Commission -- Happily Ever After 005 -- Epilogue (Patreon)

Some Years Later

Waking up with your face pressed into the dirt was not an enjoyable experience, Yang decided. She wasn’t sure how Uncle Qrow did it so often. Lots and lots of practice, she figured. Though when she thought about it a little more, having a face full of sand was probably the least of his worries when a hangover kicked in. Growing up, she had borne witness to some seriously cranky mornings where her uncle could barely function on account of the massive, blinding headache he had brought upon himself. What was a little dirt compared to that?

She wasn’t hung-over, though. She was dead.

If this was the afterlife, then the afterlife sucked.

Groaning, she propped herself up on her elbows and glanced around with bleary eyes. Apparently the afterlife looked like a jungle. All she could see were trees. Flipping over onto her back, she blinked at the sky and simply lay there for several long moments, attempting to regain her bearings.

She had fallen.

Yang sighed bitterly, closing her eyes for a brief moment before glaring up at the passing clouds. Neopolitan. That pipsqueak had targeted her sister and she had tried to defend her. A single swipe of her bladed parasol and she’d been airborne, aura failing – and then over the edge, falling into the void, Blake’s horrified face the last thing she saw of her loved ones as the faunus girl failed to catch her.

Clenching her fists in frustration, she pounded them against the ground. Lifting her hands, it finally registered that her prosthetic arm was still in place. Flexing the fingers of the fake hand, she turned it from side to side, inspecting the black and yellow dust steel frame.

If she was dead, would she really still have this thing?

“I’m not dead,” she said, voice brittle. Then she laughed, a sharp bark that drove birds from the nearby trees. They filled the air with their indignant squawks as she fell into a bout of hysteria, her laughter becoming deranged. Tears filled her eyes as she laughed, and laughed, and laughed until her stomach ached and her sides begged her to stop. Only then did she calm down, gasping for air, slowly getting to her feet to truly take in her surroundings.

If she wasn’t dead, then where was she?

Above the treeline, a massive singular free filled her vision. It was taller than any building she had seen, its branches reaching far into the heavens. Yang stared at it, overwhelmed by its sheer grandeur – so overwhelmed, in fact, that she failed to hear the sound of someone clearing their throat.

“Aunty Yang,” a feminine voice called. “Helloooo? What’cha looking at?”

Startled, Yang spun around, deploying Ember Celica in the same motion. Her gauntlet clicked into place, her false arm mecha-shifting to match. Leveling the barrels at the newcomer, she prepared her semblance just in case.

They stared at one another for a few seconds, Yang full of suspicion while the stranger tilted her head in surprise, an awkward smile gracing her features.

She had long blonde hair, Yang noted – no, not entirely. It was blonde until about halfway down where it reddened, the tips a vibrant crimson. Her face was slightly rounded, cheeks soft, and something about that awkward smile triggered something in her mind, something she couldn’t quite place her finger on. When their eyes locked, however, she felt surprise slacken her stance.

Silver eyes blinked at her curiously.

They were familiar eyes, the likes of which she had only ever seen held by two people. Her mother, Summer Rose – and her sister, Ruby.

There was a spear planted in the sand by her side, a simple weapon with a shaft made out of wood. There were intricate carvings lovingly etched into the wood, symbols and unknown words, while a series of vines curled around it. Yang tensed as this new girl pulled the spear from the ground and gave it an expert twirl, a happy smile on her face.

“This is Rose Thorn,” she chirped, having witnessed her inspection of the weapon. “Isn’t she just the coolest?”

Yang blinked.

The girl was clearly waiting for a response, stars in her eyes – and that sense of familiarity only grew stronger, nagging at her, like she was staring at a puzzle that she knew the answer to but she couldn’t quite figure it out.

The head of the spear was steel with a wide flaring head, smoky black ripples giving it an ethereal look. Its design was suitable for stabbing and slashing. Much like the wooden haft, there were patterns etched into the metal. Yang didn’t consider herself a weapons connoisseur but even she could see that it was very beautiful.

“Who are you?”

She can’t have been much younger than her – seventeen, eighteen? And with a weapon like that and the way she spun it around effortlessly, she was not someone to take lightly. Not in this place, wherever it was, a place that even one of the Relic’s had warned them about. This girl was dangerous.

Silver eyes considered her, one hand tapping her chin cutely. “Mom did say you wouldn’t know about us. Introductions! Oh, oh – my name is Saffron,” she beamed. “And you are Aunty Yang!”

Yang frowned. “What?”

“I came to fetch you,” she continued to explain, rocking back and forth, heel-toe, heel-toe. “Blanca and Blanche are searching for Aunty Blake. They’ll meet us at the village.”

She had no idea who Blanca and Blanche were but Blake was a name that instantly pulled her attention.

“Blake?” she repeated, stepping forward. “Are you saying Blake is here too?”

The girl – Saffron, she said her name was – nodded.

“You came together,” she supplied, noticing her stricken look. “It’s okay. Falling doesn’t hurt. She should be fine – well, as long as the Jabberwalker doesn’t find her. That would be bad.”

Yang made a snap decision.

“Take me to her,” she demanded.

Either she didn’t recognize the aggression or was simply unfazed by it. Saffron nodded and gave a little twirl, gesturing for her to follow. “Come on – the village is this way. Mom and dad are excited to see you.”

Whoever these people were didn’t matter. She needed to find Blake.

Saffron led the way, skipping ahead as Yang followed at a safe distance. She still didn’t trust this person – why was she calling her and Blake Aunty? – but it was either go with her or try to find her partner on her own. If she was telling the truth, then no harm, no foul. If she was lying? Well, after the day that Yang was having, she really wanted to punch something. This Saffron girl would make a good target for her ire.

This place was really strange, though, wasn’t it? As they walked, Yang discreetly checked her surroundings. Some of the plants were pretty exotic, a strange array of colors that she was pretty sure wasn’t normal. Another thing that wasn’t normal was the cheese wheel sticking out of the ground. It wasn’t alone. Wait, was this a field of cheese?

Yang shook her head. Just where in the hell was she?

They must have walked for about ten minutes, fifteen at most when she heard voices coming from nearby. They were feminine and clearly known to Saffron because she sped up, almost leaving Yang behind entirely.

“Hey, wait up,” Yang said, rushing after her.

Saffron giggled and then suddenly there was Blake – healthy and whole! – alongside two other girls but she only had eyes for her partner.

Yang was by her side in an instant and before Blake could get a word in, Yang wrapped her in a firm embrace, almost pulling the other girl off her feet.

“Y-Yang,” Blake exclaimed, startled. “I – are you okay?”

Yang hugged her tighter, taking in her warmth before backing away, holding her at arm's length.

“You fell,” Yang said.

Blake grimaced. “Yeah.”

“What happened?”

What Blake had to say filled her with dread, a sick mixture of failure and anger roiling in her stomach.

“I tried to catch her,” Blake whispered, cat ears flat to her head. “But Cinder burned my ribbon and we fell... Yang, Ruby is down here with us.”

“What about Weiss?”

Blake shook her head. “I don’t know… but Yang, these girls...”

Blake waved a hand at the pair of girls standing a few feet away and Yang looked at them properly for the first time, and stared.

What...

There was no getting around it. They were identical twins but that wasn’t the issue here. It wasn’t like Yang hadn’t met twins before. When she had torn down Junior’s club, a pair of ornery twin bitches had tried to tear her throat out. No, what struck her speechless was the fact that they were a dead ringer for their teammate from Atlas.

They were Weiss. Down to the very last detail – other than their eyes, which were a more vibrant blue, it was like looking at two copies of their teammate from when they all first started at Beacon, maybe a year younger. They had the same petite build and beautiful face, though without the scar their friend carried like a badge of honor. They even wore their hair like she did back then, a side-tail though that was where they differed. One wore it on the right side of their head while the other wore it on the left. Everything else was the same, right down to their clothes and the thin blades they carried on their hips.

“Yeah,” Blake muttered. “I had the same reaction.”

The twin-Weiss’ shot each other a look and giggled, and Saffron joined them, grinning with a mouthful of teeth.

“This is Blanca,” she tapped the one with the right sided sidetail, “and this is Blanche.”

They waved in perfect sync, only adding to the strangeness of the situation.

“Hello Aunty Yang,” they both chorused.

Blake stared at Saffron, head tilted in confusion.

“Yang...” she trailed off but she caught her meaning, clear as day.

It wasn’t as blatant as these two other girls but there was something very familiar about her as well.

“Mom and dad are waiting,” Blanche said. “Scarlet tried to follow us without packing her things, so they scolded her. She’s sulking.”

Saffron snickered.

“Let’s go – the village is just over the hill.”

Yang thought things couldn’t get any weirder but when they arrived at the village, she was in for a shock of a lifetime. They’d just stepped foot into the village square when she was pelted by a mass of rose petals, the red colored foliage raining down around her as a set of strong arms wrapped around her, almost squeezing the life from her.

It could only be one person.

“Ruby?” Yang immediately returned the hug.

But when they separated, she was greeted by the face of a woman she’d long thought dead.

“Mom?” she uttered, stricken.

The woman smiled at her, her silver eyes filled with too many emotions to count. Reaching out, she cupped Yang’s cheek as tears gathered, making her otherworldly eyes shimmer.

“No,” she said. “You were right the first time.”

Blake watched them with wide eyes.

“What... but, huh?” Yang blinked, giving her head a shake. But this older, mature Ruby remained, devouring her with a hungry gaze, as if she hadn’t seen her in years. “How? What is going on...?”

She glanced at Saffron – and suddenly, it clicked.

Standing side-by-side, it was impossible to ignore the resemblance any longer. Those features that were oh so familiar were ones that she had seen almost every day of her life, with subtle enough differences that played havoc with her mind.

“I see they’ve arrived,” a recognizable voice called out, and when they turned, they were greeted by another shock.

Weiss Schnee approached gracefully, a haughty smirk stretching her lips before it was replaced by a genuine smile. The woman rushed at them and Blake gasped as Weiss threw herself at her, embracing her powerfully.

“I’ve missed you,” Weiss said. “So much.”

Blake looked at a total loss, mouth moving but no words were forthcoming.

Then she was hugging Yang while Ruby embraced Blake.

“How is this possible?” Blake finally choked out. “How are... this is...”

Impossible.

“We’ve been here a very long time,” Weiss answered, pulling away. Her smile was radiant. “It was difficult at first but – well, we’ve made do.”

They certainly had! They had children! She was a real aunt! Though it was a little strange considering her sister was meant to be younger than her and her niece looked to be almost the same age as she was.

“Are there other people here?” Blake asked the question Yang herself had been wondering. The faunus glanced at Blanche and Blanca. “Who is the father?”

Ruby snickered while Weiss rolled her eyes.

“You’ll never believe it,” Ruby said.

There was a loud clinking and they soon discovered why. A man in full plate armor approached, the white steel polished to a fine shine with a vibrant golden trim. But he wasn’t alone. A literal horde of children surrounded him, all girls.

Yang and Blake stared, noticing the similarities that these girls had with Saffron, Blanche and Blanca. There was plenty of white, blonde and red-tipped hair among the bunch, as well as silver and various shades of blue eyes. They counted at least twenty five of them.

“Meet the family,” Ruby said cheerfully, noticing their astonished looks. “Yeeeaah – there isn’t that much to do here, so we got carried away.”

Not only was her little sister a mother but she’d popped out dozens of children! The same with Weiss!

And they were all calling the man in the armor dad.

“Ladies,” Weiss said smugly. “Let me introduce you to the Shining Knight.”

“What?” Yang deadpanned, brain struggling to process this information.

On the other hand, Blake perked up.

“The Shining Knight?” she stared with stars in her eyes. “You mean the Shining Knight? He is real?”

Ruby giggled. “He sure is. Be sure to remind him, he can be a bit of a dummy about it.”

“So this place is...?!”

“Uh-huh. The Ever After – pretty cool, right?”

“Okay, okay,” Yang muttered. “Okay – I’m done. That’s it. I can’t take anymore.”

“Sis?”

“Ruby,” Yang shook her head. “You have like ten children!”

“Uh – more, but I get your point.”

“And this is the father?”

“Yeah – wait, no, Yang,” Ruby tried to grab her but Yang marched right by her and straight into the face of the knight.

“Hey,” she greeted, voice a little hysterical. All the children watched her curiously and Yang vaguely noticed that they weren’t all girls after all. There was a single boy among the mix with short blonde hair and blue eyes, and just like the rest of them he looked frustratingly familiar. “What’s the big idea, huh? Getting my sister knocked up with so many kids?”

Ruby groaned from somewhere behind her while Weiss laughed.

“Yang,” Ruby tried to placate her. “You don’t need to do this. I – I’m older than you now. Look at me? I’m older than mom was.”

“Don’t care, butt out,” Yang ordered, poking the knight’s breastplate. “I just found out that this guy here impregnated my sister about a dozen times or something, and we haven’t even had a conversation. A bit rude, don’t you think?”

“Hey Yang,” the man said, voice distorted by the helm. “It’s good to see you.”

“Don’t ‘Hey Yang’ me like we know each other, buster,” she tapped her finger repeatedly on his chest.

“Wait,” Blake looked around, confused. “If he is the father of Ruby’s children then... Weiss?”

The former heiress sighed. “Yeah – this lug fathered children on both of us.”

Yang glared. “Oh, it’s on.”

The children had all been silent up until this point, content to watch them go back and forth. When they all saw Yang’s eyes go from lilac to red, however, they gasped excitedly and began pointing.

“Did you see that?” one of the younger girls whispered, no older than seven.

“That is so cool,” another said, fourteen or so. “Oh, her hair!”

Her blonde locks sparked with flame, wreathing her in a halo of fire.

The youngest ones stared in awe, eyes wide. The older children nudged each other and whispered together, eyes trained on her intently.

“Oh, here we go,” Ruby muttered. “Yang, cut it out.”

“Who does this guy think he is, huh?”

Reaching up, the knight unhooked his helm and lifted it up above his head. A handsome face greeted them, long blond hair falling about his head. Bright blue eyes blinked at her, his jaw covered in a well maintained beard. Blake gasped after a few moments and it took Yang a few more to see what was right in front of her.

“Like I said,” the man – Jaune – said. “It’s good to see you.”

“Jaune is the Shining Knight?” Blake exclaimed, ruining the moment. “What?”

Weiss snorted, a most unlady-like gesture.

“Trust me, I felt the same way,” the white haired woman said.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Oh shut up – you love it.”

Weiss huffed.

The fire in her hair spluttered and died, Yang’s eyes returning to normal as she stared dumbly.

“So,” Jaune said awkwardly, chuckling. “I suppose we better introduce you to everyone.”

It was a long introduction.