This may come as a delight to some readers but we're wrapping up this whole arc finally! Ala some anime I seem to have padded a wee little bit, but we're finally there! Hooray!
This itself is the penultimate chapter, and next week should be the conclusion... Right in time for V7 to air!
The warehouse was everything Weiss expected and more. Dark, dank, and musty, her nose wrinkled when they pried the doors open, fanning her face to keep dust at bay. A cobweb from somewhere clung to her ponytail and she whined, freezing up until Ruby graciously cleared it away.
"Don't you dare say it…"
Ruby smiled innocently. "Say what?" Her fingers, covered in sticky web, wiggled in Weiss' face, snorting laughter bubbling free as the Ydran slipped away.
Dozens of crates stacked upon each other filled the warehouse. Many looked to have not been touched in ages, cruelly sealed forever by webbing. No one would ever pry those open again. Nope. Certainly not them.
Thankfully they didn't need to go and search every single container. Weiss searched for something to use as a light source and found a dried-out torch hanging from a nearby sconce. One rune later and a wonderfully convenient light filled the immediate area; sparsely placed, narrow windows well above their heads afforded little in the way of illumination.
"Search for signs of a struggle," she called back, rising on her toes to peer over a crate. "Disturbed dirt, blood, maybe a broken door…"
"Can do!" Ruby saluted and cut between a tall stack of crates.
Splitting up might be an idiotic move on their part, especially if whoever attacked Coco and Fox was still around. Weiss doubted they would be. Their attacker would have known they'd find someone, and people would have come searching sooner or later. Unless they wanted more people to come through… Weiss lifted the torch higher and cast a paranoid glance behind her. No, it wouldn't make sense. What would they gain from attacking people?
What would someone gain from causing a miasma outbreak, or the Grimm to appear in unheard of numbers? She clicked her tongue and wiped the dust from a crate, coughing as particles filled her lungs.
She was trying to apply reason to the unreasonable. Why would anyone do any of this? Insanity? Depravity?
On a whim?
A dark and dingy warehouse wasn't the place to be pondering the morality of recent events.
The dirt floor of the warehouse couldn't help but speak to her. Footprints showed where the heaviest traffic tended to congregate, and square-shaped vacant spots indicated where crates had sat. Unless she was here to conduct inventory however both showed little of use. Blake would have been able to find discrepancies, but Blake wasn't here. It was up to her and Ruby to find clues.
Shame that I sounded so confident moments ago,Weiss mused sourly, huffing as she walked through a row of crates. Not a single one out of place, no footprints besides her own. I haven't the faintest idea what to look for.
"Weiss! Weiss come here!"
And perhaps that was fine. Following the sound of Ruby's voice - it wasn't hard, the warehouse wasn't terribly large, she circled a few piles of containers before chancing upon her partner. Ruby knelt beside a crate and looked up when Weiss approached, waving before pointing to the lower corner of the wooden box.
Dried blood spattered across the face of the container. Well, either that or jelly, which Weiss sincerely doubted.
"There's more!" Ruby's finger traced a narrow trail of blood across the path between crates. Of the three crates stood on top of each other the topmost two were pushed away slightly, with more blood apparent.
"Well done Ruby!" Weiss stared before high-fiving her partner, rolling her eyes and smiling while Ruby pumped a fist in celebration. "We still have work to do, don't get too excited yet."
"Right!"
They had found the spot where Coco and Fox were attacked, which was a start. Where had their assailant come from? Or where had they been hiding? The thought went unspoken between them and they split up again, circling the immediate area for any signs. The nearest door was some fifteen feet away, partially obscured by hanging cloth. It seemed like an ideal hiding place until Weiss cracked it open and stared awkwardly at a group of villagers relaxing nearby playing a game of dice.
Assuming those people hung around regularly no one would have come out the door without being seen. The only other door in the building had been back the way she'd come from, and she'd half a mind to go check it.
Would the attacker have had time to cross the length of the warehouse? Coco had been injured and couldn't fight, as had Fox, but the latter was able enough to defend himself. A surprise attack had given the aggressor the edge, but clearly, they'd had no intention of trying to linger and finish the job.
Weiss paused when an obviously rearranged stack of crates caught her eye. They formed a wall of sorts and blocked line of sight except for one specific approach. Lifting her torch higher she slipped between two containers and crouched down, narrowing her eyes and brushing her fingers across charred earth. Perfectly circular and with no signs of anything else being burned, it was faint yet undeniable. Running her hand over the nondescript ring burned into the ground she felt her palm prickle.
Magic. Residual magic anyways. Standing again she located the spot where they believed Coco and Fox had been attacked, some twenty feet away. Crates stood between her and the spot, and with little in the way of light from the windows the route was well hidden.
"Ruby?" Weiss heard feet quickly rushing towards her, stepping aside and waving Ruby into the cramped space. It didn't take long for her partner to reach the same conclusion she had.
"The only question remains is what kind of magic was used?" Weiss mused aloud.
Invisibility would make sneaking up on people child's play but with the low illumination and poor lines of sight it felt redundant. Neither Coco or Fox reported being attacked by spells, so it hadn't been an offensive cast either. Stepping away from the spot Weiss drummed her fingers on her raprier's guard, chewing the inside of her cheek as she gazed around.
No one noticed an attacker enter or exit, and to be able to get the jump on seasoned Hunters would have required some ingenuity. Come and gone without a trace, save for the faint outline of some kind of spell going off.
Moving without a trace…
"Of course!" Weiss hurried back to the scene of the attack and began to scour the area. "Ruby, look for a similar mark!"
"Uh… Okay!"
Her hunch proved correct and Ruby found another ring not long after, tucked only a few feet from where the attack had happened. Using the light of her torch they found a trickling trail of blood leading to the spot too, and a smaller, dried up pool just beyond the blackened ring.
Whoever had attacked Fox and Coco was a Magi, had been injured, and more importantly - and distressingly, had a teleportation spell.
The knowledge was useful as a match in a rainstorm. Teleportation involved using fixed points and warping between them. Typically. An errant, hurried spell could ferry the caster away but it was up to the gods then where they might land. The hidden spot of the first made it seemed calculated and planned. The second looked harried, like a desperate effort to evade capture.
For all it told them it refused to give them anything of substantial use.
Where had the person gone? How had they known Coco and Fox were inside?
Weiss kicked the dirt and huffed in frustration. A handful of answers and a plethora of more questions was not how she'd hoped their investigation would end up.
Perhaps it wasn't a total loss? Her eyes drifted back to the point of attack and she nodded her head, walking alongside Ruby back to the still sealed crate. Being mindful of the blood they positioned themselves on either side, fingers blindly groping for purchase. When they found none Weiss set aside the torch and drew her rapier, wedging it between the cover and the lip.
"Aren't you worried about breaking it?" Ruby asked.
"I'm more worried about letting a potential murderer escape. I'll pry, you lift."
Taking more effort than Weiss would have liked her arms trembled as she pushed, using the crate itself as leverage. Wood cracked and splintered, and with a groan she leaned into her weapon. Nails pulled free and Ruby yanked the lid off, yelping as she fell onto her rear, blinking owlishly before holding it up in triumph. Weiss ran her fingers over her rapier and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't warped, thankfully, although she didn't plan on trying it again and testing her luck.
Torchlight made the golden apples inside the crate sparkle brilliantly. Ruby reached for one and Weiss slapped her hand. "Careful, you dolt! What if they're tainted?"
"They're only bad if we eat one," Ruby argued, grabbing an apple and holding it at arm's length. "We need to be sure, right?"
"Well yes, just be careful. We already have one member sick!"
"Careful's my middle name!" She grabbed her scythe and twirled it, slapping a crate with the haft, knocking over another, and gasping as the blade punctured another crate. Ruby smiled sheepishly and hugged her weapon close. "Uh… I mean it's my dad's middle name?"
Weiss slapped her own forehead. "Just check the apple before you destroy the building, please?"
Ruby nodded and placed the apple at her feet. Then she used the handle and drove it down like a spike, cracking the fruit, and finally using the blade to wrestle it open.
They didn't need a torch to see the black core that sat in the apple's white flesh, nor did they need it to see how it pulsated and twitched. Darker than the shadows around them and giving off a faint mist it shone like a charcoal encrusted gemstone, turning crimson against the torch's reddish glow.
A second apple revealed much the same, as did a third. Sickly pale and feeling every bit as poorly as she looked Weiss stepped back and leaned against crates.
"How many…?" she whispered hoarsely, gazing at the containers surrounding them. "How many do you think there are?"
Ruby offered a pitiful shrug, poking and prodding at the split apples tentatively. One of the cores wriggled and she let out a shrill squeak, stomping down on it with her boot. The black mass squashed underfoot with a wet squelch, spraying black liquid across the ground that soon turned to mist.
Weiss groaned through her hand clasped over her mouth. They hadn't eaten any of those apples, had they? She wracked her brain to recall every morsel she'd dined on since arriving in Ambrose. No, she hadn't eaten anything of the sort, and unless Ruby or Yang had snuck out for a midnight snack neither had they.
Only Blake. The Meera's innocuous trip to fetch a last-minute treat before bed had turned out disastrously for her.
Regaining some of her composure Weiss and Ruby searched nearby containers, relieved to find that no others held the same bounty. That didn't mean the food was safe however, and that was more troubling than anything.
"A-At least we have an idea of what happened…" Weiss muttered, running a hand over her face. "Coco and Fox came here for something and their attacker somehow knew they'd arrived. They came by way of magic…" She glanced towards the hidden spot among the crates. "And left the same way in a hurry," she added, retracing her steps to the blood-speckled scorch mark.
"There's no way they could have known about the apples though! Blake and Yang found out about them after they came here." Ruby tapped her foot nervously. "So… It was a complete coincidence?"
"An unfortunate one at that, but yes, it seems so. They have no idea what they were happening upon."
How their assailant had known Coco and Fox were close to discovering their secret was beyond Weiss. Hells, there was a good chance that they'd have taken the apples and eaten them none the wiser which seemed exactly like what the perpetrators wanted.
Why stop them then? Why attack them and risk exposing themselves?
Once more trying to apply logic to the illogical Weiss shook her head. "Come on, we have to tell Peach and the others. Hopefully Yang and Blake have made some progress on their end…"
"Do you think Blake's okay…?" Ruby asked, nervously gripping her scythe as she followed Weiss to the front door.
Weiss wouldn't lie to her partner and shook her head. "I think she has a bomb inside of her just waiting to go off. And we have no idea how long the fuse is."
Or how many people had the same bomb inside them. Was the entire town effected? Half? Plenty had died and been burned to contain the mysterious plague.
The pure loomed in the center of town, bodies no longer recognizable, a monument to panic and frenzied terror. A handful of people gathered nearby and openly wept, keeping their distance and covering their mouths with strips of cloth.
Those would do no good if the illness was already inside of them.
Weiss thought back to the core, how it appeared alive somehow. How it had given off a black mist when killed. She felt her blood chill and her heart dropped, stopping dead in her tracks, hand hovering over the doorknob. She heard Ruby but didn't respond, slowly glancing back in the direction of the crate.
The mist was indicative of miasma, yes, but it wasn't the only thing that gave off the strange smoke.
She threw the door open and nearly hit Ruby with it. Dee and Dudley jumped at the sudden exit, each sporting worried looks when a pale Weiss rushed over to them.
"The open crate inside, take it out and burn it. Burn any of them like it!"
Weiss ran off before either man could question her, pushing past the morning crowd exiting the inn and ignoring angry shouts. This was worse than she could have imagined. People still inside continued to eat blissfully unaware, chatting away without a care in the world. Ruby almost collided with her and looked on nervously.
How were they going to do this without inciting panic?
/+/+/+/+/+/
"Okay, uh… Don't panic! You're fine! Toooootally fine!"
Blake would have glared at Yang if she wasn't becoming intimate with the barrel. Her body shuddered, her breath hitched, and with a strained groan her stomach churned, spilling black goo and bile into the container. Tears ran as her nostrils burned and she spat out as much as she could before staggering back.
Fine? Nothing about this was fine! Wiping spittle on her sleeve she hugged herself, shivering refusing to cease. Incessant ringing in her ears continued even as she folded them flat, and the darkness encroaching in the corners of her vision continued to swim.
Put off by the stale odors filling the shed she staggered to the door and threw it open, collapsing to her knees and shuddering again.
Was it normal to be able to feel your blood pulsing through your veins? It was unnerving, like innumerable worms were working their way through her body. Gods, that might actually be happening! The very notion nearly made Blake toss her uneaten lunch again, barely keeping it down as a hand clamped over her mouth. Another settled on her back and she glanced at Yang, nearly pale as herself and straining to smile.
"Hey… Hang in there, okay? Weiss and Ruby got this! They'll figure it out!"
Would that be before or after she turned into a wild animal?
Would she warp like Yang had? Would she lose all sense of self?
Even now she felt the edges of her mind fraying, like a tapestry being slowly pulled apart by a single thread. Sensations became hyperactive, ever blade of grass dug into her skin like a knife, every small rock burrowing into her flesh. Even as she shivered, she fought with her cloak, opening it and tearing her tunic open, squeezing her eyes shut and hanging her head as fatigue and nausea washed over her.
Relying on Yang for support she fought to get to her feet. Blake's legs buckled and she clung to the Dimuran desperately for purchase, feet dragging as they walked. She didn't know where as her eyes remained closed, the slightest bit of light sending a piercing jolt of pain through her skull.
Birdsong was grating. Every leaf rustling in the wind, unpleasant as shattering glass, made her teeth itch and skin crawl. Her stomach seized and she lurched forward, digging her nails into Yang's shoulder and clutching her gut in a bout of agony.
"You're okay… You're okay…"
She wasn't. Her very being was coming undone. A prickling, burning sensation at the very edges of her awareness appeared, crashing against the unnatural chill that left her fingers and toes with a pins and needles sensation, only worse. Before long they stopped walking and only once Yang lowered her to the ground did Blake crack open one eye; it was dark, though not nearly as dark as inside the shed.
Yang smiled as she placed herself between Blake and the sun, using her sleeve to wipe the Meera's face. The gentle motions made her head loll to one side and she groaned, hand shooting to her mouth as another coughing fit wracked her body in violent shakes.
"I'm… I'm gonna try something, okay? Blake, you with me?" She bobbed her head, reached blindly and grabbed Yang's shirt. "Okay. This is probably gonna hurt, so you might want to bite down on something. Here…" Fed her own scarf she furrowed her brow, lifting her gaze skyward to question Yang.
A searing pain exploded inside her body and she screamed, arching her back and spasming.
The ringing intensified, her vision blacked entirely, and her body convulsed. A hand pressed to her chest, pleasantly warm at first, might as well have been molten tongs for how hot and painful it felt. Her lungs felt like they would burn up and her cries of pain were reduced to muffled, weak shouts.
When the heat subsided, she collapsed back against the tree, bark digging through her tunic. Sweat drenched her and as the scarf fell from her mouth; she hadn't the strength to curse Yang, or her illness; breathing took every ounce of energy she had remaining. Something cold spilled over her face and she swore she heard it sizzle on contact. Her faltering vision managed to catch Yang recorking her waterskin and stowing it away, closing her eyes again as the Dimuran began to wipe her face.
"How are ya feeling now…?"
If she could answer she would. Her body was numb, which compared to the building pain and nausea just moments ago was pleasant, if concerning. For all she knew Yang had paralyzed her somehow and she couldn't even feel her illness taking hold.
That concern was dismissed the moment Yang grabbed her arms and lifted her to her feet. Blake swayed and would have collapsed if her partner didn't sling one arm over her shoulders, grabbing her hips for added support. All but carrying her along Yang continued to move back down a hill Blake hadn't realized they'd climbed and towards the orchard. Colors which had begun to blend together slowly separated and clarity gradually returned.
"Little trick I figured out ages ago. I can hurt the thing inside of me if I apply enough magic," Yang explained softly, having the sense to mind Blake's heightened senses. "Sorta… Overwhelms it or somethin' I guess, ya know? Only problem is I gotta hit myself with all that magic, just like I did you."
Blake followed, if barely. It was a lot like being intoxicated; she followed the words, but they didn't quite add up. As they stopped at the bottom of the hill and she was set down in the grass her mind began to piece two and two together.
She didn't know if Yang's implications made her feel better or worse.
Still failing to find her voice Blake pointed with a trembling hand at Yang, then herself. It took the Dimuran a second before she nodded slowly in understanding. Wonderful… Even her thoughts were sluggish, like she tried to pry them from a pool of molasses. That means…
The thought was right on the tip of her tongue. Her brain ached trying to formulate the thought. Could a brain ache? It felt like someone was pressing in on both sides of her skull with a vice. Hells, it was still better than the sensations from before.
"Blake! Yang!" Ruby's voice carried far too well. Then again everything seemed infinitely louder now and Blake hated everything about it. Ruby called again before she and Weiss spotted them at the base of the hill. "Guys!" the silver-eyed girl shouted, skidding to a halt before them. Immediately she was fraught with worry, eyes darting between Yang and Blake for an answer.
"Her sickness got really bad all of a sudden. She's okay for now, I think," Yang explained. "We're pretty sure we know what's going on now though."
"Grimm." Weiss blanched while looking at Blake before letting out a shuddering sigh. "Someone is feeding people Grimm."
"Oh, you guys figured it out? That's awesome!" The Dimuran's smile faded as quickly as it appeared. "But do you know who's doing it?"
"Not yet, but we've found proof someone has been tampering with food. The guards are going through the warehouse right now." Weiss lowered herself before Blake and frowned, reaching out and testing the burned cloth of her tunic. "How did this happen?"
Blake pushed Weiss' hand off, her own dropping in her lap. It took a few healthy gulps of air before she settled enough to speak. "Yang… Magic… Suppressed, I think…?" The blonde nodded encouragingly and the Meera groaned. "I'm… Better, for now."
Although it would amount to little if they couldn't find who was behind this, and more importantly still, how to undo it. Knowing she had a Grimm inside of her now not unlike Yang was, to put it bluntly, horrifying. Even if it wasn't quite the same way the blonde had been turned into a host, she found herself, as did countless villagers, now slowly being turned into… Well, whatever Yang had become.
"That's good to hear. I'm sorry we didn't find anything more concrete," Weiss lamented as she sat in the grass. "But we've told Peach and the others. They're working to try and figure out where someone might be hiding, and they'll come get us once they have some ideas."
"Until then maybe we should relax!" Ruby plopped into the grass with a hesitant smile, dropping her scythe beside her. "And, you know… Maybe pretend that Vale isn't going crazy and stuff?"
"I'd like to think we're plenty good at ignoring insanity," Weiss quipped with a snort. "Considering who we associate ourselves with."
Yang chuckled and leaned forward eagerly. "You two are gonna have to introduce me to all your friends when this is over! I wanna meet them!" She reached over and smacked Blake's back, nearly toppling the ravenette over. "Blake too!"
Grumbling and pushing herself back up Blake took a halfhearted swipe at Yang, swaying unsteadily, then clutching her head. "Still dying, by the way…"
"You're not dying! You're just… Going to be like me!"
Was that supposed to help things? Blake glowered at Yang before laying back in the grass and splaying her arms out to her sides. "Someone kill me…"
"Nope!" Ruby and Yang said, both popping the 'p' in unison. Weiss smiled and shrugged at Blake.
"Looks like you're stuck with us a while longer, I'm afraid."
/+/+/+/+/+/
A 'while longer' was all they had to wait for someone to come fetch them. To Weiss' surprise Yatsuhashi ran out to find them, not one of the town's many guards. The haggard Hunter looked incredibly worried when he found them, or rather, found Blake pale as a ghost. Without being able to hide it they admitted she'd become infected, and only after no small number of assurances she was mostly okay did he relax.
Turns out the guards had been hard at work since Weiss and Ruby had left. After searching every building in Ambrose they determined the culprit wasn't inside the walls. While the wilderness itself was vast and open they decided only a handful of locations would work both to conceal those responsible while also being close enough to monitor the situation.
"Those are the only three places we could think of," Yatsuhashi explained, using the stick he'd grabbed to point at the marks on the ground. "A cave to the east of town, a quarry to the south, and the ruins of a fort to the north. With how Ambrose is surrounded by hills there are plenty of places nearby with enough height to serve as lookout points."
"But only those three offer any degree of coverage," Weiss concluded. "Even if we split into pairs again there aren't enough of us to check them all."
"You won't have to. Peach finished healing Fox and Coco a while ago. They're eager to help you search. The two of them can take one location, and I'll take a few guards to another."
"That would cover all three spots, but what about the town?" Yang asked. "Aren't you worried about other people going crazy while you're gone?"
Yatsuhashi rolled his shoulders and sighed. "Of course, but we can't sit back and let these people get away. Assuming they're even at one of these three places," he waved idly at his crude map. "We can't waste time. They're already getting people together, I just came ahead to tell you four."
"Are you sure this is wise? You'll be the only Hunter with a handful of guards, and Coco and Fox were injured." Blake slowly sat forward, clutching her chest as a stifled cough rustled her.
"Coco and Fox are experienced Hunters. These… People got the jump on them but that won't happen again. They'll be fine, and so will I. You four though, you're all fresh out of training, aren't you?" He held up a hand before anyone could complain. "Peach's orders. She's the senior member among us. She's also going to stay in town and keep things under control while we're gone."
They were going to leave a healer to handle potential violent outbursts? Weiss shook her head. Peach would have guards in town still, and just because the woman practiced healing arts didn't mean she couldn't fight. Any healer with field experience would need to know how, naturally. The woman would be able to handle herself just fine. She'd have to.
"Where did you want us to go to? Just say the word and we'll get moving," Ruby insisted. Yatsuhashi tapped the spot marked 'fort' and the four of them nodded, already gathering themselves and their weapons.
"Wait one second, before you all go." Yatsuhashi opened his satchel and handed Weiss a small cloth bag. "Healing salves, just in case. Once you've searched the whole fort come and join me and the guards at the cave. If we don't find anything then…" he trailed off and shrugged.
If they didn't find anything then their assumptions were wrong, and the culprits were long gone. Either that or they were somewhere else entirely. Weiss nervously inspected Blake, noting her sallow skin and the exhausted way she carried herself. Whatever Yang had done to stave off the illness might not work a second time and most certainly wouldn't be able to be reproduced on a large scale.
Failing to find the criminals wasn't an option. Failure would mean Ambrose would fall, and more likely than not other towns after it.
Weiss added the medicine satchel to her own belt, nodding thankfully. "I assume we should send a signal of some kind if we find anything?"
"A fire spell in the sky should work. I'll keep someone posted outside the cave, and Coco and Fox will be outside anyways. If we see anything we'll come running."
Honestly it all felt very haphazard and thrown together, but then what hadn't been as of late? Time was of the essence and Weiss supposed this would be as good as things would get. As quickly as Yatsuhashi had found them he hurried off once more to finish his own preparations. Blake, helped by Yang, rose to her feet and assured the group she was ready to go.
"I'd rather fight than sit here and wait to go crazy," the Meera muttered, stubbornly wiping budding beads of sweat from her brow. "Let's get moving."
To the north of Ambrose, past the groves, up the hill, and down a long forgotten and neglected road. There they would find the fort and whatever secrets it might hold.
Weiss drew her rapier and began climbing the hill, wearing a mask of bravery as her heart hammered in her chest.
Blake could go mad at any moment, and Ambrose would succumb to another outbreak as well. There were no guarantees any of the three locations housed the criminals, no guarantees they could settle things in time even if they did find them, and then there was the small matter of actually curing the sickness.
More than the shadows of the trees swallowed them up as they carved a path into the woods. With doubt hanging over them like a cloak they trudged forward into the unknown, leaving a ticking time bomb at their backs.
/+/+/+/+/+/
After Fort Morris, Weiss expected something grand, something built to stand the test of time. What they found instead was a paltry shell of a keep and walls so long since neglected a gentle breeze might topple them.
The nameless fort had been difficult to find at first and that had nothing to do with a lack of size. Vines climbed the walls and concealed stark grey stone in pale green and blues. Trees proved their slow if inevitable dominance over the land, twisting once sturdy fortifications with their gnarled roots. It was a miracle that the gatehouse remained in one piece, although even if it hadn't been the head-high grass, fallen trees and abandoned carts made reaching it impossible.
Weiss couldn't help but linger and appreciate the fallen structure. Why had it been abandoned? Grimm? Lack of necessity?
Would Ambrose look like it if they failed? How many other towns might share the same fate?
Nervous energy made her fingers twitch and she grabbed her rapier for something to occupy her hands, trudging through tall grass and kicking aside piles of leaves and pine needles. At one point Ruby took the lead and made use of her scythe to hack a path through the growth, making passage somewhat easier.
With the front entrance inaccessible they needed an alternative. The wall crumbled in many places but rarely fully collapsed. Eventually finding themselves a divot in the stone where the wall caved inward, they cut their way to the stone face and Weiss and Ruby tested the footing, giving pause when a few stones shifted. Once they were positive a collapse wasn't imminent, they climbed, pausing halfway to help haul Blake up.
Weiss exhaled, deflating, shoulders dropping as she moved slowly towards the edge of the wall. Her eyes roamed over the abandoned remains of the keep and felt an unfathomable sadness overtake her.
Homes weren't just abandoned but destroyed. Many roofs caved in, either giving way under their own weight or destroyed by some force. Walls crumbled, windows were shattered, and a once vibrant, bustling community was now little more than a forgotten memory.
Descending a lopsided staircase in a tower so filled with dust she might choke Weiss slowly entered the courtyard, marveling at the state of disarray. A stable lay half in ruins, hay bales green and rotted, swarms of flies still converging. A pair of broken wagons by the front gates sat obscured by tall grass, sealed containers still inside, and the guard house itself was nearly gone, charred wood crumbling away even now.
"It was… Attacked?" Ruby's voice carried a somberful note and she shuffled towards the couryard's well. Rising on her toes and peering inside she gasped, one hand clamping over her own mouth as she stumbled back in fright.
"Ruby?" Weiss rushed over, consoling her friend as she shook her head and blinked back tears. "What is it?" Her partner shook her head soundlessly and pointed, closing her eyes and groaning.
That wasn't exactly reassuring. Forcing her legs to carry her forward Weiss edged her way towards the well, wrinkling her nose the moment a pungent, rotted scent wafted towards her. Holding her forearm to her mouth she braced herself and peered inside, immediately gagging and tearing her eyes away.
Rotted bodies floated in the well below, swollen and disfigured. The overbearing smell of decay and death, of flesh being reduced to… Gods, just thinking about it made her want to gag. Yang and Blake took their mixed expressions of repulsion as a sign to steer clear and did just that, making way as Weiss staggered over and gulped at far fresher air.
Why? Why was the well filled with corpses? Blinking through tears Weiss placed her hands on her knees and looked around at the neglected keep. This place had been abandoned for years. Those bodies were recent. Someone had been here.
"I… I believe we may have the place…" she gasped, shuddering and wiping her mouth. Whistling wind rolled through and a tattered Valean flag waved, the only noise besides Ruby's muted whimpering.
"We have to search. If someone has been here, then they can't have gone far. No one goes anywhere alone," Weiss continued. "Blake, Yang? Can you go house to house and check for clues? Some sign that someone's been here? Ruby, you and I can check the keep itself in the meantime."
Yang shifted Blake at her side, apologizing when the Meera groaned in discomfort. "Is splitting up the best idea right now?"
"No, but we have a lot of ground to cover and likely little time to do so. Just as Yatsuhashi said…" Weiss drew her rapier and flicked her wrist a few times to test it. "Send a signal if you find anything. If we haven't been noticed yet we'll certainly be then, so be prepared for a fight."
Splitting up was perhaps the worst idea, but without the luxury of time on their side they had no choice. Grabbing Ruby's shoulder and offer a reassuring smile she tried to guide her away from the well and towards the keep, a two-storied building that loomed over the rest of the fort, presiding as though a commander watching over their troops.
Or a large tomb before smaller, individual graves.
Weiss hadn't made it three steps when a peculiar flash went off. She barely had time to turn as runes ignited and pillars of brilliant blue erupted around them, rising up and forming a cage. Weiss rushed forward and tried to slip between a few, yelping and drawing back at the shockingly cold bars. Frost formed on her clothing and she beat it away hurriedly.
"What the hell?!" Yang slammed her shoulder against the bars of her own cage, rebounding off and growling. Rattling against the sudden confines she flared magic and the bars sizzled but refused to give way, squaring off a few feet above their heads and sealing them inside. "Ruby! Weiss! You two okay?!"
Besides being captured they were just dandy. Metal clanged off the bars and Ruby almost dropped her scythe, waving it frantically to shake free the growing ice. Through her trembling Weiss approached the bars and examined them, breath fogging the closer she got. Runes ran parallel to the bars, a few indicating ice, and others sealing. It was nothing she was unfamiliar with. She could undo them. She could break them out!
One of the homes still relatively intact opened, the door creaking loudly on unoiled hinges. A lone figure strode out, clad in billowing cloak. Hands outstretched and a familiar blue glow flowed from their palm. Weiss readied an earth rune and took aim, freezing when the cages shifted around them.
"Now now, let's not do anything hasty." The figure, a man by their voice, stopped their approach and chuckled. Bars from the cages warped and formed jagged spires, angling inward towards the captives within. "I would hate to waste such potential…"
That voice! Weiss narrowed her eyes at the hooded man and desperately tried to make out any recognizable features. The woman was an enigma, but she knew the man, she was certain of it. Ruby tensed beside her and Yang cursed again, and for good reason.
"Merlot…"
Drawing back his hood with a proud smile the elder Magi bowed his head. "A pleasure to see you again, children. I do apologize for the accommodations, but please do understand it was rather…" He rolled his wrist and looked aside as if struggling for the words. "Short notice."
Weiss scoffed, hand behind her back and trying to forge another rune. It worked about as well as she expected. One of the jagged spikes thrust into the cage and narrowly caught Ruby's chest, making Weiss cease, her spell shattering and fading.
Merlot casually circled their cages, bold enough to even walk closer to Yang's. Just as she looked ready to lash out he raised a hand and a mark on his palm flared. Yang groaned in pain and collapsed in an instant, doubling over and hugging herself.
"A beast should know better than to bear its fangs at its master," Merlot grumbled, flexing his hand and drawing another pained howl from Yang. Satisfied, he glanced to Blake, doubled over herself and coughing into her hand, body wracked with each fit. "Ah… So one of you did ingest a symbiote. Splendid! I was so curious what it might do to a Magi!"
Blake groaned and laid her head on the ground, darkness pooling beneath her. Giddy as a child on their nameday Merlot rubbed his hands together with a twisted grin. "Marvelous! You seem more resistant to the changes, but even a Magi's willpower cannot last forever. I've broken one of you before…" he glanced meaningfully at Yang. "It's only a matter of time."
Weiss formed a fire rune and unleashed it as swiftly as she could. It struck a pillar of stone just beyond the bars and dissipated harmlessly. Ruby fell aside and gasped, clutching her shoulder and dropping her scythe. Blood seeped through her partners fingertips and she gasped, lifting her hands when Merlot threatened to attack again.
"You are obnoxiously persistent, young lady. I would encourage you to remain as you are," Merlot warned. His mustache twitched and he flashed his teeth at Weiss. "I don't wish to harm you, Schnee, but I will if that's what it takes. You are very important to me and my work."
"Me…?"
"Is there another Schnee present? Yes, you!" Merlot stopped before her cage and leaned in, snow white whiskers twitching as his smile grew. "How I've longed to have one of your pedigree in my service. Your abilities could do wonderfully under the right tutelage, and I just so happen to be the ideal mentor for you!"
Weiss drew back from the leery man and scowled. "I have no interest in whatever you intend to do!"
"Oh? And in what way did I make it seem like you had a choice?" Merlot clasped his hands together, rubbing them with a laugh. "Your friend is infected, and a single command from me will twist her into a killing machine. Most of Ambrose is infected by now I'm sure! Refuse my offer and I'll turn that town into a mass grave. Perhaps I'll even command Yang here to kill her own sister?"
"Never gonna happen!" Yang screamed, eyes red as she threw herself against the bars of her cage. "Let me - Agh!"
The Dimuran cried out as her body spasmed, limbs twisting and back arching as she collapsed. Merlot sneered all the while, moving his fingers like a puppeteer, drawing Yang to her knees and twisting her around to face Blake. "No? How about I have you kill your friend instead? It would be a shame to lose a valuable subject, but it appears you need to be reminded who is in control here."
Yang's shoulders rolled and she shrieked, black tendrils forming around her arm and twisting it. Her head jerked to the side and black mist began to rise from her hunched form, a low, guttural growl cutting through her cries of pain.
Even as the transformation took place Yang lifted her head, quivering from the simple act, and turned her baleful red gaze onto Merlot.
"H-Hey… Shithead…" she panted, grunting as her body jerked. "Know what… Blake does…?"
"Is that the cat's name? Fah, I could care less!" Merlot spat.
Yang grinned as blood trickled through cracked skin on her cheeks, strained laughter distorted. "Oh yeah…? Well… Looks like we… Gotcha…"
The black pool beneath Blake widened and Weiss gasped as another formed beneath her and Ruby. The Meera lifted her head and drew a dagger as she was swallowed in shadow, vanishing from the cage.
Merlot's shadow quivered and Blake erupted from it, narrowly missing the man's neck as her blade sliced through his cloak. A wall of stone erupted and blocked any follow ups, and an eruption of flame from Weiss forced Merlot back further.
Shadow swallowed them and for a moment Weiss floated in nothingness. No sound, no sight, no sensations. A void in the absolute truest sense. Then, as if breaking through the surface of a lake, air, color, sounds and smells came rushing back at once. It was wildly disorienting, and she staggered at first before collecting her wits and her rapier besides. Dumped out on Merlot's side she lunged, gritting her teeth as her rapier glanced off a sheet of ice. She placed a hand on the sheet and used the ice against him, shattering it and showering the man in shards.
A gust of wind propelled him out of the blast zone and directly into Ruby's scythe. Silver sliced through empty air and Merlot propelled himself skyward, a bolt of lightning searing the ground where Ruby had stood.
"A parlour trick, nothing more!"
Then Yang's cage shattered. The Dimuran screamed and dropped to all fours, flames and black smoke twisting around her body, misshapen, clawed hand digging into the packed dirt. Blood dripped from a wound on her chest and she sneered, lunging at Merlot and driving the startled Magi back further.
"What?!" Yang lunged again and Merlot pushed her back with a gale, then erected a wall of ice to intercept Ruby's subsequent attack. The elder Magi scowled and reached into his robe, taking out a leather-bound book and opening it hurriedly. A radial lightning spell erupted from beneath him and forced Yang to back away, and a series of ice spikes narrowly missed the zagging Ruby.
He's casting much too quickly! He's not even drawing runes! Weiss leveled her rapier and drew a pair of fire runes, watching Merlot intently as her fireballs wound around each other, spiraling and forming a brilliant streak of red and orange. They were met with a larger fire spell and fizzled out on impact. Merlot held the book at the ready, sneering and conjuring an array of spells in an instant.
"The book! He's using the book to cast!" Weiss called out. For what little good the knowledge did them. She raced from her spot and dove behind a ruined carriage, lowering her head as spikes pierced the far side and tore the vehicle to shreds. "Disarm him!"
Blake darted between bolts of lightning, breathing far heavier than she should be. Anemic in appearance, the Meera coughed again, spitting up blackened mucus and spitting more aside.
Merlot released another electrical burst and stepped back, waving a hand through the air. Runes appeared everywhere - on the walls, the ground, in the air itself. The air shimmered in a rainbow of colors, like oil on the water's surface, and crackled with energy before a barrier formed around them. A magical ward.
"I had intended to let your friends live, truly I did. But I see you're intent on being difficult!" Merlot raised the ground before him, and jagged rock spires chased Yang back. A hail of ice shards rained down on Ruby, scoring superficial wounds and keeping her at a distance, and Weiss' own spell was negated with ease.
"After I am through killing your dear friends, I will have you, Schnee!" Merlot shouted. "And you will be punished, Xiao Long! Now, come!" The air around him burst and his robes fluttered, the air crackling, lightning dancing against the dome's walls. "You face Jacobis Merlot, the most brilliant mind on Remnant," he grinned and spread his arms wide. "And your master!"
Did Merlot just monologue? Maaaaaybe.
Did he basically just pull a Jojo? I have no idea what I mean by that, so I'll let you decide! This chapter kind of went anime and I'm 100% cool with that!
He's originally in another town but for some reason he's up here outside Ambrose. There's a reason for that, a reason folks will find out! Patience, young padawans!
It is padawan right? Never seen Star Wars. I'm such a bad nerd...