Optimistic Game Chapter 87

Edited by: Priapus, Marethyu

– Ozpin –

Watching the recording of the great duel between the two Titan Slayers for the umpteenth time, the Headmaster of Beacon leaned back, his expression still stuck in confusion and surprise. He’d had a hard time believing what he saw the first time, and even upon several rewatchings, this was still highly unprecedented.

Of course, the battle was highly entertaining. It had been countless millennia since he’d seen a fight at this level. Only the most powerful and experienced wizards during the age of magic had been capable of such feats. Shaking the entirety of the floating stadium by a mere exchange of blows wasn’t something current warriors were capable of.

But that did not apply to Reid and his students. After all, he was from a different world where magic was still present. Where gods still walked among their creations, bestowing gifts and blessings of power to any who deserved it. Even Reid himself had the benefit of a divine blessing, according to him, despite avoiding calling himself a champion.

And Ruby? Daughter of Summer Rose, one of the best hunters in Vale’s history? Directly trained by Reid Astera and a slayer of her own Titan, no wonder the girl was going to put on a fantastic show. He had no doubt that someone like her would be able to push Astera into taking the battle seriously, even if he had a much, much more impressive resume.

So Ozpin had been expecting a battle of that magnitude and even more. Frankly, when Astera had mentioned that they’d need to improve the protective barriers and even offered some of his Stardust supply to do so, the headmaster had known it was warranted. It was not out of arrogance. Even Reid was aware of his and Ruby’s strength.

But that wasn’t what Ozpin had found so shocking.

As the recording of the battle played, the headmaster paused it as soon as it showed Ruby very clearly casting a magic spell. Something she shouldn’t be capable of. He then stared at Astera standing in front of his desk, blinking a few times at the holographic screen before looking back at the older hunter.

“Okay…” He rubbed his neck. “Am I supposed to see something? Because whatever it is, I ain’t seeing it.”

“This here—” Ozpin pointed at Ruby’s spell with his cane. “Should not be possible, Reid.”

“You mean Ruby using magic?” Astera blinked again. “Why not? We’ve already established my very funny magic-granting ability, and she’s my first girlfriend.”

“Magic, which Ms. Rose should fundamentally be immune to.” He responded. “I reiterate; it is NOT possible for her to use magic.”

Reid frowned, confused and intrigued by Ozpin’s claim.

“How come?” He questioned. “What makes her different from the others?”

It was starting to be very clear that Reid wasn’t as familiar with her bloodline as Ozpin expected. To tell the truth, he had assumed that the Titan Slayer, with his expertise in the arcane arts and peculiar knowledge about the history of Remnant that only he and Salem lived through, would know about such a thing.

He had also assumed that Ruby could never use magic. He’d never seen her show such power prior to her duel with Astera, and had thought it was her odd outfit alone that made her equal to her peers who were blessed with that gift.

After a moment, Ozpin decided to answer with a question of his own.

“Do you know about the history of the Silver-Eyed Warriors?”

“Yeah, they’re the ultimate Grimm Slayers.” Reid nodded. “They have the power to petrify Grimm with a glare. I’ve actually seen a couple of children’s stories about them. It’s a popular one, too.”

“That is how their current legend is told. However, that wasn’t always the case.” Ozpin said, getting up from his seat. “In truth, they were a lineage that existed long before I was even born.”

“During the age of magic, you mean?” The Titan Slayer hummed.

“Indeed. During that time, they weren’t viewed as favorably. No heroic tales of vanquishing evil. No prophecies of their return to defeat the Grimm once and for all.” The headmaster revealed. “In fact, they were the most feared clan of warriors in all of Remnant. What we now call a gift of immense power — the silver eyes — were seen with terror and hatred. A scourge upon the land.”

“But why?” Reid asked. “Why would a power that destroys creatures made of the essence of darkness be feared? What, were the Grimm a civilized race, too?”

“That’s what you misunderstand. The silver eyes don’t obliterate Grimm.” Ozpin smiled. “They eradicate magic itself.”

Reid paused.

“That power is aptly called ‘Anti-magic’, and it has been part of their being long before magic disappeared from this world.” The headmaster added, looking out the window of his office. “They were a clan of magic destroyers, and thus, shunned from a society that used magic as its basis for everything. After all, if one of them were to lose control of their power in the middle of a bustling city, disaster would surely follow suit. Machines could stop working. People could die.”

The Titan Slayer, now seemingly invested, waited for Ozpin to finish.

“No one truly knows where they came from, not even I. After all, they preceded me by over five hundred years. Some legends spoke about them being the Brother Gods’ royal guards and champions. Others say they were cursed with the inability to use magic after committing a most heinous crime.” He continued, glancing at Reid again. “By giving Ruby Rose magic, you’ve broken a constant law that has remained true since the conception of the universe. This goes against everything I’ve ever known about magic.”

“Is… that bad?” Reid looked mildly concerned.

“On the contrary, I couldn’t be more intrigued,” Ozpin said, making him visibly relax. “Is it a cause for concern? Yes, perhaps. After all, we do not know how her Anti-magic could interact with her magic. However, this is remarkable still. I’m admittedly still trying to make sense of it.”

“Maybe it’s because the magic where I’m from isn’t the same?” He pointed out. “Yeah, it’s very similar and pretty much works the same in most ways, but maybe it’s different just enough for the Anti-magic to not detect it?”

“Possibly. Or perhaps the Brother Gods are the cause of Anti-magic’s existence, and their absence has fundamentally changed how it functions.” The headmaster supplied. “Regardless, this is a very fascinating turn of events.”

“For sure. I didn’t think Anti-magic even existed in the first place.” Reid said before sighing deeply. “To be honest, I thought you called me here to tell me I fucked something up.”

“Why would you think that?” Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

“You told me to come here as soon as possible, made me sit down, silently opened a video of my fight with Ruby, then asked if I found anything wrong like a disappointed father.” He deadpanned. “How else am I supposed to take this?”

“Fair enough, I suppose.” Ozpin smiled, watching him stand up. “I assume you’ll be helping in the maintenance of Amity? I don’t mean to push more responsibilities on you, especially not after such an incredible show, but you’re the only one experienced in the use of Stardust…”

“Yeah, I’d rather handle it myself.” He nodded. “There’s also an interview I gotta do soon. I’ll go check on Wildberry first, though. I haven’t even congratulated them yet.”

“I understand,” Ozpin said. “I suggest you use this week to rest. After all, you have a long school term ahead of you, Professor.”

Reid paused for a moment, grinned, then hummed.

“You know, I like being called that.” He admitted. “Maybe this won’t be so bad…”

For one of the strongest and most talented people Ozpin had ever had the pleasure of meeting, he was amusingly simple.

If only that were the case with his hero complex.

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– Yang –

Truth be told, when the battle between Ruby and Reid started, she wasn’t as excited as she was supposed to be. Yes, she may have seen them dueling a couple of times before, but they rarely went all out like that. So, really, she should’ve been thrilled to see a real fight between two of the strongest people she knew. It was going to be a fight of the ages. And Yang was extremely enthusiastic at first. No denying that.

…That was until Ruby, in a barely covering skintight bodysuit under Senketsu, stepped foot in the arena. All her excitement? Gone. Her trust in her boyfriend? Disappeared damn near instantly. It was a miracle she didn’t blow up next to her father, break through the protective barrier, and strangle Reid to death in front of everyone.

What the actual fuck was he thinking? Did he expect that something like that was enough to protect Ruby’s modesty? Was he insane? He had to be. He had to have known that something like that was a lot more erotic to some people. Poor Ruby was already beyond anxious to do a show like that. She did NOT deserve to be humiliated in such a way, even if it’s some fucked up kink the two of them had.

Which Yang was sure it wasn’t. No matter how lewd Ruby acted behind closed doors, she did not enjoy anything like that, and Reid clearly wasn’t the type of person to show off his lovers like they were merchandise. No way, he was way more pragmatic than that— Senketsu had been given to Ruby only to boost her power. Even if he personally found it hot.

So this is merely pure idiocy on his part. Like, somehow, for someone relatively intelligent in most cases, he didn’t find any problems with the bodysuit. As if it was normal and nobody would ever think it’s inappropriate to wear under her already extremely weird and erotic outfit. That's why Yang thought he’d lost his damned mind.

Admittedly, knowing it was just a stupid mistake from him did make her somewhat more forgiving. He did tend to be a complete fucking dumbass sometimes — like, say, when he’d opened a portal to HELL — so it tracked. That did not, however, lessen her intent to hurt him in ways he had never been hurt before. Considering her anger issues, Yang always tried her best to be a tolerant individual, but when it came to her sister? That sort of thing went out the window. No one fucked with Ruby like that, even if it was Reid.

Thankfully, she was prevented from tearing her idiot boyfriend a new one when she noticed two things. One: Ruby wasn’t as anxious and fearful as Yang had expected her to be. Getting to do a show like that was already nerve-wracking, yes, but doing it in that outfit? The Ruby she knew would’ve spontaneously combusted into a billion rose petals, never to be seen again, no matter the sort of progress she’d made in her social skills.

And two: Her dad wasn’t mad.

Somehow, her father wasn’t angry when he saw what Ruby wore. Like whatever it was, it looked like an entirely appropriate thing for his little girl to wear, like it wasn’t a stripper outfit pretending to be a battle uniform. What, was her dad a complete dumbass too? Did he think that was normal? Scratch that— nobody in the stadium made any comment toward her. Was she the only one who thought it was weird?

…Was she the weird one? That couldn’t be it. Yang was a social butterfly and was quite knowledgeable when it came to fashion. That wasn’t a normal thing to wear, and nothing could convince her otherwise.

So she simply had to ask.

“So, if someone doesn’t have any magic, they see a normal-looking armor and not something straight out of a porno movie?” Yang questioned, rubbing her temples as she, her team, dad, uncle, and Reid gathered in a private stadium room where the unconscious Ruby rested.

“Well, I dunno about normal. It totally looks unique.” Reid mumbled as he retracted his scroll after showing them the concept art. He sounded almost offended by her comment. “But yes, pretty much. Making actual armor would’ve taken resources I didn’t have, so I settled for the next best thing.”

“That explains a lot,” Levi mumbled. “I had no idea why you girls got so mad. I thought what she wore was pretty normal…”

“Stop calling it normal,” Reid complained quietly.

“To be honest, I thought you had lost your mind when you let Ruby enter looking like that.” Weiss huffed. “Though it was incredibly bizarre how nobody reacted in a way I expected.”

“Yeah, not hearing even a single comment from the commentators made me stop and think for a bit.” Blake agreed. “And Ruby personally asked you for something like this, didn’t she? I don’t see why you’d just ignore her.”

“At least someone trusts me.” Reid scoffed playfully.

That comment made nearly everyone present glare at him, prompting him to shuffle awkwardly.

“That was a joke.”

“It better have been,” Yang replied before sighing deeply. “Well, now that I know what happened, I’m not too mad about it. You should’ve told us something, though. I couldn’t even focus on the duel properly.”

She was too busy thinking about how she should kill him.

“Yeah, that was on me. Sorry.” He apologized. “But to be fair, that would’ve ruined the surprise.”

“It doesn’t really excuse what you did, Reid,” Weiss added.

“Everyone knew what you had planned anyway.” Qrow snorted. “You said it yourself.”

“A word would’ve been nice.” Blake nodded. “It was pretty distracting.”

At the somewhat unconvinced stare given to him by most, Reid faltered slightly. Yang didn’t lie when she said she wasn’t as mad at him anymore. If anything, she had already forgiven him for not telling her or anyone else. But it was rare seeing him squirm like this, and honestly, it was a little funny.

She could make it up to him later once they’re back home.

“Ah, get off his case. He already explained himself. No harm done.” Her dad said in his defense, a hand on his shoulder. “He protected Ruby’s honor like a proper boyfriend should, while also pleasing a crowd consisting of the entirety of Remnant. I say that deserves praise, not scrutiny.”

Yang knew her father wouldn’t have said that if he had seen what the magic-bearing people here saw, but she decided not to argue. After all, he was right. A word would have been nice, yes, but ultimately, he did what he was supposed to do.

“True enough.” Weiss agreed. “I suppose there’s no point in scolding you over something so small.”

“I don’t know about praise when that’s sorta the bare minimum, but yeah, definitely doesn’t deserve to be berated.” Yang shrugged. “All in favor of forgiving Reid, raise your hand.”

All those who had magic in them — and thus saw the inappropriate bodysuit instead of the armor — raised their hands, prompting Reid to let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, followed by an over-the-top gentlemanly bow.

“Thank you for your mercy, O gracious goddesses of Remnant.” He said, making some of them giggle. “Your humble servant will do his best to avoid making this same mistake in the future.”

“Goddesses? What about me?” Her uncle raised an eyebrow. “Where’s my thanks for showing you mercy?”

“You can suck my dick and balls,” Reid replied.

Amusing everyone with that response — even eliciting a snort from the prim and proper Weiss — Qrow was the only one to roll his eyes.

“Couldn’t help yourself, could ya?”

“He got you.” Her dad whispered to him in an obvious attempt to instigate something.

“He didn’t get shit.”

“Totally got you.” He said with a childish grin. “Wouldn’t let that happen to me.”

“Are you twelve?” Qrow sighed, not taking the bait.

As the two old men, pushing fifty by the way, continued bickering like they were a quarter of their age, Yang noticed Reid visibly grimacing all of a sudden, and following his line of sight, showed her the two broken halves of Crescent Rose in the corner of the room.

“It’s fine, Reid.” She told him, drawing his attention. She gave him a soft smile. “She broke it a thousand times before. It doesn’t really bother her that much.”

“Are you sure?” He asked. “I mean, she really loves it, doesn’t she? Wouldn’t she be at least a little upset?”

“Maybe at first.” She shrugged. “But she just ends up using that as a reason to improve it, and you know how she is about working on weapons. Especially hers.”

“Sounds like Ruby, alright.” He smiled back. “I was wondering if I should fix it for her, but I probably shouldn’t, huh?”

“She would kill you if you touched her baby without permission. I mean it.” Yang warned her boyfriend, making him laugh.

“Haha, that’s fair.” He replied before standing up from his chair, glancing at Ruby’s sleeping form, then staring back at Yang. “Then, I’ll leave you to it. Remind her to bring Crescent Rose back to me when it’s fixed. Enchantments kinda wither away when the weapon breaks.”

“Got it.” She nodded. “Where are you going?”

“Y’know, still have a couple of things to do to wrap up the festival.” He said. “An after-aftershow, you could say. Mostly an interview. But then there’s clean-up duty, arena repairs, etcetera.”

“Alright. Good luck.” She told him. “Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I won’t. I’ll see you in the mansion in a few hours.” He responded. As he paused by the door, he addressed the rest and waved. “Catch you soon, everyone.”

Once everyone said their goodbyes and Reid left, the ambiance in the room had also slowly gotten quieter. There was less chatting, as most here were pretty exhausted from such a long and eventful day. Eventually, Qrow had followed suit and left, and so did her dad, wanting to give her and her team a bit of privacy.

In this moment of silence, Yang ran a gentle hand over Ruby’s cheek and took some time to reflect on what had happened. Or rather, what she had witnessed. Sure, it had been difficult to focus before it was clarified to her that Ruby was not fighting in a glorified stripper outfit, but even she had been blown away by her sister’s performance. Yang knew that she and Reid were relatively equal whenever she used Senketsu’s power, at least in strength and speed, but that?

Ruby was always an incredibly talented huntress. Fast learner, very adaptive, and had a knack for improvising when in a pinch. After all, if they were being real, scythes weren’t exactly the most conventional weapons around. And the type Ruby used was nothing more than a garden tool, yet she somehow made it work in a few short years of her picking it up.

Those traits appeared to improve rapidly with each battle, and Yang knew that Ruby had the best chance of actually getting to Reid’s level, even without Senketsu. Still, the blond had never seen such an overwhelming show of grit and willpower from her little sister before today. She’d fought tooth and nail for victory, and although it wasn’t enough, Yang was proud of her all the same.

Being real, and as sad as it sounded, Ruby couldn’t have defeated him. At least not at her current level of power.

Maybe one day. Yang thought to herself.

“Ugh…” Her sister suddenly began groaning, slowly opening her eyelids before flinching and shutting them once the bright light hit her face. “Ow…”

“That didn’t take too long…” Blake mumbled in mild surprise. “I thought she’d be knocked out for a few more hours at least.”

“Right?” Levi agreed. “I’m half surprised she’s still alive. I mean, Reid obviously wouldn’t kill her, but still…”

“Puh-lease~ My baby sis is a lot tougher than that.” Yang boasted. “Welcome back to the living world, Rubes. How are you feeling?”

“Whua…” She blinked a few more times, sitting up on the bed as she took a moment to process her surroundings. “Where am I?”

“A private room in Amity,” Weiss answered.

She paused for a few more seconds, rubbing the back of her head and grimacing in discomfort. Then, her eyes widened as memories of what had happened rushed back. In real time, Yang observed her sister’s face shift from surprise to disbelief, then to distress, and finally to immense frustration. She furrowed her brows and gritted her teeth, a face the blond wasn’t used to seeing from Ruby of all people.

The rest of her team noticed it, as well, but all of them remained quiet until Ruby spoke.

“…I lost, didn’t I?”

“Uh, yeah.” Yang blinked before giving her a grin. “It was an awesome battle, though. Everyone loved it.”

That had the opposite effect of comforting her sister as Ruby’s scowl deepened.

“Yeah. We saw so many people were mimicking that ‘Kamehameha’ thing you did at the end.” Levi added. “I think you started a trend.”

Yang noticed her little sister tightening her grip on the edge of her blanket.

“Definitely. Everyone on the internet is calling it the coolest thing ever.” Blake supplied.

“Who cares about that?” Ruby hissed.

The aggressive response made all four pause, not expecting it from her at all. Well, kind of. Yang was her older sister— she knew that Ruby, despite her social anxiety and meekness, was pretty competitive. She didn’t like losing, whether it was in sparring or something as simple as a video game.

“Are you okay?” Yang asked with genuine concern.

But at most, her sister would pout and harrumph, saying something like ‘I wasn’t being for real anyway’ before immediately forgetting about it in the next five minutes. If not, Yang would soothe the girl by baking her cookies or getting her treats from a nearby convenience store.

This? This was new, and something told Yang that no amount of sweets would be of help this time around.

“No, Yang. I lost.” She said, lowering her voice so as not to yell at her sister. “I… I could’ve won, but I didn’t.”

“Well, yeah, I know how that can be frustrating.” The blond nodded, still very confused why her sister seemed a lot more upset about this than she thought. “But you still put up one hell of a fight.”

“You broke Reid’s aura and nearly defeated him,” Levi added. “Isn’t that good enough?”

Something about the way she worded that sentence seemed to have gotten under Ruby’s skin, as Yang’s little sister whipped her head at Levianna with prevalent and uncharacteristic anger on her face.

“Good enough?!” Ruby snapped. “What the hell are you saying?! Of course, it’s not good enough!”

Levi flinched and backed off.

“I had to— I needed to win!” She argued. “I needed to prove myself!”

Yang had no idea where this was coming from. Prove herself? Hadn’t she already done that? Moreover, when had Ruby ever felt insecure about such a thing? Yes, she may be socially anxious and couldn’t have a conversation without stuttering at least six times, but when it came to her combat ability, she was confident. If anything, sometimes she’d feel like she was teetering on arrogance in that regard.

“Ruby, what are you talking about?” Blake was the first to ask after exchanging confused and concerned glances with Weiss. “You’re a Titan Slayer. A hero to everyone on Remnant. What else is there to prove?”

“That’s not what I mean.” Ruby denied, tone turning from angry to desperate as she stared at them with an expression full of pain. “Haven’t any of you realized it? Why Reid acts the way he does? Why he doesn’t want to share his burden with any of us?”

The girls remained silent, waiting for her to explain.

“Because none of us has proven ourselves to him.” She clarified. “None of us is even close to his level. And because of that, he thinks we can’t help him.”

Yang’s stomach turned at her sister’s claim. More than that, seeing the look of misery on Ruby’s face made her reflexively clench her fist.

“Nonsense.” Weiss scoffed, crossing her arms. “You truly think he’s so shallow as to believe strength is the end-all be-all?”

“He never takes us with him on missions unless he’s absolutely sure he has it under control,” Ruby argued. “But when push comes to shove? He’d rather put us somewhere safe so he can handle the threat on his own. The only reason he took you and the White Fang with him to defeat the Dreadnought was for PR.”

“Wow. How very convenient.” Weiss didn’t budge, growing rapidly frustrated with Ruby’s negativity. “And, what, he miscalculated the threat? And now, he’s apparently regretting the fact that he took us with him, despite everything going well?”

“You know it to be true.” Ruby scowled. “When was the last time he trusted us with a dangerous expedition to Teralos, the so-called ‘world a billion times more dangerous than Remnant’? That’s right; never. He only ever takes us to the blue portals— the ones he knows he can easily handle. He treats us like we’re made of glass.”

“You’re just being unreasonable, Ruby.” Blake calmly disagreed. “Knowing our own limits isn’t a bad thing. Besides, we’re training hard every single day, aren’t we?”

“Our training does nothing for us in the long run,” Ruby said. “It doesn’t matter how long we train for— we are NEVER catching up to him, and unless we do, he will never trust us with anything.”

“How can you be so sure?” Yang questioned. “I mean, a few months ago, we weren’t even half as strong as we are now. I bet we’d be at his level in a year at most.”

“That’s right. It took us months.” Ruby agreed, momentarily confusing them. “But it took Reid less than half the time to become more than three times as strong as he was.”

Ruby made that claim with so much conviction that it stunned all four girls. None of them could’ve even denied what she just said.

“…What do you mean?” Weiss questioned.

“You weren’t there with me in the arena, so maybe you haven’t sensed it properly, but—” Ruby exhaled. “Reid was holding back on me.”

“I-I mean, yeah, he didn’t really use any of his other elemental magic,” Yang said. “But, again, you still put up one hell of a fight, Rubes. I don’t think it would’ve changed all that much had Reid used light or water spells.”

“No, Yang.” Her sister shook her head. “Had he fought for real, I don’t think I would’ve lasted more than ten seconds at most.”

“How?” Levi asked. “You two were always relatively equal when using Senketsu’s power.”

“Maybe before he disappeared for ten days,” Ruby muttered. “Now? I don’t think we could put a scratch on him even if we all attacked at once.”

Even Yang picked up on the implication. He grew that much more powerful in only ten days? But how? She knew he was going around portals and doing errands in his homeworld, so when did he have the time to train?

…Now that she thought about it, when did he ever train? She saw him practicing hand-to-hand a few times, but once he became good at it, he just completely stopped. But that was it. He only did skill training. She had never seen him train his physical strength or speed in any meaningful way.

And he’d grow in power somehow. Mostly, each time he defeated a Titan or came back from Teralos.

She wasn’t the only one getting to that conclusion, as the girls all had the same look of realization.

“I-if I had defeated him there— proven that I can handle my share of the burden, then maybe…” Her sister began tearing up. “Maybe he’d trust me enough to tell me what’s wrong.”

Obviously, the issue had been upsetting to all of them, but seeing her baby sister breaking down at her perceived inability to help their beloved broke the blond’s heart. But with a delicate matter like this, they couldn’t expect themselves to solve it overnight. It wasn’t a Grimm that they had to defeat to save the day.

“Oh, Ruby…” Yang embraced her. “It’s going to be fine, alright? Look, I know it looks bad, but I’m sure you’re just overthinking. Reid isn’t like that, okay? I’m sure if we all come together, we’ll convince him to talk.”

“He does look like he’s been doing better lately.” Weiss agreed. “So perhaps if we strike while the iron is hot—”

“That plan is never going to work,” Ruby said, remaining unconvinced as she wiped her tears away. “He won’t tell you anything.”

Ruby gently pushed Yang away and got up from the bed.

“Ruby…”

“He won’t.” She insisted.

“You know, I’m growing very tired of how negative you’ve been,” Weiss replied bluntly, eyes narrowing as Ruby grabbed the two halves of Crescent Rose. “You complain about Reid not trusting you, yet you turn around and do the same to him. What makes you so sure that he wouldn’t give us the trust we deserve?”

Ruby scowled, turned around to face the unflinching Weiss, and replied.

“Because if I were in his place, I–!” She stopped herself from finishing that sentence, her expression turning into one of sorrow and guilt. “I…”

Ruby said nothing else and walked out of the room.

“Wait, Ruby—”

Yang was quickly stopped by her partner, who put a hand on her shoulder.

“She probably needs time to think,” Blake said. “Give her some space.”

The blond hesitated, but ultimately listened to her friend. Yang wanted to say that she was being too hard on herself— that she shouldn’t really blame herself for something like that, but trying to comfort or press her sister when she was already so frustrated probably wasn’t a good idea.

She didn’t know what Ruby was planning, but Yang had trust in her sister that she knew what she was doing.

She truly hoped that Ruby was wrong about Reid, for all their sakes.

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– Reid –

Now that everything’s wrapped up, I think it’s safe to say that the Vytal Festival was a success. From the festival itself, the tournament, the execution of an irredeemable villain, and the bonus little aftershow I made. Everything went as well as it possibly could’ve, and I couldn’t be any happier. Especially knowing how this ended in the original story known as the ‘arc where everything went to shit.’ In more ways than one.

I even had a bunch of fun in my battle with Ruby, which is rare because I don’t get to enjoy fighting anymore. I can’t exactly enjoy a fight when my top priority is saving others. I can’t afford distractions, that being one of them. So this was nice for once.

I still think Ruby was being pretty weird, though, what with her uncharacteristic desperation. I’m a little concerned for her well-being, but I don’t think it’s anything that serious. Like me, she’s competitive, and this is the first time we’ve fought for real, so it’s no wonder she wanted to win as much as I did. I guess I can ask her about it when she’s up and awake. I hope she’s okay.

I also need to discuss the ‘Anti-magic’ stuff Ozpin told me with her. Obviously, I still think her mastery over Senketsu, magic, and Haki — especially now that she’s shown both Conqueror’s and Armament — should take precedence, but it’s definitely something to consider. My main issue right now is my lack of knowledge and experience in that field, so I won’t be able to teach her very well, and the only one with expertise in it is, quite frankly, hard to find.

I’m still highly interested, though. If this really is Anti-magic, and what it does to Grimm can be done to anything magical, then Ruby might benefit from it more than her other stuff. I guess I’ll keep it in mind for now, and spend more effort in finding Maria. Maybe she can help me figure out how it works, too.

I mean, come on, Anti-magic tools and weapons not only sound fucking awesome, but they would be invaluable to me. Not just against Grimm, but Salem and everything else in the dungeons. In a world where magic is everywhere, something specifically designed to destroy it would be pretty hard to beat, I think.

Though something tells me that Maria doesn’t really know about the Anti-magic stuff, and like everyone else in the world, including me a few hours ago, thinks it’s Anti-Grimm. Her knowledge would still be priceless, though. I mean, Ozpin knows a lot about it, too, but I don’t think he has any hands-on experience.

…Still not sure how it’s possible for Ruby to use magic, though. My hypothesis of Teralos' magic being too different from Remnant’s magic is admittedly pretty weak and isn’t based on anything concrete. Perhaps it’s a system mechanic? Just like how Haki shouldn’t exist here, I did the impossible and forced magic’s existence into her as well? That’s the best explanation I can come up with. And the one that makes any sense.

I’m not dumb. I know that the system does some weird, reality-warping shit basically every time I get a notification. I’m not the biggest fan of that because there are some pretty scary implications behind it, but if it really ends up helping me in the end, then I can’t really complain too much, can I? As sketchy as it is sometimes, it’s still a tremendously powerful blessing.

Pausing as I hear someone approaching my secret underwater base, I turn to look at Eero entering through the barrier, carrying a giant fish on his back. He notices me, pauses, and grunts in acknowledgement.

“There you are. I was a bit surprised when I didn’t find you here.” I say, eyes darting between the fish and him as I add the finishing touches to a new machine I’ve been working on for the last hour. “Were you out hunting?”

“Yes.” He answers simply, setting the fish aside.

“You know, I can bring some supplies next time I visit.” I offer. “Probably should’ve done that already, but I might’ve forgotten…”

“You’ve shown me enough generosity.” He responds. “I can hunt for myself, and fish is in abundance.”

“Yeah, but wouldn’t you get sick of it eventually? Eating seafood every day, I mean.” I point out especially when it’s just seafood. “I can get you some fruits and vegetables from up there.”

“I prefer seafood.” He says.

That makes sense, I guess. Leviathans and all that. I love seafood too.

“If you insist…” I shrug, sending my wrench to my inventory as I back away from the device.

Eero notices it, and at his inquisitive look, I speak.

“Oh, this is just something I thought you might appreciate. People here call it a ‘stationary scroll’. I personally call it a TV.” I explain, approaching him with the remote. “Imagine something like a curated crystal ball. It has a few channels, each with a different purpose. One talking about news and current world events, one about the wildlife of Remnant, one showing you sports, and a couple more.”

It was hard connecting it to the main network, seeing how deep we are, but nothing I can’t handle.

He hesitantly takes the remote once I offer it to him, flipping it around to inspect it.

“Press this button to turn it on or off, this to increase or decrease the volume, and this to flip through the channels…” I point at each button and explain its function, showing him how to use it.

“…” Once I’m done explaining, he pauses before looking at me blankly. “What is it for?”

The question somewhat catches me off guard, but I can tell he doesn’t mean it rudely. He’s genuinely curious.

“Well, I might not be able to visit very often, so I thought you might want something to keep you informed. Or entertained. ” I answer. “I honestly feel a little bad for not making this earlier. You just missed a whole combat tournament because of me.”

“I see.” He nods. “You have my thanks, Alaric.”

…I’m still not comfortable being called that, but I don’t want to tell him off.

“Sure, anytime.” I smile at him anyway. “Oh, also, I forgot to mention this, but my girlfriend says she wants to meet you.”

“Your girlfriend?” He parrots. “You mean your lover?”

“Yeah. Remember that girl in my home? Short black hair, wears red?” I clarify. At his nod, I continue. “I don’t know why, though. Well, she kind of knows who you are, so I think she’s just interested in meeting her boyfriend’s father. Despite, y’know…”

Yeah…

“You have not told her?”

“No, not really.” I shake my head, a little ashamed. “It’s kinda tough to bring up.”

How am I supposed to explain that I’m not actually his son? That would just bring up more questions than answers, and would eventually lead to the whole ‘your world is actually a fictional series where I’m from’ conversation, of which I do NOT want to start.

He says nothing for a bit, but thankfully, he doesn’t say anything or confront me about it, so I move on with the conversation.

“Anyway, I know you’re probably not interested, but you don’t mind humoring her for a bit, right?”

He takes a moment to answer.

“Very well.”

“Great! Thanks a lot. I’ll make it worth your time.” I smile in gratitude, walking past him and toward the exit. “I’ll schedule something and contact you soon. Enjoy the TV, and remember, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

I wave at him and say my goodbyes.

“See you later.”

With that, I leave him alone. Alright, now that’s done…

My smile drops, replaced with a focused frown as I swim toward Mistral. Sorry, Oz. I don’t have time to rest.

There’s a legendary dungeon that needs conquering.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

– Maria –

When she received the news over a decade ago, she was overwhelmed with despair. She couldn’t believe it. She was gone— their one and only chance at defeating that witch was dead. The last of their bloodline had been extinguished, and with it, all hope was lost. Had Salem grown bored of them and decided to exterminate them at last? After keeping one or two alive every generation, toying with them for countless centuries just to prove a point…

…No, it was not boredom. It couldn’t be when Summer Rose had managed to cut through the Dark Continent on her own and reach her doorstep. It was fear— Maria was convinced. The witch was scared of them. She always had been. That’s why she’d gotten rid of the only one who could stop her. The only one who’d proven she could defeat her.

But even with the crushing despair of her star pupil passing away, she didn’t give up. She couldn’t, so she’d spent years traveling the world since then, looking for anyone who could succeed the last remaining Silver-Eyed warrior. The one destined to destroy the well of darkness once and for all.

“Stupid little girl…” She grinned widely, watching the replay of two Titan Slayers duking it out on the scroll from the corner of a tavern. “You should know I’m too old for your dumb pranks.”

But she didn’t care about the one everyone rallied behind. Reid Astera— a living legend who had done more in a year than countless heroes before him had done in their entire lives. She had the highest respect for the man, that much she could admit. But as powerful as he might be, he wasn’t the one. No. He lacked their ultimate weapon. The tool humanity needed to end all suffering in this world.

The girl he faced, however…

“So not only did you have a daughter, but you didn’t even invite me to your wedding,” Maria complained, heart reignited with hope she hadn’t felt in years. “Idiot. I’d hit you with my cane if you were still alive.”

She was the spitting image of Summer Rose. Not only had she inherited the eyes, but also the resolve her mother had boasted. No, perhaps even greater than that.

If there was one person who could surpass her legacy and do their lineage proud, then it had to be Ruby Rose.