AN: Weiss' full out breakdown ensues.-CakeLegends
The Impossible Girl - Chapter 37
Yang sat at her armchair, staring at the empty couch in front of her. Somehow, even with the previous inhabitant being The Snow Queen herself, the room felt colder in its current emptiness.
To Yang, taking care of her loved ones wasn't a courtesy: it was an obligation. A trait she developed from years of protecting her sister, and one she was proud of. She would always be there for a friend in aid.
But she had never met someone who asks for her help, then rejects it with such defiance.
Not even Blake, the reclusive girl she had fallen for. The Faunus only rejected help as a front, a form of defense.
Weiss on the other hand was genuine in her denial. Yang had befriended and grown close to The Heiress, and still Weiss saw her methods as ineffective.
The sound of the dorm door opening and closing snapped her out of deep thought. A worn looking Ruby and Weiss entered the room. Yang saw The Heiress tread blankly to her bed, sitting down and staring forward.
The caped-girl sat slowly sat down near her partner. She extended an arm to comfort the traumatized girl, but retracted it as Weiss flinched at her touch.
A rock of guilt sank to the bottom of Yang's stomach as she saw Weiss' condition. She adjusted her glasses.
"Yang," Ruby began as the doctor began to examine her patient. "What happened to her?"
Yang swallowed. "We were making some progress, but I needed her to relive her repressed memories. Forcing her to do that wasn't the best of my ideas..."
"What kind of memories?" Ruby questioned managing to stroke the hair of her partner without causing distress. Her heart ached as she heard the soft cries of her lover.
Yang sighed. "Abusive, alcoholic parents who hate her and see her as a leech. She couldn't help her abused sister. The years of emotional denial and rejection just multiplied the problem...not pretty stuff."
"Oh god, Weiss..." Ruby whispered mournfully.
"I thought she was having a severe anxiety attack. Now I'm sure it's going to be a complete psychological breakdown." Yang explained. "She tried to climb to the mountain's peak without a harness. Now she has to survive the fall."
She turned to look at her sister. Her mouth parted in shock. Only now did she notice Ruby's disheveled clothing and bruised, bloody skin.
"What happened?" Yang asked.
Ruby grew confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Yang said with exaggerated emphasis on her second word, "did you try to...take advantage of her while she's like this?"
Ruby's eyes widened with repulsion. "Of course I didn't! She started to...you know...but she started to break down."
"What the fuck is wrong with me?" Weiss whispered in the most broken, shaky voice they had ever heard. Her tears had slowed.
The Heiress wanted to remain calm. She fought with every fiber of her being to be strong for her friends. She quickly realized how meaningless her resistance was.
"Ruby-" Weiss bit down on her teeth as her collapsing mind forced the rest of the words back down. The look in her eyes was enough for the caped-girl to understand.
"Should we take her to the medical ward?" Ruby quickly asked her sister.
Yang nodded. "This is way too much for her to handle at once. They might have some medicine to help her out-"
"No." Weiss growled, the audible increase of strength in her tone surprising the sisters.
Ruby sighed weakly. "Weiss, after all this, you can't seriously still be afraid of the-"
"I'm not afraid."
"Then let's take you to the-"
"Ruby," Weiss grabbed her partner's shoulder. The Heiress' fearful eyes briefly showed strength. "I'm not afraid. Not anymore."
Ruby turned to her sister, sharing a look of disbelief. They looked back to the once again wincing, broken form of their teammate. One thing was clear: Weiss was going to fight through this.
"Weiss, I wouldn't suggest this..." Yang mumbled worriedly. "Your mind is struggling to understand itself. After all that's affected you...this could last hours...and only the beginning. It's going to get way worse."
"Looks like I'll be busy for the next few hours..." Weiss said, still managing to sound confident in a state lacking any. She lay on her side, beginning to hyperventilate.
"Does she think she'll be finished if she makes it through this?" Ruby asked the blonde.
"As long as she truly believes that, I think she will." Yang said, her voice sounding both reassuring and somber. "The mind is a weird thing."
The caped-girl scooted away giving her partner some space. She remained seated on the bed.
"I'm going to watch over her. However long it takes."
Yang pulled her arm chair in front of the bed. She sat down and loosened her yellow tie, putting the glasses back into a case as she did so. "I should to. She's my friend."
"Best Friend?" Ruby questioned with a smile.
Yang paused in thought. "Blake is my girlfriend now...I guess that does make Weiss my best friend." Yang gave an impressed smirk at The Heiress. "That's quite a fast turnaround from hating her some months ago."
They almost saw a smirk appear on The Heiress' face. Any signs of entertainment drained from her face as her migraine advanced. She brought her forearm to her mouth and bit down hard.
"What is she doing?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"Counter-pain. Hurting another part of you can draw attention from the part that pains the most."
They watched in silence for several minutes as The Heiress suffered through the first stage of her headache.
Weiss didn't catch a break. She growled in pain as her developing migraine evolved into a cluster headache.
Weiss' eyes shot open wide as the cluster headache took effect, leading to a sudden skyrocket of pain. Ruby saw blood flow from the bite she was giving to her forearm. Her growls were becoming muffled screams of pain.
"Oh fuck, this is bad." Yang said, removing The Heiress' bleeding forearm from her mouth and covering the girl's mouth with her hand. The blonde's stronger hand suppressed the screams far greater. Yang placed her other hand against Weiss shoulder, keeping her restrained. Ruby saw Yang flinch a bit as Weiss thrashed against her, biting hard desperately against the muffling hand.
Ruby couldn't bear to look directly into her partner's agony filled eyes.
Weiss managed to last the few dozen minutes that her escalating torment lasted. Unable to speak, she silently thanked her teammate with her gaze. Dealing with the blood curdling screams echoing through the school would have been nightmarish.
"I don't think this is a normal anxiety attack." Ruby commented fearfully.
Yang nodded. "This was prolonged for so long, I guess it's making up for lost time."
From the dizzied look they saw in the broken girl's eyes, her brain was clearly overcompensating for the pain. They could only guess what strange, pain spawned mirages she bore witness to.
Weiss began to quietly sob into her pillow. "I'm sorry, Winn...don't go...I'm sorry...please don't leave me..."
Ruby felt her heart weigh a thousand pounds as her partner's sorrows were expelled.
Yang gulped, uncertain of how to help.
Weiss whispers were split as she broke down between them. "I'm so alone...I never wanted to be...I should have helped you...I have no one..."
Ruby leaned close to her partner and whispered into her ear. "I'll always be with you."
Some part of Weiss must have received the words, as her sobbing slowly began to dissipate into sniffles over a few minutes.
Ruby checked the clock. They'd been at this for a few hours now. Weiss was close to seeing the light of day.
They didn't feel tired; taking care of Weiss was keeping them both wide awake.
Ruby looked to see her partner staring angrily back at her. The piercing blue eyes gave her a fearful rush as she had no idea how long they had been staring at her.
"Weiss..." Ruby said carefully. The Heiress' expression was more than agitated, beyond angry, it was furious.
"I fucking hate you."
Though Ruby knew she didn't mean the words, they still pierced as harsh and cold as the eyes they were delivered with.
"I wish I killed you."
The words were not only cold, but brought back memories of the two moments Ruby feared the most. Yang became visible unsettled.
"You should keep away from me. I'm just going to try again."
Ruby looked down at her bruised body. Most of the marks had faded, but quite a few visible ones remained.
"You don't hate me." Ruby said with a smirk.
"Shut the fuck up!" Weiss screamed back between her teeth, so fast the words almost sounded like one.
"We would you tell me to keep away if you didn't care?" Ruby answered smugly.
Weiss was silent.
She began to laugh. It was a maniacal laugh. One that, unlike Blake's, was completely frightening. Ruby hid her nerves.
Weiss laugh began to grow more natural, more relaxing. A smile that defined bravado sprawled across her face.
"Well spoken, fair maiden." Weiss said as she pulled Yang's yellow baseball cap from nowhere and placed it on her head.
Ruby set out a sigh of relief. If she had to deal with other versions of Weiss, this one was obviously the most variable.
"So, your highness," Ruby began, "You can utilize more strength than normal Weiss...I'm guessing that's because you can recognize a bit more about yourself."
The Queen saluted in agreement.
"Are we...close to the end of Weiss' breakdown?" Ruby asked, phrasing her words.
The Queen's smile became a warm grin. "You're looking at it. In fact, I could go for a nap right now."
The Queen slumped over to the side, about to let her eyes fall.
"Wait!" Ruby exclaimed, suddenly having a question, "If this fixes all of Weiss...does that mean this is the last time I'll see you?"
The Queen grinned once more.
"Of course it's not. Weiss doesn't want to give me up. Everyone needs a Queen."
And with that, The Queen's eyes slammed shut. Loud snoring began, and Yang's cap fell off the Snow Queen's head.
Yang smiled at the image of her sleeping teammate. Ruby got up and lied next to her partner, snuggling close. A sigh of relief escaped them both. Ruby could cherish this moment forever.
The door slammed open, making Ruby and Yang jump. Blake entered the room, carrying a take out cup carrier from their coffee shop. She blinked in surprise at the image in front of her.
"What did I miss?"