Outside of an operating room, footsteps could be heard. A large man pacing back and forth, his medical knowledge was scattered and sparse.
But his knowledge of anatomy was immense thanks to the doctor. He'd done everything he could.
'Please stop, just sit down.' Neo's sweet voice rang through his mind, and he did as asked. He was so worried, but Neo sat beside him, leaning her head against him.
'She won't die, Weiss is a tough girl. You even saw yourself, there wasn't anything too vital that was hit. Even the doctors aren't too concerned.' Even with those comforting words, Hans stared at his shadow. The image of Ruby flashing through his mind.
'You're not alone, we can help you with her.' Neo reached up to his face, forcing his head down onto her shoulder instead. 'Just relax, close your eyes and rest.' Relax... that was a foreign concept to him.
But... it doesn't sound bad.
For once in his long life, Hans closed his eyes, completely leaving himself in Neo's hands. Slowly, his partner shifted his head to her lap, carefully holding him with all the gentleness of a mother, Neo stroked his head.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Hans found himself dozing off. All before falling into the abyss of sleep.
Neo let out a smile.
'You're a very paranoid man. You need to relax once in a while, let go of that stress. I swear... I'll have to keep an eye on you, won't I?' Suddenly, Susie rose from his shadow, crouched and staring at his face with a bored look.
"We tied her up. I've been messing with the grimm pools we took, the bone weapons are pretty good. They tear flesh well. You..." Her hair shadowed her eyes "were so cool!" Starry eyes stared straight at the unconscious Captain.
'Loud aren't we? I dont want you to wake him.' Susie looked to the girl with a dead look.
"I wasn't talking to you-" Susie paused mid-sentence, realising her feet had been completely frozen. Looming to Hans, out cold still. Therefore...
'Quiet.' Neo's face was stern, the encroaching ice up her legs made her point crystal clear.
"Now now ladies, let's not fight when a mans trying to sleep. Let's keep it down." An old man sat across from them, he held a... noble sort of presence, wearing the clothes of an esteemed aristocrat.
The two could immediately tell he was dangerous, yet he had no weapons in hand.
"I'd introduce myself, but he's not awake, and this concerns him too." Neo was tempted to try and force him, especially with how mysterious he was, but with Hans asleep, she didn't dare risk it.
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Everything was white, his entire field of view was filled with flickering white particles. He was in a snow storm...
He didn't trust it. He couldn't recall any memories of a snowstorm like this. It'd been decades since he had a proper dream, only nightmares now.
Holding his arm above his eyes, he tried to wade through the snow. It was deep, his boots leaving imprints about two feet deep. The crunch of snow and the sound of the storm was all he could hear.
As he waded forward, a figure stood. Hans paused... who was that? His build didn't match anyone he knew, stranger yet, he wore a sort of white robe.
Looking at him, there was a tingling sensation in the captains hands. Something was off about that man...
The figure turned around, yet he couldn't discern a single detail of his face. It seemed like something was trying to censor his face... something...
His mouth moved, but not a thing could actually be heard. His ears couldn't pick it up.
A blink tore him away from it.
Staring right into the eyes of Susie. Why was she out? No, that wasn't the strangest thing. Why was Neo stroking his hair? Worse yet... this scent!
Pulling my mauser from shadow, I shot up aiming my gun straight at the old man.
"Careful now, wouldn't want to accidentally pull the trigger." The old man was far too nonchalant for a man on the other end of a gun. His hand was steady, finger on the trigger.
Before the other two on the room could even react, the wizard had closed the distance, swiftly throwing the man over, a noticeable bruise on his hand.
"Alright, now that guns are holstered, how about we chat on why I saved your life?" Hans was shocked, someone with even greater physicality and experience than he? He wasn't on the level of Max, but that was still quite the shock.
Thinking rationally, he realised that he had overreacted. Though he wouldn't say it was unjustified. He barely knew the man, all he knew was that the spare heart in his chest was given to him by the man. There's still reason to be distrustful.
"Let me introduce myself, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, Master of the Second Magic." Walking around the man, he held a hand out to him.
Hans thought a moment, observing the man before he took his hand. Even then, it surprised him how easily he was lifted. The blue veins on his arm were the most likely cause. He saw none before the man threw him.
Zelretch swiped himself, removing any dirt that might've gotten on him.
"Hm, so you managed to acquire a servant? I... am genuinely impressed. By all logic, that should be entirely impossible in a world that lacks a connection to the throne." Servant... Merlin. Throne... she might've mentioned that before.
"My~ what a compliment coming from the Wizard Marshall." Merlin stood at my side... where does she always go? Wizard Marshall? It must be something from her world.
"Well, let's talk then." A foreign sensation appeared, washing over me and everyone present.
"A bounded field~, you know we could've just gone outside?" Zelretch didn't seem all too bothered by the comment.
"Yes, but its easier if we do it here. After all, you're waiting here to see your friend. So, as you've probably learnt by now, the brother gods are very real. Especially you." The wizard Marshall stared at the apostle. He only nodded in response.
"And the God of Darkness wishes to save the world from his brothers divine punishment. He needed a powerful champion, one who would had the potential to do so. As it stands, the God of darkness is equal to his brother, but if he was to pass on his power, his successor would exceed him. That's where you come in, Hans Günsche. You're his successor."
He would fight a God? He would kill a God? Ludicrous, all of it. But it was Ludicrously real.
Neo had already drawn hush, aiming the blade at his throat.
'You... chose him. Without even giving him a choice, to fight and kill a God?!' Zelretch looked down.
"I'm not very proud of it either. Hans was fated to die in the ashes of London. So I saved him. Fully aware of what I was forcing him into. But I'm not going to needlessly force him to his death. I intend to build his strength before the succession. And furthermore, i intend to send him to one of my World lines to acquire some insurance."
Merlin pushed the point of her blade away from him.
"Now~ now~, as stupid as it sounds, the Wizard Marshall of all people wouldn't go into something like this without a plan~, he killed something greater than a god after all~!" That definitely put a pressure on everyone in the room.
Susie was ecstatic, killing a god? That's legendary, a monumental task filled with pain!
Neo had mixed feelings. On one hand, if he's truly killed something greater than a god, then his training could make her worries a moot point. Especially with insurance. But on the other hand, even if he becomes stronger, he'd still be fighting a god! Who's to say he'll even survive to that point?
Merlin simply trusted in Zelretch's abilities.
Hans was conflicted. Yes, he owed him his life. But that was planned, he planned to use him. All the same, he would've been dead without him. He would've never met Neo, Weiss, Ruby or Summer. Even Ozpin. Ozpin...
"Tell me more of your insurance." His mouth didn't move, due to the linkage in their souls, both Hans and Neo could use each others Semblances. Not nearly as effective as the other could, but still useful.
"In these world lines, there exists a battle over the holy grail. The holy grail war, a battle over it, all for a single wish. Even if you don't win, the servants that the Magus use to battle each other may come in handy if you can convince them. Each servant is a hero of legend after all." Heroes of legend... heroes like Siegfried and king Arthur.
"For a month, I'm going to train you and get you ready for a holy grail war. Then, once you've gone through that... it'll be time to kill a god."
"Alright."
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A white ceiling... a hospital?
Again? How many times has it been now? Two... I hope it doesn't happen a third time. Waking up like this gets quite repetitive. Sitting up, I made sure to be slow to not open any wounds.
Carefully placing my feet on the ground, I hopped off-
"Damnit!" Upon trying to support myself, I couldn't. My knee gave out on me and I fell cleanly on the floor.
"Weiss!" That... was a voice I didn't expect. A pair of hands lifted me up, the hands of my mother. I stared into her tearful eyes. Her mascara had leaked down her face, making for quite the sorry sight.
"I'm so glad that you're okay! I... jacques died... I-I know that... that you did it." Willow stared to the ceiling, letting out some more choke sobs. "But I... I can't blame you. I played ignorant to everything, I was a horrible mother! All because... because I... loved him. I neglected all of you... because i didn't want to accept that he'd changed."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing... was she actually sober?
"Here..." my mother held a cane in her hands. "I... had them modify your rapier. It can now shift between cane and rapier. I... I don't know... if you'll ever be able to walk properly again though..." a permanent limp?
If that is true, I won't be able to be as mobile as I used to. With a bit of physical therapy, I could likely stand without it. But not for long. I might be able to supplement it correctly if I used my glyphs.
"Thank you... mother." Those words felt foreign coming out of my mouth. To be honest, I... didn't know how to feel about all of this.
It was a good start.
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And the Rwby arc is officially done, next we'll be onto fate.
Forgot to cross post, sorry
Anyway, see ya.