FILE_RECOVERY_COMPLETE
PARTIAL_FILE_RETRIEVED
RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.
Chapter 23: The Devil in the Darkness
It took a bit for me to come down from the euphoria of using my power. Though, I did and focused on acclimating myself to my new vessel. The unfortunate downside to my physical situation is that acclimating to a new body requires time. Almost always does it require time I don't have.
Fortunately for me, I do have a daughter. Keira was more than willing to help. Containing Forever Fall was a far bigger ask than any of us had anticipated.
I should tell you about that, shouldn't I? Well, things in the forest weren't getting worse, but neither were they getting better. While the humans and faunus focused on diverting the train lines around the forest. Keira, War, Famine, and Conquest, focused on herding the Omega I Grimm and trying to contain the massive population. Unfortunately, what the Nyaraloths lacked in age and skill, they more than made up for in numbers.
War, Famine, Conquest, and Keira had been working on the problem off and on for the past week or so. Progress was not happening. The swarm was simply too massive. The new train line around the forest was showing better progress. Then again, that probably had to do with the fact that all four kingdoms had come together to solve the problem.
Anyway, Keira was glad to have a day off of that. She took over some of the things I needed done. Primarily, was a visit with Ozark. I had an idea that might help reverse the soul stealing effects of the Soul Thief. Keira asked Ozark if he could test my idea for me. That experiment was a bloody failure; however, it apparently gave Ozark some ideas.
There was another thing I asked Keira to look into, in Vale. It was another dead end. A frustrating pattern that was continually emerging in my search for Grimshaw. With the lead in Vale showing no results, Keira decided she would rather visit her sister.
Ruby and her team were busy doing nothing. They were spending the day in their dorm. Yang, Weiss and Blake had largely come to terms with our existence and were getting better at handling the revelation.
A knock on their door broke them from whatever reverie each of them were lost in. Ruby was the one who got up and opened the door. She smiled and was pulled into a bone crushing hug by her sister. The other girls looked over at Ruby's near squeal of joy.
The sight of my black-haired daughter gave them pause. Remember, Keira's flesh is rather translucent due to her hybrid status. It probably wasn't helped by the fact that she had taken to emulating me with how she looked. Granted, she didn't wear a black cloak, like I do, but she still wore primarily black. Black boots, pants, and t-shirt. Nothing to fancy, but it certainly made her translucent skin stand out more. Another difference between the two of us, Keira really liked to have Execution conjured and resting on her back.
It would be hypocritical of me to judge. I was like that with Thine End for a significant portion of my existence.
"Uh… Ruby. Who is this?" Weiss asked, breaking apart the sisters.
"Oh, right." Ruby responded as she pulled Keira into the room. "Girls, this is Keira, my sister. Keira, my teammates Weiss and Blake, and my other sister, Yang."
"Is she like me?" Yang asked.
"Hybrid? Yes. Daughter of the most powerful being in the universe? Yes. Fun? Absolutely." Keira asked. "You're Aunt War's daughter?"
"Uh… yeah?" Yang replied.
"She seems much too happy to be Death's daughter." Blake said.
"Yeah, that's Keira for you, ever the unfailing optimist." Ruby replied, with a roll of her eyes.
"I… don't know what to say." Weiss muttered.
"So, cousin… are we cousins? Or are we sisters?" Keira asked.
"Cousins, why?" Yang asked.
"Ruby." Keira replied. "You're her sister, and so am I. I think that makes us sisters."
"Uh…" Yang tried to make sense of it.
"It's easiest if you just roll with it." Ruby whispered to Yang. "She's about as scatterbrained as dad, but far less focused, unless she needs to be."
"Right… how did you grow up with her?" Yang asked.
"I rolled with it. She adopted me first." Ruby answered. "At least that's how everyone tells it."
"Are you guys doing anything today?" Keira asked.
"No. Why?" Weiss asked.
"Then we shall go have lunch. It'll be my treat." Keira announced.
My daughter strode out of the room, a smile never leaving her face. Ruby shrugged and followed. Yang, Weiss and Blake were a few seconds behind.
"Ruby, what do we do about her skin?" Weiss asked. "Is that normal or…?"
"Nothing. If anyone asks, it's a side effect of her semblance." Ruby answered. "And yes, that's how Keira's flesh has always looked.
Weiss looked back at Keira, who was happily conversing with Yang. A smile was rapidly growing on the brawler's face.
"Be careful." Ruby warned. "When she gets an idea in her head, there is no disabusing her of that notion. I wouldn't be surprised if after today, she decided that we are all sisters."
"Why?" Blake asked.
"That's just how she is." Ruby began. "Keira is in large part, a combination of ideals and morals of both our parents. Dad always explained it as her mind is from him but her heart is from mom."
Blake just raised an eyebrow. Ruby didn't elaborate. It didn't really explain much, but Blake got the gist of it.
Keira led them into Vale. They found a small restaurant with outdoor seating. The waiter brought them their orders of various pasta dishes and they conversed. At one point however, Keira looked around, startled. A slight wind flared up around them. Her gaze scanned the area around them before slightly narrowing in at one particular spot.
"Don't look now." Keira said. "Ruby, can you sense the man that is one far left knight's move behind you?"
Ruby gave a low whistle. Her eyes began glowing silver and she tried to sense the soul of the man behind her that Keira had pointed out. She sensed nothing.
"I can't find him." Ruby replied.
"Blast." Keira said. "You can at least trust me, he's there."
"Complete 180 on personality there, Keira." Yang stated.
"Maybe, but this is important." Keira said.
"Why?" Blake asked.
"He's been staring at us since we sat down." Keira replied.
"You sure he's not staring at me?" Weiss asked. "I'm not exactly an unknown."
"I know." Keira replied. "But he's specifically staring at Ruby. Though he does look at each of us. The look is more hungry than anything else."
"Anything else we should know?" Yang asked.
"I can't sense his soul. But I can sense his life. It feels… wrong." Keira said.
"You can sense his life?" Blake asked.
"Dad gave me the ability to sense souls, Mom gave me the ability to sense sentient life. Status as a hybrid, I think." Keira replied, still watching the strange man.
After a minute, he stood up and walked past them. Ruby tensed as she understood Keira's dilemma. She could feel no soul from the man. She did see the hungry glint in his eye as he walked past.
"We need to follow him." Keira said as soon as he was gone.
"What? Why?" Weiss asked.
"He might be the guy dad is after." Keira replied.
"Death is after him?" Blake asked.
"Possibly." Ruby replied.
"He didn't look like he was here to eat." Yang mentioned.
The girls came to a silent agreement. They headed off in the direction he went. Ruby, Yang, and Blake followed him from the rooftops. Keira and Weiss kept to the streets. Ruby, Yang and Blake found him first. He was casually avoiding anyone he came across. Ruby was certain that he knew Weiss and Keira were following him.
The mysterious stranger led them into the richer sectors of the city. Blake noted that his skin seemed to be unnaturally darkening. He ducked into one of the taller buildings.
Ruby, Blake and Yang met Keira and Weiss just outside the entrance. The building was an old theater, currently closed for pending renovations.
"He went in there." Blake said, pointing at the building.
Ruby whistled and began to scour the building for souls. She found one in the auditorium.
"We should split up. No doubt, he knows that some of us followed, perhaps we can catch him by surprise." Ruby said. "Keira, Weiss, he's probably expecting you two. I doubt he'll expect us."
"So, you want us to go in through the front door?" Weiss asked.
"Yes. We'll take different routes. Blake and Yang, you two take the sides. I'll go in from above." Ruby ordered.
The girls nodded and split off. Yang and Blake found two different entrances. Yang found what appeared to be a backstage entrance, while Blake found a fire escape. One of the windows on the second floor appeared to be propped open. Ruby entered the building through the roof. Just inside, was the primary maintenance area. Some scattered tools and supplies were all she saw. Beyond that was access to the rafters and backstage catwalks. Ruby smirked as she made her way along them.
Soon enough, she could hear the not-so-soft sounds of an out of tune piano playing. Whistling again, she could sense the soul was below her. She looked down to see a woman playing a rather ominous piece of music on the piano on stage. Stalking around the instrument was the same man from earlier. She could see the woman shiver in revulsion as he drug one of his fingers across the back of her shoulders.
Ruby heard the auditorium's main doors open. Weiss and Keira entered. Looking around, she saw Blake in one of the third-floor box seats. Yang was below her, trying to navigate the maze of props and construction equipment that was backstage.
The sudden bang of the doors opening cut the music off abruptly. The woman began to softly sob.
"We wondered how long it would take for you all to find us." The stranger began.
His voice was quiet and raspy. Yet Ruby could hear him plain as day. There was power in his voice. Indescribable pain and awful power.
"Yet, there are only two of you. Where are the others? I know there were three more… or was it four? Five possibly?" The man spoke. "No, only three."
Ruby watched as Keira slowly walked down the main aisle of the auditorium. Weiss stepped to the side ready to help at a moment's notice. Ruby was mentally kicking herself for not having the others bring their weapons.
"You wanted us to find you?" Keira asked.
"Strange, isn't it?" The man replied. "We wanted you to find us."
He rested a hand on the woman's back. Ruby noted that his skin was noticeably blackening. He looked at Keira.
"Yes. We did." He said.
"Why do you keep saying we?" Keira asked.
"Because there is more than one soul in this body, obviously." The man rasped, his grip tightening around the back of the woman's neck.
"Who are you?" Keira asked.
"Is it not obvious?" The man asked, his grip tightening further on the woman.
She cried in pain. Light blue chain-like bands of energy began appearing all around the woman's body. They began flowing up the man's arm, turning a deep blood red as they encircled his wrist. The woman cried in pain as more and more bands unraveled from her form and traveled into the man holding her neck.
The sight was so much worse for Ruby and Keira. What they saw, for a brief second, was a massive conglomeration of souls wrapped around an orb so black that the only comparison is the void between worlds. The souls disappeared, but the orb remained. The woman's soul was wrested from her body as she continued to scream in pain. Her soul scrambled and tried to maintain any form of grip on her body. The woman's mortal coil wasn't severed, rather it was torn to shreds by the Soul Thief and her soul was dragged, screaming and kicking into the black void that the Soul Thief's soul encompassed.
Ruby shakily whistled, and let her power dissipate. She looked back down. To her horror, the Soul Thief's skin was back to a healthy color, and he was looking right up at her.
"There's the little snack." He said.
A blade, as black as midnight, materialized from his hand. He launched it up in Ruby's direction. It severed the cables holding up the catwalk. Ruby and it fell to the ground, landing with a loud bang.
"Stay back." Ruby shakily said.
"Now, why would we do that?" The Soul Thief inquired. "You tasted so good last time."
The Soul Thief reached forward, only to find his hand suddenly cut off. He looked up, Keira stood before him, absolutely furious. Execution dripped with black blood.
"Erebus Grimshaw, by order of Death, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, I am bringing you before him. Preferably dead." Keira snarled. "You won't touch her again."
"We'd like to see you try." Erebus smirked, lunging forward.
Another blade materialized from his hand and he swung it wildly at Keira. My daughter deftly blocked the attack and countered with another slash. Execution severed his other hand. Again, though, Erebus didn't seem too bothered by the sudden loss of his hands. If anything, he was more annoyed, especially at the sound of three loud thuds echoing throughout the building.
Weiss rushed the stage and stabbed him through with her rapier. Weiss expressed surprise when he chuckled and just pulled himself off her blade. It had done nothing to the man. Blake had just as little luck when she tried to slice through the man. Her blade passed cleanly through him, doing no damage. Yang experienced the same problem when she tried to blast him with her shotgun.
"Your weapons are nothing to us." Erebus chuckled.
To Grimshaw's surprise, the next attack was a kick to his chest from Keira.
"Yang, Blake, get through to Ruby. Weiss, back me up." Keira ordered.
Yang and Blake both ran to Ruby. My daughter had curled into a fetal position. Absolute terror was all they could see in her expression. Yang pulled Ruby into her and tried speaking to her. It was doing very little.
Keira turned back to Erebus. The Soul Thief was grinning like a madman. His hands were both reattached. A black gun was in his right hand, a black blade in his left. He lifted the gun and began firing. Several loud bangs resounded through the room as everything fell into darkness.
"You know, we have more names, more epithets, than just the one." Erebus said.
Keira looked around the room. Grimshaw had vanished into the shadows.
"Weiss, light this place up." Keira commanded.
Weiss nodded and began conjuring glyphs around the room. Light began emanating from them, like spotlights. Grimshaw was still not visible.
"Show yourself, you coward!" Keira roared.
"I'd hardly call myself a coward." Grimshaw spoke into her ear.
Keira turned around, only to be lifted into the air by her neck. Keira tried to free herself with her scythe, but Grimshaw easily caught it.
"None of that, now Daughter of Death." Erebus taunted.
He squeezed Execution, and the scythe simply dissipated into nothingness. He pulled Keira close to him. Her face was twisted into an angry grimace, while he just held a malicious smile.
"Consider this your only warning. Tell Death to leave me alone." Erebus told her.
During all of this, Yang and Blake had managed to calm down Ruby. Ruby had calmed her breathing and looked to see what was happening. Upon seeing Keira's predicament. Ruby stood up, and gulped. She steeled herself and launched forward to Erebus Grimshaw.
"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" Ruby shouted.
She swung Death's Thorn through Grimshaw's neck. The ethereal blade met no resistance as she removed the head from the Soul Thief. His body fell to the ground and Keira was released from his grasp. All was quiet for a few seconds. To the girl's disgust, Erebus's body began to move once more.
It pulled itself along the ground towards his fallen head. One of his hands grabbed the head and put it back on the neck. Grimshaw scowled at the girls.
Ruby gulped again as she glared at the monster of her nightmares.
"We told you that your weapons will do little." Erebus said. "Consider this your last warning."
The Soul Thief returned to the darkness. Weiss aimed one of her light glyphs at his last location. He was gone.
"Eternal damnation!" Keira cursed.
"Keira?" Ruby asked.
"You girls head back to Beacon. Dad needs to know about this." Keira replied.
Ruby nodded. Keira opened a portal to the Necropolis. She hugged Ruby goodbye and stepped through. The girls exited the theater and began making their way back to Beacon in silence.
"Erebus Grimshaw?" Weiss asked, once they had boarded the airship.
"He's the soul thief Dad is looking for." Ruby replied, still shaky from the encounter.
"What's his connection to you?" Blake asked. "I could probably hazard a guess, but you just… froze."
Ruby didn't respond.
"It's him, isn't it?" Yang asked.
Ruby nodded.
"Yang?" Weiss asked.
"He's the man who killed our father." Yang replied. "I can see why they never caught his killer now."
"Can we please just not talk about him?" Ruby asked.
ERROR-DATA_CORRUPTION-BEGIN_FILE_RECOVERY…/…
Data Log DoD-023
I think I'm going to be switching my upload schedule to a Sunday upload rather than Saturday. I find myself with more contiguous free time on Sundays. Yesterday, for instance, I was booked solid all day. Hope you guys don't mind.
Thank you to all who read this, your feedback and views are much appreciated. Feel free to leave ideas and recommendations for the future.
Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.
End Log S.T.K.