Chapter 74: Chapter 74. Picking Up A Stray
Silva POV
A few weeks after team CFVY came to visit me it quickly became a tradition to come see me on the weekends. However, these visits are not social but for training, because after I showed them just how strong I am Coco has been wanting regular rematches which morphed into training sessions after I started pointing out how to improve themselves. While they have the training but I completely out-class them in experience from traveling across Remnant since I was 12 and being part of a bandit tribe.
For Coco, I drill her on unarmed combat plus handling her new secondary weapon which is a combat knife. I helped Fox by training him to use his sense of touch to feel vibrations and air currents around him to better compensate for his blindness. Velvet is tricky because she only needs to see a fighting style once to copy it perfectly thanks to her semblance but I instead teach her how to integrate various things into a freeform style of fighting to make her unpredictable which gives me a real challenge.
What Yatsuhashi is lacking most is practice with his semblance which can make people forget. In all honesty, his semblance is a terrifying one because, in theory, he can turn someone into a blank slate which also makes it highly useful for taking down ancient Grimm. After all, they can learn from past experiences making them more deadly. I pit him against Grimm to train his semblance so that he can use it with greater ease by turning the monsters into blank slates and killing them with ease.
Right now I am sitting in the living room with Miltia and Melanie with discussions on their upcoming business trip with Junior.
Silva: So if I understand you correctly, you girls will be traveling with Junior for 2 months to check his information network and handle anyone messing with his turf.
Miltia nodded and told me.
Miltia: Yes, he does this every couple of years to maintain his network and to see if anyone needs to be replaced.
I sighed and told them.
Silva: Okay but be safe you 2 and if you need any help just call me okay...
They both kissed my cheeks on different sides and Melanie said.
Melanie: Don't worry we can handle almost anything and we will bring back some souvenirs.
I held them closed to me and replied.
Silva: I know but still be careful.
While we don't do the deed often because our sleep schedules are different, I sleep through the night while they are at work and come home to sleep during the morning. Aside from their days off, we at most spend a few hours together during the afternoon before they head off to be bodyguards. Junior needs them because he is sure as heck can't count his men to do anything right.
As they went to pack their things I went to check on Emerald and Morgana to how they're handling their lessons. I head for today's designated classroom which is the indoor garden, which I mainly grow edible plants, herbs, and spices, which is quite a lot. Teach them the start of a subject then let them self-study with incentives to motivate them to do well, like Lein, personal favors, their favorite foods, and whatever else they want.
Works half-decently but it works better now that I set up a teaching robot to answer any questions they have when I want to tinker on my projects. Occasionally, I do teach personally if it is about technology, biology, survival skills, and combat theory and practice. Emerald has decided to attend Beacon with me and Morgana already wants to be a Huntress so I usually teach 3 to 4 days a week for a few hours on the subjects I am best at.
Emerald was hesitant to learn basic education because she did not see any use in a few of the subjects. But, when I told her the sooner she learns and retains the knowledge the sooner she can have more free time to do what she wants she buckled down. Morgana, I did not have to say anything she listened to me and study, I seriously wondered if she is Qrow's daughter at times but I looked into her mother, and everything lines up.
Morgana's mother was drop-dead gorgeous and liked the occasional fling at the bar she owns, little wonder how Qrow and her met. I managed to get a hold of the deed for the bar for Morgana when she gets older. It was not hard because Morgana's mother did not have any living relatives so it just took paperwork and Lein to get it. I learned Morgana's mother died in a freak accident getting groceries with Morgana.
She died in front of Morgana, finding this out I took a close look at her mental state with magic and she is repressing the memories subconsciously. Therapy is out of the question because even if the truth is horrible that it is technically Morgana's unawakened semblance's fault at the time so I help her by giving her confidence that she can control her semblance. Which can now be focused entirely on a single target and just a few more months and she can switch off her semblance.
I entered the garden seeing Emerald picking at a peppermint plant chewing on the leaves while reading the textbook I gave her. Morgana is making notes in her notebook on the plants in the garden and even drawing pictures of the plants with colored pencils. Emerald walked up to me and handed me the question sheet I gave her for me to grade. I looked over the answers and felt a bit proud of her work because she even answered the questions that are not specified in the textbook so I smiled when I told her her grade.
Silva: Straight A, excellent work Em.
She looked happy at my praises and said.
Emerald: Well you are a good teacher... Well, when you want to be that is.
I rolled my eyes at her comment even though she is right about that and called out to Morgana
Silva: MORGANA ARE YOU DONE?
Morgana ran over and said with a smile.
Morgana: All done!!!
I assigned her to draw and write down the uses of various plants. As I looked over her picture book I noticed that she is pretty good at drawing for a 10-year-old and graded her.
Silva: A-, while you did draw accurately you failed to point out the differences of similar-looking plants but overall good work.
I then asked them.
Silva: Okay since you 2 are done and both got high grades what do you want for your rewards?
Emerald asked for both of them.
Emerald: We were hoping to go into the city to spend the savings we earned, so can we?
I nodded and gave them the go-ahead.
Silva: Sure and so you want me to come along?
Emerald scratched the back of her head and told me.
Emerald: We were hoping for a girl's day out...
Morgana then told me looking apologetic.
Morgana: Sorry big brother girls only...
I chuckled not minding and took out the keys for the truck which has an autopilot now and told them.
Silva: Here use the truck's autopilot to go where you want but I expect you back before dark, got it!
They both nodded and went off for their shopping trip which I am thankful for not attending. I might as well work on turning aura into projectiles while they are away and the twins are packing.
Emerald POV
As I and Morgana head for the truck for our shopping trip, she asks me.
Morgana: Big Sis Emerald do you think Big Brother knows what we are shopping for?
I just chuckled at her question, even if Silva is crazy smart there is no way he knows that we are shopping for gifts for him and I told her so.
Emerald: Unless he can read minds I doubt it.
Morgana then asked me.
Morgana: Um, can he read minds?
I was about to deny that but then it hit me if His semblance allows him to copy other semblances then he can copy one that allows him to do so. I think for a few moments then tell Morgana.
Emerald: He might be able to but I don't think he has read our minds nor would he considering he values and respects privacy.
Morgana then asked a question to no one in particular.
Morgana: What can't he do?
I sometimes wonder about that myself which is going to make shopping for him a bit of a pain for Morgana because I know what I want to give him, my face heats up thinking about what I am about to shop for. I take a deep breath and focus on getting into town first.
( A few hours later)
I walked out of a Lingerie store called Huntress's Secret with what I picked out I swallowed my saliva thinking about what I am about to do. I felt a bit embarrassed for more than a few reasons one of which is waiting for the twins to leave for a prolonged time instead of making my move sooner. I know I shouldn't care what they think since they agreed to Silva having a harem but I still felt hesitant in their presence.
As I shake my head in trying to stop these thoughts, Morgana complained.
Morgana: Are you done yet!?
I smirked at her for being a bit impatient but I told her.
Emerald: Yes I am done, Morgana.
The little raven-haired girl sighed in relief. If someone told me in the past that I would have some I care about as a little sister I wouldn't believe them and yet here I am with Morgans, whom I see as my little sister. When I joined up with Silva I never thought I would gain a little sister or someone I came to fall in love with. I went up to her and messed up her hair much to her annoyance.
Morgana: STOP IT!
She batted away my hand from her head and gave me a cute mix of a pout and glare at me which brought a smile to my face. I then asked her.
Emerald: Okay your turn where do you want to shop for Silva?
She patted down her hair and told me.
Morgana: There is a shop on the other side of those buildings that has some interesting and unusual stuff in it that I noticed one time.
I asked her feeling curious.
Emerald: What sort of things?
Morgana's face scrunched up and tried to describe it while using her hands to show the shape of the things in the shop but lacked the words to describe it. It was a bit funny but I kept myself from laughing until Morgana gave up trying to explain it and just started walking to the alleys in between the buildings. I followed close behind with my free hand on my weapon Thief's Respite just in case we run into trouble but that is unlikely because we are at the nicer part of Vale.
As we try to make our way through the alleys to the other side we kept on running into dead ends, well looks like we have to take a long way around the buildings. Morgana groaned at the fifth time we ran into a dead end.
Morgana: Ugh, why don't these buildings allow us to squeeze through them so we don't have to take a long way around.
She sighed sounding annoyed which makes me huff in amusement at her antics. Well at least we did not run into any trouble just as I was about to tell Morgana we should just take a long way around she asks me.
Morgana: Um, Big Sis did that trash bag just move?
I looked towards where she was pointing and I saw a large heavy-duty trash bag there. I watched it for a few moments and it wiggled. Morgana then asked me looking curious.
Morgana: Hey, Big Sis what do you think is in it?
My reply was.
Emerald: I don't know but we should leave it alone because whatever is in there has got to be nasty.
Morgana then asked me with her best puppy dog eyes.
Morgana: Can we please~ see what is in it?
I sighed unable to say no to her and had her hold my bag then pushed her behind me. I took out my weapons and used its blades to cut open the bag ready for something unpleasant to pop out. As I cut it open trash started to pour out that stunk to high heaven I felt my gag reflex act up and so did Morgana's and I cut it completely open.
What I saw made me sick to my stomach... There was a little kid in the trash bag no older than Morgana in there. I saw that they had cuts and bruises on them along with trash. I could not help but ask what sort of evil bastard would do this. I felt Morgana tug at me from behind and said.
Morgana: We have to help them...
I sigh hoping Silva is in a good mood because while not a bad guy he is no saint by any means. I sigh thinking about the reason he picked me up is that I was interesting to him and he picked up Morgana on a whim at first but later decided to because she is related to someone he knows. I kneeled to brush off what I could of the kid and found out the kid is a she and some kind of Faunus with her tail.
I picked up the kid and Morgana and I made our way back to the truck.
Silva POV
The twins left and the other 2 are still shopping and now I am by myself. Being in this castle I built by myself made me feel just a bit lonely but I focused on my project of turning aura into projectiles. I set up the aura battery and channeling chamber up to get started. What I am most unsure about is how to propel aura at a high enough velocity to inflict damage on the designated target.
I start by tinkering with the channeling chamber to try and make it closer to an emitter to separate aura into parts to form bullets. However, the separated aura just continues to dissipate into the air so I need to figure out a way to make it retain its form first for at least 10 seconds to start with. I first set up something like an empty bullet casing to hold and shape the aura. It worked somewhat but it lacked the density needed to make it into a proper projectile to deal damage.
Then I needed to figure out how to quickly make it form the bullet with the right amount of density. I came up with a bullet chamber that has multiple ports for the aura to pour covered with lenses to focus the aura better and a different lens to top the bullet chamber to contain the aura. I managed to successfully make a separate compartment to form the aura bullet, now for the hard part making it propel forward with enough velocity to make it a proper weapon.
As I try a couple of different ideas that don't rely on a propellent material to blast it with enough force to weaponize it I heard the doorbell ring. I set aside my project to see who it is and I made my way to the front entrance. I opened the door to see Emerald carrying someone, I was about to ask what is going on when Morgana exclaimed.
Morgana: Big Brother you have to help her!
I sighed feeling a headache coming over me, I am selfish so I only helped Emerald because I was hoping to get someone devoted to me and I took in Morgana because she is sort of family. While I do approve of helping people but only within moderation, for the most part, I am going to have to have a long talk with Morgana on what it means to help people not only for herself but for others as well. I told Emerald what to do.
Silva: Emerald take her to the medic bay for now I will do what I can.
While in Atlas I not only got the memories of their brightest minds but their doctors and various others as well. Plus, my experiments on criminal scum gave me plenty of practice for the medical skills I picked up so I can consider myself an unlicensed doctor of decent skill. I got ready to help the stray Morgana and Emerald brought in.
( A day later)
It has been a long time since I felt a strong desire to kill someone and the bastards that inflict all this harm on the stray deserve a slow death. Thankfully, there is no sexual abuse but this poor girl is scared to death of humans, and what crossed my bottom line is that this girl's tail was a golden fox tail that was incomparably fluffy from what I got from her memories. Those worthless wastes made her pluck the fur off her tail or they would cut the whole thing off.
I took a deep breath to calm my rage and left the medic bay to tell the girls her condition. I closed the door behind me and found the girls sleeping on a nearby couch waiting to hear the little fox Faunus state. I shook both of them awake and Morgana was the first to ask.
Morgana: Is she okay Big Brother?
She soon yawned after she asked her question and I told them.
Silva: Let get some breakfast first and I will explain her condition.
After a quick breakfast, we sat down in the living room and I started to tell them just how bad that girl is hurt.
Silva: For starters physically she will heal with time but mentally...
I shook my head feeling tired both physically and mentally at what needs to be done to help her. I may have been against taking her in at first but after seeing her memories I felt if I did not help her it would bother me personally let alone Morgana and Emerald. I sighed pinching the bridge of my nose as I told them how damaged the girl is.
Silva: It will take months if not the year's for her to overcome what she went through if at all. She was not only beaten on but was continuously told she was worthless until she believed it and that is not the worse of it she has no memories of ever being loved or cared for so any positive interaction is foreign and bizarre to her.
I felt the need for a drink but put it aside for the time being and continued telling how I would handle it.
Silva: Originally I would have you help me take care of her Morgana but after looking into her mind I found that she is scared to death of humans and has never met another Faunus so I will be looking after her by myself. You two picked up someone troublesome of the highest degree.
They bother paled at what I told them and I then ordered them.
Silva: Okay the both of you will wait in your rooms for the time being while I take care of a few things.
As I got up Morgana asked me.
Morgana: But why?
I huffed in annoyance and bluntly told her.
Silva: Morgana while what you did might be considered a good thing you could have dropped her off at a hospital instead which might have been for the best but you instead brought her home. So why?
As I bored into her with my eyes and looking uncomfortable she gave me her reason.
Morgana: Um, I thought if anyone could help her it would be you... Am I in trouble?
I sighed once more and told her honestly.
Silva: A bit but not too much but if this sort of thing happens again take the injured person to the hospital instead.
She nodded looking down and I turned towards Emerald and said to her.
Silva: Emerald you should honestly know better. So why did you go along with Morgana?
She scratched the back of her and told me sheepishly.
Emerald: Morgana used her puppy dog eyes and I could not say no...
Her answer made me chuckle a bit but I told them both once again.
Silva: Okay you 2 go to your rooms and seriously think about what you could have done to help instead of bringing her home.
They obediently went to their rooms and I made my way to find those worthless waste that abused that girl and deal with them THOROUGHLY.
Neopolitan POV
I left the ice cream shop for my mid-day snack and went off to take care of the errand Roman sent me on. Just collecting some Lein some fools owe him and I am sure a few broken bones will convince them to pay up without any trouble. As I made my way to the house they own I felt an odd sense of foreboding and I did not understand why but regardless I used my semblance to hide me as I made my way just to be safe.
I made it to those 2 fools' residences and saw a nice truck parked nearby and immediately denied that those 2 do not own it unless they somehow won the lottery. I noticed the door was open which worried me and I head in to see what is going on. I then heard a cry of pain upstairs and an angry bellow.
???: I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU WORTHLESS ANIMAL!!!
I quietly made my way to the source of the voice and soon heard whimpering and begging.
???: Why are you doing this we have never seen you before?
???: Please stop I'm sorry for whatever I did to piss you off.
I drew my blade from Hush ready for a fight and saw the state of the fools who owe Roman money and the one who is tormenting them. The fools were bleeding from their nether region on the floor clutching their family jewels. I silently winced at the state they're in and looked towards the one who likely inflicted that injury.
All my hairs stood on end looking at the tiger Faunus that did this he had tiger ears and a tail with white hair and some scars on his face. I have fought in the underground fights here in Vale but have never met anyone who gave me such a strong reaction and my instincts are better than Roman's. I heard him speak in a cold voice that contained untold fury, looks like Roman is not getting his money.
???: The only reason I have not killed you is that I am trying to keep my hands clean here in Vale, so instead I am going to send you on a vacation.
The 2 fools looked at him with blank expressionless faces as they asked.
???×2: Vacation?
The Faunus then told them.
???: Yes vacation, you will sell everything you own except the clothes on your backs to pay back any debt you may have and buy a ticket to Vacuo.
The 2 blankly repeated what he said and started to get up and gather their stuff despite their injuries, well at least Roman is getting his money. The tiger Faunus then told them.
???: Oh, and make sure to journey far out into the desert when you get there...
Seeing those 2 dead men walking comply with his orders I decided to follow this Faunus for a bit to find out where he lives and tell Roman to stay far away from him. Whoever this guy is should not be messed with no matter what and I hope Roman listens to me this time but I doubt it because he is a dum-dum but he is my dum-dum which means I am likely going to have to save his hide, again. Nothing new there.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone