So, first off, I wanted to take the time to thank all of you who have contributed to this story's and my other stories TvTropes pages! I look at them regularly and it is always an immense joy to see the new tropes, Awesome Moments, Heartwarming Moments, YMMV Tropes, and more that have been added since my last visit. Going off just the first few I can find in each's history thank you East 44, Prometheus 117, Ratiyus, Praxus 84, RedK_1234, and everyone else who has contributed! I can't wait to see what else is added during the hiatus!
Beta-ed by xenosaiyan and MasterPrince713
"So I can use magic too?"
"In theory. You're a machias, so it should come naturally, just like breathing."
"Oh… I've never done that before."
"Magic?"
"Breathing."
"… oh."
Ruby couldn't help but smile at Wendy's pout. The Sky Dragon Slayer had set Raven down for her final healing session, taking the remaining time to try to give Penny a crash course in magic.
Everyone was gathered either in the yard or the living room, spending whatever sparse time they had left preparing for the expedition. Qrow and Carla were watching over Penny's impromptu lessons, the Exceed slapping Ruby's uncle's flask from his hands whenever he went for it. Blake was speaking with Lucy and Loke in hushed tones, probably discussing some spirit stuff or something. Lastly, Erza, Pyrrha, and Ren were critiquing Nora's efforts to evolve her illusions. Which mostly consisted of trying to create a Ren lookalike that wasn't tinted blue.
All in all, it wasn't a depressing atmosphere. There was too much of Penny's wide eyes and accidentally periwinkle colored Rens for that. But the mess they were about to leap into was still prominent in Ruby's mind.
"Lien for your thoughts?"
Ruby turned towards the twice-fold familiar voice, Oscar's body striding towards her. Yet, the cadence of the question was different from the farmboy's usual, exactly like the professor she'd met that night in Vale First Precinct.
Oh, how things had changed since she'd first met Ozpin that night. Getting early admission to the school of her dreams felt like peanuts compared to all she'd seen now, what she was planning to do now. If she could talk Salem down from her god-killing plan that was. If she couldn't… well…
She'd have to talk her down.
"Trying not to have any thoughts," Ruby admitted to her former headmaster. "Easier to move forward if I can pretend that I'm certain I'm on the right path."
"You don't need to tell me that," Ozpin groaned. "But if I may offer a word of caution?"
"Better than keeping it secret," Ruby snipped, a flash of bitterness sneaking into her voice. Of course, the moment after it did, she was left only with exhausting regret. "I'm sorry…"
"No, it's alright. I deserved that," Ozpin assured her. "In a way, that is my word of caution. I spent so long terrified that if I spoke out, if I tried anything but what I was already doing, I'd only risk the destruction of everything I'd ever known. So I bottled all my fear up and set myself on my path, unwilling to conceive that there might be a better one. For that would mean every horrible thing I'd done or allowed to happen had been for nothing."
"Not exactly helpful in the 'actually solving the problem' department," Ruby noted.
"Indeed," Ozpin nodded. "The one time I gained hope that something might change, I merely saw it as a shortcut to get ahead instead of a route to a new destination."
"The one time you gained hope…" Ruby murmured. "Mom."
Ozpin closed his eyes and glanced away, shame covering his face.
"Back in Mistral, you said that she made you think victory was possible," Ruby said. "But you also never had a plan."
"Before her, I never did. Once she gave me hope, I started coming up with loose strategies to have her eyes turn Salem to stone and then use the Relic of Creation to stow her away," the time wizard explained. "Once that had been done, I could focus on preparing for the Umbral Spirit King."
Ruby frowned. "You're right. That is loose."
"Very much so," Ozpin concurred. "Forcing myself to believe my path was without flaw was bad enough on its own, but when others were following, relying on me for guidance?"
"It wasn't exactly a fun experience," Ruby said. "So, you're suggesting I keep in mind that I might not be right?"
"More that you should keep in mind that your first thought might not be right," Ozpin advised.
"You mean negotiating with Salem?" Ruby inquired, letting out an exhausted sigh. "You don't need to worry about that. Weiss has made her thoughts on that plan crystal clear. And I can't say she's wrong, because she's not. I just don't have any better ideas."
"Well, that's not exactly encouraging. You're the best at coming up with ridiculously insane plans that still somehow work."
Ruby's eyes widened and she whirled around to see Weiss emerging from the forest, Gray only a few feet behind her before he broke off to speak with Erza.
The White Fairy gave her teacher a brief look as he strode away, a look of confusion flickering over her pink cheeks, but she didn't delay making her own way towards her partner and Ozpin.
"Hey," Ruby managed. "About before…"
"It's fine. Nothing you said was wrong," Weiss assured her.
The white-haired huntress let out an exhausted sigh, her shoulders, normally kept in perfect posture, slumping behind her. Ruby didn't think she'd ever seen her partner look so utterly tired.
"I can't forgive Rosenflos, Ruby. I don't want to forgive her. And since Salem allowed it…" Weiss murmured. "They're the bad guys… but if you think they might be the necessary guys as well… I'll follow your lead. I'll give them the chance to prove their intentions are honest. And when they prove that they're not…"
Ruby took her partner's hands in her own, the crimson Fairy Tail emblem covering the white, and smiled. "If they do, then we'll face them together."
Weiss returned the smile. "Thank you."
"Well," Ozpin coughed. "I suppose I'll leave you two to it—"
"Not yet, professor," Weiss suddenly spoke up. "I wanted to make sure Ruby and I were on the same page, but I also wanted to speak with you."
Ozpin blinked. "Really?"
Ruby cocked an eyebrow, sharing the headmaster's confusion. "Really? What did you and Gray talk about in the woods?"
"Gray and I… I'm not entirely sure what happened. We've decided to put it aside, for now. At least until we have Yang and Jaune back," Weiss elaborated, and yet didn't. She didn't broker anymore discussion before fixing her gaze on Ozpin. "I wanted to talk to you about something else. For a while, since I mastered summoning back in Atlas, I've been hearing… voices."
"Voices?" Ruby queried. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I've been hearing some demonic voice in my head telling me to 'Open the Gate'," Weiss said. "At first, I thought I was going crazy, then I thought it was the Grimm themselves, but I didn't care because listening to it makes me stronger, but now… you know more about aura and Celestial and Umbral Spirits then almost anyone. I know this is a long shot, but do you have any idea what it might be?"
"Oh, don't worry, Ms. Schnee," Ozpin replied, one of his old reassuring grins on Oscar's face. "I know exactly what that voice you're hearing is."
"You do?!" Ruby and Weiss exclaimed. Things were almost never that easy for them these days.
Ozpin nodded. "I do and it's nothing to worry about. It's just the Umbral Spirit King."
…
…
…
"WHAT?!" Ruby and Weiss yelled.
Ozpin reeled back, wincing at the volume of their exclamation. "Ah, on second thought, I could have phrased that slightly better."
"You think?!" Weiss shouted, staring at her hand in abject horror. "The hellish entity that's spent the last million years trying to break into this dimension has a direct line into my head that makes my semblance that summons Grimm stronger! That seems like something to be concerned about!"
"Why haven't you mentioned this before?!" Ruby demanded.
"Well, firstly, I didn't know that Ms. Schnee had matured her semblance to such an extent that he was able to utilize the link to send a message through," Ozpin explained. "And secondly, because it's not as dangerous as you may initially think."
Weiss gritted her teeth. "How?"
"Because this isn't the first time you've encountered this," Ruby realized, her eyes widening.
Ozpin nodded. "The Schnee semblance is famous for its near-unprecedented versatility and unique hereditary nature. What most do not know is that neither of these aspects are much older than the SDC itself. Prior to the expeditions to create the dust mines, Nicholas's glyphs did not include the power to summon. Nor had he ever heard of his abilities existing in prior generations when Willow unlocked them. When such occurred, he enlisted my then present incarnation to investigate, at which point he informed me of his experiences with the Umbral Spirit King's voice."
Weiss pursed her lips into a frown. "My grandfather heard the Umbral Spirit King?"
"He didn't know what it was, but he trusted me enough to go along with my… extensive tests," Ozpin said. "And through those tests, I was able to confirm that there is no danger. Whatever connection the Umbral Spirit King has with your family, your semblance does not, even with his boosting, have the ability to create a portal powerful enough to allow him to fully enter this world."
"Are you sure?" Weiss inquired. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"I am. If I wasn't, I would have…" Ozpin's words died in his mouth, the old wizard glancing away.
"Would have what?" Weiss asked, her eyes narrowing. "Would have what, professor?"
Ruby sighed. "He would have killed your grandfather and your mom."
Weiss's eyes widened, her face pale as her gaze locked onto Ozpin. Locked on… and received no words to deny Ruby's deduction.
"You would have…" she muttered, a frown of despair and resignation falling over her lips. "What am I saying? Of course you would have. Who wouldn't? For the world?"
"Weiss…" Ruby murmured.
"It's fine," Weiss assured them, though her tone suggested things were anything but fine. "It's done, it was decades ago. I wanted to know if there was any danger, and now I know there isn't. Thank you, Ozpin."
"… you're welcome, Ms. Schnee," Ozpin responded, both he and Ruby fully aware that Weiss had finally stopped addressing him by his former title. He glanced towards the house, Raven and Taiyang emerging into the yard. "It seems it's time to go."
"Good," Weiss declared. "I need something… something to do."
She marched off to the muster, only for Ruby to reach out and snag her hand before she could get away.
"Hey," the silver-eyed girl said, forcing her best friend to meet her caring gaze. "I meant what I said. Whatever happens, whatever we find in the Grimmlands and beyond, we'll face it together. Whenever possible, I will always fight by your side."
Her words must have struck a chord within her partner. For a shining moment, Weiss's turmoil seemed to evaporate from her face, a genuine smile breaking through the fog.
"Thank you, Ruby," she said. "Thank you."
Ruby grinned. "What are guildmates for?"
"Hey!" Raven called, testing Stalwart Stem's swing. "You three joining us or what?"
The partners shared a mischievous smirk at the bandit's cross words and hurried over to the others gathering in the yard. Ozpin's eyes flashed green, returning control to Oscar as the farmboy made her way next to Wendy in the group's mob.
Raven pulled her odachi close and took a long steadying breath, her eyes flickering to Erza in the crowd for a moment. When the Titania nodded, the Spring Maiden managed to look back at the rest of them.
"You all understand the score, right?" She asked. "Tai will be our anchor to get back here, but there's no guarantee I'll be able to make contact with Yang on the other end. We could end up right next to her or we could end up smack in the middle of the horde of ancient Grimm surrounding the castle. We're also more likely not going to all end up in the same place."
"We know the risk," Nora affirmed. "We're not backing down."
"Jaune and Yang are in danger," Ren declared. "We must take action."
"Together," Pyrrha gulped, unable to keep the fear from her face even as she gazed at her friends with unbridled admiration. "We'll do this together."
Raven sighed and raised her sword. "Go ye heroes, go and… live. Please live."
Ruby hadn't had much interaction with her sister's biological mother (her aunt? She was her uncle's sister), but she couldn't recall such desperation ever being inlaid in her voice.
Stalwart Stem cut through the air and slowly the swirling portal began to form. A new road forward, but to heaven or to hell?
Ruby wasn't sure.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT
"Are you sure about this?" Yang inquired, several nodes inserting themselves into Jaune's bare chest. "Just because End offered you a spot doesn't mean you have to take it."
Jaune flashed her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure. Besides, Salem hasn't lied to us yet and she said it's perfectly safe."
Yang glanced back at Cinder and Emerald, who were working the myriad of controls. "Maybe the machine is."
"Eh, don't be such a worrywart, blondie," Mercury teased, lazily leaning back against one of the regeneration tubes. "Cinder knows better than to color outside the lines again."
Cinder's muscles momentarily tightened at the insult, Emerald taking a fearful step back from her fellow Eclipse Etherious. However, the tension was smothered within the Gate of the Archer right after, her hands dutifully singing about the Ascension Chamber's controls.
"Whatever you may think of me, Yang, Teacher entrusted this to me," Cinder said. "Trust that I have no intention of letting her down."
"Forgive me if I'm not reassured," Yang snipped back. "If anything happens to him, I'll do the same to you tenfold."
"Look, this process isn't exactly pleasant even when it does go right," Emerald reminded her, stepping out between Cinder and the blonde. "We'll do everything we can to make it smooth, but it is going to hurt. There's nothing we can do about that."
Yang scowled. "I'd still feel better if mom was handling it."
"Well, too bad, she's got a busy schedule and they're multitasking as it is," Mercury taunted. "They've gotta start taking down the anti-Raven defenses, prepare for when your friends will show up, and go over all the spy stuff they've gotten from around the world."
"And Teacher needs to prepare beforehand," Cinder mumbled.
Yang raised an eyebrow, something she might have felt better about if Mercury and Emerald hadn't suddenly shared her confusion.
Jaune leaned his head over the edge of the Ascension Chamber. "What do you mean 'prepare'?"
"Teacher always prepares in her room before meetings," Cinder nonchalantly revealed, turning up a few dials. "The Queen lets her come about ten minutes late when she's here in person."
"Why?" Jaune inquired.
"I don't know. It's Teacher's business, not mine. It's not my place to pry if she doesn't feel the need to tell me," Cinder said. "Now, get back in there. It's time."
Jaune scowled but pulled back into the chamber. The lid let out a hiss of hydraulic steam and sealed itself over him.
The device flashed to life… and the screams began immediately.
"Stop! Stop it!" Yang shouted. "You're killing him!"
She spawned her Purple Flare arms and ran towards the machine, only for Mercury to dash forward and hold her back.
"Cool it, blondie!" the silver-haired boy yelled.
"Mercury, get her out of here!" Cinder barked, her eyes never leaving the Ascension Chamber's instruments. "This is hard enough without worrying about her doing something stupid. If the process is interrupted, it likely won't be beneficial for Mr. Arc."
Mercury rolled his eyes, but did so nonetheless, wrenching Yang out of Neo-Hell's Core and throwing her down outside the lab, shutting the doors behind him. But Jaune's howls of agony were still easily audible through the gates.
"Look, Yang, I get it," Mercury said, cutting Yang off before she made to dart past him. "But this isn't abnormal. We all went through it. We all screamed like we were getting flayed alive. We all made it through."
"Did you all have Cinder pulling the strings?" Yang challenged.
"Well… no. But she does know how to do it," Mercury argued. "Look, if you're really worried about it, go talk to your mom. Whatever 'preparations' she's working on can't stop her from singing you a lullaby or whatever. Just don't screw this up in a way that puts my head on Salem's chopping block, will ya."
Yang snarled, but she knew from experience that she couldn't force her way past Mercury alone. She whirled around in a huff and stormed off and upwards into the castle's living quarters. She felt a little silly, running off to mommy at the first sign of trouble and all. But when she remembered Jaune's screams…
If there was anything she could do to lessen her friend's pain, she'd do it in a heartbeat.
It didn't take long for her to find her mother's room, barging inside. Summer hadn't spent much time at the castle over the last few years bar some visits to Cinder, so it was hardly decorated with much personality. Just a trio of framed pictures on a bedside table. One of Ruby and Yang as little kids, one of a girl who must have been a young Cinder, and a copy of the only photo of Team STRQ the blonde had ever seen, minus the tear stains from Qrow's version.
But no Summer in sight. Only the blazing sun of the Winter Maiden's magic directed her gaze towards the adjoining bathroom.
That and… some sort of… squelching sound? And grunts?
"Mom?" she called, striding into the bathroom, befuddled.
"Yang?!" Summer shouted, the glass shower door muffling her voice and a small clatter. A moment later, a rush of running water sounded off from within. "What is it, firecracker?!"
"I just needed to ask you-" Yang's eyes suddenly narrowed, a small wisp of magic rising up from her mother.
Transformation Magic.
Yang scowled and stomped across the bathroom, wrenching open the shower door.
Summer hopped back, steadying her hand against the wall in order to maintain her balance amidst the running water. "Yang, what are you doing—"
"What are you hiding?" the Devil Slayer demanded, her flame arms evaporating the shower stream into a fog of steam.
"Firecracker, I'm not hiding anything—"
"I can feel the Transformation Magic!" Yang roared. "Jaune is down there getting himself torn apart and you're in here doing some sort of preparation?! Something you don't want me to know about despite everything else you've told me. Why? Is it an important detail you haven't mentioned?"
"What?! No, Yang, everything I've told you is the truth—"
"Then what are you hiding now?! No lies, no misdirects, no half-truths, what are you doing in here!?"
Summer glanced away and a moment later, the Transformation Magic faded. But what it revealed…
Yang's eyes widened, her fury fizzling out with confusion. "Wha… what is this?"
Scars. So many scars. Half the scraps of flesh that wasn't normally covered by Summer's clothing were ravaged by the jagged wounds, several still open and bleeding, but others that must have been years old.
Yang's gaze flickered to the floor, just in time to spy the shower's stream flush the last of the blood across the tiles and down the drain. A knife, the clatter she'd heard before, laid beside the piping.
Summer sighed, her breath as broken and unsteady as it had been when they'd first reunited. "This is probably a conversation that I should have dressed."
It was only a few minutes before Summer had thrown on her combat uniform and cloak, she and her daughter sitting atop her bed in the room proper.
"What were those?" Yang asked, even as she already knew the answer. An Eclipse Etherious had a powerful healing factor after all. The only reason they would have scarred at all was if Summer wanted them to. And given there wasn't anyone else in the shower to attack her…
"No one else can punish me," Summer morosely mused, tears trickling from her eyes as she confirmed her daughter's fears. "It's not enough, not nearly enough, but it's something."
"It's your version of Qrow's flask!" Yang protested. "You're… you're hurting yourself. You've been hurting yourself."
Summer tilted her head, a hint of surprise tinting her melancholy. "Qrow's flask… I never thought of it that way. Not inaccurate, I suppose."
"And I… pressured you into telling me," Yang murmured, suddenly horrified at herself. "No more lies…"
"What?" Summer said. She rushed in and placed a reassuring hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Yang, look at this place. Look at me, what I've done. You wanted to make sure you knew the whole score and that is not a bad thing in a situation like this."
"But what I did to you… how can you forgive me?"
"Forgive you? Firecracker, I didn't expect you to be able to stand the sight of me, let alone forgive me," Summer reminded her. "For this? There is nothing to forgive. And even if there was, I'm your mother. I will always forgive you."
A tear dribbled down from Yang's eyes and she lunged in, engulfing her mom in a hug. Soon after, she felt herself sheltered in Summer's warm embrace.
She'd missed this, missed so much. That unconditional love of her mother. It wasn't that she could do no wrong, but that she could make her way back from any wrong, that she wouldn't be abandoned and tossed aside without a second thought like someone had done to her. If she needed help or protection, she knew who to go to.
Of course, when she was about to ask for help in the Jaune situation, a far more unwelcome swirling pricked her ears.
Summer's head rose immediately, a wide smile blossoming over her face. "I know that sound."
Yang couldn't share her mother's elation, but she did turn around and witness one of Raven's portals manifest in the air. Though, where before it had been a stable mass red and black, now it was a crackling, fluctuating mess of pure darkness, scarlet lightning flickering over its surface.
"You know, I really wish I'd known about the disruption field before I'd locked the gang into this plan," the Devil Slayer groaned.
Barely a second after she'd voiced her regrets, an armored redhead was expunged out of the portal like a rocket, smashing headlong into the walls, the black obsidian cracking around her. Yang and Summer both leapt to their feet to help, but before they could, three more familiar figures were dumped out of the void right before it fizzled shut.
Three figures. Red, white, and black fairies.
"Guys!" Yang shouted, jubilation finally filling her. "You're here!"
"We are?" Ruby groaned. She, Weiss, and Blake slowly staggered to their feet, moaning the entire way. "Oh, hey Yang. Looks like we actually got to you. Well, some of us, at least."
"Four of us," Blake noted, wincing as she massaged her cat ears. "Honestly, I was expecting worse. You alright, Erza?"
The Titania shouted back something affirmative sounding, but the wall she was stuck in muffled any specifics.
"Yeah, she's fine," Weiss stated, rubbing her eyes as she drew Myrtenaster. "Don't worry, Erza. One gravity glyph and I'll have you out in… a… a…"
Weiss's face went pale, her gaze locked onto Summer, though the Eclipse Etherious only had eyes for Ruby.
Yang immediately realized how horribly this could go and leapt in-between the pair just as the Ice God Slayer whirled her blade towards the Gate of the Maiden.
"Yang, get back!" Weiss yelled, her breathing fast and heavy with panic.
"No, Weiss, wait!" Yang pleaded. "She's not who you think!"
"She's not Esper Rosenflos?!"
"… okay, she is who you think is, but she's also more than you think she is!"
"What?!" Weiss exclaimed. "What are you talking about?! Just get away from that—"
"Mom." Ruby murmured.
Weiss's head whipped towards the silver-eyed girl, even more shock covering her face. Ruby herself had her gaze cycling between the family photos on the bedside table, and Summer herself, the images of the past clearly provided the needed assistance to instantly click the Golden Spirit Slayer's identity into place.
The Gate of the Maiden managed a small smile, her eyes misting up at the sight of her final daughter. "Hello, little flower."
And... hiatus. Yup, I can see no reader-angst on cutting off the chapter there. None whatsoever.
When we return, we'll see where in the castle the others ended up and in what groups... and the Grimmlands Arc will begin.
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!