"Mommy, mommy!"

A woman turned from her work at the bench, smiling when her two little girls came running up to her. "Yes dears?"

The older of the two thrust a book forward, her dull yellow pajamas rustling together. "Read us the story again!"

Her mother smiled. "Oh, that's a long book. Are you sure?"

They both nodded, one with gold hair, and the other with red-tipped ebony locks, falling down to cover both their faces. Their mother giggled and took the book from the blonde's hands, leaving her work for later. "Alright, if you're sure. Come along, let's get you two in bed."

Her daughters grabbed her hands, and pulled her out of the workroom and up the stairs. Her husband was out on a hunt this week, so the house was all but silent. She paused at the door to the girls' room, smiling as they raced to their beds. A single chair stood between the beds, awaiting its occupant.

"You two should have told me sooner," she laughed. "I'd have started reading earlier if you'd told me after dinner."

Her youngest daughter bounced on her bed. "But we didn't know we wanted you to!"

Her mother laughed again. "Alright, alright. Now, I'll start at the beginning, ok? However, I stop when I say we stop."

Her daughters' faces scrunched up at the idea, but they gave in. "Fiiiiiiine."

Their mother rolled her eyes at the simultaneous response. "Ok then, here we go."

She pulled the book open and took a deep breath. "The story of man is a complicated one, but perhaps the most disputed is how he came to be. This tale has a lesser known, mythical origin."

She glanced to her daughters and found them staring at her, bored. She hid a smirk and kept going. "In the beginning, there were two gods. The elder of the two was a creator of light and life, whilst his younger brother was a destroyer that sucked all into darkness. The eldest created a planet that, on every morning, would be filled with life, and flourish for as long as the sun held in the sky."

She glanced at her daughters again, their faces growing a tad more interested. "However, every night the younger would swallow the world in darkness, and snuff out the life that had grown. This cycle continued for untold ages, before one day, the eldest stepped forward to find a miracle."

She had their attention now. "Some of his creations had survived. From grand snakes that stretched across mountain ranges, to the smallest unicorn that could call forth lightning, they had fought off the darkness and survived. While the older brother was pleased, the younger was infuriated and went against his purpose. He made something."

Her daughters were enraptured. "What'd he make?"

She smiled at her youngest. "Hush, Ruby, I'm getting to that. Ahem! Anyway, he created creatures of shadow bearing a single purpose, destruction. These creatures were modeled after the creations of his brother, and for an eternity the two forces waged war. Eventually, growing tired of the ceaseless conflict, the older brother offered his younger brother a way to solve the dispute."

She looked to her daughters, their eyes shining. "They would make something that had both good and evil in them, so that they may choose the fate of the world. They gathered the dust of creation in their hands, and from it rose humanity. The creatures of shadow, what we now call Grimm, were unmoved by the arrival of man, but the original creations felt betrayed by the elder brother. Generations of them had fought and died in the war with the Grimm, and now they were to be replaced."

She cleared her throat, taking a sip of water from a glass sitting conveniently on the nightstand behind her. "After man was created, the sibling gods left the world to observe the outcome from afar, swearing on ancient laws to never interfere. The Grimm continued their march of destruction, adding the newborn humanity to its targets. The original creations, known to the new humans as the Grand Beasts, declared war against the new race, and humanity soon found itself pushed to the edge of extinction."

She took another breath. "But, the humans were far more tenacious and clever than either side gave them credit for. The humans searched for anything that could help against the onslaught, and developed the weapons and techniques that kept both of their enemies at bay. Then, the turning point came when they found the one thing only they could use."

Her eldest giggled. "Dust!"

She smiled at her eldest. "Yang, hush, I'm almost done. The discovery of Dust put the humans on an even playing field with the Grand Beasts, and made them superior to the Grimm. However, the leaders of humanity at the time knew that to defeat the Grand Beasts would cripple humanity. Thus, they devised a ritual that used much of the Dust they had to seal the Grand Beasts deep in the earth. The force of the ceremony shattered the moon and split the land into separate continents and islands."

She could see the girls getting sleepy, time to wrap things up. "Humanity grew from those disparate parts into the kingdoms we know today. The Huntsmen and Huntresses that were trained during the war drove away the Grimm, and peace reigned across the world. However, deep in the earth, the Grand Beasts stewed in their anger and rage. The power that came from that anger could seep through the seal, and thereby allowed the beasts a limited influence in the world. That influence is said to be the origin of the Faunus, as the beasts' energy changed babies yet to be born."

She closed the book with a thud. "And that's the story of how humanity began. Did I use too many big words, girls?"

She glanced to her daughters when no response came. They were sound asleep.

She smiled and tucked them into bed, kissing the crowns of their heads, before flicking off the light and closing the door. She glanced down at the book and flipped to the back, names of the Grand Beasts staring back at her.

Rathalos

Barioth

Nargacuga

Zinogre

Dalamadur

Rukodiora

Shagaru Magala

And so many more. There were at least six pages detailing the names of the Grand Beasts, and she had an idea pop into her head.

"I wonder…" She wandered down the hall, her mind playing with the idea that had come to her. It was intriguing, but it spit in the face of everything she'd ever learned.

"Hmm, a thought for another time. I need to get those calibrations done before my hunt next month." She hummed as she went back to her work, the book left on the kitchen counter for the night.

-Patch, Winter—

A lone figure in a bright red cloak stood alone beside a cliff face, staring at the slab of stone before them. On it sat a single stylized rose, with a name and sentence below it.

Summer Rose

Thus Kindly I Scatter.

The figure laid a single white rose on the slab, a tattered book held in her hand. "Happy Birthday, mom." The voice was of a young girl, the cloak billowing in the wind to reveal a black and red skirt, with a black corset tied by red string. A black shirt sat under the corset, the long sleeves lined with red, and a simple belt with a stylized rose buckle that was identical to the one on the grave looped around the girl's waist. Her hood remained up, but the cold wind tickled her dark, red tinted hair.

She sighed and turned around, walking into the forest behind her. She could see shadows dancing at the corners of her eyes, and sighed when she entered a clearing. Before her stood a pack of Beowolves, their orange eyes glaring from the bony masks.

One of them growled and charged her, intent on spilling her guts across the snow. Instead, she vanished from view, leaving red petals to float in the air where she'd been, with black and red energy crackling between them.

The Beowolf froze and she reappeared behind it, a large scythe held in her hands. Two halves of the four-legged Grimm fell in two opposite directions, before the other members of the pack charged as well. She flipped her scythe around and planted the blade into the earth. Her finger found a switch and a shot rang out over the growls, punctuating a hole that was punched through the leading wolf. She fired three more shots before the wolves were on her, and she yanked the scythe from the earth.

Her first slash slew one of the wolves, and she started using the shots she had left to boost her momentum, spinning and twirling amongst the wolves until one caught her off guard. Her weapon took the brunt of the attack, and she stood on the shaft after landing. There were more of the wolves gathering with every moment, and she finally groaned.

"Geez, I gotta get home! Yang'll kill me if I'm not back in an hour!"

The wolves were unmoved.

She sighed. "Fine, let's get this over with."

She took a deep breath, and flared the energy she could feel in her core. Black and red lightning crackled about her, forming a veil of rose petals from the energy. Her eyes opened and one silver eye glared, while the other orb, a blood red iris with a white pupil, met the eyes of the wolves.

Her eyes narrowed. "Leave."

The wolves hesitated before turning tail and dashing into the forest, their desire for survival outweighing their desire for destruction.

The young girl sighed when the last one fled, her Aura settling down. It was annoying having to do that since it drained about a quarter of her Aura, but at least she didn't have to deal with most Grimm if she didn't want to.

After all, even Grimm fear the Stygian.