Summer arrived at Beacon as soon as she could, Beacon's combat professor wasted no time in rushing through the school, desperately searching for her daughters. Summer really wasn't sure when Lily had become her third daughter, it might have been when the girl agreed to stay with her and Tai, it might have been as soon as she shared her name, but Lily was Summer's daughter and that meant that the huntress would try and protect and heal the traumatized girl as best as she could.
At first it had started out as a form of obligation, Lily had no home and no family to go back to, but even the little bit of Lily's past that she knew caused Summer to accept responsibility for the wayward Ruby Rose. It was tragic, learning that her other self had died on Lily's Remnant, and it was even worse seeing just how different Lily was from Ruby. Summer herself though didn't think Lily was that different from her younger counterpart, instead the silver eyed warrior just thought that Ruby's own qualities had been twisted and distorted into something that appeared ugly on the outside.
Summer eventually found Lily with Yang, the two teenagers were in an isolated corner of the school, Summer herself had only been to the corner a few times and it was only when she was a professor, during the few times Tai visited her during work, Summer's face turned red at the thought of those times with her husband. Regardless of her thoughts, Yang was standing nervously, her blonde haired daughter was nervously twisting her hair, a nervous habit that she had ever since she was a child. Lily was just sitting on the ground, leaning up against the brick wall, that damn glaze was back in her eye, stronger than ever, and blood was trickling out of a wound on her leg.
Summer walked over to Lily's slumped form and hauled the girl up, Lily made no effort to get up, but she didn't try to fight Summer's pull either, nor did she flinch so that was a good sign. Summer started pulling Lily away but not before she gave her oldest daughter a look that clearly said that they would talk once she got Lily back home, Yang nodded in understanding, and Summer left pulling Lily with her.
"What the hell was that all about!" Summer demanded as soon as she closed the door behind them. Ruby had to admit that her voice had reached an impressive level given the fact that Tai literally came scampering down the stairs. Ruby scoffed and instead marched herself over to the couch and plopped down on it, before pulling out her scroll and began looking at the pictures she had taken, there were quite a few nice ones.
"..."
"Oh no" Summer marched over and snatched the scroll straight from Ruby's hands, an action that had Ruby on her feet instantly.
"Give that back" Ruby warned, her voice coming out as a growl, and her hand on Myrtenaster, which rested, still sheathed at her waist.
"Not until you explain." Summer countered, and she quickly tossed the scroll to Tai, who awkwardly held it over his head so neither Ruby nor Summer could snatch it again.
"Fine" Ruby growled her silver eye slit like and angry, "CRDL insulted both your daughters so I taught them a lesson."
"Tell me something Ruby." Summer began rhetorically, "Do you have a teaching license?"
"..."
"I thought so." Summer snapped triumphantly, "Therefore you're not qualified to reach CRDL anything."
"Fine I kicked their asses." Ruby admitted..
"Language!" Summer warned, pointing her finger at Ruby.
Ruby just shook her head and scoffed, "Really?" she asked distinctly unimpressed.
"Ruby fighting in Beacon is only allowed during Combat Class, something you should know since you were a student there yourself!"
"Please" Ruby scoffed, "CRDL are bullies and bigots, they deserve much more than what I gave them." Ruby's silver eye began sparking in response to her roller-coaster of emotions.
"That might be true." Summer admitted her own eyes beginning to spark as well, "But that doesn't give you the right to dish out judgement, that's not justice."
"Justice?" Ruby asked like the term was foreign to her, "Justice is a construct of the current power base." Ruby got that faraway look in her eye again but she continued speaking, "A base which according to my life experience is about to change."
"That's what I'm saying" Summer said, angry that Ruby couldn't get it, "With your experience we can stop all of this before it's too late!"
"Too late for what Remant to fall?" Ruby asked, but much like Summer had before it was clearly a rhetorical question, "It already has fallen! You just can't see it!" The fallen angel insisted.
"What do you mean?" Tai asked,breaking his silence.
"There is no justice!" Ruby vehemently insisted, "No law! No order! Except for the one that Salem is going to bring with her! And forgive me for saying that I would die before I experience that again!"
"The kingdoms have plenty of laws!" Tai insisted, not seeing the point that Ruby was trying to make.
"Yes they do, but they have their own laws." Ruby began pacing and ran a hand through her messy hair, "And because of that fact my Remnant was too slow to react, Salem swept through it unopposed, we never had a chance. Which is why…" Ruby continued as she dug through the pantry looking for some leftover cookies, "We need to gather the relics and maidens."
"You know about them?"
"Of course I know about them" Ruby laughed despite their being no humor in it, "I know about Salem, and that's the part that surprises you."
"Why would we need the maidens and relics?" Summer rejoined the conversation, looking at Ruby in confusion.
"Because if Salem gets her hand on even one of the relics she'll be too powerful to kill."
"She already is, she can't be killed. Weakened? Yes. Stopped? Yeah, but killed? No."
"That's where you're wrong." Ruby countered, a grim but knowing smile on her face, "A silver eyed warrior, with the four maidens wielding their respective relics can kill Salem."
"How do you know this?"
"Salem told me." Ruby admitted, ignoring the shocked protests from Summer and Tai she continued, "Salem destroyed the relics in my world, and one of her lackeys was the fall maiden, we couldn't kill her and she knew it." Ruby growled the last part out, "She bragged to us, drunk on victory, she told us how she could be killed because she knew it was impossible for us. But here it isn't impossible."
"Do you even know where the relics and maidens are?"
"I know where three of the four are." Ruby admitted, "Which is undoubtedly better than most people."
"Then where are they."
"I'll need my scroll first."
Ruby smiled at the device softly when Tai gave it back to her, it was precious to her in many ways. "The Winter Maiden is currently safe in Atlas, Ironwood will undoubtedly help us once he learns that Salem can be killed."
Ruby pulled up a map of Remnant as she spoke, before pointing to Mistral, "The Spring Maiden can open the vault in Haven."
"Who is the Spring Maiden."
"Raven Branwen." Ruby admitted, before noticing that Summer didn't seem surprised with the news at all.
"As for the Summer Maiden, well I don't know where she is." Ruby admitted, "Some people doubt that she even exists."
"Well then we need to find her." Tai protested.
"We do." Ruby agreed, "But her missing is actually good news."
"How could that ever be good?"
"It means that none of Salem's faction is the Summer Maiden." A small smile appeared on Ruby's lips.
"How did you get to that conclusion from not knowing who the Summer Maiden was." Summer asked in genuine confusion.
"Because I know Salem's faction" Ruby answered, "And they would have bragged and shown off their power if it was them, and they never did."
"And the Fall Maiden?"
"..." Ruby looked down and nervously licked her lips, "That one is complicated." She admitted and she pointed at Vale before pulling up an image of Beacon, "Just a few months ago the current Fall Maiden, Amber was attacked by an agent of Salem by the name of Cinder." Ruby paused to pull up an image of Cinder, "Cinder managed to steal a portion of the maiden powers." Ruby revealed.
Ruby put a hand to her face when Tai and Summer exploded with questions, but what Ruby didn't understand was how they didn't already know this, why hadn't Ozpin told them? "Anyway!" Ruby continued speaking a little louder over their shouts, "Amber is currently being held in stasis, and Ozpin plans on transferring her aura to a new host."
"Is that even possible?" Tai asked while Summer's face turned green with horror.
"That's awful!" Summer protested, "Does Oz not realize how that goes against the natural order on every single level!"
Ruby could only shrug, she had given up on trying to figure Ozpin out far before she had stopped trusting the man, "I don't know." Ruby admitted before pausing to sigh, "But if Amber dies the rest of her power will go to Cinder, and we cannot have that happen."
"So what do we do?"
"I plan on taking Amber's powers for myself." Ruby admitted staring Summer and Tai dead in the eyes, "Before you protest." Ruby continued, "Hear me out."
"This is my fight. I know you don't want it to be." Ruby gestured to Summer as she spoke, and the older woman solemnly nodded, "But I'm the one who understands Salem's faction, how they act, when they'll strike, my fight isn't over. And my family needs revenge for their deaths, and I will give it to them."
"But you're a child Ruby." Summer weakly protested.
"I haven't been a child for a long time." Ruby countered, "Let me do this." Ruby pleaded looking Summer dead in the eye, "Please."
Summer weakly nodded and Ruby's small smile grew.
A/N: So we explore the heroes' plan of action: gather the maidens and relics, and take the fight to Salem, Ruby plans on taking the rest of Amber's power herself. And Ruby has lost hope in the idea of justice and law due to the racist attitudes of humans, and the fact that each Kingdom essentially does their own thing and never seems to help each other out. But there is a problem with Ruby's plan, one to stop Salem Ruby would have to be a full maiden, being a half maiden isn't good enough, and of course no one knows who the Summer Maiden is. Also one final thing: Lily's silver eye is weaker than Summer and Ruby's because she only has one.
A/N2:I'm taking a quick break from writing for the rest of this week and next week so I can focus on finishing my first semester of school, I hope you can all understand,
Random65: Ruby will recover eventually, I say recover and not "get better" or "get back to normal" because Ruby will never be back to normal after everything she's been through. She can improve from the state she is currently in, but she won't ever be the happy younger Ruby ever again, but there will be plenty of wholesome family moments as well.
Merendinomiliano: Thanks, glad you thought that fight was ok.