Legal Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth. The True Runes and any other Suikoden-related lore that pops up in this fic are the rightful properties of Konami.
Chapter Twenty-Nine:
"You know," Watts said conversationally as he peered into the cell that Clover was now contained in, "You were always such a diligent, quiet boy. Your mother looked after you constantly, even with her involvement in my experiments."
Clover felt his throat muscles clenching as he swallowed dryly, turning around to finally look over at the gloating henchmen. But neither man seemed at all bothered by the glare he threw their way, if anything they seemed more amused by it. The mer backed closer to the barred door of the place. As much as he was loathe to be anywhere near where Watts and Tyrian were standing he just couldn't be that close to where the lonely chair from his past seemed to mock him.
Watts curled the edge of his mustache between his lanky fingers, "Perhaps that's a sign you can still be retrained to best serve Salem's needs," he continued, "With the Grimm Water's help, of course."
"Oh!" The scorpion Faunus cackled and clapped his hands together in almost gleeful anticipation, "Wouldn't that be such a wonderful thing for our goddess!"
Farther away in the watery space, the half-mer Neopolitan rolled her dual-colored eyes, apparently not a fan of the direction the conversation was going. Clover scowled, opening his mouth to retort at their obvious attempts to goad their prisoner, when a sudden cry from the room next door caused his attention to divert to the two young men who had also been taken captive along with him.
Light, harsh and blinding, suddenly poured into his prison. He knew without really seeing it that it came from Jaune, the Sun Rune no doubt beginning to try and counteract the poison running through the blond's veins. The rune could very likely burn it out of him, but at what cost? Clover felt a chill go through his body at the thought.
"Hey, are you all right?" A thoroughly panicked Whitley could be heard saying to Jaune then, "Pull yourself together!"
Jaune's only response was an unintelligible moan, followed by another pained cry. The air seemed to be getting noticeably drier and hotter all around them despite the relative dampness of the underground cavern's lake.
Watts swore under his breath and disappeared from view beyond Clover's cell door, no doubt going to examine the distressed blond, "This could be trouble." He muttered loudly just a few minutes later, "It appears as though the Sun Rune is now trying to fight the effects of your poison."
A surge of panic raced through Clover at the remark, the glow past his cell becoming that much more intense. He could only imagine what it was like for poor Whitley, directly in the cell with Jaune.
"He needs the presence of the Dawn and Twilight Runes Runes!" Clover tried futilely pleading with Watts, hoping that somehow the man still had a shred of common sense since he obviously didn't have any morals, "Otherwise—!"
"Otherwise, we're likely to all be burned to a crisp. Yes, I know." Watts hummed thoughtfully, and the brown-haired knight could practically picture him stroking his chin in consideration, "Now be quiet and let me think. All of you."
Tyrian seemed not at all bothered by this dangerous turn of events, instead reaching through the bars of the cell to grab at Clover's shoulders, pulling him painfully against the door with a gleeful laugh, "Might want to wear this again, consort." He mocked the now winded Clover as he slipped the blindfold he'd forced the mer to wear during their trek back over his head, "It's about to get brighter in here!"
"James, you've got to listen!" Qrow shouted as he blocked a blow intended for Hazel with the hilt of Harbinger's broadsword form, "This isn't what it looks like!"
Ironwood didn't even bother lowering Due Process, his steel blue eyes narrowing as he regarded Qrow and the others with outright suspicion and hostility, "What it looks like is that you're working with sworn enemies of this kingdom." He said matter-of-factly.
"Not anymore!" Mercury countered, through he grimaced not a moment later and turned to Emerald and Oscar in an aside, "That feels really bizarre to say out loud."
Emerald's grip on her own weapons tightened a fraction as her red eyes remained pinned on the king of Atlas and the soldiers accompanying him, "Tell me about it." She said, "It just feels weird to be doing the right thing for once."
"You guys..." Oscar couldn't help but smile sheepishly at their banter as he trailed off, though his expression turned serious when Ruby stepped forward.
"Please, your majesty!" The silver-eyed brunette called out, "We're just trying to help!"
Jacques Schnee scoffed, "A likely story!" He bellowed, "I bet this lot has been in cahoots with Watts this whole time, right behind both our backs!"
Weiss raised an eyebrow, "Really, Father?" She asked, clearly angered by the man's reaction.
Ironwood didn't even bother sparing a glance in the arrested noble man's direction, "For your own sake, I'd advise staying quiet." He muttered coolly. Jacques gulped nervously at the obvious threat being thrown his way, falling silent despite the indignation clouding over his features.
"Quit being so damn stubborn for once, Jimmy!" Qrow tried again, "We're here to try and rescue Clover and the others!"
Ironwood frowned, "That, I can believe at least." He replied calmly, "Especially coming from you, Qrow."
"Jimmy." The elf paused, lowering his weapon just a fraction, hoping that that meant Ironwood was seeing reason.
"You and Clover care for one another. I was blind not to have seen it before." The king of Atlas said, his eyes narrowing in anger as he spoke, "But there's a proper way of handling things, and with both the Rune of Punishment and the Sun Rune missing..."
Ironwood began to glow then, the pale white and yellow emblem of the Sovereign Rune hanging in the air above him. Qrow swore at the sight, as with a sudden flash of blinding light, Ironwood had transformed into a three-headed hydra covered in golden scales, towering over everyone.
"Damn!" Yang exclaimed, letting out a low whistle under her breath as she clenched her hands into fists at her sides, "I forgot reading that he could do that."
"He really is stubborn, if he's going to such lengths to try and stop us." Blake murmured by her side.
"King Ironwood." Penny began reluctantly, Ruby gripping her arm in a consoling fashion.
The Twilight Rune glowed over Nora's left hand as the girl hefted her hammer in the air, "Less talking, more smashing!" She declared, "We've still gotta rescue Jaune and the others!"
Just as the group of assembled knights and fighters readied their weapons for what was undoubtedly going to be a challenging battle, they were stopped by Taiyang and Raven suddenly standing in front of them with arms extended. Yang blinked in surprise at their actions, "Dad?" The blonde began, "…Mom?"
Tai merely cast a glance over his shoulder at his two daughters and their friends, "Get a move on!" He said, "We'll handle this."
Ilia frowned, "But—!"
"Just go." Raven cut her off, keeping her keen red gaze fixated on the fuming creature before them.
The muscular blond-haired man standing next to Qrow's sister shot her a look, and she nodded slightly in response as he grinned, "Time to fight a dragon with dragons!" Tai said, sounding awfully giddy at the prospect. He raised his arm up then, the green emblem of the Dragon Rune opening up a hole in the sky directly above them. An intense, earth-shaking roar could be heard from it as the summoned creature started to ascend.
Raven smirked, the points of her fangs showing against her bottom lip as she held up her own hand and the Moon Rune appeared. A bubbling portal of oozing black suddenly opened in the ground in front of the two, and Qrow wasn't sure he really wanted to know what manner of undead creatures she had just called upon.
Hazel reached out and grabbed Qrow's shoulder then, "We need to move now, while Ironwood's distracted!" He said, his tone urgent.
Qrow nodded his head in earnest agreement, knowing that his twin and former brother-in-law could handle things well enough here. If anything, their group sticking around would end up being more of a liability if they decided to really cut loose. He almost felt bad for Ironwood. Almost.
They started running across the grounds once more, Hazel and the two younger former Land of Darkness soldiers with him leading the way to what appeared to be a well-concealed tunnel system on the property, "If we go down here, we should find them before long." Emerald was quick to say, "We scoped the place out earlier."
Just as their numbers reached the gateway, however, they heard sharp cries of pain from behind them. "Wh—what's wrong?" Weiss got out nervously, she and Ilia placing their hands on Ren's shoulders as the dark-haired young man bent over in obvious distress.
Blake and Yang were doing the same to a hunched over Nora, while Penny, Ruby, and Oscar were crowded around a gasping Marrow. All three of their Runes were glowing in unison, flickering frantically in the air overhead. Qrow swore under his breath, knowing that whatever was happening couldn't be good.
"Something...something's wrong with Jaune!" Marrow managed to gasp out through tearstained blue eyes, hands gripping the sides of his head tightly.
Ren bit his lip and nodded in agreement, "The Sun Rune, it's—!"
But whatever he was about to say was drowned out as a massive wall of blindingly bright light suddenly surged from the tunnel entrance, swallowing the entire city of Atlas in a suffocating bubble of heat and brightness.
The damp clamminess that had been wrapped around the very air all around them in the underground waterway prison was nowhere to be found now. Instead, it was replaced by a dry, nearly scorching heat that caused the mer scales coating parts of Clover's body to ache. He felt an eerie sense of stillness, a yawning silence and looming emptiness that seemed to stretch out forever. He shivered, suddenly feeling a chill despite the very arid and hot air.
...Something about where they suddenly were reminded Clover of the hellish nightmare landscape he was sent to whenever he used the Rune of Punishment, only there were no sounds of intense screaming and distant mumbling. Instead, it was just still. Far too quiet. And hot.
Someone removed the blindfold from over his eyes then, and he had to adjust to the sudden brightness all around him. When his teal eyes finally stopped watering, he could make out that they were standing on a rocky outcropping, the world bathed in white light to the point that it hurt the eyes to remain open for too long. It was an odd landscape of pale rocks and stick-like, burnt remnants of trees and shrubbery as far as the eye could see.
He suddenly felt incredibly thirsty, and he swallowed dryly as he turned around slowly to see if anyone else was there. Standing directly in front of him after he turned was a smirking Tyrian. Clover tried desperately to ignore the strong scent of the ocean that seemed to stem from the other's presence even more so in the heat all around them, not wanting to be lulled into a false sense of calm just then, especially not around this madman.
Even still, his feet staggered slightly when he tried to take a step forward, and he found himself held upright by far too spindly fingers as the scorpion Faunus laughed, "You certainly look quite content despite the situation, kiddo." He joked, pulling Clover into a mock imitation of an embrace.
The mer shuddered and weakly tried pulling away as he heard Watts musing out loud from close by, "It seems as if the retraining is already well underway."
Tyrian laughed, finally letting the struggling brunette go with a push on his shoulders, "And won't our goddess be pleased by that?" He asked, clearly amused.
The Rune of Punishment's bearer felt sick at the thought, turning away from the two men quickly. A bit farther away behind Watts, he could make out a rather shaken and baffled Whitley standing there, his white hair and pale blue eyes practically glowing in the light all around them. The youngest Schnee was worriedly looking down at a figure curled up on the ground at his feet.
Clover's heart thudded in his chest when he saw Jaune, huddled around himself as if in a lot of pain, the Sun Rune emblem glowing blindingly against the sweaty skin of his forehead. All across the blond's body were the darkened veins that the mer recognized as the telltale signs of Grimm Water poisoning in humans.
"What...what did you do to him?" Clover demanded sharply, turning to face Watts.
The lanky, mustached man promptly ignored him, instead looking around their surroundings with keen interest and curiosity as he stroked his chin, "Fascinating. It appears as if we were sent to a Runescape instead of burning to death, thanks to my timely intervention." He muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
"Are we trapped here?" Whitley asked fearfully, bending down to try and get a closer look at Jaune to discern how he was doing.
"Temporarily, though it certainly beats the alternative." The scientist seemed to be in just a good enough mood to humor answering the boy, "I have no doubt Salem will still be able to reach us soon, all the same."
Clover frowned, turning to take a step towards Watts once more to demand yet again what exactly he'd done to the blond, when a hand grasped his shoulder roughly and he was pulled down towards the ground. The strong scent of the ocean in his nostrils relaxed his body even as he shuddered to find himself now sitting practically in Tyrian's lap, "I think it's time our Royal Consort had another dose of his medicine, hmm?" The scorpion Faunus mocked, his hot breath on Clover's ear making him feel repulsed.
Teal eyes widened despite the painful brightness of the area at the remark. It hadn't even been that long since the last one, what were they...?
...They were trying to keep him in a sluggish state, he realized fearfully. So that he remained docile for their mistress. Clover struggled against the bonds tying his hands behind his back then, but Tyrian had a strong arm wrapped around his middle and the bottle of Grimm Water was shoved past his lips before he could do anything.
"Be sure to be a good mer and drink it all." Tyrian cackled as he forced Clover's head up, the briny liquid running down his throat, "We don't want you leaving a single drop."
Clover coughed and sputtered when the now empty bottle was removed, his suddenly limp form leaning helplessly against Tyrian as the man cooed at him as one might a pet that had done a neat trick, the hand that had been wrapped around him now rubbing a mocking imitation of soothing circles across his stomach, "If only our dear birdie and your king could see you now." Tyrian stated gleefully.
Shame colored his face and pooled in his gut, and Clover pointedly kept his gaze away from the concerned look flitting across Whitley's expression as Tyrian persisted in his humiliating display, the mer desperately trying to come up with a way for them to get through this despite his dulling senses.
Author's Notes: Yep, certain True Runes in particular can be quite problematic, the Sun Rune being one of the major contenders! Thank you for reading. Friendly comments are always appreciated!