In no way am I connected to Rooster Teeth
This was not going to be a good day.
No. Ruby would admit it.
It was going to be a horrible day.
"Here?"
"Try a few feet to the left."
Ruby dutifully stepped.
"It was better before," Yang noted. She raised her voice. "Back to where you were Ruby."
Ruby moved back more carefully.
This was a newly designed aerial to boost scroll signals. It was a prototype that might result in a secondary system to support the main CCTS and even increase the range to towns and villages that didn't have access before.
Most of these places got along fine without it, but then there would be the choice. If they wanted it, they could install the aerial. If not, they didn't have to.
Ruby thought most would; it was the best way to keep in touch when people left the village, especially if they were away for a long time.
As it happened, their last stop on their current trip was Greyash. Agua's hometown. They hadn't heard from her since she joined Beacon. Her mother fought hard for this.
Ruby also thought that a few villages they had been to wouldn't be so welcoming.
"Here?"
The aerial had to be placed as high up as possible.
Which meant that Ruby, with her secondary Semblance of petal bursts, was the one that had to position it.
On the other hand, it also meant she could hide for a little bit up here.
Ruby had been a leader for two and half years. This was going to be her first proper decision with serious consequences and she was not looking forward to it.
"That's it, Ruby. Attach it and come on down."
After she had done so, Ruby glanced at her scroll. Not full signal, but only one bar below.
Well…I am making the decision as a leader and Mercury is part of the team. Even if he is away most of the time…
Did that make this better or worse?
Ruby sighed.
Maybe she would call Mercury first and tell him to ring Emerald as soon as their meeting was over. Or, more likely, when Emerald stormed out.
But then, Emerald would get furious at Mercury and that wasn't fair.
Deep breaths…
Ruby was smiling when she rejoined them. She hoped they would be fooled. From the slight frown on Yang's face and the narrowing of Emerald's eyes, it didn't work.
They glanced at each other for less than a second.
Then apparently decided to not ask.
Yet.
"Okay, so we're done." Yang stretched. "Don't know about you two, but I could do with a shower."
Emerald folded her arms. "Well, what did you expect when you decided that mud sliding was a good idea?"
"I didn't think it was still wet."
"How can you go mud sliding if the mud isn't wet?"
"…Okay, so I didn't think it through very well."
"And you lost," Ruby pointed out. "Badly."
"Corners are tricky." Yang was definitely pouting.
For a brief moment, Ruby considered the idea that she wasn't the youngest in the group.
I'm certainly not feeling like the youngest at the moment…
Professor Port had disappeared again to catch up with an old acquaintance. Ruby had noticed that he had been mostly absent in the village and had been very non-committal on their missions. It was certainly different from Dr Oobleck at Mountain Glenn and Professor Goodwitch during their second year.
Maybe as we get more experienced, they help less?
Ruby shrugged. So far, they hadn't needed help in combat and they had been as friendly as possible to everyone they met.
"How about we debrief after?"
Debrief.
"Sure," Ruby agreed.
It was still early. This would give them time to cool off before they had to share a room for the night.
While Yang was in the shower, Emerald sat next to Ruby. "Are you okay?"
"Fine."
"You don't seem to be."
Ruby considered, then sighed. "You'll see why."
"Ruby?"
"Just…Debrief, okay?" She saw Emerald frown slightly and continued before she could say anything. "Have you found out how they grew the tea trees yet?"
She did not look impressed at the change in topic. "Ruby-"
"Okay. I'm going to go change."
"What are you so afraid of?"
Of all the things to say…Emerald asked the one question Ruby really didn't want to answer.
But she would.
"You."
Emerald blinked. "Me?"
"Because…I am about to break a promise."
"…Ruby?"
Yang left the bathroom then. Her hair was still wet. In fact, Ruby looked at her and wondered if she had even gotten in the shower or had just washed her hair.
"So." Yang sat next to Emerald. "Over the past two weeks, we've learned that there is a very good reason why Grimm are a high threat to the people. We knew that already." She glanced down at her right arm; something that Emerald had healed four days ago. "But that there are Beowolves more difficult to kill than a Geist was new."
"Considering how old we thought it was…" Emerald shrugged. "It certainly explains why a lot of graduated students are still getting killed by things we thought they shouldn't."
It was creepy. It was a Beowolf they had never seen before, but they had gone in with the same confidence they had as if it was just a run of the mill one half the size.
A massive mistake.
"It was a Beowolf."
"That's the problem."
"One. Singular. It should not have been that close."
"Yang…" Ruby sighed. "We know. I think that was the fight I learned the most from. I mean…Professor Port said there were Grimm that were near human intelligence but…I honestly thought that had something to do with the species."
They were probably going to have this conversation a lot.
It was one thing to struggle against higher tier Grimm or ones they had never seen before.
Remedy hadn't focused on the fact this Beowolf was bigger than any Alpha they had seen. They hadn't paid attention to the amount of white colouring compared to black and the number of spikes on its body.
They had just seen a Beowolf.
So the human shield, paranoid ambush and opposite taunt tactics were very new.
It shouldn't have even been able to fit in that bush…
Mercury was never going to let them live it down when he learned of it.
Speaking of Merc…
Emerald groaned as she rubbed her head. "Merc's going to be very irritating when he finds out."
Yang snorted, almost certainly thinking the same thing. "We tell him it was a Goliath?"
Two bars. Ruby flicked through her scroll, finding his number.
"I think he would have taken the job himself if it was."
Ruby hit 'call'.
It only rang once. "Hi Ruby. Wasn't expecting to hear from you today. Why has that village got this prototype system?"
Ruby was surprised to hear he knew about it. "I don't know."
Emerald shrugged. She was smiling. "The location, probably. How are you Merc?"
"Physically fine. Otherwise, could be better."
"Rough day?" Yang asked.
"Not yet."
"Huh?"
Ruby swallowed. "So he hasn't left yet?"
"Nope."
"Who are you talking about?" Emerald asked. She was still in a good mood.
"He introduced himself to me as Brock Seam. Ironwood dug up that he also goes by the name Shiva Mortem."
Emerald froze. Her smile vanished instantly.
"Emerald knows him," Ruby stated aloud. This wasn't a video call; Mercury didn't see her reaction.
Yang glanced between Ruby and Emerald, confused.
Ruby took a deep breath. "Which is why I want us to go back to Beacon rather than visit Faymarsh tomorrow."
"Are you crazy?!"
Emerald sounded…more upset than angry.
Ruby kept her voice steady. "I'm going to tell Professor Port we're heading back to Beacon tomorrow."
"I'm not."
"I would much prefer it if you did," Mercury replied, his tone soft. "I would like to see you for more than one day during the rest of my life. He's already shown a lot of interest in my teammates."
Ruby swallowed.
She knew Mercury would back her decision; he was the one to suggest it and Ruby so did not want to agree with it.
But it wasn't safe.
It wasn't Grimm they were dealing with.
It was people with years of experience of taking down Huntsmen with a multitude of abilities.
Mercury had gone off on his own. He was ready for the world; knew these people and how to handle them. He was ready and…these people knew him. That was a layer of protection, as backwards as that sounded.
Emerald was a high value target. They knew her Semblance and might have connection to Salem; they may know she was a Maiden. They would have plans to counter it.
It wasn't a risk Ruby was prepared to take.
"Mercury-"
"And I don't want you here either Yang."
Ruby blinked. "What?" Mercury had not mentioned anything like that to her.
"For personal reasons, I don't want Yang or Emerald to visit."
"We heard you the first time Mercury." Yang folded her arms. "What's the deal?"
"How about this," Ruby started. It hadn't escaped her attention that Mercury didn't seem to mind her visiting, but why? "We go back to Beacon tomorrow. When Mercury is done in Faymarsh, he comes back to Beacon for a few days. You don't expect to be there much longer, do you?"
"He hadn't meant to be there this long," Emerald muttered.
She was angry, but not complaining too much. She was glaring at Ruby though.
Something in her twisted.
But Ruby was ready to stand her ground.
"No, something came up. I'll leave when it's resolved." Mercury was being suspiciously vague there. "It just means I'm not staying at other places for as long. I'm good with the return to Beacon after plan."
"Ok."
"Not ok," Emerald cut in. "I don't agree with this."
"Neither do I," Yang stated.
"If Mercury's in trouble-"
"I'm not. That's part of the problem. Emerald, it's not safe at all for you. Yang, it's safer but you are not going to enjoy the experience."
"But Ruby?" Yang scowled.
"She's probably the safest. Her Semblance is of no use in his main crowd; the problems far outweigh the potential benefits."
Yang took a deep breath. "Ok. What's his main crowd?"
"He mainly deals in human trafficking and smuggling, Yang. Use your imagination."
"…Ah."
Yang seemed to understand. It didn't soothe her anger but now she was less angry at them and angrier at the people involved.
"No."
Emerald.
Ruby was going to regret this for the rest of her life.
"Emerald. I've made up my mind. We're going back to Beacon. I…I'm sorry."
Emerald's fingers clenched.
For a moment, there was a flash of green around her eyes.
Then she stood and stormed out of the room.
Ruby let out a long breath. She ignored her wet cheeks.
Yang put her hand on her shoulder. "I'll go after her."
"Thanks." Honestly, Ruby couldn't face Emerald right now.
This was the first time being a leader and being a sister was a problem.
Unlike Emerald, Yang shut the door behind her.
Ruby collapsed on the bed. Swallowed a hiccup that wasn't a hiccup.
"If it helps Ruby, I feel quite a bit of relief."
She jolted up. Grabbed the scroll. "Merc-Sorry. Forgot you were still there."
"Yang didn't. I don't think Em noticed though…She'll come around Ruby. She's not thinking right. If she was thinking right, she would have realised I put you up to this."
That…wasn't truthful. "You didn't. You told me the truth and we both agreed this was for the best, even if she didn't agree."
"…Do you think we should have asked her first?"
"I…"
"Interesting. I was expecting an answer quickly. What's wrong?"
"It's just…" If Emerald talked to anyone about this, then it would be Mercury. Mercury wouldn't break her confidence. "Well…Can you just listen and when I'm done, tell me if anything is wrong?"
"I'm listening."
"So, Maidens can have dreams from the lives of previous Maidens. A lot of times, the memories that stay with people are traumatic ones. Emerald has dreamed before; about Salem and…Cinder. Others too. So it's possible that she has dreamed about all of their deaths."
Mercury didn't answer. Ruby didn't expect him to.
After all, she wasn't wrong.
The whole reason why Maidens fell into stories again was because they kept getting attacked and successfully too.
"…How angry is she at me? Us?"
Mercury sighed. "Ruby…As leader, you have to do what is best for your team. Most of the time, that's fine. They want what's best for them too. Today is not one of those days."
"I know. It's just…never been an issue before."
…
"I'm proud of you."
"W-What?"
Ruby could not have heard that right.
"I have it on good authority that you stood up to Cinder and Ginger. I can't really think of a time that you stood up to your sister. Again, same with Emerald. I can think of one time to me and considering the circumstances then, it doesn't quite count. You've stood up for us plenty of times but standing up to us…That's different."
Ruby cast her mind back, thinking.
"Emerald took that better than I thought, Ruby. I don't think she'll be that mad for too long. I'm definitely going to take you up on the idea to spend some time back in Vale."
"…You don't think she'll sneak off? I mean…I promised and I just broke it. And of all the promises to break…"
Deliberately splitting up Emerald and Mercury.
"Ruby…Would it help to stop by here for a minute on the way to Beacon tomorrow?"
"I…Do you think so?"
"If nothing else, it might tell Mortem I'm not letting her stay where he is. He may leave then."
"Right." Ruby could see that. "Yeah. I mean, he could show up at Haven, couldn't he?"
"I don't think he will, but it's the other villages I'm worried about. Places with less authority and protectors. Faymarsh is connected to Mistal City and Atlas. None of the places you visited have anywhere near those connections."
"I'll…think about it. If she's okay tomorrow, yeah. But not for the whole day."
"No. Just long enough for a conversation. Faymarsh is on the way back anyway."
Ruby remembered then. That was the main reason they had picked Greyash as their final destination for their trip.
"We'll see tomorrow."
"Tomorrow. If I don't see you by lunchtime, I'll assume not. Don't worry much about it."
"I'll still try to ring."
"Talaria will be in the sky. She's normally stretching her wings."
A sound caught in the back of Ruby's throat.
"Ruby, this won't be the last time we have disagreements. We just have to talk each time and to figure out how to move forward."
"…"
"Ruby…Being an adult is nowhere near as fun as it sounds."
That did get a chuckle.
/
Yang could see why Emerald was so angry.
She was too but that wasn't important right now.
Right now, she needed to be a big sister.
If Emerald didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. Yang would just walk right by her.
Unless she's angry enough that her Semblance doesn't have the detail…
Yang was sure though. Emerald wanted company.
She hadn't gone as far as Yang thought. She was just standing outside, leaning against the wall; the same way that Mercury did sometimes.
"Emerald-"
"I wasn't about to lose control."
"I'm not worried about that." Emerald may get angry enough to use her powers but never on them. "Seeing Mercury again was going to be the best part of the trip for you, wasn't it?"
"I miss him."
"I know."
"Do you think-"
"He wants to see you. You're still his favourite sister, you know. Favourite person ever actually."
Emerald scowled. "Right now, I hate him. Both of them."
Yang bit down her first response. She knew how to stoke Emerald's anger, but not how to calm her down. Even after all this time. Right now, winding her up was counter-productive to getting through this argument.
As much as Yang considered herself the big sister, Emerald always preferred her brother. She always had and probably always would.
Right now Merc, I hope you're having better luck with Ruby.
"Maia, you and Eris…You both know better than we do what these people are capable of. They're expecting you as well. We…I don't want you to get hurt. Especially not over something this avoidable."
…
"It's only a few days Em. He'll come over then." This wasn't like when he was imprisoned. They could see him anytime.
"I don't want him to."
That sounded like a lie, even to Yang. "It's the plan. We can cancel on the day."
Emerald didn't respond. She walked off.
Yang watched her go this time.
After midnight, Yang snuck out of their room. Ruby and Emerald were both asleep. Together. Yang wasn't sure if they had made up or because they both knew nightmares were likely.
Emerald hadn't said much since she got back from wherever she went.
A glance back showed she hadn't woken them.
She slipped outside, far enough away so they wouldn't hear, and called Mercury.
He picked up on the first ring. His voice was quiet. "Hey Yang. How are they?"
"Asleep. Not peaceful but not not peaceful either."
"The best we could hope for, I suppose."
"Ruby seems better. Good job."
"Maybe not. Ruby and I spoke about a brief stop in Faymarsh tomorrow for me to talk to her."
Yang frowned. "Isn't that exactly what we don't want?"
"Sort of. We can't just avoid him forever; this is really only for tomorrow. Maybe this way, Mortem won't try this obvious waiting game again."
"He might try something else."
"He might."
Mercury didn't continue there. Something was up.
"Mercury?"
"Another time Yang."
"Uh-huh." Yang considered. "Mercury? Why don't you want me there?"
"Another time Yang."
Yang growled. "Really? I will accept you not spilling secrets on Ruby or Emerald. That sounds like my business."
"It's not but you're not going to be happy. It's for a different reason than Emerald, I'll give you that. But if you don't, you can keep an eye on Em."
That wasn't the reason. Yang knew that wasn't the reason.
"Remember Mercury. I chose to know everything."
"And I chose not to tell you yet. Tough. It won't really change anything anyway."
Yang wanted to continue arguing, but decided not to right now. She would yell and that would wake up the neighbours. She would argue with him tomorrow after they were back in Beacon.
"Right. I should get back before I'm missed."
"Yeah. Goodnight Artemis."
"Night Eris."
Yang hit end, took a deep breath and headed back.
/
Emerald released her Semblance on Yang and returned to bed.
It was just gone half seven in the morning when the airship landed just outside of town.
Well, anyone who's up could have seen that.
With a mental shrug, Mercury ran over to meet them.
Talaria flew through the open side, purring and chittering happily. She twisted around, landing on them and taking off. Emerald's responding hisses excited her more.
"Well, she's obviously missed us," Yang laughed.
Mercury patted Ruby on the shoulder. She smiled back at him, but her gaze flickered between Emerald and Mercury.
Okay.
Mercury stepped forwards and wrapped his arm are Emerald carefully. If she was still mad…
Emerald stepped forward and curled around him.
He pulled her in fully.
[Hi Mercury.]
[Hey Emerald. How's life treating you?]
[Felt better.]
Emerald looked calm. In reality, she was angry and upset.
Mercury gently rubbed her back. Her emotions suggested he continue, not stop.
Ruby and Yang were keeping a distance, not saying anything. They were holding hands so maybe they were having a conversation.
[Maia, I've missed too much. I don't want to lose you.]
It was a moment before Emerald responded. Concern, [hypocrite], understanding, sorrow…
Annoyance. [Did either of them tell you about the Beowolf we found in the valley?]
Mercury considered. Neither Ruby nor Yang had told him anything about that but he did remember seeing a job for a Beowolf as a mission. In fact…
[An Omega Beowolf?] He knew the term, but had never seen one.
[Yes. That. Guess what happened.]
For Emerald to be this annoyed about that…
[It put up a far better fight than you were expecting?] Surely they were experienced enough to know that Omega Grimm were nowhere near as easy as Alphas or equivalent. They were thought to be ancient. These things were known to kill Huntsmen that had decades of experience, even the Creeps.
[Shattered Yang's and Ruby's aura. Nearly mine too.]
Mercury glanced at Ruby and Yang with a raised eyebrow.
Ruby scratched the back of her head while Yang pouted. They had a good guess what Emerald had just told him.
[If a Grimm could do that, what can a human do?] Mercury gently guessed.
Emerald's emotions agreed. She didn't 'say' anything though.
She shifted as his emotions did.
[Maia. I'll be back in Vale in a few days. I want you to think about something in the meantime.]
Emerald hummed quizzically.
[We both know that you were dependent on Cinder. I need to know if you're dependent on me. I enjoy your company; I don't mind if you join me travelling after you graduate if that's what you choose. We'd have a lot of fun. But I need to know that you can stand on your own; if you can live for yourself.]
Flinch.
"Think on it," Mercury whispered.
He had tried. All these years. Hogwarts, but then LiaGuard. Visits every weekend, but then away for over half a year.
He preferred to be with her than by himself or just Talaria.
Emerald had to learn to live for herself, not just as a pawn or company for someone else. Mercury was sure that her dependence had just shifted from Cinder to him. Had she overcome that?
[I don't think I am.]
Mercury gave her a kiss on the top of her head before stepping back.
Emerald frowned but didn't step forward again. That was also a contemplative frown, not an angry one.
Mercury turned to the other two. "Really?"
Yang scowled. "It's a Beowolf. We've fought thousands of them. Anyone would make that mistake."
"They often do. I call them corpses."
There was a pull on the corner of Yang's mouth. "You'd have struggled."
Mercury shrugged. "Maybe. But I wouldn't have underestimated it straight away. You do realise I'm not going to let you live it down for quite a while, right?"
"Tell me about it," Ruby groaned.
"I agree," Emerald piped up. "Though you need to remember that you have Grimm Studies first thing on Monday."
What.
Ruby looked at Emerald. "Huh?"
"You can tell Mercury all about it. Even if he can't get hold of an airship by tomorrow, he can get you back before our first class next week."
Mercury tilted his head, thinking. "What are you saying, Em?"
She shrugged. "Well, it would be a shame to land here and see you for ten minutes. How about Ruby stays for today and maybe tomorrow? We haven't seen you in a long while."
O…kay.
Was this one way to see if she was okay with Ruby staying and not her?
That…would go quite a way to showing Mercury she was more self-assured.
Ruby looked more confused than he was. Then again, he could come up with a few reasons why Emerald would do that. She couldn't.
Her gaze fell on Mercury. "Err…"
"Besides, Mercury doesn't have a good reason to order you away like he does us."
That was faith. Emerald didn't know the reason why Mercury didn't want Yang here.
He wasn't worried. Raven knew Ruby was Tai's daughter. She wouldn't attack while either of them were here.
Yang glared at Mercury. "We are having that argument at some point."
"I'm sure," Mercury drawled. His attention went back to Emerald, changing his tone. "You sure?"
Emerald nodded. "Yeah. Besides, you two can talk the technobabble that we don't understand. Are you still thinking about coming to Vale?"
"Oh, definitely."
"Then Yang and I will see you then."
Ruby's head had been going back at forth, obviously very confused at what had just happened. "Huh?"
"Alright. Come on then Ruby." Mercury hopped out of the airship.
Yang pushed Ruby forward a little. She then walked over to Emerald. "See you then Merc."
"Bye guys."
"Bye?" Ruby stepped off the airship. She waved as the door closed. They waved back; Yang with a large grin and Emerald with a small smile. She still waved until it was out of sight. She then glanced at Mercury. "Erm…What just happened?"
Talaria landed on Mercury's shoulder. She tilted her head at Ruby. Then cooed her confusion at Mercury.
"It's not safe for Emerald and I don't want Yang here. Which means you drew the short straw for making sure things in Faymarsh are as I say they are."
That did clear her confusion. Obviously, Ruby had had those concerns too.
"Okay. So what first?"
"First I show you around."
"Right." Back to chirpy.
Mercury wasn't surprised that there were more kids around now. Playing outside was a favoured pastime for these kids and if one of them saw the airship, word would spread fast.
As such, Mercury was not surprised to find that they soon had eyes watching them. It hadn't been this bad since the fornight he first arrived.
But then, I suppose Ruby's new.
Ruby didn't seem to mind the attention. She was probably used to it by now.
Raven was resting on top of one of the spires of the college. The bird tilted her head, but otherwise didn't move. Mercury had yet to see Mortem this morning.
Like the kids had for him, Mercury chose to start in the library. Ruby was fond of books and he was curious to see if she would be interested in the art on the ground floor; the section that was part of the town centre. He initially ignored that and took her to the top floor.
Ruby went right up to the glass. Smiling. "You never told us much about Faymarsh. It's beautiful too."
Mercury shrugged. He honestly hadn't noticed, but then he tended to focus on practicality not beauty. "Out of curiosity, have you ever been anywhere that was ugly?"
Talaria landed on the other side of the glass. Ruby did jump, but then laughed. She did poke the glass, but Talaria didn't fly off. She crawled across the glass carefully.
"Not yet."
Mercury could see Mortem now. He was heading to the restaurant, possibly for breakfast.
Right. Let's see what he does when he realises Ruby's here and Emerald's not.
Raven was still on the spire.
"Umm…Hello?"
Both of them turned around.
"Ruby, meet Blaine." One of the less irritating kids in Faymarsh. He had been quietly reading in the corner when the pair entered.
Come to think of it, this town is full of kids and not very many teenagers in comparison.
"Hello," Ruby greeted. "How are you?"
"O-Ok."
Mercury waved a hand in Ruby's general direction. "Ruby's staying today and maybe tomorrow but she's got to get back to Beacon by Monday morning."
"Oh." Blaine blinked.
Ruby glanced at Mercury. He smiled at her and shrugged.
"Want to help show me around?"
Not for the first time, Mercury wondered where the parents were for these kids. He very rarely saw them. If someone wanted to hurt them, it would be remarkably easy. Patch was similar, but that island didn't claim to be 'a key to the future' or other such propaganda. Patch was on few maps and Faymarsh was on every map.
Honestly, this place has no security; no police or anything.
This place is fine; has been for months. It's just because Ruby's here.
Mercury wasn't surprised to find their company quickly grow in number. He happily slid more into the shadows as the morning went on. His mind began to drift, but something was nagging at him. That just increased his unease.
It was around half eleven when he realised he couldn't see Raven anywhere. Nothing odd there. She rarely stuck around for more than a few hours.
An hour later, Ruby and Mercury were outside one of the few cafés. This one had a pile of napkins for Talaria to rest on one of the side tables. Mercury had never tried to take Talaria inside a restaurant or café, but this one had decided to accommodate her anyway.
Mercury had a dark hot chocolate. Ruby had a mixed fruit juice drink that was green. Supposedly due to a 'secret ingredient' as none of the fruits mentioned in the menu were that colour.
After their full morning, it was quite relaxing to be given some space. It had been some time since Mercury had had to deal with that kind of attention.
"I can see why you like it here, Merc. There's a lot here but it doesn't feel like a lot. It still feels like a community. Except for the college."
"True. But then, most of the people there have something to prove to others. Dampens the mood by quite a bit." Mercury stirred the spoon for a moment. "So. This Omega?"
Ruby sighed deeply. "Okay, we were idiots."
Mercury considered pressing, then decided against it. "And the lesson learned?"
"Don't underestimate anything."
"Well then." Mercury shrugged and glanced at Talaria to check on her. The dragon was stretching her wings before settling again.
"How's your studies going?"
He would talk to her about some of his less public-friendly projects later. For the moment, he would stick to simple things. "Pretty well. I can show you Pandora tricks later." Now he had a far better idea of how to use the elements. "A few of my new toys wouldn't look out of place in Fred and George's shop."
Ruby grinned. "I don't think that's a bad thing. They're great guys."
Mercury matched that smile. He reached into his pocket for a cube, small enough to fit in his palm. He handed it to her. "Have a guess."
Ruby handled it with great care. "Is it dangerous?"
"I made it Ruby. Of course it's dangerous."
She chuckled. "Okay, fair point. I mean, is it violent?"
"No." Technically.
"So not a grenade."
"Heh. Not this one. I don't think the other customers would appreciate me passing around those."
"Hmm."
None of his current projects used Dust. He had promised that and so far, he had been able to stick to all his promises. It was certainly safer to test those weapons outside a civilisation. Bad reactions to Runes and Dust tended to be explosive.
"Ammo round then?"
"EMP. Will disable many electronic devices at whatever frequency I set it in a set range." From a few centimetres to hundreds of metres.
"Cool." Ruby gave it back. Then she frowned. "How do you mean, 'electrical devices'? Everything or just little things like control panels and scrolls?"
"Yep."
"Why?"
"Dealing with one bounty is difficult enough without him calling his friends to the party."
"Oh. Yeah, I can see that."
Mercury shrugged. "I can honestly say that very few of my creations are useful against Grimm."
"They're grenades."
"Absolutely."
"What kind?"
"Elemental, normal explosive, anti-gravity…" Mercury chuckled. "That one is far crueler than a Huntsman probably should be."
He could see Ruby imagining it. Her face flickered between horror, sympathy and amusement.
"That sounds horrible but…can we try it?"
That got a full laugh out of him.
Talaria's head came up. She raised her snout, clearly scenting something.
Ruby pouted. "What?"
The dragon spread her wings and took to the air.
"Ruby, I think it's going to be a long time before astronauts are a thing here."
Space.
Mercury hadn't been that interested. Earth wasn't his home. Humanity had yet to conquer Remnant, so space should not be their focus.
Unless moving to the moon is the plan. As plans go, I'd have it at least as plan W. Plan V in hundred years.
Talaria barked a warning.
Ruby's mouth snapped shut, frowning.
Talaria continued her short, sharp barks. She was calling as loud as she could.
Mercury was up in the air, balancing on the roof of the café. Someone did query his name (no doubt to ask why his dragon was uncharacteristically making such a racket) but he ignored them. Ruby knew that sound; she could explain it.
What is it? Grimm?
For two seconds, Mercury couldn't see the danger. There were no Grimm nearby.
Yet.
But they would soon be coming.
Okay. Seriously?
Mercury hadn't miscalculated this badly since he assumed Cinder was trying to kill him the night of the Vytal Festival.
What was most irritating about this situation was that Mercury had made the exact mistake that Qrow and Ozpin did.
Mercury had credited Raven with far more morals than she had.
Because there is no way in any universe that Raven attacking the day she saw Ruby visit is a coincidence.
Mercury had considered Raven a pest before. Now, she was an enemy.
Talaria had smelt blood.
Woody was already dead. So were three kids.
A second later, so were their two killers.
Not trained by an academy then. First thing they teach is how to maintain the aura shield permenantly so this very thing doesn't happen.
In fact, two bandits later and Mercury was even more annoyed.
For a woman who believes in power and strength, how many leeches does she have in her tribe?
There was screaming now. Screams of terror, not pain. It was coming from the east; the opposite direction to Ruby. Then from the west and likely all throughout the town.
Mercury considered, then sent his aura falcon up into the sky. The Guardian Form would certainly make a statement, but its attacks would hit both the attacker and the defender. While both were scattered in such small areas, it was too risky to use yet.
Besides, killing the people in the village with his Guardian Form, even if it did get rid of the attackers to, was a tad counter-productive.
Four buildings were on fire, including the town centre. There were people in there, but there were also others working to get them out. Provided they were left alone, that would be successful.
So Mercury started to run. He cycled his vision through normal and Grimm.
They needed time, so he would give them all he could.
Safety drills, head counts…In fairness, the town had not been idle since Mercury first reported to them that they may soon have a visit from a bandit tribe. They may not have many people that could fight, but they had practiced how to respond in such an emergency and how the everyday man could help.
Such as how to help in fires or dealing with debris.
What the…?
Mercury moved on from dead bandit number six (a lot of leeches apparently) but he kept his ears open.
I know that roar. It was…
…
Shattered aura and snapped neck. Shattered aura and decapitated. Shattered aura and punched literally through the chest. Shattered aura and snapped neck.
That sounded almost identical to a Peruvian Vipertooth.
Talaria had never made that roar before. It was too deep, too loud and too powerful.
If Mercury didn't know any better, he would think that it had been made by something far bigger than Talaria.
The falcon's view shifted to the source of the noise.
Okay. At some point, I need to have another talk with Dustin.
Talaria didn't look like she was in trouble though. That arrow had bounced right off her wing and if the wing wasn't damaged, then the scales wouldn't be either. He needed to circle around.
When Mercury turned down the alley towards the indoor market, he realised another trick that Raven had used. He would agree it was a good one.
After all, Mr Frost had been here for longer than Mercury had. The townspeople would trust him to help. The last thing they would ever do.
Still, there is the small chance this isn't what it looks like so…
Frost opened his mouth, but Mercury didn't initially let him talk. He leapt at him, twisting so they crashed to the ground with Mercury's boot on his neck.
"Work with Raven?"
His words said no. His aura said he was lying. He also held no belief that Mercury would actually kill him.
Mercury fired his boot and ran on.
Reminds me of fighting Inferi in Hogsmeade. Difference is those things actually put up more of a fight.
Mercury had no doubt that if he wasn't shattering their aura at the first opportunity, they would be putting up a much better fight. He just saw no reason to. This was a life and death fight.
Raven used infiltration and numbers to her advantage.
Mercury removed their aura, used surprise attacks so they had no time to dodge and then killed them within seconds. Their shock just helped him be that much quicker.
Ruby must be in a building. Mercury hadn't seen her since she had single-handedly saved seven people from the collapsing college. Different departments too.
Seems she's been training her Semblance just as much as hand-to-hand. Good to see she's just not neglecting what works well.
Bodies were piling up.
Fires were building. None of the buildings were made of wood; each one was set separately.
There's Raven.
Raven was on the other side of town. That was annoying.
Mercury ran that way. This would have him passing by Talaria. He needed to check up on her.
Why did that one try to stab her in the eye with such an obvious lunge? She was asking to get ripped apart.
Like Dustin said, Mercury could just about make a shape below Talaria when she moved. The size made it a kid, so there was little danger to him.
He skidded to a halt and caught the wall just before it slammed onto a female teenager. Maylene, he thought.
"Move."
She did. Quickly enough that he only needed to hold it for three seconds before he could drop it and move on. He didn't have time to talk.
Ruby had not moved for a few minutes.
The remains of the chemistry lab in the college exploded. Shattered glass flew outwards.
No one was in range to get hurt from that.
Interesting.
Mercury sharply glided the falcon right. What he thought was a vulture missed crashing into it by a few inches.
So Raven's got herself an Aura Wielder. Let's change that.
The falcon became a winged fox. His Simple Form could fight very well without him commanding it.
It took him a moment to find her. The Aura Wielder was not in the village but actually a few hundred yards outside it. That made her trickier to deal with.
Although, looking at where everyone is now, this is now a very viable option.
A smile grew across his face.
The winged fox ripped apart the vulture.
Then it transformed into the Grimm dragon.
The beam of pure aura killed the Aura Wielder. She certainly took more than Mercury expected from past experience. That would be a very bloody corpse.
Everyone else stopped.
Mercury did not. He changed direction, choosing to ignore the buildings in his way. The beauties of a phasing Semblance.
Raven wasn't sticking around. She saw the Grimm aura dragon. She knew the colour. She knew it was a Grimm. She had been the one to tell Qrow that the rouge other Grimm aura animal only attacked when it was attacked.
It seemed that Raven finally realised exactly who it belonged to.
What is that?
Raven's sword had just created something in the air.
Mercury was right in front of her now, but he hesitated. He didn't know what her Semblance did and the colour pattern reminded him of Grimm like the Geist.
Raven disappeared through it.
Teleporter. Raven can teleport.
That explained how Raven even got her tribe into the village without anyone seeing. It also explained how she kept showing up at Patch.
No wonder Yang was upset when I implied that Raven might be making some effort.
But if Raven can go through, then my Guardian Form should too…
The Guardian Form was moving before he completed the thought. It did go through the portal. It would deal with Raven. The portal vanished just after the head went through, but it didn't matter. Mercury pushed more aura into the Form to make up for the energy lost.
Mercury would deal with the bandits still in the village. They were now in a panic. They probably knew more about the capabilities of this particular aura animal better than anyone. After all, if an Aura Wielder could make one Grimm dragon, they could in theory make another.
No one had ever had a Grimm aura animal before. No one knew the rules.
Maybe I should try to make others at a later point.
What was different now was that the bandits were farther away from the locals. There was far less friendly fire. The Guardian Form may be elsewhere (Raven's camp as it turned out) but Pandora was still available.
Mercury split Pandora in its two sections and created two aura blades. Easy enough to hit people twice if necessary.
Raven had already shifted into a bird and was proving very difficult to hit. However, as Mercury was trying to kill as many as possible, his focus wasn't entirely on her.
Is that a baby crying? Though come to think of it, that silver eyed child that went missing. Raven obviously took it. Fine, I'll leave that hut.
Now the bandits in Faymarsh appeared to have decided that retreating was a good idea.
Mercury would agree that was a good idea. He had also decided that he was going to kill as many of them as possible. With all the locals still alive now gathered in the same areas, away from anything flammable, the targets were now far easier to get to.
He also had no interest in keeping his Semblance a secret to these guys. Dead men tell no tales, after all.
Easy, easy…I think I'm up to sixty three now. How many of these guys are there?
Hang on.
That wasn't a run of the mill bandit.
That was an Undesirable with the name Slate Lazuli.
Staying out of the Ozpin/Salem war Raven? Really? You are more delusional than I thought and that is saying something.
Slate Lazuli was an Undesirable that Mercury had seen literally in Salem's inner circle in Evernight.
This may be a little trickier than the others.
Option one: Ignore Lazuli and go after the others before they got away.
Option two: Target Lazuli and give the others a much better chance of survival.
But then, if Lazuli is part of this tribe, why did he not tell Raven about me?
Whatever the reason, Lazuli's retreat there just taunted Mercury to chase.
Okay, I think I've lost Raven. Trap or not, I'd rather not let Lazuli go too. In fact, he's heading towards Talaria. Does he know?
Possibly not, depending on how he had travelled through the village.
Making things worse was the screech of a Nevermore.
Definitely not getting Raven herself but I think I've got everybody else there. Annoying but I'll take what I can get.
Mercury pulled back his aura. He was at 60; lower than he had ever been since returning from LiaGuard. He recreated his Guardian Form above Faymarsh to deal with the approaching Grimm. That would buy him far more than enough time for the people to calm down after this attack.
Lazuli…I only ever saw him that once in Evernight. I have no idea what he can do.
Another worrying point was that Mercury still couldn't see Ruby. It may have only been a few minutes but Ruby was still in the same location. She hadn't moved. He was quite sure that she wasn't injured but…
Ruby was safe. For the moment, that was all that mattered.
Mercury ducked.
Something smacked into the wood behind where his head had been.
There was a thud and the wood had shaken, but there was no sign of what had hit it. However, it was a short glance and Mercury was sure it was a claw mark. He shifted to the side and the rubble from the baker's splattered out.
Something's there that I cannot see.
Switching to Grimm vision confirmed it was a Grimm of some kind. For some reason though, he couldn't see it very well from that point of view either. He could see that it wasn't much bigger than him when it stood on two legs. It mainly stayed on four, but it also appeared to have smaller and thinner limbs just below its ribs.
Great. Another completely new one.
Mercury changed the sword in his right had to a silver Dust blade.
It's been three seconds and it hasn't attacked me again.
In fact, it turned and fled through the streets.
Mercury didn't chase it. There were no locals that way so anyone it ran into was an enemy. It certainly seemed to enjoy terrorising the people. The unease Mercury was feeling was also gone. Maybe he had been able to sense it when it was very close?
That would suggest that it had been around before Raven attacked. I only started using Grimm vision after Talaria's warning. Was this Raven's idea or Lazuli's? Or Salem's?
With a shrug, Mercury turned around.
Lazuli had disappeared. There was no sign of him in either vision.
Mercury sighed. This really wasn't his day.
One hundred and six.
Mercury stopped. He closed his eyes and saw fully through the Guardian Form. This would suggest he was vulnerable, so anyone hiding would target him. He was looking for anyone he didn't recognise from previous experience.
No one attacked him.
All the people he could 'see' were ones he had 'seen' before around town. There were no more outsiders. Even the invisible Grimm was gone.
Talaria was still in that park.
Ruby had left the house she had been in and was obviously gathering survivors to the same park Talaria was in. It was likely not all the injured there were going to survive.
This would be a good opportunity to see how good of a healer he was.
However, Mercury did detour into the house Ruby had spent most of the time. The front door was intact. The window had been shattered from the outside in, catching and shredding some of the closed curtains. Some sort of projectile had done that, possibly a stray bullet from a fired gun by the angle.
He didn't have much time, so he quickly stepped into the hallway. The door was unlocked but there was blood on the inside handle.
The parents were dead in the living room. The mother had her throat slit and the father had a knife in his eye. No other bodies nearby.
They had two daughters.
The older girl was around 9. He found her dead in the cupboard by the stairs. She had obviously tried to hide. She had been strangled.
The younger girl was upstairs. Mercury thought it was her room. It was a smaller bed, the whole room was a disgusting pink that most kids wouldn't accept and the scribbles in the drawn pictures weren't coloured between the lines.
Mercury first checked the body of the man, maybe mid-thirties. There was a lot of blood splatter all over him, with the position almost certainly confirming that he killed the mother downstairs. His holster was the right size and shape for the knife in the father.
He himself had been killed from a slash from his shoulder down to his waist. He was almost in two pieces.
Mercury frowned, looking at the wound. He had seen a lot of dead bodies and yet had never seen this particular wound before. From its shape and size, the weapon would be…
Crescent Rose.
Ruby had killed him.
Mercury stood up and headed to the girl. From her year in school, she was either five or six. Cause of death was assumed to be the bullet in the head.
What a waste.
Cella wouldn't have survived even before she was shot. Mercury had no idea how many stab wounds there were, but he could see that none of them were fatal on their own. Some were even patched up. She could have taken hours to bleed out.
When you're in this much pain, seconds can feel like hours.
Mercury sighed and stood. Thinking about Crescent Rose, he glanced to where the ejected shell casing would have landed. He could see from the bullet angle where Ruby had to have been standing.
It's not here.
Ruby must have taken it. She didn't normally collect shell casings.
Then again, she won't be acting normally.
His eyes caught something on the windowsill. When he investigated, he saw it was a boot print from a man. It did match what the dead man was wearing.
So this one actually came through here, then went downstairs and murdered the girl's family. From the bloodstains, she moved after she was stabbed.
Mercury considered.
Ruby had saved the people from the college. She had then run into this house. There was no sign of her downstairs, which suggested she didn't spend anytime-
Maybe there is.
Mercury headed back downstairs and had another look at the blood on the floor, specifically around the corpses. It took a few seconds to see what he thought he would.
No, that's Ruby's boots. She did visit the parents but only after they were dead. Certainly explains why their eyes are closed; Ruby did that. So she hears or sees something and comes in here. These two are already dead. The door to the cupboard was closed so Ruby likely didn't see Lillian. She headed upstairs and found both of them still alive.
It might have been instinct or adrenaline. Mercury had found that, while all of the bandits had aura, many of them didn't hold their shields all the time. If Ruby had attacked from behind without introducing herself, aura would not have been a factor. If it had, then the man likely hadn't had enough to protect himself from a blade cutting him in half.
So Ruby now has a dead body that she probably didn't mean to kill and a girl who is more dead than alive. A girl that was still alive and…
The blood trail started on the bed, led to the door and then stopped where the girl was lying. She had crawled from the bed to the door, but had been dragged from the door to her final destination.
How alive had Cella been?
Mercury had seen it many times. Eyes were open but there was no life there. Physically they were alive but mentally and emotionally, they were dead. He hadn't understood the term 'dead inside' until he saw other victims in LiaGuard after their captors were done with them.
Ruby…
Mercy kill.
Mercury had no problem with that. Had he come across Cella, he would have too and had no regrets. It was the kinder option. Unless Emerald got here to help her, she had no chance and that was not a practical option. Beacon was hours away, like most hospitals.
It was the correct decision to make.
But I doubt that makes Ruby feel any better.
No wonder she wouldn't leave for so long. Emerald had lost track of time a lot during the worst times of her depression. Ruby likely did too.
Mercury glanced at the stain on the carpet.
Are those Cella's tears, Ruby's or both?
Probably both.
Mercury made up his mind. He wouldn't send Ruby back to Beacon. He would send her back home. An assassin is not the person she needed to be around right now. Her father was.
The blood on the door handle was likely transferred from Ruby after she touched the bodies.
The park wasn't far now.
Ruby wasn't there at the time Mercury arrived. She was still zipping about. They knew from experience that using Ruby's Semblance didn't injure people more, though she had to be quite careful how she landed with them.
The people had set up a field medic camp. The injured were scattered across the field.
Mercury walked straight up to Talaria. She purred at him. She was away from the other people, but no one was giving her distrustful or fearful glances.
"Hey girl. What do you think?"
The resulting coo was happy at least.
Mercury carefully circled Talaria. She let out a rumble, but didn't otherwise move.
About eighteen feet long snout to tail tip. The tail now has a blade of…something about two feet long. I wouldn't describe it as a spike but I can see where Dustin was coming from. That blade looks weird, yet natural. No blood on it either.
Talaria let out a pleased bark as she flickered her new tail once. She obviously liked her new blade.
Mercury chuckled and petted her head. She tilted it to help.
No horns exactly. They are known as display appendages so she doesn't need them. This skull has a harder feel than when she was small so she might be able to ram things without getting hurt. Those are definitely independent scales. Her smaller form has more snakeskin like scales. Now I look closely, those are odd black markings. They're definitely a pattern but I can't make it out.
The wings weren't different, just bigger.
The scales were smoother to touch. They didn't appear to overlap but they certainly weren't the same as what they were before.
Ozpin, I think I might kill you.
Ozpin gave Talaria the same amount of magic as he did Qrow and Mercury. They could change their shape and size.
Talaria had certainly changed her size, but her shape hadn't changed that much. The key differences were the tail-blade and the horns seemed to have retracted into the skull for a more sleek shape.
Quite a difference from wings, paws and tails.
Mercury shook the thought out of his head.
Talaria stood up properly. She held her head at around his shoulder height.
"I approve."
Talaria let out her chirp chuckles. She shook her body, then flapped and lowered her wings. She looked behind her then back at him.
"Can you go back small?"
There was a little whine. However, a second later and the Talaria he knew was now hovering in the air.
"I approve more." That settled a lot of his concerns.
Talaria mewled and became large again. She did the same gesture: looked behind her and looked at him again. This time, she stretched her wings up and down. She purred.
Now Mercury understood.
He laughed. "How about you know you can fly without me?"
Talaria growled. She stood up fully and spread her wings.
She had no problem taking off, but her turning was very off. She dropped to the ground less than gracefully.
Mercury had expected that. "Talaria, that tail means you're going to have to fly differently like that."
Talaria had not instinctively known how to fly when she was a baby. She had had to learn it. There were certainly the instincts there but she had had to refine them.
The different tail meant that she needed to balance differently in order to turn.
{Practice,} Talaria decided.
"I agree. Just away from here."
She nodded and bounded away. Despite the speed, she was quite quiet. Her longer legs also meant she could run a lot faster.
Mercury headed back to the humans.
Headmaster Byrde had been talking and directing people to where they would be best suited. One of the teachers had been watching Mercury and Talaria interact. As he approached, he waved him over and whispered to Byrde.
Byrde glanced up. "Huntsman Crawford. It's good to see you safe."
"Everyone else here too. How many have we lost?"
"We know seven and there are still some missing. Miss Rose is collecting who she can. You stated previously that you have no experience with healing?"
"No but I'll help where I can."
Byrde nodded. He turned to the medical area. "We have the critically injured near the centre with those less so near the edge. I think we would appreciate you trying. I understand each Aura Wielder is different so start where you feel is best. Do you need to return the aura from…the dragon?"
"No. Do you want me to get rid of it?"
"At the moment, no. We don't know if the Grimm will return. People feel safer with it there. Please inform us if you need to. Our Huntsmen will then return to the perimeter so you can."
People were more afraid of the Grimm than they were of the dragon.
Mercury nodded. He began to head that way before he stopped and turned.
"Headmaster, when the dragon chased through that portal, it ended up at their camp. It has been cleared out but I'm quite sure I heard a baby crying. I think it's still there."
A group of men off to the side glanced at one another before nodding. The designated leader, Jordan, approached. Clearly, they had felt helpless and needed something to do.
"Where's the camp?"
Mercury pulled out his scroll and switched to the map. He had seen enough of the landscape to know. "Here."
He looked and nodded. "Right. I know where that is and it's not far. About half an hour by car. You said they were dealt with?"
"Yeah. Their leader did get away but I don't see her doubling back for a baby."
"Good. We'll find it. Alive or…" He trailed off. He was quiet for a moment before turning around and heading back to the others.
Well. Either they'll find it or they won't. No longer my issue.
Okay. I know how to treat injuries and the biology behind it. However, an Aura Wielder's basic way of healing is just to speed up the natural healing. Can we do anything more?
Mercury started with Aster. Her injuries were very minor: cuts from glass on her arm and a bruised wrist. If given enough time, that would heal on its own.
It was a good place for Mercury to start.
"Hi Aster."
"Hi Mercury." Her voice was quiet and she didn't look up. "Thank you for saving us."
"I don't see my job as done yet. Can I have a look at that?"
"…Okay."
She didn't move. Mercury carefully reached a hand out and touched the bruised wrist. She whimpered, but didn't move.
I wonder…If I can use my Semblance on other people too…
Aster blinked. She looked down at her bad wrist and went to poke it.
Mercury caught her other arm. "Careful Aster. Just because you can't feel the pain anymore doesn't mean it still isn't damaged."
"O-Oh. You're doing that?"
"I am. Now keep still."
Aster froze.
An issue that Mercury hadn't considered was that Aster didn't have her aura unlocked. His method of healing required him using the patient's aura to do the work.
And there are very good reasons why you don't unlock aura of one so young…
"Mercury?"
Mercury blinked and turned.
Ruby looked back at him. She held out his and her bags. "Here. I know I have ice packs in mine."
Mercury considered and turned back to Aster. Her eyes flickered between Mercury and Ruby.
"Aster, can you be brave for a bit?"
Aster nodded. She looked at the people making so much noise. "You mean leave me to help them?"
"Yes. Ruby can help you, but she can't do what I can do."
"It doesn't hurt that much. I mean…It didn't."
That sounded like a lie to Mercury, but he would take it.
Ruby smiled at her. "That's a brave girl."
Mercury stood up. "Keep mine. I'll check on the people who are a bit too far gone for basic remedies."
Aster giggled. It took Mercury a moment to realise why.
Remedy. I didn't like the name before and I still don't.
Ruby knelt down as Mercury stepped back. Only now did he remember that Ruby had done something similar before. He had heard that she tended to the injured from Hogsmeade before heading there herself.
Ruby appeared calm.
In Grimm vision, she was almost blinding.
"You okay Ruby?"
"Yeah. Emerald…She gave us lessons and she enjoyed learning about this."
Mercury didn't press.
Instead, he turned to see who he could help. The critically injured were older, with Moka being the only child. If their aura wasn't unlocked, it could be unlocked without much fear as the first thing it would do was heal.
The repercussions they could handle later.
There were one hundred and fifteen bandit bodies removed from Faymarsh. They were burned outside the village.
Twenty three adults and eleven children had perished in the attack. They were given a proper burial.