Main theme: Death Hymn by Lucas King
Arc theme: Rise from the Destiny 2 soundtrack
Theme: Reflection from the Destiny 2: Beyond Light soundtrack
Yang's eyes blinked rapidly, "What? You... You know what?"
"I know what happened to Summer."
She looked at Jaune for a long time, before her eyes narrowed, and she snarled out, "I thought you said that you knew nothing about that."
He nodded as he repositioned himself on his bed, wincing as his shoulder and leg ached once more, before continuing on and said, "Yeah, I did."
Her eyes flashed red, "So you were lying."
"I wasn't lying."
"What the- Stop bullshitting me!" Yang thrashed around in her bed, but growled from the pain in her chest as her aura continued to heal her fractured and cracked skin, "What the fuck does that mean?"
"I only learnt about it back in the Emerald Forest?"
She blinked again, "You mean earlier... Earlier today."
Jaune nodded. That confirmed what the day was for him, at least.
Yang narrowed her eyes as she repositioned herself on her bed, "So the Cult got to you?" it was more of an accusation than a question.
"No, it's..." he rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to properly say what he was, well, what he was about to say.
YOU'VE GOT THIS.
SHE THINKS.
I THI- SHUT UP, SUNDARESH.
Jaune paused for a moment, taking in the mixed confidence in the voices in his head-
Were they really just in his head? Summer had said earlier that their connection was a lot more complicated than just that, so what was it really? He didn't know, but (Hopefully) There would be time to ponder on it later.
-Thanks guys, he sent over to them, before looking down at the floor, and then back up to Yang, Ruby, and Tai, as he said, "The reason that I know what happened to Summer, is because, well-"
He tapped his head.
"-It's because she's living inside my head."
Ruby's eyes widened, as did Tai's, but neither of them said a word.
Yang, however, had a much different reaction, "What the fu- Bullshit!" she made a move to get up, to damn with the pain apparently, and pointed a finger towards him as her eyes glowed a fiery red, licks of heat flowing off of her hair, and threatening to burn the bandages, "How the fuck do you- Who the hell do you take me for!? Do you really expect me to believe that shit!?"
"No."
This took Yang aback, as she lowered her hand slightly.
Jaune rubbed the side of his head apologetically, "T-Truth be told, I'm... I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing as well. I-I've had her in my head for a decade- 10 years- And I never... I always thought that they were just voices in my head. Annoying, uncontrollable noises."
RUDE.
"Voices in your... Like schizophrenia?" this time, it was Ruby who piped up as she hugged the white cloak in her hands, "You thought it was... Wait... 10 years?"
Jaune winced, though it wasn't because of the pain this time, "Yeah..."
Tai still didn't say anything.
"When did you- Oh Jaune," Yang began sardonically, "When did you come to this spectacular, frankly- Frankly insulting conclusion?" she didn't let him finish as she barked out a harsh laugh, and went, "Let me guess, it was when you- Oh, this is rich!- It was when you saw my mum's damned corpse!?"
I never saw it, he didn't say. Best not anger her even more. Not when she was so volatile, "N-No... No, it was- It was when Pyrrha and Ren and I first met that... Ruby Alter thing... When it possessed Nora..."
Tai blinked, and looked like he had bitten back... Something. Something that he was about to say. Maybe he hadn't been informed about Ruby Alter. Or maybe he had, but not about her ability to possess people. Or maybe it was something else entirely.
"When I first came face to face with that... Thing... I asked it if it was Summer... I was almost convinced that it was, but..." he tapped his head again, "But Summer- She said that it wasn't her. She said that Ruby Alter wasn't her, because, you know-" a gesture to his head once more, "-She's, um, in here. Oh, and, um, the- The semblance thing!"
"Her semblance? The one you used?"
"Y-Yeah... Look, I don't know the specifics, but from what Summer said, and apparently the other people in the afterlife as well," he mumbled out the last part, really not wanting to put much thought into it right now. That was just a whole other can of worms that he really didn't want to get into, "I, er, apparently have some... I don't know, some link to them, and can, I don't know, use just a fraction of their semblances, or something. And before you say anything, I know that this all sounds, well, this all sounds ridiculous, because when you put it on paper, it really is, but I don't know how else to explain it-"
"Tell us something that only she can know."
Jaune blinked at Yang's demand.
"I don't want you to tell us our birthdays, or our middle names, or something else that you can- Not something that you can pull up in the school's systems, or- Or whatever," Yang growled.
Ruby looked to her, "Yang-"
"What were her last words to us?"
The black and red-haired girl blinked rapidly, "Yang-"
"No one else knows what she said to us," Yang gestured to Ruby, "Hell, my little sister can't even remember it," Ruby looked at her, offended, and Tai looked like he was about to say something, but Yang cut them both off, "So c'mon: Tell us, because if you're lying, I'll fucking rip you in half."
She bared her teeth.
"And don't think I'm exaggerating."
Jaune blinked, took in a deep breath, and then closed his eyes.
Was this really the right thing to do? Had he said the right things? Hell, was he about to say the right things?
He didn't know.
Probably not, in all honesty.
It was a catch-22 scenario. Yang had already made up her mind about him- As a lying, cheating snake- And it showed. If he lied, she would kill him. If he told the truth... Probably the same outcome.
ALL THAT'S LEFT NOW IS TO TELL THE TRUTH.
Easier said than done.
SO IS EVERYTHING ELSE.
…You remember what you said to them?
I WOULD NEVER FORGET.
He then opened his eyes, and spoke.
TO RUBY, I SAID 'GOODBYE MY LITTLE ROSEBUD. TRY NOT TO EAT ALL THE COOKIES WHILE I'M GONE'.
"To Ruby, she said 'Goodbye, my Little Rosebud. Try not to eat all the cookies while I'm gone'."
TO YANG, I SAID 'GOODBYE MY LITTLE DRAGON. PLEASE TRY NOT TO BURN THE HOUSE DOWN WHILE I'M GONE'.
"To Yang, she said 'Goodbye, my Little Dragon. Please try not to burn the house down while I'm gone'."
AND TO TAI, I SAID 'TAKE GOOD CARE OF THEM WHILE I'M GONE, TAI... AND I LOVE YOU'."
"And to Tai, she said... 'Take good care of them while I'm gone, Tai... And I love you'," he paused, and then, "That's what... That what she said to you."
The armrests of the chair that Tai was sitting on broke under his grip. His breathing was shaky, and his eyes were wide, but he was keeping some form of calm on him, before...
Before he just looked down at his lap, and clamped his hands together.
What was... What was with that reaction?
Yang was very much the same, yet different at the same time. Her head was tilted down, and her eyes were closed and shadowed by her hair. Everything about her was as still as a statue. So much so that it unnerved him even more than when she was just angry at him.
Ruby wasn't faring much better, as she looked rapidly between Yang and Tai, her head swivelling from side to side as she broke the uncomfortable silence with, "Was he... Was he lying?"
"..."
"..."
"...Guys, this- This isn't funny," her voice was a whisper, "Was he... Was he lying about what mum said?"
"..."
"..."
"Dad! Yang!"
"..."
"...No, Ruby," it was finally Tai who spoke up, not changing his position at all as he continued on, "No, he's not. That's- That's what your mother said. Word for word."
Ruby's breath stuttered, and she looked at Jaune with eyes so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of her head. Maybe they were about to. Her cheeks were wet and red, and her mouth was motioning speech, even though nothing of the sort was coming out.
Yang just remained silent.
Jaune winced. He knew that it would happen, but he hadn't wanted to cause any pain. It was an inevitability, of course, but still...
It hurt to see them like this.
"...10 years."
"Hm?"
"You said that she was in your head for 10 years," Ruby muttered to him, eyes wet like salt oceans as she hung from the side of her bed, fumbling with the cloak in hand as she then said, "I would've been 5 years old then, but... She left when I was 2 years old."
Jaune's eyes widened at that, "Really?" he quietly asked, though it was more himself than her. He never knew about that about Ruby's mother (Though to be fair, he didn't really know a lot about her). If that was true, then...
Then Summer Rose had been wondering across Remnant for 3 years before she died.
What the hell had she been doing during that period of time?
"...N-No, that can't be..." Ruby stuttered out to herself, "I mean, I can't remember what... But... That should be impossible..."
She looked over to her father.
"Right?..."
"..."
"...D... Dad?"
"...Maybe..." Tai began slowly, his hands shaking as he held them together, still looking down at his lap as he then said, "Maybe he's telling the truth..."
"...W... What?"
Ruby blinked, looked to Jaune, then to her dad, to Jaune, to her dad, to Jaune, to her dad, and finally back to Jaune.
Her eyes were darting from side to side, trying to look for... Something, he didn't know what. Her hands were sweaty and shaking, and her breath was growing thinner and thinner. She looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack.
"But... It can't... I..."
Oh dead god, she was about to have a panic attack.
"J... Jaune, how did she..."
She visibly swallowed a lump in her throat.
"How did she die?..."
…
…
…
…
OH, RUBY...
Jaune could understand the sadness in Summer's voice. No child should ever have to lose their parents, and in a way, no parent should ever have to see their child so... Broken by their loss.
But, well, he couldn't answer that question, because he didn't actually know what the answer was.
And he doubted that Summer would be revealing that information anytime soon.
…
The silence was telling enough.
"Ruby... I don't think... I mean, she hasn't-"
"Shut up."
Ruby and Jaune paused in place, and then looked to the bed near them. Tai did the same.
Yang was still looking downwards, but her entire body was shaking. Her hair was lit up and burning through her bandages. Her red eyes were practically blaring through her sealed shut eyelids. Her hands were gripped so tightly that they were turning red, her nails digging into her skin, so much so that they might draw blood if she wasn't careful.
"Shut up... Shut up... Shut up... Shut up..."
Ruby looked worryingly at her, "Um, Ya-"
"SHUT UP!"
Before anyone could say or even do anything, Yang was suddenly in front of Jaune-
{GRAB}
"ACK!"
-Picking him up by his neck with just one hand, and lifting him off of his feet as she glowered at the boy with smouldering eyes and blaring teeth.
"WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT?!" Yang screamed at him, "WHO THE FUCK GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO WALK IN HERE, AND TRY TO- TRY TO MANIPULATE MY FAMILY LIKE THAT?! THROWING THE NAME OF MY MUM LIKE THAT?! LIKE SOME CHEAP TOY!? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!"
"YANG!" Ruby called out to her, but-
"BACK OFF, RUBY!"
-Was rebuffed by Yang as behind them, Tai shot out of his seat to try and intervene.
"ANYTHING ELSE!?" Yang bellowed at the boy that she was choking the life out of, "ANY OTHER WAY YOU WANT TO TRY AND WORM- TRY TO WORM YOUR WAY INTO OUR LIVES, YOU FUCKING WEASELY SNAKE!?"
"Yang, that is enough!" Tai called out to her as he tried to pry Jaune out of Yang's grip, but the girl in question did it herself as she then-
{CRASH}
-Threw him into the wall near the door, cracking the frame and leaving a dent in its white paint.
"COME ON, I'M WAITING!" she screeched out to the boy in question as she marched up to him.
JAUNE! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!
WHAT THE HELL!? STAND UP! DEFEND YOURSELF, AT LEAST!
The voices in his head erupted in earnest once more, but Jaune couldn't find it in him to listen to them as he felt a hand grab him by the hair and force him up to look at a scathing pair of blood red eyes.
"Never come near me or my family ever again," Yang growled out to him through gritted teeth, "I will not allow you to worm your way in and poison the people I love with your rhetoric."
All Jaune could do was wince at the sharp pain. And even though he wasn't lying, all that he could do next was just nod solemnly, and whisper out, "Okay," to her.
Yang pulled him up to his feet by the hair, and the door behind him opened up as a panicking Nana looked in, confused as to what was going on. With a lazy gesture, Yang almost threw Jaune out of the infirmary, and slammed the door shut behind him.
As Nana kept Jaune up straight, fussing over him and the possibility of reopened wounds, all that he could do was sigh, and look up at the ceiling, before they began their trek to... They didn't know. Somewhere other than there.
(It occurred to Ruby a little bit later that not once did Jaune try to defend himself against Yang.
Not even once.)
As Yang closed the door behind her, all that she could growl out was, "Good riddance to bad fucking rubbish..."
"...Yang... With all due respect... What the hell was that?"
The blonde-haired woman paused in surprise. Ruby was the last person that she expected to swear.
Looking back to her and leaning her back against the wall, Yang replied with, "What that was, was me getting rid of an sneaky little weasel. No need for that shit getting in here and shitting on our mother's name like that."
"Yang, you choked him!" Ruby retorted with as she got out of her bed (Taking a moment to wobble in place from the pain in her waist and thigh), And dragged her blood transfusion set behind her as she walked up to her and slapped her hand against her older sister's shoulder, "You choked him and- And then you tossed him out of here like he was a ragdoll! You don't just- You can't just do that!"
Yang, still feeling sour from what she had been told by Arc, just responded with, "Yeah? So what?"
"What do you mean so- I repeat: You can't just do that!"
"Ruby, you're overreacting. That guy was a weasel. He was-"
"He saved us in the Emerald Forest!"
"He didn't do jack!" Yang growled out, pushing herself off of the wall as she looked down at her sister, "And then he comes in here, and uses Summer's name, and some- Some magic shit to try and worm his way into our lives!" she scoffed loudly, "Dead people inside of his head? Does he- How stupid does that idiot think we are?"
Behind them, their dad winced, but didn't say anything. Weird.
"But..." Ruby began, "Didn't he..."
"Didn't he what?" Yang raised an eyebrow at, putting her hands on her waist as she looked down at her little sister.
"Didn't he... Didn't he get mum's last words right?"
"..."
Silence was Yang's only response.
He had. He had said them word for word.
…
The thought of it made Yang's blood boil.
Had he been stalking them? Had he been observing them for years? And what about the Cult of Silver? They always called him 'Orion' and not Arc.
What was that white-haired woman's- Baobhan Sith's- Words to him?
"And you... Orion... Would you not like to seek redemption? Would you not like to make up for that which you have lost? Would you not like to make up for that which you have destroyed? Would you, Jaune Arc, not like to redeem the name Orion, and wear it once more?"
He knew something else. Something about the Cult and that- That- That fake-Ruby thing. He had to.
Just as he knew about what Summer's last words to them were.
How much else did he know? How much else was he keeping from them? How much else was he going to lie about and dangle in front of him like bait for the innocent little guppies around him?
Did he know about where Raven was?
Did he know about where she could find the woman?
Surely he had to. The creep knew what Summer's last words were, after all. Surely he knew about where that bitch of a woman was hiding away as well.
He was a snake. A lying, cheating, deceiving snake. There was no other way around it.
But a snake could be useful at least once in a lifetime.
"Then he's a stalker," Yang gritted out to Ruby, stating it as if it were gospel, "He's a liar and a stalker," she looked towards the door, "And he knows more things. He knows more than he was letting on."
"If that's the case, Yang, then you shouldn't have thrown him out!" Ruby shot back to her in an exasperated tone of voice.
Yang just barked out a laugh, "You know what, Ruby? You're right! I shouldn't have let that little weasel go. I think I'm going to go drag him back here. See what I can get out of him," another laugh, "I mean, even in a book of lies, you'll sometimes find the truth, right?"
"What if he isn't lying?"
The 2 girls jumped, and then looked behind themselves to see-
""Dad?""
-Staring down at his hands, as still as a statue, and with saddened eyes of regret and sorrow. It looked like he was drowning in his own misery.
Yang winced at the sight. It was like...
It was like when Summer left all over again.
Back then, Dad had just completely shut down.
And it was happening all over again.
"What if he really could hear Summer?" he asked quietly, to no one but himself, it would seem. If Zwei was here, then he'd been rubbing himself against his owner's leg in order to cheer him up, or get him to smile, or something along those lines. Zwei, being an emotional support dog, was really good at what he did.
Yang let out another laugh, only this time there was no humour at all to be found, "Bullshit, Dad. That's utter bullshit. So he got a few word right? Big deal. That doesn't mean anything."
At least, that's what she was telling herself.
"But... He could..." Ruby began once more, "He could use her sem-"
"Your semblance, Ruby. Your semblance, not Mum," Yang hurryingly added on, "He's just- He's just a copycat. A shit copycat at that, so get over it. He's nothing but a liar and a snake. Accept it."
Yang looked back towards the door, "You know what? I'm going to drag him back here. Him and his little friend. Maybe they both know something else about Summer, or the Cult, that fake-you thing, or even Raven."
Ruby blinked, "Raven?"
"Ohohohoh, yeah," Yang nodded slowly, "If that runt could find out that kind of shit about Summer, then surely he'll know something about Raven as well, and I plan to get it out of him, even if I have to... Play Uncle, of a sort."
"Yang! You can't just- Please! What if he's telling the-"
"Ruby, that's bullshit and you know it!" Yang railed back against Ruby, glaring down at her little sister as she yelled back with, "For god's sake, Summer's dead! We saw her corpse! Living in someone's head? That's just bullshit and everyone knows it! Even you!"
She flexed her hands into fists, and reached for the door behind her.
"I know it's tough, sis. Hell, I'm hating this as much as you, but... But Summer's dead."
"She could-"
"She's dead, Ruby. We saw her body. The Cult got to her. End of story," she winced at Ruby's despondent look. She really didn't want to cause her anymore pain than she already had, but right now, such things were necessary. Sometimes you had to hurt the things you love in order to save them, "Please, Ruby, just let it go. And let me go back and get Arc. Maybe then we can get some answers about that flying feather-brained woman, and-"
And then, suddenly, something new- Something utterly alien to her, so unnatural and diabolically untrue to everything that she knew- Cut through the air.
It was Ruby.
"Hahahahahahahahah…"
It was Ruby, letting out the quietist, most humourless chuckle that she had ever witnessed in her life.
"...Ruby?"
The chuckle was reduced to a faint murmur on her lips, and she wiped her eyes with her arm as, with a smile so broken that you could make out each and every individual crack in them, shining silver light through the channels and streams and shining dimly into the world around them. Her eyes flickered red for just a moment, and her arms silver.
And then, Ruby just... Looked at her. Stared. Stared right into her soul and back again. Piercing through her like an arrow through skin and tissue. Drawing blood from the sharpness of her glare alone.
It was the angriest that she had ever seen Ruby, and it was currently being hidden underneath a wavy smile.
"You know- You just, you know what? I had thought that, for just a moment- For just a singular moment, you cared. You cared about something other than that... Woman, that you're so obsessed with..."
She shook her head softly.
"But no... No no no… I think that we're similar like that, at least. I'm just oh so obsessed with my mum- With Summer, aren't I? And you... You're obsessed with Raven."
There was a bite to her words that Yang had never heard before. Her tongue was a knife, with each word stabbing into her very soul and being.
"R-Ruby... I'm sor-"
"Why aren't I allowed to hope?"
Her smile was gone now. Her eyes were wetting once more.
"Why is it, that for so many years, you've been allowed to go chase after your mum, but the second that I'm even given a shred of hope that my mum is still alive, I'm-" another mirthless bark, "How come that every time I find some shred of hope that my mum is still alive, I'm automatically the idiot! Meanwhile you're allowed to go out to look for a woman that intentionally- For all intents and purposes- Walked out on us with very obvious plans to never return! Hell, you're allowed to go and blow up an entire bar, just to find her, while I'm given nothing!"
This... This took Yang aback.
This anger... This hidden anger... Had Ruby always felt like this?
Had she just been bottling it up this whole time?
Did she really resent Yang trying to find her own mum, whilst she never got the chance to?
"Ruby-"
"Oh, no, I get it- It's because you always knew that she was dead, didn't you?"
What?
What?!
Why on Remnant would she- Why would she ever think that?!
"Ruby, why would you-"
"Actually, no, you could never have known, could you? Unless you tried to look for her! But you-" Ruby let out a frustrated bark of anger, "You never tried to look for her! You never tried to look for my mum! Our mum! Our actual mum! The one who raised us! You never tried to look for her!"
Ruby then jabbed her so hard in the bandaged chest that it left Yang groaning from the blunt pain.
"It was always about Raven! It still is always about Raven! It's always 'Raven this, Raven that, Raven here there and everywhere'!"
"Ru-"
"Why do you care so much about Raven!? Didn't she walk out on us!? Didn't she make it clear that she never wanted to return!?"
Yes, she did.
Yang had been told countless times by Uncle Qrow and Dad that Raven had left when she was born, and had made it clear that she didn't want to ever return to Patch, or to them, for whatever reasons that she had.
Whatever the hell those were, anyways.
"Why did you never look for mum!? Why did you always look for Raven?! Why do you care more about the deadbeat who walked out on us instead of the woman who raised us!?"
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Yang didn't know.
She didn't know why she cared about Raven more than she did Summer?
Was it because of some internal biological instinct? That Raven was her birth mother and that deserved her more credit as a mother than it did to the actual woman who raised her?
Was it because, on some instinctual level, she knew that Summer was dead, and Raven was not, so there was therefore no point in her trying to make an effort in trying to find her?
Or was it because she just wanted a family that wasn't broken, and finding Raven was just the easiest option?
…
…
…
…
She didn't want to think too much on it.
"But, no: I suppose that I'm just the idiot, aren't I?" Ruby humourlessly joked, "After all, I'm just dumb old Ruby Rose! I wouldn't know any better! Of course not! After all, surely I'm not the one who wishes to see their mother again under any circumstance! I'm not the one who just wants to have a family again, with my actual mother! The one who raised the both of us, even if my sister constantly goes off to try and find the deadbeat who walked out on us, without even trying to give me the faintest trace of hope that my own mum might still be-"
She stopped, hissed, and almost buckled under the throbbing pain in her stomach and thigh as she gripped onto her blood transfusion set for support.
"...I can't even look at you right now. Get out of my sight."
Yang just... Yang just stopped and stared. That was all that she could do. That was all that she could possibly do.
"Ru-Ruby-"
Ruby's eyes turned red.
"GO!"
That was the first time that Ruby had ever lashed out in anger against her.
…
…
…
…
It hurt.
It hurt so much that Yang might just die from it.
And, at that moment...
She really wished she had.
Her breath was shaking. Her hands were trembling. Her own eyes flashed between red and lilac.
Had Ruby's eyes... Did they just turn red?
Red from anger?
Like...
Like her own semblance?
…
…
…
…
Yang didn't like that colour on her anymore.
With a shaking grimace that looked like it was on the edge of becoming a sorrowful frown, and without another word being said, Yang just opened the door behind her, and slunk out of the infirmary.
As she closed the door behind her, her anger, her sorrow, and every other emotion within her finally gave out, and she collapsed against the wall, sobbing to herself.
What had she done?
What had she done?
What had she done?
What had she done?
What had she done?
What had she done?
What had she done?
What had she done?
She looked for something to blame. Someone to take her anger out on.
And knew where to look.
That bastard... Yang thought to herself, That bastard... That bastard... That bastard... I'm a bastard.
And so, in the moment, she blamed it all.
She blamed Arc.
She blamed Raven.
She blamed Summer.
She blamed the Cult.
She blamed Ruby.
She blamed the whole world...
And then herself.
Inside the infirmary, Ruby just rested her head against the door, banging it softly against the wood and metal as she tried to refocus her mind on... Just about anything that could take the pain away.
Not the physical pain, but the mental pain.
The pains that couldn't go away with a kiss and an bandaid.
And sure enough...
Nothing worked.
Behind her, her dad had not said a single word, not even during their argument.
Not. One. Word.
…
He had shut down.
…
…
…
…
"Hey... Dad?"
No answer. She spared a glance back. He was still breathing. He was still alive. She looked back to the door.
"Do you remember... When we were younger... When Yang carried me all the way towards that barn in the middle of the night, because she thought Raven might be there?"
A rustling and fidgeting of a chair behind her. That got his attention, at least.
"And do you... Do you remember how we were trapped there, and- And we were surrounded by Beowolves, and we would've-"
"But you didn't," Dad could still talk, it would seem. At least he was trying to be reassuring, "You didn't die. Neither did your sister."
"Only because Uncle Qrow saved us. Direct action, that's what that was."
Ruby pressed her head against the doorframe. Her face was a grimace.
She thought back to the Emerald Forest, and how she had her sights narrowed down on one of the Cultists fighting against her as they were being healed. She thought back to how she couldn't pull the trigger.
She thought back to her own weakness...
And she thought back to Uncle Qrows lessons.
Never again...
"Maybe I should be more like that, now... Maybe I'm just soft."
Never again...
"..."
"Maybe I'm just weak."
Never again.
"..."
"...So go on then."
"..."
She turned her head towards Tai at the end of the room, "Direct action, Dad. Tell me how I have to go make up with Yang. Tell me how I have to be the best sister ever for her. Tell me how I'm going to be amazing, and that everything's going to be okay, and the world totally isn't ending around me, and I didn't just completely ruin my relationship with my sister and the closest thing to an actual mother in my life, and I have to make sure that it doesn't happen, just like Mum would."
"..."
"...Direct action, Dad."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...At least say something... Anything..."
"..."
Tai got out of his seat, picking himself out of his chair as he shook in place, his face turning red, his eyes beginning to wet. He looked... He looked so unsure of himself.
"I... I can't..." he began, before just giving up and going, "I need to... I... I need to go..."
"..."
"...I'm sorry..."
Ruby didn't feel the same way, and was disgusted at herself by it.
"...Yeah," she just nodded, "Yeah, that might... Okay then... Fine," she hid the disappointment in her voice as she moved out of the way of the door, and gestured for him to walk through, "Get yourself back to the office, or back home, and just... I don't know, hang out Maelstrom, or Kaia, or just cuddle with Zwei, or... Or go visit... Or something... Something else..."
"T-Thanks, sweetie, but I-" he paused, "I think I just... Need to be alone for a while..."
"...Okay..."
Every step that Tai took to the door looked like a mission. Every movement seemed like the most strenuous task in the world. It looked like he was one step away from just breaking down right there and then. She was surprised that he didn't do just that right there and then.
As he pulled on the door, a voice from behind him said, "This was always going to happen, wasn't it?"
He looked back to her as she found her seat in her bed once again, the white cloak now in her free hand once more as the other gripped tightly on the blood transfusion set. Her eyes were dull, wet, and looking out of the dimly lit window. The sun was red and resting and cresting down below the hills in the distance, shining its hadean light into the room.
"...What?" she had never heard her father sound so weak. She didn't like it.
"I mean, with..." she paused, and looked down at herself, holding the white cloak close to her, "With such... Such unrestrained evil... Such pure living malice as the Grimm... And such... Such unadulterated amorality as Baobhan and the Cult of Silver... This was always bound to happen, wasn't it?"
"..."
"...Dad..."
"..."
He just left the room without another word, leaving Ruby all on her own.
She would say again, but... She had never actually been like this before.
She had always had someone there for her.
Wherever it be Yang, or Dad, or Uncle Qrow, or Zwei, or even the people at Dad's company, she had always had someone to make sure she wasn't lonely.
She had never had that problem.
And yet, now...
For the first time in her life...
She was well and truly alone.
No Yang.
No Zwei.
No Uncle Qrow.
No Dad.
…
No Mum...
And, in agonizing sorrow, she cried. She cried and cried and cried and cried.
And then, in her bed, she drifted off into a fitful sleep.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Sleep tight, Ruby."
Baobhan Sith smiled.
"We have so much planned for you."
Review Response time:
SentinalSlice: The short answer? No. The long answer? No, but it's also a lot more complicated than that.
Greer123: Good to know! Glad you're doing well. Thankfully soon we won't have to continuously be warned about Covid soon, since, as of writing this and as of yesterday, 4 out of 5 people over 80 have got their first vaccines here in the UK, so hey! Hopefully everything will be looking up soon.
merendinoemiliano: Right, good to know. If this is about the Jaune x Ruby thing, I have to tell you, I'm impartial to couples. I don't really care for them in my stories, so, yeah.
I miss the days when I got really long reviews... And more reviews.
Anyways, here is the penultimate chapter to the Beacon arc! Next chapter is going to be the last chapter of this entire arc, and then I can finally put it to rest!
I'm sorry that this chapter was so short, just like the last one when compared to all of my other chapters. It was originally meant to be longer with a bit about Weiss and Blake, but I decided to leave that bit till the next chapter, as I felt that ending it where it is now is much more impactful.
Big shout-out to NightshadeDandelion over on Ao3 for pointing out what I could do for the reactions to Jaune's confession. He was actually the person who convinced me to make this entire bit, so go thank him over on Ao3 for all that he's done for us!
Mostly me, though.
Anyways, with all of that said and done, leave a review, follow, favourite, and I shall see you all next time!
Titanmaster117 out!