Chp. 14: Magical Progress

Abandoned Farm

August 19, 2020

A few days had passed since Team SAPR became a part of Haven Academy's staff. At an abandoned farm outside of the city of Mistral at night, Teams SLAA and HDAA were currently studying and utilizing the magical artifacts under watch of Team SAFR and the Whitlocks. Most of the group were inside the barn with Siavash, Asher, Yasu, and Athena outside the building.

Inside the barn, Amethyst was wearing the ring that lets her control the elements and approaches a bucket filled with water. She raises her hands as the water slowly rises up out of the bucket. She shifted the water around her until it became a ring surrounding her. Amethyst flicked her hands to the sides as the water immediately froze up into an ice ring. As the ice ring floats in the air, Amethysts slowly lowered her hands down as the ring slowly floats down until it lands softly onto the ground.

Arrastra approaches Amethyst from behind , having watched her progress with the magic ring.

"Nicely done, Amethyst," she said as the student gave a toothy grin in response. "I could think of several uses for that ring."

"Aside from fighting off enemies, you could create makeshift homes, or hold off forces of nature that try to kill us," Amethyst said.

"Exactly," Arrastra replied.

"I wish that the artifacts' power is limitless rather than be powered by our own aura. Our semblance draining our aura is bad enough as it is," Amethyst said.

"True, but if the artifacts can be used without aura, then that could mean anyone would be able to use it, and not just aura users," Arrastra said.

"Yeah, I know," Amethyst said.

Lloyd was sitting on a stool, wearing the leaf crown allowing him to see Mitra and Fenix who were standing right in front of him.

"So you can really see everything again as long as you have that crown on your head?" Fenix asked.

"That and more," Lloyd answered. "The rest of my senses are also enhanced so greatly, that I could see an ant hill from several miles away. I could hear the heartbeat of a butterfly in the city of Argus. And I could feel even the smallest creatures crawling on my skin."

"With a power or skill like that, your enemies would have a very hard time getting the drop on you," Fenix said.

Mitra grabbed a small ball and threw it at Lloyd. He effortlessly catches it without a flinch.

"You gotta do better than that," Lloyd said.

Deriko, Atar, and Pyke were at a table gathered around a large chunk of Dust that was gold in color. Deriko had carefully taken a tiny chunk of the Dust and examined it for a moment.

"Are you sure about this, Deriko?" Pyke asked.

"Of course! You said that this magic Dust can restore an individual's aura, so I want to see the capabilities of it," Deriko answered.

"But I also said that this Dust is incredibly unstable," Pyke said. "What if it explodes or something?"

"It will be a step to progress!" Deriko answered as he placed the shard onto the table.

"Should I be worried?" Pyke asked Atar.

"Probably," Atar answered.

"I'm just gonna use my semblance for this just in case," Pyke said, while activating his semblance. (1)

While holding down the shard with his finger, Deriko took a small hammer and swung it down onto the Dust shard. Upon striking it, the shard explodes, sending the three flying through a wall, out of the barn and into a pigsty. Atar and Pyke slowly got up covered in what they hoped was mud. Deriko shot himself up from the ground looking at his Scroll in excitement.

"My aura is at maximum capacity!" Deriko shouted excitingly.

"Yippee for you," Pyke groaned with an eyeroll.

"You're gonna kill us one day, Deriko," Atar said.

"Don't be such a baby. Besides, recently I have come up with a theory revolving around a connection between Dust, Aura, and magic. Though I can't confirm this yet, it is the best answer I could think of," Deriko said.

"What's that?" Pyke asked.

"The Dust, the Aura, and our semblances connected to our Aura are in a sense byproducts of magic that were left behind by the gods after the first wave of Remnant's humanity had been wiped out. The artifacts that had been created during the first wave were originally powered by magic and the magic was limitless power at the time, while Aura is a rechargeable battery of sorts for the artifacts as a substitute power source. And I believe that is the case because aura is what has all that remains of magic. And the same goes for the Dust too in a physical sense," Deriko explained.

After hearing the theory coming from Deriko, Pyke and Atar thought about it for a moment. And the more they thought about it, the more it started to make sense.

"That actually makes a bit of sense if you think about it," Pyke said.

"Do you think that the remnants of magic could affect Earth's artifacts too? Like artifacts that are said to be magic but aren't suddenly becoming magic?" Atar asked.

"I don't know yet, but only time will tell in the end," Deriko answered.

Just nearby the pigsty, Asher, Athena, and Yasu were standing out in the open as a baby Nevermore was soaring over their heads. Asher hands a necklace over to Yasu as he takes it.

"Are you sure this will work?" Yasu asked.

"Trust me," Asher answered.

Yasu put the necklace on as the baby Nevermore flew towards him. He raised his hand at the Grimm as his eyes started to glow bright blue. The baby Nevermore's eyes then changed from red to bright blue like Yasu. Before the Grimm could lunge at Yasu, he yells out a command to it.

"Stop!"

The baby Nevermore fluttered its wings to a stop and it was flapping its wings hovering in front of Yasu's face. Yasu raised his arm beneath the baby Nevermore.

"Perch onto my arm," Yasu ordered.

The Grimm complied as it stopped flapping its wings and landed onto Yasu's arm.

"Amazing. That necklace really can allow the user to control the Grimm," Athena said.

"Told you," Asher said. "Athena, try out that lanturn on the Grimm."

"Fly up to that fence post over there," Yasu ordered the baby Nevermore, while pointing at a nearby fence post.

The baby Nevermore complied as it flew from Yasu's arm and up onto the fence post. Athena pulls out the lantern and lifts it up towards the Grimm. A white glow flashed out from inside the lantern as it flashed out, consuming everything in light. When the light died away, Athena, Asher, and Yasu saw that the baby Nevermore was now petrified into stone. Athena approaches the now stone Grimm pushes it off of the post with her hand as it shatters upon striking the ground.

"So this lantern is just as effective as the silver eyes," Athena said. "I wonder how this thing was made."

"Maybe someone took someone's silver eyes in the past and merged them into the lantern upon creation?" Asher suggested.

"That would have been both disgusting and horrific," Yasu said.

Nearby a field far off from the others, Siavash was wearing the two gauntlets looking out at a few scarecrows several yards away in front of him. Samuel and Laura stood a few feet behind him watching him. The gauntlets started to glow, followed by his hands. He shot a ball of magic at one of the scarecrows as it explodes upon impact. He shot another magic ball at another scarecrow and upon being struck disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shot after shot at each scarecrow, they had various effects from the strikes; combusting in fire, encased in ice, shot back into the field, and decaying into dust.

Siavash lowered his hands as all of his targets were destroyed. As he examined the damage he had done, a voice spoke out to him.

"You seem to be quite determined, boy."

Siavash turned around to face Samuel and Laura.

"I am determined," Siavash said.

"What do you mean you are determined?" Samuel asked.

"You just said I was determined," Siavash answered.

"We didn't say anything," Laura said with a confused look on her face.

Siavash gave out a look of confusion and before he could say anything, the voice spoke out to him again.

"I have great plans for you and your friends if you keep impressing me."

Siavash looks around to see who was talking to him, but finds nobody else in sight, other than him and the Whitlocks.

"Did you guys hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Samuel asked.

"Someone was just talking to me just a second ago," Siavash answered.

"We didn't hear anything," Laura said, shaking her head.

"What is going on here?" he wondered before turning around to face the field. "Is anybody out there?!"

"They're not going to hear you, boy. You're the only one who can hear me," the voice said.

"What do you mean they can't hear you but I can?!" Siavash asked, now starting to get angry.

"Siavash, are you okay?" Laura asked as she was starting to grow worried.

"I'm in your head. And as crazy as it sounds, it is the truth. And it is quite the pickle you and I are both in," the voice said.

"Pickle?" Siavash asked.

"Like it or not, you and I are stuck with each other. We'll talk later when I have gained enough strength," the voice said.

"Wait! What's going on? Who or what are you?!" Siavash asked.

No response came back as Samuel and Laura approached him.

"Siavash, what is going on?" Samuel asked.

"I don't... I don't know. The voice I'm hearing just told me that it's in my head," Siavash answered. "What's going on? What's happening to me?! Am I losing it?!"

"Siavash, calm down. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this," Laura said.

"Is there? Because when Team SMMK attack the ruins, that voice told me to use one of the gauntlets to attack their men. This is something I can't brush off if I'm now hearing it again!" Siavash said.

"It gave you an instruction that helped us? Samuel asked.

"Yes! It did!" Siavash answered. "And it can't be a coincidence. Something is going on with me."

"Maybe we could schedule some sort of meeting with Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy. He might help figure this out," Laura said.

"Mrs. Whitlock, to be honest with you me, and the others don't really trust Ozpin. And I don't think it's a good idea to see him," Siavash asked.

"Why is that?" Samuel asked.

"From what we found when coming to Mistral, Ozpin had made many mistakes. Some, incredibly stupid. And his solutions are only temporary. Like the protection of the Relics beneath each Huntsman academy for example, They were meant to be secret from the public and be safely guarded, and the only access to the Vaults are with the Four Maidens. But now everybody knows and it's very likely that the Maidens' targets on their backs are a lot bigger with our world now involved. It will be a matter of time before someone gets access to the maidens and uses them to get the Relics for who knows what," Siavash explained.

"Okay, we get it. No on Ozpin. But what do you suggest doing, about that voice in your head?" Samuel asked.

"I don't know yet. But it better not be a hindrance for my plans this weekend," Siavash said.

Siavash walks past the two teachers and makes his way back to the barn. Samuel and Laura watched him leave for a moment before following him back inside.