The screen began to bubble and boil as the familiar silver door rose from it's depths, the thick purple chains corroding and breaking apart as the door opened up and bathed everything in dark purple.
From the tainted light, came a single red eye that glared at the screen before the door slammed shut and everything became static, a crumbling rose symbol appearing every so often as the title began to form.
The Ruinverse: Chapter Fifty Six, Queen of White.
Xxxxxxx
-Remnant, Sanus, Vale, Beacon Academy, Beacon Tower, Ozpin's Office-
CLANG!
CLANK!
BAM!
CLANG!
Steel collided with hardened obsidian as a red blur flew across the sky, an orange energy following soothe as the blackened sky was filled with the destructive hoards of Grimm and the falling mechanical ships of Atlas.
CLANG!
SWISH!
BAM!
Orange and red streaks flew across the highest tower of Beacon Academy as they descended rapidly towards the headmaster's office.
BOOOM!
Causing it to explode from the collision, bits of gears and metallic masonry falling to the ground below as the streaks of energy faded from the now exposed figures.
The first figure was a short fair skinned young girl with short neck-length black hair sporting red tips, silver eyes, a C cup chest and small ass, wearing a black high collared long-sleeved blouse with red trim on the sleeves, a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, a black red lined skirt, a black belt with a silver rose emblem shaped buckle, a long red hooded cloak fastened to her shoulders by gray cross-shaped pins, thick black stockings, black red soled combat boots with red laces and red trims around the top, and holding a massive red and black crescent scythe in her hands, as her face was covered in cuts and her clothes nearly torn from the constant battles she endured today.
The second figure was a tall fair skinned woman with short ashen-black hair that covers her left eye, milky white eyes with a contrasting violet eyeshadow, a D cup chest and wide ass, dark red nails, a golden hooped earring with a dangling black gem on the right ear, wearing a dark red long sleeved off-the-shoulders v-neck mini dress that ended in an upside-down knee length triangular tail at the back sporting yellow designs near the chest and sleeves, triangular sleeves that are wrapped around her middle finger with golden designs around the wrists, a black choker, a diamond shaped blue gem with various blue feathers on her right hip studdened in a bronze frame, a quarter-circle shaped keyhole on the dress' upper back around the chest area, black shorts, a black jeweled anklet on the right leg, dark glass-like high-heeled shoes, and holding a pair of obsidian black swords in both her hands as she seemed to have enough strength to continue the fight with a cold calculating smirk on her face.
This was Cinder Fall, the Calamity Bringer to the Kingdom of Vale, killer of Penny, slayer of Ozpin….and Ruby Rose's enemy.
Oh, this woman did more damage than any Grimm before her, especially when she did it all on her own, no team, no allies besides a frightful Roman Torchwick, who wanted nothing to do with this invasion, and did all of this in a matter of moments.
For the youngest Huntress in Beacon history, she was absolutely confused. Did this woman somehow attack them with no plan at all….or did she plan all of this in advance and her actions went undetected for…how long? A year? Two? More than two? She didn't know, but all she knew was this.
She needed to stop her right now, for she had just killed Pyrrha Nikos, she had killed Jaune, she had killed nearly all of her classmates….for what? A victory against a Kingdom? Some unknown relic of great power? What? WHAT!? What was her end game!?
"Foolish child." Cinder said while walking towards the girl, who quickly raised her weapon up. "You really think that you could even stop me?"
"Well, a little."
She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Such power wasted on a child like you, Ozma really chose poorly this time. Just like last time."
"Just what are you talking about?" Ruby asked before dodging out of the way of a glass shard, followed by several others from Cinder's right arm.
"It really doesn't matter, this Kingdom shall fall and when it does, I will dance on the graves of those hopeful fools that strived for an impossible dream." She frowned before seeing a red blur moving towards her, only for an aura of orange flames to erupt from her eyes as she sent a massive burst of energy at the girl.
ZAP!
"AH!" she cried out before getting knocked backwards, her weapon beginning to short circuit from the blast as Cinder began to form a bow out of the obsidian swords.
"Your father failed to train you well."
WOOOSH!
Ruby's eyes widened before dodging the obsidian arrows, deciding to use her now unusable scythe to cut down the woman instead of firing bullets at her, putting her at a small disadvantage against the women's marksmanship skills. "Don't talk about my dad like that!"
"I only speak the truth." she said before blocking the incoming attacks with her bow, revealing how outclassed Ruby was compared to the older woman. "You aren't a threat to me, not now, not ever."
BAM!
Falling backwards from the unexpected headbutt to the face, Ruby groaned, her nose bleeding slightly as her weapon fell to the ground.
Only for Cinder to grab the weapon with her right hand and lift it up like a simple toy.
"A simple scythe with a gun shoved into it. What will humanity think of next?" she muttered to herself before throwing it off the tower and moved towards Ruby, a black obsidian blade forming from her hand. "This is the end of your tale. No prince to save your life, no gods to magically help you and no mother's gift will help you this day."
"Ah…ah…" Ruby panted while feeling the adrenaline dying down in her own body, making her unable to move as the blade moved closer to her neck.
"Mmmm…you know." Cinder said while staring at the girl with slight interest. "This actually reminds me of an opponent I once faced. Yeah, she was powerful, but very childish in nature, a real brat."
"What…?"
"Don't interrupt." She frowned while stabbing Ruby in the neck, letting a small amount of blood drip from the wound as Ruby's aura seemed to heal it, but was on its last legs. "Now where was, oh yes. The woman was a brat, and my my, she did put up a good fight. But in the end, I just cut off her head and dumped her body into the nearby sea. But where was the battleground again…..mmmm it's on the tip of my tongue."
'Why is she even talking about a past memory? And…why do I feel nervous right now?' Ruby thought as the woman tapped the side of her bow against the hilt of her blade.
"Ah! Now I remember, it was on a cliffside on that insignificant island of Patch." she smirked while Ruby's eyes widened in horror. "And her name was Summer Rose. Funny, you give me the same feeling of bitterness as her. A daughter perhaps? Cousin?"
As the girl's mental state started to deteriorate, Cinder's expression seemed to welcome the change in the young 'child's' personality, reveling in her sadness and growing rage.
'Worked like a charm.' she thought as Ruby's eyes began to glow bright silver, illuminating the nearly destroyed room with a brilliant radiance unseen by mortal eyes.
"A…a…AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
'...n…n…..n…..'
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
FLASH!
'NOOOOOOO!'
SHING!
And in a flash of unearthly light, the body of one Cinder Fall, instigator of the Fall of Vale, became encased in a pillar of shimmering crystal, her maniacal expression still plastered on her face as her…amber eyes stared at the girl's location.
Wait? Amber? Wasn't it milky white before? Was it a semblance?
"Ah….ah….ah…." Ruby panted, her body growing heavy as the world went dark all around her.
(Sometime later)
-Unknown location-
Blinding light. That was all Ruby saw as she slowly opened her eyes, so bright that she thought she somehow saw the inside of the sun itself.
Yet all around her were the sounds of people chatting, seemingly worried for her safety, yet….she couldn't see.
Where was she? How did she get here?
And why….is she getting sleepy?
Sleep…..sl..eep…s…l…e…e….p…..
(Elsewhere)
-Patch, Xiao Long Residence-
"Mmmmmmm." Yang groaned while tapping her foot against the wooden floor, her mind still frustrated about the near destruction of Vale itself…among other things.
"Yang." Blake said, her entire right arm missing and covered in thick white bandages, while standing beside her partner with a concerned expression on her face. "Please calm down."
"How can I calm down!? My baby sister nearly died and you….." she trailed off while looking away. "You…lost an arm thanks to me."
"It was an inconvenience. Besides, you were the one that broke Adam's neck, trying to save me from his final blow." Blake said while Yang's left cheek was touched by her still usable left hand. "If you didn't save me, he would've killed me."
"Still….you lost an arm."
"I can live with one arm, it won't affect me too much."
"...how can you be so deadpanned about it? If I had the same injury, I would be in a deep depression by now!"
"It's called looking on the brighter side of things. That and I already suffered from depression and self loathing before we met, I'm used to it." Blake said with a half joking chuckle as she heard someone walking up the stairs. "And speaking of which, here comes the Schnee."
"Blake, you're bad at joking." Weiss deadpanned, her entire right eye covered in bandages while she crossed her arms. "Especially with the 'Schnee equals bride' pun."
"Can't help it, Yang's 'pun-ness' is affecting me."
"Hey, don't go putting your catty puns onto me." Yang said with a chuckle, feeling slightly better but not by much, before looking at Weiss' eye. "Are you sure you want to be walking about?"
"Yang, I lost an eye, not my legs." she frowned. "I can move about just fine."
"Well….you did get attacked by a Paladin."
"After my father tried to save me, it's not my fault that the pilot got killed by a Griffon and then the giant mech suddenly appeared to punch us out of the airship!" Weiss huffed in annoyance and anger. "Plus I did land on my glyphs!"
"At the cost of your father falling into a Creep's mouth." Blake deadpanned as Weiss rolled her eyes.
"And you think that's a bad thing?"
"No, not really. Just pointing it out there." Blake said before giving the Schnee a fist bump, knowing how much they hated the former CEO. "Plus with your sister in charge of the SDC, it might be a good thing."
"Maybe, but if mother was still alive, maybe it might have been less….militarized."
"Well that's fine and all, but what about my sister!?" Yang yelled while the two members of Team RWBY recalled why they were here in the first place and moved towards the door.
Only to see their team leader aimlessly looking around in confusion.
"Ruby!" Weiss cried out before getting shoved by Yang, who ran over and hugged her sister between her chest. "Hey!"
"My little baby sister! I was so worried!" she cried out while Ruby seemed to not flitched at the fact her chest was suffocating her. "I thought you would never wake up!"
"Yang. You're killing her again." Blake deadpanned while the blonde blinked and saw her sister turning blue, causing the girl to move away a little.
"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!"
"..."
"Ruby?" Weiss said while a little confused at her lack of emotion and slow reaction time. "Are you ok?"
"..."
"Ruby?"
"...yes, but…." she said while sounding a little….depressed for some reason, possibly from the battle. "I….can't see."
"...what!?" Yang yelled in shock.
Blake moved closer to Ruby and waved her hand over the girl's eyes, getting no response in the process. "How?"
"I don't know, one moment I was fighting Cinder and the next….I'm here." she said while 'looking' at the ceiling. "I…can't remember."
"Don't push yourself." Weiss said while putting a hand on Ruby's head. "It will return in time."
"...Weiss."
"Yes?"
"I…I'm sorry for running off. But I had to save Pyrrha and Jaune." she said while the Schnee shook her head.
"It's fine, you were just trying to be a dork."
"I'm not a dork." she huffed while Yang nudged her on the shoulder.
"Not in our eyes, you ain't."
"Yang!"
Blake shook her head while analyzing her team leader's mannerisms, feeling like….something was off.
Yet she couldn't figure out what exactly, given that it could just be shellshock from the invasion that occurred a few weeks back.
'Mmmmmm. She isn't that upset about Pyrrha or Jaune's death, nor Penny's.' She thought to herself while her ears twitched slightly. 'Maybe she blocked out her emotions, but if that was the case then she wouldn't be getting upset about Weiss or Yang's teasing. Very strange.'
However, in that exact moment, Ruby's eyes twitched and she clutched her head in pain, her body twitching a little before falling backwards onto the bed.
"AH!"
"Ruby!" Yang yelled while Ruby turned around and pushed her head under the pillow. "Ruby, what's wrong!?"
"...I….I…"
"Ruby, speak to me!"
"I….I…remember…." she groaned in pain while, unbeknownst to her team, she was smirking with satisfied enjoyment. "I…remember what she told me…"
"Who? Who told you, Ruby?!"
"C…Cinder…she….told me the truth…" Ruby groaned while the screen faded to black.
(Elsewhere)
-Vale, Beacon Academy-
"Grrrrr." growled an Ursa as it moved around the now desolate halls of Beacon, sniffing around for anything to kill or anything 'safe' for it to rest, as the sky was filled with the calls of Nevermores.
[I….remember it…]
As the camera zoomed down the dark hallways, it suddenly stopped near the ruined remains of Beacon Tower, where a lone gray tipped cane poked out of the rubble like a fossilized bone in the dirt, awaiting anyone that dared enter to pick it up.
[It….It was….]
Crack.
Crack.
BAM!
A long hand suddenly erupted from the ground as gold particles escaped the opening within the debri, grasping the cane tightly as the stone and metal fragments began to slide off and onto the ruined stone floor.
[It was Ozpin.]
Crack.
Crack.
More and more stones fell from the pile before a tall tan skinned man with short messy brown hair that was tied in the back as short locs ponytails, dull brown eyes, wearing a long sleeved black suit with gold marking on the cuffs and shoulders, a dark green buttoned vest, a green shirt, slim silver gauntlets, slim black glass spectacles, a small purple cross pin on the cowl, a black belt, a small green cape that went to his hips, long dark green pants with silver cuisses on the lower legs and black trouser shoes, escaped the heavy 'tomb', gasping slightly as he used the cane to lift himself upwards.
[He's the leader of the Grimm.]
"Ah….ah….ugh." he groaned while pushing himself out of the rubble, only to see his legs horribly mangled as he quickly lifted up each leg.
CRACK!
CRACK!
And re-adjusted them into shape with sheer force of will as the golden particles leaked out of his body.
"Ah! Gods, I never get used to doing that." he groaned while standing up straight.
[He's the one that caused the invasion. He's the one that killed mom!]
"I need to get out of here, find out where the Fall Maiden power went off to." he muttered to himself before walking away from the rubble, making sure none of the Grimm noticed him. "Before she does anything with it."
[He needs to be stopped! If he continues to live, then we are all doomed!]
"Hopefully she didn't find another 'pawn', gods know that if that happened then I'd have no idea where she is or what plans she is making for Remnant itself." he muttered to himself, praying to the gods that his worst fears haven't been realized.
[We need to kill him, before he kills us!]
As the man moved towards the entrance, he noticed something right near the Huntsmen statue.
A red and black scythe, stuck in the head of the female Huntress statue.
"...oh no."
[If the world is to be at peace, we, Team RWBY, need to stop him! Who's with me?]
"She has won…..this is bad." he said out loud, his eyes dilating inwards as the screen went black. "The White Queen has won."
Xxxxxxx
Name/Designation Title: Salem/Tock/Carmel Vanille/Summer Rose/Willow Schnee/Madame of the Glass Unicorn/Sienna Khan/Cinder Fall/Ruby Rose (Queen of White Salem- QWSRWBY)
Age: 3000~+ (Currently 15)
Affiliation: Ultimate Evil~Omniversal Evil.
Dimension: - 000123- 02 QWSRWBY
Abilities: Enhanced strength (fluctuates between hosts), speed (fluctuates between hosts), durability (fluctuates between hosts), endurance (fluctuates between hosts), agility (fluctuates between hosts), stamina (fluctuates between hosts), reflexes (fluctuates between hosts), and flexability (fluctuates between hosts), high magical potential, master over magic, true historical knowledge of Remnant, extremely high historical, social, political, scientific, economic, aura and semblance knowledge and skills, technology handling and skills, telekinesis (via magic), flight (via magic, Maiden or semblance based powers), clairvoyance (via magic), elemental manipulation (via magic, Maiden or semblance based powers), high aura pool (fluctuates between hosts), aura blocking skills and knowledge, master weaponized aura skills and knowledge, master dual blade knowledge and skills, extremely high manipulation skills, control over the Grimm (limited), master unarmed combat skills, Silver Eyes (limited by host), mastery over the Seasonal Maidens power (fluctuated between hosts), master swordsmanship skills and knowledge, sword handling, master hand to hand combat skills, high vision (depending on the host), high tracking skills, high whip skills and knowledge, high charisma, poison knowledge and handling, Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy for Girls (LBPAG) knowledge and skills, assassionation skills and knowledge, human and faunus physiology knowledge, human and faunus psychological knowledge, espionage skills and knowledge, high Dust handling and knowledge, master marksmanship skills and knowledge, master bowmanship skills and knowledge, master archery skills and knowledge, high pain tolerance (fluctuates between hosts), SDC knowledge, immortality (reincarnation), ethereal/astral projection (only during the 'reincarnation'/body hijacking process), master scythe handling and skills, firearms knowledge and skills, sniper rifle knowledge and skills, high Huntress skills and knowledge, high adaptability, master planning skills.
Semblance(s): Varied (Depending on the host)
Bio: In this timeline, when Salem caused the Twin Gods to return Ozma to the realm of the dead, instead of granting her bodily immortality, she was disintegrated by both gods and cursed to endlessly reincarnate into the bodies of others until the day she reflects and repents for her sins. However, this only fueled Salem's rage against the gods for denying her love's existence, deciding to use this curse as a weapon against them, forcing her will upon her hosts and transforming them into puppets, although she was unable to synchronize completely with those of the male gender due to them resisting the forcible takeover process, thus focusing her efforts to the opposite gender. Over the next few thousand centuries, Salem would hijack the body of various women across time, from human to faunus, all with the strongest aura, semblance, fighting skills, intelligence, influence and position in society and manipulate them into causing either the destruction of civilization itself or to conquer that civilization for a time, but always driven back by Ozma, granted immortality by the gods to keep her in line, after a time. Some of the hosts taken by Salem were Tock, Carmel Vanille, Summer Rose, Willow Schnee, the Madame, Sienna Khan, and Cinder Fall. Finding this cycle of destruction and repelling boring, she would allow for her current body, Cinder Fall, to be sealed in glass by Ruby Rose during the Fall of Beacon, and possess the Silver Eyes, granting her the means to kill Ozma once and for all. Utilizing her host's connections to her team, 'Ruby' would convince them that Ozma is nothing but a warmonger that controls the Grimm to keep humanity from uniting, thus making them hunt down the immortal and kill him in his sleep for the 'safety' of Remnant, controlling their actions from the shadows with her silver tongue. So speaks the words of Remnant's eternal queen, The White Queen.