Arc III - Light At The End
Chapter 25: Blue Rose
~-This is a fight you cannot win.~
That single phrase kept looping in my head since we got back, that certainty and little doubt within his voice made a sinking feeling within me grow to uncertainty. Did this 'Salem' have a plan to take us down? Beacon itself? Maybe...if she was Mars' creator, she may be the one controlling Grimm.
I was alone in our room, the rest were giving the details of the mission to Ozpin and Goodwich, while I got the chance to change clothes, Frenzy had torn my shirt and jacket to ribbons, my jacket was salvageable, but my shirt and trousers weren't, sadly. I stopped, however, myself shirtless before the mirror I stared into.
While my purple eyes...and my extension my sense of self was stable again, how my eye color and psyche are suddenly mending is beyond me, maybe I didn't have Split Personality Disorder? It might explain Iota and Eric's far more human way of thinking. But that wasn't what I stared at, instead, my eyes remained on my back, a horrid picture of blood and cold laughter still rung in my ears.
Suddenly, the door creaked open with familiar voices. "-Yo, we're back, Skyyyy..."
I could see them through the mirror, seeing them look at me awkwardly, they've never actually seen me with my shirt off, and the fact that I had a more fit body certainly wasn't helping the situation, yet their faces morphed from awkwardness, especially Ruby, to looks of horror and shock. They saw my back too.
"K-Kai...you're back!" Weiss gaped, while I held my shirt in my hand tightly, sighing shakily as they looked the same way I did. Yang certainly looked pissed
"Who the hell did this to you!?" ...No Iota or Eric? Guess I'll tell them, they have more right to know given how far I've come to trust them
"I-I..." Ruby couldn't even speak, I understood that even the fact she covered her mouth with horror written on her face said it all too well
"Her name was...was Rika," I shakily spat her name out, my hand running along my back, over the four, massive scars, the center one that ran down my spine looked like a lightning bolt in comparison to the others, and the skin looked uneven in both texture and tone of color. Yeah, Joker had it easy. "She...I thought she was my friend, someone I could trust like my sister or some of my past friends...I-I was wrong."
"She left more than these scars, even more than the hours of mutilation to my back, she left me alone again...a fragmented mess of who I was, she broke me down, my trust was drowned in paranoia and fear, and I lost all but my family to my own insanity." I slipped my shirt on afterward, before I felt my legs give out, a flurry of hands rushing to hold me up from collapsing, even as my breathing felt shallow again
"Sky, rest for a moment," Blake assured me, while I gave a calm smile, feeling my heart rate slow back down after a few seconds
"Sorry, panic attack, but ever since I met you guys they've been less frequent, say for the times I vividly remember what she did to me," I replied, sitting against the edge of the bed with my friends sat around me. "I couldn't imagine a life without all of you now."
They looked to be touched by that, my true, raw emotions finally bare again after so many fear-injected doubts over these months, but now I knew better, I trusted them completely with my life, I wasn't afraid to do that one more time.
"Are you sure you're okay? After what Mars did to you?" Ruby asked carefully, and I merely looked to Cognitum, remembering that 'Frenzy' was now a form I could use. Yet the thought of it made me feel sick, even afraid of touching it
"Frenzy was brought out due to Mars' plan to use Erika to trigger my hatred, so from what I could assume, it means this form is the Dark Matter side, and if I lost control again..." I trailed off, seeing Weiss place a hand on her chin
"You could be consumed, I guess it would be best to stick with your original two forms for now," Weiss concluded, seeing her rise back her feet with a calm look. "Now, we were about to drag you along to see how your sister is doing, but Ozpin said he wanted to speak with you first."
I stood up with the rest, nodding. "Alright, but...well..." I felt it, my heart was starting to beat faster again
"But what?" Weiss ushered me to continue, but only Yang knew...ugh...okay...okay I can do this
"I...I need to talk with Ruby for a moment," I replied, seeing Yang look at me with a sly grin, while her sister titled her head at me. "You don't mind if we talk somewhere else right now?"
"Uhh, nope, lead the way!" She motioned happily oblivious to what I was going to say...could I? Could I tell her now? Would she - no, stop it! I can tell her, I know I can!
"Heh, have fuuuun~!" Yang waved us away, myself grimacing as we walked out of the dorm and towards the place I had in mind
[Beacon Rooftop Garden]
The place I now sat my arms over to peer down at the school below was a small garden atop one of the buildings of Beacon, it was covered in grass and flowers, with a bench overlooking the school where Ruby sat, myself resting by the railing so she wouldn't see my crimson face.
"It's quite nice up here," Ruby spoke softly, seeing her form move into my left as I kept my gaze glued to the world ahead of us. The sunset only made the canvass more vibrant and golden in appearance, it was the most beautiful scene I've seen since...well...I've only ever seen pictures of places like this. "I didn't even know Beacon had a garden up here."
"I found it a while ago, came up here to just to think sometimes, of my home, of Erika and my family, but I guess now that Erika's here my family isn't so far from my reach anymore," I raised a hand to the sky, dropping my arm back to the rail again. "This world is truly breathtaking."
I need to say it. Come on, tell her how you feel you idiot! Do it before you miss your chance!
"Ruby I'm...I'm sorry." I finally spat it out, and it hurt so much to have been such an idiot to hold it back for so long, especially to her. "I...I'm an idiot, I can't always say the right thing when I want to, I can't take compliments because I can't unsee every lie told to my face, I hate hearing things will be okay when they never do get better...I push everyone away eventually, even my closest friends who have no idea as to why...why I was so...broken."
"Don't be." I froze, feeling her hand turn me gently. As she did, time slowed around us, as if something made her entire face seem more detailed than before. Her eyes gave off a never-ending amount of feeling, as her crimson highlights fell between her silver eyes. I then noticed the small hue of red that crossed her face, as her mouth seemed to quiver as she looked at me
"You're kind, you can be sensitive in your own way and you always strive to do better than who you were, what you've done isn't selfish, it's just who you are..." She assured me so softly, her hand locked with mine without me realizing, and I don't think she noticed either
"I was completely hopeless months ago, I thought without realizing that this world was like a fairy tale, that I could just be that cliche hero so easily," Ruby retold of a time that felt so long ago now. "But you...you never saw it that way, you treated this world, the life it held, and all those who followed you dearly, you couldn't bear the thought of letting any of it or letting us go when you tried to grow closer to us."
"When I was with you I felt I could do just as great, even more than I thought I could to alone," She smiled at me sweetly. "You gave me your courage when I really needed it, even if I never showed it." Was she...is this really...
My eyes widened at the close contact, staring into her meaningful eyes that orbs that shined in the sunset beyond. "You always gave me that push...so now...I want to do the same, to give you that same push forward, no matter what."
Oh please, sweet God, let this be real. Let this be actually happening. If this was a dream I never want to wake up, to think I wanted what was happening to occur, never did I believe my own comments of impossibility actually becoming reality, maybe I was just lying to myself.
"Ruby..."
"My Best Friend..." Our faces were so close to making contact it killed me far more than Mars. Her own cheeks glowed with a shade of red as I felt my own heart race as I felt my own eyelids growing heavy. "...My...Hero..."
And everything in my body felt like it was on fire. Soft tentative lips pressed against my own, the core of my heart heating up like the resting sun above at the contact, as my hands rested around her back gently. I returned the kiss with just as much care as Ruby. For the first time in a while, I felt at ease, my whole soul felt as though everything would be alright, even if for only a while. The kiss was rather brief, but it felt like an eternity.
And I will always cherish that feeling. This moment, kissing the girl I somehow fell for and cared for just as much as my own family, it was something I'll always remember until the end of this world.
Okay. This was it.
"Ok, I got this...just, open the door." I muttered to myself. After mine and Ruby's confession to each other, I had a more confident mindset for the door in front of me. My sister, she was right through this door, but that only felt as though it were miles from my hand. I had many thoughts swimming about my head still, alot of 'what ifs', but I could do this, I can open this door and see her again with my own eyes
"Sky versus a door, who will win?" At that, I glared at Yang, before sighing heavily through my nose
"I know. But let me remind you that I haven't seen her months, no message, no trace of my vanishing, I was...gone. That's what scares me because I have no idea what I'm going to say to her." I answered truthfully, but the soft squeeze of my right hand from Ruby gave me a small sense of peace. "Okay...here we go."
After reassuring myself, I slowly opened the door, allowing the daylight to pour out into the hallway from the room's windows. When Blake shut the door behind herself, we were left to look at the baby-blue room, as the golden rays of the afternoon sun illuminated us, and, the person who stared out at the sun.
I don't know how long I stood in silence for, but when I snapped out of it, her charcoal eyes looked at me, as they slowly got wider, while I only stared back with a nervous stance. She had a bandage wrapped around her head, with a pad on her left cheek, obviously, Mars did a number on her, but I'm just happy she's ok.
"K-Kai... it's really you..." She finally spoke, as I felt someone push me forwards, and so I did, moving closer to her bed as she covered her mouth with her hands. "I-I thought-"
"Hey, sis. Sorry I was gone for so long." I answered, swallowing the dry lump in my throat, seeing the tears begin to fall down her face. So I reached out and grabbed her hand softly, interlocking my fingers with hers before I saw the silver dog-tag around her neck. "See? I'm here...I'm...I'm here."
I couldn't stop myself from embracing her tightly, her head buried in my shoulder as I rested mine on her shoulder, her soft weeping just making my grasp tighter. I didn't want to let her go again, not after all this time, from now on...I won't let my family go again. I had power, it can so easily be exploited, but I had people to teach me, I'm more alive than I've been in years because of them, so I vow that I'll see it that I'll be there for them just as they were for me.
"You idiot, you stupid, broken, dumbass..." She then proceeded to hit me lightly in the chest, as I pulled her off of me. "I was terrified! You just vanished, and no one knew where you were! I thought...I thought you-"
"Well, I have come close to death more than once, but let's not count those." I joked, seeing her mixture of laughter and tears, then she noticed the others behind me, all trying to remain composed, Blake winning by a mile with just a small smile, while Yang looked ready to ball her eyes out in joy, ha
"'You'. You're the one that helped me, right?" Erika asked Ruby, as she nodded happily, and Erika bowed her head. "Thank you."
"No problem!" Ruby responded, then I picked up for her
"Erika. I like you to meet the people that helped me to this point. I'm a part of this team, and I promise to explain that tomorrow." That quickly shut her mouth as I motioned to Blake. "This here's Blake Belladonna."
"Nice to meet you." She responded kindly
"Next is my 'other' sister, Weiss Schnee." Weiss and I ignored the confused look on Erika's face, knowing we'd have to explain that later too. "Okay...scratch that, I have alot to explain later."
"A pleasure, by the way." Weiss greeted without much change in her expression
"Next is my best friend, and resident pun-maker, Yang Xiao Long." I pointed out to the grinning girl
"Hello~" She sang with a wave, then I lastly pointed to Ruby
"And this is our leader, Ruby Rose." I also felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I cleared my throat a bit. "She's...also my girlfriend."
"H-Hi." She squeaked, as Erika gave me and the others a warm look of comfort before her head finally clicked with the others, and I just covered my ears
"YOU TWO ARE TOGETHER!?"
"YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!?"
"Didn't think it would be that surprising?" I whispered beside Ruby, who just raised a hand to cover her mouth and my ear
"I think they wanted to see us...kiss." At the reply, I nodded sternly
"Aye, that makes sense." Suddenly my vision shifted again. "You both are so obvious a blind man could tell you liked each other."
I stepped away from Ruby, crossing my arms. "I'm not that bad!"
"Yes you are, you are without question the worst at hiding your feelings."
"I agree. You're...really bad, boss."
"Seriously!? Eric too!?" I yelled, even as the rest laughed at my three-way argument. "Oh, screw you both."
"Hehehe, I'm glad," I stopped arguing enough to see my sister's bright smile from months ago and throughout my life, how it just radiated like the sun. "You finally got the chance to trust people again, to find happiness."
"Thank you, all of you for helping my brother, I can take a guess that he was a handful to get him to trust you?" Erika questioned, as they all looked at me with a chuckle, as I frowned
"You have no idea how painful it was to listen to him sometimes," Iota grumbled but gave a small smirk. "Nice to see you again, Erika."
"Wait-Wait-Wait, you smiled!?" Yang in one swift move, shattered that reality as Iota glared at her, baring his teeth
"I'll gut you if you mock me again, so go ahead, flip that coin." Iota breathed, then he blinked, and soon, my eyes were crimson, as my body happily clapped
"HAHAHAHA! She's back! She's back, yay!" Eric happily stated the obvious, as Erika giggled at his antics before I came back around to hold her tightly, catching her off guard, but she happily returned it
Yet for the remainder of our afternoon we just sat there, enjoying each others company again, sure we talked, but I didn't dare to leave her for the day
"I love you, little brother." Erika sighed, resting her head on my shoulder, all while my eyes shimmered a mixture of purple, red, and white
"We love you too, sis."
"We love you too, sis."
"We love you too, sis."
To Be Continued in Arc 4...
And with that, we move on towards Volume 3, and Arc 4 of RWBY: Fragments, and I was honestly stuck with trying to piece how Sky and Ruby would get together, but here we are! Finally! And I cannot wait for Volume 3, as many great things are planned. So stayed tuned within a month's time for the next arc of Fragments! Seeya next time!
Next Arc: Arc IV - Linked Horizon
The Vytal Festival Tournament begins, but with some small antics of Team RWBYS beforehand, and throughout the tournament, the Team and Sky will be tested beyond all measure of trust and how the enemy plays their hand. With Sky caught between the choice of humanity or his friends, which can he say it really the right answer in the end?