Legal Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth. The True Runes and any other Suikoden-related lore that pops up in this fic are the rightful properties of Konami.
Chapter Twenty-One:
Clover's eyes widened incredulously in response to Qrow's rather vehement decree, "What? But...!" He began before promptly trailing off, though his hand had shot out to grab onto Qrow's arm as if in an attempt to stop him.
Qrow regarded him in open disbelief, pulling himself away from the mer's grasp, "I thought that what I said was pretty obvious." He managed to get out tersely.
Even now, he was still seeing red when he thought of what Clover had just revealed to him. This whole consort business was bad enough, but now to know that Ironwood was alright with Clover being actively drugged? The Rune of Punishment bearer was supposed to be better off, safer because of all of this. It ripped at Qrow's insides to know that wasn't even remotely the case. After all, what was he even standing back for if…
Qrow's thoughts trailed off as he clenched his fists even tighter at his sides, "Don't try and tell me you're okay with this, Cloves." He gritted out, suddenly even more annoyed by the mer's blind loyalty.
The stricken look on the other's face said it all plainly. Clover was clearly feeling conflicted over the matter, no matter what he might say or do. The fact that he had witnessed his own mother succumbing to the poisoning effects of Grimm Water before no doubt further pained him.
"Right." Qrow said, his light red eyes narrowing as he spun around, his expression clouding over with murderous determination, "That's what I figured."
But then Clover's webbed hand darted out to grab his shoulder once more, holding him back. "Qrow. It's not as if James forced me to drink the Grimm Water." He said quietly.
Qrow scoffed and rolled his eyes. He knew full well how much pressure could be applied to someone without directly "forcing" them to do anything. And Clover was stubbornly loyal to Ironwood. Hell, the mer felt indebted to the man. All Ironwood would have had to do was ask, and that thought alone made him want to be sick.
"I made the choice to ingest the Grimm Water, Qrow." Clover told him with a sense of finality in his words, "Don't blame His Majesty for everything. Please."
Qrow sighed, the dread and sadness in his gut overwhelming his anger as he turned to face Clover once more. The younger man's face was pleading, and, gods, did he hate seeing Clover so despondent. He didn't want to do anything just then that would further add to the burden the mer was carrying. The elf reached out gently to grasp Clover's shoulders, squeezing them to reassure the other that he was there with him, "You sure about this, lucky charm?" He asked quietly, already knowing what the knight's answer would be.
Clover smiled sadly, "Not particularly, but if it truly can calm the effects of the Rune of Punishment," he answered, "It's worth a shot, right?"
It always came down to the damn Runes they bore in the end, after all. Qrow said nothing to that, instead enveloping the slightly taller brunette into an all-encompassing hug. Clover gasped, surprised by the turn of events as Qrow's grip around him tightened and the dark-haired elf buried his face in the crook of his neck, "Qrow?" He asked, clearly taken aback.
"Let's just stay like this for a moment. All right, Cloves?" Qrow asked, hating the pleading note in his voice. However, at that moment he wanted nothing more than to hold the other in his arms, to remind himself that Clover was still there.
Clover said nothing in response, but the strong arms that suddenly wrapped around Qrow comfortingly in turn were expressive enough. Far too soon in Qrow's mind, there was the sound of a throat clearing behind him, causing the older man and Clover to hastily pull away with burning faces.
What greeted them was the sight of Qrow's oldest niece and Nora, the redhead grinning from ear to ear and practically jumping on the balls of her feet as she gazed at the two men, "No need to mind us!" She informed them enthusiastically as she gave the pair a big thumbs up, "Keep on doing what you're doing!"
Yang looked more amused at what the two girls had stumbled upon than anything else herself, hands resting on her hips as she raised a blonde eyebrow incredulously at Nora's reaction, "Are you sure they should be doing that out in the open, Nora?" She asked, clearly finding the whole thing funny, "What if they get caught?"
The red-headed bearer of the Twilight Rune harrumphed, crossing her arms over her chest pointedly, "Oh, that just makes it all the more exciting. It's what I tell Ren all the time!" Nore exclaimed.
Yang's eyebrow arched even more, "Seriously?" She questioned her friend, suddenly more interested in Ren and Nora than the two older men they'd stumbled upon.
Nora playfully elbowed her, "As if you don't think the same thing when it comes to being with Blake!" She teased jovially.
Yang's face heated up at the mention of the feline Faunus almost as much as Clover and Qrow's faces had, "Th—That's neither here nor there!" She managed to shout out in exasperation.
As Nora looked at the blonde smugly, Clover politely coughed and backed away, "I really should be going." He murmured, his teal eyes looking anywhere but at Qrow then, "Thank you, Qrow."
"Cloves..." Qrow trailed off as he took a step forward to reach out to the other man, but Clover was already moving quickly down the hallway without looking back. The sense of tension and dread returned to Qrow's chest tenfold, and both Nora and Yang suddenly regarded him with concern.
"Hey, Uncle Qrow," Yang began, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Everything okay?"
"Not really, no." He muttered, light red eyes narrowing slightly in thought as Clover's form disappeared from sight. Qrow pulled away from his niece's grip and staunchly walked in the opposite direction, the two girls sharing a concerned glance between them once more before they quickly moved to follow him.
Clover's heart and head were both pounding by the time he reached the underground lake area he was to consider his home from here on out. He sighed and leaned against the cold, damp wall of the cavern, the chill seeping through his clothes into his bare skin helping to keep his body from getting too feverish. He couldn't help but let out another sigh as he strode over to the shore of the manmade lake, plopping down until his torso was nearly covered by the softly lapping waves, wrapping his arms around himself as he tried to process everything that had recently happened.
First the consort business, then the Grimm Water, followed by the sudden awkwardness between himself and Qrow that seemed like it was becoming a chasm he couldn't ever cross safely over. A part of him knew that acting on his own feelings for the other man wasn't remotely fair or right given the situation, but...
He let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair as his thoughts wandered. He couldn't help how he felt. At some point he'd very much fallen for the dark-haired elf. It was rather cruel in a way, given what he'd decided to do. Even if being the Royal Consort was more of a political move that meant nothing beyond that, he should really...
"Clover?"
The brown-haired mer's eyes widened at the sound of Ironwood's voice, and he hastily rubbed his teary eyes with the heel of his palm before looking over at the grave-looking king who was standing just a bit farther away on the shore. "Y—yes, James?" Clover managed to get out, cursing the slight shakiness of his voice.
James sat down on the stony sand of the shore then, his blue eyes gazing out at the small island a little further away, "I realize that I'm putting a great deal of pressure on you at this moment." He finally said at length, "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."
Clover smiled sadly, glancing over at the rather awkward and stoic man once more, "Honestly, I'm not sure I am." He told Ironwood shakily, "Everything that's happened, and now the Grimm Water on top of that..."
James hummed at the brown-haired man's unfinished explanation, placing a gentle yet firm grip on Clover's shoulder, "I know it's difficult and that you must be feeling conflicted," he said, "About everything. About me."
"James..." Clover began, trailing off when Ironwood's grip tightened slightly.
"But I want to assure you, no matter how you may come to view me in light of everything, I genuinely care about this kingdom, and about you." The bearer of the Sovereign Rune told the mer, "Nothing that happens will ever change that. Even if you can't feel quite the same way."
Clover looked down at the clear water lapping around his sides then, something indescribable welling up inside him.
"I'll be sure to be strong enough for all of us." Ironwood continued, patting his shoulder, "This will end up working out. You'll see."
Clover very much wanted to believe in the sincere words being spoken then, but he thought of the pressure to become consort, of the order to take the Grimm Water, of Qrow's everything, and he found that all he could muster in response was a half-hearted nod.
It seemed to be enough to satisfy Ironwood, however, for the man relaxed and slid into the water behind him, pulling Clover against his chest almost protectively. Clover remained silent at the touch, finding that he had no desire to reciprocate it like he had earlier with Qrow's embrace no matter how comforting Ironwood attempted to be. The quiet lapping of the waves and Ironwood's warmth behind him did little to calm down his rising nerves nor did it remotely warm him. A guilty part of Clover hated himself for that.
"I'm really sorry, Qrow." Oscar Pine's voice was tinged with regret as he spoke, hazel eyes glancing over at the shapeshifter as if to worriedly gauge his reaction, "I wish I could be of more help, but..." he shrugged futilely as he trailed off, clearly at a loss for words.
They were seated at one of the tables in a common room of the knight's academy in a small group that was comprised of Qrow, Oscar, Jaune, Marrow, and, surprisingly enough, one Whitley Schnee. Jaune and Marrow had been kind enough to help Qrow locate the freckled farm boy, and had decided to stick around afterwards because, as Jaune had worded it, they "really didn't have much to do before the start of their next patrol." Qrow didn't mind their company, knowing that what he'd asked Oscar wasn't exactly a big secret.
"It was a long shot, anyways." Qrow admitted, reaching over to good-naturedly rub the top of Oscar's hair affectionately, "Thanks for trying, kid."
"It might be nice if memories were to pass on between bearers too." Oscar muttered as he sighed, "I'd probably have been able to help if they did."
"Yeah," Jaune said as the Sun Rune bearer's face darkened slightly, hands clenching into fists on top of the table, "It wouldn't shock me if Ozpin knew more about all the Runes than he let on."
An uncomfortable silence settled over the table then, Marrow in particular watching the blond knight with obvious concern. No doubt Jaune was still upset at having found out that Oz had been keeping secrets from them. Secrets that maybe could have helped them to know way back at Beacon.
"I sort of doubt that." Whitley spoke up quietly in response to Oscar's remark about memories, "What's to say the memories wouldn't somehow run the risk of taking you over eventually?"
Oscar's eyes widened, "I hadn't thought of that, actually." He admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
Whitley snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair, "Obviously." He said smugly, as if he hadn't been sitting there comradely a few seconds ago.
Jaune narrowed his blue eyes at the white-haired boy in slight annoyance for mocking his younger friend, "And why are you here again?" He asked, clearly annoyed by the youngest Schnee's presence.
Marrow nodded his head eagerly, hoping to lessen the sudden tension in the air, "This is a bit removed from Schnee Manor." He stated, "I thought the only reason Winter and Weiss were here was because they ran away from home." He frowned as he looked towards Whitely before continuing, "You haven't done that yet, have you?"
Whitley scoffed at the very notion, rolling his eyes, "Hardly." He said dismissively, "I'd rather do pretty much anything else than join a group of dull-minded knights."
"Hey!" Jaune sputtered indignantly, Marrow smiling benignly despite a sudden eye twitch at the white-haired boy's remark.
"He just wanted to gauge how his sisters were doing since he hasn't seen them since the party." Oscar tried speaking up in a placating way, clearly sensing the rising tension in the air.
"That is preposterous!" Whitley shouted, the young man's face reddening at the implication of the other teen's words.
Jaune grinned, "Hey now, no need to be embarrassed." He said in an attempt to be placating, "I have sisters too, you know."
"I'm not...!" Whitley trailed off as he coughed awkwardly and promptly attempted to change the subject at the smug looks of the others at the table, "Wouldn't this King Ozpin have records if he was collecting knowledge of these so-called True Runes in Vale?" He asked him quickly.
Qrow frowned, tapping his finger against the table, "He most likely did, but everything in his offices burned to the ground when the Fall of Beacon happened." He muttered, frustrated by the entire situation.
It was all rather annoying now that he thought about it in hindsight. Ozpin kept far too many things close to his chest unless he needed someone else to know them. Whatever knowledge he might have had on this so-called Forgiveness Phase had probably died along with him.
"It's too bad that the Rune of Punishment doesn't have subset Runes like how the Sun Rune has the Dawn and Twilight Runes." Jaune stated thoughtfully, shyly glancing over at Marrow then, "Or the Star Rune, now that I think about it."
"Yeah." Marrow said in agreement as he tapped his forehead and smiled at Jaune before turning to Qrow, "Your sister isn't exactly one of my favorite people, but I have to thank her for that."
"And she knew about the True Wind Rune too, even when Ozpin apparently didn't." Oscar noted thoughtfully.
Qrow stared at the faces gathered around the table rather incredulously, causing them to look amongst themselves nervously. "Um," Jaune tentatively began, "Did we say something wrong?"
"Raven has been gathering intel on her own for years now." Qrow told them as he stood up from his seat, "It's quite possible she may have heard something about the Rune of Punishment in passing."
...It was a long shot, but it was probably the best lead he had at the moment. Now he just had to wait for his sister to make her grand entrance here in Atlas. He hadn't seen Clover for several days now, as the preparations for the official ceremonies for the Royal Consort were getting underway. Most likely the mer was still being medicated with the Grimm Water at this time from what some of the others had said.
But if they could just reach the Forgiveness Phase like Pietro had described, than there'd be no need of that anymore at least! It was worth a shot, at any rate. Qrow just wished he could currently do more for the mer, that the tension as they waited for the Land of Darkness to take action wasn't so crushingly palpable.
Hopefully, his sister and Tai would get there soon. Not only for Clover's potential sake, but for the whole kingdom's continued wellbeing too. He never thought he'd actually want to see Raven again, but beggars can't be choosers.
Author's Notes: And the drama continues~! Thank you to everyone for their continued reading and support!