Chapter 7

It didn't take long after both John's accidental creation of a universe and his first hosting of a duelling tournament that he started to hear the sounds. They were strange sounds and did not sound random. No, they sounded like unintelligible whispering. It was also frustrating to him that he could never find the source.

It was not long after that, that the first victim turned up - in the form of a cat.

There was a crowded area of students in the hallway Jo had been walking past, headed to her classroom. This had piqued John's interest, and he had thought that perhaps there was a fight after the period just past. It was entirely possible, and if that was so, then John wanted his Avatar to intervene sooner rather than later so that no-one would get hurt.

With a determined stride, Jo had made her way to the crowd of students. She made it in time to hear the end of Argus Filch's accusation and further threat to Harry and his friends. "If you know what is good for you, Argus, you will do no such thing. And I hope, for your sake, you did not just threaten a student." She glared at the man for a moment, and when he was sufficiently cowed, she further examined the writing on the wall. She purposefully ignored the floating cat for the moment.

The writing was written in blood, and since there was a cat nearby, it could be assumed that the blood came from there. So it was not human blood, which was good. Written in this blood was,

"The chamber of secrets has been opened

enemies of the heir … beware".

However, that was not too important at the moment. What was important was that the little ones were gawking at the scene. "Everyone to your commons," Jo said, and an old voice had echoed what she said from behind her. Jo turned to the sight of a few teachers arriving. John wondered how they knew to arrive there. Perhaps they were walking by just as Jo was, and happened upon the scene? It seemed unlikely.

When Harry and his two friends went to leave too, Jo had pointed to them and said, "Except for you three." Again, Jo was echoed by the same old voice of Dumbledore's. Jo raised a fine eyebrow and smiled to which Dumbledore returned the sentiment of humour.

It was then that Harry felt the need to interject his own claims by stating his innocence of all of this. Jo had only said, "I believe you."

Startled, Harry had asked, "You do?" Jo, or to the students 'Professor Rowling', nodded. That lead Harry to continue with, "Why?"

"Because my brother says that you are a terrible liar. I'm inclined to believe him," came her reply. It took a moment for the information she said to process in the minds of those present before their reactions became outwardly visible. The only ones that did not wear a face of surprise or disbelief at the news were Luna and Jo herself.

John assumed that Luna had already figured it out. It was like the brilliant girl to piece together the clues so seamlessly.

It was just before the holidays and the chamber issue had still yet to have been solved. It was frustrating to John, because he had become attached to the ancient castle that he had sent his children to learn, and where he now worked. He did not want to see the ancient place of learning to be closed - he thought it a crime to close an institute of learning.

He was glad that it was coming close to the holidays, though. With fewer people during the holidays, there would be a better chance that it would not come into question why there were people there that no one knew.

Even better was the fact that Kevin and Harry were coming home for the holiday, and John planned on giving them an experience that they would never forget as soon as they made it back. John was excited to show them. As it was, he had to get it all ready.

Unrelated to what John was attempting on his son's world, and long ago in the Sector's relative time, John had had a presence on the planet for a while. It was long enough to go through an entire human lifetime or two.

Now, he masqueraded as an old man, an old man that saw no point in venturing outside of his house any longer. He was content to let that Avatar "die" and to create a new one, somewhere else to take up his place on the planet.

So it was understandable that John had not bothered to ward off the four sisters that had taken to using his land - so deep in the forest was it - to play in. John didn't know where the sisters came from, but he did know that they did not live in the area - he was very far away from any civilisation.

They had an odd notion of play, as they had only scouted the area, and having determined a certain lack of Grimm had then set about in a circle. They sat cross-legged and had practised in relaxation every day for a week.

He had not seen them again until the season passed. Only then did they reappear, but this time they did not practice in the arts of tranquillity as before, sometimes a primitive form of yoga. No, this time the four had gone to where his garden area was. He watched as the four had puzzled over the very decrepit-looking sorry excuse of a garden. After discussing amongst themselves for a time, one of the four had suggested the idea of caring for the garden to pass the time.

Apparently, their parents were Hunters, and they had to camp out in the area with their parents because of their job. They did not know if anyone owned the property, and since they had already used the land they thought it only fair to repay the debt they created by using it without permission. So, for fun and to pass the time the four girls had tended to the decrepit garden. Eventually, the garden was something to be proud of.

Soon the season turned from spring to summer, and with it, the girls had changed their focus from the gardening - being content with the way it had turned out - to playing. It was only then that John questioned them. They were having fun in the summer air, and as John questioned them, one of the four had started giggling. When John asked what was so funny, the girl replied that she thought it funny that the man experienced the world through such a small window when there was an entrance next to him.

John supposed that it was a fairly odd thing. So, with that prompting, John had exited the hovel he had made for the first time in a century.

The girls had to leave, though, but they promised to return to their new friend and old sanctuary sometime. It was another season that passed before they had returned, and this time, it was the four girls that quizzed John. They asked after his past and his life. He had told them that he didn't have any interesting stories, being who he was and not having much. They then pointed out how much he really had, the old man in the shack he had made.

Time passed in a cycle for them after that, every season they would return and they would greet each other warmly. Years passed before John had asked why they helped him so, and they replied that they did it simply because they wanted to. They wanted to help people, they had said.

John had gotten an idea after that; they girls were old enough now to be venturing out into the world, and they wanted to go out to help people. So, John had gifted the four maidens with something to help them in their travels.

With great care, John had taken a fair amount of Em and had instilled it in each of the four maidens, tailored to their own unique name sake and their life time. If they die, the Em and subsequently that power would transfer to the next viable host.

The power he gifted them was aligned for each of their names. They were named from oldest to youngest Winter, Spring, Summer, and finally Fall. John thought it poetic that they were named after the seasons, and that they had always visited him every season.

The girls - now madins - had thanked John for his generous gift, and before they left on their various trips had promised to always return, at least once a year. The madins did not realise this, but their promise had been enforced by the very young - now sentient - magic that they had been gifted with. So, now even if the Em - the source of their power - changed host, the new host would become the new madin and would visit John.

It was for this reason that John became slightly worried when Amber, the current Fall Maiden, did not return to see him. He had then started seeking her out when he felt that the power of Fall split into two unequal parts. Normally that would mean that the poor girl's life had split into two, and had separated. John hoped, for her sake, that that was not true. He would have to kill her if she did it herself, as there was only one way that John knew of that she could have done that alone, or it would mean she was in mortal danger if another had done it to her.

The Old Wizard sighed, a physical manifestation of John's emotion on the topic at hand, and then the Avatar set off to find the girl. John dreaded what he might find. He quite liked that girl, and would be saddened by her death; she was like a daughter to him, as were all of the maidens.

A/N: I had noticed that there wasn't a RWBY cross yet, so I thought I'd put one in there somewhere. I might return to that one later, depending on where my muse takes me.