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"What is it?" Weiss asked as I stared at my scroll.

"Its a message from Yang… she wants to talk over the CCT. There was evidently an attack. It must be pretty bad because she's not saying much."

"Another attack?" Cloud wondered.

"Yes… using Atlas machines again. Whoever has access still has access."

"This overdependence on hackable machines is a real problem," Cloud murmured and breezed a hand through his hair.

"She says… she says the summer maiden died. I'm sorry Cloud," I stated weakly.

Cloud looked up at me sharply. Then he sighed and reclined on the couch with a thousand yard stare.

"Were the powers lost?" Weiss asked.

"She didn't say," I mumbled. "I think she's waiting to tell me at the tower. I'll meet with her tomorrow. I'm so sorry Cloud. I know you were close with Rosé. Your sisters came for her."

Cloud said nothing for a long while. "I did this to her," he murmured. "I set her up to die."

"Cloud…" Weiss trailed. "You did everything you could for her."

"Not everything," he disagreed. But he said nothing more to justify that. I thought I knew what he was thinking. He still hadn't flown to face his destiny. "The summer maiden is dead. Long live the summer maiden. Assuming it's not one of my sisters."

"Rather grim of you," Weiss observed.

"Should I be happy? We were friends and I thought she was safe." Cloud chewed on his thumb. On the side of it.

"She wouldn't want you to beat yourself up over it," I pointed out meekly.

"But you know me. I'm going to anyway." He sighed. He rubbed his face with his hand where he sat on the couch. All our babies were put to sleep and it was just us up late at night. "She counted on me. And I failed. And I wasn't even there on the same continent as her when she died. I wasn't even close to saving her."

"You don't know that you would have been able to," Weiss suggested.

"But I had a better shot than anyone. And I didn't even get to try. Do you know if the rest of her team survived?" Cloud asked me.

"I'll find out tomorrow for you," I vowed. When our communications were private and encrypted I could dig for more information. Scroll messages could be intercepted. "Blake and Yang are fine and I-"

I stopped as a rush of feeling took me over. It felt… familiar a little. I stood up and raised my hands to my face. There was a glow. "Guys what's happening?" I demanded. "Are my eyes acting up?"

Cloud was on me with one hand on my shoulder and pushing me back down. I looked desperately to Weiss who had grown pale. I felt suddenly bone deep tired.

"You're a maiden!" Weiss observed.

"No that's impossible. I didn't know Rosé well at all."

"Not her then. Someone else. Blake or... " Weiss stopped short and looked at Cloud.

"Or what?" I demanded. "Oh no. Please no."

"It must be Penny," Cloud stated. "She must have been killed in the action. You were her best friend after all."

"No, no. Please. Not Penny."

"Ruby…" Weiss whispered. It set me off and I broke into tears.

"Its not fair. It feels like I only just got her back. And now she's gone again? It isn't right."

"Maybe she can be rebuilt again," Cloud suggested.

I thought of Penny's personality changes over the last few years. It was more than likely it was her living will not to be resuscitated. Would her father defy that? I thought it was unlikely. Penny was gone. My best friend was gone. And she wouldn't be coming back. I felt tired. I could feel the new powers swirling around in my stomach. I could feel them. I didn't want them. I didn't like it. I was spring. I had to be spring. Penny was gone. I broke down sobbing into Cloud's shoulder. He picked me up like I was a baby and rocked me into his chest. He cradled me in his arms easily as I let wave after wave of sadness take me. She was gone. Did she suffer? Had she struggled before she fell. It was hours after the attack. My scroll buzzed. I picked it up and looked at the most recent message from Yang.

Penny is dead. I'm so sorry Ruby.

I broke down all over again and didn't reply back. Had they hoped that she would pull through and Yang had been waiting to tell me? What could do that to Penny? But I knew in my gut she was gone. I could feel the stone cold certainty along with my new powers.

Weiss stepped over and brushed a hand through my hair. I sighed into her touch and sniffled a little. It was just so heartbreaking. I knew she was a target but this… I should have been there for her more. I could have done something, anything. But I knew that was how Cloud felt about Rosé and that wasn't fair. He probably felt that way about Penny too. I knew how he felt but I'd had to be here for my babies. My precious babies. I couldn't have been in Atlas working to help in the fight against Salem. I had to be here with them. My children. I couldn't have been with Penny. I just couldn't have been.

I buried my face in my arms and sobbed away at Cloud's chest. My family responsibilities dragged me away from my friends. I hated that but it was the path I chose when I wanted to have my family. I couldn't really feel good about that though. I loved my babies. I loved them. And Cloud and Weiss. I couldn't have been fighting the good fight. That burned me. I had basically abandoned her to her fate. And she'd died tooth and nail against Cloud's sisters.

"Ruby…" Weiss trailed. "I know this must be hard on you."

I sniffled. It was. It was super hard. "Yeah," I croaked. "Poor Penny."

"I feel for her, she was like me in a lot of ways," Cloud murmured. I sobbed in Cloud's arms. "There there Ruby. It's okay."

"How can it be okay. I'm spring!"

"We'll get through this. You'll see," Weiss chimed.

I didn't really see how. Penny was gone forever. I didn't even get to be there for her when she died. And she died thinking of me. Did she feel betrayed by me? Did she feel like I abandoned the good fight against Salem? There was no way I'd ever know. Penny wouldn't want to be resurrected again. There was no way.

"Come on. Let's get you to bed," Cloud decided. I just moaned in his arms as he carried me off.

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"Ruby I…" Yang hesitated in the CCT screen.

"I knew. I knew about Penny. I'm spring," I informed her.

"You are? That's… well it's not good news but the power is at least safe."

"Practical," I bit out.

"Ruby I became summer," Yang confessed. "I was there when she died. Rosé. We didn't know each other too well. We worked occasionally and when the Arc sister's came it was us against them. And when she died the power transferred to me. The whole team she was on was cut down. Saphron cut them down like it was a sport. And she got Penny too. She's so strong."

"Saphron?" She sounded like a problem which was running away from us.

"Yeah, Saphron. I think Cloud is going to have to get involved and take her down because barring Blake or one of the rest of us with maiden powers taking her down it falls on him."

"Team RWBY. We're all maidens now," I reminded her. "The power falls on us to take care of Saphron if it comes up. You said all of Rosé's team died?"

Yang nodded. "The Arc sisters got them all. They're so powerful and they work super well together."

"We're team RWBY. We work well together too."

"They're basically telepathic. Maybe they are actually telepathic. We're good Ruby but not that good. We need Cloud."

"We can't count on Cloud for everything," I didn't fully disagree. "He won't be around forever."

"We need him. Not sure what else there is to say. Saphron is crazy strong and she has to go down."

"Who fought her?" I asked.

"Blake. With the maiden powers. And she still struggled. Saphron is a real problem. She's an issue. Her semblance is just so much like Cloud's. Luckily she can't fly but it makes her super strong and fast. And she has spells and magic. She can throw energy around. It's weird. Not quite like the maidens but it's still energy I suppose."

"And how is Blake?" I wondered.

"She's fine. She managed to hold her own against Saphron until reinforcements arrived. She got tossed around a bit though. She's at the academy right now. They're trying to patch things up. Ironwood isn't sure how they keep hacking his machines. But it's the nature of a man in the middle attack to be like that. That's the hacking method Ironwood believes that they are using. He had Pietro looking for the source but Pietro is… he's now distracted."

"Grieving," I interpreted.

"Right. That. It's Penny's living will that she not be resurrected again. Her father is dealing with that. I think he's still thinking about it. It would cost him his life but he might decide it was worth it for his little girl to live again."

"I hope not. Is that had of me to say?" I asked.

"No Ruby. You don't have a bad bone in your body. You want the best for Penny. Towards the end she was pretty antinatalist. She thought living was a curse and burden she wouldn't put on anyone. Still I bet her dad is thinking about it. Not sure if Ironwood would let him go through with it. Or maybe not. Mantle needs it's guardian."

"Well I want her will to be respected. She earned that much," I proclaimed.

"Right well we'll have to see. So how do you feel? You're spring now. You feel tired?"

"Yeah. Bone deep. You?"

"I just want to fucking sleep," she confessed. "Blake tells me it was that way with her. I know Weiss was tired. I think that comes with the power transfer."

"I have Weiss to train me in the power. I have to master it. It might be our best shot against the Arc sisters."

"Except Cloud."

"I keep telling you we can't count on him forever. Sooner or later he has to face Salem and he… he won't come back. Not from that. And our babies will be at risk then. They might have that magic to them."

"Saphron has that magic," Yang bobbed her head with a distant expression. "She's too fast and strong. And the way she hovers in the air while shooting you is just too much. She sort of just hangs there while unloading the clip. Pop, pop. That's the way Blake tells it. Ain't no way she's totally natural. And there are seven of them."

"I'll let Cloud know," I promised. He would do something about them. He wouldn't just let them wreak havoc on Remnant.

"She has that super strength Cloud has when he has his Limit. The other ones all have different powers. One of them is basically untouchable with some kind of counterattacking semblance that lets her snap her fingers and reflect damage back at you. That's who I fought."

"Any headway?" I wondered.

"Couldn't touch her. Couldn't come up with a way to touch her. She had to beat a retreat when aceops showed up and we could gang up on her but other than that no. I didn't touch her at all. She was a real bitch about it too."

"I'll tell Cloud he might recognize her. That'll be something. But for now… for now I just want him to be a good father to my children. Is that too much to ask?"

"It might be…" Yang trailed off. "We need serious help. He's it. There's nobody else to call on."

"He's only one man," I reminded her.

"But the world needs him," she shot back. "I'm not saying raising your kids isn't important. My nieces and nephews are super important to me. But he could be doing more. Confess that to me."

"He could probably do a little more…" I agreed half-heartedly. "But what would that look like? Our family is here in Vale."

"I don't know. But gods that bitch got pretty far in my head. I really couldn't land a hit on her at all. The world needs Cloud. The honeymoon phase is over."

"Not your choice," I disagreed. "I say he stays here with my family and two of the maidens. Unless you two want to move here he's with as many maidens as he can be at once."

"Maybe we should. Atlas isn't the safest. Not with the machine insecurity," Yang sighed.

"Do I hear wedding bells in yours and Blake's future?" I asked.

"No. Not that I know of. Not so soon after an attack. Maybe before but now it would just be stained by the memory of the fallen."

"All of the summer maiden's team. I know Cloud won't be happy. He was close to them. I'm glad you're okay. You and Blake both."

"Ruby I'm so sorry about Penny," Yang chimed.

I breathed a shuddering sigh. "It's okay. Wasn't your fault. In a lot of ways it was mine. I should have been there for her. Cloud or I. We both should have. And now that she's gone… and now that she's gone all I can do is push forward with her memory. You know? I have to hope that's enough. I know she became rather jaded in her last few years. But I choose to remember the good parts about her. I just… I wish I could have done more for her. Besides be on her mind when she died to take the mantle of responsibility. I wish I could have done something but I was with my family and children. And that's hard to give up. I had to be there for my family where I merely wanted to be there for Penny. Cloud and Weiss need me. My little girls and boys need me. I quite frankly need to get back to them. I'm tired but I need to push and keep going forward."

"I should have known you'd be so positive," Yang smiled a little and it grew on her face. She stretched her arms back. "Just know you can still count on your big sis for the big stuff. We're all in this maiden business together anyways."

"Talk again soon?" I pleaded.

"Yeah. Of course. See you Ruby."

"Bye Yang."

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-WG