A.n. So, I'm back from the prequel. If you haven't read it yet, GO DO IT.
No, seriously, go read the prequel. There will be things you won't understand if you keep reading, that are in the prequel. Of course, I will explain it, but I'd feel a lot better knowing you read the damn thing. Please? For me?
Also;
Aggggghhhhh! I FEEL LIKE SHIT! WHY MUST I PUT MY CHARACTERS THROUGH HELL?! WHY CAN'T THEY JUST BE HAPPY?! FUUUUUUACK!
LIQUID!
BROTHER!
IT'S NOT OVER YET!
START OF CHAPTER NINETEEN
The next day...
Ariad awoke with a yawn, stretching her arms and sitting up from where she had fallen asleep. Specifically, Brafez's lap. Seeing that her significant other was still asleep, she quietly got up and entered the bathroom, intent on taking a shower. Besides, baby batter didn't remove itself. The lynx faunus smiled as she remembered the night before, a soft sigh escaping her lips.
It had been everything she expected and more. It had not just been sex, it was an act of eternal love. An act that made them as one, and connected their lives in ways incomprehensible!
"That was fun." Ariad murmured, bending over and turning the hot water on. She turned her head, seeing Innocence sitting on the side of the tub. "Hey there. Sorry about last night. It's an adult thing."
"It's fine. Grey explained it to me." Innocence responded, kicking her feet in the air. Ariad raised an eyebrow at that. Grey? Teaching Innocence about that? She shivered in horror.
"Do I want to know?"
"Do you?" Ariad thought about it for a while.
"N-No. No, I don't. I really, really, really don't." She really didn't want to know. What inhumane thoughts that had passed through Innocence's mind need not be told again.
"That's good. I didn't want to bore you with her monotone voice." The young split personality quipped, a wolfish grin on her face as she said with a sultry voice, "However, the details were quite...juicy."
"NOPE!" Ariad exclaimed, bolting out of the bathroom and landing on their bed. Even though she had closed the door behind her, Innocence phased through the door, advancing in a fabulous manner.
"Come on Ari. Come play with me."
"Oum save me..." Ariad muttered, looking away. A few feet away, Innocence stopped walking and started to laugh, confusing her owner. "Wait...what?"
"I got you! You should have seen the look on your face!"
"Oh, nice one Inny. Who put you up to this? Xinhua? Grey? Or, have you done this of your own volition? I will admit, you almost had me there for a second. But your name is your downfall! You are incapable of understanding the complexity of adulthood! Including everything that comes with it, sexual intent included!"
"N-Nani!?"
"Now you see! For it is I, Ariad, that has got you! Ha ha!"
"This is stupid!" Her alter-manifestation muttered.
"So, when are you going to stop telling everyone that I want to kill myself? Because, you know, it's fucking ridiculous."
"Ariad? What are you doing?" Brafez asked, sitting up. To him, Ariad was just standing and laughing at nothing. Which wasn't entirely unlike her, but he still wanted to understand the reasoning.
"Just talking with Innocence. Sorry for waking you."
"That's fine. I was about to wake up anyway. You were about to take a shower?" He got out of bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and giving her a kiss. She didn't hesitate in reciprocating.
"Yep. Care to join me?" She asked once they had pulled apart.
"Being able to go anywhere with you is more than enough of an answer."
"All right you hopeless romantic, follow me." Ariad grabbed his wrist, taking him into the bathroom and kicking the door closed. Without having to undress, they freely stepped into the shower and started to wash themselves.
"You know, there's something that's been bothering me," Brafez stated, rubbing the soap into his hands before putting it down and starting to massage Ariad's back. She grumbled in response, moaning as a knot in her back was rubbed out.
"Y-Yeah? Wait, to the left a bit...ooh, that's it. There we go. Now, what don't you get?"
"What I don't get?" Brafez whispered, inches away from her ear. She shivered despite the hot water, an expectant smile on her face. That vanished as he flipped her around, her front facing his. "Why did you let yourself get injured? I know you could have just gone into Elsewyre. So, why risk your life?"
"Brafez...I... Xeñoirê showed me some things. Different universes, each with different choices. They were all of when Welsha attacked us. The one I chose lead to the least disaster. I will always place you before myself. Giving my life for you is, and always will be, an option. So, could I have gone into Elsewyre? Maybe, maybe. But, that would have put you in even greater danger. So, I didn't. Don't argue with me on this, B. I chose."
He gave her a long look before sighing and nodding his head. She did have a point, convoluted as it may be, and he was her boyfriend now. However, he felt he just couldn't let this go on. If she got hurt again trying to protect him...
"I know. And I respect your decision. However, I am your friend, your boyfriend, and your teammate. It is my responsibility to keep you alive, no matter what. That means if I get into a situation that I can't handle easily, you can't go all Jenkins-ing it into the ground and die for me. I can take some punishment, and so can you. But you have the element of evasion. You don't need to take hits. Besides, you can come and go from Elsewyre whenever you want to. When we get out of here, you and I are having a serious discussion about this. But for now..."
"You think we should have some fun?" She asked, finishing his sentence for him.
"Precisely. What should we do first?"
"I have a few ideas." Ariad replied, smirking devilishly.
Inverness...
The bed they had spent the night on was made of Beowulf pelts, a remnant from Doctor Mangeele's madness. It was a blessing that he had been killed, or else the world would have fallen to his insanity. And, thanks to Welsha, they never had to fear him again.
"Welsha? You ready to start your new life?" Hazel inquired, sitting up. The skin of her former-brethren made her itchy, so she was hasty to get out of the bed and burn it. The purple-haired girl moaned and shook her head, trying to fall back to sleep. For some reason, the bed felt very comfortable. "No? Well, I don't care. Get out of bed."
"Wha-? Ah!" Welsha exclaimed, being launched out of bed by Hazel's wings. Being a loving partner, however, Hazel caught her before she could hit the ground. "T-Thanks. So, where do I start?"
"Here's your file. As you can see, you didn't have the best of childhoods. I'm glad you don't remember that."
"This...is real? Like, it actually happened? How did I...?"
"Don't know. But, that was the past. You won't remember any of it. Now, read up. I have an important meeting to go to. See you in..." she stopped and looked down at her watch. "Three hours. Don't wait up."
Then, the window was open and the Grimm woman gone with a flap of her wings, leaving the new Sect leader by herself.
The window to Ozpin's office was open, and Hazel dove through the open space, landing in a chair in front of the headmaster's desk. Pandora, the youngling, sat beside her, messaging her faunus mate. The man known as Professor Ozpin sat at his desk, watching the two Grimm with veiled interest.
"So, you want to work at my school?" Ozpin inquired, a coffee mug existing into his hand. There was truly no other way to describe it, as the mug just appeared in his hands. "How can I trust you?"
"While I am the older Barsküld in this room, I feel Pandora would be better suited to deal with this. Pandora?" Hazel turned to her counterpart, expecting an answer.
"Right. Well, my mother is a very special person. She wants the Grimm on this planet wiped out." Ozpin coughed harshly, setting his mug down. Glynda stood in the corner, as a last case resort.
"You want me to believe that your mother, a Grimm herself, wants the Grimm on this planet dead?"
"As hard as it is to believe, yes. Hazel and I are knowledgeable on every species of Grimm, living and extinct. So, if any students wanted further information..." Pandora trailed off, seeing her girlfriend out the window. Olivia waved a kiss her way and disappeared from sight.
"What my colleague here is saying, is that if you allow us into Beacon, we'd be able to tell the student body how to quickly and easily kill the Grimm in Remnant, thus serving our..."
"My mom. We'd be serving my mom and helping you guys out. Besides, the Grimm here are dicks anyway."
"That sounds like an interesting proposal...but please, do tell me what you mean by here. Your choice of words were quite interesting."
"Ahh..." Pandora muttered, looking at Hazel with a hopeful expression. The Grimm shook her head and chuckled, kicking her legs back and smirking.
"Let's see you get out of this, pup." The older Barsküld muttered, while Pandora hastily tried to come up with a non logic-shattering response. No one knew about the moon, or the Grimm in the moon, or the Barskülds' true purpose, or...there was a lot of things humanity didn't know about the Grimm. To say anything would shatter long-held beliefs of humankind, and would end up destroying it as well.
"Whaaaat I meant by here waaasss...was...you know, Remnant?"
"N-Nani!? She's insane!"
"Have you seen the ocean? It's all fucking nice and shit, no Grimm trying to kill each other, no humans around for miles on end, it's great. Well, at least it was. Then you started showing up and sent everything into a shitstorm. You know, like humanity always does."
"Fuckin sick burn babe!" Olivia screamed from outside the window, calling attention to the fact that she had a)been there for quite some time, and b) that she was somehow holding onto the window with nothing but her fingers.
"Miss Rasputin, I applaud your tenacity for wanting to look after your girlfriend, but I would appreciate if you would come in and not break my window."
"Uh...Sure." Olly replied, breaking through the window and landing in Pandora's lap. Ozpin sighed, with Glynda fixing the window and sitting down again. That was the fifth time that week, so understandably, Glynda was getting a bit miffed about having to fix the window. Oh, did I say that week? I meant that day. Yes, it appeared that Ozpin's window was actually a magnet for anything you could think of, and needed to be replaced constantly.
Poor Glynda.
"So, what were we talking about?" Olly inquired, despite not even knowing how to do that. Just kidding Kit, love ya.
"Well, Miss Rasputin, we were discussing a position at our school for these two ladies to teach our students on the intricacies of Grimm."
"Oh! My Panny is going to work at my school, it's going to be so cool!" Olivia exclaimed, pinching the Grimm girl's cheeks in front of everyone. After a few seconds, she realized what she was doing and coughed awkwardly, sitting back down in her lap. "Apologies. Carry on."
"However, Miss Rasputin, we were still discussing a job opportunity. It wasn't a guaranteed opportunity."
"Oh...shit." The garbled response was still heard, no matter how much she tried to hide it. Pandora patted the top of her head while simultaneously shaking her head with a sigh, taking her hand and leading her out the door with a "We'll be right back."
Once the Grimm girl had shut the door behind them, she spun around with a moderate amount of anger in her eyes.
"What the fuck is the matter with you?! I am in a school full of people who hunt and banish my kind, and you just decide to burst in with not a single care in the world? I'd like an explanation!"
"Well...I love you-"
"That's not an answer! Here," Pandora hastily kissed her girlfriend on the mouth, her serpentine tongue easily scrambling Olivia's senses. After a short (by their standards)lip-devouring, they retreated with reluctance. "Does that make you happy?"
"Just being with you makes me happy." Olly responded merrily, with Pan sighing in frustration.
"You are obsessed."
"You know it." Olly replied with a heart-melting giggle, causing her girlfriend to groan her name in frustration. Just the opposite of what she needed: a horny, giggling pseudo-yandere with a heart of gold.
"Look, can you please wait out here for ten minutes? I'm begging you."
"Oh Panny, you don't have to beg. Your wish is my command. Or something... Love you!" With her girlfriend (hopefully) in check, Pandora opened the door and went back inside, only to see Hazel and Ozpin shaking hands. Afterwards, Hazel leapt through the window and flew off into the horizon.
"D-Did I miss something?" Pandora inquired aloud, with Ozzy turning to her with his hand on his mug.
"You're starting your new job next week. Congratulations, Miss Ragnarök."
"Oh...okay. See you then. And thank you, Headmaster." The Grimm girl took a bow at the waist and left, making Glynda suppress a smile.
"The last time I saw that was back in the good old days." The professor muttered once their new accomplice left. Ozpin almost cracked a smile at that.
"She reminds me a bit of you."
"I'm not quite sure if that's a compliment."
"Look, I'm just saying that you have a problem." Pandora explained, putting her hands in her pockets. Olivia shrugged in indifference, seeing no problem with her wanting to be with the love of her life 24/7. Was that so wrong?
"I don't see it."
"Well of course you don't, you're too busy following after me like a lost puppy."
"Lost puppies are cute." Olivia rebutted.
"Yes, they are, and so are you. But after a while puppies can get irritating."
"A-Are you saying that...I'm irritating?" Pandora cringed at the sadness in her girlfriend's voice, and at her choice of words.
"No! Olly, it's just that maybe you should...make some friends? You know, interact with others besides me?"
"B-But you still love me, right?"
"Hey," she took Olivia by the hand and lead her behind a tree. Once they were out of sight, Pandora lifted Olivia's head to look her in the eyes. "As long as the concept of love exists, I will always love you. Okay?"
"M'okay. I...I guess that I can make new friends. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully."
"Good. I have to go now, but if you need me, call and I'll come running. Kay?" Olivia nodded and Pandora took off in the opposite direction, with the latter watching the Grimm girl's ass until she vanished from sight, a small whimper escaping from Olly's throat. She felt her hands trembling, trying to grasp her scroll in her pants pocket. "N-No! I have to be strong! For Pandora! But...God, I'm so weak."
"What's the matter Kit, can't handle a day without Pan?" Ariad inquired, walking over to her and pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.
"Mom! Don't say that out loud!"
"Oh Kit, everyone knows that. Hey, notice anything different about me?" The lynx faunus gave her a sly grin as Olly looked her up and down before shrugging, not noticing a difference.
"No."
"N-No?" Ariad stuttered, scratching the back of her neck in confusion.
"No. I don't see anything different."
"I lost my boy-virginity!"
"Oh. Well how am I supposed to know that?!"
"I thought girls knew this sort of shit!"
"Well, whatever. Why do you have Dad's gauntlets?" Olivia pointed to the gauntlets hanging off of the lynx faunus' belt, glowing a faint grey.
"I'm going to try something new. You wanna come with?"
"Sure. We going to the Forge?"
"Yep."
Ariad walked in the direction of the Forge, Olivia following behind her. After a peaceful walk, they reached the Forge, going inside. The sound of hammers meeting metal echoed throughout the room. Sadly, there were no old timey forges with open flames, just grey diamonds that one could stick their metal into to heat it with burn dust.
Ruby was in a corner, a welding mask on. In her gloved hands she held a small glowing cube, segmented into a thousand pieces. I stood next to her, pointing out inconsistencies in the metal and occasionally offering a helping hand. Weiss was also inside, though she was tinkering with Myternaster's blade.
"Well, who do you wanna be friends with? Ice Queen or Rose Nose?" Ariad gestured from one girl to the other, patting Olivia on the back and heading for Weiss. The ginger took a moment before deciding on Ruby, walking towards the red-cloaked reaper. I tapped Ruby's shoulder and nodded behind her, with Ruby removing her welding mask and turning around.
"Oh. Hi Olivia!"
"Hi Ruby. Er...How're you doing?" Olly asked, looking at me as if asking 'did I say that right?'
"I'm doing good. I guess. So..." Ruby looked around the room, trying to find someone. "Where's Pandora?"
"Oh, yeah. She's going off for a bit and left me. Alone," Olly looked hurriedly around the room and grabbed her by the shoulders, a panicked look in her eyes. "Ruby help me! I suck at being social! You see this face? This is the face of a socially awkward pseudo-yandere ginger! I can't handle this!"
"U-Umm... I don't really know how to help you. I've always been more into weapons than people," Ruby gave Crescent Rose a caress, purring like a..something that purrs. "And, well...You scare me."
"What? I scare you? Why?"
Earlier...
"I'LL KILL ANYONE WHO DARES LOOK AT MY PANDORA! SHE'S MINE! DON'T LOOK AT HER, DON'T BREATH IN HER GENERAL DIRECTION, DON'T EVEN FLINCH, OR I WILL CHOP YOUR COCK OFF AND SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT!" Olivia exclaimed, looking at herself in the mirror in the communal showers. Ruby backed away slowly before grabbing her clothes and entering a stall to change, the ginger giving her best crazy smile.
"I said that?"
"Yeah. Then there was that other time..."
"After I'm through with you, I'm going after your girl!" Cardin smugly stated, his mace's handle grinding against Olivia's hammer. At the mention of her girlfriend, Olivia gained a crazy glare in her eyes. She reared her head back and smashed it into Cardin, knocking him out cold. But before he could hit the ground, she grabbed the front of his armor and drop-kicked his ass. Considering that the match had barely just began, ending the battle in one blow was quite a feat.
"What? He threatened my girl!"
"But you dropped him in one hit. People don't do that."
"How is that scary?! You get good enough at something, you're going to end up doing stuff like that on a daily basis!"
On the other side of the room, Ariad hopped onto the work bench that Weiss was using, leaning over and checking out her work. She frowned, shaking her head and taking the pencil that the heiress was using out of her hands and correcting her work.
"Thanks. I was having some trouble fitting the igniter inside the grip." Weiss muttered, looking up at her friend to see an expectant smile. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret asking this, but, why are you smiling?"
The smile instantly disappeared.
"Wait, you can't tell? Really?" Ariad asked weakly, entirely crushed by the lie she had been living.
"No, I can't. Mind explaining?"
"I finally lost my boy-virginity! For fuck's sake!" And as such, she felt that the resulting frustrated outburst was justified.
"...Do you want to talk about it?"
"Well...kinda. I want to tell someone about it."
"Then we can talk about it later. After you rescue my team leader from that teammate of your's." Weiss pointed to the other side of the room, Ariad tracking her finger until she saw Ruby backed up against the wall by Olivia, who seemed less than happy.
"Wait...What the fuck?!"
"I said I was sorry!" Ruby cried, holding up a sheet of metal as a shield.
"You said that I was obsessed with my girlfriend! Like it was a bad thing!" Olivia replied, poking the metal and bending it into the shape of her finger.
"No, I didn't! I didn't mean it that way!"
"And in what way did you mean it?"
"HEY! CUNTWAT! GET OVER HERE!" Ariad yelled, with Olivia flinching and turning around with closed eyes.
"Yes mummy?" She whispered weakly, gulping. An angry Ariad was never a good thing.
"Bitch, did I stutter? I said," Ariad pulled out her chain sickle, taking off the sickle and throwing the chain at her daughter, which seemed like child abuse, but wasn't. The chain wrapped around her body, and the lynx faunus yanked her across the room with a single tug. "GET OVER HERE!"
Ariad planted her foot against Olivia's chain-wrapped chest, pinning her against the floor. She leaned in close, smiling like a she-devil. She held a music player up to Olivia's ears and pressed play.
"DEAR MONTY NO! NOT NICKELBACK! OH THE HORROR! MY EARRRRRRRS!" Olivia cried, trying to crawl away from the vile sound. Once Ariad felt she had her fill, she turned off the music and yanked Olivia onto her feet.
"Now, who's the scariest mother fucker in the whole Oum damned world?" Ariad inquired, cupping her ear with satisfaction.
"Y-You..." Her daughter whispered, still recovering from the musical massacre.
"Mmm-hmm, damn right I am. Now, do we have to make sure you don't threaten my friends again?"
"No! Please no!"
"Good. Now, go apologize to Ruby." Ariad unwound the ginger, grabbed her shoulders, and pushed her in the direction of Ruby, ignoring the stares she was receiving.
"That wasn't Nickelback." Weiss muttered once the girl was out of range, crossing her arms.
"Well, duh. You think I'd put my daughter through Nickelback? No! Fuck no! I just played a compressed recording of infrasound directly into her ears. She'll be shaken up a bit, but she'll be fine. Only some slight nausea. Now if I had actually played some Nickelback, her brains would be leaking out her ears."
"Wait...she's your daughter?"
"Yeah. You didn't know?"
"How does that work?"
"Well, she's from the future."
"Oooh, of course! That explains everything."
"Are you being sarcastic?" Ariad asked, not entirely sure that she was. It was hard to tell with Weiss sometimes.
"..."
"Pfft, I knew you were being sarcastic! That's like me saying that I'm entirely straight!"
"Nice recovery- wait, you're not a lesbian?" A worried crease appeared on Ariad's face and the heiress took her by the hand, running her thumb over the lynx's knuckles. "I can tell that you're stressed. Talk to me."
"I...ok. Come, walk with me." Ariad nodded to the door, waving over Olivia. "Hey Kitten, me and Weissenpai are leaving for a little bit. Watch over Myrtee, will ha?"
"Sure thang Ma. How badly do you want me to defend it?"
"Umm...imagine that sword is Pandora. Without groping it." Olly nodded, getting into a fighting stance with her hands transforming into scissor blades, a fierce growl emanating from her throat. Ariad smiled and gave her a thumbs up, following Weiss out the door and outside.
"So, what's causing you trouble?"
"Weiss...I uh, I've been wondering something, and I'm pretty hung up about it. Is it possible to love two people at once?"
"I've got your back," Weiss took out a book and handed it to Ariad, the lynx faunus cautiously taking it.
"Seems like you don't want to talk to me about this. What, you too anxious to get back to watching your teammate's backside?" The heiress immediately flushed, causing Ariad to crack a smile. "No, but seriously, you and I are talking about this. I don't need a book, I need a friend."
"I'm sorry if you took it that way. I did mean to talk to you."
"Sorry. I guess I jumped to conclusions."
"It's fine. But back to the question: I do believe that it is possible to love two people, but I don't believe that is your problem. You think it's cheating-"
"And if I cheated on Brafez I could never forgive myself! And if me dating Petunia broke up her and Claudette, I could also never forgive myself, because Claudette's good for Petunia! Fuck me!"
"I'd rather not."
"Right, saving yourself for Ruby."
"Oh please, that dolt? She's-"
"Hey, remember that time you and Winter got drunk and had a fencing match naked? That was funny." Weiss gained a panicked expression, clamping her hand over Ariad's mouth.
"DON'T- Ehm, not too loud. We don't need everyone to know that's how I got this scar. It needs to be more...adventurous."
"What, like Jetstream Sam cutting your eye open?" Ariad replied with a coy grin.
"Yes, something like that."
"So, any advice on my dilemma?"
"Tell Brafez, tell Petunia and Claudette, just tell them. If you don't, you could end up destroying the one relationship you do have." Ariad highly doubted that last part, but agreed with the rest.
"Thanks Weiss. You're a life-saver." With those words of advice on her mind, the lynx faunus sprinted off into the sun, before acknowledging that gravity existed and falling to the ground. "Ow... Heya Weiss, I think I broke my back. Can you help me up?"
"Hmm."
"Hmm? That a yes or-"
"Nope."
"Uh, why nope?"
"Figure it out." The retreating heiress replied, leaving Ariad on the ground. Lying on her back, Ariad did indeed think about it. Nothing came to mind, so she just chalked it up to Weiss being a dick.
"Hey there Ahri, what's got you down?" A familiar blonde chorused, with the lynx looking up.
"While I do have the tits to rival the nine-tailed fox, I don't appreciate having my nickname confused with her own. So, in other words, fuck you Yang."
"Glad to see you're staying loyal to Brafez." Yang quipped, hopping away as Ariad attempted to kick her legs out. She hoped that the faunus wasn't too angry with her, or else she'd spend the day in her dorm nursing her bruises. And not the good kinds either.
"You make another joke like that and you're losing your drinking buddy." The lynx responded, hopping to her feet and brushing the dirt off her backside.
"Pfft, I have plenty."
"But none of them are as fun as me."
"So, heard your man's a one-pump-chump, eh?" Yang remarked as they started walking.
"The first time, yes. But, this morning? Six hours of love-making, came twelve times in a row, and got to snuggle afterwards. I'd say he's getting better." Ariad didn't question how she knew: It was Yang, and Yang knew things. That was simply how it worked.
"Just twelve?" The blonde gave her a suggestive wink, with Ariad snorting in amusement. Before she could say anything, Pandora walked by, waving to the two.
"Hey Pan, thanks for the practice." Ariad said, ignoring Yang's amused look.
"You're welcome. Don't expect that to happen again anytime soon though. Olly can't get enough of me." Pandora smiled, blowing her a kiss. Once she was out of sight, Yang turned to her with a smirk.
"What?" Ariad asked with a disinterested voice, shrugging. "I said I lost my boy-virginity. I didn't say shit about my futanari-virginity."
"You sly dog."
"Don't you mean cat?"
"Nice one. So, how was she?"
"Without going into the deets, I think I know why Olly's obsessed with her." The faunus stopped, adding, "Besides the fact that she is a really great person."
"When did you two meet?" Yang inquired, watching the Grimm girl vanish out of view.
"That's...a long story. But, I've got time. Follow me."
The moment Pandora entered the Forge, she felt beautiful sage eyes on her. When she blinked, Olivia was standing in front of her, holding out a folded scrap of paper. She cautiously took it from her beaming girlfriend, unfolding it and cursing mentally. It was a letter, probably a love letter, and it was written by hand. She didn't even have to guess who had written it, considering that Olivia wrote in chicken-scratch. It was funny how her nanomachines were great at everything else, but couldn't legibly write a coherent sentence.
But she could tell how hard Olly had tried to make it legible just for her, considering that she could actually read it. One spare glance at her girlfriend and her heart melted, her gleeful expression too much for her. Pandora looked down at the letter and dug in her heels, trying her best to read it.
'Dear, the woman of my life, I'm writing this letter to you. It encapsulates all the emotions I cannot control, and the feelings for you I can barely describe. So, without further delay, I must ramble; Every moment with you is a lifetime of bliss, and every moment without you is eternal damnation. If I could rip the earth in two, I still would not be able to shoulder our love. If I were water, you would be my basest components, the things that I could not exist without. If I had to choose between living forever and spending a second with you, I would always choose that second. So, thank you, for being the leash to my collar, the blade to my sword, and the light to my shadow. Forever yours, Olivia.'
Pan looked up at her with tears brimming in her eyes, folding the letter up and putting it in her back pocket.
"D-Did you like it? I tried my best to make it legible and-" Whatever words that had been on her tongue were silenced as Pandora hugged her. Olivia resigned herself to just wrap her arms around the Grimm girl's waist and rest her head on her shoulder.
"Never change." The onyx-haired Grimm whispered, sighing and taking in the smell of lust and raspberries.
"Anything for my Pan."
Halfway across the room I was tapping my foot against the floor as Ruby worked on forging my weapon. After a few minutes I told her that I'd be gone for a few seconds and walked out of the building, retreating behind a wall and down a plot-alley. Once I was out of sight, I took off my hat, replacing it with a damaged one that hung over the top half of my face, an eyehole cut into the rim. It was then that I revealed I was Isolation all along.
"Xeñ, how much longer do I have to keep up this disguise? I'm getting tired of babysitting your sister." Iso growled in his stereotypical, over-edgy and gruff voice.
Within the confines of my room in Sanctuary, snuggled tightly against my lover and fiance, I chuckled at his misfortune.
"A couple more days at the most. What, can't handle being happy for a change?" I responded, holding up a holographic screen, displaying my attack on the Orionyx headquarters. I muted my connection for a second, pointing to the current scene. "See that? Pretty cool, huh?"
Iota smiled and hugged my arm, closing her eyes and humming a song about marshmallows that she had made up in her spare time. "I usually wouldn't consider mass murder cool, but since you did it for me...I guess I can make an exception."
"And that's why you're the best." I replied, taking a cup in-tentacle and handing it to her, blushing super kawaii-ily as she tried to grab the appendage. "And that's why I don't use these."
"Ohh~" She moaned, dragging her silk fingers down my back in a . "Come on. You never let me-"
"And I never will."
"Your happiness disgusts me." Iso muttered. I tipped my hat at him, smiled, then snapped my fingers.
"Say, now that my beloved's back- mm, never mind. It's not important."
"What? What's not important?"
"Oh, nothing. Just that...maybe someone would like to see a friend of theirs after a few thousand years."
"What-...No. She's not-"
"Iota's back, therefore she's back."
"I...she would never-"
"Stop being a bitch and go find her dammit!" I exclaimed, slamming my fist into his face through the screen. After being dazed for a few seconds, Iso readjusted his hat, nodded, and flew off into the sky. I sighed, putting away the screen. "Well fuck. Now I have to get out of bed."
"Why's that?" Iota asked, her smile slashing the air between us. I stopped to catch my breath before blinking, and replied.
"Well, now that Iso's gone, Ruby will come looking for me and then she'll start to worry because she can't find me and-"
"Who's Ruby?"
"Oh, right, forgot that you can only create marshmallows out of thin-air, not know everything like I can. Ruby is my adopted-sister, and Soli is my step-sister." Before she could ask who Soliloquy was, I answered her question. "Soli is my female lesbian alter-self, who likes to hang in the sack with the female version of Sinderra.
"U-Um...wow. Also, I know who Ruby is, I just didn't know her relationship to you. I too know everything."
"Yeah. Sorry about that. So, wanna go meet my sister?"
"Adopted or-"
"Ruby."
"I guess it can't hurt."
"Okay." With that, I snapped my fingers and appeared behind Ruby, Iota at my side. "Psst! Ruby!"
She turned around, confused as she saw the beautiful woman beside me.
"Hi Xeñ. Who's that?"
"Well, this is my fiance. Her name is Iota Zepphire, and she's the most prettiest girl in all the universes." Iota smiled abashedly and slapped my shoulder, a blush covering her dainty cheeks.
"Hi Ruby. I never realized that you were so pretty." She said, shaking hands with the stuttering, somewhat-embarrassed girl.
"W-Well, I-I...t-thank you."
"You're welcome sweetheart," Iota spotted the box behind her and gave the cutest sound of inquisitiveness. "What's that?"
Ruby immediately brightened at the prospect of showing off a weapon, and grabbed it off the workbench, sticking it right in Iota's face. Had she not been my sister, or someone of importance, I probably would have torn her arm off and beaten her to death with it. Iota squeezed my hand, and the broiling anger soothed itself back beneath my skin.
"This is Xeñ's new weapon! It looks really complicated, but it's really just two weapons-a cat o nine tails and a sword-inside the box. I don't know why he wanted it to be so complex, but I was all like "Eeeehhh?" and he was like "Aye! For-ged 'bout it!" So I did." Ruby explained, frequently gesturing with her hands and such.
Iota laughed at her display, saying that I always had been a little complex. I grumbled and folded my arms, pouting like a little bitch. She smiled and rubbed my back, a smile on her face. I couldn't help but smile back, knowing that everything was going to work out just fine. After we parted ways, I set about to introducing the love of my life to the rest of my small group of friends.
Weiss curtly nodded and shook hands, discussing the intricacies of a relationship and all that nonsense (not sure why though, didn't seem like a Weiss-thing to do). Blake looked up from her book, said hello, and went back to reading. Yang was...Well, Yang, so that went about as well as you'd expect.
Ariad was excited, and demanded to be the flower girl, for reasons unknown. Brafez spoke softly about love and all that, wishing the best of luck to us. Olivia was busy (having her brains fucked out her ass), and Nielsen was vacant. Quiet. Indiana was a bit worried, so I told her to talk to him about it. All in all, the day went swimmingly.
The night, not so much...
That night...
Indiana skipped down the hallways, her fuzzy green socks silencing her footsteps as she looked for her knight. Perhaps he'd come around and finally give her some "action". But, she wasn't hopeful.
The only reason Indy was up this late was because that was how her body worked. She'd go to bed at nine, wake up at twelve, and then go back to sleep around three in the morning. She'd always been a midnight-child, and puberty had only given her another reason to stay up late.
She wouldn't have to look that far; she knew where Nielsen was. He was at the balcony, where they'd first met, and was probably star-gazing. Taking this into account, she brought the image of the room outside the balcony to the forefront of her mind and teleported there, leaving behind a pile of green clovers.
Indiana gently pushed open the wooden door, Neilsen not looking at her, his head tilted back to watch the moon. In the pale light, she thought she saw moisture on his cheek, but when she blinked, it was gone.
"Hey," she said, walking over and standing next to him. "So, how's the moon?"
She had asked that as a joke.
"Still broken. Shattered. But it's strong; it'll hold." He muttered, his voice slightly shaky. For some reason she thought that it wasn't just the moon he was talking about.
"T-That's...good. Why were you-"
"I was raped fourteen times in a row." He turned his head to look at her, and now she fully saw that he had been crying. Indiana couldn't...she was struck silent. "When I woke in my new body, I wasn't alone. Seven of my chamber maids were there, each wearing a loose-fitting yakuta. When I asked what was going on, they stripped and held me down, had their way with me. I...tried to enjoy it, for them. They didn't care. They just wanted my children."
"N-Nielsen..." she whispered, her breath caught in her throat.
"They wanted to make sure. They each did it twice, to make sure my seed was firmly in. Then they left me. Not even a fucking 'thank you'. I was too scared to return to my bed, afraid that they would try it again, so I slept on the roof, watched the moon. That's why I do this every night. It's why I'm uncomfortable around you. You remind me of them. I'd like to think you wouldn't. That you'd have the common decency to thank me and hold me afterwards. But...I can't trust you. I can't let it happen again."
"I..." Indiana stopped, thinking about the past few months. How she'd acted around him. He was right. He couldn't trust her. She realized as bile rose in her throat that she had done all but hold him down and- "Oh...I...I never...," She took a moment and collected her thoughts. "You're right. Monty, you're right. I thought that hitting you was the worst I could do, but now I realize the hell I've been putting you through and..."
"Would you do it? Rape me?"
"N-No!"
"Leave me?"
"Nielsen! I would never-"
"Admit it. Before you knew, about this, you would have done it in a heartbeat. I wouldn't blame you. Just human nature. It's fine! He enjoyed it! Otherwise he wouldn't have gotten it up! I wonder if they regretted it as my seed festered in their wombs." She'd never seen him angry before; he'd never had a reason. But now? She was terrified.
"Nielsen-"
"I'm just like the moon. I was whole once. Now? I'm broken. But I'm strong, right? I can take it. I'm tired of being the strong one, Indy. Five years. For five years I've been the quiet one, letting no one in. I can't risk it, Indiana. I can't risk you. How do I know you won't do the same?"
She broke down and cried, cried for him and at her selfishness and at the cruel world they lived in. He sat down beside her and took her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Once she had stopped crying, she looked at him.
"You don't have to be the strong one anymore. I know that whatever trust we had is gone, but...be the weak one for a moment. Let me... You want someone to hold you? Let me be that someone, if only for a second. That's all I ask."
He looked at her, his eyes far older than a sixteen year old's. Nielsen blinked, once, twice, but didn't say a word. She thought he was leaving as he got up, but those fears were crushed as he sat down in front of her and silently buried his head in her shoulder.
He was so afraid. Afraid to trust her, that she'd...she didn't want to think about it. Nielsen folded in her arms, shivering as she closed around him. Then he shuddered, and five years worth of anguish assaulted her eardrums as he shrieked a banshee's wail, soaking her shirt with his tears. She didn't know how much time had passed until he couldn't scream anymore, his throat turned raw from the sound. It could have been hours, minutes, seconds... But one thing was certain; the sound would haunt Indiana 'til her dying breath.
"Niel," she asked in the silent dawn, feeling him shift beside her. "You can't trust me."
He coughed hoarsely, and let out a shudder that might have been a laugh if it hadn't sounded like a puppy resigned to an agonizing death. "I-I know."
A silence passed between them before he spoke again. "That's why I am."
"Nielsen-"
"Let me explain," He snapped, making her shut her mouth. "You could rape me right here and now, and I wouldn't be able to do a damned thing about it. But you haven't. That's why I'm trusting you."
"I probably would've. I don't know why-"
"Its because you care. Indy, you care about my feelings to some extent."
"I didn't seem to care back-"
"But you care now. There's always second chances." Nielsen muttered, clasping his fingers down on her hand. "Even for the worst of us."
She opened her mouth to speak before closing it, resting her head on his shoulder. He sighed and grasped her shoulder, rubbing it in circles and soothing her to sleep with his minstrations. After a few minutes, Nielsen succumbed to sleep as well, clunking his head against hers. And when Natalie awoke in the morning, that is exactly how she found them, curled together like they had been best friends since forever. And for her sister to finally find someone to go steady with, she smiled. Everyone deserved a second chance, even the worst of them.
Except for Orionyx. Fuck those guys.
END OF CHAPTER NINETEEN
A.n. Sooooo, I've been outta the loop for a bit with the episodes. Holy shit. Like...omi gawd. Expect some major shocks within the next few chapters. Christ, this really is a dark world I've created. Just you wait until the Bloodborne crossover arrives- oops. I've said too much.