Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Run!” a boy shouts, just a bit older than ten years old, grabbing his younger sister’s hand as he rushes through the woods, accidentally causing her to drop the bag of herbs they spent the whole day collecting.

It was trampled on by the Beowolf chasing them. It had been a quiet day before the two children decided to take a bit longer than usual to collect more herbs when they heard the snap of a branch and saw the approaching Grimm.

They both knew it could outrun them, but were purposely taking its time, letting the fear and terror in them fester before it ate them alive just like the stories their parents and elders say to scare them into going to bed at night.

“We’re almost at the village! Just keep running!” he shouted as he turned back to see how she was doing, face paling as he saw the Beowolf slowly accelerate, growing tired of the chase already. That was his mistake.

With his eyes turned, he fails to notice the roots of a tree and his leg trips over it as he runs, falling over and unintentionally dragging his sister with him. She could only stare and shake in terror as the Beowolf loomed over them with fangs bared.

“G-get back…!” the brother tries to act bravely, grabbing a nearby branch to wield as a weapon and putting his sister behind him. Hoping at the very least while the Beowolf eats him, she would get a chance to run away.

The Beowolf roars and its head snaps forward to bite his head off before a loud bang is heard and its jaw vaporises, bleeding black ichor all over the boy as he screams. The Beowolf stumbles back in agony and turns to face wherever the shot came from before a flaming javelin flies and strikes at it, pinning it to a nearby tree as it struggles with the burning weapon inside its guts before it explodes, washing the entire area in warm light and burning it to crisp.

As the brother and sister’s jaws drop in stunned silence, they see two figures approaching from the darkness of the woods, one of them glowing a warm orange light like a campfire, dressed in glowing armour that resembled golden fire with a winged helmet and T-shaped visor and spiked pauldrons. On one hand, was a matching javelin that impaled the Grimm and a shield made of fire and three spikes on it in the other arm.

But the most peculiar thing was the pair of fiery wings attached to the figure’s back.

“Hah! That’s a new one.” the figure says in a loud booming voice that they could tell was male, “Whatever that thing is, I count one to zero.”

Next to him a figure suddenly materialises out of the air in a puff of teal sparks and black puffs of smoke, dressed in dark grey metallic armour with glowing teal neon lines coursing through the armour like circuits, and a sphere with matching colour on their chest with a dome helmet covering their face with thick glowing teal glass. In their arms were a large rifle of matching colours, a dark grey metal with glowing neon lines, and some kind of under-barrel attachment on it.

“Hmph, I’m still getting used to these bullets. Misjudged the bullet drop. And my shot got it first, yours second.” the figure speaks in a female voice that was modulated mechanically, “I swear wherever Nebula warped us, he better knows how to get us out.”

The winged knight in flaming armour sighs, “Him and his damn magic.”

“...Isn’t all that magic?” the armoured woman gestures at him with her gun.

“Of course not. Does it consume mana? No. So it’s not magic.” The flaming knight spoke like they had this conversation plenty of times before he noticed they were being watched, “Now, what do we have here?”

The knight kneels down as the two children flinch at the heat emanating from the flames, “Hello there, children. Are you both alright? No injuries I hope?”

“N-no.” the brother mutters stunned as his sister shakes her head.

“Excellent.” the knight says joyfully, “Now, me and my friend are looking for two other companions of ours. One of them is wearing armour like mine, but gold with blue energy, and the other is wearing purple armoured robes with a fancy cape and weird hair. Have you seen them?”

Before the boy could speak, a voice interrupts,

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

Out of the shadows came two pairs of people matching the knight’s description, the speaker appearing to be a man in purple robes who had a few silver metal pieces of armour on his shoulders and a face obscured by a hood with the only visible features being two pairs of glowing eyes. His arms were spread and on his left was a gauntlet made of silver metal a magenta orb on the back of his hand and glowing fingers of a matching colour.

Next to him was a person dressed in flowing blue robes but wore heavier armour made of gold-like material with blue energy coursing through it in such volumes it was leaking out of the arms and helmets, giving them appearances of blue flaming spikes. Instead of normal blue flames, they had a more ethereal look to them. Grasp in their hands was a golden staff with the head of a dragon on its tip and a blue orb inside its mouth. Same with the flaming knight, they had a pair of blue wings made of ethereal energy currently folded behind their back.

“...Were you just standing there waiting for a dramatic entrance, Neb?” the woman with the rifle asks dryly as the gold-armoured figure responds,

“Actually, he wasn’t. Surprising I know.” they speak with another feminine voice, one full of cheer and positivity, “We got here around the same time as you did. Found you by following the light.”

She says gesturing at the flaming knight with her staff. The knight scoffs and gets to his feet,

“It’s not my fault the armour is so eye-catching. Besides, you can’t complain when it’s because of my armour that our foes barely attack you all since they’re drawn to me like a moth to flame.”

The boy watches them talk amongst themselves before finding the courage to speak up, “Um…are you all Huntsmen?”

He asks nervously as all eyes turn to him, and despite their helmets and hoods, he tells from the way their heads tilt that they are confused at his words.

“Sorry, Huntsmen?” the flaming knight asks before gesturing to the woman with the gun, “I guess the closest one of us to hunting is Vortex over there.”

The one with the golden and blue armour knees to get on their level resting against her staff, speaking to the nervous children in a kind tone, “Why don’t we start with introductions. For simplicity’s sake, call me Stardust. The purple one’s Nebula, the one on fire is Solar and the brooding one in the back’s Vortex.”

Solar waves from behind and Nebula crosses his arms, Vortex muttering about having to go along with the dumb nicknames in the back, resting against a tree with her rifle in hand.

“M-my name’s Cobalt.” he responds before gesturing to his sister hiding behind him, “She’s my sister, Azure.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you two,” she says before realising something, like the fact they were all masked strangers to these kids, reaching for her helmet and plucking it off. The blue ethereal energy was cut off and it became a gold helmet before it disappeared into thin air, revealing a young woman with blue eyes and navy blue hair in a ponytail.

Seeing this, her friends follow suit with Solar’s fiery helmet vanishing without touching it and revealing a man with a chiselled face black hair and brown eyes. Vortex taps her helmet causing the glow to dissipate to show a woman with tanned skin and short hair that matches the teal glow of her armour. 

Nebula was the strangest, pulling his hood off to reveal a pale-skinned man as the magenta glows around his eyes faded to reveal purple irises and hair that was like the dark sky above filled with stars, as well as a blue flower with its stem tucked behind his ear.

Azure signs something to her brother as he stares at him in awe, translating her question that he was also thinking of, “...My sister asks if those are stars on your head, mister?”

Nebula smirks and opens his mouth to answer but Solar cuts him off, “Yeah, he’s just extra like that. Spent a lot of coin on dye to get his hair that way.”

“I’ll let the results speak for themselves,” Nebula says proudly, combing his hair with his fingers, as everyone but the children rolled their eyes, the latter was only looking confused.

“Back on topic.” Stardust turns back to the children, “Where exactly are we?”

“Well, the nearest town is where we came from. Shion.” Cobalt answers as the group looks confused at him,

“Shion…I don’t suppose you guys heard of it?” Stardust asks her friends and Solar shrugs,

“I don’t know. The Princess is the one trying to unify the villages, and you’re the one who speaks with her most.” Solar says, “I’ve been busy keeping the frontier secured.”

“Never saw it on a map.” Vortex shrugged as she tinkered with her rifle, adjusting its setting.

“...” Nebula was silent, stroking his chin in thought before his eyes flashed and turned to the children, “Perhaps we should clarify. Where is Shion located?”

Cobalt looks confused before racking his head to remember, “Er, well, we’re in the Shinrin Province.”

The look on their faces seemed to grow concerned except for Nebula who leaned in with interest, “And where is the Shinrin Province?”

“...In Mistral? The Anima continent?” Cobalt continues answering, unsure why he was asking these questions.

Nebula nods trying to suppress a grin, “And one last question. Does the name Terraria ring a bell?”

“What’s a Terraria?” Cobalt asks as his sister shares a confused look with him before Nebula cheers, raising his arms in the air.

“It worked!” he cheers as his friends look concerned and shocked, “I knew it! Hah! And you all doubted me! Me! The most brilliant mage to ever exist since that old man!”

“Well that’s great genius, but can you take us home?” Vortex asks unamused, stepping towards the starry-haired man, “The Tavernkeep got home by a portal, right? So portal us back home!”

“Right…as soon as I find out how,” Nebula adds the last part after a short pause and Nova looks like she is about to strangle him,

“Are you-?! Just do what you did, but reverse!” Nova yells and both children begin worrying,

“P-please don’t get mad, you’re going to draw more Grimm here,” he warns before they hear rustling in the woods.

“Oh come now, crossing realms isn’t an exact science.” Nebula rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, “I was simply experimenting with the concept after witnessing our beloved Tavernkeeper’s departure. It’s just fascinating. And perhaps I got too carried away with experimenting, for the exact process is…lost to me.”

He hesitantly says and Nova begins freaking out, “Well my gun’s about to be ‘lost’ up your-!”

“People!” Solar interrupts, slamming his lance on the ground to get their attention, “It’s clear we have a lot to discuss. Perhaps it can wait until we get these children to safety?”

“Sol’s got a point.” Stardust agreed, “Kids, do you know where’s your home?”

Cobalt looks nervous, “Well…I don’t know. We got lost on the way when we were chased. And it’s too dark.”

“Well, how about we solve that?” Stardust smiles before putting her helmet back on and turning to Solar, “Say, kid, do either of you ever dreamt of flying?”

Azure perks up curious about what she meant but nods, as well as Cobalt.

“Then you better keep your eyes open.”

***

He had seen many things in his life, you’d have to if you lived as long as he did leading a village beyond Mistral’s walls away from the confines of a city. Apparently, he had not seen it all just yet.

All of Shion were kept up late at night, waiting for the two lost children of their village’s herbalist to come back. They could guess why they went off on their own, with their father suffering from a broken leg and sent to the city for medical treatment in the village’s only operational airship, they needed to help make ends meet.

But with search parties forced to return empty-handed because of the encroaching night, the mayor was forced to concede to the fact they may be doomed and the gates have to be closed to protect against the Grimm, despite the anguished cries of the children’s mother.

But just as they were closing the gates, someone pointed to the sky and they all looked up, fearing a Nevermore attack, but what they saw was far stranger than that. Four dots of light approached from the forest, consisting of orange, teal, magenta and blue.

The villagers cried out in shock as they landed in the square of their village. Thevillage the mayor’s eyes widened at the sight of four individuals, two of them with wings made of orange flames and blue energy. He was sure some of the more religious members of the village were performing the sign of the Brother Gods by crossing the symbol over their hearts with fingers.

Huntsmen? The colourful armour seemed to give that away but something told him he wasn’t exactly accurate. But what was just as eye-catching was the pair of children hanging onto the two winged individuals.

“Mom!” the boy cries out as he leaps off the armoured man who appeared wreathed in flames, and the girl was carefully set down by the figure in gold armour and blue robes. Both of them ran towards the crowd as their mother pushed aside anyone caught between her and her children, before catching the two of them into hugs while choking on tears of relief.

The four watched from where they stood in the town square, the villagers were caught between confusion, joy and wariness at these strangers. But with how they returned the children, it was likely they meant no harm, so the mayor carefully approached them.

If they really meant no harm, if they were Huntsmen, this could be what they were looking for. His heart beats as he tries calming down before speaking with them,

“I…suppose we have you to thank for the safe return of these two children.” the mayor says awkwardly, “I’m sorry but we don’t exactly have spare Lien to reward four Huntsmen for-”

“Ah, there’s no need for that.” the flaming knight chuckles and waves his hand, “We were just passing through.”

“Says you. I say a roof over our heads and a warm meal could do some good.” the one in mechanical-looking armour with a glowing teal sphere for a helmet pipes in.

“If it’s not an issue of course.” the golden armoured one adds quickly, “We don’t want to impose. We weren’t looking to be rewarded or anything.”

“A Huntsman refusing payment? Never thought I’d see the day. Feeding you is the least we can do after rescuing these two young ones.” The mayor chuckles, feeling hope start to build up inside him, before gesturing down a path, “There’s a small inn in this village, we don’t get many visitors so there’s more than enough room.”

“Actually, I’m more curious if there’s a library in this village.” the hooded man in purple robes joins in, “Just a few history books and maybe a map?”

“Well, we’re just a small village that only sees some trades. Not enough books for a library, but I have some in my study, and a map as well.” the mayor suggests, “You’re welcome to take a look.”

“Excellent. I’ll know where I’ll be then.” The purple-robed man nods to his companions before gesturing for the mayor to lead the way.

***

“I apologise for the lack of material, there’s nothing more here besides basic history.” the mayor apologises as the figure, Nebula as he was introduced, flips through the pages with his hood down revealing his strange hair.

“It’s more than enough. These are excellent, sir.” Nebula smiles as he scans the pages with inquisitive purple irises, “Ah the joy of learning. Truly incomparable, would you not agree?”

“I’d think the young ones of the village would disagree.” the mayor chuckles as Nebula comes across an interesting passage in the pages,

“Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world.” He reads out loud, “An inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction, the Grimm, set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void.” 

Nebula’s face was unreadable to the mayor but he sensed some kind of familiarity in his eyes as well as sadness, “...The same tale everywhere I suppose.”

“Pardon?” the mayor asks confused at his words before Nebula shrugs it off,

“Ah, just some rambling.” he excuses before pointing to a passage with a curious look, “However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change. And in time man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named Dust. Appropriately named how exactly? Because mankind is ‘born from dust’?”

The mayor shrugs, “Well, there were old creation myths running around in ancient days about how the gods made mankind from Dust. Grew out of date but some of the more religious people still believe that, especially since it was discovered Dust is older than mankind.”

“I see.” Nebula hums, “You don’t happen to have any Dust in this village of yours, do you?”

The mayor sighs, “Unfortunately not. These days we’re lucky to even get Combustion Dust for our generators. Are you and your teammates running low on stock?”

“...Not exactly.” Nebula says after a pause, closing the books after skimming through many pages, “This is a very good book. Might I purchase this from you? We can discuss a price-”

“Keep it.” the mayor insists, “I barely crack it open nowadays and it’s just collecting dust.”

Nebula smiles gratefully, “Thank you very much, good sir. I’ll be sure to treasure it.”

“Will it be back to the city with you after this?” the mayor tries sounding casual bringing it up, “Perhaps you would like to stay for a while? We’re more than happy to provide room for you, honoured Huntsmen.”

“Huntsmen…” Nebula mutters recalling the passage in the history book he had skimmed over, thanks to his near photographic memory. Mercenaries that slay these creatures of Grimm for the local currency, Lien, trained by academies found across four kingdoms.

“My companions and I are hardly Huntsmen.” he corrects, “We were simply explorers that happened to have gotten lost.”

“And yet you appear from the skies, wearing strange armour with what I assume was powered by your Semblances or Dust?” the mayor prods,

“It’s a dangerous world out there.” Nebula shrugs not exactly answering his question,

“Meaning you can fight to defend yourselves?”

“Where is this going, sir mayor?” Nebula asks, “Are you in need of someone capable of killing Grimm?”

“Well, that’s certainly half the issue.” the mayor sighs heavily, “I made a mistake some time ago and now it’s coming back to haunt us. Do you know why we created a village this far away from the city of Mistral, Nebula? Because we wish for independence away from the useless and corrupt council.”

He mutters bitterly, “But to survive out here you need protection from Grimm. We have no skills to do so, and the constant hiring of Huntsmen drain would leave us broke so I had to seek alternative means. They offered at such a reasonable price I saw no reason to refuse, but as we slowly depended on them more and more, the more they charged us until we’re barely keeping afloat.”

“Who are you talking about?” Nebula asks with a raised brow, but before the mayor could answer they heard a ruckus outside, looking out the window to find a black and red swirling portal forming in the town square as people stepped out,

“No…it’s too early.” the mayor pales as he recognises one of the figures who stepped out, a masked woman with a blade on her hip.

Nebula leans closer to the window in curiosity at the strange portal, his eyes lighting up, “Fascinating…”

***

“Pretty small for a village, won’t you say?” Solar asks as he takes a look around at the buildings, which appear to be made of some white material with sloped roofs with a simple design.

“Hey, our first one was pretty small if you’d remember. If you could even call it a village.” Stardust smirks under her helmet at the memory, “Just a couple ramshackle huts we made out of logs by a bunch of frightened kids.”

“They don’t seem much better off.” Vortex mutters as she glances at a few of the villagers. The crowd had mostly dispersed at this point, but more than a few were giving them nervous and somewhat mistrustful stares, whispering amongst one another.

“Well duh. We’re a bunch of heavily armoured people with weapons and flaming wings.” Stardust says, tugging at one of Solar’s wings, “We’re probably scaring the crap out of them.”

“Really? People didn’t mind back home.” Solar says remembering how no one really seemed bothered by what they wore,

“Yeah, 'cause they’re used to the stuff we do. These guys aren’t.” Stardust rationalises, “So let’s play it casual, alright?”

Solar shrugs, the fiery armour and wings dissipating into puffs of smoke as the brown leather jacket and black jeans he wore beneath were revealed. Stardust did the same, her armour and robes dissipating in a blue flash to reveal a yellow sweater and black skirt. Vortex’s armour sparked blue and black smoke before it vanished, a dyed black leather jacket zipped up with blue jeans was her clothing of choice.

It was more of a little optical illusion, with their armour and equipment actually still worn and functional except they were simply invisible. However, instead of dissipating worries, some of the villagers widened their eyes and whispered among each other more, so much that they could hear occasional words thrown around such as ‘Semblance’ and ‘Aura’ which confused them.

“...I think we might have just worsened things?” Solar says sounding confused as Vortex shrugs,

“As long as I get my food, they can stare all they want,” she mutters as they approach the inn they were directed at,

Solar gets the door open allowing them to enter the inn, barely lit up by oil lamps with empty tables and only a single person manning a bar, wiping the countertop.

“Well, well, it’s been a long time since we saw any new faces here.” he greets with a warm smile, “Take it you’re the Huntsmen that’s been making a ruckus? Got a message from the mayor, telling me that your meals are supposed to be on the house.”

“Oh, we’re not exactly Huntsmen.” Solar quickly corrects finding the term odd, why would you assume someone with heavy armour and weapons to be people out hunting animals, “We’re just a couple lost explorers.”

“Huh, really?” they could see the smile drop just a bit, the innkeeper’s face becoming neutral, “Didn’t think there was anything worth looking for around here.”

“We’re just a little lost.” Vortex mutters as she glances through the menu, “Hmm, I’ll take the chicken soup noodles.”

“Oh that sounds nice.” Stardust looks over her shoulder, “I’ll take that as well.”

“No idea what fried rice thing is, but I’ll try it.” Solar gives his order as he looks at the menu as well.

“Right then, you guys get your seats and I’ll get your food.” the innkeeper says as he prepares to head for the kitchen as the trio finds an empty table which wasn’t difficult as they were the only ones here.

“Awfully empty isn’t it?” Solar mutters, “Even when it was just the Tavernkeeper, his place never got this quiet.”

“Yeah, everyone feels just a bit scared of something.” Stardust whispers, “You think it has something to do with those monsters we came across?”

“Of all the places he had to bring us, of course, it had to be a dark, cold forest full of monsters.” Vortex grumbles annoyed, “Why couldn’t it be sunny beaches?”

Solar laughs, “Us? Beaches? I’d be happy not to get wet ever again after what the Duke put us through.”

Stardust laughs at the memory, “We got out of that alive, that’s what's important. And look at us now, killing celestials, travelling dimensions, and who knows what else. We could be looking at a brand new adventure here.”

“Don’t know. I think I’ve had my fill of adventures after the Moon Lord.” Vortex shudders at the memory, “Was hoping that the only adventures I’d have were strolling at parks.”

“Oh? The best shot in all of Terraria retiring? That’ll be the day. What would you spend the rest of your time doing? Knitting? Collecting cats?” Solar chuckles at the thought before gesturing at all of them, “Admit it, this is where we belong. Exploring the unknown, discovering new things, and killing monsters. That’s our life, and I wouldn’t change it for anything else in the world.”

“You leave out having to fight demons, monsters, gods, and adventuring does have its perks,” Vortex admits reluctantly.

“Yep. To adventures old and new! May they never end!” Solar cheers and raises an empty hand before remembering he didn’t have anything to toast with, as the two girls snicker at his behaviour.

But then they were interrupted when the door opened and a group of men, all carrying a mismatch of blades and rifles, chatted amongst one another. Solar perks up upon seeing these men and raising a brow in curiosity, as his two friends turn around to get a look.

“Oi, innkeeper! What’s a man gotta do to get a few drinks around here?” the one that appears in charge, a man with blonde shoulder-length hair, smacks the countertop with a fist as the innkeeper immediately rushes out of the kitchen, fear in his eyes.

“F-forgive me, I was busy attending to my other customers.” he hastily apologises with a bow, forcing a smile on his lips, “What can I get you fine men this evening?”

“Other customers, eh?” the blonde man turns and stares at the trio, “I think I recall mentioning that when we were around, the place was off-limits to everyone else.”

“T-they’re just visitors, they aren’t familiar with the rules. And we didn’t know you would be dropping by this late.” the innkeeper hastily explains, “Forgive us.”

“Sorry, we didn’t know there was some kind of reservation.” Stardust carefully says, wanting to avoid confrontation, “We’ll be taking our leave then.”

“Like hell we are. I haven’t got my food yet.” Vortex glares at the man who chuckles and leans against their table,

“Well that's fine, you ladies are more than welcome to stay.” he smirks at them before turning to Solar, “But you, my friend, why don’t you take a hike?”

“...I haven’t got my food yet either.” Solar says looking less intimidated and more annoyed at the man invading their personal space, “Look it’s a big place, plenty of seats to go around. You sit somewhere and we’ll sit here, not bothering you.”

The blonde man and his companions burst out laughing,

“Please, how about a drink on the house?” the innkeeper suggests trying to prevent a fight from breaking out.

“Oh, I’ll take you up on that. Once this dumbass learns some manners.” the blonde reaches towards Solar to grab him,

“I wouldn’t do that if I were-” Solar doesn’t finish in time as the blonde grabs his shoulders, his laughter suddenly cutting off before a second later he recoils in pain, screaming as he grabs his burning hand.

“Shit, that guy’s got Aura!” one of the armed men shouts as they ready their weapons, pointing rifles and blades at them just as Solar pulls out his flaming lance, Daybreak, and Vortex gets on a knee into firing position with her Vortex Beater rifle pulled out of thin air, while Stardust readies her Kaleidoscope whip.

“Of course, this has to happen.” Vortex grumbles, “Never a dull moment is it?”

“Oh come on, that's why you love us,” Solar says with a bloodthirsty grin, unbothered by the weapons pointed at them.

“Guess it was too much to hope for a quiet dinner,” Stardust mutters under her breath.

***

“You…came earlier than expected.” the mayor says fearfully as he approaches the town square with a chest in hand,

“You don’t get to dictate what’s ‘early’ or ‘on time’.” Raven says coldly, her hand resting on Omen’s hilt, “We gave you a deadline, and out of generosity, allowed you a full extra week to gather what is needed. Now we expect you to pay up, with interest.”

The mayor gulps and holds out the chest full of Lien, “This is all we’ve managed to scrounge together. That's all we have.”

Vernal, standing beside her, walks over to check the opened chest and the mayor trembles, for a brief moment thinking she might take it and go before the chest was slapped out of his hands.

“They’re short by more than a quarter,” Vernel informs and Raven glares from behind her mask, 

“We risk our lives, protecting you from Grimm, and this is how you repay us?” she asks, sounding offended, “Perhaps we should simply take what we’re owed ourselves?”

“Please,” the old man begs, “You keep jacking up the fee every week, we’ve barely got enough to survive. Trade isn’t doing well, there’s only so much income we get.”

Vernal holds out one of her crescent-shaped gun-blades and holds it against his throat, “We don’t care where you get the money from. Steal it if you have to. But you pay up on time or we take it. Do we need to show you examples of what happens if you don’t?”

“There is no money! You already took what all we have!” the mayor shouts, frustration and helplessness building up and bursting, “You’re not protecting us, you’re extorting us!”

The two bandits were silent as the mayor realised what he had just done, and was about to beg for forgiveness when Raven spoke,

“It looks like the worm grew a spine.” she says somewhat impressed, “Deprive him of it, Vernal.”

Vernal immediately kicks him over, landing face-first into the dirt as she raises her weapons. Around her the villagers hiding in their houses and huts cringed, knowing what would come next, but all were too frightened to intervene.

All except one.

“Pardon me.” a voice came from the entrance of the mayor’s house, a figure in purple robes with a black mantle hanging onto his shoulders that reached down to his ankles. His hood was pulled up to conceal his face but glowing purple eyes were visible from the darkness, as well as a metal gauntlet glowing with purple energy on his left hand,

“But I’m afraid you are stepping on my friend. He and I were having a fascinating discussion about history before your interruption. Would you kindly step off him?” the man politely asks only for Vernal to point her weapon at him, “...As well as refrain from pointing that at me? It’s terribly rude to greet someone at gunpoint, don’t you think?”

“What the fuck is this?” Vernal demands, pressing her heel deeper into the mayor’s back, “You went behind our back and hired a fucking Huntsman? Are you that eager to die?”

Raven stares at the robed man coldly, “And here I thought the good mayor couldn’t afford our services. And yet he’s hired a Huntsman to scare us off?”

“I’m afraid you are quite mistaken.” the man explains, “You may call me Nebula, or a dozen other epithets that would be meaningless to you. I am simply a lost traveller that the mayor has kindly offered a room to stay in after the rescue of two children in this fine village. Now I hate repeating myself, but could you kindly step off him?”

Raven ignores his request, looking down at the mayor, “Lost traveller, is that right? Our agreement is two thousand Lien per villager. Travellers count as well. That means you’re missing a total of twenty-two thousand Lien.”

“Truly?” Nebula strokes his chin with his gauntlet hand in thought, “Well, a friend of mine would nag me if I didn’t do all I can to avoid violence.”

He reaches for under his mantle as Vernal cocks her weapon warningly before he produces a pouch.

“Here. I’m sure gold would fetch a fair price in these lands?” he asks as he throws the pouch landing in front of Vernal, spilling over to produce a small pile of golden coins. 

Vernal cautiously bends down and reaches for one, inspecting it. As far as she could see it was the genuine article, something that surprised her. She turns and nods at Raven,

“Well-funded traveller aren’t you?” she mutters. So it was possible this wasn’t some kind of Huntsmen, but likely some eccentric rich man. No Huntsman would give away that much valuables when they would simply try fighting instead.

“Take it and begone. Material wealth is beyond me anyways.” Nebula waves his hand like he is dismissing someone beneath him, sounding like he has already lost interest.

“...Manners aside, at least someone in this village has sense.” Raven says as she glances back at the mayor, “We’ll take your tribute, but you can expect more expenses next time for being late and stubborn.”

“Forgive me, you might have misunderstood my intentions.” Nebula says, sounding annoyed, “Perhaps I need to speak slower for a slow mind. 

Silence reigned across the village, all of them varying degrees of stunned silence at such an absurd request before Raven bursts out laughing in genuine amusement.

“That’s certainly an…amusing request. Only a handful of people would dare try saying that.” she says after calming down, “You got guts, I admit. Tell me, do you have any friends or family?”

“Three dear friends of questionable intellect.” Nebula admits, “But they provide good company.”

“Then I’m sure they’ll pay well for your safe return.” Raven says, her voice turning cold, “Vernal?”

She nods and kicks the mayor unconscious before firing her weapon at Nebula, a yellow beam fueled by Lightning Dust shoots out and strikes him dead in the chest, not even hitting any Aura on the way. But instead of falling over unconscious from the shock, he merely looks at the soot on his robes and dusts it off annoyed,

“Well, now she can’t say I didn’t try my best.” Nebula casually says as Vernal looks at her weapon confused, wondering if there was a misfire, “Sorry, young lady, but it appears you just aren’t on the right level yet.”

Before she can react, he flicks his gauntlet at her, the fingers crackling with magenta energy before a blast of energy sends her flying back, slamming into a nearby house and cracking the walls. Raven only raises a brow in mild surprise as Vernal recovers from her shock at such a powerful blast before glaring at Nebula.

“Now I’m sure there is enough pattern recognition even for minds such as yours to realise-” Nebula begins to speak but Vernal charges at him with both weapons drawn, he simply flicks his gauntlet again to summon a dark orb that appears like the night sky only with magenta stars dotted inside it, “Nevermind then.”

He swings it and instantly a swirl of purple energy erupts in front of him, launching itself towards Vernal who leapt over it with ease. But then Nebula simply used his free hand to flick two fingers upwards and the swirl of energy flew up just as Vernal was dodging it, slamming into her and catching her in its orbit.

He allowed her to spin with it for a moment, curiously noting that she would be torn to shreds by now if it wasn’t for some kind of translucent energy barrier protecting her, yet she was still in agony apparent from her screams. Deciding to test its limits he flicks his fingers down, sending the mass of astral energy downwards with her before detonating it.

When the dust cleared she was unconscious but evidently alive from her shallow breathing despite the burns on her skin and clothes from the explosion of astral energy. While he admits he was simply testing with a weak application it was still impressive how little damage there was.

“So…just a traveller, huh?” Raven drew Omen after selecting a Fire Dust blade for it, “Knew something was off about you, Huntsman.”

Nebula sighs and rolls his eyes, “Can a traveller simply not be well-armed and competent in a fight? Now, I suppose you wish to test your might against mine? I recommend bringing an army for the bare minimum.”

“You’re a cocky one, aren’t you?” Raven scoffs at his arrogance. But before she could make him eat his words, they heard something smash behind her and turned in time to see someone thrown out of the local inn through a broken door.

Out came a laughing man in a brown leather jacket and a javelin made of solid flames, and one of her tribe members attempted to choke him out with a chokehold and failed before he was grabbed and thrown off.

Nebula smirks under his hood, “Forgive me, I’ve miscalculated. You need at least four armies. One for each of us.”

“D-damn you!” the bandit that was thrown out of the door points his rifle but before he can fire a shot smashes his gun to pieces, coating his hand in shrapnel, “AHH!”

“It’s always a bar with us, isn’t it?” Vortex asks as she steps out of the inn with her Vortex Beater rifle in hand, followed by Stardust.

“What better way to mark the start of a new adventure? Hey, Neb, you just missed a bar fight! Where were you?” Solar laughs victoriously before turning to face them, noticing her sword drawn he casually points Daybreak at Raven, “So is she…?”

“I don’t know, are you?” Nebula asks mockingly.

Raven stares at each of them, the mask hiding her face but they can sense her furious glare as she turns back to Nebula, “I don’t have the time for games. Shion has been a good business partner for the last few months, so I’ll grant them one more chance. Pass the mayor a message when he wakes, that if he doesn’t bring double of what he’s been paying I will raze this village to the ground.”

“Pardon?” Stardust and Solar say at the same time, missing context for what is going on as Raven cuts the air with her blade, dragging an unconscious Vernal with her before it closes behind her.

Before any of them could ask Nebula, similar portals opened up beneath the bandits as they fell through, with one of them glaring and shouting as they left,

“You’re gonna regret ever messing with the Branwen Tribe!”

“...The what tribe?” Vortex asks confused, “I feel we’re missing some context.”

“Simply put, we’ve declared war against what is apparently a tribe of bandits.” Nebula explains casually as he wraps his Nebula Arcanum with a white silk cloth, “And like you just heard if we do not pay them with money the village does not have, they vow to return and burn it to the ground and likely killing every man, woman and children as well.”

The trio pause and registers this information with various reactions,

“Oh jeez.” Stardust sighs at this, worried for the villagers.

“Really? Is it Monday already?” Solar shrugs unbothered by the news,

Vortex just sounded annoyed, “You didn’t think to mention that earlier so I could’ve shot her head off and avoided that?”

“Perhaps. But where’s the fun in that?” Nebula asks with a smirk.

Chapter Text

“Doesn’t look too bad, just a couple broken ribs. Here, take a sip from this.” Stardust holds out a small conical flask containing a red gelatinous solution for the mayor to drink. Obeying he takes a sip only to immediately regret it and start coughing,

“Brother gods what is that?” he looks at the potion with disgust, “It tasted like slimy fish and uncooked mushrooms.”

He starts looking queasy as Stardust explains, “That means it’s good quality. You’ll feel the effects kicking in soon. Your bones will mend but you’ll feel a bit sick for a minute. It’ll go away, don’t worry.”

Currently, they are resting in the mayor’s house with Nebula leaning on a wall and flipping through one of the books on the shelves. As colour returned to the mayor’s face, Solar barged in through the front door.

“Looks all clear to me, but I left Vortex on watch just in case.” Solar informs as he glances at the mayor, “So can someone tell me what the deal is with that crazy lady?”

The mayor sighs, “It was a long time ago, a few years. Our village was just getting on its feet, but we were suffering from the Grimm attacks. At first, we were able to drive them off with what little weapons we had, but soon they weren’t enough. We needed Huntsmen but couldn’t afford it, so we turned to less savoury individuals.”

“Grimm?” Solar and Stardust asks before Nebula interrupts,

“Creatures of darkness that roam these lands. Spawned by pools of black that no one knows the source of.” Nebula chimes in while reading his book, “The Huntsmen are mercenaries essentially. Paid to go from village to village, wiping out every trace of Grimm.”

“Yes, how did you not know that?” the mayor asks confused before shaking his head, “No…that’s none of my business. But I’m sure you can guess how our deal turned out.”

“So they started asking for more and more until you weren’t able to keep up.” Solar sums up, “That woman, she said that unless we pay her twice of what she was paid she’ll burn this village down. Any idea when?”

He shudders, “A week, give or take. A while ago there was a village with a similar deal…we heard they tried fighting back but one week later we lost all contact.”

“Spirits…” Stardust mutters in disgust.

“It’s why I asked you all to stay.” the mayor confesses, “I hope that with some capable fighters here, she’ll think twice. Perhaps even negotiate. It seems I was wrong.”

He suddenly gets up from his bed despite Stardust’s protests and bows to them, 

“Please…I’m begging you all, do not let my village be destroyed because of my foolishness. I will spend the rest of my life paying off the debt if I must, just don’t let them suffer anymore.” he begs shakily.

Solar approaches and grabs the mayor, pulling him straight, “Hey, you’re supposed to be the mayor. Have some more backbone!”

He slaps him on the shoulder and shakes him, “We’re gonna help you, but you ain’t gonna pay a single copper. If that lady’s crazy enough to try attacking while we’re here she’s in for one hell of a rude awakening.”

Stardust nods, “Solar speaks for us. We’re not going to let another village burn on our watch.”

“Another?” the mayor mutters but is ignored when Stardust turns to Nebula who is still reading,

“I don’t have to ask if you’re in or not, right?”

“Well I wouldn’t say without payment, there’s some lovely books here that I-” he says before Solar elbows him, “Ow, fine! Fine.”

“If you save this village, take all the books you want. It’s a small price to pay.” the mayor says with relief in his voice, “Thank you.”

Solar slams his fists together, “Well you heard him. We got one week, which is more warning than we usually get. Let’s get to work.”

***

“Come on, put more back into it!” Solar yells at the villagers who thrust and twisted their iron spears in repeated movements, sweating like they were in ovens with the sun overhead and draped in plated iron armour.

He then turns his attention to the other group of villagers that have taken up bows, taking aim and firing them in volleys only for most of them to miss the setup targets entirely,

“So much for an army.” Nebula says leaning on the walls of a nearby building, his hood down and chewing on a fresh apple, “You know it would be far easier to just bolster the walls and let these bandits break their backs against our might.”

“Maybe. But we need these villagers to defend themselves once we’re gone.” Stardust points out from next to him, without her usual armour, “Otherwise they’ll be helpless once we leave. Those Grimm things won’t stop after the bandits are gone after all, in fact, they might see more Grimm without bandits whittling down their numbers.”

“So that’s why you’re having Vortex go on hunting expeditions?” Nebula asks, taking another bite, “Repeating everything we did with those scattered settlements in Terraria.”

In the past two days, they’ve put the village to work. Once the panic was calmed down after hearing the bandits were coming to kill them all, Solar got to work gathering resources. Metal ore for reinforcing walls and gates, as well as forging equipment for any volunteers of the village strong enough to hold a sword or draw a bow. Vortex was placed in charge of external defences, teaching them irregular warfare of placing traps, scouting and ambushes with prowling Grimm as target practice.

Of course, it was a bit of a challenge, considering that even one of the smaller creatures, a Beowolf, required at least five men to put down. But they were slowly getting rid of their fear with every Grimm they killed.

It was the Corruption all over again, only the bright side is that they don’t spread any kind of evil that pollutes the world. Stardust shudders a bit from old memories, of hearing and seeing what remains of entire settlements once the spread of Corruption reached them.

“But it’s better than making them depend on us. Once they can stand on their own two feet, they can start digging through the mine Solar started, trade the metal with other villages and get better equipment to defend themselves with. This is just the starting line we’re helping them cross.”

She says as she snatches the apple from Nebula’s hands, “And I don’t get why you’re complaining. You’re not even doing anything.”

“Of course I am. My mere presence bolsters the morale of the villagers don’t you think?” he asks as she takes a moment to give a charming smile at a pair of women in Solar’s make-shift militia, causing them to blush and be distracted before Solar reprimands them

“You wanna complain about something, you need to at least do something.” she grumbles before pointing off in the distance, “Go keep a look out or something, we don’t know if they may be spying on us as we speak.”

“If Vortex doesn’t pick any bandits spying on us I doubt it.” he shrugs before pausing as he looks over the village walls at the towering pine trees, “...But say, does that raven look odd? I swear I’ve seen that same bird these past days.”

Stardust follows his gaze and squints her eyes, “...Could be nothing. But why leave it to chance? Deal with it.”

“Fine, fine but only because it’s you asking.” he dusts off his robes as he straightens himself before raising two entwined fingers, and starts chanting, a swirl of seawater sprouting from the air and circling his arm. Through their years of growth and training, he had finally reached the level of no longer requiring spellbooks to channel spells, capable of doing so purely from memory which is a testament to his talent and skills,

“Words of ancient lore…the tempest's roar…” he mutters to himself, eyes glowing purple before unleashing the spell with a flick of his hands, not bothering to complete the spell with such a target. Just the first phrase will be enough.

A circle blade made of spinning seawater flies out at high speed like a buzzsaw. In the distance, the raven’s eyes widened at the sight of the approaching projectile before giving flight through the woods, but to its horror it realised that the blade was following it, cutting through and bouncing off trees as it gave chase.

How long can it go for? How did they realise? Question fills its mind before deep in the forest it changes shape, drawing a blade faster than the blink of an eye and cutting a tear in space before disappearing through it. The blade of seawater dissipates once it realises its target has left its range.

“Well, that should deal with whatever that was,” Nebula says snatching back his apple after firing the spell.

“Did you get it?” Stardust asks,

“Who cares? If it hits and kills, they know not to send more spies. If it doesn’t, it lets them know we know they’re sending spies so it’s useless to send more.” he says biting into his fruit, “All in a day's work for Terraria’s greatest mage. I accept thanks in gems, coins and lost forbidden knowledge.”

“You barely did anything!” Stardust yells as she pulls out her Kaleidoscope.

***

“Raven!” Vernal cried out in shock as she saw their leader suddenly come flying out of her portal, landing on her feet with a surprised look on her face.

She pants, looking back at where the portal was for a moment before grimacing,

“They spotted me.” she growls with a frustrated look on her face, “That robed man, Nebula, tried attacking me.”

“That bastard?” Vernal growls but winces, her arm still in a cast, “Milady, how is that possible? No one has ever managed to spot you while you spy on them before.”

“...No. Only a handful know of this information.” Raven mutters as pieces come together in her mind. Two possibilities, either Salem or Ozpin but it couldn’t be the former. Defending villages isn’t her style, rather her operatives would take it out while fighting Raven not minding who gets caught in the crossfire and killing all witnesses. No, they were defending the weak, this was more Ozpin’s style.

“That bastard…” she mutters to herself. Has he reincarnated already? She had been elated to hear that old bastard died in Beacon but now here he was sending grunts after her? Or was he still not yet reincarnated? Perhaps this was a contingency he had planned for his death? No matter, he can send whoever he wants, and she’ll send them back in body bags.

“Make sure you’re prepared.” Raven orders as she turns her back to Vernal, heading to her own tent, “By the end of the week, we’ll make them regret standing against us.”

***

The day had come, and the hastily trained militiamen pointing spears and bows at the tear in space that appeared in front of their village’s gates. Raven steps out dressed in her usual attire with the Grimm mask over her face, staring at the defences set up.

Simple stone walls were now somehow metal plated with even a moat dug around the village and a simple wooden bridge leading towards the gate. On the walls were groups of armoured men, although shaking in fear, their short bows were still pointed at her ready to draw and fire.

Standing on the gate was the mayor, clad in similar iron armour and sweating as a well-built man dressed in a brown leather jacket with messy and spiky red hair and golden irises giving him a light shove on the back. Raven recognises him as one of the three that trounced Shay and the other bandits.

“Go on then, just like we practised.” He encourages the mayor who swallows his fear and approaches Raven.

“So…I take it you won’t be paying tribute? Instead of giving money to us, you waste it all on this?” she asks, gesturing to the renovations, “Do you think this will be enough to stop us?”

“...” the mayor pauses and glances back at the red-haired man who gives him a thumbs up.

“No.” the mayor says, trying to sound determined despite his shaking, giving away his true feelings, “We…we had enough. We t-thank you for protecting us against the Grimm but we will not tolerate your extortion any longer! We have no need of your services so kindly vacate yourself from this village at once, never to come back again!”

He says with growing courage, his shaking hands going for a shortsword made of iron at his hips. Raven narrows her eyes at him,

“...I’ll commend you on your courage.” she says drawing Omen, “But your stupidity damns you and your village. I’ll at least grant you the honour of killing you with Omen.”

She dashes forward faster than his eyes can keep up, the mayor bracing himself for death but then Omen strikes something hard between them.

“Well said, mayor.” The man with red hair and golden eyes smiles as he stands between them, a flaming spiked shield blocking Omen. Before Raven could react, an explosive pulse of fire was released from the shield, launching her backwards and forcing her to slow herself to a stop with her blade.

When she looked up, her eyes widened behind her mask as the man was now draped in flaming full-plated armour with a spear made of similar material in his other arm,

“You know, I could never understand you people.” he grumbles as he raises his spear into a stance, “Stealing, raiding, killing your fellow man when we could all work together. It just doesn’t make a lick of sense to me.”

“It’s simple, the strong take what they want from the weak. It’s how the world works.” Raven scoffs as she slices the ground beneath her creating a portal with her Semblance, “You made your bed now you’ll lie in it.”

He throws his spear but before it can land, Raven disappears through the portal to his annoyance.

“Crap…You know Vortex might be right, I should just stab them while they’re talking,” he mutters to himself.

***

“Are they still following us?” a bandit asks as he looks back at the cloud of dust kicked up by the Grimm pack they were leading towards the village. It was always the riskiest part of the raid, leading Grimm to do the brunt work and pick up whatever valuables were left. And this time they were the ones that drew the short straw.

“Just about. Should we give them a chance to catch up?” another bandit suggests on his own motorcycle, the two of them going at full speed to keep ahead.

“Nah we’re good. Besides, if we run off now they’re still in range to detect that village. Which one do you think they’ll pick, two prey running away or a bunch of them cooped up in one spot?”

“Well, you have a-” Before he could finish, a gunshot was heard and a round tore through his skull. The other bandit’s eyes widened in shock a moment before the round continued travelling, but diverging thanks to its previous target, tearing through his throat instead of piercing his skull and turning his brain into mush.

He fell from his motorcycle, the bike smashing into a tree as he fell, breaking his bones as well from the speed. As he lay there choking and gurgling, the air began shimmering as someone materialised out of the blue and black smoke with a sniper rifle in his arm racking back a bolt and ejecting a spent casing. Whatever it was they wore metallic armour with a glowing teal helmet around her head.

“Hey, we’re all in position. What about you? Are the Grimm almost there?”  A voice came from the radio on his hip as his assailant bent down and grabbed the radio before speaking into it,

“Your friends are dead.” were the first words that came from her mouth as she ended the dying bandit’s misery with a shot to the head, the gunshot echoing through the radio and frightening whoever was behind it, “And soon, so are you. Over.”

She crushes the radio before a response can go through and whips out her cell phone, taping it to call her companions,

“Got two bandits on the outer perimeter, looks like they were leading Grimm here.” she informs as she looks at the rapidly approaching dust cloud, “Looks to be about a hundred at most. Some of them look as big as small houses.”

“Got it.”  Stardust acknowledges,  “Just kill the ones that are too big for any militiamen to take down. Remember we want them to gain experience, which we can’t do if we kill them all or let too strong monsters kill them.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Vortex mutters as she turns to face the pack of Grimm, racking back the bolt and loading another bullet inside.

***

“Here they come!” Solar shouts from on top of the fortified walls, raising his spear to signal, “Archers, draw and hold!”

The few archers they were able to train up drew back their bows with practised ease as they took aim at the Grimm surging out of the woods, a collection of Beowolves and Beringels. Once they were within effective range he gave the signal,

“Demolitions, now!” he commands as one of the militiamen nods grabs a blasting machine and pushes down on it, triggering the explosives pre-planted just when the Grimm were charging.

The explosives tore quite a few of them to shreds and stunned most with their bone carapaces cracked and shattered from the blast's shockwaves.

“Loose!” he commands and the archers released, firing iron-tipped arrows at their weakened foes, releasing volley after volley that took down a few of the surviving smaller Beowolves and those injured by the explosion.

“Keep firing, just like we practised!” He reminds the archers, “All squads focus their shots on the same target, bring them down together then move on!”

By now they were recovering and continuing their stalled charge, reaching the moat where they were clambering over each other to climb above. 

“Spears, at the front!” Solar draws his own spear and throws it into the mix, detonating in fiery explosions that kill and scatter them, “Archers fall back and draw swords!”

Militiamen in slightly heavier armour stormed forwards with spears and shields, standing interlocked as they stabbed downwards in unified strikes at the same target, taking down one before moving towards their next.

However, a Beringel ignores the five spears skewering its neck and climbs up, swatting the spearmen away. They were injured but alive thanks to their shield and armour, suffering broken bones as the Grimm roared at them prepared to deliver the killing blow.

Dropping his Daybreak, Solar then drew the Eruption. A whip-sword made of Solar Fragments, swinging it, stretching the blade long enough that with a single swing, he sliced the head off the Beringel before swinging it back to slay an entire wave of Grimm scaling the walls.

“Get the injured to safety! Reserve forces get in and take their places!” Solar commands as he took out another wave to give them breathing room, “You can do it! Defend your village!”

The militia roars back determined as they did as ordered, even the mayor shaking with fear, grabbed his sword to join in the defence. But then the ground shook as on the horizon trees began to fall over as a large Grimm with tusks and large ears trampled the forest while approaching them. He thinks he saw a creature like this in Nebula’s books before, something called an elephant?

“Damn, really pushing it aren’t you Vortex?” Solar mutters under his breath before analysing the situation, with the remaining Beowolves trying to scale the walls, the militia can protect itself but not against the giant Grimm. 

He unfurls his wings and takes to the skies, all of you hold the line I’ll take care of…whatever that is!” he declares as he takes off, sword and shield drawn against the beast.

***

Raven knew the moment she heard her two Grimm corralers executed that things weren’t going as planned but shrugged it off. Complications happen sometimes and this was no different, it didn’t change the fact a large pack of Grimm was now besieging the village although it was smaller than planned. Still, the defenders were engaged and that was her plan. However, seeing a Huntsman with those wings and flaming armour almost made her pause.

Just what kind of Semblance or mastery over Dust allowed that? But still, he was engaging with a Goliath, something that even veterans have trouble with thanks to their thick hide and monstrous strength. It’ll keep him busy.

She slices a portal before turning to her bandits, “Remember to make it quick, the moment the wall comes down make sure to head to the portal. Grab anything of value and we’ll split the loot later.”

The bandits cheer as they start following her through the portal. Even if there were remaining militia on reserve, they would be no match to bandits with Aura unlocked. Even if they lacked Huntsmen training, they were more than a match for poorly trained militias.

However, the moment they stepped through they were surprised to be greeted by the sight of a young woman with a blue ponytail, a few years Vernal’s senior, waiting for them dressed in a yellow sweater and black skirt looking more ready for a night out than a battle.

“So that’s how you work, keeping them busy while you take advantage of their distraction.” the girl says looking at her with disdain, “I have to admit, it’s a smart plan with only minimum risk.”

“Shit, it’s one of them!” Shay points his gun at her but she doesn’t flinch, “She’s with those Huntsmen, ma’am!”

“Really?” Raven hums as she glances at her up and down. While she looks unprepared to the untrained eye, Raven can guess from her body language she was no stranger to violence and combat and there was no telling what kind of Semblance she had or how strong her Aura was to be this confident.

“You’re outmatched, kid. Even a Huntsman would know when they’re outnumbered.” she says with a hand on Omen’s hilt, “I have a suggestion, why not join your friends on the walls while my men and I take what we want. Do that and we won’t kill anyone, and if you keep the Grimm out then no one dies.”

The girl however looks at her in disgust, “I’ve seen villages fall at the hands of people like you. I don’t like killing humans so if you leave right now I promise I won’t kill you all.”

Raven snorts, “Tempting but no. Kill her.”

The bandits aim their guns and fire, but as they are doing so, the girl swings her arm and in a flash of blue is covered by golden armour sprouting blue ethereal energy that surprises Raven as it reminds her of the man with flaming armour in the entrance.

A golden staff with a dragon’s head and a blue orb in its maw materialises out of nowhere in her hands mid-swing, as out from it came a serpentine-like creature flying through the air and blocking the bullets. It appeared as long as half a King Taijitu but half as thick with golden scales on its back with a glowing blue underbelly, actually resembling more like an eel with fins at the end of its tail. 

A summoning Semblance, Raven realises. She draws Omen and blocks it as it charges headfirst, grunting as she was almost launched back if she didn’t brace herself. However, it switches targets and grabs the bandit next to her, pulling him into the air and screaming before biting him in half in an instant, right through his Aura.

The bandits stared in shock at the sight but Raven leapt forward instantly towards the girl in armour. Her Semblance is some kind of summoning type obviously. They were a rare but powerful type that summons familiars to aid its user in battle, but they also took a lot of Aura meaning the wielder would usually be supported by allies to defend their weaker bodies.

But here she was with only armour. She needs to take care of her before she whittles her bandits down but as she swung Omen at her neck, a thick hand made of blue ethereal energy suddenly grabs it and Raven widens her eyes as the top half of a muscular humanoid figure made of blue energy, wearing a blank golden mask that covers its face entirely with a golden spiked halo attached to its back appears out of nowhere and blocks her strike with both arms.

Reeling back a fist, it throws a powerful punch that snaps the Dust blade of Omen in half and sends Raven flying backwards. She glances back and winces at the sight of more of her bandits being slaughtered by the second. Just how strong was this girl able to summon two powerful familiars this strong without losing potency or looking exhausted?

“You say I’m the one outmatched?” the girl asks as she raises another golden staff, this one having two blue orbs stacked on each other instead, summoning a swarm of floating golden spheres surrounded with electric blue auras, “I say you’re the one outmatched and outnumbered. What was it you said to Solar? Ah right, you made your bed now you can lie in it.”

Raven glared at her, her eyes coated with magic energy as she activated her Maiden powers. She had no choice, she needed to end this quickly and then wipe out every witness here to cover it up.

“Don’t you dare look down on me,” she growls.

***

The innkeeper winces as he hears the commotion outside although he can’t hear it, it seems to be some kind of violent fight. He and the rest of the villagers who couldn’t fight were taking shelter in his inn, in the empty rooms above as they waited out this disaster. And here he was, serving a drink in the midst of all this,

“Shouldn’t you be…out there?” he asks awkwardly gesturing outside as he pours a glass of whiskey towards a bored Nebula with his hood down, resting his head on an arm.

“Nah, there’s not much for me to do. They all have it handled so why bother?” he asks with a yawn before taking the glass and drinking from it, “It’s not the first village we’ve defended, and it won’t be our last.”

“...You mentioned none of you are Huntsmen, but you defended villages?” the innkeeper asks before wincing at the screech of a dying bandit outside, “Are you mercenaries?”

“No, nothing of the sort. Stardust would hate being called that.” Nebula chuckles, “Yes, we do accept the food and shelter you provide, but we’re not necessarily doing this for monetary gain. It’s more…what’s the word? Yes, more of a hobby for me.”

“A hobby?” the innkeeper asks, confused.

“Yes. Some of us need something to do when not researching.” he shrugs, “This adventuring business, Solar does this for any classic storybook heroic reasons you can think of. Stardust does this because of her large heart, wanting to help everyone in need they come across. Vortex does this for the riches we come across. Me? Of course, initially, I came for my own reasons, but lately accompanying them is simply a hobby. One I enjoy very much.”

“Well, I guess we all need things to keep ourselves busy.” the innkeeper says before suddenly the walls to the inn explode, covered in ice which frightens him, “What was that?!”

“Hm…” Nebula stands up and pulls up his hood, walking out to find Stardust in the air fighting that Raven woman who appeared to be flying with strange red magic and eyes surrounded by an aura of magic, “Fascinating. Are you having trouble there Stardust?”

The Raven woman roars as her blade is suddenly encased with ice crystals, increasing its size as she slashes it at Stardust, who shatters it with a punch from her Guardian before it blitzes towards her with a flurry of blows.

Raven tried to create a wall of ice crystals but it was shattered with ease, sending her flying backwards before she stabilised herself. Then her Cells began firing pulses of energy at her rapidly but she dodged them all by transforming into a familiar raven and flying through the bolts before manoeuvring to behind Stardust, transforming back and raising her blade coated with magical energy.

Before she can slice, Stardust’s Guardian disappears before warping directly behind her and grabbing the blade, pulling her towards it before pummeling her with a single arm and smashing her to the ground right through an empty house.

“No, just surprised we met a magician of this calibre out here.” Stardust shrugs as the Dragon continues its massacre of the bandits futilely fighting back by firing at it.

“I see.” Nebula hums as Raven stumbles out of the broken house, throwing her cracked mask away, “Do you mind if I take over? It’s been so long since I’ve met another magician, let alone duelled with one.”

Stardust shrugs, “Do what you want. I’ll take care of the other bandits.”

She flies towards the remaining bandits, using her summons to accelerate their massacre as Nebula walks up to the bandit leader with arms crossed, “Fascinating. I don’t believe I’ve heard of any skills used besides Aura and Semblances, but yours feels like true magic. Do you mind explaining?”

“Bastards…I knew it, you’re with him!” she growls as she draws another solid crystalline blade from her strange sheath, “I don’t know what game he’s pulling but it won’t work! Do you know what you’ve cost me today? I’ll make sure you all pay!”

“Says the woman who was about to burn an entire village for coin,” Nebula says unimpressed with the supposed magician in front of him as she launches herself at him, blade drawn.

He lazily raises his hand with the Blaze strapped on it as teal energy begins to crackle in his palms, “The forces of attraction…Magnetic action…”

He mutters the first phrase of the spell as magnetic forces are manipulated by his mana, aided by the nebula energy coursing through his attire before launching itself in a condensed orb of magnetic energy that fires off teal beams of lightning at his foe.

Seeing this, she bats away all bolts of energy and slices at it, hoping to silence it, but what she accomplishes is instead releasing the condensed energy explosively, shocking her. However, she powers through it, releasing a pulse of blue ice energy using the Blaze to emit a wall of magenta energy that absorbs it.

She uses this to get next to him, hoping to strike him from his flank instead of receiving an explosive blast of nebula energy from the Blaze as he backhands her.

“It’s fascinating, magic yet at the same time one I’m unfamiliar with.” Nebula mutters with curiosity, “Tell me, who is your teacher? Who taught you how to perform this art?”

“What…are you talking about?” Raven asks with a pant as she pushes herself up with Omen. She launches herself into the air and slashes with her blade infused with magic, releasing a slash of blue energy that he counters with his own blast of magenta from his gauntlet. The power of the nebulas overwhelmed her magic and powered through it towards her which she barely blocked.

“You’re not bad, combining your strength in the blade with magic to amplify your powers.” he hums, stroking his chin in thought, “But this is not how one wields true magic. You fight like someone with borrowed power. Where does it come from? Who did you receive this gift from?”

“Come closer, and my blade will whisper to you the answer,” Raven growls as she channels more magic into her blade, enlarging it into a gigantic katana made of ice and swinging it. Nebula snaps his gauntlet’s fingers, emitting a magenta pulse that shatters the blade before it touches him.

“And here I had my hopes up, thinking I met another practitioner.” he sighs disappointed, “It appears you know no more about true magic than Solar does.”

“What the hell do you know?” she growls, “Who are you? I’ve never seen any of you with him before. What secrets did he tell you?”

“...It appears we have some case of mistaken identity. I truly would like to ask you a question but I doubt you would be cooperative.” he notices, “But before I do that allow me to demonstrate to you, from a true practitioner to a mere novice, what  true  magic is.”

He flicks his hand and appearing in a shimmer was a crystal prism hovering above his palm, rainbows glinting off it from any sources of nearby light. With a gesture its tip was pointed at her as it spun, immediately Raven’s senses told her that something terrible was coming and she brought out all the powers of a Maiden she could, concentrating it into a shield in front of her.

The prism spun before releasing blasts of light that smashed through her strongest barrier with ease, screaming in agony as her Aura amplified by her Maiden powers was torn to shreds in an instant, but thanks to her powers available as a Maiden she was able to activate her Semblance using her magic instead of Aura, falling through a portal not a moment too soon.

Nebula cancels the effect of the Last Prism and looks annoyed to find only traces of red and black smoke left, a sign of her portal being used. It was irritating when a foe fled instead of dying. He’ll have to amend that next time they meet, or rather if.

As he returns the Last Prism to its space, the head of a gigantic elephant-like Grimm lands in front of him with Solar following it laughing as he lands.

“For something that size I was expecting a challenge. I’d say it was about half as strong as an Eye of Cthulhu. The defenders prevailed, the bandits lay dead, victory is ours!” he chuckles as he looks at the small crater that was left from the effects of the Last Prisms, “What were you doing?”

“Just teaching a novice the true difference in our skills.” he huffs.

“Raven…” Vernal groans as she reaches out with a hand before bleeding out from her body torn in half by Stardust’s Dragon. Seeing it was all finished, Stardust dismisses her summons.

“She looks so young… If only they surrendered.” she says soberly before turning to her friends, “But the village’s safe now?”

“It is.” Solar nods, “They can take care of themselves, but I think they’ll know when they’re outclassed enough to call one of those Huntsman things. Guess that’s what Vortex was aiming for when she let us take on that giant Grimm.”

“She can think ahead if she puts her mind to it.” Stardust nods, “Now we just need to wait for her to do her part.”

***

Raven screams in agony as she lands from her portal. If it wasn’t for her Maiden powers she would be dead by now, but the energy from whatever that blast was left terrible burns on her. It shouldn’t be possible, there shouldn’t be anything other than  her  and other Maidens that could overpower her with ease. Who were those people?!

She pushes herself off the floor of her tent and leans before realising the lights are gone. All the candles and lamps were unlit and she wasn’t hearing a sound. She made sure to leave at least a few guards to maintain their camp before leaving with the raid force so where was everyone.

Then she realised she was not alone as the air in front of her shimmered and a woman in metal armour and glowing teal neon lines through her suit appeared in front of her, a teal dome for a helmet on her head and a sniper rifle held casually in her arms.

“Don’t bother. They’re all dead.” the strange woman says with a modulated voice as she sits on a chair in Raven’s tent, slinging the rifle behind her back, gesturing for Raven to do the same with one opposite of her. With little choice she plops herself down painfully, arm grasping the burnt half of her body.

“Can I get you anything? A drink? Cigars? Any last words?” she asked as she drew a heavy magnum revolver made of black and green metal, placing it on her lap and waiting for Raven’s response as a look of growing realisation dawned on her face.

Funny, after all this time she never thought of herself sitting on the other end. She was strong, so she was always on the end holding the weapon, but now it was reversed. With someone stronger sitting on the other end holding the gun.

“...Fuck you,” she mutters as her hand glows with her Maiden powers prepared for a blast of ice before a shot goes off faster than she could react.