AN: I would once again like to thank Lord Maximus for his help writing this arc.
Now, let's get weird.
Chapter 62
Aqua looked in confusion at the little girl happily waving to her from the water.
Who was she?
Larmina.
That's right. Her name was Larmina. Of course. How could she forget her own daughter's name?
She had given birth to her five years ago. She remembered the pregnancy. She remembered how excited Qrow had been to be a dad. Aqua had been so happy that she could do that for him after everything he had been through. Her favorite part was bringing little Larmina home and seeing how ecstatic Ruby and Yang were to have a baby sister. They had since gone on to spoil her rotten.
She smiled and waved back at her daughter. "We'll be right there, honey!" She called.
"What are we waiting for?" Qrow asked, scooping her up bridal style and walking towards the water with her.
"Qrow!" she scolded playfully, laughing at her husband's antics. She happily cupped his face and kissed him on the cheek, his stubble tickling her face, smiling brightly despite the good-natured manhandling.
When they got far enough into the water, Qrow gently let her down, allowing her to stand up. Larmina held up her arms expectantly, and Aqua picked her up, nuzzling close to her.
"Were you good for your uncles?" she asked.
"Yup!" Larmina said happily.
"She didn't give us any trouble," Terra said, his hair no longer silver.
She remembered the day they both became Masters. It allowed Terra to take her place when she had to take a step back from adventuring after she became pregnant.
"That's good," Aqua said, giving her old friend a smile.
"Yeah, we were teaching her how to swim, and I think she's getting the hang of it," Ven said.
"That's my girl," Qrow said, affectionately patting her head.
"Mommy, I wanna swim with Ruby and Yang!" Larmina said.
"Go ahead," Aqua said, putting her down and letting her walk towards her sisters. When she got there, she was scooped up by Ruby.
Aqua was fairly certain that Ruby had always been even more excited than Yang was when they learned that she was having a baby, since it meant she got to be someone's big sister, instead of the little one.
"Hey, Ven and I are gonna get some ice creams," Terra said, the two men starting to walk towards the shore.
"Alright," Aqua said, and once they were gone, she felt Qrow's arms wrap around her from behind, pulling her back against her husband's muscular chest. Immediately he began peppering her neck with kisses. She giggled at the contact, as his stubble was once again tickling her. After a few seconds, he stopped, and they just stood there in the water, Aqua tightly held in his embrace.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too," he replied.
"Ozpin, what the hell is going on here?!" General Ironwood demanded as he stepped out of the elevator into the Headmaster's office. Ruby only barely registered his presence, still holding tightly to Mom's Keyblade, Yang doing her best to snap her out of her stupor.
"To be perfectly honest, James, we're not sure," Professor Ozpin replied. "That object just appeared."
"What is it?" the general asked.
"Again, we don't know. Aqua referred to it as 'Kingdom Hearts'. She said that it felt like many Hearts gathered together, but we're not sure what that means."
"Well, where is Aqua?" Ironwood asked.
"We don't know that either," Blake said. "She flew up there in a Bullhead to investigate, there was a flash of light, and then suddenly she was gone."
"Why didn't you contact me instead of letting her go up there alone?" the general demanded.
"Because she was the only one that knew anything about that object," Ozpin said, his voice beginning to raise. "Neither of us would have been much help."
"Well, now she's gone and we're no closer to understanding it!" General Ironwood yelled.
"Stop it!" Yang yelled, looking up at the men with red eyes. "Stop talking about her like she's dead!"
"Yang…" Ruby said, her voice monotone. "It's not disappearing."
"What?" Yang asked, looking down at her sister.
"Her Keyblade isn't disappearing," Ruby said. "It's supposed to return to her. Why isn't it?"
"W-well, you're holding onto it," Yang said, reaching down for the weapon. "Here." She grabbed hold of the Keyblade, taking it from Ruby's hands. After a second, it vanished. "There, it'll probably go back—"
She was interrupted by the weapon suddenly reappearing in Ruby's hand.
"It's not returning to her," Ruby said.
"Does that mean she's really…" Weiss said.
"No," Yang said, almost desperately. "There's no way. There's just something we haven't thought of yet!"
"Miss Xiao Long, please calm down," Professor Ozpin said.
"I'll calm down when Mom is back!" She yelled. "You're supposed to have answers, aren't you?! You're the ones with the secret society! DO SOMETHING!"
"I can't even imagine where we'd begin," the general said, trying his best to remain calm and not escalate the situation. He looked back up at Kingdom Hearts. "We don't know the first thing about whatever this 'Kingdom Hearts' is."
As soon as the general mentioned Kingdom Hearts, Ruby's face shot up, glaring at the glowing Heart with barely-contained rage in her gaze. All of this happened because that thing showed up. Mom vanished because she had touched it.
"Give her back," she said, pointing the Master Keeper at the Heart. "Give her back!"
From the tip of her mother's Keyblade came a burst of light that collided with the Heart, causing it to glow. Ruby managed to keep her eyes open and watched as the Heart transformed into a door that slowly opened.
"Well, I'll be…" Professor Ozpin muttered under his breath.
"Ruby?" Yang asked. Ruby prepared to launch herself at the door, when a hand roughly grabbed her arm.
"Wait," the general said, holding Ruby back. "You don't know what's in there."
"My mom is in there!" Ruby snapped.
"Along with who-knows-what-else! As I've said numerous times, we know nothing about this situation. Rushing in blindly will only get you and others killed."
"If she might be in danger, that's all the more reason for me to go in there after her!" Ruby continued to argue.
"I have to agree with James," Professor Ozpin said. "We can't risk your life as well when we don't know what you'll be walking into."
"I'm not just going to sit here!" Ruby yelled.
"Me neither!" Yang chimed in.
"Okay, stop!" Weiss yelled, drawing everyone's attention to her. "General, Professor, I agree with Ruby and Yang. We can't just leave Professor Branwen in an unknown, potentially dangerous situation."
"Right—" Ruby tried to say.
"But," Weiss interrupted her. "The general and the Headmaster are also correct. If you just blindly go running in there without knowing what you're getting into, then we could wipe up losing both of you."
"Well, what do you want us to do, then?" Yang demanded.
"General, would it be possible to send in a remote drone?" Weiss asked. "If we can get a visual feed of what's behind that door, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about sending Ruby in after her."
"That could work," Professor Ozpin said. "Would you be able to do it, James?"
"I can make it happen," the general said with a nod. "Just give me a few minutes. I would feel better knowing a little more about that thing, too."
It was unbelievably difficult for Ruby to sit still while the general got the drone set up. It was only Weiss threatening to tie her a chair that got her to stop trying to head to the door before they were ready. General Ironwood was at the controls, the drone's camera feed being displayed on a screen in front of them. They could see the drone slowly approaching the door, only for the image to dissolve into static as the drone crossed the threshold.
"Damn it," Yang said. "Stupid piece of junk."
"Hold on," Blake said. "Maybe it's just some interference."
After a few seconds, the static dissipated.
"There," the general said. "It's sending back images now."
The group huddled around the screen, and were surprised to see a beach. Sitting there, clear as day, was Mom, alongside…
"Hey, that's us!" Ruby shouted, pointing at the screen, seeing herself and Yang. "That's the beach we went t when we vacationed in Mistral a year ago!"
"And there's Uncle Qrow!" Yang pointed, seeing Mom and Uncle Qrow sitting next to each other, eating ice cream along with… herself and Ruby.
This was weird.
"Aren't those your mom's friends?" Weiss asked, recognizing the two men with them. "Terra and Ven?"
"It can't be."
"Wait, who's that between your mom and uncle?" Blake asked, looking closer.
Sitting between Mom and Uncle Qrow, happily munching on an ice cream stick in a n adorable blue swimsuit, was a little blue-haired girl.
"No way…" Ruby said.
"What is this?" Yang asked.
Suddenly, the setting changed. Instead of a beach, they were looking at a temple of some kind. Mom was sitting in a large chair, watching Ruby train with Uncle Terra. Strangely, she was wearing white robe over her usual outfit with her hair tied into a bun. There were two chairs on either side of her, and Uncle Qrow was sitting in one, with the unknown blue-haired girl sitting in his lap. In the other chair sat a dignified-looking man in a similar white robe.
"I don't remember that," Ruby said, surprised by the sudden change. "I think I would remember being in a temple like that.
"And I think I'd remember seeing Terra and Ven with us in Mistral," Yang said.
"Hold on, I think that temple is Mom's home," Ruby said, remembering the Land of Departure her mother had told her about. "And that man with her, watching me train. He's got the same kind of robe as her… I think that's Master Eraqus."
"No way."
"Why exactly is seeing them so impossible?" General Ironwood asked. "Who are those two?"
"They trained with Mom when she was younger," Ruby explained. "And Eraqus was the one who trained them. But they all died around ten years ago, at the same time their home was destroyed."
"I see…" the general said.
"And that little girl with Uncle Qrow never existed," Yang said. "They didn't have any kids."
"I'd believe it if these were memories, but these clearly aren't," Weiss said. "So, what's going on?"
"Then perhaps instead of memories, we're seeing life the way Aqua wished it was," Professor Ozpin suggested.
"Do you mean…" Ruby asked. "It's showing Mom her Heart's desires?"
"But why?" Yang asked.
"Who knows? Maybe it's reacting to her Keyblade? Maybe it would have done the same if any of us touched it. Kingdom Hearts had power worth fighting a war over," Ruby said. "Maybe it created this world for her…because being with all of us is what she wants most."
"Whatever's going on, clearly there's nothing dangerous," Yang said. "I honestly couldn't care less about what exactly this is. Is this good enough for you, General?"
"Yes," General Ironwood said. "I think it's safe enough to go in."
"Go, Ruby!" Larmina cheered from her father's lap.
"Kick his butt, kiddo!" Qrow cheered just as loud. Aqua smiled looking at her husband and youngest daughter before turning her attention back to observing a spar between Terra and her middle daughter.
"You know having them here is highly irregular, correct?" Master Eraqus asked from the chair next to her. His hair had more grey in it than the last time she saw him.
"And we both know that you couldn't say no to seeing your adorable granddaughter," Aqua replied with a smirk. The Master cleared his throat in embarrassment, refusing to make eye contact. Aqua chuckled.
Terra swung his Keyblade hard, knocking Crescent Rose out of Ruby's hand. She quickly used her Semblance to zip underneath his legs, resummoning her weapon and getting him in the back.
"Atta girl, Ruby!" Aqua cheered.
"You also know cheering for an apprentice in a fight is irregular, too?" Master Eraqus asked again.
"Keep talking like that and you won't get to read Mina a story tonight," she said, giving her master the side-eye. She knew how much her Master loved telling her daughter stories about his adventures with the Keyblade, and all the worlds he'd been to in his youth. He might want to always appear as the stoic master, but there was no denying how much he doted on the girl who called him "grandpa". All three of them, really.
"In all seriousness, I think Ruby might be ready for the Mark of Mastery exam soon."
"No!" she snapped. Not after how hers went.
She shook her head. Why did she object?
"Aqua?" Qrow asked. "What's wrong?"
"I-I'm not sure," she said, holding her head.
"Do you need a hug?" Larmina asked. "Hugs make everything better."
"Mommy would love a hug, sweetheart," she said, Qrow passing their daughter over to her. "Thank you." She gave Larmina a good, hearty squeeze, and Larmina held her as tightly as her little arms could.
"I love you," the girl said.
"I love you, too."
Larmina suddenly looked up, her eyes changing color from blue to red.
"Sweetie?" Aqua asked. "What's wrong?"
"Someone's here," she said ominously.
Suddenly, someone landed in the center of the room, a girl with familiar red-and-black hair and a red cloak.
Ruby and Terra were instantly on alert, pointing their Keyblades at the intruder. The girl looked up at her, with wide silver eyes.
This girl looked exactly like Ruby.
"Mom!" she said. Then she looked over at Ruby, who was still pointing Crescent Rose at her. "Wow, that's weird."
"I could say the same to you," Ruby answered. "Who are you? And why do you look like me?"
"I'm Ruby," the new girl said. "Mom, come on. I came to get you out of here."
"You don't belong here," Larmina said.
She didn't?
She didn't. This was obviously an imposter.
"Larmina, honey," Aqua said, putting her daughter down as she stood up. "Stay behind me." She drew her Keyblade, the Rainfell, even though it had been gone for years, and pointed it at the fake Ruby. "Mommy's going to take care of this."
"Mom, what are you doing?" the fake Ruby asked. "It's me!"
"You think you can fool Aqua?" Terra asked. "Ruby Rose is standing right in front of us."
"Yeah, who do you think you are, you imposter?!" Ruby asked.
"I'm not the imposter!" Fake Ruby yelled. "You're the imposter!" She held her hand out, but then looked at it in shock. "Where's Crescent Rose?"
"Right here!" Ruby shouted, swinging it at her. The fake Ruby ducked under the swing and used her Semblance to back up quickly. "How can you claim to be the real me when you don't even have a Keyblade?!"
"What's happening?" the fake Ruby asked. "Mom, please, what's going on? How can I help you?"
Help? Why would she need help?
"Stay away from my Mommy!" Larmina shouted from behind the chair.
"No, this is all wrong! Don't you remember? We were at Beacon, and Kingdom Hearts showed up. You went to check it out and disappeared!"
Beacon?
Beacon Academy.
"What are you talking about?" Aqua demanded.
"We had just come back from Merlot's lab—"
"What do these names mean?!" Aqua yelled, pointing her weapon more forcefully. "You know what? I've had enough. You're going to leave. Now."
"But-!"
"I said LEAVE!" Aqua yelled, and a portal appeared behind the fake Ruby. With a burst of magic, the imposter was forced through it. The portal closed behind her.
"Is she gone?" Larmina asked.
"Yes, she's gone, honey," Aqua said, scooping up her daughter in her arms. "She won't hurt you. Mommy promises nothing will ever hurt you."
Ruby fell, wide-eyed, out of the portal, hurtling past the window of the headmaster's office. An arm suddenly caught her, and Yang pulled her up.
"What happened?" Professor Ozpin asked.
"Mom, she…" Ruby said, finding it difficult to form the words.
"She kicked me out."
AN: In case it wasn't obvious, I'm drawing a lot from WandaVision when writing this arc. The concept was so cool, and when Lord Maximus shared the idea for this arc, It just screamed WandaVision.
The bold text was meant to be text with a line through it. Basically, it's supposed to represent Aqua's real memories trying to break through. It would've been more obvious and cooler if I could the strikethrough text, but I don't know how to do that here. If anyone know's could you share it? Thanks.
Also, the name Larmina means "Blue Sky". It was suggested by Lord Maximus.
As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!