Ruby witnessed the world around her shine a brilliant white, her silver eyes temporarily blinded by the overwhelming light of Kirakishou's tiny summoned spirit. Rosary was the name of the creature, if she recalled correctly. From what she had been told before, it had been the same creature that Kirakishou had summoned during their fight with Mercury and Emerald after Ruby had fallen unconscious.
From all the stories she'd heard, the presence of the spirit alone had been enough to turn the tide of the battle in Kirakishou's favour almost instantaneously. She hoped that it would do the same in this scenario, against an adversary she had no hope of defeating on her lonesome. As much as she hated to admit it.
She just hoped that whatever Kirakishou was doing to the beast hurt.
"You did well, my beloved Rose. Not many can hold their own against Laplace-no-ma and hope to survive the encounter unscathed."
Her eyes, which she hadn't realised had been closed to avoid the light, opened to the visage of Kirakishou smiling over in her direction. Rosary was still behind the doll, blazing as bright as a damned star, but she could not tear her eyes away from her lover that had ventured out into the storm to rescue her. Kirakishou's glittering dress seemed to glisten brilliantly under the heavy rain and gleaming white light of Rosary, enough the draw her attention a little too long.
"T-Thank you…" she blushed profusely under the doll's knowing gaze, squirming in place when she found herself surprised with an abrupt hug as the light began to fade. "What's, um, what's going to happen now? Is it over?"
Following her words, the brilliant white light went out entirely as Rosary faded away, plunging the two remaining girls into a darkness interrupted only by the intermittent flashes of lightning in the distance.
But the body of Laplace was still there. Unmoving, but present.
"It's done. Laplace is gone from this place. Away from here. It won't be able to hurt you, for now. You're safe, master." Kirakishou's voice whispered against her chest, seemingly uncaring of the cold rainwater soaking Ruby's ruined formal dress.
"B-But it's right there!" Ruby whispered fearfully, clutching the doll tightly. "It's still breathing. What if it gets up when we're not l-looking and-"
Kirakishou gave a light, girlish giggle. It was enough of a surprising sound to hear that the sheer sound had Ruby tearing her fearful gaze away from Laplace's body to face the doll with an incredulous look on her face. It wasn't a laughing matter!
"That is not Laplace-no-ma, dear rose." Kirakishou explained gently, "The body you see is the body of which Laplace wore in order to sneak into Vale undetected. This is Qrow Branwen."
"U-Uncle Qrow?" Ruby repeated tentatively. She couldn't believe her ears, ringing as they were at the moment. She had thought Qrow's body was an illusion or something. Just some stupid trick that Laplace was doing to sow chaos and destabilise her.
But it was actually Qrow beneath there? Just being piloted by Laplace? Like one of those Gheist grimm that Professor Port was always ranting about in class?
She pushed the doll back with a gesture, far enough to look the doll directly in the eye yet not enough to allow her to escape Ruby's desperate grasp.
"It's really him?"
Kirakishou's lone eye softened at her pleading tone. "He is unconscious from the ordeal… Laplace held him confined inside his mind. Rosary was able to free Qrow Branwen from his captivity and subsequently remove Laplace's influence. The ordeal, however, has exhausted Qrow Branwen's strength. It will be several hours until he wakes." she said, before glancing around. "We should take him inside. He is without aura. You don't want him to catch a cold. Your aura is also quite low, master."
"R-Right…"
She didn't bother to ask how Kirakishou knew about her aura reserves. It wasn't worth the potential headache. Nor did she want to have to explain it to others.
Moving the unconscious body of her Uncle was a difficult task for Ruby. Whilst aura could take the brunt of the load required, after the fight with Laplace-no-ma she was severely lacking in the way of aura and thus forced to rely upon sheer brute strength alone.
She was, without a doubt, not as physically fit as her elder sister Yang, as she was quickly starting to realise. Her head was pounding something fierce as well, which certainly wasn't helping in the matter at hand. Thankfully Kirakishou had assisted her with the lift, carrying Qrow by his ankles whilst Ruby carried him by his wrists in a rudimentary two-person hold.
It was still a pain in the ass. People were just so much heavier than what she had been expecting. Though perhaps after having dealt with a doll for so long perhaps she was just getting a bit biased.
"Ruby? Kirakishou? What happened?!" Ironwood came running up to them before the two girls could make it to the transmit tower entirely. He took one look at two girls carrying the unconscious body of the being Ruby had just been fighting, before hastily beckoning them inside the ruined building.
She tried not to look at the corpses, she really did. Ruby peeked over to Kirakishou as they set down the unconscious body of Qrow, inwardly feeling ever so slightly envious toward the girl who could stand around so many corpses and continue to smile that beautiful smile of hers.
Her doll was many things.
Ruby did not have that strength. That inner flame. Not after the encounter with Laplace-no-ma. The words that the creature had said were beyond mere baddie talk that she had experienced when apprehending Torchwick's goons or when fighting the crime lord himself.
The creature had been there to kill her. Because it wanted to control her doll. And it had killed her mother as a mere stepping stone to achieve that goal. It didn't even care about her mom's death. Summer Rose hadn't given the creature any pause, it had simply gotten rid of her and moved on.
It hadn't cared that Summer Rose had come back to life. No. It had merely seen a doll created by Kirakishou and sought to remove it from play. There had been no thought given, only action and reaction. She had seen it reflected inside Laplace's -Qrow's- eyes.
How many others would she have to face in her life that would see a the beauty of a doll and think to destroy it? How many others could be so blind in the face of something wonderful?
"What happened with the subject?" Ironwood repeated in a hard tone, keeping a trained eye on the unconscious form of-
Hm? Oh. Right. He didn't know. Ruby bit back a delirious laugh that threatened to escape her at the sheer idea. Perhaps she was a little concussed. Just, in the midst of everything that had just occurred, she hadn't even really thought about how things would have been like from Ironwood's perspective. One moment they're talking to a man he believes is Qrow Branwen, before suddenly Ruby reveals Laplace's identity and sends him flying through a concrete wall.
It was almost funny, in a kind of not-really-funny-except-to-her-perspective kind of way. But that would take too much time to explain the joke and somehow she doubted that Ironwood really cared about her version of comedy, even if he had been a relatively decent person so far.
Then again, with all the revelations she'd experienced recently he could be some kind of robot from the future and it wouldn't even surprise her in the slightest anymore. People were weird.
"W-We fought him, sir…" Ruby mutters after a moment, glancing between herself and Kirakishou. "Laplace, I mean. Not Qrow. He… it-...it said a lot of things. Things that I really don't want to think about right now."
Ironwood's eyes softened immediately. "Of course, I understand entirely. A detailed report can be collected at a later time." he responded after a moment, wincing a little and coughing awkwardly when Ruby continued to stare at him. "...Nevertheless, I commend your swift rationalisation regarding his identity. How did you know that it was not Qrow Branwen?"
"Huh? Oh, it's still Qrow…" Ruby muttered, before jumping when she caught up to her own words. "I-I mean, it's Qrow now. Laplace was possessing his body." she explained, "I could tell because, well, it's the middle of the night and he doesn't smell like a bar, ya-know? That and he was standing straight. Even when he was training me how to use Crescent Rose he never stood like that, no matter how many times dad would get annoyed at him for his bad posture."
"Possession, you say? Almost like a gheist-type grimm of some kind. Curious of a semblance to mimic the abilities of a grimm." Ironwood rubbed his chin, eyes narrowed as if in thought. Thankfully he hadn't asked about the incident with Qrow Branwen, his only reaction having been a simple roll of the eyes before quickly returning to the main topic. "A dangerous semblance uniquely suited for infiltration. And you were somehow able to remove Laplace from Qrow's body, Kirakishou?"
The doll perked up at the mention of her name, Ruby's eyes quickly finding her blonde partner inspecting some of the bodies that were scattered nearby. Her touches seemed odd- almost as if she was poking the body in a way similar how a child would prod at a campfire with a stick. It would have been oddly charming, were it not for the… well, the corpses.
Ruby briefly wondered if she would have to sit her doll down at a later date and tell her that poking corpses is a bad thing.
"Laplace-no-ma was possessing Qrow's body, like a parasite." Kirakishou explained offhandedly, her voice seemingly tensing for a moment. The doll quickly shook her head and continued. "It was a simple matter of awakening the mind sleeping within in order to purge that which did not belong. Rosary had little trouble in handling it. The shock of her touch, unfortunately, overwhelmed Qrow Branwen once more, to the point where he soon returned to unconsciousness. He will awaken confused, but stable."
If Ironwood was affected by Kirakishou's handling of the corpses, he didn't let it show on his face. Instead, the man appeared deep in thought.
"Hm. I suppose we shall find out in time how the ordeal has affected his mind, if anything. There don't appear to be any serious physical injuries despite the severity of the attack." Ironwood hummed, "Rosary… You are referring to the creature you summoned during your fight with the students Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai?"
Kirakishou smiled lowly, stroking the hair of one of the fallen Beacon guards (much to Ruby's inner mortification) before standing up and turning to gaze at Ironwood with a slow smile. There was an almost surgical precision in her movements that took Ruby by surprise. It certainly hadn't been there before. A response to Ironwood's question?
It had been the same smile that she had used against Laplace. Guarded, defensive almost. Deadly.
That was the word. Deadly. A deadly beauty- that was her doll, her seventh Rozen Maiden. To see that smile appearing following Ironwood questioning her about Rosary likely meant that she was uncomfortable discussing the little spirit at the time.
Perhaps. It was always difficult to read her doll.
"Yes. Rosary is a beautiful little spirit. Fit for the pure white rose that is me."
The general appeared to catch the quickly darkening mood, tensing almost imperceptibly at the hostile undertone. Were Ruby not looking for a reaction, she may not have even caught it at all. She had to admit that Ironwood was rather skilled in masking his true feelings.
But, apparently, not skilled enough.
I need to stop this. Quickly. If thing's escalate any further then things could get… bad.
"A-And what happened to you, um, Sir?" Ruby questioned hastily, adding on the proper respectful honorific when her request came out a little too forward in her sudden desire to change the subject.
Despite the question being born out of a rampant desire to avoid any chance of conflict with Kirakishou and General Ironwood, it was still a mystery to Ruby what had occurred with Ironwood during the fight. She hadn't seen the man at all during her frenzied fight against Laplace-no-ma. Whilst at the time Ruby hadn't thought anything of it, now that she had a chance to think back it did strike her as odd.
"I was watching from the sidelines, prepared to intervene at a moment's notice if things got out of hand. You appeared to have him handled as far as one could given the scenario at the time." of the beast killing her mother. "Thus, instead I have been relaying the situation with Atlesian forces. They should be approaching our position momentarily now that Laplace has been… subdued."
Ah. Right. The sirens in the distance. She hadn't noticed with the storm going on and her beloved doll capturing the majority of her attention.
"That's good… that's good…" Ruby bobbed her head, "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go ahead and pass out right about now…"
Her vision failed and she felt herself falling, but it didn't matter to Ruby. Not in the slightest. She knew that Kirakishou would catch her as she fell, she would hold her body and protect it with all her very being.
She could vaguely hear the doll calling out for her before she felt her body slump up against several hastily-conjured vines. Concussions, Ruby decided, were a rather unsavoury experience. Perhaps it would serve as a reminder to not crash through reinforced concrete walls, aura or not.
Walls hurt.
Ruby awoke groggily to an all too familiar room that stank of various sanitised medical supplies, a groan of displeasure escaping her lips as her eyes fluttered open. Everything hurt like she couldn't believe. Her bones, her muscles, her head.
Unlike her previous visit to Beacon's infirmary, there wasn't just a single occupant awaiting her this time. No, that would have been too easy. Instead it was apparent that her entire team had opted to visit, still clad in their formal dresses and speaking in soft tones to each other.
They looked so worried. Tired. So very anxious.
Kirakishou wasn't with them. She could only assume that the doll hadn't been allowed to enter. Just like before, she was likely confined to her room once again once the dance finished.
Even after saving me from Laplace, the world still turns against you, Kirakishou. It's almost funny in a way…
"Wha-"
In an instant a blonde brawler was making herself known, letting out a gasp of surprise and darting over to wrap Ruby in a tight hug before anybody had the chance to respond.
"Y-Yang! Be careful! She just woke up!" Weiss grabbed the blonde's shoulder in a supposed attempt to pull her back, worriedly looking over at a heart rate monitor that had let of a few alarming beeps.
"Oh! Right. Sorry." her older sister detached quickly, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "I'm just... so glad you're okay, Rubes. When we heard what had happened we didn't know what to think. Nobody would tell us anything. Even the nurse."
Ruby coughed, trying and failing to put on a brave smile. "It's okay, Yang. I'm fine."
"What in the world happened, Ruby?" Blake decided to interject, a concerned lilt to her velvety tone. "One moment we're all dancing and, well, enjoying ourselves and the next we have the headmaster telling us there's been an accident and you were injured in a fight."
The headmaster? Ruby thought. Headmaster Ozpin… but how did he-? Well.. he did see me and Ironwood leave the party, plus maybe he saw Kirakishou leaving to go find me… he would have been paying attention to her considering everything she told him recently… but still…
I'd only been gone a little while. How did Ozpin figure out that something was wrong so quickly? Was it General Ironwood? He did put out an alert… maybe Ozpin got alerted too? Would make sense considering how close it is to the school...
"Ruby? Are you okay?" Weiss' voice sounded in her ears. Her voice was soft. Softer than the time that she had made Ruby coffee after their fight a few months back. It sounded genuinely concerned. Almost like Kirakishou's voice.
She cares for me. Through everything that's happened, she still cares for me. Why?
"I-Yes… sorry. Just lost in thought I guess…" Ruby muttered apologetically, shaking her head. She winced when the motion alone brought with it a sharp stab of pain shooting down her body. "W-What's going on? How did I get here?"
"You were suffering the combined effects of a severe concussion and almost total aura exhaustion. You passed out. General Ironwood escorted you to the infirmary here at Beacon." Weiss informed, a worried frown plastered on her face. Her dainty hands gripped the bedside rail tightly. "What in the world happened out there to put you in this sorry state?"
...What happened?
Drearily, she thought back to the events of the past-
"How can one soul function, bound and blinded so severely? Why, do you even recognise yourself?"
LAPLACE.
"...Ah. Hm. So I see. This one is of a different stock to your previous masters, is she not?"
LAPLACE.
"Rescind your contract with this girl and return to your true master. The rehearsal has been completed. The interlude is nearing its end. Now, my little seventh doll, it is time for the Alice Game to recommence."
LAPLACE.
"You do not even know of the Alice Game, do you? A medium, a master, without any knowledge of the contract to which she is bound."
"...The Alice Game…" she murmured.
Laplace-no-ma had come for her, because she was connected to Kirakishou and therefore connected to the contract of the Rozen Maiden. She had understood that much by piecing together what Laplace had said in conjunction with the small little snippets of knowledge that Kirakishou had given her throughout their short time together.
Seven dolls. Rozen Maiden. The Alice Game. Laplace-no-ma. Contracts. Mediums and masters.
They were all connected somehow. She just didn't know how exactly. The only one who did had been confined to her room, sequestered away despite her contribution to the fight with Laplace-no-ma. Likely without any hesitation on the headmaster's side.
It had been their agreement, after all. She couldn't expect the man to go any further than that. He was only human. Looking out for his best interests is all that matters. Once, she had been able to appeal to his protective urges by offering up information about Kirakishou, but she doubted it'd be possible a second time. Ozpin wasn't stupid. He had to have known that the only reason she had done it had been for Kirakishou.
"The Alice Game? What are you talking about?" came a dainty voice from the side.
Silver eyes snapping up in a start from the tone, she stared in alarm at Weiss Schnee, who had crossed her arms in suspicion. Wearily, Ruby glanced around at her other teammates. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. They had overheard. She must have spoken aloud at one point.
They're suspicious.
"What's going on, Ruby?" Weiss continued when she did not respond, "What are you not telling us?"
Alarm flared through her body at the question almost instantaneously. "Nothing! It's nothing! Nothing at all!" she raised her hands up in surrender, despite the agonising protest from her pained limbs. "Please it's-"
"Ruby."
Eeping in surprise from the sudden frigid tone, she turned to stare at her sister. There was a low, dangerous look in her eyes. Red eyes. Her semblance. Her semblance activates with anger and pain. This was not the big sister that would send Weiss to watch over her date with Kirakishou, this was anger.
"Why are you wearing a ring on your finger?"
But how can she see it?! That wasn't happening until tomorrow morning. Kirakishou said! There's no way-
She glanced over at a digital clock on the wall. 03:05.
Damn it all. Guess I was out a lot longer than I imagined… Stupid concussion.
"...It, ah, it was a gift!" she stammered, holding the hand up closer so that Weiss and the others could get a good look. It wasn't like she could hide it, now that her big sister of all people had seen most weren't even Ruby's style, anyway. She thought they were too girly and that they could get in the way. Had it not been from the Rozen Maiden then she wouldn't have been caught dead wearing a ring. "...From Kirakishou. She told me that it symbolised our, um, our bond."
She couldn't help but look away in embarrassment when Weiss momentarily glanced at her eyes, before returning to stare down at the ring. Ruby really didn't get what was so interesting about the thing to her teammate. Sure, Ruby probably could have chosen a different finger to wear it on to avoid all of the questions, but if she were being honest to herself, she had liked the idea of wearing the ring on that particular finger.
It was, admittedly, a very pretty ring. The ideas that it conjured up in her mind were nice, too. Enough to steer her away from saying anything to Yang that would potentially result in an argument.
No matter how much she wanted to.
Her big sister had a less satisfying reaction compared to the intrigue visible on Weiss' face. Yang had narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist, muttering several choice words under her breath.
"L-Look I know what you're all thinking but it's nothing, really! It's just a gift!"
"You weren't wearing a ring when you went to the dance." Blake pointed out in a knowing tone, sounding faintly amused at her growing panic. "Which means that she gave it to you sometime during the dance itself, or when she ran off to find you. Rather romantic, huh? Did she get down on her knees, too?"
Ruby's face went from pale to beat red in an instant as she caught on to what exactly the faunus was implying.
"No! It's not like that! She-she didn't… she didn't… well…" she trailed off, looking fearfully over at her big sister.
"You do recognise the significance of wearing a ring on your left hand's ring finger, don't you?" the heiress asked doubtfully, peering at the small golden ring she was wearing with noticeable apprehension.
She looked away in embarrassment, suddenly wishing that she had chosen to wear her hood so she'd be able to hide beneath it to avoid the judging stares. It had just been the ring finger she chose! Well, not chose persay, considering how she had passed out during the time that Kirakishou had slipped the ring on her finger, but still! So what?!
"Of course I know what it implies, Weiss…" Ruby trailed off for a moment as her eyes rested on the thorned metallic ring, forcefully pushing aside the delusional fantasy of a certain dream into the deep recesses of her mind. "W-We're not married. I just… I like it, you know? The ring, I mean. It's special- to the both of us."
"But you hate rings." Yang finally spoke up, sounding confused and almost hurt. It was enough to startle the young huntress-in-training into focusing on her big sister despite her nerves. "You've always hated rings. All kinds of jewellery, really. Said that they got in the way of your huntress training."
"Things change, Yang." Ruby shook her head, wincing. Her aura was still working on that concussion, apparently. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about it. But, well…" her voice trailed off as speech temporarily failed her.
I didn't want to tell you. That's the truth of it all. At first I didn't really mind that Kirakishou hid it from others at first. I knew, somewhere in my heart, what she was doing with the ring. But I didn't want to rock any boats and make you hate me anymore than you already do.
When I asked for Kira to make the ring visible, I didn't do it to show off. I did it because I'm tired of hiding from people like you, Yang. I'm sorry.
"Hey. It's completely understandable that you forgot to tell us, you were in the midst of hanging out with an Atlesian military general, after all." Blake interjected quickly, shooting the blonde brawler a hard look.
"Right…" Yang muttered, before nodding to herself. "Right! Um. Sorry, sis. Guess it just took me by surprise, ya'know? Not every day that your baby sister decides to grow up and suddenly embrace a desire to accessorise."
Ruby rolled her eyes, but smiled good-naturedly nonetheless. It was probably the best she was going to get out of her sister all things considered. She shot a thankful nod to Blake when she thought Yang wasn't looking, to where the faunus returned it with a small knowing smile.
Who'd have thought that the quiet little black-haired girl she bumped into during orientation would end up counselling her big sister on how to handle Ruby wearing a ring? Certainly not Ruby herself.
"Why were you with General Ironwood, anyway?" Weiss interjected, sounding confused. "It was practically the talk of the evening- a young student being directly escorted out by the famed military general himself. Well, that and Kirakishou's gaudy dress. Did it have to do with this Alice Game you're speaking about?"
"It wasn't gaudy!" Ruby replied automatically, before blushing at the ensuing laughter from her friends. "And, well… I dunno why he wanted me."
She avoided any mention of the Alice Game. Judging by the hard look in the Schnee Heiress' silver eyes, she had clearly noticed.
"...You don't know?"
She blushed. "Well, um. Things kinda developed. He said that it was something important and that we needed to discuss it in private. He was taking me to the Cross Continental Transmit Tower- you know, the one that we went to see a while back, Weiss?"
"I'm familiar." Weiss responded, "Go on."
"We were walking over there. He seemed very… okay, I'm not really that certain how he was to be honest." Ruby confessed awkwardly, "I was kinda still mad at him for interrupting my time with Kirakishou so I didn't really bother paying attention to him."
"Ruby..." Weiss shook her head, putting a hand to her temple in clear exasperation over her actions. "Whilst I can understand the annoyance of having your dance interrupted, you should have took the time to focus on why it was happening."
"I know!" she responded automatically, wincing at how petulant it had sounded out of her lips. "Sorry. Just… I realised that as I was walking with him. We started to speak. A-About mom." she glanced over at Yang, who was sending her a significant pain-filled look. "He knew her. From before."
"Oh Rubes…" Yang muttered. "That must have been tough to speak about."
"...A little bit…" she whispered, looking down. Summer Rose had meant everything to her. She had spent a good portion of her life learning to let go, only to suddenly have her back for a brief moment of bliss.
Then, just like that, Summer had passed again. Of course it was going to be difficult to speak about. Not when every cell inside her was screaming at the loss of her mother for a second damn time.
"Somehow I doubt that all that Ironwood wanted to talk about." Blake interjected, thankfully changing the subject away from the painful memory of her twice-departed mother.
"N-No." Ruby answered thankfully, before hesitating. Should she tell them about what Ironwood had said? The man had believed her, had put his faith in her decision to stay with Kirakishou- even if he didn't wholly trust her words. She didn't entirely know what to think of him.
Guess that trust has to start somewhere… Ironwood trust me, if only a little bit. I need to try and trust my team as well…
"...If I tell you all what's going on, will you swear to keep it to yourselves? Please?" she forced the words out, unable to look the faces of her teammates. "I-I don't… it's dangerous, guys. Really really dangerous. I'm scared and I don't want anybody to get hurt and-"
A hand was on her shoulder. Course. Rough. Blistered.
Her sister. Her big sister. The big sister she had forsaken in favour of Kirakishou.
"Of course, Rubes. We're your teammates. Your friends. We promise. If you're involved in something dangerous we're going to be there to keep you safe in any way we can." she answered with a warm welcoming smile. It hurt to see such a smile on Yang's face, following all the arguments that Ruby had been in with the girl recently.
She looked up. Similar smiles were on her friends, Weiss and Blake.
It broke her inside. "F-Fine… just. Please. I really don't want to cause anything bad. Please don't jump to conclusions or anything, okay?"
"Of course." Weiss answered with a diplomatic smile. "Take your time. We're here."
Nodding slowly, Ruby swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to speak up. "T-There's this… this thing. Laplace-no-ma." she turned to Yang, "I-I think you've heard about it before. From when I was last in here after the fight with Mercury and Emerald."
The two girls turned to Yang, who looked surprised at the sudden attention. She rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah… I kinda remember that name. Kira said that he had something to do with mom, right? She said that he would attempt to use her to-"
Yang froze, her eyes widening in alarm.
"Now you see." Ruby muttered lowly, feeling her hands clench at the reminder.
"What are you two talking about?" Blake jumped in, looking equally as lost as the Schnee heiress. "What did-"
"Mom." Yang interrupted the girl with a tone soft enough to downright startle Blake right out of her question. "Summer Rose. Kira said that there was a chance that this Laplace-no-ma figure would go after her if he couldn't get to Kira. That she would be in danger. Given what happened afterwards…"
Weiss put a hand to her mouth, but it did little to quell the gasp of horror that had sprung up from the realisation.
"Oh oum…"
"It… it killed her. I don't know how. But Kira does. Somehow. And I trust her judgement. It's not a human. Not a faunus. Not grimm.I don't know what it is, but it's a monster."
The trio of girls exchanged a few silent glances, more-so Weiss and Yang than their sole faunus teammate.
"Do you know why he-er... it killed your mother?" Blake spoke up at last, her tone soft and conciliatory. It was a small reprieve from the typical responses that she would receive whenever people found out things about Kirakishou.
"N-Not entirely." Ruby said after a pause, looking down. "Well… I don't have any real proof… but I… I think I have a solid idea."
"Please, tell us. If we can help determine why this Laplace fellow did what it did exactly, it may be of some use to us in the future." Weiss pushed.
She gave a slow nod, her head swimming with thoughts. "It… it has to do with Kirakishou." Instantly she noticed their looks and put up a hand to forestall any sudden comments. "Look, it's not what you guys think. Laplace-no-ma… it knows Kirakishou. Her history. It was trying to get her back last night, to compete in...-"
"The Alice Game." Weiss finished. "It's a competition of some sort. Isn't it?"
She gave a halfhearted shrug. "I-I don't really know. Not exactly. But I know it's not good. Kira really didn't like it when she heard Laplace talking about it. She didn't say anything but her mood changed entirely the moment that it was mentioned. She seemed almost playful, but there was this strange sort of edge to it, ya'know?"
"So, Laplace was there last night?" Weiss clarified.
"Oh, it was alright..." Ruby hissed, scrunching her hands up at the reminder of the previous night. "It was there… possessing Qrow. That… that thing. That wretched little creature. It had come to find me, because it knows I'm with Kirakishou."
"Uncle Qrow? Possessed? What are you talking about?"
"Laplace-no-ma. It has this weird shapeshifting possession semblance thingie. I-I don't exactly know what Laplace is, but it's bad news. Really bad news. I think it was behind all the bodies."
"Bodies?!" Weiss repeated, eyes wide.
Ruby blinked in confusion. Of all the things she had just revealed she had no idea why the heiress would be so surprised about that.
Oh. Wait. Right. She hadn't explained why her walk-and-talk with General Ironwood had gotten sidetracked in the first place. Whoopsie. Seems she was still having trouble dealing with perception.
"General Ironwood and I were going to the Transmit Tower when we found a bunch of guards seemingly unconscious on the ground. We went to investigate together, only to find all the guards had died without any obvious wounds. When we got to the top of the tower, Laplace was there."
"All because it needed her for this Alice Game?" Weiss asked, sounding confused. "I cannot help but wonder why this creature would go to such lengths to secure Kirakishou. Why is it so important?"
"I don't know that the Alice Game is, exactly." Ruby fiddled with her blanket, looking down in thought. "I only just heard of it today. But I know about Laplace, at-least a little bit. It has to do with Kirakishou. A-And her sisters, I think."
"Her sisters?" Yang questioned. "You said she had six others, right?"
She hummed affirmatively. "Uh-huh. It just… it kept talking about them during the fight, you know? Kept reminding her that her sisters miss her and saying that I don't know her nearly as well as her sisters or her kept going on and on about it. Like it was taunting us or something."
Ruby's fists clenched at the reminder of the words that abomination had dared to speak to her. To insinuate that she didn't know her doll that well… it was one of the most cruel things she had ever heard.
They were in love. They were bound together. As if some two-timing sisters or some abusive father could ever compare to their beauty. It was an absurd notion.
Kirakishou was hers.
Weiss paced around the room, "So, either this Alice Game has to do with her sisters as well, or Kirakishou alone and its presence may have prompted a response from the other sisters. Do you know what her relationship with her sisters is like?"
"N-Not entirely. But I do know that it's bad." Ruby grimaced. "S-She liked this boy before, Jun. Something happened between them pretty recently- what exactly I'm not sure. But supposedly it ended with him choosing Kira's sisters over her. I can't imagine that her relationship with her other sisters would still be okay after that."
"This guy chose Kirakishou's other sisters over her? Sisters? Plural?" Blake repeated, her eyes widening a fraction as her cheeks darkened considerably. "T-That's… well… no wonder she was a bit shaken up when we met her on the docks."
"I'll say." Yang whistled, shaking her head. "Falling for some playboy that wanted a harem? That's nuts. Must have hit her pretty hard. I do remember her babbling about something like that the day we found her, but I didn't know it was that crazy."
Ruby nodded, grateful that her big sister was understanding. "It really did mess her up. Which is why Laplace forcibly bringing her back to her other sisters is something that Kirakishou wants to avoid at all costs. Probably."
"Probably?" Weiss repeated.
"Y-Yeah… I kinda passed out before I could ask Kira any questions, ya'know… whole concussion thing…"
"Right, right." the heiress responded with a flourish of her hand, having thankfully ceased her pacing about in favour of leaning against the wall. "I must admit, you don't sound entirely sure about her motives."
"Because I'm not." Ruby answered bluntly. "Not really. I don't even think Kira herself is that certain about what she wants, outside of… well, you know." she blushed. "But I do know that she really doesn't like talking about this kinda stuff unless she has to. Like when you and Blake barged into her dorm in the middle of the night, Weiss."
"...I see she told you about that, huh?" Weiss winced at the reminder. "For what it's worth, we're sorry about the manner in which we conducted ourselves. But we're only looking out for you."
Ruby wondered how many times she had heard that line in her life.
"Look, it's fine. All I'm saying is that things are a lot more complex than what Kirakishou and I put out in the public and it's for a reason. It's dangerous stuff. Laplace targeted my mom. It killed her. Not because it wanted to, but because it wanted to get to Kirakishou. And me. It doesn't care about collateral damage."
"You don't know any of that for certain." Weiss reminded her. "But, you are right in that this is dangerous. It was a good idea that you told us about this. Now we can work together against this Laplace fellow, instead of-"
Ruby narrowed her silver eyes. "You don't get it! Laplace isn't some foe we can defeat with the power of friendship or whatever. It killed everyone in the tower without hesitation. It killed my mother! It's not human. It's not grimm. It's… it's…"
"A demon." Blake muttered, with wide eyes and a rapidly paling face.
She blinked at the odd announcement. "E-Er… I mean it's pretty creepy but I'm not entirely sure that's the best kinda descriptive to use."
"No. That's not what I mean." Blake retorted, shaking her head and pulling out her scroll. "Laplace-no-ma. It's a strange name. Yet ever since you mentioned it before I've been thinking that it sounded familiar."
"...Well? Is it?" Yang questioned impatiently, crossing her arms.
A few flicks of a scroll and Blake pulled up and article before flashing it around the room. Ruby managed to get a quick peek of the description for a moment before it was turned back to Blake.
"Yes. It refers to a concept belonging to scientific determinism." Blake answered, before sighing and clarifying at their blank looks. "Simply put, if an observer is capable of knowing the precise location and momentum of each and every atom in the universe, they can theoretically put this data into analysis and accurately determine past and future events with relative ease."
"And you think Laplace-no-ma is named after this… theory?" Weiss questioned, sounding unsure.
"The name of the theory? Laplace's Demon." Blake revealed. "I know that it's a bit of a rough shoot, but if I'm correct then a creature named after something like that brings with it many unsettling implications."
"Wait a second," Weiss interrupted- staring at Blake with some manner of confusion etched across her face, "how in the world could you possibly have heard about a concept of scientific determinism? It has absolutely nothing to do with our courses, both this current year and future years."
Blake gave a noncommittal shrug. "I read."
"And?" Weiss retorted sarcastically. "I am also well read in a variety of topics, as you are no-doubt aware through my academic success within Beacon. I have been trained in various subjects since I was only a child. But for you to simply know an obscure mathematical concept by name? You've got to be joking. That goes beyond being a simple… avid reader."
Blake smiled at that, although it didn't fully reach her eyes. "Then clearly we read different books."
The blonde brawler looked between the two bickering girls before shaking her head and returning back to Ruby's gaze. "You're trying to say that this creature targeting Rubes can see the past and the future?" Yang furrowed her brow. "That… if that's the case then that is without a doubt the most broken ass semblance I've ever heard. Even more than all the crazy stuff that Kira does. No offence Rubes."
There were a few low chuckles following Yang's attempt to calm the mood, but it did little to ease the discord running through their minds. Such a realisation behind Laplace's possible origins only begged the question; why was this demon targeting anyone involved with Kirakishou?
A/N:
Hello again! Thank you all for your continued interest in my little story. A wonderful greeting to all the new followers as well. It has been a highlight to see that people are finding this story and enjoying the progression so far.
Now, a little question for the audience. Does anybody have a favoured Rozen Maiden character? It doesn't necessarily have to be a doll If so, what about them makes them your favourite? Their style? Their personality? Their contribution to the plot? Please let me know. One guess as to which is my favoured character.
Until next time!