It all began twenty years ago. Towards the east of Vale City, there was a very small town which has now been long since destroyed. But back then, back before several waves of Grimm overpowered and tore down building after building, back then, the town was full of life and joy. Children would dance in the streets as the men guarded the boundaries with unyielding bravery and women made sure there food for all. It was a happy village, a proud and hapoy village with a heart and soul. One of the biggest hearts in all the houses, inns and taverns though, was a small girl by the name of Val.

She may have been only fourteen, but the whole entire population knew her by name. She always had a bright smile on her face, not matter what. Her heart was pure as could be. Love, at times, seemed to be radiating from her. She could never turn down helping anyone at all every day since she could walk, she would go out into the forest, plucking a basket full of apples before coming back into the inner city and handing them out to people. Val was the nicest person anyone could have ever met.

At times, the young girl would even enter the town's hospital without a care in the world. She wasn't afraid of getting sick at all. She simply waltzed in at times and talked to the sick and elderly for hours on end. Whether it was luck or just her pure heart and happiness, she never once got ill from visiting. And it wasn't like it was a chore for her to go, she enjoyed the stories of those who had been all around Remnant who were travelers and those who had seen more days than she could count. Val loved to listen to them, to make them feel as if someone was still paying attention to them even though they were stuck in a room all day.

Val N. Tina was pure love and happiness. You couldn't just ignore her bright white smile. Or the smell of coco beans when she was cooking chocolate. Out of the entire village, even the adults, no one could cook better sweets than her. The chocolate she made was simply to die for and every piece she handed out had a small heart with an upside down V in it made with white chocolate on the bottom. It was her own special signature, her way of putting love into what she made and handed out to the world.

This is just who Val is.

This was who Val was. This is who she use to be.

All of that changed once day when she decided to go a little farther into the forest to pick strawberries for her neighbor. Humming to herself, she sat on the ground in front of a strawberry bush, plucking one off at a time and making sure it was perfect before laying it in a basket with care. She couldn't just give her neighbor a rotten or a too small strawberry. That would be far too rude of her.

"And fifty." The pink haired girl with bright blue eyes smiled, placing another strawberry in the basket. "Exactly fifty perfect strawberries." She jumped to her feet, spinning around in her dark pink skirt before snatching the basket up. She smiled, inhaling the fresh air as she looked up at the sky. "It's such a beautiful day!" She shouted, twirling on her feet a bit more before she stopped, doing her best to keep her balance. "Whoa... whoa, whoa. Okay, too much. Don't fall over."

She softly giggled, brushing her long pink hair back with her right hand before it went down to hold the basket along with her left. "It's still a really pretty day though." She gave a soft smile before skipping along back towards her village.

The sad part is, she would never make it back.

It is likely that Val would have skipped all the way home had it not been for the figure that appeared in the pathway she was going down. She slowed her pace, blinking a few times. In the distance, she could see a figure with white hair and a long black robe that hid her feet.

Val gulped a little as she came closer and closer. There was an eerie and awful feeling emminating from the being. It only took a few more steps for the young girl to decide she should step away into the trees and hide from veiw before she was spotted.

So as silently as she could, she walked around the trees until she came within a clear veiw of the person on the path. Once she did, she froze.

Val went completely stiff at the sight of the deadly looking woman. Her skin was as pale as a corpse with veins jetting out and her eyes were simply terrifying. With red glowing irises and black surrounded them, she looked as if she was something that came straight from the dead to kill every living soul.

Val only tensed up more as something slowly floated over towards the demonic woman. A Grimm. Val gulped deeply, her hands starting to shake as she saw her first Grimm. She had heard enough stories to know what type it was. It was a Geist and by the looks or it. The creature of darkness seemed to be communicating with the woman.

With shaky limbs, the young girl with pink hair took a step back. She jumped, hearing her foot slowly crunch upon a twig. In an instant, her back was braced up against a tree. Her breathing was rapid, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She had no clue what to do. No clue where she should hide or run to either. She inahled a shaky breath, slowly peaking around the tree to look in the direction of the woman and Geist.

To her surprise though, nothing was there. She blinked, tilting her head some. Had she imagined it all? She shook her head, turning back around.

Her eyes then went wide at the sight of the Grimm face to face with her. She gave off a cry, dropping her basket of strawberries. She quickly turned around, bumping into the woman in the black robe. She screamed even louder, looking back and forth between the two of them. She was shaking from her skin to her bones. Fear was coursing through her veins and pounding away at her skull.

Val took a step back towards the tree, her back bracing up against the bark of it. She gulped, quietly whimpering before she shut her eyes.

"It seems we have an intruder." Salem's wicked voice slid through the air with a bone chilling effect. Her slim hand slowly reached up, gripping Val's chin.

The small girl whimpered more, slowly opening her eyes. The light blue eyes slowly begging for whatever this with may give her.

Giving a half amused smile at the girl cowaring in fear, she slowly pulled her hand back. "It is becoming more difficult for me to come out here." Salem glanced over at the Geist. "Perhaps assistance will be required to rid this world of Ozpin." Her head snapped back to Val. In an instant, her hand shoved her forehead back so her hea hit the back of the tree. "This may hurt, a lot."

With a rapidly pounding heart, Val did her best to thrash around though it didn't do much. Salem reached up with her other hand, gripping the young girl's jaw and forcing her mouth open. She simply cried our in horror and fear at this, her eyes clenching shut.

With a high pitched whistle, Salem looked over at the Geist. The creature itself gave off a confused movement, looking at the pink haired girl. It quickly just shook its head, floating up into the sky a bit.

As it decended, it spun around. The black mist around it turning into a miniature tornado as the spikes slowly seeped into the darkness and were covered.

With eyes opening and going wide, Val screamed as the creature forced it's way down her throat. Her entire body started to shake as her eyes clenched shut again. Her screams were slowly becoming muffled out.

Salem smiled, pulling her hands away as she let go of the girl. She reached up, snatching the Geist's mask from the air. With a soft chuckle, she tossed it to the side. In her mind, that mask would never be seen again.

Val's body slowly went limp, collapsing onto the ground. Glaring down at the now messy pink hair, Salem narrowed her eyes while her arms hung down at her sides. "Arise." Was all she said, eyes narrowing more.

Giving off a soft groan, her body slowly shifted around. She crawled up to her hands and knees, stumbling a bit before she stood. She shook her head slightly before tossing her hair back. When her eyes opened, they were a bright gold. "This... feels much different."

"It should." Salem took a step back even though it looked like she was just gliding across the ground. "A human should feel much different than rocks and trees."

Nodding back, she held up a hand. She moved her fingers around a bit before slowly lowering it. She smiled, looking up at Salem with a devilish look in her eyes. "My name is Valentine, and I am at your beckoning command."

With a wicked my smile, Salem turned around. "Come. Let's return home before we are spotted by another pair of wandering eyes."

Weeks past and Valentine did every small thing she was told without question and without any sort of regret. The nature of killing was in her blood. The joy of suffering was painted on her skin. It just didn't take long for Salem to realize something was rather odd with her follower. It only took one mess up for her to catch what it was.

One day, as Valentine woke from her sleep, her eyes shot open a pale blue. She jerked and twisted around a bit before she sat up with very heavy breathing. Slowly falling into a panic, it was all silenced as Salem entered.

"I knew there was something wrong with this possession." Anger filled her voice as she come up close to the pink haired girl who quickly coward away in a whimper. "Trees and rocks have no will, no desire to be in control." Her eyes narrowed, towering above her. "But you, Val, have a rather impressive resolve. It's a shame I'm going to have to destroy it."

Val simply whimpered as quiet as she could, her entire body shaking in fear as tears swelled up in her light blue eyes. "Pl-Please... I-I have to get back home... t-to my parents..."

Salem shook her head, grinning as she held out her arm. "You have no family now. Only my orders and my orders only." She gave a wicked smiled, the demonic look in her eyes gleaming as evil as ever. "And you will not disobey me. Ever."

Twenty years later though, that resolve and willpower still refused to die in Val. With every passing second she fought the ghost like Grimm inside of her. And though it was clearly stronger than her, she always seemed to break free every now and then. Just never when it truly mattered. And to add to all the madness, only she and Salem knew who Valentine really was.

Giving a long sigh, Valentine leaned back in a seat and rubbed her face with both hands. "So you're telling me... there is a girl with... what now...?" She looked up, staring at Eri.

The short blonde shook her head, holding out her arms some. "This girl with green hair, she is able to do something I don't understand. It's like she was able to form any weapon she wanted out of thin air and use people's semblances." She shook her head. "It's like she's some sort of mirror mimicking everything around her. It's with her eyes. They change colors too."

"Her name is Kagami." A third voice filled the stale air.

Eri snapped her head around, eyes narrowing at the speaker. "You." She locked a glare with Maya who simply kept her hands at her sides, a long lost look in her eyes.

"Stop." Valentine commanded, narrowing her eyes at the short blonde. "She's my daughter."

Blinking once, Eri went to speak only to have Maya speak over her.

"And before you ask why I fought you, shut and think." Her voice came off a little harsher than she wanted it to. "I can't just blow my cover over a short little brat."

The blonde growled back before being silenced as Valentine held up her hand. "Shush." She looked over at Maya. "What do you know of this... Kagami?" Her eyebrows raised.

"Enough to tick you off." The light brown haired girl mumbled, slowly walking over to the pink haired demon. "She's apart of a clan known as the Monomanes."

Hours before, Elise gave a soft sigh as she sat on the floor of her dorm room, cleaning out her air compressed rifle. She ran her thumb across a heart made with deer antlers that she painted on years ago. She laid her head back, sighing again. Her body was aching like she had be thrown in a blender. Yesterday, was just plane awful. And yet there was still so much more to discuss.

Laying on the lower bed, Kris gave off a very heavy breath. Even though her music was blaring from her green and red headphones, she was far from distracted. Her arm was screaming each time she flexed her muscles. She slowly moved her head, looking over at Cheyenne.

Said Faunus was staring at a table filled with little beads. She wanted to make a necklace but nothing could even come to her mind. Her creativity was completely zapped out of her. In an instant though, she jumped, as did the other two girls from a knock on the door.

"Hello?" Prac muttered in a soft tone.

Fid knocked of the door again. "It is us three."

"And Maya." Mumbled Fif.

"You guys know I can say I'm here, right?" Maya glanced up at the three brothers.

Blinking slowly, Elise glanced at Kris and Cheyenne before shrugging. "Alright, come in. Just be quiet, Kagami still asleep."

In an instant, the three Varken brothers were sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. Maya gave a faint sigh, shutting the door behind her before she pulled out a seat from a desk and sat down. "How are you guys?"

"Sore." Elise mumbled, setting her rifle to the side.

"In pain." Kris let out with a deep breath as she slid her headphones down.

"Distracted." Cheyenne mutter, brushing the beads to the side as she leaned her head down onto the table.

Maya blinked, glancing up at the top bed before down at Elise with raised eyebrows. "And Kagami?"

Elise paused at that, glancing down. "She's... um..." She took a deep breath, lowering her head. She reached up, rubbing the back of her head.

"SHE is awake from all the talking." Kagami's voice shot down from the top of the bed. Every head in the room snapped up, looking over in her direction. The green haired leader gave a sigh, slowly rolling over in her bed to look down at the group of people in the dorm. "And why is there so many people in here...?"

"Miss Kagami," Prac shot to his feet.

Fid did the same, putting a fist on his chest. "We apologies for the intru-" He was cut off, a pillow hitting him in the face.

Fif raised and eyebrow, about to speak himself before another pillow struckchis face.

Up above, Kagami rubbed her face a little as she sat up, her legs hanging off the bed. "Please don't start that." She mumbled, going to rub her eyes. The room went silent for a while after that. All until Elise blurted out a few words that made Kagami raise her eyebrows up.

"So when were you going to tell us that your last name is Monomane?" The brunet mumbled, looking up at her leader.

Letting her jade hair fall around her face as she lowered it, she shook her head head softly. "Probably... never, I hoped." Her head then shot up, her eyes gaining a faint look of confusion. "How... exactly do you know about them?"

"Know about who?" Cheyenne raised an eyebrow, sitting up straight.

Elise glanced over at her, sighing slightly. "The Monomane Clan. Mama use to tell me stories all about them when I was a little girl. It was my favorite story to hear. I loved it. I just..." She trailed off, looking up at Kagami. "I never thought it was real."

Kagami raised an eyebrow back, shaking her head slightly. "How do you even... know..." She trailed off herself, lowering her head down. Her mind slowly crept upon memories she stuffed aside. To that night she was forced out of her home. To just three sentences her mother had told her.

'I use to be someone called a Huntress.'

Her head shot up to her teammate. She blinked rapidly, a look of shock spreading across her face.

'I had the best three friends in the world.'

"There is no way..." She trailed off. She gripped the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath as she jumped down. She gave off a faint grunt as she landed on her feet.

'We did everything together and I told them the legend of us, of our ancestors.'

She stood up, staring at her friend for a moment before quietly speaking. If the room had been any bigger, the whole group wouldn't have been able to hear her. "Your mother, Elise, what did she do before she had you?"

The young farm girl went silent for a moment. After a bit, she gave a shrug. "I dunno."

Kagami quickly facepalmed, sighig deeply. "Nevermind..." She shook her head softly.

"Wait," Kris sat up in her bed, taking her headphones fully off. "What's this Monomane stuff?"

Giving a faint sigh, her leader turned to face her. Before she could speak though, Elise did.

"It means she has a special gift." The brunet said, slowly standing up. "According to legend, she has what people refer to as Mirror-Eyes."

"Huh?" The red head tilted her head.

Kagami sighed, sticking her hands inside her hoodie pocket. "It means there's magic in my blood."

"That's..." Cheyenne blinked rapidly. "O-Okay..." She nodded very slowly.

"Magic?" Prac raised his eyevrows.

Fid did the same, shaking his head a little. "I don't understand."

"Magic is a myth." Fif added on.

"It is." Kris rolled her eyes a bit, laying back down with a sigh. "Magic doesn't exist. It's something for little girls to believe in hope in."

"Would you like to explain how Kagami's hoodie was completely dry after all that then?" Elise raised an eyebrow.

The red head waved her off. "Probably just water resistant or something."

"It's... infused with magic." Kagami mumbled quietly.

Rolling her eyes again, Kris snapped her head in her leaders direction. "You want me to believe in magic? Huh!" She sat up, green eyes narrowing. "You think I'm going to believe in a lie? Where has it been all my life? Huh! Where has this great and magical happiness been?!"

There was a moment of silence before Elise shot a glare of at Kris. "Well how else would you explain it? Why don't you stop being such an ignorant brat and listen for once!"

"Because it's such a stupid idea!" The red head crossed her arms. "If she has magic, if she has had magic this entire time, then why hasn't she been using it to help us instead of just flinging that sword around?! Huh?! Answer that one you genius!"

"Because it hurts... and it's exhausting..." Kagami munbled quietly. Her teammates along with Maya and the Varken brothers all raised eyebrows in her direction. She sighed, kicking at the floor a bit. "When using what my mother gave me, I have to be completely focused and calm. Just one blow is enough to smack me out of it all and afterwards I can barely breathe. My heart is at a constant race and beating way faster than it should and there is a pain splitting stabbing feeling in the back of my eyes." She looked up slowly. "Yes, I have magic and it can be helpful. I have the gift of people able to look into a person's eyes and use whatever power they have against them. But it is not just fun and games." She lowered her head back down. "Haven't you heard of the saying of equivalent exchange? I have to give as much as I want to use. And it takes a lot to copy someone else..."

Silence filled the room for a moment before Maya gulped and quietly spoke up. "What abput those rings?"

Kagami glanced up at her, sighing a bit. She pulled her hands down, staring at the black rings on her fingers. "They're powered by black Dust. It's... rather difficult to find but the outcome is far greater than when using regular Dust. It's only for emergencies. I don't know when or how much power is left in them, so I have to use it sparingly."

She simply nodded back softly as Kris gave off a small noise, rolling over in her bed to look away. "I'm going back to bed."

Elise softly sighed, reaching over to grab Kagami's hand. She gave a soft smile, squeezing tight. "Don't worry about her." She mumbled, smiling a bit more. "I believe you."

"And I'll believe you until someone else can prove me wrong." Cheyenne muttered, slowly leaning back in her seat.

"And I'm with my sister." Maya pointed over at her twin with a nod.

"And my brothers and I all agree," Prac pointed at himself.

Fid nodded, pointed to himself as well. "We believe you until you show us we cannot."

"Someone who speaks like you just have, clearly isn't a liar." Fif munbled, pressing his thumb towards himself.

Kagami blinked a few times, the worried look on her face slowly fading away as she gave off a soft smile with a nod. "That's... good to know. Really good to know."