Secret Stories
Mixed emotions, mysterious questions, and some very odd games
[Author's Note: This story follows the story A New Board, A New Game, and is the seventh episode of Volume 7. It also connects to the Darkpenn story When Weiss Finds Myrtenaster.]
Ruby was sitting next to Weiss by the side of Weiss' mother's bed.
"I ... I don't know what to say," said Ruby.
Weiss nodded. "And I don't know what I'm supposed to feel," said Weiss. "Relieved to have found her, sad to see her like this, mystified as to how all this happened, happy to have found Klein again, angry – even more angry – at my stepfather ... it's all mixed up."
Ruby glanced at a label on one of the machines next to the bed, the one that monitored brain activity. It showed a path of moving, squiggly lines. "Weiss," she said. "What is your mother's name? Her first name, I mean."
"Weide," said Weiss. "But some people called her Willow, which is what Weide means in some old language, I think. Why do you ask?"
"It ... it's just that ... well, I once heard my mother mention that she had a friend named Willow. I don't recall ever seeing her, though."
"Gosh. Do you think it could be the same woman?"
"I suppose it's not impossible. But I can't think of why or how they should know each other. Hmm, Weiss, tell me something. How did you get your sword?"
"I found it. In a forgotten part of the mansion, an old library. When I was fourteen. I remember because it was the day after my birthday."
"And why did you go to that room?"
Weiss stared at her friend. "Because Klein suggested it," she said. "His gift to me was an old bicycle, and I rode it all around the mansion. And eventually found that library, and then Myrtenaster. It was finding the sword that made me determined to train as a Hunter. Actually, I always had the feeling that it found me. Ruby, what aren't you telling me?"
Ruby pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. "Look at this," she said. "It's a copy of a picture in the Book of Relics. If it is of Myrtenaster, then your sword was originally owned by a Summer Maiden called Treu. She bequeathed it to the line of Summer Maidens."
"Then why should it be in Schnee mansion? Unless ... "
They both looked at the woman in the bed. "No," said Weiss. "It ... it isn't possible. Although ... although ... it might explain a few things."
"The book said that the line of Summer Maidens was very ill-fated. The power was often passed to people who were untrained or unprepared. Whether that includes your mother ... well, who knows. It would explain why there has been no trace of a Summer Maiden for the years she has been like this."
Weiss stared at her mother, expressionless.
"And there is something else you might want to consider," said Ruby. "If your mother really is the Summer Maiden, and if she dies – which you told me is entirely possible, according to the doctors – the power might pass to you. Because if she has dreams – and that machine says that she does – they might well be of one she loves."
Weiss started. "Wh ... what?" she said. "No, I couldn't ... I couldn't become the Summer Maiden. I ... I'm just not suitable."
"I don't think that it's something you choose."
"But ... but ... I mean, I'm really not suitable. Not worthy. Let me tell you something, Ruby, but you must never say it to anyone else. The truth is, I'm often really scared when we do the things we do. The first time I faced Grimm, that day in the forest, I was terrified. When we fought Roman Torchwick in that big robot, I could hardly stop shaking. And in the Battle of Beacon, all I could think about was how many enemies there were, Grimm and White Fang soldiers and Paladins. When we fought Cinder and the others at Haven, I was so scared I could hardly move. I was even scared the first time I got onto Yang's bike, to go through Raven's portal. But you others ... well, you're so clever, and Yang is so strong, and Blake is always so calm and steady. I'm none of those things."
Ruby smiled. "Not being scared of scary things doesn't mean you're brave," she said. "It means you're an idiot. And in each of those cases, and all the others, the thing is that you were scared and yet stepped up anyway."
"But I had to. For the team, for you, to save other people. It had to be done."
"Which," said Ruby, "is my point exactly."
"Huh. Well, that's easy for you to say. You never get scared."
"Well, if that's what you think, then all my pretending has obviously worked. Hey, you want to know something? The first time I got on the back of Yang's bike, I was so petrified I couldn't hold on, and I fell off. But Yang and Dad made me try again. And then I fell off again."
"And then you were alright?"
"Er, no. It took me quite a few tries. Actually, fifteen. Even then I was pretty bad at it."
"And the moral of the story?"
"Think carefully before doing anything at all with Yang. Not much of a moral, now I think about it."
Weiss gave a little smile. She looked at her mother. She said: "Klein said that he was going to try to find those guys who tried to jump us, see if he could get the name of whoever hired them. I told him that while he did that I would take over looking after her and reading to her. To tell the truth, it makes me feel a bit closer to her."
"Uh, Weiss, is it, you know, is it alright if I stay here a bit longer, with you and her? Would you mind if I read a little to her?"
Weiss smiled again. "Of course you can," she said.
Ruby took the Book of Relics from her bag.
The two of them were in the room of a back-alley prosthetics surgeon in Atlas. He was fitting a mechanical arm onto Cinder.
"Cinder," said Emerald. "Do you know what this is?" She handed her the palm-sized disk. One side was a mirror, the other was covered with strange symbols and markings.
Cinder examined it. "Where did you get this?" she said.
"I lifted it from Watts in the fight. Along with his portal stone. Unfortunately, that ended up in the hands of the big girl from Team RWBY. Yang, her name is. You know, the one with the guns. She used it to open the portal that we pushed Watts and Callows through."
Cinder flexed the artificial limb. It was not especially pretty but at least it was functional.
"Now, the eye," she said to the surgeon.
"Sorry, don't handle them," said the surgeon. "Best I can offer is a mask to hide the scars." He pointed to a range of them on a rack. Cinder selected a dark red one, and the surgeon fitted it.
"What do you think?" she said to Cinder. "Impressed?"
"I have always been impressed," said Emerald.
Cinder smiled her crooked smile. She touched Emerald's face – and then, suddenly, slapped her.
Emerald started with the shock. She touched her stinging cheek – and then smiled.
Cinder smiled again. "This portal," she said. "Do you know where it led?"
"I only caught a glimpse but it looked like some sort of desert. The odd thing was that there was something there that looked like a table. Still, it must have been somewhere that Yang had seen before. That's a requirement with portal stones, isn't it? You can only make a portal to somewhere you remember, right?"
"That is generally true, although Salem seems to be able to bend those rules. But Yang could only have sent them to somewhere that she has seen. I wonder … could it be … ? Could they be in the place where the Knowledge relic used to be? If they are, they could be there for a long time. And as for this disk, I think that it is how Salem and Watts communicate."
"So now Watts and Callows have no ticket out and no way to phone home. I wonder how they're doing there."
"Blue," said Tyrian Callows.
"No, I was thinking of red," said Arthur Watts. "Your turn."
"Alright. What colour am I thinking of?"
"Blue."
"Damn, that's right. How did you know?"
"You always think of blue."
Callows sighed. He took off his boots and shook sand out of them. "This place is extremely boring," he said.
"It certainly is," said Watts. "Would you like to play coin-flipping again?" He took a coin from his pocket.
"Yeah, why not? What are we up to?"
"Forty-two heads in a row. You get to call."
"Tails."
"No, it's another head."
Callows sighed again. "I hate this game even more than the other one," he said.
END (to be continued)