Chp. 10: Hunt for Artifacts
Ancient Ruins
An hour had passed as the Whitlocks, and Teams SAFR, SLAA, and HDAA had all arrived at some ancient ruins outside of the city of Kuchinashi. There were several remains of small homes, columns, walkways, and other structures.
"We'll split up into groups. We'll cover more ground this way," Arrastra said.
"We let you all bring the artifacts that you found because we want to see them in action. But we must monitor you all when using them," Pyke explained.
"We have brought some of the artifacts we confiscated and thought we would let you see them in action too if we get the chance," Fenix added.
"So who's going with who?" Samuel asked.
"Siavash and Amethyst will go with me," Arrastra said. "Atar and Yasu go with Asher. Lloyd and Mitra will go with Pyke, and Athena and Deriko will go with Fenix."
"I guess me and my husband will go off on our own," Laura said.
"You kids be careful. And do what these Huntsman say," Samuel said.
"Yes, Professor," Teams SLAA and HDAA replied.
"Remember, if you all get your hands on an artifact and you feel it tugging on your aura, then it's magic," Asher said.
Everyone split off as they started to search through the ruins for any artifacts to take back with them. Arrastra, Siavash, and Amethyst approached the remains of a home and started investigating.
"So what's your semblance, Arrastra?" Siavash asked.
"My semblance is Equilibrium. I can heal anyone's Aura with Dust. To do this, I split the Dust into components of energy and elemental effect. I will then direct the energy to restore the Aura of a person who has depleted theirs, however, the elemental effect must be discharged as well," Arrastra explained.
"Where will it be discharged?" Amethyst asked.
"Normally, I'm usually the target of this elemental backlash, but I've since learned that I can redirect this to the Grimm with enough focus. The Dust is then physically broken apart and used up when my Semblance is activated," Arrastra answered.
"So what are the effects?" Amethyst asked.
"Fire Dust makes the target suffer damage and is temporarily weak to fire, Lightning Dust temporarily paralyzes the target, Water Dust cuts the target's speed in half, Earth Dust makes the target suffer damage, Gravity Dust makes the target gain a disadvantage on their next attacks, Wind Dust knocks the target back, and Plant Dust heals the aura of others," Arrastra listed down.
"What about other types of Dust? Like Ice, Hard-Light, Lava, or Combustion?" Siavash asked.
"I don't know. I never got my hands on those types of Dust to find out yet," Arrastra answered.
"Well you should try them out once you get your hands on them," Siavash said.
"Despite coming from a family of miners, and being a miner before becoming a Huntress, I could never get my hands on them," Arrastra said.
"I'm sure you will someday," Siavash said.
"Now go ahead and spread out and start searching the area," Arrastra ordered.
She, Siavash, and Amethyst split off around the ruined building and began their investigation.
Meanwhile in another part of the ruins, Pyke, Lloyd, and Mitra are digging and sweeping through the area for any artifacts. The two partners crouched down next to each other as they were sweeping away dirt with some brushes.
"It was nice being able to see, Even though I'd have to wear the crown in order to see again. and I can't wear it all the time," Lloyd said.
"It at the very least gave you access to see again and then some. A gift from God for what you did for me is how I would see it," Mitra said.
"Mitra... Do you still have nightmares about... you know... that day?" Lloyd asked.
"I should be asking you that question. You saving me cost you your eyes," Mitra said.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened, Mitra. I chose to step in for you. And I know it may sound crazy for me to say this, but it was worth losing a part of me for you," Lloyd said.
"Please don't say that. It's my fault for stepping out of line with... him. If I hadn't done so, then what had happened shouldn't have happened," Mitra said.
"You never stepped out of line. That bastard was the one that stepped out of line," Lloyd said. "Besides, regardless of what could have happened, I would have stepped in anyway for you."
"That's really sweet of you, Lloyd," Mitra said.
"Awwww," a voice cuts in.
Lloyd and Mitra turned around as Pyke had been standing behind them.
"Looks like my semblance had a positive effect on you two love birds," he said.
"Love birds?" Mitra asked with her cheeks turning slightly red.
"Semblance? What did you do to us?" Lloyd asked.
"I call my semblance, Fate's Hand. It's a pretty unique one too. It allows me to either improve a situation, not affect it, or make it significantly worse. However, the downside is that it works completely at random. So good thing it made the situation between you two positive," Pyke explained.
"Random how?" Lloyd asked.
"It... hasn't always worked out all the time. Like one time when we first met Team SMMK at a bar, I tried to use my semblance to defuse a bar fight between Fenix and Sil. Unfortunately, my semblance worked against me and caused me to trip and accidently shove Sil in the process, making the situation worse," Pyke answered.
"And you used that on us?" Mitra asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, it turned out good in the end!" Pyke replied, raising his hands.
Meanwhile at a nearby cave, Asher, Yasu, and Atar stood in front of the cave staring inside the entrance. Asher stepped inside the mouth of the cave and raised his hands out and as he did, his hands started to glow bright, lighting up the dark cave. This was Asher's semblance, Flash.
"This way," he said as he walked further inside the cave as Atar and Yasu followed the Huntsman.
"Handy semblance there," Atar said.
"I use it to light up dark areas, temporarily blind my enemies, and can harm Grimm," Asher said.
"So a human flashlight? Got it," Atar said.
"And the fact that your semblance can harm Grimm like the Silver Eyes," Yasu added.
"It is comparable, though with a few key differences. I can use my semblance at any time I want, while Silver eyes can only be used in the presence of Grimm. My semblance is used to illuminate an area, while Silver Eyes can only be used to defeat Grimm. And Silver Eyes are significantly stronger then my semblance in terms of defeating the Grimm, being able to petrify and damage Grimm as strong as a Leviathan," Asher explained.
"So a weaker version of the Silver Eyes? Right," Yasu said. "So why did you become a Huntsman?"
"I'm just in it for the Lien," Asher answered.
"Ah, so you're one of those people?" Atar said, narrowing his eyes at the Huntsman.
"I don't work for criminal organizations If you're wondering about that. I do take assassination jobs, but only if the individual deserves it," Asher said. "Sometimes when I'm saving up, I sometimes steal my teammates' Lien to pay for my essential needs."
"I bet they weren't happy about that," Yasu said in disapproval.
"You better not steal my money, or you and I are going to have some problems," Atar said.
"Hey, look over there," Yasu said, pointing at something inside a hole in the wall.
Asher and Atar both looked at the hole in the wall as they and Yasu approached the hole as they got close enough to see what was inside. Inside the hole were two items: a small metallic sundial, and a cloak made out of black feathers. Atar pulled out the feathered cloak, while Yasu pulled out the sundial. Upon grabbing these items, Atar and Yasu felt their aura being tugged by these items.
"They're definitely magic artifacts," Atar said.
"So what do they do?" Asher wondered.
As the light from Asher's hands shined onto the sundial, a small orb of light formed on the tip of the artifact before it shot a small beam onto the number XII.
"What's this?" Atar asked.
"What's it doing?" Yasu asked.
He tapped into the light orb on the sundial, and upon doing so everything flashed around them as they closed their eyes from the sudden brightness. When the flashing died away, Yasu opened his eyes and saw Asher and Atar looking down at the sundial and cloak like nothing happened.
"They're definitely magic artifacts," Atar said.
"So what do they do?" Asher wondered.
Yasu gave off a look of confusion at his teammate and Huntsmen wondering why they were asking the same questions from just a few seconds ago. Before he could say something, the light from Asher's semblance shined onto the sundial as a small light orb formed onto the tip of the sundial and shot a beam onto the number XII just like before.
"What's this?" Atar asked.
Taking careful mental notes of what he'd seen, Yasu decided to tap into the light orb like before, and a flash of light consumed everything again and when it died away, he found himself living in the exact moment he had been in once more.
"They're definitely magic artifacts," Atar said.
"So what do they do?" Asher wondered.
Yasu quickly covered the sundial with his hand to prevent Asher's semblance from shining down onto it.
"What are you doing?" Asher asked.
"The sundial can turn back time. At least by a few seconds. It acted up when the light from your semblance shined onto it and when I tapped into it, I went back in time by twelve seconds. I think the numbers on the sundial represent seconds. We've relieved this moment twice already. I guess only the one holding it remembers the moments that happened before, but not the rest," Yasu explained.
"Could help in a life of death situation," Asher said.
"So what about this cloak?" Atar asked.
Curious, he decided to put the cloak on around his neck and over his shoulders. Atar looks down at himself inspecting the cloak. He grabbed the side of the cloak and tossed it back to make it flutter. As he did however, the cloak suddenly started to shift and change. Atar felt the cloak imbed itself into his back as it finally changed into a pair of large black feathered wings.
Asher and Yasu looked on in surprise as Atar was looking behind him in shock at the sight that he now has wings.
"Woah!" Yasu spoke.
"Look at this! I've got wings!" Atar exclaimed as he flapped his new wings a couple times.
"It appears the cloak fuses to the wearer's back and turns into a set of wings," Asher said.
"Which means I can fly, right?" Atar asked
"Well, what else do you do with wings?" Asher sarcastically asked.
"I want to take a test flight now," Atar said.
Meanwhile at another part of the ancient ruins, Fenix, Deriko, and Athena search through the ruins of a large building for any magical artifacts to obtain. Fenix approached Athena to check on her.
"Have you found anything yet?" Fenix asked.
"Nothing yet," Athena answered.
"Well I'm sure we'll find something," Fenix asked.
"By the way, I'm curious. What's your semblance?"
"Beast Mode. It puts me into a beast-like state that enhances my abilities. I can trigger it at will, but it can also be triggered if I get afraid or get extremely angry. Whenever I use my semblance, it becomes harder to maintain my humanity. But I can be forced out of it if I get charmed, incapacitated, or get knocked unconscious," Fenix explained.
"Quite beastly," Athena said.
"I found something!" Deriko called out to Fenix and Athena.
The two quickly ran over to Deriko as he was holding a round glass bottle with a cork.
"You found something?" Athena asked.
"Believe I have found a magical artifact, Athena," Deriko answered, showing off the bottle.
"A glass bottled?" Fenix asked.
"Looks can be deceiving! But, I'm willing to bet it hides such a glorious purpose!" Deriko said.
"Is he always like this?" Fenix asked Athena as she nodded in response.
"I took a brief glance at one page from the book that explains the purpose of the bottle. I didn't have time to read it thoroughly, but all I know is that it has something to do with filling it with water," Deriko said.
Fenix pulls out a jug of water and presents it to Deriko.
"Here. Take this," he said.
Deriko takes the jug from the lion Faunus and opens it before pulling the cork out of the bottle and then pouring some water from the jug into the bottle. He set the jug aside and began to examine the water inside the jug. A minute has passed and nothing seems to be happening as Athena and Fenix were wondering what was going to happen.
"Is... something supposed to happen or-" Deriko cuts off Fenix mid-question.
"Quiet you fool! I'm trying to concentrate!"
Deriko continues to examine the water inside the bottle for another moment. He soon thought back to something from the page in the book he read and then had an idea. The bottle started to glow for a moment before the water inside started turning red as the bottle then stopped glowing. Deriko then began to drink the liquid out of the bottle until it was empty. He turns to Fenix and Athena.
"What was that?"Athena asked.
"Cranberry juice." Deriko answered.
He takes Fenix's water jug and pours some more water into the bottle. Deriko held onto the bottle as it started to glow. The water then started to change and started to release some fumes as the bottle stopped glowing. He pours the liquid onto a nearby brick as the liquid starts to bubble and eat away at the brick, releasing a lot of fumes as Deriko looked away while covering his nose and eyes to protect himself from the fumes. He then looked at Fenix and Athena and spoke the name of the liquid.
"Muriatic acid," he said.
Deriko takes the water jug once more and pours some more water into the bottle. He examines the bottle as it glows once more and then stops right after. Deriko took one of his gloves off and stuck his pinkie into the bottle and dipped it into the liquid. He then pulled his pinkie out and tasted the liquid on his finger, before speaking the name of the liquid.
"Liquid sodium chloride," Deriko said. "This bottle can turn water inside it into any liquid the user so desires. Oh, the things I can do with this!"
"You do release, we can't keep these right, Deriko?" Athena asked.
"You're no fun," Deriko said with a pout.
Back with Arrastra, Siavash, and Amethyst they all continue to search for magical artifacts in the area. Amethyst walked over to Siavash who was crouching down, brushing up the broken down wall.
"Found anything yet?" Amethyst asked.
"Nothing," Siavash answered.
As Siavash continued to brush away the dirt on the wall, Amethyst noticed a silver necklace around his neck with a pendant that appears to be a winged sun disk with a seated male figure in the center.
"That's a nice looking necklace you have there," Amethyst said.
"Thanks," Siavash replied.
"I've never seen one like it. Is it meaningful to you?" Amethyst asked.
"Yes. I am a Zoroastrian," Siavash answered.
"Zoroastrian?" Amethyst asked.
"Zoroastrianism is a religion I follow. Zoroastrian religion has two gods we follow. Either Ahura Mazda, the god of good and wisdom and the devil, or Angra Minyu, the god of destruction and evil," Siavash explained.
"It reminds me of the two Brothers, The God of Light, and The God of Darkness," Amethyst said.
"In some way, it is a good comparison I suppose. In ancient times, the religion of Zoroastrianism had a prophet named Zoroaster. This prophet did not communicate with God in the form of Vahil and did not promise heaven or hell or a better world. He spoke more about man and humanity. Zoroaster respects four elements, but the main element is fire because it is a sign of purity. Lighting it is the center of family and progress. And where I'm from, Zoroastrianism is a religious minority," Siavash explained.
"That's some religion you have there, Siavash," Amethyst said. "What is your home like?"
Siavash was a bit hesitant on answering, but before he was about to answer, he felt something on the wall while brushing it. He looked over to see a brown clay vase embedded into the wall. As he was touching it, he felt a strong tug on to his aura.
"Another magical artifact?" Amethyst asked.
"Definitely. It's got a strong hold onto my aura," Siavash said. "Get Arrastra."
Amethyst ran off to get the cat Faunus, while Siavash examined the vase in the wall.
"What is your story?" he asked.
Siavash still has his hand on the vase as he continues to examine the vase. He then heard a faint whisper coming from the vase. He leaned in close to it to listen and before he could listen any further, the vase suddenly released a purple aura that quickly traveled up his arm and into the rest of his body before exploding sending Siavash flying to the ground. Arrastra and Amethyst saw the explosion and grew worried for Siavash.
"Siavash!" Amethyst shouted in panic.
She and Arrastra ran up to Siavash to check on him. The Whitlocks and the other members of Teams SAPR, HDAA, and SLAA all ran over to their location, having heard the explosion and saw Siavash on the ground. Siavash groaned as he slowly sat up from the ground.
"Are you okay, cousin?" Athena asked
"What happened?" Samuel asked.
"An artifact he was examining exploded and sent him flying," Arrastra answered.
"I'll be fine," Siavash said as Laura pulled him up off the ground.
"Guys look!" Mitra said, pointing up at the top of a steep hill.
On top of the hill they saw the familiar faces of Team SMMK, along with several armed men. Sil smirked down at the group down below as he flipped his hair away from his face.
"Oh, great," Fenix groaned.
Author's Note: Since Pyke's semblance works all at random, I will be using a 12-sided die as a mechanic for his semblance to create the outcome of the situations just like Kerry Shawcross did in RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, in which 1-4 are critical failures, 5-8 are neutral results, and 9-12 are critical successes. I will also show what numbers I have rolled whenever Pyke uses his semblance.