~~AAAND START!~~ (Family History)
The drinks at Shield Banter Tavern were exquisite by normal standards. Unfortunately, Yang and Raven weren't normal. Their group had chosen to take a different route home in order to see more of Raven's domain. However, when they reached the village of Demos, Raven announced they would stay there indefinitely.
Today, she'd asked to meet Yang at the tavern. Yang tried some of the famous sake at the waiter's behest, but mostly stuck to water. Raven opted for the nigori. It had been some time, but neither of them spoke. Yang had been thinking about Winter, Velvet, and Coco. If she were still adventuring with Blake, they'd already be knee-deep in an investigation by now. Winter and Coco's deaths were all too sudden and with no apparent reasoning behind them. Yang couldn't make sense of it, and she didn't know enough to come up with suitable suspects. Velvet had disappeared, so her one contact was as good as gone, too. Yang considered Raven being the culprit, but that didn't sound right.
Then again, Raven killed Blake. Watched her die in Yang's arms. There was no reason for that, so anything was possible.
But, Raven probably would have cut them all to pieces instead of blowing them to bits. Explosions weren't hands-on enough.
Yang glared at Raven.
Raven, who was busy appraising her nigori and the citizens, paid it little mind.
A bard finished tuning their harp and began to play a song at that moment.
Sing, muses, of the hermit
Who sleeps in the forest
Untamed by the city
Loved by none
Raven listened for a bit longer, then spoke before the second verse. "Yang. You've been distant lately… what's on your mind?"
Yang recoiled, instantly disgusted. "Don't pretend you care about me. I've been keeping up with training, haven't I?"
"The worshippers are concerned… and so am I. We can't afford any distractions. I sense it's more than your package to Blake."
Yang exhaled heavily. That had been stressing her out, too. The worshippers had fulfilled their end of the deal, she just had to finish it. Her only problem was that she didn't know when to stop. When was something that was supposed to account for a lifetime apart from Blake good enough?
"I know you were at Winter's shop before and after the explosion…" Raven continued.
Winter? So, Raven was on a first-name basis with Weiss' sister? How and how well did they know each other?
"The Schnee family is already conducting its own investigation. If you're concerned about their findings, perhaps you'd like to visit the Schnee manor to look into it?"
Yang's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Why are you offering?"
Raven sipped her nigori. The bard's third verse began. "Yang, there's something we need to talk about."
The last time Raven led with that, Yang's entire world fell apart.
"It's about our family history. It's time you knew everything, including information about your scar." Raven stood and opened a portal. "Come. We have a meeting with Merin Schnee."
Yang was too intrigued not to follow.
The portal brought them to a white room. A boy a little younger than Ruby greeted them with a bow.
"Master Raven and Master Yang. It's a pleasure to see you two today. Mother wishes to apologize for her lateness. What with the increase in Grimm activity lately, I'm afraid she and Father have been stretched thin." He smiled at Yang. "My name is Whitley. I'm Weiss' younger brother."
Despite his best efforts, Yang couldn't help but find him off-putting. "Oh. Nice to meet you," she said weakly, deciding she preferred Weiss' coldness.
"Would you like to see Weiss and Ruby before you leave today? I can have that arranged, you know," he grinned. "Oh, but please don't tell Weiss about what you see here today. After all, she doesn't know."
"Ruby's here?" Yang exclaimed. "And, what doesn't Weiss know?"
"We'll discuss that later," Raven interrupted. "I have a question for you, Whitley."
"Anything, Master Raven. What would you possibly like to know?" Whitley inquired, crossing his arms behind his back and rocking onto the balls of his feet in a childlike manner.
"How is the investigation into Winter's death going?"
"Wow, nothing escapes you, Master Raven," Whitley grinned. "All evidence we've collected so far points to the army's current armament distributor. It seems they were concerned about losing business to our company… We're currently working on eliminating their presence on Remnant," he said all too cheerily.
Yang almost shivered.
"Thank you," Raven nodded.
Whitley bowed. "The pleasure is mine."
Someone knocked at the door.
Whitley clapped. "Ah, that must be Mother. Let a servant know if you'd like to see Ruby, Master Yang. I'm sure she'll clear her schedule for you."
Yang nodded, wondering if his toothless grin hurt his face. As he left, it occurred to Yang that, for just losing his sister, Whitley didn't seem to be grieving.
Merin was his polar opposite. Though her face was even more expressionless than Raven's, everything from the way she moved to the deeply-set dark circles under eyes conveyed grief. She entered with a servant, who brought two pots of tea. Merin was already holding her cup. The servant gave Yang and Raven a cup each, filling them with tea from one pot and refilling Merin's tea with the other.
They sat on plush, white couches accented with silver.
"Raven," Merin greeted. Her voice was tired.
"Merin. I'm sorry for your loss," Raven said.
"Thank you…"
Yang was disturbed by their esoteric lack of expression. She felt out of place.
Raven nodded. "This is my daughter, Yang."
"Yang…" Merin looked her over for some time. "You are Ruby Rose's sister, correct?" She drank some of her tea as she waited for a response.
"Yes, I am," Yang answered, feeling even more uncomfortable.
"Excellence runs in both our families…" Merin said, attempting a smile. Her lips only moved a fraction, but her eyes softened.
"Compliments aside," Raven interjected, "how is she?"
Merin sank into silence for some time. "Fine for now, but her overall condition remains unchanged."
"Who, Ruby?" Yang asked.
"No," Merin responded.
"How are you?" Raven asked her.
Merin looked at her tea, then returned her focus to Raven.
Raven nodded. Silence ensued.
Yang tried some of her own tea. It was surprisingly well-made. "This tea is great," she praised.
"Madame Schnee brewed it herself," the servant said.
Raven stood. "We'll go see her now."
Merin nodded, then stood slowly. Her movements were dignified, but not the Schnee family's usual brand of regal. They left the room and walked down the white hallway at an unhurried pace. "Yang, did you have a chance to meet Winter?"
"Yeah. Actually, I met her the day before she died…" Yang said.
"Did you two speak much?"
"She asked a lot about Weiss."
Merin took a sip of tea. Yang waited for her to say something more, but she didn't. After another long, white hallway, she stopped and put a hand to her temple. She swayed.
Raven took a step towards her, but didn't steady her.
"My book," Merin murmured.
Another servant appeared with her giant book of Dust spells and a pen.
Still a little off balance, Merin opened the book to a fresh page. "Sprite. The lightning sister spell to Shine."
Yang could see her draw out perfectly measured runes alongside a description of the keyword. So, this is was why she was considered the best rune master in Remnant. Dust spells just came to her. To everyone else, that was an impossible task.
Merin closed the book and handed it back to the servant. "Contact the lighting committee."
"Right away, Madame Schnee," the servant said, bustling off.
They continued their walk down the hall. Eventually, they came to Merin's study. She opened a hidden passageway, and they went down a long flight of stairs to enter yet another white passageway. This time, however, Yang noticed a biting chill in the air. It kept getting colder and colder until the three reached a colossal metal door.
To Yang's surprise, Merin activated her aura. Noises around her sounded isolated. There were no visible effects on Merin.
She unlocked the door with a white glyph similar to the ones Weiss used. It slid open. A dark room lay beyond it, and the cold inside was far more intense than in the hall. Yang activated her aura to keep warm. Raven was unfazed.
Merin stared into the room as if she were contemplating something, then turned around and walked away. "Close the door on your way out," she said. Her shoes echoed down the hall as she left.
Raven stood in the doorway. Shadows licked at the tips of her shoes. "I've known Merin since the Schnees began to serve our family. I was a child then."
"Serve us? What do you mean by that?" Yang asked.
Raven entered the room and lit a pair of torches. She handed one to Yang, then walked towards the source of the cold. "The Faunus Harmonists teach this: 'Of the first humans, there was one who could walk into the Soul of all things / By tearing the fabric of the world with depravity.' This person was the first Branwen. Her gift of entering the Void has been passed down through the generations. The Faunus continue:
'When in the Soul, this human tried to understand it in their own way.
They sought the impossible truth.
Upon seeing two distinct forms inside,
Color and Emptiness,
They assigned their own extremeness to the Soul
And took a fragment of Color with them.
The stolen ash of the Soul
Continues to find itself in the realm of extremes.'
"The fragment she took from the Void manifested in this world as Dust. In order to counterbalance for this excess of light, the Archdemon was born. Though the humans could now fight the Grimm, the Grimm continued to outnumber and destroy them. Our ancestor fell in battle once. She became a half-breed." Raven cast a meaningful look at Yang. "Her Grimm was the Chimaera. And, in a battle that destroyed the moon, she slayed the Archdemon and absorbed most of it.
"Her control over the darkness was not complete, however, and the Archdemon slowly ate away at her. So, we Froze her to keep the Archdemon from reemerging at full strength. That worked for generations… until the Archdemon began to conquer the spell.
"We came to the Schnees because of Merin and her father's abilities. Better spells have been used on our ancestor, but the Archdemon has prevailed against them all so far. Her scar is slowly spreading. As it is now, only part of the Archdemon is free to roam. Once materialized, it constantly searches for the rest of its being. Imagine what would happen if it finally found it."
"So, your end goal in training me is to get me to… absorb the Archdemon?" Yang felt sick.
"You have more control than most over the darkness inside you. I believe you'd be able to handle it. In the end, however, what you do is your own choice. I won't force you to take on the Archdemon. That would only end in disaster."
Yang crossed an arm in front of her. "And… what if I don't want to?"
"Then, I will continue to do what I can as a Keeper, but the end is inevitable. We will all die," Raven said flatly. The cold seemed to be at its peak now.
Yang could see the beginnings of a pedestal.
"Are you ready to see her?" Without waiting for an answer, Raven activated her aura and put a hand on a keyword on the wall. "Shine."
The room lit up. On the pedestal lay a woman covered in frost. An ebony scar originated at her stomach and spread outwards to most of her body. Even her face was covered in black tendrils.
Raven exhaled a small breath of laughter. "This is who the four kingdoms regard as the 'Goddess.'" Her humor quickly faded, and she began to inspect the frozen woman's body. "We only have a few more decades left of peace."
Yang could hardly put together a coherent response. The Goddess-Yang's ancestor-was in the Schnees' basement? The Schnees served the Branwens? Yang was expected to… absorb the Archdemon? As a Seeker, someone who didn't believe in the Goddess, Yang had always wanted to find the truth behind the world's inner workings. Now that she was learning it, she almost wished she was still ignorant.
Almost. Maybe it was in her blood, but a part of her was invigorated by the truth.
The rest of her was disturbed, disgusted, and marginally fearful of what was to come.
"This should give new meaning to your training," Raven said. "You can return to this room whenever you please." With her inspection of the Goddess' frozen form complete, she began to head back towards Merin's study.
Yang lingered for a while. The Goddess looked like a statue. To be frozen for eternity… To make up for one's sins by absorbing the consequences… To be worshipped yet forgotten…
Yang wanted no part of that legacy. But, she also didn't want the entire world to fall into chaos. Was it really all on her shoulders?
"Yang," Raven called.
Yang shook her head and walked away.
Merin was waiting for them in her study. Her tea servant bowed to them. "Master Yang, did you want to see Madame Rose before you leave?"
"No… that's okay," Yang said. If she saw Ruby now, she'd have no idea what to do or how to answer any questions.
Raven nodded. "Let's return to the tavern. Goodbye, Merin."
"Goodbye," Merin said to both of them.
When they returned to the tavern, they were served fresh drinks on the house. As Keepers, almost everything was free for them.
Another performance of the hermit's song was about to end.
Raven took a drink of water. Yang wasn't thirsty.
After a few moments of grating silence, Raven spoke. "This town is about to be overrun with Grimm. It will be your duty to save them. If you can't… I will not help you."
That set Yang's blood to a boil. "What is wrong with you?" she snarled.
Raven was unfazed. She simply finished her glass of water. "No matter how much you hate me, nothing here will change. My blood is still in your veins, and the world is still on the brink of calamity. I suggest you spend your time getting stronger, Yang. There is nothing more I need to teach you. From now on, everything rests on your shoulders."
"So, it's all on me now? To clean up her mess?" Yang almost felt like laughing. "What a joke!"
Raven stared at the empty glass in her hand, then set it down. "I don't care how you think of it," she replied indifferently. At that, she headed for the exit.
If it weren't for the contract, Yang would have her head by now.
/-/-/-/
Blake spit out blood. Glass needles had been thrust into her acupoints, making it impossible for her to activate her aura. Her body's circuit had been broken.
"I'll ask you again," the pudgy mouse Faunus continued. This had been going on for hours. His methods were sloppy and soft by normal standards, but he had an inordinate amount of enthusiasm for his job. "Why did you fake your own death?"
"To escape what monsters we had become," Blake answered truthfully.
"Why did you side with the humans?"
She refused to answer him.
The mouse Faunus kicked her in the scar. After he'd discovered how sensitive it was, he refused to leave it alone. "Why did you side with the humans? Answer me!" he screeched.
"Does it matter who they are?" Blake hissed through gritted teeth. "We once fought for equality, saying that Faunus were equal to the humans. Does it matter-"
He punched her in the mouth. "Shut up! I'm the one asking the questions, scum!" He wiped his bloody hand on a handkerchief, then grinned smugly at her. "If you value Faunus lives so much, why did you kill Brother Taurus?"
Blake didn't answer. He'd never understand, anyway. She didn't want to waste effort explaining it to him.
"Why?" he shouted, crushing her foot under his. No matter how much he hurt her, he'd never get a satisfactory answer. Her hatred and her will conquered any pain he could inflict. After some time of torture, he seemed to realize this, and moved on. "Why are you here?"
"For your head," Blake answered.
He blinked, then laughed at her. "What can dirt like you do to me? I ought to cut off your ears! Oh, but what would I do with them? I have no use for trash."
Blake spat at him.
This enraged him. He drove his knee into her scar and pulled her head back with her ears. "I will enjoy watching you die at the hands of the Grimm," he snarled. "We'll see if you can protect your precious humans in the ring." He laughed. "I'll even let you use your aura. So you understand just how worthless you are."
Blake smirked at him. He'd just given her the ticket she'd been waiting for. His days were numbered.
"We'll see how long you keep that condescending look of yours. I can't wait to make a spectacle of you…"
Blake managed a breath of laughter. "I was just thinking the same thing."
~~AAAND STOP!~~
NEXT: Extra: Ancient Literature, the History of Words, and the Hermit's Song