The first is the complete safety of the main characters before certain events, which must defeat the main evil on their own. Quite an obvious thought, isn't it? The problem was that it was necessary to identify ALL the main characters that influence the history of this world. I did it after spending enough time.
The first character on the list is Pyrrha Nikos, my partner in the distant past, as well as an unsuccessful vessel for Virgo's power. She must die. If she stays alive, she will affect too many events negatively, giving imaginary hope to others. This could not be allowed to happen. I wanted to save her, God, I wanted and want to save everyone. I've spent hundreds of years on this, my unsuccessful attempts to save everyone... they turned out to be completely unacceptable. It was easier to come to terms with it now, Pyrrha had been my best friend for many years, every time I returned to her, trying to save her. Now, I just needed to... Let her go. But I'm ready. This hell has to end.
The second is Ruby Rose. This girl... The whole world revolves around her. The only owner of silver eyes, the future savior of the world and much more. She'll survive anyway, even when I tried to kill her with my own hands. The world, Fate, Time, everyone was on her side, and I could only accept her as a savior.
The third is Ozpin. Despite the game between him and Salem, he still remains a very important element in all cycles because of his own actions in the past, present and future. His decisions are repeated invariably, because of his own self-confidence. He is always sure that all his plans are impossible to unravel, and I am inclined to agree with this, in order to understand them, you need to own the power of time. Well... or the ability to read minds.
Three main characters, the rest are just the background, but the problem with this point is that all the others are also needed up to a certain point. For example, it is impossible for Blake to change her mind about going to the docks with San, this will destroy the whole chain of future events, they MUST be there, just as her team MUST come to their aid. And in no case should Ruby decide to ignore Synder at the ball. It only happened once, when I invited her to a dance out of boredom, after which Pyrrha died fifteen minutes later, and I rolled back. In general, the point is clear.
The second condition is that you cannot change the world.
I understood why each cycle changed small details. And it wasn't about the time loop, it was about me. I have always used my power, in case of any danger or minor household problem, it was in my subconscious. And it was my actions that changed the world, it adjusted to a different flow of time, which I constantly changed. Now, everything should go as it was. And, following from this condition, the third one logically fits.
A complete rejection of the power of Time. I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT use it, I can only use my own physical training and Aura. Nothing more. This condition is the most difficult. It is difficult to give up the power that you have been with for hundreds of years or even thousands of years. And I needed to prepare for my last, winning attempt.
I planned my whole way to victory. Starting from childhood and ending with the journey to the Atlas. As I said, I knew everything about the future and I knew what Ruby would do after the fall of Beacon. But what happens after that? The end of the world. Any future ended with the demise of the planet. How? I do not know that. As soon as I switch to that time, I immediately roll back to the next cycle. Why? Time doesn't want me to get there and see something. Apparently, this future is available to only one being on the entire planet.
The end of the world... on what attempt did I see him? A hundredth? No, two hundred and thirty-one. I made this attempt in my head as soon as I saw the end of everything. This attempt was perhaps the most successful. I used the power of Time minimally and we were able to get all the way to Atlas, while saving Haven. Only the victory was not long. A sudden flash in the sky, and then a rollback. The next time I stopped the time when the flash appeared, so that everything could be properly examined.
I thought it was Salem magic or maybe some new weapon. But no. The end of the world happened due to a time gap. He appears on the roof of Haven Academy, and then destroys everything. Makes the whole world disintegrate into atoms. This... It hurts a lot. The worst death of all. It's better to die from a blade in the throat or a bullet in the head than from this.
However, how can we avoid the end of the world? Destroy the temporary anomaly. And who is the anomaly? Of course I am. But then the question arises, as soon as I die, the world will not die because of the end of the world, but at the same time restart. It turns out that the loop can't be broken only by me, there needs to be another element. The main pattern.
I need Ruby. A silver-eyed Warrior that can destroy a grimm with a single glance and that is the main element. The beginning and the end of everything. How exactly is it supposed to work? It's simple enough-she has to kill me with her own eyes. How to do this and how to persuade her is an open question. I can't be her enemy, because I can't change the course of events and time, which means I won't see hatred in her eyes.
Three hundred and sixteenth attempt. From the moment I discovered the patterns, I started keeping score. It was in this attempt that I was able to somehow persuade Ruby. I don't know how I did it, what kind of words worked, but she said with tears in her eyes, "I love you..." At the moment of the flash of her eyes, I couldn't stand it. I stopped time. He walked up to her, stroked her cheek, tracing the trail of tears with his finger.
I didn't know what to do. Ruby... My little Ruby. She was always there for me. In the most difficult moments, when I was completely broken and devastated, it was she who came to me. We chatted for hours about everything in the world. Her sweet, happy and simple smile gave me hope. I was ready to do anything to end this cycle, grant everyone freedom and finally end this war. No.
I wanted to be free. After hundreds of attempts, I didn't give a damn about the others. I just wanted to die. Stop being a toy in the hands of Time. Everyone avoided me, hated me, ignored me. And I thought they were simple... meat. Literally. Walking pieces of meat. I knew all their habits, I knew their characters, I knew their future actions... They have become nothing more than empty shells for me. They react the same way, they think the same way... Nothing new.
Ruby was the same. The first time. And then they started... oddities. It was as if she was stuck in a similar loop herself. She often said interesting things about the past as well as the present. Such topics were rarely raised, but we chatted about them for a long time. I became interested in this. Was I not alone? But everything was clear. No matter how much I tried to hint at cycles, at the future, she didn't understand what was going on at all. As if... There were several Rubies. One is Ruby, who understands the situation and sometimes says something about it, and the other completely denies everything, not understanding anything at all.
I've been puzzling over this for a long time, even throwing tantrums. Yes, it has happened in my hard life. However, I was more interested in Ruby than I should have been. I fell in love with her in every cycle. It was another curse of mine, as soon as I saw her, I couldn't stop. And after realizing the patterns... things have become much more complicated. It took all my strength to ask her to kill me.
Perhaps it was my love for Ruby that gave me the strength, the belief that this nightmare could still be over. When I gave up, Ruby looked like an innocent angel, which is encouraging. Whether it happened on purpose or by accident, it didn't matter. I've already gotten used to the idea that I'm being controlled. I couldn't free myself, but I decided that I would at least free her. All the people on the planet are locked up with me.
So I came to the idea that I would give myself up, for everyone's sake. It was with Ruby's help that I came up with a similar idea. And now, standing next to her, looking at her usually sweet and happy face, I saw only frozen horror, fear and terrible pain. Is there really no other choice? Is there really only one way out? I was ready to die as soon as I went according to my plan. But her words turned everything around. Again.
Time has gone back. After the flash, there was nothing in the place where I was standing. Completely. With her strength, she destroyed a part of the roof that had fallen. And now, Ruby fell to her knees and stared at one point, and tears poured from her eyes with incredible force.
You can die the next time. This world doesn't have much time left anyway. Five minutes at most.
"Ruby," I whispered, sitting down and hugging this little bundle of happiness to me. The girl froze. Slowly turning her head, she stared at my face. - I love you too.
Love... not salvation. This is just another curse. I know the whole truth of this world. I know all the goals, I know how to get out of the loop. But to do this... I won't do it yet. I'll enjoy the time I have a little. I'll try to make Ruby happy for all the time I have.
I leaned forward towards the girl, forcing our lips to connect. A second later, there was a flash. I died.