Benjamin Taurus dipped the end of the quill into the inkwell one last time, pausing for a moment as he mused over a finalizing paragraph that would set everything straight and drive his point home. The reaper was preparing to knock on his door thanks to his daughter, she had wanted to see to it herself that he was killed slowly and painfully for all of the misery he'd caused her as a child, but it seemed as though the council would reach him well before he had time to see her accomplish her goals. Word came in the form of Ebony who had heard from an insider that Ruby was on a direct path for him, though was yet unaware of his exact location, bringing him a message that he'd soon be destroyed, and his best course of action was to turn his fleeting and dwindling number of followers over to Athena. He complied, he had no other choice and it was far more desirable an outcome than the bloody alternative.
He set the quill to the paper, feverishly scribbling and scrawling what he'd never found the words to say before, reclining back in the old wooden chair in which he sat and giving the ink time to dry as he strained to his feet. A gentle but chilling wind drifted in through the door and he hesitated for a moment, sighing and glancing at the side of his desk where his bow staff was propped against the igloo wall. The light in his lantern flickered as the door was closed once more and he kept his eyes on the letter before him, unable to find the strength to turn around and face his demise. Why had age been so cruel to him yet had smiled upon Raven? The crimes for which he was guilty were mostly through association, and not the acts themselves.
"I always knew one day that Athena would best me. I can't really explain it, why I locked her away, why I trained her, why I didn't kill her after she'd taken her mother's life. Deep down she was my daughter and I loved her just as much as Adam, just as much as you love your daughter. If only time allowed it I would sit here for the next several weeks and tell you everything that I know about the world and its secrets, but it would never be enough and I would only be delaying the inevitable and drawing you from far more important things. I think that deep down only the greatest of adversaries understand each other. We are both huntsmen and we both have found a much higher meaning and purpose in life than simply living. We go all out. We do whatever needs to be done to ensure that the things that we love will carry on forever in peace and joy.
I should have never allowed Sienna to train Adam. Had I known then what I know now, had I known how my children would have abused their own kind just to see their visions through. I never would have agreed to this, not in a hundred years and if I'd been given the chance to do it all again I would have ran, I would have lived a peaceful life on Menagerie with my wife and children and they never would have known the dangers that made them into the monsters they became. We did good once, though that might be hard to believe now," Benjamin spoke. He paused for a moment. "I can truly say that I am glad to meet you." He turned and faced Ruby who slowly lowered her hood and stepped out from under the doorway.
"Why didn't you run with them? Why didn't you join your daughter?" Ruby asked puzzled. Benjamin chuckled and shook his head.
"She would have killed me the moment her plans were finished and I couldn't risk letting her get her hands on any more power," Ben explained. "Her true semblance pairs with Wilt and Blush. "Whoever she kills while wielding the blade forfeits their power and aura to her. That's why we were so terrified of her. She gained the ability to teleport from her mother's death, and had I not locked her up, she would have stolen mine and Adam's as well. I love Athena, but I love Remnant more."
"If that's true, tell me about the Neo-Salems," Ruby instructed taking another step into the ice hut. He wasn't able to spot her weapon, he assumed that it rested on her back on a magnet in its gun form.
"Their leader is hiding out in the far east and goes by the name Abigor. They know about the relics," he told her. The corner of her mouth twitched, confirming his suspicion that the council knew about the relics as well.
"What's their endgame?" Ruby asked. Benjamin turned back to the letter, making sure the ink was dry before folding it and placing it in an envelope, using a wax seal with the family emblem to secure it.
"What else?" Ben asked. "They want to see to it that Salem is resurrected." Ruby froze. He turned to face her once more.
"Not possible. During Salem's War Coco killed-"
"Are you sure that she killed the right child?" Benjamin asked. "She jumped the gun and assumed that the child with Watts was the child called out in the ritual, but the Neo-Salems have information from Abigor that tells them otherwise."
"Is there anything else that we should know?" Ruby asked sternly.
"That is all that I know," he replied. There was a silence that settled over them before Ruby turned back to the door to leave.
"Come with me. If you let me take you into custody we can offer you protection and you can tell us everything that you know," Ruby told him.
"It won't be enough." She looked back at him. "She wants you to take me, she knows that you'd rather not kill me. This is how she planned it from the beginning. She knew that I would fight you so that I can stay on the run. One of us will die and she'll get what she wants." Ruby thought it over for a moment.
"Then tell me what she's planning instead and we can fix this without either of us having to die," Ruby pleaded.
"It's not that simple," Ben replied. "I only know where she is, and even armed with that knowledge you were unable to take her down last time, were you not?" Ruby bit her lip, he was right, and there was nothing that she could tell him to give her up. He cared about her too much. "There's nothing we can do to avoid a fight at this point."
"Be sensible," Ruby told him. "The council can protect you." Benjamin frowned.
"To be so naïve and innocent," he replied. "The council makes moves that even I don't understand. Be wary Ruby Rose, there are reasons that Ozpin did everything in secrecy." Benjamin reached for his bow staff and gripped it horizontally with both hands. "I'm sorry that it has to be this way." She nodded solemnly and reached back.
"So am I," she agreed. She swung her gun around, blasting several gravity shots at him which the staff absorbed as it glowed with a dark aura. He pulled it apart, revealing it to be two katanas that interlocked and swung them in an alternating pattern, throwing the gravity energy back and throwing an unprepared Ruby through the door and into the tundra, the sky casting down a blizzard outside. Ruby slid across the ice on her feet and flipped her gun into the scythe, planting it firmly in front of her and allowing it to force her body to a stop. She gave it a yank, throwing herself forward and freeing it behind her, bringing it down over her head. As it slammed into the unstable ground below her it caused the ice to split, forming several platforms that floated on the frozen river. She fired an explosive round at the igloo, destroying it as Benjamin flew through the air, coming down at her with both blades above his head.
Her body exploded into rose petals, flying past him as he landed and used the ice to his advantage, sliding away as Ruby reformed in mid-air and spun her scythe around her body. She fired again as she landed, once again having the Dust shot absorbed by his sheath as he charged at her. She deflected his slices with her scythe as if it weighed nothing and took a blast of lightning energy that he returned to her, sending her tumbling away. He pressed hard, diving at her as she once again exploded into petals and floated past him, slowly circling him until she formed and created a cyclone around him. He was thrown into the air as she shot up past him, her scythe forming a spear as she prepared to impale him. He effortlessly batted her attack to the side with his staff, her blade planting in the ice beside him and she stood on the top of her weapon. The ground shifted again, freeing the offshoot of ice that branched into the river and pulling the platforms with the current.
Benjamin rolled quickly onto the ice raft adjacent to hers and used his staff to give himself a push, Ruby readjusting as she leapt backward off of Crescent Rose and flipping it back to its scythe form. She watched him for a moment as they floated down the river, both of them hesitant and ready for the other to strike. Benjamin was nervous, but at least he could die knowing that he fought his hardest and that it wasn't at the direct hand of his daughter. Ruby loaded a fire Dust clip, taking several shots that destroyed Ben's current hunk of ice and forced him to retreat to another. Ruby ran for him, her body spiraling until all that could be made out was her cape and her scythe guiding out in front. It planted against his chest and she fired, the explosion throwing him back and into the water.
Ruby slid to the edge of the ice as the current of the river picked up speed and rocked the platform, almost causing her to stumble in as she reached her hand out to Ben.
"Take my hand!" She yelled.
"So altruistic!" He shouted back as he slipped under the water. The ice was thick enough that she couldn't make out his movement and she slowly circled around, gripping her scythe as she knew he'd attack at any moment. He burst forth from the ice in a flurry, slamming through the middle of the flat glacier and moving quickly to Ruby. He batted her scythe to one side with his staff, pulling it apart and getting two quick swipes in as she tried to move back but ran out of room. She splashed into the water and disappeared, Benjamin quickly sprinting further down the river, leaping from platform to platform as they drifted further apart and rushed rapidly towards a waterfall. He could escape if he could just reach the caves.
The ice exploded beneath him and he was thrown into the air, landing on the shore and rolling through the snow as his mind raced to catch back up. He found his back, sliding away quickly in the white powder as he spotted Ruby's body scattering about in petal form to search for him. He sheathed his swords and found his feet. There was no way that he could escape her, was there? His mind flashed back through his life.
"Tell me more about this Summer girl that you're on a team with," Benjamin asked.
"Qrow thinks that she's one of the silver-eyed warriors that the legends always drone on about but I just don't see it," Raven replied. "She's clumsy and innocent and clueless."
"There's something you're not telling me," Ben told her. "You don't have to worry; I won't tell your father if you don't want me to."
"I saw her use the power once. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, she wiped out an entire field of Beowulves before any of us could blink," Raven told him. "Even so, her instincts and raw talent are even more terrifying. She might be the one to stop Salem."
"If what you say is true, she just might be," Ben replied.
That was the difference. Summer had never been put through the pain and suffering that Ruby had, Ruby knew what it took to ensure that she survived. Summer succumbed to Salem because she refused to kill the woman, and it was her greatest mistake. As Ruby reformed, he saw the girl's mother transposed over her. Summer could have lived, she could have been one of the greats that had survived and told her story, but instead had become a girl of great renown with misplaced potential. Ruby Rose was the defender of Remnant. The greatest that had ever lived and had ever fought. He would gladly die to this girl. He couldn't kill her. They needed her far worse than they needed him.
She approached him slowly, aiming her sniper rifle at him without looking down the sights. He held his staff out before him, absorbing several shots but she'd overpower him in no time once she reached him, his body nor his weapon would be able to stand against her. He fell to his knees as she approached him, holding on to his life as it fleeted and his weapon shattered apart, prompting Ruby to stop. His aura had broken… he had given up?
"It doesn't have to end like this," she spoke softly. Part of him wanted to agree and go with, but his fear of Athena knew no bound and he shook his head.
"Please," he begged her.
"I won't kill you," she stated. He frowned, leaping quickly to tackle her but she sidestepped him and he slid across the ice and slipped into the water. Without his aura, it seemed impossibly cold… this was it...
"Daddy!" Athena called out as she ran through the village for Benjamin, frantic as her feet carried her quickly and she laughed. He turned to where she'd called and she burst forth from the crowd as he scooped her up and swung her around, causing her to laugh. "Daddy, I picked this flower for you, isn't it pretty?" Benjamin laughed and took it from her, smelling it too hard and pulling one of the petals into his nose by mistake. He coughed and Athena shrieked as she stole the flower back. "Daddy!"
"I'm sorry!" He laughed and hugged her tight.
"Where is brother?" Athena asked. Benjamin chuckled as he left the crowded village circle and headed down a winding path into the woods.
"He and Blake went out hunting for food this morning, but I want to show you something Athena," he told her. They came to a clearing, a field of flowers at which she gasped in amazement, leaping from his arms and running out into the pasture. She giggled, floating about the beauty and smiling back at Benjamin.
"It's so pretty!" Athena exclaimed.
"The world is a pretty place, my child," he told her. "Someday it'll all be yours." She looked at him wide-eyed.
"Really?" She gasped. He nodded and knelt, allowing her to leap into him once more.
"In Remnant, you can be whatever you want to be," he told her. She smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek before taking off.
"I love you, daddy!" Benjamin felt a tear slip from his eye as thunder cracked overhead, the world consumed by darkness that was lit on occasion by lightning.
"I love you too," he spoke softly. He was in his hut, the firewood heavy in his arms as Athena stood over her mother covered in blood, Wilt in her hand. She glanced at the sword and back at her mother, her chest heaving as she struggled to understand what had come over her. She looked back at Benjamin.
"She needed to die so that I could prove my strength," Athena exhaled. "I'm just as strong as Adam. She needed to die…" Athena shook, breaking down and exploding into tears as she leapt off of her mother and ran to Ben, throwing her arms around him. He gingerly pried the sword away. "I'm sorry. I love you, I don't know what came over me, but I had to do it." He held her close as his eyes never left his wife, everything shifting again, something thrashing behind him as Adam paced in front of him.
"Let me kill her," Adam said as he looked past his father at Athena. "The Atlas army will be here with Team RWBY at any moment. We need to make sure that she dies or the destruction that ensues will be on us. They'll take her prisoner, and they won't be able to hold her. You know she'll come after us!" Benjamin glanced back at Athena and looked to Adam.
"We're under attack!" Yelled one of the criers and Adam felt Wilt's handle.
"Go!" Ben shouted at Adam. "I'll take care of her." Adam grunted in displeasure, huffing and snorting before taking off into the woods. Benjamin walked to the cage and removed the lock, throwing it open and letting Athena walk out.
"Why would you let me live?" Athena asked. She gripped his shirt and pulled him in. "Even now I can tell you're afraid!"
"Because I love you, Athena." He told her. "I always will." She threw him back and looked at him with disdain.
"You once told me that the world would be mine," she reminded him. "You were right. It will be." She took off into the woods and disappeared, the scene shifting for the last time and Benjamin found himself in a barren ice wasteland, Athena attacking him as he deflected her blows and batted her body with his staff.
"You're sloppy!" He yelled.
"Maybe if you hadn't locked me in a cage, I wouldn't be!" She yelled.
"Maybe if you hadn't killed your mother, I wouldn't have locked you up!" He shouted back. Both of them huffed, doubled over and out of breath. Athena bowed to him, walking away.
"This is our last session," she informed him. She paused without looking back at him. "Thank you for everything father."
"You'll always be my daughter," he called out. She didn't feign a response, walking away and disappearing into the void.
She ran to the edge, determined to pull him out but as he slipped beneath part of the ice that hadn't been battered she lost sight of him. There was a chance that she could have rescued him, but in a way, she knew that she had to respect his wishes. Benjamin was gone. Ruby watched as the flat of ice that had once supported Ben's home drifted by, spotting the letter in the midst of crumbled blocks of ice. Ruby picked it up, looking it over and noting that it was for Raven, placing it in her satchel. She knelt, remaining in silence for a long moment as the snow poured onto her and the wind howled. She stared out into the vast nothingness of Atlas and took a deep breath. There was work to be done. They had to find the relics. They had to stop Abigor.
Next week, Chapter 117 - Lucid Dream!
A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!