A/N Its here, its here, its finally here. Sorry if all the fighting is a bit hard to follow or janky, if you haven't notice its been a while since I've been able to write a chapter of almost entirely combat and this time around I don't have any guidelines to follow, which isn't a jab... it was actually a very helpful... thing? Anyways anyone who read this I hope you enjoy, anyone who didn't read this I am indifferent towards your feelings of enjoyment.
Three days have passed, Weiss had begun to distance herself from the rest of the team she has also begun to arm herself with a diverse set of tools and had begun to visit Ozpin in her free time. Ruby was growing concerned with Esdeath she seemed to be losing it, she was disheveled and tired looking, she seemed to have snapped from pressure or something, at first it was little things, she jumped from random noises and seemed to constantly be watching shadows, Ruby had yet to talk to her about it but now she looked like she was going to drop dead on the spot, even in combat class she wouldn't pay any attention to the students or call off all matches when they needed to be called, Ruby decided to talk with her after class that day, she sat and watched as a new transfer student Mercury fought Ren, it was extremely close with Mercury taking long pauses to study Ren but Ruby didn't care to her it was like watching two children fight, what mattered to her was Esdeath who was right now reading something off her scroll and looking absolutely furious
a few moments later the bell rung and Esdeath growled "Black wins the match, now all of you leave." Esdeath ordered as a small amount of her killing intent began burn causing all the students to quickly vacate the room in fear, save for Mercury's team who wait for him before following the lead of the rest of the class and running a fast a they could leaving Ruby and Esdeath alone
"Esdeath?" Ruby asked walking up to the desk, Esdeath didn't look up from her scroll
"What is it?" she asked the killing intent and anger completely vanishing
"I wanted to ask you how you're doing, because right now you look like crap." Ruby answered placing her hands on Esdeaths' desk
"I'm sorry, I just..." Esdeath began shakily before starting again much slower "I talked with Qrow a few days ago, and he said 'see you in three days' now that time has passed and now is the day they come for me... and I'm scared. Ha imagine that me scared." Esdeath laughed out, she was completely on edge and horrified, Ruby blinked a few times in surprise she never once though Esdeath could be scared of anyone but here she was scared to the point where she hasn't even slept the past few days
"You wont be ready to fight if you're so tired you cant walk straight, come on." Ruby ordered grabbing Esdeaths hand and pulling her to her feet, the older woman followed her
(o)
Weiss sighed and slammed her fist into the lunch table cracking it causing Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha to jump in surprise
"Ruby is going to be the death of me! How the hell can she-" Weiss began to rant but her mouth was quickly covered by Blake
"You don't have to get all up in arms about it, what'll happen will happen, all we can do is prepare... well all you can do." Yang commented as Weiss continued to rant into Blakes hand trying to shout at them
"Soooo... you guys going to the assembly today?" Jaune asked watching in fear as Weiss screamed in muffled rage
"Me and Blake are, I don't think Ruby or Weiss will though." Yang answered as she rapped her arm around Weiss's neck
"But its mandatory for all students." Ren said raising an eyebrow at them
"Yeah... but they got other things that need doing, Esdeath called a meeting with them so... you know." Yang lied causing all of team JNPR to quickly drop the subject in favor for talking about the dance tomorrow
(o)
Ruby entered her room slowly dragging Esdeath behind her, after shutting the door she jumped up to her bed and pulled Esdeath up with her then forced Esdeath to lie down
"Now get some sleep, I'll stay here and make sure no sneak attacks come your way." Ruby reassured as she pulled her blanket over Esdeath
"Thank you, Ruby." Esdeath muttered as she quickly fell asleep and pulled the blanket over her head, Ruby sighed and slid off the bed, landing quietly she tip toed over to her desk and began to work on summoning ice weapons like Esdeath had taught her she had grown a lot better at it over the course of the past few days, she can create swords but they aren't as good as the ones Esdeath can create and they take quite a bit of effort to create
(o)
Weiss, Blake, and Yang left the cafeteria and sat down on a bench nearby the cafeteria, they were all quiet mainly because they knew that the time they had now was most likely their last, it didn't stop them from hopped that it was going to end with none of them dead
"Are you two sure this is what you want? Wouldn't you rather to be there with us?" Weiss asked as she tightened the laces on her boots
"Believe me I want to be with you two, I'm just saving you from a knife in the back." Yang said her voice laced with fear and doubt
"I'm doing the same, I wish we could stand with you but with our current state we have no idea if she could just show up and turn the tide in Esdeaths' favor, this is the best path to victory." Blake added as Weiss stood up and turned to them
"Thanks for doing this, I cant imagine how painful this is for you two." Weiss thanked as she checked over all her new equipment that was hidden across her outfit
"We'll be prayin' for ya." Yang said with a large smile on her face as she and Blake began towards the assembly hall
"I doubt any god would leave this up to us." Weiss muttered to herself
"Yeah, I'd rather you all not get mixed up in this." Weiss quickly turned around and saw Qrow
"Qrow?" Weiss asked blinking in surprise at him
Qrow looked to his left then right seeing no one but him "Yeah, who else could I be? Jeez, I thought you had some brains." Qrow snarked with a grin
"Where's Akame? Is she here? How did you get here?" Weiss began to ask all sorts of questions but stopped when Qrow raised his hand
"Come on, this way." Qrow then began to walk away Weiss quickly joined him "Oz told us that you'd be the only one joining us... I was actually hoping all of you would have gone to the assembly... but now I cant guarantee your safety, there is a high probability that you will die, you ready for that?"
Weiss nodded she had already prepared for such a risk "Yes, I'm ready."
Qrow scoffed at that as he stalked towards the forest nearby "Words are cheap, anyone can say their ready to die, not everyone can truly sacrifice everything and prove it."
(o)
Entering the forest Weiss was surprised to be met with Glynda, Raven, and Akame all of them were looking over their own gear, Akame had two blades on her but both looked like Murasame
"Akame!" Weiss happily said and hugged the younger of the two who immediately returned the hug then looked to her belt "When did you get two Murasame?"
"I got it back yesterday, thanks to Raven skill at stealth and Qrow getting the information from Esdeath and Ruby. To answer your actual question, one is Muranohi, we just redesigned it so it looks identical to Murasame. It's good to see you Weiss." Akame happily said her voice shaking a bit before dropping into her normal calm and monotone nature "I assume you already know our situation." Weiss nodded Akame continued speaking after the confirmation "Right, we don't know who she'll have with her, but we do know shes currently with Ruby in your dorm, if her semblance functions like how Ozpin said it did then Ruby or Esdeath could have Demons' Extract, lets just hope its Ruby."
"Yeah I wouldn't wanna deal with that again, two near death experiences are all I can really stand for one life time." Qrow commented as he began to look over Harbinger
"So we're stuck with a Schnee... great..." Raven snarked dryly as she tested the sharpness of Eclipse on the side of a tree
"Don't be rude Raven, Weiss is a very good student in combat class and has an extremely powerful Semblance. The better question is would you still be here of Yang came?" Glynda shot back, she seeming to be in a far better physical state then Ozpin had led everyone to believe but she still seemed a little slow
"Don't talk shit you cant back Goodbitch." Raven growled before she looked at Qrow then spoke "So who's gonna handle Rose?"
"What do you mean?" Weiss quickly asked that caused Raven to scoff
"You cant be that thick, Ruby Rose is going to be fighting us too, so get your wittle head out of the clowds and grow the fuck up." Raven said as though she was talking to a child
"Well clearly not you." Qrow snarked causing Raven to glare at him, he calmly explained his reasoning "You weren't Summer biggest fan and Ruby is just like her, I'd rather you not take it out on her."
Akame grabbed Qrows hand and gained his and Ravens' attention "I'll do it, Ruby wont want to fight me, it'll put her at a disadvantage and leave her open, one hit is all it takes for her Aura to give out and make her useless for the rest of the fight it'll take out one of their semblances too, then You, Raven, and I can gang up on Esdeath and hopefully kill her with few to no casualties."
"Fine." Raven agreed as she turned and grabbed her mask and put it on
"Just try to hit her as quickly as possible, I want to get this done quickly." Qrow agreed as he lightly squeezed her hand then slipped Harbinger back onto his belt
"I can work with that, just try to stay in range, I cant help you all if I cant see you. So you'll be on your own Akame." Glynda offered while she looked over a few different dust crystals she had, Akame nodded in understanding
"I'll try and make myself useful, I should mention that I can't summon yet, but I have done a few experiments with time dilation." Weiss offered meekly Akame placed her hand on Weiss's shoulder
"Don't worry about keeping up, just worry about helping when you can and staying alive." Akame reassured then after a few moments she spoke again her tone emotionless "Remember, this is a fight for your life don't hold onto anything; honor, mercy, humanity, all of it is a weakness, one which I let control me in our last confrontation, things wont end the same way this time around."
(o)
Esdeath and Ruby exited the dorm building, it was a little over an hour of sleep for Esdeath but it seemed to do wonders for her, lunch had ended and the assembly had started by now, the real problem was why it feels like they were being watched, Esdeath had to feel it too, her hand was on her blade as they walked towards her Manta which was currently waiting on one of the landing pads the walk wasn't long; they had to walk around the CCT tower through the courtyard and to the landing pads, simplicity itself. But what made that difficult was that same nagging feeling of- a loud bang brought her from thought and she acted on instinct and made a large shield of ice which shattered but stopped the attack looking around she saw no one until a heel collided with the back of her head sending her flying away from Esdeath
"RUBY!" Esdeath shouted she quickly drew her sword and swung wildly at whoever had attacked her Ruby, the blade stopped in a block of ice, her eyes greeted a pair of red ones slightly concealed by a mask and all her confirmed fears came flooding back "Ruby get to the ship, put the army on high alert! Go!" Esdeath ordered and leapt away from another strike this time from Qrow
Ruby complied and ran off towards the landing pads, her heart was racing and her mind was barely able to keep up but she knew what she had to do, running as quickly as she could she wished she had her semblance right about now, but she was still fast, what concerned her was the fact that she wasn't followed, someone had to be lying in wait, Glynda, Akame, or Weiss, it had to be one of them they were the most likely people to be waiting for her. Reaching the Manta she quickly ran inside
"Contact the Warships tell them to go into high alert now!" Ruby ordered there was no response "Hey! Are you listening!?" Ruby shouted as she walked up to the pilot who was covered in a significant amount of blood, his throat was cut. Quickly turning around finally listening to her instincts and summoned two blades, and she realized that she was cornered, her eyes confirmed that Akame was standing at the only exited of the ship, Murasame in hand staring blankly at Ruby
"Akame! Why did you kill them?! They were innocent!" Ruby shouted in fear as she raised her blades into a defensive stance, Akame didn't respond she just raised Murasame and rushed forward
(o)
Qrow kicked out his leg sending Esdeath down, rolling out of the way she slashed at him, only for it to be blocked by Eclipse, Raven quickly activated the burn blade setting the blade on fire and swung upward at Esdeath who dived backwards avoiding the strike from the unstable blade then changed the direction of her roll avoiding spikes of ice from Weiss and ones of steel and stone from Glynda quickly she kicked backwards and burst into blue rose petals which quickly changed direction and engulfed Weiss then reformed into Esdeath who held her blade to Weiss's throat
"Back off!" Esdeath ordered none of them complied, Weiss deactivated her Aura spun Myrtenaster around and stabbed it through herself and Esdeath who pushed her away and dived back again now with far less Aura, Weiss fell to the ground unconscious
"Raven get her out of here! I got the Ice Queen, without the ice shes far more manageable." Qrow ordered as he rushed Esdeath who's eye twitched
"FINE THEN!" Esdeath shouted and her body flashed blue, instantly hundreds of spears of ice formed in the air behind her "Weissschnabel!" Esdeath shouted and thrust her hands forward sending the spears towards them, Qrow and Glynda quickly dived to protect Weiss, Raven opened a portal in front of Qrow and one in front of herself sending the spears towards Esdeath who easily dodged them and ended the assault
(o)
Ruby flashed Red signaling that their semblances had gone back to normal but the blades of ice were still in her hands they actually reformed and became far lighter and sharper too, Akame kept stopping her attacks and stalked around her just staring blankly at her, it was the most unnerving thing she could think of, the fear and anticipation for when the next strike will be, it was soul crushing but she had to fight, if Akame got away from her Esdeath was dead so she had to hold out for as long as possible
sprinting forward Ruby slashed at Akames' head, Akame ducked and swung at her ankles but Ruby blocked it with the other blade of ice even then Akame moved as though she saw it coming and fluently spun and kicked Ruby in the gut sending her back again, this time Akame pressed the advantage and continued her assault, Ruby moved without thinking and disarmed Akame who dived away after the blade left her hands, her eyes quickly darted to the blade as Ruby stepped in the way of her vision
"Give up Akame! I win!" Ruby ordered as she pointed her blades at her and grinned, Akame rushed forward ducked under a strike from Ruby, drew her other blade and slashed Rubys' leg lightly causing her Aura to shatter and surprised her enough from the fatigue to fall
"Its over, now stay here and let us finish what we came her to do." Akame finally spoke as she grabbed 'Murasame' from the ground and sheathed it
"Akame please, don't-" Ruby began but was cut off when Akame kicked her upside the head
Akame looked at Ruby for a few moments before turning around and walking towards the other battle zone
"Please..." Rubys voice came dazed causing Akame to stop in her tracks "Akame... please..."
"You will never understand the horrors that woman unleashed, but Qrow does and so do I, after shes dead we'll tell you everything she didn't." Akame reassured the grounded girl as she began to walk away again ignoring her rustling movements behind her
(o)
Qrow locked blades with Esdeath both were shaking and tired but neither let the other gain any ground, pushing back and forth until the ground beneath them began to crack from the pressure
"I wont die to you again!" Esdeath growled her voice shaking violently, Qrow didn't respond he just broke the blade lock and flipped backwards as he did so Esdeath crouched to the ground avoiding his kick and placed her hand on the ground "Grauhorn!" Qrow quickly moved Harbinger in front of him just barely blocking a large spear of ice from the ground that sent him away from her "I WONT DIE TO YOU AGAIN!" Esdeath shouted in rage as she felt her Aura shutter, her heart nearly stopped from that "Who... WHO WAS WAITING FOR HER YOU BASTARD!?" Esdeath shout again this time her rage was palpable
Qrow didn't answer he just rushed towards her to attack again, Esdeath calmly closed her eyes and placed her hands in front of her heart and took a deep breath "Mahapadma."
Qrows eyes widened as the word left her mouth but his fear left and was replaced by confusion after she vanished into thin air, quickly looking around neither he or Glynda knew where she was
"Come on, she's going after Akame!" Qrow called as he sprint off towards the landing pad
(o)
Akame blocked a strike from Crescent Rose then dived into the air and kicked her leg back catching Esdeaths blade, her fight suddenly got many times harder when Esdeath appeared out of nowhere
"You little bitch, how dare you." Esdeath growled looking Ruby over seeing a few cuts and bruises "Ruby we have to retreat." just as Esdeath finished her statement her Manta gained a purple glow and collapsed into itself before exploding, Qrow and Glynda had caught up to them
"You cant run anymore, so stop trying to." Qrow called out as Akame moved over and joined him and Glynda
"Uncle Qrow please, don't do this. You don't know her lik-" Ruby tired again but was cut off by Qrow
"Ruby, that 'woman' nearly killed me three times, and was a massive pain in the ass for my whole time in Night Raid, she is the cause of death of tens of thousands of people, nothing you do or say can possibly change that fact. Now move." Qrow reasoned his eye glued to Esdeath
"I know! But that doesn't mean she cant have a second chance!" Ruby defended stepping in front of Esdeath who was stunned that Ruby was defending her
"Alright, did you know that she enjoys torture? She gets her jollies from human suffering, shes no better than the Grimm, the creatures you're training to fight." Qrow shot back
"Give her a second chance and I know you'll see what I do, please its not something I can explain, please." Ruby pleaded taking another step forward
"Get out of the way Ruby." Qrow ordered as he finally looked at her, she didn't she just raised Crescent rose into a defensive position
"Ruby, move." Esdeath ordered as she raised her blade "I wont let you get hurt for me anymore." Ruby looked completely surprised by that statement but didn't move
"Qrow, I got Weiss to the infirmary." Raven said as she jogged up to them and drew Eclipse
"Weiss?" Ruby asked her heart dropping as she looking between Esdeath and Qrow
"She stabbed through herself to stab me, it was very brave of her, she didn't even hesitate." Esdeath answered quickly before Qrow could
"So are we not fighting or..." Raven asked looking to Qrow
"No Ruby just wont get out of the way." Qrow answered causing Raven to sigh
"I guess I'll just move her then." Raven commented and quickly dashed forward and shoulder bashed Ruby out of the way sending her sprawled, Esdeath reacted immediately and sliced at Ravens' head, Qrow jumped over her strike and sliced at Esdeaths head who ducked and rolled backwards avoiding both attacks then jumped back farther avoiding all three strikes from the Branwen's. Qrow, Raven, and Akame continued to pressure Esdeath into a corner as Glynda kept repairing damage done and sending debris at Esdeath who easily dodged it leaving few openings to be exploited
(o)
Ozpin kept the assembly going as long as he could but its been almost an hour and a half and all the students were now leaving, Ozpin had hoped that the fighting was done as he ran out the doors towards the CCT tower where Qrow said they would be fighting and alerted the teaching staff to not let anyone into the courtyard.
(o)
Esdeath threw Akame to the ground shattering her Aura, before she could follow up and kill her she was forced to block strikes from Qrow and Raven, quickly counterattacking both of them she broke their Aura too, unfortunately it left her completely open to attacks from them which shattered her Aura too, all three of them quickly moved apart panting heavily as they circled each other, Akame was struggled to get to her feet
"You wont kill me, I wont die." Esdeath growled again as she panted heavily
"You seem pretty hung up on that, but its a good thing your vote doesn't matter here." Qrow snarked as he held down Harbingers trigger transforming it into a scythe
"It seems that we're here again, you're all alone against us. Oh but this time it three on one, how sad, even here you have no support." Raven taunted as she drew her steel blade and pointed it at Esdeath who summoned a blade of ice in her off hand
"You... I wont let it end like this. Not again!" Esdeath growled trying to hide her fear of the two in front of her but failed
"QROW!" Ozpins' voice came as he rushed towards them slowing to a stop after he saw a very angry looking Esdeath and asked "What's happened?"
"We're working on it. Take Akame and Ruby to the infirmary." Qrow ordered as he readied to rush Esdeath, Ozpin nodded and ran over to Ruby who was struggling to stand
"Come on Ms. Rose, you'll be no help anymore." Ozpin said as he helped her to her feet
"I'm fine, please just stop them from killing her." Ruby begged trying something to get this madness to end peacefully
"I'm sorry Ms. Rose there's nothing we can do now, the only way that'll happen is if Esdeath finds some way to get this to end peacefully but I doubt that's possible for her to do." Ozpin said as he moved to help Akame up too
"I'm fine. Take Ruby and go, regardless of what you feel after you're gone." Akame ordered as she looked down at Murasame "I just hope we don't start losing this."
"No, go with them." Qrow ordered not taking his eyes off Esdeath
"Qrow you know what I-" Akame began to reason but it was cut off by Qrow
"I know what you can do, I just don't want to see you do that to yourself." Qrow said as he turned and looked her dead in the eyes
"You're not allow to die." Akame ordered back her voice shaking a little
"I wont." Qrow agreed, Akame then turned and joined Ozpin and Ruby
(o)
The fighting continued, most of the school staff was keeping the students from going to the courtyard and landing pads due to that reason, Atlas military airships and Manta were circling the air space above the courtyard watching the fight and trying to land
Qrow knocked Esdeaths blade from her hands spun around and swung Harbinger at her neck only for her to disarm him, not that it deterred the two from punching each other, Raven and Glynda had already moved away to ensure that none of the airships could land and get units out, leaving Qrow and Esdeath alone to fight, Qrow kicked at one of Esdeaths knees but it was bat away by her knocking him off balance causing him to fall, diving onto his back she rapped her arms around his neck and began to squeeze, Qrow quickly reached behind his head grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked towards him while swinging back his head, a loud crack echoed through his head and Esdeath let him go and stumbled backwards holding her nose with a growl, both stopped to catch their breath for a few moments
"Why can't you all just leave me alone?!" Esdeath asked as she held her nose shut trying to stop the bleeding
"You kidnapped my niece and forced her into Tatsumis' role." Qrow answered as he panted and rubbed his throat
"and she chose to stay with me. You don't get a choice anymore." Esdeath growled as she stood
"She's fifteen years old! You don't get to make those choices for her either!" Qrow growled back as he stood
both of them looked the other over. No advantages, no disadvantages, they were even right now, Qrow ran forward just as Esdeath summoned a dagger and slashed at his throat, sliding under the strike he knocked her down and quickly dived on top of her and stomped on her wrist and held down her other hand leaving one of his hands free quickly cocking his arm back he swung and began punching her over and over and over again until a gunshot tore him from his bloodlust and through his arm sending him off of Esdeath who took full advantage of said event and dived on top of him and began to attack him with her own assault of strikes until the same thing happened to her and a bullet tore through her shoulder sending her off of Qrow
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" A voice finally got through to both of them, both looked over to the voice and saw James Ironwood standing holding one of his pistols smoke rising from the barrel he then spoke again "Neither of you seem to have any control on the battlefield. I would have expected this from Esdeath, but not you; Qrow."
"Oh good... Jimmy's here." Qrow snarked slightly slurred due to damage as he put pressure on his bicep where he was shot
"Why wou-" Esdeath began but favored for spitting up a few of her teeth a coughing up some blood then covered her shoulder where the bullet went through
"Qrow, both you and Esdeath are fighting for the same goal now. Killing each other is the same as letting Salem win, Ozpin called for me because he knew that Esdeath at the very least listens to what I say. He's also told me quite a few interesting things about you; Esdeath." Ironwood spoke as he walked over to the two he was quickly flanked by two robotic solders "It's your job is to protect the people of the world, not occupy foreign land for your own needs, this isn't your empire anymore, is that understood?"
"Yes Reichsmarschall." Esdeath agreed looking him dead in the eyes and found no room for compromise
"Now then, both of you... hug and make up." Ironwood finished calmly causing both to look at each other than him
"You cant be serious! If I go any closer to her I'm gonna knock her flat." Qrow shouted and pointed at Esdeath
"Oh you can try! I'll cut you down before you get the chance." Esdeath shouted back and pointed at Qrow
"Both of you are acting like children, so I'm gonna treat you like children." Ironwood reasoned causing both of them groan, he then raised his gun "We can do this at gunpoint if you want."
"James please, don't make me do this." Qrow asked genuinely hoping it would work. It didn't. Ironwood just cocked back the hammer
"Alright I don't wanna get shot again, how 'bout you?" Qrow asked turning to Esdeath who looked torn and after a few moments of quiet Qrow spoke again "Are you kidding me?"
"Of course I'm joking, I have either the choice of continuing to fight you and probably dying, or surviving so I can see Ruby again." Esdeath answered causing Qrow to sigh, both looked at each other and slowly moved towards each other, Qrow then stopped for a few seconds and looked at Ironwood who gestured for him to continue, Qrow grimaced at that and moved forward again, both stopped in front of each other, surprisingly Qrow found that he was only a little taller than her both looked each other dead in the eyes
"I really don't wanna do this." Esdeath said looking him dead in the eyes
"I don't want to either." Qrow agreed and his eye darted to Ironwood then looked back to Esdeath, they both inched forward a bit neither wanting to get too close to the other as they rapped their arms around each other in a very awkward hug
"Good, now then I have another fight to break up. Go to the infirmary and get patched up." Ironwood ordered as he walked towards the direction they last saw Raven and Glynda
(o)
Qrow and Esdeath walked towards the infirmary having to avoid the crowds due to their status of being huntsman if it was found that they were trying to kill each other the other council members would have a field day so they elected to walk around and into the forest, after a few moments of walking Esdeath began to slow down to a stop
"Whats up?" Qrow asked as he stopped too
"Are we going to continue?" Esdeath asked tiredly as she leaned against a tree, Qrow sighed and looked down at the ground for a few moments
"No... as much as I'd like to, Jimmy was right. Lets deal with Salem first... then each other." Qrow answered with a very pained tone in his voice "Now lets keep moving, I don't wanna bleed out before we get there."
"Yeah... I don't think... I'll be making it that far..." Esdeath quietly said as she began to slump towards the ground, Qrow quickly caught her before she hit it
"Dammit." He growled then let out a short whine and spoke to himself "It'd be so easy... 'Last I saw her we got separated in the woods.' it would be that easy..." after a few seconds of silence he muttered to himself again "Dammit." reaching into his pocket he pulled out some gauge and quickly covered her wound tightly and picked her up
(o)
Akame and Ruby sat in the same hospital room staring at each other in awkward silence
"So... how was your week?" Ruby asked as she scratched the back of her head
"Easier, thanks to you." Akame answered calmly causing Ruby to blink in surprise she expected an insult
"What? I thought you were gonna go on a tangent talkin' about how wrong I was for fighting against you." Ruby said in disbelief causing Akame to tilt her head in confusion
"You were just doing what you though was right, I can't and won't fault you for that, but I will thank you for suffering for me. I don't know what it took to get Esdeath to release me, but thanks to you we got the chance we needed." Akame explained her tone unchanged from complete calm, but the context of what Akame had said hurt Ruby, she couldn't stop wondering if Esdeath was going to die because of her
"I... I know that I wanted Esdeath gone... at first, but now... I don't think I really want that... she... shes great! She is kind, helpful, smart, beautiful, I have no idea how she can be so wonderful!" Ruby gushed letting her true feelings shine through after trying to be tactful about it
"Ruby, what has she told you about whats shes done?" Akame asked her voice unchanged
"Nothing, well that's not entirely true, she told me about her childhood." Ruby explained awkwardly Akame nodded
"She was known as empires strongest with good reason, but she chose to support the minister because he let her start wars, put down rebellion, and allowed her to do whatever she wanted as long as she ensured that he remained in power." Akame explained she then looked at her hands and continued "He did that with many people, Esdeath was well know for being brutal and unforgiving, when I saw her in that village I acted on instinct, perhaps shes different now, perhaps not, but that doesn't matter she committed so many crimes against humanity and peace itself, she has to pay for it."
"But she shouldn't have to die, there has to be a better way." Ruby said sadly
"Not everyone deserves a better way of paying for their crimes." Akame answered causing Rubys eye to twitch
"Then how will you pay!?" Ruby asked anger dripping from her voice
"This is my payment, I'm still here." Akame explained just as coolly as before "Perhaps I shouldn't have a family again, perhaps I should be alone, perhaps I should still be in the empire with the weight of all the crimes committed we committed on my shoulders. But I'm not, Qrow was the greatest blessing I could have ever asked for and I have no way to repay him. That is my payment. A life of unpayable debt."
"And Esdeaths' is death!? How is that fair!?" Ruby asked still enraged
"Yes, we don't all pay fairly. Much like life; death is unfair." Akame answered again Ruby screamed in frustration
"STOP MAKING SENSE! I just want to not feel guilty about letting Esdeath live!" Ruby finally shouted out in sadness and rage
"Then don't, if she survives it'll probably be because Qrow or someone let her live and if Qrow did let her live than I'm sure he'll have a good reason." Akame answered, Ruby suddenly felt like a weight was lifted off her it was strange but Akame held a huge amount of sway over Rubys feelings
(o)
Hours had passed and the fighting had ended, the official story was that the Atlas military were preforming live fire exercises and didn't want the student body to interfere with them, James Ironwood made a full statement discounting rumors about a large battle that took place and said that they were merely live fire exercises, and that there was no need to worry.
(o)
Qrow entered the room designated for the people who participated in the battle, it was a private top floor room with multiple beds three of which were occupied, one by Ruby, one by Akame, and finally one was occupied by an unconscious Weiss. Akame was the first to greet him
"Qrow, I'm glad to see you're alive." Akame happily said as Qrow walked over to her bed and flopped down next to her
"We failed..." He whined into the bedding
"What! How?" Akame asked her heart sunk when she heard his words, on the other side of the room though Rubys' heart soared at the thought that Esdeath had survived
"James shot us..." Qrow answered in the same tone "Then sent us here... and nothing else... I feel like shit..."
"I don't like this James than." Akame said as she ran her hand through Qrows' hair
"He also shot Esdeath..." Qrow continued in his tired tone
"I am back to indifference." Akame joked as she smiled at Qrow
"Where's Esdeath then?" Ruby asked causing Qrow to lift his head from the bed and turn it towards her
"She lost a lot of blood and had quite a few broken bones and ribs, they had to begin an operation on her as soon as we got here." Qrow answered causing Ruby to look down "I understand how you felt by the way." Qrow said after a few moments of quiet "Esdeath can offer the world and follow through. But you need to understand that she needs a leash, if you let her run wild it'll be the end of everything you hold dear, be careful kid. I worry 'bout ya." Ruby was surprised by her uncles words she thought he was going to yell at her for fighting for Esdeath but he didn't, he said he understood...
"Did you feel that way when you went north to watch her?" Akame asked as she continued to run her fingers through his hair
"Yeah, but we made a deal and I wasn't planing on breaking it. 'sides if I did, I would get to spend time with you." Qrow happily said then after a few seconds he got a serious look on his face the slowly spoke "hey... wait a minute Najenda didn't pay us!"
"I thought you knew." Akame said after his realization
"Ah dammit, that's like... five months worth of overtime that I'm never gonna get back." Qrow complained causing Ruby to laugh
"Did they at least match your 401k?" Ozpins' voice came from the door way causing all of them to look at him, Ruby and Akame both raised an eyebrow.
Qrow laughed at that for a few moments before stopping completely and spoke in a serious voice "No, they didn't." that brought laughter to both Qrow and Ozpin
"Whats 401k?" Akame asked as she looked between the two
"Ill explain later, anyways I wanted to ask you Oz; did you plan this?" Qrow said as he moved himself into a more comfortable position
"Yes, I expected two outcomes to this... mess. You kill Esdeath and things generally go back to normal just a far far weaker relationship with Atlas and possibly war. The other was, Esdeath kill you all... then me... then a war starts between Vale and Atlas due to the deaths, it would end with a second great war, and Esdeath would have her wish. So I called on James to hop in and prevent any deaths, relations between Atlas and Vale are fine and now you all can stop trying to kill each other." Ozpin Explained causing all of them different levels of surprise
"Thanks for the insight Oz... and the hole in my arm." Qrow thanked clearly unhappy about it as he rolled over Akame and onto the other side of her bed, Akame looked at him for a moment then quickly lifted the blanket she was lying under and draped it over both of them
"Ah... that's nice." Qrow said tiredly as he and Akame curled together and quickly fell asleep
"Wow... that was fast." Ruby said watching as both of them lightly snored
"Yes, but that's normal, given our profession Huntsman and Huntresses should always rest whenever possible. You'll never know when you'll have to fight so its best to just sleep when you can." Ozpin explained as he leaned on Rubys bed, after a few moments of quiet Ozpin spoke again in a far more serious tone "Ms. Rose, I wont tell you how to handle this but I will say, be careful of Esdeath I wont tell you who or who not to love but always keep your eyes on your goal, or Esdeath will obscure it until your goal is anything she says. Be yourself and don't let her be you for you."
"I wont. Can you tell me when shes out of surgery?" Ruby agreed causing Ozpin to nod
"Yes, I'll send her up this way when shes out." Ozpin agreed as he smiled at her the smile quickly changed to a pained one as he spoke again "Please, for both our sakes remember our conversation."
"I wont forget, I promise." Ruby agreed as Ozpin stood from her bed and walked away
A/N this arc is now over, six chapters left to go. I don't know what I'm gonna do but I got an idea for the next chapter, I hope this one is enjoyed a large majority of this chapter was combat, and admittedly I've gotten a bit rusty at writing combat cause with RWBY volumes 1, 2, and 3 combat rarely happens outside of a controlled setting anywhere with the exception of missions and the wild so I kind threw myself into the deep end with this one so I hope it doesn't completely slog things up.