Me yesterday: tired and feeling sick and stressed from my normal job, think I need an easy day to relax. Also me yesterday: Mother has a mini stroke. Has to drive to hers to care for her and be on phone to hospital for hours on end.

Tl:dr: My normal job has me stressed out my mind to the point I'm feeling ill this weekend – I was meant to take it easy yesterday after a shorter Relic chapter that didn't end up being shorter. Now, after having spent the night at my mother's to look after her, I feel even worse. Today's Arcanum will be shorter. Sorry about that.

Cover Art: Z-ComiX

Chapter 55

"Why would you make that kind of bet with him?" Weiss hissed once Martyn and Pyrrha had gone back to watching the manor. "Are you mad?"

"No. Why?"

"What if you lose!?"

"Then I have to go to the dance with him." That seemed fairly obvious, and also more than a little inconsequential. "It's not a big deal. We can't stand one another so we go, have a crappy time and then nothing happens. But if I win, I get a hundred lien."

"A hundred lien. Is that it? I could have lent you that if you needed it!"

Then that just went to show how little money meant to her. Martyn hadn't made a bet for chump change from her point of view. He'd offered to feed her sister for months bet against a single night's embarrassment for her. Weiss might have thought it was a stupid risk and it was – she wasn't stupid enough to think Goodwitch wouldn't be good at her job – but the gains outweighed the loss. As for borrowing from Weiss, well…

"I couldn't have paid it back."

Weiss balked and then blushed bright red. "I…I'm sorry, I didn't think. Of course you don't have any lien right now, do you? You probably had to spend it all just to get here in one piece."

Ruby agreed with a hum, attention back on the manor. To Weiss and everyone else the thought of having no wealth must have been shocking, but the concept was obviously meaningless to her so she couldn't really grasp why Weiss looked so horrified. She could make assumptions. If the nobles mocked Weiss' family for being bad with money then they'd probably mock her as well, or maybe not outright since she could argue the loss wasn't her fault, but they'd consider her `lesser` in any transactions. Marriage, too, probably, since she couldn't make a dowry. Not that the thought of being unattractive on the marriage scale worried her too much.

In reality she was much better off than she had been. Real food, regular meals, a roof that didn't leak and access to water she could see through without sediment. Even beyond that, once she graduated, she could make money off being an Arcanist and instantly have a better future than she'd have ever had access to in the slums. All that combined was why she shuffled uncomfortably when Weiss looked at her with such pity.

"It's fine." Ruby grumbled. "Don't waste time thinking about it."

"You're my best friend. How can I not?"

"That's two minutes," Pyrrha said.

"Two minutes." Ruby said. "Worried, Malneux?"

"Not especially. Even the Grand Arcanist would take this long to walk through a manor of such size, modest as it is. I'm confident Lady Goodwitch will find him soon, and the battle between them shall be little more than a formality."

It couldn't be. Or it shouldn't be. The Librarian had decades under his belt, decades of study in the Collegium and as an Azure Arcanist. Even if he couldn't beat someone who dedicated their time to combative arts, he was still an Arcanist. He could shape the world around him and cast magics the likes of which she couldn't understand.

Another minute passed in silence. Outside, nobles came and went, some looking over occasionally but none bothering to ask what they were up to, as though four Arcanists their age standing outside a manor was commonplace. It occurred to her she could make a run for it if she really wanted to. Goodwitch obviously trusted Pyrrha to be able to keep all three of them inline, and she should have been able to since she was a Crimson Arcanist, but a Wildmage could escape her.

Then what? Running into the slums with the Collegium and the Huntsmen on her tail. It wasn't worth it, especially when she could get Merlot to take her out – once she proved she could be trusted outside the walls by being on her best behaviour now.

On the fourth minute, a window exploded outwards, blue fire licking up the brickwork and burning down a creeping vine. Glass shattered and sprinkled down onto the grass to their right, Pyrrha raising a shield above them with a whispered incantation that didn't end up being necessary. Weiss flinched at the noise, but Martyn jumped and adopted a wild and excited smile like a hungry wolf smelling blood.

"They've found him!"

"Or a trap." Ruby pointed out.

It wasn't, she realised a moment later when more loud sounds and deafening cracks echoed through the building. Someone who walked into a trap would stop to catch their breath and scan the area, not stumble into more like an idiot. Combat had begun on the fourth minute, the Crimson and White Arcanists finding the Librarian already, even in such a large building. They must have tracked his magic, she thought. That's the only explanation.

He was still an experienced man. He was still an Arcanist. Lightning crackled and barked, more glass shattered, and bright lights flashed out, startling the nobles nearby into turning to watch and loudly chatter. Children half their age with no sense of self-preservation pressed their faces between the iron bars of the front gate, gasping and shouting out encouragement. Ruby glowered back at them, immediately hating their pudgy over-fed faces and richly coloured and mucky clothes.

"Five minutes." Pyrrha said.

The building was rocked by a mighty explosion that shook dust and slate from the roof. A single piece came crashing down to shatter in front of them and then the manor was still. Silent. Ruby counted her own heartbeats, reaching the sixty before the front door banged open and Lady Goodwitch emerged, head held high and arms at her side.

Behind her, a man hung limply between the two Crimson Arcanists, his head and face hidden by a burlap sack tied tightly around his neck. His blue robes were stained black and red, his sleeve town and one arm hanging limply. His whole body was in fact. He was unconscious or perhaps even dead for all she knew. Outside the gates, nobles clapped and children cheered.

Two minutes.

He'd lasted at best two minutes against Lady Goodwitch. An Arcanist of what had to be forty or more years' experience hadn't managed to hold off for more than a hundred and twenty seconds. Ruby couldn't quite understand why that made her so angry. The bet wasn't it because she really didn't care, but she just felt he should have done better. It was an insult. An insult to the Azure Arcana. What did you spend all your years doing!? she asked the Librarian in her head. How do you not know spells to protect yourself after being at the Collegium for that long?

"And that's my victory." Malneux whispered. "Is it not, Rose?"

"Yeah. Fine."

"You remember your end of the bargain?"

"I remember it. Piss off, Martyn."

"So vulgar." He chuckled and then turned back to the approaching Arcanists. "Lady Goodwitch, congratulations on a successful hunt. Is there any way we might help?"

"Thank you, Initiate. And if there were, my capability would be called into question. You are here to observe and learn, nothing more."

"Learn what?" Ruby spat, drawing startled gasps from Pyrrha and Weiss. "All we saw was you go in and come out. I don't think we've learned anything. Or was this some sort of don't become Rogue Arcanists because this will happen to you, thing?"

"It was not a threat, veiled or otherwise." Glynda explained patiently. "As future members of the White, you will be expected to orchestrate hunts like this. Though I would have liked to show you real combat, I am not yet sure you're capable of safely witnessing it. For now, your lesson is to the organisation. The execution. Also, the subtlety."

Exploding windows and crackling lightning was subtle? They had a whole audience outside. Unless that was the point. Ruby ducked her head to hide her scowl. The White Arcana worked with relations between Arcanists and normal people, which involved keeping potentially dangerous or frightening Arcanists locked away and only showing the bright, kind and honourable side. Today, they'd seen three Arcanists apprehend a criminal in record time.

That's the point. That's why they let him escape to his manor and why the raid took place in the daytime. It could have been at night, with the street closed off and everyone kept far away. Instead, Lady Goodwitch walked out toward the mass of nobles with the Crimson Arcanists dragging the shamed Azure between them.

His face and identity may have been concealed, but every noble here would know whose manor that was and be able to figure it out. His life was ruined, but the reputation of the White and Crimson Arcana – or of the Collegium itself as most people would see it – was better than ever. An organisation that not only dealt with its criminals, but openly and efficiently took them down with no risk to the surrounding people.

It was all theatrics. A show. As they moved out, children jeered and threw rocks at the unconscious Arcanist. Adults threw insults instead. Despite that he could have ripped them all asunder with a quick phrase and a wave of the hand, they felt powerful enough to mock him in his defeat. They only felt that way because the White allowed it, perpetuated it even.

The White wants the people to think they're more powerful than Arcanists when they're not. It's all a careful lie. I bet if he was super powerful, enough to pose a risk, they'd have taken him out with way more Arcanists and in the middle of the night where no one would be able to see how hard it was.

Instead, they'd made it look so easy they could bring children along. Ruby scowled, grateful that Weiss and Pyrrha seemed to assume it was because of her losing the bet than anything else. Their procession made its way back to the looming walls of the Collegium, more a prison than ever, and within.

Ten minutes? The Librarian hadn't lasted six.

/-/

"You appear to be upset with me."

Lady Goodwitch said it casually once they were back in her office, but there was an undertone that made it clear she expected an answer. Several flitted through Ruby's head, most of them formed around backing off or making an excuse before the Arcanist got angry at her.

"You can tell me the truth, Initiate. I'm not so volatile that I can't hear it – and I can't give you a proper answer unless you tell me what's wrong."

"And if it makes you angry?"

"Then that is my problem if I let the words of an Initiate upset me so. Say your piece."

Well if she was going to make a big deal of it, fine. Ruby jutted her jaw out and stood her ground. "I don't like how big a scene you made of it."

Glynda frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He was a criminal, I get that, but he was also an Arcanist, and you made a huge scene of his arrest. It was on purpose. You humiliated him, dragged him out and even let people shout and insult him. It's not that different from beating Adam when he surrendered, is it? Only you let the people do the beating so they could feel better about themselves. And for what? So they can feel like they're safe and powerful and don't have to worry about us? Or is it just jealousy?"

"A little bit of both." The answer – and the annoyed but accepting look on the woman's face – surprised her. "I don't like it either," Glynda admitted. "Whatever his decision at the end, he was still a loyal Arcanist for forty-five years and his reward is to have his reputation and name torn asunder. And you're right, that was a show. It's one we've played many times and for the very reason you've discerned. To make people without the gift feel better about themselves. To make them feel that they shouldn't be afraid of us, that they are above us and that even though we were granted this great power they were not, it comes with responsibility. Do you know why it is that an Arcanist may not hold any official office within the city?"

"To stop Arcanists using their magic to get ahead of get political power. So they're never more powerful than the Collegium."

"Not quite. It's because we need becoming an Arcanist to involve sacrifice." When Ruby showed a confused expression, Glynda explained. "Most nobles dream of holding office, be that the Marshall of the Kingdom, Lord of Coin or even something simple like a District Mayor. They're usually pushed into it by parents thinking of the future name and reputation of the family. You know how it is, I'm sure. Children both who do and don't have the spark share those dreams. Now imagine if you will that two brothers share that dream – and that one of them also has the spark of an Arcanist. How do you think the second brother, the one without the spark, feels?"

"Upset. Jealous."

"Yes. Jealous and bitter, angry and wronged. We have no idea how the spark manifests." Glynda admitted. "There's obviously some degree of inheritance involved, but it's not perfect. It comes in about half of an Arcanist's children. Two-thirds in some. Either way, those left out usually feel wronged in some way, slighted, as though the world itself has conspired to rob them of their birth right. That jealousy can easily manifest into anger against their more fortunate siblings – it might even manifest in the parents as disappointment. To prevent that, we place unfair rules on Arcanists. We rob them of the chance to apply for office not because we are afraid they will misuse it – the White could stop them if they did – but because we want them to be seen to lose something when they join us. We don't want becoming an Arcanist to be the best option because that fosters ill will."

"So, you're making life as an Arcanist bad to make non-Arcanists feel better about themselves? That's ridiculous!"

"It's necessary. The rules weren't always like this and we had families throwing out their non-magical children, killing them in their sleep and blaming it on illness. It was a disgusting time and one that saw the Collegium blamed for the deaths of children. Deaths we had no hand in other than in diagnosing them as not having the spark."

Killing them? No. But what parent would-? Why? Surely it was better to have more heirs regardless of whether they had magic or not. "That's… That doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't. It's pathetic. It is what it is, however, and the rules exist now and do protect children without the spark. Now, instead of being seen as failures they are a family's only chance to rise to positions of power. Now, a child with the spark is seen as much as a burden as one without. I do not like the games we must play any more than you do, Initiate Rose, but it is necessary. It is better than the cruel alternative we have seen before. And that's why I would see you in the White."

Ruby swallowed. "Why…?"

"Because you see and understand things with more clarity than your peers do. Because you do not take pleasure in the responsibility, and because you are smart enough to understand why something is necessary even if you do not like it." Lady Goodwitch sat behind her desk, eyes shut and mouth drawn down into a tired frown. "For what little it's worth I did not enjoy ordering the beating of a man who could not defend himself, neither the Arcanist nor the Wildmage. The White… hah." She sighed. "The White does not falter. It cannot afford to." Her eyes opened again. "You're dismissed for the day. Don't forget to take your medicine. I have informed Initiate Schnee, and she will report to me if you do not."

Without a word, Ruby took the milky bottle and nodded, backing out the room and away.

/-/

"It's not going to drink itself if you stare at it long enough."

Ruby glowered over toward Weiss, sat on her bed watching like a hawk. Weiss hadn't taken her eyes off her since she came back and also wouldn't let Ruby sneak it into the bathroom to dispose of. She'd made it clear it was going down Ruby's throat whether she liked it or not.

"I don't need medicine."

"Ruby, you have parasites inside you!"

"They've not done me any harm."

"Yes they have. You just haven't realised it. Why are you so bothered about this? It's just medicine."

"I don't like medicine…"

"Gosh, you're such a child. Why?" Weiss demanded. "Why don't you like medicine…?"

"Because the last time I had some…"

Ruby cut off, but the damage was done. Her eyes clenched shut as she remembered it, the burning and the tossing and turning, the slurred words, blank spots in her memory and the horrible, aching desire for more. Of Yang holding onto her while she raged and ranted and screamed at her big sister for not letting her have more of the stuff that made her feel so good. It wasn't… no, it was her least proud moment. There'd even been a moment where she said she hated Yang and wished she killed herself for not letting her have more.

"I had a bad experience, okay? I… I kinda lost myself to the medicine. Got addicted…"

"Addicted? But who would-?" Weiss gasped. "Did they still make medicine using opiates in Menagerie? That's sick. Ruby, those have been illegal in Vale since before I was born. This medicine won't be addictive. Here." Weiss unscrewed the top before Ruby could even think to warn her, dipped a finger in and then supped it clean. "See? It tastes, well, it's bitter, but there's no dangerous drugs in here. It's plants mixed with magic. Or maybe even just plants and herbs; I don't know how the Emerald makes it work. It's fine, though. Safe."

Ruby hated how weak her voice was. "You promise?"

"On the honour of my family. You don't need to have it all – just a cup full." Weiss poured some out and offered her the cup. Ruby took it and stared down at the milky fluid nervously. She did trust Weiss, more than she did anyone else in this damned place, but it was hard to get over the instinctive dislike of it.

Gritting her eyes shut, she upended the cup and downed it in one. It was just as bitter as Weiss said – not enough to make her gag or spit it out, but enough to have her shudder and scrunch her face up as it slid its way thickly down her throat.

"Gah!"

"Not fun, is it? You'll feel so good once it's healed you, though. I promise."

"Y…Yeah. Couldn't feel worse." If they were as true as their word. Ruby placed the cup down and held her hand out. It wasn't shaking yet, though given how strong it was it might have taken time for the shakes to kick in. To distract herself, she asked, "What did you think of today?"

"The arrest? I think you were an idiot to take that bet."

"Not that. How it happened!"

"I think they shouldn't have let the people watch." Weiss eventually said, deep in thought. "I couldn't believe when someone threw a rock at him and I really wanted to go over there and tell them off."

Even though it was to make those people feel better, Ruby agreed. "Yeah…"

"When I…" Weiss faltered and then continued. "I can make things better when I'm in the White. When I'm a White Arcanist and I'm bringing someone in, I'll make sure to protect my captive from anyone who wants to hurt them. I'll improve things. You could, too, if you joined the White. We could work together – I bet we could get really far, maybe even be in Lady Goodwitch's spot one day. Then we can make sure it's fair to everyone."

"Going for the top, huh?"

"Of course. My father always says you should aim to be the best you can be. Don't you have something you're aiming for?"

"Yeah." Ruby sighed and laid back on the bed. Cinder. Adam. Yang. "I guess I do."

And as much as she hated to admit it, the Azure would no longer help her achieve those goals.

Short chapter is actually short because I really need to just go sleep. So little of it last night considering new bed and constant check-ups on my mother. She's a cancer survivor and has little immune system due to all the chemotherapy she's had, etc, so we've always known mini strokes and strokes can be a big problem for her.

The biggest annoyance for me was that it was my sisters who rang me to tell me since they were at my mother's, but when I rushed over, they'd gone. Just left her on her own after telling me. Like, wtf are they thinking?

Next Chapter: 6th September

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur