This chapter has major manga spoilers.
Have you ever felt you were going insane?
It wasn't a good feeling, not one bit. Always jumping at flickering shadows, fearing every little sound made, wondering when it will be your last day in the comfort of sanity, when your mind would finally have had enough of tormenting you, of being pushed and pushed and pushed until it finally goes over the edge into the bottomless abyss of madness.
It scared him, made him uneasy, and forever fearful of finally stepping beyond the point of no return.
But in truth, insanity would have been preferable to his current reality.
Yes, Insanity was a privilege. One that wasn't granted to Leonardo Lionheart. Salem was just too cruel a mistress to ever consider giving him a way out, keeping him right at the edge of two worlds, never once allowing him peace.
And it tore him apart on the inside.
He was a good man at one point in time, you know? Someone who held his morals and the safety of others above all else.
A kind man.
A simple man.
A compassionate man.
A man who had died the day he realized the truth of Salem and the war.
Was it cowardly that he'd value his own life? Was it fair that only he had to suffer being a double agent for both sides? Was it his fault that he had to bear the weight of innumerable sins that others had forced him to commit?
In a way, it was and wasn't. Fear made you do crazy things if you gave in to it after all, and Leonardo hadn't even put up a fight. Excuses after excuses after excuses after excuses had poured from his lips to friend and foe alike, all to save his skin. Send huntsmen to their deaths by giving them false information? Privately give away the locations of Salem's agents? Allow two immortals to run rampant and rip themselves and others apart?
He could do that, have been doing that.
And yet a part of him, that part that was still as prideful as the lion he was, wished to lash out, to rage, to defy. He was a headmaster, after all, one who was very well respected and had connections upon connections.
All he would need to do was make the command, just say the order, spout a few words, and come morning, all of Remnant would know about the war, about Salem, about Ozpin, and about everything.
Because in a war, information was power, information was survival, information was key, and who else had more information in this war the the man who played a pawn -A fool!- for both sides of the spectrum?
Yes, he had so much power in his hands, too much, some might say, and yet he couldn't bring himself to exercise such power out of fear. Fear of Salem, fear of Ozpin, fear of retaliation from those whom he's wronged. So he'd stamp that defiance into oblivion and continue to dance to the Immortals' tunes.
Salem had ordered him to kill two children? He already had a pile of those; what was a few bodies more? Capture the third and hand her off to the mistress of Grimm? He'd handed more than a few people off to Salem's tender mercies.
They had no connection to him, and he held no obligation to them.
"Your wish is my command, my Mistress." He said to the Seer, the vision of the red-eyed witch vanishing as the connection broke.
His shoulders felt heavier as he resolved himself to add more to the long list of wrongs he'd committed to survive. Unfortunately, no matter how many lies he would whisper to himself later, the gnarled fingers of sins would forever claw at his back. An eternal reminder of the fate that awaited him at the end of this road.
Morning wasn't Amber's favorite time of the day.
Despite once being a huntress in training, she never had, and never will, be a morning person.
"Mmmmmm~" Seemed Tenko wasn't either.
A part of her felt envious at the sight of her surrogate little brother being carried by Deku to the dining table while the boy continued to nod off on his back. Why couldn't someone carry her like that in the morning and let her continue to sleep?
Grumpily shuffling her feet towards the dining table for breakfast, she was met with an all too cheerful 'Good morning!' from Pyrrha. She cast a withering eye at the Redhead who smiled at her, unafraid of her tired glare. Amber cursed her new student and benefactor in her mind, both her and Deku.
How the hell could they be wide awake and energetic at such a Gods forsaken hour!?
"Routine." Both Deku and Pyrrha answered with polite smiles plastered on their faces.
It didn't take a genius for her to realize that she had accidentally said her thoughts out loud in her tired state. Amber let her head slam into the table with an embarrassed groan, all the while ignoring Pyrrha's amused giggling at her actions.
Five days had passed since they had first stepped foot into Mistral undetected, thanks to Pyrrha seeing as the girl was apparently some kind of up-and-coming celebrity in Mistral's tournament scene. All it took was the girl saying that they were her private trainers for future tournament matches to have all known images of their faces taken off the surface of the internet by some of the girl's current and future investors and PR teams who hoped their actions would land them in her good graces.
Still, Pyrrha was a smart girl, smart enough to use their request for anonymity to her advantage.
In exchange for shelter in the form of an apartment, money for food, clothes, and other such necessities, she would gain dedicated training from both of them, and they'd have to serve as her bodyguards for the time that they remained in Mistral.
It was an unfair deal, sure, but that was all the girl wanted. Besides, Amber found it impressive how she had easily been able to deduce that the two were fighters, stronger than most, if not all, of the opponents she had faced and may face in her future bouts.
Apart from that, though, Pyrrha was a nice girl, a bit odd and a tad too enthusiastic to talk to strangers to be normal for sure, but she didn't see the need to complain.
Deku certainly didn't.
The boy seemed almost amused as the girl picked them apart and requested fights with them to train her after she had gotten comfortable in their presence.
It also led to Amber discovering something new about her green-haired travel companion.
The guy was a semblance nut who loved anything to do with the ability.
It had taken him only two days to completely take apart the girl's semblance, [Polarity], and think of at least fifteen new ideas of how the girl could utilize it in a battle scenario in that notebook of his. How and where he got that from, she had no clue.
Still, it showed her a new side of Deku she didn't know he had.
A cup of coffee was placed before her courtesy of her traveling companion. Amber drank it greedily.
Hmmm~ was that honey and cream? It tasted good.
"I thought you'd like that blend," Deku said, smiling. "And before you ask, no, you didn't say anything out loud, your face tells me all I need to know." He finished, cutting her off just as she opened her mouth to ask the question.
"I do like it. It almost makes me wonder if I have to worry about you knowing other things about me you shouldn't know since you pay such close attention to me," she said playfully while taking another sip of the heavenly nectar.
"E-eh? I mean it's not like-"
"Relax, Deku, I'm kidding." Amber cut in with a smirk.
"Besides, your analysis only extends to semblances, right? It's not like you can read people, too."
"H-heh yeah, I.. don't."
Amber paused mid-sip.
Deku hadn't sounded all that convincing just now. His smile had also become a bit strained. And was that a bead of sweat on his forehead?
All semblance of drowsiness left her in that instant.
Why wasn't he looking at her? And where the hell was that notebook of his? Wasn't it right on the table just now?
"Nii-san knows... a lot about people... It's kind of... weird." Tenko slurred drowsily as he scarfed down spoonful after spoonful of cereal.
Now Amber was getting nervous.
"Hey Deku, Tenko's lying right?" She asked comically, a bit of concern in her voice as she warily eyed the cup of coffee.
"Pyrrha-san, I believe we should begin our morning run and let these two wake up properly on their own."
Oi oi oi, why was he avoiding eye contact now! And why the hell was he ignoring her!?
"Alright, Izuku-san," Pyrrha answered cheerily, having already adopted the odd honorific even if she wasn't entirely sure what it meant.
As the red and green duo left the apartment to warm up, Amber sat at the dining table, contemplating whether or not she should fear for the safety of her privacy.
In the end, Amber had nothing to worry about from her traveling companion, who had later explained to her that he didn't have some kind of supernatural ability to tell people's likes and dislikes.
She also ignored little Tenko, telling her that his brother was lying.
Ignorance was bliss, and she would rather not know just what it was Deku knew about her. Not when she had other things to do.
Like being the best-damned combat teacher for Pyrrha.
A dust round flew past Amber's face, barely grazing her as she closed the distance between her and her student, trying to force the girl into a close-quarters combat situation to take advantage of Miló being in its rifle form. Pyrrha was quick to notice the woman's intentions, however, and lashed out with Miló as it transformed into its xiphos form instead.
Amber ducked out of the blade's path as it scythed above her head, her hand cracking out at Pyrrha and catching her in her jaw, sending the girl staggering back.
The girl recovered quickly and morphed Miló into its rifle form while using Akoúo̱ to block a roundhouse kick from Amber.
Three shots were fired out in quick succession, pushing the Fall Maiden onto the back foot as she retreated, only to continue backstepping to see how the girl would proceed.
Pyrrha didn't let up and transformed Miló back into its javelin form before hurling it at the young woman, the spear cutting a gold and crimson arc in the air as it soared. Amber dodged out of the way of the spear yet kept backstepping to see what tactic the young warrior had come up with next.
Realising what her teacher wanted, Pyrrha bull rushed the Fall Maiden with Akoúo̱ in hand, her aura roaring to life, and [Polarity] flaring alongside it with her slowly increasing battle lust.
Amber was caught off guard as the girl's speed rapidly increased to the point she would have disappeared from her line of sight had she been any weaker.
Flipping over the girl's mad charge with a flurry, Amber felt her eyes widen when Miló came soaring at her, its form outlined in black.
Twisting herself mid-air, Amber barely managed to dodge the tip of the spear before falling back to earth.
'She's using Deku's tactics and advice." She thought as she touched down on the arena, eyes flickering to find her student.
Amber was well aware of just how ridiculously powerful Pyrrha's semblance was and how she could and would use it thanks to Deku's analysis of the girl's power.
'If she can artificially augment her strength and speed using [Polarity] to manipulate the magnetism of her armor and weapons, she can increase its velocity and directional ability.' Deku's words echoed in her head, and her eyes narrowed while she fell into a fighter's stance, body crouching low to the floor. '"Pyrrha'd be a scarily strong fighter if her semblance was used at its maximum potential," huh? I can't deny that. Even with this much, against any Grimm or huntsmen in training, Pyrrha'd be considered a monster, and she isn't even close to perfecting the techniques!"
Was it wrong for her to feel excited at the prospect of having yet another person who could possibly stand toe to toe with her in terms of raw power and might? especially one who would no doubt become a troublesome enemy of her in the future if the girl went through with her dream of becoming a huntress in the near future.
Amber pushed those questions to the back of her mind. She'd let future Amber think about such issues later; right now, she had a girl to find and put through the dirt.
Pyrrha came into view, her student was grinning like a mad woman while her form was entirely encased in red and black, now that her semblance and aura were being fully utilized.
Adrenalin pumped through her veins, and Amber found herself mirroring her student's expression, her own aura flaring up into a Golden inferno around her.
"Damn battle junkie."
"That's the pot calling the kettle black! AMBER-SAN!"
Pyrrha's aura spiked, and she flung Akoúo̱ at her all the while chasing after the thrown weapon with her enhanced speed.
Amber blocked the shield, dodged Miló, which flew from behind her, and grabbed the girl's punch in a firm grip.
Using her hold, she tugged the girl closer, elbowed her in the nose, kicked her foot out from under her, and flung her out of the practice arena.
Pyrrha spun, flipping through the air before landing on the wall in a crouch, her legs coiled and tense as she prepared to use the vertical surface to launch herself back at her teacher.
Amber smiled further when she realized Pyrrha lingered on the wall for longer than should be possible.
"If [Polarity] allows you complete manipulation of metallic objects, then use it as such." Deku's words to Pyrrha rang in her head once again. "The way you use your semblance is only limited because you think only of using it on others rather than yourself, and that's where you handicap yourself and your potential. For example, what if you tried to use that magnetic control to, in a sense, alter your gravity by having your boots and armor be 'pulled' towards a wall or ceiling?"
Amber made a mental note to experiment with the Fall Maiden's power with her traveling companion at a later date. Who knew? maybe she could make an absurd element or effect with his help?
Pyrrha didn't just jump at her from her perch, no, the girl positively blurred as she sped towards her teacher like a bullet, the wall behind her cracking and cratering as she kicked off.
Spinning through the air in a spiral, Miló flew back into its master's hands as Pyrrha rocketed towards her opponent, her rapid rotation causing the wind to twist around her and her hair to flail wildly in a miniature red tornado.
"PIERCING CYCLONE!"
Amber met her charge head-on, using Akoúo̱ as she forcefully kept the shield in place with her strength and aura to tank the girl's attack.
Her left foot planted itself into the earth, her smile grew manic, and a laugh tumbled passed her lips.
Both combatants collided, kicking up dust and debris as the rough winds buffeted violently against Deku and Tenko. Eventually, it was revealed that Amber was standing at the edge of the arena, her feet having dug twin trenches in the arena's ground while Pyrrha stood atop the shield in a crouch, spear still in hand, covered in sweat and red hair cascading in front of her face, loosened from her ponytail.
The poor girl looked ready to faint and hurl simultaneously from her earlier stunt, but quickly rallied before the match could be called off.
The Fall Maiden stared at the future Invincible Girl and both grinned before devolving into a chaotic dance of combat.
Kick, elbow, parry, punch, stab, dodge, predict, repeat.
Izuku watched it all occur from the sidelines, Tenko right beside him, staring in awe at the two.
The fact that his suggestions for how Pyrrha could use her semblance were so skillfully executed filled Izuku with no small measure of pride. Both for himself and for the girl who so quickly put the techniques to use in such an efficient manner.
She was a bit sloppy, though. Guess that was to be expected, she was only just using these new ideas for the first time.
'Is this how Gran Torino felt?' He wondered as he gripped the yellow scarf that hung around his neck, as he remembered the comments he'd overheard the man say about him when he thought he couldn't hear him.
Turning his attention towards the fight between Pyrrha and Amber, he felt pleased at the girl's level of strength. There was no doubt in his mind that, had she been in UA, she'd have easily taken one of the top spots in her class in terms of raw power and strength.
"All that needs refining now is technique."
A tug on his hand caught Izuku's attention, and he looked down at his adopted younger brother. "Hey hey Nii-san," The boy began, "You're doing that weird mumbling thingy again that means you're thinking reeeaaally hard right now, right?"
The boy's attention turned back to the fight, eyes sparkling. "You're thinking about the fight against Pyrrha-san and Amber-Nee-Chan, right? Who do you think will win?"
"Amber will win," Was Izuku's simple reply. it was a fact after all. There wasn't a single possible future where Pyrrha was pulling out a successful win unless she had some kind of ridiculous ace up her sleeve or played really dirty.
"Ehhh? really? but they look pretty tied right now?" The boy asked, not out of surprise but curiosity.
Izuku smiled. "Pyrrha's incredibly strong for her age and has great instincts which are very admirable traits to see in someone so young, but Amber hasn't used her powers as of yet, nor does she have her weapons, and even if she looks like she's going overboard Amber has yet to release the full brunt of her Aura," Izuku said matter-of-factly.
Tenko 'ohh'-ed at his explanation, completely missing a crucial detail of his explanation.
One thing Izuku still couldn't wrap his head around.
Ever since appearing in this world, Izuku knew there were some things... wrong about himself and Tenko.
Ignoring the miracle of their survival from their final clash, there was so much wrong with their current situation right now that Izuku couldn't help but wonder, couldn't help but be concerned.
"Izuku Midoriya, How dare you destroy MY [One For All]... My YOICHI..."
Words spoken to him that he couldn't remember echoed in his head.
Destroy [One for All?], but he had [One for All] right here in his grasp, along with all the other quirks from the previous users alongside it.
'But that... can't be right... I gave up my quirk... didn't I?'
There were gaps in his memory, he knew that and accepted it even when he found himself back with a power he knew he should have lost and with a child that should have been dead.
And no, that wasn't a lie either. He'd made it to Tenko, he knew that. Knew he had saved the boy by some miracle.
Yet something told him Tenko hadn't lived long after that.
A smiling face popped into his head, and Izuku clenched his fists.
After all, no matter how fuzzy his memory was, he wouldn't -couldn't!- forget the face of that man.
It was one of the many fragmented memories he still had relatively intact after he clashed with him. It had left his head spinning for days as he wandered through the forests, trying to make heads or tails of his situation and get a grasp on the odd power he felt.
Then he met Amber, and things changed.
Aura, Semblances, Magic, for some reason, he could sense it.
He had never told her, of course; she had been a stranger back then, and while he planned on bringing his concerns up to her in the future, he was too busy trying to sort these things out himself.
Plus, he'd have to figure out a way of how to explain to her why he was confused.
Why could he sense Magic and Aura when such things didn't exist in his world?
Why was his body changing and acclimating to this world in such a fashion?
Why could he sense aura from within Tenko? Why could he sense aura in himself?
Something was wrong with his situation, and Izuku knew that. Was it a higher power? A freak accident? was he in an elaborate dream? He didn't know, didn't understand, didn't comprehend.
He looked down at his hands and for a moment he saw it, a flash of what was, a vision of the past.
His scarred hands were now nothing more than bloodied stumps.
His breaths grew heavy, his muscles ached, and panic filled his being.
He'd failed, failed his friends, his classmates, his mentor, his predecessors, his country... and him.
"The villains... need a hero of their own."
That had been his belief, his ideal, his core.
Despair filled him when he died, and was replaced with evil incarnate.
Anger fueled him to stay awake, calling for him to rage.
But he had no strength to do so.
His hope had died in that moment.
Only to be reborn when men and women, young and old, rallied behind him.
They were lunatics, really, children and adults who'd gladly throw themselves at death for a chance at victory.
Not because of honor, nor duty, nor fear of failure.
They didn't fight out of blind devotion nor because they had nothing else to live for.
Rather, it was because they had too much to live for.
"You can't die... until you've heard her sing."
It was but one of the thousands of wishes they held in their hearts at that time.
It was to be mankind's last stand against darkness.
He stood up on shaky legs.
Their last push against evil.
His eyes focused and his mindset.
All for the sake of what they believed in.
"ALL FOR ONE!"
Such was the strength of their conviction.
Izuku's head throbbed as the memory surfaced and sank in a second, sifting through his fingers like sand even when he desperately tried to hold onto it.
He couldn't remember their faces, their voices. For all he knew, he could have been fighting alongside his classmates, or strangers, or extended family he never knew existed.
Yes, something was very, horribly wrong.
Why did he have this power? Did he die and get reborn?
And why couldn't he remember anything?
Was there something more at play?
He didn't know.
Still, that memory, hazy as it was, gave him the insight needed so he could finally answer a question that had plagued his mind, his question on how to win the Shadow War.
As it stood, Ozpin could never win against Salem, at least, not with the tactics he was using at any rate.
It was something that had always bothered him ever since his conversation with Amber. How could such a man, who wielded so much power and knowledge, not have won this war by now, and was even losing, given the resources he no doubt had at his disposal from the multiple lifetimes he'd lived? It made no sense, and so he wished for an answer.
And the solution he came to was maddeningly simple.
You couldn't win a war while trying to maintain peace.
Ozpin had an army made to fight mindless monsters without any form of higher intellect, and not Salem and her agents, who could use being human against them.
A council meant to maintain a fragile peace, rather than one to win this Gods-forsaken war.
Men and women who followed him out of obligation, duty, and fear rather than any genuine interest, to put their lives on the line to put an end to that evil that burrowed so deeply into their culture.
A fractured society, one without purpose, forever mindlessly continuing the cycle.
There was no drive to win because they didn't know they were losing, no spirit to carry on the fight when the flesh became unwilling, and no insight into the enemy because the masses didn't believe in one.
That was, at its core, the reason why Ozpin was losing this war and what set that man apart from the world of Heroes he'd originated from.
Because, whether he realized it or not, Ozpin had been doing this for so long that it had become an eternal game of chess against a woman who did have the ambition and drive to fulfill her desires because she knew her opponent would just stall and stall and stall. Conformity and order were the natural enemies of change after all, and Ozpin seemed like the type of person to like having things under control.
Or maybe he was putting Salem on too high a pedestal, she was almighty and Immortal after all, so why hadn't she destroyed Remnant as of yet? Surely she would have done something by now.
Izuku shook his head to clear his thoughts, thinking of those two honestly gave him a headache.
In short, Ozpin had missed the forest for the trees.
He had spent so much time thinking about the future that he couldn't see what he had in the present, all the while the time marched on at a far quicker rate than he and Salem might have realized.
Why not search for those with truly fascinating semblances and cultivate that power like Pyrrha's? A girl who, under the right teacher, could become unstoppable.
Why not utilize that magic he was known to possess rather than keep it a secret? It wasn't like [One for All], where only he possessed it, and Salem was after it.
It made no sense to him, and so he pushed such questions away from his mind.
He would leave sleeping dogs where they lie. Mistral and Ozpin's circumstances had nothing to do with him at the moment, rather...
He had a little brother to care for, a traveling companion to look after, and a student to train.
Helping Mistral could come later, as outrageous as that sounded coming from someone like him, right now, he had other concerns that required his attention.
He'd clean up the mistakes of that wizard soon enough and deal with the witch later. Dig out the problems at the root and destroy it entirely.
Because a world at war didn't need strategists, plans, or loyal soldiers.
It needed those strong enough to become forces in their own right, people who fought for dreams they were willing to die for, and an army that would face an insurmountable wall with all they had because they believed, because they hoped.
The world needed fools. The world needed Heroes.
"That's enough!" He called the match between the two girls.
Pyrrha stopped in place before falling on her back in exhaustion, meanwhile Amber took the water bottle Tenko grabbed for her before the little boy scampered over to Pyrrha to help the girl up and talk her head off.
It warmed his soul to see them look so... happy.
Amber caught his gaze and shot him a grin.
She had a beautiful smile, so lively and so full of life. It was a complete contrast to that tired and hopeless expression she'd worn a few days prior.
And it made his heart do funny things in his chest.
He smiled back at her, a large, dorky, and genuine grin he hadn't worn since before the war.
This wasn't his world, but so what? Izuku swore that he strived to keep his dream alive, to save everyone, which meant becoming the best hero he could be by following the path he'd proposed to walk with Amber that night.
So what if everyone hated him? So what if he'd have to live on the run? So what if he truly became an enemy of the very World?
It wouldn't be the first time he was branded a criminal and an outcast.
So he'd let them call him what they wished.
Monster, Savior, Hero, Villain, or whatever other title you could slap on to him held no value. So long as his actions meant people could smile and live in relative peace, and that they could smile and be happy, then it didn't matter to him.
Maybe he really was cracked, maybe being thrown into an alternate reality and having his body forcefully mutated had irreversibly altered his line of thought. If that was the case, then he found that he wouldn't have it any other way.
They all had things they valued above all else, things they wanted beyond reason.
Amber wanted freedom.
Tenko wanted a family.
Pyrrha wanted strength.
And Izuku wanted to save everyone with a smile.
He watched the joy in their expressions, and it made a feeling of satisfaction bubble up from inside him.
"A tool to the bitter end, it would seem." The voice laughed.
Izuku's smile grew, mocking the voice with his joy.
He lived to serve, to please, to protect, because that was, and always will be, his purpose.
The first had acknowledged as much.
Even if he was tired, he'd keep going until he couldn't anymore.
"You truly are just as confusing as you are irritating. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised considering your predecessors."
'And I'd be more than happy if it stayed like that, Vestige."
The voice laughed, yet retreated all the same. Whoever he was, whatever he was, it didn't matter to Izuku.
He'd continue striving to achieve his dreams, to fulfill his ideal 'better life.'
Let Ozpin come, let Salem come, let Remnant come.
He'd face them all on his own if necessary and crush them under heel if they proved too far gone like that man. Because at the end of the day-
-He was a Hero.
It is said that one's Semblance is a reflection of one's own soul.
An innate power designed and created based on emotions, personality, and desires.
Because of that, every semblance was truly unique as it could only ever mirror the innermost characteristics of a person.
Yet what even was a semblance?
The answer was simple.
It was the physical manifestation of one's ego and aura.
A power made manifest through the singularity of one's image and character.
With such an answer in mind, one can't help but ask the question.
What kind of character would the girl who endlessly chased after her freedom look like?
What kind of image would the child whose greed was as bottomless as the abyss look like?
What kind of soul would a boy whose only desire was to protect others look like?
Only time will tell.
He admired his Nii-san for multiple reasons.
Tenko knew his older brother was all that he wished to be and more. Strong and brave and kind.
Yet his Nii-san, just like Amber-Nee-Chan, could be weird at times.
Just like right now.
He watched as his older brother stood on the sidelines watching them, smiling like always.
Yet his eyes were glowing, and there was a spark of... something.
It wasn't complete, wasn't all the way there, nothing more than an emerald ember.
But even just that much promised him strength unknown, something beyond even his wildest imagination, a great blaze that would consume the very world!
In fact! all of the powers he could feel around him promised him much the same! Both powers that Amber-Nee-Chan and Pyrrha-san held made something within him itch with desire! He didn't know just what it was, but he'd be lying if he said a part of him didn't want to steal that power for his own.
He could become so much more! Destroy and recreate the world however he wished with that power!
He quickly stamped down such feelings.
He'd only take the powers of those undeserving after all.
"Spoken like a true King, so selfishly dictating the worth of another and their sins even though it would make you an irredeemable hypocrite." That voice came back to poke and prod at him and his mind again. "Especially since your sins are far more numerous than theirs." It prattled on, saying things he couldn't care less about.
How annoying.
He forced the voice away.
Let it rant and rave at him like the itch in the back of his mind that it was.
Its voice didn't matter, not to him, not now.
"A Weapon Smith?"
"Yep, I'm looking to upgrade this baby and get Deku a new weapon of his own."
They had returned to the apartment she had loaned out to her trainers and had taken a bath before settling themselves at the dining room table to wait for dinner and talk about a few things, which ultimately led to Amber-san asking the question.
Pyrrha looked at the staff Amber had set on the table before her with a look of interest on her face. It wasn't much to look at, really, but the simplistic and somewhat arcane design had a charm of its own thanks to the twin dust crystals attached on either side that reminded her of those mage staffs that fantasy characters possessed. Though...
"This doesn't look like a Mechashift weapon," Pyrrha commented as she observed the weapon.
"Cause it ain't," Amber-san said, snatching up the weapon while Izuku served the two of them...
"What is this?" She asked, curious as to what the new dish her trainer had just served her was. She also saw Amber-san poking at the food confusedly.
"It's Katsudon," Was his reply, "It's a dish from my hometown that I decided to try making since we had the ingredients on hand."
Shrugging, Izuku-san went off to call Tenko, leaving Pyrrha, who began to eat the food while continuing her conversation with Amber-san.
The food tasted really good.
"Anyways, whoever the guy was that helped you make your weapons knew what he was doing." The older brunette said as she eyed her battle companions.
Pyrrha nodded her head in understanding. Miló and Akoúo̱ were phenomenal weapons. Made of fine metal and crafted to perfection, if the old smith who helped her create them was to be believed.
He'd called it one of his best works after all.
"I'm not sure if he's still in Mistral since last I had seen him he'd been preparing to move to Menagerie because he was having issues with some of the more... biased customers that viewed him as a lesser because he's a Faunus," Pyrrha said, more than a bit upset as she remembered having overheard the man complaining about those people to his wife.
"Tch, aaaaaaa- buttholes." Amber-san course corrected her words just as Tenko joined them to eat with his own bowl of Katsudon. "That avenue is unreliable now since we can't be sure if the old man is still here, so we're just gonna have to wing it later." She continued as Tenko began to eat and play video games on Amber-San's scroll that the woman had given to him earlier.
Well, at least that's what he was doing until Izuku-san put an end to his fun by scooping the device right out of the boy's hands while balancing his bowl of Katsudon. The look Tenko shot at his older brother made Pyrrha feel bad for the boy, but Izuku-san didn't budge.
"Nii-saaaaaaan." The black-haired boy whined.
"You can continue using the scroll AFTER you're done eating dinner." The green-haired boy said without any room for compromise as he handed the scroll back to Amber-san, who accepted it with an amused smile.
Tenko probably knew trying to argue against his brother was a lost cause because the boy immediately started shoveling food down his throat, much to both her teacher's shared displeasure, since it didn't take long for the boy to begin choking on his food.
It was nice.
This was nice.
Even if it had been a few short days -barely a week, really- these people felt so warm, so inviting, as if they were like a family to her.
Pyrrha smiled.
And a second later, it died as both Amber-san and Izuku-san sprang into action.
A blade was blocked.
A man materialized out of thin air.
Black tendrils covered their vision.
and Izuku-san stood over the man who was pinned against the ground with black energy whips that were used to wrench the man's head upwards, allowing Amber-san, who stood in front of the would-be assassin, to press the glowing red dust crystal at the end of her staff against the man's neck.
It all happened so fast that by the time she had processed the events that had transpired, the matter was already settled.
Was this what professionals looked like?
"And you are?" Amber-san asked, her voice as cold as the hoarfrost that slowly crept toward the man.
The absolute maniac grinned.
"Just a spider!-" His words were cut off by a wet gurgle as Amber stabbed the man through, and Izuku-san wrenched his head sideways at an odd angle simultaneously only for something extraordinary to happen.
The man's body fizzled away, and in its wake was a life-sized dummy.
Amber-san clicked her tongue.
"A semblance that allows you to possess inanimate objects... or maybe give life to them?" Izuku-san analyzed calmly as he retracted his black energy whips.
"That's what you got from that?" Amber-san asked as she took out her staff, which still had blood on it.
"The look in his eyes kind of gave it away, and he was really soft as if there were no bones in his body," her male teacher commented as he picked up the dummy, "plus, his aura was active the entire time, so I figured something was up and he'd be able to survive."
"Jeez, your ability to pick apart people's power so easily is really scary." The female teacher counterpart whistled, "Still snapping his neck is a bit much, don't you think?"
"Where I come from, people with soft bodies tend to shrug off things that would normally snap their neck. Plus, it wasn't as if I was trying to put in that much force on purpose," he responded in a tone equal parts disturbed and relieved.
Turning towards the last member of this strange group to gauge his reaction, she saw Tenko, who looked...
...Completely unbothered by the fact that both of his older siblings had just pseudo-killed a man.
No, wait, that was a lie. Tenko did look upset, but it looked like that displeasure was currently being directed at the man who had just targeted them.
"With that aside, let's finish up our dinner. We have your semblance to train." Izuku-san said as he and Amber-san sat back down to eat as if nothing had happened.
They were cracked, weren't they?
Yes, yes, they were.
Did she care?
Not as much as she should be, really.
After all, her late mother was just as, if not more, cracked than these three were.
And as her daughter Pyrrha had more than a few screws loose, even if she hid it well.
He gasped and clutched at his neck as he woke up, the phantom pains of having it snapped and stabbed sending cold shivers down his spine.
"Report." the cold voice commanded him.
He obeyed.
"They're strong and can sense us through our invisibility cloaks."
His mistress frowned, displeased.
He knew why.
His mistress hated uncertainty, hated when something existed beyond her web of influence. She was a spider after all, Mistral's Shadow Queen.
"Report this to Leonardo just as requested." She said, beginning to pace, "And call Adam Taurus, I have a job for him and his little partner."
A/N: Holy shit this took way to long to type and get out. I mean 6k+ words has to be the most I've ever typed in a single chapter.
Really, this chapter should have been out a week ago but things kept popping up that had me putting this off but I'm kinda glad it did since I was able to make this chapter as best as I possibly could.
Also, happy mother's day!
Pyrrha's a really fun character to write and i like to imagine that she has a few screws loose considering she's a battle junkie (in this fic atleast since I'm not to sure if that's cannon or not). Besides her semblance is really cool and fun to toy with.
Seriously! she's so undervalued both in cannon (if her wiki is to be believed) and in fanfics! That it should be a crime! She's such a cool character with a REALLY powerful semblance that could turn her into a monster if she was given enough time to shine.
Thankfully, I wrote Izuku into this fic since it seems like he's the only fictional character that thinks about using powers to its fullest.
If you don't agree then search 'Carnage Deku' then come back.
I also think I finally have a proper backstory for how Izuku and Tenko got to remnant which will be revealed later in the story. I really enjoyed the double meaning writing "All for One" in Izuku's flashback had.
And yes I am giving them aura and semblances since (again, if the wiki is to be believed) ANYBODY can have it, plus everybody just lets Amber use the Maiden powers as a semblance in fic when it isn't. So yes, our favorite runaway Maiden will have a power of her own.
A/Side note: To all RWBY fans, why the fuck is your wiki, fanfics and story line so damn confusing.
I though remnant was ONE continent, only to then discover there is MULTIPLE continents.
And don't even get me started on the characters that DON'T show up on character lists but DO show up in wiki descriptions of OTHER CHARACTERS and the Harry Potter ass shit they have in those spin-off series that they appear in.
And yes I am talking about the invisibility cloaks.
Fun fact: It was falling down the RWBY wiki rabbit hole that gave me the idea to include the Spiders in this arc.
So if you have any ideas for this story or I get anything wrong in the RWBY verse than TELL ME PLEASE.
Also I really like the idea of RWBY characters reading this fic so let me know if you want me to write a spin off fic of the characters reading this fic or if you want to make your own fic.
That said, I'm sorry for the wait.
Hope you enjoyed and as always, criticism is welcomed.