Ruby felt herself twitch as she creeped towards the sword. Glistening gold caressed the silver blade, sporting beautiful sky blue gems, a rather elegant look for what amounted to such a massive lie. She reached forth, gently taking hold of the deadly weapon. A streak of power flowed through her fingers, stopped only by the skin that kept it within her body.
Gazing across the face she took in the splendor of such a mystical relic, taking the time to appreciate just how pleasing it was to hold. The blade itself was special, and unlike the other relics it had no guardian to oversee it. It had one purpose and one purpose alone: to destroy all in it's path.
Letting out a breath Ruby allowed herself a moment to forget all the pain she had endured, resting in the knowledge that she was one step closer in her mission. The fact that she even found the relic was proof that she would succeed... well, proof enough for her at least.
After all, why would she be allowed to fail now? Everything she saw with each new memory pointed towards her ultimate success. Even though she never saw much, each instance was enough to keep her going, to give her some sense of hope.
One down, three to go.
Ruby strapped the blade at her side and made for the halls, taking one last look at the terrible room before she left. She let her emotions fuel her, and after such a startling discovery why shouldn't she? They were treating the eyes as if they were decoration, religious purpose be damned! Was this what they had planned for her, to be nothing but a jewel on some dirty old wall?
If so they had another thing coming. No matter what happened in the future the ruins of Aether were still present, the reason for it would be lost. The seed atop the castle needed the chance to grow, to be guarded by the creatures of Grimm until the time came. And the best way to attract Grimm, the best way to garner negativity?
Disaster.
"Stop right there!"
It was a command, from a voice she knew well.
"Took you long enough." She commented, smirking at his furious look.
"This has gone on long enough! The things I'll do-"
"You'll do what, bitch at me? You don't even know what's going on, nor how out of your league you really are." Ruby taunted, smirking as Shade's snarl grew deeper.
"Do you still think you have a chance? The Faunus of the rebellion have already been executed, dead, what hope do you have for them?" He yelled as Ruby lost control of herself.
The soldiers backed away slightly as her laughing filled the halls, Shade's snarl lessened.
"What... what's so funny? We've won, you've lost, why are you laughing!?"
Ruby let her laughter fade as she sighed, sending a teasing smile to the man as he gripped his whip tighter. "Not exactly the brightest of the bunch are you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" He was tense, and it made her feel all the better.
"I was never in it for the Faunus, I never cared about their little rebellion in the slightest. I wanted this." She spoke, watching as the man held a questioning look.
"What, the blade of fortune?"
"That's what they're calling it? Figures, nobody has been able to use it then I suppose?" Ruby let out as she held the sword before her, trailing her finger across it's edge. "Tell me, what do you know of this blade?"
The man was tense, caution in his voice. "The blade brings wealth and power to the wielder, giving them divine right to rule over the people." Ruby let out a smirk.
"Not the worst description it's been given I'll be honest, although you're completely wrong on all accounts." Her smirk twisted darker, as if laughing at everyone else. "This blade here... it's best if I give you a little demonstration."
A burst of petals flew through the halls, wasting no time Shade was on her tail. Ruby smirked on the inside - as having no physical body at the moment made it impossible to do normally - as she sped along.
Taking the opportunity she flew out a nearby open window, feeling a thrill fill her as she made her way up. Shade followed shortly, smashing through the glass and swiping at the outer walls. A clink brushed the air as the metal tip of his whip caught itself between the cracks in the stone. He flung himself up after her as she moved along the roofing, seeming to swirl around the spire and high above the castle.
She took form again, letting a thrilled look fill her face as she clenched the sword in hand. A dark pressure filled the air around her, she gave one last wink as the blade was swung.
First there was silence, only to be broken moments later as an explosion was heard deep below the structure, followed by rumbling. Ruby took the next few seconds to admire what happened, letting out a content sigh as she watched the scene below.
The castle split in two as the floating island burst.
.
.
"What's got you all up and about? You've been giggling all day?" Emerald asked as Mercury shook himself, several more giggles slipped out as he spoke.
"N-nothing, just remembering yesterday."
Emerald rolled her eyes, yesterday had been quite the day. After spending some time with Vermillion her partner gave her the rundown on what happened. His laughter had been much louder then, and even today it had been present all throughout.
Apparently team RWBY had tried - and failed - to spy on the duo, making what Mercury dubbed the most obvious spying attempt he'd ever seen. The blond one kept shifting her eyes at them, supposedly not knowing how to look from the corners of her vision. Red and white sat on the opposite isle, not even trying to sound busy. And the Faunus girl had just up and spoke with them.
Emerald was sure however that these little things weren't what had Mercury laughing so hard, but he refused to tell her what had, stating only that people should watch what they take. Sitting down she noticed that the boy was just about done with his laughing streak, maybe they could discuss what the plan for the day was.
"Done yet? Good, so any ideas for dealing with 'Grimm boy' today?" She questioned as Mercury relaxed. "Same as yesterday, hanging out and what not. Guy can't read the local language, so I've been reading to him."
"And just what have you two been reading together?"
"Comics." He told as she let out a sigh. "Should have seen that coming I guess."
"Don't knock it till you try it. Besides, I've picked out one of the longer series to go through. It'll take at least a few weeks before we finish it, Beacon's library is stocked with the whole line; all thirty-six issues." Mercury clarified as Emerald raised an eyebrow.
"Really? You do know we're supposed to be winning him over right? Comics are one thing, but I doubt they'll have him dying for us any time soon."
Mercury tsked. "Don't doubt the power of fiction, people will do crazy shit to see their views and values given approval, no matter what form said approval takes."
"Right..."
"Such a downer. Anyway, things are going smooth. After each issue we ended up talking about it a bit, as well as sharing a few stories of our own. For instance: did you know that most wild Grimm have their own villages."
Emerald was curious now. "No... I didn't, are you sure it's not just territory he was talking about?"
"No, I mean honest to goodness villages. Apparently underground and in some caves the Grimm will carve at the stone and burrow inside. Most of them supposedly do this in their usual packs as a way to keep their numbers grouped together for the sake of hunting success. You can walk into a cave and come across a whole swarm of them."
"Sounds more like a nest than a village." Emerald commented as Mercury snapped his fingers.
"On the surface yes, but according to V they divide the various responsibilities between themselves. Some are set to dig burrows to rest in, some burrow out places to store dead food-"
"Food? But Grimm don't need to eat." She asked as Mercury nodded.
"They don't, but apparently eating allows them to heal from wounds faster, so long as it's something living. Heck, there's even a place where the injured Grimm go to rest and heal after difficult hunts, and other Grimm bring them food from the storage hole."
Was any of that true, did the Grimm really have small places like that?
"Assuming it's true for the sake of clarity: how would V know any of that? Speaking of, you're on nickname basis now?" Emerald asked as Mercury shrugged.
"Don't know, started calling him V because it's shorter and he never corrected me, so I assumed he was cool with it. As for how he knows everything: I'm just as lost as you are."
Emerald sighed. "Uhuh, right, speaking of... where is he anyway? Shouldn't he be here getting lunch with everybody else right about now?"
Both looked around from their seats, yet they saw no sign of the guy.
"Guess he's not hungry." Mercury said as Emerald picked at her food.
.
.
Qrow was not in a good mood, surprising really as he was always in such a great mood. Yes sir he was always in the best of moods, he absolutely loved being yanked all over the place, especially when he had no clue what was going on. In fact he was in such a wonderful mood he emptied his flask three times in the past hour, a testament to how amazing he was feeling.
"This is bullshit. Stupid kid and his stupid wandering, always making me run around." He grumbled to no one in particular.
He passed by some of the students who had taken to whispering and pointing. Qrow never cared, not when he was younger and certainly not now, too busy looking for the little scamp.
How the dust does he keep doing this?
Was he just bad with directions? Qrow was starting to doubt himself now, and with the kid always seeming to disappear, he began to think it might just be himself who's lost. Vermillion practically had nothing to do, so there was no reason he would wander outside the school.
"Uh sir, do you need some help?"
Snapped from his thoughts the 'slightly' intoxicated man turned to face the owner of the voice. It was a young woman; bright red ponytail and sporting what looked to be a gold circlet across her forehead.
"Nah, I'm fine." He gave as she tilted her head.
"Are you sure? You've been walking circles around the courtyard for almost twenty minutes now." The lass gave, sporting Qrow to shake his head for a moment.
Okay so maybe he was a little more out there than usual, but what did you expect with luck like his. As he thought about it Qrow realized that he may be able to get some help with his current situation.
"Positive, but if you're so keen on what's happening around Beacon then maybe you can answer a quick question of mine. What do you say?"
"Very well."
Good, at least she's paying attention.
"I'm looking for a guy, about yay tall and generally emo looking, bright red eyes and wearing a black rose on his shoulder." Qrow described as the girl took on a look of understanding.
"Oh, you mean Vermillion?" She said as Qrow nodded. "Yeah, heard of him?"
"He showed up recently and nobody knows if he's here for the festival or not. Why are you looking for him anyway?" The girl asked as Qrow sighed.
"Because I'm his guardian. Headmaster has me looking after him while he's here, and the kid's always finding a way out of my sight." Qrow spoke as the girl gave a pity filled look.
"It must be quite rough."
"Tell me about it." Qrow let out as the girl looked past him.
"Well, I've seen him enter the east wing lounge around ten minutes ago. If you hurry you might be able to catch him."
"Thanks." Qrow gave as he took off for the lounge.
He was walking a lot faster than before, more amped up now that he knew where the boy had wandered off to. Smoothly he brushed through the crowds, swift in his stride as he came upon the lounge. Qrow stepped inside; low and behold the kid was sitting on one of the couches, right next to the man he met earlier.
One of Jimmy's guys. Wait... he was the one who was with ice queen!
Too bad Winter wasn't there as well, Qrow always did like teasing her with that nickname. Alas it was just him and... what was it, 'Clover'? Yeah that sounded about right, just him, the kid, and Clover.
"Hey kid!" Qrow called, giving a slight wave as he approached the two.
The boy looked up, sending one back as Clover glanced over, throwing out a greeting salute.
"Qrow, were you looking for me again?" The kid asked, to which he nodded.
"Kind of, Oz said you needed to learn how to read remember, and afterwards I get to train you."
Train was a... strong word, if anything it would consist of him beating the absolute daylights out of the little snot; teach the guy what happens when you make him go running around. Still though, at least he wasn't in charge of teaching the kid to read. As much as he reasonably could, Qrow was glad that duty was hoisted on the other suckers.
"Ah, so you're the combat tutor. The general said someone would be arriving afterwards to help with that. Clover Ebi, nice to meet you." Soldier boy said as he held out a hand.
"Likewise." Qrow returned as he took hold and shook. All they needed now was specialist suck-up and the whole party would be complete.
"Alright, we'll start with basic alphabet and some everyday object spelling. Afterwards we'll move ont- oh, Qrow... you're here."
Spoke too soon.
The woman had just walked in with a stack of papers in hand, presumably reading supplies to help the kid come to grips with the language. She was wearing a forced look of apathy, but he could see the twitch at the corners of her lips. Twelve seconds and he'd already managed to annoy her, a new record if he did say so himself.
"Nice to see you too ice queen."
"Don't call me that. Regardless I have to ask you to leave, right now Clover and I have work to do, and we can't have you getting in the way." Winter spoke as Qrow waved her off.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I've got work too. Both Oz and your precious general have asked me to help teach the kid to fight, after you've finished the reading lessons of course." He stated as her face twisted slightly. Yep, he pissed her off it seemed.
"Is that so... fine, just stay quiet and sit back, unless you need a refresher on how to read as well?" She taunted as he made a yapping gesture with his hand.
"Don't get in the way, got it. Just get on with the teaching already." He said as he took a seat in one of the nearby cushions.
Winter turned her head away, letting out an audible grunt as she sat across from Vermillion, proceeding to lay out some of the documents in her hands and start the lesson.
Qrow decided to simply lay back, letting himself relax as his eyes closed. He had nothing to do as of yet, and so he made the decision to try and get some shut-eye while he could.
Maybe a quick nap would do him some good.
.
.
"Hey Pyrrha, you okay?" Jaune asked as she took a seat next to him on the bench.
"I'm fine, just a little off at the moment." She admitted as the blond boy leaned closer. "Wanna talk about it?"
"It's nothing major, just a little reminder earlier of something that's been on my mind." She said as she looked forwards, taking notice of Ren and Nora. "What are they doing?"
Jaune looked over at the two. "Them? Team exercises mostly, Nora wants to work on some team moves, like the kind RWBY has. She's been practicing signals with Ren all afternoon."
Listening in Pyrrha was able to overhear some of what the two were saying.
"That's why it's perfect Renny, nobody would suspect a sloth!"
"But there aren't any sloths on the tournament field."
"That's why it'll work, they'll wonder where the sloths are coming from!"
Pyrrha felt pity for the boy, he had to deal with an energetic Nora all day. At least he didn't seem to mind too much, then again he was always quiet anyway. Maybe he was just used to it all the time?
"Pyrrha, you sure you're good?" Jaune asked again, knocking the girl from her thoughts. Leave it to Jaune to try and get an honest answer from her.
"I'm just... I'm just worried about everything with that guy, the one we're keeping tabs on."
"The guy that the others asked us to watch? Vermillion right?"
"Yes, him. I met a man who said he was Vermillion's guardian." Pyrrha said as Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Guardian, like... caretaker or something."
"Basically. Anyway, it got me thinking: does that mean that he's here to stay. Is the headmaster making him a student, even after he tried to kill Weiss and Blake?"
"I... well..." Jaune scratched the back of his neck. "I don't really know, maybe? But I mean... it's the headmaster, he wouldn't put everybody in danger like that willingly. He must have a reason, or maybe even a way to make sure that Vermillion doesn't try anything."
"I suppose." Pyrrha sighed as she leaned back. "Any news from team RWBY yet?"
"A little, apparently the headmaster's got them setting up the dance later this week, so they haven't been able to go down to Vale as of yet." Jaune told as Pyrrha held a confused look.
"Really, why them? Wouldn't it have been better to have some of the staff take care of it." She asked as Jaune stretched a bit, lazily collapsing back in the bench. "Weiss said that the staff are already busy with everything else, so they were chosen to handle the dance. She seemed really happy about it though, I guess she likes the idea."
"But why them specifically?" Pyrrha questioned as Jaune shrugged. "Beats me, pure chance maybe?"
"I guess..."
Pyrrha wasn't quite so sure. Team RWBY had been the ones directly affected by what happened with Vermillion, and for them to 'just so happen' to be tasked with a job that would keep them from being able to investigate the White Fang... it felt suspicious.
Did the headmaster know they were going after the Fang, or was it really just random chance? Pyrrha didn't know, but at the moment she was too tired to really do anything about it.
She'd just have to wait and see.
.
.
"Tape." Weiss commanded.
"Tape." Ruby responded handing it up.
"Scissors."
"Scissors."
"Paint."
"Paint."
Weiss messed around for a bit, climbing down the ladder and stepping back as she admired her work.
"How's it look Ruby?" The girl asked as Ruby squinted.
She didn't know what was so special about it. It was painted in white snowflakes, just like the last one. But no, the last one was winter night grey, they needed blizzard white. Stupid paint and their barely off colors, making her run around for different cans to satisfy her partner.
"Looking good." She gave as Weiss looked to nod.
"Right, now let's get to setting up the tables."
She was off again, swiftly moving to the other side of the room where the tables would be spread; most of which had yet to be unfolded. Ruby could only sigh as she lazily chased after her partner. Why was it always the boring work that got her excited? why couldn't it be something cool, like a trip to the movies or a party? But no, it was work that got her all up and moving.
It could have been worse, Weiss could have hated it like she did. With her partner so excited to set up the dance it meant that Ruby could rest every now and then. Weiss wanted to handle almost everything on her own, only calling when she needed a tool or something. Downside was that it left a very lazy Ruby to mostly stand around and do nothing, making her even more tired than before.
"How's it going?"
Ruby turned to face her sister as she walked in, followed by Blake who was right behind her.
"Not much, Weiss is deciding where she wants the tables set up." Ruby waved as her sister whistled.
"And I take it she wants it perfect?"
"Yup."
"Figures." Yang gave as she sat on one of the spare chairs. "How far along is it anyway? You've been here for the past two hours so it has to be ready soon."
Ruby let herself collapse on the seat. "Not even close. This is just the surface, Weiss wants to give each and every table a specific purpose."
"That doesn't seem so bad." Yang commented as Ruby shook her head.
"You don't understand, she wants to give every table a purpose. We already have more than enough for food and that, but she wants to use all of them!"
Yang shuddered. "Yeesh, a little much?"
"You have no idea." Ruby muttered as her sister patted her head.
"Well, good luck with that." Yang said as she stood to leave, only for Ruby to grasp at her.
"Save me Yang." She whimpered as her sister gave her a off smile.
"I'd love to help, really, but Blake and I need to go to the front desk. We need to get the list of people allowed to attend, make sure everyone is accounted for." Yang gave as she started away, leaving Ruby to plop back down and let out a tired breath.
Why me?
.
.
The chaos was... unimaginable. It was especially cruel considering how many lives were lost.
When the castle first tasted the sword's power all had been silent, seconds later the dust underneath that held the floating landscape erupted. The explosion hit the city first, ripping entire buildings and flinging the debris away. Everything beneath the castle was instantly crushed due to the force of the blast, with the resulting chaos spreading further around.
Next the castle itself split in two, without the gravity dust to hold it up anymore - as well as the lower half being blown to bits - the structure began to fall and break apart. The split down the middle was most likely caused by the slash itself, the physical blade never touched the thing, but the magic released from the swing sure did.
That wasn't all though, the magic released from the blade extended down to the ground below, scarring the very land itself as it left a huge gash in it's wake. The force from such a touchdown rupturing the stability of the city foundation and causing parts to rise and fall, like the waves of a puddle when a pebble is dropped into it.
Entire streets were uplifted and thrown into each other, mashing about in the sea of chaos. Steel and stone flying around like rain as it pillaged the rest of the area. Windows shattered as the occupants were thrown into the air, raining back down in a blizzard of gore as they were torn apart by the various chunks and bits that littered the sky. Ruby couldn't tell if it was screaming she heard, or the sounds of everything scraping and crashing into each other.
The castle plummeted, both halves spreading apart and leveling entire sections of the city as they broke apart during the drop. The shadow seed would land somewhere near the surface, covered in rubble and safe from the sight of any potential explorers to what now amounted to a pile of ruins.
A few minutes ago Aether had been a bustling kingdom, now though... it was a desolate wasteland.
Ruby descended, landing and taking physical form once again as the last of her petals flew through the air high above, to be carried with the winds as she surveyed the area. She felt sick at the sight of all the chaos, all the torn bodies of the once vibrant city. The streets were covered in blood and waste as she took a few moments to look around.
She saw not a single survivor, nor did she hear anything other than the winds and some rubble as it collapsed in on itself somewhere in the distance. For all intensive purposes the kingdom was dead, and she was the executioner.
You knew this was coming, knew what you were going to do, accept it and move on.
Feeling a warmth filling her she took notice of the black veins crawling up her arm. Using the sword had filled her with large amounts of corruption, more than she thought. She'd need to be careful from now on, she couldn't afford to be fully corrupted until it was time, as such she decided to abstain from using the blade unless absolutely necessary.
Ruby sighed as she started to turn around, only to be stopped by the sounds of ragged coughing. She flung herself sideways, staring in the direction of the sound as her ears were graced once again.
More coughing, someone was alive!
With speed she didn't know she had Ruby rushed off, bursting to petals once more as she chased the sound. Coming to a stop Ruby felt her blood boil at the sight of Shade, trapped beneath some stone and struggling to breath. Of all the people to survive it had to be him!
Ruby also took notice of just where she was, her eyesight giving particular focus to the headstone that sat defiantly against the destruction around it.
Lillian's grave.
Somehow, against all odds, it had managed to survive the death of Aether. A sick and twisted joy creeped into her heart as Ruby saw an opportunity. It was senseless, pointless, and cruel, but it was just too good to pass up.
She stepped forward, gripping the man and yanking him from the rubble as he let out a cry of pain. Not caring for his physical injuries she dragged him against the dirt, right up to the grave as she threw him before it. Ruby watched as he looked up, smirking as she placed a hand on the stone. The man froze as his eyes widened.
"L-Lillian..." He muttered, reaching out with his only remaining hand.
"You remember her right, the girl you drove to death. Must have been fun to play with her that night, too bad she couldn't be here to watch you like this."
"..." Shade was quiet as he let his head drop, all the while Ruby continued on.
"Ironic really: you took her life, and now I've taken your kingdom."
"Shut up..."
"It could have been simple, she didn't need to die. But you just couldn't help yourself now could yo-"
"I SAID SHUT UP!" He screamed, Ruby let a smirk cross her face.
"Upset, good, that's what you get for hurting her. I know what you did after all, no use hiding from it."
"You know NOTHING!" He let out as he slammed his fist into the dirt.
"Oh please, don't give me that. Even her mother knew what happened, what you did to her: leading her alone to a special place, deciding to throw her feelings away for your own lu-"
"I NEVER GOT THERE!" Shade's scream cut her off before she could finish. "I... I was late, when I arrived to meet her she was gone."
His head dropped as his body slumped. "She was so naive, so kind and innocent. 'Let him out of his cage' she said, 'let him run away to someplace safe' she said."
Ruby felt her smirk drop as he ranted. "So I did, I let him out and she told him to run away, to be free. I was so STUPID! I should have known what would happen, all because of that filthy fucking animal!"
Shade snarled as he spoke. "She never showed up, I tried to go see her the next day but her mother told me to piss off. I only found out later on my shift, while the bastard was bragging to the guards who caught him. He taunted and taunted, spitting on her purity as he told of her cries."
The man was laughing as he stared at the grave, caressing the cold stone. "I got him good though... hear that love, I got him good. Dragged him into the street and gutted him, skinned him as everyone watched, gave the pelt to the others and told them to make a nice hat."
Ruby backed away with a look of disgust as he smiled longingly at the stone, giggling the whole time as his blood coated the soil underneath.
"He won't be hurting anyone else you hear. I took care of the other animals too, so no one else will be defiled like you. Do you like that love, are you happy n..." His words cut short as he slumped, hand extended across the grave.
Ruby adjusted her dress as she looked over Shade, he finally seemed to pass out from blood loss, not much longer before death took him.
Was any of that true?
She shook her head, it made no difference. Sob story or not Aether was dead regardless, and she was out of energy to really care about things at the moment. Taking one last look Ruby started her trek north, to the settlement she told Blossom to head for, they would have her weapon and chothes waiting for her.
Shade would die, there was nobody around to give him aid so there was no worry he might survive and come after her. After all, Ruby promised to kill him for Blossom. He was the last life of Aether, and his death cemented the total destruction of yet another kingdom.
By her own two hands.
Author's note
...
Another major event over and done with. Maybe a little too wild and brutal, but it got the job done.
But hey, at least we got some calmer parts in between all the brutality. Good news is we've come to the end of Aether, so that's a plus... kind of. We'll get to move on again, as well as watch how team RWBY handles things back with V.
At least Qrow is having some better luck, followed by Winter and Clover as they join the fray.
Anyway, let me know what you think.
See you next chapter.