Eryth walked out on Pyrrha when she was one. Well, not really walk out, more like… faked his own death and ran away from his responsibilities. Obviously, he didn't do a good job at it, seeing how Pyrrha's mother told her about him, to which he could not understand the reason as to why. Why? Why would she send her child to come looking for him specifically? Why?

Eryth never felt the love of his parents, growing up in Vacuo before the Republic was rough, and a total dog-eat-dog world where the strong dominated the weak. He never felt that parental love, then he became a parent. And it soon became apparent- heh, that he was not cut out for this shit. Eryth thought that by not being there for her would be for the best, for both her and his sake. Many times during his stay in Vacuo city, after escaping his nomadic tribe out in the deserts of Vacuo, he'd tune into the television to see her, to see Pyrrha, winning.

He'd smile, knowing that she grew to be a better person than he did, she became a Mistral champion, not some useless drunk that he turned out to be. Although… Mistral? She must've taken after her mother, and Eryth knows that he's in no position to complain about her 'throwing away her Vacuan heritage' or some purity shit like that.

Years pass by, several championships later, and the complete destruction of Vale did a man, Courrier, arrive back in Vacuo. He formed the Republic and gave Eryth purpose, manning the farms and doing the occasional heavy-lifting for the construction projects felt a lot better than rotting away in some dingy bar. Courrier started by rounding up people with Semblances, he had one, so he got picked.

Eryth's Semblance was a form of Telekinesis, a weak one but Telekinesis nonetheless. He didn't have the precision of that Goodwitch woman in Beacon, or the versatility of Pyrrha when she used her Semblance against foes in the Mistral arena. His 'Telekinesis' might as well just be 'Make things float'. Years of idling would do that to you. He used to be a Huntsman but that life's behind him now, especially after he faked his death.

And now Pyrrha's here, looking for him, great. Courrier, much to his displeasure, always tried to play therapist whenever Pyrrha's around, and it annoys him to no end because it's like he knows he's within earshot! Eryth sighed; at least he's drowning his sorrows in work instead of alcohol this time.

"Hey Eryth," Courrier walked up to him, wearing something else other than his usual bodysuit and duster combo this time, instead opting for a… blood-stained white tee with a bag hung on his side, "Pyrrha wants to talk to you."

Fuck, "What the hell man? D'you tell her about me or something?" he grabbed Courrier's shoulders, "I can't do this!" Eryth hissed out.

"Tough luck Kokkino," Courrier scoffed, smirking when Eryth tensed at the mention of his last name, "And no, I didn't tell her about you," Eryth breathed out in relief, "I just told her that you have what she's looking for."

"What she's looking for?" He repeated slowly.

"Ha! Have fun playing step-father Eryth!" Courrier laughed, leaning closer to whisper to him, "I told her that you know where her 'father' is," Eryth's eyes widened, "Now the next step is all up to you, you either go and tell her the truth, or just lie and tell her something completely different, either way, this doesn't change anything."

"What do you mean?"

Courrier smiled, "Does your little family squabble affect the Republic? No, so why should I care?" he patted Eryth on the shoulder, "Do what you gotta do with her, just keep the drama on the down low alright?"

Eryth stared blankly at Courrier, who just laughed and pointed at Pyrrha, who was standing with her head down in the middle of an open intersection. He slowly took steps towards her; he rationalized on his way there, realizing that no one would notice this confrontation, since everybody's away doing work like maintenance on the tower or farming. So how bad can it be?

"Hey…" he drawled, approaching Pyrrha slowly, "So uh… Courrier told you about me- WOAH!" Eryth's instincts kicked in at this point, years of being a Huntsman will do that to you, even if you're washed up, as Pyrrha swung her spear around, the sharp edge not grazing Eryth's Aura, but just barely.

"You… you murderer!" Pyrrha snarled, grabbing the edge of her shield with her off-hand and throwing it like a disc at Eryth, he jumped back and kicked the thing away from him, only for it to fly right back to her hand, "You… Mr. Courrier told me about what you did!"

"Wait, what did I do?!" Eryth ducked underneath another shield throw from Pyrrha, grunting when he felt Pyrrha's spear digging into his abdomen, he must've gotten distracted by that shield! "Gah! Gods damn it! If you would just explain what I did wrong?!"

"You seriously don't remember…?" He must've said the wrong thing because she looked a lot more pissed off now, "You… you killed my dad!"

HUH?! Wait… Damn that Courrier! He must've said that to her to fuck with him! "Your dad?" he jumped back from a swing, barely catching his footing when he accidentally stepped on a rock jutting out from the ground, "Why do you care so much?! Didn't he like walk out on you when you were a kid?!" He's making it worse! But he'd be damned before he tells her the truth; she might actually kill him if he did!

Pyrrha jumped forwards, using her Semblance to pull her shield back to her hand, causing Eryth to duck again lest he wanted a bruised neck, he quickly scrambled out of the way of a spear as she thrusted downwards. Using this opportunity, he activated his Semblance, the Telekinesis grabbing hold of Pyrrha, keeping her in place, "Listen to me! I didn't kill your dad!" Pyrrha snarled, "Courrier lied! He always fucking lied! Why'd you listen to him in the first place?!"

"Mr. Courrier wouldn't lie!" Eryth felt a tug on his boots, "He… he helped me through a lot of things!" he yelped as he felt his leg being pulled out from underneath him, he must've forgotten that he wore steel-toed boots today! But he didn't have any steel-toed boots… Eryth rolled out of the way of another spear thrust, catching notice of something dangling off of Pyrrha's neck.

A bullet necklace? Her mom must've given that to her…

…Agh fuck! Eryth jumped out of the way of another spear swing, Pyrrha's strikes are less measured than the ones he saw her do on television. They were too wide and a bit unbalanced… her anger must've blinded her, still, the fact that she can still keep up this kind of offensive while not thinking straight was impressive enough. Taking a step back, he used his Semblance again, feeling a strain on his Aura as he held Pyrrha back, kicking off his shoes quickly in the case that she tries to do the same thing again.

Eryth also noticed that she's openly using her Semblance this time, he didn't know what it is but it's devastating enough to tear apart that robot kid during the Vytal tournament for sure! And he definitely doesn't want to be at the end of that! Eryth narrowed his eyes, dodging a spear thrust before getting backhanded by the flat side of the shield, Pyrrha, in all of her previous tournament appearances, never used her Semblance so… openly… what changed?

Damn… it's probably because she's pissed at him right now…

Gods damn it! Surely someone must've noticed the commotion! Where is everybody?!

Eryth looked around hurriedly; Pyrrha narrowed her eyes before letting go of her spear, using her Semblance to repel the metal and launching it tip first into Eryth's abdomen, he spat out some spittle as his Aura flickered, his Semblance dropping Pyrrha to the ground as she quickly closed the distance. Grabbing her spear again, she delivered a flurry of strikes against Eryth, taking off chunks of his Aura at a time.

He reached out and grabbed onto Pyrrha's spear, stopping her mid swing as he breathed out heavily, "I… hah… didn't kill your dad!" he yelled out, tightening his grip on the weapon, "Courrier- he-" his words were cut off as Pyrrha headbutted him, causing his grip to falter. Yanking the spear out of his hand roughly, the sharp edges slashing his fingers as it was pulled out, Pyrrha spun it around and jabbed at his head with the blunt side, sending Eryth to the ground.

He quickly rolled out of the way again, this time maintaining a far distance from Pyrrha, that damn Courrier… does he get some kind of… sick enjoyment out of seeing people suffer?!

"Pyrrha, listen, I- I'm…" fuck, fuck, fuck!

"Hmm… what the hell are spurs?" the Courier was having a great day today, helping a man out with his family issues not included of course, "And what's a horse…?"

Eryth needed the beating anyways, only the Courier gets to walk out on his family! No one else! Besides, Montana was a shithole anyways, imagine New Reno with all of its gang and crime families but a billion times worse. He's glad that he got out of there; same probably can't be said for his kid though, if he actually have one that is.

Eryth against Pyrrha, a washed-up Huntsman versus an up-and-coming one, that'd be interesting. But alas, the Courier has no time for such things; Atlas has yet to send those workers over to Vacuo, how stubborn of them. He glanced at Shade Academy; the place was still operating normally with students coming in and out like usual. The only difference being the students getting blasted with sneers and glares the moment they enter a crowd in their combat uniforms.

Vacuans have developed a kind of sixth sense for this stuff, and Huntsmen always dress so extravagantly to begin with. They're easy to pick out in a crowd. The Courier chuckled, he had purposefully told Pyrrha that Eryth killed her 'dad' and told her to stand and wait in front of Shade Academy. In the middle of an abandoned intersection.

The block of road separating the main part of Vacuo city and Shade Academy's mostly abandoned now, since no one wants to be seen as a 'traitor' to their country by associating with a 'Valean invention' being the Huntsmen. The Courier decided that the fight's gone for long enough, making his way back to the intersection, past the makeshift farms and the rows of solar panels.

He thought about the deal he made with Atlas, how Vacuo's docks are shut down indefinitely, no longer accepting any ships coming from Mistral or Anima. If Atlas won't uphold their end of the deal, then Vacuo wouldn't do anything also. Even if he's going to stiff them on the deal later. The Courier grinned as he hears the sound of fighting grow louder and louder. Breaking off into a quick jog as he ran towards the place he left the two to fight in.

Suddenly, in a twist of events, the Courier felt a bag being dropped over his head and a hard punch to the back of his neck. Feigning being hurt and knocked out, he let his captors carry him to wherever it is. This must be The Crown thing that people were talking about in Vacuo; they must've probably waited weeks just to catch him off-guard like this. Well, can it really be called a successful abduction if the victim willingly goes with?

The Courier's been kidnapped about two times by now, first Big Mountain and then the Sierra Madre. Both of which were quite enjoyable experiences, well, other than the Sierra Madre, fuck that place. So he decided to get kidnapped now, see where this is going. What kind of organization is The Crown anyways? Is it like a shittier White Fang? The Courier mentally shrugged, he's supposed to be knocked out right now!

Theodore kept his mouth shut during most of the events that happened during the past few weeks. He thought that this… 'New Vacuan Republic' was just another criminal organization like The Crown but he was sorely mistaken. They implanted a foothold into Vacuo, with their leader somehow rallying the people against all of Remnant itself apparently. With only Vacuans and those with Vacuan blood being accepted into this 'Republic' of theirs.

The students have been complaining about the weird looks they get whenever they walk out into the streets of Vacuo, talking about how they have to change into more nondescript casual wear if they want to not draw unwanted attention to themselves. Theodore sighed, leaning back in his office chair, Ozpin… Ozpin told all the Headmasters of John Courrier, Theodore thought that this normally wouldn't concern him or his Academy because seriously, what use does Vacuo have for a man like Courrier?

Well he was very, very wrong apparently. Courrier turned out to be the figurehead and leader of the Republic. And it seems like he's doing a better job at uniting the Vacuans than anybody in history ever did! Vacuo city turned from a crime-ridden, barely liveable city into a thriving, prosperous nation. If it weren't for the rampant xenophobia and racism, Theodore might've actually been proud of Courrier for doing something many could not.

But alas, such is fate that Courrier used Shade Academy and the other kingdoms as a common threat to unite all of Vacuo together. Theodore bounced his leg up and down nervously, after what happened in Vale… and this whole thing with the 'Republic' and their open disdain for the Academy…

Shit.

For that guy in the reviews section. Bait used to be believable.

Anyways, FFNet is fucking up again, what a shame, it's like the owner just doesn't care about this website!

Like, come on man, first the problem with viewing your story stats and now a complete outage? That's crazy! I guess the dude's more focused on Fictionpress than FFNet I guess.

I actually found a working temporary fix for FFNet though, temporary as in use until the site works as intended again.

I'll link it here, just remove the spaces that looks weird.

r/ FanFiction/comments/1e1ncaj/temporary_fix_for_wwwfanfictionnet_dns_issue/

It worked for me, so if anybody's reading this, try to spread it around so that people can get back to reading their fics.

Also to read my fic by the way! Shameless self promotion, hell yeah!

Thanks for reading! FFNet get your shit together!