Chapter Text
“…And in conclusion, there are six ways time can be interpreted in Quantum Mechanics,” a tall, tan skinned man wearing green and dull yellow robes with orange lining said as he circled a large list on a blackboard. He wore orange gloves and loafers. His hair was dark black with red tips, and his eyes were a bright silver.
This was Onyx Pine.
Onyx opened his mouth to continue speaking when suddenly a bell rang. “Alright class!” he called out instead as the class started to put away their books. “Have a good afternoon! Homework will be to research the six interpretations of time, and I expect the paper to be at least three pages! No exceptions!” Groans and grumbles erupted from his class, but Onyx just chuckled to himself as one of his students approached his desk. He rolled his eyes at the sight of his little sister, Penny, reaching and moving to sit on top of the cedar top.
“That’s an antique, you know?” he questioned jokingly.
“From what? Mistral?” Penny Pine scoffed in derision. Her skin was a few shades lighter than Onyx’s, but her hair and eye color were a perfect match, albeit Onyx’s was short and shaggy while Penny’s was long and done up in a high ponytail. She wore a dark blue cloak over black corset and red, long sleeve blouse, and dark jeans.
“Southern Vale, actually,” Onyx told her. “It was General Isengrad’s from the earliest recorded Grimm War.”
“Hmm…” She examined the old desk more closely. “… ‘S got a nice red shine to it…”
“Southern Valean cedars are known for their red color, unlike Mistralian cedars, which are paler,” Onyx explained.
“I thought you were a Quantum Physics teacher,” she snarked.
“And I thought you were training to be a Huntress,” he shot back and grabbed the textbook she had laid on his desk and waved it in her face. The two stared at each other for a moment before breaking off into laughter.
“So, what can I help my cute little sister with today?” Onyx teased, making the girl roll her eyes at him.
“Dad wants you at the commencement,” she told him bluntly, making the older Pine roll his eyes.
“Of course he does,” he sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Tell him I’ll be busy.”
“Doing what, exactly? It’s not like you’re taking a job during it,” Penny said. “Dad makes sure of it every year.”
“I’m well aware of Dad’s attempts to get me to socialize,” Onyx told her. “Too bad, I’m immune to it.”
“Mom would like to see you there too, you know,” Penny countered.
“Yeah, so she’d have someone else to talk to that doesn’t want to be there,” Onyx replied. “It’s just commemorating the end of the last Grimm War. No need fuss.”
“Yes, but it puts a lot of people’s minds at ease to see the hero that ended said War make a pretty little speech during it,” Penny reminded him.
Onyx snorted. “If they cared, they’d have the Hero of Remnant make it, and we both know how that’ll turn out…”
“Mom would whine and complain and try to force Aunt Weiss to do it for her,” the two said in unison, to which they both giggled at.
“So, usual excuse?” she asked.
“You know it!” Onyx leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Tell Mom if she can slip out, she’s welcome to my place to hide out.”
“Will do! Might even help her get there,” Penny said. “Be sure to have my favorite ice cream there.”
“What? You’re gonna crash at my place during the commencement?” he asked teasingly.
“Like you said, it’s a commemoration ceremony. Why would I want to stand in a hot, stuffy auditorium shaking the hands of greedy wealthy men who don’t care about us Hunters?” Onyx laughed at her explanation.
“Point taken! I’ll have the house well stocked!” he promised. “Now, I think you need to get back to Beacon, am I right?” Penny shrugged and grabbed her books.
“Yeah. Aunt Nora’s class. Ugh!” she grimaced. “I seriously want to punch her!”
“Well, she is the Combat Instructor.”
“She doesn’t need to show my baby pictures in class!”
“Oh, trust me, you’re getting off light. She used to torment Anya and myself with the Bath Incident when we were at Beacon,” Onyx told her.
“…What’s the Bath Incident?” Penny asked, a curious, disturbed, and devious smirk slowly making its way across her face.
“You wanna know? Ask Anya. I’m under oath never to speak of it,” he told her, making Penny pale.
A week later
“…and I think your father is going to be mightily upset with us!” his mother, Ruby Pine, chortled over the Scroll as Onyx rolled his eyes.
“Dad’s always upset with us over this,” he told his mother.
“You’d think a humble farm boy from Mistral would be more understanding of our aversion to these kinds of things,” Ruby commented. “But I think our journey changed him a lot more than any of us thought!”
“Can you blame him? He was stuck with an old wizard in his head for three years,” Onyx reasoned.
“Yeah, that’s true. This is likely that Ozpin influence in him.” Ruby sighed. “Oscar means well, but the Board hasn’t changed at all since I was fifteen. Still more concerned with Lien and reputation, than actual Huntsman work and charity. I hate listening to those idiots talk.”
Onyx snorted. “Obviously. You’re the Hero of Remnant. Who wouldn’t want the prestige of knowing you?” he asked sarcastically.
His mother groaned. “Don’t start with that stupid title! How am I the one everyone knows out of all my team?!” she ranted.
“Uh…you defeated Salem?” Penny called out from the driver’s seat.
“They helped!” Onyx smiled and sighed at the familiar argument when he noticed a cloud of dust coming down his driveway.
“Hm? You’re here already?” he asked. However, he suddenly felt a horrible sense of dread wash over him.
“What? No, we’re not even at the cutoff yet. Why?” Penny asked sharply.
“…” Onyx stared out his window as a fancy truck made its way down his drive. “…I’ll call y’all back…”
“Onyx, what-” Onyx quickly hung up on them and turned his Scroll to silent. He looked back at the road and sighed.
The truck was closer to his house as Onyx walked out onto his porch. He sighed again, patting the spot of his coat where his weapon sat in its compact form, just in case. The high-end truck came to a stop in front of his steps, and a redhaired woman wearing a sharp black and grey suit stepped out of the driver’s seat. She smiled over at Onyx and exclaimed in a loud voice, “Onyx!” The Quantum Mechanics professor smiled back.
“Roja!” he called out at the sight of his old friend. Dr. Roja Crestwell just gave him an impish grin as she walked over to him and threw her arms around his neck in a hug. A gesture he returned.
They broke off the hug, and Roja stepped back with a grin. “Haven’t seen you since Tetra!” she said.
“Last I recall, you dropped a boulder on my head,” Onyx reminded her. She waved it off.
“You lived! Besides, my employers needed to believe I did my best to kill you!” she told him.
“Fat lot of good it did them.”
“Yeah! I saw what happened. An does good work!”
“Take note: Anya wants your head.”
“She does? For what? Dropping a boulder on yours?”
“And for Rashomon Heights. The Cloud Monastery. Los Angelos ruins in Vacuo. The cave viper…”
“Oh, come on! I had nothing to do with that last one!” she protested.
“Anya doesn’t see it that way.”
“And here I thought she loved me!” Roja sighed. She chuckled and shook her head. Onyx sighed and motioned towards the house.
“Coffee?”
“The usual, please!”
“You’ll get half your usual. My mother and sister are due to arrive soon, and if they learn you’ve used all the sugar and cream, it’ll be both our necks,” he told her, making her frown.
“Bloody sugar addicts!” Roja grumbled.
“You’re one to talk!” The two laughed as they walked into the house, but Onyx was tense. Roja hadn’t been seen sent Tetra, and given how much manpower had been present at the site, her vanishing meant one of two things: she was held captive…or she had a reason to vanish.
He just hoped it was the former…
“-Aaaaaaah!” Roja sighed as she set her coffee cup down. “That hit the spot! You still know how to make a good cup of coffee!”
“Curse of being a Huntress’s kid,” Onyx explained as he finished off his own cup. The two were silent for a moment as Onyx grabbed the cups and walked to the sink.
“…So, Roja,” Onyx called out as he placed the cups in the sink and turning back to her, “what has you arriving at my doorstep today?”
“Onto business, I see? Very well,” she said easily. She leaned back in her chair. “There’s a job I need your help with?”
“A job?”
“A job.” Roja smiled softly. “Don’t worry; it’s nothing so illegal! Just need your opinion on a thing I found!”
“And what’s that?” Onyx asked. Roja reached down into her pack and pulled out a flayed scroll and tossed it over to her old friend. Onyx caught it easily and unfurled it. He frowned at it. “Ancient Valean?”
“Not just ancient Valen!” Roja exclaimed happily. “Vaucoan hieroglyphs, Solitasian iconography, and Mistralian Kanji! All written in Obscuran script!”
“Seriously?!” Onyx’s eyes widened as he stared back down at the ancient parchment with a more observant eye. He glared down at the old writing and mentally tried to decipher what it said.
“Uh-huh! Got your attention now, didn’t I?!” Roja was literally bouncing in her seat, and Onyx could understand her excitement. She was an archeologist who was in love with the ancient legends of Remnant, a love she obtained from her adopted father, Bartholomew Oobleck. That love became an obsession after Oobleck disappeared in the old ruins of the Black King’s castle, the rumored father of the Queen of Grimm Salem.
Onyx frowned as he struggled to understand the disjointed phrases on the scroll. “…‘to force the dial to…rewind, and time to…’” He stopped and turned to Roja. “…How did you find something like this?” he asked her.
“Some old dusty ruins in Mistral!” she said happily, heedless of his tone. “It was hidden in a secret library that was dug nearly three miles into the bedrock!”
“Is that so?” he asked, returning to examining the scroll.
“Someone didn’t want that room to see the light of day!”
“Given the contents of this scroll, I’d say they had good reason,” he told her. “What else did you find down there…?”
“Nothing I was overly concerned with! But this!” she dismissed before standing and pointing at the scroll. “This! This is everything I’ve ever wanted! Written in a dead language on a dirty old sheet of papyrus!” Roja gave him a look, making Onyx frown.
“…This is about Dr. Oobleck’s disappearance, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Don’t you see, Onyx?! With this, we could break through whatever magic is guarding the Black King’s castle! I can finally know what happened to my dad!” she shouted. “With your Semblance, my knowledge, and our skills, we can rescue him!”
“Even if this spell could supercharge my Semblance, and that’s a pretty big ‘If,’ and even if I could realistically use magic, we don’t know if that’s possible!” he protested.
“Come on, Onyx! We have to try!” she insisted.
“Roja! I’m telling you, it’s too big of a gamble!” he snapped back. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment. Roja’s face was black, confused at his refusal for a moment.
“Onyx…please…” she whispered. He couldn’t help but sigh.
“Roja…do you honestly think I haven’t tried to find Dr. Oobleck?” he asked finally. Her eyes widened, and he continued. “I looked. I used my Semblance to look for him…for you. And I’m asking you, Roja, please…drop this.” He looked into her eyes, pleading for her to understand.
“Roja…It won’t end well. For either of us,” he told her. “I tried. I tried so hard to find him, but what I did find was worse than I could ever comprehend. So please…let it go…”
They stared at each other in silence for what felt like hours, and Onyx was hoping he was getting through to her, but her face fell as she sighed in pain. “…You know I can’t, Onyx…” she whispered. Onyx grabbed her shoulders.
“You can, Roja!” he told her. “You’re one of the strongest people I know! Far stronger than me! You can do this!”
“…Sorry, Onyx,” she muttered as slammed a knee into his pelvis, making him gasp in pain as he stumbled away. “But I can’t.”
Onyx caught himself on the counter as Roja unholstered her weapon, her rifle axe Treasure Seeker. “I have to find him. I have to…” She took aim, but she instantly found herself pinned on the table by Onyx. She blinked the sudden whiplash and glared at him. “Don’t do this, Onyx…”
“You’re leaving me little other options at this point,” he told her softly.
“You don’t understand,” she told him. “I have to find him.”
“Dr. Oobleck wouldn’t want you to see him like that,” he told her.
“So, you know what happened to him…”
“And he made me promise to keep you away from what he’s become,” he admitted. “So, please, Ro, don’t do this…”
“I’ve come too far to turn back. So, if you won’t help me willingly…” Suddenly a bullet landed on Onyx’s back, making him flinch as Roja pushed him off her. More bullets flew at him, but they landed on the ground where he once was falling as he stood at attention a few feet away. Roja stood and grabbed Treasure Seeker and continued, “…I’ll just have to take your Semblance by force!” As she said this, a new figure walked in from behind her.
“Hey, kid! How’s it shaking?!” came the sarcastic drawl of the silver haired man in dark clothes. Onyx narrowed his eyes.
“Mercury Black,” Onyx growled.
“In the flesh!” Mercury grinned as he readied a kick.
“So, you two against me? Roja, I’m hurt!” Onyx complained.
“I’m not here to kill you, Onyx,” Roja insisted. “I just want your Semblance!”
“But, uh, I’m here to kill you,” Mercury added.
“Your war with Ruby Rose isn’t my concern, Black,” Roja reminded him. “Just get his Semblance, and we can both get what we want!”
“Whatever, whatever,” the older man waved off. “Let’s get on with it!” He jumped at Onyx, but he quickly pulled out a baton, his sonic emission device, and activated it. Instantly, Mercury’s mechanical legs shut down, making him curse as Onyx dodged out of the way and grabbed the assassin’s arm and slammed him into a countertop.
Roja fired Treasure Seeker, hitting only plaster as Onyx had already dodged and was flying at her. He slammed into her and jerked Treasure Seeker out of her hands, but before he could subdue her, Mercury’s legs finally reactivated, and he slammed a foot into Onyx’s back. He grunted as his Aura took the blow, but it was enough distraction for Roja to push him off herself and land a hard right hook to his temple. Onyx growled as he rolled forward and flashed his sonic device at Mercury, but the assassin dodge and fired a few rounds at Onyx.
The quantum physics teacher jumped backwards and spun away, only to land in front of Roja, who lashed out and slammed several punches into his chest. Onyx growled and lashed out with several punches and kicks, knocking her back as Mercury returned and lashed out with more kicks. Onyx dodged, but he then found himself locked in the assassin’s hands. He gasped as he felt part of his soul being forcibly pulled from him.
Mercury grinned until he found himself back on the countertop as Onyx refocused on Roja. But this time, she was prepared and fired pepper spray at his eyes. He avoided it, but just as he turned, Mercury kicked his head back to Roja, who tried to spray his eyes with pepper spray again. He lowered his head, only for Mercury to kick his head back up. He grunted as he was forced to dodge the pepper spray again, only to be assaulted by Mercury.
Onyx gritted his teeth as he tried to think of a way out of this situation when he noticed the scroll laying on the table. He gritted his teeth and bolted for it, startling his two attackers. Onyx grabbed the scroll and flipped over the table.
“$#%#&A@!F!&$%G!” he shouted, and suddenly, he felt a pulse of energy shot through him.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Roja shouted as she jumped at him, her Semblance starting to flare up. Onyx’s Aura flared as well, prepared to use his Semblance to avoid Roja’s attack, but suddenly, the magic now flowing through his body exploded outward. Onyx hissed as light assaulted his eyes, and he felt lightheaded. But just as suddenly as it happened, it ended, causing Onyx to stumble and fall to his knees, shouts and crashes filling his ears.
Onyx groaned as he shook his head and forced his eyes opened…only to see a familiar face, only far younger than he remembered. “…Mom…?” he asked in disbelief, causing her eyes to widen as well.
“Holy hell! Dad, you shrunk!” came a familiar shout to Onyx. He turned, and suddenly he felt his day just became wilder.