9- Intetlude Raven/Ozpin 2/2
[Remnant/ 3 of November 83 A.G.W/ Forever Fall/ Crystal Cave/ 5:14 PM]
Twelve minutes, her daughter stayed down for twelve entire minutes, the longest in her life.
Raven never left her side, only moving away as Yang started to wake up.
It was hard to do even that, she wanted to stay with her daughter even when she woke up, but she knows better, as disgusting as that… thing is, he is right.
Saiyans don't change with mere words, they don't respect anyone who isn't their equal or superior.
Her family is almost the same thing, Raven didn't learn humility until Ozpin beat the shit out of her, one might ask why she didn't learn humility by being beaten by her mother and the answer is simple.
In her mind it was expected, her mother is a saiyan hybrid and older, meaning she has the same potential as her and lived through many battles, she would never learn humility from her mother or anyone in her family this way.
Neither would she learn it by being beaten by Grimm, she was raised to think of any other race as inferior to her, and she acted like this for a long time, perhaps she still does unconsciously.
But Yang isn't her, she wasn't raised with the same beliefs, her daughter is proud and stubborn yes, but not to the point she was at the same age.
If she had to describe it, she'd say that Yang's pride lies under her creed.
Rules she sets up for herself to act under certain parameters.
For example, when she sets out to do something, she absolutely has to, even if she gets maimed or dies in the process, her pride will not allow her to let herself down.
Well… Not solely because of her pride but also because she refuses to lower herself, knowing if she is a saiyan or not Yang believes that she has to stay above anyone else.
It is not a bad belief to have, but she has proved that she doesn't have the strength, wisdom, and self-control needed to back it up quite yet.
She could feel it, the duality inside her daughter, two desires fighting against each other, one wanting to continue fighting, and the other, feeling tired, wanting to go home.
Regardless of what she feels, something doesn't change, she can't help her.
Raven has watched over her daughter, yes, but she has never spoken to her even once, for Yang she is nothing but a stranger, and she doubted her daughter would ask a stranger to help her in any way.
The only person she could think that can help her is Summer's daughter, but the girl is just a goddamn 8-year-old.
A heavy sense of frustration boiled inside her.
She felt useless, her daughter is suffering and she can't do a damn thing to hell besides kill some Grimm.
She should have heard her teachers, punching things is in fact not the solution to everything.
Most things yes but not everything.
At least not everything was bad, her girl's power level increased again to a total of 167, almost the amount she was born with.
Now that made her smile, between so many bad things, at least some are good enough to make her smile.
Her mother would probably beat her black and blue for commemorating having such a weak daughter but honestly, she could eat shit, her Little Dragon is in the beginning stages to be truly great!
She smiled at the thought, watching as Yang crushed and infused the Dust on her blades, she was focused, something she never saw, not even while she was fighting.
She could feel it, Yang wanted to go home, dismissing all other distractions she stood focused on a single objective.
It was impressive, not many ten year olds would ever manage to have such concentration, a funny feeling rose from her stomach, she didn't understand it but if she had to compare it she'd say it is similar to falling from a high altitude.
She was giggly, even if small it was good to see her daughter evolve, both in strength and spirit.
With her energy suppressed, she watched as Yang firmed herself on the rock column and began to climb.
As she did so stray thoughts found their way into her mind.
Her girl seemed to gain an extra sense towards dust energy after stabbing herself with it and recovering.
She had to admit, her journey towards learning magic was much less… violent, but who is she to complain?
If her daughter wants to learn magic then nobody can stop her.
Neither can they blame her if she so happens to make those future learning sessions into some bonding times.
Yes, yes it won't be the same but it will serve as compensation for some of the time lost.
She smiled, even if small, it seemed like the G-Rex taught something to her daughter.
Compared to before, the girl is much calmer, or at least, more self-conscious.
She briefly noted the abundant amount of that miracle energy inside her body, but ignored it a second later in favor of something more important.
The dust crystals constantly kept absorbing Yang's energy into themselves; she attempted to cover herself in a veil of Ki, trying to halt the absorption but having limited success.
Briefly, she frowned, dust crystals were not always like this, at least not the underground ones.
She remembers having the same poor energy control as her daughter, and even still neither her Ki nor Aura were absorbed when she touched dust.
She's sure of it, that damn wizard did something.
'Just… Leave that bastard out.'
With calm eyes, she watched Yang accidentally grip a Ravager, and then all hell broke loose.
It all happened too fast.
Yang threw away the creature who immediately caught itself, screamed, and dashed forward, with little difficulty her daughter jumped to dodge its charge.
Ravagers have the ability to accelerate themselves to absurd levels, going from 0 to 100 in a single second, they aren't strong or even resistant but it doesn't matter much, when one comes at you at speeds above sound you tend to dodge as if your life depends on it.
Because it does.
It didn't matter whether or not she could disintegrate planets, a sufficiently fast Ravager can kill anything, her included, well… as long as its target wasn't gigantic that is.
Speed of light or not a titan wouldn't even feel the thing going through its body, she would.
She cursed Salem mentally, things were much easier before that bitch managed to enchant her grimm, because at the end of the day, they are just constructs that can move.
Not that she's complaining, stronger enemies are always enjoyable to fight, the problem comes when those same enemies attack her family.
'Or friends.'
Fortunately, the ones inside the cave are not particularly dangerous, but Raven doesn't care for them, no, the only thing she cares about is her daughter.
Her girl took impulse and climbed the fastest she could, trying to reach the small hole not two hundred meters away from her.
She's angry, angry at herself for even dodging the attacks of the Ravagers, but even then, she kept climbing.
Raven smiled internally, the girl fighting against those grimm with her eyes closed not even 30 minutes ago would never run away as she is now.
No, that girl would stand her ground, fight without being allowed to use her energy, and probably lose a limb, and then she'd throw her sandal at her head.
She stood calm as a Ravager slammed itself on her daughter's calf, it was a testament to the resistance of her armor that she didn't lose her leg.
"Go, girl!"
Hoo!
The owl hooted in excitement and flew towards the ravagers.
Raven's expression did not change, but internally she was pleased.
She doesn't like Ozpin but the owl is a whole other thing, the little thing proved herself to be capable after saving her daughter from drowning and even refusing to leave her side when she tried to force her away.
The two also seemed to be getting along, Yang appeared to really enjoy the owl's presence.
Wait… now that she thinks about it, didn't her daughter talk with it?
Yeah, she did, and as far as she knows the little thing doesn't even have a semblance, and as far as she can feel she also has no enchantments or spells.
Can her daughter read minds? Is she talented with psychic abilities? She saw how scary an 'esper' can truly be in the past, nothing besides being choked and forced to stay in place for that to sink in.
Suddenly, she heard a snapping noise.
Returning from her thoughts her heart briefly went cold at seeing her daughter about to fall.
More by instinct than anything she lifted her arm and used telekinesis to briefly stop all Grimm from moving, she surprised even herself at not simply catching her daughter and forcing her up.
Not a second passed as she tried to find a reason for it.
'Do I… Trust her more?'
She had no time to ponder as not even a second later Yang stuck her blade inside the wall and pushed herself up.
Raven frowned as she watched her daughter twist herself in the air and touch the wall with her feet, she understood her plan with just a glance.
But still… It wouldn't be enough.
"Ahhhhh! You fuckers are lucky I want all this dust for the future! Just 53 more!"
Raven had to hold on to her laughter as her daughter screamed in frustration, the tense atmosphere around her dropped in a second as she giggled.
For her the scene was somewhat cute, and funny, it reminded her far too much of Qrow running away from Ma while cussing at her.
With a smile on her face, she cast an illusion around herself, turning invisible as she flew closer to her daughter, even this close the girl still couldn't quite sense her.
Suddenly Bodement's blade glowed a bright purple, in a second her daughter flew upwards, and chunks of her energy were absorbed in mere moments.
Red, Blue, Green, and Brown exploded with the intensity of a bomb, the temperature both increased and decreased tremendously at random times.
Had she been anyone else the sudden change of the surroundings would have startled her, fortunately, she had fought in many dust-dense areas before.
A green shield enveloped Yang, making Raven stop for one second.
'So he did infuse some of his power into the bird.'
Raven's mouth rose in a smirk as she saw her daughter form a hollow ki sphere and explode the air within it to propel herself toward the small hole.
Taking her eyes off her daughter she looked down at the grimm below, most were dead, with her peripheral vision she saw the cave entrance collapse.
With a wicked smile, she opened her palm and pointed down, 167 Battle Power was already enough to cause chaos in such a small place, she asked herself how much 500 would do.
Forming a Ki blast in the middle of the cave she waited.
BOOMMM!!!!!
And watched as a rainbow of colors exploded from within, killing everything in a seven-hundred meter radius and evaporating most of the lake below.
She couldn't hold on her laughter, it was always funny seeing those creatures die.
"Ha…haha…AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
She laughed as the screams of the creatures of Grimm died out.
Qrow found it weird, she didn't understand why, monsters are monsters, what matters if she finds their deaths funny?
Maybe she could do it with Yang later? Yes, she likes the fight, she had no hint of it but maybe she also likes the kill? Killing monsters is fun after all…
----------------------------------------------
[Remnant/ 3 of November 83 A.G.W/ Forever Falls/ Crystal Cave/ 5:44 PM]
Using her magic Raven looked through the walls of the cave directly at her daughter, the girl stopped to rest and regain her energy before getting up and running.
And then, for some reason, she stopped beside a dead dust crystal and started to infuse it with her Ki.
She felt excitement and happiness through Bond, her girl seemed very happy, for… Something.
Suddenly she screamed and threw her fist up.
"YOSHAAAA, Beaks we need to get to the surface and train Right. Now!"
Raven blinked as she watched her dumb daughter make a stupid pose and run away.
Hooooooo!!!
A tang of guilt passed through her as she saw the owl scream in terror, maybe she should give Yang an owl of her own? It would be better to let her raise a chick to learn how to handle fragile things.
She trained with an egg while she was pregnant and still was terrified of dropping Yang, maybe if she started young it would be better?
"GottatrainGottatrainGottatrainGottatrainGottatrainGottatrainGottatrainGottatrainGottatrain!!"
'Should I learn psychology? I think I should.'
Kikiiiiiiii!!!
"Get out of the fucking way!"
Ignoring the creature's pathetic death Raven looked once again at the dead dust crystal, her daughter's Ki flowed inside it like a weird liquid, maybe if she looks closer she'll be able to understand what got her so excited?
'Hmnnn.'
Curiosity gripped her mind, her family did create many Ki techniques but in itself, none of them studied the energy itself, just what it was capable of, not what it was made of.
Ozpin taught her a little bit about the energy, but in itself it was so little it could be called almost useless.
Saying it is the energy of life is accurate, but at the same time it is also a shallow answer.
Unable to resist her own curiosity she teleported to the place her daughter was not five seconds ago.
With curious eyes she looked at the energy inside the crystal intensely, touching it she infused the thing with small parts of her Ki.
The two energies touched, in a mere moment hundreds of small lightning bolts ran through the dead crystal that now shone brightly.
Raven's eyes widened, she blinked twice as if not believing her senses, how… HOW did she never notice this?!
Between the sense of shame and stupidity, excitement began to bubble inside her.
She understands now, how Yang was able to multiply her power, she understands the principle now!
And this understanding only made her even happier with Yang's past feat, and the sheer impossibility and difficulty of what her daughter did to multiply her power.
She has been saying this multiple times but after each one, she understands a little more of just how much she underestimated her daughter.
Yang is a genius, her little girl is a genius!
Why Yang was so happy, she understands it, unconsciously a smile blossomed on her face as her heart began to speed up.
It was so obvious, why didn't she see it before?! Ki amplifies Ki! And two different Ki types amplify each other even more!
No, no, of course she wouldn't have found out before, what insane woman would think of causing attrition between something with the same consistency as water?
She wanted to explore it further, she knew if she stayed here she'd be able to eventually replicate her daughter's technique, the image of the future almost made her salivate at the prospect of multiplying her power level.
Without warning her semblance screamed at her, her face instantly turned serious, not twenty seconds after leaving her daughter alone and the girl somehow managed to enter a dangerous situation.
Teleporting again her expression turned serious, in front of her, her daughter stood still at the entrance of a small cave, dozens of spider grimm slowly approached her.
She did not need her keen senses to see Yang's Ki leaking through a small hole in her nape.
She could see it merely with her eyes, her daughter's energy being caught by a small spider and manipulated into a thread.
'Mind Manipulation.'
Anger surged from her as she looked at the small spiders climbing on her daughter's body, without hesitation she used her necklace and took control of all grimm around her.
She briefly stopped as she did so, it was weird she felt over three thousand Grimm inside the area, she had seen larger numbers before, but here? Below forever fall? Those numbers are abnormal.
'This is far too close to patch, after Yang leaves I'll clean this place, that G-rex was already strange enough, is she trying to do something here?'
Dismissing her thoughts she looked at her daughter's frozen form an idea came to her mind, when she was at Beacon there was a small 'secret test' all students had to pass before progressing to their third year.
Dream Spiders had the ability to read minds and control them to such a point their prey could live inside their heads while thinking it was reality for years.
Mostly because of their ability to control emotions.
These spiders stood with groups of different spider grimm, absorbing energy from both dust and their prey, including aura-awakened animals, to strengthen themselves and evolve.
For this reason, they also take dust crystals and absorb their energy, eventually evolving into an elemental form of their species.
Raven stood there, in the air, thinking whether or not she would do it, if she should even.
She doesn't know what problems her daughter is passing through but she is sure the spider can help her, or worsen the situation.
Her logic is very simple.
A dream spider reads someone's mind, using their memories and feelings to torment them, to make them so lost inside their heads they will forever be unable to even move.
Only serving as a battery of Aura for the spiders to grow, living up until they die of starvation, something aura awakened creatures take a much longer time to do.
When one overpowers a dream spider their aura grows exponentially, a result of them growing beyond their past, their mistakes, and coming to terms with who they are.
To make it simple, it was a test, one to both strengthen one's mind, force one to face hard truths, and open the way for one to grow beyond who they are.
If she allows the spider to continue, Yang will be forced to face herself. Even if she fails in the end, she has a way to both save her and talk to her in the future.
In other words, the risk is negligible, and the reward plentiful.
Her daughter is suffering, and all she needs to do to help her is to allow a grimm to torment her mind.
Her expression turned both serious, less than a second later it morphed into an angry scorn.
'No.'
No, she… She wouldn't do it, it was too much, it was… Infuriating but she'd have to ask for the help of that Arc bitch, the woman has what? Seven daughters?
Asking for her to teach Yang a lesson and do her physiologist bullshit should be enough to at least start the process of helping her.
Giving a tired sigh she dispelled her illusion and approached her daughter, she'll allow her to return to the surface and meet her there, it was already enough, this… Adventure should have ended long ago.
Her daughter proved to have incredible potential, this alone should have been enough. Whether Yang wanted her help or not, she'll still aid her in becoming a powerful warrior.
Briefly, she stopped, looking to her right she observed the small spider holding her daughter's Ki in its hand, fragments of memories flowed through it.
Her mind reading only allowed her to see memories as if she was watching a movie, no feelings were present in it, besides being incredibly dangerous.
She created the technique to steal information and kill whoever she touched by frying their brain, she could control it somewhat but at minimum, the target would become a vegetable.
The spider didn't have much problem doing the same thing, it could read memories together with feelings and even subconscious thoughts, store them in its thread, and even use these same threads to infuse the memories into something else.
If she controls the spider to read Yang's memories she will know exactly what is bothering her daughter.
Without noticing a smile appeared on her face, her plan was a little invasive but if she had to exchange privacy for the well-being of her daughter she'd do it in a heartbeat.
Her smile widened, she is happy, for months she felt useless, something that only worsened after discovering her daughter's problems, the feeling of impotence, of not being able to help her child ate away at her from the inside out.
It was maddening, she spent years away from her daughter to 'protect' her, failing miserably at even that and when she finally comes back she can't even talk to her without her entire body trembling.
A warrior capable of destroying worlds can't even gather enough courage to talk to her own blood out of fear of reprisal.
She'd laugh if it wasn't so pathetic.
But it was not like it was her fault, she's a stranger to her daughter, she's very aware this is her own fault but…
'Aaaahhhh!!!' Raven suddenly punched herself.
'Stop. Making. Excuses!'
Wiping the blood falling from her nose she breathed deeply, she was angry, mostly at herself, no, that's it, no more, for her It. Is. Over.
She couldn't help Yang in any way besides punching grimm, at least she convinced herself of this, but now? Now she is done, no more excuses, there is a way for her to help her daughter, make up for the past even if a little bit So. She. Will. Do. It.
Using the necklace she controlled the spider and made it weave Yang's Ki.
Slowly she saw an image forming, that of a… Man with an unnaturally spiked hair surrounded by a golden aura.
Moving closer she squirted her eyes, the man doesn't have a tail but he is remarkably similar to a sai-
Suddenly a blue hand passed through the web, destroying it, more by reflex than anything Raven's body shot back toward Yang, Omen's red blade already held firm on her hand while hiding her daughter behind her.
She heard nothing, sensed nothing, all of her techniques gave no hint anyone was even there so close to her, the only person that is even capable of such a thing is Ozpin and even then she'll feel his presence after two seconds at most.
With a serious expression, she looked at the blue figure and froze at the sight.
It was the second time, the second time she saw her, and still, she felt as shocked as the first.
She was in denial, who was she kidding, the first time she thought it was a simple light construct or even an illusion.
The energy she sensed from the specter at the time was discarded, not even given thought or reason as to why, she simply refused to believe, to… Hope that her friend was back.
This time however it was impossible to do so, the powerful Ki signature gently pressing down on her in a frightening familiar way made it impossible to come to any other conclusion.
Summer Rose is in front of her.
There, right in front of her, stood a spectral figure covered in a familiar hood, its body was covered in red only allowing her to see its rough shape.
Even then, she knew exactly who was inside there.
An uneasy feeling came up from her stomach, she felt like puking, only, she had nothing in her stomach.
Guilt rose from her chest, distant memories surged from her mind, she felt like crying, in the past these same memories were nothing but happy moments, engraved on her mind of the best times in her life.
Now? now they serve as nothing but echoes of something she lost, her body felt cold, her legs started to shake, she couldn't even move her eyes away.
She isn't scare- no, she is, she is scared, not at what the figure would do but what it would say.
It was an instinctive response, much like how a child would freeze after being caught doing something bad by their parents; she too froze at the thought about what the specter would say.
It was maddening, not even five seconds passed but she felt as if the… Specter had been glaring at her for minutes.
Her breathing sped up, even with the cold surroundings sweat began to fall down her head, she clutched her chest, trying to catch her breath, as her heart pounded in her ears.
This… has never happened before, Raven... faced hundreds of enemies capable of killing her and not even one time did she feel so afraid, but... this isn't an enemy, is it?
Her family specializes in fighting, relishes in it, she'd go as far as to say they are the best warriors on Remnant, if the matter is in any way related to it they will be good at it, it's a fact.
It's also a fact her family does not deal with emotions very well, oh, yes they all have good relations with each other but that is simply because they are of the same family, the same blood, the same race.
Other people find them weird, but they aren't, they are just different, as descendants from a warrior race their brains function in a very, very different way.
They can stand emotionless in even the worst hellhole imaginable where all manner of atrocities happen by the second, while at the same time making an unbreakable friendship with a random owl that they met not two hours ago.
Just because they fought together and had a good feeling about it, Saiyan instincts served for more than just fighting after all.
For her Summer Rose was one of these friendships, no, not one of, the only one, she met the woman in Beacon and became her friend only after the woman proved herself to be strong, her talent in Ki control being enough to even surpass her.
She may not have acted like it but after Summer Rose fought against her and came close to beating her even after she used everything she had she considered the woman to not only be her equal but also her friend.
She didn't find it weird, alliances with strong beings are crucial, when one fights an equal in nonlethal terms both have an understanding at the end of the fight.
Either they do everything in their power to surpass each other, or they become allies and still try to one-up each other.
Or at least that is what she thought at the start before the damn woman somehow managed to actually enter her heart, uninvited nonetheless.
Had Ozpin not humbled her beforehand she would not have even considered being friends with the red-haired woman, but destiny had other plans, and they became partners.
They fought together, ate together, killed together, and got on adventures together, someday it stopped being about purely respect and began to be about care.
Without noticing, she started to care about the woman.
Friends, rivals? They were both, they saved each other's lives so many times she lost count, talked so much both knew almost everything about the other.
Not knowing or even noticing, she started to consider Summer as family.
She'd die for that woman, she'd fight together with her to the end without backing down, all because she somehow started to care about her.
They were a team, they promised they'd fight together against Salem, that they would finally beat that abomination, and create a peaceful world, a promise so deep she didn't even care about the lack of future exciting fights.
And then... she got her killed.
Her death alone was not the only thing that hit her, no, the death of someone so close to her would never be enough to put her down like this, what truly affected her was herself.
She broke a promise, betraying not only herself but also Summer, she became a liar, someone no one could trust to even keep her word.
Her friend died, alone, and instead of helping her in her last moments, she brought her to her death, she knew she shouldn't have let her go, but she still did.
She knows whose fault it is, hers, Summer Rose died because her trust was misplaced.
The woman should never have trusted her, trusted her strength, she was weak, she's still weak, and because of this, the shame and guilt of that day haunts her even to this day.
She betrayed the trust given to her, and paid in blood by doing so, there would be no problem had the blood been hers but... It wasn't, Unfortunately... It wasn't.
She can accept making mistakes and endangering herself, but she cannot accept making mistakes and endangering her friends
Reality hit her harder than any enemy she had ever faced, with a single truth, she's... a fuckup, even years later the near death of her daughter proved it, despite all the years, despite all her work She. Can't. Change.
She'll always be this piece of garbage, no matter how powerful she becomes, no matter how many promises she makes, at the end of the day, the same woman from years ago that killed her own sister will always look back at her in the mirror.
She knew one day she'd be judged, at least in death she'd like to think a bad deed wouldn't go unpunished.
She expected to face Summer, to get yelled at, judged, and thrown down below, she just didn't expect it to be so soon.
Between shaking legs, she finally managed to open her mouth.
"Sum-"
rคงēຖ
The voice boomed and echoed through the cave, seemingly reaching every corner of the Room.
Around her time seemed to have stopped, not slowed down, no, stopping, she couldn't feel anything, not the air, not her hand touching her daughter's arm, and not even her own hair touching her nape.
Gulping but still keeping Yang behind her she answered.
"You… you appeared before, didn't you?"
The specter stood silent as if it hadn't heard her words.
ꌩꍟꌗ, ꌩꍏꈤꁅ, ꓄ꃅꋪꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꃅꍟꋪ ꌗꂦꀎ꒒ ꀤ ꅏꍏꌗ ꍏꌃ꒒ꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꃅꍟ꒒ᖘ ꃅꍟꋪ
The voice boomed once again, this time however it became easier to understand.
Raven's expression morphed into confusion.
"Her aura?"
Summer's specter smiled, even after five years Raven could recognize her friend's smile, it was impossible not to, she looked at their team picture every day after all.
"thiŞ littlē ໓rคງ໐ຖ p໐ŞŞēŞŞēŞ คຖ iຖ¢rē໓i๖lē p໐ຟēr, คຖ໓ คຖ iຖ¢rē໓๖lē ๓iຖ໓ t໐໐"
Summer smiled as her voice suddenly came from behind, quickly turning around she saw her friend's ghost touch Yang's cheek gently, involuntarily a vein suddenly popped up on Raven's head.
Not even noticing, between the storm of emotions inside her, for some reason, her fear had... disappeared.
She was about to speak when the specter suddenly appeared before her, looking directly at her face, this close up she could fully see her friend's smug smile.
"You were always possessive, you know."
Raven's ears turned red as her heart skipped a beat, shame flowed through her mind as distant memories flowed back to her brain, embarrassing ones.
Subconsciously she started to act the same way she did years ago.
'Why did I miss this dumbass again?!'
"But."
Summer's tone turned serious, making Raven stop and straighten herself.
"I don't have much time here, when I was gone there was a… weird place, it felt, warm, and peaceful, and then, some years ago something happened."
"That… place shook, no, something shook and tore it apart, and then I arrived at this place called otherworld, there was a long line, a weird red guy that sent me to heaven AndThenIWasBroug- htToASmallPlanetWhereTheyTrainHeroesAndIGotReallyStrong."
Raven blinked in confusion, it seemed like even after all this time her fool of a partner still managed to get excited enough to babble incoherently.
"- But my adventures don't matter, what matters is that I was allowed to watch over Yang and Ruby."
Raven's breath hitched, seeing this Summer smiled, yes, she was with her too, not that she will say it.
"I was their 'guardian angel' hehehe, I could see everything there you know, their feelings, memories, thoughts, and even their souls, unfortunately, I couldn't speak with anyone down here, but that changed recently."
A solemn atmosphere took hold of the surroundings as Summer's ghostly form took hold of Raven's hands, the woman's sword simply stood still in the air.
"Let me tell you this, not as your friend but as the woman who raised Yang."
Raven flinched, Summer gripped her hand tighter and pushed her closer, her angry eyes looked attentively at Raven's own.
"I know what she is passing through, and it isn't something any of you will be able to help, I… Can't say what it is, one day I'm sure our Little Dragon will tell all of you but not today."
Raven's eyes blinked, she was able to do nothing else but that as she tried to contain her anger.
Before she could speak Summer's hand covered her mouth.
"Please, Raven, I have seen everything inside Yang, her memories, her feelings, and even her soul, I am not saying you are a bad mother, a little dumb yes, but that runs in the family."
A vein popped up her cheek.
"She loves you, you know."
Raven's eyes widened, gripping Summer's hand she pushed it away from her mouth.
"Don't fuck with me, The last time the girl saw me she was one, and Tai sure as hell didn't speak shit of me!"
Raven almost shouted in anger, her voice wavering as she did so.
"But she does, she loves her moms very much you know, she wants to talk to you, she wants to hug you, and despise being all tough on the inside, the moment you hug her she's probably going to cry."
Summer smiled evilly.
"Like mother like daughter, two big softies."
Raven huffed through her nose.
"Just tell me what you want now and be gone, I don't want to get haunted by you of all people."
'Shut up you idiot, she's right in front of you and you just send her away?!' Raven screamed internally
Summer smiled as she made circles in Raven's hands with her finger.
"The spider, you need to let the spider catch Yang, I know, I know you don't want to do this, and If I was in your situation I wouldn't do it either, no matter what."
"But up here I can see many things, and while I can't see the future the Otherworld does not possess the concept of time, it's… Complicated."
"But all you need to know is that when Yang is inside the Spider's illusion I'll be able to help her."
Raven's eyebrow rose.
"How do you plan to do this? And how are you even here in the first place, you said MY daughter's soul helped but that doesn't explain anything."
"Well, that is simple." Summer poked Yang's head, ignoring the woman's emphasis on the word my.
"This little dragon somehow did the impossible and created something she named Katamashī."
Raven's head tilted a look of confusion engraved her face.
"Katamashī? What does that even mean."
"It's a combination of the word body and soul in another language, all you need to know is that with it the gap between soul and body can be tightened, bringing both closer together."
"Her semblance will allow me to come back more often and talk with all of you, but for her to unlock it she needs to first overcome her own mind, she is… troubled by things a 10-year-old shouldn't."
Summer sighed, she knew Raven could see her ki, and so even back then, she was always honest with her, something that allowed her to get closer to the stone-hearted woman, and something that she keeps doing even now.
Other people might find it impossible but for her who had lived with Raven for so much time she knew very well all one needed to do to befriend the woman was to be truthful.
"And I can help her, but only if you let the spider use its illusion."
Summer looked at Raven pleadingly, her form flickered in and out as the world around began to slowly regain its movement.
"Please."
Raven breathed deeply.
"If it was anyone else they'd be dead right now, ok, I'll leave the spider alone, BUT if it tried to do anything besides absorbing her energy I WILL kill it, and help me God Summer if you fuck this up I swear I'll rip that sword from Ozpin and hunt you down un-"
Before Raven could continue Summer jumped on her and hugged her body, for a second Raven heard the sounds of her own bones being snapped.
'You did keep up with your training hmn?'
"ThankyouThankyouThankyouYouAreTheBestMamaISwearIWon'tFuckThisUP!!"
Summer moved her torso back and held both of Raven's cheeks.
"Now, I want you to promise me, don't look into Yang's mind, one day she will tell you what's inside there but you absolutely can't peek ok?"
"Ok, ok I promise I won't read her mind or whatever."
"Raven I'm serious, our little dragon has more going on up there than any ten-year-old has any right to have, and I don't want you looking at her differently because of it."
Raven's eyes hardened.
"Is she- Ouch!"
Raven held her head after Summer punched her.
"Yang is Yang, she always was and always will be, she just… Remembered some things some years back and now she acts different, but she's that same lovable girl, I checked, multiple times even."
Raven breathed in exhaustion as she looked at both her Daughter and Summer with a hard eye, one that turned soft after a few seconds.
"OK OK, I promise I won't dig into her head, but if it's something that is putting my girl in danger I WILL act, got it?"
Summer's smile faded as she looked seriously at Yang's frozen form.
"You know, the only fight you lose is the one you give up, and above anyone else, I know for certain, Yang doesn't want to give up anymore, and you shouldn't either."
With a downed expression and a melancholic tone, she continued to speak.
"It wasn't your fault, I asked for your help, I insisted on going there alone, and I got killed because of It, It was my fault dumbass."
Summer smiled a little as she looked intently at Raven's face, the woman stood strangely silent, her shoulders tense.
"But I did discover something, My eyes, they may not have been able to kill her but they sure did some damage to her Grimm side, I'm sure of It, as I am now I should be able to turn her back into a human."
Raven's body froze as she looked at Summer in shock.
"But Yang can't handle my power, she won't be able to for a long time, so I want you to promise something to me."
Lifting her hand Summer gripped the back of Raven's head and touched both of their foreheads together.
"Ruby, train her, to the best of your ability, if you don't believe what happened wasn't your fault then train my daughter as a way to forgive yourself, even though I have already said there's nothing to forgive."
Raven turned her head to the side, making Summer's chin rest on her shoulder, grumbling she said something too quietly for anyone but the specter to hear.
"Good."
Smiling mischievously Summer grabbed Raven's head, turning it to her she planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Bye!"
Suddenly Summer disappeared into particles of light, a moment later the world continued to move as if nothing had happened.
With a complicated expression, Raven deactivated her necklace, using her telekinesis she put her sword on its scabbard and teleported away.
In the past, she had trusted her own life to Summer many times, even then, trusting the life of her daughter to her best friends wasn't easy by any means.
But she'd do it, the woman never lied to her before after all.
------------------------------------------------------------------
[Remnant/ 3 of November 83 A.G.W/ Forever Fall/ Spider's den/Raven: 34 Years Old, 5:58 PM.]
Her daughter stood inside the beast's illusion for close to twenty-five minutes now.
She couldn't feel a damn thing through [Bond], it was... Annoying, but she trusts Summer, so whatever she is doing in there should be working.
How does she know this? Simple, for the past two minutes blue flames ignited and died down repeatedly all throughout Yang's body.
It started when a small spider began to drain Yang's energy, she allowed it, the creature wouldn't drain her daughter's energy completely, no, these spiders allow their prey to regain their energy just to drain them again and again until they die of either hunger or thirst.
Unbelievable as it might sound, her daughter is in no danger.
She wasn't worried, but still kept an eye, If anything happened she could give Yang her own energy or simply control the Grimm around her.
But still, this was not enough to make her apprehension go down, she walked back and forth while staring at her daughter's form, stuck in the spider's web.
At first, the spider had simply bit on Yang's arm and started to absorb her energy, the problem started not ten seconds later when the creature suddenly began to grow unnaturally fast.
The action did nothing but startle her a bit, with her senses she looked at her daughter's internal energy, and as she thought, the Grimm absorbed her Katamashī.
And it was getting significantly stronger for it, her daughter had a power level close to 170 but by her calculations the spider Grimm should have close to 3,000 when it ends consuming Yang's energy.
Not something she'll ever allow of course but still an enigma she wanted to solve, how did the creature even gain that much power from such small amounts of energy?
She wanted to observe it further, the curiosity of her daughter's Shī eating her away from the inside out, but... bad things started to happen.
First Yang began to murmur incoherently, secondly, blood began to fall from her nose, and third flashes of blue fire would occasionally surge and disappear.
Both the spider absorbing Yang's energy and the one waving her Ki to manipulate her mind started behaving frantically.
She was about to make a move when suddenly a green shield covered Yang's form, and even while trying to break through it with the same frantic determination of a drug addict the spider kept growing.
She ignored its screams and the sound of breaking bones in favor of looking at the owl stuck in the spider's web, a tingle of surprise passed through her as she noticed the bird still conscious.
It didn't have enough energy to even protect itself, much less Yang.
'Ozpin.'
The bastard was nearby, not that she cared, he could go down to hell for all it mattered, but at least he knows when he fucks up.
He'll do it again, sure, but at least he knows he did something wrong, even while not understanding what 'wrong' he did or simply believing himself to be right.
She scoffed and got back to watching her daughter.
Things got worse, wounds began to spontaneously form on Yang's body, and not light ones.
She had to admit, at the time her heart skipped a beat, premonition was next to useless but at least Bond was able to tell her Yang's condition, and... it was weird.
Bruises surged from her body without apparent cause, it was like her daughter was being attacked by an invisible enemy, but that wasn't possible if something attacked her the girl or even the webs would move, they did not.
It took a minute for her to understand what was going on, and when she did she asked herself whether or not it was even possible.
Magic could do wonderful things but she knows for a fact these spiders have none of it, not yet, neither did the small core inside her daughter have enough magic to even create a candlelight.
There was only one answer, shī.
Katamashī, she remembered Summer's words, the combination of both Aura and Ki, in itself the energy has the power to close the gap between body and soul.
And as far as she knows the soul is much more a conceptual thing than an actual tangible object, or even a type of energy, nothing besides things capable of permanently altering reality would be able to even touch a soul, much less harm it.
Apparently, there is an exception, Shī brings both soul and body together opening many doors to numerous possibilities, things that neither energy alone would ever be able to do, it could.
Undoubtedly a gigantic boon to any warrior, but if there is something Raven knows is that nothing in this world is without weakness.
Shī is no exception to that.
By bringing the physical and metaphysical closer Shī creates a serious weakness, one that if used correctly can kill its user without much difficulty.
If the Metaphysical is closer to the physical then that means one can affect the other, meaning thoughts, originating from either the soul or brain can affect the body.
Putting it in simple words, whatever is happening inside the spider's illusion also happens on Yang's body.
Weirdly, she felt no apprehension with that knowledge, subconsciously or not she believes Summer will help Yang.
It was weird, something she doesn't understand even now, even from the beginning she always believed the woman for some reason.
But for now, that could wait, she has faith in her friend, Yang will not lose the fight against the spider.
And sure enough, she was proven correct not even a minute later as suddenly her daughter's body exploded in blue light throwing the now gigantic spider away with such strength the cave briefly shook.
KIIIIIIII!!!!
The loud shriek of thousands of Spiders took her attention, taking her eyes off Yang she looked at the origin of the sound.
What she saw made her feel as if her entire body was suddenly submerged in cold water.
The small spider now evolved into a Tsuchigumo was being surrounded and attacked by hundreds of Grimm, biting crawling, slashing and poisoning the gigantic creature.
All of them attacked as if they hated the creature to such a point they could not bear he fact it simply existed.
Never in her life, NEVER had she seen something like this.
Grimm do not attack each other, not because they think of one another as allies but because none of them have something they want to destroy, Life.
But this alone was not what made her freeze in place, no, what made her freeze was her senses, the ones telling her explicitly that the gigantic grimm in front of her had Ki.
She would not be so shocked in any other situation, some Grimm could very well absorb and store Ki, but this one is different, it isn't storing Ki inside its body, it's making it.
RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
A shriek unlike any other sounded throughout the cave, shaking it in its entirety and deafening her momentarily.
Tentacles covered in blood and grimm essence bursted out of the creature's body, as its essence tried to destroy its meat parts.
Bones and melted organs were being forced out of the monster's body by its essence all the while the creature tried to force them back.
Panic, she… She can feel the creature's panic.
This should be impossible, Grimm do not feel anything other than rage, they were not made to feel anything other than this, they would… They would need a mind for this.
Realization dawned upon her.
Not even the word abomination could describe the thing, only looking at it made her entire body tremble, not in fear but in disgust.
Her very soul shuddered at its appearance as her senses showed her just how... deformed such an abomination truly was, its ki was unnatural, a mutation of her daughter's own, something that only disgusted her more, that angered her more.
The ki of closely related creatures is normally similar, so much so that she can recognize a sibling just by their energy signature if she concentrates enough.
The monster's energy looked remarkably similar to that of her daughter as if both were some kind of siblings.
She couldn't hold on, it was too much, falling to the ground on her knees she held her stomach and puked on the ground.
"Ugh... Blaaargh!"
A heavy feeling of sickness fell over her, she had seen the insides of people more than once, something done by either the grimm or her, hell, she even saw her own intestine one time and still didn't throw up.
But this... this is different, never in her life had she felt more repulsed by something as she did now, people unable to see deeper into a being as she can would perhaps only feel disgusted at the creature's body.
But not her, no, she could see deeper, she could see its Ki, its Aura, and even, its Shī, and it all disgusted her.
Her very soul reacted to the thing, and she understands why, something like it should not exist in the world, it was unnatural, wrong, and overall, repulsive.
She wanted to destroy it, and she was about to do so.
RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Only to freeze at the creature's scream, the world slowed down as she began to calm her breath, blinking in confusion she looked around.
Without noticing she had gotten up with Omen held firmly or her right hand, the crimson blade reeked of anger as scarlet energy surrounded it.
It took her a second to realize where she was, in front of the gigantic Gri- no, it couldn't be called a Grimm anymore, she stood in front of the abomination, her body moving without her input to kill the thing.
Her very being was so disgusted by it, it couldn't bear to let it exist for even one more moment, the creature's existence acted like an anathema to her own.
She could not live, as long as it did so.
She would have killed the thing, had she not seen even further below its Ki.
The... creature's existence was not rejected by only Raven's soul but also by its very own being.
Grimm are not alive they were not created to be alive, they were created to destroy, if given life, they too would destroy it, if given a soul, they too would break it, the creatures created by a god of pure destruction being capable of even that.
A combination of unlikely factors never meant to ever touch upon another, made it so something unnatural surged, a stain upon the world, one that has to be wiped clean.
Her daughter gave life to something that should never have it, and created an abomination as a result, one that is much as her child as humanity is that of the Gods.
There was no word to describe Raven's state at the moment, not a single word could come close to describing the absolute state of horror and shock she felt.
But, even in her shocked state, she was able to formulate a single thought.
Shī, is not something a mortal should have.
The abomination agonizing due to its own existence was proof enough of that, it was just born, and yet it was only done so to suffer, it would live for minutes more, and would feel the worst pain imaginable while doing so.
A punishment, for something it had no control over.
'Is this what happens when one goes against the world's order?'
In the back of her mind, she noticed someone landing behind her, she ignored it as her body shook.
She understands very well what happened here, what it means for the rest of the world.
Mindlessly she lowered her sword and began to slowly fly back to her hiding place, she doesn't know what to do, she doesn't want to kill the thing, it was pointless.
This... changes everything, Grimm can hold magic inside their bodies and even produce it, to be a threat to people like her these creatures have to have magic, without it their maximum strength can be at most 7,000.
In other words, Grimm, although making the majority of Salem's forces are not that strong compared to her human/faunus servants.
Had the woman found a way to give Ki to her monsters the only thing they would be able to do is destroy Remnant as a last fuck you.
If she ever finds out about Shī this is exactly what will happen, to give life to something that should not possess it and have those same creatures completely under her control would undoubtedly spell the doom of Remnant.
BOOOOMMMM!
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the cave, snapping her neck towards the origin of the sound she saw her daughter.
"And on my right hand too, for fucks sake, I hope mom won't be too pissed about this, and thinking about it I should probably learn the clothes beam."
'Clothes beam?' For a moment Raven's worry dissipated as she became confused at her daughter's words.
"Raven."
Ignoring the man behind her she kept watching her daughter, the bastard was not more important than even her needing to clip her nails much less her daughter.
"Oh?"
Suddenly her daughter's aura exploded outward, this time however it was white with blue edges, for a brief moment Yang's form was obscured by the intense blue glow, the next moment, the light died down, revealing her daughter's new form.
"...Impressive." Ozpin said as he walked to her side, his eyes widened slightly at Yang's new form, something she noted.
The immortal lived through things she cannot imagine, surprising him is not something easy to do, and still, her daughter did just that.
She would have felt smug at the prospect if she wasn't also surprised.
Her daughter's power level skyrocketed by more than 70, but this alone was not what surprised her, no, what did surprise her is the fact Yang's mind is much, much more stable now, calm even.
She had not felt such a thing for months, ever since that incident she could feel something in the back of her daughter's mind, something... that troubled her greatly.
Now? Now what could only be described as a pit of rage, self-loathing, and shame turned… Quiet, it was like… like a train engine that stopped functioning due to no longer having any dust.
She smiled, out of all the things that happened now, this is the one she is most happy with.
'Whatever you did Summer, Thank you.'
Coming back from her thoughts Raven held her chin while thinking, she'd be stupid not to notice her daughter's latent potential, it was... Astronomical, the power within her daughter, her sheer potential surpassed even her by orders of magnitude.
'And to think I thought of you as talentless.'
She understood, at least a little bit, why her daughter's potential is so high.
There are many small parts that make up Ki, she doesn't know all of them but she knows 3, Genki, Shoki and Yuki.
Genki is a person's health, their vigor, it could be described as their vital energy, the one that determines how healthy and how many years the person will live.
Now? Now Yang is beaming with so much of it, she made the calculations, every one of her family can live up to 190 years, something truly incredible.
From the genki she is feeling coming from her daughter's body she'd say the girl could live well over three times that time, even then she felt something weird as if her genki could not be lost, as if... It would always return.
'Maybe that is how she managed to make herself grow up, by manipulating her genki.' Raven hummed, her expression turning into one of annoyance.
'I don't like it, how am I ever going to coddle her when she is already so grown up, I want my baby back!' Fuming inside her head Raven did not stop thinking about her daughter's potential.
Yuki, is courage, the braver you are the higher your yuki will be, and she can say without a doubt that her daughter is the most courageous girl on the planet, what other ten-year-old would ever stab herself just to escape a paralysis effect?
She thought she'd die had she not done that and death is scary, sure, but between death and extreme pain, many would choose the former.
Well… Not that she can calculate Yang's yuki, her mind being so unstable previously made it so her true self became hidden.
It was… annoying but until now she only saw parts of who her daughter truly is, and she would only be able to see more if she talks to her.
In other words, not something she will do now.
Shoki, right-mindedness, the ability to keep a cool head in a fight, something her daughter didn't have a single drop of when she arrived in the forest.
Shoki is also the ability to keep being true to oneself, to never lie to yourself, to keep being who you are even in the worst situations.
Yang wasn't lacking it when she came to forever falls, but now? Now she has it in droves.
There's more to it for sure, but as she understands it one's latent potential is not only related to their biology but also their very being genki, shoki, and yuki make part of it, increasing them results in a more potent ki.
Ozpin for example, even while having only roughly 9,000 battle power is undoubtedly more powerful than her due to him not only controlling his Ki better but also strengthening the different parts of it.
As a result his potential too is enormous, but still limited by his body, the unbalance of body and ki limiting his power, not something he cannot surpass, but something he sees no point doing it, he's not a fighter after all, he's a strategist, one not meant ro be in the front lines.
"OHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
Once again surprise took hold of her as her daughter's power level increased twofold.
'A better mind equals better control, this is the second time she used her muscular form, and yet she managed to perfect it, somewhat.'
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Raven ignored the creature's shriek, instead, she paid attention to her daughter, and frowned, all the excitement she was feeling from Yang died as soon as she looked at the gigantic abomination.
Previously she'd compare her daughter's excitement with a predator enjoying hurting its prey, not hunting, hurting, now? Now It feels more like a child playing.
There is no killing intent, no malice, just... happiness, one that was snuffed out as soon as she looked at the creature, substituted by horror, hesitation, and pity?
Ozpin seemed to notice the same thing as he looked attentively at Yang's expression, it was one he saw many, many times.
Looking at Raven's tense expression he sighed, something... uncomfortable was about to happen, with a tang of hesitation, he touched the woman's shoulder and smiled as she didn't force it away.
"Many times have I seen men and women lose their light, be it their hope, or even their innocence. For those who fight against the dark will forever be changed by its horrors."
He looked at both Yang and the creature, despite the girl's form he knew very well, being of that family or not, she is just a child.
He could see the girl's emotions, thousands of years made it impossible for any but the best to hide anything from him, and so, he sees what the girl thinks just by her expression.
And he couldn't help but feel ashamed at it.
There it is, a thrall, a creature that didn't even possess a mind, given something it wasn't supposed to have, a soul, a life, a mind.
Rejected even by itself it was born only to suffer, worse still, its mind resembled that of a newborn, one that doesn't understand anything, one that is being attacked by what was previously its allies.
In its newborn mind, it suffered as what it considered its friends tried to kill it without relenting.
It didn't understand anything, the pain, the hate, the sadness, it was all new, and it reacted the only way it could to it, it raged, it tried to destroy all that rejected it, unfortunately, that also meant it itself.
Even then, knowing the creature's existence is no fault of its own, he still wished to destroy it… it felt wrong, disgusting, something that shouldn't exist, something that should be destroyed just by doing so.
Even now, looking at it he wanted to do nothing but kill it, while a child not even one-hundredth of his age and experience sympathized with the creature, felt pity for it, and even hesitated to attack it
He was wrong, something... hard for him to be, Yang Xiao-Long, despite her numerous… questionable decisions, is a better person than him.
Sighing in exasperation he continued to speak.
"Do you wish to go down there, and stop her from doing something she is not yet ready for?"
Raven glanced at him, with a hardened expression she opened her mouth.
"Ye-"
"I am sorry for what happened to you."
Only to be interrupted by her daughter, her voice felt heavy, the feelings coming through bond spoke of nothing besides sadness and hesitation, held firmly together by determination.
Snapping her eyes toward her daughter Raven kept quiet
"And most of all I am sorry about what I must do."
"Had there been another way I would have done it, you were given no choice in your creation, born without a mind and with the only objective to bring misery and destruction everywhere you go."
Raven's heart skipped a beat, her daughter's feelings, her speech Is... unnatural.
"So I do not ask your forgiveness for what I am about to do, for me to live, for me to save this world of the monsters that torment it, you must die."
Mercy, it was ironic, her daughter didn't want to kill the creature, not something that ever happened with her family, none of them, none have ever spared an enemy be it Grimm or not, all the enemies she has fought against either died or escaped.
It spoke of Yang's character, the fact she doesn't want to kill the creature, even going against her blood's instincts, she wanted to do nothing but save it.
And it broke the girl's heart even more to know she couldn't
"But go to the Otherworld knowing this, I will destroy all the Grimm on this World, and after I do, the cruel God who cursed your kind to such a fate, Will. Be. Next."
She felt disappointed in herself at the prospect of not being able to save the creature.
Maybe it was the way she was raised, away from her family, from their ways, living in a peaceful home but in the end, it doesn't matter, her daughter surpassed her own blood, and became a kind woman for it.
"Perhaps one day you will come back as... as a new being, and when you do I hope you get to see the wonderful world I have created, when that day comes, you will not know suffering, farewell, I'll see you later."
Through bond she was able to feel Yang's feelings, she felt hope, for what would happen to the creature.
Summer probably revealed to her the existence of Otherworld, of an afterlife, something that undoubtedly gave her strength to do something she will most likely never forget.
A smile formed on her face, even now, even after everything that happened, the revelation of the true potential of her daughter, she couldn't help but find joy in her current state.
Strong or not, the thing she most wants is for Yang to live a good life, have friends, a family, and most of all, be better than her.
"Final Flash." A gigantic yellow wave of energy shot out of her daughter's arm, consuming the entirety of the creature.
And right now Yang is undoubtedly a better person than her.
Kind and just, one day she thought she'd be the one to end Salem, for everything she ever did, but now? Looking at her daughter's form, she couldn't help but think she'll be the one to finally end this nightmare.
But…
'Being kind is not enough little dragon.' Raven thought as she watched the creature being pushed back by her daughter's blast, the energy in it is more than enough to disintegrate it but… she's hesitating.
Her daughter... is still a child, one that understands many things, innocence being one of them, consciously or unconsciously she doesn't want to kill an innocent creature.
Its appearance didn't alter that, for Yang the creature is a victim of circumstance at worst, ones that even if she couldn't be blamed for is still her responsibility.
Putting in small words, she doesn't have the heart to kill the thing.
'But it is not enough.' It really wasn't.
It's... troubling that the first life her daughter will take is that of a creature completely at the mercy of its circumstances.
It broke her heart to feel the hope inside her daughter turn to hopelessness, as a mother she doesn't want her to continue, and so, she wouldn't allow it.
Increasing her ki she pointed her palm at the creature and prepared to fire at it, even if only for a bit longer, she doesn't want her daughter to lose her innocence, Yang undoubtedly feels her presence at the moment but it doesn't matter.
She will not allow this to go on.
Little Dragon.
Suddenly, everything slowed down, time seemed to stop as a familiar voice entered her ears, without noticing, the Ki sphere on her palm fizzled out.
I... do not wish for you to have to take your first life, not this way, not ever to be honest.
She saw it, once again, Summer, gripping Yang's shoulders as she spoke.
For you to be a child, no, for you to keep being one, to keep having the innocence of one…
A smile formed on her face as she crossed her arms and looked at the scene below, it happened before but she couldn't help but feel happy, even when the damn woman stole her thunder.
Let me do it for you.
She still managed to look pretty cool.
Red light consumed the cave as Summer's Ki intertwined with her daughter's, obliterating the creature and continuing on.
A complicated expression befell on her daughter's face, she felt regret, and disappointment in herself, even knowing Summer was the one that did it the girl couldn't help but wish she could have helped it in some way.
'The innocence of a child, or perhaps the mind of a hero.'
Smiling Raven turned around and glanced at Ozpin, the immortal stood there with his mouth wide open in shock.
"Ha."
Her laugh took his attention, making him straighten himself and look at her.
"Let's go, I don't want you near my daughter without me around."
He looked back one last time.
"Are you sure about this? The dus-"
"I know damn well how dust works, and when she lands on the surface I'll talk to her, and by the way, the mining rights better go to Yang when all that dust energy settles back down, she's the one that discovered the place after all."
Ozpin sighed, and promptly teleported away, with a stoic expression, she did the same.
---------------------------------------------------------------
[Remnant/ 3 of November 83 A.G.W/ Forever Fall's Ruins/ Raven Branwen: 34 Years Old, 6:06 PM.]
How? How on the actual flying fuck did this happen?! Did the universe hate her daughter, because she is starting to think it actually does!
The proof? her daughter is now fighting against a goddam Pool guardian, one with 5,000 Battle Power, SHE DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH THE FUCKING GRIMM POOL FOR THAT TO HAPPEN!!!
NEITHER DID THE EXPLOSION FOR THAT MATTER.
And for some reason, the explosion was much, MUCH bigger than what she ever thought it would be, luckily the bird managed to create a shield strong enough to resist it, somehow, she suspected the dog had something to do with it.
Since the fucking Sabertooth Guardian Chimera just passed through them as if they weren't even there! This time she DID punch Ozpin for stopping her after she realized everything was fine.
This time at least the bastard explained he could in fact see seconds into the future, it did make her a little bit less angry, and thoughtful at the prospect of obtaining the technique.
But that doesn't matter, what matters is her daughter's admittedly not-so-stupid plan.
Her girl threw away her companions, taunted the chimera with words that admittedly made her cringe more than she ever did in her entire life, and just fucking bolted away.
BY USING THE FUCKING MONSTER'S ATTACK TO FLY AT A SPEED FASTER THAN SOUND RIGHT TOWARDS THE EPICENTER OF THE WORST DUST ACCIDENT DECADES OVER!
And she knew, her daughter knew she was there, Bond told her, the girl was confident if anything bad happened she would step in, which, she would of course but this still isn't an excuse to just fight a fucking Pool Guardian twenty times over her strength.
Well, it was not like she could blame her daughter, from the girl's perspective she thought she wouldn't intervene unless she was about to die.
Not true of cours-
'No, wait.' Raven held her chin in thought thinking of all that happened.
She... actually she'll do just that.
The previous her would probably beat her up for even considering it but the current her knows enough about her daughter to say with certainty that even if she doesn't win, she will perform miracles.
She'd be an idiot not to notice, her daughter advances unnaturally fast when she fights against opponents significantly stronger than her.
'To the death at least.'
She thought grimly, she doesn't like it, the way Yang grows is very, very uncomfortable for her, heart attack levels of uncomfortable to be precise.
If an enemy doesn't kill her, her daughter will.
Her girl is fucking insane, and worse of all, she can't say anything against it, because it works.
Her daughter is in fact calmer but apparently her plans were not in fact a result of her unstable mind, no, Yang enjoys taking risks as long as the reward is good enough.
Previously she felt Yang would risk a limb to gain more power, but now, considering her girl's semblance, she can take even bigger risks with much less danger while still gaining high rewards.
Although, she is not aware of the extent of Yang's power quite yet, something that greatly annoys her as that single tidbit of information makes Premonition unreliable.
As far as she was able to tell her daughter's semblance allows her to get things back, well that is the only conclusion she came to but still, she doesn't think it's quite correct, this still doesn't explain why she grows in that transformation.
Ah yes, the transformation, by far the most insane thing her daughter ever did, and for some reason she doesn't think the little shit actually understands the significance of her new power.
She somehow managed to combine her physical body and her semblance so seamlessly together she could transform based on the very reflection of her soul.
Something that shouldn't even be close to possible!
Yes, truly impossible, if not for Katamashī, by bringing body and soul closer the miracle energy allowed her daughter to express conceptual abilities in a physical way.
Her transformation increased drastically her semblance's power and reduced its energy consumption to an absurd amount.
She can use her semblance without the transformation but the energy consumption will be so absurd she might as well just throw a single ki blast with all her energy in it.
Her transformation doesn't simply grow her hair and her body, no, by engraving a metaphysical concept into her body she is able to connect the physical world to the one beyond.
In smaller words, whatever she does while in that transformative state is not limited to the physical plane, nor is it limited by its rules.
She had to admit, the excitement she felt at the prospect of obtaining Shī and having a transformation based on her semblance would have overwhelmed her.
She still thinks Shī is not something a mortal should have, but her greed for more power is much, much bigger than that little voice.
The fact her daughter could even move was already impressive, even while not being able to use magic, the girl still managed to expunge dust energy from her body.
Had her internal core not taken most of the saturated energy and started to function she would have intervened.
It was... unexpected, Ozpin revealed to her she had an internal core capable of storing and producing magic when she copied his own, but at the same time, he said hers was formed much later in life, most likely at her fifteen years of age.
Compared to the old mages who already had it when they were born and kept maturing through their lives hers was... lacking.
Hence why she is allowing her daughter to absorb inconspicuous amounts of dust, the energy inside her will forcibly mature her inner core, making her able to use magic at a much younger age than her.
She particularly didn't use it very much but she is aware of the power of magic, and knows very well it is necessary to protect against some truly insane powers.
Time control and dimensional attacks being some of them.
With a serious expression, Raven looked attentively at the fight unfolding, contrary to most her eyes could see more than the mere shockwave of every collision, she could see perfectly, every minute detail of the fight was not lost on her.
"HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
243 ⇒ 486
She watched in silence as her daughter trapped the chimera's fangs with her arms.
486 ⇒ 797 (+64%)
"Oh?" She heard Ozpin from behind her, the man held both of her daughter's friends on his shield while using his magic to heal them.
She ignored him, opting to instead see the snake's swift demise, she was not happy, she didn't understand why her daughter decided to kill the thing, the chimera could heal it in mere seconds.
But she trusts Yang, at least, her sense of fight, and sure enough, she was right.
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
The beast screamed as its tail was forcibly cut out, for a moment she stood confused as her daughter froze in place, she was about to do something when suddenly, the first fang Yang had thrown returned and slammed at the monster's mask.
PL: 2,589 (Flames + Speed + Dust Energy + Surrounding Ki) [Fang]
The sheer force of the attack threw the creature to the side, and for a moment, she relaxed, even now her daughter was somehow managing to win.
Her heart skipped a beat, Premonition screamed at her to move, but it was too late, having relaxed beforehand her Ki needed a second to power up, a time she did not have.
Without any resistance, the creature's claws passed through her daughter's body, tearing away a chunk of her torso and leg while destroying her heart.
"YAAAAAANNNGGG!!!"
Horror downed upon her as she saw right through her daughter's body, she froze, the shock of the situation locked her body in place, she felt no anger, she had no time to, all she felt was fear.
She couldn't feel anything, her daughter's mind, it was blank, no feelings, no thoughts, her very ki seemed to slowly lose color as it fizzle out.
'Wh-'
Before even a thought could form in her head, a bright blue suddenly exploded outward, she didn't close her eyes, no, she watched, and saw her daughter's body rapidly regenerate.
The wound that had previously put a hole through her body and destroyed her heart disappeared as if it wasn't even there in the first place.
The panic inside her mind instantly dissipated as she felt her daughter's Ki returning, her relief was so great she completely ignored the absurd increase in power.
243 ⇒ 520 (+277)
Unconsciously she smiled as she touched her heart, she isn't angry, surprised, yes, annoyed, yes, but not angry, her daughter made a calculated move, one that fortunately paid out in the end.
But... there is something wrong, her daughter is calm, unnaturally so, Bond could not pick up any kind of feelings from her, and weirdest of all, she could see what seemed like roots inside her daughter.
Ones made out of Katamshī.
It was hard to see, the... roots flickered in and out of her vision, the little she was able to see showed her they seemed to be made of smaller shī wisps contorting on each other, forming what she could only compare to nerves, or the roots of trees
That was not all, watching the creature attempt to smash her daughter between its paws she noticed something, something that made Premonition flare up in warning.
The chimera seemed tired of playing, it wanted Yang dead now.
520 → 1.040
Her daughter's ki control surpassed her, had it not, the chimera's paw would not have momentarily stopped for long enough for Yang to fire two ki blasts and save herself.
She felt no desire to act, her daughter has a plan, she is sure of it, and despite her mentality, she is sure that if she enters a situation she can't escape, she will ask for help.
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
The chimera roared as it squeezed Yang, slowly but surely, it closed in, looking to the side Raven eyed Ozpin, she could not trust the safety of her daughter to the man, but she could trust that he wouldn't allow what he considered to be a powerful piece to be lost.
And so, even against her instincts, she stood in place, her daughter will come back stronger from this, she is sure of it.
Crack*
A loud, grinding noise permeated the air as the beast finally closed its paws.
For one second everything stopped, the fire storm seemed to grow quieter and the lightning strikes fewer as the beast stood there in the air, immobile as it looked attentively at its own hands.
Using her senses, Raven smiled, and then scoffed at the grimm's stupidity, even as strong as it is, the creature couldn't sense energy.
'Fool.'
And just as she expected, it happened, the dust energy gathering inside the creature's paws exploded outward.
"THUNDER FLASH!"
ROOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!
A wild smile full of teeth formed on her face, she was far too excited, far too happy, unconsciously, killing intent began to ooze from her body.
Her heartbeat increased tremendously, she could barely keep herself in place, she felt she was blessed -Not by the two assholes- to have such a good daughter, and she couldn't wait to teach her properly.
'He…heheheHeHeHeHeHE.'
From theside, Ozpin looked at Raven, the crimson aura the woman emanated felt wild and unpredictable, had anyone else felt it they would think the woman wanted to murder them.
That wasn't true of course, the woman simply felt happiness while watching her daughter rise above, and perhaps a little bit excited at the prospect of fighting her in the future.
Such ironic duality, a mother that didn't have the heart to even hurt her family is now thinking of how fun it would be to fight against her daughter.
And he knew how far a saiyan could fight, disfigured, is not a word even close to describing what happens when a saiyan finds a worthy opponent.
Thank the heavens for the small gift of plant dust, had it not existed Summer Rose would not have lived past her first confrontation against Raven.
And the woman didn't even want to kill her, she simply enjoyed the fight to such a point the mere idea of holding back was an insult to both her and her opponent.
The saiyan would at maximum escape scarred, Raven's aura being orders of magnitude stronger combined with her race's higher healing factor would have healed her of anything less than a lost limb with time.
He forgot it sometimes, that Raven Branwen, despite how she presented herself or how she looked, is in fact not fully human or faunus.
There is a reason he didn't train the woman, besides her weaknesses all from her family have what he could only describe as a beast inside them, one that could break loose at any time.
One he intends to deal with before it gets worse in the case of young Miss Xiao-Long.
'No, wait, that sounds too ominous, I just want to teach her meditation.' He hurriedly thought, he didn't want to sound evil, he really didn't.
'Does this happen often? Why did nobody tell me this?'
Raven's smile widened even more as she saw her daughter form a spectral sword, she could see it perfectly, another miracle, another impossibility was about to happen.
Dashing forward Yang swung her sword, sending an arc of flames toward the creature, the same moment it hit she too punched the chimera's jaw, taking chunks out of it.
For the first time in this fight, her daughter damaged the creature with her bare hands.
But this is not what amazed her no, what did amaze her was the fact that even while having absolutely no dust energy in it, the spectral sword could still perform magic.
It was truly insane, aura, although related to magic cannot be called it by any stretch of the word, and yet…
Her daughter's form was surrounded by lightning, dust energy gathered in both her body and the blade's as a staggering amount of energy moved towards her.
The insane girl somehow managed to cast magic by using her aura as a focus, bypassing completely the need for a magic core.
Hugging the beast's ear Yang's energy became unstable, not a second later, the girl forced it all out.
"HahahAHaHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Raven laughed in pure joy as the blast briefly blinded even her, she couldn't help it, she passed hours in this damn forest looking at her daughter's struggles, thinking she saw the full extent of her power time and time again, only to be surprised numerous times.
There has never, NEVER been anyone as powerful as her daughter at that age, she couldn't wait, she truly could not wait to see the wonderful warrior her daughter will become.
'A legend, she will become a legend!'
The explosion died down, allowing for her to see her daughter's damaged form surrounded by a spherical red shield.
Suddenly, premonition screeched at her, already prepared she reacted instantly, extending her arm she used her telekinesis, and diverted the blast of energy that was about to pierce Yang's head down, causing it to penetrate her chest.
Normally she would have simply blocked the attack entirely but if there is a thing she understood while watching her daughter fight is that she loves to abuse her saiyan power.
One that is significantly more powerful than hers as normally evolving so much without an enemy in possession of Ki is extremely hard.
Had she been able to abuse this power while fighting mere Grimm she would certainly be much, much more powerful.
Blue exploded from Yang's body as her wounds quickly healed.
520⇒878 (+358)
"HA!"
Throwing a ki blast down she forced the smaller chimera away and immediately shot down, wasting no time she deactivated her semblance form and transformed into her muscular one.
878 → 1.756 (Muscle Form x2)
Bringing forth her shī she powered up even more.
1.756 → 2.879 (Katamashī +64%)
Raven giggled, she did it, she actually did it! Her heartbeat quickened as excitement flooded her mind, for a moment, she felt like crying and screaming in pure joy.
Her daughter surpassed her!
At ten years of age, she had a total of 2,437 Battle power, a 442 difference might not seem much but considering that not even ten hours ago her daughter had a measly 58
From her perspective, it was nothing short of insane, the progress of TEN YEARS, done in seven hours, and it wasn't over yet!
"Kaaa."
A blue ball of Ki formed in Yang's mind.
"Meeee."
Her power level began to increase.
"Haaaa."
Raven giggled, yes.
"Meee."
She couldn't have asked for a better child.
"HAAAAAAA!!!!"
A bright Ki wave shot forward, slamming into the Chimera and forcing it back.
2.879 → 4.318 (Kamehameha X1.5)
But…
'It isn't enough.' Raven's smike faltered as she saw the creature resist the blast.
Looking at her daughter she saw her Ki rapidly diminishing, but... She didn't want to intervene, not this time, this is Yang's fight, not hers, she wants her daughter to win, to succeed even in the most impossible situation.
'Come on little dragon, you made so many miracles today, just do one more.'
Watching her daughter's internal energy her eyes widened, and once again a smile formed in her face.
The insane girl was drawing from ger genki reserves, using her own vital energy to power her attack, not only that but also the remaining dust energy around it and her black flames.
Raven was not worried, Saiyans could live for a looong time, her daughter would live for much, much more, what is some months in comparison to centuries?
4.318 → 6.477 (Dust + black flames + Genki X1.5) [Genki Kamehameha]
The red and black wave slammed on the Chimera, destroying it entirely and finally dying out.
Or at least that is what many would have thought.
With her eyes Raven was able to see it, the smaller sabertooth chimera jumping and fusing with its bigget counterpart who had nothing besides its paw left.
It wasn't enough, something muat have gone wrong as while growing back the chimera lost its right part.
"I suppose it is time for us to intervene."
Giving a side eye to Ozpin Raven put her hand in front of him, stopping the man from moving forward.
"No, just a little more."
Ozpin looked at her with his stoic expression, giving a tired sigh, the man backed off.
There was one last thing she wanted to see, Yang proved to be a martial genius time and time again, previously she also proved to fight valiantly against enemies that by all rights she should have died against.
But now? Now she wants to see whether or not she is fit for a life of battle.
It might sound ridiculous but not hours before she was... unstable, Raven couldn't trust the girl to act how she really was, but now, calm and stable, she can finally see what kind of person her daughter truly is when faced with the end.
No matter how strong she was, the thing that matters just as much is fortitude, if she doesn't have it, she will not allow her daughter to be a hunter, no matter what not even if she resents her for the rest of her life.
She sighed. 'Don't disappoint me little dragon, please, I believe in you, do it.'
Sure enough, not even seconds later, she was proven correct.
Bond spoke of her daughter's feeling, shock and fear prevailed as she looked at the chimera's wounded form, the next second however, she started to feel... joy?
Raven's expression turned confused, only for her eyes to widen as she began to understand.
A brief burst of frustration appeared inside her daughter, just to be dismissed not a second later as happiness and excitement spread throughout her body together with a small amount of sadness.
Raven's breath hitched as she watched her daughter lift her arms and draw more genki from within her.
"If you want my life, You better work for it little guy."
She had accepted it, her end, but she wouldn't let her enemy take her down without a fight.
RAAAAGGGGRRRRRRR!!!
Anger filled her body as she watched the damn grimm advance towards her daughter, with an explosion of ki she slammed her leg into the creature, throwing it dozens of meters away.
"Humph, can't even kill this little thing after all that light show Shrimp?"
Turning around she forcibly calmed herself down, her heart was speeding as fear shot up her spine, she was still afraid of talking to her daughter, it had been so long, and she didn't want to be rejected by the person she loved moat in the world.
"Now, now, don't be so hard on Miss Xiao-Long, she might have made some... questionable choices at the beginning of her journey but she did get better."
Anger flooded her veins as the bastard interrupted her moment.
"And I have to admit Miss Xiao-Long, never in my life have I ever seen such prowess at such a young age."
Raven suddenly looked at Ozpin her eyes blazed with red fire as she pointed hatefully at his face.
"Don't you fucking dare drag my daughter into your Games Ozpin, It will be the last thing you will do, I promise you that."
"Mom?"
Snapping her face toward her daughter Raven's expression softened, she could feel relief and love coming through Bond.
Her breath hitched, Summer had said it but she couldn't believe it, even after nine years, not even having a proper memory of her, Yang still, somehow still loved her.
She dreamed of this, multiple times for the past years, they were the best dream she had, and the worse as she woke up only to realise they weren't real, but this? This was.
Rushing forward she hugged her daughter, she had to hold the tears coming out of her eyes as pure relief took hold of her, she didn't know whether it was hers or Yang's, but she didn't care
"It's ok Little Dragon, you can rest now."
Her daughter cried, not knowing what to do she hugged her even tighter, a moment later, she felt her go down to the land of dreams.
Lifting herself up, she prepared to fly to the hospital.
"Will you not kill it? You were quite angry at it If I remember."
She froze, she wanted to kill the thing but... No, the creature wasn't hers to kill, scoffing she spoke.
"I've seen my daughter since she fought against that Beringel Ozpin, she'd never forgive me for taking such a powerful enemy away, she will fight against that thing in the future, by then it should have gotten strong enough to actually not die in one glare."
A red aura surrounded her as she flew at maximum speed towards Vale's hospital, finally, it was over.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Remnant/ 3 of November 83 A.G.W/ Vacuo Wastelands/ ????: 11 Years Old, 6:16 PM.]
A small girl sat on the sand, her back was supported by a rock as she ate the corpse of a scorpion.
Her brown skin was full of small wounds, caused by either Grimm or wild animals, she is tired, hungry, and sick due to all the trash she eats just to survive one more day.
She couldn't move through the day, the sun would kill her, even then the night was no better, predators and grimm alike sook to end her, one missap and she'd be dead.
Sighing in exhaustion she looked up at the sky, and saw a red star shooting through, it... Felt familiar.
And for some reason, she couldn't help but want to destroy it with all her heart.