Yo!

A day later but the next chapter of Grimm's Evolution is here. I also got small news for ya all so please read the AN below the chapter.

For now enjoy!

Chapter 33. Truths

"Mom!" The two girls screamed again and, within a blink of an eye, rushed towards the older woman, glomping her in a tight embrace. Summer instantly hugged the duo back, quiet sobs filling the room.

"My little girls," the mother muttered as more and more tears fell from her eyes. "I'm so, so very sorry."

A smile pulled on my lips as I watched the heartwarming scene. Really, even if I didn't have any other reason to come here, this right here made it all worth. Though, seeing how Ruby and Yang changed from the old canon also proved how different this world was.

Fucking butterfly effect.

I still had no idea how the disappearance of two parents affected their personalities, but it definitely changed their appearance, at least to some degree. For one, Ruby's hair now easily went down to her shoulders, while her clothes looked more similar to what she wore in the latest volume trailer I had seen before I died.

Gotta say, this is definitely an improvement. And she still has her coat... Makes me wonder whose last name she has. I mused, glancing at the second girl.

Yang, it seemed, chose to alter her wardrobe a bit more than her sister. In volume one of canon, she loved to show off her body as much as she could, but that wasn't the case any longer. Now, everything aside from her arms and head was covered with clothes similar to the ones she wore in Mistral, only in a bit darker colors.

Still fits, but I can only guess where this change came from. I sighed, finally averting my eyes from the reunion.

Instead, I turned towards Qrow, who, to no one's surprise, looked just the same as he did in canon. Though his clothes seem to be in a better shape. Good for you.

"Summer..." The older man whispered, the initial shock leaving his body. "It can't be..."

The woman raised her head from where it was nestled between her daughters. "It's me, Qrow," she offered her friend a sad smile while tightening her hold on the girls. "It's really me. I'm sorry you all had to wait for so long."

For a moment, the Branwen didn't seem to know how to react. But then, he slowly moved towards the trio and enveloped them all in an embrace. I could even swear I saw a few tears leaking from his eyes.

Alright, as nice as it is, I'm getting a bit uncomfortable. Not that anyone else shared my feelings. Ozpin and Glynda appeared happy to just watch the reunion. Oh well, guess we'll be here for a while... Got anything for me, System?

[I can give you the quest completion if you want. You already know the year. It's only a matter of minutes before they tell you the rest.]

I shrugged. Sure, why not?

[Mission Completed.]

The current timeline is now known to you. Can you handle the changes, or will you get swept by them?

Rewards: 2x Random Stat Crystals, 5 EP, 5k EXP

Thanks. Can you activate the crystals from my inventory? No reason to wait. I asked, and a second later, another notification appeared in front of my eyes.

You have absorbed the following number of attributes: +5 DEX, +5 INT.

Nice. Anything else?

[No. Maybe try interacting with your fellow humans for once instead of talking to the voice in your head.]

I frowned, ready to fire back at the System. However, before I could do that, Ozpin spoke up. "Summer, Qrow. Why don't you take the girls to the dorms? Glynda will show you to an empty room where you can rest. We can talk tomorrow."

Qrow cleared his throat awkwardly as he stepped away from Summer and the two daughters still clinging to her. "Right, good idea, Oz," he looked at Goodwitch, who was giving Ozpin a pointed stare. "Blondie?"

The woman hesitated for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Follow me."

The Branwen stepped into the lift right after Glynda, but the small family needed a bit more time for that. "Come on, girls," Summer cooed. "I'm not going anywhere without you. We can talk and cuddle all night if you want."

Yang and Ruby didn't respond but still followed their mother, their hands still tightly grasping her arms. Finally, the elevator's door snapped shut, leaving only me and Ozpin in the vast office.

"Well," I turned to the headmaster, quirking an eyebrow. "I guess you have questions, Ozpin," I smirked. "Or should I call you Ozma?"

The ancient man tensed, his hand going for his walking stick. I knew it was brave or maybe even stupid of me to call him out like that, but if I wanted information, some secrets would have to be revealed. A working relationship between the two of us could go a long way to stopping most canon from ever occurring.

Nothing about the System, though.

"You know," the headmaster stated, narrowing his eyes. "Summer?"

I chuckled. "No. She doesn't know half of what I do. Neither does anyone in your secret circle. You really keep your secrets close, Ozpin. So much for uniting humanity, hmm?"

If the other man was tense before, he turned almost outright hostile now. "Who are you?" He growled. "If Salem sent..."

"Yeah, no," I raised my hand, cutting him off. "I'm under no one's command. And even if I was, I would never serve the immortal witch."

Ozpin's eyes widened at the way I twisted my words. This was, after all, one of the secrets he held the closest to his chest. It was this truth that made everything go to hell and caused everyone to doubt themselves. If only he had prepared his people better. If only he had asked the right questions...

"How do I destroy Salem?" I mocked, and Ozpin's weapon clattered to the ground. "There were so many better questions you could have asked... Can Salem be defeated? Can anyone kill her? Is it even possible to win against her? But no..."

"I..." The ancient man gulped, his shoulders dropping lower with every word leaving my mouth. "I never... But..."

"You never what? Considered you could be wrong? That there may be a different way to win?" I snorted. "Of course you didn't. You let the feeling of years of failure consume you. It blinded you to what was really happening around you..."

During the later Volumes, once Ozpin's secrets were revealed, I always wondered why no one said this. Apart from the kids, every other adult gave up when they heard that Salem supposedly couldn't be killed. It was quite pathetic to watch and, in my opinion, kinda unrealistic. After all, there had to be at least one person out there who could realize how stupid everyone was acting, all thanks to a single answer from Jinn.

Though, I wouldn't have said anything too, if it wasn't for my trip through time. Unfortunately, I have to reevaluate my plans now...

In the end, I arrived in an unknown timeline, one completely messed up thanks to my past actions. And while I disliked working with Ozpin and his band of misfits, I could at least use them to gather information while I worked to get stronger.

I was still weak, most likely not even strong enough to defeat a full-powered Maiden. Salem, I probably couldn't even touch. And the less said about the two dumb idiots who left this world in Ozpin's hands, the better.

No. I shook my head lightly. I need to prepare. I need information. I need time. If a modified version of the canon starts soon, then this world might be fucked... again.

"W-who are you?" Ozpin suddenly spoke up, piercing the veil of silence.

I sighed, knowing it was time to spin my own tale. "I'm someone who could have saved your little world without you ever noticing if it wasn't for ten years I missed. Now... now I can still do that, but it will be harder. Though how much, it depends on the answers you give me. Work with me, and Salem will never get to summon the brothers back to Remnant."

"How? How do you know all of that?" The ancient man whispered, ignoring most of what I said.

"Does it really matter?" I tilted my head. "I know what I know because I have to. And if it makes you feel at least a bit better, I promise to use this knowledge to help you deal with Salem. Once and for all. Isn't that what you want? To finally put this shadow war to rest?"

Ozpin shut his eyes as he took a few calming breaths. Only then did he nod, his gaze back on me. "How do I know I can trust you?"

I chuckled. "That's the fun part. You don't. Though my past still speaks for itself, doesn't it? Or did you already forget I helped against Merlot? You know... Atlas might have never found him, but I did. I killed him. Him and one of Salem's most devoted dogs. That's enough for you?"

Whatever wanted to come out of the headmaster's mouth died on the tip of his tongue as he fell back into his chair. For someone so old, the man looked completely lost. Not that I could blame him.

I pretty much barged in and scolded him like a child. Ozpin gave up a long time ago and was just trying to push back the inevitable. I destroyed this vision of the world and hopefully provided him with something the man had been missing for way too long.

Hope.

Now, I just had to play my cards right and not overwhelm him even more. Too many surprises at once, and I just might fuck it up.

"I know this is a lot to take in, even for someone like you. I don't expect you to just jump at the opportunity to work with me right away. So why not break it off for today? Take some time, talk with whoever you must if you want, and we can continue this tomorrow," I offered, smiling wryly. "Might as well have your band of misfits join us."

"I..." Ozpin shook his head, letting out a heavy sigh. "No, you're right. I need to gather my thoughts and process everything you said."

I grinned. "Great! I have one request before that if you don't mind." The headmaster raised a tired eyebrow. "Neo. You said she was searching for me. Do you have a way to contact her?"

"Do you have a scroll?" I nodded, and Ozpin even smiled as he wrote something on a piece of paper. "Here," he pushed it towards me. "This is her recent number. If she is within range, she will answer."

"Thank you," I bowed slightly, standing up. Yet before I could go towards the lift, a thought struck me. "Say," I scratched my head. "Do you maybe have a room I can sleep in? I'm kinda new to the city."

Ozpin indeed had a room for me. He didn't even look surprised at my request and just personally led me out of the tower and into the dorms. There, he gave me a key to a quite small room, but one that should be way more than enough for me. I didn't plan to change into a dragon here after all.

And so, left alone one more, I plopped down on the soft bed and took out my scroll. No more waiting. I had to do this; Neo didn't deserve to be left out after searching for me for over ten years.

This is gonna suck. She was a spitfire before. I can only imagine how she grew up. I paused before snorting. She's still probably a short stack.

"Okay. Let's do this." With a single tap of my finger, the call went out, searching for the right connection. It rang once, then twice before the screen changed to a few words.

"Who is it?"

"An old friend, Neo," I said, a small smile stretching across my lips as I activated the camera.

Instantly, the screen shifted, and while Neo got the image of my face, a face so familiar but also all grown-up appeared on my screen, staring right at me.

She didn't change at all, and I had to chuckle when her eyes widened, her mouth almost falling open. "Hey there, brat," I smirked. "It's been a while."

Neo didn't need another wake-up call, and a moment later, more words appeared on the screen. "Umbra! I knew this would happen. Almost no one believed me, but I knew! Where are you? I need to see you. Please tell me. It's been so long... Why did you leave me?!"

Tears entered the woman's eyes as she begged with her gaze alone. My heart lurched, the smirk falling off my face.

"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I never wanted to leave you like that. Maybe if I had more time to plan, maybe if I was stronger, I wouldn't disappear for ten years... But there was nothing I could have done to change that back then. I made my choices, and I don't regret them. We're both alive, and that's all that matters."

I smiled lightly. "Be mad at me if you must. I probably deserve as much. I just hope you will forgive me one day for all the years I wasted for you... Really, Neo, why did you do that? Why search for me when we only knew each other for a few months? What if I never came back?"

"But you did," those words appeared a moment later as tears continued to fall. "I never gave up because I couldn't. You saved me, Umbra. You're my family, and family helps each other. That's enough reason for me."

Family... I closed my eyes. Have I really left such an impact on you?

Yet, when I looked at Neo again, it was obvious that, yes, I did. I should have been happy about that, but all I felt was guilt. Guilt for being the reason that she never got to live her life like a normal person. Instead, she spent ten years chasing ghosts.

Still, I forced a smile back on my face. "You really shouldn't have, but I'm glad. I won't disappoint you ever again. What kind of brother would I be if I disappeared for another ten years?"

Neo's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare! Tell me where you are. I will be there as quickly as possible."

"Beacon," I said. "Had to get your number from somewhere, right?"

"Good. Don't move anywhere. I will be there tomorrow." With that, the call disconnected, leaving me staring at the screen like an idiot.

Only after a minute or two did I realize what had happened and exploded in laughter. "She really hasn't changed," I got out between chuckles. "Still the same spitfire of a brat."

The next day came faster than I expected, and with it came time to finish my conversation with Ozpin. That was exactly how I found myself back in the Beacon tower, with both the Headmaster, Glynda, and Qrow there. Summer was missing, but nobody really expected her to leave Ruby and Yang anytime soon. Not that the girls would let her go in the first place.

"So Oz, any reason why we are here at the break of the dawn?" Qrow grumbled, dark bags visible under his eyes.

Ozpin sighed heavily. "Yes, there is. Yesterday, I had a very enlightening conversation with Umbra here. It made me aware of all my mistakes in this life and maybe quite a few before..." He shook his head, not even daring to look at anyone. "I've been lying to you. I thought I was doing this to protect you, but now I realize that I just didn't want to admit my own failure..."

My eyebrows climbed higher and higher with each word that left the headmaster's mouth. Holy shit. He is really doing it.

Nobody dared to cut in as Ozpin re-explained his past. This time, he left nothing hidden. Not his life with Salem. Not his mission from the gods. And not the answer he received from Jinn.

"But I was wrong," the ancient man stated. "I don't need to be the one to destroy her if that's even necessary. Now I realize how wrong I was, and I just hope you two can forgive me for not sharing all this information before."

Silence fell upon the room as Ozpin finished speaking. I glanced at the two other people in the room and grimaced at their sour and pained expressions. It was obvious this would happen, but still...

"That's a lot, Oz..." Qrow spoke, quieter than usual. "We trusted you. We followed your every order because we thought you knew what must be done to stop Salem. To learn you were lying all along is..."

"Like a betrayal. A stab in the back," Glynda finished, and this time, Ozpin winced visibly. "I won't walk away; you know I can't. But it will take time until I can trust you fully again."

The Brawnen nodded. "What Blondie said... I don't like this, but it's far too late for me to leave. Besides, you were always there for me when I needed help, Oz. I'm not a bastard that would abandon you after all of that."

Ozpin smiled. "Thank you. I promise to never hide anything like this from you ever again. This time, I won't be just a leader, but also an ally, your equal."

Alright, this went much better than I expected. I grinned and spoke up. "Great. If that's out of the way, then maybe we can-"

I never got a chance to finish as the elevator's door suddenly opened, and a blur rushed out of it. The cloaked figure went straight for me, and before I could even raise a hand, they punched me right in the face.

I tumbled out of my chair, groaning. When no further attack followed, I turned towards my assailant and grimaced.

Ah... So she is still mad...

And that's it for today.

The truths are revealed, and our boy is trying to farm some info and minions... I mean allies.

Anyway, like I said I got a small announcemnt for ya all. As some of you know, I never wanted to put my fanfics behind a paywall (advanced chapters). That's still the case, but I decided to give you guys a chance to support with the opportunity to read more. That's why I created another P-a-t-r-e-o-n page where anyone who wants to help me, can subscribe. In return, if we reach a certain amount of supporters, I will switch to updating 2 chapters per month instead of one (Including this month if you guys pass the goal. It really isn't big). Then I can give you guys another goal, and once we reach it, I will post 3 chapters per month and so on. Just remember that this is completely optional, and the only thing you're getting for subscribing is the potential for more chapters if we reach the goal.

My Pat-re-on page: pat reon (.com) /ChaosFF

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