I wish I hadn't asked.
"Hey Velvet," I remember whispering. We were sitting next to each other in the library, studying for an exam. "Can I ask you something… a little personal?"
Velvet replied in her shy, adorable way. "Uh, sure Ruby… What do you want to know?"
"What are your parents like?" I asked. "Blake never talks about her parents and, well… I don't really know how the whole Faunus-thing works."
Velvet blushed. I knew it was a sensitive topic. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just curious."
"No, it's okay." She regained her composure. "Truth is, being a Faunus is kind of like hair color. It's pretty much genetic."
"So your parents are Faunuses… Fauni…" I stumbled over the plural form. Velvet giggled.
"Either Fauni or Faunus works, really. My father was a Faunus, but my mother was a human."
"That makes sense." I didn't know many Faunus, so I didn't know what to assume. "So, it's basically just another kind of race? Like Vacuovian?"
"Well, kinda." Velvet's mood seemed to dampen, only slightly, as if a nasty thought just passed through her mind. "There is this one legend, about how the first Faunus were created…"
Even though I didn't know Velvet really well, I always liked her. She was so nice to everyone, even us first years. She was cheery, too, like all the time. It would almost make you forget what she went through as a Faunus.
I miss that version of her. That image of her seems so ancient, despite it being only yesterday. Her attitude now would probably be less cheerful.
It started around lunchtime. Of course it did. Everyone was there, just sitting and eating. Blake had been missing since morning, but we were used to that. She was probably just somewhere reading, we thought. We were talking about the latest Spruce Springsteen album when we heard that scream.
Everyone saw it, but no one could believe it. Cardin lay on the ground, blood spilling from the socket that once held an arm. Crouched above him was sweet little Velvet, gnawing on the detached limb.
Then came another scream, then another, and another one after that. Out of all the students at Beacon, roughly 1/18th of them were Faunus. Yet they were overpowering us. All of them, from dog Faunus to bear Faunus to hamster Faunus, were leaping out of their seats and pouncing on their fellow students. It was as if they had all suddenly gone mad.
The PA system instructed us to evacuate, though we were planning on doing that already. None of us had our equipment; it was all stashed in our lockers. We were defenseless and we knew it. Weiss, Yang, and I ran into the halls, looking for the quickest way to the exit. As soon as we turned the corner, we saw her. Our missing teammate.
"Blake!" I called. "A bunch of the students have gone crazy! We need to…" I stopped when I noticed what was dangling in her hand.
"Oh my god, Blake. What did you do?" I could hear the terror in my sister's voice as she asked. She knew Blake better than anyone; she could tell this wasn't her.
"She tried to run." Blake lifted up her arm, holding Pyrrha's head by her long crimson hair. Her clothes were stained red, and her eyes were bloodshot. "You were trying to run too, right?"
She let go of the head. Before it could hit the ground, she had beaten us into submission. She knew our weaknesses, and we had no weapons; to her, taking us out was like flicking a fly.
...
"There is this one legend, about how the first Faunus were created. Some say that there was a colony, long ago, who found a way to coexist with the Grimm. They realized that the Grimm could be bribed with the same thing that all living things want… the opportunity to pass on their genetics."
...
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was my sister, next to me. We were both tied to chairs with our mouths bound, on what seemed to be the top of a roof. I looked around, and realized we were in the middle of the city, right in front of town hall. My eyesight was blurry, but I could see the houses and streets, illuminated with a soft glow of red. I figured it was near sunset, but as my eyesight cleared, I discovered what the red color actually was: fresh blood.
The town was soaked, I mean, painted with the stuff. Houses, stores, cars, all painted in dark red fluid. On the sidewalks I could see dozens of corpses, half eaten and rotting. I could see organs hanging from the lamp posts, and heads stuck onto fenceposts. Faunus were running around, digging through mounds of body parts, looking for the meat that smelled the best. Two of them were playing around with the upper half of a child, whose screams indicated was very much alive. Not a single human could be seen intact. Whatever happened to the Faunus students must have happened to all the others. Vale had become hell.
I heard a horn blowing from the front of town hall. A stage had been prepared, podium and all. Faunus came running, gathering around the stage, as if getting ready to see a performance. On the stage was what appeared to be a figure, covered by a curtain.
As soon as a large crowd had gathered, I could see Blake walking up the steps to the stage. On her shoulder she carried what appeared to be Ozpin's cane, with the professor's head stuck unceremoniously to the end of it. Blake herself was dressed in Glynda's clothes, as blood stained as the rest of the town. She was smiling, from ear to ear, as if this was the best day she ever had. I even saw her giggling, I think. Blake never giggled. She stepped behind the podium, and spoke in a loud, excited voice.
"Bless the Beasts and Children!"
As the crowd cheered, I felt Yang trembling next to me. I looked over, and saw the tears streaming from her eyes. She would be screaming if not for the tape over her mouth. She looked at me, noticing that I saw her crying, and turned away. Even in a crisis like this, she still tried to be the brave one for me. I'll never forget my big sister.
Blake continued speaking, while moving toward the covered figure. "The child of Man will be the mother of Beast!" She gripped the curtain and threw it off, revealing a pale naked girl tied to a pole.
"Weiss… no, not Weiss!" I screamed in my head. Any rational thought that was left had lost me at the sight of my best friend, helpless and abused by the pack of ravaging animals. Her ponytail had been undone, and her hair had been dyed pink from the blood around her. Her body was cut up and bruised.
Worst of all was her face. If there was one thing Weiss never felt, it was defeat. No matter the circumstance, she was always confident in her own ability. This was gone now; her eyes were red from tears, and she didn't even bother looking up at the crowd. I had never seen anything more heartbreaking. She may as well have been already dead.
Every fiber in my body tensed as I watched Blake put her hand on Weiss's thigh. She bent over and smelled her, from her waist up to her neck, grinning as she did. She turned toward the crowd, and yelled: "She's fresh and ready for you!" She cut the ropes holding Weiss to the pole, letting her limp body fall from the stage and into the crowd.
I couldn't look. I didn't want to imagine what they were doing to her. Instead I looked at Blake, with rage and confusion. What had happened to her? What happened to everyone? Was this a nightmare?
I saw Blake looking at me, her demonic smile ever present. The next thing I knew, a bag was over my head.
...
"Since the Grimm couldn't reproduce by themselves, they needed to use another creature. The legend says that the colonists sacrificed some of their own virgin women to the Grimm to appease them. And somehow, out of that, Faunus were born. It's a dumb legend, but it's somehow survived the ages."
...
My eyes burned as I was once again exposed to light. This time, it was night, and I was in Ozpin's office. I was still tied to my chair, but the tape over my mouth had been removed. I was placed in front of Ozpin's desk, where Blake was sitting, facing me.
This was the first time that I was able to see her up close. She looked absolutely primal. Her hair and face was caked with dried blood, and her eyes were glazed yellow. She grinned at me once again, revealing sharp, stained teeth. She still wore Glynda's drenched clothes, but Ozpin's head and cane were in an umbrella holder in the corner. It was impossible to believe that this monster was once my friend.
"Sweet tidings, my dear," Blake spoke in a heavier tone. Her throat sounded sore. "I trust you enjoyed the show?"
Weiss's image came back to me. "You fucking psycho!" I cried out. I couldn't hold back my tears. "What the hell are you!?"
Her grin widened. "We are the patrons of a new age." She clawed into the wood of the desk, as if in excitement. "The slavery of the beast has ended. We have become your masters."
I looked down into my lap. I couldn't understand it. My entire world had changed. My best friend had been demolished, my teammate had gone insane, and my sister…
I jolted up. "Where's Yang!?" I demanded.
Blake let out a weasy, disgusting laugh. "Goldie is happy with me." She stood up, reached under, and yanked Yang up and onto the desk. She just lay there, on her back, facing up at me.
I nearly lunged out of my ropes. "Yang!" She was beaten, too. Her jacket was gone, and her shirt had been ripped up. She looked up at me, giving those same distraught eyes that Weiss had. Except this was my sister, my invincible sister. I couldn't even continue crying. I was in too much shock.
Blake crawled up onto her, and licked her face. "This one was too precious for me to throw to my friends. I decided to keep her for myself." She ran her scabbed hands through Yang's hair, which had grown orange.
I couldn't bear it anymore. I wriggled and writhed in my bonds. I wanted to tear my own arms off if it meant getting a chance to help my sister. But I couldn't budge.
"GET YOUR CLAWS OFF OF HER YOU INSANE WHORE!"
I felt the back of my head hit the floor. A foul stench filled my nostrils. Blake was on top of me. I grew dizzy, as I tried to open my eyes. As I drifted back into unconsciousness, I saw the silhouette of the thing that used to be my friend say one last demented phrase:
"It's your turn, little one."
...
I wish I hadn't asked. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have known what was coming next.
Now I was the one tied to the pole. This time, I found myself in a forest. I looked down, and saw that I was wearing Weiss's white dress. Looking back up, I began to make out the figures of Beowolves lurching towards me.