Neo wobbly stumbled out of the hot springs, followed by team RWBY and Raven. Yang was staring at her hands in awe and clenching them. Blake looked satisfied and Raven had a slight grin on her face.
"That was so soft.. It's criminal!" Yang muttered as Blake nodded.
"Couldn't have been that good right? They're just boobs!" Ruby half pouted.
"It's different, Ruby. Neo's... well.." Blake tried to find the words.
"A whole snack?" Raven hummed and answered as Ruby just tilted her head.
"You guys are weird.." Ruby shrugged and Yang grabbed Ruby's hand.
"NO you'll see if you touch them! You know those stress balls? This is better.." Yang uttered with a strange tone of conviction.
"Am I a tool now..? Fine, you get one" Neo shook her head and opened her arms.
Yang thrust Ruby's hand into Neo's breasts and for a brief moment, Ruby made a face of understanding before pulling back.
"O-Okay.. yeah. Jeez, Neo what are you made of? What do you keep in there!?" Ruby shouted.
"Uh.. hopes and dreams? Thank my charm boosts.." She whispered at the end.
"Okay that's enough groping, it's time for bed now, girls" Raven put her stern voice on and Ruby and Yang nodded in compliance immediately.
"Okay, Mommy- Sorry.. Mommy- Sorry.. RAVEN.. is what I meant to say" Neo finished by clearing her throat.
Yang cringed hard along with Ruby. Weiss gave her a weak glare. Blake immediately busted out her notebook and started writing. Raven just pulled Neo into herself by her shoulder.
"No no.. keep going. You can whisper that when we share a bed" Raven walked Neo into her room.
"Ew.." Yang grimaced.
"It's not that bad.." Blake quietly responded.
"If it was anyone unrelated to her she wouldn't say that" Weiss sighed and they all went off to their rooms.
Hours later, everyone was asleep. Neo had remained awake, despite her comfort being next to Raven. She couldn't sleep, she felt restless. Like something was going to happen. She was right. She heard a familiar notification from her system and checked it right away.
[Ding! Reincarnator detected! 499ft away!]
She saw it point to the North like an arrow. Getting out of bed, she threw on her clothes without waking Raven up. She was out of the Lodge in half a minute. The arrow was pointing right into the forest. She strolled over to the treeline and took a good look inside. They were close now, just twenty feet from her. That's when she saw the piercing red eyes.
"Come on out. I know you're there" Neo sighed and mentally prepared herself.
"I know" She saw a tall Grimm walk towards her, red glowing eyes staring at her.
"Of course it had to be edgy.. god damn it!" Neo facepalmed.
"And you're a harem protagonist.. what of it? Let's.. talk for a bit, hmm?" The Grimm takes a seat on a rock.
"You're not gonna try to fight right away? No cringey edgelord dialogue? Wow.. okay then" Neo took a seat across from him.
"So.. you took the body of the mute girl?" The Grimm asked.
"No, I copied the template and got dumped in a forest" Neo shrugged and noted how different and unique he looked.
"I ended up crawling out of the Grimm pond outside of Salem's Castle. I take it you know RWBY enough to know what I'm talking about?" He asked with a half expectant gaze.
"Yeah I know up till volume eight's end. So.. you're on Salem's side?" Neo heard him chuckle at that question.
"In a sense. Though I don't really care for her. I understand her anger but I don't really care for her at all. She thinks she has control over me but I've had free will ever since I've been reborn. Now? I wait for the curtain's fall.. It'll all end at the festival.." He hummed with an almost feral beastly tone.
"Why tell me that? We're not fighting so you hope to gain something from us conversing. What have you been doing all this time anyway? Waiting around?" Neo asked in mild confusion.
"I do hope to gain some kind of understanding with you. You're the most reasonable reincarnator I've met here. As for what I've been doing? Well I'm not as proactive as I'd like to be.. but I did kill Summer Rose and a few other reincarnators" He started tapping his claws on the rock beneath him.
"What..? Why in the name of God would you kill Summer?" Neo gave him a pointed glare now.
"Not for fun, I can tell you that. She was taken over by a reincarnator. They've been coming here for years.. trying to fuck things up and being generally annoying. The Evil Gods send them all over the Omniverse without a care in the world. One sent me here to be a villain. So of course I was resurrected as a Grimm Wendigo. But.. it doesn't matter anymore. Once Salem summons the Brothers, humanity will be wiped off the face of Remnant and there'll be no more of these insufferable dicks coming here" He let out a pleased sigh at the end.
"Okay.. that makes sense at least. Your plan's extreme though. Not even I hate them that much. They're just cringey assholes?" Neo raised her brow as the Grimm shook his head.
"I've seen them pillage, slaughter and defile the land and people of Remnant. The Evil Gods pick the dumbest.. or the most unhinged people to send. I was sent because of my Nihilism and psychotic tendencies but even then, I am not that much of a sadist. Think back to all those stories made by fans about RWBY that took a dark turn due to the reborn people's destructive actions. That's guaranteed to have happened more than just a couple times" The Grimm calmly informed her.
"What about those good ones then? The entire thing isn't awful" Neo sighed and defended.
"Oh yes.. those ones where the characters of RWBY are turned into cock-hungry trophies of the harem protagonist? Oh or the abused and neglected ones that turn Ruby, Yang, Tai and Summer into abusive people to elicit sympathy and make their idiot characters seem better?" The Grimm ranted.
"This.. turned into a weird discussion about stories" Neo gave him a blank look.
"Sorry. But yes, those timelines exist and I hate them" The Grimm scoffed.
"So you'll end this timeline to stop that? Still, it's too far" Neo shook her head at his idea.
"Nothing matters, so why not? Fighting them's been enjoyable for me. First time I've ever truly felt.. alive in all my time alive" The Grimm got up and clenched his claws.
"So you're just indulging in the chaos then? I'm not letting them die for such a stupid reason" Neo too got up and stared him down.
"I thought you'd say that.. I guess that's it then, Chris. I was hoping you'd just leave for another universe but I know you well enough to see you'd never do that. Stubborn as always" The Grimm started laughing as Neo's expression warped in shock.
"How the fuck do you know.. No, it was probably your system, wasn't it?" Neo grunted in annoyance for getting so freaked out for a moment.
"No. We share the same system, Chris. I know you like this world. Even some of the people in it. You wouldn't have saved Jaune if you didn't care. You gave him grief but he's just so relatable, isn't he? You can't help but want to see him succeed. It reminds you of home, doesn't it? Of blindly stumbling through school? To want to do something yet it's so out of reach? Ah.. the only thing you lack what he has, is his morality. You killed people, Chris. It scares you, doesn't it? That it doesn't bother you at all? In the back of your head you think to yourself.. 'Am I a monster?' don't you?" The Grimm said, stepping close to her, his body towering over her small frame.
"How the fuck do you know this? You don't know me.." Neo angrily glared up at his white, bone-plated face.
"I do, Chris. Have you told your.. heh.. 'harem candidates' about your past? I'd be surprised, you hate pity as much as you hate the 'tragic Main Character' cliche. Oh.. don't tell me! You skimmed through it all? You didn't tell them your Father hated seeing your face every time you saw each other? That his wife tried to incorporate you into their new family but he refused. That as you grew older, you grew more bitter and acted out? You never told them he considered you a monster after that incident with Ashley? That he thought you intentionally let her die?" He skulked around Neo and spoke in a calm and demeaning tone.
"Who the fuck are you? You the ghost of Christmas past? My life wasn't perfect but I'm not some fucking damaged Main Character. What about you, huh? Mister 'I'm a nihilist and nothing matters', what happened to YOU? Did you suffer tragedy after tragedy and decide the world was shit so you closed yourself off? That nothing matters because good things never came your way and after a semester of philosophy you decided nihilism was cool? What is it, huh?" Neo mocked him right back, causing the Grimm to throw his head back and cackle maniacally.
"Yes! Gnash your teeth and deny it all you want. As for me? Chris, you know me. You know me well. I'll let you ponder everything I've said. I'll see you at the festival! Ah, right.. don't bother trying to steer Cinder on the right path. I know you empathize but she's too far gone to even care anymore. Kind of like me, actually.." He finished with a carefree chuckle and walked back into the forest.
"Who is he..? Jack? Dad?" She quietly considered his identity for ten more minutes before hearing shuffling behind her.
Pyrrha was there. Her eyes were red and slightly puffy and she looked very worried. But Pyrrha closed the gap and hugged Neo tightly. She had cried very recently and Neo could tell she had heard their conversation. She sighed and accepted the hug while rubbing her palm on Pyrrha's back.
"I guess you heard some things?" Neo felt Pyrrha nod her head.
"Jeez.. I didn't go into details because I don't like to see people sad. Least of all over me.. Like my life was a pure tragedy" Neo shook her head with a small groan.
"No.. but that kind of thing still hurts.. and you keep it all locked up, Neo! I've been patient about this but I do want to know fully about who I fell in love with. You went over a synopsis but I want the full story. I won't pity you because this isn't pity.. It just.. hurts to know someone you love went through something like that, you know?" Neo opened her mouth but she couldn't find the words to respond to her.
She felt how genuine Pyrrha was in saying this. She cried for her when she herself had mostly stopped caring about what happened in her past life. Sure, it shaped who she was now and deep down it affected her opinions about certain things but she hated getting pity over it. This was different than the pity she was used to back in her first life. This was far purer.
She felt a tear run down her cheek and she hugged Pyrrha just as tightly. Hiding a smile in Pyrrha's shoulder she figured she could tell the girls about it if they all reacted like this.
"Are you okay!? I felt a tear on my shoulder.." Pyrrha worriedly separated and looked at Neo's now jovial expression.
"Of course I'm okay. That was.. incredibly touching, Pyrrha. Thank you. I'm happy, really" Neo put her hand on her shoulder affectionately.
"As long as you're happy then.." Pyrrha smiled a lovely smile. Neo took a picture using the chatroom and saved it.
"Mmhm! Mmmhm! Also you're in your bra and panties so the hug was extra nice if you catch my meaning" Neo casually implied as Pyrrha's smile became bashful and her face took a tinge of red.
"C-Come on.. you ruined the moment" Pyrrha pouted.
"No I just have priorities! Come on.. This was mentally draining and I could really go to sleep right about now" Neo hugged Pyrrha's arm and walked back into the lodge with her.
-Omake Q&A!-
Neo: Sup? I'm back.
Author: So we have a few questions and maybe a few from me.
Neo: Lemme hear them.. or.. see them?
Author: Here you go. -Hands Neo some Q&A cards-
Neo: From Fou in the discord.. 'How do you feel about the story?' Uh.. yours or this one? I'll do yours. Well it's entertaining so far. Chaotic is.. one word I'd use to describe it. Issei and the pervs jacking it on loli undies? Jesus.. I for one wanna see more fem Shirou interactions. I love Emiya in Fate.. Archer, Shirou, Muramasa.. Love the character of Shirou Emiya.
Author: I think Chibusa's stuck as a legal loli.. So no D or V for her.
Neo: Don't lewd the lolis.. Anyway! Deathunter asks 'Is ruby or Yang going to be added to the harem and if not who will be added in the future?' Ah.. no. They're beautiful! And totally likable.. early volumes.. but no. In the future? I'd ask the author but I'm not catching chicks like a pokemon master.
Author: No more RWBY girls in the harem.. I've considered other anime options though but they should have good chemistry for me to consider it.
Neo: This one's a question from.. Author? Okay. 'What's your favorite sexual position?' Really? How ecchi of you- Just kidding it's the Mating Press, baby! That's all for now but feel free to ask more and I'll pull in some extra characters next time and do a Smash or Pass. See ya!