What had once been a raging storm, was now reduced to a simple drizzle. No more was the land scarred by the forked lightning that struck and abused the wet soil. No more was the neighbouring wildlife drowned beneath the endless downpour and no more did the trees bend and splinter under the wild force of the high winds. Everything was… calm, soothing even. The thunder and lightning replaced by the glow of a mildly concealed moon, the cruel deluge by the pitter-patter of frail raindrops and the howling gales by a cool morning breeze. Most importantly however, there it was. The beast that had plagued her subconscious for years. The monster who hounded at her senses, forcing each encounter with another person to be harder than it had any right to be. The strength she had called upon all too often.
The Grimm lay quietly, its fur covered stomach falling and rising slowly in its calm slumber as it unconsciously purred at the pale hand carefully dragging itself along its neck. It was unnatural; all she had ever known from the beast was blood-lust, anger and power. To see it reduced to a huge sleeping cat was unsettling. She half expected the tiger to be faking it, to be luring in the unsuspecting girl who hummed gently as she petted the beast, but it never happened, the scene simply continued to play out. She took a step forward accidentally snapping a branch she hadn't seen. The other girl noticed, as did the tiger, both turning to face her as she continued her approach. The girl wore a faint smile, it was sad, understanding… and innocent. The tiger was less inclined to be so trusting, rapidly standing and letting loose a low growl towards her as it placed itself between her and the girl.
The rain seemed to come down slightly harder, the thunder rolling in the distance serving as a clear warning. The hooded girl moved her hand to the tiger's head causing it to calm and the storm to once again subside. Nora moved to speak, but the girl raised her hand in a silent command to stop her. When the ginger obeyed, she moved her hands up to the white hood that draped over her face. Nora's eyes widened at the woman she saw beneath the cloak, dark red hair appearing almost black the closer to the roots you got, porcelain white skin framing the face that held both kindness and a quiet power that unnerved her. However, it was the silver irises, that seemed to bore into her soul as she met their gaze, that truly earned her reaction. The woman was the splitting image of what Nora imagined an older Ruby would look like, only with silver eyes rather than the blood red the child wore. A black rose, identical to the one ruby had worn, curled up and around her forearm, only this one had far more roses than the other.
"I know how things may seem, but I ask that you hear me out before you think too poorly of me and my sudden… intrusion." Nora straightened at the voice, it was warm, calming even, she almost let her guard down as the woman spoke, almost. The cloaked woman waved her hand to the tiger who lay down once more at the gesture, seemingly relaxing, though it never stopped looking towards Nora. She could feel a deep feeling of dread build in her stomach at the way the woman walked towards her, guard down, as if she could not possibly perceive Nora as a threat.
"Wh-who are you? Why are you here? How are you here?" she moved to continue her slew of endless questions but was abruptly halted as the woman raised a flat palm to silence her. Pools of liquid steel holding her gaze, demanding her full attention as their eyes locked. The white clad woman reached forward and placed a calming hand on each of her shoulders, bending down slightly to match eye heights.
"I cannot tell you all of those things; I only have so much time I can spare with you but, know that I mean you no harm. Okay?" Nora couldn't help but allow her shoulders to loosen at the promise, releasing a breath she had no idea she had been holding. The woman gave a small sympathetic smile as Nora nodded her affirmation. "Good. Now, the reason I am here is to explain somethings about Ruby to you. I had hoped she would be able to get used to her power a little more before encountering another Grimm blooded, but alas here we are. I am here to ask for your help. As you know Ruby has a lot of potential, a lot of power, but she is young, she is inexperienced, and I… I cannot be there to help her." She seemed to deflate slightly at the statement, as if reliving some sorrowful memory. She returned her gaze to Nora quickly, causing the girl to flinch slightly. "But you… you can. You will learn more about her power, and your own, as the pair of you grow. You'll know what I mean when you see it." Nora nodded slowly as the woman released her from both her physical and ocular grip, the warm smile returning to her features.
She slowly began walking away, seemingly disappearing into nothing with white rose petals drifting from the billowing cloak. However, she stopped beside the tiger giving it a moment of petting and attention before peering over her shoulder to Nora.
"I know this guy is scary, and doesn't know his own strength sometimes, but give him a chance, will you? After all, being trapped inside someone else's body and being used a glorified battery isn't the easiest life to enjoy you know. Maybe get to know him, it will make things easier for the both of you. One day you'll understand." With that, she seemed to fade, a sudden gust of wind seeming to scatter her into a million snow white petals.
Ruby awoke to the light streaking across her vision, invading the cool, blissful embrace that her slumber had provided. The white glow piercing the calming darkness, denying her the solitude she had found so much peace in. She moved a hand to shield her eyes as they slowly conceded to the blinding assault. It proved futile as the light persistently slid through the tiniest gaps between her fingers. She looked past her digits to see the window displaying the bright all-consuming light from the sun halfway to its peak in the sky. The sight numbed her aggravation at the disturbance, instead she now a mixture of awe and longing as she beheld the day star. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen the sun in the sky. Apep had kept her in a windowless cell and had taken her to Junior's in the dark veil of night. Even yesterday, when the twins had taken her and Ilia to train with Jax she had remained inside, and the curtains had been closed.
Her thoughts suddenly scrambled to life at the mention of Jax's training, the vague strands of consciousness she had retained from the haze that had overcome her when she had drawn close to Nora. Something had screamed at her to act, to fight the older girl, but she had only remembered asking it why, right before passing out. A few sights and sounds made their way to the front of her mind, blurry images of the fight that had ensued, sounds that had been drowned by her lack of focus. Her mind suddenly halted at the clear image of Nora slumped against the wall, the concrete spider-webbed with cracks, a collar gripping her throat and Ruby's own hand running along the band as if checking its quality.
She startled at a sudden movement at under the covers around her other arm. Quickly, she yanked her arm from the cover of the duvet, she paled slightly as more images came to life in her head as she beheld the black rose coiled tightly around her forearm. She recalled the feeling as it sprouted from her shadow and attached itself to her frame, carefully, almost lovingly, wrapping around her limb. It had grown each time the black mist was fed to it by the vines, and it had helped her create the collar that had been put on Nora. She reached out to touch the flower that rested its head just above her wrist, but before she could do so it produced a globule of the black substance that it had created and a thin, thorn-less vine guided it to rest in ruby's outstretched palm.
The feeling wasn't unpleasant. The globule seemed to writhe and bubble in her hand, and yet not once did it break the perfect spherical shape it had been given in, as if waiting for something, some prompt that never came. The substance was cool in her hand as it curled around itself, feeling more like thick water than the murky, mist like appearance it held. It felt strange, alien even, and yet, comfortingly familiar. She leaned in to investigate further, trying her hardest to see what may lie within the shadowy orb. A sudden gasp cast her from her fascinated stupor, and she pulled back surprise plastering itself across her features, fear lingering at the edges of her eyes as she turned to the source of the noise.
Nora shot up from her slumber, falling out of the bed as she flailed wildly, grasping at the bed for purchase. There was a thud that reverberated through the walls of the apartment as she hit the floor, groaning at the collision of her head with the carpet. The pain seemed to calm her slightly allowing her to regain her bearings and finally take in the room around her. Her eyes darted around, surveying everything from the bed to the door, before finally settling on Ruby and seeming to stare at something that wasn't there.
The door burst open at the sudden commotion Nora had created and Junior appeared in the doorway a dishevelled, half-dressed Bart peeking through a small gap between the large man and the swaying door. There was a pregnant silence as everyone took in their surroundings properly and slowly calmed down from the tension that had hung in the air. Junior spoke first as Nora picked herself off the floor groaning and nursing the back of her head.
"Good morning, how nice of you to join us." He realised as he spoke that the lighthearted comment probably sounded rather intimidating, especially to the smaller girl who had little to no interaction with him yet. It was at this moment that Bart spotted the globule in Ruby's palm and seemed to practically teleport over to her in barely contained curiosity. Junior moved to reassure the girls of the situation but was immediately interrupted by the intrigued professor.
"Oh my… What… What is this? I have never seen the likes of it before, and yet it seems oddly familiar." He thought out loud leaning in perhaps a bit too close his shirtless body coming within inches or Ruby's face as he eccentrically rambled to himself. Then something seemed to come to him. "Wait! Could this be what you made the collar out of?" He pointed a finger towards the ball before making to poke it, just as before the vines wrapped around Ruby's forearm lashed out and nearly separated the finger from his hand. Luckily, he withdrew in time and the danger had only doubled his curiosity. "Interesting…" he trailed off perhaps finishing the sentence in his head. Junior coughed to grab the man's attention. The green haired professor peered over his shoulder as Junior repeated the process until he got a reaction.
"Why don't we talk over breakfast?" he levelled a stare at Bart trying to subtly hint that he should get dressed, but the historian simply nodded, oblivious to his state of undress. He was by no means thin or frail looking, in fact most may find his physique quite a pleasant sight, his hunter training having demanded him to be fit and strong. The smell, however, was a different story, he still hadn't showered in several days and the stench was evidently strong enough to cause ruby to pull back a bit. He had been about to have a shower at Junior's request, when the thumping of Nora's awakening shook the walls of the apartment.
"Why don't you two get into some better clothes and meet us in the kitchen in ten?" he received a pair of slow nods, Junior tried to lift the mood, and though he didn't smile he let out a small chuckle as he spoke. "Don't worry Miltia's cooking and I'm sure Ruby will tell you, but there ain't anyone better at cooking a morning fry up then that girl." With a slight smile the girls nodded again, and he closed the door behind him as he left, quietly pleased with his progress. The room was once again silent as the girls turned their attention towards each other. Ruby made to talk and apologies, but Nora raised a hand and spoke first, seemingly reading her mind.
"Don't worry about our little scuffle yesterday, I should have known that you couldn't suppress your Grimm's influence yet. Being so close to me probably set alarm bells off for it, hell, if hadn't dealt with it for years then I would have been the same." She absently pulled at the band around her throat. "Though I have to say that the collar was a bit excessive." She yanked at it to pull it off but just ended up dragging her nails down her throat as it dodged her grip and tightened slowly as she persisted her attempts. Her breathing became laboured until eventually she stopped, and its grip loosened, once more allowing air into her lungs.
Ruby looked slightly horrified at the display, to think she had created that collar, had put it on her, and yet she had no idea what it was or how to remove it. Nora recovered, pulling herself up and stabilising herself as she took deep restorative breaths. Ruby subconsciously prepared for the girl's wrath that she may direct at her, closing her eyes in anticipation. It never came, instead she felt a sudden warmth envelope her and opened her eyes to see a mop of thick ginger hair as her face was pressed into the crook of Nora's neck. Nora gently ran a hand down the back of Ruby's head in an attempt to comfort the girl.
"It's okay, I know you didn't mean it; I lost control of my power my first time too, everybody does." Nora pulled away looking deep into Ruby's eyes as she knelt at face level. "You should have seen me when I went through it, all electronics in a five mile radius were completely fried, and everything within a mile of me had been completely vaporised." Nora wore a small smile, as if reminiscing on a fond memory, though Ruby could not gather what she was thinking about. Nora continued. "All things considered, you handled it very well. We may not know what your powers are yet, but maybe Bart could help us with that." As if on que a knock sounded at the door, Junior's husky voice rumbled from the now slightly ajar door.
"I don't mean to be rude, but Bart seems to have arrived at some conclusion and insists you hurry up. Whilst he isn't going to do anything if you take your time, for the sake of my sanity I ask you don't take too much longer." He closed the door quietly as if afraid to create too much noise in the sensitive environment. As the hinges slotted back into place Nora turned to Ruby, chuckling slightly as she stood up right and helped Ruby to do the same. The black substance seemed to slowly filter itself back into the flower on ruby's arm as she closed her fist, she hadn't intended to dismiss it, but was happy she had managed to.
"Let's not keep the big man waiting, shall we?" Nora's grin was genuine as she managed to pluck a small giggle from the younger girl. She didn't know why the white woman wanted her to watch over Ruby but, after so long of thinking she was the only remaining non-royal Grimm-blooded, she wasn't about to pass up this chance. Besides the woman said she might grow stronger from the experience, and she owed Jax a rematch.
Bart was positively thrumming with energy and excitement at his apparent discovery. Melanie was nursing a headache beside him, having spent most of the previous night trying to calm Ilia down. The young chameleon girl had been terrified, as the girl she had thought harmless had suddenly began throwing Nora around the room in a display she hadn't previously thought possible. Luckily exhaustion had coaxed the Faunas into sleep after a few hours, but Melanie hadn't been so lucky. She had been about to nod off when Miltia came in exclaiming that Ruby and Nora had woken up, she had loudly complained but wasn't about to miss the occasion.
Miltia was now sliding sizzling rashers of bacon and large juicy sausages onto the six plates that had been set out at the glass-topped kitchen table. She had managed to get a few hours of sleep after having taken the girls back to their currently shared room, though Junior had woken her up saying something about her position being bad for her neck and she went to her bedroom instead. She couldn't go back to sleep again however, so instead took an hour-long shower and a long smoke on the balcony hanging out from her apartment. One might find it odd that it was Miltia that was underage smoking rather than Melanie, but she had gained the unfortunate habit when Mavis had gotten drunk once and offered her one. She didn't see the issue, there were many things in life that people did to get past stress, they drunk, they had sex, the list went on. This was simply her vice; one she had found herself needing more in recent days. She wouldn't let her sister or Junior find out if she could help it, but Mavis and Jax knew, often buying her packets or joining her on long business nights.
She looked down at the displayed plates on the table. Despite there only being six plates there were seven people seated at the table. This was because Melanie had refused food, saying something about a diet and simply returning to nursing her aching temples. Miltia had given her a displeased look, knowing full well that Melanie worried about her weight too much, most girls their age would kill for the figure the two of them shared, and it was worrying to see her so conscious about it. She sent her a mental prod, but it was promptly ignored as Melanie gazed intently at the table.
Despite Bart practically swaying in his seat as he tapped at keys on his laptop, anticipation rolling off him like an odour, it was Jax who spoke up first after Ruby and Nora sat down.
"So, uh… what happened? I know the legends and the stories, but I'm sure that there are a lot of things in those wives-tales that aren't accurate so if you wouldn't mind enlightening us." He gestured with is hands towards Nora and Bart. The ginger opened her mouth to speak but was abruptly interrupted by the eccentric green haired man.
"Indeed, the tales actually stray quite far from the truth. The Branwen family have been rather thorough in their elimination of the Grimm blood method, however no great secret can be kept from the eyes of time." He tapped his spectacles at his statement. "Whereas the Branwens would have us believe that their current method is much safer and equally as rewarding, this is untrue, if my research is correct. Which it is." He took a large sip of his coffee as a small break before continuing. "Whilst it is true, the method is safer, and at the time of its creation just as effective, this has since ceased to be the case. You see the Grimm blood serves as a catalyst, which they replace with months of harsh training, however since the creation of the new method the hunting of Grimm has ceased from the Branwen family. As many of us know Grimm grow exponentially more powerful as they age, and throughout recorded history one has never died from age, potentially hinting at near immortality. Due to this factor any Grimm blood procured in the modern time has a chance of being much, much stronger than it was in the past." He paused for both effect and to allow his listeners to take in the information. After the long silence he continued, once more taking a hefty slurp from his mug.
"This information seems fine and all, but I'm sure that you are asking yourselves 'what does this mean?', to that I am going to tell you that it means… we are in much deeper shit then we originally thought." He went to take another hit of his coffee only to find it empty, he frowned slightly but quickly realised the attention still placed on him and so continued. "The reason for this being, that young Miss Rose here obviously has the blood of a Grimm that is centuries older than the last one used for the ritual. Nora is less likely to have this sort of blood since she was blooded in a place where Grimm were still hunted, meaning that there is a lower chance that they had grown much. Whilst her power is certainly impressive, and she has defiantly been gifted with possibly the oldest Grimm from the area, however it pales in comparison to whatever Ruby has." He gestured to the collar around Nora's neck. "I mean, it literally forced Nora's Grimm into submission, and Ruby is twelve years younger. Another thing that lends to this theory is what I saw when I touched the collar. It is a Grimm. A very young Grimm, not even a day old, but nevertheless it is a Grimm. It thinks, feels, moves and even feeds. Ruby made a Grimm; not even fully aware she was doing so either." He moved over to his laptop and tapped a few keys before flipping it to face the centre of the table. On the illuminated screen it showed an old drawing of a wolf like creature, that stood on its hind legs, clawing itself out of a small pool of black.
"That hasn't happened since the very creation of Grimm. For a long time, it was unknown how Grimm came about. Many religions painted them as various spirits or symbols from whatever God they believed in, but none ever seemed coherent scientifically. Eventually we concluded Grimm are born out of pure emotion, specifically negative ones, fear, anger, hunger etc… I would say Ruby's abilities confirms that theory. You see the only memories the collar had, before Nora, was pain and regret, along with other negative emotions. So, I believe that Ruby managed to somehow extract negative emotions from Nora in their little fight and used them to create the collar, and later the globule that we saw in her with in her room." He reached over to where Jax was sitting and swiped the mug that lay in front of him and took a large swig from the contents. Jax would normally protest but was deep in thought and listening intently. Miltia spoke up next.
"Okay… So, Ruby's Grimm is super strong, so what? How does this make things worse for us? If anything, surely, it's a good thing, now we know in a few years, when she's been trained, she should be next to unstoppable, surely that gives us more bargaining power with the Branwens." Melanie nodded beside her; headache forgotten. Junior cut in as Bart took lengthy gulps of coffee.
"No. What it means is that if the Branwens that work under Raven or the Xiao-Longs find out that she survived their little plan, they will want to kill her even more. What's worse than having someone between you and the throne? Someone that will grow to be far stronger than you, between you and the throne." There was a pregnant silence as everyone slowly agreed with the point he offered. He turned to Bart in an attempt to get conversation going again, the sombre silence unnerving him slightly. "Did you manage to see what her Grimm was with your semblance?" Bart met his gaze defeat clear in his drooping brow.
"I am afraid not. It wouldn't let me look deeper into it, I'm not even sure her creations know what she is. Simply referring to her as their queen." Ruby visibly flinched at the word, trembling slightly. Nora placed a hand on her shoulder and she visibly calmed but was still noticeably on edge. Nora decided it best to talk now that Bart had finally ran out of answers.
"Last night, in my dream, a woman came to me. My Grimm, which I often see in my dreams, was submitting to her, and when I drew close it threatened me before she eventually calmed it. It was willing to harm me, and by extension itself, before it would allow me to even think of attacking her. She was a bit scary but seemed to have good intentions. She wanted me to look after Ruby." Again, the room returned to silence as everybody pondered on the new information.
Junior, in particular, was deep in thought. On one hand, it was a good thing that Nora seemed to be at least trying to grow close to Ruby, and now seemed to have more reason to, the more the two grew close the less likely Nora was to betray them at Roman's request should he order it. However, on the other much larger hand, this meant that Ruby would also be getting closer with her and potentially Nora may convince her that she would be better off with her and Roman rather than his group. He knew that it was unlikely, Nora didn't seem to be the deceptive type, but if Roman ordered her, she may owe him enough to do it. In Vale, in the shady parts of town, debts didn't go unpaid. If you didn't pay a debt, and managed to survive doing so, your chance at future business was long dead. No one did business with a cheat, if you didn't want to do what they asked then you had to find a way to fulfil their ask without dirtying your hands, but the debtor would get what they wanted. It was one of the reasons that everybody payed in full, even the smallest debt could turn into being coerced into something most wouldn't want to do. His thoughts were disrupted by Jax.
"Okay, so why not just use Bart's semblance on Ruby?" The question seemed valid and all heads in the room turned to Bart as he finished another mug of coffee and reached to 'commandeer' Melanie's. She swatted his hand away and took a large swig herself before he noticed the attention on him. He cleared his throat at being caught before speaking.
"Whilst I would like to agree with you, I am afraid doing so will not likely present many answers, but I can certainly try. You see I can only see things that the object I'm looking through remembers. I know it seems odd considering inanimate objects do not have memories but hear me out. Inanimate objects do not have brains or minds they 'remember' the world around them only through sense data, whilst they cannot sense anything themselves, I lend them my senses in order to almost recount what has happened around them. The difference between that and a living creature is that they have a way that they perceive the world around them, for instance things they are unaware of, I cannot see happening through their memories. So, in this case, Ruby was likely very young when she experienced anything of value, therefore her infantile understanding of what was happening around her will be of little use." He paused looking sympathetic towards the small girl. "I can certainly try though."
Ruby look up at Nora and then the twins, all three nodded at her giving supportive smiles to the best of their abilities. She swallowed hard, making an audible sound as she nodded her assent to the eccentric man. He grinned widely, no malice showing, simply happiness that she had allowed him to do so.
"Thank you Ruby." He offered her his hand across the table. She hesitated, receiving one last push of courage from the girls sat around her, before reaching forward and taking his hand.
Bart struggled as he plunged into Ruby's memories, each turn drew his interest like the call of a siren, promising more information to anything he may ask of the girl. The swirl of colour that was the rapidly changing scene through her eyes flooded his vision, his head spun as time itself reversed before him, degrading from the clear perception she now possessed to a slowly blurring image of the world she had lived in. One issue with his semblance was that he struggled to tell the difference between himself and the thing he was watching from until he left the memories. This meant unpleasant memories were memories he tried his hardest to avoid if necessary, but as he swam through her mind, nothing felt safe.
His stomach had churned at the scenes with Apep, flinching at each and every strike that he threw towards them. Another man he did not know appeared, he looked to be Atlesian in nationality, the pale skin and white hair along with the frosty background giving him away slightly. He recoiled as the man brought down a short three tailed whip across their back, a silent shout left his mouth as the memory continued. They rapidly glanced around, noting the long lines of children, wearing little more than rags, being filed into large wooden cages in the back of an airship. The vision once again shifted, colours dimming as their grasp on certainty diminished. They halted their decent on a flash of white, which Ruby had clearly tried her hardest to preserve.
The edges of the scene had blurred slightly, adding extra realness as the memory played out. There standing over them was a woman, red haired, pale skinned and wearing a pair of striking silver eyes. She wore a pristine hooded white cloak with identically coloured fur around the edges of the hood that draped over her face. She seemed rushed, saying something that they couldn't hear, tears streaming down the sides of her eyes. The door behind them burst open revealing a small squad of men clad in white marine armour. The woman whirled on them, something in her eyes changing from a deep sadness and despair to an unbridled rage.
The fight that ensued had been quick, brutal and hard for Ruby's infantile senses to keep track of, simply noticing as the crimson splashes run up the walls. The woman let out a fatigued breath and slowly turned around. She was bleeding along her palm from where she had caught a knife with her hand, but instead of cover it up she instead raised her palm to their mouth. At first, they did nothing, but muffled sounds in the backgrounds forced the woman to speed up, squeezing her wound to make it bleed more and forcing it against their lips. They reflexively opened their mouth and the woman wasted no time rubbing the blood against the tongue that protruded. They swallowed and the memory blurred further, the blood seemingly almost forcing them to sleep.
They woke up quickly, finding themselves in another memory, they were being carried by a large, muscular blonde man. A goatee dangled slightly in their face as they took in his features. His arms laced with tattoos of black and yellow flames that seemed to lick at his form as he jogged through the empty street. He wore a pair of deep blue eyes which scanned the nearby alleys as he stopped before one and turned to reveal a man they recognised as Apep, alongside the man with the whip from before. A silent exchange of words ensued before eventually the blonde man shook Apep's hand and passed their near unconscious body over to Apep's companion. The man abruptly turned and left, not once looking behind him as he left them with the trafficker.
Bart and Ruby gasped simultaneously as they pulled themselves out of the last salvageable memory. Both panted for a few moments; the experience exhausting for them, Bart for using his semblance and Ruby from reliving her past in just a few moments. They looked around to a mixture of concerned and expecting gazes from around the table before they looked at each other. Bart spoke first, heavy, laboured breathing between sentences.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." He managed to catch his breath and look sympathetically at the young girl's life he had just watched. She met his look and slowly nodded before letting her gaze fall to the table in reverent thought. Bart decided it best to address the onlookers at this moment.
"It would seem that there is little that Ruby knows of her past. However, there are titbits of information that may help figure somethings out going forward." The table remained silent as they waited with bated breath for him to continue." First off, it seems that Ruby was fed someone else's blood before Apep managed to get his hands on her. This person in question had silver eyes, hair similar to Ruby's own and a white cloak." Nora visibly flinched at the mention of the individual who had appeared in her dreams, however, she remained silent, eager to get everything Bart knew about the situation first. "Secondly, it would seem someone most of us would be very familiar with handed Ruby over to Apep. Taiyang Xiao-Long, did it himself." Jax slammed the table with his fists, causing it to groan from the pressure, cracks sliding along the shape of his fists.
"What!?" His tone was sharp and venomous, most at the table reared away as he seethed. Jax didn't get mad often, preferring instead to make a fool out of any who pissed him off, but on occasion someone overstepped their bounds and the man of steel would become as fearsome as his name suggested. Junior had the unfortunate pleasure of being the one who had to stop him killing a man once, he had stepped between the two, but Jax had already thrown a punch, semblance on, which abruptly connected with Junior's jaw. He had broken his jaw, which had taken three months to heal and it was still numb for a number of weeks afterwards.
There was little that could piss him off like this. Junior could only think of three things. The first, was threatening his friends and family, few got away with even suggesting of doing any harm to the club members, none with trying to follow through on said threats. The second, was if he lost or almost lost a fight. He was a sore looser and didn't take it well when faced with the possibility that he might not win a fight. The final one was the Xiao-Long family. Honestly it had been a miracle that he had kept his cool in the meeting with the others when the Xiao-Long name had been thrown around. However, Taiyang was a specific case. Taiyang managed to tick all three boxes. He was obviously a Xiao-Long, heir to family in fact, his father currently sat as the head. By extension he had also threatened his family, as the Xiao-Longs had been responsible for the shutdown of the orphanage they had all belonged to. The orphanage had been hit as collateral damage from a fight between two Xiao-Longs, the sisters and volunteers who worked there had been unable to pay for repairing the damages and were too scared to ask the big family for compensation.
It was the second issue that had hit Jax the most though. He had sworn, since the orphanage shut down, to get stronger, to show the Xiao-Longs that they weren't untouchable. At first it had gone well; his reputation grew in his late teens and he began to gather respect as a fighter after years of training and fighting. He had been on a winning streak at the time, not as long as his current streak, but at the time it had been unheard of for a street rat to manage to climb that high in the rankings. However, one day Taiyang had shown up at his regular fight spot and challenged Jax to a fight, having heard of the man of steel making waves in fight pits. To say the fight had been one sided was to put it lightly. Taiyang hadn't broken a sweat when throwing Jax around like an amateur, taunting and disrespecting him long after the match should have officially ended. The blonde hadn't even used his semblance. The referee had been way too scared of the man to stop him, and probably wouldn't have anyway. Since that day Jax had trained twice as hard, in order to kick Taiyang's ass the next time they fought. He had yet to get the chance.
"Your telling me, that bastard did this?! To her?! All for some petty power play for the throne?! I'll kill him!" They all watched as his arms slowly shifted into metal, his semblance losing control in his rage. The table further protested as the weight grew heavier by the moment. "When I find him, I'll…"
"Jax! Enough!" The command shook the room. Beside Jax Junior had risen to his full height, now looming over everybody in the room with his massive figure. His cold grey eyes had adopted the steel they often wore when conducting business, authority dripping from his gaze as he looked down at his employee and friend. "You're scaring the girl!" Jax's attention snapped to the eight-year-old girl who was trembling slightly from the display of rage the others had put on. He forgot his rage, semblance disappearing once more, as he slowly sat back down and quietly apologised to the girl. Junior let out a strained breath and allowed his posture to slacken as he took a seat himself, gesturing for Bart and Nora to continue where they could. Bart seemed unfazed by the display simply finishing Melanie's coffee she had left unguarded whilst watching the scene play out.
"Indeed, it seems our… acquaintance from the family has some role to play in this. How he managed to get a hold on Ruby we do not know, as she was knocked out after consuming the blood. By what we cannot tell" He placed the empty mug down, scanning for another but not finding one. He frowned but continued speaking. "I cannot tell you the significance of the blood that Ruby ingested, but the woman seemed eager to make sure she drank it. Going so far as to practically force it down her throat." Nora decided it best to speak up.
"You said she wore a white cloak and had silver eyes?" She looked directly at Bart who quickly nodded at the physical description, brewing and pouring some more coffee at the kitchen counter as he did so. Nora swallowed quietly as she spoke. "That's the woman from the dream. I don't know who she is, but maybe she has something to do with Ruby's Grimm?" Bart sprayed the piping hot liquid he had been drinking all over the back of Jax as he heard her speak. Despite the pissed look he received from Jax he seemed lost in his own world.
"Of course…" he mumbled "We've never seen Ruby's Grimm, but we know it is ancient and unique. Summer Rose has been missing for years and as rumoured to be able to fight toe to toe with even any of the Branwens and come out on top. And the woman appeared to Nora after Ruby managed to subjugate her Grimm with the collar. It all makes sense, she fed Ruby her blood and was there right before she got taken by Taiyang." His eyes were wide, and he stared blankly at the young girl. Melanie grew tired of his mumbling.
"What? Is there something we've missed?" Bart ignored her, downing the remainder of the steaming black coffee as he did so before speaking.
"The woman is Summer Rose… and she was a Grimm…" It was said quietly, and it took a whole minute for the information to seemingly sink in with the others. Bart looked back to Ruby. "That would make Ruby a half Grimm, and Summer is Ruby's active Grimm. This explains so much. Why Ruby has so much power, she has essentially two Grimm, herself and Summer." He looked over to Nora. "It also explains why she is appearing in your dreams controlling your tiger." The room took a collective gulp as they processed the information. He flicked his gaze to Hei. "Hei, there is no way we can contain this information. The moment a Branwen sees her and finds out the truth, if Raven finds out, she will stop at nothing." He ran his gaze through the room quickly checking for something before he turned to Nora again. He pulled a handgun from bag that sat beside him. She froze, the room suddenly tensing. "Roman CANNOT find out about this, it's bad enough what he already knows, but if he learns about this, we won't be able to pay him off. Ruby was already bordering on priceless, but now she is worth a literal throne." Nora nodded slowly, causing him to lower the barrel. "Hei, we cannot waste more time. We have to train her and teach her everything we can. We can try our hardest to give her what's left of a childhood, but we have to be careful. No more third parties, no more outside help and NO more Roman." Junior blanched.
"We need Nora though; without her we can't teach Ruby about her powers." Bart waved him off, decidedly done with remaining neutral on the matter. The green haired historian turned to Nora and pinned her with his gaze.
"Whatever you owe Roman, consider it a cleared debt." When she looked at him confused, he turned back Junior. "I'll dig up some dirt on him, it won't be hard, the man is filthy. Simply we threaten to go public with what we know on him. Nora then works for us and between all of us we prepare Ruby as best we can for as long as we can. Meanwhile I'll try and get in touch with Qrow." Jax looked sceptical, knowing Roman wouldn't like this change of events. He was not as powerful as the club but was no small time criminal or gang leader either, only coming up a little short.
"Are you sure you want to piss of Roman like that? I mean, he isn't going to take this lying down. Besides, what if he tells the Branwens and Xiao-Longs?" Bart moved to reply but it was junior or cut in first.
"No, he's right, Roman we can handle. He isn't likely to go to the families as they'll want Ruby dead, it would be much more profitable for him to sell her to another kingdom as a weapon. We will have to be on our guard, but if we play it right, we should be fine" He sighed, drinking from his coffee which amazingly Bart hadn't swiped. "We can only hope so anyway." He turned finally to Ruby trying his hardest to appear as comforting as he could muster, actually letting a smile grace his lips. "For her sake." Ruby returned the small smile, not fully understanding what everyone was talking about, but recognising the friendly gesture. For moment Junior felt warm as he beheld the girl, still able to smile, even after all she had been through in her short life, and how much more she would likely go through in the future. A moment he hoped would last at least a little while longer.
END OF ACT ONE