The four foreigners shared a look a mutual disgust when Erza went on to explain what evils Zeref had wrought. Truth be told, his feats were almost on par with the likes of Salem. Though, at least some members of the quartet were fairly convinced that the Demons of this world were far stronger than the Grimm that they fought day to day. For the ones in the group that didn't know about Erza's childhood, a pang of sorrow struck their heartstrings. The Schnee knew all too well the suffering people like her family had wrought on Faunuskind, including slavery. The Rose was reminded of a village enslaved by bandits she had encountered in her six month exile. When she couldn't find the heart to continue to let them suffer, she had acted as best she could given her circumstances, but ultimately prevailed over the scum and saved them. It didn't sound like Erza was as lucky.
A new figure appeared to them, and with all the constant new people appearing, Ruby had gotten pretty used to these interactions. What she was not used to was the sheer panic that instilled within her when the man uttered his name.
"Cinder..." A whisper shared by the four girls, though the ones that held the most venom were certainly Ruby's and Weiss'. Ruby had of course seen Cinder kill Pyrrha and threaten many others while Weiss had nearly been gutted by her flaming spear.
When Ruby Rose broke into a fit of chuckles, any tension in the room shattered. "Hahaha, I don't believe it, this Cinder's a boy and a good guy, she'd be soooo pissed if she knew about it-" Of course their Cinder had been killed in a long and grueling battle between her and Jaune. Probably his finest moment, even if neither he nor Ruby were all that fond of killing. Well. Unless it was Grimm they were killing. Killing humans was those b-word's job.
"I take it you've traveled from another world then." Cinder said, having been familiar with the practice due to the whole Edolas debacle. "How very interesting." He said as he produced a book out of mid air and opened it. "I'll have to archive your stories sometime. The world could always use more books. Just like the one I'm currently reading."
He glanced upward at them.
"But I can assure you here and now. I am not pleased at all either. To know that another me existed and that they caused pain and suffering. I'd have killed her myself if given the chance."
He shut the book and caused it to vanish.
"I will not stand by such unjust acts and that's exactly why I shall aid you in preparing to face Tartaros. We may have been enemies in another realm. But that will not be the case here. If there I was a fearsome enemy of yours. Then here I am a fearsome ally."
He spoke with eloquence and grace. A clearly refined and educated gentleman. There wasn't a trace of feral fury in him.
Ruby immediately decided she liked this Cinder so much better. While the other Cinder had her intimidating moments, she also made some... really strange choices in the war. Like beating Ruby until she couldn't move, but then using her finishing move on Weiss. At the time, Ruby had just been happy to not be the crazy woman's target, since Jaune had been able to patch her up easily enough. But throughout the War she made some other weird choices. Like estranging Emerald from her, leading to the dark skinned woman joining Ruby's side in the conflict. Em had been a staunch ally of theirs ever since and had proven to take a liking to Ruby due to their similar tastes in weapons and surprisingly literature. Yeah, who knew that the thief was actually quite in to books. Their Cinder had also whined a bunch suffered at least five villainous breakdowns. Kinda felt like a Saturday morning cartoon. Well. Only when she was talking. She was still an insanely competent fighter.
This Cinder seemed much more stable. He honestly reminded her of Oobleck, a bit. A sort of no-nonsense type that was serious all the time, but caring in his own way. He had been loyal, too, until a battle had taken out his legs. Thankfully he survived, but Ruby personally asked him to stay back. Even if he had robotic legs now, she didn't want him to get any more hurt than he already was. Besides, he served them so much better as a strategist in their headquarters than as a soldier on the battlefield. Leave the field strats to her, she had said.
Ruby smiled brightly. "I'd be happy to share our stories with you, Cinder. And... thanks for backing me up here. It's good to know that there's a dimension where Cinder didn't end up as... sad as she was in our world..." Because that's what it came down to in the end. Cinder was just... sad. Circumstance brought her to evil, but she wasn't willing to change. Em had managed to recover and now she was teaching at the newly rebuilt Beacon Academy. She was giving back. Something Cinder never seemed to want to do, even when they had given her multiple second chances. She remembered her last words all too well.
"You were nothing without her. Just a pathetic man who had no clue who he was," Cinder growled, pinned against the wall by a blade sunk into her left shoulder.
Jaune Arc approached, hatred in his eyes as he unsheathed another sword. Milo, or at least what had survived of the weapon reforged personally by Jaune with the express purpose of using it to slay the bitch who killed his Pyrrha. He didn't speak. He just walked slowly. Confidently. He had bested this woman for the first time, completely on his own. His revenge was right on the tip of his tongue.
"Please! Let me go," Cinder panicked, trying to yank out the sword. "You need me. Only I know what Salem's really planning. I can help you, I can give you exactly what you want and more! Just give me another chance." So many fools had fallen for it. Her false tears, her promises she would never keep. Anything in order to live.
"I want you dead." The only four words he needed to say before he lopped off Cinder's head. "No second chances from me. That's the kind of man I am."
The memory of that fight still brought a chill to her bones. A double edged chill. Ruby had never seen Jaune fight so desperately or so skillfully, nor had she seen him wreathed in so much anger. He was simultaneously frightening and awe-inspiring... Fitting, as he was currently the Headmaster of Beacon.
"Cinder!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly, shredding through the silence. "Fight me!" He said as he dashed forward. Natsu was always one to take on a challenge and nothing excited him more than fighting the S-Class mages of his guild.
Cinder merely laughed. "Another time, Natsu." He said as he casually raised his hand in a chop position and slammed it down on top of Natsu's head, creating a crater and knocking the mage out instantly.
"As expected." Erza said with a huff. "He always gets excited when someone strong comes around. Especially if it's Cinder or Gildarts."
And now she realized she had to elaborate on that.
"Gildarts is the strongest S-Class mage in our guild." She said. "And Cinder is a top contender for second strongest. Natsu is always trying to challenge them to test himself, but ah, this is always the result."
While Ruby Rose was certainly impressed with how easily Cinder took him out- and if the groan she had thought she heard meant anything, then Yang was certainly annoyed that the guy who trounced her had been knocked out so quickly- she was a bit more annoyed with the outcome. "Dangit! He can't fight me if he's unconscious."
"There's no need to worry." Cinder said with a smile. "Training can be done in more ways than straight up combat. Training the mind and soul, for instance, are just as important."
"If one is too focused on training the body, then they are blinded to the things that are most obvious." He said from behind Ruby, having somehow moved at speeds so quickly that not even an experienced huntress would be able to detect him.
"I know your names, of course. I did my research. And I can tell you from a glance." He turned around and pointed a quarterstaff at Ruby. "That what you lack most is maturity. Having combat experience is good, but when you're forced too grow up too quickly, you end up missing important fundamentals."
He then shifted the staff toward Weiss.
"You're a quick learner, but you hesitate too much in your thoughts. You should learn from your blonde compatriot. Speaking of."
He turned to face Yang. "You need to learn to harness the other side of anger. The answer you seek is within you."
And finally he faced Blake.
"Your foundation is solid, but you lack the proper teaching needed to build upon it."
Ruby was generally the one with the fastest reaction times, though Blake was a close second, given to how used to moving at fast speeds she was. But when she suddenly heard Cinder's voice move in the simple pause between words, she just blinked. Several times, actually. She couldn't process just how he'd managed to get that much distance covered without her at least sensing some part of his movement. By the looks of it, Blake hadn't faired better either. His movement must've tricked her superior sense of hearing and smell, since Ruby saw the same confusion in her wide amber eyes.
That confusion shifted to a pink flush of embarrassment, for all four of them, though they were not flustered. It was more like they had realized the truth behind his words.
Given Ruby's less than friend-filled life, she really hadn't had the chance to be a normal kid. Even when she did manage to make friends at Beacon, most of the time she was focused on talking with these older students about ways to more efficiently kill Grimm or maintain their weapons. She had had to grow up quickly to survive in this world of monsters that would try to do a murder on her. A life she had chosen, no doubt, but she had still lost out on several things.
To Weiss' credit, she flushed the least. She had known that her overthinking was one of her greater weaknesses, and at times had wished she had just a hint of the blonde's recklessness. While it wasn't always smart, Yang acted quickly. Weiss' reactions were stalled by her having to think everything out. Even if she had grown in grace and skill since her prissy heiress days, hesitation still befuddled her. As it had quite recently with her being unsure of which magic to pursue.
What did he mean by the other side of anger? Yang found herself silently asking that question. Something just didn't add up in her head. Anger and frustration had been the source of her power for so long, and here she had learned her true power came from calm. Was there a way to be both angry and calm? It wasn't something she normally asked. It wasn't in her nature to, well, ever be calm. She was always angry or boisterous or ecstatic or all those other fun adjectives.
Logically speaking, Blake's problem made the most sense. She had gotten into Beacon by way of passing the practical, not due to going to a given training school. She had learned to fight on her own, facing Adam and a few other members of the White Fang in direct combat every day. While it had honed and enhanced her skills across the board, she had definitely lost out on the technical side of things. The measure of unpredictability in her makeshift fighting style was nice, but she knew she was by no means a master, either of the sword or her inner energy. Be it aura or magic. She broke the silence. "Sounds like we have a lot of work to do... and from your tone, I can guess you've already determined just how we'll improve upon these faults?"
"Indeed I have. Now let us be off." Cinder said, turning on his heel and walking back toward the guild hall.