Patriot-112: You all know the drill as before.
Chapter 13:
Face Yourself
"You DO realize that once you do this, there is no coming back?"
"We know that, but we don't care. She needs us,"
"Dorée made her choice, and she paid with it with her life! And you want to make her sacrifice meaningless?"
"We're not going back then to die, Canus! We're going back there to give her what she was denied...that I denied her cause of my foolishness,"
"She already prevented that!"
"Yes, but after...that battle we cannot conceive a child... Not to mention the tensions between the Kingdoms is reaching a boiling point again, and hostilities could erupt at any moment, and Salem would use this chance to get what she wants,"
"*Sigh*... Why do I always get the stubborn ones?...Alright, since you're so adamant, go ahead, but be warned, once you go back, this future will cease to exist and you'll be trapped back in the past with no way to come back."
"It's not like we had anything to come back here to, anyway...,"
"...Canus...Canus?...Canus!"
Grey eyes snapped open before they looked at the people who were looking at him with concern. He blinked confusedly before sighing again.
"Godsdammit, here we go again," he growled before he proceeded to sit up.
"What the heck just happened to you?" said Yang, who looked freaked out, which Canus could understand, "You suddenly just collapsed and started muttering something we couldn't understand."
Canus looked at the group of students, and for once, and he hated it, decided to pull a half Ozpin.
"Uhh, nothing important," he said as he began to get up, "In fact, you'll find out soon enough."
That caused the students to blink in curiosity, wondering what the heck did he meant by that, while Jaune and Pyrrha both felt a deep sense of foreboding at the premenitioner's words.
With Ozpin, he knew what had transpired, since he knew him for so long and actually saw it happen countless times, and could only mentally assume what happened twenty minutes before, when Canus suddenly passed out in front of them, while they were planning on how to stop Dorée. It meant he saw the future again, and from his posture, it couldn't be good.
'No doubt the timeline is changing again,' he thought, 'But how, is anyone's guess,'
With Dorée
She had been walking for a good half an hour now, the path before her covered in mist so thick, she couldn't see the ground, so she had to walk slowly in order to avoid possibly falling into a pit. How this mist got here she didn't know, but that wasn't going to stop from getting to the Relic and removing it from this place.
"You really think that taking that relic from here would protect them?"
At the sound of the disembodied voice, she gripped the handle of Aurea, as she looked around, her eyes narrowed at the question spoken to her.
"Do you honestly believe that just moving it away from here would make Her not target the school again?"
Dorée only glared at the voice as she kept proceeding onward. Which elicited a growl from the voice
"Fool! You're smarter than this! You think that Salem will just ignore the Kingdom of Vale and Beacon while she focuses her resources on you? It won't work! Salem is too smart and devious to fall for something so obvious, it's not even funny!"
She quickened her pace, wanting to get away from the voice as it pounded into her skull...Only to then feel a hand grip her arm.
"DON'T IGNORE ME!"
Dorée's eyes widened slightly at the sound of her own voice, before she slowly turned...and came face to face, with her own image, in her old armor, as it glared harshly at her.
"You're making the same stupid mistake Mama made in the old timeline!" Her doppelganger yelled as her grip tightened harder, "And who do you think will suffer the most because of this decision? They will!"
Dorée didn't answer for a moment, still shocked at seeing a mirror image of herself, before her expression then hardened and she yanked her arm out of her double's hand.
"And I suppose you have a better plan?" she asked rhetorically, "Cause the way I see it, this is the only way!"
"Oh grow up!" Mirror Dorée said, rolling her eyes, "You're only doing this because you still feel like you're an abomination like that prick Merlot told you, and are still in denial that they love you! And you believe that by doing this, Salem will send her strongest to fight you...and possibly kill you!"
Dorée gritted her teeth at that, "That's not true!" she growled.
"It is, and deep down you know it."
With that, Dorée snapped as she drew Aurea from it's scabbard and lunged at her Mirror-self who drew her own, perfectly exact, version of her said weapon.
And thus the second Challenge had begun.
Meanwhile
Raven Branwen was not a happy camper...and that is putting it lightly. The reason for said current bad mood? ...Well, she got her ass handed to her by a girl possessed by a damn Geist with a REALLY twisted personality. And right now, after waking in a hospital room in the LAST place she wanted to be, with the brother she still shared somewhat of a bond with, she learned what happened after the said possessed girl knocked her out.
Apparently, the girl had a genetic implant chip, somehow containing faint traces of Grimm, that made her turn into either the vicious Beowolf-like Berserker, or the Geist-like psychotic lunatic. The latter she fought and was beaten by, all because she was stupid enough in not going all out on her. Oh, and let's not forget, she was practically the FALL Maiden from her timeline!
But that's deviating from the story, as right now, as Raven placed her Odachi back in it's sheath, and tested the revolving mechanism which contained all of her other dust blades, in order to make sure it was still working. Once she was satisfied that it was still functional, she placed the weapon set on the magnetic clip on her belt, and proceeded to leave the room she was in...
...only to be stopped by a voice she knew all too well.
"You planning on leaving again, Rae?"
She stopped and looked over her shoulder and spotted none other than her ex, former team partner, and father of her child, Taiyang Xiao Long. Said teacher of Signal Academy having arrived after being told by Qrow, as well as watching the 'incident' that happened on the television. Needless to say, despite all the heartbreak she gave him, he treated her rather well, such as making up her favorite flavor of tea, despite it not being as good, but not terrible, and making sure she didn't try to do anything reckless, like chasing after a certain clone and chopping her head off.
"Don't try to guilt trip me into staying, Tai," she said stoically, "You know it won't work on me,"
Taiyang gave a tired sigh at that, "I'm not gonna try to," he said as he gave her a frown, "It's your choice whether you want to come back or not. I just hoped you stayed long enough to give me and Yang an explanation on why you left to begin with,"
Raven sighed at that, "You know my reasons Tai," she said, and the father of her daughter only returned the sigh.
"I know you trained at Beacon in order to counter Huntsmen and huntresses in order to defend the Tribe that raised you and Qrow," He said, making Raven blink, but quickly understood that Qrow told him, "As well as the fact you tried to distance yourself from Yang for reasons that are...somewhat known to me,"
Raven gave a 'tft' at that, "What would that be?"
Tai sighed, as he moved behind her.
"One, you didn't want her to live the life of a bandit...," he began, while the Bandit's leader's eyes narrowed, "Two, you believed that me raising her would help in curbing that infamous temper you both have...which was somewhat successful,"
Raven actually sighed at that, 'Definitely the bane of my life back in my Beacon days,' she thought, before smiling slightly, 'And it looks like the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.'
"And three, despite what you might, or might not, think or say...you still care about her, and me," he finished, and Raven looked at him with a deadpan look.
"You really believe that?" she said, and Taiyang shrugged.
"Well, Summer believed it," he said, and Raven frowned slightly at the mention of her old teammate.
"She always did believe in the best of people, didn't she?" she asked, "Even me?"
Tai sighed again, before reaching out and grasping Raven's shoulder causing her to tense a little.
"She never hated you Raven...she always saw you as a sister." Tai said, "Though, she was disappointed that you left after Yang was born, she's not one to hold a grudge."
The swordswoman only shook her ruefully.
"Naive to the end," she said, and received a nod, though she didn't see it.
"Yeah...but was loyal to a fault," he said, before, reluctantly, removing his hand from her shoulder, which made her feel a tad disappointed. "So, you're going back to the Tribe?"
"Not right away," she answered, "Apparently, something that has Ozpin and those kids running all over the place. Including the girls,"
Tai blinked at that, "What?"
Back in the Vault
Clash of steel was heard as Dorée and her doppelganger continued their catfight, as her sword slammed into the copy of her version of Pyrrha's Akouo, only for the said weapon to be deflected away.
"Go ahead! Keep making the same stupid mistakes all over again!" the Doppelganger shouted, "You're only proving me right!"
"SHUT UP!"
The swords clash as their wielders glared at each other.
"Why should I!? You know I'm right! If you continue down this path, the same thing will only repeat itself...only our parents will be the ones who will suffer," the double said, which caused Dorée already high anger soar even higher.
"Then what the fuck do you propose I do then!?" she shouted before pushing the Doppelganger back, "What do I have to do in order to make sure they survive!?"
She charged at her again, and delivered a shield bash that dazed the Doppelganger. But Dorée didn't attack, instead she stood where she was as the double shook her head to get rid of the dizziness
"Go on! Tell me how to prevent the disaster permanently!" she shouted, but the double just looked back at her. "TELL! MEEEEE!"
The illusion said nothing as it looked at her, and it was quiet for a few moments until the apparition finally spoke.
"You can't...," she said, shocking Dorée, and then continued, "...no matter how many times you do it...it'll just keep happening until either they're dead, or yourself,"
Dorée's head bowed at that, as she processed what was just spoken to her. That didn't help her one bit, seeing it was a lose-lose situation.
But... she still understood that she was no longer needed here, and her old timeline was gone. Thus, she had no place to even exist. But if she died so that they could live, that was fine with her.
"I still stand by my decision...," she said as she lifted her head, "...I'm going to make sure they live. Sure they'll mourn for me...but they'll use this to get stronger and be prepared for Cinder when she shows her damned face again. Sure, I'm making the same mistakes as Mama did...but that's why I exist, to give her a second chance at the life she RIGHTFULLY deserved to have... happy with Papa. As long as they live, that's fine by me,"
The Doppelganger said nothing as she stared at her with a blank face before she sighed.
"You really are determined to see this through, aren't you?" she asked, and Dorée gave a nod.
"Yes,"
The doppelganger closed her eyes as a light enveloped her as she began to dissipate away.
"You passed the challenge," she said, and opened her eyes and looked at Dorée with a said smile. "But know this, like your mother, you'll live to regret that decision."
As soon as she finished, the doppelganger disappeared, and the sound of another door opening got her attention as she looked and saw the said doorway, opening up as dust crystals lit the way.
Wasting no time, she continued on her way to retrieve the relic and get it as far away as possible.
"Two down...one to go," she said as she walked through...however, the sliver of doubt that she began to feel before, had begun to grow.
With Team JNPR & RWBY, plus Ozpin and Canus
"Uuugggh man, how much longer do we have to wait?" Yang grumbled, feeling edgy as they waited for the wayward clone to show herself.
"Calm down, Yang," Blake said, "We've only been here for an hour."
"You know how bored I get when waiting, Blake," The blonde brawler retorted, before scowling a bit, "I hope Dorée is ready for a butt whoopin', cause she's gonna get it for making us wait this long,"
Weiss sighed at her teammates impatience, "Yang, you do realize we're in the middle of the Emerald Forest right? A place that is crawling with Grimm, and where we had our initiation?,"
Yang shrugged at that, "Yeah," she simply said.
"Soooo, why don't you take your frustrations out on them, instead of Dorée? I doubt both Jaune and Pyrrha would entertain the idea of you picking a fight with their future daughter," she finished, and Yang blinked before she looked and saw said Knight and Spartan each giving her a disapproving look.
"Whoa! Okay okay, sorry!" she said defensively, "Man, this parent stuff has gotten you into overprotective mode times ten,"
"Yang!" Ruby protested before looking at the two, "She didn't mean that honest!"
The two only sighed at that.
"It's alright," Jaune said, "She's not completely wrong. Though I don't like the idea of giving her a beating as a punishment, she will get a serious talking to when we get her to stand down,"
"If, she stands down," Pyrrha somberly intoned, making everyone turned to her, "She's like me in so many ways, even has my stubborn determination when it comes to completing a task."
She then chuckled lightly, "It's funny... here I am, a girl still in her teens, and still in school, talking about their daughter who will not be born in another thirteen years. I must've mentally aged somewhere down the line,"
"Hopefully, she'll have the chance to actually be born instead of being stirred up in some tube," they heard Canus say before they looked to said man, who had a expression between a scowl and a frown, as he looked up at the two partners, "It's not just her you need to protect, you need to protect yourselves as well. If anything happens to the both of you... Well, let's just say it will really drive her into a more self-loathing state than usual."
"Then we'll protect them as well!" Nora shouted drawing the attention of everyone to her, "Pyrrha and Jaune are like family to me and Ren when we formed Team JNPR! And that makes Dorée a part of our family as well! Right guys?"
Both Jaune and Pyrrha blinked at that, before Ren stood up and placed a hand on the Valkyrie's shoulder.
"Nora's right, a team is a family, meaning you two don't need to do it alone all the time," the green ninja said, while giving one of his soft smiles to his team leader and teammate. "You're not getting rid of us that easily,"
Both Jaune and Pyrrha were quiet for a moment before the two actually began to chuckle at that.
"Thanks Ren," Jaune said, "It's nice to know you and Nora still got our backs,"
Pyrrha nodded her agreement.
"Hey! What about us!?" whined Ruby as she gave a childlike pout, "We may be different teams, but we're still best friends right? And you guys, along with Team CFVY, helped us out when we were surrounded by Grimm during the Breach, so we still owe you!"
"Yeah!" Yang said as she pumped her fist, "You can consider us stuck with you guys! Someone's gotta make sure you don't do anything too crazy."
"And for once... I actually agree with Yang," Weiss said.
"Looks you're not getting rid of either," Blake said.
Jaune and Pyrrha looked at their sister team with fond smiles, happy to have such great friends in the all female group.
"Thank you...all of you," Pyrrha said in gratitude.
Watching the scene, Ozpin only smiled as he watched the bond between the two teams grow stronger. Yes, he made many questionable decisions in the past, many of them leading to things he will regret later on. But, there was always one thing he was extremely proud of. The trust and camaraderie in his students.
"Well Ozzy, I gotta admit," said Canus, "Despite all the mistakes you made, this surely isn't one of them,"
Ozpin could only sigh at that, "You're never going to let it go, are you?,"
"Nope." he said flatly, "You're gonna be stuck with my trolling ass for the rest of our immortal lives you old coot,"
The Headmaster gave the grey cloaked man one of his rarest glares, "Look who's talking," he said.
Patriot-112: And finally done! Dorée now has one final task to perform before she finally has the Relic of Choice in her grasp... to face her WORST fear. What will that fear be? Well, that's for you guys decide in the review section. Also, already started on the third installment of the Aurea Mors Alter series, as well doing a restructuring of Warning from the Future, the latter mostly to keep it up to date with the current Volumes, including V6 coming up in just TWO. DAYS!
So, yeah, I got a lot of work on my plate. Of course, the constant distractions by my grandfather will make it even harder to get it done. But, I know that I will get done.
Until then folks, later!