Snow drizzled from the dark sky.
Heaps of black masses with daunting red eyes encircled the alert group. The dense forestry provided cover for the grimm, but the low snarls gave them away.
In the background, the temple burned as smoke lingered to the sky and engulfed the moonlight. The black shrouded over the faint rays and provided an eerie atmosphere.
Cinder took in the sight of the determined relic hunters and professors, she frowned. "How unpleasant."
Yang, who was rearing to fight, cracked her knuckles. "We can say the same thing about you, half-demon."
That comment caused Cinder's face to snap. It was a subtle change in her expression. One that almost went unnoticed. It was similar to how Glynda's face warps sometimes. It was obvious that the name mixed with Cinder's past in a negative way.
"Oh," Yang egged her on, taking the silence as her cue to continue. "Struck a nerve, huh?"
Eager to defend her, Emerald shouted. "Shut up!"
Instead of retorting, Cinder simply held out her arm to keep Emerald from doing anything rash. From experience, the half-demon was well-aware that she would jump to her defense on instinct. All rationality would be tossed out the window.
Emerald looked at her curiously and obeyed, stepping back.
Cautiously, Blake tugged on her blonde friend's sleeve to keep her grounded. That was the reassurance Yang needed to back off a little. They still didn't know the full extent of Cinder's powers. They didn't want to piss her off and have her dive into a rage yet.
"Yang," Blake whispered.
"I know."
"Last chance," Mercury strutted forward with a smug leer. "Give us the relics."
In response, a sniper rifle was lifted, a rapier was poised, a katana hovered, and brass knuckles were raised. Ozpin and Glynda stared, proud of the team. Goodwitch grasped her broom tightly while Ozpin slammed his cane into the grass.
"Or…" Cinder stepped forward and stood next to her underling. "Perish. The choice is yours."
For a moment, it was a standstill. It felt like it would last for eternity. The breeze grazed their cheeks and almost calmed the tension. Any signs of snow had ceased and the snowflakes had failed to drift to the ground.
In the foreboding silence, Emerald stayed behind her allies as she processed her master's words.
She does want to kill them? Emerald thought, exasperated. That- that can't be. Cinder's a hardass sometimes but she wouldn't murder people, would she?
Her thoughts went back to how Cinder saved her on the fateful day. How she saved not only her, but Mercury as well. From the vicious claws of death. It was almost unfathomable that her master could commit such a heinous act that was murder, so she kept telling herself that it was a bluff. An intimidation tactic.
Thinking that had to be the reason, Emerald stepped forward to be by Cinder's side.
Team RWBY and their guardians held their defensive stances. They weren't going to start the fight. That was the most important thing they all agreed on. The first move would have to be from the enemy.
With silence as her cue, Cinder snapped her fingers. On command, the pack of beowolves that surrounded them pounced with menacing roars.
Like Weiss had been waiting for the command, she shot off a white light from her rapier. The strike of light burst into the center of the pack before they could get within striking range. The tiara over her side ponytail, locket around her neck, and bangle around her wrist glowed blindingly along with the blast.
Since her friends and guardians knew that was coming, they covered their eyes in time as the area flashed like strobe lights at a concert.
White. Everything was white for a few crucial moments.
Cinder's satisfying shriek ensued. It was like a serpent was writhing in pain.
Before the light faded, Ruby said calmly.
"Good start, team."
"Hell yeah," Yang stated.
The arena had been cleared out. There were no grimm in sight.
Not wasting any time, Yang launched at the closest person. The unfortunate soul happened to be Mercury, who was dazed from the light and could barely see. He was an easy, stunned target as Yang landed a solid punch in his abdomen.
A heavy gasp ensued, but surprisingly, Mercury caught himself and stayed on his feet. "That was…" he gulped for breath. "A cheap shot!"
Sensing that he was infuriated, Yang held up her brass knuckles and bounced back and forth on her feet like a boxer. "Then get revenge for it, asshole."
That made Mercury growl ominously like those beowolves.
In seconds, Mercury was in front of her. She reeled her arm back for a blow to his face, but her fist met a leg of steel.
Worried, Emerald tended to Cinder, who was clutching her arm in pain.
"My lady? My lady?" Emerald asked, almost afraid to touch her without permission. "Are you okay? What can I do to help?"
The half-demon let out a low snarl as her eyes were squeezed shut. Slowly, she opened them as she glared at the team in front of her. Hatred seeped into those amber orbs as they landed on one person in particular. Cinder grit her teeth, her face in a light grimace. Without aid, Cinder stood and held out her hand directly at Weiss.
"You damned priestess!" she hissed. "Don't forget I can do this to you!"
In retaliation, a grape purple glow enshrouded the half-demon's palm. That must've been the source of the curse because in that moment, Weiss' heart seized as she gasped.
Unfortunately, the priestess and demon were connected.
A hand flew to her chest as her blood boiled in a second. She bent forward and squeezed her eyes shut as sweat beaded down her forehead. It felt like thousands of needles rammed into her skin. Weiss was sure that if there wasn't a seal, then the pain would have been so much more excruciating. There'd been worse spells before this, so she fought through the pain and remembered to keep breathing.
"Weiss," Ruby worriedly called and placed a hand on her back. "Are you okay?"
Pale hands clutched her chest tightly. Breathe. Just breathe. Soft pants switched to deep breaths in a few seconds. When the pain gradually ebbed away, Weiss regained her posture.
"I'm fine now," Weiss reassured. That caused Cinder to look at her, skeptical. "We expected this, remember? It's nothing we can't handle."
"Glad to hear it," Ruby replied, keeping a hand around her waist.
While Ruby made sure Weiss was okay, Blake's gaze fixed on the half-demon. She undoubtedly looked confused as to how her friend recovered so fast. That caused the faunus to smirk as her cat ears were perked up and alert, ready for any sneak attacks.
The seal was working perfectly. The pain become a dull ache. Even right now, Ozpin was working tirelessly to keep the seal intact. A light green color glowed from her chest and vanished as quickly as it reappeared.
Because of the color, Cinder knew exactly why the curse wasn't as effective. However, the effects of the curse were still there, so Weiss remained frozen in case the pain rushed back.
Ruby kept a close eye on her while she trusted Blake to watch the enemy's movements.
Multiple punches and kicks were exchanged as grunts of effort rang out.
It was true that Yang had the advantage at first, but their combat skills were comparable.
"Come on, blondie," Mercury taunted, stepping back a bit.
"I'm gonna take that stupid smirk of yours and shove it into the ground!"
The opponents collided for another round.
Yang managed to block several kicks from Mercury, but was caught off guard when he suddenly dropped to the ground. Swiftly, he rocketed a kick to her chin. The impact was so devastating it felt like steel collided with bone.
"Agh!"
The blonde grunted and flew back forcefully from the hit, only to backflip and land perfectly on her feet. The jab hurt like hell, but her aura took most of the blow. The second she landed, she received several more kicks. Her opponent didn't want to give her a second to recover.
While she blocked the harsh blows, she dented her foot into the ground before reeling back for a devastating punch to break through his iron-like defenses. After a few hard punches, Mercury found himself on the ground.
Before Yang could land another blow while he was down, he shot white orbs from his boots.
"What the-"
Yang stumbled back, having no idea what the hell was happening.
From the sidelines, Blake watched in awe. "Woah… is that his semblance?"
"Looks like it," Ruby confirmed.
The ladybug pair would go help Yang, but they placed their faith in her. They had other enemies to deal with for now.
The spheres caused Yang to step back in a daze. The sudden brightness in the dark night was almost blinding. Mercury used that as an advantage he struck her relentlessly. In that time, Mercury gathered a horde of the white spheres as they encircled his opponent.
When he hopped back, he brought his leg down. Like his leg controlled the orbs, they attacked Yang from all sides.
As Yang felt like she was punched mercilessly in rapid succession, she unintentionally grunted and yelped before falling backward.
When the orbs vanished and Mercury saw her lying there in a heap, he thought he won the battle. "That's what you get for being arrogant."
Satisfied, Mercury wiped off his hands on his pants. He was about to join his companions, but was shocked to hear a shout from behind.
"Says you!"
To his surprise, Yang looked recharged from the beat-down.
"I'm not done with you."
Lilac eyes warped to a deep crimson. Yang didn't want to use her semblance just yet, so she took a deep breath and pounded her fists together in a fit of rage.
Without giving him time to compose himself, she flew at him with unrivaled speeds as she rocketed a right cross to his face.
The half-demon was irritated that Weiss managed to compose herself so fast.
What irritated her further was that Ruby and Blake refused to leave her side.
Her anger only increased when she noticed the green smog around her chest.
It was only there for a second, but she saw it. The only reason that was there was because of the enemy that screwed her over all those years ago.
Ozpin.
Cinder was about to call for more grimm. Until a loud rumble reverberated throughout the forest.
The violent sound crumpling stole everyone's attention. Even Mercury and Yang took a moment to pause the fight to see what was happening.
A huge chunk of the temple had collapsed. In its place, the flames ate like it was a feast. Dense black smoke rose from the entirety of the building and joined the restless sky.
From the sight, Weiss froze. The smoke and flames were hauntingly familiar. The last time she saw something like this, her precious childhood home burned to the unforgiving ground.
What's worse, her mother suffered a cruel fate that day.
That day, that daunting face melted with the flames as child Weiss fell from the window...
Weiss' undeniable, traumatized expression didn't go unnoticed to Cinder. It was then that the cunning half-demon suspiciously whispered something in Emerald's ear.
After a nod, Emerald held a hand to her forehead.
She was suffocating. The air around her vanished and was replaced by toxic fumes. She coughed and puffs of black spewed out.
There was no escape. The orange flames roared all around her, threatening to devour her. These weren't the friendly flames that she was used to. These weren't from Yang. Her's always felt so protective and warm. No, these were sinister.
Ash burnt her skin and charred it black. Her normally pale pallor was red from the sheer heat. The burns weren't nearly as painful as not being able to breathe. She had to get out of here-
There was no escape.
Instead of panicking, Weiss lowered her head and took a deep breath. She expected more smoke to invade her lungs. Instead, it was fresh air.
This isn't real, Weiss told herself. This isn't real.
Determined, Weiss raised her head and kept her eyes closed. When she was ready, she took another deep breath as the crackling flames lingered in her ears.
Blue orbs reopened. To her shock, there was a wicked face in front of her. Blended with the inferno was the face of evil. The flames howled as Cinder joined the inferno. The demon was a woman. A woman with short black hair and wicked amber eyes that filled with seething anger.
That devilish smirk...
It was haunting. It crept into her very soul.
Why couldn't she even breathe?
Breathe, Weiss told herself. Just breathe. This is an illusion. This already happened. It's not real.
To confirm her theory, she heard someone's shouts. Sounded like Ruby.
The priestess took another deep breath and was fresh air.
Despite Cinder's devil-like face that melted into the flames, Weiss didn't feel afraid. Rather, she felt confident. It was time to confront what happened over a decade ago.
To show that she wasn't frightened, Weiss stepped forward.
Azure clashed with fiery amber.
"I forgive you."
The illusion was skeptical. Cinder held the most intimidating appearance she could muster and Weiss hadn't batted an eye.
"What?" the smoky Cinder replied, puzzled. "I killed your mother. You must be seething with hatred."
Hatred?
That word didn't feel right.
Weiss took a moment to process those words. She didn't think she hated Cinder. Not even when she gave her a thousand reasons why she should. This confused Weiss. Why didn't she hate Cinder?
She killed her mother. Her favorite person in her entire life.
Despite that, not once did she ever feel the feeling of hatred. Not once in her life. She didn't even know what that meant. What the word entailed. The ugly emotions that came with it. She didn't even feel it as she stood here in front of her mother's murderer.
"Like I said before, I forgive you."
Forgiveness…
That felt right. She felt she could trust that.
Her heart felt fuller when she said that. It was like a weight was off her shoulders.
The illusion shrieked like a hissing snake. Those words rattled Cinder's very existence.
Maybe this illusion fed off hatred and loathing. Maybe negative emotions were needed to fuel this version of Cinder. Since there was nothing negative emanating from the priestess, it was futile.
Cinder held onto her head like it was going to burst.
All Weiss could do was watch with a sad smile.
"Weiss!"
At last, Ruby's pleas snapped her out of her stupor. Until now, Weiss had been in a trance-like state. She'd been trapped in her own mind.
When awareness sparked in those blue eyes, Ruby sighed in relief.
"Ruby?" Weiss looked to her.
The sniper had a hand around her back, making sure to keep her standing.
"Whew, I thought we lost you," Ruby said, visibly thankful that her friend was okay. "You are okay, right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Weiss reassured.
When Blake watched her friend compose herself, she smiled timidly. She wasn't lying. Now determined, Blake pointed to Emerald in the distance. "Illusions must be her semblance."
Weiss nodded in agreement, showing that her friend's guess was correct. "Perceptive as always. I think you found the perfect opponent."
Both skilled in the art of trickery? Blake couldn't wait to see how this would go.
When Emerald realized that her illusion was forcibly broken, she frowned at the three from a safe distance.
Blaringly, Yang and Mercury's grunts echoed. In the forest, Cinder and Ozpin clashed. The cane and dual swords colliding caused pulsating sonic booms to reverberate several miles.
"Woah," Ruby murmured. "Oz is fast!"
In the darkness, there were streaks of green and red. The opponents were moving too rapidly for the naked eye.
Not far away, Glynda was fighting off another horde of grimm. She was holding them off as she flew around on Wanda, sending out small bolts of dark yellow strikes. The professor focused on making sure no grimm could sneak up on Yang, who was still locked in combat with Mercury.
Out of the corner of their eye, Emerald rushed the three with her giant alpha beowolf by her side. This caused the ladybug pair to take defensive stances.
"Ruby," Blake said.
"Yep!"
Before waiting for her opponent to reach them, Blake shot off like a rocket. While she was soaring, she used her semblance to make two clones that flanked both of her sides.
Meanwhile, Ruby dashed ahead of her girlfriend with her semblance. Successfully, Ruby intercepted the alpha beowolf by sideswiping it with her gun. To grab its full attention, Ruby shot it in the chest. This didn't do much, but now the alpha wasn't concerned with Blake. That was all that mattered.
Trusting her girlfriend to handle the powerful grimm, Blake threw herself at Emerald. They were both skilled in trickery, but Blake was more perceptive.
Emerald didn't know which Blake was the real one, so she took a wild guess and thrust her dual kamas at the middle one.
Luckily, Blake had cat-like reflexes and dodged the lethal jab just in time by slightly tilting to the right. Thanks to this, the three of her sliced her chest and arms. That elicited a grunt as Blake flipped over and landed perfectly on her feet behind the stunned Emerald.
Emerald was left dazed as she whirled around to find her opponent, who was crouched low, getting ready for another attack.
Emerald held up her kamas just in time to block another assault. This time, she gained enough momentum and propelled forward, which caught Blake by surprise and knocked her off-balance.
When she stumbled for a brief moment, Emerald took that as her chance and whacked her in the chest. It was a direct hit and the faunus went flying backward with great force.
Luckily, most of her aura absorbed the blow. Blake counted her lucky stars and noted she wouldn't let another hit like that one happen again.
In mid-air, Blake gave a grunt of effort and flipped around, firmly landing on her feet. The moment she touched the grass, she received more slashes that she was barely able to deflect and parry with her katana.
The two pushed forward on their weapons before falling back.
"Why're you doing this?" Blake questioned.
Her tone wasn't accusatory. More like genuine.
"I owe Cinder everything," Emerald said sincerely. "I have nothing personal against you."
"It's not too late-"
"Shut up!"
With astonishing speed, Emerald lunged and struck her with the lethal weapon. Luckily, she struck one of Blake's clones instead. It vanished before her eyes as she whipped her head around.
"A fake?!"
This was Blake's chance, so she slashed her back in rapid succession. She never liked attacking from behind, but right now, she felt it was necessary.
In response, Emerald shrieked in pain. Despite herself, she whirled around and spun the kamas wildly. Blake hopped back, narrowly dodging the sharp, gleaming edges.
"This is getting annoying," Emerald growled.
Blake just stared, golden orbs shimmered in the moonlight.
The sounds of battle resonated as the wind swirled.
The chapter title is from Here. "There is a part of me that wants to forgive you. But I will not forget. I can't understand… yet."
Now that Weiss understands her after all they've been through, she can forgive Cinder for killing her mother.
Stay dandy,
~Toto