Author's Notes at the end.

When I woke up, I was in the Inbetween, laying on Alex's couch. My mind was still muddled and groggy, I felt like my memories were still jumbled, but I was at least coherent. I heard her voice, once so strange and otherworldly and yet now so, so familiar. Like a cup of hot cocoa on a winter's day.

Alex's voice broke through the fog, "Neve…"

I remembered our time together. It was around a hundred years ago, now, during the Great War. I was Ozymandias, King of Vale, and when I was a teenager I only had one friend. Someone with bright silver eyes and short hair, so very different from all of the other nobles I dealt with on a day to day. Some days, she was a lady in waiting, and on other days, she was a courtier, on all days…

…On all days…

She was mine and I was hers.

Alex. Alexander. Alexandra.

It is commonly accepted that King Ozymandias gave up the throne and abolished all monarchies out of the goodness of his heart, and while that is not entirely false, he, or I, was very kind and generous, that was not the whole story. I gave up my throne because, free from the shackles of royalty, I could be who I wanted to be, be with who I wanted to be.

I gave it all up… for them.

And then… One day…

They died, killed by her, well before their time. Now, as if it never happened, they called to me, "...Ozy? Neve? Are you there?" Their voice sounded worried, saddened, shaky, "It's me… Your best friend, your one confidant, your…" Their voice began breaking up, "Your little light… Alex."

Finally I felt capable of opening my eyes. I blinked them open slowly despite the fact that they weighed heavier than they had before. Yet, I was not in the deserts of Vacuo, instead I was back in Alex's penthouse, laying on their couch.

They looked on the verge of tears as they leaned over slightly. When he saw me open my eyes, she gave me a tight hug, "I knew you wouldn't stay out for long! How's your head? Your memories?"

I reached out slowly and patted their back, "I… I'm still not… completely sure about everything, but…" I returned their hug just as tightly and softly said, "I remember you, Alex. I remember everything about you."

I heard their breath hitch before she softly asked, "You do?" I hummed in affirmation, and it was then that they loosened their grip, a silent signal for me to do the same. We separated and they took a couple steps back, smiling nervously in a way I'd never seen before in this life, "Good… I'm glad." She fiddled with the ring on her finger, "It's good to see you again. Even if this is all… incredibly awkward."

That was an understatement.

I ran my hand through my hair and, with some effort, sat up, "It's… strange. Am I him? Am I me?" Then I looked down at my lap, holding a hand in front of my gaze, "Everything's… fragmented. Fractured."

I saw Alex smiling when I looked up again, it was a soft and understanding smile, "It's… safe to say that you're still Neve, first and foremost. Just as predicted, the fusion is still… you. About thirty-three percent Ozma and eighty-percent Neve."

I blinked a few times, "That's… that's not right, is it?" The math was absolutely wrong, but for all I knew there was a reason they said it like that.

They giggled, "I meant what I said. You're not just a hundred-percent anymore. You're more than that. You've got the aura, the strength, of two unsundered souls, magical capability the likes of which has not been seen outside of Salem since the world was whole, and your body is in its physical prime. You are… the sum of your parts."

I nodded a few times. I understood what they were saying, it was just hard to wrap my head around it, especially with flashes of memories from the past several thousand years that were still routinely filling my mind, "I… I see." Then, my most recent memories filled my mind. The fight, the fusion, the escape… It made me stand up, "Wait! I'm unconscious. What-"

Alex shushed me, "Hey, hey, relax." He smiled, "You're fine. Your daughter, Vesta, and her teammate Damian found you."

That reminded me of my promise, the promise I made to the man that had once stood behind the Emerald Curtain, the man that was now me, "I… I couldn't fulfill my promise." I sighed and sat back down, looking at the ground, "I promised him he'd see his daughter again before we fused…"

Alex moved and sat next to me, "I know." She sighed, "You've… got a lot left to do, and a lot of memories to sort out." She looked away, "I'm… probably not making that any better. Sorry."

I shook my head as I raised my head to look at her, "It's… kind of funny, isn't it?" I smiled, "You ended up with me, first when I was Ozymandias, and again when you came to me. After I came to Remnant." My smile grew self-conscious and nervous as I looked away again, "Maybe it was fate. Even if we're not… together. We're still… together."

Alex laughed softly, "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the boss had an idea that this might happen. He's not omniscient, but… being around as long as the God of Light has has made him a lot more wise than he used to be. Back when all of this started, so long ago."

There was a knock on the front door, and she stood up, "There's the guests I invited." I looked at her curious and she just smiled, "Well, I figured one of the best ways to help you sort out your memories is to ground them to reality a bit. Show you who those memories are of, so…"

I looked at her curiously and she just kept her smile before heading to the door. I stood up and turned, waiting to see who she had invited over.

When I heard the first voice, my eyes widened.

A woman with a soft, almost regal voice, "Is he here? Truly?" A flash of memory ran through my mind, her mother's hair, her father's eyes…

Then, another, still a girl's, albeit a bit rougher around the edges, "You know he is, Vesta! Come on, we're wasting time!"

It was then that I remembered. The Vesta that I know, the one I had with Glynda, was named after another. One from thousands of years before…

In came four girls, with Alex leading them.

The first had platinum blonde hair, like the other three, and brown eyes. She wore a blue dress, a pair of black thigh-high boots, and a golden chain belt around her waist. Most strikingly, she wore a rimmed black conical hat with a golden chain circling the base. The top of the hat wilted off to her left slightly. I remembered her name, Vesta.

The second had waveyer hair than Vesta, not as straight and proper. She wore a sleeveless maroon dress, stockings, and heels. Her name was Venus.

The third had messy hair that stopped at the top of her back. She wore a dark red tunic, black trousers, and a pair of boots. Unlike the other two so far, she had green eyes. Her name was Meghara.

Finally, there was the fourth. She looked strikingly like her mother, more so than the other three. Her hair was done in a half up bun, with the remainder of it rolling down her back. She wore a white dress, a purple-tinted long high-waisted skirt, and faint purple heeled flats barely visible under her skirt. Her name was Persephone.

Alex stepped away, "Well, I'll leave you guys alone for a bi-" Then, the sound of a phone ringing filled our ears. She fished a scroll out of her pocket and started towards another room in the house, "Yeah? Is it time?" I didn't get to catch what else was said, she had disappeared into the other room.

While that was happening the siblings all stepped forward, stopping a few feet away. Then, Vesta crossed her arms and gave me a lopsided grin, "Father… You know, we never did get to share those sun cakes like you promised on that night."

I felt a pang of sadness and elation, twisted together in a way that made my chest tighten. I grinned right back at her, "But you brought some, didn't you?" I had seen her, another world's version of her. I don't remember the number, but my Vesta, the one from my timeline, was right here. As were the others.

Vesta had a satchel on her belt, one she reached into and produced a small box from, "You know me too well, father. We… heard about what happened. We know you're not the same man, you're not only our father, but…" Her grin remained, brave and true, just like her, "...That doesn't mean we can't still catch up. There's a lot left for you to do before you're finished, isn't there?" I nodded, and she responded, "Then… allow us to help you this way. Let's sort out those memories. Together."

I nodded a few times and wiped some fledgling tears from my eyes, "Yeah. Let's… let's have a talk. It's… overdue."

Persephone stepped forward, "Well, father." She walked around the couch and took a seat, "Sit right back down, won't you?"

"We're going to be here for a while."

(The following is not part of the book 'Shattered Assumptions')

The Deserts of Vacuo

Neither Vesta nor Damian had entirely anticipated needing to carry the man who was now Vesta's father across the desert, but when they found him in the sand unconscious, there really existed no other alternative.

Vesta had been silent for a large part of the journey, and Damian at least in part blamed himself. He hesitated in revealing the location of Orchid's compound, even though he knew where it was, entirely because he was worried that Vesta would charge in and get herself killed.

The end result might very well have been her dad having lost his life instead.

He was called Neve, they both knew that much. They had seen him before, when they were watching the Vytal Festival and afterward, hearing tales of the Dragon Slayer of Vale. Neither of them could have anticipated that he was the new Ozpin. If they had known sooner then they would have sought him out, but it was a bit too late for that now, wasn't it?

They had one stroke of fortune, at least. During their travel back towards Vacuo they met a traveling nomadic tribe. They were kind people and, luckily, were on their way to Vacuo as well.

They weren't the only ones traveling with them temporarily, either.

There was a guy there, a gray-haired Faunus with cat ears furred just the same as his hair. He had heterochromia, one blue eye and one golden. He wore a long gray duster over a short-sleeved gray T-shirt and loose white pants, made to catch as much wind as possible to keep him cool. A brown leather utility belt held a mechanical sword and a pair of chakram, his weapons.

He said his name was Gray, and apparently he had heard about Neve as well. He was hoping to meet him, but had heard that he wasn't in Vale anymore, nor in Mistral. He was already in Vacuo, so he just decided to explore. It was serendipity, then, that he got his wish.

Although he would later profess that he hadn't expected to meet the Dragonslayer while he was comatose.

He was a bit of a pest in Damian's mind with some of the jokes he told, but ultimately he was a good person. It took Damian a lot to consider someone a pest, and over the course of the day he had known Gray he could say that he had earned the title. He liked to tell jokes, often they were aimed at him or Vesta, if not one of the tribespeople. Of course they were never meant to harm anyone, and sometimes they were funny, but usually Damian just beared with it.

The three travelers were sitting together around a fire, it was the night after they found Neve and he was still unconscious. Each passing hour of unconsciousness made Vesta more worried that maybe her dad and his host had already fused. There was no telling what that would mean, she only knew the basics of how he worked.

She voiced this to the other two, the tribespeople were asleep at this time of night, "I'm worried that he might not wake up." She was vague, she had to be around their new friend, "He looked like he'd been through hell, and that beard… It's not something he grew by choice, I can tell. He must have been a prisoner for months."

Gray nodded a few times, chewing on some dried meat he had on him and swallowing before speaking, "It must be awful, no? What did you say his relation to you was… brother, correct?" Vesta nodded, it was a lie, but the cat Faunus didn't know that, "I see. Hopefully he will be able to make a swift recovery. Whatever he went through must have caused a great deal of strain."

Damian, who was preening his wings with his hands, asked, "Did you manage to get into contact with Theodore? He'll be the one who knows what to do, at least, I hope he does."

Vesta nodded, "He said he was going to get into contact with Neve's team and his family and send them our way. This path we're on is a well traveled route so they might be able to intercept us. After that, getting back shouldn't be a problem." She sighed, "I hope so at least. Once those bastards know he's gone they're not going to just let him go."

Their new traveling companion's cat ears twitched, "It's a bit of rotten luck to end up in a situation like this. I just hope that the Grimm don't start harrying us. I know we could deal with them, but they will slow us down."

That was when, in the distance, they heard a loud bellowing roar. It was beastly and sent a shiver down Damian's spine, "You were saying?" He managed out, although his voice was filled with anxiety.

Gray smiled sheepishly as the three of them stood up and prepared for the battle on the horizon, "Uhm… oops?"

Meanwhile, in a tent occupied by one, the emerald curtain rose and the man who had been behind it inhaled sharply.

(The following is part of the book 'Shattered Assumptions')

Cinder POV, Several Hours Earlier

When we got the call from Theodore, we knew we were on a time limit.

Neve had broken out of the compound, on his own apparently, and had been spared death by being rescued by…

Vesta Ozpin.

His daughter, in a strange, strange fashion. None of us knew Ozpin had had a daughter, but Theodore explained her desire to remain mostly under the radar well enough. I could respect that, the man spoke highly of her, and from what I knew of him, he was a very hard person to impress.

We moved as fast as we could to prepare ourselves and departed on the trail that Vesta was said to be on, and yet I knew none of us felt it was fast enough. I hadn't seen him in months, none of us had, and we were eager to rectify that mistake.

We hadn't expected to be harried as much as we were.

It didn't start until we were a good distance away from the city, our group consisted of Neve's team, along with Team RWBY, Emerald, Mercury, Shi, and myself. With a group that size, consisting of two silver eyed warriors and two maidens, we hadn't expected to have much of an issue in retrieving him. We were wrong.

The first occurrence was several Grimm approaching us from the sky and rising from the dunes. Sulphur Fish and Ravagers, mostly, with several Deathstalkers thrown into the mix. Perhaps not a significant setback were it not for the sheer number of them, at least a hundred.

We mobilized and began our fight. Yang and I called upon the powers of Fall and Spring in order to kill several before they even reached us while Ruby and Violet used their silver eyes to turn several to stone, and more to ash. The rest did what they did best, moving to engage and dispatch as many as they could with what means they had. Even Shi fought, and I'm proud to say she fought well even at that age.

Yet, in spite of our efforts, they kept coming.

We knew we could beat them, that wasn't a question, the worry came from a different source. Lunus was the one to shout it out after sawing through a Deathstalker with his weapon, "This can't be a coincidence! Grimm don't gather like this naturally! Something's making them target us!"

I felt stupid for not noticing sooner.

Of course they were, because if Orchid had what I used to have, she would have some control of Grimm on her own. That wasn't mentioning the chilling possibility that Salem herself was moving the pieces in an effort to stop her immortal enemy from being able to get back on his feet, she was likely trying to take him out early and force him to go through another reincarnation so that he didn't have time to stop her.

That couldn't happen. I told the others what I had concluded about the Grimm, and as we all gathered during a calm period, Ruby spoke, "They're going to keep coming for us." She tightened her grip on her scythe, "Yang has her maiden powers, I have my silver eyes, Weiss and Blake are great in their own right. We'll stay back and keep them off your tails, then when all of this is over we'll meet up and celebrate."

I didn't offer any protest, the others looked worried but nobody moved to protest. Instead Lunus stepped forward and shared a kiss with Ruby before he said, "We're going to have Strawberry Shortcake when all of this is over." He grinned at her, "Got it?"

She nodded, eyes brimming with resolve, and then we separated. Team RWBY kept the Grimm that converged on where we had been from following us while we kept moving.

Before the first attack we had already been traveling for a couple hours, and we spent another hour drawing closer to our goal. We were lucky that it wasn't a day's walk away from us, otherwise I don't think we would have stood a chance at making it in the conditions we were in.

We were all wary and worried about one thing or another. About the team left behind, about the possibility that more would have to stay behind, and about Neve. I could only imagine what sorts of things he'd been through during his time as a captive. Now he was being targeted before he had even been able to get his bearings again. At least I could be there for him, along with everyone else. We wouldn't let him attempt to handle this on his own.

If we had expected an easy trip from that point onward, we would have been wrong once again. More Grimm, just as many as the ones that attacked us before. With less of us, it seemed like an even more drawn out fight, and though I had no doubt that we could win, time was not on our side.

This time, however, it didn't take very long for the others to make their stand. Violet and Aura were working through several Grimm as they came and she yelled, "Cinder, Shi! You two need to keep going!" She flashed her silver eyes and dissolved a few more Grimm, "We can hold the line!"

A Dromedon, which was a camel like Grimm, charged at Violet from behind only to be intercepted by a powerful kick from Mercury. He stood and stayed light on his feet, "We'll stay with them! No way are we missing this part!" He shot a grin at Violet, who reciprocated it before he turned his attention back to me, "Go!"

I shared a look with Shi before we both started down the path again. I scooped her up in my arms and used the wind to carry us forward faster than we could have gone on foot. If only that had been an option before, but there was no way I could sustain flight for everyone in our group.

I set us down after I was certain we were relatively safe from the Grimm that had attacked us earlier. We had to restrain ourselves from running and instead settled for walking for a short while, just so we could catch our breath. I asked, "Are you alright, Shi? I know you've never fought this many Grimm before."

Shi nodded in affirmation, "I haven't, but… There were just as many when Beacon was attacked." She frowned but kept looking ahead, "It's nothing. I'll do whatever it takes to get him back." She took her scythe off her back and held it tightly in her hands and remained on high alert. The red panda ears atop her head twitched at the slightest noise, be it the howling of the wind or the sound of a wild animal.

Her words rang with resolve, yet hearing them left me feeling heavy-hearted. I remember that at one point Neve told me that he wanted Shi to have a normal childhood and not lose out on some defining moments in her life. Lunus and Ruby too expressed their concerns, and while they seemed to think there was hope, I wasn't so sure. I wondered if maybe Shi had already grown up much too early.

The girl herself had more on her mind, "We'll get him back…" She said this more for her own sake than mine, "...Then we'll be a family again, and we'll be heroes together. We'll save the world and then everything will be okay." She muttered softly, "Everything will be okay."

If I had a clue as to what I was doing I was sure I could have helped her feel better. Yet, at the time I was drawing a blank. I told Neve once that I didn't feel I was worthy to have a child, and at the time that held true. Why would someone like me deserve to have anything like that? Especially when I couldn't come up with words to soothe someone like Shi…

I took a deep breath and asked myself what Neve would say. After a few moments, I said softly, "We will get him back. You're already a hero, Shi, and he'll tell you the same once we get him back." I meant it, of course I did, I'm not going to pretend like she wasn't and isn't struggling, but she carried that weight with resolve many grown adults lack. I think, given the circumstances, that made her one of the most heroic of us all.

The path before us was set, we knew we still had a ways to go, but there was no time for rest. We eventually started flying again, with Shi keeping her scythe folded on her back while I had her hold on in a piggy-back ride. While we were flying, I said, "If we get into another fight, Shi, I'm going to need you to keep going on your own."

Shi, as I expected, didn't like that idea very much, "But if we end up fighting a group that size again you're gonna need help! You're a maiden, but that doesn't mean they can't hurt you…"

I frowned slightly but kept my voice even, "I know, Shi, but you said the Grimm tend to ignore you, right?" She hummed an affirmation and so I said, "Then it makes sense that you keep going on your own if I need to hold off more, they won't target you. At least, not right away."

Shi sighed softly before finally saying, "Okay…" Of course, I knew she wasn't going to like the idea of going on her own. Not because she couldn't do it, but because she was worried about me, about everything. Shi had, rather annoyingly in my mind, taken after Neve's selfless nature and it showed very clearly. She was already a brave and heroic girl, from what he tells me, but seeing him fight and knowing what he did had likely only instilled a greater sense of selflessness in her. Normally, that would be a good thing, but I didn't like the idea of her being as recklessly selfless as Neve could be.

After all, she didn't have the talisman that gave him the ability to grow at the startling rate that he did, and she didn't have some old wizard living in her head (thank the brothers for that). Not that Neve's growth wasn't earned, it was, but he didn't do it without help, and that help allowed him to get away with things that a normal Hunter couldn't. I just hoped that Shi knew that and didn't throw herself into a situation she couldn't get out of.

I knew that she was smarter than that, but she was still a young girl and was prone to making reckless decisions. Decisions like staying up until the early hours of the morning to train, or hiding away in a suitcase just so she could stay with Neve. That one was always funny to me, but it spoke volumes about her mentality. If she had a goal, she wasn't going to stop chasing it until she reached it. If she believed something needed to be a certain way, she would do everything in her power to make it so.

That kind of drive would be a boon to her in the future, and if I was being honest it already had helped her on more than one occasion, however, it needed to be tamed and honed. She needed to be the master of it rather than letting it control her. In time I knew she would be an amazing Huntress. If I was being honest, she was already skilled in her own way. Until she was old enough to go out on her own, however, I would never call her completely ready to stand on her own.

If I could help it, I wouldn't suggest that she venture out into the desert on her own, but I couldn't. This was far from an ordinary experience for anyone, and it was no different for her. The Grimm, and Salem, didn't care if someone was ten, fifteen, or five thousand, in her mind they were all obstacles to her omnicidal quest.

I was torn out of my thoughts when I heard a howl not too far away. I stopped flying forward just in time to avoid the pounce of a large black form that flew right past me. As it landed and I got a good look at it, my eyes widened.

A large beast with a short, wide snout with teeth overlapping its jaw glared back at us in spite of its lack of eyes. Its canine ears seemed fully alert and it was dripping Grimm Liquid from its slobbering mouth and from its body. It growled and I heard it speak, "Take… Fall Maiden… Kill… Ozma…"

The fact that it spoke was momentarily shocking to me, but I quickly shrugged it off.

I should have expected that Salem would send one of her experiments after me, the fact that it hadn't appeared sooner was something of a miracle. I flew down and told Shi, "Go!" She got off but looked at me worriedly, I smiled at her but kept my voice firm, "I can handle this beast, go help Neve. I'll catch up."

I didn't give her a chance to debate, instead I turned away from her and towards the hound, drawing Aurora off my back, "Salem was always fond of attempting to create new abominations to serve her whims… You'll fall just like the rest."

I saw Shi was still standing there stock still, so I mentally apologized to her before letting out a pulse of wind magic that caused a gust of wind to carry her off.

This was my fight, not hers.

Shi POV

When my feet touched the ground again I had to resist the urge to run right back and stand with Auntie Cinder.

She would have just sent me back again anyway, and I didn't want to get in the way. So, instead, I drew my scythe, which Auntie Ruby had named Theta, and started running down the path, concealed almost entirely by sand as it was.

I hadn't been on my own like this in a long time, come to think of it.

Not since the Attack. There were times before that when my Mama and Papa would leave me on my own to do something important, but after that? I was never alone. I always had Uncle Neve, or my other Aunties, Violet and Jeanne, they all worked together to make sure I was never alone.

At the same time, though, I was never satisfied if I wasn't with him. Because while I do love all of my aunties and uncles, Neve is… different. I grew closer to him, he put so much of his energy into taking care of me and trying to make sure I lived as close to a normal life as I could.

…Sometimes I feel bad for having snuck onto that ship. Not because I regret it, but because I knew that, because I was there, he had even more to worry about. Another mouth to feed, another bed to fill, even if I almost always slept in either his or Auntie Cinder's.

I stopped for a moment and took a breath, the wind howled as the sun began to sink. Soon it would be dark. I knew I would have no trouble with that, but the others might. I just hoped that they would be okay. In that moment I wished I was stronger, if I was as strong as him then I would have been able to kill all of those Grimm and I would have found a way to save everyone.

But I'm not him.

And so I walked on.

I was turning eleven back then, in just a few weeks. If you had asked me how I would be spending my birthday a year or two before that, it wouldn't have been anywhere close to what it was then. Not that I would have been able to even fully comprehend everything that had happened to us…

I know that everyone tried their best to shield me from the truth of how the world worked. They tried to protect my view that the world was fair and that everything always worked out in the end. Even up to that point they tried, and some still wonder today if maybe there's some of that old worldview left behind.

There isn't, but I never tried to correct them, because even back then I knew that they were just trying to do what was best for me. I may be young and Neve has probably had to fix so many mistakes just from this writing that I did about all of this, but I was not naive enough to hold onto that view anymore. There, in the desert, there was nothing but me, Theta, and my goal, no fairy tales and no knights in shining armor.

The illusion began to crack when the Attack happened, but I still held on to at least some hope that maybe the world really was fair and that everything would just… work out. That idea shattered like glass when he got kidnapped, because in a fair world he wouldn't have had to do something like that. He wouldn't have had to put himself in danger like that just to keep everyone safe.

To keep me safe.

I remember the day he saved me. I had been kidnapped and held in that shipping container for what felt like weeks. In reality it had only been a couple days, but that experience shook me to the core. And then I heard the struggle, the lock broke and we were ushered out. He looked so haggard, bloodied and beaten, but in that moment the only thing he looked like to me was a hero. He was hurting very badly and yet he was focused on keeping me from seeing the bodies of the people he had to fight, he didn't want me to be scared.

But I saw the bodies, and the sight has stayed with me, then and now. I had nightmares for weeks after that, but I was always calmed down by Mama and Papa telling me stories of heroes. I asked them to tell me about my hero, Neve, and I asked if he was doing okay. They tried their best to tell me he was doing okay and that he was busy learning to be a hero.

I thought that was strange and confusing, because he was already a hero. He saved me and so many other people, he's the reason I decided that I wanted to be one myself, I wanted to be there to save people like he had. I was overjoyed when he and Auntie Cinder started training me, I don't think there was ever a happier period in my life up to that point. Not that my life wasn't happy, but nothing matched the feeling of getting trained by my hero.

Then the attack happened and everything changed. Mama and Papa died and I never got to see them again.

…That's not true. I saw them one more time.

Their funeral was filled with people who mourned the loss of my parents but I barely knew any of them. They offered me their condolences and told me they were there to help me but nobody ever suggested the idea of taking me in. Everyone had tried to keep the caskets closed so I couldn't see them, but I looked when nobody was around. I wish I hadn't, but in a way I think I needed to. I needed to see that they really were gone and that there really was no going back to the way things used to be. Bouncy castles and bedtime stories would be traded in for orphanages and the distant care of people I didn't know.

At least, that's what everyone thought was going to happen.

Then, without a second thought, he adopted me. He became my family and swore that I would never be alone again.

"It's okay, Shi, it's okay… You can stay with me, alright? I'll take care of you…"

His words played back in my mind, and there were so many times after that when he would remind me that he was there for me. Suddenly, as if by magic, my hero was now my adoptive dad. I could see the look of guilt in his eyes anytime my parents came up, I think he blamed himself for them dying. I never understood why. I still don't, because it wasn't his fault that bad people had attacked the stadium.

I didn't blame him, I've never once even dreamed of blaming him. It wasn't his fault and even still he always looked as if he was carrying some burden behind his eyes. A distant sadness, a look as if he was not all there. He was somewhere else, somewhere far away, and I knew at least some of the time he was back at Amity Colosseum. I don't know how many times he replayed that day in his head, but I know he did.

I had never truly understood how much of a burden he shouldered until that night. The night when I found him sitting on the couch at home. He couldn't lie through the aura-link, and I still remember everything he said.

'I did everything wrong.'

He may have done things wrong in the past but he tried to make it right every day. When I was at my lowest he picked me up and showed me that my life isn't over just because Mama and Papa were gone. He showed me that I could still become a hero, that I could endeavor to make sure that what happened to me would never happen to another family ever again.

'You shouldn't have been stuck with me. You deserve better.'

Stuck with him? I ran willingly into his arms and I never let go, I never wanted to let go. He devoted his everything to me and he tried to shield me from any further loss in my life, he told me that everything would be okay. When I was having a nightmare he made the monsters go away. He took me by the hand and guided me forward, and never once was he mean to me. Never has he yelled at me, never once has he given me any reason to think he was anything less than the hero I always knew he was.

And he never stopped being there for me.

"We've still got a lot to get through before that, but I promise we will get through it. You have my word."

I just want us to go home. I just want us to be able to pretend like nothing has ever happened. Not so long ago I dreamed of being a hero and going on adventures to save the world. Yet, now that I really am going on adventures to save the world, I've found that all I really want to do is go back home. I want to go back to Patch and be able to settle in to watch movies with my family. I want to be able to go downstairs and find him cooking breakfast. He would smile at me, pat my head, and tell me to make sure I washed up before I ate. I want to be able to be able to go to sleep at night and wake up the next day knowing that everything was okay.

I just wanna go home.

I saw Grimm in the distance as I continued down the path, but they didn't see me. Even Grimm that were closer didn't notice me or pay any attention to me. It had always been like that, for some reason. Apparently, nobody else got ignored by the Grimm like that unless they were hiding their emotions with a semblance or by remaining very calm.

The grip on Theta tightened once again as I continued walking. I didn't let myself waver, because I knew if I wanted to have a chance at going home and getting to be happy I was going to have to keep going. The Grimm didn't notice me, they didn't hear me, but I was still there.

I'm still here.

I remembered something else he told me before he was kidnapped.

"We don't know what the future will bring, but I promise you that if I can help it I won't be going anywhere."

He had gone somewhere, but I knew he had to do it. That didn't mean I wasn't upset. It just meant that I was going to have to get him back myself. If he couldn't keep his promise on his own then I would help him keep it, because I didn't want to lose anymore family.

It was during those months without him and during that walk in the desert that I finally realized something. I came to a conclusion about something I had been struggling with for what felt like a long time at that point. Mama and Papa were gone but Neve is still here, Cinder is still here, everyone that had put so much effort into training and helping me is still here.

I heard the roar of a Grimm overhead that made me instinctively crouch down. I saw a winged Grimm flying overhead that looked like the Wyvern that Neve had killed before, except it was much bigger and was flying in the same direction I was going.

The sun had set by this point, and it was getting cold, but the only warmth that was going to sate me was a hug from him. He had been gone so long, and I had dreamed so often of having him back, now it was right in front of me and the Grimm were trying to stop it from happening. They were trying to stop me from seeing him, from hugging him, from having him read me bedtime stories and tell me everything was going to be okay.

I couldn't let that happen.

I started to run, hurrying as fast I could, though the Wyvern was faster than me I had to keep running regardless. I wasn't going to let them stop me, they were never going to stop me again. Mama and Papa are irreplaceable, I love them with all my heart, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed from having more than one set of parents.

I shouted into the cold night air as I sprinted forward.

"Dad! Just hold on!"

Neve POV

The time I spent with Ozma's daughters, my daughters, helped me straighten out a great deal of my memories.

There was still a lot I was unsure of, a lot that I felt like I was feeling around in the dark trying to sort out, yet I was far less confused than I was before, and that meant something. Especially as my time in the Inbetween came to a close and I gasped awake, finding I was in a tent I knew I hadn't been in before.

I patted my body down. I was still wearing the T-shirt and trousers, although both were stained with blood and sand. I saw the sheath for Horizon sitting on my left, but I didn't see the blades. I realized that, in my delirium, I must have left them back at the compound.

The Long Memory was there, though, sitting retracted on my right. After I made sure I still had all of my limbs, I grabbed my cane and extended it out. Then, I planted it on the ground and used it to help me stand with a grunt, my body still felt heavy and I knew that it still felt the weight of what I had done as much as my mind did.

I made my way over to the sheath and strapped it onto my back. Even if I didn't have the blades I didn't want to lose it all. I could always get new blades, but if nothing else I wanted to keep the sheath.

It was then that the quest I had received before was completed and I received a new one in short order.

Quest Complete!

Step Eight: Freedom!

Having successfully fought for your freedom, you have found yourself in a strange tent. Likely somewhere in the Vacuo desert. Now all that remains is to find your family.

Rewards

5000 Lien, 4 Dexterity, Freedom.

New Quest Obtained!

Polaris

Free from the clutches of Orchid and her minions and completely fused with Ozpin, your goal now is to find your family and reach Vacuo. Armed with The Long Memory, magic unrivaled by any other than Salem herself, and the experience of thousands of lives at your beck and call, all you have left to do is take the next step.

Rewards

A Long Awaited Reunion.

Well, the Lien would be useful once I was able to access my bank account again…

I realized that my stats were probably wildly different now, so I pulled them up to see what changed.

Neve Ozma Cadere

Level 80 Hero

Other Titles

Wannabe Hero

Coffee Boy

Dragon Slayer

Rogue Commander

Physical Age: 19

Actual Age: Over 5,000

HP

100/100

MP (Equipment)

-1386/5000 Usable (10,000 total)

MP (Self)

1000/1000

Aura

600/600

Stats

Vigor - 40

Mind - 100

Charisma - 90

Endurance - 50

Strength - 30

Dexterity - 80

Intelligence - 90

Sorcery - 90

Skills

Sword Fighting

100/100

Cane Fighting

100/100

Archery

100/100

Fist Fighting

60/100

Dodging

100/100

Blocking

70/100

Aura Usage

100/100

Dust Usage

100/100

Stealth

100/100

Deception

100/100

Leadership

90/100

New Special Abilities Unlocked!

Unending Stamina

When you feel you can move no further, you will find the energy to keep going. Once a day you will find yourself able to keep going ten minutes longer than you normally would.

The Road You've Walked

You've experienced much over the course of your long life, and now you find yourself with wisdom few could ever hope to compare to. Whenever you feel a choice must be made, you are far more likely to make the correct one.

Danger Sense

You've gained an increased awareness of the things around you. You will find your innate ability to detect danger with aura enhanced greatly.

Intellectual Recall

Your thousands of years of experience have given you a great deal of knowledge. You will no longer forget things so long as they are related to a scholarly field.

Last Resort

When you are nearing the end of your road, the purpose of this spell will be revealed.

I muttered aloud, even though my voice was hoarse, "Wow." I wasn't surprised about the Relic of Progress being that spent, Alex had told me that the spell she used drew a great deal on the Relic's power to allow me to stay in the Inbetween as long and as often as I did. Not having the mana available at that moment was perhaps inconvenient, but well worth it considering Alex spent all of that in order to save my sanity. Just another reason for me to be grateful. When I got the mana it had left back, I would have a much easier time not having to micromanage my magic, at least barring protracted or difficult fights.

The stats may look good, but Ozpin was still killed by Cinder in another timeline, and Orchid in this one. I wasn't immune to mistakes, nor to being overwhelmed. I just had a lot more breathing room now.

The final ability was concerning, but I already had an idea as to what it was as I remembered what Jinn had told me. At least, after I sorted it from the other memories of me talking to Jinn in the past.

I heard talking outside of my tent, the voices sounded alert and worried. I recognized one as Vesta Ozpin and another as her teammate, who I had met once before. The others were unknown to me, and so I started for the exit to the tent.

All of the talking died the second I pushed the tent flap out of the way and emerged. I looked around and saw several tribespeople, nomads from the Moonwatcher tribe, of course I recognized Vesta and Damian, the gray haired Faunus was new to me. I figured I should say something, and so after clearing my throat, placing my cane in front of me, and resting my hands atop it, I said with a smile, "I hope I'm not interrupting."

Sound erupted from all around the tribe, with tribespeople claiming they had been saved and that it was as if the moon was unshattered again. I remembered these people for having a rather unique legend, the tale of the boy who would be born under an unshattered moon and bring magic back to Remnant.

It was interesting, if a bit eccentric.

Vesta took a few cautious steps forward and looked at me worriedly, "Dad…?" It still felt strange, hearing someone who was around my physical age calling me Dad, but I had expected it.

So, I nodded, my smile fading slightly, "At least partially. It's… a bit complicated. It's good to see you again, Vesta." I took a few steps away from the tent and towards the center of the camp and Vesta walked a few paces towards me.

She frowned, "So… it's finished?" I nodded and her eyes brimmed with tears, "A-Are you still…?"

I offered her the best answer I could, "He's part of me now, instead of the other way around…" I looked down, "I had hoped to see you again before the process completed, but the fusion needed to be complete in order for me to leave Orchid's clutches." For some reason, Damian looked incredibly guilty in the background, while tears started to stream down Vesta's face.

That didn't stop her from taking a few steps forward and wrapping her arms around me, "I-I was that close?" She whispered and then swore under her breath, "Damn it… Damn it all…" She squeezed me tightly, "At… At least he's not completely gone…"

I returned the hug and, in an attempt to add some levity, said, "Language, young lady." She pulled back just enough to glare at me and I grinned, "Sorry. It's hard to keep down several thousand years of experience being a parent. Even if it wasn't… me."

Vesta's glare softened and she sighed, "Well…" She let go of me and stepped back, "...This is going to take a lot of getting used to." She smiled sheepishly, "He told me about his… special condition a long time ago. I always knew in the back of my head that it could happen."

The gray haired Faunus spoke up, "Uhm… this is all heartwarming, very nice reunion with your… Dad? You look surprisingly young for a father." He shook his head and looked up, "We need to do something. It sounds like there's a big Grimm coming our way. Very big, very loud too." He reached up and rubbed his cat ears with a frown.

I frowned and for a brief moment recalled a few times Ozma had been in a situation like this before, "Odds are they're coming for me. All of you need to evacuate and head for Vacuo. I'll take care of this Grimm."

Vesta was about to speak, likely to protest, when a loud roar from a beast overhead. When I looked up I saw that it was a Wyvern. More importantly, it was diving right for the village! I knelt down and planted my cane in the ground, creating a larger shield than I had been capable of before that enveloped the whole of the caravan. Just in time as the beast crashed into the shield and roared in anger, I yelled, "Vesta, go! Start taking everyone to Vacuo! I'll catch up!"

This time there was no attempt to protest. Instead she nodded and yelled out, "Damian, Gray! We're getting everyone out of here! Come on, let's go!" Some of the tribespeople hesitated, but the ones who didn't helped direct them away. They were able to pass harmlessly through the shield, and once they were all gone, I dropped the shield.

Immediately the beast dived towards me again. I dove out of the way just in time for the tent I had been in to be crushed. I rose just in time to see the Wyvern preparing to breathe fire at me. As it roared and sent the geyser towards me I held my cane in my right hand while extending out my left. A burst of ice magic shot forward and collided with the fire, they contested each other for a few moments before both inevitably fizzled out.

The Wyvern stomped towards me and attempted to crush me with its jaws. I ducked out of the way and stepped to the right only for it to kick its leg out and connect with my chest. It sent me to the ground but before it could follow up I released a pulse of kinetic force that caused the tents that were still standing around the camp to fall apart and fly away. The Wyvern was pushed up into the air and beat its wings, taking flight and soaring into the air again.

Unfortunately for it, the skies were not its domain alone. I launched into the air with the help of wind magic and dodged to the right as it attempted to charge me. I smirked and muttered, "Killing the other one would have been much easier if I could do this back then…"

I was under no illusion that this one wouldn't put up a fight. Magic was potent and powerful but the greater the spell the longer it would take to cast. I couldn't afford to underestimate any enemy that came my way, if I did then I risked wasting everything that I had done up to this point. I would risk making Oz's sacrifice pointless.

The Wyvern flew towards me again and I prepared myself. Once it was close enough I flew above it and landed on its back, careful to above its bone spikes. If I had Horizon, I could have killed it right then and there, but without it I had to settle for the second best choice. I raised my cane and plunged it downwards into the Beast's back. A pulse of kinetic energy emitted from my weapon and caused the beast to shoot downward. It shot towards the ground and collided with immense force, kicking up dust and building materials in the process.

I made a mental note to help the tribespeople get new necessities and equipment and then flew towards the ground. By the time I reached it, it was already getting back up and beating its wings. I swore under my breath, "Damn if Salem isn't getting better at making these things. Good thing they're rare." I didn't want to know what would happen if she dedicated all of her time to making an army of Wyverns.

I knew she wouldn't. It would be too boring to her, and one type of Grimm meant you only needed one strategy to beat them. Still, the visual was an unpleasant one.

The beast pushed off the ground before I could attack it with my cane and caused me to have to shield my eyes. Once I looked away I saw it preparing to douse me with more fire. As it did, I responded with the same thing I did before, a blast of ice. However, the beast did something admittedly unexpected.

It charged at me while maintaining its fire breath. I responded by allowing the ice to explode outward all around me. The result was the ground being covered in ice while the beast was forced back by the force of the blast, but not before it launched a fireball at me. I didn't have time to react, so instead I braced myself.

The fireball connected with me and caused me to fall backwards onto the ground. I gritted my teeth as the flame washed over me and I saw the Wyvern diving towards me, already yet more flame was surging towards me. I closed my eyes and prepared to release a pulse of kinetic energy once it got close enough, knowing my aura could tank another gout of flame.

However, the flame never came.

I heard a loud CRASH, it sounded as if the beast had just run straight into a glacier. I knew it wasn't my semblance, nor my magic, so my eyes flew open.

Standing in front of me, facing a wall of ice she had created with the left half of her body emitting icy mist and the other half burning with fire wielding a black and gray scythe was a girl I hadn't expected to see. One with red panda ears atop her head. She stood in front of me, and yelled, "You're not taking Dad away from me!"

As the glacier fell away, a powerful geyser of flame burst forward from her right hand and caused the Wyvern, who had fallen to the ground after crashing into the glacier, to roar in pain before it took off into the air again.

I scrambled to my feet, eyes wide, and it was only then that I registered what Shi had said. My eyes widened and I was immediately slammed with a wave of emotions all at once. Were we not in a combat situation I would have lost my composure right then and there, "Shi?"

She looked at me and I saw that her normally black eyes were different, the right was glowing amber in a way that strikingly reminded me of Cinder while the one on the left was icy blue like…

Mine.

In spite of what we were facing she grinned excitedly, her eyes lit up with joy, "Dad! I came to help! Mom and the others are fighting Grimm back the way I came!" Mom? That had to be Cinder!

I didn't have time to ask where this came from before the Wyvern was charging us again. I gritted my teeth as I glared up at it and cast a spell, causing a purple chain to shoot out from the ground and grab hold of the Wyvern's leg, pulling the beast down with great force. Before it landed I planted my cane in the ground again and created a shield to protect Shi and I. It was then that I asked, "You got your semblance? When?" I had so many things I wanted to say and so, so many tears to shed, but those had to wait.

Shi's grip on her scythe tightened and I noticed that her semblance was still at full power, "Just now!" That added an extra layer of emotion to this, her semblance manifested because she wanted to try to save me? And it was… a mixture of Cinder and I's.

I willed the shield to pulse outward, causing the Wyvern to get launched backward, only to be yanked back down by the chain and slammed into the ground, laying on its back. Maintaining that chain was going to take some concentration, but luckily I wasn't the only one fighting it anymore.

Shi didn't waste any time. She raced forward in a dead sprint and raised her scythe, digging it into the Wyvern's side and pulling downward, causing it to shriek in pain as Grimm Liquid spewed out of it. I was prepared to cast a spell to deliver what I hoped to be a finishing blow to it when suddenly Shi stepped closer to the Wyvern, putting her left foot forward as ice began to grow on her body. I yelled, "Shi! Don't waste your aura! I can take care of it!"

Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised when she yelled out, "No!" but it did, and she wasn't done, "These stupid Grimm are the reason why everything is so wrong! Why I lost Mama and Papa, why I almost lost you! I'm not going to let that happen again! Never…" My eyes widened as the ice continued to grow over her left side, she reared back with her scythe, "AGAIN!" She swung her scythe forward and several massive spikes of ice erupted from the ground at her command.

The spikes pierced into the Wyvern without any effort and rose as high as a two story building with the beast impaled on top of it, while this was happening flame exploded from her right side. The wind ripped across the area, forcing me to shield my eyes from sand until it died down.

As quickly as the massive explosion of power came from her, it vanished.

The glacier she had created remained, even as Shi began to collapse, dropping her scythe in the process. I raced over as quickly as I could and caught her, cradling her in my arms, "Shi!" Half of her was covered in bits of ice, the other had embers smoldering off of it.

Her aura shimmered and yet she still grinned up at me. As I watched her eyes faded back to their natural black, "Dad… You're safe." She reached out for a hug and I pulled her closer. She tiredly muttered, "All I wanted… was to have you back." Then she went limp, unconscious.

I felt tears begin to stream down my face as I stood and looked back, seeing where I had dropped my cane in the rush to catch her. I walked over to it, knelt down and set her down for just a moment so I could collect it and clip it to my side, and so I could fold her scythe and bring it with us.

I looked at her again and noticed that her clothes were singed on one side, looking closer I saw the beginnings of burn wounds. The other side also had the start of frostbite, so I used some magic to equalize her body temperature and stop the afflictions from getting worse.

I picked her up in a princess carry again and looked up at the glacier again. Her semblance was powerful, extremely powerful, but it seemed that it had its downsides. Maybe those could be rectified with time and training, but it was still powerful regardless.

It was also strangely familiar to me. I couldn't place where I had seen it before… A downside to having as many memories as I did now was that it became a bit harder to pick out small details that were ultimately unimportant to the situation at hand.

I sniffled as I looked down at her, "I promised I'd keep you safe…" I took a deep breath, "I never expected that you would be the one saving me." I meant that in more ways than one. I looked out in the direction the tribe had left in and lifted Shi and I into the air. I flew us forward as fast as I could, intent on getting to the others.

I knew they would probably be worried about me, if not my health than my mental state. I can't say I'd blame them. If it wasn't for Alex, I would have probably lost my mind. Yet, I didn't, and even with the fusion complete I was still myself. In spite of everything… It's still me.

I'm still here.

Author's Notes

Yeah turns out that bad math was on purpose back there, I probably should have specified that, huh? To answer a question, yes as you read that is Damian Nocturne from 'Son of Salem' and yes the author of that story and I are good friends. In fact, we work with each other on our respective stories over discord.

As expected, Neve's got a lot more up his sleeve now, as well as being far, far stronger than he was before. I hope I've demonstrated, but don't worry about him making everything super easy now. In the same vein, Shi's semblance is very strong but I'll be taking measures to make sure it doesn't trivialize things, so don't worry about that! As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.