Notes:
This is going to be a lot darker than what I've written before. Consider it practice for Rose Colored Diamonds. Also note, this takes place in an alternate timeline post Volume 3. Maybe a year or two after. This is going to be really a one shot, or a two, if you don't like bad ends. I'll have the good end up, but I feel like the Bad End first is more true to my original concept.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights and properties belong to RoosterTeeth.
Ca Ira
Ruby jolted awake, looking around her sparse room. She wiped the sweat off her brow, checking the time. It was midday. What was she doing to fall asleep…?
The dreams were returning. They'd resurge every month or so. Just a little tingling thing left behind in her mind. Unfamiliar faces, unfamiliar voices. She looked down at the desk in front of her.
Metal bits and pieces littered the table she was sleeping on. A hollowed out radio laid off to the side.
Right. She was working on taking apart a radio that needed repair. Something had jostled the insides, and since she was a great tinker, she took it home to work on it. Ruby looked at the scattered parts, trying to figure out what was where. Her hands brushed against a solid metal piece that was put together on the side.
Ruby picked it up and examined it. It was an innocent looking rod with a blocky thing on the top. She flicked it lightly, like a magic wand, and the thing unfolded smoothly into…a sickle? A scythe?
It looked familiar. As if she had known it at one point. Something Crescent…?
A sharp pain jolted through her head and she immediately dropped the toy scythe. She rubbed the sides of her head, her vision swimming in colors as the pain surged through her skull. Ruby nearly passed out from the agony, and her head dropped heavily onto the desk.
She grasped out to find something that could help. Her hands reached out hungrily, looking for something. Her fingers wrapped around a small tube. She looked at it blearily.
Her headache medicine. Her doctor had prescribed it to her when she complained to him about constant headaches. That was a few months ago, and these things were doing their job well enough. But to her dismay, the bottle was empty. She shook it in frustration before pushing herself up to try and stand.
Ruby toppled over and dropped the empty bottle. The hard plastic clattered away as she lost vision and passed out.
"Little Sis, get up." Ruby blinked a little. The white floors glowed from the stark white fluorescent light above her. That little voice was back in her head. "It's time to wake up."
She felt something cast a shadow over her face, as if something moved to block the light between them. Ruby opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Her vision met with a blinding ray of gold, and she could see some kindness in the woman's lilac eyes.
"What are you doing on the floor? Ruby! Are you okay?" She blinked again and the woman was gone. The tingling sensation in the back of her head was back, and she fought to keep her brain intact.
"I'm…I'm okay." She looked at the bunny girl that helped her up. "Velvet. What happened?"
"I was going to ask you. You missed today's meeting. I wasn't sure what was up, so I came to find you. What happened?"
"I…I think I just passed out." Ruby muttered. She looked around her room. The toy scythe and parts were still scattered all over her desk and floor. Was her room always so grey? Velvet helped her up and Ruby rubbed her pounding head.
"Ruby, what were you doing? What's this?" Velvet bent over and picked up the toy scythe. "You know we're not supposed to make stuff like this!"
"I…I know. I don't know why…" Ruby looked at the rusty scythe, made of cobbled together parts from the radio. "Sorry, I was…fixing this." She pointed at the rusty steel bits and generic brown radio.
Velvet sighed. "That's alright. Just make sure you take it apart before the director comes. He will be absolutely livid." Velvet pat Ruby on her head, causing it to hurt a little more from the small bit of pressure. The two looked around the room a little more. "Oh, the meeting!"
"What…what did I miss?" Ruby asked.
"Everything's gone to hell. Get out of here!" She jumped when she heard a voice practically scream in her ear. Velvet raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, nothing. Just the usual! The breach is contained. The walls are secure. No need to go out to work today." Velvet smiled cheerfully at her partner. Her eyes wandered idly, "We're pretty much free to do whatever to…day…?" Velvet bent over and picked up the dropped prescription bottle. "Ruby. Why is there a bottle on the floor?"
"Huh? OH…uh…my…medicine?" Ruby narrowed her eyes on the green tinted bottle.
"More like poison. Don't take that stuff!" The voice whispered to her ear, causing Ruby to turn around to look at the origin. She felt a sharp pulse in her head, and Velvet put a hand on her shoulder.
"Now, Ruby, what have I told you about staying topped off on medicine?"
"I…Sorry Vel. I kinda forgot. I was doing something when I was supposed to and I forgot to refill it." Velvet handed her the empty bottle.
"Well that just won't do. You know Doctor Uragan will be disappointed in you. I know he punished me pretty hard when I forgot to refill my Bopleca pills!" Ruby could hear how unnervingly cheerful she was about being "punished." Who would get excited about punishment? "Go on, I'll help pick up here. You should go talk to the doctor!" Velvet pushed Ruby gently along and out the door.
Before Ruby could say anything, Velvet had quickly shut the door behind her. Ruby shrugged and turned to look down the halls. Ruby trudged forward reluctantly, fighting the urge to collapse again. She just didn't feel all together.
The drab grey walls were lined with long rectangular pictures. She was used to seeing them every day. Velvet once said that they were all holographic, and changed regularly. She usually dismissed them on her way to meetings. Ruby idly looked around as she walked, looking at the various pictures today.
"Tell me what you see, and I'll show you what you actually see." One of the voices returned and whispered in her ear, causing her to stop. Ruby clutched her head in pain. Again, with the pain. These stupid voices...
She ignored the voice and kept walking, albeit slowly. Ruby kept her eyes to the floor out of habit, especially since she was visiting the medical wing. She really didn't like talking to Doctor Uragan and Doctor Smerch. Even Doctor Grele, who was nicer than the other two, was sometimes very odd.
"Tell me, Sis, what do you see?" Ruby fell forward onto her knees, clutching the searing pain. Her sight went white for a minute as the intense shock went through it. She felt a warm hand gently touch her on the head, and the headache slowly went away. She looked up to see a swish of gold and white, before she blinked again. "Better? Go on, Ru."
Ruby listened to the gentle, caring voice and pushed herself up. She turned her head to face the closest picture, deciding to oblige the little voice before it decides to hit her again with a headache.
The picture featured a young man with blonde hair. He was in the middle of painting something on a canvas. His room was filled with canvases, both discarded and fresh. She couldn't quite see what it was, due to him standing in front of it. She looked at the sign on the bottom: EXNM-JA2401. Ruby didn't look too amused. "S'just a picture of a dude painting." Then she realized it was moving.
The young man slowly dragged the brush across the canvas. The deep red lines on the canvas formed slowly, as he almost reluctantly drew them out in practiced fashion. Ruby watched the picture move a little longer, before the painter angrily grabbed a can of paint by his feet and splashed it all over his newest work. He angrily grabbed the canvas and threw it down, his shoulders rising and lowering slowly as he took deep breaths to calm himself.
"He doesn't deserve this…" The gentle voice came back, causing Ruby to recoil back in pain. She stumbled and caught herself on the opposite wall, blinking away the sudden headache. She looked back at the window. Wait, window?
The painter was huddled in a corner, rocking himself back in forth. His bloodshot eyes were focused on the discarded, ruined portrait he had been working on. In the messy room, Ruby could make out a beautiful woman with brilliant red hair and a bronze headpiece. She tried to put a name to the face, but any tries simply gave her more head pain. Places not occupied by paint cans and canvases were splattered in various hues of paint.
"Ruby, now what are you doing out here…?" She looked up at a woman with bubblegum pink hair. She had a light accent, wore a pristine white lab coat, and carried a small tablet. The tall woman pushed up her glasses and gave her a friendly smile.
"Oh. Doctor Grele…uhm…I was on the way to the medical wing…" She held up the empty bottle.
"Ah, mon cher, you're supposed to keep on top of these things. Il est malsain. Um, to not be topped off on your medicine. I can't imagine your headache right now." The doctor smiled kindly and offered her hand. "Come with me, little Rose."
Ruby nodded, "You don't need to hold my hand."
"Ah, of course. Come along then. Quickly before Uragan makes his rounds." Ruby followed the tall doctor down the hall. Ruby kept her eyes on the floor, focusing on following doctor Grele along. "And how are you feeling today?"
"Uh…just headaches. A lot of them." She looked up briefly and saw Grele nod briefly. Ruby didn't say, but she could feel this...air of malice around her.
Ruby could feel her head quietly pounding away, like a jackhammer on concrete. Every time she blinked, the environment changed. Most of the time, everything was a pristine, science lab white. But just sometimes…walls looked like they were falling apart. It wasn't everywhere. Small panels that were rusted, doors that were ajar, and she was almost certain there was a leaking ceiling.
Without any further questions or conversations, the two entered an examination room. "Ah, here we are. Why don't you have a seat over there…?" Doctor Grele pointed to an empty chair by the main desk. She went to the back storage room that the examination rooms were connected to. Ruby looked around the room while waiting for the doctor.
"Stop refusing to see. Why can't you open your eyes?" Ruby grit her teeth and endured the headache.
Everything seemed clean for the most part. However, she did notice a few odd things standing out. The desk was rather messy, with notes scattered all over the place. The posters weren't the health warnings or tips that she had grew accustomed to seeing when she visited. They looked more like propaganda posters.
Ruby squinted, and she could swear that the glass cabinets that hung above a counter was filled with jars of preserved organs.
Her eyes wandered from the counter to the left and looked at the…bed. The examination bed that she laid on before had turned into an interrogation table. Leather straps on the top and bottom to restrain patients. A large collection of tools on a moving mechanical arm hung limply off to the side. Above the "examination" table was a single very bright lamp. The once pristine tiles around the bed were permanently stained a dark red from the blood the troughs on the side failed to catch.
She stood up from her seat in disbelief, turning to see the "chair" she had been sitting on was designed for interrogation. Leather straps and various tools hung around the black chair.
She stared slack jawed at the table. Thoughts, memories, terror came flooding back to her.
Ruby remembered. Who she was, where she was…everything.
Being strapped down to the table. Doctor Grele standing above her with a wicked smile.
The whirling of the drills and tools. The pain. The agony.
The suffering of being unable to do anything.
The screams. The cruel, inhumane laughter. The sight of her friends getting tortured in front of her as she sat helpless.
The blood. Oh sweet Oum, the blood.
"Don't trust her. I'm tellin' you sis." The voice returned. This time much louder. The pounding in Ruby's head began again, this time as if it was back with a vengeance. Ruby put a hand on her head and leaned forward in pain. She felt her knees give away and she tumbled forward, landing on the cold tile floor.
"Get up and run while you can!" Ruby grit her teeth and pushed herself up.
"Mh…" She heard Doctor Grele's sing-songy voice say behind her. "Donc, il est vrai. You have been ignoring your medication…oh, but for how long?" Ruby looked up at the doctor from the floor. Doctor Grele's bubblegum pink pony tail was now a grey one. Her pristine lab coat and scientist outfit had acquired a lot more red stains, and the bottom hem of her coat had frayed to nonexistence. The ragged look matched the wicked, psychopathic grin that stretched across the woman's face.
Her once beautiful features were marred with scars and lacerations; most prominently the massive scar on her lower left jaw. Ruby recognized the scar – she had given it to her when she shot the doctor in the face. The bullet had torn open her jaw.
"Y-you…you're…" The doctor clapped her hands together and hummed.
"Ah, Ça ira. Ça ira. It will be fine…let the good doctor take care of you little girl." Doctor Grele pulled out a capped syringe from her coat. "Everything will be fine. Oui?" Ruby backed away as she pulled the safety cap off. "Now, now, don't be naughty. Uragan and Smerch will be very disappointed in you."
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" The voice in her head shouted. Through the blistering pain, Ruby found a flame in her heart. She felt her latent semblance activate – speed.
She burst forward, roughly tackling the woman and slamming her into the wall with all her speed. Doctor Grele grunted and dropped the syringe. Ruby scrambled off her and picked up the syringe. With a warcry, she jammed the syringe into Grele's exposed neck, pushing the purple contents quickly into her.
Doctor Grele struggled to fight off the younger girl. Ruby held her still as the needle's contents worked its sick magic, and Grele's eyes emptied. Her arms went slack and her head lolled onto the right, her eyes drained of energy. Ruby backed off and stared at the doctor.
Ruby pushed open the door to the hall and looked around. The "medical wing" was brightly lit, but the walls and floor were covered in debris or fluids of questionable origin. She heard a howl of anger and turned around.
At the end of the hallway, opposite of the path to her room, stood an absolutely huge beowolf. The monster's piercing grey eyes bored into her soul, as it pointed at her with a wicked claw. "You, child. I should have dealt with you." The deep, gravel like voice roared. "But Marie wanted to play with you."
"Doctor Uragan…you're…what are you?!" Ruby called out, stepping back.
"Shut up and run, you idiot!" A voice cried out.
The thing didn't deign her a response, and simply charged through the hallway. The massive half man, half grimm sprinted through obstacles to get to Ruby, knocking over benches, debris, whatever was in the way to get to her. She didn't stay still long. With another burst of speed, Ruby disappeared down the halls.
Ruby sprinted toward her room. She needed to find something to fight him with. If she was going to fight at all.
"Probably not. I don't normally say this but…" A little voice in her head spoke. "Just run!"
The sudden pain from the voice jolted her out of her attention, causing her to slip on a puddle of water. Ruby tumbled hard and crashed in a heap. She pushed herself up slowly, looking at the pool of water caused by the broken fire suppression system above her.
Her heart sank upon eye contact with her reflection.
Gaunt. Underfed. Exhausted. Her once short hair had grown out to be roughly shoulder length, if not longer. She could see the skin pulled taut around her neck bone. Her already thin features already made her look more like a skeleton than a living being. Ruby felt ill, looking at the malnourished reflection of her own body. She only wore a loosened strait jacket with grey pants.
THUMP
Ruby jumped from her reverie and looked behind her. The distinct crash of doors being smashed open behind her was not a good sign in the least.
She pushed herself off the floor quickly and looked around. Ruby bolted into an empty room. It was some kind of derelict locker room, which Ruby was thankful for. She pulled open one of the furthest ones and quietly closed it with a soft creak.
Ruby jumped when she heard a crash outside in the hallway. The low growl of a predator on the move echoed into her room. It was joined by another one. Ruby huddled at the bottom of the locker, and closed her eyes. She held onto her head, as if she was trying to make herself disappear into nothingess.
"You let her get away? The queen will be displeased." She heard a slightly higher pitch voice growl. She could recognize it as the warped voice of "doctor" Smerch.
"Shut up." Uragan growled back. "She's here. I don't see why we need to keep her alive." Ruby could swear she heard the soft padding footsteps enter the room.
Smerch chuckled, "Why brother, if I did not know better, I would think you simply enjoy hanging rebels in public forum. You know how well that worked last time." Uragan growled at him again, "Why, remember that long legged blonde? The one with the riding crop? You seemed to enjoy being…smacked around by her." Some more shuffling as the two monsters moved.
Ruby's blood turned to ice as she listened. "Do not speak of her." Uragan roared at his brother, "YOU messed up that trap." A sharp SLAP rang out in the empty halls, and Uragan's gravel like voice echoed. "YOU. You dare?! I will tear you apart brother." Another sharp slap rang out, and Uragan roared.
"Enough of your empty threats. Where is she?" Smerch demanded, his voice hardening to granite. "If you had lost the figurehead of the resistance…well…"
Resistance…
That's right. She was part of the resistance that opposed Cinder and her master's plan. She had been caught along with Velvet, Jaune, and some others trying to…something about assassinating a scientist working for Cinder? She racked her aching brain for more details.
How long ago was that? She had lost track of time since her captivity started. Even more so when the torture started.
Ruby was jolted out of her thoughts when the locker door she had been hiding behind was forcibly pried open. Uragan ripped the door off the hinges and tossed it aside, causing Ruby to jump at the loud metal clatter.
Uragan swiftly snatched Ruby by her throat, holding her up in a death grip. He lifted her light frame up with ease, and glared at her. His piercing eyes felt like they bored holes into her skull. "You have been causing a lot of trouble little one."
Ruby struggled in his grip, as Uragan slowly tightened his hold, "But…" Uragan looked at Smerch for confirmation, "You don't die today…" Ruby's vision swam as the werewolf suffocated her. She couldn't even make the breath to scream.
"Hold on a little longer, sis. Please! Just a little longer." The word 'longer' echoed in her mind as she blacked out.
Ruby jolted awake, looking around her sparse room. She wiped the sweat off her brow, checking the time. It was still midday.
Metal bits and pieces littered the table she was sleeping on. A hollowed out radio laid off to the side.
Right. She was working on taking apart a radio that needed repair. Something had jostled the insides, and since she was a great tinker, she took it home to work on it.
Ruby looked at the scattered parts, trying to figure out what was where. Her hands brushed against a solid metal piece that was put together on the side.
Ruby picked it up and examined it. It was an innocent looking rod with a blocky thing on the top. She flicked it lightly, like a magic wand, and the thing unfolded smoothly into…a sickle? A scythe?
A sharp pain jolted through her head and she immediately dropped the toy scythe. She rubbed the sides of her head, her vision swimming in colors as the pain surged through her skull. Ruby nearly passed out from the agony, and her head dropped heavily onto the desk.
She grasped out to find something that could help. Her bruised and bandaged hands reached out hungrily, looking for something. Her fingers wrapped around a small tube. She looked at it blearily.
"Fight it, sis." A voice cried from insider her head. With one hand on her head, she clutched onto the bottle tightly. She fought the ingrained, muscle memory of picking up the bottle and taking a pill.
"Don't. You'll forget!" Her vision blurred as the searing pain burned through her mind.
"Please...please Ruby..." Ruby shook out a single grey colored pill and tossed it back, swallowing the bitter headache medicine. The pain subsided almost instantly, and Ruby smiled dully. Doctor Grele's medicine always worked quickly.
Ruby put the bottle back down, looking back at her work.
What was it that Doctor Grele always said? Ah yes.
Ah, Ça ira. Ça ira…It'll be fine.
Ruby went back to work on the radio, humming to herself.
Notes:
At this point, you're all probably going: dude, you are screwed in the head. Well! Let me just say...so is the team behind We Happy Few. Great looking game, that is.
To be honest, I got inspiration from watching Achievement Hunter play a little of it. I wasn't interested in gameplay, but the whole notion of an entirely drugged up society ignoring the true problems of the world seemed like a great premise. Joy pills are a crazy drug. In my story, they're Blopeca pills. I might bring them back in other writings. Seem too interesting to just leave in a one/twoshot.
So I translated it over. It's a little messed up to use Ruby, I admit, since she's the youngest and the most innocent of the entire group. But I think it worked out. I combined that with the french saying "Ca Ira" which comes from the French Revolutionary anthem Ah! Ca Ira. I've always wanted to have a crazy French doctor instead of a crazy German one. Mix that in with an idea that Ruby and some others were captured, and well...this happens.
I should note, I really don't particularly like downer endings. I actually have an alternate (happier) ending for this. I'll probably throw it up alongside, in case people don't like bad endings.
This was very different for me to write, since I'm so used to writing action/slice of life. To be honest, I'm not sure if this is even any good.
But I hope you as readers enjoyed this.