Interlude One: Death of the Divine

The tree was an ancient marvel. It was a large edifice thick with lush foliage, standing as the centerpiece of this underground chamber. Flowers ornamenting the leaves were in a hyper state of flux, blooming, maturing, rotting and then falling off all in the space of a handful of seconds. As they drifted in the air like glowing debris two figures approached, leaves disintegrating as they walked along a long road following a glowing outline. A baroque gate was sucked underneath the ground to allow them passage.

Vernal was a brawler and looked the part. Well muscled, hair cut short and thin against her scalp and two crescent blades strapped to her waist. Next to her Lionheart looked like a professor, well dressed with a bolo tie to accent his suit, his grayish brown hair was more of a mane in comparison to his cohorts, helped by the fact he had more hair on his face than she did on her head.

Directly in front of them was a mound of giant rocks, a glowing door taller than a house carved into their surface. There was a silhouette of someone sitting at the base of that door. They looked to be in the middle of some sort of serene meditation.

Vernal looked to her headmaster as they walked. "Seriously? You think this weirdo can help? Looks like he should be writing self-help books."

"Please don't start this again," Leo pleaded. His tone and cadence didn't project an authority one would expect from one in his position. Armies of huntsmen moved at his whim, hundreds of thousands sought protection under his banner yet he sounded anxious and tired, nervous and unsure. "I've talked with them a lot over the last month and I think, truly, that this is the solution you've wanted."

She laughed. "'Them', do you hear yourself? One person is not two. Also if you're so convinced then why are you so on edge?"

"Because I'm betraying Ozpin for you!" He whipped himself to her direction. "If he finds out what I'm doing, the loss of my position is the least of my concerns. But I'm willing to risk it for you." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you've always hated being a maiden, ever since you were little. That resentment has only grown over these years, I know it has and I genuinely believe he can help."

"And you're willing to risk all of that for me?"

"Of course!" He sounded offended by the implication. "I-I've raised you, taught you, trained you. You've risked your life for me and this kingdom more times than I can count and now I've finally found a way to give you the life you wanted. So please, trust me."

Vernal looked to the ground. That stung. The words were bad enough but his tone is what crushed her, the sincerity which he was speaking.

"Alright," she relented, "I'll give this guy a chance."

"Thank you," he hugged her. "Thank you."

She returned it. "Alright, let's go see what this guy is all about." The two continued down the walkway. It wasn't long before the stranger noticed their presence with a turn of the head. He was lifted into the air as his legs uncrossed by some unseen force. Vernal took note of that.

The stranger turned to her. He was a paradox given human form. Small yet imposing, pretty yet handsome, strong yet soft; every step caused the shadows of his face to change and with each change new details seemed to overwrite his previous identity. Depending on where you were standing and what angle he was at he looked to be either male or female, or maybe some disconcerting amalgam of the two at the same time. Whatever the case he was always attractive. Almost to an uncanny, doll-like degree. There even seemed to be the swells of small, budding breasts underneath his overbust corset but that, amazingly, didn't actually help.

"So you're Vernal, the Spring Maiden, correct?" Even that voice was hard to nail down.

"Leo tells me you can get rid of this curse?"

"Ah, straight to the point, I like it. Ruby, by the way." He waved a hand. "So to answer your question: sorta," Ruby tipped his hand. "You see, the only way to lose the maiden's power is, well, death. Not exactly an ideal solution for you, I assume. But I could get rid of that responsibility."

"And you do that how?"

"Well that requires a little explanation." Ruby interlocked his fingers. "You see, maidens aren't important because of their power, useful as they are. You are important because of the connections to these vaults. The four of you are walking, talking keys to the most important and powerful objects on the planet." His hands clapped for emphasis. "And that is how we free you. Get rid of the relic and the corresponding maiden is left with nothing to guard; a warden with no prisoner, if you will."

Vernal laughed. "Jeez, you make it sound so simple. If only I had come up with that. All we need to do is destroy one of the 'most powerful items on the planet.' Sounds so easy, doesn't it?"

"Never said it would be easy, but 'not easy' is a far cry from 'impossible,' don't you think?"

There was a pause. "And what's in it for you? There's no way in hell you're not getting something from doing this."

Ruby took the jab well and smiled. "I'm glad you asked." He turned back around and began to walk towards the great door. "Have either of you ever heard of the myth of the Black Monk?"

Their shared looks of confusion answered for them. "Unsurprising. According to the story he was the first man to ever access magic. When the Gods of Light and Darkness agreed to make humanity they descended on one of the God of Light's creations, a spirit by the name of Gaia who lived on a pretty rock that would one day be called Remnant. This rock would be used as a home for both the Gods and their new creation. As compensation for the inconvenience Gaia would have a part in making this new species; a sign of respect from beings infinitely more superior. With but a thought the dragons could unmake her yet there they were, asking for permission and even giving her direct involvement. It may as well have been a dream."

Vernal and Lionheart shared a look. Neither of them were quite sure as to where this was going, or even why it had been brought up in the first place.

"Together the Gods would make man in the likeness of them. Gaia would make man's other half, woman, in her own likeness. However man was physically superior, so in an effort to equalize Gaia gave her daughters the ability to access magic and decreed no man shall possess it. The gods didn't care one way or the other for humanity was nothing more than a trinket to them, a symbol of unity, something to look at just to prove the Brothers could work together. By just existing humanity fulfilled its one purpose.

The rest of the story is much too long to go over here, but to summarize: the Black Monk broke that decree and became the first man to wield magic. Not just that, but he progressed it to a scale never before imagined by either the humans or their creators. He would later create a sect that adhered to his beliefs in the freedom of the individual, destroy the spirit called Gaia and give her magic to all humanity, and later on battle both gods to a standstill. In a last ditch effort he sacrificed himself to bar the gods from physical reality, casting them back to wherever they came from. His hope was that humanity as a whole would flourish and become like him, even surpass him. but that wouldn't happen with the damocles that were the gods dictating unto us, actively curtailing our progress."

A finger tapped the door. "These are all that's left of them. Get rid of the relics and you sever the last threads tying them to reality. Not only that but the grimm would lose their energy source. The result: a humanity completely free from the tyranny of the gods and their agents, and the removal of our greatest existential threat."

Ruby turned to Vernal. "With this act you could help stop the cycle. The freedoms of future women wouldn't have to be stolen to protect these things, these relics which fuel the grimm even as well speak by giving the gods essence an anchoring point, these relics witch offer a possible way for the dragons to snake their way back into this universe and once again rule over us with iron fits, assuming they don't wipe us out and start again."

The gap between the two closed. "Ozpin wants a world of stagnance, one where the cycle of sacrifice is never ended. He is an agent of the gods and wants humanity to conform to their commandments, regardless of our potential without them. The gods decree this so it must be done, the gods command that so there's no alternative. There is no room in Ozpin's world to question or explore the limits of human possibility, to venture out into the unknown, only the blissful certainty of slavery."

Ruby and Vernal were an arm's length apart again. "There's your answer. Humanity can never be at peace with these things hanging around."

Vernal couldn't stop laughing. "That sure was a roundabout way of saying you hate Ozpin. Could've shaved ninety percent of that speech off."

"But I don't hate Oz," Ruby corrected, just as friendly as the start of their conversation. "It's hard for me to hate someone doing what they believe in, even if it's diametrically opposed to me. But always remember this, regardless of your decision today: there is no snake more venomous than a preacher of a 'greater good,' even if their belief happens to be genuine."

There was another laugh, this one thought sounded more forced. "You mean like you?"

Ruby smiled. "That is the difference. Good and evil mean nothing to me, they are frail constructs that humanity tries to enforce upon an inherently amoral reality. I'm not doing this because I believe it's the 'right thing to do.' If I fail I fail and the world will continue just fine. I'll leave the moralizing to the lazy dogs looking for approval from their masters. They can sit and judge while I do what I believe is the most logical course for progress."

Ruby reached out and gently grabbed onto Vernal's biceps. It wasn't threatening, if anything it was calming, a reassuring pressure telling her she wasn't alone. "So, will you open the vault? Will you help me break this unnecessary cycle?"

There was a moment of silence. She turned to Leo. "And if I do this I'll be free? No more maiden stuff? I can finally leave this kingdom?" The headmaster gave her mournful nod. It was hard hearing language like from a student you were so proud of, invested so much time in. But he understood her sentiment, as hurtful as it was. Even empathized with it.

"Well of course," Ruby added. "What good is a gun with no bullets?"

"And you can do it? Now?"

Ruby nodded. "In theory, but I won't know for sure until I have it in my hands."

"How?"

Ruby crossed his arms. "While I'm not opposed to telling you it would take hours to give you the simplified version. Whether or not you want the explanation now or after the fact is completely up to you."

"No I'll do it," was Vernal's immediate, almost enthusiastic response. "Now. Right now. Let's get this over with." She was marching to the door before even finishing. Ruby couldn't help but smile at his fortune. He hadn't planned to do this so soon but the chain causality had knocked some very favorable dominoes in his lab by happenstance. The maiden under Lionheart hating her lot in life so viscerally was a golden opportunity he just couldn't pass on. It had only taken three weeks of subtle conversation leading, subtext, and emotional support to end up here. Hopefully Ozpin doesn't notice anything until, at the very least, his kingdom is already in the works.

As a hand was placed on the door he eyed Leo in an attempt to gauge his reaction. He seemed resolute and stern but that twitching tail said otherwise. He was nervous at the very least, which was understandable.

"Don't worry, Leo," he startled him. "Everything will be fine."

Leonardo looked shocked but didn't respond, he seemed almost embarrassed that he had been caught wavering. "How-how can you be so calm? What we're about to do… we'll never be forgiven if he finds out."

"Who said I am?" Ruby made eye contact as he placed a hand on his own chest, he could feel the thunderous pounding like lightning in his veins. "I'm terrified. I can't remember the last time my heart raced like this, hell I'm not too far off from being queasy." For the briefest moment there was a crack in the facade, a vulnerability in his voice Leo had never heard before. It was fixed a second later. "Even so I keep moving forward; fear is what Ozpin has used to keep humanity fat and complacent like proper cattle, and I refuse to have my emotions dictated to me."

A deep exhale calmed his rapid heart somewhat. "Besides, things got a lot less daunting when I realized I'm simply finishing up what a great man started; the hard part has been done for many millennia now."

The door began to open. A series of layered fans furling opened a path to a different world. From Ruby's vantage point it looked to be a dry desert within those borders, an isolated world containing a piece of divinity. When Vernal entered she seemed to disappear from his perspective, a figure distorting in a haze of heat.

The tail of a lion wrapped around Leonardo's waist like a belt. "What's with this story you keep harping on? That Black Monk myth is all nonsense."

There was a laugh. "Oh I'm sure he told you that. Let's just say the function of the relics wasn't the only thing Oz hid from you all."

Leo seemed taken aback. "You can't seriously expect me to believe-"

"As I was saying: the Black Monk broke the commandments of the gods in person, he battled them. He created the system of Qliphoth to help people control their addictions and understand themselves, and for that he was reviled by the puppet prophets. His name is forever lost and his legacy trashed and smeared. The few who even know the myths see a distorted rendition; he is a demon, the devil, the corrupter, he who taught humanity the art of war, fornication, and selfishness."

Ruby turned his gaze back to the vault, his eyes seeing something that wasn't there. "And compared to that, what do I have to lose? My life? I was born without value. Dead or alive my existence is the same, at least by doing this I chance making my version of a better world more real."

Before a response could be had she returned, relic in hand. It was a lamp, golden and ornate, bigger than its holder's head. Much of the body was a pulsating, teal light. So that was the Relic of Knowledge, the one named "Jinn." He wasn't sure what to expect exactly but the descriptions he had read are definitely lining up with what he's seeing.

"Here it is," she presented it to Ruby. As a show of force energy the color of spring burst forth around her eyes. It seemed like a hazy mix of pinks, light blues and yellows. "Now let's see if you're all talk." When Ruby took hold of the relic that energy dispersed. He didn't seem threatened, if anything Vernal thought he looked a bit amused.

Instantly Ruby felt the life in his hands, its energy, like a heartbeat. How amazing, to be holding one of the four relics of dragons, to feel a piece of real divinity after years and years of research and study. In one way or another this thing had helped shape humanity, it had helped Ozpin maintain his control and come up with plans that would eventually lead to modern society. Now he held it, a piece of history, both human and divine. Proof that there was more to history than what was in the history books.

He couldn't wait to destroy it.

"The two of you need to stand back." They did just that. Ruby walked ahead a handful of paces and placed the lamp on the ground. There was a golden spike jutting from the bottom yet it balanced itself unnaturally as if it had no weight. He walked back to where he had been, noting the questioning faces he was receiving. Jittering hands reached out, the lamp perfectly framed between them with a direct line of sight. Now was the trial by fire. He took steady breaths. In. Out. In. Out. His hands stopped shaking.

What happened next was a blur.

Words left Ruby's lips but they were unlike anything they'd ever heard. Less words and sentences and more syllables and sounds yet there was still some logic to it, a rhythm, a scheme neither of them could verbalize but nonetheless could pick up on like some ancient chant. Whatever it was there was undeniable power in those words, a force electrifying the air. Vernal attempted to mimic one of the sounds but, after several failed attempts, she noticed a metallic tang on her tongue and a raw, scratchy soreness in her throat seemed to appear out of nowhere.

The lamp burst into light. Smoke poured out copiously, the glass cracked, and from the spout came a blueish vapor so thick it looked liquid. The room was cold now. All of the energy had been siphoned and condemned into the spot before them. Vernal turned only to see Lionheart shivering not unlike herself. Pangs of regret hurt her chest as she witnessed the glowing leaves become a cloudy hue; the limbs of that ancient tree began sagging.

The chanting switched. A woman's voice sang a high, almost celestial note and held it. Like a pulling of a chain the voice seems to heave the liquid from the lamp bit by bit as if whatever inside was struggling, desperate in their attempt to unhook themselves. It didn't work. A man's voice joined the woman, reaching the same high timbre but with a different, almost frying texture to his voice.

Wind stirred in the underground chamber, random and useless just as much as it was violent. The maiden could feel patches of frost forming on her eyelashes and brows. The lamp exploded seconds later. A thunderous crack blew Lionheart and Vernal from their feet but Ruby stood tall and firm like a mountain in the fog. Standing taller than all three of them stacked together was a woman's silhouette given physical form wrapped in golden chains. A being of energy now took the place of the lamp, but she was in horrible shape.

Physically she was awe inspiring, or even more than that. She was no doubt a being worshiped by ancient humans, a thing to be praised and prayed to for guidance and comfort. Now she was bent and twisted. Limbs were broken and obtuse as they were being twisted apart. Bloody vapor was released from Jinn's eyes, nose and mouth. She screamed and thrashed about like a captured animal but whatever spell Ruby had her in was absolute.

The tempo of the chant suddenly changed. Now it was intense, fast-paced and followed a faster rhythm. The two voices were now legion, dozens of men and women channeling their energy into words that should not be.

A bluish fog expanded all around Jinn before quickly engulfing the whole area. Past Ruby, down to where the pair had been standing before being blasted back and then some more. By the time it settled half of the chamber was completely curtained off, from the ceiling to the empty abyss below.

"Leo," Vernal's voice was an unstable quiver, "what is that? I'm not seeing things, am I?" She didn't know what it was, couldn't even begin to fathom its purpose, but it filled her with a horror none could describe.

The headmaster didn't respond, or rather he didn't know what to respond with. A form cast a shadow upon the fog right where Ruby had been obscured. Its back turned to them, the shadowy shape was winged and looked to have goat-like legs and a crown of horns jutting high above its head. Its demonic outline was easily five times the size of Jinn.

The monster was the thing dwelling both at the end of time and in the souls of mortals. It was the bloated carcass giving life for the next generation. It was the breakdown of plants and mountains, the rust on weapons and the sores on lepers. It was in the eyes of a drug addict plunging the needle, of a politician taking a bribe. It was a society breaking down, a culture tearing itself apart and self-immolating.

As the terrible, shrill screams continued Lionheart felt something inside break. He had heard of the concept of "staining" during his philosophical studies when he was younger. At its most basic it was the idea that someone or something could become metaphysically stained by committing some horrendous act, forever marking itself as a tool of evil. That feeling you get when walking on the same ground where thousands of innocents had met their death, that pit in your stomach when you learn someone was murdered in your own home; the blade of a guillotine that is forever smelling of blood no matter how vigorous the cleaning.

This place, his eyes and ears; they were being stained with an act so vile it brought him to tears, despite his apathetic views regarding spirituality. Believer or non-believer, devout or skeptic, this situation would bring all to tears for he was bearing witness to a murder of an aspect of humanity itself.

The male voices suddenly overpowered all else. A great bellow of unknown words echoed in the millions. The ground shook, the walls around them cracked, and the platform they were on buzzed with excess energy. The air was violently thrashed once again with an explosion, this one more violent and powerful than the last but the unnatural fog seemed to contain it. Leo and Vernal writhed on the ground at the sound but it was in vain. One didn't hear this language audibly, instead it was a thorn in your thoughts, a hand pulling at your emotions.

Then things became quiet. Stillness took over once again. The hell was over.

Leo couldn't believe what had happened, what he had just engaged in, had helped facilitate. His actions tonight went beyond criminal, it was a degree of vileness that hadn't been invented yet! There was no forgiveness for this, no going back. Judging by the way Vernal looked he imagined she was feeling similar.

"Evil," she muttered under breath, and she repeated it over and over like a mantra. "That thing is pure evil, and we helped it." Tears dripped to the floor as Vernal's voice cracked. "May the gods have mercy on us."

The sound of happy humming and jingling of earrings punctured his emotional haze. Lionheart looked ahead of him. From the thick fog a shadowy form approached then breached. There was an extra spring in Ruby's step, more enthusiasm than he had ever seen from him before. He was almost skipping his way towards them.

He passed between the two of them with only one satisfied line: "Good job everyone!" He didn't bother stopping to check on them.

"Wh-what now?" Lionhearts's voice was a raw, emotional mess, mired in regret and horror and this hollow, beaten down acceptance of defeat.

Ruby turned to his direction but his energetic feet never stopped. "Don't worry. When the time comes, I'll find you." Lionheart looked over to him, but Ruby was already reaching the elevator. "Enjoy your newfound freedom, Vernal!"

(End of Interlude One)

Author's Note: Two chapters in one year, man I'm on a roll lol. I had intended this to be a flashback in the next proper chapter but it just kept growing and growing and more important world building and foreshadowing was being established that I realized it's just better off as a standalone thing, more digestible and a whole lot less cluttered. I've been getting a lot of inspiration lately from re-watching volume 7 & 8 and, as an aside, it has cemented Ironwood as my favorite character in the whole show (execution towards the end notwithstanding.) Odds are I'm gonna do more of these interludes but maybe not just flashbacks, I was thinking I could write down the myths that are important to this version of RWBY and maybe experiment with the style a bit to reflect the age of it.

Anyways, in the next chapter we'll finally be getting a peek into Yang's side of the world again.