The beginning of their story

The two girls simply shrugged off the strange weakness of their enemy, neither one particularly interested in the why. The battle was over, the danger was gone—and their mom was right there.

With bright, carefree grins—grins that didn't match the destruction they'd just caused—Lumi and Amber bolted toward Summer Rose. It was the kind of smile only children gave when they came home from school, excited to tell their parents about the day, as if they hadn't just defeated a plant-born abomination moments earlier.

Summer, still sore and bruised from the brutal fight before, stood on shaky legs. She ignored the pain in her ribs and shoulder, raising her arms instinctively for the embrace. But then she realized something horrifying.

Amber was flying.

Lumi was sprinting.

At full speed.

Her eyes widened. "Oh no—"

And then, it hit her.

Or rather, they did.

In a blink, she was sandwiched in the full-powered love of her daughters—Amber's armored bulk colliding from the sky and Lumi's 40 km/h dash slamming her from the front. There was a loud crack, a burst of wind from the impact, and Summer let out a half-choked gasp.

Splurt—

A bit of blood escaped her mouth.

But her smile never faded.

"W-Welcome… back," she wheezed through the crush, eyes twitching from pain and joy all at once.

Amber blinked. "Oops. I think I forgot to disengage flight boosters."

Lumi tilted her head, still hugging. "I might've overshot the brakes."

Summer, in between them, let out a breathless chuckle. "It's… fine. Just… give Mom a second… to breathe…"

They didn't let go.

She didn't want them to.

After a few minutes, the three of them stood up—Summer still aching, but steady. Her concern quickly overtook any relief, and she scolded her daughters with a stern tone.

"You could've gotten yourselves *killed*! Charging in like that, what were you thinking?!"

But as soon as she saw their faces—Amber's head lowered, her wings twitching awkwardly, and Lumi holding her arm behind her back, eyes downcast like a child caught sneaking cookies—Summer's expression softened.

She let out a long sigh, her voice losing its edge. "Just… don't do something that reckless again, alright?"

Then she opened her arms, and without a word, the twins embraced her. It was tight, warm, and filled with unspoken relief. Whatever danger they faced, it was worth it just to feel this again.

Nearby, the remaining survivors stood in stunned silence. They watched the scene unfold with wide eyes—some in awe, others in disbelief. Whispers rippled through the crowd:

"Those girls… they defeated them all…"

"They're not normal… no way they're just kids."

"They saved all of us…"

The atmosphere, once thick with despair, now shimmered with renewed hope.

Far off in the distance, Raven crouched among dense underbrush, her guild quietly fanned out behind her. Unlike the war-torn battlefield left in the wake of Amber and Lumi's battle, this place was untouched—alive. A small forest stood defiantly in the middle of the dead zone, vibrant trees reaching toward the sky as if nourished by something otherworldly.

In the center of that grove, woven vines formed a pedestal like a natural altar. Resting atop it was a **crystal sphere**, glowing softly with green light. The Dungeon Core.

Raven stepped forward, sword in hand, eyes focused.

"This is it," she murmured.

After a while of careful inspection and mapping out the path from the Dungeon Core to the dungeon's exit gate, Raven mentally noted every trap-laced vine, root maze, and pulse of lingering mana around the forest. Satisfied—for now—she sheathed her blade and gave a curt nod to her guildmates.

"Let's head back," she said.

The return trek was surprisingly calm, the aftermath of Amber and Lumi's battle having left no monster in sight. The forest felt eerily quiet, as though the entire dungeon itself was holding its breath.

When Raven finally emerged back into the clearing where the survivors were gathering and being treated, her crimson eyes immediately found Summer.

Summer stood at the edge of the camp, arms crossed, her face both confused and slightly amused.

Raven's brows furrowed. "What now?"

She followed Summer's gaze—and blinked.

There, sitting in the middle of the chaos and surrounded by chunks of scorched earth and destroyed crystal trees… were Amber and Lumi. The two girls were kneeling over a small wooden table that absolutely should *not* have existed in a dungeon. On top of it—

A **Jenga tower.** Carefully stacked. Already two levels in.

Amber was squinting in deep focus as she tried to pull out a middle piece with robotic precision, while Lumi—her tongue slightly sticking out—was hunched forward, eyes locked in intense concentration.

Raven's mouth opened slightly. "...Where did they even *get* that?"

Summer just shrugged, her expression a mix of exhaustion and disbelief. "I stopped asking questions after Lumi pulled out an entire tea set last week."

And as if on cue, Lumi yelped as the tower collapsed.

"Nooo!" she groaned dramatically. "That was a clean move, the wind cheated!"

Amber crossed her arms with a smug grin. "Surrender accepted."

Raven sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I leave for ten minutes..."

Summer chuckled softly beside her. "At least they're still kids, even with all that power."

After treating the last of the survivors' wounds, the group finally began to relax. The chaos had passed, the air no longer thick with danger. Lumi, however, sat on the ground with a defeated expression, having just lost her third consecutive match of Jenga to Amber—who quietly stacked another block on the growing tower with unsettling precision.

"I demand a rematch," Lumi grumbled.

"After a nap," Amber replied, stretching with a yawn. "You're no fun when you're cranky."

With the dungeon secured and no threats remaining, they decided it was time to leave and get some well-earned rest. The once-deadly red gate, surrounded by crackling energy, had now shifted to a calm blue hue. The lethal electric currents were gone, and the gate was stable once more.

One by one, they stepped through.

On the other side, just beyond the gate, stood Qrow Branwen and General Ironwood, flanked by a small squad of armed Hunters. The two men had been organizing a strike force to enter the S-rank dungeon, prepared for the worst.

Instead, what they saw stopped them in their tracks.

Lumi and Amber—still in their battle gear, stained and worn—rushed out of the portal and straight to Qrow. Without warning, they wrapped their arms around his legs in a tight embrace.

Qrow blinked in shock. "What the—?"

His eyes moved past them and landed on Summer and Raven. His expression shifted from confusion to something far more serious—shock mixed with a demand for answers.

Summer approached calmly, her injuries mostly tended to, though exhaustion still lingered in her eyes. She placed a gentle hand on Qrow's shoulder.

"We'll explain everything," she said softly. "Just follow us."

Qrow looked down at the two girls still hugging him, then gave a soft chuckle and ruffled their hair. "You two really know how to make an entrance."

Amber and Lumi grinned brightly as they let go, stepping back with tired but happy faces.

Without another word, Qrow fell in step behind Summer. Raven silently moved to his side and gestured for the girls to follow.

No hesitation. No questions.

The two simply nodded and followed after them, the gate quietly humming behind them as it closed.

Inside the dimly lit operations tent, the air hung with quiet tension. Summer sat with her hands folded on the table, her eyes heavy yet steady as she recounted everything—every moment of chaos, every miracle, every terrifying brush with death inside the S-rank Dungeon. Raven stood off to the side, arms crossed, her expression unreadable as she supplemented Summer's explanation with a tactical breakdown, including the discovery and location of the Dungeon Core nestled within a grove of unnatural crystal-bound trees.

Across the table, Qrow leaned back in his chair with a low whistle, trying to wrap his head around it all. General James Ironwood remained silent, his jaw tense and mechanical fingers tapping rhythmically on his knee as he processed the unbelievable report.

Then Qrow finally broke the silence.

"So you're telling me… these two—" he motioned toward the side of the tent where Amber and Lumi were bundled up in soft sleeping clothes, curled against one another on a padded cot, "—have awakened, and not only that, they have enough power to single-handedly raid and clear an S-rank Dungeon?"

He raised a brow, watching as one of the girls—Lumi—twitched slightly in her sleep, muttering something incoherent before rolling over. Both were fast asleep, utterly spent, their breaths calm and peaceful.

Summer nodded slowly. "Not just awakened. Something about them… it's far beyond any standard Aura resonance or Semblance evolution. When this weird System appeared it activated something for them, it didn't just grant power. It rewrote the battlefield."

"Power that shouldn't even exist in this world," Raven added quietly. "They fought like they've done this a thousand times before."

The last remnants of the high-tech battle suits the girls wore earlier had vanished the moment they surrendered to exhaustion, dissolving into shimmering pixelated dust as their bodies gave out. It was as if the armor itself recognized that its duty was done.

Ironwood finally spoke, voice low and grave. "Then they're more than just prodigies… they're weapons. Strategic-class, possibly higher."

"No," Summer said, her tone sharp and immediate. "They're *my* daughters."

She looked over at them—one with faint flickers of rose-colored light still dimming along her palm, the other with her cheek pressed against Amber's shoulder, a tiny smile tugging at her lips even in sleep.

"They're not tools. Not experiments. They're children who fought because no one else could. And because I needed them."

Qrow let out a long breath and nodded, gaze softening. "Then we better make sure the world doesn't forget that."

No one spoke after that. The silence that followed was not empty—but full of unspoken promises. Of protection. Of preparation.

Because what had happened in that dungeon was only the beginning.