Blood and Roses

by The Snow Mage

Chapter 8: Nearly two years have gone by since Raven killed her ex-husband, and Ruby has delved deep into the criminal underbelly in her city searching for answers. When Cinder returns with a much more proactive plan for taking over the city, Ruby comes to understand exactly the forces she's involved herself with - just in time for Beacon High to collapse.

10. Chapter 10

Things get fighty in this chapter, but not in the way you'd expect. For the curious, here's a hint: Cardin Winchester shows up in this chapter.

Here's another hint: I bowled straight into it, intentionally derailing part of this story! As a result, these hints are pretty much meaningless. But! If you've read chapter one, you'll have a better chance at seeing how long this has been in the works.

Your final hint: I am one twisted little bastard, no?

However, this isn't filler. It serves a dual purpose: firstly, it affords me some additional time to explore certain other… particulars. Namely… Well, you'll see soon enough. Secondly, it allows for a "trial run," so to speak, to allow certain characters (and you) a bit of insight into what it would be like to fight Raven in a head-to-head fight in this setting.

With that said, let's dive on in, shall we?

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

"I've got it!" Ruby exclaimed, startling everyone else gathered in her living room. "I found the witch's address!"

"Finally," Weiss groused halfheartedly from her chair, her smile briefly stretching into a grin as she turned her gaze to Yang, who had managed to sleep through Ruby's declaration and continued using her sister's lap as a pillow.

"Is it in Yharnum?" Weiss's brother, Whitley Schnee, asked. Much like his sisters, his eyes were blue, his hair white, and his skin pale, though he had at least some semblance of a tan; he worked part-time at a junkyard that primarily held beaten down cars and trucks, and the long days of late spring and early summer had afforded him plenty of sunlight.

"No, but it's close," Ruby said. "The fishing village."

"Great!... Where's that?" Penny asked, drawing out a giggle from Weiss. The pyrokinetic was seated on the floor, an array of old journals and loose papers scattered between her and Whitley.

"About three hours south, if there's only light traffic," Ruby explained. She opened her mouth to explain further, only to be interrupted by Neo kissing her cheek.

Good work, Neo signed, making Ruby's cheeks turn a shade pinker.

"Thank you, darling," Ruby said, drawing a giggle from her girlfriend as she kissed Neo's cheek in return. She had to lean over slightly to do it, upsetting her lap and accidentally jostling Yang's head. "Oops. Sorry, Yang," Ruby mumbled, giggling and blushing more deeply as her sister yawned and cracked open an eye to look up at her. "Good news: we found where the witch lives!"

"Huh?... Oh, right," Yang mumbled, yawning again as she shifted on the couch until she was sitting. "Sorry I fell asleep. It's just… blah."

"It is getting pretty late," Weiss said, turning to glance at the clock on the wall behind her – and to keep herself from looking at the expanse of cleavage Yang's tank top revealed as she stretched her arms above her head. "Oof, already after ten," she muttered, wearing a frown as she looked over at her brother. "Should we head back, Whitley?"

"Huh?" he asked, blinking at her. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because our other option is spending the night here, where you're the only boy," Weiss said, fighting the urge to smile as his cheeks turned pink.

"Weiss, you know I'm not like that. If anything, I'm less likely to do that sort of thing than most of you," he said, drawing an assortment of blushes and giggles from the women assembled.

"He's not technically wrong, Weiss," Ruby said, giggling awkwardly as Neo kissed her cheek again and Yang slumped against her, using her shoulder as a pillow. Unbeknownst to her, Penny frowned at the sight, then shook her head and sighed inaudibly. "I'm not saying anyone here would do that, but… he wouldn't exactly be high on the list of suspects if someone did."

"There's still the issue of perception," Weiss insisted, her own cheeks heating as she realized Ruby would likely put her at the top of such a list. "If someone realized his car was here overnight, there might be unsavory rumors drifting around your school."

"Hmm…" Ruby said, staring at Whitley for a long moment. Then, she said, "Nah. He's known to be part of our group, so it wouldn't be that odd."

"If you were still pre-teens, maybe," Yang said, yawning again. "Teenage and up is different, Rubes."

"And people know that Neo and I are together," Ruby added, wrapping an arm around Neo's shoulders as the shorter woman nestled closer and started using her shoulder as a pillow, too.

"Neo doesn't have a car, though, and if she says that she was here, too, that'll just breed a different sort of rumor," Penny said, smiling apologetically when Ruby turned her gaze to her. "Same with me if I stay, Ruby. People at school already think I have a crush on you, so this would only make things… weirder, I guess."

Desperate for support, Ruby looked to Neo, only for the woman with multi-colored eyes to shake her head and kiss Ruby's cheek apologetically. Ruby sighed, then said, "Okay, fine. I get when I'm outnumbered."

"Actually, thinking about it, I would've probably said no, anyway," Whitley said, chuckling and smiling sheepishly at her. "We've got our finals in two days, and I need to spend tomorrow studying."

"Oh, right, tomorrow's Sunday," Penny mumbled. "Sorry, I'll have to decline a sleepover, too. Ciel wants to make sure I can handle the biology final, and then wants to do something together. All she's said is that it's stress relief and then, because I asked, that it isn't sex," she added, her cheeks heating.

"We're just a whole bunch of perverts here, huh?" Weiss mumbled and shook her head, only to catch Yang's raised eyebrow and blush. "Yes, I'm including myself," she said to her, making the blonde chuckle.

"Well, at least you'll have me," Yang said, nuzzling her head against Ruby's cheek and producing a soft sound of protest.

"Thanks, Yang, but I don't think that counts as a sleepover," Ruby said, drawing a giggle from Neo. "Besides, the only reason for anyone other than us to actually spend the night here would be if we were going to the fishing village tomorrow to find the witch, which is what I'm hoping we can plan for. So, uh, Weiss? Neo?"

"I don't know if it'd be a good idea for me to stay," Weiss said slowly. She glanced briefly at Yang – who didn't notice, being half-asleep – before adding, "I'd be willing to, but… Well, you know why I probably shouldn't."

"Yang, any objections?" Ruby asked, drawing a yawn from the blonde at her shoulder.

"Nope," Yang mumbled, her eyes starting to drift shut again.

"Neo?" Ruby asked, turning her head to smile at her girlfriend. "Would you like to spend the night with me, my sister, and the girl who has a crush on my sister?"

"Hey!" Weiss exclaimed, her cheeks turning bright red as Whitley chuckled.

Neo smiled, shook her head in her version of a giggle, then kissed Ruby's cheek again and whispered, "Yes."

Ruby giggled as well, then turned to Penny. "I know you've already got plans tomorrow, Penny, but, well, since it's late anyway, would you like to stay, too? I can drop you off at your apartment after breakfast tomorrow, if you'd like," Ruby offered.

With an apologetic smile and a shake of her head, Penny said, "Sorry, but I shouldn't. If anyone found out, people would start talking behind our backs at school. A lot of our classmates already think that I've got a crush on you, remember?... Didn't I say all of this, like, a minute ago?"

Ruby tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "This close to finals, I don't think anyone will care. They'll just think it was a group study thing, or something, especially since Whitley's leaving without his sister who's probably still jetlagged. They'll just think that he felt awkward being the only guy in a house full of pretty women."

"Hey," Whitley said, though his tone made it seem like he was objecting more out of obligation than actual offense, which made his sister giggle. "Seriously, though, I agree. I can take you home if you want, Penny, but she's probably right that there's no harm in you spending the night here."

Penny sighed, despite her smile. "Thanks, but… If everyone's so insistent that I stay the night, I'm sure I can handle it," she said, giggling at the snort of laughter she got from Ruby. "It's okay with your mom, right, Ruby?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine with it," Ruby said. "Even if she's not at first, I'd just need to bring up why you were all here so late and she'd give in."

"Is that so?"

Ruby laughed nervously as she looked behind her, the sight of her mother standing behind the couch with a small, sly smile on her lips making a chill run down her spine. "H-Hi, Mom," Ruby stammered out, making Neo shake her head again. "W-When did you g-get home?"

"A couple minutes ago," Summer said, her smile widening when she saw her daughter swallow nervously. Turning her silver eyes to Whitley, she added, "I appreciate what you're trying to avoid – and help my daughter avoid – but it's fine if you stay the night too, Whitley. No matter who they are, teenagers aren't willing to risk having an orgy when there's a parent in the same house. Trust me," she added, pretending to ignore the way Ruby's cheeks turned pink, "if something like that had happened, I'd have likely heard about it by now."

"Okay," Whitley said, stretching the word out as he stared at her for a long moment. "That's… not a word I'd have expected you to use, Mrs. Rose."

Summer's smile turned bitter, and her voice was subdued as she said, "I'm afraid it's just Ms. Rose, these days." Whitley winced, and hurried to stammer out an apology, only for Summer to interrupt him by saying, "No, it's quite alright, Whitley. I… It's still taking some getting used to, I'm afraid. But, seeing all of you together like this…" She trailed off, her smile becoming more genuine as she sighed. "Just… don't take risks, okay? Leave that for the adults."

"Uh, technically," Weiss began, wearing an apologetic smile, "Yang and I are adults, Ms. Rose."

"You know what I mean," Summer said, rolling her eyes overdramatically. "Kids these days," she grumbled, intentionally loud enough for them to hear, as she passed them and walked into the kitchen.

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

"Hello, Mercury."

The words made him straighten – a crude attempt to hide the chill that ran down his spine – but all he said was, "This is where you've been? I'd have thought they'd have set you up in a hotel or something, Raven."

Raven snorted out a laugh, beckoning for him to join her. With a casual-looking leap, he'd jumped up onto the roof she was sitting on. "They did, but…" she began, only to trail off and sigh as she leaned back and stared up at the clear night sky above them. Her eyes tracing over one of the constellations, she said, "This is the only thing I can choose for myself anymore."

"What?" Mercury asked, his eyes tracing across her chest as she lowered herself onto her back – only for them to widen when the position tugged up her sweater, revealing what looked like a fresh bruise on her abdominals. "Dead gods below," he mumbled, staring at the purpled flesh.

"They brought in a Soul Binder," Raven said simply, making Mercury's eyes widen further. "I don't know how his powers work, but he can hurt me in ways no one else can."

"Shit," Mercury mumbled, his eyes going to hers before he remembered who he was looking at. He sat down next to her, silently looking out at the intact portions of the Harpy district as his mind raced.

"This is where I did it, you know," Raven said after a minute. Mercury turned to face her, only to find that her eyes were closed. "I didn't want to, but… I had to. He left me for someone else. I… I couldn't…"

As Raven trailed off, Mercury returned his gaze to the district in front of him, taking in the ruins and rubble before him with a new perspective. "This is where Taiyang Xiao Long died," he mumbled, taking in every detail that he could.

"This is where I killed my husband," Raven mumbled, practically whimpering. "I haven't felt… I haven't felt much of anything since then. I thought it would let me move on, that I'd find closure, but… I was wrong. I still think about him every day, see him in my dreams every night." She sighed, then sat up, eyes opening to stare down at the stained courtyard.

"There used to be a statue in that fountain," she said, pointing out the square assembly of stone. "He used one of his powers to animate it, to make it fight me, but I destroyed it in that cathedral over there," she continued, pointing to the crumbled ruins of the building across from them. "When I came out… He was dying. Bleeding to death, from everything that I'd done to him up to that point. He… He wanted me to stay away from his new family, and from our daughter." She laughed bitterly and shook her head. "One of the last things he said to me was that I shouldn't so much as say her name. And I…" She sighed, shaking her head again. "I haven't. I try not to think about her anymore."

"Really?" Mercury asked. "Why?"

"What's the point? She probably hates me, or she's scared of me, or both," Raven said, her eyes closing again. "It's better she stays with the family she knows, the family that loves her, than spend any time with the woman who killed her father."

Mercury stared at her for a long moment, utterly bewildered – and more than a little bit scared – by the way the woman he'd long been intimidated by, who Cinder had been intimidated by, was breaking down.

"I still hear him, sometimes," Raven whispered, laying back down. "When I'm trying to figure out what to do, I hear his voice, giving me advice. But," she chuckled weakly, and, as Mercury watched speechlessly, a tear rolled down her cheek, "I followed it every time I heard it, and it led me here. Back to where I killed him. Only, now, a monster owns my soul, and I've felt actual, physical pain for the first time since I was little. Since Daddy was alive."

The word was enough to make Mercury swallow, fear briefly blazing through him. He couldn't imagine that a woman like Raven would use the term "Daddy" to refer to her father without there being some underlying issues that she hadn't resolved; combined with the way she was talking to him, which made him wonder what she felt he was to her, it made him suddenly, intensely aware of how Goliaths were unable to fully control their strength.

"Oh, relax, Mercury," Raven murmured, making him flinch; somehow, despite having her eyes closed, she'd known exactly what he was feeling. "Tai and my brother helped me through those issues a long time ago. But, much like Tai, I still love my father, despite everything he did to Qrow and me."

Mercury sighed in relief, though it was only partially genuine – he was still very aware of what she could do to him, and how he'd have no real way of stopping it. "I don't know what to say," he said after another minute of silence had hung heavily between them.

Raven snorted out a laugh, cracking one eye open to look at him. "Then… How about you tell me your story, Mercury?" she asked, staring at him intently despite how relaxed she otherwise seemed. "You know mine now, after all. It's only fair I know yours."

"I… I'm not sure I should," he said, turning away and facing the battered remains of the Harpy district. "I'm still young. My story's still being told."

"Hmm… Then let me guess. I know that you were born into the Family, technically. Your mother got pregnant after a one-night stand and then dumped you on your father after you were born. A paternity test revealed that you were really his, and he wasn't happy to be saddled with a child," Raven said, making Mercury's neutral frown turn into a furious scowl. "But he still raised you, the way he was raised: as an Assassin first and foremost. You were taught to be hard, to be brutal if needed, and to know what it was like to kill."

The image of a sparrow, lying motionless in his hands, flashed through Mercury's mind. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down, knowing that his instinct to plant his heel in Raven's mouth would only end with him losing his foot.

She noticed, and her lips quirked in a brief smile as she continued. "But you didn't like it, did you? The fear, the hate, the pain?" She sighed, staring up at the stars again. "I've been told that's a good thing. Not liking that sort of thing, I mean. It means you have empathy."

"Stop." Mercury's plea drew Raven's bloodred eyes to him.

But it wasn't enough. "I've never felt that, you know? The closest I've been to sharing someone's emotions was feeling something similar in return, but… caused by different stimuli. Well, technically the same stimuli," she added, watching him as he sat completely still, "but you know what I mean. I've never felt anyone's feelings but my own, except for just once."

"What? How?"

"Reviver. It's what he called himself, though I'm not sure why. Tai said he was a special kind of empath, one who could both feel and alter a person's emotions, and that he liked to help struggling couples grow closer to each other, for better or worse." She sighed again. "But Tai didn't take me to him for that. He wanted me to know what empathy felt like, so he asked Reviver to show me his emotions."

There was silence between them again, but Mercury eventually broke it, asking, "How was it?"

"Terrifying. Tai was worried that I'd… I don't know, do something wrong. But…" she trailed off and laughed, the oddly feminine nature of it startling Mercury; he'd only ever heard her chuckle before, and the sound she let out was nearly a giggle. "He was jealous, too. Reviver had to put a hand on me for it to work, and Tai felt a bit possessive of me because of it; I don't remember him ever acting jealous before that, so I think it was because I was pregnant at the time. And then… And there was his love for me. It was… warm," she mumbled, her eyes closing again as she basked in the memory. "No, not warm. Hot, like the sun, but… gentle. I got mad after that, at both of them, but it was mostly because I was embarrassed they'd seen me cry."

She sighed again, then said, "I wasn't crying for the reason you think, I bet. It wasn't out of… I don't know, appreciating how beautiful it was or something sappy like that. It was… It made me realize just how tiny and insignificant my emotions were. I loved him with all my heart – and I still do – but… compared to how bright and strong his emotions were, mine were almost non-existent." She sighed again. "I've felt hollow ever since, no matter what I feel or how strongly I feel it."

"Is that why you robbed that bank?" Mercury asked, making her sigh yet again.

"No. Tai was barely making enough to scrape by, and I'd lost my job shortly before I found out I was pregnant. Bills were piling up, student loans needed to be paid, and he was trying to build a PI business on top of having a daughter. We needed the money. It's that simple," she said, shrugging a shoulder. "I've had a long time to think about what happened that day, the things that went wrong, and robbing that bank isn't something I regret."

"But you regret that child?"

"You need to ask? She was barely older than… than my daughter was, at the time," Raven said, making an obvious effort to not say her name. "The only reason I decided to kill her was because she took off my mask, exposing me to the security cameras, and I'd said that I'd kill anyone who screwed with us."

Mercury stared at her for a moment longer, suddenly reminded of the true nature of the woman he was sitting next to. "That was it?" he finally asked, making her shrug again. "You… You killed her because you just saw her as another hostage?"

"Yes. That was it."

A chill ran down his spine, and he turned away, looking out instead at the months-old destruction before him. Time passed slowly for him, each second feeling like an hour as it ticked by silently. Eventually, Mercury rose to his feet, mumbled out how late it was, and left, lightly springing across the rooftops by the strength of his superpowered legs.

Raven sighed again and turned her eyes to the sky. "And it was the worst decision I've ever made," she muttered under her breath.

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

"That… explains a few things," Roman said, scowling at his desk. Velvet Scarlatina stood across from him, her normally pretty features hard and the rabbit-like ears atop her head pressed as close to her scalp as they could be. "You're certain of this?"

"I spent a day searching for evidence after he spoke to me," Velvet said. "All I could find were some tangential reports about him having a few bruises now and then."

"Cardin Winchester is a known Steel Soul," Roman said slowly, making Velvet flinch. "If he has even a single injury, that could serve as proof."

"Not in a court of law," Adam noted, drumming his fingers against his arm. Velvet glanced back at him and scowled at the sight of him leaning against the door to Roman's office, though she quickly turned away and shook her head dismissively. "Unless you're planning on acting on it yourself, boss, there's not much we can do for him."

Roman sighed and steepled his fingers, resting his chin on them as he stared up at the former soldier. "I cannot allow those sorts of things to continue happening in my city," he said, only to sigh again. "However, we don't have the manpower to deal with a mixed Brute like her, not with an even worse one skulking around Yharnum somewhere. Too many of our fighters would be hospitalized or worse for us to properly deal with Raven Branwen."

"I could see about hiring outside contractors," Velvet offered, paling as Roman turned his eyes to hers. "It might involve talking to one of the Cainhurst Families, though, and potentially forming an alliance with them."

"No. I refuse to allow vermin like them to pollute my city," Roman said firmly, his tone making Velvet pale further. Adam chuckled, and he smirked as Roman looked over at him again. "Is something funny, Taurus?" Roman asked flatly, his voice hard.

"I think I know what to do about Isolde Winchester," Adam said, his smirk only widening as Roman quirked an eyebrow at him. "She's just like Raven, right? Just weaker in every way?"

"By all accounts," Velvet said, scowling at him again. "Why?"

"Then why don't we treat her like it?" Adam asked, chuckling again. "I happen to know of a few people who're chomping at the bit for a chance to kill Raven. Why not let them try out their plan on Isolde first?"

"How, exactly, would we manage to tell Detective Rose and Police Chief Belladonna about this?" Velvet asked, not noticing the way Roman's eyes darkened behind her.

"He's not talking about those two," Roman said, his voice utterly devoid of emotion. "If you want to involve my niece's partner and her sister in this, you need to ensure their survival, Taurus. If you don't, you won't survive it either."

"The day they come to harm because of me is the day I take my own life," Adam swore, bowing his head. "Blake Belladonna considers them her family, and I owe her far too much to ever betray her. No offense, sir," he added, smirking again as he looked back up at Roman.

"We all have our vows, Adam," Roman said, nodding approvingly. Velvet looked back and forth between them, perplexed, as Roman continued. "I do not ask unerring loyalty of my employees; I run a business, not a cult."

"Thank you, boss," Adam said, nodding in return. "I promise, they'll return home healthy and whole, and Cardin Winchester will never have to deal with his mother's abuse again."

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

Ruby's eye twitched as she glared up at the ceiling. "How can I say no?" she grumbled softly; still, she felt the figure sleeping next to her shift. "I'm in. But if you can't get everything together before noon, I'm gonna be pissed."

Adam's laugh sounded from her phone's speaker, only to be cut off as she hung up on him. Ruby sighed, closing her eyes as she felt the arm encircling her waist tighten and pull her closer to the warmth at her back. "What was that about?" Yang murmured, still half-asleep.

"Adam," Ruby grumbled, only to sigh again and open her eyes as she felt the warmth in front of her shift and turn to face her. "Sorry for waking you up, Neo," she said, staring into her girlfriend's multi-colored eyes. "That was… something we can't really put off. We might have to pick another day to talk to the witch."

Neo sighed herself, then sat up and stretched, smiling down at Ruby when she noticed the attention she was paying to the shorter woman's chest. At Ruby's blush, Neo pecked a kiss onto her cheek, then rose to her feet and delicately picked her way across the living room, avoiding the other young women still sleeping on the other inflatable mattress Summer had found. Want anything to drink? Neo signed at Ruby.

Tea? Ruby signed back, making Yang let out a wordless, discontented murmur at the way her sister shifted in her grasp.

Neo, instead of signing back a "yes", gave her a thumbs-up and a smile before she slipped into the kitchen.

Ruby sighed again, her eyes nearly drifting shut as she wondered how long she'd be able to stay there, her very warm sister snuggled up against her back. After a minute, though, she removed herself from Yang's grip and sat up, feeling a familiar pang of disappointment as Yang whined near-silently at her.

"What time is it?" Yang mumbled, her words barely intelligible.

"About seven," Ruby whispered back, running a hand through Yang's long blonde hair. "Breakfast?"

Yang murmured a wordless agreement, and Ruby stood, following Neo to the kitchen with the same precise placements of her feet between the wall and the inflatable air mattress that Weiss and Penny were still asleep on.

"Oh, good morning," Ruby said, despite her surprise, when she saw Whitley sitting at the kitchen table. He looked up from the textbook opened in front of him to return the greeting, then went right back to reading. "You're really that serious about studying?" Ruby asked, drawing a sigh from him.

"I don't do well with history," Whitley said, idly sliding his hand beneath the page he was on in preparation to turn to the next. "Probably because it's not my country's history. Some last-minute cramming can only help me, especially since the test is tomorrow," he added pointedly, glancing up at the two young women in the room.

"Still, this early?" she asked, walking over to where Neo was waiting. She gave her girlfriend a peck on the cheek before leaning past her to grab a few utensils from the ceramic jar on the counter, making Neo blush and scowl playfully at her. "Any preference for breakfast? I was thinking eggs and toast, and maybe bacon."

"That sounds fine."

"Great. Neo?" Ruby asked. "Any objections?"

Neo signed a negative her way, then leaned in to kiss her. "Thank you, sweetie," she whispered against Ruby's ear, making the younger woman blush, before she went back to the stove and checked on the tea kettle, which had just started whistling.

"Morning." Penny's voice startled Ruby, who dropped the wooden spoon she held as she moved to set it down gently. Penny gave the shaken brunette an odd look before she sat down at the table, groggily resting her chin on her hand. "Did I miss something?" Penny asked, running her fingers through her hair in a futile attempt to get it to settle down.

"Not really," Whitley said, turning the page in his textbook.

Want some tea? Neo signed at Penny, who shrugged and nodded.

"Thanks, Neo," Penny said. She yawned, then added, "Odd that we're the ones who got up first."

"Not really," Ruby said, throwing a smile her way as she pulled a carton of eggs from the fridge. "Weiss has been busy working with us ever since she got off that sixteen-hour flight from Atlas, so she's probably still dealing with her jet lag, and Yang… well, she likes to sleep a lot when she's on her period."

"Didn't need to hear that," Whitley said, making Ruby giggle at him.

"What? You're not used to talk like that? I thought you had two older sisters," Ruby said teasingly, making him sigh. "Fine, fine."

"Thank you," Penny mumbled as Neo set a ceramic mug of tea in front of her. "Is it caffeinated?" she asked, only to sigh when Neo glanced pointedly at Ruby. "Right. Still, thanks."

A few moments went by in near silence, the only sounds made by Ruby preparing breakfast for them – only Whitley looked up when she made an odd exclamation. His eyebrow went up when he saw her greedily biting into a slice bread while she put two more into the toaster in front of her; when she noticed him watching, Ruby blushed and, with a mouth full of bread, mumbled, "You know how hungry I get." Whitley chuckled, then returned to his studying.

Neo rolled her eyes and set a mug full of tea in front of Ruby, who immediately picked it up and took a sip. She sighed in delight at the vast quantities of sugar and hint of milk she tasted and smiled at her girlfriend, saying, "Thanks, Neo."

Neo smiled back and pressed a kiss to her lips, only to quietly sigh and glance over at Weiss as the white-haired woman entered the room, rubbing at her eyes and yawning. Neo set a mug of tea in front of her a moment later, producing a murmured "Thanks," from her.

Shortly after, Yang entered as well. From her angle at the kitchen's doorway, she was able to see Ruby frowning pensively down into the saucepan she was cooking eggs in, and asked, "What's wrong, Rubes? One of them have a beak or something?"

"No," Ruby said, giving her sister an odd look. "Why?"

"You're glaring at those eggs like they stole your ice cream," Yang said, settling herself weightily into a chair. "What's wrong?"

Ruby sighed, then spent a moment chewing her lip before she said, "I got a call from Adam, earlier. Remember? Anyway, he asked me to help him with… something."

"Something?" Yang parroted back, raising an eyebrow at her. "What, exactly, is 'something'?"

"Well… you remember Cardin Winchester?" Ruby asked, only to flinch when she looked behind her and saw the hateful expression on Neo's face. "Y-yeah, him. Sorry, Neo. It involves helping him… kind of."

"What does that mean?" Yang asked, a sour expression marring her own features.

"Well, uh, it's about his mom." Ruby bit her lip and took a deep breath before she continued, blurting out, "She's been raping him for the last eight years."

Silence settled over the room, the only sound being the sizzling of eggs over the stove. "What?" Weiss asked, her voice flat. "Is that… really?"

"According to Adam, who heard it from Velvet, who heard it from Cardin himself. She said he was drinking, but not completely drunk, so it's either real or some elaborate lie that the Family in Cainhurst made up in an attempt to compromise Yharnum's underworld's ability to fend them off," Ruby said, shrugging a shoulder. "But… that's a bit too… you know, 'conspiracy theory' for me to buy. It's… I hate to say it, but it's easier to believe that someone would be that much of a monster."

"Damn it," Yang mumbled, gritting her teeth as she slumped further into her seat. "What's the catch?"

"The catch? More like why he called me in the first place," Ruby said, letting out a weak laugh. "Cardin's mother, Isolde Winchester, is a Brute, Yang. A Goliath and a Steel Soul, just like Raven. Guess why he wants me in on this."

"Practice," Yang growled out. She took a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh. "So, what's the plan, Ruby? Split up or team up?"

"From what Velvet managed to find out, Isolde's not anywhere near Raven in terms of toughness or strength. Even if we manage to take her out, and even if everything we can come up with to weaken Raven actually works, there's no guarantee that we'll actually be able to take her down for good," Ruby said, her voice flat and monotonous as she stated the facts as she knew them. "The witch is our lifeline, Yang. We need to talk to her, ASAP."

"I'm not letting you tangle with Cardin's mother alone, Ruby," Yang said firmly, folding her arms over her chest. "Former military or not, Adam's a normal guy. He can't help you the way one of us could."

"I didn't say he was going to be the only person there," Ruby said, picking up the saucepan in front of her and dumping the scrambled eggs it contained out onto a plate. As she set it back down and poured in more beaten eggs from the drinking glass she'd put next to the stove, she said, "He's bringing in a pyrokinetic who's apparently been in town for a couple years now."

"What? Who?" Penny asked, startled. When she'd first come to Yharnum, it had been as a pyrokinetic with very little control over her powers; Ruby – and occasionally Yang – had enabled her to practice with them by suppressing any flames that got out of hand. So, learning about another pyrokinetic who'd arrived around the same time as her and decided to stay was something that didn't sit well with her.

"I don't know. I won't meet her until a few minutes before we go after Isolde," Ruby said, bringing the plate of scrambled eggs – as well as another loaded with bacon – over to the table. "But, there is some good news," she added as she picked up another plate, this one bearing a dozen slices of toast, and brought it over to the table as well. "I can bring along anyone I want, as long as they've got a power or know how to work a gun."

Almost instantly, Neo sighed and nodded, her multi-colored eyes blazing fiercely as she signed that she wanted to help.

"I… Really, Neo?" Ruby asked, frowning at her.

Yes. He might be a jerk, but he is the reason we met.

Ruby giggled faintly, a smile flitting to her lips just as it did Neo's. "Well, I guess that's true," Ruby said, scratching her cheek sheepishly. "Still, though, are you sure? This is probably gonna be the most dangerous thing we've ever done."

Neo nodded again, then grabbed Ruby's sleeve and pulled her down to kiss her. Yang chuckled at the sight, making both young women blush and pull apart, but Neo met Ruby's eyes and nodded again.

"Well, I guess I could let you go without me," Yang said, smirking at Ruby as she folded her arms. Despite her attempt, it was plainly evident that she was wary about her sister going off to fight a Brute; the glint in her violet eyes held more than a hint of fear, and there was a light green tint to her cheeks. "Still, though, I think I'm a bit nervous about going to see that witch on my own," she added after a moment, scratching her cheek sheepishly. "Who'd go with me if not you, sis?"

"I can," Weiss offered, smiling nervously at the blonde. "I might be a bit awkward when it comes to meeting new people, but I can at least be there for emotional support. If you'll have me, I mean."

Yang looked at her, then back to Ruby, before she nodded and said, "Okay, sure. That works too, I guess. Still, though, unless you're willing to let me borrow your car, Rubes, I don't think we'll be able to handle three hours on my bike."

"Yeah, that's fine," Ruby said, returning to the stove – and the up until now abandoned bacon and eggs sizzling atop it. "Neo and I won't be leaving Yharnum, so we can take a bus if we need to. Oh, but you'll need to get gas somewhere," she added. "My car doesn't get good enough mileage to make it through all that on one tank."

"Got it."

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

"Gods alive," Mercury mumbled as he put his phone back down, the alarm he'd set the night before having blared at him for more than a minute before he'd mustered the presence of mind to turn it off. He groaned and rubbed at his forehead, trying to temper the headache he knew he'd soon have. "How did I manage to get roped into this?"

After a moment, he sighed and pulled himself from his bed, gathered up a change of clothes, then tiredly lurched his way out into the hallway. He mumbled something incoherent as Emerald emerged from the bathroom they shared a second before he got there, her red eyes widening for a brief moment.

"All yours," she said, wrapping a towel around her hair as she sidled past him and made her way to the kitchen. "You should really stop sleeping naked, by the way," she added, flashing a grin at him before she disappeared around a corner.

Mercury frowned after her, then looked down at his state of undress and sighed. "Damn it. When'd I start doing that?" he mumbled as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Half an hour later, he emerged, wearing a pair of grey slacks and a grey shirt. He yawned again as he headed to the kitchen, then again when he started fixing himself a cup of coffee.

"Are we doing it again this morning?" he asked tiredly as he sat at the table, where Emerald was finishing her breakfast.

"I thought we agreed to do it every day until I could consider myself 'better'," Emerald said, setting down what was left of her bagel. "I need to be able to… recognize certain things for what they are, rather than what I'd want them to be, and I need someone I can trust to help me with it."

"And you don't trust anyone else with this? Not even Cinder."

"No. As much as I… uh, like her," Emerald said, blushing as she stumbled over the words she wanted to say, "I can't trust her to not program me to follow things her way. I want to know what mine would be, not hers."

"Still, though, this is… not something I'm used to doing," Mercury said, staring at the box of matches as he picked them up. He lit one, then used it to light the three bronze-colored candles sitting in between them. "And I'm not sure I can keep my own biases out of your head, either," he added after a moment.

"And I'm sure that we talked about all of this yesterday," Emerald said, halfheartedly scowling at him. "Now, are we going to do this or not?"

"Fine, fine," Mercury said. He glanced down at the candles, looking at the golden flames flickering on their wicks, then met Emerald's eyes. "Okay, you ready? Stare into the flames."

Emerald let out a breath as she followed his instruction, careful not to get ahead of him for fear of ruining the attempt.

"Focus on them," Mercury continued, glancing down at the book propped up next to him. "Tune out everything but the flames and my voice. Let them echo into your mind, your heart, your very soul."

Emerald let out another breath, her eyes starting to glaze over as she followed his instruction.

"Your mind is growing sluggish, your eyes heavy. Listen to my voice. You are getting tired. Look into the flames," he continued, sliding one of the candles towards her. Once he'd pulled his hand away, it reacted to her closer proximity – and the power she held, turning a pale shade of purple.

Mercury repeated those same four sentences twice more, each time sliding another candle closer to her. "Stare deeply into the flames," he said, a pang of guilt making him cringe at the detached state Emerald was in. Her eyes were glassy, her breathing slow and deep, and her lips parted. "Stare deeply into the flames," he repeated, then took a deep breath to calm himself. "When I next say your name, Emerald Sustrai, you will awaken – but not remember anything you experienced between then and now."

He paused, then took another breath. 'Gods forgive me for this,' he thought to himself, staring at the woman across from him. "Raise your right hand," Mercury commanded. When she did, he ordered her to lower it back down, which she did. "Hear my words. Let them become part of you."

Mercury paused again, self-disgust rolling through him. He knew he was only doing what she wanted, what she'd told him to do: "Help me be normal," Emerald had said. "Make me less clingy, make me see these stupid little events in a way that won't make me fall in love with everyone who gives me the time of day. Please, Mercury."

But he knew why she became what she was. He'd been taught many of the same things. Find their secrets. See meaning in every gesture. Leave no stone unturned. But, there was still one major difference between them. One person who'd shaped Emerald's life more than any other.

"You do not love Cinder Fall."

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

"This is the fishing village?" Weiss asked. She spoke quietly, the solitude of the isolated settlement grating on her nerves. Despite having been in the village for a few minutes now, she and Yang had yet to see another person amid the ramshackle wooden buildings, placed so sporadically that the sole "road" – little more than a footpath of compacted dirt – felt like an otherworldly being in and of itself; it didn't help that they'd been forced to leave their car more than half a mile away in the only parking lot they'd found in the whole village. "Is this… normal?"

"I… I'm not sure," Yang said, wincing when she found herself whispering as well. "I remember there being more people, but… that might have been because I was here with my family. I don't remember it looking this run down before, either," she added, staring at a boarded-up window as she and Weiss walked by. Her gaze then locking onto an old-looking iron lantern hanging from what used to be an electric streetlight, she mumbled, "What in the world…?"

"Let's just try to find that witch," Weiss said, wrapping her arms tightly around her chest as a chill slid through her, despite the heat of the late summer morning. "This place is giving me the creeps."

"Seconded," Yang said, nodding minutely as she glanced back down at the slip of paper she'd written the witch's address on. "If only there were any street signs, this would be easier," she muttered.

"Wait, what was the address again?" Weiss asked quickly. Yang handed the paper to her, only to raise an eyebrow when Weiss looked between it and one of the nearby buildings. "I think that might be it," she said, nodding at the single smallest house on the block. "It has the same numbers."

"Huh. Nice one, Weiss," Yang said, flashing her a quick, nervous smile before she started towards the house. Weiss froze for a moment, then mentally cursed herself and took her first few steps quickly to catch up; the smile had reminded her of why she'd developed her crush on the blonde.

Oddly, she found herself remembering that day – not just with perfect clarity, but with an odd insistence, as if the memory was afraid that she might forget it.

For the third day in a row, Weiss sat by herself in Beacon High's cafeteria, her metal lunchbox already open. Its contents were arranged neatly, but for a long moment she couldn't bring herself to do more than stare at the simple sandwich and bag of baby carrots. Finally, she sighed and dug in – although her meal tasted even more hollow than it had the day before.

Until she heard a voice behind her. "Hey."

She was so startled that she bit her cheek–

And the pain roused her from the memory.

Weiss paused, blinking, and shook her head. It wasn't until she'd repeated this three times that she finally accepted that she – and Yang – were further away from the house than she'd been when the memory had captured her.

"What was that?" Weiss mumbled softly, glancing over at Yang – only for her eyes to widen when she noticed the blonde's were still glazed over. "Yang?" Weiss asked, reaching out and touching her shoulder. When Yang didn't respond, she shook her and repeated her name more loudly.

After a moment, Yang stirred, blinking repeatedly. She let out a yawn, though it seemed odd, even to herself, and mumbled, "What was that?"

"I think it means we're on the right track, at least," Weiss said, startling Yang – and making her realize that the Schnee's hand was on her.

"Uh, Weiss?" Yang asked, glancing at her hand.

"Sorry," Weiss said, smiling apologetically at her. "It seemed better than slapping you, at least."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Some sort of… memory trap, I guess?"

"Great," Yang mumbled, letting out a sigh. "Should we try it again? Or… does this mean we should leave?"

"It took us three hours to get here, Yang," Weiss huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm not leaving until we at least speak to this witch."

"I guess… So, should we bash our heads against this so called 'trap' until it breaks?"

"Let's do it."

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

Rough wooden boards skewing at odd angles from where windows used to be. Paint so old that it peeled in the harsh summer sunlight, revealing whitewashed wooden panels beneath. A lawn of plastic grass, small bits of garbage strewn about it.

It was not what Ruby had expected to see. Nor had she expected to feel Neo's grip on her arm tighten as she saw it. She took a long, deep breath, hand moving to the small metal bar she had hidden in her belt; its weight was unfamiliar, but comforting, as she stared at the house of the woman she'd been recruited to help murder.

"Okay, we all know what we're here to do," Adam said, startling Ruby. When she looked over at him, she found his metal eyes on her, making her shiver; despite having known them for nearly two years now, those eyes still managed to frighten her at times. "Let's get this over with."

"Got it, boss," Limbani said, idly cracking her neck. Ruby still wasn't sure what to make of her: covered in small scars from knives and bullets alike, her dark skin was marred in a dozen different ways. Silky black hair cascaded down her head, framing her face and making her dark green eyes seem brighter. She turned to look at Ruby when she felt her gaze on her, her eyebrow going up and her denim jacket swaying from the motion. "Something wrong, girl?"

Ruby blinked, then shook her head. "No, sorry. Just… Sorry."

"Careful, girl, or your little girlfriend is gonna get jealous," Limbani said, winking at the two of them before she returned her gaze to Adam as he prepared their entry.

Nothing about her seemed like a pyrokinetic to Ruby, but she just shook her head again. 'I shouldn't have thought she'd be like Penny,' she thought, glancing briefly at Neo – who only smiled at her – before returning her gaze to Adam as well.

"Okay, let's do this," Adam said, snapping his weapon's single chamber shut once he'd finished loading a round into it. He hefted it up with both hands, raised its sight to his eye, then fired.

A low whumph pulsed from the grenade launcher, stirring the air around the four of them and making Ruby's bangs whip around her eyes. Not even a second later, the round contacted the building before them – and exploded in a concussive burst, unnoticeable save for the pulverized front wall of the Winchesters' residence. Flames sparked to life as the grinding of drywall and half-rotted wood drew up sparks, all fanned to life by the whirling winds that Ruby was using to dampen the sound of the explosion.

"What the fuck?!" came the shout from the house's sole remaining resident only a moment later. Isolde Winchester stumbled out from the shattered remains of a room, steely-grey eyes wide with shock and fury. Her shoulder-length black hair was laden with splinters, and her grey tank top was smoldering along one side.

'She's… pretty,' Ruby thought, surprised, as she stared at the older woman. 'And… not even forty?'

"What the fuck?!" Isolde repeated, her eyes widening further as Adam loaded another round in his grenade launcher. "Who the fuck are you assholes?!"

Instead of answering, Adam just fired at her again, nailing her clean in the chest with a grenade. The air seemed to pulse oddly as it exploded, blue shreds of misty light – not unlike the ability that the Schnee possessed – falling from her and seeming to shove the distortion away as it appeared. Adam straightened as he lowered the weapon, his eyebrows slowly rising up. "That… is something we weren't briefed on," he mumbled, tossing the grenade launcher to Neo, who caught it delicately. "Corpse, Airhead, mix it up."

"Roger," Ruby and Limbani said simultaneously, each lifting a hand. Ghostly-blue lines of flame lanced from the fingertips that Limbani pointed at the thoroughly shocked Winchester, then expanded into a tremendously wide cone as they met the concentrated oxygen that Ruby sent through them. The resulting blast shrouded Isolde from sight and shook more timbers loose from the mostly destroyed building – only for her to reappear a moment later, more scraps of blue mist-light falling from her as she ran through the flames at them.

Neo reacted instantly, tossing the grenade launcher at Isolde – then gripping it with her own talent and twisting the metal it was made from into bands that encircled the older woman's legs. Isolde cried out as she fell, panic momentarily shining through the crazed look in her eyes, only to catch herself on her hands and snap the restraints with an almost casual flex of her legs.

"Shit," Adam mumbled, pulling another weapon from the trunk of his car. Unlike the rounded tube that made up the majority of his grenade launcher, this weapon was oddly boxy, its barrel extending only two inches out from the mass of black steel. When he fired, it let out a chattering burst of sound and a spray of bullets, forcing Isolde back to the ground before she could get her feet beneath her. "Plan C," he said, raising his voice to be heard over his continued suppressing fire.

"No," Isolde murmured, lifting her head to glare at him. "I don't think so."

She rolled to the side, practically ignoring the bullets that bounced off her skin, then slammed her fist down into the ground. With a grunt and a mighty heave, she tugged a chunk of concrete out of the sidewalk and hefted it in front of her; chips and shards fell from it as Adam continued firing, backing up slowly as Isolde started walking toward him.

"Get lost!" she shouted, throwing the block of concrete at him when she noticed a lull in bullets hammering into her makeshift shield. Her eyes widened when it smashed into the ground beyond where he'd been, tearing up lawns across the street – and saw him reloading his weapon more than a dozen feet to the side, walking in a circle around her.

She didn't have long to watch him, though. An abnormally heavy gale of wind slammed into her chest, picking her up off the ground and throwing her back into the ruined remains of her home. A basketball-sized orb of blue flame followed, exploding into a colossal sphere that nearly swallowed the entire building. A smoldering timber soon flew from the flames to where Adam had been standing only a moment ago, its passing exposing Isolde – who was still unharmed – as she stood in what was left of her home.

Isolde strode out of her home, idly brushing ash off her shoulder as she glared at the people sent to kill her. She opened her mouth to speak, only to gasp in surprise as Neo fired a shotgun at her knee; the force of the blast made the small woman stumble, but it was enough to knock Isolde's leg out from under her, sending her face first into the ground. Neo fired again as Isolde lifted an arm to ram it into the concrete beneath her, knocking it to the side and preventing her from repeating her earlier tactic.

And then a small gash appeared on her cheek.

Isolde flinched at the pain, then, blinking in surprise, touched it with a finger. "Is this… Am I bleeding?" she mumbled to herself, looking at each of them in turn – only for her eyes to lock onto Ruby, whose own were narrowed in concentration, her hand raised and palm turned to the woman lying prone. "You… How?"

Ruby grimaced as she repeated her strike, sending a minute blade of air at Isolde. Her abilities as a Steel Soul, and the other ability she had displayed during the short battle, were no match for a blade composed of gas; when it sliced through her left eye, all Isolde could do was scream.

"What's taking so long, Airhead?" Limbani asked, glancing worriedly at Ruby.

"This takes a lot of concentration," Ruby said, her teeth clenched together and a bead of sweat trailing down her forehead. "Since I have to keep the bubble up to keep no one from noticing this, it'll take a while to make each blade – and even longer if I need to explain everything!"

She let out another blade of air at Isolde, who only managed to avoid it thanks to her pained thrashing – but she was slowly recovering her wits, and leveled a harsh glare at Ruby, her left eye firmly shut and trailing blood and other fluids down her cheek. Isolde let out a wild scream, and more misty blue light fell from her body, startling Neo enough to make her fire her shotgun at her again. Only the edge of the blast caught Isolde, but that mist-light caught the small lead pellets it contained; they hung suspended in midair for a long moment, startling Neo long enough for Isolde to rise to her feet.

"Assholes," Isolde mumbled, still glaring at Ruby. "Assholes!" she repeated in a shout, even more mist-light falling from her. Her ruined eye still clenched tightly shut, she lifted a hand and balled it into a fist – and the birdshot that her mist had caught shot back at Neo.

The pellets curved around her, deflected by a reflexive use of her power, but her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply at the display. She glanced over at Ruby, who grit her teeth and sent another blade of compressed air at Isolde, but the scratch it left on her arm was so shallow that it didn't even draw blood.

"What's the plan, boss?" Limbani asked softly as she jogged over to Adam.

He grimaced. "You sure you can't collapse Isolde's lungs?"

"My powers don't work like that. My flames don't normally eat oxygen; anything I make that does has to come from my skin, so I'd have to get real close to her to do that."

"Not an option, then. Looks like we're going with F, then: pin Isolde long enough that Ruby can get in a kill shot," Adam said, lifting his gun again and firing off another chattering burst at Isolde, knocking aside a clumsy punch she'd thrown at Ruby. Not that he'd needed to – Ruby had jumped up into the air and grasped her power, a compact gale of wind around each foot and a larger one encircling her waist allowing her to fly.

Ruby's eyes widened when she saw Isolde dip into a squat, knowing that the jump to follow would find her no matter how quickly she tried to avoid it. But she tried anyway, turning sideways and darting to the side, one hand throwing balls of air as compacted as she could make them in a halfhearted attempt to throw off Isolde's concentration. With her other, Ruby hooked her fingers through the belt she wore and wrapped them around it tightly.

When Isolde leaped for her, Ruby felt her belt – and the small bit of metal she'd tucked into it – tug her towards Neo, who pulled on her with her own power. Isolde let out a wordless cry of frustration as her momentum carried her away, her sole remaining eye casting a harsh glare down at the brunette who'd taken the other.

"You okay?" Neo whispered as Ruby landed next to her, both of them watching with no small amount of worry as Isolde started falling back down.

"Yeah. Thanks, Neo," Ruby said, giving her a small smile before returning her gaze to Isolde just in time to see the older woman land. She crashed into the ground hard enough to crack the road beneath her, the impact driving the air from her lungs as more mist-light fell from her. "What is that stuff?" Ruby muttered to herself, trying to remember if her father had ever described such a power to her.

"No time," Neo whispered, gently brushing her fingers against Ruby's before she retreated, backing away as quickly as she could as Isolde returned to her feet.

"Okay," Isolde said, her breaths coming out in harsh huffs as even more misty light swelled up around her. "Now I'm mad."

She lifted a hand, and mist rushed forth, distinct tendrils of the substance forming as they snaked out at Ruby. The brunette lifted a hand in return, sending a powerful gale of wind at the mist, only for it to pass through it – as if the mist wasn't real.

"Oh, fuck," Ruby mumbled, flinging herself to the side as the mist stabbed at her; her dodge caused the tendrils to ram into the sidewalk she stood on, punching holes into it and ripping up chunks of concrete as they tore themselves free. She took to the air, narrowly dodging a dozen different strikes as she propelled herself twenty feet up. One strand of mist, far thinner than the rest, grazed her cheek as she avoided a particularly thick one, making her eyes widen – only for them to widen further as the bulky lengths she'd been dodging split into a dozen thin threads each.

Knowing that trying to avoid that many individual projectiles – as she'd decided they were – was outright impossible for her, Ruby shot up into the sky, ignoring the little voice in the corner of her mind that told her someone would see her if she went higher than the nearby buildings. She changed direction in small adjustments, avoiding moving in bursts of speed in opposite directions that would batter and bruise her as she avoided the few strands that could catch up to her. All the while, she maintained the wall of shifting winds around their battlefield, trapping in the gunshots and explosions to keep them from prying ears – as well as a similar trick of wind, one that let her listen to the people beneath her.

And one person in particular.

Ruby's lips stretched in a relieved smirk as she heard the little puff-puff of Adam's paintball gun; it only widened when she heard Isolde's outraged cry, and still further when she saw that the mist-light had stopped chasing her. So, dispelling the gales she was using to propel herself and increasing the air resistance above her, Ruby slowed herself to a stop, turning her gaze back down on the ground hundreds of feet away.

A moment later, gravity took hold of her and started dragging her back down.

Limbani let out a grunt of effort as blue flame streaked from her fingers, only to be swallowed up by the returning mist-light before it could reach Isolde. The Winchester's face was covered in silvery liquid, some of which had already soaked into her skin – and some into her mouth.

"Gah!" Isolde grunted as she spat, trying to rid herself of as much of the fluid as possible. "What is this shit?!"

"Mercury," Adam said, a small smile lighting on his lips as he watched Isolde try to spit it out. "Or quicksilver, if you'd prefer. By now, it's already working its way into your bloodstream."

"Huh?" Isolde asked, looking over at him – only to let out a huff of breath as the effort to turn her head seemed suddenly monumental. "What the…" she trailed off, her legs refusing to support her as she collapsed to the ground. "What did you do to me?!" she screamed, weakly trying to lift herself up on her arms – only for them to give out as well.

"It shouldn't be working this quickly," Limbani mumbled, just loudly enough for Adam to hear her.

"Must be something to do with that mist of hers," Adam murmured back, refusing to take his eyes off the screaming Winchester.

Ruby landed gently beside them, the currents of air she used to cushion her fall causing Limbani's hair and Adam's coat to whip around. "Is that normal?" she asked softly as she watched Isolde weakly thrash around, her mist-light falling to the ground and fading away nearly as fast as she could conjure it.

"Who knows?" Adam asked. "She's still got enough of a hold over that mist stuff to keep a bullet away, so Mother Mary's not going to work," he added, running his thumb over the handle of the gun he wore at his hip. "Ruby, I hate to put this on you, but it looks like you're our only option."

Ruby swallowed, took a deep breath, and shuffled toward the prone Brute, intensely aware of every step she took. Isolde looked up at her as she approached, fear shining in her steely-grey eye as it met the gaze of her soon-to-be killer. "Why?" Isolde asked. Even her voice was weak, and the corners of her mouth had drooped precipitously, almost as if she'd had a stroke.

"Why?" Ruby repeated, though it wasn't to mock her – it was to ask the question in return. "Why did you do those things to Cardin? Your own son?"

Isolde blinked at Ruby, her mouth drooping open in surprise. "Cardin… He was my angel," Isolde mumbled, turning her gaze to the road. "Those months I was pregnant with him were the best of my life. I had a loving boyfriend, my parents doted on me, and my cousin… he finally left me alone. All those years, and he was finally done with me," she said, giggling drowsily, as if in a trance. "But, after I gave birth to Cardin… my life got worse. My boyfriend left me, my parents ditched me – but my cousin stayed away from me, too. Cardin was my angel, and I… I couldn't bear to not have him inside me, even if it was just a little bit of him."

Ruby's stomach churned as she listened to Isolde, and she wondered if she'd even be able to muster the nerve to finish her off.

"It was because Cardin had his eyes," Isolde continued, giggling again. "Not my boyfriend's, but… His. They knew what had happened, and I was blamed for it. Not him. Me."

Ruby swallowed, her heart sinking in her chest as Isolde's story turned into mumbled repetitions of "He was my angel." She went to her knees before the older woman, who was now so out of sorts that she didn't even realize when Ruby placed her hands over her ears.

Isolde gasped as Ruby formed blades of air directly inside of her skull, destroying her brain. Ruby swallowed again as she let go of her head and backed away, tears forming in her eyes as she saw blood and liquified grey matter leaking from her ears and nose.

Ruby started, a nearly inaudible squeak leaving her lips as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, saw the gleaming steel of Adam's cybernetic eyes, and started to cry.

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

Blood.

It filled her nose with its putrid scent, making her stomach roil, but it didn't keep her from striding forward proudly, her head held high.

It wasn't until she saw her that she knew something had gone wrong.

For a moment, Weiss thought it was her sister, Winter – but then she saw the woman standing next to her. Yang Xiao Long – but not. The blonde looked to be in her thirties, was wearing a pair of trousers that looked far less constricting than her usual attire, and held a tremendous sword in one hand so easily it almost seemed fake, given its considerable girth; it was nearly as long as she was tall, and ever-so-slightly broader than her shoulders. The white-haired woman beside her held a weapon as well, a stake-like sword that seemed to sag in her grip; the sweat on her brow and the way she held her weapon made the older Weiss's fatigue seem obvious to her younger self.

"Damn things," the older Weiss spat, the motion highlighting the scar across her cheek to her younger self's eye. "Not even stopping to think of how impolite it is to take a lady's time like this, much less two of them."

Yang chuckled, easily swinging her sword up and placing the back of its blade across her shoulders. "Come on, Weiss. They're probably waiting for us."

It was only now that the younger Weiss realized where they were standing. It was a place that she recognized, albeit only barely – not only had she been to the Harpy district only twice before, she'd never seen it in such a state of crumbling ruin, nor had she seen the tops of its ruined buildings highlighted against a smoky, blood-red sky.

A crackle made Weiss – both older and younger – flinch, making Yang chuckle again as she drew a small radio from her blouse's pocket. "Didn't get that. Repeat, over," Yang said into it.

More crackling sounded through it, but then a voice – which Weiss only barely recognized as Ruby's – came through. "… taken… KOS in the fishi-… Repeat: Penny was…"

"Oh, no," the older Weiss mumbled, her eyes going wide as she stared at the radio. Another moment passed, but static was all that came through. "That thing has Penny?"

"Seems like it," Yang said, gritting her teeth as she tucked the still-crackling radio back into her pocket. "In the fishing village, it sounded like."

"Damn it," Weiss mumbled. She shook her head fiercely, then, her blue eyes seeming to deepen, turned to Yang and said, "We're going to help, right?"

"By the dead gods, yes," Yang said, flashing her a grin, one which made the younger Weiss's knees feel weak but only made the elder grin back at her.

The younger Weiss bit her lip –

And the illusion faded.

"What in dying flame?" Weiss mumbled, blinking repeatedly as she found herself staring at what she was growing more and more certain was the witch's home. She sighed, then shook her head.

"What'd you see this time?" Yang asked softly.

More than a dozen times, they'd tried to simply walk through the effect that kept blocking them, trapping them in one memory after another. After the first time, they'd taken turns, reasoning that if one of them was trapped for too long the other would be able to free them. After Yang had broken down crying from the memory of her eighth birthday, at the sight of her father so young and happy – and alive – they'd started sharing with each other, telling the stories of the memories they'd been forced to relive.

"It… It wasn't a memory," Weiss said, frowning deeply. "It was… We were older. In our thirties, I think. And… I think Yharnum was burning down."

"Huh," Yang said, frowning as well. "That's different." Weiss grunted, shook her head again, and returned to staring at the witch's abode. "Well, I guess that means it's my turn," Yang said with a sigh. She took a deep breath, then another, then moved to step forward, only for Weiss to grab her arm and stop her.

"No," Weiss said with a sigh of her own. "I think she's proven she doesn't want to speak to us. Let's just go, Yang."

Yang frowned again as she stared at the white-haired woman scowling down at the dirt. Despite the years they'd been friends, Yang had never seen Weiss so defeated, not even when she spoke of her father's and mother's divorce. "Are you sure, Weiss?" Yang asked softly, feeling a pang in her chest when she nodded. "Really? She's gotta be running out of things to show us by now."

"No, I don't think she is," Weiss mumbled, shutting her eyes tightly. "Please, let's just… let's just go."

After a long, tense moment, Yang simply said, "Okay."

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

Ruby sat with her hands steepled in front of her, covering her mouth and nose as she watched the news. To Neo, it almost looked like she was praying – though she wasn't quite sure what, if anything, her girlfriend would be praying to. 'The old gods?' Neo thought, her arm tightening around Ruby's shoulders as she saw the bird's-eye view of Isolde's home on the television again. 'No, I doubt Ruby cares about what Amaterasu or the like think of her. Maybe she'd pray to the elements, like Whitley's family seems to?'

Neo knew why her thoughts were straying in such a bizarre direction, but she pushed that particular thought aside, instead forcing herself to wonder who or what her girlfriend would worship. At the very least, it kept her from focusing on the cracked and bloodied street that the news network was showing them.

It wasn't until she heard the front door crack open that Neo moved, shifting only slightly to look over at Yang as the blonde stepped through it. She idly noted that Weiss wasn't with her, but quickly decided that information was unimportant and turned back to settle more closely to Ruby.

"Shit," Yang hissed quietly, piecing together everything nearly as soon as she saw them – and the display on the television in front of them. She hurried over to the couch they were sitting on and knelt next to it, feeling a pang of misery at the sight of her sister's blank eyes. "Ruby?" she asked softly, gently grasping Ruby's hands with one of her own.

Her only answer was a shake of her head, so slight and minute that Yang almost missed it.

"Neo?" Yang asked, just as softly as before, as she glanced at her sister's girlfriend. "What happened?"

"She killed her," Neo whispered, making Yang blink in surprise – she couldn't recall ever hearing her voice before. But then her words sank in, and a low whine escaped Yang's lips as she returned her gaze to her sister. The sound made Zwei, curled on Ruby's lap like a cat might, lift his head to stare at her for a moment, but then he laid it back down; although he, as a dog, lacked the intelligence to truly understand what he was doing, he knew that just being there for Ruby would help comfort her.

"Ruby," Yang mumbled, trailing off as she squeezed her sister's hands just a bit tighter – ever aware of her strength, even with the limits it had regarding Ruby specifically. She paused, wondering if she could think of anything that might help her sister through this; ultimately, she did. "You know what she was, Ruby," Yang said gently. "You know the sort of person she was. You know what she did to him. Someone needed to do something, and… and with a Goliath, there's only one thing that can be done."

"Eight years, Yang," Ruby said, her voice so quiet that it was barely even a whisper. "Eight years, she's been… she's been raping her son. We went to school with him, Yang. Our Dad was helping Yharnum for nearly our entire lives," she said, making Yang flinch. "Why did we never see it before? Why couldn't… Why was this the only way?"

For a long moment, Yang was silent, unable to come up with a response of any sort, much less one that would satisfy her sister. Finally, she said, "You're right. It shouldn't have gone this far, but Dad was only one man, and Yharnum is bigger than either of us even know. Didn't you tell me not too long ago that you'd found someone with a power that Dad had never even heard of, as far as we know?" Ruby gave a halfhearted nod, and Yang continued. "We don't know everything, Ruby. We'll never even come close. We just have to do the best we can with what we do know, okay? We won't be able to stop these sorts of things before they happen, but if we can just hear about them, we can try to stop it."

"That won't save her," Ruby mumbled.

"No, it won't," Yang said firmly, making Neo blink at her in surprise. "After eight years like that, I'm not sure anything would've been enough to save her, in this life or the next. But all we can do is try, Ruby. We won't always succeed, but we can damn sure try to make a difference. It's what Dad would've wanted." Ruby sighed, her head drooping until her forehead rested against the hand Yang still clasped around her own. "And, you know what he wouldn't have wanted?" Yang added, blurting out the words before she thought them through. "He wouldn't have wanted you to get like this, Ruby. He wouldn't have liked you killing someone, sure, but he would've wanted you to realize that you'd done what you needed to, too. The only way to stop a Goliath who's gone off the deep end is to kill them, Ruby, and even Dad knew it."

"Did he?" Ruby mumbled, lifting her head back up to stare at Yang. Though there was a flicker of anger burning in her silver eyes, her expression was still fatigued and full of grief. "He didn't kill Raven."

"He couldn't. How'd your fight go, Ruby? What worked, and what didn't?"

"Concussion grenade didn't," Neo murmured, making Ruby sigh. "Guns didn't. Fire didn't."

"The only thing that had any effect was a blade of air," Ruby mumbled, so quietly that Yang barely understood her.

"And Dad never learned how to make them," Yang said, nodding to herself as relief trickled through her.

"Because he never wanted to hurt anyone," Ruby said, meeting Yang's eyes again. The anger was gone from them, now; they held only pain. "And I killed someone."

"Someone who had to die," Yang said, as firmly as she dared. "You told us what Cardin's mom had been doing to him, Ruby. You said it had been going on for years. What you did was… It was just what she would've gotten if she'd gone to court over it. Death penalty."

"I'm not gonna say it," Ruby mumbled, her mouth twitching.

Yang's smile was tinged with relief as she asked, "Judge, jury, and executioner?"

Ruby huffed something that wasn't quite a laugh out through her nose and shook her head. "Are we stooping to clichés like that, now?" she asked, her own lips stretching minutely at the corners as she met her sister's eyes.

"Whatever it takes to cheer up my little sis," Yang said. She stood back up, let out the nervous giggle that had been bubbling in her throat for a while now, and turned toward the kitchen, adding, "Now, I'm going to make you the biggest sandwich I know how to make, Rubes. We've got leftover tri-tip from the other day still, right?"

"She ate it yesterday," Neo whispered, making Ruby blush and gently shove herself against her.

"Not all of it," Ruby mumbled, drawing another giggle from Yang and making Neo shake her head.

"Then I'll just have to make a whole bunch of different sandwiches. Should be plenty to go around, even with your appetite, Rubes."

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX

And, there it is. You got to see the utter shitshow that was their first attempt at fighting a Twinborn Brute. Granted, the Mist I gave Isolde went a long way to making her more durable, but that's the thing: Raven is still even tougher than her.

Anyway, I don't really have anything left to talk about down here. I might decide to take a short break before I start writing again, but that's more of an issue with fatigue than lack of resolve. I'm committed to finishing these stories that I have on here.

Since I don't want to leave you with nothing, though, I feel like this will be a good point to explain something that I probably won't ever get a good opportunity to explain in the story itself: inheritance.

Abilities, powers, quirks, whatever you want to call them – they all have to be inherited. There is no method of obtaining a power other than inheriting it; not even a so-called witch's power can truly grant one. However, this has resulted in a few powers dying out. In this chapter, for example, you saw the finale of Isolde's Mist; she was the only living being to have that power, a patriarchal power, so it died with her.

But this does beg a question: if every power is either matriarchal or patriarchal, how come there are people with multiple powers that follow a single line? The easier answer would be that whatever event granted the first powers granted multiple to certain individuals, but that would be rather unsatisfying, wouldn't it?

The real answer is much more satisfying, I think. It's also grosser.

If two people sharing the same power mate, their powers follow the normal paths of inheritance: if the male's power is matriarchal and the female's is patriarchal, a child born of their union wouldn't have their power… unless the two are closely related.

If, in the example above, the man and woman were siblings, cousins, aunt/uncle and nephew/niece, or even parent and child, the product of their union would inherent every ability that the two shared. What's more, the inheritance of their child's power(s) would be determined by the child's sex: a son inheriting a typically matriarchal ability would see it pass to any children he had, for example.

As a result, Cardin Winchester is much like Qrow and Raven's father in this series: Twinborn. In their case, however, the incestual relations happened more than a dozen generations back, melding together the Steel Soul and bird-shapeshifting powers into a single patriarchal bloodline.

Just to clarify and summarize: due to his father being his mother's cousin, any of Cardin's children would be Twinborn with super-strength and super-toughness.

I think I've finished describing this, at least in the details I'm willing to share for the time being. Any further information would almost certainly be able to be shared via the story itself; most people don't know a whole lot about these sorts of abilities, making it easy for me to come up with an excuse to have one person tell it to someone else.

Until next time, folks.