Weiss had been thinking a lot about the old trade winds, ever since powered flight became a distant memory. Lastion needed to import most of its food from elsewhere, and land and sea travel was always perilous.
Not to mention! The winds blew across her face, whistling the night sky's dreams to her. The senses were magnificent. Weiss wished she could share this experience with someone else.
Now that she had finished Vale, she headed to the east, onwards to Anima and the many petty warlords' domains. Crossing the oceanic expanse between the two continents was always a rush. The sudden loss of land in sight, replaced by a vast black ocean that reflected the light of the moon and clouds, onwards and onwards for hundreds of miles. It wasn't until the distant shore appeared in front of her that the feeling of breathlessness left.
Off she went, to what had to be the most majestic part of her annual journey.
And yet, something was off. As Sanus' cliffs disappeared from her back view, she felt the list tickling the back of her mind. The closest children who believed to the east were much closer than expected. Weiss squinted as she glanced down at the ocean. No boats. No ships either.
Her left steed grunted. She took hold of her reins and calmed him down, "It's okay. We're just passing through… the…" she followed her reindeer's line of sight towards…
"Impossible. That's impossible," Weiss whispered.
Far off before her sleigh, floating and creaking across the sky, was Atlas.
~ATLAS~
The Derelict City
It was unmistakable, even in the darkness. The moon shone down brightly this night, illuminating the dark ruins of the floating city. A massive unholy behemoth, the greatest monument to mankind's end. A graveyard in the skies.
Much of the eastern sections of the city were gone, broken off years ago during the fall. Weiss knew, since that was where Lastion scavenged the city's ruins for scrap. They sometimes unearthed skeletons with their unseemly archaeology.
She didn't want to return. She had already seen enough in Argus.
And yet, she knew, she could feel it, there were two children, two living children somewhere in the floating city.
Soleil, Bleu. 2 — Nice. Soleil, Rouge. 4 — Nice.
The list wasn't making sense. There couldn't possibly be children that young up there. She tightened her grip on her reins. She had to go. She had to find those children, and if need be, save them.
She hoped she could get there in time.
Her sleigh crossed the night's expanse, towards the dark island in the sky. She flew above ruined buildings, broken glass reflecting the moonlight. There were enormous craters where Dust silos exploded and toppled skyscrapers leaning on each other. Weiss heard no signs of life. Grimm moved, slowly among the streets, but they attacked no one. They sensed no one.
Atop the tallest tower, in the very center of the once great city, she landed her sleigh. Once inside, she saw the elevator shaft, empty. She jumped down it. An elevator was just a bigger chimney.
When she reached the bottom, she slid further down, into the very heart of the city. Then deeper, into the vault of the Winter Maiden. Weiss could feel it, the awesome power of the Relic of Creation, the power that kept Atlas floating.
She learned once, that if Atlas ever fell, the destructive force it would have when it impacted the ground would have been enough to wipe out mankind and most life on the planet. That was what Yang said, at least.
The empty metallic chamber wasn't quiet, however. She could hear the thrumming of machinery and the beeping of electronics. Could the relic have kept this running all this time? Weiss looked at a console, displaying data collected from autonomous drones working, mining?
She focused herself and listened. In the far off distance, she could hear the clanking of pickaxes, echoing through vast tunnels that ran throughout the city. Weiss thought back to the ruined buildings outside, they were smaller than she remembered.
Then she felt it. A breeze, chilling her from behind. Weiss turned around to see a glowing green figure, bursting with energy. The relic's own magic obscured the figure, no, the maiden.
"Penny."
"Salutations, Friend Weiss. It is good to see you," Penny smiled. She looked older, a face showing the signs of middle age, despite being completely artificial.
"You look older."
"I'm glad you noticed!" Penny ran up to her and grabbed her hand, "I made it for myself after a frank conversation with Partner Ciel four years and fifty-six days ago," and yet, she gave the same old smile Weiss was used to.
"It is so good to see you again, especially tonight! We were not expecting visitors, well I sort of did but that's beside the point, and Ciel just came back from a scouting mission to Mistral, so we were just about ready to start our family dinner!" she pulled Weiss along, down a series of corridors until they were in what was once a meeting room.
On a large table, were plates and candles, embroidery and utensils, all perfectly aligned in old Atlesian fashion. There were four chairs set up, but there was ample room for at least four more. A hovering drone flew above it, holding a bottle of aged wine and pouring it into the single glass on the table. It then left the table and rounded a corner.
"Ciel should be here soon, she's just got her hands full right now," Penny pulled out a chair for Weiss and patted it, "Have a seat! I'll grab her and the kids."
Penny left in a dash, leaving Weiss alone, except for the lonely drone, which had reappeared with a plate of steaming chicken and a box of transistor chips. A few minutes passed after Weiss sat down, awkwardly waiting as the drone set up plates and a napkin for her.
Weiss heard whispers from around the corner, before Penny marched in, Ciel and two small robots in tow. No not robots. They had faces, hair, and could almost pass for human.
"Ciel, this is Weiss. Remember, from the Vytal festival? Kids, this is Aunt Weiss, she's an old friend of momma."
Ciel Soleil hadn't changed much. Her hair was longer, but she kept the same beret, and wore blue traveler's clothes one could find anywhere in Anima. Her face was rougher, but her severe expression remained the same.
The two robots also looked at her. They were about three feet tall, and had tan complexions. The taller one wore a red beret and had freckles, while the slightly shorter one had a blue bow as a necktie. Then, realization struck.
"Rouge and Bleu, I presume?"
Penny beamed at their names, "Incredible, to think your magic is still functioning after all this time. I expected it would have taken longer to return, if at all."
"Well it's working," Weiss said dumbly.
Ciel made a coughing sound, "I believe it is time to start. Everyone, take your seat."
Weiss sat down, and so did the Soleil family. Ciel and the two kids each clasped their hands together. Penny quietly looked at Weiss and smiled before closing her eyes, although she only folded her arms.
Ciel began speaking, "Oh bountiful Sun, bright and luminous Solaria, we thank you for this meal, and thank you for bringing us an old companion here to partake with us as well. May you ride forever more and gallop across the heavens. Fi-im."
"Fi-im," Bleu and Rouge recited.
Weiss blinked. Oh, she's a Celestial worshipper. She didn't expect them to survive, since all of them would have been in Atlas. She noticed Penny smiling at her.
Penny said, "Let's begin, shall we? I know Weiss is busy, delivering presents and all, so we'll just have her sample a bit," she reached for the chicken and quickly and precisely cut it up into slices, giving Weiss two pieces while Ciel took the rest.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Weiss said. She frowned, "Where did you get chicken from?"
Penny smiled, "Trade! While most of the Dust in the city was destroyed, I was able to dig up a few crates. It's not enough to last, but we've got enough to get by until my ultimate plan is complete."
"Ultimate plan?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"Here we go," Ciel rolled her eyes, "It's nothing so dramatic. Penny is just working on developing an alternative fuel source to replace Dust."
"Heh heh, sauce," Rouge giggled and poked Bleu, who blew a raspberry at him.
"Quiet down, you two. We have guests. Be respectful," Ciel said sternly.
"Yes, mother," they both recited.
"It's okay kids, mother is just grumpy from exhaustion," Penny chuckled, "Anyways Weiss, I had an epiphany one day, when I was surveying nearby villages. Dust production is kaput. None of the deep mines are operational, and all of the surface deposits have been removed already. Dust mining might never return, it's just not economically feasible to redevelop the technology."
"That makes sense," Weiss nodded, "What about wood or other carbon based fuels? Can they ever fix the demand?"
"Not likely, we just don't have enough either. What we do have in abundance is wind and sun," Penny reached into her pocket and pulled out a rectangular piece of glass, "Up here in Atlas, we have all the raw materials and manufacturing equipment to make these. I call them Soleil catchers, and they do just that: collect energy from the sun. If I made one the width of this table, it can collect enough energy to power some small devices."
Ciel just smiled as she ate her meal, occasionally wiping her kids' faces as Penny spoke, "Enough of these can potentially power cities. I've already got some prototypes scattered throughout the city, powering their own production and the drones you see around, mining the ruins for scrap."
Gears turned in Weiss' head, "Can they be used to power old electronics, or vehicles even?"
"Once I start making adapters, yes they will! I plan on also making enough to create functioning power grids for heating and plumbing in villages too. Of course, I will need to get in the graces of a village to test them out though," Penny said.
"Well, that sounds promising," Weiss smirked, "And I happen to know the mayor of a settlement up in the north."
"You do? What's their name, I wish to contact them by letter as soon as possible!" Penny was trying very hard not to bounce.
"Well, I'll have to talk to her and see if she'll agree, but I think she'll be very intrigued in this proposition," Weiss smiled.
"Gasp!" Rouge said the word as he pointed at Weiss, "She's the mayuh!"
Penny actually gasped, "Really?! You'll take a look at my ideas?"
Weiss glanced at Ciel, who only nodded. She looked at Penny, "I'd love to."
"Yes! Kids, I'll see you two for bedtime in a bit. Ciel, love you. Let's go!" she grabbed Weiss and pulled her to her workshop.
—
It wasn't so much a workshop as it was an entire manufacturing center. They were in a large circular room, with workbenches, maps, graphs, and consoles taking up the entire wall. Every few feet closer to the center were drones, drone parts, Soleil catcher prototypes, and various tools strewn across the floor or on makeshift tables. In the very center of the room was the relic.
"The Relic of Creation has sped up my research and development almost threefold," Penny said, "I would have been able to do it myself, but it was very useful in the early stages. It's just here because it's easier to guard it in the same room I spend half my time."
"Protect it?" Weiss frowned.
"Until I can find a proper place to land the city, I have to make sure we don't fall and cause a cataclysmic extinction event," Penny smiled, "Since we're slowly drifting with the trade winds, we get new glory seekers and adventurous archaeologists every few months. I have to scare them off before they get too close."
Penny reached for a specific device, "Eventually I'll be able to retire it, and then we can seal it away forever, an old forgotten relic of the past, just like the both of us."
Weiss looked at the relic. Penny was right. The world didn't really need her anymore. Even if she was fulfilling her duty as Santa, Remnant had done well enough without her yearly trips.
Penny handed her a large glass rectangle, as long as Weiss' arm and wider than her chest, "Even these Soleil catchers will replace Dust soon. No more need to go into Grimm infested ruins or spelunking in abandoned mines. No more huntsmen or huntresses needed."
"No need to visit the old kingdoms," Weiss said, "No need for academies or robot armies."
Penny nodded, "It's a bright future, don't you think?"
"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it. You'll be around, after all," Weiss replied, "The face is cosmetic. I know you don't actually age."
"Even if I don't age, I'm still mortal," Penny said, "More so than you, right now."
"What do you mean?"
"My soul is dying," Penny said, her voice soft yet stern, "My soul came from my father, and even though I've made it my own, it still has human limitations. And even then," Penny stretched her arms out, in a motion that was more human than anything Weiss had seen her do before.
"The procedure father did to create me was still a prototype. It was limited and flawed. Pioneering, yes, but flawed. I've got ten or so years before my soul dissipates and my body just falls apart," Penny smiled, and Weiss could have sworn she saw the beginnings of tears, "Before I built my kids, I was able to figure out the problem in the creation process and prevent the decay before it occurs. If my father was alive, we might have been able to use the solution for me, but that ship's sailed."
"I'm sorry," Weiss whispered.
"It's alright. As an artificial intelligence, ten years is like a millennia for me. The fact that I lasted so long after the collapse of civilization and technology was a miracle in itself. My children are immortal, assuming they don't get destroyed more than twice," Penny made a sighing sound, "The only thing that I really need to focus on though, is finding a good maiden candidate. It's why I started making children in the first place."
"And here I thought you'd love to have a big family," Weiss smirked.
"Dozens, but Ciel convinced me to go for quality over quantity. That was her way of putting her foot down and stopping at two. Well, they turned out to be boys, so we had to go to plan B," Penny smiled, "She goes out there, looking for a suitable successor, one who wouldn't abuse it and use it to make the world a better place."
Weiss frowned, "They would have to be suitably young, if you have ten years left. Especially since new hosts have to be under the age of thirty. Which means you're scouting children."
Penny gave a wry expression, "Had it been fifteen years ago, we would have had the pick of the patch, as they used to say, with so many orphans around."
"That sounds creepy, spying on children to see the best candidate to kidnap for your own nefarious designs," Weiss chuckled.
Penny smiled, "Not that much creepier than a holiday figure that knows every detail of every child, then breaks into their houses at night."
"It's a family business. Blame my ancestor from forty-three generations ago," Weiss waved off.
"I actually am curious as to how the living manifestations of holidays came to be, but it's rather moot these days."
Weiss sighed, "The holidays came first, although the powers came along very soon after. Besides that, my distant ancestors didn't keep perfect records."
"So Christmas can exist without Santa," Ciel said, walking into the room, "Strange, since Easter and Hallow's Eve died shortly after their heirs did."
And so did the magic surrounding Fridays, Weiss thought, but didn't say.
"I've heard of harvest festivals in Sanus, but they've had them for centuries without a corresponding manifestation appearing," Penny said, "Maybe there's a specific condition that has to be met first?"
Weiss shrugged, "If you figure it out, I'd like to know. Would be fun trivia at least," she reached into her sack and pulled out two boxes. She handed them to Penny, "These are for Rouge and Bleu. I wish I could stay, but I have Mistral and Vacuo to get to."
"Oh…" Penny sighed.
Ciel raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps next year, you can save Bleu and Rouge's presents for last? We'd love to have you again for a night, then bring you back to the north the day after. We have the only working Bullheads in the world, after all."
Weiss couldn't help but smile, "I… I think I'd like that. Maybe. I'm actually busy the days after Christmas, so I don't know. Maybe you four can visit Lastion?"
Penny and Ciel looked at each other. Penny said, "We'd love to, once the kids are a bit older."
"That sounds grand," Weiss smiled brighter, "Well, I have to be off."
"I can give you a lift to the roof," Penny said.
"Oh no, I can find my way back—" Weiss tried to interject.
"Nonsense, you're our guest. The least I can do is bring you to your vehicle," Penny's boots began glowing. Exhaust started seeping from beneath.
Weiss looked to Ciel for help, but alas, she had a hand over her mouth, clearly holding back laughter. Weiss was doomed.
Penny grabbed her arm and lifted off the ground, green flames and winter magic propelling them, "To the roof!"
"Ah!" Weiss could only scream.
—
"Take care," Penny said. She gave Weiss a lazy salute. They both stood atop the highest tower in Atlas, the city that flies above the oceans.
"I will. I'm off to Mistral now, any tips?" Weiss asked, "I haven't been there myself, and the news of warlords is slightly concerning."
"It's rough," Penny said, "But it will get better. Once I seed the Soleil catchers in the area, I think the stalemates can be broken."
"Optimistic to a fault, you are, Polendina," Weiss smirked. She grabbed her reins, "Mush!"
"I learned from the best!" Penny shouted as the sleigh rose into the air.
"You sure did!" Weiss shouted back.
—
As Weiss continued east, she took note of the invisible borders between the two dozen petty warlords dividing up Anima. She didn't bother with their names, since they kept changing, killed or deposed by some other warlord within a few short years, with a small handful assassinated or suddenly gone missing.
In the old days, Christmas was a temporal neutral zone, a time of rejoicing and merriment. Since the fall, it was hardly that. Weiss heard news of one of the southern warlords defeating and killing two of his early rivals on Christmas Eve a few years ago, and another warlord marching east to invade on Christmas day the year after.
But as luck would have it, Weiss found the night peaceful and silent. Looking out from her sleigh, she saw scant few lights and no signs of mass movement. Unlike back home in Lastion, peace was fragile, and the Christmas spirit hadn't really returned to the people of Mistral.
To keep things simple, Weiss traveled from one town to the next, one warlord's demesne to the next, minimizing border crossing, where nighttime security was at its highest. She remembered tales of present delivery during wartime, how her ancestors spread joy when the world needed it most.
The very few times a Schnee was captured by a foreign military or a domestic surveillance agency were quite troublesome, and trying to explain her own goals would have been difficult in any era. To save time, as she went east, she went south as well, crossing the southern ocean to Menagerie, where she gave out gifts to the couple Faunus settlements still existing on the island.
She sighed as she pushed away the lack of feeling on the island. She didn't feel the presence of a Black Cat anywhere on the planet, even on Menagerie.
She crossed back north, reaching the eastern half of the continent as she flew through the region. Mistral and Anima were once one of the harder regions to deliver to, being so populous and spread out. But she had finished the entire area in due time, only one more place to visit in the entire continent.
It was a remote location on the farthest eastern tip of Anima, just a relatively short hop across the vast ocean to Vacuo. An empty grass plain stretched out until it touched the sea, and just off the coast of it all was a log cabin.
Looking at it, Weiss knew it was recently built, less than a year old at best. Before landing however, she realized something important. The two children inside, twins, had the same wish: they wanted to see their mother.
Weiss had seen such wishes before, she'd even delivered a few of them in her time. It wouldn't even be inconvenient to deliver either, the mother was, according to her magic, in Vacuo.
No, what surprised Weiss was the mother's name: Yang Xiao Long.
Weiss hadn't seen her old teammate in a long time. It must have been even longer than since she'd last seen Jaune, and he had a whole new life now, with a wife and children. Then again, everyone seemed to be having children, even Penny. Although it was probably just sampling bias, as Weiss generally only visited households with children, save for a few adult believers scattered across the lands.
It was this musing and mind wandering that allowed Weiss to be shot down from the night sky. Luckily, in the nick of time, her reindeer rolled the sleigh to its side, allowing the summoned vehicle to take the shot rather than her head. As Weiss' sleigh sputtered and she plummeted to the ground, she could only wonder how it took a thousand years for someone to finally shoot down Santa.
Well, she was thinking that while also frantically pulling on her reins to try and steer her sleigh for a good water landing. With incredible precision and skill she wouldn't have the other 363 days of the year, Weiss did just that.
She unsummoned her reindeer just before impact, allowing the sleigh itself to take all of the force before unsummoning it too. She then made a line of glyphs to skate on, allowing her to slowly dwindle in momentum as she slid across the ocean. Weiss then started going faster, with new glyphs pushing her forward as she turned back towards the coast.
Just because someone shot her down did not mean she was going to give up! If anything, it only fueled her drive! Weiss Schnee was going to be the last Santa, but she damn well was not going to take that lying down! She was positively skiing across the water's surface, a wake trailing behind her as wind whistled through her hair.
"Cane!" she shouted. A white stick appeared in her hands, red stripes flowing over it until it reached the pointed sharp tip. With the bend as her hilt, the giant candy cane was a powerful lance as she held it forwards.
She kept picking up speed, swerving left and right as she dodged more artillery coming at her, each explosion missing her by mere feet before submerging into the sea below.
"Ramp!" With a muster of her magic, she created a ramp of snow and ice in front of her. Her glyphs propelled her up it and into the air, flying high above the ocean, and eventually the coast. Weiss spotted the artillery's origin and dove straight down at it.
With the speeding of crashing hail, Weiss forced her cane into the cannon aimed at her body. She twisted herself to land behind it before the lodged giant candy cane caused a catastrophic failure, and made the cannon explode.
Weiss barely landed on her feet before she had to block a kick with her bare hands. She winced before jumping back, barely seeing who hit her. A foot slammed into her right shoulder, throwing her to the ground.
"Agh," she panted out, "You're lucky I'm ten years out of practice and caught off guard."
"Yeah real off guard you were, taking out my artillery cannon in less than two minutes," the man in front of her drawled out.
"And you kicked me to the ground," Weiss countered as she got to her feet.
"How did you find me?" the man asked. His voice was tense, concerned, almost fearful.
"You won't believe me, but the magic of Christmas," Weiss said, "I'm here to deliver presents to your kids. Well, on the way to pick up the gift, but somebody shot down my sleigh."
"You can't seriously make me think you're Santa Claus."
"How else would I know that your kids' names are Phoebe and Deimos," Weiss slid back to avoid a strike, "And that their mother is Yang Xiao Long?"
"Yeah, well guess my name then," the man went in for a jab before kneeing Weiss in the stomach.
Weiss wheezed before grabbing him by his neck and jumping over and onto his back, "Gray hair, gray clothes, a jerk all the way through to your back," she smacked his head repeatedly, "And yet somehow had kids with Yang, you must therefore be Mercury Black."
He fell to the ground, but not before rolling and pushing Weiss headfirst into the dirt, "And that never ending haughty look on your face means you've got to be Weiss Schnee. Long time no see."
She spat out a dirt clod, "Well gee, Yang's standards always did blow," she pushed him off and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him down the slope to the sea, "Big old assassin with a cannon not able to beat little old me."
Mercury grunted, "Yeah yeah we're toe to toe," his chest heaving as he struggled to get his back off the ground, before eventually giving up and stared at the stars, "But I have been up for forty hours, you Christmas poodle."
Weiss sighed as she gazed up at the night sky as well, "I can't think up a good rhyme for that. I don't know, do the twins doodle?"
"Yeah, Deimos is a real artist. You know, I never really got macaroni art until last month? Like, it just clicked in my head when he showed his to me," Mercury said.
"I wouldn't know. Too busy," Weiss said.
"With being Santa? Isn't that one day of work a year?" Merc said.
"I have a day job too, you know," Weiss said, "I run a settlement. You?"
"Oh I did some odd jobs here and there," Mercury said, "I mostly delivered messages between warlords, made good money off it. It worked, for a while."
Weiss snorted, "Let me guess, it stopped working when you betrayed them."
"Hey. Don't sell me short. It worked great while I was betraying them, I made so much Lien from it all. It stopped working when I got caught."
"And how many times was that?"
"Only twice. Three of them were never proven. But even without hard compelling evidence, they still accuse me," Mercury shook his head, "It's a shame what our justice system has become."
"Truly a shame," Weiss said. Then, a shooting star quickly raced across the sky.
"Make a wish," Merc said.
"No thanks," Weiss said, "I grant them, not the other way around."
"You don't wish for anything? Not even like, a pizza or something?" Merc asked.
"Please, I am beyond pizzas. Also desire," Weiss said, "Beyond helping others, that is."
"Wow, that's deep," Merc said, "Also it must suck being you."
"It does not suck."
"Totally bet it does."
"Does not."
"Does too."
"Does not."
"Does too."
"It doesn't!" Weiss huffed, "I'm perfectly happy with where I am in life."
"Then why were you alone on Christmas Eve?"
"I'm always alone on Christmas Eve."
"That doesn't help your case."
"Yes it does! I'm Santa! Of course I have to deliver presents every year!" Weiss said, "I just got my powers back tonight, after a whole decade without it."
"So you were alone on Christmas Eve even when you weren't busy being Santa? Lame."
"Well it's better than hanging around the townsfolk, cheering me on for one good deed I pulled ten years ago. It's suffocating."
"Oh woe is me, Weiss Schnee, I get a parade every year," Merc laughed, "You've somehow become even more entitled, which is honestly incredible."
Weiss huffed and crossed her arms, "You just said it sucks being me."
"That was before you mentioned the parades."
"There are no parades! It's just Christmas as usual, except they're celebrating me along with the holiday," Weiss said.
"Sounds awesome," Mercury replied, "No one in Mistral really celebrates Christmas anymore, so it gets kind of boring this time of the year."
"Military actions do not sound boring," Weiss said.
"They don't sound boring, but when you duck before any start, they aren't as interesting," Mercury just shrugged, "Besides, you get caught in one, it's really easy to die in the chaos, and what can I say, I plan on being a responsible parent."
"One that sticks around until your kids are fully grown?"
"And after. It'll get boring without someone to talk to," he said, "Speaking of, what exactly were you going to give them?"
"They want to see their mother," Weiss sat up and clutched her legs, "I know where Yang is, but only in relation to delivering the gift. Either I bring them to her, or I get her to come over here."
"I am not letting those two out of my sight," he said.
"Then I suppose I'll have to find Yang and bring her over here," Weiss said, "Any reason she's out in Vacuo and not with you and your kids?"
"Hell if I know," Mercury said. He got onto his feet, "She gave birth to them, I thought we'd be swell, then one day she just up and left."
"Hmm," Weiss tapped her forearm, "This might be more difficult than I thought."
"Ya don't say," he started walking back to his cabin, "Well, it's nice seeing you. Only wake me up when you've got Yang."
"Fine," Weiss said, "Don't try to shoot me down this time."
"It's not like I have two anti-aircraft weapons lying around."
"Sure you do, you're definitely prepared. How else did you betray five warlords and live?" Weiss smirked.
"Allegedly," he shouted back as he opened his door. Weiss waved at him before she marched out into plains and summoned her sleigh once more.
—
Vacuo hadn't changed much since before the fall. It was still a decentralized mess of a civilization, more a loose group of tribes than a kingdom. Shade fell, and so did Vacuo, the largest city, but many of the outer lying regions were still intact. In the old days, Vacuo took a bit longer to deliver than Vale because of the travel time between tribes, but now the tribes numbered so few, it was just the same as elsewhere.
The far flung tribes were done in short work, just as it was in the old regions of Vale and the continents of Anima and Solitas. Now that Weiss had delivered presents to all the world's children, save two, she was ready to talk to Yang for the first time in ages.
There were stories of an endless sandstorm in the depths of Vacuo's desert, one that had raged for over a century. Within it lay the ruins of a once mighty civilization, and within the ruins were the keys to a vault. Within the vault was a treasure so vast and wonderful it could fund the greatest army in all of history, and once did. But whoever had their hands on the treasure was cursed with simply wanting more treasure, cursed to add piles of gold and gems to an unending collection. And when they finally died from selling their food and water for more gold for their pile, the treasure added would simply turn to sand and be taken in by the raging winds that fueled the endless sandstorm.
From firsthand experience, Weiss knew it all to be true, but it was not because of a curse. It was because of a Grimm that fueled greed, luring in treasure seekers from all over the world. Team RWBY, with the help of Oscar, Qrow, and Team JNR, were able to slay the sand lizard Grimm before it drove them mad.
And yet, the sandstorm continued to rage on, and now, years later, it was where Weiss would find Yang.
In the eye of the storm, a thirty thousand feet diameter circle of silence and cloudlessness, was a stone slab, thirty feet high and five hundred feet wide and long. It was buried in sand, and stood sunken as the last monument to a lost people defeated by the Grimm. Sitting on top at the center of the slab was a one-armed woman, eyes closed, sitting cross legged and facing the never ending storm. Despite the dry heat of the desert, the woman wore four layers of clothes: tan rags, a tan jacket, a white jacket, and a red cloak. Covering her face was a large red and white mask in the visage of a Grimm. In front of the woman, tied to her belt by a thick rope, was the Relic of Destruction, dimly glowing as it floated an inch off the ground.
As Weiss flew over the storm itself and into the eye, she slowly brought her sleigh down to land on a corner, facing in a way to allow lift off later. She stepped off her sleigh and slowly walked towards Yang. Her boots clacked against the stone, her heels digging into the untranslatable inscriptions that covered the slabs, which themselves were covered in a thin layer of sand.
She stood in front of Yang, who hadn't moved an inch. They stayed silent, the only sounds being the distant whirling winds. A few minutes passed before Weiss spoke, "I'm here to bring you to your family for Christmas."
Yang said nothing. She shook her head, ever so slightly, back and forth.
"Not even a hello, huh?" Weiss gave a soft smile, which went away when Yang lifted up her head, revealing the black scar across her throat. Weiss scowled, "Who did this?"
Yang pressed her finger into the small pile of sand before her, and drew out the word, "dead".
Weiss just looked at her old friend. She said, "Your kids miss you, you know? Out of everything in the whole world, all they want is to meet you," she sat down in front of Yang and crossed her legs, "And I've talked to Mercury too. He's doing good, so it might be good for you."
A moment passed before Yang pointed at the relic, then back at herself. Weiss replied, "I can hold onto it. If I put it in the sack, only a Santa or elf can get to it."
Yang wrote on the ground, "Light Magic interferes."
"Then I'll hold onto it by hand, and you can meet with them, then come back here. How about it?"
Yang shook her head.
Weiss frowned, "It's not because of the relic, is it?"
Yang didn't move. Her white mask stared back at Weiss. Weiss sighed, "I'd fight you for this, drag you kicking and screaming into my sleigh, but I am exhausted after fighting Mercury and his actual cannon."
She still did not move. Weiss frowned, "I finished everyone else, you're the last present I have to deliver."
No response.
"Fine then. How are you doing, Yang? I haven't seen you in years. Have you been here this whole time?"
Yang shook her head.
"It must have been hard, finding the relic and keeping it safe. And fighting off the Grimm that keep getting attracted to it," Weiss said, "That's why you're in the sandstorm, it's difficult even for the Grimm to get in. I get it, really."
Still no words.
"But it's pointless. We're at the end of the line, Yang. You, me, Jaune, Cardin, even Penny. We're done," Weiss couldn't stop, "We fought the war, just like our parents, our grandparents, and every ancestor for fifty generations. We are the generation that ended it. It's over. The world ended with us, and we're still here, clinging to something that died before we did.
"The war's over. The kingdoms are gone, and we can finally move on. We're all going to die one day, and the kids are going to be our only memory, the only ones who will remember us once we're gone, and you, you have a choice, a chance at happiness, to not be alone, and you're just going to sit here, in a godsforsaken desert until you die?"
Weiss screamed as she scratched at her hat, "What happens after that? You got any plans for that relic after, or are you just going to wing it like you always do? At least Ozpin had a vault."
Yang didn't respond.
"What about Ruby? Is this what she would have wanted? Because we both know she would have wanted you to be happy. 'And they all lived happily ever after.' That's how all her favorite fairy tales ended. Well, everyone else is dead, and it's just you and me who aren't leaving happily."
Yang tilted her head ever so slightly.
"Yeah I'm like you. I don't have a family, not since they all died and our team split apart. I've got my community, so I'm not always alone, but it's not the same. But you, you do have a family, out there, waiting for you," Weiss held out her hand, "Come with me."
Yang looked down at the outstretched hand.
Weiss gave a small smile, "Please. For me? For your children? For… for yourself?"
Yang pointed at the relic, then turned around, facing away from Weiss, the red cloak fluttering in the breeze.
"I see. That's how it is then," Weiss rubbed her eyes, "This is how you want to leave things."
Nothing.
"The mask looks good on you," Weiss turned around and began walking back to her sleigh, "I'll try again next year. Merry Christmas."
Weiss didn't look back. She couldn't.
—
She flew back across the ocean to the eastern tip of Anima, where Mercury's house stood. Weiss blinked back tears the entire time. If she couldn't bring them their mother, she could tell them something. A story about her mother, about their lost aunt, about what might have been.
Weiss would leave them with hope. A fairy tale, with a happy ending in the ever distant horizon, to be continued one day. It was the least she could do.
What might have been was not the same as what was.
As she approached the coast, she saw a pillar of black smoke stretching out into the sky as the smallest inkling of orange and red began to peek over the horizon.
"No," Weiss muttered. She flew faster, until she saw it.
The house, the new house that Mercury must have built for himself and his kids, was gone, burned down to the ground, as was everything surrounding it. Charred and bloody bodies littered the scene, all wearing makeshift armor and wielding broken spears and swords.
She landed and ran out into the smoldering rubble, desperate to find signs of life.
There was none.
She took deep gasps and coughed out some sobs, as the blackened burnt crisps filled her vision. It was just like Argus. She kept wheezing and gasping for air as she stumbled across the fields. Her face was wet, and she could barely see through her eyes.
Weiss collapsed by the broken cannon from earlier. She shuddered as she prayed. It took her awhile to calm down, and allowed her to assess things ever so slightly.
There were no smaller bodies. All of them wore armor. Mercury didn't wear armor. They were alive.
Weiss took a deep breath and focused on her power. Phoebe and Deimos. They were still on the list.
They were still alive! They—Their wish had changed.
Leave us alone. Please don't let anyone find us.
"Granted," Weiss whispered. She knew now with certainty that their wish would be granted without her interference. Mercury really was that good. It just meant that she couldn't tell where they were either. For once, her magic was blocking her from knowing the kids' location.
She took a deep breath again, and paced around the cannon, until she found a piece of parchment pinned to one of the cannon's levers.
It read: We'll have to take a rain check on the family reunion. Turns out using artillery in the middle of the night attracts attention. Don't worry your short head, we're fine. See you next year.
Weiss started laughing in exhaustion and crying tears of relief.
It was over. Weiss had delivered presents to every single child in the world, with some time to spare. While the sun was beginning to rise, Weiss was able to return to her home in Lastion with well over three hours before her magic ran out for the year.
The ride home was quiet.
When she entered her home, just as a new dawn came, she sighed. Her apartment, if it could be called that, was empty and cold. She had stayed at her office for nearly two days straight before Christmas, and before that she lived an austere life.
She laid down on her mattress and slept. By the time she was awake again, it was noon, the sun at its zenith. Off in the distance, she could hear carolers and laughter around the town square. While the rest of the world had turned Christmas into a more subdued and personal affair, or even forgotten it, Lastion was the last place with carolers and Christmas trees.
Weiss took a deep breath and frowned. Her powers were still active, just barely. She looked around and saw that every single person in Lastion already had their wishes fulfilled for the year, all except one.
One more gift was needed. And it wasn't going to be a present this time. Weiss frowned. Why didn't it show up until after Weiss woke up?
There was a knock on her door, and she knew who it was. The last person in the world waiting for their gift.
Hamson Glint, her young secretary.
Weiss walked to her door and opened it. In front was a young man of twenty, wearing a red scarf over a gray sweater and pants, with mittens included. He smiled at her, and awkwardly started speaking, "Ummm. Miss… Boss, I uh…"
What he wanted for Christmas was very simple: for Weiss to attend Christmas dinner with his family.
"Alright, kid. I'll be there. What time?" she gave a smile. He asked this every year, for the past five years now.
"Seven o'clock!" he hiccuped out.
"I'll be there at six to help out," Weiss smiled, "But of course, we have the whole day to celebrate, don't we?"
"Yeah, I was uh, going to join the carolers, then join the yearly snowball fight."
"Well, I suppose this would be a good year to join then," Weiss grabbed him by the arm, "Lead the way, squirt."
Hamson laughed, "Will do, boss. Let me tell ya, everyone's gonna be so excited to see you out and about for once. We really missed you, you know?"
"Yeah," Weiss said, "I missed you guys too."
A/N: What a ride. I'm not entirely sure I can top this for next year, and continuing with Weiss Christmas is just a bit moot now. I'll have to figure something out.
Thank you all for reading, and have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!