Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

"Thank you, Sir Ozma! Truly, we are in your debt!"

"Oh no, it's perfectly alright. Leo's an old friend, and this is what I do after all," Ozma insisted, his eyes looking not at Virgo who was addressing him, but the blonde woman who was running her glowing palms across his chest, healing magic seeping into his fractured bones and torn muscles. Perhaps it was that warm mending feeling rushing through his nerves, but despite all the many wondrous maidens he'd met in his life, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Granted, he had just watched her vaporize an archdemon and flatten a castle. Hard to get more attractive than that.

"Virgo is right," the angel of the stars said, a frown marring her luminous features. "If you hadn't come when you had, I don't know what would have happened. He might have turned me into his own personal attack dog."

Leo placed a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. "We would have never let that happen."

Virgo, tears welling in her eyes, prostrated herself on her knees before her sovereign. "Princess, I am so, so sorry. I am your maidservant, and I failed to keep you from harm. I will accept any punishment you deem necessary."

"What? No, no, you did nothing wrong, Virgo," the woman assured her, pulling the Maiden Spirit back to her feet. "This… this was my own fault. My own stupidity."

"Curiosity is not stupidity, my dear daughter," a new voice comforted.

Ozma and all present gazed up to the horizon, Leo and Virgo falling to one knee at the image of a being the Time Wizard had only seen in books before. Taking up the entire skyline was the ghostly image of a gigantic armored man with an utterly magnificent white mustache, the night sky itself forming his cape. He may not have been physically present, such a thing would require a proper summoning, but the Celestial Spirit King sure knew how to make an entrance.

The blonde woman glanced away, ashamed. Tears welled in her sapphire eyes. "Father… I am so, so sorry—"

"Don't start, my dear Sitara. The fly is not to be blamed for being drawn to honey," the King interceded, his voice soft and comforting even as it boomed across the heavens. Soon, a furious scowl crossed his ancient visage. "The Underworld King is to blame for this."

Sitara's hands clenched into fists. "I doubt Mard is dead. He told me of a machine he'd been working on that could return one of his kind from death. He was brash, but not a fool. He likely has one of his 'Hell's Cores' secreted away at some other hideout."

"Bringing demons back from the dead? Great," Ozma muttered, shaking his head. "As if killing them wasn't hard enough already. Don't suppose you've got any ideas where his hideout might be? If I'm lucky, I can hit him before he's fully recovered from that beating you gave him."

A smirk crossed Sitara's lips. "I'd gladly give him another if you can find him."

"The matter of the Underworld King can be dealt with after you are safe at home," the King proclaimed. "Please, Sitara. I just need to know you're safe."

The blonde woman opened her mouth, but clamped it shut at the last second, a guilty look overtaking her face. "I'm sorry, father. I'll return at once. I should have never left home in the first place."

The King sighed. "Better company would have been preferable. Don't worry, my dear. One day, your key will be found by one who is both strong enough to use it, and kind enough to wield it wisely. And you, Ozma."

Ozma stood a little straighter, quietly praying that the cosmic being hadn't noticed him ogling his daughter. "Your grace?"

"Thank you," the King said. "Thank you so much for what you've done here today."

"Oh," the wizard replied. "No problem."

"It was a great problem. That you solved," Sitara told him, shooting him a smile tinged with starlight. "Thank you, Sir Ozma."

Said legendary hero felt his face heating up. No doubt if he could see himself, there'd be a deep blush across his cheeks. At least, that was his guess from the nudge Leo gave him, a playful smirk on his old friend's face.

Sitara turned back to her father. "Gate of the Princess, Close."

A golden gleam began to shimmer over her body, one that Ozma had seen come over Leo whenever his parents had sent him home. When it faded, the princess would be back in the Celestial Spirit World safe and sound.

Except when the gleam died, she was still there!

"Why am I still here?" Sitara exclaimed.

"Because I will not allow you to contaminate one of my realms."

The waning sunset died, and storm clouds rumbled over the heavens, obscuring even the Celestial Spirit King. Ozma summoned his staff to his hand, ready for a fight with whatever thing was powerful enough to do such a thing.

At least until he got a look at his Celestial Spirit allies, whose eyes were all wide with terror, their noble and shining faces pale with dread. He soon saw why.

He appeared within flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder. A man of black shadow and vibrant light, the two contrasts constantly warring with each other across his body, like a rolling tempest contained in the form of a person. A person with no eyes or mouth, who's only distinguishing features were a pair of protrusions atop his head, one a deer's antler, the other a ram's curved horn. The tremor of sheer, instinctual power that emanated off the being would have frozen the wizard in place even if he hadn't recognized the being from certain religious texts he'd uncovered while researching Zeref's demons.

"Ankhseram." Ozma whispered, his staff falling from his grip.

The God of Creation and Destruction, Life and Death, paid him no mind, his face locked onto the Celestial Spirits. Leo made to step in front of Sitara, but she held him back. Unfortunately, that meant Virgo was given a clear avenue to rush in front of her fellows and prostrate herself before the divine being.

"My lord, Great Crafters of Heaven and Hell, please have mercy upon my lady," the maid begged. "If you must punish someone, let it be me!"

"No!" Sitara shouted, ramming past Leo and throwing herself over Virgo. "I ran off! There was nothing she could have done—"

"Silence."

It was a single word, not even shouted, or reverberated in any way one would expect from the divine. But when spoken by the first of the gods, its effect was instantaneous.

"You will not be punished, Maiden Spirit," he proclaimed. "There will be no punishment. Princess Sitara shall be barred from the Celestial Spirit World to prevent her contamination from spreading."

"Contamination?" The Celestial Spirit King murmured, for even he trod lightly in the presence of his master. "My lord, if she remains on Earthland, she will die."

"False, my old servant," Ankhseram revealed. "The same affliction that I have exiled her for shall allow her to live out a full life on this world. She is half-Etherious now. And Zeref's heresy must be quarantined here."

"What?" Ozma muttered, his eyes widening. Half-Etherious? Half demon and half Celestial Spirit? Had that been what Mard Geer had done to her? How was that even possible?

"The abomination that was created by Zeref sought to do as its master did: to break the laws of this universe. To upend the cycle of life and death. To obliterate a curse of punishment instead of serving out its terms," the god sneered. "Your recklessness, princess, allowed him to turn you into a wretched creature in turn. He could have even planned for you to return to your home and made preparations to have his influence spread without your knowledge. Such a risk to the Celestial and Umbral Worlds cannot be taken."

"My lord, please," the Celestial Spirit King beseeched. "We will take precautions. You have my word, if there is any danger it shall not spread."

"It shall not. As my word has decreed."

"But it's my home!" Sitara protested. "My family is there! My lord, you are the Crafters of Heaven, Hell, and Earth, Master of Life and Death, surely there is something that you can do?"

Ankhseram's head tilted to the side. "If you desire a more permanent solution…"

The god snapped his fingers and the plain beside the party disappeared. The field of grass, as far as the eye could see, was turned to darkness, a sea of black mud bubbling with hellish energy, wisps of dark smoke drifting into the sky.

Ozma's eyes widened, the great hero taking an involuntary step back as a bead of sweat dripped down his face. "What… what is that?"

"A manifestation portal," Leo gulped, his body trembling. "One that huge… it could only be him."

"Him? Him who?"

"No!" The Celestial Spirit King roared. "My lord, you can't!"

Ankhseram turned back to his servant's holographic self, his head slanted in confusion. "I would not ask you to destroy your own creation. If exile is not preferred, your counterpart is more than capable of the necessary extermination."

"Extermin—what?!" Ozma exclaimed.

His fear, though still present, vanished from his body and he rushed to the forefront of them all, glaring up at the divine being before him. "You can't do that! None of this is her fault!"

"Whether it is her fault or not is irrelevant," Ankhseram declared. "The world must be taken as it is, not as one would like it to be."

"Sounds like a load of crap coming from you!" Ozma shouted. "You're the fucking god of gods!"

"And thus, I must exercise the most control of all, for the laws I set down cannot be undone. Nor the punishments I have set for attempting to break them," the god turned to Sitara. "There are only two options here, princess. Exile or extermination. The choice is yours."

"That's not a choice!" Ozma roared. "It's an ultimatum! It's cruel!"

"It is—"

"It is cruel," the Celestial Spirit King echoed, his eyes glaring at his master like supernovas. "You became one to become more perfect, to rule more justly, but all you have done is become cruel."

Ankhseram froze, just for a moment. But in that time, a deep, creepy chuckle rose from the black mud pit.

"How shameful of you, twinkling bastard," the new voice chastised. A gigantic clawed hand, armored in pale white bone, shot up from the depths. "You dare insult my master when he has made himself one with yours? I suppose that rat's nest you call facial hair has eaten your mind."

The Celestial King growled but did not respond. There was little he could do trapped in his own realm.

Ankhseram hefted his gaze back on Sitara. "Decide, princess."

Sitara's hands were clenched at her sides, her shoulders shaking as tears streamed down her face. Virgo clutched her tight, but neither the maiden nor the lion could provide an antidote for the force of nature before them.

"Exile," the blonde woman whispered. "I choose exile."

"Very good."

The God of Life and Death waved his hand and the entire plain returned to as it was before. The night sky cleared of storm clouds and the mud pit, and what laid beneath it, disappeared. Even Leo, Virgo, and the spectral form of the Celestial Spirit King were gone, the stars returned to their proper place in the heavens.

Leaving their angel to languish on earth.

"You are the Princess of the Stars no longer. The immortality I gifted to match your father's is no more," Ankhseram revealed. "I wish you well in your life on this world."

"How comforting," Ozma snarled.

At last, the figure of gold and black turned his head towards the time wizard, his head tilted to the side. "You have given me a great deal to consider, human. Perhaps certain ventures of consolidation have proven themselves… ineffective."

With that, he was gone, deserted them between eye blinks.

Sitara fell to her knees, her arms wrapped around herself. Her chest heaved shallow breaths; her cheeks painted wet from the flood of her sobs. No more tears came however, her ducts clogged from the demands of her despair.

Ozma wanted to say somehow, some righteous declaration that he would somehow, someway, fix this horrid travesty, something that would make the cataclysmic blow this poor woman had suffered just a little bit easier. Something a hero would say.

But… he couldn't think of it. He couldn't think of anything that could possibly help. So… he said nothing. He just moved over and sat beside her, letting her heave just a fraction of her sorrow out.

Eventually, when the sun rose anew the next morning, she finally collapsed, utterly spent, a fallen angel stranded in the dirt she'd been condemned to.

Ozma sighed, his eyes heavy with exhaustion, rubbing his temples to keep himself awake. He took the blonde woman in his arms and started down the road. He may have been a pretty useless hero, but the least he could do was get her a proper bed to sleep in.

He could at least do that.

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"It could have been worse. It could have been much worse."

Blake sighed, but couldn't find any fault in her father's statement. More than half the Menagerie Guard had been wiped out and the main wall now had a sizable hole in it but considering Tyrian could have burnt down the entire city if given the opportunity, everything had gone about as well as they could have hoped.

Fortunately, the little Deathstalker massacre the Gate of the Scorpion had indulged in had wiped out the closest pack of Grimm, so they had a bit of time to rebuild their defenses. Which they would desperately need since the firestorm of the previous night had not gone unnoticed by the rest of Kuo Kuana, nor were the families of the deceased guardsmen suddenly capable of not feeling grief for their slain kin. The negativity would draw the creatures of darkness in eventually, and the wall needed to be rebuilt before they arrived. Her father, gifted politician that he was, had managed to rally a crew of volunteers to supplement the effort.

Of course, the process was somewhat complicated when a good chunk of the civilian volunteers spent less time working and more time staring at… well, Lucy.

"Hey, guys! Do you need help lifting this big heavy beam?" the Fairy Tail wizard asked. She skipped over to the faunus struggling to lift a large steel I-beam and, with one hand, hefted it above her head. She gritted her teeth but kept up her smile as she carried the metal to where it was needed, completely unaware of the numerous stares locked on her back. Or the sway in her hips.

"Man, I can't tell if they're looking at her because they're surprised there's a human here, or because they think she's being insensitive?" Sun, half his body wrapped in bandages and limping on crunches, remarked.

"Or that she's hot," Ilia, both her arms in casts, said. When Blake, Ghira, and Sun all turned and looked at her, she coughed and glanced away. "You know… for a human."

Blake smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "I think she's just excited. I'm not sure exactly how strong Lucy's gotten since I last saw her, but she never had any casual super strength when I was on Earthland."

Sun chuckled. "I guess aura does have some benefits compared to magic."

"Some."

"Well, neither aura or magic is going to fill up your stomachs," the quartet whirled around to see Kali striding out of the encampment made just off the construction site. Blake's mother raised a pot into the air and started banging the bottom with a ladle. "Lunch break everyone! Come on! Fill up your stomachs or the Grimm will fill up on you!"

It was a tad dark, but with the situation as potentially dangerous as it was, people needed to be reminded that working themselves to the bone wouldn't help. Menagerie was a desert and collapsing from hunger or dehydration in hundred-degree heat wouldn't help build the wall any faster.

The volunteer crew filed into a line across from another volunteer crew of cooks and collected their sandwiches, the various faunus chatting amiably as they munched on their food and downed their water. Meanwhile, Blake's party sat down by the shade to discuss matters more important than lunch.

Well, also lunch.

"Yum, thank you so much, Mrs. Belladonna," Lucy said, finishing off a tuna salad sandwich and reaching for another. "This is delicious!"

"Thank you," Kali smiled. "Though after everything you did for Blake and what's happened since you arrived here, a little food is the least we can do."

Ilia raised an eyebrow. "Though from what she told us you weren't quite so… ravenous?"

Lucy paused her hand right before she piled the next sandwich into her mouth and chuckled, a pink blush running over her checks. "Heh, I guess you work like Natsu and Erza and you get an appetite like them."

She smashed the sandwich between her hands, her eyes sparkling. "But as a super-strong member of Fairy Tail, I have to stay at the top of my game!"

A bead of sweat dropped down Blake's forehead. She really was letting the aura boost go to her head.

"Speaking of strength, I wanted to get your thoughts on something," Ghira informed them all. "This attack from Salem, by an individual Sienna vouched for no less, has provided proof that we will not be able to stay out of whatever conflict is brewing. And that the Guard, though valiant, is insufficient to handle the threats that are coming."

Blake tilted her head to the side. "Unless you've found a way to teach them magic, I don't think anything is sufficient to handle what Salem can throw at us."

"Maybe not, but not all the danger may come from the Gates. And that means we need to be prepared to deal with them so you wizards can focus on Salem's elite," her father pointed out. "Which is why I am going to establish an active, standing army."

Every Remnant native's eyes widened. Lucy's eyes flickered between the faunus. "Um, do you not already have an army? I thought every country had an army."

"The kingdoms all do," Blake said.

"Even Vacuo," Sun confirmed. "I mean, it's corrupt as all hell, but it's there."

"But border settlements don't. And Menagerie's resources have always been more akin to those," Ilia finished. "We've got a Grimm-filled ocean between us and the rest of the world, and nothing anybody else really wants, so the Guard has always been enough to handle security matters. But, if we could get one, it could be a step towards being recognized as the fifth kingdom."

Ghira nodded. "That is a useful side benefit. After what's happened, I believe we can get more than enough people to enlist, but that's only the beginning. We can hardly set a force against our enemies without months of training. That requires equipment, funding, and, most importantly, teachers. Which I'm hoping you all can help with."

Blake paled and glanced away. Here was her father, renown pacifist, saying they needed a military and asking for her help to build it, and she couldn't meet him halfway. "Dad… I'm honored, but… I can't."

Her mother reached out and clasped her hands, the same arm she'd broken showing no signs of its previous fractures. When Blake looked up, she found only an understanding smile. "You have to go to Haven. You have to rejoin your friends."

Blake glanced at Lucy and smirked at her guildmate. "Wendy and Carla are there. If we're going to figure out what the heck is actually going on, we need to come together."

"I can figure out the way if I need to," Lucy assured her. "I'm not going to drag you away from your family."

"You're my family too," Blake shot back. "Besides, I made Yang a promise that I'd meet her in Mistral when I mastered my powers. I plan to keep it."

Lucy grinned. "Alright then. Do you have a plan to get there?"

"I know a captain that owes me a favor."

"A boat ride without Natsu and Wendy puking every other minute? I think I've forgotten what that's like."

Her father sighed but smiled her way. "I'd figured that was the case, but I thought it best to offer. I'm proud of you, Blake. Wherever you go, whatever you do, I know you'll find your way."

"I'm not so sure. I've made so many mistakes on my own," Blake confessed. "But as long as I have my friends by my side… I think I can manage it."

Her father nodded. Then he turned to Ilia. "How about you, Ms. Amiltola?"

The chameleon faunus' eyes widened. "Me?"

"You've made it clear you have no loyalty left to the White Fang. And Adam did send you here in the first place to whip the Albains' men into shape," Ghira shrugged. "We need someone with actual combat experience to build up our training regimens."

"I… I…" Ilia's face flashed stark white in time with her stutters until Sun nudged her side. She coughed to clear her throat and sat up straight. "Chieftain Belladonna, it would be my honor."

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Sun cheered, raising a bandaged hand for a high-five. Ilia stared at him for a moment and gestured at her severely more restricted arms. The monkey faunus then gently brought down his palm on one of the casts. "We are going to be the best drill sergeants ever!"

Ilia's eyes widened. "You're staying?"

"You're staying?" Blake gasped.

Ghira sighed. "He's seen more action than most everyone on the island. And we can't afford to be picky…"

"One second!"

Blake leapt to her feet and dragged Sun to his, the monkey faunus barely scrambling his crutches under him. She led him behind an outlook, ignoring the various looks she got from the construction workers. When the two of them had some privacy, she rounded on her blond, banana loving friend.

"You're not coming to Haven?" she asked. "It's your school!"

Sun sighed, tilting his head towards his mummified body. "I'm not exactly in any shape to travel. Docs say that if the burns were any worse, Ilia and I would have lost nerves. Not even aura can fix that."

"But it can speed up mending broken bones," Blake said. "It'll take a week, but we can wait—"

"No, you can't," Sun countered. "You know what Qrow said, Salem's attack on Mistral could happen any day now. Not to mention that we don't know if shutting out her voice kept her from sensing your location. The longer you stay here, the bigger risk she'll send even more muscle after you."

"That's… that's…" Blake bit her lip. "Irritatingly well thought out."

Sun smirked. "I have my moments."

"A lot of them. Ever since we met, even when you had no idea who I was, you were always there for me," Blake chuckled, before smiling. "Thank you for that."

"Hey, you just lightning-ed a psycho demon in the face. If I did anything, it was just giving you a hand figuring out that you're already awesome."

Blake rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

Sun laughed, though a more subdued expression overtook him right after. But it wasn't sadness. More… acceptance.

"I can't do magic. I'll never be able to do magic," he said. "But wishing that I could isn't going to help anyone. Gotta take the world as it is, you know? I can't help you guys beat down Salem's big guns. But if last night showed me anything, other than you really undersold how awesome Lucy is, it's that I can help. It's just got to be more support related than I'm used to. And training you guys up the most badass army on Remnant if you ever need one? That sounds as supportive as support gets."

"That it does." Blake paused a moment, and then planted a soft kiss on Sun's cheek. "And for the record, you're already awesome too."

A deep blush blossomed over Sun's cheeks. "Well, yeah. That goes without saying."

"Blake!"

The pair of faunus whirled around to Lucy had happened upon them, though the blonde's cheeks were pink, and she had a hand in front of her face. Blake and Sun both cringed.

"It's okay to look, Lucy," the black-haired girl assured her guildmate.

"Are you sure?" the Celestial Spirit Wizard demanded. "Because if you and your boyfriend are reenacting one of those scenes from your books, I can wait!"

Blake's face turned beet red. "That's… It's not… he's not…"

"Just a friend for now," Sun clarified, shooting her an understanding nod. "Though come on. What book is going to have a beautiful girl do anything like that with a guy banged to hell and back?"

"So Lucy did you need anything?!" Blake asked quickly. No one needed to know that no less than three chapters in her books contained events exactly like that. Five in the ones that Erza lent her.

Lucy pulled her hand away from her face and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, not me exactly, but…"

She held the Key of the Lion out before her. It was glowing.

"I think Loke needs to talk with us."

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Oscar had thought he'd started getting the hang of these memory dreams. At least, before he'd spent the last one in a waking trance thinking he was Ozma. He'd felt what his first life had felt in the moment of those legendary events, felt his burgeoning attraction to the princess' beauty and will, felt his happiness to have been able to help her and his friends. And most vividly, he felt his outrage at the cruelty of Ankhseram's proclamation.

Only a hand reaching out onto his shoulder and dragging him out from Ozma's form allowed him to recognize his own thoughts and feelings again. As well as the white-haired man before him he recognized from tv as being the man once known as Professor Ozpin.

"Am I…" he muttered. "Am I still me?"

"You will always be you, Oscar," the apparition assured him. "But as I said, wait to absorb these memories naturally. Seek them out and it will only become more difficult to differentiate them from your own."

"I… I understand," Oscar said. "But what's so important about this girl?"

"What?"

"It's not like I have any way of aiming this memory search or whatever," he pointed out. "But every time I go looking, it's somehow related to her."

"She was an important person in Ozma's life."

"Yeah, but I'm not finding visions about the important people in your other lives."

"He was the first. It's natural you'd start with him."

"Then why not his parents? Or his kids?" Oscar inquired. "Something about this princess of the stars is still on top of our collective mind, and I need to know why."

Ozpin glanced down, his eyes unnaturally skittish and timid.

"Oz, please," Oscar begged. "You said we were partners. Don't make me go into this blind."

For a moment, they just stood there in the formless mass of his mind, two souls who might one day be one. A farmboy and an ancient wizard huntsman, trying to find some sort of balance.

At last, Ozpin sighed. "It would be simpler to show you."

He waved his hand and suddenly Oscar was standing in a new scene, a homey, comfortable-looking room with a big bed layered with tousled sheets and a fireplace filled with dying embers.

But while he may not have known the setting, he recognized the players. Ozma, laid out on the floor with a blanket over him, yawned and rose to his feet. Meanwhile, Sitara stood at the door, staring blankly at the wood, as if she couldn't decide if she wanted to leave or not.

"How long have you been up?" the wizard inquired.

"I don't know. An hour? I think? Time moves so much slower here. It shouldn't feel any different. It doesn't feel any different. But… but I know," Sitara murmured. She clutched her arms together, looking as if a weak breeze would shatter her like glass. "Thank you for the bed."

"That? No problem," Ozma replied, fidgeting as he tried not to be that breeze. "Seemed the least I could do given the circumstances."

"Right… the circumstances," the blonde woman muttered. "I guess I'll… leave you to your affairs."

"Righ—wait what?!" Ozma exclaimed. "You're leaving?"

"My stupidity has hurt everyone I've ever cared about and practically ensured I will never see my home ever again," Sitara explained, her hand closing on the doorknob. "I don't wish to be a burden on you as well."

Ozma scrambled forward and caught the door before it opened. "Woah, woah, slow down for a second. What are you going to do?"

"Leave… was that not clear?"

"No, it was just… I meant where are you going to go?"

"I… I don't know. The only time I ever spent in this realm was trapped in Mard Geer's tower."

"Ah… right. Well then," Ozma shuffled away from the door and scratched the back of his head. "Look, if you really feel like you can't be around me, that's alright. People owe me favors from all over and I can help you get set up doing whatever you want to do. But, you're not a burden to me. And I don't think any of the others thought you like that either."

Sitara finally looked him in the face, her sky-blue eyes ringed with red marks. "Why do you want to help me? Mard Geer wanted me as an experiment. Ankhseram wanted me here to restrict Zeref's influence. What's your stake in this?"

Ozma cringed. "Um, well, it's what I do."

"What does that mean?!"

"I help people! Okay! My parents were Celestial Spirit Mages but I suck at it, so to compensate I tried to learn every other magic I could get my hands on and may have gone a little overboard and invented a few along the way," Ozma shouted. He paused a moment after, his face frozen as if he'd realized he'd raised his voice. He sighed. "Look, I started traveling to test my magic and when I went from town to town, I killed whatever demons were terrorizing them. That got me a reputation, everyone started writing songs, and I just kind of… went with it. I've got the power to help people so why not? It's just what I do."

The time wizard stumbled over to the bed and took a seat, Sitara's gaze following his lumbering gait. "Look, I'm not trying to pressure you into staying with me, or finding your own way, or anything else. But you've been through more than I could possibly understand. I don't know what I can do, if anything, to make your situation even a little bit better. But I want to try."

"Why?" Sitara softly queried. "Why would you want to waste your time helping a worthless burden like me?"

"Because you're not a burden," Ozma repeated. "And this wasn't your fault."

Sitara's eyes widened. The embers of the fire finally went quiet and the blonde woman meandered over to the bed, taking a seat beside Ozma. Just like they had back at the ruins of the tower, they sat side-by-side and let the silence be their soothing companion.

"Before, back at the tower," the former princess murmured. "You said you were going to hunt Mard Geer down. Is that still the plan?"

Ozma nodded. "It's on the agenda."

"Well then. I always wanted to see this world. Might as well take the opportunity now that I'm trapped here," she turned to the time wizard, a small smile blossoming across her face. "Mind if we take the scenic route on the way to send him back to hell?"

Ozma grinned. "Not one bit." He raised a hand to her. "My name is Ozma. Nice to meet you."

The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "I know who you are. Sir Ozma, the Great and—"

"No, it's… we never properly introduced ourselves. As long as I'm with you, my name is just Ozma. No 'sir'. No 'Great and Powerful'," the wizard declared. "I get the feeling you need a friend more than a hero."

The woman actually chuckled at that, returning just a fraction of sparkle to her eyes. She reached up and clasped the offered hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Ozma. I am… well, I was Sitara Astra Lumos Estrella Malina, Princess of the Celestial Heavens, Master of Metria, and Lady Trainer of the Zodiac Guard…"

"Huh, maybe I should have kept 'Great and Powerful' after all."

Another round of laughter, though this one tinged with resignation. "But Ankhseram has stripped that from me."

"Oh," Ozma remarked. "Maybe, you could… make your own?"

The blonde tilted her head. "Make up my own name?"

"It's a possibility."

"But I like my old name."

"Then keep using it?"

"I'm not sure if Ankhseram would smite me for it or not. He's kind of a stickler for the letter of a punishment."

"Oh… huh."

"Yup."

The room blurred and suddenly the inn room was gone. Oscar's threw his arm up to shield his face, the memory's sun beating down hard from its throne in the azure sky.

Still, Ozma must have found it a beautiful day, if the relaxed smile on his face was any indication. He stood under a street sign reading 'E. Market Street', watching the fluffy white clouds roll by above. With the sun gleaming off his armor, he truly looked like he'd stepped out of a fairy tale. The majestic figure raised his arm…

And proceeded to cough into his elbow.

Huh. Guess even ancient badass wizards got things stuck in their throat from time to time.

"Ozma!"

Both Oscar and the man himself whirled to the source of the peppy voice. While the wizard's smile widened even further, the farmboy nearly did a doubletake.

The blonde woman stampeded down the road, a cloud of dust rising in her wake. But the sullen victim or the wrathful goddess of the previous visions was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the hybrid's face was adorned with a beatific grin, her hair flowing behind her like a spray of golden silk. And in each of her hands was…

"Here!" she cheered, shoving one of her sticks into her companion's arms. "One of the merchants gave it to me on the house for healing his kids! I don't know what kind of meat it is, or what kind of wood he put it on, but it's meat on a stick! You've got to try it!"

Ozma laughed and accepted the treat. He took a massive bite out of the meat, rich juice dripping down his chin. "Yum! Toadboar never gets old!"

"Toadboar?"

"It's a pig that has the legs of a frog. The flavor mixes together when it's cooked and if you spice it just right it's one of the best things you'll ever eat."

"Better than roasted vulcan?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far."

The pair quickly devoured their stick meat while Oscar tried to figure out why anyone would ever want to eat a frog.

Eventually though, the blonde woman smiled at her companion. "By the way, I've figured out my name."

"Wha? Really?" Ozma swallowed the last of his toadboar. "All this time and you've finally settled on one you like?"

The blonde woman nodded, cheekily folding her hands behind her back. She nodded her head above the two. "I got the idea from that."

Ozma raised an eyebrow. "The street sign?"

"E. Market Street. It means East Market Street, but unless you know what the E. stands for, you'd never know."

"I'm pretty sure everyone knows what the E. stands for."

"Don't be smart, love," the woman teased, flicking Ozma's armor. "I liked my old name, the name my father gave me. Ankhseram took it away from me. But I don't want to give it up completely. So, I'll make it mine. Truly, mine, in a way that he can't ever take away from me again."

"You know, if those monks we met were right, 'Ankhseram' doesn't strictly exist anymore. You don't need to stick it to him."

"Of course I do," she grinned, holding up five fingers. "Sitara Astra Lumos Estrella Malina. I like the letters and I'm making them mine. S. A. L. E. M."

Oscar immediately paled.

Ozma just tilted his head. "Salem? What the heck does that mean?"

The demon-spirit hybrid shrugged. "Nothing. It's nonsense. But it's my nonsense. It's me."

"Well then," Ozma raised his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Salem. My name is Ozma."

Salem took his hand, but instead of shaking it, used the grip to pull the time wizard close and plant a kiss on his lips.

Oscar immediately looked away, his face even paler. A loud, piercing ring echoed through his ears.

When he looked up, Ozpin was standing in front of him. As the blaring ring grew louder and louder, he pushed his hands over his ears.

"Okay, I get it," the farmboy said. "The Queen of the Grimm had a shit past and you had a thing with her. Can you please stop the warning sirens?"

"That's not me," Ozpin replied.

"It's Ozma, fine, but—"

"No, I mean that ringing. I'm not causing it," the huntsman clarified. "It's coming from the real world."

Oscar's eyes widened. "What?"

"Wake up!"

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

"Nora, I think you've hit it enough times."

"Come on, Jaune. One more, just in case she's still on bed rest."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "I'd count that as a reason to stop and let her come at her own pace."

"Cats don't talk in Mistral," Nora shot back, before going back to spamming the doorbell.

The Exceed scowled at the statement. Uncle Qrow raised a hand to scratch her behind the ears, but she swatted his limb away, glaring at him for the attempt.

Ruby sighed and glanced around the resplendent streets of Mistral's upper ring. It was hard to imagine that the finely paved streets and elegant paper townhouses belonged to the same kingdom as the dozens of barely surviving settlements they'd gone through. Heck, even their trek through the lower districts to get there had revealed squalor sometimes worse than the settlements. And that was the only time they'd seen any faunus since they arrived in the kingdom.

According to Uncle Qrow, that was just how it was. In the upper ring, Carla would attract less attention pretending to be an actual cat than in her transformed state. And sitting on his shoulder. Though the fact that she was with Ruby's uncle instead of her partner was somewhat disconcerting.

The red hooded reaper glanced back at Wendy, the Sky Dragon Slayer having secluded herself at the back of the party. Uncle Qrow had advised her to give her friend time to process the truth of Remnant and Earthland on her own, and she'd tried to do that during the last leg of the journey to Mistral. But watching the blue-haired girl mutter to herself, she wondered if she'd made the right choice.

Well, if it was a mistake, no time like the present to fix it.

She dropped back from Jaune, Nora, and Ren's debate about the doorbell and walked to her guildmate.

"I see. I don't have your reserves and the lower recharge rate could be a problem, but if I had a few days I suppose I could do it…"

"Ugh, Wendy?" Ruby said.

"Ah! Ruby!" Wendy stammered, her back going ramrod straight. "I wasn't talking to anyone!"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Well obviously. You were muttering to yourself, right? Don't worry. I do that with weapons all the time."

Wendy scratched the bottom of her chin. "Right, muttering to myself. That's exactly what I was doing. So, what's wrong? Is this the wrong house?"

"Maybe? We'll know soon enough," Ruby said. "But I wanted to check on you. How are you doing?"

"About the time travel?"

"Yeah. That," Ruby flinched. "I just want you to know, we're going to find a way to fix it. We're going to get you home."

Wendy cringed, a frown marring her face. "Ruby… thank you… but, that's not going to happen."

"Sure we will!" Ruby declared. "Salem has the book she used to send us to Fairy Tail. All we need to do is find the others, get the book, and send you guys back."

"Time travel doesn't work like that," Wendy replied. "If you change the past, any future that could no longer result from that past is erased. I've seen it happen. If we go back, Remnant will have never existed."

"Oh. Didn't know that," Ruby remarked. "But there's got to be a way."

"There isn't."

"How do you know?"

"Uh, I talked to an expert about it."

"An expert on time travel? We've been in the middle of nowhere for weeks."

"I did it before. After I got out of the Ravines of Time."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Yes. Yes, it does," Wendy said, sighing for some reason. "Look, Ruby, I appreciate what you're saying, but there is no way to go back."

No way? No way for her friend to ever see Mira, or Juvia, or Gajeel, or any of the guild ever again? No way for her to ever see Magnolia again? Ruby couldn't accept that. She wouldn't give into despair and give up on trying to help her friend.

"We'll take things step by step," she assured Wendy. "First things first, we need to track down the rest of the Strongest Team. Gray is with Weiss, and Natsu and Happy are… you know, so we just need to find Erza and Lucy."

"How are we going to do that?" the Sky Dragon Slayer asked. "If they're still in their Fairy Spheres, they could be anywhere on the planet. And if they're not, they could have gotten out centuries ago for all we know. They could have already lived their lives and passed on already."

"What? That's ridiculous. There is no way they wouldn't have gone down in history as some legendary huntress," Ruby pointed out. "And if they'd shown up in the last ten years or so, they would have come to us—"

"Um, hello."

Everyone's eyes darted to the doorway, finally opened to reveal… a small boy in a frayed shirt and overalls?

"Oh, hello there small… farmboy," Nora greeted, both Jaune and Ren facepalming. "How are you today?"

"Um, currently reeling from a traumatic revelation that I don't completely understand… uh…"

"Huh. Guess that's going around. Don't worry. You'll make it through."

Ruby rushed forward and overtook JNPR's shorter redhead. While her social skills weren't incredible, they'd be better than Nora's blissful head-on manner. If what Uncle Qrow had said was true, anyone in this district could sic the police on them, and since they had decided to check on their friend before going to see Headmaster Lionheart, they didn't have any allies in the city to bail them out yet.

"We're very sorry to disturb you," she professed to the boy. "We're looking for the Nikos residence and we were told it was around here."

"Well, yeah, it is here—" the boy's eyes widened. "You have silver eyes."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary to say, her eyes were silver and it wasn't a common color. But the only other people who'd ever directly commented on them had been in the know about magic. And the way this boy said it… the voice was completely different, the cadence was a bit too fast, and the air of mysterious authority was certainly missing, but for some reason it still reminded her off…

"Oscar! Who is it? I asked Mr. Kant not to stop by until… Jaune?"

All the huntsmen suddenly looked over the boy's head (not hard, he was even shorter than Ruby) and their hearts soared at the object of their search came into view.

"Pyrrha!"

The redhead's eyes barely had time to widen before Ruby and Nora both leapt straight over Oscar and tackled her to the floor. They couldn't help it. The last time Ruby had seen Pyrrha, her friend had been a half-dead wreck only barely kept alive by Wendy and desperately sent off with Carla to get further medical attention. Now, she was walking around healthy as a bird in a leather jacket, some new brown gauntlets (new weapons!), and a fancy boot around her right foot.

"We were so worried about you!"

"How have you been recovering?"

"Who's the farmboy?"

"What are you wearing?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Pyrrha picked up both girls with semblance and lifted herself from the ground. "Ren, can you please transl—oompf!"

She received no immediate response before Ren rushed in and engulfed her in a hug himself.

"We missed you," he declared.

Pyrrha smiled and returned the embrace in kind. Ruby and Nora peeled themselves off the walls and joined in without toppling everyone over.

In that few seconds, everyone else had filed into the house. The four huntsmen remained together for a moment before pulling apart. But Ruby couldn't help but be slightly confused why another hadn't joined in the hug. Pyrrha too, if the fact that her eyes locked onto Jaune was any indication.

The blond vomit boy shot his partner an awkward smile, sincere, but unsure. His legs tensed as if to take a step forward but suddenly stopped halfway there. Finally, he raised his hand and waved.

"Hello again."

Ruby had no idea what he meant by 'again' or why he was being so weird about the reunion, but his words prompted a light chuckle from Pyrrha, who returned his smile. Guess whatever was going on, the partners understood.

Were they communicating telepathically? Did Pyrrha's magic include telepathy? That would be so cool—"

"Pyrrha! I heard something crash! Is everything alright?!"

As soon as the voice passed through her ears, Ruby's heart skipped a beat. She whipped over to the doorway where the sound had originated from, unsure if her mind was playing tricks on her or not.

"Everything's fine, mother!" Pyrrha called. "My friends are here!"

Oh. It was just Pyrrha's mom. Not who she'd thought it was. It had been awhile since she'd heard her mentor's voice, it made sense that she might confuse it for a similar one.

She glanced over to Wendy and Carla. Both Fairy Tail wizards were completely frozen.

Similar… or…

"Oh!" A blur of red dashed into the hallway, which solidified into a tall woman with twinkles in her brown eyes. She glanced around each of them, her smile only growing with each person spotted. Which would have been charming if the dark blue Fairy Tail emblem wasn't in plain view on her right arm.

"How wonderful to meet you all! Let's see, from the Vytal Festival, I think I know Jaune, Nora, Ren, and… Ruby, was it—"

"ERZA!"

The crimson-haired woman's eyes widened as once more Ruby, and this time Wendy and Carla, leapt through the air and slammed into her, the four tumbling to the floor in a heap.

"Mother!" Pyrrha squealed.

"No, no, I'm alright," Erza assured her. "I just didn't expect your friends to be so affectionate."

"Erza, it's so good to… wait," Wendy's cries abruptly cut off. The Sky Dragon Slayer glancing between Pyrrha and their lost guildmate. "Her friends?"

"Of course, young miss," Erza said, her hand rising to scratch behind Carla's ears, the white Exceed not responding at all. "Who's a cute little kitty? You are. Yes, you are."

Ruby's smile disappeared. "Erza? What are you talking about? It's us. Ruby, Wendy, and Carla."

Erza brow furrowed, her face twisting in confusion. "Um, Erza? I'm sorry, but I think you've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Scarlet Nikos."

"No, no, no, you're Erza. You're Erza Scarlet," Wendy muttered. She crawled over to Erza's arm and pointed at her guildmark. Then, she rolled up her own left sleeve to show the bright blue emblem on her own shoulder. "You're Erza Scarlet, the Titania of Fairy Tail."

"Fairy… Tail?" the redheaded woman raised an eyebrow and looked between the two marks and the ones on Ruby's hand and Carla's back. "Is that what this means?"

Wendy sank back on her haunches, her eyes completely blank. Ruby would have gone over to comfort her, except she herself felt her veins freeze to ice, her mind going utterly and completely blank.

They'd reunited with Pyrrha. They'd found Erza. They'd even found a random farmboy. But still, something was inherently wrong because Erza didn't know what Fairy Tail was and Pyrrha was calling her…

…

…

Wait… WHAT?!

You know, I've had this reunion in my head for a while and I am very happy with how it turned out (especially Ren and Wendy's reactions), but I think my favorite thing to write this chapter was the flashback stuff. It was nice to be able to write pure fluff for once. That and Lucy's utter delight to finally have superstrength that does require her to change clothes.

An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, and Primordial Paper.

Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!

Go Forth and Conquer!