Dreaming the Sons of Salem

by Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh

Commission by azuring-galaxy. Team RWBY and NPR, as well as Cinder and her pawns, and Salem herself, find themselves in a weird dreamscape, with an even weirder host who is ready to show them what the future could've been, if only things had been a little different.

5. Chapter 5

Howdy there! It's a-me, Mario!

Italian, yes, plumber, no.

I'll be keeping this quite short! Commission by azuring-galaxy for Mika, story by Mika. Like all other chapters, basically! And now, enjoy!

Pyrrha Nikos entered the ring with a proud, confident expression on her face that totally did not reflect the confusion and frustration she felt brewing inside. Those dreams were truly starting to get to her, and despite all her attempts at calming herself, her hand still hesitated before grabbing her spear that morning.

Opposite to her stood Coco Adel, her single caramel-dyed lock fashionably falling on her cheek. Her smile was nothing short of arrogant, even though Pyrrha knew the girl was just very confident and would never believe herself superior to others on principle.

Although, considering her skill, her monstrous weapon and her powerful Semblance, she had every right to consider herself superior to most people. Even Pyrrha would need to make blatant use of her Polarity to be able to defeat her – her shield wouldn't be able to do much against the overwhelming power of a Semblance-enhanced Dust-minigun.

She ignored Professor Port's ramblings about the two fighters and tried her best not to wince when Coco scowled briefly. Port must've said something he shouldn't have said, like for example doubted the upperclasswoman's chances at winning this match.

He was an idiot like that, sometimes.

"Three, two, one-"

And now there was Dr. Oobleck, who always counted down so fast there was no time to prepare. She raised her shield and hid behind it-

"Go!"

-just in time for a deluge of empowered bullets to crash into it, forcing her backwards.

"And it seems like Coco Adel started off with a big blast!" Port's voice bellowed from across the stadium, as if she needed any further confirmation of just how unbalanced the match really is. She often wondered why the Vytal Festival allowed all four years' students to participate – unless they were prodigies like Team RWBY or had extensive prior training like her, all other students would have no chances at winning against more experienced students. "What will Ms Nikos do now? She has nowhere to hide and Ms Adel sure isn't running out of ammo anytime soon! If this continues, Ms Nikos will be forced out of the field soon!"

Again, thanks for the vote of confidence, Professor.

Coco wasn't moving, so trying to influence her aim with her Polarity was not an option – she would immediately notice. Her only choice was to move out of the hail of bullets and hope she could make it look believable.

Taking her chances, Pyrrha feinted to the left before throwing herself to the right, turning her spear into a rifle to try and hit Coco or at least force her to move. If the girl kept firing from a fixed position, there were next to no chances of winning for her.

Unfortunately for her, she underestimated Coco's skill. The girl merely sidestepped, adjusting her aim. She knew Pyrrha couldn't keep firing while under minigun fire herself and by keeping her aim on her, she was essentially rendering herself untouchable better than any shield could.

"And it seems that Ms Nikos is in trouble!"

"Yes, yes. Ms Nikos's attempt relied on her ability to force Ms Adel out of a stationary firing position, as that's where she is at her strongest. However she failed to take in consideration the possibility of Ms Adel maintaining a stationary position with minimal adjustments, eventually returning to the same standstill this match started with."

"Hahaha! Well said, Barty!"

Normally, if she were in a position like this, facing off against a stationary target who could adjust their position, she would use her shield or charge to get in close, but both were currently unusable strategies for her. Coco's barrages were too fast for her to avoid on an open field like this and too powerful for her to run against. Not to mention that the girl was lethal with her weapon in handbag form as well, which meant she would only exchange undefeatable distance for undefeatable melee.

However, there was one aspect of guns that she could take advantage of.

Without looking (looking would've costed her an eye or a good chunk of her Aura, possibly even the whole match) she began to fire a few shots in her opponent's direction. They weren't really meant to hit, so she didn't need to be precise.

After the ninth hit, she focused her Semblance and fired four more bullets, this time using Polarity to push Coco's gun to the side, forcing her to let up on the assault but more importantly, making it look like she managed to hit the barrel and move it to the side.

"What's this? Did Ms Nikos really manage a one-in-a-million shot and interrupted Ms Adel's attack all in one go?"

Moving quickly, Pyrrha stood up and fired another barrage of shots. Her rifle was meant for precision hits, but it could fire at a decent speed, so she wasn't worried about people seeing it. Her Polarity pushed the minigun again, this time near her hands, giving the impression of having shot it right out of her hands.

As soon as Coco wasn't holding it any longer, she tossed her shield and hit Coco's Gianduja with her Semblance, sending it flying out of the ring and making it look like her shield had bounced off just right before catching the golden circle with her left hand.

Within a couple of seconds, Coco was left unarmed, although it had taken more use of her Semblance than she normally would like. It was a testament to how skilled her upperclasswoman was, at least.

"WHAT'S THIS? MS NIKOS JUST TURNED THE TIDE IN HER FAVOUR WITH JUST A COUPLE OF MOVES! LOOK AT HER GO!"

"Indeed! Ms Nikos has shown incredible skill and aim, able to correctly hit Ms Adel's weapon even while distracted by her attack, and she was also able to hit it with enough strength that Ms Adel had no choice but to let go, this is incredible! I've seen Grimm lose battles of tug-of-war with Ms Adel and her weapon, yet Ms Nikos has shown yet again her amazing battle prowess and is now pushing her advantage!"

"I know I'm not supposed to play favourites, but I honestly think Ms Nikos has a very good chance of winning this year's Vytal Festival!"

Pyrrha pursued her lips as she charged toward Coco, who was glaring at her in confusion. She was obviously taken aback by the loss of her weapon, which shouldn't have been physically possible… if Pyrrha had played by the rules, of course.

Sometimes she felt guilty for hiding her Semblance like she did. If she didn't, her opponents wouldn't have such a hard time against her. Most would still lose, but maybe not so spectacularly.

However, she quickly squashed that feeling of guilt. If she was capable of keeping her Semblance a secret (she and her PR team, of course) then she deserved the advantage it gave her. Not to mention that while she hated how isolated her fame made her, she loved winning.

It wasn't that she was arrogant or anything – she was quite humble about her victories. But fights were challenges from a person to another, and Pyrrha loved challenges. That was why she hadn't just allowed herself to lose a few matches across the years – winning was simply too satisfying to give up.

And now, her biggest victory yet, the Vytal Festival, was within reach. It didn't matter if she had to reveal her Semblance in the next round with an all-out attack: she had almost won this round and with her ace-in-the-sleeve, she could surely win the next one.

She dashed forward and caught Coco unprepared with a perfectly-placed shieldbash to the face, which made the fashionable girl stumble slightly, but not for long. Pyrrha deflected a kick with her spear and twisted around a punch before delivering a dropkick to Coco's head, pushing her Aura down just a little more.

She then used her Polarity on her buckles to tug her forward a tiny bit, just enough to throw her kick off, before she rammed her knee into her stomach, forcing her to exhale.

She could've easily won by throwing her out, but she was an entertainer as well as a fighter, and what kind of entertainer would let the fight end so soon? It wasn't like she was fighting Grimm – she was fighting for the pleasure of a crowd.

So, instead of tossing her out of the ring, she grabbed her jacket and threw her to the ground head-first. Coco tried to sweep her legs from under her, but she performed a frontal flip and landed on her back, pushing her down, before jumping off before she could return the favour.

"Coco Adel is near the fifty percent mark! Ms Nikos is on a roll right now!"

"If this keeps up, Ms Nikos might even achieve a flawless victory, something completely unheard of against Ms Adel! In fact never before has a finalist of the Vytal Festival managed to achieve a flawless victory! Ms Nikos might be the first!"

Another challenge?

She was up to the task.

Coco was good, very good, and under normal circumstances, a victory would be hard and difficult to achieve. But with the aid of her Semblance, she could throw her off-balance as many times as she needed.

Turning her spear into a sword, Pyrrha slid under a kick from Coco and knocked her down with a well-placed slash at the knee.

Then she got an idea. A wickedly entertaining and badass idea, but also a very risky one that could and very likely would deprive her of a flawless victory.

No pain, no gain.

Taking advantage of the prone state of her opponent, Pyrrha backflipped over her… but not quite to the other side. Instead, she let herself fall on her opponent sword-first and as soon as she made contact (knocking Coco to the ground… again… she would really need to apologize later), she twisted her legs to give herself a boost and pushed herself with her Semblance a tiny bit, effectively spinning in place like a drill digging into Coco's back.

"Oh man, that's gonna hurt in the morning! Ms Nikos has just turned herself into a human drill, and Ms Adel's Aura is dropping fast, approaching the red- scratch that, Coco Adel has dropped below fifteen percent! Pyrrha Nikos wins the match, and moves onto the finals!"

"What an incredible victory for the Invincible Girl! It seems that Pyrrha Nikos's uninterrupted streak of victories hasn't been stopped yet!"

As soon as she heard the announcement of her opponent's defeat, Pyrrha jumped off of her. She didn't want to cause her too much harm, and she was aware of just how deadly (and exceedingly bloody as well) such a move would be on an Aura-less person.

Still, temporarily disregarding the immense satisfaction at her win and the floaty feeling that came with it, Pyrrha extended a hand to Coco to help her up. "It was a good fight," she claimed with a smile. It really had been – without her Semblance, she wouldn't have been able to remain untouched. In fact, without her Semblance she would've lost within a handful of seconds.

The fashionable leader of Team CFVY glared at her hand before getting up on her own, ignoring her offer. Pyrrha's smile became just a tad more strained. That was one downside of her planet-sized competitive streak – her opponents were rarely pleased about being used for the public's entertainment and being soundly defeated with no outward effort on her part.

"Whatever," Coco huffed, brushing past her. Her back was stiff – obviously, even with Aura, that move had done a number on her.

With a sigh, Pyrrha let her hand fall and started to walk out of the arena.

The happiness at being so close to winning the Vytal Festival clashed with the frustration at having alienated yet another opponent, and in turn mixed with her earlier confusion. She just hoped she would be able to find some comfort in her friends at lunch, and possibly clear her head.

She still hadn't forgiven Team RWBY for their words and actions. While she was skilled, she never held it over people's heads, while most of Team RWBY seemed to think that just because Jaune hadn't received special training from world-renowned figures he would never be able to stand in the same league as them.

It was so infuriating. Each of Team RWBY could probably defeat half the first years' teams in Beacon on a one-on-four battle, and several of the upper years'. What right did they have to hold themselves as the unit of measurement for someone's skill?

Not to mention the extremely fortunate circumstances under which they gained said skill. Ruby herself claimed to have been a total klutz before her uncle trained her, and in two years she almost caught up with her sister, who had trained for over twice that time. So why couldn't Jaune do the same? Certainly, Team RWBY and everyone else would keep improving, but the learning curve evened out quite soon, so eventually their head-start would be barely noticeable.

And yet, Team RWBY just stubbornly refused to see the logical truth and only saw his current situation, even knowing he basically just started training.

Yeah, she wasn't gonna be sitting anywhere near them for the time being, she thought grumpily as she headed to the changing rooms.

/-/

"Coco really doesn't like you now, huh?" Nora commented, blunt and oblivious as she stuffed her face at lunch… with pancakes, of course, because today she was in pancake mood and for some reason pancakes and syrup were served as a main dish in Beacon. Go figure.

"I can't really blame her," Pyrrha winced, daring a glance over her shoulder. All of Team CFVY was sending her looks from the corner of their eyes, but only their leader's was openly displeased. She hurriedly tore her gaze away. "She lost to a younger student and she's supposed to be the best of her year. Not to mention, I didn't lose any Aura…"

"Not to mention, she must've obviously felt the influence of your Semblance," Mercury tagged on, earning himself a startled look from the redhead. He just laughed at her surprise. "Magnetism or metal manipulation, am I right? No offence, you're good, but you're not that good. Shooting the weapon out of a Huntress's hands? Yeah, right."

"Don't worry Pyrrha, we only noticed because we knew what to look for," Jaune comforted her with a pat on the shoulder. "But Mercury is some sort of fighting master. He's even been trying to figure out what my Semblance will be, and it hasn't appeared yet!"

"Don't get too excited, he's just going to make random guesses based on your personality," Emerald warned, rolling her eyes. "He's just an idiot who likes to sound cool."

"Says the girl whose only piece of advise in any situation is 'ask Cinder and follow her orders'," Mercury sassed back, snorting in a mix of amusement and annoyance. "Besides, Semblances are a response to something. When your soul believes your Aura not to be enough, it can give you the Semblance you need specifically for that, and that's when you unlock your Semblance out of trauma. For example, Nora's was a traumatic response to being struck by lightning. Her Aura evolved in a split-second to keep her alive."

"While for others, Semblances are a matter of extreme discipline and are thus disconnected from the person to the point where it is nor need nor want what shapes them," Cinder added her own two cents, appearing fairly amused by the impromptu lesson Mercury was setting up. "Those types of Semblances, like for example the hereditary Semblance, unique of the Schnees and no one else, were initially created by forcing the first generations of Schnees to meditate and control themselves until they could shape their Semblance into Glyphs and forcefully make it hereditary, changing their own genes. Such a practice is absolutely illegal and if the Schnee family hadn't destroyed the proof, even back then they would've faced execution for crimes against humanity. These Semblances are a response to discipline and willpower."

Pyrrha bit her lip. She hadn't exactly been forced to 'create' her Semblance, but her instructors had told her to meditate and to hope to receive a Semblance she could use to win fights.

Mercury then pushed on, ignoring the surprised and horrified looks on the faces of Team JNPR. "Then there is the personality link. A Semblance is a manifestation of Aura, which is a manifestation of our soul. Hence, a Semblance is basically the incarnation of our souls, so it makes sense for it to enhance traits or reflect the owner's personality." He cackled as he gnawed on a leftover piece of bread. His cackle didn't last long as he quickly found out why no one ate baguettes in Beacon, and why did Teams RWBY and JNPR use them as weapons during their epic Food Fight Fantasy I. He forced down the tough, tasteless bite and threw the rest on the table, disgusted. "Eugh. Anyway. That's normally how it is for a lot of people, like Little Red or her sister. Semblances as a response to personality."

"And then there are the outliners, who don't really fall under any of these classifications and are almost impossible to guess on a first glance," Emerald finished, rolling her eyes once more – although she took care to do it where Cinder couldn't see it. It wouldn't do to anger her now, not when she already had to give up on her plan because of some stupid dream-weaver.

Speaking of said dream-weaver…

"By the way, have you guys talked about… you know… that?" she asked Team JNPR, raising her eyebrows to try and convey her message more clearly.

"There's a lot to talk about," Jaune shrugged. "And from what you guys tell me, it goes up every night. They gave me a brief summary of it, though." He then returned to look at Mercury. "So, anyway, what do you think my Semblance will be?"

"Depends on what it responds to. If it responds to trauma, then it's impossible to predict it. And you don't strike me as the meditation type," Mercury commented bluntly, ignoring his protest about how he meditated with Ren (mostly just to escape Nora). "But by personality, it's either a support or an enhancer type. You're a strategist, so it may have something to do with planning or coordination, like telepathy, but given how you act, it's likely simpler than that. Maybe some sort of power-up for yourself or others? Either way, if it's an enhancer, it's connected to your desire to get stronger and could just increase your physical abilities to a superhuman level." He leaned back, grinning smugly at Emerald, who was frowning at him in disbelief. "I'm a man of many talents, Em. Semblance guessing it fairly easy once you know the trick."

"Not to rain on your parade, Mercury, but I think we should return to my question," the green-haired girl ground out in annoyance. She sighed and turned to Pyrrha. "What are you going to do about the dreams?"

The champion shifted uneasily in her seat. "I'm not really sure, to be honest. This dreams seem to be so far away in the future that I'm not sure how to change it, or even if we can change it. But at the same time, I can't just do nothing."

"Not to mention, Jaune seems to be a focal point," Nora added. "And not in a good way! If we were to act on this and make it known, people could go after him!"

"And we don't even know if we should try to change this future." Ren lifted his eyes from his plate to meet theirs evenly. "I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but it is possible that our interference could only make things worse. If Jaune really is dear to this Salem, then she could not take well to anything standing between them."

"Ren is right, I know I'm not the one to talk, but we can't act recklessly." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck, choosing his next words carefully. "Not to mention… from what you've told me, we do have a lot to learn from this future. I mean, the Grimm and all are horrible, but the unity of Faunus and humans is really something else."

It was obvious he wanted to say more, and did so on Neo's insistent prompting. Seeing the short girl basically drape herself over Jaune and cheekily question him over and over made Pyrrha's heart ache slightly. "Okay, fine, just please wait until I'm done before you get angry, okay?" Jaune sighed and his eyes skipped over her before settling on Ren and Nora. "I'm thinking that… perhaps, that future isn't all that bad."

"What?!" Ren's hiss was predictable, but that even Nora scowled was something she'd never seen before. Just as Jaune was about to packpedal, though, Cinder placed a hand on Ren's arm from the other side of the table.

"Calm yourself, Ren." Her voice was warm and soft like molten honey, and Ren's cheeks coloured ever-so-slightly at the gentle touch, something Nora didn't miss. "Jaune likes to look at the bright side, sometimes. And he may have insight we may have missed in our own prejudices. Let's hear him out."

"So… Well…" Jaune swallowed thickly and chuckled nervously despite Neo's encouraging smile (she was smiling at him too, dammit!). "I mean… the people were happy. Yeah, they served a monster, but the people were happy. They weren't killing each other any longer. And from what you've told me, a lot of those interstellar wars only happened because of that 'Imperium of Man' or whatever. I don't like Grimm… but eventually, if they can be controlled, they just become things. And if controlled Grimm can bring peace on Remnant, well… wouldn't it be worth looking into?"

Ren stood abruptly and made to leave before Jaune tossed himself over the table to grab his arm. "Wait! Please, I know you hate Grimm, but don't discard this idea simply because of that! What if putting aside that hatred could lead to humanity's salvation? As unlikely as it may be, isn't it worth at least checking out?"

The black-haired boy wrenched his arm out of his grip, but didn't immediately leave. He exhaled harshly through his nostrils and glared at the floor. "I need some time alone," he stated before striding away, his eyes still downcast.

Nora glanced at him before Pyrrha nudged her, nodding at her understandingly. With a strained smile, she got up and followed her childhood friend out of the cafeteria.

Once she was gone, Jaune sighed and let himself fall back in his seat. "Please tell me I didn't just ask the two orphans-by-Grimm to consider living alongside Grimm."

"You didn't. You simply told them that perhaps something related to this Queen of the Grimm is what brought peace to Remnant, and that finding out what it is might be beneficial. You never stated we had to ally ourselves with the creatures of Grimm to achieve that goal." Cinder didn't seem particularly troubled by Ren and Nora's departure, but then again, she never seemed troubled by anything. "A piece of advice that is surprisingly wise for a first-year student. I thought you would've sided with them."

Jaune laughed nervously and glanced to the side. "Well… yeah… I mean, sometimes bad things can lead to good things, right?"

Pyrrha smiled fondly at his vague reference to his past forgery. Honestly, she'd been more annoyed at him because he'd waited until his life had been in serious danger before asking for help, than because of the forgery itself. He was clearly trying, and he'd passed initiation, and he was still keeping up with all the advanced curriculum of Beacon, so he was still working as hard as they were. Besides, he'd already paid the price in humiliations during the first few weeks.

And she couldn't deny that she was seriously impressed. He said he did it himself, which meant he had tricked the entirety of Beacon without anyone noticing and still was. That was amazing, to be honest.

"Hey guys…"

The people sitting at the table turned around to find one Ruby Rose standing awkwardly by one end. Her team was nowhere to be seen (actually, she could see them four tables down, chatting about something, but she ignored them as if she hadn't seen them) and she was holding a tray with her half-finished lunch.

She fidgeted awkwardly and, unable to poke her fingers together like she usually did when nervous, she settled for gazing at the very interesting dull-patterned wood of their table. "I just wanted to say… I'm sorry for what we said yesterday, and…"

"Why, what did you say?" Jaune asked, unaware of the reason behind the tension between NPR and RWBY.

"I… Uh…" Ruby stared at Pyrrha, who was trying to mimic something for her to say, much like she'd tried to do with Jaune during one of their History lessons. "Nothing, we just… had a little argument… about…" Pyrrha mimicked two fingers clashing, then a thumbs-down and finally pointed at Ruby. "Fighting… on the ground… because I… huh, can use my Semblance to fly?" Pyrrha facepalmed while everyone else stared at Ruby in disbelief. "Uh… yeah! We argued about how it wasn't fair that I had a speed Semblance and a flight Semblance combined into one! Yes!"

Pyrrha suppressed a groan of frustration. Ruby must've been elated to have come up with such a convincing lie out of the blue, but the damage had already been done. Even Jaune, who normally didn't care about people's quirks and hijinks until they directly involved him, was staring at her quizzically.

Unbeknownst to Team JNPR, Cinder exchanged glances with her minions, and nodded with a malicious smile. Burning some bridges for Jaune could be a useful way to draw him toward Salem, after all.

Mercury was the one to start, as it only made sense for him to say something blunt and rude. "Wait, yesterday? I thought your team threw a fit about Jaune's skill level or something." He saw the blond knight stiffen and had to fight the urge to grin. For all his humility, Jaune was also prideful and very sensitive about his combat skill.

"Wait, what?!" the blond burst out, just short of a yell.

"Mercury!" Emerald hissed, but this time she was pleased that his annoying comments had finally been put to good use. She sighed and glanced at the others. "He's an idiot, don't listen to him. He probably just made it up and it's not even true."

"Indeed," Cinder added smoothly before anyone else could get a word in. She carefully chose her next words to be as innocent and as destructive as possible. "From what I've heard, your teams are basically one big, unofficial team. I don't doubt that your teams do argue, but I find it hard to believe that the subject could be as insensitive as that. Not to mention, I've heard quite some praise about you and your team, and so has Team RWBY. They have no reason to doubt your skill."

"Hey, wait, who said I doubted him?!" Ruby exclaimed, angry at being blamed for something she didn't do.

"Well, we certainly didn't," Pyrrha muttered, glancing away from the girl.

"That's why I came to apologize!" Ruby protested, slamming down her tray in anger. Her lunch ended up all over her uniform and the table. "I know we said some bad things, but-"

"Then why did you say them?" Jaune questioned with a tone Pyrrha only heard one other time, when he told her to leave so long ago, on that roof. Was he about to push Ruby away too?

As irritated as she was with Team RWBY, they were still friends, and Jaune sometimes overreacted. She made to speak up in Ruby's defence when the petite reaper's patience ran out.

"Stop blaming me!" she yelled, angry tears shining in her eyes. "I didn't say anything! I think Jaune is doing great! I trust him with my life! Stop blaming me for what they said! It's not fair! Just because I'm the leader does not mean I'm to blame for everything they do!"

She ran out of steam and deflated, jaw trembling slightly as she tried not to cry in front of everyone. Her hands clenched into fists by her side and she stared at the ground, trying hard not to meet their eyes. It was clear that this was an issue that ran deeper than just this argument. It wasn't the first time their teams had argued and it wasn't even the first time tensions had arisen between them. It was usually over Team RWBY's more vigilante-like actions and behaviours, but they had argued over tons of things. And Ruby wasn't always the one to apologize… but she was if the whole Team RWBY was apologizing.

A sudden, awful, unwanted thought crawled in her mind. 'Was the rest of her team actually sorry the other times, or was it just Ruby, shouldering all the responsibility to try and keep her friends?'

She tried to chase away the mistrustful whisper in her head, but all her effort did was delay her reaction long enough for Ruby to leave.

And not just leave.

Apparently heartbroken by their silence, which she had obviously taken as accusatory, the girl used her Semblance to disappear from the cafeteria, running away into the hallways and then who knew where.

Pyrrha was halfway out of her seat when Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, basically forcing her to sit again as he stood up instead. "No, I have to do this. It's my fault. I got angry and I hurt her. I have to fix my own mistakes." And before she could utter a word, he took off running after Ruby, using his Aura to enhance his speed in a way she'd taught him to use.

Somewhere in the nowhere amidst the everywhere, a figured sighed and shook its horned head. "Too often, you meet your destiny on the path you took to avoid it," Khor commented as he watched the once tight-knit group shatter into pieces. "So worried about the future they are, that they are forgetting how it hasn't happened yet, and they are forgetting about the present."

/-/

She ran for just a few minutes, knowing that her Semblance would allow her to put a considerable distance between her and everywhere within that time. It was tiring, but it was a type of exhaustion that was much better than the one she felt in her heart.

Because she was tired. She was tired of being the responsible one in a team with three older students. She was tired of having to stop the supposedly life-forged Blake from doing something stupid regarding the White Fang. She was tired of having to deal with Weiss's nagging, as well-intentioned as it may have been, on just about everything. She was tired of Yang's babying of her one second and then forcing her to be the mature one the next.

She was fifteen, and she had been personally trained by Uncle Qrow, so she hadn't had to attend Signal's classes on discipline or whatever (not that they helped Yang much anyway). It wasn't fair to dump everything on her.

Oh, sure, her team would have her back the moment she made a decision, especially if said decision involved crime-fighting. But she needed a different type of help. She needed someone else to take the reigns for a while, and to let her take a break for a few days.

Sometimes she regretted taking Ozpin's offer. Why had she done that?! She could've instead trained with Uncle Qrow for two more years, and she would've been ready for Beacon by then!

True, she also wouldn't have met all her friends, but…

It was just so tiring. So tiring. So tiring!

And then there was the thing with Team JNPR. She understood where they were coming from, and she knew their anger was completely justified, but couldn't they just be a little more understanding too?! Yang, Weiss and Blake would never say those things out of malice. Ruby may not have shared their beliefs, but she did know that those three cared for Jaune more than they would admit. Yang had gotten as far as being given hair tips from him (much to his own chagrin as he explained, for the umpteenth time, that some things happened when one had seven sisters. Ruby never found out the complete list of these some things), Weiss found him to be a pleasant conversationalist as long as he didn't utter a single flirting word to her, and even Blake didn't mind him too much most of the time.

They weren't calling him weak because they wanted to be mean, they just had different points of views!

But Team JNPR didn't want to understand that! They didn't want to fix it! They didn't want to try and meet her at the halfway point! No! She had to be the one, the only fifteen-year-old out of seven other seventeen-year-old students, to try and mend bridges.

But at the same time, Ruby was angry at herself.

Ozpin had trusted her with the role of a leader. He had defended his decision and reinforced her belief that he'd been right soon after. Jaune had accepted leadership advice from her. Weiss had accepted her as her leader, as had Yang and Blake. No one had ever made fun of her for being younger or for doing things wrong at first, not even Cardin and his group of dollar-store bullies.

And yet there she was, crying and angry at everyone who had trusted her so much.

She should be better than this! She was angry because everyone trusted her so much and she couldn't repay that trust! She should've tried harder with her apology, and she should've tried harder with her team, and she should've-

"Ruby! For Dust's sake, Ruby, if you're nearby, tell me because I can't run any more!" The strained, panting voice of her fellow leader cut through that depressing train of thought like an actual train. She turned around and peeked around the bush she'd hidden behind.

There was Jaune, in all his panting and sweating glory, doubled over not ten metres away from her, still trying to recover from sprinting all the way from the cafeteria. He glanced around and brightened up slightly when he saw her, staggering closer.

"Ruby! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to put the blame on you!" he choked out between pants. "It's just… I'm sorry, I took it out on you… I shouldn't have… I took it out on the one who… was present… I'm sorry, I-"

"Jaune!" At once, she dived into her leadership persona. He was never going to get his breath back like that! "Breathe. In and out. In and out."

He nodded and took a few deep breaths before dropping to the ground beside her. "Sorry about that, you're crazy fast," he mumbled sheepishly. "And… sorry about earlier. I know I shouldn't get so worked up about it, it's just… I guess I'm angry at myself first and foremost and I take it out on others. I didn't want to put the blame on you. You're one of my best friends!"

Ruby discreetly wiped her tears in her cloak before she smiled slightly. "Thank you, Jaune. I'm sorry for running off too. I shouldn't have acted so childish."

The boy shook his head. "No, I was the one acting childish and blaming you for other people's faults. And even then, it's not like your team isn't right about… well, me. I'm nowhere near your level, and you only have one year of training! It's just… I just get so angry at how unfair it is. I've always wanted to be a Huntsman. Maybe not always for noble reasons… I mean, when I was a kid I just thought it'd be really really cool… but it's always been my dream, one way or another. And I hate that I've only now managed to start working toward it."

"Well… not to be rude… but didn't you attend prep school before Beacon?" To be honest, that was something she'd always wondered about. Sure, Signals too had a few underperformers, but they usually dropped out of the combat course very quickly. Jaune was obviously dedicated if a little rough around the edges when it came to combat, so why hadn't he trained harder in school?

Jaune cast his eyes to the grassy ground beneath them and sighed. "My parents didn't want me becoming a Huntsman. Some of my sisters thought it'd be cool, but none of them ever actually believed I'd be able to do it, especially with my parents' ban on anything remotely close to fighting. When I was accepted into Beacon, they only let me go because they thought I'd be expelled soon and I would come back. That's why I don't even have a high-tech weapon like yours. My family's pretty well-off but they didn't think it was good 'for my mental health' to buy a new weapon only to fail Beacon immediately."

He grabbed a few stems of grass and began pulling them out absent-mindedly. "Beacon accepts self-learners, so I didn't need to have a combat school listed in my application. I'm guessing Blake got in the same way. So I sent it in, got accepted, passed initiation, and now here I am, finally doing something other than being my sisters' human toy." He sighed and dropped the torn grass.

"Oh… so you didn't have anything on your application?" Ruby asked, blinking. "I mean, there were a lot of people on the first day, but I didn't think Beacon would just accept a blank application…"

Jaune winced and looked away. "Yeah… I added what I could. At least working out was something my parents allowed me to do, if only to keep in shape, so I could at least say I was a member of some local gyms and a few… other things… But I guess the real test is initiation anyway, right?"

He left out the part where Ozpin couldn't legally hurl under-qualified people into a forest teeming with Grimm.

He shook his head to remove those thoughts and glanced at her. "Anyway, I'm sorry for overreacting earlier. It's just that I've tried to convince my parents thousands of times, and I hate when people remind me that they never even bothered to let me try."

Ruby nodded, feeling sorry for him. Her family might still be missing someone, but she didn't have any issue with the others. "Yeah, it must suck… Sorry for what they said."

"Like you said, it's not something you said," Jaune shrugged. "I guess I should take it out with the others, but honestly I can't see it going any other way than just arguing for an hour, then Yang clocking me in the face as 'proof' that she's right or the verbal equivalent from Weiss or Blake, and then we stay angry at each other for days."

"They're not that bad!" Ruby immediately protested, although she knew that sometimes her team did get a little deaf-eared when it came to listening to others. It had taken Weiss talking with a professor who had called her childish before she agreed to give her a chance, after all.

"How do you think it would go if I went to them and started arguing?" Jaune deadpanned. He did that a lot, she realized. Not the deadpan, but the whole asking for answers from others. She idly wondered if he liked to make people think or if he just wanted to hear their answers so that he wouldn't need to answer it himself.

"Everyone getting angry and solving nothing?" Yeah, he made his point.

"Exactly… And I guess it's just easier to argue with you than with them… sorry again." Jaune sighed and shook his head, obviously beating himself up for his mistake.

She just shrugged. "Everyone makes mistakes. Professor Ozpin told me he's made a lot. You don't need to be perfect." She did, but that was because everyone trusted her a lot and she needed to repay that trust. "Besides, that's what I'm here for. If you didn't make mistakes, I couldn't help you correct them!"

Jaune smiled for the first time since their conversation began and looked down at her. "Thank you, Ruby. It means a lot to me." He bumped his shoulder into hers, perhaps a tad harder than he meant. He was still learning how to control his newfound Aura-enhanced strength. "And the same goes for you. I'm here if you need me."

Ruby grinned slightly.

She wouldn't, because people trusted her to do it on her own, but nonetheless it was nice to have support.

/-/

"Goddammit!"

Everyone turned to look at Mercury, who started fuming the moment they entered their… Dream Dimension? Dreamsion? Dreamscape? The moment they entered their Dreamscape. The grey-haired boy scowled and tried to kick at the semi-consistent floor, with no results.

"Uhh… what's up with him?" Yang asked, puzzled.

"Maybe he was having a nice dream?" Neo giggled all but innocently, which earned a few scandalized looks from Weiss and Emerald.

"No… it is more likely he remembered that we still haven't asked Jaune about Nokris," Cinder sighed, shaking her head in disappointment as well. "I'm beginning to think his theory might be correct. Perhaps Lord Khor is preventing us from asking for the time being."

"Regardless, you should keep trying to remember." Salem smiled pleasantly at the students. "Perhaps I should give you my Scroll number – I might be able to remind you if I'm not at Beacon myself."

"We might as well try," Ruby shrugged, unaware she was exchanging phone numbers with the Eldritch Queen of the Grimm. In the background Cinder and her minions tried not to gape too much about the exchange.

"Starting to get smarter, I see." By now, no one was even startled by Khor's disembodied voice appearing before his blurry visage. "But no, I am not influencing your waking moments in any way… unless you count your thoughts regarding the future I'm showing you, of course."

"Speaking of which… why are you showing this again?" Yang asked, crossing her arms on her chest. "Not to be that gal, but you know, all you've done is show us some far future ruled by Grimm. Are we supposed to change it in some way?"

Khor raised his hands in a full-body shrug. "I told you, there's a whole galaxy involved with this. In more ways than one. I am showing you because I was asked to do so, that is all."

"So you don't know if we have to change this future or not?" Cinder questioned.

"What do you mean, if? Of course we have!" Blake snapped, borderline glaring at her for implying that a future ruled by Grimm was one worth happening.

"That's up to you. You mortals often forget that if Fate did exist and everything were to have been planned already… we wouldn't tell you anyway. You're not meant to hold the knowledge of Fate, not for your own world, at least." Khor cleared his incorporeal throat, sheepish. "I'm sorry, I suppose I went on a little tangent there. Regardless, your future is in your hands alone. Your actions will decide it, for good or for ill."

"So we can change it?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly. She hadn't forgotten about the golden spear in Jaune's chest. "It's not inevitable?"

"You can certainly try. I don't know if you'll manage though." Khor began to fade out, and they knew that it was time for the Dreamscape. "In any case, it's best if we get a move on. Enjoy and learn."

The Dream Weaver disappeared completely, as if never there, and around them the hazy image of Beacon's cafeteria disappeared as well, melting off the white background like water off of plastic. As soon as it was all gone, the white background began to darken and colour.

It was like they'd been blinded and were now readjusting to the light. Shapes and colours appeared around them, first blurry and hard to see, but getting clearer every second. As soon as they fully appeared, the group looked around, trying to figure out where they were.

"So you're telling me that you got your kid a g-"

"A pistol, a dual dust chambered pistol that is able mix dust without causing adverse effects. Its not simply a gun. That's like if I called Crocea Mors a simple sword." The faunus looked at his friend with a look of faux offense. They both laughed as they worked on their terminals.

"But Crocea Mors is a simply sword…" Pyrrha mumbled, frowning slightly.

"Wasn't it modified, though?" Neo glanced at Ruby, who was staring at the Faunus with an approving expression on her face. "Into a power sword, right?"

"She's right, it was highly modified last time we saw it!" Ruby snapped out of her trance and grinned. "Which reminds me, I should bring it up with Jaune to see if he wants to start modifying it!"

"Is this guy a descendant of Ruby's?" Yang deadpanned at the Faunus.

"Hey!"

"So, why a Pistol, Den?"

The faunus sighed, "Well it was mine, back when I was trying to be a hunter. I want to pass it down to him when he's older and show him how to use it."

"Woah, you were trying to be a hunter?" his friend asked, surprised by the answer he was given.

"I mean, a lot of people try for the career but don't make the cut, so it's not surprising he didn't," Weiss remarked drily. "Although if he is surprised, the profession might not be as popular any more."

"Just another bad thing the Grimm rule brought on," Yang grumbled, crossing her arms. "Of course they wouldn't want people to be able to fight them off."

Ren didn't say anything, but if he had to be honest, he kind of agreed with Yang. He didn't hate all Grimm, just the Knuckelavee, but he did harbour a strong dislike for them. He couldn't see why people would just accept their presence amongst them, even if they did stop attacking mindlessly.

Not to mention, she did have a point. It would be incredibly convenient for the Grimm to have no Hunters around.

"Ah yeah, but i didn't pass the final part of my training." he told him, going back to checking the monitors, ensuring that all ships leaving and entering their sector had proper Identification before coming close to the planet Remnant. Others in the bridge were doing the same thing, a mixture of Faunus and humans working diligently while talking to one another every now and then. The Commander sitting in the center on her throne like seat as she looked at various holographic reports in front of her, her feline eyes darting all over the place.

"There's a lot of Faunus there," Blake noted with poorly concealed interest. "I wonder if the Faunus population has finally increased a little."

"Now that they don't fight Grimm any longer, it's likely that population as a whole increased dramatically," Cinder replied levelly, casting a critical eye at the people working at the monitors.

"Damn, you were close! Could have been one of the elites, right there among the Primaris Marines! Fighting side by side with the chapter!"

"Aero, You do know the Remnant Guard also fights alongside the chapter too? Plus, Lord Anza is usually here along with other tech marines to ensure our weapons are operational, so we see them as well!" Den stated.

"I don't see how fighting in such bloody wars could ever be considered 'great' or something to aspire to," Weiss wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"It of course depends on how it is portrayed. The career of a Hunter is full of blood, hardships and death, yet it is glorified to the point every child wants to be one," Salem explained patiently. Part of it had been Ozma's doing, of course, an attempt to guarantee an army for humanity, but it had gotten out of hand and by now even the Wizard was dismayed by how blind to reality people really were. "If these wars are only spoken in whispers and mentioned in myths, then people will start to dream about taking part to them, without focusing on what they actually entail."

"That's messed up…" Nora commented, slightly depressed at the thought of considering the bloody battles they'd witnessed anywhere close to 'mythic'.

"But Hunters are right there, standing alongside them. Receiving orders strictly from any Primaris Marine, answering to no one but them and Queen Salem! Plus, have you seen their Grimm? They get new deadly species that are created by Lord Atriox." Aero kept going, lost in the topic much to Den's amusement. Suddenly a message began pulsating on all the screens.

Ren pulled a face, unable to restrain himself. Between his dislike for the Grimm, his choice of career, and his loathing for Atriox, that sentence was damn near unbearable to hear. To hear people fantasize about getting pet Grimm from an abomination such as Atriox was revolting.

He darkly wondered if that was part of the brainwashing, or if it was just something that arose normally as people forgot about the past.

He wasn't the only one to react negatively. Most of the students shared his thoughts, even if not on the same level of disgust, and even Cinder and her pawns were uncomfortable with the idea of people fanboying over Grimm of all things.

Salem frowned. To her, Grimm were tools and company alike, so she was used to being fond of them, but to see others straight-up adoring them was odd and unsettling. Odd, because, well that didn't need to be explained really. But unsettling because it directly clashed with the eternal goal she'd chosen for herself since the dawn of times.

"Status!" the commander ordered as everyone focused on their tasks.

"A Retribution class battleship is exiting the warp! Identifications coming through!" one crew member yelled out as she hastily pressed buttons on the screen.

"Gun Batteries are primed and ready to fire at your orders ma'am!" another yelled, "Main cannon is still taking time to warm up, should we load a Crystal?"

"No, wait for now. Identifications?" she ordered

"Well, at least they didn't incinerate their own ships," Yang rolled her eyes.

Weiss shot her a glare. "That's called being efficient, Yang," she pointed out, recalling how Winter used to talk about protocols and rules and procedures to follow whenever she asked about the military setting she lived in. "Military always works like that."

"And no matter how futuristic this world is, a military will always work like a military," Cinder added with a slight nod. "Although I must admit I dislike it. Too many rules and restrictions. Everyone becomes a tool only meant to do one thing, rather than use their full skillset to help."

"Ma'am, It's one of ours. Another message is coming through displaying it now." Aero stated as a large holographic screen appeared in the center of the bridge, displaying a symbol they all knew. Immediately the Commander fell to one knee, followed by everyone else in the bridge as they all bowed to one knee.

Mercury, Emerald and Neo all glanced at Cinder, whose eyebrow rose imperceptibly. Slightly surprised at seeing her own symbol (if slightly modified or rather added to) on a battleship from hundreds of years in the future, but also intrigued. After all, the addition was obviously from Nokris, whoever he may be in their own world. She was curious as to how that man managed to charm her of all people.

She would need to find this Nokris in their own world and see for herself. And of course, incinerate him if he ever were to disappoint.

"My Lady Ember Fall, Welcome home." The commander stated as before them was the family crest of the Fall Family. It was a combination of Cinder fall's own symbol but in the center of it was an outline in the form of the skull of the Wyvern Grimm, Nokris's symbol. Soon the familiar thunderous feeling of a ship leaving the warp was felt, all looking to see the massive battleship known as the Flame Of Midnight make its way towards Remnant.

Everyone glanced at Cinder, who merely raised her right shoulder in a half-shrug. "I do not know this Nokris personally, obviously, but it appears we find happiness together in the future. Near future, if I may add. I have not yet decided whether I feel honoured or irritated by this knowledge."

"Well, wife to the big Grimm-serving head-honcho for the dark empire," Yang rolled her eyes to maximize her sass output levels. "I'm pretty sure I know which one I would feel."

Salem's eye twitched before a kind smile spread over her lips. Cinder inwardly shuddered at the sight. The Queen of the Grimm turned around and giggled, giggled!, at Yang's 'joke'. "Well, I suppose that's understandable," she lied airily, although inwardly she was already planning on making several Scroll calls with young Ruby just for the purpose of giving her advice that would lead to tension within RWBY. Then she grimaced. "Although… I'm not very reassured. If that's your point of view, and considering we haven't heard of you yet… I fear what might've happened to you."

Yang blinked and opened her mouth to reply… only to close it again and paling as the implications set in. If she hadn't been mentioned even when Ruby had, then chances were she had either been killed, or she was considered to be the disgraceful Huntress who had once fought against the 'just and fair' Queen of the Grimm. She didn't know which one disgusted her more.

-Flame Of Midnight Bridge-

Ember sat upon her throne-like seat, the bridge of her ship was massive, reminiscent of an oversized grand auditorium, with different levels with hundreds of crewmen working diligently on their stations. She looked out into the vastness of space from the massive windows in front of her.

"That's the definition of overkill," Neo grinned, eyeing the immense ship. "I mean, how do they even land this thing? It must be as big as Vale!"

"They did mention having whole planets simply meant for the repairing and harbouring of these ships," Emerald recalled from an earlier dream. "Perhaps that's how. They don't land them here for long, only as long as it's needed to unload or load what's needed."

Ember herself was the definition of beauty, with long flowing black hair that stopped right past her shoulders, fair skinned with gold colored eyes. She wore the clothing of an Admiral though altered somewhat to fit her with an overcoat draped upon her shoulders as she stood up. The black and red Captain uniform showed her status not only as a Lord Captain within her Grandmother's navy but also that she was the descendant of Nokris and Cinder Fall as their symbol was stitched upon the back of her overcoat, glowing a bright orange color.

Mercury whistled quietly to himself. Cinder glanced at him, but he feigned ignorance until she turned around. Yeah, he wasn't going to admit to her that she thought her grand-grand-whatever-granddaughter to be really hot. He liked his skin the way it was.

Though seriously, Ember was really hot and it was a crime not to be able to say it out loud. He was more of the 'just look' kind of guy rather than a player, but he could recognize true beauty.

For example, Emerald wasn't, Cinder was, Neo was. Simple as that. If it also pissed off Emerald, all the better.

"Its good to be home." she said, her voice smooth but with a dangerous tone to sound of a message trying to come through snapped her out of her focus. She looked down at the holographic screen, allowing the message to go through though it turned out to be a communication request. Ember smiled a bit as Nokris appeared on screen. No longer donning his helmet, revealing the deathly white skin all her other uncles were known for but unlike the others, Nokris was free of the dark purple veins thus giving him angelic like features. His eyes were pitch black with red pupils, just like Queen Salem with shoulder length jet black hair. A scar ran down his left eye but it didn't take away from appearance.

Cinder raised an eyebrow again. By looks alone, Nokris was less than impressive. Hopefully he revealed himself to be better in person. If she was destined to become his wife, then he would definitely need to prove himself.

Unless Salem had forced her into the marriage… She didn't like to think about it, but it was a possibility. Not a likely one, or at least not at the moment, but one she would need to keep an eye out for. She wanted power, not a boytoy.

"Ember." he said, looking at his descendant, her two guards to her side immediately bowed to one knee.

"Grandfather, I'm delighted to be back home!" she said, a hint of excitement in her voice,

"Understandable, as you have been gone for 2 years now. The progress of your campaign against the Xenos threat near our borders has gone well from all the reports you've sent me. I am relieved to see my little Ember is home again." he said, giving her a small chuckle.

"Wait a second, you mean she's already involved as a General in the war?" Yang exclaimed, shocked. "I mean, she's not a little girl, but she does look a bit too young to be a general."

"Perhaps in this world, positions are assigned on merit, not previous experience or rank." Cinder debated adding to the explanation and after a second, continued, "And it is also likely she received that position because she's the direct descendant of Nokris."

"Nepotism," Weiss huffed, upturning her nose. "Of course. It wouldn't be politics if there was none of that."

"She is not wrong, although at its core, nepotism is quite understandable." Salem smiled maternally at the looks of confusion sent her way by everyone aside from Weiss, Pyrrha and Cinder. "By giving the position to a friend or relative, you are giving it to someone you can trust and who is loyal to you. It may not be efficient, but it's a good way to consolidate a ruling party, by making sure there are no inside schisms to ruin it."

"She's right. Many Council members of all Kingdoms did not reach their position by merit, but by either previous positions or personal connections. It may be highly immoral from the people's point of view, but it helps keep the Councils from arguing too much and putting the Kingdom in a state of unrest," Pyrrha nodded, having already known a lot of it. She was not as knowledgeable about it as Salem seemed to be, but she had done her homework. Plus, her agent thought it would be a good idea for her to be involved with politics later on in life, so she had to be prepared.

"Grandfather! I am no longer a child, there is no need-"

"I know, but still. I've been alive for centuries, relative to that you are still a child to me. Are you prepared for the Gathering?" he asked her. She huffed before sighing.

"Must suck to have someone so much older than you, but immortal, to call you 'kid' all the time," Mercury pointed out. "I know I'd be pissed after the third time."

"Same," just about everyone echoed. Salem had to stifle a small grin.

"I am, I'm sure listening to lazy squabbling nobles will be better than hearing Eldar Howling Banshees. I am unsure as to why Great-Grandmother hasn't culled most of them…"

"She has her reasons Ember." he told her,

Salem had to suppress a second grin. Of course she had her reasons, but she could've also forced the Banshees to shut up. If she didn't, it was simply because she enjoyed the discomfort it brought to all those around her. Apparently, she also picked fun at her children like that.

Her underlings thought she did nothing but sulk and plan all day, all year, but even she was unable to psychologically focus every second of the day on a millennia-old task. She maintained her sanity in small ways like that. Well, that and planning minor to major random Grimm attacks, of course.

"But Grandfather! All they do at these gatherings is just complain about how the Imperium's wars affect them when they have never have so much seen a mock battle! They try to glorify themselves to the queen as if they were the ones who won the battle, not the Remnant guardsmen who died!" she raised her voice, nearly yelling. But a glare from Nokris quickly quieted her down but didn't stop her intense stare at him.

"I understand my child, in time it will be dealt with." he told her, before she could say anymore he again gave her a small glare before sighing. "You're more and more like your grandmother, I'm sure Cinder would have been delighted to know another of our descendants is much like her in regards to speaking their minds and strong convictions." he laughed, "Now, come home. The Gathering is in a few hours and you need your rest. Your chambers are already prepared." the transmission cut off as Ember sighed.

"If he acted with me in the same way he did with her, I'll burn him into a crisp," Cinder seethed, narrowing her eyes. No one but Salem herself could tell her to shut up. She could make mistakes, but no one could cut her off like that!

"I'm sure Nokris would do that just to piss you off," Neo snickered, ignoring the -literally- heated glare sent her way by the faux Maiden.

"Head to low orbit and ready my transport." she ordered as she walked away towards two metallic sliding doors.

-Black Estate-

Steele Black worked diligently on a prosthetic leg, her tongue slightly sticking out of the side of her mouth as small sparks flew. Goggles protected her eyes as she grabbed a wrench nearby and began tightening something. She threw the tool to the side as she reached up to grab a plasma cutter hanging above her. "Almost done." she whispered as she brushed silver hair from her face. Within minutes she stopped and stretched. Grabbing the prosthetic, she began to equip it back on, ensuring all was well. The small tinge of pain she felt as the prosthetic's artificial nerve endings made contact with her biological ones. While she couldn't feel from the prosthetic, connecting to her nerves allowed her to move it as if it were an actual limb. She moved each metallic toes one by one before curling all of them. Stretching them and wiggling them. "Okay! Looks good!" she stated, getting up from her work bench, revealing the same prosthetic on the other leg.

Mercury whistled. "Nice prosthetics. New model, I suppose. Mine don't look half as realistic as that. Although why wouldn't she feel from them? I feel from mine."

"Are you just ignoring the fact that your descendant apparently lost both her legs?" Blake asked, incredulous.

Mercury shrugged and lifted his pant legs. "Runs in the family, I suppose. Besides, she's still alive and she doesn't look bothered by it. It's always a bitch to reject prosthetics. She's clearly just accepted it and moved on like I did. So, no worries."

"To answer your question, Mercury, perhaps she just means she won't feel pain, but she'll be able to feel contact," Cinder spoke up before Blake could retort. "You too cannot feel pain from them, am I right?"

"I guess so." The young assassin raised a critical eye. "Though she's put them on wrong. She won't be able to walk like that. The nerve endings aren't correctly aligned."

"My lady, your grandfather awaits you near the entrance to the manor." a maid told her as she stood by the door. She looked around Steele's messy room, having been told by the young mistress not to touch anything in her "Workshop".

"Okay okay, give me 10 minutes!" Steele stated, taking off the goggles to reveal gray eyes looking at the maid. She too was strikingly beautiful with an athletic build, her neck length silver hair was currently unkempt due to her working hours on her legs. She stretched her arms as she made her way to the bathroom to prepare for the Gathering.

Mercury clapped, much to Emerald's annoyance at his constant interruptions. "Looking good there! See, another thing that runs in the family!"

"Mercury, she's your descendant, stop ogling her," the green-haired thief sniped at him.

"Let me feel like a proud dad for a moment, Em, I'll go right back to myself in a second. Besides, I'm not the only one who thinks that." He turned to Ren, who looked like a deer caught by a pack of Beowolves. "Tell them, Silent One, she's hot as hell, right?"

Red began to creep up the boy's neck and onto his cheeks as everyone stared at him, Nora even more intensely so. He cleared his throat and awkwardly tried to make a joke to distract them from the subject, "Well… Now I feel like I've been Jaune'd."

Pyrrha threw him a reproachful look, and Nora narrowed her eyes at the non-answer, but Team RWBY snorted and let it go.

Mercury grinned triumphantly at Emerald.

Malach stood in the living room of his Manor, looking upon the portrait of an older Mercury Black. His helmet resting nearby. Mercury was older, having grown a five o'clock shadow and tying his hair into a ponytail, a scar running across his face with an eye patch covering his left eye. Malach stared intently at the portrait, so lost in thought that he didn't hear the sound of heavy boots coming up to him.

"As I said, runs in the family," Mercury commented, not even caring about the loss of his eye. He'd lost far more. Then he frowned. "Though seriously, I can look, but what's he looking at?!"

"You know if you keep staring, Grandpa Mercury will definitely rush out of there just to tell you "What're you looking at?"." she laughed at her joke as Malach looked down at her, Steele only coming up to his waist as he gently patted her head with his armored covered hand.

Yang snorted at the coincidence.

"Your grandmother requests you dress formally, this is not just the Gathering you are attending." he told her, taking note of her attire. It was reminiscent of Mercury's from his youth though the difference being a cut midriff showing off her toned stomach and jacket she wore had the sleeves removed as well.

"Hey, you get to be in your armor, why do i gotta dress differently?" she asked, a false pout on her face.

"You are not only representing yourself but that of Mercury's bloodline as w-"

"You know for a fact he wouldn't give a damn about being "Formal" for a bunch of high ranking assholes that only come to Remnant to just brag about nothing!" she stated, Malach could only sigh. She was right of course, Mercury wouldn't care. Even he doesn't. But, mother has stated otherwise.

"Right she is," Mercury nodded. "Though if the Queen requested it, I'd oblige if I were her."

"I don't understand why formal dresses are mandatory though," Ruby gripped her cloak as if fearing it would be taken away. "Why can't people just dress comfortably?"

"It's a very complicated matter. For one, it shows your social status. Second, it also shows you care about the meeting and consider it important enough to wear special clothes for it," Weiss explained. She did not agree with Ruby about the matter, but she could admit that to someone who would probably never attend a formal gathering in her entire life, it was something fairly pointless for her leader. "The dress code is also to prevent offensive, inappropriate or ridiculous outfits to be chosen for such gatherings."

"Steele, my mother has made it mandatory. Please." he knelt down to one knee, giving her a smile. She sighed.

"Only because you asked and so I don't upset Sal-"

"Your Grandmother."

Salem frowned. Did Steele have something against her? Or was her family simply so removed from her that she felt like she had to call her by name?

"Yes...Grandma Salem." Steele turned out, intending to walk back only to fall to her knee, clasping her metallic leg as she hissed in pain. "Dammit! The nerve endings didn't settle right!" she yelled in frustration. She was quickly scooped up by Malach's hand, letting her rest on his arm as he carried her towards his own workshop. Much larger to accommodate his size and the various resources stocked within, hooded men walked about as they kept maintenance within the workshop. They looked upon the Malach as he walked in, placing Steele upon the table.

"Told you so. Always check before you use your prosthetic. If she'd walked any further, she might've not have had any tools to fix it nearby."

"Servus, bring me the simple tools and ready my secondary helmet." he commanded, within Minutes, Steele heard the hissing sound from above and watched a circular hatch open. Descending from the hatch was various tools and machinery attached to long metallic arms. Another hissing sound came and a standard Primaris Tech marine helmet was fitted onto Malach as he reached for one of the many tools. "Lift your pant leg up, i'll see what's going on." She obliged and did so, small sparks started to fly as she did.

"It seems the servos have started to show wear. It has been three years since you last had them replaced. I'll get the replacements." He was gentle, he always was when it came to Steele. He specifically had these tools created just for her, so that he may easily and safely work on her prosthetics whenever the need arose. "Servus, bring me the replacements." Steele watched as a floating skull went over to one of the shelves, grabbing something with its extendable pincers and floated over to them. The drone-like robotic device was actually a human skull outfitted with cybernetic components that had anti-gravity generators embedded into the base to allow it to float. Metallic pincered limbs were where the lower jaw would be and a single glowing red cybernetic eye allowed it to see. These things always creeped out Steele and luckily the chapter rarely used these ones that had actual human skulls. She was used to the Grimm servitors more frequently seen. At Least those were created from a Grimm pool rather than from a human skull! Servus was a gift apparently from an old ally of Malach's, so she tolerated its presence.

The students shivered at the sight of the servant, and from it was created from.

"Those things are horrible, why would anyone want something like that?! They have intelligent robots and Grimm servants, why would they create something like that?!" Ruby yelped, disgusted.

Salem had to give it to her, she had a point. Robots or Grimm were much more efficient, and Grimm were also easier and cheaper to create.

"They serve the Grimm, what were you expecting?" Blake's voice was full of bitter disgust. "They do that simply because they can. I bet it's not going to be the only thing made with corpses we'll see in this world."

Ren pursued his lips, but nodded in agreement. That was something typical for a Grimm to do.

Cinder glanced at Salem, as if asking for an explanation, but even the Queen of the Grimm was lost. Perhaps it had been a Son's idea? Had Ares, or Atriox, come up with the idea to use human skulls? Whose skulls were those? Were they defeated enemies, or their own people and soldiers?

It was completely unnecessary and just for macabre showing. Salem didn't do things just for show. She made a note to keep an eye on similar shows of cruelty.

"Okay, gonna replace the servos. Also I will repair some damage here done from the failed nerve attachment." he told her. Steele couldn't help but look away, frustration clear on her face. Though this didn't go unnoticed.

"I know it's frustrating. I'm sorry we cannot grow you new limbs, the damage was to great for th-"

Salem raised an eyebrow. So, no Grimm limbs for her? Mmh… perhaps she was just too independent to ever wish for a Grimm replacement, or perhaps she disliked the Grimm. She couldn't think of a reason why her future self wouldn't offer, if she loved this 'family' of hers so much.

"I know Grandpa. I know. It wasn't possible after what they did to me, Just...it can be hard sometimes. I know its been a long since that day but…"

"I know." he told her, working diligently on her leg despite his massive size.

"Bet Grandpa Mercury was a master at this huh? Probably be disappointed his descendants couldn't properly do maintenance on her own legs." she said,

"Honestly? Yes, I kind of am. After years, she should've learned," Mercury huffed, rolling his eyes. "What kind of idiot wouldn't know how to take care of their own limbs and weapons? That's ridiculous."

"Says the guy who has me helping him every time," Emerald remarked.

"She's had those for years, I've had these for just one year, and even then I had to get out of physiotherapy first," he rebutted, unfazed by her comment. "She's tough for enduring it, but she's dumb for not learning how to do it herself. There won't be always a kind immortal adoptive grandfather there to help her. If she can't do it on her own, she's done for the moment they actually become a problem."

"She's supposed to be your granddaughter, cut her some slack!" Nora protested, angry on Steele's behalf.

Mercury blew her off. "Pfft, no. If anything, I'd have to be harsher on her. Years with those things and still unable to fix them? Ugh, it'd be like any of you not being able to take proper care of your weapons."

Some students, Ruby even more so, shifted uneasily at the comparison. It was true, a Hunter who couldn't take care of their weapon was a dead Hunter.

"No. he wouldn't." She looked at him as he began placing the new Servos in, the servo skull doing most of the delicate work. "Mercury, he didn't let the loss of his legs and his prosthetics weaken him. Rather he focused on making them one of his greatest strengths. A man who was without a semblance and crippled by his own father, many would have seen him give up. Become weak with self pity and destruction. No." he explained. "He trained, He learned, and he overcame it. He became strong and feared by many because of it." he looked at her.

Mercury ignored the looks of pity and shock he received when Malach mentioned his father. That bastard was dead, wasn't it? It just meant Mercury, without his Semblance, was stronger than the bastard. He was half his father's age and still won. That was all that mattered.

Though it was nice to hear he became feared by many. For now he was pretty much unknown, and Cinder wanted to keep it that way, but he knew that with his skill, he would be a very big deal in the assassination business… or any fighting business, really.

"Your father did what?!" Weiss almost shrieked. She thought Jacques was bad, but Mercury's dad must've been a demon to do something like that to his own child!

"Semblance Theft. That's how he did it." He avoided mentioning the crippling injuries to his legs during their fight to the death. "Besides, I don't need a Semblance to kick everyone's asses, heh."

Cinder nodded in agreement. It was one of the reasons she took Mercury as her servant. He was tough and he didn't give up. He may have been an impatient asshole, but he was extremely strong and very skilled at fighting. Perhaps even more so than her, if she were to forget about her Semblance and the Maiden's Powers. His ability to adapt and counter was excellent and he had been very helpful during the fight with Amber.

"He would be proud of you to see you're also not letting the loss also bring you to despair but that you are treating them as your own strength."

Mercury shook his head. He must've changed a lot, if he was proud at such a little thing. Of course she didn't give up – was there any other option? It was basic survival instinct – those who gave up died, so they couldn't give up. Simple as that.

There was nothing to be proud of. He must've gone soft in the future.

"He'd be disappointed and angered by the fact I wasn't able to stop the same fate that befell him also befell you." he told her, looking at her prosthetics as he finished the repairs on them. "There, try walking now." she nodded as she hopped off his table, walking around and squatting down. She smiled up at him as she gave him a thumbs.

"We're good! Really need that set up in my workshop!"

"So… asshole parent?" Emerald ignored the horrified and shocked looks the students were sending her. "Or simply loss of the legs?"

"I think the second," the boy replied, unaffected by the topic. Seriously, everyone else had to grow up. They were Huntresses, no? (Sorry Ren, he added) And they got teary-eyed at the mere mention of violence. Pfft. Pathetic. He'd have to beat- Ahem, train that out of Jaune. "I mean, it's also possible it's the first, but I don't think Malach would've allowed it to go that far before bisecting the parent."

"I'll have one built for you soon, now lets go. The parade will be starting soon." taking off the Techmarine helmet, he grabbed his own and placed it upon his. Hissing and the sound of tiny machines locking it into place. The "eyes" of his Tyrant-Rex like helmet glowing that sinister Grimm orange.

"I doubt he would," he looked down at her, "You know, angry with you. You weren't here, they…" she clenched her teeth at the faint memory. "They used the fact that you were at war to do it. I'm sure they would have tried to take my semblance too if you hadn't come back." she said, smiling at him.

Mercury narrowed his eyes. Considering some Semblances were genetic and generally they could influence the child's, that was a pretty big clue on just how likely the 'abusive parents' option actually was. He'd have to keep an eye on it and, if it turned out to be true, to make a note to give to Jaune, who'd give it to Malach: Beat the ever-hating shit out of Steele's fucking parents, put their heads at my portrait's feet, and tell Steele that's what happens to shitty parents.

Yeah, that note was so going to get written either way.

"Maybe. But thank you." he told her, carefully patting her head.

"Oh! Almost forgot!" she yelled, running to the portrait of Mercury, Malach letting her stand in his hand as he lifted her up to do what she always does before leaving for the day. "See you later Grandpa." she said, gently fistbumping the portrait. It was her routine, always making sure to say goodbye to him before she went about her day and saying goodnight as well.

A few students awwed at the scene, and Mercury felt an uncomfortable heat creeping up from his lower abdomen into his chest. Yeah… yeah, he must be creeped out. There was no other explanation why his stomach felt tight and his eyes were crinkling in an emotion he really didn't want to try and recognize.

"Come Steele, let us go. Do beha-" but she was already gone, heading to the transport to take them.

"Let's go! Wanna get the parade part over with!" he sighed, signalling the maids that they were leaving. Various armored guards walked the estate, creatures of Grimm accompanying them as they viciously protected the last living member of house Black.

"Wait, she's still fairly young, what happened to her parents?" Ruby asked.

Ren and Nora exchanged glances. They had read between the lines and they weren't eager to share with the others their less-than-happy conclusions. There were some things that should never happen. A parent hurting their child was one of those.

Especially for them, who had no parents, the role was glorified. It was impossible to taint and stain.

Ren would be ashamed to admit that he felt a rush of vile satisfaction at the hint that Steele's monstrous parents had been dealt with accordingly.

"They live in a world of semi-constant war," Blake replied bitterly. "They were probably killed defending their Grimm Queen and her empire."

-Sustrai Estate-

Ares gazed upon the purple crystal in his hand, rolling it around in his hand as he clutched it. He was sitting on a large leather armchair built for his large size. He was careful not to wake the various sleeping forms on his lap, small children, his and Emerald's descendants or grandchildren as he preferred to call them. Seven of them had climbed upon his lap, blankets and pillows to make sleeping easier against his metallic armor since he was unable to take it off due to the day's events. He gently caressed the cheek of one with his large finger, the green and black haired child instinctively rubbing his cheek as he yawned, snuggling more into his pillow as Ares smiled. He closed his eyes, clutching the crystal as he brought to his forehead, losing himself to the memories that the crystal brought forth.

If they had anything to drink, half the watchers would've spat it out at the sight of the behemoth being used as a bed by half a dozen kids.

"That's one thing I never thought I'd get to see," Pyrrha goggled at the monster of a man. "Is he just… accepting that?"

"He's happy about it, if his expression is any indication…" Weiss replied faintly, hardly believing her own eyes.

"I suppose fatherhood does change someone," Salem stated, recalling how her baby girls had changed her life so many millennia ago. Her sweet, innocent darlings. For the first time in forever, she felt her throat tighten in a knot as her eyes welled up with tears. She blinked them away, but the painful feeling didn't leave.

Her girls were no more. Her little angels were dead. And they were alone. Alone. Alone. Alone. Neither she nor Ozma could ever die for good. They couldn't go to the other side. They couldn't comfort their daughters.

Millennia had passed. Had her daughters forgotten her? Did they hate her for not being there with them? For getting them killed? For angering the gods?

Salem choked back a strangled sound. Her hands were trembling as she wiped away the tears in her eyes. It was just so unfair. She couldn't be with her family when she wanted to, she couldn't be with her family when she needed to. Those monsters people called Gods had punished her with eternal agony and loss for the mere crime of grieving her lost love. They had gone back on their own word and law to pain her further.

She had to find a way to pay back the favour tenfold. Her eyes shone with all the millennial rage she'd accumulated through pain and loneliness, an insane light brightening them from within. She would destroy them, or she would finally die trying.

"My Angel Gem, if only you were here to see how big our family has become." he whispered. "Raye is going to her first gathering today, she is taking that leap forward to become head of our family. Fiye gave birth the other day, twin girls!" he smiled as he closed his eyes, talking more. "Dew took his first steps today as well, our other grandchildren are all doing well in their studies. Making sure every single is okay as well…"

"Uhh… how many kids does this guy have?" Yang asked, uneasy. She couldn't imagine having even just one kid, but from what Ares was saying, there had to be lots…

"With almost 150 counting descendants and counting, I'm sure you have your hands full Papa." Ares didn't need to open his eyes, he knew who it was. He knew all his grandchildren even by their voices.

Silence fell over the watchers. Even Salem snapped out of her thoughts to gape at the newcomer. A hundred and a half kids? Salem, who knew how hard being a mother was, began to feel faint. So many nappies to change, so many butts to clean, so many mouths to basically force-feed when they were stubborn, so many piercing screams when they threw tantrums…

God, it was a nightmare.

"Guys…" Yang called out weakly, looking like she was about to faint. "If I ever make fun of Jaune for having a big family again, please punch me through a wall or two."

"I'll do it!" Nora exclaimed, completely unaffected by the unrealistic number, and also admittedly eager to get to punch Yang through a wall. No one ever let her do that!

"I have my ways desert flower." he told her as he looked down to his side, wearing an Emerald colored formal dress, one especially made for Royalty. A necklace hung loosely around her, the symbol of House Sustrai proudly displayed for all to see. Her neck length hair was down, not tied into her usual bun. Her red eyes, a common trait amongst those of his bloodline, looked up at him. A shoulder capelet hung on her right shoulder with the Sustrai symbol on it as well, with the outline of an Ursa Skull in the center of it.

Mercury and Ren exchanged pained glances. Why was it that they were all hot girls? Seriously, they should cut the two of them some slack. At least Yang could check guys out openly and no one would say anything, Blake could do it discreetly (read: just as openly) and no one would say anything. Neo could basically cat-call every good-looking guy out there, and they would call her sexy.

They weren't even allowed to stare at a girl who didn't even exist yet for more than three seconds without someone's judging stare digging between their shoulderblades.

How was that fair?!

"I know you do. What are you doing though?" she asked, having heard what he was saying.

"Heh, just letting Emerald know how things are." he answered, he opened his hand, showing her the crystal.

"Oh, you took the crystal out of your chest plate? Why?"

"Uhh… I really hope that's not a crystallized part of my corpse or something," Emerald said, hoping not to fall back on the Servos-level creepiness.

"It probably has a symbolic meaning," Cinder reassured her blandly, although she too was considering that option. She mentally ran through all the Grimm she knew. Was there one that could crystallize people?

"I never told you did I? Guess I better fix that." he told her as he placed the crystal back into his chest plate, back into the engraving of the Skull. "We have time before we leave. The Crystal, my little desert flower is one I used to make the rings for me and your Mimi Emerald. Our marriage rings, well it replaced the diamond on the ring's." he told her as she listened.

"When she passed, I had her and my crystal taken off the rings and infused them back together. It was her wish, so that no matter, she would always be here." he told her. She nodded, Ares always ensured every single grandchild knew their grandmother Emerald. He always spoke of her.

"Aww, you know, it's really hard to think that this Ares," Weiss said, pointing at the giant, "is also the man who slaughtered an entire planet without leaving survivors even after their surrender, just to be sure."

"Thank you for ruining the mood, Weiss," Ruby griped, now downtrodden at the memory of the horrific battle.

"She's right though," Ren countered, hardening his own eyes. "We shouldn't forget that the Sons of Salem may have families, but they are also the Queen's Generals and the perpetrators of the battles we saw a few days ago. Everyone has a good and a dark side, and we're now seeing their good side, the one they show to their families."

"But we shouldn't forget what monsters they really are," Blake added, eyes sharpening into a glare. "They have no regards for human life. The hands that are caressing those kids were probably coated in the blood of thousands upon thousands just a few days prior. They're monsters, just like the Grimm they love so much."

'Ironic, coming from the ex-White Fang. Last time I checked, they were the ones wearing Grimm masks, not the humans,' Emerald thought bitterly and perhaps also pettily, but who could blame her? Her future self had clearly found a family, something she'd always longed for, and now Blake was trying to ruin it simply because it didn't fit into her tiny, narrow-minded view of the world. Or perhaps she was just jealous because she hadn't been mentioned yet. 'Heh. I bet she expects to be revealed as the Savior of All Faunus, who vanquished the evil Schnee Dust Company's racist influence single-handedly and restored equality for the races of Remnant. Or something equally grand and idiotic.'

Really, those Beacon idiots were… well, idiots.

"So, you were speaking to her in a way then." He nodded at her, smiling.

"Yes, I like to think she's listening, knowing how well her family is. We both...never truly had families until my mother Salem found me. I lost my biological mother to my father when I was a child, the only family love I had was from her before he killed her." he continued, having looked at something else.

Emerald felt a little sorry for Ares. She knew how loneliness felt like.

Salem was instead intrigued. So not all the Sons were friends of Jaune's from his past? Some of them were his brothers-in-arms during the war against Ozpin?

"You never mentioned your father, your mother from what you can remember but never him."

"A vile and hateful man. He took my mother's life, said it was an accident." he looked down at Raye. "So I purposely took his in return."

Mercury just nodded, fully understanding the logic. He wondered if that's how he would've turned out, had Cinder not recruited him immediately after he killed his father.

Weiss winced. As much as she hated her father, she wouldn't go as far as wanting him dead.

She didn't say anything, he never spoke this much of his life and looks like he realized that. "We were both orphans, doing what we had to do to survive, enduring hardships and dangers. But when our first son was born, we both promised our children would never endure what we did. Never know the pain of hunger. Never knowing the feeling of being alone. Never know the bone chilling coldness. They will always know love, warmth, have everything they need and will always have us. Its a promise...i will always keep." he told her.

"Those who live poor usually live with the trauma for the rest of their lives, even if they find richness later in life," Cinder said with a tinge of sadness in her voice. She was aware that her own thirst for power was part of that. She needed power so she'd never be hurt or enslaved ever again.

Emerald avoided the looks of pity the students sent her. "I had a few tough years," she admitted, "and I guess I wouldn't want my children to feel like that. I'm okay now, but I won't deny it wasn't easy."

Ren stared at her for a few seconds longer. She was an orphan just like he and Nora were. He didn't know what to feel. On one hand, he felt some kind of kinship with her. On the other, Ares mentioned 'doing what they had to do to survive' and it was making him uneasy. What had Emerald done 'to survive'?

"Is that why you always call all of us? Why you've had houses built within the estate?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes, to always ensure our family is well taken care of. So that you all will always have a home no matter what the future holds for you."

"As much as I don't like him, I do agree with his words," Nora stated, shrugging at the stares she received for that. "I can get behind caring for my family and ensuring they're safe and well."

She chuckled a bit before speaking, "Well i'm sure Mimi Emerald would be overjoyed to see you've kept the promise for all these centuries." she didn't notice his smile falter slightly. He looked at a weapon hanging from the wall, a large power mace enclosed in a glass case. Below it were two pictures of two young people, both wearing Remnant guard uniforms. He grew silent before looking down at her.

"I wonder who they were, and whose weapon was that," Ruby said quietly. The mace itself was impressive, but the fact that such a sturdy weapon had to be kept in a glass case like a fragile thing unnerved her. Just how important was it, that Ares did not wish to risk even a scratch upon it?

"Probably relatives of his that he could not keep his promise to," Emerald replied with an amount of bitterness in her voice that surprised even herself. She'd always been soft-hearted when it came to other orphans, but those two probably had a family. "They probably died in battle."

"Then why is there only one mace?" Ren asked. "Did they use it one after the other?"

"…Or Ares took it from whoever killed them after he killed them in return," Emerald countered grimly. It was a possibility. "But maybe not. He wouldn't keep it in a glass case if that were to be the case."

"Its time to go now Raye. Alright my young ones, Papa needs to leave now." he said, waking the small children as maids came in, pushing short stairs to help them get to where the children were sleeping. Eventually all were taken to their respective rooms to get ready for the day. Ares placed his helmet upon his head as he and Raye left the massive mansion. "A question," she asked.

"Can we just appreciate for a moment that Ares is so huge, they need stairs to get up to his lap?" Yang snickered, dispelling the sad mood the pictures had brought.

Emerald cracked a grin herself, slightly thankful for the distraction. "I wonder how the kids got up there. They must like free climbing."

"Tenacious little brats then, because he's a walking mountain," Mercury chuckled.

"Yes?"

"Its been centuries since she passed away and I've always wondered why you never remarried over the centuries? I'm sure you've been lonely yourself Papa." she looked up at him as they walked. He simply chuckled.

"She was and still is the love of my life. The love I have for her is still as strong as the day I confessed to her. She may be gone but the love i have for her is still there. No one can fill her spot in my heart because she's still there and will always be there. But with love comes loss, no matter what that's always part of it." he explained to her as they entered the Thunderhawk, ensuring she was on first before him. "I knew that becoming a Primaris Marine would mean I would outlive her and it hurt greatly when I lost her." he looked down at Raye. "But the memories we made together, the bond we shared, and the love we had and still have? I will never trade that for anything. Her love was the greatest gift she ever gave me besides our family. I will always love her, even as I march towards eternity, my feelings will never change." he finished.

"Woah." was all the she said

That was a sentiment shared by most of the people in the room, except for Salem, who bitterly thought to herself that love does vanish across millennia, it just takes longer than other emotions.

"I cannot imagine living forever," Nora said levelly, almost sadly. "Just being eternally young while everyone I know and love ages and dies… I don't think there's anything worse than that. Eternal life must be a horrifying curse."

Caught unaware, Salem couldn't hide her wince. It was. Oh, it was. It was a curse that had brought her insane at times, but it was so horrifying she had even had time to heal from that insanity through centuries. And as the millennia blended together, she lost everything that had once made her herself. Somewhere between the wars and the pain, she'd lost her soul.

Maybe that was why she could not have her Aura unlocked no matter how much her servants had tried. It wasn't that she was a Grimm – she was born human, after all. No, perhaps it was because she'd lost her humanity entirely.

"That's the second-worst thing I could ever think of," Mercury nodded, for once looking and sounding almost demure.

"What's the worst?" Pyrrha inquired, glancing at him. He didn't strike her as the philosophical type.

"Oblivion. Nothingness after death." He gave an involuntary shudder. "We can't know what comes after. Once you die, unknown. We have no way of finding out, either. And what if… there just isn't anything to find out? What if, once you die, you just stop existing? Everything disappears, you disappear. All your memories, everything, gone in the blink of an eye, and you wouldn't even notice because there will be no thoughts, no memories, no actions, no events, just absolute nothing. Nonexistence. It's terrifying."

Pyrrha wasn't the only one to feel a cold shiver tremble its way down her spine. The way Mercury described it, it was beyond horrific. A seed of doubt took root in their heads – they were Hunters. They were supposed to put their lives on the line for the sake of others. But… could they do it? If what came after was just… nothing… could they really do it and erase themselves from existence?

-Arc-Rose estate-

Thara sat in front of a Mirror, vivid green eyes gazed back at her as she held one of her eyes open with one hand. Using the other, she pressed a button on the Mirror as a beam began to scan her eyes, her green eye turning a silver like color after a minute of the beam scanning. She eventually did the same to the other eye, closing them shut as soon as the other was done.

"Wait, what is she doing?" Ruby blinked. "Is she painting her eyes?"

"Maybe?" Emerald shrugged, unsure. "Or maybe she's removing the green dye?"

"Either is possible. It's likely that Ruby's silver eyes became something of a traditional look for her family's descendants," Cinder offered, slightly intrigued by the act. Either way, showcasing silver eyes so brashly meant Salem's view of them had changed a lot.

"Agh, i hate doing this." she whispered as she rubbed them. She opened her eyes again and looked at the mirror, seeing that her vivid green eyes were now a silver color. It was temporary however, the silver would fade within a few days. She looked them over, ensuring not a hint of green could be seen before a knock at her door startled her.

"You have your answer, I suppose," Blake commented. "She's dyed them."

"Thara, sweetie, it's time to go." came a familiar voice as the door opened. Amra Arc-Rose entered the room, sitting in a hoverchair of sorts as she glided over to her daughter. Artemis, current head of the Arc-Rose, having been paralyzed in an assassination attempt years ago and thus was confined to a hoverchair to get around. "I brought you something," she handed her a folded cloth as she smiled at her daughter as Thara's eyes went wide. She unfolded the cloth to reveal it was capelet with the Arc symbol stitched onto it.

"This is dad's!" she exclaimed as her mother helped her put it on the shoulder of dress, snapping in place with brass pins.

"Yes! Capes for the win!" Ruby cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "I mean, it's not a cape like mine, but it's still cool!"

"It's not just any cape! It's one to be worn over armour or formal clothing to give it more of a dashing look." Weiss huffed at her leader's ignorance. "I highly doubt they would've just allowed her to wear a cape at an important ceremony."

Ruby gave her a flat look and didn't say anything. Sometimes (often, if not always), it was best to just let Weiss talk without interrupting, or she'd risk being forced to listen to her lectures for even longer. Seriously, who cared what the purpose of a cape was, as long as the cape looked cool?!

"Yes, he wanted you to wear it when the ceremony came for you to become the Head of the family." she stated as she looked at her daughter. Thara looked over at the portrait of her father, adorned in the Primaris Marine armor of their family, it was fashioned to resemble the one worn by her grandfather Jaune arc long ago. Arthur Arc-Rose, considered by many to be the true successor to her grandfather's legacy as he shared many qualities with him. But he had perished long ago in battle. Though she was never told how he actually had died just that he died saving others. Thara had done her best to live up not only her grandfather's name but her father's as well, it has been a trial for the young girl due to the high expectations everyone has of her.

Mercury whistled. "Blondie must've been a really big hotshot if he's got such a legacy. We kinda saw that already, but considering I'm his new trainer and all, that's impressive. Do you think he's gonna tell everyone how the one and only Mercury Black taught him how to kick butts?"

Emerald rolled her eyes. "And of course you don't focus on how that legacy is crushing a young girl because of the impossible expectations of living up to the deeds of great and deceased warriors while still going to school."

"Eh, those are minor details that don't concern me. I just wanna know if Blondie advertised my training or not," the assassin replied tactlessly.

"I'm sure Mr Arc took care to praise your skill and teachings whenever he could, Mercury," Salem cut in smoothly. "Although this does mean that you now have expectations set on yourself as well – can you actually teach him well enough?"

Mercury hesitated for a second (that was still Salem, the Queen of the Grimm), before grinning cockily and replying, "Damn yes I am! I'm gonna turn him from lame to legend!"

"Now you better go, the hover car should be outside. You're gonna do wonderfully at the gathering!" she told her, giving her a hug.

"You think so mom? I mean, sure Grandma Salem has been teaching me and showing how things are done but…"

"Honey, you're gonna be alright. You've got a lot of your father in you and you'll also have family there as well."

"Yeah…"family"..." she hugged her mother as she walked down the hall, passing the various portraits of her family from the Primaris Marines to the women that held high military positions from captains to admirals. Commanders of Remnant Guards to even Generals. One even became the Governor of a planet due to her actions against an Ork invasion that had plagued the Remnant Sector for years. All held up the expectations of being the descendants of the first born of Salem, speaking of; "Hello Grandfather." Thara spoke to a large Portrait of Jaune, looking exactly as he did within her dream. A serious expression on his face as he held his helmet in hand while holding the hand of his sword in the other, said sword was pointed downward. "On my way to the Gathering today, first time ever going. Grandma Salem wants all the heirs there so that they know what it means to not only rule but the politics behind her Kingdom er well would be considered an Empire at this point? What do you think?" she looked at the painting, as if waiting for an answer. "Look at me, talking to a painting. Think Steele is rubbing off on me." she gave one last look at the painting of him, before sighing and leaving towards the hover car.

"Those are very heavy expectations…" Pyrrha murmured, feeling slightly better about her own, which made her feel horrible.

"It's not usual for children to bear the actions of their parents as a burden rather than the merit it once was," Salem replied wisely, studying the many portraits for anything that might catch her interest. Those were, after all, the children of the boy who supposedly 'saved' her and gave her back her humanity.

"That's not fair, though!" Ruby exclaimed, glancing at Weiss. "They should be free to be their own people!"

"It's not fair, but it's how it is," Cinder came to her Mistress's aid immediately. "Fame is hereditary even if talent is not. People expect the children to be just like the parents and even better, and people don't like when the unexpected happens."

-Megacity Lave, Capital of Remnant-

Massive towering buildings kissed the sky above the megacity, home to nearly a billion souls. Human and Faunus. The city was the Capital of the Remnant sector and home to not only Salem but the Sons of Salem chapter as well. The Castle of Salem had been moved from within the darklands into the capital, coming to rest on a mountain face that overlooked the city, heavily defended by massive gun batteries and hundreds of Remnant guards along with Sons of Salem marines. The massive city sprawled for hundreds of miles in all directions, with various structures all around. From the massive Statue of the first born where the massive Grimm slept to the skyscrapers that could be seen for miles. Lave was a city envisioned by Salem long ago and now was a reality. Massive railway systems connected the various districts for the city. Various forms of hover vehicles flew above as if they were on the streets below, making their way to their destinations. Species of Flying Grimm were also present, though they instinctively flew higher to avoid the thousands of vehicles. One such vehicle began to slowly descent down to a parking lot.

For a second, one could almost hear a cricket chirping with how quiet the watchers suddenly went. Then, all hell exploded as they shouted and stammered out denials.

"Wha- It-… A billion people!?" Weiss shrieked, shocked by such an immense number. "That's… that's more than Remnant's whole population! A whole planet's worth of people, in a single city!?"

"I- I don't think I could ever imagine a city that large…" Blake murmured, her head swimming as she looked at the innumerable vehicles and infinite people milling about the city. "It'd… it'd have to be as big as Menagerie itself…"

"Likely less, considering how high it reaches, but still bigger than all the four capitals combined," Ren confirmed, rubbing his eyes in the hopes it would reveal the truth. Unfortunately for his sanity, the city did not get any smaller.

"It must've taken centuries to grow up to that number… and who knows how many people the whole planet now has, if this is just one city!" Neo exclaimed, shocking them all over again as they realized that yes, this might be the capital, but it was likely to be only one of the many cities of Remnant. And even if it were to be the biggest, the number of people living on the planet must've been astronomical.

"How can they grow enough food to feed everyone?!" Blake wondered, recalling how Menagerie was self-sufficient, but also sparsely populated at best. "They'd need whole planets of-" She cut herself off. "Do you think they actually use planets as farms and fields?"

"It's highly likely, yes," Cinder nodded, trying to conceive the thought of so many people stuffed in the same place. "With their advanced technology, they can probably keep the food fresh indefinitely, not to mention they can probably handle wasted food much better as to minimize the loss, but still it must take whole planets to feed Remnant alone, and many more to feed all the inhabited planets in this 'Remnant Sector'!"

Salem inwardly groaned. Ordering four people around was annoying enough as it was, and then she would go and create an empire of semi-infinite souls? Her sanity must've been the price for her humanity, together with her peace of mind, obviously.

Even if she did create a council to handle most things, it was likely she'd never get a single moment to herself ever again.

"Mauve, you know the Parade is gonna be most of the day the Shepard district is gonna be packed with all the celebration going on for the next few days! No need to hurry!" Maze stated, holding onto the seat as the vehicle came to a stop and slowly came to land on the ground.

"Aw Cmon, you gotta learn to live like its last day! Plus, we're fine!" the Lion faunus proudly stated as she stepped out of the vehicle. "Now Cmon, they should be arriving soon!" she exclaimed running to the elevator, Maze right behind her. Both girls exited the building, greeted a massive crowd of cheering people as they pushed their way to the crowd to the front.

"Gods, I think I'd die if I were to be stuffed in a crowd like that," Mercury groaned, staring at the people in disgust. Aside from his antisocial personality, it was just plain uncomfortable to be pressed into people from all sides without hopes of getting free. Even walking over them was probably doomed to fail.

"It must be very uncomfortable," Emerald agreed, although she personally wouldn't mind. So many people and so much confusion would make pickpocketing extremely easy. She'd probably get rich on everyone's expenses without anyone noticing anything until they went home.

"Mauve, no reason to push! The parade is being air lived anyways, just look at the holo screens on the buildings!" she said, pointing to a massive holographic screen on a building. Various similar screens all over.

"But seeing it up close is always awesome! Plus, we get to see the Heirs and Heiresses! Always wanted to see if the rumors were true about Ember Fall, heard she is one beautiful woman!" Mauve laughed as Maze rolled her eyes, eventually the two making it the front. Just in time to see a Remnant guard riding a Komodo, a massive lizard like Grimm. In his hands, he proudly held the flag of Remnant. People were cheering as more of parade appeared,

"That one's new," Emerald mumbled, looking at the Komodo. Salem confirmed it with a subtle nod.

"I'm kind of glad we went back to Mauve and Maze," Nora commented, grinning widely. "You know, all those high heirs and stuff was so boring! At least now we get to see how the normal people see this future!"

Everyone straightened subtly at that. It was true, even though chances were that Nora didn't realize just how important what she just said actually was.

They would get to see how civilians saw the future they had been watching for several nights now. Which meant that they would see if the people were truly happy or not. Of course, it wasn't a foolproof plan and it could give false results – they'd have to ask every single citizen to be sure. But at least it would give them a general view on the people's outlook in this future.

For a few of them, it would be the confirmation they didn't really needed but desired, that this Grimm-ruled world was a dystopia masked as a utopia.

"People of Remnant, the heroes of the Zephyr Campaign have returned home! Long have they fought and succeeded where the Imperium had failed! The Soldiers of the Zephyr campaign have shown why our kingdom is not to be trifled with!" a voice rang out, an all too familiar one as one of the Screens showed queen Salem speaking. Maze looked where the screen was projecting, a massive dome shaped building. Massive grand stairs led upto the main entrance where Massive statues of Primaris marines stood to the sides, each one slaying a different beast. She knew that building, it was where important meetings were held between Salem and the governors of her planets. The people cheered louder at her statement as more of the armies appeared, their marching being loud.

"I wonder how that world's political system works," Salem mused. It was important to her – after all, she would be the one leading it, and if there were any issues, she'd prefer to be aware of them ahead of time.

"It seems like every planet has a governor, although I'm not sure what their duties and powers entail," Weiss replied, not realizing it was just a rhetorical question. "I can only imagine that they actually have more ruling parties, each assigned to a smaller section of each planet, and the governors are only the higher overseers. This probably goes for Remnant as well. Most likely, the Houses of the Sons of Salem work as minor governors in Remnant, if they are on Remnant, that is. It's also possible that they have planets entirely to themselves."

"And above all, there is Salem, who holds a council full of the Sons and their heirs," Cinder added thoughtfully. To be part of the ruling system was a quite annoying, but also oddly appealing thought. She couldn't stand bureaucrats, but at the same time being in control of part of a planet was an immense amount of power…

A roar came as two Tyrant Rexes began to make their way down, followed by a battalion of Remnant guard whom were also followed by a float that held the veterans of the Zephyr campaign. They soldiers marched in complete unison as the riders of the Tyrant Rexes looked onwards, holding the battle Flag of Malach the siege breaker. Maze looked around, seeing the people cheer more loudly, some calling the names of their loved ones who sat upon the float. How they could tell it was them was beyond her since all Remnant guardsmen wore helmets that completely concealed their faces.

"Look! Here comes Nokris!" she heard someone yell as a transport descended from the sky, and landing on a landing pad atop the building. Another screen appeared, showing Nokris stepping out, followed by Ember Fall. She waved slightly, giving all those a smile as she and Nokris stood beside Salem. The parade moved forward as Sons of Salem marched forward, their heavy marching echoed loudly. They towered of the Remnant guard as they marched forward. Sons of Salem Champions rode atop Knightmares, each holding a power sword in one hand close to their chest with sword point upwards as they rode forward.

"Check it out!"

"Woah! Daddy look! Another ship!"

Sure enough, another transport landed, the screen showing that it was Ares along with Raye.

"Man, never thought teach could pull off a dress like that but damn did she!" Mauve laughed as Maze gave her a quick jab to the side of her stomach. "Kidding...agh always the same spot too."

"Are we sure that's not a descendent of Yang's?" Weiss stated flatly, ignoring Yang's outraged yelp. "The humour seems to match."

"As long as she doesn't start throwing jokes around…" Blake replied just as flatly. "Hopefully Maze will keep her in check."

More of the parade, showing off the various species of Grimm and the more of the various units of Remnant Guards. Each float holding the veterans of the Zephyr campaign, some simply looked on while others would wave. People were throwing flowers at the passing floats. Maze looked around, seeing how the people were smiling and cheering. She watched as a child touched a passing beowulf, exciting telling his siblings how cool it felt.

All the students grimaced. Even Cinder couldn't hide a wince. It didn't matter if she was on Salem's side, a Grimm was still a Grimm. They weren't 'cool' and they certainly weren't to be left near children.

Ren, however, was surprised when none of the Grimm made a single move toward the crowd of defenceless people. A single Beowolf would be able to kill at least five of them before being shut down, with how tightly packed they were. Yet, none of those creatures twitched a muscle.

A remnant guard jumped off a float, jumping the guard rails to hug someone, quiet sobs were heard as his face plate opened to reveal a faunus woman with tears streaming down her face but a big smile as well. She hugged a small child as a few other soldiers followed suit. No attempts were made to stop them, infact it looked like some were encouraged!

"Is that allowed?" Nora asked, watching the family reunite.

"In Atlas, no. It is strictly prohibited." Weiss sighed and looked down dejectedly. "It is actually a breach of protocol to even recognize someone else as family rather than their rank or civilian status. It's not actually against the rules, but it is highly frowned upon and it's considered improper and unworthy of Atlas military. The Ace Ops have a lot more freedom since they are a mix of military and Hunters, but most soldiers cannot step out of line." Unfortunately, Winter was not an Ace Ops member and greeting her little sister was always something she had to do almost in secret back in Atlas.

"In Vacuo, Vale and Atlas, where the military is limited to police and city guards, there is no such thing," Pyrrha continued, feeling sad for the heiress. "Soldiers are allowed to intermingle with the people as they wish. In fact, it's almost encouraged as long as they follow orders and perform their duties correctly – having them as a constant in people's lives makes them more approachable and gives people a sense of safety."

"You know, the worst thing about these things, is when you see that not everyone had their prayers answered." Neo answered their questioning looks by pointing at a young man within the crowd, the hope in his eyes slowly dying as no soldier came forward to meet him. A little boy was held in his arms, confused by the man's behaviour. "Not all families can be happily reunited."

"Many never returned to see their loved ones, my heart aches for you all grieving the loss of your mothers. Your fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives. Your loved ones. No words I can say will mend what was lost but I promise you all, soon we will no longer send our own to fight needless wars! Soon my people, we will break our shackles that bind us and enter a new Era of peace!" Salem proclaimed.

A few people glanced at their own Salem, who just quirked an eyebrow at them before she sighed. "Yes, indeed we share a name-" and so much more "-but I must ask you to stop comparing me to her every time she appears. It is starting to become vexing."

Ruby leaned toward Weiss and gently elbowed her side. "What does vexing mean?"

Weiss just gave her a look and didn't reply. How vexing.

Remnant Guards turned their heads to the screen of Salem, raising their fists to their chests over their hearts. "For Queen Salem! For our people! For the Remnant Sector!" they yelled in unison.

"Damn, the queen sure knows how to really get the blood pumping." Mauve laughed as Maze giggled.

"My people, never forget the ones lost! Mourn them but celebrate them! They had fought to ensure our home sector was safe and secured, a day did not go by when their thoughts didn't turn to you all! Our fallen have returned home, buried in the very sector that bore them!" Nokris spoke, his powerful voice echoing. "Celebrate not only the founding of our Kingdom, but those that gave their lives to raise its foundations but to also preserve! Be they Marine, guardsmen, or even a civilian! Never forget those they came before!" he finished.

"Basically, be happy that your loved ones died so that I can have even more power, is what he's saying," Blake muttered, scowling at the man. Nokris may not have been as bad as Ares or the accursed Atriox, but he was still a Son of Salem and bringer of genocide.

"There is no way of picturing death as a good thing," Salem replied evenly. "There are many good things that we now take for granted that were once paid in blood. From what I understand of this, the Remnant Sector is trying to shake off the influence of the Imperium of Man and gain its freedom once and for all. It might be a goal worth fighting and dying for."

"Fighting just so your rulers can destroy and subjugate and oppress even more planets than they already have is not worth fighting for, much less dying." Blake gave Salem a glare, daring her to deny her words. "An evil reign should be rebelled against, not embellishment with praise. They are blinding themselves to the truth and-"

"A truth that you, a seventeen-year-old girl who has only seen a few days' worth of this future, apparently knows even better than people who have lived in it for their entire lives?" The Queen of the Grimm turned around and glared right back at the girl, who flinched. "This kind of thinking is exactly what will get you, your teammates and the people you're protecting killed in the field! Remember that vainglory is one of the deadly sins. Check your sources before you claim to have all the answers."

"But-"

"Answers that you clearly don't have. You don't live in this world. You don't know anything about how people live in this world or how happy they are about it. Even worse, now that what you're seeing goes against the prejudices you've set yourself, you are denying reality and blinding yourself to the actual truth. Perhaps this world really is a dystopia – but up until now, all I've seen is a world where war is constant on its borders so that the centre of it, the people, can live happily and untouched by battles." Her glare swept over all the students, and she included her own servants in it for added realism. The way they shivered told her she may have exaggerated a little bit. "To illusion yourself into believing you hold all the answers will only lead to disaster once the price to pay starts being higher than just dreams. You'll die during your first fight against a serious opponent if you don't accept the fact that you might be wrong and that you should observe before making up your mind."

"And before any of you mentions the Grimm," Salem now turned to Weiss, who was about to speak up, "in this future the Grimm seem extremely docile when not ordered to fight. Perhaps they would a way to tame or control them. Perhaps they're just allies. Either way, stop basing your beliefs on our own timeline, when this is obviously centuries or even millennia into the future! Things could've changed. Things obviously did change. So open your eyes and judge for what it is, not for what you think it is."

Apparently satisfied with having cowed everyone into submission, Salem turned back to watching the world around them.

Another transport landed, showing all As Malach and Steele stepped out, Steele giving the camera a thumbs up as she grinned. She appeared to talk to Ember and Raye, the former simply rolling her eyes annoyed while the former appeared to Greet her. Eventually, the other sons arrived;

Onyx, arriving with a woman appearing to be much older than the others, she stood at attention. Given the fact that she was wearing a Remnant Guard centurion armor, means she was high in the military. Her amber colored hair cut short to allow her to wear her helmet easier. A deep scar running down her cheek towards her neck, a visible flaw upon her ebony skin.

Karn was next, though he had no heirs to speak of apparently, so he had arrived alone.

Crimson arrived, twins following him, a boy and girl who looked to be teenagers. What made them stand out was the fact they were wearing pelts of some kind of great beasts. Using the upper heads of the beast as hoods much like Malach. The Pelts were wrapped around armor of some kind with a blade or two attached to their wastes. Their faces were slightly dirty, as if they had been in the wilderness or something.

A few exchanged glances at the sight of the other heirs. Compared to Ember or Raye or Thara or even Steele, they were severely underdressed.

"I heard Lord Crimson throws all his descendants into the wilderness on his planet, to make sure they know how to survive on their own." Maze heard someone say, the Parade itself had come to a halt as more of the Ten arrived.

"Isn't that a little too extreme?" Nora asked feebly, still scared of setting Salem off again.

The Ruler of the Grimmlands wasn't annoyed any longer, but if it meant silence, then she was willing to let them believe that.

It was Mercury who answered. "Depends. If he just abandons them on their own, yes. If he secretly watches over them during that time, no."

"Uh Maze, isn't Lord Crimson's planet considered a death world?" Mauve asked once hearing that as well.

"Uh, well it's considered a feudal world in a sense but yes, it can also be classified as a death world."

More glances were exchanged. They didn't know what a death world was, but the name itself was fairly self-explanatory. If Crimson really threw them to the Beowolves in a world classified as a 'death world', then chances were those two were the only descendants he had.

Skorge arrived right after, he too had no descendants either much like Karn. A weakness it was rumored he said, one he didn't need.

Tarn was next. The Sorcerer walked forward, bowing slighting to Salem as he stood Next to Skorge, a small boy following him with a book in hand. Wearing what appeared to be robes, he stood in front of Tarn as again, the soldiers yelled out the same they said before.

"Stereotypical wizard vibes, anyone~?" Neo murmured teasingly, but no one replied, leaving her to pout – subtly, so that Salem wouldn't notice, obviously.

Thara was the last to arrive, walking slowly as she bowed to her grandmother.

"Its Princess Thara!"

"Woah! Never thought I'd see our leader in a dress! Thought she never took off her cape!" Mauve laughed but was shut up as Maze again hit her side

"Always...the...side!"

"Definitely Yang's descendant," Ruby muttered to herself. Blunt and bold, it was not the prettiest combination whenever delicate social skills were needed. Not like she was any better, really – she just kept her social awkwardness polite.

"Look, she's carrying something." Maze said, sure enough, Thara turned around to face the crowd, showing she was carrying a picture of Jaune, the first born and first Overlord of the chapter.

"Overlord?" Emerald mouthed to Mercury, who just shrugged helplessly. It did give a dark vibe, but eventually it just meant lord over the others.

"Enjoy the celebrations my people, enjoy your loved ones that have returned home. Celebrate the 450th year since the Founding! Celebrate our Victory!" Salem proclaimed as the people cheered. The parade eventually ended as the streets were filled with joys of people and stalls being opened.

-Inside the Gathering's chambers-

Voices filled the grand hall as Salem and the others walked towards the main chambers. As soon as they passed through the large opening, they were greeted with over a hundred men and women. Human and Faunus, all Governors of their respective planets that Salem had entrusted with them to rule in her stead. The main chamber itself was massive, like a grand hall of an ancient majestic halls only seen in ruins or paintings. Each Governor had their own respective spaces, all spread out evenly with Only Salem's throne and those of her Son's stood above them. The Governors immediately went Silent as Salem stepped in, bowing as she walked over to her throne. She was flanked by Thara and Nokris as she sat down. Each of her sons Taking seats in their large thrones as their heirs took seats in similar looking thrones though smaller to accommodate their normal sizes. The normal thrones built at the foot of their grandfather's thrones. Thara had Jaune's portrait set upon his throne with the help of Onyx as she took her seat upon her throne next to her grandmother. She caught Ember looking at her as she sat opposite of Salem, she waved at her awkwardly only for the woman to give her an indifferent look before gazing down at the bowing people before them. Thara sighed, she watched as each of the Sons took off their respective helmets and placed them on pedestals near the thrones.

A few people were awed by the size of the hall – it was likely larger than Beacon's own main hall! Forget that, chances were it was the size of Beacon's whole courtyard, that that was big enough to house half a fleet of spaceships!

"Can you see how many governors are there?" Weiss asked, trying to get a feel of how many planets there were in the Remnant Sector.

"At least a hundred," Ren replied. "Although now we know that each Son probably has a planet to themselves as well."

"Its going to be a long day…" she mentally told herself. Though something did catch her eye, she noticed an empty throne for an heir at the base of Karn's throne. "Wait, wh-" but she immediately paid attention once she heard the familiar heavy sounds of a marine approaching from the grand hall they came from.

She gulped as she Saw Atriox walk in, the final son looking at all the bowing Governors. She swears she heard an inhuman growl coming from him as he walked to take his seat upon his throne, though not removing his helmet. What took her more by surprise was the fact that a small girl skipped behind, followed by one of his Vessels. She was smiling, looking no older than eight years old as she was helped upon her throne by Atriox. She smiled at him cheerfully as he took his seat, swinging her legs playfully. Once more, Atriox's other arm was free to see. To see he not only had one Grimm arm but two! The five fingered clawed appendages gripped the arms of his throne tightly, cracking them a bit. They were nearly identical to that of an Alpha beowulf's arms though more muscular and large to accommodate his size. He looked at Thara, startling the girl as she looked back to the people.

Silence fell over them as they watched the abominable Son of Salem carefully hold the tiny girl up and hoist her on her throne with a level of care close to that of Ares back with his 'grandkids'. The sight was so absurd they were all shocked speechless.

Even Ren, who held nothing but pure hatred and spite toward the man who dared use the Knuckelavee as his symbol, couldn't help but be taken aback by the sight. The fact that an eight-year-old was apparently old enough to be considered his heir was also extremely surprising.

"Who is she?" Neo asked curiously.

"I have no idea," Cinder admitted. "This… I wasn't expecting Lord Atriox to bring any heir, much less a little girl."

"Appearances can be deceiving," Salem replied blandly. She did not care to specify whether she meant Atriox or the girl herself.

"Now that my final son has arrived, all of you raise your heads! The 450th gathering shall commence!" she proclaimed.

And just at that moment, the world around them fuzzed out and disappeared, once again replaced by the blurry replica of the Beacon cafeteria. Ruby, Yang, Nora and Neo all groaned in disappointment. It didn't matter whether they liked this future or not, they hated cliffhangers! And they hated when things got interrupted after such a long build-up!

"That's so not fair! I wanted to see the Gathering!" Neo whined, stomping her foot. The action might've been adorably childish to anyone who didn't already know how deadly she was as an assassin. To those who did, her anger was just something to be wary of.

"I'm afraid this viewing has gone on for long enough." Khor materialized not too far from them, apparently busy picking at the scales around his eyes. He was as unreal and fuzzy as always, so they couldn't make out what the problem seemed to be. "Not to mention, the best for last and all of that, no? You have a lot to think about, or at least I hope you do. I'd be terribly disappointed if you didn't. I'm just making sure you have time to assimilate all of this before we continue tomorrow night."

"Why can't you just show us all in one go?" Ruby asked. "I mean, you already can manipulate time, right? These 'viewings' take up a whole night, but they're not actually that long, so why don't you do the opposite and let us see everything we need to see?"

"Because your brains would shutdown from the information overload," he replied candidly, waving his free hand in the air beside his head. "Trust me, this is for the best. There's no point in forcing everything on you so early on, after all. You will have all the time in the world to choose what to do with this information. I chose these days for this very reason, after all – to give you more time to think and make decisions."

Cinder sent Salem a glance. Did that mean that Lord Khor had purposefully sabotaged their plan just so Beacon wouldn't fall, and the Beacon students would be free to think about this future as they wished? That did make her lean toward the possibility of Khor being an enemy trying to foil Salem's plans, but then why would he show a world like that in such a positive light?

"Now that that question is out of the way, good morning, and remember to ask Jaune about Nokris." He flicked his hand toward Pyrrha and a strip of paper with the words 'ask Jaune about Nokris' appeared in her hands. "There. So you can't say I tried to stop you. Really, it's not that hard, is it now?"

"Than-"

Pyrrha's reply was suddenly cut off as everyone melted away into white, then black, and then they all woke up in their beds.

The red-haired warrior glanced down at her hands, where the note still was, where the words still were (though she couldn't read them due to the low light) and then glanced at Jaune's bed, where their great leader and future saviour was snoring slightly, muttering about waffles, in his blue onesie.

Well, Lord Khor was right. Now they would remember to ask him that, at least.