Chapter 37

[||||=LEVEL 37= ||||]

My only thought was how stunningly beautiful Blake was. The dimming light shined on her skin like ethereal moonlight. Something in me clearly said my perception of her was being manipulated but I ignored the voice. Her eyes glinted like hardened amber polished to a sheen yet retaining a perfect softness. Every curve was pronounced and-

Bella smacked Blake from the back of her head and she made a squeak of surprise. Suddenly the illusion was broken. I blinked. Suddenly it was just Blake. Sure she was good-looking but not gorgeously so. I hadn't noticed Bella either. What the hell?

*Ding!* New skill acquired! - Mental resistance

"It's hard to defend against a feeling. It takes mental maturity, which is shockingly rare in this day and age."

-Ozpin Meridian, the last wizard

"Blake don't do that to the poor kids!" Bella admonished. "Look! You even did it to Ocean. Don't screw with your friend's sexuality unless it's clearly for giggles. You even did it full blast. No subtlety whatsoever in it!"

I glanced at Ocean. She was staring wide-eyed at Blake with a hazy and unfocused look. I leaned over to her and poked her hard in the shoulder and she jerked and clarity returned. She blinked rapidly and frowned as she pinched herself and focused on Blake again without the haze. I noticed Cesium and Kerrigan with similar looks. Thank dust Weiss is sick today. I walked over to them and punched each of their shoulders hard and they had differing reactions.

Cesium flailed at me and a wild look entered his eyes. I grabbed his head and stared calmly at him. His mouth dropped and he suddenly recoiled and took the situation over in his mind.

Kerrigan stood stock still but the look dimmed in his eyes. I hit him again and it was gone. He frowned and furrowed his brow as he glanced around the room quietly.

"-and it's generally just plain rude!" Bella finished. One more angry look was directed at a sullen looking Blake.

"So what did you do exactly?" I asked, just a little bit angry I had some sort of mental manipulation on me.

"My secret technique for seducing anyone with an active aura." Bella grumbled. "Blake wasn't supposed to use it outside of practice."

"I never saw it actually work before." Blake muttered.

"How does it work?" I asked.

"You push emotion into aura and fling it at somebody is the basics of it." Bella said dismissively. Oh so it's just like talking to elementals but with emotion rather than raw information and words.

To try it out I focused on a single thought. How devastatingly beautiful Bella was. I focused all that feeling on a shard of my aura and sent it out as a sort of pulse at Blake like I was talking to a spirit. Blake blinked once and a hazy look entered her eyes. She looked at Bella and before Bella did anything Blake leapt at her and smashed her lips against hers.

… Oops. Weird that I didn't get a skill for that. I guess it's more of a trick than a skill.

…

…

I should probably get Blake off of Bella now.

Bella flipped Blake under her and Blake's eyes almost seemed to shine as she clawed at Bella's clothing. "Damnit Blake!" Bella slammed Blake against the floor and she snapped out of it.

Kerrigan and Cesium looked at the two with slightly open mouths. "That was…" Cesium didn't quite manage to voice that thought but we all got what he was saying.

"Yes. Yes it was." Kerrigan agreed.

"Wha… did I…" Blake's eyes widened and she blushed intensely and looked away towards Kerrigan, Cesium, Ocean, and I, where she blushed harder.

"Lets not use that particular technique until we can control it." I suggested. Bella looked at me angrily.

"Did you just steal my technique?!" She demanded.

"I've used a similar technique to 'speak' to… animals. I never considered that it could be used against people. It never crossed my mind." My pause clued Bella in that it was a magical thing and she sighed angrily.

"Fine, fine." She looked at me appraisingly. "You know, maybe you should join in on our-"

"No." I said flatly. No way in hell I'm learning seduction from Bella. That's like asking to be teased. Besides, that's a thing for her and Blake. Not really me. I have a talent for aura and magic. Not seduction in the slightest.

"Can we learn how to do that?" Cesium asked hopefully. Bella looked at him for a moment.

"I'll teach you the basics and only that to you since you're sort of the manipulator type." She muttered. "Work on aura control until you can make a pulse of it and sense things through it. It's called the Gellert pulse in the aura control textbooks. With aura sensing you can sort of see through the pulse. Figure out how to direct it." Cesium smiled and nodded gratefully.

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"Tomorrow?"

"Yup!"

"You're sure?"

"Yup!"

"He's free that day?"

"Yes, Yang. Abyss is free, he's going to be home, I already booked a ferry ship for him, I asked dad if you could leave school early and he was fine with it, and so on. He's also gone that day so the house is for you, me, and him. Dad and Abyss will make up eventually… probably."

"And he's really coming over?"

"Hehe. He owes me one. He kicked my butt too hard in practice and I played it up. He apologized and still feels bad for it. He'll come."

"Sneaky."

"I can be sneaky!… sometimes."

"I'll bet he saw right through you."

"No he didn't! He'll be shocked and everyone will go 'Wow Ruby! You genius! You reunited the family like a pro! You should just be a councillor! All of remnant's problems will be solved!'"

"Not a chance! Although you could act more… flowery!"

"… Oh because… rose. Right… can you not drive Abyss off with puns? I kind of worked hard for this."

"I have a checklist ready with all the puns I can make with him."

"Oh dust no."

[|||| =+= ||||]

"This is why I'm here?" I asked, not really surprised at Ruby's lack of deviousness. When she had played up her mild injury that training session I had immediately suspected her of planning something. This was my first guess. "Wow, you really got me."

"Hah!" Ruby crowed.

"It's sarcasm, sis." Yang said with crossed arms and an eye roll.

"He totally said it!"

"It was sarcasm." I said blandly. "So you want the family back together?"

"Yup!"

"Took you long enough." Ruby blinked at that. I'll just giver her a moment.

"Eh?" A rather long moment.

"Yang hated having the family apart and you always felt bad seeing Yang every day. It was only a matter of time really. I thought you would drag me here last year and set everything out all at once."

"Um, yeah." Ruby looked sort of out of it for a moment before she shook it off. "So can we just… stop being weird? Nobody even did anything really wrong but we're so far apart! Maybe Yang can even live with us?"

"Absolutely not. That's… that's her decision. Her business."

"Her?" Yang frowned. We ignored her.

"But she's-! And Yang's her…" Ruby looked torn. Yang looked curiously between Ruby and I. "I just want a family that's not… messed up."

"You can have that." Ruby didn't react, knowing some sort of twist was coming. "But not everybody can have that. Besides, do you really want Yang dragged into the secret?"

"No…" Ruby looked sad. Then she perked up. "But can you make up with her?!"

"Mmmm…" I looked at Yang. She looked hopeful. "You never did anything wrong, you know." I told her. She narrowed her eyes.

"It's what I didn't do. I'm sorry." I raised an eyebrow to clarify and she grimaced. "I… I should have been there for Ruby. You shouldn't have had to take care of her by yourself. I was as bad as my mother-" Ruby flinched behind Yang. "-When I left her to you. I was… I was in a bad place. I can't be more than sorry and do what I was supposed to do." Yang locked eyes with me but she looked almost afraid, like she she expected to be rejected.

I was silent for a moment. Both Yang and Ruby stared at me. Ruby looked really nervous while Yang was doing her best to show a strong front. "I'll forgive you." I admitted. "But I'm not accepting nothing. I want you to get over your mother."

"What?" Yang's voice had ice in it.

"You want to be an older sister to Ruby. The best sister you can. But you're not. You haven't sacrificed anything. You haven't given anything up for her. You still want answers from your mother but you don't fool anyone that you don't hold something for her. Summer was your mother. Have you not accepted that maybe you had a mother?"

"Summer was my mom." She said heatedly, as though daring me to refute that. "My love for my sister and my desire for answers aren't mutually exclusive."

"Of course not." I scoffed. "But you can't want both and actively pursue both and have me approve. Call me a hardass or whatever you want but I'm not accepting less than your full effort to be a good sister to Ruby and making up for the missed years. Accept what you have or keep the hope that you'll have more. That's my term."

Yang was silent but I could tell she was angry at me. It's better than acting like a kicked dog at least. Sulking didn't suit her. With a snarl she reached out to hug me, like she's make me family by force or something, and I waved her hands aside. I was stronger than her. Something shined in her eyes and she grabbed my wrist and pulled me upwards. She sat down and plopped me right down onto her.

Oh shit. I'm not good at hand to hand. I didn't consider that.

Yang hugged me firmly into her and laid her head on top of mine. It irked me that she was taller than me enough to do that. "I'll stop looking for my… for Raven." She gave me. Unspoken was that she would ignore Raven's motherhood to her or at least give up on calling Raven her mom and trying to fill the void Summer left. "But if I find something worth pursuing I'm looking for her. I can't leave a loose end in my life forever whether it's Ruby or Raven. But you're… right." It was obvious that saying I was right grated on her nerves. "I'll focus on what I have rather than what I could have."

I stood still. "Fine." I agreed. "That's fair. Good to have you back… sis." Yang's grin was brighter than the sun.

"Ruby get in here!" Yang reached out and snatched Ruby's wrist. She probably could have dodged but didn't. Still she protested if only for the sake of it but Yang settled her in my lap while I was, in turn, on Yang's.

"So we're all family again?" Ruby asked hopefully while she squirmed uncomfortably.

"Yup!" Yang said happily. She was enjoying this. "Say, um, Abyss? You're loaded, right? Want to go clubbing?"

"I may have made a mistake." I despaired. "I can barely survive your affection myself. How will my wallet ever survive you?"

"Bear through the pain like a man!" Ruby cheered me on. "So that I don't have to. " She stage-whispered.

"I heard that you know." I deadpanned. Ruby let out a 'hmph!' disdainfully.

"These are useful, huh?" Yang scratched behind my right faunus ear. I winced.

"Don't-!" I could almost feel the shit-eating grin on Yang's face as she used both hands to scratch my ears.

"No!" I protested weakly.

"Ooh! His only weakness! Nice job Yang!" Ruby cheered. Yang cackled. Those places are sensitive damnit! They're like the soles of your feet but less like convulsions but more like you go limp…

What have I done?

"So who's this 'her' I've heard about?"

"We're not telling."

"Yeah you're not getting that out of us, sis. Sorry."

"Fine… just introduce me eventually."

"Fine."

"Okay…" Ruby clearly had a desire to get Yang and Raven on speaking terms but even she knew that it would take a long while before that ever happened.

At least a small part of the family is mended. Good job Ruby.

[|||| =+= ||||]

"We haven't talked in a while. How are you?"

"Tired."

"You just woke up."

"Yeah after only… oh."

"Yes an eight hour nap. I have another job for you."

"Fuck."

"You have a month before you head out though. Didn't you survive off of leaves and fresh air and in the wilds once?"

"Once upon a time. Such a long time ago."

"It's only been about two years Raven. A little more maybe."

"Ugh…"

"You're just a big softie now. Family, friends, sedentary lifestyle… you're practically retir-"

*Swish*

"Flinging fire at me doesn't make you younger. Look, you've got a month. The school year ends in three months in early may. You're to observe a person of extreme interest for a little while in his summer. A mistake I made spontaneously a while ago. I'm hoping he's turned out well and not… well, not like me. I need him to be pliable. Anyways, you go see this guy and report back to me. Seriously though you've got magic but I'm genuinely concerned for your strength. You need some training and live action. A still stone gathers moss and all."

"A rolling stone gathers no moss."

"Right. Look, rest up and check on Roman. I have a week long video conference tomorrow that's being televised. Fun."

"You don't know my pain. Pyrrha can fly now. Do you know how to track a person who can fly?"

"No but that's your problem."

"Brat."

"I like this new little rivalry between us. Don't old ladies call people young whippersnappers though?"

"I'll call you out on your bullshit if you don't let me take my nap."

"Your grey hairs are showing."

"Ugh… when did you get so snarky?"

"I've been hanging out with your daughter. She's rather nice actually. She's much less mopey and more confident now that she has Ruby and I back."

"The apocalypse must be coming with your powers of irritation combined."

"Why Raven an apocalypse means nothing to irritate."

[|||| =+= ||||]

"Nice to meet you master Abyss!" Penny said cheerily.

"Master… well technically you're not wrong I suppose." I mused. "Nice to meet you Penny.

As soon as Polendina messaged me that Penny was functional I had teleported out of class to his workshop. Damn the absence. It's january and I have two unexcused absences. Whatever. I can miss one.

"It's a pleasure master Abyss!" She said with equal cheer as before.

"Just Abyss please."

"Of course Abyss!" I sighed and looked towards Poledina, who looked at Penny with pride.

"You haven't taught her social etiquette yet, have you?"

"It's cute!" He defended.

"Pronouns, Poledina. Pronouns and silent subjects. Even if language is a mess it's still the common language."

"But they're so inefficient! The subject of your speech is unclear and implied! Using a verbal indication of the subject leaves no room for double meanings and clearly expresses the subject of your discussion to avoid confusion!" Penny defended herself.

"Please adjust to normal human and faunus speech." I asked. She grudgingly nodded. "Talk however you please in private but in public you have to maintain the illusion that you're human for now."

"Okay master Abyss." She said without a hint of snark… I'm pretty sure she just mocked me by calling me master Abyss.

"Was that mocking?" I asked.

"Nooooo" She said in a long and lilting tone. She's totally mocking me.

"I like her." I said with a smile.

"Yes!" Poledina did a fist pump. "Hi-five!" He held up his hand and Penny gave him a high-five. Poledina then realized I was in the room and coughed uncomfortably.

"Right, so spatial runic matrix is fully operational with ten safeties in place. Penny calculated the risk of failure to be less than point zero zero nine percent. Her emotions are tied to her aura, which is… well it's a copy of mine sketched onto viventium with a hint of moribus in the alloy to better hold my aura. It's held together with… laces of mana I suppose would be the best term for the binding of her soul. Over time the viventium will hopefully grow to be her true body since it grows properties and all."

"My body is composed of advanced Atlas alloys and bluesteel! Bluesteel is a magical alloy friend Ruby developed at my father's askance." Penny smiled but it looked a little stiff. Her face didn't move subtly like a human's and her head didn't sway, rather her eyes moved to the edge of her vision before her head moved, giving her an eerie effect to her vision when mixed with her jubilant attitude. Poledina would have to fix that.

"Ruby developed an alloy?" I asked curiously, ignoring Penny's unnaturalness.

"It's just steel with a large infusal of the earth element and some runes helping to infuse the ambient order affinity into the earth affinity to make metal affinity in the metal. It's like metal that's more amplified in it's expression of… being a metal. It's harder, more conductive, less malleable, heavier, and more." Poledina explained.

"Good." I acknowledged. "So what are you going to do now, Penny?" Something in Penny's expression shifted to show some hesitance.

"I… don't know. I think I want to help father in the lab." She said shyly.

"Penny has trouble acting independently still." Poledina said, a hint of happiness at Penny's admission in his voice. "I plan on slowly opening her up ot the outside world. Sadly I can't always be with her."

"Hmph. Fine." Something occurred to me. "Do you have a plan to help the company?"

"Oh absolutely!" Poledina said excitedly. "I have a whole journal of ways we can apply the technology used in Penny's birth to the more mundane things. It's all economically viable and so on. I had the supercomputer run the scenarios in an economic simulator Penny made! You know you could quadruple your profits if you increased how much white sap you sell, right?"

"I know." I said. "I have my reasons. Money isn't everything."

"True, true. Now, the biggest advancement is a slow infuser! I took the idea from a crock pot. You slowly infuse small amounts of affinity into an element instead of trying to infuse the whole thing at once."

"I tried that." I said calmly. "Slowly infusing affinity only works so long as there's a far greater amount of affinity outside it. Affinity can only be infused with a far greater concentration of affinity present."

"With affinity you would be right!" Poledina said smugly. "But with mana you can condense it as you slowly compress the space the mana makes up. The concentration of affinity in the space agitated by the mana increases and affects the object in the center of my matrix more strongly. How much the space compression amplifies the infusal depends on the concentration of spatially attuned mana fueling the runic matrix, which is one of the few affinities that can't be compressed."

"So you amplified the affinities by compressing them in space and the object inside said space." I summarized.

"Yes!"

"Father is very good at what he does!" Penny said happily.

"… Yes." I said. A large smirk entered my face. My mind was whirring with ideas on how to use Poledina's compressor. So many options. "Yes he is."

[|||| =+= ||||]

"What the hell are these?"

"Your new crops."

"The hell is this?!"

"Flameroot. It burns and emits heat constantly without producing smoke. It's a highly efficient and self-igniting fuelsource that could replace typical fire dust in dust burners albeit for a smaller output but it would be a lot cheaper than the dust since it's far easier to acquire."

"Once more… the hell is this?!"

"Let me just point them out. Flameroot, which produces small amounts of heat constantly for an indeterminate amount of time. It might be a few years or a few months well, separated from the main tree that is. Next is zipis. It's a weed but it spreads quicker and it will NOT die. It regenerates from damn near anything. It's also stuffed with nutrients to an extreme degree. Two or three of the smaller ones a day feed you the entire day and they grow in nearly anything, having an adjustable metabolism and a rather ridiculous vitality. Next is water fruit. This one grows on land or in water. Whether the water is filled with salt or so on doesn't matter. It grows stalks filled with pure water. It'll solve Vacuo's water problem. Finally is the light bulb despite not having a bulb. I didn't make the name. Ruby's sister made it and it stuck. The leaves of the tree produce about fifty to two hundred watts of bioelectricity per day each and it's all stored in the wood to repel predators of all sorts. It's the most efficient form of solar panel in history."

"… Huh?"

"Imagine a field of these trees, all the electricity channeled through wires going from trunk to trunk. Imagine farmers harvesting the zips, solving hunger worldwide although they taste like shit. Imagine water being supplied freely in vacuo and how rich we'd get for it. Imagine a factory of sorts where these roots are compressed to become cheap and reusable heat. Crack two open on a cold winter's day and your home is heated for dirt prices. Air conditioning is solved. Power is so easily given that we could literally give it away for nickels and dimes."

"That's… selling all the power would put the dust plants out of business. The SDC could get pissed at losing one of their biggest clients. A good fifth or third or so of their profit comes from selling to dust harnessing power plants."

"You think I have a clue how to make a factory to harness these? Make a joint deal with the SDC. Hire faunus from their mines and have them make the factories since we don't know how. Offer a cut of the profits but have them provide security, land, and so on. They'll jump at the association with us due to our reputation and the advancing technology."

"Boss… I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For wanting to conquer Vacuo. I'll put the mobs out of business with this. I just became Jacques Schnee anyways so I probably shouldn't have been complaining in the first place."

"Go conquer the world, Roman. It's ripe for the taking."

"And you just started it with a pun. Fucking fantastic."

"Quit swearing. Didn't you just become Jacques?"

"It was a metaphor. The day I wear a suit with the collar down is the day I call myself an old man. Fucking dyed his own hair white… pretentious prick. Ignore my swearing. I'll be dealing with Jacques fucking Schnee. I need to let this out so I don't swear him to oblivion."

"Oh, and I'm working Weiss Schnee in on this. Don't ask why. Give her good PR. Whitley Schnee, the prick, can't take control of the company and Winter isn't viable. Weiss needs to take control. Now go frolic among your piles of money."

"How did you find about about those?!"

"… What?"

"Uh… right I'll get started on these."

"Yeah. I'll pretend I don't know you have money piles. Oh, and send a thank you to Poledina. He did the gene splicing to make these trees."

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"HOW?!" Weiss demanded. "HOW DID YOU DO THIS?!"

"ABYSS WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Blake yelled as she stormed in right behind Weiss.

"Do what?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Weiss tore through her bag - because such a stately heiress couldn't use a backpack like the rest of us heathens - and shover her scroll in my hands. Blake looked like she was torn between strangling and hugging me. I focused on the scroll, opened to the Vale news network.

'The new deal! SDC/NB alliance?'

'Today the SDC announced a joint effort project in which use of several new crops produced by the efforts of NB's cutting edge science team. Nature's bounty desires to use these new crops to their full potential and released the statement "We believe we are capable of using these new crops. However, to release their full potential we want the guidance of a company as old and experienced as the SDC, who we will defer to in using these most efficiently. We hope that with the business sense of the SDC and the innovation and agricultural experience of Nature's bounty we will enjoy offering cheap power, affordable food, and new opportunities to pioneer a new step in the history of remnant. We offer our thanks to our respective heirs, Weiss Schnee and Abyss Mavros for smoothing over this deal."

"Father is recalling me to the company to smoothly implement the deal." Weiss looked frustrated. "With the mention of me I'm getting attention from the media. I won't be here for finals and I can't get out of it."

"What if I ask?"

"He would drop me like lit fire dust." She said, still irritated.

"Then what's wrong?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We didn't smooth anything over! I didn't do anything! I didn't…" She didn't earn it.

"So what?" I asked. "You can do good with the mention you have. I trust that you can guide your father down a less exploitive path than he usually takes. Do so."

"But I want to have my efforts make the world a better place!"

"How are you NOT going to make the world a better place?! I asked disbelievingly. "You can go smooth the deal over, making things better for people everywhere, or you can not go and become a huntress."

"But I-…" Weiss held something back. Probably a desire to be a huntress and the head of the SDC.

"Just study to be a huntress at the SDC!" I barked. "That's what you were doing before, wasn't it?" Weiss looked irritated but nodded. "Then go change remnant first and become a huntress later. You can become a huntress later. You can't ever change remnant so effectively as right now so go do stuff. There's a conference in three days. My uncle, Mahogany, your father, general Ironwood, and your sister will all be there. Get there."

Weiss bit her lip before her eyes lit up. "Could you teleport me back and forth between Signal and the conference?"

"No." I denied. "I've never been to Atlas." Except for the black site and some wilderness but lets ignore that bit. Weiss looked like she wanted to scream in frustration.

"Fine… I guess I'm going to Atlas." She said angrily.

"Enjoy doing exactly what you've always said you wanted to do." I snapped, rather annoyed at her. Weiss never really fit at signal. She's upstanding, polite, rich, and somewhat spoiled. Sadly Signal isn't a boarding school like beacon and so the traits were never really pounded out of her. She never quite clicked with Blake or the others. She almost worked with Cesium but he's not quite suited for the high society Weiss fits so well in so they didn't hit a friendship.

At least she learned a lot. Weiss is the third best in the class now. Kerrigan and Yang have been tied for months now. Qrow just puts them both at second all the time now. Blake takes forth and then comes Ocean and finally Cesium at sixth after some random guy I never bothered to look at.

"Now why are you here?" I asked Blake.

"How can I help?!" She said, a fire in her eyes. I sighed.

"I'm getting the faunus equal rights as far as labor comes from this new deal. Weiss might be able to get a real retroactive inspection of the faunus conditions in the SDC. Honestly the biggest problem is a rogue faction of the white fang breaking out and disrupting us as far as you can help us. Jacques can be dealt with and Atlas will undoubtedly try to get an exclusive deal with nature's bounty. They maintain their edge over remnant with their military, tech, and the SDC so no doubt they'll make themselves known here if they can."

"So you want me to keep the white fang docile here?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty much." I agreed.

"Can we get representation in the deal?" She asked hopefully.

"Get me a call with Sienna and the white fang higher-ups so we can talk about that." Blake immediately whipped out her scroll and called Sienna. Or, I assume it's Sienna. I leaned back for a moment. This is a bit bigger than I thought it would get.

"Here. It's Sienna and the most important lieutenants of the fang." Blake said. I blinked.

"That quickly?" The call showed eight speakers.

"They've been waiting and on call since the deal was announced."

"Oh." I took the scroll from Blake. "Hello there. I'm Abyss, as most of you probably know. Now you all want different things so please just call 'here' so the call doesn't get too cluttered with voices. I like being able to hear the people speaking. Now, how many of you want the deal to be voided?"

"Here." Wait that's Adam Taurus.

"Me." He just sounds like an asshole.

"I see." I acknowledged. "I'll let you all in on a little secret. We don't really need the SDC for this deal. We could technically oust them in electricals, take a generous chunk of remnant's food supply market, and solve water shortages everywhere. However, if we did that we would gain the ire of the SDC. If you're all willing to somehow stop the SDC's attempts to disrupt our infringement into their economic territory then great but I think a peaceful solution accomplished through innovation causes less bloodshed and proves that faunus as a whole can compete as a world power. Could you, Adam Taurus, voice why you believe contrary to this belief?"

"The faunus should be independent of humanity economically. Association through business degrades our worth as people and furthers it as only objects for economic gain. We should be treated as people because we are people. Not just because we are useful to humanity as a whole."

I blinked. That was… that was really persuasive and thought out. Holy shit I actually like the guy and he's just said a few sentences. He's dangerous in more than just the madman sort of way.

"And you?" I said, referencing the other guy.

"I'm lieutenant Cast of Mistral I agree with Taurus." He said. "However, I'd like to protest the direct association to the SDC rather than having a major economic presence. I don't believe we can trust the Schnees to truly treat the faunus well even with your intervention."

"Both are valid concerns." I agreed. "Those are both concerns that would be perfectly valid were Jacques Schnee to have an actual voice in the discussion."

"He's the head of the SDC." Sienna pointed out obviously.

"He's obsessed with his ruined image." I pointed out. "He's also an asshole beyond levels thought possible. Me, my uncle, and even his daughters are well aware of this. I myself have associated with Weiss Schnee, the heiress, and learned of her desire to change the company for the better for the faunus. Granted, it's to 'redeem' her family but it's still a goal that helps the faunus. If you want confirmation on this please look to Blake Belladonna's reports or take my word for it. Jacques Schnee is not beneficial for equality. However, his daughter is. When the company shifts to her hands she intends to initiate a reform of the labor ethics of her company. I have her word on this and I believe it trustworthy."

"Will this deal improve the conditions of the faunus in the SDC?" Someone asked.

I laughed. "This deal will improve conditions for EVERYONE in remnant. I will ask for better conditions in the mines. I doubt Jacques will really care so long as I pay for most of the improved conditions. Money isn't a large concern for me. I'll pay for the better conditions in his mines. If you want to donate and receive good reputation I don't really care. Most faunus already consider me a racial symbol even more so than my uncle due to PR and statements from my uncle and yourselves. Getting more goodwill isn't a large concern of mine."

"Could you give us a moment mister Mavros?" Sienna asked.

"Of course. I'll hand the scroll to Blake until you're finished discussing." I did so and leaned back. She stared at me for a moment before glancing at the scroll and listening in for a moment. By the wince she expressed nothing good was going on.

I waited for a few moments before Blake handed the scroll back.

"Your terms are acceptable." Sienna said. "The white fang will gather and donate one million lien to help the efforts of your charity to the faunus in the mines."

"It isn't a charity. It's a donation. I clarified.

"Yes. Fine. However, we still want a seat on the conference to voice our opinion on the labor treatments of the faunus by the SDC and a voice at the deal."

"Who would be your representative?" I asked curiously.

"I and Ghira Belladonna, former leader and chieftain of menagerie, would both be attending on behalf of the white fang and menagerie. You will be representing the faunus as a whole as a champion of… our rights but we still have a voice and we would like it expressed by more people than just you."

"I see." I muttered. "Menagerie has no bearing in this deal and I recall they have little interaction with the SDC in general. I will not support Ghira Belladonna's presence at the meeting, though I appreciate his stance towards equality."

Sienna growled. "That's the point you idiot! We want menagerie to become a partner and exporter of labor to nature's bounty."

I frowned. A country, albeit a fledgling one… as my partner in business. "Oh." Menagerie wants to become a real country rather than a few villages in what's basically rural remnant australia. Menagerie barely has any economic power at all. They don't supply any dust, important goods, or anything. I have their in on the world market and they're trying to open it.

"Yes oh! Could you lend menagerie a hand damnit?!"

I took a moment of silence and focused on will of steel to regain my composure. "That's actually very convenient. See, Patch can only farm so much. Would Menagerie be willing to provide that farmland and labor do you think? Might I mention that all the new crops being used are extremely able to survive in tropical environments."

"He would." Sienna said confidently. "I'll send you his number."

"You have it?"

"Blake sent it to me."

"Fine. I'll see you at the conference." I could almost hear the vicious grin on her face.

"Oh I'll enjoy it. Thank you, Abyss." The call ended and I handed the scroll back to Blake.

"Good talk." I said. "I expected worse, honestly."

"I think Sienna likes you." Blake said with a shiver. I raised an eyebrow but didn't question her. I'm kind of tired. Politics do that to me.

[|||| =+= ||||]

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to track you down? Four months on the road tracking you down!"

"Uhm…"

"How did you even manage to get through that canyon in Vacuo?!"

"I sort of flew."

"You flew… of course you did. You show up at Kuchinashi's ruins and then just… waltz your way to Atlas city's red light district right after."

"The red light district?"

"Your mother and father I'm guessing."

" … Daaaad!"

"What is it sweet - oh hi Raven! How did you find us?"

"I flew"

"… Right. Nice to see you. So why are you here?"

"A social call."

"You really don't seem the type."

"Abyss' social calls."

"Ah."

"He doesn't seem the type either. I got the railgun down by the way! It's sort of draining though."

"…"

"I also met two friends! I never had friends before!"

"What are their names?"

"Ren and Nora. We met a month ago. They want to become hunters like me. I showed them some tips and we went our separate ways but we keep in touch."

"Fine. Do you have any tea?"

"Right this way. "

"Do you want to spar?"

"Sure, later. You mentioned flying?"

"I control my armor's metal and lift myself up in the air. I can go a lot faster when I use my semblance to augment my movements too! I'm as fast as my dad now."

"It's bullshit…"

"Kids these days are like that. Abyss can beat me and Ruby if he's mildly serious. He can't beat me without his semblance though."

"Ooh! That sounds fun! I can beat my dad if he doesn't use his semblance."

"Mind if I stay a while? I'm sore after so much tracking. I also need to get in shape apparently. Abyss complained that I was too sedentary after so long in the city."

"Sure."

[|||| =+= ||||]

I gasped at the pain in my chest and leaned back in my chair at the table. It's coming. "Abyss!" Ruby called out. Raven grabbed my shoulder and kept me steady.

I grabbed her and looked at her eyes intensely. "Origin." I said. Raven's eyes widened and she pulled me from the room. Just a moment later I was in my bed. A burning feeling was in my soul. Like it was changing much like how I felt way back when my soul changed.

It was weird. Like the burn you get when you touch dry ice. Like the burn of frostfire but more… spiritual. I growled at the notification I recieved.

*Ding!* New affinity acquired! - Origin

"ITISTHEBEGINNINGANDTHEENDENDENDNEWOLDPASTPRESENTFUTUREPRESENTNOWLIFEDEATHBEGINNINGENDBEGINNINGENDBEGINNINGEND-"

-'Othos' on the hymnal of the world's birth

*Ding!* New trait acquired! - Origin

"ITISTHEBEGINNINGANDTHEENDENDENDNEWOLDPASTPRESENTFUTUREPRESENTNOWLIFEDEATHBEGINNINGENDBEGINNINGENDBEGINNINGEND-"

-'Althea' on the hymnal of the world's birth

-+1000% mana

-All affinities unlocked at XXXXXX-corruptedcorruptedcorruptedcorrupted-

-the world burns as it is reborn in fire and frozen in frost and yet still it is whole. You have become that which is death to all and itself. Begone, mage, for this is not your place.

Administrator rights invoked under prime user 'Angel'. Clearance accepted. Trait modifying under administrator rights. Pending.

FATE core destabilized. Conflict being resolved by admin/prime user 'Devil'. Clearance accepted. Core being modified under administrator rights. Pending.

The quote is odd but I have bigger things to worry about. Like the admin… I have to act. I looked inside myself with meditation at my affinities. They were in chaos. Origin was… immense. It was like a black hole of affinities. My storm affinity, my strongest, shielded the other affinities against it, warring a war between the unstoppable potency of origin and the immenseness of the storm within me.

I tugged on the origin affinity to do something with it and a pulse of force flung out of me. Raven was flung back hard but she crouched down and clawed the ground, leaving a skid mark on my floor. I saw the air around me… sizzling. Popping with energy. My mana. I'm unstable.

With a growl I grabbed the origin within me and tried to seperate it into purity and corruption again but failed. It wasn't purity and corruption anymore. It was origin. The components facilitating it's birth may as well have never existed.

I gasped once more as my origin affinity hir my eyes. The innate purity affinity in my eyes was pulled on. "No!" Raven yelled. "Your eyes!"

"What's happening?" I asked, feeling faint. My vision was blurred.

"Your eyes are turning red is what's happening!" I growled and made a shard of ice. I meant to make a tiny mirror but made a jagged, shield-like formation of ice instead. I still saw my eyes though. It was like the silver was bleeding out of them, making the red marbling that had always spread throughout them expand. Fuck. that's bad. Very very bad.

I was helpless as the origin in me consumed the purity in my eyes. My vision blurred and refocused, seeming much sharper than before.

Something in the origin snapped and it froze. The pain immediately stopped. I let out a ragged gasp once more. "Abyss what's going on?!" Ruby asked urgently.

"Fucking higher powers are interfering." I hissed. A wrack of pain hit me and the origin in me exploded and everything went black for a moment.

I felt dizzy as I came back to consciousness. I saw Raven and Ruby still over me, Raven's eyes being her only sign of concern.

"It's gone." I whispered. A flood of something entered my mind.

*Ding!*

FATE core upgraded with ORIGIN engine. System 2.0 in action. Boot sequence activating. Testing…

Soul stability - 94%

Mana stability - 100%/99L

Mana stability upgrading… … … process completed.

Resuming testing…

Mana stability - 100%/100L

Physical output - 18% (Acceptable parameters under admin ruling)

FATE input - online

ORIGIN engine - online

Party - corrupted

Attempting recovery… failure

Attempting recovery… failure

Attempting recovery… failure

Attempting recovery… failure

Attempting recovery… success

Attempting integration… failure

Attempting recycle program… success

Party scrapped. System resources reassigned

Resuming testing…

Status system - online

Aura system - online

System user 'Abyss/Davey Cross' login

ORIGIN engine activated

System user 'Ember/Emma Cross' login failure - FATE system resources reassigned

Error; process completed prior

Process cancelled under admin permissions 'Angel'

System prime user login error

Error; process completed prior

Process cancelled under FATE system authority

ORIGIN engine assigned under admin rights 'Devil'

Resources outsourced for /reality

System prime user login error

Error; process completed prior

Process cancelled under FATE system authority

ORIGIN engine assigned under admin rights 'Angel'

Resources outsourced for /reality

Boot sequence completed.

PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED - (Angel): You don't have a single clue what you just did do you? Don't use origin. That was literally one of only eighteen or so affinities out of the near infinite affinities we DIDN'T want you to have. For further warning don't attempt to obtain an affinity for large extrasolar bodies (black holes, supernovas, etc.), divinity, atomic fission or similar veins of nuclear physics ideas (We don't want that in remnant), or concepts beyond your comprehension.

Although you've royally screwed the system (and yourself) we aren't completely taking your eyes. Without the FATE system's influences the origin affinity would have been too potent for your eyes and ripped the purity affinity from them before moving on to assimilate your other affinities. This did not happen because due to the divine nature of origin the origin was repurposed to make the ORIGIN engine, which is based in the system.

Instead of losing your eyes, which I know you treasure, the innate purity affinity is being assimilated into your soul, which is actually easier than returning the affinity to your body. Eyes are physical and delicate. Your soul is weathered and strong. The bonuses will be kept and the abilities will be functionally exactly the same. If you're so concerned with looks then use illusions. You must re-earn your purity and corruption affinities, however. I would give my condolences but I don't care.

The ORIGIN system runs off of the origin affinity you cultured similarly to how the FATE system runs off of the fate affinity you naturally had before it was repurposed before your rebirth. The ORIGIN engine is a new addition to the FATE system, naturally, and is to be used for constructing new functions from the fabric of origin to bring these new functions into being. We believe this to be a far better function than your shitty idea of making physical items or new affinities or the sort. Be grateful. We'll inform you of new functions as they come.

Don't fuck with higher powers and I don't mean space and time and so on. I mean origin, demise, reality, soul, and some others, some of which have no word for them since you mortals haven't discovered them yet. I could go on with them but the general lesson here is to not fuck with what's above you as a mortal. Do not mistake immortality for eternal existence.

Do not believe everything you hear. The truth may be a lie at the same time. You're strong but you don't know what you need to right now. It will come to you. Have patience.

-Angel

"Everything is fucked." I muttered. "I just screwed with the gods and got a slap on the wrist for it. But something happened. Something changed. I just have no idea what. My eyes are fine by the way."

"Will you be okay?" Ruby asked with the same urgency as before.

"I think so."

"What, exactly, just happened?" Raven growled.

"The origin affinity was of interest to Althea and Othos and it would have killed me by consuming my affinities… and maybe my existence." Raven glared at me. Yes, yes, so I got arrogant and played with a higher power. We all make mistakes. "They took it, created it into… something, and as a sort of paying off of favors my eyes' essence was infused into my soul as well as my purity and corruption affinities getting erased entirely. Gem is asleep. I can feel her in my soul still. She's just hibernating."

"They just took your purity affinity?" Ruby asked, stunned.

"And saved my life." I added. "Not that they deserve any praise for it. I'm nearly certain they did this for almost entirely selfish reasons."

"You were reckless." Raven scolded, though she stated it as a fact.

"And now I know not to be reckless. I also know what to avoid in the future so I don't repeat this process again."

"Do so."

"Now go away. Tell the tribe I'm fine. I'll be up in about an hour. I need some sleep." And to think about the message I was just given.

[|||| =+= ||||]

"Who are you?"

"I am Mahogany. A pleasure to meet you mister Schnee."

"Oh. Likewise. I have tried to reach you many times in invitation for gatherings."

"I prefer my hobbies and company. Social niceties are not to my taste despite the benefits they might bring."

"I see. Are you sure you wouldn't care to-"

"Mister Schnee, had I cared to visit your gatherings I would not have blocked your messages."

"*Cough! Cough!*"

"Why Winter perhaps you should leave so you might tend to that cough. Weiss assist your sister, would you?"

"Yes father."

"I… yes. I think *cough* I will. Come along Weiss."

"I like her."

"You don't care for formality, do you? Like the Mavros'?"

"I have formality. I have a lack of care for politeness when it suits me."

"I see. I hope to see you at the meeting?"

"You will. Mystic and Abyss will be there on scroll call. Ah, and for the future might I remind you that to kick out a guest is in bad taste."

"Dust… who are they bringing?"

"Please note it was not my idea."

"They brought Sienna Khan."

"WHAT?!"

"She's right over there by the way. Be grateful they didn't bring Raven Branwen. She was their first choice but she didn't feel like coming. Goodbye."

"… The damned Mavros'."

[|||| =+= ||||]

I was currently skipping out of a particularly tedious meeting. Roman - that is to say, Mahogany, can handle it fine. Jacques just needs to pretend to put up a fight against a censure for racism among the humans before we agree to finance a retroactive search for employee breaches in conduct towards workers. It's all really planned out for the media mainly for Jacques' reputation. It's fine to play around. Being a dick to the man with a metaphorical big stick isn't really a good idea. It's not like it hurts us to play along.

It is kind of funny that I took such an important call at home. I took a break to make cookies during the call and since all the scrolls have video when it was my turn to speak everyone got confused to see me making cookies. I, the mighty and powerful Abyss Mavros, made cookies on a whim. I teleported a batch to Roman and everyone at the conference had one. That started up a ten minute conversation about how good my cooking was. That's right. Extremely important businessmen from around remnant discussed the quality of my baking for ten minutes televised live across remnant.

Okay so the conference wasn't all boring. Roman was laughing his ass off screwing with his power and mystique since he's always busy being a gang boss. Neo's taking a vacation since she's too stabby to be around Jacques.

At the moment, however, I'm using a spell not dissimilar to the avatar spell and soul hearth combined. The short of it is that I get to see through Raven's eyes so long as mana and aura is completely shared through our shared inventory.

This is why we're staring at Jaune while he's sleeping. We spoke with wind whisper so we didn't wake him. At the moment he's with his family on a camping trip since the school year for Beacon just ended and his sisters are all back except for Crimson for some reason. I accidentally caught him at the perfect time. My luck stat is potentially one of my most useful stats honestly.

Jaune Arc

Title: Forced hero

Level – 160

HP – 23,512.5

AP – 104,000

MP - Innate

STR - 178 (x2)(+300%)= 1424

VIT - 209 (x1.5)(x2)(+315%)= 2602.05

DEX - 123 (x2)(+295%)= 971.7

INT - 96 = 96

WIS - (x2)130 = 260

LUK - 64 = 64

Semblance: Amplification - Aura, mana, and all targeted supernatural abilities are enhanced by a factor based on your willpower, emotional closeness, and the strength of your soul. Abilities enhanced are always increased by minimum of a factor of two. Transfers of aura between you and another are efficient with no loss of aura whatsoever.

Affinities: [LOCKED]

Perks:

Arc lineage (Male)- As a male of the Arc clan you have awoken abilities inherent to yours due to your magical lineage through the awakening of your soul. The mana in your bloodline has manifested into a guardian of your soul, as has been true of all Arcs. Should one consume your soul they will gain your powers. Guard thyself well kinsman.

-10x maximum aura capacity and regen

-2x potency of your aura

-x2 WIS

-1.5x effectiveness of vitality (calculated as a x1.5 bonus)

-30% resistance to magical effects of all sorts. Some magical effects may be completely negated

- Aura based semblance

-50% cheaper semblance to use

-Innate mana

Bodily runic matrix (3 layered) - A master of runes has inscribed upon your body a matrix of three parts. The effects are:

-+40% VIT from enhanced bones and organs

-+25% enhanced STR from enhanced muscles and bones

-+20% DEX from enhanced eyesight and sensory organs

-+1% HP per every 3 seconds

-Within your runic matrix you may store (3,947,274/4,000,000) units of aura

-With a strong mental image and focus you may project an illusion upon yourself changing your appearance and hiding your full tattoo. However, the marking on your right hand may never be under an illusion.

-The runic matrix and stored aura can be shut off by the command of the creator of this mark, Abyss Mavros.

-Empathetic link to the creator of this tattoo, Abyss Mavros, that alerts the creator of extreme danger to the possessor of this tattoo based on the possessor's judgement.

-Acts as a teleport marker for the creator of this tattoo, Abyss Mavros.

Bio: [Blocked]

"BULLSHIT!" I yelled at Raven's ear. She nearly cawed in surprise before a flash of irritation ran through her. "Absolute bullshit." I hissed in a more even tone.

"What is so surprising that you have to yell?!" She said back in a raised voice.

"The blood of the Arcs gives him a resistance to minor magics and at least negates a third of magics that would actually harm him."

"That is unfair." She agreed.

"I'm not even close to done!" I said in a raised voice, just a little hysterical. "He gets twenty times the maximum aura of a normal person! Besides that he's smarter too. Then his aura is twice as potent so it's more like he has twenty times the aura capacity with double the effectiveness."

"He has forty times the aura of a normal person in conclusion." Raven said softly. I heard a little jealousy in her voice.

"That's not all! He gets a stronger vitality - roughly double again of a normal person, his semblance is efficient to the extreme and entirely BASED on aura. Not to mention that he has one of my runic matrixes already and some abilities to come with it."

"He has a WHAT?!" Raven demanded. "How does this child have one of your matrixes?!"

"I gave it to him." I said obviously, just a little anger left in my tone. "Jaune is a… a mistake of mine. Well not quite a mistake but… he isn't something I'm proud of. He's going to grow up to be very important. It's written everywhere. His ideals, his bloodline, his family. However, as things were going he would have turned out weak. I planned to meet with him. Show him some tricks and get him started on a path to make him my ally rather than my enemy. To drive away Ozpin's influence before he gets a word in. But then his family… well they saw me as a threat and… it escalated."

"Details." Raven said sternly.

"I was hidden in a tree invisible." I started. "Jane was getting faux-trained by his sister. They didn't want to awaken the bloodline and gain the attention of Ozpin or Salem and be forced to work for either one. They wanted a normal life away from the huntsmen so they couldn't be pawns anymore. At least that's my interpretation of it. When they somehow detected me I reacted as I felt best and defeated Jaune's family. I thought up a moniker on the fly and called myself the villain, citing my name as unimportant and that I wouldn't give it. Then I realized that I just lose Jaune's trust completely. He stood between his little sister and me looking as brave as he could but… he was so very weak. So I gave him my matrix and tore the veil of ignorance from him. Now he knows and he's… this."

Raven was silent for a moment. "I think I understand." She said. A hint of sadness colored her tone. If I hadn't known her for so long i doubt I would have picked up on it. "Once, when I was eleven, Qrow and I were raiding a small caravan. We didn't expect it. We just ran across it. It looked unguarded except for one huntsman. A tree fell down right in front of them - Qrow's semblance, you see. It was perfect for a bandit attack. I opened a portal to the current tribe chief and he came through and the tribe was on the three wagons in minutes. It wasn't a trap… but the civilians stood up to us and we were forced to kill them. That's just one of many situations like it Qrow and I - and team STRQ - found ourselves in. Sometimes things spiral out of control. Yours just did so severely."

"Yes." I said quietly. Raven took a moment to look at Jaune sleeping once more. He and the rest of his family were asleep. Then I saw something shift under his sleeping bag. I bent the light and got a view closer through Raven. His sister was under the sleeping bag cuddling him. The one he was defending before. Lavender.

I was silent as I took a wide view of the whole camp. Suddenly it seemed different. Jaune was in the middle of the many sleeping bags arranged in a sort of rough circle. His stronger sisters slept on the outside. The side most likely to be attacked. His youngest and most vulnerable sister slept in the middle with him, the most likely to be targeted and possibly one of the strongest. His mother was in a tent with Jaune's father, who had picked up some muscle and some levels. Not enough to be useful but enough to last against a first year Beacon student maybe.

They were family, yes, but they were strong together. They unconsciously defended each other, relied on each other, and tried to get the best for each other.

And I took that innocent little brother of theirs away from them.

Raven must have sensed my darkening mood but she didn't say anything.

I sighed though wind whisper. "I messed up didn't I?"

"Obviously."

"Don't tell Ruby about this. Jaune is one of the three biggest skeletons in my closet she doesn't know about."

"I won't. Is there anything else than observation you need to do on this child?"

"No."

"Fine. I'm hungry. Did you already make dinner?"

"Yeah but I'll whip something up for you. You earned it."

"Get me a steak."

"I don't have any marinated."

"Damnit. Such a useless nephew."

"I'll get you some alcohol and a burger."

"Fine. No alcohol. I want tea."

[|||| =+= ||||]

"You're Mahogany?"

"Ah! Miss Khan!"

"Sienna. You're a human."

"Yup!"

"… You're not racist are you?"

"I'm highly discriminatory. I treat pretty women better than everyone else."

"Hm. You're Mystic Mavros' partner, yes?"

"More like his paperworker but yes. I do run the company and bask in money while he reaps the glory."

"Sounds fun."

"It is."

"I like you."

"You remind me of my assistant if she could talk but less vicious."

"In the middle of a ballroom I'm not being vicious? Real shocker."

"My assistant would have stabbed Jacques. You just glared at him. Pussy."

"Was that an insult against my ears?"

"That one word had three meanings at once."

"… I can think of two. What's the third?"

"Oh so you're not a pervert. I was sure you were…"

"What?!"

"Oh haven't you heard the rumors?"

"… You're messing with me."

"Damnit. I planned that one out and everything."

"Have you been doing nothing but messing with high society cowards this entire time?"

"I'll have you know I'm a coward myself… also yes."

"I want in."

"You're in. Come on. Kierran Noiral has been cheating on his wife for years and everyone knows it. I'm sure we can think of something."

[|||| =+= ||||]

(AN: This is an unnecessary scene since it repeats already known information so skipping it is acceptable. You won't miss anything. I felt, though, that it should be shown.)

"So what are we doing today?" I asked casually as I walked into subI. The days had been really flying.

Bella raised an eyebrow and waved at everyone looking at me. I frowned.

"What?"

"It's the last day of school." Cesium said expactantly.

"So?"

"We were doing something special today." Kerrigan hinted. He almost sounded… excited?! No. I was hallucinating surely.

"What's planned then?" I asked, feeling slightly stupid for some reason.

"Abyss come on. It's in that head of yours somewhere." Bella said in exasperation. I looked down for a moment. My head gets cluttered sometimes. Wait…

"Oh. I remember now. Right, step in. I may as well do this with flair." I flicked my wrist and a portal to our 'personal' island opened. Everyone filed in to the shore of the beach and I stepped through easily. Then I put my hand on Blake's shoulder.

"Sorry Blake. Seniority matters here." I said apologetically. She scowled. "Look I'll show you next year. It wouldn't be fair to leave everyone hanging for a year and a half and just show you your first year."

"Fine." She muttered. Her ears looked less perky than normal. That usually means she's annoyed. Too bad. "At least Weiss isn't here anymore." I barely heard the last part since I was already walking through.

"

It was quite nice today although there was a storm on the horizon. I suppose we'll make this quick.

"Right so magic is real." I said. Kerrigan raised an eyebrow but that was really all the reaction I got. It was obvious nobody believed me. "Only about six people I know of can do it in all of remnant, some examples being myself, my aunt, Ruby, and I. Some people can do lesser forms of magic such as the Arc clan, who have vastly superior souls compared to the rest of humanity, the silver eyed warriors who can defeat grimm with supernatural powers, the runed, who are humans augmented with runes to grant some powers and enhanced abilities, and there are species of supernatural creatures living in remote locations around remnant. Qrow can actually turn into a crow if he wants. Ozpin gifted him and his sister with that power when they entered his service."

"Qrow has a sister?" Ocean asked in confusion.

"Ignoring Ocean it's obvious none of you believe me." I continued. "That's perfectly fine. Here. This might shock you into a little belief." I raised my hand and collected about half my collective mana into heat attuned mana. It barely took two seconds. The air above my hands turned to plasma but went no further than a small ball above my hand. I waved my hand at the ocean and the massive heat shot sprang out towards the ocean. The water evaporated into steam easily for almost a mile, giving everyone a glimpse of the bare seafloor. The heat shot quickly lost it's energy and flagged for a moment. That was all it took for the wall of water to envelop the empty space and surge back towards the sandy moat it once owned.

As the water surged back I waved my hand again and air roared at the water, pushing it back from approaching the shore too quickly. The water ended up softly lapping at the shores, making it seem that nothing had happened save for slightly hot waters for a brief few seconds.

Everyone was silent for a solid thirty seconds. I let them process that and glanced at Bella, who was smirking at their reactions.

"Quit smirking, Bella. You were about the same as them when you were introduced to magic." Her smirk didn't drop. At least the ice was broken.

Violently.

"What are the applications of magic we can use?" Ocean asked with an unusual quickness.

"Is Vale under any threat from magical sources?" Kerrigan seemed genuinely worried.

"Are nature's bounty crops magical?" I grinned at the last question from Cesium. Smart kid. I'm totally playing favorites with him but this is why.

"Lets start with Ocean's question. You all can be runed to have various effects of varying complexity. Increased strength, toggleable invisibility, fireballs, teleportation, and more. You could also be simply flat out stronger or faster if not that. There's fancier things too."

"Fancier than teleportation." Ocean said flatly.

"I can rune you to store motion so you can temporarily ignore gravity." I stated. I swear Kerrigan almost started salivating. Is he a magic nerd or something? "Then you can use the motion you've stored to eject it from parts of your body. No you can't fly from this. Everyone always flips over and faceplants unless you absorb motion from gravity and expel force from your feet, which is significantly more complicated, but you can certainly run faster than normal. To give you an example of a rune set Bella has one. Bella?"

Bella looked smug. "I can go invisible," She flickered out of view for a moment before immediately coming back, "with scentlessness and soundlessness included in that package. I can also do a short range teleport and taze people with my fists. I'm also more durably and much more flexible, stronger, and faster than before. All my clothes are runed to not emit body heat but that's temporary since the heat your body produces has to go somewhere. It only lasts about twenty minutes before the rune fills and I have to empty it out. I have a few other runed things I bargained from Abyss one way or another."

Another moment of silence followed. "All magic is bullshit." Cesium sighed. "Can I have some?"

"I already have a set of clothes for all of you with runes I think you would like." I said. I brought out three boxes from my inventory that Ruby had made look like christmas presents at her insistence. I was just going to use cardboard but she caught me. "I'll be doing body tattoos on you all to grant abilities. You'll be working on them during the summer. That is, on the condition you don't tell your parents or authority figures."

"Why?" Kerrigan asked. Bella's face turned a lot more neutral than the smug look she had earlier.

"Abyss is… he does not get along with Ozpin. At all." She said with a flat look at me.

"He's untrustworthy. Mark my words." I said neutrally. "The government already likely knows over a hundred layers of red tape and secrecy but they can't use it. It's too rare and hard to use in national use and the change or reveal would cause a worldwide panic. The only people you could really go to about magic would be Ozpin, who has Qrow, Glynda Goodwitch, and general Ironwood on his side or Salem, who's the queen of the grimm, and her posse of generally terrible and strong people."

"There's a queen of grimm?" Kerrigan asked. His face was pale.

"She's reclusive. Don't worry." I assured him. "She's gotten more active as of late but she isn't going to run out of her castle and terrorize innocents. She'a a manipulator and has people to do that for her. Cinder Fall, Tyrian, Watts, Hazel, and possibly someone I heard of named Ember Fall. She's probably dead though."

"Oh. Good." A small breath of relief went around the group.

"But where do you fit in?" Cesium asked. Instantly every eye was on me.

"My family and friends come first. Over civilians, Vale, and the world. If anyone survives it's may family first and then myself. If I can save Vale I would but saving the world isn't my first priority. On the other hand Ozpin is all about keeping humanity alive and defeating Salem over all else. He's immortal so he's been doing that for ages. Salem is more for personal gain. She has the grimm on her side and the people with her are those who want to be on the winning team. That's my understanding of the two anyways. I know for certain that Salem is destructive and against the general good while Ozpin is for something like the greater good."

"I like your philosophy best." Cesium immediately said.

"Agreed. My family is the same as I am." Kerrigan agreed.

Ocean was silent.

"Let me guess, you're all for the greater good, save the world, self sacrifice deal, right?" I asked. She looked hesitant.

"I almost went to Ozpin." Bella said suddenly. "I'm not actually with Abyss. I'm more of neutral party. I would have gone to Ozpin if Abyss hadn't convinced me that he's actually doing more good for remnant as he is now than Ozpin is. Going to Ozpin and telling him everything, which I still want to do, isn't the right move sadly."

"I want to be a huntress. I want to be like you." Ocean said with eyes on Bella. She looked towards me again. "I agree. Friends and family are more important than… normal people. Within reason. A single life isn't worth a thousand civilians."

"That's fine." I said with a shrug. "I want you all to be agents of mine ideally. Fighters, operatives, spies, whatever. Whatever you want to do be it ally yourself directly with me or just be contacts like Bella I want you all to be friends with me and more than that allies."

"I'm in." Cesium said without hesitation again. "I owe you almost everything, you know? Without even Dad's working as a manager at the mall and he's in college with mom. He's happier than he's ever been. I have a little sister on the way too. I learned last week. I have a nice home, plenty of contacts and more friends than I can handle at times. I want to be strong. Important. Call me greedy but I want to be the next Roman Torchwick. The next Mahogany. Whatever it is I can be that. I owe you and if working for you my entire life makes up for you fixing my life to what I could only dream it could be then so be it."

A respectful silence passed for a moment. I was smiling. Cesium was my second best friend. Raven still came first, of course, but damn he was a diamond in the rough.

"I don't have as good a reason for it as Cesium." Kerrigan started. "I have my family. I owe my loyalty to them and them to Roman Torchwick." His eyes narrowed. "Does Roman know of magic?"

"No but while we're on the subject Roman does work for me. He manages the underworld alongside Neo-" Kerrigan shivered "-and acts as Mahogany for nature's bounty. He manages pretty much the entire company and all of Vale's underworld. I don't plan on ever introducing him to magic. He's self serving and disloyal. He's cunning, smart, resourceful, and a great asset to me - I don't know how I would live without him - but unless he has some sort of massive change in character he doesn't have my full trust."

"I see." Kerrigan looked down calculatively. "I suppose that leaves a position of yours open, hmm?"

"I doubt I'll need to replace Roman anytime soon. I would prefer that you did something other than manage Vale's criminal underworld. Nature's bounty will, if my plans go accordingly, be acquired by the SDC in a merger with Weiss at it's head. She can use it appropriately I believe. The best place I could use you would be as an all-rounder. Hazel Rainheart, who works for Salem, is what I'm basing my ideal of you off of. He can do a little of everything and change roles as needed. He can negotiate, fight, and so on. That's what I'd have you do if you worked under me."

"I believe I can do that." Kerrigan confirmed. "So long as my family is safe and I can visit them."

"I wouldn't have you actually begin working for quite some time, you realize?" Kerrigan shrugged as if that wasn't really an issue. I rolled my eyes. Five minutes after I played Moses and he's unshaken. "I believe the war between Ozpin and Salem will re-ignite in three years. I, unfortunately, have to attend beacon. I have a deal with Ozpin sadly and I don't believe I can get out of it."

"I want the same thing as Bella." Ocean spoke up with confidence. "I want to live a normal life but if the world starts falling I want to be there. I can't be helpless."

"Fine." I had hoped for all three of them to join me firmly at my side but two out of three of my classmates is alright. Cesium was certain to join me. Kerrigan and Ocean were more shakey on whether they'd join me. That none of them are leaving what could be vaguely called 'my side' is good.

"So now that that's all done what do you all want on your runes?"

The looks on their faces were not reassuring.

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