Luckily, Elena healed quickly, and a room was found for her. She got along well enough with everyone, eager to study the locals and compare them to those from Earth. Lab space was even prepared for her.
One day though, Ruby was clearly feeling down. Yang as well, though she was able to control it, and when the Slayer asked, clarified what the issue was. "Our mom's passing's anniversary is soon," She tells him. "Well, Ruby's mom if you want to get technical," Yang clarifies pulling out a picture. The figure in it certainly looked like Ruby, but older, wielding a strange ax.
"You girls do know we can visit her grave, right?" He suggests. "This weekend? You'll just have to tell me where it is. Oh, and before we go, if you want to go buy flowers…" Yang's eyes lit up.
"Oh thank you!" She says, hugging him and going off to tell Ruby.
That weekend found the three of them in a field, the girls kneeling in front of a grave that read "Summer Rose." The Slayer stood guard as the girls wept, telling their dead mother stories, many about him, as well as laying the flowers they had bought.
It was times like these, that the Slayer sometimes felt cursed with knowledge. True, he knew not what afterlife Remnant had, but he knew of some afterlives that were universal, and neither one was good. The girls had called Summer a "super-mom" with various tales of her exploits, which had made him wonder how long she would've lasted against the demons before they got to her. It made him think of something he could give, as he didn't want to leave without his own offering.
He was pulling out his heavy cannon, about to eject a round to offer when he heard noises. Turning his head, he noticed Grimm closing in from all sides, drawn by the emotions of the girls. "Heads up, incoming," He warns, and the girls get ready, weapons coming out of pocket dimensions as he summoned his own armor, music starting up.
As the Grimm closed in, the Slayer noticed a mist of a sort, one that even as it swirled around the girls, went unnoticed by them. For the Slayer, he recognized what was happening, and it was actually a relief. Not for himself, not for their situation, nor even for the girls. No, he was relieved because there was at least one soul that hadn't gone to Hell, Urdak, or somewhere else potentially equally as horrible.
The girls got busy killing Grimm, as the spectral mist coalesced into a figure only the Slayer could see. A figure that looked like Ruby, but older. To the girls, nothing was happening besides the Grimm attacking them. To the Slayer however, as he got to work, he watched the ghost of Summer Rose manifesting out of her grave.
"Always good to see you girls," Summer said to her daughters as she floated around them, and sometimes through, eliciting one-time shivers whenever she passed through them. "Though, aren't you two in school? How did you get here so quickly?" She asked, though it was clear she knew they couldn't hear her, and she wouldn't get an answer. "I appreciate the visit though. And who's this?" Now she floats over to the Slayer. "Big guy isn't he? Strange armor and weapons. Yet his skill in killing Grimm...he almost shames the Grimm Reaper!" Summer was clearly in awe, floating in front of the Slayer, clearly unaware of the fact he could see her. Strangely, her silver eyes were glowing a little as she saw a Grimm close on him, adopting a pose like she was going to fight it off.
For the Slayer however, it meant she was in the way. One gentle push was all it took to move the motherly ghost to the side. A simple gesture for him, but he could tell that for her, it shattered her entire worldview. Her eyes went wide as she stared at him in disbelief. "You...you can see me?" She asked, her eyes going even wider when he turned to her and gave a slight nod before getting back to work killing Grimm. "You can hear me? Touch me? Why are you solid to me? Why do I feel you?" She asked rapid-fire. "Who ARE you? WHAT are you?" He ignored her while he killed Grimm, though she floated along and watched. "OK, I get it. Fight first. But afterwards, we are talking about this mister." He did nod at that. "Well at least you agree and you're not ignoring me for no reason."
It took a while, but soon all the Grimm were dead. Summer was looking impressed. "You...and what was that? Did you...absorb energy from them? Give some to my daughters? And all those weapons! How do you have so many? And why were your kills so...violent? Do you even NEED all those?" She kept asking in rapid-fire.
The girls meanwhile, were looking exhausted, and ready to head back, but the Slayer stopped them. "Girls, I have to tell you something. You know how my...experiences have given me various abilities nobody here has ever dreamed of. Well, I have another I must share, just now." The girls gave him curious but confused looks. "You see, one of the gifts I have is to see that which goes unseen by most." He looks around for a place for them to sit, and notices a tree that Ruby had cut down mid-fight, a ways away. "Over here, you girls should sit."
"Oh, going to tell them about me?" Summer asks. "I can't go that far, I've tried. I'm...stuck quite close to my grave," she informs him.
"Actually…" The Slayer says, "Stay here." He heads off by himself and picks up the tree, bringing it back within Summer's range, much to the ghost mother's awe. The girls were also impressed, but clearly were used to his strength by then. Meanwhile, he was having ideas. He began a scan of the FOD systems, curious to see if one of the old pieces of tech he had on it still worked.
He set the tree down with a loud crackling of its branches. "OK girls, sit, as what I'm about to say...is heavy. But don't sit together, leave some room." The girls gave him another look of curiosity, but complied, and the Slayer nodded at Summer, then at the gap, and she happily but curiously sat on the log between her daughters.
"Now girls, what if I told you, it's not just you two on the log?" The Slayer asked as a start. "There's a third, sitting between you two?" The girls look between each other, waving their hands in the space between them.
"Uh, see, nothing," Yang says while raising an eyebrow.
"Well, just because you can't see, nor can touch, anything, doesn't mean there isn't anything." The Slayer then crouches down. "Let's just say, whatever afterlife you all here in Remnant believe in….your mother isn't there."
"How do you know that?" Ruby asks. "How can you be so sure? What would make you…" Her eyes widened as realization hit her. "No. That's not true! You're lying!" She yells out angrily, getting up.
It was roughly at the same time that Yang also realized what he was saying. "No, she went to Heaven. I know it!" She yelled angrily, eyes glowing red.
"I can prove it. Girls, hands behind your backs, and hold up a random number of fingers," He ordered.
"Oh I see where this is going," Summer says, getting up from the log. For a few minutes, the girls held up random finger counts. Summer reported them accurately, and the Slayer told the girls. They began to look hopeful, but still wary. "Is it really her?" Yang asks. "Then what's something that only she, and us, know?"
Ruby then further asks. "What makes her cookies the best from the rest?"
Summer pipes up happily. "Oh that's easy. Add some peanut butter to the dough. Adds an edge that you can't get otherwise."
The Slayer repeated her words verbatim. Though he then turned his head to the side and spoke quietly. "Peanut butter? Cathy, you were always looking for a way to hype up your own recipe. If only you two could've met."
The girls meanwhile were looking around. "Mom?" They both ask.
"I'm here girls," Summer tells them, even though they can't hear her.
"Why do you haunt this place?" Yang asks. "Why not come home?"
"I would if I could sweetie," Summer answers. "But I'm stuck here."
"Her anchor is here," the Slayer answers, earning him three sets of eyes to lock onto him.
"My what?" Summer asks.
"You three should sit down," the Slayer tells them, and they all do. Then he begins. "First, before you ask how I know everything I'm about to say, the answer is I have lots of experience with this kind of thing in my life." Everyone nods, though the disbelief was clear in their eyes. "Now, to answer the first real question. Many ghosts, but not all, are tied to a physical object. Something to which they are bound, and cannot go too far from. As crude as this is, the best analogy...Ms. Rose, you're a dog. Your spectral tether is your leash, and your anchor is the stake in the ground the leash is tied to."
There was some slight anger at calling Summer a dog, but it faded fast when they realized the analogy. "But what can be an anchor?" Yang asks.
"Well, there's the obvious answer," the Slayer answers, turning to Summer. "I mean, your grave is out here for a reason."
"Oh...I'm not in there," Summer clarifies. "I was…" She looks between her daughters, seeming grateful they can't hear her. "Eaten by the Grimm. There's nothing left. It's a longer story than that, but no, I'm not in there." Her face then lights up. "But I know what is! All they found, all they buried, was Sundered Rose. My weapon," she clarifies.
"Your mother tells me her ax is what's buried here, and thus, that's her anchor," the Slayer explains to the girls. It was then that his search of the systems paid off, and he found what he was looking for. "And that could be useful."
"How?" Came the question asked in triplicate.
"Turns out, one of the various upgrades the FOD has? The SEG. Spectral Enhancement Generator. Take a known spectral anchor, and it can enhance the spectral entity bound to it." He turns from addressing the three of them in general, to just Summer. "How would you like to be in your daughters' lives again?"
There was a gasp in triplicate, as the three of them pondered the possibility. The Slayer elaborated further. "It would make you visible, and audible, to everyone. There might be more, but for some things, you'd require training. But those are the biggest things."
"My biggest regret was the fact I would never watch my girls grow up. Now...while I may have skipped a few years, I can do that!" Summer says excitedly. While they didn't hear their mother's reaction, the girls give similar answers of excitement, Ruby looking ready to jump up and down. "So what's involved?"
"Well, the SEG I'm preparing now," the Slayer answers. "But there's one part that requires the most work, and is taboo in every culture. That being, I'd have to dig the ax up." While saying that, he was cuing up one of the replicators.
"Oh I'm fine with that, if mom gets to be in our lives again," Yang answers, the other two agreeing.
"I expected as such. However, there is a big problem." He pauses for a bit. "What about your dad? What do we tell him?"
The girls gave each other looks that clearly stated that in their excitement, they forgot. However, Summer spoke up after a while. "I—I'm not sure. Tai buried me, physically and mentally. He's said his goodbyes. And after Raven leaving him...I'm not sure if he'd want another woman. I still love him...but I don't want to reopen old wounds. Especially if he would require strange technology to even see or hear me, and might not be able to touch me. I….can we keep it a secret?" She asks.
"Girls, your mom wants to keep it a secret from your dad," The Slayer translates. Ruby was about to ask why, but the Slayer stops her. "Wait until we're all back at the FOD. That's a conversation that should be between you two, and your mother, without anybody else in the room."
"OK," Ruby answers, clearly feeling down about the subject. "Anyway, you two should head back. I'm sure you both have memories associated with your mother's grave, and seeing me violate it might stir those up. I don't want to stir up those memories." A return portal opens for them. "And don't worry, I have what I need. See you girls soon," He says as they step through, excitement returning to their faces. As they do so, the Slayer does a quick check of the inventory Elena brought with her, and one of those items was a shovel, which he pulled out and got to work. "Oh, sorry if at any point you felt like I was ignoring you. At first? Combat. Later on? Because talking around the girls might be problematic," He apologizes. "Now, while I did mean what I told them, about how they shouldn't see me dig up your grave, that's not the only reason I sent them away. No, the second reason is so we can talk, about things you don't want reaching their ears," He explains.
Summer went into overdrive. "OK sir, you need to explain. Now," she said, standing in front of him. "And Brothers help me if you lie or leave something out."
"Well, it all began a long, long time ago, somewhere far, far away…" The Slayer began, as he started digging.
It took a while, but before long, shovel hit something solid, which he assumed was a casket. The whole time, he had been explaining who he was to Summer, what he'd done, and more. "Found it," he said to her, clearing dirt off the casket. While he was doing that, he got the notification that the replicator finished.
"A man from another universe. One who's seen and done so much," Summer said, still in awe as the Slayer opened the casket lid. "No wonder my daughters trust you." The Slayer then pulled out Sundered Rose, noticing some blood stains along the weapon. "All me," Summer said sadly. "The rest of me is digested by Grimm, which means those old blood stains are all that's left of me."
"We can use this," the Slayer comments. "But first…" He pulls out what he's been replicating. "I don't think anyone would dig you up, or do any kind of scan or anything. But it never hurts to be sure," He says as he shows her an exact replica of her weapon. "Just a model though. No transformation, edge is spoon dull, and there's no gun parts," he explains, tossing the replica into the casket then closing the lid. The real one he set down gently as he got to work reburying the casket.
"You are way too familiar with this," Summer observes. "Oh, but I have to ask, what did you mean earlier about 'we can use this'?"
Luckily, reburying the casket took less time than unburying it, and the Slayer even stomped on the ground in a few spots to pack it down so it didn't look recently disturbed. "Ma'am, if there's one lesson life taught me, it's to never waste a potential resource," he answers as he returns the shovel to the FOD inventory, instead taking other things from Elena's supplies. He stuck the ax in the ground, and began to carefully scrape off the blood into a sample container. "And the one sample of your DNA that exists? Not to be wasted."
"First, Slayer, as literally the only one who can talk to me, Summer is fine. Second, while I FULLY understand not wasting a resource...what is my blood good for?" She asks.
"Honestly? I'm not sure yet. But that's the thing. Sometimes you have to save a resource, even if you can't do anything with it yet. But it's good to have," the Slayer explains. Soon enough, he had scraped off as much blood as he could, and the container was sealed and back in the inventory. "Now to wash off the rest. I'm walking in with a bloody ax."
"To avoid traumatizing my daughters. I understand. If you don't mind me asking...who's Cathy?" Summer asked.
The Slayer sighed. "Your husband is not the only widower you know," he answers simply.
"I am so sorry," Summer says quietly, hugging him.
"It's fine. Just...at least you were alone," He answers. "Neither daughter of yours…"
"Oh no," Summer says as her grip around him tightens. "I can't imagine…"
"Not just that, but…" He lays a hand on her stomach.
"I am so sorry," she repeats.
He pats her arms in thanks. "You and Cathy might've gotten along." He grabs the ax, pulling out some peroxide to get the rest of the blood off, then examines the weapon. "Let's see here…" He soon finds the mechanism to make it collapse back into its gun form to her amazement, as he checks it over. "Once back up there, I'll clean and polish it properly. And even sharpen the ax portion. But for now…" He grabs a bullet. "Fun fact: This was going to be my offering to you. Since I didn't know where you went, I was going to give a bullet as a symbolic gift in case that wherever you were, you were not somewhere happy."
"H-how did you know how to transform Sundered Rose?" Summer asks. "And considering everything you've done...I don't blame you for offering a bullet," she continues, as the Slayer checks the caliber, and loads the gun. He aims, seeing a far off Barboartusk, and fires, ending its existence quickly. "Woah. I'd say something about how good a shot you are, better than I've been with it, but why do I get the feeling your accuracy is yes?" Summer says with amusement. The Slayer gives a satisfied nod, then returns Sundered Rose back to its ax form.
"Ready to begin your new life?" He asks, portal opening. "Some other things I didn't mention? The SEG will allow some spectral ranging. Basically, as long as this," He holds up Sundered Rose, "is onboard up there? You can go anywhere on the FOD, regardless of where the ax is relative to you."
"I still can't believe you live in space. Space! I can't even imagine it," Summer comments. "But it sounds like you have more to say."
"Yes. Now, technically, you'll be unable to leave. So you could say you're living, or if you prefer, existing up there," He elaborates. "Not that I think you'd mind."
"Hey, Slayer, you're giving me a chance to be in my daughter's lives again," Summer says. "If this all works, I can't even BEGIN to thank you. And by the way...living is fine. When I was here, I WAS dead. With you….OK, I'll still technically be dead. But I won't FEEL dead," she elaborates happily.
"Not just them," He points out. "While I won't claim to know the full story, I think one of your daughter's teammates ALSO has issues with her mom. So...bear in mind you might be playing mom to a LOT more than just your own daughters."
"Oh...I am ready." She then salutes, but can't keep a smile off of her face. "Summer Rose reporting for motherly duty, sir!" He had to smile under his helmet.
"Oh, and one final thing before we go. Now, since you'll be living with me, I would make an offer. Basically…" He puts his hand on his hip, extending his elbow.
"Are you playing the gentleman?" Summer asks. "Going to lead me in by the arm?" She moves closer, eager to take his arm.
"There's a reason I say would though," the Slayer warns. "If I walk in like this, and the girls see me, they might think something's up. One or both might suspect I'm leading you by the arm."
"Oooh, good point," Summer realizes. "Here, just hold your arm down normally." The Slayer does so, letting it fall to the side slack, as Summer wraps her own arms around his. "What will going through the portal be like?"
"It might be weird, I won't lie," the Slayer tells her, grip tightening on Sundered Rose. "But hey, you'll find it to be worth it," He finishes as he leads her through the portal.