There are very few feelings in the world that can compare to relaxing in a comfortable bed after a stressful day. Many would say that it's the best feeling in the world. Being able to close your eyes and forget your problems exist for an hour or two.
For Percival Lambert, the youngest person to ever reach the rank of Master Engineer at the astonishing age of 16, current keeper of the title of "Legend" amongst weapon builders while often being considered the best in the world, a respected member of high society with a vast list of powerful contacts that constantly beg for him to join their individual companies such as the Schnee and even the Atlesian military, and also the son of the fabled Headmaster of one of the most prestigious Hunter schools in all the world, was a whole different story.
Right now Percival was in the middle of an emotional crisis. Not only did he escaped the cold grasp of death from two angry Alpha Beowolves, but he was also told of his true heritage by his father and his future self that decided to reveal this information in order for Percy to begin preparing himself to stop a calamity like it had never been seen before.
What made it worse was the fact that his most powerful weapon (no, his only weapon) against the upcoming catastrophe was one that he had never in all of his years of living thought that he would ever use:
His voice.
Yes, it was a complete shock to him that the only way to stop this calamity was not to use weapons and fire power, but instead, the only way was doing something that he absolutely hated to do in public or even by himself.
Singing...
Percy lets out a stress-filled sigh as he stares into the darkness of his dorm room.
The window above his bed has its shutters closed to avoid any possible light from coming into the room. He turns his head to the side to look at the alarm clock his god-mother had given him as a welcoming gift and on the artifact front the "2:43 am" sign flashes in the dimness. He sighs once again and turns his head back up, going back into staring at the infinite nothingness.
It has been a week since the initiation and while The Darkness healed his most lethal wounds, he still had to stay in bed for several days as he had several broken bones and many bruises and cuts as well, along with some nasty scars on his chest to add to his collection.
His thoughts drift back to the talk he had with his Father and his future self, as well as what was revealed to him that day.
-A week before-
"It's time for you to know the truth... The truth about Mom..." his future self says with the same serious look on his eyes.
"What are you talking about?!" Percy asks with an anger "What truth?! What's going on?!I still have yet to understand why you are here! How is it even possible for YOU to be here?!" He asks his future self.
The future Percy sighs, he knew this would take a long time to explain, especially to himself but now was not the time to show all of his cards in the table. With a heavy heart he decided to tell Percy only what he needed to know for now. Keeping quite a lot of secrets to himself until the time was right.
"You want to know why I'm here? Because I failed, Because YOU failed" Future Percival begins "We failed everyone..." Percival's anger was replaced with confusion as he stares at his future self, only to see deep regret on his face "Percy... When you see this four girls... What do you see?" He asks as Percival turns to Ruby, Blake, Yang and Weiss, their bodies frozen in time while they were arguing about the stolen kiss Ruby gave him just a while ago. The memory made Percival blush a bit.
As Percy stares at them he can feel his heart slowly starting to beat faster as he states at the individual traits of each one of them and gets lost in their individual beauty. He could feel himself getting out of breath.
"Imaginethem in a pain so horrible, that you won't be able to look away from ..." says his future self. Percival suddenly felt his heart grow cold, for the memory of them being tortured by his grandmother came back to his mind. Percival placed his hands on his ears, covering them as he could somehow hear their screams of agony.
"Now imagine the rest of the people you love... being tortured right before your eyes..." says his future self as Percy froze in place. New memories came into his mind, he could see all the people he had learned to love and respect, dead on the ground, their bodies all laying in front of him as their screams could be heard on the distance.
His uncle James, the first to give him a roof to stay under after his mother died and discovered his talent with weaponry. His body lays broken in pieces, both the metallic and the human horribly beaten and scarred beyond any repair as blood and oil leaks out of him.
Then, he saw Qrow, the man that taught him how to fight, how to stand up for himself and stop being a coward, to stop weeping for his dead mother and instead live up to her name. He saw his spirit broken as he held onto the corpse of a white haired woman that looked similar to Weiss, who had his own scythe stabbed thru her chest.
Then he saw his master... the man that taught him all that he knows... the man that made him the legend he is today... The man he considered a father, along with his five children that he considered his brothers and sisters, all dead from a stab thru the heart.
His eyes widen horrified when he saw Glynda, the woman he saw as a second mother and the only one he truly felt safe with, her head lays on a broken pillar as blood falls from her mouth, her glasses cracked and outfit torn, countless cuts across her body as a pool of blood slowly forms under her.
Percy covered his eyes "ENOUGH!" Ozpin screams as the vision fades out and future Percy takes a few steps back. Percy falls to his knees as he has trouble breathing, Ozpin rushes to his side and grabs his shoulders, lifting his head as he examines his son's face with worry.
After a few minutes and Percy reassures Ozpin that he is able to stand again, Ozpin turns to future Percy who stares into the faces of the women he fell in love with.
"Percival..." says Ozpin only to get ignored by the time traveler "Look at me when I'm talking!" Ozpin scolds him in a fatherly tone that Percy wasn't aware he had. The future Percival turns to look at his father with a look of emptiness in his eyes "That wasn't your fault... any of that... There was nothing you could have done..." says Ozpin trying to comfort his son.
"You can say that all you want Dad..." the future Percy begins as his eyes slowly start to glow in a red light and he looks down at his gloved hands "I still feel their blood on me regardless..." he closes his eyes and clenches his fists in an attempt to control his rising anger, once he opens them again they are back at their natural color and he looks at his younger self.
Percy returns the stare of his older self; a heavy silence falls upon them as they see each other eye to eye, the confusion in the younger one being apparent to the future one. He sighed and decided to at least address his curiosity "I cannot tell you how my powers work... At least not yet... Elder knowledge is not meant for humans to even comprehend... the fact that I did is the reason why we have this chance... this chance to make everything right..." he takes a few steps to his younger self and grabs both his shoulders with a tight grip "To make it right for everyone... That's why I need your help Percy..." he says as he only confuses Percy even more.
"If you can travel through time... Why aren't you just going back to the date everything went to shit?... Why restart everything?..." he asks making Ozpin interested as well to hear this as he failed to understand it as well.
"Because the future doesn't exist" he replies making their eyes grow wide "To prevent the repetition of the timeline in vicious cycle of what if's... Yog-Sothoth, The Elder God of Time and Space, destroyed the cycle by completely erasing all the events that happened after our wedding with the girls..." Ozpin covered his mouth in surprise as Percy was frozen in shock "I exist outside the timeline... that's why I can change whatever I want without repercussions... because there is no future to protect, everything is a huge blank after our wedding day. There is no need to keep the balance in the time stream, because there is NO balance in the time stream!"
Ozpin looks horrified as he realized the implications "What about Your children Percival?!" He asks shocking the younger Percival.
"They are safe, they are with me outside the time stream, I managed to save a few things before Yog-Sothoth destroyed the future reality" he says calming Ozpin enough for him to let out a relief filled sigh.
He turns back to his younger self "Percy... Do you know what made mom so special?" He asks to his younger self, Percy could only shake his head side to side as the future Percy sighs "Mom had a task... a task that's left to one hunter every five million years... that task, is to keep the seals of the five Grimm Dragons, the first of the Grimm, from breaking and awakening them..." Percy begins to see the image of a giant dragon attacking the academy "But Mom didn't want that task... because once all five dragons are sealed... the hunter must die to keep those seals for the next five million years..." Percy could feel his body grow cold as his older self explained.
"Mom wanted to get rid of the curse that has plagued humanity since the dawn of time... and she broke the rules... when she was getting ready to seal the first Grimm Dragon... she decided to kill it instead... she was successful and the first dragon fell... that kill gave her the name of "The Huntress Queen" and she was seen as a hero... but she quickly realized why no other hunter has tried doing this before... each Dragon... is bigger than the last... and to kill one means... to give more power to the remaining ones... and the fifth one... the biggest of them all... Is now big enough that its wings can cover the entire globe"
Percy could feel himself ready to faint as the air on his lungs faded away, Ozpin was remembering his late wife and how devastated she was when she found out the truth.
"And so... she made a deal... a deal with a being that its powers could outmatch said Dragon... an elemental being that required a host to stay in this plane... she called for... The Dark One... Or as you may know it... The Darkness" Percival's eyes almost came out of its sockets when he heard this as a hand out of instinct reached for his heart.
"In exchange for the power to stop the Dragons from rising, The Darkness requires a sacrifice, a host he could live inside of and remain in this world until the time was necessary... Mother accepted this and the deal was sealed, father tried to stop her but... her stubbornness wouldn't let her let this go until she killed all the dragons... but that's when she discovered the true intention of the Darkness... to possess a Grimm Dragon... the only creature capable of reaching an elder god and then... infect him with the Darkness..." future Percy could hear Yog-Sothoth calling for him but decided to ignore him as he could feel Percy in the middle of a struggle with himself.
"Mother was terrified of this and... tried to eliminate the Darkness... by killing herself... Father stopped her but..." he stops to stop himself from tearing up "Only then she realized... That she wasn't the host of the Darkness... that same day she discovered... She was three weeks pregnant..." Percy started to shake his head at his future self as tears fall down his and Ozpin's eyes.
"And that she had just cursed... the life of her unborn child... to contain the most destructive creature imaginable..." the three men could hear the screams and cries of denial of a woman in the distance, screams Ozpin knew too well...
Percy broke down in tears "She... She did this to me?..." he asks as he could almost feel his heart ripping itself out of his chest while The Darkness laughed maniacally at him from inside the seal.
His future self sighs at the sight of his younger self's world collapsing in itself "Yeah... I reacted the same way when I found out the truth..." he says only to be shocked by Ozpin who kneeled down next to Percy and hugged him as tight as he could.
"Then I'll say what I said back then..." he tells the older Percy while embracing the younger one "Your mother... She Loved you...It was never her intention to hurt you... back then, we had been planning of having a baby for quite some time, we didn't know you were on the way already... you were a true blessing to our lives... Your Mother wanted the world to be safer for you to live in... She didn't want to die by the hands of fate... just as she didn't want you to be a pawn of fate either..."
Percy listened to his father, but his emotions were getting the best of him. "DOES IT EVEN MATTER?!" He screams "LOOK AROUND YOU FATHER! MOM IS DEAD ANYWAY! THE GRIMM DRAGONS ARE STILL COMING! THE DARKNESS STILL TORTURES ME! MOM DIDN'T SOLVE ANYTHING! ALL SHE DID WAS PASSING HER RESPONSABILITY TO ME!" He stood up. Dark tendrils slowly coming out of him as his anger keeps on growing "EVERYTHING THIS FAMILY HAS EVER DONE TO ME IS BRING ME PAIN! MY OWN GRANDMOTHER KILLED MY MOTHER! YOU ABANDON ME WHEN I WAS SEVEN! MY MOTHER SEALED INSIDE ME THE VILEST CREATURE IN EXISTANCE!" Ozpin had no words as he could feel his guilt crawling down his back, the future Percy turned to look at the tantrum his younger self was making, a bored look on his face that soon turned to an annoyed one as he starts to walk towards Percy.
"I THOUGHT MOTHER LOVED ME! BUT ALL SHE DID IS BE THE MAIN CAUSE OF MY PAIN!" he screams once again to the top of his lungs "SHUT. UP!" Screams the future Percy as he grabs hold of his younger self's throat and lifts him up from the ground "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SUFFERING?! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT TRUE PAIN?! YOU HAD THE DARKNESSSEALED ALL YOUR PATHETIC LIFE!" The voice of the time traveler turned darker the more he screamed at his younger self.
"I HAD TO BARE WITH IT WITHOUT ANY SORT OF WAY TO PROTECT MYSELF! IT CORRUPTED MY BODY TO THE POINT OF CANCER! IF I HADNT CAME BACK IN TIME TO GIVEYOUA CHANCE TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST FATE, I WOULD BE DEAD! AND IN ALL HONESTY, MAYBE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR THE BEST!" He threw Percy against the ground with enough force for him to break a few bones, he then walked towards him with the same red glow on his eyes as before and stepped on his throat hard enough to prevent him from talking.
Percy was shocked by the actions of his future self, he was surprised by the amount of strength he had as he tried to move his boot away from his throat only to fail miserably as it was like trying to move a wall
"DO YOU KNOW WHY FATHER LEFT?! THE DARKNESS WAS KILLING HIM AS WELL! MOM DIDNT WANTED HIM TO DIE IN ORDER FOR HIM TO TAKE CARE OF US IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO HER! BUT WE COULDNT GET ANYWHERE CLOSE TO PEOPLE WITHOUT THE DARKNESS SLOWLY KILLING THEM!" Percival's eyes went wide in shock as he turns to look at his Father, his eyes didn't lied and he knew what his older self was saying was indeed the truth.
"It wasn't until we met THEM that we learned to control this..." he whispers pointing at Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrah and Ren. "But if you truly believe YOUR life is nothing but pain... You are severely mistaken... You had people that cared about you every step of the way... I pushed them all back as far as I could and looked only after myself... And if you think mother hated us... that she would cause us pain deliberately... I can assure you that she suffered the most out of everyone" he removes his foot from his younger self throat.
"I'm sorry..." whispers Percy yet his future self won't listen "Tell that to mom, who must be rolling in her grave from you spitting on her name" he glares with fury at his younger self and turns back to stare into the faces of the Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang.
Ozpin rushed in to help Percy up, the teen winced in pain as he grabbed his chest, feeling the broken ribs moving around inside him "Next time you DARE to speak about mother like that... I'll do more than just break a few ribs" the threat of the time traveler froze Percy in shock, but he realized that it was what he would say to people that dared to speak wrong of his mother.
"What am I supposed to do anyway?... I'm only good at building weapons, I'm barely a fighter! I got my ass kicked by two Alpha Beowolves just a few minutes ago..." he looks towards the ground in shame "How am I supposed to face the Grimm Dragons... When I can't even defend myself without the Darkness?" He asks only to hear a chuckle from his future self.
"You think I was born strong?" He asks turning to Percy "No one is borne being the best, you are quite good right now, but that won't be enough... That's why you are in this academy after all, to get stronger" he takes Percival's hand and drags him closer to Ruby, Blake, Weiss and Yang "these four girls They are our strenght Percy, They are the Balance that slays the Demon inside of us... Don't be afraid to use The Darkness anymore, because in the end... it's never just the light you need and when balance between mind, body and spirit slay your inner demons, you will find Peace" he smiled as he took the hands of the girls and made Percy grab them with both of his hands.
When his hands touched theirs, Percy felt a warm feeling course thru his entire body as a feeling of serenity slowly started to sink in as his mind little by little started to become clearer only proving how easily The Darkness could influence his emotions, even through the seal.
He lets out a frustrated sigh, his hatred for his mother completely gone just like his anger. A smile slowly worked his way to his face, his eyes slowly close as he relaxes on the feeling of peace, overcoming him as he lets his guard down for once in a really long time "I guess it's true... I do love the four of you... And I want to stay by your side... for the rest of my life..." he confesses his feelings with a real smile as he pulls the hands of the girls to his face and lays a kiss in each one of them.
"OH. MY. GOSH!" Percy turned to hear the growing squeal of a Nora as she blushes along with Pyrrah from the sweetness of the scene "Ren, Did you see that?! I TOLD YOU THEY LOOKED GOOD TOGETHER! THAT WAS SOOOO SWEET!" Nora kept rambling while Ren chuckled at her antics and gave Percy thumbs up. Pyrrah kept on blushing while imagining a similar scene with Jaune while the blond boy was slightly depressed about Percy winning Weiss's heart before he could even truly begin courting her.
Percy was shocked looking at them, at first thinking that they had somehow stopped time as well, only that he noticed that his father and future self were nowhere to be seen and he could feel the breeze of the wind hitting his face.
"Uh oh..." he thought before slowly turning his head towards the girls. Their hands were shaking nervously on his grip while their faces all held a different expression.
Ruby had her entire body shaking out of control as a giant smile only seems to grow bigger across her face and tears fall down her cheeks, she was giggling like crazy as she cries with happiness marking this day in her mind as not only the day she stole Percy's first kiss, but also the day he confessed to her. This was truly turning into one of the best days ever in her life with the exception of the fact Percy almost died.
Weiss at first had a shocked look on her face that slowly was overcome with a giant blush as she started to sob in happiness and cover her mouth with her free hand, her blush was way more noticeable than the girls due to her fair complexion and white clothes, it didn't took much for her entire face and ears to be covered in a bright red blush as she tried her best to hide her face from Percy's eyes.
Blake was smiling the brightest, as she was truly fighting her Faunus instincts that were screaming at her to jump her husband and have her way with him, her bright yellow eyes were leaking tears of joy as well as she could feel her ears twitching happily under her bow and a tingling sensation going thru all of her body when she felt Percy's lips in her hand as it became even harder to control herself.
Yang was crying the hardest of the four girls, as many times as she had heard Percy confess his feelings for her out loud for her it always feels like the first time she hears it, she could feel her heart going a hundred miles per hour yet all she could do was stare into her husband's eyes and smile with all the joy of her beating heart, glad to finally hear those three words coming from her husband's mouth again.
The girls all turned to look at each other, just looking at the happiness that spread among them and smile even more as they nod at the same time into an agreement and turn back to look at him.
Percy tried thinking on ways to dig himself out of embarrassment as his face went three colors of red from his confession and his instincts went into high alert when he felt the girls all grabbing his hands making sure he wouldn't escape. Percy could only shiver at the hungry look mixed with happiness that the girls shared among them.
"WE LOVE YOU TOO PERCY!" The girls scream in perfect synchronization before leaping into his arms with a gigantic smile on their faces and tears falling down their eyes.
Percy managed to catch them all in his arms, lifting them in the air while spinning around to recover his balance as they hug the life out of him.
With the inertia of the girls falling on him Percy recovered his balance by spinning them around on his arms, the girls were sharing a giggle in happiness while tears fell down their faces as they hang onto his body with all their might, afraid that as soon as they let go of him he would disappear.
Percy was reaching the point of glowing with his blush, he had only experienced affection of his master's daughters but never before had he felt the love only a lover could give. His heart kept beating harder with each spin; the softness of their hands, the warmth of their bodies, the loving nicknames they called him and how they all look at him with nothing but love and adoration without any hint of doubt or hesitation.
"I can get used to this..." Percy thought as a smile slowly forms in his face and he starts to hug the girls back and chuckle softly along with them.
The moment was truly something sweet, and they all wish it could have lasted longer than it did, but they were all reminded that not only did Percy just faced two Alpha Beowolves, they also remember that he was quite hurt by them. It all came back to their minds when an audible "CRACK!" Came out of Percy's spine.
The girls opened their eyed and looked at Percy's face that showed an expression of abysmal pain and regret.
"P-Percival?..." Calls Pyrrah with concern for her oldest friend "W-Was that your back?..." Percival nodded very slowly as his face was stuck in that very same expression of horrible pain, obviously holding back a scream.
"Hospital?" Asks Ren with the same worried expression as another loud crack comes out from Percival's chest, right above the rib he had broken.
Percy couldn't respond as he fell backwards into the ground with the girls on top of him.
"OH MY GOD, NO NONONONONONONO PERCY PLEASE SAY SOMETHING TO ME!" Screams Ruby as she starts to inspect Percival's chest only to feel the fractures in his ribs "HIS WOUNDS ARE REOPENING! I THINK I CAN SEE A BONE COMING OUT OF HIS ARM! SOMEONE GET ME SOME BANDAGES!" Screams Weiss as she notices the blood that started to stain her dress as she pressures on his wounds with her hands "HE IS LOSING TOO MUCH BLOOD! SOMEONE CALL GOODWITCH!" Screams Blake at team JNPR while she tears off pieces of Percy's coat in order to use them as bandages "DON'T DO THIS TO ME AGAIN YOU BASTARD! NOT AFTER LAST TIME! KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN! DONT YOU DARE LEAVE ME!" Screams Yang as she holds on Percival's face and tries with all her might to keep him awake as he slowly started to pass out.
"OH JESUS, OH JESUS, OH SWEET MERCIFUL GOD! SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!" Jaune began to panic along with the girls, kneeling next to Weiss in order to help bandage his wounds "WHATS THE NUMBER?! WHATS THE GODDAMNED NUMBER IN THIS STUPID THING?!" Asks Pyrrah as she starts to press every button on her scroll while trying to contact Goodwitch or anyone who could help, normally she would keep a cold head while facing a problem, but right now her best friend was dying right in front of her and she didn't had time for calm.
"PUSH HIS BONES BACK IN! GIVE ME SOME ROOM, IM A DOCTOR!" Screams Nora as she takes out her hammer and charges at Percy only to be stopped by Ren "OH NO YOU DON'T! YOU WERE KICKED OUT OF MEDICAL SCHOOL THE FIRST DAY! THEY TOLD US TO NEVER COME BACK!" Nora wasn't having it "THAT COUNTS AS A GRADUATION!" They started to argue about Nora's medical expertise while Ren holds her by the waist in order to stop her from breaking Percy even more.
Percy could feel his vision slowly fading away as he looked around at his friends, their panicking faces as they began freaking out was a bit amusing to him, but once he saw the faces of the girls he truly started to worry "Just how bad are my wounds?..." he asks as he slowly close his eyes and fell unconscious.
-Sometime later-
Percival slowly opened his eyes only to be greeted by a bright fluorescent light he was very familiar with "Secondday here and I'm already in the infirmary... new record on my part! At least nothing exploded this time" He thought as he slowly began to move his sore body while trying to adjust his eyes to the light.
"How often are you planning to wake up here?" Ask a familiar voice as Percy turns his sight to his left only to see his father sitting next to him, his favorite mug on his hand and a book resting on his lap.
"You really are quite the jackass sometimes Father..." replies Percy earning a chuckle from his father. He slowly sits up in the bed, his sore body aching him with every move while he feels a considerable weight on his chest.
"I know, kiddo, I know" Ozpin smiles and sips on his coffee "Careful though, they stayed all night with you, I wouldn't be surprised if they glomped you if you wake them up" he finishes with a smile confusing Percy.
Percy looks down at the bed only to see the sleeping forms of Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang all cuddled up around him, sharing the bed as they sleep while hiding their faces on his chest and hugging him tightly.
Percy was too tired to panic but he still blushed a bright red as he stares at the sleeping girls. He noticed the tear marks on their cheeks as well as the wet marks on the bed sheets, he smiles gently at them as he starts to pet the heads of both Ruby and Blake as he gently kisses the foreheads of the four of them and relaxes back in the bed.
"Enjoying yourself?" Asks his father with a teasing grin as he prepares a small camera without his son noticing. Percy chuckled softly as he sighs in relief "Can't complain, if that's what you are asking..." he replies as he feels Yang snuggling closer to him and lays his head on hers to bring her comfort.
Ozpin smiles seeing his son enjoying himself as he takes a couple pictures of the scene, adding it to the folder for teasing later on.
"How long have I been asleep?" Asks Percy still not noticing the camera "Couple of days, the girls haven't left your side one second" he smiles even more while sitting back down after taking enough pictures
Percy sighed "I guess I failed the Initiation then, huh?..." he asks depressed seeing all the bandages in his naked chest and arms as well as feeling the ones in his legs. Ozpin smile and shook his head "Quite the contrary Percival, You confronted two alpha's on your own and survived, your leadership towards your friends made you all come back safely, if those aren't the qualities I look for in a student for this school, then I have failed as a teacher" Ozpin spoke with the pride only a father could have for his son. Percy was surprised by this as he stares back at his father.
"But I didn'tfound a partner... or even a relic..." he reminds Ozpin
"But you protected your friends and made those woods a little safer" he says with a smile.
"I didn't do anything... The Darkness did all the work, as well as the girls... all I did was barely scratch them and get my ass kicked..." Percy clarifies with a depressed tone "I'm not meant to be a hunter Father, I can't even look after myself"
Ozpin got closer to his son and laid his hand gently on his shoulder gaining his attention "Percival..." he spoke in a gentle fatherly tone "What makes a good hunter isn't the number of Grimm he kills. It's the times he puts his life on the line to protect those in need, to give everything he has, even his life, to give others the chance to live another day" he smiles proudly at his son "I'm sure that if your mother had seen you, she would be beaming with pride! And worry... Mostly worry, now that I think about it" he begun to remember the times Aria used to freak out for the most simple of things when Percy was young.
Percy couldn't hold back his laugh as he also remembers a particular time when his mother couldn't find him when they were playing hide and seek. She ended up destroying an entire forest after he was missing for five minutes longer than she expected to find him, only to realize he was still inside their house.
Ozpin smiled seeing Percy still remembered his mother fondly, he expected him to at least remain mad at her for some more time but that didn't seem to be the case.
Percy relaxed back in bed as his thoughts went back to his conversation with his older self and his father, he sighed as he turns to his father "What am I supposed to do now?..." he asks his father with a tired expression "You tell me I'm supposed to seal the Grimm dragons but I don't even know how Mother even stood up to them..."
Ozpin sighs and holds his son's hand keeping him calm "My older self says that these four girls are the secret to my strength... but what does that even mean?... I feel something for the girls, that much is true, but how will that help me?" He asks once again only to notice the smile on his father's face.
"Your older self asked me a similar question once" he clarifies as he relaxes back in his seat "He could not understand how he seemed to force himself to always be there for them, no matter how hard the situation got" he started to chuckle as he stares out the window "He wasn't even aware of their feelings for him, yet he still stood up to them against anything that meant them harm. He was their shoulder to cry on, their light of hope when everything turned dark, which believe me, it turned very dark in the future..." he sighs and turns back to Percy
"You won their hearts by just being yourself Percival, They accepted you with all your flaws, traits and quirks" his smiled grew brighter "That's why they are your strength, and they took hold of your heart and never let it go. They made you realized that you were no longer alone, that you had people that cared for you even with The Darkness inside of youand by that action, they became Immune"
"Immune?..." asks Percy confused making Ozpin sighed and prepared to explain.
"The Darkness is a natural destroyer, one way or another it tries to destroy as much as possible regardless of the method to does so" Ozpin explained as Percy began to fear what this could mean.
"The reason I had to leave all those years ago wasn't because I didn't love you or your mother, quite on the contrary, I have made so many mistakes in my life that I have lost count. But you and your mother... you two made me so grateful for all of those past mistakes, because they all led me to the two of you... Believe me when I mean that I tried my best to remain by you and your mother's side, especially when she became Ill... But I had no other choice than to leave..."
"What do you mean?... You were forced?... by who?..." asks Percy on the verge of tears as he was not ready to receive this information.
"...Your Mother..." Ozpin says shocking Percy to the core as his eyes go wide, trying desperately to find any hint of his father lying to him, hoping to all the gods above for it to be a lie, but when he found no trace of dishonesty, his heart almost stopped "W-What?..." were all the words that were able to leave Percy's mouth.
Ozpin raised his hand in order to stop the train of thought and depression that Percy was having as a solemn expression set on his face.
"Don't get me wrong, She didn't wanted it either, If there had been any other way we would have taken it without caring about the consequences" he sighed and fixed his glasses as he could feel Percival's gaze begging him for an answer
"The Darkness was killing me Percy..." Percy felt his heart stop as his eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
"Without the seal or you controlling it The Darkness started to corrupt everything around you, in the lightest of cases it meant a high fever or an increase of irritability by two hundred percent, on more extreme cases, sudden muscle paralysis or even insanity" Ozpin moved his hand to his son's shoulder in order to calm him down.
"None of this was your fault, You were too young to even hear The Darkness influence" he says with a small smile that seems to calm Percival down "Your Mother was Immune because of her semblance, Purify, this ability allowed her to remove such things as poison and toxins from any kind of body to even the corruption of The Darkness"
Ozpin smiles fondly remembering the smile Aria used to give him when treated him every time The Darkness attacked him.
"Her control over her semblance was only matched by the power it had. She was able to even turn the Grimm into faithful companions, she would remove their lust for blood as well as their rage against humanity and replace them with the will to protect others and loyalty. Their eyes would change blue and their once black and white patterns would change to whatever your mother thought it was fitted for them. She called these creatures, The Revenant, reborn from the most Hostile of Grimm to faithful allies against them" Ozpin chuckled seeing the face of face his son was making, one of pure child-like interest. It was like when he used to tell him bed time stories.
His face set back into a serious tone as he continued his story "Your mother couldn't keep using her semblance once The Darkness started to focus its attacks on me, she was so tired that it even started to affect her health as well, so we tried to think of any solutions. But knowing that if anything were to happen to her, it would be best if I kept on taking care of you, even if it was from afar, so I leaved... With the promise that I would learn how to seal The Darkness or at the very least, be immune to it..." the tone of Ozpin's face grew darker as he reached this point on the story, Percy knew what he would say next as his expression grew darker as well.
"But when I learned that she was murdered by The Cult of The Dark One... I searched for as many of the bastards as I could and made them all pay... Only to find out that your Grandmother was behind it all threw me deeper into my mindless rage and desire for revenge to the point of me even forgetting about the White Fang in order to annihilate as much of the cult as I could..." the hatred of the cult was shared between father and son as the temperature of the room seemed to slowly decrease.
Percy could feel his rage slowly build up as he clenched his fist as tight as he was able, he could already feel The Darkness flowing out of him until he felt Ruby snuggle up to him looking for warmth, he looked down at the girls who had a small frown on their faces from the killer intent that Ozpin and him were letting out. He sighed and started to pet the heads of both Ruby and Blake while snuggling closer to Yang and Weiss.
"...How many are left?..." he asked with a much calmer voice but a hint of malice was still noticeable to Ozpin. "I eliminated most of the henchmen and generals, James and Qrow wiped out the bases in the rest of Remnant... based on my calculations I would say that only a small group lead by your grandmother still remains in Vale, she must have around four hundred cultists with her"
"Then We have four hundred targets to hunt..." whispers Percy surprising his father when he heard the word "We" on his son's statement "You want MY help?" Asks Ozpin remembering how his son preferred to be tortured than ask him for anything in the original timeline.
Percy sighed not noticing Blake purring at his touch "Father... Ever since I was little I wanted to find you and ask why you abandoned me... I would often blame myself, thinking you didn't loved me or that you saw me as a disgrace... every time I tried to come here you would send me back with my uncle James or with Qrow instead... They taught me how to fight, how to read and how to stand up for myself... and when they introduced me to my Master, he accepted me as a son even thought he already had six other children to look after... He made me what I am today... and with a little of talent and a lot of hard work I surpass his children and even himself and became the best weapon builder in the world when I was sixteen..." He turns to look directly into Ozpin's eyes "All of my accomplishments drew me closer to the truth and now... not only did I found out I'm a missing link in a prophecy... but I'm also married to Four different girls and my Father was hunting my Mothers killers..." he sighed as he looked at the now saddened Ozpin "You missed all of my childhood... even my adolescence... I am seventeen now... and there is no way to correct the mistakes of the past..." Ozpin lowered his gaze depressed but still listening to his son speaks.
"But..." Ozpin raised his head with a hopeful look "I suppose making mistakes runs in the family..." Percy smiles softly as he looks directly into his father's eyes "And if mother taught me something... it was to let go of my grudges and keep moving forward... I can't say that all is forgiven... but... I can't do this alone... and if you are willing to work to repair the damage you caused all those years... Then I would be spitting on mother's grave if I denied you of that chance" the smile on Percy's face grew larger as Ozpin remained motionless and in shock.
"I'm not saying I forgive you... but I'm giving you the chance to fix your mistakes... we both carry a heavy burden of our own... but we are family, and I want to carry our burdens together, as Father and Son" Percy stretched his hand to his father but was shocked to receive a bone crushing hug from his father.
Percy didn't know how to react as he could feel his father sobbing in silence as he hugged him, he simply wrapped his arms around him as Ozpin started to whisper "Thank You" over and over again.
Both men weren't aware of the fact that Glynda was listening from outside the door, she had many questions regarding the prophecy and Percy's marital status while she was already preparing to skin the girls alive for trying to steal the boy she saw as her own son but she was too busy crying in happiness as she heard Percy accept his father back in his life. She could no longer control herself as she bursts though the door and runs towards her grandson's bed and joins the hug.
Percy started to panic for different reasons, the first being the fact he was not used to people touching him, much less hugging him or giving him affection, but he also panicked at the fact that there were four sleeping girls hugging him in their sleep and Glynda had just burst into the room and was now hugging him as well, he only hoped the girls had time to escape before Glynda noticed them.
Luck wasn't on their side as the girls started to wake up.
"Geez.. What's with all the noise so early?..." asks Weiss as she rubs her eyes and looks up to see her husband "PERCY! YOU ARE AWAKE!" she jumped into his arms breaking the hug between Percy and Glynda, which was the first mistake.
"Hmm... Weiss~! Don't be so loud! You are going to wake... Oh My God, PERCY!" Yells Ruby jumping as well like a red haired missile to hug her husband as she started to kiss his left cheek over and over again not noticing the shocked Glynda, which was the second mistake.
"*yawn* Seriously? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?! If you woke Percy up I swear I- PERCIVAL!" Blake stopped mid sentence when she saw Percy alive and well and she jumped to join the hug as well, hiding her face in his chest as she cried in happiness while whispering "You are ok... Don't scare me like that...", that was their third mistake.
Yang was the last to wake up with a heavy yawn as she rubs her eyes, she turns and her eyes widen when she saw Percy "P-Percy..." she whispered as a tear fell down her cheek. She couldn't control herself as she tackled him down to the bed and smashed her lips into his, shoving the girls out of her way. That was their final mistake.
"YANG! WHAT THE HELL?!" Yells Ruby with fire in her eyes as Yang shoves her tongue into Percy's mouth.
"GET OFF OF HIM YOU BLONDE AIR HEAD! YOU ARE GOING TO REOPEN HIS WOUNDS!" Yells Weiss while holding onto Yang's waist trying to pull her away from Percy.
"YANG! YOU ARE CRUSHING HIM! GET OFF NOW!" Yells Blake with a feral growl as she helps Weiss pull Yang from the waist away from Percy as her Faunus instincts were making her hiss like a cat without her control.
Yang had an iron like grip on Percy's neck as she lays on top of him as she kissed him, resisting the pulling from the girls as she was in her own little world glad to be in Percy's arms, she didn't noticed that she was indeed suffocating Percy that had now turned blue from the lack of air.
Ozpin was doing his best to control his laughter at the situation until he saw Glynda as the room temperature grew even colder than before, he was already planning to jump out the window when he saw Glynda raise her hand as an aura of pure evil seemed to come out of her.
Glynda felt a rage she had never felt before as her glasses cracked from her killer intent alone, she desired blood when she saw the girls hugging her godson but when she saw Yang kiss him, Hell was breaking loose. She raised her hand and out of nowhere her riding crop seemed to materialize from thin air as she started to tremble in her anger and the aura of evil grew larger, she then directed the killer intent straight to the four girls.
The entirety of team RWBY shivered violently and froze as Yang broke the kiss and stood up next to her team, the four girls started to sweat and shiver in fear when they saw Glynda holding her riding crop while staring at them with the coldest glare they have ever seen the woman do.
"P-P-Professor G-Goodwitch?..." the girls whisper at the same time as they stare into the cold emotionless eyes of Glynda as they got closer to the door. Glynda took a step closer to them with such might that the floor under her heel cracked and a small earthquake occur, Glynda stared directly into their eyes making the girls shiver more as they saw fear itself stare back at them.
"Prepare for Divine Punishment..." Glynda whispers as she takes another step towards the girls and the ground cracked even more under her hill.
The girls all turn to Ruby in fear as they were all taking steps towards the door, using all of her knowledge and skill Ruby came up with the best plan of action as she saw the incoming danger and decided to share it with her team.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Ruby screams from the top of her lungs as the four girls all ran as fast as they could out of the room, Glynda's green eyes shined with a predatory spark as she began chasing the girls as the girls ran as fast as they could from the blonde devil "GET BACK HERE AND ACCEPT YOUR PUNISHMENT!" Screamed Glynda as the girls scream in fear as they ran through the hallways away from Glynda.
-Back at the infirmary room-
Percy and Ozpin stared at the door that Glynda and the girls had just burst out of for a few seconds. Ozpin couldn't hold himself anymore and burst out laughing as Percy face palmed in embarrassment still feeling Yang's lips on him, not only had he received his second kiss from his wives but also he was about to lose them to his god mother.
Percy sighed along with Ozpin knowing it was best to not get in between Glynda and her prey. Figuring this was as good of a time as any Percy turned to his father "How am I supposed to seal the Grimm Dragons anyway?".
Ozpin turned back to his son and smiled expecting this question "You have to sing at their altars to keep them sleeping for the next millennium, think of it as singing a lullaby to a baby" he smiled as Percy froze in place
"S-S-Singing?!" Yelled Percy as he could feel himself close to fainting "I-I can't sing!"
He started freaking out hoping his father was pranking him or something.
"I know, I know" Ozpin said calming his panicking son down "We can worry about training your voice later, besides, Your future self assure me that he would get the best singer in history to train you!" He spoke with confidence.
"Tom Jones?!" Exclaimed Percival with a hopeful tone and an excited smile as he could barely hold his excitement.
"God, I hope so" Ozpin chuckled at their shared music taste and smiled once his son calmed down and continued talking "but for now we have other business to attend to, you sure you can walk?" He asks as Percy starts to get off the bed.
With a little of a wobble Percy regains the balance in his legs and smiles at his father who handed him his clothes and weapons and exited the room for Percy to change in private.
Percy looked at his weapons and clothing for a few moments then looked out the window to see team RWBY still being chased by his godmother all over the academy while screaming bloody murder.
He couldn't help but let out a giant stressed filled sigh and rub his head in pain, he still couldn't get his mind around everything that was happening; Time Travel, Elder Gods, Wives, Prophecies, Dragons, Singing... it was all still strange to him, he was only an engineer for god sake! The best in the world but an engineer either way! But...
He turns once again to look at the running girls and blushes remembering the kisses and hugs. Maybe it wasn't that bad to not know what was going on...
He shook the thoughts out of his head as he continued dressing, he now had a target in The Cult of the Dark One and if he wanted to kill them and avenge his mother he would need more than just heavy weaponry, he needed to be strong on his own and this academy was his chance to do so.
He finished dressing only to see his coat ripped in several pieces but remembered that the girls used it to bandage his wounds so he didn't complained much but was still irritated none the less, he decided to remove his coat and keep it on his tool bag.
He leaned on his cane as his wounds were still sore as he walks out the door next to his waiting father.
Ozpin smiled and started walking, showing all of the academy to his son "As you know, from now on You will be staying here in the academy from now on, consider it your home for the following years you will be staying, you will eat, sleep and train in determined schedule from Monday to Friday, for recreation, you are free to go to Vale like any other student in your free time but for try to return early, Glynda gets worried" Ozpin chuckled as Percy groans a little at the mention of his godmother, she could be way overprotective sometimes, as made evident from the running girls in the horizon fleeing an angry Glynda.
"However, Your title in engineering does grant you a few advantages" Ozpin says as they walk past the dorm building much to Percival's confusion as they continued walking towards a large two story building.
Ozpin couldn't hold back his smirk "You will be sleeping here along with two other teams" he said pointing at the top doors and handing Percy a key "Your dorm is the middle one" Percy's gaze turn to the large garage doors in the first floor, each under the three dorms, he turned to look at his father only to see his smirk "You didn't think I wouldn't give you some work space did you?" He asked as he pressed a button in a black remote that he also handed to Percy as the three garage doors opened to reveal a giant garage that the three were connected to.
Percy saw paradise as he saw all the tools he could need to make the strongest and deadliest of weapons, from simple hammers and screw drivers to high precision lasers and plasma instruments.
Percy marveled as he stares at the multiple tables in the room: drawing boards, work bench, router station, Dust testing station even a forge for both steel and Dust!
But Percy really started to drool when he saw a platform for vehicles in the far left of the garages under the first dorm as well as a power armor station in the far right under the third room.
His legs started to wobble when he saw multiple crates full with a variety of Dust Crystals, Powder and even Vials from the local Dust shop in Vale as well as distribution papers from the Schnee Company and Atlesian military on his work desk in case he required more or in Percival's case, WHEN he needed more.
"H-How?..." was all that Percy could say as he was still in shock.
"The Dust? Well, when it was public that you would start to come here the local shop wished for you to use their Dust in your future projects and the Schnee company along with your uncle James wished for you to reconsider your options about working for them as lead engineer when you graduate from Beacon, so they will be supplying any materials you need, be it Dust or weaponry, with my permission of course" Ozpin said with a chuckle as he noticed his son was still in shock from all of this "What are you waiting for? Go on!" He said giving Percy a little push, making him stumble into the middle in the garage as he slowly looks around the garage with a sheepish look.
Ozpin waited a couple seconds only to see the smile in his son slowly increase as his creative juices were already thinking wonders in his brain. He started to chuckle as he dropped his tool bag next to his new work bench and his hands went slowly over the wall where all the different tools were hanged.
"Before you start building Percy" Ozpin began talking getting his son's attention "let me show you the rest of your dorm" he said opening the only door in the Garage that reveal a stairway up. Ozpin started to walk being followed by Percy as he opened the door at the top of the stairs "This is your Dorm" Ozpin spoke as he entered the room with Percy.
He was once again shocked as he saw the size of the room, it was almost a high class apartment! Living room, Kitchen, Bathroom and Bedroom.
The living room consisted of a large couch in the shape of an L that ran across one of the corners of the room with a small coffee table in the middle and a plasma TV in the opposite corner.
The kitchen had every tool and necessity Percy could need to build a gourmet worthy meal along with a large table fit for eight people along with a large fridge and oven.
The bathroom was large enough for a couple of people to fit in comfortably with a large tub and shower along with a toilet, sink, mirror and washing machine.
Finally the bedroom was what Percy enjoyed the most, a large king size bed fitted for multiple people laid in the center next to nightstands in both sides, to the right was a rather large closet that contained a few uniforms fit to his size, above the bed was a rather large window that showed the beautiful Cliffside and sunset of beacon, to the left were a couple of drawer for the remaining of Percy's clothes as well as a mirror on top of it.
Percy turn to one of the nightstands were he saw multiple picture frames along with a camera, the only frame that had a photo in it was one of Ozpin and Aria holding a baby Percy in their arms, Percy stared at the picture for a while and his gaze shifted to the camera "I figured you would like to capture all the special moments that happen to you now" he heard his father say as he looks at the camera.
"Dad... I... Thank you for all of this... the room, the workshop, it's all great! But..." Ozpin was surprised to hear a but "I don't want other students to think I'm getting a preferential treatment just because I'm your son... the tower to your office is literally a few steps away!" Ozpin chuckled actually expecting this "Percy... Don't worry about it ok? These Dorms were made for you by order of not only me, but your Uncle James and Glynda as well. We don't want you causing a fire in the normal dorms so consider this more of a precaution" the thought calmed Percy and smiled as he kept on exploring the dorm only to see two large doors in the main hallway opposing each other, he walked to the one on the left and used his key to open it only to be greeted by another door, he walked to the door on the right only to be met by the same result "Father? What are these doors about?" Asked Percy making Ozpin smile.
"The dorms are connected with each other Percy, it's in order to strengthen the bonds between the team" he smiled while Percy looked at him confused "Team? But I didn't even found a partner in the initiation" asked Percy even more confused.
"True" began Ozpin "But you also proved to be crucial in the survival of two entire teams, so, as this is a special case and we have an irregular number of students anyway, I'm going to make you collaborate with two other teams" the expression in Percy was priceless "Think of it as a unique giant team of nine members" he smiled as Percy sat down on his bed.
"I still don't understand... why?..." asked Percy making a sigh escape Ozpin.
"While it's true you have an amazing skill to make weaponry and you know how to use them like a true master, you still have much to learn, your hand to hand skill against humans is excellent but against the Grimm you are sloppy, you panic, you make mistakes, you fear what The Darkness could do if it gets a hold of your body and with good reason... But that's why you will be put with two other teams, they will support you, help you with training and study as well as how to control your dark side. It's what you need if you want to become a great hunter" Ozpin spoke without a hint of lies in his words which brought calm to Percy.
"You should know I'm not exactly a sociable person father... I don't work well with strangers..." Percy reminded his father.
Ozpin once again let out a chuckle "I don't think you'll have problems with your new team, in fact, I think you'll rather like them!" He said as he pat his son on the back to give him some confidence.
"Alright, when will I be meeting them?" Asked Percy with curiosity in his voice.
"Right about... now!" Exclaimed Ozpin while looking at his watch, a large explosion could be heard somewhere near the academy and four bodies crashed into the window only to collide with Percy, who managed to stop their fall with his own body as he now lays on the ground.
In pain due to his wounds he looks down to the four people on top of him only to widen his eyes in shock at the familiar faces on top of him "Oh Boy..." was all he could say.
