Chapter Text
A girl clad in black and red walked into her World History class, gesticulating wildly to her classmate, a white-furred wolf Thiren with piercing green eyes. It was Friday, one of Ruby’s favorite days of the week, but she’d complain about her temperamental W-engine any day of the week.
“...and I was like, ‘whaatchaaa!’ as I spun Crescent Rose around, he was all ‘aaaaaah!’ but then the Crimson Comet had to act up again, and then he…”
“Alright, settle down students, settle down.” Signal’s history teacher, Richard “Gadfly” Glint, tried to rein in his charges, still amped up after combat class.
“... I still don’t know why I just don’t vibe with the Comet, but then his gun went all ‘shing!’ as it transformed and then he’s inside my guard and the fight’s over and that’s why that W-engine sucks!”
The girl’s canine classmate, Amy Solis, gave her a solid poke. “Ruby. Teach is talking. Change gears.”
“Well, clearly my good colleague Mr. Xiao Long isn’t making you all work nearly hard enough if you’re this energetic after combat class.” Mr. Glint commented, before raising his voice. “I said, settle down!”
He smiled as the hubbub faded away. “Now, before we begin, any questions?” His smile turned into a smirk as the class groaned yet again about his usual intro. “Come on, if you don’t have any questions, that means you either know everything or you know nothing. Are you all telling me you know everything?”
The class looked among each other, but remained silent. Mr. Glint rolled his eyes. “I know you’re all enamored with swinging your swords and blowing away half your future paychecks in custom-tooled ammunition, but as the rising defenders of society, every swing of your blade, every pull…”
“...Every pull of the trigger can have far-reaching consequences that’ll echo through time, we get it.” Another classmate filled in while running a hand exasperatedly through his cobalt hair. “Can we just get started?”
“Certainly, Leonard, though I’ll err on the side of caution regarding how much you all know. To summarize, this week we covered the instigating factors of the Great War, including the pretext of emotional control that formed the basis of a new style of rule that had emerged, Fascism. It was ceaseless in its effort to control all aspects of life, and export that control as well. Make no mistake; while who fired the opening shot is unclear, the settlements being put up in Vale’s eastern islands were proudly flying Mistrali flags. Personally, I doubt people fleeing oppression would be displaying the colors of their oppressors.”
Mr. Glint cleared his throat before turning back to the class. “Now, throughout the war, attacks by Grimm plagued the front lines and home front alike. But while ceasefires would be made that let the armies turn their guns on the Grimm before fighting resumed, cooperation got no further than that. It was something else which served to hasten the end of the war. Anyone recall what, and why?”
An arm shot up, the maroon of the boy’s sweater drawing attention. “The Hollows, sir. Appearing in approximately the latter half of the war, they would engulf entire battlefields, trapping soldiers in labyrinths of distorted space.”
“An excellent dictionary definition of a Hollow, Mr. Simmons.” The teacher followed the compliment with a challenge. “But what precisely about Hollows resulted in a vital, if forced, cooperation even between enemy forces?”
Ruby’s hand waved excitedly. “Oh, Dust wouldn’t work! Just like early attempts at spaceflight: it’s as if the inside of a Hollow isn’t really on Remnant anymore. And unless you were reinforcing it with Aura, any weapon or supplies you had would start to break down from Ether corruption.”
“You can’t forget Hollows’ tendency to twist people into deadly monsters that rival the Grimm, either.” Amy spoke up, idly examining her claws.
“Yes, good work all of you.” Mr. Glint nodded. “As dangerous as they are, in the end Grimm can be dealt with by sufficient firepower. And an army, battalion, or squad would have plenty of firepower without turning to help from an enemy. But trapped in the corruptive labyrinth of a Hollow, unable to use Dust, plagued by Ether mutation and the resulting Ethereals, where the only salvation lay in escape, rather than conflict, the fighters of the kingdoms had to walk together, or fall separately.”
A heavyset boy grumbled from behind an orange scarf. “That’s it then? Magical torment nexuses appear and then everyone decides to hold hands and get along? Bull… crap.”
“No, Dexter, everyone didn’t ‘decide’ to get along from mere sentimentality. But when only a third of the trapped combatants were able to escape, and a full seventy percent of escapees did so by looking past the uniforms of those trapped with them…”
“Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow” A teen in an aqua beanie quipped, just a little too loud to go unnoticed.
“Lavernius, control yourself.” Mr. Glint walked to the side of the board, writing the boy’s name and a tally beneath. “So, with these factors in play, Hollows swallowing up troops and cutting supply lines, and recovered soldiers less willing to fight those they banded together with for survival, the conflict was rapidly becoming unsustainable. Can anyone tell me what this led to?”
“The Final Battle!” a student in a blue vest dramatically announced, not looking up from where he was doodling in his notebook with crayon.
“Yes, Michael, but how?” Mr. Glint implored, hoping against hope he’d get the boy to elaborate, but had to turn to his deskmate instead. “Oh, nevermind. Leonard?”
“Mantle and Mistral tried going for the masterstroke, assuming one last push was all they would need while the Hollows took the wind out of everyone’s sails. Control the Dust in Vacuo, control the world.”
Another tally had appeared on the board next to Tucker’s name, in between master and stroke. Mr. Glint turned back to the class after making the mark.
“Indeed. In the end, it was an over-extension that cost Mantle and Mistral everything. Between the harsh terrain, the violent weather, the foreboding Hollows, and the expertise and prowess of Vale’s own Warrior King, it was all too much for them. With the “strongmen” leaders of the enemy regimes forced to publicly capitulate after a disastrous attempt to match the Warrior King and lead from the front, the war came to a close.”
Mr. Glint went back to the board, marking out empty bullet-points. Tak-tak-tak went the chalk. “Now, what were the biggest and most lasting effects of the Vytal Peace Accord? Free for all, this time.”
An avalanche of responses sounded out: “Hunter Academies!” “Only fight the Grimm!” “Navigation for all!” “Faunus rights!” “New ci…” “Thiren rights!” “Elected counsels!”
The teacher nodded. “Well, you’re all right. The founding of the academies to train defenders of all peoples was an effort to strengthen against the Grimm, and an effort to keep anything like the Great War from happening again.”
Mr. Glint gestured to the next bullet point. “The emergence of Hollows as a threat and the wartime development of what became known as the Theseus Algorithm, one of the first means to chart a course through the warped labyrinth of a Hollow, also saw Hollow Navigation folded into the Academy curriculums.”
“And of course, the new style of government, including the official enshrining of Faunus rights, and by extension Thiren rights, as new generations started to show increasing amounts of animal features, shape how we live our lives to this day. And yet, you all seem to be forgetting something.”
Mr. Glint pulled down a world map, featuring five icons scattered across the continents of Remnant. “I know they’ve been quite reclusive in the past, and were nearly lost to the largest Hollow in history, but letting the miracle of the four kingdoms go unmentioned when talking about the impact of the Vytal Accords? For shame, class!”
Richard huffed indignantly. “Hey, I said ‘founding a new city’, but some dog barked over me!”
Amy whipped around, taking a fistful of maroon sweater in her claws, teeth bared in a muzzle-wrinkling snarl. “Say that again?! Combat class not enough for you, rocket-boy? Your buddies took my clan-markings, how about I give you some instead?” She had one hand reared back, claws bared.
Mr. Glint’s ruler, aglow with aura, cracked against the table like a gunshot. “Ms. Solis, release Mr. Simmons at once! Mr. Simmons, say something like that again and will not be writing a rec-letter to Beacon. Am I clear?”
The two almost-combatants slowly backed down, and the lesson continued. “Now, where was I… Right, in addition to new governments, the Huntsman academies, and the formal recognition of rights for all beings, the Vytal Accords also had an additional stipulation. Allowing time for recovery after the Great War, the four kingdoms would pool their strengths and found a collective settlement, a living monument to strength in unity. That settlement was named Eridu, in honor of the mythological First City.”
Reaching below his desk, Mr. Glint hefted a large box into view, a mish-mash of Eastern Mistrali characters, Valian letters, and entirely novel logos. “Now, instead of our usual textbook chapter on the founding of Eridu, recent events have given me an opportunity to change things up.”
Murmurs began to ripple across the classroom. Everyone had heard the news reports. Everyone had seen new sites cropping up on the CCT network featuring the new “dot-NE” domain as a city risen from the ashes took the world stage once more.
“Hot off New Eridu presses, they sent out their own accounts of Eridu’s founding, as a way of reintroducing themselves to the world.” Mr. Glint took out a stack of colorful books. The cover was split into seven segments bearing a monochrome depiction of a person in each color of the rainbow. All looked at the reader with an intense gaze. Eridu’s Magnificent Seven: Accounts of the Void Hunters, read the title.
“Ta-da, your weekend reading! Be ready for a discussion session on Monday! New Eridu also sent a variety of other publications, so take your pick and we’ll have a reading session for the rest of the period.”
"Morning, Howl!" Belle greeted the dog with a smile as she approached the newsstand across from Random Play. The husky’s tail wagged in response, and he retrieved a newspaper from the rack, gentle with his teeth. Belle took the paper, giving Howl a quick scritch behind the ears.
"Oh, and a scratch card too please!" she added. "How's the news today?"
Howl's eyes twinkled with excitement. He barked twice and dropped a scratch card next to the newspaper. Belle looked down, eyes widening as she saw the headline, the denny coin in her hand paused on its way to reveal the scratch-card’s prize.
Bold text declaring “New Eridu Welcomes the World!” took up almost a third of the page. A picture of the city’s skyline emblazoned with the New Eridu sigil, flanked by symbols of the other four kingdoms, dominated the next third before the article finally began.
Aided by the city’s brand new CCT tower, standing inland from Port Elpis and rivaling the Starloop in height, negotiations between New Eridu and the Four Kingdoms have come to fruition. Thanks to the efforts of Mayor Mayflower and TOPS representatives, in the coming months our fair city will play host to the Vytal Festival, resuming its place in the rotation of this global tradition. Not just a grand occasion for the nations of the world to share in each other’s culture and hone each other’s strengths, but a reminder that our metropolis is a living monument to inter-kingdom collaboration. With so much to bring to the world stage…
Belle started skimming as the article went on about how much New Eridu had to show off. Soon after the founding of the original Eridu mandated by the Vytal accords, the idea emerged that the city had to stand on its own strengths instead of letting the other kingdoms get too involved. The closer connection afforded by a CCT tower was viewed skeptically, and Old Eridu never got around to building one. Even after Hollow Zero erupted, the city decided to make getting a CCT system online the culmination of independent rebuilding efforts, rather than the opening step to ask for help. Clearly, the message now wasn’t just that the city could stand as an equal, but would stand above. Though, most of the achievements the article listed off were the commercial endeavors of TOPS companies. Typical corporate aggrandizement.
Despite the boastful tone and TOPS-bias of the publication, Belle grinned with excitement as she folded the newspaper under her arm before redeeming the prize from her scratchcard. Submitting the code on her phone before she rushed back across the street, she could hardly wait to tell her brother.
"Wise! Wise, you've gotta see this!" she called out as she burst through the door of their video store. The bell jingled merrily, announcing her arrival.
Her brother looked up from the stack of VHS tapes he was organizing, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "What is it, Belle?" he asked, placing a cassette back on the shelf.
Belle waved the newspaper in his face. "It’s official now, New Eridu's hosting the Vytal Festival!" she exclaimed. Her excited spin almost knocked over Luckyboo, the figurine teetering at the edge of the counter.
Wise blinked, taking the newspaper for a closer look. "The Vytal Festival? So soon after the CCT tower went up? That's huge!"
“Right?! Makes me think we should fix up the store a bit. You know, in case visitors want to sample some classic New Eridu cinema…”
“Belle, with so many eyes on the city, Public Security is already… oh.” It took Wise a second to realize his sister was talking about the video store, and not their other line of work.
“Come on bro, you said it yourself while the transmission tower was being built!” Belle dropped her tone an octave trying to imitate her brother. “If this keeps up, Phaethon might be able to take a vacation!”
The construction of the new CCT system linking New Eridu to the Four Kingdoms had been a busy time for the siblings, with plenty of commissions to recover hardware and supplies lost to the Hollows. As long as the Dennies landed in their account and the Hollow Data was good, the siblings didn’t feel the need to ask too many questions. After all, it was the red-tape-bound Hollow Investigative Association that would waste time while the Hollows corrupted critical components, not the legendary proxy Phaethon.
Wise looked up from the paper, giving his sister a knowing look. “Riiight, and when Nicole comes rushing in here wanting help after an attempt to fleece out-of-towners backfires?” He shrugged. “Besides, the Inter-knot never sleeps. It’s a grind just to keep up! Can’t have some ‘no-good-C-tier proxy’ pushing in on our turf, can we?” He finished with a small grin as Belle rolled her eyes at past words being quoted back at her.
“Uuugh, Wiiiise, mister-C-tier really was that bad!” Belle groaned in exasperation, recalling how that proxy had not only sourced an out-of-date HIA carrot, but completely misread it as well. “Don’t blame me when his agents decided to give us his cut of the take after the inevitable rescue commission!”
Wise just shrugged. “Well, it looks like the Festival will be a busy time no matter what side of the business we’re talking about. I’ll see if Travis is available in the afternoon to go over new stock for the store.”
“Sounds good!” Belle tossed Wise his jacket from where it hung behind the counter. “Let’s grab some coffee before our commissions: I got so excited about the news I forgot to get my black tea latte from Tin Master!”
Wise nodded. “Sure, no better way to charge up and start the day.”
At the counter, Bangboo 18 waved cheerily as the siblings left, ready to take on the world. Or at least a few Hollows. Behind him, Bangboo Six and Eous en-nah’d frantically over the paper, swinging their flippers, leaping and tumbling in a wild pantomime of the Huntsmen and Huntresses soon to come to town.
As they filed out of class, Ruby gave her thiren friend a nudge. “You okay, Amy? You got pretty… intense, back there.”
“I’ll be fine. Would be better if I could feel like a Solis again.” She ran a hand over her muzzle, as Ruby gave her a sympathetic look. The thiren’s usual red clan markings had been scrubbed away, conspicuously absent.
“I could talk with my Dad, see if…” Ruby offered, tentatively hopeful
“Don’t have him burn any bridges for my sake, please.” Amy sighed, shaking her head.”
“But it’s so… dumb!” Ruby exclaimed, indignant. “Your clan-markings were fine, they had nothing to do with the White Fang!”
“Ruby, people lie about these things all the time just to make us look dangerous and “justify” their hatred.” Amy sighed at her friend’s naivete. “Besides, before Sienna took over, the Solis clan… Oh, forget it. At least things seem better in New Eridu, eh?”
“Oh, like that one glowing article in “Ridu’s Big W’s” about the bear Thiren who designed a dual-purpose defensive W-engine to help build stuff in Hollows?” Ruby shook her head. “I could never get the hang of W-engine tuning, it’s just so…”
“No, not like that. I’m talking about stuff like this!”
Amy took out her scroll, thumbing over to a picture of an advertisement in one of the New Eridu magazines. A full feline thiren showed off her glossy black fur with a backless dress, looking over her shoulder into the camera, holding up a posh-looking bottle emblazoned with the brand “Carlishe” Text at the bottom declared: “Because you’re worth it” and “Now available at Beaverson Beauty Salon!”
Amy all but pushed her scroll into Ruby’s face. “See? A luxury product! For Thirens! And enough of us can afford it that there’s magazine ads and salons that cater to us! You never see stuff like this for us in the Kingdoms. I mean, Fluff Off is fine, but it’s so… utilitarian.”
“Oh, okay, cool!” Ruby smiled at her friend, trying to match her hopeful energy.
Amy sighed. “You don’t get it, do you?”
Ruby shuffled her feet. “I mean, kind of? I’m just happy that you’re happy, but it’s just shampoo, isn’t it?”
The wolfess looked fondly at the ad before pocketing her scroll. “Your innocence is as adorable as ever…”
Then Ruby’s scroll chimed, startling her. “Oh no, I forgot! Yang wanted to spar this afternoon hand-to-hand, uuuugh. Well, gotta go get that over with, bye!”
Then she was gone in a flash of red, leaving Amy sneezing up a storm as one of the petals left in Ruby’s wake drifted right onto her nose.