Name: Rika Thorn Age: 21 Sex: Female Race: Fanus (Rabbit) Weapon: Lucky Charm Mark V: Mechanical legs with engines built into the calves. They connect directly where her ruined legs were amputated years previous, and offer both a greater range of motion and a heavier blows than non-mechanical alternatives. When the engines are engaged, they accelerate Rika’s already quick kicks to preposterous levels. With the addition of Brambles, she can unleash a flurry of attacks to overwhelm her opponents defenses, before launching back out of range before her opponent can appropriately react. As a downside, they are quite heavy and aren’t as comfortable as her non-battle oriented prosthetics, making long missions difficult for Rika. When worn for extended periods of time, the metal parts and where they connect to her nerves begin to ache and dig in, causing intense pain around the connections. Specialty: Warrior/Scout. Utilizing her Semblance, Brambles, and her jet-powered kicks, she smashes through her weakened opponents with extreme prejudice. When fighting Grimm, she relies heavily on her power to ambush opponents that her teammates have lured in. Nigh on useless at any sort of range. Semblance: Brambles - In a predetermined area that requires a set-up time of nearly five minutes, Rika acquires a series of buffs that increase her natural aura, strength, speed, awareness, reaction time, and other generally physical traits. In addition, whomever Rika deems as her enemy suffers a reduction to their vitality and speed inside Brambles’ area of effect. Coupled with her already impressive kicking power from her prosthetic legs, she becomes the queen of the arena, nearly unbeatable in tests of strength or speed. Personality: Always in a quietly pleasant mood. Quite a good liar and at home in nearly any situation, but is prone to daydreams and has a short attention span. Friendly to nearly everyone she meets, and never loses her good humor no matter the situation. Color: Rosebud Emblem: A bleeding heart horizontally crossed by a single line of bramble-thorn. Appearance: A relatively curvaceous young woman, complete with features best described as angelic. Rika has incredibly pale skin and beautifully maintained hair the color of freshly fallen snow. Big eyes of pinkish-red with long eyelashes complete the picture. She’s a tad shorter than average height when her prosthetics are installed. She’s usually seen wearing hotpants, a bright red v-neck shirt made of the finest silk, and a fur-lined leather jacket in rosebud. Her unarmored prosthetics mimic her actual skin tone, covered up with dark boots that stretch up to her knees. Bio: Her actual legs were mangled by Grimm when she was a young girl, which had to be amputated in order to save her life. The traumatizing act planted a seed of intense passion to defeat the Grimm that would inflict such horrors on others, and steeled the young girl's resolve to become a Huntress. Despite being confined to a wheelchair for several years after the incident, she managed to convince the staff of Signal Academy to take a chance of the crippled girl when she displayed her recently surfaced Semblance in action. Soon after, she talked another student into helping her design the ‘Lucky Charm Mark I’ legs that made her struggle to her feet. It took nearly her entire high-school career to finally walk as she once had, and she made a splash in the entrance exam by crushing several large Grimm that her partner lured into range of her Brambles. Not the leader of her team, but perhaps the power behind the throne. Nearly unbeatable in the arena if she’s able to set up her semblance beforehand, Rika functions as the close-combat powerhouse of her team, stomping out resistance with a smile on her face and some honeyed trickery on her silver tongue.

Name: Kuro Nishi Age: 21 Sex: Male Race: Human Weapon: Tegen Toppa is a giant drill attached to the right hand, capable of breaking through concrete with complete ease. This is due to both it's dust battery, and it's unique design (spikes added sparsely to the sides to break up remaining rock). If the battery dies, it can also be powered by constantly pumping the trigger you grip it with, like a pump flashlight. Kuro also holds many flashbangs, used to disorientate the enemy, on his belt. Specialty: Kuro is an assassin. First, one of his teammates distracts the opponent. If he does not have a teammate on hand to do that job, he uses a flashbang instead. Then, he gets around the opponent, frequently tunneling underground, as he can sense the vibrations of the ground better there. From under or behind the opponent, he strikes with his massive drill, dealing lots of damage. He then quickly escapes through the ground. This has numerous drawbacks. Firstly, some Grimm don't have eyes so if he doesn't have a teammate, he's screwed. Secondly, if he gets knocked into the air, or if the ground is to thick to break through, he loses a major movement option. Semblance: Pariter Stamus - In the presence of other beings with an aura, he 'bums off of' the energy from them. With every additional person on the field with Kuro he gets stronger, faster, and can sense better. This is done by taking the unusable spent energies of the aura, so as to not weaken his friends. Personality: Kuro prides himself on being calm in all situations. Though he is not the leader, and would not enjoy being one, he is most often the voice of reason. He is humble, denying most public praise and pushing it onto his teammates. He feels as if he doesn't deserve it, being blind. He depends on others a lot, and says that the best way to accomplish things is together. He is not particularly outgoing, but if others ask of his help, he will often help them, as he requests assistance from others too. His favorite food is fish, and he enjoys the smell and wind of the ocean, due to them being relatively new to him. Overall, he tries not to allow his blindness define him. Instead he tries to be a dependable friend whom you can always rely on, though he does need help occasionally. Color: Dim Grey [#696969] Emblem: An exaggerated drill in his signature color. His father created the symbol. Bio: Kuro was born and raised in Vale to a very supportive father and mother who encouraged him to follow his dreams. His mother always read him stories of great hunters, and this motivated him to try and follow in their footsteps. Unfortunately, when he was young, he was quite short for his age, and got teased frequently. Still, he persevered and his superiors recognized his talent. Even though he was blind, he was still able to tell where his opponent was due to the vibrations in the ground, the volume of the sound, and the intensity of their smell. He was also an amazing speaker, able to quickly communicate and understand verbal ideas and tactics in the heat of battle. After getting accepted to Beacon, he was paired with 3 others. He frequently was mistreated by the group's leader, who thought Kuro was useless, until Kuro saved his life. Ever since than, the leader has treated every member of the team with respect. Now, the team is soon nearing graduation, and they're going to have to cooperate better than ever to get through. Appearance: Kuro stands at a small 162 centimeters, or about 5'4". He is gaunt and skinny, with shallow cheeks and a hard jawline. His eyes are a pale ghostly white, due to his blindness. He hates them though, and is always wearing black, triangular glasses. He also wears his signature black jacket, with his emblem emblazoned on the back of it. The jacket is almost always unzipped, revealing a oddly standard white tee-shirt. His pants are generic jeans, faded and dusty with scrapes and cuts due to being underground so often. His shoes are made of light materials, to facilitate his sensing. To summarize, he is small and light, helping him move around the battlefield unnoticed and quickly.

Name: Biely Wakahisa Age: 21 Sex: Male Race: Faunus (Trumpeter Swan) Weapon: Monomolecular Retractable Blade - Urumi: The Urumi is a very strange and deadly weapon. It is a blade made out of single long organic molecule. To prevent it from snapping, it is encased in a dust powered force field. the handle is disguised as a laser pointer that contains the full, five meter length of the weapon. As the blade is so thin, it can not bee seen by naked eye. In poor light and in the dark though, the dust field will emit a faint blue glow. The weapon is thus highly dangerous even to his allies that Biely needs to keep his distance from anyone whom he fights with. Specialty: Biely is very nigh unstoppable at melee range, as a flick of his wrist can spell death by several slices to any opponent unlucky enough not to wear heavy armor. As such he excels at cleansing internal spaces and crammed areas. His weakness is being attacked from range and being caught in the open. Semblance: The Paladin: Biely's body turns into what appears as a white animated suit of armor, while his voice gains a soothing, ethereal reverb to it. His weapon is changed into the same substance of the same shape. In this state, Biely can not be physically harmed nor does she feel pain, however he still burns through his aura reserves as if he was blocking the blows. If the 'damage' is sufficient, he will forcibly revert back to normal, completely exhausted. He becomes extremely powerful against the Grimm, as touch with any part of him melts them away. He also gains the ability of a minor shapeshift, flight and launching ranged attacks. Personality: With his history, it won’t come as a surprise that Biely is the archetype of an introvert. Never knowing too many people and always relying on himself, he has a pathological distrust of just about anyone, and takes nothing in life for granted, certainly after his second year at Beacon. Having to prowl through the third year alone again, he stopped speaking altogether, and instead communicates with his hands or through written word. He spends most of hsi free time alone in his dorm room, prefering no one heard his occasional agonized shouting as he fights off the phantom pain from his missing wing. In combat, one wouldn’t notice any change, as he is very calm, almost detached from it, usually moving at walking pace as he swings his weapon around, but make no mistake, he will not relent until every single creature of Grimm is dead, for they took the only friends he had from him. Color: Very light gray Emblem: A swan with a single wing. Appearance: The man is rather tall at 183 centimeters, but his build speaks of elegance rather than strength. He prefers to keep his body lanky and agile. As if cursed with his name, biely is an albino. His eyes are pinkish red as they would be with his condition, along with the white hair. The most spectacular thing about him would be the white wing growing from his back, and a stub where the other one should have been. His full wingspan would have been something about 270 cm, which would have allowed him to fly. As if choosing not to resist, Biely wears a white business suit with red accents. His trademark are the shades, the only rebellious, black thing anyone would ever see him wear. Bio: Bitely had a very rough childhood. Born into a fairly poor faunus family occupying a small house in one of the tiny, unprotected villages scattered around Vacuo, he ran away from home to avoid his abusive father. He broke off all contact with his family, and grown up never even knowing he had a sister later on or that save for the girl the rest for his family perished in a Gimm attack until he met with his sister later in his life. Eventually he wound up in the system, being thrown into an orphanage where he escaped from. He found his way into a house of a retired combat teacher who took him in and taught him his craft. As it was the only thing the boy knew, he decided to apply to a combat school and subsequently train to be a hunter His wing was lost in his second year while he was on a mission. It scarred him for life, more on the inside than physically, as the rest of his team was lost in said battle.

Name: Cassandra Marine Age: 21 Sex: Female Race: Human Weapon: A two meter long nanofibre scarf that can unravel to six meters, it is weighted at one end and used at mid-range. Cassandra also has a choker that is permanently attached to her throat where her vocal cords would be with holes on either side where a maximum of two small dust cartridges can be inserted. Specialty: Assassin. Cassy uses her scarf as a meteor hammer using wide arcs and momentum to smash the weight into enemies. Alternatively the scarf can be used to both grapple and choke enemies to death from a distance or as a means to hang them from trees (she is all too aware of the vulnerability that is the throat). Her choker is the means by which Cassy has been able to breath elemental attacks. If disarmed Cassy is able to hold her own in hand to hand combat, relying mostly on knees, elbows and palm strikes to vulnerable areas, even using her teeth if pressed hard enough. Semblance: Dragon's Breath: Able to use the dust stored in her throat to breathe a jet of the corresponding element like a Dragon. Alternatively she can 'gargle' it to launch a barrage of pure elemental bullets Personality: Cassy is caring to a fault, which puts her at odds with her forced silence due to her injured vocal cords which gives her the appearance of a cold detached fighter. Cassy is extremely self conscious of the scars. As a result Cassy tends to either communicate by messaging using her scroll or manipulating her aura to mime out her intentions. When she laughs it comes out as a raspy coughing sound that honestly sounds incredibly menacing. Since she can't talk Cassy puts much more value in a persons actions than most. Especially hers. Cassy maintains a careful distance from those she doesn't consider friends, you can tell who her friends are based on who she put in headlocks, she hugs or who she just generally pulls into her personal space. Color: Ocean Blue Emblem: A crashing wave Appearance: Standing at 165cm and 59kg Cassandra is lean with the build of someone who has done long distance running most of their life. Platinum blond hair cut in a bob style with a the entire left half dyed a cobalt blue that perfectly matched her striking eyes. The entire front of her throat is more scar tissue than flesh and there is a permanent metal choker embedded into her throat where her vocal cords would be. Her neck is usually covered by a grey nanofibre scarf that hides her scars quite nicely. She wears a black tank-top and a dark blue crop jacket with matching jeans. The black combat boots with enough heel to hide a pen knife in them complete Cassy's ensemble. Bio: Not all stories are of the wicked Aunt who steals their nieces voice. Not all injuries are an epic tale waiting to be told that will be passed down through the ages of how they fought off a hundred Grimm before succumbing to their wounds. Some stories are just short and brutal and aren't even the end. Cassandra was a normal girl who loved animals. She would often wander around town looking for animals that she could help as best she could. Cassy one day found a wounded big black dog. It had been shot and had drifted into town. Without hesitation Cassy ran to help it, missing everyone's warning cries, when it pounced on her. Not quite realising what was happening Cassy hugged the dog as hard as she could, not wanting to scare it. This as it happens saved her life, since the hound could no longer tear out Cassy's throat as it intended. A heavy tearing of the air was heard followed by a sickening crunch. The hound released Cassy, the back of it's skull all but torn out, letting her throat wounds bleed freely. Cassy was told later that a Hunter was the one that saved her, that she was lucky. When she went to answer Cassy found that she couldn't and when she tried it not only hurt, but sounded like someone was trying to strangle a cat stuffed with metal shavings. Touching her throat Cassy felt cold metal. This shocked Cassy beyond what her little mind could take and she ran, she ran and ran and eventually crashed head first into the leg of her savior. Screaming wordlessly at the man Cassy punched and kicked him until he had finally gotten tired of it. "Stop bawlin' ya ankle bitter! If ya can cry then ya not hurt to badly! If ya have a problem with what I did, too bad! I saved ya life, so you ain't allowed to waist it unless I says so!" Dropping a small meteor hammer in front of the girl he said "Use this kinda thing so I'll recognise you next time!" and just like that he was gone. Years later Cassy entered Beacon, strong, capable and deadly she showily dispatched a wolf Grimm during the entrance trial that had her in the same position as when she was a little girl. This time instead of hugging it, she breathed intense fire down it's throat cooking it from the inside out, surprising everyone who saw, who on earth breathes fire after all? Cassandra is no leader, she lacks the ability to reliably issue orders, instead she is the hidden dragon to leader's crouching tiger.

Name: Jessica "Jess" Wilson Age: 21 Sex: Female Race: Human Weapon: Bo-w: Jess' weapon is a bo staff that, with the press of a button, will bend into the shape of a bow. The bowstring appears to be missing, but when Jess makes the motion of nocking an arrow, a hard-light arrow and bowstring will appear. Specialty: Scout: Jess likes to keep herself at a distance, using her semblance to find targets and snipe them from what seems like impossible distances, especially for a bow. Semblance: Sonar: Jess' semblance allows her to know where objects are using sonar. The range can reach to several miles and is more accurate than vision. Her semblance also basically gives her 360 degree awareness of her surroundings. Color: Terra cotta Emblem: A sound wave traveling through a tree line. Appearance: Bio: Jess was born blind to a middle class family. For the longest time, she was treated as delicate and was often extremely spoiled. When she discovered her semblance though, her personality changed. Now that she had found her new power, she was desperate to erase her original reputation as a helpless, spoiled, innocent girl. That is why she joined Beacon. Personality: Jess still feels that she needs to prove herself to her peers and classmates, even though those who know her know for a fact that she is far from helpless, and so she'll often find ways to make her actions more challenging. Maybe she'll refuse to take a shot until the last moment possible. Maybe she'll leave herself open for an easy attack to make it harder for her to block. Doesn't matter, as long as those around her realize that she should not be underestimated.

Name: Slate Jian Age: 21 Sex: Male Race: Human Weapon: Book of the End: A hefty book nearly a foot and a half long, a foot wide and five inches thick, the Book of the End is stuffed full of spare sheets of paper for Slate's semblance, along with whatever cutouts or pre-folded weapons that he desires to take on his missions. Popular choices include: Paper airplanes, perfectly folded to a needle point, folded origami shurikans, and paper based cards. Specialty: His battle style revolves around doing lots of small damage strikes in vital areas, rather than one crushing blow. The sensor suite mounted over his left eye and ear allow him pinpoint the location that his sharp blades would do the most damage. His prowess in combat is severely limited when fighting opponents with Aura, as it takes a large amount of time for his storm of light cutting attacks to breach through and begin their assault on the joints and sensory organs. Semblance: Papercut - Slate can harden paper into a tough and metallic state, allowing him to make sharp, dangerous weapons with paper craft and origami, or forming impromptu shields and armor by stacking multiple sheets of paper. Personality: A serious man who's hobbies include brooding and acting gruff. Despite the 'dark hero' persona he attempts to constantly emulate, Slate is actually a very helpful and kind man, always the first to volunteer on rescue missions and spending his weekends helping stray animals. His harsh words are in constant conflict with his humanitarian actions, a source of much amusement to his fellow teammates, peers, and teachers. He's an artist, and sketches in his recreational time. He collects all things 'dark and mysterious' and fills his team's room with them. Color: Slate Blue Emblem: A stylized eye with three dots set in an inverted triangle in the center. Appearance: A tall young man of seemingly Asian descent. He's exceptionally well-muscled, but lean instead of bulky. Has hard features and an intense passion and drive constantly sparking in his single visible eye. The other eye is covered by a mechanical device that wraps around the side of his head, functioning as a powerful sensor suite. He wears a tight fitting shirt in an almost purple grey-blue, and makes use of sensible black pants and heavy boots, along with over elbow gloves that protect him from accidentally cutting himself with the constant exposure to many sided sharp objects. Bio: From a young age, Slate knew that he wanted to be a hunter like his father and mother before him. As he grew, the idea only became more solid and focused in his mind as he read stories of the great heroes the the generations before, and the comics that featured dark, brooding men who beat down Grimm with their wits and weapons. However, he lacked on basic feature that many of those dark heroes had: Slate had a perfectly happy and normal childhood, sheltered away from many of the horrifying Grimm attacks by simply growing up near the center of Vale. Uncaring in the face of this seemingly unconquerable obstacle, he took up becoming a heroic man full-time, and began to study strategy and teamwork along with his avid reading of the exploits of Hunters and Huntresses around the world, getting into Signal without much trouble. Despite a rather disappointing entry into Beacon because of lack of Grimm defeated in the testing environment, he worked hard and soon became one of the best students in his year, maintaining that position up to the present day. He's an invaluable asset to the team, and makes it quite obvious when he finds any plans recklessly dangerous or made in the wrong state of mind. He's got a head for leadership and is quite capable of creating strategies that utilize several teams, but lacks the charisma and quick-thinking needed for rapidly changing situations. As he's not the most powerful fighter by himself, and relying primarily on disabling his opponent through sheer number of attacks, Slate relies heavily on luring his opponents into the waiting jaws of his team and disabling them so that the heavy hitters can finish them.

Name: Avendell Hallins

Age: 21

Sex: Female

Race: Faunus (Wolf)

Weapon:
The Star Dust Volumes – Avendell’s weapon is very particular and directly related to her semblance. She has a set of seven tomes which have been constructed using dust. It is pounded into the paper, mixed in with the ink, even in the glue holding the bindings together. Each façade of the tomes were specially designed to be unaffected by dust reactions. Using her semblance Avendell is able to use these tomes to create dust reactions that she can control and direct using them like weapons. To the unobserving eye it would appear as if she was summoning fire, or ice from the books themselves like magic. The reason that Avendell has seven different tomes is because many different types of dust are incompatible with one another. Each different volume has several different types of dust and dust combinates that compliment each other. For instance water and electricity dust can be used in tandem and are relatively stable when exposed to one another while ice and fire dust would be liable to set each other off if they reacted in proximity. Water and electricity dust could be held in the same volume while fire and ice would require separate books. She keeps the six she is not using in her dorm room and switches up which one she takes with on any respective day depending on her mood. On longer trips or missions she would select three different volumes to take with her. Rarely does she require all seven of the Star Dust Volumes together but she is capable of using them all if necessary.

Specialty:
Avendell is a long ranged support, a mage. Her battle tactics generally rely on her having a good distance from the opposition in order that she can use dust to cause explosions around the arena. In team combat she prefers a bird’s eye view of the battle field letting her team mates keep the enemy away from her while she deals with large numbers at once. Her abilities are gear more towards fighting large numbers of enemies than they are to one on one combat. She is however capable at close range though no proficient. She carrie a knife in her belt that she can use to defend herself until she is far enough away that her tomes become for effective.

Semblance:
Sorcerer’s Grasp – Avendell is capable of manipulating dust reactions on a subatomic level. This includes initiating them, manipulating there force and in some cases causing them to cease completely though it is far harder for her to dissipate a dust caused event than it is for her to start one. Unlike other dust manipulation semblances Avendell actually requires contact in order make her semblance work.

Personality
The best way to describe Avendell is sly. She’s very observant and skilled at knowing exactly what type of personality will get the desired response out of whoever she’s talking. To those she actually knows and trusts she seems a bit distanced like her mind is focused on another problem regardless of what she is doing. She is loyal to those who are loyal to her but in her mind betrayals stand. She will go the ends of the Earth for those she considers friends but when it becomes clear that her friends are unwilling to do the same for her she will burn all her ties to them.

Color: Hellfire

Emblem:
A tome decorated with a large playing card diamond in the center and intricate little shapes moving out from there.

Appearance:
Avendell has long brown hair that she never makes an effort to tame. In consequence it flows unkempt down her back, over her shoulders and often times in her eyes. Her eyes themselves are a startling shade of scarlet. Her skin is tanned but not extremely so. She wears a leather jacket and fingerless gloves that are dust immune. When in combat she wears a head scarf wrapped around her face to protect her from her own attacks, it is likewise dust proof, while not in combat the scarf is around her neck at all times. She’s tall, 5’11” and 120 pounds.


Bio:
Avendell grew up in a village on the outskirts of Vale, outside the protective barriers that kept the kingdom safe. The Grimm in that area weren’t particularly active and usually the village was safe but every couple of weeks something would happen. Something big. The village had a small militia with training equal to that of a hunter. There resources may not have been as great but they made do and were skilled enough to fend off the Grimm until full-fledged warriors were dispatched. Avendell’s mother, Vanessa was the healer of the village, she specialized in using homemade remedies created from a variety of plants throughout the area in order to cure illness, alleviate pain or cleanse wounds. On a trip out into the forests to collect more herbs for her remedies Vanessa was set on by Grimm. Like anyone would without the training to fight Vanessa ran. She ran until the Grimm cornered her against an outcropping of rock.

Vanessa thought that was it for her. With the Grimm approaching from all sides, that is until she was saved. The man’s name Gregory Hallins, he was a traveler. He beat back the Grimm and helped Vanessa back to the village before the Grimm could devour them. Then the militia and soon the Hunters took over. Vanessa was delirious when Gregory told her he must go, she begged him to stay with her and he looked back at her smiling, he promised her would visit the village again in one month.

When Vanessa woke Gregory was gone and she found herself wondering if she had imagined him. One month later however he did again visit. He stayed for two weeks and thereafter started a pattern. He would come to visit Vanessa four, sometimes five times a year. Two years after that first Grimm attack Vanessa was with child. She pleaded with him to stay for the baby’s sake but Gregory told her he couldn't stay in one place too long, he couldn't settle down and Vanessa couldn't abandon her practice in the village to follow him. He promised he would always be there for her though and he still came back to her ever so often. This is how Avendell came to be.

Avendell's mother was kind but strict and though she loved Gregory it was clear she could never fully trust him. She taught Avendell everything she knew about herbology. Pretty soon Avendell started an apprenticeship with her mother at the clinic. Those times when Gregory would visit them were the happiest of Avendell's life, Gregory was a most interesting man. He taught Avendell interesting tricks, sleight of hand, how to pick a lock. He showed how to observe things in detail, how someone touching there ring finger repeatedly meant they used to be married, or the callouses on a man’s fingers meant he played the guitar. Gregory was the one that taught Avendell to read.

One night when her father was home Avendell snuck into his room to look through his pack. He always brought the most amazing things with him and she hoped to see some more wonder, at that age the pack was like a magic bag that contained excitement and awe. Inside among other things she found a case of shotgun shells meant for the weapon Gregory always kept by his side. When Avendell touched them there was a massive explosion of light and sound and fire and ice. Gregory awoke quickly and snatched his daughter out of the way of the blast. She didn't know what made her do it but Avendell squirmed out of his arms and ran towards the towering inferno. She reached out to the flames and in a second the explosion folded in on itself disappearing as quickly as it had come.

Avendell suddenly felt dizzy and fainted. When she awoke her mother told her she’d slept for six days and she was beginning to worry Avendell would never wake. Avendell asked where her father was, Vanessa would only say that he'd packed up and left the moment he was sure Avendell was okay.

Avendell cried that night, she feared that what she’d done had scared her father that he would never come again. Four months later, longer than he’d ever been away before Gregory again came to visit. This time he came bearing a number of strange gifts. The first was a large leather jacket and matching pair of gloves. The jacket was too big for her, the sleeves hiding her arms completely, Gregory told her she’d grow into it. The next gift was a scarf, he showed her how to wrap it around her head in a manner that meant she could still see but her face and head were almost completely covered. The final gift was a book, the first of the Star Dust volumes. From that day forth he trained her to use her semblance in combat. To fight the Grimm like the militia would. When she was ready she began to fight with them when it was necessary.

Over the years Gregory delivered the other six volumes that comprised Avendell’s weapons. She became an even better fighter than he was. Soon enough though Avendell life fell apart. The next time Gregory left he did not return. Instead a letter arrived for Avendell, it was from her father. It told her that all those years ago when he’d saved Vanessa’s life he’d been on orders from a terrorist cell known as the White Fang. Even in the backwards village Avendell grew up in she knew of the White Fang, Faunus radicals supposedly fighting for the freedom of faunus like her.

There had been some sort of Atlas test facility for new weaponry that he’d been sent to destroy. Gregory had succeeded but the explosion brought the Grimm. He’d managed to save Vanessa but others were not so lucky. It was the reason he’d only stayed with them for a few weeks at a time, he had to keep ahead of the police and the hunters. His letter told how he’d finally gotten in too deep. He had been capture and imprisoned and he couldn't visit her anymore.

Avendell was heartbroken and filled with rage, she went to the Kingdom proper and enrolled at Beacon determined that if the White Fang had been more important to her father than spending time with his family then she would tear it down stone by stone, member by member.

In the five years since then and now, she cooled off somewhat. Avendell was still angry with her father but she’d started to visit him in prison, even to understand why he did what he did though she did not agree with his method she understood why he had to take a stand.

At school she got on well with most of her classmates though none of them save her closest teammates ever saw the real her. She’s not her team leader but her strategic expertise is unparalleled. She has a silver tongue, capable of talking anyone into doing almost anything given enough time.

Additional Info: Avendell's a senior at Beacon on the verge of becoming a full fledged hunter. She drives a sleek black motor cycle.

It’s been a few months since she arrived here, and Diamond wasn’t sure how this life suited her. True, it was all legal, and now that her secret was out yet no policeman came for her it probably meant no one gave that much thought to her. At times it seemed she might even be welcome. If she was to be honest, a thief was a small fry compared to some people like ex-terrorists that were here as well. Still, she didn’t exactly make friends everywhere. Her own team, she supposed she couldn’t really complain about. Aurelius she liked from almost day one, having a similar mindset, even though the only crimes he might have committed in his life would have been the white collar ones. Heck, she might even call him a friend by now. Marcus, while not really being friends, she had some sort of mutual respect with, likely born on the battlefield. She even surprised herself with how easily she could follow his lead despite working mostly alone back in the day. Oswald was the problem. Diamond’s personality was the arsonist to his firefighter. Quite literally in one case. She would always remember the day when she spilled some booze on Mokuren’s tail ‘by accident’ and then casually flicked her cigarette in the faunus’ direction, ruining the fur in a blaze of vengeance. The look he gave her as he was trying to extinguish the fire made even her blood run cold for a while. Last week they even had a pretty bad argument, and she got called a teambreaker. How dare he? “...a new drug dubbed ‘white dust’ has been running rampant in the kingdoms. While normally harmless, the rumors say the White Fang released a high concentration product, which causes severe…” She flipped the scroll shut. Why was she watching news anyway, let alone about some junkies overdosing. It was lunch time anyway, so she packed up and headed to the usual place. MODA traded the cafeteria for the garage fairly quickly. The infernal contraption built by their leader become like a second home. And given the mediocre food offered by the school, the rest of the team didn’t need to convince Diamond for too long to release some of her loot money to have something better delivered every day for lunch. If they stacked all the pizza boxes, she believed they could build a tower as high as the school. A bang echoed through the garage, and the whole of the team looked towards the workbench where a medium-rare Marcus was checking how much of his eyebrow was missing. “Who let him near something flammable again?” Aurelius asked, while Diamond was busy laughing after she read what the tank thought about it’s creator on one of the displays. A shadow moved behind them though. It took the moment of distraction and moved in, delivering it’s package successfully. Then they withdrawn, ready to watch the fireworks. Whatever this led to, it will undermine Ozpin nicely, and if few students fall victim because of that, well that wasn’t really their problem now was it? As they finished with their meals and drinks, they each went their own ways. It was Sunday afternoon and wild horses couldn’t drag her away from getting a nap in the sunny gardens. The guys chose to get to their dorm, intending to spend the rest of the day playing video games before the woman of the team graced them with her presence and kicked their asses at Remnant: The Game, which happened with stunning regularity. Oswald lagged behind though, not feeling all that great. His forehead was dripping sweat and he felt like his senses gone out of whack. His vision was rocking and the smallest sound felt like a thunder, because of how silent the school’s halls suddenly seemed to be. When he made it to the room, he couldn’t believe what he seen. A desperate cry made it’s way from his throat when he saw the carnage. Both of his teammates were on the ground, showing no signs of life. Who did this?! He went over to check for Marcus’ pulse. The way Aurelius’ head was twisted, there was no chance. Letting out another cry as he found out Marcus was dead too, he looked around. A hit, any clue! Meanwhile in the room, fairly puzzled Marcus and Aurelius watched as Oswald, who was looking quite ill, stumbled around the room mumbling something they couldn’t understand. “You OK man?” the latter asked before they seen Oswald walking towards the desk under the window. There! Oswald looked down. On the desk was his photo with a knife stabbed through his forehead. And on the bottom, it was signed. The name only confirmed his suspicions. “Frost!” he suddenly yelled, making Marcus do a double take. One look into Oswald’s eyes told that he was beyond angry. When they saw him reach behind his back for his sword, they both scrambled out of the way. He turned around just in time to see a gangster point his gun at him. Instinctively, Oswald sent a blast from his sword at him. Aurelius barely had time to dodge. “Oswald, what are you doing man?!” he yelled back as he jumped under the desk and flipped it over to provide some cover. With the immediate threat dealt with, he wanted to find the source of this madness. And when he found her... “Die!” he yelled as he ran from the room heading for the gardens. His teammates suspected something was seriously wrong and went after him. Along the way Oswald seemed to be mowing down furniture and being a threat to unsuspecting students that happened to be in the halls, making them scatter to the empty classrooms or out the windows as he didn’t spare any dust wreaking havoc in blind rage. the shouths of his team behind him remained unheard. Diamond sat on a bench, arms hanging over the back. She was enjoying her peace and quiet until somebody was rude enough to shout. ”Diamond!” Her head snapped to the direction from which the shout came, jsut in time to see a beam of blue headed for her. Reacting quickly, she raised one of her arms and summoned a black shield to her hand, blocking the blow. The shield was immediately encased in a ton of ice and she had to let it melt to free herself from it. “What the hell?!” she yelled, looking at who would dare. Seeing Oswald there, she momentarily paused, but only before he got a tighter grip on his sword. She glimpsed the murder in his eyes and knew here and then that whatever the reason, this was no joke. “You bitch you killed them!” he yelled. Before Diamond could inquire what the actual fuck he was talking about, he appeared way too close for comfort. Her trusty cane managed to block the Trepanation Blade in time. “I don’t know what got into you but whatever, I didn’t do it!” she tried talking, but all she got was a snarl and further slashing of the twisted weapon. The duel continued for a few dozens of seconds with Diamond on the defensive, but she was starting to realize that if she doesn’t do something she will wind up dead. The woman managed to shove him a bit away. He roared and leaped back at her, his blade high above him, ready to end her with one slash. Now. Diamond’s left arm shot forward, and as it did a long Katana molded in her hand. Unable to dodge, it went right through Oswald’s sword arm’s shoulder. Agony. that was the only signal coming from the right side of Oswald’s body. He was vaguely aware of the arm that hung loose on his side, leaking blood from the stab in his shoulder. Then a slap landed on both of his cheeks. He shook his head and looked up, seeing Diamond with her left sleeve torn up and soaked red from the cut on her bicep. “You come to your senses yet?!” she yelled, but he didn’t understand. What just happened, how did he get here? And why did it look like there was a fight? Sometime later, MDA were assembled in the waiting room in the infirmary, waiting for the doctor to finish sewing Oswald’s shoulder together. None of them talked, two of them unsure of what just transpired and one too livid at her coat being ruined, let alone the stitches on her own arm. Finally the doctor came, taking off his rubber gloves and shoving them to a nearby trash can. “He’ll be fine. In need of a rehabilitation, but he should make full recovery, it was a very precise strike, it avoided all nerves and arteries.” Of course, Diamond thought, Save for the fact I was aiming for the heart. “What worries me is that we have found a large residual quantity of this ‘white dust’ in his blood. Normally I would ask you if you are aware of him doing drugs, but we also found a lot in his stomach, leading me to believe somebody poured it into his drink or food, probably like a joke.” the doctor explained and bid them farewell, going to inform the headmaster of the incident. “Well, at least it likely wasn’t his faul-” Marcus started, but Diamond’s dry chuckle cut him off. “Hah! You don’t think shit like killing the whole team up even when high on pure dust. Not unless you actually think me capable of it.” she growled and turned to leave, pausing on her way and looking over her shoulder: “Tell Mr. Connoly my regards and tell him that If i see him before tomorrow, I won’t miss again.”

Robert laid down on one of the beds in his team's dorm room, then searched his pockets for his scroll. After finally finding it, he pulled out the device and activated it. The holographic screen appeared glitchy and buggy due to water damage, constantly dropping it on the ground, and other general wear-and-tear. He looked around the room, confirming that no one else was in the room to see what he was about to do. When he was absolutely sure none of his teammates were present, he typed into the internet search bar his favorite website to waste time on, and began rapidly typing extremely long paragraphs on some subject. What was the website? What was he typing? That's completely unnecessary information for now. Suddenly, Greyson burst into the room, a look of hatred on his face. Robert threw his scroll across the room in an effort to hide what he had been typing. "Hey, Greyson. What-what's going on? What's on that scroll? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You don't even need to look at it. It's completely blank. In fact, it's broken. Yeah, that's why I threw it. I was frustrated that it no longer works. No need to check it at all," Robert quickly said, answering a question that Greyson didn't even think to ask. "You idiot! Why do you deserve her?! Why does she always pay attention to you, but never gives me a second look?! Always ignoring me and fawning over you?! Why!?" Greyson shouted. "Wait, what? What are you talking about Greyson?" Robert asked, confused. "I'll kill you!" Greyson said as he pulled out his sword, Ransack, and made a downward slash toward Robert. Luckily, Robert rolled off the bed just in time to see it be sliced in two by Greyson's weapon. "Greyson, what are you doing?!" Robert shouted, wooden splinters from the bed pelting his face. "This is for Priscilla!" Greyson shouted before making an upward slash toward Robert. Robert jumped backward to avoid the inelegant attack. He was still confused about what was going on though, his head not completely in the fight, so Greyson's sword was able to make a large cut diagonally across his chest. Robert fell on his back and clutched his chest with a cry of pain. "Die!" Greyson screamed with anger as he made a vertical swing toward the injured Robert. Greyson was not prepared for his opponent to suddenly begin defending himself though, and his attack was blocked by Robert's bracers. "What's gotten into you, Greyson?!" Robert shouted. Greyson didn't answer though, he just kept pushing his sword downward, trying to finish his previous attack. Robert, finding that he wasn't going to get any answers from his former teammate, kicked Greyson in the shin, making him drop to his knees. Then he made another kick toward Greyson's chest, pushing him back and giving Robert room to stand again. "Greyson, you don't want to do this." "Die, you asshole," Greyson cried as he thrust his sword forward, aiming for Robert's chest. Robert rolled out of the way of the attack and made a high kick toward Greyson's exposed head, knocking him out instantly. Robert approached the unconscious body of Greyson, kneeling down to see if there was any physical signs to show what had caused Greyson to act as he did. "This must be the work of the arch-nemisis of my favorite comic book heroes' X-Ray and Vav, CorPirate!" Suddenly, the wall of the the dorm was obliterated as two individuals, hidden in the smoke caused by the obliteration of the wall, stood there striking super heroic-looking poses. "X-Ray and Vav?" Robert asked the two figures as they stepped forward from the smoke. "Yes, it is us, X-Ray and Vav!" X-Ray shouted, "And we need your help Robert to defeat CorPirate's new evil scheme." ----- Robert stopped typing on his scroll and looked through his work. He scrolled back up to the top of the page, the url of the website, fanfiction.net, now prominently shown, as well as the name of the long story that Robert had spent more than an hour and a half typing out, "Robert Fallson meets X-Ray and Vav!" He gave the story another look through, before finally erasing the whole thing, deciding that the entire thing was trash that didn't deserve to see the light of day. Priscilla walked into the dorm and saw Robert lying on the bed. "You ready for our date, Robbie?" she asked, looking at him with the cutest smile. "Ready whenever you are, Priscilla," he responded as he got off the bed and followed her out of the room.

A lonely house with abandoned life. She remembered running excitedly across the once flourishing backyard, running into her parents with the active heart of a child. Once in a while, her father would bring snacks filled with sweet syrup, brown sugar, and sprinkles of sunflower seeds. She would sit next to her mother and father, the same people who brought life to her, loved her... and treasured her. Yes; she would sit and chatter endlessly, her curiosity never hitting a dead-end. And they would smile, answering every bit of her questions to the best of their abilities. They would then bring out more interesting things for her to get curious about, and the days lazily went on in the best way possible. All of that, gone with the sorrowful sakura blossoms. The child of the household vanished, and the people who brought her life had their lives taken by their brothers and sisters. The endless greed for eternal wealth made any sane mortal insane, and strife brought out the worst of living things. Reality was too different from fantasies. It was unforgiving, and made the blissfully unaware pay the highest prices. Sangue experienced this first-hand. She sat in the old house, resting on a flat pillow that lay over the hazy-green tatami mat. Everything dusty, she dusted, and everything rickety, she fixed. The house returned back to one-third of how she knew it, for with the existence of a unified family lost, the house's uniqueness lost all of its interesting qualities. A banner written in a foreign language was displayed on one of the walls, contained within a picture frame. "Fall in honor," her great grandfather spoke in a battle against terrifying monsters. And his words rested within the dead house, forever to be remembered as a mere memory. The red-haired swordswoman sat with her knees on the blood-red pillow, wearing only a hakama and bandages to cover the permanent wounds inflicted above her chest. She sat in silence, her blade resting just as quietly on her lap. A sound, a sense; something disturbed the tranquility of a dead man's home. One of her eyes cracked open ever-so-slightly as her other eye, scarred by her own kind, remained shut. Suddenly, the atmosphere became cold, and the light that shone through the windows of the empty living room died. Darkness enveloped her, and the screams of death cried out for her, as if to take her to another realm. An ominous dark-blue painted her room, the light-green of the ground now dark gray. Knowing that a foe had appeared, her pupil slowly moved itself to the outermost corner of her eye. She then closed the eye softly. With abrupt swiftness, Sangue Naga swung herself up from the pillow, causing her mechanical prosthetic, the Apophis Claw, fly straight towards a man covered in darkness. Taken aback by her speed, the dark warrior deflected the Claw as quickly as possible with his shield, only to find Sangue rushing in to kick him square in the chest. Their shadows were able to be seen through thin paper walls, the invader's shadow tumbling across the flat ground before he caught his balance. With hesitation in his actions, the man stood up, facing Sangue with a sword and shield. Trad Oak was a good man. He seeks to protect Remnant's people, and he had a heart of gold. But Sangue had her own secrets; one of such secrets frightening the strong-hearted man. Now deeming her to be a monster of her own, he had come to slay her. Sangue unsheathed her katana, letting it rest by her side. There was no need to show off her swordsmanship; Trad was a man she respected. Flinging her sword around just to show off her speed was a disgraceful idea, especially to one who came to end her life to potentially prevent the deaths of others. For underneath her light-headed surface, a darkness within her past haunted the people of the present, and would most likely destroy those who live in the future. She, however, wanted to live. Silence was brutally shattered when Sangue flung her claw at Trad once more. Fully prepared for the attack, Trad pushed aside the claw with his shield as he diagonally slashed at Sangue with his blade. The woman dodged to her right before moving to her left as she slashed at the same direction she moved into. Trad exemplified his power to defend by powerfully slamming the blade away from his neck. With haste, she swung her sword, creating multiple cross-shaped afterimages of her blade meant to dice Trad into pieces, but the man handled her attacks with his shields with grace. After she found her attacks to be ineffective against him, the woman pulled her blade before stabbing at Trad's chest. The man, however, did not defend. Instead, he let the blade graze across the surface of his waist as he slashed at Sangue. The woman swiftly tilted her head and pulled herself away from the vertical attack, knocking Trad down to the ground by swinging her Claw as she moved. Quickly getting up, Trad proceeded to block more of the Claw's attack with Svalinn. Finding the onslaught of the Claw to be too tiring for him to consistently defend against, Trad quickly slashed upward. The chains that connected with the Apophis Claw shattered thanks to his pinpoint accuracy. Now at an advantage, Trad ran up to Sangue as he delivering his own sets of attacks, some of them being parried and some of them completely missing the woman. Right before he slashed downward, the woman pulled herself up to the man as she brought her katana up. But Trad's strength was superior. Bringing his blade down with incredible strength, Gram sent Sangue's katana clattering across the ground as it tore through her arm. With a determined look, Trad pulled his blade by his side before plunging Gram straight into Sangue's stomach. The happy child had died, and so will what was left of her. Sangue looked up at Trad, whose tears tainted the house. For both he and Sangue knew that both of them were not wrong to fight for themselves, and there was to be only one who would fulfill their dreams. That was how reality worked. Because a peace without strife existed only in fantasies. Such peace that is known to exist in reality, after all, is simply a white lie that transforms into the polar opposite of serenity. "I'm sorry," he finally spoke, and Sangue could only stare at his closed eyes. "I'm sorry." But just for once, she felt like reliving a fantasy. The woman coughed out blood, and as she felt the embrace of her parents fading away from her cold body, she smiled. She wanted to wipe away Trad's tears, but she had lost everything. The red-haired swordswoman, who fell with honor by her side, felt Trad's sword slowly pull out of her. The blood-drenched warrior of the house surrounded by sakura leaves fell into Trad's arms. The soft words that escaped her lips were words she wanted to speak of when she was once the greatest sinner to exist. "I forgive you." Sangue Naga's spirit passed away, with Trad prevailing over her cold ways. But even when she died, the man could not help but feel an everlasting regret. He had killed a woman who simply wanted to live, away from her sin-filled past.

Sapphire walked down the corridor leisurely, she'd been at Beacon for about two months and the place was only now starting to feel like home. Her ready to go bag was still lying under the foot of her bed but she thought about it less. The first month here she'd more or less been living out of her suitcase but in the last two weeks she'd actually started to unpack.

Though Sapphire was beginning to enjoy being at Beacon there were those around campus that liked her presence decidedly less than she enjoyed being here. Chief among them was Ivan but they'd developed a kind of silent pact to stay out of each other’s paths, despite having all the same classes.

The real problem for Sapphire were the people she was unable to avoid, mainly her team. They'd never gotten to the point with her where they could see past her prickly antagonistic attitude and for Sapphire's part she didn't really care if they made the effort or not.

Abel took a lot of what she said personally and was rather quick to anger at the slightest indication that he or the rest of the team was being insulted. This Sapphire found incredibly amusing and often would drop veiled insults just to see exactly how Abel would react.

Gren was far more closed off, he seemed good natured enough and though she'd never say it to his face his cooking was delicious but he was always cold to her, which she couldn't really blame him for.

Shiro, now Shiro was the real problem. He couldn't seem to find a way to exist without doing something that ticked her off. Every action he made, he seemed to think needed to be grandiose and grab the attention of everyone in a room often not in a good way. He seemed to have no impulse control, no inhibitions and if she was being honest not much of a brain either.

Within Beacon Sapphire got along much better with people outside her team, more than likely because she wasn't forced to spend time with them. People like Oswald whom she'd started up a weekly sparring match with about a month ago. It was good for both of them, friendly matches without Goodwitch starring down her nose at them. He was getting faster and more adept as dealing with singular quick moving opponents while she was learning some pretty good ways to bring down larger opponents in record time.

Over the last two months Team Swansong had gone on several missions most of which had been completed successfully and they all come back alive and mostly unharmed. This as far as Sapphire was concerned was the job of a leader, she'd set the goals for her team, laid out the plan and gotten everyone home in one piece and yet it seemed to her that they thought she wasn't doing enough as team leader. It was infuriating, she was their commander and their strategist not their friend and the fact they thought friendship went hand and hand with command showed just how little they really knew about fighting as a unit.

It was around lunch time and Sapphire having already eaten a hardy breakfast decided she could go without food for the moment, besides she had an overwhelming urge to play her violin and look out over the edge of Beacon.

Since Sapphire had been at the school she'd discovered a walled garden along the edge of the school. It had a monstrous glass window that overlooked the Beacon cliff side and the lake below. The other three walls were made of stone bricks which were duff grey, overgrown with moss that matched the vibrant green of the rest of the garden. There was a little brook in one corner that emptied into a pool. It must have been some sort of artificial fountain but Sapphire like the way it looked and sounded anyways. Several trees grew along the edges by the walls as well as one in the very center. Spongy grass grew throughout the area and the bricks that made up the walls resonated with the sound of her violin to a most satisfying effect.

When she got there Sapphire opened her fiddle case and removed the beautiful instrument. She played a scale just to warm up before she started in on a rendition of Siuil A run [shool a rune]. Sapphire replaced the harp at the beginning with low, slow stroke of her fiddle before launching into the main song letting her voice echo off the stones. It was a beautiful piece, one of her mother's favorites even if it was sort of melancholy.

The second piece was Teir Abhaile Riu A portion of the lyrics were in an old language whose common practice had long fallen out of use. Sapphire had never bothered to look up what the chorus of the song meant even though she could sing it with precision. The gist of it was clear in the verses which were in English.

About halfway through the song while Sapphire was singing, ...Listen to what's reminding you, handsome men surrounding you, dancing a reel around you. Home you'll go, and it's there you'll stay, and there's work to do in the morning. Give up you dream of going away, forget you sailors in..." Sapphire heard a footstep behind her and stopped playing immediately. Playing her violin in Music class as part of an orchestra and sometimes in solos was one thing but playing for a one person audience was something that Sapphire never did except sometimes for her sisters.

Sapphire turned around preparing to tell whoever was approaching her to back off before she put a bullet through their head. Sapphire however didn't get the chance. As she turned around she took a step back as she spun, this saved her. A giant green chainsaw slammed down right in front of her face, her fiddle shattered into splinters and a lock of hair was severed, falling to the ground but the initial blow missed.

A flare of anger charged through Sapphire at the destruction of her mother's prized instrument but she also knew that charging at her assailant without a plan would likely lead to many injuries, and she wasn't soon going to forget the broken rib she'd had at the beginning of the semester. Sapphire dropped the head of the fiddle, she'd retrieve its remains later.

Sapphire ran at one of the trees in the grove, grabbed one of the lower branches and swung herself up in an arc, her feet landing on a higher branch. From her perch out of the way of attacks she looked down on her assailant and was surprised to see her Teammate Gren Orchid standing with murder in his eyes and The God Eater in his hands.

Sapphire looked down on Gren with fire in her own. "That was my mother's fiddle." The months she'd spent as a member of Team Swansong Sapphire had not once mentioned her mother to anyone on her Team. It was clear right away what Gren had done to the fiddle had been a big mistake. The anger in his eyes did not lesson but accompanying it something along the lines of "Oops I made her mad."

"What's wrong with you Orchid? Where did this come from?"

Gren looked up at her in the tree just out of reach. "This has been coming for a long time, not least of which is what you did to Shiro yesterday."

Sapphire looked at him with surprise. Yesterday Shiro had done something stupid again, she was having trouble remembering what it was this time. Was that when Shiro had improperly stored a vial of dust in Armoury class vaporizing half the class's inventions and the teachers eyebrows when the storage cabinet was next open or was it when he climbed on top of the table in the cafeteria to sing a love song dedicated to that fox Faunus Mokuren but tripped on someone's lunch sending the better part of a plate mashed potatoes and sour cream into Sapphire's face. The more she thought of it the more Sapphire decided that was the likely one to have occurred yesterday.

Afterwards Sapphire had reacted rather violently. She'd drawn her shotguns firing two shots over Shiro's shoulders as warning shots. It had devolved from there into a weapons fight, most of the students had drawn back along the walls while Sapphire and Shiro's battle wrecked the cafeteria. She'd inevitably won, neither of them had sustained lasting injuries and the rest of the day went along as usual. Sapphire honestly hadn't given it another thought until now.

"Kuhaku?" She asked somewhat surprised that he'd taken the event so seriously. "What about it? He's a fool, with you and Abel coddling him he's never going to learn what a liability that is."

This seemed to infuriate Gren further. "What kind of attitude is that?" He shouted angrily. "You're supposed to be out leader, our fri..." he stopped himself mid word as if it was going too far.

Sapphire let out a shriek of mirthless laughter. "You're friend? Is that what you were going to say? I've always been something to you guys but it was never that. Friendship is earned, not assumed merely because we are forced to room together. I'm here to make sure that you all shape up and come home alive. Imagine what would happen if Kuhaku did something that stupid during a mission, he could get us all killed."

Gren apparently was still incredibly mad. "So you talk to him, explain what's going on. Good God, Sapphire you’re supposed be there for your team not taking shots at them."

"Talk to him? Like you and Abel? He forgets everything you said in twenty four hours. Less if he uses that semblance of his. Fear and aggression are both encoded in the brain more permanently than other emotions so he might hold onto it."

Sapphire realized just too late that Gren wasn't listening anymore. He'd gotten her to keep talking while he changed his weapon from Terror Form to Destroyer. In its Destroyer Form the God Eater could be used as a Gatling gun, a Flame Thrower and a Rocket Launcher. Long ranged weaponry.

Sapphire kicked off the tree trunk, as a wall of fire burst forth from the God Eater. She was aiming for the top of the garden wall. She landed hands first, her legs swinging up over her head before she flipped, finishing in a crouch on the wall’s top. A sizable portion of the hair that normally hung in a curtain on the left side of her face had been singed off. It would take forever to grow back in, he was going to pay for that.

Sapphire was aware that Gren's God Eater in Destroyer Form was more or less a long ranged weapon more suited to dealing with multiple foes than one quick opponent. She had to get in close fast, it took the weapon a bit of time to change between forms and Sapphire could use that to her advantage. The most the Destroyer could in in close range was act as a club as long as she avoided being in front of the live end.

Sapphire straightened and ran along the top of the wall. On the other side, one way was the edge of Beacon itself. The opposite side blocked a by buildings and the last two had a very nasty fall before they got to the grounds. This garden though beautiful was high up. There would be no running from this arena by any means other than the door Gren was guarding.

As Sapphire ran a hail of bullets rained down on the stones at her feet, bits of brick bursting off just at her heels. Sapphire pulled both her shotguns from there holsters on her back loading both with ice cartridges. She fired two directly at the muzzle of the God Eater and the other two at Gren's legs.

When the rounds exploded in ice over Gren's weapon it dissipated almost instantly. The God Eater was hot enough to melt soft metals from using the flamethrower but Sapphire had counted on that. The ice turned into vaporous steam creating a cloud around Gren through which he was unable to see.

The other two shots hit his legs square on freezing them in place. That of course would not last too long but a moment was all Sapphire needed. She slapped her shotguns together creating the halberd form of her pole arm. In that amount of time Sapphire could hear the ice she'd used on Gren shatter as no doubt he crushed it with the butt of his weapon.

With no time to lose Sapphire leapt off the wall catching several branches of trees on her way down to reduce and redirect her momentum. She landed in front of Gren just as the steam evaporated. He seemed stunned for a second at how fast she moved but didn't get a chance to react before Sapphire spun her pole arm in her hands cracking him once across his head then before he could recover twice more, she brought the other side of her weapon up hitting him hard under the chin before she spun the pole arm the original front smashing diagonally over his skull.

This didn't do the damage she'd originally hopped. He was a boar faunus with incredibly dense skin and bone as well as currently wearing very effective armor. He'd likely have a headache in the morning but he was far from disabled.

Sapphire tried to dart around him but Gren brought the God Eater up smacking her across the face with the side of the weapon. She'd clearly underestimated its value as a club. The blow send her careening back, seeing stars as she slid along the soft ground. Gren would be coming any moment to finish the job he'd started. She needed to distract him.

"You know what this is really about don't you Gren. This isn't because of some concern for Kuhaku, some slighted honor that I challenged a teammate, no, this is because you're sore that Ozpin picked me as team leader. You think you would have made a better choice and you know what maybe you're right you could have been more effective but you know one thing? It's those that want power that are unworthy to wield it. You think I wanted this job, it's a pain in the ass making sure everyone else is all right. I could be so much more effective if I battle how I'm used to without worrying about anyone else. I got saddled with this job and so I'm damned well going to do it proper and not let some sore loser snatch it away."

Sapphire didn't know till she'd said it that it had been one hundred percent the truth but it didn't matter either way. She'd clearly shocked Gren if only for a second. In that time she used her pole arm which mercifully had landed close to push herself to her feet. Gren realizing that she was planning something charged intent on stopping her before she could. Sapphire rather than running away ran directly at the hulking boar Faunus. At the last second she pushed her weapon into the ground using it to vault over her teammate. He was moving too fast to react.

When she landed Sapphire fired another round at Gren's back, it just happened to be electricity. Bolts of it arced over his armor as it struck, clearly very painful but it didn't last long.

At some point since he'd hit her with the Destroyer Gren had changed it back to the Terror. In this form it was more akin to an enormous chainsaw which looked very intimidating. He ran at Sapphire again except this time halfway through it seemed the run turned into something else. Something of a slide. As if the ground had suddenly turned to mud or water. Of course, it was his semblance. Gren was reducing friction to his feet allowing him to rush her at an incredibly speed that would only increase the impact of his next attack.

Sapphire having been backed into a wall by the approaching Gren had no other option but to use her pole arm as her only means of defense. When the blow came it was crushing. It hit her pole arm, the God Eater sawing threw the metal and across her face before Gren recalled it. The blow had been so devastating that it cut right through Sapphire's aura slicing a long wound from her earlobe to her chin. It wasn't deep but Sapphire knew it would scar, she had enough of those already this wasn't one she'd be able to hide. The impact then translated over her entire body crushing her into the ground. She could a crack in one of her legs and a shooting pain flared up her thigh. Sapphire torn her weapon away from Gren's and bashed him in the face with the muzzle of the now inoperable shotgun. She'd apparently hit squarely on his nose cause blood started to flow and he staggered back.

Sapphire ran for all she was worth towards one of the trees and up again onto the wall. His use of his semblance had given her an idea but it would only work if he used his weapon in Destroyer From. Her semblance allowed her to vanish if she used it aggressively but Gren was more than aware of that. If she simply disappeared he's start firing his weapon rapidly and eventually hit her with enough force to break her concentration and her semblance.

If she was to use it, she needed a reason that his mind would except for why she'd vanished. She looked down on him from her perch. "That all you got Gren? I thought boar Faunus were supposed to be blood thirsty?" It was something she'd heard her father say once and as far as she knew it wasn't all that accurate but there was no surer way to enrage a Faunus than to insult their heritage.

"AAAGGGHHH." Gren roared her weapon shifting forms. He unleashed the flamethrower again but Sapphire who was ready for him to not go full out dodged the flames albeit barely. "What's the matter? Too fast for you?" She yelled and this time she got the reaction she was hoping for. Gren raised the God Eater to his eye like an RPG and prepared to fire a rocket.

Sapphire smiled, this was it. As the explosive came whistling towards her Sapphire waiting for the last possible moment before she jumped off the wall to the ground. The rocket followed her, impacting the wall just above her head. Brick rained down on her and she was sure Gren heard her hit the ground but he couldn't see anything with the amount of smoke his attack had created. On the ground Sapphire shed her jacket, a shoe, her belt and her pole arm. She dumped them into the fire in a way that would make it look as though she'd been vaporized. For good measure she used Morpheus and Phobator which she'd activated to cut out a couple pieces of her already singed hair leaving them at the impact sight.

Then she switched on her semblance hoping that as the smoke cleared Gren would think he'd hit her square on as she hopped off the wall. It must have looked close from his side. Sapphire heard his voice, "Sapphire, Sapphire are you there?" Evidently in his rage he'd no thought out exactly what his rocket could have done to her.

As the smoke cleared Gren was still looking round the grove for her. She smiled it had worked. Though it wasn't strictly necessary Sapphire kept her footfall muffled on the ground as she approached. She circled him with her daggers approaching his back, when she was just about to slide the metal around his neck Gren turned suddenly grabbing her by the throat.

"Gotcha." he said "you're a big fan of that disappearing trick and I'm not fool enough to think that my rocket could have hit you, you're too good for that. If it was anyone else maybe but not you."

Sapphire didn't speak but a grin spread over her face. Gren looked at her a bit alarmed. "Why are you smiling?"

"Look at your feet?" Gren glanced down and Sapphire took the opportunity to stab him in the arm and jump out of his range. The stab didn't do any damaged given he'd had his aura to protect him but it surprised him enough that he let go. "I should have known it was a bluff." He snarled.

"Oh, it wasn't a bluff," Sapphire said the confidence of her win plastered across her face. "I just didn't want to get caught in the blast radius." Gren looked down more closely and saw Phobator lying at his feet. Sapphire had sealed both the booster and the blade openings then activated the rocket. Pressure would build up slowly but surely until... a second after Gren registered what had happened the dagger detonated with a tremendous explosion throwing the Boar Faunus against the wall.

Sapphire heard a loud crack which she took to be his head hitting the stone. This one was hers, he was down for the count. Sapphire walked over to him and waved her hand in front of his face. He was out, a small line of blood flowing front his head, the explosion had depleted his aura and likely given him a nasty concussion but she was pretty sure he'd live.

Once satisfied that he’d be more or less alright Sapphire walked over to the other casualty of the battle, her poor fiddle. The head and a section of the base were more or less intact but splinters of destroyed wood littered the ground. Sapphire cleared up as many pieces as she could placing them with reverence into her fiddle case. She hoped they could be incorporated into a new fiddle but feared that she would have to lay them to rest never to be seen again. No violin Sapphire had ever heard sounded quite like her mothers.

Then she retrieved the mangled remains of Phobator. The hilt had been ripped open and the dust mechanisms inside were shot to hell. She might be able to salvage some of the parts and she still had her mother's blueprints for the original. Sapphire would built a new dagger in armory class. Maybe she'd call it Melinoe, which was another ancient Grimm responsible so the legends said for causing nightmares.

As she was about the leave the garden both Ozpin and Goodwitch appeared. Though both had clearly run here neither looked out of breath. Goodwitch was as stern as ever if a bit alarmed. "What happened here? We received word of an explosion." she asked though her tone was not severe the look in her eyes was.

"The idiot whom I called a teammate tried to kill me. I want him gone, gone from Swansong, gone from Beacon."

"Now listen here young lady," Goodwitch stormed. "You do not give orders at this school."

Sapphire had never been one to invoke her father's name in official business, in fact she didn't like to use it in everyday conversation but the loss of her fiddle had hit a lot harder than she liked to say. It was like another piece of her mother had been killed, like she was back in that place more than ten years ago. "My father Janus still has a great deal of pull in this school and he won't take this lightly." Sapphire said starring Goodwitch down. Chances were Janus would be more interested in hearing about her battle technique during the attempt on her live then whether she was okay or not but if she asked him just right Sapphire felt she could get him to pull some strings and have Gren Orchid removed from Beacon Academy. She never wanted to see his face ever again.

It had been a simple operation. Shadow the idiotic gangster who'd lost his mask during an attack on the village's trading caravan, beat him bloody, get any info he could, and dump his half-dead body in the street Oswald hadn't thought of the possibility of an ambush. Apparently, he'd taken far too long watching the gangster instead of acting, since he'd been hit the moment he moved to strike. His side still hurt from the beating he'd been given. Groaning as he remembered how badly he'd screwed up, Oswald winced in pain. His armor and weapons had been taken, as well as his clothes. Only a low-quality white tee shirt and a pair of dull brown sweatpants covered his body. “Hey, kid, shut it. I'm not here to listen to your complaining.” A man in his thirties with a grey coat on snapped at the captive. As he wasn't hiding his face, nor had any of his captors since he'd first woken up, Oswald assumed that he was not intended to survive this. “Suck my balls.” His responses had consisted of little else than that for the few days he'd been here. His instructors put him through worse torture during training than these punks had. It was obvious that they were trying not to kill him, and that was their first mistake: putting value into their hostage beyond what he could give them. The guard didn't even respond to his vulgarity, just shrugged and turned away. They'd gotten used to Oswald's mouth, and once or twice he noticed the other guards suppressing a smile at his more creative responses. After what had to have been a few days since his capture, Oswald was dragged somewhere with a bag on his head, with his hands and feet bound behind his back. When the bag was lifted, he was nearly blinded by a desk lamp placed in the center of a table aimed directly at his face. “Alright, kid, it's been three days, and you haven't said a word. We've taken it easy on you before, but it's clear that you're not going to talk unless we...really persuade you. Bryce?” The leader's voice was low, deep, and each word came out carefully, but with an irritated edge behind it. “Got it, boss.” A slender man with a mustache brought forward a small knife, gently placing it next to Oswald's interrogator. It was only now that his vision was coming back that he could make any details of the 'boss' out. He was tall, that much was obvious. At least four to five inches taller than Oswald was, and he was heavyset. It looked to be a bit more muscle than fat, but he was far from a sculpture. In one hand was the knife Bryce had placed down. “His right hand, please.” Oswald felt the binding on his hands snap, and his right hand was jerked forward at an unnatural angle and slammed onto the table. “Make him watch.” Oswald's heart started beating faster as a disgustingly thin hand grabbed his skull and held it firmly so that he was forced to stare at his hand. The leader of the group smirked as he spun the small knife in his hand, stabbing it into the table a few inches from Oswald, who didn't even blink. “So, kid, you think you're tough? How tough will you be with nine fingers? Eight? Four?” He was clearly angry. Good. Oswald just shrugged, awkward as it was. “Tougher than you.” That earned him a cut on the cheek, which his Aura refused to heal. The water they'd given him was clearly drugged, but after a day and a half without any food or drink, Oswald had given in. He was tough, but people could only survive for so long without water. As he felt a small rivulet of blood trickled down his face, Oswald blinked slowly. “That wasn't my finger.” His vision went white as pain overcame his senses. One of them, probably Bryce, had smashed his head into the table. “Speak only when spoken to.” His voice was raspy, as if he'd been smoking for a very, very long time. “Thank you, Bryce. No, kid, that wasn't your finger. That was my way of telling you to talk before we got to your fingers. Your Aura won't protect you, and I'm not afraid to hurt you.” Oswald laughed. “That's better. What do you want to know?” The leader scowled. “The same fucking thing we've been asking you for three days! Who sent you?” “Oh, that. I told you, nobody.” As the man walked up to Oswald's side, he continued. “Alright, alright, no need for more of that. Nobody sent me, but your man screwed up.” That didn't come as a shock to his captor. “They always do, kid.” “He lost his mask when he killed one of my people and stole twenty thousand Lien worth of goods from us. So I planned to beat him senseless and leave him for you to find.” “That's it? A petty revenge plot for some morons too stupid to live inside the kingdoms?” His interrogator seemed incredulous. “You just wanted to beat my guy up? Why'd you spend a week following him, then?” As he finished his theory, his voice filled with what Oswald figured was a sense of pride. “I was trained to watch a target carefully, learn their patterns, before I strike. Besides, he's an idiot at best, I just needed to be sure he had some sort of identifiable pattern.” “I don't know who you are, kid, but you fucked up. My men may be stupid, but they're good at their jobs. And that job is to make sure, above all else, that I stay hidden.” “Then they really fucked up by bringing me here, dude.” This earned a laugh from everybody present. “Kid, what do you think you're gonna do? We've got you right where we want you.” Smirking, the man nodded to himself gently, then stabbed downwards, missing Oswald's hand by less than an inch, before letting go of the knife and frowning at the lack of a response. “Who the fuck are you?” Smiling, Oswald grabbed the knife and disappeared. A moment later, a thud sounded from the corner of the room. When everybody turned to look, their comrade's rifle fired, sending two of the thugs blasting into the walls of the room. When the body fell, the knife sticking out of the back of its neck, Oswald stood where his victim had moments before. “My name is Oswald Connoly, and I'm a Huntsman.” As Bryce and the leader of the group reached for their weapons, Oswald blasted the former in the leg, knocking him to the floor. The latter hadn't even managed to draw before Oswald's fist broke his nose. Raising the rifle again, Oswald fired at Bryce's head, silencing the man before turning his attention to the ringleader, who was holding his face in pain. “Woah woah woah, kid, let's talk this through. Nobody's gotta die here.” Shrugging, Oswald gestured to Bryce, who had a pair of holes decorating his scalp. “Too late.” He dropped to the ground, plowing his elbow into the back of his enemy's neck, the sound of a sickening snap gracing his ears. Outside the hideout, a tired and fully-armored Oswald recounted his tale to the Vale Police Department. “Thank you, mister Connoly. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated. We just had to know how this happened. Not every day that a Beacon student gets kidnapped. Your friends have been coming by every day since you vanished.” Oswald smiled at that revelation. He hadn't made many people he'd call friends, but it was good to know that there were people worried about his well-being. “Of course, officer. Anything to get those scum off the streets.” At that, the police officer frowned. “About that.....did you have to kill every last one of them? My chief was pissed when he heard the news...” “Sorry, but they killed someone from my hometown. And exile wasn't exactly within my authority. I just planned to beat the guy who did it up, and call you folks to collect him and his friends, but fate had other plans.” The officer's frown only deepened as an older woman, probably a detective, approached. “While we're glad to have these guys off the streets, vigilantism isn't acceptable. Since you're a Huntsman-in-training, I get that you wanna protect the people and do good and all that, but leave this stuff to the professionals in the future, alright?” Oswald smiled at the detective and nodded. “Sure thing, ma'am. I'd rather not go through that again. I'm pretty damn hungry.”

Aurellius was, to put it plain and simple, completely fucked. And to make matters even worse, they knew who he was. Aurellius Bellum, son of Aurus Bellum, leader and head of the company known as Bellum Industries. To the White Fang, this was a bad thing. While not confirmed, there were rumors that surrounded his company, of the mistreatment and disregard for Faunus. They were pissed and they wanted back at Aurus for screwing with them. Of course, while Faunus aren't treated as great as they might want, they're not treated like animals at least. To be captured was a disgrace to Aurellius, and it pissed him off. All because of a stupid mistake during a mission. Ascalon had jammed, resulting in an aluminum bat to straight to the face. The worst part about the whole situation was that they had ruined his suit. Aurellius now crouched, slumped over in an 'interrogation chamber' of sorts, but in reality it was just the lowest depths of a parking garage. His wrists were handcuffed to the grill of a jeep, and his legs were tied with rope. His poor Ascalon was just a few meters away, being torn apart by the a bastard of a dog Faunus. 'Bones' he was called by his subordinates. Aurellius didn't like the joke. "Now, see here, I know who you are, kid," said Bones, standing up from the unhinged parts of Ascalon. "Well, mostly because of the stuff you had on your Scroll I grabbed out of your pocket, but I'll go with the benefit of the doubt and say its because you're a little famous among us." Aurellius stayed silent, his eyes narrowed and glaring, but he listened. "A lot of people are mad at your good old Dad. Not a lot good to say about him, really. Incredibly low wages... nonexistent health care... Hell, I've even heard of 'hiring' the poor children. I wonder what a lot of us Faunus think about him and what they might do if they get their hands on his son..." Bones stood rather tall, around as tall as Aurellius himself. His face was similar to that of a Doberman, angled slightly and with a nice set of fangs as well as pointed furry ears that stood up. "You know, I thought you dogs would be loyal to your masters, not bite the hand that feeds you," Aurellius said, glaring up at him. "Master? Oh, that's hilarious. What kind of 'master' is your father, kid? All I see is a Rockefeller asshole who mistreats my kind and should be punished because of it. And what better way to that than to do such a thing to the prodigal son?" Suddenly, a wicked looking knife was pulled out of the man's pocket. It was curved slightly, and sharper than a surgical tool from the gleam it set off in the moon's light. "Now, then. Where do you think we should start? It's your choice, after all. I wouldn't wanna spoil the fun in the get go," Bones said, placing the knife against the middle of Aurellius' sternum. His silence was punished, as the knife began digging into the skin, going downwards all the way to the bottom of his ribs. Pain made Aurellius snarl, but he was used to pain. If things got too bad, he could always just make it go away. But he wouldn't, at least not yet. Bones pulled the knife away from skin, looking at the red blood that was slowly flowing from the cut. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Bones asked. Aurellius couldn't help but agree. Thirty minutes later, Aurellius was in agony. A broad array of cuts had been made on his body, Bones even going so far as the make a fucking tic-tac-toe board on his stomach. Aurellius had lost. Even through his Semblance, his whole body still hurt. The blood loss was starting to get to him, and he wasn't sure he would make it through another session. A small pool of it had collected on the floor, Bones deciding it was high time to go clean himself up. They hadn't even given him a guard. That was their big mistake. With a pull, Aurellius began trying to break his restraints. His hands were too big to forcefully break so he could slip out, but he had enough leverage to try and pull the grate of the car off. His muscles strained, screaming at him from the deepest part of his mind. The pain was gone, all of it, but his body still screamed in protest. Even if you can't feel the pain of it, ripping your body apart is cause enough to throw up a ton of warning signs from your brain. He ignored them as he felt his shoulders pop, the metal starting to strain as he pulled with all of his might. The cuffs dug into his wrists, causing them to bleed, but he didn't care. Adrenaline and the thought of blood filled his mind as he lusted to escape, to rip that dog's ears off and shove them up his own asshole. As the shape of Bones came into his vision, the grill snapped off. He slammed into the concrete, cheek getting torn up as hit it, but again, he didn't care. Bones opened his mouth to cry, but Aurellius was a flash. Grabbing the pointed lance from the pile of parts, he charged. He ran straight first into Bones, the lance piercing through his stomach, the tip coming out the other side as Aurellius lifted the man into the air, then brought him back down onto the ground, landing on top of him. Briefly in the back of his mind, Aurellius could hear sirens. He tore the weapon out of Bones' stomach as he let out a soundless scream. It came back down. And back out. And back down again. Only when someone pulled him off did he snap out of it. Bones was now a pile of mutilated flesh and bones. Aurellius grinned wickedly.

Enemies were always made in a life affected by hopelessness. Sangue knew of this because she herself made enemies of her own. Some were eager to chase after her, knowing some of her untold, sinful tales. Some always hated her from the get-go and merely wanted to end her. Some were once her friends- people she trusted- and no longer recognized her as their own kind. Some simply dreamed of being horrifyingly twisted. Sitting in a completely white room, Sangue blinked as she woke up in a bright void. She had her belongings: her blade and her claw. Confused as to where she woke up in, the woman looked around, finding nothing but white surrounding her. A strange void that evoked a feeling of coldness made her shiver- it was a familiar and unpleasant feeling she felt when her life as a lone warrior began. White. Cold. Yet, uncomfortably familiar. Some enemies were never meant to meet certain people, and Sangue knew who could possibly bring such a feeling of emptiness. In fact, she probably met the man who imprisoned her here. “W̼̬̫̫̼̟͌͋͒̉͛́̚e͚̓l̻̬̪̺͓̩͈cͪ͑̏͘o̍͌̽ͧ̆͞m̪̫͔͚͐e̙̭͓̣͕͎͚ͩ̿̎́ ̦̮͍̐̔̎͘t͚͍̺͙̄́o̳̖̰̱͉̒͐̽ͅ ̼̦̣̹̥̟̏̎̏̐m͔̯͎̦̝͍̓̎̅y̵̝̖̆̂̈́̆̀ͅ ͐́ͫç̫̖̦̫͈̯̗͌͂a̞̳̦͎̫̿̀ͬͣ̆ͩ͞ͅs̗͢t̝̳̲̱͉̩̋̒̋ͦͦ͂̊̕l̖̙̗̱͔͕͙͋ͯ͒e̤̓ͬͬ̈́̕,” an echo of dark voices slithering in unison. “I̯̯̰̳̺͚t̬̜̺̖͚̜̏ͥ̎̚ ̳̦̜̪͙̉̑̉ͅi̞̳͇͋̉ͧͧ͛͊̚s̱̫̐̋ ̦̋͆ͪ͋̽i̾ͥnt̳͓̻͍̪̿͛͌̋̂͋̚ē̦͉͚͉̓ͧ͋r̋̊̋̏̅͋͊e̜ͧ̎́͌ͥ̊s͚͉̙̻̱͚͎͑͊̚t͚̭̩̤ͪͬ̇̌i͍̪͕̙̐ͥ̏n̥͗̋ͬͧͣ̿g̦̣̹͖̜͚̪ͬ̇ ̱̱̱̜̪͍̇̈́͗ͨ̽t̥̎͊̅͛̅ȏ̤̪̟͕̒ͦ̊ ̯̤̮͍͕͈͆ͤ̓f͎͇͙͉̤̹̉̓̓i̪̎͂n̘̮̫̻͔̗̗̎d͚̙̭̗̤̣̠ ̬̫̞̗̫ͪͮ͂y̪͚͙̦̣͓̤͊͑ͧ̽̋͐o̱̩͚̊͂̍̋ͮ̉͋u͈̰̹̬̙̿͊ͅ ̻̜̰̤͖̍s̮͈͚̣͍̓ͥͮ̀͛͛ͥȋ͉͔ͥͫ͊ͨ͐̽t̩̘̲̖͔̣̰͌͒̎͂̆ͮt͍̩̣̞͙̭i̱̹̖̯͇ͨ̏̈́ͧn̳̥̮̺̖͆̔͋ͤ͋͂g̪̭͍̰̼ͪ͋ ̠̙̘̤ͬ̑̃ͦ͐b̰̩ͥ͛e̮͊͛̊f̿ő̎r͂̊e͈̲̗̹̟ ̩͕̖̹̪͋m̉ͣ͒͑e̯ͦͦ̏ͅ.̖̦͈̙͍͓ͤ͊ͨ” Sangue nodded. Indeed, it had been a long time since he spoke to her. She never did wish for him to suddenly find her, however. “…Hello,” she quietly spoke, her scarred eye remaining closed. At her response, a voice sighed, filling the room with a soothing mood. “.͚͈̈́.̪͈̘͗̓ͤ̉͋͋.̹̰͗́ͯ̍̚S͙̠̬̖̪̫̖ó̯̲ͫͣͅm̪̪̥̖ͮ̓̈̊̅e̞̥̩̫̲͍̥͑̍̌ ̮̳̱̖̥͇͆̏ͨt̙̳̣͌̏h͇͇̟͆ͣ̈i̤͚͍̘̪ͧ̋̀́̐̑ͮͅn͇ͩ̏̇g͕͉̜̼̬ͣ͐̈ͬ̄s̞͎̩̯̯̥͍ ̻͖̹ͨ͌̈́ͥn͎̠͚̜ͫ̄̏͗͂e̞͕̳̻ͤͪ͊ͯ͋͒v̀̾̽e̗̟̞͖̮̐̉̐ͥ͊ͣ̓r̭̺͐͛̾͆̽̑ ̔ͦͩ͛c͕̃͋̚ͅh͊̓ͯͭ̎ả̬̪̘̿̋̃̆ň͊ͮg̺̜̮e̩͓̱̬̓,” the voice mused. “A͡s̕ abrupt̡ ás o̵u͞r͝ męet̕i͠ng ͏i͟s, I͘,́ u̵nf͘o̵rtun̨at̕e͞lỳ,͘ ͠lac͞k th͢e time t͠o҉ che̴e̵rf̴ul͏ly ̕r̶e̢p̴lay̕ yoųr̶ ͢o͝l̷d me͟m̵orie̸s̕ įn̡ an ̢en͠d͝ļes̢s l͜oo͟ph̵ol̨e͡.̸ ̵A ͡shamȩ, considerin̨g͡ h̴o̶w ha̷rd ͟I̵ ̵wor͏k̡ed҉ ͡t̴o͘ ̧l͡e̕t͘ ͜this nift͘y tool̸ of̧ mi̵ne͢ ͡to ͘w̨ǫr̶k͢.” Sangue blinked, unfazed by the man who contributed to her lonely life with many things that made her lonelier. She never did like his attitude. “What do you want, Apophis?” At the mentioning of his name, the voice chuckled softly. “H̑̍̃̓ͥ̊ͮm̝̜̞̫̫̠̞?͓͈͙̱͍͂̄̊ͪ̑̾ ͎̫̭̭̈́̂̀͆͒̇̈́Y̯̟̹̤̘̝ͅo͍̪͕̻̹̭͆̿͑͗u̠̻͕̺̝̻̘ͬ̓ ̲͍͕͕̖ͨͫ͋̓͌̄c̫̰͎̰̈̇ͥ̃͊a͓̰͔͓̲͊̅́ͥͯ̃l̉̅̽l̙̟̞̲̳̭͉ͫe̯̮͆ͤ̃̍d̍̀̿̑̉̚ ͉͚͉̟̙̞̰m̌̀͋ë̓͂̉ͩ͊ ͔̯̼̗̻̺͍b͚̯̖͉͉͉͖͐͌̈͗y̲͕̲͕͙̼̰̓͑̀̓̒͂͌ ̚m̽y̘̫̤͒̈́̌̂̅ ̳͔̠͚̅̔ͥ̂͌ͣͅͅn̞͇̖͓͈͈a̟͈̗̱̖m̤̺̪ͧ̾̍ͩė̜͓ͯ̔̐ͧ͌̚!̗̎ͮ̐ ̥̳͎̗̲̓ͧͦ̃A̼͈͂ͥ̂̒͆̋̓ͅh̻̼̟̥̫̟̃ͫ,̿̈ͦͥ̿̄͐ ̹̖̗ͣ͗ͭ̽̚h͖̻͈̱̘̪ͦͩ̓ͬa̝̹̥͚̼͎̓̽̔ͤ ̯͖͓̜̥̮h͙a͚̓̾͋͋ ̼̳̗̭̺ͫh͖̣̣͓̃ͥ̂a̤͈ͪ͌!͔̲ͪ̾͊ͯͨͮ “H̫̬̫̮͖̪̩͑̈̐̅a̫̱̩̜̦͔̻ ̠͚̰̂̉h͓̙̙̃͗̓͂ͥa̹̯͈ͭ̇.͖͎̣̩̤̽ͮ̑́.̻̰̜̼̙̯ͅ.͚̦̖̳̝͖̰̍ “.͆̅ͬ̍̋.̫̞͕̄̋͂ͥ̿.͚̪̭̳͌ͪh̟̱͇͉͉̖ͣả̙̺͍̹̣̐ͤ.̳̝͓ͮ̎͑.̤͇̦͖͔ͣ̒.̮̎ “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… “… . . The natures of some people were unforgivable. Some were able to atone for sins through painstaking work, but some simply cared about committing more and more sins. A twisted addiction to the psychological sense of danger, so to speak. Apophis was an unforgivable monster who did the unspeakable, knew of the unspeakable, and spoke of the unspeakable. His very existence burned down many of those she knew of. He existed only when he felt like existing, and everything he said had, so far, come true. The great irony came from that he knew truth better than any sage would ever be able to know. He was the bane of lies, waiting to strike when despair overwhelmed his subjects. Sangue remembered him. He wore the skin of those he slaughtered, covering his entire body with bloody and rotting flesh. His loose skin gave way to his hollow eyes, two pupils of red being the only signs of life within him. Evil incarnate, destructive mastermind; the beast known as Apophis knew little about being dishonest and knew everything about everyone. Everyone feared him. Even gods would. “AGHHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAH HAH HA HAHAHA- OH, THE PITY I FEEL! OH MY GOD, THIS EUPHORIA! THIS JOY I FEEL: ALL FROM ME FINDING YOU ON A LITTLE CHILD'S GIRL SCOUT TRIP!” Sangue’s open eye squinted. The laughter of Apophis, a Deity of Chaos, died down, silence entering the room. To endlessly spread sorrow was his dream. Or perhaps there was more behind his actions? Even after fighting for her life against him, Sangue still knew little about the flesh-wearing man. “…The things I could possibly do with your body,” he whispered with an innocently monstrous voice filled with pleasure as the echos that followed his voice fell silent. “You will fit me well- just like your sisters did.” At this, the red-haired woman took her blade out before stabbing it into the white void. The mentioning of her sisters made her tremble. “They,” Apophis explained as if he committed the least amount of sins one could possibly cause, “were beautiful like you. You are the only one among your parents’ offspring to never experience the one passion I could not help but indulge myself with.” A cold snicker, a cold sweat. Sangue felt nervous as the man rambled on about something she wanted to receive forgiveness for. With a giddy tone, Apophis boldly proclaimed, “A dream that I can share with every single one of your world’s people! The thought of seeing those students cry with pleasure as they get relentlessly ravished inside-out… pleases me. The thought of splitting those who have yet to live life in ugly halves… glorifies me. Oh! OH! GEH HEHE! Oh… The thought of decorating the leader of humanity with the eyes I have collected as I nail him on a cross, sharing tales of how I gouged the eyes of virgins, and children, and men and women and the innocent and even YOU! But you…” The voice fell silent. Sangue felt her grip on her blade tighten, her unscarred eye wide open as she felt her breaths become short and heavy. Cold sweat trickled down her cheek. “…You lost ONE eye… and not the other…” The red-haired woman stood, but the voice pitied her inability to do anything. “You lost your arm to a pathetic Grimm. You lost your eye to me. You lose; all you do is lose, and you will be the sore loser in the end of my war with all that exists in Remnant, Sangue Naga. I am not a god, yet I spread more fear than one. I ravage the innocent within their dreams… and make all of it a reality.” "If you just die, misery will no longer follow you, young one. "Die as soon as possible, Sangue Naga. Die...diediediediedie...hehe..." Turning around in a familiar and hopeless fear that filled her heart with dread for her entire life, Sangue turned, gritting her teeth as the white void slowly turned black. Sangue screamed as she bolted up from the ground, shivering uncontrollably as her lips quivered. No longer did a river of red surround her, but a heart-wrenching pain swirled within her. She knew what she just witnessed was real. Knowing the power of the frightening creature simply referred to as “Apophis,” she knew that all of the blood and death she was reminded of was true. Everything Apophis said was true. She was pitiful to hope for redemption. Her entire life was just a mere plaything to a psychotic monster, who manipulated her into sacrificing many lives for nothing good. She felt darkness surround her as she reached for her blade, only to find that it was missing. Her unscarred eye wide open, she reached for her Claw instead, hastily wrenching it away from its retracted state as she stared at it with a trembling hand. Without any hesitation, she threw the Claw to her head. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … “HEY!” The red-haired girl frantically dropped the Claw, huddling herself into a fetal position as she lay still. “…” “…” Sangue felt a warm hand brush past the back of her head. With a soothing warmth somehow calming her down ever-so-slowly, the hand then lifted Sangue up from her pathetic state, letting her sit hunched over. Her unscarred eye trailed up to the man who kneeled in front of her. “…? You’re…” “Hm? Whatcha say?” The red-haired woman remembered him. He wore a black jacket, dark baggy pants, and an old hat with a sharp design to it. Donning a pair of sunglasses, the pale-blue haired man raised an eyebrow before grinning widely. “I’ll point out that you were bawlin’ like a baby when I found you,” the man said with an expression filled with cockiness and energy. Mithril Linseis: successful adventurer who was in charge of multiple corporations. He was not the strongest man to exist, but his cleverness and intelligence allowed him to succeed financially. Sangue first met him when she was in need of shelter that could accept her for just a short amount of time. She had no money, and only Linseis, who lived in a large mansion, decided to take her in with the same expression he now gave Sangue. He was an interesting man. Mithril’s mansion was filled to the brim with maids, all of whom he dubbed “The Sexies of Linsexy.” His cockiness knew no limits, yet he knew how to control it when serious times called for it. She learned that he was a strong-hearted man who care little for rules and only desired to live a life filled with women praising him and men aspiring to be like him. While his dream was childish, he certainly seemed like he could make it come true. After all, he was a master at being persuasive. Mithril was, in fact, Sangue’s first friend after she lost everything. Despite being a woman, Sangue was treated like a friend. He seemed to understand that she was under dire circumstances, as his speculating eyes apparently recognized her sorrowful mood almost instantly. It was only until she slowly hardened her heart that he began to show his true personality to her. He made her laugh at times, even if he did not know that he actually warmed her troubled soul at times. He made her laugh even after he found her breaking down after meeting Apophis for the first time. “…Mithril,” she whispered, staring at the man with a flabbergasted look. “How did-“ The man shrugged, his sharp and thin ponytail swinging around as he shook his head vigorously. “Man, you reaaaaaaaaally freaked me out earlier! I found you twitching on the ground right around my backyard.” “…That entire forest filled with Grimm was your backyard?” “Yup- wait, what the hell? I don’t remember owning a forest.” The red-haired woman stared at Linseis, who looked into blankly at the air before turning back to her. “Okay, I honestly don’t know how I ended up walking around a forest thinking it was my backyard, but whatever! The important thing is that I helped you. Right…? Unless I was disturbing you in your extremely crazy spaz-outs during your sleep?” She did not know what to say. Did she feel relief? No, she could not feel relief. Sangue was too far away from the path of being human. Only beasts did not feel relief. But… she still felt a warm emotion tingling in her heart. The sight of Mithril somehow brightened her day almost instantly. “I had a nightmare,” she stated bluntly. “No shit,” Linseis answered back with an equal amount of bluntness. “…” The man raised an eyebrow when Sangue lowered her head. She let out a small sigh before looking back up to him. Even… if she was destined to die, and even if she was never to be able to hope on someone else… She still felt the guilty desire to be human again. “…Thank you, Mithril.” The sunglasses-wearing man opened his mouth to say something, his eyebrow raised, as he tilted his head. He was then interrupted by a maid who entered the room Sangue sat in. “Mr. Linseis? Your tea is ready-“ As Mithril stood up to take a bunch of pictures of the startled maid, Sangue blinked at the sight of him rolling around the place with an outdated device. She smiled, wondering if she was allowed to live with such people before she would eventually meet her end.

There’s nothing that can destroy a memory. Objects and ideas may be forgotten, lost to the time, but they’re never gone. And because they’re never gone you never know when or how they surface. It was Spring Break at Beacon. A whole week where their students were free to go about their own business without needing to attend Beacon, unless they want to participate in missions or were punished for something prior to the break. Gren and his team, Swansong, largely chose to spend their Spring Break away from one another. Kuhaku was quite a lady’s man and seemed to want to spend his week with his woman, while Abel slipped off without much fanfare. When Gren asked all he had as a reply was that Abel had some family matters to take care of. Gren didn’t press the issue. He didn’t get a chance to chat with Sapphire before she left, though from the message she emailed the team she too had family business to attend. This business with family made Gren want to visit his own. His mother and father lived in the city, running their little flower shop near the docks. It wasn’t the most profitable job but their business was stable enough. More importantly it kept Gren’s siblings out of trouble. They were only a few years younger than him, could have been hunters but… Gren convinced them otherwise. Being a hunter wasn’t as glamorous as the stories made it. And more importantly, it kept his siblings away from the real danger. Not the Grimm. But those who feed them. It started on the second day of Spring Break. Gren was going to go visit the grave of his other brothers and sisters. They only had tombstones to make their deaths, their bodies were never found. Gren tried to search for them once, but only because he hoped that somehow they were actually alive. He guessed that maybe if he hoped hard enough, did the best he could, he would have saved them. But his search yielded no fruit, and what little evidence he did find only further proved that he was too late. So when Gren brought his family to the city of Beacon, he also brought these graves as a reminder to him of a very simple fact: There’s no running from the past. Either you deal with it or it finds you. ”Come to mourn?” As the giant faunas knelt as the grave of his siblings two shadowy figures stood behind him. He had no weapons and he knew these two people. He knew what they were capable of and he knew that he’d lose if he tried to fight them right now. They caught him at a bad time, but that was expected. They would have only given to him the same amount of respect that Gren had given them so long ago. Gren awoke sometime later. Only a few minutes as far as he could tell, but he had moved far. He was still within the city but nowhere near the graveyard. Gren noticed that his limbs were detached. ”Hmph. They know me better than I thought.” Gren looked around the dark room. It was a warehouse of some sort with crates and barrels stacked around him. There was only one clear path to him as far as he could see, but it was obvious that he was left here to be picked up. Whoever took him here in the first place was either hoping to take his cybernetics or wanted to kill him slowly. Or both. He had to do something fast if he wanted to escape his fate. With no legs or arms it was going to be hard to maneuver but far from impossible. He’d just have to be careful. He needed a plan, know who his enemies were and where he was at. There was no telling how much time he had so Gren did some complicated eye motions and pulled up the screen from his SCROLL’s in his view. He had the thing installed directly into his head, keeping the physical device as a backup. If they took his arms they likely took his SCROLL as well. He made a few calls before he heard a door open. Shutting his scroll off Gren could do nothing more than to wait. Soon a woman arrived. From her dress and face she must have been at least twenty. She stood taller than Gren and would have at least gone to his chin if he had his legs. She was flanked by two people, one boy and one girl. The boy looked fairly normal: He wore glasses and had short black hair. But Gren could see through the darkness and noticed that his eyes were much like Gren’s: He had pitch black scleral. To Gren this could only mean one thing: The boy was a cyborg like Gren was. He must have been a more advance model however, considering that his body was much smaller than Gren’s own. The girl was blond and wore predominately red. She was casually playing with a yoyo, but between each spin Gren could see the blades edging out from the center. Those were her weapons and he knew it. He knew her, he knew all of them. ”Revenge than, is it?” The red-haired woman flicked her cigarette at Gren, but he didn’t react even as it bounced off his nose. ”That’s one way to put it, you sonavabitch. But as much as I’d like to just waste you right here and now, there’s bigger things going on. But I’m still going to enjoy this.” The woman looked to the boy as he stepped forward. In his hand was a device that looked like some sort of forked knife. He stabbed it directly into Gren’s chest and something happened to him. Gren could only describe it as an intense pain. The boy certainly knew how to hurt Gren; others might have just stabbed him and expected that to work, but this boy knows what made Gren tick and how to make the ticking stop. But whatever he was doing he wasn’t trying to kill Gren. He was trying to hack into him. Gren would have liked to think he could have survived the whole Spring Break. That he managed to hold out until his team would notice that he was gone and come rescue him. But he wasn’t that strong. He lasted five hours before he gave in. He dropped the safeguards he planted in his mind and the boy started to root through his memories. He began to pull out information from Gren’s past, like his family and how he came to be a cyborg. Painful memories for both Gren and his torturers arose from the probing. Curses were spewed and Gren was almost certain someone tried to bash his face in, but at this point he was only passively aware of what was going on. By the time he felt that his mind was his again the red-haired woman stood before him. ”If you think that death would be the worst thing to happen to you, you have another thing coming. You’ve caused us nothing but grief Gren. Now it’s time for you to pay for your crimes.” Gren watched as the blond girl kicked open one of the boxes. Before he could see what she had pulled out Gren’s sight turned dark. He was losing consciousness. No; he was being shut down. He lost his vision before he stopped hearing the world around him. There was only one thing he heard before he blacked out completely. ”We’re nothing alike you. We won’t stoop to your level. But like any good hunter, it’s our job to destroy monsters like you.” Suddenly a crash. The three figures turn to see who it came from. A new challenger approaches. The blond girl takes a fighting stance with her yoyo and the boy takes off his glasses. The red-haired woman just glares at the newcomer. He walks in with a swagger in his step and his arms out as though he was greeting a crowd of onlookers. ”Now what’s this? A reunion without me? Come on now; if we’re going to be digging up old bones, might as well dig up the whole skeleton. Not like you’re going to get much from Teeth’s over there.” The white-haired man pointed over to Gren. The Red-haired woman takes out another cigarette, which lights itself on fire. A moment of silence pasted as she took a long breath from her cancer stick, tossing it aside once she got down to the filter. She let out a huge cloud of smoke, big enough to engulf her. By the time the smoke moves on she was riding a red motorcycle. ”TRAITOR!” The blond girl charged first throwing her bladed yoyo at an angle at the white-haired man. With one of the hands that was already raised he snatched the weapon out from the air, holding it by the blade itself. But that didn’t last too long before the boy charged forward. But as he did so his body shifted, surrounded by a glowing energy. By the time the light faded he was encased in a suit of silver armor. He struck fast at the man, forcing him to toss away the yoyo to deflect the silver fighter’s punches. They came fast and furiously, but neither the silver fighter nor the man showed any sign of wavering. The man almost seemed to be enjoying himself. The blond girl then attacked off angle, swinging her Yoyo at the man’s legs. He jumped over her weapon but as he did so the silver fighter delivered a superman punch, and without being able to brace his feet on the ground the man was sent flying right into the red-haired woman. She had been able to silently maneuver her crimson vehicle around the man and was going to crush him underneath her front tire. But the moment he hit her motorcycle he dropped his feet to the ground, raising an arm up to catch the bike. The woman began to rev the front wheel causing the friction to burn into his arm, but his armguards were quite capable of holding off her attack. And that’s when he started to laugh. ”Hah ha ha ha… My turn.” Suddenly the bike wheel jerked to a halt. But the force it was going was so intense that it tore the rubber off the wheel. The red haired saw this and jumped off, pulling out a sawn-off shotgun from her long coat. Grabbing the bike from its destroyed wheel the man hurled it at the two other fighters who managed to jump into the air to avoid the attack. But just as the silver fighter got air born a shield came flying at him, hitting him with enough force to send him out of the roof of the warehouse building. ”Strike one!” The shield than turned to the blond girl as she was still in the air. She braced her body to block the attack despite knowing that her weapon and defenses wheren’t the best. But she needed worry, as the red-haired woman shot the shield as it was flying at her causing it to move off course and hit the ground. But that hardly stopped the man, who dragged the shield back to him with a chain. The red haired woman pulled out another sawn-off shotgun and fired it at the man who managed to block the shots with his shield, just as the blond came with a drop kick. But the man was looking at her the entire time and was ready himself. He reached out and grabbed the girl by her feet, and despite how much force she tried to put she couldn’t free herself. It wasn’t because the man was grabbing particularly hard. No, it was just his Semblance preventing her from escaping. It was almost comical as the man then metronomic mashed the blond girl three times against the ground, tossing her away when her body went limp. The red hair woman had reloaded her weapons by that point and disappeared. She did not escape however, and was merely hiding so she could get the sneak on the man. He looked around figuring that he was close to winning seeing that he was down to him and the woman, but then he felt a great force kick him from behind. The silver fighter had returned and he had an upgrade: Wings. The speed at which the silver fighter came in was great enough to force the white-haired man through sever crates until he hit the wall on the opposite side. Despite the attack however the man was largely uninjured save for the dust that now layered his clothes. ”Oh, you got a new toy did ya?” The man casually strolled through the path of destruction dusting himself off. He bore no bruises or scars from the attack, and even his shield has no blemish from being previously shot at. The silver fighter landed on the ground next to the blond girl, picking her up before glancing at the man. Before either of them could make an attack a wall of flame emerged from the ground. This actually made the white-haired man raise his arm in defense but it was just a diversion. The silver fighter flew away with his injured partner while the red haired woman escaped from the front entrance. The fire began to spread to the wooden boxes and would threaten to engulf the entire warehouse soon. The man simply sighed, returning his shield to normal size and jogging towards Gren. By the time the sun came up Gren opened his eyes. He was kneeling in front of his sibling’s grave. He had his arms and legs once more. The dew on his body suggested that he had been sitting here for a long time. ”Did I fall asleep?” A snap smack to the back of his head gave him the answer, as did the voice that it belonged to. ”Naaah.” Gren looked up to the man from before. He was eating a bagel sandwich as he walked over to the grave Gren was sitting in front of. No words were exchanged between the two men beyond what was said previously. Nothing had to be said. They knew what they had to say, what the other person would say in responds. For the next ten minutes the two men just stood there watching the graves as the sun rose up on the horizon. Eventually the man left, but not without a parting word. ”There’s no saving the monster inside kid. It has to be killed or it’ll kill you. You know there’s plenty of people who’ll do the job for ya if you aren’t up for it. If you keep running all you’re going to do is make it harder for yourself. You can be damn sure of that.” As the man left Gren was once again alone with his own thoughts. He always considered telling his team more about his past. But he felt that it was something that not everyone would be supportive of. Not even Kuhaku or Abel would accept it if Gren told them. At best they simply wouldn’t believe it. Maybe they could look past it. But even if they could forgive Gren for it, he never could forgive himself, and he knows there are people out there looking to bring him to justice. There was no clearing his name: He was a guilty man. His hands were stained in blood, and he can do nothing more than to keep washing them with blood. But there was no giving up. Redemption wasn’t something he could just earn. There wasn’t a tangible goal he could get to pardon his sin. If he was going to die for justice then so be it. But he was also going to live to do what little good he could. There was no saving the monster he was becoming, but at least he could be the monster who fought other monsters. That’s the best he could hope for. That’s who he was.

The unmistakable sound of a creature of Grimm growling jolted Abel from his stupor. Immediately, fear flooded through his veins. He struggled in a mad panic, but no matter how hard he wriggled, he could not escape his binds. Not only were the ropes that encircled him wound around the tree he was pressed against, but he could also glimpse out of the corner of his eye a faint glint among the coarse fibers, signifying that the ropes were nailed to the bark as well. Abel's restraints did not concern him, however, as much as the beast whose snarls were reaching him through the early morning dusk. His eyes shifted this way and that, peering into the hostile darkness beyond the glow of the campfire several meters ahead, but he could see nothing. Even if he did, he was helpless against what was coming. A dark shape snaked down the trunk of a nearby tree, almost obscuring the entire thing beneath its girth. As it slunk toward him, its shape was revealed by the fire, and Abel groaned. It was a deep, guttural sound of despair, for the creature facing him was a full-grown Wendigo. Not a Wendigo, in fact; the Wendigo. The same one he had electrocuted with a lightning bolt back during Vorosky's Survival Expeditions. He had been on the verge of killing it, but it had escaped, and had hounded him ever since. But it couldn't have tied him up. How had he allowed someone to take him like this and leave him at the mercy of this monster? The Wendigo approached slowly, flicking its scythelike tail and savoring the fear. It was well within mutilation distance when it suddenly tensed, as if unsure of its dominance over the situation. Abel's breath was ragged when it came at all, his heart was pounding, and his skin was slick with cold sweat. He stared at the monster, and it stared at him, before its body sagged, slumped over, and began to dissolve. It wasn't until the Grimm had completely melted into ash that Abel saw the shaft. A single arrow, with a black-stained tip, right where the Wendigo's spinal cord had been. Abel blinked, uncomprehending—he hadn't even heard the thing hit. His heart began to slow, letting off its assault against its owner's ribcage, and his breathing almost returned to normal. Overwhelmed with relief, not even sparing a thought to the archer, he pressed his stinging eyes shut and muttered his thanks. “The wild can be scary, huh?” The guardian's eyes shot open. Sitting on the other side of the fire was a man, easily Abel's size or a couple centimeters bigger, garbed in brown and dark green. His face was hidden beneath a strange red , whose features were curved into a snarl, but brilliant blue eyes shown through its holes. At last, Abel's fevered mind began to put together the pieces, though his mouth didn't work quite so quickly. “Uh.” “I'll get to the point, spare you some dumbass questions. I'm the one who brought you here, tied you up, let that beast come, and then saved your life. Why? 'Cause the wild's scary.” The man's voice was rough, thick, and poorly articulated, as if he hadn't spoken in years. Still, Abel could hear the sneer in it. His captor pulled off a backpack, from which he detached a pair of long, rectangular boxed that were open at one end: quivers. The firelight illuminated over a dozen deadly points in each. Abel was suddenly aware of a bow that had appeared on the ground beside the fire. “What?” “Scary for you, anyway. Scary for everyone. Everyone's so terrified of the wild. The unknown. The Grimm. That's why they have you Hunters.” Suddenly, the man was back on his feet, the bow in his hand. An arrow slid from the quiver onto his bow, and the weapon was leveled at Abel. Gripped in the man's firing hand were the feathered ends of two more arrows. “Especially you.” He moved his hands, and the arrows flew. One after another he notched with a lightning-fast, experienced hand, and each one plunged itself through the ropes that bound Abel, cutting them. Abel found himself unbound. The surprise must have shown on his captor's face. “Ah, hah!” He cackled. “Not going to shoot you. Wouldn't be setting you a very good example. Do you know who I am?” Abel hadn't the faintest idea. He remained seated, not wanting to risk his captor's ire, but his thoughts were turning to escape. The Ampere...he needed his weapon. “No,” he replied awkwardly. “Yeah, you do.” With very little ceremony, the man reached up and flipped off his mask. Abel examined his enemy's face as best the firelight would allow, trying to push away the unsettling feeling that he had seen it somewhere before. His eyes briefly flickered to his surroundings. Even in only a few minutes, the murky sky had grown brighter. Dawn was coming. “I blame you for not remembering. I really do,” the man suddenly snarled, causing Abel to jump. “It hurts. I know it was dark that night, but really. Didn't they have a picture at my funeral or something?” The man crossed his arms, holding his bow off to the side, and waited for it to sink in. Abel's befuddlement gave way to disbelief. He did not give voice to his full suspicions, however. “You...were at Pallisade? The night of the mass attack?” “Yeah.” The captor's voice had grown even more hostile, a feat that Abel hadn't though possible. It contained hatred, scorn, and something else...was it jealousy? “Yeah, I was. Did you bury a lot of guardians that day? I know you buried at least one empty box. You never found my body, Abel. I'd be surprised if you, Evelyn, Adomov, or anyone even looked, you were so scared of getting down off that wall.” Abel nodded grimly. Even with the approaching day, he had never felt more solemn. This isn't possible. This has got to be some sort of prank. “Kane.” A mocking wave, all in the fingers. “Hey, little brother! No, don't bother apologizing. Do you know how hard it is to survive in the wild? It sucks. It really blows. It really, really, totally makes me want to...well, bottom line is, I survived. Ran around, full of your fear, with a gaping wound in my side. My aura helped heal the wound, but I've still got the scar. I ran and ran until I couldn't run anymore, and then I fought and fought until I couldn't stand. And after that, when I woke up, I wasn't afraid anymore.” Kane crossed his arms, clearly holding in his anger. “So that's why I'm here. That's why I wanted to make sure you were still scared. Because despite all your heroism and bravado, you -all of you!- are screwed. Every man, woman, and child, even your precious hunters, are going to die. You all hide behind your walls and your weapons and your bloody civilization, and it's only going to make a bigger slaughter when the Grimm finally do get in. The only way to survive, the only real defense, is to embrace the wild.” Abel looked at the man as if he were a lunatic, and pushed himself to his feet. “I still don't think I know you. Sounds like my big brother died a long time ago.” It seemed that the guardian's surprises had yet to run out, for Kane broke out in his wheezy laugh once more. “I thought you might say something like that. Take a look around you.” Though wary, Abel did as requested. He peered around the area, and in the faint rays of the rising sun, saw that they were on the edge of a clearing. Strung between each tree were lengths of yellow and black police tape, insisting that the squirrels and birds and beetles 'keep out'. More importantly, nestled among the roots of a tree on the clearing's other side was the Ampere. When Abel looked back, he found that Kane had donned his mask once more, along with all four quivers. The bow was strung about his neck, and he made no motion except to sedately walk past Abel and stand between him and his weapon. “Come on, little brother.” Abel flicked his wrist, and threads of electricity arced from his fingers to the Ampere. The weapon shot past Kane to land in the guardian's outstretched hand, but the wild one's focus was elsewhere. He went through both of his quivers, poking around their insides, until he pressed a button that caused each of them to scrape. Out of nowhere, the entire contents of the quivers emptied straight into the air. Abel replied by letting go of his weapon, spinning it above his head as a Vortex Shield to keep the rain of arrows from dousing him. When the hail ceased, the clearing was littered with them, and Kane didn't have a single one. “Ready?” Seeing vulnerability, Abel dashed forward. He didn't want to fight his own brother, but the man who stood before him wasn't the same eleven-year-old kid wanting nothing more than to join his parents and defend the kingdom. As if reading his thoughts, Kane darted to the right, snatching four arrows from the ground, and faster than a rattlesnake's lunge he loosed them. Abel felt two pangs on his torso, and looked down to see where his aura had barely kept the projectiles from penetrating him. The protective energy flickered, becoming visible for a moment—a brilliant azure. Abel glanced at Kane, whose expression was indeterminate behind that mask. He still had two arrows in his hand. The guardian shouted and created another vortex shield. Kane started to run in a sideways strafe, loosing the two remaining arrows as he did so. Both entangled in Abel's spinning barrier, and he advanced. Without a word, Kane plucked another arrow from the grass, nocked it, and let fly. A sharp vibration reverberated through Abel's body, and when he looked at his should he was shocked to see that his armor was dented. The arrow had passed straight through the barrier. Now convinced that his brother would accept nothing less than his blood, Abel grabbed the Ampere, which changed to staff mode in his hands. A blast of lightning cannoned toward Kane, but the archer was already moving, and was more than happy to let the tree behind him take the voltage instead. Instantly the seared trunk exploded into firewood. Abel jumped just in time to avoid another arrow aimed at his knee, which instead glanced off the aura that enveloped his calf. “That better work,” he remarked, and briefly considered his situation as he landed, Ampere at the ready. His aura was already very low because of those direct shots, his enemy could shoot faster than Abel could normally move and had what passed for infinite ammo, and Abel didn't think he could stab his own sibling even if it were a Monday. And Kane had already restocked with a whole fistful of arrows. Abel dashed for a tree, but he wasn't quick enough. Two arrows zipped his way. One of them actually missed, the guardian was pleasantly surprised to see, but the other nicked his ear on its way. The ensuing damp trickle down his earlobe informed him that there was no more protection to be had. He was positive, though, that Kane couldn't have seen that his aura was low enough for him to take actual damage yet. As he raced to figure out a way to work with this, Kane interrupted him from the other side of the tree. “You can't let the fear control you, little brother! Stop hiding and confront what the wild has in store!” A fresh surge of anger seized Abel. He spun on his heel with the full torque of his arms bearing down on the Ampere, and ripped through the tree trunk. It was hardly a clean cut, so the mass of the tree collapsed in the same direction as the guardian's stroke, but nevertheless it fell. A swarm of splinters stung him, and as Abel smashed the butt of the Ampere against the loose wood, he could feel blood running down his face. When his weapon made contact a second time, a fusillade of splinters were thrown at Kane, who had been startled by the sudden destruction of the brother-separating pillar. Shielding his eyes even though he was wearing a mask, Kane stumbled backward, and Abel leaped onto the wreckage of the tree before springing into the air. He threw the Ampere downward and watched as its point connected with Kane's torso. Unfortunately, the older brother's aura rippled and deflected the weapon, and an unarmed Abel fell back to earth. Despite the guardian's best attempt to land on his foe, Kane slipped out of the way, and Abel fell into a length of police tape instead. Within seconds he was tangled, suspended upside-down a few inches above the forest floor, and in his haste to free himself, he did not at first register the force of an arrow lodged in his shoulder. When his body went into shock, however, the nerves pulsing and muscles twitching, Abel felt it. He couldn't stop himself from crying out in pain, but even as he did so he felt the blood rushing to his head. Through the clouded vision, though, he could still see Kane. “And the wild wins. It would be a good life lesson if yours wasn't about to end. Sorry, brother; you're not suited for the world that's coming. You'd be hunted down, alone and afraid, killed, and eaten. I'm doing my brotherly duty by watching out for you and giving you an easy death.” Abel's mind was hazy. He couldn't fight, couldn't protest, couldn't breath...maybe his brother was right. Dying at the hands of a noble adversary...well, it sounded a whole lot better than getting torn limb from limb and devoured. Unable to feel anything expect for the wetness on his face, the guardian closed his eyes. There came a whistling sound, and the world went white. With great difficulty, like a sloth rousing itself to move after a long sleep, Abel opened his eyes. His brother was on the ground, and in the center of the clearing was a smoking crater. When he looked beyond the crater, however, Abel's spirit soared. Standing across from him were three figures in white, green, and black. A voice his barely-conscious mind couldn't really identify met his ears; maybe it was one of the three, or perhaps all three together. “Afraid? Maybe. But never alone.” Faster than arrows, the assassin in black darted forward. She circled around the clearing, flippantly ignoring the six shafts that sought to pierce her heart. Kane gave a fearful yelp and turned his attention on the warrior in white, who sprang away and allowed the green-clad one to take the arrows, whose points failed to penetrate his armor. Finally grasping his situation, Kane turned to run, charging through the keep-out tape in a decidedly ironic panic. As he left with Shiro in pursuit, Abel was cut free from the entangling tape and tumbled to the ground. His chest heaved, and his shoulder hurt like hell, but he was still alive. “Hey, hey. We're here. If you let someone else kill you, I'm gonna be pissed.” Under less agonizing circumstances, Abel would have rolled his eyes at Sapphire. “Big damn heroes,” he breathed.

Priscilla, Greyson, and Daniel walked through one of the several dark alleyways of Vale. It had been six years since team RPGD graduated from Beacon, and Robert has been missing for three days. A mysterious message was sent to each of their scrolls only a few hours ago though. The message read: Tell no one, not even the police. Below the message was a mysterious address right after. That was where the three mid- to late-twenty year old members of RPGD were, searching the area for their lost leader. On the ground was a metal object in the shape of a hockey puck. Priscilla picked it up first, and a sudden burst of light shot out of the device. A holographic image of Robert appeared from the light. "Hey guys, wha'sup? So, uh, I found them. You know, the guys who took my family from me, so many years ago," the hologram of Robert said. "Let me start from the beginning. So that guy from team SIIS, Ineko, I got him to use his semblance to find some evidence from that night. Security tapes that should have been easy for Vale PD to find. Which is why that message I sent told you not to tell anyone. It's a conspiracy. They paid off the cops to keep themselves from prison. I don't know who's a part of it so I've been trying to keep all of this on a need-to-know basis, which is why you're only seeing this now. That message I sent was to be sent only if my scroll goes inactive for 24 hours, so if you're seeing this I'm probably captured or worse. I didn't want to involve you guys to keep you safe, but if I'm gone then I want you to continue my work. These are dead drops, each one you find leads you to the next and they can only be activated when in close proximity with your scrolls. I found an underground gambling ring disguised as a Laundromat. I'm heading there next. See ya' soon." The hologram was soon replaced by a compass pointing off to a new location, and team RPGD followed. When they arrived they found nothing but a burned down building surrounded by caution tape. There were no police or firemen in sight and the embers had long since cooled, meaning that the building had been like this for a while. The three members walked into the wreckage and found the next dead drop. Robert appeared yet again, but he had several bruises and cuts now. "<cough cough> Hey. <cough> More guys in there than I had anticipated. Found the owner tho- <cough>. Anyway, he pointed me to a new location, some kinda secret lair or something. Headed there now. I'm close, I can feel it. 'Bye." The compass appeared yet again, and just like before, they followed it the next dead drop. The new location was another dark alleyway, this one filled with White Fang though. They were searching for the dead drop. One of the members pulled it out of large dumpster and shouted, "Found it!" Team RPGD leapt into action, taking the terrorists by surprise. The one White Fang member left stood there, holding the dead drop. He shook with fear and extended his hand toward the three hunters, giving them the dead drop. Greyson hit him across the head with the blunt end of his sword, anyway. Robert appeared again, a banana peel on his head, and in the background were the walls of the dumpster. "It was a trap," Robert said, taking the banana peel off. "He must have called ahead or something, but it was a trap. They're looking for me and they'll find me soon. I'm sorry guys, I-" Suddenly several hands grabbed Robert, pulling him out of the dumpster. The hologram disappeared and was replaced by another compass. The three hunters approached what appeared to be a one-story, abandoned building. They continued following the compass to a metal door on the opposite side of the building. The door opened to a large stair case that they rushed downward, hoping to get to there leader in time to help. Finally reaching the bottom floor, they entered a room with several cells. They were all empty, but one was open. They continued through the halls each with several unconscious White Fang guards. Priscilla, Greyson, and Daniel burst through the final room finding it pooling with blood from the seven bodies that lied within. Six belonged to White Fang members, but the final body belonged to Robert. RPGD rushed to their leader, but he was long gone, several stab and bullet wounds littered his body. In his hand laid the final dead drop. The hologram activated. Robert was in a one of the cells that the three had sprinted by earlier. "They've confiscated all my stuff. The only thing I got passed them was this. I hope you guys find me in time." The hologram closed and another appeared, the timestamp read that it was recorded a day later than the rest. "They haven't given me food or water. I think they're trying to give me a slow, painful death or what not. I'll have to try and get out soon." The hologram closed and reopened again. The timestamp read that another day had passed and Robert appeared hungry, tired, and miserable, but the background had changed and he appeared to be walking through the hallway. "They're here. The monsters who took my family from me. The monsters who took my childhood from me. I stole one of the guards keys, knocked out the guards, and am looking for them. I-" Robert was suddenly knocked down, the dead drop sliding under a table. The only thing that could be seen were the legs of the seven combatants and their blood spilling onto the floor. Every few gunshots or slashes cutting through flesh heard would make one of the White Fang fall to the ground dead. Finally, only two pairs of feet remained visible. They charged forward and the sounds of a last breath left one of their lips. The two bodies fell to the floor. Then the dead drop began to move and Robert's face appeared again, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. "H-hey. I did it," Robert said before coughing blood onto the dead drop. "Finally killed the bastards... but at what cost? <cough cough>. I can't see you guys anymore, I can't spend anymore time with you, my new family." Robert's voice began to get quieter. "I'll miss you guys. I'm sorry to have done this to you. I'm sorry for putting you through this. I let vengeance consume me and now I... I... I've taken myself away from you, guys. I'm sorry. I love yo-"

Atlas = Nazi Germany
Mistral = USSR
Vacuo = China and Japan
Vale = Classiest England

That Friday, Diamond woke up expecting a normal day. They’ve been on a few missions already, often contracted by the SDC after they successfully escorted the first convoy. Today they would be a little out of their element as they were supposed to guard a cargo ship, and Marcus decided that Unsubtle wasn’t really fit for such occasion, but then again, they would each get their own cabin, which was more than the school offered.

Except only it didn’t go too well. All gone to hell when out of the blue, an unmapped chunk of the moon eclipsed the Sun. In the darkness that followed, a huge nocturnal sea Grimm paid the convoy a visit. The Captain of the cargo ship decided promptly to abandon it, and MODA covered the evacuation, for all they could do against that monster. Diamond found her recentůly acquired dust very useful, as freezing the water around the Grimm’s body slowed it down to half.

All of her joy was ruined though when a swipe of it’s tail simply cut the ship in half, leaving them on the wrong half from the last evacuation chopper. The woman’s mind raced to find a solution while the rest of the team tried to find a length of rope they could use to cross before the chopper had to take off.

Clapping her hands to get their attention, Diamond put up a shadow bridge. “Hurry damn it!” she yelled, as it was about as much as she could hold together, and even then not for long. True enough, the bridge disappeared when Marcus was still a few paces from the other end and Aurelius barely reached out in time with his lance for the leader to grab. Now stuck on the wrong end of the ship, she pointed at the helicopter: “Go you mongrels!”

There was still a way off the sinking ship. Well, in theory. Goodwitch said she wasn’t ready to cast a spell like this yet, but… what choice did she have? Deciding to better die trying to survive rather than giving up and becoming Grimm chow, she reached for the dust capsule in the pocket of her cape.

Popping the lid open, she poured what was left of her aura into the substance. The dust flown out of the capsule and swirled in front of her, turning itself into a shimmering black and red portal. Waving at the rest of the team, she took a breath and jumped through, hoping to emerge at their dorm room.

---

And so she did. Diamond came crashing right on top of her bed. Except she didn’t fall into the sheets. Someone else was already there. The Someone thrown her off and landed on top of her. Diamond felt hands wrap around her neck, but that wasn’t the worst thing. That would be the hissing mouth with two prominent fangs glistering with venom above her face.

But the jaw of her assailant went slack. As soon as Diamond got used to the light in the room, so did hers. Aside from the fangs and slit pupils, she was looking at a carbon copy of herself. “What the?” the both of them said in perfect sync.

Hesitantly, the Diamond who was apparently a Cobra faunus got off of her and helped her to her feet. They were left staring at each other for a full minute before either of their brains managed a reaction. “Oh lords this is not what I imagined a botched portal spell would do.” the human Diamond said, earning a raised eyebrow from her faunus counterpart.

After a few seconds, Cobramond figured out what happened. “You used it? You know that if you’re from around the same time you were not ready for that level!” the faunus scolded.

“I was trapped on a sinking ship, ok? What else was I supposed to do, die horribly?!” the human defended herself, and after a while the Cobra had to agree that she had a point.

Diamond was about to ask her local self to fetch prof. Goodwitch for her so she could attempt to return home with the more skilled magician’s aid, but the door to the room swung open and the rest of the team walked in. “Hey Hon Bun, why are you talking to… your… self?” said Aurelius, followed by equally stunned Marcus and Oswald.

Diamond was no less stunned, seeing Marcus with the claws of a Pine Marten and Oswald apparently working as part time grizzly bear. Something else was irking her a bit more though. A bit of explaining and bringing up to speed later, she leaned over to her other self and gave her a slight punch on the shoulder: “Hon bun?”

The other Diamond raised her eyebrows: “You mean in your reality wou aren’t…. Who then?” the faunus pried. “Amy.” the human shrugged, earning herself a gasp from the rest of the room. “You mean you’re...” Aurelius begun, “...gay as diamond studded rainbow, yes.” Diamond finished for him, sending the room into a few seconds of awkward silence.

Seeking to break it, she looked at her counterpart: “Hey, got any of that portal dust? I kinda used it all up and I need to get home… eventually.” she said, an idea forming in her head. “What do you mean? And shouldn’t we get Goodwich?” the faunus asked, not yet following.

“You sure you have to leave so soon?” Aurelius asked, but was promptly halted by the Cobra: “YES! She does.” Scrutinizing the man, the human diamond couldn’t find any faunus side of him. When she asked about that, it was the cobra answering: “A honeybadger.” the tone she said it in sounded frustrated.

“You know, it’s how we met really.” the badger elaborated, “I told her to bite me, and the bitch DID! But guess what, honeybadger don’ care! And given my semblance-” he said, pointing to his chest with both thumbs up, “- nothing can stop this guy.”

“You are right - I need to leave. Before I get testosterone poisoning. And call me crazy but… I want to see what other Diamonds are out there before going home, if I even can.” she giggled. One photo of the faunus team later, she was summoned the portal in exactly the same way as before and jumped through.

---

This time, she thought to aim her spell to the floor rather than the bed. Good thing too. When she looked around, she found that the next instance of the team actually consisted of different people. “I-I’m sorry. My aim must be way off. Is team Moderation around here somewhere? Room 2-16.” she asked sheepishly.

“I don’t think so...” the only guy in the room said, scratching his chin, “But this is room 2-16, team DiAMOnd at your service. My name is Diamond Frost the problem solver, and let me just tell you lovely lady, I’d rock your world!” he said.

Diamond winced. “That would be… selfcest I guess… And I so must unthink that somehow. Diamond Frost, recovery of lost items and not-so-good portal caster.” The three other girls in the room exploded in giggles while He-Diamond’s jaw went slack in the same way as the Cobra’s the last time.

“A failed portal… So I take it they-” he pointed to the giggling heaps, “- are guys where you come from?” he asked, and the giggles promptly stopped and were replaced by horrified expressions. “Yep.” Diamond said, popping the ‘p’. The horrification was replaced by much the same wincing as Diamond did just a few seconds ago. “So, who are you people?”

It turned out that the team was further composed of Mellanie Goldstein, the pilot of the team’s helicopter gunship called Pride of the Motherland, the tomboy meathead Olga Connoly and last but not least Antje Bellum, the resident rich bitch. Naturally they were all hungry about the details of their counterparts, and Diamond was happy to gossip while her other self went to fetch the combat instructor, because despite the fun she was having, the universes she travelled through were starting to get a little strange.

After a bit of talking and preparations, the blonde professor was ready to try to send Diamond home. She had one other thing to do though - something that has been on her mind since her local self introduced himself. A codeword from her gang times.

“Hey Frost. You know what I meant by “recovery of lost items”, right?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t too obvious. But if she was right, her local self would have a bit different history and probably not as big mind for detail.

Grinning, He-Diamond nodded: “You were, or are, a dirty thief.” he said. It was She-Diamond’s turn to grin. “Indeed. And you are a problem solver. And as the code in the gang was, ‘Death solves all problems. No man - no problem.’” she quoted, and the male diamond suddenly went very, very pale. “Professor Goodwitch, I believe this man is a contract killer and I’m sure a thorough investigation would prove it.” she said with a vicious smile.

After a second of wide eyed staring, the rest of his team had Mr. Frost restrained. Diamond was bending over him, victory radiating from her face. “I’m no angel, but I absolutely despise murderers. Since you are here, it leads me to believe you too were committed to an Althesian Juvy. And guess what? In the end, you ARE going to Althesian prison. For a very, very long time.” The last thing she heard as she was stepping through the portal were her counterpart’s angered curses.

---

This time, Diamond appeared in the gardens of Beacon, courtesy of Prof. Goodwitch’s much better aim. It turned out to be a very wise decision, as Diamond quickly found out that she didn’t even attend Beacon in this reality.

While that wasn’t a problem for her - she only really needed the professor’s help - she was still kind of curious about what happened to her, and so she started backtracking her former, alternative plans to find where her life forked from the Diamond that lived here.

And thus she found herself in a bar called ‘The Drunken Huntress’ on Vale City Avenue. It really answered everything to her - she only thought of the name after she stated at Beacon, meaning this particular Diamond was a dropout that went on with her idea and launched her own criminal ring. She couldn’t say she wasn’t tempted, but her grades fortunately never sunk so low.

And then, she was met with a familiar sight. Aurelius walked out of the private area and froze as soon as he saw her at the table. “I just saw you two minutes ago someplace else. How did?”

She stopped him with a grin: “Surprised to see me? Well then, I suppose I will have to go talk to myself! Code phrase: Diamonds are forever.” she said, and watched with amusement as Aurellius went paler than the walls around them. “No way...” she heard him sigh before being urged into the private longue, up the stairs and into what seemed like rooms.

And there she died a little on the inside. Her local self was a complete mess, looking ten years older than she should. “Come already.” she heard herself say, followed by a terrible coughing fit.

“What did you do to me?” she asked, sitting to the side of the bed where her counterpart lied. “Lung cancer. Word of advice - never start smoking cigars.” local Diamond coughed out, “But enough about that, start talking, how did you end up here?”

One story sharing session later, Diamond was introduced to herself the crime boss, Aurelius the consigliere, Marcus - her motor pool guy and finally Oswald, her driver and body guard. “You say you need Goodwitch to help you, but I think I have someone better. Os, bring her.” the Kingpin Diamond ordered.

A minute later, Oswald arrived into the room, with Raven Branwen tied up in aura-suppressing shackles in tow. “What do you want now?” the woman hissed, before she saw that her captor had a double in the room.

Diamond was getting sort of tired of explaining her situation over and over, but when her other self mentioned her prisoner was a portal user, she sucked it up for a chance at getting home soon.

“I fail to see one thing. WHY on the world do you think I would help you?” the tied woman asked. A nod from Crookmond later, Oswald removed the aura suppressors. “I’ll let you go. Jsut help her - me - you know.”

“You realize I’ll be coming after you, right?” Raven said, and the Boss gave her a dry, coughing laugh. “I don’t have more than six months left, woman. But I’ll tell you what. NExt to me is a proof that not even I was past redemption. I want to extend my crew the same chance. SO how about this. YOu help her, and in return, I’ll give you my ring to command. A personal army that can help you do whatever they hired us to prevent you from doing. And don’t even bother bargaining, it’S a damn good deal and you know it.” she said, the sickly woman still radiating pride and superiority despite her state. “Very well.”

---

Diamond left that particular reality with mixed feelings. One thing was certain though: Her smoking days were ended and she was going to get a very thorough medical exam as soon as she made it home.

Only she didn’t. She appeared in the same house, same room, but there was an old, silver haired lady in a wheelchair instead of the crime boss. “Surprised to see me?” she told her, and the gears ground to a halt in Diamond’s head. She just said that to the Aurelius of the former reality few moments ago.

“Don’t tell me I now got flung across time too!” she said, realizing the old woman in front of her was none other than herself again. “Yes, I’m afraid so, but don’t worry, little Dee, there’s good news. I know for a fact that I am YOU, as is, you you. I’ve been where you are, so you’re in the correct reality at least.” she smiled at herself, “And that’s a small fix, you had ample time to prepare. Did you know that there is going to be an eclipse in an hour?” she asked, mischief in her eyes.

Diamond’s head did the math. There was an eclipse where she casted the first portal. Making a small golf clap as she seen herself realize it, the old Diamond pointed to the window, “Let’s watch together while a hired help gets here. This is more her area than ours.”

There were so many questions Diamond wanted to ask her future self, but she seen all too many movies to know that she would get nothing even if she asked. “Curious?” the older one asked. “You would know. Tell me one thing though: Where’s my hat?” Laughing, the older Diamond shook her bare head none the less. Soon, another portal opened and someone she didn’t recognize (yet? This was getting confusing) stepped through. There was one thing though: Her hat was on that person’s head.

Waving their arm, the new person opened another portal. “One piece of advice, minime.” the old Diamond said just as the young one was about to step through. “If you love something, put a ring on it.” she said as she got up from the wheelchair and shoved herself through the portal.

---

Landing in front of the chopper her team was just disembarking from, Diamond couldn’t help herself but throw them a big group hug. “What was that for?” one of them asked, making her chuckle: “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Fortunately, I took pictures.” she said cryptically, leaving them in suspense for a little while longer. They were in for a treat.

Finally the day was almost over. She only had one thing left to do. Reaching into her pocket, Diamond fished her pack of smokes and thrown it into the ocean. Then she spun on her heel and followed the team home.

It was just after the end of the first semester and Sapphire had had one hell of a night. She and the team had gone out to celebrate surviving the first semester at Beacon and it was worth the handover she knew she'd have in the morning. They'd gone out to a local karaoke bar and Sapphire had never laughed harder than she did watching a drunk Shiro Kuhaku trying to sing. Sapphire had collapsed into bed that night glad to slip into the oblivion of sleep, for once in a long time having a dreamless night.

Sapphire woke the next morning with a splitting headache, it torn at the inside of her brain determined to fracture her skull, ah but it had been worth it. Sapphire tried to open her eyes but the light hurt them so that she thought it best to keep them closed. She felt around for her cloths. She was wearing what felt like camo pants without a shirt. She still had her bra on though. Sapphire touched her bandanna which was lying on the floor close by when an arm wrapped around her waist. “Come on baby, fun's not over yet is it?” said a voice that Sapphire knew yet she was used to it being filled with more apology and timidness rather than the confidence that now ran through it.

On a gut reaction Sapphire grabbed the fingers of the arm around her waist twisting them along with the arm off herself and pinning the boy behind her in an uncomfortable spot. The arm was more muscled than Sapphire expected but she’d clearly taken him by surprise. His white hair confirmed that he was Shiro Kuhaku. Her eyes widened. “Ah come on baby.” He said his voice retaining its arrogance despite the pain he was speaking through. “That's not necessary, I told you last night we'd go just as far as you wanted, all you had to do was stay stop.”

Sapphire's eye grew even wider, if that was possible as she pushed Shiro out of her bed. They had gotten pretty drunk last night but even so she would never... Deciding to leave that thought unfinished Sapphire knew she needed to figure out what had happened.

Shiro got up unsteadily, he was clearly just as hung over as she was. “You said you wanted to get stronger but man, I guess those training lessons with Oswald have been paying off. And most people said you’d never make it at the academy.”

Shiro said more to himself shaking his head as he got changed. Something in the last comment struck Sapphire as odd. She’d never heard anyone refer to Beacon as an academy before, sure it fit the description pretty well but it didn't sound quite right. “Academy?” she asked not sure what was going on.

“Beacon Military Academy.” Shiro said in a voice that suggested he thought she was mentally handicapped. “You're brain get scrambled by that alcohol? Abel said you were a lightweight but still.” Shiro shook his head as he pulled on a green shirt and military combat pants. Sapphire didn't think anything of his choice of dress she was too busy trying to puzzle out exactly what Shiro meant by ‘Military Academy’ sure that description could also fit for Beacon but it wasn't really something that it was called commonly. This of course flew straight out of her head the moment she opened her own bag and found that it too had three pairs of full combat gear in it.

“Shiro where's my stuff.” She said looking at him questioningly.

“What are you on about? There in your bag like always.” He responded looking up and confirming there were cloths in Sapphire back before going back to his own.

“This isn't mine,” Sapphire said more emphatically “This is all military garb.”

“Yeah,” he said like that was perfectly normal. “Sapph you go to a military school what did you expect?”

Shiro rolled his eyes before he went back again to preparing his things for the coming day. Sapphire decided this must be some elaborate joke, she couldn't exactly see what the end game was but she figured the more she insisted that something was wrong the more Shiro would deny it. Though this didn't really seem like him, Abel or Gren must have put him up to it.

Sapphire dressed in the military gear convinced she was going to look like an idiot in combat class this morning. Her weapons belt she found with Morpheus and Phobator strangely sheathed into intricate silver scabbards she’d never seen before. The leather bands that normally held them were still on her wrists so Sapphire couldn't think why the blades would need their own scabbards. Her shotguns seemed in order but then among her weapons Sapphire also found a long metal pole. It was lightweight and about the same length as her weapon in pole arm mode. There was a sling-over belt that kept it strapped to her back. Deciding this must be another part of the prank Sapphire donned the weapons over one of the military jackets which strangely enough had the Celtic Knot Insignia embroidered into them just like her real jacket.

Everything was more or less normal until Sapphire ready to leave the room glanced under her bed to reassure herself that both her go-bag and her violin were still where she left them last night. This was a reflex reaction for her since her stuff never moved, the others were too scared to actually touch anything in her area of the room. Because of this it took Sapphire a second to realize that in fact both items were missing.

Sapphire knelt down further and moved her arms over the space just so she could be sure that her things were in fact gone.

Sapphire straightened up and grabbed a metal cup off her nightstand. It looked like it was from a camping set but Sapphire didn't bother to think how it had gotten there. She took it and banged it loudly on the metal posts of each of the beds creating a massive clanking echo that reverberated inside Sapphire’s head.. “Everyone up!” she yelled at Abel and Gren. “NOW!”

Abel moved groggily to the edge of his bed before promptly falling off it. “Sapphy come on, we had a good night let us sleep. Where to you get off telling us to get up.” He said squinting at her. “Your usually the one to sleep in.” Sapphire ignored the blatant lie of that last statement before saying.

“My stuff you ass, were is it?”

Abel looked at Sapphire clearly not comprehending what it was she wanted. “Isn't it all in your bag?”

“Not that stuff you fool. The bag under my bed, my fiddle. What happened to them?”

“Whoa Sapphy come on, what’s with the language? You always look like your about to faint whenever anyone swears. Never heard you this forceful, are you still drunk?” he said struggling to his feet.

Quicker than the eye could follow Sapphire drew Morpheus from her belt, pushing Abel roughly up against the window and applying the blade to his neck. “Tell me where my stuff is?” Sapphire said very slowly her voice full of malice.

“Alright, alright geez.” Abel looked like he was thinking really hard.

“Well,” Sapphire asked the menace in her voice plan.

“You mean your go-bag and your violin right. The bag they confiscated first day, you have to remember, looked like you were going to burst into tears. The violin they keep in the band room. Too much can be smuggled on the inside of an instrument so they keep them safe when you’re not playing for the school. Seriously are you still drunk or is your memory just shot.” Abel said giving Sapphire the same look Shiro had when she’d asked about the school’s name. Sapphire let him go, this made no sense. What was going on?

“Sapph lay off him.” Said a voice from the other bunk before the sound of a large figure hitting the ground reverberated around the room.

“Gren don’t...” Sapphire said as she turned around but the rest of the sentence was lost when she looked at the boar faunus. It wasn't the same boy. His teeth were normal he had not strange bone structure to his face, and his skin was smooth. But when Sapphire looked closer she saw he had the same eyes, the same hair. His mouth crinkled in the same way when he was displeased. It was Gren but he wasn't a faunus, boar or otherwise. It was impossible. Of all the things that she had seen since waking up this was by far the strangest and that was saying something considering she’d woken up in the arms of Shiro Kuhaku.

Sapphire’s eyes darted from Gren to Shiro. How could she not have noticed before, he too was human, his white hair for it was hair and not fur had not traces of the tiger ears that normally adorned them and his tail was not bouncing annoyingly anywhere insight. Sapphire looked back at Gren.

“What the hell happened to you, to everything?” she shouted her eyes wild.

“Calm down girl.” Gren said not looking particularly impressed. “We all got plastered last night, it’s bound to shake up the nerves a bit. Specially for a lightweight like you Sapph. Why don’t you go run it off while us guys get changed eh.”

Sapphire got the distinct impression she was being mocked but it almost seemed empty, like Gren wasn't putting any real thought into it past using the comment to get her away from himself. There was a sort of emptiness to his eyes that Sapphire felt she should recognize.

“Alright,” she said giving Gren a scathing look. “You all have fun playing with each other.” She said with a snarl before exiting the room. Before she closed the door behind her Sapphire heard Shiro said “Weird girl that one, great in bed you know but it almost seemed like she was acting like you Gren.” Sapphire left in disgust.

She ran through the familiar corridors for a time before the breakfast bell rang and her growling stomach took her to the cafeteria. That morning they served porridge and water. Sapphire considered that the kitchen staff were getting lazy but didn’t give it a whole lot of thought. The things that did grab her attention were the other people in the caf. Mokuren was there except without her ears or her signature tail. In fact all the faunus students that Sapphire saw were missing those traits that made them part animal and no one but her seemed to notice. That and there was a distinct lack of variety amongst the clothing. Everyone was wearing outfits virtually identical to her own. The only real difference was that the insignias on various jackets differed from person to person.

Was it really possible that this was all some elaborate prank. It seemed very elaborate just to fool her. Perhaps it was for someone else and the stuents had neglected to let her in on it. Not that she would have gone along with it so that explained why she was left out. That must be it. But how had the faunus students hidden there animal aspects. For Shiro and Mokuren it wouldn’t be too difficult but what about people like Gren whose entire look had completely changed save for small details. Unable to make sense of her situation Sapphire got up to go to her next class as the bell rang. She was running up in the direction of the combat classroom. Sapphire was just about to round the corner when she heard her name being called from the other direction. “Sapphire where are you going?” It shouted, and it sounded a lot like Ivan but that was impossible Ivan never spoke to Sapphire if he could help it and going out of his way for a conversation was unlike him. Then again it wasn’t as strange as some of the things she’d seen today.

She rounded on the larger boy. “Lay off Ivan, I’m going where we’re all supposed to be, Combat Class.”

Ivan had a peculiar look on his face. Sapphire would have said it was puzzling but that would require Ivan to have a brain with which he could puzzle. “Come on Sapphire don’t joke around. That side of the school was destroyed in Vacuo bombing runs last summer. There’s not a whole lot over there.”

Sapphire stared at him scrutinizing his face, searching for signs of madness. “Destroyed? By Vacuo?”

“Sapphire,” Ivan said “Are you alright, you did get a little knocked around during the exams. Maybe we should go to the nurse’s office.” He reached out to take her arm and she slapped him away violently.

“The hell if wrong with you? You don’t worry about other people’s wellbeing and why are you talking to me anyways? You hate me. And why are you calling me by my full name? What happened to Sapphy?”

Now Ivan looked genuinely concerned. “Hate you? Sapphire you’re the only friend I’ve got at this school. The others measure someone’s worth on there fighting ability, you and I were the ones that no one thought should have made the cut. They all shun us because we can’t fight like them, and you hate that nickname. You asked me never to mention it again. Sapphire what’s wrong with you?”

Sapphire was stunned, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing come out of Ivan’s mouth. Was it truly possible that Ivan the most prideful and arrogant student at Beacon had just told her that everyone else fought better than him. It couldn’t be possible. She struggled for something to say and coming up empty Sapphire did something most uncharacteristic for her, she ran.

Sapphire turned away from Ivan and rounded the corner running up the hallways towards the combat classroom. She pushed open the door determined to get away from Ivan and gasped at what she saw on the other side.

The combat classroom was gone. A massive crater stretched to the edge of the wall and in it were littered broken doors and warped metal framework, broken glass and charred wood. Sapphire had never seen such devastation but what Sapphire saw beyond that shocked her even more. The school was on the ground. Beacon was no longer, if it had been at all, situated on a floating island above the city. Now it was a distance from the city surrounded by a barbed wire fence and if Sapphire was reading a warning sign in the distance right, landmines.

Sapphire heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Ivan out of breath from the run, is hands on his knees breathing heavily. “Sapphire what’s wrong, tell me.” He said a look of pleading in his eyes that Sapphire would have sworn to the devil himself could never ever be present in the eyes of Ivan Oakley.

“You first Oakley, what happened to the school?”

“I told you,” he said his breath still coming in unsteadily. “It got hit by Vacuo bombers last year. You were there, you should know.”

“NO! Not that.” Sapphire shouted. “What happened to the floating island the school used to rest on? How did it get here?”

Ivan was looking at Sapphire in the same manor you would a crazed lunatic. “Sapphire, Beacon was built here as a next generation University. When the war between the Kingdoms broke out it got repurposed as a Military Academy. Did Abel or Shiro slip you something when you guys went out to celebrate?”

Sapphire didn’t answer, her mind was occupied trying to reconcile the reality she was aware of with that of this horror show that was being played before her.

“What about the Grimm. Surely the kingdoms are too busy keeping them out of our borders without a war with each other?”

It was clear that Sapphire was worrying Ivan more and more each passing minutes. “What’s a Grimm?” he asked biting his nails.

This couldn’t be possible. Not at all. Sapphire gathered up what little she knew about this new world. The faunus didn’t exist clearly, the school was on the ground so that meant that much if not all of the remnant technology from the before times had never come to be. The Grimm didn’t exist could that mean? In a rush Sapphire pulled out Phobator much to the alarm of Ivan. She checked all the normal places only to discover that none of the dust mechanisms her mother had installed where there. Sapphire checked both her shotguns. They only had regular rounds and buckshot and they no longer interlocked.

The world she was in was wrong, all wrong.

Finally one last nasty thought occurred to Sapphire. What about her semblance and her aura. If this world had no dust, no grimm and no remnant could she still have either of these things?

“Ivan, I need you to do me a favor. Look at me closely and tell me can you see and hear me?”

As Sapphire said this she reached into herself in the place that normally contained her aura and her ability to mask herself. She used her usual tactics to block Ivan’s senses of her but as far as she could tell nothing happened. Sapphire couldn’t feel the sound or sights she was blocking reverberating in her head like a nasty headache though her hangover hadn’t been made better by all the running.

“Sapphire why would I not be able to see you. Seriously I think we should get you checked out at the nurse’s office.”

Sapphire went sort of brain dead allowing herself to be corralled by Ivan to the nurses office. She sat through a physical examination as well as a mental one before the nurse concluded that with the exception of a greater muscle concentration than the last time Sapphire had been checked up the girl in blue was exactly as she always had been.

The visit cost Sapphire and Ivan there time in Combat, History and Math but it seemed that very few people noticed their absence. Sapphire ate in the cafeteria, another helping of porridge which in this world was apparently the only thing on the menu. Then for a long while Sapphire just sat there in thought.

That is until someone tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey Sapphy, you’re late for Oswald’s lessons. He went out of his way to teach you to fight and your disrespecting him.” Sapphire was used to a Marcus Goldstein with a much more comical and light outlook on life but then again that was in her world where contrary to her normal outlook things had not actually been so bad. At least there the humans were united and stable.

Sapphire reacted to what she perceived as a threat very quickly, certainly quicker than the Sapphire Rode of this reality had ever moved. She pulled one of her daggers out and stood up suddenly slinging her arm around Goldstein’s neck and pressing the sharp edge of the blade against his neck. “You know what happens to a man who’s had his carotid artery severed?” she whispered in his ear. Everyone in this world was a perfectly capable combatant but none seemed to expect anything of that kind from Sapphire and so it seemed she had the element of surprise on all of them.

Marcus, his eyes the side of dinner plates muttered, “No,” he said trying not to move to avoid being cut. “Call me by my name and you won’t have to find out.” Sapphire hissed at him.

“Alright,” he said still trying not to let his vocal cords push his skin into the knife.

“Alright…?” Sapphire asked

“Alright Sapphire.”

“That’s better, now where do Oswald and I usually spar?”

Sapphire left the cafeteria leaving most of the school whispering about what she could have done to Marcus. She rolled her eyes and attempted to wipe some grease she’d picked up from him off her sleeve. I guess some things never change.
The place where Sapphire and Oswald normally sparred was in fact the same place they sparred in Sapphire’s world. Atop a small hill overlooking Beacon, in this reality however there was much less foliage and it looked like a small sparring arena had been erected.

When she arrived Oswald was sitting cross legged in the middle of the arena with his eyes closed, he looked more or less the same with his pale skin and short dark hair except of course for his lack of armor and a scar on his lip was also missing. He still carried a sword on his back but it was nothing like the Trepidation Blade. It was long and flat, designed more for slicing and not for dust channeling.

As Sapphire approached Oswald spoke without opening his eyes. “You’re late.”

“Yeah, I got lost and threatened by your buddy Marcus.”

Still without opening his eyes Oswald responded. “I will speak to him about that later. For now we must work on your skills.” Finally Oswald stood and drew his blade. It was a beautiful piece of work and clearly carefully forged. “I thought today we could work on your skills with the quarter staff. I realize you are more comfortable with ranged weapons but at some point melee combat will be unavoidable, at that time it is important you be prepared.”

Sapphire shrugged. Oswald was giving off a definite Guru vibe compared to his normal friendly peace on earth attitude. Well if she had to live in this world being able to fight Oswald every couple of days wouldn't be so bad.

Sapphire unlatched her quarter staff from her back and gripping it firmly in both hands drew it across her torso in a defensive stance. Oswald looked slightly puzzled at this but chose not to say anything.

The fight commenced. Oswald started with a fairly typical slash at her head which Sapphire parried easily with her metal staff. It was similar in length and weight to her pole arm so adapting to its use was not difficult. Oswald tried several more attacks all of which Sapphire turned away without breaking a sweet. Then the sword started to move faster and the real combat began.

Sapphire was infuriated to discover that Oswald had been going easy on her. Now however neither pulled any punches, for several minutes they fought their way across the arena each step of lost ground recovered seconds later till finally Sapphire blocked his sword with her staff then spun the other end up catching Oswald in the stomach. With him stunned she hit him twice on either side of the torso just below his ribs before she darted around him, sliding her weapon over his neck, pressing it just to the side so that a little more pressure would cut off his blood flow rather than targeting his oxygen supply.

“Concede?” she asked him with a smile on her face.

“I concede.” Oswald said showing no emotion to his voice.

The moment Sapphire’s weapon was removed Oswald spun round faster than Sapphire thought possible. He hit her arm with the flat of his blade causing her to drop her staff which he caught. Then giving her no time to react he spun the staff one handed cracking Sapphire across the face causing her to see stars as she was sent sprawling to the ground by the force of the blow. He planted her staff in her stomach with enough force to show he could do a lot more damage if he wanted to and then brought his blade within inches of her neck just barely avoiding touching the skin.

“Who are you?” Oswald asked, his calm demeanor broken by what looked like anger.

Sapphire didn't know what was going on. “I’m Sapphire, look just cause I beat you in practice, you don’t have to be a sore loser about it.” Sapphire answered her own anger mixed into her voice.

“Sapphire Rode can barely wield a quarter staff, she certainly doesn't know the proper defensive stance to start a battle with it and there is no world in which she could know the proper way to choke a man out. Are you a spy from Mistral or Vacuo trying to find out about our training techniques? You picked the wrong girl to impersonate, where is the real Sapphire Rode?” Oswald snarled at her.

“I am the real Sapphire,” Sapphire shot back. “Just not the one you’re used to.”

“What does that mean?” Oswald demanded.

“When I woke up this morning everything was wrong. The people this place, I know them all but all of them are just a little bit different. Shiro's arrogant, Marcus isn't funny, Ivan is kind and we’re at war with the neighboring kingdoms. I don’t know what happened any more than you do but this isn't my world. It’s some sort of nightmare I've landed myself in and I need to find my way back home.”

Surprisingly enough Oswald removed his sword and her staff from Sapphire, helped her to her feet and handed her her weapon back. “I suppose we should work on getting you home then.” He said as he walked towards the school buildings.

Sapphire ran to catch up to him. “Wait. You believe me?”

“Of course, I've known Sapphire for years and I know when she’s lying. You might not be the girl of this world but you haven’t changed all that much. You've just buried that sweet girl under layers and layers of hostility. Someday she’ll get out. Come on.” He said gesturing towards the school.

“Where are we going?” Sapphire asked.

“We’re off to see the wizard.”

Oswald brought Sapphire to what looked like a chemical lab. It had beakers and test tubes with all manner of liquids, some glowing, some dull. Sapphire moved very carefully. This was the kind of place where one spilled chemical would blow something to kingdom come.

“Is the wizard in the house?!” Oswald shouted across the lab.

There was a bang sound that Sapphire could only describe as someone hitting their head on something else before a man popped up behind one of the counters in the room. It took Sapphire a moment to recognize him because he looked so very different in this reality but there could be no doubt that it was in fact Merlin.

He was much scrawnier in this world than hers and sported a pair of glasses. Instead of his usual black cloak Merlin wore a hooded lab coat. What really gave him away though was his green hair, normally as long as Sapphire’s now clipped short and his multicolored eyes.

“Ah, sorry about the mess, so sorry. Mr. Connoly, Ms. Rode, what can I do you for?” Just as Oswald was about to answer there was a sound that came from the computer at the back of the lab. Sapphire recognized the jingle. It strangely enough was one used in a sales ad for dust.

Excited Sapphire ignored both Oswald and Merlin making her way straight to the computer console. The screen was completely black but as she watched white text scrolled across the screen.

Hello Sapphire. It read

If you are reading this it means that my plan was successful. In our world I discovered a piece of remnant technology that I adapted to act as a time travel agent. In my youth my mother and father were killed by the Grimm and scared me for life. It was the reason I joined Beacon in the first place. Due to constraints placed on the device I could not prevent this from happening as travel within your own timeline is impossible so I did the next best thing. I traveled back to the beginning and I destroyed the original Grimm. The first one that gave birth to all the others. I hopped that removing the Grimm from our world would make it a better place but unfortunately I could not be sure of this. Because I was the one altering reality there was no way to preserve myself from the original timeline but I figured out a way to ensure that another stays the same. I left you Sapphire with your memories so that if the world I created was worse than the original you would know and be able to turn it back. I left a fail safe device where the school would one day be built and programmed it to tie in with this console. Now tell me Sapphire and be honest, you out of all the people at our school hate the Grimm so tell me is a world without them truly better?

At the bottom of the screen was a prompt that said: Press enter for restoration.

Sapphire looked back at Oswald and this world’s Merlin. She didn't hesitate. Her own world might have been a nightmare but at least humanity was together, united against the darkness. Not slaughtering each other for scraps.

Sapphire hit enter.

There was a blinding flash of light and color. Sapphire felt like her body was being pulling in every direction. She tried to scream but no air would exit her lips. Just when Sapphire was sure she was going to die the sensations fell away. She was standing in a cave marked with thousands of different symbols. Sapphire was no linguist but they looked like warning signs. Also spiked through the cave were dust deposits.

Not thirty feet from where she was standing was Merlin, her world’s Merlin. He was pointing Deep Magic at the roof of the cave and clearly was about to enact some sort of chain reaction in the dust.

“MERLIN!” She shouted, “STOP!”

The green haired magician turned to look at her as she ran to him. “The fail safe device? But I never thought, you of all people should know how terrible the Grimm are?”

“I do Merlin but without them Humanity has nothing to keep them together, the kingdoms tear each other apart over resources and land. At least with the Grimm there was a way to fight them. But without the Grimm to take priority human savagery runs rampant.”

Sapphire said emphatically trying to make him understand.

“I put the fail safe device in so that you could decide the best course of action. I suppose you have.” He glanced sorrowfully at the cave entrance. “In about three hours a group of humans, cavemen really will come through here. They’ll discover the dust in these walls but also they’ll awaken that.” He said pointing to what Sapphire had taken to be simply another of the cave walls. She’d been wrong. It was a small section of a much larger black beast.

“The First Grimm?” Sapphire asked

“Exactly.” Merlin responded “I had hoped to destroy it before those fools could awaken it and allow it's kind to spread all over the world.”

“But if you do Humanity never discovers dust either. That is a loss that the world isn't prepared for. Come on.” She said taking his arm. “Let’s go home.”