New Divide
A dark purple glow illuminates the sky, the black pools bubbling up like molten lava from the ground. The mistress of this dark kingdom just stares into the distance with her arms folded in front of her, "I-I-I'm sorry." Salem closed her eyes briefly and sighed as the pathetic tone rung out in the meeting room.
Tyrian Callows had just returned from his failed mission in delivering the girl. She didn't need to be told that he had failed, although she did ask him what happened. His news was…troubling. He recounted his tale in his fanatical manner, his eyes a bright- almost as if he was reliving this battle. However his near execution, was something that peaked her interest, "She was ready to behead you?" Her own voice quietly echoed in the emptiness, save for the two of them- Hazel having traveled to Mistral, Watts in his own lab working on a special project, and the two children with her Fall Maiden in the training room. She had briefly recalled them back after establishing an alliance with Raven's bandit tribe, leaving nothing to chance as they make the final preparations before the attack on Haven.
Tyrian bowed lower, almost wanting to sink into the floor, "Yes my Queen."
"She should have done so." She saw him wince and heard him snivel. Her annoyance was heightened. If it wasn't his drive for blood lust, she would have never recruited him, "You know I have no tolerance for failures."
"I'm sorry my Queen. Please forgive me. I'll do better. You'll see. I will go back and-"
"No. You've done enough." She turns away from the window as she sees one of her pools spit out a Beowolf. She walks passed him as if he was nothing more than a pile of Grimm droppings.
"My Queen please I beg of you-"
"No." This was said more firmly, "Leave me." He didn't move, "NOW!" He scrambles up now and leaves the room, leaving her alone. She glares at the door he left open, and with a wave of her arm it slams shut. She continues to glare at the door, before taking a deep breath and taking a seat on her throne. Leaning forward, she rests her head on her clasped hands. It was unsettling to say the least.
Between Tyrian's account and then Cinder's briefing on her fight at the tower; something was definitely wrong with this Ruby Rose. In fact it was as if she was seeing a pattern…a disturbing pattern. Getting up, she recalls Raven's briefing on what she had overheard weeks before the Fall of Beacon. Now, hearing Tyrian's account of this young Rose's mannerisms and thirst for his blood, it was indeed troubling.
Not so long ago, she recalls of a different Rose. The elder Rose who had found her and challenged her. Like all others of Ozma's followers, she had failed. Like him, though, she knew of the younger one. The so called 'simple soul' that was known as Ruby Rose. The last of the silver eyed warriors. At the time, she hadn't bothered much with the child. Now though with the events of Beacon and now Tyrian, she was seeing a picture…a much bigger picture.
Slowly, she goes towards the windows to once more look out towards the dark scenery. Somehow, the pieces were coming together as she sensed more of the oddity in the magic that surrounded Remnant as time went on; and it connected back to this young Rose, "Just what are you up to Ozma?" She asks out loud. Of course she didn't get an answer, but at the moment she doesn't care. Instead another plan began to form, a plan that would rest on how things at Haven play out.
-Snoopykid-
Weiss sighed deeply as she closed the door behind her. The room was too heavy with emotion as Blake fell back into her own head about Ruby's information regarding how things ended up. Sensing that this was something only the duo could figure out, she decided to go for a walk on her own, with Yang shooting her a grateful look; but in those lilac eyes Weiss could see the blonde's own inner thoughts about her mortality plaguing her.
Pushing herself off the door, she started to make her way down the hallway. She wasn't going to head outside, having chosen to leave Myrtenaster with her leader's weapon. Ruby had mentioned a training room before she had left them to their thoughts, and that is where she was headed…if she could find it. As she walked, the questions that they wondered out loud to each other kept playing in her head: the choices Ruby had made, who had died after Yang, but perhaps more importantly how was Ruby able to come back? It was troubling her, but knowing if she were to ask Ruby herself, she would say that would explain to everyone-not wanting to explain things more than one time.
It was more than frustrating to say the least, but rather than be angry at Ruby for all of this, she felt more betrayed and heartbroken. Like the small symbolic ribbon of trust that had been given over the first cup of coffee that they had shared once upon a time had been broken between them; and that had pained her, "Stupid idiotic dolt." She spat out vehemently, too lost in her own thoughts to notice she was no longer alone.
"Excuse me?" Startled, she sees that she is in the main lobby area and had indirectly stopped at the main counter. Another man standing behind it, glaring harshly at her.
Coughing out her embarrassment, she says, "I apologize. I didn't mean that towards you sir."
He snorts and goes back to his magazine, "Whatever. What do you want?"
Ok maybe in this case I do, she thinks as she collects herself, and manages to put on her 'Ice Queen' persona, "Where can I find your training room?" She asks coolly.
The man looks up at her and gives her a leveling look, "Go down the hallway, make a left; then follow the stairs going down. You can't miss it." Then going back to his magazine, he finishes in a bored tone as if he's explained this a thousand times, "No real weapons allowed, the training ones that we have are the ones you can use. No semblances allowed inside. If you want to practice that, then use our field outside. If you break anything, then you pay for it. Use at your own risk."
Without even bothering to say thank you to the man, Weiss followed his instructions. He would definitely get a nasty review though, she vowed. Once she approached the stairs, she followed them downwards, leading her towards an open area. It was smaller than she imagined a training room would be. Towards her left were a variety of wooden weapons, on her right were free weights and a workout bench. The middle area was somewhat spacious for some sparing that can be held. Weiss steps off the last step and takes in the small room. In front of her was a set of double doors that was open, and sitting outside on the deck with her back turned was Ruby.
Weiss made to take a step forward but paused for a moment, choosing instead to observe the reaper. It was weird for her to see Ruby so still and focused. The first time she came across the reaper in this state was the day after her…'incident', when they found her in the gymnasium at Beacon. At first Weiss couldn't believe it, but it had been Blake's suggestion on the activity. Seriously, who knew that Ruby knew of the word 'mediation'?
As she continued to observe, a silent inner battle was being raged. Does she dare disturb her team leader? Clearly Ruby was doing this for a reason, so would it be right to disturb her? On the other hand, she did have pressing questions…but-
The feeling of a magnitude of getting it by Nora's weapon, Magnhild, came over her; cutting off her thoughts entirely: Brightness, innocence, child-like wonder that she had loss at an early age. Then as suddenly as it came, it dulled drastically, still fighting to be there; but this new feeling was more matured, and refined; a burden like weight pressing down on her. Weiss clutched her chest and fell to one knee. Her mind trying to process what was happening to her. Was someone attacking them? Just what kind of semblance was this? Through squinting eyes she sees Ruby still sitting there, not moving. Clearly there is no attack, but again just what the-
"GAH!" She groans out, now going to both knees. Coldness, suffocation, all light being snuffed out. It was brutally chilling. Her chest was getting tighter. An agony threatening to tear her apart from the inside, "Ru-by." She calls out.
Her vision was blurring. She tries to reach out, "Ru-by!" Another wave of agony, she was getting desperate. Black specks were flooding her vision, nauseousness, sickening coldness, "RUBY!" She finally managed to yell.
This got the reaper's attention now. Flaming silver eyes snapped open and spun to see Weiss gasping on the ground, "Weiss?!"
In an instant fresh air filled her lungs, the coldness was zapped out of her, and the heavy burden were lifted. All that was left was her own feelings and even those were a little much to handle. Strong hands were on her and helping her up, she felt the other body pressing close to her, the scent of roses helping to breathe just a bit, leading her one small step at a time to the outside, away from the suffocating walls, "Are you ok?" Ruby's worried tone came to her, as she helped settle her on the deck.
Weiss held up a finger, prompting Ruby to wait, "Where-did that-come-from?" she just barely managed out, "Who tried to attack us?" It was becoming easier to breathe and speak as she recovered from the emotional attack that had happened.
Ruby looked moderately confused for all of two seconds before what must have happened dawned on her, "That wasn't an attack…"
"It had to have been!" Weiss exclaimed, "I was paralyzed by emotions that were not mine. How did you not notice anything sooner?"
"Because it was me." Ruby said softly looking away from her partner.
"You? How? Your semblance is speed related. You don't paralyze people with emotions…at least not like that." Weiss said perplexed and if she were being honest with herself, a bit frightened.
Ruby sighed and leaned back on her hands, choosing to now look up at the shattered moon, "That's because it wasn't a semblance. It was my aura." Before Weiss could question this, Ruby asks, "What do you remember about aura in particular?"
"Is that a trick question?" Weiss asked, but seeing Ruby cock an eyebrow at her, made her sigh and answer the inquiry, "It's the energy of living souls. We can use it as a force field of sorts and absorb impact of attacks up to a certain point. Is that what you were looking for?"
"You are forgetting one thing Princess." Ruby stated, once again in an unfamiliar tone of a teacher.
"Oh yea? What's that?" Weiss asked taking on her default 'superior' tone.
Ruby smirked, "What happens after that 'breaking point' of course. The enemy can deliver the killing blow once that point breaks." Weiss winced at Ruby's tone as she threw that fact out with callousness, "However I am once more impressed with your abundance of knowledge." Before Weiss could comment, Ruby continues, "But for now we will focus on the first part of the definition you have so graciously provided in the beginning. Souls."
Weiss felt like a student in this moment, and her team leader was the teacher; and not in the silly way as they were at Beacon when Ruby tried to teach her how to play one of her video games. Of course Ruby had also tried to teach her about weapons, something that she was passionate about when they had a 'partner bonding' day, but that had fallen through when Ruby had started her rambling and getting off topic.
No this was different, her tone of voice was soft and yet there was a distinct age to it as she spoke again, "The soul is the moral and emotional nature of every human and faunus. It is the quality that arouses emotion and sentiment. A spiritual and moral force that drives us." Ruby sat up now, giving Weiss an intense gaze that if it hadn't already hit home that Ruby was now older than them, this was it, "I will get into more details later, but for now I will say there was a moment where before things went downhill, I had asked the Grimm Reaper to take me under her wing and properly train me the best that she could."
"You left us?" Weiss asked, getting the meaning behind Ruby's words. It was another feeling of betrayal that went through her.
Ruby now looked away briefly, "I had a moment of weakness. My…magic…didn't work. Just before the fall of Atlas, and before we were wanted criminals for treason-" Seeing Weiss's look and mouth open to ask, she cuts her partner off, "Later. I'll get to that later. Anyway Salem appeared out of the Seer. We had commentary back and forth until I had gotten…cocky? No that's not the word. Self-righteous? Both? I don't know. I just know that I had to step up and challenge her. Prove her wrong. That's when she bested me. She…she indirectly told me of what happened to my mother."
Ruby paused for a brief moment and just watched Weiss's reaction, "Your mother? Wait a minute." She stops herself and recalls the story that Yang had told them that day in the woods as they had been hiking along, "You know…knew what happened to her and you didn't think Yang-?"
"Deserves to know?" Ruby finished Weiss's judging question, "Of course and I will tell. I'm not trying to hide anything anymore, I promise you." Ruby said earnestly now, silver eyes staring into ice blue desperately willing Weiss to believe her. The white-hair girl nodded slowly, giving her leader the chance to continue, "What Yang and my-self at the time knew was that mom went on a mission and just never came back. However what Yang doesn't know at the moment was that it was mom's choosing. She kept it a secret, not even Ozpin knew of her plans. Which is saying something." Ruby added the last part under her breath.
Weiss heard it anyway and the phrase 'pot meet kettle' crossed her mind, before she shook herself. Clearly Ruby was still torn about this moment, and she felt bad for thinking it, "We don't have to continue this. You said there were things you wanted to explain one time, I will respect that."
There was an uneasy silence. Ruby took a deep breath and sighed, "Its fine. It's necessary to answer your question…"
That scene is one of many that is still clear in her memory as if it had only happened yesterday instead of years ago. Her voice echoes in her head as she tells Weiss what had led to the moment of her asking Maria for help, "We've seen what you're capable of. The lamp showed us."
Salem's damned face is as clear as crystal, her feigned smile disappearing as she turns her blood red gaze on her, "It showed us everything." Her voice had been confident, not the soft tone that she was using as she looked away from her partner, "We've seen that you can't be killed. But we've also seen you fail."
Weiss's eyes had not left her partner. As Ruby talked, she could see that Ruby was not in the same mental plane. Yes her body was here, her speaking tone suggested she was here, but even a blind person could see that mentally, Ruby wasn't here; but in that event of Ironwood's office, "We don't have to kill you to stop you. And we will stop you."
"An unintentional false vow made by a naïve young woman that had once been filled with a sense of hope and purpose." Ruby said with a dark chuckle and self-loathing.
"Ruby?" Weiss called softly as she reached for her partner's hand in comfort. She grasped it and squeezed, offering all the comfort she could.
Ruby shook her head, but did not let go of Weiss's hand, instead choosing to overlay her other hand with the one holding it, "Next came the seven words that first broke me." She looked at Weiss and repeated those words, "Your mother said those words to me."
Weiss was in disbelief as she watched Ruby turn away once more describing the utter turmoil. There had been hints and proof that Ruby had indeed somewhere along the line become shattered. A former remnant of the bubbly fifteen year old she had been at Beacon before initiation, "She was wrong, too."
As Ruby stared into the distance, she doesn't see the scenery of Mistral, but instead the image of her mother, Summer Rose, standing on the cliff-side on Patch. Her eyes closed and hands clasped together in front of her, slowly turning her back on her, "Ruby, I'm…I'm sorry." Weiss said softly.
Ruby snorted as the image in her mind shatters, breaking her free of that mini spell, "Why are you sorry? It's not your fault, you did nothing wrong."
"Still." Weiss said feebly not sure what else to say. She was still holding Ruby's hand, and Ruby's other one was laying on top of hers; rough, strong, and calloused from years of working with her overgrown garden tool she called a weapon, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"It is because of that, once we were settled after Atlas's fall, I left you in charge of our team and went with Maria to train. Better myself and my emotions so that I wasn't weakened by her again." Ruby said, now pulling her hand free. She got up off the deck and turned away from her partner, choosing to lean against the wall, "She taught me how to mediate, how to look inward and push all emotion away from me."
"So that is what you were doing. Now and when we found you in the training room at Beacon." Weiss stated as she too got up, no longer feeling dizzy or sick. Ruby hummed as an answer, "So…when you said that was your aura…it was your soul…your emotions that you pushed away."
Ruby again hummed in response, before pushing back off the wall and stepped onto the grass, choosing instead to sit on the bench. Weiss slowly followed, but instead of sitting, she leaned against the tree with her arms crossed, "I was starting to lose myself when I had been talking to you guys. Especially when I had to explain…" Ruby trailed off and just left that thought hanging, "It's only going to get worse. I'm not going to sugar coat it. It gets a hell of a lot worse. So whatever I have to explain next, it is best I do it with a clear head and not fall to any…hostility."
"Could you maybe explain what exactly I…felt?" Weiss asked, not wanting to dwell further into the turmoil that would be eventually explained to them.
Ruby nodded, "I can try." Taking a deep breath, she wondered where she would start. It was a simple explanation, at the same time it was anything but to voice out loud, "Over the years…as you can imagine, my soul has been through much turmoil: pulled, stretched, chipped, torn apart from horrible events." She stands again, turning away from Weiss and places her hands behind her head, staring once more up at the shattered moon, "In order to gain the…emptiness I seek, I have to push away the parts of me that are the strongest. So the innocence, the leader, and ultimately the darkness that I fell into."
Weiss marveled at the young complex woman, "So all those feelings…"
"Are just parts of me that I have to fight between;" Ruby said, "It had been hard in the beginning when I came back. To be that innocent fifteen year old you guys knew that liked her coffee with cream and five sugars." She allowed herself to smile, which made Weiss smile sadly, "I realized after that moment of reflection, that I couldn't do it."
Weiss was watching her closely, a slow understand forming in her mind, "The innocence. So then the leadership-"
"The burden of life." Ruby stated, "Having to take responsibility for everyone under your command. The silent weight that you carry with you with each unimaginable decision you make. Something that I've learned the hard way time and time again."
Weiss nodded, and then shivered and winced harshly, "The darkness?" There was a heavy sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ruby told them that it was formed when their team died. Again the haunting question that was asked between the three of them after Ruby had left the room came to her, who is next?
Ruby was deadly silent, just staring up at the sky. A coldness came over Weiss again just staring at her team leader and friend, "There was this place inside me, I…a place I think everyone has that they keep to themselves."
Weiss nods, a feeling of understanding comes over her. How long has she battled with that same place before meeting her friends at Beacon? "A fortress, where the most private part of you resides. It is where the light and darkness reside within." Ruby now looks at Weiss, and against the light of the shattered moon, she seems a glimmer of something ominous flash across the silver eyes, "It is said that the strength of the light and dark depends on what you feed. After…" Ruby trailed off, "it was like... my... fortress had been blown apart. Both light and dark roaring inside of me. My inner being that once lived there was suddenly exposed, out in the open, without shelter, without…love."
Ruby shook herself and took a deep breath, "I had nothing. I was nothing; and I didn't care. So I fed the darkness. It gave me purpose. Instead of living up to our oath as huntresses…protecting the innocent and all that…shit…" Weiss winced, "I descended into punishing the guilty. Those that were still around started to spread my new title: 'Bloody Scourge of Remnant'."
"Ruby…" Weiss breathed out looking at her friend, unable to believe what she just heard.
"Does that answer your question?" Ruby asked not allowing Weiss to comment further on the matter.
What was sad, was that indeed Ruby had answered her question. The thing of it was that she had a dozen or two more to ask. Again without allowing Weiss to speak, Ruby turns and starts to head back inside, "Come on. I believe we've given them enough time to themselves."
Weiss is hesitant to follow, but she does, allowing Ruby a generous lead. She stares at the reaper's back, blood red cloak billowing out behind her. Bloody Scourge of Remnant, Weiss repeats in her head. A chilling image appears in her mind's eye: Bodies of their enemies and the Grimm laying on the ground with a lone figure in a blood soaked red cape with her scythe that was dripping red and black fluid; silver eyes glowing in raw fury giving her a sinister look that matched the cross shaped scar on her right cheek and the crescent moon shaped one on her left eye.
Those scars, Weiss halts her steps and calls out, "Ruby?"
Ruby stops and Weiss immediately realizes that they are in the middle of the hallway that led back to their room, "Yes?"
Weiss stares at her friend's face. The cross shaped scar on her right cheek and the crescent moon shaped one on her left eye, "You never told us how you…?" She trailed off and just motioned to Ruby's face.
Ruby touches over the scars and just smiles humorlessly, "You'll have to wait for those stories I'm afraid."
She starts to turn away and keep walking, "You must have been low on aura for them not to heal properly." Weiss comments, trying again to get Ruby to explain.
Ruby doesn't buy into it. Instead she chooses to respond with, "Or perhaps I didn't want them to heal." Without another word, she starts to make her way back to the room and Weiss followed in somber silence.
With Yang and Blake during Weiss and Ruby's encounter-
"Blake?" Yang calls out quietly, so as to not startle her feline like teammate, "Talk to me please."
It was just after Weiss had left the room, to find Ruby she assumes; but right now all she could focus on was her partner. She didn't like the reminiscing look that shadowed her face, "What's there to say?" Blake asks, "Because of me you get killed."
"Again that will not happen." Yang says as she kneels down so that she is looking right at her partner's amber colored eyes.
Blake glares at her, pushes her away, and starts to pace the room, "You don't know that! You can't know that!" Then in a moment of fury, she yells, "How is this not bothering you?!"
"Not bothering me?" Yang demands softly that causes Blake to flinch, "Not bothering me? Of course this is bothering me! I had to listen to my sister recount my death!" Lilac eyes flash red, "I just had to hear her admit that she starts down a dark path because I died! It's my fault!"
"I became your partner! It's me he wanted!" Blake yelled, "So it's my fault!"
Yang pushes Blake on the bed, "It is not your fault! You are not responsible for that psycho!"
Blake stands up furiously and pushes Yang back away from her, "You died! By his hand! I fail to see-"
"No! You don't play the martyr!" Yang yelled pushing back against Blake, "Yes I supposedly died by some sick egotistical psychopath that was in your life once upon a time! However with Ruby's information, we can be better! Make sure it. Doesn't. Happen!" She enunciated. Then her shoulders shagged and in a defeated voice, she says quietly, "I died, but it wasn't on you. None of what Ruby explained was on you."
Blake took a deep breath. It was shaky and resigned, "Then Ruby's path wasn't on you." Before Yang could argue, she says, "If you want me to start believing that your death wasn't my fault then you have to start believing that Ruby's dark path wasn't on you either."
Yang glares harshly, but her eyes turn from red to lilac again, "I left her Blake."
"Sounds like we all left her eventually." Blake whispered.
They stood in the middle of the room in silence for a moment or two, before re-taking their seats on the bed next to each other, "It doesn't make this any better." Yang whispered.
They were silent for another moment, "We've talked about me." Blake started with, "I can guess how you are feeling."
"Sadness. Devastation. Anger." Yang listed, "Most of all I am disappointed. Ruby should have known that no matter what she was…is never alone." Blake nodded, looking away from the blonde, "Also I feel like a failure." Yang admitted.
"What?" Blake asks, cat ears going from folded to pointing straight up giving Yang her attention, "How do you feel like a failure?"
"I couldn't protect her." Yang said softly, "I've always been there for her. Tried to protect her and be there for her when she needed me." She fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, "Despite her being my team leader, she is my sister first and foremost."
Blake leans back as well, choosing to also stare at the ceiling, "And that will never stop. She needs you now more than ever."
"But you are right," Yang whispers and Blake looks over at her, "I can't make promises that I can't keep. Ruby seems insistent that there will be things she cannot stop. What if-"
Blake grabs Yang's hand and squeezes it hard, "No. Don't think like that. Like you said, with Ruby telling us how all this happens. There has to be a chance to stop it."
"She couldn't stop Beacon." Yang said pulling away from Blake.
Cat ears folded down again from the loss of contact, "Well she went about Beacon the wrong way by not telling us sooner." Then pausing only for a moment, Blake adds, "Or staying for that matter."
Yang half nods and says, "Yea I suppose. There is also another problem that we have yet to know about."
"What's that?"
"Which one of us dies next?" Yang says looking at Blake.
"Right…" Blake sighs out looking at the ceiling, "Also where do we go from here?"
"What do you mean?" Yang asks looking at her partner.
"Well we can't very well continue like this." Blake makes an arbitrary motion towards the door, "Divided and fighting against each other for things that may or may not happen."
Yang sighs bitterly, "This is a mess of things."
"Putting it moderately…" Blake muttered. Then out loud, she says, "So…"
"What?"
"Where do you think we go from here?"
Yang frowns deeply, and stares critically at the ceiling, "I guess we keep listening and asking questions. We don't stop until we cover our basis."
"No matter what?"
"No matter how much this will continue to hurt." Yang says softly, "And if Ruby's attitude is anything to go by, this will get worse."
Blake sat up now and looked down at her partner. She sees unshed tears in the blonde's eyes. She lays back down and hugs her friend close, "I'm sorry." Blake whispers.
"What did we just agree on?" Yang demands, but her voice cracks as she accepts the hug and tightens it.
"I know but I will still say it anyway."
They don't know how long they laid like that. Taking comfort in each other until there is a knock on the door. Pulling away, they give each other a smile and whipped their eyes before Yang called out, "Come in."
The door slowly opens and Ruby walks in slowly with caution, and Weiss following behind. Yang and Blake notice that Weiss is slightly paler than normal. The heiress shakes her head slowly before the bumble-bee pair can ask any questions, "Hi." Ruby says softly, going over to the desk and sitting down.
"Hey." Yang replies back.
There is a moment of tension in the room as Weiss makes her way over to the other bed, "So…" Ruby trails off, "I guess are we you know…ready for me to continue?"
The three of them look at one another and share a nod, "As ready as we'll ever be…" Blake says on behalf of the three of them, "Who's ah…fate is next?"
There is a pause as Ruby sighs, and now Weiss knows her team-leader is looking inward to distance herself from the information at hand. Ruby looks at the three of them before her silver eyed gaze looks directly at the amber eyes of the faunus, "Yours."
