No one would ever be quick to call Cardin Winchester intelligent. Yet, he must have been hit especially hard with the idiot stick the morning he decided to ply his impolite trade on Neopolitan. He had been looking for an opportunity for payback since the first time, and he hadn't failed to notice the friction between Reaper and Neo. Unfortunately, he pegged to reasoning for this friction all wrong, assuming the pair were having a normal breakup.
Not that anything was ever normal between those two.
Cardin had cut Neo off on her way to the drink stand, just as before. "Hey little cutie." He teased as he pushed her against the wall. "It's been a while. Where were we last time?"
Neo's response was clear in the ferocity of her eyes.
"Oh, don't be like that." Cardin laughed. "I'm not afraid of Ruby anymore. I know what her rules are. She can't touch me."
Neo would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't afraid for Cardin's life. For starters, he had those rules all wrong. And second, the small girl was sure Reaper wouldn't be in a mood to follow rules.
The dark woman in question was keeping an eye on Neo from across the mess hall, and her darkness stirred to the surface when she saw what Cardin was doing.
Go get him.
Reaper shot up and stormed Cardin's direction.
Get him.
The entity in her head goaded Reaper on single mindedly.
Hurt him.
So much so she didn't even realize her voice was speaking to her after nearly two months of total silence.
Kill him.
Reaper growled as she grabbed Cardin by the throat and lifted him into the air. She maintained her grip on his neck and brought him down on a nearby table, smashing the wooden structure in the process. Cardin effectively lay on the floor, covered in food and splinters. Reaper knelt over him, squeezing his air passage.
"I do believe I made you a promise a long time ago." Reaper spoke with a new darkness in her voice. "That if you ever hurt any of my friends, I wouldn't hesitate to kill you."
Cardin tried to speak, but Reaper's grip on his throat kept him silent. Just a little more pressure, and-
"REAPER!" Weiss cried.
The dark woman snapped out of her bloodlust. Her eyes found herself in the reflective surface of a nearby food tray. She saw her eyes, and something wasn't right. The dark woman let go of Cardin, who had passed out but was alive, and stormed out of the cafeteria.
She ran over to WBRN dorm and locked herself in the bathroom. Staring at herself in the mirror, she finally noticed a few strange things. First of all, she was pale, almost stark-white. And from a point on her right arm, dark lines were being drawn across the surface of her skin, reaching towards her neck and head. And then there were her eyes. A deep red, like Ember's… but not like Ember's. Because these were not Ember's eyes.
These were the eyes of a Grimm.
"You're not Ember, are you… Ember hasn't been speaking because she's not here."
Took you long enough to catch on.
"How? How are you even in me?"
I am a parasite, helpfully injected by an ally of my master's back at the hospital. Not that you would remember that… faded from your mind like a dream.
"When I did hear Ember then… it was always you, pushing my paranoia."
I am good, if I do say so myself.
"The nightmares…" Reaper raged. "They've all been you!"
It's what I do… Step one, Infect the mind
Well, now I know… now I know not to trust you, not to trust myself!
It's too late. I only needed you to distracted long enough for me to finish step two.
Step two?
Reaper watched herself in the mirror. She watched as her reflection began to smile, stretching her face against her will.
"Step two?" Reaper heard herself speak. But it wasn't her voice, and it wasn't Ember's either. "Why, step two is infect the body."
Reaper could only stare in horror through the Grimm colored eyes. "Goodbye Reaper. Hello… hm. I need a name. Something fitting. Something like…"
I may be trapped but I'm not buried. I will not BE SILENT!
"AAAARRRRGGHHHH!" Reaper's body gripped her head in the wake of a blinding headache. Red eyes squeezed shut and opened to reveal silver.
Reaper was back in control. "You won't hurt those I care about!"
YOU WON'T KEEP ME DOWN FOREVER! I'VE ALREADY GOTTEN OUT, REAPER!
For once, Reaper was sure of something completely of her own thoughts. She was sure the parasite was right. Reaper had used a lot to wrestle back control, and it was only a matter of time before the Parasite Grimm was rested enough to try again. Reaper had to get far away before then. She had to keep her friends safe.
Neo finally busted through the door into the bathroom, and Reaper was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of her dark lover anywhere. She walked back into the dorm and a change of clothes and Brutal Thorn were missing in the ten seconds she was in the bathroom, with the window wide open. The multi-colored ex-criminal stared out the window, sure that Reaper was gone. What she wasn't sure of, was just what the hell was going on. The only hint she had was a rough carving she saw in the bathroom counter. Written in deep gouges was 'NOT ME'.
Arthur Watts and Hazel Rainart woke up in the main hall in Salem's fortress. Neither were sure how they actually got there, the only hint being a strange girl nearby that they both had vague memories of speaking to. Kale smiled at the pair's assemblage, and left to fetch her master.
"What am I doing back here?" Arthur asked aloud.
"For a smart man, you're pretty dumb," Rainart told him off, "Salem wants to speak to us."
"Indeed."
Both men looked up at the familiar voice. The Grimm Queen looked down on them with barely hidden contempt. "And tell me, where have you been for the past several years?"
Arthur stood slowly, brushing his suit off. "After miss Fall made a mess of the Beacon attack, I had decided to lay low and wait for instructions. Instructions that never came, my lady."
Salem's eyes narrowed. "You expect me to believe that? What about the more obvious story? You saw failure and thought only of yourself."
"Fall won't be as easy to get to a second time, let alone the artifact at Beacon," Watts explained.
"Of course. But that means we should stop trying?" Salem shook her head, "I began a new plan. And both of you cowered to your holes, abandoning me."
"I'm after Ozpin," Hazel reminded the room, "and you were no closer to killing him."
"Very well, perhaps not both of you cowered away," Salem conceded. "You simply lost faith in me, Hazel. How close have you gotten to Ozpin on your own?"
Hazel's grumble was response enough.
"Please, my lady, let's not be too hasty," Watts pleaded, "We have lives, lives we left behind for your cause. Can you truly fault us for returning to them when things looked bleak?"
"You're saying I should forgive you because you couldn't make the sacrifice?" Salem scolded incredulously.
"What I'm saying is that we all make mistakes," Watts clarified, "I did warn you about miss Fall."
"Perhaps you have a point, Arthur. Or perhaps you're just trying to save your own skin again," Salem deadpanned. The door behind the pair began to open, and Salem smiled. "Either way, you still need to be punished for your desertion. What do you think?" she called to the newcomer.
Watts and Rainart turned to see a young girl, dressed in black with skin almost as white as Salem's. There were even blackened veins, tracing up from her right arm and still stretching up her neck. The occasional bit of red broke up the monotone in her belt and hair, though it was her eyes that really marked her. The eyes of a Grimm. "Two feet in the door and I get to kill people already? I think this is a good day."
"Who is she?" Rainart asked, hiding his unnerve at the Grimm-like visage.
"Either your savior or executioner," Salem announced. "You're right, Watts. You only did what one could expect from humanity. So your punishment is thus, one of you shall die. The choice, is Korruption's."
"I like that name!" The Grimm girl smiled.
"So who shall it be?" Salem asked her, "Watts, who joined us because we were the winning team, and left when it looked like that would change? Or Rainart, who joined us because we both wanted Ozpin dead, and left when he began to lose faith that I couldn't help him kill the old wizard?"
"That is a very hard decision," Korruption claimed, "Both of those stories show clear disrespect for my mother."
"Please, Salem, be reasonable!" Watts begged.
"I think I am being reasonable, Watts," Salem rebutted.
"Tsk tsk, no one likes a whiner, Watts," Korruption unfolded Brutal Thorn, stepping in front of the man.
"Please, think this through, I can still be of use!" Watts cried.
"I don't need either of you anymore," Salem remarked offhandedly. "I was going to kill you both when I first decided this."
"You know the difference between you and 'Rainart' there?" Korruption asked Arthur, "He doesn't stink of fear. He knows what this is, he knows what I am. His confidence is disgusting, but your fear? That's delicious… it makes me want to eat. You. Up."
"It sounds as though Korruption has decided," Salem noted. "Hazel. There are things we need to discuss before going forward."
"Don't worry, I won't actually eat you,' Korruption assured the nearly incoherent mess that Watts had become. "Though I will have lots of fun with you…" The Grimm woman brought up the black scythe.
"In the other room, please," Salem added to Hazel. "I don't think we want to watch this."
Hazel and Kale followed Salem through the door as Korruption went to work on the poor doctor.
The rest of team WBRN had mixed reactions to Reaper's sudden departure. Blake was in denial, she couldn't wrap her mind around the peculiar events leading to the ex-criminal's outbursts. She didn't want to believe Reaper did this on purpose, but couldn't figure out what could make Reaper do anything she didn't want to do. Weiss felt betrayed, the rational part of her mind deciding that there was no way an outside force could influence Reaper like that. She didn't know how right she was, and also very wrong, but the fact remained. And Neo, for the most part, couldn't feel anything. She had yet to tell the others about Reaper's message and didn't know how to bring it up at this point. She just wanted Reaper back.
The girl's readied for the next day in silence, Neo spending so long in the shower she had to illusion her uniform once again. They were halfway to her next class when Glynda's voice came over the intercoms. "Would team WBRN please report to the headmaster's office?"
The trio frowned. This wasn't going to end well. They arrived before too long, standing in the elevator as it made its way up.
"What do we tell him?" Blake asked.
"The truth." Weiss told her.
"But we don't know the truth." The faunus resisted.
"We know she nearly killed Cardin, not to mention-" Icy blue eyes flickered to Neo before deciding not to say it out loud, "-and then she ran." Weiss finished unimpeded.
"I refuse to believe Reaper's at fault. She worked too hard to get where she was." Blake argued.
"I think we've all forgotten she's genuinely, certifiably insane." Weiss countered. "Her downward spiral probably just resumed."
"Why are you still not giving her a chance?" Blake shouted.
"I've given her more than enough chances!" Weiss shouted back. "Maybe you are far too forgiving!"
Blake opened her mouth to continue the fight, but she was interrupted by a very loud CRASH. They turned to Neo, who had tears falling from her eyes and her fist resting in a sizeable dent in the elevator's wall. The message was clear. Weiss and Blake settled into an uncomfortable silence, Neo rubbing her now sore fist in her other hand.
The elevator came to a stop and opened. Ozpin had his back to the group, looking over information coming through his scroll. He tapped a few things and began his planned reprimands. "I believe you know why I called you here." He spun to face the team. "Your unexpected outburst in the dining hall yesterday…" He stopped once he noticed only three of the four members of team WBRN before him. "Where is Reaper?"
Blake shifted uncomfortably. "Well… the thing is…"
"We don't know." Weiss answered abruptly. "She's gone."
"What happened?" Ozpin questioned.
"She attacked people and then ran away." Weiss spoke up before Blake had a chance to. "What is there to analyze?"
Ozpin sunk back in his chair. "That doesn't sound like the Reaper I've come to know… she's worked too hard to earn her place here."
"I told you." Blake scolded.
"And honestly, Ms. Schnee, do you really believe that in any state, Reaper would willingly leave Ms. Neopolitan behind?" Ozpin pointed out.
Weiss's rebuttal stuck in her throat. Even between Torchwick's organization falling and Neo attending Beacon, the two still seemed nearly inseparable. "Still, her sudden turn in troubling…"
"Not so sudden." Blake realized.
"Blake?" Weiss was surprised.
"You said we tell the truth." Blake pointed out. "Reaper has been acting strange for weeks. Angrier, more guarded. She wouldn't even let Neo in. It wasn't just a bad mood. She's barely been sleeping. Things may have escalated quickly the past few days, but she's been distant ever since term started."
Weiss's scroll buzzed, making the team look towards Neo who had hers in her hand. She nodded for Weiss to read the message. The heiress sighed before relaying, "And apparently what sleep she's been getting has been plagued with nightmares."
"Hmm…" Ozpin thought carefully.
"Look, we can't rule out that Reaper is just degrading, getting crazier." Weiss told them. "I know it's not the popular theory here, but it's the most likely. It's not like she was being mind-controlled by anyone."
"Unfortunately, Weiss is right. And I doubt the council would be as open-minded as Ms. Belladonna and I have been." Ozpin sighed. "It just doesn't fit with the Reaper I know. Is there anything else?"
Weiss and Blake both responded negatively.
"Neo?" Ozpin asked, noting she failed to answer.
The small girl walked up to the desk and set her scroll down, the screen showing an image of the bathroom carving.
"'Not me'…" Blake read. "In our dorm? Why didn't you say anything, Neo?"
Neo shot Weiss a glance that spoke volumes.
"You… don't think I don't trust you…?" Weiss asked slowly.
'You never trusted Reaper.' Neo signed.
"That's not true…" Weiss lamented.
"Unfortunately, this isn't enough. How can Reaper not be herself? Have there been any strangers around her recently, someone who may be altering her mind with a semblance perhaps?" Ozpin grasped desperately at straws. He wanted to still believe in Reaper.
"I… don't think so…" Blake admitted.
Ozpin sat back in his chair. "Is… is there anything that happened recently that could have triggered a regression? Has anyone changed their attitude towards her, made her feel left out, unwanted?"
'Since the schoolyear started, Reaper hasn't let anyone close enough to trigger a regression like this, if that's really what this is,' Neo quickly typed out.
"I don't know what to think," Ozpin admitted aloud, "I want to believe Reaper has made progress, and up until this incident it looked as though she was. This is very troubling…"
"What do we do?" Blake asked.
"We're supposed to inform the council and the local police if she goes missing," Ozpin explained, "Though I fear there is a bias in the police department. If there is more here than meets the eye, they won't give her a chance to explain. If at all possible, I want to bring her back home. So, we'll look for her ourselves when we have time."
"Seriously?" Weiss shook her head, "How far off book does she have to go before you realize she might just be gone?"
"What I know of Reaper and her progress doesn't match with everything that has happened," Ozpin explained, "If I had never given Reaper the benefit of the doubt like so many people advised, then she would have never gotten this far in the first place. We're huntsmen, Ms. Schnee. We save people."
"What do we tell people then, if we can't tell anyone she's gone?" Blake asked.
"I'll inform the staff that Ms. Rose is bedridden," Ozpin answered, "Return to your studies for now. When there is time, look for her."
Blake and Neo began to file out, but Weiss had stayed behind for one more question. "Everything you do for her… it's a stretch, even for you," Weiss pointedly told the headmaster, "What's really going on? Why do you really want to keep her around?"
"What do you mean, Ms. Schnee?" Ozpin asked defensively.
"What I have been willing to forgive from that woman is very charitable," Weiss explained. "What you've been willing to forgive is downright insane. There's something more, isn't there? Some other reason you want to keep her around?"
"Such as what?" Ozpin countered.
"I have no idea, but it's the only logical explanation." Weiss didn't back down.
Ozpin smiled. "Perhaps I'm simply not a logical person."
"That I seriously doubt," Weiss sighed, "Fine. I'll play along. But I reserve my skepticism."
"Very well. And thank you, Weiss." Ozpin offered.
"Don't thank me. Just prove me wrong," Weiss joined her team in the elevator and the trio left the office.
Ozpin spun back around in his chair, staring out the window. Weiss Schnee had learned a lot at Beacon, it seemed. She was incredibly more perceptive now that when she first started schooling. He had to be careful around her… team WBRN may be nearly graduated, but they weren't ready for the truth. Not yet.