Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.
CHAPTER UPDATE: 28/12/2022
CHAPTER 1: Jaune the Grimm knight
A woman with pallor matching her pure white hair walks down the dark depths of stairs till she arrives at an old wooden iron frame door. Her hair was tied in a large bun, with six offshoots wrapped together and suspended by obsidian ornaments. Her jet-black and scarlet eyes glow with crimson irises, and purple veins line her face and arms. She wore a long, short, sleeve robe that obscured her feet, dragged along the ground, and carried a small book in her arm. With time, the door's wood darkened and rotted, and the iron rusted, as the door had never been touched or seen the light of day.
She gripped the iron handle and pulled. The sound of screeching metal ground along the stone floor. An average human wouldn't be able to move an inch of the door. She entered the cold small dark room where she could see her breath, hearing the sound of beeps, the sound of a low motor humming, and the hissing of compressed air escaping. She stared in front of her for a pillar of frost, illuminating just enough to see the floor and scattered tubes and cables. She walked through the wires and line with ease, without staggering or pausing, till she reached a chair next to the pillar. She sat down, opened her book and began to read the text out loud.
"This is a story about a wizard and a witch. They had four daughters, the four maidens, but what the sisters didn't know was they had two older brothers, twins. Both were identical in appearance, easily mistaken as one or the other, with blonde hair with blue sapphire eyes. The difference was they were each a representation of their parent's views and determination. The oldest twin possessed his father's intellect and reason, and the youngest had his mother's powers and freedom.
When they came of age, they left the safety of their home to live their dream of being heroes and training to serve as the protectors of Remnant. The oldest wore a full-body suit of armour in white with golden accents, the youngest wore an identical case of armour in black with red accents, and both were armed with shields and swords with two crescent moons. They battled together against evil, whether it was Grimm or Human. While they explored the world of Remnant, they fought and protected those in need. Their campaign spread throughout Remnant, wondering which kingdom they served. When asked about their alliances, they responded, "We don't serve a kingdom. We are Huntsmen of Remnant." From then on, they were remembered as the first Huntsmen of Remnant.
Once their adventure was over, achieving their dream together, they now had nothing, unsure of what to do next. They had already travelled the world of Remnant, trained to be the greatest warriors like their father. They learned together of the exotics Remnant offered, like their mother, without a goal. The only option they had was to return home to their parents.
With a surprise in store when they came back home, they discovered they had four sisters. A surprise from their parents filled their hearts in awe, and they found a new purpose. They swore an oath to train and protect their sisters from harm. Their mother was proud of her sons for protecting their little sisters, while their father smiled with pride at his sons becoming fine warriors and heroes of Remnant. Over the years, the sisters grew and bonded with their older brothers, playing and telling bedtime stories to them in their sleep. It made them inseparable, always going to their brothers for almost everything. Their mother watched, filled with love, with an urge to protect them from the world after hearing the stories of their battles, encounters, and decisions to protect the weak, awing their sisters.
It fueled her to follow her husband's word to bring humanity together, to spread their word and destroy those who will deny it, while the husband was conflicted. On that day, a miracle was born. The sisters performed magic, something the brothers failed but were joyous for their sisters. Giving them a more vital purpose to their oath, and without haste, they showed it to their parents. It should've been a Joyous moment for their family, but it was short-lived. As guilt weighed their father's heart, none noticed the father's expression except his wife and sons.
Their father told them the truth, What he's been hiding within his family, the purpose of the relics and the day of judgment he needed to prepare. They agreed: it's not their responsibility to redeem the humans, as they are free, especially those who can make their own decisions. Would he risk the lives of his own family when the gods abandoned humanity?
With that, he took matters into his own hands in the dead of night, escorting his four daughters out of the room but only encountering his sons. Armed and ready for battle with their mother by their side, her face scorned with betrayal seeing the man she loved, the man she gave everything to be with him. They fought while the sons kept their oath to protect their sisters. However, it did not end well.
The youngest son awoke within the rubble and survived, but not without loss. He saw the little toy he gave to his youngest sister as a gift.
A sign that he failed, he searched for his sisters and brother but only found his sisters dead in his dead brother's arms, protecting them. He cried, hated, and then rage consumed the young Knight as he roared like a Grimm, giving birth to the Grimm Knight. With the loss weighing in his heart, the lonely Knight wandered of the world of Remnant, searching for a purpose while performing heroic deeds."
At the turn of the book's last page, it showed an image of a dark armoured knight roaring to the skies, marking the story's ending. She sighed, closing the book and wondering how many times she had read this book, having a moment of silence to herself.
"This story was passed down to the future generation of huntsmen and huntress as a lesson. Life as a huntsman is not always being a hero. I am both proud and saddened that this happened to you." She tried to hold in her emotion to not show weakness, whether or not her subordinates were there.
As she stood up and turned to the illuminating frost pillar, she placed her hand against the surface and wiped the frost away to see a clear view of the post's content. It was a man in a suit of black armour with red accents and markings of a Grimm, with a sword sheath by his side.
She stared at the armoured Knight, forgetting how long she stared, how many times she awakened him, how many times the Queen of Grimm called for him, and now slowly forgetting what he looked like every time she put him to sleep. Her son inherited her long-life span, slowed his age, and he looked like a seventeen-year-old. He could still die like an average human. As she knew the curse she bore, she was forced to watch as time passed while she stayed. Now, she was forced to watch her only son slowly die with age and time. She hadn't noticed until a cough was heard to take her attention.
She didn't say anything but simply stared at the pillar. She did not ignore the cough for her attention.
"My Queen," the voice called out
"Watts..." she replied, still focused on the armoured Knight.
"The preparation is ready. Awaiting your orders." She looked over her shoulder, seeing a tall, middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He held on to a large tablet that showed him the status of the inhabitants in the pillar. He had short black and grey hair, a thick moustache, eyebrows, and green eyes. Wearing a grey overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt, and a black necktie. His pants were the same colour as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and fingerless gloves matched his cordovan shoes, under which he wore yellow socks.
"Then commence," she ordered, taking a step back without looking away from the pillar. While Watts pushed buttons on the screen, he slowly dragged his finger across a scroll bar titled temperature to the highest degree. The frost of ice on the pillar began to melt, and at the same time, the room became warmer and warmer by the second. A beep sounded from Watt's tablet indicates a notification.
He opened it up, showing him a different heart monitor display. The beeps became irregular for a second till the beep steadily increased to a more regular pace. A promising sign as he sighed in relief, Salem's focus didn't veer away from her son till she saw a slight movement in his chest, his breathing. She turned to Watt with a look saying to open it, and he nodded and understood. With a few taps of his tablet. The mechanical locks clicked open with a hiss of cold air escaping from the tube.
The glass door opened slowly till it fully retracted, revealing the habitant. A metal hand gripped the edge of the capsule and pulled himself out with a grunt. The black Knight's helmet covered the entire head of the Knight with a T-slit visor etched in red markings on the face area, which reminds Watts of a Grimm.
Following down on the Knight's armour, he noticed the Knight wasn't dressed like traditional knights of old, like in the text. Pieces of armour on the Knight were missing, such as the gorget, rerebrace, fault, and cuisse. Though he could see the reason behind it, obviously, it was to prevent him from limiting his movement and comfort. He replaced them with clothing, such as an edge fur waist cape covering down close to his ankles of the greaves and with tassets overlapping, and a long sleeve jerkin underneath his armour.
The Pauldron rest of his shoulder reached down to his chest armour with a fur edge three-quarter cape underneath that rested across his back and above his elbow. The couter was mended to the gauntlet, with a fur cuff around the wrist.
However, he was weak from years of sleep. With one foot out of his capsule, he stumbled to the floor, only to be caught in his mother's arms. His helmet fell from his head, revealing the young man's face and messy blond hair, which surprised Watt at how young he looked.
"Mother...?" said a weak voice as she rested his head on her chest and gently combed his hair.
"I'm here, son..." She turned to Watts
"Watts, get Hazel here now!" she ordered, and without haste, he responded with a slight and respectful bow.
"At once, my Queen." Then he left the room.
"Mother," he weakly called out to her again as she turned back to her son.
"How...how long was I asleep this time?" he asked, but she gently cooed him.
"Shhh...rest, son. You're still weak. Once you recover, we will talk. I promise..." her voice so caring and soothing, the boy fell back to sleep with his head resting on her lap.
In time, Watts returned with a large, muscular man, middle-aged and broad, with short brown hair, a beard and hazel eyes. His hairy arms had some large scars running up them. He wore a two-tone olive-green coat over a black 3/4 sleeve shirt and a large belt. His pants were black, with a pouch strapped to each leg, and his boots were brown with white fronts.
"My Queen. I have brought Hazel as requested." He bowed with the man named Hazel behind him.
"You called for me?" he asked as Salem turned stoically towards the man.
"Yes, Hazel, carry my son and follow me," she orders, shocking Hazel with what he's hearing, freezing him in place. Her "son!" Watts wasn't surprised after seeing his Queen behave differently; connecting the dots between her and the young man wasn't hard.
"Did I stutter, Hazel?" she said threateningly.
"No, my Queen. Apologies..." As he approached his Queen and gently lifted the young man in his arms, Salem stood and picked up her son's helmet.
"Follow me," she ordered. As she was about to leave the room, she stopped by Watts. "Watts, please clean this room up and come to me once you're done" As he nodded in understanding, both his Queen and Hazel, carrying the young man, left the room. He stroked his moustache with a light smirk of interest to the Knight.
"So, that's the legendary Grimm Knight. The first true Huntsman of Remnant and one of the protectors of the four maidens."
He turned to the tablet and opened a new window, displaying notes and images of said Knight. While he read his notes, his smirk became a grin with excitement.
"And to think, the son of My Queen. Well, this is going to be an interesting day." He turned off his tablet and continued to finish the task at hand.
Hazel followed Salem down along the hallways of her castle without a word or sound while carrying the unconscious young man in his arm, who had to be his Queen's son, quite baffled. He knew the relationship between Salem and Ozpin, their past and their four daughters, but he didn't know that she had a son. Hazel looked at the unconscious heir in his arms, then at his Queen, trying to figure out the relationship. Then it occurred to him, did he inherit his mother's traits before she was cursed and damned by the gods?
They continued walking without a sound till they came across a forked path, the one on the left leading to the private rooms of Salem's inner circle and their necessities. The middle led to her throne/war room and a study that could be mistaken to be the most extensive library of all of Remnant. Finally, the right side was sealed by the claws and arms of Grimm and attacked anyone who dared to enter. In Hazel's mind, he expected Salem would lead him to the secret rooms, but instead, she stopped at the sealed path and swayed her arm across the door. The arms retracted to the floor and disappeared, revealing an old wooden door, the same door from the room underground, out of which they came. It was completely different from the other doors on the floor.
With a gentle push by Salem, the door opened, revealing a completely dark hallway, not an iota of light piercing the darkness. Salem walked into the dark hallway without hesitating, letting the darkness swallow her whole. At the same time, Hazel hesitated and waited till he heard a torn fabric fall to the ground, the outside light shining within the darkness. What was revealed was a different hallway than the one Hazel was standing in. Unlike the dark purple hallways of stone they always walked through, they exposed grey stone walls, like from a castle of old, never touched or seen by the light of day. It completely shocked Hazel to the core. With a torn curtain in her hand, Salem blankly stared at Hazel.
"Hazel…are you going to stand there and gawk? My patience is wearing thin." She snapped Hazel back to reality
"Apologies…" He rushed to her side and continued walking in silence till they finally arrived in front of a double doorway. With a flick of her hand, the doors opened wide, revealing a large room that looked like a master bedroom. Like a master bedroom, there's a king-size bed with black sheets and covers, a study, a bookshelf, two closed doors opposite the bed and swords mounted on the wall. This room was unique because there were three stands in the far corner, two of which carried a complete set of armour in a display, each clearly from different eras yet in perfect condition. The one on the left looked like a standard steel plate full-body suit of armour. The second one was an identical suit of armour to the one the heir was wearing, but instead, it was white with a gold accent, a white fur collar, and a red cape hanging from its shoulders. It held a white shield with two golden, crescent moons with a gold frame on its face. The last stand was empty but for a black, tattered fur cape.
"Gently place him on the bed," she ordered as Hazel complied, gently placing the young heir in bed. Salem sat next to her son while gently combing a few strands of hair away from his face.
"You may leave, Hazel. Tell everyone that I wish not to be disturbed. Am I understood?" she ordered, with her sole attention and focus on her son. Her tone and demeanour of superiority and maliciousness demanded absolutely.
"As you wish, my Queen, I shall leave." Hazel bowed without saying another word, leaving his Queen and her heir alone. He gently closed the door, but not without a setback. Just as he turned to leave, he found Cinder blocking his path, with her face painted in curiosity, especially at the room he had just left.
"Cinder, what are you doing here?" he asked her in an unexpressed tone as she smiled mischievously.
"You can say curiosity got the best of me. One of my subordinates told me. They saw you carrying a corpse while following our Queen to the forbidden east wing, that's usually off-limits to everyone except our Queen." She eyed the door, wanting to have a peek or see what plan her Queen had in mind with such a corpse. Hazel could already tell what Cinder wanted and immediately stopped her train of thought.
"If you're planning to go to that room, I recommend you don't. The Queen does not wish to be disturbed." He leered at Cinder with a severe expression while Cinder returned her gaze to Hazel in annoyance.
"Also, you should refrain from calling the Queen's heir a corpse. Unless you want to face her wrath." As he walked past Cinder, leaving her in the hallway alone, he shocked Cinder to the core with what she had just heard. She turned to Hazel.
'The Queen's heir!?'
Hazel was a lot of things, but a liar wasn't one of them. She turned back to the door, knowing behind this door was where her Queen and her "heir" was. Why was this the first Cinder heard of her Queen's son? She told her about Ozmas and her daughters but never told Cinder about a son! How many secrets had her Queen been hiding, and who else knew about an heir besides Hazel!?
Her eyes opened only to find herself seated on a chair next to the empty bed of her son's, then noticed she was covered in a blanket for warmth. She smiled, even though she rarely slept or felt heat or cold. She couldn't help but feel blessed with such a sweet son who stayed by her side. She stood and noticed pieces of his armour on the floor, leading a trail to the balcony, where the door was left open, and the wind blew. She followed the path and headed to the balcony, but her son was nowhere to be seen. She was not concerned as she kept walking, leaning against the handrails overlooking the Grimmlands.
A large shadow flew past her, but she ignored it. A soft thump landed behind her, but she stayed calm, admiring the view. The sounds slowly crept behind her, with a smile across her face as it felt nostalgic. She closed her eyes, remembering her family, her sons frightening her when she was either busy or they wanted some attention. Always scolding and chasing them while they smiled. She could never forget that.
As she opened her eyes, a large shadow loomed over her. While still smiling, she voiced her command nonchalantly without fear, "Don't even think about it…."
The shadow paused while it sounded like a stuttered raspberry. Salem snickered and turned around to see a young man, with blonde hair and blue sapphire eyes, around seventeen. He was shirtless, exposing large feathery black wings on his back, large enough for him to take flight, and his toned body that girls would drool over. She hoped her son would finally find a girlfriend or a concubine, so she could finally have some grandchildren. He innocently smiled while scratching the back of his head.
"How did you know it was me?" he jested.
"I'm your mother. I know everything. Now, where have you been?"
"Heh, I thought you knew everything." He smirked as she embraced him.
"It's so good to finally hold you again, Jaune." Her voice hitched, trying to hold her tears as her son hugged her back.
"Me too, Mum…." After a few minutes of their embrace, they separated as Salem wiped her tears while her son smiled at his mother again. Her attention stared towards his wings, and she smiled.
"I see…. You kept your sister's gift." She smiled as Jaune retracted his wing into his back.
"Now, come to Jaune. I need you to meet my subordinates." As she headed back to the room, Jaune followed. When they were back in the room, Salem waited by the door while carrying her son's helmet, while Jaune picked up, put his armour back on and approached the third stand holding the tattered black fur cape. He pulled it out and hung it on his back. He closed his mother as she handed him his helmet and put it on. Red glowing eyes emitted from the helmet.
Salem pulled out her scroll, which caught Jaune's attention. He was fascinated by such an item, never seeing it before he was frozen. Salem called her subordinates and met in the war room to discuss their plans. It amazed Jaune even further that something so small could easily communicate with people.
Everyone gathered at the table in the war room, waiting patiently for their Queen, ready to discuss their plan against Ozpin. Tyrian jittered manically with excitement to be bathed in the presence of his Queen. Across from him was Watts, with his attention on his pad reviewing the schematics he managed to steal at Atlas. Next to him, to his left, was Hazel with his arms crossed and quietly patiently waiting for the meeting to begin, where he could be mistaken as asleep. Finally, across him was Cinder, with her two subordinates, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, standing behind her. Mercury leaned closer to Emerald.
"Hey, Em, what's going on?" he whispered.
"Why are you asking me?" she scoffed.
"Don't you get the know-how from Cinder?" he replied, then turned and asked Cinder.
"Cinder, do you know what's going on?"
"No, this is sudden, but I can make a guess," she replied, feeling it had to do with their Queen's "heir". But she kept it to herself in case she was wrong.
"What is it?" he asked. Suddenly the doors opened, slamming into the walls. Standing there was their Queen, and behind her was a knight in black armour with a blood-red accent and glowing red eyes, a black aura flowing out of his armour. It instinctively spread absolute fear to everyone in the war room except Salem as she smiled and walked to her throne. The Knight followed, and the rest froze in fear. As she sat on her throne, the Knight stood beside her. She raised her hand to the Knight as a silent command, and the Knight nodded. The aura ceased seeping while everyone in the war room finally calmed down in their seats and both Emerald and Mercury toppled onto the floor in exhaustion from fear.
"I would like to first thank you all for coming on such short notice," she stated as her subordinates didn't argue but nodded, as there was no need for an apology from their Queen. They all turned their attention to the Knight. While Tyrin sneered towards the Knight in jealousy, how dare he stand next to his Queen. If anyone stood by her side, it would be him.
"Oh yes, how rude of me," Salem spoke up and raised her hand towards her Knight. "I would like to introduce a member and founder of our group. This is Jaune, my son and heir. But many of you may know him from his legend...the Grimm Knight." Just as Salem stated the Grimm Knight, everyone on the table stared at him with shock, except Watts.
"Son, why don't you remove your helmet and let them see your face. Since you'll be working together with everyone, it's ideal for getting acquainted."
The Knight nodded and slowly removed his helmet, and Cinder, her subordinates, and Tyrian leaned forward out of curiosity. He believed the heir would look just like the Queen with bleached skin and hair, but to their surprise, he looked like a normal young man with blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Hello, my name is Jaune, son and heir of your Queen and my mother, Salem. I look forward to working with you all to destroy Ozma." As he stated Ozpin's actual name with all his hate and anger, he oozed out a dark aura. Once again, it spread throughout the war room, freezing everyone in absolute fear, like they would be executed on the spot by the most painful death imaginable.
"Son. Your aura," she stated, snapping her son's rage back to reality and quickly ceasing the flow.
"Apologies." He ceased his aura while calming everyone. "Now that is settled. Watts, are we ahead of schedule?" The meeting continued while Jaune stayed quiet and learned about his mother's subordinates.
The older man named Arthur Watts seemed to be a scholar, in which field he was unsure. But if he had to guess, it had to be about these small square plates of metal that Mother called technology. Next was a rare scorpion fauna named Tyrian Callows, and already by looking at him, he could tell he was mad but sane to worship Mother as a goddess. Just seeing his build and his way of dress, especially using his scorpion tail to hide as a belt, the Faunus seemed to be his mother's new assassin. Then followed by a large man, which Jaune believed was called Hazel Rainart, and g by the looks of his arms covered in scars, he doesn't use a weapon, or instead, he is a weapon.
And finally, the one that deeply disturbed him Cinder Fall. From what he gathered, Watts and Tyrian didn't see Cinder eye to eye in their heated discussions. From what he could tell, she must be the newest member of his mother's inner circle. What disturbed him was when mother brought up the subject of the four maidens and asked Cinder about the Fall Maiden. He was under the impression that Mother ordered her to recruit the Fall Maiden, but instead, she not only killed but also stole her powers.
When Cinder confessed, she only managed to steal half of the Fall Maiden's power thanks to a particular parasite Grimm Mother created. It was designed to feed and transfer the Maiden's power to Cinder. It was only time for the Fall Maiden to die and Cinder to become the Fall Maiden.
With everything discussed, the subordinates paid their respects and left, except for Watts. With them gone and only the three remainings, Watts asked,
"Are you in need of my assistance?"
"Yes, Watts, before the meeting, my son made a strong argument that he needs to be re-educated," Salem stated.
"Re-educated?" he repeated, crooking an eyebrow.
"As you may already know, my son was frozen for a thousand years. The Remnant he knows no longer exists. My son even asked me: what is a scroll?"
"As embarrassing as it may be, I requested Mother for one of her subordinates to educate me on the Remnant today. And she speaks highly of you, Dr Watts. Of your vast knowledge of Remnant and expertise of your field."
Upon hearing this, Watts felt honoured and surprised to hear it from the Prince. He thought the Prince would be like Cinder, spoiled, hard-headed and even painful to deal with, but his Prince's mannerisms, body language and way of thinking were that of a respected noble. That was rarely seen these days in Remnant. Though when he thought about it, if the Prince was sent to the field to work with Cinder, there was a high chance she'd get him killed and make it look like an accident or an eventuality to help her plans due to his Prince's lack of knowledge.
Upon seeing this development, Watts bowed his head towards his Queen and Prince.
"It would be an honour, my Prince. Should we begin immediately?"
"I'm starting to like this one, Mother. I see why you highly suggest him." Jaune smiled while Watts felt honoured to be praised by his Queen and Prince. Is this what Tyrian felt like?
"Very well, Watts, my son is under your care," she ordered and turned to her son. "Jaune, learn well from Watts and get acquainted. After all, you'll be working together in the future."
"Of course, Mother. If you'll excuse us." He respectfully bowed to his mother, left her side, and stopped by Watts.
"Dr Watts, lead the way to the study if you please. It's been a thousand years, and I'm still learning my way around the new tower." He smiled.
"Of course, my Prince. Please, this way." He bowed with his arm, gently directing him out of the war room.
Arthur took the lead in front of his Prince, escorting him to the study. A moment of silence filled the air till Jaune coughed into his hand to start a conversation. To Watts' surprise, it wasn't a conversation he expected.
"Dr Watts, can you tell me more about this Cinder woman my mother trusts so much?"
"Cinder?" He looked over his shoulder, crooking his eyebrows to the heir, till he remembered that the Prince was a young man. Though he might be a thousand years old due to his cryo-sleep, he was still a young man who needed a woman's touch.
"Well, my Prince, to be perfectly honest, Cinder is beautiful for her age. That man would pay to have a-"
His Prince interrupts him in a callous tone, "I'm not asking if she's a potential candidate to be part of my "concubine". I am asking as an individual, her past, her strength, her weaknesses and her true goal."
"Oh..." That was what his Prince meant. He read the room terribly. Then again, this piqued his interest. He didn't see Cinder like all young men would in his situation.
"Very well, my Prince...Cinder is a skilled fighter, trained very well in both the swords and bow arts. As well the use of her Maiden powers." Then he noticed his Prince's hand clenched tightly. Thanks to his doctrine of Psychology, he could already tell that talking about the Maiden's power was a sensitive subject to his Prince. If he remembered the old text he read, his Prince and his brother swore an oath to protect and love his four sisters, the original four Maidens but failed. He quickly continued his analysis of Cinder before his Prince could rage.
"She also has the tanas of strategic battle, and I regret to say, intelligence that almost rivals my own." He sighed in annoyance.
"And judging from your behaviour back at the war room, you and Cinder don't get along too well, do you?" His Prince voiced his output, freezing Watts for him to see such behaviour in front of his Prince, especially first impressions. His Prince walked past, took notice, and smiled at Watts.
"Don't fret over it, Doctor. If it makes you feel better, I don't trust Cinder. Even if she has my mother's favour. What else can you tell me about Cinder?" Watts gave some thought as he stroked his chin.
"She possesses a unique semblance called scorching caress. Able to superheat and manipulate the object's shape. I picked a little from her childhood that she's been sold, mistreated and overworked at a young age by her step-family in Mistral." His Prince paused for a moment and gave some thought.
"Hmm...seems she's unstable but easy to manipulate if given the right tools," His Prince said with a smile, which took Watts by surprise. He smiled, glad to finally have an ally with intelligence and audacity, much like his Queen. Then again, he was her son. Compared to his so-called "allies", Hazel was calm and collected, headstrong and honour-bound. Tyrian was crazy, and Cinder was naive and greedy for power. But the curiosity of his Prince demanded him of such information on Cinder specifically. Was he interested in her and put up an act to despise her, or did he genuinely hate her?
"My Prince, if I may be so bold, may I ask why such an interest with Cinder?" he asked, stopping the Prince in his tracks, who turned to Watts, pondering for an answer.
"Food for thought. Now come, I'm eager to know the changes of Remnant." They continued heading towards the study as Watts smiled and followed. Unbeknownst to him, a figure peeked out of the corner, watching and listening to them in the distance and following them to the study. That figure was Emerald, a young woman with medium-brown skin and dark-red eyes. Her hair was light, mint-green with a straight fringe and two long locks on each side in the back. She had been following them under order by Cinder.
Minutes after the meeting, they returned to Cinder's room to discuss their side of the plan. As soon as they made it back, Cinder's team broke down. As soon as Mercury closed the door, he fell to his knees with his hand still grasping the door handle.
He gasped deeply like he had held his breath for the entire meeting. Fear overwhelmed Mercury, suffocating him with the Grimm Knight's presence. With the amount of killing intent, it felt like the Grimm Knight was pointing his sword directly at his throat, and any sudden movement would be the end of him. Emerald was in the same boat as Mercury. Her hands were still shaking, and just thinking of the Grimm Knight scared her, as she was on her knees too.
Cinder, meanwhile, knew how to keep her emotions in check, as she remained firm to her subordinates but understood their situation. If she was honest, she was never comfortable during the meeting, besides the annoyance for her allies. No, it was coming from the stares of the Grimm Knight, of a predator, and no, they weren't the eyes of lust for her, but prey to kill. She was afraid of the Grimm Knight, but for some reason, why was she thrilled seeing him?
She shook her head and turned to her subordinates, and they noticed Cinder's determined stare.
"You know the plan. Let's get to work," Cinder ordered, snapping them back into reality, calming down and standing in front of her.
"Mercury, contact Roman for an update on his progress and find accommodation for us in Vale while I deal with Adam and the White Fang." She turned her attention to looking out of the windows.
"Wait? What's Emerald going to do?" he asked, a bit annoyed as she got to do nothing. Cinder turned around and faced the group with surprised expressions on their face, but she ignored it.
"Emerald will be given a difficult task. Since we have a new ally, who happens to be the Queen's heir. We have nothing on him except legends that may or may not be true. So, my dear Emerald here will be spying on the Grimm Knight. Any questions?" While their expression was grim, they knew they couldn't argue with Cinder, but Emerald stepped forward.
"I have a question, Ma'am. A-are you okay?" she stuttered at the end, hesitating.
"What kind of question is that Emerald?" Cinder crooked a brow towards her.
"Well, it's just...you're crying, Cinder." Mercury pointed it out as she placed her hand against her face and felt tears flowing down her cheeks.
Why was she crying? Wait! More importantly, why was she thinking of the Grimm Knight and relieved to see him!? What's happening to her!? She began to panic and become confused, close to her breaking point, then immediately noticed her team showed concern for her. She couldn't let them see her break down even further and snapped at them.
"Why are you still standing around!? I gave you your orders! Go!" she shouted, startling her team.
"Y-yes, ma'am!" Emerald replied and rushed out of the door, with Mercury following suit. As soon as they left with the door slammed shut, Cinder fell to her knees and cried for the Grimm Knight. Unknown to her, she wasn't crying for the Grimm Knight. It's what she held deep within, her powers of the Fall Maiden, tears of joy and love for her older brother to return. Even after a thousand years, the bond between siblings stayed strong till now, and it was not only Cinder who was affected.
In the depths of Beacon Academy stood the headmaster, a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and light brown eyes. He had a pale complexion and sharp facial features.
He wore shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. Wearing a black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black trousers, shoes and long, dark-green pants. In addition to his cane, on the one hand, he carried a mug in the other, bearing the Beacon Academy emblem as he took a sip and sighed in regret, thinking this could've been avoided.
He stood before a comatose young woman, fighting for her life inside a machine keeping her alive. The one he failed to protect and regretted saving, the Fall Maiden Amber. Just as he sighed and was about to leave, an anomaly happened, specifically on Amber's face. Ozpin glanced curiously at the Maiden and saw a lone tear flow down her face.
"I wonder, what are you dreaming, dear Amber? Or should I say, my dear daughter…"
Omake: sneak peek
The eventful days of Team RWBY and their sister team, team JPNR have been an eventful year for the young teens. Well... primarily for team RWBY. The white fang in the docks, the food fight and now their recent achievement, the breach of Vale.
Now the eight teens are nursing their wounds and returning to their everyday life. But this story does not revolve around the destiny of Team RWBY or team JPNR. Well, maybe expect a certain Blonde of team JPNR, and this is where the story begins of a certain Blonde finally building up the courage to confess the love of his life and ask her to go out with him to the Beacon Dance. A white flower at hand, he searches and finds her, only to see her talking to another man, asking him to go to the dance with her.
At that moment, he would've been mad and crushed, but instead, he smiles for her knowing she is better off with the man she likes than him. Dropping the flower and leaving without a word, not wanting to ruin their moment, and decided to have a night stroll. The cold air and isolation would help clear his mind off things…however…
"He's been gone for five hours. It's almost curfew." Pyrrha worries while Ren and Nora watch her pace back and forth across the room.
"He probably did it." Nora chimes excitedly.
"Or maybe he didn't…." Ren worries and maybe make it worse for Pyrrha as the pace increases speed, and he quickly tries to calm the situation before it worsens.
"Have you tried calling his scroll?" he asks
"I did, but his scroll is disconnected. He probably turned it off."
"How about we check on team RWBY? Maybe he's with them?" Nora suggested as Ren facepalmed to himself and could already predict Pyrrha's emotional state. Peeking through his fingers, his guess was right on the money. Nora couldn't see it cause Pyrrha was smiling and not noticing the floating metal stationery and equipment around her, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
"Good idea, Nora." As the metal station equipment floated around, Pyrrha fell and headed to the door.
"We'll come too!" Ren calls out, fearing that this may not end well and follows Pyrrha.
But as soon they opened the door and left their dorm, they all found themselves in a black void, screaming in fright to suddenly fall unprepared. It didn't take long to land, with Ren softening the landing for the two girls, even though he was the first to land with them on top of him.
"Ow…" Ren groans.
"Ren! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha panicked and quickly got up while Nora helped him up.
It's okay. Where are we?"" Ren asks while looking at his surroundings but only sees black as far as he can see.
"Don't know, but at least this couldn't get any worse, right?"" Nora said as Ren facepalm to himself with a groan.
""Nora, you shouldn't tempt fate like that.""
""Why?""
By the time Ren could explain, the three members heard screaming above. As they looked up, they saw their sister team, team RWBY, falling and landing right on top of them, with Ren again at the bottom of the pile.
""Yang! Get off of me! You weigh a ton!"" Wiess shouts
""Stop pushing me! Ow!"" Yang retort
""Okay, guys, it's hard enough t-! Who did that!?"" Blake called out as she felt a hand; she wasn't the only one.
"Okay, whose hand was that? Was that you, Yang!?" Wiess calls out
"I can't…. breath…." Ruby begs as she struggles to move, considering being crushed with her team on top of her.
With the scuffling over and done with, the seven discuss and review their situation.
"How did you guys get here?" Ruby asks
"We were going to see guys. Then as soon we opened our door, we all landed here."
Nora replied while both Pyrrha and Ren looked for a way out.
"Same as us. We heard you guys screaming and rushed over to check on you." Yang replies
"Argh! I don't have a signal! Blake, any luck on your end?" Wiess groans as she waves her scroll in the air for some reception to call for help and turns to Blake.
"No…Even my scroll can't show where we are on the map."
"Guys! I think I found a lever!" Ren shouts
"Well, then pull it!?" Wiess shouts
"Wait!? It could be a trap!" Pyrrha shouts, stopping Ren
"She's right. Everyone gets ready for anything." Ruby replies and nods to Ren to pull the switch, but as soon he pulls the lever, the sounds of electricity buzzing in the air as the seven teens look up, following the sound.
Then suddenly, a large flash of light blinded them, shielding their eyes from the harsh spotlight as more lights echoed that a dark void. Now illuminating a large area slowly, one by one, the students slowly lower their arms to see what they stumble into. Most of them are baffled, while Wiess is confused as she knows where there are. Unsurprisingly, she finds herself and her friends standing on a Proscenium stage in front of rows of red leather seats.
"Are we in a theatre?" Blake asks
"Not a theatre that I've been to, but I don't mind watching a movie." Ruby came relatively calm despite the situation, but Wiess was slightly offended by that comment. She prides herself on the stage and will be dammed to be compared to a movie theatre.
"Umm, guys…are we not going to point out someone is staring at us over there?" Nora points as the others follow the direction. They see a man in the centre of the rows of chairs with a slick undercut back and faded platinum blonde hair, wearing a spilt theatre mask, with a comedy face covering his left and tragedy on his right side. He slouches on his chair with his legs raised on the row of seats in front of him with his left arm spread across the chair, silently waving his purple glove hand to the students.
"Okay, is everyone getting a creepy vibe out of him or is it just me?" Yang asks, slightly concerned with a hint of fear.
"It's not just you, Yang," Pyrrha confirms in a ready stance for a fight.
"Hey, let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe he is a nice guy." Ruby state while still eyeing the masked man.
"I don't know, Ruby. Just because he didn't attack us doesn't mean we can trust him." Blake cautions.
"Let's try talking to him before-" by the time Ren finishes, Wiess, walks to the edge of the stage and points to the masked man.
"You!"
"That…"
"Who are you, and where have you taken us!?" she demands
"Dammit, Wiess…." Ruby groans as they watch the man slowly stood up from his chair. Seeing him wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a diamond pattern checkered vest of purple and white color in golden liners bordering the shape. On the left shoulder of his vest has a silver emblem of theatre masks more detailed than his mask. Back-to-back with gears behind it, a smoking effect coming from the comedy side's mouth and the crying side's eyes.
He raises his hands and gently tugs his purple glove on his right hand, preventing it from slipping, and the same on the white glove on his left hand. He patted himself to straighten his wear to look more presentable. After a final inspection of his form, he snaps his fingers and disappears, leaving behind a molt of diamond shape lights, surprising the teens.
"W-where did he go?" Wiess fright
"a teleportation Semblance?" Ren deduces.
"Get ready. He could appear at any moment." Ruby ordered using her status as team leader to get control of her team and the rest of team JPNR. The students searched, but to no avail. The more they look, the more suspense build of a surprise attack as they slowly back up together, forming a circle covering every corner.
"Real smooth Ice Queen", Nora states
"Wh-How is this my fault!?" Wiess retort
"Oh, I don't know. How about maybe you should work on your approach." Yang says sarcastically.
"What!?"
"I hate to admit it. But Yang has a point, Wiess. You could've taken it a gentle approach." Blake states, agreeing with Yang.
"Are they always like this?" Pyrrha whispers to Ruby as she regrettably nods to Pyrrha.
"And here I thought our team are the volatile ones." Nora smiles
"Nora, that's just you," Ren replies with a deadpan expression.
"Aww, Your no fun, Renny." Nora pouts.
"Guys, focus. We don't know where that guy will appear." Ruby urged
"What are you talking about? He's up there drinking tea." Nora points above the group seeing the formal dress man floating in midair sitting on a chair with his legs crossed over while sipping his tea loudly with a small saucer and cup through his mask.
They stare in disbelief and shock at what they're seeing while the stranger continues sipping his tea very loudly while staring back at the teens. With a click of his tongue and a gasp of refreshing relief, he set the cup back to its saucer and placed it aside in midair, never leaving the student out of sight. He leans his elbows on his knees with his chin resting on his hand.
"Nora, how long did you notice he was there?" Ren asks.
"Hmm? Oh, he appeared as soon he disappeared." She replies innocently while the group deadpan stares at her.
"You mean to tell me you knew where he was and didn't say anything?" Weiss argues.
"Hey, he didn't do anything but drink tea. And he seems harmless," Nora retorts
"Well, he's here. Now what?" Blake asks
"Maybe we could talk to him?" Ruby suggests
"Good idea, sis, go for it." Yang smiled while gently pushing Ruby forward.
"What!? Why me!?" she argues
"Weiss would probably scare him away again," Yang states that Weiss finds offensive.
"Hey!"
"Plus, it's also your idea. So, get to it." Nora smiles with a playful shove. Ruby towards the masked man, almost losing her footing and gaining the masked man's attention.
There was an awkward pause between the two, waiting for one or the other to start the conversation. The masked man leans forward in Ruby's direction while Ruby internally cries and curses for her social anxiety.
'Of all people, why me!? Me and my big mouth! Quick I got to say something to look cool and awesome in front of everyone and maybe make a good impression, unlike Weiss.'
"Um...hi!" she greets as the masked man crocks his head to the side towards Ruby, startling her a bit.
"I'm Ruby Rose. Um...leader of team RWBY and huntress-in-training of Beacon Academy. What's your name?" she pulls out her hand as a sign of the handshake, immediately second-guessing if this is the best approach.
The masked man stood tall, now seeing him whole, wearing formal dress pants and shoes with loops of chains, three on each side, dangling on the sides of his hips. He began walking down towards Ruby like a flight of stairs, yet he stood on nothing but air. He stood before Ruby as she looked up at the masked man, and she had to admit he was much taller than her uncle, at least a foot taller. He took her hand with a gentle shake, then lowered his head, raised her hand, and gave her a peck in a gentleman-like manner. Even though a mask pecked her hand, she couldn't help but blush at such interaction. Then finally, the masked man spoke.
"Greetings, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Balladonia, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nicos and Wiess Schnee. I welcome you to my home." He bows to the Huntsman-in-training
"Though I apologize, I have no knowledge of how you came to my home. For that, I am sorry." His mannerisms are genuine and honest. It almost made the students feel bad for the masked man for apologizing for something he had no control over in their circumstances. It didn't sway Wiess. Her patient is running thin, bothered being taken against her will, even if it was an accident. It's not like she vents her frustration to people cause of rejection or to see a true gentleman before her and wish for a confident blue-haired man to be like him instead of flat-out rejecting her confession.
"You still didn't tell us your name!?" she demands while the others deadpan stare at the heiress staring at her.
"Seriously..." Yang groans as Blake facepalms
"Oh yes, I apologize...my name is...hmm...what is my name?" he pauses as he cups his chin in deep thought, then notices his guest in concern.
"Wait, you don't know your name?" Pyrrha asks, concerned.
"Hmm? Oh, no, no. You misunderstand. Due to my position, I've been given many names. Some are too long or difficult to pronounce from the language it originates in and die along with it. That would be a dead language. Or Names that are forgotten time, that people have even forgotten my existence. But that doesn't bother me." Without the mask, the Huntsman-in-training can tell the man is smiling behind the mask, not bothered by the circumstances of his identity. But the students couldn't help but be saddened by such a life to have many names or something to hold of one's personal identity. Especially being forgotten.
The masked man could sense the student's concern for him as he felt flattered by their gesture and tried to ease their minds.
"However, my recent name starts with the letter I. However, the original language is over a thousand years old and died with it. So, it would be impossible for you to either remember or pronounce it. But don't feel bad on my behalf. If anything, it grants me an opportunity for a name. And I can use a method I recently learned that would help raise your spirits."
"So, therefore, you may call me Izzy. Cause it's 'Izzy' to remember." He bows to his guest again.
"Wait..." Ruby pause
"Did he just..." Ren follows.
"Made a pun?" Pyrrha questions
"Not another one..." Blake groans
"Ones enough as it already is." Wiess facepalm.
"Pfft...hahaha!" Yang bellowed in deep laughter, followed by Nora.
"I see that work perfectly." The now masked man name Izzy raises then slowly predates around the students herding them to the center of the stage.
"Now, to give you further details of where you are exactly. I will be direct with you as it will be difficult to explain. You are no longer in Remnant." Shocking the students of wide eye staring at Izzy as he continues predates the teens.
"Now, before you become callous. Let me be clear that I did not kidnap you. As I said earlier, I did not know how you got to my domain, as I'm more confused than you are. If anything, this shouldn't have happened in your timeline, let alone in your prime universe. None of you has the power to travel time and space as my domain is separate from time and space itself." Izzy explains
"Wait, universe? Separate from time and space? You make it sound like one of those sci-fi fiction novels." Blake interrupts, confused, stopping Izzy before them with a slight chuckle.
"I don't blame you. Usually, mortals never believe a word I say about the Multiverse. Especially when it comes to the role of my domain. But if you wish for proof..." he pauses and raises his hand and snaps his fingers, and immediately the theatre disappears into the black void and changes to another world where they look below and see Vale, but sometimes it's not the Vale they recognize.
"Who-what is this?" Wiess stutters, losing her balance and falling to her knees, almost believing she is about to fall. But she wasn't the one. Most of the group did as well till they realized they were still standing.
"Wait, is that Vale?" Yang asks, surprised to see the city much more prominent than she remembers seeing giant city skyscrapers and buildings across the area.
"Wow! I've never seen those tall buildings before!? They might be even taller than Beacon tower." Nora awe with Ruby.
"It's beautiful...even more than Atlas" Wiess was too awe at the sight once she had her bearings.
While the others are distracted, Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren notice a crucial aspect missing in Vale.
"What happens to the walls of Vale to protect them from the Grimm?" Ren asks, noticing there are no walls on the very edge of the city. Which caught the others' attention, and they stared in the direction Ren was looking.
He's right. The walls are missing. What's protecting Vale from the Grimm?"" Pyrrha turns to Izzy for answers with his hands behind his back.
""Oh, that's easy. In this reality, Grimm and Dust never existed."" He states calmly while shocking the Huntsman-in-training.
""The Grimm and dust never existed...?"" Wiess repeats in shock and quickly turns back to the world to see his lying.
""That's right." He snaps his fingers as the scene changes. On the ground seeing the bright and bustling city up close and personal among the people. They couldn't help but be in awe, seeing the city up close to the skyscraping buildings before them. The people are calm and happy without a tinge of fear if their minds. While they were in awe of the city, Blake couldn't help but notice a human and Faunus couple with their cat ear child sitting happily on their father's shoulder. Without the people batting an eye or sneering at the couple, but instead greeted with smiles. Compared to their Remnant, Faunus are frowned upon, especially married ones between humans and Faunus. Blake was still in awe of the couple till the child noticed Blake staring and waving at her, surprising the cat Faunus and awkwardly waving back till she heard Izzy continue speaking.
"With dust never existing, humanity and Faunus evolve to new heights of agriculture and technology. And without Grimm, huntsman and huntress were never needed."
"This is a utopia, Remnant, the reality of peace and light. Sadly, your reality will never achieve this goal while the Grimm and Dust exist. While this reality shines bright, a shadow is cast of another reality out of sync." Izzy waves his hand over a giant veil of shadow that appears in the distance. They see it but not the city's people, oblivious of the cover of shadow coming closer to Vale like a sandstorm. Izzy didn't move as the vail came charging fast. The students didn't have enough time to call the city's citizens to find shelter. The veil consumes them all, raising their arms to shield their eyes, like in the middle of a violent storm with Ren shielding Nora and hugging her tightly.
As the storm finally calms down, they slowly lower their arms to see what happened, only to gasp with wide eyes of shock. The utopia changes into a different reality. The once shining fair city is now ruined, with the ground soiled beyond return. Even the buds beneath the earth cannot sprout life; buildings now crumble and decay. Not a spec of life was found. Even the sky is blanketed with clouds of dark smog, with pools scattered in the city.
Curiosity got the best of the silver eye reaper and walked away from the party for a far distance to investigate the tar substances while her friends were still shocked by the dark world before them. Just about a foot from the tar, a giant claw reaches out and tries to grab hold of the young reaper. She screams in fright and quickly jumps back to avoid its grasp.
Everyone turns to the screams and notices Ruby is missing. Their hearts sink, dread consuming them for the worse. Without notice or hesitation, they promptly rush over to save her.
The claw arm pulls itself out of the pool to reveal a Beowulf. It roars to Ruby as she falls in fright, trying to back away, but only for it to grab hold of her cape and pull her in with its sharp claws tearing and pulling through Ruby's cloak.
"Yang!" she cries, trying to pull away, but only her cloak tear even more. Tears flow down her face to see the last thing her mother gave her destroyed before her while closing into the jaws of death. She tried to activate her semblance to escape the Grimm but couldn't feel her aura flowing through her; she wasn't the only one.
"Ruby!" Yang cries out, reaching out for her sister, with memories relapsing of the time in the shed and this time, her Uncle Qrow won't be there to save them. With this amount of stress and anger toward herself, her hair wasn't glowing, nor did her eyes turn red. She could've used her semblance to boost her speed and reach her sister in seconds.
"Ruby!" Wiess shouts. Cursing herself why she couldn't feel her aura, let alone use her glyphs to increase her speed or slow/prevent the Grimm's movement of attacking Ruby or fire an ice shard to kill the Grimm from her distance, then realized she didn't bring her weapon with her. Now that Wiess thinks about it, the heiress didn't feel her aura active when they arrived at Izzy's theatre. She looks over her shoulder to see Izzy simply strolling at a walking pace, with his arms on his back, without care or haven't realized the gravity of the situation. 'I knew he could never be trusted.'
"No!" Blake cursed herself for saving her friend.
With the maw of death roaring, hungry teeth salivating and fear seeping deep into Ruby's soul. After all these years of training to be a huntress just like her mother, she's afraid. With the maws poise to strike for her life, she can only brace herself and cry in fear.
"SOMEONE! ANYONE! SAVE ME!"
AN: CLIFFHANGER! Would this be the end of Ruby? Or would this be a beginning of a new story? Find out next time.
Chapter update and new fanfic I'm working on. As you can already guess, this fanfic is another multi-reality viewing session. Focusing on a certain knight. Haven't thought of a good title for it. But if you have a suggestion, please shout it out in the reviews. Of course, I give credit to the title.