Prologue: A Wish in Your Heart
"Boss, this sprite's not bein' cooperative," One of the thugs said. "She's just cryin' and won't do anything."
"Oh, is that so?" The leader said, running a hand through his orange hair in exasperation. "Well, why don't you just threaten her some more? I mean, it's not like mommy dearest is gonna find her if she doesn't cooperate."
The leader stared down at the crying child, a faint shimmer of magic sparkling from her hair as she tried to hide herself.
"Well, little sprite, if you want your mommy to see you or your sister alive again, you're going to give me some help." The ginger said, adjusting his bowler hat. "Now, I need you to make the group of us invisible so we can sneak past old man dodger in there. Now, get to it."
Neo was crying, trying to cover her face. A slap rang out as the leader moved his hand across her face. Ruby didn't know what came over her in that moment. She just felt her legs move on their own as she kicked the thug holding her, taking a piece of glass and throwing it at the one holding her little sister.
"Let her go, you big jerks!" She shouted, eyes burning with anger as she ran up to the leader.
"Oh, look, she's all concerned," The man said as he dodged the shard, two of the thugs grabbing her. "Look, red, I don't have the time to deal with you. My boss is paying me the big bucks to knock over this store. But, I suppose this will be a nice object lesson for little Tinker Bell here."
He pointed the cane on his arm at Ruby's head, giving it a squeeze. Ruby's eyes widened as she heard the shot, her head jerking back as she felt the impact of the bullet.
Neo shrieked in horror as Ruby's head slumped forward, blood falling from the wound and collecting in a puddle below her. Even her rose pendant she wore was splattered with blood.
"You see, I didn't want to do that," The ginger said in a false pouting voice. "But, you're just being so uncooperative I had to make an example out of sister dearest. Such a shame. But, enough about how I know who you both are and my employment, let's get to the part where you do what I want. If you do, I might can save her."
Neo was sobbing as she nodded, concentrating her ability to make the man invisible.
"Good girl. Now, was that so hard? You two, leave the other one. We can come back for her. But, we better hurry. She might bleed out after all."
The thugs chuckled, dropping Ruby's body unceremoniously onto the ground into the puddle of her own blood. Neo tried to concentrate her power, convinced she could help Ruby.
"Now, let's keep that up until we've unloaded the place of all its Dust," the criminal said, roughly patting her on the head. The group left through the door they entered from, leaving Ruby's body on the ground.
"Neo," Ruby whispered as she felt her life drain from her. She glanced once at her pendant as she saw the moon hitting it. "I wish I could protect you."
Earlier
Uninteresting. That would be the term to describe the child that destiny had smiled upon. The child that she had opened up her wide mysteries to. A child born of a wish and a soul. Of course, this would not be without its consequences for both child and mother.
"What are you reading?" Ruby peeked over the shoulder of the beret clad woman. She glanced at the book, looking at what seemed to be a drawing of a nude woman… well, nude save the odd garb she had barely covering her private areas.
"It's a book about fate." The beret clad woman said. "Of course, I was just using it to hide my special book. Most people judge if you look at art like this, but I need inspiration for my next idea. Using the nude form is excellent for ideas of things that hug the curves"
"You're weird, Coco." Ruby rolled her eyes.
"Says the one who keeps looking at a flower," The beret clad woman looked at her.
"This was a gift from my mom," Ruby clutched her emblem she kept on a necklace over her outfit, the silver rose almost glinting in the light. "Before she… well, you know."
"Right," Coco sighed; she knew all about what had happened, or at least the aftermath.
"It's alright," Ruby put a hand on her. "You didn't mean to. So, I wanted to ask you to come to come to dinner."
"Ruby, if this is another hair brained scheme to get me to try to bring Velvet over so she'll do something probably dangerous, I'm not interested."
"I don't do dangerous things," Ruby pouted. "Weiss just thinks I do because she's always worried about me."
"Well, I suppose she has reason to be. I've known her longer than she knew your mom. She was always protective of people like that."
"Ever since she kicked Yang out, she's been sheltering me more and more." Ruby laid back on Coco's lap, the elder woman putting a hand on her head.
"I personally think she's worried you'll run off with her," Coco looked down at her.
"I suppose that's why she insisted on you coming with me to the library," Ruby said.
"Actually, she wanted me to make sure you got your lunch you forgot at home," A paper bag was placed on Ruby's face. "Now, eat up or Weiss'll be pissed."
"She thinks I'm getting thin, but she's wrong." Ruby said.
"Just do it," Coco rolled her eyes again. "And, hop off my pants or you'll wrinkle them. I just designed this."
"You're too obsessive with your stuff."
"Well, I don't like wrinkles, especially wrinkles in time."
"Oh, you actually watched that? I thought it was dumb too, especially since attempt one flopped as well."
"Yeah," Coco sighed. "Well, get going and eat this somewhere so I can tell her you've finally eaten. I'm waiting for Velvet to be done with her extracurricular classes so I can take her out to eat."
"You should probably let her become her own woman," Ruby cautioned her. "It wouldn't do to have her be sheltered."
"I have to protect my baby," Coco said. "I mean, Weiss shelters your little sister."
"Pretty sure she's older than I am," Ruby sighed. "She just looks younger because she's a sprite. They don't age very fast."
"Weiss told me she was told she was seven," Coco shrugged.
"Whatever. She just stays at home anyway for the most part. She doesn't talk, so Weiss is worried something's wrong with her."
"Weiss isn't a doctor, especially not a doctor on inhumans. She's a police officer and also a Schnee." Coco glanced at the crimsonette. "Her family is either witches or huntsmen… didn't go so well from what I've heard from her."
"I suppose not. Well, I'm going home. Tell Velvet I said hi." Ruby gave a wave as she left the building.
Unbeknownst to her, there was a pair of eyes watching her. Attached to those eyes, a bow twitched slightly.
Ruby walked down the sidewalk, deciding to walk home rather than take the bus. She liked the view and Vale wasn't such a big city. Plus, she knew what the layout of the city was.
"Hey, if it isn't the little shrimp who thinks it's cool to withhold payments from us."
Ruby just kept walking, ignoring the voice; she knew if she reacted, it wouldn't go well for her. It was within her best interest to walk home.
"Looks like mommy's not here to protect you now," The second of the four said as Ruby was turned around. "And, we're just getting tired of waiting for our payment. I mean, we haven't bothered you in school for like three weeks. Aren't you getting a little stingy with us?"
"Now, how's about we just handle this like normal?" The leader of the group said, his orange hair spiked up in a very punk style.
"Please just let me go now," Ruby muttered.
"Aww, ain't that cute?" The third of the cronies laughed. "She's beggin'. What are you gonna do, scream at us?"
"She's going to watch as I put each and every one of you into the hospital and then the prison, in that order," The stern voice from behind the four caused them all to freeze. They turned to meet the icy stare of one Weiss Schnee.
Today, Weiss was dressed in full uniform, arms crossed as her badge proudly showed itself. By her side was her rapier, a family heirloom passed down from her father, named Myrtenaster.
"Oh, uh, hey, officer," The four all changed their posture and disposition, moving away from Weiss. "We were uh, just goofin' off with your little, uh—"
"You have five seconds to go home before I make you regret waking up," Weiss gave no warning or movement, the four running off as if they were on fire.
"Thanks, I guess," Ruby sighed, Weiss putting an arm around her as they walked to her car.
"Think nothing of it," Weiss planted a soft, motherly kiss on her cheek. "I was getting worried when you didn't answer my calls."
"I turned my phone off," Ruby shrugged. "I was in a library, remember?"
"Well, I made you dinner." Weiss pulled Ruby close.
"You know, people will get the wrong idea," Ruby whined slightly.
"They know me and they know you," Weiss said. "Would you rather me be smothering like Coco is with her daughter?"
"No," The muttering was indication enough. "But, since I was at the library, I learned somethings about my mom's emblem she passed on."
"I told you not to look to into that," Weiss said. "Silver talismans and emblems are nothing but trouble."
"Then why'd you give it to me?"
"Because your mother would have wanted you to have it. Besides, I'd rather you have something to remind you of her. She cared about you, Ruby. Even more than I care about you."
"Then, why'd she leave, huh!? Why did she leave me all alone with a shitty older sister and you!?"
"I don't know," Weiss' voice grew soft; it was always like this when she talked about Summer. Ruby knew it was wrong for her to have an outburst like that, but sometimes she couldn't help it. She wanted answers to that, but she had no ideas. No one seemed to know why she left. She wished that she knew someone who did. But, she never liked hurting Weiss like that. Summer was the only decent mother figure she had, at least she said as much.
"But, then what's this emblem so special for then?" Ruby forced herself to lower her voice. "You said that she always believed in the rose's power."
"Your mother was a bit of an odd woman," Weiss sighed. "She believed in a lot of things. But, the odd thing was that her beliefs didn't match any religion or philosophy I've ever seen or encountered before. Every belief system had some belief about fate, but only your mother had the view that it can be passed on, that there's always someone to take your place if you choose to defy your fate."
"That's kinda weird."
"For all her sweetness, your mother was kinda weird. Look, if you promise not to do anything stupid, I'll let you have something that might give you some closure with her."
"Why do you worry about me so much?"
"Because you're like my daughter. Even if you don't see me as your mother, I will take care of you. But, I also need you to focus on being the best you can be. Be better than your mom."
"I guess that makes sense," Ruby leaned back in the seat. "So, what's that you were talking about at dinner last night?"
"There's been a robbery at some Dust shops around this city," Weiss said. "Someone's been breaking into these places. Speaking of which, you're not to leave this house after dark."
"What about Neo?"
"She's staying in with you," Weiss glanced at Ruby. "It's not safe for an injured sprite to be wandering around at night. Even if she has no magic, someone could try to drain all she may have in her. I don't want to lose two people I'm close to."
"I guess that's fine." Ruby sighed.
Once they arrived home, Ruby ran up to her room, her roommate, Neo, waving as she looked at a book about monsters and magic Weiss had let her read.
"Neopolitan dear, would you please bring me a glass of water?" Weiss said. "I'll get started on dinner for you guys, but I have to get back to work. I only dropped Ruby off because I don't need her to be out after dark. Ruby can you make sure it's out of the oven in an hour!?"
"Alright," Ruby called back from her room. Weiss walked into her own room, looking at her dresser. She opened her top drawer, reaching into the bottom of the drawer. She felt the slightest brushes of magic, her breath hitching as she pulled out the offending item; a book bound in leather.
"Such powers this book may hold," She gripped it tight. "Should it be troublesome, I'll have to destroy it. I apologize, Summer, but I can't let Ruby get hurt if you put any witchcraft in here."
She brought the book to Ruby, setting it in front of her.
"What's this?" Ruby asked.
"This was your mother's. She gave it to me one day and asked me to keep it for you. Of course, I wondered why she couldn't give it to you herself, but she said when you were ready for it, she wouldn't be able to give it to you."
"So… she knew she wouldn't be in my life?"
"There must be some explanation as to why she could have such a premonition. I didn't know much about her, but she did do some of the oddest things."
"Well… thanks, Weiss. I know this book might lead to something bad, but I'm glad you trust me enough to give it to me."
"Just be careful," Weiss pulled Ruby into a hug. "I love you, little one."
"I love you too, Weiss," Ruby held the officer in her arms as well, feeling an odd weight in her rose emblem around her neck. Weiss smiled down at her.
"I have to start dinner. Don't forget it in the oven."
"Right. Thanks, Weiss."
"No problem. Now, I will return to work."
Weiss left, leaving the crimsonette to her own thoughts. She glanced at the book and at her rose emblem, then up at the sky.
"What could have been so important you'd abandon your own daughter?" She asked softly, the sprite child watching from the doorway, quiet as the mouse in a picture book.
Ruby opened the book, closing her eyes as she flipped to a random page. Whether by coincidence or by fate itself, she found a page with an accurate drawing of her rose emblem, perhaps by her mother's hands. But, even as she pondered that, Ruby wandered if this predated even her.
"The power of the Rose is the key to the Soul," She read, Neo coming closer and looking, gasping slightly as she saw the text. "When one opens the doorway to their true Soul, then shall the Rose take its form. Invocation of the power of the Rose is the uttering of one's true 'heart'. The Moon shall be thy guide as you seek this power, blessed by the gods. If one is blessed by the Rose and the Moon, they shall have a true wish realized in the way the gods see fit."
"What gibberish," Ruby muttered. "It sounds like an RPG story. But, I suppose that mom might have believed in it. But, what could that mean?"
Neo turned the page, revealing a hideous creature of a black form that could have even been seen as scribbles. Neo jumped back, hiding behind Ruby.
"What is this creature?" Ruby asked, looking at it. Even though it's just a drawing, I can feel something… evil about it. These symbols aren't in any language taught at my school. But, that's not the case here in the rest of the book. Why is that?"
Ruby flipped through the book to see some pages in Valean, but most in the seemingly ancient language. Neo stayed hidden behind her, not daring to peek lest she see another hideous creature looking back at her.
"All of this is gibberish," The crimsonette groaned as she looked at it once again. "It's either in riddles or it's in a language I don't know."
She put the book away, making sure the binding on the straps was good. She worked herself up to make dinner, stretching as she stood up. It wasn't something she couldn't do, it was something she just didn't feel like doing right then. The mystery of the book was too great, drawing her to it, but she was frustrated at the text being in a language she didn't know.
She took the food from the oven, setting it in front of Neo, who licked her lips and sat down. She took her portion, giving the rest to Ruby, who began to eat. When the two had finished, Ruby went upstairs to her room, taking the book out to try and decipher the text so she could figure out what it was saying.
She took one look, seeing the strange letters once again. It was not getting any easier and she was getting more and more tired as the hours wore on. Neo had gone to bed a couple of hours ago and she was getting no closer to the answer.
The moon shone down in her window, giving her a bright light as she looked at the ancient book. She glanced down to see her emblem glowing. She always liked the glow of the emblem in the moonlight. It was a pretty glow, a bright silver that seemed almost unnatural. Weiss had told her that it was because it came from a piece of the moon. At least, that's what she declared her mother had said. Weiss herself didn't believe any of the sorts of things like aliens, or any sort of life beyond the planet. She said that there were crazy enough species on Remnant that the universe can't possibly hold anymore variations.
Ruby sighed, whispering the same prayer she always did at night. "Mother, if you're listening, let me see what I need. I wish I could know what happened to you and what you wanted me to do. You always said I was meant for great things, but you never went into detail. Please give me a sign."
Her emblem seemed to glow brighter almost. The crimsonette imagined she was getting more tired. She felt herself lulling off to sleep, clutching the emblem to her hand.
Elsewhere
Weiss sat at her desk in her office, looking over her paperwork the office had blessed her with. She sighed; she wanted to spend time with the girls that had come to stay in her home, but she had to do her work. Someone had to keep this place safe.
She glanced at the picture on her desk of a man in a white suit with a mustache and small beard. Next to him was a picture of a much younger Weiss with a stern faced woman who held her. Next to that was a picture of another girl who looked exactly like Weiss, save the hair, smiling for the camera. There was no picture of her mother…
"You wouldn't have needed to worry about things like this, would you, father?" The muttering turned to yet another sigh as she glanced at the blade she had inherited. She knew its many secrets as she looked at it. "No, you'd have just gone out to slay any beast which made its way here, even if it slept in your bed for years. If only it were like those moments. But, I suppose the beasts from your days have been tamed. No such creatures are roaming the streets anymore. I suppose that's for the best. It would seem as if all your training has gone to waste."
Even with that solace, Weiss couldn't shake the ominous feeling she felt; something deep within her, even as deep as her heritage. Another glance to her rapier, the magic within giving off the slightest blue color, resonating with Weiss' own magic. She knew there would come a day when she would have to brandish Myrtenaster, the Witch Hunter once again, but she hoped it would not come when her charges were within her walls.
Elsewhere
"You're sure this is the right location?" The ginger asked his subordinates. "The boss lady said to make sure not to fuck this one up, remember?"
"This is the chief of police's house," One of the group said. "Her kid's a sprite."
"Which one?" The ginger asked.
"The ice cream colored one," The thug said. "At least, that's what the info said."
"That informant better be right," The ginger sighed, irritated. "Or else I'm going to go down there and teach him a lesson about making uneducated guesses."
They looked at the inside of the house, catching a glimpse of the one their informant had mentioned. They carefully planted a small explosive device, setting the charge and detonating it.
The girl on the other side of the door screamed in shock as they entered.
From outside the house, Weiss pulled up to her home. It was an odd feeling she had, one she was not used to. It could be she was coming down with something, but she couldn't place it. But, one thing she could place was the gunshot she heard even from her car. From experience, she knew it to be a Dust round, something that may eviscerate its target. She knew that it was close, even as she parked her car. She looked around, hearing a rustling sound in her house.
The last thing she saw when she threw open the door was the flash of red and silver light that flashed as rose petals fluttered by her face.
She ran in to see her kitchen door blown wide open by an explosive, a very worrisome amount of what was unmistakably blood on her floor, and the absence of both her children, neither in any room in the house. In a blind panic, she ran to her phone, calling her office.
"Neon Katt speaking!" The voice was on the other end of the line.
"Neon, my girls are gone!"
"What, where?!"
"I don't know! Check the hospital, check everywhere a kidnapper might could take them! I'm coming back to the office!"
Elsewhere
The group of criminals all walked to the Dust shop, Neo's powers still making them invisible. She forced herself to keep it up to make sure they wouldn't get mad. If there was a way to save Ruby, even if they didn't, she had to at least try. They had tied her hands together in front of her, but that wouldn't keep her from using her powers, which must have been the intention.
She pushed down that side of her that knew Ruby was dead. She… she couldn't die, could she? She had to get her wish.
"Now, pixie dust, you're going to make sure we safely get through this job invisibly," The ginger said. "Otherwise, we're going to have more problems than your dead sister."
Neo sniffled, only her determination to save Ruby being enough to keep her from breaking down.
"Hey, boss, the door's open," One of the criminals said, opening the door. "Wasn't even locked. Almost felt as if it was blown off."
"Is there Dust inside?" The ginger rolled his eyes.
"It looks like it," The criminal walked inside, only for his body to be thrown through the wall next to the door.
"What the hell?!" the boss moved quickly, keeping Neo close to him and his cane aimed into the hole as the moonlight poured in from the openings.
Two small silver orbs appeared in the darkness foreshadowing the approach of the force inside the building. Black boots with laces the color of blood reached the knees of the person. Her legs were covered in a black material that ended under her black skirt. A bloody red color could be seen under the material, like an undercoating. A black corset lightly cinched the waist of the offender, red laces holding it together. Covered in a black material, her arms were fully hidden save her hands. She wore a long, bloody crimson cloak that weaved and trailed back almost as if it had a mind of its own. She had the hood of the cloak pulled over her face, obscuring all but part of her face and her piercing silver eyes. The shining silver rose on her hip instantly made Neo wonder who could possibly have an emblem like that. She knew where she'd seen it.
"You've got some nerve, kid," The boss said, aiming his cane at the intruder. "At least, I assume you're a kid. Now, scram before I make your death pretty slow. I ain't got a problem with killin' kids."
"The game has begun, Roman. Will you surrender quietly, or will I have to end you? Your sprite tricks won't work on me. I can see through them all."
Neo gasped; she knew the voice! There was no way it could have been! It just couldn't be!
"Aww, cute," The boss, apparently Roman chuckled, the other thugs moving to stand next to him. "But, it looks like you're outnumbered and we got guns."
The intruder held her hand toward them, a strange light coming from it. Forming as if from nothing, a rectangular shaped gun formed, its pieces emerging from her hand to assemble into the finished product. The thugs gasped quickly, the gun having appeared in less than a second. Taking a single shot, the thug next to Roman flew backward, head bursting into flame from the shot. Neo covered her eyes to keep from being seen.
"Ooh, so scary, but guess what, steampunk, we got Dust bullets too." Roman aimed his shot at the intruder. "But, I suppose you need a lesson."
"It seems you don't know how to play fair," The intruder stepped closer, rose petals appearing where she stepped. "But, before you even squeeze the trigger, you'll be dead."
"Don't make me laugh!"
Three more shots rang out, three more thugs dropping. Roman and Neo were the ones left, the sprite trying to free herself from Roman's grip.
"Don't come any closer, freak," Roman aimed his cane at Neo. "I'll make this sprite's last song a sad one and her sister'll die too."
"Which is faster?" The intruder asked, the gun seeming to change shape. The pieces of the weapon disassembled and then recombined into a scythe, its size much nearly as long as the intruder, the blade long and dangerous. "Your finger or mine?"
"Wrong answer!" Roman pulled the trigger. However, when he did, he turned to look at Neo to see the shot. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red and felt a sharp pain in his arms and neck. His vision shifted and he was not looking at the feet of the intruder. After eight seconds, his vision faded and he felt a cold feeling of isolation.
The intruder picked up the shaking Neo, vanishing from sight, a burst of rose petals where she had stood and in a trail that lasted a little before dissipating like water in the desert.
The police station
Weiss rushed back to the front desk, having driven like a maniac to make it back to the station. She burst in the door, planning to start a full scale manhunt.
"Weiss, I'm so glad you're here!" Neon ran up to Weiss, pulling her by the hand.
Weiss was pulled into the fingerprinting room where she gasped. Sitting on two of the chairs were an unconscious Ruby and Neo, the smaller leaned onto the taller, who had her arms wrapped around her. Both had a blanket draped over them.
"Oh my god," Weiss took hold of them both, a tear sliding down her cheek. "You're both safe and sound."
"We found them on the doorstep when Wukong walked out to get a banana smoke. Only thing that looks off is Ruby has a nice sized bump on her forehead and Neo has a little swelling in her cheek, perhaps from being struck," Neon said. "Neo seems to have fainted from shock. Whatever happened to them, it may not have been pretty. Looks like those two have a guardian angel watching over them."
"You might be right," Weiss glanced down at the pendant around Ruby's neck. Looking in the window, the raven haired girl stared through golden eyes, fixed squarely on the pendant as well.
Elsewhere
"Princess, I bring news," The blonde man walked up to the woman at her desk and throne, kneeling. The woman's two attendants nodded to him.
"News, dear knight?" The princess asked, sitting up a little.
"Roman Torchwick has failed, my princess."
"Failed, you say? How so?"
"It seems his Dust theft was halted by an unknown assailant. I'm not sure if this assailant was aware of our plan or even our involvement, but—"
"It's irrelevant at this point. Where is Roman? I have questions for him."
"That's… not going to be possible, my princess."
"Oh?" The princess raised an eyebrow. "And, how, my dear knight, is this not possible?"
"He's dead, my princess."
"I… I see. Well, I suppose I can see what else I may do with him. But, about this assailant?"
"Unfortunately, all of his men were also dead. Gunshot wounds to the head and Dust infusion."
"Is that all?"
"No, princess. I looked at the security cameras when I investigated. I didn't see who the assailant was, but I saw one thing that may help."
"Do tell, my dear knight."
"There were rose petals all around, but they soon vanished as if into thin air."
The princess' grip on her chair tightened, her breath stopping for a second.
"It… It can't be," Her voice faltered slightly, her red hair shifting slightly. "It can't be that the Reaper has come back from the dead."
"Princess?" The attendant on her left asked. "Shall we personally handle it?"
"No." The princess said. "There is no need for you to get involved yet. She may have no knowledge of us. But, her presence is troubling. I would like for you to send someone not affiliated with us to handle this. If it is the Reaper, I would like to gauge her power and make sure she doesn't come sniffing around here."
"Understood," The knight nodded, taking his leave.
"So, Reaper, you're going to once again meddle in affairs not your own." The princess muttered to herself. "Well, if you plan to match forces with the Polarity mob, you'd best beware. We are far stronger than you last knew."
And, thus we have buildup. I have to admit, I hated this chapter at first because it wouldn't come together, but I think I like this variant of this chapter.
If you weren't aware, this is sort of a reboot of my Remnant of the Heroes fic. I had very few ideas for that one (at least that I would keep to this one). But, I like the ideas I've come up with for this. I hope you enjoy this story.