Edited by: priapus, Marethyu the self-effacing, Old man of the mountain, Mike Real God of Lore, Immortal Spank.

– Yang –

Even with Reid's many words of encouragement and praise—constantly telling her how talented she was and the gentle giant that he was—Yang had to admit that doing magic was actually a lot harder than one would think, regardless of how many fireballs or spears she was capable of lobbing around at a time.

It required a lot of concentration to use, unlike Aura, which was like second nature from the moment it was unlocked. Granted, as she was now, Yang could do magic pretty well. Otherwise, Reid wouldn't have praised her as much.

But in actual situations? That was different. Even when they were fighting against Reid's giga golem, the blonde had too many problems actually focusing on what she wanted to cast. She just pulled the mana she had and threw it at it.

According to Reid, not refining your spells before using them would make them significantly less effective than they should be. So this was Yang's current goal: to make her spells actually applicable in serious scenarios as fast as she could.

And with every passing second, Yang's respect for her lover would continue to grow. She'd experienced firsthand just how powerful Reid's flames were. His fire magic would easily melt steel in seconds, nearly instantly burn Grimm to ashes, and consume every spell the girls could conjure. The fire was blue for crying out loud.

More impressively, he could somehow make his flames harmless, not even hurting the grass they landed on. Just what kind of control was that? Yang was amazed—she wanted to be that good at magic too.

Because aside from being cool as hell, Yang wasn't stupid. She knew something big was going on in the background—something larger than even Titans. And whatever it was, Reid was very obviously preparing them for it. He even said it himself. He would tell them whenever he thought they were ready.

Admittedly, while ominous and scary, since it even got Reid worried, Yang was excited. She was going to be part of something huge– maybe she'd be able to help change the world for the better. What kind of huntress would pass on that idea?

It was an exciting prospect, for sure. Fame and money were all well and good, but deep down, Yang did share her sister's dream of just being able to help other people. Sure, maybe not as profound as Ruby's desire to become a hero, but it's what they've been taught their whole lives.

Yang couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of her little sister being the hero she'd always dreamed of being. Not out of mockery, of course not. The blonde fully believed in Ruby. She always had, in fact. With or without Reid. She had the heart for it, after all.

Yang was so proud of her sister.

Speaking of, Yang hoped Ruby would be okay on that trip of theirs. She wasn't worried about her safety. Ruby was crazy strong. She could handle most threats on her own with ease because her cute little sister was always the strongest in their group.

Because she had that weird skimpy outfit Reid gave her, which she forgot to beat him up for. Dicking her sister down was fine and all, but giving her that thing like he was showing her off? Yeah, he needed an ass-kicking for it—the bastard.

She wouldn't deny its usefulness, though. Still, why the fuck did it make her look half-naked? Like, where did he get it from? He said he 'found' it and did not make it, but from where? Yang still couldn't make sense of Reid's weird quirk of randomly finding the weirdest magical things.

He was hiding things, obviously—a lot of things. But everyone had secrets, and building trust was the only way to get them to share. And while they might be very close, surprisingly, they had only met very recently, like a few months ago. This was wild for her every time Yang thought about it. It felt like years, for some reason.

"Time sure passes quickly, huh?" She muttered to herself as the silence was rather uncomfortable for her, sitting in the middle of the training ground as she continuously shaped her spell into multiple different things. "You blink, and suddenly, you're in the most prestigious academy in the world."

…She wondered what her mother would think. Both mothers.

Knowing Summer, she'd be all over them, telling her and Ruby how proud she was of them. She used to do that at the smallest achievements either of the sisters made, and this probably wouldn't be any different.

As for the other mother, Yang wasn't really sure. She didn't know much about Raven. Neither Uncle Qrow nor her dad spoke about her, and whenever she asked, she'd get frustrating responses like 'Don't bother with her' or 'Forget about it'.

All she knew was that Raven was related to the criminal underworld as an infamous bandit in Mistral, according to her research. She'd always known that her biological mother wasn't exactly a good person; she ran away, for God's sake. It was hard to justify that, but Yang had to know.

Yang had to know why Raven decided to run away and abandon them, even if she'd end up regretting it. Unfortunately, her search was practically going nowhere; even bribing certain… legally dubious individuals only led her to dead ends.

So she paused her investigation to focus on her studies at Beacon. She'd get back to that soon, once she had ample free time to dick around. It's not like she's in a rush, and Yang wasn't worried she'd get in trouble with criminals with her current power.

It might sound a bit arrogant, but she's trained with the strongest in the world, after all. And with her newfound magic? Yeah, she doubted any criminal would actually hold a candle to her. She'd kick their asses one by one.

…Maybe she should ask Reid about it. He practically knew everything, so maybe he'd know something about Raven. If not, he probably had a lot of connections to help out. Yeah, it probably won't hurt to ask.

Yang stared at the ball of flames in her hand as it kept changing shape. At first, she focused on bladed shapes like swords or spears, then more complicated things like flails. It helped with concentration, according to Reid, but the blond was starting to get bored.

Where the hell was her teammate? She said she'd be soon, but it'd been an hour and she hadn't shown up yet. Levi even went back to go look for her, but so far, no word. Yang would've gone back too, but she didn't have a convenient speed semblance like Levi and Ruby, so she decided to wait.

But apparently, that was a mistake because she didn't like being alone for an extended period of time like this. She needed interactions or else she died. No, she wasn't being dramatic.

But seriously, where the hell did they go?

Yang scratched her head and took out her scroll, about to text Blake and Levi, only for the elevator on the other side of the training grounds to open, the latter walking out with a panicked expression.

"Levi? What's going on?" Yang blinked, noticing a piece of paper in her teammate's hand. "Where's Blake?"

"S-she's gone!" Her friend said, giving her a letter. "She left this on her bed!"

Yang's heartbeat hastened as she read the frustratingly vague and short letter.

There's something important I need to do.

I promise I'll return.

Yang wasn't sure how to feel about this. Whatever she was feeling, it was not positive in the slightest. But where? And why? What was so important that it made her leave on short notice like this? Why couldn't she have just told them in person?

It's not like either of them would've been so against it. What Yang was against was secrecy like this—there was a fine line between having secrets and pulling stupid stunts, and the blond absolutely despised the latter.

She could feel her anger bubbling as she read the letter over and over, doing her best not to blow up in front of Levi. She knew it was irrational on her part, but it wasn't like she could help it. This type of thing really hurt.

It hurt a lot.

She quickly calmed herself as she felt her throat closing up, expertly hiding her emotions from the only teammate that was currently available. Levi seemed worried, and Yang wasn't about to make it any worse for her.

"What should we do?" She asked. "Should we tell someone?"

Yang hesitated for a moment. In all honesty, the blond didn't know how to proceed from here, and with her emotions threatening to burst, she'd rather not deal with it at all. Reid told them to only call when it was necessary, and this situation definitely qualified as 'necessary'.

"L-let's call Reid," Yang said, her voice cracking slightly. "I'm sure he'd know what to do."

As much as she hated to bother him with this, seeing how busy he was, Yang really needed his help right now.

– Reid –

It has only been an hour since we landed, and I'm already a fan of Menagerie. Honestly, I don't remember humidity ever feeling this good on my skin, but I guess being part sea monster has a hand in that.

Because, wow, it almost feels as good as being underwater. It doesn't really boost my stats, like, at all, but it feels like it does. That's how good it is. I like it, and it makes me want to build another secret base around here somewhere.

I know, I have like, three secret bases at this point, but it wouldn't hurt to make more, right? Keeping all my stuff in one place is probably a bad idea. Spreading everything out might make it harder for my enemies to keep track of my movement.

Hmm, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I should make one deep underwater. And I mean, like, really deep, where no man can reach. I'm immune to the pressure, so it's very possible to do so. The only real problem is whatever Grimm evolved to handle that kind of pressure. If they even exist.

But even then, I can handle it with ease. The sea is my home turf, after all. Also, it'd be so far away from anybody that I could go wild with experiments. Whatever fuckups I'm responsible for won't make it to land. Probably.

Yes, I should do that.

…And I just did it again, didn't I? That's another thing to do. Fuck. I'm going to end up killing myself at this rate.

Eh, nah, I can handle it.

Anyway, Menagerie. Good place. I like it.

"Everyone, please give a warm welcome to our hero," Kali tells the crowd, officially introducing me to her people. "Sir Reid Astera."

The audience cheers and claps as I walk up to the stage downtown in front of one of my stores next to Kali and Sienna, prompting me to wave at the crowd with a smile. They ignore the SDC heiress right by me for the most part, focusing all their attention on me.

"Thank you, thank you," I say as they cheer. "You make me truly honored to be here."

No problems so far; everyone's kind and excited to see me. Some people gave Weiss the stink eye, but that's about it when it came to negatives. It's to be expected, obviously. Weiss is here to change their minds about her and prove that she's nothing like her shitstain of a dad.

…I can sense a lot of anger concentrated in one place, though. Coming from one person. There are too many people here, so I can't see exactly who this rage belongs to. I'm not stupid though. It's clear who it is. I've felt this particular bloodlust before. But I'm not worried one bit. Not for my or Weiss' safety.

In fact, I want him to do something because it'll end up with him humiliated and humbled.

Speaking of Weiss, she's struggling with the weather, and it's hilarious because she's pretending everything is fine when it's very clearly not. She's too used to the cold weather—too used to her Aura protecting her from it. But Aura, for some odd reason, doesn't protect from heat. Kinda weird, honestly; I should probably look that up and see why. Would've helped a lot in that desert dungeon if I had known beforehand.

I can tell she wants to complain, but at the same time, she doesn't want to look bad in front of Sienna and Kali. Fortunately for her and everyone else—that isn't me. to be honest—there is air conditioning in the place we're sleeping at.

It's a quaint-looking building a few blocks away from Kali's villa. One floor, several bedrooms and bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. It's not something you'd expect a global hero to stay in, but honestly? I like it. It looks pretty modest.

I don't like how thin the walls are, though, because I know for damn sure I'm going to end up having sex with either Velvet or Weiss, possibly both, and I really don't want anyone to hear that. It's embarrassing. I hope they won't mind some personal modifications to the building.

We've also been shown the newly built shops for my potions and Weiss' dust, most of them directly sitting next to each other. There weren't a lot, and they weren't large buildings by any means, but it's still a step in the right direction. Kuo Kuana isn't actually that big; it's barely as big as a single sector of Vale's main city.

It is surrounded by two-foot-thick walls thrice as tall as me and a lot of patrolling guards to fend off Grimm. City isn't as advanced as Vale, but it's pretty safe all things considered. There are a lot of capable fighters stationed here.

However, there are small villages outside the city that aren't as fortunate. Menagerie is a lot more dangerous compared to other kingdoms because of the lack of resources and overabundance of Grimm. For example, a village in Vale might not be as safe as the city, but most of the land is clear of any hostiles, and the kingdom can easily afford to spread guards, hunters, and soldiers all around the region.

But here, they don't have that luxury. Not living in Kuo Kuana is highly dangerous. That's why I'm here, though. Extending my influence here and making lives easier for everyone. Potions and dust are bound to make a massive difference.

That's not the only thing we're giving them, though. Oh no, no, I have a big surprise for them that might just make bigger changes than even the potions they're looking forward to. It came with the potion shipment, and I haven't said a single word to anyone. The only ones who know are Oz, Weiss, and Velvet.

It'll again cause a ripple across the world because there are going to be recordings of this announcement. God, I can already imagine it. The looks on their faces are going to be priceless.

Sienna and Kali did ask what the giant metal box next to me was, and I gave them a very vague response. Sienna got suspicious but said nothing, which I respect and understand. I haven't really earned her trust yet, to be fair. I certainly will after this.

…I don't know why I'm hyping this up so much; it's just golems. Menagerie is in desperate need of firepower, more than anyone, and I'll be obliging them by handing some Golems to help on the battlefield or to defend their villages. Mostly the latter.

"I'm sure you all have had enough waiting around, so I'm not going to waste any more of your time," I say out loud. "So I hereby announce the first-ever potion store outside of Vale and the first-ever dust store in Menagerie!"

The people go wild, and I'm not sure if they're more excited about legally acquired dust or potions. They've been begging for the former for, like, decades, but potions are a new commodity around the world.

"But we didn't come here just for that—of course not!" I continue, making them quiet down and wait for me to finish. "That'd be boring and predictable, right? Well, I mean, as predictable as opening an SDC store in Menagerie can be. Never in a million years did y'all think that was gonna happen."

I can hear Kali giggling slightly along with some of the audience. Even caught an amused snort from Sienna.

"That's why Weiss here is great. It was her idea, y'know?" I point at my business partner with my thumb. "Just like it was her idea to bring you some awesome gifts, like this thing here."

I tap the giant metal box next to us, prompting the heiress to glance at me in confusion. Yeah, I'm giving her credit for this, because I sure as fuck don't need any more people worshipping me. She needs all the excellent rep she can get, however.

"What's this thing, I hear you ask?" I keep tapping the box. "Well, with Weiss' help, she and I created a really cool product you guys are going to love. It'll make your lives so much easier."

I take a step back and mentally order the golems to show themselves. The box opens up and from it, two dozen golems walk out in sync. Like most of my other golems, they are designed to look like typical knight armor.

Sienna and Kali both step back, looking at them with a mixture of interest and concern. My partner, however, looks shocked that I lied to them by saying, 'With Weiss' help'.

"I present to you our newest creation–" I gesture at the humanoid blend of steel, dust, and other funny magical ingredients. "The Golems!"

I can sense the crowd's curiosity growing as the golems all stand in an organized manner and salute.

"These bad boys over here have one mission only, and that is to protect, defend—" I tap one in the head while looking at Weiss, giving her a signal. "—and assist citizens in all types of activities. Ain't that right, Weiss?"

"Y-yes, indeed." She nods, slightly nervous but giving the crowd a smile all the same. "A single one is three times as strong as your typical C-Rank hunter. No need to be afraid of any kind of Grimm with them around."

"Exactly. They were carefully designed to be the perfect protectors of Humans and Faunus." I add. "They're incapable of getting tired, hungry, or anything of that sort. They're like robots. They'll keep fighting until every speck of them is destroyed."

"But unlike robots, they can be restored quite easily," Weiss says, getting more confident as the audience looks extremely fascinated. "Simply, they'll consume dust of any type to repair themselves. The better the quality, the more effective it'll be."

Hmm, I knew handing her that magic guidebook was a good idea. She's smart; obviously, she'd figure out the correlation between dust and magic crystals. She's actually pretty into magic, from what I saw.

"Unfortunately, they're not really capable of talking. I haven't figured out how to make that possible just yet." I say, rubbing my chin. "However, unlike certain boring knights, these guys are great at dancing. Check it out."

I nod at the closest golem, prompting it to do a double-take, look around, and then point at itself in confusion. All of this is just me mentally puppeteering it; of course, these guys specifically aren't that intelligent like Indra, but I need to make them look slightly harmless and fun.

"No, I'm talking to Ms. Khan over there." I roll my eyes. "Yes, you. Show 'em some moves."

Most of the audience snickers and chuckles at the interaction, implying to me that I'm doing a great job, but then their breaths are taken away when the golem starts breakdancing like a madman. Even I was impressed because my only command was to 'dance', I didn't tell it how.

Honestly, I expected it to do badly. Jesus, maybe it is smart. Certainly an overachiever.

Everyone starts clapping once it's done, applauding for the Breakdancing Golem. I act like I planned this because, of course I did. Everything is definitely part of my grand scheme. Absolutely.

"See? They're awesome, aren't they?" I point at them. "The only thing they're better at is killing Grimm, and I'll be sure to test that out right here in the next few days."

"And to all other kingdoms watching, we'll be selling and deploying the golems worldwide." The SDC heiress states. "With the current production rate, a shortage would be highly doubtful. By the end of this year, you'll see capable MSC Golems patrolling and protecting every village in Remnant, so we can focus all of our firepower and hunters on clearing out new areas for new settlements."

"With them around, there'll be a lot fewer casualties overall. All of this—" I put a hand on my partner's shoulder. "—would've never been possible without her help."

Weiss stills as the focus is put on her, quickly glancing at me as if to ask why I would put her on the spot like this, but she knows why. Giving her credit is all well and good, but she needs to make a statement to solidify her position on this matter.

A few silent moments pass as Weiss struggles to speak, but eventually she's able to have her say after taking a quiet, deep breath and exhaling through her nose.

"I-I know I'm not exactly… popular in certain parts of the world. I'm not blind to that, and I understand why." She says nervously. I can see her slight trembling, but I believe in her. "Nonetheless, I promise I'll do everything I can to fix all the damage caused by corporate greed and the bad actors who are responsible."

She doesn't specify or name any names, which is just her being safe. Would she get in trouble if she straight-up said her dad's name? Probably not. I'm still on her side after all, and I've made sure that interfering with that would be very bad for him.

I wished she'd openly mocked him, though. It would've been one hell of a power move from her. Baby steps.

"I hope you'll put your trust in me and support me throughout this journey." She continues, getting slightly into her speech. Still very anxious, though. "I swear on my grandfather's name that I'll not disappoint."

To her surprise, the people damn near immediately cheered for her very loudly. Why wouldn't they? First, she's the reason a dust shop is opening here—I made that very clear already—and with my few white lies here and there, they think she's the one behind the Golems entirely.

This is a lot of good PR that she needs to make the distinction between her and Jacques clear to the public. People will start viewing the SDC in good light again, but only with Weiss as its owner. They'll start pushing for her to take the company off of Jacques, and eventually, she'll be unstoppable without my help. Politically, of course.

I glance at her shocked expression, which turns into a smile as she bows to the crowd. She probably needs it mentally, too, after years of resentment from others. It proves she can change people's minds if she tries hard enough. To civilians, she'd be making Nicolas, a globally liked Atlesian hero, proud, and I'm sure that's what she wants most.

Good for her.

"That's all we have for you today, folks." I mentally order the golems to go back to the box. "But don't you worry; I'll be here in Menagerie until Saturday. All of you will get your autographs and pictures."

Some people deflated at me, ending this prematurely, but the annoying vibration caused by my scroll was becoming really distracting. I need to answer whoever is calling because I'm fairly certain I said to only call when it's urgent.

Kali thankfully takes over. and I get off the stage, then walk behind it with Weiss alongside me. She doesn't notice anything as I call Yang back, a bit confused and concerned. I really hope it's nothing serious.

I'd be kinda pissed if it was nothing, but it's better than the alternative.

"Did you see, Reid?!" Weiss looks at me with enthusiasm and pride. "They were cheering for me! Me!"

"Told you you were gonna do great." I ruffle her hair right before Yang answers. "You just had to believe in yourself."

She beams at me, and then the blonde answers.

"Reid?"

I immediately picked up on her panicking tone. Something is wrong.

"What's going on?" I ask quickly. "What happened?"

"I-it's Blake." She responds, her voice cracking slightly. "She's gone. She left us a letter saying she has to do something, but I-I don't know–"

Ah… well, shit. I should've seen this coming. She's coming here, isn't she?

"Yang, it's okay. Calm down; everything is going to be fine." I try soothing her, realizing that she's beginning to break down. This has to be hard on her. "Blake wouldn't leave you or your team. You know that."

"What? What's wrong?" Weiss asks me in confusion, her earlier smile dropping.

"B-but this is so sudden– I don't know what to do."

"Relax. Take a deep breath." I say calmly. "And think. Weiss and I are in Menagerie, where her mother is. There's a big chance that she's coming our way to do some business here."

Yang stays quiet for a moment.

"...What if she isn't?"

"Then I swear I'll drop everything here and search all of Remnant for her," I promise her. "Everything will be fine. Just have faith, okay?"

Once again, Yang doesn't say anything for a bit, but I can hear her calming herself with a deep breath.

"Okay." She says quietly. "I trust you, and I trust her."

"Good." Okay, that's the situation defused. That could've been horrible. "I want you and Levi to take the rest of the day off, alright? Take your mind off this and have fun around Vale. I'll cover all your expenses."

"...Alright, thanks," Yang replies, sounding more reserved. "Love you."

"I love you too."

I end the call and pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration and weariness. This could've been easily prevented, but it completely slipped my mind. Of course, Blake is going to follow us here—It's obvious!

She's still very anxious about what I and her teammates will think about her once we know her full backstory. She's either coming here to prevent us from knowing or to explain things before we think less of her.

For fuck's sake, Blake. I get why she's doing this, but she seriously needs a scolding for randomly running away like this, especially when her partner has fucking abandonment issues.

I don't think she knows that bit, to be fair, but still.

"So then, Blake," Weiss said, crossing her arms with an unamused look. She's probably put two and two together already.

"Yup." I sigh. "She's in a lot of trouble right now."

Goddamn it.

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