She was right.
There were a scarce few times throughout Raven Branwen's life when she had wished to be proven wrong, having been made into a position where her judgement could spell life or death for a great many people placed under her guidance. Pessimism and optimism held no position in her thought process, the beliefs of delusional fools or pointless crusaders even less so.
However, as she lay witness to the form of Summer Rose, broken and crumbling as the doll relentlessly tore through her daughter's allies with little regard for her own failing body, Raven admitted that she had hoped to have been wrong.
Unfortunately, it simply wasn't meant to be. Summer Rose had indeed been rebuilt by Kirakishou sometime following the events that had transposed surrounding the Vytal Festival in Vale. Most likely, the troublesome Rozen Maiden had rebuilt Summer Rose soon after she gained control over her freshly-captured terrain.
Which would mean that the figure holding a degree of Summer Rose's memories had been journeying through Remnant for several months now. Oum. She was a fucking failure of a teammate for allowing such an issue to persist for so very long. There was no telling what exactly the doppelganger of her fallen partner had done in her time spent unsupervised. Lending her talents to Kirakishou, the doll that had wiped out the entirety of Vale as a show of affection for the very same little girl laying unconscious on the floor as Summer Rose carved through the denizens of the Schnee manor with little regard to her own safety.
The Schnee Patriarch's gaudy forcefield had worked against Summer's overwhelming strength, for a time, until Summer Rose had pushed herself past the field despite the consequences it had to her own body. It was a combination of valor and tenacity, not some hidden skill, that had enabled Summer Rose to continue fighting in spite of a solid defence.
"Look, everybody, listen up," Raven pulled the attention of those that weren't currently fighting for their lives against Summer Rose. Namely, everyone in the room save for the Belladonna girl. "Summer's semblance works through enhancing her senses, alongside a significant boost to her overall strength. It's always active. Every second of every day. Don't bother waiting for her to run out of aura. She doesn't care what you do to her, not anymore. Instead, compound damage to her body. Physical strikes. Wear her down."
It was all they could do in order to have any hope of surviving the encounter, and frankly Raven wasn't entirely sure if they stood a chance. Even with Summer's body degrading, she was still a formidable opponent.
"...Assuming it's even possible to wear her down," Yang sniped caustically.
Oh? What's her problem?
Shinku took the chance to elaborate, having apparently noticed her confusion. She grimaced. Second damn nobody to see through her in a day. Complete grimmshit.
"Inside the N-Field, we faced an enhanced projection of Ruby Rose that sought to defend the true Ruby Rose from our intrusion. During the fight, this projection, this Knight, demonstrated the ability to recover aura by pulling on its connection to Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings. It took several attempts to finally create an opening, by targeting the connection point instead of the Knight itself."
"Shouldn't matter," Raven shook her head, reading her sword as she watched the Belladonna girl falter in her step. The young huntress was running low, having likely been to the point of near-exhaustion facing this 'Knight' dickhead. "She's lost her connection to Kirakishou. Provided it stays that way, we shouldn't have any- Watch out!"
In an instant, their surroundings erupted in a burst of light as a beam of agitated dust particles was promptly catalysed and sent their way courtesy of Null Value. Weiss and Willow reacted quickly, glyphs appearing beneath the group and sending them all flying off in separate directions as the beam of energy ripped past their previous location. The sheer concentration used proved more than capable of ripping through whatever paltry security measures Jacques had fortified the room with, a light blue shield appearing and promptly disappearing as the beam pieced through the shield and subsequent wall alike without hassle.
A cool breeze ripped through the air, as the cold Atlesian climate invaded their room, a majority of the wall having been reduced to ash following Summer's strike. The beam had shot forward and briefly illuminated the outside area, before dissipating several hundred meters outside the estate. Oum. Considering the nature of Null Value catalysing all of the dust in a single shot, Summer would have had to have been sitting on a veritable mountain of dust condensed inside her weapon. Clearly, she'd been preparing for one dust-laden hell of a firefight prior to getting caught in Raven's semblance and transported to Atlas. That payload would have been more than enough to slaughter her old encampment twice over, or any of the more colossal-sized grimm.
To think she possessed all of that power, clad in a failing Rozen Maiden body. What a fucking crazy prospect to imagine, let alone to witness with her own two eyes.
It amazed her that the Belladonna girl was still alive after fighting her for a brief period, if unconscious following the bout of ejected dust and a hastened retreat.
Raven wasted no time in forcing herself forward, clashing against Summer Rose as Yang's allies regained their bearings. The crumbled doll reacted swiftly, matching Omen head-on as her fabled blade clashed with Null Value for the first time in well over a decade.
"Just like… old times… hey, partner?" Raven grunted out, throwing her weight into the blade block. It was clear that Summer's body was beginning to fail her, as the doll was slowly but surely forced backward. The old Summer Rose would have been easily able to handle this amount of force, before.
Summer Rose narrowed her eyes, before sweeping her legs down and forcing Raven's blade to slip forwards, narrowly missing Summer's head. She responded quickly to the adjustment, lashing out with a fierce kick that impacted Summer's waist. She heard the sound of artificial skin cracking from the impact before her leg met resistance and the doll grunted in apparent pain. Raven went to capitalise on the opening by jutting Omen down towards the crouched doll, only for Summer Rose to push Null Value forwards in a surprising display of strength, forcing Raven to back off lest she finds herself impaled.
Pushing aura into her legs, Raven jumped backward and landed beside Willow Schnee. The elder Schnee gave her a firm nod, her nondescript Atlesian broadsword held fiercely as a glyph appear below Raven's feet.
"Guess we're in this one together, brat. Summer's not going to go down easy."
True to her word, Summer Rose had pushed herself back up to her feet. There was a sizeable indent in her pyjamas where the fabric fell inward into her body, at the precise area where Raven's kick had landed. However, the cloth was blocking the wound itself, so she couldn't get a good look at it. Summer's faulty stance, however, indicated that it had certainly caused something. Null Value was clutched in a single hand, the multiple blades jutting into the floor while Summer's remaining arm hung loosely. Was it damaged as well by her final strike?
"...Oh no! Not Raven and Willow, together again," Willow declared faux-haughtily, a teasing lilt entering her tone at the end that betrayed her true amusement. "Well, I suppose that if your old partner isn't quite up to speed, then I'm more than happy to care for you instead."
It was only through years spent arduously handling Willow's specific brand of snark that Raven withheld the urge to snap back at her. This wasn't the time for idle flirtation.
"Don't forget about us!" Yang yelled out, ruining the mood and charging into battle like some infantile boarbatusk with a score to settle. She grimaced at the sloppy form. If they all survived this encounter with Summer Rose, then Raven was going to train that girl into the fucking ground before she let her fight again.
...Well, perhaps she was being a bit too harsh on the girl. They were in the fight together, after all. However, there was still room for improvement. Fighting against a superior opponent requires a will of steel and a mind prepared to think on the fly.
Bah. Parenthood is a pain in the ass.
However sudden the call for attention, Yang's cry certainly worked in getting Summer to focus on her, alongside the rest of her battle-ready allies as they all charged in alongside Yang, so Raven supposed that she'd have to put the training on the back burner for the moment. Nodding towards Willow, the elder Schnee quickly interpreted the request and sent Raven flying at Summer Rose courtesy of an acceleration glyph.
Thanks to the sheer versatility of Willow's semblance, Raven was able to reach Summer Rose before her daughter, as Summer pulled Null Value forward to catch Omen within the grip of its three great blades. Summer Rose grunted as she moved, violently shoving her oversized weapon to the side and sending Raven into the path of Yang courtesy of her own odachi still stuck between Null Value's blades. An impressive feat for a woman using only a single arm to move Null Value's sizeable weight. It would seem that she was attempting to use Raven's own body to block her daughter's approach.
Raven wisely let go of her sword and leaped backward, allowing Yang to squeeze past at the last second. The blonde brawler collided against Summer Rose in a full-body tackle, crashing against the woman and sending her tumbling onto the ground. A flash of black and a ribbon was hurdling towards her. Raven smirked at the Belladonna faunus holding the other side as she caught on to the plan, grasping the ribbon and wrapping it around the bundle of bodies on the ground. It would seem that Blake Belladonna recovered quickly from her injuries. Further evidence that Summer Rose's body was failing. Were this the old Summer Rose from her memories, they would all have been hard-pressed to still be alive, let alone conscious.
"Get back!"
No sooner than she had moved off to the side, than a tidal wave of icy sleet had rushed past her, encasing both Summer Rose and Raven's own daughter in a spherical mass of frozen waste.
"Healthily, and freely!" Suiseiseki, the Rozen Maiden clad in a green dress and wielding a golden watering can of all things, chanted, a menagerie of green vines growing from the floor and racing towards the frozen waste. The vines dug into the ball of ice, shearing away the semblance-created particles and expertly weaving through the mass of frozen bodies to wrap around Summer Rose, as the ice soon broke apart and allowed Yang to disentangle.
Her sword, Omen, clattered to the floor soon after, Null Value having been wrenched from Summer's frozen hands via Suiseiseki's vines.
She whistled in admiration at the scene, stalking toward the scene and collecting her fallen odachi, alongside helping Yang back to her feet.
"Good combination of abilities. Been practising a bit, huh?"
Yang grimaced and rubbed the back of her head. "Actually, that was the second time we've tried it. The first was against the Knight of the White Rose…"
Casting a glance over to the entangled mass of vines wrapped around Summer Rose, devastation all around her, she marveled at the sight. Damn good work for the second attempt at a combination technique. Being able to temporarily confine the legendary Summer Rose, even a Summer Rose with a weakened form with a failing body, was no small feat.
"Right. Well, don't get your hopes up. Be on your guard. It won't hold her forever."
True to her words, a moment later and Suiseiseki's vines were torn apart by the ruined Summer Rose, the broken doll swaying from side to side as pieces of her body continued to crumble before their very eyes. A good portion of her nightwear had been torn to ribbons following Suiseiseki's attack, revealing broken patches of too-pale artificial skin, many pieces of which had either cracked or fallen apart, displaying an empty cavity previously hidden beneath the beauty of Summer Rose.
Certainly didn't look that beautiful anymore. Almost looked sad, really. Like some broken toy that had been neglected. Totally useless. The fact that she was even able to stand using such a body, let alone glare at them all with such heat, was proof alone of the mantled tenacity of Summer Rose. However little of her memories that Kirakishou had gathered in the end, she had certainly captured Summer's mindset.
Suigintou, Suiseiseki, Souseiseki, and little Shinku approached the scene alongside Willow Schnee and Yang's teammates, the entire group looking at the fallen Summer Rose with varying degrees of discomfort.
"...So, they really are dolls…" Willow murmured, aghast.
"Tch," Suigintou scoffed in derision, the only doll to visibly react to Willow's statement. "A pathetic sight. Why is she still moving? There's just no point in fighting such a thing. Her body won't last much longer with the way it's going."
Regardless of her words, the winged Rozen Maiden approached her daughter when Yang did not respond, the blonde seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from Summer's ruined form for the second time during their fight.
Despite the inner pragmatist inside her screaming at Yang for getting distracted, she could understand her hesitation to a degree. Summer Rose had meant a lot of things to a variety of different people throughout the years. Seeing even a part of Summer Rose in such a horrid state was… almost sad, in a way. It was an affront to the very memory of Summer Rose, of everything that she had stood for.
All that had remained of the legendary Summer Rose in the end, had been a little doll for a child to play with. It was almost morbidly fitting, in some strange manner. All that Raven had known about dolls prior to learning about the Alice Game, was that dolls were traditionally used to mourn the dead.
"Raven… Yang… Please, don't do this," Summer Rose weakly pleaded out her words, a broken fragment of a once-proud hero reduced to the mess that stood before them. "Return Ruby… to Kirakishou. There's still... time. You all have… no idea what you're unleashing by doing this."
An ounce of emotion flickered through the group, as glances were exchanged between numerous Rozen Maiden and trainee huntresses. Raven raised a brow, seeing the effect that Summer's words had caused on the group. Many of the glances, many of the worries flickering throughout the group, found themselves directed towards one Yang Xiao-Long.
Yang… she was… crying. Her daughter was crying.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so, so sorry."
Summer Rose faded away with a whisper in the wind, and the world felt even smaller because of it.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very fucking wrong and Winter Schnee had no damn idea what had caused it. Alarms were blaring, heated debates were being fired across the table in intense barrages of emotional outbursts and her poor little Kanaria was frantically bouncing her attention between every one of them, looking lost amongst a sea of shouting figures all voicing their own agendas and concerns.
Councillors Sleet and Camilla were in attendance, alongside Pietro Polendina representing Atlesian RND, with General Schnee herself representing the Atlesian military and huntsman academy. Councillor Schnee, her Father, had been called to attendance as per council law, yet had as-of-yet remained a no-show for several hours. An uncomfortable deviation in routine following Jacques's near-unanimous electoral ascension into the ranks of the Atlesian Council. However disquieting the lack of Councillor Schnee's attendance was, Winter, unfortunately, found herself having far more concerning matters to focus her attention on at the moment.
An emergency meeting had been called between the Atlesian Councillors and the heads of Atlesian R&D pending a sudden development that had arisen several hours ago. Ever since poor little Kanaria had woken Winter Schnee in her private abode and Pietro had briefed her on the situation, Willow had been spending a great many hours gathering every little scrap of information she could get her greasy hands-on, in the hopes of weathering the tidal wave of hypothetical scenarios that could explain the entirety of Vale vanishing from the face of the FUCKING PLANET.
Everything. An entire country. An area of over fifteen thousand square kilometres. Billions of lien in property. Vale City. The Vault of the Fall Maiden. Kirakishou's entire occupied area, stretching far further than reports had estimated, had promptly disappeared in the blink of an eye.
And, with it, another facet of Kirakishou's powers had been revealed.
The Ace Operatives.
Clover Ebi. Marrow Amin. Vine Zeki. Elm Ederne. Harriet Bree.
All, save for Marrow, had been removed from the world. Scrubbed, not just from their own military records but from every waking mind on Remnant. Only recently had the memories, and information, returned, at precisely the same time that reports had begun to flood in of an entire damn country blinking off the face of the planet.
Somehow, sometime, and for some reason, Kirakishou had effectively erased the Ace Operatives from the world following their ill-fated venture into Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings. Considering what she now knew about the illusive seventh Rozen Maiden, Winter could only assume that the Ace Operatives had been detected and summarily defeated soon after they first entered her Palace of Beginnings. Only Marrow Amin had been exempt from the complete societal and mental scrubbing, likely a result of the faunus remaining outside of the crystalline walls surrounding what had been believed to be the limits of Kirakishou's territory. However, without the aid of his teammates, the lone faunus had perished to the veritable horde of grimm stalking the outskirts of Vale. Winter had written up his damn obituary for Oum's sake, alongside personalised letters to his loved ones.
Now, two separate overarching questions had invaded the worries of the upper echelons of Atlesian intelligence;
What had happened to result in the disappearance of Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings alongside the entirety of Vale? And, if Kirakishou is indeed capable of removing the global knowledge of an individual, are there more victims out there that have also been forcefully removed from the world?
Both questions had become all that Winter Schnee could focus upon in recent times, as the implications held by any answer to either question created endless hassles and concerns that had torn through any chance that Winter Schnee had of necessitating a calm conference between the gathered individuals.
"That's insane, Sleet!" Councilwoman Camilla slammed her hands down on the desk, drawing a flinch from poor Kanaria as the dusky-skinned older woman glared daggers at Councilman Sleet. "Enemy action? At this time? For whatever purpose would Kirakishou deem the deletion of Vale necessary?"
"U-Um…" Kanaria tried to speak, twiddling her fingers together. Her voice, however, was lost to the others.
"Now, now," Pietro tried to soothe the two glaring councilors with a wave of his hands, succeeding only in directing their ire towards the man himself. "There's no telling just-"
"No telling?" Councilman Sleet interrupted with a cold tone, pushing up his black-framed glasses as ice-blue eyes narrowed in a chilled fury. "Have your devices learned nothing over these past months?! With the termination of the CCT broadcasts, irregular as they were, all of your work since rejoining Atlesian R&D has been rendered null and void. Atlas is in the dark, Pietro, and thanks to your personal project, we are down a sizeable amount of funding."
Ah. Yes. The CCT. Another victim of the Alice Game being brought to Remnant. When Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings had manifested atop Beacon Academy and promptly encroached upon and swallowed up Vale, the Cross Continental Transmit Tower situated in the base section of Beacon Tower had been overtaken alongside everything else in the vicinity. Following the night of the Vytal Festival Tournament and the prompt destruction of Vale, it was a technological miracle that the CCT was still functioning at all, albeit in a limited capacity.
With the disappearance of Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings, whatever fragile connection still held by the Cross Continental Transmit system collapsed into nothingness. The world was officially separated once again for the first time following the Great War.
Conflicting data was no shocking concept when discovered in relation to the Rozen Maiden known as Kirakishou. The youngest of the dolls had demonstrated time and time again that her ability, when sufficiently fed with enough aura, was more than capable of rewriting the very laws of reality in a given area in order to suit her needs. The CCT Tower in Beacon Academy was just another impossibility amidst an ever-growing list of uncertainties and hypothetical scenarios made even worse by the latest additions.
The entirety of Vale, gone. The identities of the Ace Operatives, completely scrubbed and removed from the collective knowledge of the world. A global ability.
"Make no mistake, Councillors, the devices did indeed serve their purpose," Pietro warned the group with a fierce tone, refusing to back down in the wake of their indignant anger. "As was the case with the CCT Tower, there exists the possibility that our devices were removed alongside Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings and the surrounding landmass. Our primary concern should be to identify the cause behind this development, rather than throwing out baseless accusations that will get us nowhere."
"Well said, Pietro," Winter spoke up, silencing the bickering as she spoke for the first time since the meeting began. "The sudden disappearance of Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings, of Vale, took us all by surprise. We must, as Pietro stressed, focus on determining the reason behind what has occurred. Then, and only then, can we work to determine the future of Atlas and the fate of the Alice Game following this sudden development."
"...Yes, of course. Perhaps in our haste, we rushed to assume without appropriate discourse," Councilwoman Camilla conferred with a nod of respect in her direction, Councilman Sleet following along and agreeing with a curt nod. "Dr. Polendina. What is the current hypothesis widely held by Atlesian R&D in regards to the current status of Vale?"
"Well," Pietro shifted in his mobility device, the previous scolding having supposedly taken the wind out of his sails. "Moments prior to the event coinciding with the disappearance of Vale and rediscovery of the Ace Operatives' identities, Atlesian R&D received data from the devices lodged in Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings that signified a small drop in auric strength. These bursts occurred several times in the hour leading up to the twin disturbances."
Winter frowned at the admission, having learned much the same on the journey from her personal lodging via Pietro's frantic explanation. Even now that the information was being officially divulged in a controlled setting, Winter wasn't any closer to determining the reason behind it all.
"U-Um… Can I say something?" a tiny voice squeaked from her side. Winter blinked, looking down. Kanaria was standing beside her, the little doll clutching her side. Clearly, sometime during the argument, the doll had gotten spooked and ran over to Winter for support.
She softened at the little doll, feeling an all too familiar pang in her chest. The other councilors, alongside Pietro, also appeared to visibly shift a smidgen closer to a warmer atmosphere through Kanaria's mere presence alone. A surefire sign of her influence. Really, the girl wasn't that childish, as her sheer volume of knowledge alone had thrust Atlas into the Alice Game, but a combination of both her appearance and her antics left many cooing over Kanaria like a newborn babe.
"Please, Kanaria, if you have anything to add, feel free to speak your mind. We're all friends here, even if we may bicker a bit."
Soft, forced, chuckles echoed around the room, as the little green-haired doll relaxed at the sound. It had been a point of discussion that Atlesians aware of Kanaria's identity were to remain friendly and cordial with the doll at all times, so as to ensure her continued loyalty to the good people of Atlas.
Well, that was the official reasoning. Personally, Winter just wanted to make sure that the poor girl had a foothold to stand on without feeling the weight of the world bearing down upon her. Kanaria was Atlas's one true connection to the Alice Game, but it didn't mean they needed to overtax her.
"...I, um, I'm not entirely sure and neither is Pizzicato, but we think that an N-Field connection might have opened up before. Possibly multiple connections. They, um, they might have something to do with what's happened."
The fact that Kanaria had failed to report the event was both noticed and ignored by everyone present in the room save for Kanaria herself. Point being, it was already made a point of discussion that Kanaria's inefficiency and bafflingly poor luck were almost as prevalent as a semblance at the worst of times, to the point where Atlesian R&D had instead opted to work around the issue rather than attempt to resolve what appeared to be, by their best guesses, a defining trait for the green-haired doll. According to some of Pietro's musings, there was much deliberation on the potential interaction between Kanaria's uncannily poor luck and Qrow Branwen's own bad luck semblance. Mainly during periods of recess, where many researchers liked to chuckle at their potential antics.
"An N-Field connection, you say? Potentially more than one? Intriguing," Pietro voiced his thoughts, as the councilors paused to speculate the reasoning behind such an occurrence. "At what time was the incident noticed, Kanaria?"
"...Um," the tiny doll shied away from the combined stares, clutching Winter tightly. Winter nudged Kanaria softly, giving her best encouraging smile when the doll looked her way. "A few hours before everything happened to Vale and the Ace Ops."
"Thus, roughly around the time that the distortions in Kirakishou's N-Field began to occur…" Councilman Sleet filled in the gaps. "If Kanaria and Pizzicato are correct in their assessment that not just one, but multiple N-Fields opened just prior to the distortions identified by Dr. Polendina, then it leads credence into my theory of potential other Rozen Maiden instigating a battle with Kirakishou."
"Hm, yes," Councilwoman Camilla reluctantly agreed with her fellow councilor, "as much as I would prefer otherwise, the evidence does coincide with a new potential chapter in the Alice Game. Although, I cannot fathom why the other Rozen Maiden would target Kirakishou of all dolls. Her recent efforts with Vale put her leagues above the other Rozen Maiden in terms of overall strength."
"Perhaps it was a surgical strike?" Winter suggested thoughtfully, before going on to explain her reasoning. "Targeting and successfully defeating the perceived strongest in the Alice Game would paint quite the picture for the other Rozen Maiden. Also, it would remove a legitimate threat earlier on in the competition, preventing Kirakishou from potentially growing stronger throughout the duration of the Alice Game."
"That's all well and good," Councilman Sleet allowed with a respectful tone, "but despite what my theory would suggest, it does not fully explain why Kanaria and Pizzicato detected multiple N-Fields opening simultaneously. A single doll having an insane idea to target Kirakishou in such a manner is understandable albeit unlikely, while multiple having the same idea and striking at once borders on lunacy."
"...Speaking from prior experiences," Kanaria spoke up, the room silencing as the gathered group allowed Kanaria to collect her thoughts, "in previous battles, some of the other dolls created temporary alliances in order to take out a stronger threat. Admittedly, most of the time it was against Suigintou, that big meanie, but I can see them trying something similar against Kirakishou if they learned about what she had done."
Alliances. Hm. It wasn't entirely what Winter had anticipated between a seven-person battle royale, however, the idea wasn't entirely out of the question. Hypothetically speaking, multiple weaker parties working together to overpower a stronger opponent was indeed a viable strategy on the battlefield.
"If you were to guess, which dolls would be most likely to ally in order to defeat Kirakishou?" Councilman Sleet requested, affording a moderately more gentle tone when speaking to the little green-haired Rozen Maiden.
"Moh~" Kanaria hummed, putting a hand to her chin in an adorable thinking pose. "Suigintou would probably work with everyone except Shinku, and she has a lot of reason to defeat Kirakishou after what I heard from Shinku. Hinaichigo, maybe? Kirakishou defeated her really early on in the other world… Suigintou could have used that to convince Hinaichigo to ally with her. Though I don't think both of them would be able to overpower Kirakishou without help. Perhaps their Masters helped out, with their, um, aura thingies?"
There was certainly a lot to unpack after hearing Kanaria's musings, and Winter could see that the other councilors alongside Pietro shared similar thoughts.
Following several debriefings, Atlesian intelligence and military officials were all made aware of the various personalities and histories of the Rozen Maiden, from Kanaria's own flawed perception. Thus, they could all interpret what Kanaria had meant regarding Suigintou's reason for wishing to defeat Kirakishou, while detesting Shinku.
Supposedly, Suigintou's latest Master had been a young sickly woman, who had willingly sacrificed herself in order to strengthen Suigintou in her quest to win the Alice Game. However, when this Master had sacrificed themselves, Kirakishou intervened and stole the girl's essence for her own Palace of Beginnings. Suigintou had been searching for a way to defeat Kirakishou and rescue her Master's soul ever since.
Meanwhile, all that Kanaria knew in regards to Suigintou's ill-fated relationship with Shinku was that, apparently, the two had been hating each other since the moment they had first met. Neither had spoken of the meeting to another doll, leaving their full history lost to Atlesian intelligence for the time being.
Hinaichigo was another case that held a unique interest to Atlesian intelligence, the manner of her demise against Kirakishou seeming only to highlight the desperate lengths that the seventh and youngest Rozen Maiden would go to in order to see her needs met. According to Kanaria, Hinaichigo had been captured inside Kirakishou's N-Field and promptly devoured. She had been, supposedly, the first Rozen Maiden to fall to Kirakishou, and most certainly not the last.
Kanaria had made very specific use of the word 'devoured' in that debriefing, stating that Kirakishou had not gathered Hinaichigo's rosa mystica but instead specifically targeted her body for use as parts in order to house her own essence. A truly uncomfortable prospect indeed.
Now that she had been brought to Remnant, Hinaichigo would most certainly possess ample motive to wish to defeat Kirakishou. However, Hinaichigo was reportedly a childish doll more interested in making cute little drawings than participating in the Alice Game. A pacifist, essentially.
"Say that this supposed alliance worked and succeeded in its aim to defeat Kirakishou, the exact members irrelevant in this hypothetical scenario, what exactly would it have taken to defeat Kirakishou in her current state?" Councillor Sleet requested, looking towards Kanaria and Pietro for answers.
"Umm~" the small green-haired doll hummed thoughtfully at the question. "If I understand aura correctly, and if Kirakishou had successfully harnessed aura into her Palace of Beginnings, then you'd either need to cause enough damage to wear down the combined aura of every single person in her N-Field, or cut her off from the source."
"Considering the vast quantity of aura," Pietro added in, "I do believe that it would be the latter suggestion that would be the most viable. Nothing that I know of would be capable of draining the combined aura of an entire city's worth of hunters and huntresses."
Winter frowned, as the councilors discussed Pietro's and Kanaria's combined suggestions with themselves. Personally, as a member of General Ironwood's inner circle prior to his presumed death at Beacon Academy, Winter did indeed know of one with the potential to drain the aura of an entire city. However, she did not believe that the Queen would be willing to work so overtly, knowing what would occur if the world was to learn of her identity. The greatest enemy of humanity would not lower herself to work alongside one that would generate such a massive public outcry. Nor, alternatively, would the Queen wish to fight against one possessing such strength as to overwhelm an entire Kingdom, in fear of that power being turned on her own dark dominion.
With Ozpin currently lost in the wind and news of his next reincarnation yet to surface, Winter was one of only a choice few that knew the truth behind the world. And the others, few and far between as they were, had yet to contact her. Now that the CCT had been fully severed following the disappearance of Vale, it was unlikely that word would ever reach out to those in the know for a very long time.
As a result, with the one being Winter knew to be capable of such a feat unlikely to be involved in the matter, the most likely cause defaulted to Kanaria's other opinion- that Kirakishou had been cut off from her Palace of Beginnings.
"Would that even be possible?" Winter mused aloud, before clarifying her thoughts when the doll looked at her. "To cut off Kirakishou from her Palace of Beginnings, I mean."
"Theoretically, yes," Kanaria shrugged unhelpfully. "Unlike the other Rozen Maiden, Kirakishou's powers require a vast amount of energy in order to manifest themselves in the world. Extending that though to her N-Field, if her connection was somehow severed, then her powers would no longer be able to exist in reality and promptly disappear."
In other words, the idea had to be feasible in some manner because the result had been observed. However, as this was only the expected result of a hypothetical alliance between unknown parties, Winter wasn't going to content herself with a hypothetical possibility.
"If such was the case, it would explain what had occurred with the Ace Operatives," Councilman Sleet mused with a stroke of his chin. "If Kirakishou's power was indeed severed, then her ability to hide the identities of the Ace Operatives would have also been severed, leading to the return of their identities to the collective knowledge of the world, exactly as we have observed."
"...And, of course, it would also sever any more potential hidden identities," Councilwoman Camilla followed along with Sleet's train of thought. "Considering that the only shocking revelation in recent history is that of the Ace Operatives, it would imply that there are no further victims of that particular ability. Thank Oum."
None that aren't of particular value to Atlas went left unsaid. The implications of Kirakishou's power as hypothesised by Sleet and Camilla weren't as black and white as their musings would suggest. Poor Kanaria would remain none the wiser, as was likely the intention given their choice of phrasing, yet Winter was not as innocent to the ways of the world. A great many others may have had their loved ones' lives erased and promptly restored, yet as they were unknown to Atlas, nobody in the know had noticed any change in their memory.
An uncomfortable thought, most certainly. Yet another notch in a long list of uncanny abilities and reactions regarding the Rozen Maiden and their youngest little sister, who had warped the world time and time again.
Before Winter could refocus the conversation back to the topic at hand, the door to the meeting room slid open and an Atlesian soldier came running inside. He seemed a portly fellow, a little larger than most soldiers, yet unfortunately one of many following the conclusion of the Vytal Festival. Many had taken to a variety of methods in order to cope, after all.
Both present Councillors, Pietro Polendina, and Kanaria appeared surprised by the sudden appearance of the soldier, so it was likely a military matter that had prompted their interruption. A thought concreted in possibility as the soldier's eyes darted to focus on her, before snapping off a quick salute.
"Ma'am, pardon the interruption, but we have urgent news to report."
Winter waved off the soldier's worry with a flick of her hand, far too tired to stand on formality. "Please, go ahead, if you would."
"Yes, ma'am. Roughly ten minutes prior, Atlesian sensors detected an energy spike in quadrant Three-A, coinciding with news of weapons fire heard in the same vicinity. Considering who owns the entirety of that particular quadrant, the only possible source could be-"
Quadrants. Specific sections of either Atlas or Mantle. A, indicating Atlas as opposed to Mantle. Sections One and Two were currently occupied by various Atlesian facilities, up to and including Atlesian R&D and the Huntsman Academy. Section Three, however…
"Schnee manor," Winter mused to herself, grimacing. She shook her head and stood up, as a cold uncertainty slithered into her gut. "Send all available units to converge in the location as soon as feasible. And, have my ship prepared for immediate departure. I wish to inspect this development myself."
The soldier gave a quick salute and scurried away, while Winter returned to the gathered politicians, researcher, and lone Rozen Maiden. Kanaria, in particular, had retreated in the wake of Winter standing up and appeared to be wringing her hands uncertainly.
"News of a firefight in Schnee manor, reportedly occupying two members of Ruby Rose's former team, directly following the disappearance of Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings," Councilman Sleet shared a grave look with the other occupied parties. "I highly doubt that this is a mere coincidence."
"Yes, I agree," Councilwoman Camilla agreed with a frown on her lips. "It would appear that the suspicions voiced by Pietro here have indeed rang true. There is sufficient evidence that Ruby Rose's former team members are attempting to retrieve their wayward leader."
Pietro remained silent, only shooting Winter a silent, pitying look. Of all those in the know, Pietro had most certainly learned the extent to which Winter had worked to ensure Weiss and her friends remained outside of the Alice Game. She was, of course, well aware how far Weiss would go in order to rescue her team member after learning of her younger sister's sorry state from Jacques following the destruction of Vale. If somehow, they had learned of the Alice Game and devised a method to reach Kirakishou, then there was no telling what could have occurred.
"Considering the ever-elusive presence of our newest member, it would also appear that Councilman Schnee has learned of the Alice Game from an outside source before we could get to him. Unfortunate," Councilman Sleet trailed along with the thought, voicing another deep-seated concern for Winter. Weiss learning of the Alice Game was one thing, while Jacques Schnee learning of it was something far, far more disconcerting.
"Enough," Winter shook her head, "I shall go and investigate the incident at the Schnee manor. If there is sufficient evidence of the Rozen Maiden being implicated, then we shall discuss matters further. For now, the time for deliberation is over."
"M-Master, do you… do you want me to come with you?" Kanaria anxiously tugged at her uniform. "...There's a good chance that other Rozen Maiden could be there if we're even anything close to the truth about what's going on. When they see your contract ring…"
Winter Schnee shook her head. "No. It's too dangerous. I shall be able to defend myself if the need arises. There's no need to worry, Kanaria," Winter gave a smile that she wish she truly felt, the uncomfortable feeling in her gut strengthening as Kanaria continued to stare at her. "For now, stick close to Pietro and the rest of Atlesian R&D, okay? I want you to stay safe. I'll contact you the moment I discover what's going on."
She marched out of the room before Kanaria could think to call for her. Her hands balled into fists, as she heard the little doll's ensuing sobbing echo throughout the dim hallway.
Perhaps, when the Alice Game was over, Kanaria wouldn't have to cry anymore. She wouldn't have to be forced to be examined like some Oum-damned subject.
Perhaps, when the Alice Game was over, Winter would be able to look at herself in the mirror again without feeling like a failure.
She brushed off her bumps and bruises, for nothing hurt more than the loneliness in her chest.
Ruby Rose felt so tired. She didn't understand it. Not really. She was typically more of a light sleeper, never really able to so much as stay asleep for a good few hours before her mind was babbling about a new weapon configuration that she just needed to write down. Back in Patch, she had a sizeable collection of notebooks filled to the brim with hastily sketched designs drawn in the thick of night. She had even badgered her Dad to get a reading lamp just so it didn't hurt her eyes so much at night!
She remembered herself always brimming with energy whenever she woke up. So, why then, did she feel so tired? There wasn't even any real design idea floating about in her mind right now. Everything just felt…. oddly numbed…
Was she even awake?
A groan rumbled from her throat, as she shifted about in her bed. Clearly, she hadn't made her sheets correctly. Everything seemingly felt thick and… almost... smushy? Was that the right word? Actually, was that even a word, to begin with? Ehhh… she didn't care. She just wanted… hmmm… what was it that she wanted, again?
Ruby Rose felt so tired.
Perhaps she wanted to sleep?
But… her muscles felt sore… that same kind of numby-shifty soreness that she would get whenever she'd spend too long working on Crescent Rose, but, like, for sleepy time. Oversleeping. It wasn't called sleepy time anymore. Had she overslept? But, then, why was she feeling the way that she did?
"...Stupid blankets… stupid body…" Ruby grumbled petulantly, wishing that she understood what her body was trying to tell her. Why was all of this growth stuff so annoying? She missed the days when she could just work for hours and hours on end without having to worry about Dad getting all worried or Yang being all… Yang. And now she had to deal with all of that, plus weird body things! Ugh! Growing up was the worst!
She… did she want to get up? Or did she want to sleep? Stupid body, tell me what you want!
Ruby could hear… sounds… people talking? Hm. Maybe? It was all a little muted. Almost like someone had sneaked out of her room and binged a new season of something again, yet had forgotten to turn the volume down so Dad wouldn't hear.
She wanted to giggle at the idea of someone getting scolded again, but… she was just so tired.
No. That wasn't it. Was it? Eh. It was a feeling like it, but… perhaps it was something else?
Her mind felt all… flooshy. Swooshy? No… what was that silly word? She just had it, for Oum's sake. It had an 'uh' sound to it…
Did it?
Muddled? Uhhh. That worked? Perhaps? Eh.
Everything felt all muddled. Did… did she sleepwalk and somehow get her hands on one of Dad's drinks? Was she hungover?! Is this what alcohol feels like?!
I-If she did… was this going to stop her from getting that new scope for Crescent Rose?! Dad would get mad at her for being a bad rose and then Yang would find out and she wouldn't-
Something pushed against her. That was weird. No, come to think of it, that was beyond weird and all the way into bonkers territory. Well… provided that it wasn't herself and she was doing the whole 'phantom limb' thing and couldn't feel her body, but could feel the… effects of it? Wait, how did that even work?
Bah. She should have paid more attention in class.
Something pushed against her. Again. Insistent.
"...Quit it!" she pushed against the sensation, slurring in her sleep as she tried to roll away from whatever it was that couldn't-
Her eyes opened.
Ah! Bright lights!
Wait. No. That's no bright light.
"...Yang?" she groggily rubbed her eyes, straining as she was forced to squint. "Why is your hair always so bright? Have you been using too much shamp- Ah! Hey!-"
Yang was hugging her. Like, really really hard. Almost reminiscent of the kinds of hugs she tries to give Yang whenever Yang bakes cookies for her, but a smidgen closer to the hugs that Dad gives her whenever he's sad and she has to cheer him up.
"Oh Ruby! I'm so glad you're alright! We were all so worried for you, after everything that happened. We thought you would be…"
She kinda stopped listening, partly because she was fighting to get the blonde off her and partly because she was so dang confused. Alright? What? And what did she mean by 'we'..?
When Yang thankfully pulled away and prevented poor Ruby from suffocating, she found her question answered by the sight of her teammates. From Beacon Academy. But… they looked different?
Weiss was there. Looking… Oum… she was actually crying, tears spilling down her cheeks as she fought to focus on Ruby's small form. Why… why in the world was Weiss crying? There were legitimate tears in her eyes. For her. But that wasn't even the start of it! Weiss wasn't in her Beacon Academy uniform, her nightwear, or even her huntress outfit. Well, okay, she was in her huntress outfit, but it was all cut up. And she had stockings on. Or pantyhose, whatever. But still! In all her time in Beacon, she'd never seen Weiss wear those things (whatever they were) in her huntress outfit.
And why was it all cut up?! Had something happened?! Was… oh dear Oum no… was the washing machine broken?! What about her outfit?! Had it been torn up in the washing machine as well? Oh, no! Would she have to go to class in her underwear?!
No. Wait. This is reality, not one of her silly dreams. She had other clothes. Crisis averted. Though, they felt weird. She didn't recognise them at all, which didn't make any sense. Why didn't she recognise her clothes? They were too white, and… breezy. They felt more akin to the weird robes that people would wear when they needed to stay at a hospital for a prolonged period of time. But that made even less sense.
Blake was standing next to Weiss, and-
"Wait, you're a faunus?" Ruby blurted in confusion. Blake stilled at the words, a weird look surfacing on her face, almost like Ruby had just blurted out her biggest secret or something. But, they were right there. It can't be that, right? Unless everyone is really blind or something. Before Blake could formulate a response, Ruby's eyes snapped down and the world reached new heights of weird. "And you're friends with Weiss now? Whaaaat?"
The N-Field.
She was inside the N-Field. Her N-Field.
Again.
...Kirakishou didn't understand. She didn't understand it at all. She had been a good girl, giving her beloved Master everything that she desired. Everything had been so very wonderful. They had even gathered some new seedlings to play with! E-Everything was… so pure…
And…
...Something had happened…
She… she didn't understand it. She couldn't understand it. How could she? Kirakishou's bond with Ruby Rose had been as strong as ever, nurtured and unified by the wellspring of energy that was her Palace of Beginnings. Even Ruby's own N-Field, her Solemn Grove, made manifest inside her Master by Kirakishou herself, had begun to grow outwards of its own volition. Of Ruby's own volition.
Why, then, had their bond shattered? They were bound together.
Why, then, had their contract been torn apart? Their contract should not have been able to be broken so easily.
Why then, had her believed Master been stolen away?
Why?
Ruby… Master…
It… it hurt, to be away from her Master. To be alone in the world. Trapped and confined in the N-Field, having touched and been touched, was a far worse fate for Kirakishou than anything she had experienced in the past. When Father had made Kirakishou and opted to confine her in the N-Field, she had been blissfully unaware of the pure feelings that awaited her in the world, the N-Field having been her entire conceptualisation of reality. Now, however, Kirakishou knew what it felt like to be loved. To be cared for. To be held.
And it had all been taken away from her. Ripped from her clutches in a flash of crimson none too dissimilar to the shade of a rosa mystica, albeit darker in colouration and with origins unknown to Kirakishou.
...Summer Rose had been felled. She could feel it as it happened, her singular tentative connection to the world, withering away as nutrients were deprived from a little rose incapable of connecting to its seedbed. Summer Rose had been a product of her bond to Ruby Rose, and when their bond had been torn apart, neither Ruby nor Kirakishou could nurture Summer Rose anymore. Everything that her Master had lost throughout her life had been lost again, fading away even as Kirakishou tried fruitlessly to reunify the bond between Master and Rozen Maiden.
Even if Summer Rose were to have succeeded in protecting Ruby Rose, she wouldn't have possessed any means to locate and return to Kirakishou before she faded away. Kirakishou knew such at the time, yet the poor grief-stricken doll couldn't voice the warning aloud before Summer Rose had valiantly thrown herself into the same crimson flash that had stolen away her beloved Master in the first place.
Now, once again, Kirakishou was in the N-Field. Confined inside her Palace of Beginnings, alone and unable to walk amongst her sisters.
Just as Father had designed. The backstabbing, faceless entity that was her Father. Ah. He would probably be happy right now, wouldn't he? To see his Seventh Rozen Maiden doll confined within the N-Field after everything she had been through. Kirakishou… she wasn't happy, though.
Kirakishou hung her head, collapsing down to her knees as tears trickled from a lone slit amber eye. She found her vision drawn to her reflection as it appeared in her crystals, to the little outfit that Kirakishou had designed to wear to bed, so that Ruby would look at her and blush scarlet. To yearn for her and be yearned for in response. It had been the only piece of the physical world to survive the destruction of her contract with Ruby Rose, being pulled into the N-Field alongside Kirakishou's body as material became immaterial.
Ruby had loved the outfut. Ah~ She could still remember it. Her breath, warm and wanting. Heavy, frantic. The exploratory touch of her Master, craving a sensation that Kirakishou could scarcely understand.
Master…
She looked around at the landscape that surrounded her, feeling the memories that flooded the area and shaped it to her design.
A window at the end of a corridor. A small balcony hidden amidst a bustling dormitory. A long-forgotten peaceful abode, remembered once upon a time by two lonely souls.
Beacon Academy Dormitories. Kirakishou almost wanted to giggle at the scene. It would seem that, in the end, her N-Field had possessed too tight a grip on the captured domains of Vale and Beacon Academy. When Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings had been forcibly returned to the N-Field, both Vale and Beacon had been dragged alongside it, shaping her N-Field into a crystalline replica.
And she had awoken in the very same spot where Ruby Rose had once found her, guided along on two separate occasions by Kirakishou's little N-Field. Immaterial, material. On both occasions, Ruby Rose had found Kirakishou and their bond had deepened.
She… with their contract severed and Ruby Rose stolen away… she did not believe that Ruby Rose would be able to locate her this time.
With a thought, Kirakishou found herself sitting on a crystalline bench, overlooking a world filled to the brim with slumbering seedlings. Somehow, despite being the caretaker of several hundred thousand little seedlings, she still felt…
Lonely. She missed her Master's touch already. Her smiles. She wanted to embrace Ruby Rose and overlook their world. And, she couldn't.
It hurt. It hurt, so much. Was this what it felt like to grieve? To be torn away from the one she loved? Why would someone seek to cause her such harm?
Someone had planned for this outcome. They had taken several calculated steps in order to arrive at their chosen destination, which had inevitably torn Ruby Rose away from Kirakishou's featherlight touch and deprived the young doll of all that she cared for in the process.
There were several suspects that could have pulled off such a heist, stealing away her precious Master. Those former allies connected to Ruby Rose being on the top of her list. Yang Xiao-Long, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna. Ruby's former teammates. They had, once upon a time, been intricately woven into Ruby's immature N-Field, delicate toys to play with as Kirakishou worked on securing their future. They all may have craved the return of their former team leader enough in order to ally with the true culprits.
Her sisters, the other Rozen Maiden. Only a Rozen Maiden could navigate the N-Field in such a manner as to successfully connect to Ruby Rose and sever her contract with the red rose at the source.
Well, Laplace could, of course, and she was not blind to how Laplace had occupied her attention during the critical moments necessary to save Ruby. However, the enigmatic entity acted solely towards the continuation of the Alice Game as a whole. It would not act on its own accord. She was upset that Laplace had played her in such a manner, of course, but she could not act on her feelings. How could one scorn the wind, or the sun, or the skies? Acting against a force of nature, with her feeble power, was a pointless endeavour.
Kirakishou, however, was uncertain as to which dolls may have been responsible, barring the absolute certainty that was Suigintou. The rude doll had marched into Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings and personally disposed of Judica and Maudlin, severing their connection to Kirakishou's N-Field and promptly defeating them in short order.
She could revive them if she wanted to. Her N-Field was practically overflowing with energy already, following its return to the immaterial world. It would be a simple matter to do so. But, they would merely end up trapped in the N-Field alongside Kirakishou herself. Part of her wanted to do it anyway so that she would not be lonely, but it would be a hollow companionship compared to living beside her Master. No. It was better to let them rest. She had to remain content with the actions she had already taken, and hope that her little toys present in the material world moved the proper way. Her touch was to be feather-light, for that was the only way she could influence the world. For now.
Kirakishou turned her attention outward, looking to the sky of the illusionary Beacon Academy where clouds were beginning to gather in the distance. Already, the subtle probe of outsiders was beginning to adjourn to her reading room, the unconscious thoughts and desires of those that stood on the precipice of where her mighty Palace of Beginnings once had. They would do what she could not. But, Kirakishou would not simply sit by. Oh no.
After all, there was work to be done.
The disappearance of Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings had not gone unnoticed by the people of Remnant. Already, people were beginning to gather. She could feel their minds, their wayward little hearts, confused and uncertain.
Pale white vines answered her call, growing upwards out of the rose in Kirakishou's right eye socket, spreading towards the clouds in the sky.
Master… Please, don't worry. Please, don't cry. This time, your doll shall be the one to save you.