Chapter Five - Black Memories


Heavily recommended - for fully immersive experience, listen to Animenz's Madoka Magica compilation, followed by theishter's Parasyte OP - Let me hear, followed by theishter's Spice and Wolf OP, and lastly Animenz's Owari no Sekai Nara. Just do it. Trust me.


"A thousand times we die in one life. We crumble, break and tear apart until the layers of illusions are burned away, and all that is left, is the truth of who and what we really are."


"PYRRHA!" Jaune shouted, his voice barely audible in the rushing wind.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha cried out, hands outstretched. Their hands barely connected, but it was enough for the blonde leader of the desperate remnants of team JNPR to pull his partner back to the safety of the stairs. They collapsed on the ground together, breathing heavily.

"That. . . was close." Pyrrha said, exhausted.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Jaune said, looking out the gaping hole in the wall. Dark lightning whipped past the opening silently. It struck the clouds and for a moment their entire world went black. What passes as light in their twilight world returned a few seconds after, and Pyrrha released a breath she didn't know she held.

"We have to move faster." she insisted.

"We can't." Jaune said in frustration. "We tried, and look what happened." he gestured to her body. She was worn and battered, the lack of aura allowing countless bruises and cuts to accumulate. She looked away. He was in no better a condition than she. "Better slow and safe than not getting there at all." he finished.

"I suppose.. you're right." Pyrrha conceded.

"Let's go." Jaune said. "We have to do this."

"For them." Pyrrha breathed. The image of Nora's painful farewell burned itself in Jaune's memory. The countless lives lost to the madness of this world. . . he nodded and took her hand in his.

"For all of us." Jaune amended.

Facing the perilous rise, they trudged up once more.


"They're not responding." Ruby gave up, discarding her scroll to the floor next to her.

"It must be the weather." Weiss tried to reason.

"Maybe." Ruby said, glancing at the city of Vale. No; it wasn't Vale; it was an apparition of it, a shadow of what it once was. The Vale she knew were filled with bright, caring people; succulent food, restaurants and shops; it was the place where she and her team could unwind after a stressful week.

It was home.

Yet past the curtain of clouds, she was leaving behind a city of the dead.

"I wish you would've waited for Yang and Blake." Ruby muttered.

Weiss sighed. "We've had this conversation before. I wasn't about to risk waiting for two perfectly capable Huntresses when my partner is unconscious in a city block full of Grimm. Yang and Blake are still powerful even without their auras, unlike us. Besides, we have important information the council must know."

"I can't help but think.." Ruby trailed off. "Something's wrong, Weiss. I can feel it."

"Aren't you captain apparent." Weiss scoffed.

"It's captain OBVIOUS. . . dolt." Ruby corrected with a faint smirk.

Silence.

"They're going to be fine, Ruby."

They're all going to be fine.

They must be.

They HAVE to be.

"Do you want to leave them another mes-Ngh!" Weiss grunted, grabbing tight on the steering panel.

For the first time in their flight, Weiss encountered turbulence. It was a shocking change from the tranquil silence of the skies they had flown through before. She had to take over manual control over the Hermes to prevent it from stalling. The rocking of the dustship only increased as they approached Beacon academy.

An even greater storm was brewing far above them, but not a single drop of water fell. The heavens are a mass of swirling darkness, and what seemed to be black lightning flashed overhead. But instead of flashes of light, it emanated darkness; every time the lightning struck their entire world was blackened for a moment, giving the Huntresses a glimpse into an endless abyss.

"I'm closing down the hurricane shutters." Weiss announced, pressing a button on the controls. A sheet of supersteel descended over the more fragile glass of the viewing windows, protecting it from the buffeting winds. The macabre sight was gone, and even though she could still feel the tremors the storm was causing, Ruby felt a little better.

They didn't speak a word of what had transpired. Not the city, nor the Grimm; the old men or their missing teammates.

In times of sorrow, silence is the loudest language.


Silence is the most power scream.


The moment they arrived, they knew something was off.

Ruby jumped out the Dustship the moment the door opened, Crescent Rose at the ready. Weiss followed soon after. They jogged through the empty courtyard, past the spot where they first met. Ruby nudged Weiss and mouthed the word boom. Weiss smiled, appreciating the sentiment but reality sets in soon after, and they were left in forbidding silence.

Most of Beacon is covered with training grounds, firing ranges, simple parks and aesthetics. The student body of less than a thousand Hunters-in-training are taught in the few dozen buildings scattered throughout the campus. A single overarching building, a massive architectural masterpiece the inhabitants of Beacon simply call "the Spire", houses the central auditorium and the Headmaster's office. Directly after the initial panic, the student council, composed of Beacon's best and brightest, announced through the loudspeakers that all Hunters are to gather in the auditorium until further notice. It was this move that saved the academy from an all-out panic, but it was merely a stopgap measure.

Sooner than later, people will start demanding explanations. Weiss was sure that Beacon's troublemakers will start a riot simply for the sake of having something to do, and she doubled her pace.

When they arrived, it wasn't to a raunchy pandemonium, to rebellious students wanting to leave.

It was to silence.

"What happened here?" Ruby said. "Where is everyone?"

Weiss was of the same opinion. She walked around the perimeter of the building and notice the lockdown barricades within. The windows were shut, and super steel barricades could be seen right behind it. They are only used in extreme emergencies, but there are no Grimm in Beacon. Why would the council give the order to lock themselves in?

The doors were no better. They were locked and shut tight. Weiss slashed experimentally at the door, but Myrtenaster was immediately stopped by another super steel barrier directly behind the door.

"Weiss-" Ruby started.

"Shh."

Weiss closed her eyes and pressed her ear against the barrier, feeling the cold metal touch her skin. She couldn't hear anything. Are the barriers that thick?

"I can't hear any sound coming from the inside." Weiss concluded. "We can't get in."

"Where else do we go?" Ruby asked timidly. "Where is everyone?"

You're the leader.. Weiss thought, slightly miffed by the situation.

"There should be an opening somewhere in the Spire." Weiss said. "Ventilation or something."

"Sounds like a spy mission to me." Ruby grinned.

Weiss couldn't hold in a chuckle at her leader's ever present optimism.

Ruby lead the way eagerly, Crimson Rose warily extended. Even if there aren't any Grimm in sight, something must have forced the council to enact the shutdown procedure. Weiss kept an eye out for any oddities. She spun Myrtenaster around, trying to get her mind off the fact that without her aura, the only helpful thing she could do is minor dust manipulation. Without her platforms and aural amplifications, she was less than half the Huntress she used to be,

They circled around the Spire, and Weiss grew to appreciate its size and beauty. It must be several football fields long, and Dust knows how high. The very tip reaches past the clouds even on the brightest day. Today was far from bright. More than half of the Spire was hidden in the ominous mist.

Ruby was certain her friends were safe. There's simply no way they weren't. They're inside the Spire, and she couldn't wait to be reunited with them.

"Hey Weiss!"

"Yes?" the heiress shifted her attention from watching their rear to her leader before her. Ruby was pointing at something excitedly.

"Come here!"

Weiss sauntered over to see what brought her leader so much excitement. It was an actual ventilation shaft, albeit so small

"We can't go in there."

"Maybe not, but we can SHOUT in there!" Ruby declared.

"That's. . . actually not a bad idea." Weiss said.

"Of course it's not." Ruby harumphed.

"Stuff cookies in cereal and milk. You got sick almost to the point of puking. Throw paper planes with ugly caricatures of Professor Port at Professor Port. You should thank your luck he laughed it off. Raiding the pantry in the middle of the night with Yang-" Weiss listed.

"Okay, okay, I got it." Ruby grumbled. She moved ahead of the heiress and hunched over the vents. She could feel a soft breeze of air within.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYS!" she shouted. Weiss covered her ears and rolled her eyes.

"HEEEEEEEY GUYYYYYYSSSSS… heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey guuuuuuysssss.." her voice echoed inside the vents.

"Now all we have to do is wait." Ruby said smugly.

The storm grew worse, its silent rampage dampening their spirits by the second. Weiss took the time to circle around the Spire once more, checking if any Grimm had made it to the school grounds. None had. She came back. Ruby was still sitting on the same spot, equally discouraged and sad.

Nothing had happened.

"It didn't work." Weiss said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah." Ruby said.

"Let's try something else." Weiss said, deep in thought. She set Myrtenaster on ice mode and took Ruby's hand. The red clothed huntress looked up in surprise as her partner pulled her towards the elemental rapier.

"If I'm not wrong, Headmaster Ozpin's office has a balcony." Weiss explained. "If we can get up there, maybe we can go in that way."

"Good thinking." Ruby said.

Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster on the ground and unleashed the ice crystals within. She created a platform of solid ice and moved herself and Ruby on it. Ruby looked on in wonder as Weiss summoned the power of nature's wrath, raising the platform on a pillar of ice.

Without her aura amplifying the spread, speed and strength of her rapier, she only has one chance at this. She controlled the growing pillar of ice and directed it to the the higher levels of the Spire. Ruby wobbled and nearly fell but Weiss caught her with her arm and pulled her close.

"T-Thanks." Ruby said.

"Sure." Weiss said. When she realized how close she was bringing them both she let go of Ruby, blushing furiously. She returned to the task at hand, eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. She glanced to check at her ice gauge and gasped.

"Ruby, jump!" Weiss shouted. The dust canister ran out a split second later and the platform stopped growing. Weiss leapt and managed to hold on the balcony's edge, but Ruby was left behind.

"WEISS! That warning was a little too late!"

The platform grew unstable. Without her aura, Weiss can't maintain its form for long.

The pillar cracked and crumbled.

"RUBY!" Weiss shouted but the Huntress was already in mid air, propelling herself forward with Crescent Rose as she did in killing the Nevermore during their initiation. She crash-landed on the balcony, tumbling and struck with the glass windows with such force that they cracked.

Weiss pulled herself up the railings and ran to Ruby's aid.

She was groaning from the pain, hands clutching her bruised side. Her hair was matted with blood. Weiss ran her fingers through her partner's head and thanked the heavens that it was only a shallow gash.

"Weiss. . ." Ruby mumbled.

"Don't move, I'll bandage you in a moment." Weiss said, retrieving a small aid kit from her combat belt. She dripped some disinfectant on the wound and Ruby shrieked, tightening her grip on the smaller girl hard enough to leave bruises. She finished off the treatment by wrapping some bandages around her partner's forehead.

"Second time today, you dunce." Weiss muttered angrily.

"Sorry." Ruby smiled through the pain.

"Just rest here for awhile." Weiss said. "I'll get help."

"Mmh." Ruby mumbled.


Weiss stepped inside, taking in the sight of the room. Soft lighting coming from a couple of bulbs in the ceiling illuminated the office. Dozens of awards, certificates and pictures decorated the walls. Trophies and what seems to be old artifacts lined the three shelves carved into the walls. The carpet was soft but perfunctory, just like the desk. It was sturdy oak - not overly expensive, but reliable as well.

She thought about going over his things, but shot the idea down immediately. The priority here is her wounded partner. Walking fast, Weiss made her way down the stairs, trying to keep her mind off what she might find below.

Wounds suck.

Being a combat school student, Ruby was familiar with injuries and the pain it entails, but it still sucked regardless. Without her aura, it would take her too long to heal. She tried to lift her left arm but failed. She was dizzy from stress, hunger and the crash landing. Combat-capability wise, she is just as weak as Weiss. Not that either of them are weak, but their fighting style relied heavily on aural recovery and semblance, unlike the other half of their team.

Yang.. . Blakey. Ruby wondered. We'll meet again after this is all over, right? Grab some cookies, bake a cake, shop together.

Her daydream was abruptly ended by a flash of black lightning.

She groaned and stood up shakily. It's impossible to rest on the balcony, right under the broiling skies. Ruby supported herself using the windows and followed it to the door leading inside the office. She saw the room control panel nearby and tinkered with it. The blinds closed, hiding the storm from view, and soft white light illuminated the room.

Ruby plopped herself on the headmaster's chair and sighed with contentment.

Something struck her as odd. There were papers scattered all over the Headmaster's desk. Even though Ruby have only met the eccentric professor a few times, she knew that Ozpin is a tidy and organized man. The mess on his table seems extremely uncharacteristic of him. She shuffled through the paper and skimmed through them.

".. ctor Gottwald recorded unusual symptoms exhibited before the Disintegration, mainly memory loss, unblinking stares and statue-like stillness..."

"The first case of the Fade is recorded in the second day of the second month. Statistics on its frequency points to an exponential growth. . . ."

"Confirmed subjects' ethereality, requires further case studies from Vacuo. . ."

"The Endless Night event visually confirmed at the poles. . ."

"Keeping the phenomenon classified is becoming increasingly difficult, the creation of Silencer task forces has been necessary to reduce possible leaks. . ."

"Experimental Cures #9 through #13 ineffective, recommend asking for expert assistance from Vale University. . ."

He knew! Ruby realized. Ozpin knew exactly what was happening, but why didn't he tell us? Why keep it a secret?

She had to know more. She brushed away the stack of papers and turned on the computer on his desk. A holographic keyboard materialized in mid air, made solid by particle projection technology. Ruby stared at it in wonder. She's heard of it like everyone else, but such a decorative machine is far too expensive for commercial use and are owned only by the rich and influential.

Cool.

"Please enter the security code." the computer bleeped.

"Umm.." Ruby brainstormed for any ideas as to what kind of password Ozpin might have, but before she could come up with one the computer bleeped and showed the home screen.

"Unauthorized logon accepted under situation code red-one. Proceed to message list."

What?

A window appeared on the screen. It was a series of video messages. Ruby moved the mouse over the play icon and breathed in deep. It was there, a mere click away. The truth.

Here goes.

She pressed the button.


Weiss went down ten flights of stairs in less than a minute, determined to get Ruby some medical attention as fast as possible. She ignored the darkness of the hallways, the desolate rooms, the lifeless light bulbs. She ignored the sheets of emergency plating covering the windows, the soft red lights illuminating the stairwells, the miasmic atmosphere of it all.

She ignored it all because in the depths of her heart, Weiss wanted to believe. She wanted to believe that everything will be alright, that all the death she had seen was not in vain, that there is such a thing called a second chance.

She stopped a step away from the auditorium's back entrance.

They're there. Her friends. All of them, right beyond this door. They'll meet again, they'll help Ruby, and they'll laugh it all off once this shitstorm dies down.

She ignored the deafening silence.

She ignored the deathly air.

Her fingers wrapped themselves around the handles.

She opened the double doors.

And her hope shattered.


The video started in Ozpin's office, featuring none other than the esteemed headmaster. He was sitting on his chair like Ruby, albeit with a troubled expression

"I have left this message as a precaution in case the phenomenon will reach me, somehow." he started. "If you are watching this video, then I am either dead, stranded or affected by the Fade."

He paused for a while, seemingly recollecting his thoughts. He leaned forward once he was finished and started once more.

"We call it the Fade. A physical phenomenon that defies all laws of nature. Symptoms include a partial or complete loss of a person's aura, unexplainable delusions and psychological and behavioural anomalies. The first documented case occurred in the second day of the second lunar cycle. Frequency has only increased since then and the Council of Elders raised it to priority red when people in the chain of command started to disappear as well."

"We don't know why, but we know what happens. A scientific task force of the greatest medical minds Remnant has to offer was created to find a cure, but so far it has turned up nothing. No aural, medical nor physiological solutions have worked."

He paused for a while to sip from his mug, which seemed inseparable from the man every time Ruby saw him.

"Why am I talking now, to an emergency file, in the middle of the night when it doesn't really matter anymore?" he talked to himself. Ruby grew worried. She always believed that Ozpin was a man with a plan, untouchable, unperturbed by whatever enemies the world of Remnant has to offer. To see him so plagued with worry struck her to the very core.

"Because. . ." Ozpin trailed off. "I fear this is one enemy we cannot defeat."

He reached for the keyboard and the message ended.

Ruby released a breath she didn't know she held and leaned back against the seat, dangerously close to despairing. If the most powerful, cunning Hunter in Remnant found himself lost, what could she, a mere fifteen year old rookie, do? . . .

. . . Something. She must do something. Anything. Ruby strengthened her resolve and, refusing to give up, decided to go over the files once again.

A massive void sphere occupied the center of the auditorium. Snacks, weapons parts and empty soda cans lie scattered all across the floor, dreadful testaments of the fact that all her friends were here. And now. . . she looked up at the all-consuming sphere. It seemed to leer down at the heiress, a monument to her hopelessness.

Weiss suddenly felt weak and fell on her knees, one hand resting against the wall to balance her shell shocked body.

It's just her and Ruby now.

Everyone else are gone.

They're on their own.


"LET GO OF ME!" Pyrrha shrieked, her cry of despair barely audible over the raging storm.

"I WON'T!" Jaune replied stubbornly, latching on to her arm in a death grip. Their bodies were slammed around like ragdolls. Jaune gritted his teeth as he doubled his efforts to pull them back up, but it was impossible. The winds were too strong and his body too tired. There was nothing he could do but hold on.

"YOU ARE COMPROMISING THIS MISSION!" Pyrrha shouted. She tried to shake herself off in vain. "LET ME GO!"

"I won't." Jaune hissed with shocking ferocity. He looked down at her and she found herself silence by a pair of indomitable blue eyes. He

"Why?!" Pyrrha said. "You're better than this! You know what's at stake!"

"I don't care anymore."

"What!?"

"I understand now." Jaune laughed. "Why Nora did what she did."

"I. . . I don't understand." Pyrrha said, lost in confusion.

"It's the simplest thing in the world, Pyrrha."

Is. . . it?

"I love you."

Time stood still.

"I'm sorry it took me so long." Jaune smiled. "I'm sorry for being so dense."

You have to let me go, she thought, but she didn't say it. She didn't want to. She was tired of playing the heroine.

For once, she wanted to have her own story.

Damn it all to hell.

"You should be." she said.

Their lips touched.

They let go.

A searing kiss.

A flash of thunder.

Lost in their bliss.

Lost in the merciless fire.


Ruby skimmed through the content of Ozpin's journal in the following days. He conferred with general Ironwood regarding possible methods to reduce panic when the information would eventually be known by all. At the rate of the disappearance, the people would realize sooner or later. There were evacuation centers, screening teams and Hunter-Killer deployment strategies to be discussed. Atlas increased battle android production by three hundred and twenty percent. Grimm migration patterns changed randomly, resulting in unpredictable raids on unassuming towns and villages. Hundreds, no, thousands, dead. She played more recordings, each one depicting the worsening issue of the Fade until. . .

Three days before she woke up to the dark world, all Fade-related phenomenons seemed to have ceased entirely. Researchers and leaders tried to find out what happened to no avail, and was ready to let it go as a one-time supernatural tragedy when the morning of Vale's Nightfall.

One last recording remained.

It began with a lone headmaster in a Dustship cockpit. He looked both furious and sad. When he spoke, his voice was controlled but strained.

"Atlas is gone. Everything. The land as well. The city was empty and the Grimm was everywhere." he spoke. "There was no warning, no signs. The entire power grid went down suddenly. Individual android battery packs lasts about less than two hours, and once the automatons were gone, we didn't stand a chance."

A gloomy pause.

"Miss Goodwitch had volunteered stayed behind to fight off the Grimm in the shipyards to ensure and expedite my arrival home, but it seems that it was not meant to be."

The camera panned out to the rear of the craft, and Weiss recognized the hurricane of black lightning all around the aircraft, wrapping around it like a monstrous snake. The engines were booming at full thrust, but it was obvious that the storm is catching up.

"I estimate less than ten minutes before the Night overtakes my aircraft. Part of the starboard engine was damaged in our escape, and I have run through all possible scenarios. Recovery is not possible. The only useful route I can go through is to provide my fellow professors and students the information I have attained in the past two weeks in the hopes that you can somehow stop this."

"Whoever you are, I will have to trust with Beacon's greatest secret."

"If you are a student in Beacon, you must have wondered why the academy is so great in size even though the people that inhabit it are few in number. The truth may be easy to guess. Beacon, and other combat academies throughout Remnants, can also act as emergency evacuation centers. With dozens of buildings reaching deep underground, massive dorm buildings that can house tens of thousands and almost a hundred warehouses stocked to the brim with food and munitions, Beacon is a veritable fortress against the tide of Grimm. But there is more."

"The Spire above you is not a mere decoration. Eight years ago, General Ironwood and the Council of Elders have insisted that I build Ascendance, an experimental weapon that takes into account the properties of Grimm biology. It is the only weapon of its kind; the first of next generation Scorchers. It is the ace up our sleeves. Powered by aural batteries, two percent output was enough to burn away the Grimm of Forever Falls without leaving permanent damage on the environment."

"Last minute deep scans into the Night formation had shown that it has similar, if not exact, properties as the Dark Matter infused in a Grimm's body. Ascendance is created to negate and repel the Dark Matter of the Grimm, but I believe it can also be used to repel the Nightfall as well."

"Listen well and listen carefully. I have remotely disengaged the security measures in the Spire. You need at least two registered personnel to activate Ascendance. Do it now. There is no time to-"

Violent turbulence shook the recording.

"It's coming." Ozpin said calmly. There is no time to waste. I wish you luck, whoever you are. And. . ." He paused. Soft eyes met the camera.

"I'm sorry."

Darkness swirled within the cockpit and the message ended with an abrupt bleep.


"We must assume the worst has happened." Weiss said. The girls were sitting side by side on the base of the Spire, trying to come to terms with what had happened. Ruby was injecting herself with supplementary adrenaline and painkillers from emergency supplies Weiss somehow managed to take from the Spire infirmary in her distraught state. Weiss was refilling Myrtenaster's dust chambers, toying with the weapon for the tenth time that day. She knew it was a useless thing to do, but she needed to do something, anything, to keep her mind off the truth.

"Ozpin said there's no time to waste." Ruby mentioned.

"Why should we?" Weiss suddenly asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Ruby said, torn between anger and worry.

"The one we should be asking ourselves." Weiss said bitterly. "What kind of world are we saving here, Ruby? There's nobody left. . . NO ONE!" the heiress snapped, standing up with trembling lips. "We failed! They're gone! We were too late! Don't you get it Ruby? There's no world for us to save anymore!"

Weiss broke down and cried. Ruby looked on with saddened eyes.

"I promised you, Weiss." Ruby said softly, hugging her partner. The younger girl held the heiress as she let go of her despair and sobbed into her chest. "That no matter what happens. . . we'll be together."

"But this is - this is so messed up." Weiss said, wiping her tears away with the hem of her dress.

"I know." Ruby said. She grabbed her partner's shoulders and forced the smaller girl to look her in her eyes. "BELIEVE ME! I KNOW!"

Weiss stemmed her grief when she realized Ruby was on the verge of breaking down as well. Her youth was something easily forgotten. Despite the fact that she was practically raised in combat, that she was a master of the scythe, that she had prepared for a war and sacrifice all her life, Ruby is just a fifteen year old girl burdened with the task of saving the world.

"I'm. . . sorry." Weiss forced herself to calm down for the younger girl's sake.

"I know." Ruby said.

"Thanks." Weiss said, standing up.

"Sure thing."

The heiress offered her leader a hand and Ruby took it. They got up on their feet and looked at the rising staircase hollowly.

"Shall we?" Ruby said, trying to lighten the bleary atmosphere.

"After you."


I know you didn't plan this; you tried to do what's right.

But in the middle of this madness, I'm the one you left to win this fight.


"Hey Ruby, you remember your stupid idea of a bunk bed?" Weiss said.

"If it works it's not stupid!" Ruby flared.

"It didn't." Weiss replied. "It fell on top of my bed last quarter, remember?"

"Oh." Ruby said. "Yeah. . . sorry."

"If it wasn't for my incredible reflexes, I might've gotten a cracked bone or two." Weiss complained.

"E-Exactly!" Ruby said, a lightbulb appearing in her mind. "It was a test! Just a test. You're the best teammate ever, so of course you passed." Ruby smiled.

"Right." Weiss drawled. "A test. Completely intended."

"Yep."

"Did you also intend for me to find the Children's Bedtime Picture Story stash hidden under your mattress?"

"Hey-"

"But you were right, Ruby." Weiss cut her off. "It was a cruel test indeed. It took all of my willpower not to faint out of embarrassment in knowing my monster-killing partner was into four year old comics."

"Whatever."

Pause.

"Ruby." Weiss said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Will you let me borrow those books after this is. . . over?" Weiss asked.

"Of course, Weiss." Ruby said, silent tears trailing down her cheeks. "It's a promise."

Her heart yearned for the promise, thirsted for what it stands for. Promises meant there was a future to fulfill, and under the blackened heavens, knowing the future still exists was everything.

They continued upwards in solemn silence.


By the time they reached the top, the storm was reaching its climax.

Black lightning exploded across the sky in a symphony of destruction, warping what seemed to be the fabric of reality, tearing the clouds apart like vengeful wraiths. Thousands of void spheres dotted the skies, creating a twisted pattern. Rumbling thunder boomed, accompanying the last two humans of the dying world. The air was sickeningly thick with despair, with hollowness that reflects the souls of the fallen.

The Ascendance, Ozpin's final gambit, loomed before them like a lamenting statue. It was a massive crystal that towered over the girls, unyielding against the face of annihilation. When black lightning flashes, its crystals were the only thing that shone in the momentary dark.

Weiss stepped forward to the holographic panels beneath the crystal. It seemed to be powered by emergency energy sources. She checked the energy gauge. It was full. She deduced possible explanations as to why its aural reserves failed to dissipate like hers. It would make some sort of sense that living creatures are the only ones affected. In any case, she didn't see the point in complaining about the one good thing they had encountered through the day. Satisfied, she entered a series of command codes into the panel. The machine whirred to life and the crystal glowed faintly. A pair of aural spheres appeared from the body of the crystal.

Lightning struck once more, shaking the entire structure. It felt as if the Spire could crumble at any moment.

Ruby looked at Weiss, who nodded in confirmation.

"Alright, let's do it-" Ruby reached for the spheres, but halted as she saw Weiss extend a hand towards hers.

"We'll do it together." Weiss smiled.

Ruby took her partner's hand and entwined their fingers together.

"Together." Ruby affirmed.

They reached for the last hope of their world, last beacon of light against the tide of perpetual dark. And in that final moment, no matter what happened, Ruby was glad she was spending it with Weiss.

They reached for it and time slowed down. An eternity seemed to pass as Ascendance hummed and throbbed, glowing with anticipation, and-

..

..

..

-the Crystal burst to life.

A beacon of light exploded from its core and washed away the darkness with a wave of raw power. Supercharged, materialized light illuminated the landscape, burning away the woeful clouds, brightening the sickened air and returning the pleasant hue of the skies. A blast of green rippled through the horizon, Remnant's beautiful forests restored to its former state. Sunshine broke through the canopy of clouds and the city of Vale glowed in the distance. Ascendance pulsed again and again, erasing the Nightfall with every wall of light

As the last tendrils of darkness faded away, the Huntresses looked on in disbelief.

"We.. we did it." Ruby whispered.

"Yeah." Weiss smiled. "We-"

Dark.

She fell.


Weiss?" Ruby quivered. "No. No! NO!"

Weiss convulsed, her body shaking so hard she lost her grip on Myrtenaster. She let out a sharp cry that was ended abruptly when she went limp, her clear blue eyes growing dark. She collapsed like a puppet whose strings were cut, hitting the ground with a weak thud.

"Run, Ruby!" Weiss gasped, her eyes alternating between the blank look of the Fade and the caring teammate Ruby grew to know. The tower was beginning to crumble. The force of Ascendance had created cracks in the architecture, If Ruby stayed, she was going to die as well. She tried to shove Ruby off of her, but failed. There was superhuman strength in her leader's grip, and her silver eyes reflected unwavering determination.

"I AM NOT. LEAVING YOU!" Ruby said. "A leader NEVER leaves her teammate behind!"

"You.. dunce." Weiss whispered. "You can't. . . save me!"

"Don't you dare tell me to leave you!"

And that's why I fell for her. Weiss thought. She never does things right, that dolt.

But she does the right thing.

She was losing the fight, and she knew it. She felt her memories disappearing one by one. Her father, the most intimidating figure in her life. Her ever perfect sister and their rivalry. Their caring mother, a haunting shadow in her heart. Slowly but surely, she crumbled. That irritating blonde Yang, her cheerful and carefree exterior hiding deep sadness within.. Blake's iron will, trying to free herself from the shackles of her past and fighting for a brighter future..

Pyrrha.. Jaune.. Nora.. Run. Ran?

Who?

Who was she thinking about?

Before the looming oblivion, she managed to hold on to one last memory.

A beautiful face with short, shoulder length hair. Quivering lips and glassy eyes. Soft, firm hands in which she was ensconced.

Why is she crying?

Weiss lifted a hand and touched her chest, right above her heart.

Why does it hurt?

"Don't.. be sad." Weiss said softly. The girl was sad, and that made her feel sad. For some reason she knew the girl meant a lot to her, but she can't put her finger around it. In any case, she felt weak. She felt.. as if she was going away.

But where?

"How can I not be?" Ruby whimpered. "You're my partner and I- I- I love you, Weiss!" Ruby broke, sobbing as she gathered Weiss in her arms. "Do you hear me!? I I LOVE YOU! So don't.. don't leave me." Tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

Her memories broke free of the darkness one last time.

Her.

Weiss caressed Ruby's cheeks lovingly.

And that's why

I waited too long, didn't I?

She uttered them. Those words she kept hidden within her heart until the very end.

"I love y-"

But those are words she'll never finish, words she'll never hear again. Words Ruby had always wanted to hear, words of a fallen fantasy she never dared to dream. Those three forlorn words, cut off in a harsh echo of a reminder that she was gone, gone from the world, gone from her embrace..

Gone.

That rebellious ponytail, tied teasingly to the side.

GONE.

Her voice; pure and clear like cut diamond.

GONE.

Her rebukes, laced with love and exasperation.

GONE.

Her will, dedicated in committing everything to whatever she does.

GONE!

Her smile. Brilliant, mesmerizing, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Ruby screamed.


How could you leave me when you swore that you would stay?

Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single fucking day.


"Weiss.." Ruby sobbed weakly, all her strength expended in her lone, grieving howl of desolation.

She collapsed on the ground, a horrible feeling of loneliness surrounding her. She held on to the fading strands of white hair on her hand, the only thing she had left of her partner.

Soon, it'll be gone, too.

It shone like silver moonlight and faded.

Everyone..

"WHY ME!?" Ruby cried out. "WHY AM I THE ONLY LEFT ALONE?!"

She fired Crescent Rose into the retreating void, screaming her grief. The recoil shook her body numb. Numb. That's what she needed right now. To feel nothing.

"TAKE ME, TOO!" she heaved, reaching for the disappearing darkness. The sun rose in the sky, the trees were green and Beacon academy shone like it always had. But it wasn't the world she knew. It wasn't the world she wanted. It was a world without her friends and family, a world without the people she loved.

"Don't. . ."

". . . leave me alo-"

As you wish.

Something pulsed throughout her body and she stopped. Crescent Rose fell from her arms and disappeared before it even hit the ground. Ruby collapsed on her knees, staring at the approaching tendrils of death that took so many of her friends, her family, her Weiss.

It was coming back. It swallowed the land, the world, the stars. The short lived sun disappeared once more and the he ground crumbled under the march of the void. The building crumbled and she began to fall. Darkness enveloped everything around her, everything she knew, everything she was...

. . .

. . .

. . .

BLINDING LIGHT.


Countless friends we made along the way.

Countless friends we lost to the march of time.

Still our lives will brighten the day.

Still we persist and continue the climb.


Where are am I?

She was floating in a world of white. It was blessed with tranquil silence, a welcome sight after the chaotic apocalypse she just went through. She tried to move and realized there's nothing to move to.

"HEEEEELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?" Ruby yelled.

There was no echo. Which means there's nothing from which the sound could reflect to. Which means there's nothing.

Nothing.

Is this the afterlife? Ruby thought. If it is, she's bound to go crazy sooner or later. Nothing to do but float. Fly in the nothingness and…

Remember.

Ruby curled into a ball. The loneliness was crushing on her helpless mind, and she choked on a sob, eyes wide open as she tried to calm herself down. The mere idea of an eternity in this nothingness was terrifying, and her mind grew warped by the thought. An eternity spent, would she still be Ruby? Can she survive on absolute silence, devoid of all company? No. Of course she can't. There's no one here. Can she live? Can she die?

Her mind began to fracture until a familiar voice shocked her with a ripple of clarity

Ruby.

"Mother?" Ruby whispered. She took the memory of the voice, surrounded herself with it, drowned in it. Holding on tight to the thought, she shed her fears, her doubts, the agony of loss. Hope surged within her, and she opened her bleary eyes to the projection.

An image of her mother imprinted itself on her mind. Summer Rose was there, right next to her, looking at her as if she was the most dear thing in the world. Ruby knew her mother. The fallen Huntress was the root of who she was; her pain, her joy, the reason she sang, the reason she fought, her love, her fears, whose death shocked her world to its very core.

I am so proud of you.

Her mother's voice was warm and soothing, like a soft ray of light penetrating a rainforest canopy.

Reality blurred.


She was hovering in room. Ruby recognized it as something a she'd love to have as a little girl. There was a nice, comfy bed in the middle of the room, covered with purple pillows and pink sheets. A large teddy bear sat in the center, staring balefully at a desk. The desk sat a corner of the room, filled with sentimental pictures and trinkets.

Then she saw the walls.

They were covered with picture posters, covering every inch of available space. They featured her. Ruby Rose; her partner, Weiss Schnee, her bombastic sister Yang Xiao Long and the mysterious Blake Belladonna. There were several other pictures of team JNPR, Ozpin, Roman Torchwick and a woman clothed in red she did not recognize.

It was then that she saw the tiny gap in the closet door. She hovered closer and found a little girl sitting inside, clutching a small wolf doll and crying silently. She was practically covered with a red cloak not unlike Ruby's. She heard footsteps echo outside the bedroom door, footsteps of someone coming up the stairs. The door opened and revealed a worried woman. Her eyes swept around the room before settling on the closet door. She opened it and approached the little girl.

"Honey, what's wrong?" her mother asked, embracing her daughter soothingly.

"I don't want it to end." she whispered.

Reality shifted.


She was following a man get up from bed with a drowsy yawn. He stretched, extending his arms as far as he can, before falling back on the sheets again, sighing happily. He reached for a device on the nightstand and started scrolling for notifications. Something caught his attention and he opened it. His eyes widened and he visibly shuddered. Ruby moved to see what it was, but he was already placing the device back to where it was and sat at the edge of the bed, saddened by whatever he saw.

"What happens now?" he muttered to himself.

She didn't get to read what he saw, but she saw the time. It was the evening of February third.

"Hey honey, I'm home!" the sound of an eager woman permeated the silence. A young woman entered the bedroom and kissed the young man on the cheeks. The man didn't respond, and she seemed to realize that something was off. "What's wrong?"

He looked away.

"Nothing."


Her perspective changed one last time. She was standing in a room, not very small, but not particularly big either. Thousands of posters and post-it-notes decorate the wall. Numerous equipment and electronic junk she couldn't name or recognize lay scattered across the room. Countless sheets of paper, some crumpled, were tossed carelessly on the floor. There were five, six tables that she could see, but only one was occupied.

A man was sitting comfortably on the chair, eyes stuck staring at the monitor of his computer and hands typing in an inhuman speed. He stopped occasionally to draw something on an electronic pad, the projection of his drawings visible on the monitor.

She approached the man's desk gingerly, unsure of what to do. This vision seemed particularly real. None of the others could see, touch or hear her, so she assumed it was safe to see what he was working on.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to say hi?" the man said all of a sudden.

"Eek!" Ruby squealed in surprise, hands raised to block incoming attacks.

"So?" he chuckled, giving her a fleeting glance to fully enjoy her shock. "We don't have all day. Well, I do, but you don't."

H-Hello?" Ruby stuttered.

"Make yourself at home, Ruby. Just a moment.."

He knew her name?!

He continued to work at a furious pace. Ruby stood there awkwardly as he finished his work, but sighed in relief as he pressed a final button and stood up, yawning.

"I wonder why I still feel tired here?" he wondered out loud.

"Excuse me." Ruby said stiffly, her patience wearing out.

"Right. Sorry." the man apologized. He pressed something on his keyboard and the monitor went dark. "I suppose we have a lot to discuss."

"Who are you?" Ruby asked. "And how did you know my name?"

"For lack of a better term, I suppose you can call me your maker."

"You're.. God. . . ?" Ruby said, slightly pessimistic about the claim. Most of Remnant aren't exactly invested in the idea of deities and such, herself included. There's not a lot of time pondering about higher states of reality when Grimm are bashing on your front door for most of your life.

"Not exactly, but it's the best I can come up with at the moment." he shrugged. "Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions-"

"Then you know what happened right?!" Ruby cried out, rushing to the man and grabbing by the scruff of his shirt. "What happened to the Cities? To Vale!? Why are people disappearing? Why are my friends disappearing? Where is Yang and Blake?!"

"Like I said, a lot of questions." the man said. "If you'd calm down just a little. . ."

"How can I?" Ruby said, suddenly feeling weak. "My friends are.. dead, my sister and teammate are missing.. WEISS IS GONE!" she cried out.

The man had the decency to give her a moment to grieve.

"It can't be helped." he said in a low voice. "I died, after all."

"You.. died?" Ruby said in a small voice.

"It's a very disappointing thing, let me tell you." the man said. "An allergic reaction? Ridiculous. It's times like these when I wish I have an aura. It would have been quite convenient."

"So that's why. . ." Ruby trailed off. If the creator is gone, it naturally means that the creation will follow. Right?

To her surprise, the man laughed. He laughed long and hard, and when it finally subsided his demeanor shifted to a serious one.

"You don't really think everything would end with me, did you?"

"Umm.." Ruby mumbled, unsure of how to proceed.

"I started it all, but it sure as hell won't end with me." he said. "Your world doesn't belong solely to me anymore, Ruby, just as you don't belong to yourself. You belong to your sister, your partner, your team; your friends, family and the people of Remnant. In the same way, the world of RWBY belongs to those whose hearts it touched - thousands, hopefully millions, of people throughout my world." he continued, typing relentlessly while talking. "You saw them, didn't you?"

"Who?" Ruby asked, genuinely confused.

"Your fans!" the man laughed, reaching for his empty mug and pouring in the powdered coffee inside. He slid his chair from his desk to a nearby water dispenser, filled the mug with fresh coffee and proceeded to work again. "The little girl in the red dress, pretending to be you and the others. Dedicated writers, branching off your story to other worlds, other endings, other lives. There's even some adults who enjoys your world as a guilty pleasure - they wouldn't admit it at gunpoint, but I know some of them love it." the man chuckled.

"I don't understand. . . anything."

"But you will." the man replied immediately. He sounded so certain, looked so determined, that Ruby can't help but feel reassured at his words. She stood still in rapt attention as he worked his computer like human lightning, his fingers barely discernible as they flew across the keyboard.

"Out of everyone in my world, why me?" she asked. "Why am I here?"

"To right a wrong." he simply said.

She wondered what he meant.

"aaaaand.. done." he whistled contentedly. He unplugged something from the computer and handed it to Ruby. "Here."

Ruby accepted it warily.

"What is it?

"A second chance." he smiled. "For my sake and yours. Do try to enjoy the Vytal Festivals, Ruby."

"But wait!" Ruby cried out, reaching for the man. "I don't even know your na-"

Her hands passed through his body like smoke.

"What?" Ruby stared at her arms ."Am I.. dying?"

"You're fading, but not the bad kind." the man said. "You'll be home soon."

To Ruby, he was growing more transparent by the second. She smiled faintly and relished the world of the ethereal while she can. She closed her hand over the digital construct the man had given her and held it close to her heart.

"Thanks. For everything." Ruby said.

"No problem." he said. "It's partially my fault anyways."

"Will I remember you?"

".. No." he said softly. "But there's already enough who do."

Light.

It was time.

"Goodbye." she whispered.

"Goodbye, Ruby." he replied.

She disappeared.


Ruby was back in the white space again.

This time a black disc was hovering beside her. It was about as wide as her shoulders, and it was thinner than wire. She stared at it dumbfoundedly until it glowed once.

A small opening appeared in the middle of the disc. It was about the size of the construct the man had given her. She opened her clenched fist, revealing the construct. It was so small, so fragile. A tiny shard that somehow contained her entire world.

She slipped it in.

The disc hummed and started spinning. Space began to bend around the disc, and the whiteness of her world began collapsing into the singularity. The disc spun faster and faster and Ruby could feel herself being pulled closer. She raised her arms and tried to move away from the whirlpool of force, but finally succumbed. The disc grew into a black sphere and her eyes widened.

The spheres..

But it wasn't the same. There was a speck of light in this one; the smallest piece of hope that grew more radiant by the second. It enveloped the sphere of dark and filled Ruby with a sense of warmth.

"Welcome home." the disc said, loving and soothing like a soft breeze in the middle of summer.

MOTHER!

Her sight went dark.


"-uby! RUBY!" a worried voice spoke through the haze of confusion that was her mind.

She felt hands on her shoulders, shaking her awake, and she opened her eyes.

And saw Weiss crouched over her, looking as if someone nearly died.

"Huh?"

"You DUNCE!" Weiss shouted in her face. "I WAS WORRIED SICK!"

Ruby looked around

"What.. happened?"

"It was an accident!" Yang said, coming to Ruby's side. "Lil sis! Don't you die on me!" she said, squeezing the life out of her.

"I might.. if you.. keep doing.." Ruby choked.

Blake appeared beside them and pulled a flailing Yang off of Ruby. The red hooded girl breathed in deep and exhaled while Weiss rubbed her partner's back, trying to ease the pressure off.

"What happened?" Ruby reaffirmed her earlier question.

"You don't remember?" Weiss frowned. "Yang didn't secure Ember Celica to her hand properly. She play-fought some enemies like an uncouth child." the heiress shot her sister a look. ".. and it flew off and hit you in the head. You went out like a light."

"I.. did?" Ruby said uncertainly.

"Sorry." Yang said.

"You better be." Weiss added. "Seriously, you should have known every detail about your weapon by this point. This merely shows your irresponsible traits and.."

As Weiss lectured her sister, Ruby stared at her teammates in incertitude. It all felt like a dream.

"Are you still angry?" Yang grimaced. "i said I'm sorry already. Stop looking at me like I'm dead."

"Sorry." Ruby said distantly.

"You have the decency to demand forgiveness from someone you just knocked out?!" Weiss said, outraged. "How dare you!"

"Relax, cold stuff!" Yang said, raising her hands in an appeasing manner. "We're sisters! It's all good, right Ruby?"

To right a wrong.

Ruby froze, zooming in on that enigmatic thought. It felt incredibly crucial, undeniably important, but she couldn't remember where, or who she heard it from.

"Someone.. someone important." Ruby frowned. "I can't remember who, though."

There's already enough who do.

Someone...

"Sounds like you've got a screw loose somewhere over there, lil sis!" Yang teased, flicking a finger to Ruby's forehead. She snapped back to her reality of trying to chop Yang's hair to teeny tiny pieces with Crescent Rose. Yang sprinted away just in time.

"WHY ARE YOU SO MAD!?" Yang asked, glancing back. Her eyes bulged at the demon incarnate wearing her sister's body and doubled her speed.

"IT WAS JUST ON THE TIP OF MY TONGUE!" Ruby complained, lashing Crescent Rose to and fro. Yang dodged like a madman, frantically trying to shield her hair from an impromptu barber cut. Weiss lent her partner support with a barrage of icicles, but Yang was too quick on her feet and evaded all of them.

"YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!" Yang stuck her tongue out.

A black whip coiled itself around her feet and Yang crashed on the ground with a loud oomph!

"Et tu, Blaketus?" Yang said woefully as her partner dragged her closer and closer to her doom.

Blake and Weiss visibly cringed at the painful attempt at word play. Ruby simply tilted her head in confusion, but appeared to have accepted it as something she won't understand and lifted Crescent Rose in preparation of punishing her sister.

"Please, Yang.." Weiss said, eyebrow twitching. "NEVER try to quote something like that again or I'll freeze your hair."

Yang struggled against Gambol Shroud. Blake pulled more, tightening the whip's grip on Yang's leg, but at the last second Yang slipped her foot out of her boots, freeing herself from the whip. The tension and the coil made for a deadly projectile. Blake received a bootprint to the face as Yang made her escape, blasting away with Ember Celica,.

"YOU CAAAN'T MAKE MEEEEE~" Yang taunted, blasting away with Ember Celica.

Blake sighed as the busty blonde's muddy boots fell off of her face. It looks like she'd have to use that card.

"You will either come here and shut the hell up or Dust help me I will force you to wear a ponytail for the rest of the school year." Blake threatened menacingly.

Yang blasted back and bowed on the ground.

"OKAY! I WON'T DO IT ANYMORE!" Yang promised. "Just.. don't.. the horrific.. ponytail."

"Good girl." Blake purred, patting her partner's head. "I forgive you."

"I don't." Weiss interjected. That was all the warning Yang received before a bolt of elemental ice to the face. Artificial ice wrapped its way around her head and froze her golden mane.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHH!" Yang screeched, clawing at her hair in vain. "GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF!"

"I'M TRYING!" Blake said, genuinely trying to rid her teammate of the haircicle.

Ruby broke into a grin and laughed. She laughed, and laughed, and laughed. so long and hard that her teammates looked at her with concern.

"Rub. . ." Weiss said tentatively. "Are you. . . okay?"

"Did you actually get brain damage?" Yang asked.

"Don't worry, guys." she sa

Whoever you are.. thanks. She thought.

Ruby continued on her merry way, considering whether or not Crescent Rose could be used as a weedwhacker.


As the girl faded from his ethereal reality, the man plopped back on his chair and swiveled around to face his computer once more.

"Now.." Monty muttered. "A new show for the afterlife, eh?"

He sat down on his computer and began typing earnestly once more.

He always liked a challenge.


"I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greatest dreams are something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death." - Monty Oum.


victory is in a simple soul

Part Five of Five - END