Edge of Life
Chapter Twenty Five
Through the Ashes of Empires
The atmosphere was tense in the bullhead containing only team RSYB, like there was an undercurrent of nervous energy that exuded both fragile hope and crippling fear.
And all of it was coming from Solus.
The battered looking merc held his arm out to Ruby, a cloth covered object held firmly in his grasp, his eye was looked almost pleading as he stared at Ruby, almost as if begging the younger girl to take it from him. Ruby eyed the package warily, unsure what it contained, but took it anyway. Slowly, ever so slowly she unwrapped it, peeling away the plain looking cloth that covered the item within.
Silver and lilac eyes widened to the extreme in a mixture of shocked sadness and fury once they saw the blade. It was a gleaming, if slightly dusty silver sword with a thick red rim and a trigger on the handle. The sisters recognized the old weapon, Ruby looked ready to cry in sadness, but Yang looked furious, and all her anger was directed at Solus.
In an instant Yang was upon Solus, grabbing him harshly by the collar of his jacket and banging him into the wall of the aircraft, fury strewn across her features "where did you get this!" she roared in his face
Solus had not taken his eye off Ruby, even as Yang battered him into the wall he only muttered "off a skeleton Yang"
Ruby cried more, Yang got even angrier. "Where!? Why?!"
Solus refused to answer the girls questions, instead he continued looking at Ruby and said "she wanted you to have it, just like she wanted you to have that cloak you're wearing."
Yang dropped Solus and staggered back in shock, looking like she'd been hit by a freight train. "Wha… that was… you?"
Solus moved over to Ruby as best he could and said "im sorry, but I couldn't save her." he looked depressed for a fleeting moment, but it was soon overcome with determination "but I owe Summer a debt, one I fully intend on fulfilling."
Yang appeared to have gone numb from the shock of it all, Blake was watching the proceedings with raised eyebrows having no clue what was happening. Ruby finally looked up at locked eyes with Solus "Solus…. Please… just tell me… did you kill her?"
Solus looked horrified at the thought, and quickly said "no! I… I tried to save her! But… I was too weak, I failed. Im Sorry."
Rubys silent crying slowly stopped as she came to terms with the weapon in her hands, the blade was old, stained and blunted. But it was Summers, it was now the second thing Ruby had of her mothers. And she would look after it as if it were gold.
Yang finally regained her composure enough to say "so… that was you that brought mums cloak to us on Christmas?"
Solus managed to tear his eyes away from Ruby and gave a jerky nod to Yang before saying "she asked me too… before she-"
"Don't!" Yang cried "I don't want to know how."
Quietly Ruby muttered a broken "thank you" to the merc before returning to silence.
A few moments silence reigned over the cabin of the aircraft, before it was broken by Blake who said "so… what the hell was that?"
A week had passed since the return of Solus; most of that time had been spent with the merc looking depressed and smoking more than normal. Ruby had regained her cheerful demeanour within 2 days of the 'gift' Solus had given her, and now she seemed to spend most of her time either hovering around Solus like he was a child or restoring her mothers' old sword. Yang had said barely anything to Solus but she did give him his space. Blake on the other hand had been roped into helping the merc with setting things up for the 'simulator' as he called it.
The day following the bounty hunters return he had gone to see headmaster Ozpin about gaining permission to convert an old classroom into the simulation room. After many, many assurances that the chances of a student dying were very slim Solus had gained permission to use the previously abandoned room. But only if Ozpin himself was there to supervise the first test.
This brings us to the present.
Solus was sitting in a slightly worn looking grey office chair, before him were multiple small computers that were connected to a mish mash of coloured cables and wires. Ozpin and the girls stood behind the bounty hunter, the headmaster was looking intently at the monitors and reading the small read outs. Ruby looked excited that something was finally happening, despite Solus tiredly muttering for her to stand still the girl couldn't contain her enthusiasm. Yang was just twiddling her thumbs waiting for something to happen.
Blake was the most interesting of all; she had a look of utter determination on her face. Solus had explained how things would work very carefully, in part to cover his own arse from Ozpin if something went wrong, and due to the fact that he said he would find the whole experience terribly amusing so he wanted to draw it out.
"Okay, does everyone understand how this is going to work?" he asked one final time, hoping he wouldn't have to explain everything again.
Ruby quickly raised her hand into the air, looking all the world as if she were a student and Solus the teacher. With a heavy sigh the merc looked at her and asked "what Ruby?"
The girl had the decency to look slightly embarrassed "can you please explain it all again Solus?"
The unknown cripple let out an aggravated sigh but complied anyway "listen this time. The room before you has been converted to a crude holographic battle chamber, meaning that it is fully capable of simulating different opponents of varying levels of power."
"But I though holograms couldn't be used like that?" Ruby asked confused.
"not holograms as you know them, normally a hologram in completely intangible and therefore unable to simulate combat" the merc explained "but I was in possession of a way around this problem, namely in the form of a chemical compound known as X43-PCH or the H drug for short."
The merc looked around at the intent expressions of interest around him. "In reality you will be fine since the holograms are still totally intangible. But the drug will alter your perception of what is real and what isn't." Ruby looked a little confused but he continued anyway "the drug makes your body feel everything as if it were really happening, so if you break your arm in a simulated fight you will feel the pain, you will see the bone sticking out, you will believe your actually there. But in reality you'll be fine."
Yang refused to look the Solus in the eye, but still asked "what happens if you die in the simulation?"
"You pass out. Your heart and brain struggle to cope with the stress so you just black out." The merc turned to look intently at Blake "but if you die twice in the simulator within 24 hours it is VERY likely that you'll have a heart attack due to the shock on your body."
Ozpin decided now was a good time to speak up "that is why I decided it would be best if the machine was only used once a day per person. And either myself or Mr Superstes here must be present to ensure nothing go's wrong. Failure to comply with these rules will be met with the destruction of this device and the expulsion of the offending student. Am I clear?"
The three girls nodded, Blake looked slightly sour at the rules but still knew it was for the best.
"Okay Blake here wants to fight Argentum Mortem; a random environment will be generated for the fight." Solus drew a small white circular patch from the table "turn around and move your hair so I can put this on the back of your neck and we can begin."
Unsure what the device was Blake looked at it for a moment but eventually decided it must contain the drug, so she moved her hair and turned around, awaiting the small prick of pain that no doubt awaited.
Solus placed the device on the back of her neck with sharp clinical motions. For a moment Blake felt nothing, but then a sharp prick of pain speared through the back of her neck. In an instant everything felt out of focus for the girl, her head ached terribly as she felt new sensory data crash through her mind, it was like she was feeling everything all at once but twice.
Solus removed the device and turned to the computer to start the system up "Ruby, move Blake into the middle of the room then come back"
The red clad girl looked worriedly at Blake but nodded and complied all the same.
Reality as she knew it crashed back into proper focus for Blake, the air felt very moist and she was standing on some kind of metal walkway above what looked to be a water processing area. There was a gushing flow of water that ran beneath the bridge she stood on and a few concrete support beams scattered around the room.
The sound of metal clanging behind her forced her to spin around to see what was there; all the dark themed girl saw was a slight flutter of Rubys cloak before she disappeared behind a closed metal door.
The sound of heavy foot steps drew her attention to the other side of the small walkway; Blake turned and saw the beast of her nightmares before her, Argentum Mortem. He was a towering hulk of Minotaur shaped armour, glowing red eyes and blackened smile adorning the helmet. He looked just as evil as she remembered him.
And she would never forget that, not after what he did, not after he had destroyed her one hope for equality, not after he destroyed the White fang and killed Adam.
She would never forget. Never.
The White fang were camped out in the dense jungle known as the jade jungle just outside the borders of Mistral, all that remained of their cause was here. After their staggering loss at the battle of fort independence nearly three years ago the White Fang were a dying group. The kingdoms had all but ruined them in the public eye and the vast military power of Atlas had hunted them across the globe.
Not to mention the terror known as Argentum Mortem.
Blake and the others were very aware just how lucky they had been to survive him the first time, let alone injure him. But after the fall of Independence he had developed something of a grudge towards the White Fang, and to make matters even worse whenever he attacked a White fang target he was always accompanied by the fearsome Red Lady.
And if Mortem was bad, she was the devil made flesh.
Currently Blake was quietly eating some rations with her partner Adam, the currant leader of the White Fang and her only friend. The ginger man didn't talk much, but he did have a soft spot for Blake ever since he saved her from Mortem back in fort Independence. He had shown her how to fight, taught her the necessary skills to survive the harsh life that was being a terrorist. She would always be grateful to Adam for helping her.
"My, my… what have we here?" a melodic voice suddenly pierced through the clearing the 50 or so faunas were in "could it be…? Ah! It is! The illusive remnants of the White Fang!"
A terrible chill ran down Blakes back, she knew that voice, it belonged to the single most terrifying person she had ever seen. It was the Red Lady.
Near terror stricken both Blake and the thankfully more composed Adam turned around to the source of the voice.
And there, standing at the edge of the clearing was the priest imposter known as the Red Lady, beside her stood the towering form of Argentum Mortem with his gleaming silver armour.
Blake could only gape in open mouthed horror, they were doomed, the White Fang was over, and she was sure to die.
Mortem slowly turned his head to inspect the assembled rebel faunas, Blake and the others could only wonder what kind of beast was beneath the shining silver armour. "Well… I do think good Mr Schnee will be pleased don't you my lady?" he said with a voice thick with arrogance.
The Red Lady nodded her head and said "I agree Argentum… Shirou Schnee will be quite pleased, isn't that Adam Taurus over there? He did say he wanted his head…"
Blake blanched at the casual way the two were discussing the murder of her best friend, it was sick, it was cruel, and it was evil.
With a sudden battle cry Adam leapt at the more powerful of the two killers with his Sword poised to split the monster apart right down the middle.
Too bad he attacked the Red Lady.
With frightening ease the psychopathic woman caught the sword in mid air, Adam strained and pushed on the razor sharp blade with all his might, but it was all for naught because the Red Lady just stood there with her left hand causally holding the sword.
"My, my… how rude." The killer drawled "you wouldn't hit a Lady would you?"
Adam didn't reply, he was giving slight grunts of exertion as he tried to free his weapon. The strength that the lithe woman was showing was unreal, Adam towered over her in height, and yet she seemed to totally outclass him in terms of raw strength.
"How rude… my dear Mortem if you would?"
Mortem lashed out and punched Adam hard in the face sending him flying backwards and his sword clattering to the ground. "He's mine" Mortem said near lovingly as he stalked of towards Adam.
Blake was too caught up in watching in open mouthed horror as Mortem proceeded to beat the tar out of Adam to notice the Red Lady causally move to stand next to her. "It's beautiful isn't it?"
Blake jumped in surprise and fear as she finally noticed the unassuming figure of the Red Lady standing next to her, how had she snuck up to her so quietly? It shouldn't be possible… and why didn't any of the… others… warn her…
In open mouthed horror Blake looked around the clearing, it wasn't possible, it shouldn't have been possible… Blake had of course heard of the Red Lady's semblance, a highly advanced and precise form of telekinesis. But this? This was insane, awe inspiring… and terrifying.
With the exception of Mortem, Adam, the Red Lady and herself, everyone in the clearing was suspended in the air clawing at their throats in a futile attempt to remove invisible binds that were choking them to death. It was utterly pointless to struggle; more and more of the rebels slowly stopped moving and succumbed to the immense power of the fearsome Red Lady.
Blake could feel the mounting fury at the injustice around her, hatred towards the mercenaries bubbled to the surface, and in and instant she drew Gambol shroud and fired almost point blank into the side of the Red Lady's head.
For all the good it did.
The woman lazily tilted her head to the side to avoid the shot, almost as if the dodge at been no effort on her part. "Well that's awfully rude wasn't it?"
Still lost in her anger Blake swung her blackened sword diagonally hoping to bisect the fearsome killer. And again it was almost lazily dodged, this time by a slight tilt of the body. "Feisty one aren't you?" the Red Lady said, amused.
Blake prepared to attack again, but an ear shattering scream of agony broke her out of her anger. Blake's eyes snapped to the source and to her utter dismay she saw Adam being violently electrocuted by blue lightning that poured out of Mortems gauntlets. Mortem was cackling in laughter at seeing Adam in such agony, it was obvious to Blake that Mortem was greatly enjoying the torturous lightning he had inflicted onto Adam.
Smoke was rising from the battered form of Adam, brief flash's of his skeleton were visible, and blood was pouring out of his eyes, ears, nose and mouth as he wailed in untold pain – much to Mortems apparent amusement.
"Adam!" Blake cried as she bolted towards Mortem in hopes of somehow stopping him.
But the effort was for naught; an invisible force lifted her into the air and locked her into place. Slowly she could feel her back being straightened and cracked into a uncomfortable position. "Ah ah ah, I can't let you interrupt" the Red Lady said as if scolding a child "my dear Mortem has bee looking forward to this for too long."
Blake was unable to speak, all she could do was watch in open mouthed horror as Adam finally stopped screaming, collapsing onto the ground and beg for death. Mortem walked up to the fallen faunas commander, with sickening glee in his voice the behemoth said "I do so enjoy it when they scream…"
Slowly Mortem drew a shining silver sword from a tatty leather covered sheath on his hip, and again ever so slowly he brought it above his head, ready to decapitate Adam.
All Blake could muster was a strangled scream before the sword swung downwards, and Adams head rolled on the ground.
Finally the invisible force that held her let go and Blake took of in a dead sprint towards the body of her fallen savoir. Her mind was in denial, this couldn't be true, this couldn't be happening…
But the temporary illusion of her grief racked thoughts was shattered when Mortem chuckled and speared her through the gut with his already blood stained blade.
With a slick wet sound the mercenary withdrew his sword from her gut. Blake collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut, falling onto the ground beside the body and head of Adam.
As blackness slowly overtook her vision Blake could only hear laughter, and the amused words of the Red Lady telling Mortem to let her bleed out, prolong the suffering.
Blake would never forget, and now her chance for vengeance was at hand. Even if it was only a simulation.
"Mortem" she spat in the direction of the hulking sliver behemoth.
To her surprise Mortem actually replied, "lets not stand on ceremony here… miss Belladonna" it was disturbing enough the way the words sounded, but to hear her own name from that monster… it sent a shiver down her spine.
Slowly both combatants moved forwards, the heavy clunking steps of Mortem covering over the quiet steps of Blake.
With and quiet grunt Blake drew her weapons in the blink of an eye, attempting to stab the huge man in two places at once. The hit was utterly ineffective; his massive armour simply deflected the duel attack.
The mercenary didn't even try to block or dodge as Blake went for another attack, this time a swipe at the legs. Just like last time the attack merely glanced off his armour.
The next attack was a swipe at the right side of his neck, this time he caught the Blade with startling ease. With a guttural screech of fury Blake swung the other half of her sword the left side of his neck, and again he caught the Blade with ease. The gleaming red eyes of his helmet bored into Blakes own dark eyes, even lost in her anger as she was Blake couldn't help but feel a little afraid. "Peace has cost you your strength" Mortem declared, still holding the swords despite Blakes thrashing. "you will learn strength again, and suffering will be your teacher!"
The bounty hunter forced her hands back and he punched her in the face hard, just nicking her with her own blade in the process. Blake staggered back from the hard blow, and instinctively let go of her swords.
With a slight chuckle Mortem bent and twisted the weapons in his hands, utterly destroying her only weapons.
Blake was dismayed, but only for a second, howling in fury Blake swung her right hand around in a punch, aura coating her fist so she wouldn't break any bones.
Mortem just let the blow hit him, his head only turned ever so slightly. Blake threw another punch, this time with her other hand, only to achieve the same.
Seeing how futile her attacks were, Blake swung her leg around in a turning kick. Evidently Mortem had grown bored, so he causally blocked the kick with his left arm. With his free hand Mortem back handed the dark themed girl hard, making her hang over the railing dazed.
Just as Blake was bringing her head back up to her opponent all she had time to see was the massive armoured foot of Mortem crash into her face and send her flailing of the catwalk and down the 5 meter drop below.
Blake blacked out for a moment, but came to when the crashing sound of Mortem jumping from the rails boomed throughout the room, temporarily dwarfing the sound of rushing water.
Awareness crashed through her body sharply as Mortem lifted her by the back of her shirt and slammed her whole body into a concrete support pillar.
He then threw her to the ground harshly, she bounced a few times, but rolled to a stop just before a small catwalk that went over the rushing water that flowed through the room.
Despite the agonizing pain the coursed through her battered body Blake tried to rise. She didn't get far, barely onto all fours before Mortem gave a casual kick to her right kidney, sending new and fresh pain exploding through her body. She couldn't stop the scream that bubbled out of her mouth, the pain was extreme.
But the pain didn't end there; with a slight chuckle Mortem kicked her over the small catwalk and onto the other side of the water. A groan of pain permitted through Blake's battered body, but she wasn't done yet, she could still win this she was sure of it.
"You fight like a true hunter, with nothing held back." Mortem said as he walked over the small bridge. "Admirable, but mistaken."
Blake clicked a button on a device from her White Fang days, and instantly all the lights in the room shorted out. This was her last chance, her body was battered and bruised. Slowly she rose and began to creep towards Mortem in hopes of catching him off guard.
"Ohhh… you think darkness in your ally…" he said slowly, completely unfazed by the lights going out. "But you mearly adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man…" slowly his head swivelled around "and by then it was nothing to me but blinding!"
As he finished the last word his left hand lashed out and grabbed Blake by the throat, harshly holding her in the air, clawing for breath. With his right hand he pummelled her in the solar plexus, shattering her ribs and throwing her to the ground.
"Shadows betray you, because they belong to me!" sadistically Mortem Punched the downed faunas in the side of the head, cracking her skull.
A slow rasping laugh echoed through the room, as if Mortem was terribly amused by the effort Blake had put into the fight.
Despite the crippling pain Blake started to rise. She was lost to the pain and the fury of seeing the bane of her life laughing at her suffering. Slowly she rose to her feet and took a staggering step forwards towards Mortem, swinging a sloppy right hook towards his face.
The beast was even more amused by this "Ah yes! I was wondering what would break first, your spirit,"
Mortem lazily dodged and kneed her in the gut, making her collapse to the ground again.
With a dark chuckle Mortem lifted the girl of the ground and over his head "or your body!" he yelled as he brought her body down onto his knee.
Blakes spine made a sickening cracking sound as it was snapped in two over the mercs leg, she flopped to the ground boneless and hovering at the edge of consciousness.
The towering form of Mortem stood over her prone form, his startling crimson eyes boring into to her own, almost gently he placed a hand over her chest, then in a action that could be called anything but gentle he plunged his hand through her already shattered ribs and into her chest cavity.
After a few moments of groping he plucked her heart out, holding it before her face.
The last thing Blake Belladonna saw before death claimed her was her own beating heart.
A/U
Blake is alive! Please remember that it was just a simulation. She is alive and aside from utterly crushed confidence and hope she is okay.
So that was the long awaited fight between Blake and Argentum Mortem. It went about as well as could be expected, With Blake getting absolutely demolished with little effort on Mortems part. Is it bad that I found it terribly amusing to write? Im terrible I know.
So what did you guys think of the flashback? The end of the White Fang, long before the black trailer took place. It also took place just before the Vacuo massacre, and I mean days, not months, not weeks, days before the entire kingdom went up in flames.
And another interesting thing to note is that Mortem was rather fond of the Schnee family in that blast from the past, even if it was only because of their money. So that should make you wonder what happened. What caused such hatred by the time Mortem became the Wanderer?
I do so enjoy the questions that little things like this should generate in peoples minds.
So lets move onto the reviews…
THE L0NE WANDERER:
Thanks for reviewing.
Thanks for the constructive comments; i really like it when people point out ways to improve my writing in a friendly manner.
The reason character development is slow is because i wanted to show a different side to things, not all is perfect, 'heroes' don't always win, not every problem can be solved. I write Solus very much in the sense that he is (present time anyway...) a True Neutral. He care's very little for the struggles of others and every action he takes its out of his own selfish desires. This will change, eventually. 'Ruby' as she is may not be the one to force him to explain things, but he will be confronted about his past, present, and future. You'll see the pun in that later…
Smithrooks:
Thanks for reviewing.
I quite like stories with a in depth background plot, but something that always irked me about most fanfiction's is the instant explanation of the history and plot. This isn't totally a bad thing, but i like a bit of a mystery. I wrote Solus as a broken character with an unknown past and harsh outlook because it was in sharp contrast with Jaune from cannon, and as it is now the plot is going in two different directions. The first obviously being the present time with Solus at Beacon. And the second being his history, but im writing it in a very jumbled order just to create extra confusion.
Thanks for the complements. I tried to go for a heavy level of realism (for RWBY anyway...) and despite what many authors seem to think the word isn't all sunshine and rainbows. The 'hero' isn't always right, nor should they always succeed. Everything is dependant on perspective; there are no 'good guys' or 'bad guys' it is all down to each characters point of view.
Winter may have had a hand in the Vacuo massacre, but she wasn't alone. And she wasn't the only Schnee to pay the price for it.
I think the better question to ask is: why did the Schnee's do it?
Mysterious man:
Thanks for reviewing.
Wagner perhaps?
Darkness is a perspective at best, suffering is a reality, pain is a reality. This is what made Mortem what he is. The long and short of it all is this: People change, the past doesn't.
Remember, everyone has a struggle in life, the key is turning that struggle into a weapon.
Blaiseingfire:
Thanks for reviewing.
Ha, I'll take that as a complement. I hope the shock is a good thing haha.
Nik41:
Thanks for reviewing.
You wouldn't be wrong, but Blake wont be the only one meeting Qrow. But it will be rather underwhelming meeting for all.
Guest (green Gustavo):
Thanks for reviewing.
Your enthusiasm is much appreciated, I hope this chapter was adequate for that little confrontation about the weapon.
Neutral40:
Thanks for reviewing.
You wouldn't be wrong; Mortem had a huge impact on Beacon and Vale. His actions will be felt for quite some time. As for drama, well… I think ive got that covered.
Meh:
Thanks for reviewing.
No, not Yang, remember, the 'lucky' girl has been in every chapter except chapter 2.
eugenio4079:
Thanks for reviewing.
I know the end was rather abrupt, but i wanted to save all the juicy drama for the next chapter haha.
Fanfic shuffling:
Thanks for reviewing.
The current issues with the leg simply stem from the fact that he isn't used to it, so given a few chapters he'll be fine.
As for how Blake will go against the Mortem simulation, well… you saw.
I REALLY don't see how this matters to the story at all, but it's safe to say that yes, he and Kira had their... moments together.
The American Wolf:
Thanks for reviewing.
Rubys reaction is what could be expected of her, i think Yangs reaction is slightly more interesting. I wonder how they will react to the events of the simulator.
IMPORTANT!
So after some fiddling I just put a poll up on who you think Solus will be paired with, so please go to my profile page and vote on who you think its gonna be.
As always, please leave a review.