My sweat, blood, and tears run savagely as I whip precise strikes with my scythe. The deep wound on my left shoulder doesn't hurt as much as it should but guilt taints my heart and weighs me down. Another heavy slash and Salem's left arm hurl to the ground.
"This is the end, Salem." My eyes burn—could be my lack of sleep or my dried-out tears—but I continue to glare.
"Haha. Is this what Ozpin planned? This victory cost the lives of all your precious friends. Laughable," she says and stares begrudgingly with her demonic onyx eyes. "Just to kill me. Me! Is this worth everything to you Ozpin? You and your puppets, woven to fit the dolls you call ideals." She backs into a wall, cornered like prey.
"We aren't puppets. We chose to fight you. All these mistakes, I—I could have—should have led them better. Then maybe they'd all still be alive." I grip my scythe harder. My nails imprint Crescent Rose's blade onto my pale palms. I dodge and slice her tentacle off. My scythe quivers as I graze Salem's cheeks, drawing black blood and mist. "I might regret some of my choices, but this doesn't change what I have to finish."
A dreary silence fills the Land of Darkness. I hear the blood drip off my arm. Salem starts laughing, giggling, no, howling.
"This is hilarious. No matter how much time has passed, you're still as naive as a child," she says with her hand hiding her smile. Her disheveled hair makes her look like a maniac, a twisted human with too much Grimm in her.
"Shut up!" I swipe her final arm off. "What do you know about what I'm feeling?" She slides her body down the wall, and a streak of blood follows. Her body sits exhausted, but her eyes look at me with mockery. I get a feeling she wants to burst out laughing again. The thought of her ridiculing what my friends and I have done draws blood from my palms.
Team Ranger is gone. The couple's bodies stabbed straight through from behind. No doubt it was Nora's attempt to save Ren. And Jaune, my first friend from Beacon, yelled and cried as he pumped his aura into our teammates, our friends, and our family. His rage as he swung the sword took out most of the Grimm, but it took him with them. I still remember the warmth from his kind aura, as it wraps around me like a mother's hug. A hug that won't be available for another embrace. A hug that I yearned for, received, and lost once more.
"Like HELL you know what I'm going through!" Yang, even with a missing arm, kicked Grimm booty. Atlas technology may be amazing, but my sister kicked ass all on her own. Blake and Sun backed her up, but even with that much firepower, the Grimm eventually wore them down. I didn't make it in time. I didn't give proper orders. I didn't do enough. If only I anticipated all the possibilities. How the hell was I supposed to know there was a lake that bore more Grimm.
"How about the time your mother died?"
My eyes burn in rage and I transform Crescent Rose into her sniper mode and shoot Salem in the stomach. I center my aim on her forehead. "I can end this now if you want!"
She smirks. She wants me to end it, to end her life so she doesn't have to suffer any longer. I won't. Yang, mom, nobody would condone my choice. I feel queasy about continuing it myself, but there are answers I must seek.
"The usual spark in your eyes has dimmed. It's gone just like everyone's future."
My finger almost reflexively flicked the trigger, another millimeter, and her brain would have been blown. Their sacrifices weren't in vain, they were just unnecessary. If I were stronger and smarter, they would have lived. If I was a better leader and more experienced, we would have lost no one.
"Another word and I promise you; you will regret it."
"But what if you could try again?" I saw Salem smile, but I need to know. My shoulders go slack but I ready my feet, my eyes watch our surroundings for an ambush.
"I can see your interest, your spark. I promise you that it's possible, but only with your semblance and those relics hanging from your belt." I shift to guard the relics.
"No, I won't let you tempt me."
I twirl Crescent Rose into her Scythe and slice Salem, from her left shoulder down to her stomach. "It's over."
"But it doesn't have to be." She coughs and smiles. "I'm telling the truth." Black blood oozes from her guts and a cloud of black smoke seeps out, slowly. The blood tries to restitch the body together like glue but with powers from the Relic of Destruction, the blood goes limp.
"With the Relic of Knowledge, you can retain your memories of our time. The Relic of Destruction will give you the power to break free from time and space if only for mere moments. The Relic of Creation will grant you a body capable of withstanding the pressure of going back in time. And with the Relic of Choice, you will be given a chance to go back, to change this. To make it different…" Salem goes quiet. Her voice shakes and dreads telling me, but she didn't stop.
"Why would you tell me this? I'm your enemy." I dig Crescent Rose deeper into her body. She doesn't scream or even react. I stare into her deep red eyes, filled with darkness and hate and regret and hope. If I was still fifteen, I might have lost all hope. But I've grown and these silver eyes of mine eclipse her hollow darkness and shimmer light into what would have swallowed me.
"You are my enemy, but you could also be my savior. If you were to go back, this future would cease to exist. I would be given a second chance just like you, even if I wouldn't retain any knowledge of it," she chuckles and coughs when more smoke drifts out her body. Her body starts to shrivel up. "And then you just run. Run until you warp back to the beginning."
"Is that all? You're telling me on the odd chance I take this gamble to erase what everyone here sacrificed? What my friends, my family, my mom did for this result? You want me to just throw it all away for a chance?" I bare my face closer to hers and frown. I see amusement in her eyes. She thinks the flower has been watered in my heart.
"Your eyes, those damn silver eyes of yours tell me everything I need to know. Eyes of hope, eyes of passion, and eyes of love. It's always been a pleasure to tear them to shreds. I'd love to if you'd give yourself a chance. Take a step into the darkness for a bit." Her laugh sounds like a howling Nevermore and I silence her with two final swings, bisecting her. A splash of black blood char a line down my left eye.
"I can't bring shame to what we've all achieved."
I scurry out of the Land of Darkness, the battlefield of New Beginnings. Each step I take gets heavier and heavier, my adrenaline fading. Jaune, Ren, and Nora. Then Yang, Blake, and Sun. I reach where we confronted it all, with Weiss's body lying lifeless surrounded by ice and her summons. Guarded like a princess; fought like a heroine. Uncle Qrow and Dad, and even Raven, are dead. The remains of team Stark working together once again. Only to be reunited with their missing member.
This land is littered with Grimm masks, bodies, and Atlas machinery. It doesn't seem like anyone, but I survived. The remains of the Atlas Generalship are barely intact if you count a Wyvern mask as large as the ship poking through it 'barely'. At the ends of each horn, rest Ironwood and Winter.
I struggle to breathe or even walk. Their bodies, dead bodies. None of them wanted this outcome. Remnant didn't.
A screech fills the sky. I duck under the rubble of a ship and see a stray Nevermore in the sky, the final Grimm. I climb the Wyvern mask and Petal Burst to get within striking distance. With a cleave, I bring the Grimm to the ground.
What I see breaks me into tears. Penny's core struck through the chest and destroyed, but what I can't forgive, won't forgive is the look on Oscar's—no Ozpin's face. Even at death, even with all these sacrifices, he grins.
Ozpin has forsaken this world just like the Gods have. To prevent what Salem became, Ozpin became what Salem was. His goal became narrowed, centered on Salem and he forgot the bigger picture. He only cared about the end rather than the means to get there.
I drag out the four relics and they begin to float around me. I take a deep breath as I sit cross-legged. The golden lamp glows and my head tingles. Then the staff flickered. My body glows the same golden hue and prickles me like needles. The two relics lose their shine.
The crow flies above my head and shrouds me in a black aura. The final relic, the sword, levitates in front of me. When a malicious glow surrounds the sword, it spins like a clock hand forming a portal from the tip, before finally stabbing me through the heart. The aura around me urges me and forces me to make the choice now. Turn back and walk away. Or run. Run to a new future.
And then my legs take off. A trail of rose petals follows behind me. I dash with my semblance without rest. What normally feels like mere seconds doesn't. The surroundings blur at speeds I can't comprehend. Speeds I can't react to. My skin now burns, and I think I'd rather get that icky prickly tingle again. The pressure creaks the bones in my body. Without the relic of creation, I would have been crushed like mosquitos.
My legs ache. But I don't imagine what would happen if I stopped. Salem said mere moments. What if I don't go back enough, don't go far enough to make a difference and the results are the same? Even if I must go back further, I will make a difference.
I can barely keep my eyes open. My erratic breathing exhausts me further. As much as I hate the sweat and pain throughout my body, I force myself even if it's just a bit more. It feels like hours have passed but I bet only seconds have ticked.
The crown glows a golden aura now and the exit to the portal opens. I thrust my hand forward expecting to grab something, but I grip air instead. I clutch tight on a compact Crescent Rose and gasp for air. No matter how much I take in, I can't seem to stop hyperventilating. My vision fogs up again and my dry eyes tear up. But I see it. Vale. Vale before the fall.
"You picked up another street rat? Haven't I told you that they don't do as well as they used to?"
A muffled voice yells. I can't quite make out who, a stranger. Ugh. I rub my head with a slight headache. Clank. Crescent Rose knocks on the ground gathering the attention of the arguing men. Five. Similar black attire, not too wealthy but better off than expected when you contrast their clothes to the torn furniture and cobwebs around the room.
I strap Crescent Rose onto my belt, her oddly heavy weight almost tips me to the ground. I walk up to them, and they take a step back. I tilt my head and open my mouth. Ah, it would be scary if a huntress fainted in the middle of Vale.
"Sorry for scaring you all and thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious." Dad always said to be polite and return the favour, even if it was a black eye. "If there's anything I can do to repay you, just tell me now. I'll be quite busy later."
The tallest man, with the cleanest and more expensive black clothes, scoffed. "And what business would a street rat like you have after this?" He picks at his goatee, amused. The other men stand politely beside him but hold back their laughs. This man is their boss.
"Street rat? Isn't that a little rude? I mean I know I must look like a mess right now, but we just met." I cross my arms. "I'm a pretty competent huntress if I do say so myself."
"Huntress? She's just an arrogant brat, ain't she? What are you scared of? Now that she isn't gripping her weapon, we can sell it." Their leader says and glances at Crescent Rose. It seems they tried to take her from me. They surround me, creeping closer cautiously.
"You know, I don't really want to repay this kindness with a beating," I say, hoping they'll listen to reason. They don't. "But I guess I have no choice now do I?"
The men charge at me. When I'm surrounded, I break through their weak formation and get a wall on my back. Their leader, the one with the most charisma in the group, doesn't have any martial skills. The weakest link of this formation and as Yang would say, "Take their leader; take their group."
I use my semblance to catch him by surprise and spiral behind him. A kick to the knee, with more effort than I expected, knocks him onto his hands. Then I unscythe Crescent Rose and bring it to his neck. My arms and legs tremble holding onto her.
"A slight tilt wouldn't be ideal, now would it," I threaten feeling slightly proud of myself. I can see the other men trembling. Huntresses are this strong and scary.
"What are you idiots doing?" Their leader kicks me and launches me into the wall, Crescent Rose crashes onto the floor in front of me. Damn. I shouldn't let my guard down. Even if the kick didn't really hurt, he sure had enough power to launch me away.
Hmm? When did my baby get this big? My fingers barely touch as they grip Crescent Rose's handle.
"How is it brat? This is why you listen to adults." His smug look annoys me. He's like those older students when I attended Beacon, overconfident from a successful strike. But in the end, they always get disappointed. "It seems the street rat got herself a fine weapon. We can cash it in for quite a lot."
I stand up, clutching Crescent Rose, and breathe heavily. She feels unfamiliar in my hands. The same touch but different. My small hands but larger handles. I keep my eyes on the men—now gaining confidence to fight me again—while I inspect my baby. Her beautiful black handle, with a calculated sprinkle of red sniper parts, and a silver blade capable of a reflection. A reflection of a younger Ruby, with a black scar running through my left eyebrow to my cheekbone. Ruby of the past. Normal knees, baby-faced, cookie-eating, supermom spoiled Ruby. I-I'm five?
I stare at the men and stutter, "I'm...a kid."
Joy fills the leader's eyes, and he laughs. "We don't show mercy, even to kids." He snaps his fingers and a girl with Neapolitan ice cream hair walks in.
"Neo?" I whisper to myself. Her dual-coloured irises observed me while her bruised arms were on display like some art exhibit. If they take in "street rats" and treat them like this, then I must do something about it.
But what? I can't just kill them. Reporting could work but then they'll send me to a family or an orphanage. I can hear Salem's mocking laughter. Take a step into the darkness. She'd say…
Like a flash of fire dust, I improvise a plan. "How about a truce?" I twirl Crescent Rose as best I could with my little hands. I flare my aura enough so the men can see that I will fight if they force me. "I'll work for you."
The leader stares me down with curiosity and amusement. A snicker leaves his mouth, and he drags Neo by her hair. She cringes but doesn't resist. "Who's the boss?" He asks the girl, a smirk dawns on his face, one that knows how the next few actions will proceed.
Neo points at him and her eyes show me that she accepts the following actions. His hand slaps her face, and she bruises up. "No," he puffed his chest, thumb pointing at himself, and said, "I'm your master. You and all the other orphans should be grateful to me. Nothing more than mere slaves, to be puppeteered by their master."
I petal burst and reappear beside their glorious leader and position my scythe to lop off his right arm if he tries anything. He looks pale and even gags when he stares into my dark silver eyes.
"I guess negotiations are called off. For a second time."