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Chapter 12: What I Gained

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On the first day, Reah panicked. After the car crash, she had found herself in a dark room all alone. She had a sudden urge to cry. When she did, a middle-aged man entered the room and turned on the light. She was carried in his arms and lulled to sleep by his voice, whispering to calm her down.

Upon waking up the second time, she had thought things through to some extent. This was thanks to her logical mindset in her past life.

= This isn't hell.= she thought. = I haven't been forsaken yet. =

Thinking to get up and find her way home, she tried to move and realized her body would not move the way she wanted. She was back as a baby, reborn anew.

= Oh fuck no. = She had reincarnated didn't she. Her death was still fresh in her mind. Robin's was just as fresh, and now she's transformed into a baby again. She understood, but at the same time was confused. This was not logical, but it made the most sense out of everything else. All she could do was wait and see.

The old man came back every morning to change her diaper and feed her. He spent a lot of effort to make sure she had everything she needed. When they went to bed, she would listen to his stories and found out that she had not reincarnated as a baby on Earth, but a world called Remnant. He spoke of heroes and warriors fighting the evils that were the creatures of Grimm.

Does this mean she would get a new chance to live her life? Had Robin forgiven her? As if, but she didn't know that. Every night, she would go to sleep, and every night, Robin would appear. First he was smiling at her. Then, he was hanging there on the ceiling fan as a corpse. His final words whispering into her ear.

“You monster.”

= I'm sorry, Robin. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. =

Stricken with fear, her childish body had frequently started crying in the middle of the night. The man would rush into the room and quietly hold her and comfort her to sleep. The soothing voice calmed her down and sent her to sleep.

As time past, she forced herself to face reality. Robin was dead, gone forever from her life. The ghost of her nightmares was nothing more than a nightmare. However, she was not in denial. She was perfectly aware these nightmares were a result of her guilty conscience, but she was at a lost.

The one man who could possibly give her a sense of closure was not there. So how could she possibly find it in her to forgive herself for murdering him? How could she know that he would forgive her? The only thing she could do was remember his last words. In order to maintain her sanity, she turned her attention towards her new home.

It was small home outside of the kingdom. There were two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Rather than calling it a home, it was more like a secret hideout. Two years had past since her transition inside the body. Currently, she was now three years old. When she walked around and looked outside, there was no other houses nearby. The home was in the middle of a clearing of some forest south of the kingdom of Vale.

The only other person who lived there was the man that took care of her. Apparently, his name was Qrow Xiao Long. He was gentle and doted on her. Whenever she had a question, he answered to the best of his ability. The only thing he always avoided was...

“Uncle Qrow, where is mom and dad?”

His facial expression stiffen slightly, but immediately returned to his normal facial expression. As expected of a professional Huntsman. Unfortunately, Reah had repeated this conversation more than enough times to notice this little detail.

“It's too early for you to know right now, Reah; you wouldn't understand. When you get older, I'll tell you.”

Qrow waved off the topic, but Reah was determined to get the answer. Information was precious; in her past life, she literally lived off of rumors.

“Uncle Qrow you always say that. I do understand, and I want to know why is it I'm living here all alone with you.”

Qrow stood up and hushed her. Before he could get to the front door, Reach blocked the path. Sometimes, he would leave and not come back until the end of the day. Whatever it was he did, it took all day. Today, she would get answers.

“Uncle Qrow, I understand that my mother and father are not like normal parents in those stories. Our family can't possibly be normal if you hide me from the world like this. Please tell me.”

Reah looked up at his face. Qrow looked deep into these red eyes and observed her short, wavy black hair flowing back and forth as she moved. He was baffled as to why a child would have such a deep understanding. Despite his confusion, he could see in her eyes an unrelenting spirit. He sighed.

“I knew you were gonna have to know sooner or later, but I wanted you to forget it for as long as possible.”

“Uncle Qrow, keeping me all alone in a forest isn't something to do to keep me from figuring out you're not hiding something.”

“...I suppose you're right. Come sit down if you're that determined. I must warn you. This will hurt you more than you think.”

They sat at the dinner table. Reah stared at him, and he stared at her back. After a couple of seconds, he began.

“You know from the stories about the four kingdoms where the heroes fight the creatures of Grimm to protect their land right?” Reah nodded.

“Well the four kingdoms know for a fact that no person can live forever, and these heroes were talents that would become legends. However, even after their passing, the kingdoms needed military might in order to oppose the Grimm. You are familiar with the fact that Dust is extremely important yes? Well, that's not the only thing.

Aura is also important. All the living beings had auras and are natural enemies of the Grimm. If trained and used correctly, humans could fight and defeat the Grimm. Thus, the government in each the four kingdoms seeked the knowledge of Aura-- or more specifically, how to replicate it. The more aura one has, the stronger you are naturally. Understanding this, the kingdoms started three projects: Project A, Project G, and Project D.

They stand for Aura, Dust, and Grimm. The one related to you is Project A. They started starting experiments to investigate aura and how to use it. This boosted the development of our modern day weapons which are conduits for aura and can use Dust. One of the main ways they used to study aura was to make use of a living being to be a living supply source for experiments.

Naturally, they couldn't get people to volunteer for such a task. It was hidden from the public. Since there are no slaves, they used clones. Clones of people at a very young age, so they grow up in a test tube supplying auras in their experiments. The children wouldn't even know why and once they were too old, they were disposed of. The Project directors' argument was that they weren't supposed to exist, so it was fine, but the government thought otherwise and shot it down.

Reah, your father is still alive. His name is TaiYang Xiao Long, my brother. Three years ago, he and your mother gave birth to their first child. Her name is Yang. However, unknown to both me and him, she was actually a part of a Project A remnant group. She used her own daughter's cells from when she was still in the fetus stage to be used in the experiments.

Shortly after giving birth to Yang, she disappeared. We didn't realize why she had left until one day I was assigned a mission from the kingdom. To eliminate the remainder of Project A. In that list, Reah, was your mother. Chasing clues and hunting dead ends after dead ends, I finally found the hideout. But it was empty. All was abandoned, devoid of life except for yours. Reah, you are a byproduct of Project A.”

All of this was too much to take in. Reah collapsed against the chair, leaning back and holding her head.

“I.. need a bit of time to think.”

Reah stood up and walked over to her room and collapsed on the bed. Her mind was swimming with thoughts. Then she started laughing.

=.. hahahahaha. WOW! So in essence, my entire existence is a lie. This body is already tainted-- injected with who knows what drugs. HAHAHAHAHA! My own mother used me as a lab rat and tossed me aside when she needed to escape! Holy shit this is so messed up! Haha..... huk =

Tears started rolling down her cheeks. Even if she was reborn, she had nowhere to go. Stricken with a guilty conscience and an existence that wasn't even meant to be, what was she supposed to do now? What happened had already happened before she came into this body. And there was no changing it. That was the rule. The order of this world.

They needed to fight, so they did anything to get there. It was just like before, and just like before, she got the short end of the stick. Only this time, she can't do a damn thing about it. All she had left was a guilty conscience. So what could she do?

= … what can I do? This world is so unfair. Putting people in situations they didn't ask for. Making them suffer for no reason. God damn it! Why me?!...was that how you felt Robin? =

In all her suffering, she once more turned to the figure that she would never meet again. Somehow along the way, the figure of the boy she killed became a support in her life. Everything had begun revolving around him. She began starting to talk to herself, questioning..

= Did it feel like this? To be betrayed by someone who you thought you could trust? To be played with and then thrown away like some disposable toy? God I wish you were here Robin. I want to tell you how sorry I am. How much I regret putting you through so much pain. Even if you don't forgive me, please let me see you again. I can't take this anymore. =

Curling up into a ball, Reah cried and cried. Qrow had opened the door and entered the room. He sat on the bed next to her and patted her head gently.

“It's ok Reah. Even if you think everyone looks at you like you're worth nothing, you must understand that your life is just as precious as the next one. You can't look at yourself as if you are a worm. You are special, just like everyone else.”

Reah gradually calmed down and asked, “Where is dad now?”

“Your father lives in Vale. Along with your twin sister Yang and her younger sister Ruby.”

“Younger sister? I thought you said she left after having Yang and I.”

Qrow shook his head.

“No no no. Ruby is the daughter of your father and another woman. Just like your mother, she was also on our team when we fought together. We were truly a fantastic team.”

“You were on a team together?”

“Yep. Me, Udane, Summer, and your father Taiyang. We were Team QUEST (QUST). Fighting Grimm and keeping our country safe.”

A light bulb went off in her head. Reah immediately sat up and looked at Qrow in the eyes. She knew what she wanted to do.

“I want to become a Huntress.”

“What?”

“I want to become a Huntress. To become strong and do justice. Not something pure like protecting the weak, but for peace and order. I don't care how dirty it is Uncle. I'll do it all. Ah, one more thing: I want a new name.”

Reah on Earth died once already, killing an innocent youth in the process. The Reah in Remnant died when her mother abandoned her. This life she had now is new and fresh. Even if Robin would never forgive her, she would use this life to do the one thing she felt was right: Keeping order. But it wouldn't be like before. No, she learned her lesson. Her order would keep peace, and in order to do that, she would be willing to do anything. Maybe, just maybe, when this life ends she can walk up to Robin in heaven and beg for forgiveness there. First, she needed to redeem herself.

“...Are you sure? The kind of job I do is in no way clean. A girl like you should be living inside the kingdom normally.”

“I'm sure. Please give me a new name Uncle.”

“..very well. I'll teach you all I can about fighting and Huntresses. From this moment on, your new name shall be--

Raven.”

What can I say? I'm a liar. You get another chapter. So, RWBY fans. You surprised yet? What do you guys think?

I was a bit worried this chapter was gonna be too long. I hope nothing came out unnatural. Tell me what you guys think. Was her mindset change weird or plausible? Your opinions help me shape my story to help you understand the nonsense in my head.