Author's Headnote: Here's a reminder to check your notifications, I'm not sending you anything. I just wanna make sure you aren't leaving people hanging.
RWBY: Festival of Blood: Reason for Betrayal
Jaune Arc:
- Aura Status: 100%
- Semblance: Aura Boosting
- Weapons: Crocea Mors
- Licensing: Student Huntsman, Second Year, Haven Academy
- Party Relations:
Nora Valkyrie: Concerned about the relic being destroyed.
Lie Ren: also concerned.
Violet Jasper: somewhat unbothered
Yang Xiao Long and Qrow Branwen: Unaware that the relic is destroyed.
Oscar, SSSN, Raven Branwen: See Nora
End of Major Character status report
Qrow's Villa, May 5, Friday, 12:00 PM, Living Room
Headmaster Lionheart was in binds in the living room, he was placed here out of the request of Qrow. Being he's in custody he would have to talk. Especially considering that Raven has her sword out and is ready to use it.
Jaune, Oscar, Nora, Raven, Ren, and Violet are gathered for the interrogation. They are all sitting around the living room alongside the former headmaster. And they are going to find out why exactly this man decided to align with Salem.
"I suggest you start talking." Raven threatened.
"You-you wouldn't hurt me. You need me." Lionheart said, in a cowardly tone.
Raven then stabbed his foot. A loud scream can be heard from Lionheart, after that he is gasping in pain.
"Anything more to add in? Why side with her?" Raven asked.
"Alright alright! Just... don't hurt me anymore. The reason why I sided with Salem is because... she can't be killed." Lionheart stated.
"You sided with her because she's immortal?" Nora asked.
"So are vampires, and you can cut their heads off and they'll stay dead." Raven retorted.
"No, vampires are undead, Salem is immortal. She has proved it to me, she has been incinerated before my very eyes and re-appeared in an instant." Lionheart said.
"She can revive from incineration?" Violet asked.
"From anything! She can't be killed. And knowing that, I knew that if I kept fighting, I would be fighting a losing war. She is eternal. She will outlive us all! She will kill us all!"
"You're a coward, you know that, right?"
"Yes, but a coward who would rather live."
"It would take common sense that she would kill you anyway."
"I... haven't thought of that."
"But if what you're saying is true, then brute force is not an option, either."
"What do you mean? Don't you have the relic?"
"The relic is a bunch of shattered glass. It's gone." Raven retorted.
"You mean... you broke it?" Lionheart asked.
"No, according to Jaune... my father did and the spirit that seemingly inhabited the relic died along with it."
"That can't be good... If Salem or anyone who knows they're real find about this..."
"They won't."
"How?"
"We can say that a thief stole it and ran off... while we were asleep." Jaune said.
"No one's gonna buy that!" Lionheart retorted.
"We'll have to take the risks. So... how exactly can we stop Salem?" Ren asked.
"How about we box her up and toss her in the bottom of the ocean?" Nora suggested.
"No, she would escape." Raven countered.
"Volcano?"
"Escape."
"Throw her in space?"
"We're still trying to figure out space travel. I bet MY hairs will all be gray by the time it happens."
"Throw her in one of those relic vaults?" Jaune asked.
"Could work... but we'll have to lure her out first." Raven said.
"Not to mention we'll need the correct Maiden to open and close the vaults." Ren stated.
"But the plan remains the same, we head to Atlas through Vacuo. Hold on, I get a text." Jaune said, checking his scroll. "Huh, Vale's CCT is back up."
"Guess that means Vale has been cleared out. Faster than I expected, too." Violet said.
"When did you think Vale would be restored?"
"By the time we head to Atlas."
"Well, given this convenience... I think it's a good time to drop Yang off there, and head to Vacuo."
"What? You're just gonna ditch her at Vale?" Raven asked.
"She's carrying a child, and by time we're in Vacuo. She wouldn't be in a state to fight, anyway." Jaune retorted.
"She could leave the baby with her father."
"Didn't you say he wouldn't take care of the grandchild?"
"Did I say that? Oh yeah... I think I did..."
"When we leave, we head back to Vale and head to Vacuo from there."
Everyone except Raven nods in agreement, who just... reluctantly goes along with, Jaune presumes. Eventually, the rest of the group was called over and relayed what Lionheart said. The fact that Salem can't be killed is tough, but the plan may be tricky enough to work... problem is, they'd have to Lure Salem to retrieve the relic herself. But how? Well, when they get to Atlas, only time will tell.
In addition, they may as well start packing so they can head back to Vale sooner, rather than later.
Character Change: Jaune Arc - Ruby Rose
City of Mistral, May 5, Friday, 10:00 PM, Lower Mid-City Hotel Room
Ruby had woken up... on the same bed Blake is in... who is still sleeping. Ilia is asleep on the couch across from the bed, guess she got tired. Blake is rather cute when she's asleep, but Ruby needs to wake up Blake. Ruby pets Blake's ears, in which Blake starts to react to it.
"Hey... wakey wakey." Ruby said.
"Ruby... it's still pitch-black outside." Blake complained, sounding groggy.
"I know, that's why I'm waking you up."
"What could be so important that you ne-" Blake said, licking her teeth. "Oh ya, vampire."
"Ya... you'll get used to it."
"I hope not."
"Anyways... time to get up. We're taking gonna teach you some basic vampire stuff before we head to Vacuo."
"Vacuo, why there?"
"People tend to go there to disappear."
"And we need to disappear... why?"
"Yakuza."
"Oh, fair point."
"Thankfully Illia fell asleep on the couch so we can talk about this."
"We can just tell her."
"I only think we got the reaction that we did from Weiss and Yang, and you... because we lived together for quite a bit. Ilia may not have the same reaction."
"What do you mean?"
"How would you react if some random stranger said they're a vampire before you saw me as one?"
"Okay, fair point."
Ruby had gotten up; she was still fully clothed in a random assortment of clothes that fit her. Blake had gotten up in the same fashion.
"We've already covered biting, thankfully."
"Ya... it was a bit awkward."
"So, review. Some things about biting."
"Don't do it without consent unless they're hostile."
"And when they're hostile?"
"Do it when they're unconscious or dead."
"Good. Now, where do you bite?"
"On the arm or neck, make sure you avoid arteries."
"Correct. How long?"
"No more than 5 seconds."
"No more than 3 seconds, Blake! When I did 5 seconds, you ended up eating half of the cafeteria!"
"Oh ya, sorry. 3 seconds."
"Good. I don't like it either, but it's something we need to do."
"So... uhm... when do the vampire powers kick in?"
"I don't know, you obviously weren't turned by the head vampire, so it would take longer. And you weren't turned by the same type of vampire so your abilities would be different from mine. Why? Why do you want to know?"
"Well, if we're going to be like this, we better look at the perks rather than the flaws, so we don't end up being self-loathing."
"That's one way to look at things. But I still want to be mortal."
"I understand that. But if you keep thinking about this negatively, you're only gonna hate yourself."
"Well... maybe I do."
"What do you mean?"
"I just can't forgive myself for the things I've done. Sure, I have no problem with actually killing, but I still find myself disgusted at myself for doing so. I'd essentially become a hypocrite, one who doesn't act by their morals and principles. I find that a good reason to be disgusted at myself."
"I see..."
"Don't get me wrong, I still love you. But there's this part of me that's always been there, who just wants to see my mom again."
"I kind of figured your smiles were always hiding something."
Ruby frowned, relaxing her muscles and showing her true expression. "I usually keep a smiling face on so no one would worry about it, but eventually... even I end up forgetting it was an act in the first place. I only remember because of what happened in Beacon..."
Blake hugged Ruby softly, rubbing her back. "It's okay, Ruby. You don't have to put up a smile for me, or for anyone. If I had known you felt like this... I kind of understand why you wanted me to kill you." Blake said, softly.
"I wanted to die, looking at someone I love, and then greet someone else I love in death..." Ruby said, somberly.
"Well, tough luck because I won't let you die... I love you too much to let you go."
"Thanks... in a sense... I'm glad someone who knows I'm still not dead feels that way about me."
Blake kissed Ruby on the lips softly, and then released her from the hug. "Let's go Ruby, we have to investigate the cause of whatever happened at Beacon."
"DAMNIT!" Ruby said, in rage. She nearly punched a wall, but Blake stopped her.
"What?" Blake asked.
"I was so obsessed with rescuing you, I had forgotten why I came to Mistral in the first place." Ruby answered.
"You came here to investigate, right?"
"Yep, specifically about Cinder. Although my memory of it is still foggy, I do remember her telling me to run, and that I'll always just keep running."
"Those were her final words?"
"Along with a chuckle in the end."
"She likely said that to psyche you."
"No matter, I still don't think she was the leader of the operation, more so like a public figure."
"And no doubt killing her meant you've angered some powerful people."
"One who controls grimm. Although Raven tells me she could have been working for Salem, the grimm queen."
"The grimm queen?"
"She's referenced in those vampire books, so no doubt she's real. I also recall Raven saying I shouldn't face her alone."
"If that's the case, we'll take her down together."
"Thanks. I can count on you for that. But for now, we need to head to Vacuo and prepare ourselves."
"Riiight... two vampires, heading to Vacuo, where summer is approaching."
"I get what you mean. Thankfully we have this copy of Vampirica Encyclopedia to keep us busy."
"Oh... that. I placed that by you."
Ruby tried to blush... "Uh... well, uh... thank you."
"Are you trying to blush?" Blake asked.
"Ya." Ruby said, with an embarrassed tone.
"Despite dating, you still act like you've gotten a crush on me, and it's quite cute." Blake said, cheerfully. "Come on, we're losing nighttime."
"How about we leave a note for Ilia, telling her where we're going?" Ruby asked.
"Oh ya, we shouldn't scare her when she wakes up."
The two of them gather a piece of paper and a pen and start writing a note that the two of them are heading to Vacuo, just so Ilia doesn't get alarmed when they're gone. They then place the note beside Ilia and then head out to prepare.
"Should we pack anything?" Blake asked.
"Keep a light load. We're not buying a ticket, we're sneaking through." Ruby said.
"If that's the case, then follow my lead." Blake said, in a serious tone.
"Be careful of the grimm alarms though, we can set them off."
"Right, that'll make things more complicated."
Mistral Train Station, May 6, Saturday, 12:00 AM, Employee Only Area.
The Mistral train station is the train station in Mistral. Given Mistral's mountainous areas, traveling by train is not only necessary, but it's rather convenient for civilians... or vampires who want to avoid the sun (discounting grimm alarms and all). It was roughly built around the time Mistral began industrializing and has been properly maintained since then. Huntsmen are deployed to guard these trains because of the various grimm who like to attack it. It's why later models have grimm alarms installed so it puts the train on lockdown. Although it can be activated manually by the huntsman guarding the train with a remote.
Ruby and Blake are sneaking through the employees only area to masquerade as luggage for the train to Argus. Why argus? Well, it's the easiest way to a voyage to Vacuo, which on boat would take months. Wait... how could there be luggage if no one's boarding? Well, Ruby didn't think this through. No matter, they need to sneak in through the storage car of the train. How? Well, they can simply just pose as employees. And how would they do that? Simple, they simply just take some uniforms.
The two of them are roughly around the back entrance of the employee's only section. Ruby already handed Blake Umbral shroud and showed her the differences between it and her original weapon. Blake thanked Ruby for the new weapon and gave her a kiss when that happened. Ruby's flustered thinking about it.
"Okay, now fire the weapon at the camera." Ruby whispered. "The weapon is silenced so no sound alarms will go off."
"Wouldn't it be better to just shut it off?" Blake whispered.
"Oh ya, fair point. But we need to get to the security room first. Problem is. Security cameras."
"You can turn into a bird, right?"
"Oh ya. Forgot."
Ruby turned into her bird grimm mode and started to fly over the cameras. Since they only look downward, she only has to go over them. She had to be very careful and flap gentily to not trip any sound alarms. She had then needed to find the security room. Which is... over there. She snuck in through the vent and walked in the vent in bird form and popped out on the other side.
From there, Ruby sees one guard working nightshift and is currently sleeping on the job. Ruby takes this opportunity to shut off the security. She flew down and went back in her human form and shut off security with a couple pushes of buttons. And with that, Ruby has disabled the security. Ruby quietly sighed out of relief and snuck out of the security room, to where she met Blake who was in front of the door.
"Waiting for me?" Ruby asked.
"Ya, basically. I've had my run in with security cameras." Blake said.
"I've shut off everything but the Infared sensors." Ruby said.
"Why?"
"We're room temperature."
"Oh, fair."
"And if I shut off all the security, eyebrows will be raised. So, I had to leave one of the security measures on. So, I chose Infared since we can't set that off."
"That's quite clever."
"I know, but let's find the train that'll head to Argus and board it quickly."
"First, the uniforms." Ruby whispered.
"Actually, how about we just head straight to jumping to the train?" Blake asked.
"Why? What if we get caught?" Ruby asked.
"We won't. I know a good place to hide in the train." Blake said.
"And that would be?"
Character Change: Ruby Rose - Jaune Arc
Qrow's Villa, May 5, Friday, 3:00 PM, Living Room
Back at the text... and after informing every one of the course of action. There were some objections from Yang, obviously... but eventually she reluctantly had to comply. Given what's to come, they need to make a round trip back to Vale, and then head to Vacuo from there.
Of course, the safest route is by train, and take it southward to the southern coastal city, Yen-Saori... which is in Steel Hawk territory according to Sun. However, the Yakuza in question is in chaos after someone busted in and killed the leaders, so Yakuza concerns are a non-issue.
Now for the text. Huh, it's from Weiss.
'Got the CCT back up, how are you?' Weiss texted.
Weiss posted a picture of her posing by the old CCT tower. Jaune does not question it.
Jaune's just happy that Weiss is back and active. And it seems she's rather recovered well. Jaune's happy to see that.
'Doing good. Will be heading back to Vale to drop off Yang.' Jaune texted.
'Figured.' Weiss texted.
'What do you mean?'
'A woman with black hair told her father Yang's pregnant.'
'I see.'
'So, while you're back at Vale, how about we catch up (; ?'
'Sounds good (:'
'THANKS'
'I'll see you when I get there.'
'Okay, bye.'
After the degrees of texting ended. Jaune was relieved questions regarding Salem and the relics didn't come up. Otherwise, he'd have to lie to her. The less people who know about the truth of the lamp, the better.
Character Change: Jaune Arc - Weiss Schnee
Beacon Academy, May 5, Friday, 3:07 PM, Reconstruction Site
With the reclamation of Vale... many jobs opened up in construction. Being that the amount of damage the grimm and Atlasian robots had caused, it'll take decades before Vale is back to it's old self. The top priority is making Beacon Academy... passable. Weiss had already scrounged through her old dorm... the memories she's had there... the fun times with team RWBY. And given the current state of affairs, a chance to fight side by side with all of her former teammates would be an impossibility. Though a reunion at the very least would be nice.
The main building and the old CCT tower has received the most damage, so most of the priority is fixing that.
The first thing the workers are trying to do is use the rubble and debris as materials to rebuild before having to scrape by other materials.
Weiss is not overseeing the reconstruction... Glynda is. So, to pass the time she texted Jaune and thankfully he answered. Weiss tried texting Ruby last night, but she hasn't responded. In addition, she also texted Blake... still no response. There's no harm in trying, anyway. Menagerie is too far away for CCT's to work, and Ruby's death certificate was printed out a couple days ago. Despite this, Weiss texted them anyway to see if they would respond. They did not.
But it's good for people to rebuild the city. Perhaps once Vale is rebuilt, the Kingdom will finally be able to stand on it's two feet again and not be a bunch of clashing warlord states. But worrying about all of that will have to wait. For now, she needs to focus on one thing at a time. Weiss is still overjoyed Jaune's coming back to Vale, if albeit for a short while. As much as Weiss would like to come with him, she has duties in Vale she can't ignore.
The CCT was rebuilt at Beacon, re-using the old tower because the reconstruction prioritized the academy above all else, can't really keep Vale if there aren't any huntsmen or huntresses to train. Weiss was thankful for that, the 'new' CCT tower at the park was too damaged to be used.
Glynda told Weiss about the gods and the relics, and Salem. Glynda suspects Salem may have been the puppet master behind the plot that caused Vale to be like this. She also said it is the Maiden's duty to protect the relic. However, Weiss does not know where the Fall Relic is, nor does Glynda. The only person who knows is apparently Ozpin, who can re-incarnate after death. The trouble is: it is uncertain who he'll re-incarnate into.
Given the news about Mistral, it's safe to assume the spring relic is in good hands. However... what would happen if one of the relics were destroyed? Given their symbolism and all, it would definitely be a malus. But would the gods be angry or anything? She may as well ask Glynda this.
"Glynda..." Weiss called over.
"What is it Weiss, can't you see I'm busy?" Glynda asked.
"I have a question... about 'fairy tales'." Weiss said.
"Oh, I see. Follow me." Glynda said, leading Weiss to a secluded area.
The secluded area in question is the ruins of Port's classroom. They're busy doing the outside so the inside is basically uninhabited.
"Go ahead." Glynda said.
"Let's say... hypothetically... what would happen if one of the relics were destroyed?" Weiss asked.
"Well, if that were to hypothetically happen... I'd say only bad things would come of it. Ozpin said they're important for stopping Salem and destroying them shouldn't even be considered as a last resort."
"Such as?"
"I asked Ozpin that very same question, he said that any hope to defeat Salem relies on the four relics. If even one of them is destroyed... well, he stopped me there and told me not to worry. As they should be indestructible."
"Okay, thanks for the discussion, Glynda."
"No problem. Just ask me when I'm not busy next time."
"Alright, my apologies." Weiss said, leaving the classroom along with Glynda.
Well, it's nothing to worry about. The spring relic is likely safe and secure either in the vault or with Jaune. Nothing to worry about at all. She really needs to get back to what she was doing earlier before she decided to text Jaune.
Character Change: Weiss Schnee - Blake Belladonna
Mistral Train, May 6, Saturday, 2:00 PM (Daylight Warning), Passanger Car (Lower-middle, economic class)
Ruby and Blake are hiding in a car of the train. Although not as passengers. Tickets are essentially required to enter the area legally; they did not enter it legally. However, Blake knows some tricks around trains. They're hiding inside the vent of a train. Staying inside the vents would be nominal, although they'd have to come out and drink some blood. The quantity of which is even more so given the increased vampire count.
Normally, a vampire would sleep during the day... however, Blake's a bit of a light sleeper. She finds it hard to sleep when it's not quiet. Despite growing up where sleeping when it's quiet is a bad idea, it's mostly how Blake's body is. She was never much of a night person, though neither was Ruby before her... unwilling transformation into an undead creature of grimm. Though, Ruby is much more used to sleeping through most noises, though anything loud is bound to wake her up.
Ruby is sleeping like a corpse. It's kind of cute in a way. Though, Blake wonders if she'd be drooling or not. Blake's still not used to her mouth being so... dry. It doesn't help that she rinses her mouth just to moisten it. Not sure how Ruby deals with it. She never really complained about it, either.
Whilst waiting around, she accidentally cut herself open, causing blood... no... black ooze to drip out. Is this? Grimm? Is she bleeding grimm? And the grimm then taken the form of a slime with eyes... and woah... this just got a bit well... weird... she can through her eyes... and the slimes... it's kind of trippy. She tries to move the slime, for some reason there's a psychic link between her and the slime. So... she had the slime go down the vents, Blake then closed her eyes so she can focus her senses with the slime alone, which seems to be working.
And now the slime is down the vent and is a booth of a passenger. The passenger in question is reading a book, wonder what that's about... the slime had moved toward the book and had begun to read.
"Whatever happens to the original shall effect the alternate. Should the-"
And before Blake could continue reading, the slime was squished and killed by the reader. Blake didn't feel anything herself, but she felt like part of her died... but not really? Anyways, so that's what she can do... Ruby's never done anything like that... she'll have to ask Ruby about that later.
And then suddenly... wait... she sees Ruby is having a daymare? Nightmare? Which would be grammatically correct in this situation? Normally, Ruby sleeps pretty well, but here she looks like she's suddenly in pain. And it's not gradual, it just happened all so suddenly.
"No..." Ruby mumbled in her sleep.
To avoid causing an alert, Blake had to wake Ruby up...
"Blake, it's still daytime why are you still awake? And why did you wake me up?" Ruby asked.
"Not so loud." Blake whispered.
"Oh, right. Now, answer the question." Ruby whispered.
"I couldn't sleep, and it looked like you were having some sort of pain in your sleep. What were you dreaming about?"
"I saw... someone who looked like me vanished... and then, I was slowly vanishing... it was painful."
"It's okay, Ruby... I'm here for you."
"Thanks, Blake."
Author's Footnote: Ya... this fanfiction is going to take a different approach. Starting from the chapter onward, the events of the story will be different from the original events, you kind of figured that since they're going to Vacuo before Atlas. And there will be a reason for that after the Vacuo arc is done. For now, if you're gonna ask any questions regarding the future plot, I will answer without trying to spoil it. If you don't want to ask those questions, feel free not to. Anyways, I hope you keep reading. See you next chapter.