Here's chapter 10 of RWBY: Necrophobia. Enjoy.
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The Cerca Mine Incident. Blake felt her blood run cold. The Cerca Mine Incident, one of the largest tragedies in recorded history, right alongside Mountain Glenn. And honestly, Cerca Mine still hurt many people to this day. Herself especially.
"Could someone please fill me in on what Cerca Mine is?" Ruby asked, sounding a bit embarrassed for not knowing what this important-sounding event was.
"How could you have not heard about Cerca Mine?" Altheda asked.
"It's not that I haven't heard of it," Ruby said. "It's just that I don't really know anything about it."
"I'm kinda with Ruby on this one." Yang said. "I don't really know much about this Incident either."
Altheda opened her mouth to explain but Blake beat her to it. "Cerca Mine was once the crown jewel of the Schnee Dust Company. It was their largest mine, supposedly capable of mining more Dust than any other mine in their possession. It also had one of their largest workforces."
"Alright," Yang said, turning towards her partner. "So it was a big Dust mine. But that doesn't explain the whole 'Incident' bit."
"The 'Incident' was..." Blake began, a tinge of concealed anger in her voice. She paused and exhaled. "Cerca Mine was the workplace for about nine-hundred people, with about two-thirds of its workforce being faunus. It was built underneath a mountain and was supposed to be one of the safest places you could have been outside of one of the kingdoms. But something happened that literally shook the whole mountain. The cause is unknown, but most investigators think it was either a localized earthquake or perhaps the largest Dust explosion in history. Either that or there was some sort of cave in and…" Blake closed her eyes. "Let's just say a lot of good people didn't make it back to their children that day."
Neither Ruby nor Yang spoke. What could they say after that? They began to shift their gaze back to Weiss but Blake drew their attention when she resumed speaking.
"And what did the Schnee Dust Company do? Nothing, absolutely nothing. It's as if they were more shocked that their crown jewel had crumbled than they were about the hundreds of people who died."
"Blake." Yang said softly, noting how her partner's tone had changed and her hands had balled up into tight fists.
"The White Fang had a field day with the Incident. It was probably one of the reasons they took the drastic turn that they did. And also why so many faunus didn't leave when it happened."
"Blake!" Yang called out strongly. The faunus snapped herself out of her monologue and looked towards the blonde. "I think we get it…and you kinda zoned out for a moment."
"Sorry," Blake said quietly, releasing the fists she had made. "This…Cerca Mine affected me in a very personal way."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ruby asked, concerned for her friend.
"No." Blake said, just above a whisper.
"Okay," Ruby said, giving Blake a worried look. "But if you change your mind…well, we're here if you need us."
"Yeah!" Yang cheerfully exclaimed, looping her arm around her little sister. "You've got me, Ruby, annddd-" Yang's smile quickly changed into a look of realization. "I'd momentarily forgotten why we were here." She clapped her hands together. "So, back on track, is there anything we can do to help Weiss become, uh, sane again?"
Altheda shrugged. "I don't know. Honestly, we're stilling trying to understand her dementia."
"Well how did you fix her last time?" Yang asked.
"We didn't."
"Eh?"
"During her fourth year after being committed-" Altheda began.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa," Yang interjected, raising her hands. "Weiss was committed for FOUR YEARS?"
"Yes, she was." Altheda said. "If I may continue?"
"Yeah, sure go on." Yang said, leaning against the wall. "I'll just be here, trying to wrap my head around this."
"Anyway, I don't know how she regained sanity. She apparently blocked out the trauma and repressed her memories of the Incident and her years here." Altheda sighed. "One day she was her regular insane self, the next she's wondering where she is and where her mother went."
"Her 'regular insane self'?" Blake questioned, surprised to hear a doctor refer to her patient in such a way.
Altheda looked away from Blake. "I…I was her psychiatrist back then too, so forgive me if this is how I'm used to seeing her. Four years will leave that impression."
Yang looked through the glass again. "…Are we sure this is the same Weiss who's on our team? She doesn't have some sort of body double, sister, or someone else that could be the girl down there?" Blake and Ruby just looked at her. Yang held up her hands defensively. "Just to clarify, I was being serious, I wasn't trying to make a joke of this, this…Okay look, I have no idea how to respond to any of this. Weiss has gone completely bonkers and it's not just like we can just ask her what's wrong or how we can fix it!"
There was dead silence as Yang practically finished with a yell. Ruby wasn't sure what she just saw. Yang seemed…helpless, or something similar for a moment. The mere notion that such a thing was possible for her big sister sent shivers down her spine.
Suddenly, Ruby's eyes widened. She slowly raised her hand, like a student requesting permission to answer a question in class. "Uh, this may sound really dumb, but can we go ask her what's wrong?"
Everyone in the room immediately locked eyes with Ruby. Yang and Blake looked at her as if she'd just asked if she could keep a Deathstalker as a pet. Altheda let out a small laugh and then, to everyone's surprise, said, "Sure, knock yourself out."
"Huh?" Yang said, her jaw dropping. "You mean we can actually, actually, go down and talk to her?"
"At your own risk of course." Altheda said as she walked back towards the window. "It should be safe for now. She doesn't show any signs of being on the edge of another one of her episodes."
"And how do you know what these 'signs' are?" Blake asked.
"Remember those four years I mentioned a minute ago?" Altheda responded, walking over to a door in the room while she reached into her pocket. "Well her symptoms haven't changed much since then." The psychiatrist pulled a key out of her pocket and inserted it into the door's lock. One quick turn later and the door creaked open, revealing a small flight of stairs that led down into Weiss's padded room. "The door at the bottom isn't locked, so go right on in." Altheda paused for a moment, as if mentally debating something. "But just to be safe, only go one at a time. Don't want to chance startling her."
Altheda held the door open. Ruby slowly moved towards her as she looked back at Yang. Yang just held her hands up as she shrugged and said, "I guess it couldn't hurt."
"Oh, just one more thing." Altheda said as Ruby passed her. "Try to avoid sudden movements. Nothing…erratic."
"And if I do something on accident?"
"You have an active aura right?"
"Yep." Ruby answered with a smile. But after a moment her smile faded into a concerned look. "…Why do you ask?"
"In case she tries to kill you." Altheda said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Yang (as well as the other two girls) stared at Altheda. "Is that a likely possibility?"
"Remember those three attempted murders and attempted suicide I mentioned earlier?" Altheda said, frowning. "Well during her four years here, those numbers were on the verge of triple-digits."
Ruby gulped. She took a deep breath and proceeded down the stairs.
Yang looked at Altheda. "You were kidding about that, right?"
"You have no idea how much I wish I was." Altheda said as she went towards the window. "Well, anyone care to watch this with me?"
Blake and Yang walked up to the glass just in time to see Ruby walking up to Weiss.
"Hey Weiss." Ruby said softly to her partner. Weiss was scribbling away on a drawing pad, her eyes darting franticly, yet never leaving the paper she held. She was muttering something under her breath but Ruby couldn't make it out.
"It's me, Ruby." Said red cloaked girl stood awkwardly for a moment. "Actually, you already know that." Weiss didn't react to a word that was said. "Or…at least I hope you still do."
Again nothing. Ruby began to walk closer. "Come on! Yell at me, list facts, do something Weiss-y!" Ruby stood over Weiss and put her hand on her shoulder.
Weiss's eyes widened in an instant, her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks. She stopped her scribbling…she stopped everything actually. She sat still, completely frozen. Her mumbling had stopped, her lips frozen in mid-word.
"…Weiss?" Ruby asked, worried for both Weiss and herself. She remembered how Altheda hold told her about Weiss attempting to kill people and ensuring she had an active aura. Ruby gulped.
"Back away slowly." The doctor's voice came in quietly, but firmly over an intercom. Ruby was all too happy to oblige. She slowly removed her hand from Weiss's shoulder and started to slowly walk backwards.
After what felt like several minutes Ruby finally reached the stairway. She went in, shut the door, and then rushed up the stairs. When she reached the top of the stairs she saw Altheda next to a small counsel with a mike near the far side of the window.
"So, how was it?" Yang asked. Her tone was a mix of her usual energy and her concern for her sister.
"Kinda scary." Ruby answered, sounding depressed. "And definitely not the outcome I'd hoped for." She'd hoped that her friend would at least acknowledge that she was there…or at least acknowledge her presence in a way that didn't seem like it belonged in a scary movie.
"Well, I guess it's my turn." Yang said.
"Turn?" Blake asked. What is this, a game?
"Yep," Yang said. "I'll see if she does anything different with me." Yang started to walk towards the door.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Blake asked, slightly annoyed that her partner was treating their friend like some sort of zoo attraction.
"Yeah, it'll be fine." Yang said. Blake noticed how her tone changed slightly and how Yang had shifted her gaze towards Ruby. Then she understood. Yang wasn't focusing on helping Weiss right now as much as she was trying to encourage her sister that everything would be alright.
With a big smile to her sister Yang went down the stairs.
"Hey Doctor Altheda?" Ruby said.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering…why is the door at the bottom unlocked? Couldn't Weiss get out?"
Altheda smiled. "No. We have a small anklet on her left leg. It lets out a weak signal, so if she gets too close the door would auto-lock." Altheda looked back to see Yang walking up towards Weiss.
"Now, let's see how she fares."
"Hello Ice Queen." Yang said cheerfully. No reaction from Weiss. The girl had resumed her scribbling shortly after Ruby left. "Oh come on. Not even the hint that you're irritated? You always get irritated at that nickname."
Yang walked up so she was standing right next to Weiss. "Okay, so you've made clear that you have a 'no touching' rule going on, sooo…." Yang's smile flattened as she tried to think of something to do. All the while the only background noise she had was Weiss's continued scribbling. That's it! Yang suddenly thought.
She leaned forward whispering Weiss's name as she began to wave her hand in front of the girl's face. Almost immediately, Weiss reacted. She quickly brought the pen she'd been using to draw with close to her chest…and almost as quickly jabbed Yang's hand with it.
"GAAHHH!" Yang yelled as the seemingly harmless object drew blood. Not much blood but enough so that it hurt like crazy. "OKAY, NO INTERUPTING YOUR ARTS AND CRAFTS TIME! GOT IT!" She backed away from Weiss, shaking her injured hand and mouthing curse words.
"Sorry." Altheda's voice came over the intercom. "I forgot to mention that it's a bad idea to block her view when she's scribbling. She seems to take it very seriously."
"Yeah, no kidding." Yang angrily grumbled, using her aura to heal her hand. "You could have mentioned that earlier."
"I'm just use to the other staff already knowing this stuff. Knowing and avoiding some of her triggers has become second nature, so we forget that others don't know about them."
"Maybe you should make a visitor's warning list or something."
"Weiss doesn't get visitors. During her time here, her family only came once in four years."
Her family only came to see her once? Blake thought. Being here for four years, without any friends or family, that would drive me insane…kind of ironic, really.
Yang came back up, closing the door behind her, and shot Altheda an irritated glance.
"Blake, your turn." Yang said. Blake shot Yang the same look that Altheda had received.
"I think I'll wait, or maybe pass altogether."
"You okay Yang?" Ruby ask, appearing next to her sister in a flurry of rose pedals.
"I'm fine sis." Yang gave Ruby a small hug.
"Glad to hear that."
Blake walked up to Altheda. "Do you have anything else we could look at?"
Altheda thought for a moment. "Well we have her old drawings."
"I think that will be enough, thank you." Blake said.
Altheda walked over to a closed door, opposite of the stairs. She grabbed the knob and opened the door. The girls followed and saw rows upon rows of filing cabinets.
"So which cabinet is Weiss's?" Ruby asked.
"All of them."
The jaws of team RWBY all dropped again. "These contain all the sketches she's made and photographs of everything she's ever drawn on the walls. And there all organized chronologically, so please put the files back where you find them."
Altheda stepped out of the room and went back to the window, keeping an eye on Weiss. Ruby looked over to her team. "Alright team, let's get started."
Twenty Minutes Later
"The same thing again, the same thing again, the same thing again-" Ruby droned on, shifting through page after page of Weiss's old drawings. So far everything in the folder was whatever they'd seen her drawing downstairs. "Do either of you have any idea about what this thing is? Because Weiss was flat out obsessed with whatever it is."
"No idea."
"None."
Ruby groaned. There had to be something in here that would help them help Weiss. "This thing has to be something important. Why else would she keep drawing it?"
Because she's lost it. Blake thought. They'd each taken a random file from different cabinets, but so far all of them were the same image. A few minutes ago Yang found a page with the phrase 'Make Us Whole' repeated over and over again. Even though they'd seen Weiss with that in her room, they all gathered around, simply glad to see something different. But that feeling soon faded as they found more and more of them.
How could Cerca Mine have caused this? Blake was still having trouble believing that Weiss had been there at all. She looked at the sticker that had been placed on the drawing, listing a bunch of official info: Weiss's name, date, patient age and status, drawing number-
Wait a minute. Blake read the label again. She then read it again. She couldn't believe this. "Weiss…was eleven."
"What?" Yang asked, unsure of what her partner had said.
"According to this, Weiss was eleven." Blake's eyes widened. She put her hand to her head. "Is that even possible?" She said to herself.
"Is what possible?" Ruby asked, feeling like she was being left out of the loop.
"The three of us are all the same age." Blake said. Ruby opened her mouth to object, but then realized that by three Blake meant herself, Yang, and Weiss. "The Cerca Mine Incident was eight years ago. So she would have been nine years old when it happened." How could I have not realized that sooner? I guess I was more concerned with what I saw Weiss doing.
"So something drove her mad when she was nine?" Yang asked, unable to imagine what could have driven a child to this kind of obsession.
"Mad enough to murder…" Blake whispered. She couldn't even imagine a child trying to kill others or herself, let alone believe that child was Weiss Schnee.
Ruby went to grab a new file, this time going to the far side of the room. When she pulled it out and opened it a small smile appeared on her face. "Yay, something different." She took another look. Her eyes widened and her smile grew. She threw her fist into the air as she yelled, "AND NOT CREEPY!"
"What?!" Yang and Blake rushed over to Ruby. Ruby showed them the picture in the file. It was a childish drawing, filled with mostly stick figure like people. Most of them had orange half-circles on their heads.
"I guess these must be the workers of Cerca Mine." Blake said softly.
"Oh, so are those hardhats?" Ruby asked with a childlike demeanor.
"Probably." Yang answered. She grabbed two more files from the same cabinet Ruby found hers. She handed one to Blake. "Let's look through more of these and hope we don't start finding that symbol again."
Blake nodded and started to look through her file. The first picture she saw was a drawing of what Blake assumed was a woman. The hair was sketched like Weiss's when she had her ponytail down. The figure also seemed to be holding Weiss's Myrtenaster in her hand. There was a surprising difference in the quality between the two aspects of the picture. While the overall quality was still low, much more effort seemed to have been used for the woman than for the weapon. There was something else in the background of the picture. A small red dot with small circles around it. A target perhaps?
Blake took out another drawing. This one contained another one of the usual image that they'd seen and Blake almost moved on upon seeing it. However, another second showed that the image contained more than just the common symbol. The thing was partially grayed out towards the base of it, looking like the thing had been drawn over. There were also stick figure people. Several of them were scattered around the drawing, but three were side-by-side. The middle one was small and the hair design matched the figure left of it. But to the right…
Blake blinked and rubbed her eyes. The figure next to the two of them had two eyes that were doted in a yellow-ish color. The other two were both drawn with light blue eyes. Has to be a coincidence.
The faunus quickly put the picture back in the folder and took out another one. This one was almost entirely filled with the image that Weiss had been obsessing over.
Really wish we had a name for this thing. Blake thought. This drawing was filled with more details, looking as if every line had been added with care. The image was lined with the symbols that she saw Weiss drawing. But what really caught Blake's eye was what had been drawn at the bottom of the image. Drawn with great detail, was a small hand, seemingly reaching out towards whatever the thing was.
It's as if she reached out to touch it. Blake pulled out a new picture. She actually felt a small smile from this one. It showed the trio from before, looking up and surrounded by black. But all along the side and top of the image were what seemed to be multicolored stars. No, that wasn't quite right. Each one was in a small diamond shape.
Dust. Blake realized, smiling. With Cerca Mine, I don't know how that surprises me.
Blake took another look at the three people in the image and her smile faded. The one with the yellow eyes seemed to have a new addition. Two tiny triangles on top of its head.
Blake couldn't take her eyes of the image. It can't be…Old memories began to surface in the faunus. It just can't be…Memories of amber eyes, ears like hers, and a loving smile. Blake stood up. I have to know.
Blake didn't bother putting the picture back in its proper place. She walked out of the room, not noticing how Ruby and Yang were gathering around another picture, trying to motion for Blake without taking their eyes off the image. By the time they looked up, Blake had already passed Altheda and reached the stairs.
She closed the door behind her. After Blake took a few steps down she stopped. After a moment's deliberation, Blake reached up and undid the bow around her feline ears. She felt them twitch reflexively upon removing the ribbon, which she placed in her pocket.
She took a deep breath, opened the door at the base of the stairs, and stepped in.
Weiss had moved from her position on her bed towards a corner on the other side of the room. She was curled up in the fetal position, hands gripping her head, and slowly rocking back and forth. She was mumbling quietly under her breath, so quietly that Blake could barely hear it. The silent sound of Weiss whimpering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Make us whole." Unlike before, the poor girl's eyes were darting franticly from side to side, as if searching for a danger she knew was there.
"Weiss?" Blake said softly. The white haired girl didn't respond. "Weiss, it's me Blake."
Weiss's eyes glanced at Blake. Blake felt a moment of hope before the eyes began to drift away. But as Blake's smile faded, Weiss's eyes suddenly stopped darting and she slowly moved back to Blake. At first Blake was glad…but then Weiss's eyes widened and her back and forth rocking stopped. It was like when Ruby touched her…and what had caused Altheda to worry.
"…Blake Belladonna…" Weiss said, in a near nonexistent whisper. Blake could only stare at Weiss, surprised how hearing her own name could leave her stunned. "…Belladonna…" Weiss's arms slowly left her head with one hand disappearing in between her legs. It reappeared a moment later, as Weiss slowly extended each finger to touch the floor. Then she began to slowly lean forward, eyeing Blake almost like a predator eyes it prey.
"Blake, where'd ya go?" Yang called out, walking out of the file room with a folder in hand. "You need to see this. Now."
"Where is she?" Ruby asked to no one in particular. She was pale and clearly uncomfortable with the picture she'd found.
"She went down to see Weiss." Altheda answered, turning towards the girls. "Did you need her?"
"I thought she didn't want a turn." Ruby pouted. Yang gently, but solidly elbowed her sister. "I mean, yes. We need to show her something Weiss drew."
The girls walked up the window. Altheda glanced over as well but what she saw surprised her. Blake was nowhere near Weiss and yet her patient had frozen. Then something happened that startled them all.
A snowflake-shaped glyph appeared on the floor centered around Weiss's hand.
"SHE HAS AN ACTIVE SEMBLANCE!?" Altheda shouted, immediately running for the stairs, Ruby and Yang in close pursuit. The doctor practically launched herself down the stairs, reaching out for the door. When she reached, she was both shocked and frustrated to find the door locked. She clenched her teeth as she realized that the system must have auto locked, meaning that Weiss was close to the door. She reached towards the wall and threw open a panel, immediately slamming a large red button. The door opened and all three of them ran into Weiss's room…to a rather shocking sight.
Weiss Schnee, the girl who had lost her sanity, had her arms around Blake Belladonna. She gripped the faunus, not to harm her, but rather like a child would an adult. And she was crying her eyes out.
Blake could only stand in shock. Weiss had used her glyph to propel herself towards her. Blake didn't even have enough time to think about what Weiss was going to do. But even if she had finished her thinking, Weiss sobbing on her would have never been on that list. She slowly and awkwardly put her arms on her crying teammate.
"Uh…there, there." Blake said, unsure of what else to say. She looked back towards the other three, who were also frozen in shock. Blake then mouth the words they were all thinking;
"What the heck is going on?"
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Hello again everybody! Because this is the internet, I feel obligated to deliver this news in one of the most common [Memes?] there is. *Clears Throat*
IT'S OVER NINE THOUSANNNNNDDDDDD!
RWBY: Necrophobia has reached over 9,000 views! Thank you everybody for making this possible. I'm happy that you all like this story and I hope you continue to enjoy it. Also, I want to let you know that I do have a reason for Weiss's reaction to Blake. Feel free to guess (I really enjoy seeing your theories, thoughts, reactions, and predictions).
Finally, I decided to create a poll for a small Top 10 for this story. (After all, now that there's ten chapters I might as well. No harm in doing it.) Please feel free to vote for your favorite chapter at any time you like. I'll likely have it up until I create a new chapter, so take your time (and if you decide not to, no harm done). Well, if you haven't already, please fav, follow, or leave a review to let me know what you think of this chapter. And if you already have: Thanks! I appreciate it!
