Glimmer sat between her parents, all four them them, across from her aunt, she guessed?
"So," Yang said awkwardly, "how, uh, how were you born? I mean, was there a guy involved or-?"
"I honestly don't know," Glimmer said with a shrug, glancing at Ruby.
"She's what we call a Designer Child," Ruby explained, "We mixed our DNA using Nia's powers, inserted her into an artificial womb and let her grow. Same with Mio and Milton."
"Mio and Milton?" Summer asked, "you have more kids?"
"Yeah," Ruby said, "Mio is Nia's, Milton is Mythra's. We hope to find them."
Nia and Mythra nodded seriously. Glimmer's mind, on the other hand, reeled. She had siblings? Why had Ruby never mentioned that?
"Mio's probably with Noah, wherever they are," Nia said.
"Hmm," Ruby hummed.
"Oh, you don't get to do the disapproving parent thing," Nia said, shoving Ruby's shoulder, "I'm the one who saw them together, they're a fine couple."
"I wasn't!" Ruby protested, "I was thinking. It was that Noah kid who had Logos's blade, right? The one who became N in another loop?"
N? Her sister was in love with [I]N[/I]'s original form? What the-
"Yeah, that's him." Nia said.
"I don't remember much as part of the Trinity, but I remember them and their friends fighting Z. Wish he hadn't gotten rid of the sword, I would have liked another round with Logos."
"I'm sure it'll pop up again," Mythra said.
"So… You grew up apart from your siblings?" Yang asked.
"It's a… Long story?" Glimmer said, "one I don't really want to talk about, but yeah, basically. I've never met Mio or Milton."
"I'd like to meet them," Summer said, "We both would, wouldn't we Tai?"
"Tai" broke from his disapproving stare to nod.
"Gotta admit," Yang sighed, "I never expected to be an aunt this young… Or at all, after Ruby disappeared.
"I don't think any of us were expecting this," Ruby laughed, leaning back in her seat and throwing an arm around Glimmer and Nia, "I'm just glad to have my family back."
—
Perceval walked alongside Blake through the forest. Finally, Blake said, "I've never heard of a Blade before."
"I do not know why that is, Blake," Perceval said, "perhaps something has changed we don't know about?"
"Maybe," Blake said, "So I guess we're partners then?"
"If that is how you wish to regard our bond, I will not oppose it. Each Driver's bond with their Blade is different," Perceval's senses picked up rustling in the trees at the same time as Blake. Out of the trees around them came black, bipedal wolves with bone masks marked with red marking, "I assume, whatever these creatures are, they are not friendly?"
"No, they're Grimm, monsters that attack anything that isn't another Grimm."
"So justice for them would be death," Perceval rumbled, darkness flowing from his hand and forming into the form of his Blade, "Shall we, Blake?"
"Yeah," Blake said, drawing a large, inelegant butcher's blade from her back, before drawing a katana from it and wrapping a black ribbon around her forearm.
"Then I shall take the van, you slay as many as you can while they are distracted by me," Darkness covered his blade before stabbing it into the ground, flowing out, and around Blake, to lightly scorch the Grimm. That was enough to anger them, as they all charged him, ignoring Blake. As it should be.
Blake stabbed one as it ran past, severing its spine and letting it drop dead. Good.
Flames ignited along Perceval's helm, and he swung his blade catching a Grimm open jawed to split the head in two. Without missing a beat, the Blade spun his katana around and drove it through the lower jaw of another Grimm and pierced it's skull.
Blake had slid behind two and used both katana and butcher's blade to decapitate them. Then, the katana shifted into a kusarigama, and Blake pointed the hilt at one Grimm and there was a loud bang as the Grimm's head exploded. Blake did this four more times, leaving only four Grimm standing.
Perceval slid into a iai stance, darkness coating the blade before he swung it outwards, bisecting the first three Grimm and lodging in the fourth, which pushed itself down the blade to get closer to him. Before it could Blake drove the butcher's blade into its neck.
As they stood in the middle of the decaying corpses, Blake said something, "Perceval, what would you do if I told you I did something bad?"
"It would depend on how "bad" this bad thing is," Perceval said.
"I was… I was a member of the White Fang, we were a group dedicated to Faunus rights, but… As time went on we got more extreme, more violent, until-"
"Violence became the ends, and not the means." Perceval said, "did you ever hurt anyone?"
"No, but… I was willingly blind to what they were doing, for months, years even. But I was too scared to leave until today, and-"
"Now you wish to hear my judgement upon you?"
"Yes," Blake said quietly.
"Very well, I shall pass judgment. The punishment for your crimes," Perceval reached with the hand that would normally hold his katana, and Blake flinched back, before Percival laid his hand on her head, "You're punishment is to work to forgive yourself."
"What?"
"Did you think I would take your life?" Perceval said, "No, the gravest punishment is reserved only for those that cannot repent. From what you describe, the only person you need to make this up to is yourself. You joined a cause when it was righteous, you did your best to remain so as the rest of the cause fell. You are not the one who needs to face judgement, Blake."
Blake blinked back tears as Perceval pulled her into a hug, before starting to cry.
—
Qrow flew into Ozpin's office, transforming as he landed, "So what's up?"
"I don't know," Oz admitted, "Summer just said she was bringing some people to Beacon and you would want to be here for it."
"I hope this is important," Glynda huffed, "I have classes to teach."
"She didn't request your presence, Glynda," Ozpin pointed out.
"If it's important enough for her to want you and Qrow, it's important enough for me."
A few minutes later, Ozpin's secretary reported that the "group" was here. Qrow raised an eyebrow at that, looking to Oz, who shrugged.
Out of the elevator came Tai, Yang and Summer, which was only really remarkable in that Yang was there. It was the people who came after that were comment worthy. The first two Qrow noticed were a pair of very pretty young women, one blonde and the other a redhead, wearing very little. The redhead was wearing short shorts and a top that exposed her sides, while the blonde wore a mini dress with long, exposed legs, a hole to allow a view of the center of her cleavage, and sleeves detached from the rest of her dress. Her golden eyes narrowed as she noticed him looking her over.
"Eyes off, tall, dark and scruffy," she said, raising a hand to show off a wedding ring, "I'm spoken for and don't appreciate the look."
"Sorry, sorry," Qrow said, eyes trailing to the cat faunus wearing a turtleneck shirt with a scimitar at her side and finally, the girl dressed in what looked like a shorter version of a Mistralan Shrine Maiden's outfit that showed off a lot of leg. The final woman stepped between him and the girl, looking unamused.
She was a fairly tall woman, standing a head over Yang, in her late forties or early fifties. Her left eye was clenched closed, a scar running across it vertically making it clear she was blind in that eye. She was wearing a gray outfit consisting of a shirt, cargo pants, a short sleeved longcoat, all interrupted with red belts, a pair of large swords sheathed at the back of her waist, with red and black spiky hair and, most glaringly, a single silver eye staring at them.
It raked over Qrow, before she said in an accented voice, "You're looking good for your age, you dusty old Qrow, but I'd still appreciate it if you didn't oogle my daughter."
"Do I… Know you?" Qrow asked.
"Qrow," Summer said urgently, "It's Ruby."
What?