So apparently when I said that Volume 8 was motivating me to write this, I apparently meant outline what I would do when I get there in this story as opposed to where I'm at now. Plot bunnies are weird. Any who enjoy!

Special thanks to my beta AuthorA97

We walked for a good while after that. I'm happy we found something before it got too late. The weather was starting to pick up, snow falling and being picked up by stronger winds. If we'd been out here too long, not even our auras would keep us safe. Our new stop looked like an abandoned settlement of some kind by the name of 'Brunswick Farm'.

Nothing about his place felt right. If it wasn't the only safe space for miles, I would suggest moving on ahead. Our party was exhausted enough as-is from the fight and the infodump. They needed rest. I did too. Even if this place sent back all the wrong feelings. There wasn't a single other person in sight or any sign of why they had gone.

Ruby agreed with me. "I don't get it. The empty towns I passed through were either damaged or unfinished. But this place looks...fine?"

It shouldn't surprise me that a huntress in training walked around so many villages. Yet somehow, I was. Ruby just seemed too young to be dealing with so many Grimm. I'd watched her fight, she could definitely hold her own. Still, I worried for her and all these other kids.

"Maybe everyone left in a hurry. Before things took a turn?" Weiss offered. She didn't even convince herself of that. She was less convinced as Qrow failed to open the door. It had been locked.

"Stay on guard," He warned all of us. He kicked the door open.

We jumped in, our weapons raised for an attack. Nothing jumped out at us yet.

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Close the door!" Maria ordered. She walked in, cool as could be. "It's cold enough in here already."

I waited for everyone to come inside before shutting it. With it closed, Blake and Oscar pushed a dresser in front of the door.

"I saw a chimney from outside," Blake informed us. "Maybe I can start a fire?"

"Please," Weiss replied. "I'll look for some blankets."

Qrow told Yang to follow her.

"I'll scout the house," I told the rest as I walked towards the kitchen. "Make sure there aren't nasty surprises- ah!"

I hadn't even made it to the kitchen before stopping. A sharp pain shot through my skull. Holding my head, I tried to ease the pain. It came so fast, so intently, I couldn't have prepared.

Ruby came to my side. "Are you alright?"

After taking a deep breath, I nodded. My head ached less. Still, the pain was only there as an after-effect. "It's fine, just a headache. Probably from the cold." I dismissed. There was no chance this was from the cold. Even though it came and went so fast, something about it didn't feel right. Just like the rest of this place.

I made it into the kitchen. A few minutes of search revealed food in the cupboards- all way beyond expired.

Intact buildings, stocked food supplies beyond expiration, no life signs for miles...I'm starting to feel like a bad horror movie character. We're already in a cabin in the woods!

As if to prove me right, someone screamed. Weiss!

Everyone immediately dropped what they were doing to run upstairs. The scream came from the master bedroom. Weiss pointed at the bed but any of us could see the problem.

The original occupants were still around. Only they'd passed a long time ago, leaving only dust and bones.

As the adults in the party, Qrow and I went off to check the other houses. The kids would be fine with Maria for a few minutes. The snow was picking up as we walked around. Qrow and I split up which made me only more convinced we were stuck in a horror movie.

Nothing happened when I searched. Absolutely nothing, because every house I checked looked exactly the same. Empty locked houses with expired food and residents dead in their beds. Even the kids were tucked away, such small skeletons in small beds. No sign of attacks or Grimm. A few times in the various homes my headache came back. None of them were as strong as the first, though maybe because I was expecting it this time.

Everything felt less and less right.

Qrow and I met up outside the first house. He looked at me, shaking his head. I shook my head too. We walked inside. The kids again closed the door behind us with the dresser.

"Bodies, in every bed in every house," Qrow reported.

"It's like they all went to bed and never woke up," I told them.

It wasn't that uncommon, in cases of hypothermia. All the houses had functioning chimneys though, with the windows locked too. They couldn't have frozen to death. Or starved...maybe. It was just impossible to tell right now.

I walked up to the burning fire. The warmth helped me. It did nothing to make me forget about the dead bodies in every house.

"Then we're not staying here, right?" Weiss asked.

In front of the fire, I leaned back. My shoes were sogging up from the melting snow. "Well, it didn't turn out too well for the last few people that slept here." I pointed out. "Our only other choice is to freeze out there in the storm."

Weiss frowned at me. Others in the group did too but Weiss actually stepped forward to give me a stern glare. "You don't have to be so rude about it."

I shrugged. Or maybe that was a shiver against the snow. "Sorry, it came out that way. I'm only telling you our choices."

"And it's not that Agatha is even wrong." Qrow sat beside me, soaking in the warmth too. "That storm out there is no joke. We'd die of hypothermia before we made it off the estate."

The kids frowned. A few looked out towards the window to the storm outside.

Maria pulled a book off the bookshelf. She sat down, blowing off the dust. Yang frowned, stomping about in a moody huff.

Ruby told us there had to be some supplies hidden around. The place once had people, surely that meant they left things behind? Oscar jumped along with her by suggesting they could have a car.

Qrow stood up. "I'll do another sweep of the grounds. No one else goes anywhere alone."

I stood up. "Okay then. Let's go."

Qrow shook his head. "No, I can do it myself."

"You just said no one goes out alone." I reminded him. "Come on, Qrow, let's set a good example for the kids."

A few of the girls snickered.

I tried to snicker. Instead of that, I winced in pain. Another headache stabbed at me. They were coming with more frequency. It could be connected to what happened here. Or maybe something else, unconnected. There's very little that could be causing headaches. Maybe something like my Brothers using their powers? I doubt there were any Grimm around here with how quiet it was.

"Look, Agatha, you're better off staying as far away from me as you can," Qrow stated firmly. He walked to the door. He pushed the dresser out of the way to reach the door.

Like that would even stop me

I ran after him. The kids watched me go, without protest.

"Seriously, Qrow, what do you think is gonna happen-" I barely stepped off the porch when a thick pile of snow fell on my head. It knocked me to the ground. "That was a weird coincidence." I mused, getting back up.

Looking up, I saw a hole in the roof. The snow must've been too much weight for the old boards to hold. Hopefully, the other houses would last longer than this. We were definitely leaving by morning at the latest- the houses needed to stay upright for the night.

"That's exactly my point." Qrow pointed to the broken board. "What falls on you next could be even worse if you hang around me. You could get seriously hurt."

I looked at him, confused. "Qrow do you really blame yourself for snow falling on my head...in a snowstorm?"

Qrow grimaced, turning away. I walked closer to him. "It's not without proof. My semblance, it's Misfortune. I'm bad luck. Everyone around me is sucked in like it's a void. You're better off keeping your distance."

Wow. That's not a great semblance- amplified bad luck. Judging by his reaction, he believed he was justified in his fear of others around him being hurt. It was probably one of those active Semblances that never turned off. I was immortal, the bad luck wouldn't have much permanent effect on me. The less could be said of the humans.

Maybe the snow falling hadn't been the coincidence I thought, maybe his Semblance was already at work. Did it happen just because, or had his Semblance been trying to prove a point? Either way, it made me giggle.

Qrow looked at me like I was insane.

I pointed back with my thumb. "I haven't seen a Semblance with a sense of humor before." As I joked, I walked up to Qrow's side. The snow still fell around us, swirling and white in the breeze.

Qrow stared at me, bewildered. He got over the confusion quick enough. He frowned at me, eyebrows creasing together in annoyance. His Semblance had a sense of humor but Qrow did not.

"So..." I tried to find a way out of the awkwardness I'd created by accident. "Sorry about pulling my weapon on you...earlier, when Ruby called for Jinn."

Qrow raised his eyebrow. "That's another thing. Why did you decide to stand up about that anyway? You're an outsider to all this craziness. Why put yourself in the middle of it with us?"

I looked down in thought. Should I tell him the truth? It wouldn't make a difference in the end. I was going to stick around with these people anyway, right? They were going to find out eventually.

No, I decided, no they don't need to learn just yet. Today was already a whirlwind of revelations. The last thing they needed to learn was that one of their old gods walked among them looking for the same answers as them.

People expected us gods to always have the answers. Sometimes, we were just as lost as them. Especially in matters that I wasn't even there for. My nap didn't make me omniscient to the affairs of Remnant. I needed to learn things, to understand and gather information just as they did.

Besides, they would probably ask me to fix everything. That's not how it worked either. I couldn't just snap my fingers to fix it all. A lot of their problems weren't even in my wheelhouse. The Relics, Ozpin and Salem's curse, were the brainchildren of both my brothers. By interfering, I could make things worse by accident. If Light made the things himself, maybe I could do something to improve. Both of them together? Yeah, there was no chance. The smarter option was to wait until I knew more.

Instead, I told Qrow "I always thought more happened than what the history books said. Before my parents found me, I lived in a temple, hidden away from the rest of the world. They didn't tell me much. Still, something big had to have happened. The moon can't have been broken forever, right?" I explained. "Plus there was a magic genie. Who wouldn't be excited about what she had to say?" Sheepishly, I rubbed the back of my neck. "...maybe a little too excited." I admitted with a smile.

The huntsman returned the smile, surprising and relieving me. "I can understand that. Did you get what you were looking for?"

I know what made my brothers leave, why the world is the way it is, still...there's still so much I don't know.

"I know what happened to the moon," I replied instead.

Qrow smiled again, laughing.

We got to moving. The storm didn't slack off just because we were having a heart-to-heart. As we explored the estate again, it got harder and harder to see beyond the ends of our noses. All we knew for sure was that no Grimm were around. We made our way back to the main house again.

Ruby and Weiss managed to find something to eat that hadn't expired. They worked together to cook it. Yang and Blake found a wagon in a decent state of repair. It would work enough if Yang connected it to her bike. That way everyone could fit on the wagon- it would cut down on travel time when the storm let up.

Relieved that at least some things were working out, I sat myself down by the fire. The headaches came back more and more. Each time the pain became more intense. What could be causing this? Had the snow done more damage than I originally thought?

Wait no that didn't make sense. The headaches came before I was hit. Could it be the cold, I know some humans got migraines in intense cold. Was my body human enough for that?

It was hard to concentrate. The headaches had grown into a full-on migraine.

As the night wore on, the fire warmed me up. Weiss, Blake, and Yang sat nearby for company. Maria was still digging into the reading collection of the former residents. Ruby walked away a bit ago to check on Qrow. Oscar stayed behind all of us, silently pacing. I wondered if Ozpin was talking to him, and Oscar was ignoring him. Could that be a reason behind the headaches, whatever magic my brothers used to curse him like this?

Oscar walked over to Maria. I eyed the two of them, curious still about that curse. Curious more about Maria- the other new member of the party. She told him about the book she'd found. A diary.

"The head of the household, Bartleby," Maria explained, smiling wide in curiosity delight. "Apparently, he and several other families founded this little settlement to try and live on their own."

"Looks like it worked," I piped up. I looked up to the second floor, thinking about the skeletons there. "For a bit anyway."

"Grimm?" Oscar asked, looking for possible reasons for what happened to this place.

"Just one of many hardships," Maria explained. She read off the diary again, turning pages as she went. "Slowed down their farming, made everything harder...It's a shame really. He'd seem like such an ambitious fellow."

Another spike of pain. I hissed, rubbing at my head.

Oscar turned to look at me. "Hey, are you gonna be alright?"

"I'm fine," I replied, voice tight. My teeth clenched as the pain faded. It wouldn't be long until another wave. "I think I just need some sleep."

Ruby ran back in. "Alright, everyone. Qrow said it's time to get some sleep. We'll need a lot of sleep before we hit the road tomorrow."

Maria scoffed. She hopped up from the couch, walking to the armchair. "The last thing you'll catch me doing is letting some little kid tell me what to do. Get to bed. Hmph." When she got to the armchair she turned on a nearby light and went back to her book.

Every time we spoke, I liked Maria more.

Old ladies were the best.

The beds were still occupied so we needed other places to sleep. The kids all got comfy on the floor with several blankets Weiss found earlier. I got on the couch while Maria stayed in the armchair. Qrow kept watch in the next room. I took my headphones off of my neck, tucking myself in. Trying to push away the growing migraine I closed my eyes allowing sleep to take over...

"Ouch! Oomph!" I had crashed into a rocky wall before landing on the ground. "No fair, Brother!"

Above me, was Dark giggling with triumph over his victory. "Come on, Sister, I went easy on you," He teased.

Light came over. He reached out a hand, helping me up. "You probably should not hold back as much," Light suggested.

"Hold back?! That was everything I've got!" I argued.

"You're growing too soft, Sister," Dark complained. "You spend all your time with those humans we created, you forget you can go farther than they can, that you have magic deeper than they could ever reach."

"I'm reaching into plenty! You and Light keep getting into pissing matches that I have to clean up." I scolded him.

Dark didn't even pretend to be sorry. The smug bastard just grinned at me, like causing chaos was the highlight of his day. It probably was.

"You think too little of the humans. You can learn from them. They have such imagination, it's inspiring!" I reminded him.

"But didn't we create them? What could we possibly learn from them? How can one be inspired by something they created, has it not outlived their inspiration value?" Light asked. "Is it not us who should be inspiring them?"

"No. We left them to their own devices. They've discovered more about themselves- more than we could show them." I explained, smiling in pride at the humans I met recently. "You need to spend more time with them, watching them. We can't truly guide them if we know nothing about them. We will be better gods if we get to know them for who they are."

Light smiled at me. It made my smile wider. I turned to Dark. My words seemed to be getting to him.

"Then why couldn't you help me?"

I turned. Salem stood behind us. Her human form, skin still a healthy peachy pink and hair a perfect blond with dazzling blue eyes.

I gasped.

Looking back, my Brothers had vanished. A broken moon stood in their place.

"You didn't help me. The gods never helped me." Salem spat, hissing in a growing rage.

When I looked back at her, I saw darkness slide over her. It covered her body. The blackness dripped away to reveal the Salem from Jinn's vision. The drippings pooled around her, growing and growing beyond what was there.

More people began to rise from the pools. All of them with the same pale white skin like skeletons. Eyes red, glowing with malice.

"Why didn't you help us? Why didn't you stop them?" Their voices came out as one. Hundreds of people rising, all shouting their cries in a mournful echo.

I clapped my hands over my ears. The screams only got louder when I did that. They banged and screeched in my mind.

"I'm sorry!" I shouted. Or I tried to. Nothing I said could be heard over the roar of their screaming. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to miss so much-"

They dove at me, screaming.

*Clang*

I bolted upright. A small scream shot out from my lips.

Someone beside me also shot up. I turned sharply, fearing seeing another one of those people from before. I saw red and white, assuming the worst. My hands began to build up power.

A peachy pink hand grabbed mine. The power died down.

Ruby.

It was just Ruby.

I let out a breath. That could've been really bad. I need to be more careful of my surroundings. "I'm sorry." As I lied back down, I tried to catch my breath. My lungs burned like I'd run a marathon or something. "Did I wake you?"

Ruby shook her head. "It's fine. Are you okay?"

I gave a small laugh, putting my headphones back on. "Just a bad dream, no big deal."

Ruby leaned forward. She put a hand on my shoulder. "You can talk to us about it, you know. It'll be alright. We're all friends here." She offered. Her silver eyes shined in such a way that they warmed my heart.

This girl was too good for this world. This was the kind of human I would've loved showing my brothers, way back when.

"Thank you." I smiled, thankful for the kindness. My dream flashed again in my mind. Was it a normal nightmare, or something more sinister? A tale of things to come? My already aching head made it hard to tell them apart.

Ruby stood up. She walked over to the nearby curtains. She pulled them open to let the light shine through. Before long, everyone else was awake. Well, all except one person in particular.

Qrow was still sleeping in his chosen spot, a room separate from the kids. That choice seemed intentional, by the empty bottles of liquor and the heavy smell of it around him. It reminded me about how he described his Semblance, like a dark cloud hanging ominously over his head. Heavy drinking wasn't going to help him any.

I walked over to his side. Damn his Misfortune, he needed to get off his hungover butt. "Qrow, wake up!"

Qrow mumbled sleepily. He turned over, away from me. He hugged an empty bottle to his chest.

"Qrow, get up. We all overslept." I tried again.

Qrow still ignored me.

Now it was personal.

I was thinking about the most effective way of waking him up- perhaps pushing him off the box he'd been sleeping on, shouting loudly in his ear, stomping my feet on the floor as loud as I could, stuff like that- when Ruby walked in.

At the sight of her uncle, Ruby frowned. A familiar sort of frown, like she'd seen this behavior from him before. How long had he let his Semblance define him like this? With practiced ease, Ruby lifted an empty bottle.

Furious, she threw it at the wall. Qrow shot up, tumbling off the makeshift bed with a heavy thump.

I reached over to Ruby, squeezing her shoulder. The angry look on her face faded, replaced with disappointment. Squeezing her shoulder again I left the family to have a moment alone.

The storm stopped somewhere in the night. Yang and Blake were able to get the wagon out. I helped them attach it to Yang's bike, Bumblebee. Something that stood out to me was that everyone was moving lethargically like they were still asleep. Even I who barely real rest with my nightmare moved more than they did.

As soon as I noticed it, my headache pinged in pain. I hissed in pain again. It came back stronger than yesterday. Not even a night's rest helped me. Well usually it's a good night's rest so maybe I just needed a good nap. I wasn't likely to get one before tonight.

Oscar leaned on his elbows on his knees. "Can't we just go back to bed?" He asked everyone.

"If we're all so tired shouldn't we make breakfast or something?" Blake figured.

"You want to make it?" Oscar asked her.

"No, not really," Blake replied.

"We can eat when we get to town," I suggested, rubbing my head in frustration. "I just want to get out of here."

Ruby ran out from the house, way more energetic than me. The most energetic, peppy person out of all of us. Clearly, she is the only morning person out of the lot.

"You guys got the bike ready?" Ruby asks Yang.

Qrow gave an affirmative. "Well, it's done now. So let's hook this thing up and-" He propped his foot on the trailer. A loud popping noise went off. The trailer began to deflate.

Again, that Semblance of his had the cruelest sense of humor.

This would probably be the wrong time to smile or giggle. From our conversation yesterday, Qrow didn't like it when I made little of his Semblance. His hangover wouldn't make him any less grumpy.

Case in point, Qrow glared at the offending trailer before storming off to the side. He pulled a flask out of his pocket. Surprising that the thing still had anything left in it, after last night.

Yang huffed. She walked over to a well, sitting on it. "I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us to get to Atlas." She muttered.

Ruby shrugged. I agreed that her sister was making a bigger deal out of this- a lot like Qrow. This wasn't the end of the world. Maybe they're all still strung out from yesterday's revelations.

"It's just a flat tire. I'm sure there's a spare." Ruby reminded them all.

I walked towards a shed. "I'll try to find one." If the families had a wagon, they would definitely have some spares around. The only real issue would be if they got damaged from the cold.

A few minutes of searching were fruitful. The tire was hidden behind some old equipment. As I brought it back to the group, I noticed Ruby holding the Lamp over a well.

Dropping the tire, I ran to her side.

"Ruby! What's going on?" I asked.

Ruby just stared ahead. Something else was going on. Her eyes widened. She flinched back, the Lamp slipping from her fingers. The glow of it brightened against the dark of the well. I leaped at it, trying to catch it. The Lamp still slipped from my fingers.

It seemed like the fading glow snapped her out of her state.

"No!" Ruby panicked. I turned back to her, seeing her fret and panic. "No! No! I didn't mean to!"

I looked back at the crowd. None of them tried to stop her, oddly enough. They all stood around, dazed and tired. All of them looked dead on their feet. A closer look showed me all of them had that same look Ruby had just moments before.

A stabbing pain spiked in my head again. I reached for my temples, massaging the pain.

Whatever was affecting them, was I being affected?

Better yet...is that why I am getting headaches?

There wasn't time for these sorts of delays. This place wasn't right. I shook my head, fighting off the next wave of pain. Control. Whatever. We needed to get the Lamp back, put on the new tire, and get out of here.

Weiss spoke up first. Even her words sounded dazed. "Ruby, it's okay."

"How can it be okay?" I asked. "Something that powerful shouldn't be lying around. Forget Salem, who knows what could happen if someone else got their hands on it."

"It's not just that. There's something down there," Ruby grabbed my arm, pointing down at the well. "It was looking right at me!"

Leaning forward, I looked down. There wasn't anything. I couldn't even see the glow of the Lamp. That didn't mean anything, it could be hidden. If the Lamp could hide, so could whatever Ruby had seen.

Maybe not a Grimm, maybe another foe with a Semblance in hiding.

Yang came up. She put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. You just said you were tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go."

"What is wrong with you?" Ruby asked. She swatted Yang's hand off her shoulder. "We can't just leave! We have to get the lamp back!"

"Ruby, breathe!" I put my hand on the young Huntress's arm. "Standing around panicking is only going to draw Grimm around." That got some sense into Ruby. She took a deep breath, calming down. "Let's start small, work our way up." I pointed back to the tire I collected. "I found a tire for the wagon. The others can put it on. The two of us can go get the Lamp."

Ruby took another deep breath. Her hands fell to her hips, while her eyes focused back on the well. She nodded.

Blake stepped forward. She held up her hand. "I'll go down with you." She offered. As soon as she said it, she sighed.

"We'll go down together," Weiss decided.

Qrow groaned. "Fine! Get the stupid lamp. Oscar! Fix the stupid tire." He stomped towards the house, snow crunching under his boots.

"Where are you going?" Maria asked as he passed her.

"Where do you think?" Qrow retorted, shaking his flask.

That wasn't gonna fly with me. Annoyed and fighting off my headache again, I followed after him. He wasn't going to go back to drinking on my watch. Last night was fine. He'd been processing. This was a new day. We needed to focus on other things. Qrow needed to stay out of that hole he trapped himself in.

"Hey come on!" I stepped in his path, blocking it. "You've done nothing but drink since we've got here. Shouldn't you take a break?"

Qrow glared at me. His eyes snapped out of that dazed expression, replaced instead with rage. "Back off, Agatha! None of us even met you before yesterday! Why don't you just leave!? We don't need you! We never needed you!"

He stormed off without another word. He pushed past me. I stumbled in the snow, falling.

I stayed there. My ass freezing through my pants.

My nightmare flashed again in my mind. Salem, drenched in black goo. Hundreds- up to thousands- of humans screaming hate at me. All of them bemoaning their fates. All of them blamed me for it. They weren't wrong to think that way- in my dream, and out here in the waking world. I had left them to my brothers. I gave them my trust over the wonderful humans I created.

I let them down

They should hate me

No, they should despise me.

Maybe my dream was a prophetic one. The humans would find out who I was. They would all start to hate me- blame me for the problems my brothers led them towards.

"Qrow!" Ruby snapped. Another wave of pain stabbed at me. I winced, rubbing my temples again. "That's enough!"

Qrow didn't listen. He walked inside, already swigging back his flask.

Ruby came up to me. She reached out her hand.

I looked up at her. I wanted to cry, to find a place to hide away from my problems. If I wanted, I could use my magic to get me out of here to hide. Right now I wanted nothing more than to throw myself in my bed to cry until my brothers came back.

At the same time, I knew that wasn't going to fix anything. My brothers coming back would only mean worse things for the humans. It meant Salem collected all the relicts, who knows what damage she caused in her wake. She wanted to tear down all the humans on the earth. My brothers wouldn't do it, not with me back. Salem would do her damndest to make them try.

I took Ruby's hand. She pulled me to my feet. I brushed off the snow from my back.

"Just forget about him." Maria walked over to us. She stabbed her cane in the snow, still keeping balance with it. "I say let him drown."

It didn't sit right with me. That was something I never liked seeing. For all the brilliance of humanity, you could still see the dark parts.

Team RWBY and I made our way into the well. We turned on the flashlights from our scrolls. The Lamp was sitting on the bottom of the well, or a few feet away. Ruby was definitely right about something being down here.

For all the magic it possessed, the Lamp didn't make itself legs. Jinn could only come when called. Something picked it up.

Yang suggested it got lost in the water. I didn't think it could fall that far, even with the stream. Still, there was no better option. We waded ahead for it. We barely walked a bit, not seeing even the smallest glow.

Ruby started to get worried. "Where is it?"

"Turn off our lights and look for the glow?" Blake suggested.

We all turned off the flashlights. Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose for it's sniper scope. I followed behind her, Yin and Yang at the ready. The rest of team RWBY followed behind us.

We'd been walking for a few minutes in silence. No sound echoing back except our own wet footsteps.

Blake pointed. "There!"

Sure enough, a ways ahead, I could see it. A faint glimmer like from the Lamp.

We found it!

Ruby and I rushed forward in excitement. The Lamp sat on the ground, stuck to the side. Ruby ran ahead, lifting it up. I was joining her before I stopped. Something stood behind her, finally visible as Ruby lifted the Lamp.

Dark

I know as your sister, I really shouldn't ask these sorts of questions, but I really can't help it right now

WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE THINGS?!

"Ruby," I whispered, scared of startling the Grimm.

Ruby looked at me. I nodded behind her. She looked, instantly screaming.

Yeah...running and screaming is the smarter move here

Ruby started running- fast. Her speed helped me out today. Once she was out of sight, I summoned my magic to my hands. The magic lashed out at the Grimm, and the many hiding behind him.

I ran back to team RWBY. None of them moved, staring back in shock. More Grimm came forward, trapping us.

Shit

With the girls behind me, I couldn't fully use my magic. I could still call upon my Semblance though.

My hands glowed with the power.

Ruby moved Crescent Rose, firing off shots into the hoard of Grimm. I flung my hands forward, sending out Void Spheres like dodgeballs. Grimm shrieked at the attacks, many falling into dust.

The screech made my headache even worse. I fell down, splashing in the water. My head felt like it was exploding. Or that it would at any second.

"What...is this...?" Yang asked. When I looked up through bleary eyes, the other girls swayed in the dark glow of the Lamp. Their eyes looked even more dazed than before.

"Run! Now!" Someone yelled.

Something grabbed my hand. They hauled me to my feet. A quick glance showed it as Ruby, immediately going back to firing at Grimm.

Maria stood at the end of the tunnel. She motioned for us to follow. The five of us obeyed. There wasn't time for questions. I couldn't ask any with my head exploding.

These demented Grimm showed up in every corner. They were everywhere. After a couple of turns, we found an underground room full of such Grimm.

Yeah, I'm definitely in a horror film.

We started running again. Maria guided us down the catacomb network of tunnels. Ruby stayed at the rear to blast away any Grimm that got too close. I made sure the rest of team RWBY stayed on pace. This was hard as every few steps, my skull burst with a new wave of pain.

Somewhere in the pain, I heard Maria. She said she found a way out.

That was good. Generally speaking, that was good.

When I stumbled after the group, the way out came to clarity. A set of stairs into a lit room. I stumbled towards them, pulling myself up.

A loud clang went off behind me. I snapped around, holding up my arm for an attack.

Blake fell, her weapon falling with her. She couldn't have fallen too hard, so why wasn't she standing up?!

"Blake...get...up!" Ruby demanded weakly.

"It's fine..." Blake whispered her eyes going blank.

No

No more

No more humans will fall to Dark if I have anything to say anything about it!

I let my goddess ability build up. The glow of it began to outshine the Lamp. Before I could use it, Ruby screamed.

"BLAKE!"

Everything flashed white.

In the confusion, my powers fell away. I gawked as clarity came back.

It hadn't been white.

That was silver.

Ruby had silver eyes!

"What just happened?" Maria asked. The power of Ruby knocked some sense into us. The Grimm flinched behind, screaming in pain.

Weiss ran up the stairs. She struggled with the door, chains clattering. "It's locked!" Yang rushed to her side to help her. Ruby went to help Blake up.

I could only stare.

That power...that belonged to Light. I remember the feeling of his magic. He really did gift humans this ability. I heard rumors of it over the years, stories, and legends.

The Silver-Eyed Warriors, they were called. But I thought they were a myth!

"Who has silver eyes?" Maria asked me.

I looked at her, startled from my thoughts. The shock must've made me say it out loud by accident. Maria wore those glasses. It would make it hard to tell apart colors. "It's Ruby."

The Grimm screeched.

I cried out, grabbing my head. My eyes shut to block the pain.

My power still itches beneath my skin. I could unleash it again, right here.

"Ruby, do you have friends? Family?" Maria asked the young huntress.

"What?" Ruby asks confusedly. "Don't think about them."

The Grimm were coming closer. I could hear them. I opened my eyes, feeling power rise in my hands.

A quick check showed nobody looking at me. I snapped my fingers.

Time slowed to a halt. Only myself, Maria, and Ruby could move.

I want to see these Silver Eyes in action.

"Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thoughts of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!" Maria encouraged her. "Life is beautiful. It is precious. And it must be protected."

Ruby's eyes flashed. Snapping my fingers had time moving again.

The Grimm roared.

Ruby sat up. Her eyes brightened. Silver light filled the room. Light's magic covered me. For a second, my brother was back.

As the light faded, there wasn't any sign of the Grimm. My headache vanished too.

Yang smashed the door open. We all rushed outside to escape. It turned out we'd climbed into the house's wine cellar.

"We're back in the house?" Blake asked, confused.

"No time! We need to move!" I told them. As we rushed out of the house, Qrow was spotted. He fell asleep at the house bar.

Ruby got to him before me. She shook the drunken Hunter. "Uncle Qrow, get up!"

Qrow lifted his head. He pushed the girl away. "Geroff me." He blinked at us. His eyes were bloodshot, but still as dazed as before. "What's goin' on?"

"We're leaving you, idiot!" Maria shouted. She slammed her cane down. The sound made Qrow jolt. "Come on."

Not wanting to get hit with a cane, I ran out the house. My headaches just went away, I wasn't eager for a return. Maria and Yang yelled at Oscar. He finished repairing the wagon by now. We all hopped on the wagon, Yang climbed on her bike. I looked around. We were missing three of our people. I looked back at the house-

FIRE!

I lifted my arm to snap my fingers. If there was a fire, it would be easier to save them if time was frozen. Maria held my arm.

"No point in worrying, take a look." She said pointing her cane at the door.

Ruby and Weiss dragged themselves out, carrying a disheveled Qrow. The door fell to ashes behind them. I held out my arm to grab Qrow so they could climb aboard. Once they were here, Yang peeled off.

It took a few minutes for us to catch our breath.

"What were those things?" I asked them. "I've never seen any Grimm like that before."

"The Apathy." Maria answered. She pulled out the diary, opening it to a specific page. "'They're not strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on.' Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsmen protection, but in order to do that he needed everyone calm...always."

"Atlas and Mistral tried the same. Look what happened." Learning about the Great War hadn't been a fun time. Seriously Light granted the humans the ability to learn, you'd think humans would be smarter than this. Humanity just falls further and further the longer Salem is around.

That being said, my Brothers also made the plan that left Salem immortal and Ozma eternally bouncing from body to body. I myself have done some wild shit to humans but never to this extent.

Oscar held out his hand. Maria passed the journal over. "'Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired.'"

Maria took the journal back. She turned the page. "The next page proves that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home. My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked. No one was angry or sad. No one was anything. And then... no one was left."

"What a waste." I said to myself. Maria tossed the book off the wagon. I looked out on the trees, thoughtful.

The past day made more sense in that context. My headaches came from the Apathy trying to get into my head. They weren't expecting to manipulate a Goddess. In my real form, they wouldn't have had a chance. As a human, they could get inside. They just couldn't do anything to me. The rest of the group didn't have that protection.

If I had been smarter, I would've noticed it. Forget about the headaches, I should have known what was going on. Even though I was surprised by them, I should've sensed that they were Grimm. If I had noticed earlier, we could've gotten away faster. Long before there was ever a risk of danger.

Well except for me.

And Ruby...and the only other person who stayed alert to their magic.

Weiss spoke up. "I'm...sorry for what I said earlier...about giving up."

Yang slowed the bike down. "Me too. We can't quit until the lamp is safe."

"It wasn't you. It was those things." Blake assured her.

"Everyone takes some time to admit their doubts. It's only human." I told them. "It's not healthy to hold it all inside. Letting it out helps a lot, actually."

Weiss smiled at me, nodding. When I looked at Yang she did the same.

Ruby turned to Maria. "Miss Calavera? How do you know so much about the Grimm? And in the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me...to make my eyes do that. How?"

Maria turned to Ruby. "Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had silver eyes."

Of course she did

She was the only one besides myself and Ruby to keep her head on straight

At this point, am I even surprised? Maria rocks.

Constructive criticism is welcomed. Flames will be put out by my waterbending powers. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

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