《Weiss Schnee & The Dust of Time (RWBY Fanfiction)》 1. High-speed meeting The setting sun bathes the city of Vacuo in its all-encompassing orange glow for a moment more. With the evening fast approaching, the busy open-air markets start giving way to the upcoming cold desert night. Most had closed their stalls hours ago, but now even the most persistent peddlers were closing shop. The opposite was true in the inner city as the night¡¯s venues were just opening and gathering their usual crowds. But not even they could escape the cool night wind whistling in the city, playing with the dusty sand along wide open streets. Slowly but surely eroding the walls and roofs of clay or stone¡ªthe demanding tax of nature. A citizen, enjoys the mellow weather on a balcony, sitting on a rickety wooden chair. In his large hands, a book. The growing chilly wind tugs at the pages and flips over a few more. With a grunt, he closes the book and unhoods his head. Eyes closed, he bathes in the quiet of the city with a steady tranquil breath. Had he opened his eyes, he might have spotted something to break this serene moment. A warning and a premonition of what was to come in the near future. A figure so high up, it only appeared to be a black dot, as it fell against the dusky sky. But it was no comet, nor a shard of the moon. Either of those would have been more usual¡ªmade more sense. But tonight, it was a concept, an entity, a stranger to these parts of the world; an heiress. That was the unexpected bounty of the unforgiving deserts, of the cruel sky. The balcony that this man sat at, was part of a house, a two-storied mansion made of wood that stood at the edge of town. A relic built in the olden days, when rainforests still existed covering the entire region. One could fairly say, it was an entirely different time and era, a far cry from the desert climate ruling over the land now. The house had been renovated, and repaired to retain its faithful appearance many times over the years, but now age was catching up to it again. The sandy grains of time had begun to forever embed themselves to its walls, sealed within the ancient wood. It''s the oldest house in Vacuo, a true blast from the past, much like the man who inhabited it was soon to be too. Generously estimating the man¡¯s age would land him somewhere along the early forties, but taking a closer look at his creased brow and timeworn face, it was clear he had cleared the fifties already. Retreating from the way of the oncoming night, the man heads back inside, first through a spare bedroom, then to an unlit hallway. He carries the book against his chest, and an empty beer pint in the other one, and walks through the darkness with familiarity, towards the light at the end of the upcoming stairs. The steps down receive his wide feet with groaning and creaking, the stern complaining of the debilitated ones. As a more direct protest, a tiny splinter tries to tear a hole in his black sock but is no match for the quality Vacuon fabric; the steps¡¯ anguish would go unnoticed for yet another day. The living room itself is homely, combined with the kitchen with no wall separating them. The man heads for the table at the right side of the room, a sofa before it, and an unlit fireplace embedded into the wall on the other side. A chandelier burns above with barely noticeable flickering of the hot light bulbs. With a contented sigh, he sits down and lays down the empty pint on the table before him. He stretches his legs and then leans back on his couch, opening the book again. The room is serene and quiet, the low lighting, complimented by a small but bright reading lamp on the side table, that illuminates the wondrous pages. Sitting in a surprisingly straight posture for sofa-lazing, his lips turned ever so slightly upwards, as he let out an increased amount of air from his nose. A somewhat amusing turn of events in the world of story unfolded before him. He flipped to the next page with his hardened fingertips, awaiting in anticipation where this book with a purple creature on its cover, would take him next. Lately, he had gone through a period of stress and hurried activity, but now, everything was ready, this was his chance to relax. Tomorrow, would be a big day, something he had been looking forward to for a long time. The grandfather clock in the room ticked its silent symphony, the only thing that could have made this moment more perfect was if the beer pint was still filled with its delightful and faint bubbling. Perhaps later, things were getting too interesting to stop reading now. Crash! A loud, ominous noise pulled him back from the world of fiction, something unsettling was happening. Barely enough time to register the previous noise, as yet another, even louder sound boomed. Smash! With only a split second to react, he saw the ceiling above him explode into a million splinters from his peripheral vision. He leaps forward, tumbling over the large table, taking it down with him. Swish, Boom! What was that?! Did I... dodge it? He thinks and starts to pry himself off the ground, seeing the remnants of the beer splashed lightly onto the faded parquet floor, as were its shattered shards. More gravely, the vessel¡¯s remaining golden nectar now flooded the spread of his book. He could see the ink begin to drift and dissolve into goop, as the liquid permeated the pages more thoroughly. All of his notes, pens, everything spread around before the fireplace he almost ended up diving inside. Standing up laboriously, he painfully extracts a shard of his favorite beer mug from his shoulder, it didn''t hurt that much yet, but it would surely soon do once the adrenaline wore off. He turns around to see what in damnation was going on. Expecting to see a Grimm, perhaps a small Nevermore, or a Griffin, but finding neither. Instead at the spot where he had lazed around just seconds ago, was a young woman hanging from a giant, glowing blue sword¡¯s hilt. Her hands firmly wrapped around it, eyes closed, and body unmoving. Akin to ice, swirling mist floats off the blade in ephemeral strands. It sliced the sofa clean in two, making it into a set of wide, tilted armchairs instead. The fantastical sword starts to fade: dissipating into swirling snow-like crystals, which are spread around the room by the fierce winds now breaking through the newly formed oversized ventilation shaft. The blade loses all structural integrity, and the girl is no longer hanging onto anything. She falls towards the ground, towards the ravine of smashed-up floor of her own making. Without further thought or consideration, the man finds himself racing to catch her fall. His burly arms and trained knees easily break her fall. She¡¯s surprisingly light, but still moderately painful to catch due to his injured shoulder. The unconscious girl¡¯s face is dainty and narrow, with a surprisingly sharp chin. Her long hair is tied into a ponytail, with a pointy accessory holding it, white like the mid-winter snow. She wears a pale blue, almost gray mid-length skirt, the color gradient softening towards the edges, with a white ribbon around her waist. As well as a short jacket-like accessory, a bolero of some sort matching it, that was mostly sleeve, and on it, a striking blue gemstone attachment just below her neck. A skirt, long white hair, pale complexion... she''s definitely not from around here. ¡°Nnhh...¡± bright, light blue eyes blink incredulously at him, another anomaly confirming his suspicions. ¡°What... where am I? I was falling and then...¡± ¡°In my house.¡± He says matter-of-factly but creases his brow instinctively. ¡°H-huh?¡± The man carefully sets her down on her feet. She wobbles for a moment but manages to stay upright. Holding her head, she looks around the house, and her face twists in realization. ¡°Oh... I¡¯m sorry about your ceiling...¡± Her pale face takes in a hint of color. ¡°Maybe I should cut back on nightly flights... thanks for catching me, Sir...?¡± She expects the man to fill her in with his name but receives none. The desert brown man brings a thick hand to his face, and squeezes the temple of his rather large and cubical nose, shaking his head slightly. The most relaxing of evenings, that he really needed, had turned into a disaster zone in seconds... ¡°I¡¯m afraid ¡®sorry¡¯ won¡¯t cut it.¡± His mouth contorts and he spits the words out with spite. ¡°Oh, uhm, really? Well, I¡¯m terribly sorry, but... I¡¯m in a real hurry, so just send the bill back to Atlas. Just address it to Weiss Schnee and I¡¯ll make it up to you, once I''m-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t particularly care of what business you have here, or of your ¡®timetable¡¯, but surely you are not blind. Tell me, do you see that?¡± The man points above them, at the gaping hole, at least three meters wide. ¡°Yes, I do see it." A loose splintered plank falls to the floor with a clatter causing Weiss to flinch slightly. "Erm... as you said, I am not blind.¡± ¡°Then, describe to me, what is it that you see? What do you feel?¡± The man holds out a hand in front of him, with a single finger raised. Weiss looks at the ceiling, then at the ruined floor, she ponders on the question for a second and soon answers. ¡°I see a giant hole, a rift in the floor, the night sky and I feel... guilt?" Weiss says bracing herself with a teethed smile. He shakes his head firmly. "Umm..." Weiss holds out her hand too. "I feel... the breeze of the wind?¡± ¡°Exactly. Do you know how long it takes for the postal service to deliver your proposed ¡®tab-letter¡¯ of yours? A week, a month perhaps to Atlas? And what about the money¡¯s journey back? Last time I checked, we didn''t have a unified banking system across continents. Do you realize how far apart Vacuo and Atlas are?¡± The tough man¡¯s short black hair is ruffled by the wind, his hands crossed and face most sour. ¡°How am I supposed to live here during that time?¡± The man puffs out with narrowed eyes, glancing back at his toppled table, the shattered pint, and the ruined book, he really should have tried to salvage first. ¡°I... I see your point...¡± Weiss goes through the small purse on her waist, on the opposite side of her holstered, rapier-like, weapon. She produces a medium-sized bag of lien, tied with a ribbon, the old-fashioned coins jingle in the bag. ¡°Will this suffice?¡± The man holds out a burly hand, and Weiss drops the bag of coins onto his waiting palm, he weighs it in his hand, pockets it, and then continues: ¡°Maybe you didn¡¯t see... but you also smashed through my attic, the second floor¡¯s roof, and the first floor¡¯s ceiling. Cut my sofa in half, excavated my floor, and destroyed all my personal on the coffee table. Moreover, I haven¡¯t even checked the damages to the second floor¡¯s furniture and if that wasn¡¯t bad enough-¡± The man looks back at the book and pint, but lets the sentence trail off. ¡°So, I¡¯m sure you understand, this isn¡¯t nearly enough to cover the damages. Or we could take this up to the authorities if you''d like?¡± ¡°N-no! I... I suppose you''re right.¡± She digs out the last, big bag of her savings and is about to open it when it¡¯s suddenly snatched from her hands. ¡°Hey!¡± Weiss shouts at the egregious man. ¡°I- I need those for an inn! At least... some of it...¡± Her confidence dims, as the man appears to be unaffected by her retort. Does he have no sympathy? I can¡¯t just sleep on the cold desert floor! She breaths deep and calms her mind, fatigue heavily weighing on her, clouding her mind and muddling her reason. ¡°It¡¯s still not enough, but it¡¯ll do... Maybe next time think before demolishing somebody¡¯s house, people usually live in those.¡± Weiss has just about had enough of his attitude, she seethes under her breath, grinding her teeth. She''s about to retort with something extremely particular and personal but manages to restrain herself. She shouldn¡¯t get mad at him, all of this was her fault. Maybe if she had actually slept in the last few days, she could have avoided this. The man walks to the door and holds it open for her. Weiss doesn¡¯t look at the man as she stomps towards the door, who knows what she¡¯d do if she saw him smiling smugly at her misfortune. ¡°F-fine... Have- have a good night... citizen.¡± Because I sure won¡¯t... Her anger and embarrassment gather and coalesce on her face during her walk of shame, feeling never-ending. As she passes the man, he still doesn''t budge, with no verbal sign of mercy, or empathy to her predicament. Sure, she did damage his house, but you don¡¯t just send a person out into the cold desert night penniless! Once Weiss has walked out the door, she gathers her courage to speak and turns around to look at the man. Surprisingly, his demeanor is completely neutral and Weiss'' words stop him from closing the door. ¡°Can I at least... ask you one thing?¡± The man¡¯s nod is so small, that she isn¡¯t sure if it is just her imagination, his pressuring black irises look directly into her eyes. Determined she meets his challenge and looks back. ¡°Have you heard anything about a fifth primary dust type? It¡¯s pearlescent white, and in crystal form shines in the light in many different colors. Despite that, it¡¯s not made of any of the other main dust types, Fire, Water, Lightning, or Wind.¡± ¡°Fifth primary dust?¡± The man asks in a peculiar tone, is he still angry? ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s called, or what it does, I¡¯m just interested in finding it. It could be a revolutionary find for... the development of dust technologies. Do you happen to know where it is found, or perhaps, mined?¡± The man¡¯s lip twitches and the lush black mustache almost conceals it, along with the chin-wide short beard. Weiss continues: ¡°Please, if you know anything, I¡¯d be immensely grateful. I¡¯ve asked everyone I¡¯ve met and looked all around, but I¡¯ve found nothing. No trace, no directions of where I should be searching.¡± His hairy, half-exposed, arms cross, and his hands curl into fists. He breaks eye contact. Weiss notices a shade of deep red trailing along the man¡¯s arm. On his left shoulder, above a bloody hole, a small shard of glass stuck out, piercing the rather tattered-looking dark gray robe¡¯s sleeve, tied together at the waist with a red cloth. It¡¯s rather loose, revealing some of the wild jungle on his muscular chest. ¡°Oh... your shoulder... Are you okay?¡± She carefully points at the man¡¯s bleeding arm, a surprise, to see such a serious injury, from something so little. Did the man have no Aura? The man mutters and scoffs underneath his breath, noticing another glass shard, and ripping it out. He throws it haphazardly somewhere to the left of them out into the street. However, he immediately grimaces and winces in pain, regret flashing on his face, as the second wound starts to properly bleed. The man hurriedly retreats inside, leaving the door open after him. ¡°Umm...¡± Weiss looks at the open door and inches a bit closer, peeking back inside the house. He seemed nervous when I mentioned it... does he know something? ¡°I¡¯m coming back in...¡± She re-enters warily and closes the door behind her. The man has thrown open his robe¡¯s top, exposing his damn-near rippling muscles. He rifles through cupboards that look tiny in comparison and finds bandages and other medical supplies, clattering them onto the kitchen table before sitting next to them on the very same table. ¡°D-do you need help?¡± She regrets asking immediately, as he just glances at her dismissively. Weiss proceeds to just stand around and wait for him to finish treating himself. Too alert to sit down to relax, especially on the furniture she destroyed or damaged. Moreover, she still wasn¡¯t exactly sure if she was welcome back inside or not. As the man begins to roll the bandage around the cleaned wound, she decides to finally ask him again. ¡°So... do you know something of this fifth primary dust? It¡¯s... really important.¡± "Do I... know of it...?" He trails off and fastens his bandage. ¡°I have a hunch.¡± ¡°A hunch?¡± Weiss¡¯ eyes widen. "You know of it?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re tired... we both are. We¡¯ll talk about it in the morning.¡± ¡°Oh... umm... the morning? Really?¡± Weiss finds a clock on the wall, which shows it to be nearly one in the night. ¡°Pick any room on the second floor, I recommend one with a roof.¡± Weiss laughs nervously, ¡°Ahah... R-right... so you suggest I... stay the night here?¡± ¡°I did say as much.¡± The man lifts the upper part of his black robe outfit, with a red inner side (not from blood), back onto his shoulders properly. ¡°Right... you did...¡± Weiss fidgets in place and looks at the exit, then back at the man, who ties his robe¡¯s cloth belt back on properly. ¡°Uhh... can I at least ask your name first?¡± The man is silent for a moment that feels awkwardly long. ¡°You can call me... Schwartz.¡± Schwartz... really now? ¡°Just ¡®Schwartz¡¯... or?¡± He sighs loudly, Schwartz¡¯ reaction to such a simple question was enough to make Weiss antsy. ¡°Hill. Schwartz Hill.¡± Schwartz Hill... Hill... why does that sound familiar? Weiss thinks of asking him about his name, and many other things, but instead, she just shakes her head. Falling asleep from fatigue and dispelling her Queen Lancer was why she had fallen from the sky in the first place, no sleep combined with her taxing and admittedly rough summoning wasn¡¯t a good combo. He was right, they both needed rest. Weiss leaves Schwartz in the kitchen and approaches the stairs, looking back once more to confirm if it really is okay for her to go up the stairs. He doesn¡¯t seem to pay her any mind and continues to pack up the medical supplies. Right... I¡¯m really doing this, huh? But where else could I stay the night...? Penniless in the gutter that doesn¡¯t even exist in these dusty streets? She begins to creak up the stairs, there aren¡¯t any light switches, just unlit lanterns. What a rustic house. Lighting up the way with her scroll, she checks out a few rooms. It feels like a proper mansion, every room the same as the previous one. Guest rooms after guest rooms. She feels increasingly guilty for cleaving through such a fine building. She opens a door on the right side, the gaping hole greets her on the floor of the room. It is not a pretty sight: the edges of the hole nor the room¡¯s insides. Oops... Getting her bearings from the position of the hole, she sets her sights on the opposite side, the furthest room from the damaged area. Among the last things she needed right now was the house crumbling on top of her when she slept. The room of her choice has an old door than most, with a keyhole big enough to see through. It opens with a creak after a bit of persuasion. The inner floor was different from the corridor¡¯s modest wood strip floor. This lacquered dark wood looked homely, if not a little spooky. However, the endless corridors and many rooms reminded her of home. The white and blues of her ¡®castle¡¯ changed into darker shades. It wasn¡¯t a bad change, the organic wood felt much more warm and welcoming, something she hadn¡¯t felt back there in a long time. Apart from a bed, the room has a table with a large mirror attached above it, with a drawer below the tabletop, and an ordinary chair in front of it. It looks different from the other rooms, perhaps somebody lived here a long time ago, as all the tabletops are empty, as is the drawer. Weiss simply couldn''t help herself from checking through it. The state of the house reminded her of some of the abandoned buildings she had been in. Sure, this was in a better condition, and intact, but the feel and the atmosphere were somehow similar. Even if Weiss knows that to not be the case, as Schwartz lived here after all and seemed very attached to the building to boot, the strange feeling of emptiness remained in the room regardless. Weiss swipes the bed with a hand, checking it for dust¡ªthe more mundane kind. It was nearly spotless, did Schwartz really take this good care of the house alone? Or... was he even alone here? Probably, right? She sits on the bed and parts the thick curtains covering the window right above it. As soon as she disturbs them, a thick black thundercloud is unleashed, shedding enough dust to make her cough. So much gray fluff descends that some get in her eyes, making them sting and water, in the process nearly ruining the spotlessness of the rest of the room. It must have been years, if not decades building up in the creases of the curtains. I see how it is... She gives up on her attempt to see the sights from the window and closes the curtains with minimal disturbance to them before another gray avalanche rolls down. Swiping the dust carefully to the floor from on top of the bed sheets, she further kicks it towards the back corner. After setting down her things, she takes out Myrtenaster and waves the rapier towards the closed door. A black and faintly white glyph spreads across the door, and beyond its seams. That should hold, and if anything, or anyone, tries to come inside, they won¡¯t make it through quietly at least. She sets down her weapon, and swiftly cracks the bed sheets, swooping inside in full clothing. She didn¡¯t feel safe enough to change into her pajamas, what if she needed to fight at night? And besides, she couldn''t even if she wanted to, she was traveling very light, lighter than she probably should have. Only the clothes on her back and the now nearly empty tiny satchel on her waist, which houses a few extra dust cartridges and previously, the lien pouches too. And of course, the most trustworthy traveling companion, Myrtenaster is with her at least. Total silence falls in the room, the only sound was her breathing, the beating of her heart, and the ruffling of the sheets if she moved even an inch. Had she ever heard such quiet before? It was windy outside, but none of that could be heard here. Even in her room back home, the fierce frigid winds always howled in through the corners and whistled against the windows. ... Am I really going to sleep here, of all places, in this... stranger¡¯s house? I¡¯m not opposed to sleeping, now that I¡¯m finally one step closer to finding the dust, but... This is mad, I should just run, and return in the morning with the first light... A night out there is better than in here under the same roof as this creepy and frankly offensive man... How¡¯s just a flimsy door going to hold someone of his stature, even if it''s reinforced with a glyph? What if he breaks through the walls? Surely some nice family would let me stay the night... ... I need his information as soon as possible though... I¡¯ll just... rest my eyes... but no sleeping... Even if these sheets are awfully warm and cozy... *** Weiss shoots up from the bed. ¡°Ah!¡± I... I¡¯m still here... right... I fell asleep... Weird... I¡¯ve barely been able to sleep since... The room is slightly lit through the sun bleeding through the white curtain tainted gray, she sees the glyph still in place and intact on the door. Seems like nothing happened during the night... The first thing she notices as she gets up is how much clearer her head feels. The pressuring fatigue was gone, it was miraculous, just how much a bit of sleep solved. Weiss picks up Myrtenaster, dispels the glyph, and heads downstairs. Halfway down the stairs, a gust of wind surprises her, a reminder of her impromptu renovations. Schwartz is already by the kitchen table, wearing the same outfit as yesterday, blood dried around the small holes in the fabric. However, instead of food on the table, some strange device covers most of it. Resembling the shape and size of a typewriter, but without any of the letter keys. Instead, at the end, various sharp-looking metal rods, bent and pointing downwards to a large rolled-up sheet of thin paper. Without taking his eyes off the book he¡¯s reading, Schwartz asks: ¡°Breakfast?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Weiss sits at the table without hesitation. ¡°Help yourself.¡± ¡°R-right, of course...¡± She hastily gets up and opens the fridge, scanning it for something edible, she picks her chosen food items for a basic sandwich and asks. ¡°By the way... what¡¯s that machine...?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a polygraph.¡± Schwartz flips to the next page. ¡°A poly-what?¡± ¡°Eat, we¡¯ll talk after.¡± Complete silence falls between them, as Weiss prepares some bread. Her munching, and the crisp ruffle of turned pages, are the only sounds for a while. At the exact moment she finishes eating, Schwartz bookmarks the page he is on and puts down the book. ¡°About the hunch... This device here is of utmost importance to it. The key to locating the new type of dust.¡± ¡°The key? So, what is it exactly?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lie detector.¡± ¡°W-what? You¡¯re kidding, lie detectors don¡¯t exist.¡± ¡°Want to hook up to the machine and say that again?¡± Weiss grows a little more pale from his comment. ¡°N-no! But how is this relevant!?¡± ¡°Let me spell it out for you, my ¡®hunch¡¯, I mentioned yesterday, is that you are lying.¡± His abyssal eyes bore accusation into Weiss¡¯ soul. ¡°So, if you want answers, I¡¯ll strap this onto you and then we can talk.¡± ¡°W-what? No way!¡± Weiss slams her hands onto the table and stands up from her chair. ¡°Alright, I suggest you get out of my house then.¡± ¡°Rrgh!¡± Weiss bites her teeth together. But... what if he knows about time dust, I... I can¡¯t refuse! ¡±F-fine! Strap me in!¡± She sits back down on the chair. Schwartz stands up and fiddles with the machine and its peculiar accessories. ¡°Let me just place these three sensors, and we can begin.¡± He takes a bunch of wires and strange instruments. ¡°This is to measure your blood pressure.¡± He puts a cloth strap with a small plastic pipe attached to it, wraps it around her arm, and fills it with air, it squeezes her quite tightly. Schwartz''s hands that hold the second instruments wired up to the machine, some weird long tubes, approach Weiss¡¯ chest. Reactively, she protects herself with her uplifted hands. ¡°Hey!¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°If you would part your hands, I¡¯ll place these pneumographs on your chest, and over your abdomen.¡± Worry shines on her face, as she slowly parts her hands, and gives this old man access, but Schwartz doesn¡¯t touch anything inappropriate as he puts on the two long rubber tubes horizontally. ¡°They¡¯ll measure your respiration rate.¡± He turns away once again, procuring even more instruments. ¡°Then electrodes onto a few of your fingers to measure your skin¡¯s electrical conductivity. Or in layman''s terms, sweating.¡± He puts on clamps that softly hold onto the tips of her two fingers. ¡°I-is that all?¡± This... this isn¡¯t too bad... it¡¯s a really strange feeling though... The polygraph¡¯s needle-like pens draw some graphs already, the paper moving along with them. ¡°Please answer each question truthfully.¡± Schwartz says and sits down on the chair across her, the backrest facing Weiss, like an interrogator. ¡°Let¡¯s begin. First question, are you sorry you wrecked my house?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The polygraph is silent. ¡°Very good. Do you carry any more lien in your possession?¡± ¡°N-no.¡± O- oh no. I really don¡¯t but... he caught me off guard, he already robbed me clean! Three of the six graph needles move wildly. ¡°I see,¡± he looks at the result inquisitively, glancing between the paper and Weiss. Weiss thought she saw the worst of Schwartz manners yesterday, but even thinking about it in the night, hadn¡¯t prepared her for the tense atmosphere of today. He accused me of lying! Calmly and with a straight face, right in front of me! Has he been doubting me all this time? What kind of a person even owns a polygraph in the first place, let alone allows a person who they think is lying to stay in their house!? The idea of even being here grows more and more ludicrous, but there was as much time left, as there were choices. She needs to hurry and get to the point, the - ¡°Do you know the purpose of this pearlescent dust?¡± Unnervingly, he broaches the subject, just as Weiss was thinking of it too. Calming herself, she debates what to answer. ¡°No.¡± Three of the polygraph¡¯s needles move wildly for a moment. ¡°I see,¡± Schwartz says with a dry tone. ¡°Do you currently possess this dust?¡± ¡°No, I do not, why would I? I¡¯m looking for it remember.¡± Two of the needles draw a series of mountains, then dive deep, like monitoring an earthquake. Schwartz looks deep into her eyes with unnerving intensity. ¡°Both of those were lies.¡± He crosses his arms over the chair''s backrest and looks at her like he is a judge of a murder trial, about to convict the guilty. ¡°I- the second one wasn¡¯t! I don¡¯t have it... currently, but I did find a sample of it in my father¡¯s office.¡± ¡°What!?¡± He shouts and stands up from the chair, the chair falling to the floor. His dark eyes, almost look pitch black now as he gets closer. Weiss jerks away, very close to just booking it from the path of this outraged man, but manages to stay seated. ¡°If you had it, why are you here? What did you do with it?¡± He demands with his hands in firm fists, squatting in front of her, his hostile gaze at the level of Weiss. All of the polygraph¡¯s measure sticks are frenzied as they scrape their waves on the paper. Weiss averts his eyes, stiffly looking away. ¡°I... I don¡¯t have it anymore. Because...¡± ¡°Did you use it?¡± His voice grows more demanding with each question, his face even closer. ¡°Y-yes.¡± ¡°Then let me ask you again. Why are you here?¡± Schwartz raises his voice, and Weiss can almost feel the searing accusatory breath. ¡°Why do you seek more of it?¡± Mechanical whirring and drawing on paper fill the room, as the polygraph goes crazy. The paper scroll is starting to pile up on the floor. ¡°Look at me when I talk to you!¡± Weiss swallows, afraid to speak, frightened of what he¡¯ll say. Of what he might do if she tells him the truth. Slowly and in stiff increments, she turns her neck. She might as well have had rusty gears and clockwork for muscles, the rhythmic rattling of the Polygraph didn¡¯t help her case. From her peripheral vision, she sees the man¡¯s eyes... glow? They... radiate... darkness... The midnight pours out from his eyes like mist from a waterfall. As soon as she realizes something is wrong, her head snaps forward forcefully, without her consent, without Schwartz touching her. Weiss cannot close her eyes, nor look away, no matter how much she tries to. Completely helpless, she sinks into the man¡¯s deep black eyes. The room stretches and tears itself apart, then there is nothing but white. As sudden as the disappearance of color, its opposite takes its place, tenebrous nothingness, infinite blackness like the starry night sky settles in. She tries to make sense of what happened, but instead, she starts losing herself, doubting her existence, she couldn¡¯t... sense anything. She¡¯s here, but not here, existing in a paradoxical moment that stretches out endlessly, as if all time had disappeared, all laws of physics and the world itself had ended. In the black, there was no echo of the polygraph, not a whisper of anything. No trace of the world, of Remnant, no indication of the existence of light. She couldn''t talk, not feel anything, thinking felt like, it was somebody else¡¯s thoughts. She has no body, but it still feels like she was in the third person observing... nothing. Finally, something changes in this darkness, two black orbs appear, somehow, even darker than the deepest black she could imagine. These pulsing spheres are large like the horizon¡¯s rising suns, but three times as close. Their mere sight threatens to suck her mind in and devour her remaining shreds of reason. ¡°What do you know of this fifth primary dust?¡± Schwartz¡¯s voice suddenly thunders from everywhere around her, echoing like she was in a tiny room. But the sound originated from nowhere, it just appeared in existence. The sound warps and twists her mind, manipulating and torturing her consciousness. He had said that question already, just once, but it still played on repeat. Forever looping, until... until she¡¯d answer it. Her ears that didn¡¯t exist rung, and her body that wasn¡¯t present was overtaken with terror. ¡°It¡¯s called time dust, and I used it to travel back in time!¡± Weiss screams in a panic, fearing for her life that for all intents and purposes seemed to be over already. Then, a momentary reprieve, as the echoing ends, allowing her soul some much-needed rest. ¡°What will you use the time dust for? Why do you need more of it?¡± The all-consuming purgatory restarted, even louder and angrier. There was nothing but the voice and this agonizing darkness. The unending terror impaled her heart with despair. ¡°I- I want to change the future! I can¡¯t let it happen, I- I just can¡¯t! Blake can¡¯t die! It¡¯s not right!¡± She howls with a shaky voice as tears start streaming down her face. Tears? Her sense of touch returned? And upon that realization, the darkness starts fading, finally releasing her senses, one by one. Lastly, sight returns, she is finally free from the blackest abyss. Trails of darkness and shadow pool back into Schwartz¡¯s eyes, which looked like empty sockets, before the normal white scleras and black irises returned. Schwartz turns away from Weiss and slumps, his hands against his rough face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry... I¡¯m so sorry...¡± ¡°W-what?¡± Weiss says, despite hearing him full well. ¡°First you do, that... torture! And now you¡¯re sorry?¡± Tears stream from her eyes, from relief, and fright, but she continues her diatribe with clear words: ¡°I thought I was going to die! I- I doubted if I had even existed in the first place! You don¡¯t just do that to other people!¡± Weiss rubs the moisture off her face with her arm, darkening her outfit. ¡°Not to me, not to anyone! You hear me? Say something!¡± Schwartz says nothing, just turns around, and looks vaguely in Weiss'' direction, focusing somewhere else in the room, his face in deep repentant creases. ¡°W-was that your Semblance...?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m truly sorry for... using it. My... emotions got the better of me.¡± Schwartz hands her a napkin from the kitchen table, which Weiss takes, cleans the edges of her eyes, and loudly blows her nose on. ¡°What does it do?¡± She says with a nasal voice, a little afraid of his response. ¡°That¡¯s complicated...¡± Schwartz sighs. ¡°Okay... let¡¯s put it this way... do you know of Robyn Hill?¡± ¡°Robyn... Robyn Hill? The politician campaigning for Mantle¡¯s rights?¡± Hold on-! ¡°That¡¯s her, she¡¯s my sister.¡± ¡°N-now way!¡± ¡°Do you know of her Semblance?¡± ¡°No, actually, I¡¯ve barely even met her.¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s got the Touch of Truth. Hold her hand, and with her cabbage-green glow she can verify the veracity in your words.¡± Schwartz¡¯s energy didn¡¯t match the tone of his explanation, but there was a nostalgic glint in his eyes. ¡°And? What about your frightening darkness then? Can it detect lies, too?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Really? T-then why do you even have the Polygraph and-¡± Weiss tosses the pipes off her chest and stomach, throws the finger clippers on the table, and struggles to take the blood pressure measurer off her arm. Schwartz presses a button, and it starts deflating allowing Weiss to throw it onto the table too, crossing her arms. ¡°-why¡¯d you make me go through all this!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a toy we siblings used to play with. As for why... no real reason... I suppose.¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± Weiss is back to shouting and stands up. ¡°For no reason?!¡± ¡°Well, which was more pleasant, this pseudoscience nonsense-detector or my Semblance? Either way, I needed to know... needed to be sure...¡± She sits back down reluctantly, yielding to his argument. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any other way of getting the truth out of you, the extent of what you knew... Putting you on the spot, into a new situation with the polygraph was my best bet. You¡¯d be surprised how many people can be tricked into telling the truth under such pressure. But... that was supposed to be it. I wasn¡¯t planning on using my Tenebrous Gaze on you...¡± ¡°What a dramatic name.¡± ¡°Better than what Robyn called it; ¡®Space Glowers¡¯. Schwartz pauses for a moment, appearing lost and melancholic. ¡°Anyway, I digress. Tenebrous, if I look into someone¡¯s eyes and activate it... you know what happens. In that state, I can tell if the person is speaking the truth, and it also makes people cooperative in revealing the answers to anything I ask. Or anyway, I can tell if the person thinks it¡¯s true, truth is subjective after all.¡± Schwartz''s look is apologetic as he continues. ¡°Not only is it near traumatizing to the ¡®victim¡¯, but there¡¯s also no visible outside confirmation for others in the same room. Nor can anybody else hear what is said in the ¡®void¡¯.¡± ¡°So... what you¡¯re saying is, while Robyn¡¯s erm, ¡®cabbage hands¡¯ show everyone the truth undoubtedly, yours doesn¡¯t? Only you know it... a lie detector... who can lie?¡± ¡°Exactly, and who would ever need, or trust someone like that? A faulty, subjective lie detector. As one of our family¡¯s many naysayers put it: ¡®Truth is my plaything, to twist and corrupt, to do with whatever I wish¡¯.¡± ¡°H-hold on then, you said the Polygraph is really just nonsense, and that you haven¡¯t even used your Semblance before that point? How¡¯d you know I was lying and hiding-¡± ¡°You¡¯re so easy to read, I didn¡¯t need to.¡± ¡°Huh? But you still did, so doesn¡¯t that make me a good liar then, huh?¡± Weiss crosses her arms defiantly. ¡°I... just wanted to be sure. And I needed to know your motives and situation.¡± Weiss¡¯ triumphant one-upping stops and she slumps on the chair, quietly gazing past Schwartz and through the window behind him. Remembering that she confessed why she is here. Schwartz beats her to the punch, however. ¡°You¡¯re from the future.¡± ¡°Yeah... I did let that slip, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Can you... tell me more about why you¡¯re here, how did you get here?¡± Weiss swallows and braces herself. With a heavy sigh, she starts: ¡°Have you heard of the fall of Beacon Academy?¡± ¡°Yeah, just recently from Robyn, actually. News doesn¡¯t travel that good all the way here, but she¡¯s told me the overview of the situation at least.¡± ¡°Right... it happened a while ago. A friend... Blake, she... died because of it.¡± Schwartz stares at Weiss, waiting for her to continue. ¡°And?¡± ¡°Huh? That¡¯s it. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Schwartz scoffs. ¡°You traveled in time, to save one person?¡± ¡°W-what? Many died in the fall of Beacon!¡± ¡°But it¡¯s not like you¡¯re planning on saving all of them, are you?¡± Weiss¡¯ shock takes hold of her for a moment, but she concedes the point. ¡°N-no... I¡¯m not...¡± Her thoughts wander to Penny, to Pyrrha. The first seemed difficult to save without lots of intervention, and the latter, impossible. It had been her choice and call, to do... whatever it was, Weiss still didn¡¯t understand nor know all of it. ¡°I... I just can¡¯t... I know it¡¯s selfish of me, to only save one person, but I can''t let Blake go. It doesn¡¯t feel right, it¡¯s wrong on so, so many levels. Everything was looking up, we all became close, and then... it all just ended? Will I ever even see the rest of my teammates again?¡± ¡°So you really are doing this just for one person?¡± Schwartz sighs. ¡°Well, Yang also lost both of her arms... And I¡¯m doing it for my team!¡± ¡°What I mean by this is... I¡¯ve lost people, my parents, my sisters... My friends have lost and my neighbor probably has too. Everyone has loss in their past, or waiting in the future. Be it death, breaking up, losing touch... it¡¯s a part of life.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an admirable lecture... But don¡¯t you think it¡¯s rude to question my conviction after I¡¯ve already traveled in time to get here?¡± Weiss pouts, before taking on a more determined look. ¡°Blake and I got off into a real rough start, I... worked hard. Improved and bettered myself. We became good friends. I would do anything for her, anything for them. And then all of a sudden... she just dies...¡± Weiss'' eyes seem empty for a moment, but she continues explaining. ¡°I didn¡¯t even see it happen, she was just killed by Adam. They couldn¡¯t beat him together, even Yang barely survived. I almost hated her for it, she should have been stronger... I felt so robbed. But I know it must have¡ªmust be¡ªeven worse for her still. So... there¡¯s only one way. One choice. I will save Blake¡¯s life, save Yang from the guilt and the shame, and make sure Ruby has an intact sister by the end of it. The story of team RWBY is just starting, it¡¯s not possible for it to end like this!¡± Schwartz looks at Weiss, his hairy arms crossed. ¡°So, you want more dust, to get further into the past?¡± ¡°Yes, I only had a small speck of the time stuff, apparently not enough to send me far enough back to save her, so I ended up here, in between.¡± ¡°But enough to come here to gather more, before it- why did you come here? ¡°The time dust mine is destroyed in... uh my time? But I should be just in time before that happens, I think. At least it¡¯s still here, right?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. You¡¯re in time.¡± Schwartz sighs, taps his foot on the floor, and appears lost in thought for a moment. ¡°In fact, I¡¯ll let you in on a little secret. I think it¡¯s going to be a very important day at the mine today. ¡°Huh? Why? How do you know that?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just call it Hunch #2¡± Schwartz looks smug and brushes his bearded chin. ¡°Well, you¡¯re in luck. I¡¯m heading to the mine myself today.¡± ¡°W-wait, you know where it is? And you¡¯re actually going to help me?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I say as much?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well... if you¡¯re saying the mine is going to be destroyed, shouldn¡¯t I go take a look, maybe I can prevent it? Especially with the help from a future traveler.¡± ¡°R-right, I suppose so. Do you work there or...?¡± ¡°Mmm... yes, you could say that.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you hurry to work then, it¡¯s like Tuesday, or something... right?¡± ¡°Wednesday... Our work hours are... flexible.¡± Schwartz says rather convincingly despite his pausing and stands up, ¡°Shall we get going? You are ready, yes?¡± ¡°Umm, yes...¡± Weiss is a bit taken aback, it was all happening so fast. ¡°Are you just going to leave that there? You know, with the state of the roof and everything...¡± ¡°The Polygraph? It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Schwartz walks past Weiss, who quickly follows after him. ¡°How are we supposed to get there? Is it far away? I couldn¡¯t see it anywhere nearby...¡± ¡°Just come with me, you¡¯ll see.¡± Schwartz takes a red and black greatsword from behind the coat rack and wraps a gray scarf around his hand before leading Weiss outside. The sun has dawned beyond the horizon, but it''s still surprisingly chilly, with the desert right on their doorstep, though that wouldn''t last for long. The morning glow paints the surrounding town¡¯s dusty buildings in bright light and casts long shadows from the surrounding hoodoos in the distance, the tall and eroded spires of rock. ¡°Is that your weapon?¡± Weiss asks. ¡°I suppose it is, though it has seen real combat only once or twice when I¡¯ve had it.¡± They circle around the house to the backyard, to a separate building. Its lift-up door reveals it to be a garage. Schwartz presses a button to the side of it, and a strained mechanical whirring sound plays, but nothing happens. ¡°Every single time...¡± He keeps on holding the button with his left hand, as he swings the great sword around with his right, slipping it in between the door and the stone floor. He presses it down, and cranks the stuck door upwards, getting it loose. The door rises swiftly and morning light floods inside, revealing their transportation. ¡°Oh, wow!¡± Weiss gasps, an old motorcycle with a sidecar stands proud in the middle of the pristine garage. It wasn¡¯t as new or gaudy as Yang¡¯s, but she rather preferred this. A vintage ride carried a certain air of refinement and sophistication that new ones just couldn¡¯t match. The rims are shiny, the black and gray paint slightly glossy showing the care given to it. Meticulousness carries for the rest of the garage too, all tools, parts, and tables are in order. Everything shone and almost sparkled, no mean feat in these sandy lands. ¡°Well, here¡¯s your royal ride...¡± Schwartz sets the sword to lean against the wall and picks up two helmets from near it, plain black ones with thick eye-protecting glasses, setting them in the sidecar and beginning some checks on the bike. ¡°It¡¯s not much but it¡¯ll get us there.¡± Weiss saunters to the bike rhythmically and runs a hand across its front fender. ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s a real beautiful piece. Don¡¯t sell yourself short.¡± He looks strangely at Weiss, but his look softens soon and he taps the bike on the gas tank, ¡°My parents used to ride this very same bike through the desert together. And all of us Hills have been passengers of it many times, always competing who got to ride it the most. Some, like me, actually driving it.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s basically a family heirloom passed down generations? Were your parents the adventuring type?¡± ¡°Definitely. They talked of those days in hushed voices, but it was obvious. They laughed and colluded like in a secret scheme, enjoying their little inside jokes of days gone.¡± ¡°Were they huntsmen then?¡± ¡°Nah, just adventurous, as you have to be, in order to end up in Vacuo.¡± Schwartz laughs two short verses. ¡°My mother left Vacuo for a long time only to eventually return, while I think my father was from Solitas. You might recognize some old Atlas designs on the bike.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right?¡± Weiss observes the bike closer but doesn¡¯t see anything that she recognizes. It was much too ancient for her knowledge. ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure, he never much talked of his past. Only about the now and their Vacuan adventures. Though Robyn might know the details of his past by now, I think it''s because of him, that she ended up in Atlas.¡± Schwartz continues in a half-frustrated, half-amused tone: ¡°In a family with all of the kids having truth-divining abilities, he really managed to hide a lot of things from us...¡± ¡°You have more siblings, right? You only mentioned Robyn by name, what about the rest? What are their names?¡± Schwartz looks away and performs some more checks on the bike, Weiss couldn¡¯t tell their purpose, or if they were necessary. Or if he just it as an excuse to distance himself from the conversation, to buy time. ¡°Nerol and Tarrot.¡± ¡°Where are they? Don¡¯t tell me they are...?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re dead, but I don¡¯t know for sure. It¡¯s been a long time since I was in touch with either of them. They are... hard to get a hold of.¡± ¡°Well, now you have my interest, out with it then, tell me more of them!¡± Schwartz sighs loudly but starts to explain regardless. ¡°Last I heard, Nerol was in Mistral working as a bounty hunter, a ¡®free hand¡¯ as she liked to call it. So obviously, she wouldn¡¯t keep much contact.¡± ¡°Wait... a bounty hunter, not a huntress?¡± Is she a criminal? ¡°That¡¯s what I said, Mistral has plenty of use for people like her. When your Semblance hurts everyone around you¡ªeveryone who lies anyway¡ªone might as well use it.¡± ¡°Oh... that sounds rough.¡± Does she have it even worse than Ruby¡¯s lousy Uncle? ¡°What about Tarrot?¡± ¡°She left for the Kingdom of Vale after a fight with Nerol. The one who hurts others for lying, versus the one who gets stronger from her own falsehoods... However, because of it, she can never fool anyone. Unlike Robyn¡¯s lettuce hands, her beetroot glow can not be turned off.¡± ¡°That¡¯s horrible... She can never even tell the whitest of lies without everyone knowing?¡± ¡°Indeed. Only the absolute truth will prevent her semblance from activating. A public lie detector, but only for your own words. I¡¯m sure you can imagine, she changed entirely as a person after her semblance activated.¡± ¡°And you have your madness truth eyes... It couldn¡¯t have been easy to live together. Four kids with crazy lie detection abilities under the same roof.¡± Schwartz doesn¡¯t answer anymore, just puts on his helmet and sits on the bike¡¯s saddle. ¡°Not only that, but you all ended up separated and spread out in four different kingdoms? That¡¯s... sad.¡± Weiss thinks back home, to her own dysfunctional family. What would she feel, if they suddenly spread to different parts of the world...? Well, she would hardly miss Jacques, but the thought of never seeing Mother or Winter did sting. And even if she hadn¡¯t been particularly close with Whitley in recent years, it hadn¡¯t always been like that. She hoped they could one day still mend their bonds. And Klein, while not technically part of her family, to Weiss, he was. She realized this separation had already happened to her team. ¡°Do you think... you¡¯ll ever see them again?¡± Schwartz picks up the other helmet from the passenger¡¯s car and passes it hard and fast like a basketball to Weiss. She catches it but staggers backward. ¡°You coming or not?¡± He starts the motorcycle. ¡°Y-yeah!¡± Weiss shouts over the engine''s roar, quickly vaulting and flopping into the sidecar, fastening the helmet, and lifting the goggles onto her face. Weiss looks up at Schwartz, meeting his gaze, he then accelerates out of the garage. Like he had waited for her to be good and ready, despite his previous unkind words and actions. The wooden mansion is at the edge of town and they immediately set off into the sun-drenched wasteland. Weiss¡¯ long hair billows and flows behind her like a long pennant in the wind. The small windshield on the passenger car was too small even for her, if she didn¡¯t hold her locks firmly in her lap, they took flight on their own. Weiss looks up at the dark and mysterious man transporting her. Can I really trust him? What if he¡¯s taking me somewhere completely different? Like... a bandit camp of his tribe? Weiss shudders at the thought. That black and red, harpy of a lady, even thinking of her still gives me the creeps... Or maybe she was actually a witch with that field of hair... I only barely managed to escape her lunatic camp the last time, I really am not looking forward to another experience like that... Oh well, come what may, I¡¯ll be ready this time. 2. The Mines of Time Schwartz was clearly an experienced desert rider, for only a few times did the shifting sands threaten to sink their ride. Contrary to Vacuo''s reputation, the terrain wasn''t all impossibly high dunes of scathing grain, which would have made using such a ride nearly impossible. The direction and route Schwartz was taking them is more of a wasteland, hard and dried land with rocky crags and distant plateaus. Along the way, they had stopped to rest briefly to hydrate. During this time, Weiss asked about the lack of Grimm. According to Schwartz, it was rare to encounter Grimm out in the desert wastes, especially without the proximity of an active settlement. And even then, night and sandstorms were the conditions to really be wary of. While the monsters seemed not to mind the cold nights, not even Grimm were immune to the devastating sunlight of the day. Only Dromedon and Jackalopes seemed to be well adapted to the desert heat as other Grimm species appeared only in limited capacity. After what felt like hours underneath the oppressive sun, their destination comes into view. Rocky canyons, laid ahead among these plains of sizzling stone with occasional dead shrubberies. The canyon was formed by tall mesas of sandstone on all sides. Faint traces of buildings and large machinery were small on the horizon in the middle of them. Schwartz stops the motorcycle hidden in the shadow of the mesa''s walls, away from direct view of the canyon''s activity. Weiss takes off her helmet and grasps her long hair to her lap, brushing the sand off it. ¡°So, this is the place, huh?¡± Schwartz unwinds the gray scarf around his neck and removes his helmet too. ¡°Yes. The mines.¡± ¡°Well¡­ thanks for the ride. I don¡¯t think I could have gone this far on my own...¡± Weiss waits for a response before continuing but remembers it''s futile to wait for any pleasantries or courteous manners from Schwartz. She vaults out of the sidecar. ¡°So, are we just going to waltz inside and take some dust or...?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to have to mine it ourselves, but yes, more or less.¡± Schwartz unloads some stuff from the motorcycle¡¯s various compartments and puts them into an over-the-shoulder satchel. ¡°Do you have a huntress license?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ No. We never got to graduate from Beacon...¡± ¡°Right, you looked rather young to have one anyway. I¡¯ll just loan a worker¡¯s uniform for you so they¡¯ll let you pass without any hassle as long as we lay low.¡± ¡°What, do we really need disguises? It¡¯s not some sort of restricted area, is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a dangerous mining area, only authorized, properly protected, personnel.¡± Schwartz recites with a pointed and uncompromising routine. ¡°Also, you¡¯re a Schnee.¡± ¡°Right...¡± Wait here.¡± Schwartz walks off toward the mine. ¡°Sure! Let¡¯s-¡± Weiss stops in her tracks. ¡°Oh¡­ yeah. I¡¯ll wait, while... you¡¯ll get on with it.¡± Weiss chuckles abashed and retreats a few steps. Schwartz just casts a glance at her and then crests the corner, disappearing behind it. She proceeds to stand around, leaning against the motorcycle. Tapping her fingers against the seating cushion rhythmically and most of all, restlessly. Only a few moments pass until Weiss¡¯ curiosity gets the better of her, and she creeps forward almost hugging the orange-red cliff walls. She peeks the corner and strong winds blanket her face, whistling in between the mesas. She recoils, swipes her face with her hand, and looks again, this time taking care to protect her eyes. She sees the mining area further away, in the middle of a large open area between the cliffs. Large trucks, vehicles that have massive drills, and bulldozers are spread around the area, along with temporary housing and facility buildings. People walk around in protective equipment and exit and enter the massive gaping hole at the back, the mine no doubt. From inside it, figures seem to push up minecarts of dust crystals and ore which end up inside another building. At least he spoke the truth, the mine is actually here¡­ Maybe I won¡¯t be captured again after all. He doesn¡¯t seem to be alerting them, or even talking to anyone... Schwartz¡¯s back soon disappears somewhere behind a building and Weiss backs away to wait before somebody spots her. Hmm¡­ would it really have been okay for me to go as I am if I had a huntress license? I guess I could have declared that some sort of a special operation required me to enter? ¡­ We will all become huntresses, one day... It won''t stay a dream or an impossible future. I swear it, Ruby. *** ¡°Get up.¡± ¡°I-I wasn¡¯t sleeping!¡± Weiss jumps awake from the sidecar and quickly finds Schwartz with her startled eyes. A bundle of clothes is dropped onto her lap. ¡°Put those on and let''s go.¡± Schwartz looks back to the way he came, and seems anxious to get going. Weiss gets up holding the clothes, looking over them in disbelief. Schwartz appears to already be wearing the same outfit she just received. Blue full-body overalls, a visored yellow hard hat, and a yellow-white reflective vest. ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right? I¡¯m supposed to wear this?¡± Schwartz faces away and crosses his arms but doesn¡¯t say anything. He taps his foot onto the ground and frequently glances at his wrist. ¡°Urgh¡­¡± Weiss starts putting on the worst outfit she¡¯d ever seen with conflicted feelings. She is ashamed of having to wear something like this, but also ashamed of herself, that something so miniscule in the grand scheme of things made her complain. She had already been through so many more difficult things than just wearing clothes unbefitting an heiress. An ex-heiress¡­ As she starts putting on the safety gear and uniform on top of her existing clothes, she reminisces on the past shenanigans with her team at the academy. Mainly, the ridiculous pajamas Ruby and Yang wore, and Blake¡¯s wasn¡¯t much better either¡­ None of them had thought they¡¯d be showing their sleepwear to other people, despite knowing that they¡¯d be staying in a shared room. It¡¯s surprisingly easy to overlook such things, taking matters like privacy... or friendship and safety, for granted. Weiss could still lucidly remember their smiles, the chorus of laughter... and how she had contemplated getting pajamas with a matching funny theme to fit in. She had had her eyes on a fabric with silly black bears on a blue background from a clothing store. Clothes might make a woman, but matching clothes, especially those born from inside jokes, made the best of friends. If I have time from this time travel... I should buy those this time, I¡¯m going back into the past after all. To a time, when the store hadn¡¯t been burned down by the attack. Weiss is now clad in the working outfit, her long hair tucked away inside the overalls, the large hardhat working to conceal her identity quite well. The clothes set even has large working boots, but those seemed way too big for her, and indeed, they clonk around her feet as she walks. Maybe she should have put them on while still wearing her wedge heels, perhaps they could have fit inside them too. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready.¡± Weiss plops down the helmet''s translucent visor and poses with hands on her hips. ¡°Then let¡¯s go. We don¡¯t have time to waste.¡± Schwartz doesn''t even look at her. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean... since you said the mine would be destroyed, we must be... fast in investigating it. Who knows when that might happen.¡± He glances at Weiss with creased eyebrows. ¡°I... I don¡¯t remember the exact date for it from the report... sorry.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t write it down in your scroll?¡± ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t exactly 100% ready to travel back in time when it happened, I just... well, didn¡¯t think it would work at first... I was just going to try it.¡± Schwartz doesn¡¯t say anything, but that tells Weiss plenty. ¡°Come on, how could I have known? And even the very concept of Time Travel is like way beyond even fantasy or magic.¡± ¡°Fine, fine, and leave your weapon here, we aren¡¯t going in for a fight. No worker carries a weird weapon like that.¡± ¡°Leave Myrtenaster behind? You¡¯re joking.¡± ¡°Oh great, a weapon namer.¡± Schwartz shakes his head. ¡°What?! It¡¯s completely normal! Everyone does it!¡± Weiss vehemently defends her own and the honor of her friends with waving hands. ¡°You seriously haven''t named your gorgeous greatsword?¡± Weiss looks around. ¡°Wait... where is it?¡± ¡°I left it back at the garage, of course, and it¡¯s not named.¡± Not by me anyway... ¡°Unless you count ¡®crowbar¡¯ as a nickname.¡± ¡°Really now? I...¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t have guessed? Believe it or not... I¡¯m not a fighter. My aura is weak. The sword is just a tool for emergencies, the few times I¡¯ve had to defend myself or my home.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re so¡­ big and tough.¡± ¡°I have to be if I am to work in the mines, or even survive in the world of Semblances when mine is so useless. A detriment, even.¡± ¡°But not everyone even has a Semblance, much less have unlocked their Aura-¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t do much to shift the balance of power, even if there are people weaker than me, the gap to the top is higher than the sky from both perspectives.¡± ¡°Come on now, it¡¯s not that bad-¡± ¡°You smashed through my house without even trying, wielding some sort of massive conjured sword, and came out of it totally unharmed. Meanwhile, I fell over my table onto my pint and immediately started bleeding from a mere shard of glass.¡± ¡°I mean... you can do some terrible damage with you eyes?¡± Weiss says with a rising inclination. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s hope the one fighting me doesn¡¯t have a single friend with him. Or manage to close their eyes, wear sunglasses, a mask... Besides, both the user and the target are sitting ducks the whole time, hard to even call that one an upside.¡± ¡°Fine! Point taken.¡± Weiss crosses her arms. ¡°Let¡¯s just get on with it.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t agree more. We¡¯ve wasted enough time as is.¡± Schwartz starts walking away, and Weiss catches up to him, keeping her weapon close to her side, partly concealing it with her arm. As they close in on the mining site, Weiss can make out Schnee Dust Company logos in the trucks and machinery, as well as the minecarts. The ones pushing them are Faunus who are¡­ chained to the carts themselves. They don¡¯t seem to be doing all that well. ¡°W-what-?¡± ¡°Shh-!¡± Schwartz shushes her as they arrive at the main area. Their heads downcast, with ragged clothes, the slaves pass them, without looking up at the free workers, or at the two of them. A wolf Faunus with missing patches of fur, a rabbit who was limping his leg, but still valiantly pushed the cart¡­ They didn¡¯t seem exactly well cared for. Weiss looks around, but to everyone, it¡¯s business as usual. Nobody questions their presence, nor the morality of keeping these slaves. ¡°This is horrible¡­¡± She mouths nearly silently underneath her breath and averts her eyes. ¡°They¡¯re Faunus, why do you care?¡± Schwartz whispers. ¡°-!¡± Weiss couldn¡¯t speak a word, nor utter a sound. It cut her deep into her heart, deep into her being. It was¡­ something she could have said, not that long ago. The realization made her woozy, light in the head. Would she have not batted an eye, and happily kept up the status quo if she saw this back then? How could she have ever thought like so? She stares daggers at Schwartz, who doesn¡¯t bother with a further comment. He couldn''t know Blake was also a Faunus, and Weiss had trouble determining if he didn¡¯t care for Faunus himself, or if he was just calling her out on Schnee hypocrisy. As they walk deeper in, the red and yellow sandstone cave turns into slightly damp bedrock, with the cavern walls changing color accordingly to darker shades. All the way, the cave remains large, big enough for two massive trucks to drive down next to each other, no doubt. And yet... they still used slaves to transport the dust and ore itself? As they reach a location with no other personnel nearby, Weiss whispers: ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan? How much further?¡± Schwartz looks at his wristwatch, a black metallic one, with cracked glass. Wordlessly, he directs them to a side path. ¡°In ten minutes, the workers in the area with the time dust will have a break.¡± Schwartz hands Weiss a heavy shovel, with a sturdy wooden handle, from his belt where it had been hanging. ¡°Use this to prop the door so that they cannot leave the breakroom. It¡¯s the small container-looking house inside, with only one exit.¡± ¡°H-huh?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t want them coming to interrupt us, is that clear?¡± ¡°Okay, I can do that. But why the secrecy... you do work here, right? Can¡¯t you just do it normally?¡± She looks at him dubious. ¡°Like, isn¡¯t that the whole point of our disguises that we blend in and can do whatever here?¡± Schwartz looks around to the main path from their hiding place, and then finally turns to Weiss to answer. ¡°Time dust is a new groundbreaking discovery, largely still unknown dust type, discovered just yesterday. So, only authorized personnel are allowed in its vicinity. Which neither of us are.¡± It irritated her to no end, how she is unable to read Schwartz at all. He nearly always spoke in the same way, the same tone. Meaning every single word with full confidence and conviction. Every second word he said could have been a lie, and she would have been none the wiser. Each question she asked, felt like it was answered with a rehearsed performance, a show that would always convince anyone who heard it. But... his logic was sound, Weiss doesn¡¯t know any better about how the SDC¡¯s mines really operated, so she¡¯d just have to take his word for it. They stay out of sight in their hiding place for a time, until Schwartz speaks up. ¡°It¡¯s almost time, come.¡± They quickly make their way to the entrance to the chamber of the promised time dust. Peeking across the corner, they see people leaving the machines, digging sites, and all other equipment behind, entering the breakroom, the only cozy safe haven in this depth. ¡°Prop the door shut and wait there for me to return, I¡¯ll come get you once it¡¯s done.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They enter the large cavernous space, and she catches a glimpse of an exposed vein in the cavern wall, that seems to have only been hand dug so far for how small it was. In it, the pearlescent dust shone. Schwartz goes towards it, while Weiss continues towards the building. A large drill vehicle between them soon blocks their vision of each other. There were also a few minecarts in the direction Schwartz went, she wonders if those would have had already mined time dust inside. However, there are no tracks laid here, so perhaps they¡¯re still preparing the transportation network for it. Weiss arrives at the door of the break building, it says ¡°Pull¡± and has a large handle on it. Schwartz really knows the facility well, huh? It''s just wide enough to slip the shovel¡¯s handle through it. As Weiss is about to put the shovel through it, she wonders. If I¡¯m just temporarily blockading it, wouldn¡¯t it be much more convenient to use my glyph for it¡­? I can just dispel it remotely if need be, too. She sets the glyph on the door, spreading it on the surface, keeping ahold of the shovel instead. There, that¡¯s much better. Can¡¯t really blame Schwartz, it¡¯s not like he knows the ins and outs of my wonderful abilities. Weiss waits next to the door, hearing the workers chat inside, unable to make out any words. Then, the door rattles. First gently, and then more fiercely. ¡°W-what¡¯s with this-! I can¡¯t open the door?¡± A male voice speaks from inside. ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t open it?¡± Somebody shouts at him. ¡°Are you pulling it again, you gotta push it from this side!¡± A feminine voice laughs. ¡°I-I am!¡± The man groans audibly, straining against the door. Weiss hears steps, and Schwartz appears. ¡°Hey, how¡¯d it go?¡± She asks. Schwartz looks between Weiss and the door and sighs loudly. With stunning speed, he swipes the shovel from her hands, and puts it in between the handle and the doorway, barring the door. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s hurry on out.¡± ¡°H-huh!? B-but what about-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got your dust, a large chunk of it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I-¡± Weiss looks back to the double-barred door as she¡¯s pulled away by Schwartz. Wait... what is... that? She spots something placed on the time dust vein, some sort of package, consisting of clumped up sticks or tubes of... something? They¡¯re taped onto the crystal with wires coming off it that combine into one smaller rectangular box that hangs loosely in the air, a faint red light blinking on it periodically. ¡°S-Schwartz? W-what did you leave behind? It wasn¡¯t there when we came-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, now hurry. Or do you want to get caught?¡± ¡°What did you put on the vein?!¡± Weiss breaks his hold on her arm with a sudden yank and stops. ¡°That¡¯s a dust bomb? Isn¡¯t it? What were you thinking-!?¡± ¡°You told me the mine was going to be destroyed, so I don¡¯t see how it¡¯s a problem.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were here to stop the accident or, well- whatever that led to this mine¡¯s destruction?¡± Schwartz doesn¡¯t say anything but just looks bothered. ¡°Are you going to blow this place up with all these people still inside? Even the workers here are still trapped inside! By us, no less!¡± ¡°So what? They¡¯ve already died once. They are fated to die here.¡± ¡°What? How do you know that?¡± Weiss¡¯ hand shakes as she pulls out her Myrtenaster and bites her teeth together. ¡°How can somebody be so heartless? So stubborn, so... stupid! That¡¯s no reason for them to die!¡± Weiss lifts her gaze, to directly look at him, with a glint in her eyes. With one elegant swish of her blade, the glyph activates, and the break room''s door explodes out, flying off its hinges and hitting the cavern walls, splitting the shovel¡¯s handle in two in the process. Schwartz stares back at her, his black eyes swirling dangerously as his large hands curl into fists. But despite the implication of danger, Weiss doesn¡¯t look away but faces him head-on. Bring it on, you deceitful prick, see if I care. Do it, I dare you! Show me your true colors! A slight smirk emerges on her lips. During their stand-off, the confused people stream out of the break room. ¡°Huh? And now we¡¯re free?¡± ¡°What happened, it¡¯s like the door exploded!?¡± Without breaking eye contact with Schwartz, Weiss announces: ¡°This mine is unsafe, have everyone evacuate immediately!¡± ¡°Huh? What?¡± ¡°On who¡¯s orders? Who are you?¡± Weiss throws off her helmet and pulls out her long hair from underneath her overalls. ¡°I am Weiss Schnee, the heiress to The Schnee Dust Company, this mine is about to collapse! Get everyone out!¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Okay, do as the Schnee lady says! Everyone, get out of here, and I¡¯ll announce the evacuation through the mine¡¯s intercom!¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.The young man¡¯s voice gives Weiss pause and causes her to look backward. She catches a glimpse of the owner of the voice as he¡¯s about to leave. Weiss looks back at Schwartz, with a slacked jaw. Schwartz averts his gaze and begins to walk away, his posture visibly slumped. Weiss catches up to him. ¡°You¡¯ve got some explaining to do¡­¡± She threatens him with her rapier¡¯s blade, but it doesn¡¯t even make him flinch, and he continues as normal. ¡°Why do you want to blow this place up? Did you do so in the past too?¡± Schwartz ignores Weiss, but she doesn¡¯t stop pestering him. ¡°That was you¡ªthe younger you¡ªback there, wasn¡¯t it? Why did you try to kill the past you!?¡± ¡°It was a mistake ever taking you with me... I don¡¯t know why I bother... Now it¡¯s all ruined.¡± Schwartz looks at his watch. ¡°The mine was supposed to blow up already... who knows what¡¯ll happen now¡­¡± ¡°I knew it... you must be from the future too, right? The way you coordinated all this, you¡¯ve lived this day before, haven¡¯t you? But how... this mine was destroyed right?¡± There¡¯s no way he deliberately destroyed it in the past too... right? He¡¯s not some... terrorist? ¡°That¡¯s... I¡¯ll... explain it later if you so wish to hear it, but now, we must leave and blow this place up as soon as possible.¡± ¡°No. We¡¯re not doing that until everyone has evacuated. You have a detonator for those bombs, right? Give it to me.¡± Schwartz sighs. ¡°No. You¡¯ll destroy it.¡± ¡°I cannot trust you with it. Give it here now, or else!¡± ¡°Or what? You¡¯ll kill me?¡± ¡°I- I will! You¡¯d be wise not to test me.¡± Weiss rolls the cartridge of Myrtenaster to fire dust and takes a fighting stance in front of him, set on blocking his way. ¡°Give me the detonator, and I will evacuate the mine myself if I have to.¡± ¡°Settle down now,¡± Schwartz says uninterested, and keeps walking towards Weiss. ¡°I promise not to blow the mine until you¡¯re out. And what more do you want, past me is going to diligently alert everyone to escape anyway.¡± ¡°What about the Faunus? Are they going to be set free?¡± Schwartz keeps on walking toward her on a direct collision course, seemingly not intending to dodge or step aside. ¡°Fine then.¡± Weiss conjures a glyph at his feet, it instantly halts his steps like powerful adhesive. He sighs, as he cannot free himself. ¡°Fine, I''ll play your game.¡± He looks at her eyes, but surprisingly there is no seeping darkness. ¡°Tell me what good will freeing the Faunus do? What difference will it make? They¡¯ll just continue to be enslaved and exploited by the SDC, until the end of time¡ªor their lives.¡± ¡°How can you say that?¡± ¡°After you¡¯ve liberated them, what will you do? Are you going to care for them? Take them into your house you don¡¯t have? Transport them out of this middle of bumfuck nowhere desert? Set them free, and they¡¯ll only perish in the desert heat or be captured again to continue their servitude. Some of them were born slaves, they don¡¯t know what it is to act independently, they don¡¯t have any supporting networks, no close ones to help them.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°Your effort won¡¯t change anything. Whether they live or die, they¡¯ll do it as a slave. At least in death, they¡¯ll get a break.¡± ¡°No! I... We¡¯ll get them out and one day... I¡¯m sure SDC will mend its ways, and they¡¯ll taste freedom with dividends. I will make sure of that personally. There¡¯s plenty of vehicles around- and- and supplies, they¡¯ll be fine to flee!¡± ¡°What if the workers obstruct them and a fight breaks out? What¡¯s the plan then, hero? Can you make it all right with the snap of your fingers? Make the malice and grudges between them disappear like that?¡± ¡°I-It¡¯ll be fine! Because- because!¡± Weiss'' eyes light up, and her posture straightens. ¡°I get it now, it¡¯s so simple! This future¡ªit doesn''t matter! Why didn¡¯t I realize it sooner? Give me the time dust, and I¡¯ll go back to the past, that¡¯ll solve everything!¡± Schwartz is taken aback and purses his lips. ¡°First you¡¯re adamant about saving them and now you¡¯re freely abandoning them? Weren¡¯t you supposed to be a hero?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And, most of all, saying that straight to the person''s face whose future and world you have just done your best to ruin, is quite bold of you.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean by ruin? It¡¯s not that bad, all I did is save them, and your past self...¡± Weiss continues after a pause: ¡°And... if I leave here, to the past, I¡¯ll change the future, right? So, how¡¯s your ¡®ruined future¡¯ still going to exist?¡± ¡°What? You¡¯ll think that just because you leave this time, it¡¯ll cease to exist? Are you delusional? Even if this won¡¯t split into another timeline, because who the fuck knows how time even works, what makes you think your past would be any more worthy than my future to exist?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ because it¡¯s the past? Perhaps the time dust makes me the deciding factor. Or maybe it¡¯ll split time in two every time it¡¯s used...¡± Weiss looks at the rocky ground hesitantly but lifts her head up again. ¡°R-regardless! I¡¯ve made my decision. It may sound cold of me, but give me the time dust, I don¡¯t care about the detonator anymore, you can do whatever you wish with it once I¡¯m gone. Or... do I need to freeze your entire body to claim it for myself?¡± Schwartz, still restrained in his steps, closes his eyes. ¡°Very well. But on one condition... Take me with you. I can go back to the past too, and try again.¡± ¡°Only if you give me a thorough explanation first about why you must destroy this mine. I don¡¯t want you coming with me if you¡¯re going to blow it up again in my future for no reason.¡± ¡°Can you release me first?¡± Weiss hesitates for a second but dispels the glyph. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Schwartz stretches his legs. ¡°I said I''d explain... but let¡¯s leave this place first, we won¡¯t be safe from prying ears, or eyes here. And...¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather get away from the explosives too...¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± With a heavy silence, they both leave the cave, Weiss has tucked her hair back in and tries to look nonchalant, despite missing her helmet. Around them, confused mine personnel and Faunus, some freed, some chained to their minecarts still, linger around the entrance. Seeing them still enslaved bothered her, but she couldn''t find it in her to care. To... truly care. Sure, even after she leaves this time behind, going back to the past, they¡¯d probably still be slaves, but... it¡¯s not like it couldn''t be changed in the future. A cold sweat breaks on her brow and sticks her already hot clothes underneath the overalls to her back. The creeping realization dawns; reality is losing its grip on her. What was real to her anymore? She had left behind her reality and was fighting against it. Couldn¡¯t she in theory do anything with the time dust? Just stock up on enough of it and change, prevent anything that didn¡¯t go to her liking...? Had she been thinking too small? Reality could be nearly anything she wished it to be. ... What is this, a game? Even the thought of trying to evaluate what should or shouldn¡¯t happen is enough to drive me crazy. I... I shouldn¡¯t¡ªI won¡¯t¡ªplay god. After... after Blake is saved, I will never time travel again. The surrounding chaos and the hurried conversations among the miners allow them to pass through the crowds without interruption. It¡¯s a grating walk to the motorcycle, they both keep an eye on the other, but without escalation of conflict. They get away from the view of others, to their private nook, and Schwartz finally speaks. ¡°Okay¡­¡± He leans to the cliff wall and looks at Weiss from underneath his downcast brow. ¡°As you guessed, I traveled to the past too. Today is the day, when we started to mine out the new kind of dust in earnest, without knowing its full¡­ dangers.¡± Schwartz shakes his head. ¡°Yesterday, the small science team on site did some small-scale tests on it and dubbed it time dust. After which they apparently sent a sample of it to Atlas, as you said that your father had it. And today as one of our expert miners, I got to work on it for the first time with the big drill you must have seen before. However, as I did, the dust turned out to be much more volatile than anyone could have guessed, and before I could fully comprehend what had happened, I was in the past.¡± ¡°I see...¡± Weiss ruminates on his words. ¡°Meeting you confirmed my suspicions, that the whole mine instead goes up with the explosion. However, I was fairly certain that was the case... As I have not been able to find anyone else of my co-workers who would have been sent to the past during these twenty-five years that I¡¯ve been waiting for this day to come... So, I must have been the only one to get sent, due to my proximity to the blast. I was planning on letting it happen naturally, but I couldn¡¯t trust, that just my presence wouldn¡¯t change something. Thus, the explosives.¡± ¡°But¡­ why do you wish it to happen in the first place? Why does everyone at the mine have to die?¡± ¡°As I hurtled in the timestream uncontrollably, I saw¡­ things. This pale-faced¡­ ominous woman, with red streaks, like exposed veins on her face. She was a recurring character, in glimpses of what seemed to be possible futures and some pasts too. In many of them, she wielded the pearlescent dust, annihilating the whole world with ease each time.¡± ¡°¡­Who is she?¡± ¡°Those loyal to him called her with many names: Master, Mistress, Lady, Queen and once... Salem. Now that I think about it, I probably saw you, and your friends fight against her too, and lose. So overwhelming was the power to manipulate time, there was nothing to do at all. So... I have to destroy the mine, time dust cannot be allowed to exist, it must be erased from existence. I wanted the destruction to occur naturally, or well, as close to the same time as before, I couldn¡¯t know if that would help anything, but it felt the safest option.¡± Schwartz takes out the detonator, a small handheld object, with a safety in place, to not allow flicking the switch, until it has been disabled. He looks at the device but doesn¡¯t seem to want to activate it. ¡°And yet... despite all that, you still helped me...¡± Schwartz puts his hand into the satchel and takes out a chunk of time dust in place of the detonator, that reflected all imaginable colors in different angles beautifully under the desert sun. He hands it to Weiss, planting the fist-sized chunk on her hands. ¡°Don¡¯t make me regret it, even more than I already do.¡± Weiss looks upon this magnificent, even magical crystal. It holds the power to change the world. To modify and bend time and reality to its will. With controlled and decisive use, it could rule it. If she had enough of it, made plans, gathered information¡­ she could prevent The Fall of Beacon, save Pyrrha, Penny... everyone. Doubt plagues her mind, had she been too hasty to settle only for Blake? Would it make her a bad person, or... evil, to not prevent the catastrophe when she is the only one who could do it? ... But, if even one person possessed it, it was only a matter of time¡­ before others would find out about it too¡­ and seek it out... Then, all of reality would likely become a jumbled mess of a race to change time to suit oneself. Until nobody could make sense of the soup it had become. Weiss grips the lightly throbbing and warm crystal in her hands with closed eyes. I¡­ I won¡¯t be tempted! But¡­ But¡­! She sees Blake, lying on the ground, holding a hand over her slit-open stomach. Her eyes were closed and mouth opened with blood trailing down it, she looked so distraught, her face full of regret. Remembering it twists Weiss¡¯ chest, squeezes her heart. Blood¡­ so much blood. And on top of Blake, a crying Yang, unable to help her friend, due to having no arms anymore. Flailing, crying hysterically at the injustice, the cruelty of her weakness. How she looked back at Weiss and Ruby as they arrived at the scene, how Yang¡¯s eyes were filled with terror. She was a broken record of crying out how it wasn¡¯t her fault. How Blake couldn''t be gone. ... It makes Weiss wonder if Yang was still in that sorry broken state if she ever could begin to overcome the experience. ¡°Are you going to use it?¡± Schwartz¡¯s comment brings her back to reality, the crystal¡¯s surface now had extra droplets that shone in the light. ¡°What a foolish thing to ask. This world¡­ this time, no longer has Team RWBY, and I would do everything¡­ I will do anything to fix that. Of course, I¡¯m going.¡± ¡°I suspected as much.¡± Schwartz looks at her with an expectant expression. ¡°Do you know how to use it? How exactly did you get here?¡± ¡°I... Well, I just slotted the small amount of dust I nicked back home into Myrtenaster, and tested if it could be incorporated into my Glyphs. I practiced making a Glyph using a tiny speck of it, thinking that trying to recreate this sort of portal shape would be my best bet to make it happen. And... well, in the middle of my practice, I accidentally used it all, turning the Glyph into a fully-fledged portal. So, I had no choice but to quickly step through hoping for the best before it had a chance to disappear.¡± Schwartz gets off the wall, ¡°What a brash decision. Anything could have happened to you.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not proud of it. It was reckless, I was desperate... but also... I would, and I will do it again. Though next time I¡¯d take some more stuff with me first...¡± Weiss rubs the back of her head. ¡°Also, I didn¡¯t see any visions myself... perhaps it¡¯s a difference between our traveling methods. Yours was more explosive and uncontrolled, while mine was refined and calculated.¡± ¡°That sounds plausible, but, how will we get back to the correct time?¡± Weiss holds the time dust firmly in her grasp. ¡°Do you think the amount is important in determining how far we¡¯ll go? How much should we use?¡± ¡°Comparing our two stories, I was blown back to the past thirty years by a literal mountain-load of dust, but¡­ we can¡¯t know how much of it affected me per se.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s true¡­ Maybe there¡¯s something else we should take into account too...¡± Weiss thinks back on what she did, and what she experienced during the time of her time travel. ¡°Well, I also did think really hard about the time frame where I would want to end up. Though, perhaps my uncertainty sent me just short of the timing... I doubted if the amount was enough, so I thought that as long as I got sent far enough to get to the mine before its destruction, I¡¯d be fine.¡± ¡°You really thought something so abstract instead of like a certain spot and date? Now you¡¯re making me doubt your hypothesis¡­¡± ¡°W-well, how could I know if it would even affect anything!¡± ¡°Fair enough, I suppose. It''s not like my own experiences even support that. I had no destination in mind, though it could be due to me being literally blown away that it wouldn¡¯t have even mattered.¡± ¡°Hmm... how about the location? When and where did you end up at?¡± ¡°I¡­ I was blown back to the very moment I was born. Just outside the Vacuan hospital room¡¯s window. I saw myself... a young mother cradling a small child. At least, I''m pretty sure it was me, as I was the eldest, but I didn¡¯t stick around to find out. I went into hiding, waiting for the day that our parents would pass, as soon after that, we¡¯d all split among Remnant with Nerol and Tarrot¡¯s fight, and leave our childhood home empty.¡± ¡°Really...? That¡¯s... terrible. You¡¯ve been here living again, alongside your past self for all this time?¡± Though, I wonder if that can really be called living by the sound of it... ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve had a long time to come to terms with it.¡± Weiss sighs a breath of relief. ¡°Makes me real glad I ended up back in my bedroom, the same place I used it from, but at night. Just the day after I had returned from Beacon¡¯s attack. Even if it was really creepy seeing myself sleep in my bed, like having an out-of-body experience, looking at yourself in the third person.¡± Schwartz brings a hand to his beard. ¡°So, at least, we both did end up near our previous selves, so perhaps we can only travel to places and times, where we have been alive. I got blown away to my birth, as that was as far as I could go?¡± ¡°I guess that would make sense... Even if all of this might be conjecture, one thing¡¯s for sure, it¡¯s dreadfully difficult having to figure this all out ourselves...¡± Weiss sighs. ¡°With a sample size of two, and different methods of travel, we truly can¡¯t be certain of anything...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll say¡­ I hope I didn¡¯t cause some sort of trouble or paradoxes back home when I left. I made hasty preparations to leave for Vacuo the same night with Klein, he¡¯s our family butler, by the way, and really reliable too. I bet he must have been beyond confused when the next morning he no doubt found the other me still there.¡± Weiss organizes all this information in her head for a moment, trying to make sense of it all. Trying to figure out what they needed to watch out for, and how it all worked. ¡°Hmm, did you and the other you see each other in the mines? In all the fictional time travel stories I¡¯ve read, some terrible thing happens when the past and future meet.¡± ¡°We probably don¡¯t have to worry about that. I don¡¯t think we locked eyes or anything, but he did definitely see me, didn¡¯t seem to recognize though.¡± ¡°Well, no wonder, you¡¯ve got a beard and a mustache now, and you¡¯re way bulkier than you were back then. If it wasn¡¯t for your voice being so similar, I don¡¯t think I would have recognized your past self either.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it, that was kind of the point of my appearance.¡± Weiss sits on the edge of the bike¡¯s passenger carriage, crosses her arms, and looks to the ground. ¡°So... to summarize, we¡¯ll likely end up near past me, or perhaps we¡¯ll get split when we travel through the same portal and end up near our own selves. Additionally, we don¡¯t have any sure way to control where we¡¯ll end up, nor do we even know how time itself works or what will happen to this future.¡± Weiss kicks a nearby pebble, it rolls and hits another, both of them flinging in different directions. ¡°So, time travel itself is still a mystery¡­ no surprises there.¡± Weiss and Schwartz fall silent, but suddenly a smile forms on Weiss¡¯ lips. ¡°This is insane¡­ what I¡¯ve done and what we¡¯re doing is simply put¡­ mad.¡± Weiss laughs briefly. ¡°It¡¯s surprisingly nice to finally speak about these things with somebody...¡± Schwartz''s voice has a degree of mild elation. ¡°It¡¯s been... a lonely twenty-five years.¡± ¡°You never spoke about this with anyone before? In all that time...?¡± ¡°No. How could I? I would have either been assumed mad or caused calamitous consequences for the whole world if anyone found out. And-¡± Schwartz falls silent, even though it seems he has something more to say. Weiss places down the time dust crystal onto the motorcycle¡¯s saddle, takes out her dust rapier, and pops out a dust cartridge from her weapon''s revolver chamber. She empties the blue dust inside onto the ground. ¡°Got anything to grind this dust crystal into... well, dust?¡± Schwartz feels his toolbelt on the overalls, finding nothing suitable, and then accesses the bike¡¯s storage compartment. ¡°Will a screwdriver do?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have a knife or anything better?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you use your sword-thing?¡± ¡°Should I peel you an apple while I¡¯m at it too? Ever tried to open a letter with that greatsword of yours?¡± ¡°Right, point taken.¡± ¡°Well... shall we get to it? It¡¯s not going to explode if we scrape its surface?¡± ¡°Probably not, though I suggest being gentle with it...¡± ¡°Great...¡± ... ¡°Why¡¯d you give me the crossheaded one?¡± ¡°My bad Miss Schnee, perhaps you¡¯d like to use your sword then instead, or your plenty long fingernails instead to scrape some off?¡± ¡°Fine... Mr. Smartz, just keep to your side of the crystal and don¡¯t get in my way.¡± Weiss says with a humorous smile. ... ¡°How long do you think this is going to take...?¡± ¡°Not to worry. Even if they say the future waits for no one, at this time, I quite disagree.¡± Schwartz situates himself on the other side of the crystal placed on the motorcycle¡¯s cushion and holds it still with Weiss. ¡°Right, at this moment, time itself is on our side.¡± Weiss grasps the screwdriver firmly in her other hand and looks into the crystal. Its enchanting pearlescent glow is faintly see-through allowing her gaze to pierce inside. But there are no answers, no hidden glimpses of the past or the future to glean. ¡°The future and the past are the ones who have to wait for us.¡± She smirks and strikes the crystal. 3. The Past and the Future After they¡¯ve filled one cartridge with ground-up or rather, small splinters of time dust, Schwartz takes the rest of the dust crystal and stores it in his shoulder bag. ¡°Huh? Shouldn¡¯t we fill up at least two cartridges?¡± Weiss points at him with her screwdriver. ¡°I will hold onto the crystal, if we have no other choice, we can travel with it again.¡± ¡°You think we¡¯ll have time to scrape some off if we¡¯re mid-combat or something!?¡± Schwartz shakes his head. ¡°Will it be just this one time? Will you seek time dust again if you fail? Or when you run into another setback in your life, will you turn to time dust as an answer? A crutch to always repair your mistakes?¡± Weiss ruminates the words. ¡°I will live my life after this like I had not known it existed. But... if we fail to save Blake, I will time-travel again. I will fix this mistake.¡± ¡°You say that, but are you really sure you wish to do this?¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve come so far already, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡± Weiss wags the screwdriver at Schwartz again as she hands it to him. ¡°We might get separated and you could end up so far in the past, that you may not even live long enough to save Blake. We really don¡¯t have any certainty what will happen.¡± Schwartz packs the screwdrivers and then looks at the motorcycle. ¡°You might as well end up in your ancestor''s time, than yourself.¡± ¡°I am aware,¡± Weiss says with some irritation, could Schwartz stop with this nonsense of questioning her conviction already? ¡°Have you stopped to consider, if this is what Blake wants? What your friends would want? You are messing with the very fabric of reality.¡± Schwartz takes off the worker uniform and starts putting on his usual clothes which he had packed away. Weiss quickly turns to look the other way. He keeps on preaching through his changing: ¡°What makes reality so important, and ¡®real¡¯, is that it cannot be changed once it''s done. Every mistake, death, and departure of a loved one, is permanent. Only through arduous labor and trials, can you try and ¡®change¡¯ your reality, by making amends and rectifying your mistakes in the future. And yet...¡± Schwartz stops as he ties his cloth belt around his waist, and a leather belt on top of it. ¡°Blake, your friend, at this moment, she''s at peace, in blissful oblivion. Why do you wish to take that away from her so badly? What if she¡¯d object? Though it¡¯s not like you can have any wants when you¡¯re dead, I suppose.¡± ¡°Don''t you dare...¡± Weiss instantly turns around to the fortunately fully clothed Schwartz. ¡°Death, it''s not blissful or peaceful. It''s like you said, if you''re not aware, don''t exist... You can''t be anything. You can''t be stressed, hurt, or afraid. But you also can''t be happy, and definitely not ''at peace''. Oblivion, non-existence, is not peaceful, it¡¯s tragic.¡± Weiss stares at Schwartz intently, and he takes it without flinching. ¡°What if death is a better fate than what would await in her future?¡± Schwartz looks away and into the distant skies. ¡°The things I saw... I am certain there will be many... many hardships in your future, even if you succeed in saving her.¡± ¡°Death is never... it''s never better than any other fate. There is no hope, no chance beyond that. Even the most terrible circumstance, the most horrific fate, is better than death. As long as you are alive, there is hope for the future. Death, is literally, the end. A permanent tragedy.¡± Weiss holds onto the time dust cartridge and inserts it into her rapier, furrowing her brow hard at Schwartz. ¡°Now that there is a chance to change that, I will do all that I can to change fate, to defy death!¡± He doesn''t seem impressed by Weiss'' speech. After a moment of silence, he continues. ¡°Do you really know what will happen if you go through with this? Time dust is powerful, and as they say, nothing comes for free. Are you ready to pay the price?¡± He levels his gaze back at her. ¡°What do you mean? I may no longer be an heiress to SDC, so as long as it doesn''t take Lien, I can pay any price. I know in my heart I have to do this. Blake doesn''t have the right to die and end Team RWBY. I don''t care what she''d say, it''s my choice to make for her as she''s not present to voice her opinion. You can call me selfish, reckless, whatever you like, but I''m not changing my mind.¡± ¡°You do sound like you have steeled your resolve, but... tell me, what do you plan on doing after you¡¯ve saved Blake? Have you thought about that?¡± ¡°I... I¡¯ll get to live with my friends again... I¡¯ll...¡± Weiss falls silent, like she¡¯s realizing something. Like she¡¯d forgotten to account for something extremely important. ¡°Listen to what I¡¯m about to say, and listen well.¡± Schwartz pauses, Weiss feels the pressure building inside, had she missed something? What had she not taken into account? ¡°If you save Blake, the other Weiss won¡¯t disappear anywhere. Because she won¡¯t use the time dust, she won¡¯t become you. There will be two of you instead. You won¡¯t be able to wait for her to leave, and take your place where you left your past behind.¡± She tries to swallow the terrible feeling away, that stuck in her throat like a bone. Lodged in the localized desert that had manifested inside her. No way... The logic is sound, irrefutable. ¡°I...¡± ¡°So, will you still go through with it? You said that Death is always the worst fate, but you did not consider this possibility, did you?¡± ¡°Even if it must be so... I would gladly give up my own life to prevent her death. And, give it up I will, my future, my life with team RWBY. But it¡¯s fine, my other self will be there to live it for me¡ªto live it with them.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t know what you did, what you sacrificed. You¡¯ll miss your whole life.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better they don¡¯t know. That reality is what I¡¯m trying to protect them from in the first place. Besides, you know, somehow I trust the Ice Queen with all my heart to make the most of it...¡± Weiss chuckles. ¡°Weird isn¡¯t it?¡± Schwartz nods and lets out a single consonant of laughter, sounding more like a grunt. ¡°It sure is.¡± ¡°As long as I know Blake is safe, happy... and has a future, that¡¯s enough for me. That¡¯s my part done. It may take time for the wounds to heal after Beacon, but I¡¯m certain no matter what hardships they¡¯ll encounter, it¡¯ll all be for the better in the end.¡± ¡°Are you sure, you can live with that?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t have a choice, will I?¡± ¡°No, you won¡¯t,¡± Schwartz answers bluntly. ¡°Even if you say you¡¯ll go back to your team and explain it all, and somehow form ¡®RWWBY¡¯, I wouldn¡¯t accept it. You¡¯d have to kill me first. That¡¯s tantamount to just announcing that a method of time-travel exists.¡± Weiss¡¯ head sinks low, in deep thought. ¡°If hiding that is your objective, destroying the dust along with the mine, why¡¯d you help me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good question. I¡¯m not sure if even I know.¡± Despite his answer, Weiss feels like she could read the truth from within his words. She goes over all the information in her head, but one thought lingers, giving her pause. ¡°Isn¡¯t it also possible that I¡¯ll just disappear once I¡¯ve saved Blake? Since I would have lost my reason to have traveled to the past? It wouldn¡¯t be too surprising if this sort of paradox would resolve itself by... erasing me. The current me, anyway.¡± That''s how it always goes in fiction I''ve read... ¡°It¡¯s possible, and thanks to you, we don¡¯t know for sure which it will be, since you stopped me from killing my younger self... That if something, would have been a paradox.¡± Schwartz nods towards Weiss¡¯ weapon. ¡°Unless you want to track him down and test...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even joke about it...¡± ¡°Or I could blow up the mine now and see what sticks.¡± ¡°Stop! I can¡¯t believe you were ready to kill your past self in the first place! What if you really had disappeared due to that?¡± ¡°In a way, that would have made things more simple¡­¡± Schwartz sits on the motorcycle¡¯s seat, facing away. ¡°Death is called the easy way out, after all, that is, only for the person who¡¯s gone. Continuing to live, is the harder part.¡± He fiddles with his watch. ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth! Blake has caused us no end of trouble and grief... by just being gone.¡± Weiss grips Myrtenaster hard and spins the chamber to the time dust capsule¡¯s spot. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Schwartz stands, picks up his riding scarf, checks his shoulder bag, and then nods. Then, he walks up to Weiss, and plants his yellow hard hat on her head, to replace the one she left in the mine. This finishes her worker look again as she is still wearing the outfit like they agreed during their small-scale mining operation. ¡°Best that you won¡¯t be recognized.¡± And then puts up the scarf around Weiss¡¯ neck, hiding her even further. Weiss pulls down the scarf wrapped around her head, which hides her entire face, ¡°Thanks, but I have to see for this!¡± Schwartz takes a step back, as Weiss draws a circle in the air with her rapier, following the movement, a black glyph starts to become carved on the red-brown cliff wall. Once she completes the circle, lines start to snake and shoot around towards the middle, forming a geometrical pattern. The areas formed by the lines begin glowing white. She twists her wrist, like turning a key in a lock, and the time dust sparkles out of the tip of Myrtenaster, streaming into the glyph. The shape starts to rotate, generating wind, blowing Weiss'' hair out from inside of her overalls as she keeps her stance steady. Its edges start to glow in the colors of a rainbow until the middle part seems to almost break off, dissipating into nothing. The shape is still, apart from the whirring of the edges, a calm white portal entrance in the middle of it, subtly rippling and shifting like water. ¡°Phew... it worked!¡± She sighs relieved, tucking her hair back into hiding. ¡°After you.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah... S-see you on the other side.¡± As Weiss approaches the portal, she thinks back on that day, on the Fall of Beacon. Just what had happened, where she had been at the time. What would be the best time to arrive for them to have the best shot at saving Blake. As she steps up even closer to the portal in her loose worker boots, it blows gentle winds towards her. The wind carries strange smells from her past. The smell of explosions, the dust of collapsed buildings, but also positive scents, the scent of flowers they grew indoors back home, the homely feeling of their bunk beds, the perfumes and shampoos that her team used. Also, things she feels that she cannot place, deception and betrayal, something that would upend her whole world. Then, the sounds of a great rushing of water with a screaming chorus, fill her with an unprecedented feeling of loss. Something that Penny nor Pyrrha¡¯s deaths could even begin to compare to. A feeling of falling and despair hits her hard, almost dropping her to the ground. However, she manages to keep steady, walking onward, though with shorter steps. She almost gets lost in the whirlpool of emotions and memories, but shakes off these ominous feelings, returning her mind to her objective; back to the Fall of Beacon, as she steps through the portal. In a blink of an eye, she¡¯s elsewhere. She¡¯s back at the Vytal festival, standing a few meters behind herself, behind Weiss. Next to whom, sitting on the bar stool of the noodle shop is Blake. It really worked! She takes a few steps back in shock and wonder. ¡°What was that sound?¡± Blake looks to the left and right, but thankfully not behind her. Weiss quickly hides her face with the scarf, only leaving her eyes exposed. She glances around, and it appears her arrival went mostly unnoticed, at least the fairgrounds are almost completely deserted as everyone''s at the arena. ¡°What sound?¡± The past Weiss asks. Swoosh! ¡°That sound!¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Schwartz''s large frame appears right in front of traveler Weiss, his back to her. I dare not think what would have happened if I hadn''t moved a few steps back... ¡°Huh? Who are you?¡± The other Weiss asks, with a grating and high-pitched voice. Is that really how I sound? ¡°Excuse me, but why were you standing right behind us?¡± Blake asks. ¡°Apologies if I scared you, I¡¯m just a... teacher from Vacuo and I was simply watching the tournament on this fine establishment''s TV screen. Please, do carry on like I wasn¡¯t here.¡± ¡°Right, sorry but if you want to watch, could you move to the side of us instead?¡± Blake says. ¡°Yeah or sit by the counter like everyone else, instead of creeping around behind our backs!¡± Past Weiss joins in. ¡°Duly noted¡­ But I think it¡¯s best I¡¯ll be on my way to check up on my students.¡± Schwartz nods at the two. ¡°But the next round is just starting?¡± Past Weiss exclaims. ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Blake shrugs. Blake and past Weiss turn around to watch the TV. ¡°Looks like our first contestant is... Penny Polandina from Atlas. And her opponent will be... Pyrhha Nikos, from Beacon.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The Weiss hiding behind Schwartz¡¯s frame whispers to him. ¡°We gotta hurry before all the Grimm arrive.¡± Schwartz agrees silently, and they leave the two alone, though she still keeps to his shadow. Weiss cannot help but peek back towards the two enjoying their meal. They talk about something and laugh, then attentively look at the TV screen again. Oh, Blake... They go through the mildly crowded Vytal festival venues, these ones thankfully bound to the ground, unlike the floating arena itself. When they arrive at the edge of the area, Schwartz asks: ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Follow me, let''s get as close to the Academy as we can before all hell breaks loose.¡± As they get into the city, all monitors in shop windows, and the few large billboards around, flicker on, as Cinder starts her tirade. Among the great Atlesian fleet, flying at low altitudes are the aircrafts of the White Fang. They start to flock into the city''s airspace and all around it. Weiss and Schwartz run through the city streets, taking turn after turn, trying to make as much headway as possible before their path is blocked. A long street they were making their way through, is cut off by a white fang ship that drops down an Ursa, before flying off. ¡°Darn it.¡± The Grimm sniffs the air and quickly turns to look at them, charging at them with all its grizzly power. ¡°Uhh¡­ Schwartz? Can you do something about that?¡± Weiss steps backward. ¡°No. My semblance doesn¡¯t even work on Grimm.¡± ¡°W-what? Now you¡¯re telling me?!¡± Weiss looks around frantically but doesn¡¯t spot anyone. Since they were alone... would it be okay for her to fight? The Ursa¡¯s steps quake the earth, leaving pawprints on the asphalt, as time is running out to decide; try to outrun the Grimm, or fight and risk- Swoosh! The moment Weiss is about to brandish Myrtenaster, somebody flies past her like a gale wind. A glimpse of a red tattered cape is all she sees, though that¡¯s enough to allude to who they are. As she lifts her gaze, whirring and clanking sounds as the large sword changes into a scythe. It scrapes along the asphalt and shoots up splinters as it''s dragged along. The benevolent wind spirit turns out to be Qrow, he and the Ursa charge at each other, sure to collide any second now. The Grimm goes for a pre-emptive strike, but he deftly dodges it to the side, sliding underneath its paw, before bouncing up and lopping its head off. Qrow transforms his weapon back into a sword and throws it onto his shoulder. He turns around. ¡°No need to be so scared, um... Miss or are both of you blokes? Either way, the way¡¯s clear, get out of here, seek shelter inside a building or something.¡± He approaches them, and future Weiss, clad in her disguise, does her best to hide behind Schwartz. ¡°Thanks for the help, we¡¯ll do just that,¡± Schwartz answers and they start to briskly walk toward Qrow. Weiss does not dare to say anything as they are passing Qrow, just watching her from the corner of her eye, while holding onto Myrtenaster tighter, sticking it close to her side on the other side, to not allow him to see her weapon. Her other hand grasps her scarf, making sure it doesn''t have any chance to fall from her face. Qrow looks at her with narrowed eyes and is about to say something, but the screams of citizens from the way they came take his concentration away. ¡°Just stay out of trouble, will you?¡± He bolts into a run, her sword forming into a scythe mid-run once again. Sounds of fighting and struggles start emanating behind them as they start running again. ¡°I hate this... I feel so useless...¡± ¡°Welcome to my world.¡± They run around the winding streets, as Weiss is about to turn left, she sees a figure further ahead, quickly identifying it as Ironwood. He¡¯s fighting against the turncoat Atlesian robot army, his clothes tattered, landing kick into a pistol shot, into a robotic arm punch breaking through their ranks. All the while shouting and growling in anger. He''s going all out, resembling a berserk wild animal rather than the stern but well-mannered general Weiss has had limited contact with. She can¡¯t help but stare at him for a moment, something about him... it feels almost frightening. Weiss shakes her head, and gestures for them to move again. ¡°Let¡¯s go around...¡± They arrive at the front of Beacon and run across the stone path. The very same Weiss had her first encounter with the clumsy disaster that was Ruby Rose at the time. ¡°This way-¡± But Weiss¡¯ words are cut short, as a roaring Grimm charges them from the side. The Boarbatusk is on collision course, but as Weiss is about to draw her sword. A purple circle is conjured in the air that shoots an energy projectile at it, flinging the Grimm away. The light show repeats multiple times, as the hoard of black boars that tries to ambush them are demolished with incredible speed. Heels clasp against the stone, as Glynda steps towards them, with a proud gait. ¡°Students-! Are you even students?¡± Her eyebrows raise as she sees the strange-looking people she saved. ¡°Y-yeah...?¡± Schwartz says. ¡°Well, that doesn¡¯t matter now.¡± She whips the riding crop against her hand and points at them. ¡°Seek shelter or fight, either way, it¡¯s not safe here at the Academy.¡± ¡°Noted. Thanks for the help, we¡¯ll take the first.¡± Schwartz and Weiss run past her, toward the school. ¡°Wait- where are you going!? I just told you-!¡± Glynda shouts after them, but a horde of Beowolfs fall from the sky, from the White Fang vessels, and she¡¯s thrust into yet another fight. Weiss finds the side of the school, where the fateful battle happens, and they hide in the bushes near the large windows that extend almost to the ground. A sparse forest edge started right after the school on this side, gradually becoming a fully-fledged woods, but it didn''t really help her in differentiating the location. She shifts through her memory for all it¡¯s worth, making sure that this is the right window, the right location. Soon enough, Grimm show up, which break through the windows and parts of the wall, sending the students and faculty who were taking shelter inside, contrary to Glynda''s instructions, into a panic. They try to run away, but not all make it. Weiss grits her teeth, for not helping them. Schwartz looks away from the scene. The carnage quiets down eventually, and the Grimm disperse, they keep low and manage to evade them as the monsters spread out. They continue waiting and Schwartz speaks up once the coast seems clear: ¡°So, you know what happened here before, right? What¡¯s your plan on stopping it?¡± ¡°Well... I haven¡¯t actually seen for myself how the fight went, just heard Yang¡¯s account on it. Adam was simply too skilled, too fast for her. She couldn''t control her feelings, and she charged him. Immediately, he sliced one of her arms off, but even then, she tried to fight him together with Blake who was already badly injured, but they couldn''t keep up with him. And, as her other arm was cut off too, Blake blocked a fatal strike for her which cost her life...¡± Weiss hangs her head low, looking at the ground, hugging her knees. ¡°Right after, me and Ruby showed up to find them because they were taking too long, and drove Adam off.¡± ¡°I see... How are you going to stop this Adam?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the question, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯ve thought about it a lot and wondered how I could do it. Assassinating him before all this begins¡­ but I wouldn¡¯t be a match for him let alone know where to find him. Thought about somehow luring myself there earlier to help, but... who knows what could happen then... I- my past self could very well die there too if she goes there. And if I change the events too much, there¡¯s no telling what could happen, maybe Yang dies with Blake then... or something even worse happens... If I bring me and Ruby there too early, what if... we all die?¡± Schwartz who sits next to her, in the darkness of the evening, behind this slightly thorny bush, crosses his arms. ¡°We need some discreet method to help them.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯ve been thinking myself. And I have been training in that regard. I cannot directly interfere, if this is to be the timeline, where I save Blake¡­ I cannot make the mistake of being in two places at the same time. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Even if I was to disguise myself, my fighting style or weapon would surely bust me.¡± Schwartz averts his eyes, briefly looking elsewhere, before returning his gaze to Weiss. ¡°I¡¯m no fighter, best I could do was to act as a messenger to get others here, since nobody would recognize me, but if we¡¯re not doing that, I¡¯m afraid, I cannot help.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ the White Fang also do wear masks¡­ so even your semblance can¡¯t affect Adam.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. But you do have some way in mind to save her without relying on me, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, I have been experimenting with my power. First, I tried to make my glyphs invisible, to be able to affect Adam¡¯s movement mid-fight, without exposing my influence, but I haven¡¯t managed that. All I could do was to make them silent, and not emit any glow if I kept them small enough, but... well, you¡¯ll see what I have planned.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t wait.¡± Much to her chagrin, Weiss cannot tell if he¡¯s being sarcastic or not. Maybe in reality he came with her just to be entertained by her struggles? Or perhaps he¡¯s just being his usual flavor of rude, it''s hard to tell. Weiss feels that she has grown to understand Schwartz a bit better after the mines, but it is still difficult to grasp what he¡¯s thinking. Or even, in what way his words should be interpreted. As they wait, they can hear the fight against the large mechs of the Atlesian army Weiss and Blake were engaged in before. In the latter part of that, Adam eventually shows up too, jumping up through the broken window into the school. As he walks around, whacking at the rubble, and checking bodies, Weiss takes out Myrtenaster, starting to conjure a glyph, by waving the end of the rapier in a circular motion. But the resulting glyph misses Adam, and ends up on the wall, being too big to boot as well. Weiss quickly erases the glyph. She sighs deeply, gets on her knees, and sits on her calves, like in some sort of meditative pose. She lays down Myrtenaster next to her on the ground. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Shh¡­¡± Weiss lifts her right hand and starts making the same motion but this time with her outstretched finger. Her eyes track Adam¡¯s every move like a hawk, and as he finally turns sideways to her, Weiss¡¯ fingertip glows slightly and she completes one circle. A small black glyph appears before her hand, faintly touching her fingertips. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°You probably can¡¯t see it from here, even I can barely make it out myself only because it''s my power, but Adam¡¯s right-hand side jacket sleeve has a small glyph embedded into it now. Good thing Adam¡¯s fashion sense is horrible enough to wear all black.¡± Weiss stretches her fingers out and then brings them closer together again, testing her connection to the glyph. It seems to be holding out well, as the shape responsively changes sizes with her finger¡¯s movements. ¡°So that''s what you''re doing...¡± ¡°I just need to get a glyph to his other sleeve too, and we should be good to go. Admittedly, the glyph¡¯s power is directly related to their size, but I think these will be enough to throw him off balance when I need to.¡± Adam finds a man who is still hiding inside the room and throws him to the ground. He spouts some White Fang nonsense at the man, before knocking him out cold. As he presses his foot on top of him, Blake runs past the window and notices him. Oh no, I haven¡¯t embedded the left-hand glyph yet, this is too soon! Blake averts her gaze. ¡°Running away again? Is that what you¡¯ve become my love? A coward?¡± Adam taunts her. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Blake turns back toward Adam, standing between him and the hiding time-travelers. ¡°You and I were going to change the world remember? We were destined to spark the flames of revolution.¡± Adam stomps on the chest of the beat-up civilian and draws his sanguine blade. ¡°Consider this¡ªthe spark.¡± Blake springs into action and practically tackles him before he can stab his victim, causing them to fly momentarily before crashing onto the ground. They both recover quickly and immediately collide into fierce combat, metal resonating against metal, martial blows being blocked and deflected. ¡°I¡¯m not running!¡± Blake shouts as their blades collide and are held together, both trying to overpower the other. ¡°You will.¡± Their blades crash and spark over and over again, but Adam has the upper hand, and she kicks Blake in the stomach, sending her flying through tables, until a wall stops her. Dramatically, Adam slowly walks his way to Blake on the left. This is my chance! Weiss conjures another glyph now using her left hand and just about manages to land it on his cuff. She tests them both by moving her hands backward in a pulling motion and the sleeves flap towards her like a sudden burst of wind shakes them. Now I¡¯m ready! A Grimm jumps through the window towards Blake, Weiss is about to use the Glyphs reactively to try and get Adam to do something, but Adam shoots it down himself. ¡°But not before you¡¯ve suffered for your betrayal, my love.¡± He draws his blade. ¡°This could have been our day, can¡¯t you see that!¡± ¡°I never wanted this!¡± Blake starts shooting him with Gambol Shroud¡¯s pistol. ¡°I wanted equality! I wanted peace!¡± Adam absorbs all the bullets with his blade and is now dangerously close to Blake, who struggles to move away from him on the ground. ¡°What you want is impossible!¡± Weiss is ready to interrupt his left hand¡¯s sword strike, but instead, Adam¡¯s right hand slaps Blake on the cheek. ¡°But I understand, cause all I want is you, Blake. And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission, to destroy everything, you love.¡± Weiss hears steps, and Yang runs along the side of the building. Okay¡­ deep breaths, here it comes. Save Blake¡­ Save Yang¡­ Piece of cake... ¡°Blake!¡± Yang spots her inside the building. ¡°Starting with her.¡± Adam takes his blade to both of his hands and begins a stabbing motion toward Blake''s abdomen while keeping an eye on Yang''s reaction. ¡°Get away from her!¡± Weiss harshly pushes forward with her hands, and Adam¡¯s strike misses Blake, the blade hitting the concrete floor instead. Blake rolls away from near him. ¡°W-what?¡± Adam looks at his hands confused for a moment, and in that time, Yang has closed the distance and lands a blow to his shoulder that he only partially manages to dodge. He rolls his shoulder, but that''s all he has time for, as Yang starts exchanging further blows without giving him a further chance to recover. Her armored fists explode against his blade again and again, and the redness builds up. ¡°Yang! Don¡¯t hit his sword!¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± Adam releases the energy, and Weiss pulls his hands down, the power mostly hits the ground, Yang¡¯s aura and her blocking managing to take the brunt of the blow. Adam seems visibly confused, but he has no time to wonder about it, as Blake rains down bullets and then closes the distance wielding her weapon in both hands. ¡°Go away! I never want to see you again!¡± Adam blocks with his blade, but Blake avoids hitting it. Weiss tries to break his block, by moving his arms, but it seems less effective than before. No way! She spots holes in Adam''s left hand''s sleeve, her glyph is partially broken. If I dispel it, both of them go, and I¡¯ve gotta start all over again! This technique requires two linked Glyphs at all times to work... Hang in there! I- I¡¯ll do what I can! Adam starts responding to Blake¡¯s strikes with his feet, was this his solution to counteract something being wrong with his arms? Yang charges toward Adam from the sidelines, ¡°Get over it creep! She¡¯s over your ugly mug!¡± Her hair flows in a fiery glow, as she leaps to land a big hit. No, Yang! Don¡¯t do it! Adam kicks Blake away and faces Yang with his blade at the ready. A confident smirk emerges on his lips. He holds the sword with both hands, and Weiss isn¡¯t confident that she can react in time to the upcoming lightning-fast movement, so she per-emptively starts pulling his sleeves down with all his might. As Yang is coming to range, Adam pulls his sword, but he has trouble getting it up. He has to dodge backward to move with Yang''s motion, during which he loosens his right hand from the grip, and swings his sword with his left successfully. No! Crimson splatters in the air, as Yang¡¯s outstretched right hand is sliced in two. She tumbles to the ground violently and stays limp. Adam lands crouched on his feet and laughs with joy. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that was, but I got you. How does it feel, Blake? This is only the beginning!¡± ¡°Yang!¡± Blake ignores Adam¡¯s comment and runs towards her friend. ¡°Tsk. Have it your way.¡± Adam dashes towards Blake, to intercept her, to skewer her from the side. To Weiss¡¯ terror, he¡¯s using a one-handed grip with his left hand, and no matter what direction she tries, nothing works. The blade sinks entirely into Blake''s body. ¡°Goodbye, my love.¡± As Blake¡¯s lips turn into a painful frown, her clothes, and her very skin become stone. Oh my... I almost got a heart attack... Weiss sees Blake in the background pick up Yang as Adam is stuck in the stone clone of her semblance and makes her escape. ¡°Rrrgh!¡± Adam twists the sword inside the stone statue and it explodes in red energy. He moves to pursue after them. ¡°Schwartz!¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°Quickly! Take a dust cartridge out of Myrtenaster and sprinkle it on my hands!¡± Schwartz starts to fumble with the weapon, as Weiss wrestles with Adam, wildly twisting her hands any which way, to make it difficult for him to run. ¡°W-which one!?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Schwartz screws the canister open and throws its contents into the air, around Weiss'' hands. She closes her fists, and the dust is sucked into the glyphs before her knuckles. As she opens her palms, Adam¡¯s sleeves explode with ice, freezing him stuck to the window he''s trying to climb out from. He looks around and breaks the ice after a few moments of struggling. Seemingly ending his pursuit, he walks back, towards them. Weiss dispels her Semblance and ducks down prone behind the bush. Schwartz follows suit. ¡°Who¡¯s doing that!? I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± He stomps towards them and sends a wave of force that was stored in his blade flying, it completely cuts down the bush next to them. A few Grimm perish behind it as the wave continues further, and another few jump at him, alerted by the noise. He fights them off in a flurry of stabs and cuts. ¡°Show yourselves, you cowards!¡± Adam laughs spitefully and sends another energy wave that cuts down a tree. Then another, and another. ¡°Stay hidden, and you will perish!¡± Another energy blade is sent forth, the air is rife with the sound of them swishing to every which way. Windows break, walls shatter, and nature is further violated by his power. Then, silence falls. ¡°Rrgh... guess I did scare them off after all...¡± Adam¡¯s steps echo as he leaves in another direction. Weiss and Schwartz remain lying on the grass, still hugging the ground. ¡°Phew¡­¡± Weiss gasps, finally letting herself breathe. ¡°Was that¡­ a success?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. I did save Blake, but¡­ Yang still lost an arm...¡± ¡°While that is regrettable, it¡¯s a much better result to lose only one arm.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right... She can bounce back from that, Yang is strong. Strong enough to overcome this, now that Blake¡¯s alive.¡± Weiss smiles, and cries tears of joy, moisturizing some lucky blades of grass. ¡°Should we still check up on them, one final time?¡± ¡°Y-yeah... Let¡¯s.¡± They move in the shadows to the front of the school, where citizens are being evacuated. They see Ruby and Weiss look in terror upon the hurt Yang, who¡¯s lying on the ground, with Blake kneeling in front of her. Blake is hurt but looks to be doing alright, and Yang should live. She did after all survive last time, with injuries twice as severe. Weiss¡¯ eyes get misty, even if she¡¯s been through this once before. You all made it¡­ I¡¯m so, so happy¡­ but why, why, am I still crying such bitter tears? I- I did it¡­ I achieved the impossible, I changed the future. She looks at her hands, which appear to be fading for a moment, but as the tears vacate her eyes for a moment, she realizes it''s just the liquid smearing her vision. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ll be sticking around,¡± Schwartz says with a neutral tone but pats Weiss on the shoulder. ¡°Right... I can¡¯t tell if I should feel relieved or disappointed.¡± ¡°Fading away due to the will of the world would have been easier, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Weiss doesn¡¯t want to agree with the sentiment, so she stays quiet. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go,¡± Schwartz says. ¡°Huh? Where?¡± ¡°Anywhere that¡¯s not here.¡± They retreat from the shadowy foliage, and take a direction towards the nearest settlement Weiss thinks is still safe, and far away enough, to not run from anyone she knows from Beacon at least. They decide to walk through the forest instead of the roads available. ¡°So... Weiss, what will you do now?¡± ¡°I... I don¡¯t really know. I could just change continents and start a new life in Vacuo or somewhere else. Right now, I can do anything. I am the most free I have ever been in my life. And yet it feels like I''ve never been so restricted. It''s a false freedom, an existence where I have to watch over my shoulder and be careful of every word and action I do. Knowing what I know... I have no real place in the world anymore. A normal life somewhere else, starting over... it all feels pointless. ¡°If you¡¯d like, you can come with me back to Vacuo on a mission instead, and we¡¯ll destroy the dust mine this time.¡± ¡°Are you still going to blow it up with everyone inside, including your past self?¡± ¡°Well, this time, I was thinking, we could do it at night, when nobody¡¯s around.¡± ¡°Really now? What about the Faunus slaves, do they live on-site? Can we save them too, while we¡¯re at it?¡± Schwartz sighs. ¡°Yes. They have their own couple of buildings in the area.¡± Weiss beams. ¡°Thank you, for being so forthcoming, but¡­ What¡¯s gotten into you to change your mind about all this?¡± Schwartz stays silent for a moment, looking ahead as they keep on walking through the gloomy forest. ¡°Do you want to know the real reason I had you lock the workers in the building, my younger self included?¡± Weiss nods cautiously. ¡°I was harboring thoughts similar to yours, that after all this time, I could reclaim my life. I¡¯d make it right, and live it to the full without regrets. I... wanted to get younger me killed so that there wouldn¡¯t be another time travel, and so, that I could...¡± For the first time, Schwartz hesitates, his confidence, and his words waver. Even for Weiss, it was plain to see how he struggled. ¡°I was going to go back to my wife. Shock her with my old-man appearance, explain everything. The accident, time dust, my time travel, and that this was me now. Hope that she¡¯d accept me as I am now.¡± ¡°You have a wife!?¡± ¡°I have a kid too... But, that¡¯s not the point. For them, I was willing to throw caution to the wind, even gamble with the very world itself. If anybody found out I had time traveled, which would be quite likely, there would be a rush to search for whatever method I did it by. I cannot know, that this mine is the only source of time dust...¡± Schwartz trails off, and only the nighttime birds and movement of nocturnal animals around them can be heard. ¡°That all changed when you stopped me from blowing the mine up. At the time, I was furious that you ruined everything and prevented my easy way out, the easiest chance to kill my past self. You did after all stop me from being with my family!¡± ¡°Oh, sorry about that...¡± ¡°No... I was in the wrong. You made me realize, that since my younger self would now live, he¡¯d go back to her, and they¡¯d still be a family without me. That would truly be the best outcome for everyone.¡± ¡°Except for you,¡± Weiss says solemnly. Schwartz looks back at her. ¡°Except for us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true...¡± Weiss thinks for a moment. ¡°What do you say, should we travel the world together from now on?¡± ¡°Fine by me, but we¡¯ll have to change our names, our appearances. Old us have to disappear. What should your new name be Weiss?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I don¡¯t-¡± ¡°How about: ¡®Valkea?¡¯¡± ¡°Ugh... I have a strange feeling about that one, but sure, we can bank that one for now. Until we figure out something better.¡± Weiss says disappointed, but continues with a grin: ¡°But what about you, how about¡­ ¡®Musta ¡®n¡¯ Puhuva¡¯? ¡°What does that even mean? Besides, I don¡¯t need an alias, just don¡¯t call me Hill. ¡®Schwartz¡¯ is not my real name.¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait! Really?! You- you were lying to me from the start!¡± Weiss hits him on the shoulder. ¡°I mean... it was an extempore decision, I wasn¡¯t exactly planning on helping you. I just wanted to know how much you knew and if you were a threat...¡± ¡°You¡¯re horrible, you know that right? What¡¯s your real name then?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you. It¡¯ll only be a hindrance, since now, you cannot accidentally call me it when we¡¯re living our ¡®fugitives of time¡¯ -lives.¡± ¡°Hmph! I¡¯ll find it out, somehow. You¡¯ll slip up! I know it...¡± They walk further on, breaking into small plains being lit up by the broken moon. This far out, the sky is already clear from the dark ominous clouds brought by the Grimm¡¯s presence, even if Beacon Academy itself is still infested. ¡°Hey, the mine thing is still months away, right?¡± Weiss asks. ¡°We¡¯ll ideally want to blow it up even sooner, so that time dust is never discovered and your father never gets the sample, but yes, it is.¡± ¡°Well, in that case, I¡¯ve got an idea of what I want to do first.¡± ¡°Somehow, I don¡¯t like how you''re so excited about this sudden idea of yours.¡± ¡°I want to go see your sisters. Tarrot is in Vale, right? So she¡¯s right around these parts. We should go and see that she¡¯s fine.¡± Schwartz looks surprised. ¡°They both sound interesting, but we can go and see Nerol after we¡¯ve destroyed Vacuo¡¯s mine.¡± And¡­ Robyn is fine in Mantle anyway¡­ not that I probably should ever set foot again into Solitas¡­ ¡°But...¡± ¡°You were going to throw the world away for your wife and kid, are you telling me you won¡¯t even want to check up on your sisters now that you can? Surely, you can trust them to keep a secret even if they happen to see your thirty-something-years-older-than-them face?¡± ¡°Tarrot is the worst person to ever keep a secret, remember? Whenever she lies, everyone in the room can see it. And besides, it¡¯s not even that long ago that she left in this time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ But isn¡¯t that even more reason to meet her, to fix up your relationship as soon as possible? And if you¡¯re afraid she recognizes you, I can meet her in disguise first, and we¡¯ll go from there okay? You can lie to me all you want about other things, but it¡¯s clear to me how much you still care about them.¡± Schwartz sighs loudly and shakes his head. ¡°Fine... We¡¯ll go see her, but, we¡¯ve got to find her first, and I doubt that¡¯s going to be easy. I know as much as you do by now, that she lives in Vale, and that¡¯s not a small area...¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got time to look, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± ¡°Very funny... But, thanks, Weiss.¡± ¡°Who knows, maybe they¡¯ll want to join the Timekeepers too and we can all roam the lands in search of any traces of time dust and destroy it together.¡± And they¡¯ll definitely know what your real name is. ¡°Seeing my sisters, and already naming our ¡®group¡¯? Are there any other spur-of-the-moment decisions I should know about?¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s all for now. But I¡¯ll let you know if that changes.¡± Weiss smirks. ¡°Great¡­¡± Schwartz shakes his head. ¡°And besides, I was thinking more along the lines of Dust Destroyers.¡± ¡°That¡¯s way too broad, and on the nose! We¡¯re not destroying ALL dust!¡± ¡°Time Dust Destroyers?¡± ¡°Did you even listen to half of my argument? That¡¯s even worse! Let¡¯s just announce to whoever is asking the very existence of Time Dust!¡± ¡°Yeah, well, Timekeepers, ain¡¯t exactly subtle about it either. How about¡­ Future Fighters?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Future Fugitives?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Future Fulfillers?¡± ¡°What does that even mean?¡± ¡°Future-¡± ¡°Just give up on the Future prefix already!¡± Weiss shouts, and they both erupt into laughter. Through the dark forest, towards an even more enshrouded future, they walk. The two without a place to call home, who are fated to be outside of time, for all time. Bravely, putting foot after foot, to step towards a future that for them, was even more uncertain than most people¡¯s. However, they had accepted their place and made peace with the sacrifice to put the world before themselves, to put their other selves before their own happiness. No glory won in combat or diplomatic incident solved can sometimes compare to the efforts and sacrifices made in secret. Sometimes, the heroes who are never seen are the source of the most notable changes. *** Weiss struts along in silence, after their argument of a group name having passed over fruitlessly. However, there is a nearly unnoticeable pep in her step. I am already outside of reality, my time with my Team is over... Ruby, Yang, Blake... and Weiss... I hope you succeed in reuniting now, achieve your dreams, and save the world from whichever threat surely looms on the horizon. From this... Salem. And... even if you don¡¯t... ¡°You must be tired, I can carry the bag for a bit,¡± Weiss says. ¡°Fine, if you insist.¡± Schwartz doesn¡¯t look directly at her as he hands the shoulder bag over but keeps an eye on her with his peripheral vision. ¡°Thanks. We should find some place to camp, or stay the night soon. All we¡¯ve eaten is just the breakfast this morning. We need rest and to find something edible.¡± Weiss says to which Schwartz responds with just an acknowledging grunt. Weiss flips the bag over her shoulder and places a hand against its side. Pressing against the bag¡¯s bounds, she feels a reassuring hard surface, with a faint vibration and warmth against her palm. Even if you fail¡­ I¡¯ve got the remedy right here. The path may be thorny, it may hurt, and perhaps you will at times wish you had never even taken the responsibility onto your shoulders. But, I know, in the end, you will win. Fight on, Team RWBY.