Epilogue: Returner

True Remnant

Weiss

Two weeks had passed since Weiss, Penny, and Rose had killed Nidhogg. The heiress was spending that time growing accustomed to her new prospect at life and getting to know the new Remnant; the Remnant that should have always been. In that time she'd acquired new clothes to try and recreate the way she dressed all those years ago when she lived on this Remnant. A pristine white suit with hints of blue on the sleeves and pant legs adorned her petit frame, with a bright blue tie around her neck and black leather shoes on her feet.

She sat in the back seat of a maroon red car, Garnet seated energetically in the driver's seat and Penny in the front passenger seat. "You're sure Rose didn't want to come with us?" Garnet asked.

Penny nodded. "She said that this wasn't any of her business. She's gone home to rest in her house on Earth for a while. She may not have looked it, but traversing the multiverse had been exhausting on her. She also had to summon Darkstar's scythe and use her eyes for a while, which is very draining on her. She'll be back to work within the month, but she felt that coming with us would be an invasion of privacy. It's not her family, after all."

"I don't know what any of that means," Garnet replied. "But, be sure to let her know that she's welcome to visit us here in Vale whenever she wants."

"I'll do that. I'm sure she'll stop by eventually." She turned in her seat to look at Weiss. "How are you holding up back there? Are you nervous?"

Weiss gave her a meek smile. "A little bit. Thank you for coming today. And, again, thank you for coming with me to see Stein the other day."

"You kidding? I just had to see the look on his face when he saw his grandmother again after all these years. Albeit, looking much younger than back then."

The heiress chuckled. "It was nice to see him again. Shame he couldn't come visit Noxus and Kuroi today."

"You changed the Schnee company in a drastic way back then. He's more busy now than you were at the time to keep up with the changes in society. Though, Neo was finally able to break away from the Atlas council for a few days. She should already be waiting for us."

"I haven't seen her in so long. How is she?"

"You wouldn't know by her body, being a Synthetic like me, but she's getting old and tired. She needs a break, just like any other person. Otherwise, she's fine."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that Neo was a Synthetic. Was she built after you?" Garnet asked curiously.

"Before me, actually. Long story. She was, in a weird way, a sort of prototype to the Murakumo program."

"I thought you said only you and Rho-17 were activated."

"Yep."

"But, then that means...oh. Oh."

"She doesn't remember that. Keep it that way."

"Yes ma'am," Garnet said quickly.

"And besides, today is for Weiss and her family." She turned to look at the heiress again. "But I have to ask; are you sure? About after?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes. I've made up my mind." Penny's expression grew sad. "Someday, Penny, you'll grow to understand my decision. You may even make it yourself. There is no shame in it."

"I know," Penny nodded.

"Hey, enough brooding," Garnet said. "We're here."

Weiss looked up just in time to see Garnet make a sharp left turn and pull into the driveway of a beautifully built house. Two stories tall, it held a large patio style front porch and an arched roof, complete with a brickwork chimney. It was surrounded on all sides by forest, easily five miles away from the city of Vale. Weiss smiled at the sight. "To think, there's a Schnee living somewhere so rustic."

"Ha! I know. You should have known Nox when we were still a part of KING. He was so uptight and full of himself!"

"Sounds like a young girl I used to know," Penny said with a knowing smile. The engine was cut, and Penny and Garnet got out of the car first to go greet their hosts for the next few hours. Garnet started to stop and check on Weiss, but Penny stopped her. "She'll come when she's ready. She's got a lot on her mind. Come on. They're waiting for us." Garnet nodded silently, and the two of them walked up the porch steps and knocked on the door.

Weiss took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm her nerves. "I've seen you stare down endless hordes of Grimm," came the familiar, deep, masculine voice of Ouroboros as he slithered out from under her suit jacket. "You've stared deep into the eyes of the Master Units, and killed them all without fear. Yet here you are, scared of a couple of children."

"One child," Weiss corrected. "The rest are all grown up, Ouroboros."

"Hmph. To you, they are but children. Get out. Show me the brave witch that I know you to be."

She smiled. "Once, there would be a time that I'd be terrified of a talking snake living in my shirt." He laughed. "Thank you, Ouroboros. You've been a great companion."

"And here I'd hoped to be called your friend after all this time." The front door to the house opened, and a woman with black hair and a black monkey's tail.

"Call it what you want," she said with a coy smile. "I won't argue with you." She opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle, the snake coiling back into his hiding place as she approached, catching the tail end of the pleasant greetings being exchanged.

"It's so good to see you, Garnet," the woman said with a tender smile. "I hope this is visit is to tell me you're finally getting married."

"Oh, come on, Kuroi! That's just mean!" Garnet retaliated in a mock pout.

"Actually," Penny said as she gestured towards the now approaching Weiss. "We have a different surprise for you."

Weiss stepped onto the porch and met Kuroi's eyes, smiling at her all the while. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you," she said, extending her hand.

Kuroi accepted it and shook it politely. "It's nice to meet you to. Who might you be?"

"My name is Weiss Schnee. I'm here to visit my grandchildren."

Kuroi's jaw dropped as she forgot to let go of the handshake for a moment. She turned to Penny who simply nodded. Without hesitation, she leapt and wrapped her arms around the heiress, who returned the hug in kind. After a moment, Kuroi broke away feeling embarrassed with herself. "I-I'm sorry, but...it's...it's nice to meet you. An honor, even. We...we all grew up hearing about team RWBY and all the great work the four you did back then. It...it truly is an honor to meet you, Ms. Schnee."

Weiss chuckled softly. "The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Schnee. I'm sure Stein has already said this to you, but I'd like to welcome you to the Schnee family."

Kuroi blushed. "Thank you. Weiss has been...I mean, Noxus...he's been a great friend, a wonderful husband, and an even better father. You should be proud of him."

"I've heard a lot about all of you. May I please come in? I'd very much like to meet them."

"P-please! Please, come in!" She turned and held the door open as the three women entered her home. "Honey!" she called through the house. "Honey, we have company!"

A rather refined masculine voice answered back from the next room over with, "Is Garnet finally here? Is she married yet?"

"Not you too!" Garnet called back, and Weiss heard a laugh from the room.

He entered, and Weiss had to hold back a gasp. His hair was a bright shining white, typical of Schnee lineage, and his eyes a matching ice blue to hers. He wore a pair of khaki pants, an untucked blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and the Schnee crest in the form of a pendant around his neck. "Good to see you, Garnet. You as well Penny, you're looking youthful as ever. And who is...this..." he trailed off as he met Weiss' gaze, freezing in place.

"Honey," Kuroi said. "This is-"

"Weiss," he said suddenly. He smiled and laughed a short, nervous laugh. "It's...it's really you! I...I never would have thought that I'd meet my great grandmother."

Weiss smiled at him. "Look at you," she said as she approached him. "Honestly. A Schnee, rolling up his sleeves. What is the world coming to." She circled him once to size him up before standing in front of him. "You're such a handsome young man."

Noxus tried to hide the blush on his face. "Yeah. You're a grandparent, all right."

Weiss laughed before gently hugging him, which he returned in kind. "Kuroi is right. I am proud of you. You're everything I could have ever dreamed of for my descendants." She broke away and stared up at him, for he was several inches taller than she, and smiled. "While I did come to see you and your beautiful wife," Kuroi blushed at that. "And I don't mean to downplay the importance of this visit, but I came to see him. I'd like to see my great-great-grandson."

"Absolutely!" Noxus said enthusiastically. "Please, make yourself at home. He's in his room playing with Neo now. I'll go fetch him." With that, he darted up the stairs.

Kuroi approached Weiss tentatively. "Please, make yourself comfortable. If there anything I can get you? Tea? Coffee?"

Weiss thought for a moment before saying, "Coffee, please. Black. If it isn't too much trouble, of course."

"Not at all. Not at all. You two?"

Penny shook her head as she took a seat on a nearby couch. "I'll have coffee, but with cream and lots of sugar," Garnet said with a chipper smile.

Kuroi laughed. "Right. I'll be right back." She strolled into the nearby kitchen just out of sight, leaving the three of them alone.

Garnet took a seat next to Penny and looked around happily. "I've not been here in quite some time. They've redecorated."

"You're getting old," Penny said mockingly.

"How rude! I'm barely thirty!"

"But you act fifteen."

"My students appreciate my youthful innocence!"

The two of them laughed before Penny turned to face the still standing Weiss who was staring at a nearby wall covered in photos. A single tear streaked down her cheek. "Weiss? Are you okay?"

"Look at this," she said with a smile as she pulled one of the photos off of the wall. She stared at it mesmerized. While most of the photos were of her children and their friends and family, this was the only photo she actively recognized. By Penny's count, it had to have been almost eighty years ago by now. In the photograph she saw Ruby, Blake, Yang, Neo, and herself. All of them were in their late twenties or early thirties by this point, and Blake had already had her first child. The photo was taken in Junior's club, closed to the public on this particular day so that team RWBY and their friends could celebrate their lives together and take a break from life. Yang was thin due to her disability, but she smiled the widest out of all them as she stood behind the bar, pouring various drinks for all of them to toast with. Blake was looking off to the side with a stern look on her face; if Weiss remembered correctly, her son, Noir, was getting into some trouble of sorts out of frame of the camera and she was chastising him right as the shutter snapped. Weiss could still here Sun in the background saying "Noir, listen to your mother!" The boy must have been about seven or eight by that point. Ruby herself wasn't wearing her signature red cloak. She was an instructor at Beacon, and was still in her red suit and tie from having just come off of work probably an hour prior. She was pointing at Weiss' left hand with a stunned expression on her face, coupled with a wide and happy smile. Neo was also eyeballing Weiss' left hand, seemingly studying it curiously. Weiss herself was holding up her left hand, a silver ring with a sapphire stone set into it on display on her third finger; this photo was taken about a week after Neptune had proposed to her.

Weiss wiped the tears away from her face. "It's so hard to believe that this was a real day in my life. Like the one good dream in a sleep full of nightmares. I'd nearly forgotten." She returned the photo to its proper place on the wall just as Noxus returned down the stairs with a small child in tow, and Neo behind the both of them.

"There she is," Noxus said to the boy. "Go on. Go say hi to her."

The boy bashfully approached Weiss and stared up at her, forcing her to smile even more as she knelt down to his level. "Hello. You must be Blake."

The boy nodded.

"Do you know who I am?"

He nodded again. "Daddy says that you're my great-great-grandmother, Weiss."

She chuckled. "That's right, sweetie."

"I thought you were an angel," he said bluntly with a hint of confusion.

She laughed even harder now. "Yes. Yes I am. I'm just like Penny over there. I'm not just any angel; I'm a guardian angel."

"Is that why everyone thinks you're gone?"

"Yes. I've been away for a long time, working very hard to keep you safe from dangerous monsters. I haven't been able to come back, but today is a special day. I was able to come here just so I could see you, little Blake."

"Just to see me!?" his eyes lit up, and any shyness he had melted away.

"That's right. I could only come for one day, so I wanted to make the most of it before I go back to working hard to protect you." She turned to Noxus and smiled a somewhat sad smile. "I hope that its not too much trouble."

It took him a moment before he caught her meaning. "N-no. Not at all. We'd be happy to have you as a guest for the day."

Kuroi returned with two mugs of coffee, giving them to Weiss and Garnet respectively. "I'd be happy to make a special dinner for all of you if that's okay."

"That would be lovely," Weiss agreed as she stood to accept the coffee, sipping at it happily. "I came to play with you Blake, so let's go play, okay?"

"Yeah!" Blake cheered as he led Weiss upstairs to his room.

Weiss paused as she passed Neo to give the shorter woman a brief hug. "It's good to see you, Neo."

"You too, Weiss," she replied, releasing the hug and watching Weiss and Blake go upstairs. She turned to Penny and Garnet just as they got out of earshot. "She's not staying, is she?" Penny and Garnet couldn't meet Neo's eyes, which was all the answer that she needed. "I see."

"She's been dying and reliving that hellish calamity for so long, Neo," Penny said after a time. "None of us have the right to tell her what to do now that she's free."

Noxus and Kuroi froze in silence as they put together the context. "O-oh," Kuroi said.

"Then we'll just have to make this a day to remember, won't we?" Noxus said with a sad smile.

"It's not fair," Garnet said with a frown.

"What happened to her wasn't fair," Penny pointed out. "What she wants now is just...natural."

Several hours passed, a magnificent home cooked dinner was served by the Schnee household, and Weiss allowed Noxus and Kuroi to take some photos to add to the wall. She played with Blake until he fell asleep some time after night had fallen. The four guests were now seated on the front porch patio, each sipping at a glass of wine, say for Penny and Neo.

"This was nice," Weiss said after a moment where the conversation had died down. "I'm glad I did this."

"So are we," Kuroi added with a faint smile. "We...we'd love it if you could stay."

Weiss nodded with a smile. "I'm sure it would be nice," she said sadly. "But, I've been here for too long already. It's time I do what needs to be done." She downed the rest of her wine and stood up. "Thank you for having me in your house. It's beautiful here. I can see why you chose this place to raise your family."

"Thank you," Noxus said, standing up to match Weiss. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for visiting. Thank you for all that you've done with the Schnee Dust Company. Thank you for giving our son another hero to look up to. Just...thank you."

Weiss approached him and gave him the gentlest of hugs. "You're a good man, Noxus." She broke away with a small chuckle. "Though, Garnet tells me that you prefer your middle name. Weiss."

He blushed. "I...I grew up hearing about all the things that you and the rest of team RWBY did. I...I thought it'd make me more like you if I went by my middle name."

"Be your own man, Noxus. You've done just fine so far. I'm sure you'll continue to succeed."

"Someday, hopefully not soon, I'll take over the company. I'll be sure to uphold everything that you stood for during your tenure as head of the company."

Nodding, she turned to Kuroi and gave her a hug as well. Breaking away, she brushed a bit of the faunus girl's hair out of her face. "You're the spitting image of Blake, you know. But you have a tail instead of ears."

She laughed, though there was a hint of sadness. "Thank you."

Weiss gave the girl a small kiss on the cheek. "Take care of your boy. Both of them," she said, gesturing towards Noxus. She turned on her heel and stepped off of the porch.

"Weiss!" Garnet yelled. "Are...are you sure about this?"

She paused. "Yes. It's...it's all I want now. I'm tired, Garnet. So very, very tired. I need to rest. Thank you all for saving me. Thank you, Penny, for everything. For never giving up on me. I'm sorry I can't return the favor."

"It's okay," Penny said. "How long should I wait?"

"Thirty minutes at best. I'll be waiting."

"I'll take care of everything.

"Thank you." Weiss closed her eyes and concentrated, just as Penny had taught her. She pictured it vividly in her mind; the cliff where she and the rest of team RWBY arranged to be buried side by side in the event of their deaths. There it was, solid as reality in her mind. And she stepped forward, the popping sound of space tearing asunder around her accosting her ears, the sensation of the heatless rainbow flames that licked around her for just a moment before dying away. She could feel the wind coming up the valley below her, and she opened her eyes to see that she'd arrived.

There, sitting before her, were five gravestones. Summer's was beginning to fade, but the other four were as plain as ever.

Ruby Rose

October 31, 4322-August 7, 4422

Weiss Schnee

April 26, 4320-June 1, 4398

Blake Beladonna

July 7, 4320-January 12, 4400

Yang Xiao Long

February 14, 4320-May 5, 4415

She smiled at the sight of the stones. "Hello again," she said as a tear slid down her left cheek. "Did you three miss me? Don't worry. I'll be there in just a moment."

"You have one final task," Ouroboros said, sliding out of his hiding hole. "You're sure about this as well? What of the Law of No Interference that Penny told us about?"

"I don't work for her organization. The worst they can do is kill me for breaking their stupid law."

"Hm. That's fair. Proceed then. Who first? Me?"

"No," Weiss said quietly. "You'll be last. You're the only one I like." She concentrated and summoned the other five Master Units, though she purposely made them about the same size as Ouroboros in his smaller form.

"What now, woman?" Cerberus asked, looking up at her from the ground. Weiss laughed, thinking that the small Grimm looked like a three headed puppy now.

Without answering, Weiss began chanting the spell that Penny had taught her over the last two weeks. Magical holograms formed around each of her summoned beasts, and she tugged at a single piece of the incantation.

"∞ = ∞"

Reaching deep within herself, she mustered up the strength to alter the fabric of reality, and changed five out of the six to match her wishes.

"∞ = 0"

Almost immediatly, Cerberus, Nidhogg, Callisto, Calydonian, and Scorpius began to dissolve into blue pigments of light, the wind picking them up letting them drift over the valley. "Now, no other version of Remnant will ever worry about the Master Units. I've erased you all from existence everywhere."

Ouroboros, the only one not dissolving, looked at his own incantation, waiting for it to change. After the other four had already dissolved, it finally changed and he felt himself fading. "To make it so that you're the only one to destroy us," he said. "That's awful greedy of you, Witch."

She smiled. "You think so?"

"I know so. Out of all of humanity, there needed to be one of you to become a Master Unit to rival the Grimm. I believe that to be you. Weiss, you're the seventh Master Unit."

She smiled, laughing a bit at the sound of the snake using her real name. "All the more reason to end this now. No more Master Units."

"Thank you, Weiss." With that, the snake faded from existence, never to be seen here, or on any other Remnant, ever again.

Weiss nodded. She knelt before her own grave and stared at it for a moment. "This is where it was supposed to end," she said aloud. Using magic, she summoned Myrtenaster from a pocket of empty space that she had created for herself. "So here is where it shall truly end." Putting the tip to her right wrist, she pierced herself as deep as she could, nearly going through to the other side as blood began to gush from the wound. Carefully, she swapped hands and pierced her left wrist to the same degree before throwing the sword to the side. Laying on her back, her head pointed at her own headstone, she smiled to herself. "Finally," she whispered. "I can finally rest." Her eyes grew heavy from the blood loss, and she relented and let herself close her eyes.

But, to her at least, she never lost consciousness. Even the other times that she died only to reawaken, she knew that there was a gap of nothingness in between. She expected to fade and to never feel again, but instead all that she noticed was that the pain in her wrists was gone. "W-what?" she asked aloud.

"Ah," an elderly woman's voice chimed. "You've arrived. I've been waiting for you." Weiss opened her eyes and found herself sitting in a metal chair in the middle of a rose garden. Before her sat a small outdoor table and an old woman wearing a long black dress and a unique red cloak that she knew only one other person had ever worn. The woman had a plate of cookies sitting on the table, and she sipped gingerly at a small teacup. "You're not usually late, Weiss."

"R-Ruby? Ruby is that you?"

The old woman chuckled softly. "Yes. How is my BFF doing this fine evening?"

Weiss nearly leapt over the table as she hugged the elder Ruby Rose, tears streaming full force down her face. "I've missed you! I've missed you so much! I...I never thought I'd see this you ever again!"

Ruby returned the hug. "I know, I know. I've been waiting here all this time, knowing that someday you'd come." She broke the hug first and look deep into Weiss' eyes. Though this Ruby was the old woman who died on this version of Remnant, she still held those amazing silver eyes that captivated all who looked into them. "Come. The others are waiting as well."

Thirty minutes. That's what Weiss had said. Penny came exactly thirty minutes after the heiress had left, and she tried her best not to cry at the sight of Weiss. Stained in blood and lifeless, the white haired woman lay cold on the ground. But it wasn't all that bad, Penny had to realize.

After all.

Weiss was smiling.

THE END

Song: Returner (The End of Darkness) - Gackt

Author's Notes

Phew! I'm finally done! This less than stellar story took me two damn years to write, a total of three and a half for the entire trilogy! I know it took one hell of a dive in quality, and I'm sorry for that. It was all downhill from The Longest Night, but I'm still happy with this outcome. Yeah, I wish it could have been written better, I wish I could have had a better idea on where to take it, but even as I look back on it I can't think of anything I'd have done different, shy of not doing it at all. And that's just silly. You know me. I had to do it. I couldn't say no to this trilogy.

I don't regret it. I don't regret it at all. I had fun. It's been stressful at times, but it really was fun. But, with the Shifting Remnant Trilogy finally done, I'll try to focus and finish writing Free. Maybe I'll go back to writing some shipfics when I have the time. Weiss/Yang stories seem pretty hot these days (no pun intended). I might do one of those. Who knows.

As always, let me know your final thoughts and feelings about this final chapter in a review or PM. Don't hold back. If you hated it, let me know. I'd like to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. If you loved it, let me know what I did right. Thank you all for sticking with this story for so long. I truly am sorry.

And, of course...

Till Next Time!