4

Author's note: Still a bit unhappy with this, but it's far better than last chapter.

Should only be one more before we can actually start the story proper. Yeah.

I suppose there are two kinds of SI fics, at least for characters that know about the world they are being shoved into. One, they tell no-one nothing and they try to keep to canon as much as possible. I generally don't like these kinds of stories, for a few reasons. One, information is power, and any power a character has must be countered, or they solve any conflict they come into conflict.

My other long RWBY fanfic was like this at first. The entire first act was her trying to not change anything too much. It resulted in an overpowered protagonist that I spent the next act trying to nerf before giving up. No matter how hard I hit her, she solved the whatever crisis was coming.

There is also the same problem I ran into when trying to summarise the fic. If your character is going to make minimal impact, then you are effectively rewriting the canon until the last moment where they walk in and nuke the problem. A very effective plan, but not a very interesting one. The only way I can see to make that work is if something goes wrong, but at that point everything written before then is kind of worthless. Oh, you got up to Volume 5 before things spun out of control? Why not just start the fic there?

Well, you can't just start the fic there, because in the time between 'I arrived in Story' and 'things have gone wrong.', the character has been busy doing stuff. Getting resources and friends, power and plotting.

'And then Raven and Cinder entered the Haven vault ante-chamber, only to see Lady-Sexy and Neo ambushing the crap out of them because LS+N were spotted by Tyrian stealing the Vacuo maiden's power, so they had to abandon the plan to get the Lamp and Staff to themselves. When did that happen? Oh, in the time skip of course!'

Very unsatisfying.

So, that leaves option two. Nuke the canon as soon as possible. Introduce your SI and in the same moment, or after a small familiarisation timeskip, screw things up. Have them shouting the future as soon as possible, or make a mistake that alters things, or put them in the world in an incredibly awkward position. We are here to write a different story, not the same one but with Blake's identical twin Sister who ultimately has made no difference in the story until the last moment.

Conflict is core of most stories for a good reason. If your character knows the future and uses it well, that is a lot of conflict removed. Foreknowledge is an incredibly powerful tool, and for a conflict based story, it must be balanced. Either by giving power to the opposing sides, or by taking that power away.

Not that there is anything wrong with a conflict-less story, I think the world could use more of them actually. Like a calming boat ride or 'the third Schnee sister who loves her sister so much she goes to Beacon with her but nothing goes wrong'. If you want to write a feel good fic like that, go ahead. It's your fic.

Not this story though. My character's want a happy ending? Going to have to earn it. Prepare to suffer.

Partial Maiden Tenno

Jinn.

I said it.

He's trapped. Make it clear, then continue.

I sigh. "They have good cause, know who and where the Maiden is, know what question to ask, where the Relic is and how to use it."

Ozma is pinned to the floor by Glynda's Semblance as James has tackled him. Friends turned on him. The edges of my numbness start wearing off from the assassination attempt.

He tried to kill me.

If I hadn't warned everyone, I would be dead. If my Aura was just a little weaker, I would be dead. If I hadn't thrown myself out the window, I would be dead.

I underestimated how desperate he is to keep his secrets. How broken he is.

I'm sorry Oz, but this needs to be done.

Qrow and the others have their weapons out, though only some are pointed at him. Nobody has changed into their Beacon uniform since the night I arrived, or gone without their weapons. Still too soon, the Grimm might rise up and attack the city, or one of Salem's agents might take advantage of the chaos.

"Well done." Ozma mutters. I have turned his friends against him, at least for this.

"I'm not one of hers." I'm not with Salem. "Please let him go."

"No, you're not." Well, at least he gives me that.

Glynda and James stop holding him back, I honestly wasn't expecting Glynda to side with me, but then I don't know her that well. Like Pyrrha, but with even less screentime.

"Can we please sit down again?" I repaired the privacy screen in a half daze, something to do, but the floor is covered in chairs, shards and water.

Glynda waves her weapon and chairs right themselves, shards of glass, ice and quartz move into a pile, water that didn't run over the edge sloshes and I create a basin for it.

I sit down. One by one people follow me, but weapons do not leave hands.

"Qrow." He turns to me. "Don't kill him. Please."

Ozma's reaction, the fact that I positioned him in that chair, the now undeniable truth that I am telling the truth and Qrow's assessment of me tells him how serious this upcoming talk will be. The fact that I am begging him not to kill Ozma.

"No promises." He reaches for his hip flask and takes another drink.

I sigh. "Know of a bar you can go to after this? I'm not going to be able to continue the rest of the Original Timeline, and I don't think anyone is going to want to hear it after this, not immediately."

"Yeah, I know of a couple of places." I nod. Okay, good. I might not support his drinking, but hopefully he gives up after tomorrow, once he learns how badly he failed.

Another deep breath. "Please be prepared to restrain Qrow, especially near the end." I glance to Winter first, she will be the least affected I think, before hanging my head. "I'm sorry."

Winter is ready. Good. I trust you. "What's your favourite fairytale?"

Here we go. I'm no Jinn (who is probably listening, I hope she's having fun.) but I'll give this a shot. Sorry to ruin your art of storytelling, Jinn. Also, your tits are too big. I'm distracting myself. "Long ago, when the moon was whole and magic was everywhere, there lived a girl in a tower."

I tell the story of how a girl became a wife.

A brave Knight rescues her and the fall in love, before the sickness and death. Gods, trickery, resurrection and punishment. Tears form in Ozma's eyes at the memory of better times passed.

Who became an immortal.

How she rallied humanity against the Brothers, only... "You thought there was no greater punishment we could bestow upon you?"

"You do not understand. There is no one left. You are all that remains of Humanity."

The death of the world and the shattering of the moon.

Then loneliness, isolation. Madness. Humans require social contact as much as air and water to live.

Suicide attempt after attempt, until finally she found and resorted to the last resort. Diving into the Grimm pool with no hesitation. Surely this would kill her.

Who became something else.

It did not.

Time unknown passes.

Then the Knight is brought back, and is given a choice and a mission. He takes the mission, if only to see his beloved again.

The world is different. The moon shattered, people in cages, piles of crystals being traded. And no magic. Except her. So he hunted, followed every rumour, spent years travelling, looking for her.

Who became a witch.

He finds her, a witch in the woods, and they instantly recognise eachother. With magic, they claim godhood to those beneath them-

Who became a goddess.

-and they begin to unite the world through violence.

But they did not tell eachother everything. Secrets of crimes and mission. Still, they were happy, for a time.

Ozma is crying now.

Who became a mother.

"Then one day, as the Knight who called himself a god walked though the halls and caught his reflection. A reflection that talked, asked a single question: What are we doing?"

"No. Please." Ozma begs.

I ignore the broken man and continue. I continue with his eldest daughter with lights in her hands. "Mother, Father, look!"

I continue with the truth, and the disagreement. How the Knight tried to sneak his family away.

Who became a murderer.

Cycles pass in pain and desperate attempts to forget. Eventually those days fade as I tell of the day he decided to fight back, leaving behind a family. A wife, and two children with Silver Eyes.

Who became a Grimm Queen.

He knew what he had to do. So long as she lived, the world would never be at peace. So he hunted and found something. A Lamp.

Ozma is silent.

Jinn emerges from the Lamp, time stops, she explains her rules.

I break story for a moment to clarify a fact. "Where he asked three questions. I only one answer." I take a breath and stare at his pleading face.

"Where are the other relics?"

"What powers do they possess?"

"How do I destroy Salem?"

"The last of which she replied simply. 'You can't.'"

The room is silent as I stop.

I look to Winter, remind her of her mission. Good, she is ready.

It's quiet, but in this silence is is a roar. "You lied." Qrow growls lowly. His rage is building.

I have to make it clear. I have to make sure. "I'm sorry. It's worse than that." I start. "That was before the Academies. Before anyone here was born. Before Summer."

The stone of Ozma's chair cracks under Misfortune, little chunks falling off it.

"I do not know if he sent her. I do know that even if he didn't, he knew she would not survive her. I strongly suspect that she was not the first pair of Silver Eyes he sent." The walls of privacy screens crack and water like tears bleed out of them. Winter has her weapon at the ready.

"Mom." Ruby starts crying as I spell it out. Yang shudders under rage and loss.

Qrow screams and lunges forward into a Glyph. I leap to my feet and call on the stone shackles he was too grief stricken to notice I put on him, pulling them back. James is standing to catch him.

It's not enough. This is Qrow Branwen.

The stone chair is not overturned, it is shattered. Qrow's punch into his jaw sends Ozma goes over it as the stone backrest hits the floor with a crack. James's feet anchor and stop his attack as Qrow screams hate at the person he called his friend. I pool lighting on one hand. If he bird shifts, I'll be ready.

What none of us are ready for is Yang taking right after her uncle, mane ablaze and eyes bloody red, pounding him into the floor. "Pyrrha! Pull!" I call to her 7 punches too late.

She springs to action and pulls on Ember Celica. It's not enough to stop them, but is enough to slow them. She starts screaming and trying even harder. "Jaune, Buff Pyrrha! Ren, dull her, Nora smack her off if it fails!"

"No." No? What? "No." Nora doesn't get up either. Shit. At least Pyrrha is holding her. Only to stop. Jaune isn't buffing her either. Why aren't the-

I'm not their friend.

Ozma's Aura breaks. I let go of Qrow and wrap a feral Yang in chunks of ice and lift her off him. She is screaming in hatred. Glynda is still shocked. Weiss, Weiss does nothing but sit next to Ruby and support her.

Yang shifts her weapon to ranged mode. I need to stop her. "If you kill him, Oscar's soul will be eaten alive!" I shout. That gives them pause. "It doesn't hurt Ozma, it hurts a boy he is holding hostage."

"Then we won't kill him!" She is still burning, still struggling. "We'll just make him wish he was dead!"

I run through options quickly and pick one. The ice, with Yang inside, gets tossed aside and Ozma enters my magical grip, no Aura to prevent me. Release the fistful of lightning and shatter a privacy screen.

I am moving around, as quick as I can, to the gap.

I ready to leap, while Ozma is held above with my magic and mind. "Winter. Take Qrow, Ruby and Yang bar-ward. Kick everyone out." I turn to the shattering Qrow.

"Qrow, message Raven." I have his attention, and my voice drops to a more caring tone. "Out of everyone, she will understand. And tell her to pick up Tai."

I don't wait for a response, instead I leap upwards and ignite jets of fire to aid my thrust. Upwards we go.

Higher and higher though the cold night air until we reach the sloping roof's point. A bit of stone created and we have a platform at the tallest peak of the tallest tower, like a fairytale. I set him down. There you go, Ozma, you are now immediately safe.

Not that I let my guard down, Qrow followed me before, he might again. Yang might boost herself up here to, now that I think about it. Huntsmen and their recoil flight.

"Are you happy?" Ozma sounds as broken as he looks. Dead, unmoving. Not once did he try to defend himself, not that he had his cane, but he didn't even raise his arms to guard.

"No." I wave and generate a pair of chairs, stone shapes growing out of the platform. Just how much matter per second can I create? The energy levels must be- not now.

Qrow isn't up here, and I don't hear any weapons fire. Then again, this is quite a bit of distance from the office. The office sits below the glowing orbs of the tower-head and we are not just above them, but on the very tip of the roof point.

Seconds pass, maybe thirty. I count and scan, checking on Ozma every 5 to make sure he hasn't been attacked or killed himself.

Safe. Maybe. Safe enough. I relax a notch or two and sit down in the free chair facing Ozma.

I look at the broken man. I'm sorry, but this needed to be done. Now to try fix this, help him. "Ozma." His head rolls up to look at me. "Let's pretend I'm her. Ask me again."

He scoffs as a cruel sneer takes his face, directed at me. He doesn't speak.

This isn't some attempt at hurting you. This isn't me 'celebrating my victory'. This is me trying to help you. I soften my voice. "Please."

He straightens up and stares at me, still none of that Hope in his eyes. An empty gaze from an empty knight. "How do I destroy Salem?"

Say the words, just right. "You can't, because You still love her." I stress both of the words, make clear the folly of his question and Jinn's response.

Nothing.

His eyes widen. Ozma's world tilts, bends, and breaks all over again.

"No... It can't be that..." He stares at his hands, all the terrible things he has done to hold back Salem's tide since he used the Relic and 'learned' of her 'invulnerability'.

I want to speak, but he will not hear it.

He traded lives for time, trying to stop an 'inevitable' end. How many sacrifices are coming back to him? How many friends has he lied to and watched die? I see the old man he really is breaking down all over again.

"Ozma." I get his attention. "This is why I don't trust you, Ozma. Not because of secrets, lies, mistakes or sacrifices. But because you are a hero. A shining Knight."

Confusion, it distracts him from the terrible loss he feels anew.

I start proper. "Because despite your centuries of experience, your painful and very long life, your mistakes and victories... You really are still that Knight who rescued a girl from a tower. The boy who believes in fairytales and love." He starts crying again, and my eyes dampen with empathy.

Break the people he looks up to. "If the Brothers wanted someone to win, then they chose wrong. They are not perfect, infallible beings, just like how Salem tricked them. You are no general or scientist, no great mage of your time or scholar. You're just a simple Knight put into the role of White Queen of this Immortal Game."

"And how can a hero kill the person they love?" I stand and hug him, whisper with as much care and love I can muster. "It's okay. You don't have to do it. Everything is going to be alright, I promise."

The Broken-Hero-Knight breaks down in my arms.

I don't know how long I have been up here, comforting a broken old man, putting him back together, but the sun is starting to rise. I'm cold, hungry, and tired, but I do not leave him. Constant are my simple words that things will get better, that he doesn't have to carry the whole burden. To trust and love and to have Hope.

I have changed our chairs, we sit on a bench at look to the faintest edges of the horizon. The sun is rising. "Watch the sunrise with me, Ozma." I snort. "I'm sure there's some great symbolic implication behind it, but let's just see the pretty colours."

He stopped crying about an hour ago? I don't know, I don't feel time. All I feel is our hands wound together as we look bright-ward, rise-ward, hope-ward. As I hold him up.

"Amber chose right." Ha, worthy of Maidenhood through kindness.

He's wrong. I'm no hero, not kind. I'm just a broken machine who wants to fix broken things. "I'm glad you think so. Maybe one day I'll believe you."

"One day." The sky slowly brightens as it shifts from the murky grey water blue, the underside of the clouds getting an orange glow to them.

"This is the last generation, win or lose. It always was going to be." The show is not some thing spanning across generations. It is this one. This is the end. All in or fail forever.

I'm normally apathetic to sunrises and beautiful vistas. Video games and trauma have defined my life, so a sight like the normally registers as useless information. Something to be ignored. Yet...

"Can we beat her?" He asks.

Maybe it's the symbolism, maybe it's because it's the first sunrise I've seen in this world and with these eyes, or maybe it's the company. Whatever it is, the world looks different, feels different.

"Yes." No doubt. No hesitation. We can win. I will not allow another possibility.

No smoke rises from the crashed airships, and the floating one in the distance isn't firing. The battle for the day is won. Now to fight for Eternity.

He stands and I stand with him, an Immortal and an Alien against the world. A Knight and a Tenno, to end this Old War.

I reach behind me and pull out The Long Memory, holding it out to him. "Are you ready?"

He takes it. A series of clicks is heard as the cane extends. A moment lingers on Memory, before it returns to the ground, one hand on it while the other is wrapped in mine.

"I am."

The sun is rising. The edge, the first line of orange from that massive ball of fusion far away is visible. Yes, it's the symbolism.

A sunrise symbolises that most dangerous and powerful thing, a magic far beyond spells and elements, Grimm and Gods.

Hope

Breakfast is silent, the steady click of gears around us strange. Above us the big ones turn, I didn't ice wall the giant glass overhead, that would have taken too much time.

We sit in the center of the room, a circle of chairs around us. Two stone seats at a stone table. His desk it to our right, the elevators our left. We sit as equals eating breakfast. Ha, breakfast with the headmaster in his office, as a student this would be strange. Considering the circumstances, this is the least strange thing the past two days.

Huh, I just realise this is the first full meal I have had since coming to Remnant. "Say, how long was Amber in a coma?"

He raises an eyebrow, stopping himself from drinking his tea. "About 6 months."

I grin and snigger. "Hehe. Then technically, this is the first decent meal I've had in half a year."

"I'll be sure to relay your compliment to my staff." He sips his tea to suppress his smirk.

I don't trust him to do things alone, but I think I'm starting to trust him more and more. At least enough to jab. "Snarky this regeneration, are we?"

Again with the raised eyebrow. Oh right, no 'Doctor Who' here. Maybe. "Fiction, time-traveling alien goes on adventures. Early on the writers implemented the concept of Regeneration so they could change the actors. Same character, but different quirks and mannerisms, as well as a different body."

"Convenient." Yep, so much so that I've borrowed part of the concept for my own works. And Aura, for the same reason Sci-Fi loves energy shields, much easier to animate.

I stare at him, putting pieces together. "You might have some inspiration from that, actually."

No wait. "No, sorry. Avatar. That's what your based off. Anime homework." Derp. I sigh as I have to explain again. "The writers drew inspiration from other stories, including fairytales, making literary allusions."

Got your interest there, huh? I smirk. "So let me tell you some fairytales you haven't heard. We'll start with... Hmmm... Little Red Riding Hood."

I finish my second plate, having gone slow as I tell the stories. Thank you un-named characters serving as waiters, neither of us wants to head down yet.

With Goldielocks and the Three Bears completed, I have just done all of Team RWBY. Mostly remembered childhood stories gives me confidence where my lack of storytelling experience would take it, but the stories aren't that complicated or long, so I get it mostly right.

At least Ozma likes them, leaning forward and hanging off my words. "Fascinating."

To see the difference and strange parallels from this 'angle', from this world. It is fascinating. "Right? It's not accurate, of course. They're just inspirations and allusions, but basically everyone here has a story behind them."

"Everyone?" Oh, you want your story?

I smile. "Oh, fine. So, this one is called the Wizard of Oz. And yes, Ozpin is his name in this."

My third plate of toast, eggs, fried tomato and mushrooms. I'm finally full. I swear, it's like Aura requires a ton of food to power it or something. Must get some data and update theories on Aura's energy levels, I've been assuming that it's energy is created freely.

"That one was less a fairytale and more a story." Movie, actually, but inspired from a book.

I left out the whole 'it was just a dream', the bloody anti-feminist message added by the studio. Wasn't even in the book, but nooo. Can't have a girl doing anything important, no they must be dreaming.

Ozma is thinking, frowning. That story probably hit a bit too close to home. "Dorothy."

Hm? "What about her?"

"I think we have a name for you." Oh. Oh shoot. That makes way too much sense.

"Ah, no. Um. I can't use that one, it's not even coloured." I wince. "It's also alarmingly boring. And I think that the role might be taken by the group. Which also needs a name, now that I think about it." I wince. "They kind of 'pulled back the curtain' with the Lamp."

He changes the topic. "A shame we can't just splash our wicked witch with some water." Yeah, that did hit pretty close.

"Pool of life maybe?" I nibble on the last bit of toast, not really hun- I suddenly realise something. "No."

He's having that kind of expression he had when I pointed out the loophole, just less. "It can't be that easy."

"Wash away the Grimmblood? Would that even work?" My eyes start flickering side to side as I think.

"Pure destruction, pure creation. Add more pure creation." Ozma is humouring my with my stupid idea, pretending to be considering it.

"The ratios would shift. Or it could escape and taint the pool entirely? Do you know where it is?" Where did the Brother of Light live?

"Haven's vault." Oh shit! He sounds disappointed, as if this is the end of it. "Though the effect has long since faded."

I grin. No, it might not have. "Cinder fell in, basically dead." His eyes widen as the polite talk about my stupid idea suddenly doesn't sound so stupid. "Yet she got up, still hurt but then again she was part Grimm... So either that or-"

"It still has a reduced effect. We will need to investigate." The pool, at Haven, with the cowardly lion.

Gears start turning in my head as I bite my left lower lip. "When we remove Leo. Routine inspection, no." There is nothing routine about this. "Cinder was from Haven, we are having security concerns about his software."

"That his systems have the same virus, don't tip our hand." Ah, that's how you want to play it. Back and forth we go.

"False feed of information?" I ask, making sure.

"Already my plan. We know he's a spy, we can use that." False agent, got it.

"He will want protection, safety. Cowardice... Can we turn him back?" A more reliable agent?

"Not worth the risk. I've seen it fail too many times." I yield to that. Salem can be scary, and he was already inner circle when he turned against us.

"Unknown then, will make his reports more genuine too." Ozma nods and then suddenly remembers something. "What?"

"Lie Ren. You ordered him to dull Miss Xiao Long's emotions." The tone of his voice shifts too, but to what I don't know.

"Yes?" What's with the sudden change in topic?

"Do you see nothing wrong with that?" Um. No?

"She was going to kill you. She needed to be restrained, and Pyrrha was failing." I frown. "No, not failing, she stopped, once I gave that order."

"I thought as much." He sounds grim. No, not Grimm, stupid brain. How tired am I? Oh, very.

He puts down his tea cup and I put down my half toast, whatever this is, it's serious. "What do you know about the Great War?"

"One of Salem's plays. She overwhelmed a Mantle settlement, and then probably poisoned the advice pool, to suppress... Culture." I groan as I get it. "Shit. I'm an idiot."

"You're an alien." A half smirk plays at the corner of his mouth. "As strange as it is to say."

"Right. I'm going to try explain what I did wrong and why it was wrong, you correct me?" He nods.

I take a breath. "After the Great War, the suppression of culture, of emotion, was made illegal." I sigh. "It violates peoples freedoms. I ordered Ren to violate Yang's emotions for a tactical advantage. A cultural taboo. Not just that, but a miniature replication of the whole reason there was a war."

Shit. "No wonder Pyrrha stopped once I ordered that. She's from Mistral, no, Argus. Right at the edge where the two kingdoms meet."

Ozma speaks. "You did exactly what the King of Mantle ordered. Our names, named after colours, they were a declaration of resistance from Mistral and Mantle. A tradition that quickly spread across the rest of the world as a show of support."

Yang as a mindless drone flickers to mind. None of her rage or puns, clothing dead grey and eyes never red. "I tried to make her the same. Take away her uniqueness."

It's alarmingly easy to visualise it, that's how people look under Ren's Semblance. "No wonder Ren doesn't use his Semblance often. It has great tactical applications but morally?"

Fuck. "No wonder he was one of the first to Evolve his. Empathy is so much better than suppression." I look up. "I'm not up to there in the story yet."

He accepts that and states the obvious, making sure I understand just how bad I screwed up. "I believe we both need to make apologies."

Yes, we do. How damaged is my relationship with everyone from that one command? "I'm going to make these mistakes. Just need to make sure I don't repeat them." Idiot. I'm an idiot. I bring a hand to my face and try to rub away the stupidity, It's not working.

"Does Terra not have a cultural understanding or laws against mental manipulation?" He asks, curious about Terra or trying to get an understanding of why I think like that. The latter, I think.

I snort. "Ozma, we don't even have souls. Never mind laws about them." At least as far as I can tell.

"what"

My hand drops and I look at him dead in the eyes. "When I said no Aura, no Semblances, what did you think I meant? Maybe there's a soul, but a decent amount of study has gone into trying to find a soul, with no real results." At least none that can't be explained, like the few grams of mass from the nervous system shutting down.

I raise my hand and generate a visible Aura barrier. "This? This is new. I'm using Amber's skills to do this. I mean, I don't even know if my Aura is unlocked, this might be some weird side effect or something."

He blinks. "You're Grimm?"

"What? No. We have bodies, kill us and they don't dissolve or anything." What's something that I can compare us to. "Animals. No, wait, they have Aura and souls here too, don't they. Clockwork?" I nod and put my arm down.

Deep breathe and I continue. "We are complex biomechanical machines. Things like free will and souls are up for debate, in the realm of 'we don't have any scientific data confirming thing, speculate and philosophize all you like.'. Gods too."

"Entirely godless?" I nod. "But... How were you created? Surely they made you and left?"

He's having another kind of breakdown. Shock. Staring at me like I'm... well an alien. "That's another thing that is up for debate. How many dead religions have you come across? One's that aren't in any way related to the Brothers? We haven't found any scientific proof of intelligent design or divine intervention, nothing that can't be disproven. To be fair, maybe there is one or more divine being's out there, but I don't believe in that sort of thing."

"I assume you have good reason?" He is faithful, absolute in his certainty the Brothers are gods. They're powerful, sure, but divine? I don't even think they created life here.

"A few. Psychology for one. Evidence for another, or the lack of it. Unlike here, there are not oddly dragon shaped landmasses or renegade smoke monsters made of destruction."

"Then how do you believe you came to be?" I grin. It feels nice to be back in this groove. I don't hate or disrespect creationist, so long as they aren't the pushy kind, so a debate like this is nice.

"Evolution." He sighs with the expression of having heard this 'crack scientific theory'. I giggle at his reaction. "You know it, but we have proof." I steeple my fingers and lean forward. "Terra is unlike Remnant. Without the Grimm at every corner, and a vast population, scientific pursuits are both unrestricted from pure combat and survival applications, as well as allowed to go in much more depth. Do you have fossils?"

"Somehow I don't think you mean the word that means very old." Ooohh, that's that deadpan snark again. "As an object? No."

"Really? I suppose it would be a niche field here. And incredibly difficult, with most of the planet covered in Grimm. Though with Dust mining, you should have come across some... Maybe." I shake the thought off and clear my throat.

"A fossil is living being that has been preserved in stone in some way. Such as an impression, or the more complete replacement of organic components with stone. The process takes years, but importantly, the fossil can remain for millions of years."

"Millions."

"Maybe longer, Palaeontology isn't my field, though it's not hard to imagine a fossil surviving that long. It's stone at that point. Organically shaped stone, which means either preserved...?" I let him complete the logic chain.

"Or carved." He nods. At least he's not stupid. Of course he isn't stupid, idiot. How tired am I?

"So, evidence of life existing back millions of years either way. Or the creator made them to throw us off. Still, I'm in the godless camp." I shake my head. "We have gotten off track."

"Yes." He picks up and sips his tea. "We have."

"I need to do a bunch of reading and research anyway, cultural understandings is just another thing to add to the list." I yawn. No, don't do that, it's early morni- Oh, right, been up all night. And just ate. No wonder the body wants to go to sleep now.

"I will be here, or at least somewhere, to give advice." It takes me a moment to understand the jump in conversation. He's offering advice and doesn't think he will be here. Getting kicked out of Beacon, are things that bad?

"You don't think they'll kick you out of Beacon, do you?" Make sure that's what he's talking about.

"I believe I will need to retire anyway. Their trust in me is broken." Shit. I didn- He waves his hand to cut me off. "And if this is the last generation as you say, then it is for the best I focus exclusively on it."

I nod and accept that. The war will be in full swing now, we need as little distractions as we can get. Also, I only have one life, if he is to make good use of me, then we should do it while I am alive. "Glynda will make a stern headmistress I expect."

He smiles and chuckles. "She practically runs the school anyway."

I groan. "You're one of those manipulative slacker headmasters. It's Professor Dumbledore all over again."

"Another story?" He asks.

"Yeah, it is. Not one related to Remnant though." At least I don't think so. Then again, Harry Potter was a popular story book for children, some of it's themes and ideas will have tricked down. Glynda uses a riding crop as a wand, and she seems similar to Professor McGonagall in some respects.

"I have a question." Hm? Oh, might be personal. I nod for him to go ahead. "What is your favourite fairytale?"

Ah. That's why he asked it like that. My favourite fairytale... Amid the traditional fairytales there is only one that really comes close, and even then it's modified. My version of it rather than the public one.

He looks expectant for my answer. Okay, but this... I sigh and try prepare myself.

It's Just A Story. It's Just A Story. It's Just A Story. It's Just A Story.

One freezing winter's night, a poor barefoot girl walks shivering in dying sunlight. Fearful to go back to her broken home without coin, she walks from door to door trying to sell the matches she had been given.

No matter how she knocks, no door opens, for it was a night of great celebration. A night be with family and friends. Yet she does not leave empty handed, for through every window she steals a glimpse of a life she doesn't have. One with fire and laughter, family and food, warmth and love.

Long after the sun has set, everyone has gone to sleep. Still coinless and fearful, she sits in a gap between two houses, shivering in the cold and dark.

'I'm so cold.' She thinks. 'Surely one match won't go amiss?'

A strike against stone and the match is struck! Bursting into flames and light, the trickle of warmth tickles her face. Driven by stolen glimpses she sees things in the tiny flame.

A world where she is happy and warm, loved and fed, where her bones are hidden behind healthy thick skin and snug clothes.

For the brief few seconds, everything is right. Then the match goes out.

And she is left alone in the cold once more.

'Just... one more.'

Fire! Love! The vision says her name as her new family hugs her. As they dance and tease, so like those images stolen from passing windows, but all for her.

Cold, another struck. Cold, another! Why do they keep going out? Light them all! 'We love you.' the fire says as she stops shivering, warmed by the love of the little flame.

Next morning people walk outside, the streets are filled with children laughing and play before the warmth of the sun can melt away the snow.

Yet some find something else. An ice sculpture of a little girl huddling close to herself, dozens of burned matches sticking out of the snow around her.

A little girl with sunmelt tears running anew on her frozen smiling face.

I am smiling. There are tears in Amber's eyes, across her face, as I end. Not mine, because I am smiling. I'm not a dead little girl who died in the cold, chasing a broken dream.

I whimper, my smile cracks, and I reveal my greatest fear. "This is a beautiful match, Ozma. I don't want it to go out."

The table below me becomes wet and cold, stone and salt. "Please. I don't want to wake up. I don't want to go."

The elevator door to my left slides open, James and Winter striding out. My head turns mechanically, broken smile still on my face.

It's time to continue. "Oz." James growls.

"It's fine James. Everything is fine. I'm still here." I'm so cold. Have I been using magic to freeze myself?

So I have. It's strange to control. More control over myself than some external force. Intuitive, too intuitive even.

My skin seems no longer tan, a layer of frost covers it. Snow sits on my hair and falls down my back as I move my head, but it doesn't make me feel any colder. I am already dead. I am a ghost. A memory possessing a corpse.

The ground is slick with ice around me, my arms are frozen to the armrests of my stone chair. I can't feel the corpse I ride in. Huh, the frozen ground is in a snowflake pattern.

"Can you move?" I turn to look at Ozma, asking me. His tea is frozen to the table, the teapot solid.

I try to lift my arms. They do not respond. Flare Aura and magic, a crack echoes though the office and I come free. No wonder I didn't collapse sobbing during the story, I can't.

Air in, flame out. Warm the body from the inside and out. Gradually, don't go into shock. That's it, just let the heat wash away the ice.

Feeling slowly returns, and I shift from corpse statue to living girl.

Stand, slowly. Just like the hospital bed. Feel the weight of my body, make sure that everything works. "What happened?" Winter asks.

"Just telling some fairytales." One day I'll wake up from this dream. One day I'll be back on Earth. One day I will be alone again. So I'll keep this match burning for as long as I can.

"What was that one called?" Ozma asks.

"The Little Match Girl." The words come out easier, my voice wasn't just breaking from emotion during the story, it was freezing up. Why didn't he stop me? Or did he? I can't remember, so consumed with my vision.

"What was her name?" My name.

"She doesn't have one. Not a name, not a colour. Not a family or home. Not a coin nor smile. No rush of warm air from a strangers door opening. Nothing."

He nods and speaks.

"Yuki."

Ozma gives the little girl a name, Japanese for snow.

A frozen little girl in the snow, dreaming of a better life. Even as that dream kills her.

I close my eyes and feel the name settle in me.

Take another deep breath. In, feel that morning air slipping though my given nose and filling my gifted lungs. Hold, the slight chill of the gas fades as it is infused with life. Out, past the lips, carry the warmth out.

Open my eyes.

Calm. Tranquil. Ready.

"I am ready to continue."

Partial Maiden Yuki Tenno

Raven and Taiyang join, and the circle is reformed. I apologies to Ren and Yang, asking that they tell me when I do something stupid or culturally inappropriate again, tell me what I am doing is wrong and why.

Then it's Ozma's turn, only for Qrow, hung over, to interrupt.

"Did you send her?" He already knows. From Raven, she was with Summer, I can see it. I thought as much, she knew when Yang was in danger, either she was somehow keeping a very close on her, or more likely, Raven's Semblance lets her know when someone she is close to is in danger.

She would not have allowed Summer to die, so she must have been there.

Ozma answers. "Yes."

I didn't want to believe. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, hoped that it was through negligence rather than desperation. Desperate that her Silver Eyes would work, or still her. Encase her in stone, for just one generation.

Which is the explanation Ozma gives, not that it matters. Summer is still dead and it didn't even work. And he lied to her that it might destroy her.

At least Qrow doesn't get up and attack him again. Nor does Yang or Raven, though Taiyang does. His trust is broken. Ruby is crying again. She's 15, too young for this. For war and betrayal, for her idols to be brought down.

Too bad the world doesn't care about that.

"So, what do we do?" Jaune is trying to push onwards, refusing to give up even though he is lost.

There he is, that man I know. The boy who snuck into Beacon and almost died, but didn't give up even when he thought he should. The one to pull his team together and push onwards though the snow, even as the others break around him.

Only to break when he had to kill Penny. His torn cry echoes through my head as his tears on the ground are joined by her blood.

I nod to Ozma. We are ready. "I was going to keep this for the end, but I'm done with proper story telling." Clear my throat, turn to Ozma, play the role. "I am Jinn." I announce to everyone.

"How do I destroy Salem?" He asks again.

"You can't, because You still love her." I repeat. A moment of silence passes, then Hope blazes again.

"Idiot." Qrow... doesn't say because the word isn't really a word, more an exhalation of so many conflicting emotions. Anger I can pick out. I'm pretty sure Qrow would throw something, but the thing he has in his hand is his hip flask. Did Summer give that to him?

"You're an idiot!" He yells. Rage again boils in him and the other's who knew Summer. Was her death pointless? It was, but now it might not have been. I don't know, I'm not the one suffering from this, not like they are. Well, at least people are angry again, not sad.

"Yes. Yuki has made that very clear to me." My name. That gets some attention, enough for me pull some heat off Ozma.

"How many of you left last night thinking the same? You're all idiots, as far as I'm concerned. You all failed to see that single loophole. Even in the OT, months later, you still did not question." I'm a little angry at that, to be honest.

"Oh, and you noticed immediately I suppose?" Raven bites.

"Yes." I am firm and unyielding.

I slip into a bit of rant at the idiots around me. "That is exactly what happened, so much that I was confused! Confused when the group reacted so badly, the only explanation given is that 'he lied!'."

Steam is building, my own anger at them I didn't even realise I had flaring up. "The question was not 'how can Salem be destroyed?', though I would not ask that. It was not 'what are all the methods by which Salem may be destroyed?'. It was 'How do I destroy Salem?'. You just accepted that!"

It comes freely now, as I tear apart their stupidity, the weakness in their thinking. "Also to note is that Jinn cannot tell the future! If a means does not exist, 'You can't.' is a valid reply until one is made. If that doesn't work, how about 'By what methods can Salem be indefinitely contained?' with follow up questions pursuing how to implement such solutions."

"That! That was my response, my thoughts! You do not take the fey at face value, and while Jinn isn't fey, at least I don't think so, she is bound by laws and so laws must be used against her."

I take a breath to try calm myself. "That said, I do not need to ask Jinn how to destroy Salem. For as powerful and immortal as she is, she is not immutable. My first thought for dealing with her is to torture her into insanity." They flinch at that. "To such a degree that although her body breathes and her heart beats, the person known as 'Salem' does not exist. An empty shell."

Too crude? Hmm? Idiots. "But that is not the only way:" I start.

"Build an infinity prison of looped space, cut off her portals and leave her in the void.

Throw her into the sun and let her escape a few billion years later once it burns out and explodes.

Overpower time dilation and freeze her in a moment.

Possess her body and take over.

Bombard her position under an endless artillery barrage, civilisation dedicated to the constant destruction.

Rip a hole in space and banish her to another dimension.

Create your own immortal fighters and sacrifice them to fight her forever, or until the Grimm on this world are gone and she is rendered powerless.

Apply Science to Magic and find the key weaknesses to strip her of her powers.

Convince her to stop.

Trap her in a finite thought curve."

I list attack after attack that would work on an immortal like her. "When the world says you can't, you don't just give up." I spit hatred at the mere idea of resignation. "You find another way or you Break The World! Impossible is a lie! There is only what has not yet been done!"

When did I start standing and yelling at them? I take another breath, fists clenching and unclenching. "The only failure is in surrender, and I am done surrendering." I look to Pyrrha with a challenge. "Ask me if I believe in Destiny."

She doesn't back down. She says the last words she ever spoke. "Do you believe in Destiny?" Yet she lives.

"No. And if she exists, I'm going to kill her." Fuck you, Canon! We are going off the rails!

One more. "Salem's ultimate goal is the death of all sentient life. Salem commands us to Die. The world commands us to Die. Destiny commands us to Die."

I lean forward and Growl. I scream my defiance at the universe that thinks it has the right to command me, to make me kneel. I will not kneel, not again. "I Refuse!"

The first to rise, to fight for what is right.

Ruby stands. "I Refuse!"

Defiance is her way, friendship to fight for.

Weiss stands. "I Refuse!"

This is what he always wanted to be, enough to run from safety and family.

Jaune stands. "I Refuse!"

A familiar pattern, the world has told her to die before.

Blake stands. "I Refuse!"

Guilt enough to fight the universe, he thinks. Yet I know it is Love that what drives him.

Qrow stands. "I Refuse!"

The Broken Knight is reforged.

Ozma stands. "I Refuse!"

Will unbroken, a war to win, the stakes everything.

James stands. "I Refuse!"

She broke away from abuse and raised her sister out of it.

Winter stands. "I Refuse!"

She desires the best in her students, raises them up as she fiercely defends them.

Glynda stands. "I Refuse!"

Abandoned to die by a mother that should have protected her. Did she lie down and die?

Nora stands. "I Refuse!"

Death has come for him before, taken from him family and home. It has taken enough.

Ren stands. "I Refuse!"

For just a moment, there is not the hurt girl standing, but the person she knows she will be.

Yang stands. "I Refuse!"

Friendship, people who see her for her,

Pyrrha stands. "I Refuse!"

Love, like his brother, for family and loss. He was already standing, but this is different.

Taiyang stands. "I Refuse!"

There is only one left.

Raven hasn't sat down since she entered the room. She remains silent.

"Are you going to run this timeline?" I ask her.

She glares at me, at Ozma, at Qrow. "You are all going to die."

"So are you." I counter immediately. "How will you spend it?" We are all going to die, Raven. All things must die, but how, how you die makes all the difference.

"You really think you can beat her?" Her voice does not waver, but I know there is fear there, hidden behind the disdain, behind the fact she has seen Salem dominate and destroy.

"This is the last generation, Raven. This is the last fight. We either win, or we lose. There is no more middle ground, nowhere to run. If you care about anything, anything at all, this is the time to show it."

I know she cares. But does she care enough?

Two moments pass in silence as she wavers. Run or stand and fight. Make your choice. I stare her down and Command her to run. To hide. To die. I lock eyes with her and send the message. I, a broken girl, challenge you, Raven Branwen. "Or you might as well kill yourself. I Command You To Die!"

Her back straightens. Her gaze hardens. Survive. This is the last stand, Raven. You have no choice. So will you run and die? Or will bonds of love overcome her cage of fear?

"I Refuse!"

I trust Raven. Maybe it will turn out to be a mistake, but I don't think so. I trust in Love, in her love for Qrow, for Tai and for Summer. I trust in her love for her tribe, that she wants them to live another five decades. I trust that deep down her wants to hold Yang and protect her, even if she doesn't know how.

Raven says one thing, and does another. I have seen her Raven form watching Yang in trailers and out a window as she sits limbless. I have seen her allow her to leave though a portal while she makes self bitter comments admitting she wasn't the best. I have seen her give the Lamp to Yang, broken and hurt as Yang breaks ties with her.

I trust in Love. So I will trust Raven.

I sit down. Raven sits. She already had a chair created, but only now does she use it.

"For those of you just joining us, I am an alien from outside the universe. Long story short, before I arrived I got a good look at the timeline where I never existed."

I take a deep breath and ready myself for the next part. I know where I was. Jinn and the train.

I start talking. I recount the Apathy and Qrow's failing. I hammer home how close it was, how if not for luck, they would all be dead. "Qrow, learn from this, the mistakes never to be made. Empty your flask, and Never Drink Again."

Booze hits the floor in a steady stream. Tai and Raven don't understand just how important this story is, or maybe they do. Maybe it's the fact that he is actually doing it, actually giving up drinking where before they have failed.

It does not matter. Qrow will be sober.

Argus, Maria teaching Ruby, the statue of Pyrrha, the closed borders of Atlas and the leader of the Argus military base.

"Caroline Cordovin." James supplies.

I sigh. "Yes. Her. She's..."

"Quite a character." I snort at his description.

"That. Also has a grudge against Maria, which... Leads to her being particularly difficult. So difficult in fact that after a few failed attempts at diplomacy and subterfuge the group decides to steal a bullhead. Jaune." I glare teasing at him and his plan.

He points to himself. "Me?"

"Ruby agrees, Qrow shoots the idea down, but at that point teamwork is starting to fall apart. He was black out drunk the night before. Scroll calls gone unanswered, not knowing where you were." He taps his empty flask.

I take a breath before continuing, less cheerful. Stealing the ship, Blake comes under attack from Adam. Yang and her kill Adam (maybe, no body but Cinder was thrown in similar situation. Never seen again either way), the fight and then the Leviathan.

I do not tell them about Jinn's condition to never do that again, because I know she will implement again if I do. I'm a little smug about that. Is this flirting with a near omniscient being? Kisses! Oh wow, I am tired if I'm thinking like this.

Where am I? Oh. I have to stop again, water sipped and a question that needs to be asked. I turn to James. "James, do you have a Semblance, and if you do, is it called Mettle?"

"No, I don't." Okay, put that away for later.

"Then this next part is going to be particularly bad. The writers attempted to justify your actions after the backlash they got when they ruined a particularly popular character. I will go over alternative sources after the core story." I smile. It doesn't reach my eyes. "You look good with a beard though."

Here we go.

Volume 7. My storytelling degrades as I go on, lack of sleep and refusal to drink tea or coffee hindering me.

Salem's agent's manipulations, secrets, attacks, greed. Volume Seven tells of a choked Atlas even as old friends come back and new friends are made.

Then the truth comes out and James breaks. Volume 8

Atlas is falling.

I turn and speak their last words to them as the fight goes on.

Yang. "Ruby!" She leaps to take a fatal blow for her sister.

Ruby. "Whatever you wanted, I hope it was worth it." A desperate last play fails.

Blake. "Ruby!" A rescue attempt burned away.

Penny. "Let me choose. This one thing. Trust me." Jaune screams as he is forced to kill a friend.

Weiss. "Get back!" Cinder does not relent.

Jaune. "We need to go. Now!" The portal closes in front of him.

James. "So... the destiny I chose for you has arrived." Bitter, broken, betrayed.

James' final stand, how is is broken.

Ren, Nora, Oscar and Winter are left alone in the desert with the few thousand recovered people of Atlas. Qrow is left behind with the remnants of the Ace Ops as they watch Atlas crash.

Cinder with Salem and two relics.

The final word. "And that's, Checkmate."