All That Ever Mattered
NO, NO. I'M NOT DEAD, JUST AN IDIOT. So for those of you who don't already know, around July of this year I came down with a lovely case of tendonitis. From what you may ask? Computer overuse? No. Repetitive tasks like drawing or writing? Nay. It was because I wasn't stretching before I practiced HEMA... And so the act of swinging a large metal bar for several hours 3 times a week eventually caused by forearms to tensen up so much it actually gave me tendonitis. Unfortunately it meant I couldn't do anything with a computer or tablet. Thankfully though two of my guildies who know I write a lot actually bought me a voice program, and add that to the fact I'm almost done healing, and you get a new chapter FINALLY...
Oh, and one last thing before the chapter starts. During my break someone was kind enough to actually commission not one but Two separate artists to make artwork of this story! While I can't leave direct links to the drawings, I can say they were made by deviantart artists Amenoosa and Maru-chan. So seriously, thanks again! It means a lot!
"It doesn't matter how, the petals scatter now,
Every nightmare just discloses,
It's your blood that's Red like Roses..." - Red like Roses Part II
Ravarth knew pain.
He had known pain for the better part of a decade. He had seen pain and suffering take a hundred different forms, each one more brutal than the last. He had been cut by knives, shot by arrows, even had a broken bone or two. So he felt he had quite a bit of experience to look back upon his opinions.
And his expert opinion was that he was most certainly in pain.
It had all been a blur, after that saboteur had made their move against Weiss.
He remembered standing in front of the blow. He remembered the pressure of the blow, but not it's sting.
And after that? Nothing.
All he could feel now was the painful throbbing of the wound in his stomach as he stared up at the immaculately decorated ceiling of the ballroom, his ragged breathing only accentuating the agony.
"So this is it?... This is what the Alliance has to offer us?... Beasts?..."
Ravarth glanced to the side, his jaw clamped shut as the perversely smug expression which Jacque Schnee wore.
Jacque let out a sigh at the Worgen's glare, if the pained expression Ravarth was making could even be called that, "You make the Faunus seem as if they're near the pinnacle of genetics. And that's something I never thought I would say, let me assure you..."
"If you think saving a Schnee will somehow gain you recognition from beyond the grave then-..."
"Still on the damn name?..." Ravarth interrupted, turning his head to the side to spit out a glob of blood and spit before continuing, "You're a stubborn bastard, y'know that?..."
Jacque let out a huff, "Tssk..."
"You get it now?... You get why I asked you what it was like to lose a loved one?..." Ravarth asked, "Because it's hell... It's hell knowing you could have done something, anything, differently... That you could have made the tiniest difference that would have saved their life... That would've kept'm in this world..."
"No, I don't understand it, and I won't have to learn, because you were foolish enough to take the blow for her."
"Aye, I was. And I did..." The Worgen sighed, letting a smug smile creep onto his face, eliciting a snort from the white haired man who towered over him.
"Pathetic. All that boasting and strutting about as if you were some sort of champion, yet you fall due to a lazy assassination attempt committed against my daughter and I..."
"That I have... Just think about this though..." Ravarth interrupted, "She had someone willing to take that blow for her..."
Jacque was silent for a few seconds, his lip pressed in a tight line, "...Just what are you implying mutt?"
"For everything you have, for all the people you've brought over or awed with financial and social power in your miserable little life, not one of them even thought about taking that wound on your arm for you..."
"I'm not the one who lays dying from a wound that wasn't even meant for him..."
Ravarth let out a huff that seemed more like a strangled laugh than anything malicious, "Aye, you're right... But if you think I'd take back what I did, then you're the real fool."
"I will not be lectured by an animal who-..."
"Tell me something... If it had only been Weiss that had been attacked, would you have jumped to save her?... Would you have taken that blow for your daughter?..."
Jacque froze, watching as the Worgen's unblinking eyes stared up at him, and it seemed, for the first time in far too long, Jacque hesitated. "...I-..."
"Or would you have watched, and later called it an 'unavoidable tragedy'?..."
Not a word escaped Jacque's mouth.
"You may see her as an asset... A piece on the board that can be sacrificed in protection of the king-..." Ravarth was cut off as a series of coughs wracked his body, "...But she's Weiss to me... She's more important than you could ever be..."
Jacque glared down at Ravarth as the Worgen's eyes drifted shut.
"She's irreplaceable..."
The white haired man watched as the Worgen's breathing settled to a soft yet steady pace before he let out an uncharacteristic growl, spitting on the Worgen's cheek before turning and storming out of the room.
"Nothing's irreplaceable to me."
Ruby could think of a hundred different places she would rather be standing.
She would even take the peak of an active volcano. In battle with a hundred foes surrounding her. A hundred foes. She would much rather that instead of the foe who stood before her, with Weiss' younger brother Whitely in her grasp. "Why are you here?!..."
"Why am I hear?... For you, of course..." Cinder's normally silky smooth voice was distorted, gravely and demonic. This was far from the Cinder that she had dealt with atop Beacon Tower, "Though, I must admit, I'm surprised to see you've come so far little Rose."
"Yeah, a lot can happen behind your back when you've been rotting in a cell for a few years bitch!" Yang called out, shooting the dark haired woman a rude gesture.
"Yes... I've been meaning to thank you all so dearly for that." Cinder sneered, her hand unconsciously traveling up to her face where a burn scar had made it's, likely permanent, home.
"Thank us?" Ruby asked, her grip on Crescent Rose tightening.
"Yes, in my defeat I came to realize something..." Cinder muttered, her hand falling back to Whitely's chest, pressing his small frame against her own. "Trickery and subterfuge, while certainly retaining its benefits, can only get you so far at the end of the day..."
As she spoke the knife she held drew ever closer to the neck of the boy who she held in her grasp, his terrified expression only growing more pronounced as he felt the tip of the blade begin to slice into his skin.
"Eventually, one must not settle for the safety of the shadows... Power must be seized!..."
The the large axe wielding either side of the infernal stand at attention
"And I have certainly seized it..."
"It's not too late to stop this Cinder!" Ruby tried, taking a tentative step towards the infernal atop which Cinder stood, "Those guys, they aren't your allies! They'll just-..."
"Silence!..."
"But Cin-..." A blast of fire rocketed towards Ruby, forcing her to dodge, the ground where she once stood erupting into an inferno of green fire.
"As I said..." The black haired woman hissed, particles of glowing fel energy still falling from her outstretched hand, "You showed me the truth that day, years ago on Beacon Tower, and while my plans then may have failed, and I now live permanently scarred, I feel I still owe you some small sense of gratitude..."
Ruby watched as Cinder's arm suddenly around Weiss' brother once more.
"Now I shall begin thanking you, by returning the favor..." Cinder's right hand, which held the blade, suddenly twisted, "...In full."
The sickening echo of blade tearing flesh was the only thing that reached Ruby's ears as she watched it. Watched as Cinder's blade ripped through the boy's larynx, blood immediately gushing out onto her hand as Whitely's body began convulsing violently, each and every muscle instinctively fighting with all that it had as tears poured from his eyes. Despite this though, Cinder's grip did not loosen until her blade finally sliced it's way to the other side of the boy's throat, falling from her hand and onto the blood soaked ground.
"While I was in that cell, all I could think of was the pain I suffered at your hand..." Cinder's voice rose over the dull thud of Whitley's body hitting the surface of the Infernal like a lifeless ragdoll, his arms and legs twitching as the last vestiges of life ebbed away, "All I dreamt of was a chance to finally take my revenge on you..."
Ruby watched with gritted teeth as Cinder slammed her foot against Whitley's head.
"...And now? That chance has finally come... And I intend to take it!"
The group of soldiers th at had previously been stunned by the arrival of Acherus suddenly seemed to regain their focus at the words of the felmancer, letting out battle cries as they began to charge the infernal, only to be cleaved through without a thought by the two large axe wielding demonic guards either side of the massive construct.
Their dying screams echoed throughout the courtyard as Yang and Pyrrha both began to fire upon the infernal, only for their attacks to stop short thanks to a wall of Cinder's felfire.
A rush of wind caught the felmancer's attention as she gazed down at the battle below her, glancing to the side with just barely enough time to spare to notice a round from crescent rose sailing her way. Bringing her hand up, a new wall of energy enveloped her as the bullet reached her, stopping just short of her forehead before the fire melted the bullet, leaving only splatters of quickly cooling metal to spray past the woman harmlessly.
As soon as the wall fell Cinder went on the offensive, blasting the young Reaper as she ran past the front of the Infernal, sending her crumpled form tumbling back until it came to a halt, the back of the Reaper's head slamming against the hard pavement.
It seemed to have little effect however as Ruby quickly staggered to her feet, converting her weapon to its sniper mode, taking several potshots at Cinder, who blocked each one with ease.
"When has that ever worked?" She asked with a sneer.
Before Ruby could think to react, she and the others in attendance felt their heads pound as an earsplitting booming sound echoed throughout the courtyard, a massive gust of wind sending several people to their knees as a dark shadow eclipsed against the star lit skies.
Ruby took a moment, risking an ever so slight glance away from Cinder to see the imposing silhouette of Acherus looming in the background, it's magical eyes billowing with magical energy.
"Hmm?... Reinforcements of yours Rose?" Cinder chuckled, gazing up at the floating fortress, her fingers dripping with the blood of the boy who lay dead at her feet, "Be careful with them. I've heard they aren't the best at playing nice."
Ruby's concentration snapped back to Cinder as she took in a small breath, not wanting to take her eyes away from the felmancer for any longer than she had to. She had already proven herself to still be both an enemy and a threat, and Ruby would be damned if she would let her try to take the lives of one of her friends again.
"Not that it will help..." Cinder sighed blissfully, a content smile appearing on her twisted face, "Their numbers are lacking... No doubt tangled up in the Nighthold, desperately attempting to delay the final summoning of the Master to the mortal plane through the conduit of the fallen Hunter..."
"The master?" Ruby asked.
"Sargeras..." Anduin muttered from somewhere behind her.
"And the hunter?" She pushed.
"Your kind knew him as Illidan Stormrage. So called 'ruler' of the remains of the backwater planet of Draenor..." Cinder explained, her voice dripping with venom, "But enough of that... Now... Drop to your knees and beg for your lives, and perhaps I may-..."
"You know... All you do is talk... And all its ever gotten you is a missing eye and a fuckin' ugly face!" Yang screamed from the crowd, firing a slug round from Ember Celica towards Cinder.
"You may just be right..." Cinder raised her arm, still drenched red in Whitely's blood, deflecting the slug just as easily as she had deflected Crescent Rose's attack, "Perhaps the time for talking is done!"
Cinder snapped her gaze down, firing a bolt of fel energy towards Ruby, who brought Crescent Rose up in front of her in a desperate attempt at a block.
"Ruby!" A cry echoed through the courtyard, and before anyone could think to stop him, Anduin leapt forwards, firing a bolt of holy energy towards Cinder's own attack, blasting both fel and light from the sky.
Seeing this, Cinder let out an unrestrained cackle, her already gravelly voice growing deeper.
Before any others could think to join Anduin in his reckless advance, Cinder brought her hands up, conjuring a ring of fel magic around she and the Stormwind leaders, cutting off the rest of the group from the two.
"And the King joins his Queen! Excellent! Excellent! Your courage does you justice boy!" Cinder yelled, throwing another blast towards the two monarchs.
Anduin brought his hands up with a grunt of exertion, forming a shield around he and Ruby which took the blast of the fel bolt, though clearly not without significant trouble if the large cracks which almost immediately formed were anything to go off of.
Almost immediately Cinder sent another bolt towards the shield, driving Anduin to his knees as he focused all of his energy into keeping the shield corporeal, though despite the effort, it soon began to fall apart, small sections of the shield falling to the ground like shattering glass.
"And with that..." Cinder muttered as once of her demons, a massive Felguard wielding an axe as large as a tree stepped towards the king and queen, "I believe I have checkmate..."
"They could use their mother right now... Probably more than ever..."
Those words echoed like the bells of a church in her head as she stared down at the massive axe wielding demon which moved up seemingly upon Cinder's silent command towards Ruby and Anduin.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion.
She saw the terrified face of her youngest and only true born daughter as a demon ten times her size approached her with killing intent.
She saw the few Stormwind and Atlas soldiers that had attended the ball desperately attempting to break through the fel barrier which surrounded the King and Queen.
And she saw her step-daughter, clawing and punching relentlessly, yelling and screaming as she fought her way towards the barrier through the throngs of both human and demon.
She felt her heart tighten. They would never be able to break through. The demon's axe would fall. Her daughter would die. And she-...
And she-...
And she-...
Never even felt herself jump.
"And with that, I believe I have checkmate... May you burn in the fires of whatever hell awaits us all..." Cinder said with a raised hand, giving the Reaper one last twisted grin before letting her hand drop, "Goodbye Rose!"
The demon which stood above Ruby and Anduin, without a moment's hesitation, pulled his axe above his head, letting it hang in the air, as if attempting to block out the light of the stars with it's massive blade, before pushing the axe down.
She wanted to look. She wanted to see the axe coming, to somehow escape this living nightmare.
But no. If either she or Anduin left the latter's shield they would no doubt immediately be assailed by both Cinder and her demonic horde. Even her speed would do little to assist her. They had been boxed in.
There truly was no escape. Not this time.
Ruby slowly closed her eyes, a small smile on her face. She would not be afraid. She would accept whatever was to come. She and Anduin would join Varian amongst the fallen nobles of Stormwind.
And then, perhaps, she would finally be able to meet her once more...
. . .
And yet, just as the feeling of acceptance finally wormed its way into her heart, the young queen felt no blow strike her down. No gargantuan axe tearing she and Anduin asunder.
Only the sound of something slamming upon the ground, as if landing from the heavens.
And as her eyes open she felt the breath escape from her lungs.
Small, almost invisible white petals had appeared upon the blade of the demon's axe, their presence seemingly immobilizing the weapon, as evidenced by the demon's loud grunts of exertion as he tried in vain to slam the axe upon Stormwind's leaders.
Then, as if they seemed to posses a conscious of their own, several of the flower petals fell from the axe, suddenly shooting forwards towards the demon, opening its neck without resistance, disappearing under the torrent of green blood which poured from the dying demon's wound as it fell to the ground, clutching at it's neck.
Somewhere far behind Ruby, Yang let out a stifled scream, it's shrill tone drowning out the hushed whispers of the rest of those who watched on in stunned fascination.
Jaune's muddled voice echoed from somewhere far behind her as Yang's voice died down. Pyrrha's voice seemed to answer Jaune's, though it was nearly impossible for Ruby to hear over another shriek of disbelief from her older sister who had long since fallen to her knees.
She couldn't focus on that though. She would never be able to focus on that, or any of the other million blips of chaos that seemed to surround she and Anduin.
Her focus was on her. Only her.
The lithe yet none the less undeniably imposing figure of the fallen leader of Team STRQ standing before them like a shining white beacon in the darkness of the fel, the ground beneath her feet shattered, as if a meteor had landed upon it.
The woman who haunted the nightmares of both Ruby and Yang, yet also guided them towards the brightest of aspirations.
The spitting image of Ruby, only several years older, standing before a visibly shocked Cinder with a stalwart presence that would have garnered even the respect of Varian Wrynn himself.
Ruby let out a loud sob, tears falling freely down her cheeks.
The one who stood before her was her matriarch, her chain axes blade's angled into sickle blades, which glinted in the artificial illumination emanating from the Schnee mansion like the edged wings of a seraphic warrior.
Her mother.
Summer Rose.
"...And no matter what I do,
Nothing ever takes the place of you..."