Chapter 25

The Krios family had an interesting house. It was a detached one in a reasonable area, the sort that Weiss considered a little above the minimum quality to live in. It had a very modest front garden, with a hedgerow and some fairly disorderly flowerbeds, which looked like they needed a little more time spent on them than they received.

Winter rang the front doorbell, turning to look at Weiss and Ruby who followed her up the pathway, having fallen a little behind when Weiss stopped to instruct to their driver. "Hurry up you two slow coaches!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but made no reply. Ruby smiled, recalling the results of her game of tag with Winter some time ago. "Sorry, we're getting slow in our old age."

Winter giggled, "Well you are both positively ancient."

Weiss shook her head in exasperation. Only her sister would uses such good phrasing when jokingly insulting somebody. Well, her and one other person...

The front door of the house opened to reveal Aelius, smiling at his guests. It was the first time Weiss or Ruby had seen him in casual clothes, excluding in the alternate timeline, and suddenly Weiss could see what Galina saw in him. Dressed as he was, in white polo-shirt, black chino trousers and a dark blue top, he looked just the right amount of casual, just the right amount of serious, and, Weiss had to admit, fairly attractive. He was nothing on Ruby, of course, but now that his clothing and attitude were calm, no longer with the appearance of a warrior, but with the simple appearance of a man.

Not enough to make Weiss regret her choice in partner at all though.

Behind him, Aetha was poking her head around the door, smiling brightly when her eyes met Winter's. She dashed out suddenly, beaming at her friend, "Hey Winter! How's it going?"

The two started talking quickly, as if they had not seen each other for months, rather than two days. Aelius turned his attention to the other two girls, "Hello there, please, come in."

The five entered the house, stepping into a large hall. At least, Ruby thought it large, Weiss thought it a bit on the small side. It looked a little devoid of contents, with several picture-hooks lacking pictures. It was only natural, as the family had only been there for a matter of weeks.

"Please, come this way. Dinner will be a little longer I'm afraid." Aelius indicated for the girls to follow him, and led them into a drawing room, done all in blacks and blues, with a pair of sofas and a pair of arm-chairs. Ruby and Weiss took a seat on one of the sofas, while Aetha and Winter hovered near the door. Aelius noticed and looked at Aetha, "Is something wrong?"

"Uh... would it be okay if I showed Winter something in my room?" Aetha asked nervously.

Aelius raised an eyebrow, but nodded. The two younger girls left the room swiftly, but the other three in the room did not fail to notice the nervousness on both girls' faces.

"What was that all about?" Ruby asked.

"I dare not speculate too wildly, but given my sister's preferences in partners..." Aelius trailed off.

"So that's what Galina meant, about us all being family one day," Weiss commented.

"She said that? Well I don't know about that yet, but I wouldn't be surprised. After all, another version of her dated you," Aelius shrugged. "I daresay that it's quite possible."

Ruby looked between Weiss and Aelius will a hint of confusion, as the cogs whirred in her head. "You mean Winter and Aetha are..."

Aelius chuckled, "Well as I say, I don't know, but I would be willing to bet on it, if Galina let me bet on anything."

"I know how you fell, Weiss won't let me put a single lien on anything," Ruby pouted.

"Oh I am so very sorry that I didn't let you place your hundred lien bet on my fight with Blake," Weiss rolled her eyes. "I mean can you imagine the extra stress I would have been under knowing what would happen if I lost. 'Weiss, can you buy me cookies.' 'Weiss, can you pay for my lunch.' 'Weiss, it's because you lost that I don't have any money.'"

Ruby and Aelius were both laughing at Weiss's impression. Weiss glared at Ruby, then at Aelius. It was only now that she noticed something. "You eye Aelius..."

Aelius's left eye was, from a distance, the same golden colour as his right. However, closer-to, one could see that it had small patches where a darker, brown colour showed through. He chuckled slightly, "Wondered when you'd notice. It's from when I revived Aetha. I used up most of the dust in my body doing it, and it's taken a while to spread through my body again. My eye is the only place it shows when I'm not using it, but it's only just started spreading down my left arm and leg again." He frowned, "It hurt like a bitch when I did it, but now I just feel an odd twinge now and then. Regardless, I certainly don't regret doing it."

"So how much does Aetha know?" Weiss asked.

"She knows she was dead for three years, and that I found a way to revive her. Nothing else," he frowned. "I know she'd just get angry if I told her the rest. Maybe I should tell her, but I can't face it. She thinks of me as some sort of hero: the man I was going to be before she died." He chuckled mirthlessly.

"Is this pity-trip going to continue for long?" Weiss asked, sarcasm heavy in her voice. "Seriously, you did something wrong, yeah, we know. You still don't regret it, do you?"

"No."

"Then act like it!" Weiss glared, "Even heroes make mistakes, but as long as you can keep pulling yourself up after each one, you can keep being a hero, at least for somebody."

Aelius smiled. "Maybe you're right, I suppose we'll have to wait and see if I've still got it in me."

When dinner arrived, the six crowded around the table, which was rather cosy for six people. Aelius and Weiss were at each end, with one side being taken up by Aetha and Winter, who were still chattering away like crazy, with Ruby and Galina sitting next to their respective partners on the other side.

Galina had cooked up a small roast feast, and the six tucked in quickly. Ruby was glad to be able to enjoy a meal with company without having to watch her manners as much as normal. Nice as the meals with Weiss's family were, she constantly had to ensure that her table manners were on point. Here, while the family were far from sloppy, there was less of a necessity for formality, with Winter dropping much of her perfect manner-set for more informal behaviour. Weiss still acted like the perfect princess she always was, but given she had done that in the Beacon canteen, Ruby was hardly surprised by that.

There was chatter on various topics at the table, with Galina detailing her and Aelius's last hunt together, during which they had taken down one of the oliphant Grimm.

"I've never seen one that took as much lightning as that one," Galina mused. "I suppose when they get that old, they can resist an awful lot."

Winter and Aetha had both made faces at the conversation, not entirely pleased to hear a discussion about killing over dinner. "Sis, would you mind?" Aetha asked.

"Oh, sorry," Galina chuckled as the two youngest at the table returned to their food with looks of annoyance.

"Don't you like hunters' tales?" Ruby asked Aetha, grinning slightly.

"They're fine, but not over dinner," Aetha replied. "I'd rather enjoy my meal than hear about..." she trailed off, making a face.

"Not going to be a hunter yourself then?" Ruby asked.

"No, I'm learning to fight as a bodyguard," Aetha replied.

"Protecting rather than destroying. It's commendable of you," Weiss commented.

"Well I do need to protect myself, after all, I can't expect Brother to protect me forever," Aetha smiled wryly, sending a message that everybody at the table, apart from Winter, understood.

"What weapons do you use?" Ruby asked, sensibly changing the subject.

"These," Aetha pointed to her hair ornaments. "They may look like they're just for decoration, but they're a lot more than that."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Uh... okay."

"Maybe she can show you some time," Aelius said with a smile. "But come on, eat up, or else it'll get cold."

The end of the evening arrived, and the three guests stood at the door with their hosts.

"Well, thank you for dinner, it has been a pleasure," Weiss politely said. Aetha and Winter were off to the side talking to each other.

"You should come again, how long are you in Atlas for?" Aelius asked.

"Two weeks on Wednesday. We'll have to see if we can fit it around your hunts," Weiss replied.

"Well I'll be around at least," Galina said. "I'm not to do any dangerous work for the next nine months, doctor's orders."

Ruby raised a brow in confusion, then gasped in realisation of the meaning behind Galina's words, "You mean you're... congratulations!"

"Thanks," Galina smiled. "We found out yesterday."

"So, we'll let you know about dinner," Aelius said, smiling. "Now, we shouldn't keep your driver waiting."

The three girls filed out of the house, taking their seats in the car which drove off towards the Schnee mansion. While Ruby and Winter chattered away to one another, Weiss sat back and thought.

'A child...' she felt a hint of sadness. 'If only Ruby and I could...'

A/N: Okay, so it's late, as predicted, and short, but... you know, it's better than the nothing you would have got otherwise, so it'll have to do. I have now done two of my three exams, with the last one next Tuesday, so with any luck I should be able to return to normal updates (both in terms of length and timing) next week.

On another note: I have started going through the earlier chapters and doing touch-ups, correcting spelling/grammar errors and slightly re-wording things (e.g. bringing the early interactions of the AEGX members more in-line with their later characterisations). So far, I've done up to chapter 5, and intend to go through the whole thing eventually. Think of it as making this on par with a second draft, rather than a first one.

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.