(Note before we start:

I teased in the last episode about Percival and the girls meeting Blake's parents. But due to difficulties in planning and life itself, i couldn't find a way to fit it in the story just yet. So this is more a continuation of where we left off on the last chapter. Enjoy!)

What sort of lengths are you willing to go for someone you love?

What sort of boundaries are you willing to cross in order to keep what belongs to you safe?

Are you willing to break even the laws that classify you as a human being in order to get what you want?

Willing to become something so far apart from human… something so… Evil… That it's hard to distinguish yourself from the very real monsters that lurk in the outside world?

Are you willing to become the Monster under the bed of someone else's story? A walking nightmare who finds an inhuman thrill on killing?

When I fell in love with them, I didn't hesitate to make that jump… And I don't regret a single moment of it.

I used to believe my husband was a monster...

But back then… I never knew what a monster really was…

It wasn't until I became one that I realized… I was always meant to become a Monster… Because being a monster allows me to protect my family… to keep them safe and with me... my wives and husband never have to fear for what is to come… Because I am the monster our enemies will come to fear… I am the lurking shadow who will feast upon their souls… I am the one who will hear their final screams of agony…

I wasn't made into a monster… War gave me the opportunity and I simply chose to become one…

...And to this day, I have no regrets about it…

…

…

Percival has a lot of fears.

He isn't proud of that but he just cannot help it. There were many things in the world that simply terrified him without any reasonable explanation as to why; spiders, heights, creepy looking little girls, skeletons with a gun in their hands. All of this and more were things that Percival fears despite how ridiculous some may sound for someone his age.

But out of all of them, there were two things that scared Percival the most out of all of his list of irrational fears, his biggest fear in the list should be pretty obvious to you by now, the second one…

People…

Percival had a fear of other human beings for a variety of reasons, but it if he analyzed it carefully, it would always fall back to the same two reasons.

Unpredictability and Interests.

The first one was pretty obvious, you already knew what to expect when it came to his other lists of fears, spiders were out to eat stuff, creepy little girls gave people heart attacks by their presence alone, skeletons with a gun in their hands were out to ride loud motorcycles and steal your milk at gunpoint for it's calcium content, etc. However, when it comes to Humans, one could never be to sure what they were to do next. Call him Paranoid all you want, but by this point in his life, Percival has learned to expect the worst from people and this mentality has forced him to have the strange belief that a betrayal was always just around the corner and in his particular case, that statement had been proven to be very much true several times now, whether he realizes it or not.

"You never really stop knowing a person" that saying stuck to him like super glue and because of it, Percival hates having to meet new people or being forced to walk among crowds… so many faces… so many minds… all of them as easy to read as an upside down book translated in a different language you don't speak by a crappy translation site out of .

The only way he has learned to try and read people was through his second reason to fear them, Interests. Everybody wants something and knowing what they want can often give you the advantage, that's a fact of life so true that it might as well be the 11th commandment. People always work towards something, it's one of the most basic human natures after all, wanting things gives us purpose and the will to keep suffering through the hellish routine that is day to day existence if it means achieving those things we want. But it's how bad we want them what sets each person's interest apart.

Interests themselves were not what scared Percival, it was knowing exactly where each individual person was willing to go in order to achieve their own interests… after all, he knew many people willing to break even the most basic laws of human behaviour to get what they wanted, people willing to kill in a whim as long as it meant satisfying their own need. Some of them chased after him to kill or research him… And some of them he cuddled in bed with and made breakfast to every morning…

Both of this points complemented each other and you could argue that they mean the same thing, to Percival it all represented the same in the end.

Another thing he could not control.

That was in the end the real answer of why he was afraid of people. Much like The Darkness, no matter how much Percival tried to research and understand people, it all came back to the same result.

Jackshit.

Many times has he found himself on the other side of the barrel of the gun from someone he trusted and just as many times has he found aid in someone he wouldn't trust with pet-sitting a pet rock…

Does that make him a control freak? Sure, after all, he is a prodigy in engineering with a metric ton of mental issues. He can't help but to see life as a giant machine with many moving parts that no one understands how to makr work properly.

Does his paranoia get the best of him? Definitely and far too often, but he would argue that living with the literal embodiment of Darkness inside your soul tends to make you jumpy at every shadow and makes it hard to trust and be trusted.

Does he simply have bad judgment in people? That's a gigantic understatement that should be clear this far into the story.

Nevertheless, this are the reasons why Percival considered himself a hermit, he is much happier on the company of soulless machines he at least knows exactly what to expect from. It was a lonely existence sure, but so far, it beat by far what living in society had offered this far.

Right now, Percival is finally calming down after what has to be his fourth Darkness related panic attack this month alone and his current situation was slowly building up to his fifth.

Panic attacks for him are quite a special thing, most of them were either directly influenced by The Darkness or were in correlation with it in some way, shape or form. When they happen, Percival tends to get long lapses in memory where he doesn't remember anything that occurred during the period of half a day, call it a defense mechanism from his trauma infested brain trying to avoid another addition to the pile by repressing memories or simply extreme denial to the point of amnesia, he didn't know what to call it either by this point. After this lapses, Percival often finds himself in unknown locations with no real clue as to how he got there much in the style of a mid-hangover Qrow after an intense/regular night at the bar.

He has awaken in rooftops, public restrooms, government buildings, expensive hotels, grimey motels, strangers houses, police stations, hospitals, churches and other random buildings his panicked self felt safe enough to hide in a fetal position for a few hours.

This time was no different, however, much to his surprise and relief at first, he had woken up in his dorm room bedroom, meaning he wouldn't have to investigate where he was and then make the walk of shame back home. But unlike all those other times, he found himself in the dark with his only source of light being the dim sunlight coming from between the blinds of the soundproof window and unable to move anything below his neck.

Not even five minutes since he snapped out of his panicked state and he was already in some deep shit… Times like this often makes him wonder if The Darkness also has any overall influence in his luck. So far the results aimed at a yes.

"Percy…" he hears a sweet yet at the same time terrifying whisper coming from somewhere in the darkness of the room.

"My sweet Percy, you are finally awake" he turns to his right at the sound of the familiar voice of Weiss, whose body was still concealed from her stomach up by the darkness in the room, the lower half of her body was illuminated by sunlight coming from between the blinds.

"W-Weiss?" he asks, clearly still in a daze "What's going on?" his questions continue as his attempts to free himself are in vain, whatever was holding him in place was too strong for him to break free yet it felt as soft as a blanket.

"No, no, no, no, no!" began Weiss as she rushes to calm Percival down "No need to move, its ok. You had a panic attack and we have been looking after you, we wrapped you up to keep you warm and to keep you from wandering off" her words at the very least calmed Percival enough for him to stop thrashing about, seeing their concern for him was strangely heartwarming for him.

Yet new questions only started to pile up in his brain "Last thing I remember… I was at my father's office… Ironwood wanted me to…" he swallowed hard, feeling a cold shiver run down his spine as he finds himself unable to finish the sentence "What happened? Did I?..." he turns to look at her, the shadows still not letting him see her face.

"Oh, Percy…" she gently caress his cheek as she gets even closer, her hands were a nicely cold as one could expect and the soft touch of her skin helped him relax despite the situation "I'm so sorry… you did Embrace them…" her voice was solemn, understanding of his pain as his good mood is almost instantly replace with grief.

"But don't worry! Everything went smoothly and the three Faunus are ok, you managed to save them and luckily it seems that the trade off for the three of them were the memories of the event so it's like it never happened!" she spoke in a happy tone trying to comfort her husband, yet it didn't seem to do much.

"It's not that simple Weiss… I still rob those three of their future, their families… even of their freedom and perhaps of their free will" he began only for Weiss to place her hands on both of his cheeks and turn his face to look at the section of shadows he assumed her face was located "But at least they are still alive, at least you didn't lose anything too important and at least you didn't fell prey to The Darkness' tricks… For now that's all that matters!" she moved in to kiss his forehead yet something felt off… when her face collided with his forehead, he felt no lips planted on him. Instead, there a feeling of something tough and hard pressing against it which only served to confuse Percival even more.

"Weiss… are you wearing a welders mask or something? I couldn't feel your lips" he asks only to hear her giggle in embarrassment "oh! I am sorry, I forgot about that! Just give me some time and it will get back to normal" her answer unsettled Percival to no end as fear started to creep in and he started to thrash around once again "W-What do you mean by that? Why is everything so dark, where are Blake, Ruby and Yang?" he lets out another wave of questions which only serve to make Weiss rush in to calm him down once again, pressing her cold hands on his cheeks and forehead and gently shushing him as he calms down "Shhhh. Easy there… we don't want you to have another panic attack, now do we?" she asks in a soft whisper as Percival once again starts to relax.

The girls have a masterful way to control his emotions like a Harlem Globetrotter to control a basketball, they each knew exactly what to do in order to make him calm down in their own particular ways, he was like putty in their hands and it always surprised him how easy they made it seem to keep him from a nervous breakdown when he can barely hold it together on his own.

He couldn't see it, but he could somehow feel Weiss smile as she lets out a huff "Geez… you know it's not polite to ask a lady so many questions out of the blue you know?" she says once again in a soft whisper that served to make Percival feel as if he needed to apologize. She lets out another soft giggle however and he could feel her head snuggling up to whatever was covering him "But that's ok, your sense of curiosity and wonder are one of your many positive traits" the honesty in her voice makes Percival blush as a warm feeling starts to spread itself all over his body.

"now to answer your questions" she clears her throat and once again places her face upon his forehead "It's dark for two reasons, the first is to help you sleep" she says making Percival nod at the obvious answer "and the second is to prevent you from freaking out" that answer set off yet another red flag in Percivals mind and was about to open his mouth only to feel her cold finger be pressed against her lips "if you continue to ask question after question each time I answer one we are going to be here all day, Percy. Let's move onto the next question" she says which was enough to shut him up and continue listen as she moves on to the next question.

"What I meant was that I need some more time before my lips are back to normal, encountering General Ironwood really did a number on us" she casually says making Percival's eyes widen in shock "H-He didn't hurt you, did he?!" he asks, his anger rising thinking he hurt her lips in some way only to hear her melodious giggle once again "No Percy, he didn't' hurt us and even if he tried, someone as pathetically weak as him could never lay a finger on us, especially when you are in need of us. We were the ones who took care of him so he shouldn't be bothering us in a while and what did I say about additional questions?!" the playful tone of voice on her statement only made more red flags for Percival as a part of him couldn't help but to worry about his godfather even though he was still angry at him

"As to the whereabouts of the rest" she lets out another sweet giggle "they are all here, silly! It's just that they haven't recovered their capacity to speak just yet!" those words were enough to freeze Percival in place as he feels the presence of three other bodies move around on the bed and his cocoon while Weiss moves back and closer to the window.

"W-Weiss… What are you hiding from me?..." he asks as he feels a sudden shifts on the bed all around him, the girls were all in the bed as Weiss moves her hand to the blinds "Hiding from you? I'm not sure what you mean, Percy" she answers innocently yet it was clear as day she was lying through her teeth by the way she started to fidget around.

"Weiss!" he yells trying to put the most strict voice he could, which failed as it came out more like a whimper than anything else. It was clear he was starting to panic which in turn only made her panic as well "P-Percival, calm down!" she says as she stand up once more and places her hands on her cheeks once more but the heavy breathing from Percival only seemed to complicate matters.

His eyes dart around the darkness of the room, normally he would be able to see in it without much of a problem thanks to his enhanced eyes, the fact he couldn't was the main factor of his fear.

Another hand places itself on his forehead, the warm sensation coming from it mixed with the one coming from Weiss was surprisingly relaxing at least for a few seconds until his brain properly registered the hand. Long almost boney fingers, rough skin and… claws?...

Percival had enough and out of instinct itself, he adds what little of The Darkness he controls into his eyes in order to see among the cloak of dark, he was shocked to see it didn't change much but at the very least, he could see the familiar silhouette of Ruby jump over him, while the one of Yang rushes to his side, none of them where the owner of the hand but there was definitely something wrong with them as well.

He turns to look at the ceiling and sure enough, he sees the outline of Blake somehow hanging upside down on the ceiling and with a freakishly long and thin arm reaching down to him.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" he screams as he starts to toss around again, his survival senses kicking in only for Weiss's hand to move and cover his eyes, black tendrils much like those from The Darkness covered her hand as she formed a glyph that covered the entirety of Percival's face.

Percival could feel his heartbeat suddenly slow down, his panic was replaced with an empty numbness along with a mild buzz as his body suddenly became very heavy for him to move.

Weiss lets out a sigh "Yeah, this has gone as well as I thought it was going to be…" she says only for a clicking noise to come out from Ruby "Oh, don't even start with me! None of you suggested anything better and I am the only one who can still talk in this form, so zip it!" she yells only for the clicking noise to continue along with a low growl from Blake.

"Ok, how about we prevent our husband from having a heart attack and THEN we can discuss why we shouldn't make plans mid transformation?!" she says to which the others seemed to agree "And get down from there, Ruby! You are still sleeping in the couch so no bed privileges until tomorrow!" she yells only to receive a whimper along with some more clicking noises before Ruby slowly got off Percival and the bed itself.

Weiss takes her seat next to Percival and moves some hair out of his face "Now, Percy. I need you to calm down and relax, you are under a lot of stress and what we need to show you might very well traumatize you… Just know that everything we do-" she says as her hand reaches the blinds, Percival could see her fingers were charred black and her skin was an unusual shade of pale, borderline corpse-like. "-We do it because we LOVE you" she finishes before pulling up the blinds and letting the sunlight illuminate the room completely, revealing a face with no eyes or nose, only a demonic smile that spread from ear to ear with rows upon rows of blackned razor sharp teeth.

And as Percival's eyes went wide as he stared into his fiancee's, he knew that if he were not numbed out from Weiss's Glyph, he would be screaming a lung out right now, especially when he turned to look at the inhuman forms of the rest of the girls.

A few hours ago, Ozpin's Office

Percival's body was on autopilot. The noise coming from all directions having him convulsing on the ground in agonizing pain that everyone else on the office seems to ignore.

"I will tear that metal arm of yours and shove it up your ass if I have to!" kept threatening Ozpin to the equally as angry general. As you know, Ozpin's love life was as chaotic and nonsensical as bad relationships go. Not only does his immortal ex-wife is on the constant attempt to kill him, but also his mother-in-law is always one step behind him waiting to strike and take his son away.

While having a bad relationship with your mother-in-law is more than normal for most married men. Ozpin has been driven to the edge of his resources and now that he has a son from the moment of weakness he fell in love again, he is not about to lose him as he did with his four little girls. Much less to a mortal man like General Ironwood and his goons in Atlas!

"the moment that wife of yours cursed your own son with The Darkness he has become a major threat to public safety! All that the Atlesian Empire wants is to prevent a major catastrophe yet here you are acting as if I am the bad guy!" For Ironwood his orders were clear. Collect samples from Percival either willingly or unwillingly, failure to meet this objectives would mean deployment of an assault unit into the academy's premises with capture and/or neutralizing orders on Percival.

This would more than likely be considered an act of war by the Vale government, not to mention Ozpin would use all of his extensive resources and connections to get his son back which would clearly leave Atlas at a major military disadvantage as it would also get them banned from the lists of all weapon engineers. Who have a rather admirable sense of loyalty amongst its members.

In more ways than one, getting Percival to cooperate was the only way to avoid a major disaster, not to mention having his own network of connections to keep him monitored is also the only way to keep his emotions on check. Even though it pains him to trick his god-son like this, he sadly has no choice, as his orders are clear and for the good of Atlas and the world.

Sadly he still ignored the fact of the 4 women climbing up the elevator shaft who would rather destroy the world themselves than to see their husband in pain, something they meant in quite the literal manner.

"AAAAARRRRGHHH!"

The two men turn at the sound of the agonizing scream coming from Percival, whose body was now halfway covered in the dark tentacles and shadows of The Darkness.

"Percival!" Ozpin screams as he rushes to his son's side. Percival was holding onto his head in agony, black tears falling from his eyes and staining his face, his left side now mostly covered in a pulsating mass of tentacles and other unspeakable horrors that seemed all the more painful to experience than it was to watch. So much so, that the moment the first eye and series of fangs appeared across the unholy abomination, the young male mouse faunus fainted while the female fox faunus started to scream and cry for help against the gag keeping her silent, even the oldest of the three, the male ox faunus, looked beyond words and horror as he couldn't even look away out of fear of what was to come.

Ironwood unconsciously reached for his revolver, his survival sense kicking first than his own reasoning which made the final scene all the much worse for him.

In a second, a loud banging noise followed by the elevator doors flying across the room made everyone in the room turn towards the four girls standing on the elevator, where a giant hole on its bottom indicated where they entered.

In the spawn of four seconds, the girls turned from looking at Percival's agonizing form to the three faunus tied up and finally focusing on Ironwood with incalculable rage, at least the ones who had any visible eyes or eyes at all gave him a look that promised a slow and painful death.

All of them looked like abominations taken out from the wicked nightmares of an insane mind. They all shared the same similarity, their human bodies either hanging limply or overflowing with The Darkness like lifeless husks or costumes made out of flesh, skin and bone, almost as if it was growing out of them like a parasite an insect or animal mid shedding.

From tallest to shortest; the one in yellow now lingered at a height of eight feet, her human torso being the only part of her human self visible as her arms and legs stretch out and get lost in the blackened limbs of the creature she had now turned to.

Keeping a mostly humanoid figure, the arms formed by the Darkness showed an impressive amount of muscle all the way to its three fingered hands that were encased in bone promising a devastating blow before ending in claws ready to tear everything on it's path. The legs resembled that of a raptor, the muscles on its ligaments promising a quick chase before ending under its claws on its feet that were clearly made to hold a prey still as the creature feasted on it. The head had to be the worst part of the creature. A maw that splits open in three ways to bite off an entire head while being stared at by the four separate white pupiless eyes aligned in a random pattern above the gaping maw. All in all, the creature had a vague resemblance to a devil crossed with a grimm.

The second tallest however had a more animal appearance, standing on all fours as her limbs stretched to an unnatural length. Her skin tone pale for the most part before reaching her extremities, that gradually turned black before ending in sharp claws. Out of her arching back a series of tentacles came out a large mass of Darkness, all of them trained on Ironwood like startled cobras or rattlesnakes. Her head has fully turned bestial, stretching into a tiger like maw, a black liquid leaking out of the seems on the jaw as it's razor sharp teeth meant to tear off flesh grinded against each other in anticipation to take the first bite.. Her eyes were covered by the flowing black "hair" coming from its head that seemed to move on its own as if it were alive, but from time to time one could see the glowing yellow orbs it had for eyes in between its strands.

The second shortest kept her mostly human features, yet her face was the most deformed, no eyes whatsoever, a smooth patch of sickly white skin where her eyes and nose were supposed to be as if someone had smoothen them over with clay, however it was her mouth what now took centered stage. A long literal ear to ear bone chilling grin that showed a long line of equally razor sharp teeth, the bone stained in what seemed to be parts of the Darkness and dried off blood from a previous prey. Out of the back of her shoulders a set of two slim arms came out that arch around her, she was floating above a large glyph akin to her normal semblance, yet the markings on it were that of an eldritch star with an actual moving eye on its center, the dark energy coming from the circle alerted anyone around it about the presence of a lurking danger inside the glyph, akin to being on pitch black waters with a beast swimming close around you.

Finally, the shortest one, she showed the more extreme transformation, her face stretched out from the mouth and eyelids to show a pair of fangs akin to those of a spider and a set of eight wholly silver eyes spreading across the top of her face, almost as if an insect was wearing a mask of a little girl and eating through it. Her limbs bared the appearance of an insect, spider-like jagged legs designed to make her run at faster speeds and climb on walls with ease while her human arms laid limply under her new insect arms. Yet the most notable change was the three long mantis like forelegs emerging from her back and stretching over her shoulders, clearly designed to bring her preys closer to its fangs. The middle one however was by far longer than the others and lacked the features they shared, instead, a serrated blade made of what seemed to be bone stood in its place akin to a scorpion's stinger.

The room was silent except for Percival gagging for air and Ozpin begging him to try and take deep breaths. The two still awake captive white fangs share the same look of absolute horror at the monstrosities they were seeing, if by some miracle they got out of here alive, the image of the four monsters before them would quickly drive them to suicide after falling victim to madness. Ironwood was holding on tightly to his revolver, yet unable to move a muscle as he felt the burning gazes on him, stripping his down to his most basic survival instincts to not move a muscle and for a moment forgetting he even has a gun on his hand

The fox faunus was finally snapping out of her shock and was about to let out the most ear damaging scream her vocal chords could make against the gag until they would tear beyond repair. when out of the shadows in the walls and floor, tendrils of Darkness wrapped themselves around everyone in the room with exception of Ozpin, Percival and the girls.

The tendrils held their prey by the arms, wrists, torso, waist, legs, feet, neck and head along with gagging them even more, while also breaking the chairs the prisoners were tied against . Now that all the foreign nuisances were properly being held against the wall like hunting trophies, the four monsters made a slow walk towards Percival and Ozpin.

Ironwood feared for the worst, thinking The Cult of The Dark One finally staged a full on assault, yet somehow, when the four creatures gathered around Percival, instead of attacking him, they cuddled up to him the way a pet or loved one would. This only scared him even more.

The four creatures raised their limp human hands towards Percival and slowly place it against his skin in a comforting manner, the way someone would touch their partner to help them calm down after a nightmare. Percival's breathing slowed down, finally able to stop gagging as the pulsating mass of Darkness finally stopped growing on him.

The one in white held him by the cheeks and got closer towards his face before eventually whispering, "You have no control over him… He is ours… You are but an insignificant bug compared to us..." the pulsating mass suddenly became aggravated by her statement, growing in size and teeth before the four of them digged they hands straight into it, causing the pulsating mass to let out an inhuman screech. "WE ARE IN CHARGE NOW! YOU ARE POWERLESS AGAINST US! WE BEAT YOU ONCE AND WE WILL DO SO ALL OVER AGAIN! WE OWN HIM, NOT YOU!" the one in white says making the pulsating mass screech even higher.

"CRY ALL YOU WANT! WE ARE YOUR GOD NOW" She says before the four push their hands even further into the mass, making it recede back into Percival who continued to sleep, exhausted from the whole ordeal. Once the entire mass went back into his body the four of them got even closer to the sleeping Percival, the one in white using her glyph to make his sleeping body levitate alongside her, holding onto his face lovingly to help him sleep.

Now that he was safe on their arms the four turn to the people on the wall. The one in red made some clicking noises that the one in white interpreted for the rest.

"They have all seen too much… Get rid of the Faunus, we can blame it on Atlas taking them away" she says in a deep and distorted tone of voice yet still feminine "As for the General…" they all turned with a bloodlust that made everyone in the room that much more nervous.

"Wait!" Ozpin stands up from his position next to Percival "We can't harm him" he says making Ironwood thank the gods for his friendship with Ozpin.

All of the girls make noises in protest, from growls to grunts, hisses and clicking noises yet Ozpin still stood strong. "I know, I know… But we still need him, once his usefulness has ended, I'll be the first to attack him" his words shock James to the shock as he sees Ozpin turn with a dark look on his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jimmy" the black tendrils wrap around his face as a set of fangs grow into an evil grin as his whole head is covered in black. "But you shouldn't mess with MY son..." He said with a deeper tone of voice. Only his head turned into his Darkness form as he aims his cane at him a bright flash erasing his memories of the event to allow Henry to change them to ones in their favor.

And as the fox Faunus finally lets out a scream, the girls rush to get rid of them. All the while Percival slept peacefully, The Darkness finally defeated for the moment and silent within him.

Flashback end

Percival's workshop, afternoon. 3 hours after waking up.

Once the girls finally go back to their normal selves and released Percival from their webbing prison after cuddling with him for an additional hour. He somehow managed to escape back into his workshop and he locked himself in away from the world.

Seeing how The Darkness has managed to transform the girls was a heavy blow on him, never before had he seen such an extreme transformation on anyone who came in contact with The Darkness and just like Henry had warned him, the girls were in complete control of it.

Four girls had managed to effortlessly make THE FREAKING PRIMORDIAL BEING OF CHAOS to back off from his body and managed to keep him silent, as so far, he has not heard a single word coming from it and every time he tried and summon it, only the white snakes and tendrils that were on his control thanks to his mother's sword came out.

If Percival wasn't scared shitless of the four girls who were desperately trying to enter the door to his workshop, he would be enjoying the experience of feeling like a normal guy for once.

He was at a loss, "This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening!" he mumbles to himself while walking up and down the workshop trying to make sense of things, losing his goddamn mind even more in the process.

"I-It's a trick! It has to be a trick! I am likely asleep and any second now The Darkness is going to jump scare me awake!" he tried to reason with himself and reality, waiting for a moment for the scare to come.

"Oh by Oum, it's not a trick…" he mumbles now feeling his legs go weak from the realization.

Not only had the girls just turned into monsters, they had turned into monsters that proceeded to LITERALLY beat the very thing that accidentally created reality and even the Gods themselves in a battle of will!

That's like hearing an ant killed a god by stepping on him!

It was not possible! It was ridiculous! It made NO SENSE!

Percival was feeling a lot of things besides fear. In part, gratitude towards the girls for finally making The Darkness shut up and in another part, he was scared shitless for his life and those around him. The girls have proven to be EXTREMELY jealous and possessive time and time again now, which meant that if he kept them unchecked or even angered them, they could very well kill everyone he knows or even just talks or looks at!

One half of Percival wanted to run the fuck away and never look back, the words "Don't stick it in crazy" coming back to his mind from a memory on his time in Atlas, yet another part, the part that was sick of dealing with The Darkness, was begging him to just accept them. They were the only thing who could keep The Darkness at bay and his only ticket to live a peaceful life! All he had to do was just let him do their thing and keep them from killing anyone. He basically did that with The Darkness already but with the girls he at least had cuddles and kisses!

The more he starts to freak out and think about his options is usually the more The Darkness can take over, but now that it had been kicked back into its cage and kept silent, it finally allowed Percival to have the nervous breakdown he had always been so close to having.

*PECK* *PECK* *PECK* *PECK*

The pecking noise coming somehow from one of the soundproof window in the workshop garage door was all Percival needed to toss all of his problems aside and wear a gigantic smile on his face as he rushes to allow his oldest friend in.

"Gertrudis!" He exclaims in joy as he quickly opens the garage door enough to allow a black bird in before closing it back up before the girls could sneak in as well. Once its closed again, he could hear the girls scratching on it, reaching it just a millisecond too late.

"Oh Gertrudis, I am so happy you came back! You would not believe the crazy week I've had and I really need a friend right now!" he spoke to the clearly listening raven on his arms who cawed back at him before receiving a few rubs to the head filled of affection from Percival.

Ever since Percival lost his mother to The Darkness, he remembers a Raven he affectionately referred to as Gertrudis look after him often, proving once again Percival's lack of skill with names. The bird came whenever Percival was in trouble and it seemed she was smart enough to understand him. He always wondered just how did this bird always managed to appear when he needed it, but he took it as a sign of- wait a minute…

…

…

...

"HENRY!" Percival yells out, startling the bird as time freezes itself. A portal opening behind him from which his older self casually walks in from. "You called?" he spoke with much disinterest.

It was clear as day that there was quite the gap between the two selves. Both in trust, skill and overall friendly feelings towards one another, Percival saw Henry as the worst case scenario, a version of himself who gave himself fully to both The Darkness and everything he did not wish to become. Meanwhile, Henry saw Percival that same way an artist or writer sees a piece of their own art that is years old, he sees in Percival every flaw in himself and therefore, hates him the same way he used to hate himself if not more.

Regardless of how the two felt for each other however, it was clear that they still needed one another, both of them wanted to stop the incoming future from happening and give the girls some form of happy ending, so even if they had to work with what they assumed to be the worst version of themselves, they had no other choice but to do so considering the odds.

"Did you change my memory as well? Did you add Gertrudis?" Percival asks which earns him a raised eyebrow in surprise from Henry. "Very well done, Percival. I had assumed that I had borderline mastered the trick of memory reconfiguration. What gave it away if you don't mind me asking?"

"Call it a Lucky guess, I feel my implanted memories with Gertrudis are as real as my memories with my mom but… Just the idea of her existing is absolutely ridiculous!" Percival replies and glares at his former self.

"Ah, so it's just the matter of a fool's luck then? Good to know I won't have to change my tactics"

"Forget about that! How many changes have you made to my memories and what is this bird?!" Percival asks clearly on the defensive.

"Will you stop making a scene? I swear, you are sometimes a bigger drama queen than Weiss" Replies Henry before summoning up a chair for him to sit in. "Now, that bird right there is in actuality Raven Branwen" he begins while summoning a cup of tea for him to enjoy "She was one of our parents 'Friends' back in the day"

"The trash mom, right?" ask Percival, aware of her lacking job as Yang's mother.

"Good to know you have at least done the basic homework on the women you share your bed with" Says Henry with a small smile. "But yes, she has made a lot of mistake so I felt like punishing her a bit"

"Didn't you make her a sex deviant?" asks Percival.

"While that is true, I have a lot more planned for the woman who dared to abandon her duties as a mother" Henry's tone grows colder as he glares at the trash turned raven.

"While I share the sentiment, are you sure abusing this is wise? What about the timeline?" Percival takes the bird in his hands and gently pets its head "You are literally changing people's personalities completely, someone's bound to notice sooner or later"

"You speak like you have the remotest of ideas as to what I have to bare or even do" Henry's tone was not helping on the already tense situation "I always analyze my decisions with the coldest of calculations and ensure to make changes accordingly. I relive each memory of every person and then change the memories of those they meet so there is absolutely no doubt that my changes are real. It's an arduously long process, so you best watch your tone…"

"Save your threats for someone who cares!" Percival bites back at his other selves menacing tone "You once carried the same burden as I did so you how others threats don't affect me! Not when I am the most dangerous thing in the room!" It was clear Percival was sick and tired for his other selves mysterious and cold ways.

"Big words for someone who thinks they are a match to an avatar of an elder god…" Henry was not about to let his inferior self talk to him that way either.

"In my eyes, all I see is a coward who allowed himself to be tainted by The Darkness..." Percival would never be able to forgive the atrocities his older self unleashed upon the world, even if they were necessary, The Darkness shouldn't be used as a mean to an end.

This struck a nerve with Henry, who in a flash held onto Percival's neck and picked him up in the air choking him in the process. "You forget… The only reason you are not the exact copy of me, is because of MY interference! if it wasn't for me, you would be walking down the same damned road I did!" It was uncommon for Henry to lose his cool, over the pletera of eons already passed as an avatar of Yog-Sothoth, his mind has evolved beyond what any human mind should ever venture to, so to recede back to such a state as to choke another man for simply mentioning his past was a loss on his part already.

A loss Percival was well aware of.

"Ghhk-!" Percival fought hard to speak against Henry's iron like grip, he had moved so fast, not even the Darkness could protect him from the attack, but the mental battle was not over.

So many things has happen in such quick succession already in his life, Percival felt a sense of helplessness that kept rising everytime a new development happened without his approval. Like living in a theme park ride where all paths are set in stone for you, so to claim a petty victory over the one he in his eyes held responsible for everything was worth the risk, even if it went against his most basic instincts of survival and common sense.

"S-Sounds to me… It's c-clear who is… The better m-man then!" He says, still struggling to catch his breath "Y-You made me… T-To be everything... Y-You never could be!" he spat as he grows a cocky smirk and looks at Henry with a look of pity "I… Won't become… A monster! I'll never will!" Recovering strength from a place he didn't even know he had, Percival gathers as much willpower he is able to control and delivers a heavy kick to Henry's stomach. For Henry, it was the same feeling as if he was getting kicked by an amoeba, but the surprise of seeing his weak younger self fight back was enough for him to ease his grip which allowed Percival to free himself.

Now on the ground and able to breath, Percival backs off a few steps and glares at his older self "No matter what happens or what I have to do… I'll never be like you!" he yells at the top of his lungs with as much conviction as he could muster.

Henry was getting enough of this charade and once again let himself be controlled by his own buried emotions "You pitiful worm…" he muttered as he pushed his hand forwards, sending Percival flying in the air before colliding into the wall at breakneck speeds, feeling for the first time in his life what it feels to crash against it at full force without The Darkness breaking the impact.

"You think just because you have some control over The Darkness, you are entitled to talk to me like a superior? You think you know what's best for you? Maybe you have forgotten, I AM YOU!" he screams pushing Percival even harder against the wall. Percival could feel his own bones getting crushed by the invisible force as cracks start appearing on the wall.

"You are nothing but a spoiled brat used to doing the things he wants and makes a tantrum when things don't go his way! I could easily go back and change EVERYTHING about you! Make you a more fitting vessel for my plans to save OUR world! You barely know how to fight, you have no mastery of ANY weapon you are able to make, you are basically useless without a wrench in your hands and the only thing that makes you any strong is the very same thing you are too much of a coward to use!" Henry started walking towards Percival, with each step the force pushing him back increased until he was halfway into the wall.

"Let me make this perfectly clear Percival… I. OWN. YOU." Henry spoke coldly and with a murderous intent "You are nothing but a pawn for my plans and a plaything for MY wives to indulge themselves. All of these, you, my plans, our whole mission. It's to give THEM a better future, to give MY children a better tomorrow! I could care less what a placeholder like you wants" he raised his other hand and opened the workshop's door to reveal the girls who were still trying to get in, now seemingly frozen in time by his influence.

"You think those four love you? You are just the replacement I arranged for myself. You have no idea the things we have suffered together, lived through or even experienced… They are in love with the memory of ME, you are like a picture in a frame or a memento of myself they are able to hold onto… You think MY father cares for you? You are simply a way to atone for his mistakes as MY father, he is trying to recover the time he has lost with ME" His words cut onto Percival much deeper than perhaps intended, but he simply couldn't stop.

"You are just the teddy bear parents buy to replace the one their kid lost… A temporary repair meant to be removed when the time is right and casted aside once its usefulness is up… You were born to fulfil a purpose and once that purpose is done, you'll be discarded aside and kicked off the main stage for the real star to take its place. Then and ONLY THEN will I allow you to decide what to make of your pitiful existence!" Now Henry was just centimeters away from Percival's face as he looks at him with the same pitiful look he had just gave him. "You are simply a puppet for me to use to save this world whether you want to or not and even if you fail, I can just erase you and send them back again, this time making sure the next puppet knows its place" The smug grin grew in Henry's face.

"You don't want to be like me? That's fine. It doesn't matter if a puppet doesn't like who is pulling it's strings, who cares what a puppet wants anyway?" that was the last straw.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Four voices yelled from atop of the stairs as Henry turns in surprise for the first time in eons to look at his four wives looking at him with looks of pure disgust. "W-What?... But how-"

"WE SAID THAT WAS ENOUGH!" Yang charged forward and hit Henry on the cheek as hard as she could, normally this wouldn't even graze Henry, but the fact that her arm had halfway transformed into that of her Darkness infused form was enough to eat through his eldritch defenses just enough sending him back a few feet towards the garage doors of the workshop, yet his grip on Percival was still strong.

The girls all dashed down the stairs and stood around Percival defensively while holding position against Henry.

"Release him" Said Ruby with a serious commanding tone that didn't fit with her adorable younger self.

"You are really taking this puppet's side?" asks Henry before Blake loses her last shred of patience.

"RELEASE HIM NOW, YOU SELF-CENTERED HYPOCRITE!" She yells with an anger in her eyes Henry had only seen back when the four of them despised him.

Henry felt his body moving on its own as his telekinetic hold on Percival ended, making him fall to the ground yet the girls refused to move as they glare down at Henry.

"You understand he is just a disposable asset, right? He is not me" Henry tries to reason with the four angry women.

"Good! Because I cannot stand to even look at you!" Yells Weiss before turning to take care of Percival.

"You were cruel before when you needed to be, but I don't even recognize the man I married in you anymore" says Ruby before also turning to take care of Percival.

Leaving Yang and Blake to stare down at Henry who were arguably the ones with the deeper connection to him, Yang was the first of the four he saved after their separation in the hopeless future and Blake was the one he spend the most time with after she lost her eyes.

"You think just because you spend some time working for a big boss you have the right to look down on others? Where is the man who used to stand up for the weak and never abused his power?!" Asks Yang while trying her best to not give in to her anger by clenching her fists as hard as she can until her nails dig into her skin, drawing small droplets of blood before being healed by The Darkness within her.

"Excuse him if his priorities changed after exploding along with his very own reality just to give his family a second chance!" he speaks while dusting himself off the ground.

"That's no excuse for you to treat him like he is garbage!" Argues Yang "He is not your disposable pawn! He is our husband just as much as you are!"

"The difference is that he is loyal!" adds in Blake showing the murderous thought that the four girls were clearly sharing since seeing his new arm candy.

"Things change, Blake! You have barely been here a few weeks, I've been in the multiverse for Eons!" Henry had no time for this and was preparing to lift Percival back up with his powers.

"What happened to 'Forever and into Eternity' Huh?!" Weiss stands up, pointing Myrtenaster at him "You made the same vows we did! You have killed and sacrificed for this relationship as much as we have! All of that and now you are married to the worst possible match in the universe without even consulting us first?!"

"You speak such harshly of my decisions yet you had no problems replacing me with this cheap knock off" Henry bites back only making them angrier.

"WE THOUGHT YOU WERE TRAPPED IN THERE FOREVER!" They all yell back with clear anger in their eyes "Don't you dare try to make us the villain when you went ahead and EXPLODED REALITY without so much as leaving us a memo!" Yells Blake as her anger starts to show as her left arm started to transform.

"..." there it was, the opening he was waiting for. "So if you hadn't thought I was forever tied to my lord… You wouldn't have gone through with this?" he asks and all of the sudden, the whole room goes quiet.

The question really took the girls out by surprise as they all struggle to find the words to reply and hesitate to speak, even Blakes transformation receded completely.

"Would you have chosen to stay with me… Or be with this new Percival?" he asks once again bringing the killer question to the table. The fact the girls were taking so long to reply only got them deeper into trouble.

A fact they realize by how low the temperature dropped.

They all turned to look at Percival who was looking at them with a dark look on his face. "So I am just the replacement?" he spoke coldy while getting up, The Darkness quickly taking over him.

The girls panicked but could feel their own Darkness being pushed away by Percival's own negative feelings "P-Percy, Wai-!" Ruby's cry was suddenly interrupted by Henry, who dashed forward to deliver a hard blow to Percival's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"WE TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH-" Yang began as her flames grew hotter than they could at this age back in the original timeline as she winds up a punch against Henry, only to stop when he removes his fist from Percival's chest, revealing a huge seal all across his body growing brightly white as more runic patterns form themselves around him, covering him up even more.

"There, that should do it for now" Henry spoke in a much calmer tone as he fixes his rustled clothes.

"W-What did you… What did you do?" Asked Weiss clearly confused by the whole encounter.

"I apologize for that. Back at my father's office I noticed the pulsating mass coming out of Percival. It seems like extreme emotions of anguish and hatred are still enough to allow The Darkness to slip through the few weak points in the seal and feed on Percival's mind state long enough to materialize into the real world, what I added were a few failsafe switches along with a second layer of seals. Should give him some advantage until he learns to control his emotions, then we can move in to train him with The Darkness" Henry clarified himself while starting to walk away.q

"S-So all those things you said were-" Weiss again begun as she started to piece the puzzle together.

"A way to get Percival to genuinely feel extreme levels of anguish and hatred for me to add yet another seal to him" Henry concluded.

"You used us…" Blake said with genuine hurt in her voice while taking a step back in pure shock, something the rest of the girls were also feeling.

"For that, I apologize. I didn't expect you to break into our time rift like that and I had to improvise" He spoke with the methodical tone they had grown accustomed of hearing since he became an avatar of Yog-Sothoth.

"How much of it was a lie then?..." asks Ruby only to flinch when Henry turns to look down at them with a look they had never seen before.

A blank look that held no feelings whatsoever.

"Let me make things perfectly clear for you psychopaths to understand…" he began with an even colder tone on his voice. "I am not entirely human anymore. Hell, the fact I am able to maintain a human physical form in itself should be attributed to what primitive life forms call a miracle. In case you have forgotten, I have become an Avatar to an Elder God. One of the beings that was created when the multiverse itself was created. The only thing keeping me remotely human is my lord's own influence and my wife, Ember" He fully turned to meet them as he opens a portal to the multiverse behind him, showing universe upon universe flashing by as if they were channels on a television.

"In order to satisfy his unending desire for knowledge, I have visited many universes, changed my form countless of times, lived an infinite number of lives as an infinite number of species while dying and even larger number of times to a countless number of ways" he closed the portal, leaving behind scorch marks on the floor and ceiling of the workshop.

"In all of those lives, SHE was with me, she was there because I CHOSE HER" he speaks slowly in order to get the idea through their heads "A moment of weakness when I was starting out. I could have picked anyone, from Neo to Emerald or Pyrrha, perhaps even Nora or Velvet or Sienna and Perhaps even Salem! But for some reason that I am far too old to remember, I chose her… And now I choose her over you four…"

The four girls all feel their eyes almost pop out of their skulls due to the statement, they couldn't believe what was coming out of their husbands mouth.

"My feelings for you died a long time ago and the oath I made to you all, the thing that got me my status in the first place is the only reason I'm even bothering to keep you all informed. I won't stop until my revenge against Salem, my grandmother and The Darkness is fulfilled… and after that, this dimension will be sealed for good, with no possible way to get in contact with the multiverse ever again" the lack of emotion in his voice made this all the more clear.

"After everything we've been through..." Blake begun as her heart began to shatter.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN LEAVE US JUST LIKE THAT?!" Yang asks, her anger reaching new levels as the four girls feel beyond devastated "WE SUFFERED TOGETHER! WE BLED FOR EACH OTHER! WE KILLED FOR EACH OTHER! AND NOW THAT YOU GET THAT GRIMM FUCKING WITCH, YOU TOSS US ASIDE LIKE WE ARE SOME DISPOSABLE FLESHLIGHTS?!" She asks with tears running down her eyes.

A cold "Yes" Was all Henry replied with, which delivered an even harder and this time devastating blow at them.

His response was enough to immediately sink Yang to her knees, not expecting such a cold answer from the man she used to spend entire nights dancing away to old tunes on the radio.

"Even if I still held feelings for you, our union is futile, you were bound to this dimension when Yog-Sothoth broke the barrier to bring your memories within your younger bodies, and by deleting every other possible future, you have now become the primary branch, the branch where all other multiverses grow from" Henry explained as he snapped his fingers and around the girls and Percival hundreds of images of the different multiverses showing this very same instance show themselves to them.

In some, the girls positions were changed, in others it was their clothing, the time of day, who showed anger first and every single other possible reaction that could ever be chosen all before stopping at the exact same moment as if it waited for them to make a reaction for them to act.

Blake lifts up her hand and in the different universes showed different outcomes just seconds behind. In some; Weiss was the one rising her hand, in others Ruby or Yang. In others she was making a fist or a peace sign or flipping the bird, in others she was using her other hand or both or she didn't move at all or she screamed or something completely different and so on until infinity.

"Taking you out of this universe, of this version of reality, it would destroy every single possible universe your influence reaches… Which means you are stuck here, and whether you like it or not, I will move on and continue my tasks as an Avatar, for that was the deal I struck in order to give you the chance to save our world" His voice didn't held back from the gruelling details, despite how much it obviously hurt them.

"Why us?..." Asked Ruby with a trembling voice trying to fight back the tears "You could very well fix everything now… Why must we?"

Henry shook his head in annoyance "Cause that is the will of Yog-Sothoth" he says in an almost chant "I interfere enough as it is to ensure success of our mission, you are the matriarch branch so the odds must always be balanced to allow the rest of the multiverses to grow on the miniscule differences it comes with. In some universes, I tutor Percival step by step and in others my presence has only just been revealed to him"

This was all too much for the girls as they started to feel a breakdown coming, their shattered hearts demanding retribution while their minds were filled with nothing but hopelessness for their current situation.

Percival looked at them from a few feet back on the ground,the feeling growing back on his legs as he finally recovered the oxigen Henry punched out of him and for the first time, without the influence of Henry whatsoever, he felt his heart tell him something regarding them.

"We were all tricked… You were turned to pawns for his amusement while I was turned into his avatar, and as his avatar, I must enforce his will" he said again with his blank tone as the girls continue to process the situation, their love they held towards Henry now turning into pure rage, they could feel their minds near the breaking point until eventually Weiss realized something extremely important.

"What about our children?" she asks as her sobs stop completely, a monotonous tone now replacing the raging/devastated state of mind, the rest of the girls all widen their eyes to this revelation as the monotonous tone spread to the three of them.

As if they were machines, the four girls at the same time looked up from the ground to look at Henry with a blank expression on their face, as if they had turned into porcelain dolls with an unending stare that hid a million emotions all trained at Henry, in every multiverse for that very same moment all other Ruby's, Weiss's, Blake's and Yang's all raised their heads at the same moment and looked at their version of Henry with the same unending gaze, all unblinking, all relentless, all blank and all filled with millions of thoughts running to their brains.

None of them good.

Henry didn't falter however and like in every other universe, he responded with the same thing.

"..." silence for a few moments and then…

"They will stay in stasis forever and you will never see them again"

And just like that.

In every possible reality.

Henry crossed the girls breaking point.

To them, Henry had no longer any place in their hearts.

The word Henry was now associated with the lowest of vermin and trash that they would use to associate Pyrrha or Cinder.

Every single memory of them together meant absolutely nothing for the girls.

Their eyes no longer looked at Henry with the most minimal amount of love or even respect.

Now he looked the same as any of the people they had killed in the past or are planning to kill on the present.

He was now a target

A monster in their territory.

So when they themselves finally finished processing his words, they did the one thing their bodies were able to do after such a shock.

They laughed.

First with a giggle, then a chuckle then a laugh and finally a maddening cackle that they only let out in their darkest of moments.

The laugh of an absolutely deranged person.

Their laughter echoed with the laughter coming from the infinite other universes, their minds once again breaking as the hopelessness was getting replaced with madness and that madness would soon be replaced with uncontrollable rage they would likely never go back from.

Henry shuddered once, for only once before had he heard such a laughter, in one of their lasts missions together, when they thought he and their children were killed by the forces of Grimm.

And remembering the devastation that followed was enough to force him to keep his guard up in every single universe.

Percival knew this had to end, he knew his other self had lost it and so would the girls if he did not said anything, yet at the same time why should he? He was the first person in the world who wanted to see his older self be ripped to shreds by four enraged psychopaths, he wouldn't hesitate to record it on his scroll and watch it to get better sleep!

But it wasn't his older self that worried him, it was the girls. Sure, the idea of them using him as a replacement for Henry still burned on the back of his mind but…

He remembers his moments with them for the last few weeks. How they behaved themselves around him, always sneaking hugs and kisses, knowing how to help him relax, genuinely laughing at his dumb jokes as if they were the best in the world or trying hard to make him laugh instead, teasing him mercilessly until he was red, protect him from any harm, snuggling with him when he was cold… Help him bring flowers to his mother's statue…

He remembers all the good times he experienced on the short time he knew them, even the times they tried to force themselves upon him or were openly mumbling about their plans to kill anyone who got near him over a predetermined amount of steps, were now a sort of memory he looked with a strange fondness.

But all of that didn't matter as the thing that actually caused him to move was the deep connection he felt when he looked deeply into their eyes and body language. Beyond the layers of madness and desire to kill, he could somehow see beyond, almost as if he was in just the right angle to look to the core of their souls, where four little girls where crying in anguish surrounded by hopelessness over a destiny they couldn't control, having to play the cards for a game they didn't want to play.

They were getting betrayed by the one they hold closest to their hearts, they were getting betrayed by himself no less, and it was within his grasp to reach out and pull them from the abyss before the walls of the house of cards that was their psyche crumbled around them and buried those little girls far beyond his reach in the realms of madness and despair, like it had threaten to done for him many times through his life.

He didn't know where he found the strength to stand up, much less to move as he could still feel the bruise on his stomach ache his very core and insides, a blow so powerful he could feel a bruise forming on his back too, yet he didn't care. He stood up and breathe in as much air as his lungs could before letting out a yell that would seal his fate.

"I'LL DO IT!"

His voice could be heard across all the different multiverses as the laughs die down. The girls turn to look at him in confusion the way a scared animal would, yet he could still see those little girls, looking at him with the smallest shred of hope in their eyes.

Henry only raised an eyebrow in bored interest to have all versions of this Percival react the same way as the matriarch branch was an event so rare that it kept him entertained long enough to listen to his younger self talk.

"I'll obey… I'll yield... I'll listen to your orders… I'll play along with as many changes you make… I'll do anything you tell me to!" Percival begun as he slowly makes his way towards his older self passing to the front of the girls like a shield as they continue to stare at him in confusion and shock.

"I'll do anything… Just please… Give them back their children…" he said making the girls eyes go wide in surprise once again.

Henry kept looking at Percival like he was but an insect, but he continued to wait to see what he would say.

Percival knew what his older self wanted, so he fell to his knees and bowed his head at Henry's feet. He swallowed his pride and despite how much it hurt to go against his own mother's wishes, he knew she would understand if she saw what was a stake.

"I'll abandon my engineering completely to focus in the mission… I'll learn how to use The Darkness… I'll do anything if it means you giving them their children back… Please… I beg of you" he said while trying hard not to vomit over the idea alone of using The Darkness like his old self.

The girls were speechless, they saw Percival letting go of his strongest of convictions, willing to abandon what made him himself just for them to see their children again...

Henry simply raised an eyebrow uninterested, he would do those things regardless if he was cooperative or not, yet to have him cooperate would make things so much easier. Yet he needed the final proof, he needed the final demonstration of his victory over Percival.

"What are you?" He asks the one question to which all Percival's knew the answer, as they all swallowed their pride, close their eyes and chanted in unison with a hopeless and defeated tone.

"I am your puppet…" he says shocking the girls to the core, as every Percival in every multiverse let go of the one thing they had all fought so hard for their entire lives to achieve.

They let go of their freedom.

To see all of the Percival's of the multiverse now submit to him made Henry feel powerful, to know they would all obey his orders as long as the main Percival did meant that he was assuring victory for all of them to live in peace.

A multiverse where it was impossible not to end in victory over the forces of Salem, The Cult of The Dark One and The Darkness. By allowing this one wish, he was basically assuring that everyone who ever crossed him, all suffered the same fate of absolute defeat in an infinite number of different ways. He would be able to witness the fall of those who harmed him an infinite number of times, with an infinite number of variations yet the result always being the same.

For someone who was driven over the desire of revenge, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"You will acquire all the pieces to mother's sword and reforge it, you will follow my instructions no matter what they are, you will learn to use the powers of The Darkness and you will become a skilled fighter" His older self begun before turning towards the now open portal towards his home in between dimensions "Then and only then, will I allow the children into this universe" He said with his blank tone once again. "Do we have a deal?"

Percival stood up, his eyes showing hopelessness for the future but also determination on his decision. "Yes… You've got yourself a deal…" he began before turning his back to him. "Now get the hell out of my workshop" he fought back not to punch his older self for everything he has done yet he knew it wouldn't do any good now. "You have damaged our lives enough for one day… So go away…" his words bear no feelings whatsoever, just the desire for him to leave.

"Glad to be doing business with you" was the last thing Henry said before closing the portal behind him along with the multiple views of the multiverse.

"Screw you, too" Percival mumbled before slowly trying to move towards the stairs of the workshop only to feel his entire body give up on him and fall first face towards the ground.

"PERCIVAL!" the girls yelled finally snapping out of their shock and rushing in to catch him before he fell.

Weiss kneeled down to allow him to rest upon her lap while the rest of the girls huddle around him checking his injuries and bruises before using their powers to slowly heal him along with The Darkness.

"Why?" Asks Yang still confused "Why did you-"

"I couldn't bare to see you like that… To have you experience what I feel everyday… That hopelessness… That despair…" He spoke softly as it really hurt to talk. "He used you and stabbed you in the back when you were no longer useful… I am still unsure if what I feel for you all is something of my own or a change made by Henry… But to do this for you all, that I am certain of… For some reason..." he slowly lifts his hands that the Ruby and Blake soon grasp and hold against their cheeks "We all have chains around our necks… And despite the fact I am goddamned terrified of you all… We need each other… I need you guys" he groans out as he feels his insides rearranging back to normal thanks to their power.

"S-So… Even if I am nothing to the man you fell in love with… I'll stay by your side… Even if I keep straying far from what he was in the future and you realize that I am not the man you fell in love with I-" he was interrupted when Blake covered his mouth with her hand in a way that felt strangely familiar to him.

The four girls were looking at him with joy filled eyes, tears streaming down their faces as a smile was shared among them that almost blinded him with its radiance "You dunce…" began Weiss "No matter the universe, timeline or the circumstances you grow up in…" she lifted up his head so it would rest upon her chest as she wraps her arms around him gently into a hug. A hug Ruby and Blake joined into as Yang moved in to kiss his forehead before pulling her family into her arms to complete the hug.

"You will always be our Percival" the four girls said in unison.

"In every weird, strange and magnificent way imaginable as well as in every bad, off putting or even unusual way possible… We will love you regardless, because you are still our Percival" Ruby says as she starts to cry into his chest.

"And you know what's funny?" Asked Yang with a chuckle mixed with a sob "For all you say that you are nothing like him… No matter the universe, you still stand up for us… You still jump the gun and make decisions you will probably regret and make things all the more difficult for yourself as long as it helps others…" she chuckles "You are anime character predictable… Yet I can't help but root for you…" she hugs her family even tighter.

Blake moves her head so Percival can look into her crying eyes "You are not him, Percival… You are the best parts of him and even more… We will push you forward and stay by your side until we are all turned to dust" she shows her wedding ring before removing it, something the rest of the girls do before giving it one last look before throwing it aside with monstruos force, shattering on impact with the wall.

The girls were hurt, very deeply so, Percival could see it as clearly as day on their eyes, they were only hanging on from complete breakdown.

He was replacing the pillar that Henry and their memories of him left behind. It would tighten the grip on his collar even more, a fact that became obvious by how hard the girls were holding onto him, their nails going through his clothes and almost digging into his skin.

He could feel them shiver against him. Their minds were already as broken as they were when they first met him, but to be discarded like this by Henry had to be a blow that shook them to their very core. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the girls would become even more possesive over him from now on, Percival looks up to see the absolutely insane look in Weiss's eyes as she cradles his head and starts to mumble to herself.

"You are all mine, no one else can have you. You are all mine, no one else can have you. You are all mine, no one else can have you-" Over and over again as she hugs harder and harder almost cutting into his windpipe. Her eyes were fixed into his face, inspecting every detail as she continues to mumble, her emotions allowing the sickening grin of her Dark form to start showing itself on her face as holds onto him tighter and tighter.

He looks at the rest of them only to see similar reactions.

"This one won't go away, he is mine… This one will stay with me. He'll never leave, he can't leave… I'll make sure he is never able to leave me, he belongs to me!-" Yang's insane mumbles as she holds onto his shirt became more and more aggressive as her eyes start turning a hellish red while her grip on his clothes went from a comforting hold to an iron like vice holding him in place.

"That bastard took my babies… He will pay… They'll try to take you from me too… I have to get them first… They want to tear us apart… They have to disappear… They all have to… Only then you will be safe… Only then everything is going to be ok-" Blake says in a barely audible whisper making Percival miss half of what she was saying yet it was clear she had lost it as well, her grin became derange as she started to kiss and bite into the arm she was holding as she goes on in her mumbles.

Ruby however was a different story, she simply took his hand and placed it against her cheek before staring at him with a dead look in her silver eyes, even so Percy could see she was thinking along the same lines as the girls as her look became more and more deranged by the second as the grip on his hand became tighter and tighter. He had to look closely for a moment to see her lips barely moving, she was mumbling something as well, but the volume of her voice was too low to be heard and the speed of which she was mumbling was too quick for him to read it off her lips.

Fear, desperation, obsession, hurt. He sighs as he knows his following action would only make things harder for himself.

He groans as he moves to sit, the girls not struggling as he sits against the wall and pulls them into his arms. They finally start to breath a bit calmer as they snuggle into his chest, his ribs popping back in place as they continue to heal him.

"You and me… That's all that matters now…" He begins as he closes his eyes accepting his fate "Together… Forever…" he whispers as if making a promise, although for him it felt like he was making a deal with the devil.

He didn't need to look at them to know the kind of expressions they were making or what was going on inside their heads, it was all clear to him when their sobbing slowly turned to giggling before progressing into that insane cackling he knew he would be able to hear in his nightmares from now on.

Hello there fledglings of the dark.

Bet you thought I wouldn't continue this?

I can't blame you. I didn't either.

Life has been crazy through all the time I was gone.

Hell, if you take a moment to reminisce all that has happened between this last two chapters, it's almost surreal!

Been quite the hectic year for all of us, don't you think?

I hope you are doing ok.

I myself have gotten better! The reason I was gone for so long was from what I told you about before.

College and a Job.

Well, after many long shifts in many different jobs, a lot of hiccups and face planting HARD into the ground a few times, I am happy to announce I managed to go back into school and found a hopefully stable job doing something I actually love!

Remember when I said I was learning Ren'py? Well, I have gotten involved in the development of a visual novel game funded by ! Nothing programming wise, but as the lead writer!

I have been working in this project for a while now and thanks to it and support from my family, I can pay for school without having to worry about not eating!

But as you can imagine, this job and school as well now take a lot of time from me, but I assure you I'll keep working on this story whenever I have the opportunity!

RWBY: Time Management will never stop! (Until it does when it's completed) Because for some reason there are some weird people out there who actually enjoy this monstrosity!

JK. I love you guys.

Also! Worth mentioning, this story will only follow the cannon up to volume 3. (Because it's when I started it and the show keeps changing and adding elements I would have to forcefully introduce into an already loosley planned story) but i will add things such as characters, locations and plot developments when I can find easy solutions as to how to explain them.

This is a RWBY harem story crossed with Lovecraft and Time Travel for god's sake, you knew very well this was going to be a mess when you started reading. But you have stayed until now so you either like it or are just morbidly curious where I take this.

With that being said, expect more coming! Though I will refrain of giving an exact date for the next release since we have all seen that doesn't work for me. If you are worried about the state of the story or just want to check if I'm still alive, be sure to just drop me a message here, I'll be sure to reply back.

Unless I'm dead. If I message you back after I die you better believe you are in some deep shit, dude/dudette.

I want to especially thank a user by the name of Lewsx. I was in some deep shit when he messaged me and reviewed the story hoping to see more, that and the occasional follow, favorite and so on from other readers interested in this story really made me recover motivation to keep writing this.

And I also thank you, the current reader for not only reading all the way to end, but also getting interested in reading this old story of mine.

You are the people who keep me writing fanfic and I'll keep giving you more to read!

Ok, sappy stuff aside, as usual, here are my artist recommendations! (No longer tumblr blogs since it shit the bed bad, remember that?)

CSLucaris

Saskyang

Pocket-Penny

Dumb_RWBY

Dashingicecream

Aestheticc_Meme = some good nsfw stuff right here.

Please support this guys and any artist you like with their and other social media if you can and like what they produce.

Me? I'm not to picky, all I ask is a review, opinion or a favorite/follow to let me know you are still interested in this story! And mainly because I want to see where can I improve and also read your thoughts on the story! Or what you would like to see next in the story?

Ok, shameless plug done now, this isn't YouTube!

I hope you have a fantastic day and if you are having it rough, remember. If I could come up ahead of bad times, you totally can too! All the bad passes and gives way to new good things! So keep working on improving yourself even in the worse conditions so that when the bad finally comes to pass you can enjoy the good with a whole new you!

Anyway, I've drone on for far too long and I plan on uploading this as soon as I finish writing this, so let's cut to the chase and, As always!

From the Eldritch Depths of my heart where the Key to the Forbidden City lays waiting.

Thank you for reading!

Kami-Nii-Sama