RWBY Fanfiction
Alternative Remnant: A World Inverted
Some of you may have already noticed, but this fanfiction was inspired by a previous alternate remnant I've read before. The author has long abandoned the storyline but I felt that it was such a waste, so I renewed it from the first chapter although obviously, our plots are different and the only thing being the same is the fact that characters' personalities and backgrounds are reversed.
I couldn't find that story from before nor the author, that's why I couldn't put the credits for inspiration. But of course, I hope you'll still continue reading this one and if you find that certain story, please feel free to mention it down the comment section.
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Chapter Four
Ruby Rose was never meant for silence. She had always been an energetic kid, one that would always go on smiling and laughing as though nothing would ever bother her. That was wrong, of course. With her friend, Pyrrah, dying right in front of her--she didn't know how to smile and laugh the same way as she always did before. She knew she had to get stronger for her team as a leader, especially now that they're under a situation none of them could control.
But this room which had previously been emptied by others, was as quiet as it had always been, similar to how Headmaster Ozpin's office was tranquil and calm. Ruby would sometimes go to the office herself to chat with Glynda, the said woman not exactly welcoming her presence at first but grew closer to the red-haired girl as time passed. It distraught Ruby knowing there was a possibility they could never get back to that same office now, to their own world--but she was also aware of how useless it would be to wallow up in her sadness and dilemma.
Thus, Ruby placed back the teacup which was still halfway filled with vanilla tea, onto the table which faced Headmistress Salem. The girl watched the woman with great interest to details. Starting from her blonde hair with mixes of a few gray strands, her blue eyes, and white jaded skin--Ruby could have sworn she was a character straight out from a fairy tale. Contrary to how her eyes would gaze at her, the woman in front was not old but rather around probably somewhere in thirties--that's what Ruby had thought so anyway.
"I see you like the tea." Salem started, noticing the girl--still in her infirmary white gown--relaxed a little bit.
"It's tasty." Was all Ruby could manage to answer. "So...what now?"
"I want you to know that I do not trust you nor your team at all despite the decisions I made previously, Miss Rose." Salem sighed as Ruby nodded understandingly at this. "Those decisions are all for the best of both of our sides' interests. We need to act even more discreet now more than ever especially that we are willing to hide your involvement in any of my future plans."
"Plans?"
"Yes. My objectives have never changed. I still must find all the Maidens, gather them, and protect them before the Grim Master manages to acquire those powers for himself."
"Why does he need those powers so bad enough to even hurt innocent people in the process?"
Salem let out a bitter smile before taking a sip from the edge of her green tea-filled teacup. "He was not always that evil. He is simply...blinded by the memories of the past and the agony they bring that fuel his desire to take revenge on the God Brothers."
"Revenge?"
"Do you believe in those Gods, Miss Rose? I do not mean their existence but your faith in them."
Ruby did not particularly care about Gods nor religion to the point where she never did talk to anyone else about them. She believed they exist somewhere out there, being the creator of both good and bad in this world--but she never prayed to them about anything. At some point in the past, she would get curious whether her prayers would be answered or become reality if she did pray hard enough.
She did. Once, when her mother hadn't been home for a few weeks that got all of them worried sick. That never happened again though. After all, no matter how much she had prayed back then, her mother never returned. Since then, she told herself that she would only believe in the things she would create reality using her own capabilities.
"I don't know." Ruby answered honestly. "But I don't think so."
"Hmm. Not everyone does." Salem assured. "Even I do not have faith in them."
"But you still protect this dimension from the Grim Master who wants to fight these Gods?"
"I do so not for the sake of the Brothers, but for the sake of all living and most for the sake of that foolish man who never truly wanted any of this."
"What happens if the Grim Master have all the Maidens' powers?"
"I believe the power of the Maidens are merely additional to his plans. What he most desire most of all," Salem paused, observing the red rose before her. "Are the four relics."
"Relics?" Ruby tilted her head in wonder.
"Knowledge. Choice. Creation. Destruction. They are the physical manifestations of the four gifts the God Brothers left behind when they abandoned Remnant. They bestowed this power to humanity, perhaps curios on how people would end up using the power they gave."
"And what happens if the enemy gets all of them?"
"He will most likely use it to summon those Gods, with the help of the Maiden powers--and defeat them himself."
Ruby's eyes grew wide hearing such information. "Defeat...the Gods?"
"It may sound absurd, but after all the years he had spent terrorizing mankind behind the shadows, I'm afraid he isn't just playing a game."
"If...if the Gods are somehow defeated--"
"The world will collapse, given how everything was made by their powers. Killing them would mean making all traces of them vanish, including humanity. Somewhere out there in other dimensions, who knows it might have already happened?"
Ruby shook hearing this. She was never prepared for the severity of the consequences those simple events like stealing a Maiden's power could lead. She realized then she wouldn't only be dealing with the White Fang, but as well as the possibility of the world ending any moment now while she and the rest of her team were still stuck here in this alternate world.
"If that's a possibility, that could mean our own world is under the same problem too. We need to get back."
"That's why I invited you here to talk."
"Have you found a way?"
"You came here accidentally after your own silver eye powers collided with that of a Maiden, correct? I'm proposing doing the same trick might help you find your way back."
"Then let's do it--"
"However, Miss Rose. Are you certain you wish to endanger not only yours, but as well as the lives of your team by doing this? What happened with that collision was a miracle, as to say, that you didn't die being under such a massive force of power. But there can't be no guarantee the same miracle could happen again. Moreover, it might not help you get back at all but just thrown into another dimension or worse, different timeline."
"That's..."
"I ask again. Are you certain you wish to do so despite the risks?"
"Of course, I can't. But it's like saying we can never return at all."
"I will do my best in looking for the best solution but as of now and in the near future, I believe it would be in your best interest to slowly learn how to adjust being here in our world. Discreetly."
"What should we do now?"
"I'll give you that choice to decide. Are you willing to help us in our search for the relics and the last Maiden, as well as stopping the Grim Master for the duration of your time here, or would you rather stay hidden and safe somewhere away from this chaos?" The Headmistress gently smiled. "I will give you some time to discuss it with your companions. Whatever your decision may be, I will do my best to assist you and your team, Miss Rose. You are all still children. I advice you should think this through and rest."
Blake was not used to the silence Yang had been having even before they were left alone inside the room they were prepared with. It was a usual dorm room, one that was similar back at their original world—except that there were no bunk beds. Yang was laying still on the bed placed on the corner of the room and anyone would think she had fallen asleep. But Blake could hear her partner's irregular heartbeats cause by the uneasiness of facing the man who had severed a part of herself. Yang was being restless, and each time she feels her partner being so—her guilt would crush her altogether.
Whenever she saw Yang staring at something far, she knew the blonde was having flashbacks—she could tell by her partner's trembling left hand and the way she would clench it so hard as though it would help in calming herself. In the past, Blake would never have had even thought Adam was capable of much violence. Things had dramatically changed ever since the said man had his other eye ruined forever and it seemed to have even turned worse when she had abandoned him. But she did not regret leaving the White Fang for good, for the best part after that was meeting her new friends, her new family.
But that also exposed one of them in danger and that happened to be her most treasured partner. She did not want to meet the blonde's lilac gaze at all. She was ashamed of herself. She deemed herself pathetic for being weak at the most important situations. She could never forgive herself. Perhaps if she had ran away and ignored Adam's taunts of her being a coward—Yang wouldn't have had needed to find her there. But she still chose to fight and Yang still chose to find her.
Still, regardless of whether the fight had happened or not—it was a fact that she was coward, she had always been one even since she was a child. Sure, she had passions, important morales and was driven by her personal values and beliefs but it was because of her introverted nature that she could not continue handling the entire White Fang which let her Father decide to had Adam Taurus, her ex-partner, lead it to a more secure future. She was actually happy about that decision, she was proud because she knew Adam could lead White Fang better than she could ever had. Or so she thought.
The reason she hadn't returned for years back at Menagerie was because she was afraid of facing her parents. She left home for the White Fang with Adam under her father's great protests. Her parents had always believed she would be safe and away from the threats of the real world as long as she was under their protection. Because she had been a member of the organization for most of her life, the only redemption for her was to actually become a Huntress and thus, she dedicated her best into becoming one.
The White Fang was a huge organization of Faunus. Her father, Ghira Belladonna—was the High Leader and under his rule were branches of White Fang in different places of the world. Each branch had one leader, and it was her her father who had decided who was in for the positions. Before he stepped down though, he passed his title to Sienna Khan, a Faunus who believed that in order to acquire equality, force was necessary and so was making people believe they were a threat. All for humanity to respect them. Adam, however, took her teachings a little to extreme to say that he was so focused on the goal that humanity should perish.
At first he claimed they were accidents, then self-defences, until she had become so sure that the man changed and she could no longer pretend those murders as well as his violence were anything as his excuses told her they were otherwise. In the end, she left and had been wondering around for a year before finally entering Beacon where her age qualified her.
"Yang." She gulped, as though it would help her build up the courage. Although the latter showed no signs of replying or hinting if she had at least heard her, Blake was satisfied for she wasn't sure if she would be able to ssy things out loud if thr blonde had answered. "I... I know you probably don't want to hear anything from me right now o-or that things are still harder—"
"Don't apologize." Yang promptly said, cutting her partner's words off.
Yang had always been told she was tough as a child, that she would be able to deal anything head-on with her 'Yang-ways' and it made her happy that people often relied for her help. She was that Yang people would refer to as brave and full of energy, nobody had truly ever seen her get this depressed or frustrated. For Yang, she would treat every problem as an answerable equation where no words nor numbers were needed but simply her strength and determination.
And this happened. A part of herself. Gone forever. Being her was what made her strong, what made her 'Yang Xiao Long'. How was she supposed to stay tough and brave when she simply couldn't anymore? How could she accept this overwhelming sense of lost and anger? She was weak. That was all there was to it. She couldn't protect herself nor her partner then what good was she? With how things were going, she would just be a burden and she was already starting to hate it.
The worst feeling, more than her struggles to cope up with her current predicament, was seeing her partner feel sorry for her, seeing Blake regret and blame herself for what happened to her arm. She did not like it. It made her feel even more pathetic for making the faunus feel that way and she absolutely hated it. Yet she herself couldn't exactly comfort Blake even if she wanted to. After all, how could she? Knowing she couldn't even comfort herself.
Yang let out a long sigh, hoping somebody would just go right ahead and break this delicate atmosphere. She never did like these kind of things. She hated it. It was because she did not know how to express herself at these times which would only make her feel worse. But it was as though somebody had heard her that the moment the door creaked open, she had already sat up--seeing Weiss' refreshed look scanning the room.
"...she isn't here yet, I see." She muttered, heading for another bed for her to sit.
"Seems like you had a nice talk with them." Blake commented.
"Hmm." Weiss nodded, agreeing. "I'm still not comfortable with all of us separating though."
"We need more information about this world. The best thing to do that is to go on with seperate people." Blake said promptly.
"I know. But what do we do after that? Knowing things about this version of reality and acting from it is different."
"True. Plus, we are not safe here. The best course of action is to find a way on how to return."
"About that..." the girls all voluntarily turned their heads to the door which revealed their certain red-haired leader fidgeting her fingers after she closed the door behind. "I don't think we can return soon. Worse is that we may be even get somehow kind of have to be involved?"
Weiss frowned. "Explain."
Ruby did not leave even a single detail out as she carefully explained. She couldn't help but notice the worried expressions on the faves of her teammates, but even she could not do anything about this situation. The best probable option is to stay hidden in order for them to be safe and wait for the opportunity to be able to return to their original world. Ruby knew that. Any great team leader out there would not think too hard about a solution when the safety of their entire team's wellbeing was already presented.
However, she was never a fan of tediousness. She would rather move around and do something than to do nothing at all. She would never miss the chance to help others, especially when they're somehow involved in the current predicament now. Of course, Ruby was plainly aware of how selfish was the thought of risking her teammates' lives just because she couldn't sit still in face of innocents being in the brink of danger.
"I'm all in for the second option, Ruby." Blake said, momentarily glancing at her blonde partner who was closing her eyes. "Hiding to somewhere safe, I mean."
Blake may have had said that impassively, but her eyes seemed to have told the rest differently. All of them knew Blake well enough that just like Ruby, would take the chance of helping out providing justice especially to innocent people. They were dealing with criminals--terrorists, who could possibly end the world any minute now the moment they get their hands to those things they had been seeking.
But Blake had learned her lesson with that confrontation with Adam. If she had just ran away... the memory made her sigh in disappointment to herself. She had always been good at running away, even her semblance seemed to agree so. But why didn't she at that moment? Why fight back knowing she wouldn't be able to win at all? Was she really hoping someone like Adam—who had been murdering people almost as though an instinct—would just surrender if she asked so?
"Naive. Stupid. And because of that, my partner is suffering." She couldn't get these kind of thoughts in her head. Not that she wanted to. Those would serve as a reminder that the same naivety would happen no more.
If she was going to be a coward, then so be it. It didn't matter if it would appear as though she was running away from the things that would constantly remind her of her past, but she couldn't afford to risk anyone on this team in danger now—especially Yang. The brawler, despite how strong she still would be physically, surely could not be able handle unknown enemies in this foreign land that could even bring her to death this time. Blake wouldn't take that chance.
"I know...but..." Ruby turned to Weiss for support.
She really did want to help the people here deal with their own enemies. After all, if they were going to stay here, she thought this world's problem meant their involvement as well. Ruby wasn't stupid and could figure out why Blake would rather stay low, considering her sister's delicate situation. But there was just something about all of these bothering Ruby that she didn't want to just hide. That selfishness...just thinking about it made her feel bad for seemingly ignoring her older sister's situation, but she really didn't want to have nothing to do with everything.
"Ruby, I think we should agree with Blake. Wouldn't that fit right? This world...whatever it is that's happening here, we shouldn't meddle too much. Don't get me wrong, I do care, especially that my version of Weiss in this world has a loving family and she's being a total irresponsible Schnee for running away." Weiss glared at complete nothing at the mention of it. "And I would want to protect them as well. But not at the cost of risking everyone in Team RWBY because in the first place, we do not belong here."
"We don't have to belong to save people, Weiss." Ruby replied dejectedly.
"You know that's not what I was trying to say."
"I just...feel bad for not helping even when I can."
Weiss finally allowed herself to smile warmly. "Of course you do. You're such a dunce about these things."
Ruby couldn't help but pout. "What does that even mean?"
"I really rather for us not to stand out." Blake commented, but eventually sighed. "But I guess we can do things our own way and try to help out."
"Thank you!" Ruby smiled, turning to Yang who had been silent for a while now. "What about--"
"Don't worry about me. I can still handle myself. I'll do what I can." Yang returned her sister's smile, albeit slightly. Still, it was a progress.
"Then let's decide our course of action after we get the information we need." Ruby concluded. "For now...well," she let herself fall on the remaining empty bed beside Weiss'.
"We rest." The white-haired girl continued.
"But I'm starving." Ruby whined.
Her team knew she was trying to set things as normally as possible by uplifting that heavy atmosphere whenever they have their conversation. Things shouldn't come to this, they would obviously fall apart if they continue their current depressed behaviours. That was what Ruby was trying to hint, and they shouldn't let their leader do all the work now.
"I wonder if we can find something to eat—" Weiss was cut off short by a knock coming from the door.
