If you haven't already please check out part one! Without it some of what follows here won't really make sense.
And Then, Silence Part Two
"What the hell is this!" screamed Cinder. "Have you just been screwing with me this whole time?"
"Really Cinder enough with the theatrics," murmured Salem.
Heat rolled off Cinder in waves, the edges of her dress flaring with a bright orange glow. Uncaring, Salem smirked and stepped around her. Casting her eyes over Ruby for the first time, she looked the girl up and down with a discerning glance.
"You have been a most interesting conundrum," she said, half to herself. Letting her gaze bore into those silver eyes, she continued, "You should take that as a compliment really."
Ruby was barely able to stand, exhausted as she was, let alone generate a reply at this point. Neo had melted away, only to be replaced by this… this woman? Looking more demon than human, Ruby knew that there'd be no running away. She was utterly, hopelessly trapped.
"I really would have liked to know what fighting you at your best is like," she mused, "but unfortunately, Cinder has already seen to ruining that opportunity. I'll just have to be content with whatever you have left…"
"No!" roared Cinder, stealing Salem's attention. "That brat is mine!" she yelled, bearing her teeth in a feral snarl.
Summoning her rage to the surface, Cinder let fly a volley burning glass shards. The deadly projectiles hissed through the air towards Ruby, threatening to shred Salem in their path. But just as the wall of smoldering missiles was about to tear the witch apart, she turned to face them, her eyes flaring a deeper red.
The shards immediately disintegrated into harmless puffs of dust, washing over Salem and Ruby in a thin reddish cloud.
"Did you really think," said Salem, addressing a seething Cinder, "that would work?"
Cinder's chest heaved, her breaths coming in disjointed gasps. Fury had lent her renewed strength, but the effects of the long fight with Ruby still showed, written all over her tired limbs. Wordlessly, she stared at Salem in hatred.
"Did you really think," she repeated, talking a step back towards Cinder, "that you could attack me with a power you barely understand? A power you stole? With my help?"
A mirthless smile slid across Salem's face, distorting her features.
"I'll just have to deal with you first."
Cinder's eye widen in shock. Jerking back, she took a hesitant step away and slid into a defensive crouch. Swiftly turning on her heel, a wave of sparks kicked up and two short swords appeared in her hands, held at the ready.
A low chuckle escaped Salem's lips as she continued her advance, hands held uselessly behind her back. Confidently, she strode towards Cinder, even as she struck out with one of her swords, cutting a vicious arc towards the white-haired witch.
The black blade whistled through the air, aiming to cleave Salem from shoulder to hip. Cinder's eye blazed, intent on her target.
Swift as lighting, Salem's left hand shot up from behind her back, snaking forward and gripping the blade. As soon as her fingers closed around the single-edged weapon it shattered into pieces, leaving only the stub of a hilt in Cinder's grasp.
Thrown off balance, she stumbled and dropped her other blade. As Cinder fell forward, Salem's other hand lashed out, grabbing her by the throat.
With her grip latched around Cinder's exposed neck, Salem flexed her fingers, squeezing them tighter. Slowly, she dragged Cinder up to meet her gaze, pushing her face closer to that of her prey's.
"Almost not even worth the effort," she hissed.
Rearing back her left arm, she struck out suddenly with brutish force. Blood spurted from Cinder's mouth and the flame of the fall maiden's power faded from her eye – sputtering out and leaving only an absence of light – as Salem shoved her hand through Cinder's exposed chest, still gripping her by the throat.
Cinder's back seemed to explode as her ribs blew outwards. Rippling red portals blossomed from the wound, eradicating the black mark between her shoulder blades.
Life quickly fleeing her broken frame, Cinder's eye weakly wandered up to meet Salem's gaze, accusations and fear mingling in her look. Her vision wavered – quivering – and her eye slowly drooped back down.
Frowning in distaste, Salem dropped the body to the floor in an undignified heap, leaving it to stew in its own blood.
Through it all, Ruby had looked on helplessly – her whole body shaking from head to toe. Fear rocked through her in shuddering waves and she gripped Crescent Rose so tightly that her nails dug into the palms of her hands, drawing blood.
She could hear her heartbeat ringing in her ear – a high, fluttering sound that raced and staggered like a startled hare.
Salem turned towards Ruby, the train of her long black gown curling around her feet in the puddle of Cinder's blood. Cocking her head to one side, she met Ruby's eye and smiled.
"Your turn."
Salem lunged at Ruby, balls of black fire springing to life in each of her hands. The flames crackled and spit, filling the room with the heat of living energy. Panicked, Ruby tried to dive past Salem towards the door, activating her semblance as she flew by in a flurry of red blurs and rose petals.
Changing course at the last moment, Salem shifted her weight and struck out with her right hand – grazing Ruby's shoulder as she sped by.
Thrown by the force of the blow, Ruby somersaulted into the wall. Her shoulder burned with a steadily rising heat where the black fire had touched her. Looking down at the wound, she watched as her blood bubbled, throwing off steam as if it were boiling.
Clasping her injured arm with her left hand, she pushed herself up into a crouch with the wall against her back. Dizzy from the pain, Ruby's vision blurred and the room seemed to tilt at an impossible angle. Blood flowed down her arm and she struggled to maintain her grip on Crescent Rose.
She couldn't see Salem anymore, but it seemed like fractured echoes of her dark laughter circled around Ruby's head. Broken bits of sound swirled around her, spinning with the room in a terrifying dance of chaos and oblivion. Ruby felt like she was fighting a heavy curtain of darkness, crashing down on her with the weight of a mountain and trying to shut her eyes, pulling her towards that last, permanent embrace.
Fear mingled with a desperate rage that welled up inside of her as she fought back. Seconds slid by like hours and she tried to force the world to right itself. An image of Cinder's ribs splayed open like the wings of an eagle set the skin of her back to tingling, and she shuddered at the horrible notion that her own death was fast approaching.
So small at first that she didn't even notice it, a flame flickered and licked at the edges of her heart. But the heat kept growing and growing, like a hot coal had sunken into her chest.
This burning – unlike the pain in her ruined shoulder – came from within her, lighting up her blood and snapping her mind back into a clear focus.
Salem watched as a torrent of brilliant white light erupted from the girl's eyes. Ruby roared, dropping her scythe as both hands flung to the side, balled up into tight fists. Blanketing the room in a burning absence of color and sound, the light washed over Cinder and Mercury's inert forms and crashed over Salem, her right hand raised to protect her eyes.
The wall of white gradually faded and color rushed back into the room. The thread of energy snapped inside of Ruby, leaving her utterly emptied of will. Her aura completely exhausted, she collapsed to the ground, lying on her stomach with her arms and legs splayed at odd angles. Chin propped up on the floor, she could see across the room to where Salem stood, her entire frame shaking.
At first, Ruby couldn't discern the cause of the shaking. Salem stood with her right palm turned towards her face, as if scrutinizing it. Fat gobbets of blackened blood dripped to the floor from the destroyed veins on her exposed skin.
Squinting, Ruby's focus narrowed and became clearer. Salem was rocking with silent laughter as she stared at the maimed remnants of her hand. Her ring and little fingers had been blown clear off, leaving a glistening red stump.
Horrendously amused, Salem's silent laughter turned into sharp, bellowing cackles that ripped through Ruby, reaching that place where only mortal fear lived inside her. Her vision faded before gradually coming back into focus, her heartbeat slowing dangerously. Blood still oozed from her shoulder, which now reeked of burnt meat.
Regaining her calm, Salem's laughter ceased as she lowered her wounded hand to her side. One corner of her mouth peaked in a devilish smirk as she first took one step and then another in Ruby's direction.
Helpless, Ruby watched as Salem eventually came to stand over her, only able to stare at the mess of gore on the ground that surrounded Salem's stiletto-clad feet.
"My you had potential," remarked Salem, almost sounding pleased.
"But what good is a power you can't control?" she asked, knowing that no answer would be forthcoming. "Especially," she said, "when there's no one around to save you this time."
A sharp pain entered Ruby's chest, needling through her back and piercing her lungs. Her sight flared red, the world ablaze with fire, gradually fading to nothing.
And with that the fight was over. Ruby Rose was no more.
Author's note: This story really has gotten away from me, what I had originally planned looked nothing like this. I've never been one to kill off main characters for the sake of it, but I'm really looking forward to writing about the fallout from this chapter. Please, as always, leave me any suggestions/comments!
