Chapter 14: A familiar face.
'Oh, COOL! Guess I CAN make these too!' Ruby thought to herself.
Ruby shot her blaster to propel herself at Cinder and slashed to the right with her scythe, only for Cinder to materialize a sword in each hand and blocked the hit. The little Rose then flipped over the thief as two red beams crossed each other and hit the false Maiden.
Cinder materialized dozens of stone shards from the air and shot them at the red Rose. A blaster appeared in front of the little Rose and blocked all of them before firing at the false Maiden.
The thief sidestepped to her left to dodge the beam. She then summoned a fireball in her left hand, but before she could throw it, a red scythe swept her off her feet from behind.
The false Maiden fell onto her back and rolled backwards before flying up to avoid four glowing red scythes coming at her in four different directions. The ground where the red scythes hit suddenly exploded, destroying the scythes.
'Look down!' Chara warned.
Ruby immediately did what she said and saw a square with an exclamation point. The red reaper jumped backwards just in time to dodge an explosion coming from the ground.
The red Rose then raised her Crescent Rose sideways with the bladed side on her right and used the shaft to block the thief's downward slash. Ruby shot hersniper-scythe to use it's momentum to swipe left with her weapon, only for Cinder to duck underneath it and thrusted her right flaming blade to the little Rose's stomach.
The red reaper was sent flying backwards and she rolled back to her feet. Suddenly, four red blasters crossed their beams and hit the false Maiden at the same time.
'RUBY! STOP! HER AURA IS GOING TO BREAK!' Chara yelled in the red reaper's head.
Right after that, the sound of broken glass shatter and the little Rose ceased fire immediately. Cinder fell to her knees and let out heavy breaths. She was about to make a run for it when four crimson scythes locked her neck with the bladed part while two scythes threatened to bisect her.
"Why did you steal the…" Ruby forgot what she was going to say.
"Magical power." Chara told the red reaper.
"Yeah! I mean,... The magical power!"
'Whatever the heck that meant.' Ruby thought to herself.
"H-How did you know about this? How did you even get your hands on magic!?" Cinder stuttered.
"Oh, Chara told me." The red reaper blurted out.
'RUBY! YOU IDIOT!' Chara yelled in frustration.
'CRAP! SORRY!' The red Rose thought frantically.
"C-Chara?" The false Maiden stuttered.
'Let me have the control for a sec.' The striped shirt wearing kid pleaded.
'Uhhhhh,... Ok? How?' The red reaper asked.
'Like this.' The girl answered as Ruby's eyes turned red.
Chara (now in Ruby's body) looked straight at Cinder.
"Hello, sister." Ruby (Chara) said.
The false Maiden looked at the red and black dressed girl as tears poured out of her eyes. In front of Cinder was her long lost sister.
"How did you get magic?" Chara asked.
Silence was the answer.
"Why did you kill so many people? Did these people die in your pursuit of power?" The red eyed girl pressed.
"I-I,... YOU DIED! I SAW YOU DIED!" Cinder yelled as tears streamed down her face.
"And that does not answer my questions." The striped shirt wearing girl deadpanned.
"YOUR QUESTIONS!? DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT ME!? DID YOU THINK OF WHAT I FELT WHEN YOU DIED!?" The thief screamed.
At this point, Chara was a bit confused, but she didn't have time to ask her questions as the elevator opened. From the lift, came out general James Ironwood along with headmaster Ozpin and a few Atlesian Knights.
"Both of you are coming with us." The General said.
Chara decided that bailing was the best option for her, so she gave Ruby the control.
"Crud." Was all the little Rose said.
TIMESKIP
Ruby was sitting in a cell with her legs swinging back and forth. She looked up as the sound of footsteps approached her. The headmaster made his way to her room and looked at her before greeting her.
"Miss Rose."
"Headmaster Ozpin." Ruby returned the greeting before asking.
"Am I in trouble?" She asked.
"No, miss Rose. The footage proved your innocence. However, I still require you to meet me in my office." The headmaster said.
"Yes sir." Ruby replied.
TIMESKIP
Ruby was currently in the headmaster's office along with headmistress Glynda Goodwitch. The silence was broken by the headmaster's question.
"How did you obtain that power? I knew that wasn't your Semblance due to the fact that it did not create just rose petals."
"Well, it's soul magic. It's something that Sans unlocked from my soul." The red Rose answered truthfully.
"He can do that?" Glynda asked.
"Yeah, my team and JNPR have these too. I'm just the one who practiced with it the most." The little Rose said.
"Please, tell your team to tell no one and show no one. Some might try to take advantage of you and we cannot have that. Can you promise us that?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes, sir." The red reaper replied before asking.
"May I meet the woman we fought yesterday?"
"Why would you want to do that?" The headmaster of Beacon asked.
"I may be able to talk some sense into her and convince her to give back the magic she stole." Ruby shrugged.
This gave Ozpin a raised eyebrow as he asked.
"How did you know that her power was stolen?"
"Well, I uhhhh,..."
'Let him know about me.' Chara said.
"Okay, it might be a bit weird, headmaster, but someone told me this. Chara was her name. She's another soul of Determination like me, but somehow, she died. Her soul is still here, right next to me! She is speaking in my head and she had some connection to Cinder Falls. I swear, I am not crazy!" The red Rose explained.
Ozpin blinked once, twice before saying.
"And I absolutely believe you, miss Rose."
"You,... Huh?" Ruby blurted.
"I believe we are on the same boat, you and I." Headmaster Ozpin said.
"You,... Have the soul of Determination too?" She asked.
"No. I have a cross soul or a double soul to be exact." The headmaster of Beacon replied.
"B-But, people can only have one soul!" The little Rose exclaimed.
"Yet, here we are. We are more alike than you thought." Ozpin said and a light chuckle escaped his lips.
"I guess,..." Was the reply.
"Now, if you do believe that you are able to convince her to return the magic. Then by all means, go ahead. I approve." The headmaster said.
"But, before we go, what's your favourite fairy tale?" He continued.
Cinder's cell, a few moments later
The false Maiden was sitting with her hands covering her face as Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood and Ruby walked to her jail room. Cinder merely looked up to meet their gaze.
"Leave us." The general ordered.
"Can I talk to her?" The thief asked.
"You are in no position to make any demand." Said the Atlesian general.
"James, let her speak." Ozpin said.
"Chara?" Ruby called out.
Almost as if on cue, the red Rose's eyes turned red. She then looked directly at Cinder.
"I'm here." She said.
"I-I don't know what to ask anymore." The false Maiden looked away.
"Good. Let me ask." Chara said before continuing.
"Why did you follow this path?"
"I-I,... You died! I was in pain! I couldn't stand that! I don't want to feel that desperation again!" Cinder exclaimed.
"I wanted vengeance! I wanted power to kill those who hunted you for your Maiden power! I didn't want to feel the feeling of helplessness the day they chased you to Mount Ebott!"
'Wait,... You have a Maiden power!?' Ruby exclaimed in her head.
'Did you really think you were the one who created the scythes? No. It was MY experience with magic!' The former princess of monster kind replied in her head.
"The headmasters were the ones behind this! They were the ones who hunted the Maidens! They were the ones who got you killed." The thief growled as she continued.
"And others, they are even worse than the headmasters. They WATCHED as we were chased down without trying to do a thing! COWARDS! ALL OF THEM!"
"What she said. Are they the truth? Don't you dare lie to me, Ozma. Sans is not the only one with the power of Judgement." Chara warned.
"How did you-"
Ironwood was cut off by Glynda.
"James." Goodwitch said sternly "Be quiet."
"They are the truth." The headmaster of Beacon answered.
"See? Even he admits it." Cinder chided in.
"You said that as if you're any better than him. Tell me, dear sister. Did you think of what the Maiden felt when you took away half of her power?" The red eyed girl asked.
Silence.
"Yeah. That's what I thought. All of you claim to fight against the corrupted, the evil in this world. And yet, all of you failed to realise that you have become the very thing you swore to destroy." The former princess of monsters said.
"You humans always fought and blamed the other side without even looking at what you have done."
"I will sacrifice anything to keep my people safe!" The general stated.
"Your people? And what about us? Are we not people, too? Are we not worth your protection!? It wouldn't be called protecting if you're sacrificing your own people!" Chara shot back.
"ALL YOU EVER DID WAS SITTING ON YOUR HIGH TABLE AND LOOK DOWN UPON US!" She yelled.
"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!" Glynda roared in an attempt to stop the two. But, Chara just ignored her and turned to Ozpin.
"You drove the monster kind to their extinction because you feared what had not happened. I hope you humans are proud of yourselves. Never once had you thought about the consequences before it came back to BITE YOU IN THE ASS!" The red eyed girl screamed as she stomped out of the cell.
A few seconds after Chara left the shuttle, everyone turned their attention to the false Maiden.
"Now that she's not around anymore, let's talk about your employer, Salem." Ozpin's voice dropped into a much more menacing tone.
Meanwhile
Chara ran to team RWBY's dorm room before lying on her bed and shutting herself off. Ruby was then given the control. The red Rose sat there as she hugged her knees in an attempt to comfort herself.
A click on the door was heard. The rest of team RWBY walked in and looked at their sad leader. None of them knew why she was sad, but they were all happy to see that Ruby was safe, and that's all that matters.
"I take it that your talk with the headmaster was less than pleasant." Weiss said.
"That's an understatement." Said Ruby.
"What's wrong, Rubes? What's in your mind?" Yang asked.
"I've just learned that the headmasters aren't as good as we thought them to be." The red Rose replied.
"He didn't,... Do anything to you,... Did he?" The blond brawler asked hesitantly.
"No! It's nothing like that! I learned that they were the cause of Chara's death. That's also why her sister turned,... Bad. She wanted to destroy everyone to avenge Chara." The little Rose clarified.
"Okay? I remember that Chara was the fallen human, the princess of monsters in Sans's story but, how did you find that out?" Blake finally spoke up.
"Chara's sister, Cinder. She told me.that, and the headmasters confirmed it." Ruby stated.
"I don't know who to trust anymore..."
"That's where you're wrong." Weiss said.
"Huh?" The little Rose blurted out.
"We are here, Ruby. We will always be by your side to support you. You can always count on us." The white haired girl finished.
"Weiss is right, Ruby. Whatever you're going through, keep in mind that you will always have us." Blake comforted her.
"Thanks guys. That meant a lot to me." Ruby told them.
'*sigh* You have a wonderful team, Ruby. Do your very best to keep them." Chara told her.
"Guys, meet my friend, and the other part of my soul, Chara." The little Rose introduced as she pointed at herself.
Ruby's eyes shifted to a crimson color. A smile formed on the girl's lips as she spoke.
"Greeting team RWBY. My name is Chara Dremurr." She said in a rather polite if not a little snobbish accent.
"A pleasure to meet you." Weiss greeted.
"Same." Yang told her.
"I found that your team leader has the soul of Determination and she knew Sans so I merged into her soul to help her with some things, such as how to use her magic. I planned on teaching not just her, but all of you this in the future." The red eyed girl stated.
"Happy to hear that my sis got herself a guardian angel." The blond brawler stated.
"Oh, I'm not Ruby's guardian angel, but I will do my best to keep you all out of harm's way." Chara told them before continuing.
"With that being said, I expect all of you and team JNPR to train your magic with me starting at 6 AM tomorrow morning."
The whole team, including Ruby, groaned.
The Underground
Sans was eating at Grillby's. Only this time, he wasn't surrounded by monsters or any of his friends. It was a bit sad, but Sans was getting used to it. After all, being a guard was awesome. He can finally get to do what he does best, which is nothing.
"why did the skeleton go to the pub alone? because he had no Body to come with." The blue jacket boy asked and answered his own pun.
"May I have a seat?" A voiced asked him.
"who-" The skeleton didn't finish his question as he let out a gasp.
In front of him was someone who was lost in time a long time ago. In front of him was his dad, his creator, WingDings Gaster.
"Greetings Sans." Gaster said.
"but,... but you were-"
"I did. I also found my way back. You've become a protector, I see." The elder skeleton cut him off.
"yeah, i did. how long have you been watching me?" Sans asked.
"Until just now. I also found that you've finally found yourself a girlfriend." Gaster chuckled.
"jeez, old man. talking about stalking." The blue hood groaned.
"Oh, shut it. Be grateful that you have my help on maintaining the Core. I built it after all." The scarred skeleton chuckled again.
"yeah. great to have you here, doc." Sans chuckled with him.
Happy Lunar New Year. Yes, I do celebrate it. That's why this chapter came out so late. Sorry for being a lazy ass. Also, thank y'all for your support and keep it up guys. Stay safe and happy. Peace.