Chapter 24:

"Please, continue"

"Right. We apologize for interrupting your bath, but allow me to introduce us. My name is Jaune Arc, and these are my retainers Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren"

"Retainers you say?" Yang said curiously.

"Yes, the reason for this is because I am a descendent of the Great Wizard, and we are currently on a journey to regain the power he granted to your and the other maidens' ancestors. I've already received Lady Rose's power and now we…"

"Wait, you've seen Ruby? Where is she?! Is she alright?!"

"Uh, y-yeah she's fine. She's currently living in Patch with her wife Penny"

Yang's eyes flashed red, "You mean her retainer... ... ...right?"

The group became confused, "Well, yes. They live on a ranch together out in the countryside"

"Ugh, I should've known" Yang said as she walked past them and out the door, the group following suit. "Ever since Ruby began her leadership that bitch had been trying to coarse her out of it"

"Um…with all due respect Lady Xiao Long" Pyrrha said as they walked down the hall, "Lady Rose chose to leave her roll because she was unhappy…"

"There is no choice!" Yang interrupted. "Being a Seasonal Maiden is not a job you can choose to quit just because you're not having fun, it's a responsibility. Why do you think we were blessed with this incredible power? To say 'I don't feel like doing this'? No! Our duty is to maintain peace on Remnant! Precisely for situations like the one right now with Mistral and Atlas!"

They approached a large archway in the corridor, revealing the throne room of the palace. In the middle of the room on an elevated landing was a red velvet chaise; on the left side stood a man with slick red hair and a cutlass on his hip; on the right, another man with green hair and a large great sword on his back. They both bowed their heads as the group entered.

"I will always love Ruby until the day I die, but her decision to just abandon her roll? It's inexcusable. Forcing me to handle this catastrophe by myself; and Monty already knows that the Vale parliament is too incompetent to offer any assistance" Yang said as she lied down on her side, propping herself on the armrest. "*sigh* I remember the day I heard she announced she was stepping down. I stopped everything I was doing in order to go to Vale, and you can only imagine my reaction when I found her living with that cunt in an ordinary house in Signal". She shook her head, "There was so much yelling; and to this day I wish I could take back everything I said to her"

She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "But I digress. These are my retainers, Scarlett David and Sage Ayanna"

"Charmed"

"Pleasure to meet you" they said respectively.

"Now, you said you are a descendent of the Great Wizard correct?"

Jaune nodded, "Yes"

"And you've already regained Ruby's Spring Maiden power?"

"Yes, and next I was planning on…"

"Show me"

"Wh-what?"

"Show me. I want to see you use it" she said.

Jaune looked back at Pyrrha, Ren and Nora with uncertainty, "Well?"

A nervous smile grew on his face, "Well uh… I'm not quite sure… …how to use it"

"… … … … … … … … You're joking right?" Yang asked. The group hesitantly shook their heads. She brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, "So…you're trying to tell me…that you went to Ruby to receive her power… ...and you didn't stay to learn how to use it?!"

"We thought we didn't have time" Ren explained, "There's no telling when Mistral will attack Atlas again, and we wanted to get here before it happened so we could plan out our next move along with you"

Yang pursed her lips, "Hmm, that's a good point. But if you're expecting to obtain my power without mastering the one you have now, you've got another thing coming. Lucky for you, I can teach you"

"Really?" Jaune asked.

"Almost. I don't know how to use Ruby's power specifically, but I can teach you how to tap into it so you can figure it out yourself"

"That's great! When can we start?" Jaune asked.

She stood back up, "Tomorrow morning. Right now it's time for dinner. You're welcome to join if you'd like, and feel free to spend the night here. My guards will show you to the guest rooms" she said as she started for the dining room, Sage and Scarlett following her from behind.

It made Weiss sick to her stomach. Sick to her stomach to see Blake ascend the steps to her throne. Sick to her stomach to see her sit down and cross one leg over the other as if taunting her. Sick to her stomach that she and Winter were on their knees, forced to watch her do so.

"Brrr, it's so cold. I don't see how you were ever able rule a nation on a chair like this" Blake scoffed.

Cinder then entered the room, walking until she was in front of Weiss and Winter before taking a knee, "Lady Belladonna, I can report that all of the slaves have been safely transferred back to the fleet"

"Excellent job Cinder. You performed wonderfully" Blake said.

Cinder stood up and went to go stand next to Adam off to the side. "Are you happy now Lady Belladonna?" Weiss asked, "You achieved your goal, you got what you wanted…"

"HA! You think I'm an idiot?" Blake interrupted, "We're far from done with this wretched nation. Once our fleet returns we'll be moving on to the rest of your cities that use faunus for hard labor"

This worried Weiss even more, "You don't intend to destroy them do you?"

Blake chuckled, "Why would we, we already set the perfect example here..."

"EXAMPLE!? You slaughtered hundreds of innocent families!"

"A reasonable payback for the suffering you've made your slaves live through. I believe the saying goes, 'an eye for an eye'?"

Weiss was unsure how to respond as she saw a smirk appear on Blake's lips, "Besides, the two of you have yet to atone for your sins" she snapped her fingers.

Two guards grabbed Winter by her shoulders and dragged her forward. They undid the binds around her wrists and held her arms out to her sides. A third guard came forward, carrying a long bull whip; her took hold of what was left of the top of her uniform before ripping it off, leaving her upper body completely exposed.

"Pay close attention Lady Schnee. You're about to learn what it's like. To see your own suffer at the hands of others, and not being able to do a single thing about it" Blake said. She gave the soldier with the bull whip a nod.

*WHTSHH!*

"AAAAAaahh!" Winter cried out, having to strain her voice in order to express her pain. The whip crack was loud, undoubtedly having echoed throughout the entire castle.

Weiss looked on in horror; the whip left a long lesion on Winter's back, that quickly reddened as it began to bleed. "No"

Blake nodded again.

*WHTSHH!*

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Winter arched her back as she felt the leather strike again.

"Stop this! This is madness!" Weiss shouted.

Blake smiled as she leaned back in her throne, resting her head on the back of her hand… …only to nod again.

*WHTSHH!*

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Weiss was at a loss. For the first time in her life... ... ...she felt powerless. Without a choice, she did the only thing she could think of; she closed her eyes and looked away, praying that this will end soon.

To Be Continued…