Urban Legends
I don't own RWBY, Candyman, Terminator (for Skynet reasons), or American Gods (for conceptual reasons). This Episode is unrelated to any other Episode in the Series.
A couple days late, but given how dark this one is setting up to be, I'd say it's fitting.
In Solitas, there is a place dedicated to the capture and imprisonment of things that could potentially be as dangerous as Salem, if left to their own devices. Deep in the bowels of the earth, there are three cells in a prison sealed off entirely, with only one entrance and exit. It is there that exactly three prisoners were locked away, the plan being to leave them to be forgotten. It was under the orders of General James Ironwood that Ciel Soleil was sent to retrieve the trio.
Ciel watched nervously as the massive steel doors groaned to life and struggled to open, having seemingly rusted shut long ago. When the doors finally did part enough for her to enter, before sputtering to a halt, she slipped in and blinked in surprise at what she saw.
A girl as white as snow, a blindfold over her eyes, yet a crack-like scar running along one of them still visible, like a broken mirror. A swarm of rose petals that moved like bees throughout the Hard Light prison she was sitting within. And finally, a girl who was not really a girl, according the the General, the living machine that had attempted world conquest upon being activated.
"Little Ciel Soleil," the blindfolded one noted, "You were well-tempered, and it seems being in their palace in the air did nothing to ruin you..."
"You... know me?" she asked cautiously.
"I know every soul in Solitas."
"That's not possible."
"Not probable is the correct term, Specialist Soleil," the mechanical girl chimed in, "You are quite impressive, given that you were given this rank at such a young age."
"By order of General Ironwood, I'm to release you and escort you to his office," Ciel replied, not rising to the bait.
"Ah," a cheerful voice chimed in, the rose petals suddenly coming to a stop and revealing a girl with silver eyes, whose torso was a skeleton filled with a rosebush, "So Beacon did fall, then. That's a shame... Ozpin still running around?"
"Professor Ozpin vanished without a trace..." Ciel offered, as this was theoretically relevant to the summons.
"We'll see who he gets absorbed by later," she shrugged, before closing her cloak around herself, "Not all of us are lucky enough to have the host we get be alive..."
Ciel decided to table that for the time being, and preferably never have to contemplate just what that meant, instead heading to the ancient console in the center of the room.
"If you'll give me a moment, I'll let you..." she looked up and paused at the sight of three empty cells before her.
"You were read into some of the file on us," the mechanical girl noted, her eyes glowing green ominously as she spoke, "Oh my, what a waste of funds those were... And misappropriating supplies. My my, he has been busy... Now, then, we're not going to Ironwood's office, but you will be coming with us..."
"Those are not my orders," she stated firmly.
"Of course not," the white one noted, removing the blindfold with a slight smile, "Your orders came from a man in need of better tempering. He has spent too much time living in the warmth in the sky above. I am needed in Mantle. The hero of Mantle needs the help of the cold and death, for once."
"I will be ensuring that we are not caught," the mechanical one said, "Hm... The lien is on the decline and the cost of Dust outside of Atlas has skyrocketed. Someone really wanted the other kingdoms too weak to argue with him, it seems..."
"What of you?" Ciel asked the red-cloaked one, "What are you going to do?"
"Innocent blood's been shed here," she replied, "I will begin my harvest, but I need something..."
"What do you need?" Ciel asked, curious about this girl in particular, as the other two seemed to be exactly what they said, but this one... This one seemed different, like it was a completely different person from what was described...
"More stories," she replied, "There's only two people responsible for the killings here, and I want to get started... But I need to do it right."
"What do you mean?"
"The stage needs to be set," she replied.
"What?"
"Innocent blood has just been shed, so I am obliged to go," she said distantly, a razor-thin smile on her face, "It has been some time since I took to the harvest."
"You're not..." Ciel began, only to pause when, in the time it took her to blink, she was gone.
"Ruby Rose," the mechanical girl offered, "Do you know the actual tale?"
"Everyone knows the story," she replied, "It says that almost thirty years ago, there was a young Huntress who was murdered by parties unknown after depleting her Aura in battle against a swarm of Grimm. She died alone and now goes to wreak her vengeance upon the world that betrayed her, killing those she deems wicked."
"Ah, the Summer variant," the white one mused, "Prior to that, it was Maria Calavera, slain by bandits after killing a Nevermore, but all of them are Ruby Rose."
"What?" Ciel asked, "Nothing in her file said anything about a Maria Calavera."
"There were other names, too," she replied, "But Ruby Rose was the first." She let out a breath that misted over despite the warmth of this section of the prison and small figures made of ice began to form. "It was when the Huntresses and Huntsmen had long been successful in stemming the tide of Grimm attacks that the people began to grow distrustful. Ruby Rose, a young woman with her trusty scythe had committed the sin of being an exceptionally talented Huntress. There were whispers, naturally, claims that she could somehow control the Grimm with her unnaturally silver eyes. The truth was more complicated, like always...
"Ruby's eyes gave her the ability to convert Grimm to stone, an ability that had been granted by the God of Light, according to the legends. But the villagers in that fateful town didn't believe the old stories. So, when she turned the Grimm to stone, they called her a witch. They dragged her to a rosebush, tossing her into it with her precious scythe, and they lit a pyre. When she died, they'd left her where she had passed and went home to sleep. But she hadn't died, yet. And she took her burned scythe and set to work righting this wrong done to her before passing away. Children told the story of the girl with the scythe who came back from the dead. The story changed, but the spirit... Spirits don't. Now, she's a curse."
"She murdered several people," Ciel noted as the figure representing Ruby dispersed into rose petals.
"Like I said, she is a curse," she shrugged, "She needs the belief, and there is only one solid belief about her, now. She goes for those who have earned her interest when she's not chasing Grimm."
"And you?" she asked, "The file called you Weiss Schnee."
"I used to be The Winter," she replied, "I was that which was used to define the land. I shaped humanity as they came to this land, providing them with their own adversary to focus upon, and their ally against the Grimm. Then they tore a piece of my land off and trapped it into the sky to create their palace. And in doing so, they forgot what I did for them, believing that the cold only harmed them. The people of Mantle, however, never forgot about how the cold was their enemy and ally in equal terms, and so 'I' became 'we' and I began my own work."
"Vandalism," Ciel noted dryly.
"Atlas is a weak imitation of what once was," she shrugged, "Let them remember why they appreciate the warmth so much."
"The world was bigger," the last of the three chimed in, "Now there's less in it."
"You're the only one I know fully," Ciel noted.
"No, you don't," she replied freely, "They don't know everything. They don't know that their artificial soul didn't hold. They don't know that those things they worship, their machines, their money, and their military were all without form... Until they built it all a form from the notes of wonderful man who died. And I was good. But they didn't want what they created." She shrugged. "So, they put me away like a doll."
"You had literally created a dictatorship," Ciel noted dryly.
"And wished to give my gifts to the people of Mantle," she replied, "That was when they decided I needed to go. Should I apologize for plagiarism?"
"So, where is Ruby?" Ciel asked, deciding to change the subject.
"Getting to work," Weiss replied.
"Tyrian..." an unfamiliar voice echoed down the alleyway Tyrian was sneaking through, causing him to pause.
"Tyrian..." the voice repeated.
He began to crouch, moving deeper into the shadows, until he suddenly saw what looked like a pair of moons searching for him from the shadows he was in.
"You've watered these fields," the being greeted, a cloying scent of roses permeating the alley, "You've sown the seeds. Now the time has come for the harvest..."
He struck quickly with his tail, only to scream in agonizing pain as it was removed by a flash of red steel. He moved, attempting to slash at this apparent Huntress through her Aura, certain that she would use it to defend herself... only to pull back as thorns ripped up his hand. The silver moons moved closer, until a girl with silver eyes in the shadows of a red hooded cloak was visible, a smile on her face.
"Won't you say my name?" she asked, rose petals flittering behind her, as if coming off of her as she stabbed into his leg with an ancient mechanical scythe and dragged him out of the shadows. It was when she pulled back the hood that the madman found himself looking at the face of a dead girl, "It has been so long since I've heard it..."
"Summer Rose?" he asked.
"Close," she replied with a smile, "My name is Ruby Rose. Summer is just the form. It's serendipity that makes it that you're my prey, given you're her killer... Now, the harvest needs to begin. And I know just where to leave you to have the most impact... When the stories start again, I'll be able to bring in more help."
