pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
Cloud explained everything to us in a resigned fashion. The maidens and the truth of this world were hard to grasp. But all great secrets were like that. Why should these ones which pertained to all of Cetra be any different? And Rosé was now such a maiden. It came with a speal of powers which remained a mystery to us. It also was more or less a death sentence. The way Cloud explained it at least. Or at least it was a death sentence if she was alone. But she wasn't. I would stay beside her even through this.
Cloud told us about his Mother. The witch queen Salem and how she sought to unite the powers of the relics hidden away at the schools. With those she could summon the old gods back to Remnant for judgement of all human and faunus. It was still so abstract and hard to grasp. And suddenly Cloud's desire to keep us as far away from him as possible made sense. He was a hazard and he did hazardous things.
"Where are the other maidens?" I asked when he finished.
"Winter is my wife. Weiss. Fall is a woman named Blake Belladonna. Spring is young Penny Polendina. They are both in Atlas."
"So you're pretty deep in this whole thing. Aren't you prof?" Peach noticed.
"I'm in way too deep," he agreed. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have brought you here. I've moved you to the top of her shit list now."
"But she doesn't know where the power is. Salem doesn't," Yuma pointed out.
"She will. With time. And time is on her side. You see, she is immortal."
"Immortal? How?" Rosé wondered.
"She says that the gods cursed her. She is doomed to walk Remnant's face."
"Okay. So what do we do now?" I asked.
"We?" Rosé demanded.
"We. Keep up. We're going with you," I fired back. "Wherever you are going we won't abandon you."
"Still…" Rosé trailed.
"I recommend Atlas. You can train with help from the other maidens. It's probably for the best," Cloud muttered.
"But your wife isn't in Atlas. Could she help?" Yuma wondered.
"Possibly. She has kids to raise. It isn't as easy for her as it would be for Penny or Blake," Cloud granted.
"So we go to Atlas. Then. I'm going home," Peach nodded. "It will be nice to see the home country again. And Merlot is wrapped up. Thanks for that by the way." She let something bitter enter her tone and she directed it at Cloud.
"He had to die. Don't be foolish. Look at what he did to Summer Rose. For whatever messed up reason. Had her hooked up to all sorts of machines just keeping her alive. Think about it. That could have been one of you in there. He was so fucked up. He had to go."
"I understand," Rosé agreed. And she genuinely seemed to. And she had been the one to kill Summer in a way. She seemed to really understand that Merlot was a monster and had to be put down. I was… in a similar boat. Seeing Summer hooked up to his machines and drugged out of her mind unto death was an experience I'd need bleach to wash out of my brain. Her body naked and suspended in the tube with little to no meat on her bones was honestly one of the worst things I had ever seen. Maybe Cloud had a point. Maybe Merlot needed to die. If there was any justice he'd get worse than death in the afterlife. If there was such a thing.
"So now that I'm a maiden. What all can I do? I feel the power inside of me. But I'm unsure how to manifest it," Rosé wondered.
"I'm told each maiden is different. The same way each season is different. But your powers are supposed to rhyme with that of the concurrent maidens. It's why you should seek out those maidens with more experience than you. And me."
"Is that an order?" I challenged.
Cloud scoffed. "You're not my students anymore. But as your friend I would strongly recommend it."
"We'll do it then," Rosé agreed. It seemed like the best course of action to me as well. Who better to train Rosé with her new powers than the extent maidens? And Cloud seemed trustworthy enough. He wasn't going to throw us under the bus. He would do his best to help us out. He was kind to us at least. Rosé had a tough road ahead of her from the sound of it and we would be there to help along the way. Even if that meant joining the military in Atlas. Which could be problematic. I wasn't sure how I felt about joining the special forces. But if it was what Rosé needed from me then I would do it.
Cloud bent and wiped a hand through Summer's hair. "She looks so much like Ruby. It's frankly frightening."
"Your other wife? Ruby nee Rose? Correct?" I asked.
"Yes. Her mother Summer has been missing for decades. It's… astonishing but not all that surprising. I should have known my father had a role in it. Him or my Mother. But my Mother never made a move on the Vacuo relic. So it was unlikely that she had the summer maiden. My father on the other hand has every reason to study and explore the maiden's powers while preserving her. It explains a few other things as well. Like my Mother wanting me to kill my father."
"Is that a problem?" I wondered.
"Could be. She could have sent my sister's after him. That's probably what my doppelganger was for. He didn't stand a chance against me but maybe against one or maybe two of my sisters he could have kept up. Come on. I'm taking Summer to her grave. In Patch. You girls should head North. Subtly. Until you get there. And notify me when you do. So that I can speed along the training process. Help you ladies join up with the special forces if that's what you all decide to do."
It was a serious commitment. We couldn't just break that kind of thing off. But one of ours had been taken into the inner circle of this witchcraft. It was a top secret girls only club and Rosé was engaged in it now. We didn't really have a whole lot of options. Rosé needed to learn how to use her new powers. That meant training with someone who knew how to use them. And if Weiss Strife was off the table then that just left Atlas. Those girls up north would have some inkling of what to do. Even if it didn't mean signing our names up and joining the largest military in the world it still meant going to Atlas to try to make the most of a bad situation.
"I won't lie to you. You have responsibilities to the world now. People you don't know are counting on you to go and be a part of something bigger than yourself. It's not much of a question of whether you're up for it or not. Summer decided for you that you were. That's what this comes down to," Cloud lectured. "Be brave and strong. So much more than you know is riding on your shoulders now. But you're in the thick of things. There's really no backing out or taking the easy road. I… I never wanted this for you. I never wanted it for Weiss. I never wanted it for my friends. But it seems like they have a way of dragging those people into it. I'm sorry. Go to Atlas. Master your powers. Things are not as bad as they may seem. They don't have to be at least."
"How can I master these powers when I don't even have my semblance?" Rosé looked down at her hands. She sighed heavily.
"It will come with instruction or time or both. And you should learn patience with your semblance. It will reveal itself. Mine took quite some time to manifest as well. You shouldn't have to wait too much longer."
"What if I do?" Rosé spat. "What if it never reveals itself?"
"I doubt that but it is plausible. I suppose you'll have to get by with your maiden powers and by getting good at fighting without your semblance. But again I doubt it. You're hardworking and strong. You're… ironically an ideal choice in a maiden. Stay stubborn and remember your training. Nothing ever comes easily to anyone. Not really. There's always a tipping point where natural skill has to meet hardwork. For you it's just a similar constant battle. It used to be like that for me and now look at where I can go. Look at where I wound up. I'm not promising you an easy life. I'm guaranteeing it will be hard. But you knew that when you first picked up the blade. Didn't you?" Cloud vowed.
Cloud bent and picked up the corpse at our feet. The naked woman's body was practically a shell. It must have been feather light to the strong man.
"Wait!" Yuma protested. "There have to be alternatives. There's always another way."
"Of course she could try to lean on her own but with that there's no guarantee of success. Cooperation is what sets the Cetra apart from other animals. It's our ability to work together that makes us so strong. Even I have to work with others. No one person is an island and I wouldn't want to be one anyways. Yes there are alternatives. You can pretend like this never happened and the mantle of power was never passed on to you. All of you. It would be easy enough to do. Just go about your lives like Summer's last thoughts meant nothing. But that's not the healthy way of handling this. That doesn't lead to lives saved and the differences made between darkness and light. So I suppose there are choices. There are alternatives. But none of them are very good or honorable. I should fly Summer out to Vale. There's a grave waiting for her there which has been empty for far too long. I think she deserves to rest now. But don't forget that she is a part of you at this very moment. A part of her lives and dies with you now. We should all be so brave as she was in her final moments. We should all find honor in our deaths even if our deaths are monstrous."
"There are alternatives and options ahead of you but they will seldom yield fruit if you run from destiny. Destiny comes for us all. It beckons with a wizened and clawed hand. We can face it or we can run from it but it always comes. If you run away now, if you leave it to others to fight the good fight, who will have your back when fate catches up with you? There are a lot of things I've been dreading and running from but they will catch up to me as well. I had to sacrifice a lot to build my family in Vale. I'll lose it too. Or I could at the drop of a hat. One day. One day soon. I'll have to face my mother. The calamity from the sky which brought terror to this world. I'll have to try and kill her if I ever want a real shot at lasting peace. I plan to chop her body into pieces so thoroughly to dismantle her remains that she is never able to heal and take possession of Remnant with her feet again. That's the plan. It will probably destroy me to do it. I've put it off and delayed it like I did with my father but sooner or later I have to match that drum beat. I have to face the elder bitch herself. And if I don't then who will? Should I leave it to my children when I know I can make a difference? That same question falls onto you now. Destiny is at the door and he needs an answer. What will you do? What will you do with yourselves now that he has come?"
"We'll go to Atlas. We'll train with the other maidens and learn all we can. And not just about the maiden powers. But also about ourselves," Rosé decided.
"I think that's very wise of you. Now I should be off. I hate to leave you like this. We can meet up again in Vacuo if you want. You'll be most vulnerable now while the power is still settling in and before you master them. But the element of surprise remains on our side. My mother and sister's don't know where the power is still. As soon as they do they will take action. And no matter what happens it is critical that they not get their hands on the summer maiden's powers. Be strong. I will return and help you reach Atlas." Cloud valedicted. Then he took off with a flash with the dead woman in his arms. He shot straight up into the air so fast he left a trail of dust behind. His path bent east towards Vale at a low angle.
"So that's it?" Peach asked. "Those are the great secrets of our age? Why does it feel…"
"Underwhelming?" Yuma supplied for her partner. "I guess it hasn't sunken in yet. We're in it deep now."
"You don't have to come with me," Rosé breathed.
"What was that?" I snapped.
She flinched at my tone. But she did meet my eye. "You all don't need to come with me. Just because I am doomed to fight this war doesn't mean you are."
"I will travel with you. You're my best friend. I'll not abandon you when you need me the most. That's the end of it," I fired back.
"I just hate to drag you into this mess," Rosé looked away.
"It could have been me. Had I been the one to cut her down it would have been me," I breathed. "You wouldn't leave my side had I been chosen. I won't leave yours. That's honest and fair. That's good."
"Papa didn't raise no cowardly bitch," Peach beat her knuckles together. "Yeah it's scary but so is living and breathing. Hey, at least we aren't Cloud."
"We knew he had had it rough but this is a whole next level," Yuma agreed. "Us. We can get through this. We can carry this many burdens in our hearts. It will be lighter if we carry it together."
"Thank you," Rosé breathed. "I've never had true friends like you all. It would be so easy for you to turn away and not look back."
"Papa raised a mean bitch," Peach agreed. "I've never shied from a challenge and I won't start now. And nor should you. We're in this for the long haul together. Cloud promised it would be tough until the day we died and I didn't hear no bell. That means I'm kicking. Goddess of darkness or not."
"I chose to stay with you. I chose to stay with you not because it is easy but because it is hard," Yuma decided.
"Then we agree. We're Atlas bound," I set my hand on Rosé's shoulder. "Come on. We have a hell of a hike out of this canyon and then we need to book some flights."
"Good riddance," Peach agreed. "I've had about all I can take of Merlot."
Rosé shuddered and I knew she was thinking about Summer. Her body in the tank was a waking nightmare and for Summer it had lasted years. Such a fate could be waiting for Rosé. I pulled her tight to me. I embraced her and tasted her finger aura. "It will be okay. We're team RYPP. We can do anything."
pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
-WG