Chapter 12

[A few weeks later]

"...I just want to be a normal girl and a normal me," Ruby said unenthusiastically.

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?" Yang asked.

"Of course, I'm excited! I just…" Ruby's voice trails off.

From afar, a masked figure observed the two sisters, waiting for the right moment to interrupt their conversation. She has been watching them ever since they boarded the massive bullhead. The masked figure is Sage, the Grimm Princess.

For this occasion, Sage decided to rid herself of her face mask and donned a half mask that covered her eyes and the upper part of her head. She wears a black halterneck dress with gold linings instead of the usual red in her dress.

'It's finally the start of the first volume! It is so exciting! I wonder…' Sage's thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon!" said the voice.

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch!" the voice said.

"Oh!" Yang said.

As the hologram of Glynda continues its speech, Sage moves towards the two siblings and quietly places herself behind Yang and Ruby. They are too focused on the hologram's speech to notice Sage moving behind them.

"...It is our duty to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world!" said Glynda's hologram, finishing her speech.

"Wow!" Ruby said.

"Yup! Mommy is pretty great, huh?" Sage said excitedly.

Both Yang and Ruby freeze in their tracks. Both of them heard Sage's voice. Both turned and looked toward Sage, still reveling in her mother's glory. They can't help but show bewildered looks on their faces.

"What?" Sage asked nonchalantly.

"Who are you again?" Ruby was the first to break the awkward pause between them.

"What? Come on, girls! We know each other!" Sage says.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure we don't…" Yang replies.

"Remember when you broke into Junior's club? We meet at the end?" Sage asks.

"Oh, and Ruby! Don't tell me you don't remember the incident where Mommy protected you from the bad dust-robbing thief!" Sage states.

As soon as the sentence left Sage's mouth, Yang's and Ruby's eyes widened in shock. They instantly became more alert as their hands immediately reached for their mecha shift. Noticing their movements, Sage warns them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" says Sage quietly.

Noticing the tone in Sage's voice, they stopped their movements. Criminals are dangerous because they can hurt people without caring for the consequences. Sage may appear harmless, but who knows what she's hiding or planning.

'We can't risk the safety of the people in the bullhead!' Yang thought inwardly.

'But we must do something!' Ruby thought inwardly.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. If you girls calm down, I can explain why I am here?" Sage asks.

Yang and Ruby looked at each other and slowly removed their hands from their weapons. Both of them are still on high alert, but they are not as trigger-happy as before. Sage also calmed herself down since she was getting unusually excited about fighting the two of them.

"What are you doing here?" Yang asks.

"Yeah, didn't they arrest you?" Ruby adds to the question.

"No, of course not! Despite the identity of my friends, I'm a good law-abiding citizen. Not to mention, my Mommy is the vice headmistress of Beacon." says Sage with a smug tone.

"What?!" says Yang and Ruby at the same time.

"Yeah, Glynda Goodwitch is my Mommy. Let me introduce myself. My name is Sage Goodwitch." says Sage, curtsying.

"But you are friends with criminals!" Ruby said aloud.

The atmosphere then turns silent. All the passengers that are in the bullhead look at them strangely. Ruby quickly shrank into a ball of embarrassment while Yang laughed awkwardly, trying to ease the situation.

"Criminally fun! Your friends are criminally fun! Right, Ruby?" Yang nudged Ruby.

"Y-yeah!" says Ruby shyly.

The bullhead passengers send them weird glances, but ultimately, they ignore them altogether. Seeing that the passengers were no longer focusing on them, Sage turned her gaze towards Ruby, the main character of this story.

"Ruby, what happened? Is there something wrong? I thought we were friends?" says Sage.

Sage then approaches Ruby and slowly brings her hand to caress Ruby's cheek. Ruby is a good girl in the truest sense. Even when faced with an enemy, she would still have her compassionate heart guiding her to the correct answer.

"Wha…" Ruby says with shock.

"What are you doing to my sister?!" says Yang angrily.

She steps forward and tries to pull Sage's hands off Ruby's cheek. However, Sage's hand didn't budge, even with Yang exerting her full strength. Yang was dumbfounded, while Ruby was still shocked. Sage then turned towards Yang.

"I will not hurt Ruby, and certainly not you, Yang. You guys are my friends!" says Sage sadly.

Hearing the tone in her voice, Yang looked toward Sage, and she met her gaze. Her beautiful but scary blue eyes carry a sadness that can bring anyone to tears. Yang suddenly felt guilt attacking her gut, and it was unpleasant.

"It's not her fault…" Ruby said shyly.

"Oh? Then why, Ruby?" asks Sage.

"Dad knows about Yang's trip to Junior's and my arrest. He warned us about not trusting and staying far away from you," says Ruby, her eyes darting away from Sage's masked face.

"Pfft!"

Sage starts laughing as if that is the funniest thing she has ever heard. She turned towards Yang, and she started laughing even harder. Sage's actions bewildered both Yang and Ruby, Yang especially.

"What are you laughing about?!" asks Yang.

"Nothing…" says Sage, trying to stifle her laugh.

'Their responses made me overreact.' thought Sage inwardly.

Ever since she met Gaia, Sage has been paranoid about the existence of the gods. Since Gaia exists, the brother of Darkness and Light must also exist. She can't help but worry about their interference.

They might influence the world by changing the timeline or the character's attitude. They might even possess the characters to keep their world's timeline intact. Sage needs to ensure that the brothers will never interfere with her plans.

'They said they would leave this world alone, but we can never be too sure. Gods are fickle, after all.' Sage thought.

"You girls are so cute!" says Sage.

Sage then loosened her grip on Ruby's body. Ruby quickly took advantage of that, distanced herself from Sage, and hid behind Yang. Her actions were quick but also so adorable that Sage couldn't help but smile after seeing her actions.

"If your Dad is worried, just ask my Mommy about me," Sage says.

"Your Mommy? You mean Madam Glynda?" asks Ruby.

"Yeah!" answers Sage.

"I still don't understand that! How does that work? Does she know about your other 'activities'?" asks Yang.

"She knows about it but can't stop it since my Mom has much more power than her," Sage answers.

"Your Mom? Isn't Glynda your Mom?" asks Yang.

"I have two mothers. One bad and one good. Glynda is the good one…" Sage answers.

"Ah…" says Yang.

"Just to clarify, Mom is not a bad mother! It's just that Mom and Mommy have different views on the world." Sage says.

"So you're stuck between the two of them?" Ruby asks.

"Kind of? I mean, I agree with Mom. The world is terrible, but I can't disagree with Mommy too. The world has some good people in it, like Ruby." Sage replies.

Ruby blushed while Yang scoffed lightly. Both now seem much more relaxed around Sage after hearing Sage's story. Of course, Sage embellished some of it to gain a common ground with them.

"Okay, that explains a lot, but that still doesn't tell us why you are here!" Yang says.

"Well…" Sage says slowly.

She walks up to Yang and hugs one of her hands. Sage's actions are fast, but before Yang can react, her hands are snuggly resting between Sage's chest. Yang was about to shout, but Sage's sultry eyes stopped her.

"I'm enrolling at Beacon. Isn't this exciting?" Sage says slowly.

"Um, yeah. I guess…" Yang says, clearly uncomfortable with how Sage is clinging to her.

"Wait? You're enrolling with us?" Ruby asks excitedly.

"I am, Ruby. Can you just imagine? You, me, and Yang? Three best friends enrolling at the same academy? It's going to be a blast!" Sage says.

"Absolutely!" Ruby says cheerily.

"I'm not your friend!" Yang retorts.

"But I like you, Yang!" Sage says.

Sage's hand then slowly moves towards Yang's stomach. Sage caresses Yang's stomach as she brings her body closer to Yang. Yang is frozen, and Ruby can't help but blush and avert her eyes away from the scene.

"Be my friend, okay?" Sage asks.

"I guess…" Yang says, looking away from Sage.

"Nice!" Sage says.

She immediately let Yang go and cheered happily. Her giddy appearance seems to change drastically, and Yang can't help but feel like a fool. Yang, being the hothead that she is, immediately seeks Sage out.

"You…" Yang says aloud.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Sage asks.

The tone in Sage's voice seems so innocent that it causes Yang to stop and think about her anger for a second. Her sultry looks and ambiguous gazes are gone, replaced with a childlike innocence and purity.

"Nothing, I guess…" Yang says begrudgingly.

"I love you and Ruby, but only as my sisters, Yang. Excessive touching is merely my love language." Sage says.

"I didn't say anything!" Yang answers with a blush.

"Besides, I wouldn't worry about your partner anytime soon, Yang. I'm sure you will find one in Beacon." Sage says knowingly.

"What do you mean by that? Do you know something?! She has a boyfriend?!" Ruby suddenly asks.

She moved towards Sage. Her eyes sparkled with excitement and curiosity. Sage wanted to deny Ruby's question, but telling them about their future partners could help them develop their future with their partners earlier.

"Ruby!" Yang says.

'Messing with the timeline always leads to a bad future.' Sage thought.

Blake and Yang had become a couple, but Ruby's and Weiss's relationship has always been in the air. Sage can't help but think that they are more suitable as friends after seeing the recent episodes of the RWBY series.

'But you can't deny their chemistry.' Sage thought inwardly.

In fact, due to the recent episodes, Sage finds Ruby to be more of a loner. Ruby is an adorable goofball, but she cannot handle a relationship. Ruby needs to learn to make some decisions for herself before she can decide on her life partner.

'I guess I will try to set them up, but it will depend on Weiss's ability to charm Ruby.' Sage thought inwardly.

"I can do some simple future readings. Based on the lines on your faces, I can conclude that Yang will have a lovely encounter with someone of a different species." Sage says ominously.

"Ruby, on the other hand, will have a fateful encounter with the dishonest cold," Sage says ominously again.

"Future readings? That is a load of nonsense! Right, Ruby?" Yang asks Ruby.

"..." Ruby didn't answer.

Instead, Ruby seems to be contemplating Sage's words very seriously. Her serious expression as she ponders about Sage's statement seems to have tickled Sage's funny bone. Sage can't help but wonder what is going through Ruby's mind.

"Don't tell me you believe her?!" Yang asks Ruby.

"But what if it's true, Yang? I mean, you could finally get a boyfriend or girlfriend." Ruby says innocently.

"She's lying, Ruby!" Yang says.

Ruby looks towards Sage and stares right into her eyes. Sage's captivating blue eyes never seemed to waver. That is what intrigues Ruby even more. It's like Sage has seen all of the secrets of the world.

"Are you lying to me, Sage?" Ruby asks.

"About your partners? No." Sage says.

"Then I'll believe her!" Ruby says.

"What?!" Yang asks incredulously.

"She's just talking about her predictions, Yang. It's not like it will ever become true…" Ruby says slowly.

"Aww, Ruby! You are the best sister I could've ever asked for!" says Sage.

Sage then slowly brings Ruby into a hug. Ruby tried to squirm at first, but she relented when she felt Sage's hug tighten around her. Sage's strength is monstrous, and Ruby can never beat her. Thus, Ruby reluctantly lets Sage hug her.

"Dishonest cold?" says Ruby while looking at Sage.

"Yeah!" says Sage.

"Yang's clue is much easier to interpret! A different species can only point to a Faunus! But what does 'dishonest cold' mean? Can you tell me?" Ruby asks Sage.

Sage released Ruby from her hug and slowly caressed Ruby's cheeks. Ruby turned red again while Yang scoffed at their interactions. Sage slowly moved her hands from Ruby's cheeks to the top of her head.

"A woman never reveals her secrets!" Sage says while winking at Ruby.

"Ugh! It's bad!" a voice suddenly said near them.

'Thump!'

The bullhead suddenly shakes momentarily, but none of the passengers seems to be panicking. The doors to the bullhead opened to show the runway filled with people and countless bullheads lining up in front of them.

"You have arrived at Beacon Academy." says an automated voice.

"It seems that we are here!" Sage says excitedly.