A/N Here we go again, battle... not a lot but it gets me where I need to get.
Esdeath watched with genuine happiness as Ruby dodged every attack thrown at her, With each attack thrown by Cardin she would chip away lightly at his Aura, Ruby was preforming just as Esdeath would have, Cardin swung horizontally at Ruby who ducked under the attack causing Esdeath to gasp in cover her heart wasn't the dodge what made Esdeaths' heart skip was the quiet chuckling she heard from the girl, clearly Cardin heard it too as he quickly dived away from her slightly spooked by the act, but thanks to the length of her blade Ruby still caught him completely exposed as the blade tore his Aura and sent him sprawled, Ruby didn't try to hide her laughter this time as she stood tall and watched Cardin struggle to try and get up
"Whats wrong? I thought you'd be challenging." Ruby taunted her eyes burning with playful delight as he forced himself to stand and drew a knife into his left hand, Ruby grinned at that and taunted again "Are you sure you can use that thing? 'Cause from what I can see you can barely use a sword." he rushed her again and attacked, she began to laugh again as she easy batted away his attacks without moving from the spot she was standing
(o)
Blake looked over to Yang who had a very concerned look on her face
"Does she act like that a lot? Or does she only act like that to people she doesn't like?" Blake asked looking back to Ruby who quickly disarmed Cardin and slammed her fist into his face breaking his aura and sending him flying into the wall
"No, shes never taunted anyone, and she shouldn't even be able to do that, I can barely send someone into a wall even if I have my semblance activated." Yang responded fearful of her sister
(o)
Ruby stood in front of Cardin staring him dead in the eyes as she raised the blade again to attack, but after a few seconds she began to hear the voice again but this time it was extremely loud, BREAK- It kept growing COMMIT- louder, she REND- cou-STEAL barely thin-KILL, SEVER, ERASE, PERISH, DEGRADE, HARMKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARMKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARMKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARMBREAKCOMMITRENDSTEALKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARMBREAKCOMMITRENDSTEALKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARMBREAKCOMMITRENDSTEALKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARMBREAKCOMMITRENDSTEALKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARMBREAKCOMMITRENDSTEALKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARMBREAKCOMMITRENDSTEALKILLSEVERERASEPERISHDEGRADEHARM
(o)
Ruby fell to her knees and dropped the blade and began to scream holding the sides of her head, she started to cry uncontrollably as she shook back and forth, and began to hit the sides of her head as she screamed
"STOP! STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" Ruby cried out as she held her eyes shut trying to keep what little sanity she thought she still had, Esdeath dropped into the arena and walked over to Ruby as Yang, Blake, and Weiss ran up near her
Esdeath kneeled next to Ruby pulled her into a hug and whispered "You are stronger than than that voice, prove to me that you are... please..." Ruby continued to scream though it was closer to sobbing now as she clung to Esdeath, Yang was rubbing Rubys back trying to comfort her sister, Esdeath then spoke again "Show it that you wont be the puppet but the puppeteer, show it that you're in control, and show it that you are the master of your fate, not it." Ruby's crying slowly started to die down until it was just quiet sobs, slowly ruby opened her eyes and looked around seeing Esdeath holding her, Yang, Weiss, and Blake, all standing around them
"What did I do?" Ruby asked shakily tears still in her eyes as she clung even tighter to Esdeath
"What do you mean?" Yang asked looking very concerned as Ruby lied her head on Esdeaths chest and closed her eyes
"It seems that she had a bit of a hard time getting it under control, but unlike those before her who tried she is still sane." Esdeath commented as she picked her up "Yang, grab Cardin we're taking them to the infirmary." Esdeath ordered "Then I'll answer your questions on this event."
Yang had a skeptical look on her face but nodded and pulled Cardin from the wall and hoisted him over her shoulder "Thanks in advanced then."
"Weiss, Blake, you two are in charge in our absence... have fun with that." Esdeath ordered as she and Yang exited the room
(o)
Yang and Esdeath sat watching Ruby sleep, Esdeath was petting Ruby while Yang was watching Ruby's face for any movement, Esdeath sighed and placed her hand on Rubys'.
"So I'd bet you're wondering why Ruby became so powerful in an instant." Esdeath asked as she watched Ruby sleep
"I'm more concerned about why she started laughing like a maniac then started screaming." Yang snarked as she turned her attention to Esdeath
"As I told Ruby my semblance restores a persons stamina, but that's not all it does... the name I have for it is 'Former Glory' but everyone else has taken to calling it 'Glory'." Esdeath explained causing Yang confusion
"What does that even mean?" Yang asked trying to figure out what that meant but all she could do was get a general idea
"Thanks to my death I wasn't allowed to keep my body, I was reincarnated. I grew up in Atlas, with a mother and father who tried to get me to want for nothing, they wanted me to be lazy and spoiled like the rest of the Atlas elite, so I spent my childhood weak, then spent my teenage years in Atlas academy. Unlike my original childhood of living alone in the unforgiving wilds of the Empire." Esdeath explained as she turned her attention back to Ruby
"So what does that have to do with any of this?" Yang asked as she stared blankly at Esdeath who sighed
"My semblance boosts my body to the strength I had before the final battle in the capital, when I use it, I get my strength back. When I use it on others they get that same strength, but they also get my psyche." Esdeath replied as she continued to watch over Ruby
"Then what is wrong with you?" Yang asked after a few minutes of quiet, Esdeath looked to her like she was an idiot
"Nothing." Esdeath answered like it was obvious then continued in a far more serious tone "Everyone who had Former Glory activated on them also get the effects of my blood which was mixed with Demon's Extract, that is what you saw."
"So you used Ruby like a guinea pig?" Yang asked her eyes turning red and her hair sparking
"No, she survived both mentally and physically, it proves empirically that she is truly my love. The one who I share my soul with." Esdeath explained as though it were simple
"'Share your soul with.'?" Yang quoted glaring at the Esdeath who looked at her and smiled
"Yes, when my semblance activates its sharing everything I am with another, not just skill or strength, but mind and heart, the only differences that truly occurs, is personality, thoughts, intent... but all of which are linked between the two of us, our souls are one and the same. Well that and this." Esdeath explained before closing her eyes and her Aura began to to shimmer brightly like waves of water in shades of red and blue but primarily blue with a few quick glints of purple, Ruby began to do the same but primarily red, Esdeath then spoke again "We are one in the same, more or less. One of us can now take two hits from Murasame before it becomes fatal."
Yang jaw dropped "So you are just using her! You bitch!" Yangs eyes turned red and she lunged at Esdeath who disappeared into a cloud of blue Rose petals and reappeared behind Yang and placed a blade on her neck
Esdeaths smile widened as she whispered in Yangs ear "Ah... this semblance is useful... but to correct you; no I'm not using Ruby, I gave her my power too, Demon's Extract is hers to use as she sees fit, and given enough practice and effort she can become just as proficient as I am with it. I am hers heart and soul, and she is mine heart and soul. As I said 'we are one and the same.'"
(o)
hours had passed since Blake and Weiss saw Ruby or Yang and they were beginning to get concerned given the current company of the two
"Weiss, I'm going to the city to try and find Akame." Blake said after a few minutes of quiet reading
"Why the city? I'd assume the Emerald Forest would be the first place to search." Weiss asked looking from her classwork "Besides the city is filled with solders it seems way too dangerous for her to be there, considering their all on lookout for her."
"That's why shes probably there, don't worry if I find her I'll tell you." Blake replied as she opened the door
"Alright, while you do that I'll search her room and try and find any information on where she's hiding out... just one thing I want to know first, do we find her ourselves... or do we... follow orders?" Weiss spoke clearly her feelings towards siding with Atlas were weaker in comparison to her team
"We'll discuss it as a team later, so for now if you find anything keep it away from me and I'll do the same, that seems like a better idea." Blake said after a few minutes of debate then exited the room leaving Weiss to her work and mission
(o)
After a few minutes of class work Weiss entered Akames' room and looked around, nothing was changed other than the large stack of notebooks on the desk, walking over to them Weiss opened the first one and began to read
{Team RWBY consists of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long. Ruby Rose, has a hard time keeping up in CQC her combat focuses mainly on using her weapon for mobility best elimination technique is using her speed to decapitate her foe but uses it only on Grimm which limits her abilities in human combat, if she should become an enemy an enclosed space would be the best way to eliminate her with little to no difficulty.} Weiss started at the page in disbelief she couldn't tell if Akame did this out of habit or as a precautionary measure both of which made her scared if this was truly how Akames' mind worked, regardless she continued reading
{Yang Xiao-Long, hotheaded and strong, easily put off balance if the right words are said, strong in close range but falls short against opponents that kick and has no follow ups to her own, the best way to eliminate her would to attack her with kicks and when she attempts to do the same use her openings to eliminate. Blake Belladonna, calm and collected, her skill and seasoned nature in combat would make her formidable but her will is weak, all I need to do is release my killing intent at its fullest and that should earn me a window to end her. Weiss Schnee, easy to anger and even easier to off balance, she is simple to defeat as well, the only issue would be her semblance but that's only if she can get it off.} Weiss couldn't understand why Akame would keep such a book, it was full of similar information on others she had interacted with such as Ozpin, Glynda, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, and Cardin, there were entries on others but to a lesser extents all including the best ways to defeat them or in Akames' case different was to kill
(o)
Ruby slowly opened her eyes and reached for her neck and felting nothing choking her
"Don't worry its gone." Esdeaths voice came from her left, looking over she saw Esdeath herself sitting next to and watching her
"What... what did I do?" Ruby asked her voice shaking in fear as her memories returned
"You didn't kill Cardin, but you now have shown off that you have a will as strong as my own. I'll explain everything that I told Yang..." Esdeath answered, she then spent her time telling and teaching Ruby everything about her semblance and her perspective on what happened in combat class
(o)
Blake walked from the docks, to the industrially district, to the slums, to the warehouses, to the rich district, to the trash heaps, and finally to the commercial district, she couldn't find any trace of Akame, no one had seen her but she had seen Atlas solders walking around posting wanted posters for her all over the place too, to the point that it began to make her fear that Akame would never be able to live a normal life around here, Blake entered the library, sat down at a table and slammed her head into it
"Where could she possibly be..." Blake asked herself as she stared at nothing "I know I'm not over thinking this... she has to be here... but where?"
after a few moments of thought a gruff voice came from behind her "I'm sure she's fine, you're lookin' in all the right places but you doin' one wrong thing. So next time you go lookin' think 'bout travelin' lighter." quickly turning around Blake saw a man in black slacks, a white button up, and a tattered red cape, his hair was graying and he had slight stubble on his jawline, his eyes were a faded red color
"Who are-" Blake began but her mouth was covered by his hand
"None of those, I'm just here to tell ya not to worry... and to not be so easy to follow... by either of us." the man explained as he reached into her pocket and pulled our her scroll and lied it on the table then gestured for her to follow him, they walked into a back corner of the room
the man looked around real quick then leaned in and whispered "A huge battle is coming, make sure you're all prepared for whats to come, regardless of which side you choose to fight on, ours or hers... just make sure you make the right choice, for you and your friends."
"Who are you?" Blake asked him he sighed
"I told you none of that, now then they should be stormin' into this place lookin' for me any minute now so I'll make myself scares. Remember what I told you, look out for yourself first then others, cause when what goes down, goes down... there will be no taking it back, so think hard on this one." the man explained before he began walking away down a random aisle, Blake quickly chased after him but he wasn't there, walking out of the aisle she looked around and she was alone
"Blake?" a woman's voice came from behind her, turning around she saw a woman a little shorter than Ruby with paper white skin, short black hair, and wearing a blindfold
"Yes... um do I know you?" Blake asked placing her hand on Gambol Shroud
"Oh yeah... we didn't get a chance to meet. I'm Oberst William Faiaburando, its nice to meet you, Yang only had good things to say about you. But I have to say I didn't expect you to be a faunus... I like that." William commented as she looked Blake up and down
"Um... thank you?... ma'am!" Blake slowly processed before snapping into a salute
"Don't worry 'bout that out here, out here were strangers... but I will say I think you're cute too." William waved off before her voice became one of suspicion "But tell me one thing, we got a report that a wanted criminal was around here, do you know anything about that?"
"No... not that I know of." Blake replied as William reached up and pulled down her blindfold
"Are you sure?" William asked again as Blake looked into her eyes
(o)
Ruby and Esdeath walked down the dorm room hallway, Ruby spent this time to tell Esdeath about her team and JNPR as well as her school schedule and her weapon which intrigued Esdeath she wasn't used to naming things, even her pets that were actual animals she didn't name
"So what is the purpose of naming your weapon? Does it increase your proficiency with it?" Esdeath asked as they walked down the hallway towards RWBY's dorm
"No, but it builds a connection between you and your weapon, it kinda makes it apart of you. My Scythe is named Crescent Rose, Uncle Qrows' is called Harbinger, Blakes' sword is called Gambol Shroud, Weiss' is called Myrtenaster, Yangs is called Ember Celica, and so forth." Ruby explained happily as she pulled Crescent Rose off her belt and lightly pet it "Its kind of an obsession of mine."
"Hmm... but what purpose does it serve?" Esdeath asked again as they walked
"Well... I guess I don't really know, Uncle Qrow can explain it better than I can... but I guess you two aren't on speaking terms." Ruby surrendered as they stopped in front of her dorm
"Considering the last time we saw each other he and his sister were cutting me to pieces, no we're not on speaking terms... yet." Esdeath replied coldly with a sadistic grin, strangely enough Ruby was slightly interested by the look on her face, usually she would be disgusted and look at anything else but right now it was all she could think of
after a few seconds Ruby shook her head and quickly spoke slowly growing more and more confused "Well! Here we are! My dor- Our dorm... my dorm? Their not here so I guess its my dorm... how did I know they aren't here? Did you know their not here?"
"Yes, that's what you got from me, but I also knew there's a single person next door. Who's dorm is that?" Esdeath spoke pointing to Akames' dorm
"That's... no ones room... no one at all... nothing to worry about." Ruby tried to cover up stepping in front of Esdeaths view but had to stand on her toes to try and get in front of her view
"Well then, if it no ones room than we should make sure no foul play is going down in there. Right?" Esdeath shot down as she stepped forward and pushed Ruby out of her way and grabbed the door handle
"I mean your instincts could be wrong! Right?" Ruby tried again as she grabbed the handle too
"possibly, but I doubt it." Esdeath shot down again and pushed the door open knocking Ruby over in the process. Entering the room Esdeath looked around and saw no one but there was a notebook lying on the ground and many more on the desk wide open
Ruby opened her eyes and saw Weiss hanging from the ceiling her hands and feet frozen to it, they locked eyes Weiss lifted a single finger to her mouth and Ruby nodded lightly
"See... no one is here!" Ruby said as she stood and looked to Esdeath who slowly nodded
"Weiss you can come down from the ceiling." Esdeath ordered as she picked up the notebook, she didn't even look up "I can smell your perfume, the ice, and your fear. So get down here, now." Weiss and Ruby stared at Esdeath both with shocked expressions on their faces Esdeath looked to Ruby then spoke "What's so shocking? You knew that I could sense someone was in here, just because Weiss hid on the ceiling doesn't mean that would change." Esdeath explained as Weiss fell from the ceiling landing on her feet "So tell me who's room is this?" Esdeath asked her voice commanding Weiss to speak
"Its Akames' room, I was just... searching for clues on her whereabouts." Weiss explained quickly just as Ruby was about to signal for her to not
"Oh is it! How interesting." Esdeath snarked as she glared at Ruby who shrank away from her
"Ruby isn't at fault here! Don't-" Weiss began to defend but found it hard to speak thanks to ice freezing her mouth shut
"She lied to me, there's no excuses you can come up with to change that, she'll be punished accordingly." Esdeath growled causing both Weiss and Ruby to coward from her "Ruby you will be handling all my paperwork as well for the next three days, you chose to lie to me like Qrow so you'll get punished like Qrow."
Ruby didn't know how to react but she knew she was probably going to cry a lot later, she couldn't figure out how Esdeath could be so cruel
(o)
Yang had taken to wandering around Beacon trying to make sense of her life, it was normal up until Akame had entered it now nothing made sense anymore; good, evil, right, wrong, none of it has any meaning anymore now everything was how strong or how smart you were just because you're good doesn't mean you're right, and just because you're right doesn't mean you're good, its completely pointless to tag people as good or evil now, Yangs' thoughts were interrupted when she bumped into someone
"Oh sorry..." Yang apologized as she looked at the person she bumped identifying them as Winter
"Its alright, I was actually looking for you, we need to talk." Winter waved off as she brushed off her shoulder "Besides I had something on my mind too."
(o)
Yang and Winter entered the city quietly mainly due to the fact that they held nothing in common so they had nothing to talk about, Winter guided Yang to a small restaurant
"I don't really know what kinds of food you like so I suppose this place will do." Winter said as she pulled the door open
"I'm not picky, 'sides this place is pretty pricey so I'd expect it to be good. Most people who come here say its really high quality." Yang waved off as she entered the small restaurant
"This is quality?" Winter quietly asked herself as they entered
"Yeah, sure its not fancy or super expensive but it has heart, and that's what makes it good." Yang explained after she gestured for Winter to follow her
"You heard that!?" Winter asked surprised that Yang could hear her over the noise of the restaurant
"Yeah, Akame taught us how to have selective hearing out there, she was really big on getting us prepared for almost anything. Even me and I hated her." Yang explained regret cropping up in her voice
"You... hated her?" Winter asked surprise in her own
"We stopped the robbery on the docks..." Yang began to explain her voice was heavier than normal and she looked distracted as she quieted down
"You... you... you what?" Winter asked pure shock and horror on her face
"We stopped the robbery at the docks, and Akame killed a few people that kinda set me off." Yang repeated as she opened one of the menus she grabbed when they entered
"The attack on the SDC shipments that came in roughly eight hours earlier?" Winter asked her tone unchanged from before
"Yeah, what's the big deal? We didn't see anything on the news about it so we figured it was ignored." Yang asked clearly confused by Winters fear
"There were no survivors, all the bodies had shallow cuts except two one had a stab wound and the others throat was cut... that was you all?" Winter explained causing Yangs jaw to drop
"What?... We didn't kill anyone... Akame..." Yang defended as she slowly pieced together what happened, her own eyes widening in fear "How many? How many died?"
"thirty-nine." Winter answered quietly causing Yang to lean back in her seat a horrified look on her face
"That... bitch... she..." Yang growled as she clenched fists, her eyes turned red and her hair caught fire
"Yang calm down, we came here to talk about a completely different issue." Winter calmed as she placed her hand on Yangs' fist causing her to calm a bit
"Hi, I'm Wit Adder, I'll be your server today. I'm guessing you two are huntsman? Or are you solders." a young girl said she had short white hair with a short braid, pale skin, purple eyes, and was rather buff look but she had a beautiful and gentle smile that Yang couldn't look away from
"I'm a huntsmen-in-training, she's a solder. You guessed it at a glance do many come in here?" Yang asked as she smiled back at her
"Nah, but we did have a pair come in her about three weeks ago. They were strange, so they kinda made an impression." Wit waved off as she ran her hand through her hair
"Really? How so?" Winter asked also seeming entranced by Wit
"a man and a woman. I think they were related, both had red eyes and black hair and had meat for breakfast... and the man had a cape that looked like it went through hell and back." Wit explained as she stared off into the distance for a few seconds before mumbling again "They seemed... familiar..."
"I believe Yang might know who you're talking about. Right Yang?" Winter said as she looked to her
"Yeah... their dangerous... watch yourself." Yang growled her eye twitching a few times
"Ha! I think you're in that same boat." Wit laughed out causing both Yang and Winter surprise "A hot head like you seems like you're also in the dangerous boat... probably burning it." Wit joked as Yang blinked in surprise "Alrighty I'll go get your drinks now... after... I get the orders from you..." Wit slowly said turning back to them looking rather embarrassed
"Oh! I'll have water." Winter ordered feeling that they should have already done this
"I'll have a glass of milk... so I can grow big and strong." Yang sarcastically ordered after Winter gestured for her to speak
"Alrighty then." Wit said as she writ down the orders "I'll be right back." Wit then walked away leaving them alone
Winter watched her leave quietly then turned her attention to yang again "Now then lets get back to what I wanted to talk to you about... chiefly your Oberst..."
A/N I am leaving on so many cliffhangers I really hated that when I was a reader but now that I've begun writing each time I do leave a cliffhanger I know its cause I have no idea what the hell I wanna do next so I just gate it off so I have almost two weeks to figure something out, just a little insider information for ya... as frustrating as that information is. I should mention I have been intentionally avoiding giving out too much information on Akame and Qrows' movements and Qrows' words do still stand 'when what goes down, goes down... there will be no taking it back' things are going to take a turn from cannon... and all of this was on accident... so you know I kinda need to buy the time.