May 7th
City Of Atlas
Atlas
Downtown
9:12 PM

Emmeline sighed heavily as she set down her rifle and walked into the living room where her daughter was sitting on the couch, reading. "Cas? Have you already eaten or -"

"Yeah, and I'm fine," She said, marking her page and then setting her book aside. "Are you okay, though? I didn't think the Council usually kept you this late."

Emmeline shook her head as she hung up her light jacket. "Extenuating circumstances, and, no, you don't get to hear about it."

Cas groaned and leaned back into the couch. "Phooey…"

Emmeline laughed. "You're always adorable, aren't you? Seventeen years old, and you're still -"

The General went silent upon hearing a noise from downstairs - almost like the door opening. Pausing even while her daughter looked at her curiously, she listened for a long moment. Having lived in the townhouse for the last eighteen and a half years, she knew all of the eccentricities of it well. The creaky stairs to third floor, for one, or the way one of the floorboards leading out to the garage wouldn't quite stick down. A doorknob that kept falling off and that she for the life of her could not figure out how to fix. The way the tile in the first floor entryway were almost perpetually slippery - so proven by the small, haughty black cat that Cas had loved since she got it at the age of nine as a kitten. Taking a step back as she heard footsteps on the stairwell, Emmeline steadied herself for a fight while Cas scuttled off to find her cat. A fight, however, was not what she got and rather, as she stepped into the kitchen attempting to appear normal as she fixed herself something small, she heard the last voice she'd ever thought she'd hear again speak.

"Emmy?" Emmett said, stepping into the room.

Emmeline froze, her heart rate increasing and her stomach feeling sick as she looked up and found herself staring face to face with her husband.

"Emmy, sweetheart, are you alright?" Emmett stared at her in concern and then hesitantly walked forward. "Emmy?"

She flinched for a brief moment as he pulled her tightly into his arms and began to stroke her hair. Wrapping her arms tightly around him, she tried to rationalise but found herself struggling.

"Emmett," She said softly. "I…"

"Rough day?" He asked her, pulling away just a little to gently graze his knuckles over her cheek. "I've been kinda disoriented. Probably just because of -"

"Mommy?" Cas said, coming back into the room and then staring when she saw her mother tightly in the arms of the man she could have sworn was her father. "Mommy -"

"Emmy, who's that?" Emmett asked her, completely confused. "I thought...aren't you pregnant with Casey or Aidan?"

Emmeline took a deep breath, still barely able to comprehend what she thought was happening. "Emmett, that's our daughter. Casey Emmeline Ciel-Schnee."

"It's Cassiea!" Cas exclaimed indignantly. "And -"

"Cas," Emmeline said, motioning her towards the couch. "Sit down, please."

She did so, her hands shaking. "Mommy, what's happening?"

"Emmy," Emmett said, taking her hands in his. "How is she already -"

"Emmett, you're going to want to sit down as well," She said, motioning him towards the spot next to where their daughter was. "This...I'm not even sure…"

Cas hesitantly reached over the little she needed to and placed a hand to her father's shoulder. "Oh...so you are real."

Emmett laughed, a bit amused. "Of course I am, Cassie."

Emmeline bit her lip but then spoke. "Emmett, eighteen years ago there was a White Fang attack against the SDC and the kingdom of Atlas. You, Cristal, and the board of directors were caught in the midst of it and...and were killed."

He stared at her in disbelief for a moment. "No, that's impossible."

"Tell me," She said, her voice shaking. "Do you have any memories from the last eighteen years other than -"

"I remember a ceiling caving in and the floor giving way, and then...and then…" Emmett trailed off and then stared at his wife as he pushed up his glasses. "No...that's…"

"I can't even explain what happened…" She said, feeling sick. "And -"

"I believe I can remedy your confusion, General Ciel," A familiar voice said, stepping into the room with his arm wrapped tightly around an equally familiar small, white haired woman.

"Ozpin?" She stared at him for a moment, and then to the woman. "Cristal?"

"Hi…" She said weakly.

"Chrissy?" Emmett looked at his twin sister in complete bemusement. "What -"

"I clued her in on the drive here and down in the Vault," Ozpin said, running his hands through his tousled grey locks. "And on what we're going to tell the media."

"Ozpin," Emmeline said, her voice shaking. "What did you do and how are you...how are you exactly like you were -"

"General Ciel," He said gently. "I assure you you're not going mad. I simply used the Relic Of Creation to not only restore myself but to bring back Chrissy and Emmett."

Emmett raised an eyebrow. "When you say 'bring back'..."

"We were dead…" Cristal said, her voice breaking. "We were dead for eighteen fucking years, Jacques has control of the SDC -"

"Jacques has -" Emmett started.

"But I guess you and I were really MIA and not dead," She finished, biting her lip. "Or at least that's what the world is going to be told. Oz says he's just going to have 'turned up' after the Fall of Beacon -"

"I am so damn confused," Emmett said, shaking his head. "Where...where do we even begin?"

"First off," Emmeline said, brushing away tears from her eyes. "Cas is our daughter, and -"

Emmett suddenly stood up and embraced her tightly. "Emmy...you're...you didn't remarry, did you?"

Emmeline's eyes went wide in surprise. "Emmett, of course I didn't! I had a daughter to take care of, I had a job, and I never quite -"

Emmett pressed his lips softly against hers for a long moment. "I love you…"

"I love you too…" She whispered, tears falling against her will. "I'm so glad I have you back."

"Me too, sweetheart, me too," He said, rubbing her back. "I have you, Cas, our friends…"

"So…" Cristal said, looking to Ozpin. "We're still getting married, aren't we?"

Ozpin nodded and kissed her cheek. "Of course we are, Chrissy."

"Just one more thing," She said, a small smile gracing her face. "I'm thirty nine now, aren't I?"

"Yes," He said, not admitting that he had brought them back to be a bit younger than they would have been had they never died in the first place.

"And…" She sighed as she went on. "Oz, I still want us to have a family."

He gave her a gentle squeeze. "And we will. I promise."

Cas awkwardly glanced around before standing up. "I am so not going to be the normal chick...ever. I was always viewed as some sort of weirdo...and now my family is proving it."

Emmett turned to look at his daughter. "Cas, you're not -"

"Really," She said. "I'm a bit eccentric."

Emmeline rolled her eyes. "You're exaggerating."

She shrugged. "I'm going to sleep...and I'm going to try and make any damn sense of my life."

"Oh, believe me," Emmett said, looking pointedly at Ozpin. "We're all going to be doing that. Probably for a long time"

Ozpin shook his head as they all sat down. "Please, Emmett, General Ciel...allow me to explain."

Emmeline wrapped an around her husband, rested her head on his shoulder, and then motioned for him to go on. "Then speak, damn it."

A/N: Next chapter focuses a bit more on Team RWBY, Winter, Qrow, James, and Glynda. And so begins another wild ride.