Alright, got an internship, so that's... progress. Anyway, here we go!
Beta-ed by MasterPrince713. xenosaiyan was waylaid by real-life responsibilities.
"Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten us into?!"
"How is this my fault? I told you I couldn't control where we'd end up!"
"You said we'd be in the castle! Not in the middle of the horde of ancient Grimm outside the castle!"
"I specifically said that was a possibility!"
"Would you two cut it out for five seconds-gah!?" Carla shrieked, desperately swooping low as her Future Vision only just barely warned her of the incoming fangs of some gigantic Umbral Spirit.
She didn't know if it was her own dreadful luck or Qrow's semblance that had caused it, but her group had drawn the shortest possible end of the stick in terms of the portal drop-offs. Namely, in the middle of the horde of gigantic ancient Grimm circling Salem's castle.
Carla was hardly an expert on the banes of humanity and their numerous different species, but Qrow had acquainted her with a few general rules huntsmen used to judge the danger of their foes. Namely, the bigger they were and the more bone armor they had, the tougher and more vicious they were. And considering most of the swarm stood out by color contrast with the pitch-black ground and Raven's various elemental blasts were at best bouncing off their hides as annoyances, it was a fair bet that direct confrontation would not be beneficial to their group.
"Salem has commanded these Grimm to not enter the perimeter of the castle, correct?!" Penny called to the Branwen twins, the machia girl firing off every laser she could to ward off a flock of acid-spitting, two-headed pegasi. "Perhaps it would be best if we—"
"Run away?" Raven shouted, freezing some sort of towering Grimm flytrap open as she leapt back from its jaws. "I like that plan!"
"You would!" Qrow scoffed, barely managing to use Harbinger to skate around a Goliath's tusk.
"Is now really the time for this?!"
"No!" Carla yelled. "Get to the castle courtyard!"
The white Exceed stayed just long enough to make sure Qrow and Raven actually managed to stop bickering for the five seconds needed to transform into their bird forms, the ancient Grimm abruptly halting their pursuit as soon as the huntsmen became animals. After ascertaining that the twins were on the move, Carla paused to briefly check on Penny. But when she banked to aid the flying girl, her ally waved her off.
"Go!" she commanded, her rocket boots flickering with bits of magic as the Pegasus Grimm piled on her legs. Even still, she rose higher and higher into the air, the ground-based Umbral Spirits and even some of the low-fliers unable to reach her altitude "I have a plan!"
Carla really wished she'd been able to communicate what exactly that plan was but considering the circumstances it was obvious they didn't have the luxury. She could only put her faith in Ruby's robot friend and do her part not to cause everyone else grief. All around her, ancient Grimm, beasts of horror that she couldn't hope to scratch in combat, closed around her, leaving only the barest corridor that she might have been able to squeeze through for an exit. As the horde churned and charged around her, that route would only exist for perhaps a moment more.
Fortunately, that was all she needed.
With a flap of her wings and a concentrated burst of her Aera Magic, Carla rocketed out of the mass of darkness, the beginnings of a sonic boom in her wake.
She and Happy had flown their Dragon Slayers across continents in hours. Unencumbered and with only a few hundred yards to cover in a straight shot? Piece of cake.
Carla's wings screeched as she whipped around once she crossed Salem's perimeter. Just as Raven promised, terrifying though the ancient Grimm were, they couldn't cross into the territory surrounding the castle and its courtyards.
A pair of black birds landed on either side of the Exceed and soon she was flanked on either side by the Branwen twins.
"You good?" Qrow inquired.
Carla nodded. "Did you see anyone else come out with us?"
The huntsman shook his head. "Just us and the robo-girl. Who is currently…"
"There!" Raven spied, pointing nearly straight up.
Carla's gaze zipped upward and her eyes widened. The flares of magic Penny had sparked over her legs suddenly sprouted into some sort of uneven engines, her aura fizzling as the twin heads of the Pegasus Grimm sprayed her with acid. However, as the machia climbed higher and higher into the sky, the Umbral Spirits' wings flapped more frantically, barely able to keep them stable.
Then Penny's rocket engines erupted with emerald fire and the orange-haired girl blew out of sight, her attackers careening through the air from the blowback.
Carla, Qrow, and Raven shielded their eyes from the glow, watching at their ally shrank into a mere dot in the heights of the atmosphere.
"Huh. Fly higher than the Grimm can and then come down within Salem's perimeter," Raven observed. "Smart girl."
Qrow nodded. "Is she gonna come back down any time soon—"
Carla yanked the huntsman a few yards to the left, her future vision having already made her aware of the answer to his query.
It took half a minute, but a flaming meteor with a quirky smile soon fell and smashed a crater into the black courtyard. Carla and Qrow rushed in, both wizards reaching to help, only to recoil from their ally's superheated metal form.
Fortunately, after a brief moment of reset, Penny hopped to her feet with a grin on her face.
"Ow," she cheerily proclaimed.
Qrow cocked an eyebrow. "You alright, kid?"
"I am fine," Penny assured him. She glanced down at her legs, a look of wonder in her eyes as patches of white light slowly compressed her massive, clunky robot engines back into her legs. "Amazing. Would breathing really be as easy that?"
Carla winced. The spellwork might have been amateurishly uneven, but her application of the machias's natural Metamorphosis Magic was undeniably impressive, especially for a first time use. "Possibly. Though, you'll get better at more stably applying it with practice."
"Sensational," Penny whispered in awe. "I don't have any records of anyone flying that high."
"Yes, it's lovely," Raven droned from the rim of the crater, her eyes locked fearfully on the looming castle. "Now get yourself ready to move."
"She'll be ready in a second, Rae," Qrow scowled.
"We might not have a second!" Raven snapped, her hand clenching around the hilt of Stalwart Stem. "My portals won't be any use moving within this place. We have to find the others. Before the Gates find us."
Carla frowned. Raven wasn't wrong, even if she was obviously struggling with her fear. They knew they'd be scattered on entry and accepted that risk, but that didn't mean they were invulnerable. As their recent scramble proved, Salem not wanting them dead did not mean they were not in danger.
She tried to force her Future Vision, scowling when her precognition once more proved that it demanded immediate threats to her life to work. The white Exceed wished Wendy had ended up in her group. Not only because she always felt safer with the Dragon Slayer by her side, but because then she'd at least know she was safe. She could have been portalled into a wall or some sort of torture pit… no, no, Wendy could take care of herself. And at the very least, she had Irene with her to back her up. Unless the Queen of Dragons chose now to spring some sort of trap or manipulated her partner into something she couldn't take back—
No, no, that kind of panic wouldn't get her anywhere. She had to have faith in Wendy and the others. They could handle this. They could handle this.
"There's a landing pad up there," Carla pointed. "You two know the lay of the land. Does it lead to an entrance?"
Qrow nodded. "It's the front door."
"Then it's a good thing we're not trying to be stealthy," Carla decided. "Once Penny's legs have reset, we fly."
They had to keep moving. Until they met up, she could only hope that one of her other guildmates had ended up in the same group as Wendy.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT
Gray had hoped that he'd end up in a group with at least one person he knew well. Alas, it was not to be.
"What is this place?" Nora asked, peeking into one of the many barred doors in the pitch-black hall. Within each, seal stone chains connected out from the wall. "Some kind of dungeon?"
"Possibly," Ren remarked, his eyes steadily scanning the area. "We must be in the castle's lower levels."
"Stay on your guard," Gray warned. "Even if the Gates won't attack us, there might still be traps that haven't been disarmed."
"Like the portal barrier," Pyrrha noted, immediately raising her arms into a combat stance, her eyes warily darting around the dungeon. "We need to be careful."
Gray cocked an eyebrow. He hadn't interacted with Erza's daughter much (Erza's daughter!), but she seemed far more off-balance than her mother usually was. Granted, perhaps it was unfair to compare her to his legendarily steely friend, but even just for everything he'd been told she'd been through, it was unusual to see Pyrrha so unnerved.
Of course, maybe it was because of everything she'd been through that she was so skittish. He certainly hadn't been unaffected by all he'd weathered.
He made to place a comforting hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. When his fingers touched her armor through, she whipped around, causing him to placatingly raise his hands.
"Hey, don't worry," he assured her. "It's dangerous, but we'll manage. Remember, your mom's here somewhere, and there's nothing she can't handle."
Pyrrha gulped and managed to relax her shoulders. "Right. Thanks, Gray… Mr. Fullbuster… uncle?"
Gray stammered, as Nora's giggles sounded behind him. Still, he managed a smile to the other redhead. "Gray is fine. Though if you really want to, I guess 'uncle' works too."
"Ooo," Nora cooed, hopping up to Pyrrha. "Does that make Wendy and Carla your aunts?"
"Um… well… I guess?" Pyrrha mumbled. Her head shot towards her other teammate, desperate for distraction. "Ren, can you sense anyone?"
The green-robed huntsman knelt on the floor, his eyes closed as his palm spread over the ground. "I sense four auras close by. But one… one is flickering."
Pyrrha's face paled. "A fight?"
"Or torture," Gray frowned. "Let's move."
He forged ahead, Ren and Nora instantly falling in line behind him. Pyrrha took a moment to act, but she managed to bring up the rear.
Poor girl. She was terrified out of her mind but working hard to move despite it. That said, there was no telling if she would be caught in hesitation due to its presence. One moment without action could be the difference between living and dying.
Gray wasn't going to be the one to tell Erza that her daughter had died on his watch. He was already pushing down his hatred of Salem's cabal and his complicated feelings about what happened between him and Weiss in the forest, plus the usual suppression of his rage needed to control his Devil Slayer abilities. He'd do what he could to handle Pyrrha's fear as well.
A scowl deepened over his lips at the faint echoes of screams sounded through the halls. Negotiation was their primary goal, but if Salem was torturing Yang or Jaune?
He'd make sure she wouldn't get away with it. Or any of her other nefarious plans.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT
"Alright, so according to these reports, Shade Academy has conducted a 'Re-Initiation'," Salem read off of Summer's most recent intelligence reports. She groaned and leaned her forehead onto her palm. "Really?"
"Theodore doesn't have much faith in others. In his mind, a huntsman's individual strength is more important than teamwork," Hazel noted, an eyebrow cocked as he scanned the papers telling of his former ally in Ozpin's circle. "Though I must admit, this is reckless, even for him."
"You think? The students he got from Beacon were already traumatized from The Fall. Now he wants to take them away from the teams they know?" Sienna added, leafing through the rest of the report. "What about this revolutionary bunch? The Crown? Do we even know if they really exist?"
"Atlas Intelligence and our own contacts can confirm that they do," End sighed. "Unfortunately, they haven't been able to glean much else about them."
Happy nodded. "Somebody in their group has some sort of mind control semblance. Anyone we send who's actually able to get close ends up going dark before they can send back any details."
Sienna scowled. "Mind control? What would happen if they got one of us?"
"Nothing good," Salem surmised, folding her hands as she thought of options. "We can't allow such a power to remain in the wind in the hands of an unknown combatant. After we've concluded our business with Fairy Tail, Emerald will be sent to investigate. Any objections?"
Hazel frowned. "Alone? Are you sure that's wise?"
End chuckled. "She's not a child, Hazel. She can handle a solo mission, you big lug."
"Aye, sir!" Happy nodded. "She's perfect for this mission too! With her powers, she won't even have to ask anyone to get intel, just touch them and get them as transformations. No one will even realize she's spying on them!"
Sienna shrugged. "You all have a better grasp of her abilities than I do. I'll trust your judgment on whether she can handle it or not."
Salem smiled. As tiresome as the minutiae of taking over the world to save it could be, her circle at least made it bearable, kept her from going too far in her endeavors. Truthfully, it was only in this latest generation that she had begun to benefit from such friendship again. In the past, she had kept her allies at arm's length, knowing that until she could perfect The Ascension Chamber, it would only be a matter of time before time claimed them from her. But beginning with End and solidifying with Summer, she'd finally began to feel as she once had among Fairy Tail. Among Team RWBY—
End suddenly shot to his feet, whirling around in his chair at the foot of the table and glaring behind him. Hazel, recognizing the possible danger, followed suit in his own seat, though Sienna and Happy only rolled forward in their chairs.
Salem herself could only grin.
An unstable black vortex of a portal, scarlet lightning crackling over the void. Frightening as it might have seen to some, to the Queen it was downright pedestrian. Welcome even, for those it might deposit into her arms at last. She pondered who might come through first? Wendy, Erza, Lucy,—
-some farmboy?
Salem cocked her head to the side as a random boy with tanned skin and green eyes plopped out of the portal. Of all the people she'd anticipated, she could safely say that some never-before-seen tween had not been one of them.
However, a low growl drew her attention to Hazel, the hulking Gate slowly stomping towards the boy. That was strange. He was usually great with kids, why would he… oh, The Long Memory was on the back of the farmboy's belt. That explained it.
"Ozpin…" Hazel snarled, a spray of steam flooding from his nostrils.
"Huh?" The boy squeaked, his head flying up. She immediately scooted back across the floor, his eyes fearfully darting between the assembled Eclipse Etherious. "Wait! I'm not Ozpin!"
End raised an eyebrow. "Yes, you are."
That actually managed to spark a mask of rage over the child's face. "No, I'm not! He's in my head, but I am not him."
"A deception!" Hazel growled.
"No. Ozma's lies have a different flavor to them," Salem declared, finding herself looking on the boy with pity. "You're just the latest victim of that curse of his, aren't you, child? What is your name?"
The farmboy schooled his face into an expression of steel, one The Queen had seen many times on her husband's many faces. "My name is Oscar."
"Oscar," Hazel muttered, his anger tinged with morose regret. "But he is still infected with Ozpin."
End glanced back at Salem and she subtly inclined her head. Hazel was usually one of her more level-headed friends, but in matters involving Ozpin, his rage often overwhelmed his reason. It was the Ophiuchus's duty to protect The Gates from that which was beyond their power and themselves. If The Gate of the Bull could not control himself, then it would be the guardian's duty to restrain him.
Fortunately, it seemed such measures were unnecessary.
Sienna scooted up from her chair and slipped over to Hazel's side. Her clawed hand pricked itself onto his arm, the larger man's head turning to meet her scolding gaze.
"Remember," she warned. "How useful is it to what you want to achieve?"
Salem had no idea what the former tiger faunus was referring to, but whatever it was caused Hazel to take a breath and look back to Oscar with his rage shackled, his sympathy for the boy fully taking over his visage.
"I'm sorry," he said. "It is good to meet you, Oscar."
"Right," the boy responded, his eyes scanning the towering Eclipse Etherious with growing familiarity, Ozma likely informing him of the sad fates of Gretchen and Gretel. He drew The Long Memory and used the cane to leverage himself to his feet. "… you're… Hazel Rainart."
"He is," Salem spoke up. "If I may inquire, young Oscar, do you have any idea where your companions have—"
"Yaaaahhhhh!"
"—arrived…"
Perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised that her portal defense had affected the timing of the drop-off as well the grouping. Three more figures were shot out of the crackling vortex, blurs of blue and gold blasting across her conference room.
Wendy, the first and only blue streak, crashed into Oscar from behind, both children sent barreling towards the conference table. End knelt to catch them before they struck the leg, but Sienna outstretched her hand before the pair could get that far. A black gravity vortex opened beneath the young wizards, relieving them of their momentum and allowing them to float safely in mid-air.
Captain Leo, oh how good it was to see him again, was the first of the golden streaks, barely managing to coat his limbs in Regulus and thrust them into the floor. The obsidian ground was torn into a trench, but it kept him from going flying.
Something the final blur did not benefit from.
Lucy soared over the kneeling End's head and crashed straight through his highbacked chair, dust and rubble splattering all over the Ophiuchus. The blonde Celestial Spirit Wizard smacked face-first into the conference table, skidding and spinning all the way to the middle.
"Ugghh…" she groaned. "Why? Why is it always me?"
Happy had already taken to his smaller form and leapt atop the tabletop, rushing to his friend's side. Salem rose herself and circled around to examine Lucy from the other side.
She was about to ask if her old friend was alright when she felt the room's temperature take a distinctive tick upward.
End rose from the end of the table, no notice given to black dust coating his body. His eyes were only locked on the table, specifically the blonde laid out over it. His breathing sped up, shallow, frantic pants hammering from his lips, blue flame tickling his fingers.
Hazel grabbed Sienna, Oscar, and Wendy, gently tugging them all away. Happy, his fur standing on end, whirled around, his paws raised in placation. Lucy, her rough landing forgotten, scrambled to her knees and turned to face the mightiest Etherious, Leo rushing to her side and protectively standing over his contractor.
Salem showed no panic. She made no rush or terror of concern. She was concerned, let there be no mistake about that, but she had faith. End needed her help, but he had faith in her that she would give it. And in turn, she had faith that he would not hurt her or their other allies.
She glided over to his side, her hand gracefully falling on his shoulder. His eyes whipped over to her face, only to regain some semblance of sense when her face entered his vision.
"You are safe. You are among friends," she consoled him. As the flames of his claws trickled down, she slipped her hand through his. "I am here. You have nothing to fear."
It was a slow process, but End was able to bring his breath back under control. The room temperature settled back to something tolerable, and Happy and Hazel both let out sighs of relief.
End looked over Lucy, scowling, but calm. "Welcome to Castle Evernight, Lucy Heartfilia."
The blonde Celestial Spirit Wizard gulped, inching herself out of Leo's protective hold. She slid off the table and managed a nod at The Queen and The Ophiuchus. "Thank you, End… Sitara."
"I prefer Salem nowadays, but for you, my friends, Sitara is fine," Salem grinned. She rushed over to Lucy and swept her up into a tight hug. "Oh, it is so good to see you all again."
Lucy's body instinctively went stiff, but she managed to tentatively reach her arms around Salem to return the embrace. It broke The Queen's heart that her old friend was so hesitant, but with everything that had occurred at Beacon, Kuo Kuana, Atlas, and Haven, she couldn't find it within herself to blame them. Like Yang had been when she'd first arrived, the other Fairy Tail members were confused, blinded by Ozpin's fearful false tales of her intentions… yet, they'd brought him.
She lowered Lucy back to the ground and glanced back at Oscar. Wendy instantly came in front of the farmboy, meeting the Queen's gaze.
"We used a question from the Relic of Knowledge," the Sky Dragon Slayer proclaimed. "We know what you've been through, and we know some of what you're planning. He's agreed to go along with whatever we decide."
They used the lamp? That meant there was only one question left. Slightly vexing, but if combined with Captain Leo's testimony, it meant they now understood her intentions. A price well worth paying. One question would be sufficient to locate the final sphere, and if something unexpected did occur, her ritual could use Lucy to backtrack the magic she'd used to cast it. However, she hoped to avoid having to use that painful process if at all possible.
Of course, such was not the time for such minute details. Her friends were here! And if Raven's portal was as affected by the castle's defenses as it appeared to be, the rest of the Fairy Tail party could be anywhere.
"Happy, head down to Watts's observation room and see if you can locate anyone else," Salem directed. "I'll use the Seers."
"Aye, sir!" the demonic Exceed nodded. A burst of Aera Magic, and he rocketed down the hall.
Salem reached out through her magic, that which allowed her to command the Celestial Spirits so long ago as the trainer of the Zodiac, now connecting her to the Umbral Spirits thanks to the corruption that even now sought to rot away her mind. She pricked into what could be considered the consciousnesses of the Seer Grimm throughout the castle, her creations. She ordered them to scatter, to search every nook and cranny of her fortress to locate her friends.
Though, she directed one to go to Summer's room in particular. If a Fairy Tail party was here, there was no way the rest of Team RWBY were not among them. The Gate of the Maiden would be happy to know her reunion with her final daughter was close at hand.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT
"Hello, little flower."
No one had called Ruby that in over a decade. Only two people had ever used the nickname. One of them was back on Patch, and he'd stopped using it when the other had passed away. It was too painful a memory to recall with his daughter who looked so close to his lost wife.
The wife that now stood before Ruby's very eyes. Her mother.
Despite the resemblance between the golden-eyed woman and herself, she hadn't instantly made the connection, instead making the more logical assumption that she was some sort of illusion or rapidly grown demon clone or something else outlandish that had somehow become rational in her life. The oddly protective way Yang was acting over her must have been a result of mind control from the Macro Curse.
But then she'd seen the photos on the bedstand. Ruby didn't recognize the one of the black-haired girl, but she had seen the one of her and Yang as kids before. And the image of Team STRQ… there were only four copies of that photo ever made. And since she was relatively sure Raven hadn't let go of her copy of it any more than her dad or Uncle Qrow, that could only mean…
"How is this possible?" Ruby demanded, shaking so much that she hadn't even had the thought to requip Crescent Rose. "You… you're dead."
"No, Ruby, she's not," Yang professed, dashing over and taking her sister's hands in her own of purple flames. "She's had to stay away, but now she's come back to us."
"Come back to… I'm confused," Blake chimed, flickering her gaze between Ruby and Summer. "I thought your mom was where you got your silver eyes?"
"And this monster has gold," Weiss growled, Myrtenaster still pointed at the Eclipse Etherious bleeding the Winter Maiden's power. "She's lying! It's what she does, Yang! She's used Macro to brainwash you!"
Yang's face morphed into one of sorrow and sympathy. She raised her fire hands and slowly inched towards her white-haired teammate. "Weiss, I know what happened to you in Atlas. I know why you believe that, and I am so sorry for what happened."
"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Weiss snipped, glaring at Summer, who was only now was able to tear her eyes off of Ruby. "You've just been brainwashed."
Yang slipped forward and gently guided Myrtenaster down. "I had my aura up the entire time. You know how Macro works. I'm not under anyone's control but my own. And… she is who she says she is. She can prove it."
The Devil Slayer looked back to Ruby. "Is your aura up?"
Ruby gulped, nodding. "We went in with it on. Didn't know how safe the portals would be."
"Then you can't be given a command," Yang turned to Summer. "Give her the memories back."
"Of course. You all need to know the truth," Summer said, raising her arm. "I rescind my order."
"What are you…"
Ruby's breaths caught in her throat, her eyes shooting wide but not seeing anything. No, in that moment, all she saw was the past, her past, and the memories that came rushing back into her mind.
'Nothing's wrong, Ruby. Everything's going to be alright.'
'Yang! Mama's back!'
'What have you done?'
'Kitty!'
'Make it stop! Mommy, please make it stop!'
'Ruby and Yang will travel into the past and shape Salem's ideology!'
'If they know you're alive, then they don't become the people time needs them to be!'
'Ruby, Yang, my beautiful girls. Mommy loves you. She loves you more than anything in the whole world.'
"Ruby? Ruby!" Weiss called, shaking her shoulder. "What did she do—"
"Mom," the Silver Spirit Slayer murmured, certainty and horror filling her voice as tears slipped down her cheeks. "Mom."
Summer gulped, a knowing trepidation and resignation dominating her face. "Yes, Ruby. It's me."
"She's real, Ruby," Yang joyously confirmed. "She's here, Ruby. She's alive. She's—"
"Esper Rosenflos," Ruby finished, her hands flying to her own forehead, silver light beginning to taint her vision. "You're Esper Rosenflos. Everything that happened to Weiss… how could you? How could you?"
The red hooded wizard staggered back, her head pulsing with the force of her own magic as her emotions crashed through her mind like a boiling sea. Her mother who'd read her bedtime stories and baked her cookies, who'd been her inspiration as a huntress, whose white cloak had filled her dreams since she'd left so long ago… she'd been responsible for everything Weiss, Gray, and Penny had gone through in Atlas.
How could she? How could she?
This… she had to fix this. Ruby didn't know how, but she had to find a way to fix this. She had to.
Yang winced. "Ruby…"
"It's alright, Yang. She isn't wrong," Summer replied, her shame-filled eyes finally managing to tear themselves away from her daughter, naturally floating to land on Weiss. "Your brother has woken from his coma and returned to full health. He's taken over the SDC and done well to reform your father's regime. And Winter is safe—"
"You don't get to talk!" Weiss roared, stomping towards the Eclipse Etherious, only for Blake to grab hold and tug her back. Yang ran around to the other side of the pair, her face set in a desperate plea to her teammate.
Meanwhile, Summer fell to her knees, her head bowed in supplication to the White Fairy. "You have every right to despise me, Weiss. But I beg of you, forestall your justice until the danger has passed. Remnant is in grave danger—"
"We know!" Weiss shouted, wrenching herself from Blake's grip. "We used the Relic of Knowledge. We know about the Gods and the Umbral Spirit King."
Summer blinked. "Oh. Alright then. That makes things simpler—"
The Winter Maiden's observation was interrupted as the wall of the room exploded. Ruby shielded her eyes as a cloud of dust filled the room just as Summer leapt back to her feet, the clang of steel ringing out from the smog.
When the smoke cleared, Erza stood scowling before Summer, her sword at the Gate's throat. In contrast, the Golden Spirit Slayer smiled in near awe at the Titania, a knife slid up against the crossguard of the redhead's blade, preventing it from coming any closer.
"Erza Scarlet," Summer said, as if the Queen of the Fairies was a storybook character come to life. "It's an honor."
"Summer Rose," Erza replied, her voice distinctly displeased. "I wish I could say the same."
The Spirit Slayer's face fell. "So do I."
"Then you shouldn't have poisoned and framed my guildmates," Erza snarled. "If we weren't so desperate—"
"Erza, please!" Yang begged, rushing between the two older women. "Please, stop! She won't hurt us, I promise! Please. She's my mom."
"And yet she still destroyed your guildmates' lives," Erza growled, glaring at Summer. "I thought Esper Rosenflos was a despicable creature, but this betrayal…"
"Doesn't change anything."
All eyes whipped around to Ruby, the young wizard wrestling her breathing under control.
"It doesn't change what we're here to do, Erza," she clarified. "We came to get Yang and Jaune, and see if there was a way for all of us to work together to save the world. Mom… mom doesn't change that."
Ruby hadn't known what to expect when the words left her mouth. Yang looked to her with joy, Weiss with a hint of confusion, and Blake just padded over to lend a supporting hand on the red hooded girl's shoulder. Summer herself seemed to have two conflicting emotions dueling across her face, a resigned acceptance and a swell of pride for her youngest daughter. Those last two confused Ruby most of all.
But her argument accomplished its primary goal. Erza sighed in disgruntlement, but she banished her sword away to her Requip dimension and stepped back from Summer.
"Yang, Ruby," Weiss spoke, gesturing her head to the door. "A word."
The sisters shared a look, each dreading what their teammate might wish to speak about.
Yang turned back to Summer, her violet eyes fearfully flickering over her mother's chest. "Will you be alright?"
"I'll be fine, firecracker," the Eclipse Etherious assured her with a smile. "The Queen will likely track us down soon. You should take some time with your friends before we have to talk business."
"No offense, but I think I'll stay in here," Blake said, her golden eyes narrowed at the Winter Maiden. "So far, none of us have been able to take a Gate alone, so if you decided to jump Erza…"
Summer sighed. "I can't fault you for your caution. That said, I assure you that you have nothing to fear from me. Though, I certainly won't turn down the chance to get to know the last of my daughters' teammates."
Blake's eyebrow twitched. "Right."
Ruby had a feeling the cat faunus wouldn't be too excited to meet the sisters' mother. After all, she herself had no idea if she was happy about this or not.
She and Yang followed Weiss out of the room and into the hall.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT
Erza idly noted as the door closed behind Ruby, Weiss, and Yang. She hoped that Ruby would be able to help those two, keep Weiss's fury and confusion at the revelation of her nemesis's identity from boiling over and snap Yang out of whatever rapturous stupor had taken her since she'd discovered the same.
However, her own eyes did not leave Summer, even if she knew in terms of pragmatism that Ruby's words had been correct. Still, she could not help the blazing fury that encompassed her when she looked upon the former huntress. She'd despised Esper Rosenflos for what she'd done to her friends, but this was anger approaching what she felt for Cinder. And it was entirely due to the new knowledge of the woman's identity.
During the Alvarez War, she hadn't felt anything when she'd first learned Irene was her mother. She'd already had a parent in Master Makarov and the fact that her enemy had shared blood with her had mattered little compared to the bonds she'd forged with her family. Fighting her had been one of the hardest battles of Erza's life, but opposing her had been a simple decision.
Not so with Ruby and Yang now. Though neither girl had spoken often of Summer at the guild due to the pain they'd associated with her supposed death, when they had been prompted to reminisce, they'd lavished their mother with glowing praise. While credit had to go to Taiyang and to an extent Qrow for raising them, it was clear that their bond with their departed 'Super-Mom' had been very real, very strong, and played a very important role in shaping each of them into the fine women they were.
And now that bond had been twisted to wreak havoc on their friends' lives. To Erza, who prized her loving bond of motherhood with Pyrrha above all, there was no greater betrayal. Hearing Ruby nearly breakdown from trying to process the implications… it was no wonder the Titania had burst out of the wall to defend her charges.
Now, Summer was eyeing Blake, and the Queen of Fairies felt her protective instincts flaring once more.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Blake," the Gate said. "Both The Queen and Sienna have spoken highly of you."
The cat faunus frowned. "So… Sienna is with you. She allowed you to use the White Fang as sacrifices at Haven."
"What? Oh, I see," Summer nodded. "You misunderstand. Those who were executed at Haven were not White Fang. Rather they were traitors. Followers of Adam Taurus, who supported his attempted coup against Sienna."
"Coup?!" Blake exclaimed. "When did this happen?"
"Well, in the end, it didn't. Hazel put a stop to the Blood-Soaked Bull's ambitions," Summer explained. "Sienna wanted to purge him and his followers immediately, but we convinced her otherwise. A mad dog still has uses."
"You mean being thrown to the wolves," Blake challenged. "Weiss told me what you did to him. You used him as a prop for your theatre and then murdered him."
"Yes," Summer confirmed. "Him and all his followers who would have waged a war of genocide and betrayed anyone who stood in their way."
Erza snorted. "Like you will?"
Summer sighed. "We did not choose this war. The Umbral Spirit King is coming. If we do nothing, everyone will die."
"So you're permitted to use that as an excuse to do whatever you like! Kill whoever you like!" Erza roared, stomping up to the golden-eyed woman. "General Ironwood was supposedly your friend! Yet you lied to him! Manipulated him! And when he was no longer of use, you assassinated him!"
The wretched woman had the nerve to look saddened. "The original plan wasn't to kill James. I had infiltrated the kingdom for years, worked through both my identities to slowly but surely place myself and councilmen I had direct control over in the majority, enough that his two seats would not be sufficient to stop any legislation pushed through. That would allow us to prepare the kingdom for its role until Ozpin could be convinced to join us, at which point he would bring the general into the fold."
Erza's eyebrow twitched. "And you couldn't just tell him because…?"
"You've never met James. There isn't a more stubborn man on the face of Remnant," Summer shook her head. "Ozpin spent years convincing him to see Salem as the ultimate enemy, the war he could not waver from fighting. Only the man himself had any hope of talking him into allying with her."
"You didn't even try," Erza spat. "You just wrote him off."
"I did not!" Summer shouted, anger allowed on her face for the first time since the Fairy Tail members had arrived. "I never wrote him off! I tried to calm him back down after The Fall. I served up Adam to try and convince him the threat had passed. But he was so paranoid, searching every shadow for daggers. It was only a matter of time before he found our actual operations, and even then, I couldn't… I should have. If I hadn't been weak, if I hadn't hesitated at enacting the failsafe, I could have ensured it was enacted properly, saved Willow's life."
Erza paused momentarily at that. The unwillingness to give up on a friend, no matter what they might do, was something she was admittedly familiar with. After all, she, like Natsu, hadn't held Laxus's attempts to kill the rest of the guild against him after the dust was settled, and had forgiven Jellal when given the slightest excuse of his amnesia long before she'd learned that his heinous actions at the Tower of Heaven had been due to brainwashing. Though where the world had rewarded her faith in her friends, it seemed to have been less merciful to Summer. Hell, Raven was firsthand proof that such leniency sometimes did not work as intended.
"Sounds like The Fall of Beacon was as unhelpful for you guys as it was for the rest of us," Blake noted, rubbing her hand over her arm.
"It was not part of the plan."
"So you've all said before," Blake mentioned. "Which raises the question: Why is Cinder alive?"
Summer raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? She's been restored by Neo-Hell's Core from her death at Haven."
"She's here?" Erza inquired, her spine shooting straight up. That monster was somewhere in the castle? On paper, she'd known that it had been likely, where else would the archer have regenerated, but she'd also hoped that she'd be there to protect Pyrrha. Now, for all she knew, her daughter could be alone in this damn castle with the woman who'd almost killed her twice stalking her every move—
"Pyrrha will be perfectly fine."
Erza's eyes widened, Summer shooting her an empathetic smile. "I'm a mother too. It wasn't difficult to guess where your mind went. Also…"
The Eclipse Etherious fell to her knees, supplicating herself just as she'd attempted to do before Weiss. "Please accept my deepest apologies for my daughter's actions against you and yours. I know that this comes as little comfort, and would be even less had Pyrrha died, but I feel I must do so, nonetheless. Rest assured, Cinder has been disciplined for her behavior and will not lay a finger on your daughter so long as I live."
"Disciplined for her behavior?" Blake barked. "You make it sound like she got into a fight, not that she blew up the school… wait. Daughter?!"
"Wait, but she's… over twenty, right? And Yang is only nineteen…" Erza mused, tilting her head. "How old are you?"
"Adopted daughter. But still my daughter," Summer revealed. "Whatever she has become, whatever she has done, she has because of my failures. But I cannot give up on her either."
"The blood of thousands is on her hands!"
"Then I will add it to mine. With all that's already there, it will hardly be of note."
"Hardly of note?" Erza growled. She reached down and yanked the golden-eyed woman to her feet by her collar.
Blake's eyes widened. "Erza, wait! We can't—"
"I'm not going to attack!" Erza barked, her teeth grinding against each other as she glared at Summer's face, this woman who held so many qualities that she liked about herself, who held such open love for those she herself loved, and yet was so utterly twisted.
"Hardly of note? You just got down on your knees to apologize for my daughter's near death. Was that only because she was my daughter?" she accused. "What about all the other sons and daughters yours, the monster you made, has left dead in her wake? What about all those you've killed, those you've called friend and those they've called friend?! Do they matter?! Do you even remember them!? Well? Do you remember them?!"
Summer looked down. But not at the floor. No, Erza noticed that she looked at herself, at the Atlas Intelligence uniform she wore. Her gaze was not set on the clothes however. Her golden eyes stared through them, almost as if they were trying to glimpse the inside of the pure white cloak on her back.
Or perhaps not even that far. Erza, her hands curled within the Gate's collar and pressed into her chest, couldn't help but notice the feeling of a familiar roughness buried under the other woman's clothes.
The Titania knew the weight of scars.
"I remember all of them," Summer whispered, tears prickling in her eyes.
"Then, why?" Erza demanded. "Why make more? Why risk making more Cinders who'll only spread the tragedy?"
Summer's gaze rose to look at her face-to-face. "Because if I don't, the Umbral Spirit King will do it anyway. If blood must be split, better thousands on my hands than millions on his."
"You're insane," Blake gulped. "You'll be a monster."
Summer shrugged. "As long as there is still a world to revile me, then it will be right. They will spit on me as you do, curse me as you do, punish me as you would, and it will be just. I do not ask your forgiveness, Erza Scarlet, nor Weiss's, nor Winter's, nor any of those I've slain. I do not deserve it. All I ask is that you forestall your justice until the threat to the world is dealt with."
"That's not how justice works," Erza bit out. "You don't get to decide when and how your debt is paid."
"And yet, you agree that it is necessary," Summer said. "Otherwise, you would have already ensured justice was carried out."
Erza let out a hoarse breath. Horrified, she released the Eclipse Etherious from her hold and backed away. Blake looked to the door her teammates had just left, while The Queen of the Fairies stared at the family photos atop her dresser.
She was insane. She was completely and utterly insane. Erza couldn't tell if it was an extreme version of Fairy Tail's unique madness, simple murderous ruthlessness, or some unholy mixture of both, but Summer Rose terrified her. She wasn't as powerful as Salem or End, but her conviction? She knew that conviction well. She'd rallied it to her own eyes many a time before.
The Titania recognized one other aspect of the Spirit Slayer as well, one that she'd forced herself to work on within herself over the years: the idea that she was the armor of her loved ones. That by sacrificing herself without reservation, she could minimize the pain to all of them, solve all the problems they faced. That she wouldn't have to lose anyone, like she lost everyone at the Tower of Heaven. Like Summer lost everyone when Raven had 'watched her die'. And like she feared losing them all and so much more to the Umbral Spirit King.
Erza had learned slowly but surely that she was the guild's champion, not its armor, a state of mind that by far benefitted her friends and her mental health in the long run. But Summer, even if she no longer thought of herself as a hero, still saw herself as armor. And in the end, all armor shattered.
Summer needed to hold onto all those she loved. And when she couldn't, when she finally broke once again… Erza hoped that she was there to stop her.
If she wasn't, gods knew what horrors would be unleashed.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT
Their mother. Esper Rosenflos was Ruby and Yang's gods' damned mother.
To say Weiss's head was spinning from the revelation was a drastic understatement. After she shut the door to the room behind them and led the sisters out into the hall of the bleak castle, she found herself unable to fully collect her thoughts by the time her body whirled around to face them.
Her muddled mind left her vulnerable when she laid eyes on them. Ruby, once so sure and confident on Patch, looked despondent and broken, her silver eyes like shattered swords. Perhaps it was odd that it was only here that Weiss truly recognized the full extent of her resemblance to Esper. It had seemed an odd coincidence before, but now that she knew their relation, it made all too much sense.
Weiss had no love for the gods, but she could only thank a provincial force of creation like them that she hadn't had to see Ruby joyfully hug Esper. She didn't know what she would have done if she had. She wasn't even sure how to respond to what had happened.
Ruby had called her mother out on her actions against her guildmates, but not with her promised fervor and usual resolve from back on the island. Weiss couldn't possibly understand the emotions churning in her partner's mind, but she could plainly see that they were hamstringing her, the silver-eyed girl still struggling to get her breath under control. She'd fallen on Weiss's side this time, but the next? Would the pull of her long-lost mother sway Ruby from keeping her promise?
It was already clear that it had had a significant effect on Yang. The fiery Devil Slayer, who would have flown into a rage if someone so much as insulted her friends, was nowhere to be seen, instead acting like some neutered puppy desperately leaping to her mistress's defense.
And yet, when Weiss turned on the sisters, when she looked upon the Sunny Little Dragon, she did not see the bastion of strength and passion she'd come to associate with Natsu's apprentice. She looked terrified, broken, her eyes soaked with barely contained tears as her arms listed at her sides without hands, only a stump of demonic black flesh permitting her right side a forearm.
"Your hands…" Weiss murmured, her confusion momentarily overridden by concern. "They told me, but… Yang…"
"It's alright. I'd lose both again in a heartbeat for you guys," Yang assured her. "Besides, what you went through in Atlas—"
"Do you know what I went through in Atlas?" Weiss asked. "Did she tell you what she did?"
Yang shrank back, unable to meet her teammate's eyes. "She did. She didn't want to manipulate me, so she made sure I knew everything. Your mom, your butler, your sister… everything."
Weiss frowned. "Then how can you possibly protect her?"
"Because… she's my mom."
It infuriated the God Slayer how much those words made sense to her. After all, her own mother had hardly been a model human being and here she was trying to avenge her. To Yang, who'd lost her own and been abandoned by Raven (twice!), to have her lost parent return and love her as she'd always dreamed, it would be a treasure beyond measure.
And yet, Weiss found that it only made her fury for Esper burn hotter. How dare she split her friends' loyalty? How dare she be loved without deception? How dare she be more than a monster for the White Fairy to put down?!
Yang sprouted Purple Flare arms from her stumps and came forward to clasp Weiss's hands in her own. "I'm not asking you to forgive her. I know that's impossible, and she needs to face justice for what she's done. But I'm begging you, please, as my friend… please, let us have our mother back. Just until after the Umbral Spirit King is dealt with. Then… then she's all yours."
Weiss yanked her hands away from her friend's grasp. "You can't be serious! She's a liar! A four-faced King Taijitu who'll say anything to get what she wants!"
"What she wants is to save the world," Ruby muttered. "That's all she ever wanted."
"That could take months! Years! And what about afterward?" Weiss challenged. "Once we've gone through Salem's grand plan to kill the Gods and destroy the Grimm, do you think they're just going to give up power? No! She will manipulate the masses to get her murders hailed as 'noble sacrifices for the common good' or whatever, and she'll use you two to try to get off scot-free with the rest of us!"
"She… she won't. Weiss, I promise you, she won't. If you can't trust her, please trust me," Yang pleaded, her cheeks soaked with waterfalls from her flooding violet eyes. "When I first found out who she was, before I took a second to process everything, I tried to convince her to try to find a loophole, but she insisted that she and Watts and the others—"
"That's how she works! It's the same thing she did to get emergency powers!" Weiss yelled. "She acts humble and reasonable, but before long, she'll be 'forced' to stay a bit longer, keep up the façade for the good of the world or so she'll say! Hell, she might even attack us here!"
"She won't… do that," Ruby said, her eyes suddenly widening as if staring behind her partner.
"How?" Weiss shouted. "How can you possibly ensure that?!"
"Because I won't allow it."
Weiss shot ramrod straight, her skin suddenly on edge. Neither Ruby or Yang had said that, but she knew the voice that had well.
Slowly, the white-haired girl turned around, coming face-to-face with a floating Seer Grimm, Salem's smiling face visible within its murky surface.
"My friends, do not despair," The Queen announced. "Within my walls, none shall attack you."
Weiss's hand fell to the hilt of her sword. She had no intention of drawing it first, but that did not mean she trusted the words of her 'old friend'.
So it begins. Got to say, Erza and Summer's back and forth was the hardest part of the chapter to write, but it is definitely my favorite section.
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!