Chapter [39]: Madness of the White Rose
Shirobara no Kyouki
Part 1
"Did you really think it would be that easy?"
That voice. It couldn't be possible. There was no way. No conceivable possibility that such a thing could ever occur.
"...Kirakishou."
The civilian, a girl that she knew could not possibly be Kirakishou, had the utter audacity to smile at her. It was a horrid, chirpy smile. One that looked entirely unsuited on a sleep-stricken, weary face.
"Ah~ It is so very pleasing to see that you recognised a pure rose, even in this body."
The body looked nothing like Kirakishou did. Violet, baggy eyes that bordered on a rich purple hue. Dark hair curled into a high, messy ponytail, one that spoke of a haphazard attempt to tame hair without putting any real energy into the attempt whatsoever. The hairstyle one would have moments after waking up after a long sleep. Fitting, for a girl that looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.
She was wearing the standard Beacon Academy uniform. Brown jacket with a tan vest covering a white undershirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar. Completed by the red plaid skirt and matching black stockings that practically every student wore in some variation while in class. That is to say, it was completely strange to see at such a time at night during the Vytal Festival Tournament. Her uniform was crudely assembled, several buttons were mismatched and the white undershirt was hanging out in several places.
Cinder had been expecting to be attacked mid-way through her brief assessment.
But the girl was silent. So utterly silent. Patient and waiting for her answer.
Silence. Utter silence.
Cinder had not realised how uncomfortable it was to hold a conversation amidst a complete lack of background noise- without a single murmur of discomfort or an errant sound in the far distance. She could hear her own heartbeat. Thump. Thump. Thump. Endlessly pounding in her body, incessantly reminding Cinder of her own discomfort. How long had it been since she had heard that sound?
"How. How are you here?"
She tried to rip her hand out of the girl's grasp, but Kirakishou appeared to be far stronger than she appeared in that body. Cinder couldn't so much as move a muscle, let alone release herself from her impromptu capture. What in the world is going on? Why couldn't she move?
"Ah ah ah! Don't try that, little Cinder. You wouldn't like the consequences if you did! Not that you can move at the moment, but still. It would be a really bad choice. It would make me feel so very… upset."
Kirakishou, or at least the body that the girl appeared to be possessing, frowned rather comically, the frown seeming too large to be taken seriously. The expression appeared more akin to that of a playfully disgruntled child than that of a justifiably pissed-off girl that had somehow survived attempted murder.
"And why not?"
The girl giggled. A half-manic intake and outflow of air seeming like a complete mockery of basic communication. She hadn't noticed the sound before, when she had witnessed Emerald and Mercury fighting against an enraged Kirakishou. How hadn't she noticed? Or, was it a side effect of whatever she had done to possess this body? It sounded wrong. Utterly inhuman. Like a machine trying to replicate a sound.
She hadn't the faintest idea as to why it had appeared on Kirakishou, nor how she hadn't noticed it before. What she did know, was that the sound was one of the most terrifying things she had ever experienced, barring Salem herself.
"This," she gestured around with her one free hand, looking around lovingly at the frozen expressions of tens of thousands of fear-stricken humans and faunus, "is a solid state, Cinder. Time is completely frozen here. All that exists, at this moment, is what happened then and what will happen later. What you do in between does not matter. You cannot harm me. But I can most certainly harm you, if I wanted to. But I don't. All I want to do is talk."
Cinder grit her teeth. "...And what exactly do you want to just talk about? Did you come here to gloat?"
This was not what Cinder had planned. Were Kirakishou to be speaking the truth, as those in positions of power often-times do as they see no need for further deception, then Cinder highly doubted that anything she attempted would do any damage. The girl had survived a point-blank explosion, one that she couldn't have heard about whatsoever- confined as she was in her stupid little Beacon Academy dorm room.
She did not want to piss off such a force. Not now in the very least. She needed to talk herself out of this, somehow.
"Gloat?" Kirakishou tasted the word, cocking her head to the side and seemingly rolling around the idea in her mind. "Ah. A strange way to describe things. But a rose can understand the meaning easily enough. Hm. Maybe? She merely wanted to tell you about how fun it was playing with you for so long!"
Her thoughts ground to a startling halt.
"...Playing?"
Kirakishou giggled excitedly, releasing Cinder's wrist in order to clap her hands together in a childish display of exuberance. It did little to free her from whatever power was constricting her movement. Was it an effect of the solid state? If so, then why could Kirakishou move?
"Yes, playing! Ah~ It is so much more exciting this time around, compared to the last time I played with someone for so long. Sakurada Jun was but a single person, with limited connections with which to change and grow to suit my needs. But you, Cinder, your little master plan… it was connected to a great many minds! Oh, it has been positively wonderful!"
So. That is what had happened. Kirakishou had learned of her plan in some way and manipulated it to suit her needs. Somehow. But what had the girl even done? Every facet of the plan had been orchestrated by Cinder's hands and Cinder alone. Everybody else, up to and including both Emerald and Mercury had been given small, compartmentalised facets with which to operate. There should have been no conceivable method to piece them all together.
"You look so confused, Cinder," Kirakishou jeered, stepping up out of the spectator seat in order to stand in front of her. "Considering all that you have done for me, a pure rose would be delighted to offset any uncertainties playing in your mind. It is the least that I can do, really~"
She was acting strange. Unusually exuberant. From the brief amount of data available in regards to her personality, Cinder knew this was not typically how the girl acted. It was a rather sharp turn compared to her typically rather docile and occasionally irrational mindset.
Well. If the girl was in a forthcoming mood…
"Fine. I'll play your game. What is this? Why are you here? How did you manipulate my plan? How did you even learn of it?"
The blonde-haired girl in a dark-haired body pouted comically, slapping her hands to her cheeks and tilting her head to the side. The movement seemed oddly stilted compared to her previously uncanny grace.
"Moh~ So many questions…" Kirakishou frowned, though there was a hint of a half-manic smile tugging on the corners of her lips in a rather polarising fashion. "Hm. Thankfully this body seems to have enough energy! Enough to deal with someone so talkative, at the very least. Well!~ To answer all of your questions, I should start with what has actually occurred. You, Cinder, have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. All due to the activation of your little bomb."
This body… Cinder's mind caught on to the phrasing used. So. She's possessing some poor sap? She's capable of doing that alongside everything else? What a ridiculous semblance.
But still. That's not the most concerning part of this.
"...You knew of it? The bomb?" Cinder opted to voice her confusion. Judging by the amused smile on the girl's face, it was most certainly not a recent discovery. How long had she known about it? Not to mention, Kirakishou had also implied that the bomb had successfully detonated. How was she still alive? Had she survived by escaping into another body?
Kirakishou leaned forward, the sleep-deprived purple eyes of her possessed host staring deeply into her own confused amber pools.
"Darling Cinder, I was the one who first conceived of the bomb in the first place."
...What?
Seemingly noticing her surprise, the girl continued on before Cinder could so much as speak a word in response.
"Uh-huh! Now, you may be thinking 'But I was the one who thought of it! Using all of that dust that Torchwick gathered was my plan! Not hers!' And well, in a certain sense you may be right. However, you would never have thought of the plan if not for me. I mean, how else would you appease Mercury Black? It's only fair, right? Destroy the girl who knows too much. Pushing you to do all of this was rather simple in the end. I only needed to set the chain in motion."
Cinder blinked as a thought occurred. "You said those words to Mercury during your fight in order to cause us to retaliate."
Kirakishou clapped, the sudden harsh sound causing her to flinch. "You got it!~"
"But why? Why would you set yourself up like this? If you knew about the bomb, why keep it there? We could have detonated at any moment. You and your precious partner would have been destroyed in an instant."
The girl pulled away from her, a secret smile blossoming on her stolen face. "Are you sure about that?" she shook her head. "Ah~ I suppose it doesn't matter now, does it? You detonated at the precise right time, as I knew you would. All you care about now is the reason behind it all. Why am I here? Why am I wearing this body? Why am I so happy?"
Cinder frowned and remained silent. If there was one thing she hated, more than anything, it was listening to the insufferable gloat.
"Because, my darling little half-maiden, that's what I came here to tell you. Cinder, you released the N-Field."
CRACK
Whipping her head around at the sudden harsh sound, she stared in surprise at a supposed tear in the sky. A rip in the very sky itself, revealing an uncomfortably ominous teal-green crystalline mass pulsating deep within the anomaly.
"I really couldn't have done it without you, you know," Kirakishou continued on, drawing her attention away from the mass. "The N-Field could never have been released using my own methods while I was attending Beacon Academy alongside my beloved. She likes this academy, despite how hard I try to show her just how pointless it really is."
The N-Field… She had heard of that phrase before. But where…
She couldn't place it. Why couldn't she remember? She possessed a strong, able memory. She should have-
"You know of it because I made you aware. You needed to be, even if on just a subconscious level, in order to ensure that the bomb went off correctly. The N-Field would never have been released had you been doing so under my forceful hand. It required a certain degree of subtlety. There are rules that must be followed, even for a game such as this."
"And what is this N-Field of yours? Your semblance?"
Kirakishou smiled, turning away from her and putting her hands on the railing. She stared down at the frozen fear-stricken face of Ruby Rose.
"My particular N-Field, my Palace of Beginnings, is a beautiful thing. You see, when a pure white rose was first born, she discovered that she was unable to manifest fully. She did not have the energy, the aura as you all call it. Father had wanted it this way, but she could not allow such a thing. She did not want to be alone. So, she used her N-Field to gather those with energy and tie them to herself, so that she may walk amongst her darling sisters."
Cinder scoffed.
"You can't honestly expect me to believe that such a thing even exists. Even for a semblance, that's beyond absurd."
Kirakishou turned back to her. There were tears in her eyes, rushing down her cheeks to greet the solemn smile on her face. Her behaviour, Cinder realised, was particularly odd. Almost as if she was having mood swings or something similar. She would jump to severe extremes of emotion at times. Thus, if Cinder wanted to mine as much information out of the girl as she could, then she would need to try and limit the girl's irrational outbursts to a minimum. Though, given what Cinder had learned of the girl, she was treading on thin ice.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Irregardless, you have destroyed the anchor which binds my Palace of Beginnings and, in doing so, released it into this world. The effects, as you will soon see, will become rather obvious. My Palace of Beginnings needs nourishment, Cinder. Energy. Aura. It, like the rose from which it is born, craves the energy with a passion that would surprise even you. And, thanks to your efforts, you have provided a great many prospective seedlings for us!"
The White Fang. The people in this Colosseum. Cinder realised. She wanted them all here. Just for this single moment. She planned all of this in order to release her supposed N-Field and feast on the aura of every single person present.
But, that's madness. Complete and utter madness. Nobody can hold that much aura. They would be torn apart.
"And this body? What about that?"
Had the girl been capable of possessing others, then who knew where she had been. Theoretically, she could have possessed any number of individuals and gained mass amounts of information practically overnight.
"Oh, this?" Kirakishou did a little twirl, looking down at the body. "She is nothing more than a little toy to play with, when my poor little reaper is away. A lost little girl that possessed the ability to project herself in her sleep, who found herself thrust into my little Palace of Beginnings very early on. Her body has been there at every moment, every scene, subtly interacting and moving all of the other toys into their proper position for the grand arrival of my beloved Palace of Beginnings."
So, she had overpowered some student's semblance and moved her body around, almost like a puppet on a string. A little toy to play with. Huh. The description did little to assuage Cinder of her concerns regarding Kirakishou's potential ability to possess others, but the phrasing did speak leagues about the girl's mental status. It was a dangerous route to dehumanise others, as Cinder would very well know given her past history. Not that she could really speak about such from a moral standpoint- she could care less. But it helped her understand how the crazed girl's mind worked.
"But why now? Who go to all of this trouble?"
"Ah! Good question!" Kirakishou grinned, looking less surprised by the question and more like she had been waiting for it to be asked in the first place. "You see, manifestation takes a lot of energy. Summer Rose is a good example of this. Creating an artificial body took more energy than my beloved Master could supply on her lonesome. Thus, I needed to reach out and find others. Thankfully, one of your establishments in Vale held a great many prospective seedlings. All near the verge of demise, resting on pale beds."
Beloved master? She could only be speaking about Ruby. The two are practically love-birds as far as I've heard. But… this mention of supplying energy in order to manifest an artificial body… what does that mean?
She needed to reach out? All near the verge of demise? Pale beds? What could that-
Oh.
"...The Vale Hospital Massacre. Seventy-eight dead. Occurred right before the first sightings of Summer Rose. That was you?"
Kirakishou giggled and nodded. "Don't worry, they are not gone, of that I can assure you. They are resting comfortably in my N-Field… oh wait! No, they aren't~ Not now! Not since you blew them up!~" she giggled excitedly, seemingly amused by her own statement. "Thus, in a way, you're responsible for that, too! It was a smaller scale thing, especially compared to this, but it still served a purpose. Now, because of you, my Palace of Beginnings will soon find itself thrust into a new world… one ripe with many potential seedlings indeed~ All it needs is a… little bit of a guiding hand. One that I am more than happy to give."
CRACK
Another hole. Even while time continued to stand completely still, another void tore itself into the world in front of her. This one seemed closer to the ground than the last one. Almost directly under them.
If Kirakishou was to be believed, of which was quickly becoming a startling possibility, Cinder could assume that those were connections to her 'Palace of Beginnings'. In hindsight, they appeared passingly similar to the aura-filled hole in reality that Kirakishou had created during her fight against Mercury and Emerald after Ruby Rose had been defeated. Were the two connected in some way?
If this hole was a doorway into the girl's supposed power, then what lay inside?
Unlike the portal that Kirakishou had generated during her fight with Mercury and Emerald, these particular tears in the sky did not leak out a mass of aura everywhere. All they seemed to do was display the odd teal-green crystalline field just like the other tear. Yet, somehow, it was growing larger and more pronounced the longer she stared at it.
She forced herself to focus on the girl standing in front of her, who was beginning to speak again.
"It is said that spirits dwell in objects into which people put their feelings. At least, Father believed such to be true. In a way, you may see my Palace of Beginnings as a manifestation of this concept. Tonight, we shall explore that concept together. To immerse a great many spirits in my beloved field. How many feelings will it swallow before it fully manifests, I wonder?"
Well. That was a horrifying thought.
"So, you're planning on using all of the people here in order to fuel your N-Field? But for what purpose? If resurrecting some doll-like copy of Summer Rose took only seventy-eight sacrifices, what are you planning for almost a hundred thousand?"
Kirakishou smiled. The smile of a happy child, innocent and pure. The only positive expression amidst this frozen, silent, moment in time. It was, beyond anything, one of the more horrifying expressions Cinder had witnessed over her life. She had never believed that positive expressions could be so disquieting, not until she met this girl.
"That is the question, is it not? Ah~ I do so look forward to watching as you slowly learn the truth…" She stepped up onto the railing, balancing herself but moving her arms outwards almost like a tightrope walker. Cinder squirmed. All it would take is a single push…
...If only she could move.
The girl turned to her, balancing precariously on the railing. "I must say, it has been an amusing game to play with you, Cinder. Perhaps, if you're fast enough, you may even turn this around in your favour? I do so look forward to playing more games alongside you in the future, little Cinder."
With that single utterance, she fell backwards. Cinder could feel whatever power that was restricting her movements suddenly snap apart and she reflexively rushed forwards. Just in time to see the black-haired girl falling towards the tear. In that instant, their eyes met. She knew that look, having sported a similar look for most of her life. The expression of a plan in motion, drawing closer and closer to the endgame.
An explosion sounded off in the far distance, in the direction of Beacon Academy.
"It's done, boss," Mercury's voice sang through the communications device in her ear. It sounded considerably damning, at least to her ears. "Kirakishou's gone. Once and for all."
A gasp. Not from her. Sounds. Screams. Voices. She looked around.
Time was beginning to move again.
"[Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: nine.]"
Something was wrong.
Something was terribly, awfully wrong.
She could feel it in her bones, shifting, writhing. That singular sense of overwhelming dread, the knowledge that a calamity was about to occur.
"...What in the world..." Weiss muttered to herself, unable to comprehend the complexity of the events happening around her.
A girl was falling. A student, on the other side of the Colosseum. She had seen that student before. Somewhere. But where? She could see that something about the girl's movements was off. She wasn't flailing or fighting her fall at all. Just a straight downward fall. Heading towards-
Screaming. Ruby was screaming, holding her left hand and rolling about on the floor. There was an unsettling red glow emanating from her left hand, bathing the world around her in a scarlet hue.
Cracks had appeared throughout the Colosseum, floating in the air silently amidst the screams of tens of thousands of spectators.
She knew what they were. She had seen such things before. They belonged to Kirakishou. She had generated one before during the fight with Mercury and Emerald. From her analysis of the fight at the time, she had assumed they were meant to bolster her aura. But, this felt different in some way. Unrestrained. Regardless, Weiss knew that the rose-clad blonde was behind all of this somehow. Considering her suspicions regarding the rest of the tournament, it was a valid assumption on her part.
The girl fell. Directly into the inauspiciously white void. A rather morbid part of Weiss had noticed the dissonant expression of her body language- seeming almost serene in the face of her downward spiral into the unknown. A willing sacrifice.
Yet her thoughts in regards to the girl's well-being faded as the girl's body connected with the tear itself, the world around the Amity Colosseum flaring a sudden overwhelming pale hue that blanketed the entire area. It had felt like a flash-bang grenade had gone off, without all of the sound and gas associated with the device.
Cold. It was cold, so very cold on her skin-
-An instant and the sensation was gone.
"Ruby!" Yang yelled, leaping off the spectator stands and racing towards her downed younger sister.
Blake shot her a look and she nodded, wordlessly summoning up her semblance and propelling them both down alongside the blonde-haired brawler. Her aura was still not completely healed following her absolute aura exhaustion as a result of the second round against Sun and Neptune, but it was enough for something a simple as powering basic motion glyphs.
As they approached, Weiss got a proper look at the expression on Ruby's face. The girl looked haggard. There were tears running down her cheeks, staining her face horridly. She had clearly screamed her throat raw, harsh croaks now escaping her ruined throat as she continued to thrash around on the ground alongside Penny's bisected -robotic?!- remains.
Weiss summoned up her semblance once more, casting a simple ice-conjuring glyph over their team leader's left hand. Ruby stilled immediately, surprised out of her manic movements by the sudden onset of cold. Her surprise lasted moments before she was tackled by her big sister, who was clutching her spry frame tightly.
"Ruby! Are you okay!? What happened?"
The red-clad trainee huntress coughed severely, her tell-tale crimson aura fluctuating brilliantly around her throat as the power worked to repair the damage. Weiss knew that, even given whatever had just occurred with Penny and the surrounding environment, Ruby still possessed more than enough aura to repair the damage to her body. She'd gotten a good look at her leader's aura supply moments before Penny's demise and Ruby still possessed a sizeable amount.
"I-It's the ri-….-the… the ring," Ruby forced out, coughing and spluttering as her throat healed.
The ring?
Weiss shot a look at Ruby's left hand, the one she had frozen over in a thick layer of ice. While the heiress was more than aware that Ruby's aura would prevent any potential damage from the ice itself, she could see a faint outline of melting ice surround Ruby's ring. Curiously, however, the surrounding skin and clothing was not burnt in the slightest. Her aura was fluctuating harshly around the ring, however.
The same ring that she had gotten from Kirakishou. The one that Ruby had innocently placed on her ring finger many weeks ago.
It looked like it was burning her.
No. More than that. The entire thing, golden thorned brass and the rose inlay itself, appeared to be glowing red hot. As if it had been placed inside a kiln or furnace of some sort. Yet, it was not physically burning her. Was it just the sensation? Whatever did that mean?
"What about the ring? What happened Ruby? Do you know what's going on?"
Ruby greedily sucked in air, pushing herself up into a sitting position with the support of her older sister. She coughed, looking around at the Colosseum with wide, shell-shocked eyes. Weiss noticed how her eyes lingered on the broken and bisected robotic remains of Penny Polendina, before forcefully directing her gaze elsewhere.
There was no surprise there at the sight of Penny's robotic innards. Just a cold resignation. Either Ruby had been aware of Penny's robotic true nature or had pushed the surprise aside to focus on the current situation.
Oum. What even was the current situation? There were so many screams. Civilians, huntsmen, and trainees alike were booking it out of the Colosseum as fast as they could. The sound of screeching grimm could be heard in the distance, the sounds rapidly increasing in volume as the beasts grew ever closer. Likely, they had been wound into a frenzy after sensing all of the negative emotion, in thanks to that strange sinister voice on their communication devices.
Plus, there were all of the odd-
CRACK
-holes in reality that kept appearing. If they were related to Kirakishou, then Weiss knew that something had happened. Was it all connected to Ruby's ring? If so, how?
"...It's Kirakishou," Ruby breathed. Weiss found her own breath fall still as her heart skipped a brief, terrifying beat. "She's in pain… I can… I can feel it, sent through the ring… S-She… there was an explosion… did you hear it? Just before those… those things… started appearing in the sky. I-It… I don't know i-if she…"
Ruby trailed off, choking back a sob. The poor thing was terrified, trying to put on a brave face and supply information but clearly unable to process the sheer idea of Kirakishou's potential demise. Weiss most certainly had heard an explosion in the distance just before everything seemingly turned to shit, having occurred in the brief intermission after the voice on their devices had finished its speech and before the screams started.
Considering what she knew about semblances, however…
"If those things are related to Kirakishou, then she's still alive," Blake supplied, voicing Weiss's own personal thoughts to the group. "All traces of a person's semblance disappear when they die. Thus, she has to be alive. Though… in what state, I couldn't tell you."
Ruby looked down, nervously glancing at her frozen left hand. From what Weiss could spot with her eyes, the burning reaction had lessened immensely following her application of ice. The ring was no longer glowing, in the very least. She could only assume that was a good sign. However, Weiss felt more concerned over Ruby's reaction to Blake's wording. Contrary to what Blake had likely been attempting, the girl did not seem the slightest bit relieved. She seemed worried.
She could only suppose that was what love did to someone- overruled rationality.
"Do you think she's causing this?" Yang asked her younger sister as gently as she could, her mind clearly recalling Weiss and Blake's previous discussion with her just before, back atop the spectator stands. While watching Ruby's progression in the fight against Penny, they had theorised that Kirakishou had been manipulating the Vytal Festival Tournament and artificially bolstering Ruby's aura. It had been the only conceivable thing at the time that could explain Ruby's suddenly monstrous reserves of aura and her insider information about their various battles.
Their only connection at the moment was the ring that lay nestled on Ruby's finger, the little reaper still stubbornly refusing to part ways with it even after the damn thing had almost seemingly burnt her finger right off.
It was clear that the ring held some nebulous connection to Kirakishou herself. If the connection was strong enough to transmit what Kirakishou was feeling, namely being in the possible epicentre of an explosion, then it was no wonder why poor Ruby was screaming her head off. It was a miracle that Kirakishou was still alive. The sensation must have been beyond agonising. If it had been half as large as the loud sound of the explosion suggested, then there was a good chance that most of the dormitory where Kirakishou resided may have been destroyed.
From what she understood, there likely hadn't been too many occupants inside the dormitory at the time of the explosion, barring Kirakishou and possibly the guards assigned to her room. Most other residents were out watching the Vytal Festival Tournament first-hand. All students had free tickets, after all. But still. For those that were inside the building, Weiss doubted they were still alive.
Aura could do many things. But for that, it needed to be active. An explosion, especially nearby, would travel at a speed faster than the reaction time of most people- up to and including faunus with their heightened sensitivity. If it had caught Kirakishou unaware, then she could be in a critical condition. The utter severity of pain that Ruby had experienced would confirm, or at the very least support, her theory. It was a miracle she was even still alive.
"I-It's not her, n-not exactly…" Ruby grunted, forcing herself to her feet. She was unsteady, needing to balance against Yang in order to remain standing. Likely an effect of the shock-like state she was probably still in. Weiss could assume that the poor girl's nerves must be utterly shot at the moment.
"What do you mean?" she inquired further.
"It's not Kirakishou's, um, semblance. This is something different. I-I know that. But it's kind of, um, related to her in a way. It's…"
Ruby looked unsure. Clearly this was one of Kirakishou's secrets that she'd shared with Ruby during a past meeting. It was obvious that the little reaper really did not want to have to tell them. Eventually, however, the girl slumped. She seemed resigned.
"...This is her N-Field. It's… something's happened with it-"
Their attention was immediately drawn away from Ruby's proclamation as a sudden flare of power assaulted their senses. A giant, teal-green crystal had sprouted from one of the tears in reality, slamming down harshly into the concrete ground of the arena itself. Weiss's eyes tracked the crystal as it grew into the concrete, noticing with mounting horror that the area surrounding the crystal began to take on a similar appearance and crystalline structure.
Oh, dust. That's not good. That's not good at all.
Another sprouted, growing up out of the ground and piercing through the upper stands of the Colosseum like it was tearing through paper. The crystals were monstrous. While the first had been roughly the diameter of a small vehicle, this other crystal was easily more than triple the size.
"What in the…" Yang muttered, eyes wide in horror.
In the direction of the crystal, Weiss could spot a couple of students-
-trapped inside the crystal, their expressions, at first, frozen in wide-eyed surprise. Their reaction waned, as their eyes fluttered shut. They almost looked like they were sleeping.
They hadn't been impaled by the odd crystal growths. The crystal had grown around them, trapping them in a sort of crystalline cocoon.
As if spurred by the arrival of the first and second crystal, more soon followed suit, growing out of strange angles and bathing the Colosseum in an eerie teal-green light.
Weiss had seen those crystals before. Kirakishou had worn a dress to the Vytal Festival Dance consisting entirely of crystals barring an exact likeness to the ones that now continued to grow throughout the stadium.
First those odd holes in reality, now these crystals… what's next?
"[Safety b-barrrrrr...ers fail-...ing-]"
The large screen, which had previously been displaying a flashing alarm icon, suddenly blanked- the image replaced by a solid blackness. Then, a single word appeared.
THORNS
Ruby downright flinched at the sight. Soon after, more copies of the word appeared- very quickly covering the large screen in an aggregation of corrupted text.
THORNSTHORNSTHORNSTHORNS
A harsh collection of animalistic screeches drew their attention upwards. Weiss paled significantly at the sight that greeted her.
Grimm. There were thousands of them. Multiple different avian species. Griffins. Nevermores of varying size. Some odd draconic form that she hadn't seen before outside of documentation regarding lesser-known Atlesian grimm subspecies. They were all perched atop the stadium shield, clawing and jabbing at it furiously with their multitude of razor-sharp talons and claws. If they had managed to make it all the way to Amity Colosseum, then it would mean that they had completely overwhelmed the defences surrounding the floating Colosseum.
"...We need to get out of here. Now. Once that barrier fails, the grimm will overwhelm us. Nobody can fight a horde of that size."
Nodding at Yang's words, Weiss pulled out her scroll. A push of a button and a trio of rocket lockers penetrated the flimsy flickering shield, barrelling down in front of the three girls. Barring Ruby's Crescent Rose, which lay abandoned and forgotten on the side, all of the girls reached for their weapons. Briefly debating with herself for a moment, Weiss dispelled the ice gathered around Ruby's left hand, drawing the young reaper's eyes to her own.
"...I don't know exactly what's happening, Ruby, but we need to move. Quickly. Are you with us?"
Ruby stared at her, before briefly closing her eyes and giving a confident nod. The younger trainee huntress pushed herself away from Yang's grip and stumbled over to her weapon as it lay beside Penny's mangled remains. Shaking her head, she leaned down and picked up the scythe.
"L-Let's go. Let's get out of here."
So, this was her play.
Ozpin was no fool. He knew that something had gone wrong the moment that the guards sent to capture Kirakishou failed to check in before the first match of the final Vytal Festival Tournament round began. He had been about to send Glynda to assess the situation and potentially capture the lone girl by force if the need arose, yet Salem's intervention had ruined that particular plan.
Somehow, the blonde had managed to antagonise Salem's faction to the point of them deciding to bomb the entire student dormitory to get rid of her. Oum. This was a nightmare. He had been able to see the explosion from his office atom Beacon Tower. It had been utterly devastating, eliminating a solid third of the building in an instant. The rest had promptly caved in, reducing the dormitories to rubble.
Nobody could survive that. The proximity to a dust explosion of such magnitude would have shattered the bones of anyone still remaining in the dormitory. Having experienced such a first-hand experience many lifetimes ago, Ozpin was quite certain of such a thing.
Yet, somehow, Kirakishou had survived. Her crystals, shaded the same as the crystalline dress she had worn to the Vytal Festival Dance, had begun sprouting up all over the place- seemingly targeting students and faculty alike. The nature of the crystals made the answer to the question of her possible survival glaringly apparent. Nobody could maintain a semblance after death, thus she had to be alive. It was the only logical explanation.
Yet, in what condition? Was this sudden growth of crystals a deliberate action or was it merely the swan song of a girl rapidly approaching her deathbed? There was no method to be certain in the immediate time. There were far more important things to worry about at the moment.
Namely, that Salem's agent had finally made their move. Grimm infested Beacon Academy and they had not arrived under natural means. They had been stirred into a frenzy by Salem's agent- to the point of overwhelming Beacon's numerous defences.
He needed to be quick. Whether or not Kirakishou was involved in some manner, he still needed to ensure that the Fall Maiden remained safe and secure. Amber was his main priority. Qrow's timely intervention during their opponent's initial attempt capture Amber's power had been a timely one, but he couldn't rely on the man at this point. Not after what Qrow had told him about Kirakishou, the Alice Game, and this supposed 'Laplace-no-ma' creature.
The Alice Game. A game devised by the girl's father, possibly known as Rozen. A game that demands that only a single shall survive. Conducted and enforced by an unceasing entity that is willing to kill on a moment's notice in order to ensure the game continues to play. An entity that was able to possess Qrow's body and pilot him halfway across Remnant, unhindered.
Suffice to say, it was a horrifying prospect in theory. One that called for sisters to kill each other with no means of escaping, lest they incur Laplace's wrath.
Not only was the creature a wrathful being, it was also cunning. According to Qrow's intelligence, it had been Raven Branwen that had encountered the Summer Rose doll and personally executed her, no doubt after discovering her missing memories. Yet, conversely, Kirakishou believed with absolute certainty that Laplace-no-ma was involved in some regard. Which implied that Laplace had been able to influence the notoriously infallible Raven Branwen.
A horrifying prospect indeed.
However, despite what Kirakishou had told Qrow, she had been able to drive off Laplace during her encounter with the creature at the Transmit Tower alongside Ruby. Which meant that she had experience in dealing with Laplace in the past, despite her claims of being trapped and confined since birth.
Something doesn't add up. There's more to this story than so it would seem at first glance. And something tells me that these crystals appearing all of a sudden are most certainly not an accident.
Was Salem's agent a part of this Alice Game? Or were they using the Alice Game to further their goals? Were they even aware of the Alice Game in the first part, or were they being manipulated by Laplace-no-ma? Or Kirakishou?
So many questions and too few answers. It seemed to be a staple with anything regarding Kirakishou.
"Sir!"
Glynda and Qrow came running, Ozpin having not even noticed the tell-tale elevator chime as it signaled their arrival. Brothers, they looked awful. The two had clearly been forced to tear through a fair amount of grimm in order to even arrive at his tower.
"Glynda. Find James. Get to the city. Establish a relief zone with the VPD and any huntsmen and huntresses in the area. Evacuate as many people as you can."
The deputy headmistress nodded curtly and departed, a frown on her face.
Leaving Qrow.
"...How bad is it out there, Qrow?"
The dusty old crow grimaced, sheathing his weapon, Harbinger, before moving to stand in front of Ozpin's desk as he continued looking out into the distance.
"Worse than it looks, Oz. The dorm rooms were bombed. Dust-infused explosive. Rubble's everywhere."
Dust-infused explosive. His mind mused. So, I was indeed correct about the type of explosive used. Now we see where some of the stolen dust has gone. Only a small fraction of the total amount that was stolen, however. One shudders to imagine where the rest is currently located.
"What of the detail sent to capture Kirakishou?"
"No sign of them. They're not picking up their damn calls and they're long overdue. Likely event is either they were incapacitated by the explosion or killed off before it happened."
"And Kirakishou herself?"
Qrow shrugged. "Can't tell you. But I'm told the crystals appearing everywhere are similar to some dress she wore to the Vytal Festival Dance? Doubt it's a coincidence."
He nodded. So, the crystals did look similar to Kirakishou's. It correlated with his own thoughts, as well.
"...Which would imply that she is purposefully generating them. However, I cannot imagine how such a thing is even possible. The aura costs of a manifestation of this level should be more than a single soul can generate, especially after surviving an explosion of such magnitude."
"Perhaps some strange reaction with the dust in the explosive?" Qrow threw out idly, before shrugging his shoulders. "Either way it doesn't exactly matter now does it? They're acting weird, the crystals. They seem to be targeting people."
What?
"...How so?"
"I saw it on the way here. If you look closely, the crystals aren't growing randomly. They seem more likely to grow towards larger collections of people. When everyone began to separate from their groups either due to panicking or fighting against the sudden onslaught of grimm, the crystals also grew less clustered."
Qrow was right. That was odd behaviour. If her semblance was capable of tracking individuals, even while Kirakishou wasn't nearby or perhaps not even conscious, then it created an uncertain range of threat. She could be unconscious on the other side of the Emerald Forest and the damn things may continue to attack. But for what reason were they targeting people?
"And what of those unable to escape the crystals? What happens to them? Did you see?"
Qrow went to take a swig of his flask, before second-guessing himself and putting the flask away. That event, on its own, spoke deeply of the man's worry for the current situation. Anything that was capable of stopping Qrow Branwen from taking a drink when he was uncomfortable was particularly damning.
"They're encased in crystal. It seems to grow around them, like some sort of cocoon. It doesn't seem to hurt them, but who knows. Seems to knock them unconscious, but that could just be due to lack of breathable air. Worse still, when it captures someone all the other nearby crystals appear to drastically speed up. One of them managed to capture one of the huntsman guards in the cafeteria and, well, the whole damn room practically changed in the blink of an eye."
Ozpin's next question was immediate.
"And what of the grimm? Do the crystals react to the grimm?"
The grizzled huntsman shook his head. "No… not at all, come to think of it. Some would get skewered, of course, but to my eyes it looked like a wrong-place-wrong-time scenario, ya'know? For the most part, the grimm seem to be left alone. Why do you ask? You know something?"
Shit.
"...I may have an idea as to what's occurring, then."
Qrow perked up, eyes narrowing in his direction. Likely, he'd noticed the chagrined expression that was almost certainly appearing on Ozpin's face at the moment.
"Well? Go on. Do you think that Kirakishou's working together with Salem or something? Is that why the grimm aren't being harmed?"
"I doubt they're working together. The bomb that went off in the dorm rooms, at the precise time that the commentary by Salem's agent ended, implies that the two are not on good terms. The crystals are what I am more concerned about. They're not targeting people, Qrow. They're targeting aura."
Qrow stilled, immediately realising the gravity of such an event occurring in Vale. Beacon Academy was a large, popular school. According to last year's census, it had been the largest in terms of the student population. Considering it was a requirement for prospective huntsman and huntress trainees to have their aura awakened, the sudden appearance of an ability that targeted aura was everything that Ozpin had feared in a semblance.
He had known it was possible, but to see it with his own eyes…
"What makes you think that?"
"Because of what you said," Ozpin explained, "the crystals target people, but ignore grimm. When they do successfully capture someone, the rate of growth increases. Thus, one can infer that the two are connected in some way. The crystals are, most likely, using the aura of captured victims in order to continue to expand. It's how they're able to manifest to such ludicrous degrees."
"So, you're saying that this semblance is self-sustaining?!" Qrow balked. "The sheer amount of people in Beacon, in Vale, during the Vytal Festival Tournament… who knows how large this thing could get? For all we know, it could swallow most of the continent."
"Exactly," Ozpin nodded, "which means that we need to cut off this semblance at the source. Qrow, I want you to find Kirakishou. Whatever state she's in, find a way to end this once and for all. If she's either incapable of stopping the semblance on her own, or unwilling, do what must be done."
It was a grave request, but for the betterment of the people of Vale and their continued existence, he had no choice. Especially since the bombing of the Beacon Academy dormitories had provided the perfect cover for a black-op.
"You want me to kill her?" Qrow looked taken aback, no doubt empathising on some level due to the girl's supposed relationship with Ruby Rose and all of the information that Kirakishou had provided about her history. If any of it was true. Ozpin was seriously questioning the validity of her countless statements following what was now occurring. "There has to be some other way. Going straight to execution seems a bit too far."
He sighed inwardly, wishing that for once in his life that his allies wouldn't question each and every one of his decisions. It was beginning to get rather aggravating.
"We don't have a choice," Ozpin shook his head. "Besides, you told me about what she spoke of her history. Hers is a tortured existence, no matter what fleeting amount of peace she's found with Miss Rose. This Laplace-no-ma creature will continue to stalk her until the Alice Game is completed. Considering what he did to you, Qrow, you understand the gravity of this situation. The only way to fix all of this is to kill her."
"But what about Summer Rose?"
Ozpin shook his head. Frankly, he would have preferred if that chapter of his life had remained closed in the first place. Bringing her back, albeit with the more critical memories of her life thankfully missing in action, had only brought pain to all of those involved.
"The loss of Kirakishou's ability is a necessary sacrifice. It's not worth the cost. Summer Rose is dead, Qrow. Leave her to rest. If we allow the girl to continue to live, Salem will eventually take notice and stop at nothing to retrieve her. I would imagine that the last thing you would ever wish to occur is to face Summer Rose in direct combat, yes? Especially a Summer Rose twisted by our mutual adversary."
As expected, the statement was enough to cause the man to wilt. He could see it on Qrow's face- the thought of facing Summer Rose was a dreaded prospect. Even if the Summer Rose in this case was a mere facsimile of the real thing.
"...Fine. I'll do what I have to do, should it come down to that. I'll contact you when I'm done."
Ozpin watched stoically as the grizzled huntsman marched out of the room, shoulders tight with restrained grief. A part of him briefly mused if the man would be capable of killing the girl, before he discarded the notion entirely. Regardless of how Qrow went about it, he was certain that he would gather valuable information about Kirakishou and her involvement in Salem's supposed little scheme.
A call pinged through, Ozpin glancing down at his desk as the sender ID flashed on the holographic display. General James Ironwood of the Atlesian Military. Without hesitation, he accepted the call. Immediately he could hear the sounds of screaming civilians amidst the growls of enraged grimm and the unsettling shimmer of Kirakishou's crystals.
"...-Ozpin, the girl… I can explain-"
"You brought your army to my kingdom, James," Ozpin remarked in a cold tone, silencing the man before he could continue to babble apologies, "use it. And if you just so happen to find Kirakishou during your travels, shoot her."
He hung up the call, before sighing and grabbing his cane.
An explosion sounded off in the distance, in the direction of downtown Vale. A tremor struck soon after, likely a shock-wave event as a result of the explosion, sending a propagating disturbance around the impact site. Unlike the bombing of the dormitories, however, this appeared to be a result of a different action. Considering the current time, it likely wasn't related to the bombing, however, it had occurred too quickly following the appearance of the grimm to be the result of general degradation. Something was going on.
Damn it. There were no operatives in that particular area at the given moment- at least none that Ozpin was currently aware of with all of the grimm swarming around and drawing attention. Had he the chance, he would have preferred to investigate the mysterious second explosion- as a certain gut feeling informed him that it was far more than a simple explosion. Instead, it would appear that he would need to place his faith in those of a courageous heart going to investigate the explosion in his stead.
There was only one course of action left, so it would seem. For Ozpin had a different mission to see through- one of grave importance. Yet, in order to accomplish his mission, he first required the eradication of the grimm currently infesting the area.
It was time to do his duty as a huntsman… and go to work.
Blake's ears perked up, the faunus freezing in place as the all-apparent sound of an explosion registered in her mind. Her fellow teammates, in the final throws of shepherding all of the remaining spectators out of Amity Colosseum and towards the bullhead docks, noticed her action immediately.
"What's going on, Blake? Are you alright?"
Huh. Weiss. Of course it would be her that would be the first to be by her side, a worried look on her face. The heiress had dropped everything and appeared next to her in an instant. It was comforting to know that even in the middle of all of this calamity, the girl trusted her judgement to know when something was wrong.
"An explosion just occurred, in the downtown Vale area, near the shopping district. Sounded pretty large," Blake revealed to her teammates. Ruby fidgeted worriedly, glancing down at the thorned golden ring on her finger.
Thankfully, the ring hadn't ignited once again, as Blake was certain that a second volley of whatever had occurred with her ring before would be more than enough to completely drain Ruby's remaining aura. Even if she was being artificially bolstered by Kirakishou, it was clear that the small blonde's actions couldn't be taken at face value.
"Rubes? You good?"
"...Yeah," Ruby nodded at her sister, before frowning and shaking her head. She staggered slightly, swaying on her feet. "No… I dunno. But something is wrong… I don't know how but I can feel it. It's like… if I don't get to Kirakishou soon then something is going to happen. Something really bad. Or, well, worse than whatever is happening right now."
Worse? Blake thought as she watched Yang fuss over Ruby, holding the younger trainee huntress in a supportive hold. What could possibly be worse than- no. I don't want to imagine.
"Do you believe that this… feeling… has something to do with the explosion that just occurred in the downtown Vale area?" Weiss inquired curiously.
Ruby shrugged weakly, looking around at all of the frenzied grimm and crystalline overgrowth rapidly assimilating the surroundings. A few huntsman and huntresses, mainly Beacon Academy staff and a few that Blake had recognised as belonging to other academies, had shown up and were actively fighting off the grimm that continued to flood into Amity Colosseum.
Blake could spot that it was a losing battle. Anybody could spot such a thing. But it did little to assuage the momentum of the huntsmen and huntresses as they continued to cleave through the grimm. It was obvious that all they were doing was buying everyone enough time to get out of the Colosseum before it was too late. Blake doubted that she would ever see their faces after this night.
"I don't know, but it's a good possibility. One of… Kirakishou's crystals… may have caused it? I dunno. If she's… sufficiently upset… then I don't know if there's anything that she can't do. But this feels really different. Something else is going on."
"Then we should probably all go and check it out, right?" Yang suggested, throwing out the question to the group. "While I really don't understand this connection that Ruby's getting at the moment, if going to the site of the second explosion will help us figure out what's going on then I say we should give it a shot."
"Yes, I concur," Weiss agreed with a sharp nod, sending a look in Blake's direction. "If we rely on Blake's sense of hearing in order to guide us, we should have little difficulty pinpointing the site of the explosion in downtown Vale. Even if the event isn't related to everything that's occurring, it's still an explosion and we have a duty to protect the people. A lot of people could be hurt."
Blake agreed as well. "It's a good possibility. Vale is a large city and there's been a massive inflow of tourists following the Vytal Festival-"
"…No."
She blinked, her words dying in her throat as Blake directed her attention towards the red-clad reaper, who was shaking in Yang's grip.
"No. We can't. We have to find Kirakishou," Ruby reiterated, shaking her head. She winced suddenly, clutching her head and pulling away from Yang. "She told me to find her. I have to find her. She told me. We don't have time- no, we… we have to…" Blake's eyes snapped to the ring on Ruby's hand, which was glowing an odd subtle crimson hue. Different from before. "...have to… have to find Kirakishou…"
The crimson glow flared dramatically-
"Weiss! Quick!" Blake yelled out, grabbing the heiress's attention as quickly as she could, "do something!"
But, it was too late. Ruby let loose a pained cry, before flashing away in a sudden burst of rose petals. She moved like a blur, a red hue frantically whipping across the horizon in the direction of the airship docks, before barrelling straight off the side of the building-
"Ruby!" Yang yelled out in horror, racing over to the docked bullheads. There was a massive crowd of frantic festival spectators, many of which had witnessed Ruby's sudden descent and were crying out in horror, shocked gasps and whispers escaping them at times.
She went to jump without an ounce of hesitation, only for Blake to catch her at the last second. Furious crimson eyes glared in her direction, intermittent with the flowing tears of a terrified older sibling.
"What are you doing, Blake! Let go of me!"
"Are you crazy? At this height, you won't survive the impact!" Blake yelled at her teammate, before pointing down at the red blur of Ruby Rose as it continued to descend. "Look! She's using her semblance, Yang. If she angles the trajectory right and uses the recoil generated by her scythe at the precise right time, she'll make it out unharmed."
With the superior low-light vision granted by her faunus heritage, Blake could clearly make out that Ruby's trajectory was starting to subtly shift in the way that she had described, curving more and more the closer she got to the ground.
"But you won't, Yang," Weiss joined in with her argument, immediately recognising what Blake was describing. She pushed forward, voice pleading for Yang to understand. "Your gauntlets aren't built to use recoil the same way Ruby does. Even with your semblance and your aura, you'll shatter your bones the moment you hit the ground. We have to let her go, and hope that she knows what she's doing. Look! She's using her scythe."
It was true. They could make out the flashes of Ruby's overly-large sniper scythe discharging, the high calibre rounds flashing brightly in the night sky- to the point where it was clearly visible even as far away as they were.
"S-She's going to go after Kirakishou, though," Yang pulled back, before turning to focus on her two teammates. "From what I heard just then, Kira told her before to come and find her after the tournament. Which means that she knew this would happen, right? Ruby will be heading towards the school, if only to find out the truth. If Kirakishou has been manipulating things, then who knows what Ruby will find over there. We all saw what those crystals were doing. For all we know, Ruby could-"
"We have to trust in Ruby's skill as a huntress," Blake interrupted, swallowing her discomfort and putting a hand on Yang's shoulder in a display of reassurance. She was still rather uncomfortable touching people, barring Weiss, after dealing with Adam's coddling for so very long. But this was not the time to let grievances get in the way of things. If Yang needed this, then so be it.
Noticing her action, Weiss followed suit, directly mimicking the action and placing a hand on Yang's shoulder. A tentative smile was sent her way, before the Schnee turned back to face Ruby's older sister.
"Blake is right. For now, we need to deal with the immediate threat. This Colosseum won't last much longer. We need to get off of here before it collapses," Weiss spoke, before gesturing to all of the civilians in the area. "Now, we should all get going. This Colosseum isn't going to last much longer. We can continue this conversation in the safety of a bullhead."
"R-Right," Yang agreed shakily, staring down at the ground for a brief moment, before tearing her eyes away and forcefully marching towards on of the bullheads.
There were times in which Blake cursed her enhanced senses- namely her eyesight and her feline hearing. Even from this distance, her eyes could spot the eerie teal-green glow of Kirakishou's crystals down below, amidst the sounds her ears registered of numerous civilians crying out in fear, the growls of the grimm, and the sharp crack of numerous dust-enhanced projectiles. Somehow, she doubted that the situation would be any better down below.
Wearily, the group made their way through the crowd and towards a bullhead. Blake could spot a few familiar faces on one of the bullheads- namely Teams ABRN and a couple members of Team SSSN, but the two external groups hadn't noticed them. She idly directed her team to a different area of the airship. The last thing Blake wanted to do at the moment was deal with any more outsiders.
Still… there were just so many people. All crowded together, clutching each other for support. A few had numerous cuts and scrapes, indicating near misses from either crystalline or grimm assaults. A few did not appear to be so lucky- sporting injuries which her nose indicated were rather severe. Evidently, their aura hadn't been able to save them.
Taking a spot in the far corner of the bullhead, Blake breathed a sigh of relief. There were no windows nearby. Not in an armoured military bullhead going through emergency procedures. She didn't have to see what dust-laden battlefield they were flying towards. They had some time to recuperate and plan their next action. Namely, trying to find their wayward leader and-
"I must ask that you three do not follow Ruby Rose at this current time. It will not end well if you all decide to attempt such."
There was a middle-aged man, standing right beside them. He had faded, light blonde hair and a fair amount of stubble, showing that the man clearly hadn't shaved any time recently. Oum, she hadn't even noticed his approach until he was standing right beside them. How was that even possible?
But now that Blake's eyes rested on his browbeaten firm, her very senses practically screamed at her in alarm.
She could hardly comprehend it. This feeling. It was as if she was looking at a mockery of a person. Blood and death clung to his clothes, assaulting her nose with a horrific copper-like musk. He had killed recently, or in the very least been rather close to a corpse. Neither of which boded well in her eyes.
She glanced over to the direction of the heiress, finding herself somewhere surprised to see that Weiss had clutched her hand in alarm. Her face was bone-white, devoid of colour or feature. She looked like she had seen a ghost.
From her position, she had a first-hand view of Yang's reaction to this man. Her eyes were wide, but there was familiarity present in her reaction to his presence. Along with a creeping realisation of some kind and an absolute ton of fear. But it was the familiarity that surprised Blake. Where had her partner seen this man before? And how did this man know Ruby Rose?
Considering what Blake knew of the relationship dynamic between Yang and Ruby, she doubted there were that many acquaintances of Ruby Rose that her sister wasn't aware of herself. Coupled with the sensations that Blake was getting from this man's sheer presence, she could only assume that his appearance was not at all a good sign. The fear in Yang's eyes showed that the girl was most certainly aware of this fact.
"...D-Dad?"
Alarmed, Blake turned her gaze back to Yang, who was looking at the older blonde man who she had just identified as her father. Which would make him out to be Taiyang Xiao Long. Blake had heard his name uttered once or twice by Ruby and Yang after the Summer Rose incident. Supposedly, it had been Taiyang that had brought in Summer's body sometime after Ruby's fight with Mercury and Emerald, identifying the woman as a fake. A doll.
But after that, Blake had heard neither hide nor hair about Taiyang Xiao Long. So, why was he here? And why had Yang sounded so uncertain about her father's identity? Why did she look so frightened?
"Greeting, children. A pleasure to meet you all in the flesh, amidst this curious little night. You may all know me as Laplace-no-ma. Or, perhaps for the more educated minds-"
"Laplace's Demon," Yang breathed.
A/N:
Madness of the White Rose. Oh, my. I conceived of these events ages ago. Around the time of the battle that Ruby and Kirakishou had against Mercury and Emerald. I can't believe it's finally got to the state where I'm starting to publish it. This is quite the game-changer for me.
I wanted to do something special for this event, which is why you all may notice the increased size of this chapter and the little flair for the title. It's not going to be a permanent thing- just something a bit different for this moment.
Anywho, I'll keep this note short. Thank you all for your continuing interest in my story. Please, feel free to let me all know what you thought of this chapter, and your thoughts on the events to come. How do you believe things will proceed?
Until next time!