The moon shone brightly over what she knew would be her final battleground, the place where it all started, and where it would all end. The woman had prepared herself, trained for this fateful day. She knew it would come. Now that she had continued her blood, she would do whatever it took to protect her family. With her weapon loaded and unsheathed, Ruby began the climb to the top of what was left of Beacon Tower.
…
Once she reached the top, there it was. The massive statue was cracked, damaged over the years. Suddenly, the eye of the statue glowed a fiery yellow. Rose smiled.
"Hello, old friend." She smirked. The statue began to crack, glow, and crumble apart, until eventually, it exploded, revealing the true beast within. With a roar of fury, the Grimm Dragon was ready to kill the person who had trapped it all those years ago. Ruby Rose was ready, however. With her Speed Semblance, she easily dodged the fire the beast breathed. She countered with a shot of Fire Dust, which hit it square in the side. The beast only grew more angry and roared with fury.
That's it. Ruby thought. Come to Momma. She continued the assault, even attacking the wings so that, when badly wounded, the dragon wouldn't fly away.
But if she knew correctly, it didn't plan to retreat. One would be slain. And it was ready.
"HHRRYYAAAAAHHH!" Using Crescent Rose, Ruby stabbed the dragon on the tail.
"RRRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" The Dragon was in a rage as it thrashed around, with Ruby holding on for dear life.
She had something to fight for. This…. thing did not.
"You are weak." Ruby taunted. "I defeated Salem and all the Grimm. You're the only one left. And then…."
Her silver eyes burned with determination.
"I'm coming after your master."
She then recoiled herself onto its back, whereupon it tried to slam her with its tail. Smirking, Ruby became a red streak, tricking the dragon into hitting itself. She then climbed to the neck, and then readied her weapon.
"Good riddance, you son of a-!"
Pulling the trigger, Ruby thrusted her scythe backwards….
And decapitated the beast.
As the Grimm faded into roses, Ruby then began to focus on why she was really here. She didn't have to turn to know she was here.
"Cinder." She smirked. "We meet again. For the last time." When she did turn, Ruby noticed that Fall had changed. Now, only half of her body was human. The rest?
It was completely Grimm now.
"You've changed." Cinder Fall taunted.
"As have you." Ruby Rose snarled back. "Look at you, you disgusting creep. Raven was right when she said you've become a monster. How did you even survive your encounter with her!?" Her nemesis only laughed.
"I'm afraid that you won't get the chance to know." Cinder taunted. "Now, are you ready to join the android and foolish girl you call your friends?"
"No, but I hope you are. Let's end this, Mrs. Fall. ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Ruby snarled. And with that, their fated battle began at last. Scythe met sword, bullet met arrow, and speed met fire.
"This won't be like that prom of yours!" Cinder said, blocking a strike.
"You're right. This time, someone dies!" Ruby snapped, dodging an arrow. She managed to chop off Cinder's elastic Grimm arm…
Only to have it grow back!
"What the hell?!" When Ruby looked back at the arm she cut off, it began to glow. She quickly dived out of the way before it exploded.
"Only one of us will leave this tower alive!" Cinder yelled, conjuring a blast of fire from her corrupted hand. "And if you think it's me, little hero girl, you are seriously confused!"
Ruby growled, then lunged at her enemy, screaming her name. When Crescent Rose came crashing down, it was caught by Cinder's bar hand of darkness. Cinder smiled an evil grin. At first, Ruby didn't know what she was up to. Suddenly, she realized. But it was too late.
Before she could react, the fist clenched, and with superhuman strength…
Crescent Rose was snapped in half!
Cinder then kicked Ruby right in the birth scar, sending her flying to the opposite side of the tower. Ruby got up, then looked at the bottom half of her weapon.
"No…." She whispered. "My…. My precious little baby….." Tears in her eyes, she looked at Cinder in pure rage….
Only to be too late.
Cinder Fall charged at her with the top half of Crescent Rose….
And cut off Ruby Rose's right eye.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Ruby screamed in immense pain. She fell to the ground, clutching the spot where one of her silver-eyes rested.
"I told you that you were seriously confused." Cinder snickered. She stomped on Ruby's back, causing another scream. "Now that one of your sources of power is gone, you can't possibly win now."
"nnnnnnn….nnnnnggggghhhhh….." Ruby groaned.
Oh God…. She thought. F***, it hurts…. So much…. Just like when I gave birth to….. The sudden thought of family suddenly made her panic. No! NO! I… I can't die here…. I have to see Weiss again! And my three adorable children! I….. I'm sorry…. Penny….. Pyrrha….. I'm going to die.
"Good. You should be scared." Cinder taunted, seeing the fear in Ruby's only eye. "You have created the monster that will destroy you."
"You….MotherfuAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Ruby screamed as pain rushed through her once again.
"Famous last words. It should be fitting that your own 'sweetheart' will be the one to betray you, to kill you." Cinder laughed, having stomped on Ruby again. She then readied Crescent Rose, the blade still coated in Ruby's blood.
"Farewell."
Ruby shut what was left of her eyes…..
And waited….
Then…. A loud sound. Cinder groaning in pain.
"WHAT?!"
With blurry vision, Ruby saw that someone had kicked down the nearby door so hard it flew off the hinges. She was shocked at who did it.
Mei Schnee. Her 16-year old daughter.
"R….R….Ru-ugh!" Ruby tried to say "RUN!" to Mei, but Cinder prevented her.
"SILENCE!" She roared. Cinder then turned to Mei. "Who are you?!" She demanded. Mei looked at her, her silver eyes burning.
Wait….
Silver eyes?
Cinder's own eyes went wide.
"No…." She gasped. "Don't tell me…. You're not… It…. can't be true! Please tell me it's not true!"
"Then why else am I here?" Mei said, apparently in slight anger. Little did the others know, it wasn't about Ruby's current situation. "It is true, Cinder Fall. My name is Mei Schnee, daughter of Ruby Rose. It appears that you know what I have inherited. And you… fear it."
Mei then stepped forth.
"That's right." She said. "I have the power as well. Just like my mother and her mother before me."
She then got into a battle pose.
"Allow me to show you."
Mei's eyes then began to glow, as she screamed.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh….."
With tremendous force, she let loose her power, beams shooting out.
"RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
This time, Cinder braced herself. The flash was quick. However, when she and Ruby looked at the child, both were shocked.
Mei now had a silver aura surrounding her, with her eyes now glowing a pale whitish-grey.
"My mother never knew of the Silver-Eyes' TRUE power." Mei taunted. She then readied her dagger, which, through the immense energy, grew into a glowing whitish-grey sword. It seemed almost twice its size!
"All her life at Beacon Academy," Mei said to Cinder. "You hurt my mother. You killed two of her friends, almost took her future wife with them, and nearly ruined her life." She then pointed at the broken body. "And now look at her. First you hurt her mentally, now you inflict the damage physically. And now…"
Mei readied her weapon, Blass Horizon.
"YOU WILL FEEL HER PAIN!"
The battle resumed, with Ruby clinging in to as much life as possible. The pain was so much, she couldn't even move. She had no idea how powerful her own daughter had become.
Blade clashed against blade, and Mei even caught an arrow and sliced another in half! Eventually, Mei managed to shatter all of Cinder's weapons! It was time to finish this. Once and for all.
"THIS IS FOR PENNY!" Mei yelled as she slashed at Cinder's front, then back, then slashed off her Grimm arm when she tried to counterattack.
"THAT WAS FOR PYRRHA!" Mei then yelled and charged forward. With immense force, she stabbed Cinder right in the heart!
"That…. was for Weiss Schnee." Ruby started to remember when Weiss had nearly died during the battle of Haven. Her daughter was doing what she could not…. saving the next generation.
"And this…" Mei raised Blass Horizon up after she pulled it out. "…is for my mother….." She then screamed, bringing her own sweetheart down with superhuman speed.
"RUBY ROSE!"
In a single slash, a thin line ran down Cinder Fall, between her human and Grimm sides.
"Im….possible…" The woman groaned. "This…. can't… be… happeninnnnnnggggggggg…."
The human faded into dust, the Grimm into roses. And just like that….
Cinder truly Fell.
Mei sighed.
"She's gone, Mother." She said, turning to the fallen warrior. "And I'm so sorry for all the pain she gave you. But now…."
She lifted up Ruby in her arms.
"We can take it all away."
With her Speed Semblance, she raced back home, knowing that Ruby could recover from even this.
…
One week later
Ruby woke up. She smiled at the pictures of Nikos and Penny. Cinder was gone. They had been avenged. She even got a red bandage-like eyepatch to cover her wound. She even told Yang about this.
"How ironic." Ruby had said. "First you, now me. The Yellow Dragon loses her right arm, then the Red Rose loses her right eye."
She knew that her life would never be the same again. Then again, she did suffer from a lack of depth perception every now and then. In a drawer just beside her bed, Ruby kept an ammunition clip of Fire Dust. It was the very last clip she had, and she kept it in order to remember Crescent Rose. Just like a real person, it had died, with no way to bring it back. Sure, she could get a new scythe, but it just wouldn't be the same. And as a price for losing her bonded weapon, Ruby almost died with it.
After looking at herself, the old one long gone, in the mirror, Ruby turned to a photo of herself and her new family. In the picture, she was smiling like a little kid, her arms around her wife, Weiss. With them was their daughter, Mei, who was three years old in the picture, and their two sons, Rudolph and Winifred. There were little babies in the picture, cradled in Weiss's arms.
Ruby had remembered the days she had given birth to the triplets. Looking back at the present, she remembered her what her family had become now. Weiss had gone to work, and Rudolph and Winifred, now 6 years old, were at Beacon Academy, which had been completely restored, ready to train Huntsmen and Huntresses of the next generation. The twins had been yearning to carry on their mothers' legacies, seeing if they were "worthy of the Red Power and the White Blood". As for Mei, well, she had a day off.
The instant she thought of Mei, Ruby also remembered how different Mei had become during the battle. She had said that she had harnessed the Silver Eyes' true power.
What true power? Ruby wondered. She guessed that she would have to find out for herself.
Later, outside the residence, mother and daughter were about to begin a sparring match. Ruby had the hidden power all her life, and she wanted to know how to unlock its true power.
"Well, since you only have ONE eye," Mei said. "The power may be a little overwhelming for you." Since her mother's weapon had been destroyed, the two would be fighting unarmed.
"So, how did you first unlock the true power?" Ruby asked.
"The same way you did." Mei answered. "All those years ago."
"Were you grieving over my imminent death?"
"No. You were angry that day. I was too. But not because what she did to you then."
"Huh?"
"I was angry at what she did to you before. She nearly made me and my brothers cease to exist! Now then, I'll go first."
Mei concentrated, then unleashed the power just like last time.
"Alright, your turn."
On the inside, Ruby was nervous. She had listened to Mei's warning. But if this was her only chance to get stronger…..
Challenge accepted.
Ruby began to concentrate, remembering the previous times. She then screamed, as only a single light poured out. The light faded, and now it was Mei's turn to be amazed.
Now Ruby had the same silver aura and pale whitish-grey eyes. Well, whitish-grey EYE. The power she felt…. It was SO COOL! She felt like she could take on 9,000 Grimm single-handedly and win!
Did my own Mom know of this? Ruby thought. Why didn't she tell me? Was I not ready back then?
"Alright, here I go, Mom!" Mei said, getting into a fighting stance. Ruby smirked.
"Heh." She smiled. "Looks like my little White Rose wants some attention. Alright, sweetie! Come to Mommy!"
The two Silver-Eyed Warriors charged at each other, ready to begin their new training.