Chapter 31 - Everyday Life and Conversation

After lunch, which can't be called anything but divine, we had a conversation with the RWBY team and Taiyang with Qrow

"So you have nowhere to go?" Ruby asked after hearing Shinoa say that we haven't decided where to go yet. "Stay with us, we have a guest room!" The girl said excitedly.

"My team is already here and... and my new friends. C-can we already be considered friends?" She looked at Rias hopefully.

"We can." the demoness liked the conversation.

"Hey, hold your horses, baby." Qrow asked. "It's not solved so quickly."

"Why not?" Yang asked, sitting strangely on a chair. That is, she sat down on a chair so that its back rested against her chest and she looked at us. "Tony helped a lot, you can say he saved me." the blonde's face was very serious.

"We won't be long, tomorrow morning we will leave." I decided to clarify.

"Well, uh." Ruby frowned and made a house of her eyebrows. "Blake, Weiss, will you stay?" She looked at them hopefully.

"I wanted to go back home... I... I broke up with my parents badly. " Blake muttered.

"My father wants to take me to Atlas." Weiss gave me a quick glance. "The situation here is unclear... how do we study further? I wanted to be a hunter."

"By the way, yes." Yang frowned after her sister. "What's next?"

"There are other academies." Taiyang shrugged his shoulders and looked at me already. "But I won't let you be alone with my sweet..." a towel flew into the man's face.

"Old man, stop it." holding back a smile, the dragon said.

"I still have to meet Ironwood." I got up from the table. "Thank you, your dishes are wonderful as always." I looked at our chef.

"Yes! This is the best thing I've ever eaten! Wait..." the young huntress froze for a second. "D-does that mean we won't try your dishes anymore?" Ruby said softly and her gaze began to express universal bitterness.

"We won't let her go." Yang said, walking up to Erina and throwing her arm over her shoulder.

"I'm not your subject!" the girl snorted, turning away, clearly trying to hide the blush on her face.

"No, you're better." Blake said softly and stood on Erina's other side. Her eyes looked at the girl as if she was a treasure that could not be let go in any case. "I'm also in favor of not letting her go." she decided to take part in this 'game'.

"Hmm, of course, I am the heiress of the company and have tried many more different delicious dishes than these fools, but I still have to agree that after tasting your dish ... it will be difficult to try others and someone needs to take responsibility for it." lifting her nose, Weiss said primly. Snow Angel speaks her mind, even if, as usual, she tries to hide her true feelings behind dozens of words. Yang waved her hand, ignoring the outraged look of her friend.

"She's ours." Shinoa said softly, walking up to Blake and looking her straight in the eyes, which is why the kitty began to fade and turn away.

"Now she's ours!" The command 'RUBY' goes ahead, "We need to save this divine food!" The little reaper exclaimed, but…

"Eh, kids, arrange disassembly outside the house." Qrow said in a tired tone and headed for the exit.

"Send them outside and let's have a battle for Erina!" Yang said with a cheerful smile on her face.

"We'll tear you up." Shinoa said confidently, pulling out something resembling a large key from somewhere, which turned into a huge scythe.

"Wow... another scythe... Ruby, her scythe looks more solid." the older sister looked at the younger one.

"No! How could you say that Yang!" Ruby was indignant and hugged her Crescent Rose, that is, a braid in an untransformed form. "I... then I'll prove that my scythe is better, here." she stamped her foot.

"Rias, are you coming?" Shinoa looked at the demoness.

" What?" she looked up from the scroll with slightly reddened cheeks and for some reason, Blake looked at her with a very understanding look.

"We have a battle for Erina and her dishes." a miniature girl with a scythe nodded her head in the direction of the named girl.

"Don't you think that everything is going too far?" Hermione asked, unsure of what was happening, although she liked the sparkle in her eyes. She's still an adventurer at heart.

"You can fight for Erina's food." Rias said, drawing attention to herself.

"... what do you wash your hair with?" Yang asked, looking at that beautiful scarlet hair.

"Hmm, shampoo with herbs produced by my family" licking her lips, Rias answered getting up from the sofa.

"Weiss, I'll help you with the summoning later. Have fun." I waved my hand to them all and went to bullhead.

I wasn't worried about my group, if they write something in the Chat, let them have fun. I had something to talk about with the general. Soon I was at the Atlas Fleet and after my transport landed, Winter met me.

" Good to see you." I met her cold face with a smile.

"The General is ready to receive you." the girl turned around a hundred and eighty degrees and led me to the office.

"You and your sister are quite similar in some aspects." I decided to talk on the way. "She's a pretty good fighter for her age, but as far as I understand, your relationship with your father deserves a separate epic about the shittiest father of the decade."

"Our family relations do not concern you." The girl said coldly, without even turning to face me. But even so, I felt that the girl was not angry, but just answers ... well, as she used to.

"I want the well-being of this world, so, of course, I am interested in the most influential people. And as much as you like it, your father is one of them. He decides the fate of thousands of people and fauns through his actions... and he acts like an asshole." I said honestly, which made Winter stumble a little, but quickly pulled herself together and still stopped and turned to face me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Anthony Luthor, what do you want to achieve by telling me all this?" she asked the question looking straight into my eyes. Her whole posture expressed readiness... readiness of something that I did not understand, but clearly not to hit my face.

"Just to get to know you better." I shrugged my shoulders, which, frankly, I've been abusing lately. "You and your sister are similar, but at the same time very different. If Weiss is trying to hide behind a mask of pride and a little arrogance, then you are behind a mask of cold detachment. But I am more than sure that inside you are both very gentle girls who were unlucky with an asshole father."

" ..." a long and steady look is all I got.

The girl's breathing slightly changed, her pupils dilated, showing that my words still reached her and she was not so "Cold Queen". She, without saying anything, turned around and went on to the office, I hope I did not overdo it with frankness.

Entering the general's office, I noticed how the girl just walked around the man's desk and stood in place... slowly turning in my direction.

"Ahem, did something happen between you?" the general tried to ask tactfully.

"A heart-to-heart conversation... not very successful." I answered a little awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. "How was the interrogation of Cinder?"

"This is actually classified information... but come on." he decided not to hide anything from me that would be stupid after all that had happened. "She's silent. It is, to put it mildly, terribly smiling. No, something we managed to find out that she works for HER." he highlighted the latter. "And she is sure that she will not stay there for long."

"Salem, yes... I could tell you a little more about her, but without confirmation of my words, it's just the wind." I said a little thoughtfully. "Maybe I should get a relic of Knowledge?" I said a little thoughtfully. "If I'm not mistaken, it's under Haven Academy."

"Ozpin didn't tell me that." the general nodded that he accepted my words. "I can listen to what you know about her, it won't make it worse."

"Well, I don't know her whole story at all. But I can start with the most fun - she is immortal." I said, waiting for a reaction.

"I-immortal?" Winter blurted out.

"Yeah, completely. Even if you blow it up, it will just magically recover in a matter of seconds. This is one of the reasons why Ozpin has not been able to win over all these years, not taking into account her enormous strength and ability to command the Grimm. But, let me tell you what I know... "

I told a story about a young girl locked in a tower, a hero and his imminent death, the suffering of a girl and attempts to deceive the gods, which eventually turned into a war against them... the death of almost all mankind, the curse of a girl and the rebirth of her lover ... his betrayal and eternal the hatred continues to this day.

"I don't know about you, but after thinking about her story, I understand that the gods are still bastards." I confessed my vision of the situation. "Maybe not quite and not all, but these two individuals for sure. However, they are gods for that, so as not to think in human terms about good and evil."

"If all this is true, then she is even more dangerous than I thought". the general has "departed" from history.

"As far as I know, it's true. That's why I want to warn you not to do anything stupid... you don't have the opportunity to defeat her completely, only to make her angry."

"Are you suggesting to sit and do nothing?" the general got up and went to the window.

"I propose to think about actions so that this thousand-year-old deceived, cursed, and devoted woman does not decide to unleash her hatred on you. Moreover, even if she dies, the Grimm will not disappear, they are the creations of the god of Darkness. And keep in mind that she had every chance to destroy humanity again, but still hasn't done it."

"... are you sure you're not the same as Ozpin? All your powers go beyond the ordinary hunters, as well as your knowledge." Ironwood asked, turning to face me.

"Well, if you mean a millennial coffee lover, then no. But... everyone has some secrets, someone has more, and someone has less. But yes, we are similar in some aspects. For example, I don't want to tell a lot about myself right now, because I'm not sure what it will lead to in the end." I said honestly, glancing at Winter, who was looking at me too intently.

"I see." only the gloomy general answered.

"But I still want to help." I said. "And maybe if I come back in a couple of days I'll try to do something... would you be very upset if Jacques Schnee... retired?" to my question, the general's eyes widened a little wider, and Winter was so clearly stunned. "Mmm, I don't mean murders and the like. Do you know how I could even take control of the ships so quickly? With the help of AI Cortana." I said and took out the holoprojector.

"Hi everyone, I'm Cortana." the girl's avatar appeared. "Master Luthor, I found everything you asked for. It was harder than I thought."

"AI?" the general took a step forward, looking at the girl's avatar. "So, wait, what about Jacques?"

"I was looking for dirt on him and, as it is clear, the one who is looking for will always find it." I shrugged and smiled a little. "Cortana found a lot of interesting records and files where he uses bribes to promote some bills, where he uses his influence to put pressure on the board of directors and much, much more."

"Who are you?" The general whispered.

"A friendly neig... ahem, someone who sincerely wants to help you. Winter, that's why I wanted to get to know you and Weiss better because I don't want to hurt you if you see your father fall." I said, looking into the girl's eyes.

"I..." she just didn't find anything to say, which is very revealing and reflects the storm of emotions in her head.

"I know about your mother and the fact that your relationship with Jacques is hardly family, but still, even so, he remains your father. Therefore, I will not act in any case if you and Weiss are against it. " I said and walked closer to the girl.

"If all this is made public, then I am more than sure that he will start fluttering and will be able to arrange problems, which means that everything needs to be done quickly so that he does not even have time to come to his senses. In general, while I won't send anything to anyone on Jacques' account, just... think about it. I could help you or Weiss take over the company. I have some experience in this."

"Okay, that's enough head-blowing information for today." said the general. "Where are you staying?"

"Patch Island together with the RWBY team." I replied. "Okay, I understand that I said a lot, and Cortana has already sent a program to your computer to protect your networks. And yes, by the way, the phone that was hacked yesterday was made by someone who knows your internal network well. Very knowledgeable." I said, and turned to Winter. "Do you want to come with me to your sister? I think you have something to talk about, and I can help with the Appeal. Don't forget magic." I smiled a little.

On the island, as far as I learned, a certain training session between RWBY and my team has already taken place, and ... the first ones lost miserably. No, it would not be difficult for them to defeat the same Erina or Hermione, but Shinoa and Rias turned out to be serious obstacles for them. Hermione was mostly doing her magic and practicing because there is no prohibition on it here.

When I arrived on the bullhead with Winter, Weiss reacted funny enough to this, but graciously accepted my help. I saw again how they make their Call with the help of their aura and was able to understand the process. Winter's Summoning is carried out without any problems due to experience, she minimized the aura spending on this, but Vice, on the contrary, spends too much energy for nothing, which is why in the end she only manages to summon the hand of some knight with a sword.

My assimilation with Albedo has just recently been completely completed, so now I have two assimilated characters.

Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark (A) (100%)

Albedo (B) (100%)