Here we go

Cover Art: Z-ComiX

Chapter 106

The dorm was quiet, empty and cold. If she'd needed any further proof that Weiss was gone, the thin layer of dust settling on the furniture was it. Weiss was always so cleanly, obsessively so, and she'd never allow for things to get this bad. Her wardrobes were open, clothes missing, and there were books overturned, opened and discarded. Ruby wasn't sure if those were from when Weiss decided to leave or if the White hadn't searched their rooms. Either way, the truth was irrefutable.

Weiss had fled the Collegium.

Ruby's legs gave way and she collapsed onto her bed, face falling into her hands. She didn't cry – too shocked and confused for that. Instead, she sat there without saying a word, staring down at the floor and wondering how it had gotten this bad. This couldn't be her fault because she'd been locked up for all of it, kept as a guest of the White to prove her innocence. Had that been the reason? Had Weiss tried to get her out and become disillusioned with the way things were handled? Or had this been festering longer? It wasn't hard to figure out where she'd gone. Maria. Weiss wasn't dumb enough to think she could just run and be safe; she'd have gone to someone who could hide her.

Tempting as it was to run straight there and demand answers, Ruby couldn't. Or she could, but the White would probably follow her. It sounded like something they'd do – inform her that Weiss had left, let her free and then have someone quietly follow her to see if she didn't lead them to Weiss. About the only good thing out of all this was that no one could suggest she had a hand in it, not when she'd been more than accounted for.

I can't believe that I'm the Wildmage and Weiss is the one to go rogue. Ruby paused in her melancholy to giggle. It wasn't very funny, but she needed anything she could get right now. That's got to be some irony there.

The silence stretched out until Ruby couldn't handle it anymore. She punched the sheets and flung herself back, staring up at the dusty ceiling. Weiss was gone; Merlot was dead; the Grimm would soon be driven back; the war was over and Vale should be safe. Good and bad, success and failure, black and white.

"What am I supposed to do now?" she wondered aloud. "You couldn't have left me a message or something before you left?" Ruby sighed. It wasn't like Weiss, but then she must have been in a panic about something to do this in the first place.

Did they find out about her illegal foray into the Emerald Arcana? That didn't sound right. Weiss didn't have her second Arcana yet, so they could have just forced her to take that one and called it done. It must have been something more. Something to do with Maria Calavera or the battle at Merlot's camp. There hadn't been any mention of Blake or Shadow Arcanists from Glynda, so hopefully she was still in one piece. There'd be no knowing until she went to visit Yang, and she wasn't sure that was a good idea if the White were watching her.

A soft knock came at the door. The brief surge of excitement was snuffed out – it wasn't going to be Weiss coming back. She stood up and sluggishly made her way over, opened the door and quickly found herself engulfed in a hug by Pyrrha.

"You're okay!" Pyrrha rushed out. Ruby leaned into her and closed her eyes, savouring the close contact. It wasn't Yang, but it would do for now. "I knew you would be, but people were talking and-" Pyrrha shook her head and steered Ruby back into her room, closing the door behind her. "How are you? Lady Goodwitch assured me you were being treated well, but I wasn't allowed to see you. It wasn't too bad, was it?"

"Lonely. Boring. Annoying." Ruby sighed when Pyrrha released her, wishing she could have enjoyed the hug a little longer. The redhead sat on a stool by Ruby's bed, leaving her to sit back on the mattress. "They kept asking stupid questions and not listening to the answers I gave. I thought they were going to ignore everything, call me guilty and throw me in the Sanctum."

"They wouldn't have done that." Ruby wasn't sure where Pyrrha's confidence came from there. The statement sounded naïve. "They just wanted to make sure it was done properly. People were talking after the fight, Ruby. Some were saying you were a traitor working with Merlot and that you should be tried and punished publicly for his crimes. They wanted someone to blame."

And the apprentice made a fitting choice, she supposed. Never mind that she'd worked harder to stop the Grimm than most people had. Three quarters of the Arcanists in the city had sat in the Collegium and twiddled their thumbs. It was only her, Qrow and Weiss who had done anything at all! Her wild magic thrummed under the surface, responding to her mounting anger. What right did they have? What right did anyone have? Most Arcanists here were more experienced than Weiss and her, and yet they hadn't done a damned thing. What right did they have to judge them? None! None at all!

"Lady Goodwitch wouldn't have it," Pyrrha went on. "She exonerated you publicly and made it clear you had her trust, but they still had to go through the motions of interrogating you. Sorry about that," she said with a pained smile. "If it makes it any better, no one fought harder for your innocence than Lady Goodwitch."

"Yeah, because she wouldn't let the White Arcana be blamed for this, even if by association."

Pyrrha frowned. "Why do you say that? Lady Goodwitch was just doing the right thing."

"The right thing for the Arcana."

"Is it so hard to believe she's a good person who has your best interests in heart? I know you're upset about what happened, anyone would be, but she fought your corner. That has to mean something."

It meant that Ruby had become too valuable to throw away. It meant that if she'd been blamed, people could technically argue that one of the White was responsible for all the deaths.

Ruby changed the subject. "I heard about Weiss…"

"Yes…" Pyrrha looked away, closing her eyes as she let out a quiet little sigh. "I can't believe she'd turn traitor on us like that."

"What?" Ruby's head snapped up. "What!?"

"Weiss," Pyrrha said. "She's betrayed the Collegium. Betrayed us."

"She ran away. That's not a betrayal."

"She's gone rogue, Ruby. She's a Rogue Arcanist now."

"That doesn't mean she betrayed us!" Ruby insisted angrily. "Betrayal is personal; it's when someone uses and abuses you. Weiss chose to leave. That's all. She's still the same person."

"How can you say that? We don't know her reasons. I heard the current theory is that she's run off to join the Life and Death Arcanist." Pyrrha's lips twisted in disgust. "For all we know she's kidnapping children to bring them back to her lair and kill them, then raise the bodies-"

The sharp crack of Ruby's palm on Pyrrha's cheek ended the conversation.

Ruby sat, cheeks puffed out and red, panting with her hand extended and stinging far more than she thought it would. Pyrrha, on the other hand, looked stunned, an ugly red mark growing on her right cheek and her face angled to the side, carried by the blow.

"D-Don't you dare!" Ruby both stammered and seethed. "Weiss is my friend! Our friend! Back when I thought you were a friend!"

"Ruby-"

"Get out! Get out now!"

Pyrrha opened her mouth and then closed it. The same with her eyes. She stood slowly, pushing herself out the seat and collecting herself before moving toward the door. "I'll talk to you in a few days," she said. "Once you've calmed down."

"Get out!"

"I understand you're upset. The isolation and interrogations can't be helping, and then this as well." Pyrrha looked back and offered a tiny smile. "I forgive you for hitting me. Don't feel bad."

"OUT!" Ruby screamed.

The door opened and closed quickly, feet carrying Pyrrha away. No sooner was she out of sight than did Ruby throw herself down onto the bed and cry. The only relief was that it left her so exhausted she fell into a fitful sleep.

/-/

The servants working at her building delivered breakfast to her door. Pyrrha must have arranged it before she left, which almost made Ruby angry enough to throw the food out the window before hunger reared its ugly head. The food hadn't offended her, so she ate in silence and delivered the tray and plates down to the kitchens before leaving. The servants were quick to tell her she needn't have, that they would have collected them, but she brushed past without hearing it. Staying confined in her and Weiss' room wasn't going to work. The sun was up, and it beckoned. Ruby stepped out onto the lawns and took a deep breath of the morning air.

No one had told her she had to do anything. Qrow was nowhere to be found, Glynda hadn't given her any work and she had a feeling that was intentional. Either they didn't trust her, or they thought she needed time to recover, or maybe there just wasn't work enough with Merlot dead and the Grimm neutered. The last few attacks would still happen, but they were a formality now. Without Merlot's command and their numbers constantly reinforced, they would crash on the walls and die.

It was just a matter of time now.

With no destination in mind Ruby wandered across the Collegium grounds, her hood drawn up against both the chill and the prying eyes of other Arcanists. There was a strange stillness to the air, to the Collegium itself. Normally, people would have been bustling around at this time, but in the residential area of the Collegium where the graduated Arcanists dwelled, there was little movement. Just a few robed figured here and there, all carrying on in silence.

Whether unconsciously or not, her feet took her down familiar paths and to a familiar location. Merlot's small house was a rarity among Arcanists. Even nobles could rarely afford to hold their own home on the grounds – the space was too premium. Merlot's quaint little cottage had been messy and disorganised before, but in the sense of a chaotic scholar. Now, it looked like it had been ransacked, and it probably had.

The door was open, the windows too, and inside Ruby could see that every book had been taken from his shelves, every document from the desks. The White had been thorough in ensuring no one found any evidence that might lead them down the same path. They'd even gone so far as to take the paintings that once adorned his walls, the rectangular spaces where they'd been visible as different gradients of dust.

There was no one inside and she considered taking a look around, then thought twice. If the White were watching her then it would only look suspicious, and what did she hope to find? Merlot was dead, gone, and however much she'd liked the man, even she couldn't fully agree with the lengths he'd gone to. He'd been a good mentor and even maybe something of a friend, but he'd still ordered the Grimm to kill people. He blamed the White for placing innocent people in harm's way, and maybe they had done that, but in truth they probably both deserved the blame. Neither side had been able to spare other people. In the end, it was as if Merlot and the White had re-enacted the Mage Wars, albeit on a smaller, less violent scale.

Even then, Merlot had taken her secret to the grave. He hadn't outed her.

Turning away, she made her way back to the busier parts of the Collegium in search of life – and she found it soon enough. The reason the residential areas had been so empty was because people were crowding to the front of the Collegium, and by front she meant the area by the south-facing gate, where the student dorms and various Arcana compounds were located. There was an unusually large crowd milling outside the Azure Archives. The library-like building with its brick walls and stone pillars looked dark and lonely, no lantern or torchlight in its windows. Atop the rise of steps, Ruby saw two men guarding the entrance. Huntsmen.

The crowd outside were upset, noisy and argumentative. One man in blue robes saw her and sneered, pushing by while intentionally slamming his shoulder into hers. Ruby stumbled, not expecting it and bumping into another, who shoved her away.

"Haven't you done enough?" he snapped. "Damned White!"

"I-I'm sorry…?"

"Sorry? Sorry!? You-" The man let out a strangled sound and stormed away. A few others, their attentions drawn by the commotion, glared at her. Men and women of various ages, all united in enmity against the White Arcanist in their midst. Ruby backed away and flinched when a hand gripped her shoulder.

"It's me, Ruby." Lie Ren was there, his robes dirty and wrinkled. "You might not want to be here right now. Things are… difficult."

"What's happening?"

"The news about Merlot came out. That he was behind the Grimm. A lot of his experiments took place here – you and I almost died to one of them if you remember. The White have taken over the building and are clearing it out, taking anything and everything that might be dangerous."

Like with Merlot's house. It was possible he'd hidden notes here as well, and with the Azure Archives underneath, well, that possibility only grew. "How long has it been?"

"Days now. Too long. I heard you were imprisoned for most of it. I guess you haven't heard the rumours."

"No. What rumours?"

"It's not confirmed yet but… well, there are suggestions the Azure might be sanctioned for what happened. Merlot was one of ours and the fact he could research how to control the Grimm under our noses…? Well, people are saying that if one man could research that, what could all the Azure be getting up to behind closed doors? It's making people worry."

"But the White already vets your research," Ruby said. "They vetted yours and made-" Ruby cringed. "-convinced you to change it. If they're already keeping an eye on everything the Azure does, what's the harm?"

"I happen to agree. Not everyone sees it that way though. People could hide their research or do it in secret, and the current method relies on the White Arcana to not make any mistakes. They're only human. They're the ones pushing most of this as well," he added with an apologetic smile for the people accusing her. "Not through official channels, but, well, we've heard rumours."

The Azure were going to be punished for Merlot's crimes. Ruby wanted to laugh but knew it would be taken badly. She'd as good as told Pyrrha that the reason Glynda protected her so was to stop the White Arcana shouldering any blame, and this only proved her point. She wasn't sure if Glynda was intentionally aiming it at the Azure or if it wasn't just nature taking its course, but whatever the case this would work to the White's benefit.

"What kind of sanctions are we talking about?"

"The most obvious one being banded around is that we'll lose our compound. That'll essentially make us homeless. We'll have to do our research in public places or in our dorms, with less resources to work with."

Which would mean they couldn't get up to any harm, or that they'd have to ask other Arcana to use their resources. Either way, it would curtail a lot of the Azure. Maybe even diminish their membership. Part of the appeal of joining an Arcana was the glory and the feeling of belonging, but the Azure weren't going to impress anyone without a place to call their own.

That would mean the Archives fall fully under the White's control too, she thought. No more excuses about it taking time to clear them of Grimm. They'll lock the doors and only let the loyal in. Or maybe they'll seal it entirely and burn the books inside, set a great wildfire to cleanse all that troubling knowledge.

"The other suggestion is that they might start to phase out the Azure Arcana entirely," Ren said miserably.

"What!? But the Azure are in every Collegium!"

"Yes, but our membership is one of the lowest. And if news gets out that we caused the fall of Menagerie then other Collegiums might follow suit. It wouldn't be the first time in history an Arcana was pushed into obscurity. The Gold Arcana had spread through Atlas, Mistral and Vacuo before they were caught trying to transmute base metals into gold fifteen years ago. They were outlawed, disbanded and now there isn't a single Gold Arcanist left. It's as good as the same for the Shadow Arcana from Menagerie. I bet there aren't any of them left now."

There was one left, but that didn't disprove Ren's point. One Shadow Arcanist out of however many existed, and as many of this so-called Gold Arcana. If the White in every city put pressure on them, the Azure Arcana could become a piece of history as well. No one would care, either. The Emerald healed, the Black made people's lives easier, and the Crimson took care of dangerous people. They were respected, required and would be protected, but the Azure, who just researched secrets and sought answers, didn't matter to most people. Their loss wouldn't upset most normal people in Vale, let along other Arcanists.

"This is insane." Ruby muttered. "They can't just close down an Arcana. What happens to everyone with an Azure gem?"

"They're allowed to keep it as a memento, but they are forever limited to one other."

So, they were punished as well. Locked to a single gemstone, a single Arcana, and then left to live with the consequences of choices that might have been made ten, twenty or thirty years prior. It might not be such a problem for the Initiates – they could just take off their mantles and pick another Arcana – but the established Azure Arcanists would suffer for this.

"What about you?" Ruby asked. "What will you do?"

"What can I do? I'm not an Azure Arcanist yet so I can still take off my mantle. I don't want to join the White after what they've done. Nora has been suggesting I join the Black, and I'm curious, but I don't want to get her hopes up and make things more awkward there." He shrugged. "I might join the Amber or Emerald. I don't have much of a choice otherwise."

Amber, Emerald, White, Crimson, Black. Those would be the only remaining Arcana with the Azure gone. The Crimson were practically subordinate to the White, which meant the White would essentially run two out of five Arcana. If they managed to gain a third, that would give them majority control over the entire Collegium. Not that they didn't have that already with every Grand Arcanist having their colour. In fact, with each Grand Arcanist having four Arcana and there only being give, the odds of one not being White now were even less.

"This isn't fair…"

"It really isn't." Ren said. "Still, I can see why people are upset at us. Like it or not, Merlot was one of ours and we knew he was researching Grimm."

"So did the White. They're the ones who tasked him to do it."

"Everyone always says the Azure curiosity is dangerous, though. They will argue that Merlot was tempted to delve deeper into the Grimm precisely because he was an Azure Arcanist. Imagine how much worse things will get if the news gets out to the common people. Do you think the King or the public will let the Azure Arcana stay if they hear about it?"

No. If normal folk heard about a mysterious Arcana that was free to research anything they wanted, and that had given birth to a man who controlled the Grimm into attacking the city, then she knew how it would go. The worst part was that it sounded shady even to her. The populace would want assurances this wouldn't happen again, and the King would demand it as well. Something had to give, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be the White Arcana.

"I should go…"

Ren smiled sadly. "Yes. You're getting a lot of angry looks here. I know you're not responsible. I'll let you know what Arcana I select. Maybe we can catch up and talk about more pleasant things later."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." Ruby smiled awkwardly and stepped away. "I'll see you around, Ren."

"See you around, Ruby."

/-/

Ruby found Qrow at a bar. He was chucking beer down his throat at record pace and earning more than his fair share of disapproving looks from snooty nobles drinking goblets of fine wine. When she dragged the chair beside him out and took it, he turned with an angry snort, only to pause on seeing who it was. The expression disappeared as a brief smile took its place.

"You're out. About time."

"I was released yesterday. Beer please," she said to the man behind the counter. He nodded and pushed some toward her. The scent of barley and hops was far stronger than what she was used to in the slums. She'd been drinking beer since she was a child though. It was often safer to drink than water.

"You've missed a lot."

"I've been catching up. I just saw the Azure Archives."

"You mean the White Library," Qrow said. "It's practically renamed already. Whole place is going to be taken over. They're just letting the decision fester, so people work their frustrations out. Not that I told you."

"My lips are sealed." Thin, too. So, the White really were taking it over. Ren would be crushed, along with all the other Azure Arcanists. "Where have you been? Why didn't I see you?"

"It was deemed a conflict of interest for me to be involved in your interrogation. Glynda made sure I knew to stay away." Scowling, he downed another drag of his beer. "I checked in with your friends in the city by the way. They're fine. I told them you were safe and would meet with them as soon as you're able."

Ruby's relief was so sudden it shone all over her face. "Thank you!"

"Heh. Knew you'd be worried. Your shadowy friend left us when we got back from the camp, and she stayed well out the way when Glynda and the White came. We had to mention her – no other way to explain the Shadow Wards used – but we all said she was a Rogue who joined us to deal with Merlot. A survivor from Menagerie who wanted revenge for the fall of her city."

"That's true enough. What did Glynda say?"

"There was a mention of how her crimes could be forgiven if she handed herself into the Collegium." He took another sip. "Officially, I'm to keep an eye out for her and pass that message on. She would need to join the White as her second Arcana, and she'd have to swear not to teach anyone the Shadow. She would be free to use it in the White's interest, though."

"Big surprise. Did you tell Blake?"

"I passed the offer along. I'll spare your innocent ears her answer."

Ruby giggled. Innocent ears? Yeah right. It wasn't a big surprise Blake had said no. She still wanted to go back and rebuild Menagerie, and she probably wanted to keep the Shadow Arcana alive while she was at it. Neither of those would happen if she surrendered herself to the White here.

"Blondie is doing alright as well," he went on. "Worried about you obviously, but glad to hear you're okay. I told her it might be a while until you can visit but that I'd drop in every couple of days to let them know you're alright. I covered their tent for the rest of the year by the way. Since you were out."

The rent? The rent! Ruby had all but forgotten the monthly payments, not exactly hard to imagine with everything going on. "T-Thank you. I can pay you back-"

"Nah, forget it. You're family and I've no one else I'd want to spend money on. Besides, you deserve some reward for all the shit you've been through. You were instrumental in saving Vale, and yet I notice there are no award ceremonies, no bounties for your name, no commendations and adulation."

He was right. Ruby didn't really care for any of it, but she had basically saved Vale. Her and Weiss and Qrow. They probably deserved money, glory and an audience with the king, maybe even some honorific titles for crying out loud. Instead, she came out and people were just carrying on like normal.

"Maybe they want to wait until it's all over. You know, until the last of the Grimm are dealt with."

"Maybe. I expect it'll be different though. I'm not sure the Collegium will want most people knowing the truth. Instead, they'll fight off the last few Grimm, say that a Collegium strike team dealt with the source of it and use that as further evidence the Collegium of Magic is the greatest thing to ever happen to Vale. The king will be forced to increase their funding, the people will idolise Arcanists, and the Collegium will be in a much stronger position than before."

Which was disgusting specifically because the Grimm had only come and placed all the innocent people in danger because of the Collegium. If they weren't here, or if they'd taken Merlot's advice and evacuated the civilians, then they would never been in danger in the first place. The slums would still be there. Hei, Miltia and Melanie would still be alive.

Instead, they were all of them dead and the Collegium was going to reap the glory of a job well done. Ruby's hand tightened around her flagon, and she took a long, angry drink.

"Something else for you as well." Qrow said quietly. He slid an envelope onto the bar. It was sealed, and Ruby's eyes widened on seeing the snowflake symbol pressed into the blue wax. "She said she was leaving a letter in your room, but I imagine that was taken away and opened by the investigators. I imagine you never got it. She wanted you to know and asked me to pass this on."

Ruby's hands trembled as she took the envelope.

Next Chapter: 17th October

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