Ep. 30 - Emerging, Savior

Once I purified the last bit of darkness from the core, the land shined and the Grimm started changing color to white. The core was shining.

The will's seed I pushed into the core was probably blooming, essentially creating a brand new will, without any remnant of the old one. This will make sure that the existing Grimm won't have any desire to destroy humanity and that the 'Land of Darkness', which could now be called the 'Land of Light', will not produce new Grimm. At least, that's the plan.

I stayed there still channeling Light into the core, to make sure everything went well. 'With how much Light I pumped into the thing, it might even pass as the Traveler. Oh! Idea! Great idea! Maybe, if I pump Light into my friends while in the Destiny universe, I can mass produce Guardians? Or at least attract a Ghost for them. That might be possible. On a side note, how much time did I spend here? Let me see… Fuck. An entire fucking week?!'

Still pumping Light into the core, I sent a message to the gang: "I'm alive and kicking! What's happening out there?"

I almost immediately got the response from Weiss: "You idiot! The entire planet was screeching, then shining, then talking… Ozpin had to explain the situation to the world! There's chaos out there! And what the hell were you doing this last week?

Couldn't you at least send a message?!"

"Sorry! I was kinda busy purifying this bad boi, you know? Every time I stopped for a second, the curse started taking over again. It was hard! I didn't even have the liberty to check the time! Anyway, let me finish a few things here then I'll come back up."

"Fine! Move it!"

'Well, seems like things are fine out there. Chaos is better than worldwide Grimm invasions. Humans can be reasoned with at least. Some of them.'

After another hour, the core stopped shining and talked. The voice was different from before. While the 'dark' core's voice was manly, raspy, deep, the 'light' core's voice was feminine, clear, almost refreshing.

"Human, you can stop purifying the core. I have already fused with the old will so you will just be wasting your time."

"So, are you going to stop creating Grimm?" 'Please say yes, please say yes…'

"Indeed, I have no need for those creatures. You have done well removing that curse, you have my thanks."

"No problem. I am going to leave now, there are some matters that require my attention (*sips tea* verily so.)."

"You can use this exit, it will lead you to the surface." When the will said that, a nearby wall opened up to reveal a slant. I nodded and left the place.

I was very deep underground. I have been running for what? Like an hour?

'If I continue going like this I should be able to reach the surface soon. My altitude meter is quite useful.' I thought, as I looked at the numbers on the HUD.

Soon after, I found myself under a small light pool. Keyword here being 'under'. 'So… Do I jump in it or what? Eh, probably won't kill me, though I should still coat myself in Light and so on.'

And so I did. I coated myself with whatever I could and jumped up into the pool. It was hard to find the orientation since everything was white, but my HUD helped greatly, so I was out in a few minutes.

When I emerged from the pool, I shouted: "I'm back! MoonRay! Check my condition and bring me back on board!"

No answer, of course since MoonRay was on the ship. Instead, she deactivated the cloaking device. She was probably scanning me and running some tests, so I started to move towards the edge of the pool. A few seconds after I exited the pool, MoonRay trasmated me to the ship, then I found everyone pointing their weapons at me.

"So… It's behind me or what?" I joked.

"It's him. Only Tula would say that before anything else." said Weiss, sheathing her rapier.

"Of course it's me! Did you guys miss me?!"

I got a group hug in response. And three punches: one in the gut, one in the shoulder, and one in the chin.

"What was that for?!"

"You didn't even say goodbye and disappeared for almost two weeks!" said Weiss.

"And you made the WORLD shine! How the hell did you even do that?!" said Yang.

"And there was a screeching sound all the time! It was hard falling asleep!" said Ruby.

Anyway, they calmed down and we sat in the common room.

"So, now that the core is purified, no more Grimm should be created and the ones currently alive should not attack us. I think we can count that as a victory. Now, mind giving me a recap of what happened while I was down there?"

Qrow started explaining: "When the screeching started, the Grimm started shining, just like the 'Land of Darkness'. It was heard and/or seen by everyone around the world, so the leaders had to give an explanation. Ozpin then decided to broadcast the whole truth along with Ironwood. Humans, Faunus, the immortality thing, Salem, the maidens, and then lastly the will of the world. He said that someone was 'trying to fix the world' and that those were the proof that it was working. He spouted some other random bullshit then ended his broadcast. This essentially divided the people in three groups. Those that believed Ozpin, mainly graduates from Beacon and those that were more or less in the know. Those that didn't believe him, including my sister Raven." Yang shook a bit when she heard that name, so I sneakily held her hand in mine. "Finally those that aren't interested and wanted the screeching to end and the Grimm to die. That about sums up the situation. Oh, the White Fang is basically a thing of the past with Ozpin telling everyone that they are as human as, well, humans. There is tension between the 'Believe' and 'Don't Believe' groups, but nothing major until now. Mainly debates and big words, some slogans here and there. Oh, and everybody just kinda forgot the Vytal Festival and tournament."

"I see. We can't force anyone to believe us, though I have the recording of the whole thing, so we could broadcast my video. There will still be people saying that it's a fake, but it will give some more credibility to the 'Believe' group. After that we will return to our normal lives. Hunters and Huntresses will still be needed in the near future."

A week passed since I purified the core and we have released the footage from the whole ordeal. Me and the gang have been chilling in the chalet along with Qrow, Winter. Surprisingly, or maybe not, Ironwood came by along with Glynda and Ozpin. My dear sister-in-law took the chance to resign. 'Never thought that would happen, but I guess Qrow melted her heart. Good for them.'

Classes at Beacon have not resumed yet. In reality, all academies and schools have stopped their classes due to 'The Screeching' as it has been named by the population worldwide. The debate between 'Believe' and 'Don't Believe' groups is coming to a close as more and more expeditions have been sent to the 'Land of Light'. The video might have had an impact. 'Hopefully they don't piss off the new will, because that would be bad.'

Oh, Ozpin was editing the video and the old fuck didn't cut my ship, so everyone knows that the owner of that thing is the savior of the world. Luckily not many have seen my face and can recognize only the armor. Scratch that, I realized that after the commotion subsides and the tournament begins again, people will make connections and conjectures.

Anyway, this downtime has been spent mainly for dating. Me, Jaune, Ren, and Sun have been spending our time with our girlfriends. Qrow also disappeared a few days with Winter, but that's totally unrelated (*sips tea* sounds like bullshit to me).

We have also decided something important: we will visit Raven soon. Yang wants to ask some questions, though I have the feeling that she will not like her reunion. We will depart tomorrow.

'I really hope Raven is less… 'Raven' than in canon.'