[||||=LEVEL 50= ||||]
Everything in the distance was beautiful and utterly otherworldly. The mountains were made of a purplish crystal, zircon specifically, and the grass was utterly black, performing photosynthesis far more perfectly than traditional plants. Little to no light reflected off the plants local to this dimension at all. At least, not on this planet.
There were a sparse few creatures on the planet as well, mainly oddly amorphous creatures that fed on plants or naturally existing pockets of chemicals along with a few carnivores, though the carnivores looked like giant mosquitoes that sucked the blobs to nothing for food, clearly insects of a sort. The amorphous creatures bred fast enough to have not evolved a resistance to the carnivores. The carnivores were slow breeding and long lived enough that natural selection would occur slowly.
There were more creatures on the planet, of course. It took far more than two varieties of creatures to make an ecosystem but those two forms of life were the most prevalent on land. The oceans were filled with more traditional creatures, including a seafaring jellyfish-like version of the amorphous creatures and a few rather aggressive insect sort of creatures that used horizontally placed and specially evolved wings as flippers to float through the water and prey on both the massive groups of jellyfish-blobs and occasionally others of their species. None of them were dangerous to me anyways so it didn't matter. I didn't want to go into the oceans anyways.
Curiously enough there were five moons on this planet. Two happened to be in the sky, though one of them circled the planet every few hours or so and the other in the sky at the moment barely moved at all. The sun was fairly similar to Earth or Remnant's star, just being a yellow light in the sky. It was somewhat closer to this planet than either of the others though, making the climate significantly hotter than Earth's or Remnant's, around a hundred fourty fahrenheit during whatever season I was in. I hadn't cared to find out. The heat hadn't bothered me. My body was engineered for harsh climates and I had my heat resistance skill levelled to a hundred. That said, I felt uncomfortably warm if I was in more than a thin T-shirt and shorts that breathed well.
This planet was where I had currently decided to test my void abilities, particularly the mantle. I had plenty of theories on how to use void offensively and they needed testing and training. At the moment my tactics for using void consisted of throwing void affinity at people, which admittedly was nigh impossible to block and extremely destructive to anything with a soul or that relied on mana, affinity, or aura, and running away into the greater void to continue throwing void affinity at people.
This was, obviously, unacceptable. I was a wizard, damnit! I didn't like melee combat. Swinging swords or using my halberd was my backup. It's supposed to be my backup weapon for any real fights. It just so happens that it's been sufficient for huntsman activities as of late. Magic was my forte. My primary weapon. But the most powerful magic I had was one I barely had any technique in. Granted, I hadn't had it for long but that just meant that I had to fix the problem as soon as possible.
I settled myself down on the cliff I had decided to practice atop and called forth the void. Using the mantle for practice lately had drastically increased my void affinity, making my affinity far stronger than it had been even a week previously. It would be my primary affinity if I had a traditional elemental for the affinity. With Pit's static level of affinity, a somewhat small boost all in all, however, it remained my second largest. That was fine by me since I had an infinite amount of the affinity on call. It was better to exploit my primary affinity skill to make my storms far more powerful, not to mention how my semblance was affected by storm being my primary affinity.
I pulsed the void in me weakly to clear the air of any affinity floating around me. Immediately the area an a fifty foot radius around me dropped drastically in affinity. It made it easier for me to practice if my affinity wasn't being interfered with.
First I took my whole affinity and tried something I had only done a few times. I added mana to it. As usual it resisted but the resistance was token at best. My void affinity was strong enough that I could control it far better than when I had initially attempted to add mana. But the first time I had fused mana and void the entire store of mana in my body had been used to make the magical black hole. One touch and the entire store of mana was simply eaten by my affinity. However, that was when I had barely ten void affinity. Now I had more than a hundred thousand.
The void tentatively touched my supply of mana. Immediately my void affinity hungrily consumed the mana and I felt my mana be drawn into the affinity. I forced the affinity to very slowly consume my mana rather than all at once as it seemed to want to. I lost mana at a rate equivalent to that I regenerated it at, but it took effort to hold the void back, even with my high affinity.
I carefully manipulated my mana into making a mana structure. A long bolt of solidified mana that I would propel. I hadn't used solidified mana in so long. I always used hard light or ice now.
I tried introducing void to the mana structure and found it attempting to consume the structure as it did my mana normally. Irritating.
I muttered a few expletives under my breath and changed tactics. I made another mana structure but mixed aura into the structure, merging the two energies. I finally added void and found that the structure held. Void, luckily, didn't attempt to affect my aura. My aura was naturally resistant to void as it was one of my affinities, so it could act as a buffer between the void and other energies.
Opening my eyes I beheld the projectile in front of me. It looked purple, which I recognized as the red of my aura and the blue of mana mixed together. Coursing through the purple, though, in inky blotches, were collections of void. Pitch black veins ran through the projectile, giving it an exotic marble-like appearance.
Experimentally I pressed my will on the aura, void, and mana projectile and sent it flying randomly. It impacted the area below my cliff on a small hill and I sensed void rush out from the impact site. It consumed my residual mana available as the aura quickly dispersed and tore through the surrounding affinity. It died off rather quickly and the area was devoid (AN: Hehe) of affinity but otherwise normal.
How unimpressive. It was nothing more than a more convenient way to use void at range. Normally I had to erase all the affinity between me and a target. This new technique was nothing more than a particularly deadly projectile. Not to mention more taxing than usual due to requiring both void and mana to use.
But perhaps this new projectile had promise. It was the only way I could use void with any sort of structure. It wasn't much but it was potential.
Second, I made the same projectile but I infused storm affinity into my aura. I smiled wickedly as the structure was stable. I felt like a kid in a toy store. Now what exactly would this do?
I eagerly flung the projectile down below and saw it impact a tree. The mixture of energies rushed out for a long ways, far more than the previous projectile despite the fairly equal amount of energies used. The energies also lingered in the area somewhat for a few seconds before dispersing completely, the aura proving more resilient when infused with storm than not.
I narrowed my eyes at the affected area and scoured it with my senses. My jaw dropped slightly as I found the area completely devoid of water and static electricity. The hell? Wait…
I made another projectile exactly the same and closely observed the effects as it impacted. My wicked smile returned in full force as every affinity was untouched besides water, air, and electricity. The components making up the storm affinity.
I excitedly made another projectile while substituting the storm affinity for life affinity. I tossed it at a patch of trees and watched with gleaming eyes as the tree impacted wilted and died instantly, as did several trees near it and every living thing on or near the tree. Once more every affinity other than life affinity was untouched.
I chuckled lowly before laughing a little louder. Void affinity could play nice with other energies. I just had to dilute it in my aura since it didn't erase my aura. Using my aura as a medium to combine energies wasn't exactly an original idea, but aura was like that, an affinity sponge. Even void could be used with aura. It didn't hold for long with both void and another affinity but instability was hardly a bad thing when you were making weapons.
I wonder what else I can do with void?
[|||| =+= ||||]
"What do you think?"
"You look great, honey."
"Ignore your father. Your hair is too loose. Here."
"Thanks, m-ow!"
"Thank me later. Qrow hasn't seen you in your dress, right?"
"No. Agh! Stop pulling!"
"Good, at least follow that tradition. And… are you sure we have everything ready?"
"Yes, mom. There's the napkins, enough tables and then some, the alcohol is arriving in bulk in about two hours - well, one hour by now, and so on. Everything conceivable is ready or set up to be ready very soon."
"I don't like it. Qrow's semblance is bad luck, sweetie. Something's going to go wrong."
"On his third date the restaurant we were at was robbed and, as Qrow stopped it, bullets destroyed the food we were having. We didn't get a refund."
"What?!"
"Be quiet, honey. That's what I mean. Something is going to happen. Maybe several things."
"We've double, triple, and quadruple checked everything. We have backups for everything conceivable and plans for if they somehow go wrong anyways."
"Mmm…"
"Besides, some things have gone wrong already. Qrow's semblance is terrible for him but it's not all-powerful. As Qrow, or more accurately his sister said: 'It spoils the milk. It doesn't burn the house down'."
"Alright. And what's this about Qrow's sister?"
"She's not coming."
"I thought we went over everything? Do you have a plan if she does? It sounds like you don't want her here."
"I kind of don't. I don't want her here, that is. Raven's apparently not much of a people person and a dark spot on Qrow's family. I doubt she even knows about his wedding, and even if she does she won't make a scene so we can deal with her in private. Qrow has three separate arguments against whatever she can say. He made a script, even, and practiced it just in case she does come."
"Hmm…"
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Ruby, is your dress on yet?" I called. I straightened the bow on one of our wedding gifts at the same time.
"Almost!" she called back. "The lace is kinda hard to tie!"
I nodded to myself at that. She would probably take another ten minutes if that was what was causing her problems.
"Eep!" I winced as I heard a loud thump from Ruby's room. The sound of something breaking came soon after. "Gah! I thought that only happened in cartoons!"
"What did you break?" I called.
"I slipped, hit my dresser, and the glass of water I got earlier fell on my head! My hair's wet!"
I very nearly punched the wall right then and there. I took a moment to calm down and remind myself that punching the wall would just make a hole and I would feel genuinely angry afterwards. "The wedding's in thirty minutes, Ruby," I said exasperatedly.
"Hold on I'm gonna-" I sensed a small flare of heat affinity come from Ruby's room, "OHDUSTIT'SWORSENOW!"
I paused for a moment and wondered how Ruby could manage to be clumsy with such a high DEX stat. We've done so many exercises for coordination. Or, well, Qrow and her did them. She had to do them to properly learn how to use a scythe. Maybe being clumsy is just a Ruby thing.
"Abyss! I burned the dress a little… actually it looks kind of cool. It made the lace blacker and it goes well with the red. Do we… can we fix this?"
"Blame Qrow!" I responded without hesitation. Ruby paused for a moment before I heard the door to her room open and her footsteps come into the kitchen.
"How do I look?" she asked. I glanced at her and gave her a once-over. It was the same dress Ruby would use to the Beacon dance, although now the neckline was suspiciously blackened. She would probably get a new one for when the dance eventually did come around considering how girls are.
The invitation specifically said 'Wear whatever the hell you want' on it so a normal dress was probably fine. Weddings were much less formal in Remnant too. They were more about partying and laughing than formal dresses and making out with a bridesmaid in a closet, though that might have just been my dad in my last life.
"Pretty good," I acknowledged. "The burnt neckline adds personality." Ruby stopped for a second and craned her neck to look at her back.
"Is it bad back there?"
"It creeps down a little," I admitted. "So long as you don't point it out most people won't notice. I was serious about blaming Qrow by the way."
"Uncle Qrow shouldn't be a scapegoat at his own wedding!" Ruby insisted. "This is HIS day! And Bella's," she added. I shrugged and waved all the presents into my soul space. I glanced down at my grey suit, which looked thankfully not burnt, and wondered if it would stay that way.
"Come on. It's time to pick up sis." I stepped through a portal and Ruby came immediately after to stare at Yang with me.
"Uhhhh…" Ruby said, voicing both our thoughts.
"Oh dust! Abyss you have to help me!" Yang grabbed me by my shoulders while I stared at her blank faced. Eye shadow was leaking down her face a little while her hair looked like it was messily dyed hot pink at the tips. Her dress was also torn around her arms and at one spot on her waist.
"Where can we get a new dress in ten minutes?!" she demanded.
"Oh no," Ruby whimpered.
"Hot pink?" I asked with a quizzical eyebrow. A spark of fury entered Yang's eyes.
"Poodle grimm," she spat.
"Nevermind," I muttered.
"Ummm - do you have a spare dress?!" Ruby asked a little quickly, seemingly panicking a little.
"This IS the spare dress!"
"What happened to the first one?" I asked. Yang grit her teeth and pointed towards the corner. A yellow and light red (not pink according to my sisters) dress was covered in some sort of red sauce and what looked like burnt scrambled egg. A brief sniff of the air revealed that it was, in fact, burnt egg.
"Your day has been worse than ours," I deadpanned. Ruby nodded while looking concernedly over Yang's dress.
"Can you fix it?" Yang asked hopefully.
"… Probably not," I said with a frown. I didn't have spare dresses or anything like that. "You can probably wash your face off for that ruined makeup."
"Maybe…" she said miserably.
"Actually…" I paused. "Do you have an old dress?" Yang blinked at me and walked to her closet. She rummaged around for a moment before pulling out an old light pink dress. It looked a little stained with something around the bust but it would work. Probably.
"Here." I pushed space attuned mana into the dress and wove it into an enchantment. The dress got bigger dramatically and I glanced between it and Yang, who looked at me like I was a saint.
"Yesss!" Yang cried with a fistpump. She eagerly took the newly enlarged dress and ran into the bathroom. I walked over to Yang's bed and sat down to wait while Ruby sat down on a chair and fiddled with the burnt part of her dress.
Yang came out a few minutes later looking uncomfortable. "It's… a little tight." I glanced down from Yang's face and immediately averted my eyes.
"Yes. It definitely is," I agreed.
"Can you make it bigger?" Yang asked hopefully. I glanced at Yang's breasts, which were nearly breaking the dress from the inadequate size, and directed the space mana around a little.
Yang breathed in relief as the dress loosened a little and looked down at the dress.
"It's a little tight still but it's better than before." Yang smiled in relief and looked at me. "Thanks. Crisis averted." I blinked and shook my head while pointing to her hair. Yang looked again and immediately got angry again.
"Right. Not averted. At all."
"There's only ten minutes left until we have to be there..." Ruby said miserably.
"Maybe I could wash out the hot pink?" Yang said hopefully.
"If you're very quick. As in five minutes quick," I gave her. Yang immediately retreated into the bathroom and I heard water begin running.
"SHIT!" I heard a splash come from the bathroom.
"Of course," I said as Ruby quickly opened the bathroom door. "Because why would that go even slightly right?"
"It's ruined!" Yang wailed. "Again!" I looked down at her dress, which was now wet around her assets and a slightly different shade of pink. Pinkish water
"Five minutes," I reminded her. Yang looked between her wet pinkish hair and wet bust and grabbed a towel.
"Give me two," she said with with weary resolution. I closed the door and glanced away out the window to see Tai's car gone. I wondered what was happening with everyone else. Most likely something bad. I hope nobody gets in a car crash… I should have brought a second medical kit.
"Okay," Yang said resignedly. I looked over to her to see her hair dyed entirely pink along with her now wrinkled and uniformly pink dress. I immediately came to the conclusion that she had soaked her hair in the pink dyed bathwater along with her dress.
"That's… well it's better than before," I said with a nod. Ruby let out a sigh that expressed equal amounts of irritation and resignation as I opened up a portal. But before I entered I paused.
"You really don't look all that bad," I added to Yang. "It could be much worse."
"Let's just get this over with," she said despondently.
[|||| =+= ||||]
"WHERE THE HELL'S THE ALCOHOL?!"
"This is the alcohol, sir."
"THIS IS BEER!"
"Yeah, that's what you… ordered… Oh. You're not Crow Brandish, are you?"
"I'm Qrow Branwen!"
"Ah shit. I'm sorry, sir. I think there's been a mistake on the company's part."
"You think?!"
"Uh huh. Crow Brandish bought fifty cases of beer for a party. You got the wine, champagne, and extra wine glasses, right?"
"I… yeah. There's more people showing up than expected and we needed spares. Everyone kind of needs a glass. There's the stuff for cocktail hour but not enough for the whole socializing thing before the ceremony…"
"Well there's a guy named Crow living in Atlas that just got a lot of nice alcohol. You, it seems, are not."
"Where am I going to get wedding drinks now?!"
"Try Tangerine's about two hours away. They have a little of everything, including the fancy stuff. Enough for a wedding anyways."
"The party starts in an hour."
"I can't really do more than say sorry, sir."
"… Leave the beer here. I have a plan. I think there's a store with dining ware pretty close to here, right?"
"There's a furniture store that has dinner sets three blocks from Tangerine's. They're just for display though. They only sell furniture and custom made tables and upholstery. I think they also do taxidermy."
"They don't sell glasses?"
"They're just for display. You'd have to go to Vale for any nice glasses. I really am sorry, sir."
"…"
[|||| =+= ||||]
"It's worse than I thought," I admitted.
"Uh huh," Ruby agreed. Her burnt dress seemed small in comparison.
The bridesmaid, which was one of Bella's two cousins, was in various states of injury with two of Bella's friends and her other cousin. I clearly saw small claw marks on all of them. Perhaps the worst part was that the bridesmaid was holding a heavily bruised dead raccoon.
If my eyes weren't deceiving me it had been beaten before being strangled to death by a light blue ribbon around its neck, which seemed to be taken from the bridesmaid's dress. The blood on the knuckles of the bridesmaid seemed indicative of what caused the raccoon's bruises.
Taiyang, who was the best man, was laying on top of one of the tables just looking up at the treetops. He looked completely blank except for somewhat wider than normal eyes. In other words, he looked like he had seen some serious shit. On the plus side, his clothes weren't stained or anything. His yellow suit and tie looked mostly pristine.
Some of Qrow's friends had already arrived. Port was sleeping, Oobleck was moving sluggishly, which was still average compared to anyone normal, but was still highly concerning. Ozpin seemed perfectly fine and was drinking his coffee while his cane lay across his lap.
"Um, Professor Oobleck?" Yang asked tentatively.
"It's Doctor Oobleck!" he said by reflex. Immediately he blinked and turned to face us, having just gotten out from the portal. "Oh! You're here!" se said excitedly, regaining some of his usual vigour. He grabbed his coffee cup and took a quick sip before standing up. I immediately noticed blood around his… well his crotch. Something told me that it wasn't his and that he had a story to tell. Not that I was going to ask.
"Uhm, where's Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked confusedly.
"Qrow is on a liquor run," Oobleck answered, though he lost some of his usual vigour. He glanced to his left and we looked over to see a truckload of cheap beer.
"Could you explain a little more?" I asked. Oobleck sighed softly and sat back down. Before he spoke, though, Ozpin spoke up.
"I believe that I am best suited for this, Oobleck." Oobleck blinked at Ozpin before turning to his coffee and staring at the group of Bella's friends.
"Now," Ozpin began, "Qrow ordered some rather nice wines for the wedding but instead we got this." He gestured at the piles of beers. "He seemed to have some sort of idea and flew off to do something, though we don't know exactly what. He seemed rather determined. Miss Opaque is inside the chapel doing whatever it is women do. She appeared to be unscathed, as most of us here are not."
I nodded at all this before glancing at the bridesmaids. "And them?"
"Miss Opaque's friends and two of her cousins," he explained. "Her mother and father are inside with her. The majority of the wedding attendees were supposed to arrive by bus roughly twenty minutes ago but apparently there have been vehicular troubles. They were roughly two miles away last we heard from them twenty minutes ago and walking to the wedding as waiting for a mechanic would take too long."
We all mulled that over for a moment. "I guess we got off mostly lucky." I said to myself. I saw Yang look down at her pink dress and shake her head while Ruby gingerly moved her arm to touch the burnt portion of her dress but stopped herself with her arm halfway over he shoulder.
"Mostly lucky," I emphasized. "Besides the other guests and whoever's already here is there anyone else?" Ozpin shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. Both Bella and Qrow agreed to not host a large wedding. It is apparently friends and family only. The group of people arriving soon only number twelve people. As Qrow has no direct family besides the Xiao-Long and Rose family, his side of the ceremony is somewhat lacking in attendance."
"I see. Give me a moment," I said. I stretched out my senses through the forest and found the party guests more like three miles down the road, all looking somewhat ragged. Three of them had guns with them. Grimm weren't especially common on Patch but it was best to be prepared I suppose.
"Here," I waved my hand and the portal opened up. From the other side party guests stared through in shock. "Well? Come through," I told them as they stood still. "You're some of the last ones to arrive. As soon as Qrow comes back we're getting started."
I winced a little as the party guests cheered rather loudly. They all stepped through in a line. I nodded politely as several men clapped me on the shoulder with loud thanks and ladies cooed over me.
As they passed along I noted that Bella's family was mostly composed of thin women with long legs and arms, not much different from Bella except that most of them had dark blonde hair, as well as extremely large men.
They weren't fat men but huge, tall men with guts that hung out a little and arms as big as tree trunks as well as some impressive beards and mustaches.
The shortest man was still roughly six feet tall, taller than the average man on Remnant. Observe marked his strength at one hundred and fifty.
Last in line was a toothy little girl with dirty brown hair and eyes. "Thanks Mister Kitty! My legs were getting tired!" she giggled. She held out a pale blue flower to me and I paused for a moment before taking it. She skipped away happily to the now chatting throng of guests, who appeared to be congratulating the bridesmaid and her dead raccoon, who now looked extremely proud for some reason.
Meanwhile I stared at the flower in confusion trying to decide whether I should discreetly dump it on the bushes or shove it in my soul space and take it out as needed. Or should I pin it to my suit?
"Ugh. You're hopeless. Here," Yang chided. She grabbed the flower from me and took out a pin from somewhere and pinned it to my suit. I blinked at the flower and shook it off. Who even gives flowers if they're not in a pot? You either dump them when nobody's looking or carry them around awkwardly. If you're lucky you can put them in a pot for a while until they wither.
I gave up on the flower business and looked at the first guy to approach me. He was the second person to cross through my portal and was carrying a beer bottle.
"Hey there, kid!" he spoke jovially with a wide smile. "Just wanna thank you again for helpin' us out back there. Here. I brought you a drink." He offered me the bottle, already opened somehow, and I took it before taking a sip. I didn't like it, but that was the case with most alcohol so I stomached it.
The man put his right hand over the top of his own beer and I blinked in surprise as he just popped the cap right off with his bare hands before flicking the cap into the woods somewhere.
"Now I suppose it's best I explain some things since our family is a little, well, weird."
I glanced to my left to see Yang chatting with three of the women over the dead raccoon with Ruby right beside her. She glanced at me and looked away a little guiltily. You traitor. I want to hide behind Yang too!
"We come off real strongly. I guess it's kinda like that in circus stuff. You're one of Bell's students, right?"
I nodded. "My name's Abyss. Abyss Mavros." The man blinked twice before a huge grin went over his face and he threw his head back with booming laughter. Some of the other men looked at him curiously before eyeing me. I could already tell that they were going to ask about that later.
"Ah! I thought I knew ya from somewhere!" the man exclaimed. "Ma name's Oak! Your company's been a sign from above that the world's done something right! We've barely had to hire guards with that white and red sap you make! Traveling all the time you really benefit from the stuff. I've heard nothing but good things!"
I gave the man a somewhat fake smile. "I saw an opportunity and took it. I'm afraid I put quite a lot of people out of business but it's good that the frontier is safer now."
"Aye, that!" the man said happily. He took a swig from his bottle and almost half the beer disappeared at once. I glanced over to the stacks of beer and wondered if we had enough if everyone drank like Oak.
"Man, that's great!" Oak grinned. "But as I was sayin', weird family and we come off strong. We're real friendly. Family's family and that's that. It's all we got. I know that's not quite what it's like in the city, with kids moving out in their teens and stayin' in their own apartments at twenty, but you're Qrow's family so you're our family. We'll stick with ya with all we got so long as you do the same."
The man clapped me on the shoulder - again - and finished his beer in another gargantuan swig.
"You'll do good around us, kid! Helpin' people's important! We're all alone in this world and spreadin' joy and all is what makes this little world of ours tick. Keepin' grimm out is just half of it. Life ain't really life if you don't have joy."
The man's grin grew three sizes in an instant. "But with joy so important let's skip to the good stuff! I've got baby pictures of little Bell. She's my niece, you see. Have you got anything yourself?"
I felt my fake smile turn to a more genuine, if small, grin. The man's beaming face showed that he could tell it was real.
I flicked my hand and a photo album showed up. "Do you want to start with my sisters over there, Taiyang, who's the best man, or ones I have of Qrow? I'm a bit lacking on photos of Yang but I think Taiyang has plenty."
I luckily had one album of embarrassing pictures of Qrow only, but another thicker album of copies of the photos and ones with him and Raven. Apparently the tribe liked to have blackmail over one another. Even Raven is at the mercy of embarrassing stories.
The two of us shared an understanding at that moment. "Let's start with Qrow to get us started since he's not here. When he gets back we'll share Bella's with him, solidarity between men and all. And obviously we're doing your sisters as soon as you finish that beer of yours."
I understood this man better than anyone else I'd met in my entire life.
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Sir! You can't -! Those are decorative glasses only!"
"Glass is glass! Nobody'll notice!"
"They're not for sale!"
"My wallet says otherwise."
"Not! For! Sale! Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave!"
"You know, my fists agree with my wallet?"
"Security! There's a masked man stealing merchandise!"
"Well shit then. And I don't think that my cape wrapped around my face is much of a mask. I just thought I'd rob you politely, follow protocol and all. Look, I'm taking this glassware. Im even paying sorta fairly and, ugh, I hate playing this card. Did I mention I'm a certified huntsman?"
"I… no. No you cannot have the glassware! That is delicate old Vacuan chalice-ware and-"
"Shut up before I shit on your car."
"WHAT?!"
"Um, I mean - before I make a random bird shit on your car."
"You-! IS THAT MY WALLET?!"
"Yup! I've still got it! I don't really steal that often anymore but you know how things are growing up. It's like riding a bike or learning your first cool one liner."
"SECURITY! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Doesn't she look cute!" Oak said affectionately. He hugged Ruby tighter with a wide and slightly mischievous smile on his face.
"Awww, you have crumbs all over your face! That's so cute!" Yang beamed at the picture I showed.
"NO!" Ruby yelled. "ABYSS STOP PLEASE YOU'RE EMBARRASSING ME!"
"She pretty much went into withdrawal if she didn't have at least three per day back then," I said with a smile. "Now it's more like three every other day."
"NO IT'S NOT!" Ruby cried. But everybody around her was already awwing at her and smiling softly, like they had just seen a puppy chase its tail.
I flipped the page once more and smiled wickedly. "Oh! Here she is with a duck she always stopped to say hi to at the pond. She practiced her scythe moves and always asked 'Mister Duck' if she looked cool enough."
"Oh my God!" Yang said ecstatically. She reached for Ruby and Oak passed her to Yang easily. Before Ruby could wiggle free Yang pulled her in for a bear hug and squeezed the life out of her. Ruby kept trying to escape in vain.
"Do you have any of her posing?" one of the ladies asked excitedly. I smirked and flipped to the next page, where Ruby was yelling something while waving a stick around above her head, one foot planted in front of her like she was doing lunges.
"That's adorable!" the lady squealed.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Ruby wailed.
"You think it's time for Yang?" I asked Oak.
Yang blinked dumbly for a moment. "What?"
"Oh, I've got this one." Taiyang, who was smiling softly, a few happy tears in his eyes, pulled out his scroll and turned it on.
"Wait, wait," Yang said nervously. "You don't have that many. I mean, I was kind of an outdoorsy kid." Ruby finally struggled free and leapt from her arms to snatch the photo album I had and cackle victoriously. I let her have it. I had a copy at home anyways. That was the backup.
"Here she is with honeybee, her first 'motorcycle'." Taiyang eagerly showed a picture of a very young Yang with a yellow helmet on grinning toothily as she rode a bicycle down what I recognized as the dirt path to the Rose/Xiao-Long cabin.
"Dad!" Yang exclaimed, a full blown blush on her cheeks while everyone laughed good heartedly at the picture. I took a sip from my nearly empty beer. It was actually my second. I didn't want one that much but it felt right to drink with the circle of dads. Everyone was doing it, including some of the women, and I felt obligated to. I didn't really mind.
Tai flipped to the next picture, which was of Yang excitedly changing the chain on her 'honeybee' to one that I think was spray painted yellow. There was a little smudge of black grease on her right eyelid and left cheek, likely from the chain while she changed it.
"Nonononono!" Yang quickly said as she tried to grab her dad's scroll. He pulled it back and put it back in his pocket with a smile on his face, his mission apparently done and his daughter properly embarrassed.
"Oh! He's back!" someone said, laughter still in their tone. I looked to my right to see Qrow pull up to the lot in a grey car. He got out while people approached him and pulled out a pack of wine.
"WE GOT PROPER WEDDING WINE!" he yelled victoriously. People cheered happily and toasted with their beers.
Qrow looked confusedly at the beers people had and at the crates over at the side. His face fell a little but became more determined a moment later.
"Someone yet me a beer!" he yelled. More people cheered and someone tossed a beer bottle to a guy standing near Qrow, who handed him the bottle. Qrow set the cap on the door of the car and levered it, making the cap fall off, before he took a long drink himself with a smile.
"So how'd you suckers all get here anyways?" he asked.
"The kid brought us," Oak said with a grin. He pointed at me and I waved relaxedly. Qrow blinked and glanced at his wine.
"Did we even need this?" he wondered out loud.
"Of course we did!" Oak said cheerily. "You can't have a proper wedding toast without proper wine! And we were short on glasses anyways. Five people would have had to have beer."
"This was worth it then," Qrow said with a nod to himself. Then he muttered something to himself I couldn't hear over the talking. Oak's face, however, turned to a happy smile upon hearing whatever Qrow said and he clapped him on the shoulder like he did to me and started unloading the wine glasses and wine.
I myself looked towards the chapel and wondered whether I should go see Bella or if that was against some unwritten rule before someone new sat down next to me.
"Hi," Taiyang said awkwardly. I stared at him for a moment before finishing my drink. I felt like I was going to need it.
"Want to take this somewhere less public?" I offered. Taiyang opened his mouth before closing it and thinking a moment.
"Yeah," he said quietly. I stood up from my table and looked towards the chapel. They probably had a spare room to talk in or at least a quiet corner. I didn't know if this was going to get heated but I'd rather be prepared. Something told me that I wanted this to be private rather than done in front of Bella's whole family.
Just in case, though, I teleported a beer into my soul space. Getting drunk was unusual for me but I might make an exception here.
A minute later and Tai and I had ducked into an office. The door was originally locked but a little motion mana shifted the tumblers and we were in. I didn't want to wander around looking for an open room.
"So what's this about?" I asked, hoping we could get whatever this was over and done with.
Tai took a deep breath. "Look, I know I've been a pretty terrible father-"
"You're not my father," I cut in. Tai winced.
"Not biologically. But Yang and Ruby are your sisters and Summer was something like your adoptive mother. I think that's grounds to call myself something." I scowled but didn't refute his point. I nearly sent another cutting remark about how if he was my father he should have acted like it but I held myself back. Ruby and Yang would be a bit irritated if I was harsh with their father.
"If you don't want to call me dad that's fine," he said a little soothingly. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes by reflex. No way I was calling him Dad anyways. "But I'd like Ruby to move back in with me. And you too."
"No way in hell," I said immediately. Taiyang frowned but didn't look surprised at all.
"Is this about this Aunt you and Ruby have?" he asked. I didn't change my expression. "I don't know who she is or why she's so important to you," he admitted. "But I'd like to at least talk to her. She lives with my daughter and you. I want to be a part of my daughters' lives."
I stared at Tai coldly in the eyes. He looked right back and rallied up a little more drive. "I get it," he said slightly more aggressively. "I screwed up. Badly. Worse than I ever did before. When my daughters needed me most I was a mess. Useless. Do you think I didn't realize that? That I haven't known that for years? I lost Ruby and you know what? Maybe I deserved it. I should have realized that my daughter, my elementary age daughter who idolized her mother, took the loss of her mother right in front of her worse than I did. But I didn't. I was a self-centered coward and I know I'll be making up for that my entire life. But I can't try without a chance."
"You were everything Raven said you were," I said coldly. Tai recoiled and I could tell that that genuinely hurt him.
"Yeah," he said, his voice choked. He steeled himself once again. "Yes. I was everything she said I was. I was a coward, spineless, and when people needed me most I was weak. But I'm trying… I'm trying to be there for my children."
"So you want Ruby to live with you," I acknowledged. "Ask her. If she wants to move out she can do so. I trust her to be mature enough to decide for herself."
"She did decide," Tai said quietly. "Yang and Ruby both did. Over the summer. They decided that they would leave it up to you. That Yang would move in with you and your… Aunt or that you and Ruby would move in with me and Yang."
I was frozen. Ruby… she decided that? They talked? I felt a surge of anger. She went behind my back. She and Yang both did. When have I ever not told Ruby something? Salem? I told her that when she was in elementary school. Magic? Even before that. Everything I believed in from heroes to her choice to become a huntress? I had always been honest. The only time I had ever not told her something were the things she wasn't interested in and that wouldn't affect her, namely my crime business with Roman.
But this time she did something directly involving me and didn't tell me about it. For the first time I had ever been with Ruby, all the way back to the days when Summer was alive, I felt betrayed.
"Ruby thinks your Aunt won't want to come live with me and Yang for reasons she won't say," Tai continued. "But all three of us are in agreement. We want the family to be together. All of us but… we know that takes time. It won't be immediate. You're in Beacon, I know, but maybe we can give it a try? Over the breaks. It could be…" Tai trailed off but I knew what he was going to say. It would be just like before, when Summer was alive.
"It won't ever be like then," I said brutally. Tai's pained expression showed how well he already knew this. "Summer is dead, Tai. Ruby knows it. I know it. Yang's known it ever since that day. Do you know it? Because you act like you can't get over her even now, when she's been dead for nearly a decade."
Tai was silent so I continued. "Ruby will never have another mother. I don't want, nor will I ever have another mother. I talk to Qrow too, you know? I know you never took up dating. You never moved on. Did you ever even try to move on?" Tai grimaced.
"Summer was my everything," he said with a strange and somewhat forced calmness. "My whole world revolved around her. The moment she came through the door everything was brighter. It always felt like when she was away that we were waiting for her. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever had your entire world shattered like that?"
"Your world wasn't shattered. You had your children," I said bluntly. "But when the time came you couldn't be there for them."
"Well I'm trying!" he snapped. "I'm trying to be their father! I'm trying to make up for everything! I'm trying to be attentive, be a part of their life, and I sure as hell am trying to get back up from my slump! But you know what? I'm not getting anywhere!"
Tai's face showed clear frustration on it. "I've tried! I AM trying! But every time I get somewhere I'm pushed back! And there's a damn good reason for it!" Tai looked pointedly at me.
"It's you! You're their entire world! You're their Summer! When Ruby's at my house I know she's trying but it always comes back to you! What your company is doing, what dust experiment you're doing, what your friends Polendina, Penny, Cesium, or Bella are doing! She wonders if you're having game night, if you're making cookies, if there's some part of your life she's missing! And Yang's no different!"
Tai threw his hands up briefly before putting them back down and standing up taller. "Somehow, and by dust I have no idea how you've done it, you're her brother! She wants to be there for you, to be the big sister for you, to be the person who drives the girls off, who sees your awesome airship and goes drinking with you, who teaches you bad habits! Any you know what? When it came time for it they BOTH chose you! They want YOUR decision! They go where you go because YOU are their world! You're the person they care for above anyone! And I can't be there for my kids because you're already there! They rely on you! Wait for you! Think about you! You're their damned Summer!"
Tai stopped when he realized that he was almost yelling. I kept my face stony but inside I was wrestling with myself. On one hand I felt warm. They chose me. They could have been with Tai, their biological father, but instead both of them wanted to know what I wanted to do.
But on the other hand there was Tai. I had wondered on occasion, of course, what I had done to him, but I never really thought about it. I had, mostly by accident, left him out in the cold. I was Ruby's family and Yang's family but I wasn't his. And in a way I drew them away from him. He had finally snapped out of his grief and realized that he didn't have any family left for him. I had somehow become the focal point of their entire family. My entire family, somehow. But Tai wasn't there with me; with us.
I sighed deeply and rubbed my eyes. This was supposed to be a happy day. It's Qrow and Bella's wedding. Why couldn't we just be happy for one day for their sake? Did we have to do this now? It's been put off for so long and now, finally, Tai and I meet alone and this happens.
"Look," I said tiredly. "I'll… consider it." Tai's face fell into relief at that, like he had a weight taken off his chest.
"Don't get your hopes up," I said without any drive. "Come on. There's a wedding to enjoy." Tai nodded and opened the door before stepping outside. I stayed for another moment.
I already knew what I was going to choose. Raven had been with me for years. I wasn't leaving her no matter what. She was family. I don't know about introducing Yang and Raven again. Eventually, though, Raven would have to deal with her daughter. Either to alienate her forever or to make amends of some sort. As long as it was something.
It was inconsiderate of Tai to ask me to leave her for him, someone I had nothing but disdain for, and unfair too at that. I'm half convinced that he actually thinks I'll go to him by how relieved he was that I said I'd consider it.
No. I wasn't going to live with Tai. He might see me as family somehow but he wasn't mine. I did have a choice to make, though. Was I going to push Ruby and Yang to him? He was their father. I couldn't say that he deserved no chance. But would I push Ruby or Yang to him?
… No. I guess I wasn't that nice of a person. Ruby, Yang, and Raven were family. Tai was not. That was all there was to it.
----------------------------------------------------------
If you like it please drop some POWER STONES