"So now what?" he asked as they walked the streets of Vale. Nothing seemed to have changed in the last four years. "We have infinite possibilities and an entire world to explore – again."
"How about we become Hunters again? Make a full profession of it instead of becoming teachers." She grinned. "And no fake names. I think it's about time this world learns who we are again. Both of us."
The silver-haired boy laughed. "All right. Should we go to local or further explore Remnant?"
"We should go to Beacon. I mean, we never actually went there as students, you know?" Her pink side-ponytail bounced as she turned to face him, walking backwards. "I mean, it doesn't matter as long as we're together, but it'd be fun to see everyone again, even if they don't know it's us."
"I'll start making the papers tonight, then. Ah, watch out –"
She stumbled forwards as she bumped into someone.
A woman cloaked in red turned in surprise. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah." The pink-haired girl stood up, brushing herself off. Her eyes widened, taking in the woman's giant scythe, cape, and ammo attached to her belt. "You're a huntress! Can I have an autograph?"
The boy smacked a hand to his face.
The woman laughed. "Do you have a pen?" Once the autograph was given, she looked at the two teenagers carefully. "Do I…know you?"
They laughed nervously. "Uh…no?"
"Really?" The woman raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Are you hiding something?"
"All right!" The girl held up her hands. "All right, you caught us. We're actually your missing professors that disappeared four years ago – ouch!" She rubbed the back of her head. "Hope! Why'd you hit me?"
"Forgive her, she's insane." Despite his words, he smiled, wrapping his arm around the pink-haired girl. "My name is Hope Estheim, and this is Claire Farron."
"I'm—"
"Ruby Rose, of course!" Claire interrupted. "You're only one of the best Huntresses in the kingdom. How come you're not on a mission?"
Ruby laughed. "I'm actually visiting my uncle. He became a professor at Beacon last year."
"Oh, really? Isn't your uncle—"
"As fascinating as this conversation is," Hope tugged on his companion's arm, "I'm sure you have somewhere to be, Miss Rose, and we wouldn't want to keep you. Right, Claire?"
"Right…"
"Thank you for your time, Miss Rose." Without giving Ruby a chance to respond, they disappeared down the sidewalk, leaving the cloaked-woman standing awkwardly alone.
"They were weird…"
A ways away, the two teenagers slowed their pace. Claire punched Hope in the arm. "You ruined my fun."
"You were going to sound like a stalker!" The silver-haired boy rubbed his arm with a scowl. "Besides, we have a meeting to get to, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. Gotta find Calanthe's patron and all that." She waved him off. "You'd think they would have caught her by now, but no. We have to get our hands dirty again."
"It was Koray's mess to begin with, so it's Koray's job to clean up."
"Where'd you even find this—Oscar? He's a total pipsqueak."
"He's from a farm in Mistral. They had some weird Grimm attacks a few years back…"
A/N: And done!
Gotta say, this isn't exactly the way I wanted to finish Breaking the Illusion. This fic had been my baby for so long, and I had been so invested in it for so long that it almost doesn't seem right to just casually upload the last chapters all at once. However, if I were to finish the fic to my complete satisfaction, it would require copious amounts of writing and revising. Since I am no longer a fan of RWBY, that would never happen. So, this is the best I can give this fic.
Thank you so much for sticking with me, and I apologize for the wait and hasty send-off. I do have ideas for other fics, but I'm afraid I don't know when or if they will be written.
Arisa
P.S. Since I never got a chance to introduce them in fic, I'll just drop the names of the OC team I was excited to use.
Team MALC
Mahri Oum
Ashen Newville
Maelie Luna
Ciara Schwartz (This one isn't obvious from the name. It was supposed to be Gray Haddock.)