Chapter 30
Oscar Pine was insane.
He had to be.
He was just a fourteen-year-old kid... he didn't ask to be insane... but he was! The other option was far less appealing...
"Hello, I am Professor Ozpin-"
"Shut up, I heard you the first time!" Oscar yelled at the voice in his head, cutting him off, "You've been repeating that line for the past few hours!"
"Oscar? Is something wrong?" his aunt shouted up from the first floor.
"Uh, no, I'm fine!" Oscar yelled back. Thankfully, the voice at least had the decency to wait for him to finish talking, and so it didn't interrupt.
"Okay, just making sure! Supper will be ready soon!" his aunt called back up.
"What are we having?" Oscar raised his voice to drown out the voice in his head, and the nagging feeling that it was somehow real.
"Doesn't matter, you're eating it!"
"I never agreed to these terms!" Oscar yelled back jokingly, a small smile on his face as he closed the book in his hands.
"It's part of the 'living under my roof' contract!" his aunt jokingly shouted back.
"Oscar," the voice urged again.
"What. Do you want!?" Oscar finally snapped, glaring at his own reflection in the mirror.
To his absolute horror, it didn't reflect him. Or, it did. It was him, but it wasn't him. The person in the mirror was... different, from himself. The expressions weren't the same, but the face and body were.
He stumbled backwards, hazel eyes wide in shock and panic. He had to be hallucinating... he- he had to go get checked out by a doctor, right? Right?
"It's not real, it's not real... it's not real..."
He had to be going insane... right?
"I can assure you, you are perfectly sane."
Was it reading his thoughts, now? Oscar gripped his hair in panic, as he flopped onto the bed.
"I'm talking to a voice in my head..."
"I didn't say you were normal, I said you were sane," Oscar began walking to the door of his bedroom, trying to ignore the voice, "There's quite a significant difference between-"
"Shut UP!" he clenched his fists, "You think this is funny!? It's not."
"We are in complete agreement on that matter, I promise you. Believe me, I wish this weren't the case. But as I've told you, our auras, our souls, are combined."
"I'm done listening to you," Oscar finally decided.
"Have you ever been to Haven?" the voice asked.
"I told you I'm not going, and I told you I'm done listening," Oscar firmly stated, hoping that the voice in his head would somehow go away.
The voice ignored his words, though.
"Do you think you could describe the headmaster's office?"
"No, why would I know that? I've never seen-"
The voice cut him off, "Try. Right now."
Oscar sighed, but obliged, if only to get the voice off his back.
"It's probably-" a vivid picture popped into his mind, as his eyes widened, "It's... It's autumn-colored... with a large mahogany desk... there's a small table, and chairs in the corner for guests, with a tea set that I... I gave him... why did I say that?" Oscar gripped his head in a panic, eyes wide, "Why do I know that, why did I say that?"
The voice was back, "Because I helped build that school and the tea set was a gift to the man running it now."
Oscar, though, was not satisfied. There was no way this was real! He sat down on his bed, gripping his head again.
"If you don't believe me, you can look it up. If I recall, your aunt has several books on Mistral downstairs. I'm certain you could find a picture in one of them."
"That's right..." Oscar tried to rationalize, "I must have seen it in a book."
"Then, why don't you try to describe the man on TV, the one who saved Vale."
"Perseus... Apollyon?"
"That would be him. Describe him, how he is, how he seems."
"Why would I know that? I've never seen him in real life-"
"Just try," the voice cut him off again.
"I... he looks Mistralian-" he cut himself off, as memories began flooding into his head, "I- he's tall, strong, and caring, always ready and willing to help others. He's willing to lay down everything for his team and his friends, and willing to protect the bonds that he's forged with people over his life..."
Oscar Pine gripped his head again, flopping his back down on his bed again, "Wh-What? H-How do I know that?"
"Because I was his headmaster at Beacon, and I know him well. He bears the same, responsibility that you and I do-"
"Stop talking to me!" he raged in frustration, slamming his book down onto his bed as he stood up.
"I have a grave responsibility to uphold. We both do."
Oscar fell onto his knees, remembering the things that the man had tried to convince him of. They... they weren't real, right? Right?
"I never agreed to anything..."
"No, you didn't," the voice conceded, "And neither did I, at first. But you do have an opportunity."
"For what?"
"Greatness, hopefully. Greatness in knowing that when the world needed help, you were the one to reach out your hand. It won't come without hardship, without sacrifice. But I know you don't want to live the rest of your life as a farmhand in Mistral."
"Ugh... get OUT OF MY HEAD!"
"Just please... listen to me. We have to go."
"I..." Oscar clenched his fist, feeling that he would regret it.
"I'll... think about it."
"That is all I ask for."
Percy ducked under Taiyang's punch, whirling around to deliver a roundhouse kick to the older man, only to find that he was gone.
He leaned forward, just barely avoiding the punch that Tai tried to deliver to his side, feeling the woosh of air that followed it. He spun, kicking upwards, but he couldn't even land a hit on the man.
He was calm and composed, in control of the situation, not even breathing heavily. What kind of insane endurance allowed this man to keep up with him?
Percy pushed on the offensive, unleashing a whirlwind of kicks and punches, only to have them all parried to the side by Taiyang. He kicked upwards at a speed no human should have been able to process, and yet the man flowed to the side, before elbowing him in the face. Percy was left disoriented for just a split second, and Tai dragged his body over his shoulder, using Percy's arm as leverage to slam him into the ground.
"Y'know, if you had that sword of yours, you would've kicked my ass like you always do," Tai commented, grinning down at him, offering him a hand.
Percy rolled his eyes but accepted the hand that pulled him up anyway. After just one night, they'd begun training again, for the imminent threat upon Remnant. After seeing what Tai could put up against him with Riptide, he'd asked him to train him in hand-to-hand combat, to attain more styles and improve on adaptability.
"What's your semblance, anyway?" Percy asked, curious.
"It's..." the blond scratched the scruff of his chin, trying to think, "I guess I'd call it... like a breathing technique, or a chi technique..."
"How does it work?"
"You'll have to figure that out."
Tai slammed a fist into his chin, but the demigod was already on the move. He weaved around, kicking off the man's chest and putting some distance between them.
"You have to be adaptable," Tai lectured calmly, even as he approached, deploying some kind of gauntlets that extended from his fists all the way up to his elbow.
"You have to stay calm, and restrain yourself. To bend, to flow like water..."
"The sea does not like to be restrained," Percy quoted from his father, only to gain a knowing smile from Taiyang.
"Of course. But the river that flows into the sea is constant... the water always follows the path of the river, bending and adapting."
Percy opened his mouth to answer, but he was forced on the backfoot by Tai as he swung at him, a dart rope extending from his gauntlet. Percy batted it aside, forming Convergence in his hand. Before he could do anything though, Tai was already on him, and Convergence was too long to be wielded in such a short space.
He leaned to the side, producing a ward dagger that slammed itself into Tai's stomach. The man tanked it with unnatural ease, firing three shots into Percy's face in return. He stumbled, but wards appeared under his feet, boosting him backwards, as a blade that came from out of nowhere missed by the breadth of a hair.
The man didn't linger on his mistake, however; Taiyang pushed him again, somehow even faster, and stronger than before. A breathing technique, he'd said... perhaps to strengthen the body?
Still, Percy leaned back, kicking upwards, but missing as Tai leaned to the side and delivered a nasty uppercut to his chin. Percy's head snapped backwards, as the man went in for the finisher...
Except, he'd planned that. Percy grinned as a ward shield came up, pinging the man's fist off. Tai grunted as Percy whirled, planting a boot in his stomach, forcing him backwards with the strength of a demigod.
He swung wide slashes with Convergence from side to side, forcing Tai backwards, before he leapt for him, slashing his ward longsword downwards. Such was the speed that Tai had no choice but to block with his two gauntlets. And yet, the blade of Convergence disappeared before it made contact, leaving the hilt still there.
Tai blinked, before the blade suddenly reappeared inside his guard, and it slashed downwards.
The sound of his aura dropping into the red rang throughout the clearing, as he stumbled back, partially from shock, and partially from the blow itself.
"Damnn..." he muttered, before looking up.
"That's what I'm talking about," Tai cheered enthusiastically. Even Percy had a small smile on his face at that victory.
"Your semblance is so unique, so effective, that it has so many different applications! You're strong of mind from everything you've gone through, and strong of body from your training and experiences... but your balance is off."
"What!?" Percy was taken aback. He was... off balance? That was impossible. He'd mastered nearly every aspect of fighting by now...
"You need to reign in the sea, even if it does not like being restrained," Tai said, wiping his face with a towel, "Your mind is off balance... I can feel it. My semblance boosts all my senses, including some... supernatural ones. I feel your fighting spirit, your strength... but I also feel great loss..."
Tai turned to him, blue eyes filled with pity, "You've lost someone, haven't you?"
"I..." Percy stopped himself from outright rejecting him, not knowing why. Why Taiyang, Yang and Ruby's dad?
Why not? his mind countered immediately. He knew that Yang's mom had abandoned her, and Ruby's mom... Tai probably knew something about loss...
He was broken out of his musing by Tai taking a seat on the ground, leaning against a tree. His blond bangs were matted with sweat, as he gestured for Percy to take a seat next to him. He obliged, sitting down.
"Who were they to you? A friend, family? A lover?" Tai questioned gently.
"I..." Percy swallowed, blinking slightly, "Yeah... my girlfriend."
Taiyang nodded in understanding, "I've experienced that same kind of loss myself... twice, actually. I won't force you to tell me about her... instead, I'll tell you about myself."
"We were Team STRQ, practically a celebrity team, the Team PRWBY of our generation," he smiled nostalgically, bitterly, "Like you guys, Ozpin gave us special privileges, because we were the team STRQ."
"Like?"
"Like, old Ozpin doesn't just let any kids go off and try to fight the White Fang, y'know?"
Percy looked away, slightly embarrassed as he protested, "I tried to stop them!"
"Not very hard, though. I'll forgive you for that; my girls can be hard to stop when they've got their mind set on something, that's for sure," they shared a chuckle. Yang and Ruby were hard-headed and stubborn, most of all Ruby, who refused to let up on her ideals for the world...
"Still, we took missions from him until we all graduated, and fought the same fight that you are fighting right now. But... when the truth about Salem came out... we were understandably shocked, y'know? But we fought the good fight, protecting the people, and that was what mattered most."
"Raven Branwen, Qrow's twin sister, was my first love. She was fierce, raw and wild, and untamed, free as a bird," the man chuckled nostalgically, "We married. She and Qrow admitted to our team that they had originally been sent in by the Branwen tribe to learn not to be a huntsman, but how to kill huntsmen. We had Yang together, and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl... my sunny little dragon. Over time, she had come to love Team STRQ like every other member of our team... or so I had thought."
Taiyang sighed, "Qrow and Raven have the ability to turn into birds, that you know. They were Ozpin's eyes... and one day, not too long after Yang's birth, out on a mission for Ozpin, Raven saw something... I'm guessing it was Salem's creation. She wouldn't speak about it, not to anyone. She lied straight to Ozpin's face and stayed away from me and the rest of our team for days at a time. She didn't speak, only isolating herself in her room. Evidently, whatever it was, it had scared her to her very core... and then she left."
"I'm... sorry," Percy offered, but Tai waved him off, continuing, "You don't have to be sorry for something you didn't do. I thought she had learned to love, but she didn't even care for Yang, or me, or us... our family..."
"My next love was Summer, Ruby's mother. She was beautiful, intelligent, compassionate, kind, caring... everything you would want in a woman bundled into one. She took Raven's place, and we raised a perfect family. A family full of love. I had everything I could ever want..."
Taiyang looked unusually sober, far different from the jovial father that Percy knew him to be, "But one day, she went on a mission... and she never came back."
Percy looked at him with pity. The man had lost both of his loves... it was a burden far too great for any man to carry.
"H-How do you... How do you deal with it?"
"I focus on the good things. The good memories..." Tai's sigh sounded bittersweet, "Life is fleeting, ephemeral. That's what makes it so precious, and beautiful. We all grow old and die, eventually. I focus on the good times that we had, and on my two daughters, the best things to ever come from it," he smiled again, looking over to where Yang and Ruby were training with Qrow, and the rest of the gang.
That was... a beautiful way of thinking about it. To focus on the good, and not on the bad. The fact that his friends were... gone, wasn't what he should have been focusing on; he should have been focusing on the good times at camp they had with each other, reminiscing.
A silly grin of his own began spreading across his face, remembering the first words Annabeth had said to him, like it was yesterday.
"You drool when you sleep," she had said. She'd kissed him right before he'd exploded Mount Saint Helens... and they had shared a beautiful, underwater kiss... he touched his lips with two fingers.
"You know what, maybe you're right."
"Glad to see I helped," Tai gave him a pat on the back, as the man stood up, "Enjoy your break, we'll be right back to it."
Percy watched as Tai sauntered over to his daughters and Qrow, starting up more playful banter between them.
Mercury Black leaned backwards from the diminutive girl's upwards kick.
He sent a fist back her way, but she sidestepped, expanding her parasol to push him backwards. She smirked at him tauntingly, trying to goad him into rushing in, but Mercury only grinned back.
Neopolitan, as he'd come to learn, was a strange woman. She didn't speak; she was mute. Instead, she typed on her scroll, or talked through body language. But she also spoke another tongue: fighting.
Fighting was the only universal language, and both of them spoke it, fluently.
Mercury squeezed off three quick shots from his pistol, but Neo blocked all of them with her parasol, as she closed the distance between them, bursting forward.
She vanished not a second later, and Mercury smirked.
She was using her semblance, again.
He'd fought Emerald plenty of times, so many that his body had learned to respond on instinct.
He leaned forward, just barely avoiding the blade that passed straight by his head, and he contorted his body over the next swing as he kicked backwards, landing a hit on Neo's stomach.
She rolled with the blow, though, and tried to pull him down with strength that belied her small frame. Still, Mercury fired Talaria into her stomach, sending the diminutive girl backwards.
She managed to keep balance, however, somehow managing to not fall on the ground. Still, that meant Mercury could push, as he flipped a knife in his hand, stabbing fluidly.
She widened her eyes imperceptibly, just barely avoiding the slices as she backpedaled. He sent an axe kick, followed by two roundhouses, but she ducked into his guard. She kicked upwards, demonstrating perfect flexibility, and he took the hit to his chin. Still, the move left her open to counters, and he decided on grabbing her ankle with his hand, before throwing her to the ground.
She stopped herself with her hands, flipping away from his blow. Her heel struck the side of his knee. That area, aura or no aura, was painful when attacked, but thanks to his prosthetics, her boot pinged straight off.
He didn't give her any time to think, as he kicked straight upwards and fired Talaria. The kick and the shot both missed, but he adjusted, swinging the same leg downwards and trying to catch her, and yet again, like a slippery snake, she evaded.
Sensing a moment to counterattack, she shot forwards, the pommel of her parasol slamming into Mercury's stomach. He could only brace his core as she continued striking again and again, but he parried with his forearms and wrists, backpedaling.
Her next blow went straight for his face, the blade extending from her parasol to slam into his forehead. He instinctively pushed all of his aura to the front, before counter attacking.
In the same instant, Mercury sent a roundhouse kick at her, followed by an axe kick that sent her to the ground, even as his momentum went backwards.
Mercury tanked the entire blow with his aura, as his ass fell on the ground not a second later.
"Fuckkk... that was not worth the win, why did I do that... I'm gonna have a headache..."
Neo giggled silently next to him. She patted his knee condescendingly, even as Mercury balefully glared at her.
"I take it back, my favorite ice cream is not Neapolitan."
"Ooh so like hydras regrow their heads!?" Nora gestured wildly, intrigued.
Percy cracked an amused smile at her antics, "Yes, Nora. You have to cut their heads off and immediately put fire to their necks, otherwise it'll regrow."
He leaned his back against the tree. Watching Nora's extreme facial expressions made it so that he couldn't help but grin.
"Woahh..." she intoned, "That would be SUPER crazy to see! And super OP! How did you kill one if you don't have, like, crazy fire powers?"
"Well, I had a friend who had crazy fire powers," Percy smirked, remembering Leo. Leo Valdez, the fire mechanic. Flaming Valdez, Bad Boy Supreme, Super-sized Mcshizzle. It all seemed like so long ago.
"Ahhh... understandable!" Nora threw him a big thumbs up.
"I mean, technically, lightning would also work," Percy shrugged. He remembered when he was training, just a day ago, his fingertips had crackled. Not a true bolt of lightning, perse, but he had... almost generated lightning on his own. No clouds, no thunder. A son of Poseidon wasn't supposed to be able to do that...
It didn't make any sense. Still, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
When he tried, it was only a crackle between his fingertips. It was barely anything, and exhausting to make, but it shouldn't have been able to happen in the first place.
"So like, you faced all these weirdo monsters like dracaena, cyclops, hydras, drakons... Grimm must seem like a piece of cake in comparison right?" Nora asked curiously.
"Ehh..." Percy made a so-so expression with his hand.
"It depends on the monster," he explained to the rapt attention of Nora, "The average Greek monster is probably a tier below the average Grimm that has white bone armor. Obviously the tougher monsters like hydras are stronger than most Grimm. Plus, we have aura, so that helps."
"So, you think I could take a couple of those bad boy monsters on?"
"Ehh..." Percy took a look at Magnhild, "I think you'll need something sharper. How do you kill Grimm with a hammer anyway?"
Nora shrugged, "To be honest, I don't even know. But what I do know," she grinned happily, "is that you hit anything hard enough, they go SPLAT!"
Percy nodded, chuckling. That was true.
"You think I could take those Greek monsters on then?"
He grinned. Nora had been ecstatic to learn that he could manipulate water and make water dummies for her to fight.
It was an integral part of their training, their little group's training; on one hand, they could still practice sparring, but on the other hand, he could practice his water manipulation, and his endurance while doing so.
It was a win-win either way.
Percy found that, while he used to feel a powerful, yet slightly painful tug in his gut even for small-scale manipulation of water, it was almost... gone, now. Manipulating water was almost as easy as breathing air at this point. It was the generating lightning that he was still struggling to hone. It felt like when he had first started using his powers as a son of Poseidon. He felt something similar to a tug in his gut, except it was like a painful sparking of his fingertips.
"Well, let's do it!" Nora cheered enthusiastically.
Percy let out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head as he got up.
Still, he couldn't help but grin in anticipation.
It was safe to say that Pyrrha hated returning to her old life in Mistral.
In Vale, she could walk through the streets with her friends, and no one would recognize her as the Invincible Girl. Well, the occasional tourist from Mistral would, and a few who kept in touch with all the tournaments, but they were never overbearing, or anything like that.
In Mistral? It was the polar opposite.
Winning the Mistral Regional Tournament four times in a row meant that she had been practically the biggest celebrity in the entirety of Anima, until Percy had come along and shocked the world.
Still, even with Percy's newfound fame, it didn't mean that hers was diminished. Rather, it meant that even more light was cast on their relationship, and everyone was reminded of the Invincible Girl.
It was hard to even find someone who didn't recognize her as the Invincible Girl, and fans followed her everywhere. It was hard to go to anywhere, let alone train with her newfound Maiden powers...
Fame was not for the weak-willed.
"So, what would you like to do? Are you free tonight?"
Acestes Aurelius, Heir Apparent of House Aurelius, looked at her, snapping her out of her thoughts.
He'd been one of her many... suitors before she'd went to Beacon Academy.
Minor Houses were always trying to ascend the ranks into one of the five Great Houses, and an arranged marriage was the easiest way to do so. As long as she was 'available', she was expected to at least entertain suitors. Thankfully, her parents were kind and understanding enough to not treat her as some object to be married off...
She gave him a weak smile, "I believe I'll retire to my quarters for the evening..." she was careful not to divulge that they were having dinner with the Liu Family, who was meeting with them for some kind of business partnership.
"Oh..." he looked slightly saddened, "See you around..."
It wasn't that she hated Acestes. In fact, he was nice, something almost never found in all of the Heir Apparents that she had known in her life. He wasn't unhandsome; he was easy on the eyes, she would admit. A nice, aristocratic nose, and dark, brown eyes suited his face nicely. One could see that he worked out, but it was clear that all of the training he did was purely for aesthetic, and not for purpose.
Still, he was a well-meaning person, and that meant something, even if his advances sometimes... irked her. She always did her best to let him down gently; no one could go on forever.
She sighed, exiting the spacious courtyard, and walking into the left wing of the Manor. Her heels clicked softly on the red carpet, as maids and servants hurried about to the kitchen, preparing to make dinner for the Liu family that they were hosting tonight. She had to take a few more turns before arriving at her bedroom.
It was pristinely kept, even if she hadn't been there in ages. Of course it was. Her parents had always cared about her, and tried to keep everything they had about her, especially when she left Mistral and made the choice to go to Beacon.
She was grateful for them. They didn't see her as a tool, like many other nobles, and had always tried to make her happy...
The bedroom wasn't massive, by any means. It was large enough to be a master's bedroom, but not so spacious that it felt cold. Rather, she liked to think of it as cozy. To her right was her bed, with gold and red blankets. To her left was the bathroom. In front of her, vibrant red drapes littered with gold patterns hung over the large, elegant glass windows, the walls painted gold and red as well, accented with emerald green. Cherry scented candles were lit in the corner, with a small, gold chandelier hanging above her head that illuminated the room.
She strode forward, pushing the curtains aside to admire the view of Mistral. She liked to think that she could see to the far edges of their continent, Anima, from the top of Mount Olympus, where the Great Houses had their Manors.
She sighed, sitting down on her bed bench, and taking her heels off her stocking-clad feet. She loosened her ponytail as she shook her luscious red mane free, and she flopped down on her bed, spreading out her arms.
After a few moments, she rolled over as she heard her scroll vibrate. Reaching over to the nightstand, she grabbed her Scroll, checking it. A smile came over her face as she realized it was a text from Percy, as evident by his profile picture.
Percy: Hey :D
Pyrrha: Hello! What time is it over there?
Percy: only around 3 pm
Pyrrha: What are you doing?
A moment later, a picture of Yang and Mercury sparring came through, with the others in the background.
Pyrrha tried not to scowl at the sight of Mercury Black. She felt a strange anger begin to boil in her chest, even as she tried to snuff it down, while she typed back.
Pyrrha: You know I don't like him.
Percy: You don't have to. He can help us. Just give him a chance? :)
She rolled her eyes but acquiesced to his request. She would trust his judgement, for now.
Pyrrha: .-. fine
Percy: :)
She hovered her fingers over the keyboard on the scroll, about to type something else, when one of the servants called into her room that dinner was almost ready. She sat up, frowning that her time with Percy was being cut short.
She typed back as she slipped her red heels back on and slid off the bed, standing up.
Pyrrha: gtg, sorry
The reply was almost instant, as he began typing back.
Percy: Bye!
Pyrrha smiled, texting back.
Pyrrha: Bye :3
AN: Mostly a filler chapter, but we're building up to more arcs, and doing some world building for Mistral, which I found lacking in canon.
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Next Chapter: December 23rd (2 weeks)
-thann3