The fight that I promised is a little shorter than I was hoping it would be, but it was honestly harder to write than I thought it would be. I cut it short, and I would like to think that it turned out decently. I found that shortening the fight to a bit less than I intended allowed me to put focus on other things that come into play. The chapter is a bit shorter as well, but I prefer it like this, otherwise it would end weirdly.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 17: Chess Pieces
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.(Chapter Start/Character Shift)
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July 15th (Same day)
Monday
Clear
As Ozpin watched Goodwitch catch the eye of the camera once she called Azura and Ruby down for a fight, he knew her annoyance. He chuckled, then took a sip from his mug of coffee, turning away from the screen that showed what the camera saw.
"Oh, Glynda. If only you knew why I was doing this."
He looked towards his desk, seeing the mess of papers. He sat down in the chair and opened up one of the compartments on the side. Looking at the papers, he eyed the list that had all of the students that he deemed important. On the short list, he only held a few names.
"Pyrrha Nikos. A warrior, champion, and with too big of a heart. Weiss Schnee. Family wealth and control, powerful semblance, and a tendency to figure things out. Jaune Arc. Known family lineage, strong desire to grow strong and be a hero. Ruby Rose. Silver eyes, prodigy. Top priority."
Once Ozpin finished listing off the names, he looked back at the camera screen, putting the arena in focus. He grabbed a pen, bringing it to the list and crossing out Jaune's name. Putting down a new name and footnote.
"As things change, keep an eye on this one. Azura Heart. Connected to Summer Rose, an enigma for his semblance. Suspicious of me and possibly able to know my secrets."
He sighed as he put the paper back to where he grabbed it from.
"It seems that not even the dead wish to keep their secrets."
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.(Line Break/Character Shift)
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"Well, this will be interesting." Summer said as he walked away from Ruby to go to the other side of the arena.
He took a glance over at everyone, Luna included, in the bleacher area. They all seemed rather excited, and he could see Weiss looking at him smugly, with confidence in her work. Yang seemed more indifferent, which looked weird in his opinion, considering her personality.
"You aren't going to fight half-heartedly, are you? I can call Luna down and you can just watch."
Summer's laugh echoed in his mind as it always did. "Of course not. She might be my daughter, but I'm not going to hold back. Just remember that my semblance is currently being slowed."
"Right. So, you think those phantom movements that we felt is going to mess with me?" Azura asked.
"Not at all. I can barely do anything with it beyond guide you in my semblance."
Their conversation was cut short as Goodwitch called out for them to get ready. He saw Ruby mecha-shift Crescent Rose out of it's sheathed form, and he took out Rose Eye and Red Fox. He breathed out and stretched, wondering if a new plan would be needed with Summer's semblance on his side.
"Begin!"
The humming from the glyphs rang in his ears and the feeling of the wind going through his hair started as Summer triggered her semblance, white and red rose petals flying behind him. It seemed that Ruby had the same idea, pushing forward with her own red colored trail. Within seconds, they collided, a small explosion of rose petals going off as his sword dragged along the scythe head.
He pushed his momentum and cut at her arm with Rose Eye, the dagger nicking her aura. She pushed away, allowing his heavier weight to carry him away from her as she slid away. Ruby activated her semblance again, forcing Summer to trigger her own, with Azura following after the phantom movements. As he dodged, he saw that Ruby had attempted to take him on a ride by grabbing him with Crescent Rose and digging into his aura.
"Thanks."
"Pay attention!"
Azura hopped back, dodging Ruby's follow up slash. Triggering her semblance again, Azura slid in front of Ruby, grabbed the shaft of Crescent Rose, rose petals flying as he used to slide under it to get behind her, the momentum throwing her balance off. He grabbed her hood with his sword hand, driving Rose Eye into the side of her aura. Without warning, he was flung over Ruby's head, seeing red rose petals as he flew.
"Follow my lead. She'll start to attack if you don't recover."
The feeling of rose petals fluttering around him, he follows after the phantom movements, hitting the ground on his hands and bouncing off of it, landing on his feet. The final movement he followed had him slamming his blades down as Ruby slashed towards him with her speed. They were in a deadlock, both of them shaking as they both tried to overpower the other.
"You having fun?" Azura said, his voice strained.
Ruby's only response was a competitive smile.
One step to the left, and a sudden jerk from Ruby's semblance, and Azura had lost Rose Eye, leaving him only with his sword, Red Fox. He only had a moment to think about how commonly he lost his dagger before taking a hit from Crescent Rose straight to his face, along with a sniper shot bouncing on his aura near his ear.
He shook his head as his ears rang, quickly blocking her incoming slash. He slid the weapon away from his blade before slashing upward vertically, hitting Ruby's aura again. Following his advantage, Azura kept up the momentum, now trying to just break through Ruby's guard. As she slid backwards with her semblance, he jumped forward with Summer's. As long as he kept Red Fox on him, he would be able to keep the advantage.
"She's planning something. Keep your eyes on her arms."
Keeping her words in mind, he watched her movements with Crescent Rose as she blocked hit after hit. It was like she was shifting her fingers along the shaft of Crescent Rose. Once she stopped, Azura tried to back off, finding that he had spent too long trying to break her guard. She had hooked Red Fox on the blade of Crescent Rose, firing off the sniper function of it and snapping the blade away from his hand, leaving him without a weapon.
Without a weapon, Ruby was free to attack at him mercilessly. Which she took advantage of without a second thought.
"Either take the hit or follow my dodges."
"Got it."
He dodged her initial slash, and hopped back away from the follow up attack. She sped forward and jumped up to slam Crescent Rose down, and Azura followed Summer with her dodge to end up behind Ruby. Feeling the movement continue, he spun around with it, hopping up midway to kick at Ruby's side. She blocked with a slash towards his foot, throwing him away with the force as it hit his aura, and he followed the momentum to land on his hands and feet.
"You totally change my movement."
"I'm flexible. Now, grab the shaft of Crescent Rose when she goes to slash you again."
Almost as if Summer had known exactly what Ruby would do, Azura followed the phantom movements, grabbing onto the shaft as the blade sliced into his aura along his arm. Summer activated her semblance again, tugging along on it, and that was when he knew what Summer wanted.
She was trying to take Ruby's weapon for their own use. The issue that they now faced was that Ruby had seen through their plan and used her own semblance to follow along. They both stopped, leaving them with a tug of war over the weapon.
Azura felt a smile tugging at his lips, seeing that Ruby had the same smile on her own face. Azura jumped up with his grip on Crescent Rose tightening, letting Summer's semblance carry him over Ruby. Ruby followed after him with her own semblance, twisting him to the side. He planted his feet to the ground, thrusting his arms up to try and tug it out of her grip.
As he tried to start a new way to try and get the weapon, Ruby activated her semblance and slammed into his chest, then bounced off of him, weapon in her hand. Azura was left to fall to one knee, out of breath from Ruby having slammed into him as hard as she did.
"Follow my arm once she charges back in."
Azura took what time he could to catch his breath, still feeling slightly dazed. He could feel Ruby running in, red rose petals closing in on him. Summer's left arm extended outward, towards Crescent Rose, while the other started to reach out for Ruby's body.
"Aura!"
Azura followed the movement, flooding some aura into his left arm as he grabbed the shaft of the scythe, while his other arm grabbed a fistful of her clothing. He spun with her momentum, and that was when Summer triggered her semblance, shocking Azura. Within a moment, Ruby was on her back, hitting the ground with Azura hovering over her, Crescent Rose pinning her to the ground.
"Why do all my battles end with someone on the ground?" Azura groaned.
Ruby also groaned. "I surrender."
"The match is over! Azura Heart is the winner!" Goodwitch said.
Azura got up off of Ruby, taking Crescent Rose with him. The metal was warm on his skin, and the weight, while balanced more towards the scythe head for more powerful slashes, didn't feel like it would be hard to balance.
"She's pretty good at this stuff." He thought.
"She's my prodigal daughter, after all." Summer said with pride.
"Shut up. I don't need an egotistical ghost in my head."
He broke out of his conversation with Summer when Ruby grabbed onto Crescent Rose, lightly tugging on it.
"Can I have my weapon back?"
Azura shook his head, letting go of the scythe. "Right."
Once Glynda gave Azura his weapons back via her semblance, she did her usual routine of going over what they did correctly and what they did wrong.
"Miss Rose, what you did to disarm mister Heart was a great example of taking advantage of misdirection and using your speed to pull it off. But, you underestimated mister Heart, assuming that he had no idea of how to control a semblance so similar to your own."
Ruby looked away, embarrassed. "Of course, miss Goodwitch."
Goodwitch nodded, before turning to fully look at Azura. "Mister Heart, you showed once again that you have perseverance and a strong will in a fight, never willing to truly accept defeat until all of your options are gone. And as I find myself commonly saying to you, do remember that you are assisted by a fully-fledged huntress. Two, to be precise."
As she was about to turn away, Goodwitch seemed to remember something.
"I have no idea how you and miss Schnee managed to find a way to get your semblance under control so fast, but be sure to actually let me know next time." She looked towards a corner somewhere in the room, and sighed. "You and miss Rose are dismissed. Report to Ozpin's office after you clean yourselves up."
Azura met Luna's eyes and nodded. He glanced to his side, where Ruby was, who seemed as confused as he was.
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.(Line Break)
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As Azura was waiting for Ruby to leave her respective locker room, Summer just wouldn't stop talking to him.
"Look, I can't help the fact that I'm in your head. Sure, it's weird, but you're going to have to get used to it." Summer said.
Azura sighed. "I am getting used to it. But, it's the same idea as having a woman in the shower with me. Just...as a ghost."
"Am I too old for your tastes?" She responded in a teasing tone.
"I'm not answering that question."
"Oh, Azura. You flatter me. And is that a blush I feel? Your face is rather warm."
"You are a horrible woman, you know that? Might as well be hitting on a minor."
"I think we are well beyond that, Azura. I'm kind of within your body."
Azura rolled his eyes. "Let's move on to something else. What do you think Ozpin wants?"
"If I had to guess, it might have to do with our current form. He did say that he would speak to us if he found a way to separate us or if we are stuck as is."
"What are you hoping to hear if that is the case?"
Summer took a moment to respond. "Of course I would want to be separate, but I don't mind our situation. I mean, being able to do this is what saved you while fighting that umbrella girl. Plus, it would be nice to talk to you face-to-face again."
"It was a parasol."
Summer sighed. "Whatever."
Another minute of waiting was all that was needed. Ruby walked out of the door to the girls' locker room, her short hair a little messier and more spiky than usual.
"Do you just never brush your hair?" Azura asked.
"Of course I do, dummy. Besides I should ask you the same question. You don't make your hair that wild." Ruby said, looking at his own wild hair.
"It was her idea. Besides, the color and shape is natural. Kind of." He responded.
"Your hair is never that spiky. Wild, but never to this degree. Were you styling your hair in the shower?" Ruby continued.
"I can't not wash my body, so I have to run my fingers through my hair, even if I have an older woman sharing my body." Azura said, shrugging.
Ruby blinked. "What?"
It took a moment for Azura to understand why Ruby was blushing as hard as she was. He laughed, realizing that he might be a little more used to the idea of sharing a body than he thought.
"I don't think she thought about what exactly our situation dealt with."
"That came out wrong." Azura said, still laughing.
"Okay, never mind. I don't want to know. I really don't want to even think of it." Ruby said, her high voice higher and more strained than usual.
Azura laughed again. "Well, why don't we start getting over to Ozpin, yeah?"
Ruby nodded, still blushing. "Yeah, sure. Let's do that. Just no talk of what my mother is doing with my friends' body."
The wind blew gently as they exited the combat halls and turned to move towards Beacon tower to find out what Ozpin wanted. Azura glanced over at Ruby, still smiling at her reaction.
"Man, that really riled you up, didn't it?" He asked in a joking tone.
"I just didn't really think it through, okay?!" She said loudly, before speaking more quietly. "Do you...share the same senses?"
Azura shrugged. "We obviously haven't figured everything out, but that does seem to be the case."
"No dirty thoughts."
"Nope. Don't want to know." Ruby said as she saw Azura suddenly break out in laughter.
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.(Line Break)
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They were standing within Ozpin's office for two minutes now, but the man had yet to speak. Azura glanced at Luna, who simply shrugged, and over at Ruby, who seemed uncomfortable to just be in the room.
A few moments later, and Ozpin finally put the book he was looking through back from where he got it in the bookshelf, taking a seat behind the desk a second later.
"I'll cut right to the chase and assume that you do not know why you are all here. I called Azura here for the specific reason of it dealing with his body and semblance. As for you, miss Rose, I wanted you to be here to listen to this. This deals with your mother...so I figured you would want to be here as well." He said.
Ruby frowned for a moment. "What about Yang?"
Ozpin sighed, and shook his head. "Do not think that I am unaware of miss Xiao Long's anger towards Azura and Summer. I thought it best to not discuss it with her at this time. As much as I do not like to say it, I think you should be the one to tell her the information, miss Rose."
Ruby seemed to get even more nervous than before.
"Nothing quite sucks more than not being able to do something…"
Azura agreed, but did not say anything towards her, speaking to Ozpin instead.
"Are we here to talk about me and Summer?"
Ozpin looked at Ruby for another moment before turning his eyes towards Azura.
"I might have no trust for the man, but I don't think I have ever seen him not look tired."
The dark bags creeping under his eyes or the smile that didn't quite reach that far spoke volumes of the life that the headmaster of Beacon academy led. If Azura wasn't paying attention, however, he would have missed what Ozpin said.
"That is correct. I haven't quite found a solution, but I wish to shed some light onto what it means. It might be a bit confusing, but you must follow along, alright?"
Receiving nods from Azura and Ruby, Ozpin continued.
"What I am going to tell you about is a research topic called soul weight. It's specifically tied to the research of soul bonds, and has even managed to help me further understand your situation."
"He knows more than he pretends to. Listen to him, but be careful." Summer interjected.
"I believe the reason why you are a special case, outside of forming a soul bond due to your semblance, is that you managed to hold on to yourself, despite Summer having the heavier soul weight."
"Only with his help." Summer said, speaking quietly.
"Uh, headmaster Ozpin? What does that mean?" Ruby asked, fidgeting anxiously as she stood.
Ozpin glanced over at Azura before sighing. "It means that the Azura you knew would have vanished, leaving only the body, and your mother, Summer, would have taken his spot. It was mostly a miracle for him to end up striking an equilibrium with her. Even more so for miss Schnee to figure out a way to temper the Rose semblance by mixing her own aura within Azura's."
Azura didn't know that what Weiss had done was like that. Maybe she didn't want to explain it all to him.
Ruby seemed taken aback. "You mean...that Azura nearly died?"
Ozpin sighed again. "Yes. But it is no one's fault other than the natural process of a soul bond. Summer had no idea that it was even happening. She was just like Azura, asleep and unable to do anything."
"Well...that's a comforting thought. And he's saying this to my daughter, why?"
Azura coughed to bring Ozpin's attention away from Ruby. "If you don't mind me asking, but why are you telling us about what could have been? Aren't we past the idea of a soul bond killing me?"
"We are." Ozpin agreed, continuing after a moment. "But, while I have not found a way to reverse your situation, I do know that it is likely that it could kill one of you. I just want to warn you about the possibility, should I find a way. Also, if you haven't noticed, you have mastered the ability to keep your semblance up without revealing any ghost."
Azura looked down at his hands, then looked back up at the man in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Well, if my theory is correct, then it is your semblance that is keeping this in balance. There is a chance that deactivating it would separate you and Summer, but it is also possible that doing that would start to kill you, Azura."
Ruby seemed to have finally snapped out of her silence, raising her voice. "Enough about the getting killed part! I can't stand it! If Azura has to live with my own mother in his head, then that's okay!"
She rushed off to the elevator, letting it take her down and away from the room. Azura felt his heart tighten as Summer sighed, much sadder than she had ever seemed since their talk about her wanting to die. That dark night as they looked out across the cliffs of Beacon towards Vale is imprinted in Azura's memory, he was confident about that.
"Headmaster...before I go running off after my friend, I need to know. How would my semblance being deactivated cause me to start dying?"
Ozpin tapped his fingers on the desk as he responded. "Well, I think it would end up damaging your soul. Possibly beyond repair. So, whatever you do, just wait for me to find an actual safe way to do this."
"Of course. We can wait."
Ozpin looked like he had aged several years within just a second. "Thank you, Azura. And you, Summer and Luna. I ask that you trust me on this."
"Of course. We trust you." Azura said with a smile.
Once the elevator doors closed again, Azura let his smile vanish as Summer spoke.
"Not like we have much of a choice."
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.(Line Break)
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Ruby was sitting on the bench right outside of Beacon tower, shoulders hunched as she slowly kicked her legs back and forth, gazing down at the ground. Azura quickly glanced at Luna, shook his head, and sat down next to the dark red haired girl.
"Hey, Ruby." He asked, relaxing against the back of the bench, staring off towards the horizon.
"Hey." She softly replied.
A long moment of silence followed, with Azura knowing that it would be best to wait for her to be comfortable enough to say something.
"Do you know why Weiss decided to help you with your semblance issue?" Ruby asked, breaking the silence.
It wasn't the topic that Azura thought would get brought up, but he was willing to entertain the question.
"Other than being nice to someone she might see as a friend?"
Ruby smiled lightly. "Well, beyond that. She does see you as a friend, but you have done more than that. In a way, you brought Blake back to us. So did Sun, but we haven't seen him around since then. Anyway, Weiss really does appreciate what you did, even if she doesn't show it."
Azura thought about what Weiss had said before, about how everyone seemed to have crazy things happen to them. "Well, that's nice of her."
Ruby nodded. "It was. But, you should have seen how hard she worked just to see if she could fix your problem. I had to force her to sleep on the night before she figured it out. She just wanted to run some tests to make sure that her calculations were correct." She let out a quiet laugh. "She was actually quite happy when we all saw you with the glyphs, even if she wouldn't tell us what it was for. Honestly, I had no idea why she was so busy scribbling notes down, I just thought that she was making notes for history or something."
"You have all been really kind to me, you know that? You made me an entirely new weapon on top of remaking my own, Yang...well, she taught me something. And Weiss, who figured out the problem with my semblance and made a solution. I need to repay the favor somehow."
"I know how you can repay the favor for me." Ruby said.
"Ozpin's office." Summer said, letting the words echo within his own mind.
"Does it have to do...with what happened in Ozpin's office.
Ruby nodded. "I'm sorry for getting angry back there. I just couldn't stand where the conversation was going."
"No, don't worry about that. But, Ruby, even if he finds a way to separate Summer and I...you know that it will be dangerous. I'm in a situation that is rather abnormal." Azura replied.
"Then don't do it."
"What do you mean?" He asked, taken aback.
Ruby sighed. "I don't want to risk having you die just to possibly hear my own mother's voice. Just knowing that she is there is enough for me."
"But...you could have so much more if I just take the leap of faith."
Ruby looked up at Azura, and he could see that she was mad. "Don't be stupid! I refuse to take that risk." Her lip quivered. "And...and I can't do that. Not for my own selfish desire."
She stood up, taking a few steps away from the bench. Azura watched her do so, wondering if it would be best to approach her.
"Of course it is, dummy. Give my own daughter a damn hug, before I force you to."
Azura got up from the bench, slowly approaching Ruby. Once he made his way to her, he found himself engulfed in a hug from the girl, who seemingly let go of any emotional control as she did so. He smiled softly, hugging the shorter girl. Eventually, he rested his chin on the top of her head.
Azura chuckled softly. "You know, I just remembered that you're the youngest, but not the shortest of us all."
"Shut up." Ruby said, giggling quietly.
"I love you, my little rose." Summer said.
"She loves you, you know that?"
Ruby didn't respond, but he felt her grip tighten.
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.(Line Break/Character Shift)
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Ozpin sighed as he looked at the sight of one Ruby Rose and Azura Heart hugging.
"At least they will have each other. Those with the silver eyes never tend to have a good ending. Even if Azura's singular silver eye is borrowed from a ghost."
He turned away and moved to his desk, opening yet another drawer within his desk. There was a chess set within, and Ozpin took it out and started to set up the pieces. After a minute of doing so, he was left with a few pieces to the side.
The black pieces had a queen piece, two bishops, and a rook. All eight pawns were out in position.
"I do not know what all of these pieces represent, but I must plan three step ahead and assume that she has taken those steps."
Ozpin then placed his own white pieces. A queen was placed down with delicacy, with three pawns put down in a line in front of it. Two rooks were then placed down, both left alone. A bishop was placed, with a pawn in front of it.
As Ozpin looked back at the pieces, he thought of all that he had.
"A fool king who believes in the dead." He said to himself.
The white king piece was placed next to the queen, and Ozpin smiled to himself as he looked upon the chess board.
"I might have gotten luckier than I anticipated."
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.(Chapter End)
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And that's a wrap! For whoever is reading this, I wonder if you can figure out what the chess pieces represent. It's nothing that crazy, I just wanted to play around with Ozpin's weird chess references.
I hope you have a good day/evening!