RWBY Through Worlds (End)

226: What I See

"Mother!" Clara's middle child came to fetch her from the study. "Aunt Alice is acting so strangely."

"Strangely?" Clara looked up.

"For her?" Her husband, Patton, who was reading the paper in a different chair, looked up.

"Even for her, yes." Clara's middle child, Chester, who was nearly 13, was well aware of Alicia's oddness compared to other adults and usually took the same wry approach to it that Clara herself did.

"I know one of her 'assignments' was troubling her," Clara said with a significant look to her husband.

He knew something of what Alicia did, though not as much as Clara herself.

"Better see to her then," he said.

Clare didn't bother to excuse herself further. She hurried out of the room.

Chester, who was usually just called Chip by his family when company wasn't around, led her out of the garden.

Alicia had been having a game with the younger children there, where they all pretended to be big chess pieces and moved according to whoever was 'queen or king'. 

But she was sitting on the grass with no regard for stains to her skirt and gazing into nowhere with tears going down her face.

This was quite frightening to her youngest nieces and nephews, who didn't understand why any grown woman would cry after playing a game unless she lost.

"She's just having a woman's problem," Clara said to them.

This was always her words for when she had a problem she couldn't explain to her children, and they usually accepted it without question.

With odd looks at her, they nodded.

"Why don't you get a snack for the pantry? I will help your aunt," Clara said.

They scurried off to do this welcome activity.

Clara wasn't sure whether to disturb Alicia or not, as she appeared to be in some kind of vision.

But she began to worry it had gone on too long.

Still...

However, she also knew that you couldn't force Alicia out of her visions, and she would answer you if you spoke to her while she was in them only as she might talk to a dream person.

But deciding it might be better to try than to wait, Clara spoke. "What are you seeing, Dearest?"

Alicia twitched a little, so she must have heard her.

Then she sighed and looked up. "It's over."

"What... what is?" Clara had an idea but didn't want to say. If she was wrong she'd only upset her.

"The whole ordeal of that closed off world," Alicia said. "I told you, the other day... they were close... Well, it's over. The gods have departed Remnant, and I do not think they will ever return to that world."

"Oh... my..." Clara was quite surprised.

She knew little of foreign gods, but it seemed quite a feat to displace them so completely.

"So, all will be all right now?" she said.

"I suppose it will be," Alicia said oddly, standing up finally and brushing grass off her skirt without much care for it. "But I saw further than that. Only glimpses, but I do declare, sister, it's not quite how we expected. I do not know whether it's better or not--but no, of course anything the Lord does must be for the best."