Ok, so I wanted to start off by saying, sorry I took so long to upload, between work and picturing the direction of this story, it took me some time. Other than that, I wanted to say thank you to all of you for bringing this RWBY Fic over 5000 views! You are all the greatest and don't let anyone say otherwise ;).
To all of you in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Philippines, Italy, Norway, Finland, France, Romania, Portugal, Taiwan, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Germany, Netherlands, Estonia, South Korea, Malaysia, Hungary, Venezuela, Denmark, Thailand, Singapore, Chile, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Indonesia. Thank you, for all of you deserve my thanks. Slowly, we shall rule the world, HAHAHAHAHA...Onwards! To the story!
Arc II - Barons Rising
Chapter 11: Blackjack
The daylight of Vale was welcoming, despite the new semester, and a major event on the horizon, the day was as peaceful as the years without war and death flourished. The city itself was calm, as many went about their day, no worries for the future, and no grief for the past, just people being people.
For me, the guy hiding behind lies, I happen to find myself with one of my closest friends, Ruby, who took it upon herself to show me around Vale, even after nearly two months since my arrival, I've only been to a few select places in Vale itself, so to actually see what shops, landmarks and such without the worry of being shot was much more relaxing. Especially when it was sunny.
Ruby wore a new outfit instead of her usual outfit, she wore a short sleeve, red jacket, with a shattered moon on the front, the zipper was undone to reveal her white shirt. Around her neck hung her crimson headphones, along with her silver cross necklace. Her jacket matched her black shorts and white boots, with black soles.
Me, after many arguments about color schemes, reluctantly, I wore a new azure jacket, as it's tailcoat spit at the back, with white crossing from the stomach like an arrow and around the back, beneath was my black shirt, with a single, blank, silver dog-tag. Black chinos, and royal blue, white, and black shoes. Overall, it was more distinctive than wearing the same color as Ruby, but I still like red more.
"I still can't get their comments out of my head!" I groaned, the mere thought of how Yang had described Ruby's guided tour of Vale as a date made my stomach twist, with my head trying to formulate a proper comeback, sadly, Iota and Eric wouldn't respond
"Well...They aren't here now, so..." Ruby replied clearly, as she patted my back with a reassuring smile, what little that did for my moral. "Stop freaking out!"
"Hey, in my defense, I'm still very exhausted after...ugh, yesterday." What was my concern? Well...
[Yesterday...]
"-And that 'someone' is...A Boyfriend!" Either I missed something in the last two weeks, or Ruby's lost it completely, probably the latter. I merely pushed the door open at the sight of Weiss, Blake, and Yang looking...black and grey, and Ruby was standing with a triumphant smile, her fist risen into the air, sparkles dancing around her
"Um...uh..." Weiss tried to formulate her words, with her and Blake turning to Yang, pointing to the absentminded Ruby. "What's wrong with this girl?"
"I think I know." Blake's idea made her simply rest against the edge of the door, clearly, they hadn't noticed me standing by, watching this interesting dilemma unfold, to be honest, I was fearing for my safety now. "She was reading a romance comic this morning, she's pretty easily influenced by comics in general."
"Really? What part of that wasn't obvious?" I murmured, making Blake jump at my interruption, my face bemused, as I held onto my cup of tea. "Ruby's constantly obsessed with comics, mostly action, but I happen to like romance too, so to say Ruby isn't into that sort of thing is slightly bias."
"..." Weiss said nothing
"I guess you're right, she is a romantic at heart," Blake confirmed, yet steam was rising from Ruby's head
"Those sounded like disses." Ruby pouted, before placing her hands on her hips, smiling with determination. "Anyway! I want to experience the bitter-sweet romances of youth! I want my heart to race with love!"
I said nothing, simply because Ruby may seem...dramatic, but she's got a good heart, too bad the madness of 'love' has consumed it like an Abyss Watcher, so no hope was in sight. For Yang though, she merely waved her hand at her sister.
"That's impossible, you're a tomboy." Yang grinned cheekily
"Huh!? Look who's talking!" Ruby barked angrily, with Weiss trying to convince her that Crescent Rose was her 'Boyfriend', but as I've pointed out, a mechanical object isn't a romantic partner, unless you're into that kind of stuff
"Heh heh, already Ruby, then here's your candidate!" Wait, why was Yang looking at me? No...no-no-no-no-no. I couldn't leave now, Ruby was staring right at me with a plain stare, whilst I felt my face begin to boil at the suggestion. "I'm thinking...Black Rose."
"You spent too much time thinking of that! What the hell, Yang!?" I snapped, gulping down a lump in my throat, and I suddenly felt my legs harden to the floor, threatening the snap the floorboards under me, while my blood ran like fire through my body and face, the hairs on my neck standing to attention at Ruby staring up at me, her gaze blinking to my hesitant eyes
Yet from where my eyes landed, Yang was gushing at the sight, Blake held a hand on her chin, and Weiss blinked with a small tint of embarrassment on her face. Friends to the end, ERIC, HELP! Suddenly, I felt my gaze shift, and in mere seconds I was gone.
"FOR MIDDLE EARTH!"
[Present Day...]
I felt a small amount of heat rise to my cheeks at the thought of me and Ruby in a relationship, while it was an interesting thought, Ruby wouldn't be interested in me, I lie and my overall personality borders on sarcasm and anger. Then there's Iota and Eric, my more-than-normal, split personalities.
"Y-You think I'm bad at romance?" Ruby's question brought me back to look at her, and...she looked serious, almost scary how she can flip on a dime like that, but the expression she wore was one of desire, she wanted to really know what I thought...well...man this is hard
"I...look, I'm not the best at answering that, I'm a guy, we're idiots by nature." I tried to dryly humor her, and that only did little to make her feel better
"Well, I still want to know, I mean...I'm not the best girl to ask about friends or stuff friends do, so...humor me?" Ruby persist, nudging my side as we turned a corner, passing by a few more people
This question was strange, more-so because I would have experienced some level of it, but for the life of me, I can't ever get a read on Ruby. What I mean is, I spent a lot of time merely listening, and over time, I had gained a way of telling who people are after a conversation, who they are, their personality, their quirks, but Ruby was somehow a bigger mystery to me that anyone I've met before.
"Hmm...I guess that's how you view yourself." I paused for a moment. "I can't tell you if you're great when it comes to understanding love, because I don't think anyone can, it's...like a feeling only you yourself can begin to unravel, and when you find that connection with someone, they can help...fill in the blanks, and together you piece the together an answer for yourselves."
My explanation left Ruby to place a hand on her chin, mulling over my words in her head, slowly though, I saw her smile return.
"So you're saying if I did meet someone like that, I'd understand what romance is?" Ok, she somewhat got it, but for simplicity, I nodded, clicking my fingers
"Aye, but for now, just focus on what you have, and worry little about what you don't," I responded, yet when I looked to my left, Ruby stood a few steps back, staring ahead towards a street across the road, where a corner shop sat. "Ruby? Ruuuuby?"
"I know a place to show you next! Over there!" Dramatically, Ruby pointed towards the store, and upon closer inspection I saw the bright stripes, noting the signs that held images of sweets...and cakes, oh boy. At the moment my mind caught up to my realization, I felt her arms link around my left, dragging me like a child to their parent. "Come oooon~!"
"I'm sensing a pattern," I spoke up, noting how each stop at a significant landmark ended with clearly pointed out stops of bakeries, each time I had to drag Ruby away, but now she seemed determined on visiting this particular shop for a strange reason. "Ruby, what makes this one different from the rest?"
"Cause, me and Yang went here with, Mom." I suddenly stopped moving with her at that. I've spent nearly two months in Remnant, I knew Yang, Weiss, Blake, everyone of our friends very well, but I've never heard Yang nor Ruby mention their mother before, I mean, Weiss talked to me about her family, more specifically her sister, Blake about her parents, but not much, and Yang only ever mentioned in secret to me about her mom, Raven, but she did mention that her and Ruby her half-siblings, so who was she? "It has the best sweet, ever!"
"Heh...ok, Rubes, I'll take your word for it."
"Aww, that's sweet, no pun intended." That moment another voice chimed in behind us caused us both to jump with a slight yell, the two of us turning on our heels to face a...strange man on the ground
Smiling, the man wore a black suit, with a fur lining for his cuffs and collar, a golden tie, white shirt, and a top hat with two cards strapped into the side with velvet fabric, both an ace of hearts and spades. His belt held pouches, with his body sat upon a small, velvet carpet, a small table before his knees. All the while his gleaming, golden eyes looked at us with a toothy grin to match, the light breeze brushing his raven hair to the side.
"Oh, hehe, sorry, did I mess with the progression of time again? I tend to do that without noticing, sort-of like time manipulation only you butt-dialed the freezing of time and space." The strange man rambled to us both, me and Ruby sharing a look, before turning back to the man
"Can we...help you?" Ruby slowly asked, scratching her head, and immediately the man blinked with sudden surprise, waving her off with a laugh
"Oh no-no-no, I'm perfectly...well, I'm stable. Very thoughtful of you though, I like that." He bowed his head, while Ruby had her usual smile back like nothing had gone sour, I still kept caution at the forefront of my mind
"This man, he's...something, I don't what he is?" Nice of you to show up, Iota. "Either here or with Eric yelling at Knight Artorias."
"Point taken," I spoke internally
"But I'm serious, this man is not who he seems."
"So then...who are you exactly?" I asked next, and he merely hummed in thought
"Why, my name is Gambit, The Dealer, and among other titles too, some of which I'd say, buuut then bad things would happen to good people." The man, Gambit smiled with a cunning grin, outstretching his hands to bring forth cards from his sleeves, catching me and Ruby off guard. "Want to chance fate?"
"You're a fortune teller?" Ruby asked, to which he nodded. That's when Ruby turned to me in a hushed voice. "Should we try it? Might be fun?"
"...I'm on board if you are, just...keep an eye on him, he's giving me strange vibes," I whispered back, and the two of us turned back to the man, who merely shuffled a deck of cards, and - wait, did I just see a Yu-Gi-Oh card? What the hell? "Right, we'll play along, Gambit."
He clapped his hands, the cards vanishing. "Wundabar! Come-come friends, let's play a game." With a flick of his wrist, they were back. Ok, he was pretty good at this
Sitting down on the carpet, he shuffled the deck of cards, before drawing about a dozen, all of which were black or red. Yet something about them gave me chills, I was going to draw out of this, but then I saw Ruby watching with innocent curiosity, I mean, if she didn't feel anything wrong, it might have been my own nature getting the best of me, probably.
"The game is simple, I call it, Three Mirrors. You simply choose three cards, whatever ones you want, once you do that, I'll then begin to play out what the cards foretell, simple, and no losers." He shrugged, tilting his head. "Well, for me that is, depends on your virtue."
"Our Virtue? Ok, now you're not making sense..." I grumbled under my breath but ultimately chose my three cards, with Ruby taking her own. Strangely, they were just basic red and black cards, mine had an Ace of Spades, a Queen of Hearts, and Joker, why that was in his deck is beyond my conclusion so I'll assume they have a role
"Ok, so let's start with little red, hmm?" Gambit grinned, giving her a toothy grin, but then saw her unnerved expression, so his face lightened up with raised hands. "By no offense, I already have a lucky individual in my life, thank you. Merely stating the fact that Roman Torchwich calls you that, so now I will, little red."
"Great...wait, you know Torchwick!?" Ruby gaped, with me raising a brow at this guy, something about his actions was throwing me through a loop. Gambit waved if off though, yet his keen stare returned with a cunning grin
"You taking my 'game' to heart now?" Now silent, he took our response as he turns to take Ruby's cards, and to our wonder, they had changed. Ruby had a Jack of Diamonds, now with the White Fang logo on the front. A King of Clubs with a depiction of Ruby's rose symbol on it. Her last card was a joker, only it had my own wolf symbol across its surface. "Hehehe...seems luck is a strange pain this time around."
"It seems something of great importance is coming your way little red, and your suspect is those fanatics of the White Fang, alongside your little friend here. While I see the good in this outcome, tread lightly, otherwise, this chain of events might...snap." Gambit told a tale hidden in her cards, and with a brush of his hand, they were gone. "Now for you...whoever you are."
He ignored my bemused stare, and soon placed my cards out on the small table before us, much like Ruby's, they had changed too. My symbol had appeared once more, this time on a Queen of Hearts, an Ace of Spades held that same, blurry image from the night Iota took control, a hooded figure with white eyes on the mask, who was he? Last was another Jack of Diamonds, this time with the word 'War' written across it in red paint, or at least I hope it was paint.
"Oh? This certainly is strange. You see, these cards of mine our a gift from someone very important, called simply as, Cards of Divinity, and have the ability to view a significant event for a person in the near future, never too far into one, but enough for a 'heads-up', so to speak." Gambit explained, reshuffling the cards in his hands. "You two were given your own glimpses into the future, how you perceive the meaning of each card is down to you. You best hope you're right in the end though."
This guy was seriously shady, and what he's shown and explained only makes me question more to his goals, but for now at least, given how strange Remnant was, I might just take his little 'game' seriously, just for a bit.
"That was weird, but thanks for the tip, uh, Gambit." Ruby thanked him anyway, and I did a small nod, that seemed to make him smile a little with gratitude
"No charge on these, call it a gift for Little Red's kindness, and Bluey's adorable intimidating stare." Ok, this joker is good at reading people, hell, he even knew the nickname Coco uses around me, how? Why did...I'm not going to get any answers like this. "Now, I think you two were about to be off somewhere?"
"...That's right! Let's move Sky, we have cakes to devour!" Ruby left me with no other choice but to be dragged onto my feet, her legs pulling her body forwards with me in-toe, leaving Gambit behind to chuckle like a creeper
Gambit watched the two quickly vanish into the street to his right, his shuffling ceased at that moment, whilst he brushed his hair to the side, revealing his golden eyes, the who socket filled with a golden sheen, as they curled up into an amusing look, his teeth converted into canines.
"I've given them insight, how they proceed is down to her now." Gambit stepped up, moving to walk down the street, passing an alleyway. "It's all up to you now, do what you will my hidden friend." At that, Gambit went on his way, as the white eyes followed his movements, the cloaked man's arms falling to his sides, resting on the pommel of his swords
"Target Acquired."
To Be Continued...
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the spacing on this sight? No? Well, I hate it. Anywho, new character and more slice of life to come, with some interesting developments for the future. Hope you all enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Mirrored Realization
Sky isn't the most unorthodox of teammates, he knows this. Weiss isn't the kindest of friends, she knows this. But both do share a very important thing in common, they were both the loneliest people of all.