Shiro's Sanctum

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.

Betad by Priapus, Malcolm Tent, Old man of the mountain

The Celestial Remnant

Chapter 10: Holy Diver

– Ozpin –

Today was just one of those days, wasn't it?

Looking at Qrow, he hid his amusement at the way the other man's hair was singed and the soot staining his face. Getting caught in a fight between two Maidens wasn't the best, even if Yang was very young and inexperienced.

"Oz, what the fuck is Akari?" Qrow asked, slumping into the seat. "Yang was tossing around fucking magma, and I've seen enough to know magic when I see it. All Yang said was that Akari gave it to her. Apparently, he called it 'Magmatic Magician', whatever the fuck that means."

"I truly do believe that Akari is connected to the God of Light, more and more with every passing day. Though, in truth, I simply don't know how. It does not surprise me that he has discovered how to give out his developing powers, and he's shown his willingness to share power through his trinkets. Miss Xiao Long already had the Dragon Talisman, and Miss Belladonna has a pendant that allows her to turn into a truly powerful jaguar," Ozpin explained, humming to himself in thought. "I take it both Miss Xiao Long and Branwen were mostly unharmed?"

"Raven wasn't dumb enough to actually hurt Yang, and as much as I can't stand that bitch right now, Raven isn't so weak that she can be threatened by Yang, who barely knows how to use her new magic," Qrow agreed. "Of course, Raven is suddenly very interested in the daughter she ditched now that Yang has her own magic. I'm telling you, Oz, keeping her around is gonna cause problems. I separated them, but Yang is pissed, and Raven isn't helping matters."

"Unsurprising. Raven has never been the most diplomatic woman," Ozpin agreed, getting a heavy snort from her brother at the colossal understatement. "Still, this means that Team Raspberry now has a Silver-Eyed Warrior, a Pseudo-Maiden and a Huntress with a magic pendant. Too great a temptation for the enemy to ignore, I fear."

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna stick around, especially with this Fall woman apparently being in Vale as we speak," Qrow agreed, running a hand through his hair, concern clear on his face. 

His scroll vibrated, and as he opened the message for Akari, he sighed and took a sip.

"Lemme guess, it just did that?" Qrow asked with a snort.

"Oh no, this time, he gave an explanation. 'Magma isn't my style, and I figured if you could make Maidens, then I should be able to give away my magic too. Yang is hot, so I made her hotter.'" Ozpin read out, getting a chuckle from Qrow. "He does go on to explain that I explained that he would be a target because of his silver eyes and wants to make sure that if the enemy comes for Ruby, she'll be well protected. Hence, the empowerment of her team through artefacts, powers and enchanted gear."

"Which put an even bigger target on them in the process. Can't tell if the kid's a genius or a dumbass," Qrow admitted, a small smile on his face. 

"Nobody can. Akari is a mysterious one. Are you aware that he paid Sienna Khan a visit and threatened to take over the White Fang if she didn't take a more peaceful path?" Ozpin asked, making Qrow bark out a laugh.

"Kid's got balls, I'll give him that," Qrow praised. "Heard that Fang attacks dropped suddenly, something about a restructuring."

"Yes, it was certainly an audacious plan, but the most bizarre part is that it seemed to work," Ozpin agreed. "Of course, now there are rumours that Akari is the living avatar of the God of Animals and that Sienna is his champion."

"We still don't know where Akari came from?" Qrow asked, making him shake his head.

"With a more peaceful White Fang, I took the chance to reach out to them and extend an olive branch. The Belladonnas were happy to discuss Akari with me, even if Sienna Khan herself was more reluctant. They found Akari as a child, roaming the edge of Kuo Kuana, right in the path of their patrols, where he would be found quickly. They believe, and I agree, that someone placed Akari there knowing that a patrol would encounter him, but Akari himself was too young and barely spoke, not remembering how he got there," Ozpin said, a frown on his face. 

"Could he be Maria's kid?" Qrow asked, making Ozpin shake his head.

"I suspected that may be the case at first. We never found her body, after all. I had his blood tested against an old sample of Maria's, and it was not a match," Ozpin explained. "He can't be Summer's; she would have still been on Patch when he was born."

"Test it anyway," Qrow suggested, making Ozpin raise an eyebrow. "Hey, I know it's a long shot, but nothing about Akari makes sense. Besides, he could be a distant relative. Maybe one of Summer's family survived?"

"A fair point," Ozpin agreed. Adhering to logic around Akari just wasn't working, was it? Summer's entire family had been slaughtered due to their silver-eyed heritage, which ironically resulted in a young Summer awakening her own silver eyes. Perhaps a cousin had slipped away, surviving Salem's agents? "For now, we shall simply have to keep an eye on Miss Branwen, though I imagine her power-hungry nature will keep her in place with Akari showing the ability to just hand out powers to those he likes."

"Heh, true. I saw that look in her eyes when she realised what Akari had done to Yang. Same one I saw when you first told us about Maidens, and we know how that went," Qrow said, his tone dark as Ozpin nodded. 

Raven would not be able to resist trying to get some of the power Akari handed out like candy.

– Yang Xiao Long –

Okay, so maybe starting her long-awaited conversation with her mother by throwing a ball of magma at her hadn't been the best 'hello'. She'd pressed Akari for all the details he knew, and he was as helpful as always. After hearing that, not only had her mom used her to sneak into the school through some portal semblance bullshit, her mom had not once decided to actually speak to her despite being able to come to see her at any moment. All that time wasted, and her mom had probably been watching her the entire time. 

But no, what really set her off? Her mom had gotten knocked up by Akari, and that was fine; Akari was always doing something weird; that weirdness might as well be her mom. No, it was the fact that after getting caught, her mom casually suggested aborting the baby to avoid the consequences of getting caught. That was enough to convince Yang of what her dad and uncle had been trying for a long time. Raven Branwen was not a good person; she was scum.

Family was everything to Yang, so to hear Akari say that Raven had suggested something so foul was the breaking point for her. The way that Raven had just casually admitted it when asked only made it worse. If that was how little Raven cared about the magic baby that she'd been trying to run away with, then how little did Raven care about her? Suddenly, Raven's willingness to ditch her entire family made so much more sense. They meant nothing to her.

Raven seemed more interested in the power that Akari had given her, with a warning that people might target her sister because of Ruby's silver eyes. She took that warning extremely seriously. Akari knew a lot more of what was going on, and she wasn't gonna let anything happen to Rubes. 

Raven was a power-hungry bitch, who cared for nothing but herself. Summer Rose was her mom, not that sociopathic whore. That realisation was both a stab to the heart and a weight off her chest.

She had, secretly at least, judged her father a little. After all, she and Ruby were close in age, so he'd moved on fast. Suddenly, she understood why he was so willing to forget Raven and move on to the much nicer Summer.

As her rage continued to spike, she took several deep breaths and calmed the molten flames within her chest. She could feel them, just waiting to be called on. Of course, Akari had said that she could do a lot more with the spark he'd given her; she'd have to work hard to master this power over magma.

Trying to find Akari, because she'd kinda run off to go and confront her mom, she found his room empty (despite the Altesian operative standing in front of it who gave her a suspicious glare). 

His usual haunts were empty, so she headed back to her own room, making a note to thank him later. This hadn't gone how she wanted, but that wasn't his fault. If anything, he'd done her a favour by exposing how much of a heartless bitch Raven really was.

Entering her room, she paused before chuckling as she spotted Akari and Ruby hunched over Crescent Rose. Akari's face was mostly blank, but his tail was swishing behind him as he worked on Ruby's weapon for her, the pair whispering about something. 

Akari's tail was the best way to see what he was feeling. His face was almost always blank with a few micro-expressions that passed quickly, but his tail told another story. Whatever they were doing, it had him excited. 

Moving behind him, she pushed her breasts into his back as she threw her arms around him with a grin and peeked over his shoulder.

"Hey, Yang," Akari said, not even turning back to face her as he continued to fiddle with Crescent Rose. If he cared that her breasts were squished against his back, he didn't show it.

"Yang, are you- I mean, you met her right?" Ruby asked, making Yang sigh.

"Yeah, turns out Raven fucking sucks," Yang agreed in a bland tone, making Ruby pout sadly for her. She pretended she didn't hear Akari stifle a laugh at that, her own lips twitching. Yeah, he'd know just how much Raven sucked. "Summer was a way better mom."

Ruby's cloak almost seemed to vibrate at that, making her pause and give it a funny look.

"Anyway, shitty people aside, whatcha doing?" Yang asked, watching as Akari lifted Crescent Rose up, the blade glowing with a deep red light.

"Making a new enchantment for Crescent Rose. Ruby couldn't decide what she wanted, so she left it up to me," Akari explained, spinning the blade a few times with a satisfied nod. "I call the enchantment Grimm Harvest. When you slay a Grimm with the blade, it absorbs their energies to empower the weapon and restore your aura. I know it'll make the blade more dangerous with every slain Grimm, but honestly, I'm not sure how the empowerment will display itself. The enchantment worked, so it's fine; your baby is safe," Akari teased, making Ruby blush slightly.

She whistled as Akari passed the weapon back to Ruby, who hugged it excitedly and looked over every inch of the glowing blade.

"Awww, it's gonna be ages until we get to fight Grimm. I wanna use her now," Ruby whined, making Akari pause as he sent a brief message and got a reply quickly. 

"Okay," Akari replied, gesturing his hand as a portal formed under Ruby, sending her falling through it with a squeak of surprise. Akari's tail betrayed him; the way it waggled told her how funny he found it. "Wanna come kill some Grimm? Figure you have some frustration to burn off."

"Heh, you're not wrong, but here I was hoping you'd help me work off my tension in another way," Yang teased, giving his ass a squeeze before she jumped into the portal. 

Landing in the middle of a forest she didn't recognise, she watched as Akari joined them, and a second portal formed. Qrow strolled through it with his usual drunken swagger.

"Hey, kiddos, heard you need a babysitter," Qrow said casually, hands in his pockets. He went to continue before he looked into the distance as a high-pitched war cry filled the air. 

Looking over towards the source, she watched as Ruby decapitated a Beowolf with a single slash of her blade, a black mist being absorbed by Crescent Rose, the glow coming from Crescent Rose growing in intensity as she sliced and diced through the pack.

"Oi, wait for me!" Yang cried, focusing as the Dragon Talisman in her glove started to glow. With a leap, she took to the air and left a trail of flames behind her, flying forward on a crash course with the Grimm.

One unlucky Beowolf got to be her landing platform as she crashed into it; her hands extended as she called on her magic and sent a wave of magma around her, which erupted, catching several more Grimm in the explosion. A savage smile grew on her face as she felt her flames grow hotter.

She'd had a pretty shitty day, and Akari was right; she really wanted to burn off some of that anger. 

– Later –

Looking around the wasteland, she scratched her neck awkwardly. Well, at least Akari had stopped the forest fire, so it wasn't that bad, right? 

Ruby was beaming as they made their way back through the portal, cuddling Crescent Rose to herself. Despite taking multiple hits in her haste to try out her new enchantment, Ruby's aura was completely full. Being able to turn Grimm into aura was one hell of a party trick, and she knew that Qrow had gotten Akari to enchant his own blade with the same trick. 

Akari gave them a wave, and while she was planning on jumping him for everything he'd done for her and Ruby, Drunkle Qrow's presence was a complete turn-off, and if the old bastard understood that he was clam-jamming her, he didn't seem to give a damn. 

"Thanks, Akari, really. I really appreciate you enchanting my cloak and weapon," Ruby said, giving Akari a brief hug as he nodded.

"Mhmm. You already said that, fourteen times," Akari agreed with his usual bland tone, giving her a small smile. "It's all good. I take care of my friends."

Ruby's blush only grew at his simple but effective words, and he gave her a nod as well. She gave him a smirk and a wave back as he stepped forward and fell through the floor, vanishing into one of his portals.

If Ruby and Qrow weren't here, he wouldn't be getting away that easily, but she excused herself to get a shower, being covered in soot and sweat from the hot temperatures she caused. Pulling out her scroll as she stripped down, she grinned as she posed for the camera, taking several snapshots to find the best angle as she messaged him.

'you've had the original, but lemme know when you want to get your hands on the younger, hotter model x'

Sending him the picture of her smirking, her nude breasts on full display, she spun around and took another shot of her ass to go with it.

She had a set of tests for anyone she wanted to date, and most guys failed the second hard. Despite rumours, she wasn't usually easy. Akari passed the first test, the Yang test. He was hot, fun and wasn't a dickhead. 

And he'd easily passed the second test, the Ruby test. Anyone she was going to date had to get along well with her sister since Ruby was a massive part of her life. Anyone who didn't get along with Ruby or treated her like a kid got kicked to the curb, no matter how hot or fun they were. They could be a ten out of ten, but not getting along with Ruby was an instant fail. Akari was probably Ruby's best friend.

Sure, he had other girls, but that could just make things more fun. No one girl was going to get their hands on Akari, not when he had a fucking breeding program formed around him, but maybe for Akari, it would be worth it.

The question was just how adventurous he really was. As a naughty idea struck her, she grinned.

– Akari –

100cp granted, [Gravity Manipulation] unlocked.

Huh, nice.

What is nicer than my new gravity powers are the pictures Yang is sending me.

'wanna sneak into my dorm room when my team is asleep so I can show you just how grateful I am?'

Yang is a naughty one, who clearly has some issues. Considering her own sister would be in the same room as us if I took her up on her offer, that would be a high-risk rendezvous.

'or I could portal us both somewhere private'

Magic is the solution to all problems.

'nah it's hotter to do it with my team in the room lol. unless ur too chicken'

Narrowing my eyes, I nod to myself. So be it.

'lemme know when they're asleep'

This really isn't what I thought Beacon would be like. Not that I'm complaining.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I frown for a moment as I look around the empty room with suspicious eyes.

"Neo?" I try, watching as the air seems to shimmer before it cracks and shatters, Neo appearing with a large pout on her lips. 

She gestures at me, and I vaguely understand what she is trying to ask.

"I dunno, the vibes were off?" I reply, unsure of how I actually knew she was there. It just felt off and I know what Neo can do with her illusions now that Winter has informed me on what they know about the assassin/thief. 

Neo pouts harder at that, and I can't help but notice that she's wearing one of my kimonos. That's all she's wearing, leaving it partially open to show off her creamy cleavage with a grin.

Her eyes widen in realisation as she rushes over to her stuff, digging through her pocket before she skips over to me and holds out a small card.

'One Free Murder'

Written in crayon and with a small drawing of a tiny Neo giving me the thumbs up, Neo hands me the card with a proud smile as I take it and read it again. Right. Assassin.

"Thank you," I say graciously, putting the card away in my pocket.

Neo beams at me, happy that I accepted her gift. As I stare at her, she blinks and tilts her head curiously.

"Raven wanted a baby for power. Atlas wants them to help protect future generations. I don't know why you wanted one," I admit, making her blink as she pokes her finger against her cheek.

Then she just shrugs, pulling out her scroll and typing rapidly.

'I thought it'd be funny.'

Shit, I can't argue with that. She pauses before typing again.

'I suck at long-term thinking.'

"Heh, same," I agree, making her grin.

A message from Nora makes me chuckle, and before long, it's cartoon time again with the latest member of our group joining us. Neo does learn that I can make portals anywhere and makes me open one to Vacuo so she can get some ice cream from a very specific store she likes, but she's right.

It's damn good ice cream.

If Nora notices Neo's hand moving under the quilt, she's kind enough not to mention it. As we watch our cartoons, a plan starts to form in the back of my mind. I stroke my chin and send Ozpin a quick message.

Maybe nothing will come of it, but this could be interesting. Neo raises an eyebrow, offended that I took my hand from her breasts to text, but I just shrug.

– Ozpin –

…why was Akari asking if he could do some landscaping in the frozen forest? You know what, he didn't even care. Sure, why not? 

What was the worst that could happen?

– Later –

Sipping his drink, he considered if he could get away with putting alcohol in his mug as he glanced towards the shocked Glynda. Maybe she was distracted enough for him to sneak a swig from Qrow's bottle?

No, Glynda had a sixth sense for things like that, so he had to face reality sober.

Watching Akari levitate half the forest away, he sighed to himself. Of course, Akari had developed super-gravity powers, and his first thought had been, 'I should relocate a forest'.

"I- why, what is he doing?" Glynda asked, and Ozpin just chuckled. "You didn't think to ask?"

"Oh, I've given up on that. The answers just leave me more confused," Ozpin admitted easily, watching as Akari placed the earth down, making a new hill and leaving a giant crater from where he'd ripped it all up.

Akari turned to Yang, who nodded with a grin before she focused and sent forth a wave of magma, revelling in her new powers. Ozpin paused as he realised what they were doing. Akari was using the lava to smooth over the crater, using his own ice to freeze it and leave a layer of smooth rock over the crater floor. He was making a bowl.

Yang was far more easily tired than Akari, but whenever she exhausted herself, he would just make her a bed of 'light' ice, which would heal and rejuvenate her as they continued their work.

With the sheer size of the hole he had made, it was a slow process to smooth it over, but he and Yang seemed to be enjoying themselves all the same as the pair's teams joined them. 

What felt like hours passed as they finally smoothed over the entire crater, and then Akari did exactly what he'd suspected that he was going to do. He simply held out his hand and turned something upside down, the holy water pouring from the tiny vial and starting to slowly fill the new lake. Creating a harness of ice, he hung the bottle upside down as Akari nodded to himself proudly.

Beacon was about to gain a lake of Holy Water.

Akari fist-bumped Yang, who was currently trying to shape a pillar of magma into what seemed to be a very ugly statue of herself. It wasn't working, and Akari had to freeze it as it almost fell on her. 

Taking another sip of his drink, he made a note to have James secure the area until the tiny vial had successfully poured out an entire lake. The Lake of Light, the counter to the Grimm Pools that had made Salem the creature she was today.

He also made a note to have Akari replace the water in the aqueducts and pools around Beacon with Holy Water as well, what better way to keep the future Huntsmen and Huntresses safe than to have Beacon itself surrounded by waters blessed by the God of Light?

Akari may not be the God himself; he still hadn't decided on that matter, but the connection was undeniable. The waters he poured out radiated divine light, further confirming his suspicions. 

A stray thought occurred, wondering what would happen if he simply dunked his deranged ex-wife into the lake and held her under it. Could it cleanse the deeply-entrenched darkness inside her body? He highly doubted it, but the simple fact was that this war would never end until they found a way to end Salem's curse for good.

He had placed his hopes on summoning the Brother Gods back and having them strip both himself and Salem of their immortality, but it appeared that the God of Light had gotten bored of waiting for him. 

And yet, was it only the God of Light? Akari had developed both what he called light and dark ice. It was too early to say, but it would be important to watch what powers Akari developed going forward. If Akari was the God of Light's avatar or his reincarnation, then where was the God of Darkness? 

Still, as he watched Akari joke around with his friends, Ozpin smiled softly. Akari did not have the memories of a God nor the personality (for which he was thankful). No, Akari was, for all intents and purposes, a teenage boy with the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. It was good to see him relaxing.

He chuckled as he watched Akari make ice statues of his friends, putting Yang's attempt at a statue to shame with carefully conjured ice. In truth, he'd only known the blob Yang had made had been supposed to be her because it had two rather noticeable lumps on its upper 'body'.

He, of all people, knew the weight that power came with. Akari, as relaxed as he often seemed, was feeling that weight. It would do him good to have a group of friends around him, to keep him grounded and… well, mortal. It would be all too easy for that power to go to his head. 

Gods knew it had gone to his and Salems'.

– Akari –

Feats Achieved: Create a new divine landmark, 100cp. 100cp total.

[Father of the Year] 100cp, 0cp remaining.

A good number of the parents in this world aren't the best, committing acts ranging from being merely incompetent and distant to outright murdering their children. It's a good thing, then, that you won't join the ranks of these people. On the contrary, you're a genuinely great parent with a good amount of skill in all areas of raising children. Even if you and your children grew up in the harshest of conditions, your warmth is enough that they'd grow up with fond memories of their childhood, and especially you.

As an added bonus, your abilities are slightly boosted whenever you're defending a loved one or family member. This boost won't be enough to overcome a foe that's beyond your power level, but might give you the edge you need to overcome someone you're otherwise equally matched against.

…I'm definitely going to need this, aren't I? The Celestial system provides, even if it arrived a few months before it will be useful. Well, I'm just glad my little idea paid off. I will never run out of holy water, so it seemed smart to just pour as much out where it can actually be useful rather than have it sitting in my reliquary until I need more.

It's perfectly safe to drink or swim in unless you're a Grimm, so it isn't a threat to anyone who I don't want it to hurt. I'm hoping that such a large amount of holy water in one place will ward Grimm away from the area. If that works, I can make more pools and lakes of Holy Water as time goes by, placing them in strategic positions to drive Grimm away from inhabited areas. Don't get me wrong, from that tiny vial, it is going to take days, weeks, to fully fill up the crater we made, but the important thing is that I'll find out how Grimm react to it. 

Light ice isn't that far from holy water. With enough experimenting, I might be able to make holy ice since it's just frozen water anyway. At that point, I just need someone like Yang to melt it, and we get much more holy water far faster than this. 

As night falls, I lay in my bed as I wait for the right moment. Yang made it clear that she was very serious, and I can't deny that I'm looking forward to it. It's not like I have trouble performing with an audience, even if we'll be trying not to wake up her team.

'Ruby and Pyrrha are still talking about weapons. id say im glad shes making friends if she wasnt clam-jamming me lol'

'Again, I could portal you literally anywhere in the world instead of in a bed next to your team.'

Yang has said that she doesn't want to lose her v-card tonight, but that still gives us plenty of ways to have fun, and I really do like Yang. She's rapidly become one of my partners in crime, along with Nora. But seriously, we have the whole world at our fingertips, and Yang wants to mess around in the bed that is literally two feet from where Ruby will be sleeping. I've seen how cramped their room is.

In her words, 'the one who wakes up the team first loses'. Loses what, I don't know. I didn't bother to ask. Blake is 100% going to wake up, but if she says anything, I'll send her back to Menagerie for another family talk. Kali will back me up; Blake shouldn't interrupt things like that.

'its here or in Raven's bed. ur choice'

She's attached a picture of her, secretly lifting her tank top up to expose her breasts with her back to her team. I can see Ruby and Pyrrha chatting in the background, not paying attention while Blake reads something. 

Pausing, I send my mind outwards as I use Farseeing to visit their room, looking over Blake's shoulder before I snort. Yeah, knew it. I noticed that her book had a fake cover, hiding the real title and cover. She's reading smut. 

Ninjas of Love is single-handedly responsible for her ending up with the White Fang after her parents tried to get her to leave. The male character is always a brooding figure with a dark past but a heart of gold who just needs the female character's love and care to bring him into the light. Adam is a brooding figure with a dark past, Blake developed her crush on him after she discovered Kali's smut collection. 

Ergo, Kali's love for smut caused her daughter to become a terrorist.

Pausing, I look over at Ruby with a small smile.

I really do like Ruby. She's just a really nice girl who loves weapons and is super enthusiastic about everything. Unfortunately for her, I also find her reactions to certain things hilarious.

"Ruby~" I whisper into her ear, watching her leap up with a scream, her head spinning around rapidly. "Ruuuuuuby~ I'm here for your cookies, Ruuuuuby~"

Watching Ruby freak out, I chuckle to myself before I pause. 

Wait, she won't get too scared to go to sleep, right?

Right?

— Bonus Scene — Jacques Schnee

The discovery of a new kind of Dust was always going to get his attention, and he wasn't even remotely surprised to hear that it was coming from Beacon. Holy Water and Holy Fire Dust. Both of Akari's new creations were extremely effective against the Grimm from Ironwood's tests, and Ironwood couldn't hope to keep this from him.

What was absolutely essential right now was that he made sure that the Schnee Dust Company was the only way to get your hands on this 'holy' dust. Of course, while Weiss had supplied Akari with the base dust, only Akari himself could make the new type of dust, which meant that once more, Akari was the lynchpin.

Which was why it was time for him to visit his daughters and the golden goose who couldn't stop dropping golden eggs everywhere. Getting a good relationship with Akari was going to be the key to ensuring that the SDC rode his rapidly-growing power and solidified its position at the top of the world.