A/N: Wooo! 7k word chapter incoming! In case you thought I'd stopped writing doorstoppers after the last fic finished up. This one's kinda wild, but I hope yins enjoy!

Minor TWs for mentions of alcoholism (it's Qrow) and mild alcohol consumption.

Chapter 3: To Be Seen

Blake led them out towards the south end of campus. It was an odd, misty morning; the sun blushed through a faint haze of clouds, while dark colors over the western horizon promised rain later in the evening. The grassy lawn sparkled with dew, dotted with the stubby shoots of flowers soon-to-be.

Ruby's feet fell softly on the white brick path, nervous excitement spinning her thoughts. She wiggled to bump into Weiss's side, glancing meaningfully at their girlfriend(!) Weiss pondered for the barest sliver of an instant, then flashed back a resolute smile.

With practiced coordination, the two of them stepped casually up to Blake's sides. Blake shot glances back and forth, but the playful suspicion in her eyes quickly gave way to quiet joy as two hands brushed hers in tandem.

No verbal clarification was needed. Blake's fingers moved like lightning, catching her girlfriends(!) fingers and clasping them. Tight. Ruby giggled, utterly charmed by the silly, blushy smile on Blake's face and the feigned annoyance on Weiss's. It was dumb; Ruby knew it, they all knew it, but that didn't make it any less lovely to walk down the road hand-in-hand.

Still… Ruby's smile slipped as questions swirled in her head. Blake's gender stuff didn't really change anything as far as she was concerned, but…

"So Blake!" she tried, uncertain where exactly to begin. "I didn't know you were religious. What… uh, kind, of religious are you?" She shut her eyes regretfully. Good job at words, Ruby!

Blake laughed, squeezing Ruby's hand. "Well… I don't exactly advertise it, but I'm a Kanzakhist."

Ruby tilted her head, a bit thrown. That wasn't one she'd heard of before.

Weiss made a quiet sound of recognition. "That's Mistrali, isn't it? I'm not particularly familiar with the faith myself, but I've certainly heard of it."

Blake nodded. "It's not actually very popular in Mistral itself, but it's widespread throughout southern Anima and some parts of Menagerie. It's what I grew up with." She took a breath and let her ears lay flat as a note of shame entered her voice. "I only started practicing again recently, though."

Ruby squeezed her hand. There was obviously some deep pain there, but she wasn't really sure how to soothe it. "Why'd you stop?" she asked gently as she could, hoping she wasn't digging at a wound.

Blake smiled, gazing wistfully off down the path. "In the White Fang…" she began, "or at least, in the branch I was part of, religion was seen as a means of control—a tool used by the kingdoms to keep their citizens happy and complacent." She huffed. "And honestly I still believe that's true, sometimes, but…" She shook her head. "But the Kanzakh is an important part of my heritage. Coming back to it has been huge for me."

Ruby murmured an acknowledgement, but it was still tricky to wrap her head around. "I don't really get it," she admitted. "Religion wasn't really a thing for me growing up." She fixed a determined grin on Blake. "But I love you, and if this is an important part of who you are, then I wanna know everything about it! No matter how weird or different it seems to me at first, I'm gonna love every part of you."

A pause ensued, and for a moment Ruby worried she'd said something wrong. Then she noticed Weiss giving them both an affectionate smirk.

"I think you broke her," Weiss said, shooting eyes at Blake, who was trying to bury her face in her shirt collar.

Ruby giggled, even as a surge of worry dashed up her neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel weird! I just, um." Her free hand fluttered as she struggled to find more words to say, and came up empty.

Blake collected herself and gave Ruby a shining smile. "You are far too good at telling people you love them," Blake said, grinning as she pulled her hand free to wrap Ruby in a one-armed, hug.

The tension went out of Ruby's body as she felt Blake's lips brush her forehead. "Awww," she hummed. "Well, I try."

Blake sighed, gently letting Ruby go so they could continue walking down the path. "So the short version…" she began, her ears folding back like they always did when she was nervous. "The word Kanzakh literally just means 'circle.' It's an umbrella term for a pantheon of gods, all considered to be part of the same grand cosmology. The general idea is that every aspect of the universe is part of an infinitely large but perfectly connected whole, and the gods are… abstract representations of each part of that whole."

She paused, looking up as they passed out of the shadow of one of the school's warehouses. Ruby followed her sight, and found herself rooted to the spot.

The temple was a tall, round building at the far end of the school. It seemed like almost an afterthought in the campus layout, something added in long after the rest was set in stone. It stood a bit down the gradual slope of the hill the whole school was on, nearly crushed up against the low brick perimeter wall, sharing its landscape with an anti-Grimm turret pointed out at the woods and sky beyond. The shimmer of a hardlight barrier hung eerily behind it, making it seem not quite real.

It was cut from the same white brick much of the school was. Three rows of arched niches ringed the building's walls, each enclosing a statue. There were dozens of them, varying wildly in shape and size, some brightly painted, others pristine white or black marble. The roof was painted vivid blue, like a mirror to a different, uncloudy sky, and thin stripes of the same color ringed the stonework between the statues.

Ruby found herself a little overwhelmed. "All of those are gods?" she asked, squinting as they approached. Blake said the Kanzakh was supposed to represent the entire universe… but that was still a lot of statues.

Blake chuckled. "Those are… some of them, yes. This temple is mostly just used by students or faculty who originally came from Menagerie or Mistral, like me. Since patronage is pretty light, this temple only has shrines for the most popular gods." She paused, frowning. "And only half of those, anyway."

Weiss had been staring at the statues in awe, but finally snapped out of it at Blake's shift to a darker tone. "Half?"

Blake hesitated, her ears laying flat again. "So… The Kanzakh can actually be considered two distinct halves. There's the Luix Kanzakh, the 'Light Circle…' and the Nuix Kanzakh which I guess best translates as 'Dark Circle.' The two Circles are mirrored—every god of Light has an equal one in the Dark, and you're not supposed…" She bit back her words, sighing dejectedly. " I was taught, that you're not supposed to separate the two. The complete whole—the Vediir Kanzakh— is itself a sacred concept. But in Vale… that's not really something that's allowed."

Weiss frowned, perplexed. "How do you mean?"

Blake shook her head. "It's a huge culture clash. Both here and in Anima, the aesthetic concepts of Light and Dark are deeply ingrained into religion and morality… but they mean vastly different things. In Vale, Dark is just the absence of Light. Light is joy, art, love, life… everything good. And the Dark is what's left when that's gone. Death. Emptiness. The Grimm." She took a slow breath, her eyes flicking sharply to Ruby. bearing an expression which was difficult to name. "But, Kanzakhism holds that Light and Dark are distinct and opposite existences, like the poles of a magnet. People stand in the center, possessing both aspects in equal measure. As such, the Dark gods are, to most Kanzakhists, just as important as the Light gods."

"Wow…" Ruby murmured, her brows pinching together as she tried to wrap her head around the idea. She'd never really thought about it before, but just the idea of worshipping a "Dark God" felt inherently… uncomfortable. Almost like—

It hit her like a slap in the face. "Oh," she said, her eyes bugging out. "And people in Vale think… they think you worship Grimm, don't they?"

Blake nodded glumly. "Yeah." A sudden exhaustion seeped into her expression, sending a spear through Ruby's heart.

"That's terrible," Weiss muttered, her eyes cast down to the path. "I didn't realize these concepts held so much weight." She shook off whatever she'd been thinking, and inclined her head to the temple. "What's missing then? If they are mirrors to one another, then what does the Dark hold that the Light does not?"

Blake smiled sadly. "So many things. The Dark… to us, it's where dreams are born. Where secrets are kept. It's peace, tranquility, safety… and depending on your interpretation, even order, where light is chaos and change. A huntress going into battle might pray to Rilg for victory, but pray to his dark half, Cinur, that she survives to return home to her family." She shrugged, sadly. "It's hard to explain. Just different."

Further explanation trialed off as they reached the temple proper, walking up to the great entrance. Two gods stood on either side, their arms reaching out to cup a huge disc at the apex. They both looked the same, faunus men in flowing robes without faces. One had a stag's antler's rising from his head. The other had the horns of a goat. Both were carved in white marble.

Ruby froze, staring up at them in sudden awe. Something about the image felt… profoundly unsettling.

"These two," she said, gesturing up at the colossal statues. "Was… was one of these supposed to be a Dark god?"

Blake looked at her in shock. "Y-yes, actually—"

"The one with the goat horns?" Ruby asked. Her eyes itched.

Blake gave a silent nod.

Ruby kept on staring at the statues, trying to find answers to questions she barely understood. Her eyes lingered on the goat faunus's skin, the pale white stone, and it clicked. That's it. It's not that the image it's wrong, it's the color. They're not the same, they should never be the same. They're two interlocking parts. Magnets pulling from different poles.

In the back of her head, a strange pressure was building. Something that tinkled like bells, uncannily familiar. But… why does it feel so… uncomfortable to look at them like this? Why do I know that this isn't correct?

She felt hot—not warm like hugs, hot like iron in a furnace. It hurt, but it also felt… natural. More natural to her than breathing ever could be—

"Ruby?" Weiss was looking at her. "Are you alright?"

Ruby shuddered, as the pressure abruptly cut off. It took her a moment to remember where she was, and she glanced about in shock. "Y-yeah?" she said, blinking the last of that weird feeling out of her eyes. "Um, sorry, I dunno. It just… I guess cause there were two of them?" She looked up again, feeling that same odd discomfort, only a bit less. "And they're holding that disc—is that Remnant? The Kanzakh, it's Remnant?"

"Mhmm?" Blake gave her a very long stare. "Have you… heard of the Brothers before? Luix and Nuix?"

Ruby tilted her head. "Um… maybe. I dunno. I think maybe my uncle said something about them once?" She shook her head as the last of the strange feeling faded away. "But he didn't say much. He's really grumpy about religion in general, I think? Dunno why."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Weiss asked again. She took a step closer, flanked by Blake. "Ruby… what just happened?"

Ruby shook her head. "I… dunno." She looked at her girlfriends, saw the worry in their eyes.

She was fine, but to see them worry so much… it touched a tender nerve in her.

"Guyyyys," she moaned. "I'm okay!" She wrapped them both in a big hug, squeezing them all together. "Really." She looked up at Blake, determination in her stare. "We're here for a reason, right?" she asked.

Blake cracked a smile, hugging her back. "Right."

Ruby found herself staring as they passed through the doorless entryway. Intricate spirals and curves were etched deep into every surface, creating new geometries as they wove in and out of one another, intricate patterns of Light and Darkness. The pattern was mirrored around the entryway, but aside from the symmetry Ruby couldn't see a single place where the pattern meaningfully repeated itself.

The effect was mindbending, like staring a rushing ocean, or the canopy of a forest, and that was before the passage opened into a huge central chamber, its round ceiling reminding Ruby at first of the museum before the layout broke her out of it.

There were no chandeliers, for a start—instead, the room was lit by… Ruby struggled for a word. Sconces? Was that when you called it when there were huge pillars set into the wall with what looked like bonfires burning on top of them of them? The basic impression was impressive enough, but there were mirrors set behind each flame, and the stonework itself was such that the light was all reflected into the room. The fires were from pure burn dust—smokeless and steady, with a faint red tinge.

Blake squeezed her hand as they walked to the center of the hall. The place was mostly deserted, only a few students passing through. Blake seemed to know a few, waving casually as they passed. She walked to the round granite desk at the center, where an old woman in ornate robes sat in a disorientingly modern office chair with a computer set up in front of her. She regarded Blake curiously over her spectacles, eyes darting to the hands she held.

"My my," she said. "A pleasure seeing you again, Blake."

"You too, Lazuli," Blake took a breath. "I'm… I'd like to conduct another ritual to Pthala." The woman's eyes narrowed, and Blake shook her head hastily. "It's… an addition, not a replacement."

"Oh…" the woman sat back in surprise, eyeing Ruby and Weiss with sudden interest. "I see. Unconventional of you… but I doubt Pthala would mind. You have your prayer prepared?" She smirked, patting the top of her monitor. "I'm pretty thorough, but I'm not sure even I could find one for your situation."

"I know what I'm going to say," Blake said, smiling back. "Is the shrine free?"

"It is indeed." The woman stood, smoothing out her robes. "Pardon me briefly; I'll go prepare it for you."

Blake thanked her, and ushered Ruby and Weiss over to a stone bench set into the floor.

As they sat, Ruby fidgeted. This seemed really cool, but… it was also starting to feel really heavy. She glanced at Weiss, who echoed her uneasy expression.

Taking that as a cue, Weiss fixed Blake with an even stare. "So what exactly are we here to do?" she asked. "And what's this about 'additions' being better than 'replacements?'" Her cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to make assumptions but this is all starting to feel rather… marital, and frankly I'm a little uncomfortable with that."

Astonishment washed over Blake's features. "Oh, no, well, um." She paused. "Not… exactly?" she tried, smiling sheepishly. "It's not… it's not binding."

"But… it's kinda like that?" Ruby said, her heartbeat quickening. An image, Blake in a suit, with her and Weiss in matching white dresses, danced its way frantically through her mind. It wasn't a bad image, but it was a little, kinda, extremely intimidating.

"No." Blake took a deep breath. "It's more like…" She clapped her hands together, holding them in front of her. "So, weddings are ultimately ceremonies, right? They're rituals, used to mark a particular step in a relationship."

Ruby nodded, still uncertain.

"Okay, well, imagine that you split that up," Blake said, she pulled her hands apart, spreading them wide. "Imagine if you didn't just have one ceremony, but several. Dozens. A ceremony for the first time you kissed. A ceremony for the first time you went on a date. H-had sex. Had… decided to have children."

Ruby was not feeling any less uneasy about all this, but Weiss suddenly perked up, snapping her fingers. "Ah! So you're saying this is… an initial ceremony? To commemorate the start of our relationship?"

Blake nodded frantically. "Yes! Exactly! That's exactly it."

That… sounded less scary. "Okay," Ruby said, pinching her knees together. "I. Um. I'm okay with that."

"I'm so sorry," Blake said. She shifted anxiously, her ears pinned back as she stared at Ruby with a look of profound regret. "I got so caught up in talking about the Kanzakh itself—I should have explained what we'd actually be doing before we got here." Her shoulders hunched a little further. "This… this is just normal to me. I'm sorry I didn't think about how it would seem to the two of you."

Ruby looked up, trying for a reassuring smile. In hindsight, she knew it was silly to have been worried. Yang said she'd done this with Blake before, and they definitely weren't married. Plus, Blake would never spring something like that on them without warning first. "It's okay," she said, with returning conviction. "That's… really neat, actually." She glanced up at the huge vault of the ceiling. "Still kiiinda intimidating, but I trust you." She felt something gnaw at her gut, and in a moment of bravery, slid along the bench to press up against Blake's side. "And… I probably shouldn't have assumed stuff either. I was trying to fit this into how stuff works in Vale, but it's different. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions." She wasn't sure what else to say, so she settled for leaning her head on Blake's shoulder.

"Likewise," Weiss said. She stood, walking to Blake's other side and sitting down neatly. Then, after an extended moment of hesitation, primly plopped her own head on Blake's other shoulder.

Blake let off a quiet chuckle, shrugging her arms free to pull them both into hugs. "Y'know, you two've gotta stop making me the center of attention; I might just get used to it." She sighed, a faint tremor slipping into her voice. "Thanks."

Ruby made a happy sound, and nuzzled into Blake's side. "So…" she said, once the power of speech seemed a little less supernatural, "What exactly are we doing?"

"Well…" Blake shifted, hugging them both a little tighter. "We're going to see Pthala, the god of love, among… other things."

Weiss glanced up at her. "Other things?"

"…Sex, sometimes," Blake sighed. Ruby flushed again, and felt Blake squeeze her in response. "But… in our case, love. Pthala has domain over romantic relationships at all stages, so it's common to perform a small ritual to them whenever entering or exiting a relationship." A breath. "Also… well, Kanzakhists tend to choose a few specific gods as patrons. And… Pthala is one of mine."

"Really?" Weiss murmured. "Why specifically?"

"A couple reasons?" Blake shifted to scratch her head. "For one… Pthala is often seen as a patron of intersex, trans, and genderqueer people because…" her cheeks darkened, "...of reasons. But more than that, it just felt right for me, I guess?" She tilted her head back. "Pthala is love, and passion, but they're also loyalty, and courage, and compassion, and… a lot of things I aspire towards."

"Awww," Ruby planted a kiss on Blake's shoulder. "Well, if they're as good at those as you then they're a real sweetie."

Weiss laughed. "I couldn't have said it better."

Footsteps drew their attention. "The altar is ready," Lazuli said. She regarded them with her hands folded in front of her, eyebrows shrewdly elevated.

Blake smiled back. "Thank you," she said, gently pressing the others forward. They stood, and Blake bowed her head slightly. "I really appreciate it. Sorry if this was any extra trouble."

Lazuli rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she groused. "You're hardly the strangest lovers who've come through here. It's not even the first time this sort of thing—" she glanced meaningfully at Weiss and Ruby, then back to Blake "—has come up." She sighed, a smile slipping onto her weary face. "I overfilled the ritual cup, but I'd say no more than two sips each if you want to leave some for Pthala."

A breath caught in Blake's throat. " Thank you, " she said, dipping her head lower. "You're far too kind."

"Oh stop that already and go prepare, shoo!"

They fell quiet as Blake led them to a huge spiral staircase on the temple's wall. They climbed, passing countless ornate doors, all carved and painted, each one unique. They reached the third level, and the doors only seemed to get bigger and more complicated. Ruby found herself intimidated again. Her head spun as they passed one of the bonfires, the heady scent of incense rising from the strangely placid flames.

The door Blake led them to was sandwiched between two huge ones, one carved with geometric spirals and the other painted with bright floral patterns. Pthala's, by contrast, was simply a small stone archway, carved with simple, flowing lines. A thick blue curtain hung across the width. The only symbolic ornamentation was a single carved disc, set into the peak of the arch.

Ruby felt another bout of nerves, and latched onto Blake's arm for support. "So…" she began. "What are we supposed to do?"

Blake smiled, and shook her head. "Just follow my lead," she said. "I'll be leading the ritual, so I'll do most of the talking, and the rest isn't all that complicated." She blinked, stopping suddenly. "Oh, um. There's a part of the ritual where you drink a bit of wine. Is that okay with you?"

Ruby's neck went cold. An image of Uncle Qrow flashed through her head, accompanied by a bolt of anxious sadness. Vaguely, she heard Weiss say something that sounded like "I don't mind," and shook herself back ot the moment.

"As… long as it's only a little," she said, mostly certain she meant it.

Apparently the hesitation had slipped into her voice. "Ruby?" Weiss asked, shifting to look at her. "Are you sure? You sound nervous, is everything alright?"

Ruby took a breath. "Um… honestly? I dunno. I don't think I can say until I see what you mean, but… I'm really not comfortable with alcohol."

Blake went utterly pale. She'd backed away a step, her hand moving to her mouth in shock, ears pressed flat against her head. She shook herself, putting on a smile so fake it hurt to look at. "It's okay," she said, her voice faint. "You… I… I'm sorry, I should have checked earlier. It's fine if you don't want to do this, we can stop right now and go back, and it'll be fine."

They didn't speak for a second, Blake shifting uneasily from foot to foot, Weiss glancing between them in shock and worry, like she wanted to help but didn't know what to say.

And Ruby realized something.

All of them had their share of secrets, but it wasn't a secret that Blake had the most, and Ruby had never blamed her for that. Blake was a complicated woman, with an incredibly complicated past. If the four of them held a big dumb contest for "most fucked up childhood," Blake won hands down. And in team RWBY that was saying something.

Blake kept her secrets because those secrets had teeth .

But all morning, Blake had been revealing parts of herself to Ruby and Weiss. Just like years ago, when she'd accidentally outed herself as a faunus and a former member of the White Fang, except this time she'd done it intentionally. Because she trusted them.

But still, she was scared.

Scared that they'd reject her for the body she was born into.

Scared that they'd think the gods she worshipped were Grimm.

Scared that they'd misunderstood what this ceremony meant, would reject her without trying to understand.

And now, scared that she'd carelessly violated one of Ruby's boundaries, in the last moments before sharing something sacred and beautiful with her.

And the worst part was, she'd been right, at least about the last one.

But… it wasn't because she didn't care about Ruby. Or because she wanted to hurt her.

The fact was, Ruby had never mentioned her aversion to alcohol before. Even Yang didn't know the full extent of it. It just hadn't mattered until this moment. Ruby's secrets had their own thorns, and with all that her teammates had going on she hadn't wanted to burden them with something that she ultimately considered a minor problem. She knew it was a silly thing to worry about, and any comparison to Blake's stuff was really pushing it, but there it was.

Plus, Blake had checked, just a little late. Because they were all excited, and there was so much to cover, and…

Ruby blew out a sigh, and ran a hand through her hair. This really was a mess.

She took a breath to settle her nerves, and met Blake's eyes with her own. "How much alcohol?" she asked.

Blake's eyes widened. Her hand rose to pinch a sliver of air between thumb and forefinger. "The content is low," she said. "Less than most wine. It's ceremonial; you're not supposed to get intoxicated."

Ruby took a deep breath. She held up her fingers, mirroring Blake. "This much?"

Blake nodded.

Ruby took the measure of the situation, thinking it through.

Blake doesn't want to hurt me. She trusts me, loves me. And I trust and love her.

And this is something that's deeply important to Blake. My boundaries are important too, and I won't toss them aside just to make Blake feel better, but this isn't us going to some bar and passing out on the steps.

Her fists tightened, and she looked up at Blake. She nodded, sharply, face pinched in determination. "Okay," she said. "Let's do it."

Weiss stepped in between them, taking Ruby's hand forcefully. "You're certain?" she asked, dead seriousness on her face. "I won't let you be pressured into anything."

Blake nodded, equally serious. "Absolutely not. In fact, honestly, I'd rather not do this at all then have it hurt you." She took a deep breath, her normal steadiness returning for a moment. "The whole point of this ritual is to celebrate how happy we make each other—if it makes you unhappy in the process, then it's tainted at the core. It'd be like cursing our relationship instead of blessing it. We'd be worse off than we started, and…" Her voice broke, her eyes falling to the floor. "That's not even getting into how awful I'd feel if I selfishly drove you into a bad experience for my own gratification. I can't let that happen. I won't. "

Ruby shook her head. She reached out, cupping Blake's cheek and turning her head to look at her. "I'm a little spooked," Ruby admitted, smiling into Blake's worried face. "But not by this. What I'm afraid of is something really different. I'll… tell you more about it some time."

She leaned in for a kiss, pressing herself to Blake until she felt the tension start to ebb. She stepped back, took Blake's hand, and looked to Weiss.

The latter, with a smile and a slight blush, reached out and snagged both their hands as well, forming their perfect little triangle.

Blake sighed, tension shifting to exhaustion. She looked to Weiss. "And you're okay with this too? Just to be sure."

Weiss glanced away. "Yes. I… also admittedly have a complicated relationship with alcohol, but I'm not averse to it on principle. Just…" She paused, her normal confidence cracking slightly. "This…really won't intoxicate us?"

"A buzz at most," Blake said, shifting uncomfortably. "Although, if the two of you are lightweights, then… I suppose you might get a little tipsy? I'm not sure, to be honest." She shook her head. "You'll want to take small sips," she said. "Again, it's ceremonial—even a single drop is enough, as far as the ritual is concerned. Please, don't overdo it."

Ruby and Weiss nodded. "Is there anything else we should know?" Weiss asked. "We're going into this a bit blind, and while it's very exciting it… might be good to clear out anything else."

"Right." Blake looked at the door, the blue curtain. "I'll… give you a rundown of what we're doing. Step by step, before we go in. Okay?"

Ruby and Weiss nodded, and Blake started to explain.

A few minutes later, they were ready.

It was actually several curtains which blocked the passage: two of heavy blue fabric, and a third made of strands of green beads which rattled as Blake pushed them aside. "It's just in here," she said, a growing nervousness in her smile. "Oh, and leave your shoes and socks on this shelf."

Ruby and Weiss did so, the stone floor cold under their feet. The room Blake led them into was small, the size of their bathroom at Beacon, perhaps. It was a bit of a tight fit for three people. There was a beautiful carpet laid across the floor, in front of an altar, atop which stood a statue, surrounded by candles, and the scent of salt and incense.

The god was carved from blue quartz. A veil covered the face from the nose up. One hand held a spear, the other a cup. Hair spilled down the naked body to pool around bare feet, and two wings rose in back, covered in eerie, etched eyes, each pupil set with a gem of glittering black.

They also possessed… several genders worth of visible organs, Ruby realized with a faint blush.

"This is Pthala," Blake said.

Ruby scanned the walls, settling on the images painted and carved there. Her blush intensified as she recognized the 'other things' Blake had mentioned earlier. She resolved not to examine the depictions too closely, moving to kneel on the carpet beside Blake with a faint flutter in her stomach.

Blake smiled at them, Ruby on her left, Weiss on her right. Her eyes shone amber in the candle light. "Okay," she said. "You're both sure, right? This… we can stop at any time, but this is our last chance to properly back out, if we don't want to offend Pthala."

Ruby chanced blasphemy and planted a quick kiss on Blake's cheek. "I'm ready," she said, rock-hard determination in her guts.

Weiss smiled at them both, before leaning in to plant her own kiss. "We both are," she said. "Please, go ahead, Blake."

Blake took a breath and lowered her head, a smile lingering on her lips.

She lifted her eyes, and spoke.

"O Pthala, warm wind of spring, who sees with their heart and flies with their eyes. I am a small woman, with a small and fragile heart, but I have found those with whom I would share it's portion." She reached out, grasping Weiss's hand. "Weiss Schnee, from the high north, a champion of many trials, a woman who has grown as the winter snow thaws, becoming something new and bold and gorgeous, endlessly dynamic with infinite potential."

Ruby chanced a glance at Weiss, and found a blush deep enough to drown in. Blake had told them what would happen, each phase of the ritual she'd be leading them through, but the words themselves were new, and very sweet.

Ruby snickered, quietly agreeing with Blake's poetic assessment, when Blake's hand found hers…

"And Ruby Rose, from an island in the west, a warrior of unparalleled skill and charm, a woman who grows as the trees do, becoming ever-greater with each passing season, in beauty as in wisdom as in kindness as in strength."

…and now Ruby was the one blushing.

"These two I add to my unions," Blake continued, seemingly heedless of the state she'd just reduced her girlfriends to, "recalling still my bond with Yang Xiao Long, from the same western isle, a warrior of immeasurable cleverness and wit, who grows like the sun rises, brighter and brighter with every second, warming all, yet never setting."

Dizzy, incensed air swirled inside Ruby as she finally remembered how to breathe. She felt warm, and a little hazy, barely restraining a giddy giggle at this woman she loved so much, speaking so highly of her.

"I commission you, Pthala," Blake intoned, "That my small heart may be big enough for them. That our bond may stay, forged as our blades, and never sundered. By anger or by illness, by conspiracy or strife."

"Let us be strong in the Light, and gentle in the Dark."

She tugged their hands up, and Ruby and Weiss repeated her words.

"Let us be strong in the Light, and gentle in the Dark."

"Let us be vulnerable to one another, and yet never cause a wound."

"Let us be vulnerable to one another, and yet never cause a wound."

"Let us be together, and partake of one another in conviviality and serenity, in comfort and in pleasure."

"Let us be together, and partake of one another in conviviality and serenity, in comfort and in pleasure." Ruby blushed as her mind caught up to the last part; she did her best not to stammer through the final syllable. Her heart was thrumming, and she couldn't quite say why.

Her eyes were wide, or shut, or neither. The world had grown hazy, and it felt like her hand in Blake's was the only point of reality left to her.

And then, Blake took her hand away.

An ache of loss lanced momentarily through Ruby's chest as she watched Blake reach out and carefully lift a small ceramic cup from the altar, identical to the one in Pthala's hand. The liquid inside sparkled faintly gold, and smelled of something sweet and sharp.

Blake offered it to Weiss.

Weiss only took a moment's pause, before nodding resolutely and taking the offered drink. She lifted it to her lips for a moment, perfectly poised and still as a painting. Then, she lowered it and returned it to Blake, who lifted it calmly to her own.

Finally, with a slight tremble of hesitation, Blake offered it to Ruby.

The stoneware was cool in her unsteady fingers. Ruby found herself staring at the liquid—the alcohol— and one last conflict raged behind her eyes.

Her uncle burned a hole into her mind. The way he'd slam back half a bottle of bourbon on a bad night and dissolve into incoherence before passing out on the couch. The way he'd argue with her father whenever Tai tried to get him to stop, louder and louder, reverberating through the floorboards of their too-big house.

But, the anxiety waned. There wasn't a real comparison here. Qrow drank to hide from the world. This… Ruby wouldn't let it be the same. This was something sacred . Not to hide, but to be seen, by something greater than themselves.

Her hands were steady, as she lifted the cup to her lips. The liquid was sickly sweet on her tongue, burning like mouthwash, but she didn't flinch as she let it flow down her throat. And as it did, a fire spread through her, warming her guts and flowing out to the very fringes of her body.

She took her lips away, breathless, realizing with a start that she'd drunk more of it than she meant to. Gently, she handed it back to Blake, who lifted it to her lips again, taking one more sip before passing it back to Weiss.

A blush heated Ruby's cheeks as the meaning sank in.

"The ritual is a symbolic kiss," Blake had said. "In drinking from the cup we pass a tiny fraction of our souls into it, and take in what's already there. As such, we become parts of one another, fundamentally linked."

It felt like a silly thing to get worked up over—Ruby'd kissed both of them on the mouth like five minutes ago!—but somehow her heart just wouldn't stop pounding as Weiss took her own last sip, her cheeks red and her eyes closed.

Blake nodded as she took the cup. She glanced Ruby's way, hesitation in her eyes.

"The symbolism only requires that we each drink after the others' lips have touched the cup, but it's traditional for each partner to take two sips, to symbolize equality in the relationship. You certainly don't have to though, please don't if it would make you uncomfortable."

Ruby shifted, bumping Blake's shoulder. Blake looked, and Ruby gave a small nod.

Blake's eyes widened in surprise and worry, but she passed the cup back again, letting Ruby take it in her small fingers.

This time, Ruby drank without hesitation. She almost imagined she could taste them both, some purified essence in the drink, mixing with the sweet burn of the wine and the scent of the candles in the air. She drew it all into herself, past her aura, past all her defenses, down into her deepest core, letting it become a part of her, fixed in her soul forevermore.

She grinned as she lowered the cup from her lips. She hadn't finished the wine—she knew she wasn't supposed to, for what came next—but it was pretty close, and she found herself fully okay with that. The fire in her guts was setting her ablaze. The candles seemed brighter.

Blake's smile was just as bright as she took the wine back, offering it to the statue. She set the cup down in its place again, then gently took one of the candles and tipped it towards the surface. The alcohol caught, a wash of mesmerizing blue flame covering the surface.

She spoke once more, taking her girlfriends' hands and lifting them towards the ceiling. "Let us love one another as you love us all."

"Let us love one another as you love all of us."

Blake bowed her head low. Ruby and Weiss did the same.

Their hands parted, and Ruby mourned the loss of contact, but then came a new point of blazing touch, clever fingers grazing her chin, lifting her into a kiss that felt like starlight and dew.

She kissed back, desperately warm, ready to lose herself to it, but her partner had more discipline than that, and Blake pulled away after far too short a time, leaving Ruby feeling suddenly alive and weightless, adrift in a nameless space.

She watched in awe as Blake turned and did the same to Weiss, tracing the way Weiss hungrily met her, taut and flushed. Again, Blake held herself firm, not stealing a second more with Weiss than she had with Ruby.

And then they broke apart, and Blake quietly shifted back out of their way.

Ruby and Weiss didn't need any more prompting than that. They moved to each other, and their lips met, and if Pthala or Blake minded that they didn't have the same self-control, neither showed it.

Blake pressed into them, her arms around them, and eventually they all broke to simply embrace each other, tangling themselves and breathing in each other's scents, reveling in their sheer mutual presence.

A strangely long amount of time seemed to pass that way. Ruby wasn't sure if it was the buzz of the alcohol or the flicker of the candles or the presence, just out of reach, of something beyond them all, but she felt warm . Profoundly warm. Like all other previous warmth had been a shadow of this, the real thing.

At last, though, Blake pulled them apart, and all of them sat in a breathless silence.

"So is our humble plea," Blake said, her voice throaty and soft. "And thanks for your attention."

There was a long pause, before Blake rose. After a moment, her girlfriends did as well.

"Wow…" Ruby breathed, a slow grin splitting her face. She was dizzy, but her head was clear, in a way she wasn't sure she'd ever experienced before . "That… was awesome."

Weiss and Blake both looked at her with clear surprise, but both broke into wide smiles a moment later. "Thank you," Blake said, taking their hands in hers again. "It was alright? You're both okay?"

"Better than okay," Weiss murmured, staring deep into Blake's eyes. "I think I love you very much, do you know that?"

"I think I'm starting to get an idea." Blake's smile softened. "Thank you for doing this with me. I'm sorry it was so stressful at first, I should have explained things better in the first place."

"Thank you for bringing us!" Ruby hugged her tight. "This was beautiful, and I'm really glad we did it." She pressed a kiss to Blake's temple, sighing happily into her hair. "So, we're basically married now, right?"

Blake snorted out a startled laugh. "What? No, of course not!"

Weiss giggled, which was a thing she really should do more of. "If this is what it's like to start dating, I can't imagine what our wedding will be like."

Blake's jaw dropped, mouthing the words "will be" in utter shock. Ruby laughed, hugging them close, flurries of butterflies in her stomach. That same silly image hit her again: her and Weiss in dresses, Blake in that suit. Maybe Yang reading off their vows before she and Ruby traded places. It was still kinda scary, but it was exciting too.

"Thaaaat's probably a thing for Future Team RWBY to worry about," Blake said, finally regaining something resembling her composure. "For now, we should go, though. There may be others waiting to use the shrine."

They left together, but as she shuffled her socks and shoes back onto her feet, Ruby found herself shooting one final glance at the statue on the altar.

Pthala's mouth was upturned, in a slight, gentle smile. Ruby wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed it before.

"Thank you," Ruby whispered, her eyes sparkling as she followed her girlfriends out through the curtains and back into the rest of the world.

A/N (again): Hooooahhhhh

This is maybe where I lose a lot of readers and I'm at peace with that. It's probably one of the most intense chapters I've written for this fic, and almost certainly the one that stressed me out most to finish up, but I really wanted to do something different, and I think I pulled it off. Mostly.

Anyway, reviews are always welcome! And thanks to FriendofYggdrasil, SeventeenFables, and Sgt. Chrysalis for all giving me extremely different and useful beta reads. In particular, I'd like to credit Friend for inspiring a lot of the worldbuilding in this chapter, and this whole fic in general, with their phenomenal work I Will Not Scatter (seriously go read it if you like my stuff, it's AMAZING), and Chrysalis for catching what may be the single biggest fuckup I've ever almost published. You guys really saved my ass this chapter, and I can't say how much I appreciate it.

And as always, thanks to you for reading!

EDIT: Changed a couple details for motif consistency. Pthala's colors are now blue/green, and "Kuz" and "Isur" are now "Rilg" and "Cinur."