I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.

Daughter of the Gods

Chapter Sixteen: …For The Wicked

Watching Pyrrha destroy team CRDL was a thing of beauty. She fought with the grace and power of a lioness, the speed of a cheetah, and the clever thinking of a panther. She was constantly five to ten steps ahead of Cardin and the rest of his team. Any move they made was countered long before they even made it. She sparingly used her semblance, influencing CRDL's weapons and armor in subtle ways to sway the match, thus giving her the illusion of being untouchable.

When all was said and done, Pyrrha was standing upright while CRDL looked like they'd spent fifteen rounds with a goliath.

The lights came up in the arena and Glynda walked onto the stage.

"That's the match." She said as she climbed up. Cardin groaned something but I couldn't really hear it.

"Well done miss Nikos." Glynda praised. "You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." She said. Pyrrha respectfully nodded.

"Thank you, professor." She said. Glynda nodded and looked to the class. We were sitting in front of Emerald and Mercury, something I had insisted upon quietly just in case they slipped up.

"Alright, I know that's a tough act to follow, but it would appear we have time for one more sparring match. Any Volunteers?" She asked the class. Immediately I saw her focus on Blake and knew what was coming.

"Miss Belladonna, You've been rather docile these last few classes. Why don't you-" She was about to say fight. Honestly I hoped she wouldn't have to. Blake had been maintaining herself poorly. Eating terribly, barely sleeping, and not focusing in class. It was rather worrying but it would end tomorrow if this continued. I promised myself that.

"I'll do it." I relaxed when Mercury volunteered but I was worried for the reason why. He didn't strike me as the type to just do something like this, and certainly not when he asked for Pyrrha.

He was trying to gauge her.

When I realized that, I knew what I had to do.

"I'll fight in Pyrrha's place. It wouldn't be right to let her fight after she already fought CRDL." I calmly reasoned. Glynda looked at me, and I side eyed Mercury as he communicated silently with Emerald. Mercury eventually decided that we would fight.

We both made it to the ring at the same time. I couldn't see any visible weapons, but my time as the demon and dealing with Atlesian assassins had taught me to never discount the possibility of unconventional weapons.

When Glynda called for the match to start, Mercury took off like a shot. When he Jumped in the air, I could see holes in the soles of his shoes and for a brief second, the glow of dust rounds.

Well I knew his weapons had to be like Yang's. Moderately effective at range, but devastatingly effective up close. Maybe he had a fighting style similar to Yang's but using his feet?

He made contact with the compact form of Crescent rose which I used as a shield and pushed him back. Unfurling my scythe into her full form, I planted the blade behind me while I held onto the polearm.

Whipping out the blade from the ground, I twisted towards him in a flurry of petals. Slashing up with the small blade at the far end of the pole, he deflected it easily but had to back off when the scythe blade slashed past his face. He launched back with a flurry of attacks but I defended easily by twisting my weapon end over end in a tornado of steel.

He let up for just a brief second and I kicked him in the chest twice using my semblance as I lowered my body and slashed at his legs. He flipped over the blade with a look of surprise on his face since that move had taken him by surprise.

"Hmm." He cocked his head to the side until his face got serious and he charged again.

Quickly I realized his fighting was a combination of powerful jumps and kicks that almost seemed to look like he was dancing at times. His jumps were powerful, lethal if they connected, but easily countered. When he got a fair bit of height, I used my full semblance and sped around him. He was completely helpless in the air since he couldn't fight gravity or physics.

He almost smashed into the far wall but I was already behind him and smashed him into the ground. His body left a small crater and his pants rode up slightly, allowing me to see his cybernetic ankle. He saw my brief distraction and tried kicking me but I reacted with my semblance and jumped over his kick. He flipped out of the crater and tried to get some distance, but It was pointless. Charging at him, he tried to get low to avoid having his head taken off, but I planned for that.

His aura was weak, typical of an assassin who's fighting style was to hit hard and fast. When my secret dagger, hidden in the small of my back broke his aura, he knew it.

"I yield." He grit through his teeth. I had never broken my aura and assumed it would take a lot, but I knew it was fairly painful.

Smirking, I offered a hand. He took it and I pulled him up roughly. Suddenly I had an evil thought.

"You and Emerald are fighting the wrong war." I said as I slipped a tracker in his pocket and I walked away. Mercury gaped like a fish when I looked back for a second before walking back to my team.

"That's all for today!" Glynda said as the bell sounded. "And remember the dance is this weekend but your first missions will be on Monday!" She reminded. Blake snapped out of a trance like state as Weiss and Yang moved.

That was concerning.

As we all left, Emerald was waiting by the door for Mercury.

I smirked as he just kept quiet.

We exited the main doors and began heading towards the dorms when Sun tried to ask Blake to the dance. She shut him down hard and walked away. Breathing through my nose, Weiss, Yang, and I all followed her back to the dorms.

When we were all inside I closed the door loudly.

"What was that back there?" I asked loudly. Blake actually looked at me with surprise.

"We have other things we need to focus on. not some stupid dance." She defended.

"That's goliath shit and you know it. So I'll ask you before I pull it out of your mind, what was that." I ordered this time as I got closer to her.

"Nobody else seems worried at all. The investigation has hit a dead end and we have nothing left to go on." She finally answered. Of course that's what this is about.

"Blake…Of course I'm worried. We all are. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you don't go blindly looking for the enemy. It's the fastest way to a short life. The enemy will make a mistake or something will turn up. I have agents everywhere, they'll find something." I said. She looked awful. Bags under her eyes and sluggish movements.

"Well they're not trying hard enough. I'm going to look over your papers some more." She said as she moved towards my desk. I slammed my hands down on them before she could react and threw my maps and papers on my bed.

"You can look at my papers after you've gotten some decent sleep." I said lowly. Blake tried to stare me down, but eventually gave up as she stormed out the door, slamming it behind her.

"Shit." I swore as I sat on the bed. This was a similar situation as when she came out as a faunus. I didn't want to push her to much too soon or else she'd slip away.

I managed to slip away myself when Weiss began planning the dance since team CVFY was on an extended mission and their leader, Coco, couldn't plan it.

Sneaking off to find Yang, since she had left promising that Blake would be at the dance with a laser pointer in hand, I found her dragging Blake into one of the empty classrooms.

Yang's POV

"If you're going to tell me to stop, you might as well save your breath." Blake said firmly. I breathed in a calming breath like Ruby taught me to do.

"I'm not telling you to stop, I'm asking you to slow down. We can all see you're burning the candle at both ends and it's incredibly worrying. Ruby's not gonna go the distance like she does with me and Weiss because she's afraid she'll push you away if she does. I have no such problems." I said gently.

"I'm fine. Besides, we don't have the luxury of slowing down. Not while Torchwick and the 'fang are still working together." Blake said.

"It's not a luxury, Blake. It's a necessity." I said. something Ruby had told me years ago.

"The necessity is stopping Torchwick." She reminded me, as if I needed it.

"We'll stop him. Ruby knows what she's doing. Knows the advice she's giving you and the rest of us. Listen to it. Please." I asked her. "At the very least, listen to what I have to say." I patted the table in front of me. Thankfully she sat down.

"I grew up on patch. It's a little island just off the coast of Vale. Both my parents were hunters. But…I never knew my mother. She left before I was born. My mom and dad were on the same team with my uncle Qrow and a woman named Serenity Summers." I could see the surprise on Blakes face that my mom was not a part of my life at all.

"Ruby, or as she called herself at the time, summer, came along years back and I was eight if I remember correctly. She quickly became my big sister even though we weren't related. I met her because my dad took her in during a storm thinking she was a homeless teenager." I chuckled at the memory of her coming in the house for the first time soaking wet. I had Blake's full attention.

Good.

"Anyway, my mom left me right after I was born and nobody has seen her since then." I admitted as I got to my feet.

"Why did she leave you?" Blake asked softly.

"That one question…Why? When I was young, I wanted so much to know who my mother was, to know why she left. It was everything to me. I used to get angry when Ruby wouldn't tell me either, even though I knew my dad had told her. One day while I was going through my dads stuff because neither he nor Ruby were home, I found what I thought was a clue." I paused as the memory's came flooding back.

"I thought it could tell me where my mother was, or maybe even my mom herself. I was so excited I just ran out the door. I walked for hours and was covered in small cuts and bruises but I kept walking because I thought it would all be worth it. Nothing could stop me." I could practically hear the wind through the trees from that day.

"When I finally got there, I couldn't stand upright anymore. I didn't care though, because maybe my mom was here. As I looked at that beat up old shack it dawned on me. I wasn't alone, but not in the good way. Grimm were everywhere and their red eyes glowed in hunger. I thought I was going to die. Suddenly I was enveloped in this soft light and I could hear the grimm dying all around me." I don't know why I mentioned Ruby's silver eyed power, but it felt right.

"Suddenly Ruby was in front of me, tears in her eyes as she asked if I was okay. I was sobbing so hard from the fear of the grimm and shame for how badly I had scared Ruby that I couldn't even talk. When I calmed down enough to say I was fine she burst into tears. Telling me to never do something like that again until she grabbed hold of me and hugged me tightly."

"'Why did you do that?' She asked. And I had to tell her. She flicked me on the forehead and pulled me into another hug, apologizing over and over for not telling me or convincing my dad to tell me. She apologized over and over again for not getting to me sooner." I said. Blake had small tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you." She whispered.

"I didn't tell you that to make you feel bad. I told you that because there's two points you needed to hear. The first, is that it's okay to want answers, but when it becomes an obsession it can get you hurt or worse. The second point is that Ruby does the best she can for everybody. Yeah she's not perfect, but she does what she thinks is right. Her telling you that you need to rest comes from experience. She's told me plenty of stories of soldiers, trained soldiers, who could've cost them several key battles during the revolution who thought they were helping by spending hours on watch and neglecting themselves. She's told me a story about one man who hadn't slept in so long, he hallucinated that his comrade was the enemy and killed him." I explained. Ruby hadn't told me that story until I had stayed up for hours studying for a key test.

When I was finished, Blake looked me in the eyes and before she could react, I hugged her.

"I'm not telling you to stop Blake. I'm telling you to take it easy and rest. You're not good to anybody if you can't even keep your eyes open." I said softly as I separated the hug. Walking towards the stairs leading to the door.

"And if you fell like coming out to the dance tomorrow? I'll save you a dance." I threw a wink in and left. There was a single rose petal floating to the ground as I opened the door.

Smirking, I went back to the dorm.

Ruby POV

Getting back to the dorm in less than five seconds, I found Weiss laying on the bed.

Not studying…or doing anything.

It was weird.

"Weiss? Everything okay?" I asked. She finally seemed to notice I was in the room.

"Can I be honest?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course. It would help to know what's wrong if you're honest." I tried to joke. All Weiss managed was a weak smile.

"I tried to ask Neptune to the dance but…it didn't work out. I thought there was something there to work with between us but…" She admitted with a sigh. Right. Neptune was Weiss' little crush.

"Look. I've been around long enough to know that sometimes things just happen. Sometimes we see what we want to see and sometimes there's no reason that we'll understand behind other people's decisions." I said softly. Weiss looked at me in silence before she nodded.

"Thank you Ruby…I'm glad you became team leader." She said kindly. I gave her a side hug in thanks.

The night of the dance, Yang tried to force me into heels.

"Yeeeah. No." I said as I slipped on a pair of flats. "Be lucky I'm even wearing these." I said as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Fine. I guess it's the best we can ask for." Yang sighed in defeat.

In truth, I was being very cautious and wanted to be as combat ready as possible. I had a bad feeling about tonight, and I learned never to ignore my instincts a long time ago.

Despite not having Crescent Rose, I still felt I could take down any opponent that might seek to cause harm.

The dance was nothing special in all honesty, and more than made me a little uncomfortable. Sure being in class with a dozen other people was one thing, but dozens of other people? That was a whole other beast. Ozpin stopped to talk to me for awhile.

"Not enjoying yourself?" He asked as he came up behind me.

"Not really, in all honesty. This…I don't know how to be like this…relaxed." I admitted. "Sure, I've been to dances before but…they're not really my thing. There's also a lot of painful memories and…this is too much."

Ozpin looked at me for a few seconds as he thought over his answer.

"You don't know how to relax, do you?" He asked calmly. I looked at him with squinted eyes.

"I made the battlefield my home. Fighting is the only way I know how to relax." I finally admitted. "Even in this peace I'm still waiting for the next battle, the next fight…I think I'm gonna go find Yang and tell her I'm calling it quits…maybe I'll go back to the dorm and read." I sighed as I started walking towards where I last saw Yang dancing with Blake.

When I found her I tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey Yang, I'm gonna go. I'm not feeling it tonight." I said in a low voice as she stopped dancing with Blake for a second.

"Everything okay?" She asked with concern. I nodded and looked at her.

"Yeah. I'm just tired and this isn't my thing." I explained again. Yang studied me before she nodded slowly.

"Alright." She said hesitantly. I nodded as I began walking out of the dining hall.

I don't know why, but I decided to look back. Putting my hand on one of the pillars to the hall, I turned my head and saw Blake and Yang talking with Sun, Weiss and Neptune surprisingly just talking, JNPR was dancing fairly exclusively with each other, and I even saw Penny doing the robot.

This is what I'm fighting for…this is why I fight.

Slipping out into the cold, I was halfway back to the dorm when I saw a figure moving through the shadows, slipping up to the rooftops across from the dining hall.

Cinder.

Finally.

Hello relaxation.

Speeding all the way back to my dorm, I grabbed my combat outfit and changed as fast as I physically could. I pulled out my scroll and called my locker close to the CCT where I thought the figure was heading.

I was speeding through the courtyard when I realized that she might recognize me as a student. A silver eyed student no less.

Stopping right outside the CCT, I sighed as I opened the pocket dimension and pulled out my Nuckelavee mask.

Staring at it in my hands, I ran a thumb just under the right eye and cheek.

Wearing this mask outside of combat to hide my appearance from others like I had done in Argus, but in combat…it was another matter entirely.

Breathing through my nose, I placed the mask upon my face.

And Demon that should stay dead was reborn.