make a rock explode like a bomb.
"Alright." Thanaton narrowed her eyes at the two twins. "I want answer right now." She picked up a small stone from the ground, tossing it up and down. "Unless you want to see me explode something else?" She raised an eyebrow before pausing her walk.
"What do you want?" Maya narrowed her eyes back, holding her hands out. "Tell me right now or else." Wind slowly started to twirl around her fingers, faster and faster till the air seemed to turn into sharp blades.
At that, Thanaton gave a wicked grin. The rock she was hokding gained a purple glow. She chucked it straight at the two of them.
Maya narrowed her eyes, bringing her fist through the air like an upper cut. Wind shot from her arm, striking the stone as it was launched into the sky. A moment later, there was a bright orange fireball in its place.
"Soooo, do you have a plan?" Cheyenne quickly spoke, looking over at her sister.
She just shook her head no, taking a step back. "Besides survive, I got nothing,"
The deer Faunus gave a soft whine, pulling out her rifle."Wonderful."
"All I asked for was an explanation." Thanaton stepped forward, her arms outstretched. "We don't need to fight over this. I simply want to know which one of you fought my brother and which one of you were raised in Mystral."
The two twins looked at each other, blinking a few times. Then then glared back over at the girl in purple, readying themselves in a fighting stance that mirrored each other. "Not a chance." They both said at the same time before sprinting at Thanaton.
Said girl's smile only grew wide as she ran straight at the sisters. "I see how this will be! You're going to regret this!"
Maya rolled her eyes a little, interlocking her fingers as she brought her hands downward in a slash. A sharp rush of air quickly sliced through like a vicious breeze. Thanaton just rolled her eyes, jumping up. She pushed herself onto her hands before shoving herself off the ground and doing a front flip over the air based attacked.
The second her feet landed on the ground, Cheyenne was firing round after round at her. Her grin went wicked as she danced between the blast sent at her. "Nope! Nope! Nope! You missed again! Come on! Are you even trying to hit me!?" She chuckled softly, turning around a bit before back flipping over the two girls.
"Damn." Maya muttered, taking several steps into the alleyway.
"Not kidding." Cheyenne muttered, gulping softly. She quickly raised her rifle up, aiming at the girl in purple. As she started to squeeze the trigger she heard something in the distance. She paused, lowering her gun as she raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"It's Prac and Fif." He sister glanced at her with a smile.
"You can tell them apart by their raging screams?" The Faunus tilted her head some before looking over at Thanaton.
Thanaton seemed just as confused from the sounds. "What the hell-" She was suddenly cut off, two large masses crashing into each side of her.
"Do not harm Maya!" Prac roared, not even caring at how his body could have been injured as he tackled Thanaton from the left.
As he did so, Fif tackled the same girl from the right. "Do not so much as lay a finger on her!" He snapped.
The two boys stumbled back, leaving the girl whom they crushed between them to stumble. Prac let his eyes narrow as his hands turned into fist. He brought his arms upward, his muscles flexing as veins stuck out.
"H-Huh...?" Thanaton raised an eyebrow before grunting as the ground underneath her shot up and collided directly into her. She was sent several feet into the air, rubbing her head as she started her decent. "The hell..." She opened her eyes, looking down. Her eyes then went wide at the sight of water shooting up towards her. "Bloody hell!" She shouted, her eyes going even wider as the water collided with her body.
"You will not harm Mayaaa!" Fif shouted, sending the girl in purple flying through the air and across the city.
"Um..." Kris blinked a few times, raising a hand as she caught up to the group. "Shouldn't we have... you know... not sent her flying so we could arrest her?"
"That does seem like the smart idea." Elise pointed at Kris. "Now we are stuck having to fight her again at some point."
"Right," Prac rubbed the back of his head.
There was a moment a silence before Fif spoke up. "Yes, sorry. We sometimes don't know our own strength."
"Either way," Cheyenne smiled softly, walking up to her saviors. "Thanks you guys."
"Yep, you've saved my skin again." Maya smiled, walking up towards her two teammates.
The two brothers gave a respectful bow before flinching as Kris started to shout.
She took large steps straight towards Cheyenne. "Do you have any idea how long we have been looking for you?! Almost twenty-four hours! Almost a full day! That is a full day with out rest, food, and constantly walking!" She went one, Cheyenne gulping a bit as she took a few steps back. "I get it that you want to be close to your sister! I have always wanted to be close with mine! But that does not mean you run off like this and not tell anyone! Something could have happened to you or worse!" She took a deep breath, taking a small step back.
"Hey, Kris, you don't-" Elise was cut off by Kris' harsh glare.
The red head just slowly looked back over at her Faunus teammate. "Maya may be your sister, but we are still your friends." Her eyes softened a bit. "So don't do something stupid like this again."
Prac blinked a few times, raising an eyebrow. He then glanced at his brother. "Are we allowed to yell at Maya like that?"
"I... don't think so?" Fif raised an eyebrow, glancing to said girl on his team.
"Oh, shush boys." She waved her hand towards them. The two boys just softly sighed before nodding.
Cheyenne blinked a few times before nodding softly to the small red head in front of her. "Alright." She smiled a little bit, rubbing the back of her head. "Sisters will be sisters, but our team is a sisterhood that is just as strong."
Kris smiled back, sticking her hands in her pockets as she looked away. Her face started to gain some color. "Good." She mumbled.
"Wait, guys." Elise looked around a bit. "Where's Kagami?"
Said leader at the moment was sitting at a ramen stand with Fid. Both of then devouring bowl after bowl.
"You surely eat a lot for such a skinny girl." Fid mumbled with a mouthful. He then slurped several noodles down.
"Yea, when I was little I use to eat everything in sight." She place down an empty bowl, nodding to the clerk for another one.
"Either way," He looked over at her. "Can you really tell my brothers and I apart?"
"Of course." She glanced over at him. "Prac seems to be a little more outgoing and hot headed. He starts all your conversations with ease." She looked down at her fresh bowl of ramen and licked her lips. "You're a little more neutral. I can see in your eyes that you take in a whole situation and all sides yet you still follow Prac. And Fif..." She started devouring her bowl. "He seems to be a natural born follower I'm sad to say. He doesn't have much of his mind made up. It's probably easier for him to do what someone else does rather than think of his own."
"You..." Fid blinked a few times before giving a nod. "You are a very impressive girl."
She glanced over at him, smiling a bit. "Thanks. You think the others will be okay? I couldn't stand hearing your stomach grumbled anymore. And I am also pretty sure the neighbors couldn't sleep with it growling either."
"Y-Yea," He rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that. Usually my brothers and I eat at least nine meals a day, maybe ten. But you know..." He set and empty bowl down. "I'm sure they're fine."
"Good." She nodded with a soft smile, glancing up at him. "That's all I want for my team."
Hours later, far into the next night, Maya Borealis walked through a pair of double doors into a darkened room. There was a different look in her eyes now, a much more annoyed look. "Show yourself!" She shouted, jer hands balled up in tight fist.
"Will you be quiet?" A pink haired demon strode through the darkness and out into the light. "You gave Thanaton a rather painfully broken nose." She crossed her arms.
Maya growled softly, her arms crossing. "She attacked us first." She took steps forward to beoome face to face with Valentine. "And you never told me that my sister was involved with all of this."
"You never asked." She shrugged back, smiling a little.
She took a deep breath, growling again as her eyes narrowed. "I know what we are doing is for the better, but you never said she was involved with it. Now the Varken brothers are going go get involved with it too."
"And what? Are you worried about those fools?" She raised an eyebrow. "I told you not to get close to them when I first sent you to Haven."
"I know... but..." She trailed off, looking down. "My sister. You never said she would be involved."
"You didn't even know you had a sister up until now." Valentine hissed.
Her head shot up at that, eyes narrowed. "Well now I do! No thanks to you!"
In an instant, her hand as wrapped around her neck. "Now you listen to me. What we are doing is for the better. People will get hurt. People are going to die. People are going to suffer." Her eyes narrowed as her fingers tightened. "Do not get close to any of them. Is that understood?" Her eyes became daggers, piercing into Maya's soul.
Maya tried to gulp, her hands balled up in tight fist as she struggled to breathe. "Y-Yes, Val-"
"What was that?" Her nails started to dig into her skin.
"Y-Yes..." She gulped, shutting both her eyes. "Yes, mother."