-With Ironwood-

James Ironwood was a man with a lot on his plate. He was the lead general of the Atlassian army, Headmaster of Atlas Academy, warden of the winter maiden, and also one of Ozpin's trusted allies against Salem and the constant threat of Grimm. He was juggling so many responsibilities that lesser men would have cracked under the pressure he was under long ago, yet James was thriving if anything.

Sure, his personal life suffered from his insane work schedule and his ability to take a joke withered away further with every year that passed, but otherwise he was fine.

Or at least, he had been fine.

James let out a tired stuttering sigh, an almost broken sound, as he stared blankly at the chair that Glynda had occupied just half an hour ago. It had been such a pleasure to meet up with the woman he held affections for, even if it was just for an update on the Salem situation. Then Glynda had started to talk about this Angel individual, and things had become much more complicated than simply catching up with an old flame.

Salem was immortal, well and truly immortal. Their war wasn't one that could be won, it could only be prolonged indefinitely. An eternal war of attrition where loss meant the extinction of every man and woman on Remnant. That had been heavy news, the weight of the revelation nearly brought him to the brink of despair. Worse yet was that Ozpin had known this all along, and had simply kept the fact that their shared foe literally couldn't die to himself all this time.

He had recovered though; it was a hard thing to accept, but he was James Ironwood and he wouldn't let his foe's immortality scare him away from his duty to the people of remnant.

The fact that the brother gods were dead didn't even affect him, he'd never been all that religious in the first place so the death of remnant's creator gods held no real meaning to him. What concerned him was that this new deity had predicted that Salem would have been victorious in his lifetime if it didn't take action, and so it apparently sent Angel. If this had been just a few years ago James would have laughed off that information as nonsense, but ever since Ozpin had revealed that he could reincarnate, that magic was real, and that the Grimm had a leader his mind had become more flexible in regards to what it could believe. That and the information was coming from Glynda one of the few individuals on Remnant that he trusted not to lie to him.

This Angel had apparently taken steps to ensure that in case of the worst case scenario happening there would still be a singe kingdom remaining. Glynda hadn't known what actions the angel had taken to ensure that, but she had full faith in the mysterious being. James didn't share that faith, but he was comforted by the thought that the angel could have been speaking the truth. The fact that the angel had also empowered some of his allies against Salem helped significantly in that matter too, though James wished that he or one of his trusted subordinates had been offered a second semblance to enhance them as well.

Angel had also revealed some rather startling future events, events that Glynda had thankfully taken note of, and given that Summer Rose was now pregnant with twins he was willing to believe that there was some credibility to these predictions. It was disturbing to think that in just a decade and a half the fate of the world would be decided by the actions of hormonal teenagers, but that was apparently what was in store for them.

Tossing back another shot of whiskey, James let out another sigh. This knowledge had changed things. Tactically there were still options for dealing with Salem, they would just be far more difficult to execute than simply killing the Grimm woman. James would have to look into constructing a secret prison somewhere, preferably someplace where escape wouldn't matter. Like deep underground, or in space. If only they could figure out how to get dust to function in the upper atmosphere, then they could just launch Salem into space and her immortality would become a nonissue.

"I'll also be approving Dr. Polendina's project proposal…" He had been somewhat on the fence about greenlighting the creation of an artificial human capable of producing aura. Sure, it seemed like a great way to cheat the maiden inheritance system, especially since Fria was getting older, and having a maiden that wouldn't naturally age or die would be an incredible asset for all of humanity. Still, a part of him had balked at creating what was essentially a new form of life. Not anymore.

"I'll also have to remove Dr. Watts sooner than planned…" The man was brilliant, but also completely unhinged and unstable. James simply couldn't trust the man, and the scientist had already broken a few minor laws in the pursuit of his many projects. A man like that couldn't be allowed to work on any portion of project P.E.N.N.Y if it was going to be viable.

Then there was his own pet project, the ace ops. He had been throwing around the idea in his head for a while, but now he knew he may need just such an elite team of specialists. He even had a man in mind to head the team, Clover Ebi. From all accounts the specialist was proving to be a perfect specialist, nearly a match for Qrow from what James himself had observed.

"Damnit…" James rubbed his right shoulder as his right side began to ache once again. The phantom pains had been manageable, but they seemed worse tonight then they had in a long time.

"Tomorrow, I'll start tomorrow." There was so much work to do, and now that he had a timeline for the potential end of the world he would have to work all the harder. The world would not end on his watch, James would fight for the people of Remnant until his last breath. No matter what he had to sacrifice he would see that the people were protected from Salem and her forces.

-Break-

Here's a fun fact: baby eyeballs are absolute shit.

Here's another fun fact: baby bodies are absolute shit too.

In fact, just about everything about being a baby sucked ass. I couldn't see anything clearly, I couldn't move my body the way I wanted to, and things just randomly started to hurt for no reason. Oh, and my pain tolerance? Yeah, that was completely gone. Even little things like accidently banging my hand on the bars of my crib hurt like I had just broken the hand in multiple places.

If that wasn't already bad enough, then there was the added issue of the boredom. Babies don't actually do much of anything besides eat, sleep, and soil themselves. Given one of my perks made me able to control when or if my body even produced waste, I had even less to do than most babies. I just made sure to copy Ruby when it came to the whole 'soiling myself' thing, couldn't afford to look too unnatural after all.

God, I would literally murder half the world for some of my old music, a good book, or some anime to watch. I'd never gotten into One piece while I was alive because the length of the show intimidated me and I never had the time to invest into it, but now I'd love the chance to burn my time watching the entire series. Then there were all those thirty to fifty book long fantasy book series that I had promised myself I'd get around to checking out one day, I'd love to sink my idle time into one or two of those stories now.

The worst part of all this is that I knew a quick fix for my problem, my item creation semblance. I could probably create things from my old life, probably even things straight out of my imagination, and all it would cost me is aura. The problem with that was I didn't have my aura unlocked.

I cursed my lack of foresight just about everyday since I've been born. If only I had just used a tiny bit of magic to have that secret package I left inside Summer for Ruby and I unlock our auras…

Hindsight and all that.

God, this was boring as shit. I've already pretty much exhausted my imagination, and my repertoire of mental music was running low.

Fuck it, might as well take another nap.

-With Raven-

Raven had been finding every excuse she could to get away from the tribe lately. Summer had given birth to her twin brats, Hex and Ruby, and Raven found that she felt far more alive when she was watching over her own daughter and the twins than when she was raiding a village or training her tribe to be less sad fighters. She had already formed a bond to the two brats with her semblance, so she could visit them whenever she wanted to just like with Yang, her brother, and Summer. She even served as something of a secret babysitter on occasion.

She drew a line at diaper changing though, she had never and would never change a diaper in her life. No amount of love she felt for the brats could change that.

Perched in one of the fruit trees within the Rose villa's main garden Raven watched her own daughter play some sort of game that involved swinging around a stick like it was a sword. She always felt conflicted when she watched her daughter.

On one hand Raven wanted to go down, change into her normal human form, and sweep her daughter into a tender embrace that conveyed all the feelings that she herself felt but barely understood. Then her rational side would kick back in and remind her of a few fundamental facts that would stop her. Yang didn't know Raven, to the young girl she was a stranger. Then there was the matter of what she would do after introducing herself to her daughter, would Raven take up the mantle of being the child's mother? No, no she couldn't do that. It wouldn't be fair to Yang, and it would put Raven back on Ozpin's radar earlier than she planned.

Raven almost growled, and probably would have if she wasn't currently a bird incapable of making the sound, at the thought of her old Headmaster. Ozpin would eventually get his claws on what she held most dear; it was merely a matter of time. Yang, Hex, and Ruby would all surely end up at Beacon in the future, and when that happened, they would undoubtedly be swept up in Ozpin's impossible war. Raven would have to act then, she couldn't afford to lose any of the children.

Qrow dying would hurt her, wound her deeply and profoundly within her heart, but she could possibly recover from the loss. Summer dying would mean much the same thing. Even the loss of both, something that was almost unthinkable for Raven, could be withstood and possibly even overcome with time. Losing Yang would shatter her, break her in a way that could never be mended. Losing either of the twins would do the same.

Losing one of the children would kill her just as surely as having her head cut from her shoulders, and Raven Branwen was not a woman who would accept death meekly. So, when the time came, she would need to act. She would protect her dearest ones, because she simply couldn't afford to lose them.

Exactly what she would or could do to protect them wasn't something she actually knew at the moment, but Raven was sure that she would figure something out before the time came. She always did after all.

Watching Yang at play Raven reaffirmed her convictions. The strong thrived while the weak died, and the children would need to be strong. Her old team would ensure that they wouldn't be weak, but she would probably need to step in at some point and impart the lessons that her old team simply wouldn't.

Perhaps she could be Auntie Raven? Qrow seemed to be thriving as a new uncle instead of a father. She would need to speak with her younger brother soon, maybe there was a way she could introduce herself to her child without becoming her mother and ruining Yang like Raven's own parents had ruined her.

-With Summer-

Summer was happy, unbelievably happy. She had two beautiful and perfect little angels to call her own, and she could spend as much time as she wanted with them while simultaneously saving people as a huntress thanks to her new semblance. Better yet, Raven was beginning to reach out more to her and Qrow. All things considered, this was probably the happiest Summer has been in her life since her second year as a Beacon student, back when her team was whole and also before she knew about Salem or magic or secret wars.

There was a small problem though. Summer may love her children a little too much. When she heard her babies giggle at her it made her feel warm inside, but it also made her disregard everything else in the world. She also noticed that she got notably flushed whenever she played with her son or daughter, felt pleasurable tingles from her nether regions when she was breastfeeding them, and her mind kept turning to how beautiful her daughter would grow to be or how handsome her son would become. Then there was the fact that she had begone to slightly ignore Yang in favor of spending time with her babies, something she only really noticed when Yang come to complain to her about her not reading a bedtime story to the girl for three days in a row.

So yes, Summer could admit that she had become a little bit obsessed with her children. It also didn't help matters that she found their clear and pure silver eyes so fascinating. She'd even begun to dream about what they would look like in the future at night, and had a very awkward dream last night involving herself and her future children.

Summer had been more than a little concerned at first that her obsession towards her precious twins would warp her behavior and affection towards them, but she had more than enough self-control to keep this startling new side of herself in check.

Staring down at her two babies she couldn't help but smile. Ruby was what she imagined she herself had looked like as a baby. A precious little girl with silver eyes, dark hair that became red at its tips, and a pure and sunny smile full of innocence. Hex was like a carbon copy of his sister with a few key differences. Her little boy's hair became white at the tips instead of read, and his expressions sometimes seemed to carry a level of frustration or annoyance. What a baby had to be frustrated about Summer didn't know, but sometimes when she looked at Hex she could see a shadow of Qrow when he was younger and would constantly half-jokingly mumble about how his life was suffering. Clearly Ruby would take more after her and Hex would take more after Qrow as they grew.

Reaching down and lightly tussling her son's silky hair she couldn't help but laugh as his frustration seemed to disappear as he began to reach for her hand.

"I love you my little petals…" Summer was truly happy. She would be eternally grateful for Angel and what the man had done for her, being able to raise her precious petals without worrying about dying on a mission was the greatest gift anyone had ever given her.

-Break-

Months. It's been months. I've literally been teetering on the verge of boredom induced insanity all this time. The only thing that staved me off was the promise of my bright and entertaining future, oh and also Ruby and Summer. Ruby was like a beacon of happiness off to my left that would always be there for me in my darkest moments. I had no clue what she was gurgling and babbling about most of the time, but her emotions were clearly conveyed and it would seem my twin was very attached to me. Then there was Summer who hung around us just about all the time. Messing around and playing baby games with my new mother wasn't exactly the peak of what I considered to be entertainment, but it was at least something.

I'd also met the other members of my new family. Raven had come by to smear some of her blood on the foreheads of Ruby and I, then she whispered a few oaths about family, strength, and protection. Ever since she has stopped by occasionally, either as herself for a few moments or as a bird for longer moments that I deemed as reverse bird watching time.

Yang had come by pretty frequently, but eventually she gets bored of us and goes off to do something more exciting. I think she's excited to be a big sister, and clearly her protective instincts are kicking in, but she's stile only a toddler and babies are pretty boring.

Tai has been by, but Summer has all but claimed every parental duty when it came to Ruby and I, so he doesn't do much more than baby talk at us and play with us occasionally. I couldn't really see the man as my father given what I knew about my parentage, and the fact that he would only really stop in to see us for a few minutes every day. Still, it was good to see the big blonde man, if for no other reason that he broke up my near perpetual boredom for a few moments.

Then there was Qrow who dropped by at random times in random states. Sometimes he came by as uncle Qrow and did the normal adult thing of playing with us or giving us a new baby toy. Other times he came by drunk as hell and would simply watch us, or apologize for being a bad father. Other times he came as a bird, and he would just watch from the same perch that Raven used, a perch that I'm certain that Qrow himself had set up just for this purpose.

So, I've met every member of my new family, and I've even grown attached to some of them. Personally, I think it's a mix of my mind's desperation for stimulation beyond the baby mobile that hangs from my crib, and my young baby brain making chemicals that make attaching myself emotionally to my care takers very easy. Regardless of the actual reasons, I the former morally bankrupt and sociopathic serial killer now actually cared about my new family. Sure, I cared about some members of my new family a heck of a lot more than others, but the fact was I did end up caring about each of them to some degree or another.

It was a novel experience, having a family I cared about. I think I liked it.

I was still going to add Yang, Raven, and Summer to my future harem though.

-With Neo-

Neo at the tender age of six had become a recognizable member of the criminal underground. Sure, it was as that girl Roman took around with him and who occasionally made important deliveries to his associates, but it still meant that she had begun to make a name for herself. That was a fact that Neo had begun to take great pride in.

Ever since her parents had been killed, and she had subsequently killed their killer, her life had fundamentally changed. The little girl she had once been had died alongside her parents, and in her place was a monster that lived on in the girl's body and mind. Neo knew that she was a monster, she enjoyed killing and stealing too much to be anything else. She liked hurting people, when she saw them struggle or feel pain it made her feel warm and happy inside. She could never go back to the innocent little girl she once was, and she didn't particularly even want to anymore.

As Roman negotiated his latest deal with some up-and-coming smuggler Neo took out her special diary and opened it back up to the note her savior had left her. It was a short letter to her all things considered, but it was dear to her. She tenderly stroked the page and felt her mind turn back to that day.

He had been tall and handsome, with white hair and understanding purple eyes. She had never felt safer than in his arms as he comforted her. He had granted her a new power, a strength that had served her well ever since, and he had told her a story of the future. She hadn't known him long at all, but her savior meant the world to her. She cared for Roman, and at times it seemed like Roman may even genuinely care for her, but she understood that their relationship was more a business partnership than anything else. If she hadn't been useful, then Roman wouldn't have taken her in.

Her savior was different, he came and offered comfort to a confused, traumatized, and mute little girl. He had taken her to a person who could provide for her until she was old enough to look out for herself. He had given her gifts, her semblance and her magical diary. And most importantly he hadn't asked for anything in return.

Hex Rose. It was confusing that her savior was going to be reborn as someone entirely new, but some in mistral believed in reincarnation so Neo decided this was just a form of that. She didn't doubt for a second that what her savior had written to her was true, so she would have to keep an eye out for her savior in his new body.

Turning the pages of her diary to the page immediately after the story of the future Neo looked at her own notes. She had taken note of the most important parts of the story, the characters that mattered and their descriptions mainly. She had a long list of people to watch out for building up.

Salem. The woman frieghtened her and if even half of what was in her story was true than she didn't want to get involved with her. Cinder Fall. It would be interesting meeting someone who could use magic, and it would be fun to see if Hex could change her like he said in his letter, but she would not be letting the woman use her and Roman as pawns so easily. Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. It would be nice to meet two people like her, a thief and an assassin, one could even use illusions! Yang Xiao Long. Her savior's new sister, she apparently first runs into the blonde on a train years from now and beats her in a fight. Maybe she'll go easier on the blonde, for Hex's sake.

There were others in her list, but she didn't care much about those she wouldn't be meeting herself. Though the entirety of team RRWBY had her attention simply because her savior would be on the team.

Once again, she contemplated what she would do with all the information her savior's story had given her. She hadn't told Roman about it, and she probably never would, but she didn't think she could simply not act on it like her savior had suggested in his letter. She wouldn't make too many major changes of course, that would get rid of her advantage and possibly interfere with whatever her savior was doing. Still, there were little things she could do that would make life easier for her. Like find little Emerald and give her a few tips about being a thief, or maybe convince Roman to swing by patch in a few years and pay her savior and his new family a visit.

"Neo." She looked up to find Roman walking towards her. Apparently, he had finished working out his deal with the smuggler from Atlas sooner than she had expected. "We're leaving. Grab everything in the warehouse and then put a good father daughter disguise on us."

[Ice cream?] Neo wrote out in the air with her semblance, her savior had included this ingenious use of her Overactive Imagination semblance in her letter and she couldn't be more grateful for having such a simple and easy method to 'talk' to others.

"We'll get some on the way back, kid." Roman lit one of his cigars and gave her one of his signature roguish smiles. "If you can pick ten pockets on the way we can even bring a pint or two back home with us."

Oh, well then Neo supposed that ten people will have to lose their wallets then. Closing her dairy and safely storing it away in her Hammerspace she stood up and stared at the many boxes full of smuggled goods. Once again it would seem that the semblance that Hex had gifted her would be showing its worth.

-Break-

I've inherited a few Rose family traits, I know this to be true because I now have an unhealthy obsession with cookies. I also have a strange attraction to weapons, I've always been able to appreciate a cool weapon when I saw one, but now that's been taken to an extreme. The other day Qrow had shown off Harbinger, Ruby and I had been in a daze for the rest of the week. I now see scythes and swords in my dreams, examples from anime and games feature pretty regularly in those dreams.

I'm three years old and I'm a cookie addict and a budding weapon nut. I blame Summer for this, her weird genes are affecting me more than I had anticipated. Still, things could be worse.

I've been recognized by my family as a genius child, and Ruby, bless her, is trying her darndest to keep up with me. When I started speaking, she started to copy me and picked up on the whole talking thing soon after. The day I started to walk, she began to take her first steps as well. Hell, the both of us were progressing so quickly that we motivated Yang to step her game up so she could keep up her role as the big sister. It was sort of cute seeing how I'd pushed my sisters to better themselves.

The three of us had also bonded quite a bit over late night cookie raids. I don't know what exactly Summer does to make her cookies taste so good, I've watched her bake them a few times and haven't noticed anything unusual, but the baked goods that she produces are heavenly. I'm half convinced its some sort of secret silver eyed magic ritual that makes her cookies taste so good. I'm hopeful she'll share that secret with Ruby and I when we get older.

I've also come to a sort of startling realization. Without Summer dying Yang will have no reason to go searching for Raven, which will mean that she wont experience the trauma of almost dying to Grimm and putting Ruby in danger. Now, normally I wouldn't really care all that much, but I've already noticed that Yang has a brash and reckless nature. The fact that I gave her a regeneration semblance will probably only make that reckless nature worse, and without a significant enough incident like that near death experience Yang will grow up with that brashness unchecked.

So now I have to figure out how to get Yang to take Ruby and I into Grimm infested woods without any of our guardians stopping us. Oh, and to make the matter even harder Summer was hovering around us at almost every chance she could. Being able to send a clone of herself on missions had freed her up to be super mom, and while I have come to love the woman dearly her being around so much did make my job infinitely more difficult.

Well, at least I could probably rope Ruby into helping me pretty easily. I swear my twin sister is down for pretty much anything as long as I'm the one suggesting it, hopefully that will stay true as we grow older…

-With Ren-

Everything had happened so quickly. It had seemed like in one moment she was sleeping peacefully, and the next thing she knew she was here cowering under a house as Grimm destroyed her village. Ren was half sure that this was all a bad dream, but it was too real to be a dream. Besides, she could never dream about her parents dying, not even in her worst nightmares.

Sobbing as quietly as she could Ren listened to the screams of her neighbors and the cries and roars of Grimm. Everything she knew was disappearing, and she couldn't do anything.

It was all just too much. Ren just wanted everything to go back to normal.

In a sudden flash of pink things changed. Ren felt stronger, her body and clothes drained of all color, and it was suddenly much easier to deal with her emotions. Her mind gained a sudden clarity that it had never had before, and while it still hurt to think of her parents and what had happened it was no longer a debilitating pain that paralyzed her.

A sudden whimpering cry caught Ren's attention and she turned to see the orange haired girl she had seen just earlier that day cowering under the support structure of a nearby store. Her father's words came to her mind all of a sudden, and Ren found a well of courage and sympathy spring up in her heart as she stared at the girl.

Running as fast as she could across the street Ren went to the girl's side and comforted her as best as she could. When a Nevermore came Ren had even instinctively covered the girl in the grayness that had made her so strong, and the Nevermore had left them alone.

Turning to the girl Ren gave her the bravest friendly smile she could manage. "I'm Lie Ren."

"Nora." The girl wiped some of the tears from her face and looked up at Ren with clear sky blue eyes. "Nora Valkyrie."

Ren didn't know it, but this was a moment that would become one of the girl's most precious memories.

On the night when Lie Ren had lost everything she had once held dear, Nora Valkyrie had gained the first thing she would consider dear to her.

-With Yang-

Yang liked to consider herself an adventurer. Of course, it was hard to wear that title with pride when her little brother and sister pointed out that she had never really left home. School didn't count, since Mom or Dad were the ones to drive her there. That was why she came up with the perfect plan to prove to Hex and Ruby that she was an adventurer once and for all.

She would take them on an adventure with her.

Of course, she would need to take them along with her in a wagon because her little siblings weren't as strong as her and couldn't walk very far without getting tired. Hex had complained that they weren't that much younger than her, but he was only three and she was five, that was two whole years difference. Ruby may be smart and Hex may be super duper smart, but they were still too little to handle a real adventure.

Cookie raids were different, everyone needed to pull their own weight in a cookie raid. Plus, Hex was really good at making plans that actually got them cookies at the end of a raid.

Still, once she had convinced Hex and Ruby to get into the wagon and let her pull them when they got tired, her little siblings were so stubborn, they set out on an adventure. At school Yang had heard about an old cabin in the middle of the woods, and she decided that she would go see it for herself along with Hex and Ruby. It would make for a great first adventure.

Sadly, she wasn't exactly sure where the cabin was.

After hours of walking and pulling around a wagon that Hex and Ruby were sitting in Yang was beginning to get really tired. Her little brother and sister had moved to the wagon after only two hours of walking, proving her right once and for all! Because she was such a nice big sister, she didn't even rub Hex's nose in how wrong he was.

Stopping at a small clearing in the woods Yang was forced to admit that she might be lost. A part of her wanted to cry a little bit, but she pushed that part away. She was the big sister, it was her job to be strong and be a good example for Hex and Ruby.

"Yang, maybe we should just go home. We can find this cabin place tomorrow or next weekend…" Hex's suggestion was a good one, and Yang would have taken it at this point if she only knew which direction home was in. Suddenly she wished she had paid better attention to her dad's stories about woodcraft. Still, she couldn't just say that they were lost.

"Alright, we'll start heading home. Maybe we'll find it next time…" It shouldn't be that hard to find a way home, right? Just go back in the direction that they had been walking in.

Turning around she found that the wagon wheels had left tracks in the ground, that made things easier. Problem solved, just follow the wagon tracks until she was somewhere she recognized and could make her way back home from memory. That shouldn't be too hard.

She was really going to be tired tonight though, the price of being an adventurer she supposed.

Walking back while tugging along Hex and Ruby in the wagon Yang found herself fairly happy with how today had turned out. She got to spend time with her favorite people in the world, and she proved herself to be an adventurer. Better yet she had even managed to overcome being lost all on her own without help.

That happiness died when she saw the crimson eyes and heard the rumbling growl. Grimm, three big Beowolves. They were glaring down at her and her little siblings. Suddenly Yang realized that her desire to prove herself to her siblings had gotten them all killed. Her heart sunk as one of the Grimm lunged forward.

She could distantly hear Hex and Ruby calling out to her, but as that fanged maw came closer to her the world seemed to slow down in her eyes and sound became distorted.

Many things happened all at once in that slowed world. Firstly, Yang felt something inside her burst and ignite, and all of a sudden, she felt strong. Stronger than she ever had, and oh so pleasantly warm. Secondly, a swirling red and black portal appeared in front of her and the woman from Mom and Dad's team photo stepped out swinging a red sword at the Beowolf leaping at her. Finally, both her siblings were suddenly at her sides in a flurry of white and red rose petals.

Yang watched as the world started to move at normal speeds again as the woman in red and black disposed of the Beowolves with ferocious ease.

"Yang?" Yang turned to her younger sister to see Ruby staring up at her in wide eyed shock and worry. "Your hair's on fire."

-With Raven-

Raven had been following the brats from a distance all day. Just watching over them to make sure they didn't get into trouble. There was a moment of concern when Yang seemed to be lost in the middle of the woods, but then the girl began retracing her path when she had decided to head back home. Raven couldn't fully describe the sense of pride that welled up within her when she saw her daughter find a way out of her problem without needing any help.

Then the Grimm had shown up, and one of them had lunged for her daughter. She could feel Yang's emotions through her Kindred Link semblance, and she felt the moment her precious daughter realized that death was inevitable.

Raven had been in motion before she could even consciously think about what she was doing. Omen was already carving through the Beowolf that dared attack her family when her mind caught up with her body, and her fury was greater than anything she had ever experienced before. If the circumstances were different Raven would have taken a moment, maybe done some introspection or simply feel wonder at the fact she could feel so strongly for another person that they could invoke such powerful emotions in her simply by being threatened. Instead, she had simply unleashed her fury on the Grimm.

Turning around to face the children she was met with an odd sight. Yang's eyes were red, mirroring her own, and her golden blonde hair was literally on fire. There were also white and red rose petals settling on the ground and fading away like an illusion around the three children.

Then Yang, her precious daughter, asked the question Raven had been avoiding and dreading for five years now.

"Um. Who are you?" Her daughter pulled Summer's children close and stared at her with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

Now what to say? Raven had no idea how to handle a situation like this, social interaction was more Tai's gift then her own. Even Summer with her awkwardness, and Qrow being drunk half the time were her betters in this regard. So, Raven did what she always did when thrust into a social interaction she was unprepared for. She was blunt.

"Hello Yang, I'm your mother." Raven watched as her daughter's eyes widened and returned to their original lilac color.

-With Summer-

Summer hadn't expected Raven to visit today, and she certainly hadn't expected the woman to turn up with the kids who Qrow was supposed to be watching. Being told that her babies had almost been torn apart by Grimm hadn't helped her mood, but she kept herself calm and collected in front of the kids and Raven.

Her babies had been through enough today, and her old teammate hadn't actually done anything wrong. Her brother though… Summer would be having words with Qrow soon, violent, sharp, and very painful words.

Each of the kids had unlocked their auras because of their experience, not uncommon given the stress they must have been under, but it was weird for all three of them to unlock both their auras and their semblances.

Still, that wasn't something she could really focus on at the moment. Her precious little petals and feisty little firecracker had been through a scary experience and needed comforting.

A long session of mothering and cookies later she was left with Raven as her kids took a well deserved nap.

"I told Yang I was her mother." Raven said the words softly and with an air of resignation.

Summer turned to her old teammate. "Does this mean…"

"No." Raven interrupted suddenly. "I can't raise Yang, I don't know how and I'm afraid of what having me for a parent would do to the girl. I can't do what you have Summer, I just can't…"

"Okay." Summer wasn't really sure what to say in this situation. She cared about both Raven and Yang, and she wasn't sure if she even knew what the right course of action was to take under these circumstances. Raven was a bandit, wanted across Anima, and from what she'd heard over the years the Branwen tribe was a horrible place to raise a child. Then there was the fact that Raven also refused to live with the rest of them, she said it was because of not wanting to be drawn back in by Ozpin to fight in his impossible war something Summer could understand even if she didn't agree with the sentiment.

"I can still be a part of her life. Do what Qrow is doing for the twins, but Yang needs someone like you to raise her. Someone who can do it right." It was sad that Raven was so convinced that she would be horrible mother that she would prefer her daughter to be raised by someone else. Summer couldn't even imagine another woman raising Hex and Ruby, in fact the mere thought made her murderously angry and gave her a pain deep in her heart.

"Alright. It's not like you haven't been around already…" Raven simply nodded at Summers words. "You know that the kids will eventually be drawn into the war against Salem you're so determined to avoid. What will you do then?"

Raven turned and stared deeply into Summer's own strong silver eyes. Summer saw a sheer determination and desperation in those red orbs that scared even a veteran huntress like her.

"Whatever I have to." The words Raven spoke caused a chill to run up Summer's spine.

Raven turned around and made a portal with a slice of Omen. "Take care, Sum." With those parting words Raven stepped into the portal and disappeared.

"Take care, Rae." Summer whispered back to empty air before turning around and making her way to her bedroom. She needed to pick up Bloom and then find Qrow for their little 'Talk'.

-Break-

Well, that went a lot differently than I expected, but overall, I'd say things turned out better than I had planned. Maybe using magic to add semblances to a person makes it easier for them to unlock their aura? It didn't really matter, what did was that I had my aura unlocked and had access to my semblances.

Item creation was going to be a real game changer. Sadly, making items permanent was costly, and depending on the type of item it could range from most of my current aura at a time to being something I'd need to save for years to afford. My idea for my future weapon was just such an item that I'd need to save for. I was going with scythes, no real surprise, but I specifically wanted hand scythes that could somehow fuse into a bigger war scythe form. I was thinking of something along the lines of the weapons Death used in Darksiders 2, because that version of form shifting was better than mechashifting. Also, I liked a lot of the scythe designs in that game, but I had decided to make my own design and simply use the scythes from that game and a few other sources as inspiration.

Luckily making less powerful or metaphysically important items cost me less aura. Things like books, movies, games, and even simple electronics were easier to manage. Hell, I'd even made an Xbox 360 after just a month of saving up my aura. I could even make things that didn't necessarily exist in my old life, which was incredibly useful. Playing Pokemon Emerald with updated graphics and animations on an Xbox was all sorts of fun, and having any anime I could think of be created with the original language it was made in being English was actually sort of amazing. I was building up a huge collection of games, books, movies, and anime now. I'd even shared some of my creations with Yang and Ruby.

And if a majority of the Romcom anime we watched also happened to feature harems and had some incestuous tones to them, well… That would just be a weird coincidence. I'd have to wait for puberty to start introducing the two to hentai, but I had a huge variety of options to pull from for that time.

Yep, everything was going great. Raven was even coming by openly more often now. The only real downside was that the adults in my family had essentially confined us to the house and school for Yang, but that was sort of understandable considering how close the three of us came to death the one time we were let outside on our own.

"Hex, what about this?" I turned to the side and saw Ruby holding up a surprisingly well drawn picture of a huge red and black scythe that had a secondary scythe blade coming out from under the first.

I winced at the design as my mind went to Hidan's ridiculous triple scythe abomination. "I think the second blade might be a bit too much. We should probably keep it to one blade, and if you want more maybe put it on the butt of the handle…"

Ruby tilted her head. "You mean the Snath?"

I just stared at my twin sister. "What?"

"The snath, the shaft part of a scythe is the snath." Ruby explained to me like she was confused why I didn't know this information.

I blinked slowly before tilting my head and staring carefully at my sister. "Ruby, when I suggested reading a dictionary to improve your vocabulary…?"

"I read the one you gave me!" Ruby spoke up excitedly.

My god, my three and a half year old sister read the entire websters English dictionary. All because I made an off hand joking comment. It's ok, Hex, you can fix this. Just get her to binge a few shows, maybe play a few dialogue heavy RPGs. Ruby will be talking like a normal person in no time, and neither Yang or Mom will ever know…

"Hey Ruby, want to play a game?" I coaxed my twin sister as I tried to think of an RPG that had normal dialogue. I might need to default to the Persona series just to make sure Ruby doesn't start speaking like someone in medieval times.

"Yeah!" Ruby put down her drawing and followed me as I stood up and began walking to the mancave I made for myself before being reborn as Hex Rose.

Yep, couldn't be happier with having my semblance unlocked now.

-Break-

AN: Wow, ok… I didn't exactly plan to start writing this chapter so soon, but it just sort of happened. So here you go, surprise chapter!

Anyway, I plan on having another few chapters to establish Hex's early life in the RWBY universe before the show's plot kicks in. Probably somewhere between three to six chapters depending on time skips and the amount of depth I decide to give to this set up phase. It'll also end up depending on the length I decide to make each chapter.

Also this about the normal chapter length I'll be aiming for: between 5K and 10K words.

Anyway, I'm signing off again. Probably be a bit before the next chapter, for real this time as I got stuff coming up that I'll need to focus on instead of spending hours writing…