Summary: Of all things to happen, this had the best outcome (and quite possibly the worst curse ever)
Chapter 9.0: Gamer AU
Her time in Remnant is supposed to end bloody.
An arrow through the crack in her aura.
Lots of regret once she's awakens in the previous life.
She moves on in Karm Stequion. The many years pass before she gives up the mantle and dies. As it should be.
It's all as it should be.
All of it continues and she's to be reborn for the third (fourth?) time. As it should be.
It all goes as it should be.
Until it doesn't.
;;;
Danny does not wake up in the middle of a forest.
She wakes up in an infinite grey space with a screen in front of her saying 'Game Over' and asking if she'd like to try from a prior save point.
Um, yes.
Yes please.
Unfortunately, there are only six auto-saves on file. The last one is when she lost her maiden powers. Ouch.
Five is when Ozpin extended her time at the Fall of Beacon. No thanks.
Number four is the first time she showed up after Qrow cracked his flask; which means she'd have to avoid changing the entire plot. Again.
Three's when she's put in charge of a team at Beacon.
Two when she first gains Spring Maiden powers.
One is unlocking her semblance.
"Two it is," Danny mutters.
She stabs the button.
Danny wakes up in the middle of a forest.
;;;
With the death of the last Spring Maiden imprinted on the back of her eyelids and magic filling the cracks left from being reborn for a third (fourth) time, Danny calls out "MENU" in order to make the pain stop.
She breathes out a sigh of relief and reads her stats.
(Danny) Askans – Gamer – Spring Maiden
Age: (12)
Level: 16
Health Points: 62/120
Aura Points: 320/(1200*0.9)
Magic Points: ?
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 8 (-4)
Intelligence: 11 (+4)
Wisdom: 9 (+4)
Charisma: 6 (+4)
Additional Skill Points: 20
Active Perks:
[Spoiler Alert] – You have some knowledge of the future to use to your advantage. It's your choice to stick it to canon or not. Perk available with every Worldly Setting option.
[Broken Semblance] – Being reborn over and over takes a toll on your spirit. Total Aura Points and Constitution are permanently reduced. Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are permanently increased. Cannot be disabled.
(The following Perks are 20% integrated. Exit menu to continue integration.)
[Spring Cleaning] – The ability to flood magic through a system to clear status effects and restore health. System is delayed from activity for (100 seconds / constitution) after cleaning. Can be used as long as Magic Points are available.
[Springtime] – All stats are quadrupled during the Spring season.
[Maiden Bonus] – Obtaining the powers of a Maiden comes with a catch. Yours is the ability to travel through time. [Broken Semblance] Perk means this ability is unstable.
[One with Nature] – The more the World of Remnant likes you, the faster it obeys your command. Increases in power over nature happen when [Springtime], [Summer Festival], [Crisp Fall], or [Winter Wonderland] are in effect.
Active Quests:
[Save the World] – It's pretty self-explanatory. Stop the world of Remnant from ending however you can.
[Straight out of Glenn] – Get as many people as you can out of Mountain Glenn before it is officially considered a lost cause.
[Wards for the Overly Cautious] – Learn warding from the very limited resources in Vale.
"Should have chosen the first save file," Danny grumbles, reading and memorizing everything she can. "Settings."
Worldly Setting: Gamer AU
It won't let her choose anything else, which is probably good. The Normal setting is scratched out, while those like Demon Summoning and such need to be unlocked. (If she spends a little too long staring at the Soulmate option… well, maybe it's better that she can't choose it.)
Difficulty Setting: Nightmare
"Well, f**k," Danny blurts, and then freezes. She skips to the bottom of the page.
Profanity Filter: On
And it's locked. The girl tries another language's swear word. It's bleeped out too. She middle fingers the world and her finger goes fuzzy. With a groan she scrolls back to the Difficulty Setting. Locked too.
"Because reincarnation isn't a nightmare enough," she rolls her eyes and moves on.
Genre Setting: Adventure's Guide to Redeeming One's Self
This… she can change.
Adventure's Guide to Redeeming One's Self
Ultimate Overlord (or Overlady) Supreme
Path of the Lone Wolf
*Romantically Inclined Romantic
All-time Best Wing-person Award
Captain of the S. S. Friendship
Everything is Terrifying
Dark Comedy for the Doom-loving Soul
Crack Festival
Everyone but you is an NPC with barely five original lines
(*Note: Romantically Inclined Romantic can only be unlocked for ages 16+, with special limitations for those under the age of nineteen)
The brunette can't stop the crazy smile as she picks the much better option.
New Quest! [Beat the Tutorial 2.0]
You've chosen a different lifestyle, so it's time to pick up the tools you'll need to succeed. No longer are you trying explore and find yourself, now you've got to get something to rule over everybody else! The first step is picking what you want to lord (or lady) over.
Reward: 1000 EXP, +50 FP with Tobira (Toby) Askans, ?
Failure: [Beat the Tutorial 2.1]
"Sorry, Salem, Ozpin," Danny mutters as she flicks through the rest of the settings. Background Music is going off for sure. "But I'm going to rule the world this time around. Maybe even kill a God or two."
She'll need to get her Semblance: Teleportation branch further along before she can think about cross-continent jumping. And she'll need to fix the past as soon as possible so she doesn't spend minutes-to-years fixing it as an adult like last time. This is why she chose now to start her life. She has yet to be shoved into the past, so she can change things without fear of destroying space-time.
(All in exchange for losing her friends and family.
But she's had a lifetime to get over them.
Right?)
"Alright," Danny nods as she finished reading what skills she has. She can work with this. "Alright. Here we go."
The girl exits the Menu.
Then comes the pain. Feeling foreign powers slash through the cracks in her aura hurts – burns – just as much as last time.
At least this time she can count down as the integration bar fills up above her head.